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Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) is Interviewed about Trump's Putin Calls; FEMA Administrator Calls Misinformation Demoralizing; Tampa Airport Closes Ahead of Hurricane. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:13]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, new reporting that Donald Trump had multiple, secret conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he left office. This all comes from an excerpt from the upcoming book "War" by Bob Woodward. Jamie Gangel and her team looked at it and got these excerpts. One of them says, quote, "according to Trump's aide, there have been multiple phone calls between Trump and Putin, as many as seven in the period since Trump left the White House in 2021." Again, the timeline here is Trump speaking to Putin allegedly after he was president.

With me now is Congressman Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado who is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for being with us.

If this is true in Donald Trump's been having multiple conversations with Vladimir Putin, what's your takeaway?

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Well, John, I've been watching Donald Trump closely for about eight years now, which I know is crazy to think about. But this shouldn't surprise anybody. This is somebody who for years has cozied up to dictators, to autocrats, who has said he's, you know, close to Kim Jong-un in North Korea, who repeatedly says he has a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, who has stored top secret documents in his bathroom, who, let's remember, invited Foreign Minister Lavrov, which is the Russian foreign minister, into the Oval Office and conveyed some of our secrets to him. I mean this is somebody who is cavalier with our national security, who disparages our troops. He in no way should come close to the White House, which is why it's important that in less than a month Americans are going to have a really important choice between Vice President Harris, who has proven time and time again that she can be a commander in chief that we need right now, versus Donald Trump.

BERMAN: And again, I should note that the Trump spokesperson, Jason Miller, says he has no knowledge of these conversations.

But again, if true, would it cross some line? I mean presidential candidates and ex-presidents often do talk to -- to foreign leaders, but Putin invaded Ukraine at this point. Is that different? CROW: Of course, it's different because we are supporting Ukraine right now, right? We are here sending aid, military aid, to maintain peace and prosperity in Europe, to bolster the security for our NATO allies. This is one of the most consequential battles and conflicts of our life right now. And if somebody is going to be having closed door, you know, secret conversations with Vladimir Putin that nobody knows about, an ex-president, and maintaining some kind of shadow foreign policy, or making promises, and we're not sure what happened in this conversation if it indeed occurred, that -- that's very troubling stuff.

But again, this is -- this is a pattern, right? This should not surprise anybody. This is Donald Trump's pattern to do secret, behind the door deals, to do things that American people don't know about, to do things that are self-serving. Let's not forget, the first impeachment trial was because Donald Trump withheld foreign aid that the American people and Congress authorized to Ukraine. He withheld that for personal political gain. And he has done that time and time again. This is not new. This is Donald Trump's modus operandi. This is the way he does business.

BERMAN: I think the last time I spoke to you it was as part of your role as sitting on this special select committee looking into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. And it was a conversation -- we didn't talk politics at all, because that work really is -- should be beyond politics.

There was this discussion between Elon Musk, who, of course, is one of the top supporters now of Donald Trump, and Tucker Carlson, who seems to be also about assassination attempts.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK: Which is like, nobody's even bothering to try to kill Kamala, because it's pointless. What do you achieve? Nothing.

TUCKER CARLSON: No, it's totally right.

MUSK: You just find another puppet.

CARLSON: Exactly. That's --

MUSK: There's no point in killing -

CARLSON: It's deep and true, though.

MUSK: Nobody's tried to kill Joe Biden.

CARLSON: It's -

MUSK: It would be pointless.

CARLSON: Totally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: They seem to be having a lot of laughs over that.

Congressman, what's your view?

CROW: Well, it's disgusting. And the American people shouldn't tolerate it. And, you know, Donald Trump has promised Elon Musk a position in his cabinet. This person has no business in our government. You know, he's not been elected by the people. He repeatedly engages in disinformation, repeats Donald Trump's lies. This is unacceptable. This is no joke -- joking matter. Everybody should condemn political violence of all sorts, of all types. That's what our task force is about, to make sure that every candidate, Democrat, Republican, is secure, is safe.

[09:35:06]

We are trying to restore that trust and make sure it happens.

And at the same time, we should continue to condemn, not just political violence, but this rhetoric that creates a permission structure for it, that makes it a laughing matter, that makes it a joke, because it's not.

BERMAN: All right, Congressman Jason Crow from Colorado, always appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

CROW: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says that Vice President Harris is, quote, "delusional." Why he is accusing her of playing politics with natural disasters.

And Hurricane Milton, which is just a monster storm, headed right at Florida. We are getting new forecast information, new areas that need to take extreme, rapid action.

Stay with us. Our coverage continues.

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[09:40:33]

BERMAN: So, this morning, as Florida prepares perhaps for one of the worst storms in the state's history, Donald Trump continues to spread misinformation about hurricanes and FEMA relief. And in a new ad out this morning, Vice President Harris is taking aim at Donald Trump's old handle -- 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: Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene.

And, of course, what people on the ground just want is the relief free of politics.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. And I think the thing that's really dangerous about a lot of this information about the political nature of -- the politicization, I should say, of the federal response to both Hurricane Helene, but also the upcoming storm, Hurricane Milton, is that, you know, at best this is a distraction for people on the ground, but at worst, this could really be preventing them from knowing what their resources are that are available to them from getting the help that they need. And that's really the problem here. And that's why you hear so many people, not just politicians now, but in the past saying you cannot politicize what is happening in such an emergency situation as this one.

Now, I do want to break down where this is coming from because we have seen Donald Trump and his campaign, for several days now, share false claims about the hurricane -- the federal response to the hurricane. They have argued without, you know, evidence that the Democratic leaders in some of these states, as well as the Biden administration, are being biased toward Republicans needing help. They've also argued, Donald Trump did this as recently as yesterday, that FEMA is only giving those who need help $750. Again, something we know is not true. That is something that they get kind of without question at first, but they have far more money and resources available to them.

Now, the other part of this is Governor Ron DeSantis. He has been kind of thrust into this, of course, because of what is happening in Florida. Now, a White House official had told CNN that Harris had reached out to DeSantis multiple times to discuss the upcoming hurricane, as well as relief efforts for the past hurricane, and that he never took that call. He responded to that this morning on Fox News. Take a listen.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Why all of a sudden is she trying to parachute in and inject herself when she's never shown any interest in the past?

We know it's because of politics. We know it's because of her campaign. I have zero time to entertain these political games

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, there you have that. And we also know that Joe Biden and Ron DeSantis have spoken and White House Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said that they had invited DeSantis to appear with Joe Biden when he was in the state last week, but DeSantis chose not to.

But really the bottom line here is that this is an issue that particularly the leaders in these hurricane ravaged states are saying, do not make this political. But with just 28 days to the election, both campaigns are really seizing on this and using this as an opportunity to attack their opponents.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes, I suppose it's not surprising given the state of things.

Alayna Treene, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is Lance Trover, former press secretary for North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum's 2024 presidential campaign, And Brian Brokaw, former campaign manager for Kamala Harris' campaign when she was running for attorney general.

Let's start off kind of going off Alayna Treene, but let's start off with what the FEMA administrator is saying today about information coming out about FEMA aid.

Listen to this, guys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: His accusations are just completely false. I think the first thing I would say is, just because you don't see somebody on the ground in a FEMA shirt doesn't mean that we don't have people there. We really have just got to stop this rhetoric because what it's doing is it's putting fear in the people that we're not going to be there to help them.

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BOLDUAN: When she's taking about his accusations specifically to what Donald Trump had said at an event at a -- at an event last night.

Lance, what do you think the Trump campaign should do here, where this has landed?

LANCE TROVER, FORMER BURGUM 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON: Well, Donald Trump was one of the first on the ground in North Carolina last week.

[09:45:03]

I think that kind of gets brushed off to the side.

But here's what I would say. Neither party, nor -- Democratic nor Republican, should be politicizing these events.

But I -- I can't help but laugh that the person who never talks to the media, Kamala Harris, conveniently has time to get off an airplane yesterday and accused the governor of Florida of being selfish because he wouldn't take her phone call yesterday. That's just ridiculous. The guy said he's dealing with the president. He is dealing with FEMA. He's getting everything she needs -- or he needs. And she's the one saying that he's selfish. I mean, she needs to grow up and get out of the way on this thing.

BOLDUAN: But specifically on -- we'll talk about DeSantis in a second, but specifically on Donald Trump, things he has been pushing are factually inaccurate. Unfounded rumors.

I mean, Lance, don't you -- do you agree that this should not be happening? He should not say these things?

TROVER: Well, that's what I said at the beginning -- at the very beginning, I don't think either party should be politicizing any of this stuff, and things need to be factual in nature. If you talk to people on the ground, they are struggling out there. And there are people in North Carolina who feel they are not getting the help they need from FEMA.

And so, again, I go back to neither party should be politicizing this. But it is really ironic that the vice president is now injecting herself into this, accusing the governor of Florida of being selfish on this when he's just trying to deal with it. It's obvious what she's trying to do. It's a total political ploy.

So, for, again, for both sides, neither should be politicizing this thing.

BOLDUAN: Brian, how do you respond to that? I mean, they -- Lance and Ron DeSantis clearly describing it as injecting herself at the last minute where she hasn't been in the past. So says Ron DeSantis

BRIAN BROKAW, FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR KAMALA HARRIS AG CAMPAIGN: Yes, playing politics in times of natural disaster is nothing new for Republicans. I remember when Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, met with Barack Obama in the days before the 2012 election, and he was crucified, vilified within his own party for actually doing the right thing for his constituents and for the country and meeting with the incumbent president. It's unfortunate that Governor DeSantis seems to be taking a playbook from his president, and Lance's president, Donald Trump, who, it was reported this week, was going to withhold wildfire relief funding for my home state of California until he was shown by members of his own staff that there are, in fact, Republicans in California.

So, this is something that at a time of crisis, we need our leaders to put politics aside. It doesn't seem to happen. And it's perpetuated by people like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis exacerbating partisan divides in a time of crisis.

BOLDUAN: It seems everyone agrees that disaster relief and -- in responding to it should be above and beyond politics. It seems where the disagreement is, is, who's politicizing it and for what -- and to what end.

Lance, let me ask you about these polls. This new, "New York Times"/Siena College poll. It's among likely voters. It's a national poll. Harris holds a narrow lead, 47-44, over Trump when third party candidates are included, 49-46 in that poll without other candidates named. The thing that the Harris campaign is leaning on is that Harris is

seen as representing change more than Donald Trump, 46-44 in this poll, the first time that they've seen that in "The New York Times" polling. What do you say?

TROVER: I would say, if you look at that poll, the same warning signs that have been there for Kamala Harris for a couple of months are still there. She is losing on the number one issue that voters care about, that's the economy and the cost of living, by double digits to Donald Trump.

The other area where she is struggling big time is with blue collar voters. She is losing those to Donald Trump. People have a very fond view of Donald Trump's presidency. When they look back at his policies, they like them. And that's a real problem.

But this blue collar issue, particularly in Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, is a big issue for her. And guess what? Those voters aren't sitting around watching "The View" this morning where she's appearing.

BOLDUAN: Well, I'm not one to speak for "The View" viewership. I -- some of my friends work on there, so I'm not going to say one way or the other. They have a large viewership.

Brian -

TROVER: I'm -- I'm willing -- I'm willing to bet the blue collars are not sitting around watching "The View" and the hard-hitting questions she's going to get there this morning.

BOLDUAN: Okey-dokey.

Brian, Lance, thank you so much. Brian, thank you, as always. Appreciate your time.

John.

BERMAN: All right, just minutes ago, Tampa's main airport shut down as Florida braces for what could be one of the most powerful hurricanes on record. We are standing by for an update on where Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall.

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[09:53:50]

BERMAN: All right, just a few minutes ago, the airport in Tampa, shut down. Tomorrow, Orlando's airport will shut down. This is all happening as Hurricane Milton is bearing down. You can see the pictures right there of people trying to get out of these major cities by road.

What will the impact be over time on travel, not just in Florida, where no one's going to be traveling pretty soon, but around the country? Let's get right to CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean. Pete, what are you seeing?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the big question now is how long these airports will remain closed with some of the biggest right on the water, expecting major impacts from the high storm surge predicted with Hurricane Milton.

Here's the latest from FlightAware. The cancellations and delays already climbing, 687 cancellations in the U.S. so far today, 562 delays nationwide. But remember, it is still early. The FAA says there could be ground stops today in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, which could cause these numbers to rise. Really pales in comparison to the numbers for tomorrow. FlightAware already reporting more than 1,500 flights have been canceled for tomorrow.

Here is what's driving this. So many airports already closing or have closed. The Tampa International Airport, first on the list to close. Shuttered to commercial flights and passengers at the top of the hour.

[09:55:01]

Sarasota-Bradenton closing at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. St. Petersburg-Clearwater closing after the final flight today. Southwest Florida, also known as Fort Myers, closing after the final flight today. Orlando International closing at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Now you may be asking why these airports are closing so early since the storm isn't set to make landfall in Florida until late tomorrow. Now, Tampa International Airport says there is little doubt that it will be thrashed by storm surge since its right on Tampa Bay. And right now workers there are chaining all 58 jet bridges to the ground.

I want you to listen now to the head of airport operations, who says that workers will do a damage assessment after the storm passes, but there is no telling when the airport could reopen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN TILIACOS, EXECUTIVE VP OF OPERATIONS, TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: The better job we do on the front end of securing our airport, that helps to mitigate any potential damage, and we are better positioned to open the airport after the storm has passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: One thing we're hearing from airports, and this is key, they are in the evacuation zone, many of them. The airports are stressing they are not storm shelters.

John and Kate.

BERMAN: All right, that is important information.

Pete Muntean, thank you very much for all that.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL

with the John Berman and the Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner.

"CNN NEWSROOM" is up next.

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