Nightly Rundown: Hurricane Milton s pawns tornadoes in Florida; Biden’s first call with Netanyahu in 7 weeks ; Passenger jet pilot dies midflight

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Good Wednesday afternoon. Hurricane Milton is spawning tornadoes in Florida ahead of its expected landfall, President Biden spoke with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in seven weeks, and a passenger jet was diverted to New York after the pilot died midflight.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

Tornadoes outbreak ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall in Florida

Hurricane Milton is growing in size as it closes in on Florida’s west coast, where the potentially historic storm is already spawning tornadoes, and is expected to bring damaging winds, flooding rains, and up to 13-feet of “life-threatening” storm surge when it makes landfall overnight.

President Joe Biden warned this afternoon that Milton is “looking like the storm of the century.” It remains a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, and is located about 130 miles southwest of Ft. Myers.

Landfall is now expected between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., and the latest data suggests Milton will come ashore near Sarasota, but the exact location could shift several miles. Follow the path with our storm tracker.

Milton’s outer bands have produced at least 10 tornadoes across the southern Florida peninsula this afternoon. Traffic cameras captured a tornado appearing to touch down near Interstate 75, one of the main evacuation routes.

Millions of residents along Florida’s west coast have been urged or ordered to evacuate. The National Weather Service is now warning that “it's time to shelter-in-place.”

The highways have been jammed with vehicles fleeing the storm zone, and nearly 25% of stations statewide report they have run out of gas, according to GasBuddy.

Trump holding events in Pennsylvania, Harris heads west as Milton looms over race

Former President Donald Trump is holding two events today in the critical battleground of Pennsylvania, while Vice President Kamala Harris is headed out west this afternoon, as Hurricane Milton threatens to impact the race for the White House.

Trump is attending an event this afternoon in Scranton, the hometown of President Joe Biden, and will later hold a rally in Reading.

Harris and Biden received a briefing on the storm from FEMA this afternoon. The vice president later departed New York on the way to Nevada, another key swing state, where she will attend an event with Latino voters in Las Vegas Thursday.

Harris, who has spent the last few days on a media blitz which included cracking a beer on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” is also slamming the falsehoods Trump has spread about the ongoing federal response to Hurricane Helene, calling his dubious claims “the height of irresponsibility.”

The Trump campaign hit back, posting on social media: “Kamala drinks a beer to show Americans how relatable she is, but she ends up looking like an out-of-touch elitist trying to gaslight everyone into thinking she’s one of them.”

Biden and Harris speak with Netanyahu in wake of Iran missile attack on Israel

President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today for the first time in seven weeks, the White House said, ahead of Israel’s expected response to Iran’s massive missile attack on the country last week.

The call, which Vice President Kamala Harris also joined, marked the first time Biden and Netanyahu have spoken since Aug. 21, as their relationship has deteriorated amid the widening war in the Middle East.

Separately, former President Donald Trump also spoke with Netanyahu following the missile attack from Iran, according to two Trump campaign officials. The specific content of the call was unclear.

Pilot dies in the middle of flight, forcing emergency landing in New York City

A Turkish Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing in New York City today, after the pilot died midflight, authorities said.

The 59-year-old pilot “fainted during the flight” from Seattle to Istanbul, and when medical intervention was ineffective, the co-pilot landed the plane at New York’s JFK airport, according to statements from the airline and the FAA.

The captain, who had been with Turkish Airlines since 2007, “lost his life before landing,” according to the airline.

What else we're watching:

The Supreme Court heard arguments today in the case of Richard Glossip, an Oklahoma death row inmate seeking to toss out his conviction for a 1997 murder-for-hire scheme, citing problematic testimony at trial.

Honda is recalling nearly 1.7 million vehicles in the U.S. over a steering issue that could lead to crashes, according to government regulators.

Ethel Kennedy, 96, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy and mother of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been hospitalized with a stroke, her family said.

After 67 years on the Las Vegas strip, the Tropicana Hotel was imploded overnight, to make way for a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium that will be the new home for the relocating Oakland A’s.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.

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