12:30 Report — Florida braces for Hurricane Milton

by Elizabeth Crisp - 10/08/24 12:32 PM ET

12:30 REPORT

It’s Tuesday, Oct. 8, and Florida is bracing for another devastating storm less than a month from Election Day. Here’s what’s on tap today:

Hurricane Milton could be the worst storm to hit Florida in decades.
Bob Woodward returns with more revelations about President Biden and former President Trump.
Trump dodges “60 Minutes” while Vice President Harris takes part in serious solo interview.

I’m Elizabeth Crisp, filling in for Cate, with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send me your tips: ecrisp@digital-release.digital-release.thehill.com and follow me on X @elizabethcrisp. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

🔵 Talk of The Morning

Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida as potentially catastrophic storm:

Florida is bracing for Hurricane Milton’s arrival late Wednesday or early Thursday morning, with forecasters warning that it could be the strongest storm to strike the state in a century.

Evacuation orders are in effect for the Tampa region, ahead of a possible 8- to 12-foot storm surge. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) also has warned that debris from Hurricane Helene could pose an additional threat.

Bracing for the huge storm, President Biden signed an emergency declaration Monday for Florida. He was scheduled to receive an updated briefing this morning.

Experts have warned that the threat is very real, due to the rapid intensification of the storm as it churns in the Gulf.

“A large area of destructive storm surge will occur along parts of the west coast of Florida on Wednesday,” the National Hurricane Center wrote in its assessment. “This is an extremely life-threatening situation, and residents in those areas should follow advice given by local officials and evacuate immediately if told to do so.”

It is expected to create flooding in low-lying areas of the state, with as much as 15 inches of rain and “devastating hurricane-force winds.”

So scary: Tampa Mayor Jane Castor urged residents to evacuate, saying the consequences if they don’t are dire. “I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” Castor said.

Helene recovery efforts marred in misinformation:

Misinformation is becoming a major issue as people across six states set out on the recovery from Hurricane Helene.

President Biden, Vice President Harris and others have blamed former President Trump and his allies for the spread of misinformation that could harm the efforts.

NewsNation has a comprehensive breakdown of false claims and the truth.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had a combative exchange with a Fox News reporter during Monday’s press briefing over the issue, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has put up billboards across North Carolina blasting Trump over his recovery commotion.

“The Biden-Harris administration is working day and night with officials on the ground – be they Republicans or Democrats – to support impacted communities and help them recover,” DNC spokesperson Maddy Mundy said in a statement. “North Carolinians deserve a leader who will fight for them, not capitalize off of their suffering for cheap political points.”

📖 White House

Woodward’s new book has all the tea:

Legendary journalist Bob Woodward is back with yet another revealing look at former President Trump and President Biden, and it’s a doozy.

Woodward’s latest book, “War,” weaves together the story of “three wars —Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency.” It’s due to be released Oct. 15.

CNN got ahold of an advanced copy, and here are some of the eye-popping details:

🔹 It’s been reported that Biden has butted heads with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and failed efforts to negotiate a cease-fire. But it’s really bad.

“That son of a b—-, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad f—— guy!” Biden reportedly said this spring, based on Woodward’s reporting.

🔹 Trump helped a fearful Russian President Vladimir Putin out during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with a secret shipment of personal testing machines, but Putin didn’t want people to know it.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin said to Trump, according to Woodward. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”

🔹 AND … Trump has remained in contact with the Russian leader, who Biden despises.

“According to Trump’s aide, there have been multiple phone calls between Trump and Putin, maybe as many as seven in the period since Trump left the White House in 2021,” Woodward writes in the book, according to CNN’s report.

🔹 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a golfing buddy of Trump, has some thoughts on how the former president is treated.

“Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea,” Graham reportedly said. “Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.”

🔹 Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has a bag of dozens of burner phones to contact various leaders, including Trump and the Biden administration.

🔹 Former President George W. Bush called Biden after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“Oh boy, I can understand what you’re going through,” Bush reportedly told the president. “I got f—ed by my intel people, too.”

Note: The Trump campaign and Biden allies have already denied several of the details in the book.

🗳 On The Campaign Trail

Harris media blitz:

Vice President Harris revealed several details about her shifting policy positions and run for president during her highly anticipated solo interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Monday.

Here are some highlights:

🔹 Harris defended the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border — a key election issue.

“It’s a long-standing problem, and solutions are at hand. From day one, literally, we have been offering solutions,” she said. “We need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem,”

🔹 Harris said she would not negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine without Ukraine’s involvement.

“There will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the U.N. charter participating in what that success looks like,” she said. “Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine.”

🔹 Harris elaborated on the handgun she owns.

“I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time,” she said, adding that she “of course” has fired it at a shooting range.

Note: The news program also requested a sit-down interview with former President Trump, but his team declined amid a long-standing feud with the program.

Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said on X that “there were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in.” He blamed past reports from “60 Minutes” and the network’s plan to fact-check the candidate during the interview.

BUT: “60 Minutes” brought out the “receipts 👏 proof 👏 timeline 👏 screenshots 👏” to show the back-and-forth that ultimately ended without an agreement from Trump to take part.

Harris appeared on ABC’s “The View” this morning, and shock jock Howard Stern will get a turn to interview her during his SiriusXM radio program this afternoon. She will appear on CBS’s “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” this evening.

Meanwhile: Trump railed against immigrants and Jewish voters who don’t support him during an appearance on the Hugh Hewitt show Monday, prompting rebuke from the White House.

Walzing along: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, made his late-night TV debut Monday with an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

🐝 Internet Buzz

🐙 It’s World Octopus Day! (Octo. 8, as in the ocean-dwelling cephalopod’s name and its eight limbs … Get it?). Here are some fascinating facts to octopi your time, courtesy of Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

🚯 Somebody call the clean-up crew: A photo of the aftermath of Trump’s rally over the weekend has gone viral, racking up thousands of reposts and favorites on social media.

⏪ Throwback Tuesday: The popular X account “Washington Problems” took followers on a trip down D.C. memory lane, with a prompt about things that no longer exist in the District.

👧🏻 Speaking out: Oscar-winning actress Sally Field, who has endorsed Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign, revealed in an Instagram video that she had an illegal abortion when she was 17 years old.

🌹 Free fallin’: The White House’s annual fall garden tours will take place this weekend. The timed tours, scheduled between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, are free but tickets are required.

📆 On The Agenda

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Wisconsin and then heading to Pennsylvania. Vice President Harris is in New York. All times Eastern. (all times Eastern)

1 p.m.: Vice President Harris sits down for an interview with Howard Stern on his SiriusXM Howard 100 channel.
1:45 p.m.: President Biden speaks on his administration’s “progress in replacing lead pipes and creating good-paying jobs” at an event in Milwaukee.
2 p.m.: GOP vice presidential candidate Ohio JD Vance campaigns in Detroit.
5 p.m.: Former first lady Melania Trump will do a live, in-person interview with Fox News’s “The Five.”
6:45 p.m.: Biden campaigns for Pennsylvania Bob Casey (D) in Montgomery County, Pa.
9:30 p.m.: Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Tim Walz campaigns in Reno, Nev.
11 p.m.: Harris appears on CBS’s “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”