It is moving so slowly. And thats the problem, inching toward the alabama Florida Border with torrential rain that wont let up. Flooding is a major concern. Storm surge is a major concern. We have reporters right in the middle of it. So well get to all of that in a second, but were also following coronavirus quo developments. More than 1,400 new deaths reported in the u. S. On tuesday. Thats the highest singleday total in more than a month. Last night, President Trump falsely claimed that he did not downplay the threat of the virus, contradicting his own recorded words to bob woodward in which he admitted he likes downplaying it. The president also trying to blame joe biden for not instituting a National Mask mandate, which would be difficult for joe biden to do, because biden is not the president. But lets begin with the breaking news on Hurricane Sally. Cnns gary tuchman is live in Pensacola Beach, florida, in the middle of all of the torrential rain. Whats happening, gary . Reporter alisyn and john, youll have to excuse people here in the town of Pensacola Beach on santa rosa island, a barrier island, if they feel its time to maybe Start Building an ark, because a terrib torrenti torrential rain has been falling for 15 hours. A week ago, we had 145mileperhour winds, but ended up with negligible storm surge and not a lot of flooding. I have taken a walk around this morning and seen it on this barrier island. Right now, the sidisland is clo. The bridges to the mainland are closed. Anyone who decided to stay and people like are stuck here until this is over. The winds are now at 65 Miles Per Hour sustained and 83mileanhour gusts. The last gust we got, which is Hurricane Force. But it is the rain, the possibility exists of up to 2 feet of rain, yes, thats feet. And thats a big problem. Roads underwater, storm surge coming in. And theres great concern what this island, population about 4,000 yearround residents will like when its all over. One thing i want to point out to you, alisyn and john, there was no mandatory evacuation in effect. Its a voluntary evacuation. Part of the reason for that is the concern, like we talked about two and a half weeks ago, of going into shelters during a pandemic. People are taking it very seriously, we see absolutely no one Walking Around this morning, and even during daylight yesterday when we were on the beach, just a couple of people. People are taking it seriously and what we certainly hope for are no casualties when this is all alisyn, john, back to you. I know the flooding is a concern, but 86mileanhour gusts, difficult to stand up in, we applaud you for your efforts out there. You talk about the flooding concerns, how much rain theres been. How high could the water get where youre standing . Reporter so the talk is, the possibility of a storm surge of up to 9 feet. People always ask me, why are you out in the wind and the rain and the possible storm surge. We carefully select where were at. Were at an elevation of 25 feet, so were not particularly worried about that. There is some sheet metal rolling around and some roofs have come off, but we have an area where its not coming, weve scientifically evaluated that. But there could be a huge storm surge, and once the daylight starts, the sun comes out, well take a look around. Im so glad that gary pointed that out. Chose shards from signs and roofs do become projectiles and really dangerous. Gary, please be careful. Thank you very much. Well check back with you throughout the program. Lets get to cnns ed lavendera live in mobile, alabama. K see you can see it raining. Give us the latest. Reporter good morning, john. Here the mobile, the most intense winds weve seen through this entire storm has kicked up here in the last hour. That is because the closest edge of this watch is starting to come inland, it is starting to approach that area between mobile and pensacola. So this should be the region hardest hit by Hurricane Sally. And it will be catastrophic to see, when you consider the amount of rainfall, the intensity of these winds, that in and of by itself, if this were a quickmoving hurricane, probably might not be causing that much damage. But because this storm is moving so slowly, its going to extend the amount of time this region is exposed to these close winds and they are relentless at this point. We are seeing a great deal of intense rainfall, some of the fiercest winds weve seen all night and that will continue for the next several hours. If anyone is sleeping in this region, this is what they will be waking up to, if they havent already been up throughout most of the night, considering what were experiencing and hearing here in the mobile area. Were on the edge, on the Northern Edge of mobile bay, and this is one of the mobile rivers that empties out into the bay. And it is raging straight south into mobile bay. It gives you its fascinating to see the intensity of these storms to give you a sense of why forecasters talk about the intense flooding and the danger of the flooding inland, because this storm can control all of these rivers, tributaries, all of these bayous that empty out into these pays. And thats why even though youre not close to the coast, theres going to be a great deal of concern about when storm does to inland communities here over the next few hours. John and alalisyn . Ed, be careful. Well check back with you very soon. Just moments ago, Hurricane Sally made landfall near gulf shores, alabama, so lets get right to cnn meteorologist chad myers with the latest track and all the rainfall projection. What are you seeing . Gulf shores, louisiana, right in the middle of the eye right now. The winds are almost calm. Thats a far cry from where they were about 30 to 40 minutes ago when the northern eye wall was onshore. Now that eye wall has moved closer to orange beach and very close to our gary tuchman right now, where the worst of the winds are still to come, somewhere between 83 and 86 miles an hour. Well zoom you in and tell you whats going on. There are flash flood warnings, flash flood emergencies. Yes, its flooding, but this is the next step up from there, across this area. Some spots already about 18 inches, radar indicated. And here is the center of the storm, right there and this would be right there. Gulf shores and thats your x. That is right in the middle of the eye. Thats where the landfall came. Pensacola, you are really in the worst of it now, about to get worse for maybe about another 30 or 40 minutes. And all along 98, all along 38, this is where the winds will continue to be very strong for the next few hours. The rains are going to be very heavy for the next few hours. Maybe the next 12 hours. In some spots here, look at the white. Most of this offshore, but there are white areas here from pensacola ahead of destin that have already picked up the 20 inches that was predicted. The storm is moving to the north northeast, somewhere around 3 Miles Per Hour, maybe 5 Miles Per Hour at this point. It travels across parts of mississippi, alabama, and into georgia. And then this, although the wind will begin to go down, maybe 60 or 50 Miles Per Hour, this is where the rainfall is going to, again, be very, very heavy from atlanta and southward, from montgomery and southward. Were going to see 6 to 10 in places that cant handle 6 to 10 at all. Not that nobody can handle 20 like they have at the gulf coast. Chad, keep us posted. Obviously, the hurricane has made landfall. Were watching its path and watching how much rain is falling. Joining us now, mike evans, director of emergency management, how are things going a you have 6 08 eastern time. Its pretty hectic. It did do an eastward shift starting yesterday evening on into tonight. And last night. And so that shift, as it shifted eastward towards the alabama florida line, it gave us some relief. Now, were still having problems. Our sustained winds here overall in the county are probably about 50 Miles Per Hour with gusts up to 70 and 80 Miles Per Hour right now. I know the major concern is the rain. The amount of rain thats falling. Where do things stand right now . Yeah, so, weve probably already had a good 15 inches in the large majority of Mobile County. The coastal areas probably even higher than that, well into the 20s. So the concern there is this storm is moving so slow that, you know, if it would move on and get out of here, it would be one thing. But as it moves very slowly it, continually dumps that rain. So were looking at maybe many, many hours of this type of rainfall. And thats very concerning, because what will happen, you know, the grounds already saturated, so the water has nowhere to go. And that causes all kinds of problems with saturated ground, tree roots start having issues and trees start going down. It affects roads, it affects our power grids. Its just its going to be a long process. What are you hearing in terms of people who may be trapped, stranded . What situations have people found themselves in this morning . So far, over on our side of mobile bay, we havent been getting a lot of calls. We put out a recommended evacuation monday afternoon for our coastal areas, zones 1 and zone 2, a evacuation, which are surgeaffected areas. And we opened some shelters. We do have people in both shelters right now. We encourage people that, you know, because of covid19 and the shelter environment, if they didnt feel comfortable, if they had friends, family, or relatives in the central and northern parts of Mobile County to please go stay with them. So it appears a lot of people took advantage of the opportunity to go inland and go to the shelter. So weve been getting minimal calls right now. But the sun is going to be coming up here in a little bit. And as the storm continues to move and the winds die down, you know, we have historically started getting calls from people. You know, right now for us with the weather, the time would be to hunker down. Wherever youre at, you stay inside unless you have to get out for the water. Over the next hour or two, well start seeing a much clearer picture about what well be facing. Mike evans, please stay safe and keep us posted if we can do anything to help. Obviously, well check back in with our reporters. Gary tuchman right in the middle of it, in the worst of it for the next hour or so. Also overnight, President Trump, in a town hall setting, facing questions from voters, questions that didnt seem like he was expecting. Well tell you next. It only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. Tide pods childguard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. To close, twist until it clicks. Tide pods childguard packaging. That selling carsarvana, 100 online wouldnt work. But we went to work. Building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. Creating a coast to Coast Network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. You know when your dog is itching for an outing. Or itching for some cuddle time. But you may not know when hes itching for help. Licking for help. Or rubbing for help. If your dog does these frequently. They may be signs of an allergic skin condition that needs treatment. Dont wait. Talk to your veterinarian and learn more at itchingforhelp. Com. Over time, you go noseblind to the odors in your home. background music but others smell this. upbeat music thats why febreze plug has two alternating scents and eliminate odors for 1200 hours. Breathe happy febreze. La la la la la. I do motivational speakingld. In addition to the substitute teaching. I honestly feel that thats my calling to give back to younger people. I think most adults will start realizing that they dont recall things as quickly as they used to or they dont remember things as vividly as they once did. Ive been taking prevagen for about three years now. People say to me periodically, man, youve got a memory like an elephant. Its really, really helped me tremendously. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Yeah, well, i didnt downplay it. I actually, in many ways, i upplayed it in terms of action. Are you saying yeah, because what i did was, with china, i put a ban on, with europe, i put a ban on, and we had have lost thousands of more people. That was called action, not with the mouth, but in actual fact. We did a very, very good job. That was President Trump falsely claiming he did not downplay the threat of coronavirus, directly contradicting his own recorded words to bob woodward in which he says he did downplay it and hes still doing so. President trump said a lot of questionable things at a town hall with undecided voters in pennsylvania last night, and cnns Jeremy Diamond is live at the white house with more. Hi, jeremy. When President Trump hits the campaign trail, its usually to bask in the glow of adoring crowds of trump supporters, but not last night. Last night, the president faced tough questions for about 90 minutes from undecided voters in pennsylvania. They challenged his handling of the coronavirus pandemic on numerous fronts. But the president is typical fashion, responding with a series of falsehoods and contradictions and insisting he has no regrets about his pa handling of the pandemic. Reporter President Trump denying he minimized the threat of the coronavirus as he came facetoface with undecided voters at a socially distanced town hall in philadelphia. Well, i didnt downplay it. In many ways, i upplayed it in terms of action. Did you not say that yourself . With china, i put a ban on, with europe, i put a ban on. And we had have lost thousands of more people had i not put the ban on. Reporter but thats not what trump privately told Journalist Bob Woodward in march. I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down. Because i dont want to create a panic. Reporter as the u. S. Hit 195,000 coronavirus deaths, the president once again taking no responsibility for the u. S. excessively high death toll and case count. I think we could have had 2 Million Deaths if we didnt close toout the country. So you regret nothing . No, i think we did a great job. Reporter as the president holds crowded indoor Campaign Events without requiring masks, trump deflecting and basically questioning the effectiveness of masks. They said at the democrat convention, theyre going to do a National Mandate. They never did it, because theyve checked out, and they didnt do it. And a good question is, you ask like joe biden, they said, were going to do a National Mandate on masks. Now, there is, by the way, a lot of people dont want to wear masks. There are a lot of people that think that masks are not good. Reporter while joe biden has called for a National Mask mandate, he doesnt have the authority to put one in place. The democratic president ial nominee tweeting, to be clear, i am not currently president. Trump fox efocused on wishful thinking, falsely claiming the coronavirus will just disappear. Its going to disappear. Youll develop a herd mentality, its going to be herd developed. And thats going to happen. That will all happen. But with a vaccine, i think it will go away very quickly. Reporter but Health Experts say a vaccine doesnt mean the pandemic will immediately end. Everyone is sort of banking on the idea of the vaccine, which theres optimism around that. Its not going to flip a switch somehow and we still have to do things in this country to save as many lives as we can. I mean, you know, we keep talking about this as if it were in the past, in the past tense. Were still very much in this. And yesterday, President Trump also hosted israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministers from the uae and bahrain. They signed historic normalization agreements that could really shift the fundamental dynamics of the region. But what was also striking, alisyn, was the crowd. The crowd yesterday. No social distancing at the white house, very few masks being worn. And of course, so nobility, also, because not only of what is happening here in the United States, but in israel. They are recording record new cases of this week and about to enter a second lockdown. Jeremy, thank you very much for all of that. Joining us right now is Toluse Olorunnipa, a White House Reporter for the Washington Post and dr. Hotez with Baylor College of medicine. Great to have both youve. So dr. Hotez, President Trump seems to still be pushing for a herd immunity strategy. If only he knew how to say it. He doesnt know what hes pushing for. Im not sure what herd developed is, which is what he just said is going to happen. He also said its herd mentality, which is a completely different thing. Dr. Hotez, i will spare you on having to opine what if joe biden said those things, the field day that the Trump Campaign would have with him getting words wrong. But just the notion that he still thinks that herd immunity is the way to go. And George Stephanopoulos had to point out, except that hundreds of thousands would be killed with that