Thursday morning news: September 26, 2024

SOUND: [Hurricane Helene winds]

Hurricane Helene » Hurricane Helene is zeroing in on northwest Florida … and it’s expected to slam the Gulf Coast today as a Category-4 hurricane. That means winds topping 130 miles per hour.

Gov. Ron DeSantis:

DESANTIS:  The way this is tracking is a storm that is stronger than what we've seen in this region, I think, in anyone's memory.

The governor is urging residents along the coast to heed evacuation orders and get out of harm’s way.

DESANTIS:  The Florida Division of Emergency Management has partnered with Uber to provide free rides to shelters for Floridians in counties with a declared state of emergency.

Georgia is also bracing for Helene’s wrath. Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Chris Stallings told reporters …

STALLINGS:  Southwest and south central Georgia are under hurricane warnings and should expect hurricane conditions beginning tomorrow evening, lasting through Friday.

Stallings said tropical storm force winds are expected to extend through Atlanta, all the way to the Tennessee state line and possibly farther.

Report on assassination attempt » Senators investigating the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump have released a scathing report citing stunning security lapses within the Secret Service.

GOP Sen. Rand Paul:

PAUL:  Everybody says, Oh no, he was in charge. She was in charge. I was in charge of this, but not everything else. And so you ask, well, didn't somebody walk by that roof that was really about a hundred yards away in plain sight where they could have a direct line at the president? 

Senators compiling the report said interviews with Secret Service personnel yielded a lot of finger pointing, but not many acceptable answers.

A second attempt was, of course, made against the former president’s life last week.

Trump Iranian threats » Neither attempt is believed to have been tied to any foreign governments, but U.S. intelligence officials have briefed Trump about ongoing threats from Iran to assassinate him.

Trump on Wednesday noted that the Iranian president is in the United States for meetings at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

TRUMP:  We have large security forces guarding him, and yet they're threatening our former president and the leading candidate to become the next president of the United States. Certainly a strange set of circumstances.

He said the White House should be warning Iran of dire consequences if it commits an act of violence against a former U.S. president.

SOUND: [Air raid sirens over Safed]

Israel / Hezbollah » Wednesday brought another round of attacks between Israel…and the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.

Israel says a home was damaged when a rocket fired out of the north of Lebanon landed in the Israeli city of Safed.

Even more troubling…Israeli government spokesman David Mencer says Hezbollah has set its sights on a new target:

MENCER: This is the first time in history that Hezbollah terrorists have fired at the city of Tel Aviv. Thank God the missile was successfully intercepted by IDF David’s Sling aerial defense system.

Lebanon’s health minister claims that more than 50 residents died in Israeli airstrikes yesterday. Much like another Iran-backed terror group, Hamas, Hezbollah is known to hide military assets in residential buildings.

And there are signs now that Israel may be ready to take the next step in eliminating Hezbollah.

HALEVI: [SPEAKING HEBREW]

Undated video emerged yesterday in which Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi is heard telling members of the Israeli military to prepare for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon.

Putin nuclear threats » Vladimir Putin is ramping up nuclear tensions by likely lowering the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Putin on Wednesday indicated that the Kremlin is in the process of changing its nuclear doctrine.

PUTIN: [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

He said under the new rules, any attack against his country by a nonnuclear power with the support of a nuclear power would be seen as a “joint attack” against Russia.

His remarks were clearly intended to dissuade the West from granting Ukraine’s request. Kyiv has pleaded with the U.S. and its allies to allow Ukrainian forces to strike military targets deep inside Russia with long-range weapons provided by the West.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Congress funding vote » Congress has avoided a government shutdown just weeks before the November election.

AUDIO: On this vote, the yeas are 341, the nays are 82. The bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table [gavel].

The House giving swift approval Wednesday to a bill that keeps federal agencies funded through Dec. 20. The Senate did the same hours later.

The short-term measure generally keeps funding at current levels, delaying any potential funding fight until after Election Day.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: What happens to Gaza after the dust settles. Plus, hot springs in Nevada.

This is The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.