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Hurricane Ian Intensifies into Category 3, Taking Aim at Florida; CBO Says, Biden's Student Loan Cancellation Plan Could Cost $400 Billion; Trump Ally Stone Says, F*** the Voting, Let's Get Right to the Violence. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 27, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:02]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Tampa's mayor telling residents, if you can leave, just leave now.

Officials say the Tampa region could see the storm of a lifetime. More than 15 million people are expected to feel the impact of this hurricane when it arrives, and the storm has rapidly intensified to a category 3 with 150 per hour winds. It could cause life-threatening storm surge.

So far, ahead of the storm, a hospital in St. Petersburg has suspended service and transferred its patients. Florida parks and schools are closed. At least three cruise lines have rerouted passengers. The Tampa Bay Airport will suspend operations at 5:00 P.M. today.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we have video that shows a steady stream of traffic seen leaving Tampa Bay area. This happened overnight, people trying to get inland from the coast taking cover. The storm preps testing their patients. One Tampa resident waited three hours to get free sandbags. U.S. military installations are moving aircraft and naval ships out of the Tampa and Jacksonville areas.

And to give you an idea of how big the storm is, NASA released a video, this video, of Hurricane Ian from the International Space Station.

KEILAR: All right. I want to bring in Michael Brennan. He is the acting deputy director of the NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Michael, thanks again for joining us today as well.

So, tell us, obviously, Tampa low-lying. What is the greatest threat there?

MICHAEL BRENNAN, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NOAA: Well, the greatest threat is going to be a lot along much of the West Central Florida Coast, from Tampa down to the Fort Myers area. Since yesterday, we've seen the track forecast actually shift a little farther to the south or to the east, moving the -- we're expecting the center of Ian to cross the coast of West Central Florida, near or south of the Tampa Bay region. So it actually increases some of the risks for its storm surge in places like Fort Myers, Charlotte Harbor, where we could see storm surge inundation up to seven to eight feet above ground level in these areas.

And that's -- this whole area is under a storm surge warning, essentially, right now, from Anclote River all the way down to Flamingo, including Tampa Bay. And this area that you see here in this dark pink that I zoom in here, it's really that area where we're most concerned for the danger of life-threatening inundation from storm surge beginning -- as soon as later tonight and into as we get through the day tomorrow.

KEILAR: So, that shift east could be better news for Tampa, but like you said, Fort Myers, bad news for Fort Myers area?

BRENNAN: Yes. Any sort of small wiggle or wobble of the track of Ian, even if as it approaches, the storm will to maybe only 10 or 15 miles in one direction or the other make a huge difference in who sees the worst storm surge. But this entire area is certainly at risk. And it's not just going to be storm surge. We're going to see Ian slow to a crawl once it makes landfall in Florida, moving only four or five miles per hour. We could see some areas get 20 to 25 inches of rainfall. So, water is going to be a huge story with this storm, not just as it makes landfall but even after it moves inland.

KEILAR: So, tell us what you're looking for here in the coming hours and days, really, and also tell us when it is drop dead time for people to make that decision whether or not they know that the path is going to come right for them to get out.

BRENNAN: Well, yes. I mean, the message today is if you've been asked to evacuate by your local officials, please do so. Today is really going to be your last day to get those preparations done and to actually move out in this storm surge warning area, because we're going to have the center of Ian, which is a big hurricane. Tropical storm force winds extend way out from the center. It's already raining here in South Florida moving northwards.

So, the conditions are going to deteriorate even today. But as the core of Ian approaches, those tropical storm force winds are going to reach the coast. If you look at the timing here, they're most likely to arrive, say, in the southern end of that storm surge, warning area by this evening, in the early morning hours on Wednesday, advancing northward into the Tampa Bay region by Wednesday morning. So, really, you have today to get to where you're going to be to ride out the storm.

KEILAR: And, Michael, what does this damage look like as the storm progresses?

BRENNAN: Well, in terms of -- storm surge can obviously flood out homes, flood out business, put roads and infrastructure under water. The winds associated with the core of the hurricane where it moves on shore as a category 3 storm can cause damage to well-built homes, damage to trees, power lines. It could be widespread power outages. And then you're going to have the flooding rainfall that all happens on top of that. So, you're really looking at a multi-hazard, multi- day-long event here in much of the Western and Central Florida Peninsula.

KEILAR: Michael Brennan with NOAA, it's so helpful to have you this morning. Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: Thanks.

BERMAN: Let's go to CNN's Carlos Suarez in Gulfport, Florida, on the West Coast there in Pinellas County. Carlos, what are you seeing this morning?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this morning, we saw that second mandatory evacuation order just go into effect here in Pinellas County. The other one went into effect yesterday. And all of this impacts the barrier islands in the Tampa Bay area.

[07:05:00]

We are in Gulfport, where a number of businesses have already started the process of boarding up. This one shop out here, they've got one, two, three sheets of plywood up. They've also got their sandbags to a corner out here. I'd imagine they're going to be moving these a little bit later on to the entrance to the store.

And then just next door to me, the owner out here has started the process of getting some plywood up on his business. He was telling us just a few minutes ago that the last time this area was hit by a storm, this part of Gulfport saw about three to four inches of rain get into these shops.

Over in Hillsborough County, the folks there, 43 hurricane shelters have opened since the evacuation order went into effect at 2:00 yesterday. The emergency officials out here are really telling everyone to go ahead and just try to get further inland. The traffic cameras last night, Interstate 4 showing folks trying to get to the Orlando area, that was bumper to bumper at around 10:00 and 11:00 at night. You would imagine that we're going to still see a lot of that traffic as this storm inches closer to this part of Florida. John?

BERMAN: All right. Carlos Suarez down in Gulfport, thank you very much, Carlos.

KEILAR: So, this morning, U.S. Stock Futures are higher after all three major indexes started the week in major decline. The Dow slipped into its first bear market since the pandemic. That is defined as a drop of 20 percent or more from a recent high. The index plunged more than 300 points amid investor concerns about central bank efforts to slow inflation.

Traders are also concerned about a too strong U.S. dollar. The British pound hit a new record low against the dollar, and that means that U.S. companies doing a lot of business abroad could be hurt as the profits that they make in other countries will decrease in dollar terms.

BERMAN: First on CNN, a new Bank of America-sponsored survey finds that 71 percent of employees in July said inflation is outpacing their pay. That's up from 58 percent in February. Some employees also considered quitting. 21 percent say they thought about switching jobs. 9 percent did switch. The top reasons, compensation, burnout and work/life balance.

So, this morning, a new estimate of the cost of President Biden's plans to address college debt. Last month, the White House announced it would cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for low to middle-income borrowers. The Congressional Budgets Office just put out a price for the plan, a price tag. They say $400 billion.

CNN Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans here with that, $400 billion.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, look, there were no offsets to this, right? So, this $400 billion number is likely to revive the debate over the most expensive -- one of the most expensive parts of the Biden agenda. It's a campaign promise kept. The progressives said it didn't go far enough. Republicans called it a socialist giveaway and an insult to hardworking families who saved for college or went to community college instead.

So, here is what it is, right? Canceling $10,000 of loans for millions of Americans, it's $20,000 loan forgiveness for anyone who went to college with a Pell Grant. It's for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year, and it only applies to those who hold loans with the Department of Education.

Now, CBO calls its own figures uncertain. There are a lot of variables here, but they are in line with what many economists had expected. The White House is expected to release its own estimate in the coming weeks.

The White House has long argued this will help 43 million low and middle-income Americans get out from under their debt. It will wipe out the entire debt of 20 million people. Now, borrowers need to apply at studentaid.gov. There are some deadlines to be aware of here. You need to apply by November 15th to get the relief by the end of the year, important because student loan payments resume, everybody, after that, at the beginning of the year. It's going to take 46 weeks to be reflected in the account. The final deadline, December 31st, 2023, before the program ends.

Student loan payments and interests have been paused, of course, since the early days of the pandemic starting with President Trump and continuing through the Biden administration. But I'll tell you, budget hawks are saying this is a big giveaway, frankly, without offsets and without congressional approval. The president used his pandemic era powers to do this, John.

BERMAN: All right. Christine Romans with the price tag, thank you very much.

Ahead, we're going to get reaction from Senator Joe Manchin, who called the president's plan excessive.

KEILAR: This morning, CNN has exclusively obtained new documentary footage of former President Trump ally Roger Stone. And in the videos, Stone is seen calling for violence before the votes were counted in the 2020 election, and telling his associates to claim victory even if Trump lost.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is joining us now. This is really something you have to see.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is. It's a powerful video. It's Roger Stone in his own words. And this is footage that we shared not only with CNN but with the January 6 committee showing Trump confidant Roger Stone in the critical moments leading up to election day, essentially laying out a potential strategy to invalidate the 2020 election if Trump were to lose.

[07:10:03]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY (voice over): In documentary clips obtained by CNN, longtime Republican operative Roger Stone advocating violence before the 2020 presidential election.

ROGER STONE, LONGTIME TRUMP CONFIDANT: Excellent. (BLEEP) voting. Let's get right to the violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get right to it.

STONE: Shoot to kill. See an Antifa, shoot to kill. (BLEEP) I'm done with this bullshit.

SERFATY: That clip was filmed on November 2nd, 2020, and it's now in the hands of the January 6 House select committee investigating the Capitol attack. The committee delivered a subpoena to Copenhagen and obtained eight minutes of footage from the Danish filmmaker's documentary.

CHRISTOFFER GULDBRANDSEN, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, A STORM FORETOLD: Their interest was kind of the chain from the White House to Roger Stone and onwards to Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Did you think that you were able to establish a direct connection between all of those?

GULDBRANDSEN: No, absolutely not.

LEMON: You cannot?

GULDBRANDSEN: We have only been with Roger Stone. And his communications with the White House, we do not know anything about it.

LEMON: Okay. Did he spend a lot of time with members of the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers or any groups like that, the QAnon people?

GULDBRANDSEN: The Proud Boys, yes. I mean, Proud Boys -- he is very close to the Proud Boys.

LEMON: Did you see him communicating with anyone from these groups.

GULDBRANDSEN: Yes, constantly.

LEMON: Constantly?

GULDBRANDSEN: Yes.

SERFATY: They filmed Stone's movements for periods over three years and filmed Stone just days before the election, saying then President Trump should just claim victory.

STONE: Let's just hope we're celebrating. I suspect it will be -- I really do suspect it will still be up in the air. But when that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine- tenths the law. No, we won (BLEEP). Sorry, over, we won, you're wrong, (BLEEP).

SERFATY: Stone denies the accuracy of the videos, writing in a statement to CNN, I challenge the accuracy and the authenticity of these videos and believe they have been manipulated and selectively edited. The excerpts you've provided below prove nothing. Certainly, they do not prove I had anything to do with the events of January 6th. That being said, it clearly shows I advocated for lawful congressional and judicial options.

In the clips exclusively obtained by CNN, Stone, as far back as July 2020, was laying the groundwork for the future Stop the Steal campaign and the false claims that the election was stolen.

STONE: What they're assuming is the election will be normal. The election will not be normal. Oh, these are California results? Sorry, we're not accepting them. We're challenging them in court. If the electors show up at the Electoral College, armed guards will throw them out. I'm the president. (BLEEP). You're not stealing Florida. You're not stealing -- I'm challenging all of it. And the judges we're going to are judges I appointed. (BLEEP), you're not stealing the election. That basically what Bush did to Gore. So, if they want to run a bunch of fake ballots, we'll have an investigation. We'll say these ballots are fake, your results are invalidated, goodbye. That story is going to have to work. It's going to be really nasty.

SERFATY: In another clip, Stone is seen on January 15th days after the Capitol attack, criticizing the White House Counsel's Office for what he described as their argument that Trump could not provide preemptive pardons to Stone and others for their alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the election.

STONE: I believe the president is for it. The obstacles are these lily-livered, weak-kneed bureaucrats in the White House Counsel's Office, and now they must be crushed because they've told the president something that's not true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And tomorrow on Capitol Hill, the January 6th committee is holding its next public hearing where they will be unveiling more of their findings, and the committee making it very clear ahead of time, Roger Stone certainly is someone they've been looking into. And Committee Member Jamie Raskin, he says Stone was someone who saw where things were going.

KEILAR: It's a really interesting defense he has. He's raising possibility that there's an accuracy and authenticity problem with this. Sunlen, thank you so much for that report.

I want to bring in CNN Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz to talk a little bit more about what we're seeing here.

The January 6th committee is actually holding a public hearing, perhaps its last public hearing, and this is going to happen on Wednesday, tomorrow. They've been looking for these ties. How deeply do these ties go between the circle of people around Trump and extremist groups, like the Oath Keepers? Do you think this new footage that we're seeing here in Sunlen's piece is going to play any part in this?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I mean, it certainly sounds like it. I mean, what some of the hints that we're hearing about this hearing may be about, it could focus on Roger Stone. We know that the committee is interested in even getting access to some of this footage from the Danish filmmakers.

But one of the things we've seen throughout all of this progression of hearings is that the Justice Department is maybe a step behind, maybe not even a step behind the House in what they're gathering.

[07:15:00]

And we know that the Justice Department, this U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. especially, has long had an interest in Roger Stone. They took him to trial. They earned a conviction for him lying to Congress a few years ago. During that, they were investigating some of his ties to prominent members of the Proud Boys. We knew that there was a grand jury investigation then. Proud Boys obviously are back in the discussion related to January 6th are charged with crimes there.

And then there's also, we know, the FBI going after some of this video also that the Danish filmmakers have of Stone. And then, finally, Stone has come up in the Oath Keepers' cases a couple of times. There are two men that were around him providing security that we know of that are Oath Keepers. One has pled guilty to seditious conspiracy, we know, is cooperating. The other is going to be going to trial.

So, there's quite the possibility here that the Justice Department could be picking up where the House is leaving off with a lot of their parts of the investigation, and it's totally possible that they have looked further into some of the Roger Stone issues, even if he may not be a target at this time.

KEILAR: What are you looking for in this Oath Keeper trial? And we should mention that jury selection does begin today.

POLANTZ: It does indeed. This is going to be a big test for the Justice Department in combating domestic extremism, in bringing a case and trying to convince a jury that this -- it wasn't just a conspiracy as they've charged with a lot of different groups of people that went to the Capitol, but it was sedition, that there was a seditious plot.

And in this trial, it's the first of three sedition trials that are going to be happening in the D.C. federal court over the coming weeks. This one is going to take seven weeks. It's five defendants, including the leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes. Then we're expecting 40 witnesses, so, really a massive undertaking that is going to take up a lot of effort by the Justice Department as they move forward.

Now, the Oath Keepers, in their defense, they say that this was all peace-keeping, they weren't plotting, even if they were bringing guns and stashing them in hotel rooms, having planning meetings. They say that they were just responding and waiting for Donald Trump to call them to help.

KEILAR: Trying to keep the peace, right, is going to be their defense. We'll see if that is something that flies.

Katelyn, Sunlen, thank you so much to both of you.

As workers are returning to the office, something else is rearing its head, and that is traffic jams because they are back to pre-pandemic levels.

And regaining your sense of smell and your taste after having COVID, why does it take some people longer to get it back? We have Sanjay Gupta here digging deeper.

BERMAN: And what Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is saying about his new favorite Democrat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: Traffic is coming back to pre-pandemic levels. I've seen it with my own eyes. This all thanks to a push for workers to return to the office. Major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago seeing more commuter traffic congestion and it is growing.

CNN Correspondent Pete Muntean joins us live from I-395 outside D.C. with the details. Look at it, it's already slow behind you, Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Traffic is growing everywhere, John, here in D.C. but in major metros across the country. What's so interesting here is that we're after Labor Day, kids are going back to school but more people are headed back to the office.

This is the latest from travel analytics firm, Inworks (ph), travel growing in all ten major metros, up 10 percent in just the last month in Miami alone. Traffic is above pre-pandemic levels in Miami, in Dallas, in Houston and in Phoenix. Still below pre-pandemic levels here in D.C., also in New York, L.A., Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia. There is an interesting disparity though taking place in the numbers. Monday and Friday, that is when traffic is typically lower, even lower than it was before the pandemic. Wednesday and Thursday are the really big days for traffic now in major cities across the country, really starts to begin to rise today, Tuesday.

What's also interesting here, John, is one other factor, and that is gas prices. The national average for a gallon of gasoline now $3.74, up 7 cents in the last week, according to AAA. Some people just might not be able to afford going back to work and that is keeping them away from commuting, John.

KEILAR: And, Pete, tell us about these new airline rules that are targeting fees that President Biden is implementing.

MUNTEAN: What's so interesting here, Brianna, is that fees have really become the background noise for many people flying. It went from free to fee about 15 years ago. And now, the airlines are being targeted by the Biden administration to put these fees essentially upfront when you buy your ticket so you know the true cost of things. We're talking about things like just being able to select a seat. It could range from about $50 down to about $4, depends on the airline though, that depends on the type of fare that you get. On main cabin extra on American Airlines, you could pay up to $280 to select your seat.

Now, that's the norm. That's a bit of an upgrade. But the Biden administration wants airlines to put these numbers upfront so you're not going attacked on fees as you go to buy your ticket.

BERMAN: Yes, better to know right at the beginning, before you keep clicking through.

Pete Muntean, great to see you this morning, I hope you get back safely.

So, let's get right to the violence, more on our exclusive footage of Trump ally Roger Stone just a day before the 2020 election.

KEILAR: And could more changes be coming to Jeopardy!, the new rule that's now being floated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: More now on the new documentary film footage obtained by CNN that shows Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally, saying the day before the 2020 election that he had no interest in waiting to count actual votes before contesting the results.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STONE: Excellent. (BLEEP) the violence or (BLEEP). Let's get right to the violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get right to it.

STONE: Shoot to kill. See an Antifa, shoot to kill. (BLEEP) them. I'm done with this bullshit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: F the voting, let's get right to the violence. In a second clip, Stone said that Trump should prematurely claim victory on election night in 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STONE: Let's just hope we're celebrating. I suspect it will be -- I really do suspect it will still be up in the air. But when that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine- tenths the law. No, we won (BLEEP). Sorry, over, we won, you're wrong, (BLEEP).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With me now, CNN Political Analyst and Senior Correspondent for theGrio Natasha Alford, Mark McKinnon, a former senior adviser to George W. Bush and the John McCain campaigns, and the co-creator and co-host of The Circus on Showtime. Season 7 just premiered. CNN Political Commentator and former special assistant to George W. Bush Scott Jennings and CNN Political Commentator S.E. Cupp here as well.

[07:30:04]

You've known Roger Stone a long time, Mark.