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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) Holds Milton News Conference; Milton Intensifies to Cat 4; Hardship and Trauma Continue in Gaza. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 07, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Philosophy, wanting to be a dictator, absolutely dividing people up based on who they are, based on factors about them that have to do with their race and their gender, et cetera. And when he uses language like this, I don't think that it's a Freudian slip.

I think that the Danger of a Donald Trump is that he would absolutely try to exterminate an entire group of people because he thinks that their genes are somehow different than his and faulty. And I say this with all the sternness that you hear in my voice because it is serious and Americans should recognize that.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Lanhee, we got to run, but I want to give you one chance to comment on that.

LANHEE CHEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I mean, I think that's - that's a little over torqued, quite frankly. But it - clearly, this is an example of an issue where Trump would have the opportunity to have an advantage, which is immigration, but comments like this are - are certainly not useful in driving that advantage.

And so, we'll see where this goes. This is going to be a critical issue, John, as we go into the last 28 days, how people feel about immigration and control the border is going to be a critical issue in this election as well.

BERMAN: All right, well, I'm going to go back and listen to that again and more of it there, but an interesting discussion whenever someone brings up genes and genetics.

Aisha Mills, Lanhee Chen, our thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, Hurricane Milton has now strengthened even further. Now a strong category four hurricane. It started the morning with it as a category two. We are standing by for a live update from the Florida governor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:10]

BOLDUAN: The breaking news, Hurricane Milton is now a category four hurricane. The Florida - Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, is giving a live update. Let's go to it.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Hurricane Milton, when we were here yesterday morning, said this is a tropical storm, might become a hurricane yesterday, but probably by today. And it became a hurricane very quickly. And so not only is it a hurricane, it's already a major hurricane and its now a category four hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 150 miles per hour.

It is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida sometime between Wednesday evening or perhaps even very early on Thursday. This has gone slower than the projections were in terms of the - how it's moving towards Florida. And if that continues, it's going to push back when landfall will happen. Of course, you can see impacts prior to the eyewall making landfall.

We have made a pre-landfall declaration request to FEMA for support, and Kevin has been working with the administrator. And we anticipate positive approval on that.

We have 51 counties in Florida currently under a state of emergency. The executive order that I signed over the weekend also orders all disaster debris management sites and landfills to be open 24/7 in the lead up to Hurricane Milton. We had a lot of debris left from Hurricane Helene on Florida's gulf coast. That creates a huge hazard if you have a major hurricane hit in that area this week. So, we've marshaled state assets to be able to help with that mission and were going to continue to do that until its safe, till it's no longer safe to do so.

So, we do have a category four hurricane. It is currently located 745 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It has not moved terribly quickly, but that, obviously, could change going forward.

A storm surge watch has been issued for the Florida gulf coast from mainland Monroe County northward to the Suwannee River, the Dixie-Levy County line. Eight to 12 feet peak storm surge is potential for northern Pinellas, all the way down to Charlotte, including in Tampa Bay. Five to ten feet peak storm surge is possible from Yankee Town southward to the Pascoe-Pinellas County line and from Englewood southward to Benito Beach, including Charlotte Harbor.

Hurricane watches have been issued for portions of west central Florida and Florida's nature coast. Tropical storm watches extend further south and north through southwest Florida and the keys and along portions of the Florida panhandle.

Vision of emergency management is busy facilitating hundreds of resource requests from communities as we prepare for the impacts. We've already sent - sent major truckloads of food and water to central Florida in preparation for points of distribution sites after the storm. We're also coordinating the deployment - BOLDUAN: All right, we've been listening in to the latest update from Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, as the - as that state now prepares for another major hurricane to head towards its west coast. This is just less than two weeks since there - as they're still starting - continuing to clean up from Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

Let's get over to CNN's Derek Van Dam. He's been tracking this all throughout the morning. Now a category four. And the governor made clear, I mean, 51 of the state's 67 counties now under - have now a state of emergency declarations.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and here we are now staring down a category four monster, right? The beauty of the technology we have available to us as we're getting these real time updates from the hurricane hunters whose sole job is to fly into the middle of this storm.

[09:40:03]

And as we get these date - these minute by minute updates, we see the winds and the pressure that they find. And they had in bold caps locks on this latest statement from them that they were experiencing severe turbulence in the southern southwestern portion of the storm where they measured winds in excess of 162 miles per hour at flight level.

Now, I've flown with the hurricane hunters before. And that type of turbulence doesn't exist if it's a - if it's a leveled off storm. If it's strengthening rapidly, that's when you get that type of turbulence.

So, how in the world did we get here? Well, very warm ocean waters and now 150 mile per hour storm with a ten nautical mile wide pinhole eye. Just like an ice skater brings in their arms and spins faster and faster, centripetal force is allowing this storm to spin faster and faster and get stronger and stronger. And it did so rapidly. Actually doubling the criteria for rapid intensification in just about a days' time.

Here's the projected path. This is so important. DeSantis talking about it. It has slowed down in its expected arrival time, so late Wednesday into Thursday. There's a look at the watches. And, yes, just to put this into context, Kate, we're talking about nearly 100 mile per hour increase in winds in roughly 30 hours. That is phenomenal and, quite frankly, mind-boggling.

BOLDUAN: Yes. The director of the Hurricane Center saying this is an incredibly dangerous storm, which is why it's no surprise then that Tampa's mayor is saying, if you can get out now, get out now.

VAN DAM: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Derek, thank you so much, tracking this very closely.

We also want to show you some live pictures. We can bring those up this morning from outside the al-Asqa (ph) hospital compound in Gaza. The compound hit by an IDF strike overnight. Ahead, where the desperate humanitarian crisis there stands today, one year after the Hamas terror attacks and the subsequent Israeli offensive. We'll hear from some of the doctors who have been in Gaza, on the ground, trying to help the civilians.

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[09:46:28]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today marks one year since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, 1,200 people killed on that day, 250 others kidnapped, 101 people believed to still be held hostage in Gaza.

And then the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas has also created a desperate humanitarian crisis that continues to play out in Gaza. Gaza's health ministry says nearly 42,000 people have been killed in the enclave. They do not make a distinction between civilian and combatant. Nearly 2 million people have been displaced. And overnight, we have heard about Israel making new moves into the northern part of Gaza and telling people in the southern part of Gaza, issuing new evacuation orders there as the offensive - as the operation offensive continues there.

Joining us now to talk about what is happening today with that humanitarian crisis is Dr. Tania Hodgson, co-founder of Gaza Medic Voices. She's also an intensive care doctor with Doctors Without Borders, and Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency physician from Chicago who traveled to Gaza to treat patients and help earlier this year.

Thank you both so much for being here.

DR. THAER AHMAD, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, VOLUNTEERED IN GAZA: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Hasan, how do you reflect on what has happened in the last year, the tragic terrorist attack on Israel, the war with Hamas afterward that has left so many Palestinians dead and sparked this desperate humanitarian crisis that continues to play out?

DR. TANYA HAJ-HASSAN, CO-FOUNDER, GAZA MEDIC VOICES: Frankly, Kate, I struggle to even think about it as a war anymore. You have a population of 2 million people in effectively besieged in a concentration camp that have been killed indiscriminately for 365 days now. And I know you said that the ministry of health does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but neither did you when you referred to all those killed on October 7th. The death of any human being as tragic, and especially the death of civilians who have nothing to do with any of this.

What I can tell you to help you delineate those figures is, 70 percent, or 69 percent if you want to be accurate, of those killed are women and children in Gaza. Women and children. That - that is not a normal percentage of those killed in times of conflict.

BOLDUAN: Doctor, I'm so sorry. Is there - I don't know if it's - it's having to do with me, but I can - I - I don't know if I've lost audio, if everyone out there can still hear the doctor, but I - OK, I'm sorry, Doctor, I'm having an audio issue.

HAJ-HASSAN: Can you hear me now?

BOLDUAN: So, control room, if you could work on my audio so I can continue to - continue with this interview, I would appreciate it.

Doctor, I'm so sorry to interrupt. I thought we were having a technical issue.

You know what, let's do this. We're going to take a quick break so we can fix this audio issue. Not really sure what's going on here with this technical glitch. And we'll get right back to it after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:47]

BOLDUAN: And welcome back. Both doctors are back with me. The technical issue has now been worked out. Sincere apologies to everyone.

Dr. Ahmad, if we can just pick up, let's talk about the situation on the ground in Gaza as it stands today, one year later. What are you hearing from doctors that are still working in Gaza today about what they are facing, what the civilians there are facing, and what they're having to do to try to bring people care?

AHMAD: Well, I mean the situation has deteriorated. It's become exponentially worse.

And, Kate, make no mistake, I mean, it's because of how Israel is prosecuting this war that we're in this humanitarian catastrophe. I mean we're unable to get supplies in because the border is totally shut down. We're not able to get patients out who needs specialty care. And though it seems like life in Gaza is what's come under assault, I spoke to a physician and a nurse yesterday and I was talking to them about a conference that we were holding here in Chicago. And they were telling me, oh, maybe, you know, I was telling them, I hope you can come next year. And they said, there are no visas to get out of Gaza. And what they're saying is that there are only tickets to hell when it comes to Gaza.

That entire population is coming under attack. And you mentioned actually at the beginning about these evacuation orders. These evacuation orders are for three hospitals in the north. Kamala Adwan Hospital (ph), Indonesian Hospital, and al-Awda Hospital (ph). Why are hospitals still coming under evacuation orders? Why are we still hearing about hospitals coming under attack and health care workers being killed?

I want to just mention, Dr. Khaled Asserd (ph), a colleague of mine who I worked with at Nasr Hospital (ph), brilliant young surgeon. When the Israeli military surrounded the hospital, he refused he leave his patients. He stood (INAUDIBLE) his patients and tried to keep them alive as water, electricity, and supplies were cut off. He was subsequently abducted. And for six months he languished in Israeli dungeons until he was released two days ago. Do you know what Dr. Khaled Asserd did? He went right back to Nasa Hospital and started working with patients again. I mean if it wasn't for these Palestinian health care workers, we'd be in a much more grim situation.

And the final thing I'll say is, you know, 700 kids in Gaza, 700 infants never saw their first birthday in Gaza over the last year. Two hundred of them born and killed in the Gaza (ph) conflict.

[09:55:01]

Two hundred (INAUDIBLE) killed in this assault. I mean the situation is so dire, we need a ceasefire. We need it right now.

BOLDUAN: And Dr. Haj-Hassan, speaking of the evacuation orders - evacuation orders in the north - in the north and now in the south, that we've seen today, one resident of northern Gaza, who was just this weekend had to flee once again, told the Associated Press this, and I think it was pretty - it was jarring, telling and - and striking, said this. "Since October 7 to the present day, this is the 12th time that I and my children, eight individuals, have been homeless and thrown into the streets and do not know where to go.

Where do you think it does - what do you think is going to happen with this humanitarian crisis with the additional factor of, Gaza's about to enter the winter, which often brings heavy rain to the region.

HAJ-HASSAN: Kate, in all - in all honesty a humanitarian crisis is what you deal with when you have a hurricane, what you deal with when you have an earthquake. You have an - an insult and a humanitarian response. This is my - my career. This is what I do for a living. Every single person who does this for a living will tell you the same thing, this is different. This is not a humanitarian crisis.

Kate, and I'm going to say it very clearly for your viewers to hear, this is genocide. When 70 percent of the population that are killed are women and children, when the population is starved of food, of water, of medicine, when you have attacks, repeated attacks on all the hospitals, the clinics, the aid distribution sites, the humanitarian aid agencies that tried to help, more U.N. workers have been killed in Gaza than in U.N.'s history. When you have over 900 families that have been exterminated, that have been taken off of the civil registry, killed, when you have over 17,000 children that have lost one or both parents, when you have bakeries, aid distribution sites, churches, mosques, schools, and in the last three days, in the last 24 hours in fact, a hospital today that was bombed, as you just reported, the hospital where I personally was working, and I can tell you, they are working every second of every day to try and sustain life.

When Israel's strategy and evidenced on the ground suggests that they're doing the exact opposite. They were targeted today. There was a rehabilitation hospital that - a rehabilitation center that was targeted in the last 24 hours. And there was an orphanage that was targeted earlier this week. These are the types of places that are being targeted.

And so it's really hard to hear it over and over and over again, framed in the way that it's being framed in the media, which, frankly, Kate, is very misleading. It is very misleading. Three hundred and sixty-five days of this. Death tolls that are so far outdated we have no many - we have no idea how many people are killed. But I am - I am genuinely afraid about what we're going to find out when the dust settles. History books will be written on this. And countries will have to reckon - media agencies will have to reckon with their major role in the genocide of an entire population and in the destruction of humanitarian law and rule of order.

BOLDUAN: A desperate situation getting only more desperate.

Doctors, thank you for your time.

John.

BERMAN: Obviously, it is a day to remember all those affected on October 7th.

We do appreciate you all joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. Sara's been out today. "CNN NEWSROOM" is up next.

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