good morning to you all. welcome to "cnn this morning." i'm amara walker. >> and i'm victor black well. so good to be with you. tropical storm warnings are in effect this morning as lee is downgraded from a hurricane to a post tropical cyclone. new england starting to feel the impact of the massive storm. boston logan is experiencing a spike in flight cancellations. so far, 25% of flights leaving boston have been cancelled. that's according to flight awe ware. lee is not expected to make landfall, but coastal cities can can expect powerful 50 to 60 mile per hour winds from outer bands of the massive storm. heavy rain and storm surge could cause flooding along the n nebraska coast. >> authorities are telling people to prepare to hunker down as the storm pushes north through the day. lee is also expected to cause dangerous rip currents along the atlantic coast with many states warning people to stay out of the ocean this weekend because of those dangerous surf conditions. we are cover canning all parts of the storm with derek van dam and allison chinchar. derek, let's start with you. how are the conditions to so far? >> good morning. hunker down we have done. that's kind of the name of the game here in cape cod. they are familiar with this type of weather. they handle north easters and that's how they are handling this storm as well. often these are a gim of miles. they have prepped for type of event. i'm going to bring you down to show you a few of the atlantic ocean and hurricane lee several hundred miles over my shoulder. by the way, nantucket island is chose to where i'm standing here in the county. they just had a wind gust of 55 miles per hour with sustained winds trorm force. tomorrow force. i want to pan over the scene here. the clouds have been doing some interesting things. . you see the undulations in the weather there. that's showing some different kind of wind speeds at different the altitudes showing how this weather is. and this storm really ballooned over the past week. the impacts are being felt well outside of the center. we know that here in cape cod. we're over 400 miles from the center of hurricane lee. and that's important because all along the new england coastline, we're going to continue to feel the impacts for the next 8 to 12 hours before this thing makes landfall. zooming in closer to cape cod, massachusetts, and you start talking about the tides. we didn't receive the strongest winds coinciding with the high tides. so the timing is everything for these. so we haven't seen or exp experienced the inundation from storm surge like we had hoped. so that's good. so we're going to continue on with these coastal waves because the wave machine that was hurricane lee has just sent all that energy in from the atlantic ocean. so nantucket island had waves approaching 20 feet just a few hours ago. that will continue for the next fore seeable future. when we talk about the wind gusts, they have easily been topping tropical storm force occasionally here in cape cod, but certainly on these outer islands like nantucket, martha's vineyard, 48 miles per hour right now in nantucket. that will be the case before the storm finally makes landfall in nova scotia. so really what's happened here is they have prepared for a nor'easter. that's what it feels like. if i start mentioning the word windchill and hurricane lee at the same time, that will be a first with this weatherman. i think you have a broader scope of where the storm is going. i know it's pretty nasty. what are you seeing, allison? >> yes, we are. where you are located, you're seeing the kmakts, but it's not the only location. this is a live look at maine. you can see the water droplets sticking to the camera from time to time. the rain bands are pushing in. all the trees in the distance, you can see them whipping around the 50 to 60 mile per hour range. that's going to continue through the day today. you can see some of the heavier bands beginning to make their way into maine, but also portions of nova scotia. you have bands for boston. those will be off and on. the storm itself has not changed. we got a brand new update at the top of the hour. winds still at 80 miles per hour. so it's post tropical cyclone lee now. the main point of the storm has not changed. sustained winds of 80 gusting up to 100 miles per hour. it has picked up speed moving to the north at 25 miles per hour. all that really means is those impacts that are going to arrive earlier than anticipated but will move out earlier than anticipated. we do expect that this will make landfall likely over southern nova scotia. those wind gusts are going to continue not just from canada, but along the east coast. for massachusetts up to maine, still look ing at the wind gust at 50 to 60 mile per hour range. at that range, power outages are still possible. you'll have some of those trees come down. a lot of this area has been saturated. they have very wet summer. now you add, 2 or 4 inches of rain on top of that. it may only take a 30 or 40-mile-per-hour wind to bring some trees down. so power outages are still going to be a problem. not just in maine, but for states like new hampshire, massachusetts. the bulk of the rain is going to push out by late this afternoon and early this evening. this is 1:00. you can see some of the light rain bands impacting areas of rhode island, massachusetts, most of the rain exits maine once we get to late this evening. and then by tomorrow morning, most of the rain is really just focused over portions of canada. in the short-term, because of the amount of rain that's expected on top of the already saturated ground, from caribou through bar harbor and east of portland, we have the potential for some flooding. so you have a slight risk there through the overnight hours tonight and even into the early morning hours tomorrow. so do keep that in mind. the main take aways here is we are going to be looking at gusty winds and the poshl for very heavy rainfall, even though the center of the storm itself is likely going to make landfall over kcanada. >> we know you'll be watching it. thank you so much. thanks to derek van dam up on the cape. the uaw and car makers are expected to continue negotiations today. targeted strike because thousands of the members are walking the picket line specific cities at very targeted locations. >> they are. and they are demanding pay increases, a return to traditional pensions and protections against job losses as the industry shifts to electric vehicles. president biden has not endorsed the strike explicitly, but the big auto maker should do more to meet demands. >> no one wants a strike. say it again. no one thes a strike, but i want respect workers rights to use the collective bargaining system. i believe they should go further than record corporate profits, meaning record contracts for the uaw. >>s this is the first time in history that it has struck at all three of america's unionized auto makers at the same time. gabe cohen reports. >> reporter: besides the sides are headed back to the bargaining table today with the union telling cnn it sent each of the big three auto manufacturers a counteroffer and is now waiting for a response. what's in that offer is unclear at this hour, but we know it's going to take a lot to bridge the divide we have seen up to this point. in the meantime, until a deal is reached, you're going to see picket lines like the one behind me operating 24 hours a day here in toledo, outside this stellantis factory, where they build jeeps, as well as a ford factory in michigan and a general motors factory in missouri. there are 13,000 auto workers currently on strike making $100 a day in strike pay. yet so many here in toledo told me they are preparing for the long haul. >> our members are willing to stay in for the long haul. we came out of bankruptcy, our starting pay was $15.78. 14 years later, it's $15.78. there's something wrong with that. >> the head of the auto workers union told me on the pukt line it is possible that additional facilities could strike in the coming days depending on how long this lasts. either way, we're likely to start seeing more of a ripple effect to additional manufacturing facilities and factories that are struggling to get parts or even move their own materials and may have to shut down operation and even layoff workers. >> gabe cohen, thank you for that. joining me now is industry consultant jeff schuster, he's the global head of automative for global data. jeff, appreciate you joining us this morning. this strike is different. it's very limited in scope. you have 14,000 uaw members who are walking out compared to the 145,000 members nationwide. very specific plants. you say we could see widespread impacts. this impacting other plants as well as across the country, but also our economy. >> yeah, no question about it. i think when with you look at this year and the negotiations, everything about it has really been unconventional. and i think the approach taken certainly is an approach to keep the auto makers guessing, but it's keeping everyone else guessing as well. so as we look at the impact could be widespread depending on the duration. we're already starting to hear some other plants that would likely go down in the coming days. because of the plants on strike already, as that moves into the next stage, which we would expect if there isn't a settlement over the weekend, early next week we're likely to see the beginning of the next wave of these strikes, which each wave gets more severe and taking additional assembly down and ultimately cost ing the economy and the auto makers significant levels of money. >> how do you see the strategy with the union starting so limited in scope, but obviously, leaving the door open to expand the strike and affecting more and more plants. >> i suppose there's a couple tactics here. one, certainly, the limited strike initially is to send the signal they are willing to walk. and maybe get those new offers on the table. i think that's what we're starting to see is movement on the auto makers to increase their offers. what we haven't seen is a massive change from the union side in terms of finding that middle ground. i think this is likely the next stage we'll see as we see these additional offers come in. but it also gives them a lot of opportunity to navigate and adjust along the way and flexibility there. they have a significant strike fund. this is a way to protect that with the limited number of workers walking. >> your job is in collecting data and also forecasting. so what is your sense of how long this could go on? >> 2019 the strike against gm went 40 days. but i think as we led in the segment, this is a very different period. and unprecedented negotiations when looking at going after all three of the auto makers at the same time. essentially, getting them to compete with their offers and see who comes in first with the best offer and likely set the tone for the others. so this has the making because of the gap of going suggest cantly longer than that. the longer it goes, the more negative impact it is across the board. and ultimately, it affects consumers as well with availability and likely higherer prices. >> because we're all very much aware if you're in the market for a car during the pandemic, we saw just the microchip shortage impacting car sales. they skyrocketed to points where even used cars became hyperunaffordable. tell us about the consumer impact and at what point would consumers walking into a deal dealership, when they would see the impacts? >> this is limited so far. it's only going to impact the models assembled at those plants, but if you were to look at that across the industry, and if we were to see a more severe walkout, you're really looking at about 30 days before you see a significant impact at dealerships. the vehicle dealerships now, the situation with inventory, with vehicles on lot, it's improved, but it's nowhere near where it was prior to the pandemic. so the industry was in this period of recovery coming off the chip shortage and starting to really get some stride in getting vehicles back in dealers' lots and the hope was to see prices start to come down. this puts this all in jeopardy at this stage. >> in terms of negotiations, i'm not asking you to weigh in on the negotiations and how they are going, but the question is what could the realsistic middle ground be? we're hearing from the union. they have quite ambitious demands. a 40% wage increase over the next 4 years,en colluding a 4-day workweek at 40 hours a week pay. but on the flip side, we know as president biden noted, the auto industry has raked in record profits in 2022. but you also hear the argument from the auto maker that despite these high profits, ween can't afford to meet these uniunion's demands because it's going to cost a lot of money to make this transition to electric vehicles. so what can the industry afford? is that an accurate statement from the big three? >> i think there's accuracy on both sides of the negotiations right now. i don't think anyone that suggests that the uaw shouldn't participate in the profits that have happened in recent years. certainly, the current environment as you look forward, part of this is looking at the investment required for electrify indication. those are coming from the regulatory bodies that are saying the auto makers have to be electrified by a period of time. we look at 2030 and beyond. the numbers go up exponentially. there's a massive shift taking place in the industry from a cost standen point retrofitting or changing factories over. there's a lot at stake here. and certainly on the union side, there's likely less workers required for electrify indication because there are less parts involved, less moving parts. so there's certainly movement on both sides. if we look at it, we're likely to see something in the mid-20% range, maybe a little bit measure that. we're starting to see those offers get up close to that range. that's like ily where we'll want up, but it's going to come down to the union accept ing those offers as they come in. >> let's hope this is resolved before that 30-day period. thank you. still to come, hunter biden's lawyers speaking out on the new indictment against the president's son weeks after a plea deal fell apart. why he says this is all just politics. plus twitter gave at least 32 of trump's private mess. we'll discuss what this means for the federal subversion case. the latest on the fight against southern ukraine. where forces say they have achieved an important objective in their counteroffensivive. ononce alexandra called me to let me know that bank ofof america had approved my loan... it was important to me. we not only just provide the financing piece, we do everything that we can to surround them with the right people. all you 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should we expect to hear anything from the president about this? >> i think that's the only way the president, the white house feels they can respond to this. because in the eyes of republicans and this had overall case involving his son hunter has become s of separate and aw the legal issues. it's obviously his own justice department. it's a special counsel pursuing these charges. it's a personal, difficult issue for president biden. when he has been asked a little bit about his son's legal troubles, he has said he loves his son, supports his son, put he doesn't weigh in further. that's been sort of the standard, the mo of this administration when it comes to any pending criminals. they stay out of it and leave everything to the justice department. i think you'll see that going forward. >> let's turn to the uaw strike now. the president is on the side of the union, but is not endorsing the strike. he says record corporate profits should be record contracts. what should we know about this line the white house is walking? he's not going as far as some other congressional cdemocrats are going in support of the union. he's on their side, but not as far as others. away do we need to know? >> right. like you said, he does have this very careful line to navigate. the white house is very aware how much a prolonged or targeted strike can have. one of those strikes is in the state of michigan. a very critical political state for the president. it was critical in 2020. it will be critical again for him in 2024. but his remarks yesterday, he really went as far as he could in support of the workers beyond taking an explicit side. he sort of noted, he referred to the offers that the companies have made and basically said you have to do more. you have to go further. you are making record profits and the companies and workers should be allowed to share in that. but you see some unhappiness come ing from the union. you have the uaw president yesterday saying after those remarks that the white house is afraid. i'm not quite sure that's what the white house wanted to hear at that moment, but they do have a fine line to walk here. >> the unions have been disappointed when the president was in philly around labor day. he said i don't think there's going to be a strike. i don't feel there will be a strike. he had strong reaction from other democrats. does the white house envision there is some role for the president, for the administration in mediating a conclusion, some agreement here, and does his putting the finger on the scale impede that ability? >> in terms of mediating, no. the white house has made it clear that the negotiations are between the companies and the unions and the workers. and it's not like some of the other strikes we have seen in the past, where the white house does have a role where the president or his people can step in. so what they are doing is they are sending two top advisers to president biden. so you have an adviser in the white house, and acting labor secretary, they are going to be dispatched to michigan to sort of be there to help. they are there to provide information, to keep an eye on things, but they are not the negotiators here. the white house doesn't want to get involved in negotiations. they really want to just do whatever they can to encourage both sides to get a deal. >> up early for us on a saturday morning, we appreciate it. thank you. still to come, lauren boebert was booted from booet the juice. she was vaping in the theater disturbing others, and then she was etc. escorted out. she denied the vaping. we'll tell you what she's saying now. ♪ we're not t an airline, but our network connecects global businesses across nearly 160 0 markets. ♪ we're not a startutup, but our r innovation labs use new technologies to help keep your information secure. ♪ we're not architects, but we help build stronger communities. ♪ we're not just any bank. we are citi. ♪ automatically responds to snoring. so, no more hiding under your pillow. because this system actually detects snorgg. then adjusts to help reduce . for a limited time, save up to $700 on select tempur-pedic adjustable mattress sets. ♪ with fastsigns, brew signature flavor into every sip and sign. ♪ fastsigns. make your statement. oh, booking.com ♪ somewhere, anywhere... ♪ ♪ i just want to lie motionless in a chair! ♪ booking.com, booking.yeah ♪ ♪ okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. and it's all right here. streaming was never this easy, you know. this is the way. you really went all out didn't you? um, it's called commitment. could you turn down the volume? here, you can try. get way more into what your into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. that's why comcast business de is launching theal. mobile made free event. with our business internet, new and existing customers can get one year of unlimited mobile for free. it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities. morning showing congresswoman lauren boebert vaping inside a denver theater during a performance of beetlejuice musical after she was previously denied doing so. >> boebert was escorted from the theater after patrons complained about the vaping and taking flash photographs during the show causing a disturbance. the congresswoman is apologizing now for the incident. she says she fell short of her values. it was not her intention to mislead or to bring unwanted attention to the community. a batch of donald trump's twitter dm rz in the hands of the special counsel investigating the attempts to overturn the 2020 election. >> newly unsealed court filings show the social media company handed over 32 of the former president's direct messages after getting a search warrant earlier this year. cnn has more. >> the special counsel's team is really laying out a long list of reasons why they want the judge to step in immediately and order donald trump to stop making statements online and in person that could end up intimidating websites, court officials or even the jury pool. the special counsel did reveal on friday that numerous witnesses have faced threats and intimidation because of various statements from the donald trump. now they are asking the judge to do something about trump's words. they are laying it out this way saying the defendants repeated inflammatory public statements regarding the district of columbia, the court, prosecutors and potential witnesses are substantially likely to materially prejudice the jury pool, create fear among potential jurors and result in threats or harassment to individuals he singles out. simply, those involved in the criminal justice process who hear the inflammatory messages from court personnel to prosecutors to witness to potential jurors may reasonably fear they could be the next targets of the defendant's attacks. because of that, the special counsel wants the judge to issue an order restricting trump from making certain comments the special counsel really laid out a number of social media posts and comments from trump over recent weeks that have targeted not only the special counsel jack smith, but also former vice president mike pence and even an attorney on jack smith's team. now the judge has to make that determination. she already ordered trump to refrain from disparaging comments during his arraignment. now the special counsel does want want the judge to issue this official order in writing prohibiting trump from naming witnesses, making statements about them or really making any statements about anyone, including attorneys and maybe even potential jurors that are disparaging or intimidating this is significant request from the special counsel because even though the judge had warned trump once, this is really asking the judge to make this order ironclad against trump and there could be repercussions if he violates this order. >> thank you, jessica. tomorrow our special champions for change series begins. it features stories that the spotlight everyday people. these are not people making headlines, but they are smashing barriers and inspiring others to do the same. here's a look. >> it was about how many people can you help. >> join us for champions for change. >> i feel a source of inspiration. just coming together. >> as cnn journals spotlight the cham mangers who inspire them. >> she teaches you to breakthrough that fear to get to where you need to be. >> it turns out one human being can do a lot. >> she's opening a door for people that are desperate for freedom. >> these aren't throw away animals. these are precious beings. >> see how these champions use creativity, art and grit to lift society up. >> when the music starts, something happens. >> ien surround myself with positive people. they help me be that insprigs. >> champions for change. starting tomorrow on cnn. 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>> you guys are perfectly right. first of all, the ukrainians have indeed been focusing on crimea. we saw some of the long distance missile attacks and some drone attacks as well. that's an important front for the ukrainians, but the other two on the ground really are the ones in the south and the ones in the east. the south is tough going, but in the east, they have managed to win some pretty important b battles for them and win back some territory. the ukrainians say for them it's important because they are able to hit russian supply lines from there. here's what we're learning. ukrainian forces on the attack at the crack of dawn. troops ousted the russians from two villages on the eastern front in the past few days. one of the units involved releasing this video reportedly showing one of their drones hit ing a russian vehicle carrying an officer. ukraine attacking from the sea and air as well. this video showing unmanned sea drones trying to ramp a warship just hours after the ukrainians say they hit a russian sub and a landing ship in the key port as well as a sophisticated surface to air missile system all in occupied crimea. thank you for today's triumph, the ukrainian president says. the invaders air defense systems was destroyed v. very significant. well done. some residents seem increasingly concerned about ukraine's attacks both on the peninsula and the bridge that links to the mainland. when it was attacked for the first time, i was worried so much, this man says. nevertheless, russia is still strong. and he says times are turbulent now. of course, i'm worried, but in general, driving over the bridge is okay. under pressure, vladimir putin continues to court kim jong-un. kim vuting a plant that makes fighter jets during his ongoing trip to russia. while the russians claim no deals have been signed for the north koreans to provide ammo, he wants to deepen ties with pyongyang. we are not going to violate anything, putin says, but we will look for opportunities to develop relations. the russians touting their own military industry. the defense minister on a visit to a shipyard for nuclear submarines saying russia will not develop new nuclear submarines, but underwater drones as well. while the russians showcase their strategic weapons manufacturing, the ukraines say the forces are the ones with the initiative on almost all battle fronts. i was speaking earlier today to a presidential adviser here in kyiv. he said they understand that the counteroffensive they have launched is going somewhat slower than ukrainians had anticipated and slow than they want it to go, but the fact of the matter is right now the ukrainians have the initiative on all front lines. and the russians aren't advancing pretty much anywhere. so they say there is that. and small victories like the ones the ukrainians are talking about, those are important for the president volodymyr zelenskyy as he heads to the u.s. next week. but also heis meeting with president biden. the ukrainians wanting that u.s. support to continue. >> small victories also important for moral on the ground. appreciate you staying on top of this. thank you very much. still to come, lee is now a post tropical cyclone as it hits the northeast and the flight cancellations are piling up. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world. works hard at hour one and twice as hard when you take it again the next day. so betty can be the... barcode beat conductor. let's be more than our allergies! and for fast, allergy relief with a powerful decongestant, try zyrtec-d. and i saved hundreds. with the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. i was a bit nervous at first but then i figured it's just walking, right? 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