Watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously, and please follow the guidance of your local officials. The Storm Storm Surge is well beyond the immediate path of the mur cane, could be significant and deadly for you and your Familys Sake Everyone near the path listen to local officials. 20 foot Storm Surge, you cant good morning, and welcome to Way Too Early on this friday, September 27th im jonathan lemire, and we start this morning with Breaking News out of florida, where Hurricane Helene just a moment ago downgraded to tropical Storm Helene, Made Landfall as a category 4, making it at the time the strongest hurricane to ever hit floridas Big Ben at this hour the storm has indeed weakened, but forecasters warn it could still bring life threatening winds and unsurvivable Storm Surge with waters reaching as high as 20 feet in some places. So far the devastating impact has led to three it deaths, one in florida, two in georgia. At least 1 Million florida customers remain in the dark after strong winds knocked down Power Lines there. Joining us live from tallahassee, florida, now is nbcs Jay Gray. Jay, good to see you. Give us an update as cessions there, what sort of damage we think we can see. I know the suns not up yet and what the next few hours look like for residents. Reporter en yeah. Jonathan, a Rough And Tumble night last night as you would expect. This storm pushing right Past Tallahassee and in the process causing significant t damage. You can see some of the Oak Trees and moss and we know some of the trees didnt make it. They toppled on structures, pulled down Power Lines. Youre right, weve got to get some sunlight in here and get an idea of What Helene left behind. Across the State Flash flooding a big issue not only with Storm Surge along the coast but some areas saw as much as 12 inches of rain as this storm moved through. And you talked about this storm being the most powerful to ever crosser into the Big Bend regio. This is a third in 13 months that hasd followed that Route D into florida, but its also one of the, largest storms weve er seen in the last century, anyway in the gulf. I mean, were talking about a wind field, a footprint, if you will, 500 miles or so wide, and its had some staying power. This Ise A Storm after it push through here andr did the dama its doneid here, moved into georgia still with hurricane strength, still a category 1. Thats well cainland, so that gives you an idea about the energy this storm continued with. Lets talk about what its going to do moving forward as well. 60 Million people right now across 12 states dealing with watches and warnings. We know this is still going to be a serious rainmaker, so flooding is going to be a big issue especially in the carolinas. To watch out for that as we move into the weekend here. Tennessee is going to get a lashing as well. And so helene is not done at thiS Point. You said just over A Million people Iner Florida right now without power. Thats going to fluctuate, and i think well get that number going up a bit before it starts to go down. We know in georgia right now over g 800,000 people are witho power, and that numbers definitely going to climb, jonathan. This was a historic storm, a massive system, and its not done quite yet, thats a big concern. Nbcs Jay Gray live from tallahassee, thank you. Well check in again with you later in the morning. Lets right now bring in Meteorologist Angie Lassman for more on the path of the storm. Angie, what can you tell us . Good morning, jonathan. Notice where jay was, we didnt see a whole lot of rain. Thats becauseof things are goi to wrap up and improve for places like florida and the Big Bend area, and nashville especially the Heavy Rain is going to be centered over the next couple of hours especially early afternoon. Lets Take A Look at the latest update we got at the top of the hour. Downgraded as you mention to topical Storm Helene. Were talkingor about a system well into georgia. It looks a little ragged, doesnt look all that healthy, but still plenty of rainout of it. Thats one Thing Youll often see with these systems they start to t weaken. All of the rain as it looks a little not great. This is one thing well note, though, well still see some of the strong wind gusts and impacts. Tornado watches remain upth for Parts Ofwa South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as into georgia. We did see these expire for parts of florida, but the Tornadoes Threat is going to remain here at least into our Afternoon Hoursnt specifically acrosS Parts of the carolinas. Weve got some of those spots dealing with Tornado Warnings the east of t to charleston and to the west of cross, South Carolina. Were going to to watch more of these Spino Ups and fortunatel even wiTh A rain wrapped tornado,na makes it all that mu more dangerous. We cant see it. This is the spots were going to to watch norfolk and stretching out to charlotte for the potential today. I mention strong winds. Even thoughst its downgraded, still going to be dealing with tropical Stormg Force winds at least. Weve had impressive Wind Speeds in places like macon, upwards of 80 mileS Per hour in some spots. The Power Outages going to be active here as we get into the afternoon across Georgia And Intoeo the carolinas. On top of that really the Flood Threat is whats going to unfolg in a big way today. We see so much rain ahead of the system, and this is something we see, jonathan, through the day today. The Flash D Flooding concern wee very concerned across the appalachians. Already saturated grounds. Really, really concerning for fatalities. An extraordinary amount of rain. We now turn to the days biggest political stories. In just Hours Mayor Eric Adams is scheduled to appear a day after a 50page federal indictment was unsealed accusing him in a decade long corruption scheme. The or64yearold becomes the first sitting new York City mayor to be indicted in the modern era. In all hes charged with five counts including Bribery And Wire fraud. The indictment accuses the mayor of receiving more than 100,000 worth of free Plane Tickets and Luxury Hotel stays from wealthy turkish nationals and at least one government official. Additionally, the indictment states in return for free Travel Benefits and illegal campaign contributions, adamS Performed favors for his foreign benefactors. Now, it allegedly included pressuring they new York City Fire Departmentes to allow a turkish Consulate Building to open up despite serious safety concerns. Prosecutors say the international pay to play scheme began after adams became the Brooklyn Bureau President all back in 2017. Prosecutors also say adams kept paper trails and deleted messages hide his misconduct. Mayor adams vowed to fight the charges and stay on as mayor during a tumultuous News Conference that he held outside the mayors residence yesterday. Thisnc did not surprise us tt we reached this day. And i ask New Yorkers to wait to hearto our defense before makin any judgments. From here my attorneys will take carol of the case so i can take care of the city. Adams went onto blame his criticism of the bidens handling of the migrant crisis as to why the White House charged him. Of course thear white House And Doj pushed back strongly on that. Ak growing number of new york democrats have called on adams to resign including congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortez. But the states most powerful political figures have not including democratic governor Kathy Hochul and Senate Majority leader, chuck schumer. Joining us now former Manhattan District Attorney And Msnbc legal analyst, catherine christian. Thanks for coming in this morning. Youve gone through the indictment now several times. Give us your n impressions just how serious are these allegations . Well, its very serious. If you consider just the penalty the Defendant Mayor can be subjected to, the Wire Fraud charge you can get up to 20 years. Its very detailed. No, its not Sex Trafficking in Theot Indictment we saw last we but you have a public official being accused. And this is just an accusation. Hes innocent until proven guilty. Basically selling his office for favors, for, you know, taking trips and gifts. And a gift in itself is not illegal. Its why are you getting the gift and getting illegal campaign contributions, allegedly, and using store donors and getting matching funds that you may not have been entitled to. And also when i read the indictment i say there are some charges that are missing because its the cover up, stupid, you always hear. The Y Alleged Efforts to concea the improper conduct. You can have Text Messages where a staffer is basically telling someone, you know, you Cant Charge 50 because hes being watched, so you actually have to charge a real fee, talking about Airline T tickets. Deleting of messages allegedly by a staffer, a staffer telling Aaf Businessman to lie to feder investigators. Thats obstruction of justice. Thats scheme to conceal. So there may be a Superseding Indictment with more charges. And also remember a number of his orbit have Search Warrants executed either on their home or their phones. The Police Commissioner, the schools chancellor, a first deputy mayor, another deputy mayor. The new incoming Police Commissioner had a Search Warrant executed. Now, they may have absolutely nothing to do with the indictment, but just the factth Thect Mayor has all these peopl in their orbit have Search Warrants executed on their homes or devices. Just yesterday after the indictment was unsealed, they were searched again, adamS Phone was taken again. A Lot Ofe the stuff in here ha been in public reporting for a Year Orep so now, but as You Sa theres so many missing out there. Would you be surprised in the weeks and months ahead there were other charges . I wouldnt be surprised at all. When you execute a Search Warrant first of all that means thereS Probable Cause T and th judge found therecrimes in that phone or in that home. And i if youre going after the mayor of the city of new york and his highlevel staffers, you have to have something, you better have something. And i would expect there might bepe more indictments unlesS People are cooperating in order to not be indicted. So there are moments of laugh and out incompetence in this indictment. You mentionedn Th A Staffer Try to delete Text Messages, the mayor Him Sl forgot iphone passwords, so he wouldnt let investigators look athe it. Were going to hear more about that today, around noon when that arraignment happens. What else should we expect today . Youll hear my defense. Hes rected by alex spiro, and the formal will take place, where i will be shocked if the prosecutors ask for any bond meaning hes not fleeing anymore. Hes high profile and not a flight risk. Well be hearing from his attorney whos not shy speaking to reporters. Lastly and briefly, is there anything that could happen Today Thatul would prevent adams from continuing as mayor . A no. He has said and we can believe him that hes not going anywhere. Of course that could be bluster, but hes innocent until proven guilty. The factov of this Indictment Ds not require him to resign. There is a meginism the governor could push him out, and she seemed to open the Door Yesterday to that in a statement but she said give it time to review. Certainly the minimum it damages his reelection chances a year from now. Msnbc legal Analyst Catherine christian, thank you forth comi in. Well have more later in the show. Coming up next President Biden and Vice President harris met with ukraineS President yesterday. Now in a Surprise Donald Trump says he wants to meet with zelenskyy too. Plus what were learning this morning about the Vice President trip to the southern border. That and the path of tropical Storm Helene next on Way Too Early. M helene next on way to early. [coughing] Copd Hasnt been pretty. Its tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. But trelegy has shown me that theres still Beauty And Breath to be had. Because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flareups. And with one dose a day, trelegy improves Lung Function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, Mouth Or Tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or Eye Pain occur. What a wonderful world ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful. Pete g. Writes, my tween wants a new phone. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy for copd how do i not break the bank . We gotcha, pete. Xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. So you get high speeds for low prices. Better than getting low speeds for high prices. Right, bruce . Jealous . Yeah, look at that. Honestly. Someone get a helmet on this guy. Xfinity internet customers, ask how to get a free 5g Phone and a second unlimited line free for a year. Switch today first, right now we have to strengthen Ukraines Position on the battlefield, and thats why today im proud to announce a new 2. 4 billion package in security assistance. Second, we look ahead to help ukraine succeed in the longterm. As you know better than anyone, we as we said at the washington summit, we have to support ukraine and itS Path to membership in both the Eu And Nato and continue to make reform and strengthen democracy, which youre working on mightily right now. That was President Biden speaking yesterday during an Oval Office Meeting with ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, former President Trump said he will meet with zelenskyy later at Trump Tower. The Trump Campaign had called it off because of recent comments calling senator j. D. Vance too radical. While speaking to Reporters Yesterday Trump was asked about ukraine and his strategy for allegedly ending the war. The Vice President suggested today your strategy with ukraine amounts to surrender to russia. How do you respond to that . No, i dont think so. I dont think so. And its not a surrender. What my strategy is to save lives, i want to save lives. Millions of people are dead. Millions more than they even think about, and its not my fight, but it is a fight to save humanity. There was no reason for that war to happen, but it did happen, and millions of people are dead including soldiers from both sides. Its so sad to see it. And ill meet with President Zelenskyy and well see what happens, but i believe i can work that out. Meanwhile, the Vice President will visit Battleground Arizona Today for a major speech on Border Security and immigration. Shes heading to the southern border, which will be her first trip there since becoming the democratic nominee. According to a senior campaign official, harris will Call Out Donald Trump for his role in tanking a bipartisan Border Bill earlier this year. Also starting today the Harris Campaign is running a new ad focused on her immigration policy, which is set to air in arizona and other battlegrounds. Kamala harris has never backed down from a challenge. She put Cartel Members and Drug Traffickers behind bars, and she will secure our border. Heres her plan. Hire thousands more border agents, enforce the Law And Step up technology, and stop Fentanyl Smuggling and human trafficking. We need a leader wiTh A real plan to fix the border, and thats Kamala Harris. Im Kamala Harris and i approve this message. Next up well turn to sports and highlights from major League Baseball as the Playoff Picture News into focus with the two final division titleS Playing, but Wild Card spots are up for grabs. Plus, the giants lose more than just a game in their matchup against the cowboys last night. Well bring you those highlights. Way too early will be right back, also wiTh An update on tropical Storm Helene. Tropical Storm Helene. And keeping it off . Same. Discover the power of wegovy. With wegovy, i lost 35 pounds. And some lost over 46 pounds. And im keeping the weight off. Wegovy helps you lose weight and keep it off. Im reducing my risk. Wegovy is the only fdaapproved Weightmanagement Medicine thatS Proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known Heart Disease and with either obesity or overwe