JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: The U.S. Gulf Coast battened down for Hurricane
Sally's arrival later tonight. It's expected to hit east of New Orleans, with up to two
feet of rain. Another hurricane struck Bermuda today, and two more are brewing in the Atlantic.
We get more from Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center.
He spoke with our Stephanie Sy earlier.
Ken Graham, thank you so much for joining us.
The governor of Louisiana said that, for a lot of people, Hurricane Sally seemed to have
come out of nowhere, rapidly forming into a hurricane just in the last day. What is
the -- current forecast can you tell us about where it is heading and how strong it will
be?
KEN GRAHAM, Director, National Hurricane Center: Yes, looking at 100 mile-an-hour winds right
now, so, significant hurricane.
And, actually, looking at this, I mean, the tropical storm-force winds extend out over
100 miles, but the real story here is slow, and that is a big problem. So, if you think
about this being 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, this is 1:00 p.m. Wednesday.
In 24 hours, that's not a lot of movement. So, the problem is, with a slow storm like
that, that just compounds the issues with rainfall. Storm surge. It's going to be water.
You're going to see that storm surge from Louisiana all the way back to Florida and
torrential dangerous rains as well from Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, even into
Georgia.
So, significant issue with the water, slow storms, that just compounds the issues.
STEPHANIE SY: Yes.
And a lot of times, there's focus on the center of the hurricane and when it hits landfall.
With Hurricane Sally, are we more concerned with the prolonged impacts?
KEN GRAHAM: Absolutely.
Let's look at that. So, you have the cone. So, the cone really is where two-thirds of
the time we expect to have the center, but the impacts are well outside of it. I mean,
you look at this rainfall, well outside of the cone. That's a huge area of rainfall.
But the other part of this is the dangerous storm surge. That's historically the leading
cause of fatalities in these tropical systems. So, you look at some of these values, from
Southeast Louisiana, to portions of the Mississippi coast seven to 11 feet, but even six to nine
feet, four to six feet, five to eight in Mobile Bay, so from Alabama, the Florida Panhandle,
the Mississippi coast to Louisiana, just dangerous storm surge.
And that -- it makes it very dangerous to travel. And a lot of those areas, if the local
officials tell you to leave, it's just so important to not be in those dangerous locations.
STEPHANIE SY: I know you all were predicting a very active season. You're now monitoring
five Atlantic cyclones at the same time, only the second time in recorded history for that
to happen, even running out of names for these hurricanes.
Ken Graham have with the National Hurricane Center, thank you so much for the latest.
KEN GRAHAM: Thank you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: There's also new evidence that the Arctic is rapidly heating.
Scientists in Denmark and Greenland report that a huge chunk has broken away from the
Greenland ice shelf. A satellite study estimates it to be about 42 square miles. That is nearly
the size of San Francisco.
Cases of COVID-19 topped 29 million worldwide today, as the pandemic persists. That includes
more than 6.5 million in the United States. But new cases in the U.S. have declined about
17 percent from two weeks ago. The rate of new deaths is also falling, even as total
deaths nationwide approach 195,000.
The besieged president of Belarus traveled to neighboring Russia today, seeking support
against mass protests after 26 years in power. Russia's President Vladimir Putin met with
Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi. Putin promised a $1.5 billion loan. He also warned against
foreign interference.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): We see what kind of domestic
political events are happening in relation to the election in Belarus. You know our position
well. We are for Belarusians to sort out this situation themselves, without any tips and
pressure from outside. They should come to a common decision.
JUDY WOODRUFF: On Sunday, an estimated 150,000 people took to the streets of Minsk, the Belarusian
capital. They say that Lukashenko rigged his reelection in August and must step down.
Back in this country, a federal appeals court today upheld President Trump's decision to
strip protections that let half-a-million immigrants stay in the U.S. They were admitted
on humanitarian grounds from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan, and some have
been here for decades. The case could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Authorities across the Los Angeles area are searching for the gunman who fired into a
squad car and wounded two sheriff's deputies on Saturday. It also sparked an anti-police
protest outside the hospital where the deputies are being treated. They are expected to recover.
Software developer Oracle has won the competition for TikTok's U.S. operations. The video-sharing
app's Chinese owner announced the proposed partnership today, but did not call it a sale.
President Trump says that TikTok's U.S. operations must be sold or shut down to prevent data
being passed to China.
And on Wall Street, the oracle TikTok agreement and other major corporate deals fueled a new
rally. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 327 points to close at 27993. The Nasdaq rose
203 points and the S&P 500 added 42.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": on the ground in Oregon, as wildfires ravage the West; how
the pandemic makes a dire situation worse in Syria; our Politics Monday team breaks
down the latest in the race for the White House; and much more.