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Hurricane Milton Strengthens To Near-Category 5 With 155MPH Winds; Nearly 100 Hostages Still Captive After Oct. 7 Terror Attacks. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 07, 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 -- category five. It's projected to do that. This is just downright scary, I -- I mean, just days after Helene.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. So many people are recovering from Helene. As you know --

ACOSTA: Yes.

BROWN: -- the coast there was battered by Helene, and now they've got to worry about this monstrous storm.

ACOSTA: It's huge. Look at that.

BROWN: That meteorologists are just saying they are astonished by how quickly it is gained in strength, as you point out, looks to be coming, you know, a category five hurricane. And we heard DeSantis during your show, DeSantis, the governor of Florida --

ACOSTA: Yes.

BROWN: -- talk about his concern about the debris left from Helene --

ACOSTA: Right.

BROWN: -- whipping up and causing more issues. So --

ACOSTA: That's right.

BROWN: Yes.

ACOSTA: It's -- it's just one powerful storm after another, and -- and they're just not getting any break there on the Gulf coast, just unreal.

BROWN: No, they're not. But it is important for our viewers to know amid all the misinformation that the -- the deputy FEMA administrator told you that they do have the resources --

ACOSTA: That's right. Yes. BROWN: -- for Milton along with Helene, because there was a lot of concern after you heard the DHS secretary say, look, we don't have the resources through hurricane season, so we're going to stay on top of all of this. Jim, thank you so much --

ACOSTA: Good deal.

BROWN: -- for everything.

ACOSTA: All right. Have a great show.

BROWN: Good morning to all of you. Thanks, Jim. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. And we begin the hour with this breaking news I was just talking about. Hurricane Milton is becoming a monster storm churning toward Florida's Gulf coast and rapidly getting stronger.

The hurricane is now a category four and likely to intensify into a cat five. And it's already the third fastest rapidly intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic. Those in its path have only just begun recovering from Helene's devastation. Elisa Raffa joins us now. We are seeing Milton just explode in strength this morning.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is -- it is really mind boggling as a meteorologist to watch this explode in intensity. When I went to sleep last night, which was pretty late, it was a category one hurricane with some 80 miles per hour wind. You're waking up this morning, it is a monster category four storm with 155 miles per hour winds. Gusts are nearing 200 miles per hour.

That eye is just so symmetrical and, you know, becoming classic textbook look on satellite. It is really scary how much this intensifies so quickly, what that does to people at home and gives you less time to prepare. We have increased the winds at the center of this hurricane 50 miles per hour in 24 hours yesterday, again, from yesterday at 5:00 a.m. to this morning.

And then just from this morning, it's increased another 55 miles per hour. So again, just increasing in strength so rapidly because of these incredibly warm ocean temperatures. So because of that, the National Hurricane Center keeps up ticking the intensity on this forecast. Now in the latest track that just came in at 11:00, getting it up to a category five hurricane as it brushes past the Yucatan Peninsula with 165 miles per hour winds.

It is expected to become that category five storm later on today as it continues to rapidly intensify. As it heads towards Florida, where we have these hurricane watches in effect, it runs into some dry air and some wind shear upstairs in the atmosphere, some of that wind energy that hurricanes hate. So some of that intensity will waver, some will start to decline a little bit. But as it does that, the hurricane will get fatter. So that means that those damaging winds will impact more people across the peninsula.

Regardless, you're still looking at a major hurricane, you know, a category three or even possibly, you know, a low end category four storm that heads towards that west coast of Florida. We're looking at winds that will be incredibly dangerous. And storm surge could really be unprecedented for parts of the Tampa Bay area. Pamela?

BROWN: Yes, 8 to 12 feet. Wow. Alisa, thank you so much.

And Milton is forecast to hit the Tampa Bay area directly, as we just saw there in the map, and deliver a life threatening storm surge. This would be the first major hurricane to strike within 50 miles of the city in more than 100 years. Take that in. The massive hurricane, prompting Tampa International Airport to announce that it will suspend operations early tomorrow.

And I want to bring in Tampa's mayor, Jane Castor, to discuss more of this. Mayor, your area took a beating from Hurricane Helene. Now you're bracing for Milton. What is your biggest concern right now?

MAYOR JANE CASTOR (D), TAMPA: Pamela, right at this very moment, it is getting that household debris from Helene, getting all of that picked up so that it doesn't become flying objects when Milton comes to visit.

BROWN: We heard the governor of Florida talk about that debris and the concern for the removal. Where are you in terms of removing that debris before Milton hits?

CASTOR: Well, we are working around the clock. We have an all hands on deck. We are using every resource we have here in the city. Unfortunately, our contractor for debris removal didn't show up with the trucks that they were supposed to have. And so we're -- we're getting it done and we anticipate that we will have all of the household debris picked up by tomorrow evening.

[11:05:05]

BROWN: That's unfortunate that they didn't show up with the trucks when they were supposed to.

CASTOR: Right.

BROWN: Given the Milton is -- is -

(CROSSTALK)

CASTOR: It's not unusual, unfortunately.

BROWN: That is very unfortunate. And you have this just monster storm heading your way. Are you getting the sense that residents are heeding the warnings to evacuate?

CASTOR: Yes, without a doubt. As you stated, we haven't had a direct hit in over a century. We've had a lot of near misses. And so individuals, our community, the Tampa Bay region was becoming somewhat complacent. But Helene really woke everyone up.

BROWN: Yes. CASTOR: We had 4 to 6 foot tidal surge. I can say my entire time here in the city of Tampa, 64 years, I've never seen the damage that we saw with Helene. And Milton is on a whole other plateau.

BROWN: It is. I mean, it certainly is. It -- it looks to become a cat 5 soon. I mean, that is how serious this is. And we know how important, of course, coordination is on the local and the federal level. What is your coordination with the federal government looking like and having FEMA personnel, for example, embed for the storm?

CASTOR: Well, we have always had great partnerships on the federal, state and local level. As a matter of fact, the director of FEMA is coming here today at 2 o'clock to look at the damage from Helene and to see what else we may need here in the Tampa Bay region to deal with Milton.

BROWN: I'm wondering, I need to ask you this, because after Helene, as you may notice, there's a lot of misinformation flying around. What is your concern about that and what that could mean, you know, after Milton hits?

CASTOR: Well, we're just asking people to go to a reliable source. And our communications department in the city of Tampa does an amazing job of keeping our residents informed with factual information and the information that they need not only to prepare, but to evacuate and to ensure that they're keeping themselves and their families safe.

BROWN: All right, Mayor Jane Castor, best of luck to you and your community as you brace for Milton.

CASTOR: Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you.

BROWN: As the southeast prepares for another potentially catastrophic storm, much of western North Carolina is still nearly unrecognizable following Hurricane Helene. Many communities lost everything in the devastating floodwaters, and they now face an uncertain future as they begin to pick up the pieces.

Joining us now is Joel Friedman. He's the owner of Zuma Coffee in Marshall, North Carolina. That's a small town on the banks of the French Broad River just outside of Asheville. His shop, along with nearly the entire town, was lost to flooding during the storm. Joel, thanks for your time. Just give us a sense of the level of destruction in your town, what you're still seeing all these days after Helene.

JOEL FRIEDMAN, LOST COFFEE SHOP IN HURRICANE HELENE FLOODING: Absolutely. Thank you, Pamela. The level of destruction is devastating. My whole town of about 800 people, every business was affected. I watched some float down the river. I watched the water rise in my building to 8 foot tall. I was across the river at my apartment. I was able to see it, to believe it, to grieve it, and to let it go. And know that my town, Marshall, also known as Magic Town, will -- will come back.

BROWN: You believe it will come back. It might take some time. But you are hopeful. FRIEDMAN: Yes.

BROWN: You've been there for nearly 30 years, right? I mean, this is -- this must be so traumatic for you and your neighbors.

FRIEDMAN: It is -- it is really traumatic, but it's actually very heartwarming right now. I live in a town full of heroes. We have self- organized. We have world class volunteers and organizers. And it is everyone's life's work and mission right now to make Marshall thrive again.

BROWN: What kind of help are you seeing? You say you're self- organizing. Are you getting enough help, you think, from the local, the state, and -- and, you know, federal government right now?

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely. Initially, it has just been self-organized with our community. People have gathered together at the Nanostead location. It's command central. There's food for everybody. There's volunteers showing up by the dozens from all over the communities around us. They're -- they're mucking out buildings. They're taking care of everything the town needs. It's just been really amazing to see the organization and the love being brought to Marshall.

[11:10:00]

BROWN: Absolutely. And just to be clear, you are getting -- you are seeing help on the ground from the government, right, because there is a lot of misinformation flying around right now.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.

BROWN: I want to hear your account.

FRIEDMAN: FEMA set up their offices. Yes, Zuma is -- the -- the community has seen FEMA. They're setting up their offices around. Hazmat's been here. We've got a lot of mud. Worried about the quality of the air, worried about the mud, worried about any toxicity, things are being tested and the -- the level of help has just been fantastic.

BROWN: That is good to hear. What are your outstanding needs right now?

FRIEDMAN: Big equipment and funding. There have been lots of GoFundMe set up for both individual businesses like myself, but also for the town. And they're looking for, you know, everything from dump trucks, to heavy moving equipment. Soon it'll be remediation into the stores. Whether it's big fans, big dehumidifiers, just an abundance of everything right now. Food and water we are so well on. Food trucks have been set up, water stations.

We -- we are back on our feet as much as possible. Our local radio station WART is back up to go on the air. There will be constant information fed to the community from that source.

BROWN: All right, Joel Friedman, thank you so much for coming on. I'm glad, as you say, you're getting back on your feet. But you still have a long way to go and there are still those needs that you mentioned. Thanks for coming on to make -- to make us all aware of what's going on the ground there.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.

BROWN: And very shortly --

FRIEDMAN: Marshall, Magic Town will be back.

BROWN: I love that positive attitude. That's what it's all about, that resiliency. Thanks again.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, we thrive.

BROWN: And very shortly, the governor of North Carolina.

FRIEDMAN: Thank you for your time.

BROWN: Thank you. The governor of North Carolina will give an update on recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene. We will bring that to you live.

And still ahead this hour, we're keeping a close watch on Hurricane Milton, rapidly growing in strength and speed right now. Forecasters say they are confident it could become a category five by this evening.

And today, marks one year since the coordinated terror attack by Hamas. Officials believe there are nearly people -- there are nearly 100 people who are still being held hostage in Gaza since that attack, and that includes Keith Siegel. I'll speak live with his brother and his niece after the break.

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[11:16:59]

BROWN: It was one year ago today. Hamas terrorists poured across the Gaza border and stormed into a music festival of mostly young people in southern Israel. The dawn attack would begin the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. Today, families are remembering their loved ones, 1,200 people killed, 250 taken hostage, 97 still held in Gaza.

This morning, a siren marked the moment terrorists first struck at 6:39 a.m. local time. This is right outside the Jerusalem home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Families lifted images of loved ones who are still being held in captivity.

Well, CNN chief national security analyst, Jim Sciutto is just outside of Tel Aviv at a gathering of survivors from that Nova Music Festival. And Jim, you've spent the day talking with people there. Tell us about how they're coping with the weight of this moment.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, Pamela, I've been to a couple of these. Now, one earlier in the day with families of hostages still being held in Gaza, and now here with survivors of the Nova Music Festival, you may remember, close to 400 people were killed the morning of October 7th at that fest -- festival. There were 4,000 survivors. And many of them are here now just on Lake Tel Aviv -- in Tel Aviv.

And they're trying, it -- it seems to me, in this memorial to create some of the spirit of that festival. Folks gathering together. They're making flower bouquets. They're painting. There have been meditation ceremonies. There's live music, finding ways to -- to, I think, bring back some of the spirit of that day, at least what the Nova Festival was meant to before it was attacked so violently.

And also, I believe, comfort themselves, right? The -- they're here to remember. And off in the distance there, you may be able to see, well, this is a -- a child's painting along with some of the other participants that day. This is part of therapy, right, that folks are attempting here. Off in the distance as well, there are some pictures of all those who died that day. And I was thinking, as I was looking at those pictures, how they're all young people, right? Young people who went there to celebrate and didn't come home.

They're doing their very best here to create hope. You see some smiles on faces, but there's also fear. And I'll tell you, just a few minutes ago, we heard yet another air raid siren in Tel Aviv today. This whole event cleared out for a few minutes. And then I looked up in the sky and we could see the smoke trail of the interceptor missile flying in the sky to intercept what we now know was a missile fired by the Houthi rebels in Yemen towards here in Israel.

[11:20:04]

So you have a chance to remember, a chance to try to come together and take care of each other. But constantly, Pamela, surrounded by the fact that this is a country still at war and won at war on multiple fronts, it's still going on in Gaza against Hamas. It is expanding against Hezbollah in Lebanon. There are missiles being fired from Yemen. And of course, now the -- the question weighing over this country and many people here is, how does Israel now respond to those missile attacks from Iran?

It's a multi front war. And it's really just impossible to escape that even when you try to find moments of peace, to -- to remember all the victims of that day.

BROWN: Yes. In fact, later in the show, I'm interviewing the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. I'm -- I'm, of course, going to bring that up to him and ask him about that. But, Jim, there still hasn't been a public investigation on how intel officials missed this attack.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BROWN: And that has to be just infuriating for -- for victims' families.

SCIUTTO: It is. Particularly, and I -- I spent a lot of time this week with -- with the father of one of the Israeli soldiers who was trying to raise the alarm in advance. It was an all-female observer unit located just a half mile from Gaza. And Roni Eshel, she was giving warnings for weeks that Hamas was planning something.

And she was the one who that day, along with her fellow soldiers, who issued the initial warnings that Hamas was breaking through the fence line is coming and coming. Sadly, she died that day with -- with several others, three dozen soldiers in her base there. I spoke to her father, and this is one father's frustration with the fact that they still haven't answered those questions today about why those warnings were missed. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: No one from the army or the government ever said to you, I take responsibility?

EYAL ESHEL, FATHER OF OCTOBER 7 ATTACK VICTIM: No one. No one.

SCIUTTO: Has anyone ever said I'm sorry?

ESHEL: No one. I need answers. And I need the responsibility. And I need the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: They're still waiting for those answers. But I'll tell you the thing they're really waiting for, Pamela, and I certainly hear that here, is they're waiting for a moment of peace. And it's so hard to find those moments of peace, even at a festival, at a memorial like this one, as we saw just a few minutes ago.

BROWN: Yes, understandably, Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv, thank you.

And still, one year later, the families of the nearly 100 hostages taken on October 7th are demanding officials bring their loved ones back home. Right now, seven of those missing are Americans. And President Biden this weekend said that he plans to speak with these families directly.

My next guests are the family members of Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel. Both he and his wife were kidnapped from their home by Hamas militants during the October 7th attacks. His wife, Aviva, was released in a hostage deal last year, but he was not.

With us now is his niece, Hannah, and his brother, David Siegel. Thank you for coming on. I know it's a very heavy day for both of you with, you know, your loved one being in captivity one year on. Do you have any update, first off, of how he is doing?

DAVID SIEGEL, BROTHER OF AMERICAN HOSTAGE KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: We don't really have any direct information since the video in April. That was a proof of life evidence. We're told that intelligence indicates that he's alive, but we actually don't have any confirmation of that.

BROWN: Keith's wife, Aviva, was released in a hostage jail last year. She was held captive with him, and she talked about just the starvation, the torture that she endured with him. He is presumably still being held under those same conditions. How do you process that and move forward every day knowing that?

HANNA SIEGEL, NIECE OF AMERICAN HOSTAGE KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS: I think we can't really. It -- it's unfathomable to think about. Obviously, the conditions in Gaza have only gotten worse, which is devastating. And so we worry about him every day, but we remain optimistic and hopeful that he'll come home.

BROWN: What about you?

D. SIEGEL: Yes, I think, as Hanna said, it's really not possible to understand it. And being with it every day is very painful. But at the same time, we have to maintain hope and we have to maintain awareness, which you, having us on the program helps in that effort. And we want the American government, who have been tremendously focused on this and communicative with all of the families, to be thinking about prioritizing the American citizens.

A larger agreement that brings everyone home and establishes a ceasefire is, of course, what we all want. That hasn't happened despite a lot of very intensive and persistent efforts.

[11:25:05]

BROWN: Yes. You've heard President Biden, Vice President Harris talk about that ceasefire deal being a priority. But do you get the sense that's a priority with Benjamin Netanyahu?

D. SIEGEL: We haven't felt encouraged that Prime Minister Netanyahu has placed bringing the hostages home as his number one priority, let alone a ceasefire. But to really focus on the American citizens, the Israeli citizens who remained -- who remain captive and many have already died. And each day that goes by, there's that risk that more will perish. So we -- we need him to be more focused on that as his top of the list task as leader of Israel.

BROWN: You say you haven't been encouraged. What is your message to him today?

H. SIEGEL: You know, I think candidly, we don't believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu's priority is to bring home the hostages. And so a year later, as a larger deal has proven elusive, we do believe that President Biden and the Biden administration could find a way to bring at least the Americans home, the four Americans who are presumed alive, including Keith, and the three Americans who are deceased.

We ask the administration to shift their focus for now towards bringing the American citizens home. That's their number one responsibility. And while every day we hope for a ceasefire deal and for everyone to come home. We do believe there's an opportunity for the Biden administration to bring the Americans home. And -- and we hope that they'll focus their efforts there, especially as we have, you know, a very consequential election in the United States and fears of a regional war. BROWN: And right here on your screen as -- are pictures that there -- was up there of the -- the seven American hostages in Gaza. And, you know, our hearts just go out to their families, to you all. If -- if Keith could hear you right now, what would you want to tell him?

H. SIEGEL: I think we'd tell him to be strong and survive and -- and that we'll see him soon.

D. SIEGEL: And that we're thinking about him every minute and working as hard as we can to bring about change.

BROWN: Hanna and David Siegel, thank you both. We'll be right back.

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