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Category 4 Hurricane Milton Closes in on Florida; Cities Race to Remove Helene Storm Debris as Milton Closes In; Trump Repeats False Claim About FEMA Funds Used for Migrants. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 09, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: ... as well as residents while Hurricane Milton gets closer and closer to the Gulf Coast with deadly promise. Stay with CNN.

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[15:35:00]

SANCHEZ: The rain continues to come down here in the Tampa area as a result of Hurricane Milton. The wind has calmed down slightly, but it is expected to get stronger and stronger as the day goes on.

And it's not just the wind and rain, it's also the potential for tornadoes. More than 90, 90 tornado warnings have been issued across the state of Florida today. That is more than any single day in the state's history. That is incredibly alarming as we hear that there are tornadoes as far as western Broward County, hundreds of miles from where this hurricane is expected to make landfall.

We've also heard that EMS service, emergency service has been suspended for at least one of the barrier islands, Anna Maria Island, and that is not far from where we are here in Tampa Bay right now.

I actually want to talk to a couple that has decided to hunker down and stay there throughout the storm. We're joined now by Captain Bobby Chiodini and Anna Lichnowski. They own a boating company.

Thank you so much, both of you, for being with us. I wonder what is going through your mind right now as you hear that EMS service has been suspended for that area.

BOBBY CHIODINI, BUSINESS OWNER, ISLAND HOPPERS BOAT TOURS: Right now, what's going through our minds is we're just saying prayers. It means the world to us. It's our livelihood. We're afraid of losing everything out there. It's been wiped out. It's devastation on that island to businesses, to families, to friends.

And then you have this coming right at us that is, it's just like the one-two punch that it's so hard to survive.

SANCHEZ: What is it like for you just two weeks out from Hurricane Helene now having to deal with a storm that is just as, if not even more powerful?

CHIODINI: It's nerve-wracking. We're all sitting here nervous. We're all sitting on the edge. We just started doing cleanup. We were really happy the community was coming together. We were doing fundraisers, you know, getting crews together, helping each other out. And then all of a sudden, we get this news. And the next thing you know, we're loading boats up. We're buttoning down houses.

We're putting a bunch of volunteers together, Anna, me, Brett, my stepson Luke. And we went around securing homes. I think we did about 18 homes in the last three days trying to get prepped.

And now we just feel like at this point, we're not in an evacuation zone, but we're real close, as you know, where we're at. And we're just saying our prayers that there's nothing more that we want in this world than to have our barrier islands survive. It's our livelihood. It's our life.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it is a beautiful place for so many, not only residents, but folks that come year-round.

Anna, I'm wondering, Anna, what is it like for you, having seen the devastation from Hurricane Helene last week, now having Hurricane Milton barreling down toward you? What is going through your mind as you hear that there are tornadoes now scattered across the state of Florida? This obviously has to be a very frightening experience.

ANN LICHNOWSKI, MARKETING MANAGER, ISLAND HOPPER BOAT TOURS: That was the word that comes to mind, Boris, fear and just concern. And it's kind of a helpless feeling because there's only so much that we can do, you know. We were helping friends with repair efforts. Thankfully, a lot of their homes have been cleared out already.

But one of the biggest concerns, especially on the closer you get to Anna Maria Island, is the debris. We don't know where that debris is going to end up. So we're just -- we're keeping everybody in our prayers. And we've helped as many people as we were able to help. But we're all just, we're hopeful, but it is a very concerning time for everybody.

SANCHEZ: I'm so glad to hear that you've made those efforts to help the folks around you. I'm certain it is very much appreciated. We have to leave the conversation there.

Captain Bobby and Anna, thank you both so much. Please keep us posted on how you're doing. We would love to check in back with you as the storm passes.

LICHNOWSKI: Thank you, Boris.

CHIODINI: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Of course. And you will hear stories much like that one. A lot of folks throughout the region, very frightened that they may lose everything. That is another reason that so many folks stay behind, even when they are in evacuation zones, unlike Captain Bobby and Anna there, folks who are not in evacuation zones. Those who have been asked to leave that have decided to stay are in a very precarious position right now.

We still have a lot more to get to on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. The storm, conditions have continued to degrade. The wind gets very strong and then it kind of tampers down, but it is going to get ugly these next few hours. We hope you'll stay with us.

[15:40:00]

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SANCHEZ: We are back out here live in Tampa Bay watching Hurricane Milton get closer and closer to Florida. We are experiencing heavy rainfall and very strong winds. We want to go live now to Brian Todd, who's also in the Tampa area.

[15:45:00]

Brian, I understand that some bridges near you have started to take on water. What are you seeing there?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, yes, a lot of volume of water and rainfall coming down now. You know, as you know from covering hurricanes, when you start to get hit with rain that's moving sideways and hitting you sideways, then you know you're getting into some bad hurricane conditions. That has started here.

Our photojournalist Manny Kimiko (ph) is going to kind of go over my left shoulder here and kind of give you a sense of the volume of rainfall here. As he films against that tree, you can see the rain coming down here. What we're told here now is that the storm surge here in Tampa is going to be bad, 8 to 12 feet.

But in Tampa, what could be even a greater danger is the volume of rain. This area could get hit by up to 12 inches of rain. That means that drains are going to overflow, canals are going to overflow, sewers are going to overflow.

That's where the flooding threat is. And, Boris, when you talk about maybe some of the bridges starting to take on water, that could be the issue there. These bridges, you know, with their drains and everything, maybe not able to handle, again, this volume of rain here.

You talk about the bridges, Boris, the bridges are now closed. Now, this bridge here, we just saw a vehicle coming across this. This is still passable. This is a lower bridge, as you can see. But some of the higher bridges, like the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa, they have been closed. And officials are now saying that the time for evacuation is now over.

You cannot get out, even if you want to now. We've talked to several people along Bayshore Boulevard here who have elected to stay, and they say that they believe that they can withstand the storm surge. That may be some of the good news here for Tampa, Boris, is that maybe the storm surge itself may not be quite as bad as they forecast, but it's still going to be very dangerous here.

And, of course, storm surge in St. Petersburg, not far from here, and in Sarasota, just south of here, is going to be very, very bad. But what we're watching right now is really the volume of rainfall coming down here in Tampa, not too far from where you are. You're feeling it. We're feeling it here.

Again, officials telling us that people have to get off the streets, basically starting now, because, again, drains are going to overflow, sewers are going to start to overflow. That's where the danger is coming, here in the Tampa Bay area -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Brian, there's simply nowhere for that water to go. You're talking about nearly a foot of water, as you said, all coming down. Six months, roughly, worth of rain for this area coming down in a single day, if not slightly less.

Further, you're talking about the storm surge, which Brian mentioned, so it is a lot of water for an area that is simply not used to seeing storms of this magnitude, and that is why the storm surge is expected to shatter records that were set just two weeks ago by Hurricane Helene.

Brian Todd, thank you so much for that report. A lot of ground still to cover here as we monitor Hurricane Milton as it gets closer to Florida. Stay with CNN. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

[15:50:00]

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do have live pictures right now of former President Donald Trump back on the campaign trail holding two rallies today in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

A new CNN Poll of Polls in that state finds Vice President Harris with a slight edge over Trump, 48 to 47, still no clear leader, once again pointing to what is likely to be an extremely close race.

We have CNN's Danny Freeman, who is live in Reading, where Trump will hold a second rally tonight.

And Danny, it's important to note that he is repeating false claims about FEMA and other things as Hurricane Milton is close to landfall in Florida and as the Republican governor there has urged people not to fall for misinformation and disinformation like this.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. Listen, former President Trump has two events today in Pennsylvania. Like you said, the first one is happening right now as we speak in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the next one a little bit later in Reading.

And Brianna, this event in Scranton is supposed to be appealing to white working class voters in President Joe Biden's hometown, trying to get voters in the Lackawanna County area. And the campaign was hoping that he'd stay focused because of that on fracking, on the economy. But instead, while he's mentioned that a little bit, he continues to repeat this false statement that there has been some problem with disaster relief funds specifically because they may have been going to house illegal immigrants, in his words.

Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And we have another big one coming in, but the worst, the one in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, it was pieces of Florida got hit. I mean, it's incredible. Worst, the worst ever, they say they had no money.

You know where they gave the money to illegal immigrants coming in, many of whom are killers, many of whom are drug dealers, many of whom are gang members, and many of whom came out of prisons from all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Brianna, as we've been saying for the past several days, this is a false claim. Congress funded a program to help state and local governments house migrants. Customs and Border Protection then instructed FEMA to administer that program, but the funds are separate from any sort of disaster relief funding.

Meanwhile, Brianna, in a couple of hours, the former president is going to be here in Redding, Pennsylvania, trying to rally and gain support among Latino voters. That's one area where his campaign thinks they can make up some ground. We'll see if he'll be able to do so again when he takes the stage in just a few hours -- Brianna.

KEILAR: We should note, $35 billion in FEMA disaster relief for fiscal year 2024. And we just heard that they have the money they need from Vice President Harris.

[15:55:00]

Danny Freeman, thank you so much. Stay with CNN as we follow Hurricane Milton's path. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Back up live in Tampa Bay, Hurricane Milton is headed for the Gulf Coast of Florida with enormous storm surge, very powerful winds, a lot of rainfall, and tornadoes. The state of Florida seeing 90, at least 90, tornado warnings, the most in a single day in the state's history.

[16:00:00]

Brianna, this does not portend well for residents who have decided to ride this storm out in evacuation zones. The time simply is too late to get out.

KEILAR: Yes, that's right. It is time to hunker down, although certainly officials, Boris, their hope had been that they would have long left, but that time has unfortunately passed. Boris, great work there from Tampa. We know that you'll continue to do it.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

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