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Hurricane Helene Delivers "Unsurvivable" Storm Surge; Two Killed In Georgia From Tornado; Harris: Take This Storm Very Seriously"; NYC Mayor Adams Indicted On Federal Corruption Charges. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired September 27, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:02:40]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news right?

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning, everyone. Just after 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Devastation in Florida. Hurricane Helene turning deadly after making landfall overnight, the storm hitting as a category four, the strongest on record to ever strike Florida's Big Bend. An unsurvivable storm surge pounding the Gulf Coast. Just look at those waves crashing over the Howard Franklin Bridge in Tampa, forcing it to close.

Storm winds of 150 miles an hour or more. Officials warning that catastrophic wind damage could cause power outages that will likely last days, if not weeks. Take a look at this devastating flooding from Fort Myers Beach, parts of homes and debris floating down streets. The region is still recovering from Hurricane Ian in 2022.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: The state is ready as soon as this storm passes and it's safe to do so to commence a search and rescue operations. We have 3,500 National Guardsmen standing by. We have our state guard standing by. We have state troopers standing by, and they will be active if need be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. CNN has team coverage throughout the morning as Hurricane Helene moves up the East Coast.

CNN's Ryan Young is in Atlanta for us. But let's begin first with CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

Allison, good morning.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good morning. Yes. At the top of the hour, we just got our most latest update and here's the thing, it is now a tropical storm, but it's finally dropping back below hurricane status. But this is significant because it is well over 100 miles inland before this system finally weaken back down into a tropical storm.

Sustained winds, however, still at 70 miles per hour. This is still a very potent storm and because it is moving so quickly, there are some communities were the worst is still yet to come, even though the storm has made landfall, all of these areas you see here in green are under a flood watch, meaning the potential is there for significant flooding.

The red areas indicating were flash flooding is ongoing and this white area you see here, that is a flash flood emergency. This is just west of the city of Asheville, North Carolina.

[05:05:03]

This is valid for several more hours. This particular area has had at least six to ten inches of rain in just the last several hours. There are reports of cars that are stuck in roadways, roads you're water. There are also been water rescues that have taken place here and reports of landslides in this area.

So this is going to be a concern going forward because the rain is not yet done. You can see a lot of those outer bands really still spreading. A lot of that moisture not only into western North Carolina but portions of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and even into Kentucky. We also have numerous tornado warnings ongoing right now in the state of South Carolina.

That is expected to continue. You can see we have several tornado watches in effect for Georgia and the Carolinas. These are valid for at least another hour, but it is very likely that some of these will get extended throughout the day because the potential for tornadoes still exist this for the remainder of the day today, especially for the Carolinas and portions of southern Virginia, essentially Norfolk, all the way down to Charleston there will be the potential for tornadoes this morning, but also into the afternoon.

There's also even more rainfall expected across many of these areas. So the threat for flooding, Kasie, still exist through the entire day.

HUNT: All right. Allison Chinchar for us this morning -- Allison, thank you very much.

The devastation that were seeing in Florida from Helene just the opening chapter in what is now a tropical storm. In South Georgia, two people died in a tornado that was spawned by Helene. Power outages also mounting across that state.

CNN's Ryan Young is in Atlanta where the entire metro is bracing for this under a tropical storm warning.

Ryan, good morning. What are the concerns where you are today?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, what you just said is something that is very rare. Kasie, in terms of the fact that a tropical storm warning for Metro Atlanta. Atlanta is known as the city built basically within a force, very large tree cover here. When we do get rainstorms, they're usually not this consistent and going as long as this one could go.

It's been very dry over the last 60 days they days here in the Atlanta area and all the rain that we got from our earlier cold front made people concerned because with the ground saturated now they're worried about big trees falling.

You add in this extra rain over the last 24 hours, more than five inches of rain have come into the city of Atlanta. You're worried about flooding and we've heard from some of our local news partners here but they've already had to have rescues this morning at several low lining apartment complexes. There are creeks that they're concerned about overflowing their banks at this point, they've shut down bridges because of that.

And then when you put in that massive infrastructure in terms of the roads in this area, they fled sometimes during heavy rains, but you add the constant rain of maybe five to ten inches of rain, plus the heavy one that were expecting the next few hours. That is the major concern right now.

I can tell you just my driving in this area. We haven't seen a lot of cars on the road. That's a good thing. The world's largest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, we know they've had more than 100 cancellations of flights so far.

But the constant concern right now, the big story line, of course, is the constant rainfall and how it's going to apply to infrastructure. All the way through Georgia, we seen power outages. People are concerned about what will happen over the next few hours -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Ryan Young for us this morning -- Ryan, very grateful to have you this morning. Stay safe. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning.

And coming up here on CNN this morning, New York City's mayor formally indicted. How prosecutors say Eric Adams broke the law on a 2021 trip to Turkey. And tropical storm Helene, speeding to the north targeting Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.

Plus, why this massive storm is of course, getting attention from the Vice President Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president and I of course, are monitoring the case and the situation closely and we urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously. And please follow the guidance of your local officials.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:21]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So before I begin, I will say a few words about Hurricane Helene. So the president and I of course are monitoring the case and the situation closely and we urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously, and please follow the guidance of your local officials. In President Biden and I, of course, will continue to work closely with state and local officials to ensure that everyone is safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Vice President Kamala Harris warning Americans about the danger of tropical storm Helene before it officially made landfall as a category four hurricane overnight, as the Southeast recovers from the likely devastating effects of this historic storm. It's going to be a test for any national leader, especially the Vice President Harris, just weeks ahead of the 2024 election. President Biden has already approved emergency declarations for multiple states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Kamala and I have been briefed and spent many hours with FEMA, including recently to take this seriously, from the bottom of my heart, please take it seriously, anybody listening to this, and because -- anyway, the tendency is to say, I can do this, but you can't. Twenty-foot storm surge, you can't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss Washington correspondent for Spectrum News, Kevin Frey.

Kevin, good morning. Wonderful to see you.

So this, of course, is -- has been a catastrophic storm. We are still learning all of the contours of the damage has been happening overnight. Obviously, it's going to take the sun rising and us getting a sense of what's happened to really get our heads around this.

But obviously this is the heat of a presidential campaign. Florida not really considered a swing state. Georgia, where it's headed next is one of those.

[05:15:02]

But regardless that the president and vice president have a role to play in helping any place in the United States recover for something from something like this. What are the imperatives up for someone like Harris in a campaign moment like this?

KEVIN FREY, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, SPECTRUM NEWS NY1: Right. I mean, this is -- it is natural disasters like this, where leadership is defined. And so this is a way to very easily reach across the aisle to show yourself is above politics, I remember back in 2012, I believe it was right in the lead-up to that election, you saw Barack Obama go to New Jersey. I think he embraced Chris Christie, then the governor of New Jersey, that was seen as this very calcifying moment in that campaign, in that led last couple of weeks before election day.

This is a chance for them to be basically aboveboard and to be looked at as someone who is in command, who knows what they're doing in a real test for leadership.

HUNT: Yeah, and we've also seen, of course, the Governor Ron DeSantis is Republican. There's going to be Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

I mean, you mentioned that moment with Chris Christie and Barack Obama. There are choices to make, right, for -- I mean, I remember the Romney campaign was very upset that Chris Christie was basically embracing Obama in this moment as he was I trying to, of course, unseat. They're running against each other in that -- in that presidential race.

Brian Kemp, a little bit of a different type of figure, but, well, may have to decide how much to embrace the Democratic leadership in this moment.

FREY: Right, because he has been walking this very interesting line where Trump had bashed him previously and now is trying to make basically make entrees to him to boost that relationship. And certainly, Kemp is seemingly being somewhat reciprocal. And so now, it's a matter of does he fully embrace Harris because of the for the betterment of his state.

HUNT: So, I -- Kevin, I also want to ask you, as you are in New York, you cover for New York basically, but from here in Washington for New York audience, the mayor of America's largest, most famous city --

FREY: Yes.

HUNT: -- indicted for basically taking a bribe, bribery.

And this has to do, it centers on some of the most salacious allegations, center on Turkish officials trying to give him a plane tickets on Turkish airways, pay for hotels for a trip he was planning to take. This is from the indictment. This was an Adams staffer writing to the airline manager, Turkish airlines. He's also -- he -- Adams asking, where can they go in Turkey? Do you have a recommendation? The manager says the Four Season.

The staffer writes back, well, it's too expensive. The manager says, why does he care? He's not going to pay. His name will not be on anything either. The staffer says, super.

What's going on here? How much pressure is Adams under to resign?

FREY: So, I mean, the pressure at least here in Washington is coming from the more progressive lanes of the party. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velazquez, yesterday basically saying if I was in his shoes, I would resign today. There is also mounting pressure within the state itself from various political factions. However, we've not seen some of the key leaders, for example, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer come out and say it's time for him to go. They call it serious, but also say it's essentially time for the legal process to play itself out.

One kind of foil to keep an eye on here is what Governor Kathy Hochul is going to do. Her polling is not great. She's trying to basically, rally her support within the state and she has this interesting power within New York government that she could, it's not really been tested but she could remove him from office.

She is definitely leaving that option open based on the statement that she released last night. But basically said in that same statement, Eric Adams needs to do some thinking about what's best for the city of New York.

HUNT: All right. Kevin Frey for us this morning, Kevin, so grateful to have you. Thank you so much for being here on a Friday.

All right. Still to come here on CNN THIS MORNING: tensions in the Middle East boiling over and the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah becoming more unlikely this morning.

Plus, were continuing to track now tropical storm Helene, bringing heavy rain and flooding to the Southeast. We're going to get on the ground reports from all those areas that have been directly hit overnight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:49]

HUNT: All right. Tropical storm Helene slamming into Florida's Big Bend overnight, the powerful storm making landfall as a category four hurricane. It is the strongest hurricane on record to hit this area of Florida. And even though the storm is weakening as it moves inland, officials are warning this is just the beginning of the damage as it moves further north.

Tornado watches remain in effect for nearly 20 million people across the southeast. CNN spoke with one woman riding out the storm in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULES CARL, RIDING OUT HURRICANE: I'm not as much worried as in part sick, especially knowing that I've got friends out there that are that are currently underwater and needing help and it's just -- it's hard to read the comments from people saying, hey, I'm underwater, is planning on helping our neighbors because we're stuck at our house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is live for us from Tallahassee, Florida, now. Marybel, good morning to you.

What is the situation on the ground right now and explain what you went through overnight?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN NEWSOURCE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.

So here in Tallahassee, it's relatively calm. Of course, that is not something that we were expecting a last night.

[05:25:02]

We did expect there to be power outages here and we were -- we thought we were going to be in the eye of it, but that was not the case. There was a lot of strong winds is lot of heavy rainfall. And unfortunately, as you can see, the power is still on here in Tallahassee. It held up -- the power grid held up here, but that was not the case across the state. We know that right now, there are over 1.2 million customers in Florida that are without power in tens of thousands of others in the southeastern region.

Now, of course, here were just learning about the devastation left behind a by Helene. We know that this was, as you mentioned a historic hurricane, but it was also a deadly one. We know that there have been three storm related deaths so far. One in Florida, Governor DeSantis says that person was killed when a sign hit a car on the I-4 in the Tampa area. The other two deaths confirmed right now are related to people being stuck in the middle of a tornado related to Hurricane Helene.

Now we also know concerns right now are flooding overnight not here, but in Pasco County, for example, dozens of people were rescued from the rising water. People were evacuated from hotels due to the flooding concerns. So that definitely is happening. And as you mentioned, this is not over. We are still holding on to see what other devastation will incur for as of as of right now.

So, we are definitely watching closely.

HUNT: All right. Marybel Gonzalez for us, Marybel, thank you very much for that report. We will stick with you throughout the morning.

All right, 26 minutes past the hour now. Here is your morning roundup.

The Special Counsel Jack Smith filing never-before-seen evidence in the election subversion case against Donald Trump. Smith filed the evidence under seal in dc district court. The documents include interview transcripts with former Vice President Mike Pence Ivanka Trump, and other grand jury proceedings. Now, it's going to be up to the judge to determine how much of that evidence will be made public.

It's the end of an era in Oakland. The A's playing their final game in the coliseum after 57 years and they went out in style, defeating the Texas Rangers 3-2. The team plans to play the next three seasons in Sacramento with hopes of moving into a new ballpark in Las Vegas in 2028.

Mexico southwest coast facing flooding and landslides after tropical storm John turned back into a hurricane. The storm is considered a zombie storm, meaning it was downgraded before it then strengthened again.

All right. Still ahead on CNN THIS MORNING:

We're going to continue to track tropical storm Helene more than 2 million customers across the Southeast. Now, without power, the threat is building at this hour.

Plus, the mayor of New York City now under criminal indictment. The luxury flights being called into question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: The current mayor, Eric Adams, was indicted last night on charges of bribery, wire fraud, and soliciting illegal contributions from foreign countries. Fellow Democrats are calling on him to resign, whereas Republicans are urging him to run for governor of North Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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