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Deadly 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Taiwan's East Coast; Wisconsin Primary Voters Send Message To Biden & Trump; Severe Weather Threat For 35+ Million Along East Coast. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 03, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:37]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: It's Wednesday, April 3rd.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

Buildings collapsed, people trapped. Taiwan rocked by the most powerful earthquake to hit the island in 25 years.

Powerful storms triggering dangerous floods and tearing off rooftops in the heartland here in America.

And Donald Trump back on the trail, predicting the end of elections in America if he loses to Joe Biden again.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right. Five a.m. here in Washington. Live look at Capitol Hill on this misty Wednesday morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us.

We begin with breaking news. Taiwan rocked by a deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake. It's the most powerful earthquake to hit the island nation in 25 years.

Here's what we know right now, rescue efforts are underway. More than two dozen buildings have collapsed, and people are trapped. The epicenter of the quake located just south of the tourist city of Hualien. There are already powerful aftershocks and more are expected over the next several days, possibly reaching a 7.0 magnitude.

Well, just look at this dashcam video was reported as the earthquake hit those cars and buses shaking violently.

Very scary. The earthquake also triggering landslides. And at this hour, at least seven people are dead with dozens more injured. Those numbers are expected to rise.

Lets get the latest from CNN's Hanako Montgomery. She is live up from Tokyo for us.

Hanako, good morning to you.

Do you have a handle yet on how much destruction this earthquake has caused? And what are the possible ripple effects

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Kasie, good morning.

You know, really powerful are earthquakes felt in Taiwan this morning, I really just shocking footage. But in terms of what we know about the effect of this earthquake and the shocking aftershocks, you know, we've seen seven deaths and at least 700 people injured.

We're also hearing reports about 77 people trapped in some of these tunnels in Taiwan. Now, we have to note that the epicenter of this earthquake was in Hualien County, which was located on the eastern side of the island. Hualien County is a really popular tourist destination. It's also a rural area, and coincidentally, it's where most of Taiwan's earthquakes take place.

But because it was very close to the epicenter, were actually seeing most of the damage happened in Hualien County, actually, of the seven who died, all of them were killed in, again, Hualien county, three of them were actually hiking in this very popular spot called Taroko Gorge.

So in terms of the people trapped still in the tunnel, again, you have 77 people are still trapped. We're hearing reports that some of the people trapped include foreign nationals, two Germans and two Canadians. So, authorities are desperately trying to get those people out and to safety.

Now, in terms of the damage that we're seeing across the island, we're seeing more than 100 buildings damaged or destroyed, including seven hospitals in Taipei, the capital, we're also hearing that more than 91,000 homes were without power. Some of these roads were also partially destroyed, which was affecting some of the rescue efforts.

Now, in terms of just how people are trying to help those who are still stuck underneath some of the rubbles stuck in those tunnels, the Taiwanese defense ministry has dispatched military personnel and they're working with local authorities and trying to secure those people.

And this is very common protocol when you see a natural disaster of this magnitude, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Hanako Montgomery for us live in Tokyo -- Hanako, thank you very much for that. I'm sure we'll bring any new reporting as soon as we have that.

Let's go now go to politics. Primary voters in the key battleground state of Wisconsin sending a message to President Biden and Donald Trump, both men sweeping their respective primary races last night but you can see some cracks for both men. Trump failing to break 80 percent in Wisconsin, almost 13 percent of the vote going to Nikki Haley. [05:05:01]

She, of course, dropped out of the race nearly a month ago.

President Biden, meanwhile, winning roughly 87 percent of the vote with more than 40,000 Democrats in Wisconsin casting a ballot for uninstructed, essentially vote for none of the above. 47,000 votes, more than double the margin of Biden's victory in Wisconsin in 2020.

Joining me now, is "Axios" senior politics reporter Eugene Scott.

Eugene, good morning to you.

EUGENE SCOTT, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Good morning.

HUNT: This, of course, has been something we've been watching closely. The protest vote for President Biden. But the reality is, Donald Trump has trouble to this comes of course, as we're seeing some swing-state polling, seeming to favor the former president over the current president.

How do you read these numbers from the results last night?

SCOTT: Well, I mean reality that a month after she dropped out, Nikki Haley is still causing trouble for Donald Trump, is something that the Biden campaign is going to lean into. We've seen very recently they have launched a bit of a strategy. Maybe too late to some of his supporters trying to go after those voters, letting them know that if they don't like Trump, perhaps, maybe they should consider Biden and they kind of have to do this because there's so many voters, specifically young voters, who usually vote Democrat, who have proven right now last night that Biden still doesn't have their support.

HUNT: So, Eugene, we also saw the former president on the campaign trail in Wisconsin yesterday. He talked about the ramifications for the future of free and fair elections in our country. He cast it in terms of President Biden.

Let's watch what President Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A vote for Trump is a vote to save Wisconsin, and it's a vote to save your country. This country is finished if we don't win this election.

And I heard somebody say it is, scholars say it two, three days ago said, if we don't win, this may be the last election our country ever has. And there could be truth to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So I just like to point out that it's Donald Trump who broke the tradition we have in this country of a peaceful transfer of power in the wake of a free and fair election. We saw that in 2020. He does this though repeatedly. We've got a couple other examples coming up later on in the show of taking something. It's criticism of him, basically were trying to rewrite the truth.

SCOTT: Yeah. I've heard it said something along the lines of, his -- he does a lot of projecting obviously on his political opponents to communicate what he might very well do. And I think this is something that we might see more liberal saline into trying to communicate to these swing voters, these voters that are going to determine the election that if you want to have an idea of what it is that Trump could do if he gets to the White House, look at what he's accusing Biden of perhaps doing.

HUNT: There is one accusation he is throwing at the current President Biden, and that is around debates. That may turn out to actually be the case.

I think there are some questions about whether President Biden, whether his team wants him to host the usual debates in the fall. Donald Trump brought in an empty podium to make this point. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have an empty podium right here to my right. You know what that is? That's for Joe Biden. I'm trying to get him to debate.

I'm calling on crooked Joe to debate any time, any place. We'll do it anywhere you want, Joe, so that we can discuss in a friendly manner the real problems of our country of which there are many, instead of trying to have corrupt prosecutors fight your battles for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: What is the thinking in the White House about the debates -- potentially hosting debates in the fall and the potential risks to the current president?

SCOTT: Right now, there seems to be no support, not significantly in the White House for moving forward or with a debate against Trump because there's no real belief that it's going to give the president any type of advantage. But if that somehow changes, if there's polling or pressure from some of those demographics that Biden really needs to win, who want to hear more from him about the issues that are keeping them from backing him, that could change.

HUNT: All right. Eugene Scott for us this morning -- Eugene, thanks so much for kicking us off. I really appreciate it

Coming up next, how NATO is preparing to support Ukraine if the United States won't.

Plus, global outrage as Israel tries to explain the accidental killing of seven aid workers in Gaza.

And a powerful storm ripping off rooftops in Kentucky. There's more severe weather in the forecast. We'll bring you that.

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[05:13:55]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I believe the United States was paying 90 percent of NATO, the cost of matter that could be 100 percent. Yeah, it was the most unfair thing.

They weren't paying their bills. You've been reading about it. I've been saying, look, if they're not going to pay, we're not going to protect, okay?

No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump has made his feelings pretty clear about NATO, and now it looks like the Western alliance is poised to try to Trump-proof itself.

CNN has learned that the NATO's secretary general is going to propose a five-year package of military aid to Ukraine worth more than 1 billion, $100 billion. That would give NATO a more direct role in providing support to Kyiv without help from the United States.

The proposal is expected to brought up at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers today.

Joining me now from London, CNN international correspondent Max Foster.

Max, good morning to you.

I think what we heard there from the former president shows some of why this is necessary, but he's also, of course not representing an increasingly isolationist wing of people here in the United States who are currently holding up this aid in the Congress.

[05:15:07]

This seems to try to be a way around it. What do you see here?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I see a very ambitious figure. I mean, they're trying to raise a huge amount of money from countries which Trump has rightly pointed out, aren't always stumping up their fair share of what goes to NATO.

So will they be able to raise it? Probably is the first question.

Within this plan as we understand, it would be quite move. The U.S. leads on certain coordination work and NATO would take over that work be interesting to see what Trump and Biden think of that. There'll be losing some control of that, but maybe they'll be happy to do that.

But I think, you know, what do you think, Kasie, but Trump has been calling for NATO to be -- NATO members to contribute more to NATO. If they do sort of a grievous, he might have the arguments say, look, they've done it, they've listened to what I've said. So, now, I don't have a problem with NATO, I don't know.

If it's just down to the money for Trump is one thing. But if he's got a principle against this alliance is quite another, of course.

HUNT: Yeah, I mean, I think the questions really swirl here. In particular, when you listen to the way that the former president talks about Vladimir Putin, they're almost seems to be oftentimes in admiration and in far-right corners of the party, you see that pretty openly and, you know, Trump if there's anything he's good at, its kind of putting his finger in the wind to see where his people are on these kinds of things, and then following through on that.

I mean, I think the big question in terms of the Ukraine war is whether he would go with that sort of sentiment in the party. And I think you have people out there like John Bolton, who of course worked for Trump. But one point, but has now become a prominent critic raising real questions about that.

And I think for Europe and for NATO this in many ways is aimed at tying Trump's hands or at least going around him in the event that he's not willing at to put this money out there.

What is your sense of how Europe is -- I mean, this does take a lot of consensus, right? I mean, all these nations have to agree. Is that an issue? Do you think?

FOSTER: Yes, probably because its costs a lot of money, frankly, and a lot of the countries here are under a lot of pressure. So who pays the most and how they carve it up and what can they deliver the money?

I think what will be interesting is whether if they do approve it, it does show massive resolve to support Ukraine in this war and try to beat Russia. The other thing they'll be considering is what the reaction Russia might be because it could be seen as an escalation.

You know, it doesn't allow the Putin to then say NATO is gearing up for war with Russia. There'll be aware of that, but I think there's a feeling within NATO that they've actually provided the countries within native, provided quite a lot to Ukraine and they haven't had a response from Russia, so they may be to get away with this, but it shows resolved from NATO.

We have to wait to see how Russia response to it because increased tensions. If it's approved, there won't be approved straight away. Of course, I think were looking more to the July summit in Washington.

HUNT: Right, for sure.

All right. Max Foster for us live in London -- Max, thank you. I always appreciate you.

FOSTER: Thanks.

HUNT: Coming up next, dangerous storms leaving a path of destruction in the Midwest.

Plus, voters in Oklahoma, deciding whether a city commissioner with ties to white supremacist can keep his job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:59]

HUNT: Welcome back.

More than 35 million people are facing a severe weather threat this morning as a storm system with damaging winds, hail, possible tornadoes, pushing toward the East Coast, the storms already leaving a trail of destruction across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Kentucky, declaring a state of emergency after tornadoes swept through the area, destroying homes and buildings. Crews are clearing down power lines trees, and other debris.

Let's get to our meteorologist Elisa Raffa with the latest.

Elisa, good morning. What are you seeing?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's been another busy night, 14 reported tornadoes across multiple states like Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and then up towards Kentucky, Illinois, as well, also coming with some damaging wind gusts, some gust reported upwards of 90 to 100 miles per hour.

This is what we have left this morning, still a tornado botch until about 8:00 for parts of south central Georgia and then getting into South Carolina where we have been watching still multiple tornado warnings right now. We do have a live severe thunderstorm warning there just to the south of Macon.

The storm those stretches up north, I mean, we've got some heavy rain towards New York and Philadelphia. It gets you flash flood warning earnings there around Atlanta. Flood watch in effect for a lot of the mid-Atlantic going into New England where we've got one to three inches of rain. That's possible from jersey back down into West Virginia.

The severe risk continues to move east as we go into the day-to-day. That's where we've got the threat of damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes from Norfolk, Virginia, back down towards Orlando and Tampa. So, we're looking at the spring side of this with a severe threat along the East Coast.

But look at what happens as cold air comes in from the top. Were looking at ice and snow from the Great Lakes and two interior New England, we even have some blizzard warnings in effect in the UP where we could have wins with some of the snow, too. So, quite a lot of hazards.

HUNT: Indeed, happy spring to everyone. Be careful out there.

Elisa Raffa, thanks very much for that. All right.

[05:25:00]

It's 24 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy signing a law to lower the country's draft age from 27 to 25 as Ukraine struggled close to free up manpower with Russia's war entering year three.

The city commissioner of Enid, Oklahoma, a man named Judd Blevins booted from office so over his ties to white supremacist groups. He lost last night's recall election to former teacher, Cheryl Patterson.

And Monday night's Elite 8 showdown between Iowa and LSU to setting an all-time ratings record for a women's college basketball game. More than 12 million people watched the Hawkeyes advanced to their second straight Final Four. It's awesome.

All right. Up next, Donald Trump back on the trail denigrating migrants, bashing President Biden.

Plus, Israel, admitting it made a grave mistake in Gaza.

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