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Milton To Slam Florida With Life-Threatening Storm Surge; CIA Faces Sexual Assault Allegations; Harris Chats With "The View," Howard Stern, And Colbert In Media Blitz. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 09, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:30]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the biggest concerns with Hurricane Milton is storm surge. The National Weather Service is forecasting life-threatening storm surge levels here.

So, the basics. A storm surge is a rapid rise in water levels caused by strong winds pushing water onshore. In parts of Florida, we're talking 12 to 15 feet of water from this storm in a surge. And I want to give you an idea of what that really means beyond just the numbers.

This shows you a storm surge of about two feet. At this level, low- lying coasting roads would be inundated with water.

The next stage would be a surge of five to eight feet. This is enough to submerge cars.

But remember, Milton is expected to bring much worse -- a storm surge of 10-plus feet in places. And this is taller than a -- than a city bus. The average first floor of a commercial building is typically around 14 feet high and Milton's storm surge could reach a foot higher than that.

So it is impossible to know with certainty at this point where this is all going to hit and when, but the places that are facing these catastrophic levels of surge are from Tampa on south. We're talking Sarasota, Venice, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda. This is how high it could get there.

And when you see the surge -- this surge in relation to just an average human in a -- in a normal-sized room, it is clear why officials are saying get out now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kate. Thanks so much for that.

With me now is Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg. We are standing in what would be underwater in Kate's demonstration right there. Secretary, what do people need to know about the roads and the airports, the transportation system now, and what will they need to know tomorrow and going forward? PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: So by far, the most important thing to note is if you are under evacuation orders get out. Listen to those who are warning you in areas where it's not safe. And so many responders are doing their part to facilitate that process.

We're working through our Federal Highway Administration with Florida's DOT and local officials. Things like making sure that the shoulder can be used to effectively add a lane on I-4 or I-75. Anything to facilitate that process.

When it comes to airports, the airlines have added capacity and capped fares going out of the affected airports, but most of those are either closed or they're about to close.

So mainly, we're talking about surface transportation now when it comes to evacuation. Sometimes, by the way, the evacuations are shorter than you would think. It's a matter of just a few miles to get from a place that would be totally inundated to a shelter or a place that's considered safe.

But again, if you're under those kind of evacuation orders listen to them.

Then you've got the maritime piece. That's mainly a story for, of course, after the storm has passed. But we're very focused on things like Port Tampa Bay where about 40 percent of refined petroleum that comes in serving the state of Florida comes through. We just won't know until the damage assessments are through how long it's going to take to get that port back up and running.

BERMAN: Have you had a deployment like this or preparations like this for anything you've seen before?

BUTTIGIEG: Well look, as I speak, we're in the middle of the response --

BERMAN: Yeah.

BUTTIGIEG: -- to Hurricane Helene. That continues to be a major effort spanning multiple states. And again, that's everybody from federal highways to the Federal Aviation Administration involved.

[07:35:00]

I remember seeing the wreckage of Hurricane Ian flying up with the Coast Guard when that hit Florida a couple of years ago. But I have never seen a storm with the destructive -- at least since I've had this assignment -- with the destructive potential we're talking about with Milton.

BERMAN: One of the things that everyone is dealing with now, and particularly the government in its response to Helene, in preparations for Milton, misinformation.

BUTTIGIEG: Yeah.

BERMAN: You had an interesting conversation with Elon Musk just a few days ago about misinformation that he was spreading.

BUTTIGIEG: Yeah. I'm a big believer in picking up the phone. So I saw information that he was putting out that didn't seem right to me. It suggested that the FAA was preventing emergency flights, which is definitely not the case. So I encouraged him to talk to me. That's what I would do with any major business leader who is encountering a problem.

And we spoke and found that there was an issue. It wasn't that the FAA or FEMA was preventing emergency operations, but there were some coordination issues on the ground. We talked about it and got the information that was needed, and that issue was resolved.

So, you know, I guess the moral of the story for me is before taking to Twitter and getting online work through things through credible sources. And often the most credible sources in these disaster scenarios in addition, of course, to FEMA is folks on the ground -- your local first responders.

BERMAN: Has that made misinformation go away? Has Elon Musk stopped spreading the stuff that you're talking about?

BUTTIGIEG: Unfortunately, no. We have a massive misinformation problem, and this is something that actively harms the ability of responders to do their job. I think a lot of it is driven by politics. Some of it is just the internet doing what it seems to do lately and amplify the loudest or strangest thing that is being said.

But this is -- this is a real problem with life and death implications because one of the most important things you need in any disaster scenario -- you need power, you need water, you need transportation, you need information. Good, accurate information. That's what this administration will provide and that's what we're also, of course, counting on the media to make sure it gets out there.

BERMAN: Information is part of the infrastructure of disaster relief. It really is.

You know, The New York Times had a story out today and this is part of the Helene response that now is part of this misinformation that's being spread. There are antisemitic and violent attacks being posted about officials involved in the response. They were writing about the mayor of Asheville, North Carolina who is Jewish, and FEMA's director of public affairs who is Jewish.

"Posts that questioned Ms. Rothenberg's..." -- that's the FEMA director of public affairs -- "loyalty to the United States because of her Jewish heritage had more than four million views on X. Another post that called out Mayor Manheimer's [the Asheville mayor's] faith racked up nearly 13 million views on the platform."

BUTTIGIEG: Look, this is horrific -- any kind of hate - and especially in a week like this week as we recognize the anniversary of October 7. Seeing that kind of antisemitism showing its face on American soil or anywhere else calls for immediate, unequivocal, swift condemnation. And, you know, unfortunately, we've seen this sort of thing snowball. We know where it leads. It leads nowhere good. And the public servants who were attacked there and so many other public servants are getting up in the morning. I know what it's like to be a mayor who is facing a disaster. We're talking about a mayor who is preparing the community for everything that's coming their way.

And I know the team at FEMA -- professionals who are, by the way, confronting multiple, major national disasters at the same time, and doing with incredible professionalism.

I was at the -- their NRCC -- that's the national coordination center. We have USDOT personnel embedded to work the transportation piece. These American public servants are doing extraordinary work to help save lives and help get people back to normal.

BERMAN: Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the message -- the most important message you're sending today, listen to your state and local officials right now on the Florida coast. Get out while you still can. Thank you so much. Thank you for being with us -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And hearing from some local officials, at least some people are definitely listening because you can look at the traffic that we've seen all along the highways as people are trying to get away from the coast of Florida. This -- we're looking at -- this is Naples, Florida.

Despite all the pleading though that people have heard to seek safer ground, despite seeing this traffic and people -- a lot of people were getting out, there are still people choosing to say and to ride this one out.

CNN's Paul Murphy actually spoke with some of those people. He is live in St. Petersburg for us. Paul, what did they tell you?

PAUL MURPHY, CNN REPORTER: Hey, there. So we are here in St. Petersburg. We're at the -- we're at one of the barrier islands in the northern mouth of Tampa Bay.

These two people we spoke to, despite what officials have said -- we're in evacuation zone A here. This is going to be the worst storm surge area for the Tampa Bay -- the Greater Tampa Bay area. They said look, we're high up off the ground. We are in a cement structure. We believe that we're safe.

Now, what you're seeing here -- this bridge -- this is -- that is Don CeSar hotel right there. This is pretty much as far as you can get. You cannot go further. These cars that you see here -- all of this area was really devastated in Helene. The storm surge really did a number on these barrier islands.

[07:40:10]

And so what their major concern is that the debris that is still left in front of these houses that they have been trying to clean up, these boats that you see still in their docks that were not picked up by Helene -- their concern is that is going to come over with the storm surge -- with the wind and knock out windows.

Some of these people have storm shutters. Some of them have hurricane windows. One person we talked to doesn't have hurricane windows, but they have a central stairwell that they can hide in as things get bad.

But again, what you're seeing here -- you just don't picture that in Naples showing traffic -- people leaving. You're not seeing traffic here. That's good news probably for officials. There is no one on the road here. People have left.

And the people who are staying, they know -- they know that there is help once the storm -- once the situation here gets bad help is not coming for them. They knew that. They knew the risk that they're taking but they were more concerned about coming back and not being able to get to their homes. They wanted to stay put.

Officials aren't going to like that but that's just some Floridians. As a Floridian myself, it's just hard to get people to leave their property -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And Paul, we're seeing -- I mean, you're already in some rain right now. And we heard from the Hillsborough County sheriff who said don't gamble with your lives.

MURPHY: It's pretty dry (PH).

BOLDUAN: Yeah. It's going to get a lot more gross for sure.

Paul, thank you so much.

MURPHY: It is.

BOLDUAN: A lot more to come, John.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, CNN has learned about allegations of sexual assault that are plaguing the CIA. Results from an internal survey show 28 percent of respondents experienced at least one instance of sexually hostile environment while employed there.

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis is with us now. This is an exclusive, Katie. What have you learned?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: John, I've been doing a lot of reporting on this series of allegations of sexual assault that's kind of spilled out in public court, mostly in misdemeanor court in Virginia. And I'd started hearing from some of my sources about some particularly egregious allegations of assault at the agency that hadn't been publicly reported.

One especially upsetting story involved a young female employee who has alleged that a more senior officer came to her house with a gun demanding sexual relations. That person has since been fired from the CIA.

But I got to -- I got to be wondering how widespread is this problem at the agency, right? Do they have a uniquely high incidence rate of sexual assault at the agency or are they struggling with roughly the same problem that broader society and other sort of large traditional organizations are struggling with?

And I came to find out that the agency had recently done this internal survey, and they found that of the 25 percent of its workforce that responded -- so we should emphasize that some of this data is limited. They found that of the 25 percent of the workforce that responded seven percent reported experiencing some form of unwanted sexual contact or assault during the course of their entire career at the agency. So this could potentially be conduct that spans decades.

That's compared to just a little under six percent of U.S. women across the nation.

The agency also found that one percent of its respondents experienced this in the last year. That's dramatically lower than the U.S. military, for example, which has really publicly struggled with its challenges with sexual assault.

BERMAN: What is the CIA doing about this, Katie?

LILLIS: Yeah. The agency has sparked a really kind of widespread and major reform effort over the course of the past year. One of the unique challenges that the agency has is that in many instances both the accused and the alleged victim are undercover. So their very identities are classified, as well as sometimes even the location of the alleged assault, right?

So this poses, like, a big logistical hurdle for the agency when it comes to reporting allegations of sexual assault to state, and local, and federal law enforcement. So one of the big things that they've done is hire a dedicated federal law enforcement officer whose job it is to facilitate some of these interactions with local law enforcement, in large part because victims have alleged that, at least in the past, the agency had sometimes discouraged them from going to law enforcement.

But I talked to chief operating officer Maura Burns who said look, we understand the agency does have a problem. We've got -- even one victim is too many. We have a problem we have to deal with.

A senior officer that I talked to said look, this is a cultural issue at the agency. We have unevenly punished sexual assault across -- over a course of years, right? Sometimes people get off; sometimes they don't.

That's the big target for the CIA now is standardizing its approach to these allegations, John.

BERMAN: Katie Bo Lillis -- a CNN exclusive. Terrific reporting. Thank you so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Vice President Kamala Harris on the trail and slamming Donald Trump. Why she says he "lacks empathy." The latest from that and the latest from the campaign trail.

[07:45:00]

And a Vegas-style farewell for the famous Tropicana Casino & Hotel.

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STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE STEPHEN COLBERT SHOW": Well, the vibes were all good. But elections, I think, are won on vibes because one of the old saws is they just want somebody they can have a beer with.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Uh-huh.

COLBERT: So would you like to have a beer with me so I can tell people what that's like?

HARRIS: The last time I had beer was at a baseball game with Doug -- so, OK.

COLBERT: OK, so cheers. There you go.

HARRIS: Cheers.

COLBERT: There you go.

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[07:50:00]

BERMAN: Miller High Life, Wisconsin brewed, we might add -- a swing state. That was Vice President Harris on the show with Stephen Colbert, all part of her media blitz.

With us now is Republican strategist and former adviser to Sen. Tim Scott's presidential campaign, Matt Gorman. We'll get your name in there. Also, former Biden White House director of message planning, Meghan Hayes.

I just wanted to play the beer clip because it reminded me that we've had two presidents in a row who don't drink. We always say we want to have a president you'd like to have a beer with and we've had, you know, eight years of presidents who don't drink. I'm not saying it's good or bad, I'm just saying it is.

I'm going to move on now to something that matters, which is this storm is bearing down and it's impossible for me to believe that it won't have an impact one way or another on this presidential campaign. It will become part of the campaign. And it is interesting how the different candidates are dealing with it.

I want to play a little more from Vice President Harris talking about Donald Trump's attitude about information and misinformation in regards to these storms -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY HOSTIN, HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years.

HARRIS: There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of -- and I've been a part of most of the decisions that have had an impact.

Have you no empathy, man?

COLBERT: Yes.

HARRIS: No -- for the suffering of other people. Have you no sense of purpose? If you purport to be a leader -- to understand that being a leader means lifting people up in a time of need and not manipulating them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It was the empathy part that I wanted to ask first about, Meghan, there. Why is that an important message to be discussing now?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION CONSULTANT (via Webex by Cisco): People are at the worst times of their life. They're very scared in these situations and they -- the information that's being given to them from the government and from leaders like Donald Trump need to be accurate. And when people are spreading misinformation and disinformation it creates a level of fear and distrust that's not appropriate and frankly, people can lose their lives.

So I think that's what she is saying. He needs to be out there with the facts and giving it straight, and if that means that the Biden administration is doing something that's helpful to these people then he just needs to say that. He needs to not be spreading facts that can cause people their lives. And I think that's where she was going with that when the storms occur because we saw with Helene some of the misinformation and disinformation was extremely dangerous to people on the ground that were out of touch for several days.

BERMAN: Matt, if you can, address the question of empathy as a campaign issue first, and then address the second part of that clip that we played a little early there which I know Republicans are focused on, which is Vice President Harris saying in the interview with "THE VIEW" that she could not think of something she would do differently than President Biden.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TIM SCOTT'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. First, when it comes to empathy, I mean, how about empathy for the governor facing down a Cat 5 hurricane and trying to protect its residents and its state, and you have Kamala Harris calling him selfish because he won't indulge in her little campaign stunt. That she's never really involved herself in this sort of process before. And the same governor, DeSantis, who Biden has called cooperative and communicative, but she's out there bashing him. I don't think there's a lot of empathy there either. But you're right. In that other clip -- I mean, that was a layup. I mean, it's like Amazon Prime Days I know is going on right now in October, but that was a gift from the host of "THE VIEW" to Kamala Harris to try and separate herself from Joe Biden, and she couldn't do it. I mean, that is a question you're ready for almost on day one of your campaign. It should be very easy and the fact she can't answer it, it's mind boggling.

And I know she cleaned it up later saying she'd appoint a Republican to the cabinet, like it's some substantive change. She is totally -- does not understand why that question is so important and why she botched it.

BERMAN: Meghan, you know, the Harris campaign was very happy yesterday morning when The New York Times poll numbers came out showing she had an edge on who was the candidate of change. Does that answer undermine that?

HAYES: No, I don't think so. I think it's hard for -- you know, you can't go on TV and bash your boss. I don't think that's an appropriate thing to do either. But I do think that part of the issue here is that she is the vice president and she is here to execute decisions that the president makes. And yes, she's a part of the decisions but they're not necessarily her decisions.

So I think where she needs to go with that further and she could definitely lay out some policies where she's going to go a step further on the economy, and she's starting to do that, which would have been the most appropriate answer there. That's how you separate yourself.

But I do -- I don't think so. I think that people see Donald Trump as a chaotic person. And I also think that the age factor comes into play here, and I think that was clear when President Biden was running, and I think with former President Trump. I think that's what people are also saying is that they want a younger generation leading the country.

BERMAN: I agree with you. Never bash your boss on TV. I never talk about Kate or Sara in any kind of way without the utmost respect.

Bob Woodward -- Jamie Gangel obtained excerpts of this book from Bob Woodward, which says that -- or suggests that Donald Trump had multiple conversations with Vladimir Putin after he left office, and Donald Trump send COVID tests to Vladimir Putin early in the pandemic when they were hard to get in the United States.

[07:55:05]

So the Trump campaign put out a response to these excerpts yesterday very quickly and said, "None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true." Right? But then, the Kremlin came out and said, "The Kremlin confirmed..." -- this is from Bloomberg -- "that former U.S. President Donald Trump while in office sent Russian President Vladimir Putin COVID-19 testing devices during the height of the pandemic."

"We also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic," Peskov said in a written response when asked about the book.

Um, so, Matt, that kind of undermines the none of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward were a true thing, doesn't it?

GORMAN: Well, I mean, look, just take a step back. The Kremlin historically not the arbiter and best truth-telling body, first of all. That's number one. But we'll see.

I mean, look, I want to read the book. It wouldn't be election season if Bob Woodward wasn't putting out bombshells. And I think a lot of this will go around Russia and Ukraine. And I think -- I'm interested to see more about this. Obviously, the Trump campaign says it isn't true, but I'm interested in hearing more.

BERMAN: Meghan?

HAYES: I mean, the Trump campaign also isn't the arbiter of truth here, so I don't necessarily believe their statement. But I also think this is not surprising that Donald Trump is talking a dictator when he was -- left office. So, I mean, basically, he said he's friends with him. I don't think this is surprising.

I also don't think it's really that impactful to the election. I just think it's newsy information and it's kind of salacious, but I actually don't think it's important to what voters are going to vote on, which is the economy. So I think if we can get back to talking about that, that would be the most helpful to independent voters.

BERMAN: All right, Meghan Hayes, Matt Gorman, great to see both of you. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So a source tells CNN that President Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today by phone -- in a phone call. They are expected to discuss Israel's response to Iran's missile attack last week.

The call comes though after CNN reported that Netanyahu told his defense minister to not go to Washington on a planned trip yesterday to meet with U.S. Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin. Netanyahu saying that he wanted to speak to Biden first before approving that trip.

This call today will be the first time the two leaders have spoken in 49 days.

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Las Vegas Tropicana Hotel & Casino implosion.

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BOLDUAN: And there she goes. The Tropicana Hotel & Casino demolished after 67 years on the Vegas Strip. Its removal -- removal sounds small for what just happened there -- is to make way for the new home of the Oakland Athletics -- the Oakland A's. When the Tropicana opened it was the most expensive hotel ever built on the Las Vegas Strip at that time. The Florida Aquarium in Tampa is making sure that its residents are

safe ahead of Hurricane Milton making preparations. Staff there have moved their nine African penguins from their enclosure on the first floor to higher ground to avoid the possible very dangerous storm surge, as we've shown you. Other animals taking up temporary shelter ahead of the storm, snakes, lizards, alligators, and one hermit crab. The aquarium has been closed since Tuesday, John.

BERMAN: Hermit crabs, by the way, live forever. And I say that as a father who his sons once took them home from school and we're still raising them.

All right, breaking this morning, a major challenge for Florida residents racing to evacuate before Hurricane Milton makes landfall. And these gas stations -- gas stations running out of fuel.

CNN's Matt Egan is with us now. How bad is this?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, John, this is a significant problem. People are running out of time to get out of the way of the hurricane and some of these gas stations are running out of fuel. So as of 11:00 p.m. last night roughly one in five gas stations across Florida had no fuel. That amounts to just over 1,600 gas stations.

And this is an even bigger problem, as you can imagine, in some of the areas that are facing evacuation orders. In the Fort Myers region, roughly a third of the gas stations last night were out of fuel, and almost half of the gas stations in the Tampa region had no fuel.

Now, GasBuddy says that fuel is flowing but the stations are just having a hard time keeping up with all of this demand from 1) people evacuating, and 2) for people filling up tanks because they want to be able to power their generators. The best bet if you're looking for fuel right now are to go to the major travel stops or the big chains.

Now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis -- he tried to reassure everyone yesterday that the state is doing everything they can to bring emergency supplies to the stations that need it. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: We have been dispatching fuel over the past 24 hours as gas stations have run out. Now, there is no fuel shortage. Fuel continues to arrive in the state of Florida by port and what we're doing to bring it in on the ground, but lines at gas stations have been long. Gas stations are running out quicker than they otherwise would.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now, state troopers in Florida are even escorting some of the fuel tanker trucks to the gas stations that need it the most, John.