More hours, if you're one of those states. It's not close of business, it's at the end of the day. Exactly, you've got a few more, have a great show. Thank you. Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. The date, october 7th, was previously known for one reason, it is vladimir putin's birthday. He's 72 today. Congratulations. But now, for me and for you and for everybody, the date, october 7th, is its own unforgettable, indelible thing. The same way that 9/11 is an unforgettable, indelible date for us forever and ever. October 7th is when 1,200 people died in the hamas attack. October 7th, 2023, one year ago today. They lost 1,200 people. If you sort of extrapolate that, given the relative size of the population of our two countries, an attack of that size in our country, that would have been the equivalent of us losing more than 35,000 people. We lost 3,000 americans on 9/11. They lost, relative to their population, the equivalent of 35,000 people on october 7th. And they didn't lose them by crashing planes or crashing planes into buildings. Those people were all killed facetoface, persontoperson, by hand, one by one. After 9/11, our country started wars in afghanistan and then in iraq. Those stretched out into america's longestever wars. Those wars killed hundreds of thousands of people. After october 7th, israel's year of war has spread from gaza and the west bank, now into lebanon, it has even started to include some significant military exchanges with iran. In gaza alone, the death toll from the past year is said to be roughly 42,000. And again, if you extrapolate in the same way, given the population of gaza overall compared with ours, that would be the equivalent of us losing over 6 million people in a single year. More than the population of missouri or maryland or wisconsin. But on it goes. And even today, there are still 97 israeli hostages who are still thought to be held by hamas. Today for them marks one year of their captivity. But on it goes. We have been watching all day today memorials and vigils and protests marking one year since the october 7th hamas attack, and since the start of the ensuing war in gaza. We've seen president biden here in this country, also both of our presidential candidates in this country, take part in commemorative events marking october 7th. Oddly this anniversary today has also been a slightly unsettling reminder of one of the sort of unremarked upon oddities in this presidential contest. All major party presidential candidates for years now have been given intelligence briefings by u. S. Intelligence agencies during the campaign. And they do that not just as a compliment, they do that so that presidential candidates of major parties, people who have a real shot of getting in the white house, if they're briefed by the intelligence agencies during the campaign, i think the thinking is they'll be better prepared for the transition, for taking pow fer they're ultimately elected. But also, presumably, so that they're aware of the implications of their statements as a presidential candidate while they are running and campaigning. Presidential candidates get intelligence briefings. So do former presidents. Donald trump normally, as a former president, would also qualify, be entitled to, ongoing intelligence briefings. All former intelligence excuse me, all former presidents generally get them. That said, after trump incited the january 6th violent attack on congress to try to stay in power, president biden decided that maybe it's time to break that precedent, maybe this particular former president shouldn't get the courtesy of postoffice intelligence briefings. That decision looked pretty good in retrospect when trump was ultimately brought up on federal criminal charges for mishandling the classified information that he illegally took with him in huge quantities to his house in florida when he left the white house after his presidency was over. When the republican party in its infinite wisdom nevertheless decided this past year they would make trump their presidential candidate again, that was the interesting scenario in terms of intelligence briefings. It meant that even if he wasn't getting intelligence briefings as a former president because it was decided that he sort of couldn't be trusted with them, well, as a presidential candidate, he should have been able to start getting them again. Not because of his status as a former president, but because he's a candidate for office once again. And here's a strange and mostly unremarked upon thing in the presidential campaign that nevertheless came roaring back to the fore today. Even though the u. S. Government says, and president biden says, that trump is now entitled to official u. S. Intelligence briefings because he's a presidential candidate, you're not allowed to get them as a former president, that's a bridge too far given how you behaved at the end of your presidency. But okay, you're a major party candidate for president, okay, you can get the briefings. He nevertheless is not getting them because he decided he didn't want them. Trump said he would only be accused of leaking the information he was given in the intelligence briefings, so he didn't want the briefings. He doesn't want to have heard the information in the first place. And he has since been refusing all intelligence briefings from the u. S. Intelligence community. So now here we or the anniversary of the october 7th attack, and trump is publicly demanding that israel should launch a largescale bombing campaign against iran. And hey, who knows, maybe you think that's a good idea, i don't know. But it's worth remembering that he is making that kind of radical and bombastic demand not just while that whole region is already teetering on the edge of the abyss, and in some ways is already over it, but he is making that demand while he is simultaneously deliberately choosing to not know, to not hear what the u. S. Government thinks might happen if anybody decides to follow his advice. Refusing intelligence briefings and nevertheless demanding that one of our most potent allies in the world, already engaged in a war on multiple fronts, should scale up a big bombing campaign against iran. What could possibly go wrong? oh, something like iran? i don't want to hear it. Responsibility. Competence. Sanity. Yeah. We've also got our eyes tonight on the absolutely massive new hurricane in the gulf of mexico that is heading right now toward the yucatan peninsula in mexico before it heads here toward the state of florida. It's hurricane milton. It is a category 5 hurricane. It is, in fact, one of the top five strongest atlantic hurricanes in recorded history. You might have seen this today. An emotional report from the nbc miami meteorologist and hurricane specialist, john morales. He was being interviewed live today when the news crossed that the storm had grown explosively into a drive, watch. We want to begin with hurricane specialist john morales. John, now this monster of a hurricane is a drive? category 5? yes. That news just came out right now, and it's certainly it's just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped it has dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. Um i apologize. This is just horrific. Maximum sustained winds are 160 miles per hour. And it it is just gaining strength in the gulf of mexico where you can imagine the winds i mean, the seas are just so incredibly, incredibly hot. Record hot, as you might imagine. You know what's driving that. I don't need to tell you. Global warming, climate change leading to this. And becoming an increasing threat. An emotional john morales at nbc 6 in miami just flabbergasted by the size and the explosive growth of that mega storm. It is as yet unclear what the impact of hurricane martin may be in the yucatan peninsula in mexico, but current tracks have it coming here afterwards as a category 3 or 4 when it heads toward landfall on the west side of florida on wednesday, on the day after tomorrow. I'll show you just one more thing here. This is in print, not on tape, but i think it nevertheless conveys the same level of upset and worry and alarm. This is the latest from the nbc news climate unit. I'll just read it to you directly. This is what they said. This is the headline. Category 5 hurricane milton shatters records. Landfall near tampa likely with a catastrophic storm surge never before seen in this area. Quote, milton went 30 an astonishing period of extreme rapid intensification, jumping from a category 1 to category 5 hurricane in 18 hours. Again, cat 1 to cat 5 in 18 hours. Quote, landfall expected very late wednesday/early thursday as a borderline category 3 or 4 hurricane between clearwater and fort myers in florida. While milton is expected to weaken, it will grow in size, which will maximize the storm surge potential despite having a lower category of winds. Risk of a direct hit on tampa continues to grow, raising concerns for catastrophic and historic storm surge, lifethreatening flash flooding possible for a large portion of florida with highest rainfall totals most likely to occur along or near the i4 corridor. Widespread power outages looking more likely along the i4 corridor, outages that could last weeks. Milton is another climate changefueled hurricane expected to go through extreme, rapid intensity case fueled by gulf of mexico waters that remain 2 to 4 degrees above average. These intense, even emotional warnings about the possible impact of hurricane milton come, of course, just a week and a half after hurricane helene banged into florida's big bend region and then proceeded up and inland where it caused just shockingly widespread and profound destruction in parts of georgia and south carolina and north carolina and virginia and tennessee. And recovery efforts in those states continue. But one of the other things that people in these states are having to contend with, which is insane, is on top of everything else, a tidal wave of disinformation and conspiracy theories designed to maximize the chaos and turn people against each other and reap whatever political points can be wrung out of it. I mean, amid everything else, here's the front page of the winston say legal journal in north carolina. Their front page, all columns above the fold headline, fighting misinformation. The last thing you'd think they have to be dealing with given everything else they're dealing with. Hurricane helene triggers misinformation surge. Charlotte, north carolina, here's the editorial board of the charlotte observer. Shame on donald trump for worsening north carolina's helene tragedy with political lies. Fema has had to make a whole section of its website devoted to debunking false conspiracy theorys and disinformation about the hurricane and the response that have been spread among other people by the republican candidate for president of the united states. The north carolina department of public safety, again with everything else they have to deal with, they have also had to make a fact versus rumor new website to help people sort through the trash that is being promoted for political benefit. Back in reality, among people actually involved in the response, north carolina's governor has called the federal response to helene, quote, unprecedented. North carolina republican senator thom tillis says he's impressed with the federal response. He says he is proud of the response effort, that they're doing a great job. A republican state senator in north carolina who represents western north carolina, he's posted a public plea, quote, friends, can i ask a small favor, will you all help stop this conspiracy theory junk floating about the floods in northwest, north carolina? for example, fema is stealing money from donations. Body bags, bodies not being bird. Government is trying to get lithium from western north carolina. Stacks of bodies left in hospitals. And on and on and on, he says, quote, please help stop this junk, it is just a distraction to people trying to do their job. Folks, this is a catastrophic event of which this country has never known. It is the largest crisis event in the history of north carolina. The state is working nonstop. D. O. T. Has deployed workers from all over the state. Duke power has 10,000 workers on this. Fema is here. The national guard is here. In large numbers. And he goes on. Even some of the most port san actors florida rein governor desantis says his state has received all the federal help it's asked for. But in the trump campaign, the federal government is denying anybody help, right? the trump campaign, on elon musk's twitter, they have decided it's better to mess with people, turn people against each other, lie about the response, see what they can stir up, see if trump can benefit from it. I mean, here, for example, is the 9/11 truther, selfproclaimed white advocate conspiracy theorist who trump brought with him to the 9/11 commemoration last month in manhattan. The people in appalachia should not comply with fema. This is a matter of survival. Did not comply with fema. This is what they're doing for political benefit. Right? sure, six different states coping with devastation from a hurricane less than two weeks ago. And another storm on the way that is so large and terrifying, it is bringing meteorologists to tears. Trump campaign sees that and thinks, what better time than to mess with people? what better time is there than this? because maybe we'll benefit from it. Maybe if people are pushed into the most extreme circumstances possible, maybe we'll benefit from things being as bad as they can possibly be. The harris campaign just tonight has released a new ad pushing back at the lies trump and his campaign have been trafficking in about the hurricane response. Also reminding the country that this was not exactly his strong suit while he was in the white house in charge of efforts like this. Here it is again, this ad has just come out tonight. I worked in the trump administration. Never in a million years did i ever think that i'd be working in the white house with a president that didn't care about the american people. He would suggest not giving disaster relief to states that hadn't voted for him. I remember one time after a wildfire in california, he wouldn't send relief because it was a democratic state. So we went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas to show him, these are people who voted for you. This isn't