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Milton to Hit Florida as Extremely Dangerous Major Hurricane; Trump Keeps Pushing Falsehoods About Helene Recovery; U.S. Not Pushing to Revive Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deal. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, potentially one of the most destructive storms on record. That's the new warning from the National Hurricane Center about Hurricane Milton headed for Florida's west coast. Tampa's mayor also not mincing words, saying if you don't leave the evacuation zones, you're going to die.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, a brand new poll shows good news for Kamala Harris as we are learning of a new plan she is set to unveil today that could revolutionize home healthcare for seniors.

BOLDUAN: And hope of a ceasefire and hostage deal fading. New CNN reporting that the U.S. is not actively trying to revive the deal. What U.S. officials are focusing on instead now.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara Sidner is out today. This is CNN News Central.

Florida is bracing for a once in a lifetime storm. Hurricane Milton is churning right now and headed directly towards the state's densely populated west coast. You see it right there. Millions of people could be in its path. Every official that is tracking this thing is using language that should scare you.

From the Hurricane Center this morning, Milton has potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for West Central Florida this morning, Tampa officials are warning that Milton's extremely dangerous strike could bring impacts not seen in over 100 years, and Tampa's mayor literally saying you're going to die if you don't leave the evacuation zones.

Take a look at this storm from space. This is the view right now from NASA and NOAA. This thing is huge. So far, Milton is one of the top ten strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic. It is the strongest storm to occur anywhere on the planet this year. Right now, a mass exodus has been underway and is still underway.

The rush to evacuate, and thank God people are paying attention, but it is triggering long lines and traffic jams, with an expected landfall of Hurricane Milton still late Wednesday or early Thursday. We're waiting for updates throughout the morning to see how, if and when the track changes.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is in Fort Myers for us, preparations underway. First, let's get to CNN's Derek Van Dam, though. Derek, what's the latest? I mean, this view from space is crazy.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No doubt, Kate. And they're mincing words, right, the authorities there. But, you know, we're facing this imminent major hurricane strike across the Florida Peninsula. But I want to talk about three things that I've narrowed down that worry this meteorologist who's dedicated his entire life to studying this incredible phenomenon.

That is the fact of this trajectory of the storm, the expanding wind field and also the fact that this will be a nighttime or likely a nighttime landfall that will complicate the scenario. 155 mile-per- hour winds, I want to talk about this trajectory. Okay, this is not a side swipe to the state of Florida or the Florida Peninsula, as if you were driving a vehicle and another car side swipes you, this will be a T-bone crash. And what that means is it will maximize the energy potential with this approaching hurricane. So, even though we have a weakening storm on approach, it still has all that pent up energy as it reaches the coastline of Florida.

The expanding wind field, this is the second concern for this meteorologist. It will double in size as it leaves the Yucatan Peninsula. Now and makes its way towards Florida. And there will be a moment in time overnight, Wednesday into Thursday, where the state of Florida will feel hurricane force winds from the west coast all the way to the east coast that will knock down power. It will knock down trees and cause catastrophic damage along the coastline, especially where you see the shading of purple.

It's also going to push up a lot of water, Kate. And that is my other concern, with a nighttime land falling, major hurricane and storm surge of 10 to 15 from Port Charlotte to Tampa and Tampa Bay, that means that water levels will be twice the height of my height, just incredible.

There's so many facets to this storm. The flash flood threat cannot be minimized. We have an extremely rare, high risk of flash flooding on Wednesday for the state. So that's something to consider as well.

BOLDUAN: You put it so clearly and help explain why this one could be so, so damaging with that path.

[07:05:04]

Thank you so much. Derek is going to be with us all throughout the morning. There's a lot to get to with the track and more updates coming from the National Hurricane Center this morning for us.

Let's get over in the meantime to Carlos Suarez who is standing by in Fort Myers, which was on that map, right, that Derek was just looking at in terms of they're going to see a lot of storm surge potentially. What do you see in terms of how things are going to prepare? CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Kate. Good morning. So, the biggest concern for the folks that live in Fort Myers, Florida this morning is the storm surge associated with Hurricane Milton. We're talking about anywhere between six to ten feet.

Now, two years ago, Hurricane Ian destroyed a good part of Lee County where I am at right now. The storm surge for that storm at the time was about four to five feet. So, you're probably taking a look at the kind of the higher end of that plywood. That's how high the water got out during Hurricane Ian, again, just two years ago. And so the folks out here are getting ready for yet another impact when it comes to a powerful hurricane.

The evacuations, the preparations began in earnest to the north of us in Sarasota County, Manatee County, Hillsborough and Pinellas County. That part of Florida is expected to get a more direct hit from this hurricane, depending on where that for the forecast track ends up taking place.

We saw, according to traffic cams yesterday, just folks really hitting the roads, trying to get to the north of Florida, trying to get into the central part of Florida, folks that were trying to get out to South Florida on our drive in last night on Alligator Alley, which is interstate -- I-75. It connects both coasts of Florida. The traffic really did not let up from the eastern side of Florida until you crossed over onto the western side.

Of course, the big concern going into the storm is just all of the debris that covers a good part of the Tampa area. We were there just last week filing a story on some of the damage that we saw from Hurricane Helene. And the concern is that there hasn't been enough time to get all of that debris out. And so all of this becomes a serious safety concern for the folks who decided to stay put and not leave their homes.

As you all noted, the Tampa's mayor was really matter of fact in kind of describing just how dire of a situation the folks to the north of us really are in. Here's a bit of what she said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA: I can say without any dramatization whatsoever. If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you're going to die.

This is something that I have never seen in my life. And I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before. People need to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, Kate, the folks across the western coast of Florida really have been dealing with one storm after another for three years now. I have been covering three different storms that have hit three different parts of the western coast of Florida. We're now getting ready for Hurricane Milton. Hurricane Helene was to the north just two weeks ago. And then, of course, we had Hurricane Idalia last year and then the most one of the more powerful hurricanes in Ian just two years ago. Kate?

BOLDUAN: I mean, it is all it is bearing down on them and it is fast. Thank you so much, Carlos. We're going to be getting back to Derek Van Dam throughout the show for updates on this track. John?

BERMAN: All right. Irresponsible and selfish, that is how Vice President Harris is describing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after he ignored her calls to discuss hurricane relief.

And breaking overnight with hopes for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah fading, new CNN reporting that the U.S. is not trying to revive the deal.

And Taylor Swift attends her first Chiefs game as the world's richest female musician.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: This morning, as FEMA tries to fight hurricane misinformation, Donald Trump and his allies continue to peddle it. Trump is again claiming the federal government is only giving $750 to people who lost their homes. In a new ad out this morning, Vice President Harris is taking aim at President Trump's own handling of natural disaster relief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He would suggest not giving disaster relief to states that hadn't voted for him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember one time after a wildfire in California, he wouldn't send relief because it was a Democratic state. So, we went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas to show him, these are people who voted for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. CNN's Alayna Treene is in Washington. Alayna, one of the things we consistently hear from politicians of either party in states impacted by natural disasters is keep politics out of it. Not happening.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Exactly. I mean, there's no question, John, that this has become an incredibly political issue and both campaigns are treating it as such at this point. I mean, that ad that you just aired, we actually got a first look at it. But, I mean, clearly, if they're turning this into a political ad, this is very much political, which is 28 days until the election.

Now, those two people that you just saw in that ad that you shared were former Trump administration officials arguing that Donald Trump suggested withholding relief from Democratic-run states as president. This is a claim that was actually reported out in May last week as well in an interview with Politico.

[07:15:02]

But, look, what the Harris campaign is trying to do with that is show, you know, it's a direct response to the attacks that Donald Trump has been lobbing at Harris and the Biden administration overall. We have seen this become increasingly nasty over recent days.

For one, Donald Trump has increasingly lobbed false claims at Harris and the Biden administration, arguing that perhaps Democratic leaders and the administration are biased against voters and citizens in Republican states, something we know is just not true, or there's not evidence as of now to back that up.

He's also claiming that the federal government is only giving $750 to people who are impacted by this. We know that he has said this before, but he has repeated that last night in an interview with Fox News. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So, we're into almost $300 billion for Ukraine, and yet they're offering people $750.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For immediate needs.

TRUMP: For the worst -- yes, but for the worst hurricane that anybody's seen. But more importantly than that is they don't have the people, they're not doing -- it's a bad -- it's a very bad thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you do it differently?

TRUMP: I'd have a tremendous team of people here. They don't have any people here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, I can't emphasize enough how different this type of reaction that we're seeing from the presidential nominees right now than has been in the past. Remember, when Barack Obama was running the second time toward the end of his election that Hurricane Sandy had really ravaged parts of New Jersey, and I remember watching, you know, Obama and Chris Christie, the Republican governor, coming together in that moment. This is definitely not, that they are very much on the offense here and attacking each other over this response.

BERMAN: Yes. And, again, the several few dollars people get that right away. Basically, no questions asked. Ultimately, they get thousands and thousands of dollars if they need it, if their homes are impacted or destroyed.

Alayna Treene, thank you for this report. Keep us posted on all this. All right, being designated the change candidate could be the key to winning this election. We've got brand new polling this morning that shows which candidate is closer to winning that title.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Hope fading, new CNN reporting that two weeks after proposing a ceasefire deal to ease fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, U.S. officials now say that they are no longer pushing for that deal, resigned to the fact that halting hostilities is now, if not impossible, definitely not likely.

There have been new explosions overnight in Beirut. The Israeli military says it's expanding its offensive into Southwestern Lebanon. And the IDF says Hezbollah fired nearly 200 projectiles into Northern Israel overnight.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has this new reporting from the Pentagon for us. Natasha, good morning.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. Yes, look, the administration has decided to essentially put this 21-day ceasefire proposal that I had put forward for peace potentially between Israel and Hezbollah on ice at the moment, just basically coming to terms with the fact that it does not seem like the Israelis have the political at this point to actually stop the fighting.

And this was a really, you know, tough decision following that, you know, moment a few weeks ago when it seemed like the administration was on the brink of clinching this very important ceasefire deal between the Israelis and Hezbollah. But Israel essentially upended that plan, which was very, very close to being secured by going after Hassan Nasrallah and killing him in an airstrike in Beirut.

So, now the administration is saying, look, we think that our energy is going to be better spent here trying to shape and limit Israel's operations in Lebanon and, of course, that potential retaliatory strike that we are still waiting to see from Israel against the Iranians following that massive missile barrage last week.

The main concern right now within the administration and something that they believe their political capital is better spent on is preventing that Israeli operation in Lebanon from getting any wider and from expanding beyond the limited operation that the Israelis told the Americans was the original plan for Southern Lebanon. They are watching with increasing concern, Israel's operations in Beirut, which, of course, is a very densely populated city where we have already seen a lot of civilian casualties as a result of the airstrikes there.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, he actually, you know, said this yesterday that the U.S. is concerned that the Israelis might be undergoing some kind of mission creep in Lebanon. He said, quote, We support their ability to target militants, to degrade Hezbollah's infrastructure, to degrade Hezbollah's capability, but we are very cognizant of the many times in the past where Israel has gone in on what looked like limited operations and has stayed for months or for years. And, ultimately, that's not the outcome that we want to see.

So, obviously look, the U S gave similar advice to the Israelis. When it came to Gaza, the Israelis did not necessarily listen to the administration at that point in terms of limiting civilian casualties, keeping that operation limited. There are concerns now that the same thing is going to happen with Lebanon.

So that, you know, apart from a ceasefire, which is on ice at the moment, that is what the administration is now focusing its energy on. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Natasha Bertrand, great reporting. Thank you, Natasha.

Coming up for us, we're standing by for an update on Hurricane Milton. Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis about to speak live on preps and evacuations and where this thing is headed. We also have the head of FEMA will be our guest.

And new poll numbers showing Kamala Harris with a slight lead over Donald Trump nationally.

[07:25:03]

So, how voters see Harris as a break from the status quo now more than Donald Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. This morning, the west coast of Florida is bracing for what will be one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall there. Mass evacuations along the state's west coast are underway, major cities, including Tampa, bracing for the harshest impact Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

[07:30:02]

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is on the ground in Florida with the latest.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the last time a major hurricane made landfall.