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The Lead with Jake Tapper
New Forecast: Helene Likely To be Category 4 By Landfall. NYC Mayor Eric Adams Indicted On Charges Including Bribery; Florida Gov. Gives Update Ahead Of Hurricane Landfall. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired September 26, 2024 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:02]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we're going to start this hour with breaking news in a brand new forecast for Hurricane Helene, which is now expected to slam into the U.S. today as a, quote, "extremely dangerous category for hurricane." Helene is still gaining strength as a barrel sports Florida. It's among the largest storms in the Gulf of Mexico in the last 100 years.
Any moment, we're going to get an update on storm preparations in the early impact in Florida with Governor Ron DeSantis. We're going to bring that to you live. We're going to start with CNN's Elisa Raffa in the hurricane headquarters.
Elisa, walk us through the new forecast. What are they saying?
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have a Category 3 hurricane on our hands right now with 125 mile per hour winds. I point that out because a Category 4 hurricane starts at 130 mile per hour winds, so we're really talking about a difference of five to 10 miles per hour here, right? So right now it's a very high end Category 3 teetering on that Category 4, which is why the National Hurricane Center is saying, hey, look, it's still sitting over very warm ocean waters right now. It has all the ingredients it needs to strengthen. So there's really not much to stop it from gaming that five miles per hour that it needs to just get to that category and become a Category 4.
Either way, whether it's this high end Category 3 or it makes that five mile per hour difference to a Category 4, we're still talking about the same catastrophic, unsurvivable impacts when it comes to the storm surge and the heavy rain and everything else we've been talking about. The radar, you can see, again, still with the outer bands that have been lashing all day, finding winds, sustained winds at 50 miles per hour right now in Fort Myers, 32 miles per hour in Key West. Here's the look at the latest track, again, still in the same spot for the Big Bend area, just to the Easter of Apalachicola. Again, with this high end Category 3, possibly teetering on this category for the hurricane warning stretching towards Macon, and then that blues, all the tropical storm warnings. Because again, the storm is incredibly wide, 400 miles, stretching all of these damaging, catastrophic winds possible that could really wipe out some of the power. Here's a look at the storm surge. Again, still 15 to 20 feet. This isn't going to change whether it's that high end Category 3 or that low end Category 4. It's those impacts that matter. When you have the ocean just rising 20 feet of it with destructive wave isn't coming in, that's going to do damage.
That's the unsurvivable part that people need to escape and need to evacuate from. Again, it's a very wide storm. It's really topping the list of some of the largest as far as breath and width of it. And that's why we're really worried about the span of power outages, not just for Florida, with the hurricane force winds that could be catastrophic in the Big Bend, but look at the tropical storm force winds again, that stretch into Georgia where we're worried about widespread power outages even into the Carolinas.
And I don't want us to forget about the rain part of this. The rain doesn't care what category it is. That rain is going to squeeze out no matter what. We've got that high end risk for rain, heavy rain from Asheville down to Tallahassee. Officials in Asheville are actually asking people to evacuate because they are worried about more than a foot of rain, maybe approaching two feet in the mountainous area, numerous landslides, and you have a high risk like this.
It's only issued 4 percent of the time, but it's responsible for 40 percent of our fatalities and 80 percent of our flood damages. Again, some of this rain up in the western Carolinas will be over a foot. And again, in a mountainous terrain, they're worried about landslides that could be unprecedented. The weather service they're really calling it an event that people there have never seen before, not since 1916. And again, this rain will squeeze out no matter what the category is. Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Elisa Raffa, thank you so much for that update.
CNN's John Berman is in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida.
John, you're about to get slammed. What are you seeing right now?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, the rain is starting to pick up a little bit as those outer bands begin to pass over Tallahassee, the coast is about 20 miles south of here. That is where Helene will make a direct hit. But the storm is expected to pass directly over where I am in Tallahassee, and it would be the first storm they've seen on record to hit Tallahassee as a full force hurricane. And as it approaches a Category 4, you can imagine easily, only 20 miles inland, it could still be a Category 2 storm, very powerful as it passes over this city population, some 200,000 with all kinds of trees, Jake.
The county administrator warned me that they expect 1000s of trees to come down, hundreds of roads to be closed. And what's happening right now is really last minute preparation, or I should say, staging. The preparation has happened now. People are just waiting at the hotel that we're hiding behind right now for shelter. Inside this hotel, firefighters from Miami who have come up to be on call for tomorrow, just in case they're needed to go to the hospitals, to evacuate them, if the power is out, if they're flooded, if there are trees down. [17:05:08]
We saw power companies lining the roads, the highways, in and out of Tallahassee overnight staging to try to get that power up when it inevitably goes down in these overnight hours. Again, this storm is moving quickly, about 20 miles per hour, which means it won't have time to weaken as it passes over land, which is why it will hit Tallahassee. It's expected to so hard and still be a hurricane when it crosses just north of us into Georgia, millions of people, Jake, in its path.
TAPPER: John, does it appear that that many people have evacuated? What's the sense there?
BERMAN: Some, some, definitely, some people have left. Tallahassee. This is normally a fairly bustling small city of some 200, 100,000 people, not a lot of people around and about. And there have been some specific evacuations ordered, FSU, Florida State University, the students were told to get out of their dorms in one area, about 700 students were told to get out. Five hundred of them are in a shelter that has generators and all the windows protected so the students can all be accounted for.
So hopefully people are listening, and if you haven't moved yet, for the most part, officials are saying, stay where you are. The safest thing at this point is to ride this out as it gets worse over the next several hours, Jake.
TAPPER: All right, John Berman in Tallahassee, thanks so much.
Joining us now is Adriane Elliott, the Apalachicola city commissioner. She's in Florida's Big Bend, that's the part of the United States where the panhandle of Florida connects to the peninsula of Florida.
And Adrianne, extremely heavy rain has already flooded roadways in your area. How prepared are the residents of Apalachicola for the next phase of this monster hurricane?
ADRIANE ELLIOTT, CITY COMMISSIONER, APALACHICOLA, FLORIDA: Hi there. So a lot of residents, everyone's been stocking up. We're used to getting tropical weather in this area. Many residents were here for Hurricane Michael, so that's kind of been our bar to gage for this. Today downtown, the last two preparations were finalized with business owners getting things boarded up, moved out. Some of our lowest lying areas in town have already been subject to a little bit of flooding from the rainwater, but our sewer systems and everything are still functional at this time. We do have some of the flood water starting to back up a little bit, but the storm surge is not hitting anywhere near what we're seeing in places to the east of us right now.
TAPPER: Franklin County was put under a mandatory evacuation order at noon yesterday. Do you believe most people heeded those orders? Have you heard of anyone refusing to leave?
ELLIOTT: There have been a good deal of residents that have gone ahead and left. Those being people that have moved here within the past five, 10, 15, 20, years, people that have been here their whole lives. There have been those that have been too stubborn to leave and still are here. There are those of us that are saying, because we do have a sense of obligation to stay here, we are a community that has a lot of elderly in it, and whenever events like this happen, there's not a lot of people left behind that are able bodied and able to help out those residents that get left behind get stuck or trapped.
I think the most important thing to remind people at this point is, if you are still here, you need to stay shelter in place, get in contact with other locals that are still here, because the most dangerous thing you can do is try to leave too late and get stuck on those roads in those floodwaters.
TAPPER: Our forecast shows hurricane force winds are supposed to hit this hour. What kind of damage are you most worried about?
ELLIOTT: To be quite honest with you, we were most -- we've been most concerned about the storm surge. That was what we dealt with the most in Hurricane Michael with wind. We've got a lot of old historic homes around here, so there's no telling what kind of damage can be faced with that. So we're just hoping for the best in that regard.
TAPPER: All right. Adriane Elliott, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
CNN's Michael Yoshida is also in the Big Bend. He's farther down the coast, also right in the path of the storm. We're going to go to him at the other side of the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:13:28]
TAPPER: We are following breaking news, Hurricane Helene expected to be an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm when it makes landfall over Florida tonight. CNN's Michael Yoshida is in the Big Bend that's right in the path of the storm where the peninsula meets the Panhandle. He joins us from Steinhatchee.
Michael, what's the latest from where you are?
MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Jake. At this point, you can see light rain right now, but we know that's going to change significantly over the next few hours, with officials saying basically at this point the windows closed. And if you were going to try to evacuate, now you basically need to hunker down. We've seen those preps going on the last few days, and even today, you can see this rope right here. This marina been tying their docks together as they try to prepare for this storm.
They're worried about that storm surge. This part, particularly maybe 20 some feet, put that in perspective, the owner of this marina tell me this dock was well above the top of this poll last time they got a significant storm surge. So that's on top of everyone's mind, all of that water, all of that wind why everyone here tells us they're not risking it with this storm. TAPPER: All right, Michael Yoshida, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Stay safe.
Let's go to CNN's Elisa Raffa in hurricane headquarters right now.
Elisa, when are we going to start to see some of the most severe parts of the storm?
RAFFA: This evening is when that eye starts to get onto the Big Bend and make that landfall, and the most catastrophic parts of the storm are in that eye. That's where the strongest winds are. So that's where you'll find the strongest winds, the most damaging winds and the most destructive storm surge. Now we've been watching this satellite loop and this eye, not sure if you could tell from home, but this eye is getting wider, clearer and more symmetrical.
[17:15:08]
So like I mentioned earlier, we're only five miles away from that Category 4 status, right? We're kind of, you know, splitting hairs right now. So we're really not going to be surprised if this does become a Category 4. That's why the National Hurricane Center is saying that's definitely likely as it starts to approach the coast, because it has just been sitting in this bathtub of fuel. We've had sea surface temperatures incredibly warm, and that is fueling this hurricane to continue to gain strength just before landfall.
You've got the rain here that has been lashing the Florida peninsula here all day, wind gusts to 52 miles per hour in Tampa Bay. Again, remember, hurricane is not a point. We get impacts way before landfall. Landfall just means this eye comes overland. You get a whole half of a hurricane before that eye even gets there, 46 mile per hour gusts right now in Key West.
When you look at the sea surface temperatures, again, incredibly warm, and this is the climate factor that we've been talking about so much. Our oceans are warming much faster than even our atmosphere. Our oceans has taken so much of that heat, and what that does is that's food and fuel for these hurricanes. That's why this is already been able to rapidly intensify and could do it again just before landfall. The danger with this is it catches people off guard.
We're talking about a tropical storm, you know, yesterday, and all of a sudden, this is this massive category, almost four hurricane. So again, that's, you know, gives people less time to prepare when we get these storms to rapidly intensify like that. Again, the track continues to keep this major hurricane status. Again, high end Category 3, possibly that low in Category 4 storm with that eye coming over shore in the Big Bend of Florida sometime this evening, we'll really be watching that closely.
Another dangerous part of this too is in the evening sun is going down, right? So those winds will just be howling. It will be hard to see what's going on outside. And people really need to keep that in mind. It comes even more dangerous at night when you can't see the flying, you can't see the wind damage, you can't see the power outages down. And again, we'll find this winds again stretch into Georgia. Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you so much. Let's get an update right now from Michael Brennan. He's the director of the National Hurricane Center.
Michael, if you could walk us through the latest information you have.
MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NOAA NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Yes, well, Helene continues to strengthen tonight. Maximum sustained winds now to about 125 miles per hour. We can see the eye of Helene and radar imagery about 130 miles west of Tampa. The forward speed of Helene continues to increase. It's now moving north northeast at 23 miles per hour. That's going to bring the center of the hurricane to the coast in the Big Bend region later this evening, and it's going to bring this multiple life threatening impacts, catastrophic storm surge, devastating hurricane force winds that are going to spread well inland up into places into portions of Georgia and tropical storm conditions well up north into the Carolinas, the potential for catastrophic flooding from heavy rainfall across much of the southeastern U.S. and into the southern Appalachians.
TAPPER: Michael, there is now a chance, we're told, you tell us, that Helene is going to become a Category 4 storm before it makes landfall. What are the ramifications of that?
BRENNAN: Well, at this point, it doesn't really matter very much. It's almost a Category 4. We have been seeing it strengthened pretty dramatically today, so it's certainly reasonable to think that it will get a little stronger before landfall here in the next several hours. But in terms of the impacts, we want people to not focus on the category. But on the magnitude of the storm surge, we're expecting 15 to 20 feet of storm surge inundation along portions of the Florida Big Bend coastline.
And then as we move inland, we're going to see tropical storm and hurricane conditions across much of the southeastern United States. Very concerned about places like Tallahassee that are under a hurricane warning, expected to see hurricane conditions, structural damage, widespread power outages. Those strong winds are going to extend up into the metro Atlanta area overnight and early Friday and on up into the southern Appalachians where we could also see hurricane force wind gusts in the high terrain there.
TAPPER: Helene will be the third hurricane to hit Florida's Big Bend since last August. Does that make this area even more vulnerable to some of the storm's effects? They've been weakened already.
BRENNAN: On some -- in some ways, you know, the storm surge, repeated events of storm surge and coastal flooding can weaken dunes and other coastal protections, but the magnitude of what we're going to see play out here is so severe with Helene. It doesn't matter if you wouldn't have had a hurricane for the last 20 years in this region, those impacts are going to be life threatening in a staggering way over the next 12 to 24 hours.
TAPPER: If there are people watching right now who have decided to either stay in right out the storm or it's too late for them to evacuate, what should they be doing now?
BRENNAN: Well, if you're in one of these storm surge evacuation zones, say, from between Apalachicola, Chassahowitzka in this area where we're expecting more than 10 feet of inundation above ground level, please try to get out if you can. The water is going to rise so quickly that if you wait until you see that happen, you may not be able to get out. You may not be able -- your car might float away, you're going to have destructive wave action on top of that storm surge that could destroy your home. And this is where we tend to see the most types of fatalities in storm surge in these major hurricane landfalls with destructive wave action, and people trying to get out at the last minute and they get washed away or drowned.
[17:20:18]
But again, please follow that advice, if you can. You really are starting to run out of time, though, you're going to see those conditions rapidly deteriorate along the coastline here just in the next two or three hours.
TAPPER: All right, the Director of the National Hurricane Center, Michael Brennan, thanks so much for joining us.
Let's check back in with CNN's Carlos Suarez. He's in Gulfport, Florida, in the St Petersburg area.
Carlos, how are things shaping up where you are?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, since we last spoke, the street that we're on, really at this point is just being swallowed by the bay. It's really difficult for you to make out because it's on my left here, but the water from the bay at this point is just pouring into this street that we're standing on, and that's why you're seeing kind of all of this water that is just rushing in this one direction. It is clearly going in the same way that the wind is blowing out here. It has not stopped for the better part of the last couple of hours. This is the worst weather that we have seen here in Pinellas County, and we've been here since about 06:00 this morning.
A quick look at the radar, Jake, and we can see that the storm is just to the southwest of us. It is going to stay to the west of us when it continues its path north. And so this right now is probably some of the worst weather that we're going to see. And it's this kind of flooding that really has emergency officials concerned when we're talking about Hillsborough County, which is over in the Tampa and the Tampa Bay area, and then Pinellas County, which is home to St. Pete and St. Petersburg, as well as Clearwater. All of this is happening, all of this wind is hitting, all of this rain is falling, and we're still not quite hitting the storm surge that is expected with this hurricane, even though it's not going to hit direct here, we're talking about anywhere between five to eight feet, and that's going to take place well into the night, well into midnight, and around one in the morning when high tide hits.
Again, Jake, since the last time we spoke to you, the water from the bay out here is just pouring in where we're standing right now is just becoming a parking lot flooded. Folks really have not been out here for a good part of the afternoon, thankfully, because earlier this afternoon, folks really thought that things weren't going to be as bad as they are, and they were out here taking a look at how things were exactly. Jake.
TAPPER: Carlos, right now, it just looks like you're standing in the middle of a river. Remind our viewers what the area looked like before the storm came.
SUAREZ: Yes. OK, so this is what Gulfport considers their entertainment district, and so it's lined up with a bunch of businesses, a lot of bars, as well as some restaurants. This area, I'll tell you, really floods no matter how close a hurricane gets. This is a 30-year in a row that our team from Miami has covered a hurricane from this one location. Two years ago, we covered Hurricane Ian from here, the storm hit to the south, this area flooded.
Last year we came to cover Hurricane Idalia, the storm ended up hitting way to the north up in like Perry, Florida, this area flooded. In both of those cases, the hurricane stayed offshore, didn't really have a direct impact in the Pinellas County or the Hillsborough area. But even with that being the case, there's just nowhere for all of this water to go. And so as that storm pushes through, what it does is it pushes all of that bay water, all of the Gulf water, into some of this low lying area, and then you add in the wind, and you add in the rain, and this is what happens, it all just -- when it comes together and you add in high tide, there's nowhere for this water to go. You used to be able to, in fact, George, if you can, you might be able to make out the one car over here that's probably doing the one thing that folks don't want you to do, which is drive in this kind of flooding. It just might be a little bit out of eyesight there, though.
Jake.
TAPPER: Carlos, do you have any sense of how many people have evacuated in the area where you are?
SUAREZ: Yes, so we don't have an exact number on the number of -- well, the exact number of people that evacuated. Though, I can't tell you the neighborhood that we're in was under a mandatory evacuation as of yesterday. And as of this morning, emergency officials were pretty concerned with the fact that a lot of folks did not heed that warning. It was their understanding that a lot of folks decided to ride out the storm, because again, the last two years, the last two hurricane seasons with Ian and Idalia, this area, Pinellas County, was a part of the path of uncertainty, if you will. And so folks did what they were supposed to do.
They evacuated in a lot of cases, they didn't stay here, and the storm ended up hitting to the south and then hitting up to the north. And so what officials felt was taking place out here was a bit of complacency, which is, of course, what you don't want, because you never know exactly what these storms are going to bring.
And Jake, last year's storm Idalia, even though it hit to the north, even this place didn't really get a whole lot of an impact, more than 1,500 homes in Pinellas County were flooded because of the rain, the storm surge and all of the rain that just saturated this part of Pinellas County, specifically the Gulfport neighborhood here.
[17:25:15]
TAPPER: All right, Carlos Suarez, thank you so much. Stay safe.
As we continue to follow updates on Hurricane Helene, we're also following another major story today, the mayor of New York indicted on five federal charges. We just learned when he's going to make his first court appearance, we're going to go live to New York next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: As Hurricane Helene gains strength and gets ready to make land fall, we just heard from Vice President Kamala Harris a few moments ago at the White House. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Before I begin, I will say a few words about Hurricane Helene. So the President and I, of course, are monitoring the case and the situation closely, and we urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously, and please follow the guidance of your local officials. And President Biden and I, of course, will continue to work closely with state and local officials to ensure that everyone is safe and to protect communities before, during and after the storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: We are also keeping an eye on every hurricane development, but we are also following another major story today in our Law and Justice Lead, and that is New York Mayor Eric Adams, who will appear in court tomorrow for the first time since being indicted on five federal charges related to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
The indictment says it for more than a decade then Brooklyn Borough President and -- and now mayor Adams solicited and accepted more than $100,000 in luxury travel benefits from foreign business people and at least one Turkish government official, that includes first class flights and accommodations and some pretty sweet hotel suites, including the St. Regis in Istanbul.
Mayor Adams also allegedly accepted illegal con -- contributions to his campaign and created fake paper trails to cover it up. The indictment says the Turkish government official was seeking to gain influence over Adams, and that it worked when the Turkish official needed a consular building in New York to be declared ready in time for a visit from the Turkish president.
Officials say the mayor Adams actually pressured the New York City Fire Marshal, the fire department, to open the building early without a fire inspection, despite the fact that it would not have passed a fire inspection at the time. Mayor Adams is denying any wrongdoing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK: I asked New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in Democratic New York City Council member Tiffany Caban. She's calling on Mayor Adams to resign. So I know that you're a former public defender, so I don't have to tell you he's innocent until proven guilty. Why should he resign?
TIFFANY CABAN (D), NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: That -- that's right. And yes, I am a former public defender for over seven years in the city. And it's because it's not the right question to ask in this moment, right? We were the -- I was the first to call for it at the city level. And the question really, for New Yorkers right now is, can this mayor, in this moment, govern? Can he deliver the critical services that New Yorkers deserve every single day? And we know that he can't, even before the indictment dropped.
So it's -- it's not just that he has now been criminally indicted first in -- in the history of New York City. It is not just the mass exodus of high level officials in the administration, but it's this ongoing pattern of mismanagement and corruption that has broken down the city's ability to deliver government services and -- and provisions.
And you are, yes, innocent until proven guilty. I am a huge proponent of due process, but this is about, can he deliver and do the job? And this is way too distracting in this moment.
TAPPER: How -- how strong do you think the indictment is, as somebody who knows legal matters?
CABAN: Yes, well, you -- you know, an -- an investigation like this goes on for a period of time. We know that this is behavior that spanned over the past 10 years. I took the time to read the 70 plus page indictment. And I've got to tell you, there are receipts. We're seeing quotes from text messages from other documents that are pretty damning.
We'll see what kind of case gets, you know, built out. But, you know, I think something that's important to point out is the mayor said, hey, listen, I'm not going to be distracted. We're going to -- I'm just going to pass this over to my lawyer. A thing that I can tell you as a former defense attorney is that the most important thing that that attorney needs is for their client to assist in their own defense.
And with charges like these, there's information that only the mayor can provide in his defense. And so absolutely, it's going to take away time, energy and resources that should be focused on delivering for New Yorkers. TAPPER: As a public servant, when you read in the indictment, prosecutors alleging that Mayor Adams pressured the New York Fire Department to open to sign off on opening an unsafe building a -- a consulate for the Turks, because the Turks wanted it, and -- and the Fire Department employee, according to the indictment, said that he feared for his job if he didn't do this, even though he wasn't sup -- supposed to. What does that -- I mean how do you take that as a public servant?
[17:34:57]
CABAN: I mean, it's horrific, right? I care about the health and safety of my neighbors, my constituents. You know, we've had, we've lost many neighbors to fires across the city. And so to -- to know that this happened in people's lives have been put in danger and could be put in danger, is -- is devastating, especially when we know that we haven't put in enough money to the FDNY Department of Buildings, Department of Inspections, and then it has everything to do with the mayor's austerity budget.
So while we see that the allegations are saying that he not only took foreign money campaign donations illegally, but we have public matching here in New York City, which means he ale -- he may have stolen millions, eight to one matching hundreds of -- of, you know, thousands up to, I think 10 million is what the indictment is alleging of public dollars when we know that he cut funding from the FDNY.
He cut funding from the Department investigations. He cut funding from a lot of agencies, when also we -- he was just taking in money into his campaign coffers.
TAPPER: So Governor Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Mayor Adams from his position. Should she?
CABAN: Yes. You know, like I said, this is a moment where it's very clear that he cannot govern. There is an inability for government to function the way it is. And let me be clear about this, nobody wins here, right? A transition will be very hard, but it's really important that we get to that work right now, that other elected officials and leaders in our city, in our government come together to stabilize the government so that we can start rebuilding and move forward and -- and get back the trust of our constituents and really strengthen what local government can and should be doing.
TAPPER: Let me ask you a devil's advocate question. What would you say to somebody out there watching this interview right now who says it sounds like she doesn't like him to begin with? And this is probably what that's rooted in. How -- how would you -- how would you respond to that viewer?
CABAN: Yes. Listen, they're not wrong. It is a very well-known fact that the mayor and I have disagreed on lots of policy positions on where our budget dollars are going. Me, personally, I don't think we should be cutting funding from education, from libraries, from parks and sanitation. We differ on those things. But again, there's no denying the fact that I have constituents coming into my office where it's taking them the -- the HRA, you know, our government three months to process food stamp benefits that people are losing apartments because their housing vouchers are expiring before the government is able to do their end of -- of the bargain.
It's the difference between people being hungry and homeless and people being fed and sheltered. So yes, I may not have liked his policies up to this point, and also my constituents, my neighbors, are struggling, and they deserve better.
TAPPER: I'm sure you saw the cover of "The New York Post," which seemed to be buying into Mayor Adams argument that the reason that this happened is because he's been critical of the Biden administration when it comes to its immigration policies and -- and failures at the border. What's your response to that?
CABAN: Yes, I think that those are really, really typical sort of right wing MAGA Republican talking points that try to sort of undercut the credibility of these investigations. And the other flip side of the coin is and the mayor himself has -- has been on record saying these things because he is a former NYPD officer. You know, he -- he self describes as a law and order guy.
Typically, when things happen in our city, high profile things he'll say, hey, if the cops made an arrest, that person did something wrong, right? There a bad guy. Public defender here, again, innocent until proven guilty, due process, but in no way are we saying that this is politically motivated. And it's just not how these investigations work. You know, they take a lot of time. They -- they -- they get the subpoenas signed by judges. They have to allocate and -- and convene a lot of different evidence. And I'm telling you that indictment document is pretty detailed.
TAPPER: It sure is. Mayor Adams, as you know, he's not backing down. He's saying he's not going to resign. He's going to stick it out. How do you think that would impact government agencies?
CABAN: I mean, it's continuing to impact government agencies. Like I said, we have seen a deterioration of the provision of services. I had a constituent who really need some urgent help from the Department of Education. I wanted to call Chancellor Banks. I was told I couldn't call him because the FBI had seized both of his cell phones.
I then went down, you know, the line of -- of other high ranking DOE officials, and was not able to get anybody on the phone. That is emblematic of what we're seeing all across government at this point. And it's only going to continue to get worse. Like I said, this is extremely, extremely distracting. There's no way it doesn't distract him further. There's no way it doesn't take more of his time, energy and resources to defend himself the way that he says, and he should.
[17:40:03]
If, you know, if I'm his defense attorney, where then -- we're going to put up a robust defense. But let me tell you, that takes a lot of time and energy, and being the mayor of New York City is a big job, and every minute should be focused on doing that job for New Yorkers.
TAPPER: Tiffany Caban, thank you so much. Appreciate your time today.
CABAN: Thank you so much.
TAPPER: This just in as the winds pick up and Hurricane Helene moves in, power outages already have hit more than 200,000 customers in Florida. This hurricane is gaining strength, and it's expected to get even stronger before the eye makes landfall. We're going to be right back with more of the breaking news coverage ahead.
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TAPPER: We're back to our breaking news coverage of Hurricane Helene, and you're seeing some of the current flooding on Anna Maria Island, right outside Sarasota, Florida, where evacuation orders are in effect. This is all before Helene now forecast to be a category four hurricane. Let's go listen to the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis briefing his citizens.
[17:45:06]
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): -- initial estimates when we woke up this morning were that it would probably make landfall sometime in the earlier side of the evening. Now it looks like it will be closer to -- to 11:00 p.m. It is starting to move quickly.
But for people that are particularly if you're looking at where this is now expected to make landfall, the models have continued to move it a little bit east. I think you're looking at anywhere from that will call a Jefferson County line over to Taylor County. Most of the data we have does have a Taylor County landfall. But all those areas there, along the Big Bend coast, and areas that are low lying, that are susceptible at a potentially major storm surge, you're under an evacuation order, some people have, because the storm isn't going to get here until a little later.
We're going to see some effects soon, but right now, you actually still have time to be able to evacuate. I mean, you can go to Leon County and go to a shelter. You can get to a place that is going to be on higher ground and is not going to be susceptible to storm surge. The winds are going to be significant, but most structures in Florida are going to be able to handle the winds that will be there, if your interior and at a place that is either a shelter or -- or residence that -- that -- that's built for that.
So you still have time to do that. Now, we thought the storm was going to get here a little bit earlier, based on the estimates, it's going to get here a little bit later. So in these Big Bend areas, you still have time. Now in other parts of Florida, listen to your emergency managers. I know Pinellas County said last call they were going to shut the bridges down to the barrier islands, I believe, at 6 o'clock. So people have either heeded that or not.
The -- the bridges in the Tampa Bay area, Gandy is about to close, Howard Franklin, Courtney, Campbell have been closed. And of course, Sunshine Skyway had -- had been closed earlier, so the time in that part of the state is -- is coming to an end. But if you're here in North Florida, if you're in one of those areas, you see the potential for the storm surge, you still have time to do it.
So we would encourage you to heed those evacuation orders as appropriate in your local area. You're going to lose power, so you still have time if you have power, make sure your phones are charged. Make sure you -- you have what you need to be able to get through a period of time where you're going to have an interruption in power.
If you're sheltering in place in one of those evacuation zones, make sure you let people know that you're doing that, whether it's a friend, a family member. I know some of the counties say you can -- you can check in with them and give them that information if you're comfortable doing that, but -- but please do that if you're -- if you decided to hunker down.
Don't -- once we start to get the real nasty conditions, don't at that point go on the roadways. That is very hazardous. That does produce fatalities when people do that in the middle of the storm. If you are sheltering at home, be cognizant of what trees are around you. You're going to have, you have 125 mile an hour maximum sustained right now probably is going to be higher whether it hits as a category four or category three, it's going to be a significant storm.
And even as it moves inland throughout northern Florida, you are going to see trees that are going to be -- that are going to be falling down. That's just the -- the reality of what we're doing, of -- of what we're seeing here. And if you hear the tree limbs snapping around you, sometimes it almost sounds like fireworks are going off, treat that as a tornado, shelter in a part of the home that would be where you have protection from that.
And -- and this is the type of thing where, especially as that eye wall moves through, you're going to have some serious, serious storms. And there also -- there also may be tornadoes that will be spun off from this as well, and that could be producing some of these -- some -- some of these reactions. If you have really severe weather, and then all of a sudden it gets very calm, that probably means you're in the eye of the storm.
So don't go out into that. That eye wall will collapse quickly and unexpectedly, and you will get very bad weather very quickly as well. There's going to be power lines that are going to be down. Be careful about that, particularly in the streets, particularly near your residents. Do not mess with downed power lines. Those can be very, very hazardous.
The storm is going to hit Florida's Big Bend region sometime this evening, likely around 11 o'clock. It's going to be dark. Don't go out as soon as that storm pass, if it's still dark, and -- and try to do work around your house or -- or worry about things well. Let it get light. There's going to be hazards there. It's just not something you want to be navigating in the dark. When we get into tomorrow, you may have some things on your roof, just be careful with -- with using ladders. [17:50:13]
There's going to be groups that are going to be helping people fix their homes in the appropriate areas. So if you're somebody that you may have some physical limitations. Don't put your health at risk for that. Watch the standing water. We've already seen -- seen a lot of standing water in different parts of the state already. We're likely to see more of that. You never know what's in the standing water.
When you have streets that are flooded, don't try to drive through the flooded streets, you are going to end up having your car stall out, and then you're going to be stuck, not to mention the hazards of just being on the roads in those circumstances, with having -- having accidents. We've been working here at the state really starting the weekend.
Clearly, we did a state of emergency at the beginning of the week. We have 1,100 missions in progress through the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Those continue to be filled, and they will continue to be filled until they're all done. Some of those -- many of those are more for post storm resources, rather than pre-landfall resources.
We do have the lineman stage throughout the state. You have Duke, TECO, FPL, we've have the coops, we have the municipals. I think everybody's on the same page. As soon as this storm passes, there needs to be a strong effort to get the power restored, and they will be working to do that. And they've done a great job on this in recent years. And I think we've really set that -- set the standard here in the state of Florida.
We have 130 generators that are at various gas stations. So when they lose power, most of the newer gas stations or the larger stations have generators per Florida law, or have an ability to get the power back on. Some of the smaller ones don't. And when you're talking about the Big Bend region that can be significant. So those generators have been distributed, and we should not see major interruptions in fuel given that.
We have all state agencies that are on standby, 3,500 National Guard soldiers, we can surge that very quickly if we need more. Florida Highway Patrol has 200 state troopers that are on standby. They will go and be dispatched immediately following the storm to areas that need help. Florida Department of Transportation standing by, 307 cut in cost crews to get the roads cleared, 120 bridge inspectors to get the bridges back open, almost 700 generators big, 200 plus pieces of large equipment, and then the large pumps, which they have used, not just in hurricanes, but in some of the rainstorms we've had, where you've seen flooding in -- in recent months, FDOT has used that, and it's been very effective.
We have done a fuel mission even though we've sent the generators to the stations. We haven't necessarily seen fuel shortage, but you do have ports that are closed. So we have almost half a million gallons of diesel in reserve that are being brought into the state, 132,000 gallons of regular motor -- motor vehicle gas, 36,000 gallons of propane, and 5,000 gallons of jet fuel.
So you're close to almost 700,000 gallons between everything we have across the variety of fuel needs. And we don't anticipate having to use all or even most of that, but we want to make sure that people have the fuel that they need, particularly as the storm passes.
So if you're in one of these areas in the northern part of the state, particularly on the coast and those low lying areas that will face the brunt of the storm surge, you still have time, but you got to do it right now. Every minute that goes by, you're going to start to see conditions worsen. You know, I was out, you look this afternoon in Tallahassee was, honestly wasn't that bad. It's going to get a lot worse in northern Florida as that storm gets closer.
So I want to thank everybody that's been involved in the prep. We've got the assets that are there. People just need to make sure they're making decisions that have their -- themselves and their families safety in mind. We can't control how strong this hurricane is going to get. We can't control the track of -- of the hurricane. But what you can control is what you can do to -- to put yourself in the best chance to be able to ride this out in a way that's going to be safe. So with that, I'll turn it over to Kevin Guthrie.
KEVIN GUTHRIE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thank you, Governor, again, for your unwaving supporting commitment to the safety and well-being of Floridians. We really appreciate it. As the Governor stood we continue to work on more than one, I'm sorry, 1,100 missions. And we continue to fill those. Again, as he said there, most of them at this point are going to be post impact, resources that are ready to move into the area immediately.
[17:55:01]
Life threatening storm surge is expected along Florida's Gulf -- West Gulf Coast and Big Bend. Flood waters are hard to navigate during the day, but even harder to see at night. At this point, it is the last hours to safely evacuate a head of Hurricane Helene from the Gulf Coast and Big Ben.
If you have not already left, you're probably going to need to start looking at sheltering in place. Stay inside. Stay safe. Stay put. Do not attempt to leave your home or drive during the storm. The Governor has mentioned this. It's going to be dark outside. When it starts to make landfall, the street lights, the minimal street lights that we do have in the Big Bend area are going to go out. It is going to be very dark. So please do not drive. Do not go out. Wait to daylight and then only drive if you need to.
As you heard the governor say, if you hear the tree snapping, it's probably -- it's treat it like a tornado, you're -- you're in imminent danger of potentially a tree falling on your house. So please make sure you're moving away from the windows and doors and getting to a central point of your home. Protect your house -- yourself from the flying debris. Put heavy coats, pillows, blankets, any -- any type of material that you can put there on top of yourself. Make sure you're doing that. That'll help for lacerations again. And again, just do the best you can with what you have right there in your home. Stay put until the storm passes. The Governor's already talked about it, if literally like a light switch, if you've got really, really severe weather, and all of a sudden it is completely like nothing ever happened. You're 99 percent sure you're in the eye wall of the hurricane, so do not go outside. Make sure you stay put.
We are anticipating the power outages with the storm take time now, while you actually have power to top off all of your battery chargers, make sure you just leave them completely plugged in, ready to go until that power goes out so you get maximum use out of it.
Backup generators are going to start becoming more and more of an issue. So please, we -- we have done a really good job of reducing the number of carbon monoxide poisoning fatalities after storms. We want to have zero in this disaster. So keep those generators 20 feet away from outside your home, from any open doors or windows. Make sure you let it cool down for 20 minutes before you refuel it.
And when you can safely do so and get back to an open store, go ahead and spend $20 and get yourself a carbon monoxide monitor in your home. After the storm has passed your area, it is critical that you list the local authorities for guidance on when it is safe to go outside and return home. Do not venture out. Hazardous Materials, debris, I'm sorry, hazardous materials, debris and flooding could still be present, along with downed power lines.
If you see dangerous conditions, please call 911, and report them to your local authorities. Residents needing resources after Hurricane Helene, can call our state assistance of information line at 1-800- 342-3557, that's 1-800-342-3557. We again have individuals speaking English, Spanish and Asia Creole available to answer any and all of your questions.
Please be sure that you follow the agency on X and Instagram at FLSERT, that's at Florida SERT and on Facebook at FDEM, as we continue to share important up to date, real time information. And again, Governor, thank you so much for your leadership and your support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Garen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Thank you, Governor for your leadership. And good evening. We've continued very close coordination with Florida Highway Patrol, with Kevin at the Division of Emergency Management, General Haas at National Guard. As you heard from the Governor, we're very prepared for this storm. We have our people, our assets, our equipment staged all within a reasonable distance from the impact area.
We're going to be ready to go to work as soon as the storm passes through with boots on the ground. We have shut down all of our construction projects across the state, and all of our contractors also stand ready to support and recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. We're beginning to see a lot of local road closures from storm surge and localized flooding. Please remember you can always check FL511.com for road closure and traffic information. It is going to be your most up to date place to get traffic information. As the storm approaches the state, bridges have begun closing as winds increase. You heard the governor mentioned sun -- Sunshine skyways closed, the Howard Franklin Bridge, the Courtney Campbell Causeway and also Gandy Causeway, is closing within the hour.
[17:59:52]
Please, you know, if you see water on top of the road or lapping over bridges, please do not drive through, it can be very dangerous. We have 120 bridge inspectors ready to go as soon as the storm passes through to inspect bridges and make sure they're safe for travel. We're closely monitoring the major --
