Here is the latest news from The Associated Press at 3:40 am EDT – KESQ

UNDATED (AP) Tropical storm-force winds are spreading onshore along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast as Hurricane Sally lumbers off the coast. The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday evening that life-threatening flooding is likely as the hurricane edges toward the coast. At 7 p.m., the center of the storm was located about 75 miles south of Mobile, Alabama and about the same distance southwest of Pensacola, Florida. The hurricanes top sustained winds have been clocked at 80 mph. The hurricane is crawling northward toward the coast at 2 mph.

WASHINGTON (AP) Joe Biden is calling President Donald Trump a fool for comments hes made questioning Bidens mental acuity and suggesting Biden takes performance-enhancing drugs. During an interview with Tampas NBC affiliate Tuesday, Biden was asked about Trumps accusations that he is mentally shot and has taken drugs to boost his debate performance. Biden dismissed the presidents comments, calling them foolish and declaring, Im looking forward to the debate and hes a fool. The Democratic presidential nominee continued: Get ready, Mr. President. Here I come. The two will meet for their first presidential debate on Sept. 29 in Cleveland.

WASHINGTON (AP) A Trump health appointee is apologizing for a video in which he reportedly says scientists battling the coronavirus are conspiring against President Donald Trump and warns of shooting in America if Trump loses the election. Michael Caputo, the top spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, apologized to his staff for the Facebook video, an administration official tells The Associated Press. Separately, Caputo is accused of trying to muzzle an important publication from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the midst of the pandemic. HHS is standing by Caputo, who was not available for an interview.

WASHINGTON (AP) Israel on Tuesday signed historic diplomatic pacts with two Gulf Arab states at a White House ceremony that President Donald Trump declared would mark the dawn of a new Middle East. He also hoped to cast himself as an international peacemaker at the height of his reelection campaign. Hundreds of people massed on the sun-washed South Lawn to witness the signing of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The agreements formalize the normalization of the Jewish states already warming relations with the two countries over Iranian aggression in the region. But they do not address the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) Models released by the U.S. government suggest a future with less water may arrive sooner than previously projected for the seven states that rely on the Colorado River. After a relatively dry summer, government scientists project Lake Powell and Lake Mead are 12% more likely to fall to critically low levels by 2025 than they projected in the spring. Climate change and prolonged drought have compelled some cities and farms to conserve water to secure the river long term, but it remains overtapped. The projections could complicate already-fraught negotiations between Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Mexico over the rivers future.