East coasters, youve got three more hours, if youre One of those states. Its not close of business, its at the end of the day exactly, youve 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 putins birthday. Hes 72 today. Congratulations. But now, for me and for you and for everybody, the date, October 7th, is its own unforgettable, indelible thing. S 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 didnt 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 Americas Longestever wars. Those wars killed hundreds of thousands of people. After October 7th, Israels 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 on 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. Weve seen President Biden here in this country, also both of our president ial 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 president ial contest. All major Party President ial 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 thad president ial candidates of majoi parties, people who have a real shot of getting in the whitE House, if theyre briefed by the Intelligence Agencies during the campaign, i think the thinking is theyll be better prepared for the transition, for taking Pow Fer theyre ultimately elected. But also, presumably, so that theyre aware of the implications of their statements as a president ial candidate while they are running and campaigning. Presidential candidates get Intelligence Briefings. So do former president s. P Donald Trump normally, as a former president , would also qualify, be entitled to, ongoini Intelligence Briefings. All former Intelligence Excuse me, all former president s 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 its time to break that precedent, maybe this particular former President Shouldnt get the courtesy of postoffice Intelligence Ge 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 president ial candidate again, ru that was the interesting scenario in terms of Intelligence Briefings. It meant that even if he wasnt getting Intelligence Briefings as a former president because it was decided that he sort of couldnt be trusted with them, well, as a president ial candidate, he should have been able to start getting them again. Not because of his status as a former president , but because hes a candidate for office once again. And heres a strange and mostly unremarked upon thing in the president ial 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 es official u. S. Intelligence briefings because hes a president ial candidate, youre not allowed to get them as a former president , thats a bridge too far given how you behaved at the end of your Presidency. He but okay, youre a major Party Candidate for president , okay, you can get the briefings. He nevertheless is not getting them because he decided he didnt want them. Th trump said he would only be accused of leaking the information he was given in the Intelligence Briefings, so he didnt want the briefings. He doesnt want to have heard the information in the first place. At 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 thats a good idea, i dont know. But its 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 ot 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 dont want to hear it. Responsibility. Competence. Sanity. Yeah. Weve also got our Eyes Tonight on the absolutely massive new Ol Hurricane in the Gulf Of Mexico that is heading right now toward the Yucatan PeninsulaIn Mexico before it heads here toward the state of florida. Its 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. A 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 Category 5. To watch. We want to begin with Hurricane SpecialistJohn Morales. John, now this monster of a hurricane is a Category 5 . Yes. That news just came out right now, and its certainly its 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 whats driving that. I dont need to tell you. Ha global warming, Climate Change leading to this. Mi and becoming an increasing threat. Ng an emotional John Morales at nbc 6 in miami just flabbergasted by the size and the explosive growth of that megastorm. It is as yet unclear what the impact of Hurricane Martin may be in the Yucatan PeninsulaIn 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. Ill 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. An this is the latest from the Nbc News climate unit. Ill just read it to you directly. This is what they said. This is the headline. E Category 5Hurricane Milton shatters records. Landfall near tampa likely with a catastrophic Storm Surge Neveh 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. C 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 ow 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 floridas 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 O 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, heres the front page of the Winstonsalem Journal in North Carolina. Their front page, all columns Above The Fold headline, ld fighting misinformation. The last thing youd think they have to be dealing with given Everything Else theyre dealingd with. Hurricane helene triggers misinformation surge. Charlotte, North Carolina, n heres the Editorial Board of the charlotte observer. Shame on Donald Trump for worsening North Carolinas 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 Ca 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 Carolinas governor has called the Federals Response to helene, quote, unprecedented. North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis says Hes Li impressed with the federal response. He says he is proud of the response effort, that theyre doing a great job. A republican State Senator in North Carolina who represents western North Carolina, hes 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 i lithium from western North Carolina. Stacks of bodies left in hospitals. And On AndOn 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. Hi it is the largest Crisis Event in the history of North Carolina. The stat