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Hurricane Ian Expected to hit Florida; Hurricane Ian Hits Cuba; Predications for Hurricane Ian; Sedition Trial Begins for Oath Keepers; Roger Stone Video Calls for Violence; Futures Jump 300 Points. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 27, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:29]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. We're glad you're with us today. I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Hurricane Ian now a major category three storm, has made landfall in Cuba, as it continues on a path toward Florida. The storm, right now, packing maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. It is expected to strengthen further over the next 24 hours. And that's alarming to hear.

HARLOW: Ian is expected to hit Florida's west coast late Wednesday into Thursday, and nearly 7 million people along the coast, including really all of Tampa Bay are facing the risk of a life-threatening storm surge there and people there are all being urged to get of harms way and to do it now. Tampa's mayor warning residents, if you can leave, just leave now. Those are his words.

Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, announcing that the Tampa Bay Airport will be closed starting tonight at 5:00 Eastern Time. He also expects - he is also expected, that is, DeSantis, to speak at any moment from Tallahassee. We'll give you an update on those preparations from the storm and bring you his update live in just moments.

We are covering this dangerous storm the only way CNN can. Let's go first to our Carlos Suarez, who joins us in Tampa.

Carlos, thanks for being there ahead of what is to come.

The Coast Guard closing some key ports as this storm approaches.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim and Poppy, good morning.

That's right, the clock is ticking for folks that live in Pinellas County to get out. A second mandatory evacuation order went into effect this morning. We're in Gulfport. That's about a 20 to 25 minute drive from Tampa, where a number of businesses out here, they've already got their plywood ahead of a possible impact with Ian. The folks here kept a sense of humor, spray painting "good vibes." They've also got several sandbags set up, as well as a plastic tarp at the entrance to their business. This goes all the way out to the marina.

Now, on just the other side of this marina, we're being told that the sheriff's office is now asking folks for a driver's license if they're trying to get out onto the barrier islands. If you don't own a home there, you don't have an apartment there, you don't have a business there, they're saying you need to get out and you need to get out now. The evacuation order for that part of the barrier island went into effect yesterday.

Now, over in Hillsborough County, that evacuation order for the coastal communities there went into effect at 2:00 in the afternoon. Around that same time, dozens of hurricane shelters opened as officials started to get the word out that these folks need to go ahead and make their way inland. Traffic cameras all night - overnight showed, rather, just how many cars were hitting the road as folks were taking Interstate 4 to try to get out into the Orlando area that's really the main highway that you can take form the Tampa Bay area to get further inland. And so folks are worried that if they don't get out with enough time, they're eventually going to hit this traffic. And that's one of the things that officials don't want to happen.

Here in Gulfport, the concern is going to be the storm surge, similar to the rest of Pinellas County. You're going to be talking - we are talking about anywhere between five to 10 feet of a storm surge. And with all of that water hitting from the Gulf of Mexico and then coming into the bay, well, the fear is that we're going to see some pretty bad flooding.

Now, just yesterday the governor of - Governor Ron DeSantis, he doubled the number - he doubled the number of members of the Florida National Guard, up to 5,000. And we're also being told that the state of Tennessee is also sending more than 1,000 members of their National Guard. All of those resources are going to be making their way to Florida.

Now, exactly where they're going to go is still very much up in the air. A lot of these resources are being pre-deployed to certain parts of the state. However, they want to have them - they want to make sure that they're able to move around, depending on exactly where this storm ends up tracking.

Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Yes, a lot of eyes on the storm surge in particular on the Gulf Coast.

Carlos Suarez, in Gulfport, thanks so much.

Well, Hurricane Ian is already sweeping through western Cuba as it made landfall there earlier this morning. State media says more than 38,000 people evacuated before the storm arrived.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann, as always, on the ground in Havana.

Tell us what you're seeing there now? Getting worse? PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we've had bands of weather coming through - throughout the morning. Thankfully it's not anything near what people in western Cuba are experiencing.

[09:05:03]

That is not a highly populated part of this island. So, you know, people have low built homes, mostly concrete homes. Some people have lost roofs. There's a lot of trees down. No word yet on any loss of life. But it's certainly been a harrowing night for the people who live in that part of Cuba.

Here in Havana, a city of 2 million people, it's been raining on and off throughout the morning. There has been wind. The government has told people to stay off the streets. That has been the case for the most part, although we are seeing some cars drive by. And it just is a question of whether we will have flooding throughout the day, which often happens here, whether a strong wind can cause some of these - the old buildings that are so much a part of this city to come down, which happens with regular currents. So, even though Havana has missed the worst of this storm, it appears certainly people are not out of danger here. You can have buildings collapse after a strong rainstorm here.

So, the storm is passing over western Cuba, where it will go into the Gulf of Mexico, and then people will begin to leave their houses and take stock of the damage and begin to pick up. But, you know, certainly for Cuba, which has endured so much over the last several years in terms of the pandemic and the loss of tourism, you know, this just doesn't help an economy that was already on the ground.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Yes, no question about it. Patrick, that's a very important point. Thank you for being in Havana, and for your whole team not on camera that we see behind the scenes doing all this hard work in the middle of this storm.

So, let's get to Chad Myers, our colleague, meteorologist in the CNN Weather Center tracking it.

Chad, I mean, they say this could be the first direct hit from a hurricane for Tampa since 1921, but caveating that with the National Weather Service saying, even if it doesn't get a direct hit, the flooding there could be catastrophic.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. There are so many items, so many ingredients that are going to come out of this storm. It's big. It's going to have a lot of wind. It's going to have surge, saltwater surge. Some spots will have 20 inches of rainfall. We are going to have winds on shore. Probably 125 to 130. Probably taking off roofs, flooding cities, buildings.

And it's a wide area. The computers still haven't even decided where this is going to go yet. That's the real problem. Now, we're still probably 30 something hours away from any potential landfall, but we should know by now, these models should be very close to each other, and they're not.

There's Pinar del Rio. There was our Patrick Oppmann right there in Havana (ph) seeing these outer bands here.

Father up to the north, any storm that comes onshore along The Keys, even into south Florida, could rotate today. There may be waterspouts coming on shore.

Now we're talking about this lack of consistency here. About 75 to 100 miles one way or the other, and that makes all the difference. You have major cities in the way. Eight million people in this hurricane warning. And all of them will feel some type of hurricane winds or some type of source, whether it's the flood, whether it's the saltwater surge, or whether it's the rainfall.

Zoom you in, though, to the cone. There's St. Pete. There's Sarasota. All the way back to almost Sebring. And then off to - that is the error still possible with this storm. Surge obviously going to be a problem.

HARLOW: right.

MYERS: Going to be seven to eight feet of surge in some spots. If it moves to the south of Tampa, it's going to be a lot worse.

HARLOW: Wow.

Chad, thank you for staying on this really night and day.

Let's get straight to Tallahassee. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with an update on the hurricane.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Evening there were a lot of solutions, bringing it right into Tampa Bay. Now you have a lot of solutions bring the landfall into the Sarasota area. There's still uncertainty with where that exact landfall will be. But just understand the impacts are going to be far, far broader than just where the eye of the storm happens to make landfall.

In some areas there will be catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge. And so if you're on Florida's Gulf Coast, from Naples, all the way through the Tampa Bay area and some of the counties north of that, that could be something that happens. And it will certainly happen in some parts of Florida's Gulf Coast.

Now, I know there's folks in southwest Florida who remember Hurricane Charlie, was projected to make a direct impact into Tampa Bay, and then it turned and went in, into southwest Florida. I would just say that the track may end up doing something similar, but this is a much different storm. Charlie was a lot smaller. It was powerful. It was a category four. Most of the damage from Charlie was from wind and wind destruction. What we have here is really historic storm surge and flooding potential. And so if you're looking at those places in Fort Myers, Charlotte County, Sarasota, the storm surge that you're going to see generated from this is going to far eclipse what we saw there.

[09:10:03]

And so, as you look to see what is going on with the local counties, there's evacuation orders that are in place on all these counties from Pasco and Pinellas down to the Fort Myers area. And our recommendation is to heed those evacuation orders. What those evacuation orders are doing is identifying people that live in areas that are venerable to major storm surge. And that storm surge can be life threatening. There's certain things we can protect against in terms of the wind and the structures, and we've got great building codes. But when you have five to 10 feet of storm surge, that is not something that you want to be a part of. And mother nature is a very fearsome adversary.

So, please head those warnings. You do not need to evacuate to another state. You don't need to go hundreds of miles away. There's shelters that are open in all of these counties at this point. The important part, if you're under an evacuation order, is evacuate to higher ground that is going to be safe from the type of surge and flooding that we're - that we're fearing with this storm.

Of course, there's certain Floridians that may live in mobile homes or manufactured housing that would be venerable. If you're under an order, of course, you know, you want to be in a structure that is going to be able to withstand some of the hurricane winds. But by and large, we're looking at really, really major storm surge up and down the west coast of Florida.

There are people that, of course, you know, are evacuating on different roadways. There has been traffic, but there has not yet been the backups where FDOT and FHP have opened the emergency shoulder lanes. They will do that once sustained speeds are at 40 miles per hour or less. And so when that happens, they will make that call. People will be able to use those. You know, but don't use it until then because that, obviously, you know, carries some risk if people, you know, don't know that that's something that is going on.

You also can use things like Gas Buddy to find gas stations in the area that have fuel. And I would note, if you look at these updated tracks that we've been getting this morning - and I think you'll probably see that reflected in the 11:00 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center, you have potential paths of the storm entering Florida's Gulf Coast, cutting across the state and exiting from - into the Atlantic Ocean. That means some of those counties that are more interior, you know, you could absolutely see power outages, you could see inland flooding, you know, you could see various types of tree damage from wind. So just be prepared for that.

We were here 48 hours ago and most of the solutions had it going up the coast, the west coast of Florida. Well, now most of them have it ramming into the state of Florida and cutting across. And so just be prepared for that - HARLOW: All right, we're keeping a very close eye on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, updating everyone in his state on this hurricane and the dangers ahead from it. We'll keep you posted on any other headlines out of that press conference.

Much more ahead on this hurricane and the path of Ian. We're going to speak to a senior meteorologist at NOAA about what they're seeing from weather planes that fly right into the eye of the storm.

Plus, the NASA administrator joins us live after the Artemis shuttle had to be rolled back from the launchpad. How that will delay things. Also details on that successful and just stunning DART mission last night to slam a rocket into an asteroid.

SCIUTTO: First, though, revealing new video from former President Trump's long-time adviser, Roger Stone. See how he predicted violence before the 2020 election even happened.

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[09:18:03]

HARLOW: Well, just minutes from now, jury selection begins in the sedition trial of five members of the far right group the Oath Keepers. They're charged with seditious conspiracy. That's a high bar to prove that. And this all stems from their roles in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

SCIUTTO: This is the first sedition trial in the U.S. in years. And, crucially, it could reveal new information about extremist efforts to subvert, to overturn, in fact, the 2020 election results.

CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild has been covering it. Whitney, now outside the courthouse.

And, Whitney, you and I were speaking before the show, and one thing you are looking for here is it may show us the depth and the length of time, right, of the efforts to overturn the election. What do you expect to see inside the courtroom?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, prosecutors will try to build this case around this idea that these people were very committed to this plot that began shortly after the November 2020 election that sought to prevent now President Joe Biden from assuming the presidency. It is the depth of their commitment that will be a central key here and they will largely use evidence that these men and women created themselves. They will largely rely on chats between these group members, largely rely on recordings between the group members to show that they were using multi-state efforts to try to recruit people into this group, the Oath Keepers, and then build toward what was basically a paramilitary effort to try to, again, stop the counting of the electoral Count Act. That's where it culminated.

So you'll see quite a bit of evidence leading up to January 6th, but also on January 6th. And specifically on January 6th, you'll see two locations. Prosecutors will build out this narrative that they were amassing weapons and tactical gear outside of Washington, one town away in Arlington, just outside Washington, and then further, dressed in tactical gear, several members of the Oath Keepers infiltrated the Capitol, at one point trying to push past police outside the Senate chamber, and in another moment other members of the Oath Keepers seeking to find Nancy Pelosi.

[09:20:12]

They did not find Nancy Pelosi. And then eventually these members of the Oath Keepers left.

However, the defense will argue that this is all just totally trumped up. They'll argue that the Oath Keepers were there with the purpose of keeping peace, that they amassed these weapons and tactical gear because they anticipated that there would be clashes between pro-Trump protesters and Antifa, and they were there in good faith to keep the peace and, in some moments, actually helped police, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Whitney Wild, thank you for being there. A very consequential trial and not one you see very often, as Jim noted, in this country.

Well, documentary footage obtained by CNN shows Roger Stone, a long- time ally of former President Trump, calling for violence the day before - the day before the 2020 presidential election. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER STONE, LONGTIME TRUMP CONFIDANT: Excellent. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the violence. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the violence. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the voting. Let's get right to the violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get right to it.

STONE: Shoot to kill. See an Antifa. Shoot to kill. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) them. Done with this bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: In another -

SCIUTTO: Shoot to kill. Amazing to hear that. Yes.

HARLOW: Yes. That's right. And there's another clip from this documentary in which Stone discusses the strategy of simply claiming victory no matter who wins. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER STONE, LONGTIME TRUMP CONFIDANT: Let's just hope we're celebrating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I know. STONE: I suspect it will be - I really do suspect it will still be up in the air. But when that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. No, we want to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you. Sorry. Over. We won.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

STONE: You're wrong. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Quite close to the president.

Roger Stone responded in a statement to CNN saying, quote, I challenge the accuracy and authenticity of these videos and believe they have been manipulated, selectively edited. I also point out that the filmmakers do not have the legal right to use them. How ironic that Kim Kardashian and I are both subjected to computer manipulated videos on the same day. The excerpts you provided below prove nothing. Certainly, they do not prove I had anything to do with the events of January 6th. That being said, it clearly shows I advocated for lawful congressional and Justdial options.

HARLOW: Let's bring in John Dean, CNN contributor, former White House council for President Nixon.

John, let's begin there because we know that, you know, the committee has seen part of the documentary this comes from because they requested to have it. So, the members have seen it, if not the whole thing. And this committee, the January 6th committee, that has their next hearing tomorrow, has used clips of video, clips of audio throughout each of its hearings. So, I wonder what impact, if any, you think what we just saw from Roger Stone might have?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, they've used those clips effectively. I think Roger Stone, at some point, may have forgotten he was being recorded. There's some other clips that they have where he's very confessional, very blunt about what he has to say. So, yes, those are not manipulated recordings contrary to his accusation. Those are Roger. And that's certainly his mentality.

SCIUTTO: You, of course, were a star witness in the Watergate investigation. And there's a though line from Watergate to events of today, not the least of which the Richard Nixon tattoo on - on Roger Stone's back. But what you have now - and I've heard this before, but you're hearing it more in public now - are Trump supporters, we saw Ben Stein, for instance, on Lara Trump's podcast just last week, arguing that both Trump and Nixon were somehow treated wrongfully for, in his words, doing nothing wrong. And I wonder, given your close observation of these investigations of Trump and your involvement in the Watergate investigation, what's your reaction to see folks exonerate both of them.

DEAN: Well, I have seen - I've seen some of the diehards out, yes. They - they are actually in pretty good shape this time because Trump is so much worse than Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon has looked at times like a choir boy vis-a-vis Donald Trump. So, I don't know why they're out. They're just drawing Nixon down as they compare him and pull him into the Trump orbit.

There is very little similarity and a sense between what Trump has done perpetually through incompetence, through his own mentality, that really differ it from Watergate. Watergate was quick. Nixon did ultimately accept the rule of law. We don't know what Trump's going to do yet. It's still a mystery story.

HARLOW: You know, John, I thought it was interesting that yesterday Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said to Jake Tapper that he thinks that if there is a criminal referral from this committee to the Justice Department, which is an area they've been divided on in the past, he thinks it should be unanimous.

[09:25:06]

And he said, my recommendation is, we should make referrals but, you know, we should do it at - basically as a team here, sort of all on the same page. And I wonder if you agree with that?

DEAN: Well, I - referrals are a big deal in Congress. They're not a big deal at the Department of Justice. They get referrals every day. While a congressional committee has a little extra weight, a select committee doesn't have as much weight as a permanent committee. So, there's a whole school of thought as to whether it's even relevant whether they do or not. They're going to do their thing at Justice. They are doing their thing at Justice. There is a parallel investigation now. And it's going to be a pretty through investigation.

So, while I think that the January 6th committee has done yeoman's work to get a head start for the Department of Justice, their referral really will not make the - the determination.

SCIUTTO: Remarkable.

John Dean, always good to have you on. Thanks so much.

DEAN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Please do join CNN for special live coverage tomorrow as the January 6th hearings resume with new witnesses, new evidence. Watch "Attack on Democracy: The January 6 Hearings." Starting tomorrow, 12:00 Eastern Time, right here on CNN.

HARLOW: Meantime, look at those images. That is Hurricane Ian on a collision course with Florida after making landfall in Cuba. Climate change intensifying hurricanes, making them faster, more dangerous than ever. The human impact of all of this ahead.

Plus, we're moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street.

CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik live at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, good morning, and hello bear market.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello bear market. But you know what, Poppy, futures are jumping 300 points on the Dow to start the trading session today. That's after a five-session losing streak with the Dow and the S&P 500 closing at their lowest level since 2020. This morning, investors watching some new data. A report on durable goods showing orders for big ticket items fell less than expected and home prices showing some cooling.

Stay with CNN.

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