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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Isaias Weakens To Post-Tropical Cyclone But Threats Remain; Reuters: Negotiators End Six Hours Of Ukraine Talks In Miami; Hurricane Simon Strengthens To Category 4 Storm; Probe Finds Alleged Hijacker Was Inspired By 9/11 Attacks. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 10, 2026 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:30]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles where it is now midnight. It's 3:00 a.m. on the East Coast and we are on live with extended breaking news coverage because of what is happening right now in the Gulf Coast. The National Weather Service says that Isaias is now a post tropical cyclone. It continues to weaken as it moves farther inland. Dangerous conditions remain.

The good news so far, it seems to not be as bad as what we were worrying about, which is part of the reason why we're on so late. The storm is moving north through southern Alabama, bringing strong winds, flash flooding and the threat of tornadoes. Farther inland, storm surge warnings are still in effect for parts of Florida's Panhandle where Isaias made landfall Friday night as a powerful Category 2 storm. Officials are warning anyone who did not evacuate to hunker down and shelter in place.

The storm has knocked out power to more than 600,000 customers in five states. The President of the United States said the federal government is watching the storm very closely, has approved an emergency declaration already for parts of Alabama. He cancelled his trip to Tuscaloosa for a college football game this weekend as the storm intensified. Authorities now asking residents stay off the roads so that they will allow utility workers to do the work they need to get done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ANTHONY LOWERY, BALDWIN COUNTY, ALABAMA: Well, right now we're just concerned about the trees and the debris that are in the road. We haven't had the heavy rain impacts that we expected. We certainly had a lot of wind -- a lot of wind from the north, which is unusual for us in a hurricane. We were blessed not to get the surge that we thought we were going to get, but the wind coming down Mobile Bay has been pretty significant.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar cannot be stopped. She continues her marathon tour as this storm continues to move.

Allison, where are we at right now? Because some folks might think the danger is over, but you say probably not so fast, right?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. It kind of just depends on where you live. I mean, obviously if you live right where the, you know, along the coast where the storm made landfall, yes, the conditions are improving there very rapidly. But if you live farther to the north, Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, conditions are actually deteriorating. So again, a lot of that factor just comes down to where you live across the Southeast, sustained winds are 65 mile per hour, but it is now post tropical.

All that really means is the core of this storm has lost its tropical components. Everything else remains the same. It still has very gusty winds, it still has the potential to produce tornadoes, and it still has a lot of heavy rain expected over the next 24 to 36 hours. You can see some of these wind gust totals that have come in again, several here, well over 100 miles per hour. It's no wonder why you have so many significant power outages.

Roughly 700,000 people without power right now. The vast majority of those Alabama portions of northern Florida and then also extreme southwestern Georgia. Now, we are expecting more flooding potential as we go through the remainder of the day, Saturday. You can see this is where we have those flood warnings. More of them are likely going to tick up the farther north you go.

That's where the heavier rain is not just setting up now, but it will likely continue throughout much of the morning hours. The best chance for severe storms is actually going to be to the east. This is where it's able to still pull up some energy and pull up a lot of moisture, especially coming in off the Atlantic. So this is where you're going to start to see that better potential, especially for tornadoes. So you're looking at areas like Macon, Albany, over towards Savannah and Columbia, South Carolina.

When we take a look at the timeline, again, through the morning, very heavy rainfall across north Georgia and north Alabama that will spread into Tennessee as well as the Carolinas. Even going into Saturday afternoon, notice a lot of that kind of backfills over here to the east. So the core of the storm is moving well to the north, but it's still pulling up so much of that moisture, you're going to have what's called training, meaning more of those storms are just going to keep hitting the same areas over and over again. That, unfortunately, is what's going to lead to our biggest threat for flooding. This swath right through here, essentially from Macon, Georgia, all the way up through Philadelphia, you're looking at a wide swath of about four inches of rain.

But within those, especially if you start to get some of those thunderstorms that can produce heavier downpours, not out of the question for some of these areas to get six to 10 inches of rain just over the next 48 hours because this goes through Sunday. So again, this is the area of concern. This is where you have the flash flood warnings. That is where flooding is ongoing and occurring right now. The green shaded area is a flood watch, meaning heavier rain is expected as we go through the next 24 hours. So the potential is there, we just don't necessarily have it at this exact moment.

[03:05:15]

So these are the things that we are -- have to go in going to focus on really over the next 24 to 36 hours. So again, we talked about it, the name has changed. It is now post tropical storm Isaias, but the threats remain the same just for slightly different areas than we've been seeing so far up to this point right along the coast.

MICHAELSON: Allison, thank you so much. So I guess when would we be sort of out of the woods?

CHINCHAR: The vast majority of the southeast is really going to see the bulk of this clear out by say about mid Sunday morning. But then you start to see some of that energy creep in and take a lot of the moisture up to the northeast. So it's really going to be Monday before everybody finally sees an end to all of this.

MICHAELSON: Wow. And that's a pretty big area on that map, which is why we're staying up late to follow all this.

Allison Chinchar, great work. Thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. He's on the scene in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The good news is that you do not see the crazy video of the reporter getting flown around and the hair going in every direction and all the water going everywhere. You look -- you look good. You look dry. Talk about what's going on around you.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. For right now, the curls, they're all very composed right now, Elex. Hours ago we did see some heavier rain, some heavy wind. But I mean, we've now been several hours as well at this point without that heavy rain and when, which is fantastic news for this area of Gulf Shores, nearby Orange Beach, other areas like these in the community of the Gulf Coast.

But I do want to start with something because we've been talking a lot, right, about how officials are urging residents to stay indoors, just continue to hunker down right out the storm. Let's get the sun rising. And we are getting news from CNN affiliate WALA that a sheriff deputy in Dale County, Alabama, was injured while responding to a vehicle crash Friday night when a falling tree struck him and a trapped driver.

The sheriff of Dale County confirmed that as well. Both of them are OK. They were able to get the driver out of that vehicle in the end. But again, that sheriff of Dale County sort of painting this picture, right, of this is an example of why officials are asking people to just stay inside, stay indoors, even in these areas, right? It may look like everything is fine, but a lot of other counties are still dealing with power outages.

So you don't know what you might be running into. Power outages is a big topic of conversation right now as well, Elex, because we're looking at more than, at this point, 700,000 customers without power, specifically between Alabama and Florida. More than 425,000 of those customers are in Florida alone. So we might be able to see those power outages begin to decrease a little bit over time. We do know that some counties, at least some workers are getting that power back, especially in the areas that haven't been as effective as greatly as others, specifically in the Fort Florida Panhandle.

So the good news is that we know that some crews are out working throughout the night, but again, they want to keep residents off of those roads so that they can better access them and get that power back quickly.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And we know that some of the residents in those affected areas evacuated, so maybe the number is not that high of people that are actually experiencing that sort of thing, the good news, as you mentioned, because it wasn't that bad and the conditions like you see around you, not that bad, the crews can be out there working and hopefully get that power back quickly. But sometimes, Ivan, this can be deceiving when it comes to hurricanes and nightfall because there could be a lot of damage that we haven't seen yet that we will only see in three or four hours when the sun comes up.

RODRIGUEZ: That's exactly right. And you just -- you really don't know because in this area we have power back again, but you drive a little further and you might not have power. We do know that there are reports of downed power lines, trees are blocking roads. You don't know what hazards could be out there. And that's always, you know, could cause a lot of dangers, it could cause a lot of problems.

And now you are potentially putting first responders in a position to go and rescue somebody also. And that's a position, right, where they don't know what they're getting into either. So best case for everybody, as officials have said, is for people to just hunker down. And I will say here in this area, it is an interesting mix because it's very touristy, right? We do have a lot of visitors that come here to the Gulf Coast.

In fact, there was a festival happening this weekend that was canceled. But a lot of those tourists are now gone because of those mandatory evacuations for visitors, so at least there are less people in this area in general.

[03:10:11]

MICHAELSON: Right. And we know the big football game, the University of Alabama is going on tomorrow, but the president is not going to be there.

Ivan Rog -- Ivan Rodriguez in Gulf Shores, Alabama, pulling an all- nighter for us, thank you so much for staying up and for joining us.

Last hour I spoke live to Jonathan Petramala, who is a storm chaser who's been following the path of Isaias as he was driving around in his car. He's in Florida. I asked him what it was like to follow the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN PETRAMALA, STORM CHASER: Hundreds of thousands of people without power. You see a lot of trees down, especially even along 10, blocking one of the lanes of traffic. A lot of trees. That's a big issue that we are coming across, trees down on roadways. Power is out to so many people here.

Also, some flash flooding still, some very high water sitting in neighborhoods along roadways as well. A tremendous amount of rain fell with this hurricane. A flash flood emergency in the Fort Walton Beach area. Very strong winds.

We are lucky that this was, as I've said earlier, a half cane. It was sheared off towards the bottom. So we just had to deal with the front side of this. And as soon as it started to move inland and away, there was some dry air. And that's really good because there was so much rain that fell on that front side that caused those flash flood emergencies.

It could have been a really serious situation along the coast with that flash flooding. But the main issue tomorrow people are just going to be waking up to is a cleanup. Clean up those tree limbs and those trees, get those chainsaws out and get to work as they hopefully will have the power restored fairly quickly. The governor and the state of Florida really did a nice job pre-positioning numerous groups. You just saw them driving around constantly nearly all afternoon getting in position.

So they should be able to restore power fairly quickly to many customers, at least in the Fort area.

MICHAELSON: On a regular night, it would be a Friday night at a time when people would probably be out on the roads enjoying partying maybe at this hour of the night. What are you seeing? Mostly empty roads?

PETRAMALA: Mostly empty roads. You are seeing a lot of my colleagues out. This has become quite the exciting thing for storm chasers that typically you would see out on the plains in April or May chasing tornadoes. Now with the changing media landscape, more and more of them are heading to the -- to the coast to cover hurricanes like this. So you're seeing quite a few of those, and a lot of locals as well.

You know, powers out. They want to see what's going on. So you see them walking around their neighborhoods and even driving around a little bit. But for the most part, this entire region emptied out.

A lot of people evacuated. They didn't want to mess with Hurricane Isaias, especially tourists, tourists from up north I spoke to who said, you know what, we don't deal with hurricanes. We see tornadoes, we kind of understand those. We have no idea what to deal with hurricanes. I don't want to stay here, and then all of a sudden, at the last minute, try and escape because I'm scared as the wind and the rain is coming down.

So they got out of town a day or so ahead, and that's always good. I don't really ever recommend anybody sticking around for storms like these. It's not fun.

MICHAELSON: Right.

PETRAMALA: Having no power is no fun. And I live on the Gulf Coast myself. I've been through these. My own home, Hurricane Milton most recently two years ago on the night. So --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

PETRAMALA: -- you know, I know exactly what these people are going through. And it's not a good time. And if you could evacuate, it's always a good idea to do that.

MICHAELSON: So you say that that it's not fun, yet you're out there chasing the storm. Why chase storms? What is it about that for you that you're so passionate about?

PETRAMALA: Hurricanes in particular for me, very -- I'm very passionate about it because I'm a storyteller, and these are generational stories where people know these storms by name. It's not just a date like some of these tornadoes that you might hear about. These are names. And Isaias even is a storm I covered in 2020 on Oak Island, North Carolina. So there's a history.

Some of these, like Katrina or Ian, leave a lasting legacy for a community that spans generations. And so, again, as a storyteller, it's quite meaningful to me to be able to share those stories and often write the first page of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Still ahead, Isaias is no longer hurricane, but flooding and strong winds still a threat. Breaking news coverage of the storm continues after the break.

[03:14:47]

Plus, the White House lines up some help from Russia to try to lower diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Isaias has been downgraded to a post tropical cyclone, but the National Hurricane Center says it's still spreading strong winds and a flash flood threat. As Isaias moves further north from the Gulf Coast, crews are already working to assess damage and start repairs. Officials in part of Florida are warning people to stay off the roads. We're downed trees, power lines and flooded roads. American travel dangerous.

In Alabama, electricity is being restored to thousands of people who lost power during the storm. President Trump took his midterm message to the capped -- campaign trail Friday night. He held a rally in Syracuse, New York in support of the Republican candidate for governor. CNN's Kristen Holmes was there as the Village People played him off.

[03:20:07]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: After visiting a slew of deeply read states, President Trump was here in New York campaigning alongside Bruce Blakeman, who is the Republican running for governor in New York, as well as a slew of Republican candidates. Now, he gave the best of his highlights, talking about how Biden was responsible for inflation. He again promised every adult $5,000 if they were to vote Republicans and Republicans were going to win in both the Senate and the House.

But perhaps his lengthiest rant was about something completely different and something that is clearly on his mind, and that is the fact that he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize again. He attacked the country of Norway, the committee, and even the individual who received it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Nobel Prize was given out today to a liberal person who works at the United Nations who nobody has ever heard of. I've never heard of the person. I know a lot of people. I never heard of this particular person. But congratulations anyway.

The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn't. And this is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision. The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, in addition to that, President Trump talked at length about the various wars that he solved. He said he would soon be ending the war with Iran again, as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine. He also had a lengthy time about New York officials, including the Democratic governor here and his nemesis, Attorney General Letitia James.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Syracuse, New York.

MICHAELSON: While talking about the war with -- the Nobel Peace Prize, he did not mention when he would end the war with Iran. The U.S. president is making a move to try to lower diesel prices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. On Friday, the president announced a new agreement with Moscow that allows Russia to export diesel to the global market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I think you heard about the oil deal with Russia. That is a big deal. That is massive amounts of oil coming into our country. And I want to thank President Putin, to be honest with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: But Ukraine's president says the deal will only put more money into Russia's war chest. He posted on X that gifts to Putin won't bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. The post added that Russia will, quote, "repay the diesel with further terror and perfidy." The agreement was reached just as negotiators held new talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The Reuters news agency says U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian and European officials in Miami on Friday. For more, Sebastian Shukla joins us for Berlin, where it is Saturday morning.

Good morning to you. What can you tell us about the talks going on right now?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN INTERNATIONAL FIELD PRODUCER: Yes, good morning, Elex. The talks that had been taking place in Miami have now ended for the day. We believe they took place for some six hours. And it was talks between the U.S. -- the U.S. the Ukrainians and the Europeans. It largely focused, according to a statement from President Zelenskyy, on trying to find a common ground to reach a proposal to present to Moscow and the Kremlin about an energy ceasefire.

Because that is becoming the -- as the winter approaches, that will start to come into focus much more sharply as we've seen over the last four winters of this now brutal war. And as it looks, the Kremlin looks to plunge Ukrainians into darkness and into the cold during the depths of winter.

What seems to be most galling, though, about these talks, and we have very little detail yet about what exactly came out of them, is that whilst they were on ongoing, the president had a phone call with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, where they agreed this easing of diesel sanctions, and that obviously drew the ire of President Zelenskyy and is once again another idea that the Russians themselves and the American administration is sort of working in cahoots to be able to ease sanctions that ultimately doesn't benefit Ukraine and certainly doesn't bring about an end to this war in any meaningful -- in any meaningful time frame. In fact, it may well do the opposite.

And actually, speaking of the sanctions themselves -- the negotiations themselves and the ceasefire, I'd like you to take a listen to the position of the Russians from one of President Putin's most senior aides.

[03:25:17]

MICHAELSON: Well, doesn't sound like we have it.

SHUKLA: I don't believe that we have that sound bite to go to from Yuri Ushakov.

That -- but what the -- what he said is that ultimately the Russians are not yet prepared to come to the negotiating table because the Ukrainians themselves have been attacking Moscow and the Russian Federation more regularly. And then as a result, they have lost any of the goodwill that may be there. Russian and Ukrainian diplomats and European officials that I've been talking to more recently have been telling me the same thing, that there is no willingness just yet for the Kremlin to begin these negotiations or have negotiations of a ceasefire in any way. They just see no willingness. And as we've seen overnight, again, Elex, there has been another deadly and brutal attack in a central Ukrainian region.

MICHAELSON: Well, you said it so well, we didn't even need to hear the sound bite. So thank you for that. But in terms of this story, I mean, we hear so often there's talks, there's talks, there's talks, there's talks and then nothing seems to happen. There's so much talks about talks. Is there any reason to believe that this is any different than every other, quote, unquote, "talks" that we've seen in the last few years?

SHUKLA: At the moment, no, none at all. Because, Elex, as you well know, the person who can end this war and has been the position of the Europeans and the Ukrainians tomorrow a stroke of a pen, is the Russian president. And at the moment, he does not seem to be in any position to want to re-engage or negotiate meaningfully.

And on the flip side of that, we have these agreements that the Trump administration is making with the Kremlin that actually ends up bolstering the Kremlin's position. Releasing millions of barrels of oil onto the market means that sanctions are relieved and that this then starts being able to fill or refill the Kremlin war chest for continued and renewed and sustained attacks across Ukraine. So this doesn't really seem like there is a meaningful way to move this forward right now. It just seems to be talks.

But what I will say is that the Europeans and the Ukrainians, I do really think are dedicated and believing in that there must be a resolution to this. It cannot just drag on. But I will add the final thing here, the caveat being it cannot just be as a kowtow to Moscow.

MICHAELSON: Well said. Sebastian Shukla joining us from Berlin where it's approaching 9:30 in the morning on Saturday. Thanks so much for being with us.

And speaking of Russia, the death of a research lab worker in Russia has sparked global concerns of a possible plague outbreak. The 28- year-old woman was hospitalized at the end of September and died three days later, leading to growing calls for more information on the rush from the Russian government. CNN Chief Global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance has more from Moscow.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Russia says there's no plague outbreak, but there's a reason. Questions are being raised about whether the Kremlin is telling the full story. The death of a 28-year-old worker at an anti-plague research institute in Siberia and the quarantine of nearly 200 people has fueled speculation of a Kremlin cover up. Russian authorities insist she died of pneumonia unrelated to her work.

But the Trump administration is now calling on Moscow to share more information, even offering to help contain any potential outbreak. The Kremlin, though, has a patchy record when it comes to transparency in times of crisis. Notoriously during the Soviet Union, it allowed a mayday parade in Kyiv as an accident at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear reactor spewed radiation into the atmosphere. In 2002, Russian Special Forces ended a hostage crisis in a Moscow theater after filling the auditorium with a secret anesthetic gas to knock everybody out. They then refused to tell medics what was used, resulting in around 130 deaths.

More recently in 2014, the Kremlin denied sending troops to Crimea, only admitting the so-called little green men were actually Russian after the peninsula was annexed. The point is whether or not there's a plague outbreak underway here, transparency is not the Kremlin's strong suit.

MICHAELSON: Matthew Chance in Moscow.

[03:29:52]

Still ahead this hour, Hurricane Isaias no longer a hurricane, it's now a tropical storm. We'll continue to follow its path and impact on the U.S. Gulf states.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Welcome back to a special late night early morning edition of The Story Is. I'm Elex Michelson. Let's check some headlines.

Isaias has been downgraded to a post tropical cyclone, but the storm is still moving through southern Alabama with strong winds and rain. And there's a flash flood threat further inland from the Gulf Coast. Officials in Florida say more than 81,000 customers are without power, urging people to stay off the flooded roads as clues assess the damage.

[03:35:15]

President Trump is lashing out after he was not awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. At a rally in New York on Friday, the president called the decision, quote, "an indelible stain" on Norway and declared the prize forever discredited. The president also dismissed this year's winner, South African human rights lawyer Navi Pillay, saying, quote, "Nobody's ever heard of her."

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck southern Panama on Friday, sending thousands fleeing into the streets as buildings were damaged. So far, no fatalities have been reported. Several people suffered minor injuries. Despite the quake's intensity, much of the country escaped damage. However, a church was seriously damaged and some buildings collapsed in the city, which has been halfway between Panama City and the quake's epicenter. Isaias has now been downgraded to a post tropical storm. It made landfall as a Category 2 storm near Destin in the Florida Panhandle, knocked out power for more than 770,000 customers. Isaias still making its way through Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. This is the first hurricane in the U.S. to make landfall in two years.

Earlier, I spoke with Maranie Adams. She and her family have been riding out Isaias in Gulf Shores, Alabama, which is west of where the storm made landfall. And I asked her what the conditions were like as the storm swept through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARANIE ADAMS, GULF SHORES, ALABAMA RESIDENT: It stopped raining probably around 7:30, 8:00. We're getting plenty of wind though, plenty of wind.

MICHAELSON: Why the decision to stay?

ADAMS: We stayed through Sally a few years ago, made some mistakes, but we learned a lot. So we felt like we had the experience. We have animals, so we decided we could just be prepared. We started preparing on Wednesday, got our gas, got extra food, brought our dogs and our chickens in the house and decided we could just hunker down and make it through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The storm adds insult to injury for the U.S. oil industry. That's because multiple oil refineries are in Isaias' way at a time when gas prices are already high and supply is short. CNN's Matt Egan has more.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: The global energy system is already being pushed to the brink. A major hurricane hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast, that's the last thing we need right now because there's just almost no margin for error in the system.

The path of the storm, it has veered a bit to the east. So that means that the bulk of the refineries which are really located in Texas and Louisiana, that may be out of the direct path of the storm. But we also know that there's a risk of storm surge in and around New Orleans where there are major refineries located. Veteran analyst Andy Lipow, he says that he believes that only two refineries, one in Mississippi, one in Alabama, are at risk at this point.

However, keep in mind those two refineries, they're processing almost half a million barrels of oil per day. That's not nothing. That's about 2 percent of the nation's refining capacity. And analysts say that even small refinery outage can have a big impact on prices. That's because U.S. refiners, they're already maxed out.

They're running as hard as they can to capture record high refining margins and to make up for the loss of refineries in the Middle East and in Russia because of war and the loss of refining capacity in China because they've been holding back their exports. Now, normally when a U.S. refinery goes out, we rely on stockpiles of fuel. However, those stockpiles, which act like shock absorbers during a -- during a crisis, they've been shrinking rapidly. They are historically low for this time of year. And America's stockpile of emergency oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, it hasn't been this low since the early 1980s when the Reagan administration was still filling it up for the first time.

You know, keep in mind, prices are very high. Here in the U.S. the national average, 437 a gallon for regular gas, that's 47 percent more expensive than before the Iran war started at the end of February. Diesel, diesel is 628 a gallon. That's 67 percent higher than before the war started. Near all-time highs.

The other thing to keep in mind is that there is a significant amount of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. officials, they estimate that about 1.3 million barrels per day of oil in the Gulf has already been shut down as a precaution because of the storm. That amounts to about 63 percent of the region's total production. That of course, is not going to help prices either. But the big focus remains on the refineries and whether or not this hurricane causes wind and flooding damage and power outages that force any of the refineries to go offline for any significant amount of time.

[03:40:11]

MICHAELSON: Matt Egan with his analysis there. Thank you, Matt.

Along North America's west coast right here, Hurricane Simon is now a Category 4 storm as it moves closer to Mexico, bringing with it heavy rain and strong winds. CNN's Valeria Leon has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More heavy rain is underway for Mexico as Hurricane Simon threatens communities along the Pacific coast. Areas that have been already hit by flooding and authorities are warning residents to prepare for more dangerous conditions.

LEON (voice-over): Hurricane Simon has already left a trial of destruction. Simon strengthened rapidly, growing from a tropical storm into a powerful hurricane in just days and now is expected to make landfall this weekend.

LAURA VELAZQUEZ, DIRECTOR OF CIVIL PROTECTION (through translator): It is expected to enter Mexican territory near Jalisco and Colima as a major hurricane.

LEON (voice-over): In Puerto Vallarta in the western state of Jalisco, businesses are already placing sandbags outside their storefronts. Tourism workers say they've been instructed to help hotel guests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They told us not to come. Instead, they are going to need people to help evacuate tourists.

LEON (voice-over): While businesses are boarding up their windows, residents and visitors are also stocking up on essential supplies.

RANDALL, TOURIST (through translator): We have about four or five containers of drinking water.

LEON (voice-over): Simon has been moving along Mexico's Pacific coast, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to states including Guerrero and Michoacan. But some of the worst damage so far has been reported. In the resort city of Acapulco --

EVELYN SALGADO, GUERRERO GOVERNOR (through translator): Neighborhoods have reported damage to homes, roads and businesses, fallen trees and debris, partial road closures.

LEON (voice-over): Authorities are now preparing for the impact of a powerful hurricane, setting up three emergency command centers along the Pacific coast.

VELAZQUEZ: Three command centers will be established in Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo.

LEON (voice-over): Mexico's Pacific coast remains on high alert as the country faces yet another powerful storm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEON (on camera): And with Simon expected to bring more rain through the weekend, the risk of floodings and also mudslides remains a major concern.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

MICHAELSON: Still ahead, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in two years has inundated parts of the Southeast and Gulf Coast. Isaias may be weakening, the dangerous conditions still in effect. We'll have the latest on that storm. Plus, new details are emerging about what inspired a co-pilot to allegedly hijack a Flydubai plane. We have a report on a preliminary investigation into the attempted hijack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:47:46]

MICHAELSON: New images here show the damage left behind by Isaias as the storm moves across the southeastern U.S. and Gulf Coast. Look at this. This is the scene of in Pensacola overnight. Not good image here out of Florida.

The tropical storm -- the storm, now a post tropical cyclone, continues to weaken as it moves farther inland into Alabama. But dangerous conditions remain. Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane near Destin along the Florida Panhandle. Flooding, strong winds, tornadoes still possible in the hours ahead, which is why we are live with you on the air at nearing 4:00 in the morning.

Other news now, a preliminary investigation into co-pilot's alleged attempt to hijack Flydubai has found that he was inspired by the September 11 attacks. The probe also found the suspect had planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport in Israel. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from Tel Aviv.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really extraordinary new details revealed by the United Arab Emirates attorney general revealing not only that this was a, quote, "premeditated plot" with a terrorist object carried out by the co-pilot of that Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, but also that this co-pilot was apparently inspired by the 9/11 attacks. Not only inspired by them, but also that it pushed him into a career of aviation with the goal of ultimately trying to carry out some kind of an attack using an aircraft very similar to what happened on September 11, 2001.

And indeed, the UAE's attorney general says that the goal of that this co-pilot had when he attacked the captain of that plane and tried to take control of that flight was to fly that plane into Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, flying it into the passenger terminal with the, quote, "intention of causing the greatest number of casualties."

What we've also learned in this statement from the UAE's public prosecutor is that this pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, whose identity we've previously revealed, he made two previous flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the flight route and with the airport.

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Now that will raise new questions here in Israel as well, where there have already been questions about how this pilot, an Omani citizen, a country with whom Israel does not have any diplomatic relations, was able to get into a cockpit and fly into a country where he wouldn't even be granted entry at the border. But now it's not only this one flight on September 30, but apparently two previous flights before that allowed him to kind of plan out his attack, plan out the attack on his captain and how he would ultimately hijack this plane and fly it into Ben Gurion Airport.

Now, of course, we know that he did not get that far, in large part thanks to the heroic actions of several of the Israeli passengers on board that flight. There was also the fact that there were two other pilots who were supposed to fly the plane back to Dubai, who were on board and were able to land this place safe -- this plane safely in Saudi Arabia. Now, the UAE's attorney general says that all of this information was largely gleaned from a detailed confession that Hamam al-Hammami gave in the presence of an attorney.

So far, al-Hammami is saying that he acted alone. But the UAE is making very clear that this investigation is ongoing to verify that claim and to also better understand how he was hired at Flydubai as a pilot given the fact that he had previously been dismissed from a position at Oman Air over his extremist views. So a lot more to still be -- to be investigated by the Emirati authorities. And we know that the Emirati authorities have also been in close coordination with the Israeli authorities over the course of this investigation.

MICHAELSON: Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that from Israel. Protesters in New York are demanding federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents leave the city after ICE agents shot and wounded a 28-year-old man on Thursday while his five-year-old son sat in the back seat. Agents say he ignored orders to get out of the car as they tried to detain him. A man is from the Dominican Republic and is in custody. A judge ordered that he remain in the U.S. New York City officials are criticizing ICE operations.

The mayor of New York called ICE rotten to its core, a comment the Homeland Security secretary called dangerous.

The U.N. is pushing back against a plan to live stream a U.S. military execution. The organization's human rights office says the move would violate the prohibition on torture. President Trump has given conflicting answers on whether he's approved the idea, but as Haley Britzky reports, the plan is facing some bipartisan backlash at home.

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: The Pentagon announced this week that the execution of Nidal Hasan, the man convicted of killing 13 people in a mass shooting on Fort Hood in 2009, will be live streamed. The confirmation comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that the execution would be public, saying, quote, "People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things." But many questions still remain about how the livestream will be carried out. This is the first firing squad execution for the U.S. since World War II.

And army regulations bar minors from watching a military execution, something that would not be able to be enforced if it were livestreamed, though the military could waive that regulation. But the idea of live streaming this execution has brought bipartisan backlash. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN that the move is, quote, "disgusting" and is mimicking ISIS executions.

Republicans have also criticized the announcement. Senator Thom Tillis, now an outspoken critic of Hegseth, likened it to what occurs in Iran and under the Taliban in Afghanistan. And Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism center under the Trump administration, said it was beneath the dignity and decency of our nation and, quote, "gives terrorists free propaganda."

And that is the primary concern that we've seen here. Not that necessarily the death sentence is being applied to Hasan's case, but how the imagery of his execution, particularly as Hasan is in a wheelchair, could be used by terror groups and enemies of the U.S. abroad. Vice President J.D. Vance was asked about this on Friday and cast doubt on it, saying he didn't know if the live stream was actually going to happen, but if it did, he wouldn't be watching.

Haley Britzky, CNN, Washington.

MICHAELSON: Haley, thank you.

President Trump has tapped conservative commentator Katie Zacharia as his next White House press secretary. Somebody who would often join us here live on The Story Is on Friday nights to talk politics. She's now replacing Karoline Leavitt.

Zacharia previously served a two month stint at the Department of Homeland Security before working as a senior communications adviser for Trump's media company. In a social media post on Friday, she thanked the president for the appointment. She wrote, quote, "Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime."

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Katie Zacharia is a 41-year-old attorney, a native Californian and a proud adoptee. She's a mother of four and she is going to be starting her new job as the White House press secretary on Monday. It's unclear whether there will be a briefing on Monday. She said on Fox News earlier that President Trump likes surprises.

It's been a surprise for me to anchor for the last three hours. We appreciate you sticking with us. We have more coverage of the hurricane up next with Rene Marsh on CNN "Newsroom." I'm Elex Michelson. Have a great weekend and hope you can get some sleep.

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