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Asheville Art Studio Owner Says She's Lost Everything, Can't Rebuild; FEMA, Defense Dept. To Airlift Supplies To Inaccessible Areas; Biden Gives Update On Helene Recovery Efforts. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: -- covering it extensively. I know you're covering it extensively, so hoping to get the word out there. So help us on the way.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Certainly.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BROWN: That's -- that's our job is to shine a spotlight on what's going on and all of this devastation.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BROWN: We're going to stay on top of it. Jim, thanks for --

ACOSTA: It's good to see you.

BROWN: -- everything you did in your show to call attention to it.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BROWN: And we have the whole next hour to do the same.

ACOSTA: Have a good show.

BROWN: Well, good morning. You are live at the CNN Newsroom on this Monday. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. And we are following breaking news this morning. We were just talking about this. At any moment, President Biden will speak on the federal relief efforts for Hurricane Helene, and we will, of course, bring that to you live.

One of the hardest hit areas is western North Carolina, that entire region now struggling with Helene's catastrophic aftermath. Much of the area's famed scenic landscape completely unrecognizable. Look at these visuals. It just tells you everything you need to know about the devastation and the damage from Helene. In Buncombe County, where Asheville is, at least 35 storm related deaths are reported, with more than 600 people unaccounted for. Officials warn the death toll could go much higher.

And these exclusive pictures just in to CNN, showed the extent of the destruction in Asheville. What you are looking at is the main road there in Biltmore Village. It's near the famous Biltmore Estate. It's a five lane road, usually full of cars. Now, as you see, it is covered in mud and debris. People walking down the middle of the road looking for supplies.

Helene tore through the historic village. The floodwaters rising to roof level and pushing trailers into buildings. Power and water are out in much of the city just basic necessities people need to survive. They don't -- they're not getting right now. This is a transformer in the road leaking fluid. It's been there for days. The power company says it hopes to restore electricity to most cus -- customers by Friday.

And this morning, the mayor of Asheville seemed at a loss for words for what has happened to her city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ESTHER MANHEIMER (D), ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: I've never seen anything like this. It's hard to describe the chaos that it looks like. It -- it really feels like, you know, a post-apocalyptic scene in some T.V. show you watched. And -- and I've never thought I would see it myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And my next guest, owns a studio and garden in Asheville's River Arts District. This is normally a vibrant neighborhood on the banks of the French Broad River, but it was left submerged after the storm. As you see, Pattiy Torno was set to celebrate her studio's 35th anniversary next month, but now she says she's lost everything and she won't be able to rebuild. Pattiy joins us now. Pattiy, thanks for joining us. I see you're in your car. You lost your studio, your home, everything in the storm. I want to give viewers an idea of just how bad the flooding at your studio has been. We're going to show a picture on the screen of what it looked like before the storm right here, and this is what it looked like when the flood set in.

You know, Pattiy. And I know you knew the storm was coming. You saw the forecasts. You were bracing for it. But this was so much worse than you could have ever imagined, right?

PATTIY TORNO, OWNER, CURVE STUDIOS & GARDEN: Yes, yes. I mean, I had lived through the 2004 flood with Hurricane Francis, and we got to about, our river level got to about 15.5 feet. In 1916 the flood level got to 23 feet. So when they were predicting 16.5, 18.5 on Thursday, we were like, OK, this is going to be bad, but it's hard to imagine, I mean, the 1916 flood has always been the big flood. Well, we got to 25 feet this time. So it was two feet higher than anybody had ever experienced here. And so it's just, nobody could have prepared for this. We just couldn't have. Yes.

BROWN: And what is it like for you now? I mean, as you grapple with losing your studio, losing your home, your livelihood, and what your friends are going through too, in your community. TORNO: I think the hardest part for me, I mean, I'm -- I'm an old lady, so I am coming to the end of my working life. So for me, it's not the same kind of devastation. I'm -- I'm OK with not reestablishing my studio. But for all of my tenants and for all of our community, I mean the whole River Arts District, literally easily, if not every studio, 90 percent of the studios in the River Arts District were touched by this flood. There was literally water in probably at least 90 percent of the studios here.

And so I have no idea what the River Arts District is going to look like going forward. I will say that as a founder of the district, I think that the last 20 or 30 years have brought us to this point. And this is a demarcation line that was old school River Arts District, and it will be completely different going forward.

[11:05:08]

BROWN: Yes, to say the least. And, you know, you -- you talk about yourself and that, you know, you're -- you're sort of turning the page on this part of your life. So many of your friends, your community members --

TORNO: Yes, yes.

BROWN: -- they are left, you know, struggling right now. What kind of help or lack thereof are you and your friends getting from government officials there on the ground?

TORNO: Nothing so far. We just got clear of flood water this morning, so I don't think that it was an option until now. It will really depend. My experience in 2004 was that the city was incredibly great in that regard. FEMA, not so much. A couple of my tenants who were seriously impacted back then, eventually, small business administration came through with loans for them that were -- that were helpful, but these guys, their lives, never recovered.

So I think that will be the case for some of the folks here. But as a creative, we are resilient. It is part of our DNA. We figure this -- we figure shit out. Oops, sorry. We figure it out. And so I have -- I have total faith that anybody that wants to stay in the district will figure out how to stay in the district. I'm just -- I'm done. Curve Studios as an entity will not exist anymore.

And that is an incredibly sad thing, you know. But we had a good run. And I have appreciated all of our customers and all of the support that we have gotten over the years. And I look -- I'm very optimistic. I look forward to a positive future. It's just Mother Nature said it's time to move on, so I'm going to listen.

BROWN: So you -- you say you're going to figure blank out. How so, I mean, how do you -- how do you move forward, what, you know, when you wake up in the morning, and how do you -- what -- what do you do?

TORNO: I don't know. I don't have a clue yet. I mean, I truly don't know what the future holds for me. But I'm not worried about that. You know, financially, I'm in good shape. So again, I'm not worried about that. I hope that we can find somebody to buy the property that will do something good with it, or that the federal government decides that this is an area where buildings should not exist, and perhaps, you know, FEMA will buy my property.

But regardless, I have my health, I have my life, my kitties and I got out safe, I'll figure it out. I mean, that's the thing is those of us, and it's the piece that I have learned is, that the world that I live in now is different than when I started Curve Studios 35 years ago. It was possible for a single artist to buy a piece of property in the River Arts District at that time. But that is no longer possible.

A lot of our founders, when they either passed away or they decided to retire, the people buying their properties are not independent artists. And so that breed of Intef people we don't get to play in this particular pool anymore. But we will figure out which pool we do want to play in. And that's the thing that I've always known about myself and my community, is that we'll figure it out.

BROWN: Yes. Wow, what a resilient attitude and -- and truly inspiring given everything you and your community have just been through. Pattiy Torno, best of luck to you. Thank you so much.

TORNO: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, the storm left a 500 mile path of destruction across several states, and now FEMA is helping the devastated communities by airlifting supplies to areas inaccessible wide roads. Keith Turi is with FEMA Office of Response and Recovery, and joins us now. Keith, thanks for your time. You just heard from that Asheville resident. What do you think about what you heard? What would you say to her and the other community members who are struggling right now?

KEITH TURI, FEMA ACTING ASSOC. ADMINISTRATOR FOR RESPONSE & RECOVERY: Yes. I mean the first thing I'd say is everyone at FEMA, for everyone at FEMA, our hearts go out to your previous guests and to everyone who's been impacted in North Carolina and of course, across all the impacted states. This is obviously a very devastating storm for many. It's a difficult time. And I -- and I heard her the uncertainty that she had about where things go from here. And that's -- that's unfortunately a common experience for those that have been impacted by disaster that really is an impressed, unprecedented storm, the level of -- of -- of rainfall and flooding in Western North Carolina specifically is -- is -- was really historic and extreme.

So, but I would say this, that there are -- there's a whole team of emergency management professionals and folks from across the federal family across the state. Agencies that are working day and night to help bring support and supplies to the -- to the communities that have been impacted. We've been doing that from before the storm. They are on the ground now work working.

[11:10:10]

And also for anyone else who's listening in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, the President has declared an emergency disaster declaration. And you can register for assistance at disasterassistance.gov calling 1-800-621-3362, or the FEMA app, and that will be the opening of an opportunity, or not just FEMA, but also other federal agencies today.

BROWN: I'm curious, what do you say to the people, though, who are still stranded with no WiFi, no cell service, no way to communicate with the outside world? Of course, they, because of all of that, they wouldn't be able to hear you right now. But they're -- they -- these people that we've been speaking to are not -- are not seeing that help that you laid out. Why is it that some people are so stranded still and not -- and not getting the -- the -- the help from government officials, from these teams on the ground that you just said?

TURI: Yes, I think -- well, first of all, obviously the -- the storm passed through on Friday. Obviously flood waters active search and rescues that were ongoing and are still ongoing throughout the last couple of days. And we understand, and the state understands, that there are some communities that either roads being out are -- are not accessible. And so what they're doing is a very organized process between the state and the federal government to be able to identify where those locations are, assess transportation routes, clear roads if they need to be cleared or by helicopter, get to certain areas by helicopter.

We've seen rescues and people being brought out of areas that way, and they're going to continue to do that until every area is -- is accessed. Some of these damages are going to be significant. They're not going to be easy fixes, but right now our focus on is on getting those commodities in supporting the folks that are on the ground, getting access to those areas that have not yet been accessed, and also supporting communications, working very hard with the providers of cellular service to be able to help get them additional resources in.

We brought satellite connections in for local officials so they can communicate. So it's a -- it's an all hands on deck effort right now. And -- and we'll work through that and get to every area that we need to get to.

BROWN: We keep hearing the word unprecedented as it relates to this storm in places like in western North Carolina. Was the government, the local and federal government, underprepared for the kind of devastation that this storm has brought?

TURI: Well, I think I don't -- I wouldn't say anyone's unprepared. I think the end of the day, the rainfall totals that we saw in western North Carolina are were absolutely extreme. And we are working through the process of bringing that type of assistance. And we have folks prepositioned in North Carolina advance. We know the state did as well. Commodities were staged. We had four search and rescue teams from the federal government in North Carolina before the storm hit, ready to move in and do search and rescue.

And so that we were -- we are responding as best that -- that -- that the team collectively can do based on the conditions as it became safe to do so. And -- and we will make sure that we get resources to everyone who needs it. BROWN: Just as more of a big picture question. But, you know, many scientists agree that weather events are becoming more severe and more common because of climate change. Is FEMA equipped to handle that?

TURI: Yes. I think we -- we have seen the increasing number of hazards across the nation over the last number of years. As you mentioned, one particular area is increased rainfall rates. Some of these rainstorms we're seeing are getting more intense and -- and more devastated. And so --

BROWN: I'm going to interrupt you, because President Biden is about to speak.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Devastating storms in the South. I spoke with -- for a couple hours with leaders yesterday affected by the hurricane. And Governor Kemp of Georgia, Governor Cooper of North Carolina, county officials of the Big Bend region of Florida, and other leaders in South Carolina and Tennessee about the broad and devastating impacts Hurricane Helene.

It's not just a catastrophic storm, it's historic, history making storm, entire southeast and Appalachia. Damage from the hurricane stretches across at least 10 states. Winds over 120 miles an hour in some places. Storm surges up to 15 feet and record flooding. Communities are devastated. Loved ones waiting not sure if their loved ones are OK. They can't contact them because there's no cell phone connections.

Many more folks displaced with no idea when they'll be able to be returned to the home, if ever, if there's only return to. So keeping our -- we're keeping all our prayers and all the lives lost, those particularly unaccounted for. There's nothing like wondering, is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, alive? And many more who remain without electricity, water, food and communications.

And there's homes and businesses have washed away in an instant. I want them to know we're not leaving until the job is done. Also want you to know I'm committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible. But I've been told that I'd be disruptive if I did it right now. We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any, any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis.

[11:15:10]

My first responsibility is to get all the help needed to those impacted areas. And I expect to be there, excuse me, I have cold. Expect to be there later this week. And I and my team are in constant contact with governors, mayors and local leaders. Head of FEMA Deanne Criswell is on the ground now in North -- North Carolina. She's going to stay in Asheville, and that place your reason for the foreseeable future.

There's been reports of over 100 dead in consequence of this storm. And there are reports about 600 million -- 600 people unaccounted for because they can't be contacted. God willing, they're alive. But there's no way to contact them again because of the lack of cell phone coverage.

I've directed my team to provide every, every available resource as fast as possible to your communities, to rescue, recover and to begin rebuilding. In addition, to FEMA, it includes the Federal Communications Commission to help establish communications capability, the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Defense are going to provide all the resources at its disposal to rescue and assist in clearing debris and delivering lifesaving supplies.

So far, that's over 3,600 personnel deployed. That number is growing by the day. I quickly approved requests from governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia and Alabama for an emergency declaration. And I approved additional requests for the governors of North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, and for disaster declaration to pay -- to pay for debris removal, provide financial assistance directly, directly to survivors.

FEMA and Small Business Administration are there to help the residents whose homes and business were literally destroyed, washed away or blown away. And the Federal search and rescue teams have been working side by side with state and local officials and partners in very treacherous conditions to find those who are missing. And they'll not rest until everyone's accounted for.

I want to thank all -- all the first responders and everyone who's been working around the clock. One of the brave teams volunteered to be there from San Diego County Fire Department, set to travel all the way from California, North Carolina and help. But on their way, they were in a -- in a terrible car accident in Louisiana. We pray for their full recovery, but it was a bad accident.

We know there's more to do. We'll continue to surge resources, including food, water, communications and lifesaving equipment. We'll be there, as I said before, and I mean it, as long as it takes to finish this job. Let me close this, as President, I've seen firsthand the devastating toll that disasters like this take on families and communities.

I've been on the ground for many disasters areas since I've been President, excuse me. And I've heard dozens of stories from survivors about how it feels to be left with nothing, not even knowing where or when to get back on track. I'm here to tell every single survivor in these impacted areas that we will be there with you as long as it takes. Think of yourself, excuse me, and your families. I urge everyone, every return to their communities and home to listen to local officials and follow all safety instructions. Take this seriously. Please be safe.

Your nation has your back, and the Biden-Harris administration will be there until the job is done. God bless you all. And I'm thinking those are still wondering where your loved ones are. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- supplemental to help the people in the southeast, Mr. President?

BIDEN: Say again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to ask Congress for a supplemental.

BIDEN: That's my -- my expectation. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, roughly how much do you think --

BIDEN: Not yet. It's been -- this historic storm, it's devastating. They've never seen anything like this before. And some of our back to back three storms in a row. So it's really, really devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you have instead of asking Congress to come back for a special session for those supplemental?

BIDEN: That is something I may have to request, but no decisions made yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a sense of where you'll go when you are able to go, sir?

BIDEN: Yes. I told the governor of -- of North Carolina, go down. And I -- and I mean I expect to be down there by Wednesday or Thursday. If it would be clear for me to go. You guys have traveled with me as an entourage. It's -- this can be disruptive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything coming President Trump to be down there today in Georgia. Is that disruptive?

BIDEN: I -- I don't have any idea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On another issue on the other side of the world, in the Middle East --

BIDEN: I'm going to stick with this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?

BIDEN: I'm going to stick with this subject. But go ahead, I have -- I have --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, is it matter that Israel may be now watching a limited operation into Lebanon? Are you aware of that? Are you comfortable with their plan?

[11:20:04]

BIDEN: I'm more aware than you might know, and I'm comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now. Thank you.

BROWN: All right. We just heard there from President Biden, talking about the aftermath of Helene, saying that he has approved disaster declaration for several states that his expectation is to ask Congress.

BIDEN: -- the day before as well, I command to call telephone and call (ph) security. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it not important for the country to see --

BROWN: All right now he is walking out the door. He talked about that it is his expectation as Congress for more funding to help with some of these storm ravaged areas we're seeing in several states, particularly in -- in Western North Carolina, where he said the FEMA chief will be for as long as it takes for the foreseeable future. Because this was, as he put it, a historic storm, unprecedented.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House. And Arlette, President Biden talked about the fact that he wanted to go visit, but he didn't want to go too soon, when it could be disruptive.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right Pamela. President Biden said that he does anticipate going to this region to see firsthand the devastation brought by these storms and see what else the federal government do -- can do to help the people as they're recovering. He said that he's hoping to be down in the area by Wednesday or Thursday, but noted he needs to make sure that any trip would not divert from the resources needed to try to help these people in those communities.

He did say that he spoke with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and indicated he would like to go to North Carolina, one of the regions where we are seeing this widespread flooding, and many are wondering and have questions about where their loved ones are if they are doing OK. But President Biden, in his remarks, tried to stress that the federal government would be with this community until the end to make sure that they can recover, that Asheville area in North Carolina, western North Carolina, will be of critical importance to this administration as they're trying to make sure that they can get resources into these isolated communities.

You also had President Biden say that he does plan to ask for additional funding from Congress to help with this storm that impacted the southeast. But Biden in his remarks today trying to make clear that they are taking more steps to try to get more resources, get more rescue operations underway in this area that has affected so many people and caused so much devastation in the states in the southeast.

BROWN: All right. Arlette, thank you so much, live for us from the White House. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:27:10]

BROWN: And back to our top story. The federal government has declared a public health emergency in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The Biden administration is directing hundreds of emergency personnel to those states to help with recovery efforts and medical support. Dawn O'Connell is Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dawn, what are the most critical supply needs right now?

DAWN O'CONNELL, HHS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE: Pam, first of all, thank you so much for having me today. And let me express that our hearts and minds are with all of those that have been impacted by Hurricane Helene. As you just heard the President say, it's all hands on deck. And the Department of Health and Human Services are part of that -- that team effort.

So we are bringing in critical medical supplies to be able to provide clinical care. We currently have teams deployed to the Asheville Hospital and the Spruce Pine, North Carolina, I think it's Blue Ridge Regional Medical Center. And it from those two -- two hospital sites, we're setting up auxiliary field hospitals to be able to provide care as those two medical facilities come back on -- online. So we've got medical supplies that we're working to -- to get there to provide that care.

And we're working with all the states and communities that have been impacted to make sure that they have what they need when it comes to the health and -- and medical supply situation.

BROWN: How tough is it, though, to get those supplies there? When you look at the flooding and the roads closed, and I mean, how do you get them there?

O'CONNELL: Well, our teams pre deployed, I'm, you know, pleased to say that they we had the foresight early last week to send teams down anticipating the landfall of Helene. And we've been moving teams and supplies ever since to make sure that we are in the right place in the communities that need the support the most.

So while we initially positioned in Alabama and Florida, we've been moving those positions up to North Carolina to be able to provide the support they need. We're working shoulder to shoulder with FEMA to -- and the state of North Carolina right now to make sure that we are able to access those roads and get the supplies in as needed. Our teams, as I said, are already in place in Asheville, in moving over to -- to Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

BROWN: Is this worse than anticipated?

O'CONNELL: Well, we don't take anything for granted, and we prepare for whatever might come. And so we've deployed 200 personnel against Hurricane Helene at this point. And we're prepared to deploy additional teammates as -- as needed. It's most important to us that we get these communities the public health and medical care that they need as they continue to recover from the storm.

BROWN: All right, Dawn O'Connell, thank you so much.

[11:30:00]

O'CONNELL: Thank you.

BROWN: And Still ahead this hour, we're monitor -- we're monitoring other big breaking stories. This hour, Hezbollah is vowing to fight after that Israeli airstrike killed --