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Vice President Harris Is In " Excellent Health" According To Detailed Letter From Her Physician; Vance Calls "Childless Cat Ladies" Comment Dumb, But Says The Country Has Become "Almost Pathologically Anti-Child"; Trump Makes Blue-State Detour This Weekend In California; Flooding On The Rise In Wake Of Hurricane Milton; Iran Warns U.S. That It Will Retaliate Against Any Future Israel Strike. Iran Engaging In Urgent Diplomacy As It Waits To See Israel's Attack To Missile Response; Biden Calls In Congress To "Step Up" For Additional FEMA Funding; "T.V. On The Edge: Kanye Breaks The Telethon" Airs Tomorrow At 9P ET/PT. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired October 12, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/podcast and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching and see you again next week.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thanks so much for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt.

We begin today with just over three weeks until the election. Brand new polling out today in two battleground states and it is giving us a new snapshot of where this high stakes race stands as we enter this final sprint to Election Day.

Today's New York Times/Siena College poll shows a bit of a tossup race in two key swing states. The new polling shows Kamala Harris with a slight lead in Pennsylvania while Donald Trump takes a similar size lead in Arizona. Both the candidates are on the campaign trail today traveling to battleground states on opposite sides of the country.

Trump continues to campaign out west while Harris is traveling to battleground North Carolina today for an overnight stay. The Vice President also releasing her medical information just moments ago. Her doctor released a letter detailing the 59-year-old's medical history and a health report.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from Washington. So Priscilla, what are we learning from this VP's medical information, this report, and what are her campaign plans for today?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Alex, this is the most detail that we have received so far about the Vice President and her medical records and it runs through what you would expect. It says, for example, that her routine blood work and April physical exam show no causes for alarm, this according to a doctor.

Also notes, however, that she does have seasonal allergies and hives and is nearsighted. So learning a little more detail there, but generally, there is nothing that raises alarm according to this nearly two-page note from the doctor who also says the following. Let me quote for you here.

It says, quote, "She possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those of chief executive, head of state, and commander-in- chief."

Now, of course, Alex, the timing here notable. Harris advisers want to draw that stark contrast with former President Donald Trump particularly when comes to his age. Of course, the former president is 78 years old and age was a big concern when this election was the former President Donald Trump against President Joe Biden.

So clearly here the Harris campaign as well as the Office of the Vice President demonstrating the Vice President's bill of health through these records. Now, the Vice President and her team also keenly aware that those polls are very tight as you outlined there and they are trying to make inroads in a variety of these battleground states including today when the Vice President heads to North Carolina.

I've spoken to multiple advisers who tell me that they are trying to remain quite bullish on North Carolina. They see an opportunity in that state to potentially put that in the Vice President's column come November. So she is heading down there today.

We're getting some details from the campaign as to what she'll be doing. She's going to stop at a local restaurant and rally but she is also according to the campaign going to work with local volunteers to prepare supplies for those who are still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Tomorrow, however, she'll have a rally and on Monday she'll be in Pennsylvania. Of course that polling that you referenced there at the top shows that she has a slight edge in Pennsylvania but still within the margin of error.

So, this is the final stretch of the election, the Harris campaign clearly trying to gain ground where they can in these battlegrounds remain present in them, and over the course of all of that, put out these medical records in detail demonstrating that she has a clean bill of health.

MARQUARDT: Yes it is so incredibly close in all seven of those critical swing states.

Priscilla Alvarez here in Washington with me. Thank you very much.

And for more on the Vice President's just released medical report, let's bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent for more on what this health summary says and what it means.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What we were provided with is about a page and a half letter which is pretty standard for presidential candidates and presidents when it comes to their health history. The headline is the vice president is a 59-year- old healthy woman who is able to fulfill the demands and the office of the presidency.

This particular letter is signed by Joshua Simmons who is her doctor and a colonel in the U.S. Army. Just a couple of notable highlights. Again keeping in mind that these are minor things that she is healthy. She has allergies. She has hives associated with those allergies. She wears contact lenses.

[12:05:04]

Most notably is that she has a family history of colon cancer. Her mother died around age 70 of colon cancer. And they make note of this, saying that she is getting preventive care recommendations including colonoscopies and annual mammograms.

I think they also spent a lot of time in this letter talking about what the Vice President does not have. She does not have a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, lung disease, neurological disorders or cancer. They give a lot of the numbers of a recent physical exam which was done in April of 2024.

They talk about things like her blood pressure but also any medications that she may be taking. She is taking things like vitamin B12, vitamin D which they find all those to be in the normal range. So this is a pretty standard letter. There are no particular concerns when you see a letter like this and again coming from her doctor talking about her most recent physical exam.

The headline being that she is in excellent health and possesses a physical and mental resiliency, they say here, required to execute the duties of the presidency. Back to you.

MARQUARDT: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks. And we do want to highlight that that report does say that she has no history of various things including cancer.

Later this afternoon, former President Donald Trump will be holding a roundtable campaign event near Las Vegas in the battleground state of Nevada. And later tonight, he will then hold a rare campaign rally in deep blue California, a state that he lost by more than 5 million votes in the last election in 2020.

On Friday, he was in another blue state, Colorado, where he doubled down on dark rhetoric and false claims about Venezuelan gangs overtaking Aurora, Colorado. Meantime, his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, is once again trying to clarify and defend his controversial remarks about childless cat ladies.

CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us now from California where Trump will be holding that rally later tonight. So Kristen, bring us up to speed on all these various developments with the Trump campaign.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alex, I'm going to start with those J.D. Vance comments because they are the most recent thing that we have seen from the campaign and it is very interesting given the fact that he is still responding to these childless cat lady comments that really appeared in July and he is still trying to get through that narrative.

And if you'll remember, we have seen time and time again the Harris campaign use those remarks against the Trump campaign. And now here he was sitting down for an interview with the New York Times talking about it trying to clean it up and really going further than we've heard him go before. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, as I said when I made those comments, look, they were dumb comments and I said it a couple of times in a couple of interviews. And, look, yes, I mean, I certainly wish that I had said it differently.

I mean, what I was trying to get at is that, look, I'm not talking about people who it just didn't work out, right, for medical reasons, for social reasons, like, set that to the side, we're not talking about folks like that. What I was definitely trying to illustrate and, you know, ultimately a very inarticulate way is that I do think that our country has become almost pathologically anti-child.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

HOLMES: So clearly they're trying to clarify these remarks, but just keep in mind one thing. This is coming at a time where the Trump campaign is really suffering with women voters. This is part of that, but we obviously know that this -- with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, that is another part of this, but they've been trying to court these women voters.

I was with him yesterday in Aurora, Colorado, with Donald Trump, when he was talking to women directly saying, I will protect you. Everyone's trying to make a big deal of the fact that I said I would be your protector, but the truth is I want to protect you. He is trying to do everything he can to get women voters but the truth is the polling shows that they're just not there when it comes to the former president. So probably part of why you're seeing J.D. Vance trying to clean up those remarks.

Now just for today, we, obviously, as you mentioned, we saw Donald Trump yesterday in Aurora, Colorado, a very blue state. Here in California, an even bluer state, and part of the reason that they are here is that they say that it doesn't particularly matter whether or not he is campaigning in a swing state or campaigning in a blue state or a red state.

That events like this, particularly this kind of event, that's going to be a massive rally in Coachella or at least they say it's going to be massive we don't know yet it's still very early, that this is going to garner media attention. That clips from these events are going to go out on social media, that it could get just as much or not more attention, reach more swing state voters than if he was actually doing a rally in a swing state.

Now Donald Trump himself both privately and publicly has said he thinks he could win the state of California. He doesn't understand if it was a fair election. He said at one point that he believed he would win the state of California. That is obviously not something that his advisers believe or really Republicans or Democrats across the board, but he wanted to do this rally.

I was told that he has often talked about the fact that he has a lot of supporters particularly in Southern California, so he wanted to do this rally for them.

[12:10:08]

When I'm talking to Republican operatives though, they say they believe this is a waste of time. They don't know why it is that he's going to be on the ground here, but we'll see him later today.

MARQUARDT: Yes, it's an interesting take on a media strategy. Kristen Holmes in Coachella, California not there for the music festival but for the Trump rally later today.

HOLMES: Sadly.

MARQUARDT: Next time.

And coming up this hour, President Joe Biden, he'll be heading to Milton ravage, Florida, tomorrow on Sunday. The harsh message that he has for Congress about disaster funding, that's coming up.

Plus, CNN is live in the Iranian capital Tehran as we learn more about how Iran is preparing for possible retaliation from Israel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:25]

MARQUARDT: Floodwaters from Hurricane Milton are still on the rise in Central Florida. And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just gave an update on rescue and recovery efforts in the last hour. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: As of this morning, over 1,000 individuals have been rescued from floodwaters or other hazards. We still have massive amounts of resources available and we were able to successfully help over 400 health care facilities evacuate. Please continue to exercise caution as you recover from the storm. Ladder safety, generator safety.

If you need help with things like clearing debris off your property, we have organizations that are in Florida that can help you with that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Struggle.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

MARQUARDT: Since Milton made landfall, residents around three rivers are being warned that it could get worse before it gets better.

CNN's Brian Abel joins us live now from hard-hit Valrico, Florida which is near Tampa. So Brian, what are you seeing there?

BRIAN ABEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, we are more than 48 hours removed from landfall now and this is still the scene in some neighborhoods. You see how significant the flooding is here. We are in the River Ridge Reserve area just a little north of that.

It's about a half a mile from the Alafia River where all of this water spilled out from and this is what still remains. I want you to see some of the scenes here, the damage. You see here the trees that have come down on this fence line that at one point was underwater for the most part.

It has come down quite a bit in the last few hours that we've been here, but you can still also see how high it is up on the porch where those steps are there. And then even further down this street here, quite the scene as well that bus that is submerged. We saw that on a tour that we went in and I'll tell you a little bit about that in just a minute, but first I want to tell you what the sheriff has been saying to us today.

He said that more than 300 out of the over 1,000 rescues across the state were done by his office. So his deputies, they've been sleeping at sheriff's facilities instead

of going to their families in order to take care of this and to be here.

Now also from nearly 1 million customers in this county without power, that's been cut more than in half. It's now down to 426,000. So significant improvement there. There's also been quite the issue with fuel, with getting gas. We saw on the way in here, Alex, a long lines at the gas pumps.

The sheriff telling us that this was not a delivery or a supply problem, rather it was a dispensary problem that some of the equipment at the port got fried and that created quite a bit of issues there. Now, the fuel tankers, they are on the way to the hardest hit areas and they are being given police escorts in order to get there freely. So that is good news there.

I do want to tell you more about the boat tour that we went on with the sheriff's office here in Hillsborough County earlier today and we -- it was quite the sight. You can see water up to street signs in some areas. A lot of vehicles submerged, a lot of yards that you could not see because of the water.

Some livestock even at one point, we saw chickens and roosters on roof lines waiting for this water to subside. Now, the sheriff telling me, despite some improvements, some of the water coming down, despite those improvements with electricity, there is still concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: My fear is this is a big county that has sustained over 16 inches of rain. And mother nature does a phenomenal job of getting rid of that water but it all goes to the river that has to go out into the bay and unfortunately has to pass through a lot of areas that hasn't seen over 25 feet of flooding.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ABEL: And so the reduction in flooding here might be good news for the livestock like the cows that you're looking at now. But for other communities in this area, not so good news as the sheriff was saying because this water does have to go somewhere else before it gets back into the bay and ultimately resides and that is when these communities can really begin the recovery. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Yes, as nice as that weather looks we all know how much damage all that water can do. Brian Abel, thanks very much for that report.

St. Lucie County, despite being on the opposite coast from where Milton made landfall, has become one of the hardest hit areas in Florida.

[12:20:03]

Storm surveys from the National Weather Service now confirm three rare EF3 tornadoes spawned as Hurricane Milton came across Florida. At least six people were killed from the tornadoes.

I want to bring in Eric Gill, the Director of Communications for St. Lucie County. Eric, thanks so much for joining us at what I know is a very tough time. First of all, can you give us an update on the casualties in your county?

ERIC GILL, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA: As of now on Saturday, the casualties remain at six which is still, you know, in my 21 years of working here at St. Lucie County, we've never had a weather just like that that has produced that much fatality in our community.

MARQUARDT: And our thoughts of course go out to the family members of those six people. I'm very sorry. In terms of power outages, fuel shortages in St. Lucie County, are there still concerns about those?

GILL: No, fortunately, we have not had any fuel outages. There are still some power outages but, you know, at the peak I think we had about 80,000 residents without power. That number's down to, I think, 12,000 now. Fort Pierce Utility Authorities, one of our major providers and as well as FP&L.

FPUA Fort Pierce was up at 98 percent of their customers back online yesterday at noon. FP&L still has some areas to work on, but as you mentioned, you know, those tornadoes we had roughly about a dozen tornadoes in a two-hour time frame. So it's isolated pockets here and there. It may take a little longer for restorations for some neighborhoods.

MARQUARDT: Were you expecting this kind of damage, this kind of impact given what we were being told about the track of Milton as it was approaching Florida?

GILL: No, not at all. We were telling our residents to prepare for a tropical force storm winds, maybe a category 1 storm given it was coming from the gulf. Even at a three or four, once it makes land, you know, it was expected to slow down and be less of an impact as far as the wind speeds.

But anytime you have hurricanes, there's always potential for tornadoes. We just didn't think we'd see an unprecedented amount of tornadoes like we saw, you know, Wednesday, you know, hours before the storm even made landfall.

MARQUARDT: And as we've been speaking, Eric, we've been showing our viewers images from St. Lucie County of the devastation, of the damage done to homes, of people surveying that damage. What are you hearing from residents in St. Lucie County whose lives many of them have been turned upside down in the wake of this storm?

GILL: We just opened a multi-region -- multi-agency resource center at our fence center this morning at 10:00 a.m. with the state of Florida. We had people lined up well before we opened the doors ready to, you know, to get assistance, seek assistance. So we appreciate the outpouring from the community as well as the nation that are wanting to help.

But right now our focus is on getting cleaned up and then getting the relief to those that need it. So, you know, we're working through that process and we know it'll take some time.

MARQUARDT: And of course, Florida is dealing not just with the aftermath of Milton but of Helene as well. Are you getting the help that you need from the state and federal government? What more do you and residents there need?

GILL: Yes, I think time and patience obviously with the power lines and like the tornadoes as we said, you know, may have one street that's perfectly fine and then two streets over its devastation. So crews are getting out as fast as they can.

We don't really have any unmet needs now. The state's doing great with us. We're working with the federal government, the FEMA, to make sure we get on that declaration list so residents can apply for the assistance they need.

MARQUARDT: All right. Well, Eric Gill, our thoughts of course are with you and the rest of your community there in St. Lucie County. Thank you very much for your time today. I really appreciate it.

GILL: Thank you. MARQUARDT: And up next, we will take you live to Tehran. What the Iranian government is doing behind the scenes to prepare for possible retaliation from Israel?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:28:28]

MARQUARDT: And new this morning, growing fears of escalation in the conflicts in the Middle East with Iran now telling the U.S. and other Middle Eastern countries that it will retaliate against any new Israeli attack. It follows days of urgent diplomacy by a number of countries to try to pressure Israel to reduce the size of their response which will be retaliation for Iran's missile attack against Israel just a few weeks ago.

Also at this hour, Israel is almost done marking Yom Kippur. It is the first time that the Jewish state has been at war on its holiest day since 1973.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has made his way to the Iranian capital. So Fred, an Israeli retaliation for that ballistic missile attack by Iran against Israel that could come really at any moment. And at least from the rhetoric, Iran does sound ready to further escalate after that.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they certainly do. You're absolutely right. And you're absolutely right also, Alex, to point out that there has of course been a lot of diplomacy going on here in the Middle East over the past couple of days by the U.S. and other countries, but by the Iranians quite frankly as well.

You had the Iranian foreign minister touring the region. He was in Saudi Arabia. He was in Syria. He was in Lebanon and a couple of other countries as well. But the Iranians are now saying and they're sticking with their bold language that they are not trying to defuse this situation per se.

They say that if there is an attack by Israel, that Iran will definitely retaliate. That's what we're hearing from a source here in Tehran with knowledge of the discussions that have been going on. The Iranians also saying that they informed not just regional countries about this, but the United States as well. Of course, these two countries do not have direct diplomatic relations, therefore, that would happen through intermediaries.

It's unclear how an Iranian retaliation would look or what it would look like. However, one of the things that we have heard from the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of course, that the elite units of Iran's military, is that they say that if the Israelis attack Iranian energy infrastructure, like, for instance, oil and gas installations, of course, many of them are located in the Persian Gulf, some of them also in the border area between Iran and Iraq, that then the Iranians in the future might not just target military installations in Israel like they have in the past, but also energy installations in Israel as well. So the Iranians right now sticking with some pretty tough language, saying that they don't want escalation here in the middle eastern region, but also saying that if Israel strikes Iranian territory, that they will certainly hit back, Alex.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, major questions about what would be in the Israeli target set, and that, of course, will have a direct impact on the Iranian response. But Fred, let's go back to those diplomatic conversations. You're very correct to point out that Iran and the U.S. don't speak directly. Qatar is one of the countries that they use as a go between. I was told by a person familiar with those discussions that messages have been going back and forth. What more do we know about that diplomatic outreach by Iran and the others?

PLEITGEN: Well, I mean, it's been huge. And -- and one of the things that we've seen over the past couple of days is essentially a diplomatic blitz going on, at least by the Iranians. You not only had the foreign minister visiting all those places that I just mentioned, and I think one of the key visits in all of that was really the one to Saudi Arabia, where the Iranians said that they wanted further cooperation by the nations of this region, of -- of the Middle Eastern region, in order to try and defuse the current crisis that is going on.

Of course, the Iranians, with all of that, trying to bring those countries on side with themselves. But of course, on Friday, you had a very key meeting for Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, the first face to face, meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. And that's certainly something that's troubling for the United States as well. Of course, both countries, adversaries of the U.S., and both countries saying that they are going to increase and deepen their relations in all sorts of different fields.

Of course, the Russians in the past have said that that does not only include economic areas, but the military technical cooperation, as they put it, as well. And then today, and this was also key for the Iranians, Alex, the Speaker of Iranian parliament, landed in Beirut in an Iranian government aircraft. They're also saying that Iran will further support Hezbollah, of course, the organization that the Iranians have been supporting for a very long time, bringing a message, as the Iranians put it, of support by Iran supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes, the Iranians and Hezbollah both indicating they're ready to support ceasefire efforts in Lebanon, but that does not appear to be happening anytime soon. Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, terrific reporting, as always, thank you very much.

[12:33:11]

And up next, President Joe Biden says that the House Speaker needs to, quote, step up to start the process to approve more disaster funding. Ahead, what we know about when that money will run out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARQUARDT: President Biden just issued a major disaster declaration for Florida, making federal money for temporary housing and home repairs available for people who are just impacted by Hurricane Milton. The President is scheduled to travel to Florida tomorrow to get a firsthand look at the trail of soggy debris, flooded homes and downed trees, like you can see right there.

Meanwhile, swollen rivers are slowing -- that are slowing to recede, are triggering flood warnings and evacuations across parts of Florida. Now, a state that really is accustomed to bouts of bad weather, is facing gas shortages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM BICOS, TRAVELED FAR TO FILL UP: Hopefully they're going to figure out in the next day or two, because otherwise, I'll have to drive I don't know where to get gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: CNN's Julia Benbrook joins me now from the White House. So, Julia, how's the administration responding?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN NEWSOURCE CORRESPONDENT: While officials have stressed that the federal government has the funds it needs to address the immediate needs, the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund is dwindling quickly as they work to respond to two major hurricanes that happened in rapid succession. Now, on Friday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to step up and to start the process of passing additional relief funding, particularly for small businesses.

The SBA Administrator has said that in a matter of days, they'd be depleted of resources. Now Biden said that he has not spoken directly with House Speaker Mike Johnson, but that he wants to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to be going to the Congress. We're going to need a lot of help. We need a lot more money, you know, as we -- as we identify specifically how much is needed. So I'm just telling everybody now I don't want to hear that this is going to be the end of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Now Congress is on recess until after the November election, and neither Johnson nor Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have indicated that they plan to bring mem -- members back early in order to address this. And the discussions around FEMA and disaster relief have taken a political turn in recent weeks which could complicate those discussions on Capitol Hill, former President Donald Trump has falsely suggested that some of the funds intended for hurricane victims were being used for migrants or mysteriously disappearing.

[12:40:15] And Biden has repeatedly pushed back against Trump spreading those falsehoods. In fact, he gave a very direct message to the former president just a few days ago. He said, quote, get a life and help these people. Now, as you mentioned, Biden is planning to go to Florida tomorrow to see some of the impacted area. We're still waiting on a detailed plan for his trip, but we expect him to speak with local officials and survey the damage there as he continues to call on Congress to pass more funding. Alex?

MARQUARDT: OK. Julia Benbrook at the White House, thanks very much for joining us.

We are joined now by Craig Fugate. He is a former FEMA administrator who led the disaster relief agency for eight years under President Obama and now runs Craig Fugate Consulting. Craig, thank you very much for -- for joining us. The Hillsborough County sheriff is urging residents to evacuate as those flood waters that we've been showing continue to raise. One river expected to crest above 25 feet. So how does persistent flooding complicate those rescue and recovery efforts?

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, it's just adding to the additional impacts. And again, we knew with this much rain, these rivers were going to flood, and these areas, again, that are being flooded, you know, is -- is -- they're going to come up and go down. It's going to do damages, but if people get out of there, they'll be safe.

MARQUARDT: Then when it comes to gas and -- and people who -- who desperately need it, three quarters, nearly three quarters of gas stations in that Tampa Bay area, they're out of fuel. And the mayor of Tampa is saying that there is plenty of fuel at the port, where flooding is actually making it more difficult to distribute. Do you think that fuel is going to be or do you expect fuel will be brought in from elsewhere into that area?

FUGATE: Already is being brought in from Port Everglades down in Fort Lauderdale and JAXPORT up in Jacksonville. I went back and looked at Gas Buddy stations are coming online, even without power. We've seen this usually. This is not unusual in the immediate aftermath of disasters, as the power comes back on, deliveries will pick up. This will resolve itself in a couple days.

My advice is, if you got a half a tank more gas, don't worry, there'll be gas next week. People that are running out, let them get in line first, and because these stations are opening up, and sometimes when they open up, they're going to use all the gas they have, and then they're going to close. It's going up and down.

But what we know is, over time, this will stabilize. I saw where Governor DeSantis is actually setting up some additional fuel just to use some points. But the real message here is, if you're not low on gas, don't get in line. Let other people get the gas. This is going to stabilize by the time we get into early next week.

MARQUARDT: An important message there. In terms of what FEMA needs, we've just had these back to back storms, Helene and Milton. FEMA spent 9 billion of its immediate needs funding in just over a week. Do you have concerns about future FEMA responses?

FUGATE: No. Again, a lot of these were contracts that were issued that are big dollar contracts to the Army Corps of Engineers and others that will be going over several weeks. It's not like these will be every couple of days getting that amount of money spent. The bigger problem for FEMA is going to be recovery. And you're hearing this also for SBA, and this will be true of a lot of federal agencies.

The immediate response, I -- I don't think people that are, that been impacted should think that they're -- they're not going to get immediate help. But when we start rebuilding, that's where the big dollar is going to come in. That's where programs like SBA are going to be critical for businesses to be able to get loans to help them start rebuilding and get open.

MARQUARDT: So when all is said and done, how much do you think FEMA will have spent on -- on those efforts around hurricanes Milton and Helene?

FUGATE: Hard to say. We'll start getting a better sense as people are registering. Again, the President declared the disaster for individual assistance across much of Florida, and this will be in addition to Helene. And since these are going to be larger populations, that's the number I'd be watching as people register how much money is going out. I'll give you an example. Is a much bigger area of impact, but in hurricane or Superstorm Sandy, FEMA distributed about a billion dollars to individual families within about the third -- first 31, 32 days.

So that number could be large. That's something I know FEMA will be tracking as that comes in, but they're watching the money. And -- and remember, the House appropriators and Senate appropriators are watching this money too. This is not just something that you know FEMA is going to run out of money, and nobody knows. Both the Senate and House appropriators watch FEMA's budget. They also watch where they spend it.

So any idea that FEMA is misappropriating money, trust me, those House appropriating staff and Senate appropriation staff when I was at FEMA, every day, they're checking our balances and are looking at where that money is going.

[12:45:04]

MARQUARDT: All right. Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, thank you so much for joining us in the wake of these two storms that have caused so much damage. Really appreciate your time.

And for more information about how you can help Hurricane Milton victims, go to cnn.com/impact. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:49:59]

MARQUARDT: Tomorrow night a new episode of CNN's Original Series, T.V. on the Edge, tackling a defining moment in American pop culture in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, when Kanye West called out then President George W. Bush on live T.V. for the Bush administration's slow response to the disaster. West went off script, saying, quote, George Bush doesn't care about black people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN LATHAN, CO-HOST, HIGHER LEARNING PODCAST: All the years, us being college, all the books that I've read, the greatest education I've ever had on what it means to be black in America, happened on August 29th, 2005.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds, most likely thousands are dead.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: There's no question if this had happened in a white suburb, I assume it would have been a very different story.

LATHAN: It made you wonder whether or not you lived in a government that was operating on your behalf. It made you wonder whether or not you were an American.

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MARQUARDT: Joining us now to discuss is presidential historian, Doug Brinkley. Doug, thanks so much for being with us. You were a firsthand eyewitness to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At the time, your professor at Tulane University, you left your home in Houston for New Orleans to physically rescue people who were trapped by the flood waters and were part of a civilian rescue effort -- effort long before those federal troops arrived. So if you would take us back, what do you remember most about the aftermath of Katrina?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, first off, it was -- I -- I was when the hurricane hit, I was looking out at the Mississippi River and watching that great river go backwards, flowing in the opposite direction. It startled you. It told you the power of Mother Nature. And it was awesome for a minute, and then you'd go out on the street and see all the debris. And then the -- the levees breached in the city of New Orleans is sort of like a saucer.

The water just started pouring in, and all the surrounding areas of people think Hurricane Katrina was just a story of New Orleans and flooding and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It hit such a deep region of the Gulf South that town after town had people stranded. And my most indelible memory is trying to see our -- our National Guard, and, you know, Coast Guard helicopters drop baskets and start rescuing people from roofs, but also seeing that the waters had swollen, there were people that had died just lying there in the water, dead, waiting to be recovered.

MARQUARDT: What can you tell us, Doug, about how -- how the people in that city, in that region, felt about the -- the federal response at the time?

BRINKLEY: Everybody was angry at the federal government. For starters, when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson went right into the belly of the storm, went at night in a boat with a flashlight on him and saying, I'm your president. I'm here.

When I interviewed people in the Ninth Ward, lower ninth, there's a lot of collective memory how proud they were that Johnson came to them when they were in need. By contrast, George W. Bush in 2005 seem to be nonchalant about it, first at Crawford, Texas's Ranch, then went to San Diego, where he was doing a speech on the war in Iraq, didn't cancel it, started playing air guitar while people were dying and drowning.

And meanwhile, the Michael Chertoff, the head of national Homeland Security, acted like was no big deal. Katrina continued going to an avian flu conference in Atlanta. But the big kicker was FEMA wasn't anywhere to be found, you know, there -- it was just a disaster. And it eventually culminates in that moment when the anger of the area comes out, when eventually Bush comes down there and wraps his arm around Michael Brown, the head of FEMA, and says, Brownie, you've done a heck of a job.

And everybody just gasped, because FEMA had been AWOL for most of this long, torn out, you know, week of Katrina. One quick thing, because we're going to see with both of the more recent hurricanes, that it's -- a hurricane isn't a day, it is in a week. It goes on up for a year and years when you have to deal -- deal with rebuilding.

MARQUARDT: Yes, heck of a job, Brownie, such an infamous moment. In -- in terms of -- of Bush, he wrote about that Kanye West moment in his memoir, when -- when -- when West said that George W. Bush doesn't care about black people. Bush called it an all-time low of his presidency. How do you think it that impacted him politically?

BRINKLEY: Well, Kanye West wasn't as well-known as he is today, for starters, and not as controversial, but it hurt Bush. One thing George W. Bush pride himself on is not being a bigot. He was a Christian. He looked at people equally in his mind and feel. But nevertheless, the response to New Orleans where you would see black communities not getting immediate attention, no shelters of last resorts, no, no coordination going on. It felt neglected. And so it stung George W. Bush, because, you know, it made him seem that he was somehow preferred whites would have helped people at Kennebunkport, but wouldn't help people in New Orleans East, it bothered him.

[12:55:23]

MARQUARDT: Yes. That was, that was an extraordinary moment. Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian, thank you so much for your thoughts today.

BRINKLEY: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: And be sure to tune into an all new episode of T.V. on the Edge that airs tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

And coming up, we have new poll numbers on the very, very tight race between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Less than a month before the November 5th election, the surprising snapshot from two key battleground states. We're back after this quick break.

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