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Erin Burnett Outfront
Hurricane: Strongest To Hit West Florida In 100 Years; Explosive New Report On Trump's Secret Relationship With Putin; Israel Accused Of Possible "Assassination Operation" After Strike. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 08, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:35]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, quote, you will not survive. The dark and dire warnings aimed at millions in the path of Hurricane Milton, now strengthening again to an extremely dangerous category 5.
Plus, the Kremlin calling legendary journalist Bob Woodward with new reporting tonight the Put -- Trump and Putin have shared as many as seven secret calls after Trump left the White House and that Trump gave Putin peculiar gifts. Kamala Harris tonight seizing on this new reporting.
And KFILE striking again, unearthing in an interview J.D. Vance did not want Trump to see. But he'll see it tonight.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, we are following several breaking stories, including bombshell new details about Donald Trump's secret calls after he left office, and his peculiar gifts to Vladimir Putin details on that in just a moment.
I want to begin though first with what is shaping up to be the worst hurricane to hit Florida in 100 years. At this hour, Hurricane Milton gaining strength now back to category 5, which simply is the highest rating that exists. Dire warnings from officials tonight, some saying this is not survivable and we've got new video of the category monster from space, right now heading straight towards Tampa for a possible direct hit, anticipated 20 million people in the path of that storm.
Debris already piled on the ground from Helene just two weeks ago. You know, all kinds of small pieces, concrete, wood, things that become missiles with 160 mile an hour winds are already dislodged and in piles, it's horrifying to contemplate what might be about to happen.
And right now, one of the largest evacuations in Florida history is underway. Right now, it's just bumper to bumper. There's questions about gas. People obviously worried about running out of it. I mean, all of these deeply serious concerns in these final hours ahead of what meteorologists are calling an historic strike.
Chad Myers begins our coverage OUTFRONT live from the weather center here.
And, Chad, so tell us exactly what happens here. How soon does this start?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, for the people of south Florida, actually, it could start tonight. Some of these storms that are kind of south and west of Key West, those could rotate enough to make a small tornado and it's a small tornado until it hits your house and then it's not a small tornado anymore because it did hit the one thing that you cared about.
But I think probably o'clock tomorrow afternoon is when we'll see the first tropical storm winds on the west coast of Florida. And by this time tomorrow night, the entire state is going to have tropical storm force winds, except possibly there in the panhandle.
Hurricane hunters are flying through the storm right now. There's a little break during the day. That's why we didn't get to category 5 earlier, but it's 165-mile-per-hour storm. That is higher than it was supposed to be in the 11:00 forecast by 15 miles per hour.
So this is not slowing down. This is not getting down to that, oh, we're going to suck in a bunch of dry air and it's going to get some shear. This is concerning. This is concerning that this storm is continuing to be this strong for this long.
Now, we talk about the cone. The cone is still north of Tampa. New Port Richey, all the way down to almost Naples, because it can still wobble. It actually wobbled earlier today. It wobbled a little bit farther to the south, which means that now, Anna Maria Island towards Sarasota, you're going to get worse weather than might you might get up in Denen when the storm could have been closer to you.
The big story here, yes, there's going to be wind, and there's going to be wind damage and trees are down and roofs are going to be gone. But why they say to please get out is because of the water. The water will be and it's moving. Talk about storm surge, it's not just some lake that kind of fills up your yard. This is moving water that could knock down your home and it's going to be 10 to 15 feet above the normal sea level.
All of a sudden, that's going over barrier islands. That's knocking away homes that aren't elevated, that aren't on stilts not on pillars and yes, we're going to have this large area.
People ask me all day, where's it going to hit? It's going to hit everywhere. This whole purple area we'll see category winds or higher. So millions will be without power.
BURNETT: Millions and, of course, sitting near a high tide, you've got the -- 10 to 15 feet on top of that as they say devastating and not survivable.
All right. Thank you very much, Chad Myers.
We're going go back to Chad and a lot more storm coverage coming up here, a special report in just a few moments.
[19:05:01]
But right now, breaking explosive new reporting about a secret relationship Trump has been carrying on with Vladimir Putin, one that we now know tonight includes as many as seven private phone calls since Trump left office. Another revelation tonight is a bit bizarre and that is that Trump sent Putin individual COVID tests at the height of COVID.
According to legendary journalist Bob Woodward's new book, those tests were sent to Putin during the height of the pandemic in 2020, right, when -- when gosh, nobody could get a hold of tests.
Now during a call at the time, Putin tells Trump, quote, please don't tell anybody you sent these to me. And Trump replies and Woodward is the one putting quotes around this, I don't care, fine. Putin says, no, no, I don't want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don't care about me.
Now Trump sending Putin personal COVID tests is at the least fascinating. I mean, how did they get to Putin? Who knew about them? Did Trump send them to other world leaders or was this just special for Putin and then did Putin really use COVID test sent from America putting his DNA on them? I mean, what was this about?
Well, today, Vice President Kamala Harris had this to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the height of the pandemic, and remember and your listeners will remember, people were dying by the hundreds.
HOWARD STERN, HOST: Yeah.
HARRIS: We -- everybody was scrambling to get these kits, the tests, the COVID test kits.
STERN: Couldn't get them.
HARRIS: Couldn't get them.
STERN: Right.
HARRIS: Couldn't get them anywhere.
STERN: Right.
HARRIS: And this guy who is president of the United States is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator for his personal use?
You're getting played and some would say, look, I grew up in the neighborhood. Some would say you're getting punked --
STERN: Yeah.
HARRIS: -- if you stand in favor of somebody who's an adversary over your friends, on principles that we all agree on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now the Trump campaign responding to these campaign -- these claims in an angry fashion. Let me just read part of the statement none of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump derangement syndrome. Woodward is an angry little man and is clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously. There was just a little taste of the statement.
Now, CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali, who, of course, exert -- has been the head of the Nixon Library, tells OUTFRONT that former presidents talking to adversaries actually, you know, that may not be new in concept, but there is no record from Woodward's reporting that a really crucial thing happened which is that a single person in the intelligence or national security community knew about Trump and Putin's calls.
In fact, "The New York Times" reporting tonight of the 19 officials that they spoke to, not one was told about these calls. So that's crucial, and context always matters here. Trump's desire to be close to Putin is important, his admiration for him is important and his clear support of Putin's view on Ukraine as just one example opens the door to something deeply serious, a former president talking with a sitting world leader in secret, contradicting U.S. government policy.
So let's just take Ukraine and what Trump has said publicly tells us a lot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBATE MODERATOR: Do you want Ukraine to win this war?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly -- people being killed by the millions, it's the millions.
DEBATE MODERATOR: Just to clarify in the question, do you believe it's in the us best interest for Ukraine to win this war, yes or no?
TRUMP: I think it's the U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done, negotiate a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Negotiate a deal. That's exactly what Putin says he wants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I already said that we did not refuse to talk. We're willing to negotiate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, that's the policy of Putin echoed by Trump, a deal where he gets Ukrainian land, then eventually, of course, much if not all of the largest country in Europe. But Trump's support of Putin on this existential issue for the Russian dictator is noticed in Russia, where state media portrays Donald Trump as a Vladimir Putin acolyte.
(BEGN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump -- Trump is planning to end the war in 24 hours. This scheme suits us well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This scheme suits us well. She says it. It sure does. And it also does not come out of the blue. For years, Trump of course has had glowing things to say about Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I also have a very good relationship as you know with President Putin.
I knew Putin very well, got along with him actually great.
Putin is a nicer person than I am.
So, now, I like Putin. Now Putin called me a genius, by the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, the genius in this relationship may be Putin who has maintained a direct relationship with a former president against U.S. protocol.
All right. Everyone's with me here.
Let me start with Jeremy Herb.
You have read this book, so you know all the detail in it, all the new reporting from the legendary Bob Woodward here. What more does he say about Trump's relationship with Putin?
JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: You know what's fascinating when you pour through the book and, you know, read it, is just how much Bob Woodward really brings you inside the room of these conversations -- conversations that Donald Trump's had with Putin.
[19:10:08]
Also, President Biden has had -- you know, he says that this is based on interviews with firsthand participants, people who were in the room listening and documents.
So that's what he is basing it on when you have this -- this transcript that effectively --
BURNETT: Put quotes around it.
HERB: Put quotes around it and he doesn't put quotes around everything, but he put quotes around this where Putin tells Trump, please don't tell anyone you sent these to me. And then when you get to the calls, you know, he says that an aide told him there may be as many as seven calls.
But he also has a scene there where the aide is sent out of the room. He says Trump sent this aide out of the rooms and told the aide, I'm having a private call with Putin. And so, it gets you just a little bit more of a glimpse.
Obviously, as you just laid out, there's a ton of context around Trump's relationship with Putin, but it just -- it gives us just that much more of a sense of really what he is thinking as he has these conversations.
BURNETT: Right, private conversations having everyone leave the room. Again, we don't know what we said but, you know, it's highly unusual, let's just put it that way to say the very least, and then you put the context around it.
And, Lulu, so that the Trump campaign statement, I shared part of it. They -- they say none of the stories are true, then they say President Trump gave him, referring to Woodward, absolutely no access for this trash book that either belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section of a discount bookstore or used as toilet tissue.
Okay. Sometimes when you get a response that aggressive, it's because, you know, you hit something. You hit something that was fragile. So what's your reaction when you hear about all this?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's really interesting that that's the way the Trump campaign responded. It says to me that they know how damaging this is. At the end of the day, Donald Trump has had this very long-standing relationship with Putin.
The way that this is described, I have to tell you, not only is it highly unusual, it sounds almost romantic in nature. Don't tell them that I gave you this gift. You know, please, I want to protect you. It's a -- it's a bizarre kind of relationship that they seem to have.
BURNETT: Yes, it's very odd.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's very odd. It's not the relationship that you typically hear about between two world leaders.
The other thing that really struck me is this is not Donald Trump talking to one of his golfing buddies. This is Donald Trump talking to the head of an adversarial power, a nuclear power that has invaded a sovereign country that the sitting U.S. president has been, you know, absolutely pinpointing as one of the main threats to this country. This is about the policy of the United States. It might be fine for you, you know, Donald Trump to have a relationship with world leaders but not a world leader who actually presents a threat to the interests of the United States.
BURNETT: Right. You're not talking about a Boris Johnson or something like that Bill Kristol.
I mean, how odd is this to you? I mean would you say there's something wrong with the former president having as many as seven calls with a -- with an adversary right who's -- who's been talking about and threatening you know lobbing nukes at U.S. allies or at the U.S. in the -- in the course of the Ukraine war.
How do you even get your head around this?
BILL KRISTOL, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THE BULWARK: No, I mean that really is the other stuff is bizarre sending the -- as president sending Putin the COVID kit, but it doesn't seem to threaten U.S. interests. This is really appalling. I mean, this is some -- he assuming some of these conversations, maybe all of them happened after Putin invaded Ukraine, after we had sanctions against Russia, Trump is sitting there having private conversations with Putin who we are doing our best to defeat in Ukraine.
Who knows what they're saying? He kicks his aide out of the room. Is he giving Putin advice on how to deal with the Republican Party and how to make a good case for himself here in America? Is Putin giving him, Trump, advice? Is Putin giving Trump instructions? Is Putin promising Trump certain things? If Trump rallies the Republicans to be not pro-Ukraine and instead pro-Putin.
Trump sitting at Mar-a-Lago, there's no -- there's no national security official on the phone. They where -- there would be presumably most of the time at least if you're actually sitting in the White House and if you're president. There's no record of it at all.
Trump sitting with all these classified documents he took to Mar-a- Lago.
BURNETT: Yeah. We really -- I mean, it -- I -- just the degree of not just irresponsibility but possible, really, terrible behavior and damage to the interest of the United States here. It's really extraordinary.
BURNETT: Right and you point out sitting here with all that the classified information that he had with him at Mar-a-Lago that we now know.
I mean, Jeremy, you know, Woodward also you just the context here to remind everybody of the seriousness of the situation with Putin, but when I mentioned the nukes, that he is reporting that the U.S. government had assessed that there was a percent chance that Putin could actually use a nuclear weapon regarding the Ukraine war. I mean, what more did you learn about that? HERB: Yeah. You know, obviously, the quotes in this book are fascinating, but some of the really most interesting details I think Woodward has is just how much the White House was concerned that that Putin actually might use nukes. Woodward reports on a call that happened before the war where he calls it a hot 15-minute call that -- that Biden had with Putin where at one point Putin mentioned using nuclear weapons in a threatening way.
[19:15:07]
And Biden had to remind him, no one wins a nuclear war. And you fast forward about six months into the war in September of 2022, that's when this 50 percent intelligence assessment comes in and the Biden White House went into overdrive to try to cut it off. They were concerned that they were going to make up a story about a dirty bomb. And we knew that publicly, but what the book shows us is what they did. They had Austin go to his counterpart, General Milley went to his counterpart, and Biden went to his -- his other world leaders and tried to get them to walk Putin back off that ledge.
BURNETT: And now, Trump may have -- we don't know the dates, may have had a conversation, we don't know what he said. I mean, just puts the exclamation point of how crucial this is and also, Bill, the context in terms of the broader context of the relationship between Trump and Putin and maybe why Putin said, well, don't tell anyone about the COVID test because you would look bad, whatever that conversation was about, Bill, part of the context here is the Mueller report and the conclusion that Russia wanted Trump to win that election.
Here's the crucial exchange that Mueller had when he testified about that report to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): Did your investigation find that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from one of the candidates winning?
ROBERT MUELLER, SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Yes.
LOFGREN: And which candidate would that be?
MUELLER: Well it would be rip -- Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Bill it sort of harkens back to what you said the other word -- other moment because you used the word, well, what were they talking about? Was it instruction was it what? I mean, that context says a lot when you think about the phone calls here.
KRISTOL: I mean, the best case, Erin, is that Trump as Vice President Harris sort of said, you know, he just loves dictators, he likes sucking up to them, he's flattered when they call him. I suppose in Mar-a-Lago, or take a call from him, and he's just got very bad character and that says something itself something, we kind of knew that he likes dictators.
But I think it's much worse much more worrisome than that. I mean, he's the ex-president. He's also the leader of the Republican Party. He's having secret, private, no aide, no one taking notes the way you do when you're president, 95 percent of the time Trump occasionally tried to stop that, too.
But, you know, the reason we know about the Biden conversations is there were other people in the office, other people on the line, there were notes that were taken, some of these people debriefed Woodward, et cetera, right?
We have no idea what Putin told Trump, what Trump told Putin, what Putin promised Trump, financial incentives, other things. I'll help you get the nominee -- I'll help you in the campaign if necessary. I might do things to hurt Biden if you become the nominee.
I mean, anything could have been said and I that's why I'm so really -- I'm just appalled by this really.
BURNETT: Lulu, I want to give you the final word and this regarding a conversation that you had today, 75-minute conversation with J.D. Vance, came and spoke to you. You interviewed him for "The New York Times", and I know you're going to be putting this into a full story. Seventy-five minutes with J.D. Vance, what stands out to you?
GARICA-NAVARRO: Seventy-five minutes with J.D. Vance. So, first of all, kudos to J.D. Vance for sitting down for 75 minutes --
BURNETT: Yeah.
NAVARRO: -- with "The New York Times", with me. It was an interesting conversation. It ranged very widely. It was about his past, but mostly what we focused on is this idea of who is J.D. Vance. We see different J.D. Vances, at different times saying different things. There's a big paper trail.
A lot of things that J.D. Vance had said in the past, why has he changed his opinions on them. He accuses Kamala Harris of changing her opinions, why does he change his opinions and he had a lot to say.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I can't wait to see all that. I know we're going to have you on to talk about that more. But thanks very much to all of you.
And, you know, when Lulu talks about J.D. Vance and changing what he's had to say, it is quite remarkable.
And there is new reporting next, our KFILE, brand new reporting on J.D. Vance. This is an interview from 2020, which puts Vance at direct odds with Trump on an issue that is core to this campaign right now. You'll hear that for yourself next.
Plus, as I promise, more on the deadly hurricane about to pummel Florida. I'm going to speak to an Air Force pilot who literally just flew through this storm, will tell you what an unprecedented storm looks like right up on that eye.
And we'll speak to this longtime meteorologist who broke into tears over the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MORALES, HURRICANE SPECIALISTT: It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And tonight, Israel accused of an assassination operation in an Iranian embassy as Iran braces for a massive attack and tonight, we will take you live to Tehran.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Tonight, the interview J.D. Vance doesn't want Donald Trump to see. Our KFILE unearthing it. These are Vance's comments in the weeks after the 2020 election, admitting Joe Biden won it.
Now, this is consistent with the old J.D. Vance who was a vocal Trump critic, but it is, of course, a very far cry from what we hear from Vance now which case in point here he is at the V.P. debate last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Did he lose the 2020 election?
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Obviously, Donald Trump and I think that there were problems in 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Andrew Kaczynski of KFILE is OUTFRONT.
So what did you find?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah, Erin, it is really shows Donald Trump's stranglehold over the Republican Party that the question of, did Donald Trump lose in 2020 has become seen as a gotcha question. It is not a gotcha question and Vance's answers around this really reflect his shift from someone who was once calling Donald Trump possibly America's Hitler to somebody who is now parroting his false election rhetoric.
But that is not how he always felt.
[19:25:01]
Take a listen to this clip from November of 2020.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) VANCE: I really don't see any -- any reason to think that this is going to become, you know, violent or chaotic. I think that when Biden is inaugurated, people will, you know, more or less accept it and it'll be on to the next fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: And what does Vance say there? He says that Biden is going to be inaugurated. He said that he does not think things are going to get violent and that is a remarkable shift from him parroting those false election claims today.
BURNETT: It certainly is.
Now, he is singing a very different tune. Now right he says things very differently which shifts you know kind of tracks with his run for office. I mean, here's just a few examples.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I think the election was stolen from Trump. Obviously, Republicans a lot of us don't trust the results of the 2020 election.
I happen to think that there were issues back in 2020, particularly in Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And yet even in that context, just today, Andrew, he said something that I thought was remarkable, just in the context of the fact that he's now going along with the election was stolen, irregular, all those things.
To your point about violence, he said this today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: We discourage rioting. We do not riot. Nobody in this room and nobody in this movement is going to riot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So what more are you learning about -- you know, when he weighs in, and what he says about this issue.
KACZYNSKI: Yeah. Look, we went through every J.D. Vance when he -- when he was nominated, every J.D. Vance tweet, we went through his deleted tweets, we went through his likes, we went through his public statements and interviews, after the election, before the election we did not find one single instance of him claiming that the 2020 election was stolen.
In fact, we found the opposite of that until he decides to run for office and at that point, he is basically making a play for Donald Trump's endorsement. He's a former critic and we see him out there with the same rhetoric as basically every other candidate in that crowded Republican primary for the Ohio Senate saying that Trump -- the election was stolen from Donald Trump.
BURNETT: So it's amazing when you look at that diagram, when he runs, you see the shift, interesting what Trump will think of what he says today. We do not riot. Nobody in this movement, nobody in this room is going to riot. That -- that was a significant moment.
All right. Andrew, thank you very much, KFILE with that new reporting there.
And next, the breaking news, Hurricane Milton now back to a category five storm again if you had a six, it could be a six. There's just -- the numbers don't go that high. Wind gusts are now near 200 miles an hour. Next, a hurricane hunter who just flew through that storm will be with me, and I'm going to talk to the meteorologist who held back tears as he reported on Milton's power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORALES: I apologize. This is just horrific.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:32:07]
BURNETT: And back to our breaking news coverage of the massive hurricane headed straight for Florida at this hour. The state's Governor Ron DeSantis telling the more than one million residents under evacuation orders to get out now. Hurricane Milton re- strengthening to a category 5 tonight, and the winds are maximum sustained 165 and right now going up to 200 miles an hour in gusts. Wind field extends 100 miles from the center of the storm, expected to double by the time it makes landfall, more than double, 230 miles. We expect to be that span.
In just a moment, I'm going to speak with a Hurricane Hunter who just flew through this storm.
I want to begin though first with Bill Weir. He's OUTFRONT with a look at these final hours before landfall.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Both physically and emotionally, they were already picking up the pieces on Florida's Gulf Coast.
BETH CALDWELL, LONG KEY, FL RESIDENT: It's like hysterical, can't sleep, can't eat one minute and then you're playing the next, and then you're like, it is what it is. You got to keep living.
WEIR: Now, Beth Caldwell must cut short her search for her mother's wedding ring to evacuate for the second time in as many weeks.
You were saying you're really worried about folks who made it through this one but they not --
CALDWELL: Well, yeah, because the amount of debris on this street and the winds even, if it slows down.
WEIR: Governor DeSantis said this morning that even with 24/7 debris removal, they wouldn't have all of Helene's damage cleaned up in time for Milton to make landfall and this is why. There is one front loader over here waiting to fill up a line of empty dump trucks that's approximately 2 miles long.
And this beach was covered in millions of dollars of fresh sand to try to protect this community which just got washed away.
SUSAN GLICKMAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY AND PARTNERSHIP, THE CLEO INSTITUTE: That's right.
WEIR: What does that tell you about how we prepare, and how we have to adjust to this new Earth?
GLICKMAN: The fact is, is you cannot adapt your way out of the climate crisis.
WEIR: Susan Glickman grew up around this bungalow where her husband and a dear 90-year-old friend called Nanny survived Helene.
But, ironically, she's also a community climate organizer in Florida, desperately trying to convince officials and neighbors that this is what scientists have been warning about for generations.
GLICKMAN: It is beyond criminal if we do not dramatically address the root cause of the problem immediately. But if we keep putting climate pollution and burning fossil fuel, we're just going to make a lot of this planet in general, just unlivable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEIR (on camera): Here in a pretty empty downtown St. Petersburg, the city announced on our website today that the cranes, these construction tower cranes so prevalent in this growing state do not could not stand up in 100 mile-an-hour winds. There's a possibility they could come down.
[19:35:01]
There's not enough time to disassemble them before the storm. As scary as that sounds, the much bigger threat is all that water being pushed by this category five winds right now.
Erin, the last time a major storm hit this part of Florida 100 years ago, population has gone up by about three and a half million people and the sea level has gone up by a foot.
BURNETT: That is pretty stunning, too, just to even consider that.
Bill Weir, thank you very much in St. Petersburg.
And he will be there through this storm.
I want to go OUTFRONT now to the Air Force hurricane hunter, Major Alex Boykin, who just flew through Hurricane Milton.
Major Boykin, I appreciate you're taking the time. What was it like in there?
MAJ. ALEX BOYKIN, AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER: Good evening.
It's a quite a large storm. We had several different passes through five different passes today, and each one a little different and each one you could feel how just how strong the core of this storm is and has the potential to be.
BURNETT: So, you know, you took some video from your flight and one meteorologist had talked about just the astounding amount of lightning, something like 58,000 strikes, you know, one lightning event every second. He says unlike anything he has ever seen in the Atlantic.
How does it feel like to you? And what does it look like when you go through and see that?
BOYKIN: The feel is more of just the whole intensity of the storm itself the whole system. The lightning is just -- can be just an all inspiring phenomenon. It's striking all around aircraft. You know, we're built to take that kind of stuff but it's the video does a better job of showing it than I can explain it.
BURNETT: So tell me what it is. When you say built to take that sort of stuff and yet we're seeing something unprecedented. I mean, when you go through this, do you -- do you feel that? Do you feel any sense of insecurity about this? Or you know, how does this even compare to all these other storms you've been through, Major?
BOYKIN: It is absolutely built for it, and no, you don't feel any insecurity, both all of Air Force hurricane hunters and our partners over at NOAA flying these storms together, this is part of the job that we go out and do. This is a huge storm for the Gulf of Mexico but not a unheard of storm that we operate in.
So for us, it's part of our -- part of what we do and make sure that what we go in and get is that information that can get to the American people so they can stay safe.
BURNETT: Well, Major Boykin, you know, I think it's incredible you do it. I know everyone watching does as well. I mean, it's a -- it's a -- it's a -- I know it's your job and you do it but it is a -- you know, it's a courageous thing and it's important thing makes such a difference and we appreciate it. So thank you so much.
BOYKIN: Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
BURNETT: All right. Major Alex Boykin there who just flew through Milton.
And next, South Florida's beloved longtime meteorologist who's been through Andrew, Katrina, countless other devastating storms moved to tears over the forecast, and he'll be my guest next. And why are China's strict sensors allowing this video of a phone exploding to be used to spread fear among the masses?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:28]
BURNETT: Tonight, in tears. This viral video shows a long time Florida meteorologist, John Morales, who is my guest in just a moment, breaking down on television. He was telling his viewers about the stunning severity of hurricane Milton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MORALES, HURRICANE SPECIALISTT: It's just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped -- it has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours. I apologize. This is just horrific.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Morales became emotional as you can see, you know, trying to gather his thoughts and his emotion so we could continue.
He's OUTFRONT now. He is the longest serving meteorologist in south Florida, reassuring presence for three decades.
And, John, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you. Forty years as a meteorologist, 30 of them spent, you know, being the calm face of for so many communities in south Florida. And those millibars that you're referring to in that clip or how you measure the drop in air pressure that you've seen in this unprecedented storm.
Obviously, when you started your sentence in that moment, I'm sure you didn't know exactly what was going to happen, you know, that would be sort of overwhelmed. What moved you?
MORALES: Well -- it just so happens that moments before going on the air, the National Hurricane Center issued an urgent bulletin indicating that it had become a category five. So that was -- that was right at the moment. I remember I wasn't even looking at the camera as they were tossing -- as the anchor was tossing to me, I was looking at my computer, my eyes go wide.
And then I look at the pressure that they reported from the National Hurricane Center and I did quick math. I also had a chart in front of me and it's a very geeky, nerdy moment to break down over, you know, 50 millibars in ten hours. But it -- per to a meteorologist, it means something, it means extreme, rapid intensification of a hurricane as would be expected in this new era that we're in.
And it was just a confirmation of everything we've been talking about for so many years happening yet again about to impact so many people, wrecks so many lives. So it was just a mixture of empathy for those people, as well as the acts of increasingly frequent and more severe, extreme weather events and just frustration over being a climate communicator for over 20 years and realizing this is happening, and we knew it was coming.
[19:45:10]
BURNETT: I guess when you talk about the anger, the frustration, the empathy -- I mean, you have been that face, that presence, that calming presence that, you know, we turn to. That's what when you turn on the TV and you wait for the whether, that's what that gives all of us. Every terrible storm you've been there, is that calming presence, hurricane Andrew back in 1992, Katrina, Wilma, Marine, Matthew, Irma. The list goes on.
They are all parts of your career so what does stand out to you about this particular storm? You know, in that moment when your moved by oh, my -- I cannot believe that we're in this moment.
MORALES: Yeah I mean, I got to be honest with you. I think this has been has been building up for it -- for a couple or maybe five years. You know, I've always been known as the non alarmist, just the facts meteorologist and, the south Florida audience in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale media market have appreciated that coming from a market where weather is often over height, right?
BURNETT: Yeah.
MORALES: So I'm kind of the antithesis of that. So this is definitely a departure of the guy I've always been, but I have changed. The extreme weather events that are multiplying, the number of multibillion dollar disasters that are impacting this country and countries all over the world, it has changed me.
These symptoms of the changing climate has changed me from a cool cucumber to somebody that's certainly more agitated and in a bit of dismay about what's going on.
BURNETT: So when you talk about climate change, John, and you're talking about how it has changed you, I want to play a little bit more of the moment you became emotional. That's when you were talking about climate change specifically. Let me play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORALES: You know what's driving that. I don't need to tell you -- global warming, climate change, leading to this, and becoming an increasing threat for the Yucatan, including Merida and Progresso and other areas there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You know, you can hear the voice there, still, with the emotion, wavering, what scares you the most, John, about the situation that were in now with these storms?
MORALES: Well, so that clip, it goes on to me saying that if you've ever traveled to the Yucatan peninsula, while there are cities like Merida and Cancun that, you know, have normal infrastructure and whatnot, there's also a very, very humble communities all over the place and that -- that's what was making my voice break yet again because it is -- more often than not, it is these humble communities in the United States, the frontline communities, communities of color in the United States, and all over the world in countries that had nothing to do with the injection of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, okay, that are suffering the worst consequences of this. And that's where the empathy park came in.
So I was just heartbroken by that, and that's what climate change can do. It impacts disproportionately people in frontline communities that really have very little to do with a burning fossil fuels.
BURNETT: Well, John, I appreciate your time and I know you will be in Florida covering this storm, providing the comfort for -- for so many in the state over these next days.
And appreciate so much for taking a brief moment to speak with us.
MORALES: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right.
And next, we're going to take you live inside Iran, a nation bracing tonight from massive strike by Israel.
Plus, why are strict Chinese sensors allowing video of exploding iPhones the context of the Israel situation to go viral.
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[19:53:43]
BURNETT: Tonight, assassination attempt. Israel striking tonight less than half a mile from the Iranian embassy in Syria. State media there calling the attack a possible assassination operation. And it comes as the world braces for Israel's expected major strike on Iranian soil.
That is where our Fred Pleitgen is tonight, OUTFRONT in Tehran.
And, Fred, I know you drove more than 18 hours across the country. You shared some of these photos with me today in a country that you have now seen across the country, expecting a massive attack, hitting many of the places that you drove through.
What did Iranians tell you they hear?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Erin. Yeah, first of all, the fact that we did actually drive through here shows how on edge the region is. A lot of the international airlines have actually canceled their flights here and the flight schedules are bit difficult right now. So we decided to drive from Yerevan in Armenia all the way down to Tehran, which is actually a really beautiful stunning drive.
But you do hear a lot of people who are very concerned here in Iran and they're less concerned about the actual strike that. They believed that the Israelis could still conduct, more so about this billowing out into a possible larger war between Iran and then possibly also the United States if this becomes a bigger thing. That certainly is something that is on them minds of many people that we've been speaking to in towns that we've been going through as we've been driving through this country.
[19:55:02]
At the same time, you have the leadership of this country, Erin, that's making it clear that they are not going to back down. You had the foreign minister today warning the Israelis that if they do strike, that, there will be what he calls a crushing response from the Iranians, Erin.
BURNETT: This crushing response. I mean, also, so much of this in these recent days, right, comes from the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, that then sparked this latest escalation, right? As now it continues to escalate with the Iranian strike, ballistic missile strike on Israel.
So how is that, the assassination of Nasrallah affecting Iranians right now?
PLETIGEN: Well, I think it's -- I think it's really affecting to a great deal and we saw that as we were driving through the country today as well. I think one of the things that's really weighing on a lot of people, of course, in leadership of this country is that there were very close relations between Hassan Nasrallah and the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
And when we're driving through a lot of these towns and cities here, you did see a lot of Hezbollah flags, a lot of likenesses of Hassan Nasrallah, billboards and other things. And the message that kept getting repeated on all of those signs was Hezbollah remains alive, which obviously, the Iranians are trying to project that even after the killing of large parts of Hezbollah's leadership, that Iran is going to continue to support Hezbollah.
Of course, that also shows once again the animosity towards Israel as well, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much with such important reporting from Tehran tonight after driving across the country.
Also tonight, Israel does say it's eliminated a line of Hezbollah successors. Here is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We took out a thousand of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah replacement, the replacement of his replacement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Israel trying to decimate Hezbollah, killing many commanders when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded and worries about those exploding devices now spreading way beyond Lebanon. The world's largest airline has banned pagers, two way pagers and radios in most flights.
And now China is taking advantage of the risks and fears and Will Ripley is OUTFRONT with that.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On China's tightly controlled social media, censors have allowed this 2011 video of an its floating iPhone to go viral, drawing misleading comparisons to the deadly attacks in Lebanon.
Thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies rigged with explosives. Chinese social media influencers are using the 13-year-old video, spreading rumors about Apple iPhones, suggesting without evidence ordinary iPhones that haven't been tampered with can be remotely detonated, making them deadly weapons.
CHRIS BODEN, YOUTUBER: You can't just make an iPhone blow up like that without putting explosives in it.
RIPLEY: We tracked down the man behind the original viral video, American YouTuber Chris Boden. He says this iPhone was hooked up to a high voltage machine.
BODEN: To make that little iPhone blow up, we had to have a power supply that was bigger than a refrigerator and weighs about half a ton.
RIPLEY: Despite efforts from some Chinese state media to debunk online rumors, fears that iPhones could explode are spreading quickly online. It's a very real threat,one user writes. Another says, if we want to protect our lives, we should use Chinese products.
Some influencers are encouraging users to switch to Chinese brands. Cyber nationalism in China creates fertile ground for false attacks on foreign brands like Apple.
These posts untouched by Beijing's army of online censors.
BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: If you had one of these iPhones --
RIPLEY: Former CIA operative Bob Baer points out iPhones are primarily assembled in China.
BAER: I mean, if the Chinese government were involved, they can rig any of these phones.
RIPLEY: Baer says there's no evidence any phones are being weaponized.
BAER: Any phone with a chip is insecure. You can blow somebody up if you can put in a detonator and explosive.
(END VIDEOTAPE) RIPLEY (on camera): He also says there are plenty of easier ways to kill someone without getting hold of their phone. And there's actually zero chance of a phone spontaneously exploding without explosives being added to it. The most that could happen is the operating system gets hacked and the battery overheats, potentially causing a fire.
But that's not stopping these conspiracy theories from spreading in China. There's actually a construction company that has banned its employees from bringing iPhones into work, Erin. They're offering vouchers for workers to switch to a Chinese made brand and saying, those who don't do it and are caught with an iPhone could get fired.
BURNETT: Wow. Will Ripley thank you very much. I mean that is just an incredibly important detail.
All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
And thanks so much to all of you for being with us.
"AC360", as always with Anderson, begins right now.
