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3 Storm-Related Deaths in Florida & Georgia; Prosecutors: Adams Accepted Bribes from Turkish Officials. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 27, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, September 27. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[06:01:26]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is undoubtedly the worst I've seen.

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HUNT: Waking up to destruction. Helene now a tropical storm after making landfall in Florida's Big Bend as the strongest hurricane there on record.

Plus, rescues through the night. Dozens of people saved from rising floodwaters.

And this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hunker down. Let this thing pass.

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HUNT: Tropical Storm Helene's wrath, not over yet, the monster storm weakening as it moves up through Georgia. But the destruction is mounting.

And later, assessing the damage. Former FEMA administrator Brock Long joins me live to talk about what's next for these communities.

Six a.m. here in Washington. A live look at Atlanta, Georgia, where they are bracing for what is now Tropical Storm Helene. It is heading their way.

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

Devastation across Florida, a deadly tornado in Georgia, and historic flooding in the Carolinas. Tropical Storm Helene now moving North after making landfall late last night as a Category 4 hurricane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here comes the big one. Here comes the big one.

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HUNT: With winds of 140 miles an hour, Helene was the strongest storm ever to hit Florida's Big Bend region. At least three people have died of storm-related injuries, and officials fear that number will grow.

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JAMIE RHOME, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Somehow, we got to get people to realize that these aren't just to interesting phenomenon. They're very, very deadly.

We're probably going to lose a lot of lives in this setup with this much flooding potential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: We've got this video coming to us from Lee County, Florida, showing police venturing out into the floodwaters to rescue residents trapped by the life-threatening storm surge.

And this from Steinhatchee, Florida. You see entire homes floating away in the water, carried by that record-setting storm surge. Fortunately, the storm chaser who provided CNN with this video said those homes appear to have been previously evacuated.

In Florida alone, more than a million people are without power this morning. In other states, including Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia, hundreds of thousands have lost power. That number only rising.

The sheer power and size of this storm is difficult to comprehend but plain to see in these images captured from the International Space Station.

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LIZ ALPERT, MAYOR OF SARASOTA, FLORIDA: This is the worst probably we've seen in our area and 100 years. I know I've been in Sarasota for 22 years, and I've never seen anything like this.

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HUNT: All right. CNN has team coverage throughout the morning as Helene moves up the East Coast. Our Ryan Young is in Atlanta, but let's begin with CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

Allison, what is the latest?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I cannot emphasize enough to people, just because this has made landfall does not mean this is over. In fact, the worst is yet to come for some of these communities, especially the areas where we're still going to see the bulk of this rain. It is a tropical storm, sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. That

alone can do a significant amount of damage in terms of bringing trees and power lines down.

But flooding is going to be the biggest concern, especially scope- wise. The green indicates a flood watch where flooding is potentially going to happen today. The red is where we have active, ongoing flooding as we speak.

And these three white little outlined areas, these are flash flood emergencies. We have three separate ones in Western North Carolina, one of which includes the city of Asheville, North Carolina.

This area has had over 11 inches of rain in just the last about 48 hours. And again, you also have some of these other areas, too, that have picked up about a foot of rain.

[06:05:03]

And a lot of that rain, you also have a high terrain here. So, a lot of that is flowing down. They've had reports of landslides, excuse me.

They've also had water rescues they've had to do. And a lot of the roadways are just completely underwater as we speak.

The unfortunate part is the rain is not done. You have a lot more rain that is really surging into Western North Carolina and will continue to do so for hours. Hours, where they're going to continue to see more of that rain.

And it's not just North Carolina. South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky. All of these areas are going to continue to see that rainfall for the next at least six hours.

We also have tornado warnings, several of them active as we speak across the state of South Carolina. There is watches in effect for portions of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. It is very likely that will get expanded farther North to include Northern North Carolina and even into portions of Virginia.

Because this is where the threat area is going to be for today in terms of the potential for tornadoes. So again, Kasie, we're talking tornadoes, but were also talking the greater threat here of rain throughout the rest of the day today.

HUNT: All right. Allison Chinchar for us this morning. Allison, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. Thank you.

And Tropical Storm Helene now charging through Georgia. These are live pictures in Atlanta of rescuers. They're at work as the state braces for widespread power outages. I think you can see a dog there in that picture, as well.

And CNN's Ryan Young joins us live now from Atlanta with the latest. Ryan, what else are you seeing out there? RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really, that's the real concern right

now. All this extra water that we're getting, Kasie. I can tell you for weeks, it's been very dry here; that we've had rain for the last 48 hours.

More than seven inches of rain has fallen in the metro Atlanta area. And like he said, there's those active water rescues that are happening right now. We're still trying to get the numbers of how many people have been rescued.

Do we know of several different apartment complexes that have been impacted? And of course, we haven't even gotten close to first light yet. And this rain continues to fall.

Power outages throughout South Georgia have made things pretty difficult for people in terms of being home, but this storm is really impacting Georgia in a different way.

It's not often that the city of Atlanta deals with a tropical storm warning. So now, we're seeing the impact of some gust of winds, power outages, and the heavy rainfall.

And the real concern here is the large trees, because they're all over the city. You don't want them falling on power lines or into homes. We know several trees --

HUNT: Hey, Ryan, let me just pause you for -- for one second, Ryan, because we're looking live here at what appears to be the rescue of, I think, a dog here and maybe a baby, as well.

We're going to maybe re-rack that tape and take a look at it.

But these, again, are -- are live rescuers in -- in Atlanta here. You know, boots on the ground in -- in these stormwaters, trying to help folks who are trapped.

There's the dog. There he is. Very grateful to them.

And Ryan, I'm so sorry that I interrupted you. Again, I think it's important to tell our viewers that this is this -- you know, this is ongoing. This is just the beginning of this for Atlanta. And we're already seeing this level of work out there.

YOUNG: Well, if you think about it, infrastructure wise, this is not like a coastal city. So, it's not really built to handle heavy amounts of water like seeing right now and especially in a 48-hour period.

So, we're probably going to see more rescues just like this one.

As somebody who's lived in this area for quite some time, we know there are several creeks that sort of overflow every time there's a heavy rain. Well, then you have to triple that right now.

And then you add on the fact that the storm water drains have to be cleared, because there's always debris in that area. So, the rescues that we've been told have been ongoing. We know emergency management was ready and prepared for some of these areas.

But right now, this is an active situation where they are trying to get some of those folks out of those apartments and some of the homes across the metro area.

HUNT: Yes. So, Ryan, how long do we anticipate this to be ongoing for the Atlanta region? I mean, are people going to be looking at staying in their homes all day?

Because I know this storm has been very fast moving.

YOUNG: Well, that's the only good news so far is that storm is very fast moving, but we're wondering behind the storm, will there be more rainfall?

So, there have been some estimates by 12 p.m. this afternoon that we could see some clearing skies. They're already predicting a nice weekend here.

But you just never know. We know cancellations at the airport already above 100. And it looks like maybe this afternoon things will start to clear up. But at this point, it will be interesting to see if that storm continues to move at the fast pace of over 40 miles per hour as it moves closer to North Georgia.

HUNT: Yes. All right. Ryan Young for us. Thank you. And of course, great to see those heroic rescue efforts, those people putting their lives on the line to save people, and, in this case, we think we saw some pets being saved, as well.

So many Americans owe so much to all the first responders who are working on this storm throughout the night and into this morning.

[06:10:04]

Ryan, thank you very much. We'll be back with you later on.

And coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, the New York City mayor accused of accepting bribes. The corruption charges that Eric Adams now faces as he maintains he's innocent.

Plus, today, Vice President Harris heads to the border, where she hopes to show toughness on immigration. We'll talk about that.

And we will, of course, continue to track Tropical Storm Helene -- Helene as it moves Northward with unsurvivable storm surges. Florida preparing for a daunting day ahead.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: The state is ready, as soon as this storm passes and it's safe to do so, to commence search-and-rescue operations.

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[06:15:19]

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JAMES DENNEHY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, FBI NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE: Today's indictment sends a powerful message to every elected official in this country. Public service is a profound responsibility and should be a noble calling. When that's perverted by greed and dishonesty, it robs us of our trust.

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HUNT: That was FBI Assistant Director James Dennehy discussing the indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Adams is accused of accepting bribes from Turkish officials in exchange for pressuring the fire department to give a permit to the Turkish consulate, even though their building had failed to pass inspection.

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ERIC ADAMS (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: This is an unfortunate day, and it's a painful day. But inside of all of that is the day when we will finally reveal why, for ten months, I have gone through this.

And I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city, as I've done throughout my entire professional career.

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HUNT: All right, according to the indictment, Adams planned a trip to Turkey in 2021 and allegedly directed his staff to coordinate with Turkish Airlines to get him a massive discount on two business class flights that should have cost more than $15,000.

A manager for the airline told an Adams staffer this: quote, "I am going to charge $50."

The Adams staffer replied, "No."

The manager: "That would work, wouldn't it?"

"No, dear," the staffer replied. "Fifty dollars, what? Quote a proper price."

The manager then asked, "How much should I charge?" and added a smiling emoji.

The Adams staffer said this: quote, "His every step is being watched right now, $1,000 or so. Let it be somewhat real. We don't want them to say he's flying for free. At the moment, the media's attention is on Eric."

Adams ended up paying $1,100 each for two tickets, both of which were immediately upgraded to business class.

Our panel is here: Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter; Sarah Longwell, executive director of the Republican Accountability Project; Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator, former Biden White House communications director; and Brad Todd, Republican strategist, partner at the public strategy firm On Message.

Welcome to all of you. Isaac Dovere, you have known Eric Adams for decades. This is "Grand Theft Ottoman." You know, I was excited to see what "The New York Post" might do with this, this morning. They -- they didn't fail to deliver.

We were talking in the break in language that, quite frankly, is not family-friendly, especially not great for six in the morning. But can you give us the family-friendly version of what is up with this?

ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I mean, there has been a long history of Eric Adams having associations with people who have ended up in legal trouble. And --

HUNT: It's the polite way to put it.

DOVERE: He was -- from when he was in the state senate, Brooklyn borough president, mayor. This has been just part of the story of Eric Adams, along with the rest of the story of Eric Adams. Police officer and a successful politician, obviously.

He has also been known as mayor for -- when he's running for mayor, for it not being clear where he lives, where he works, who he's dating, who he is having romantic liaisons beyond dating with, where he spends his evening.

All of this, it just -- all these questions about Adams, right, whether he's a vegetarian or not.

And you see, in this indictment, some of that behavior kind of slipping into more illicit behavior, obviously, in what's charged here.

The other thing that I think is clear from this indictment is that there is likely more coming. We knew earlier in the week that the -- this is all about his relationship with Turkey and the Turkish government. But that there is reporting that it has expanded to five other countries that they're looking at, including South Korea and Israel, and a number of others.

This is -- this is not going away. And Adams, his way of dealing with it. One of the -- I would say, to me, the most notable part of the indictment is a moment where, when we might remember that last fall, the FBI seized his phones. They stopped his motorcade, and they went, and they grabbed his phones.

And what they -- the thing that has happened is that a couple of days before that, Adams changed a password on his iPhone to have a six- digit code instead of four-digit code. And he told the investigators that he did that so that none of his staff would go into his phone and delete any emails that might be pertinent to the investigation.

And the FBI said, OK, so what's your code? He said, I forgot it.

[06:20:04]

HUNT: You forget your own iPhone code. So, they can't open it, is the point.

DOVERE: Exactly.

HUNT: Right, yes.

Kate Bedingfield, this guy runs, like, you know, Democrats were thrilled when he got elected. They thought he was this rising star, you know, willing to -- sort of this more moderate way of going about things.

A significant fall from grace. Is he going to have to resign?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think so.

I don't think this -- so, it's -- it's kind of interesting, because on the one hand, some of the conversation around this, this morning, is about sort of how kind of relatively small this seems. We're talking about first-class flights in exchange for you know, clearing, essentially, a building like for --

HUNT: Like they wanted the Turkey -- the Turkish president to come and be able to go to the consulate. So, they're like, please like, open it in time.

BEDINGFIELD: And in some ways, it feels very small ball, but it's also -- I mean, you're talking about clearing a building with safety permits when it was not -- we didn't deserve those permits. I mean, those are tangible things.

I think to the average person, you see that, and like, that is the deficit finishing of corruption. So, look, we'll see what happens in terms of the pressure mounting.

Obviously, you've had prominent Democrats start to call for him to step down. I think -- I think he should. I don't know that there is a path forward here, especially if, as Isaac suggests, there may be more coming.

I think once you lose the public's trust in this way, it's very hard to continue to lead effectively. So, I think he should step down, but we'll see.

HUNT: But he's running the Trump playbook, right?

BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Unless you've got Bob Menendez. You stay in office, actually been accused of --

BEDINGFIELD: And he shouldn't. And he shouldn't have.

TODD: Chuck Schumer needs your vote. Yes.

BEDINGFIELD: And he shouldn't have.

SARAH LONGWELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REPUBLICAN ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: But ultimately, he was convicted. I mean, one of the things that has been notable about this era is the asymmetry between how Democrats treat their corrupt politicians and the way Republicans treat their corrupt politicians.

Republicans celebrate their corrupt politicians. In fact, they re- nominate them for president after they tried to steal an election and lied about the fact that it was free and fairly held.

Whereas Democrats, we see one after the other, as soon as they -- looks like they're corrupt, they -- they cut bait.

HUNT: We're still waiting on Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.

TODD: That's right. Well, I think there is something lost with Eric Adams once he steps off the stage, which he inevitably will.

You know, he was a black cop who was willing to criticize the defund the police movement. He said AOC was endangering the laws of New Yorkers. He criticized the Biden administration's policy of putting migrants in big cities like that.

So, Democrats need some people like Eric Adams who will go against their more extreme elements. And we'll lose that --

HUNT: Of occurs, the Biden administration stopped talking to Adams after a lot of that criticism. And AOC was one of the first people out there saying Adams should step down. It's all connected.

All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, an epic storm overwhelming Florida.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost the entire island of Clearwater Beach was underwater.

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HUNT: The latest on the search-and-rescue operations after a direct hit from what was Hurricane Helene.

Plus, how long will it take to recover from this devastating storm? A former head of FEMA joins us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:17]

HUNT: All right. Tropical Storm Helene pounding Florida overnight with rain and winds of 150 miles an hour or more. What was once a Category 4 hurricane now moving inland. This video from just moments ago, showing a family with a baby and two

dogs being rescued in Atlanta.

And then take a look at this video from Steinhatchee, Florida. A house floating away.

FEMA is urging people to take the storm threat seriously. Also assuring that they are prepared.

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DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATION: But at the president's direction, we have over 1,100 personnel so far across the federal government supporting the preparedness efforts for this storm.

We also have an additional 700 personnel from FEMA that are already in these states, supporting other disasters, that we can quickly pivot to support any of the response needs as needed. We are ready for this event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now is former FEMA administrator, Brock Long.

Sir, thank you so much for joining the program this morning. I mean, you have been -- you have been in it. You have been the person at that podium. You have responded to these kinds of disasters.

This one, the language that officials have been using is, frankly, apocalyptic in terms of the storm surge and other effects.

What have you seen so far? And how do you think officials are going to be managing this response?

BROCK LONG, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: There is so much to learn from this storm. And I think it's a reminder that every storm is different.

Their unique -- they attack us in different ways. A couple of things.

I think the biggest reminder is that hurricanes are not just coastal -- coastal events. I mean, here I am, you know, an hour North of Charlotte, North Carolina, in Hickory, North Carolina. I'm in Hickory. And we've been seeing rainfall and high winds since yesterday, flooding in the North Carolina mountains as Helene was well offshore.

The other thing saying that really sticks out to me is that the Tampa Bay/Clearwater area, the St. Pete area experienced the highest storm surge since 1993, if my facts are correct on that.

And this should be a real wakeup call to that area. We have to have serious conversations about the culture of preparedness within our citizenry, particularly on the Florida West Coast.

But, you know, right now, FEMA has been well ahead of the storm as Administrator Criswell, you know, had said earlier. They've been pre- deploying teams and equipment, personnel and capability forward and advance of this storms.

Most importantly, what they do is, you know, they're putting urban search-and-rescue teams strategically located in areas ready to go for the response side.

And obviously, the mission right now is search-and-rescue, but that mission will eventually transition over to stabilizing critical infrastructure and life sustainment.

HUNT: So, sir, when we look at these pictures -- and you mentioned the West Coast of Florida -- what should residents there be thinking about --