The breaking news. Florida bracing for what could be one of the most powerful and destructive storms on record. The state trying to keep Gas Stations supplied as people rushed to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton. All right. Just in to cnn. Donald trump had, quote maybe as many as seven calls with russian president Vladimir Putin since he left office the Bombshell New reporting by Bob Woodward and two of the countrys biggest music Stars Country Music stars joining forces to help with Hurricane Recovery efforts. Sara is out today. Im John Berman with Kate Baldwin. This is cnn News Central that is what officials in florida tell us that they are doing right now as Hurricane Milton takes direct aim this hour nearly the entire West Coast Line of florida has been tampa are warning that miltons extremely dangerous strike could bring impacts not seen in over 100 years. Orders to evacuate. They seem to be working. Officials on the ground seem to be happy with what theyve seen so far. Because theyve seen this long lines of traffic stretching for hours all along the interstate. The latest center is that milton is expected to make landfall late wednesday or early thursday. The storm is right now a monster. Category four. It could become a category five once again in the coming hours. The head of fema telling me this morning they are ready to respond we plan for this. Im not saying its not going to be a challenge, but i know that we are going to be able to meet everybodys immediate needs as Hurricane Milton comes in. Were prepositioning resources like Search And Rescue teams, Health Care Assessment teams, the Army Corps of engineers for Power Assessment and generator support, and a lot of different resources to meet the immediate needs for the people in florida we have cnns Carlos Suarez in Fort Myers weve seen Derek Van Dam also standing by. Derek, let me get first to you. Whats the latest on the track . What are you seeing . What are you watching . So closely . All right. Kate so we have seen fluctuations in intensity. One that we would expect with the strength of this storm. But what were noticing now with the latest update from the national Hurricane Center is that dreaded northeasterly turn, right. Thats going to bring it on its inevitable path into the west coast of the Florida Peninsula. New this morning we do have Hurricane Warnings stretching from the west coast of the Florida Peninsula all the way to the east coast, and theres tropical Storm Warnings newly issued across extreme southern florida, including the keys as well as miami. But lets talk about the trajectory of How Milton will approach the state of florida. Unlike helene, if i can use an analogy that sideswiped like a like a small sedan along the parallel coastline of the west coast of florida. Milton will actually be coming in and create a Perpendicular Approach to the state meaning it will reach the state and maximize its potential almost impacting us like a Tbone Crash from an suv. So this will maximize the wind. The surge threat. And of course, there are other hazards associated with it. National Hurricane Center explicitly talking about how the Wind Field will expand and double in size from its compact size, that it is now. So we will feel the threat and the impacts of catastrophic Wind Damage far inland. And then there will be a moment in time late wednesday into early thursday morning, when we anticipate landfall. We could experience Hurricane Conditions from the Gulf Coast all the way to the atlantic coast so if youve perhaps evacuated to daytona beach, this isnt necessarily the right spot to go. You either need to go north or far south. Catastrophic damage, right along the coast. We all know it. Kate derek, thank you so much for keeping such a close eye on it. Weve got to continue to do that over the next couple of days. Lets go now to florida. That is where our Carlos Suarez is standing by in Fort Myers. What are you seeing there . Carlos, what are you hearing from people preparations are well underway here in Fort Myers, florida in Lee County, where the folks are thinking about not just Hurricane Helene from two weeks ago, but theyre still dealing with a bit of the ptsd from Hurricane Ian two years ago. Thats the storm that folks are trying to keep in mind as they get ready for whatever effects were going to get from this storm. The folks out here began in earnest, preparing for this hurricane, which is expected to make landfall if that Forecast Track holds to the north of us. However, the concern for the folks here, which is what youre taking a look at here, is the 6 to 10 Foot Storm Surge associated with Hurricane Milton. The the folks out here are keeping in mind that when Hurricane Ian hit the biggest concern for this part of Lee County was the Storm Surge. All of that flooding, folks tell us that they got anywhere between 4 to 5ft. And Lee County was one of the hardest Hit Areas by Hurricane Ian. And so the folks here are taking this storm very seriously. The Evacuation Orders out in fort Myers Beach went out yesterday as well as sanibel. And so the folks here are trying as best as they can getting ready for this storm. Again we are expected to feel some sort of impact from this storm, most likely when it comes to the Storm Surge on our drive over yesterday from miami here we can see that the traffic really was building as folks were trying to evacuate north. They were trying to make their way more to the central part of florida, and some folks were just trying to get from Southwest Florida over into broward county. And so they were making that drive from naples east, all in an effort to just try to get away from the storm. Again, kate right now, the concern going into all of this is the Storm Surge. Were about id say, about two blocks away from the caloosahatchee river, which is a river that connects out to Lake Okeechobee and that is really one of the prime concerns for the Storm Surge, because once all of that rainfall moves through, once all that water pushes in, that river is going to obviously crest and then all of that water will push inland. Kate. Yeah. And we see sandbags and the preparations people trying to board up maybe before they get out behind you. Carlos, thank you so much. Lets go now to tampa, where theres been a lot of concern about the direct hit that tampa could be facing. Ivan. Ivan rodriguez is there for us ivan. See people getting sandbags prepared just behind you good morning. Yeah, this is actually not a sandbag official distribution center, but its just a beach here where we are on Davis Island. A lot of folks here bringing their own bags, getting the sand here right on this beach on Davis Island and then taking it back to their cars packed right here. Its been very busy, kate. All morning long. And a lot of people who ive spoken with whove been here at this specific area where we are of Davis Island, say that a lot of residents have already evacuated because after helene there was a lot of damage, a lot of devastation left behind. Still, a lot of debris here in these neighborhoods as well. And thats also a big concern that officials are worried about all that debris getting picked up by Wind Gusts they could become dangerous projectiles. If not, they could flood and clog sewer lines or just impede a specific areas here people bringing in these sandbags to their trucks as well. And kate after these people put in these sandbags, from what ive been gathering people, ive spoken with, a lot of them are going to also be evacuating here. One gentleman i spoke with said hes going to be putting these bags in front of his sisters home, and then theyre going to be evacuating as well. Highways in the Tampa Area have been jam packed all morning long. Were going to continue to see that throughout the rest of the day. Tampa bays International Airport also suspended all operations this morning as well. Sarasotas airport will close later this afternoon. They wont be opening again until later today as well. Ivan thank you very much. Im just starting to get nervous for everybody all along that coastline john. All right. Thanks so much kate. So weve got new polling this morning showing that likely voters now believe Vice President harris is the candidate representing change rather than Donald Trump in this New York Times Siena College poll. Harris leads trump 49 to 46 . That is within the margin of error. The numbers also show harris Making Inroads with republicans and older voters. And it does come as she is ready to announce today. Cnn has learned a first ever proposal to have Medicare Pay for Home Health Care costs for seniors. Cnns Priscilla Alvarez is with us now on this new proposal, part of this big Media Blitz shes doing. Yeah, this is an opportunity that the campaign is using for her to outline a new proposal that is about long Term Care for senior citizens. This is especially appealing to what is called the sandwich generation. Those adults who are both caring for children as well as their aging parents. Now, the idea here, according to a senior campaign official, is to provide assistance for those long term needs knowing that only people only get that assistance in the very narrowest of circumstances and only if theyre eligible through medicaid. Now, when asked how exactly theyre going to pay for this, that includes, as you see there expanding Medicare Drug Price negotiations, increasing Drug Discounts for manufacturers, among other measures. Now, we anticipate that during this interview on The View, the Vice President Will Flesh out a little bit more of this proposal. She is also likely to pull from her own personal story. She has talked about in the past how she also cared for her aging mother. But this is broader than that to the campaign over the last couple of weeks has been needling the former president on Health Care, an issue that is top of mind for voters and one where the campaign is trying to make more inroads with voters because, as you mentioned, john, the polls are close. They have been close. The Needle Isnt moving very much. So this is a Media Blitz intended to increase the exposure of the Vice President as well as to have her reach different audiences. Call her daddy was millions of Women Today on The View, shell have a different audience. Howard stern later this afternoon, mostly male audience, and then The Late Show with Stephen Colbert so certainly a lot of Media Appearances to try to get this message across. You know, we talked about the New York Times, Siena College poll, harris doing well with seniors. You have the the Home Health Care Proposal Today also doing better with republicans than she was before which is interesting after the Liz Cheney appearance, not just at a campaign rally, but also on 60 minutes. Yeah. I mean, the campaign has certainly been working quite hard to try to get more republican endorsements. Liz cheney was a big deal for them especially with that Campaign Appearance last week. And that Campaign Appearance is also being used in a new ad by the Harris Campaign. Again theyre their hope. Here is to not is to perhaps try to reach those who are not die hard democrats, but theyre the disaffected republicans, and they think that if they can bring those in in some of these counties, which are probably going to be decided by only a few hundred or thousand votes, that that can certainly help boost them in november. So this is certainly welcome news for the Harris Campaign. They plan to use these endorsements more over the next several weeks. Clearly showing that with the Campaign Ad with Liz Cheney all right, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for being with us. Youre going to have a busy day watching all these Media Appearances, kate, for sure this morning, fema is fighting against misinformation coming from Donald Trump and his allies as another major storm is barreling toward florida. As weve been discussing now, the head of fema says that misinformation and pushing it is dangerous and, quote this needs to stop and two of Country Musics biggest stars and north Carolina Natives will be joining us live to talk about the concert that theyve just announced. All put together to help the victims of Hurricane Helene. Eric Church And Luke combs are our guests are they a fruit or a vegetable . Fruit. Vegetable. Youre actually both right. But botanically speaking, the u. S. Supreme court ruled that a tomato is a vegetable because of how its used in cooking. I did not know that no. A heart attack. Do they have Life Insurance . No, but we have Life Insurance. John, im trying to find something we can afford fortunately, in only a few minutes, selectquote found John A 500,000 policy for only 29 a month. And his wife, anne, a 500,000 policy for only 21 a month. Go to select quote. Com now and get the insurance your family needs at a price you can afford. Select quote. We shop. 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Common Side Effects like nausea vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may cause Kidney Problems with wegovy. Im losing weight. Im keeping it off, and im lowering my cv risk. Thats the power of we. We. Call me. Check your Cost And Coverage before talking to your Health Care professional about Wegovy Nhl on tnt. We are back. You may want to buckle up. Come on guys. Yeah, baby. Here we go oh, what a hit. Holy jumping baby. I like the way this place is going to explode. Im jazzed up. Ready to go in your Darkest Hour, baby, i come running up in your Darkest Hour i light your way. Baby dont Give Up, dont Give Up i do everything in my power to take even a minute of your Darkest Hour that new song is called Darkest Hour by Country Music star Eric Church. Hes released the song as a heartfelt message and also a way to support his Home State, North Carolina. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. All the earnings from the song will be donated to ongoing Recovery Efforts and church is also joining forces with fellow North Carolina native Luke Combs announcing concert for Carolina A benefit live event to raise money for Relief Efforts. The show will be in charlotte October 26th, and the show will also feature legendary artist james Taylor And Billy strings. And joining us right now to talk about all of this is Eric Church and Luke Combs. Guys, thank you so much for being here. Luke concert for carolina. How did it come about and how did it come about . Come together so fast you know, um, i called this guy. I think its day after, you know, im beginning to to see things about about kind of the, the devastation back home and i called him and said, hey, are you are you open to doing a show . I said, i dont know when. I dont know where. He was like, yeah, absolutely so, um, got on the phone with my team and i said hey, lets reach out to the panthers. Um, lets see if we cant get bank of america, make it work. Uh, and the tempers were super gracious to to give us a date there. Um, On The House which is, which is huge. And um. Yeah, the teams worked feverishly for 7 or 8 days and were able to get this thing set in stone, and, um, im just real thankful for for everybodys work to to make this happen. 100 . And eric, i mentioned we played some of your song Darkest Hour and youre signing over all the publishing royalties from the song to the people of North Carolina affected by the disaster. What was it about this song . How much help do you think its going to be able to provide wrote this song, i didnt envision a or envision the scenario for this song. Um, i had already written the song. I was in the studio for a project next year, and then Hurricane Helene happened, and western North Carolina and the devastation there. And theres a line in the song that says, in your Darkest Hour, ill come running. And thats what the people there need right now. They need us to come running. And i just, i thought it fit the moment. Sometimes you give a song its life and sometimes a song finds its own life and its own way. And this was just the right moment with the right song. So we signed the song over to the people in North Carolina now and forever. Um theyll theyll own the copyright of it and itll go to help in the recovery. Because what were talking about here, kate, is this is not a months thing. This is a Years Thing to rebuild what the infrastructure and the community there is so i think paying attention to that is going to be a big part of this recovery. Its got Everybodys Attention right now, but in a few months, its still going to be really important that we think about rebuilding. Um, what was what we remember as western North Carolina and such a beautiful part of, of of North Carolina. I mean luke, the pictures coming out are just unbelievable. I mean, the governor has been on with me talking about entire communities were wiped off the map. I mean, seeing this happen to your home. I mean, do you do either of you still have family there . I mean, what do you make of it . When you see these pictures yeah i mean, it was tough to to see and, you know, i have things filtering in. You know, obvi