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First Move with Julia Chatterley
People Leaving Florida Ahead of Milton; Israel Assessing Whether It Killed Nasrallah's Successor; Israel Expands Ground Offensive in Lebanon; Hezbollah Fires Rocket Barrage at Haifa; Iranian President Claims Israel is Ignoring Rules of War; TikTok Accused of Harming Teen's Mental Health; U.S. States Sue TikTok; Florida Braces for Hurricane Milton; Oilstainlab Creates Hypercar that Run on Gas or EV or Both; Wild Stock Swings in China. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 08, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- TikTok, @jaketapper, you can follow the show on X, @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of the lead, you can listen
to the show, all two hours, whence you get your podcast. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer right next door in a place I like to call The
Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking --
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: It is 6:00 a.m. in Beijing, 9:00 a.m. in Sydney, and 6:00 p.m. here in Atlanta. I'm Lynda Kinkade, in for Julia
Chatterley. And wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
A warm welcome to "First Move." Here's today's need to know. Taking aim at Tampa. Floridians flee as Hurricane Milton threatens to cause catastrophic
damage. Some gas stations are running dry. The storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday night. Successes slain. Israel's military is assessing
whether it killed the man replacing the late Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
TikTok attacked. The social media app is accused of harming the mental health of young people. Putting teens at risk with endless feeds of
content. And motoring mania. Would you spend $1.8 million on a sports car? The makers of this one say only those with a need for speed should buy. All
that and plenty more coming up.
But first, hundreds of thousands of people are leaving Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton. The storm is set to hit the state's central gulf coast
Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing with it a dangerous storm surge as well as tornadoes. It's back to being a Category 5 storm right
now. Here's Governor Ron DeSantis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You should be executing your plan now. If you're going to get out, get out now. You have time today. Time will be running
out very shortly if you wait any longer. Of course, there's a lot of mandatory evacs that have been done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Meteorologists have been stunned by the storm's ferocity and power. This is what Hurricane Milton looks like from space.
Now, cities are rushing to clear debris left over from Hurricane Helene, and that caused more damage -- that could cause more damage once Milton
hits. Our Correspondent Isabel Rosales joins us now live from Tampa. Good to have you with us, Isabel.
So, leave or you will die. It was a pretty dire warning from authorities to people where you. Are the locals. There heeding that warning?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And, Lynda, as I told you before, I actually lived and worked in the Tampa Bay area for many years.
So, to hear the Tampa mayor, Jane Castor, saying, if you don't evacuate and you're in one of these zones, you will die. To hear Anna Maria's police
chief saying, write your name and your social security number on your leg, because that's how we're going to find you. I mean, this is so serious.
They're being so blunt in their messaging that they want people to head north and get out of here.
And I do think that people are heeding the message. That is clear from traffic cameras. We've seen the backups on the interstate, people rushing
for days now to get out of town. I'm hearing here in Davis Islands, this is a neighborhood of Tampa, and it's been -- here, this is a busy road, but
further in the neighborhoods eerily quiet. I mean, this is a vibrant neighborhood, but so many places are boarded up. It seems that so many
people have packed up and left, which is such great news.
And the numbers speak for themselves. Helene was a wakeup call. But now, with Milton, they could be looking at double the storm surge. With Helene,
that was five to eight feet of storm surge in the Tampa Bay. Here, we're looking at 10 to 15 feet. That is unsurvivable. That is above more -- most
buildings in the roof area. This is why authorities are saying, take this thing seriously, get out. And that is what we saw.
Here's Nancy Turner, who I caught up with as she was evacuating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY TURNER: It just sounds worse and worse, you know, and it looks worse and it went into a Category 5. However, it's supposed to be three by the
time it hits us. So --
ROSALES: You're not going to risk it?
TURNER: No.
ROSALES: Did you hear the words from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor that she says to the people writing it out and like Zone A, you're going to die?
TURNER: Yes, that's kind of frightening. But I think she has to say that because that's certainly a possibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: Yes, and we're seeing the models wobble, which is normal, the closer we get to this, some of them pushing it further south. We don't
really know where the landfall will be just yet. But still, folks are taking it very seriously, dreading. If this is the storm that will finally
hit the Tampa Bay area after 100 years, signs like this, God, help us. Because those are the prayers that they will need in this community,
especially if they don't listen to those evacuation orders. Lynda.
KINKADE: And just quickly, we see the debris behind you left from Hurricane Helene. What sort of danger does that pose?
ROSALES: It's incredible danger. Here, come walk with me. So, this is one of their biggest concerns, right? They've been trying to clear this stuff
out of the neighborhoods because things like this and peak winds of 150 miles per hour, they go flying through people, flying through houses. These
are projectiles. They have been taking these things out of neighborhoods, dumping them into landfills and even the Florida fairgrounds, something I
have never seen in the years of covering many storms here in the Tampa Bay area. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Isabel Rosales, good to have you there for us. Stay safe. We will speak soon, no doubt.
Well, for more on this, I'm joined by Tampa City councilman Bill Carlson. Good to have you with us, Bill. So, everyone is being told to get out. Have
you evacuated yet? And what is your message to those saying they might ride out this storm?
BILL CARLSON, TAMPA CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: The message is everyone needs to leave. I'm in an evacuation zone myself and my kids and I had to get out
yesterday. We were required. It's an order by the government to get out. And so, everybody, please get out.
During the last storm, just a couple weeks ago, unfortunately, many people thought that there's -- it was just a normal storm. And what happened is
people got trapped in their houses and they found themselves floating into their ceilings with their refrigerators and their appliances. And so, we
need people to make sure they get out so we don't have that hazard again. The police chief has said his people cannot get into the line of danger to
save people in that area.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And of course, Tampa Bay hasn't been hit by a major hurricane since 1921. How prepared is Tampa right now?
CARLSON: We're prepared. We have a resilient community. You know, I was handing out tarps to people the other day. We handed out a couple thousand
tarps just in one location. And we were handing them to people who had just lost almost everything. Some of them were living in the second floor of
their homes, having put everything from the first floor out on the sidewalk, and they were still smiling and saying, we're going to survive
this.
Tampa Bay -- Tampa is a strong community. We will survive. We're just going to have to work through this, and it's going to be horrific catastrophic
damage in the next few days, it looks like, unfortunately.
KINKADE: Yes, and this is already one of the strongest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic Basin, a Category 5 hurricane right now. I've heard
some fearing that places hit by this hurricane will be uninhabitable after. What's your assessment?
CARLSON: Well, as the previous interviewee said, it depends on how fast it is when it hits us. If it's a Category 3, the winds will be less, but the
real danger is storm surge. We got hit hard by storm surge. We've never had that before since 1921. No one expected eight feet of water in their
houses, and this will be 15 feet. It's higher than the first floor of people's houses.
I met with a woman a few days ago who didn't have insurance. She had an older home and she had a disabled son. She has to give up all of his
special equipment that's downstairs that he needs to survive. And she had to -- has to carry him up and down the stairs so that you'll have a
habitable position. And now, we've got a 15-foot wave potentially coming in.
It's really important where it lands. Wherever it lands, everything below that will get massive waves. Everything above will get less.
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: And so, in terms of hospitals and health care centers, how are
they preparing? What are they doing? What's going to happen next?
CARLSON: Well, I think you've seen the aqua fence that TGH has, Tampa General Hospital. Everyone now wants one of those for their homes. So,
we're all going to try to figure out how to do that. The other hospitals are prepared as well. They've got backup generators, and there's special
circumstances for first responders to get in and out of the community, especially in the case of catastrophic destruction.
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: And of course, there are 20 million people in Florida, under
either a hurricane warning or a tropical storm warning. That's the majority of the population in Florida, of 22 million people that live there. What is
the impact -- I mean, how is the impact going to be felt right across the state, not just in Tampa?
CARLSON: Well, one of the worst storms we've had is Hurricane Charlie that came, I think, in 2004. And this one is being described similarly that it
will be like -- the center of it will be like a -- or the core of it will be like a tornado zipping through ripping apart everything.
[18:10:00]
And so, unfortunately, in Florida, we're all one community, but we also don't want it to land in our community. We're a resilient state. We're a
resilient community. And we will rebuild just as other communities like New Orleans have rebuilt in the past.
The main message I would have tonight is whatever your religion is, please pray for the people of Florida. They need it right now. It's two storms in
a row and the people are still holding themselves together and they're still fighting. They're still leaving. But they're going to need help in
the next few days.
KINKADE: And I understand emergency vehicles that will lend to other states in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene are being recalled back to the
state to help shift some of that debris left from Hurricane Helene. How much of that will be gone before Hurricane Milton hits?
CARLSON: The mayor said just a little while ago that the debris will continue to be cleaned up until 3:00 tomorrow, I think, is the time it will
vary depending on the wind, but they've got every truck they can, every available vehicle to clean debris.
You know, there are also electrical vehicles, water repair vehicles, and other states just outside the hurricane zone. So, as soon as we see what
happens on Thursday or Friday, all of those vehicles will come in to try to restore things as quickly as possible. We also have firefighters, rescue
folks, and Tampa police ready just as other communities have to help save people's lives afterwards.
KINKADE: All right. Tampa city councilman Bill Carlson, appreciate your time. We wish you and your community all the very best.
CARLSON: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, I want to get more now on exactly where Milton is headed with Chad Myers at the world weather center. So, Chad, just explain to us
how this is now increasing in strength and whether the trajectory of this will change it or as it makes landfall.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we hope it dies off, at least a little, because we can't afford a Category 5 or a 4 making landfall. And
the forecast is, for dry air, to get kind of mixed in with the storm and a little bit of sheer to tear it apart to take it down from 165 to maybe 125.
But I see no indication of that happening right now whatsoever.
So, where we were yesterday about this time was 180 miles per hour. And then, where we were this morning when it had an eye wall replacement cycle,
we were down to 145 miles per hour. But now, we're back up to 165 because this thing got his stuff together again. All of a sudden, it had an eye and
it was moving around and the air was sinking in the eye and rising in the eye wall and it began to breathe like a normal hurricane does.
Many times you don't see that breathing because there's enough wind to knock over the eye or move it around or get dry air sucked in. So, far,
this is just a buzz saw. This is moving. Right now, we're getting to the dark, but you can kind of see now the eye. This is the visible satellite.
This is what -- if you were on top of the Earth, on top of the world, you know, miles ahead -- over the top, this is what you would actually see.
So, many times what we show you on TV is just kind of an animation of an image, like this. This is an image. It's not what you see. There's not
purple clouds out there. But what we do see, it's an airplane that just flew through it, and it found those wind speeds in the atmosphere, as it
was flying around at about 10,000 feet or so, 9,000 feet. It found 183 miles per hour.
So, that's not at the surface. It's going to be lower than that at the surface. But at 183, you reduce it, you're still at 165 at the surface. And
yes, it says 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, let's hope. But this is still a -- just a ferocious storm, with the wind's going to come in, the waves are going to
come in. This is going to be an event that knocks over islands, knocks over all of the homes on the island that aren't built on stilts. This is really
going to be the issue for many, many people from Tampa, southward all the way to Fort Myers.
And we talk about this yesterday, how this was the first big storm in 103 years. But you have to, Lynda, consider the population density what it was
like 103 years ago. What is that, 2 percent of what it is now.? And now, all of a sudden, you're going to take 10-to-15-foot waves over the top of
those Barrier Islands into the bay behind it and then on up into the estuaries and up into the creeks and streams for the people that are living
inland.
So, people were asking me all day long, where is it going to hit? And the answer that I was just giving them, was a yes, it's just going to hit. It's
going to hit all the way from Fort Myers with a major hurricane wind all the way up to Tampa. This is where most of the surge will be. But then,
across the middle part of the country, the state, that's where the power lines are going to come down. That's where we're going to lose a million
customers' power. This is what we're going to see here as all of this energy rolls right across Florida. It's not going to slow down. It's not
going to stop.
[18:15:00]
And then it's going to rain 10 inches. So, what is that? 250 of rainfall here. So, flooding likely. We have this high risk. There's only 4 percent
of the days are high risk, but yet, 40 percent of the fatalities are on that 4 percent.
So, the storm is moving. It just slightly ticked to the south over the past couple of hours, maybe not going right into Tampa Bay, but maybe just
slightly south of Tampa Bay. Now, that's one wobble. There are sometimes many wobbles. We still have to look at this anywhere from New Port,
Ritchie, all the way down to Fort Myers and southward as a devastating, catastrophic event that many people need to get away from. And many people
aren't just yet, and they need to try. Because you can look at the Google Maps, you can look at the Earth and you can see the traffic, it's some
traffic, but not as much as I would expect, which means I don't think as many people are evacuating as I think they probably should.
KINKADE: Yes, let's hope they get out and get out soon. This hurricane set to make landfall about 24 hours' time. Chad Myers, good to have you with
us. Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
KINKADE: Well, I want to go to the Middle East now, the Israeli military checking to see whether the presumptive new leader of Hezbollah has been
killed in an Israeli airstrike. Only a Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister claimed Hassan Nasrallah's successor had been eliminated, and that
thousands of terrorists have been killed during recent operations.
You're looking right now at drone images showing the destruction in Southern Lebanon, where Israel says it has been striking Hezbollah targets.
Lebanon's health ministry says more than 1,400 people have been killed in less than three weeks.
Well, sites in Israel have continued to come under fire from strikes claimed by Hezbollah. The IDF saying around 180 missiles and rockets were
fired into Israeli territory on Tuesday alone. Our Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Pentagon officials are saying that the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, is delaying his
trip to Washington. He was expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday. That's not happening now.
A source in Israel is saying the reason for the delay is because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to receive a phone call from President
Joe Biden before Gallant can go to Washington. Also, Netanyahu wants to have a cabinet vote on what they should do. The nature of the response to
Iran's strikes last week.
And we've also heard from the State Department saying that they object to IDF troops raising an Israeli flag over a southern Lebanese border village
that they appear to have taken control of. They say it is inappropriate, that they want the IDF to stick to the terms of what they said they were
doing, which was limited incursions, and not giving the impression that they are taking and holding territory inside of Lebanon.
And to the west of there, the IDF also increasing their military operations along that northern border, creating another closed military zone very
close to the coast there, another division brought into that area, stepping up the military operations across the border. Not clear how long they'll go
on, how far they may go into Lebanon, but an indication that operations, IDF military operations all the way along that northern border are
increasing and the response from Hezbollah into the west of that northern part of Israel, into the northern part of town of Haifa, the port city
there, a large number of missiles, 105, the IDF saying, coming into Haifa and into the Upper Galilee region as well.
Those missiles impacting in the northern suburbs of Haifa. Two buildings taking direct hits in those residential areas. An elderly lady treated for
minor injuries, and the home front command now telling residents in the north of Haifa, in those suburbs there, that the schools will have to be
closed because of the risk of threat, another indication that military operations have spread not only from the sort of eastern part of that
northern front with the Lebanese border, but all the way across to the west now. Lynda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Thanks to Nic Robertson there. Well, as Israel targets Tehran- backed forces in Lebanon, Iran's president is claiming that Israel is ignoring the rules of war and accusing the west of double standards.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Israel is conducting indiscriminate attacks on women, children, and the elderly. And that the
U.S. and Europe are supporting a, quote, "barbaric government."
[18:20:00]
Our Frederik Pleitgen is live for us in Tehran. Good to have you with us, Fred. So, this is far from the first time that Iran's president has
criticized the U.S. for supporting Israel. Just take us through these comments.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN: Yes. First of all, you're absolutely right. It certainly is far from the first time that Masoud Pezeshkian has done so.
But it also, of course, comes in that atmosphere that we have right now, Lynda, of those extremely high tensions. And of course, also the Iranians
right now bracing for what could be an Israeli strike after the Iranians, of course, hit Israel with hundreds of missiles about a week ago.
And if you -- here on the ground, you do hear concerns from a lot of people, not so much a possible -- about a possible Israeli strike, but very
much so that all this could balloon into a wider conflict that, in the end, could pit the United States, for instance, and Iran against one another.
So, you have had a barrage of criticism coming from the Iranian foreign minister, for instance, Abbas Araghchi, who was traveling today, who warned
the Israelis against the possible strike saying there would be a crushing blow from the Iranians coming in return.
But then, you're also -- you're absolutely right, the Iranian president as well. And he was very specific about the criticism that he made at an event
today in Tehran. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Europe and America have placed a barbaric government here. And some people who claim
to support human rights defend it. It doesn't observe any human limits. It easily bombards women, children, elderly, and young people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: That also, Lynda, meshes with some of the criticism from Iran's foreign minister, who warned the Israelis not to underestimate the
steadfastness of the Iranians and their leadership as far support for the Palestinians is concerned. And actually. one of the things that we've done
today also, Lynda, is we've actually traveled around Iran a little bit. What you do also see a lot of Iranian cities that we went through is
posters and billboards also speaking about Iran's support for Hezbollah and the continuing support for Hezbollah.
One of the things that we saw a lot of was actually Hezbollah flags and billboards put up with a writing that said that Hezbollah is still alive,
obviously playing on the fact that so many Hezbollah leaders have been killed by Israel over the past couple of weeks. But Iran's support very
much continues, again, during this atmosphere right now of extremely high tensions here in this region.
And one of the other interesting things we always need to point out is that the Revolutionary Guard unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
that conducted those missile strikes against Israeli territories about a week ago, those are also the ones who are responsible for air defenses as
well. And of course, no doubt, right now, they are on high alert. Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, no doubt at all. Frederik Pleitgen for us in Tehran. Good to have you there for us. Thank you.
Well, still ahead, TikTok shock. Fourteen attorney generals from across the U.S. are suing the social media app. They say the platform is harming the
health of young people. We'll speak to one of the officials filing suit.
Plus, the self-described maniacs have made a new sports car. The innovative vehicle can run on either gas or electric power. The hype over the new
hyper car coming up when I interview one of the designers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. This is the latest legal setback for TikTok. 14 U.S. attorney generals filing separate lawsuits against the
social media giant. They say the app is allegedly addictive and harms the mental health of young people.
The suit claims that TikTok challenges late night push notifications and its endless feed of videos puts teens at risk. TikTok disagrees, saying in
a statement, quote, "We're proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we've done to protect teens. We provide robust safeguards, proactively
remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched safety features."
This is far from TikTok's only legal challenge. It's also fighting a federal lawsuit that would force its parent company to sell or shut down
the app in the U.S. An appeals court is set to rule on that matter in the coming months.
Well, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwab is one of the officials who filed the suit against TikTok. He joins me now. Good to have
you with us.
BRIAN SCHWAB, DC ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you for having me.
KINKADE: So, you're one of the 14 attorney generals across the U.S. suing TikTok. Is this effort similar to the way states used to go after the
tobacco industry?
SCHWAB: Well, that's exactly on point. For the developing teenage mind, the TikTok platform is like digital nicotine. It's an addictive and
dangerous platform that is intended to have young people, teenagers spend as much possible time with their eyeballs glued to the screen. It's an
exploitive model in the sense that we know that TikTok wants young people watching TikTok because it drives ad revenue. And targeted advertising is
what advertisers are paying big dollars for.
The lawsuit I filed here in the District of Columbia also alleges that TikTok is running an illegal money transmission business and charging up to
50 percent commissions on every financial transaction on its platform. And of course, overlying all of the allegations is the fact that TikTok hasn't
been straight with the public, with parents, with children in overstating its safety features when it knows, in fact, that the safety features don't
work.
KINKADE: And so, talk U.S. through the case, what evidence you have to support the claim that the platform is addictive and harmful and how is
that illegal?
SCHWAB: Well, the unsafeness of the product is well demonstrated both in terms of third-party experts as well as the internal records of TikTok. It
knows that its algorithm is designed to lure eyeballs onto its screen, teenagers watching tailored content that then the algorithm drives so that
they spend endless hours with their eyes on screen. And when they do try to get off the screen, TikTok sends push notifications and other things to
lure them back. That is the business model that drives the TikTok profit making machine.
KINKADE: There's an interesting youth risk behavior survey from the CDC, which -- it was from 2023. It looked at young people from grades nine
through to 12 from 155 schools, about 20,000 students are finding that people -- students who are more likely to use social media apps are more
likely to feel depressed and hopeless than those who use these apps less.
But I have to wonder how TikTok is different to other social media platforms that are also using algorithms to entice young people to keep
scrolling.
SCHWAB: Well, that's exactly right. We know that the overuse of social media is driving an epidemic of mental health challenges for young people,
increased levels of suicidal ideation, of eating disorders, of feeling perpetually sad and hopeless. And TikTok is particularly effective at it,
particularly for young people. It's platform is very attractive, very enticing. The short form videos that it is based upon are perfectly made
for the attention span and focus of young people.
And of course, TikTok knows that. It knows the demographic of youth that it's targeting are very, very important for driving business and returns to
the bottom line.
[18:30:00]
KINKADE: And of course, TikTok denies the accusations. And under a federal law that took effect earlier this year, TikTok could be banned from the
U.S. as early as next year. Currently, its case is under appeal and we should know the outcome of that around January. Why not wait for these
state lawsuits to find out the outcome of that federal case before pursuing this lawsuit?
SCHWAB: Well, the short answer is that we can no longer wait, with so many young people being put at risk every day, their mental health and wellbeing
at risk. Some of the brain science tells us that as the brain is developing, the damage being done to young people could be permanent.
And so, while there may be a long circuitous route in federal litigation and in other venues, I, as the attorney general for the District of
Columbia, my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, realize that we couldn't wait any longer, that children's mental health is way too
important. And that because TikTok has not been willing to accept responsibility and change its ways, we're forced to go to court and hold it
accountable there.
KINKADE: D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwab, great to have you on the program. Thanks so much for your time.
SCHWAB: Thank you so much for having me.
KINKADE: Well, still to come, the latest on Hurricane Milton on the heels of Hurricane Helene. We'll show you how Floridians are preparing for this
monster storm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to "First Move." I'm Lynda Kinkade. Returning to our top story now. Hurricane Milton, which is promising to be one of the most
devastating storms ever to hit Florida. It's now back to being a Category 5 hurricane, even though it's expected to weaken before making landfall. It
will likely double in size, affecting a much larger area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emergency currently exists. Quickly secure your home or business and safely evacuate the area. Listen to local media and
authorities for additional information.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:35:00]
KINKADE: Well, authorities are warning residents in the storm's path to leave now, saying that if they stay, it could amount to a death sentence.
Those evacuating have to contend with gas shortages, traffic, and of course, debris left behind from Hurricane Helene. Randi Kaye is in Sarasota
and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIMOTHY DUDLEY, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: This may be the worst storm that we've seen in 100 years to hit West Central
Florida.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The West Coast of Florida has barely cleaned up from Hurricane Helene as this monster hurricane takes its
aim at Florida.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The most important message today, for all those who may be listening to this, in the impacted areas, listen to the local
authorities.
KAYE (voice-over): A major hurricane hasn't made a direct hit on the Tampa Bay area since October of 1921.
JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA MAYOR: Helene was a wakeup call. This is literally catastrophic. And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever,
if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you're going to die.
KAYE (voice-over): A very real sense of urgency to leave before it's too late.
SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Don't gamble with your life or the lives of your loved ones. The time to get out is now.
KAYE (voice-over): This area could see storm surge of up to 15 feet.
BRUCE RECTOR, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA MAYOR: If you choose to stay in evacuation area, you're going to die.
KAYE (voice-over): Milton so massive. It's moved even this veteran Florida meteorologist to tears.
JOHN MORALES, METEOROLOGIST, WTVJ: Just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours.
KAYE (voice-over): Roads are clogged as residents heed the warnings to evacuate. The search for gasoline getting more difficult as some gas
stations here are starting to run out of fuel. And for those who are staying, a rush on water and plywood as residents make last ditch efforts
to board up businesses and homes.
KT Curran and her husband Chris have lived on Siesta Key, an island off Sarasota, for the last 25 years. She evacuated for Helene, but her husband
stayed behind to ride out the storm.
KT CURRAN, SIESTA KEY, FLORIDA RESIDENT: That night, he got no power, he had no phone, and we lost touch with him. And we found out the next day
there was a five-foot surge of water in the house. And he was all night in the pitch dark in five-foot of water. And he sat there for hours on the top
of a neighbor's high house until the water went down a little. And then, went back in the house and laid on a wet bed until light came up.
KAYE (voice-over): They lost all of their belongings and the house now has to be gutted due to mold in the walls. Now, staring down Hurricane Milton
the couple has still decided to stay, this time in a friend's condo on the ninth floor of a building in Downtown Sarasota which has windows built to
withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
CURRAN: Now, as this hurricane is barreling down directly on our community, it feels like maybe Helene was just a rehearsal for what's to
come.
KAYE (voice-over): Looking out the window of the condo where she'll ride out Milton, she wonders if they've made a mistake staying put.
CURRAN: They're talking possible 15-foot storm surge. None of us in 100 years have seen anything like this. It is shocking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Our Boris Sanchez joins us now from Tampa. Good to have you there for us, Boris, So, I mean, we can see the debris behind you. Is there any
way that all this debris will be cleaned up before Hurricane Milton hits?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, as I heard from several officials today, that is going to be impossible. Unfortunately, this debris left over
from Hurricane Helene is effectively here to stay through Hurricane Milton, even with a potential 15-foot storm surge, a foot or so of rain. And on top
of that, roughly 125 mile an hour winds that are expected when it makes landfall, and that is going to be horrendous for this community and
Treasure Island where I am.
This is a barrier island in the Gulf Coast of Florida, the beach is on one side of me. The bay is on the other. These communities love the water.
That's why folks move here. That's why tourists flock here. But as you can see, from the outside of the Page Terrace Beachfront Hotel that's been
boarded up, a lot of stuff that's out here is going to wind up creating headaches for residents in the area.
You've got about a dozen mattresses over there. There's cinder blocks. There's sheet metal. There are appliances. Things like water heaters,
dryers, ovens. I actually saw some folks' personal belongings, a photo of a child who had won the principal's honor roll with his mom. And that was in
a huge pile of trash that's just off to my right.
[18:40:00]
And if you look over there, there are piles and piles just like this across Pinellas County. That one is roughly about 20 feet high. Officials say that
it would be too difficult. It usually takes between 30 to 60 days to clear out this kind of debris after a storm. And now, with Hurricane Milton
looming, it is simply not enough time for them to get this stuff out.
Keep in mind also the fact that residents that are here have been wanting to get out since Hurricane Helene. I actually spoke with Matt, a resident
who lives on the first floor of a two-story condo here. He said that he thought Hurricane Helene would be, not a breeze, but he thought he could
relatively ride it out. He ended up with water up to his chest and struggled to flee. He fortunately got out. And today, he saw the forecast
for Milton and said that he is not taking any chances. He was able to get out. And he pointed out that he believes that this debris behind me in
those conditions will become projectiles and make this area simply unsurvivable.
Officials feel the same way, and that's why at 7:00 p.m. they are shutting down access to Treasure Island. Lynda.
KINKADE: Wow. So, within the next 20 minutes, you'll be out of there, too, I imagine?
SANCHEZ: No question, Lynda. Yes, we are going further inland to a higher area. It's sort of comical, but it's true. If you are in the zones that
have been designated for evacuation, it is important to heed the warnings in part because once the hurricane hits, once you see that storm surge,
even if you call for help, even if you call emergency officials and try to get someone to come out, they simply cannot reach you, they would be
putting their own lives in danger on top of the question of whether they could even access where you are.
So, if you're still deciding whether or not to leave, if you're in that evacuation zone, you should probably heed the warnings and get out now
before it's too late.
KINKADE: Yes, absolutely. And listen to the authorities. Boris Sanchez, stay safe. Good to have you there. Thanks so much.
Well, still to come on "First Move," in the battle between EVs and the combustion engine, why not have both? After the break, transforming the
hypercar, which can become an EV or a gas guzzler, you can decide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to "First Move." I'm Lynda Kinkade. Are you fast, furious, and do you have a fat wallet? Well, this could be a sports car for
you. The makers of this limited edition hypercar say they're self-confessed maniacs, and they're looking for similar minded buyers.
[18:45:00]
This is the HF-11, built by a boutique car maker called Oilstainlab. Buyers can choose an electric or gas engine version, or both, and it's said to be
easy to swap between the two.
The EV can produce a mind-boggling 900 horsepower, propelling it to a top speed of 2,000 miles an hour. That's about 325 kilometers an hour. And
another number you need to know is the price, a cool $1.85 million dollars.
Well, based in the U.S., Oilstainlab is the brainchild of a couple of Ukrainian born twins who share a background in car design.
Well, joining me right now is one of those twins, Nikita Bridan, good to have you with us.
NIKITA BRIDAN, CO-FOUNDER, OILSTAINLAB: Hi. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.
KINKADE: It is exciting. So, you say there's this Porsche like car it's created for maniacs by maniacs. Asking price is about $2 million dollars.
Have you had any maniacs show any interest yet?
BRIDAN: Yes, we just launched yesterday. So, global reveal. And yes, we're building cars for maniacs, as you said. And luckily for us, there's been
quite a few that have reached out even this morning already. So, we're looking forward to building our maniac family of 25 buyers.
KINKADE: So, you and your brother, Iliya, worked together on the design. You've both worked in many different car companies, Cadillac, Honda,
Toyota. But also, in aerospace companies. Why did you -- just why did you decide to create your own startup? And how challenging was it to find
investors?
BRIDAN: Yes. I mean, I think in 2019, we started Oilstainlab together after, you know, a decade in the OEM automotive space. Really, the dream
has always been to sort of, you know, build vehicles that maybe the OEMs are a little bit afraid to do, you know, something that's a little bit more
targeted at a smaller group of people. So, it can be a very extreme maniac statement. So, that's kind of what we wanted to pursue and kind of, you
know, build this car that was really also escape sort of the confines of time.
You know, our motto is the past overtakes the future. So, we really try and instill that into the product. And you can't really do that when you're
always trying to create something new all the time.
KINKADE: And so, when you buy this car, you can get gas or electric powertrains. Just explain how one would switch out from gas to electric and
vice versa.
BRIDAN: Absolutely. Yes. We have -- on the HF-11, we've got a carbon fiber monocoque, which is the main sort of tub, the safety tub where the
occupants sit. And then it's mid-engine layout. So, the engine is in the back, for both the EV and the combustion version, and it's basically sort
of a modular subframe that could be removed very easily.
There's six attachment points. And then, there's a couple of quick disconnects on the electrical side and the water side, and it can simply
just roll out the back of the car and the other one can roll in. So, the goal for U.S. is for it to be doable in about an hour for somebody in their
garage or at a shop or at the track, wherever the car is being sort of used.
KINKADE: And this car is designed to be lightweight. How did you achieve that and why is that important?
BRIDAN: Yes. So, for any enthusiast that loves driving, weight is the ultimate sort of enemy. It affects braking, handling, maintenance,
everything. So, the goal has always been to shed as many pounds as possible. So, because of that, we have to engineer the spoke carbon tub,
that saves a ton of weight, carbon fiber body work. And then, we've sort of stripped everything back that a lot of modern cars have that are really
sort of, I guess a luxury and not necessarily a necessity.
So, we really focus on driving joy and experience and then pare back everything that, you know, doesn't sort of need to be there and match that
up with incredible engineering. So, both the engine is quite lightweight as well. And then, our EV powertrain uses cutting edge tech. So, we're able
to, you know, mitigate any weight penalties that EVs have right now. So, it's pretty much equal between the two versions.
KINKADE: And so, how many units are you preparing to sell? And when does production begin?
BRIDAN: Yes. So, we're on the fast track. We've been in development now for 36 months in terms of the engineering, production, sort of set up,
supply chains.
[18:50:00]
First car will start testing in March and we're planning on a run of 25 units to start. And those will be -- first customer deliveries will be
sometime in probably middle to late '26.
KINKADE: And there's an enticing offer for the first 11 buyers, right?
BRIDAN: Yes, exactly. So, you know, as a new company, we're really building sort of a culture of driving joy. And for us, those first 11 are
really, really important. So, part of that is basically developing this maniac driver sort of experience where they'll be embedded with our
development drivers, engineers, designers, aerodynamicists, and effectively work with them to create the product, to fine tune it, go on drives
together, go to the racetrack together, learn about their own driving sort of limits, but also the car's driving limits and how we can sort of
progress that over the years with developments.
KINKADE: Good to hear. Nikita Bridan, co-founder of Oilstainlab, great to have you on the show. Thanks so much.
Still ahead, the Chinese stock rollercoaster ride. Stocks surged right out of the starting gate after a long holiday and then made a U-turn. We'll
tell you why after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. A roller coaster session for Chinese stocks and a Tuesday turnaround on Wall Street's tops today's Money Move. U.S. stocks
bouncing back after Monday's losses. Tech in the lead with the NASDAQ up almost 1.5 percent.
A wild day of trading in Asia. The Shanghai Composite rallied in early trading as investors returned from their long golden week holiday break.
But shares pared those gains significantly after government officials. Failed to provide details on fiscal stimulus. Shares still finished up more
than 4 percent, but Hong Kong shares fell almost 10 percent, their worst day since 2008.
Well, Marc Stewart reports from Beijing on what rattled investors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Despite a long list of economic challenges, China is still pushing for a growth rate of 5 percent. The
latest from Beijing, a plan to send billions of dollars to help local governments, but many investors feel more needs to be done.
On Tuesday, China's top planning agency announced a figure of $28 billion, money to be used for local investment projects. Right now, local
governments are dealing with debt. This payment will help with that. Already, Beijing has announced some monetary policies to help with the cost
of borrowing and to control inflation because China has a deflation problem. But few fiscal measures that could impact public spending more
directly.
I heard from one economist, Fred Neumann, from HSBC, he messaged me on Tuesday saying the government provided a clear message today that
policymakers will continue with a pro-growth stance.
[18:55:00]
Nevertheless, investors were disappointed at the lack of details on new fiscal measures, adding fiscal easing is urgently needed to accelerate
growth on a sustainable basis. This is likely to come later this month.
As economists wait to see just how much more money will be added in the future, the chairman of China's Economic Planning Division is expressing
confidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZHENG SHANJIE, CHAIRMAN, CHINA'S NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION (through translator): From a microeconomic perspective, we are now facing
more complex internal and external environments. China's economic performance is largely stable and progressing at a steady pace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Right now, China is still dealing with a housing crisis, high youth unemployment, and weak spending. In fact, many economists feel the
real focus needs to be on building consumer confidence, not just monetary policy.
Looking ahead to the trading day, investors are clearly wanting more specifics and more money from the Chinese government. So, the growth we've
seen may continue to temper.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, that just wraps up the show. Thanks so much for joining us. See you next time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
