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Zelenskyy Meeting with Trump to Rally Ukraine Support; Hurricane Helene Battering Southeast. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 27, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I think -- it's me or to both of us. OK. Thank you so much. First of all, it's very important to share all the plan, all our steps, how we can strengthen Ukraine. And of course, we have to decide it now. Because after November, we don't know who it is. Only Americans decide who will be the president. But we understand that until November, we can't stop Putin.

We have to do it. We will try on the battlefield with our heroic soldiers. And we understand that after November, we have to decide, and we hope that the strength of the United States will be very strong, and we count on it. That's why I decided to meet with both candidates with all honor to them. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President. Yes, Mr. President Trump. So, what are your expectations about this meeting? So, what I expect to hear Zelenskyy, and what are your expectations?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll say it a little louder please?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are your expectations from this meeting? What do you expect to hear from Mr. President?

TRUMP: Nothing. Look, this is a meeting, and we have a big race going on right now. I guess 37 days left, and we're leading in the polls. And so, we'll see how it all works out. Hopefully, it'll work out. But if it does, we're going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled, and get it worked out. It has to end at some point. It has to end. He's gone through hell, and his country has gone through hell like few countries have ever -- like it's happened anywhere. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. It's a terrible situation.

And I will say I have had a great relationship. It was very honorable. I don't even know if you know this, but when they did the impeachment hoax, it was a hoax, just a Democrat hoax, which we won, but one of the reasons we won it so easily is that when the president was asked -- it was over a phone call with the president and he said he could have grandstanded and played cute, but he didn't do that.

He said, President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. He said it loud and clear and the impeachment hoax died right there. He could have said, well, I don't know. I don't know. I never even told you this to be honest, but he was like a piece of steel. He said, President Trump did nothing wrong.

We had a very nice call. He congratulated me on his victory. You just won. And I remember that. I remember that. He could have played cute and he didn't play cute. And so, I appreciated that. So, we have a very good relationship and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And I think if we win, I think we're going to get it resolved very quickly. I really think we're going to get it.

ZELENSKYY: I hope we have more good relations.

TRUMP: We're going to have a lot. Yes. But, you know, it takes two to tango, you know, and we will -- we're going to have a good meeting today. And I think the fact that we're even together today is a very good sign. And hopefully. we'll have a good victory because the other side wins -- I don't think you're going to have victories with anything, to be honest with you.

So, we're going to sit down, just discuss it. And if we have a win, I think long before I -- before January 20th, before I would take the presidency, it's January 20th, but long before that, I think that we can work out something that's good for both sides. It's time.

And by the way, the president knows that too, he wants to get something done. He doesn't want to do this. And so, we look forward to having him. I look forward to being with him. But what I said is true. He was he was a piece of steel. He gave a very honest, straight answer. And that it really ended, essentially ended the impeachment hoax. And I appreciated that. Thank you very much, everybody.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So, there's Former President Donald Trump standing with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They're meeting right now at Trump Tower. They had some comments there to the press. I do want to just make sure that we fact check a couple of things because the former president referred to his first of his two impeachments as an impeachment hoax, that's obviously not the case. He was impeached over his decision to withhold military aid from Ukraine as a way to pressure Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate former vice president at that time, Joe Biden, who was thought to be obviously Trump's main opponent in the 2020 election.

Biden went on to beat Donald Trump. So, he was obviously very worried about what Biden might have in store for him, politically speaking, but that past being prologue, let me go to Doug Heye, who is with me right now. Former RNC communications director.

I guess let's talk about the politics of this and Zelenskyy kind of injecting himself into this campaign with what's less than six weeks to go. What do you think of that?

[10:35:00]

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, this is for all the marbles for Ukraine. And as I told you earlier, I was at the Polish Economic Forum earlier this month, a lot of people from Ukraine there, probably some Russians as well. This is topic number one. They take it very seriously in Poland, Moldova, countries like that, obviously, of course, Ukraine.

You know, it's important for President Zelenskyy to communicate with both parties. And what I try and focus on is not the tip of the iceberg that we see, especially when it comes to Trump's language. And I sat down with a Ukrainian official yesterday -- or Ukrainian national yesterday who told me that the phone call from a few weeks ago between Zelenskyy and Trump was, and this is a quote, the best phone call that they've ever heard.

ACOSTA: Yes.

HEYE: And maybe it wasn't the best of all time, but that they were that positive about it tells me something.

ACOSTA: But I mean, one of the things that I think Zelenskyy is feeling right now is a real sense of urgency. Because this race right now, this presidential race here in the U.S. could go either way at this point. And Donald Trump has been out on the campaign trail just this week saying things like Ukraine is gone. You know, and he just said a few moments ago that the country has been through hell and something -- he essentially said something's got to give.

So, you do have to wonder to what extent behind closed doors Trump is saying to Zelenskyy, you know, this war needs to end, which, you know, as Trump has been saying, as J. D. Vance has been saying, you know, that could play into Vladimir Putin's hands. So, Zelenskyy has a lot on the line here.

HEYE: I think the public language from Trump and Vance has been a problem. That's why I'm trying to focus where I can on the private. I also know from conversations I had, both in Poland yesterday, there's concerns in either way. It doesn't look like, if you're Ukraine, that one result is a slam dunk for you versus the other. And that's why they're trying to communicate with both sides.

And I'd say real quickly, also communicate differently, right? If you go to towns in Ukraine or Poland, there are no Jews left. How do you communicate that to America? You talk about the persecution of Christians. You want to win Republican support? Evangelical Christians will communicate or will respond to that kind of message.

ACOSTA: Yes, and a lot riding on this race for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians. Vice President Kamala Harris made it very clear yesterday if she is elected president, she intends to stand with Ukraine. Doug Heye, thank you very much.

HEYE: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it. In the meantime, yes, we are tracking Hurricane Helene as the storm rips through the southeast. This is in the city of South Pasadena in the Tampa Bay area. Take a look at this fire ripping through a home in that area as rescuers were searching for stranded residents by boat. It has been a hellacious 24 hours for this part of the Gulf Coast. More on all of this. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:40:00]

ACOSTA: We are following breaking news right now. Hurricane Helene is pummeling the southeast. The deadly storm now dumping dangerous amounts of rain across several states. Sustained winds of 60 miles an hour are lashing communities. and threatening millions. Helene already leaving a path of destruction tearing through Tampa and Tallahassee.

This is brand-new video that you're looking right now from the Big Bend of Florida cabins upended and scattered. Some houses just washed away. The Category 4 hurricane slammed into the state with 140-mile per hour winds and 10 feet of storm surge.

Let's get right to CNN's Isabel Rosales. She's in Asheville, North Carolina, where there's some unprecedented flooding happening right now. Isabel, the story of this storm is not anywhere close to being over yet.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, not by far, Jim. In fact, I've been reporting from down there, this road, for a couple of hours this morning, but I can't anymore. Look at this thing. The flood waters have just dramatically gone up. You can't even see the road anymore.

And if you look back there, you can see that little trailer, the taco trailer, certainly has taken on water. The car behind it, that has been flooded out. And, Jim, the story here with this particular type of flooding, what makes it so. so tricky is that even when the rain has gone away, as we're seeing right now, it has really eased up, this flooding is just going to get worse and worse because all of this water has to go somewhere, right? It's going to go back into the rivers, back into the streams and continue to overflow the banks until eventually it does ease up.

And it's incredible these numbers out of the Swannanoa River. It's risen about 12 feet in the last 12 hours. It's expected to go to over 21 feet and surpass a record. Now, that river is typically only about two to four feet deep. So, it's really unprecedented flooding that folks here in the Asheville area are seeing.

And as you think of the geography of this area, it's surrounded by mountains, and then you've got Asheville in the bottom of this, essentially a bowl, a catch basin, is what the Asheville Fire Rescue chief told me, where all of this water can't be soaked up into the ground, it's got nowhere to go, so it's just going to be trapped there. So, this flooding will just be an increasingly more serious situation. Catastrophic flooding is imminent, is what forecasters have been warning people. over and over again.

Now, the fire chief also told me that he's extremely worried about one other thing out here by the mountains, and that's landslides. He is concerned that the sediment cannot take all of this rain, all of this water, and it will lead to the collapse of buildings. Obviously, that would be a very dangerous situation.

I spoke to one Asheville resident who was coming out of his home to kind of take a look around and see what was going on. Here's what he told me.

[10:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALEB MOORE, ASHEVILLE RESIDENT: I woke up to see pretty dramatic wind blowing the trees. I've lost a couple of trees around my house. Fortunately, nothing's hit anything. Torrential flooding. Lots and lots of puddles. Rain falling in sheets. Not a lot, substantially just really biting rain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And then, from Wednesday into Thursday, so a totally different system that was not Helene, they had over eight inches of rain, that is two months' worth of rain in just 24 hours. So, imagine by the end of this, by Helene, just this incredible amount of rainfall that they're going to get, none of this is helping out the flooding situation, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. Isabel, I mean, just a few moments ago we were showing some of the footage of that area behind you when it was full of water and you could see sort of it look like water bursting out of a manhole or out of some sort of stormage -- store -- storm drain. What was that all about? What was going on there? And I have to assume that that meant that area was pretty dangerous at that point.

ROSALES: Yes, Jim. I don't know if we can see past the trees over here, but you can't see that storm drain anymore. That's because it's completely underwater. I think that was one of our first clues that something was quite rapidly going wrong. We could see that the storm drainage system was taking a hit, clearly overwhelmed by all of this water, Jim. And again, the situation is unfortunately just going to get worse.

ACOSTA: All right. Absolutely. Good day for people to stay indoors in that area. Isabel Rosales, thanks as always. We appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: All right. finally, this hour after a week of pretty heavy news, we're going to take a moment to decompress for just a moment. "SNL" premieres tomorrow for its 50th season, just in time for election season. We're already up to speed in terms of who will be playing Vice President Kamala Harris. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYA RUDOLPH, ACTRESS AND COMEDIAN: The -- you know what? Let's not do that. Tonight, I'm not going to worry about the polling numbers. I'm just going to have fun and see if I can get some viral moments. Mama needs a jiff. Going to tell my kids this was Michelle Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Maya Rudolph will reprise her role as the vice president. Executive producer Lorne Michaels teased that James Austin Johnson will continue to play Former President Donald Trump. But we still don't know who will play Senator J. D. Vance or Governor Tim Walz. I've got an idea. How about comedian Matt Friend who joins me now.

MATT FRIEND, COMEDIAN AND IMPERSONATOR: I'm just here for you, Jim.

ACOSTA: That's it. That's it.

FRIEND: Thanks for having me back.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. No, it's always great to have you here. And I understand you have been working on a Tim Walz impersonation.

FRIEND: Yes. You know, well, the Tim Walz is very coachy. I've done this on your show before, but he's kind of moving his hands like this all the time. Got a jazz hand thing going on. He's very -- all I say is whenever Tim Walz knows he wins the election, takes a gallon of Gatorade, throws it on Kamala's face. He's going to put Bill Belichick to shame with the big coach energy that Tim Walz has given off.

ACOSTA: Yes. And --

FRIEND: The debate should be interesting.

ACOSTA: It should be something like that. Lorne Michaels, if you're watching, here we go. Right here.

FRIEND: Yes, we'll see. Yes, yes.

ACOSTA: But we just saw Donald Trump at the beginning of this newscast.

FRIEND: Yes, yes.

ACOSTA: He's with Zelenskyy there.

FRIEND: That was interesting. Yes.

ACOSTA: That was interesting.

FRIEND: Well, I think Donald Trump is upset about a number of things, but number one is possibly Chaperone. This singer is doing a horrible thing, Jim. It's really sad what's happening. She refuses to endorse me. She says I'm a nasty guy, but I invented the Pink Pony Club, Jim. It's a tremendous song, I invented it. And she's --

ACOSTA: I heard you hate Taylor Swift as well.

FRIEND: You say that again.

ACOSTA: I hear you hate Taylor Swift as --

FRIEND: Well, I don't like Taylor either. I used to like her a lot, but Taylor has gone a little sour, which is surprising I think she liked me a lot So, that's sad, right? Yes.

ACOSTA: No, but I mean -- you know, listen --

FRIEND: Too much material. There's too to work with.

ACOSTA: You got a lot of material to work with.

FRIEND: Yes.

ACOSTA: I mean, my impression of my Rudolph coming back is --

FRIEND: I'm very excited.

ACOSTA: -- very exciting.

FRIEND: You can't beat that.

ACOSTA: You can't beat that.

FRIEND: No.

ACOSTA: She's like the GOAT of the --

FRIEND: She was made for it. It's almost like Tina Fey being made for Sarah Palin.

ACOSTA: I know.

FRIEND: It's like, you're made for that. Thankfully, I'm not made for McConnell. I just have the glasses with me wherever I go.

ACOSTA: Well, I was going to say, because earlier this week, you know, we heard Trump talking about his tariffs. And then, Mitch McConnell came out. Mitch McConnell said not so much into the tariffs.

FRIEND: Yes, I'm not really sure what he said, but, listen, I don't need a prosthetic to morph myself into whatever creature this becomes. Just need the glasses, contort your face, and stop moving completely. Anyways --

ACOSTA: And there's the freeze.

FRIEND: That was the freeze.

ACOSTA: That joke still works.

FRIEND: I need to get my Jim Acosta down.

ACOSTA: No.

FRIEND: America's finest news anchor.

ACOSTA: We don't it. No, we don't want to -- we don't want any Acosta impersonations. Yes, or me speaking in the third person. But I mean, as this election is winding down, what are you -- I mean, what's on your mind? What are you thinking here? FRIEND: I'm thinking about the material will continue to flow.

ACOSTA: There's been a lot in the news.

FRIEND: There's been a lot in the news. The debate should be interesting. Let's see how many times J. D. Vance mentions his mamaw and his people and his -- by the way, I have a question for America. Who's letting J. D. Vance in these weird circumstances? He goes into a donut shop. He was. I'm J. D. Vance. I'm running for vice president. And then no one looks interested around him. I don't get why his campaign is allowing him to be in this situation. But the material, the United States government provides infinite material for me. I will tell you.

ACOSTA: And why is Walz a fun character to play?

FRIEND: Because he's very animated. He's moving his hands. He's almost like some sort of a Broadway. I don't know what's going on here. But as soon as I saw him, he's like a gold material for comedy. Absolutely.

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: But Trump -- the Trump impersonation is what put you on the map. And I just saw in the last 24 hours, he's now selling watches. Have you seen these watches?

FRIEND: I did see that. To all CNN viewers, if you're interested in purchasing one, we're selling a great brand-new Trump watches. They're beautiful. They put Rolex to shame. Trump watches are to Rolex what CNN is to Newsmax. OK. You're going to want to buy a Trump watch. And that's the only way you can tell time. Thank you.

ACOSTA: A little QAnon VC, something like that.

FRIEND: QAnon VC. Exactly.

ACOSTA: There you go. Well, Matt, as always, I need a second to go quickly. Well done, my friend. Thank you. We needed that. It was very therapeutic.

FRIEND: Stormy Daniels. Yes.

ACOSTA: We won't bring that up.

FRIEND: We can't bring that up.

ACOSTA: Suddenly, we're out of time.

FRIEND: Yes, we're out of time.

ACOSTA: Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

FRIEND: Good morning, America.

ACOSTA: Matt Friend did not get me in trouble. So, I'm going to get out now. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour of Newsroom with Pamela Brown starts after a short break. Have a great weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]