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Trump Makes Blue-State Detour This Weekend In California; Harris Releases Medical Information; President Biden Calls On Congress To Step Up Hurricane Relief; Northern Gaza Residents Flee After Israel's Evacuation Order; Iran Warns U.S. Of Retaliation Against Any Future Israeli Strike; Trump Conspiracy Supporter Shapes Georgia Election Rules; Disaster Response Teams Begin Immediate Relief Efforts Across Florida. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 12, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thank you so much for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

We are now just over three weeks, only three weeks away from election day, and the candidates and their running mates are keeping busy campaigning all across the country this weekend.

Right now Senator J.D. Vance, Trump's running mate, he's in battleground Pennsylvania where he just toured a company that is developing military vehicles and defense systems. Meanwhile, the Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz, he is spending part of his morning or he spent part of his morning pheasant hunting in his home state of Minnesota, where he is of course the governor.

A brand new poll out today of two key battleground states shows how tight this race really is. The "New York Times"-Sienna College poll has Vice President Kamala Harris with a slight lead in Pennsylvania, while former president Donald Trump takes a similar size lead out in Arizona. Both candidates are on the campaign trail today, traveling to battleground states on opposite sides of the country.

Trump is campaigning out west. In the next hour, he's going to be holding a roundtable campaign event near Las Vegas in battleground Nevada. And later tonight he's going to be holding a rare campaign rally in the deep blue state of California where he lost by some five million votes in 2020.

And that's where we find CNN's Kristen Holmes right where Trump is going be holding that rally tonight.

Kristen, so what do we know about Trump's strategy here for campaigning in this state where frankly he stands no chance of winning in November.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, it's not just California. Yesterday he was in Colorado, another blue state. Of course, they've been teasing this Madison Square Garden in New York rally. He's planning for an event in Chicago later this week. So he's clearly doing some diversion from these battleground states. And when you talk to his senior advisers they say that it doesn't really matter where Donald Trump is campaigning.

Sure. They are still doing these battleground states. In addition to Colorado yesterday, he was in Nevada where we see him again today. He will be in Arizona tomorrow, but they say that they believe the media landscape has changed and one of the things that they are trying to do is reached these low propensity voters. These voters that don't typically engage with politics in a general media landscape. They might get their news from podcasts or clips on social media and they believe that this, a rally at Coachella, could go just as far as a swing-state rally.

Now this also gives him an opportunity and this is what we expect to hear from him today to just rag on Kamala Harris. One of the things that he has done time and time again is attack her record in the state of California as well as Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. So we expect him to go after her for that as well. When you talk to these traditional Republican operatives, they think this is a wasted opportunity. They have no idea why Donald Trump is in this state today.

Now I did have some sources tell me that Donald Trump has been saying he thought he could win California. But if you talk to the people who are actually close to him, the people running the campaign, they think that is absolutely a pipe dream that there's no way that that could happen.

Of course we will be here on the ground. We'll keep you posted on how many people actually show up. We know he has some supporters in Southern California but, again, as you said, almost zero chance of winning in this state.

MARQUARDT: All right. Kristen Holmes in Coachella, California, thanks very much.

In the next couple of hours, Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be heading to battleground and storm-battered North Carolina. She's spending the weekend in that state before heading to Pennsylvania on Monday. Earlier today, the vice president released her medical information. Her doctor has detailed the 59-year-old's medical history and health report.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now with the details.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The vice president's doctor saying that she is in, quote, "excellent health" in a letter summarizing her medical history. It is the first time that the vice president's office has released her medical records with this level of detail.

Now, in this nearly two-page letter, the doctor says that she has some seasonal allergies, hives, and is near-sighted. But it also notes that her routine blood work and her April physical exam showed no cause for alarm. That is a resounding message from this letter which also goes on to say, quote, "She possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency to include those as chief executive, head of state, and commander in chief."

Now, of course, this letter coming just weeks from election day as the vice president's campaign tries to draw a stark contrast with that of former president Donald Trump, who is 78 years old. Of course, it was a main concern or at least a top concern for voters earlier this year, particularly when the race was against foreign president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. So the vice president's office through this letter noting that the vice president has a clean bill of health, according to her doctor.

[15:05:01]

Now, of course, Harris advisers are also aware that polls remain stubbornly close. They have been aware that they are going to be quite tight up until election day. But according to some sources I've spoken with close to the campaign it has certainly caused some anxiety because they just haven't seen the needle move very much over the last several weeks.

Now, the vice president for her part heading to North Carolina on Saturday. She is going to be doubling down on black voter outreach over the course of today and tomorrow. Later today specifically she'll be visiting a local restaurant where she will be meeting with local black elected officials and community leaders. She's also going to be helping in some of the hurricane relief efforts while she is there.

And then tomorrow in Greenville, North Carolina, she will be attending a church service, delivering remarks and meeting with black farmers to discuss what she has described as the opportunity economy. Then later she will hold a rally in North Carolina. But all of this quite notable because black voters and black men in particular have been a weak spot for the campaign as they try to shore up support amid what has been waning enthusiasm. So the vice president targeting that this this weekend as she heads to North Carolina -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Thanks to Priscilla Alvarez.

And joining me now to talk more about these developments in the race for the White House is Seema Mehta. She is a political reporter for the "Los Angeles Times."

Seema, great to see you again. Let me start with Vice President Harris releasing this medical report and part of the reason that she's released this letter is to really draw a contrast between herself and Donald Trump who at 78 years old is vying to become the oldest person ever elected to that office. And he has released relatively little information about his own medical history.

How much do you think voters care about this?

SEEMA MEHTA, POLITICAL REPORTER, LOS ANGELES TIMES: I think most voters have already, on either side, have largely already made up their minds about this issue on whether they think he's fit or not or he's healthy or not. If you'll recall, in presidential elections past it was very common for both candidates to really pretty detailed medical histories. I mean, I remember John McCain in 2008 released some piles and piles of documents because he has this cancer history.

So this is sort of a new norm since President Trump was elected in 2016, where it's just campaigns are run so much differently. But honestly, I think most voters have largely made up their minds and also even if they're worried about health, they're worried about issues like the border, the economy, immigration, fuel prices, inflation, a lot of other things that they're more likely to make their decisions on.

MARQUARDT: And you just heard Kristen Holmes there talking about this rally that Trump is holding in California today in Coachella. You know better than anybody he did not do well last time. He lost California by 30 points.

What do you make of this Trump campaign strategy to campaign today, to spend time with just three weeks to go in such a deep blue state?

MEHTA: Well, if you remember in 2020 two weeks before the election, he came to Orange County to hold a big fundraiser and he raised so much money. This time we don't know if any fundraisers, but Coachella Valley, that desert, there are a lot of wealthy donors out there, so it would not be surprising if he's meeting with them, you know, or they show up at this event. In addition, I think, you know, the point his campaign makes about this sort of a nationalized campaigning. Wherever he goes, his message is going to be played all over the airwaves everywhere.

And I've heard one other thing from some Republicans in California, who have ties with his campaign, and that's, you know, he wants to have a better popular vote showing than previous elections. And even if California is extraordinarily blue, because the state is so big, it's home to like 5.5 million or so Republicans, registered Republicans, which is the most of any state that has for your party preference.

So even though California is obviously very, very Democratic, but still there are so many Republicans here who could help him with the popular vote.

MARQUARDT: Yes, that's a good point. He does talk about the popular vote a lot, which of course, as we all know, it doesn't really matter.

I want to talk to you about these new poll numbers from "The New York Times" and Sienna College. And it shows Trump with a five-point lead over Harris in Arizona. You just wrote a piece about a large influx of California voters who have moved to Arizona. Do you think that that influx of Californians could impact the Arizona race?

MEHTA: I mean, I don't think we know exactly how yet, but we know in 2022 about 75,000 or so Californians moved there. Over the last couple of years there's been a couple of hundred thousand. So it is impacting. We see some areas getting more blue, some areas getting more red. But we don't know statewide exactly what the impact is going to be, but certainly, I mean, there are native Arizonans who (INAUDIBLE), California, my Arizona, they're concerned about it.

MARQUARDT: And when it comes to Arizona and reproductive rights, we know that abortion access is also on the ballot in November. How much do you think that's going to impact the presidential race broadly but specifically in Arizona as well?

[15:10:00]

MEHTA: Absolutely. I mean, I went door-knocking with some canvassers two weekends ago when it was 116 degrees. It was lovely. But actually when we went to a number of doors where people answered, that was one of the things they brought up, particularly women. And I think, you know, for women in Arizona, as well as women in places like Orange County, which California, which won't obviously determine the presidency, but will determine some crucial House raises, or in the suburbs of Atlanta, or the suburbs of Dallas, those suburban women, this seems like a very motivating issue. And we saw that in 2022 after Roe was overturned.

MARQUARDT: All right, Seema Mehta, from the "Los Angeles Times." Thanks so much for coming on today.

MEHTA: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: And still to come, President Biden's message to Congress, step up with additional funding for recovery for the areas impacted by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. And later, Israel intensifying its military operations in northern Gaza. Emergency responders say at least 22 Palestinians were killed by bombardment in that area. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:36]

MARQUARDT: President Biden is calling on Congress to step up to make sure that FEMA has the money that it needs to deal with hurricane disaster relief. The federal government's coffers are draining fast after these two back-to-back major hurricanes slammed into the southeast in just a matter of weeks.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is live for us at the White House.

So, Julia, we've been told that FEMA can meet the immediate need. But what about the longer-term recovery efforts?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the FEMA disaster relief fund is dwindling quickly. The agency has had to address both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in recent weeks, and that's on top of an already extreme year for weather events across the country.

On Friday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to step up and start the process of approving more disaster relief particularly for small businesses. The SBA administrator emphasized that in a matter of days, they'd be depleted of resources.

Now, Biden said that he had not yet spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson directly on this, but that he wants to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to be going for Congress. We're going to need a lot of help. It'd be about more money as we identify specifically how much is needed. So I'm just telling everybody now. I don't want to hear this is going to be inevitable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Congress is on recess until after the election and neither Johnson nor Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer have indicated that they have plans to bring back members early in order to address this.

And the discussion around FEMA and disaster relief has really taken a political turn in recent weeks, which could complicate these discussions on Capitol Hill. Former president Donald Trump has falsely suggested that funds meant for hurricane victims had been directed to migrants or had mysteriously disappeared.

Now, Biden has pushed back against Trump repeatedly for making these false statements about the federal government's response. Biden has also said that he's been in contact with mayors and governors in the areas affected. Many of them Republicans and he's praised them for pushing back against misinformation.

The president is headed to the areas affected by Hurricane Milton tomorrow. We don't have a lot of details about his trip yet, but we do expect him to speak with local officials and survey some of the damage -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Julia Benbrook at the White House, thank you very much for that report.

I want to bring in someone familiar with crisis management in the wake of a natural disaster, retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore. He played a pivotal role in the days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region back in 2005. General Honore is joining us now from Baton Rouge.

General, thank you so much for being with us in the wake of these two incredibly fierce storms. How would you grade the federal response to Hurricanes Milton and Helene?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET), FORMER COMMANDER, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: Well, I've never seen an A in a major disaster response, there's no such thing because the devastation caused by a disaster caused people to lose their lives and to lose property. There's no such thing as getting an A grade but in terms of the collaboration that's happening between the White House, FEMA and the governors, I think they're doing a good strong B.

And that's about as best you can get in a disaster because the people on the ground will never think you have an A when they lost their house, lost their livestock, lost their pets. You'll never get an A. But they're doing good enough at this time. They need to do more direct communications with the people and those speed bureaucracy, speak plain language on what people are entitled to. Thank you.

MARQUARDT: I'm sure many of these scenes for you are reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina. When you think back to that time in 2005 comparing it to what we've been seeing these past few weeks in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and other states, do you see similarities between how all of this played out?

HONORE: Yes. I see the great work by the first responders. I see great work by the volunteers supported by state and federal folks from all over the country come to the needs as well as the power industry to try and restore power.

The other thing I pay attention to is rumors. Now it is called misinformation because of the internet and people putting information out. But we dealt with rumors in Katrina. We had rumors of them blowing the levee to disadvantaged communities.

[15:20:06]

That was a lie. And we had a rumor that there were snipers in New Orleans. Immediately had to get on TV. And I think we got to do a better job to get on TV and tell people those are rumors or misinformation because the longer it stays out there, the more people get confused.

You know, a lie will go around the world before a truth can get out the box. So we've got to be more responsive to -- respondent to that misinformation because it moves so fast and it is the political season. The opposition party will all poke a pen and something that they don't quite understand or it meets their political talking points. But I give great praise to the state and the first responders.

MARQUARDT: I'm really glad you brought that up because those lies that you talk about can be spread so much faster now given how we communicate and we've seen all kinds of nefarious mis and disinformation in the wake of these storms.

So given the tools that we have now and given the communications era that we live in where people question all kinds of things and there are lies and conspiracies all over the place, what do you think the federal government and the state governments need to do to better communicate to people who are recovering in the wake of these storms or trying to survive these storms?

HONORE: Well, as it is right now, say Milton, when you got millions of people without electricity, without power, and may not have cell, the people that really need this information won't get it but what it does is go through the rest of the country and give them confidence that the government, federal, state, and local, are doing everything they can to try to keep people alive in this response phase.

And that's the big message that's got to go out because if not that lie or that misinformation will slick through and it will end up to some people on the ground and some of that has been devastating to people morale. So the government has got to communicate more frequently and have news conferences twice a day. I don't care if you do it from FEMA headquarters. They've got to get out and tell the rest of the country what they're doing to help the governor and what they're doing to help to people. And that need to be done more frequently, my recommendation.

MARQUARDT: All right. Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore, no one better to weigh in on this subject. Thank you very much for joining us today.

HONORE: And bless the first responders. They're doing a great job. And if you can help fund an NGOs, help him. They're doing a great work to help our people.

MARQUARDT: They certainly are. Excellent note. Thank you, sir.

Up next, residents of northern Gaza are fleeing after Israel issues new evacuation notices. We'll take you inside Gaza. And a look at the brutality of this war and the price that people are paying. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:14]

MARQUARDT: There are new developments today in the Middle East with Iran now telling the U.S. and other Middle Eastern countries that it will retaliate against any new Israeli attack. It follows days of urgent diplomacy across the region including by Tehran to gauge whether it can reduce the scale of Israel's response to that Iranian missile attack against Israel earlier this month. And in northern Gaza, you can see that people now fleeing after Israel issued yet more evacuation orders as it continues to ramp up its military operations there.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Tel Aviv.

So, Nic, what do we know about this latest Israeli offensive in northern Gaza?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the IDF says that in the north of Gaza they see Hamas regrouping and they are targeting them, and they've issued these new evacuation orders to another area in northern Gaza or expanding the area where they're telling people it's no longer safe. The language that they're using is very strong there. They're saying it's going to be a combat zone, that the operations there will be with a lot of force and that this will be for an extended period and pushing people further south.

And there's growing concern that the IDF may be working to a plan to really push much of the population of northern Gaza out possibly permanently. Now that's not a position the government has definitively taken, but it's certainly something that government has discussed over recent weeks.

The operation at the moment is -- it continues in the two northern towns and beginning to sort of get closer to the Gaza City. There was a strike overnight where 22 people were killed in Jabalya Camp, which is one of the areas of those evacuation orders.

But I want to take you to the aftermath of another IDF strike in the center of Gaza this time, not in the north. But we have to warn viewers here that some of that material is very, very disturbing. This is graphic video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Across a hospital floor, a Gazan hellscape. Leyan Hamadin (PH), a 13-year-old girl, has third-degree burns, is in shock. She tells the medic her name, asked for his, then reaches out to hug him, asking, will I die? You won't die, you'll be fine, he reassures her. What happened, she asks. There is nothing wrong with you, he says. What happened, she asks again. He tells her, there's nothing wrong with your body, except a few wounds, and then you'll heal.

[15:30:01]

Leyan (PH) is one of the lucky ones. A survivor from an Israeli strike Thursday on a school turned shelter to thousands, which according to Gazan health officials, killed at least 28 people. This day, those same officials announcing more than 42,000 Palestinians killed since October 7th last year. The IDF said they were targeting a terrorist command and control center at the school compound.

Displaced like the school they were sheltering in, reduced, mentally broken. This man with an angry message for Hamas.

We don't want them and we don't want their solutions. They sold us out long ago. Let their leaders come and watch us as we search for bodies with our bare hands.

The unlucky this day disgorged from overstuffed ambulances. This death cycle, repeated beyond anyone's wildest nightmare day by day, sometimes hour by hour.

My husband's name is Ahmed Abdel Hamouda (PH). Show me where he is. They killed him. He was my support, the support of his disabled daughters. God is great. God is great.

Her final goodbye here at the hospital. A starting point for a pain and suffering already dreaded and endured for more than a year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (on-camera): Now the young girl who we featured at the beginning of that report, we've been in touch with her mother. She was in surgery yesterday and she continues we understand to do what the doctors are expecting which is survive and on a road to recovery.

And going back to those evacuation orders in the north of Gaza, they affected the Kamal Adwan Hospital right in the north. They were told that they had to evacuate, had to get everyone out. ICUs, they're running out the fuel. Well, for several days they were trying to evacuate those patients, couldn't do it, and we've seen this evening, they have finally gotten some fuel. An ambulance has arrived to that hospital and managed to evacuated 16 of their ICU patients out of the hospital.

Other hospitals face these same warnings to basically shut down in advance of this big military operation that's underway in the north there -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes. The look in that young girl's eyes just really speaks to the incredible fear there.

Nic Robertson, thank you very much for that report.

Joining me now is Andrew Miller, the former deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs.

Andrew, thanks so much for being with us. I do want to get back to Gaza in just a moment, but right now there's a bigger overarching question about when Israel will retaliate against Iran. Yom Kippur is now over. What do you think that we're going to see and when?

ANDREW MILLER, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ISRAELI- PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS: Thanks for having me again, Alex. As you noted, Yom Kippur has just ended in Israel, in the region. I thought it was unlikely Israel would initiate the strikes during that holiest of days and given the overall significance of that holiday.

We could see a strike at any point in the coming days. It appears that there's been closer coordination between the Biden administration and Israel on Israel's retaliation this time, as compared to April. That doesn't mean that the United States is necessarily going to be involved in retaliation but in April we were -- we received some notice that a response was coming, but we didn't have a great deal of information about what it would entail.

We've seen evidence and we've seen indications that President Biden and others on his team had been discussing specific targets with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government. President Biden has been pretty clear that he does not support a strike on nuclear facilities because that would most likely launch a nuclear arms race in the region. And he's also expressed reservations about targeting energy facilities within Iran because of the impact on the global economy and the likelihood Iran would respond against Arab oil supplies.

So I think we're more likely looking at perhaps targeting military bases, manufacturing facilities for the types of missiles that were launched at Israel, and what's called persona targeting, going after specific individuals of importance. I suspect the supreme leader is out of touch and as well protected as he could be. But there are other significant Iranian officials who may be in the crosshairs.

[15:35:09]

MARQUARDT: Do you think in that case, Andrew, that there's a chance that Iran could absorb that retaliation and the escalation stops there? MILLER: There is a chance and that's what they did in April, and I

think in April we were very concerned that Iran couldn't absorb a response and essentially declare it's all off. We've received conflicting signals from Iran this time about whether they would respond or not. There were some indications that Iran doesn't want escalation and they're not inclined to respond. Other Iranian officials have indicated that if there's any response this time they're going to have to respond in some way.

MARQUARDT: Right.

MILLER: I tend to think that the Iranians will respond if only because the last instance in April in which they didn't respond and did not establish the deterrence vis-a-vis Israel that they were seeking. It's just perverse logic where you have to get the last shot and Iran may feel even more inclined to take another response. And of course, if this cycle continues, it becomes very difficult to identify where the endpoint is if there is an endpoint.

MARQUARDT: Right. Let's talk about Lebanon. The U.S. appears to no longer be pushing for a ceasefire despite putting one out some two weeks ago between Israel and Hezbollah. We have U.S. officials now talking more about using this moment of weakness in Hezbollah to reform the Lebanese government. How do you expect these next few weeks to unfold?

MILLER: Well, the situation is different than we anticipated, and I think we need to acknowledge when our assumptions are wrong and most of us, most experts, including the United States and Israel expected Hezbollah's resistance to be stronger, expected a stronger response from Iran to assist Hezbollah. That hasn't happened yet, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

The primary Israeli objective is to eliminate Hezbollah's presence in the area below the Litani River, which is roughly 18 miles from the Israeli border. And that's the area from which Hezbollah can most easily launch projectiles and other rockets into Israel and harass both military and civilian installations within Israel. So at the very least, I think we should expect to see the IDF continuing to move on the ground towards the Litani, rooting out infrastructure.

The question is, where do they go beyond that? Do they go north of Litani? There have been airstrikes south -- north of the Litani, south of the Awali River. Is that just going to be limited to air activity or is there going to be an effort to potentially move IDF forces farther north which would break the pattern that we've seen over the last 40 years in which most of the combat was relegated to the Litani.

MARQUARDT: Right.

MILLER: But for the -- in terms of the broader picture, even if Israel does succeed and they may well in dismantling Hezbollah's infrastructure, the real objective will be preventing Hezbollah or someone else from reconstituting that presence, and that can only be achieved by the presence of a military force, whether it's the Lebanese military and-or UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping body, or some type of political agreement that's supported by the Lebanese government that will keep other armed actors out of there.

And there may be an opportunity to make progress and I think that's what the White House sees. I think that's what the Israeli government is telling President Biden on. And we shouldn't be insensitive to the possibility that there could be some advantage to be gained from this. But we also have to keep in mind the long history of Israel and Lebanon, and things seldom continue on a linear trajectory.

I think focusing on those as opposed to nice-to-haves is really critical. And what is essential is south of Litani. The bigger plans for remaking Lebanon I think we get into the dream palace and risk doing more harm than good.

MARQUARDT: Right. All right. Andrew Miller, former deputy assistant secretary of state, thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.

MILLER: Thanks, Alex.

MARQUARDT: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:44:07]

MARQUARDT: Trump lost the state of Georgia in the last election by less than 12,000 votes. But his supporters launched a number of debunked conspiracy theories, even claiming that some ballots were shredded after the vote.

As Donie O'Sullivan reports, a major player behind that conspiracy is now shaping new election rules in that state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: How does it feel to be labeled a conspiracy theorist, as I'm sure you have been?

SALLEIGH GRUBBS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Am I? That's news to me.

O'SULLIVAN: Trump supporters like Salleigh Grubbs are making last- minute changes to election rules in Georgia on things like how ballots are counted and how easy it is to challenge the election results.

Before the 2020 election, you weren't necessarily involved at a political organizing level at all.

GRUBBS: No.

[15:45:01]

O'SULLIVAN: What changed?

GRUBBS: It's because of the ballot shredding that happened at Jim Miller Park.

O'SULLIVAN: Ballot shredding?

GRUBBS: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): As Trump's election denialism grip Georgia in November 2020, Salleigh got caught up in a conspiracy theory her own.

GRUBBS: November 20th, Friday morning.

I got a phone call from a grand and said they're shredding things. You know, you need to get over there.

I'm watching all of these ballots being shredded now. Unbelievable.

O'SULLIVAN: They jumped in their cars and chased the truck. Salleigh said it was like a scene from "Thelma and Louise."

What did you see? You saw --

GRUBBS: I saw big containers, big bins of things that said official absentee ballot, wheeled over to a shredding trucks, sucked up into the truck and shredded.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): The story went viral. But county and state election officials, even the shredding company itself, said that no ballots were shredded. Only things like envelopes and mailing labels were destroyed.

GRUBBS: If we can get lottery tickets right, we should be able to process ballots.

O'SULLIVAN: Salleigh was directly involved in changing a rule to give local election officials the power to delay certification of the results.

GABRIEL STERLING, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: She is highly motivated individual who has taken advantage of the laws as written. If you're relentless, you can get voices and get things done.

O'SULLIVAN: Gabriel Sterling is one of the top election officials in Georgia.

STERLING: Most of the stuff I do is just adding extra stress to our county workers more than anything. If Trump wins the state, everything will be roses. If he loses the state by a small amount, which is a possibility, too, then this is just laying the foundation for the conspiracy theories of how the election got stolen this time.

O'SULLIVAN: One of the last-minute changes here involves an additional count of ballots by hand.

JOSEPH KIRK, ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR, BARTOW COUNTY, GA: I want be clear, I don't have a problem with hand counting ballots.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

KIRK: There's different times to do that, there's different reasons to do that. In the process we know we go through is called an audit.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Joseph Kirk is the election administrator in the county next to Salleigh's.

KIRK: But we do it after the election in a controlled environment where it's easier to observe, easier to monitor the process, and my folks have a chance to rest first. We're just giving folks a chance to make a mistake. We're just having very, very tired in many cases senior citizens try to hand-count stuff in front of people which can be nerve wracking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'SULLIVAN (on-camera): And you know, Alex, I asked Gabriel Sterling who you saw in that piece there, one of the top election officials in Georgia, if election workers and officials are prepared there for all the conspiracy theories and misinformation that is come. And he said, look, at least they know the misinformation playbook. This time they know how the conspiracy theorists operate because they went through it in 2020.

So he told me he can't believe that we're back in this same spot again four years later where we're talking about all this election nonsense frankly. But he said they do feel prepared -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much for that reporting.

Now how first responders in Florida are jumping into action to help their communities ravaged by Hurricane Milton. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:48]

MARQUARDT: Florida's governor Ron DeSantis says that nearly 1,000 people have been rescued since Hurricane Milton tore through his state.

CNN's Ryan Young shines a light on the heroic first responders who sprang into action.

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RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the hurricane pounded central Florida with relentless winds, rain and tornadoes, the real fear for many officials, what would happen to the people who couldn't or wouldn't evacuate?

CHIEF BARBARA TRIPP, TAMPA FIRE RESCUE: We actually had to cease all services because it's actually been too dangerous to put first responders out there on the road.

YOUNG: Before the sun was up, Florida's first responders were already in action. In Clearwater, this apartment complex had hundreds of people in need of help as the strong wind and rising water rose as high as some people's chest.

JENNIFER POIRRIER, CITY MANAGER, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA: That was our most significant one for sure. We rescued over 500 people out of that apartment complex.

YOUNG: In Hillsborough County, the sheriff tweeted this video of a 14- year-old boy they found floating on a piece of a fence.

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: So I'm standing here by the flooded water. He was waving us down, flagging us down. Most people were saying hello. He was frantically wailing his arms. We went over. And it literally was like the scene out of the "Cast Away" movie, how he's hanging on for dear life.

YOUNG: Thursday our Isabel Rosales rode in an airboat with the Hillsborough County sheriff after dozens were rescued from an assistant living center. They talked about the emotional toll of this storm.

CHRONISTER: I'm getting emotional because of the men and women of the sheriff's office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue that never stopped. I'm proud of them each and every day. But if you saw the way they jumped in water up to their chest, up to their neck, and rescuing people.

YOUNG: In Tampa, police say 15 people, including multiple children, needed to be evacuated after a tree fell into a single-story home. No injuries were reported and the victims were taken to a shelter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.

YOUNG: This is the moment Florida highway patrol troopers rescued a dog that was left tied to a pole in flood waters on the side of Interstate 75 in Tampa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't blame you.

YOUNG: Everyone helping where help is needed. Even the news crew that rescued Amber Henry and her children as floodwaters filled their house.

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AMBER HENRY, MOTHER RESCUED WITH HER FOUR CHILDREN: The worst nightmare and I'm so glad that I'm actually able to talk about it.

YOUNG: U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Miami rescued this man clinging to a cooler roughly 30 miles off Longboat Key. The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for care. In St. Lucie County, the search for victims is still ongoing after multiple tornadoes spun up in a 20-minute span.

SHERIFF KEITH PEARSON, ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA: We're going through the rubble trying to rescue as many people as we can, and we are actively searching and trying to save lives right now.

YOUNG: Over and over again, first responders answered hundreds of calls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing, man? You all right?

YOUNG: As one of Florida's worst hurricanes ravaged an already battered state.

SUSAN CARLOS, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Never, never have I experienced damage or the amount of tornadoes that came to this area. And it was the most frightening thing I've ever lived through.

YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Atlanta.

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MARQUARDT: Thanks to Ryan Young. And thanks to you all for joining me today. I'm Alex Marquardt. CNN NEWSROOM with Jessica Dean starts in just a moment.

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