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Milton's Intensity Rebounds: Winds Now 155MPH, Shy Of CAT 5; Trump Continues to Push Falsehoods About Helene Recovery; Roads Packed as People Flee Florida Ahead of Milton; Roads Packed as People Flee Florida Ahead of Milton; Just Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:30]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We are tracking Hurricane Milton. I'm Boris Sanchez live in Treasure Island, Florida. I'm joined by my colleague, Brianna Keilar, who's live for us in the Nation's Capital. And Brianna, here in Treasure Island, the concern over human life is enormous. It is extremely dangerous where I am right now.

In case in point, officials are closing this Barrier Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida at 07:00 p.m. tonight, in large part because this area was hit by Hurricane Helene about two weeks ago, a Category 4 storm. The outer bands came through here and left a mess that two weeks later is still out on the ground.

You see debris of all kinds. There's plasterboard, wood. I saw appliances earlier. There's glass. I spoke to a resident here who essentially said that when the storm comes, all this stuff will turn into a countless amount of missiles. Keep in mind, this is a Barrier island and you've got a pile of trash that is about 20 feet high. And this is just one of so many scenes that we've seen throughout Pinellas County where you're talking about piles and piles of trash that officials have not been able to clean out. And this is the specific part of the problem in this area. You've got a bay on one side, the water there already at level.

You're going to see about a 15-foot storm surge at its highest point in this area. On top of that, a foot of rain and forecasted winds of up to 125 miles an hour. If you look right over there, that's where the beach is. We want to give you a live look at our CNN air drone that captures just how dangerous it would be to be standing in this area.

The neighbor who mentioned the dangerous aspect of this trash and these projectiles was a man named Matt (ph), who said that he rode out Hurricane Helene here. He's not taking any chances. He is getting out. But I have spoken to some neighbors that are still considering staying. Actually, I want to go straight to the Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center, Jamie Rhome, who joins us now live.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us. We just got an update on Hurricane Helene. I understand that as of right now, it's only two miles an hour shy of being a Category 5 storm. I'm wondering what that means for residents that are still weighing whether to stay or not in a place like this on Treasure Island.

JAMIE RHOME, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, I mean, I hope they're not making their decision based off that because we're going to see these fluctuations in intensity up and down. What we want them to make the decision on is the impacts they are going to experience when it ultimately moves across the Florida peninsula as a powerful hurricane. That's the bottom line message. It's going to move across the Florida peninsula over a densely populated portion of the Florida peninsula as a powerful hurricane. And with it, bring a wide swathe of damaging and destructive winds that will cut across the Florida peninsula. You're looking at widespread power outages, impassable roads, and just, you know, generally really unpleasant conditions. That's just the wind.

Now, if we talk about the storm surge somewhere in this purple area, not everywhere, somewhere in this purple area, he had the potential to get 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, to put that in perspective. You know, some of the areas in here got about six or seven feet of surge during Helene. That would be about double the surge they experienced in Helene.

SANCHEZ: That is extremely concerning, Jamie. So in terms of this new update, what are the projections for the size and strength of this storm once it makes landfall?

[14:05:07]

Because I understand that the consensus is, it is going to weaken slightly, but it's actually going to grow. And that means that its effects will be felt further and further out.

RHOME: Yeah. So it's going to weaken a little bit. And that's deceiving because it's going to grow in size at the same time. And this growth in size will more than compensate from this weakening because it's all about the amount of power, right, the amount of force that these storms bring.

And we saw this with Helene. Because it was so big, it just brought so much power and brought it farther inland than people are used to seeing. So that's why we think, and we're forecasting, it's going to retain its hurricane strength as it treks across the entire Florida peninsula.

That's not something you hear me say often, retain its strength across the entire Hurricane peninsula, spreading these damaging and destructive winds over, you know, densely populated portions in here, near and to the south of the I-4 Corridor.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. You're talking about some of those -- the most populated areas of Central Florida. It's Tampa Bay, it's Orlando, and Daytona Beach on the East Coast. Jamie Rhome, thank you so much for the update. We appreciate you keeping us posted.

RHOME: Thank you. SANCHEZ: Now, we want to get you an up close look at Hurricane Milton.

This is powerful video coming from hurricane hunters who flew in to the storm. It is impressive footage. And it gives you a glimpse at what is headed for this community. Let's watch.

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MAN #1: (Inaudible) Very good. Can you grab my phone real quick?

MAN #2: Yeah. Well, damn. It's on. Holy crap. All right, (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yeah, damn, it is right, followed by nervous laughter. Very powerful video there. Imagine the force of those winds and all that rain hitting a community that's already been weathered by the storm. We actually want to get you a perspective from someone who is going to be not close to Treasure Island, roughly about two hours away in Sarasota, but is still concerned about the effects of Hurricane Milton.

We have with us Erik Arroyo. He's a Sarasota County Commissioner. Erik, thank you so much for being with us. First and foremost, what is your chief concern about Hurricane Milton as you're hearing that it is flirting with Category 5 winds?

ERIK ARROYO, SARASOTA, FL COMMISSIONER: Yeah. Thank you for having me on the show. We are in a state of emergency. And my biggest concern right now is that individuals living in Zone A's, the A, B or C of the city are not going to evacuate. That is my concern. And they need to heed this warning because this is a hundred-year storm. This is unprecedented.

If you made it through Debby, if you made it through Ian, this is unlike anything we've ever faced before, and it is heading right through us.

SANCHEZ: Sir, I wonder what you would say to residents like some of the folks in the building adjacent to where we're standing. These folks, I spoke to them a short while ago. They didn't want to go on camera, but they were weighing the idea of potentially riding out the storm here. What would you say to them at this moment now? We're at about 02:00 p.m., a day before the storm is supposed to hit. What's your message to them?

ARROYO: I'll tell them exactly what I told a close family friend who's riding it out in their home in a Zone A, right in the waterfront as this comes. I said, if you're going to ignore all the experts in every single evacuation order, get a sharpie and write your name on your arm at least so that we can identify your body after.

SANCHEZ: Now, that is a morbid alert at the very least. I do wonder, sir, we've seen piles of trash across Pinellas County certainly, I know there are other parts of the west coast of the Gulf Coast of Florida that have seen this issue, debris left over from Hurricane Helene, can you give us an update on the status, what that looks like in Sarasota?

[14:10:03]

You weren't directly hit by Hurricane Helene, but I know that there were problems there because I have relatives in that area.

ARROYO: Yeah, many problems. And there is still some debris. I just was checking my email just two seconds ago and heard it. Now, here is the problem. Our crew, our team at the city is working around the clock and working with the county, but we have less and less contractors willing to go out into the Barrier Islands, which are going to be the most impacted to pick up this debris. So it's only basically government workers now.

And at some point we have to withdraw to -- because we're taking into account the safety of our employees. So as of right now, it's just us. There's virtually no contractors willing to send their workers out into the Barrier Islands. We've sought the help of -- as much help as we can. The National Guard has sent us some troops that are going to help and be on standby. But it's a difficult situation with limited resources.

Right now, all we can do is hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

BORIS: Absolutely. And we so appreciate the work that those emergency teams do. And the last thing you would want to do is unnecessarily put them at risk.

Erik, I do have one more question before we go, because I've been speaking to people around the community today about the significance of not only having two hurricanes hit two weeks apart, but the way that Milton transformed. You had a hurricane -- it wasn't even a hurricane, it was a tropical storm at one point. And then 24 hours later in the warm waters of the gulf, transforms into one of the top 10 most powerful hurricanes we've ever seen in the Atlantic. Does this sort of thing raise concerns for you about climate change and whether we're going to see more storms intensify this way in the future?

ARROYO: Well, we've been speaking to the experts. And what they tell us is that it's because of the warm water that creates the climate, that creates these rapidly intensifying hurricanes. And you've heard of El Nino. What we have right now in the Gulf of Mexico is La Nina. It's the inverse of that, but it create -- it is warm waters that create this environment. And we're monitoring it. We're seeing what we can do. We don't have all the answers, but it's definitely something that's becoming more and more alarming, especially in a retirement state like Florida, a tourist state like Florida, and a place that many, many call home.

BORIS: Yeah, it is certainly alarming for the future. Erik Arroyo, we have to leave the conversation there. Thank you so much for joining us. And please keep us posted if there's anything we can do to get a message out for you. Thanks so much.

And I want to head back to Brianna Keilar, who's live for us in Washington, DC.

Brianna, it is such a difficult position to be in for folks that are here, in part because they just survived Hurricane Helene. They obviously treasure their homes and their belongings. And it's difficult to leave them behind. But when you're faced with a situation like this where the alternative is death and you're hearing officials say things like, if you're going to stay behind, you have to write your name and your date of birth on your arm so your corpse can be identified, it's important to weigh that and make the decision as soon as possible. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah, that is a dire warning. And let's hope that people heed it, Boris. Ahead this hour on CNN News Central, Vice President Harris going after former President Trump's false claims about FEMA's hurricane response. Hear what she just said about Trump in a brand new interview. And legendary Watergate journalist Bob Woodward describing candid behind the scenes conversations from the White House in Mar-a- Lago, including criticism President Biden leveled against Barack Obama and the world leader that Trump has secretly kept in touch with after leaving office.

Plus, we are staying in Florida as Milton is barreling toward the coast there. Mandatory evacuations are in effect. We'll have a live update ahead. Don't go anywhere.

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[14:18:54]

KEILAR: Vice President Harris ramping up her media blitz today, slamming former President Trump during multiple interviews. Today, she's going on Howard Stern's satellite radio show. And then this morning on the View, Harris criticized Trump for pushing disinformation about Hurricane Helene and politicizing the government's response to the storm.

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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, we're talking about real human beings and their lives, and them losing everything, everything. The idea that somebody would be playing political games for the sake of himself, but this is so consistent about Donald Trump, he puts himself before the needs of others. I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a leader is not to beat people down, it's to lift people up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So for background, just one example of the falsehoods that Trump has spread about the federal response to Helene. Here it is.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So we're into almost $300 billion for Ukraine, and yet they're offering people $750 --

[15:20:01]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: For immediate needs.

TRUMP: For the worst -- yeah, but for the worst hurricane that anybody has seen. She should be -- I would say, North Korea is so bad. And she should be --

BOLDUAN: She was there today for three hours, I believe, Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: As FEMA has explained and also that fact check there by Laura Ingraham for immediate needs. $750 is merely the immediate upfront aid that survivors can get to cover basic pressing needs. They're also eligible to apply for additional assistance, potentially up to tens of thousands of dollars.

But this is the state of the race, this very close race, just four weeks to election day, as many voters are already casting their votes early. A new poll from the New York Times and Siena College shows Vice President Harris with a slight lead over Donald Trump nationally, 49% to 46%.

Let's talk about this with Maria Cardona. She's a CNN Political Commentator and a Democratic Strategist. We're also joined by Matt Mowers. He's a former Trump Administration Official and a Republican Strategist. He's also the President of Valcour Global Public Strategies.

All right, Matt, I wonder, local officials say that this kind of disinformation, that it actually hurts aid efforts, which I think we can understand because there are a lot of people hurting. They need to know the facts. They need to know where they can get the assistance that they need. Why is Trump doing it? Do you even think it pays off politically?

MATT MOWERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND A DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I've got some firsthand experience in this. I worked for Governor Christie in New Jersey when Hurricane Sandy came in. That was about two weeks before the election, even closer to an election. And part of the reason why this matters is that in these moments, you expect to see your leader show up. And if you go back to 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, George W. Bush, was maligned and attacked by the left, and the media, and everyone else because he spent, I think it was about three days or so until he went down to visit the hurricane damage. It took even longer for President Biden and Vice president Harris to go down and actually visit and meet with those officials on the ground.

And so what it did is it provided this opening for folks who are looking for guidance and leadership at these times more than ever because they've lost livelihoods, homes, fortunes, family, lives, looking for leaders to actually go down there. So I will say this. I'll give President Trump credit for being down there and actually visiting things immediately down in Georgia, he was down there. He's meeting with local officials. It shouldn't have taken President Biden and Vice President Harris, as long as they did, because at those moments, it's really the leadership from our elected officials we're expecting. And we haven't seen a daily press conference from President Biden or Vice President Harris on this the way that you would expect in moments like this.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND A DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm sorry, Matt, that is not leadership. That is actually putting people's lives and livelihood in danger.

MOWERS: To show up and be there when people (inaudible)?

CARDONA: To lie, to lie about FEMA, to lie about what is going on on the ground, to lie about what is going on to these people who, like you said, are desperate for real leadership and facts. That is not what Donald Trump is doing. And I also have personal experience with this.

As you know, Brianna, I grew up in Puerto Rico. My family was there during Hurricane Maria. Donald Trump did exactly the same thing. He waited ages to go down there. And when he did go down there, he threw paper towels at the residents. And you know why he ended up going down there in the first place? They had to convince him that Puerto Rico was part of the United States.

When California was suffering from the --

MOWERS: That is -- there's no -- there's nothing (inaudible).

CARDONA: No when --

MOWERS: This is not a true statement.

CARDONA: When California was dealing with the wildfires, they had to sit down. Olivia Troye says this, somebody who worked for him, show him a map of where the voters were that voted for him, and that those voters were actually suffering and victims of the wildfire, if not, he was not going to send aid. I am sorry. It boils my blood because I personally felt this, my family personally felt this for Maria. So many others felt it as well. This is absolutely, unequivocally disqualifying for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as they seek the highest offices in this land.

MOWERS: Here's the truth. The administration, the Biden-Harris administration, has not gone out and been unequivocal and clear about what the steps are they are working with the governors on the ground. Because remember, even though --

CARDONA: That's not true, Matt.

MOWERS: Hold on one moment. Because even though there's those who've been directly impacted by the storms, there's countless others who've lost power wondering when they're going to get power back. They're wondering when they're going to get hot water back. They should be working and actually be visible. They're being on the ground. I can tell you haven't lived through it, having not had electricity for two full weeks, haven't had to, you know, find a friend who might have had their warm water actually on so you can take a shower because you haven't been able to shower for 10 days during a storm, you're looking for your leaders to go out there and give you this information provided. And we have not seen --

CARDONA: Republicans governors are doing that. And in fact, republican governors are the ones who are saying that they are getting more than what they need from this administration. So you have to stop promulgating those lies, Matt, because that is putting people's lives in danger. I'm sorry.

MOWERS: And we've seen Governor DeSantis?

CARDONA: You need to stop doing that.

MOWERS: No, we have not seen Governor DeSantis. And look, maybe they were caught off guard by, you know, Helene. Maybe they are now prepared for Milton. New York City --

[14:25:01]

CARDONA: Who's they?

MOWERS: The administration. But they seemed off because they were slow to respond for a few days.

CARDONA: FEMA were -- was on the ground --

MOWERS: They are now (inaudible) on this point.

CARDONA: -- before the hurricane.

MOWERS: I will say, it does seem like President Biden and Governor DeSantis are now are now talking. And that's good.

CARDONA: They've been talking from the beginning.

KEILAR: Yeah. When you've had Republican governors who made it clear and Democratic governors that they were in touch with the Biden administration, I mean, that's just the case in the emergency declarations came early, came as needed. I will say, I think the big problem for George W. Bush was the heck of a job Brownie.

CARDONA: Yeah.

KEILAR: And that visual of looking --

CARDONA: Very (inaudible). There you go.

KEILAR: Look, you do not want to get in the way of things. You don't want to pull the resources. But that moment for him coupled with looking out of a plane window, gave a sense of detachment. And that was just such an incredible catastrophe. MOWERS: But he would argue he didn't visit because he didn't want to

pull resources away to your point. And that's why he was flying over and not landing at the time.

KEILAR: Yeah, he admitted they --

MOWERS: But no one gave him credit for that, of course.

CARDONA: Apples and oranges, Katrina. And now, apples and oranges.

KEILAR: Yeah. Okay. So this poll that we're seeing here, Harris with a narrow lead over Trump nationally. Nationally, we have to emphasize that, that's important. It also shows Harris gaining ground with Republicans. Do you think the Trump campaign should be worried, Matt?

MOWERS: No, I wouldn't be too worried because I think you still see a margin of error race. I still think if you look at actually the subset of the actual battleground states you're looking at, most polling shows a one to two-point race in either direction, depending on the poll for Trump or for Harris. This is really tight. And those are the voters, by the way, who are seeing a different type of information. They're not just getting their information from the media. They are also getting paid campaign media. They're watching TV ads. They're getting text messages on their phone. They're getting people a knock on their doors.

So the viewpoint of a voter in Pennsylvania is going to be wildly different from the viewpoint of a voter in non-battleground state. So I pay a lot more attention to the battleground state polls, which we didn't see in the New York Times/Siena today.

CARDONA: Here's why this really matters and why Donald Trump and the Trump campaign are worried. And in fact, you see in Donald Trump's demented approaches to his rallies now and his speeches with, you know, upping the lies and completely, you know, going off script is because they are worried about what they are seeing. I think the critical piece in this New York Times poll is that voters are now seeing the Vice President as the agent for change. Voters are now seeing her, and I think Donald Trump is helping her do this, and her underscoring this every chance she gets is really important.

Voters see her as the one who actually worries about issues that are important to them. They see her as the one representing their needs. And that is something that she's going to talk to every single day between now and the election.

KEILAR: And she's been talking about it multiple times a day. So she smartly feels that way.

CARDONA: She certainly so.

KEILAR: Maria, Matt, thank you so much, both of you. I really appreciate it.

Ahead, we will head back to Florida, where hundreds of thousands are fleeing Hurricane Milton's path. Next, new fears that the storm could regain strength just before

making landfall.

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