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Helene Forecast to be Cat 3 or Higher at Landfall in Florida; Sources Say, Mayor Eric Adams (D-New York City, NY) Indicted; Trump Says, Ukraine Obliterated, Zelenskyy Refuses to Make a Deal. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired September 26, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, indicted and facing at least one federal criminal charge following a corruption investigation. The mayor says he's innocent, but he'll now need to surrender to federal custody in a matter of days.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Florida feeling the outer bands of Helene as tropical storm force winds hit the coast there. The category 1 hurricane continuing to strengthen as it inches closer and with it the potential for an unsurvivable storm surge.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And that's right where I am in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, bracing for the most powerful storm this city has ever seen. And it won't stop here. Millions of people, over five states, we are tracking it all.

I'm John Berman in Tallahassee. Sara's out today. Kate Bolduan with Jessica Dean in New York. This is CNN News Central.

And I am John Berman in Florida this morning, which is bracing for Hurricane Helene, which is heading straight for this part of the state, the panhandle. It's a category 1 hurricane strengthening overnight, expecting to make landfall as a category 3 or stronger on the Big Bend area of Florida. The good news, not a populated area. The bad news, once it makes landfall, it will cross paths with millions and millions of people, 85 million people in its path from Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, all the way up to Virginia. They have all declared states of emergency.

Along the Florida coast, though it is not that populated, they could see storm surge of nearly 20 feet. The weather service calls that unsurvivable storm surge. Add to that, wind speeds that could reach 130 miles per hour. Again, Tallahassee has never had hurricane force winds, sustained winds. We could see winds here north of 100 miles per hour. And the damage after it hits here, it will spread all the way up the coast.

CNN is tracking this storm. Carlos Suarez in Gulfport, Florida, which is feeling it harder than I am right now. First, though, let's go to CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar in the Weather Center to get a sense of where it is now, where it's headed, what it did overnight.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. So where it is now is currently in the Gulf of Mexico churning in those incredibly warm waters that's going to be fuel for this storm to continue to strengthen as we go through the day today. Right now, it has sustained winds of 90 miles per hour. Its forward movement is 12 miles to the hour, 12 miles per hour, north northeast at about 12 miles per hour. If we can push this forward, we'll kind of show you where we're going to see that track.

It's going to continue to make its way off to the north and east. And as it does, so it's going to strengthen as it makes its way towards the big bend region of Florida. You're already starting to see some of those outer bands begin to creep into Florida and a lot of that moisture flow spreading into states like Georgia and the Carolinas.

Now, one thing to note is when it goes through the Gulf of Mexico, we expect further strengthening. This will get to a major hurricane at some point today before making landfall tonight near the Big Bend region.

Now, when it makes landfall, it's expected to be moving and say about 25 miles per hour or even faster. That's very important because that means as it moves inland, it can do so very quickly and not weaken that fast. So, we expect hurricane strength storm to make it all the way into Macon, Georgia, a town that is more than 100 miles away from the coastline. Other cities like Atlanta, Greenville, Spartanburg and Asheville also likely to see impacts from this, even though they are hundreds of miles away from the coast.

Those winds will continue to spread. Cities like Macon, Atlanta, Columbia, you're looking at some of those wind gusts that could be severe. 60 to 80 miles per hour before that system finally takes off.

Now, another component of this, yes, we are certainly talking about the storm surge pretty much up and down the entire western peninsula of Florida.

[07:05:04]

You were looking at some type of storm surge, but the peak for that is really going to be a bit around the Big Bend region where we could see as much as 15 to 20 feet.

BERMAN: Yes, the weather service called that unsurvivable, 20 feet of storm surge, just one of the many threats coming from Hurricane Helene. Allison, thank you very much. We'll get back to you.

I want to go to Carlos Suarez in Gulfport because, as Allison said, some of the outer bands are already hitting Florida and some of the surge already pushing in. Carlos, what do you see?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, John. Good morning. So, we are in Gulfport Florida. That is in Pinellas County where already we're starting to see some flooding associated with the storm. Now, a good part of this is the fact that we're in high tide at this hour. But some of that rain that has moved in has clearly started to make a bit of a mess out here.

This area in Pinellas County is known to flood. We have been here the last two years covering two other hurricanes, and this is a prime location for some of the flooding to take place. We are in a mandatory evacuation zone. That order went out yesterday. Folks that live in this part of Pinellas County were told to get to higher ground.

Over in Hillsborough County in the Tampa area, a mandatory evacuation is underway for some parts of the city along the Bayside. And then if you head further north, of course, those parts of Florida have already been preparing for all of what's to come here in Perry, Florida, which is about 3.5 hours north of where we are. Preparations got underway there yesterday with folks getting their homes and their businesses boarded up and getting ready for yet another impact of a hurricane.

The folks in Perry, Florida, are still recovering from Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall last year and flooded hundreds of homes there. And then up in the in Tallahassee in the Leon County area, that part of Florida, the panhandle there, state emergency officials really are telling folks across the state of Florida to please take this storm serious.

As you guys have been discussing, the sheer size of this is just so great that it really doesn't matter where you live in Florida. You are going to see some sort of impact associated with this storm if you live not just in Florida, but as you mentioned up in Georgia as well.

Here now is Governor DeSantis yesterday kind of striking that same tone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): The impacts are going to be far beyond the eye of the storm. You're looking at winds that are stretching 200-plus miles away from the eye of the storm. So, that entire Gulf Coast of Florida, even places like charlotte and Sarasota, of course, the Tampa Bay area and then up along the nature coast in the Big Bend, expect to see a surge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, John. And even if the storm continues on the path that it is on and to the west of us, about 100 miles west of where we are, we're still expecting anywhere between five to eight feet of a storm surge. So, you can imagine everything here behind me is only going to get a little bit more worse. John?

BERMAN: Yes, five to eight feet where Carlos is and go for it is a real problem. Same thing with Tampa. Up here, close to me, 20 miles south in the Big Bend, they could see 20 feet of storm surge. What meteorologists call unsurvivable. Carlos, we'll get back to you in a bit. Allison Chinchar in the Weather Center, we'll get more updates from her.

In the meantime, let's go back to Kate and Jessica in New York.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. We're going to get back to John covering it all in Florida.

We're also watching this, breaking overnight, sources telling CNN, New York City's Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on at least one federal criminal charge. Why Adams is refusing to step aside in the face of all of this.

And Ukraine's President Zelenskyy making the rounds in Washington today on Capitol Hill this morning. And we have details on the new pledge that President Biden and V.P. Harris will be making to Ukraine later this morning.

And Kamala Harris is set to make her first trip to the southern border since becoming the Democratic nominee.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: Now, breaking overnight, sources tell CNN New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on at least one federal criminal charge. The move follows a long investigation into how he raised campaign funds and his connection to Turkish officials and businessmen.

The exact details of what he is facing still not known because the indictment has remained sealed. That's likely to change today. Mayor Adams has remained defiant, putting out a video after the news broke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): I have been facing. These lies for months since I began to speak out for all of you and their investigation started, yet the city has continued to improve. Make no mistake, you elected me to lead this city and lead it I will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has been following all of this from the beginning. She's joining us now. Shimon, what are you hearing about what's going to happen today?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly a defiant Mayor Adams and there you can hear he has no intention on resigning and he's up for this fight and certainly the people close to him and his attorneys are all indicating they're going to fight. The problem is at this point, we don't know what these charges are. We don't know how serious they are. We don't know how many counts. We don't know the severity of the potential liability here, the criminal liability that he's facing.

[07:15:04]

And so all of that in mind, it's very easy for him to say he has no intention on resigning because we just don't know what this is about yet. Earlier today, there's been activity at Gracie Mansion, where the mayor is at. And then we, at some point today, expect the indictment to be unsealed. The U.S. Attorney's Office here will unseal this indictment, and that is when we will learn what this is all about.

And just to remind viewers, Kate, when all of this started, it was about a year ago when the FBI first raided a campaign staffer, his chief financial campaign staffer. About a year ago in Brooklyn, the FBI raided her home. They did a search warrant there, and then days later, it's just an unprecedented move by the FBI. They had a search warrant. They stopped the mayor. He was leaving an event in here, in Manhattan, and they stopped him, and they took his phones. And from there, the investigation went, and it's been fairly quiet.

And now yesterday, word of the indictment got out, and now we wait to hear what the indictment is about, and hopefully sometime this morning, perhaps around 9:00 A.M. when court opens, the indictment will be unsealed, and we will learn more information about exactly the case. What the mayor is facing. We're live outside City Hall. This is where the mayor comes every day during the week to work. So, we hope we will see him here at some point this morning. He has no intention on hiding, it seems. And so hopefully we'll hear from him again later this morning. But for now, the biggest thing, obviously, Kate, is that we are waiting on the U.S. Attorney's Office and for the court to unseal this indictment.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. I mean, and you've been covering this. I mean, it's a months-long investigation. Top officials in his is in his city administration have gotten wrapped up into this investigation. People have resigned because of everything that's been happening. And now we have this. Let's see what happens today.

Shimon, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. Much more to come on that. Jessica?

DEAN: Well, take a look live pictures of Naples, Florida. We are tracking Hurricane Helene as it strengthens in the Gulf Coast. We're now just hours away from landfall in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scared. This one here is going to be our turn, I think. We got to be more ready this time than we've ever been before. It may take us a little bit of time to put everything back together. But we're resilient. We'll come right back. That's what we've done for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right. Welcome back. I'm John Berman in Tallahassee. This is CNN special live coverage of Hurricane Helene, which is now a category 1 storm. It's strengthened overnight. It is on track to become a major hurricane, at least a category 3 when it makes landfall later tonight, overnight, about 20 miles south of where I am along the Big Bend area. You can see it on red there on your map.

The big concern in that area is storm surge, which could be as much as 20 feet, which forecasters call unsurvivable.

Of course, CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is in that area, which may not be able to sustain some of the damage in Steinhatchie, Florida. Maribel, great to see you. I was standing exactly where you were a little more than a year ago. This is an area that has seen storms the last year, and it's been really tough.

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been a very tough and good morning to you, John. You know, as you mentioned, this is one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the U.S. in over a year. Residents here, as you mentioned, they are pretty used to being under these severe weather conditions, but many of them are not taking any chances. And a local sheriff here is urging those people to please get out while they still can, adding that if he was not the sheriff of his area, he too would be evacuating.

Now, if you can see a little bit now, we can see because the sun has started to come up, but the area that we're in, the concerns here continue to be that flooding. It was raining earlier this morning. It has tapered off a little bit, but we do expect that to continue as Helene inches closer and closer to us.

As you can see off the riverbanks, there are properties here. There are people's homes that are here just feet away from the riverbank. There are boats that are docked. All of those are expected to sustain severe, even potentially catastrophic damage. And we know that people have been preparing for that for days.

And it's not just here in this region. We know that this is happening across the state of Florida. Just yesterday, right outside of Tampa, we were at a sandbag distribution center and people were there early morning loading up on those sandbags, not only to protect their own homes, but also those of their neighbors volunteering and helping distribute those to their elderly neighbors and also those with mobility issues.

Now, as we mentioned, in areas like these low lying areas, we do know there are mandatory evacuations in place. Businesses have been closed for ever since. Actually, last night, we saw many of those closed. The curfews are now being enforced. People are bracing for the worst, but definitely hoping for the best.

BERMAN: Yes, I was standing at a waterfront bar not far from where you are, and they had water lines on the walls that went up past my chest to show where that storm surge could come up to. As we said, if it hits that 15 to 20 feet, it could just be unsurvivable.

Marybel Gonzalez, our thanks to you. You and your crew stay safe over the next several hours. I appreciate your work there. Jessica?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: -- that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt. It'll take hundreds of years to rebuild it. There's not enough money to rebuild it if the whole world got together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And while Zelenskyy said he'd hope to meet with Trump this week, right now there are no official plans for that to happen.

CNN White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz joining us now from the White House. Arlette, what more are you learning about this new surge in assistance?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to make a fresh appeal to President Joe Biden to really give more assistance to his country as they continue their war against Ukraine. The request and meeting is going to come as the future of American support for Ukraine could be up on the in the air depending on the outcome of the upcoming election.

Now, later this afternoon, Zelenskyy and President Biden will sit down in the Oval Office, where Zelenskyy is expected to present a victory plan to President Biden. Now, it's not clear exactly what that will entail that hasn't been laid out by Zelenskyy just yet, but sources who have been briefed on the matter say that Zelenskyy is expected not just to request more aid for Ukraine, but also trying to seek some long-term security guarantees to try to ensure that American support can continue despite, or regardless of what happens in November's election as both Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are facing off in a very close race.

He also has been pushing for the U.S. to grant the approval and authorization of the use of western-made long range weapons deeper into Russia. That is something that so far President Biden has not granted, though he has shown some openness to the possibility.

Now, heading into this meeting, the White House and President Biden announced so we're going to be looking at some new security assistance for Ukraine that includes President Biden saying that he's authorized $5.5 billion in presidential drawdown authority. That's money that's already allocated by Congress, but that Biden needed to formally approve and authorize by September 30th, or else it would have expired. There is also another $2.4 billion coming from the Defense Department security initiative for Ukraine. They're also rolling out some new long range weapons that they will be providing to the country, Patriot missiles as well, as President Biden has insisted he wants to continue to ensure that Ukraine has the ability to defend themselves and wage this war against Russia.

DEAN: All right. Arlette Saenz at the White House. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Well, bracing for Hurricane Helene. Take a look at live pictures of Key West right now, the storm gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico. It's expected to make landfall as a major category 3 hurricane or higher. The latest on the storm's track and a live report from the Big Bend of Florida, that's next.

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