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One World with Zain Asher
Florida Braces For Milton's Disastrous Impact; "Life-Threatening" Storm Surge Warnings For Florida; Milton To Hit Florida As Extremely Dangerous Major Hurricane; Israeli Military Operations Continue To Ramp Up One Year In; FEMA Launches "Rumor Response" To Combat Misinformation; Harris Appears On "60 Minutes," Trump Does Not; Recovering After Hurricane Helene; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET
Aired October 08, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:25]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: The strongest storm on Earth. This hour, Hurricane Milton is barreling its way toward Florida.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: ONE WORLD starts right now.
It could be just hours away from Hurricane Milton making history. We'll tell you why meteorologists say this storm is going to be different.
ASHER: Also ahead, unprecedented, Hezbollah launches one of its biggest attacks on Haifa since the war began.
GOLODRYGA: And later, no show. Why Donald Trump ditched one of his favorite shows, "60 Minutes?"
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching ONE WORLD.
Officials in Florida have a message for those in the Tampa area, simply get out now.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And here's why Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida and should make landfall late Wednesday. No one should take this storm
lightly. It's the strongest storm anywhere on earth this year.
ASHER: And by the way, the timing just really couldn't be worse at this point in time. That's because this storm is coming on the heels of
Hurricane Helene, which devastated Florida. Hard to believe that was less than two weeks ago. So it's in for it again. Tampa's mayor put her warning
in plain terms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE CASTOR, MAYOR OF TAMPA: Helene was a wakeup call. This is literally catastrophic. And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you
choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you're going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Wow. And many are heeding her advice. Evacuation routes out of Milton's path are now clogged and some gas stations are running out of
fuel.
Now, for those who have to stay like emergency workers, shelters are popping up like this at Tropicana field in Tampa.
President Biden gave an update just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're driving up preparedness for Hurricane Milton, which could be one of the worst storms in 100 years
in Florida, and continued efforts on Hurricane Helene.
I've directed this team to do everything it can to save lives and our communities, help our communities before, during, and after the extreme
weather event set, and that's being done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Let's talk a little bit more about Milton's position and its track as well. We've got Elisa Raffa, our meteorologist, joining us
live now from Atlanta.
So, Elisa, I think that one of the things that is scariest about this storm, I mean, yes, of course, it's been downgraded, but it really is how
quickly it intensified, right? From a storm to this life-threatening hurricane, it happened so, so quickly. Walk us through that.
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is. It has intensified so fast yesterday. And it has really maintained that major hurricane status, a
category four right now.
And even if you see that category wavering from down a little bit, the wind field is expanding, it's getting fatter. So that means that those impacts
will spread much farther away from the center. So that's not really great either.
Category four hurricane, 150-mile per hour wind. Again, nothing to sneeze at. I mean, it's down from the 180 what we had yesterday. But again, 150-
mile per hour winds in the center, still sitting about 500 miles south in west of Tampa. That eye is opening up again.
We continue to keep it at this major hurricane status. The winds could even come back up a little bit more to teetering on that Category five strength.
But right now, we're keeping it at a four on the track.
It starts to get some wind energy in its way, some dry air. That's why some of the intensity teeters. But again, the storm gets fatter. We have
hurricane warnings in effect from coast to coast, from the West Coast all the way to the Atlantic Coast. And it looks like we'll keep a category two
hurricane over Orlando as thing moves inland.
So again, keeping a lot of its core together with those damaging winds. And, of course, the storm surge. We're looking at winds up to 110 miles per
hour or greater from the Tampa area down to Sarasota, again, hurricane force to the other coast up to 110 miles per hour that will cause
widespread power outages.
And like I mentioned, we're looking at a fatter storm. Look at how the tropical storm force winds engulf the entire Peninsula and the hurricane
force winds stretch from coast to coast. Again, a problem when it comes to the damaging winds the downed trees and the power problems.
Because we are really tracking the center of the storms going somewhere near or around the Tampa Bay area, we are worried about unprecedented storm
surge. That will take that ocean and push it 10 to 15 feet from Tampa Bay down to Sarasota.
Water that tall is simply unsurvivable, which is why you're hearing such harsh warnings from the officials.
[12:05:01]
Even down to Naples, you're looking at storm surge up to 10 feet. Again, the entire coast with this ocean sloshing.
When it comes to the rain accumulation, again, rain totals could even be up to a foot, so you'll get the flooding not just from the ocean but from the
sky. That's why we have a high risk for excessive rain. You don't see this high risk issued all that often. It's only issued four percent of the time.
But as a result, we wind up seeing 80 percent of our flood damages and 40 percent of our fatalities. So again, flooding from the ocean, flooding from
the sky, the damaging winds, really just looking at an unprecedented storm here.
The rain, again, could be about three months worth of rain in Tampa, just from Milton. Ladies.
ASHER: Elisa Raffa, live for us there. As we mentioned, those sorts of storm surges, those sorts of figures, simply unsurvivable.
GOLODRYGA: That's going to be a very busy few days for you, Elisa. Thank you.
Now let's go live to Tampa, Florida, and CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. Ivan, we heard the mayor not holding back last night telling residents who were
going to be in the evacuation zone to leave now or they will risk dying and losing their lives.
Walk us through what you're seeing there. How many residents are actually heeding those warnings? Looks like we -- Ivan, we're going to -- we're
going to reset with you. It looks like we lost our audio connection with you.
Let's bring in senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak, though, as we try to re -- Ivan, you're back.
ASHER: We didn't know --
GOLODRYGA: Sorry. We have an embarrassment of riches with our reporters today.
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, Bianna, I can hear you now. Yes.
ASHER: OK.
GOLODRYGA: OK. Ivan, tell us what's happening there in Tampa.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, look, there's been a lot of action all morning long. I'm standing on a beach in Davis Island. Moments ago, in all throughout the
morning, we've been seeing people come to this beach here. It's, by no means, a designated sandbag location, but they would bring their own bags,
fill them up with the sand on this beach and many people who I spoke with said then they'll bring those bags back, put them in front of their homes
or their businesses, make sure that those are safe and then evacuate after that.
And a lot of people that I've been speaking with say they're taking this very seriously. Part of it is because of the devastation and damage we saw
from Helene, but also everything that's been communicated so far from officials.
Listen to what one gentleman had to say to us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIEN COLLET, PREPARING FOR HURRICANE MILTON: I think it's the back to back and it's our memory is really fresh from Helene and all the expert
expect this one to be a lot bigger. So we can't even imagine what the damage will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGUEZ: And we actually just spoke with one other man moments ago as well who said that he got donations from several local businesses in the
Tampa area and was able to bring another pile of sand and pay for sandbags to -- for people to then grab on their own as well.
So there's a lot of efforts still to prepare. Another concern from officials and what's going to be worked on for the next several hours until
landfall is all the debris that was left behind from Helene.
Just to get to where we are now, neighborhood about four minutes away from us, we're seeing piles of debris still in front of homes and apartment
complexes. And a big concern with that is when we do see those winds pick up and come in from Milton, a lot of that debris could fly in the sky and
become a dangerous projectile.
If not, it could just impede the roads for first responders and also other electric crews. So there's still an ongoing effort to try and pick up a
majority, at least, of that debris. But it's still going to take quite some time, all as people continue to evacuate here.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, large portions of the country still recovering from Hurricane Helene and now preparing for this next major storm. At least it
is a positive sign that so many residents are heeding the warnings to leave now before it's too late.
Ivan Rodriguez, thank you.
ASHER: Yes, and those warnings have been really stark. You're seeing officials essentially saying, get out, because this is unsurvivable. If you
stay, you will die.
Let's bring in White House reporter Kevin Liptak. So, Kevin, we know that President Biden is no longer going to be traveling to Germany. And he's
going to be sticking around because of the likely devastation that we could see from Hurricane Milton.
Just explain to us what he said because I know the president spoke just a short time ago.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And he reiterated those warnings that if you are in the path of the storm, you need to listen to
your local officials. And he called this storm potentially the worst in any of these people's lifetime, really trying to ramp up the gravity of what
could occur on the ground there.
We also heard President Biden address some of the disinformation that has been swirling about recovery efforts from last week's Hurricane Helene
calling it un-American saying that people who were trying to spread rumors about how FEMA was responding, about the federal response were trying to
damage him. He says he doesn't mind that.
[12:10:02]
What he's really concerned about is that people on the ground who might be eligible for federal recovery funds might be dissuaded from applying for
them.
So very forceful in his pushback against that. He also talked about cooperation with these states, including with the Republican governor, Ron
DeSantis, in Florida, saying that the co -- there had been cooperation that the federal and state efforts had been supportive of each other, which is
somewhat different than what we heard the other day from Kamala Harris, who really went after DeSantis from what she said was playing political games
and calling it irresponsible. So there is a slight difference in their tone and how they're talking about DeSantis.
But President Biden very much want him to focus on the preparations for this the storm. And you have heard from FEMA that they have prepositioned
meals, bottles of water for people who are in the storm path. They're also prioritizing cleaning up some of the debris from Hurricane Helene with the
acknowledgement that that could become very dangerous as these winds pick up, as this storm comes closer.
And as you mentioned, the president did cancel -- or actually he said, he postponed this planned foreign which was set to begin on Thursday to
Germany. He was also expected to go to Angola in Africa. That he says it's still going to happen at some point, but he only has three months left in
his presidency, so not exactly certain when he will be making it to Germany and to Angola.
ASHER: And, of course, Milton is a priority for the president.
Kevin Liptak, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Retired General Russel Honore who led the recovery effort from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 joins us now. General, thank you so much for
joining us.
You are the perfect person to have on this show, given that we are now going to be seeing a massive hurricane, once again strike a low-lying area
with a significant population.
Clearly, this is something you were very familiar with. In fact, a Tampa meteorologist posted on X yesterday that Milton could be our Katrina.
Walk us through some of the factors that you are most concerned about now as this storm is approaching Tampa.
I believe we may have -- I believe we may have lost General Honore. We will try to reconnect with him.
ASHER: But he would have been. Hopefully, we'll get him back.
GOLODRYGA: No, we'll get him back.
ASHER: Because he is the perfect person.
GOLODRYGA: Don't lose hope yet.
ASHER: He is the perfect --
GOLODRYGA: We'll get the general back.
ASHER: -- person to talk to, given his experience with Hurricane Katrina.
GOLODRYGA: He made it through a hurricane. He can stick with us if we get our communications back on with him. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:15:16]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Thankfully, we were able to reconnect with retired General Russel Honore, who, as we noted, led the recovery effort from
Hurricane Katrina in 2005. General, thank you so much.
Here we are once again anticipating a massive hurricane heading to a large population center that is like New Orleans, low-lying. Talk to us about
some of the precautions that officials and first responders there on the ground should be preparing for right now, as hopefully most of the
residents are heeding leaving the area.
GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), FORMER COMMANDER, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: Well, right now, the -- as we saw with the Tampa mayor, they're putting out
some very serious warnings to people to evacuate. It's imperative that they evacuate. And in the coming hours, the first responders have to find where
they're going to hunker down so they can protect their first response vehicles so they don't end up being flood victims as we saw in New Orleans
when the levee broke.
We've got fair warning here. We're getting good weather reports. And this will be a storm that will across the state of Florida and Florida being a
peninsula.
GOLODRYGA: Unfortunately, it sounds like we lost our connection to you. You can probably hear us. We can't hear you at the moment.
ASHER: We are not hearing your audio, unfortunately. I think we can probably move on to the next story and then hopefully try to get you back
because we really do want to talk to you, given your experience. We'll move on to the next story now. We'll try to get.
I do think it makes for a much more entertaining show. So many things go wrong. This is live television, folks.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Something's in the system, but we'll try to reconnect with you, General.
ASHER: Thank you, General Russel Honore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): Serine and picturesque, it's what Aalma El Chaeb (PH) once was.
Today, much of this Lebanese border village lies in ruins.
The destruction is horrific, says Hanna Zarob (PH). Homes in Aalma El Chaeb are destroyed, completely devastated by strikes. The face of the entire
area's changed. He says war hit his village long before most were paying attention.
It began on October 8th when Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel under the banner of solidarity with Gaza, sparking a year of tit-for-tat
cross-border attacks. Homes in Aalma El Chaeb were destroyed. Almost its entire population, including local officials Zarob, was forced to flee. The
border conflict has now expanded to all-out war.
The last 10 days, no one can imagine the level of brutality, Hanna (PH) says. They began using different weapons against the village. Whenever
there's an airstrike now, it destroys a whole neighborhood. Five to six homes destroyed at the same time.
Hanna thought, like previous wars, their Christian village would be spared the worst of the violence. He believes its strategic position, right on the
border overlooking Israel, has turned at this time into a battlefield for both sides and its people are paying the price.
Like 90-year-old Um Jamil (PH), she was too old to leave, killed late last month in an Israeli strike on her home.
Hanna, like many of his generation, has seen every war in Lebanon since the 1970s. He says the Israeli onslaught, in recent weeks, is like nothing he'd
seen before. He doesn't name Hezbollah, but he questions those who started this war.
Was that banner of solidarity with Gaza worth all the pain, destruction and displacement, he asks. Now we talk about help for Lebanon and have
forgotten that solidarity.
Hanna and his wife, Soad (PH), show us what's left of the neighborhood where they grew up.
When these homes were hit, I felt like a part of my childhood's gone, Soad says. The memories are gone. It was all erased in an instant. The pain is
unbearable. It hurts so much.
Aalma El Chaeb is now a ghost town. The last of its residents have now fled. Their livelihood, these agricultural lands, olive trees, gone.
The big question is, will we ever return to our homes? Will we ever go back to our village, Hanna says? Will we rebuild it again and who will rebuild
it? If this had stopped 10 days ago, maybe. But now, with this level of destruction and devastation, war has spread far beyond their small village,
home now the mountains above Beirut. What will become of their village and their country has never been so uncertain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:20:00]
KARADSHEH: Zain, Bianna, I mean this is a story of one village out of so many. You have more than a hundred villages just in recent days that have
been ordered to evacuate by the Israeli military. And almost on a daily base now.
We've been seeing the IDF putting out these warnings to the southern villages saying people should not be returning to their villages until
further notice. And then you look at what's been happening on the battlefield. You've got intensifying the airstrikes. The bombardment has
really intensified in Southern Lebanon, as well as here in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the east of the country.
The IDF also announcing today that they are sending in one more division, the 146th division, to also take part in these ground incursions, these
operations that we have been seeing over the past week.
And Hezbollah today launching a massive barrage of rockets targeting Israel, Haifa, and the Upper Galilee. Much of that was intercepted, but
there were two direct hits. And so this really leaves people, especially those of the southern towns and villages, with this real fear that this is
not going to be a limited or targeted war or a short operation. They really have fears that they will not be able to return to their homes anytime
soon.
ASHER: Yes. There's no off-ramp anywhere in sight, no sort of sense of any kind of de-escalation, as you point out. Jomana Karadsheh, live for us
there. Thank you.
And we are now, of course, a year into the war in Gaza. And the Israeli military operations there continue to ramp up. Hamas, while badly crippled,
is yet to be defeated. Civilians are, of course, still paying the main price of this.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The war has decimated education and health systems in the enclave and left more than 41,000 people dead. As we've reported, more than
a third of whom are children. Now those figures do not include those missing or still buried under rubble.
ASHER: Nada Bashir has more, but we do want to warn you, of course, that her report does contain really graphic and very disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where is the world? Look at this, this man shouts.
Beside him, two young boys wounded in an Israeli strike, left bleeding out on the cold tiles of the hospital floor. A scene of chaos and anguish that
has played out day after day in Gaza, now for an entire year. These are all civilians, this father says. Look at this child. Does he look like a
fighter to you?
Across the ward, this little girl is left shaking and calling out for her parents.
Outside, another unbearably familiar scene, the body of a limp child being rushed into the already overrun hospital.
This little girl is 3-year-old Hanan (PH). She was pulled from the rubble of her now destroyed home in Central Gaza. Her injuries are so severe that
we've had to blur part of this footage.
Against all odds, doctors were able save Hanan's life, but they had no choice but to amputate both her legs.
Hanan's one-year-old sister, Misk (PH), was also severely injured. Like her sister and so many other children in Gaza, she too has had to undergo an
amputation. Both now robbed of their ability to play like they used to and, in many ways, their innocence too.
Mama, she calls out. Misk is too young to know that her mother, Shemar (PH), has been killed. Relatives say it's unclear whether their father, who
is still in intensive care, will survive.
I don't know how Hanan will continue with her life without legs, without her mother, with all the pain that she has suffered, Hanan's aunt says.
In the ruin of what once was Hanan and Misq's home, survivors comb through bloody debris, gathering fragments of flesh and bone with their bare hands.
Many were killed and injured in the blast, Wahad (PH) says. The majority of them were women and children. The whole place has been destroyed.
In just one year, more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, among them over 16,000 children, according to the Palestinian Health
Ministry.
The data is staggering and has even led the U.N.'s chief to describe Gaza as a graveyard for children.
As famine now advances across Gaza, the U.N. has warned that more than 8,000 children have already been diagnosed and treated for acute
malnutrition. Medical supplies are also scarce, posing a huge challenge to doctors operating under the most difficult of circumstances.
[12:25:07]
With thousands of children injured and having to undergo amputations, in some cases, even without anesthesia, the reality on the ground is hard to
ignore. And yet, a year on, the people of Gaza are still begging for the world to take notice and to take action.
But for Gaza's children, an entire generation has already been lost to the brutality of a war they had no part in.
Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
We want to update you on our top story this hour.
ASHER: The Hurricane Milton is barreling towards the western shores of Florida. Last check, the storm was a category four. It's expected to make
landfall late Wednesday.
Florida's governor says it may weaken before then, but it's going to still pack a very powerful punch here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Hurricane Milton is still a major hurricane. It is no longer a category five, but it potentially could strengthen back to
that as it makes its approach to the state of Florida.
Now, their forecasts do call for it to weaken before it gets to landfall, and maybe that's true. Let's hope it's true. Maybe it's not, but even if it
does weaken, you're still looking at a major hurricane. It is going to have really, really significant impacts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, Floridians heeding the call to evacuate may face other obstacles. Traffic along evacuation routes is heavy now and some gas
stations are running out of fuel.
ASHER: All this comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit Florida, tracking a second powerful storm was just too much for one Florida
meteorologist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MORALES, WTVJ METEOROLOGIST: Just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped -- it has dropped 50 millibars in 10
hours. I apologize. This is just horrific.
[12:30:17]
GOLODRYGA: It's rare that you see them get that emotional, but given the intensity of the storm and how quickly it has escalated as everyone
alarmed.
ASHER: And also what they went through with Hurricane Helene as well.
GOLODRYGA: Exactly. Exactly.
Meantime, former President Donald Trump and his allies continue to spread false claims about the Biden administration's response to Hurricane Helene.
ASHER: So now the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees disaster relief, has launched a rumor response page on its website. Here's
our Tom Foreman with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars on housing for illegal migrants, many of whom
should not be in our country.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the turbulent wake of Hurricane Helene, the truth is being buried by a fresh storm of falsehoods
from former President Donald Trump.
TRUMP: No helicopters, no rescue. It's just what's happened there is very bad. They're offering them $750 to people whose homes have been washed
away.
FOREMAN: And one by one those lies are being exposed.
Was FEMA money meant for such disasters spent to house undocumented immigrants? No.
Are helicopters and rescuers missing in action in the flood zone? No.
And only a few hundred dollars for survivors who lost their homes? FEMA itself addressed that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a rumor out there that FEMA is only providing survivors with $750. This is not true.
FOREMAN: Trump's Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in too, noting that $750 is just for immediate needs. Food, baby formula,
emergency supplies.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: FEMA is also providing tens of thousands more dollars
for folks to help them be able to deal with home repair, to be able to cover a deductible when and if they have insurance and also hotel costs.
FOREMAN: Amid fears, the false information might discourage storm victims from accessing real help, Republican and Democratic governors are praising
the federal response.
With South Carolina GOP governor, Henry McMaster, calling it --
GOV. HENRY MCMASTER (R-SC): Been superb.
FOREMAN: Superb. But Trump and his team are showing no inclination to accept that reality.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Why is he spreading misinformation in a crisis like that? And does that concern you about your fellow North Carolinians?
FOREMAN: With Trump and Harris locked in a close race in that stricken state, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Lara Trump, is toeing
her father-in-law's line, saying that's what they're hearing from people.
LARA TRUMP, CO-CHAIR, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Why is it that right now, the citizens in Western North Carolina are screaming for help, and
it's having to come from local citizens?
FOREMAN: Certainly the recovery is difficult. And a lot of local citizens are helping out, but so are state and federal agencies in a big way, no
matter what Donald Trump says.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Well, just in the last hour, Kamala Harris appeared on ABC's "The View" and offered sharp criticism of Donald Trump for continuing to
spread those lies about the response to Hurricane Helene.
ASHER: Yes. She called the attacks the height of irresponsibility and carelessness, adding that lives are literally at stake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a
leader is not to beat people down, it's to lift people up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Especially in a time of crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: It's a long-standing tradition for the main U.S. presidential nominees to appear on the TV news magazine program "60 Minutes" during the
October before an election.
Donald Trump agreed to an interview but decided to skip it last week. CBS explains how they found out Trump would actually not be taking part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview.
We fact-check every story.
Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020. Trump claims correspondent, Lesley Stahl, said in that interview that Hunter
Biden's controversial laptop came from Russia. She never said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Kamala Harris did indeed appear on "60 Minutes" on Monday where she took the opportunity to hit back on her opponent for backing out of the
interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then
watch his rallies. You're going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances.
[12:35:01]
And what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener. You will not hear about how he's going to try to bring the country together, find
common ground.
And, Bill, that is why I believe in my soul and heart, the American people are ready to turn the page.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Also talk about with our media correspondent, Hadas Gold, joins us live now from New York.
So, Hadas, appearing on news magazine shows like "60 Minutes," certainly a long-standing tradition. Another long-standing tradition is agreeing to
multiple presidential debates. I mean, obviously, this year has been very different because we ended up obviously replacing Biden with Kamala Harris.
But President Trump has been offered the October 23 date by CNN in terms of appearing and having another presidential debate. Kamala Harris has agreed
to it. Trump has said no. CNN is giving a deadline of this Thursday for Donald Trump to give his final answer. What more can you tell us?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, what's also so different about this year is that the Commission for Presidential Debate has essentially
been declared moot because they used to be the ones -- they were this nonpartisan group, these were the ones that would set out the debate dates
and, yes, they would bring in moderators from the different networks, but it was clear these would be the dates.
Now, those were done away with. So then it became this sort of free for all where any network could pitch themselves to try to host a debate. And so
CNN has issued another offer for a debate. CNN, of course, hosted the debate in June between President Biden and former President Trump. And they
hadn't heard yet from President Trump.
President Trump has sort of said, you know, unofficially, like, he's not going to do it, he's not going to do another debate. But CNN is now trying
to get an official formal answer from former President Trump about whether he will participate in this debate.
Vice President Harris has accepted. And if you remember, after that ABC debate, the first matchup between Harris and Trump, her team said, that was
fun, let's do it again. And so now CNN is saying to essentially President Trump's campaign, since Harris has already accepted, that they have a
deadline this Thursday by noon to say whether he will participate, whether both campaigns will participate.
Because also keep in mind, it does take time to put these things together. They can't say they're going to do it one day before. There needs to be
sets built. Vendors need to be prepared. Spin rooms and the like need to be set up for this to happen.
Now the question is whether President Trump will be able to resist. Because keep in mind, we've seen a lot of Kamala Harris over the last 24 hours or
so. She's been dominating the airwaves. This is an interesting time to try to pitch President Trump. Maybe you want to appear before what will likely
be the largest audience you'll see before the election.
GOLODRYGA: And, Hadas, a deadline now we know has been set, but as we have seen over the course of the last several years, that some of these
candidates have chosen to go the untraditional route, the nontraditional route, turning to podcasts, to other mediums where we've seen some
viewership, even a vaunted shows, like "60 Minutes," continue to decline.
And we've seen Kamala Harris take that route as well. She also, as we noted, was on "The View" this morning. And that had been presented as so-
called friendly territory for her, but the Trump campaign has really picked up on what they view as an opportunity to campaign off of when she was
asked if there was anything she would have done differently --
GOLD: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- from President Biden, and she said she couldn't think of anything. So you have the Trump campaign, which is really, I guess, reeling
from new polling, showing that Kamala Harris is seen as the change candidate. They see this as an opportunity to say, well, if she's the
change candidate, what is she going to change? She basically said nothing.
GOLD: And that goes to show you how even a show like "The View" where Whoopi Goldberg introduced Kamala Harris as the next president, obviously,
some of those hosts are very much in favor of Kamala Harris.
It goes to show you that those interviews can still sometimes elicit very important moments that can be very illuminating for a voter. And it's also
important to think about the audience, because that is why the vice president is going to "The View," is going to the Howard Stern Show, is
going to the Colbert Show, and not necessarily every single day talking to us at CNN or elsewhere.
Because the people who are watching, at least this is what the campaign says, they say the people who are watching CNN or MSNBC or Fox News are
probably already locked in voters. And they are trying to reach those voters that have not yet decided who they can still sway.
And what's really interesting, if you look at, for example, the audience of "The View," If you look at the breakdown of the audience of "The View,"
they tend to be an older female audience.
And what did Vice President Harris announce today on "The View?" She announced a new Medicare plan, a new plan about how she's going to help
people take care of their aging loved ones at home. That demographic who's watching "The View," those are older women who are most likely the ones who
are ending up caretaking for their older parents, their older in-laws.
And so that's why you're seeing her go to the Call Her Daddy podcast. That's a younger female audience. The Howard Stern is more of a male
audience. Stephen Colbert is a younger male audience. Because that's where they're trying to get you.
And, you know, President Trump is also doing something similar. They're talking to the margins. "60 Minutes" is probably, you know, the biggest
audience. And what I do think is really interesting is, for President Trump, he lost out on actually what may be one of the bigger audiences he
could reach.
[12:40:11]
And I do have to wonder whether that fact check from Scott Pelley, that sort of takedown from Scott Pelley, is going to do more damage than what
would even a contentious interview with Trump could have done.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It is interesting that he turned down even a show like "60 Minutes," something in the past, that he would have jumped at. And
obviously he did. He's still carrying a grudge from his 2016 interview with Lesley Stahl.
ASHER: Although that. Well, this idea of whether the fact check would have -- I mean, we do call him Teflon Don for a reason. So who knows whether it
would have any impact?
Hadas Gold, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Hadas.
Well, the Democratic vice presidential hopeful is looking to turn some late night laughs into election day votes. Tim Walz appeared on Jimmy Kimmel
Live on Monday.
ASHER: Yes. The Minnesota governor has come under criticism for some past remarks that weren't entirely truthful, and his interview with Kimmel
brought out another example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We get to turn the page on that. And I plan on waking up on November 6th with Madam
President and that's -- then I'll be --
JIMMY KIMMEL, AMERICAN TELEVISION HOST AND COMEDIAN: I just want to be -- I want to be clear, you won't be waking up together.
Well, unless there's -- unless you guys have gotten closer than we thought.
WALZ: I have a problem about not being specific with my language, so thank you for that. Specifically right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The dangers of late-night television, the mind wanders.
Well, during a "60 Minutes" interview that aired earlier, Walz said Kamala Harris told him to be a little more careful with his comments.
He heeded that warning, that's enough.
Coming up, as Florida braces for another major hurricane, people across six states are still trying to recover from Hurricane Helene. We'll look at
where things stand right now in Tennessee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. As Hurricane Milton targets Florida, U.S. southern states are still reeling from Helene's destruction.
GOLODRYGA: The storm slammed into the southeast just over a week ago, hard to believe, causing catastrophic damage from Florida to Tennessee, North
and South Carolinas. At least 235 people died and many more are still missing.
ASHER: Joining me live now to talk about relief efforts in Tennessee is Brooks Gilliam, the incident commander for the charitable organization, the
Salvation Army.
[12:45:04]
Brooks, thank you so much for being with us. Just talk to us right now. Just get us up to speed on what is happening on the ground in terms of
recovery efforts.
BROOKS GILLIAM, INCIDENT COMMANDER, SALVATION ARMY TENNESSEE: So, right now, the Salvation Army is serving five counties across eastern Tennessee.
This is probably one of the worst, if not the worst, flooding events the states has seen.
We've got seven active feeding units. We're serving 4,000 to 6,000 meals a day and just still trying to get into some of the areas that have been cut
off because of power lines down, mudslides, bridges damaged.
GOLODRYGA: The Salvation Army has a history of doing just such incredible work. I'm wondering, Brooks, at this moment, what do you need the most?
What supplies, what resources are you most in need of?
GILLIAM: We appreciate the fact that folks support the work that we do. The best way to help right now is financially. That can be done by visiting
help salvationarmy.org or 1-800-SAL ARMY.
It's just hard getting supplies in right now. So being able to just support our mobile feeding units in the mobile kitchens that are going into those
communities right now is very helpful.
ASHER: So you mentioned the best way to support is obviously donations. But in terms of specific needs, I mean, what do people on the ground who are
reeling from this storm and the aftermath of it? What is the greatest need among them?
GILLIAM: Right now, we're focused on mass feeding. We are working with other partner agencies and just in distributing household items in clean up
kits, meal boxes, those kind of things.
We're still really in the initial phase of service, getting out and finding where those most are in need.
GOLODRYGA: Bare necessities, giving people their next meal as we're looking at the devastation that will take months, if not years to rebuild. The
Salvation Army is always one of the first to respond in a tragedy, in a disaster like this.
I'm just curious, Brooks, from your history and your experience, have you ever witnessed some of the devastation at the levels that we are currently
seeing among residents who, let's be honest, unlike many in Florida along the coast, are used to storms and hurricanes of this size? Residents in
Tennessee are not.
GILLIAM: No. We definitely aren't. It's been very difficult to see. As one of our mobile kitchens was out and supplying meals, just talking with
folks, a parent was sharing in a community where not only was their house affected, but the local high school that her children go to, you know.
And as they're standing there looking at the devastation, the children were saying, are we going to have football practice? It's just really hard, I
think, for folks to kind of comprehend and to fit that into their view as to what's going on.
But it's just an example of the opportunity we have just to bring hope and help to the folks that are impacted.
ASHER: Obviously, you've seen a lot of infrastructure damage including more than one major highway. Just talk to us about what that means in terms of
accessing certain areas that have been hit the hardest where there is the greatest need.
GILLIAM: It does provide a lot of logistical challenges. Luckily for us, we've got teams kind of on both sides of that. I know that the Salvation
Army has a response in North Carolina as long -- as well as other states, but it does. And getting supplies in, moving personnel around it, it
creates some challenges.
ASHER: Brooks live for us there, thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you for the work that you're doing.
ASHER: So much.
GILLIAM: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And still to come for us, we are closely following Hurricane Milton, a live update from Tampa, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:08]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Let's make one last check this hour on Hurricane Milton, which is barreling toward Florida through the Gulf of Mexico, as
now a category four hurricane. The storm is forecast to make landfall late Wednesday.
ASHER: Yes. Floridians heeding the call to evacuate may face some obstacles, including traffic, right? Traffic along the evacuation routes,
as you may imagine, is heavy. And as you can see by this -- these images of Orlando, Florida, and some gas stations are running out of fuels.
Of course, all comes less than two weeks since Hurricane Helene hit the state.
Let's bring in Carlos Suarez in Tampa. I mean, the thing is, everybody has made it clear, Carlos, that this is going to be a big one and there will be
devastation. A lot of people have talked about the fact that it is almost unsurvivable, that these are life-threatening storm surges.
I think the thing is, because it has been downgraded, the fear is that people then underestimate this storm's power. Just walk us through what
you're hearing on the ground.
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. So the folks here in Fort Myers, Florida, in Lee County, in the southwestern part of Florida,
they are used to the threat of a powerful hurricane.
And so the folks out here are taking this storm serious, even if the track holds and the hurricane ends up making landfall north of where we are,
folks here are getting ready for what they expect to be a pretty sizable flooding event. This part, again, of Southwest Florida is no stranger to
strong hurricanes.
Two years ago, a powerful Hurricane Ian, brought flooding about four to five feet of it to this part of Lee County. Our forecast right now is
calling for the storm surge associated with Hurricane Milton to be anywhere between six to ten feet.
So you can imagine, you can understand, you can grasp how even though during Ian the flooding got up to here. If we -- if these forecasts hold,
the flooding is going to be well north of that water line.
And so as you all were talking, coming out to me, the concern here, aside from the storm surge and the powerful winds, is just exactly where the
storm is going to make landfall.
And at this point, whether or not it ends up being a category three, a category four, or perhaps even a category five, the folks here know just
the kind of damage that we're talking about here.
A Hurricane Ian was a powerful storm, a very strong storm, and it leveled a good part of Lee County where I'm at. And that was a direct hit. So you can
understand how even though this part of Southwest Florida may not get as a direct impact as our friends and our neighbors to the north in the Tampa
Bay area, we are in for some devastation.
To give you a little bit of context exactly where I'm standing, part of the reason why this is a mandatory evacuation zone is there is a river just on
the other side of this building here that goes out into the Gulf of Mexico and it also goes into Lake Okeechobee, which is a large lake in Central
Florida.
And so when all of that rain moves through the area, when all of the storm surge pushes up from the Gulf of Mexico and you add in high tide, that
river is going to overflow. It is going to crest and all of that water has to go somewhere. And so it is going to push up into where we are. And that
is a concern that folks have.
[12:55:14]
It's why all of these businesses have put out sandbags and tarps, all in an effort to try to mitigate some of the flooding that we are expected to see
as the storm inches closer to the western coast of Florida.
Bianna and Zain.
GOLODRYGA: It has all the hallmarks of a major disaster, low-lying area, mass population center. So I guess it is somewhat hopeful that businesses
are already shut down there behind you. Hopefully residents are all listening to the warnings to leave now before they --
ASHER: We've seen the traffic on the highway. A lot of people --
GOLODRYGA: Yes, we've already seen the traffic and we're already hearing complaints --
ASHER: -- are getting out.
GOLODRYGA: -- about running out of fuel at certain gas stations.
Carlos Suarez, we'll be in touch with you throughout the day and tomorrow as the storm approaches to make landfall.
But that does it for this busy hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Bianca Golodryga. Apologies for the technical glitches at home, folks.
ASHER: So many technical glitches, we're so sorry.
GOLODRYGA: At least we have each other.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
