reporting from the nation's capital i'm ben tracy. it's wednesday, july 7th. 2021. this is the "cbs morning news." lashing the coast. elsa has been downgraded back to a tropical storm, but it's still accompanying heavy rains on -- dumping heavy rains on florida and packing powerful winds. the latest on the rain, wind, and track of the storm. no signs of life. more bodies are pulled from the rubble of that collapsed condo tower. the grim message from rescue workers. claiming victory. as more results come in, a winner is projected in the race to be the democratic candidate to be the democratic candidate for new york city mayor. captioning funded by cbs

good morning, good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. this morning, elsa has been downgraded back to a tropical storm, but it's still powerful, packing torrential rains and maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. right now hurricane warnings are up for portions of florida and a tornado watch has been issued for the morning through parts of the peninsula. elsa is expected to continue moving north and eventually cross over into georgia later tonight before heading up to the carolinas. laura podesta is tracking elsa's latest path. where and when is it expected to make landfall? >> reporter: good morning. elsa's expected to make landfall just north of tampa around 8:00 a.m. it will hover over florida and lower georgia for roughly 12 hours bringing those heavy rains and high winds. elsa is moving its way up along florida's west coast. the storm is headed for the state's big bend.

>> maximum sustained winds now estimated to be 70 miles per hour, and there are potential for higher gusts. >> reporter: watches and warnings are in place in much of the state and extend into the carolinas. >> if you look at how lopsided the storm is, anything to the east of the eye will have some storm impacts for sure. >> reporter: elsa's outer bands lashed the keys on tuesday. >> the rain's coming at all angles. you can see by the palm trees, it's blowing everywhere. all angles. >> reporter: many residents said storms are a fact of life in the sunshine state. >> being here so many years we have them here and there. it's like you kind of get used to it. >> this is paradise that everybody loves so much. this is the price that we pay. some people don't like it. i'm a local myself. i love it. >> reporter: foul weather forced rescue crews to suspend work at the site of the surfside condo collapse. the area was spared a direct hit from the storm. the national weather service says that elsa's wind speeds will drop shortly after it makes

landfall, but it's still expected to remain a tropical storm for several days, anne-marie. >> all right, laura podesta in new york. thank you so much. for more, here's cbs news meteorologist and climate specialist jeff berardelli. >> anne-marie, as we speak the west coast of florida being hit by a very powerful storm. winds gusting past 75 miles per hour, and the center of the storm located just to the west of the tampa bay area. really to the west of the clearwater beach area. the system will continue to move northward. as it does, it's producing very heavy rain, the possibility of tornadoes, especially on the outer bands. and it should make landfall in the big bend area of florida. right around cedar key, early on wednesday, and continue moving northeastward through georgia, south carolina, north carolina, and eventually into virginia during the day on friday. so this is going to be a long-lived system. notice along the track, there's a lot of heavy rain. it's not just flooding in florida, it's flooding into the carolinas and virginia, as well.

now along the track, we could see as much as four to eight inches of rain, some places seeing a little bit more than that with saturated ground in florida. that is going to cause flooding. also the biggest problem is storm surge. generally two to five feet. some places will see likely the five feet of storm surge, and here's the reason why -- the storm's only passing a few miles offshore. as it passes offshore, we have winds coming in from the south and southwest. now in the intercoastal waterway and especially in the tampa area, there are lots of nooks and crannies. lots of back bays and inlets. when you force water into a very narrow area, it's got nowhere to go, it's forced upward and inundates coastal communities. that happens often in the tampa bay area with a storm of this magnitude, as much as five feet of storm surge possible. as far as wind gusts, they are strong enough to knock down trees and power lines. we're likely going to lose power at times. those gusts anywhere from 55 to 65 miles per hour, and every

once in a while we'll see a gust past hurricane force as the system makes landfall in cedar key and makes its way toward the georgia/florida line. we are talking about probably some big impacts for the rest o then the storm will begin to weaken as it moves up along the north carolina coast. anne-marie? for the first time crews desperately searching for signs of life after the deadly condo collapse in florida struck a somber chord. another eight bodies were pulled from the rubble in surfside yesterday bringing the death toll to 36 with 109 still missing. search and rescue crews sounded grim about the prospects of finding anyone alive, saying that they're not seeing any positive signs. the condo partially collapsed nearly two weeks ago. eric adams declared victory in the democratic primary for new york city mayor. the "associated press" projected adams won last night based on the latest tabulations which included most absentee ballots.

he is on track to become the second black mayor in new york city history. the former police captain received just over 50% of the vote. his rival, kathryn garcia, collected 49.5%. and be sure to tune in to "cbs this morning" today. we'll speak with eric adams about the race and what he would do as mayor if he wins come november. pulitzer prize winning journalist nikole hannah-jones has announced that said she will not join the faculty at the university of north carolina after an extended tenure fight. instead she's accepting a job at a historically black school, howard university. she explained her decision to gayle king yesterday, exclusively on "cbs this morning." >> to be denied it and to only have that vote occur on the last possible day at the last possible moment, after threat of legal action, after weeks of protests, after it became a national scandal, it's just not something that i want anymore. >> hannah-jones' tenure was

initiallyni by thunc board tru week after protests from alumni, faculty, and students. some faculty at unc's journalism school wrote a public letter saying that the way the university treated her was racist. the number of covid cases nationwide is on the rise as the delta variant spreads. the coronavirus has left tens of thousands of americans with chronic lung problems. nearly 150 have needed lifesaving transplants, including a 42-year-old father. carter evans introduces us to him. >> reporter: when covid came for the horbaczewski family, all five got it. but bob got it the worst. >> i was pretty close to being dead. >> reporter: rushed to the hospital, doctors put him on a ventilator. and only one thing could save his life -- >> we need to get him to st. joe's hospital to get him a lung transplant. >> reporter: a double lung transplant.

and while they prayed for a match, at home his wife monique tried to hold the family together. >> mommy? >> my kids were hurting, and they were struggling. our life was falling apart. it's so easy to get like caught up in all of the fears of the what if, and -- and thinking that maybe like -- maybe i would have to live my life without him. >> reporter: after four months in the hospital, they found a match. someone had to die for you to live. >> yeah. that's what saved my life is somebody was willing to donate their lungs, and i'm able to breathe because of that right now. >> reporter: do you look at life differently now? >> tremendously so. every day counts so much more than it ever did before.vereatis a gift. [ applause ] carter evans, cbs news, surprise, arizona. coming up, hotel arrest.

a guest is allegedly found with a rifle. how a quick-thinking worker saved the day. and hometown heroes. new york city throws a parade for essential workers who helped us through the pandemic. this is the "cbs morning news." you love rich, delicious ice cream. but your stomach doesn't. that disagreement ends right now. lactaid ice cream is the creamy, real ice cream you love that will never mess with your stomach. lactaid ice cream. this is the sound of an asthma attack... that doesn't happen. that will never mess with your stomach. this is the sound of better breathing. fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication.

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you want to feed them like family. try one a day 50+ multivitamin gummies. with vitamins c, d & zinc for immunity support. plus 8 b-vitamins for brain support. one a day and done. new york city is throwing a ticker tape parade today to honor frontline heroes from the pandemic. yesterday crews were busy assembling the 14 floats that will carry first responders, health care workers, transportation and grocery store employees, as well as others down the city's legendary canyon of heroes. there's a new development in the murder of a pro golfer in georgia, and there was a scare at a highrise hotel. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "the chicago tribune" reports an iowa man was arrested after allegedly bringing a rifle with a laser site into a downtown chicago hotel room.

32-year-old keegan casteel was arrested sunday at the w hotel. police say a housekeeping employee entered the 12th floor room, saw the weapon in a very suspicious position on a window sill, and alerted authorities. investigators say the employee likely prevented a tragedy. police also recovered several rifle magazines and a handgun. the suspect faces two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. our atlanta affiliate wgcl says the professional golfer shot and killed on a suburban golf course was not a target in the shooting. the body of 41-year-old gene siller was discovered saturday near the tenth hole of the pinetree country club. police say they believe he was shot because he witnessed a crime in progress. two more bodies were found in the be of a white pickup truck near the hole. police are searching for the suspect who fled the scene. "the washington post" says all 28 people on board a plane

was killed when it crashed in bad weather in eastern russia. wreckage from the covid-era plane was found on this cliffside and in the sea near the airport. the plane was attempting to land. the authorities say the plane appeared to be on approach for a second landing attempt in fog and clouds tuesday when it crashed. there were 22 passengers and six crew members on board. still ahead, high prices at the pump. why it could cost you a lot more to fill up the tank on your next summer roadtrip. er roadtrip. well, well, well. look at you. you mastered the master bath. you created your own style. and you - yes, you! turned a sourdough starter into a sourdough finisher. so when you learn your chronic dry eye is actually caused by reduced tear production due to inflammation you take it on, by talking to your eyecare professional about restasis®... which may help you make more of your own tears with continued use twice a day, every day. restasis® helps increase your eye's natural ability to produce tears,

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it stands at just 69 feet and was created by 30 artists with more than 4,800 tons of sand. there's also some clay in there and an extra layer of glue on top to make it extra sturdy. it's about 11 feet taller than the previous record holder. on the cbs "money watch" now, what's pushing gas prices higher, and reese witherspoon's side gig could score her big money. diane king hall is at the new york stock exchange with those stories and more. good morning, diane. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. well, futures are indicating a modestly higher open after wall street ended yesterday's session mixed with the broadest benchmark of u.s. stocks backtracking from last week's fresh highs. the dow dropped 208 points. the nasdaq added 24, closing out a new record, while the s&p 500 fell 8. you could be shelling out more cash to fill up your tank through august. the average price of gas nationwide has climbed to $3.13. the highest in about seven years.

aaa projects gas prices could shoot up another 20 cents by next month. experts say there are a few factors driving up the cost including rising oil prices, businesses reopening across the u.s., and pent-up travel demand. the defense department is nixing a $10 billion cloud computing project. the joint enterprise defense infrastructure contract or jedi was initially given to microsoft in 2019 to build a cloud storage system for sensitive military data. amazon filed a lawsuit saying the move was politically motivated by former president trump's dislike for jeff bezos. the pentagon is now launching a new multivendor cloud computing contract, amazon and microsoft will be solicited for proposals. and reese witherspoon's media company is reportedly exploring a sale. the "wall street journal" reports the company hello sunshine began pursuing a sale after receiving interests from multiple suitors including apple. the production company's behind "big little lies" and "little

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ bruce springsteen's daughter will be having some glory days at the tokyo summer olympics. 29-year-old jessica springsteen was selected to be part of a four-person u.s. equestrian show jumping team. it will be her olympic debut. she was an alternate at the 2012 olympics but failed to make the 2016 team. american sprinter sha'carri richardson will not be heading to the olympics. richardson has now officially been left off the team's roster. she lost her chance to run in the 100-meter individual race when she was suspended for 30 days after testing positive for marijuana. her 30-day suspension was set to end before the start of the relay races, but usa track and field did not select her to

compete in the four by 100-meter relay. basketball fans will not be seeing espn's rachel nichols during the nba finals. the network replaced her as a sideline reporter after a recording surfaced of nichols making disparaging comments about a black colleague. the comments came after nichols learned that she would not be hosting last year's nba finals coverage. during the private conversation, nichols suggested that espn picked maria taylor to be the host because she's black. nichols apologized on monday. and there are more resignations from britney spears' legal and business teams. yesterday her court-appointed attorney filed a motion to resign from the conservatorship overseeing her nearly $60 million fortune. it comes after the pop star testified that she wanted to choose her own attorney for the conservatorship which she called abusive. there are also reports that spears' longtime manager, larry rudolph, is resigning. coming up on "cbs this morning," we're going to take

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our top stories this morning -- elsa was downgraded to a tropical storm overnight. it's still powerful and on track to make landfall on florida's northern gulf coast later this morning. the storm is packing torrential rain and maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. elsa could trigger dangerous storm surge and isolated tornadoes.aring for survivors

nearly two weeks after that florida condo collapse struck a somber tone. another eight bodies were pulled from the rubble yesterday bringing the death toll to 36 with 109 still missing. search and rescue crews sounded grim about the prospects of finding survivors saying that they're not seeing any positive signs. america is in the midst of a severely low blood shortage with less than one day's supply at national blood centers. that's forcing hospitals to postpone surgeries. dr. jon lapook has more. >> reporter: one blood, the largest blood center in the southeast, is scrambling to manage the blood shortage crisis. yet another fallout from the pandemic. >> the donors are not in the traditional locations anymore. we lost large corporations, religious organizations, movie theater drives, festivals that were taking place ended. >> reporter: before covid, schools accounted for 25% of collected blood. now demand for blood products is

up 10% nationwide. >> there's this huge backlog of operations that really needed to get done. >> reporter: some hospitals have had to delay scheduled surgeries. at nyu langone health, dr. paresh shah says they came close to doing the same. >> we were down to such a low inventory of blood that if we had one major transfusion event, we would have been depleted completely. >> reporter: can you take us through a scenario where you've been here in this operating room and needed blood? >> if you're in a trauma situation, any blood right now. i don't need blood an hour from now, i need blood right now or this patient's not going to survive. >> reporter: 11-year-old iggy friday was diagnosed this winter and needed more than 30 transfusions during chemotherapy. >> i think about the people who needed it now and stuff. that's why i was fine with waiting. >> reporter: his platelet transfusion was delayed because of the shortage.

luckily for just a few hours. >> it helps a lot of people and can save a lot of lives. >> that was jon lapook coming up first on "cbs this morning," eric adams, the newly projected winner of the democratic primary for new york city mayor, joins us in the studio. plus, we'll hear from this year's national youth poet laureate alexandra huynh about how she discovered poetry. and we'll take you to paisley park for a sneak peek at a special shoe collection belonging to superstar prince. that's the "cbs morning news" for this wednesday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. ♪

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