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Sheriff Chad Chronister is Interviewed about Hurricane Milton; New Polls on Presidential Race; Ian Sams is Interviewed about the Harris Campaign; Roberts Under Pressure in New Term; U.S. Noth Pushing to Revive Ceasefire Deal. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Friend's house. Worst case scenario, stay at a shelter. There's plenty of them open. But you better - you're better off being inconvenienced and uncomfortable yet alive.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What are you seeing in terms of people complying you're your pleas?

CHRONISTER: I have to tell you, I stand here today talking to you, I'm very happy. Since we've announced the mandatory evacuation in the two areas, we've seen a ton of traffic on the roadways. We were up in the helicopters yesterday filming. We've even opened up the emergency lanes. And today are talking and discussing with the governor about opening up the shoulder of the road to get people out that want to get out.

I see long lines at the grocery stores. I see long lines at the gas stations. People are heeding the warning.

BERMAN: What do you need people to know? For those who do choose not to heed your warnings, for those who do choose to stay behind, what do they need to know?

CHRONISTER: Well, unfortunately, I feel confident, and it's a horrible feeling for our first responder when that call for help comes and we can't go because those conditions are just too unsafe.

If you choose to stay, you're staying at your own risk. I'm confident that those winds are going to be well above 40 miles an hour, and there's going to be a time frame where we're not going to be able to respond for that call for help.

Please, be prepared and put your plan in place now. One luxury that came out of this storm slowing down, there's a lot of disadvantages, is that we have more time to prepare. We have a little over 24 hours. Take advantage of that time.

BERMAN: When we talk about 10 to 15 feet of possible storm surge in the Tampa Bay, what does that mean for you? What impact will you see on your streets? CHRONISTER: We'll see catastrophic loss. We have an area that's already heavily saturated. We're already recovering and healing from the last hurricane. When you dump five to 10 inches of rain on top of 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, the system is already overburdened and full, the drainage and sewer system. There's no way for - where for that water to go. It's going to be catastrophic.

BERMAN: And I've spoken to you before, during and after storms before. What will you be doing during this storm?

CHRONISTER: Well, there's a lot of prep work going into it. We're strategically placing our assets all over the place. Our aviation unit. Our amphibious vehicles. Our marine assets. We're out providing security at the shelters, at the sandbag locations. We're helping with the evacuation. We have a heavy presence in the evacuation zone areas. I want people to feel comfortable getting out, knowing that, hey, we'll keep an eye on your belongings until we can't. We'll keep an eye on those personal belongings in your homes that you work so hard for. We'll take care of that. You focus on yourselves.

During the storm, we'll shelter in place, just like everyone else, and then we'll be prepared. Then - then we get really busy, right?

BERMAN: Right.

CHRONISTER: We get busy with the search and rescue. Our chainsaw (ph) teams opening up roadways to allow utilities and - and first responders and emergency equipment to go in. It'll certainly be all hands on deck. We'll be prepared. We're just asking this community to help be that good partner and be prepared with us.

BERMAN: Have you ever seen anyone like this? Anything like this?

CHRONISTER: I've never seen anything like this in my 33 years of law enforcement experience. The flooding that we experienced just two weeks ago in the storm surge, I thought that would be the most we would ever see. And I stand corrected with this storm headed - heading this way. We know that cone of uncertainty has shrunk now, between Tampa and Sarasota. Regardless of where it falls or makes landfall in that area with that storm getting - growing in size, we're going to feel some catastrophic impacts.

BERMAN: Sheriff Chad Chronister, thank you so much for being with us. I hope people are heeding your warnings. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

Kamala Harris has a packed schedule today of interviews. "The View," Howard Stern and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." And her campaign joins us next.

And new explosions inside Lebanon. Israel says also more than 100 rockets were fired at Israel in one hour by Hezbollah. Why then did Hezbollah's top official endorse a ceasefire effort for the first time?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:38:56]

BERMAN: So, there is a brand new poll from "The New York Times," a national poll, which shows Kamala Harris with a four point lead over Donald Trump. But here's the thing. Thanks to the founding fathers, it's not a national election. It's a collection of state elections.

CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten is with us this morning.

That's why these swing states are so important. Not the national polling. What is the latest on where the swing states stand?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, I don't really give a hoot about the national polling. It could tell us about trends, but not much more.

Look, these are the battleground states, right? These are the seven we've been looking at. We've got four weeks to go until the election.

Look, the Great Lake battleground states, as close as they've been, Harris by a point in Pennsylvania, two in Michigan, two in Wisconsin. Way too close to call. You come over to the right side of the screen with me. Sunbelt battleground states, you see more red on this side of the screen than blue. We do see Harris up by a point in Nevada. Again, way too close to call. Trump by a point in North Carolina, Georgia, two in Arizona.

This has been the consistent story since Kamala Harris got into the race, right? That is that she has done better in those Great Lake battleground states. She has closed the gap in the sunbelt battleground states.

[08:40:01]

But still, friendlier terrain for Trump than those Great Lake battleground states.

BERMAN: How confident should anyone on earth feel that these numbers would actually stick?

ENTEN: OK. So, I consistently say this race is too close to call. So I decided to go back through history, OK. And this, to me, says everything. How much did the state poll averages miss by, all right? The average error since 1972, in the close races, in those battleground states that we've been looking at, 3.4 points, 3.4 points. Every single state. All seven of those key battleground states are within 3.4 points.

What's the chance for an even larger error? You know, we talk about the margin of error, right. So, what is that 95 percent confidence interval? What is that true margin of error? Five percent of errors in state polling averages are off by more - off by more than 9.4 points. These battleground states are well within that. I want you to remember this number because the bottom line is, this race is going to be too close to call almost certainly all the way to Election Day. It's definitely going to be within this interval. And its most likely going to be within this interval.

So, the bottom line is, the state polling averages tell us, what it tells us is it's just a race that is too close to call. Maybe one candidate has a slight advantage over the other one. But the bottom line is, it is way too close to call and it will remain so.

BERMAN: Superimpose all of this really important information that you just gave us on the electoral map.

ENTEN: Yes. OK. So, let's say the polls are exactly right. If the polls are exactly right, Kamala Harris gets 276 electoral votes to Donald Trump's 262 because she carries those Great Lake battleground states despite losing North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona.

But let's say we have a polling miss like we had in 2020. What happens then? Well, then Donald Trump wins the election in a blowout with 312 electoral votes because he carries all these Great Lake battleground states, plus Nevada, plus the other states he was leading in, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia.

But 2020 is just one election. What happens if we have a polling miss like 2022? Well, in that particular case, now, the winner has flipped again and Kamala Harris wins in a blowout with 319 electoral votes because she retakes those Great Lake battleground states, carries North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona.

So, the bottom line here is, yes, we have those state polling averages, but the real thing they tell us is that this race is too close to call. We're probably not going to know who's going to win for another month and perhaps another month and change.

BERMAN: It's the full employment act for senior data reporters.

ENTEN: I - you know what, I will take it. Any employment is good employment, my friend.

BERMAN: Harry, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, joining us right now is the senior spokesperson for the Kamala Harris campaign, Ian Sams.

Ian, thank you so much.

Let's leave it as this race is still too close to - too close to call from what we just heard from my colleagues.

I want to talk to you about some of the issues and some of the - the questions and answers that - that the - that the vice president is - is taking and answering in these slew of new interviews that she's doing.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, the vice president was asked about Ukraine. Asked specifically if she would support Ukraine's bid to join NATO. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As president, would you support the effort to expand NATO to include Ukraine?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point. Right now we are supporting Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia's unprovoked aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: She did not answer the question about Ukraine's NATO membership.

Does the vice president support Ukraine's push to join NATO eventually?

IAN SAMS, SENIOR SPOKESPERSON, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: Well, look, Kate - and thanks for having me this morning.

I think that what the vice president was saying last night is - is true, which is, right now, in this very moment, the most important thing that the United States and the international community can be doing is supporting Ukraine and - against this invasion from Putin and his war of aggression that has been brutal and slaughtered so many people in Ukraine. And she is committed to doing that. I think that what she was saying last night is that, like, there will be a time and place for discussions like that. Right now the most important thing is that the international community rally around Ukraine.

CNN, just this morning, has new reporting on Bob Woodward's book that is coming out that reveals that President Trump, since he left office, as a private citizen, has, according to Trump's own aides, had at least seven one-on-one calls with Vladimir Putin. I don't know what those are about. I don't know if the Trump campaign or President Trump have explained what those are about. But what the vice president said last night rings even truer, Donald Trump's plan with Ukraine and Russia would be for Ukraine to surrender and to let Vladimir Putin take territory that he is trying to steal. That is dangerous. It shows the kind of risks that the country would face with him returning to office.

BOLDUAN: That - they very clearly have a different position on - on how they approach Russia, Ian. There's no question about that.

But the - but the former secretary general of NATO, he has even said that it's not - it's a question of when, not if Ukraine will join the NATO alliance. Does Kamala Harris agree with that?

[08:45:03] SAMS: Well, I - again, I'm going to reiterate what the vice president said, which is that there will be a time for that conversation. Right now the conversation should be focused on, how do we make sure Ukraine has the resources it needs to repel Putin and Russia. It is something that she has led the international community on, meeting with President Zelenskyy numerous times and rallying our allies.

Donald Trump is saying cede territory to Russia. That should scare every American who is thinking about him returning to the Oval Office.

BOLDUAN: When is the right time for her to answer that question, though, Ian?

SAMS: But he - I - I would just want to make this point. When Donald Trump says that we should give territory from Ukraine to Putin, think about what that means. That means that the president - the potential president of the United States is signaling to the world that if you're a dictator like Vladimir Putin and you want to take another country next door, go right ahead. That is not the kind of strength that America needs on the world stage. And it's why the vice president has been so strong in standing up for Ukraine and for the United States in this moment.

BOLDUAN: When's the right time, if there's a time and place for it, when is the right time for the vice president to make her position known on if Ukraine should - if she would support Ukraine joining NATO?

SAMS: Well, Kate, I think that for people who want to know the position of these two candidates, again, on this campaign for one month more before the election, on Ukraine and Russia, I think it's a pretty clear distinction of who has Ukraine's back, who is making sure that - that Putin and his dictatorial reign is repelled when he tries to invade neighboring countries, and that we just cannot afford the risk that Trump would put the United States in by letting dictators, like Putin, do that.

BOLDUAN: They very clearly have different positions on Russia and the - and - and support for Ukraine. There's no question of that. Just trying to nail that down a little bit more.

Let's move on.

Florida's staring down another hurricane. This will be the second major hurricane to hit the state in less than two weeks. A White House official has now told CNN that Vice President Harris reached out to Ron DeSantis, the governor, multiple times since Hurricane Helene, and that the Florida governor did not take any of her calls. Responding to the reports of him not taking her calls, she called it political gamesmanship, irresponsible and selfish, which then led to Ron DeSantis - we don't have the sound bite? We don't have the sound bite. Which then led to Ron DeSantis saying that she has no place - she has no place to be involved in any of these talks with regard to Hurricane Helene recovery, that he has been in touch with Joe Biden, and she's basically trying to get her - she's playing political games by trying to insert herself. What do you say to that? SAMS: What I would say to that right now is, you know, I think, you're right, we saw yesterday that the governor spoke to the president. The vice president has tried to speak to the governor and would look forward to speaking to the governor, because a moment like this is about putting politics aside and making sure that states who are impacted by the devastation, whether it was Hurricane Helene, or preparing for Hurricane Milton to come, which does seem very concerning. And the vice president said yesterday she's been briefed on this from FEMA and is encouraging residents in Florida to listen to their local officials, including Governor DeSantis, about what to do on the ground there as this storm threatens. And I think that what she was speaking to more broadly, which I think is very, very important, is in a moment like this, when you have a choice in a presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, who is actually putting the country first when it comes to preparing for a natural disaster?

We know right now Donald Trump's own former aides said that when he was president of the United States, he would hold up relief to places that he didn't think voted for him. He politicized getting people the help they need in a moment of pain and crisis. Vice President Harris absolutely will never do that. She wants to make sure that people in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, the states who have been so impacted by Helene, the states who may be devastated by this hurricane that's barreling toward Florida, that they get the help they need and that they have the resources that they need, which is why she and the president have mobilized thousands of federal personnel, a thousand active duty military, sent millions of liters of water and meals to states who have been impacted by Helene. That's the kind of leadership you need in a moment like this, not Donald Trump, who's lying about disaster relief not getting to places, who's trying to divide Americans who are facing some of their biggest tragedies of their lives. That is what we don't need from a president and a leader in a moment like this.

BOLDUAN: These storms and their impacts should definitely be above politics, that is for sure.

Ian Sams, thank you very much for coming on.

John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, the Supreme Court back in session for a nine-month term. The justices will hear arguments in several high-profile cases, including one today challenging a Biden administration regulation on ghost guns. And with less than a month until Election Day, pressure is growing around Chief Justice John Roberts as he deals with the legal troubles of Donald Trump.

[08:50:04]

CNN chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic is with us now.

What's the latest on this, Joan?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Good to see you, John. You know, Chief Justice John Roberts is starting his 20th term on the

bench. I mean talk about very fast 20 years for John Roberts, who was one of the youngest chief justices in history when he first came on. And it's a very fraught time for the court. You know, they've had a series of divisive rulings, including the one giving Donald Trump immunity from prosecution last July. They've got ethics controversies. And as you just mentioned, election litigation could loom over this court once we get to November.

But - and - and it's - it's played out in the polls. Multiple surveys show that the court's stature has shrunk. Just one in particular, the Pew Research survey found that 47 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of the Supreme Court after July, when the term ended, and the justices issued that immunity decision.

And much of this falls on the shoulders of John Roberts, who, from the start, has tried to differentiate the Supreme Court from the political branches. You probably remember, John, that he famously said, "we do not have Obama judges or Trump judges," we only have neutral judges trying their level best to do right by both sides.

But as we start this new term, it's really John Roberts, and opinions he's written, that have put the court in this position. He wrote the Trump ruling. He wrote earlier decisions that favored Republican interests, such as against voting rights and essentially endorsing partizan gerrymandering, rolling back administrative regulation of the environment and consumer affairs.

So, this is a fraught time, but a lot of it - and a lot of it lands in his lap. But it's by his own hand, John.

BERMAN: Part of the job.

All right, Joan Biskupic, thank you so much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And we're continuing to track Hurricane Milton right now. The category four storm is stirring in the Gulf of Mexico. Where the storm is expected to make landfall, how soon its outer bands could actually start impacting part of Florida's coast. We've got an update for you.

And country music stars Eric Church and Luke Combs coming together to help victims of their home state, North Carolina, from Hurricane Helene. The big concert just announced by the two, along with Billy Strings and James Taylor. Eric church and Luke Combs will join us next hour, just as Church releases a new song to help hurricane victims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:57:12]

BOLDUAN: The fighting in the Middle East is intensifying as Israel and Hezbollah trade more cross-border strikes overnight. Israel says it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon against the Iran backed terror group. The Israeli air force reports it hit more than 120 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon within an hour, and as the Israeli military is also reporting that around 105 rockets were fired by Hezbollah at parts of northern Israel also in just one hour.

All of this comes as U.S. officials are now telling CNN they are no longer pushing to revive a ceasefire deal between Israel and the militant group.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live in Tel Aviv with the very latest.

And a lot has happened overnight, Jeremy. What's - what are you hearing?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it, Kate. And, you know, one year after this war began, this multi- front war that Israel is now engaged in is showing no signs of slowing down. Instead, Israel appears to be picking up the pace, intensifying its attacks on numerous fronts. First we'll start in Lebanon, where the Israeli military is expanding its ground operations, initially starting that ground operation into southern Lebanon on the kind of eastern portion of southern Lebanon. Now they are also going in on the western side as well. And now three divisions have now been activated in the fighting in southern Lebanon, which represents quite a significant force that the Israeli military is bringing to bear.

Hezbollah is also intensifying its attacks against Israel. Today, a very large barrage, one of the largest barrages that we have seen over the course of the last year, that has been directed at Haifa from Hezbollah, about 105 rockets fired towards Haifa and the surrounding area. There were a couple of injuries as a result, but the majority of those rockets were indeed intercepted.

But it just shows that even as Israel is - is pushing into southern Lebanon with the aim of neutering Hezbollah and effectively getting them to stop firing rockets into northern Israel, for the moment Hezbollah is only escalating its retaliation.

We are also seeing, as the Israeli military is deepening and intensifying its attacks in Gaza, we saw over the weekend, as the Israeli military began a renewed ground offensive in Jabalia. This is the fourth time now, Kate, that we have seen Israeli troops go into Jabalia. And this is all, of course, raising questions about Israel's long term strategy for governance in Gaza, or the lack thereof, as U.S. officials have been talking over the course of the last couple of days about the fact that Israel now needs to turn the tactical wins that it has achieved in Gaza into some kind of broader, strategic picture.

But there is no indication of that as of yet. Instead, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday vowing to continue the fight until Israel's enemies are entirely vanquished. He was speaking in particular about Hamas.

[09:00:02]

But we have heard time and again, from military and security experts, including those here in Israel, who have warned that without any kind of alternative