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Officials in North Carolina, Georgia say Helene will not derail voting in presidential election

(WASHINGTON) -- Election officials in Georgia and North Carolina said Monday that voting from their states in the presidential election in November will not be derailed by the damage left by Hurricane Helene even as crews continue to search for victims.

Though parts of the two states were devastated by the hurricane, election officials said they are working on plans to assure that every ballot cast for the Nov. 5 election will be counted.

“What has been on everyone’s mind is what will happen to elections,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference Monday. “Good news: Absentee ballots are going out this week as scheduled, and early voting will start next Tuesday, on Oct. 15."

Raffensperger said that while Helene caused widespread damage and power outages in his state, he does not expect there to be any major disruptions to the general election. He said election offices and voting equipment in the state's 159 counties escaped serious damage.

Blake Evans, elections director for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said county officials are assessing about 2,400 polling locations. So far, just three will have to be changed because of storm damage, he added.

In North Carolina, the state's Board of Elections unanimously approved on Monday a measure that would broaden the authority of local election officials in the counties most impacted by the disaster.

The approved measure will allow election officials in 13 of the hardest-hit North Carolina counties to make changes to voting sites, access emergency supplies and deploy teams to assist with absentee voting at disaster shelters ahead of early voting commencing on Oct. 17.

“We are committed to ensuring that we open early voting on the 17th in all 100 counties, including these affected counties. It may look a little different in these affected counties, but we fully intend to offer early voting starting on the 17th," said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections.

As of Monday, every county election office in North Carolina was opened, according to Bell, compared to last week when 14 of those offices were closed due to the storm. Bell thanked local election officials throughout the state for working to get their offices online while facing “personal struggles” including damage to their homes, transportation issues and a lack of basic utilities.

“What a difference a week makes ... this is just quite the feat,” Bell said. "Our struggles are not over, and that is why we need the Board to take action to give the flexibility necessary to carry out these elections, and to be of the best service to the voters that we can be."

She told reporters Monday that authorities could bring in National Guard tents or FEMA trailers to act as polling locations, and she insisted that it can be done securely and safely.

"It’s not as spacious as your normal polling location, but it does provide the space necessary at the existing voting site if the parking lot [of a polling site is] still accessible," she said. "[And] even in a temporary structure we can still maintain security of the voting equipment and safety of our workers.”

In Yancey County, North Carolina, Board of Elections Director Mary Beth Tipton told ABC News that officials are still assessing how many of the county’s 11 polling sites would be operational by Election Day. Most of the other polling sites are in schools and fire stations, which are currently being used as shelters and emergency relief sites, and two election stations were severely damaged by flood waters.

“There are some of them that don’t even exist anymore,” Tipton said.

One of the hardest-hit counties was Buncombe County, which sustained historic flooding. The county includes Asheville, the eleventh-largest city in the state.

As of Monday, 67,000 utility customers remained without electricity and a large part of Buncombe County was without running water due to major damage to the water system and its water treatment plant, officials said. Recovery crews continued to search massive piles of debris for 60 people who remain unaccounted for, officials said.

"I'm here to reassure our community that Buncombe County will vote," Corinne Duncan, the director of Buncombe County Election Services, said at a news conference Monday.

Duncan said she was concerned that some polling places would have to be changed due to the lack of water or power. She said most of the election offices and voting equipment were spared by the storm, but officials are working to "strategize and modify plans" to make sure anyone who wants to vote can do so.

She said officials are trying to get in touch with polling workers for training to make sure polling stations are staffed. As of now, early voting will begin as planned in Buncombe County and residents still have until Oct. 11 to register to vote, Duncan said.

"We are assessing what voting locations are available," said Duncan, adding, "We must respect the gravity of our situation."

Trump, Harris mark anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel

(WASHINGTON) -- As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both taking a break from campaigning in battleground states on Monday to memorialize the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Harris, alongside second gentleman Doug Emhoff, marked the day by planting a pomegranate tree at the vice president's residence -- a symbol of hope and righteousness in Judaism. Trump visited Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch -- considered a sacred site amongst Hasidic Jews -- in Queens, New York, where he had an intimate private visit to the Ohel, the gravesite of the Rebbe at the Old Montefiore Cemetery, where he was seen shaking hands with Rabbis and mingling with leaders.

Later, Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at a remembrance event with Jewish community leaders at his own property Trump National Doral Miami, his campaign announced.

On Monday, Harris urged the country that as they reflect on the horrors of Oct. 7, they also be reminded "we cannot lose faith."

"I will never forget October 7, and the world must never forget. What is asked of us? We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of Oct. 7 can ever happen again, and on this solemn day, I will restate my pledge to always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and that I will always work to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people here and around the world," Harris pledged.

To commemorate Oct. 7, Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz visited the "Nova Exhibition" -- an exhibit honoring the victims of the Hamas attack -- in Culver City, California, on Monday. Walz was greeted by Noa Beer, a survivor of the Oct. 7 attack and an organizer of the Nova Music Festival, and the exhibition's event producer Virginia Fout upon his arrival at the exhibition, according to the Harris campaign.

Following Hamas' attacks on Israel on Oct, 7, 2023, and Israel's ensuing assaults on Gaza, the conflict in the Middle East has become one of the top issues this election cycle. Pressure for a cease-fire has created a rift within the Democratic Party and Republicans are attempting to capitalize on that moment while Trump's own inflammatory comments continue to face pushback from critics.

Tune into ABC News Live at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, for "Oct 7th: Race to Survive" -- special coverage of the anniversary of the conflict. Veteran correspondent Matt Gutman highlights voices of Israelis and Palestinians impacted by the war and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack in Israel one year ago, and Israel responded by declaring war, thousands have reportedly been killed or injured. Israel has said its goal is to destroy Hamas and that it attempts to minimize civilian casualties as often as possible. Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Gaza, including the collapse of the health care system.

Harris, while stressing the alliance between the United States and Israel, has appealed to the humanitarian crises in Gaza and has repeatedly called for a cease-fire, including at the Democratic National Convention in August, where she officially introduced herself to the public for the first time as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race.

The Democratic Party is divided on the issue as the war deepens with Iran's latest attack on Israel. Although Harris has noticeably attempted to thread the needle in an attempt to bridge the ideological gap, concerns remain about whether the Biden-Harris administration lacks influence over Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a preview clip released ahead of her interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes," Harris remained aligned with President Joe Biden's position, saying the administration is doing what they can to "allow Israel to defend itself" and that they will continue to put "pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders" to release the hostages and achieve a cease-fire.

She claimed the negotiations they've done with Netanyahu have led to open conversations and changes in Israel's approach in the region, but dodged the question on whether Netanyahu is a "real close" ally of the U.S., saying, "the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes."

Trump on the campaign trail has made an extensive effort to court Jewish American voters, often claiming that "no President has done more for Israel than I have." Over the course of the campaign, Trump has participated in Jewish-focused campaign events with the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Israeli-American Council.

He has also been campaigning with major donor and vocal Israel-advocate Miriam Adelson, who is investing nearly $90 million in support of Trump in the final months of the 2024 general election.

At the same time, Trump has repeatedly sparked criticism by attacking Jewish Democrats, including Emhoff and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, claiming that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats should get their "head examined."

"They have not been your friends. I don't understand how anybody can support them," Trump said during his virtual remarks at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual summit last month. "And I say it constantly. If you had them to support and you were Jewish, you have to have your head examined."

Trump also criticized Netanyahu, saying in a TIME magazine interview published in April that the Oct. 7 attacks happened "on his watch" and that he has been "rightfully criticized" for the attacks.

"I will say this, Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on Oct. 7," Trump told TIME, criticizing him again for backing out on what was supposed to be a joint U.S.-Israel operation to assassinate a top Iranian general in 2020.

"It happened on his watch," Trump said about Netanyahu and the Israel-Hamas war. "And I think it's had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn't have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment."

Still, Trump met with Netanyahu in July, insisting their relationship "was never bad."

"We've had a good working relationship. I was very good to Israel, better than any president has ever been," Trump claimed after meeting with Netanyahu.

Trump has insisted in his campaign messages that the world was a safer place under his administration, claiming that the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel would not have happened under his presidency and that foreign adversaries are launching attacks because of the Biden-Harris administration's weakness.

"Ever since Iran has been exporting terror all over the world and, it's been just unraveling, the whole Middle East has been unraveling, but of course, the whole world has been unraveling since we left office," Trump said at a campaign event in Waunakee, Wisconsin, last Tuesday just after Iran launched missile attacks on Israel.

Harris also met with Netanyahu in July. After the meeting, she reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself but added, "how it does so matters." Harris said that she talked to Netanyahu about her "serious concern" about the collateral damage and suffering of Gazan civilians.

Hamas' attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with some 250 people kidnapped. And more than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

"With over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity, and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating; the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time," Harris said.

ABC News' Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

SFA nursing program gets $250K grant

NACOGDOCHES – The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has awarded Stephen F. Austin University a $250,000 grant to enhance its nursing program. According to our news partner KETK, SFA was selected out of 26 other institutions to receive the Student Success Acceleration Program 2.0 grant in order to help address the shortfall of nurses nationwide.

Dr. Marc Guidry, associate provost for the Division of Academic Affairs said in a release, “This grant supports two of SFA’s marquee programs at once, nursing and social work. I am especially pleased that all the money goes to students in the form of scholarships, stipends and supplies. The resources provided by this grant will enable more of our nursing students to persist and graduate with their registered nurse license while providing hands-on training for our graduate social work majors. It is a double-win for SFA and the state of Texas.”

Florida hospitals, health care centers close ahead of Hurricane Milton landfall

Morton Plant North Bay Hospital/Google Maps Street View

(NEW YORK) -- Dozens of health care facilities in Florida are suspending services and/or preparing to evacuate as Hurricane Milton approaches.

On Sunday, Pinellas County – located on the west central Florida coast and including Clearwater and St. Petersburg – issued mandatory evacuation orders for long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities and hospitals in three evacuation zones.

The order affects six hospitals, 25 nursing homes and 44 assisted living facilities, totaling about 6,600 patients, according to the order.

"Pinellas County is in the potential path of the storm and could experience life-threatening storm surge, localized flooding and hurricane force winds, [depending] on where the storm makes landfall on Wednesday," the order read. "Many coastal areas have barely begun to recover from Hurricane Helene."

Just north of Pinellas County, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey initiated evacuation procedures Monday morning and is not accepting new patients, according to a statement from BayCare, the hospital's parent network.

BayCare said that while all of its other hospitals are open as of Monday afternoon, elective procedures for non-urgent procedures have been canceled for Wednesday, Oct. 9, with a decision for procedures on Thursday, Oct. 11, to come shortly.

All BayCare ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, laboratories, urgent care facilities and behavioral health outpatient sites will also be closed Wednesday and Thursday, according to the BayCare statement.

Additionally, the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, located in Tampa and affiliated with the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, announced the hospital and its outpatient clinics would be closed for in-person appointments and elective surgeries from Tuesday, Oct. 9, to Thursday, Oct. 11, due to "predicted impacts from Hurricane Milton."

University of Florida Health (UF Health) issued a tropical weather alert Monday afternoon, announcing that most UF Health hospitals, outpatient clinical facilities and physician practices remain open, with some exceptions. Facilities in Archer, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Leesburg, Naples, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, and The Villages announced closures or modified hours ahead of Milton's landfall.

HCA Florida Healthcare told ABC News on Monday it was working to transfer patients from hospitals most directly in the Milton's expected path to sister facilities throughout the state. Hospitals that are transferring patients include HCA Florida Englewood Hospital in Englewood, HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, HCA Florida Largo West Hospital in Largo, HCA Florida Pasadena Hospital in St. Petersburg, and HCA Florida West Tampa Hospital in Tampa.

However, not all health care facilities currently have plans to suspend service. A spokesperson for Tampa General Health (TGH) said no closures have been announced yet and directed ABC News to an update on the hospital's website, which as of Monday afternoon stated that all of TGH's "hospitals, medical offices and other facilities are continuing normal operations."

TGH also said it activated its emergency response plan "and opened its incident command center to enable and support continued operations."

Another network, Florida AdventHealth, issued a notice that its hospitals and emergency rooms remain open but warned that some of its operations may change "for the safety of our patients, their loved ones and our team members."

The National Hurricane Center announced Monday that Milton had intensified to a Category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, and with flooding and storm surges posing a major risk for many communities on Florida's west central coast.

Marshall PD warns residents about police scams

MARSHALL – The Marshall Police Department (MPD) issued a statement Monday afternoon warning residents of a recent spike of a popular scam. These scams involve individuals “pretending to be law enforcement officers from the Marshall Police Department or the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office,” according to a statement. On their Facebook page, Marshall PD said that these individuals can reach out via call, text or email, “[…] claiming you owe fines or have legal issues that can only be resolved by making payments through gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or other unusual methods.” MPD urges those who have their suspicions to call them at 903-935-4575.

Rusk ISD lifts lockdown after state hospital patient captured

RUSK – Rusk ISD schools briefly were on lockdown status Monday morning after an accused murderer reportedly escaped from Rusk State Hospital. According to our news partner KETK, Juan Carlos Vasquez Rojas has been at the hospital since September after he was arrested for felony murder in Harris County. Rojas reportedly escaped while being taken from one part of the hospital to another.

Schools in the area went on lockdown while the Rusk and Cherokee County law enforcement searched the area. Rojas was captured not long after and the lockdown was lifted. Liberty County district court sent Rojas to Rusk State Hospital for a competency assessment before he can stand trial for the murder charge.

Georgia Supreme Court reinstates 6-week abortion ban, reversing lower court ruling

(ATLANTA) -- The Georgia state Supreme Court reinstated the state's six-week abortion ban on Monday after a lower court allowed abortions to resume in the state.

The ruling goes into effect at 5 p.m. ET and will remain in place while the court hears the state's appeal, which was filed by Christopher Carr, the state's Republican attorney general.

Justice John J. Ellington dissented in part, arguing against the ban being reinstated before the state's appeal is heard.

"Fundamentally, the State should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution," he wrote. "The 'status quo' that should be maintained is the state of the law before the challenged laws took effect."

On Sept. 30, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, writing in his decision that the Georgia state constitution guaranteed the right to "liberty," which includes a "woman's right to control what happens to and within her body." The state appealed the decision two days later.

The ban, which was signed into law in 2019 by Gov. Brian Kemp, prevents abortions from being performed once fetal cardiac activity can be defected, which typically occurs at about six weeks' gestation -- before many women know they're pregnant -- and redefines the word "person" in Georgia to include an embryo or fetus at any stage of development.

There are exceptions for rape or incest until 20 weeks of pregnancy as long as the victim has reported the crime to the police. Additionally, a patient can have an abortion up until 20 weeks if the fetus has defects and would not be able to survive or if the patient's life is in danger.

The ban was blocked in court but was reinstated after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022.

"Seeing state politicians show such little empathy or respect for Georgians' health and lives only doubles our resolve to keep fighting until every person has the freedom to make personal medical decisions during pregnancy and the power to chart the course of their own lives," Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, a litigator on the case, said in a statement.

Big Oil urges Trump not to gut Biden’s climate law

HOUSTON – The Wall Street Journal reports that oil companies are conveying an unlikely message to the GOP and its presidential candidate: Spare President Biden’s signature climate law. At least the parts that benefit the oil industry. In discussions with former President Trump’s campaign and his allies in Congress, oil giants including Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66 and Occidental Petroleum have extolled the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. Many in the fossil-fuel industry opposed the law when it passed in 2022 but have come to love provisions that earmark billions of dollars for low-carbon energy projects they are betting on. Some executives in the largely pro-Trump oil industry are worried the former president, if re-elected, would side with conservative lawmakers who want to gut the IRA. They fear losing tax credits vital for their investments in renewable fuel, carbon capture and hydrogen, costly technologies requiring U.S. support to survive their early years.

At a Houston fundraiser for Trump in May, Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub took her case directly to the candidate, saying tax credits propping up the company’s huge investments in technology to collect carbon directly from the air should be preserved, people familiar with the matter said. The company is building its first $1.3 billion direct-air capture plant in West Texas and aims to erect dozens more in the coming years. Exxon has also told the Trump campaign it wants to preserve portions of the IRA. It and Chevron, the two largest U.S. oil companies, have promised to pump more than $30 billion combined into carbon capture, hydrogen, biofuels and other low-carbon technologies, virtually all of which rely on tax credits in the IRA to be viable. Meanwhile, company officials at Phillips 66, a $58 billion U.S. oil refiner, have told members of Congress the IRA’s tax credits are important for its business, people familiar with the matter said. Instead of crude oil, the company’s renewable fuels are made from used cooking oil, vegetable oil, fats and the like, which qualify it for large tax credits.

Marvel’s most profitable superheroes, ranked

With Deadpool & Wolverine giving both heroes a billion-dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, the online casinos comparison service KingCasinoBonus took a deep dive into which of its heroes have been the most profitable.

The company looked at box office receipts and also available merchandise on the Disney Store and Marvel's official marketplace for Iron Man, Captain America and all their super-powered pals, grading each on a scale of 1 through 10.

Fittingly, billionaire playboy Tony Stark ended up on top.

Robert Downey Jr.'s run as Stark/Iron Man spans 10 films — including one cameo in 2009's The Incredible Hulk — that earned more than $12 billion altogether. And the character's merchandise sales make a mint, too.

Coming in second was Spider-Man. Tom Holland's run as the webslinger spanned six films, including a trilogy of his own, earning $9.86 billion.  According to the analysis, Spidey leads the MCU in available merchandise, with 63 items available at those sites.

Third place belongs to Captain America. Chris Evans' run as the spangly hero generated $9.94 billion.

Their fellow Avengers Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) ranked fourth and fifth on the list.

ScarJo's character made nine MCU appearances, raking in more than $10 billion worldwide. But while she only has three items for sale on those official sites, they have a high average selling price of $154 per item.

 Hemsworth's God of Thunder has appeared in eight films that collectively earned a worldwide box office total of more than $10 billion, though his 15 available items average $45.

Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

A-List management company head Peter Micelli on the reach of Netflix, success of the horror pic ‘Longlegs’

Netflix recently held a meeting with the top agents in Hollywood to discuss how stars are paid for their shows and myriad other important issues in the streaming-dominant present.

Peter Micelli, the co-founder of Range Media Partners, which boasts clients like Johnny Depp, Bradley Cooper and Anna Kendrick, among others, predicted the rise of streaming a decade ago and tells ABC Audio what he learned from the meeting.

"I was really quite pleased in terms of — to see what they've built to, you know, [to] understand that they're now in 278 million homes globally, but approximately 600 million eyeballs. And you're like, well it's just a different platform because nobody can deliver that volume of eyeballs in one fell swoop."

Micelli says it's important for studios to find a balance between streaming content and movies released in theaters, as the hit Nicolas Cage film his company co-produced, Longlegs, was.

The horror thriller made more than double its production budget on its opening weekend in July. Amid super-budgeted superhero summer fare, its box office take kept climbing, to more than $108 million.

"The idea of getting out of the house and having an experience ... is something we have to nurture and create ... and theaters do that," he comments.

"I think we've got to figure out the right alchemy of theater projects that will get people to want to be in a room with others, to watch and enjoy and feel the energy of it together," he continues, saying the shared communal experience is "really good for culture."

He enthuses, "The exciting thing about a Longlegs is it just proves when you do something good, people want to engage. ... To make something great is so exceptional and it's so exciting when that happens."

A year after the attack, Israeli couple recounts trying to get to their son on Oct. 7

Gali Mir-Tibon speaks with ABC News' chief national correspondent Matt Gutman. ABC News

(TEL AVIV, Israel) -- For Israeli husband-and-wife Noam Tibon and Gali Mir-Tibon, Oct. 7, 2023, began like any other day.

They went for an early-morning swim off the Tel Aviv coast on that Saturday morning. They heard sirens but continued to swim -- it was safer in the water. When they got back to their car, they checked their phones and saw a text from their son, Amir, that there was a terrorist inside their kibbutz, Nahal Oz, in southern Israel.

"I served 35 years in the military," Tibon, a retired Israel Defense Forces major general, told ABC News. When he pinged IDF generals about the situation, he said they responded: "We are aware and are on the way." That phrase "on the way" surprised Noam, because Israel's vaunted military should already have been there. "Something in my heart told me, 'Noam, you have to go there.'"

They raced southward, speeding through red lights, Mir-Tibon recounted. She was driving, he was riding in the passenger seat, holding his pistol and frantically making calls.

"We are almost the only vehicle on the road," the novelist told ABC News. "We get another text message [that] says, there are terrorists in our neighborhood, the new neighborhood of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. So it's getting worse."

Along the way, they said they saw a police car blocking the road shooting at a white pickup that Mir-Tibon said they would later learn was a Toyota with Hamas terrorists.

They stopped the car while bullets flew ahead of them debating what to do, Tibon said.

"Suddenly, a young couple jump from the bushes wearing party clothes, which is unusual in this situation," Tibon said.

They were barefoot and asked for help, Mir-Tibon said.

"They get inside and they are very, very afraid," she said.

When they asked what happened, Tibon said the couple responded, shaking, "We were in the party. Many terrorists came. They slaughtered everybody."

The couple had fled the Nova music festival, the site of one of the worst civilian casualty incidents in Israel's history.

At least 260 people were killed by Hamas militants at the music festival, held in the Negev desert in southern Israel, during the terrorist group's surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Overall, militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages -- about 100 of whom remain in captivity, according to Israeli officials. It was the deadliest single day for the Jews since the Holocaust.

In the year since, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

As the full scope of the attack that day was still unknown to them, Tibon said they turned around and drove away with the couple.

"You don't leave anyone behind you, it's not a hard decision," Tibon said.

They were able to drop the couple off with police before continuing on toward the kibbutz, Tibon recalled. Along the way, they continued to hear shots being fired and see dead bodies.

"It's all the way burning cars, bodies, bodies, bodies," Tibon said.

When they came upon a group of Israeli soldiers, Tibon begged them to take him to his son's kibbutz.

"The commander hesitates," he said. "And then one brave guy by the name of Avi ... he said, 'I'm going to help you.'"

Mir-Tibon stayed behind in a shelter while Tibon left with the soldier to find his son and his family. They joined Israeli paratroopers as they got to the gate of Kibbut Nahal Oz, he said.

"We are under very, very heavy fire by the terrorists," he recalled. "I was fighting for my life." He said he killed a squad of terrorists, and then tended to three Israeli paratroopers who'd been wounded, two of them severely. He was just yards from the gate of his son's kibbutz. He turned around and drove the wounded men back to his wife, who then drove back out of the hellscape with the men bleeding out in her car. Eventually, she found a pair of ambulances. The men all survived, the couple recounted.

Tibon returned through the gunfire again towards his son's kibbutz. Meeting another group of soldiers at the gate. He said he then spent several hours searching homes in the kibbutz -- ensuring everyone else was safe -- before arriving at his son's house, about 10 hours after the initial attack. He said he found the door locked, which gave him "hope."

"From all the houses that I search, if the door was locked, inside there is live people. If the door is open, blood and no people, or blood and bodies," he said.

Tibon said he banged on the window and yelled for his son, calling out, "It's Dad!"

He first heard his 3-year-old granddaughter say, "Grandpa here," he recalled.

Noam’s son Amir, his wife and their children were all rescued.

"This was a very emotional moment," Tibon said. "I felt I fulfilled my mission. But I have to rescue them and I have to rescue the whole kibbutz, they are not alone."

Tibon said he helped to evacuate more than 400 people out of the kibbutz.

Mir-Tibon had feared the worst at points while waiting to find out if her family survived.

"There were moments I think, if they're not alive, I don't think there is any point to my life," Mir-Tibon said. "We are the lucky ones."

Harris, pressed on how she’d get economic plan through Congress, suggests there might be a path

(WASHINGTON) -- Vice President Kamala Harris indicated in a "60 Minutes" interview out Monday that she could get her economic policies through a Republican-controlled Congress, despite the potential for opposition from Republican lawmakers to her proposed tax breaks that drive up the federal deficit.

In a clip of the interview released Monday, "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker pressed Harris on how she would pay for the policies, which include tax breaks for small business owners, parents and first-time homebuyers.

"How are you going to get this through Congress?" Whitaker asked.

"You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I'm talking about because their constituents know exactly what I'm talking about; their constituents are those firefighters and teachers and nurses," the vice president responded.

The "60 Minutes" interview, which will air in full Monday night, is the second time in recent weeks Harris has been asked to describe how she would fund her policies.

MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle asked her in an interview last month, "If you can't raise corporate taxes, or if GOP takes control of the Senate, where do you get the money to do that?"

"Well, but we're going to have to raise corporate taxes. And we're going to have to raise -- we're going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share," answered Harris.

The vice president speaks often about her economic plans -- a key voter issue in the election -- while on the campaign trail, too. Her plans are geared toward helping working-class Americans as she tries to gain ground on an issue, which surveys suggest former President Donald Trump is winning.

In an economics-focused speech last month in Pittsburgh, Harris touted a "pragmatic" vision for the economy, saying she would be "grounded in my fundamental values of fairness, dignity and opportunity."

Harris, though, is likely to face continuing questions about her plans to fund her ideas.

In another pre-released exceprt of the "60 Minutes" interview, Whitaker challenged Harris on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanahu is "listening" to the Biden administration's urges to defuse tensions in the Middle East.

"Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region," Harris said.

Asked if the United States has "a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu," Harris responded, "I think, with all due respect, the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes."

Harris' "60 Minutes" interview is part of a flurry of interviews she has set for this week, including with "The View," "The Howard Stern Show" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," a senior campaign official said.

Her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, also has a media blitz planned this week with stops at "Jimmy Kimmel Live" as well as being part of the "60 Minutes" interview.

Both Harris and Walz will spend time campaigning out West this week with stops in Nevada and Arizona, according to the senior campaign official.

Hurricane Milton: Evacuation orders grow as storm reaches Category 5

(TALLAHASSEE, FL) -- Florida officials are urging residents to evacuate now as Hurricane Milton intensifies and sets its sights on the state's west coast.

Hours before the storm strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents to take evacuation orders seriously.

"Time is going to start running out very, very soon," he said at a news conference.

"Please, if you're in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate," Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida Emergency Management, urged at the news conference. "Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave."

More than 50 counties along Florida's west coast are now under state of emergency orders and several are under evacuation orders, including Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota. All evacuation orders are listed on Florida's Division of Emergency Management website.

The storm is is expected to weaken, but will still be a major Category 3 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Florida late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

"If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you're asked to leave by your local officials, please do that," Michael Brennan, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. "You don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one's home."

Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days' worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.

Ahead of landfall on Monday, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state to allow federal assistance to begin supplementing local efforts.

Flooding is expected, and storm surge is a significant threat.

A record-breaking storm surge of 8 to 12 feet is expected in the Tampa Bay area, as Floridians continue cleaning up from the 6 to 8 feet of storm surge that was just brought on by Hurricane Helene.

As Milton churns closer, Tampa International Airport said it would suspend operations Tuesday at 9 a.m. and remain closed "until it can assess any damage after the storm," airport officials said. St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport also said it would close Tuesday, and remain shuttered on Wednesday and Thursday.

The University of Florida said it would be canceling classes Wednesday and Thursday, but plan to reopen Friday morning.

Investigation into roadside zoos finds risks to guests and animals at some facilities

Karine Aigner for the Washington Post Magazine

(NEW YORK) -- Meeting an exotic animal at a public attraction can fill us with wonder, but critics say that this can also be dangerous. Dana Garber said she had just such an encounter at the Endangered Ark Foundation in Hugo, Oklahoma, in 2021.

She thought their family trip would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get close to the world's largest living land animals.

"It was my youngest son's birthday," she told ABC News. "It seemed like for his birthday, it was a wonderful thing. Something we could do as a family."

The foundation advertises itself as a sanctuary for retired circus elephants, making them a popular attraction in the state.

"I was under the impression that this was a place that was a good place for these elephants to live out their lives after their circus life," Garber said.

Their day kicked off with the elephants, along with their handlers, greeting the family by bringing them breakfast, according to Garber. Afterwards, she recalled that they fed the elephants graham crackers over a metal fence.

"We were encouraged to pet them," she said. "We were encouraged to go up to them."

She recalled taking photos as she says an elephant grabbed her father-in-law with its trunk. She took more photos as she said her husband distracted the towering animal with graham crackers so it would let go of his father. However, to her horror, she said that the same elephant then grabbed her as she tried to walk past it.

"I can tell you that it felt like an anaconda," she said, referring to the species of snake that constricts its prey. "I was being squished and held very tightly, after the elephant grabbed me and kind of swung me and thrashed me to the ground."

Garber isn't alone in claiming to have been injured by an exotic animal at a public attraction. ABC News reviewed government records, lawsuits and local reports to find at least 150 people over the past decade who have alleged they were injured during exotic animal encounters in the U.S.

After the incident, Garber noted that foundation staffers rushed to her aid, offering her ice. She says no one, including her, realized how seriously she had been injured. However, she said her husband -- a radiologist -- grew increasingly concerned over time.

"He said I wasn't speaking coherently," she said. "And at that point, he decided we have to get her immediately to the emergency room."

Garber said scans revealed the extent of the damage to her knee.

"It had a lateral and a medial tibial plateau crush injury," she said. "That along with the head injury."

She told ABC News it has taken almost two years and multiple surgeries for her to regain function of her leg.

In the process of sorting out some of the medical bills, Garber said she reached out to Endangered Ark Foundation to get in touch with their insurance company. She said the company left a voice message suggesting she fell at their location.

"All kinds of hairs stood up on the back of my neck," she said. "There is absolutely no way that you can get the kind of injury I sustained just by falling."

Garber eventually filed a lawsuit, which they settled out of court without any admission of wrongdoing by Endangered Ark Foundation. The company told ABC News that they strongly refute all allegations.

"The family of Mrs. Garber continued to enjoy a full day at the foundation after the alleged incident," it said in a statement.

Since the day she said she sustained her injuries, Garber claims to have discovered that some of the elephants at the sanctuary aren’t retired at all, and are allegedly still performing under a license for a circus called Carson & Barnes. The founders of that circus opened up the Endangered Ark Foundation in 1993 to serve as a retirement ranch for circus elephants, they say.

The circus didn't respond to ABC News' request for comment.

"I was under the impression that this was a true reserve and that these elephants were retired elephants that we would be seeing," Garber said.

The Endangered Ark Foundation is one of at least 900 facilities in the U.S. that offers human interactions with wild or exotic animals as part of their business. According to critics, some of these places -- known as roadside zoos -- are not accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and many have a bad track record in their treatment of animals.

In 2020, the Netflix series "Tiger King" shined a light on several such locations -- particularly the since-shuttered Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, which was founded and owned by Joe Exotic.

In the wake of "Tiger King," the Big Cat Public Safety Act was enacted in 2022. The law prohibits public contact with big cats and the new breeding of cubs for private possession.

The Humane Society of the United States, a nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare, investigated Exotic’s Oklahoma roadside zoo years before "Tiger King" made him infamous.

Humane Society CEO Kitty Block said her organization often steps in to investigate these facilities because the Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is charged with overseeing them, is either too slow or does too little to act.

The Humane Society highlighted Tiger Safari in Tuttle, Oklahoma, as an example. They first recorded undercover footage of people interacting with tiger cubs there in 2014, after which the USDA filed a complaint and fined the zoo $15,000.

At the time, the founder Bill Meadows told local news outlets that his park was among the cleanest in the state and that the animals were treated well. He claimed the negative publicity came because the Humane Society wanted to cut out private zoo ownership, and that his zoo had corrected the USDA citations.

However, the Humane Society returned in 2021 and discovered that the facility had moved on to promoting interactions with other animals, including otter cubs.

The USDA cited them again for causing "unnecessary discomfort." In total, the USDA has cited Tiger Safari at least 90 times in the past decade for issues like inadequate vet care and unsanitary conditions.

Tiger Safari did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

"The USDA is not even enforcing the meager standards that are there," Block told ABC News. "They are stretched too thin."

The USDA told ABC News, in part, that they take enforcement of the federal law seriously, and that they "work with facilities to ensure they comply."

The agency said that if a facility is consistently unable to achieve compliance, that they are referred for investigation to determine if enforcement actions like "license suspension and revocations" are appropriate.

Advocates said it's often their responsibility to work to shut such places down. In 2020, Special Memories Zoo in Wisconsin was sued by the Animal Legal Defense Fund for violating the Endangered Species Act. It also alleged that the zoo violated state law by "operating as a public nuisance because it was violating animal cruelty laws."

A month after the lawsuit was filed, the zoo announced it would close and begin transferring animals to different facilities. However, a fire broke out and allegedly revealed serious neglect of its animals.

Police were dispatched to the property, and footage from their body cameras shows the officers discussing how several of the animals had starved to death before the flames erupted.

Instead of going to roadside zoos to see animals, advocates recommend doing so at locations accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation.

The Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D.C., is one such facility, and it maintains a strict no-touch policy with its Asian elephants. Dana Garber agreed with this approach.

"I could've died. I don't want that to happen to someone else's family," she told ABC News. "This is going to be with me forever, I will never be able to fully move on from this."

ABC News' Jessica Hopper and Laura Coburn contributed to this report.

Jurors weigh how to punish a former Houston officer

HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors asked a jury on Monday to sentence a former Houston police officer to life in prison for the murders of a couple during a drug raid that exposed systemic corruption.

Gerald Goines was convicted last month in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, 58. The couple and their dog were fatally shot when officers burst into their home in January 2019 using a “no-knock” warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering. Authorities said Goines lied to get the search warrant and falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers.

During closing arguments in the trial’s punishment phase, prosecutors told jurors that the deaths of Nicholas and Tuttle were the deadly result of a years-long pattern of corruption by Goines in which he lied about drug arrests and helped people get wrongly convicted. They asked for life in prison, saying he used his badge to prey on people he was supposed to protect.

“No community is cleansed by an officer that uses his badge as an instrument of oppression rather than a shield of protection,” said prosecutor Tanisha Manning.

The investigation that followed the deadly drug raid revealed systemic corruption problems within the police department’s narcotics unit and that officers had made hundreds of errors in cases.

Defense attorneys asked jurors to give Goines the minimum sentence of five years, saying he had dedicated his 34-year career in law enforcement to serving his community and keeping drugs off the streets.

“Our community is safer with someone like Gerald, with the heart to serve and the heart to care,” said Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines’ attorneys.

The jury’s sentencing deliberation was delayed a few days after Goines suffered a medical emergency in the courtroom on Thursday and was taken away in an ambulance.

During the monthlong trial, prosecutors said Goines falsely claimed an informant had bought heroin at the couple’s home from a man with a gun, setting up the violent confrontation in which the couple was killed and four officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded, and a fifth was injured.

Goines’ lawyers had acknowledged the ex-officer lied to get the search warrant but minimized the impact of his false statements. His lawyers had portrayed the couple as armed drug users and said they were responsible for their own deaths because they fired at officers.

Goines’ attorneys argued that the first to fire at another person was Tuttle and not police officers. But a Texas Ranger who investigated the raid testified that the officers fired first, killing the dog and likely provoking Tuttle’s gunfire. And an officer who took part, as well as the judge who approved the warrant, testified that the raid would never have happened had they known Goines lied.

Investigators later found only small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house, and while Houston’s police chief at the time, Art Acevedo, initially praised Goines as being “tough as nails,” he later suspended him when the lies emerged. Goines later retired as the probes continued.

During the trial’s punishment phase, jurors heard from family members of Nicholas and Tuttle, who described them as kind and generous. Tuttle’s son said his father was “pro-police.”

Several of Goines’ family members told jurors he was a good person and had dedicated his life to public service. Elyse Lanier, the widow of former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, said she had known Goines for 20 years as a “gentle giant.”

One of the people wrongfully convicted based on Goines’ false testimony, Otis Mallet, told jurors that what Goines had done to him had “traumatically disturbed” his life.

Goines also made a drug arrest in 2004 in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for that drug conviction.

Goines also faces federal criminal charges in connection with the raid, and federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the families of Tuttle and Nicholas against Goines, 12 other officers and the city of Houston are set to be tried in November.