Dorian:Hurricane Dorian, downgraded to a Category 2 , has been lashing the coast of Florida with heavy rain after devastating the Bahamas. Although Dorian is less powerful, it has been growing larger.

  Authorities estimate that as many has 13,000 homes were damaged or destroyed on Grand Bahama Island and nearby Abaco. Aerial footage shows miles of flattened buildings, wreckage, and flooding. 

  “We are in the midst of one of the greatest national crises in our country’s history,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said at a news conference. “No effort or resources will be held back.”

  Satellite imagery shows widespread flooding on Grand Bahama Island. The storm surge was as much as 23 feet above normal and some areas got as much 30 inches of rain.

  Airports are flooded and stranded people are being rescued with just about anything that flies or floats. 

  Current tracking has the storm slightly southeast of Jacksonville tomorrow afternoon, about 100 miles off the Florida coast. Over 2 million people along the coast in Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina were warned to evacuate.

  A FEMA official said, “Don’t tough it out. Get out” 

Brexit Rebellion: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he’s calling for a snap election in October after 21 conservatives abandoned him and Parliament refused to approve of pulling out of the European Union without a formal agreement on a relationship with the EU.

  Johnson had taken his office with promises to get Britain out of the EU, deal or no deal. Now he’s falling into the same trap that led to the downfall of his predecessor, Theresa May.

  Johnson said he’s going to present a formal request for an election before the next EU summit in Brussels. He said, “I don’t want an election, the public don’t want an election, but if the House votes for this bill tomorrow, the public will have to choose who goes to Brussels on Oct. 17 to sort this out and take this country forward.” 

Econ 101:Stocks dropped yesterday after a report that US manufacturing contracted last month, usually a sign of a slowing economy. That’s mixed with the increasing cost of goods brought on by President Trump’s trade war with China, further triggering fears of a recession.

 President Trump said that Chinese manufacturing would “crumble” if the country doesn’t knuckle under to his demands for a favorable trade deal, even while his own manufacturing base is beginning to suffer.

The Wall:The Pentagon is diverting $3.6 billion from 127 military construction projects for work on President Trump’s border wall, Defense Department officials said Tuesday. Democrats expressed outrage that the White House is making an end run around the authority of Congress to set spending the Pentagon started notifying representatives about the delay or cancellation of projects in their districts.

The News Roundup: Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam says she is withdrawing the extradition bill that sparked weeks of protests. She wanted criminal suspects to be taken to the mainland for trial.— Authorities confirm that 34 people died in the fire on a scuba diving boat off Santa Cruz Island in California. Many of the dead will have to be identified with DNA. Five crew members escaped. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. — After the massacre of 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, the cheap goods chain announced that it willstop selling certain types of ammunition commonly used by hunters that can also be used in assault rifles. The company also announced that it would begin discouraging customers from openly carrying guns into its stores in states with open carry laws. The National Rifle Association called Walmart’s decision “shameful.” — The gunman who killed seven people in a  West Texas rampage bought his assault rifle through a private sale, evading a federal background check that blocked him from getting a gun in 2014 because of  a “mental health issue,” The Associated Pressreports. 

Hard News: The White House has been defeated in court a second time after attempting to suspend a reporter’s “hard” pass to cover the President.

  A judge ruled that the White House had denied “due process” to  Playboycolumnist Brian Karem, whose pass to cover the White House was suspended for 30 days. The judge ruled that the White House had no real process for suspending a pass and “that even the temporary suspension of his pass inflicts irreparable harm on his First Amendment rights.”

  Karem lost his pass after he had a confrontation in the Rose Garden with Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide and conservative media personality. 

Previously CNN’sJim Acosta had his pass restored after going to court.

  Karem told CNN, “It’s good for me, but it’s great for the free press. Today was about all of us.”

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