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Israel Remembers Victims of October 7th Terror Attack; Hurricane Milton Strengthens to Category 2 Storm. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 07, 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 Monday, October 7. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

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One year later, Israel marks the somber anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks as it fights a war now expanding to multiple fronts.

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DEANNE CRISWELL, ADMINISTRATOR, FEMA: It's frankly ridiculous and just plain false.

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HUNT: Debunking the rumors. The FEMA administrator setting the record straight about the response to Hurricane Helene as the Trump campaign pushes false claims.

And this.

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ASHLEY MOODY, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: If you are in an evacuation zone, leave.

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HUNT: In the storm's path. Florida's Gulf Coast preparing for another major hurricane as they're still reeling from Helene's impact.

And later.

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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Families come in all kinds of shapes and forms, and they're family, nonetheless.

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HUNT: Pushing back. Kamala Harris dismissing right-wing criticism over not having biological children. All right, 6 a.m. on the East Coast. A live look at Capitol Hill on

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

A sorrowful anniversary.

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(WOMAN CRYING)

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HUNT: Israel today mourning the lives lost during the October 7 Hamas terror attacks and holding out hope for the safe return of the hostages still in Gaza.

It was one year ago today, a Saturday. Thousands of people gathered for a music festival near a kibbutz. The music, the celebration, the joy shattered by the sight of rockets in the sky.

Attendees ran looking for safety and, instead, found unimaginable violence as thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza.

In the hours that followed, members of Hamas and its allies killed 1,200 people, wounded thousands more. Hundreds of others, they kidnapped, forcing them back into Gaza.

Twelve months later, more than 100 still remain in captivity. In the year since that day, Israel has sought to destroy Hamas. Airstrikes and a ground invasion of Gaza leaving more than 41,000 Palestinians dead.

Israel is now fighting Iran-backed terror groups on multiple fronts in Gaza, in Lebanon, and in Yemen. The region and the lives of those in it forever altered by an attack that the Israeli president today called "a scar on the face of the earth."

One survivor of the massacre at the music festival described what it was like to return to those grounds today.

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ROEY DERY, OCTOBER 7TH TERROR ATTACK SURVIVOR: It's been a few times since then. It's like you live the last moment again with them again. The healing process is not something that you can finish in one day. It's -- there is no magic that can heal that wound. And -- but we're strong. We have each other.

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HUNT: All right. Our panel is here: Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst, national political reporter for Axios; Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter; Kendra Barkoff former press secretary to Joe Biden; and Matt Gorman, former senior adviser to Tim Scott's presidential campaign. Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here. Kendra, I actually want to start with you on this kind of somber --

incredibly somber anniversary. We obviously speak all the time in terms of -- your having worked for the White House and for President Biden.

But you've also done so much work with these -- the families of those who were taken into Gaza on this horrible day.

What are your reflections, having gotten to know many of these people, about what happened that day, what those families are feeling right now, and what happens next?

KENDRA BARKOFF, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY TO JOE BIDEN: Yes. I mean, they've been living in agony each and every day for all of them. There are seven Americans that are still being held hostage in Gaza. T

here are more than 101 total that are being held from around the world. Different ethnicities, different races from different countries.

And I think the thing that is so remarkable is how these people get up each and every day and fight to ensure that their loved one is still remembered. That politicians are still paying attention.

You know, they have met with President Biden twice in person. They'd met with him on Zoom. They have regular calls with Jake Sullivan, with Brett McGurk, and they keep in contact with each other.

[06:05:03]

And their No. 1 goal is to keep this in the news, because that is the only way, in their mind, to continue to keep pressure on Bibi, on Qatar, on Egypt, because Hamas is really something that, you know, it's sort of an enigma.

And in so many ways, they're obviously a terrorist organization. And they want to ensure that their loved ones are brought home.

And they go out there, and they do interview after interview. They keep the hope alive, which I think is incredible. I don't know how they do it, to be honest with you. And it is a remarkable thing.

HUNT: Isaac Dovere, this has obviously stretched on, this -- this war in Gaza has stretched on for a year, as Israel has tried to destroy Hamas.

And there have been times where it seems as though these hostage families have -- have been very unhappy with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, have tried to put pressure on him to do more to bring them home.

And at this point, of course, we're now in a -- they're in a three -- a three-front war in the Middle East with the administration backing them up. But not seem to be able to really pressure them to act in any different way that they may want to.

I mean, what are your reflections? What's your reporting about the state of things inside the White House and on this issue?

ERIC-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden has been pretty clear that he's very frustrated with Benjamin Netanyahu and has not been able to get him to agree to even come close to agree to a ceasefire or an end to the hostilities.

Last week, the White House felt pretty good that they kept the Iranian missile attack from escalating into so much more. But that is the range of victory that we're talking about when it comes to how the Biden administration is looking at this.

So, it's obviously, then, a difficult thing politically for them, but it is an incredibly difficult thing in national security terms. And what all this is.

We are in an unprecedented situation. This war is the longest war that Israel has ever been in. It -- we do not know where things might end up with Iran. And any violence between Israel and Iran is not a good situation.

And obviously, there's what's going on in Lebanon now, this attack on Hezbollah. And the -- we can forget, because it's not at the forefront of the news every day, that the fighting continues in Gaza and that 100 hostages are still being held. And that I don't think it's -- at times the hostage families have been frustrated with him.

Now I think it's almost every day that they're frustrated with Netanyahu. And that, in some ways, that the American political discourse overlooks the fact of how much of Israel, as opposed to what Netanyahu is doing.

HUNT: Yes, it's a very interesting point Alex Thompson, of course. We were just talking to David Sanger in the -- earlier in the show. And he was looking at how this is overlapping right on top of the presidential campaign, this conflict potentially exploding with less than in 30 days to go.

I mean, how are each of these camps -- I know you cover -- you talked to, you know, campaign aides and operatives every day preparing or thinking about the possibility that this could explode here in the final weeks.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, this issue divides the Democratic Party. And so, what you're seeing is that Kamala Harris is trying to straddle both those sides of the party.

She met with Muslim and Arab groups in Michigan in a private meeting last week. She's going to speak out about October 7 this week in her "60 Minutes" interview. That's premiering tonight.

She is also basically saying that we are allied with the Israeli people, but not necessarily allied with Netanyahu.

Now, Donald Trump has basically said, I want Netanyahu not only -- not to deescalate, potentially escalate and get it over, as he said quickly. Now, Democrats argue that could then further spiral the conflict.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO TIM SCOTT'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: No, it's true. I mean, look, for what -- for how much? Of course, October 7 changed the Middle East. It also changed Washington in a lot of ways.

I mean Alex is right. The GOP largely aligned behind Netanyahu and Israel. And we're seeing right now the "60 Minutes," at least the clips that have leaked out from Kamala Harris's interview that aired tonight, really put those divisions on display in terms of the -- allied with Netanyahu or the Israeli people.

Also, her answer on whether or not she was able to influence the Israeli government, I thought, were very interesting and somewhat incomprehensible.

But, really, that is stark terms of display that a lot of it when we talk about electoral politics, will result in the Michigan vote.

DOVERE: And in other places too, right?

GORMAN: Yes.

DOVERE: I think that this can be simplified as, like, Arab Americans in Michigan are there. But they are. They could be definitive in that way. But there's -- it's also where a lot of Jewish Americans are that are not aligned with Netanyahu, Israels. Surely some are, some aren't.

But even in the way that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are approaching today, you see this playing out where they are going to be separate. They will not be together.

Joe Biden is doing a ceremony at the White House, Kamala Harris is doing a separate ceremony at the naval observatory. He's lighting a candle. She's planting a tree. They're not together. That is not a mistake.

HUNT: It's a really interesting point.

HUNT: All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, our coverage of the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel continues. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is going to join me live to talk about how the year since the attacks have shaped U.S. politics.

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Plus, back-to-back major hurricanes. Florida's Gulf Coast preparing for another strong storm. And in the wake of Hurricane Helene, disaster politics take center stage.

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HARRIS: These moments of crisis bring out some of the best of who we can be.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They've abandoned us. And you know, it's largely a Republican area. So, some people say they did it for that reason.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a massive unprecedented response. We are deeply grateful for the federal resources that we have. FEMA has been on the ground with us since the very beginning of this.

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HUNT: In the wake of Hurricane Helene, at least 232 people have lost their lives across six states.

North Carolina has taken the brunt of that toll, where flooding left at least 117 people dead and many still -- others still unaccounted for.

State and local officials from both parties have praised response efforts from FEMA so far.

But online, misinformation and rumors are swirling about the storm. Some of the rumors also being pushed by Donald Trump on the campaign trail.

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TRUMP: Kamala Harris has left them stranded. They have -- this is the worst response to a storm or a catastrophe, or a hurricane that we've ever seen, ever. Probably worse than Katrina. And that's hard to beat, right?

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HUNT: President Biden responded to some of these claims online. Over the weekend, he called Donald Trump a liar and said his administration is, quote, "moving heaven and earth," end quote, to make sure states get what they need.

Republican North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis was also asked about some of Trump's comments this weekend about the federal response in his state.

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SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): We have the resources that we need. We're going to have to go back and pass more resources. We can have a discussion about the failure of this administration's border policies and the billions of dollars it's costing. But right now, not yet is it affecting the flow of resources to Western North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has not been a factor, to be clear. OK. TILLIS: Not at this time.

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HUNT: Interesting. OK, panel is back.

Matt Gorman, I mean, Trump is out there saying these things, kind of putting it out there. Officials, Republicans and Democrats, on the ground are saying this is not the case. They are getting what they need.

You heard Thom Tillis there. Again, Republicans say that.

Now that said, the scenes that are still occurring -- and they are still doing rescue operations in parts of North Carolina, which is a difficult reality for this sitting administration.

GORMAN: Terrible. It's a terrible look. And I think my biggest critique of this whole thing is it's very clear that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed to recognize the -- the kind of level of the storm at first, right? You had Joe Biden at home in Rehoboth. You had Kamala Harris still raising money out in the West Coast. They acted kind of physically, optically late to recognize what a potentially damaging storm this could be.

And also, I think that that is kind of where my critique lives. It seems like Trump beat them there in terms of being on the ground just like you've got to do with East Palestine with the train derailment in Ohio a couple of years ago.

And it just seems like Trump has a little bit more of a keener eye for the pure optics of these sorts of things than they do.

BARKOFF: I want to jump in here, though, because I do think a sitting president and a sitting vice president, there is something to be said for not taking resources away from those things that are being done on the ground, especially given the fact that they still are doing the critical things that they need to be doing of rescuing.

You don't want to get in there too soon, but you want to get in there soon enough.

I would also just add that the hypocrisy here that Trump is doing, you know, he withheld dollars from Puerto Rico until the very end, FEMA.

There -- there was talk of the California wildfires and asking if those people, you know, voted for him before he gave money afterwards.

I do think there's some major hypocrisy going on with him, as well.

HUNT: As -- how's the administration looking at this right now? I mean, do they -- do they feel like this is something that is a -- threatening them politically? The fact that this rescue of --

DOVERE: I mean, North Carolina and Georgia, these are battleground states. HUNT: Yes.

DOVERE: Why -- they would like Kamala Harris to win them. Their -- their approach to it has been largely to focus on the emergency response.

I -- I said last week on this program, and I will repeat it, that I do not think that it makes any difference to the actual rescue operations to have anybody go and visit. It's just about the theater.

HUNT: Yes.

DOVERE: And the visuals and whatever. It didn't matter that Donald Trump was there, didn't matter that Joe Biden was there. It didn't matter that Kamala Harris was there on Saturday.

They have to focus on actually rescuing the people on the recovery, on getting people things like diapers that they need or the homes that they're going to need for the next couple of weeks, at least.

But that they -- this does get tangled up in other things. I mean, I had a story over the weekend that got into how some of this is about the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris dynamics one of the things that's going on here is that Joe Biden went earlier in the week, which made Kamala Harris have to delay her own trip to North Carolina until Saturday.

And that was a point of some tension between the White House and the campaign, because though I can sit here and say this is all theater, it is theater that people pay attention to.

HUNT: It's -- that matters. Have you been paying attention to that dynamic also?

THOMPSON: Oh, absolutely. You know I do. Any messy drama, I'm there.

Yes. I mean, clearly, Joe Biden still wants credit for, like you saw when he came out on Friday. And he was like, all these things are going great. He made a list. He said, like, jobs report, everything else.

And then Kamala Harris, his message is like, we still have more work to do. And there is tension between those two things.

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HUNT: Yes, that's really interesting. And I think -- I think "SNL" even hit on that this weekend. We'll watch some of that later on in the program.

All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, Florida now preparing for another strong hurricane.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Two majors back-to-back. That is not something that is easy. That creates a lot of challenges.

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HUNT: Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall as a major hurricane. The urgent warning from officials.

Plus, one year after the Hamas terror attacks, Israel now fighting a war on multiple fronts.

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HUNT: All right. Breaking news right now. Hurricane Milton now a Category 2 storm. It's expected to rapidly intensify before making landfall later this week on Florida's Gulf Coast in many places, mountains of debris from Hurricane Helene is still lining the streets, making preparations for this storm even more difficult.

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The mayor of Tampa is urging residents to evacuate.

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MAYOR JANE CASTOR (D), TAMPA, FLORIDA: Please heed the warnings. If you can go now, go. You cannot wait and see. You have been told what's going to happen. We're fortunate if it wobbles one way or the other and we don't take the direct impact. But let's plan on that.

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HUNT: Let's get to our meteorologist, Derek van Dam, this morning, who's also a birthday boy. Happy birthday, Derek.

Unfortunately, you've gotten a strengthening hurricane for it. What are folks in Florida set to be prepared for here?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Look, this storm has already rapidly intensified. Yesterday at 5 a.m., it was at 50 miles per hour, Kasie.

Now, it sits at 100 mile-per-hour sustained winds. So, it's gathering strength, and it will continue to do so until it makes its way towards the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, where it could go -- undergo some weakening.

But that -- that is still to be determined.

There's a clear defined eye on this in the Bay of Campeche. It is kind of an erratic motion to the East Southeast.

This is new as of 5 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center. We do have hurricane watches in place, where you see that shading of pink and watches for tropical storms intensity across the Big Bend and into the Florida Keys.

But this is what the area we're really focusing in on. Tampa Bay in particular. We know this area is so vulnerable. Here's the official forecast track. This is important. It has slowed

down considerably since yesterday when we were talking about this storm. And we do anticipate a landfalling major hurricane sometime late Wednesday into early Thursday morning now.

So that's stalled by about 12 hours. Very important information there, as well, in terms of the preparation ahead of the storm. This is the first initial storm surge forecast from the National Hurricane Center.

I'm going to point this out. Eight to 12 feet near Tampa Bay. That is higher than the actual realized storm surge values from Hurricane Helene, not two -- two weeks ago that set record values here for this region.

So, we know that there is still destruction and debris on the ground. So, this is something to consider, as well. It's raining already ahead of the storm.

Flash flooding will be a major concern, along with the traditional tornado threat that comes with landfalling hurricanes, Kasie. A busy week ahead.

HUNT: All right. Really tough stuff, indeed. Derek, thank you very much for that.

All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, Israel at war. How the violence in the Middle East is shaping the political landscape here in the U.S.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins us.

Plus, CNN anchor Chris Wallace is here to talk about his new book and how history is repeating itself six decades after JFK's presidency.

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JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The election may have been a close one. But I think that there is general agreement by all of our citizens that a supreme national ethic will be needed in the years ahead to move this country safely through the 1960s.

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