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Florida Officials Give Update Ahead of Hurricane Landfall; New Forecast, Helene Likely to be a Category 4 Hurricane at Landfall; Now, Tornado Watches in Parts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina. NYC Mayor Adams To Be Arraigned On Federal Charges Tomorrow; Special Counsel Files New Evidence Against Trump In January 6 Case. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 26, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have 120 bridge inspectors ready to go as soon as the storm passes through to inspect bridges and make sure they're safe for travel. We're closely monitoring the major east west roadways within the storm's path for Hurricane Helene. That's going to be I-10, US-98, and US-19.

We're working directly with local utility companies to have a direct line of communication to expedite our cut and toss efforts. A lot of times when storms like this come through, you can have oak trees wrapped in power lines. It takes very close coordination with utilities, and we're ready to do that.

The cut and toss efforts have actually already begun in Southwest Florida. The impacts were not that significant where the storm has already passed. FDOT crews have already, you know, driven and cleared more than 2,000 miles of roadway in Southwest Florida. So, we've already started working.

Once the initial response is through, our cut and toss crews will transition to debris removal. And under Governor DeSantis' leadership, we will stand ready, just like with Idalia and Debbie, to support fiscally constrained counties with the debris-removal operation.

Please listen to your local law enforcement, your local emergency offices. If roads are not safe to drive, please do not drive on them. Water over a road can be very dangerous, especially around culverts and bridges. Every storm season, we see people try to navigate through water. You have no idea what's going on underneath the water. Please do not drive through it.

We're going to stay in touch with our airports and seaports. Seaports are closed, waterside right now. Airports are going to reopen just as soon as practically feasible. And again, Governor, thank you for your leadership and support.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): So, we are getting close to having a landfall. I think the track is kind of taking it into that Taylor County, but I would say anywhere from what color Jefferson County line over into Taylor is where a lot of the a lot of the models have it. But keep in mind that wherever that eye hits, particularly on the northeast side of that storm, that's going to whip up a lot of storm surge. And so if it's hitting Taylor, you're looking at coastal Levy, Dixie, that's going to be some significant surge.

On the west side of the storm, you still have surge, but it is not going to be as high as the ones on the northeast side. That's just how these things work. So, where it hits is important for the wind. The wind is going out pretty far from this storm. And so you're going to have hurricane force winds for probably 50 miles outside of the eye of the storm, and then you're going to continue to see surge, particularly in that big bend area.

But people do have time. If you're in those coastal areas, particularly in that Big Bend, if you want to get out of dodge, you still have time to do it. We're likely to see conditions worsen, but if you go right now, you're probably going to be okay. And then if you decide not to hunker down, you got to be as safe as you can.

I will say that regardless of what people decide to do, we have resources that are staged, whether it's National Guard, whether it's Fish and Wildlife, whether it's our State Guard, all these assets that can go and help with search and rescue efforts, if people are caught in difficult circumstances. You don't want that to be the case. And just keep in mind that if you do find yourself in those situations, those rescue efforts will be undertaken.

But once it's safe to do so, they're not going to go out in a Category 3 hurricane trying to effectuate rescue. So, the storm will pass and then they will go in and help people that are in need. So, we have that. Locals have that. And you'll see those resources be put to bear, if needed, but it will likely not happen until that storm passes. So, just keep that in mind, if you stay behind and then you call in the middle of the storm, I think, in pretty much all instances, they're going to say we're going to have to wait. So, be smart over these next few hours.

With that, yes?

REPORTER: Governor. I'm curious if you've seen that post from the Taylor County Sheriff's Office. It basically said that if people were staying behind despite the evacuation order that they needed to put their name and information, like their birthday in permanent marker on their limbs. Is that too much or is that fair?

DESANTIS: Well, I think people still have time to effectuate an evacuation in some of those areas, particularly you look at Taylor County, you know, you look at that eye is kind of -- is heading in that direction, potentially. It's a very real possibility that this storm will make landfall in Taylor County.

So, you're looking at those, particularly on the coast there, you're going to look at seeing some pretty significant storm surge. And if the storm surges, I think they've said a maximum, could be 20 feet.

[18:05:00] I don't think we've ever had 20 feet recently. I know Ian, I think got to about 18 feet. But even if it's ten feet, that is really significant and that will have really serious consequences.

And so people still have time to kind of make those judgments. I mean, obviously, our state policy is not saying people have to use marker to do whatever, but you do have time to do, if you do hunker down, I don't think you're going to have the local sheriff's department, I don't think you're going to see state resources brought to bear for the rescue until it's safe to do so.

And, you know, we've had examples in storms where people were caught in very difficult circumstances, but, basically, I think when you call 911 or you call the sheriff's department, they're going to say, okay, give me your name. Where are you at? As soon as it's safe to go, we'll send people, but they are going to wait for it to be safe to go.

REPORTER: With this being a night landfall, how are you guys going to like implement those resources right away? You guys are telling people to wait until daylight to go out and survey the damage, repair your property. What's the state doing, especially with people, like their resources right behind the store?

DESANTIS: Well, I mean, I think Kevin can jump in on this, but I'll just say, if you call 911 or you call for help, they're going to go. I mean, if it's nighttime, they're going to go and they're going to try to rescue. It's more a question of when the storm passes. You know, these folks, you know, they can operate in the night, but I would say cut and toss. Most of those things are just going to require daylight power restoration. The crews will likely start getting their first thing in the morning. I know you have FPLs, got a lot of them staged in Bay County. So, you may see them coming over to the Taylors and to some of these counties for restoration, but it isn't going to happen at 2:00 in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And, Cody, just a little bit more on the tactical discussion of that, to the point where the governor says we have resources in Bay County. We have a whole lot of resources in the Ocala footprint right now and even down at Orange County Convention Center. That's where a lot of our urban search rescue assets are staging.

So, tactically, how that's going to work is as they start moving into this area, including the FPL resources staged in Wimauma in the Leesburg area. All of that will start to move with the assistance of the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. The DACs, cut and toss crews, they will all work collectively as a team to work into the area.

We have some of those staged in area right now. For instance, the Florida National Guard Red Horse Unit is staged just right up the road at the armory here in Tallahassee. So, again, it's more of like a hub and spoke system, where you have necessary resources and strengthen hardened buildings, and then they'll start working themselves outward from there as teams of state agencies to successfully get to where we need to be. Do these teams have the opportunity to work at night? 100 percent. Is it safe to do so? Absolutely not. If they can, and within safety protocols, they will work the best that they can. But I really think with this thing making landfall at 11:00 tonight, we're really not going to get a cessation of winds to actually get out there until probably about the time the sun comes up.

So, I think actually in this case, it's actually going to work out. We're going to get a full day of sunlight for all of our emergency responders to get out there and do really good, solid work. And we will be -- we pride ourselves on being fast. We will have those commodities moving into these areas within probably 12 to 24 hours.

DESANTIS: Yes. And I think the timing is, from an operational perspective, you're going to be able to maximize the response. If the storm hits at 11:00, you're going to have serious winds probably for several hours after that. And so they're going to be able first thing in the morning daylight and they're going to be able to go all day.

If the storm hit at 7:00, I mean, not much would have probably been able to get done in those wee hours of the morning anyways. And so the timing is probably going to be good for them to get a whole day's worth of restoration, cut and toss under their belts and take care of businesses as best they can.

And, of course, on the recovery, you know, they're going to respond when it's safe to do so. I think it's less about light or dark, more about the safety. And this is going to be -- for the next however many hours, you're going to start to see hazardous conditions. Then when it makes landfall, it's going to be really hazardous.

REPORTER: Governor, I asked --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That was the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, and other state officials updating Florida residents on the extreme danger they're facing right now from Hurricane Helene. I'm Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room.

As we continue our special coverage of the major breaking news, Hurricane Helene is picking up speed right now and strengthening as it churns along Florida's Gulf Coast on a potentially catastrophic collision course with what's called that Big Bend region between the peninsula and the panhandle.

[18:10:09]

Our correspondents are in the path of the storm right now as a lean gets closer and closer to landfall, likely as a monster Category 4 hurricane.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Apalachicola for us in Florida right now. Derek, you're in that Big Bend area facing the brunt of the storm. What are you seeing right now? What's your sense?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Wolf. Just give you an idea of what we're experiencing, this is definitely the strongest winds, the heaviest rain that we've had over the past -- well, the entire duration of this storm so far. Just to give you an example, the water here is pulling off the ground, extremely saturated. We've had nearly eight inches of rain since yesterday, stop signs starting to teeter back and forth as the wind from these outer bands make their way into the Apalachicola region, where I am.

The storm is just so big. So, we know that maybe we're going to be on the western side of this storm as it makes landfall, kind of causing a county region with a Big Bend, and we may be on that outer side. But the wind field is so large, some of the largest wind fields that hurricane ever recorded in modern history in the Gulf of Mexico. And that means that impacts will be felt well outside of that center of the storm where we all know we focus so much attention on the eye of the storm. But here, we can do that testament that this storm we've already experienced and across Central and Southwestern Florida, here west of the eye. We will definitely be feeling the stronger part of that western eye walk.

Now, the concern going forward is the storm surge. We know about it, 10 to 15 feet forecast predictions for Apalachicola to the east, but it gets higher than that. And it's just that vulnerability of this low lying area. It floods so easily. This is like the inland flooding kind of cleaning up, but it is the catastrophic winds right along the coastline that will be felt and it will knock down trees.

This area is heavily wooded. There's pine, there's oak trees heading towards the Tallahassee region. They're famous for that. And when the ground is this saturated with the brunt of the worst part of the storm still on its way, it's not going to take much to topple those trees, cause the power outages and, of course, cause the damage as well.

We know that so much of this storm's history when we look back at it is not going to just be coastal impacts, but across much of the southeast. This is a multistate impact storm. We heard DeSantis talking about the Florida specifics, but we can't forget about Georgia just to our north and how this storm is going to race inland and we'll experience those, hurricane force winds as far north as making.

He has a meteorologist who studies us for a living. I have never seen an entire state of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida under a tropical alert, whether it's a hurricane warning or a tropical storm warning. It is astounding. Wolf?

BLITZER: At least the 60 million Americans right now. We're at various stages of watch or warning right now. Derek Van Dam will get back to you. Stay safe. I know it's going to get even more dangerous over there.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is joining us now from Gulfport. That's on Florida's west coast. Carlos, as Helene churns offshore, what are the conditions like where you are right now?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the worst of the weather that we have seen this entire day was within the last hour or so. In fact, things were so bad. We've spent a good part of the day all the way at the far end of this street, but the flooding is just too intense. All of that water started coming in from the bay and it just was no longer safe for us to stay in that location. And so what we've is we've moved several blocks to the north of where we are.

As you noted, we are in Pinellas County, so we are just west of Tampa, where the big concern going into the storm is the storm surge associated with the hurricane, as well as some of the strong winds that clearly we're experiencing at this hour. Emergency officials were really worried because even though this storm is going to stay to the west of us and it is not going to have a direct impact on Pinellas County, we are still going to see anywhere between four to six feet of a storm surge. We're still going to get all of this wind. We're going to get all of this rain. And when you add in high tide, come around midnight, 1:00 in the morning, that is when emergency officials are concerned about the low lying areas here in Pinellas County.

We're in the city of Gulfport, which is known to flood, Wolf. We've been here for the last three hurricane seasons. We've covered two other hurricanes, one that hit to the south of us, which was Ian, and then the other hurricane last year that hit to the north of us in Idalia. Both of those storms again hugged the coast. One went to the south, the other one went to the north. But the flooding in Pinellas County was significant enough that more than 1,500 homes were flooded during Hurricane Idalia last year.

[18:15:02]

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Carlos Suarez in Gulfport on Florida's west coast for us, Carlos, stay safe over there as well.

Our Meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking Helene in the CNN Extreme Weather Center for us. Chad, I understand we just got a new forecast from the National Hurricane Center just a little while ago.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Typically, when the storm is well out into the ocean, we only get updates, really only six hours and then an intermediate every three, but now that we're so close, we're going to get new information every single hour up until landfall and then likely an hour or two after that.

So, where Carlos is, is Tampa. The wind has been out of the southeast for much of the day, not pushing the water into Tampa Bay. But as we start to talk about the perpendicular storm here, now the winds are going to shift to the southwest. And all of that water that he was talking about is now going to blow into Tampa Bay itself. Just because if you're around that area, you think, oh, there's no water here or there's not much, two feet. Well, there's going to be a lot more when that wind shifts. The water is still very warm. The pressure is still going down.

Now, the latest 6:00 advisory said that the wind is still 125. So, it didn't go up from 5:00 to 6:00. But the pressure went down, which means the storm is still intensifying. It's still getting stronger, getting gusts around 50 or 60 miles per hour in Tampa. Look at our tornado watches, because many of these storms, as they've been coming on shore, especially through parts of Georgia, have been spinning by themselves. One of my neighbors said, hey, this thing is just spinning all by itself. Why would they spin in between? Well, if the storm already has what we call vorticity, it already has a spin, any one of these little supercells, and they're small supercells, but they still are, they're not Kansas, Oklahoma storms, but they can also spin putting down a tornado by themselves.

So, yes, we are going to see wind. Yes, we are going to see damage from the wind. We're going to see the surge. We are going to see significant flooding and the potential for tornadoes. A lot of things going on here, this is a big storm. This is what happens when you get a Category 3 moving on up, probably at landfall, a Category 4.

So, what I did a lot of things, even my house and I'm 300 miles away from where it's going to make landfall. Atlanta, you're going to see winds of 75, Savannah, probably a little bit more, Valdosta, a whole lot more, so many people, Wolf, in the way.

BLITZER: Yes, millions of millions, tens of millions of people potentially at risk right now. All right, Chad Myers, we'll get back to you, thank you very much.

Joining us now, the FEMA administrator, Deanne Criswell, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Deanne, thanks very much for joining us.

Hurricane force winds are already lashing parts of Florida. What kind of damage and impact are you seeing from your vantage point?

DEANNE CRISWELL, ADMINISTRATOR, FEMA: So, Wolf, right now, we're starting to see some of the impacts, but we are prepared for so much more to happen. We know that there is going to be significant power outages across the path of the storm. We also know that there's a lot of tree canopy, like in the Tallahassee area. So, we expect a significant amount of debris as a result of this storm as well. And so the best thing that people can do right now is to still stay vigilant, listen to their local officials.

Just like I talked about this morning, we are going to have multiple types of impacts from the storm, multiple risks that people are going to be facing. Your local officials are going to be able to tell you exactly what the risk is going to be in your area.

BLITZER: It's really a dangerous situation right now. I know you've said, Administrator, that Helene will make what you described as a dead-on hit to Tallahassee. How devastating could the damage ultimately be there?

CRISWELL: You know, again, it all depends on where exactly it hits, but we want to plan for the worst, Wolf. We think that this is, you know, looking still like it's going to be straight into Tallahassee. They have not experienced anything to this level in recent history.

And so, you know, we have people that aren't used to it. We have people that aren't familiar with what the impacts of this much storm surge, this much wind might be. And so my concern is that people just aren't taking all of the necessary actions that they can to protect themselves and to protect their families. But we do expect significant damage from the wind, against significant debris, significant home damage from flooding and wind. And it's going to take some time to really understand what the total impact will be after this.

BLITZER: And this hurricane is also creating tornadoes. Is that right?

CRISWELL: That's exactly right. We're seeing tornado watches already in different parts of Florida and South Carolina. And so people really need to pay attention. If you're not in that path of the storm, that doesn't mean that you're not going to have risk from this. We're seeing it right on the outer edges of this storm, and this is a big storm that's coming across. Those outer bands stretch a long way.

I think, as you heard earlier, that every part of Florida is under some kind of a warning, Georgia, South Carolina, all under some type of a watch or a warning right now.

[18:20:04]

BLITZER: And I've pointed out tens of billions of Americans are under the at least a hurricane watch or a warning right now. What is your sense, Administrator, on whether or not people are heeding these warnings?

CRISWELL: My fear is always that somebody isn't going to. But I think as you heard the governor say, there's still some time, especially if you're in that area with up to 20 feet of storm surge, that's predicted. I think the important thing to remember here is you don't have to go far. You just need to go far enough to get away from the threat of the storm surge. And if you don't know where there's a shelter in your area, you can always text the word shelter and your zip code to 43362, and you'll be able to find the closest shelter to you so you can stay safe.

BLITZER: The National Weather Service is warning of what they describe as unsurvivable, their word, unsurvivable storm surge potentially as high as 20 feet. How unprecedented is that?

CRISWELL: Well, let's just think back, Wolf, to Hurricane Ian. I think as I looked through Hurricane Ian ended up with about 14 or 15 feet of storm surge. We had 150 fatalities across Florida. I mean, that is significant. And the majority of those were from water related deaths, drowning. And so this is serious. People need to take this serious. You can't really comprehend what 20 feet might seem like to you.

But if we just look back a couple of years and see how much impact Hurricane Ian had, that's what we can expect and that's what we should be planning for and protecting our citizens against for this storm.

BLITZER: The National Hurricane Center administrator has just announced that this is now officially a Category 4 hurricane. What the winds more than 120 miles an hour, is that right? CRISWELL: I haven't seen the current forecast, Wolf. And so you're breaking news to me right now. But we expected that, right? We expected this to be a Category 4 hurricane at landfall. And those are significant winds.

But remember, it's even more than that. That's right where the eye of the storm is going to go through. That storm surge is so much bigger. There's outer bands with the tornadoes and the significant rain and even tropical storm winds still significant. And so don't just focus on the path of the storm in that eye. Focus on the how big this is and how much of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina are going to be impacted.

BLITZER: And it's like 400 or 500 miles wide, the path of this hurricane. Is that right?

CRISWELL: That's what I understand. I mean, it is a big storm, which means so many more people are going to be in harm's way.

BLITZER: Yes, people are in danger right now. They got to heed all these warnings. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, thanks very much for all your important work. We appreciate it very, very much.

CRISWELL: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And there's more breaking news we're following. Helene has just been upgraded, as I just said, to this Category 4 hurricane, with winds, they now say, up to 130 miles per hour. We'll get an update from the mayor of Panama City. That's coming up. And we're also standing by for an update from the National Hurricane Center.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: We're back with more breaking news on Hurricane Helene, now a very powerful Category 4 storm as it bears down on Florida's Gulf Coast.

I want to check back with our meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, what more can you tell us? I know you've just been briefed.

MYERS: Right, because we were getting briefings every hour on the hour, but in the middle, they can give us updates, and they did. They said, wait a minute. We just found -- the hurricane hunter plane just found winds that qualify for 130 mile per hour Category 4 now. So, let's not wait for the next hour. We have to put that update out right now.

So, yes, we talked about this earlier, that the pressure was going down, meaning that the storm is getting stronger. Sometimes the winds take a few minutes to catch up to that lower pressure. And that's what happened. The storm is now officially back to that forecast Category 4 right where the Hurricane Center said it was supposed to be. BLITZER: Yes, that's what they said, and that's what it is. All right, Chad, thank you. We'll continue to get back to you for updates.

I want to go to CNN's John Berman right now. He's joining us from Tallahassee, where residents are bracing for what could be a dead-on hit by Hurricane Helene. John, what's the latest there? What are they saying?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that is what the FEMA administrator just said, that the city of Tallahassee needs to be prepared for a direct hit, which frankly has not happened in recent memory with hurricane strength winds. Right now, it's expected to make landfall, the storm, about 20 miles south of her as a Category 4 storm, but it's moving so quickly that when it passes directly overhead, Wolf, it will bring certainly hurricane strength winds, maybe Category 2 strength winds here, which is a real problem in a city like Tallahassee, population 200,000 or so, because of all the trees here. Here's just a few of them behind me. There are even more, these live oak low canopy trees.

The county commissioner told me he expects thousands of trees to come down in this hurricane, hundreds of roads to be closed. And Hurricane Michael, which was several years ago, power was out for days here and it wasn't even a direct hit. This is a direct hit. So, there are concerns that power could be out for some. There are some 2,000 power workers staged in the immediate area around Tallahassee alone to get to work as soon as they can tomorrow.

Public transportation in this city is shut down. FSU students removed from their dorms. They are in a shelter right now. Waffle House, the Tallahassee Democrat is reporting even Waffle House has closed all its locations in Tallahassee. And if you know anything about hurricanes, you know, Waffle House is the last place to shut down. They like to be a haven as long as they possibly can, but it's just not safe for them.

As this storm moves in, we are beginning to feel the first winds that we felt so far in Tallahassee.

[18:30:04]

The rain has been coming down in bands pretty steadily. We are beginning to feel the first winds that we felt so far in Tallahassee. The rain's been coming down in bands pretty steadily. The next five or six hours though, Wolf, going to be dicey here.

BLITZER: Yes, the students at Florida State University, FSU, obviously potentially endangered, like so many other millions of people in that whole area.

How have the conditions, John, changed there in just the last hour or so?

BERMAN: Yes, it's a really good question, Wolf. For the first time, I'm beginning to feel the wind pick up. As I said, the rain bands have been coming for several hours, but not the wind so much. Now, it is starting to be a sort of a steady gust coming our way. That will pick up and intensify.

And as I've said in recent memory, Tallahassee has never been hit by a hurricane itself. By the time the storms pass over Tallahassee, they've weakened substantially. Not this time. This storm could maintain hurricane strength wind all the way into Georgia. So, this is going to be a storm of the likes of which they've never seen.

And that is -- see, there's the wind right there. That's one of the major concerns, is that the residents here just don't know what is in store for them. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Stay safe over there. John Berman in Tallahassee for us, I appreciate it very much.

I want to get some more on the preparations for this massive hurricane about to hit Florida. On the phone right now, Michael Rowan, the mayor of Panama City, a community expected to be in Helene's major strike zone. Mayor, thanks very much for joining us.

Parts of this very dangerous Category 4 hurricane are already beginning to hit Florida. What are you seeing so far?

MAYOR MICHAEL ROWAN, PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA: Well, right now in Panama City, we're not seeing very much. We're 70 miles to the west of Apalachicola. So, we're on the west side of the storm also. And that's usually the least involved.

So, I'm optimistic that we're going to survive this pretty well. Everybody here in Panama City remembers very well Hurricane Michael. That happened almost six years ago to the day. And it really devastated our town.

So, people here -- we started seeing people getting gas and flashlight supplies as early as Monday. So, people were getting ready for this storm. As of right now, we're not seeing very much here, maybe 20- mile-an-hour winds, three, three inches or so of rain.

And we have great meteorologists here in town. Chris Smith and Ross Whitley, they've been following NOAA, and they've been giving us updates several times a day. Actually, they predicted -- both of them predicted in advance how this thing was going to look like it was going to hit us, and then it was going to turn off to the east. And that's exactly what's happening.

So, Panama City, we're breathing easy, but we feel sorry for our where our fellow citizens in Franklin County, which is Apalachicola. So, they are going to get hit with some large, large storm surge, lots of wind. And as you're -- the people you've had on earlier, there's a tremendous amount of trees over there in Tallahassee and in Apalachicola. There is going to be debris all over. It's going to be probably be very difficult to travel tomorrow. So, we're in for a big night here.

BLITZER: Yes, this hurricane is very, very wide, hundreds of miles. Are residents in your city heeding the warnings that the storm surge from Helene will be unsurvivable? ROWAN: Right here, I don't expect much storm surge here in Panama City.

BLITZER: Well, let's hope you guys are okay. Good luck to you. Mayor Rowan. I appreciate it very, very much.

And coming up, we're going to go live to the National Hurricane Center and get the very latest on when and how hard Helene will hit Florida and then move up the southeast.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: More breaking news right now on the huge Category 4 hurricane nearing landfall in Florida right now. Let's get an update and up to the minute forecast on Helene's path and power. We're joined by the deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Jamie Rhome. Jamie, thanks very much for joining us.

As we just heard, Helene is now a Category 4 hurricane. That means winds of at least, what, 130 miles per hour. How much more do you expect it to strengthen as it makes its way towards Florida and then moves up?

JAMIE RHOME, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, it's still got a few more hours over the incredibly warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, so continued development is possible. You know, we're hoping we can stop this development before it gets any worse. But, unfortunately, a Category 4 is really alarming for the people near into the east of where the center makes landfall because this is an especially storm surge prone region f the country, and that's why we're predicting 15 to 20 feet of storm surge.

BLITZER: Yes, it's really disturbing and very worrisome. What are you watching for ahead for Hurricane Helene as it makes landfall later tonight?

RHOME: Well, this storm is particularly big, much larger than normal hurricanes. And what that means is it's going to be able to carry its strength, its power, its momentum, farther inland. You can see that behind me. The red here is an area currently under a hurricane warning, which means hurricane force winds are expected.

And look how far inland this extends over Southern Georgia. It's not unusual -- I mean, it's not typical for us to have hurricane force winds go that far inland.

[18:40:01]

And in the blue area is tropical storm warnings. And, look how -- I mean, that's all the way up into western North Carolina. That's unusual for us to push those warnings that far inland. BLITZER: Because this hurricane is, what, hundreds of miles wide as it's moving north and it's a dangerous not just for Florida, but as you point out for Georgia and the Carolinas and maybe even further north as it continues to develop.

As you mentioned, this hurricane is being described as extremely dangerous. You've called it an extremely dangerous monster of a storm. What is making it so large and so threatening?

RHOME: Well, storms -- some of the same environmental conditions that help a storm intensify, so relative humidity or moisture and low vertical wind shear can also help them to expand in size. You can see here this orange area here depicts the overall size of the storm. And, I mean, look how large it is. It basically covers the entire state of Florida. And that's what also makes them pack a bigger punch in terms of storm surge and rainfall.

BLITZER: Jamie Rhome, thanks very much for joining us. As you mentioned to me when we spoke earlier, whenever we speak, it's never good news, certainly not good news right now. I appreciate it very much. Good luck to you. And thank you to all the men and women who work with you at the National Hurricane Center for all the important work that you're doing.

We, of course, are going to continue to monitor Hurricane Helene, but there's other important stories we're following as well, including the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, now facing five federal charges. We're going to bring you details on the indictment, which accuses the mayor of years of public corruption.

Plus, there's other breaking news. The special counsel files new evidence in the federal election subversion case against Donald Trump. We'll update you on that as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:59]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're following stunning developments in New York City where Mayor Eric Adams is vowing to stay on the job just hours after prosecutors unveiled very serious federal charges against him. We expect Adams to make his first court appearance tomorrow for his formal arraignment.

This hour, "The New York Times" editorial board is now calling on the mayor to resign for what it describes as the good of the city.

CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK MAYOR: I look forward to defending myself.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York City Mayor Eric Adams, once a rising star in the Democratic Party now faces a five-count federal indictment. DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK:

The conduct alleged in the indictment, the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment is a grave breach of the public's trust.

PAZMINO: Prosecutors say Adams sold his office in exchange for thousands of dollars in illegal donations from foreign nationals, along with gifts, luxury travel and premium hotel rooms.

Adams forcefully denied the allegations.

ADAMS: And I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments.

PAZMINO: The indictment stretching back to his time as Brooklyn borough president. Since then, prosecutors say Adams solicited donations from Turkish nationals in violation of campaign finance laws.

The indictment lays out a number of alleged instances including a staffer communicating about a potential $100,000 donation, writing, quote, I think he wouldn't get involved in such games. They might cause a big stink later on, but adding, I'll ask anyways.

WILLIAMS: Adams knew that these wealthy individuals could not legally donate in a U.S. election.

PAZMINO: Prosecutors allege Adams tried to hide the donations by funneling them through straw donors, the money multiplied by thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded matching funds.

Once he took office, prosecutors say Adams used his power to pressure agencies to take favorable action to benefit Turkish officials. In one instance, the mayor directed the Fire Department to facilitate the opening of the new Turkish consulate, which had failed to pass safety inspections.

WILLIAMS: This building was important to the Turkish official and it was important to Turkey.

PAZMINO: Turkish officials under pressure from an impending visit by the Turkish president allegedly asked Adams to intervene. The building opened without incident.

Prosecutors allege Adams took multiple trips to India, France, China, Hungary, and Ghana, making critical stops in Turkey, at one point texting his partner. You know first stop always is Istanbul.

When he learned federal prosecutors were investigating, Adams allegedly tried to conceal the evidence directing staff first to delete messages.

Federal agents spend more than three hours inside Adams's residence this morning.

But Adams resolute that he will not step down. ADAMS: From here, my attorneys would take care of the case so I can take care of the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAZMINO: Wolf, prosecutors alleged that Eric Adams even tried to prevent federal agents from getting into his cell phone. When he learned that there was a federal investigation, he changed the password. When they tried to take the phones from him, he said that he had forgotten what it was. Obviously, investigators were eventually able to get in.

Tonight, Eric Adams emailing more than 300,000 city walkers, telling them that he has done nothing wrong and that he is focused on continuing to run the city. The question is whether he will be able to do this as the case develops, and he'll end if you'll be able to survive the political fallout of all this -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Gloria. Thank you. Gloria Pazmino reporting.

I want to bring in our chief legal analyst and anchor, Laura Coates.

[18:50:01]

Laura, thanks very much for joining us.

You've looked at the documents and all that. How strong of a case do they have?

LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: This is a very serious case involving federal charges. They have accumulation of different allegations. In isolation, maybe one or two upgrades. They're talking about it from say, a Turkish airline or a conversation with this person or that might in isolation to the average person looked like innocent.

However, the way they have laid this out to suggest that he solicited that he was, in fact, committing official acts, overt acts, trying to cover things up, it is the quintessential tale of nothing is really free. And there were strings attached.

And when it came time to pay the piper, they're alleging, he did so in a way that would possibly risk the safety of New Yorkers actually, in a building that would not have passed the fire code inspection, otherwise. This is accumulation of allegations. They have to prove these cases.

And traditionally, bribe cases have become increasingly harder because the Supreme Court has said, you've got to get a direct connection between the request, the payment, or quid pro quo, and actual official act.

BLITZER: What do you make of Mayor Adams' claims that this is a case, that's a federal case, which retaliation for him challenging the Biden administration's immigration policies? COATES: There's nothing in this particular indictment that suggests that that's an all what their basis is. In fact, it really is about those who are from foreign countries, but those he has listed for actual campaign contributions. The idea this is a politicized venture by the SDNY might be farcical too many because of all of that's been laid out here.

But this is part of a pattern of politicians, for example, Donald Trump from one person who is suggested that every thing -- every time you stand up to the federal government, they rain upon you there. Department of Justice, irrespective of all the things that you've been alleged to do, they go through a methodical assessment of what he has done. And nothing seems to suggest that its based on retaliation for ones negative criticism about immigration policy.

BLITZER: I want to read you part of the indictment about what Adams did with his phone after it was seized for the first time and this is what it says. And we heard Gloria Pazmino mentioned this.

Adams claimed that after he learned about the investigation into his conduct, he changed the password on his phone. Adams further claimed he had forgotten the password. He had just set and thus was unable to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone. Does that speak to why federal agents searched Gracie mansion earlier today?

COATES: I think it does. It also would suggest to you that phrase, we can do it the easy way or the hard way? The hard way was searching Gracie Mansion, the easy way would have been to cooperate.

And, of course, he has every right and due process requirements. He doesn't have to meet the burden of proof. That's the prosecutions role to prove that he's guilty, not for him to prove that he's innocent. But in a line of cooperating and not trying to obstruct something a bit of go a long way. In any event, this does not bode well for the mayor of New York City.

BLITZER: If he's convicted, he could spend years and years in jail.

COATES: Absolutely.

BLITZER: All right. Laura, thank you very much. Laura Coates reporting for us.

Laura, of course, will be back for -- for her show later tonight. Laura Coates, live 11:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Coming up, details I never before seen evidence just filed in Donald Trump's federal election subversion case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:56:21]

BLITZER: Watching CNN's breaking news coverage of Hurricane Helene, the monster storm nearing landfall in Florida tonight, as if threatens to bring category four winds and deadly storm surge and historic flooding across the Southeast. Stay with CNN for all the latest information as Helene closes in, this is a major, major story.

There's other breaking news were following right now as well, including the special counsel, Jack Smith, who just filed never before seen evidence in the federal election subversion case against Donald Trump. That filing made under seal is now in the hands of Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Our chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, is joining us with an update right now.

Paula, what do we know about this new filing?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we know that Jack Smith has faced many roadblocks and trying to bring this case to trial.

And tonight, he was expected to file his most compelling argument for why Trump allegedly tried to subvert the 2020 election, and why this case should survive even after the Supreme Court ruled a few months ago, that Trump has partial immunity.

Now we expect this filing to be nearly 200 pages and possibly contain never before seen evidence, things like testimony from former Vice President Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump, or even former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

Now it is up to the judge, Tanya Chutkan, to decide how much of this is made public. Trumps lawyers have opposed publicly releasing sensitive evidence in this case. This is really the last chance for the public to see the evidence that was gathered during this roughly 2-year-old year long investigation before the election.

And, of course, the former President Trump is reelected, his attorney general will dismiss both of the special counsels cases against Trump.

BLITZER: What are Trump's lawyers saying about this?

REID: So it's been interesting in talking with them because sometimes they like to do things preemptively, Wolf, like they know this is coming, so they're going to file an appeal, talk about how this is a unique, assert their client's constitutional rights, but they didn't do that here, because this is all being filed under seal.

So I think that's notable. What we're going to see over the next few days and weeks, I think as them fighting tooth and nail to prevent the judge from releasing any evidence that they think could be potentially politically damaging for their client. But I really think they've gotten a huge assistance its hear from the Supreme Court that it took so long to make their decision on presidential immunity and made it impossible for Jack Smith to bring this case before the election.

They've always told me their number one goal was to just delay any serious criminal case until after the election and they have been successful in doing that for the federal cases of course, the former president did go to trial in New York on those state charges.

BLITZER: Let's see what happens.

Paula Reid reporting for us -- Paula, thanks very much.

We have an important programming note for our viewers. Tomorrow, I'll have an exclusive interview with the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. We'll discuss the escalations in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. You can see the full interview tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

To our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.