THE SHOW NOTES: Hurricane Helene, Defending Harris, & Bloomberg Polling

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MUST WATCH: FOX Weather meteorologist rescues woman from rising floodwaters in Atlanta live on air - Fox Weather

BREAKING: NYC Mayor Eric Adams arrives to turn himself in to face charges in federal corruption case - Fox News

LOL: Al Michaels was done with referees after penalty-filled Giants-Cowboys game: ‘Flag Day’ - NY Post

MUST READ: The Crucial Demographic in Pennsylvania That Could Torpedo Kamala Harris - Politico

OUCH: 31% of owners now owe more on their loan than their car is worth.

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Helene

Hurricane Helene slammed Florida’s Big Bend region as a category 4 storm with 140 mph winds. At least seven are dead and 3.2 million are without power as the remnants of Helene are set to dump nearly a foot of rain in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Helene is the largest storm to ever strike the region with storm surges pushing 15 feet in Tampa to 15.5 inches of rain recorded in a Tallahassee suburb. Atlanta has received 2 FEET of rain since Wednesday night, the highest two-day total in 100 years.

In Perry, Florida the sheriff asked residents who refused to evacuate to write their name and birthday on their arm so the bodies could be identified. At least 140 tornado warnings were activated across the southeast before first light this morning.

Go watch Aaron Rigsby’s drone footage of Helene’s aftermath on Twitter.

Defending Harris

MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle defended Kamala Harris’s lack of substance in her interview by claiming “She’s a politician, and none of them do.” However, Rhule noted something important:

“Despite all the economic wins over the last four years, despite the fact Trump emotionally connected with that blue-collar worker but didn't deliver for that worker, [Harris] needs to solve for why he still polls better on economic issues with voters."

The Border Patrol Union released a brutal statement on Kamala Harris’s decision to campaign at the border today:

“After years of not just ignoring the problem, but helping create it, Vice President Kamala Harris is finally headed down to the border. This is nothing more than for her to check the box, but what it is in reality is a slap in the face towards the men and women that put their lives on the line every day, and also a slap in the face to the American public. Where has she been?"

Polling

The latest polling from Bloomberg is not good for Trump.

NYT: How Fentanyl Drove a Tsunami of Death in America

Last year over 70,000 Americans died from taking drug mixtures that contained fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. The good news is that recent data suggests a decline in overdose deaths, the first significant drop in decades. But this is not a uniform trend across the nation. To understand this disparity, it’s important to examine how we got here.

Today’s crisis is often described as a series of waves. But if you look at the data, it was more like a couple of breakers followed by a tsunami. First, prescription opioid fatalities rose. Then heroin deaths surged. And finally, illicitly manufactured fentanyl overtook all that preceded it.

Full story at The New York Times (paywall)

WSJ: How Israel’s Spies Got Blindsided by Hamas but Still Hit Hezbollah Hard

A year ago, Israel suffered its worst-ever intelligence failure when Hamas launched a surprise attack, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Today, a wave of strikes against Hezbollah has Israel’s long-vaunted spies back on the front foot.

The turnaround reflects how Israel has invested its time and resources over the past two decades. Since fighting a war with Lebanon-based Hezbollah in 2006, Israel has rigorously prepared for another major conflict with the militant group—and potentially with its backer Iran. 

Hamas, by contrast, was viewed as a far less potent threat. Even shortly before the Oct. 7 incursion from the Gaza Strip, top officials were dismissing signs of an impending attack. Last September, the Israeli military confidently characterized Gaza as being in a state of “stable instability,” and intelligence assessments concluded that Hamas had shifted its focus to stoking violence in the West Bank and wanted to limit the risk of direct Israeli retaliation.

Full story at The Wall Street Journal (paywall).

Trending news:

• WATCH: The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a daring rescue of a man and his dog. - Twitter

• Harry Potter and Downton Abbey’s Dame Maggie Smith dies at 89 - BBC

• Fox News Poll: Harris is ahead of Trump by 3 points in Georgia - Fox News

• Harris' team is considering keeping Biden Cabinet officials if she wins and Democrats lose the Senate - NBC

• Mike Pence quietly lays the groundwork for a post-Trump future - SEMAFOR

• 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future - AFP

• U.S. Coast Guard watching uptick in Russian, Chinese navy activity near Alaska - Reuters

• The DNC Has So Much Money That It’s Now Spending in Idaho - NOTUS

• YOLO Mitch? McConnell speaks out — on Trump, tariffs and beyond - SEMAFOR

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