Thursday morning news: August 31, 2023

SOUND: [Hurricane]

Hurricane southeast » Idalia is now roaring up the eastern seaboard of the United States after tearing through Georgia and then South Carolina overnight.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday:

COOPER: I have authorized National Guard activation, which means soldiers and vehicles are staged in key areas, ready to deploy when and if they’re needed.

Cooper said swiftwater rescue teams were also standing by with boats and helicopters.

Forecasters have predicted that the storm will make a right turn today into deeper Atlantic waters.

Hurricane Florida » Meantime, in Florida, workers are clearing fallen trees and debris from roadways as power crews work overtime to turn the lights back on in thousands of homes.

Gov. Ron DeSantis:

DESNATIS: Today, I was able to visit Taylor County where Hurricane Idalia made landfall. We clearly have significant damage throughout the Big Bend region.

Idalia slammed the Gulf Coast Wednesday with 125 mph winds.

And high winds snapped trees in half, while shredding street signs, sending sheet metal flying.

The massive storm surge swamped coastal homes and washed away vehicles.

Hawaii fire response » President Biden also said Wednesday that amid the hurricane response, his administration has not forgotten about Hawaii.

He said he’s directing almost a $100 million dollars of infrastructure funding to the state … following deadly wildfires.

BIDEN: It’ll mean stronger material. It means burying these lines that transmit the electricity underground. It’s more expensive to do that. But where possible, we should put them underground. They’re safest.

Three weeks after fires devastated parts of Maui, hundreds of residents remain missing … with at least 115 confirmed deaths.

North Korea launch » The White House says North Korea may be close to sealing a deal to sell weapons and munitions to Russia.

National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby:

KIRBY: Now, under these potential deals, Russia would receive significant quantities and multiple types of munitions from the DPRK, which the Russian military plans to use in the Ukraine.

Meanwhile North Korea launched at least two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters yesterday as the U.S. and South Korea carried out joint military drills on the Korean Peninsula.

Gabon coup » In Central Africa, top military commanders have seized control of the coastal nation of Gabon. Military leaders rejected results of a recent vote that reelected President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

They claimed the results were not legitimate and placed the president under house arrest.

The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell says the EU is very concerned about growing upheaval and anti-Western sentiment in the region.

BORRELL: The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, Gabon — it’s in a very difficult situation.

The takeover in Gabon comes roughly one month after a military coup in Niger.

Actors strike » The cast of hit series “Breaking Bad” reunited this week, not on television screens, but on a picket line.

Actor Bryan Cranston said actors and writers were left with no choice but to strike.

CRANSTON: They don’t and will not ever just go, you know what, I don’t think this is being fair to those people. I’m going to pay them more. It’s just not what they do.

With traditional television, actors and writers get so-called residual paychecks when their shows air in reruns.

But Cranston’s Breaking Bad co-star Aaron Paul says in the age of Netflix:

PAUL: I think a lot of these streamers, the know that they have been getting away with not paying people just fair wage, and now it’s time to pony up.

Writers hit the picket line in May, and actors joined them two months later.

Major studios claim they’ve already made fair offers to both unions, including the biggest boost in minimum pay in 35 years for writers.

I'm Kent Covington.

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