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Milton Still a Catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane as It Heads for Florida; Harris Stays Loyal to Biden While Campaigning on Change. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 09, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, October 9. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[05:59:23]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: we've never seen anything like this before. This is the storm of the century.

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HUNT: Storm of the century. Hurricane Milton, still a dangerous and catastrophic Category 5 storm, barreling toward Florida.

Plus, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JANE CASTOR (D), TAMPA, FLORIDA: Please don't get political on this. This storm is going to affect everybody.

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HUNT: Rumor control. Tampa's mayor trying to tamp down misinformation just hours before the storm hits.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I'm obviously you're not Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Balancing act. Kamala Harris has struggled to stay loyal, but also differentiate herself from President Biden.

And Joe Biden uncensored. F-bombs, blunt talk in a new account of private and tense discussions between the president and Israel's prime minister.

All right. Coming up on 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at St. Petersburg, Florida, the Gulf Coast of that state, bracing for a dangerous Category 5 hurricane. Outer Bands have already begun impacting the state at this hour.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Hurricane Milton is racing toward Florida's Gulf Coast and is expected to make landfall as a dangerous Category 4 storm, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.

More than 12 million residents across central Florida are under hurricane alerts, with parts of 14 counties issuing mandatory evacuations ahead of the storm. A storm that could become one of the most destructive in state history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASTOR: You want to pick a fight with Mother Nature, she's winning 100 percent of the time. And individuals that are in these -- say you're in a single-story home. Twelve feet is above that house. So, if you're in it, you're -- basically, that's the coffin that you're in.

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HUNT: For the most part, people do seem to be taking these orders seriously as major highways are filled bumper to bumper with traffic. One of the largest evacuations in state history.

But those evacuations are leading to another issue as gas stations run low on fuel. More than 20 percent of stations are reporting outages.

And now Florida state troopers are escorting tanker trucks to make sure stations along the evacuation route stay full.

Despite evacuation orders and these grim warnings, some residents are planning to try to ride out the storm.

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MATT HELLER, TAMPA RESIDENT: You know, better safe than sorry, but this is where I plan to be. I have a life jacket. I got some lights, more battery packs. I'm a lot more prepared. And I'm hoping for the best. So, we're just kind of hunkering down in place for the time being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now from Tampa to talk about getting ready for the storm, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.

Sheriff, thank you so much for being with us this morning. You heard that resident there saying he plans to ride out the storm. What's your message this morning to those who plan to do something similar?

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: This is the 11th hour. If you're an evacuation zone, the time to get out is now. Here's my biggest fear. When those winds become sustained more than 40

miles per hour, and it's too safe [SIC] to go out to those emergency calls for help, that individual, I wonder how he's going to feel if he needs help and help's not coming.

HUNT: So, sir, what risk will your officers, your team be at if people stay there and are asking you and -- and your teams to come out and help them?

CHRONISTER: We're already feeling the effects from this storm. We already saw some flooding out here early this morning. That's only going to get worse.

As this storm wobbles, we don't know what type of storm surge. And if we don't get the storm surge that was expected, we're still going to get flash flooding. We're going to get a lot of wind. And that means a lot of downed power lines.

It just becomes too dangerous to be out. At that point, we're going to have to ask our first responders, our law enforcement, to hang tight until the storm passes. Then we'll watch a full assault on a search- and-rescue and clearing trees and roadways and do what we're trained to do.

HUNT: Sheriff, can you talk a little bit about what you've seen before in your job in terms of hurricane response in the community and how it compares to what we may see from Milton?

CHRONISTER: We only have to look back two weeks ago. We're still healing from -- from this storm and recovering. Two weeks ago, we did 1,000 rescues, and the winds never got above 40 miles an hour. So, we had never had to suspend service.

But our amphibious vehicles, our airboats, our marine unit, they stayed busy. We answered over 3,000 calls for service in a 12-hour period. It was all hands on deck.

This will be no different. My only fear is -- is when the storm gets too risky to be able to allow first responders to go out and answer those calls. We're just going to have to hold the calls for service and until it's at least safer to do so.

HUNT: Sir, in the aftermath of Helene, which you obviously mentioned, we saw misinformation start to spread pretty quickly. What is your guidance for residents on where they should be looking to get their information about what to do? And what impact does bad information have on your ability to do your job?

CHRONISTER: Yes. That's a phenomenal question. You know, I ask them to follow the sheriff's office. They follow the county websites that will continue to update information.

The reason it's such a phenomenal question is that people think when the storm passes, hey, it's back to normal life here and go out. And it's not. It's very dangerous. We had people getting electrocuted.

[06:05:03]

We had more deaths here in the Tampa Bay area from storm-surge-related accidents and downed power lines, than where the storm actually made landfall up in North Florida last week.

That's my biggest fear. So, I would encourage everyone to follow a trusted -- trusted website and make sure that you're allowing us enough time to go out and make it safe, where you can return to your home.

And we want you to go back home as quick as possible, too. And if -- the more you stay out of the way, not to sound insensitive, to allow first responders to do what we're trained to do, we'll get you home that much more rapidly.

HUNT: All right, Sheriff Chad Chronister with some important warnings for us this morning. Sir, thanks very much for your time. I appreciate it. And we'll be thinking of you.

CHRONISTER: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall either late tonight or early Thursday morning. Officials urging everyone in the storm's path to rush to finish their safety preparations with just a few hours to go.

Joining us now with the latest on this major storm is Michael Brennan. He's the director of the National Hurricane Center.

Michael, good morning to you. What are you most concerned about and what is the latest from your end of this?

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, yes, Milton remains an extremely powerful, very dangerous hurricane this morning, Category 5. And it's going to be reaching the West Coast of Florida now within the next 24 hours, you know, late tonight, the early morning hours of Thursday.

So, folks along the West central coast of Florida, particularly in these storm surge evacuation zones, from North of Tampa all the way down to Naples. You've got your last few hours to get out before waters start to rise, tropical-storm-force winds begin. Your evacuation routes can be cut off.

And again, you know, you don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place. Maybe just tens of miles to get to a shelter outside of that surge zone.

HUNT: How does this hurricane compare to others that you've seen? Because the language many officials are using is -- quite frankly, borders on apocalyptic.

BRENNAN: Well, you know, every hurricane is unique and has its own unique mix of hazards. But for this portion of the Florida West Coast, this is a track and a threat we have not seen in anyone's living memory. In terms of a track, basically perpendicular to the coast. It's going to allow the winds of Milton to push in a destructive way that Gulf of Mexico water up onto normally dry land. And that's why were so concerned about the storm surge getting, you know, ten to 15 feet above ground level. The potential for that is certainly there in Pinellas County, Hillsborough County, Manatee, down to Sarasota.

And substantial storm surge risk even farther South down to places like Cape Coral, Fort Myers, and even Naples, because the size of Milton's wind field is going to basically grow, almost double in size between now and just prior to landfall.

HUNT: Briefly, Michael, what -- what portion of this severity of this is due to the changing climate, to human-caused climate change?

BRENNAN: Yes, it's hard to know on an individual case, but you know, certainly warm, very warm Gulf of Mexico waters are what fuel, you know, the intensity of the storm. And those waters are warmer than normal.

On a broader scale, we're seeing sea level rise occurring, which is worsening the threat from storm surge across the board. And also, heavy rainfall threats are increasing, because warmer air holds more moisture. And that's something we haven't touched on here yet with Milton.

But some places are going to see up to 18 inches of rain, producing life-threatening catastrophic flash flooding potential across much of the central Florida Peninsula. And that potential will be there beginning tonight, today through tonight, and into Thursday.

HUNT: All right. Michael Brennan for us this morning.

Michael, thanks very much for the work that you do every day and particularly today, of course. We appreciate you.

BRENNAN: Thanks.

HUNT: All right. Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, Kamala Harris walking the fine line between loyalty and separating herself from her boss.

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HARRIS: You ask me what's the difference between Joe Biden and me. Well, that will be one of the differences.

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HUNT: What she says and what she doesn't say about what will make her different from Joe Biden.

Plus, a new book detailing previously unreported conversations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. And Trump's secret gift to the Russian president.

Plus, bracing for the monster storm. Hurricane Milton churning in the Gulf of Mexico. Florida already feeling the impact.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to get hit, whether it's a direct hit or it moves slightly. There's just no ifs or buts about it. We're going to get hit, and it's going to be hard.

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[06:13:56]

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SUNNY HOSTIN, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": If anything, would 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 -- of most of the decisions that have had impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Vice President Kamala Harris trying to thread a needle, portraying herself as a candidate who can deliver the change that voters want while still remaining loyal to the president she serves alongside.

Her comments on "The View" Tuesday sparking this response from Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance.

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SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala Harris's economic policy, you heard her say it on "The View" today. It's to do exactly what Joe Biden did. And it's going to lead to the exact same place: higher inflation, fewer Americans with good jobs, and a manufacturing sector that we're shipping to China instead of building right here in the great city of Detroit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Panel's here: Zolan Kanno-Youngs, White House correspondent for "The New York Times"; Kendra Barkoff, former press secretary to Joe Biden; and Republican strategist and pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson. Welcome to all of you.

Thank you so much for being here.

Kristen, I want to start with you on Kamala Harris here, because I was a little bit surprised she didn't have a more specific answer to that question, because it does seem like it's something we're seeing in polls; that people seem to say that they want to know a little bit more about her.

[06:15:12] What did you make of it?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND POLLSTER: I agree with you that I was surprised she didn't have a better answer, because it's an obvious question. It is one of the central questions of this campaign right now.

Voters are frustrated with the status quo, what would be different?

And it's also a little baffling, because she does have a good answer. You could very easily police say, Look, I don't want to be in the business of bashing the guy with whom I've served for the last four years. But clearly, there are some things I do differently, because I've proposed some policies that would be new under my administration.

And she could immediately pivot to things like homebuyer tax credit and so on and so forth.

HUNT: She does have that.

ANDERSON: She does have some things. And so, it is just wild to me that she wasn't more prepared.

And this really speaks to the peril of having been, I think, kind of sheltered in the campaign for the last couple of weeks and now suddenly doing this big media blitz; is you're going to see a little -- I don't think that this will be the only stumble we see before election day.

HUNT: Kendra, your thoughts?

KENDRA BARKOFF, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY TO JOE BIDEN: I mean, I you took, literally, my answer. I think she -- she clearly is outlining a series of policies and went on "The View" specifically to talk about the sandwich generation, right?

And she laid out exactly what she would do to help those people who, you know, are taking care of both their parents and their young ones.

And so, it's a tough position for her to be. She still has a boss. She still has to report to the boss. And he's still making the decisions at the end of the day.

But I do think she could have talked a little bit more about what those policies are.

HUNT: And of course, the question, Zolan, is who is the candidate of change here, right? And this -- the most recent "New York Times"/Siena poll showed that Harris actually seems to have something of an advantage on that. I think we can put that up on the screen. Kamala Harris, 46, Donald Trump, 44 percent.

But maintaining this would seem to suggest she needs to differentiate herself from Biden as the incumbent, right?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK TIMES": That that's the central challenge, right?

Because, you know, you do have a Harris campaign that is trying to sort of promote her as a change candidate and at the same time, this is somebody who does represent incumbency, as well. She -- her camp often said she was the last one to leave the room for the past -- throughout the Biden administration.

So, it's a tough needle to thread there.

I do think that answer tracks with how the vice president has operated, really, since President Biden came into office. Even at times -- my reporting showed even at times where she did disagree with the West Wing or wanted to push Biden on something.

Student loans, for example, she did it privately. She had her team draft up a memo and present it to President Biden and his aides privately.

When she wanted to advocate for abolishing the filibuster for voting rights, she did that privately, pushing the president, as well.

When she disagreed with how he was describing his foreign policy agenda, as autocracy versus democracy, she wanted to talk about international norms.

HUNT: Yes.

KANNO-YOUNGS: The framing of it was different. The policy platform was somewhat the same. She still did that behind closed doors.

I think she's in a place right now where President Biden has dropped out of the race to pave the way for her. And now she has this tough sort of balancing act where she doesn't really want to, you know, criticize him and her policies on the way out.

HUNT: Of course.

KANNO-YOUNGS: But at the same time, you need to differentiate yourself as you reintroduce yourself.

HUNT: Kristen, how do you see the decision to go out there and do these -- these are mostly friendly type of media outlets. What does it say to you about where the race stands? And what does your polling say about where things stand?

ANDERSON: Well, it's not just that they're friendly media outlets, but it's also that they are outlets where you have folks that are not interested in political news, but are nevertheless now going to be exposed to a side of Kamala Harris that perhaps they've never seen.

You know, she went on Howard Stern and talked about things like how she really likes Formula One racing. I really like Formula One racing. I was like, oh, that's interesting. I didn't we had that in common.

I mean, I'm a Republican pollster. I don't know that I'm necessarily her target audience. But there are a lot of men listening to Howard Stern, who probably are a little bit outside her target, but may not be firmly decided, may not be interested in political news.

I do think that the places she's showing up are actually smart. She just has to have a good, concise, clear, consistent message on them. I'm not quite sure she's there yet all right.

HUNT: All right. Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, we are, of course, continuing to track Hurricane Milton as it closes in on Florida. Up next, the latest track of the major storm set to bring life- threatening conditions to the state.

Plus, on the picket line. Boeing workers on strike for nearly a month now. What caused the latest round of negotiations to break down.

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[06:23:40]

HUNT: All right, going live to Fort Myers, Florida from Earth Cam. Fort Myers already seeing the impacts of Hurricane Milton as it bears down on the Gulf Coast.

The latest update from the National Hurricane Center shows Milton remaining a dangerous Category 5 storm overnight. Milton's outer bands already impacting the Florida coast, bringing with them the potential for tornadoes and waterspouts.

We're seeing mass evacuations from the Tampa Bay region ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit from the storm with up to 15 feet of storm surge expected.

Take a look at the view of Milton from a NOAA hurricane hunter plane. It was a bumpy ride. The crew barely able to see because of the downpour.

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CAPT. NATE WORDAL, PILOT, 53RD WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON: It was pretty violent. Milton is growing in serious intensity very fast. And we saw some incredible wind speeds out there today: 148 miles an hour, I believe we saw.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Let's get straight to our meteorologist, Derek van Dam, with more on the latest with the storm. Derek, what are you seeing at this hour?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kasie, this is a significant moment. One of the top ten most powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic basin ever recorded is less than 24 hours from making landfall here in the U.S., particularly across the Southwestern portions of Florida.

We are hours away from experiencing tropical-storm-force winds. We are hours away from the water starting to rise in some of these coastal communities.

[06:25:07]

I -- these are sobering words, but this storm did not weaken overnight, like we had hoped.

When I analyze this satellite imagery, I am seeing some promising signs. The eyewall is now starting to fill itself in. So, perhaps we are getting some slight weakening right now before landfall.

We've been calling for that, because we know there's a lot of shear in the upper levels of the atmosphere that will help bring this level down.

However, we don't want to minimize the threat here, because it is real; and this is a terrible trajectory towards the Southwestern coastline.

Now, the National Hurricane Center has this as a Category 4 landfall late tonight or early Thursday morning.

Now, we're paying attention to the eye versus the center portion of this forecast path. This is the cone of uncertainty, and that is, of course, the middle path. We don't necessarily want to call that as landfall, but that is important. Because we're noticing this suddenly trend in the eye of the storm. The most important part of the store, most powerful part of the storm.

That has downstream impacts on who will receive the greatest surge impacts, and who will receive the greatest wind impacts, as well.

One thing's for sure: this wind field is doubling in size. So, we're going to feel tropical-storm and hurricane-force winds hundreds of miles from the center.

Here it is. Not just a coastal storm, catastrophic impacts potentially inland, as well. And if you look at this computer model, this is a European model still indicating a worst-case scenario for Tampa Bay. The storm surge here cannot be understated enough: ten to 15 feet. That's twice my height. And that will inundate buildings, homes, and people's livelihoods. Tornadoes, waterspouts, flash flood threat. The list goes on, Kasie. So much to talk about.

HUNT: All right. Derek van Dam with a busy day ahead, Derek, thank you very much for that.

Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, Israel's defense minister delaying his visit to the U.S. as President Biden prepares to speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning.

Plus, Florida Congressman Carlos Gimenez joining us live with his biggest fears about Hurricane Milton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: You do have time to get to a shelter. You have time to -- to evacuate further than that, if that's what you want. But that time is running out. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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