several developments on the mystery still surrounding the omicron coronavirus variant. at least 19 countries now have confirmed cases of the variant, which has spread to five continents. this morning japan is taking a major step after reporting its first case, shutting down its borders to all foreign travelers. the south african doctor who was one of the first treat patients sick with this new variant calls travel bans an overreaction, especially since there is so much we still don t know. listen. i think it was an overreaction. i do understand that there s a lot of mutations in this virus. i do understand that it might be much more far spreading than the delta variant. people say yes, but i m trying to protect my people. so then the question would be how doon it s not in your country yet? how do you know that a lot of those infections that you are currently seeing that is severe, how do you know it s not related to the omicron? how do you know? here in the united states,
just moments ago making landfall in cuba. the storm is over the island s western tip as a major category 3 hurricane with a storm surge that had been forecast up to 14 feet. within hours ian will bear down on florida s west coast with high winds, heavy rains. what really has officials worried in florida and urgently calling for mass evacuations is a huge storm surge expected to peak tomorrow. tampa bay is pretty shallow and is going to be pushing a phenomenal amount of rain up into our bay. there s really no place for this water to go so the flooding, the surge is going to be monumental. while we talk about tampa bay, we really need to focus on the warned area and why the hurricane center is so worried about storm surge is this is some of the most vulnerable coast line in the united states with high populations. meteorologist pedram javaheri is live in the weather center with the latest update. they ve published a new outlook a minute and a half ago. what are they sayin
we ll read from that new piece. so much different legal angles are percolating with the jan. 6 and other issues with the election. good morning. welcome to morning joe. it is friday, july 8th. with us, the host of way too early and politico s jonathan lemire. associate editor of the washington post, eugene robinson. and we begin with the breaking news. former japanese prime minister shinzo abe is dead after being shot twice this morning. officials is say abe was campaigning for a candidate ahead of japan s upcoming house of counselors elections, where he was shot from behind, once in the back and the other in the neck, with what appeared to be a homemade gun. this happened in the city of nara, about 20 miles southeast of osaka. the chaos from the shooting and the subsequent takedown of the man police say carried out the attack was all caught on camera. and we warn you, some of this video may be incredibly disturbing. [ speaking foreign language ] abe was immediately