Biden to visit Florida and Georgia to survey hurricane aftermath
Joe Biden is set to visit Florida and Georgia on Thursday where he will survey the aftermath of Hurricane Helene which has killed nearly 200 people.
Biden’s upcoming visit follows his visit to the Carolinas yesterday where he met with local and state officials and first responders.
On Wednesday, Biden amended North Carolina and Georgia’s disaster declaration by authorizing an increase in the level of federal funding for emergency work undertaken in the wake of the hurricane.
“Under the president’s order today, federal funds for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, has been increased to 100% of the total eligible costs for 90 days from the start of the incident period,” the White House said.
Key events
The Biden administration has provided nearly $4m directly to individuals and families in need of critical financial assistance, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said onboard an Air Force One gaggle as the president was en route to Tallahassee, Florida.
She went on to add:
Yesterday, we announced that the president approved 100% federal cost share for emergency response activities in Florida and Georgia, as well as Tallahassee [Tennessee] and North Carolina. This means that the federal government will cover 100% of the costs associated with things like debris removal, first responders, search and rescue, shelters, and mass feeding.
This latest announcement builds the president’s previously approved requests for major disaster declarations from the governors of Florida and Georgia, which unlocked additional assistance for residents on their road to recovery.
Patrick Wintour
In international news today, Iran has warned Washington that a large Israeli strike will lead to attacks on Israeli infrastructure and any country that aids such an attack will be deemed an Iranian target.
This after Joe Biden said he was “discussing” possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities.
In a statement issued by Iran’s mission at the UN in New York, Iran said:
Should any country render assistance to the aggressor, it shall likewise be deemed an accomplice and a legitimate target. We advise countries to refrain from entangling themselves in the conflict between the Israeli regime and Iran and to distance themselves from the fray.
Iran also stressed no messages to “aggressors” will be sent except through the Swiss diplomats, the country designated to transmit Iranian messages to the US. There had been claims that Iran was using Qatar as an intermediary with the US.
The Guardian is covering all the developments in the Middle East as they emerge, via articles but also our global live blog, here.
Joanna Walters
Joe Biden is in Florida before heading to Georgia to survey storm damage, following his visit to the Carolinas yesterday.
Here are some of the latest images from the news wires. Press are traveling alongside the US president, although not directly with him other than onboard Air Force One.
Biden took an aerial tour of affected parts in northwestern Florida, in Marine One.
Roads are impassable in some areas, especially for the kind of security motorcade a US president has to travel in.
The president is receiving a briefing at Keaton Beach, Florida, before departing for Georgia.
Interim summary
Hello US politics and election blog readers, it’s another very busy day of news, so please stay close to the blog as we bring you developments as they happen.
Joe Biden is currently in Florida, where he was taking an aerial tour of north-western parts of the state hardest hit by Hurricane Helene, as well as receiving briefings on the ground. The US president will head to Georgia a bit later and is due to make public remarks at 4.15pm ET.
There are a number of events planned on the election campaign trail for both Democrats and Republicans.
Here’s where things stand:
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Neither Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, or Georgia’s governor, Brain Kemp, will meet with Joe Biden today during the president’s visits to communities in the two states that have been hit by Hurricane Helene. According to White House pool reports, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden spoke with Kemp earlier today and both governors, who are Republicans, were invited.
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Melania Trump has doubled down on her support for abortion rights today, following yesterday’s revelation, with the Guardian getting the scoop, that she is firmly pro-choice. This despite her husband, former president Donald Trump, boasting of his pride at nominating the members of the US supreme court who tipped the bench into its conservative supermajority that overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, ripping up the national right to abortion care.
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Only about 2% of households in the 100 counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene-related power outages were protected by flood insurance, according to NBC News. The figures were compiled through analysis of census bureau data, PowerOutage.us data and national flood insurance programme policy data.
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Swing states a go-go. Trump will campaign in Michigan this afternoon, Kamala Harris is holding a rally in Wisconsin this evening and Michigan tomorrow.
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Melania Trump made an extraordinary declaration in an eagerly awaited memoir to be published a month from election day: she is a passionate supporter of a woman’s right to control her own body – including the right to abortion.
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Harris, the US vice-president and Democratic party nominee for president in November’s elections, is set to be joined by Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman, early this evening for a campaign event in Ripon, a small Wisconsin town known as the birthplace of the Republican party. Cheney recently endorsed Harris.
Death toll from Hurricane Helene reaches 200 – AP
Joanna Walters
Hurricane Helene and the aftermath of the massive storm has now killed 200 people in the US, as North Carolina and Georgia reported yet more fatalities, the Associated Press reports.
Some remote communities are still cut off and more people are still reported as missing, either because they have perished or cannot get in touch to say they are safe because of knocked-out internet and cellphone signals.
The death toll jumped from 189 to 200 after Georgia officials added eight to their tally and North Carolina added three, AP reports.
Search and rescue operations continue today in the mountains of western North Carolina, which bore the worst of the storm.
Helene came ashore late last Thursday in north-western Florida, where it caused huge storm surge and flooding, before carving a swift path of apocalyptic destruction through the southeastern US. It was the deadliest to hit the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina smashed into New Orleans as a category 5 in 2005.
This is Chimney Rock, the same exact spot before and after the hurricane.
Lake Lure, Black Mountain, Swanannoa are also gone.
Houses destroyed by landslides, entire families displaced and/or dead.
This is horrible. pic.twitter.com/q3IDlIVVY8— Luana (@N7Luana) October 1, 2024
Hurricane Helene’s devastation could disrupt voting in the swing state of North Carolina.
The Guardian’s Dharna Noor reports:
The devastating path charted by Hurricane Helene has taken at least 190 lives, decimated entire communities, and cut off access to food, water and power for many. It could also disrupt voting, including in North Carolina, one of just a handful of states likely to decide the 5 November presidential election.
Long before the storm made landfall on Thursday, politicos have kept a close eye on North Carolina as a key battleground state, with polls showing the state is closely divided in the choice between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Early voting in North Carolina will begin on 17 October as planned, state officials said, but adhering to that schedule will not be an easy task.
“The destruction is unprecedented and this level of uncertainty this close to election day is daunting,” Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the state’s election board, told reporters.
For the full story, click here:
Florida and Georgia governors will not meet Biden during visit
Neither Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, or Georgia’s governor, Brain Kemp, will meet with Joe Biden today during the president’s visits to communities in the two states that have been hit by Hurricane Helene.
According to White House pool reports, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden spoke with Kemp earlier today and both governors were invited.
The death toll from Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 191 as hundreds more remain missing. The category 4 hurricane has been one of the deadliest storms in US history.
Melania Trump’s book publisher requested $250,000 in exchange from CNN after the outlet requested an interview with the former first lady.
On Thursday, CNN reported that it had reached out to Trump’s book publisher two months ago with a request to interview the former first lady ahead of her autobiography’s release, Melania.
In response, Skyhorse Publishing, Trump’s book publisher, sent an “Confidentiality and Nondisclosure Agreement” last week, which included a clause that “CNN shall pay a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).”
A few days later, Skyhorse Publishing said it had sent the payment demand by accident.
“Neither Melania nor anyone from her team knew anything about the NDA and the document that was sent reflected an internal miscommunication,” Tony Lyons, the president and publisher of Skyhorse, told CNN in a statement.
“Had CNN signed an NDA, in the normal course of business, we would have approached Melania’s team to discuss [specifics of the interview],” Lyons added.
Rudy Giuliani’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election were partially thwarted by a wrong number.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
Rudy Giuliani texted the wrong number as he tried to persuade Michigan legislators to help overthrow the 2020 election.
According to a document unsealed in federal court on Wednesday, on 7 December 2020, Giuliani tried to send a message urging someone unspecified to help in the plan to appoint a slate of fake electors.
“So I need you to pass a joint resolution from the legislature that states the election is in dispute, there’s an ongoing investigation by the legislature, and the Electors sent by Governor Whitmer are not the official electors of the state of Michigan and do not fall within the Safe Harbor deadline under Michigan law,” Giuliani wrote.
As Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election, his allies sought to appoint alternate slates of electors in states that he lost to send to Congress. These false slates of electors met in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona and signed certificates in which they represented that they were valid electors in their states. Trump allies then attempted to send those certificates to Congress for counting on 6 January 2021. The plan failed.
For the full story, click here:
Melania Trump reiterates support for abortion rights: ‘a fundamental principle that I safeguard’
Melania Trump has doubled down on her support for abortion rights, saying in a new video released on Thursday:
Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth? Individual freedom. What does my body, my choice really mean?
In her upcoming memoir, Melania, the former first lady took a stance on abortion rights that deviated from her husband’s.
In one part of her book that the Guardian reviewed, Trump wrote:
It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government.
With a little over a month left to go until election day, reproductive rights has been a divisive issue throughout the campaign trail, with Republicans including Donald Trump and his supporters repeatedly attacking abortion rights and spreading falsehoods.
During the presidential debate last month, Trump, using an oft-repeated attack line, falsely claimed that Democrats supported abortion “after birth” and were “executing” babies.
Biden to visit Florida and Georgia to survey hurricane aftermath
Joe Biden is set to visit Florida and Georgia on Thursday where he will survey the aftermath of Hurricane Helene which has killed nearly 200 people.
Biden’s upcoming visit follows his visit to the Carolinas yesterday where he met with local and state officials and first responders.
On Wednesday, Biden amended North Carolina and Georgia’s disaster declaration by authorizing an increase in the level of federal funding for emergency work undertaken in the wake of the hurricane.
“Under the president’s order today, federal funds for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, has been increased to 100% of the total eligible costs for 90 days from the start of the incident period,” the White House said.
