What did you mean by that . Thank you very much. We are pressing for answers this morning. Is he referring to military action when he said calm before the storm . As the president rolls back obama era mandates on Birth Control. Who could lose coverage . And Convenience Store crash. A pickup truck barreling through the doors. Customers inches from being mowed down. How they managed to walk away. And we say good saturday morning. Thank you for joining us. Dan is on assignment. Happy to have our chief White House Correspondent jon karl in our house. Thank you for having me back. And tony reali in for pop news and for adrienne. Im in for pop news today. Its been a while. Great to see you. Great to have you, tony and jon. And we are going to begin this saturday morning with Hurricane Nate which is barreling through the gulf of mexico. Already it has left a path of destruction in nicaragua. You can see the damage that its done, boats swept aground. Some crashing into buildings. Roads washed away by the powerful winds and rain. It slammed into beaches or beach cities like cancun overnight as it crossed the yucatan peninsula. This is where nate is headed now. States of emergency have been declared in louisiana, alabama and mississippi and some towns are facing curfews or mandatory evacuation orders. Hurricane and Tropical Storm warnings are in effect right now from new orleans to the Florida Panhandle with nate expected to make landfall in less than 24 hours. Bracing for that. We have Team Coverage this morning, but we begin with abcs senior meteorologist rob marciano, who is tracking the storm for us from the studio this morning. Rob, good morning. Good morning, paula. A category 1, potentially category 2 storm. Do not discount this storm considering the destruction its already done and the path its going to take. Right now about 300 miles off the coast of Southeast Louisiana and heading in that direction at 22 miles an hour. So this one is moving much faster than the other storms this year, and so it will be getting Tropical Storm conditions later on this afternoon with rain bands approaching new orleans, mobile, even pensacola and making landfall sometime late tonight as a category 1, maybe a 2 in the earlier morning hours. Then look at this, goes across birmingham and up through the northeast. So everybody is going to get a piece of this. Lets zoom in a little bit closer and show you where the winds are going to be. This is a lopsided storm so most of the winds will be east of the center but look at new orleans. Dangerously close to that center. We could see storm surges up to eight or nine feet. The Crescent City certainly vulnerable to hurricanes and thats where we find Abcs Steve Osunsami this morning. Good morning, steve. Reporter good morning to you, rob. Just a bit ago we were at lake pontchartrain hoping to broadcast live from there but had to hurry on to this location because this morning, the gofloodgates are closed in anticipation of this storm. This now hurricane is coming to the region at a poor time because of the east winds and the high tides, there is already water on the roads in some of the lowlying areas. This deadly storm would not let up overnight in central america. Washing away roads and homes, nearly two dozen people across this region have lost their lives. In nicaragua it came to this, stranded families using ropes to get out of the rushing floodwaters. There was so much moving water, it opened up this giant sinkhole. The storm has now strengthened into a category 1 hurricane and its now speeding towards American Cities on the gulf coast. This is now a state of emergency from louisiana to georgia. Thousands of families are under a mandatory evacuation this morning. We do not know exactly where it will land, and so were preparing for the worst. Reporter in louisiana, President Trump has approved the governors predisaster emergency declaration. Federal resources are now available. No one should take this storm lightly. Reporter in new orleans, families already dealing with water from the high tides are more than frustrated that a dozen of the citys drainage pumps are not working. Billy ross packed up and left last night but not before putting everything he had up high. If you dont pick it up, you lose it by the flood. Reporter six feet of storm surge, he loses everything. Hes expecting five. When they tell you to get out, you get out. Once you get trapped in, aint nobody coming to help you. Reporter city leaders in new orleans, mobile, biloxi are telling residents that now is the time, this morning, to finish preparations for this storm. Here in new orleans theyre offering sandbags at every fire station in town. Jon and paula. The Officials Say preparing for the absolute worst. Steve osunsami, thanks for your reporting from new orleans this morning. And the impending storm is forcing the port of mobile to close this morning. Some cruise ships adjusting their itineraries as well. Abcs Victor Oquendo is in mobile with the latest. Good morning, victor. Reporter jon and paula, good morning. The port is closed. One cruise ship was supposed to come in, the carnival fantasy will stay out at sea. It usually departs and returns right here but the plans have changed. Right now the major concern for this area storm surge. We could look at anywhere from five to eight feet because of Hurricane Nate. That would mean this entire area where were standing right now would be underwater and things will likely be even worse for dauphin island, a Barrier Island and there are reports of flooding already because of high tide. People throughout the area have been doing what they can to prepare over the last few days. The last storm to really threaten mobile was hurricane isaac in 2012. It made landfall in louisiana but it brought a lot of rain and coastal flooding to mobile. We can also see some tornadoes here with Hurricane Nate depending on which part of the storm maybes landfall here. Were expecting the worst of it overnight into tomorrow morning. A lot of places are already closing up. Were hearing from churches who decided to cancel sunday services before nate arrives. John, paula. All right, victor, thank you for your reporting. We want to turn to the latest in the Las Vegas Mass Shooting investigation. Police admitting that they are extremely frustrated trying to figure out stephen paddocks motive. But authorities are learning more about the methodical way he planned the massacre. Abcs Kenneth Moton is in las vegas with more. Kenneth, good morning. Reporter good morning, jon and paula. Just an incredible memorial behind me here. This community rightly wants to focus on the victims of this massacre, but this morning theres still a lot of attention on the gunman. Police are investigating every aspect of his life from birth to death. This morning the hunt for a motive is growing increasingly frustrating for police in las vegas. We thought we might find some ideology or some economic or political or social reason, some medical reason. We havent found it yet. Reporter electronic billboards now up around vegas. Investigators are asking for more tips about mass murderer, stephen paddock. Is it possible the motive is he did it because he could . Thats certainly a possibility, but its one of those possibilities that you really cant wrap your mind around, can you . I dont know if i could accept that one. Reporter new details are emerging. Sources say paddock kept a low profile to avoid suspicion from hotel security. On the phone with room Service Authorities say paddock pretended he was speaking with others in the room checking their orders, so hotel staff wouldnt think he was alone in the large suite. His final days Authorities Say included a prostitute and a gambling spree. Near his killers perch in Mandalay Bay Police confirm they found a recent prescription for valium and a note with a series of cryptic numbers. Run. Keep your head down. Reporter nearly a week since paddock opened fire on thousands of people at a music festival. Ive been shot in the arm. Youve been shot . I need 911. I need an ambulance. Reporter new video and incredible stories of survival. People rushed to help 48yearold doug carter separated from his wife and son. Here, stay right here. Hes been shot. Its just amazing that there was somebody there to help my dad, and he was actually i was worried. I thought he was on the street somewhere. I had no idea. Reporter police are crediting mandalay bay Security Guard jesus campos for alerting First Responders and stopping more bloodshed. He was shot while responding to a door alarm on that 32nd floor. He rose to the occasion and acted like an absolute hero. Reporter an attorney for paddocks girlfriend Marilou Danley says she continues to cooperate with the fbi. Just days after President Trump made a visit to las vegas, Vice President pence will be here to attend and speak at a unity prayer walk. Jon and paula. That motive still so bizarre. They have these pieces to the puzzle, but they just dont fit right now. Kenneth, thank you for your reporting. And now to President Trump raising questions with cryptic comments to reporters. Cryptic, indeed. Abcs Gloria Riviera is at the white house with what the president is saying about those remarks and now how hes rolling back a key obamacare mandate. Good morning, gloria. Reporter good morning, jon. Guys, these comments really still are a mystery. They came as trump met with his top military leaders at the white house and he characterized that meeting as possibly the calm before the storm. Now, those comments come amidst escalating tensions with north korea and the administrations intended decertification of that nuclear deal with iran. This morning the president s cryptic comments have yet to be fully explained. You guys know what this represents . Tell us, sir. Maybe its the calm before the storm. Reporter President Trump delivering that message with a smile. Whats the storm . Could be the calm, the calm before the storm. Reporter trump flanked by his top military leaders and their spouses. Abcs cecilia vega pressing the president and his press secretary for clarity. Mr. President , what did you mean by calm before the storm yesterday . What did you mean by that . Reporter with a wink and a pause. Youll find out. Was he referring to military action when he said calm before the storm . Were never going to say in advance what the president is going to do. But how seriously should the American Public or american adversaries for that matter take these comments . Was it a joke . Was it serious . I think you can take the president protecting the American People always extremely serious, and if he feels that action is necessary, hell take it. Reporter but the president s intended message still unclear. Meanwhile, this morning the white house facing a lawsuit. The aclu is suing the Trump Administration over its announcement to immediately roll back obama era contraception mandates that allow women access to Birth Control on the grounds of religious liberty. Businesses, both large and small, can object to providing contraceptive services on the basis of a moral conviction. The new rule is a coup for the administration and its supporters. Bit for some women like third year notre dame law student kate rochat, its a troubling reality. My only access to Birth Control right now is through my University Health insurance. I could possibly lose access to what i see as a fundamental part of my Health Care Just because my university is religiously affiliated. Reporter a lot of students like that feel the same way but these new scalebacks do leave in place existing programs that provide subsidized contraceptive care to low income women such as through community centers. Still one state already, massachusetts, is planning to take these new rollbacks to court arguing they are unconstitutional. Jon, paula. Probably just the beginning. Gloria, thanks for your reporting. From the white house. Okay, jon, you are our chief White House Correspondent. Yes. I can interpret all this stuff. Yes, you can. Yes. Okay, so give us your interpretation. Calm before the storm and then cecilia vega presses him on it and he says youll find out. What does this all mean . Well, i got to say, who knows, first of all, to be totally honest, but you have to know the context here. This was not some grand strategy. The president didnt have a big rollout for making these remarks. What happened is the press corps had actually been given what we call a lid at the white house. It means everybody can go home, the president is not going to make any more Public Comments for the day. This is on thursday. Yes, and what happened is, everybody was called back in. The press pool was called back in because the president , you know, wants you to come in and see him with the military leaders. And then he makes these remarks. His staff had no idea he was going to do. When the Vice President was asked about it, he said you got to ask the white house and the Vice President works in the white house. And people still dont really know how to respond. No, no. I want to bring in pollster Kristen Soltis anderson. Shes also our political analyst. Shes in d. C. Maybe she knows. Maybe you know. If you have your crystal ball for us this morning, but, kristen, good morning to you. I want to know, as a pollster, though, how does this really affect the way people view trump as commander in chief . Well, donald trump has always been viewed as unpredictable and for an awful lot of people, thats not a good thing. It makes them a little nervous especially in an unstable and unpredictable world you want the commander in chief to be a stable force. But there are a lot of folks who are big fans of the president who think him being unpredictable, that is a feature, not a bug, its a good thing to keep adversaries on their toes, and so i think it plays into the way people who both like and dislike the president think about him. It underscores that he is kind of a wild card but whether you think thats a good or a bad thing i think depends on whether you like this president or not already. Well, and this notion of the big reveal, of building up the drama and the suspense around a major decision, whether its whether or not to fire his hhs secretary or, i mean, hes done this countless times over and over again. This has been part of the fascination with trump, its actually worked for him. Now, hes never done it around the possibility of nuclear war but this has worked for him. Sure, and i think if you ask his administration officials, is this a good thing, is it giving results, they could point to Something Like what china has said about north korea in recent weeks saying, look, well stop sending oil. Were really going to crack down on business, doing business there. You had eight years of president obama saying well have strategic patience there. Trump comes in. Hes unpredictable. Hes doing things that make a lot of people very nervous. It may not by traditional standards be the way you want to conduct foreign policy, but i think he might say, look, were getting results and thats all that matters. All right. Kristen Soltis Anderson from d. C. , thanks for your insight and our master interpreter. Yes. Jon karl, thank you. And north korea and the middle east, all the experts in the Previous Administration didnt actually do well either. There you go. More predictable but not more successful necessarily. Thanks for that, jon. We want to turn to florida now though. A Wild Police Chase involving a suspected bank robber and carjacker which ended in a hail of bullets in the miami river. The dramatic standoff was all captured on camera. Abcs Erielle Reshef joins us with the story. Good morning, jon and paula. That standoff started when miami police tried to serve an arrest warrant for an armed robbery. The gunwielding suspect took off leading officers on a dangerous twohour pursuit during the height of the morning commute. An armed suspect dodging police and driving like a madman through the streets of miami in this stolen bmw. Advised he would not be taken alive. No one is to approach this subject. Reporter officers hot on his trail. Be advised the subject is armed. He also advised he will shoot the police. Reporter watch as Ernesto Padron bails from the car as he carjacks a woman in an suv holding a gun to her head before she manages to escape. I just see a guy in my window with a gun in my window and trying to open my door telling me get out, get out. Get the [ bleep ] out of the car or ill shoot you. Get out. Reporter the 52yearold assailant mows through lanes of rush hour traffic. All patrol units advised to put on your protective gear, helmets, shields, whatever else. Reporter padron ditches the black mazda, runs under a bridge and dives into the miami river bobbing in the water like a buoy. A tense hourlong standoff as hes surrounded by tactical teams in boats on the dock and in the air. Again, all units advised to watch out for cross fire. Advising that the subject is still refusi