Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Helene Strengthens to Category 2; Jonathan Shannon is Interviewed about NOAA's Storm Operations; Harris Leads Among Young Voters; Economy Affects Presidential Race; Putin Issues Nuclear Threat; Trump's Tariff Plan Could Backfire. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 26, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:34:10]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back. John Berman here in Tallahassee. This is CNN's special live coverage of Hurricane Helene.

As you can see, it is raining here. Even worse further south of me, where they're getting some of the more intense outer bands. That's where we find CNN's Carlos Suarez in Gulfport.

Carlos, if you can hear me, what's going on where you are now?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, good morning.

That's right, so we are in Pinellas County, just to the west of Tampa, where we're starting to see some of the significant rainfall the last couple of hours, as well as some of the flooding that's associated mostly with the fact that high tide is right now underway.

If you can take a look at some of the businesses just on the corner here, these folks started getting ready for Hurricane Helene yesterday. A lot of them have put up sandbags. Although it's not really quite sure exactly how much that's going to stop that water.

[08:35:02]

And I say that because we've been out here the last two hurricane seasons. We've covered two hurricanes in this exact spot. And this part of Gulfport has flooded just because of the storm surge that is associated with a lot of these hurricanes.

Keep in mind, John, that although this storm is going to track to the west of us, about 100 miles west of us, this is what folks are really worried about, the storm surge associated with this. When you add in all of that rainfall, as well as the fact that when high tide kicks in you have all of those three things come together at one time. And what officials don't want are for folks to get caught in these low-lying areas.

Here in Pinellas County, where I'm at right now, this is a mandatory evacuation zone. Over up in Hillsborough County, that - parts of the Tampa area there, for folks that live around the bay, they were also told to evacuate yesterday.

And so what officials have been trying to do is just telling folks, look, even though the storm is currently tracked to go north of here, go ahead and just try to get to higher ground. They don't want folks doing exactly what this guy is doing here behind me, which is driving in all of this water.

John, that's kind of the situation right now. Again, a lot of this is happening with the storm still to the south of us. And a lot of this is taking place without that storm surge hitting, which we expect to take place throughout the day into the afternoon and then well into the night.

BERMAN: Yes, don't drive through standing water like that guy did right behind Carlos right there.

I just want people to listen to that for one second. Oh, they took the mic down. But we could hear the wind and we could hear the rain - yes - falling where Carlos is. You can hear all the elements there -

SUAREZ: Yes, the -

BERMAN: Coming together at once, the wind, the rain falling on the flooded area.

Carlos Suarez right in the middle of it now. And as Carlos said, you know, sandbags help a little, but not when you're going to see storm surge of five and six feet.

Carlos, thank you so much for that. Some great images there.

Now, a lot of the important hurricane information that comes in comes from those storm trackers, those airplanes, the hurricane hunters.

With me now is Jonathan Shannon, with NOAA.

Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

Talk to us about what these flights do because, you know, we've become used to saying it out loud, but it's a little crazy to fly a plane into a hurricane.

JONATHAN SHANNON, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, NOAA AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS CENTER: Yes, thanks for having me, John.

I guess the simplest way to put it is, we take the weather station to the weather. So, out over the ocean, before we get in range of land- based radars or the - the - the weather balloons our - our National Weather Service weather forecast office launch periodically. We take that whole kit out to where the storm is so that we can give people the most amount of time to prepare, get that data to the National Hurricane Center so they have the - the - the best picture. And then we also work with our Caribbean countries, our Caribbean partners. We can forward stage so that they are also aware and we can track it all the way in to, unfortunately, where you are. Tallahassee is where forecast landfall is. So, be safe to you as well. BERMAN: Yes, I appreciate that. Yes, 20 miles south of here is the actual coast.

The coast itself, not heavily populated, but Tallahassee certainly is, 200,000 people. So, a lot of people watching the storm very closely.

And we just put some images up of one of the earlier flight. I think the plane was Miss Piggy, one of the hurricane hunter flights that walked through the storm. Can you talk to us about specific data that's passed back?

SHANNON: Sure. I'd love to.

So, our WP-3D Orion's, we have Miss Piggy and Kermit are our two aircraft that fly. So, they are basically laboratories in the sky. So, on board they have three different types of radars, a nose radar to help the pilots avoid the worst of the weather as they're going through it, a multi-modal (ph) radar down at the bottom that does a horizontal sweep, 360 degrees around them, so they know both their entry and exit ways for the meteorologist on board that's guiding the pilots, and then a tail doppler radar that's broadcasting directly back to the National Hurricane Center so they have a really good idea of the evolution, the rain rates, the vertical velocities inside the storm so they can see if a storm's really getting itself together, intensifying, or if it might be falling apart.

Unfortunately, with Helene, it's just been intensifying since we've been flying it.

We also have what we call expendables, or - or things we drop out of the aircraft. We have basically a weather balloon in reverse called a dropsonde (ph). We have - it's about the size of a - a paper towel roll. The - the inside cardboard. And it's packed with sensors that do temperature, pressure, wind speed, wind direction, and humidity, broadcasting that back up to our aircraft.

And we also know that hurricanes are fed by hot water.

[08:40:01]

So, we have a big ocean thermometer on board that we kick over the side. It spins down a thermometer. Once it hits the water, 300 to 400 meters down and radios that temperature profile up to us so we can figure out how much more gas the hurricane has in the tank as far as how deep that warm layer goes. And we're - we're doing some new thing. We're taking airplanes out of an airplane. We're -

BERMAN: And that data that's been -

SHANNON: Yes, with uncrewed aircraft systems. So, we're - we're going a lot of experimental stuff too.

BERMAN: Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just saying the data - yes, the data you've begin getting --

SHANNON: Yes. BERMAN: Got it. Yes, I was just saying the data specifically you're getting back indicates a Hurricane Helene is what's told us it is strengthening. It had us and has us now concerned it will make landfall as a major storm. And also just the sheer size of the storm. Those are the - that's the data we're getting back from these flights right now?

SHANNON: Yes, sir, that's it. We - we fly at about 8,000 feet for about four to six hours in the storm environment, going through at least four passes of the storm to sample each different quadrant, figuring out how wide that radius and maximum winds is, what the pressure in the center is, how that's changing after each pass we go through. All that data goes to the forecasters at the National Hurricane Center so they can send out those updates, keep people informed and folks can protect lives and property.

BERMAN: All right, listen, thank you so much for the work that you are doing. To you and your entire crew, we do appreciate your time. Thanks so much to be - for being with us.

Kate, it really is extraordinary, those big laboratories with a, b, not with a v, laboratories in the sky. The sheer amount of data that we're getting back from them.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm very glad you clarified that because you know where we're - this discussion was going to take a very different turn.

We're going to get back to John. He's covering all of the latest in Florida for us as that massive hurricane is heading toward the Florida coast.

We also focus back in politics.

Yesterday we focused on young voters and the impact that they could have on the outcome of the election come November, that is if they show up. Today, we're digging into some of the most reliable voters in the nation, older voters.

CNN's Harry Enten is looking into that. He's back here with us.

As we talked about it -

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Harris was not performing as well with young voters as Biden had four years ago.

ENTEN: Correct.

BOLDUAN: So, where does she stand when it comes to older voters?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, we delivered some bad news for Kamala Harris yesterday. How about some good news here? Let's take a look at older voters. Those 65 and over. Look, you talk about four years ago. Donald Trump won amongst those voters by four points. When Biden got out of the race in July, he was ahead by four points.

Look at where we are today. Kamala Harris actually has a three-point lead in the average poll among voters 65 or older. And let me point out, no Democrat has carried this group since Al Gore in 2000. So, this could be the first time in 24 years that a Democrat actually carries voters 65 and older, despite the fact that Harris is doing worse among voters under the age of 30 and under the age of 34.

BOLDUAN: If she's making gains with older voters and she's losing - I'll say it that way -- with younger voters, is that a good trade-off?

ENTEN: It's an excellent - it is an excellent trade off.

All right, let's look, percentage of 2024 likely voters, those under the age of 30 make up just 13 percent of likely voters. Look at this large chunk that voters 65 and older make up of likely voters. Twenty- nine percent in an average of the last two "New York Times," Sienna College polls.

So, absolutely, if you're Kamala Harris, yes, shred a little bit among younger voters. Obviously, you prefer not to shred anywhere. But if you're going to shred support anywhere, shred it among younger voters. Pick up support among older voters because they make up nearly a third of the electorate. This is a great tradeoff for Kamala Harris.

BOLDUAN: And you think older voters are becoming an even more important bloc, even though they have now for generations of cycles, if you will. Why?

ENTEN: Why? Why are older voters becoming a more important bloc? Because, look at this, voters who are 65 plus, back in 1980 it was 17 percent. Jump ahead to 2000, the last time Democrats won amongst that group, they were 20 percent. Four years ago, they were all the way up to 26 percent.

BOLDUAN: Yes, we're living - we're living longer.

ENTEN: We are living longer. We are living longer. That's exactly right, we're living longer. So, senior citizens are becoming a more and more - a more important part of the electorate. And Kamala Harris is doing better now than any Democrat has done, at least in the final exit polls and all the post-election surveys since Al Gore in 2000. It's an excellent trade-off. This is part of the reason why Kamala Harris is leading, at least by a small margin in the average in the national polls. Despite the fact that she's losing support among younger voters, she's gaining support among the most reliable part of the electorate.

BOLDUAN: Interesting. Thanks, Harry.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Jessica. JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And joining me now is CNN political

commentator and Republican strategist, Shermichael Singleton, and Democratic strategist, Matt Bennett.

Thanks to both of you for being here this morning.

Shermichael, let's just start first with what Harry was just walking Kate through.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

DEAN: First of all, he touched on this, but those older voters are high-quality voters in the sense that they - they vote.

SINGLETON: They are.

[08:45:01]

DEAN: So, walk us through that.

Also, why do you think Kamala Harris is doing better with them?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, they do vote. They're older. They're more experienced. They've seen presidents come and go. They've seen good leadership. They've seen bad leadership. And so if you're a Democrat and you're making the argument that the former president is not the best individual to lead the country forward, than those individuals, because of age, because of wisdom, because of experience, may say, you know what, I think that's a palatable argument. I'm going to vote for the person making that argument.

But there's some interesting things that I saw in the poll that I think may benefit the former president. We've talked a lot about women. With white women in particular, 50 percent for Trump, 47 percent for Vice President Harris. Can the former president increase those margins by 2 percent or 3 percent? That could certainly benefit him in a place like Pennsylvania.

Another thing that I thought was very fascinating. We asked in that same poll, which candidate has policy positions on major issues that align with you. Donald Trump, 29 percent, to Kamala Harris, 18 percent. That suggests that the former president has strength, that we're not necessarily seeing in some of the other polls that we saw in ours.

DEAN: Matt, what do you think? Why do you think that Harris is so strong with these senior voters?

MATT BENNETT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I certainly agree with Shermichael's first point, which is, these are voters that have seen a bunch of presidents come and go. They remember the chaos of the Trump years. And also, they pay a lot of attention to things like Project 2025, which really threatens the things that they care about most. Things like Social Security and Medicare. They pay attention to - when Trump talks about tariffs, across the board tariffs. Twenty percent across-the-board tariffs, which they understand is just a tax increase on them.

We did a study recently that shows that groceries alone would go up by $185 a year with those 20 percent tariffs. And all in, it's about $4,000 a year for an average family or senior. So, they get that what Trump is proposing is very bad. And when they look at what Kamala Harris is proposing, they like it a lot more.

DEAN: And you talk about the economy. It continues to be the issue in poll after poll that voters care about the most. They rank it the highest.

We saw Vice President Harris, no big surprise, giving another big speech on her economic policy yesterday. And this is what she had to say in an interview - interview following those remarks. I want to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, part of it is you don't just throw around the idea of just tariffs across the board. And that's part of the problem with Donald Trump. I - frankly, I - I'm going to - and I say this in all sincerity, he's just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues. And one must be serious and have a plan. And a real plan that's not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And, Matt, you were just listing off some of the outcomes that you all had studied if those tariffs do go into place. And yet Trump continues in polling to poll higher with who's better - who they trust more to handle the economy. Why do you think that is, and what do you think - do you think the vice president is doing enough to convince voters otherwise?

BENNETT: Well, I don't think they're reacting to Trump's plans. I mean if they looked at it carefully, there would realize that if you wanted to go after inflation, electing Trump would be like treating your diabetes with Ho Hos. I mean, all of his plans are inflationary. He wants across the board tariffs. He wants to deport 9 million people from an economy where we have basically full employment, which would drive up prices.

So, I don't think it's - they're - they 're reacting to the things that he's proposing. I think that they're looking back at pre-pandemic prices and thinking those were good and - and why can't we go back to that? That didn't have anything to do with Trump. That's just the world that we lived in, not just the United States, but the entire world. And we live in a new world now. So, I think its understand.

But when voters pay attention to what Trump says at these crazy rallies, to Project 2025, and compare them to what Kamala Harris is talking about, building the middle class, there is just no question that it would be better for them to elect Harris.

DEAN: And, Shermichael, I'll give you the last thought on this in terms of that economic message.

SINGLETON: Yes.

DEAN: He is polling better, but -

SINGLETON: He is.

DEAN: But - but there are all of these studies that show that - that - that the plan he has would be bad for the economy.

SINGLETON: Particularly with tariffs.

DEAN: Yes.

SINGLETON: Look, the Biden administration, they maintain some level of Trump era tariffs. And I understand why. There's a - there's an argument to make that tariffs, in some capacity, could be a good economic strategy. I think writ large, if Donald Trump were to be re- elected, I would imagine his advisers would say, Mr. President, there's a better way if we want to level the playing field with China, or if you want to stop an American company from shipping manufacturing to a country like Mexico. What's a better way to incentivize that company to keep those jobs in a place like Ohio? There's some different approaches there, and I think, ultimately, he would make that decision.

[08:50:00]

But with that said, the guy is still ahead by about eight points, I believe, in our recent poll on this issue. I think the vice president is smart to provide a critique and a differentiator between herself and the former president. But the issue for her is about 30 plus percent of the American voters are saying, we still want to know where you stand on making the economy better. Providing a critique isn't enough. They need to hear more about solutions, which is why the former president's still strong.

DEAN: Well, and why she's still giving these speeches.

SINGLETON: Yes.

DEAN: That's what she's highlighting.

All right, Shermichael Singleton and Matt Bennett, thanks to both of you.

Kate.

BENNETT: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: We are tracking Hurricane Helene. The Florida governor is about to give an update on the forecast. And the warnings that are now spreading across the state. Right now tropical storm conditions are setting in along the gulf coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR JOHN DAILEY, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA: We will have countless downed trees. We will have structural damage. We will have loss of power. Yes, if our community remain central in Helene's path as forecasted, we will see unprecedented damage like nothing we have ever experienced before as a community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:25]

BOLDUAN: All right, let's give you an update on where things stand with Hurricane Helene. This is a live camera of Naples, Florida. You can see the waves really starting to pick up as the sun is still, at this moment, shining though.

Right now the storm continues to gain strength, spinning in the Gulf of Mexico. And it is expected to become a major hurricane later today and it is expected to move onshore with landfall later tonight.

We've got it all for you. John is in Florida for us. We'll continue to cover that.

Jessica.

DEAN: Thanks, Kate.

A new overnight. Russia unleashed a massive attack on Ukraine, launching 80 missiles and drones. Those attacks killing one and damaging Ukraine's energy infrastructure. And it's coming as Russia President Vladimir Putin threatened the west with the possible use of nuclear weapons. That's if Russia is hit with conventional missiles.

That threat comes as Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations General Assembly this week, and as the U.S. and the U.K. considers Zelenskyy's plead for the lifting of missile restrictions to allow Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia.

Let's turn now to CNN correspondent Clare Sebastian, who's in London.

And, Clare, Putin has made inflammatory threats recently. How is this all being viewed?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, on the one hand, Jessica, this is more of the same from Russia. They have rattled the nuclear saber very regularly throughout this war, this full-scale war in Ukraine. And I think the fact that they've done it again is just a measure of just how much they want to deter the west from providing more weapons to Ukraine and lifting restrictions on using them on Russian soil.

But on the other hand, this is alarming because this is the first time that we have seen that rhetoric translates into potential action. Putin decreeing on Wednesday that he wants to update Russia's nuclear doctrine. That has not been done since 2020. Now, as for what is in there. Well, on the one hand, they're saying,

you know, they're going to include Belarus now under Russia's nuclear umbrella. Not remotely surprising given that they've already positioned nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus and carried out joint nuclear drills. On the second point, there's now this idea that if a non-nuclear country launches an attack on Russia in - with the support, in Putin's words, of a nuclear-armed country, it will be considered a joint attack. That is clearly a direct nod to this issue around western provided long range missiles and whether the west will give permission to use them on Russian soil.

And then he seemed to be broadening the definition, broadening the scope of when a first strike would be allowable under this doctrine.

Take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The conditions for Russia's position for the use of nuclear weapons are clearly established. We will consider this possibility upon receipt of reliable information about the massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing of our state border and the strategic or tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic, and other aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So you can hear that definition now that a mass aerial attack could be considered justification to launch a nuclear weapon.

Having said that, Russia is in the midst of a multiyear modernization of its nuclear arsenal. And just a couple of days before this announcement, a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat missile, seems to have catastrophically failed. Satellite images showing a major - a major explosion at a cosmodrome in Russia.

Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Clare Sebastian for us from London. Thank you so much for that latest reporting.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump has long promised to tackle the affordability crisis in America, in part - in large part by imposing widespread tariffs. As he continues to lead on the issue of the economy, that seems to resonate with voters.

So, enter a new analysis now suggesting that Donald Trump's economic plan would actually backfire.

Matt Egan's here with us now. He's been looking into this.

What does this analysis tell you? MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, this is a brutal report for the

Trump campaign. It is the most comprehensive analysis to date focusing on the actual impact of Trump's campaign promises, if they were put into action. And it paints a really dark picture. Trump has said that these proposals would actually help the economy. This report from the Peterson Institute finds the opposite. It focuses on three key areas, massive tariffs, massive deportations, and the Fed. The idea that the president should have greater influence over interest rates.

And let's just look at the jobs impact. This report finds that even in a low scenario, where other countries don't retaliate against Trump's tariffs, then we would still see 2.7 percent fewer jobs by 2028. And in a high scenario, where other countries do retaliate, and even more workers are deported, employment would be 9 percent lower.

[09:00:08]

So, again, fewer jobs, not more.