we're back with the very we're back with the very latest on hurricane florence, which has weakened overnight to a category 2 storm as it makes its way to the carolinas. this is a live picture of myrtle beach, south carolina. you can see the waves coming in on this camera. the waves at myrtle beach are at about 6 feet. that is pretty decent. it is getting up there. offshore, we're told some waves are up to 30 feet. one buoy at sea has already registered wind speeds just under 70 miles an hour. so the storm may impact about 25 million people. once it makes it to land, president trump is warning everybody to get out while they can.

>> this storm is different compared to others. it's expected to linger in the area. >> yeah. >> i was there in charleston, living there 29 years ago for hurricane hugo, which came in in a snap. >> yep. >> but left so much destruction behind. >> and it's amazing as a toddler you remembered that. >> i was a newborn, actually. >> yes. all right. well, the next story here, a teenage girl in michigan, she's in custody this morning accused of stabbing her friend to death during a fight at school. >> it's believed to have been sparked by an apparent love triangle. here is lynda lopez. >> reporter: a 17-year-old high school student from warren, michigan, now in police custody after stabbing a fellow student. >> i'm sad to announce she was pronounced dead at approximately 9:24 a.m. this morning. the suspect was taken into custody at the scene and the weapon, a kitchen-style steak knife, was recovered. >> reporter: the two girls knew

each other and had been friends at fitzgerald high school. both straight-a students. >> i'd like to make it clear that this was not a random act. the victim and suspect were known to each other and this incident appears to involve a male student who is cooperating in the investigation. >> reporter: the male student, who was not involved in the incident, appears to have known both girls. >> the male, i should say student, knew both the suspect and the victim and that might have been one of the reasons why this occurred. >> reporter: the 16-year-old victim was involved in various school activities, including the cross-country team, robotics club and a member of the national honor guard society and student council. she was stabbed twice in the chest. a school resource officer quickly responding, a teacr al assisti, ni cpr to the victim. the school was on lockdown for a short time after the incident. students were then sent home for the day by 10:30 in the morning. the school is set to remain

closed through thursday. lynda lopez, abc news, new york. >> our thanks to lynda. a virginia bicyclist who greeted the trump motorcade with that one-finger salute, the middle finger, then got fired is now running for political office. >> julia briskman was caught on camera. there she is extending that middle finger. the image went viral as you can imagine. she is a democrat hoping to land a seat on the loudoun county board of supervisors in northern virginia. >> briskman tells "the washington post" she never considered seeking public office until she lost her job over what she said is a gesture protected by the first amendment. she also said she would probably do it again if she had the opportunity to. >> standing by her move. when we come back, we're hearing from the new cast members of "dancing with the stars." >> and what taylor swift did to ed sheeran in the wilderness. "the skinny" is next.

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it is skinny time. i love when relatively newcomers get to hear the music for the first time. >> i like the beat. >> you do. it is skinny time. we have lots to get to. >> yes, we do. "dancing with the stars," that's what we're starting with. the big reveal of season 27 happened on "gma." >> "facts of life" star nancy mccann. olympic gold medalist mary lou retton. it sounds like the '80s and the blind skier danielle umstead. >> this morning we're hearing from the stars themselves, including former denver bronco super bowl champ, there he is, demarcus ware. tweeting out, let the good times roll. >> john schneider tweeted never been more excited or nervous about anything in my life.

>> "bachelor in paradise's" joe the grocer, we were just talking about him yesterday, shared this picture on instagram and joked this time around i've got a coach. season 27 of "dancing with the stars" premiers on monday, september 24th. >> he's given up on trying to find love and how he's like, all right, i'm going to find success there on the dance floor. we look forward to the season. clearly cardi b after this weekend doesn't shy away from a good fight. well, now she's fighting it out with drake, but this one won't end in any sort of welts. >> hopefully not. cardi and drake are leading the pack this year in the american music awards nominations with eight each. and i love this song. ed sheeran and post malone have six nominations along with taylor swift. >> taylor and ed sheeran apparently set their rivalry aside as they enjoyed a bit of nature.

>> taylor, the ama nominations just came out. it's me, you and drake. you're going to win. >> you're going to win. drake's going to win. >> drake's going to win. >> that's so true. >> it's nice to see them together like that just kind of being normal. >> you forget how strong his accent is. it's awesome. taylor swift couldn't resist throwing a bit of fitness shade at her friend as he apparently struggled to keep up behind her. >> you okay, bro. this is called exercise, have you ever done cardio? >> every now and then. >> strumming guitar doesn't count. >> she's trash talking there. i could listen to these songs all day. coming up next, an ingenuous way to get a hollywood a-lister to visit your coffee shop. >> so follow us along. last month, grinder coffee of colorado kicked off a ten-day

campaign to entice ryan gosling in for a cup of joe while he was in town for the toronto international film festival. >> they did it by posting photos of a gosling cutout in various poses and enjoying coffee at the shop. >> the campaign worked. >> he made it in person. >> attending the red carpet of his upcoming movie "first man" dropped by the coffee shop and posed for a real photo with the owner. >> said ryan was well-spoken and a wonderful canadian boy with very good manners. >> kind of thirsty and desperate, but seriously, who would post a cardboard cutout of gosling in a coffee shop? no one in the world is that thirsty, right? >> wait. >> wait. >> i'm like, wait, why is starbucks in this video? >> oh, he did have the milk mustache. >> that is hilarious. and you're having conversations.

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as florence as florence nears, airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights and added more service to areas affected by the storm. southwest airlines gave a look inside its command center. it has suspended operations at multiple airports. >> that includes all flights in and out of charleston and raleigh-durham airports until at least saturday. various carriers have waived fees for flights scheduled to cross the path of the storm. american, delta, southwest and united are among the major carriers that have waived fees for those traveling through the southeast. so far, more than 1,000 flights have been delayed and nearly 800 cancelled. and the maker of budweiser has halted some beer production in order to help those who could be affected by florence. >> anheuser-busch has stopped

making beer at its brewery in georgia and started preparing cans of clean water. that did it as well in harvey, you'll recall. the american red cross helped the company to help out so the brewery is cranking out 300,000 cans of water that will be shipped to communities in north and south carolina. >> anheuser-busch says its brewery in ft. collins, colorado is also prepared to can emergency water if necessary. >> don't worry. they're still producing some beer all over the country. if you really want to know how bad a hurricane or natural disaster is expected to be, look to waffle house. there is actually something called the waffle house index and fema swears by it. if a waffle house is closed because there is a disaster, it is bad. that's like jim cantore being in your town bad. that's called a red. if it's open but has a limited menu, that's a yellow, and the green means good to go. >> nice. good to know. the restaurant chain has activated its own storm center as florence approaches.

waffle houses keeping close tabs on the hurricane tweeting, quote, the storm center is activated and monitoring florence. plan ahead and be safe. >> yeah, that's always one of those real indexes you're told about. this is the latest satellite image that you're seeing of the storm. it has weakened, as we mentioned, to a category 2 storm. have no doubt, because it's going to linger off the coast for much of 24 to 48 hours, this is going to be really, really bad. >> and a lot of people in that area there heeding those warnings and getting out of town, but if you are staying in that area, staying at home, just hunker down and get those supplies if you can. >> yeah, of course we're going to continue to monitor the situation. the updates coming in from the national hurricane center in the overnight hours and we'll bring them to you as soon as we get them. this is abc's "world news now," informing insomniacs for two decades. informing in some new

good morning. i'm kendis gibson. ree heop ephieosfor headlines we're following right now. harm's way. it weakened to a category 2 storm overnight but the threat of catastrophic flooding is still looming large. full coverage coming up next. democrats in new york state head to the polls today to decide whether governor andrew cuomo will hold on to his seat against the challenger, "sex and the city" actress cynthia nixon. nixon says recent primary upsets shows she has a chance of winning. apple's new top of the line iphone, xs max is its most expensive ever.

it costs about $1,100. apple also introduced two other iphones and along with a next generation watch that has a bit-in heart sensor. the seattle storm are the new wnba champions. >> whoop whoop! >> they beat the washington mystics last night to sweep the championship series three games to none. it's seattle's third wnba title. sort of like a dynasty there in seattle. those are some of our top stories on this thursday, september 13th. from abc news, this is "world news now." congratulations to them. >> and to the mystics for a nice run as well. >> yeah, absolutely. well, we begin this half hour with millions bracing for the onslaught of hurricane florence. a little weaker this morning but still expected to wreak havoc on the carolinas. >> florence is considered a category 2 storm with sustained winds dipping to 110 miles an hour.

forecasters say it will stall over the coastline so the threat of destructive and deadly flooding has not subsided at all. >> and the storm is now expected to impact people from georgia to virginia. >> and the governor of north carolina says tens of thousands of homes and businesses could be flooded in his state alone. abc's marci gonzalez has the latest from wilmington. >> reporter: good morning. we had a tiny bit of wind, a little bit of rain here. it is a small taste of what we will start to feel here later today. because this storm is slowing down, some places will feel the impact for up to 36 hours. making the threat very serious. packing up and preparing. a last-minute effort ahead of this massive slow-moving and potentially devastating storm. >> this is not going to be a glancing blow. this is going to be, you know, a mike tyson punch to the carolina coast. >> reporter: in the carolinas, virginia and now georgia, states

of emergency declared with forecasters expecting hurricane florence to bring powerful winds, up to 40 inches of rain and storm surges up to 13 feet. >> it's going to be one of the biggest to ever hit the east coast. one of the biggest to ever hit our country. >> reporter: the largest hospital in myrtle beach racing to evacuate patients. some taken as far as florida. and authorities watching this nuclear power plant and 15 other reactors in three states, concerned they could flood. >> leave as soon as possible. emergency services may not be able to respond. >> reporter: that warning taken seriously by many of the more than 1.5 million residents in evacuation zones. time to leave now running out. >> hearing everything that i heard, it was a no-brainer. it was time to get out of town. >> reporter: and we've talked to people who decided to ride out the storm despite the dangers and the possibility that millions of people could be left without power for weeks. kendis, stephanie, back to you.

>> all right. florence is also impacting travel across the southeast as airlines scramble to prepare for the storm. >> about 1,000 flights have been cancelled through friday. so far, some small airports have halted operations altogether, but for now all the major airports remain open. so as the storm approaches, the navy and the air force are moving their aircraft out of the storm zone. they relocated planes from bases in virginia and the carolinas to several other states. some service members also moved inland from bases, but the evacuations were not mandatory. and several coast guard crews from florida are heading to georgia as florence gets closer. the governor declared a state of emergency after updated forecasts put the state in the storm's path. vice president mike pence, he cancelled a campaign trip to the state earlier today. well, florence isn't the only dangerous storm threat. isaac could deliver flooding and damaging winds. >> paul williams is a busy man these days. paul? >> good morning, kendis, stephanie.

although florence has lost a little bit of strength, now a category 2, sliding to a category 1, this storm has never been about the strength of the winds, it's always been about the flood potential and the catastrophic nature of that. wilmington over towards charlotte looking at catastrophic flooding. possibly a storm max of 40 inches of water causing problems with mudd slides, washouts. 73-mile-an-hour winds further inland. this will continue going into the weekend. part of this entire storm story being dropped. because simultaneously at the same time isaac is going to push across the antigua and dominica and this area. expected to walk to the south of puerto rico, rough seas. strong rip currents, gusty showers. what little bit of infrastructure that we have in puerto rico right now, if isaac so much as wobbles slightly to

the north, what little bit of semblance of civility they have there might be wiped out totally. and isaac expected to push right across lesser antilles right towards jamaica. kendis? stephanie? >> paul, thank you. the trump administration is facing new questions over the federal response to hurricane maria. >> here's why. a stockpile of bottled drinking water was recently found rotting on an airport runway in puerto rico. fema purchased the water but it was never distributed. nearly 3,000 people died during maria. some of those deaths are attributed to a lack of clean drinking water. we're following breaking news from bakersfield, californi, this morning, where a gunman has killed five people, including his wife. investigators say he took his wife to a trucking company where he shot and killed a man then killed his wife. another man showed up at the business and then the shooter then killed himself.

then the gunman went to a home and fired at two people, killing them. he later stole a car and eventually turned the gun on himself. >> what a wild story. >> crazy. >> there in southern california. now to cincinnati, where a judge magistrate has resigned after an unusual courthouse incident. a woman named cassandra jackson was arguing with a court staffer after being told she missed a deadline to file an order of protection. that's when the magistrate, michael bachmann, came out of his court pointing at jackson and pursuing her down the hall. bachmann caught up to jackson and ordered her back to court. he put his hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the correct courtroom. once they got there, bachmann sat jackson down in the jury box and bachmann found jackson in contempt of court and sentenced her to three days in jail. well, she resisted arrest but ultimately served two days. bachmann said he was given a choice to either resign because of the incident or be fired. he resigned.

he said he put his hand on jackson only to guide her to the courtroom. cbs has fired the top executive at "60 minutes" jeff fager after he warned a reporter to, quote, be careful about the way she was covering allegations of sexual harassment against him. fager sent a text to reporter jericka duncan saying in part there are people who lost their jobs trying to harm me. hager later admitted his language was harsh but didn't feel it should have resulted in his termination after 36 years at the network. newly released video shows harvey weinstein with a businesswoman, her name is melissa thompson. this video is from 2011 and this happened apparently just hours before she said weinstein raped her. weinstein is seen repeatedly stroking her arm and her back during what she says was supposed to be a business meeting. thompson says she felt she was

managing the situation as best as she could without angering weinstein. then at a later meeting she says they were supposed to close their deal. instead, she says he raped her. the company that runs the mandalay bay resort in las vegas is being criticized for offering a charity deal to survivors of the vegas concert massacre. mgm resorts is suing more than 1,900 victims of the attack. it's the company's attempt to not be found liable under federal law, but now mgm is offering to make a charity donation of $500 in the name of people who are suing the company. it will cost mgm about $250 each to serve all those lawsuits. an attorney for most of the victims called the offer nonsense. well, we want to recognize someone this morning, one of the last-known widows of a world war i veteran who is still alive here in the u.s. she is 102 years old. her name is edna. >> edna lives in a nursing home in columbus. her second husband, paul, was a soldier in panama during the first world war.

he passed away 40 years ago but edna still receives his military benefits. >> that's great. one of edna's daughters lives with her in the nursing home. edna has 16 great, great grandkids, eight boys and eight girls. >> still looks pretty strong. all right. coming up, the wall street ceo who says he could beat president trump. he also says that he's tougher and smarter, but will he run? and coming up as well, an update on hurricane florence from hurricane hunters flying through the monster storm. the new warning they have for americans in the storm's path. you're watching "world news now".

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all right. check this out. all right. check this out. a surveillance camera caught the exact moment a dead tree fell on to -- ooh, there it is -- fell on to the hood of a moving suv. this happened west of boston. what a close call. one more second and that tree would have hit the driver. as it turns out she was not hurt and she was able to get out of the car by herself, but, of course, the suv is likely a total loss. overnight, firefighters battled a massive warehouse fire in phoenix. most of the flames are out at the trucking maintenance facility, but crews are still

monitoring hotspots. a hazmat team was called to the scene because of gas tanks that exploded. >> no injuries reported or word on what caused the fire, but, of course, an investigation is under way. a top wall street ceo had some tough words for president trump, even saying he could beat him in 2020. >> but then j.p. morgan chase boss jamie dimon did a quick about-face. he spoke with abc's rebecca jarvis. >> in a conversation about j.p. morgan's advancing city initiative, which will invest $500 million into u.s. communities over the next five years, i asked ceo jamie dimon about a potential presidential run and this is what he told me. >> why not throw your hat in the ring, jamie? >> i said this before trump was elected, you're not going to get a wealthy new yorker elected president. boy you can i was dead wrong.

by the way, this wealthy new yorker actually earned his money. it wasn't a gift from daddy and i grew up in a poor part of queens than he did. i am a banker. i am part of the elite. i don't think the american public looks at trump as part of the elite. they look at him as the upstart who punches the elites in the nose every day. i'm as tough as he is. i'm smarter than he is. i would be fine. he can punch me all he wants, it wouldn't work, i'd fight right back. the democratic party, they've got to get their act together in terms of understanding how society actually works. >> then later in an exclusive interview with abc news, he clarified, i should not have said that. >> i shouldn't have said it. more out of frustration and my own machismo, i shouldn't have said it. it also proves i wouldn't be a good politician. >> so you're done with politics? >> yes. >> no running for president for you. >> no. >> ever? >> i never say never to anything

but no. >> that was the quickest campaign. went from announcement to suspended campaign in just 30 seconds. >> well, apparently it's not the first time he's taken something back. in november when he was asked if he thought trump would serve one or two terms, he said if he had to bet he would say trump would only serve one term and then he took that back as well. >> okay. moving on to a romance novelist who wrote a book called "how to murder your husband" is now charged with murdering her husband. >> prosecutors say nancy crampton-brophy shot her husband daniel, a popular portland, oregon chef in june. they say she spoke about her loss during a vigil in his honor. investigators have not yet said what the motive might be. >> interesting story there. all right. coming up, we're monitoring hurricane florence from 10,000 feet. >> we'll have the latest update from those intrepid hurricane hunters. that's coming up on "world news now." intrend hurricane hurnts. that's coming up on "world news now."

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live pictures there of times live pictures there of times square. the wet streets right now, but it's nothing compared to what is heading toward the carolina coast because we see it right here on this satellite imagery as hurricane florence is closing in on the coast, the government hurricane hunters have taken to the skies. they're flying into that storm right now. >> abc's david muir spoke with one of the crew members on board that plane. >> jack, you and i have talked before during these hurricanes. i know this is the final flight of the day. what are you seeing right now? >> david, we are flying north of the hurricane florence right now. our job today is to get any kind of clues about where this storm is going, the fine tuning just before landfall. one alarming thing is that i don't see a lot disrupting it. >> i know you talked about

looking for any signs of shear, which could potentially be good news for any of us waiting for this impending storm. are there any signs of that? >> dave, to be honest with you, i'm not particularly hopeful that we'll find something to knock a little bit of the strength out of florence. >> jack, what do you see in terms of the size and scope of this hurricane? >> right now, it has managed to keep a very strong core. we've seen dry air intrusions both yesterday and today that should be weakening the storm, however, this storm creates its own environment. the area of the highest winds will spread out kind of like sandy, so this is not going to be good news, no matter what we find up here. >> you know, generally when we see a hurricane that is this wide, it doesn't always mean it's necessarily strong because it's not as concentrated, but in this case, the width of the storm is actually going to be very dangerous because it's going to hover right offshore for many, many hours. >> yes, sir, we do have a stalling situation. of course we remember what happened in the storm that

stalled off houston last year. >> we ask for you and the team to stay safe up there. i'll give you the last word for americans watching this down here with us. what's your word of warning for them tonight? >> david, i'd like them to listen to what their emergency managers and the national hurricane center has to say. be as safe as you can. >> those hunters bring us such amazing images every time there is a storm like that. >> he sounds incredibly calm considering he's flying through a hurricane. i want to give you the very latest. this is a live satellite image of the storm itself. the last couple of rings of it, it seems as if it's intensifying again where you see the red spots back there. well, the storm is still a category 2, but one thing that our meteorologist noted is that the hurricane winds extend 160 miles, which means a large part of that coastline will be feeling 75-mile-an-hour winds and up.

>> absolutely. it's expected to linger over the carolinas for about 36 hours. ing i feel like it just melted into my skin better. it's really smooth and it's not heavy. i really really love this. i will 100% swap up my moisturizer. can i have it? olay whips. try whips with spf 25. finally, sun protection that feels light as air.

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if it's clean, it's got to be tide. it is time for "this happened" on a thursday morning. a lot happened, apparently. >> yes. there is this really sweet video of a pregnant woman who goes to the zoo and an orangutan kisses the baby bump through the glass at the zoo. it is so sweet. the mom was even moved to tears as whoever -- somebody's recording this. it's so adorable. this happened in essex. >> okay. >> yeah. apparently the orangutan is 48 years old and just had that instinct. >> maternal instincts. okay. also overseas there is a

longtime owner of a book shop, a successful book shop in wales, decided, you know what, he's going to give somebody the opportunity to take over this business. so what he did, he ran a raffle for several months for anybody who spent more than $26. there the winner you see there shaking hands is from the netherlands who won the book shop in the raffle and is moving from the netherlands to wales to run it. it's a great sale, apparently. the book shop does really well in sales, about $50,000 in sales profit every year. in the book business. now you have a book shop. congratulations. >> what a raffle. >> yeah, interesting. this next story, you've got to see this video. this bird met a magpie stalks this cyclist. look in slow-mo. there he is. the cyclist captured the video of this dedicated bird repeatedly swatting him on the back of his helmet. he was not giving up.

this slow motion video shows the man, of course, riding the bicycle and he's just going. >> apparently hitchcock was on to something when he did "birds." >> he's determined. all right. so when you have a lot of pets at home, they have a rivalry in some cases. so this one guy has two -- two golden retrievers there -- or two dogs. two labs, rather. one of them has to get medicines for his ear. the other one doesn't. after he gives the medicine to the one dog, the other one pops into place, he puts the cap back on and pretends as if he's giving the other one its medicine. everyone's happy. >> that's cute. >> the one with the ear infection gets his medicine, the other one gets a placebo. everybody wins, jack. that's the news for this half hour. we're going to continue to watch

this morning on "world news now," wind and rain from florence starting to hit the carolinas. >> we just got an update from hurricane hunters who say there has been a significant change to the storm in the past few hours. time is running out for those still left on the coast. we're live in north carolina. the president has clear his schedule for today to monitor the storm. he says he's already getting accolades for the response to florence so far, but the government is getting a lot of questions as well about this, a massive stockpile of unused water bottles sitting in puerto rico since the disaster there a year ago. new video this morning of harvey weinstein like you've never seen him before. a young businesswoman recording their meeting. what she claims and what that video reveals.

and apparently guy mermaids or mermen do exist. we've got the proof ahead on this thursday, september 13th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> was that you? was that you on that rock? kendis! >> no. it depends on which one of the ones of the bodies you're referring to. guy mermaids do exist, i guess. we're going to start this half hour with what's now being called the storm of a generation. >> absolutely. hurricane florence closing in on the carolinas with destructive winds and catastrophic flooding. the storm is now 500 miles wide and forecasters say it could stall just offshore and batter the coast with torrential downpours for 36 hours. >> take a look at myrtle beach, south carolina, right now. florence is expected to make landfall late tonight or early friday, but millions of people will start feeling the impact

today. now, the electric company serving the carolinas says florence could knock out power to 3 million customers and they could be in the dark for weeks. >> abc marci gonzalez is standing by live in north carolina, but let's start with tom llamas in myrtle beach, south carolina, where an overnight curfew is now in place. >> we are under a mandatory evacuation. >> reporter: the warning is clear, get out. >> this is not going to be a glancing blow. this is going to be, you know, a mike tyson punch to the carolina coast. >> reporter: the largest hospital in myrtle beach racing to evacuate patients, many of them critically ill, loaded into this ambulance bus. some taken as far as florida. >> it's not safe to try to care here. we're trying to get everybody out. as such, we're shutting the hospital down. >> reporter: the reason, this monster storm. our station with the hurricane hunters flying into the eye.

florence's wingspan, 500 miles across. astronauts needing a wide-angle lens to capture it from space. on satellite, that eye wall so clearly defined, you can see towering thunderstorms swirling around the clear eye. the clouds curing outward in what meteorologists call the stadium effect. myrtle beach now directly in the path. an evacuation order in place and the beach shut down. the city warning anyplace entering the water will be arrested. >> do people that don't listen to you, are they playing with their life. >> they are playing with their life. it's a thrill ride you don't want to be on. >> reporter: the new track of florence prompting georgia's governor to join virginia and the carolinas to declare a new state of emergency. >> my message is clear, disaster is at the doorstep and it's coming in. >> reporter: some residents aren't sure what to do. jo noble shows us how she's surrounded by water. fashis does come up really, >> reporter: inside she shows us

an inflatable boat. >> i went out and bought myself a boat for two. >> reporter: that she says she's ready to escape on if necessary. the 76-year-old has lived through other storms but there is something about florence that makes her nervous and deciding she will evacuate. officials are worried about landfall, a direct hit, but they're also worried about the days of rain afterward. one massive concern, this ferris wheel behind me. they say it can withstand hurricane-force winds but officials are concerned about the storm surge, the power of that storm surge. here's why, just steps from the atlantic ocean. hurricane florence forecast to come right through here. in myrtle beach, south carolina, tom llamas, abc news. >> the winds have died down but florence is expected to swamp the area with more than 3 feet of rain. >> marci gonzalez joins us from wilmington, north carolina. good morning to you. how are things looking at this hour? >> hey, guys. good morning.

we are enjoying this nice calm weather while it lasts. there was a little bit of rain, a tiny bit of wind earlier but, of course, it's just such a minor taste of the effects we're going to start feeling here later today. >> and, marci, how seriously do people seem to be taking these warnings? >> stephanie, people really do seem to be paying very close attention to these serious warnings. there are a lot of people who say, you know, they have never evacuated for a hurricane before, but something just feels different about this one. so many of the more than 1.5 million people who are under evacuation orders have decided to pack up, get out of town. you know how it goes every time there is a hurricane. there are always the holdouts, the people who say, yeah, we hear you talking about the dangers but we're willing to take the risk. we're going to stay behind and ride out the storm. >> a lot of people say they've been there and done that. especially with the storm weakening, a lot of people might be doing that.

in the meantime, we're seeing a lot of images of traffic and the empty store shelves of people getting out. what are you noticing? >> yeah, i really thought this one bit of video was so interesting of the highway with all lanes of traffic going in one direction, leaving the coastal areas. the authorities really just trying to ease congestion on the roads. here in this area, the local roads, though, are pretty empty. not many people out there driving. it's probably because most of the stores, businesses and restaurants have already closed and they are -- they were running out of supplies by the middle of yesterday afternoon. we went looking for bottled water. it took a few stores to be able to find that. we could not find any flashlights anywhere and the lines were so long. my producer waited in line at walmart for 40 minutes. so many people just stocking up on those last-minute supplies. for the road trips out of town

if they're evacuated or to stay behind for all of those people who are deciding to wait out the storm. >> i've never waited in line in walmart for 40 minutes for anything other than beer. so i can just imagine. >> you waited 40 minutes for beer? man, you needed a drink. >> priorities. >> marci, thank you. for more on the monster storm, its track and potentially devastating impact, let's go to accuweather's paul impact with the forecast. good morning, paul. >> good morning, kendis, stephanie. florence has lost a bit of its strength, a very strong category 2 hurricane and downgraded to a 1 and eventually will slide into being a tropical storm. one quick note before we get started, just because it's been downgraded to a category 2 has not changed any of the warnings from the national hurricane center. we are still concerned with historic flooding and rainfall, damaging winds, risk of life and property to the extreme level in wilmington, towards charlotte, high risk in raleigh. isolated tornadoes, devastating

storm surge. this storm has always been about the flooding and the catastrophic flooding we're expecting in wilmington and charlotte and raleigh. kendis, stephanie? >> you saw that storm track there from paul. the vice president cancelled a trip planned for georgia after the storm started turning a little south. >> he's staying away from the area as president trump urges everyone in the path to comply with evacuation orders. meanwhile, he's escalating his feud with the mayor of san juan over last year's response to hurricane maria in puerto rico. here is abc's cecilia vega. >> reporter: president trump tweeting out this urgent warning to those in the path of hurricane florence. >> get out of its way. don't play games with it. it's a big one. it's called mother nature. you never know. but we know. we love you all. we want you safe. >> reporter: it comes as the president continues to give himself rave reviews for his handling of puerto rico's

devastating hurricane maria. >> puerto rico was an incredible unsung success. >> reporter: the reality, maria was the deadliest hurricane in modern american history, killing nearly 3,000 people. the mayor of san juan telling abc news, he never got it. he will never get it. and the president still engaged in a war of words, insisting his administration did an unappreciated great job in puerto rico and calling the mayor totally incompetent. >> oops, he did it again. here he goes again. you know, he doesn't understand that this isn't about him and about his -- his ego. >> reporter: the president says he is receiving regular updates. he is in touch with state and local officials and he cancelled two campaign events because of this storm. he says that he is already receiving accolades for the response so far. cecilia vega, abc news, the white house. >> one more note on maria and puerto rico, the images we're about to show you are incredible. a massive stockpile of bottled drinking water was left to rot

on an airport runway. fema purchased the water but it likely wasn't distributed due to a bureaucrat breakdown. so the water is now contaminated and unsafe to drink. >> some of the deaths from maria were blamed on limited access to clean drinking water. last month it was discovered that several containers of donated food and non-perishables were sit to rot for several months at a government facility. coming up right here, the kangaroo on the loose in missouri. but first, the new video shows disgraced movie producer harvey weinstein rubbing his hands all over a businesswoman just hours before she claims he raped her. and we're tracking florence, plus how officials are protecting nuclear reactors in the storm's path. you're watching "world news now." reactors in the storm's path. you're watching "world news now." ews now."

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crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. cbs has fired the executive cbs has fired the executive producer of "60 minutes," jeff fager, after he warned a reporter to be careful about her coverage of sexual harassment allegations against him. >> fager sent a text to reporter jericka duncan, saying in part, there are people who lost their jobs trying to harm me.

fager later admitted his language was harsh but he didn't feel it should result in his termination. duncan appeared on the "cbs evening news," saying she received the text from fager after she reached out to him to comment about the allegations against him. >> yeah, jericka saying i was that reporter there. an interesting report on "cbs evening news." new video, in the meantime, has surfaced of harvey weinstein fondling a woman who later accused him of rape. >> the video was allegedly captured inside weinstein's office during a business presentation. here is abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: this newly released video shows harvey weinstein with a young businesswoman just hours before she claims he raped her. in melissa thompson's recorded presentation from 2011, we see weinstein hug the 28-year-old. it was part of a pitch for weinstein to use her tech start-up company. only portions of the video aired on britain's sky tv.

>> what's that? >> it is hot. >> reporter: weinstein asked if he's allowed to flirt with her. a little bit, she answers, but then she says he touches her under the table. >> it's a little high. >> i was trying to save face. at first i was trying to kind of manage the situation. there was a combination of confidence and naivety. >> reporter: at the end of the meeting, weinstein asks her to meet him for a drink at a hotel. she says they thought they were going to close the deal, but instead, thompson says he raped her. weinstein denies all nonconsensual sexual contact. thompson is currently suing weinstein. weinstein's attorney says when viewed in its entirety, the video shows there was nothing forceable, says they were both flirting and this is all about money. linsey davis, abc news, new york. the fda is calling the use of e-cigarettes among the nation's young people an

epidemic. the agency says an alarming number of teens are becoming addicted to nicotine through flavored vaping products. the fda has given the five biggest e-cigarette makers two months to come up with a plan to stop underage use of their products. a family in missouri is asking for help to get their pet back. not just any ordinary pet. that is ricky hopping down the road there. >> ricky, come back. yes, ricky is the family's pet kangaroo. they bought 10-month-old ricky at an auction, but apparently ricky didn't want to stay with them. he's like, i'm out of here. he's on the go. >> there is a kangaroo auction? the family says ricky took off about an hour after arriving at their home. only an hour. there have been several sightings of ricky since his escape last friday, but from what we know, he is still at large. we need continuing coverage on the latest on ricky. >> if he's in your home,

wouldn't he be knocking over a bunch of stuff, hopping all over your living room? catch the beast. okay. coming up, new details coming in about hurricane florence. >> massive evacuation efforts and fresh worries about the nuclear power plant. you're watching "world news now." ant. you're watching "world news now." ching "world news now." you look amazing. and you look amazingly comfortable. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know, it's half-washed. add downy to keep your collars from stretching. unlike detergent alone, downy conditions to smooth and strengthen fibers. so, next time don't half-wash it. downy and it's done.

we're back with a live satellite image of hurricane we're back with a live satellite image of hurricane florence as it approaches the carolina coast. now within just a couple hundred miles from the coastline there. the national weather service with its latest update, saying it is still a category 2 storm, but it is the rain that a lot of people are worried about from that storm. >> absolutely. we have team coverage in the storm zone. abc's steve osunsami is in charleston, south carolina. >> but first, we start with abc's gio benitez in kitty hawk, north carolina. >> reporter: a ghost town in the outer banks. tens of thousands leaving. on a normal day, you'd find lots of people on the beach, but take a look, it's just about deserted

and those homes, they're boarded up here on the beachfront. the town is almost empty. september is a big month for tourism here, bringing in more than $40 million, money that stores and restaurants will be losing as they're forced to close up shop. some of those who have evacuated have ended up at shelters across north carolina. grandparents will yates and donna brown tell victor that beds are filling up fast. >> how are you guys feeling now that you're in the shelter? >> we need one more bed. five us and four beds. we're going to pray. we're going to pray. if not -- >> i can stay in the car. >> reporter: starting at 8:30 this morning, they're going to close part of this bridge here in the outer banks because they don't want anybody coming back in. you can leave whenever you want, you just can't get back in. that's because officials say it's just too dangerous. gio benitez, abc news, kitty hawk, north carolina. >> reporter: i'm steve osunsami. the panic is real. the authorities say they need to watch this nuclear power plant in north carolina and 15 other

reactors in three states worried they could flood. >> this hurricane is bringing some rain and water that we have not seen before in hurricanes. >> reporter: at ft. bragg, they're filling sandbags and moving helicopters out of the water's way. >> leave as soon as possible. emergency services may not be able to respond in your time of need. >> reporter: fire trucks with loud speakers are rolling through neighborhoods in charleston that they worry could be flooded for days. duke energy says 3 million customers could be out of power for weeks. the cavalry of power line workers is already on the way. this is the historic district of charleston, the night life and entertainment district. as you can see, it is boarded up and sandbagged. there isn't going to be much night life here tonight. authorities are hoping that residents who are still here will leave now. steve osunsami, abc news, charleston. >> fascinating to see charleston boarded up like that. not used to seeing those scenes

at all. >> no, not at all. >> all right. well, "the mix" is next. at all. >> no, not at all. >> all right. well, "the mix" is next.

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it's time for "the mix." mixing it up. >> do you like the music? >> i do. it's still new to me, you know? >> it is, yes. all right. attention, hello kitty fans. this is for you. a hello kitty cafe is opening up in irvine, california, this friday. yes, you can head out there. look how cute. how adorable is that? so apparently they're going to serve up everything from tea to adorable snacks. they also have an adults-only bar so you can go to the hello kitty store and drink. >> because adults are really freakishly into hello kitty. >> yeah. you're a kid, growing up with hello kitty and you're supposed to just dump all your hello kitty -- >> stuff -- >> -- at a certain age when you

become an adult. not here. they'll have cocktails for adults called the aloha kitty, it's got vodka and pineapple. >> by the time you finish, it's the good-bye kitty. >> time for you to go. >> really neat. that's opening up this friday. then this is also the mermen calendar, that's our next story. i thought you were on the calender for a minute. the mermen calender, they're called the newfoundland labrador beard and mustache club. this became a viral sensation. it raised almost $250,000 but it's for a good cause. they look silly but it's for a good cause. it's for charity. the requirements to be in the group are you must have facial hair -- >> okay. >> -- and a heart of gold. >> both of which i don't have.

so i'd be out. nice. >> yeah. >> a heart of gold and a body of a wrestler. oh, wow! >> i knew it! my eyes were not deceiving me. i knew -- >> did they give me moobs? are those moobs? that's true. that's accurate. you know, japanese is one of the more difficult languages to learn. >> it is. >> but there is a certain resident there in japan who has nailed it completely. take a look. so that's bennie -- >> he's saying it. he's saying something. >> that's bennie the shiba inu saying the japanese word for eat. he's saying it perfectly. must have something to do with the snack after. >> had he said it once, i wouldn't buy i

breaking news this morning on "world news now," a new advisory just in. hurricane florence has weakened a bit but it's still packing a powerful punch as it closes in and threatens the east coast. nearly 2 million people told to get out, we're live in north carolina. plus ginger zee with the latest track, where it's expected to go, how much rain and wind will major cities get and why storm surge is so deadly. new this half hour, a teenage girl is in police custody accused of murder. >> police say she stabbed another student because they were dating the same boy. and "dancing with the stars," the big reveal for the cast of season 27, including a former nfl star, an olympic gold medalist and a "bachelor" contestant.

we'll check out what some of them are saying this morning later on in "the skinny." it is thursday, september 13th. from abc news, this is "world news now." always a fun time to see the new cast and to try to pick out who you think will win it all. >> yeah, it never gets old. >> it doesn't. 27 seasons later. we'll break it down a little bit later on, but we want to get to the breaking news and what we're learning about hurricane florence. it is weakening a little bit. it is now a category 2 storm but still really poses a grave threat to the carolina coast. >> florence is stirring up winds of 110-mile-an-hour winds with the center of the storm less than 300 miles from wilmington, north carolina. the slight downgrade in wind power is bringing no significant change. the expected rainfall, catastrophic flooding and storm surge still expected. >> florence by the numbers, at least evacuation efforts.

at least 25 million people expected to feel effects from the storm. it's expected to send a wall of water 13 high into some coastal areas. many experts say this could be a $170 billion storm as far as damage goes. this number, 83 feet, that's the height of some waves already generated by florence in the atlantic ocean. well, north carolina's governor is warning the disaster is at its doorsteps and coming in. >> abc's marci gonzalez has the latest from the coastal city of wilmington where evacuations are under way. good morning, marci. >> reporter: hi, guys. good morning. we've had just a tiny bit of wind and rain here so far, but, of course, that is just a small taste of the effects we are expecting to start feeling later this morning. because this storm is expected to move so slowly, some areas will feel the impacts for up to 36 hours. so you can see why this storm is really so serious.

packing up and preparing. a last-minute effort ahead of this massive slow-moving and potentially devastating storm. >> this is not going to be a glancing blow. this is going to be, you know, a mike tyson punch to the carolina coast. >> reporter: in the carolinas, virginia and now georgia, states of emergency declared with forecasters expecting hurricane florence to bring powerful winds up to 40 inches of rain and storm surges up to 13 feet. >> it's going to be one of the biggest ever to hit the east coast, one of the biggest ever to hit our country. >> reporter: the largest hospital in myrtle beach racing to evacuate patients. some taken as far as florida. authorities watching this nuclear power plant and 15 reactors in three other states, concerned they can flood. >> leave as soon as possible. emergency services may not be able to respond. >> reporter: that warning taken seriously by many of the more than 1.5 million residents in

evacuation zones. time to leave now running out. >> hearing everything that i heard, it is a no-brainer. it was time to get out of town. >> reporter: but, of course, there are always the holdouts. we talked to people who plan to ride out the storm despite the dangerous and the possibility that millions of people could be left without electricity for weeks. kendis and stephanie? >> and, marci, you've spoken to some of those people that are choosing to stay behind. what are some of their reasons? why are they staying? >> reporter: some people say they have jobs that require them to stay. we talked to a guy earlier who lives in a senior citizens community. he wants to be able to stick around to help his neighbors. other people said they've been through so many tropical storms and hurricanes before and been just fine through all of those. they just want to roll the dice yet again, guys. >> all right. marci, thank you so much. stay safe out there. >> the predicted storm surge could easily swallow up cars and knock homes off their foundations.

>> abc meteorologist ginger zee tells us what we can expect if florence lives up to expectations and hovers over the carolinas for more than 24 hours. >> reporter: i wanted to bring you straight into the forecast because this is an area that is going to be tortured. more than 300 miles still away to the south and east of the coast, but it is moving to the north and west and this storm will get into the gulf stream. that's where the warm water lies. it has the potential to intensify again before it starts deteriorating as it approaches land. don't pay attention to the category, don't pay attention to when it makes landfall. it will be hanging so close to the coast it will be like one of those relatives that came in fast and doesn't leave for long. even early monday into eastern tennessee. but, again, don't focus so much on that track. focus more on the timing of when you're going to see impacts. the impacts will be water, water and more water and, of course, wind. they start with nearly tropical

storm-force winds on thursday, and thursday afternoon it deteriorates to almost hurricane strength. thursday night, just about midnight, wilmington, close to 70, topsail beach, close to 70, and 93 we go up to on friday morning. we're talking about 24 hours of wind and it's not done. friday afternoon, wilmington still up at 85, myrtle beach at 64. that means the wind will have more time to pile up water and that is called storm surge. storm surge going to be 9 to 13 feet and for 24 hours in some spots. 2 to 4 feet in charleston, which can be catastrophic there. finally, rain, that reaches as we aeer charlotte. we're 40in he a -- inches. even in the cape fear river right behind me, about 25 miles from here, one of the river gauges is expected to go within 2 feet of record stage.

we're talking about many of these waterways blocked by the storm surge and blocking the water trying to get out. >> ginger zee breaking it down for us from wilmington, north carolina. as the east coast prepares for florence, hawaii is dealing with a powerful tropical storm. olivia soaked parts of maui and gusty winds toppled trees. tropical storm warnings are in place for oahu, maui and several smaller islands. president trump has signed a declaration disaster for that state. military officials say american fighter jets intercepted two russian nuclear-capable bombers off alaska's coast. the russian bombers entered what's called the alaskan air defense zone. on september 11th mind you. russia is currently conducting a large scale exercise. this marks the third u.s. intercept of russian jets this year alone. in italy, pope francis will discuss the church sexual abuse scandals with a group of

american church leaders today. after that meeting, we could learn more about the pope's reaction to allegations that he mishandled the case of a top american cardinal who was accused of molesting young seminarians. the pope has summoned top catholic leaders from around the world to a summit next year on preventing sex abuse. apple is out with its new line of iphones, which you can start ordering tomorrow. the top of the line model is called the iphone xs max. >> it has a 6 1/2 inch screen and a $1,100 price tag. the x s has a slightly smaller screen and it will only cost you $1,000. what? >> that's pricey. apple also introduced a new watch, the series 4. it has a bigger screen than earlier generations and it also includes a built-in heart sensor, which apple says has been approved by the fda.

the sensor can detect irregular heart rates and perform an electrocardiogram. it starts at $400. that is pretty neat. >> technology is not very cheap these days. samsung just came out with their brand-new phone, the note 9, over $1,000. and now this one. >> i heard the phone, the apple watch actually can detect if you fall down. >> okay. >> if you're down for a minute or so, it will call 911. >> really? no need for that commercial where i've fallen and i can't get up. >> get the apple watch. coming up, it was one of the most famous signs of defiance against president trump last year. this woman flipping off the president. trump's motorcade. so she got fired. wait until you hear what she's doing now. and later in "the skinny," what cardi b is really liking a lot this morning. you're watching "world news

now." now."

we're back with the very we're back with the very latest on hurricane florence, which has weakened overnight to a category 2 storm as it makes its way to the carolinas. this is a live picture of myrtle beach, south carolina. you can see the waves coming in on this camera. the waves at myrtle beach are at about 6 feet. that is pretty decent. it is getting up there. offshore, we're told some waves are up to 30 feet. one buoy at sea has already registered wind eeds just esn hr so the storm may impact about 25 million people. once it makes it to land, president trump is warning everybody to get out while they can.

>> this storm is different compared to others. it's expected to linger in the area. >> yeah. >> i was there in charleston, living there 29 years ago for hurricane hugo, which came in in a snap. >> yep. >> but left so much destruction behind. >> and it's amazing as a toddler you remembered that. >> i was a newborn, actually. >> yes. all right. well, the next story here, a teenage girl in michigan, she's in custody this morning accused of stabbing her friend to death during a fight at school. >> it's believed to have been sparked by an apparent love triangle. here is lynda lopez. >> reporter: a 17-year-old high school student from warren, michigan, now in police custody after stabbing a fellow student. >> i'm sad to announce she was pronounced dead at approximately 9:24 a.m. this morning. the suspect was taken into custody at the scene and the weapon, a kitchen-style steak knife, was recovered.

>> reporter: the two girls knew each other and had been friends at fitzgerald high school. both straight-a students. >> i'd like to make it clear that this was not a random act. the victim and suspect were known to each other and this incident appears to involve a male student who is cooperating in the investigation. >> reporter: the male student, who was not involved in the incident, appears to have known both girls. >> the male, i should say student, knew both the suspect and the victim and that might have been one of the reasons why this occurred. >> reporter: the 16-year-old victim was involved in various school activities, including the cross-country team, robotics club and a member of the national honor guard society and student council. she was stabbed twice in the chest. a school resource officer quickly responding, a teacher also assisting, administering cpr to the victim. the school was on lockdown for a short time after the incident. students were then sent home for the day by 10:30 in the morning. the school is set to remain

closed through thursday. lynda lopez, abc news, new york. >> our thanks to lynda. a virginia bicyclist who greeted the trump motorcade with that one-finger salute, the middle finger, then got fired is now running for political office. >> julia briskman was caught on camera. there she is extending that middle finger. the image went viral as you can imagine. she is a democrat hoping to land a seat on the loudoun county board of supervisors in northern virginia. >> briskman tells "the washington post" she never considered seeking public office until she lost her job over what she said is a gesture protected by the first amendment. she also said she would probably do it again if she had the opportunity to. >> standing by her move. when we come back, we're hearing from the new cast members of "dancing with the stars." >> and what taylor swift did to ed sheeran in the wilderness. "the skinny" is next. n the wilderness. "the skinny" is next.

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get to hear the music for the first time. >> i like the beat. >> you do. it is skinny time. we have lots to get to. >> yes, we do. "dancing with the stars," that's what we're starting with. the big reveal of season 27 happened on "gma." >> "facts of life" star nancy mccann. olympic gold medalist mary lou retton. it sounds like the '80s and the blind skier danielle umstead. >> this morning we're hearing from the stars themselves, including former denver bronco super bowl champ, there he is, demarcus ware. tweeting out, let the good times roll. >> john schneider tweeted never been more excited or nervous about anything in my life.

>> "bachelor in paradise's" joe the grocer, we were just talking about him yesterday, shared this picture on instagram and joked this time around i've got a coach. season 27 of "dancing with the stars" premiers on monday, september 24th. >> he's given up on trying to find love and how he's like, all right, i'm going to find success there on the dance floor. we look forward to the season. clearly cardi b after this weekend doesn't shy away from a good fight. well, now she's fighting it out with drake, but this one won't end in any sort of welts. >> hopefully not. cardi and drake are leading the pack this year in the american music awards nominations with eight each. and i love this song. ed sheeran and post malone have six nominations along with taylor swift. >> taylor and ed sheeran apparently set their rivalry aside as they enjoyed a bit of

nature. >> taylor, the ama nominations just came out. it's me, you and drake. you're going to win. >> you're going to win. drake's going to win. >> drake's going to win. >> that's so true. >> it's nice to see them together like that just kind of being normal. >> you forget how strong his accent is. it's awesome. taylor swift couldn't resist throwing a bit of fitness shade at her friend as he apparently struggled to keep up behind her. >> you okay, bro. this is called exercise, have you ever done cardio? >> every now and then. >> strumming guitar doesn't count. >> she's trash talking there. i could listen to these songs all day. coming up next, an ingenuous way to get a hollywood a-lister to visit your coffee shop. >> so follow us along. last month, grinder coffee of colorado kicked off a ten-day

campaign to entice ryan gosling in for a cup of joe while he was in town for the toronto international film festival. >> they did it by posting photos of a gosling cutout in various poses and enjoying coffee at the shop. >> the campaign worked. >> he made it in person. >> attending the red carpet of his upcoming movie "first man" dropped by the coffee shop and posed for a real photo with the owner. >> she said ryan was well-spoken and a wonderful canadian boy with very good manners. >> kind of thirsty and desperate, but seriously, who would post a cardboard cutout of gosling in a coffee shop? no one in the world is that thirsty, right? >> wait. >> wait. >> i'm like, wait, why is starbucks in this video? >> oh, he did have the milk mustache. >> that is hilarious. and you're having conversations. was anybody else in there?

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as florence nears, airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights and added more service to areas affected by the storm. southwest airlines gave a look inside its command center. it has suspended operations at multiple airports. >> that includes all flights in and out of charleston and raleigh-durham airports until at least saturday. various carriers have waived fees for flights scheduled to cross the path of the storm. american, delta, southwest and united are among the major carriers that have waived fees for those traveling through the southeast. so far, more than 1,000 fleen d0 cancelled. and the maker of budweiser has halted some beer production in order to help those who could be affected by florence.

>> anheuser-busch has stopped making beer at its brewery in georgia and started preparing cans of clean water. that did it as well in harvey, you'll recall. the american red cross helped the company to help out so the brewery is cranking out 300,000 cans of water that will be shipped to communities in north and south carolina. >> anheuser-busch says its brewery in ft. collins, colorado is also prepared to can emergency water if necessary. >> don't worry. they're still producing some beer all over the country. if you really want to know how bad a hurricane or natural disaster is expected to be, look to waffle house. there is actually something called the waffle house index and fema swears by it. if a waffle house is closed because there is a disaster, it is bad. that's like jim cantore being in your town bad. that's called a red. if it's open but has a limited menu, that's a yellow, and the green means good to go. >> nice. good to know. the restaurant chain has activated its own storm center as florence approaches.

waffle houses keeping close tabs on the hurricane tweeting, quote, the storm center is activated and monitoring florence. plan ahead and be safe. >> yeah, that's always one of those real indexes you're told about. this is the latest satellite image that you're seeing of the storm. it has weakened, as we mentioned, to a category 2 storm. have no doubt, because it's going to linger off the coast for much of 24 to 48 hours, this is going to be really, really bad. >> and a lot of people in that area there heeding those warnings and getting out of town, but if you are staying in that area, staying at home, just hunker down and get those supplies if you can. >> yeah, of course we're going to continue to monitor the situation. the updates coming in from the national hurricane center in the overnight hours and we'll bring them to you as soon as we get them. this is abc's "world news now," informing insomniacs for two decades. s. informing in some new a this morning.

making news in america this morning, the first effects of hurricane florence being felt right now. 83-foot waves reported, 10 million people in its path. >> barrier islands closed. the storm slowing overnight. >> this is going to be a mike tyson punch to the carolina coast. >> this morning the people refusing to evacuate. the rush to protect six nuclear power plants in the path and the military preparations under way. >> and the emotional toll as one town braces for its second major disaster in just two years. >> i don't know the outcome of this one, but i do know one thing, i went through one, i can go through another. >> we have the new timing of the storm and just how much rain could fall. plus, how a popular