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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Obama at Rally: "We're Ready for a President Kamala Harris"; Death Toll Rises to 14 After Milton's Destructive Strike on Florida; Death Toll Rises In FL After Milton; Nearly 3 Million Without Power; Obama Hits The Campaign Trail For Harris For First Time. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired October 10, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

BARACK OBAMA (D) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... all the guy cares about is doing the job and looking after you, the people he was elected to serve. That's the kind of person we need to send back to Washington, that's kind of person who's going to help Kamala get stuff done. Folks who share our values and will do what they can to move this country forward rather than backward, that's who Bob Casey is.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Now, one of those values is freedom and during election time, there are a lot of flags and there's a lot of talk about freedom. So, let me talk about that just for a second. Because I don't think we've ever had an election with candidates who understand freedom more differently.

For Donald Trump and his cronies, freedom means that the powerful can do whatever they please. Fire workers who were trying to organize a union, dodge paying their fair share of taxes, try to throw out your votes when they lose an election, control what women can and can't do with their bodies. In other words, for Trump, freedom is getting away with stuff.

If I could say it in the middle of the pandemic, I don't take any responsibility at all, people were dying, I don't take any responsibility at all. Not sure any other president has ever uttered that statement.

We have a broader idea of freedom. We believe in the freedom to provide for our families, if we're willing to work. The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and send our kids to school without worrying if they come home.

We believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life. How we worship, who we marry, what our family looks like.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) And real freedom also means that we're going to disagree on how each of us should live our lives and we have to respect other people's views on these issues.

Yes, I have always said there are good people of conscience on both sides of the abortion divide. I respect anyone who's faith tells them that it isn't something they support, but if we believe in freedom than we should at least agree that such a deeply personal decision should be made by the woman whose body is involved and not by politicians.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

It has been fascinating to watch Donald Trump just tie himself into a pretzel on this issue. When he ran for president first time, he said he would support punishing women who've gotten abortions. That's what he said.

Now, a couple of weeks ago what did he say? He said don't worry, women I'll be your protector. I'll tell you how he protected you. He handpicked three of the Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe versus Wade, went out there and bragged about it. And now there are Trump abortion bans in 20 states, many of them with no exception for rape or incest and he's and when he's asked about it, he says, well, everybody wanted it this way, really?

He thinks women want to have to drive hundreds of miles to find a doctor who can help them? Does he think doctors want to choose between letting a woman die or going to jail for giving her the lifesaving care that she needs, that is not something that people chose.

Now, Donald Trump may be confused about that issue, but let's not be confused. Let's be clear about what's at stake here.

If you send Bob Casey back to the Senate he'll vote to restore reproductive freedom that women had for nearly 50 years and if Congress passes that bill Kamala Harris will sign it into law.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

[20:05:40]

Because they understand that freedom is about being able to make the right choice for ourselves and our families, it's about recognizing that other people have the freedom to make their own choices, even if they're different from ours.

And it's an example of how -- it's an example of how at the end of the day, this election isn't just about policies, it's about values, it's about who we are and how we treat each other. And the example, we want to set for our children and for their children and it's about character.

You know, some of you know, that when I was growing up, I didn't have a father in the house. But I did have plenty of people around me, stepfather, grandparents, teachers, coaches, most of all my mom, who taught me the difference between right and wrong, who showed me what it meant to have integrity, and to be honest, and to be responsible, and to work hard, and to treat other people like we wanted them to treat us.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

And I had a bunch of role models out there who helped raise me to become a man and I made mistakes and sometimes I didn't live up to those values that have been taught the way I should have and I was checked and I was corrected, and I internalized those values, and I tried to live up with it, live up to them. And I suspect most of you grew up the same way.

And that process of trying to live out your best self, trying to live out your values. That doesn't stop after the age of 20 or 21, it keeps going and as I got older, I continue to benefit from friends like Bob Casey and Josh Shapiro and others who would reinforce those values, and who I didn't want to disappoint, obviously, my wife.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

And my daughters, you know, who -- I want to make sure -- Malia and Shasha are watching, I want to make sure that I don't disappoint them and that I'm passing on these values to them.

You know, when I -- here in Pittsburgh, I'm thinking about another example. Somebody who is a dear friend of mine and he's passed away now, Dan Rooney, who -- here was the guy who won six Super Bowls, eight AFC championships, had enormous wealth and power.

I remember walking around, I guess it was Heinz Field by that time. I'm old enough to remember Three Rivers Stadium now I know it's something else, but Dan knew the name of every single person in the Steelers Organization. We'd pass by a custodian and he'd say, hey, Jimmy, how are you doing? How's the family? All the front office staff he cared about them.

He used his influence to get more Black and Brown head coaches hired in the NFL. He gave back to his community. He was known for his integrity. He helped support the peace process in Northern Ireland became my ambassador to Ireland, and continued to help encourage people who were so far apart to come together. He had character.

[20:10:22]

That's what I think about so much these days because it's so different from what we see out of the Republican nominee. That's been one of the most disturbing aspects of this election season, about Trump's rise in politics. It's how we seem to have set aside the values that people like Dan stood for and I've stood for and I was taught and those used to be Republican and Democratic values.

I mean, it used to be, we'd have arguments about X policy or foreign policy but we didn't have arguments about whether you should tell the truth or not. We didn't make excuses for people who just violated basic norms of treating people fairly and with respect. I mean, just last week, I mean, I talked about this. We had one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history.

The beautiful town of Asheville, North Carolina. One of my favorite places the country, spent time there -- amazing people, devastated, hundreds of people killed and President Biden and Vice President Harris were down there meeting with local officials and comforting families, asking how they could help and Donald Trump at a rally just started making up stories about the Biden administration withholding aid from Republican areas and siphoning off aid to give to undocumented immigrants, just made the stuff up. Everybody no, it wasn't true.

Even local Republicans said it was not true, and now the people of Florida are dealing with another devastating storm and I want you to watch what happens over the next few days, just like the last time, you're, going to have leaders who try to help. And then there -- you have a guy who will just lie about it to score political points and this has consequences, because people are afraid and they've lost everything and now they're trying to figure out how do I apply for help? And some may be discouraged from getting the help they need.

The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments and my question is, when did that become okay? I'm not looking for a pause right now, I want to ask Republicans out there, you know people who are conservative, who didn't vote for me, who didn't agree with me, I had friends who disagreed with me on every issues. When did that become okay? Why would we go along with that?

I mean if your co-workers acted like that, they wouldn't be your co- workers very long if you're in business and somebody you're doing business with, just outright lies and manipulates, you stop business with them. Even if you had a family member who acted like that, you might still love them but you tell them, you've got a problem, and you wouldn't put them in charge of anything.

And yet when Donald Trump lies, or cheats, or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, when he calls POWs losers, or fellow citizens vermin, people make excuses for it. They think it's okay, they think well at least he's owning the libs, he's really sticking it to them. It's okay, as long as our side wins.

[20:15:04]

And by the way, I'm sorry, gentlemen, I noticed this especially with some men, who seem to think Trump's behavior of bullying and putting people down is a sign of strength. And I'm here to tell you that is not what real strength is, it never has been.

(APPLAUSE)

Real strength is about working hard and carrying a heavy load without complaining.

Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth, even when it's inconvenient.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Real strength is about helping people who need it coming up for those who can't always stand up for themselves, that is what we should want for our daughters and of our sons and that is what I want to see in a president of the United States of America.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

And the good news is, that you have candidates to vote for in this election that demonstrate that kind of character, who know what real strength looks like, who will set a good example and do the right thing and lead this country better than they found it.

So, Pennsylvania that is the choice in this election. It's not just about policies that are on the ballot. It is about values and it is about character.

So, whether this election is making you feel excited or scared, or hopeful, or frustrated or anything in between? Do not just sit back and hope for the best. Get off your couch and vote.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Put down your phone and vote, grab your friends and family and vote.

Vote for Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Vote of Tim Walz as the next vice president of the United States. Vote for Bob Casey and this whole incredible Pennsylvania Democratic ticket.

Help your friends and family members and neighbors and coworkers do the same, because if enough of us make our voices heard, we will leave no doubt about the election outcome.

We'll leave no doubts about who we are and what America stands for and together we'll keep building a country that's more fair and more equal and more just and more free.

That is our task. That is our responsibility.

Let's go do it. Thank you thank you, Pittsburgh. Thank you Pennsylvania.

Let's go vote.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": That's former President Obama wrapping up what were at times passionate, emotional remarks in Pittsburgh, the first stop on his sprint through swing states for Kamala Harris. We'll have more on this in other campaign developments a bit later in the hour, but there's lot of developments here in Florida.

I want to tell you about the latest on Hurricane Milton. This is what the night after looks like here in Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County on Florida's East Coast, where at least six people have been killed. And that number may rise as police continue to search certain areas, particularly where I am here in Fort Pierce.

I don't know if you can see this in the darkness behind me. This is a tractor trailer that got knocked over by a tornado. Now, this is on the East Coast of Florida, so what the damage that you are seeing here is from the dozens of tornadoes that struck on the eastern part of Florida, as many as 90 tornado warnings there were yesterday unprecedented.

You see, I wanted to show you just what these tornadoes look like. Take a look at this first video, tornado in St. Lucie County as it was crossing a highway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa, violent tornado. Violent, violent.

That's a semi-truck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: You see a semi-truck there that has been knocked over. Also, I just want to show you two other videos -- that's from St. Lucie County as well that again, captured some of these tornadoes that came.

Take a look at this one, you can see there's a building up and the right. It looks like the roof is ripping off and then it seems like from this vantage point that the building just seems to get obliterated. That's in St. Lucie County, which is the county that we are in right now. We're in the town of Fort Pierce.

[20:20:28]

You saw that tractor trailer that had flipped over in that previous video, just like the tractor trailer here that has flipped over. I want to show you a video of another tractor trailer which is actually just -- we're right in the side of a highway, it is on the other side of the highway. So there's two tractor trailers here that are flipped over.

I want to show you this video, that's the one that's just about a hundred feet from where I am from what we understand -- this -- the tractor trailer you're seeing in that video, it was actually about a hundred or so feet in this direction when the tornado hit and according to the owner of one of these trucks, she believed it actually got picked up by the tornado, slammed into this tractor trailer, flip this one over, and then went over the highway and landed on the other side of the highway.

Again, it just gives you a sense of the power of these tornadoes that hit two back-to-back tornadoes hit a mobile home community several hundred feet from here, ripped the roof off a church, which is in sight of the location I'm in. That's where there's at least one fatality in that mobile home community. The tornadoes hit one after another. Two of them, just a short time apart along with tornadoes, Milton brought rain in some places more than a foot of it, which combined with the storm surge sent water rising faster than people can flee in some parts of Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGIE DOOLEY, DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Dad. Dad. Dad. Oh my God, there's water in our car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That is Angie Dooley (ph), in Daytona Beach, which is about 122 miles north of where I where I am right now with her dad, Scott, just out of view. In her arm is Foxy, Scott's service dog. Though there was water in the car, the engine was sputtering. All three did get out, okay.

By daybreak, all across Milton's path communities were still flooded.

This is in Tampa, I want to show you which all one in a thousand-year rainfall. So, did nearby St. Petersburg where 18 inches and a foot- and-a-half of rain fell.

First responders performed hundreds of rescues, including one of a boy who could not swim very well. The wreckage of a fence he was standing on barely kept him above water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me spin around, stay right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch the front, sorry. Are you all right? Sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Really scary.

For all the damage from rain, Milton's wind was still punishing. This is Tampa Bay's Major League ballpark, Tropicana Field. You've probably seen this, it's roofs torn away at 100 mile an hour winds which damaged, it destroyed hundreds and hundreds of structures, large and small.

No matter what caused the damage, the wind, the rain, the tides, the tornados, the bottom line is daunting. There is -- there are a lot of losses here in Florida. The tally is still trying -- they're trying to figure out how many billions of dollars this may cost in damage.

Nearly three million customers are without power tonight, at least 14 lives lost including at least six here in St. Lucie County.

Shortly before airtime, I spoke with the sheriff here, Keith Pearson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Joining me now is county sheriff Keith Pearson. Are there search and rescue operations going on right now? Are there search operations?

KEITH PEARSON, ST. LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF: Yes. So, we're just about done completing the rescue operations. This all about 24 hours ago, our community was hit with multiple tornadoes and it's just pretty much devastated us.

COOPER: So do you know how many tornadoes hit in this area? Because I know there were two back-to-back just down the road.

PEARSON: Oh yes, in this first wave that came through with the hurricane, the first wave that came through, we had our deputies call out the six tornadoes that they've seen but we've also had reports from our EOC that we had upwards to 17 confirmed tornadoes touching down right here in St. Lucie County, all of them in a matter of 30 minutes.

COOPER: Have you ever seen anything like that?

PEARSON: I've never, I've never.

COOPER: In terms of fatalities, where do you stand on that?

PEARSON: Unfortunately, we're at six fatalities right now. It's all concentrated to that area, just less than a quarter mile away from us. It's a 55 and older community. It's a retirement community that's modular homes, which just happen to be in the path of these destructive tornadoes.

COOPER: And, so, you're still -- are there still people who are missing or unaccounted for?

[20:25:15]

PEARSON: Because it's a retirement community, we have a lot of snowbirds. We also encouraged a lot of people to go to shelters for the hurricane.

So, these modular homes were lifted off their foundation. There are four or five houses down. There's just rubbles of debris, so we're going -- we're sifting through all this debris, we're trying to use the dogs to search for people. We're trying to make sure that we're doing everything we possibly again, to rescue as many people as we can.

COOPER: What was the scene like when you first got there?

PEARSON: Oh, just destruction. I mean, as you see, there's a semi- truck that's rolled over right here. Those are very heavy. Now we have modular homes, cars that are flipped, pretty much leveled.

I mean, there's -- I've never seen anything like this in my life. Trees are broken, telephone poles are snapped, but again, you would see a vehicle right here in the driveway where a house or a modular home would be, that modular home is gone.

You'd go four or five homes down and you'd see an upside down. You'd see the bottom, the wheels of it. I mean, this is just a very, very extreme tornado. I don't know how they would classify them, but I mean, this was just very sad.

COOPER: Last night, because this hit in the after -- a lot of tornadoes hit in the afternoon. Where did the people spend last night?

PEARSON: You know, we were so grateful, Governor DeSantis, as soon as he heard that we had a tornado touched down here and there were some catastrophic damage, within an hour-and-a-half, we had the National Guard here. They drove through the hurricane that was coming here. We had the SAR - Search And Rescue Team. They drove through that.

We searched throughout the entire night trying to rescue as many people as we can. I know they brought up roughly 25 people to shelter, so we we're able to get 25 people out of there. But again, unfortunately, right now today, we have lost six of our residents.

COOPER: Sheriff, I appreciate all your efforts. Thanks so much.

PEARSON: Yes, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, CNN's Brian Todd has been surveying the damage in the county today. Here's what he saw, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The tornados came hours before Hurricane Milton even made landfall. At least six people were killed in St. Lucie County.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a tragic 24 hours,

TODD (voice over): At least nine tornadoes confirmed in St. Lucie County alone. This video showing one of the twister's power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tornadoes popping off everywhere across our county.

TODD (voice over): And this aerial video shows some of the damage. Homes torn apart or ripped in half, roofs gone, and fences tossed like paper.

JULENE MARTIN-MORGANELLI, PRESIDENT, SUNNIER PALM MEMBERS' LODGE: I love all these people. They're like my family.

TODD (on camera): It's just -- it's ah --

MORGANELLI: You know, I just don't want people to have to come back to this. This -- what a shame.

TODD (voice over): And from the ground, a semi-truck shredded, the back of the truck, flipped over, twisted metal, wood, and other debris scattered around businesses, and this St. Lucie County church lost part of its roof. The pastor telling us they will rebuild.

PASTOR LEO VOLLBRACHT, LAKEWOOD PARK METHODIST CHURCH, ST, LUCIE COUNTY: Our heart breaks for what's happening right now in our community and the people really --

TODD (voice over): Other buildings left shambles. Take a look at this warehouse and even sheriffs vehicles were crushed under a hangar.

Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis made a stop in St. Lucie County today, confirming he spoke to President Biden on the phone.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (D-FL): I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state, and local governments and work together to put the people first.

TODD (voice over): Which is good news for those people who are left with damage.

VOLLBRACHT: There is still hope, there still hope in our world and the community is here for you, you're not going through this alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And, Brian Todd, joins me now.

You've been working around the clock, so incredible work for the last 24 hours. I understand you have some new information about a scam that some people are trying to do?

TODD: Absolutely. Anderson, it's horrible to hear about. But we've been in touch with Jimmy Patronis, he's the chief financial officer for the State of Florida. He's on-site here.

He says that state authorities are trying to thwart this insurance scam where these predators are circling around that neighborhood that got hit, a Spanish Lakes Country Club, a village neighborhood where the elderly people were killed.

Now, these predators circulating around their, conning these elderly residents whose homes were damaged in the tornado, conning them into signing away their insurance claims and then these predators drop this paperwork and they build the insurance companies for that money and they just take it. Siphoning the money away from these elderly people who had their homes damaged.

Shockingly he said, it's legal, but they still have state teams in these neighborhoods roaming around, trying to stop these people from doing it. It kind of tells you that you do see some of the best so if humanity in these situations, you also see some of the worst.

COOPER: Yes, it's good that they're aware of it and trying to stop it. Brian Todd, thank you so much, really appreciate it.

I want to go to our Randi Kaye. She's in Siesta Key on the West Coast, where Hurricane Milton came ashore around this time last night.

Randi, what are you seeing there in Siesta Key?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, here in Siesta Key, it seems as though Hurricane Milton did leave most of the homes, at least those that we've seen on their foundations, but did knock a lot of other things down.

Let me just show you this one home here behind me. I understand from neighbors that these people did evacuate to Miami. Much of this area was told to evacuate.

You see the trees down there, we understand from Hurricane Helene which hit here just a couple of weeks ago, none of the trees came down. So, now his whole front yard is covered with trees, this flowerpot here in the front, certainly not supposed to be in front of the gate. Let me just take you here across this street, there's a piece of cabinet there. There's some water in the streets as well, but it has been drying up as the day has gone on.

This home, this homeowner moved here, Anderson, just a month ago from Texas. And now they were hit by Hurricane Helene a couple of weeks ago, and now they have their windows blown out in their house from Hurricane Milton. And all of this debris in their yard, we understand from neighbors that all of this was from Helene, but it had been neatly stacked up.

And this was the concern that all of the -- whatever had happened from Helene, the debris from people's homes would become airborne and possibly a dangerous projectile. All of this now is in the back. There's mattresses in the backyard, there's a television down, there's suitcases everywhere, there's family photos, gift boxes, you name it, Anderson. But, again, all of this had been neatly stacked up right here.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: What was it like trying to get into Siesta Key?

KAYE: It was -- they opened it to the residence once they made sure it was safe. There were some search and rescue teams here as our team arrived. But then we were able to drive through and we have some video that we took. And you can see there are flooded streets. There are trees down. There was a lot of debris down.

In fact, some of the roads were completely blocked. We couldn't even get down some of the streets. And then we saw this massive tree. It's about at least 100 years old. We were talking to the residents the owners of the home. So it was -- the winds from Hurricane Milton were strong enough to knock down this massive tree in their front yard.

But just overall, a lot of the streets here are just wet and blocked with so much debris, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. Randi Kaye, I appreciate it. Thank you.

We showed you video at the top of the broadcast of a boy being pulled from the floodwaters in Hillsborough County. It was just one of hundreds of water rescues across Milton's pass so far. Isabel Rosales says the story of another with the water coming in and time running out for more than 100 seniors.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's terrible. And the --

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That sounds terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water was so cold.

ROSALES (voice-over): Teresa (ph) and over 100 other residents at a Hillsborough County assisted living facility awoke to waste high water in the middle of the night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The chairs were just floating. Couches were floating. Everything was floating.

ROSALES (voice-over): This employee stunned by the flooding, telling CNN they thought they were safe because the facility is not in an evacuation zone.

ROSALES: Just rainfall, reaching to levels they never anticipated. You expect this in the gulf. You expect this in the bay, not in areas inland like this.

ROSALES (voice-over): But storm surge isn't the culprit, instead it was all the torrential rainfall leading to flash flooding.

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: They were literally living in 4 to 5 feet of water. And these are individuals that can't walk.

ROSALES (voice-over): By 2:00 in the morning, it was an emergency and residents needed out, some of them on oxygen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was quite scary because we had to think on our feet because obviously it's last minute.

ROSALES (voice-over): Residents describe water pouring through air conditioning units leaving them terrified.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can literally hearing that thing coming around the corner. And it just found like it was going to take the building with it.

ROSALES (voice-over): And then a twist, the facility house more residents than normal. Residents who had evacuated from the south in Manatee County, expecting they would be safe here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody was sitting in the cold waters. Everyone was getting frustrated, upset.

ROSALES (voice-over): They waited for hours, cold, scared and some of them without any shoes until it was safe for deputies to get to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillsborough first responders rock (ph). ROSALES (voice-over): One by one, first responders loaded them into a school bus off to an elementary school. Now, a makeshift shelter for these unexpected guests.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COOPER: And Isabel Rosales joins us now. You've been out with law enforcement as they continue search operations in the aftermath, what have you been seeing?

ROSALES (on-camera): Anderson, just so much need. Folks who are deciding whether to come out here and wait by themselves or sleep overnight in the darkness without air conditioning. And operations are still going on. As we speak, there are boats back there bringing people out. We just saw a boat evacuate a family with a baby.

And today, I spent the day with Sheriff Chad Chronister of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, a man who was brought up in this district as a rookie and he got choked up emotional with all this devastation that he witnessed for himself. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CHRONISTER: I've never seen flooding like this. We had people that evacuated here to make sure they were safe. They listened. They came here. 135 elderly disabled individuals that we rescued earlier, they came here. They were evacuated from Bradenton to stay safe.

[20:35:03]

This is a neighborhood that doesn't have a lot. They have very little, and the very little they had, they've lost everything. Their -- we have water 4 feet up into their first floor here. This is a heavily Latino community. Their church is gone, their cars are gone.

Again, they don't live paycheck to paycheck. These are people that live day to day and they have nothing.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROSALES: And Anderson, we have reached out to the Hillsborough County Fire and Rescue to inquire about the next steps for those individuals, those residents of the assisted living facility, whether another facility is going to be able to accommodate or what are they going to do. Because right now, they're in temporary shelter --

COOPER: Yes.

ROSALES: -- again at an elementary school. Anderson?

COOPER: Isabel Rosales, thanks so much.

More now on Tropicana Field. Here's what it looks like from the inside at night. Again, this is in St. Petersburg with the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball. This was supposed to be a staging base for first responders. There were a lot of cots (ph) there. The plan changed as the storm grew and got closer. You can see the fabric that helps make up the domed roof, ripped off completely. The raised media guide says the entire roof was built to a stand winds of up to 115 miles per hour. Wind gusts last night hit at least 101 miles per hour in the area.

Again, the heaviest rain recorded overnight was also in St. Petersburg, more than 18.5 inches, a ton of rain in such a short amount of time. Bill Weir was there all last night into the morning, getting blasted by the wind of the rain. He joins us now.

So, you were reporting from outside the arena overnight, it's some of the worst. The destruction was happening. What's it look like now?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It's completely shredded, Anderson. About 6 acres of Teflon coated fiberglass held together, almost 200 miles of cables held that roof together. No match, regardless of what the media guide. Apologies to them. No match for this hurricane.

And so it's created a whole new headache both for the city in the near term and the long term. In the near term, there were 10,000 cots set up here as DeSantis' administration decided to use this as a staging ground to put in a clean-up crews and linemen from around the country who will be here working on this huge mess. It's going to take time.

They indicated today that they may move that now to Jacksonville, which is three hours away. Not sure the logic on that. But as to what to do with this now, the new stadium for the Rays isn't supposed to open until 2028. Taxpayers are kicking in hundreds of millions of dollars for that project. But now, with so much damage here, you got to wonder what's going to happen with that.

And interestingly, Anderson, FEMA just announced last month a partnership with the NFL to start using stadiums as field hospitals or shelters or these kinds of first responder centers for future disasters. Among the early stadiums that signed up, the Jets and Giants, MetLife Stadium there, Raymond James Stadium where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers plate, which also flooded in the storm last night.

So it raises questions about who's going to want to shelter in a stadium after these incidents. And, of course, Hurricane Katrina were so much of that horror show happened in the Superdome --

COOPER: Yes.

WEIR: -- at the time right there. But as to what happens to this now, it's anybody's guests.

COOPER: Yes. Bill Weir in St. Petersburg. Bill, thank you very much.

In neighboring Clearwater, a massive rescue effort. More than 500 people pulled from an apartment complex overnight. Some of the waters were chest and neck deep, according to Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector, who joins us now.

Mayor, first, talk about the flooding and other damage to the city. How did -- what did you expect it to be? And how did it turn out?

MAYOR BRUCE RECTOR, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA: Well, we -- of course, we had Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago, and the storm surge was devastating for us for that. Million are barrier islands. So we were really worried about getting people evacuated from those high risk areas. And we did. We got a lot of folks off.

This hurricane was so different, though. We didn't really experience the storm surge. What we experienced was flooding in areas where people were not prepared for flooding. People like Sheriff Chronister said an area that was a non-evacuation zone and people who are very economically vulnerable. So that was this apartment complex that our first responders bravely got in and save 500 people from today.

COOPER: Yes, I mean, that's -- we're showing some of the video of that apartment complex in Clearwater. What more can you tell us about it? I mean, how long did that go on for?

RECTOR: Well, they were calling for help during the hurricane. It's -- and I really feel for those folks because they weren't told to evacuate so they weren't expecting it. But we couldn't put our first responders at risk during the storm. But just as soon as they could get out there, first responders are amazing people. And they got out there right before sunrise.

[20:40:00]

When they saw the situation, they had people neck deep, chest deep. They had this first floor, which they weren't sure if there were people still alive in there or not. So it was an overwhelming task. So they pulled in the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, two other Florida County Sheriff's offices and state agency from the state of Florida to scour the whole building, do a search and rescue operation. And eventually they ended up removing 500 people.

COOPER: Wow. So where do they go now?

RECTOR: Like -- very much like Sheriff Chronister just said, these are folks who didn't have much and they've lost everything. You see the vehicles in the parking lot. They've lost the vehicle, all their personal belongings. They don't have the money to go get a place on their own. So, we've moved them to temporary shelters.

But this apartment complex they live in is probably uninhabitable. We're going to have to work very hard to find a permanent place for these folks to transition to.

COOPER: Do you have a sense of just how much damage there has been? I mean, kind of the -- how much it's going to cost, how long it may take to recover?

RECTOR: Well, we were on our heels after Hurricane Helene. We probably -- and this is Mayor Castor will tell you and Mayor Welch in St. Petersburg, we probably in each of our cities only had about 20 to 25 percent of the debris removed from Helene. So, we've still got lots of debris to get out. And now we've got folks with out of electricity, as you pointed out during this program, that we've got to find a way for elderly folks to be comfortable for maybe as long as a week or two. And also to have food. So, it's going to be for the next two weeks a significant relief effort and just taking care of people.

COOPER: Yes. Well, Mayor Rector, I appreciate your time tonight. I know how busy you've been. Thank you so much.

Coming up next, presidential campaign politics and former President Obama's first big night on the campaign trail. And later, an ER doctor in St. Petersburg, what she and her colleagues have been dealing with over the last 24 hours. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:46:45]

COOPER: We'll have more on the recovery and response efforts to Hurricane Milton in a moment. Right now, we want to check in on the state of the presidential race in the breaking news. We witnessed a few moments ago President Obama's first public appearance on the campaign trail for Vice President Harris.

His remarks in Pennsylvania were the first in what the campaign has said will be a major final push by the former president to help get out the vote in battleground states. This is what he told a large crowd moments ago in Pittsburgh, specifically the men watching.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, by the way, I'm sorry, gentlemen, I've noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump's behavior, the bullying and the putting people down is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you, that is not what real strength is. It never has been.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Real strength is about working hard. And carrying a heavy load without complaining. Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth, even when it's inconvenient. Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can't always stand up for themselves.

That is what we should want for our daughters and for our sons, and that is what I want to see in a president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: Joining us now is former senior adviser of President Obama, David Axelrod, New York Times Senior Political Correspondent Maggie Haberman, also former Trump campaign adviser, David Urban and Jamal Simmons, former communications director for Vice President Harris. First of all, Maggie Haberman, let me start with you. What do you make of, I mean, seeing President Obama back on the trail, how effective do you think he is and how concerned do you think the Trump campaign might be?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, there's nobody like Obama for Democrats as a surrogate. There just isn't. There really is no performer like him in the country, frankly, delivering that kind of a message and able to connect with the audience the way he is.

I think the Trump campaign would rather not have President Obama out there. I think that this is, you know, it contrasts pretty strikingly what Trump is saying. Obama is talking about a forward looking message and about, you know, taking care of other people, and that's the opposite of a very apocalyptic version of the country coming from Trump.

It has to mobilize people, and so we'll see if it has that effect, but this is because there is a lot of concern on the Harris team about how her numbers are just not where they would like them to be with black and Latino men and specifically younger black and Latino men. And there's just nobody like Obama to be able to deliver that specific message.

COOPER: Jamal, I mean, what do you make of this appeal from Obama to men? And we should note earlier today at a stop at a Harris campaign office, he said flat out, he thinks some black men may be unsure about electing a woman president.

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: As Maggie said, there is nobody like Barack Obama. He is the kind of most popular Democrat who's been elected. I mean, I think Michelle Obama is probably more popular than Barack Obama, but other than Michelle Obama, he's probably the most popular Democrat out there.

[20:50:03]

One thing for us to be sober about is, you know, for Democrats of a certain age, Barack Obama is a rock star. But he's kind of a throwback to young people. I mean, if you think about this way, nobody under the age of 30 has ever voted for Barack Obama before.

I was talking to a 26-year-old colleague at one point. And started talking about 2008 campaign who said to me, oh, yes, I kind of remember that. I was in middle school when that happened, right? So this is all very sobering for those of us, you know, who remember this vividly.

So Barack Obama is somebody who is compelling, but for those younger voters who she's really trying to reach the ones under 35, the ones who've never voted for Barack Obama before, they're going to need some other surrogates who are also out there making the same message that Barack Obama -- President Obama is making today.

COOPER: Jamal, as someone who was born in 1967, I'm not even going to ask you when you were born. Let me go to David Axelrod. David, you'll understand.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He was going to know, by the way.

COOPER: So I want to play -- yes, I know. I want to play something that the former president said about president -- former president Trump because he went after him pretty hard tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

OBAMA: And the reason some people think, wow, I don't know, I remember that economy when he first came in being pretty good. Yes, it was pretty good, because it was my economy. The other day, his running mate had the nerve to say, Donald Trump salvaged the Affordable Care Act.

I mean, Donald Trump spent his entire presidency trying to tear it down, and by the way, he couldn't even do that right. With Kamala, you've got actual plans. Trump, concepts of a plan.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: You know, to Jamal's point, David, there are a lot of young people who do not, you know, have the same perhaps, you know, personal feeling toward former President Obama, Democrats who voted for him do have. Do you think he's effective?

AXELROD: Yes. Well, first of all, Jamal's right. There need to be other surrogates out there and perhaps surrogates who are closer to the demo. But let me tell you something. I don't care who you are or what you knew or didn't know walking into that room.

That speech was a riveting speech. That speech was a value laden speech. That speech was rooted in truth and facts. But -- and, you know, the value laden piece of it is the most important. You know, I've always said, and I think this is something that President Obama believed strongly is that, you know, democracy is a battle between cynicism and hope.

And he's always chosen the hope side of that equation and that is infectious. And I don't think you have to have known him from his previous incarnation as president to appreciate the words he spoke tonight and how he speaks them. You know, he doesn't give speeches. He gives talks. He has a conversation with the audience, and it's very, very effective.

COOPER: David Urban, do you think the Trump campaign should be worried about the former president, former President Obama, that he's going to be able to motivate some of the young black men, especially to go to the polls?

DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I can't speak to young black men, Anderson, obviously. I'm not the guy's an old white guy.

SIMMONS: Come on, David. URBAN: But let me give you a few data points that I just -- for consideration, the -- you know, people in Pennsylvania do not forget in 2008 when Barack Obama was at a fundraiser in San Francisco, referring to them as bitter and clinging into guns and religion. And I could tell you as somebody on the ground on election night in 2016Independence Hall.

We had Barack and Michelle Obama, Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Jay Z and a cast of thousands. Roughly 35,000 people were there. None of that Barack Obama magic transferred to Hillary Clinton, so I'm not particularly concerned about that.

And then, interestingly, David Axelrod probably know the statistics better on this, but in 2008, Obama had crushed it in Pennsylvania. He did extremely well. In 2012, he did less well. He lost the state by a little bit over more than 300,000 voters. So was the first second term president elected with less popular votes than any other president in modern history.

And many of those votes that he lost, those 300,000 came from counties in western Pennsylvania. Those Democrats are now Trump Republicans. So I'm not quite sure that Republicans are quaking in their boots about Barack Obama campaigning in Pennsylvania.

URBAN: (INAUDIBLE) anyway. Just, I think, you misspoke. He didn't lose Pennsylvania in 2012.

SIMMONS: Thank you, David.

URBAN: He won the state twice.

URBAN: No, no, I said he lost -- no, no, Axe, he lost by -- he lost -- he won, but by 300,000 votes less. He lost 300,000 votes in 2012 over his 2008 total. He became less popular.

AXELROD: Yes.

[20:55:04]

URBAN: Especially in western Pennsylvania.

AXELROD: Well, we went through an epic economic crisis during that period that he helped lead us out of. But, yes, there were reverberations from that in that election. There's no doubt about it.

COOPER: Maggie, as you know, the former president was in Detroit today, used his speech to criticize Detroit, the city he was in. I just want to play that.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't think anything that we're talking about today is high on her list. The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth? It'll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president. Well, we're a developing nation too. Just take a look at Detroit. Detroit's a developing -- Detroit's a developing area. Hell of a lot more than most places in China.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COOPER: You know, some people might look at that and say, why would he trash the city with the city he is speaking in? Is he -- is that a calculation because he thinks he's, you know, not particularly popular in Detroit itself, but is appealing to others in Michigan and elsewhere?

HABERMAN: I think he was appealing to the people in that room, who were a group of largely white businessmen, as I understand it. And you could hear there was applause when he said the line, but to your point, this is going to appear in local news, outside of that room, and insulting the city that you're in especially one with a large number of black voters is not usually a prescription that gets made for candidates.

We'll see if it matters to him. He's been saying things like this for a very long time about various communities that he goes into. It hasn't always mattered, but it can have a cumulative effect, especially in races that are very tight.

It's certainly not something that I think his advisers would have liked that he said. And I think calling it a developing nation was something that will -- you will see again used by his opponents.

SIMMONS: Yes, Anderson, as the resident, Detroiter here -- the one who was born and raised there, let me just say one thing. The one thing you cannot do is come to Detroit as an outsider and talk bad about it. We may talk bad about it to each other, but you can't come in and talk bad about it.

And let me just say that the Detroit that he's probably referencing is like a 30 year old reference. The Detroit today has young people from all over the suburbs, all over the metropolitan area who are moving into the city, developing new places. And so I think the part that Trump is trying to do is really a leftover from an earlier era. I think he's going to find it's going to hurt him in Southeast Michigan, not help him.

COOPER: Yes. I was just in Detroit. There's a lot of exciting things happening there.

Jamal Simmons, thank you. Maggie Haberman, David Axelrod, David Urban as well.

I want to go back to the storm, which for all the destruction and the loss of life, especially here in St. Lucie County. It could have been so much worse as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said today, some of the worst case scenarios did not come to pass thankfully. A hurricane with winds that at one point reached 185 miles an hour came ashore far weaker. Joining us now is someone who's been with us the past two nights who had a view of the storm and destruction from the hospital in St. Petersburg where she works. Pediatric emergency physician, Dr Meghan Martin. Dr. Martin, how are you doing in the hospital? What are you even seeing since we last spoke in the dead of night last night?

DR. MEGHAN MARTIN, PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: Yes. We're actually doing much better. Obviously, the weather is significantly improved than it was 24 hours ago. We watched the winds just whipping and the rain whipping last night. We saw trees down in branches. We had a crane fallen downtown.

We lost water for the city of Saint Petersburg. But, you know, things are gradually improving. They're getting the city cleaned up. They're getting the roads cleaned up. The bridges are back open. So, we've made quite a bit of progress in the last 24 hours.

COOPER: And your four kids rode out the storm with you at the hospital. You gave them unlimited screen time. How are they doing? Are they back, by the way, to --

MARTIN: They're doing great.

COOPER: -- limited screen time?

MARTIN: Yes, we are back. They -- my husband just picked them up. So they are headed home. We are back to normal screen time hours an hour a day, and that is it. They actually did great riding out the storm. They really enjoyed kind of watching everything, really not understanding kind of the gravity of how serious that really could have been.

COOPER: How long are you planning to stay -- I mean, are you still at the hospital?

MARTIN: I'm still at the hospital now. Our recovery is starting now, so I will be transitioning out of here very shortly.

COOPER: So, I mean, as you know, there was significant damage in St. Petersburg, the roof of the Tropicana Field, certainly probably most famously. I understand you could actually see pieces of the roof coming off last night.

MARTIN: Yes. I was up in the emergency operations center with the leadership kind of working through, you know, the issues here at the hospital and we could look out and see the pieces of Tropicana. The roof just flying off and then you could see them kind of flying in the wind as well, just kind of like the pictures you're seeing here.

It was really -- it was difficult to watch. It's -- the destruction was incredible.

COOPER: Yes. Well, Dr. Meghan Martin, thank you so much for all you've done. I really appreciate talking to you.

For more information about how you can help Hurricane Milton victims and also Helene, go to CNN.com/impact, excuse me. ?I got a little bit of a cough last night. Again, that's CNN.com/impact. That's it for us. The news continues. I'll see you tomorrow night.

The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.