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Hurricane Isaias Strengthens as It Heads for Gulf Coast; Hurricane Isaias to Bring Risk of Inland Flooding; Maduro & Wife Facing New Charges Over Alleged Torture of Americans; Bodycam Shows Disturbing Moments After Six-Year-Old Shoots Teacher; CNN Polls Show Dems Leading in Ohio & Iowa Races for Governor. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 08, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- when using A.I. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Right now, preparations are ramping up as Hurricane Isaias intensifies and turns toward the Gulf Coast. It's now a Category 1. It has sustained winds of 85 miles per hour, and it is strengthening, expected to make landfall late Friday, maybe early Saturday. Twenty- five Florida counties are now under a state of emergency. Some are under mandatory evacuation orders.

Some Florida airports also closing ahead of this storm. Pensacola's airport is scheduled to close its runways at 6 p.m. Friday evening, and all airports in Okaloosa County, which is near vacation towns like Destin and Fort Walton Beach, they will close tomorrow night as well.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking the storm for us. Derek, these places really getting ready for this. What do they think this might look like?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Brianna, you're right when you say that Isaias is strengthening, but what the good news is, we don't see signs of rapid intensification at the moment.

We want that -- we do not want that, and we're happy to see that that's not the case at the moment. Still, a powerful storm, Category 1 hurricane, and you can see the official forecast track shows strengthening, maybe teetering on a major hurricane at its peak early Friday morning.

But I want you to notice in this official forecast, as we zoom into the area, there is weakening winds here. So there's something that the National Hurricane Center is picking up on, and I'm going to get to those details in just a moment. Here's a look at the warnings, hurricane warnings, including the far right southern counties of Mississippi, coastal portions of Alabama, and into the western panhandle of Florida.

Now, this is the big story we've been talking about, the wind shear, the upper level winds. So these at the moment are helping fuel the strengthening process of this hurricane. But later on, as we head into its final approach, we're talking late tomorrow night and into early Saturday morning, that's going to shear the tops off of this hurricane and help weaken the storm.

But unfortunately, a counter thing of this is that it's going to expand the wind field as well. So larger impacts across a greater area. So in terms of timing, as we head into Friday morning, this is your window to evacuate. If you've been asked to evacuate, do it now or first light tomorrow morning, because the rain will be on your doorstep by six o'clock. And as we head into sunset tomorrow evening, this storm is approaching its most powerful part.

But I want you to take note of these individual cells here on the right side of the approaching hurricane. Those could be rotating supercells. I'm worried about the severe weather threat, the chance of tornadoes exist across much of the Florida panhandle on Friday and into Saturday, expanding further inland across eastern sections of Alabama and western Georgia, inclusive of Atlanta.

I talked about how the wind shear is going to weaken the storm on its final approach, but it's going to expand the tropical storm and hurricane force winds. Tropical storm force winds indicated in this yellow, that stretches basically 250 miles, Biloxi to Panama City. There's a lot of pine trees across this area. You better believe that will take down power lines and cause disruptions.

You can see where we're expecting the greatest wind threat across Pensacola into Mobile, depending on where exactly that landfalling center of the storm. Remember, it's a counterclockwise wind flow. We'll start to see impacts with coastal storm surge here, but maybe perhaps into the bay. That maybe could be a reverse surge situation, depending on if the wind comes out of the north.

So we'll be monitoring that detail closely as well. We don't want to overstate the flood threat here as well, Brianna. I mean, we're talking widespread six inches of rain, potentially locally 10 inches. That's why we have flash flood warnings extending from the coast all the way to Nashville.

KEILAR: Yeah, that's a lot of rain. Derek, thank you so much for taking us through that. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": This just in to CNN. The mayor of Gulf Shores, Alabama is now asking his state's governor, Kay Ivey, to order a mandatory evacuation for people in low- lying, flood-prone areas. The mayor already ordering a voluntary evacuation order for non-residents.

Let's go live to Gulf Shores with CNN's Isabel Rosales. Isabel, what is happening where you are?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris. Yeah, the governor here, Kay Ivey, has already issued a state of emergency for 40 counties in Alabama, including where I'm at right now. This is Baldwin County, Gulf Shores area. Listen, we are 24 hours out to the peak impacts in this area, expected to happen late Friday afternoon into Saturday morning.

But already, you can feel the wind picking up. And as you take a look at the Gulf right here, you can see how choppy the waves are. The city here of Gulf Shores is taking steps to protect the beaches, to protect the people, to protect the infrastructure.

So you might be wondering, where are all the people at? Not in the water. That's because they've issued, and are flying right now, two double red flags, meaning that the water, the gulf, is closed to the public. It is illegal to enter.

[14:05:00]

And you can see the beach patrol out and about, making sure people are following these safety precautions. And yet, as we turn the camera over here to the left, you can see that some folks, while the conditions still warranted, they're enjoying their beach time while they can.

And nearby Mobile County, by the way, here is what their head of emergency management agency is telling people to do right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE EVANS, DIRECTOR, MOBILE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: It's time to prepare like we're going to get the worst-case scenario for our community and get your business in order, get your home in order. Take care of your loved ones, get the things you need, and then if it doesn't happen to be as bad as we thought, well, then hey, that's always a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Yeah, and you mentioned Boris off the top, and that was Mobile County, by the way, nearby Mobile County. You mentioned off the top, voluntary evacuation requests that the mayor here, Robert Kraft, put out for non-residents.

He says that that's the extent of his authority. So I just spoke to him less than two hours ago. He says he's pushing the State Emergency Management Agency to go to the governor, to go to Kay Ivey, and issue mandatory evacuation orders like we've seen over in Florida. He thinks that that's the best thing to do right now. What he would hate to see he told me is a situation where people are evacuating too late.

And another thing to keep in mind, their big festival, the annual National Shrimp Festival has been canceled. That was slated to start today and that's important because it has tripled their population. Typically, there's 18,000 people here. Now, right now, there's 50,000 people, so you can understand his concern about making sure that folks are evacuating in an orderly fashion, if they choose to do so right now. And if it becomes mandatory, that they're not bogged down in the roads and in the highways. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Speaking of getting bogged down in the road, there are some concerns among local officials about bridges in the area. Why? ROSALES: Right, right and the mayor's office did tell me that they're monitoring one bridge in particular, a memorial bridge off State Highway 59 because once these sustained winds get high enough, they told me 45 miles per hour sustained winds, they have to shut that down which again leads into this loop of if evacuations happen too late, that causes more misery and confusion in leaving town. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Isabel Rosales, live force in Gulf Shores, Alabama. A very gray skied Gulf Shores, Isabel, thank you very much.

Still to come, prosecutors announcing new charges against former Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, alleging the former leader approved the use of torture on wrongly detained American citizens.

Plus, disturbing new police bodycam video shows the moments after a six-year-old boy pulled out a gun and shot his teacher at a school in Virginia. The shocking words he shouted at police when they arrived.

And some new polling out today shows reliably red states suddenly in play for Democrats. We'll dig into the numbers when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:12:46]

KEILAR: Today, the former president of Venezuela and his wife are facing new charges here in the U.S. Prosecutors are adding conspiracy to commit torture to their case against Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. The U.S. government alleges Maduro's regime oversaw the wrongful detention of more than a dozen U.S. citizens in Venezuela.

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside of the federal courthouse in New York. Kara, what more are prosecutors saying about these latest charges?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Brianna, this new indictment was unsealed today and it does charge both Maduro and Flores, the former First Lady, with one count of conspiracy to commit torture. And according to authorities, this was a way, these unthinkable acts of torture that they were alleged to have committed was a way for them to maintain power for more than 25 years.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie MacDonald, had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE MACDONALD, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Maduro Flores and other Venezuelan leaders tried to silence political opposition through murder and threats to murder victim's families, electric shock, asphyxiation, starvation, so-called punishment cells, beatings and rape. The members of Maduro's broad conspiracy were not just sitting behind a desk, these members of the conspiracy were holding the shovel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCANNELL: And according to the indictment, some of the specific allegations of torture were made against numerous Venezuelans, but specifically three U.S. citizens. And according to the indictment, they endured electric shock, rape, water boarding. They were beaten, one was being to the point where he has permanent eye damage. Other United States citizens faced asphyxiation. One was forced to take in certain drugs that caused them to vomit and then that person allegedly was forced to eat their own vomit.

So the breath of the torture charges or what authorities say fit into this scheme because the Maduros are also charged with this narco terrorism conspiracy with importing cocaine into the U.S. for harming U.S. citizens. They will face trial on these charges. Now, it's still set for June. No date yet to be arraigned on these charges have been set.

[14:15:00]

Maduro's attorney did tell me that he denies the charges and he looks forward to his day in court. His wife, Celia Flores, was in court today, trying to get released on bail, but the judge said that he knows the weight of the evidence in this case. He said it's very strong and he said that she is a flight risk. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Kara, thank you so much. Hard details to hear there. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's dig into more about what these charges mean with Daniel Landsberg-Rodriguez. He's the Founding Partner for Aurora Macro Strategies and an Adjunct Lecturer in Global Initiatives at Northwestern University.

Daniel, thank you so much for being with us. I wonder if these allegations surprise you at all.

DANIEL LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ, FOUNDING PARTNER, AURORA MACRO STRATEGIES: Well, they don't surprise. I think a few Venezuelans would be surprised this at that these sorts of acts were taking place. Venezuelans have been living in more and more of a police state for many, many years, and there has been a lot of sort of observable instances, particularly where U.S. citizens or foreign citizens were targeted and then, you know, swapped back and forth with other governments, you know, with their release being, you know, sort of leveraged for either favors, votes (ph), you know, exceptions to things, and that sort of has been the way of doing business.

What is really interesting is that you now have, you know, this indictment taking place and you have it being added now to what was already a pretty significant litany of accusations against Maduro and Flores --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: -- at a time when -- and that is also -- the timing is also, I think, very interesting and consequential. SANCHEZ: Yeah, is it fair to assume that many of those still in power now in Venezuela, with either the direct or the tacit backing of the United States, carried out some of these orders from Maduro?

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: I don't -- wouldn't say it's an assumption. I mean, these sorts of acts in a government like the one that's been in Caracas and remains in Caracas, they don't happen in a vacuum.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: Maduro is not personally doing these things. There's a long chain of commands, much of which is still in place, but without which the United States can't really, you know, operationalize any of the sort of grander strategy that it has for the Venezuelan transition on the ground. So you have a very unusual situation where you would need, you know, you are basically pointing things at Maduro.

But, for example, the Interior Minister, who was head of the security states, he's not named, despite him having been named previously on a lot of the narco indictments, and the fact that those security apparatuses that would have actually been acting upon these orders would have answered, you know, not directly to Maduro, but through him.

So there's, you know, I think there's a lot of convenience in charging Maduro specifically.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: But there's a lot of justice in it as well. I mean, if you are the head of a government that does these things, and the fact that this government did is incontrovertible, then there is definitely some justice there as well.

SANCHEZ: Sure. But I imagine that for those afflicted, and for Venezuelans who've been living in this police state, there is a certain irony, and it sends an odd message that the United States would charge Maduro with this, but leave in power those acolytes of his who then carried out these orders, right?

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely, and there haven't been that many transitions done through sort of individualized decapitation strikes before, so we're in kind of uncharted territory. There is obviously a lot of precedent for, you know, justice and reconciliation type transitions, you know, everywhere from Chile to Spain to post-war Japan to Nuremberg, in which, you know, on some level, justice will be sacrificed for peace and continuity.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: The issue is that, you know, the only people seemingly being targeted for justice are the people at the very top. So you have sort of a mustachioed lightning rod that is going to be blamed for everything, and they kind of need to continue doing that. Venezuela is a, you know, it is a fragile state.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

LANDSBERG-RODRIGUEZ: And if you start taking out, you know, a lot of the operative players at this stage, you don't really know what could happen, and having that happen, especially right before midterms, would be difficult.