Youre killing an innocent child. A womans right to choose is critically important. I think we all need a voice to speak up and to take a stand. And no man should ever have any say in terms of our own bodies. And what we choose to do. I think its very important we vote for those who are going to support President Trump and his agenda. Make America Great again. A big variety there. Post a video to instagram telling us whats pushing you to the polls. Use the hashtag whyivotecnn. All right, top of the hour. Glad youre with us. Im poppy harlow in new york. Im jim sciutto. Florida governor rick scott is expected to update us on preparations for Hurricane Michael which scott is calling monstrous and in his words, the most destructive storm to threaten the florida panhandle
in decades. This morning, michael grew to a category 2. Its expected to reach category 3, which means 120 Miles Per Hour by the time the center hits the panhandle. Look a this graphic. This is going to show you, all of these counties under Evacuation Orders or advisories with just a few hours left for people and their pets to get out or stay put until it is over. We are tracking michael from every angle this morning. Lets begin with chad myers with more. As jim mentioned at the top, more warm water to go over. Thats the concern about the acceleration into a category 3. Thats how it got where we are right now. That water near cozumel is even two degrees warmer than what its in, and thats why it just snapped into action. Now, the good news is the Gulf Of Mexico isnt very big. So we dont have four more days to watch this thing turn into a cat5. By the time were talking about
landfall, somewhere between 24 and maybe 30 hours from right now, its going to gather more strength, but not as much as it could. It still could be a cat4, no question about that. This 120 is plus or minus 10 . Keep that in mind. So the direction is also 10 plus or minus east or west from panama city. Heres the storm in its full view, in visible satellite mode. 100mileperhour storm, but the Aircraft Flying through it did just find a 105mileperhour gust. Well see what they do with the storm at 11 00. So 120 Miles Per Hour, afternoon tomorrow, making landfall somewhere very close to panama city. It could be apalachicola, it could be to the left, maybe not Fort Walton Beach or destine but that area. The right side is always the worst. The left side, the winds are going to blow offshore. We do have winds getting to Tropical Storm force by tonight. 8 00 tonight, right there. Thats the last time youre
going to be able to get over some of these bridges. Dont wait until morning when the winds are blowing 60 because they may not let you over. Lots of power lines down. Widespread Power Outages with trees down, power lines down and a long time to actually get to put the power lines back up. 8 to 12foot storm surge. What does that mean . 12 feet of water in your home. Were talking about places like st. Marks where the land is pretty low. All of a sudden, that water is coming up, coming up, slowly, slowly, slowly, and you need to be out of there. Wind will hurt you, but water will kill you. If youre anywhere near the water, less than 12 feet above sea level, you need to go. A great representation of storm surge. Its hard for people to imagine. They think 12 feet is moving horizontally, but its moving up. Thats two of me. Thats a lot of water. Chad myers thanks very much. Dianne gallagher is on the beach at Panama City Beach, florida. What are you seeing . I can see the waves getting
rough behind you. But what are the preparations there like . Jim, really were starting to see the wind kick up. We had constant breeze thats kicked up in speed and in force over the past hour or so. Preparation wise, the best news is that were not seeing people out Walking On The Beach for the most part. Were seeing people pack up, leave hotels, right here along this strip. Panama city beach, those who are out here were watching Sandbagging Happening in condos. You can see the pier out here, farther out that you look, you can see a couple still Walking Around the shoreline. Most people, though, are getting last minute evacuation things in order, including a wedding. We actually had just within the past hour a couple, benny and cindy quinn, who were supposed to get married tomorrow afternoon, right when Hurricane Michael is supposed to roll in here. At Panama City Beach. They moved it up so they can get inland. Theyre going toward alabama now
to begin their honeymoon. They said they didnt have a choice, and thats the best thing people can do. Move your plans up and get out. Chad just said the wind will hurt you, water will kill you. Thats what the people here in Panama City Beach are trying to make sure that everyone understands. Now, were dealing with fuel issues already. A lot of the gas stations are either low on or have run out of fuel overnight. They were expecting some shipments to come in to help with these Evacuation Procedures here, but look, the highway is getting off the island, youre going to expect long lines. Give yourself some time. The best way to do this is to get out now. Good advice. Hope everyone heeds it. Thank you. On the phone with us now is the mayor of panama city. Thank you for being with us, mayor. Whats your biggest concern right now . Biggest concern now is that people are complacent because in the past we had a lot of storms that were didnt really turn
out to be much of a storm, so they say, see, all these scare tactics. They said this, they said that, and look, nothing happened. So you know, were fortunate. If nothing happens this time, wouldnt it be wonderful . But we have to prepare for the worst. And all indications are it has not gotten any better since last night, so its going to get worse. And the storm surge is going to get to a point, the wind is going to get to a point that if people decide, well, im staying, and something happens to them, First Responders will not be able to get to them. So im not trying to fearmonger, im trying to let people know to be realistic. That if you that now is the time. The gas stations that were out of gas last night, they have gas today. I went by several of them. So now is the time. We ask people to leave at first light this morning. And we asked visitors yesterday so that it wouldnt clog up the roads for our constituents to go ahead and go. So we want to keep people safe. Number one priority of government and the only way we can keep you safe is mayor, all right. Thanks very much. Were going to stay on that story. We have Breaking News now just in to cnn. This is cnn Breaking News. Were learning new details now. This just coming out as we speak. But reports that nikki haley, of course, the u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. , has resigned. And that the president has accepted her resignation. This being reported by axios first, and were waiting for response from the white house now. Again, nikki haley, the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations has resigned. Were getting our reporters on this. Look, this is someone who was highly critical of the president during the campaign. But then when she took this post, she has been an ardent defender of the president , so much so that just last month,
after that anonymous Opinion Piece was written about the president in the New York Times, she wrote a separate Opinion Piece in the Washington Post lambasting them and said, look, when i disagree with the president , i take it directly to the president. She wrote then, i dont agree with the president on everything. When there is a disagreement, theres a right way and a wrong way to address it. We dont know what it is that led to her resignation. Was it a disagreement . Was it something personal . Was it serving for two years and that being enough time . We dont know, but again, a huge development. And to be clear, this is axios that is reporting this, and that the president has accepted this. As we wait for comment from the white house, one of the areas of disagreement between the u. N. Ambassador, nikki haley, and the president , in Public Comments has been on toughness in the face of russia. Russian interference in the election, russian activities Around The World, in ukraine and elsewhere. Nikki haley has not been shy by
any means about voicing those concerns in public from the seat, the u. S. Seat at the u. N. Security council and elsewhere in terms that the president , that this president has not used, rarely if ever used to describe russia and the russian president. Again, we dont know what the background about this, whether it was a disagreement or some other reason, but those public disagreements have been very clear cut. Look, she has stood behind the administration and the president on action when it comes to russia. She will point to the sanctions that were passed unanimously in congress and then signed by the president. But in terms of rhetoric, when shes sitting there at the u. N. With her counterparts, shell go further than the president will go on russia. Looking at the president s Foreign PolicyNational Security team, you know, to the extent at any point you had something of a team of rivals here, folks in there with power and with the occasional taking the occasional option of disagreeing with the president in public, several of
those have now left. H. R. Mcmaster, National Security adviser, replaced by john bolton, more in line with the president on a number of things. So from the view of the outside of the United States, youll often hear from foreign diplomats among u. S. Allies that people like nikki haley have made them feel more comfortable about their relationship with the u. S. On key National Security issues. As you see folks like that leave, you know the reaction from others abroad will be a nervous one. Lets bring in our colleague, mark preston, with more on this. Mark, one other thing i was thinking of, nikki haley has taken a lot of questions and heat from some about the president s comments on women. For example. And she being a very senior female in the administration, has stood by him. I have been at off the record events and Background Events hearing nikki haley supporting the president even in some of the most sort of dramatic times and moments of turmoil for the president. What is your read on this and are you hearing anything about why and why now . Well, a couple things. One is, to your point, it has shown how astute of a politician nikki haley has been. Certainly in these past couple years of the Trump Administration. Shes been able to walk that fine line and be able to address some of these very tough issues but yet not necessarily address them and be hypercritical of the president. Jim was talking to, when you talk about foreign issues as well, shes been very tough on russia, but at the same time, it hasnt appeared as if she was breaking with her boss necessarily, maybe just reaffirming what the administration would like our allies to hear and not necessarily what President Trump said. But at the same time, shes also very young. She was not a trump person initially. She supported marco rubio, the florida senator, for the republican president ial nomination. Mark preston, if i could interrupt you there for a moment because this was first reported by axios. This has been confirmed by a
white house official to jim acosta. Cnn has the same reporting. Nikki haleys departure, resignation, President Trump accepting that resignation. Sorry, i interrupted you. Go ahead. I wanted to point out, she certainly was one of these folks who came into the cabinet who was not a loyalist in the campaign. When he became the nominee, by and large, the whole party got behind President Trump. But shes not somebody who was necessarily by his side from the beginning. Look, shes done her couple years. Perhaps she just wants to get out of the fire. You couldnt blame her for it. You would have thought if thats the point, there may have been some indication or something leading up to this. Any sort of comments from the president or her. Two quick things. Shes in the west wing. We know that. Our colleague is reporting that. Shes in the west wing. She walked by reporters who asked can you confirm you resigned . She did not respond to that. Elise labott is on the phone with us. Can you hear us . I can. And elise, you have interviewed nikki haley. You know this top to bottom. What can you tell us . Well, look. Poppy, it comes as a surprise, i think, that she would do it now. Were so close to the midterms. And if anything, nikki haley is a Republican Party loyalist. Shes a true conservative, and you know, her aides said that she was constantly assessing what her role was in the administration. She seemed to have the ear of the president in some ways. The president let her do some of the things that she thought were very important, like i went and traveled with her to africa to visit refugees in south sudan, ethiopia, the democratic republic of congo. She also did the same in syria and turkey. She was very interested in u. N. Reform and the president kind of let her take the ball with that. But at the same time, she disagreed with the president on other issues. Elise, im going to apologize for interrupting you here. We have reaction from the white house to this. Please stand by. Abby phillip is at the white house. Abby, what are you hearing from the white house . Hey, jim and poppy. At the white house here, we are expecting to see President Trump and nikki haley in the oval office shortly. White House Press SecretarySarah Sanders says they will appear together at 10 30 this morning in the oval office. My colleague, jeremy diamond, just saw nikki haley. You just mentioned that on air. Just saw her in the west wing. Shes in the building. She declined to answer any questions about her fate, but i think its notable that if this is in fact the moment in which the president acknowledges her resignation, announces it to the world, its a sign that they are trying to show a sign of unity or at least an amicable departure from the administration, but i have to say, jim and poppy, this is an interesting time for nikki haley to make this decision. President trump is coming off an extraordinarily good week. He just had a Supreme Court justice confirmed, just did his victory lap at the white house last night. Great economic news, but to be losing basically a cabinet level
official at this stage in his administration, 28 days before the midterm elections, is something that i think will raise a lot of eyebrows here in washington. But we will hear and see from them, themselves, in just a few minutes, in about 15 minutes. Reporters will by allowed in the room, according to Sarah Sanders. More than raise a lot of eyebrows. It will cause concerns. There are a number of foreign, and apologize to our viewers, as we look, were getting messages on our phones, on our computers from folks reacting to this, but the view from abroad but also from other National Security circles here in the u. S. Will be one of concern because they have seen Ambassador Haley as something of a voice of reason and also someone who is willing to stand up on key National Security issues, particularly russia, but not just russia. Human rights issues, et cetera, in a way they have not consistently heard from the president himself. As we bring mark preston back into the conversation, when it
comes to human rights abuses Around The World, where nikki haley has gone further than the president , case in point, relevant this week, saudi arabia. Shes called out publicly saudi arabia on human rights. The president did not choose to do that when it comes to the question of what happens to jamal khashoggi, the journalist. Also an area where she has previously broken with the president , you mentioned russia importantly, in terms of going farther in rhetoric, is obsexual assault. Back in December 2017 when the president s accusers were coming forward, she said all of the accusers, including the president s accusers, quote, should be heard. Look at what the president has said in the past few days about dr. Blasey ford. We dont know why shes resigning. Im just pointing out areas where she has publicly disagreed with the president. Mark. Well, so a couple things. One is look what you just went through, just think of the level of exhaustion you would have if you were a high level cabinet secretary, specifically one that often has to go to World Leaders and try to walk back the
comments, the statements, the remarks of the commander in chief of the United States. Not just her. We see this with jim mattis, sure, same with mike pompeo. Just an incredible exhaustion level. We dont necessarily know why shes leaving. We would see certainly cabinet officials leaving around this time. We saw marc shor