Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, October 7, 2024

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, we're live from Florida, Hurricane Milton, barreling towards the state, reaching rare Category 5 strength. The monster hurricane threatening the region with catastrophic conditions. Milton intensifying before it unleashes major destruction and devastates areas just hit by Hurricane Helene. The urgent effort underway to clear the debris left from that storm. And we hear from those on the ground preparing for horrific floods, widespread power outages, and even tornadoes. Meteorologists Bill Karen standing by with the latest track and timing. Also tonight, the emergency evacuations in progress as millions escape before the hurricane makes landfall. Officials even opening up the shoulder of several highways to help get people out.

Airports shutting down and major universities closing their campuses, grocery store shelves left completely empty as people prepare to hunker down. Marking the October 7th attacks, One year later in Israel, people remembering those killed in the massacre. The country and the world wheeling in grief 12 months to the day that triggered one of the deadliest conflicts in the Middle East. The memorials as bombs could be heard in Lebanon and the protests back in the U.S. Tensions rising as demonstrations grow on college campuses. Warnings ignored. IDF soldiers who monitored the Israel-Gaza border say they sounded the alarm before the October 7th attack, but their repeated concerns went unheard.

We speak with one of the soldiers about the Hamas practice raids and mock abductions she observed. And why she thinks her fellow soldiers cries for help fell on deaf ears. Back at home, the FDA recalling eggs across the country, the serious health risks, even the risk of death if consumed, what you should look out for. Plus, we're speaking to officials on the ground here in Florida. Their urgent warnings as Milton tracks closer to the coast. Top story starts right now. And good evening, top story coming to you live tonight from the Tampa Bay Area. Not even two weeks after Hurricane Helene slammed the Big Ben region and these communities.

The state is gearing up for another powerful and catastrophic hurricane. Hurricane Milton, one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded, reaching Cat 5 strength in under 24 hours. Right now, we are in Madeira Beach, northwest of St. Petersburg and south of Clearwater, just one of many communities still cleaning up, grappling in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. In a few moments, we'll hear from one woman in disbelief that she'll have to relive this nightmare situation once again. And just behind me here, you see the piles of debris. And take a closer look. These are people's possessions and parts of their homes. And piles like this are all over the Gulf Coast.

People are afraid it's going to make the storm search more dangerous. And if it's not picked up, add projectiles to the air with those hurricane. force wins. Milton, startling even meteorologists, as the storm explosively intensified in the Gulf rapidly reaching Cat 5 strength in under 24 hours. The latest cone shows Tampa taking a direct hit, a disastrous scenario for the city that could see the worst hurricane in more than a century. We speak with the mayor of Tampa shortly about how they're preparing and how this major city is getting ready to face this hurricane. That hurricane threatening coastal areas with life-threatening storm surge. Some areas could see up to 15 feet of water rising to the top of a typical

single-story home. Destructive winds could spawn tornadoes. The already waterlogged state could see intense flash floods, inundating cars, and triggering water rescues. And it could knock out power to millions. Mass evacuation efforts are already underway. These are live pictures tonight from Polk County, Florida. Look at the traffic jam there. This is a parking lot on Interstate 4 heading east. Highways completely jammed as residents. head north to flee the storm. Officials even opening up the breakdown lane on some highways to ease traffic. But one of the main concerns, as we mentioned earlier, all that debris, take a look at this. Crews are racing against the clock to clean up from Hurricane Helene,

our drone over Madeira Beach showing the piles of debris lining street after street, and there are countless neighborhoods that look just like this. We do want to reiterate that this storm is not exactly like past storms. It is shaping up to be historic and potentially unprecedented. Milton is currently the strongest storm in the Gulf of Mexico in nearly two decades. And as we mentioned, it underwent an explosive intensification, an alarming term rarely used as the storm jumped from a cat 1 to a cat 5 in just 18 hours. Milton will go down as one of the strongest hurricanes on record. With roughly 48 hours until landfall, airports announcing their stopping operations until the storm passes and grocery stores, as you saw, cleaned out as people are hunkering down, getting whatever supplies they may need. We have a lot to get to tonight, but we want to start with NBC meteorologist, Bill Karens, who's been tracking Milton closely.

And, Bill, we start with you tonight. Walk us through what we can expect over the next several hours and days. All right, Tom, we're 48 hours and maybe six hours on top of that away from landfall. So that's going to put us into Wednesday night, into Thursday, somewhere close to midnight is the latest estimate. So we still have time for things to change. You know, 48 hours, the forecast air is typically about 50, 60 miles. So we have wiggle room. Right now is pointed right at Tampa.

It's worst-case scenario for Tampa Bay. But that doesn't necessarily mean 100% that's going to happen. But what we do know is that somewhere on the west coast of Florida, you're going to have a crippling storm. I mean, storm surge has never been seen before besides what Ian did in Fort Myers, because it could be something similar. So 180 miles per hour, top 10, one of the strongest we've ever.

The record is 190. We think with this next update, we may go up to 185, which would put it in the top five storms ever measured in the Atlantic Basin. The pressure was just measured at 890. That's just a number probably doesn't mean much to anyone. It's extremely rare to go under 900. That would make it the fourth strongest storm ever measured on land or a hurricane hunter plane flying through it.

So this is the forecast path. The storm is as strong as it's going to get right now. It's already starting to push a ton of water towards Florida and then it's going to gradually begin to be less intense. So still going to be a category three or four, likely, at landfall. Not what it is now, thankfully. I mean, right now it's one of the strongest storms. you'll ever see. So we're going to watch these squiggly lines over the next 48 hours so closely

because the worst wind damage will be right where the squiggly lions make landfall. These are like our computers telling us we're different, you know, where the center of the storm will be. South of these lines is where the worst storm surge would be. North of these lines, hardly any storm surge at all. So right now it would be Tampa would be high winds, storm surge through the bay. Not too bad north of Tampa with the surge, definitely some strong winds. But south Sarasota, that area would have horrific. amounts of storm surge. So that's the key, Tom. Right now we're watching all of these little model lines and how they're going to change over the next 48 hours. It's the difference between your town being destroyed or maybe just some wind damage. Yeah, the next couple of days are

going to be so important in tracking that storm. I do want to ask you some viewers at home maybe watching this and they may be a little confused, right? Bill, because usually when we cover these hurricanes, they get stronger as they get to the coast. Explain what's happening here. Why, It seems, and we know Milton's going to be a monster, but why does it seem to either slow down or be not as powerful as it makes landfall? Yeah, well, the last couple storms got much stronger as we went towards landfall. So the first thing, the last storm made landfall up here in the Big Bend. Notice we don't even have many rain threats up here in Georgia, South Carolina, up into North Carolina. You're good.

So here's a map I don't show very often. It's kind of technical. This is the water vapor imagery. It shows kind of like the humidity in the air. Obviously, there's the hurricane, shown them the green and the yellows. of this red is dry air, the enemy of hurricanes. As this gets stronger and begins to turn towards Florida, we think some of this dry air is going to get sucked into the storm. And that's why we think Milton is going to begin to lose steam. In addition to that, some upper level wind shear is going to

knock it off. So yes, right now it's this powerful category five. As it gets to Florida, the center, the eye may weaken, but the storm is going to grow in size. Look how much bigger it is with the wind field. So just because of Tom, it's going to get, you know, from a five, possibly with three or four, that wind field expands, almost covering the entire state of Florida. So power outages will occur well away from the center. All right, Bill, we're going to check in with you a little later in the broadcast. We thank you for that. Here on the west coast of Florida, it's a race against time to get out of Milton's path. People in at least six counties have been ordered to evacuate as communities braced for potentially

devastating storm surge and crews rushing to get that debris left by Hurricane Helene secured before round two takes aim. Tonight in Florida residents facing mountains of debris from one hurricane and now another monster storm barreling towards them the second time in less than two weeks and this one may be even more catastrophic and you're you always worry but this one there's something about this one that I'm feeling very uneasy about with Hurricane Milton strengthening to a dangerous category five at least six counties have issued mandatory evacuation orders if you remain there you could die my men and women could die trying to rescue you highways are

clawed with people fleeing inland on nbc 6 south florida meteorologist john morales reporting on milton's intensification it has dropped 50 milligrams in 10 hours um i apologize this is just horrific that rapid intensification fueled by climate change just like like Helene before it. The remnants from Helene, broken furniture and down trees are still everywhere. This creates a safety hazard, and it also will increase the damage that Milton could do with flying debris. Florida's governor has called it a debris removal mission, asking counties to work nonstop to get rid of all this junk, even ordering waste and landfill sites to stay open through the night. All over the Gulf Coast, they're getting ready, including at Tampa General.

This video went viral during Helene, facilities chief Dustin Pasteur checking the aqua fence as it kept Tampa Bay from entering hospital rooms. He hopes it's strong enough for Milton. 12 feet with a high tide gets us very close to our limit here and so that's a little concerning if that's actually what we see. In nearby Madeira Beach, we were with Abby Lewis as an emergency notification went off telling her to evacuate, Helene took her home and Milton may take more. How do you keep it together?

Because I was just looking over there. I saw it looked like maybe a baby photo of you. Like when you as a little girl, I mean, you're picking this stuff up and now you got to escape. The first time that tears actually fell was pulling out my first box of Fulfed photos. And then once I opened that first box, I released a little steam, right? I was able to cry slightly and then get right back at it. You know, you just can't fall into that feeling if you're going to make it. You don't even have time to cry.

Well, you can't, no. No. So that'll be like after Milton or what's to follow. And there are so many across Florida, just like Abby, who are preparing for this yet second hurricane to hit them. For more on the preparations for Hurricane Milton, I'm joined tonight by the mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, who has declared a state of emergency for her city.

Mayor, we thank you for speaking with us once again here on Top Story. to remind our viewers. We had you on the show less than two weeks ago just before Helene made landfall. The latest track has Milton heading right towards your beautiful city. Have you ever seen anything like this back-to-back storms and one with so much fury like Milton? I've born and raised in Tampa, been here 64 years. I never saw anything like Helene. And now to have back-to-back storms, and Milton, as you have heard, is just a monster. And so we're doing what we can to prepare for this storm. As you saw, the household waste, the debris, we're working around the clock to get that picked up.

But we probably will run out of time. One of our contractors just didn't show up. And so we're doing all we can, all hands on deck with our city personnel, bringing in private contractors, There's anybody and everybody, neighbors helping neighbors, just to get that household debris out of the way so that Milton doesn't pick it up and use it as a weapon. Yeah, I got to tell you, I was out there with one of the crews today in Tampa, and they were working hard. They told me they thought they could get the job done, but, I mean, there are countless

neighborhoods where you see these mountains of trash and garbage. It's all the debris from Hurricane Helene. How much, if you have any idea of how much of a percentage you think they'll be able to attack? think there'll still be 15, 20% of it left around, or you have no idea? No, I would say less than 10, probably around 5%. We had three areas. We have 126 miles of coastline in the city of Tampa. So we had three neighborhoods that were really devastated by Helene and the water damage. You know, we had very little wind damage. So we're doing everything we can to get that picked up. We'll get close, but there's going to be a few of those piles that we're just not going to make it to by the time the winds, the tropical storm level winds hit us.

Mayor, we were out there Tampa General today, and we saw the aqua fence up close. It was incredible how that protected the hospital during Hurricane Helene. But I was speaking with the facilities manager there, and he told me he's concerned about the wind strength from Hurricane Milton. I mean, the physics of this thing, really, it's not complicated, right? The water comes in, it anchors the wall up because of the weight of the water. But he said, listen, if there's a 12-foot storm surge at high tide, it could be a different story. Are you confident this is going to hold up? It really actually is incredible technology.

It is incredible technology. And the president of Tampa General is a good friend of mine, John Corrus, and we're on the phone all the time. And I talk to him about this. And he said it literally saved their hospital. I kind of wish I had one of those aqua fences that would go around the entire Tampa Bay area. But again, everything has its limits, and it's 12 feet. So if it goes to 12 feet and it's at high tide, that's going to overwhelm that fence. Hopefully it will hold and it will hold the majority of the water away from our major hospital in the city of Tampa.

What kind of reports are you getting from your first responders? Are people evacuating the barrier islands, the zones that needed to be evacuated? People are evacuating. You know, we've had so many near misses that people became sort of complacent. And that's what happened with Helene. You know, we told everybody to evacuate. I gave the evacuation order. And there were people that stayed in those neighborhoods.

And about midnight, when the surge came in, they started calling for help. And we had to send our first responders out in John Brown. boats, you know, down the streets, picking up people and pets. But that was, you know, six to eight feet. We're talking about 12 feet or above possibly coming in at high tide. But I tell you what, the collaboration is really like none other that I have seen. We have local, county, state, federal. Everybody is working together. I just got off the phone with President Biden. He called me on my cell phone. Anything at all that we can do for you, what resources. The administrator of FEMA was here today, rode around with me for a while, went over to the barrier islands to check on

them. The Governor DeSantis, Kevin Guthrie, everybody is working to do what we can to prepare for what is going to be a catastrophic storm. Did you ask the president for any type of assistance? Anything in particular? The one thing I asked, I said, you know, if there's any way that you could get some more of the debris, I don't know if that's going to happen. We just did like we do in Tampa,

and we took it upon ourselves, and we went out, called for anyone with a lightning loader. We did emergency contracts, and we were able to get the vast majority of that household debris off of the streets. And then finally, what's your message to the people of the Tampa Bay Area? My message is he this warning. This literally is a difference between life and death. So, you know, you don't have to go far.

You've heard it 100 times that, you know, you run from the wind and, and, and, you know, I mean, run from the water and hide from the wind. So people don't have to go far. They just need to get inland. They have got to get out of the path of that storm surge. And this is going to be something that people haven't seen here. And Helene, many people that had never seen that type of water that have lived here their entire life. Our community is strong.

Tampa will rise up from this, and we will come back better and strong. after this horrendous hurricane. Mayor Castor, we will be thinking about you, and we hope that is true, and we'll be here every step of the way with you. Good luck. I know you're facing a very, very major test right now. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Over in Bradenton, the city bracing for a potentially devastating impact, Hurricane Milton expected to bring a record-level storm surge of up to 15 feet. Officials there ordering mandatory evacuations for residents. I want to bring in Jesse Kirsch tonight, who's reporting live, our top story, just outside of Sarasota there. So, Jesse, that community is just south of where we were, and we are tonight. And if Milton sort of threads the needle between Sarasota and Tampa, that could be devastating for areas like Bradenton and Sarasota, anything south of the storm because of that storm surge. Yeah, no question, Tom. And we were out on an outer island area, if you will, in Sarasota earlier, known as St. Armand Circle.

And we were seeing homes that had water levels around my waste level from Haleen. And we were expecting possibly around twice as high of a storm surge with this storm. I just spoke a short time ago with public safety team here in Manatee County, which is just north of Sarasota. And their message, bottom line, if you've been asked to evacuate, heed those warnings similarly echoing the message we just heard from the mayor in Tampa. You cannot beat that water. The official I spoke was said she doesn't like to say anything is impossible. But, you know, no question that you are really taking a chance with your life if you try to stay out near the water in this storm, Tom. And then, Jesse, on that point, are you seeing people, I mean, you've been all over, you've seen people get out of Sarasota, get out of that area?

I have to say, the downtown itself was relatively calm, but I can tell you, Tom, and I know, obviously, you and I've both been in multiple storms this year. And when we come to town, right, we're doing what everyone else is doing. We're buying water. We're buying non-perishable food. We're getting gas. And I think what I noticed this time around is coming into town, it seemed like those items were harder to find earlier compared to what we have seen at other storms during this season. I just think this one has people rattled in a way. And honestly, I think that's a good thing.

It has people taking those warnings seriously, hopefully, and getting out of town. But I can tell you, in downtown Sarasota is mostly calm. There's a lot of debris all over the place, just like we saw in the piece you just shared with us. And I can tell you, even in areas that had been cleared out, I'm seeing shards of glass on the ground. I saw the lid for a pot you would boil water in on the stove. There is all kinds of trash all over the place, and who knows what that is going to do in the air and how it could propel the storm surge even more, Tom.

Yeah, we hope they picked that all up. All right, Jesse Kerch first. Jesse, we appreciate all that. We want to move a little further south to the Naples area right now where communities there will feel the effects of Hurricane Milton. There's no doubt about that. And the further south you are from the storm sometimes, as we mentioned, could be even more dangerous.

They're in Naples. They're already declaring a state of emergency, and there are mandatory evacuations in certain areas. Tracking those developments for us tonight on the ground. NBC's Dana Griffin, who joins us now live. Dana, when do those mandatory evacuations go into effect as we see the rain coming down from a separate system where you are tonight? Yeah, so Tom, those mandatory evacuations here in Naples goes into effect starting tomorrow morning, Tuesday, at 6 a.m. And that is for zones A and B, mostly along the coast.

When you think about whether or not people are taking this seriously, I want to point out one thing. There's a guy behind me in the water surfing. There's actually a few of them. You may see him there. He just went over a wave. We've seen several people come out here today trying to take advantage of these waves before Milton hits. But even just a block over, I spoke to a resident who was in the evacuation zone. He has lived through Hurricane Ian, and he talked about what he plans to do for this storm.

It's going to be a little bit different than what he did in years past. I am not taking this lightly. I am prepping, but I am not with Ian. I was staying no matter what, right? In hindsight, I think, was the right decision. I'm going to watch the news very, very closely, right? And if the thing starts shifting this way, I do have a plan in place. And that plan is to go to his brother's house who has higher elevation.

He's got an apartment, so he feels he'll be safe there. but he says he is not sticking around. He says even for his relatives and friends who are living along this coast, he has advised them. It's time to get out. Tom? Yeah, it's incredible. You know, we're still maybe two days out from this hurricane making landfall. There are never waves in the Gulf.

It's actually quite interesting to see people surfing in the Gulf because, like I said, there's never waves there. But this thing is so big and so powerful, it's already pushing that water and making some currents head over there to where you are. We know that pier was damaged back in hurricane. Ian. Are there renewed concerns of whether the pier can withstand Hurricane Milton? Absolutely. The pier is just over my shoulder here. Half of it is missing because it was wiped away during Hurricane Ian in 2022. So it is boarded up. They never did repairs on this because

stuff like this takes years to fix. And here we are again. And we'll probably come back out here and check out the damage to see if more of this pier is decimated. But it's a major concern for everyone in this area, just what is going to happen and what's it going to look like? We've heard from the governor warning people to take heed several local officials. There's a local emergency here in Naples. They are telling people to take this storm seriously. And from the looks of the damage that occurred here just years ago for another powerful storm, it's a reminder of just how life-threatening this storm can be.

So people are urged to take it seriously because especially from the storm surge, Here in Naples, we could see between four to seven feet of storm surge, depending on where that storm hits. So it's, you know, wait and see, but also prepare now and be ready to evacuate when the time has come. Tom. Dana Griffin, in Naples for us tonight here on Top Story, Dana, we thank you for that. We're going to have much more on the hurricane later in this broadcast, including the latest on the track and what you can expect from this monster storm. Now to our other major headline, of course, tonight, Israel, marking one year's, since that horrific attack by Hamas, which ignited the war in Gaza,

and a spiraling regional conflict. Israel is gathering to mourn the 1,200 killed in the surprise assault and the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza. Ralph Sanchez, on the ground in Tel Aviv tonight for us. As the sun rose, Israel stopped to remember. A nation still reeling in grief, thousands gathering at the site of the Nova Music Festival at 6.29 a.m. One year to the minute that the terror attack began.

This is the last track that played at the festival before the music stopped and the shooting started. Of the 1,200 people massacred by Hamas on October 7th, nearly a third were killed here. Executed on the festival grounds or gunned down trying to escape. We first visited the Nova site five days after the attack. Scattered belongings, the debris of lives cut short. This was a place of music, a place of joy, a place of music. dancing, and now there is just a deathly, deathly silence here. One year later, Noah Yafi, returning to the place where her little brother, Binyahu, was

murdered. A musician with big dreams, he was killed weeks before his 23rd birthday. If you could speak to your brother, what would you tell him? That I love him, and I miss him so much. one to hug him and listen to his voice again. Amid the bloodshed, 251 people taken hostage, men, women, and children. 101 remain in captivity, including seven Americans. The youngest hostages, Kaffir Bibas, nine months old on October 7th,

and his four-year-old brother Ariel unaccounted for. Their fate unknown. Israel fighting back against not just Hamas in Gaza, but also Hezbollah in Lebanon. and their backers, Iran. The U.S. supplying Israel with weapons, but also trying and failing to secure a ceasefire. The war that started on October 7th now a deadly regional conflict. In Gaza today, no memorials. Palestinian families just hoping to survive.

In Israel's effort to destroy Hamas, it's killed 41,000 Gazans, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Almost half of them, children. Manal Abu Hattar is responsible for her eight grandkids. Their fathers, her two sons, were both killed in an Israeli strike. I cannot bear their loss, she says. But setting her own grief aside to care for children trapped in a year-long war that feels like it may never end.

Raf Sanchez joins us tonight from Tel Aviv. And, Raf, we just heard you say that some feel it's a war that may never end. And on that front, it's been a week now since that Iranian ballistic. missile attack on Israel. Where do things stand on Israel's response? Tom, Israel initially indicated it was planning to retaliate almost immediately. The U.S., both in public and in private, was urging restraint, and here we are a week later. That attack has not yet materialized. Those consultations between the U.S. and Israel are continuing. And the Israeli defense minister is actually going to be at the Pentagon on Wednesday, meeting with

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. So it seems likely Israel would want to wait until their defense minister is back home before carrying out the attack. But that isn't an ironclad rule. It's worth remembering that when Israel carried out that strike that killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a very, very high-stakes move. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was actually in New York City at the United Nations. Tom. Raf Sanchez, for us live in Tel Aviv tonight. Right, Raf. We thank you for all of your reporting over this last year, and the ongoing war in the Middle East continuing to raise tensions back at home. Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters holding dueling demonstrations across the country, including on college campuses.

Universities once again trying to figure out how to respond. Stephanie Gosk is in New York City tonight where many of those protests have taken place. Demonstrations growing tonight on the anniversary of the October 7th attacks, fueling for. familiar tensions across the country, especially at Columbia University. How do you feel with this demonstration going on here on campus today? I feel unsafe as a Jew. We are a group of people just supporting and mourning the loss of lives taken. That's all we want to do is to mourn.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, many with faces covered, calling for an end to the war. People are dying. We're doing nothing about it. Outside the gates, pro-Israel demonstrators waved flags and prayed for the hostages amid heightened security. First-year grad student Sarah Kashani says she considered not studying at Columbia. It's hard as a proud Jew and a proud Zionist to commit to a school that doesn't value you as a person. While for many today was a day of remembrance, recognized by President Biden with a candlelighting ceremony in the White House, Nationwide, universities have been bracing for protests at USC and the University of Maryland.

On this day in particular, it's very difficult for the Jewish community. This is our chance to make sure that our campus community is actually aware of what's happening in Palestine. In the last year, schools have struggled balancing freedom of speech and safety on campus. University presidents testified on Capitol Hill. I'll be the first to admit our existing rules and policies are falling short. The clashes at colleges reflecting growing anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the country, more than 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents in the last year, and a 69% increase in complaints about Islamophobia.

Tonight there are multiple dueling protests around New York City, including here in Times Square. There's a significant police presence on the ground. They've cordoned off the protesters to try to keep them from confronting each other. Back to you. All right, Stephanie. It's still ahead tonight. We're going to have much more in Hurricane Milton, Florida's Gulf Coast bracing for impact, while still cleaning up from Hurricane Helene's wrath.

We're speaking to officials along the coastline on how they're warning residents to evacuate their homes once again. Plus, the former New York governor and his steps on assaulted in New York City. The two city employees and two preteens now arrested for that crime. And an update on a nationwide egg recall, the FDA now warning the products could result in serious health risks or even death. The details. next. Stay with us. We are back now live from Florida's Gulf Coast, where mass evacuations are underway as Hurricane Milton takes aim at the state. It's expected to bring life-threatening storm surge and dangerous

winds less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene. But we have some other news to get to tonight in Top Stories News Feed, and we're going to start with the arrests on the attack of a former New York governor and his stepson. Police say two adults and a 12-year-old and 13-year-old were arrested for beating Governor David Patterson and his stepson on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The pair attacked while walking their dog. They were treated for injuries but are okay. Patterson saying his stepson had reprimanded the teens for climbing a fire escape.

45 minutes before the attack, the two adults arrested our city employees. New England Patriots player, Jabrille Pepper, is arrested for alleged assault and drug possession. Peppers appeared in a Massachusetts court this morning to face charges of battery with a weapon, strangulation, and possession of cocaine. Police say they arrested the Patriot safety on Saturday after his girlfriend called and told police that he hit and choked her. Peppers pleaded not guilty on all counts and posted bail. A major consumer alert tonight, the FDA is now warning a salmonella outbreak linked to eggs can result in serious health risks or even death. The recall, including all eggs, get this from Milo's poultry farm in Wisconsin.

Milo's poultry farm in Wisconsin. So far, the products have been linked to at least 65 cases of salmonella across nine states. At least 24 people were hospitalized. The CDC advising people to throw away the recalled eggs and wash surfaces they may have touched with hot, soapy water. And Panera settling with its first, settling its first wrongful death lawsuit over its charged lemonade, The restaurant chain settled with the family of a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student. But when it's a cardiac arrest after drinking the highly caffeinated beverage, the settled case was the first of four lawsuits against Panera over its charged lemonade, which it discontinued in May. Okay, we want to move now to the race for the White House with the election now less than 30 days away.

Tonight, both candidates ramping up their campaigns, traveling to key battleground states throughout the week. Vice President Kamala Harris now making a slew of media appearances, as the race. enters its final stretch. Our Gabe Gutierrez is at the White House with more. Tonight, after facing criticism for avoiding unscripted events, Vice President Harris on a new media blitz on CBS pressed on her economic plan. How are you going to pay for it? Well, one of the things is I'm going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it

pay their fair share and taxes. But we're dealing with the real world here. But the real world includes... How are you going to get this through Congress? You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I'm talking about. Meanwhile, former President Trump, who's called for the mass deportation of migrants, is igniting new controversy by suggesting undocumented immigrants convicted of murder have bad genes. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it's in their genes, and we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now. That type of language is hateful, it's disgusting, it's inappropriate, and has no place in our country.

The Trump campaign tonight saying the former president was clearly referring to murderers, not migrants, while Trump is also slamming the Biden-Harris administration over their response to Hurricane Haleen, saying they're not getting help to devastated communities fast enough. Kamala Harris has left them stranded. They send hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign nations, and you know what they're giving on people, $750. The White House says that's not true. The $750 is only an upfront payment for emergency costs.

costs, while FEMA assesses people's eligibility for more. Some $200 million have been allocated so far. Tom? All right, Gabe, we thank you for that. When we come back, our coverage of Hurricane Milton continues. Sarasota County bracing for the worst as the monster storm nears. We speak with an official there as they warn residents to evacuate, where the situation stands with roughly 48 hours until landfall.

Stay with us. We are back now with our special coverage of Hurricane Milton, the Category 5 storm expected to make landfall here in Florida late Wednesday. Officials in Sarasota County about 70 miles south of Tampa bracing for severe impact and a massive storm surge as the hurricane is set to slam Florida's west coast. For more on Milton's incoming impact, Sandra Tapumenei joins us now. She's the chief of emergency management in Sarasota County. Chief, thank you for joining Top Story tonight. Sarasota was just slammed by Helene. You've been telling residents in your county to evacuate today as this hurricane approaches.

What are preparations looking like and are people evacuating? Yeah, well, thanks so much for having us on. And yeah, we called for an evacuation this morning for our level A and level B, which is areas right along the coastline here, but also a little bit well inland. So that storm surge in southwest Florida can travel quite a ways. And with a 10 feet, up to 10 feet threat right now, Helene was, you know, we only got about five to six feet for that storm. And there was a lot of people that learned a lot about storm surge when it came through.

And I think that we're hopeful that they see that it is a real thing and that that storm surge can bring water into their homes and can create a lot of damage. And so we have asked them to leave out of the area this time. We're hopeful that people are heating that evacuation. We certainly don't want anyone to stay in any of these areas that are under an evacuation order. Chief, I just spoke with the mayor of Tampa tonight. Are you having the same issue with the piles of debris in your community that they are in Tampa and trying to remove those before Hurricane Milton slams into the West Coast?

Yeah, you know, when you have a large-scale disaster like Hurricane Helene, it can take weeks, if not months, to be able to pick up that debris. And so, you know, we as well as all of our partnering region within the region here that were hit, have been working very, very hard to try to pick up as much debris as possible, and that work continues. And at some point, you know, we're going to keep going until we can. And then when the winds pick up, you know, we're going to have to all hunker down and let that next wave come through with this next hurricane. And it is something that typically does take a long time. So we've had, you know, some challenges with just trying to get everything clean before this

next storm. But this was a very quick turnaround. This is actually the third hurricane. that we've had since August. So there has been a lot going down here in Sarasota County. Chief, what's your main concern as we get closer and closer to landfall? So truly right now, our main concern is the strength of this storm surge. We don't want anybody to be in the path of the storm surge. We want everyone to evacuate. And, you know, we have a tendency to make decisions based off of what we remember, how the last time something like this happened, and we've been trying to communicate with people today to let them know that this hurricane is not one that they want to be in Sarasota County

for if they're in one of those evacuation areas. So we are going to be opening evacuation centers tomorrow at 10 a.m. We're encouraging people to go stay with friends and family. And we do know that it's not only Sarasota County. We have very large counties like Pinellas and Hillsborough who have also called for big evacuations. So we want people to be careful. as they're traveling to get out of these areas. But ultimately, we just want people to be safe and to stay informed. All right, Chief, we thank you for joining us tonight.

We know you're incredibly busy. For more on the latest on the track of Hurricane Milton and its potential storm surge and what it could mean for the Gulf Coast of Florida, I do want to bring in Bill Carrens once again. Bill, talk to us about what you're watching. I think it's important also to explain to the viewers why it's so important if this hurricane is north

or south of Tampa when we talk about that storm surge. Yeah, a storm surge is going to be the most life-threatening thing with this storm. It's going to cause the most destruction. And the way it looks right now, I don't see how we don't have thousands of people homeless after this storm, maybe tens of thousand if we get the storm surge that is currently predicted in this highly densely populated area. So here's the current forecast. And this jumped, it was in the, you know, heading from about the 6th to 10-foot range.

And now we're 10 to 15, including Tampa Bay, all the way. through Clearwater Beach, down through St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Millions of people right here. And they're 10 to 15 foot storm surge. And Florida's very flat. So that's a lot of people that could be in this. So we zoomed in on this map to show you specifically Tampa Bay. And we can color code these maps. If the water gets to a certain height, we can see where the inundation is, how high the water's going to be. So when we get the nine feet here, everywhere in red would be underwater. If you know Tampa, you know, some of the areas here south of downtown and all along the western shore, eastern shore, and all these are all residential neighborhoods. There's

all homes all in here that would be underwater. We're all looking at this black line. This is the center line. This is where the storm would take. You don't want to be just south of that. I can actually put some arrows on the map here, and you can see when the storm is right here spinning, the water gets sucked up into the bay. You know, this is going to be intense flows of water, like a river heading into the bay. And once it gets in here, it's trapped. It can't go anywhere. And that's why the water builds up rapidly in the bay. That's why it's such a vulnerable location. And as far as the feet thing goes, usually with like a three foot of storm surge, that's enough to, you know, float some cars, be a little damaging, and it's considered life-threatening. When you get up to six feet,

this is what we just did with Helene in Tampa. Six feet, water can break through the house and the doors. That's where you get the lowest level of the house. Usually the house is still safe, but Tom, once we get up to 10 feet, that's when you can get the houses coming off their foundations. That's when whole complete neighborhoods can be completely ruined. And that's what we're looking at. That's the difference with this storm. Like, Tom, if you look behind you, like, that survived to lean. The houses are all still where they were. But if we get 10 to 15 feet, it won't look like that anymore. Yeah, Bill's talking about these homes right here. I mean, they're behind the piles of debris and they got a lot of water inside of them. That's what the homeowners told us. When you

walk behind, you can see everything is cleared out at the street level, because that's how much came in, but he's right. They are still standing. Bill, you know what's going to be really sort of wild about this is that people are going to be filing insurance claims, and they're going to be talking about either Hurricane Helene or Hurricane Milton. In some cases, it could have been a storm surge in one hurricane. It could have been wind damage in the other, and it's going to be almost impossible to explain to these insurance adjusters what exactly happened. And that's a huge important point. Video everything before you evacuate. That's the whole key. Take all the pictures. They're time stint.

Take photos of everything you have, because if you lose everything, you're going to be asked to add it all up. So take a video, walk around your house, open drawers, do whatever you have to do, because Tom, you're right, it is going to be a mess. I can't even imagine how long it's going to take some insurance companies to get back to these people when we have this number of people that are going to be doing claims. I mean, the insurance industry is a disaster in Florida anyways. Right. All right, Bill Cairns for a spill. We appreciate that. We're going to have much more on Hurricane Milton throughout the broadcast.

But coming up, were there miswarning signs that led to the October 7th attacks in Israel? Are Richard Engel speaking to an IDF soldier who says she and her colleagues witness Hamas terrorists practicing for an attack along the border with Gaza, including tactics used that day, while she believes their repeated warnings were ignored? Stay with us. Welcome back to a special edition of Top Story live from Madeira Beach, Florida, as Hurricane Milton continues to churn in the Gulf as a monster storm. We're going to have much more in the storm in a few minutes. But we want to continue our coverage right now of the Middle East. One year after the attacks on October 7th, many are still wondering how that catastrophic intelligence failure happened. NBC's Richard Engel sat down with one IDF soldier who says she raised concerns early and was ignored.

On October 7, 2003, Israel was caught off guard. But why? Hamas had been planning its attack for years. training for every aspect. These videos released by Hamas after the attack show them practicing how to fly the paragliders the militants used for their slaughter at the Nova Music Festival. And tactics for storming homes. The actual assault on October 7th unfolded almost exactly how Hamas had been training.

Some Israeli troops had sounded the alarm, but their warnings were ignored. in what has been called Israel's greatest intelligence failure. We are the eyes of the border, of the country of the army. Rony Lifshitz was an observer with the Israeli military unit 414 tasked with watching the border with Gaza. All of the observers were young women, doing their mandatory military service, newly minted soldiers with almost no experience.

Leading up to October 7th, you started to see things that looked suspicious. What were you seeing? There was a combat patrol in the sector with ten trucks of terrorists and they observed the gates in our fence. Our forces there, scanning and talking amongst themselves. We literally saw our tank with them.

A fake tank they were using to train to kidnap soldiers. They were actually practicing scenarios that happened on October 7th. She said the observers passed their reports up to their commanders, but no one did anything. And not just once, she says they were repeatedly ignored. No one updated me. No one told me, Rony, what you reported is being handled. Lifshitz happened to be away doing training in Jerusalem in October 7th when militants stormed into Israel and her post. Fifteen of her fellow soldiers no one wanted to listen to were killed.

Seven more were dragged into Gaza as hostages. Five are still held captive. Lifchitz wrestles with the guilt of having survived. I laugh, joke, and seem happy and go out. But my heart is broken, black. There's no soul. Nothing. Lifshitz and other surviving observers, known in Israel as the Watchtower Girls,

have testified to a civilian committee about problems with surveillance equipment on their base. repeated the allegations, that their warnings were ignored. Asked about the allegations, the Israeli military said it is currently focused on fighting Hamas, and questions of this kind will be looked into at a later stage. I want an answer to just one question. Who received the information and didn't give the order to do something about it? Who turned a blind eye, and who is responsible for this? Lipschitz told us she believes Israeli commanders didn't take their warnings seriously because they were so young.

One of the soldiers was on her first day at the job on October 7th. A civilian-led committee is now investigating the security and intelligence failures of that day. It is not receiving any government support or cooperation. Tom. All right, Richard Engel for us tonight. Richard, we thank you for that investigative report. Next to Top Story's Global Watch, and we start with the mayor murdered in Mexico. just days after taking office, the grisly murder of Alejandro Arcos taking place in Mexico's

Guerrero State, which is one of the most dangerous states in the country for elected officials. At least six candidates for public office were killed there before June's elections. The state's attorney general is investigating. In Russia, court sentencing an American to nearly seven years in prison for fighting as a Ukrainian mercenary. The 72-year-old, you heard me right, 72-year-old Michigan native Stephen Hubbard pleading guilty to the charges, last week, he will serve his time in a Russian penal colony. Prosecutors allege Hubbard was serving in a defense unit for Ukraine when Russian forces captured him in April of 2022. And officials in Samoa warning of what they are calling a highly probable fuel spill off the island's national

coast. The spill likely after authorities say a naval ship from New Zealand ran aground, caught fire and sank. All 75 people on board were rescued. More than a dozen people were hurt. Simone officials are now investigating the environmental impact of what happened. All right, our live coverage of Hurricane Milton continues still ahead to mass evacuations underway in Florida. Millions fleeing their homes before the hurricane makes landfall. The bumper-to-bumper traffic as the region braces for the major storm. That's next. We're back now with more of our special coverage ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall.

The center of the storm expected to hit Tampa on Wednesday night. And for more on the preparations there, I want to get to Marissa Parra. Marissa, local officials have asked residents in certain zones to evacuate from what you've seen today. Are people heeding those calls? And I know you were in Tampa for Hurricane Helene. Hey, Tom, I can tell you from everything I'm seeing and hearing, the answer is yes. What you're seeing behind me, I think, is an example and a strong indicator of exactly that. And also what officials want to see.

That is heavy traffic, slow-moving traffic, on its way inland, and very little traffic in the direction. We are seeing a lot of strong images of exactly this. And if what you're looking at, by the way, that's Interstate 275. That connects Pinellas County, which is including the barrier islands. This includes St. Petersburg, Florida. And we know that these are hard hit places from Helene. And so we are seeing a lot of images of a lot of traffic. We know that there have been state implemented emergency shoulder use, which means there's an extra lane that people can use. They've opened to the tollways. And Tom, what I'm hearing from first responders who are going door-to-door, making those mandatory evacuations, which, by the way, we're seeing

further inland in zones that have never seen evacuations, at least in the last decade or so. They are saying that people are leaving voluntarily in ways that they haven't seen before either. Normally, they get a little bit more pushback, even us on the ground, Tom. We're hearing from people saying that they are evacuating when they've never felt the need to do so before. Yeah, Marissa, I think it's the size and the strength of this storm. I got to tell you, you know, even though there's traffic tonight, it's a great sign because We're still 48 hours out, more than 48 hours out before landfall, if this doesn't speed up.

So that's a great sign they're getting out. It feels like they're heating the warnings. I know a lot of people, you may be hearing this as well. They're concerned about their homes and those piles of debris in front of them. Tom, I'm so sorry. I actually could not hear your question. But I will say, unfortunately, even though I couldn't hear your question, what I will say is a top priority is for people to get. out because first responders have made it so, so clear that they will not be responding

the same way they were before because the debris that is left over from Helene is a major concern here, Tom. All right, Marissa Parr for us covering everything around Tampa for us. Marissa, we appreciate all that. And we thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in Madera Beach, Florida. We want you to stay right there. We have much more news now on the way.