THE SHOW NOTES: Hurricane Helene, Israel Pounds Hezbollah, & Explosions In Atlanta

Welcome! Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan are set to moderate tomorrow’s Vice Presidential debate.

🚨 HELENE DEATH TOLL: 115 are dead and more than 1,000 are missing.

🚨 DEATH TOLL BY STATE: North Carolina: 47, South Carolina: 26, Georgia: 25, Florida: 11, Tennessee: 4, Virginia: 2 - CNN

🚨 WATCH: Shocking videos on the aftermath of Helene. - X, X, X, CNN

NEWS: Tim Walz lied about how many times he’s visited China.

SHOCKER: The New York Times has endorsed Kamala Harris.

MICHIGAN: The Democrat’s senate nominee in Michigan is sounding the alarm for Democrats.

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Israel

Israel is preparing for an imminent ground invasion of Lebanon after conducting multiple targeted incursions over the past few days. Israeli troops and armored vehicles were spotted just outside of the Lebanese border as the IDF expanded its air assault overnight.

Confirmed: Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday by dropping a bunker-busting bomb on the terror group’s headquarters in southern Beirut. Over the weekend, Israel also killed Hamas’s top leader in Lebanon, three leaders from the terror group known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Nasrallah's interim replacement within a matter of hours, and conducted the largest air assault on Yemen’s Houthi rebels since the war began.

Outrage: Israel first planned to kill Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah shortly after October 7th but the Biden administration commanded them to stand down in the middle of the operation. Over the weekend, The Associated Press released a biography of Nasrallah - who is responsible for killing hundreds of Americans - and described him as “charismatic and shrewd.”

Context: It’s hard to overstate how devastating a blow the implosion of Hezbollah has been to Iran. The Iranian regime has long viewed Hezbollah as the tip of its proxy spear that was used to threaten and intimidate Israel since its inception. Following years of fighting in Syria, the Iranians were more confident than ever that Hezbollah’s strategic location, formidable stockpile of weapons, and large number of battle-tested fighters would remain Israel’s greatest regional threat long after Hamas was eliminated.

BioLabs

Interstates around Atlanta were closed and residents were told to shelter in place after an explosion led to a raging fire at the BioLabs chemical facility in Conyer, Georgia. 17,000 Georgians were forced to evacuate with 90,000 more under a shelter-in-place advisory. The videos are unbelievable.

Details: A small fire caused the facility’s sprinkler system to eject water into water-reactive chemicals which led to a billowing cloud of smoke that was visible Sunday afternoon as far as 30 miles.

As I noted on Twitter: “Guys, before the conspiracists get out of hand, the BioLab fire in Conyers, GA is not a bioweapons lab. The company is called BioLab and it makes chemicals for pools and spas. So it is bad — chlorine, etc., but there’s no Ebola etc. Calm down.”

Before and After: Chimney Rock, North Carolina

Presented Without Comment

John Kerry: The First Amendment Is Bad For Governing

Trending news:

• Helene Dumps Rain on Millions of US Homes That Lack Flood Insurance - Insurance Journal

• US shelves Oregon offshore wind auction after protest from governor - Reuters

• CBS News casts a long shadow of anti-Trump bias ahead of its vice-presidential debate - Fox News

• Republicans are starting to raise alarms about Trump’s ground game - Politico

• California bans legacy admissions at all colleges - Politico

• Kris Kristofferson Dies: Legendary Country Singer-Songwriter And ‘A Star Is Born’ Golden Globe Winner Was 88 - Deadline

• Asheville has been isolated after Helene wrecked roads and knocked out power and cell service - AP

• Montana man faces sentencing for cloning giant sheep to breed large sheep for captive trophy hunts - AP

• Trump brings Hurricane Helene into 2024 campaign - Politico

• America’s Young Men Are Falling Even Further Behind - WSJ (paywall)

• Facing a Big Test, Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ Flails - NYT (paywall)

Market snapshot: