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110,000 Plus Customer in NC Still Without Power; Trump Doing His Own Media Blitz; Harris Takes Slight Lead over Trump Nationally; Business Owner Hit Hard by Helene Now in Milton's Path; New Forecast on Hurricane Milton. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired October 08, 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]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. That explains it. And you spoke to Vice President Harris last week by phone. Have you gotten any updates from federal officials about the emergency response? And what's your assessment of that response so far?
MAYOR ESTHER MANHEIMER, ASHVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: So, yes, I have met with both the president and the vice president. They have been able to survey the damage that we're experiencing. We have a very well- coordinated and large effort of a federal response underway here on the ground in Asheville, and in the county where Asheville is located and our surrounding areas. Because, of course, we have rural counties around us that have been devastated as well. So, we are seeing a lot of support.
I'll just give you one example, FEMA drilled a well for our hospital, our major hospital in the center of the city, a 750-foot well, they did that this last week. That's just an example of the kinds of help we're seeing, but also for individuals who need relief, who have experienced damage to their homes damage they're unable to work because of this disaster. So, we have FEMA representatives throughout this area that are helping people sign up to get the relief that they're entitled to.
ACOSTA: And as you know, there, there's been so much disinformation swirling. Lot of garbage on social media and so on that is just completely misleading people about what's going on with the aftermath and the cleanup. But you -- my understanding is there have been some reports that you have also been subjected to anti-Semitic attacks in the wake of Helene. How are you coping with that? What has that been like? What does that do to you as you're trying to help your city?
MANHEIMER: Well, you know, it's scary and it's distracting for more. We need to focus our energy, which is on really dealing with this crisis right now. And I'll tell you, if folks believe this misinformation, which we're scrambling to try to correct and provide correct information and put out rumors and dispel myths, if folks don't get the relief they're entitled to, because they believe some of this miscommunication, that is another tragedy. And it's no good for our people and for our community.
We need accurate information. We don't need misinformation confusing what's already obviously sort of chaotic and coming out of any kind of a crisis like this.
ACOSTA: All right. Absolutely. Right. All right. Mayor Esther Mannheimer, thank you so much for your time. Best of luck with all the recovery efforts. We appreciate it. Thanks for your time.
MANHEIMER: Thank you.
ACOSTA: And find out how you can help Hurricane Helene victims at cnn.com/impact. Take a listen to this. So far, viewers have raised more than $178,000. That is a fantastic. Keep it coming. And we'll get that to help to the people who need it. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:35:00]
ACOSTA: Despite backing out of a 60 Minutes interview, Donald Trump is on a media blitz of his own this week. The former president was asked on Fox about taking retribution on people he says have wronged him. He didn't exactly answer the question. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What they did is they said, let's go after this guy and let's cost him a lot of money. But more importantly, a lot of time and a lot of thought.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: How will you restore faith in our justice system? A lot of people will say, well, he's just going to do to them what they did to him and get back at them.
TRUMP: Well, a lot. Yes, yes.
INGRAHAM: And there -- and that --
TRUMP: A lot of people say that's what should happen. If you want to know the truth.
INGRAHAM: Right. Well, but I think -- one of the lines that really resonated, I think, with people is when you said, my revenge is going to be my success.
TRUMP: Yes. Well, I do believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: What's that? And Larry Sabato joins us now. He's director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry, what's your response to what Donald Trump just said there? I mean, he didn't really answer the question about whether or not he would go after his perceived political enemies. And sort of was saying, well, that's what some people want him to do, to the delight of that crowd. And then, you kind of heard Laura Ingraham try to clean that up, but he doesn't really clean it up. LARRY SABATO, CENTER FOR POLITICS DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: No, he has no incentive to clean it up because for Donald Trump this really is a base election. And he's trying to motivate his base to show up, and he believes in revenge and retribution, and frankly, so do millions of them.
And, Jim, the people closest to Donald Trump in his first administration, they say, yes, he will follow through on this pledge. To what degree nobody knows. I don't expect gulags, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Justice Department was unleashed and set to work on a number of people who have, in Donald Trump's mind, caused him problems, as opposed to Donald Trump causing Donald Trump problems.
ACOSTA: And, Larry, I want to ask you about this new reporting from Bob Woodward, and CNN has some tidbits from his new book called "War." It's coming out in the coming days. And we talked about this earlier in the program. The legendary journalist is revealing what Joe Biden has said about world leaders, but he's also revealing that Donald Trump has had, quote, "as many as seven private conversations with Vladimir Putin since leaving office."
The book also details a secret shipment of COVID-19 testing equipment that Trump is alleged to have sent to Vladimir Putin for his personal use during the height of the pandemic. Again, that is all according to Bob Woodward's book. The campaign is saying that these are made up stories. They call Bob Woodward, quote, "demented."
[10:40:00]
Larry, what's your response to all that? And I guess the question that I have is, how unusual is it to have a former president talking to Vladimir Putin that many times, if that's true?
SABATO: Well, I wouldn't say it's shocking. Really, I don't think anybody is shocked. Of course, he has been talking to Putin. They are, in many ways, two of a kind. As far as providing the COVID testing equipment, I just hope all the nursing homes got as much treatment.
But beyond that, look, Bob Woodward is not demented. I talked to him not that long ago, and I think his mind is in much better shape than Donald Trump's. So, I would be inclined to believe a lot of this. I've only read your account of it. CNN's account of it. So, I can't vouch for everything. But, boy, it's interesting. Everything he got there, only Bob Woodward could get that stuff.
ACOSTA: And we are in the season of October surprises, and this might be the Bob Woodward edition of that. But, Larry, I do want to ask you about this new poll from The New York Times and Siena College this morning. It finds Kamala Harris making some progress among likely voters. Harris with support from 49 percent to Trump 46 percent nationally. As you and I've said many times, we don't vote in a national election in this country, we don't do a national popular vote in terms of determining the outcome. But it does look as though she is gaining somewhat. What's your sense of all these polls right now and where the race is? SABATO: They're all converging, which ought to make us all nervous. But this is the first time that Kamala Harris, I believe, has led one of The New York Times/Siena College polls. It's either been even or Trump up one or two in the prior polls. So, this is significant. And I think the Harris campaign can use that.
Whether it's true or not, the average is about there, I think the average is around three, and they have plus four. But you never know how many of those votes are coming from California, wasted votes, really, not that anybody's vote is wasted, but wasted in terms of the Electoral College. You only need to win by one vote per state in order to win all the electoral votes from that state.
Now, what was more interesting, Jim, was the Florida result. According to The New York Times/Siena poll Harris is behind by 13 points. Trump is ahead by 13 points. That's way above the polling average, which is around 4 percent, 5 percent in Florida.
Now, look, that as the pollster that works for The Times, Nate Cohn, pointed out, that's actually good news for Harris if it's true. I don't know if I believe it, but if it's true. Why would that be good news?
ACOSTA: Yes. Why?
SABATO: Because. It means that a lot of extra votes are being produced for Donald Trump. And so, maybe there won't be such a difference between the Electoral College results and the popular vote.
ACOSTA: All right. Larry, well, I might need you to explain that to me one more time after we're off the air. So, I get that one, but it's very interesting. All right. Larry, thanks as always for the time. We'll get back to you as soon as we can, but always appreciate the insights. Thank you, Larry.
SABATO: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Another plain-spoken Virginia in there. All right. Coming up, a one-two punch along Florida's western gulf coast. Coming up next, I'll talk to the owner of the restaurant that has been hard- hit by Helene now on the path of Milton. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:00]
ACOSTA: This morning, Florida's gulf coast is scrambling to prepare for what could be, quote, "a once in a lifetime storm." Hurricane Milton is expected to double in size by this evening. This is a live look at one of Florida's main highways. Take a look at that Interstate 4 near Disney, as people are looking to head away from the danger, they're getting out of town as it bears down -- as the storm is bearing down on the region, many people, they're still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Helene. We've been talking about that all morning. They're now facing the unthinkable scenario, preparing for a second catastrophic storm in less than two weeks. And joining me now to talk about this as Bob Slicker. He is the owner of Slicker's Eatery in Cortez, Florida. Bob, I mean, tell us how you're coping here and how you're preparing. I'm a little worried about, you know, everybody along the Gulf Coast who are just cleaning up from the last hurricane. And here you have another one coming your way.
BOB SLICKER, OWNER, SLICKER'S EATERY AND RESTAURANT DAMAGED IN HURRICANE HELENE: Yes, we haven't really even had the chance to get where we wanted to be. My restaurant's one of the lowest places in Cortez, Florida. And we got about three and a half foot of water on the last one. And fortunately -- or unfortunately or fortunately, I've been with Hurricane Relief.
So, right away, my walk-in works. So, we started serving hot dogs to first responders and such. And people came and gutted my restaurant the first day. We're 80 percent back rebuilt. Fortunately for us, we didn't order any equipment yet, but this doesn't look good for us.
ACOSTA: Yes. And, Bob, I can see that sign behind you, for goodness's sake. I mean, that's the understatement of the year, I guess. You've been a resident there for more than 35 years, I hear. I mean, have you ever seen anything like this where you've got kind of a double whammy coming this way?
SLICKER: No, we've never seen one way, I mean, this big coming this way. The last one was pretty much our biggest. This village is the oldest active fishing village in the State of Florida. And there's fourth generation people that don't remember anything like this. The village is pretty much evacuated. We went door to door. You know, we spent all week trying to get the houses livable and make sure people were safe places to be cleaned.
Now, we just -- we pretty much evacuated the whole city. We're right next to Anna Maria Island, and there's just truck after truck from the county going, trying to remove as much debris as possible from this village in the island.
[10:50:00]
ACOSTA: Yes. And, Bob, tell us a little bit about how things are going for people evacuating to get out of town. Is there a lot of traffic? Are folks able to find hotels? Are they really just going so far out of the way, maybe heading to Northern Florida, Georgia, just to get as far as possible from it? What can you tell us about that? What are you hearing?
SLICKER: Yes, I know that we've had some problems with the gas stations. They're doing their best. I saw a truck load now. But now, our issue, because we're so close to the coast that all businesses, A, B, and C zones are being -- have been evacuated. So, some of those gas stations are closed.
I know in the past, the one big one we had back in the '80s here, that was a big issue of people remembering to be kind, take their patience. You know, unfortunately in our village, a lot of these cars were damaged by saltwater and whatnot. So, there's that fear of them breaking down along the road.
We hear, where I am at, I have people evacuating to my house. I'm not in a flood zone. I'm right by the hospital. We'll probably have seven animals, eight animals in our house and about eight or nine people to get through this storm.
ACOSTA: And, Bob --
SLICKER: And it's just all about getting out after and helping people. So, you can't tell people if you're not safe. We want everybody to evacuate and be safe. This is the most -- the scariest thing I've ever dealt with.
ACOSTA: It is extremely scary to look at churning in the Gulf. And I guess the question -- you've kind of answered the question that I have, but I think a lot of folks in other parts of the country might say, oh, folks in Florida, a lot of them, they're hardy folks. They ride out these storms. But it sounds like what you're saying, Bob, is that in your community, that's not what Floridians do. They get out when they hear these kinds of warnings. That's the right thing to do.
SLICKER: Well, I will say if not last time, after Helene, I don't think anybody's staying today.
ACOSTA: Yes.
SLICKER: I just -- I think they know how foolish it would be. Most of these structures haven't even been checked to be seen if they're sound. I basically came to the restaurant just to say goodbye to it. I was -- I am -- I'm hoping for the best, but I'm planning for the worst and I want to be able to get out and help people when it's all over as soon as possible.
ACOSTA: Saying goodbye as in --
SLICKER: We -- I'm very --
ACOSTA: Yes.
SLICKER: Yes. I'm sorry. I'm so fortunate this village. I wish you all could see, the world could see what the fishing village did in the last 10 days just to get people to the hospital, get their houses clean, to get them safe, and the way they have all evacuated. I actually have somebody in Minnesota selling bar stools at $500 apiece for our rebuild.
We put that on hold and we'll obviously, if we can't rebuild, we'll use that to help our employees. And so, many people will be unemployed. We'll turn that around to help the community.
ACOSTA: Well, Bob, best of luck to you. And we'll just keep on hoping for the best that this is not as bad as it looks right now, but thank you so much for your time, Bob.
SLICKER: Thank you. ACOSTA: For goodness's sake. Thanks so much. All right. Coming up, in just minutes, we'll get the latest track from the National Hurricane Center on Milton. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:55:00]
ACOSTA: All right. Thanks very much for joining me this morning. I want to bring in my good friend Pamela Brown. Pam, this is when we're at the water cooler here. And I did want to talk about this one moment, this beloved South Florida meteorologist getting emotional when talking about Hurricane Milton's intensity. You don't see this from the weatherman very much, but listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MORALES, METEOROLOGIST: Just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours. I apologize. This is just horrific.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Pam, John is a -- John there is a legendary meteorologist there in South Florida. If he's getting that emotional about this hurricane that's on its way, that worries me a lot. This storm just looks so powerful.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: It's so worrying, right? I mean, think about that. This is a meteorologist who has been doing his job there in Florida for decades. He has seen a lot. He has seen several hurricanes. This one is bringing him to tears and he talked about change and the effects of that and how he has seeing that now, as Hurricane Milton just whips up into this massive powerful storm so rapidly. I think that's what's so shocking, Jim, is how --
ACOSTA: It really is.
BROWN: -- rapidly it's gaining steam. And it's chilling, right, to watch him get emotional. And it tells you everything you need to know. He is worried about his fellow Floridians as this storm approaches.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And you and I both know, because we worked in local news, meteorologists, they're a fixture in the community.
BROWN: Yes.
ACOSTA: You know, they're the folks that we really look to, you know, pull all the partisan stuff aside out of the news and everything else, politics and all that. When somebody's there to give you the weather, you just have to be able to rely on that information day in and day out. And --
[11:00:00]
