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CNN International: Florida Braces for Hurricane Milton Just Two Weeks After Helene; Milton Expected to Make Landfall Late Wednesday; Life-threatening Storm Surge Warnings Issued, Locals Flee Western Florida Ahead of Milton; Israel is Expanding Ground Operations in Southern Lebanon; More Than 100 Rockets Fired at Haifa, Israel in One Hour; Harris Faces Tough Questions on Immigration During "60 Minutes" Interview; Trump to Shift Focus to "Making American Healthy Again"; Harris, DeSantis Accuse Each Other of Playing Political Games; U.S. Not Pushing to Revive Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Proposal; Nobel Prize Awarded for Work on Artificial Intelligence. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 08, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane and this is "CNN Newsroom'. Just ahead, mass evacuations underway as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton. We'll have a full report this hour tracking the massive storm's progress.

First, villages in the frontline in Lebanon, CNN meets some of the people who fled in fear as Israel's attacks intensified. Now, they wonder if they'll ever return. And U.S. presidential candidates out to in force, how both Harris and Trump are looking to grab headlines with less than a month left before the election.

At this hour, Hurricane Milton is barreling through the Gulf of Mexico with the state of Florida directly in its sights. Forecasters say it could be one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit west central Florida. It is expected to make landfall late Wednesday near Tampa. Milton weakened a bit overnight but could return to a Category 5 storm later today. Whatever happens, forecasters predict Milton will roar ashore as a very large and very powerful storm. That's why people in its path are preparing for the worst, as Florida faces its second hurricane in less than two weeks. Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Pinellas Park, Florida, just across the bay from Tampa, residents use large pails to fill as many sandbags as they can. Hurricane Milton, which has already exploded into a Category 5 storm, could hit the Tampa Bay area directly. It would be the first major hurricane to strike within 50 miles of Tampa in more than 100 years. Some residents in at least six counties told to evacuate.

In Hillsborough County, the evacuation order is mandatory in some places. That means authorities cannot force people from their homes. But -- JASON DOUGHERTY, CHIEF, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: If you remain there, you could die. My men and women could die trying to rescue you.

TODD (voice-over): What makes this especially dangerous in places like Tampa and Fort Myers is that those cities are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which has killed more than 230 people in six states, with the death toll still rising. For those in the mandatory evacuation zones who decide to stay put, Florida officials have a dire warning.

ASHLEY MOODY, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: You probably need to write your name in permanent marker on your arm, so that people know who you are when they get to you afterwards. And we are still seeing as we are uncovering folks on the beach, who thought they could stay there, and the storm surge got them.

TODD (voice-over): With Milton forecast to make landfall late Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis warns the window for evacuation is closing fast.

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R-FL): You have time to execute your plan, but you've got to do it now. Time is going to start running out very, very soon.

TODD (voice-over): Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane that caused widespread damage, leaving tons of debris that still hasn't been cleared, debris that residents worry could still harm people if it starts flying around when Milton hits.

KARMEN FORRESTER, BARTENDER IN FORT MYERS BEACH: The debris on the beach and whatever is going on is a little cause for concern because there is not enough time and not enough manpower to take everything and put it where it needs to be, off the island.

TODD (voice-over): The international airports in Tampa and Orlando closing ahead of the storm, tolls are being suspended on major highways throughout western and central Florida to help those evacuating. Governor DeSantis says the assets that Florida lent to North Carolina for Hurricane Helene have had to be brought back to Florida. But North Carolina is still dealing with the horrific aftermath of Helene, more than 100,000 customers are still without power there. And around Asheville, dozens of people are still missing, a week-and-a-half after Helene tore through the area.

GOV. ROY COOPER, (D-NC): We are still working to reach communities. We still have search and rescue occurring as we speak.

TODD (voice-over): And even as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton, we are getting daunting numbers on the property damage from Hurricane Helene. According to the data analytics firm, CoreLogic, Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in losses for property owners. Much of that flood damage to residents who don't have flood insurance.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: While Florida has seen more than its fair share of hurricanes over the years, the Tampa Bay area hasn't had a direct hit in more than 100 years, and that is why city leaders are issuing severe warnings for people to get out.

MAYOR JANE CASTOR, (D) TAMPA: Helene was a wake-up call. This is literally catastrophic and I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die. Some of the predictions are saying that Pinellas County to the south of us, the entire county is going to be underwater.

[08:05:00]

So, this is something that I have never seen in my life, and I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before. People need to get out.

BARBARA TRIPP, TAMPA FIRE CHIEF: We are just trying to get (inaudible) to clean up where a lot of the debris and a lot of devastation that a lot of families held, and we are still in a cleanup process. And what this storm and with all of the wind and the damage, we are just trying to make it as safe as possible for the community to be able to deal with Milton.

Law Enforcement is going door to door in a lot of the evacuation areas, which evacuation A and B has been declared by the county. And we hear (ph) to those ordinance as well. So with that being said, the interstates of course is definitely packed with everyone heading east or north, and it's been great. People are definitely listening this time. That was one of the biggest concern because when we evacuated with Hurricane Helene, a lot of the residents did not leave their residence and then we had to do a lot of rescue -- rescue those residents which puts our first responders in danger.

SEN. RICK SCOTT, (R-FL): It seems like another week, another hurricane. We -- I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with the National Hurricane Center and the most important thing, everybody standing up here wants to keep you alive, all right? You guys keep yourself alive. I mean, this is your responsibility. Nobody up here can save your life if you put yourself in harm's way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Let's bring in Carlos Suarez. He is live in Fort Myers, Florida, a city is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene. And Carlos, some stark warnings there coming from officials, but they are necessary given the size and the speed of this incoming hurricane. Just tell us what you are seeing there, how the state is preparing in readiness for this?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, good morning. So, the concern really going into this storm is some of the debris that's been left over by Hurricane Helene, another good -- great deal of concern for the folks here in southwest Florida is the six- to ten- foot storm surge that we are going to see with this hurricane. Now, just two years ago, here in Fort Myers, Florida in Lee County, this part of the state of Florida was devastated by Hurricane Ian.

And so, some of the preps (ph) that we've been seeing have been taking into account the storm surge from that hurricane and the concern that it might replicate again. To give you a sense of where that storm surge was just two years ago, Hurricane Ian brought the water probably about to this mark here. And so, that was about four to five feet. And so, the concern now is that that is probably going to be a little bit more north of that, considering the strength of this hurricane.

Now, for the folks that live to the north of where we are, here in Fort Myers, Florida, the evacuations there and the preparations got underway in earnest yesterday. Traffic cameras from all across the western coast of Florida showed just the growing number of people taking to their cars, trying to get more inland, trying to get away from the coast. These folks are trying to get up to northern Florida. They're trying to get into central Florida. Some folks are even trying to make the journey across the state of Florida over onto the East Coast, which is home to the city of Miami, as well as Fort Lauderdale.

In fact, on our drive west, yesterday, coming from the south Florida area, we could see the line of cars that crosses the Everglades and that line really did not let up from coast-to-coast there, and then the folks trying to get up further north. As I said, Christina, the concern with this storm, aside from all of the rain and the storm surge for parts of Florida, is that debris. I was just in the Tampa area last week, doing a story on some of the damage that was left behind by her Hurricane Helene and you could tell, understandably so that not enough time had passed from that hurricane for emergency crews to get all of that debris out.

And so, once this storm makes landfall at the winds that we are looking at, the concern is all of that debris becomes incredibly dangerous not only for the folks who decided to stay in their homes, but of course for emergency workers, as well as rescue teams that might want to try to get to some of these folks once the storm passes through. Again, the preparations well underway here in Fort Myers, Florida and to the north of where we are, in Sarasota County, Manatee County, Pinellas, and Hillsborough County. The uncertainty right now is exactly where that storm is going to make landfall, but make no mistake about it, the damage is going to be significant and the storm surge is most likely going to be life-threatening. Christina?

MACFARLANE: And Carlos, speaking of the fallout from Hurricane Helene, I mean, we've got to remember, this happened just a matter of weeks ago. There are reports that the emergency services are still very stretched in responding to that catastrophic hurricane and in fact, struggling to rally in order to prepare for the effects of this one.

[08:10:00]

What are you hearing in response to the emergency services and their readiness for this? SUAREZ: Well, I think there are two things that are playing out. As you noted, hurricane Helene hit Florida about two weeks ago and two thing is going to happen. Once Helene made its way north of Florida and into Georgia and North Carolina, some of the state of Florida emergency resources, some of the rescue teams were sent to those states because the damage was more significant in that part of the U.S.

And so what ended up happening is a lot of these teams that made their way to Georgia and North Carolina to help with the recovery effort there, their trips had to be cut short because, again, only two weeks have passed from Helene and where we are right now. And so, from the state of Florida's response, they had to bring some of those resources back to try to pre-position them ahead of where the storm is going to be. And then perhaps more on the local level, the problem that we saw in the Tampa area is again, there just has not been enough time to get all of this debris, even if you are able to get all of these trucks into one neighborhood and you are able to pick up all of this debris, there is just not enough space to put it and the timeline, the window that has passed by, has been so, so close.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. All right. Carlos Suarez there, live from Fort Myers, Florida. Thanks, Carlos.

Let's turn to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. You can tell us more, hopefully, Derek, about where this storm is expected to make landfall and the track that it is expected to take. What are you learning?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, Christina, we are just getting our 8:00 a.m. update here on the East Coast of the U.S. So from the National Hurricane Center, this is the latest information. Some of the more concerning trends that I'm seeing is a pickup in the forward speed and also that kind of dreaded northeasterly turn that will bring it towards the coast of Florida -- we anticipated that.

The winds have fluctuated since its peak yesterday, but we do anticipate this storm to continue to strengthen, perhaps back to a Category 5. As it enters the open waters here of the Gulf of Mexico, there is a loop current here, so very warm waters that come out of the Caribbean and into the Gulf of Mexico. So that's going to add some fuel to this as well.

In terms of timing, the landfall on the West Coast of the state of Florida will be sometime overnight Wednesday into the early morning hours of Thursday. That's the most likely. And also something interesting to note with this 8:00 a.m. update, they've extended the hurricane warnings from coast to coast. We are talking about the West Coast, the Gulf of Mexico of Florida, all the way to the Atlantic Coast as well. So that's just saying something.

The wind field will actually double in size from now to the time it makes landfall in Florida. And that means the impacts will be realized over a much larger area than how come pack the storm is actually right now. We have major hurricane winds well inland, away from the coast, but hurricane-force gusts sometime overnight on Wednesday into Thursday morning will be realized again from coast to coast. And with this storm surge potential, maximum storm surge height, depending on that exact right quadrant of the storm, where it makes landfall, ten to 15 feet. That is over my head, double my height. That is unsurvivable using the words from National Hurricane Center.

The flood threat is real here. We could get several months of rain falling from the sky. There was this precursor events of rain. It's already been falling from the skies, but now the main event comes in on Wednesday and Thursday, a rare high risk of excessive rain and flash flooding exists on Wednesday. Christina?

MACFARLANE: All right. Derek, thanks so much for breaking that all down for us and we will have much more on Hurricane Milton later this hour, including a live report from the White House and President Biden's response. Stay with us for that.

Now, we are also watching the Middle East where Israel says it's expanding its ground operations in southern Lebanon. The ground incursion, which began a week ago, had focused on the eastern part of the border area. This comes as explosions once again tore through the skies above Beirut overnight. And for the first time, Hezbollah says it endorses Lebanon's ceasefire efforts. But it would appear Israel's operation show no sign of letting up. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In every meeting between me and my wife, with our fighters, with our wounded, with the bereaved families, we hear the same message again and again. The campaign must not be stopped prematurely. As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Meanwhile in Gaza, health officials say 56 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike during the past 24 hours. And Israel has issued new evacuation orders in northern and southern Gaza. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is standing by in Beirut, Lebanon. But first, I want to turn to Paula Hancocks, who is tracking developments for us in Israel, Lebanon.

Paula, we've obviously seen cross-border strikes intensify over the last 24 hours, but it seems the IDF too are continuing their strikes on both fronts in Gaza and Lebanon. No sign here of them slowing down and letting up at all.

[08:15:00]

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, there is not, Christina. If anything, we've seen somewhat of an intensification over recent days. Let's start with Gaza, as you say, 56 people confirmed to have been killed in the past 24 hours. At least ten of them were at the Jabalia Refugee Camp. Now, this is in the north of the Gaza Strip. It is an area that back on Sunday, the IDF said they were encircling and going to carry out a significant operation because they believed that Hamas was trying to regroup and rebuild in that area. It is one of the very first areas that the IDF launched its war against Hamas in the early days after October 7 and they have been back in there frequently, and they are still going into that area, home to one of the biggest refugee camps in Gaza itself. Hamas also saying that they are clashing with enemy forces in that area. We also know down a bit further south in central Gaza, in al- Barajneh (ph) Refugee Camp, at least 30 have been killed in a strike there. We have asked the IDF for details. We are waiting to see what the how good was in that particular strike.

But you also mentioned the evacuation orders. Most of Gaza Strip is under an evacuation order at this point, the whole of north of Gaza and much of the south, the IDF saying that people should go to what they call the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi. But there have been airstrikes on those barriers as well, so people are understandably reticent to pick up and move to those areas again.

Now, a quick look at what Israel is saying it is doing in Lebanon as well. They say that they have been carrying out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, also in the southern suburbs. They claim that they've killed the commander of Hezbollah's headquarters, Suhail Hussein Husseini. CNN cannot independently verify this or confirm that his level was of commander. We are waiting to hear from Hezbollah on that, but Israel says that they killed him in a strike in Beirut.

We also know that Hezbollah has been firing rockets the other way. The Israeli military just confirming that more than 100 hits Haifa, the city in the north, and also parts of the Galilee in just one hour. So, they say two buildings were impacted, but the majority of those rockets were intercepted. Christina?

MACFARLANE: All right. Paula Hancocks for us there. Let's turn to Jomana Karadsheh, who is joining us live from Beirut. And Jomana, as we were hearing from Paula there, an intensification of fighting happening in southern Lebanon. We are also reporting today that Israel is expanding its ground operations there and we know that for those living in border towns, life in that region has become particularly acute, particularly unbearable. I know you have been speaking to families who have been displaced, talk to me about what they've been saying.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Christina, for the past couple of weeks, being here, we speak two people in this city, people who have come from southern Lebanon, who have fled the fighting there, and you are constantly hearing from people their fears about what is going to happen next, not just the fact that they have been driven out of their homes, the fear that they may never be able to return into their homes.

You hear the Israeli military saying that their operations, these ground incursions that they're carrying out into southern Lebanon, they are describing them as limited and targeted. But when you speak to people, they fear that this may be something that is going to last much, much longer and you know, there is also this feeling that this situation could have been avoidable altogether. In the last couple of hours, we've heard from the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, the number two, Naim Qassem, for the first time in this address that he made, publicly endorsing efforts to reach a ceasefire.

And this is -- we've heard this before from the foreign minister of Lebanon, saying that Hezbollah had agreed to a proposal for a ceasefire. But when you listen to Naim Qassem, he is also striking a defiant tone, saying they're ready and they're willing and they're open and support these efforts to reach a ceasefire. But at the same time saying they're going to continue fighting. And a short time after that speech concluded, we saw that attack that Paula just talked about, more than 100 rockets targeting Haifa and the upper Galilee. And so, it would appear like Hezbollah here is using the carrot and stick approach, if you will.

[08:20:00]

And the feeling among people, their biggest concern here is that it is the civilians who are bearing the brunt of it. It is the civilians who are the ones caught in the middle, especially in the south.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Serene and picturesque, it is what Aalma ech Chaab once was. Today, much of this Lebanese border village lies in ruins.

The destruction is horrific, says Hanna Zorab (ph). Homes in Aalma ech Chaab are destroyed, completely devastated by strikes. The face of the entire area has changed. He says war hit his village long before most were paying attention.

It began on October 8th when Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel under the banner of solidarity with Gaza, sparking a year of tit-for- tat cross-border attacks. Homes in Aalma ech Chaab were destroyed, almost its entire population including local officials. Zorab (ph) was forced to flee. The border conflict has now expanded to all-out war.

The last ten days, no one can imagine the level of brutality, Hanna (ph) says. They began using different weapons against the village. Whenever there is an airstrike now, it destroys the whole neighborhood, five to six homes destroyed at the same time. Hanna (ph) thought like previous wars, their Christian village would be spared the worst of the violence. He believes its strategic position, right on the border overlooking Israel, has turned it this time into a battlefield for both sides and its people are paying the price.

Like 90-year-old of Om Jameel (ph), she was too old to leave, killed late last month in an Israeli strike on her home. Hanna (ph) like many of his generation, has seen every war in Lebanon since the 1970s. He says the Israeli onslaught in recent weeks is like nothing he had seen before. He doesn't name Hezbollah, but he questions those who started this war.

Was that banner of solidarity with Gaza worth all the pain, destruction, and displacement, he asks. Now, we talk about help for Lebanon and have forgotten that solidarity.

Hanna (ph) and his wife, Sohaj (ph) show us what is left of the neighborhood where they grew.

When these homes were hit, I felt like a part of my childhood is gone, Sohaj (ph) says. The memories are gone. It was all erased in an instant. The pain is unbearable. It hurts so much almost.

Aalma ech Chaab is now a ghost town. The last of its residents have now fled. Their livelihood, these agricultural lands, olive trees gone.

The big question is, will we ever return to our homes? Will we ever go back to our village, Hanna (ph) says. Will we rebuild it again and who will rebuild it? If this had stopped ten days ago, maybe. But now, with this level of destruction and devastation, war has spread far beyond their small village, home now the mountains above Beirut. What will become of their village and their country has never been so uncertain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (on camera): And Christina, I want you to take a look at this drone video that has emerged. It shows this small border village, it is right on the border. It is a makes Shia Christian village, Yaroun. And this video shows the level, the scale of destruction in this one village. And I can tell you, it has shocked so many people in this country. It feels like they say their worst nightmare being realized, seeing their towns and villages turned into another Gaza.

And it is not just in the south. Here in Beirut, as we are speaking right now, over the last few hours, there have been in several strikes, again focused on the southern suburbs of Beirut. And it has become a daily occurrence now for about two weeks. And you can hear what has become the sound that the people of Beirut hear all day, every day, it is the sound of Israeli drones which indicate that a strike may potentially be coming. Christina?

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And we can hear that very clearly as you speak to us, Jomana Karadsheh, reporting for us there from Beirut.

Now still to come, Harris and Trump both take on the immigration issue in the U.S. in very different ways. Details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:45]

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. It is less than a month to Election Day in the U.S. and both presidential candidates are full steam ahead. The Harris-Walz campaign continued its media blitz, a string of interviews taking place this week as the Democratic ticket races to reach voters. Kamala Harris is coming off a "60 Minutes" interview on Monday where she faced tough questions on her immigration policy.

Meanwhile Donald Trump is switching gears and focusing on "Making American Healthy Again" in a virtual town hall with Robert Kennedy Jr. On Monday, he again had extreme views about immigrants who've come to the USA, falsely claiming Harris had allowed 13,000 murders into the country. And the reason they were murderers was "bad genes." Well, a lot to unpack here.

We have Alayna Treene and Priscilla Alvarez standing by for us, both in Washington. Alayna, I want to begin with you first because look, as we know by now, these comments from Donald Trump are a familiar playbook, an attempt once again, I guess to stoke fears about immigration in the run-up to the U.S. elections. But, how have these comments in particular been received?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, you're exactly right. I mean, this is a familiar tactic by Donald Trump and this is something he actually did back in the lead up to the 2016 election, really this fear mongering and trying to stoke fears with voters about immigrants and what he argues is a massive threat in this country. We know that as he looks ahead to the November 5th election now, just 28 days away, this is the top issue for Donald Trump's campaign.

And the way that he is framing it and the rhetoric that he is using while dehumanizing, while a lot of it not true, they believe is helping their campaign. Now, I do want you to listen to exactly what he said and then I'll break it down for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She is no clue. How about allowing people to come through an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers, many of them murdered far more than one person. And they are now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it is in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, clearly, I mean, again, this is just the latest version of him using this type of dehumanizing, disparaging language. But it is also something I'd remind you that we've heard him receive a lot of criticism and backlash for these types of comments before. Last October, he talked about immigrants poisoning the blood of the country, something we know has been related to what Nazis had used to describe Jewish people. Again, something that has received intense backlash.

He has also talked about genes before. I believe it was in -- at a campaign stop in 2020 in Minnesota. He said, you have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn't it? Don't you believe? So, this is rhetoric that isn't totally unfamiliar with Donald Trump. But of course, it is incredibly controversial. And then of course, and most recently, he has been arguing falsely that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating pets.

[08:30:00]

This is all part of his broader campaign to really stoke fears about migrants and argue that Harris is doing nothing about it. And despite the controversy and the backlash that he has received, we do know that when it comes to immigration as an issue, Donald Trump is polling better. So that is what they are using to continue to drive these points as they look ahead to November 5th.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. That is apparently the rationale behind all of this, it seems. Alayna, thanks for now. Let's turn to Priscilla Alvarez who's been following the Harris campaign. And after being criticized for what, many months now, for not doing sit-down interviews, for not sitting down with media, it now seems that Kamala Harris is on something of a media blitz campaign this week. I read that she has got late-night interviews, podcasts. Of course, she did the "60 Minute" interview just yesterday. So, talk to us about what the strategy is here for Harris campaign because we've only got one month to go until the election.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and that is exactly it. We are in the final stages of this presidential election. And so, when polls are barely moving and a lot of voters are still saying they are trying to get to know the vice president, this is what the campaign is doing, it is putting her out on multiple media outlets to try to amplify their message and also increase her exposure. So just look at this week, yesterday, there was a "60 Minutes" interview. Today, she is going to be on a program here in New York called "The View." Later, she'll join "The Howard Stern Show", that's radio. And then, she'll be on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, all of that in New York.

And then later this week, she has a town hall with Univision. So, she is certainly on a blitz to try to get their message out. Now, today, the campaign is using her appearance on "The View" to outline and introduce one of her proposals. This is specific to the long-term care of senior citizens. It is especially targeting what is called the sandwich generation, those Americans who are both taking care of children and their aging parent's. The idea here is to provide some assistance to those families. Now, a senior campaign official says that the way that this would be paid for would be by expanding Medicare drug price negotiations and increasing drug discounts from manufacturers.

But we will hear more of those details when the vice president appears on that show later this morning. So, there is a mix here of trying to share her message with more audiences, reach them where they are, for example, in her "Call Her Daddy" podcast on Sunday. That is a podcast that reaches millions of people, particularly women. So that is where she talked about reproductive rights. Today on "The View", she will be focusing on health care and the long-term care of senior citizens. So, they are trying to use these media appearances to try to cater to each of these audiences.

"Howard Stern Show" that she will also be joining, that is a mostly male audience and that is particularly an area that her campaign is trying to make inroads in. So, this is very indicative of the final few weeks of an election and something that the campaign is hunkering down on as they try to move those polls further.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, we will wait to see how successful that proves to be for her. Alayna Treene and Priscilla Alvarez , thanks both very much for now.

All right. Still to come, Hurricane Milton is barreling towards the state of Florida. We'll have a live report from the White House on President Biden's response. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:50]

MACFARLANE: Hurricane Milton is barreling towards Florida and due to make landfall on Wednesday. Forecasters say it could be one of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit west central Florida, the state facing a second hurricane in less than two weeks. Officials warning people to expect several hours of congestion when getting out of the area under the thousands of people who have been told to leave their homes.

Uber is offering free rides to and from shelters. President Joe Biden is considering whether to cancel or postpone a major trip to Europe and Africa scheduled to begin on Thursday. And in a couple of hours, President Biden will deliver remarks from the White House on his Administration's preparations for Hurricane Milton.

Kevin Liptak is at the White House, joining us now. Kevin, how important will that address be from President Biden, given the gravity of this moment of that hurricane, and what response has the White House already had in preparations for this?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think it will be an important moment for President Biden to come out and tell people who are in the path of the storm from the White House, from the highest office in the country, to listen to the advice of their local officials, to evacuate if they are being told to evacuate, and also to detail some of the efforts that his Administration is taking already to try and mitigate the effects of this storm.

And you have heard from the White House and from FEMA, the emergency agency, that they have millions of meals, millions of bottles of water in the pipeline to deliver to these places. But remember, a lot of these areas have just dealt with a previous hurricane, Hurricane Helene. And so, part of what President Biden I think, will say today is that there are efforts to clear the debris from that storm need to ramp up as they prepare for these very high winds for the next storm.

The other thing that I think will be important to hear from President Biden is pushing back on some of these disinformation that's been swirling about the hurricane recovery efforts, that has been a source of very deep concern inside the White House. Their worry is that people will hear things, including from Former President Trump, about the federal response that aren't true, and that will dissuade them from applying for the help that they're entitled for. So, expect all of that from President Biden when he comes out today.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And Kevin, I know this is a bit of a side issue right now, given the seriousness of the hurricane and what is incoming in Florida. But, is -- it does appear that the hurricane response has been somewhat, or is becoming somewhat politicized over the past 24 hours. I just want our viewers to take a listen to comments made from Kamala Harris and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: -- playing political games at this moment, in these crisis situations -- these are the height of emergency situations. This is utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish, and it is about political gamesmanship.

DESANTIS: She has no role in this process. I am in contact with the President of the United States. I've had storms under both President Trump and President Biden, and I have worked well with both of them. She is the first one who is trying to politicize the storm.

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MACFARLANE: I mean, obviously, we have an election in just a month's time, but is this really the time for political point-scoring? What do you make of these comments?

LIPTAK: Yeah. And just to give some background, the dispute between Harris and DeSantis is over whether or not DeSantis was ignoring Harris' phone calls in the wake of this storm last week. Her office and sources had said that DeSantis wasn't calling her back. When she had tried to reach out, DeSantis said that he had no record of her trying to contact him. But you see in that back-and-forth, a real sourness emerging between the two.

Now, last night, President Biden did speak with DeSantis to discuss the preparations for Hurricane Milton, and it is true what DeSantis says there, that he has worked effectively with the Biden Administration during previous storms. But at the end of the day, in an election year, hurricane season always intersects with the presidential campaign. This is not the first time that it has become tainted with politics.

[08:40:00]

I think what is new this time around is the level of misinformation and disinformation that is being propelled in no small part by the Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has been saying, for instance, that Biden is absent from the storm recovery. That's not true. He has been saying that FEMA is only providing $750 to people in the storm path. That is also not true. And I think that is adding to a layer of the politics here that many people in the storm recovery efforts, Republicans and Democrats alike, say it is a dangerous development. And certainly, you will hear pushback from that from the White House.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. To your point, Kevin, we will obviously, probably likely to hear from President Biden on that point. Kevin Liptak there live from the White House. Thank you.

All right. Still to come, Israel expands its ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah says, it is ready to support a ceasefire. Details ahead.

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MACFARLANE: In Northern Israel, the city of Haifa has come under missile attack with more than 100 projectiles fired in one hour. Two buildings were hit and one person was injured. Meantime, in Gaza, bombs and missiles continued to rain down on the Strip. Health officials say 56 people were killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours. And Israel has issued new evacuation orders in northern and southern Gaza.

In Lebanon, overnight, explosions once again rocked the capital Beirut. And for the first time, Hezbollah is saying it endorses the Lebanese government's efforts to agree a ceasefire. However, the U.S. says it is not currently pushing to revive ceasefire talks between Israel and Hezbollah. Instead, U.S. officials say the Biden Administration is hoping to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran rather than halting hostilities.

Well, CNN's Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon, joining us now. Natasha, the reports of the U.S. not pushing to revive the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel came before this latest move by Hezbollah, really in the last few hours, saying that it now endorses the Lebanese government's efforts to agree a ceasefire. Do you think that is going to change the calculus at all on the U.S.'s side?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I think it is possible, but the real hesitation from the U.S., especially after Israel went ahead and assassinated Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut just as the U.S. was about to clinch that ceasefire deal between the Israelis and Hezbollah, has always been that the Israelis are the ones that lack the political will at this point to enter into a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

They want to complete their operations in Lebanon. They want to dismantle Hezbollah as much as possible, or at least the upper echelon of their leadership, and until they're finished with that, the U.S. does not believe that they are going to be willing to engage in a long-lasting ceasefire deal with the militant group.

[08:45:00]

So, now the U.S. has decided that they're going to shift their energies more, at this point, towards trying to limit Israel's operations in Lebanon and prevent it from expanding beyond what the Israelis have told the Americans would only be a limited ground operation in the south. Now of course, we saw just this morning that Israel says it is expanding that operation even further into southwest Lebanon. And of course, we continue to see the really devastating airstrikes that Israel has been conducting on southern Beirut, which the U.S. has been watching with a great deal of concern because of the fact that so many civilians have been killed in those strikes.

And so, that is the main issue right now that the U.S. is grappling with, is they understand that they have limits when it comes to influencing Israel's military creations. They learned that lesson very well in Gaza, when Israel really did not heed much of the U.S.'s military advice there. So they're trying to prevent a repeat of that in Lebanon. And Hezbollah saying that it is open to a ceasefire is a very positive development that the U.S. will be pleased by. But ultimately, the bigger wildcard here for the U.S. is Israel and Bibi Netanyahu.

MACFARLANE: All right, Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon. Thank you. So, what is next for the Middle East and where does the conflict go from here? Josh Rogin is a Columnist at the "Washington Post". And he joins me now from Washington, D.C.

Josh, I just want to pick up on where Natasha left off there with talking a little bit about U.S. influence right now, and this step back from pushing for ceasefire negotiations, do you see this as a sign or perhaps the consequence really of the fact that the U.S. no longer has influence with Israel. Is that what is at play here?

JOSH ROGIN, COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: Well, in a word, yes, I think that the Biden Administration's influence over the Netanyahu Government has been low this entire time and is getting lower because the Biden Administration is a lame duck, because President Biden is leaving soon and there is no real reason to think that in its last breath, that it will all of the sudden begin to exert leverage against the Israeli government to pressure it to do what the U.S. Government wants, any more than it has over the last 12 months.

So, I think Netanyahu believes he has a free hand, at least until the election here in the United States. And for that reason, I think that when the excellent reporting coming out of CNN about the Biden Administration's recalculation of its objectives is a direct result of their understanding that their leverage is next to nothing and that their willingness to increase that leverage by using pressure is non- existent.

MACFARLANE: And this is perhaps a bit of a side issue right now, but how connected do you think Prime Minister Netanyahu's actions are to the U.S. elections right now? We heard President Biden come out last week, suggesting that Netanyahu could be attempting to influence the outcome of the election. Do you think that is a genuine concern?

ROGIN: In my personal view, I don't think that the Israeli Government's calculations are geared towards influencing American politics. In fact, my take is that they are ignoring American politics in the sense that they don't care what the U.S. Government has to say one way or the other. And it is not really one of their top priorities to try to help Trump or to help Vice President Harris, but rather just to do whatever it is that they want to do and understand that because American politics is frozen, that they have a free hand, that they can do what they want to do with impunity.

And so, I'm skeptical that people in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv think that they can really turn the U.S. election. I do think that they understand that the U.S. election is constraining American politicians, especially President Biden, at least for the next few months.

MACFARLANE: I mean, the question of U.S. influence is particularly important right now as Israel weighs its response to Iran and the potential targeting of nuclear sites. What is your sense of how involved Washington are, or can be, as we wait for that response? ROGIN: Well, we know that there is a great effort to put -- to urge Israel not to strike Iran's nuclear sites, that will -- message will be delivered very strongly, I'm sure, tomorrow in Washington by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is meeting with a visiting Israeli defense minister. And I would say that's the lowest bar, that's the bare minimum of what the United States can expect Israel to respect in terms of its wishes, is to not bomb the nuclear sites. And they still haven't gotten that agreement, at least according to CNN's reporting, not in public nor in private.

[08:50:00]

So that's really, I think the lowered expectations, can't really get any lower than that. Don't bomb the nuclear sites is a pretty simple, one would think, request and even that one the Israelis have not agreed to, but they haven't bombed the nuclear sites yet. So I guess, to that extent, that effort is still ongoing.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And all the while, we see Israel intensifying its fighting on two fronts -- in Gaza, in Lebanon, and with no ceasefire now apparently in sight, a pretty broad question, Josh, where do you see this conflict headed?

ROGIN: Well, I believe this situation will persist, that it will -- that the fighting will continue for months, if not years, and that neither side, despite some public statements, feels that it has exhausted its resources. Both sides are going to continue fighting. Certainly, Israelis are going to continue fighting until they have achieved their objectives, whatever those objectives may be on any given day.

So, I don't think -- I think this is going to get worse before it gets better. And I think that quite unfortunately, the path back to diplomacy is not yet apparent. And of course, all wars end with diplomacy, but not until one or both sides are exhausted, and we just don't have that today in the Middle East and I don't see that happening in the next period of time that we can predict either way.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. Certainly, not without the U.S.'s involvement currently.

ROGIN: Exactly.

MACFARLANE: Josh Rogin in D.C., thanks. Thanks a lot, Josh.

All right. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

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MACFARLANE: This year's Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to two computer scientists for their work on machine learning. John Hopfield at the University of Princeton and Geoffrey Hinton at the University of Toronto were honored for laying the foundations for the technology that powers many of today's artificial intelligence products. Hinton nicknamed by some "The Godfather of Artificial Intelligence" said, he was flabbergasted to receive the prize. And while he predicted that AI could bring valuable benefits in areas as health care, he cautioned there could be dangerous consequences and humanity had to ensure AI does not get out of control. Sobering.

All right, a curious koala was seen making its way onto a train platform in Australia. The koala was spotted on CCTV casually roaming through the station, climbing the stairs, and checking out the elevators. An alert was issued to trains in the area, warning them to slow down for the furry explorer, probably just lost his OST (ph) ticket. A low-speed chase with the police ended with the koala jumping the fence into the bushland on the other side. Glad he got away.

And from koalas to raccoons, a woman in Washington State called the sheriff's office last week because her home was surrounded by 100 raccoons or thereabouts, as you can see here in this picture, they were everywhere. Local station, KING 5 reports, the woman has been feeding the recruits for more than 30 years. I mean, come on, what do you expect? But the number showing up for free handouts recently exploded. Sheriff's deputies told the woman to contact Animal Control for help in removing the raccoons. They also said this is a reminder to everyone not to feed the wild animals. Like, what can happen?

Certainly, I won't be doing that any time soon. That's it for us here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Christina Macfarlane.

[08:55:00]

Stay with us. "Connect the World" is after the break with Omar Jimenez.

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