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Kamala Harris Continues Media Blitz; Hurricane Milton Heads to Florida. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:59]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hurricane Milton closing in on Florida. This monster storm is now forecast to double in size. The National Hurricane Center is warning about a vast area of destruction, and Florida's governor says time is running out for people to evacuate.

Plus, Harris hits the airwaves and former President Trump, the vice president delivering sharp criticism of her opponent during an appearance on "The View," saying that he lacks empathy as he spreads misinformation about the federal response in the wake of Helene.

And 14 states now suing TikTok. Why a bipartisan group of attorneys general say the social media platform is harming children's mental health.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Hello. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington, and my colleague and co-host Boris Sanchez is live in Florida following the very latest on Hurricane Milton, which is where we begin this hour.

We are watching as this powerful Category 4 storm is barreling through the Gulf of Mexico with Florida directly in its sights. Right now, mass evacuations are under way across the state, and we're seeing this, long lines, traffic jams, and also many gas stations that are running out of fuel. The mayor of Tampa says tankers are on their way to refill gas stations in the area.

And here's a look at Milton from space. This storm, it is just huge as you can see here. The impacts could be catastrophic with potentially life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds.

Here's how Tampa's mayor put it bluntly:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE CASTOR (D), MAYOR OF 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)

KEILAR: It's a stark warning, Boris.

You're there in Treasure Island, which, of course, is in the Tampa Bay area. What are folks preparing for there?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Brianna, the absolute worst.

It's hard to imagine seeing the state of this community in Treasure Island, a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and imagining that anyone could survive what they are about to witness from Hurricane Milton. What you see here around me is the result of Hurricane Helene. This is debris from a Category 4 storm that made landfall hundreds of miles from here.

And this debris, we're talking about mattresses, water heaters, scrap metal, glass, is just out for blocks and blocks and blocks. One of the first things that you notice when you come into Treasure Island is the smell, because the trash is everywhere.

And when you're looking at a potential 15-foot storm surge on top of about a foot of water in rainfall, plus 125-mile-an-hour winds, this, as one neighbor told me, has the potential to become a countless number of missiles.

And it's not just this pile here or further down this block. I want you to look at a scene that we have seen multiple times across Pinellas County. There is trash everywhere. And this enormous pile, nearly 20 feet high, is roughly a few hundred yards from the beach. The beach is actually just behind those buildings over there.

And on the other side, there's a bay. So you can imagine, the water is going to come into this community, if the forecast stands as it is, and essentially make an enormous mess of things.

I spoke to one neighbor named Matt, who was here for Hurricane Helene. He said that he had to get out from his first-floor apartment. He got into chest-high water. He made it to the second floor and survived. This time, he says he's not taking any chances. Here's more of what he shared with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW LITVAK, FLORIDA RESIDENT: We don't know where it's going to hit at. It might hit here. It might hit south. It might hit north. And it looks like it's going to be devastating, particularly for buildings like this, because these are not hurricane-proof buildings.

[13:05:15]

It's still out there. It hasn't been picked up. These are going to turn into missiles. They're going to be going to blow this way, blow that way. We don't know what's going to happen to these things. So, yes, it's not good. People that are around here, they need to get out of here and go someplace else. It's silly to stick around here. It's not worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It is not worth it, as Matt told me.

I did speak though, Brianna, to a bus driver who is stationed outside of city hall here on Treasure Island. She's been designated to help evacuate folks that want to get out. She says that people here have until 4:00 p.m. to register to evacuate.

But so far today, only about three hours from that deadline, her bus is completely empty. Nobody has come at this point to evacuate yet.

I want to get the latest on the forecast now and see exactly where Milton stands.

Let's go live to Elisa Raffa, who's in the Weather Center for us.

Elisa, where is the hurricane now? And in terms of strength, what are we seeing? I know there was some speculation that it might be reinvigorated to a Category 5. I guess the latest word is that it's going to stay at a strong Category 4?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, right now it is teetering on that Category 5 strength. It's got 150-mile-per-hour winds; 156 miles per hour makes it a Category 5. So, again, we're kind of splitting hairs, kind of teetering along that border, but that eye is wakening up.

It looks clear and symmetrical, so it's still keeping its intensity and its strength, still at that Category 4 storm 500 miles south and west of Tampa Bay. We still have it waning a little bit in that intensity, still, though, being a major hurricane as it makes landfill.

And the problem with the kind of wobbling that it's doing in the intensity is what that will do is make the storm wider. It's going to double in size, becoming fatter, so it will have a much greater reach for those damaging winds. That's why we now have hurricane warnings in effect from coast to coast, from the East Coast all the way to the Atlantic coast.

We could see a Category 2 hurricane swiping through Orlando. That's how far wide-reaching this thing could have. And I was incredibly troubled to see that huge mountain of debris behind you because we're looking at 110 mile-per-hour winds from Tampa down to Sarasota.

That -- all of those things behind you will absolutely be projectiles, hurricane-force winds going towards the East Coast. Here's what I'm talking about, the storm again getting wider, tropical-storm-force winds taking over much of the peninsula, the hurricane-force winds from coast to coast. That means widespread power outages.

And this is the unsurvivable part. This is why you're hearing the officials use such grave wording, because 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, you have to escape that. You have that from Tampa down to Sarasota, storm surge even still to 10 feet, even as far south as Fort Myers. The entire coast will have that ocean sloshing inland.

Plus, you have the heavy rain coming down from the sky up to a foot possible, so multiple hazards -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, almost an unthinkable number of hazards, and, as you noted, Elisa, very, very widespread.

I was talking earlier about the debris that we saw from Hurricane Helene. Again, that made landfall hundreds of miles from here. It's not hard to imagine that further south and further north from where this hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall, people will be feeling the effects.

I actually want to take you now live to Fort Myers with CNN's Carlos Suarez, who's been spending the day there observing preparations.

Carlos, what are you seeing where you are?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the folks here in Fort Myers are getting ready for this hurricane.

We have been here for a good part of the day and business owners are putting up plywood. They are getting ready for what's expected to be some severe flooding. To give you a sense of exactly what I'm talking about here -- and I almost fell because they're laying out this tarp here.

You can see these folks have laid out as much as they can these bags that they believe can absorb some of this water. And we're told that just two years ago, during Hurricane Ian, the water out here got to about four feet. And with the forecast for the storm surge with this hurricane, it's expected to be about six to 10 feet.

And so we're looking at more flooding in a storm that is hitting right now to the north of here. This place here was actually supposed to open in October of 2024. We're told that they were just weeks away from hopefully opening their doors, but now they're getting ready for the storm.

The concern as we move throughout the week, of course, is this flooding. And one of the reasons why for part of Fort Myers to be evacuated in an evacuation zone is because there is a river just on the other side of the street. It's called the Caloosahatchee, and it goes out into the Gulf of Mexico.

And it also goes into Lake Okeechobee in the central part of Florida. As that storm surge moves through, again, anywhere between six to 10 feet, as the six to a foot of rain falls and as all of that wind moves through, that river is going to crest, it is going to overflow.

[13:10:04]

And so what you're going to see is all of that water will rush in to where we are right now. And that is the big concern for the folks in this part of Fort Myers -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Carlos Suarez, thank you so much for that update.

I want to go back to a moment ago when we were describing how difficult it is for a community to recover from two major hurricanes so close to each other and the amount of debris that there is scattered, not only here on Treasure Island, but across the western coast of Florida.

I'm joined now by Dan Whelan. He's the vice president of operations for College HUNKS.

You folks help to remove debris and move around the sort of stuff that comes loose after hurricanes. I'm wondering what you make of what we have seen around the community with so many piles like this and then the potential for that to become a projectile.

DAN WHALEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, COLLEGE HUNKS: Yes.

No, it's been bizarre. I mean, I have been doing this for close to 10 years and seen nothing like it. We have been going bell to bell ever since Helene touched down. And then obviously when Milton was forecast to be -- arrival, I mean, it was just emergency mode for all of us.

So, around the clock, the greater Tampa Bay area, we have really banded together to do the best we can to prepare for this, but, ultimately, there's still a lot left to do.

SANCHEZ: And to that point, is there much time to do anything else but evacuate?

WHALEN: I think that's really it. A lot of the orders have been placed as far as based on certain zones, where you live. So if you do live in those zones, it's probably in your best interest to go ahead and heed those orders immediately, because time is running out.

And so that's really where we're at right now.

SANCHEZ: What are some of the challenges that you and your organization have faced in trying to get this stuff moved? It's obviously not an easy operation, but the last hurricane that was here was fewer than two weeks ago.

This stuff unfortunately often just sits out after hurricanes.

WHALEN: Yes. Yes.

No, between fuel shortages, extensive long lines at the dumps, and just our team members as well, caring for their safety, because ultimately we want to prioritize their well-being as well, I mean, it's just really been kind of, just again, red alert for everybody. But, again, I think we're really fortunate to have a great, solid crew of team members and a great culture where everybody, when they heard, hey, the city needs us, they need our help, everybody was like, hey, what can I do to help?

SANCHEZ: What have you heard from officials that have been working with College HUNKS to get stuff out? Do they have confidence that enough has been done to move the stuff that needs to be moved?

WHALEN: I think we have made a really, really large dent. So the city of Tampa actually called us over the weekend, was like, hey, there's still a lot of stuff still outstanding from the last hurricane. Can you guys help?

And so we were fortunate enough to be able to answer that call. We have hauled over 100 tons of debris just in the past two days alone.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

WHALEN: So the streets look a lot better than they did a couple of days before. But, again, to your point, there's still a lot that still obviously is left over that still needs to be done.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and for folks that are in communities like that, it is important, as Dan said, to heed the warnings and get out while you still can.

Dan Whelan with College HUNKS, we very much appreciate the time. Thanks for joining us.

WHALEN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: So, Brianna, there is so much danger in this area. And the important thing for folks to keep in mind, again, is that time is running out. The time to act is now. And soon it'll be too late.

So for folks that are still in the western part of Florida that are thinking about evacuating, you better make that decision very soon.

KEILAR: Yes, let's hope some people get on that bus that you were talking about there, Boris.

And ahead, still to come this hour: Vice President Harris saying that former President Trump lacks empathy on a basic level for spreading misinformation about the response to Hurricane Helene. We will have more on her interview on "The View" today and what she says she'd do differently than President Biden.

Also ahead, Israel expanding its military operation in Southern Lebanon, as more Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:16]

KEILAR: Right now, Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing ahead with her weeklong blitz of media appearances, taking part in a one-on-one interview on Howard Stern's satellite radio program, the vice president making the rounds across New York City today. She will be on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" tonight.

And she just wrapped up an appearance on "The View," where she heavily criticized former President Trump for spreading disinformation in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, we're talking about real human beings and their lives, and them losing everything, everything.

The idea that somebody would be playing political games for the sake of himself -- but this is so consistent about Donald Trump. He puts himself before the needs of other. I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a leader is not to beat people down. It's to lift people up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And national politics correspondent Eva McKend is covering the vice president's events today.

She kept coming back to that refrain that Trump is selfish and thinks more about himself than the people he's supposed to be serving. What else stood out to you?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, she used the platform, this audience of women, Brianna, to outline a new policy proposal.

She has talked for a long time about the sandwich generation. Those are adults that have to take care of their kids and their parents at the same time. She has credibility in this space with organizers here like Care in Action. So she leaned into this again today, essentially arguing that Medicare needs to be expanded in order to meet people's basic needs. Let's listen.

[13:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What I am proposing is that basically what we will do is allow Medicare to cover in-home health care. And it's about dignity for that individual. It's about independence for that individual.

I mean, people are of declining skills to some extent, but their dignity has not -- their pride has not declined. They want to stay in their home. They don't want to go somewhere else. Plus, for the family to send them to a residential care facility, to hire somebody is so expensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, another part of that interview that the former president is seizing on Brianna is when Sunny asked her how she would differentiate herself from President Biden, how she was different. And in the moment, she said, nothing immediately comes to mind.

Now, she later added that she would have a Republican in her Cabinet, and that would be different. But it was already too late, because the former president and his allies are arguing that voting for her would be an extension of President Biden's policies.

But, listen, this is always going to be a persistent challenge for the vice president, trying to characterize herself as a change candidate, even though she is, in fact, in the administration.

KEILAR: That's certainly a difficult task.

Eva McKend, thank you so much for that.

Let's talk now with CNN senior political commentator and co-host of "The View" Ana Navarro.

OK, let's talk about that moment that Eva was just discussing. This was a key question to answer in the interview. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY HOSTIN, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Would you 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 have been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, Ana, not a thing comes to mind. Does she need a better answer on that kind of question? Because there are voters who are looking for an alternative to Biden, rather than a continuation of him.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think it's a very difficult balance to navigate, right?

Because she's been the vice president to Joe Biden. She's got great loyalty, affection for him and respect for him. They have had a very good administration in terms of achievements. And I think she did come back to it later on the show and talk about how she would appoint a Republican to the Cabinet.

That, to me, as a Republican, a disgruntled Republican who is voting for Kamala Harris and actively supporting her, is very important, because what I have learned through many, many decades now of being an American is that big problems in America require bipartisan solutions. And I think it's important that we not live and govern in an echo chamber, where everybody agrees and everybody is a yes-man or a yes- woman, and everybody comes from the same experience.

So, for me, that tells me a lot about this coalition that Kamala Harris is building, where she's got people like Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney on the right and people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders on the left, because we need a president that will represent all Americans.

And I think that's what she's signaling by saying, I will have a Republican in my Cabinet, something that Bill Clinton did. His secretary of defense, Bill Cohen, was a Republican, did a very fine job.

KEILAR: You, a Floridian, asked her about the hurricane response. She went back to a refrain that Trump is selfish, which, by the way, she also said when she was discussing the border, when she was talking about January 6, this idea that Trump puts himself before the people he's supposed to serve.

Do you think that that message is more salient with some key voters than arguing that Trump is a threat to democracy?

NAVARRO: Look, I think right now, in the moment we are all at, right, where, within the next day, there's going to be a monster hurricane hitting my state of Florida, Brianna, I'm kind of like in shock at what is happening and these attacks on people.

I have lived in Florida 44 years. I have gone through countless hurricanes and emergencies in Florida. The thing I most want is to see the federal, state and local governments working together to help people in need out.

This thing that Donald Trump is doing is putting a target on the backs of FEMA workers, the men and women who have left their homes, left their comfort to go help other people in need, to go rescue folks, to go find corpses, often in perilous conditions.

And they are being attacked because Donald Trump has chosen to use this as a political issue and is lying. I mean, that FEMA is having to take up precious time and resources to fight misinformation from a former president, this is the first time in my life that this happens.

[13:25:04]

And I think she is right to call it out as selfish and as ridiculous. It is dangerous that people are actually believing the stupid lies he is spewing in the midst of this crisis, crisis from Helene and crisis that we have facing us with Hurricane Milton.

KEILAR: Ana, thank you so much. I really appreciate you being with us.

Ana Navarro, thanks.

NAVARRO: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And, right now, it is the race to clear debris. It is the race to flee Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall.

You're looking here at live pictures from Treasure Island, where Boris Sanchez will be broadcasting live for us from in just a moment here.

Stay with CNN. Our breaking news coverage continues after this break.

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