or eight feet in the bay, you could potentially get up above ten feet in this in this event >> a lot of my guy appreciated mike it's good to see you again and thank you for all your work. so for the folks who have been living in florida a

long time and have experienced these storms many times, power you talking with them about how this is going to be different. and what and so the difference between what they're used to and what this will be as a way to hopefully give them more encouragement to know that they need to get out you thank you, madam vice president. >> yes, we've been emphasizing the size and the intensity of the storm and the direction in which it's approaching, which is unusual and really raises that storm surge risk for the west coast of florida we typically see hurricanes approach the west coast of florida from the south or southeast, moving parallel to the coast. this track more perpendicular to the coast really raises the storm surge risk. and the size of the storm is going to produce hazardous impacts across much of the peninsula. so we've been hitting the surge risk on both coasts. actually, the hurricane force winds, the flooding, rainfall all threat to tornadoes and trying to reemphasize the scale and breadth of the threat which is somewhat unusual for milton thank you and thanks for your good work my question yes, for

people listening, what is the what, what is the width of the state of florida? from the tampa bay area across to sebastian. and later in that area to palm beach or what kind of distance we talking about? >> you know across the state of florida, you're probably talking about 150, 200 miles that's an estimate, but the storm is going to be moving 15 miles per hour, so it's going to be moving across that area very quickly. and the tropical storm force winds, 30, 40 mile per hour winds or greater now extend almost out more than 200 miles from the center they're going to get even larger as the storm approaches the coastline. so that's going to cause those wind impacts to affect much of the state three nash, the questions i think at least for me, having done a lot of this the last three years emphasizes the consequential damage this storm can do. >> i mean, this is going to enter florida on the west as

hurricane and leave as hurricane and that's that's pretty unusual. why yes. >> yes, sir. thank you thank you so much we will move on now to the national weather service director ken graham all right, thanks, lis, i appreciate it. >> and wanted to thank administrator criswell for for everything through this and dr. brennan, as well, the hurricane center's been really focused on this and on it with such great forecast the whole way i just wish we could minimize those impacts, but that doesn't look like what's going to happen. so mr. president, madam vice president, we continue to work the national weather service with our federal, state, and local decision-makers during the storms we actually have our scientists embedded with fema, the state and local emergency operation centers. and we also have our scientists embedded with the u.s. coast guard district seven to really help out with these decisions, to make sure that we're right there to answer the questions as they come up. other covering really the subtleties as you've

mentioned in this forecast, dr. brennan mentioned those small changes can make a big difference. little wiggles really do matter though small wobbles make a difference in the storm surge and all these big storms, they wobbled and wiggle all the way in which we'll see that happening as this gets closer to landfall so as administrator criswell said, listen to those local officials, i can't stress enough. 30 years with this. know what 30 years in the weather service this is a particularly dangerous track. people really need to be getting into there. they're safe locations as the impacts start deteriorating really quickly over the next few hours, words really matter in these storms, even and if the winds decreased somewhat near landfall, we really tried to avoid words like weaken it really gives a false sense of security to the public. so we really want to stress that no matter what happens to that, the wind speed in the system, catastrophic impacts will result either way, the size of the wind speed the actual size of it will be expanding as dr. brennan was saying, so much of

that impactful cover, most of the peninsula and mr. president like like you said, milton, think about it. i just i just goes over my mind over and over. milton will enter as a hurricane and exit as a hurricane, you'll see damaged from the landfall point on the west coast. you'll see damage much on the east coast as well. so it's really important to focus on those impacts again seeing those impacts on both coasts we're really starting to see the impacts as we speak. i was just looking at the radar before doing this this meeting here and we've got tornadoes already touching down in some spots in florida and some of it confirmed that have touched down as well. and about 90% of those tornadoes occur on that right front quadrant of a tropical system. so really are folks are that the weather service were on duty 24 hours a day watching that radar to make sure that we could get those warnings out quickly to people so they can take cover and as dr. bryanna said, think about it. mike, right? 140 miles wide

now we're 200 and expect it to be greater than 240 miles away from the center with these winds. so that's a huge area that we could see some of those that damage very concerned about the storm surge. and i wanted to double down on something. it's not just, you know, tampa bay with that eight to 12 foot forecast or ten to 15 down to book a grand day. i mean, you could see five to eight feet of storm surge all the way down to chokoloskee. think about fort myers, naples well away from that center, we just got a real keep reminding people they're not safe even though you're not, you know, not near the center of the storm. so it will continue to really message that as we can the other part of this flooding could last a while. so unlike other areas with elevation, there's not much elevation in florida, so some of these rivers are going to be slow to drain. some of these rivers can stay up for about a week after the storm. and the storm surge will act as a blocker to drain some of that rain from the inland areas. so that could really be at some challenges to some communities with these flooding and recovery efforts

as some of the roads will be pretty impassable. so you know, i was i was looking at this mr. president, madam vice president yesterday, i said the clock was ticking on today. i'm saying the alarm bells going off, people really need to start getting into their safe place is always the weather service remains on duty 24 by seven to make the decision makers have all the information they need. and the updates this storm, kinda like to focus on one thing you said, i don't think most people would think it but, you know the idea that sometimes it takes days for rivers, crest after a major storm like this. >> are there any particular areas you concerned that you were related to this type of flooding? and how long do you think the flooding conditions could last and others, i think people think once once the winds are dying down of gotten through that, okay. we're all set but he's river flooding are consequential and they takes time, it takes time that storm surge pushes up every nook and cranny of florida.

>> so it goes up a is goes up river as it fills in all these areas. and then you add that incredible amount of rainfall and that rain can't drain because the storm surge hasn't blocked. so just really looking at some of the areas and hillsborough river alpha phi a river, the peace river, some of these type of traditional places that could flood we really got to watch those was those areas in those it takes quite a while for that water to drain thank you very much hey, can i have a question for you? you mentioned words matter and um, i know there's a lot of media following this briefing so there have been we've gone from a cat five, jokat four, and the language that a lot of folks have been using his downgrade but it sounds like you're cautioning us that that may communicate a sense that the danger is lessened when in fact it's not. can you talk a little bit about that because i know a lot of folks are watching right now and would

love to have your feedback on how we should to be talking about this. >> you know, we need everybody that communicates to the public to be on the same page with the words, because i've 30 years of doing this, i've seen this so many times. people will think was a cat five now it's a cat three, that's not a reason to relax. that's not weakened. that's not diminished. that means that we expanded the wind field, the impacts don't change associated with that. and i've seen it listen, hurricane florence and other historic hurricane. so we have to be mindful of the words that we use and focus on those impacts, those impacts haven't changed. no matter what the wind speed does over the next 24 hours thank you that's very helpful. >> thank you. >> thank you, director graham, i will go now to secretary mayorkas, the secretary trump homeland security ally over to you. >> thank you very much. >> less. mr. president, madam vice president, if i can just pick up on the important for the words matter, i want to thank you for the strength and moral clarity with which you have been speaking to bat down

false information that is being spread that false information is only hurting survivors in need of help and it is also hurting the first responders who are so bravely risking their lives to deliver that help to the survivors mr. president, madam vice president, we are executing on your directive to not only rely on fema to provide emergency relief, but to draw up on other resources throughout the department of homeland security and throughout the federal government, throughout your administration. i know you will hear from the commandant of the united states coast guard, linda fagan, the united states coast guard. it's deployed almost 1,300 personnel to florida not just for search and rescue, but also to ensure the safety and security the port of tampa, which is a critical lifeline for supplies that are needed by florida and elsewhere. i want to also say that are u.s. customs and border protection has devoted

search and rescue personnel as well as other parts of our department to give you just a quick snapshot of some of the resources that are devoted from other parts of the administration. the department of defense is providing search and rescue, commodity movement, commodity distribution, and security to florida. we already have one 5 million meals and 2.8 million liters of water ready to provide to people in need the u.s. army corps of engineers is providing temporary power, temporary roofing to pre removal support, and engineering expertise. but u.s force administration is also providing debris removal. this is absolutely critical so that our search and rescue personnel can reach the people in need and provide them with the humanitarian relief upon which they rely. health and human services is providing hospital and health related support to small business

administration has done they gave her 137 personnel to assist people who have lost or whose businesses are destroyed to get them back up on their feet and understand what resources are available to them. we have an entire administration dedicated to this effort at your direction in with that, i'll pause hey, ali my secretary from all the federal departments and agencies in support of this response then any lacking we, certainly do have all of the resources we are well-positioned to continue to respond to hurricane helene to respond to hurricane milton, mr. president, we are meeting the moment and meeting the challenges because of the extraordinary people who have spoken before me well, i, you know, i want to thank the governor's. they've stepped up you know, all this information

going out about how, you know, we're devoting all this money to migrants and we're all, or even one congresswoman suggesting that i control the weather and implying that i'm sending it to red states. i mean, stuff off the wall. i safeguard of a comic-book. but you know, people when they're in trouble, for example and i assist to our administrator. they said that you $750 and that's it you've lost everything. he has $750. >> that's that's not that's not that's just, you give me an immediately what you need to get by the next day to get a prescription, to get whatever is are you getting calls already about what we're going to be able to deliver for people who get in trouble we are mr. president. let me say that one of the false

narratives is that the federal employees who were actually delivering assistance we'll take an individual's land and that is causing individuals, survivors not to approach the people who were there to help and obtains a relief to which they are entitled and that we have available to them. and the vice president knows very well as a former prosecutor, that false information only is fueled well for the criminal element to exploit individuals and positions of vulnerability and madam vice president, your words at the outset were so very important for that reason thank you mr. secretary, i want to thank you. and the folks in your agency working with fema, noaa and all the federal agencies. i've seen i've been on the ground and the work that you all have been doing to coordinate with local and state law enforcement and first responders has been outstanding. it really does show the best of the kind of work that we do in a moment of crisis to work together. so i

applaud the folks that work with you and your leadership in that regard. >> thank you, madam vice president thank you secretary mayorkas will go now to admiral linda fagan, the commandant of the u.s. coast guard thank you. >> thank you, mr. president. madam vice president. and i want to assure you that that the coast guard is ready to respond. we continue to monitor the storm closely and are mindful of how dangerous and devastating the storm is and the potential to the region which is still recovering from hurricane helene my senior field commanders are well integrated with both the state and local emergency responders. and it stood up incident commands we continue to search personnel and assets from across the country into the region. and i want to highlight how we prepare for storms. and so we have people in helicopters and aircraft and boats and qatar's that would have been in harm's way for the

passage of this storm. and we have sorted, moved those people and assets out of harm's way for the storm. they are ready in position to begin to move back into the region as soon as it is safe to do so. in addition to the aircraft and ships and boats include shallow water boats, medical teams, pollution response teams crisis support teams our top priority is saving lives in safeguarding safeguarding the marine transportation system. this also includes responding to any pollution incidents we will begin to move back into the region as soon as it is safe to do so with our primary initial focus being life-saving work and reopening the port to re-enable the flow of commerce i want to focus just for a minute on the port of tampa, which is the largest port in florida and depending on the impacts of this storm, there could be some impact of the

port and commerce flow. >> we will conduct overflight as well as bring ships into the region to ensure that the channel and the harbor is clear and safe for commercial traffic. >> we will work with the army corps of engineers and others could do those assessments we'll work to re-establish days to navigation constellation, and work with the pilots in the area to ensure that ships are able to move safely in and out of the port of tampa will also need to ensure that the court has the electricity for handling cargo and cargo flows hearing this week, mr. president, because we are myopically focused on regaining commerce flows into the port of tampa. once the assessments are able to be made, it does take a little bit of time, but we will move with all urgency to ensure that tampa is reopened for commerce and commercial flows. >> we continue to monitor the storm closely in a number of our briefers have spoken on the knee that he the evacuation

orders and just like to emphasize that my first responders and as one of the critical first response agencies pours a hurricane response like my first responders have moved out of harm's way and are not in the path is going on they are ready for immediate reconstitution into the area we will see them moving quickly. but as the storm effects come on people really need to need to move into a safe positions so that they do not lose, lose their lives. mr. president, your coast guard is ready to respond and we are well-positioned for that. thank you, sir know whether people have not been through any kind of hurricane in the past, may not understand is that when the rainfall and the flood surge are significant, but these elevated water levels are likely to be accompanied by

large and destructive waves. >> it's not just the water rising significant way. and what do you anticipate if he's if anyone else wants to respond what to anticipate in terms of the wave damaged has done not just the water rising, but these waves, large waves coming in sir, i'll just touch on the impact of the water in the just the flow insignificance of any kind of increase waterflow storm surge, whether it's waived or than or otherwise, it creates conditions that are incredibly hazardous to life. you people can't swim or say themselves, which again, just emphasize is why it's so critical that people evacuate and get themselves out of harm's way. i met allows them for the assessment with regard to any property or property impacts i know search and rescue is obviously the number one priority really after

storm, but we know that the port of tampa is critical critical for the state and the state's economy in the region as well. >> what can you and the army corps of engineers do to get the port quickly reopen once this storm passes through take ms present were already in conversations where the army corps of engineers aligned on the need to begin those assessments as quickly as possible to determine whether there were any impacts from the storm or not in regained and reopen the port of tampa. >> the port of everglades is also critical port on the east coast of florida. the port everglades remains open for fuel tankers to ensure that that commerce continues to flow into the state from other ports that are not in the direct impact of the storm. it's her i assure you we in the corporate engineers are already in conversation with regard to what it will take to reconstitute port of tampa, and we will lean into that work as quickly as possible.

>> thank you, admiral. appreciate it common dana, i echo the president's words. >> thank you for what you and the men and women of the coast guard have been doing in response to hurricane helene. and now this and your emphasis on the importance of the port in tampa is critically important to recovery. so thank you for all the work that you are doing. i know that resources are spread thin in terms of your folks being on the ground in every area right now and you're doing an extraordinary job. so thank you for that. >> thank you, madam vice president professionals on this screen, we are truly in your debt and in debt to your teams for what they are doing right now, to prepare for and respond to what is coming to florida this evening. >> with that, we will conclude the public part of this brief and if you'll just stay on the screen for a few minutes, we can now say it won't close.

conversation. of course, mr. president, pass on to your folks how much we respect and understand. >> a lot of these folks are risking their lives. >> yes. >> the risk their lives to help other people. i mean, this is americans helping americans in ways that when, you know to me it's a measure of who we are as a nation when we see this happen. and a constantly happens, americans stepping up to help other americans and risking their lives. so thank all these first responders, that ruling it matters really from the bottom of my heart. thank you. thank you. thank you sorry teleconference where president joe biden, vice president kamala harris has been receiving details from federal officials including the dhs secretary, the fema administrator, and others about hurricane milton now bearing

down on the state of florida specifically the area of sarasota, just a few a couple of miles it's from here. and of course, tampa bay area that we are in right now. i'm boris sanchez coming to you live from tampa bay. my colleague, brianna keeler is in the nation's capital monitoring developments. we want to paint a picture for you of what things look like here and what they are about to look like over the next few hours as this powerful storm gets closer and closer to landfall. in this park outside of tampa bay we've seen a lot lot of extensive damage from hurricane helene, leftover from about two weeks ago. you see it on his peer right here. >> you're looking eastward towards tampa bay and there are planks of wood strewn about there is scrap metal and different era. >> and what are the most concerning things about this hurricane aside from the powerful winds that are headed his way somewhere in the vicinity of 125 140 miles an hour is the storm surge. and we're seeing an ominous sign of what is to come right now. the water is receding in tampa

bay. that means that the wind is pushing it out as we get later and later into the evening, this water will return and we are expecting a storm surge anywhere from eight to 12 feet. here in tampa bay. if you look old we're in a distance on that side. you're supposed to see skyscrapers, you supposed to see the skyline of tampa bay, but it is clouded right now because of the strength of the storm and over here to my right, you had something that officials have been warning against. you see? onlookers, people with children coming outside, even in this dangerous, safe, we've seen tornadoes touched down across the gulf coast of florida, so that right there is a terrible idea. we hope that those folks will soon head inside. right now. we wanna get the very latest on the forecast from elisa rafah. she's in the cnn weather center at least bring us the latest update from the national hurricane center. >> yeah. we are still looking at an intense category four hurricane that has been maintaining its intensity for the most part, 145 mile per

hour winds, it's picking up speed moving at 17 miles per hour is sitting 160 miles to the south health in western view in a tampa, the tornado threat has just been prolific this morning. i mean, look at all the tornado warnings. we find this often when we have a hurricane making landfall, you have these outer bands that start to get friction with the land. and that's what causes these spin-ups because the entire thing is spinning with so much moisture but we have had multiple tornado warnings and multiple of which have had the tag for considerable damage. it mean look at all the warnings that are around fort myers right now, as all of these little cells start to spin and drop tornadoes that we have been able to capture in pictures and video the watch for the 20 continues until 9:00 this evening for a lot of the peninsula here as those tornadoes kidding you to spin on shore when it comes to the track, we're still looking at that major hurricane making landfall on the west coast of tampa bay. we're going to maintain that hurricane strength as it goes across the

peninsula here, the hurricane warnings, in effect and what the officials were really honing in on is doesn't matter. this point if it's a category three or category four, it has been dragging the ocean with it for the last couple of days. so the wave height, the storm surge, those forecasts are not going to change no matter what the wind speed does. we're looking at ten to 15 mile per hours i'm sorry, feet of storm surge around sarasota where the exact eye goes will determine who gets the worst storm surge, whether it's in the bay area or to the south. but you've got storm surge washing against the entire west coast here, still up to eight to 12 feet around fort myers and naples and five to eight feet just south of there. and that's the unsurvivable that's the devastating part, again, with some of these storm surge numbers that are well above what is a survivable here, looking at the wind, again, 110 plus mile per hour winds there in the purple possible from tampa down towards fort myers hurricane force winds across the entire peninsula, even

running through places like orlando. boris this storm for and wide across the state of florida, at least a rafah from the weather center. >> thank you so much. one of the things at least to talk about tornadic activity, we've seen a number of tornadoes already touching down. we actually got video. i believe this is from broward county. this is in the southeast part of florida. i should want to go live to cnn's carlos suarez who's in fort myers, florida because he has an update right now on tornadic activity, carlos, what are you seeing where you are yeah. >> that's right, boris, just so about an hour ago, a strong line of thunderstorms have moved across downtown fort myers. here are some of the worst weather that we have seen associated with a hurricane milton and as you noted, there have been two confirmed at tornadoes by the national weather service out of miami that first tornado was in western broward county near i75, which is one of the

primary evacuation routes for folks that are trying to get from the west coast of florida over to the east coast of florida. that second confirmed tornado go was out by clue austin? that is right near lake okeechobee and it is also along another road that connects the west coast to the east coast of florida. and now we're looking into the possibility here in fort myers that there may have been some damage about ten to 15 minutes from where we are to give you a sense of exactly are located shan earlier today, i was live kinda closer to the kaluza hatchie river back there. we're keeping a close eye on it because we expect that that river is going to overflow. and at some point begin pushing in with storm surge, right now of anywhere between eight to 12 feet. so as all of that played out, we made the decision to go ahead and make our way a little bit closer, more inland away from the river. and then there was a break in the weather. and now we're starting to hear some reports of some damage to some homes in one neighborhood again, not too far from where

we are it's just about ten to 15 minute drive from this location. whether that was a confirmed tornado or just a strong burst of wind. of course, the national weather service out here will be the ones that will have to determine that as for why we pick this location to cover hurricane milton, a two years ago, i was out here for hurricane ian and this part of lee county was destroyed. it was underwater, and the storm surge two years ago ten feet, and that was a direct landfall. and with the expectation, of course that the storm continues on its track north we're still dealing with the storm surge possibly north of ten feet. >> boris and that is alarming that you would see a tornado touching down in western broward county that is a few hundred miles from where this storm is expected to make landfall later this evening come a suarez. >> thank you so much for the update. >> right now. we want to discuss with a local official we're joined by chief jim kilpatrick. he's with the st.

pete beach, fire department chief. >> thank you so much for being with us first and foremost. i want to ask you about folks that are doing what officials have been warning against for days. there there's like a family right now, not far from where i'm standing and they are with children watching this storm coming. if you could give a message to the folks at home watching this to warn them against this, what would you say to you those waters are dangerous, those windsor dangerous. there's a potential for missiles when the winds pick up, it is not safe to be outside right now, you should be structure that is able to withstand the storm and be hunkering down approach and not being out here in these conditions. >> chief, i'm wondering what your principal concern is for the community of st. pete's beach through another storm about 13 days ago. >> he structures have been hit

by water and wind there are in a weakened state. i'm worried that this next storm make cause collapse and it may these waters may raise prize to a point that they're affecting second and third quarter structures as well basic perspective? >> for folks? senator just outside evacuation zones, is it a good idea for them to get out as well or do you suspect that they might be better off hunkering down at this point? >> i think at this point it's probably best to hunker down weather conditions are deteriorating and they're going to continue to deteriorate until landfall damage caused by hurricane helene only about two weeks ago. >> we saw piles and piles of debris stat across pinellas county, across parts of the gulf coast.

>> i wonder what it looks like in st. pete's beach specifically, how much of the debris free from hurricane helene were you able to remove there was a great effort. >> i think there was over 9,000 national guardsmen equipment dump trucks but it was a massive task and they did their best, but we still have lots of debris on the roadway are on the sides of the roadway. and that's just going to become more debris on top of more debris once these other structures are affected by this note want to give viewers it's an idea of what it's like for the folks and the fire department when this hurricane is coming through, when you get calls from people asking for help how are you able to process them? is there anything that emergency officials are able to do in a situation like this with a massive storm were

limited you know, those calls came in in the left last storm once we evacuated the island, once our resources have left the island we are we're stuck in our emergency operations center, and we will not be performing rescues until hopefully, we get an all clear to get back out on the island so much for joining us and please keep us updated on. please keep us posted on what you're seeing there. we appreciate you joining us. we have to take a quick break but we're continuing to monitor hurricane milton here in tampa bay. we'll of course, keep you posted with the latest stay with cnn a break from breaking news to air. >> have i got news for you? >> breaking news. i'm getting a

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we were made to put them in a package on carlos suarez tracking hurricane milton in fort myers, florida. and this is cnn as millions of people are bracing for hurricane milton fema and local officials are battling a dangerous, dangerous storm of disinformation. >> much of it coming from former president donald trump and his running mate senator jd vance in the wake of hurricane helene, less than two weeks ago, trump has repeatedly made misleading claims like this one john miller spent all her fema money billions of dollars on housing for illegal migrants milton's expected landfall, vance doubled down on trump's claims in an op-ed in the wall street journal criticizing the biden administration's response. the biden

administration says that these false claims are putting lives at risk. and earlier today, the republican governor of florida ron desantis, no fan of biden and harris agreed be careful about the nonsense that just that gets circulated and just know that the more titillating it is, the more likely somebody is making money off of it. >> and they don't really give a damn about the well-being and safety of the people that are actually in the eye of this storm cnn's daniel dale and priscilla alvarez are here to help us fact check some of this already, daniel, first, let's go over this op-ed and what jd vance is alleging here in this op-ed, he criticizes the time that it took for active-duty troops to be deployed in north carolina. >> he writes, quote, a week when by, while the citizens of north carolina suffered without the equipment and soldiers needed to save lives and begin recovery. >> so a couple of things here, i think it's fair game for anyone to argue the north carolina didn't have what it needed, who has to say for sure what it needed. however, this

op-ed omits some important stuff. it did not mention while criticizing biden and harris that found thousands of fema personnel were pre-positioned in north carolina and other states in advance of the hurricane, it focused on the time it took to deploy active duty troops to north carolina, didn't mention that hundreds and then more than 1,000, in fact, more than 1,500 national guard troops in north carolina. where very quickly deployed. and it also didn't mention that in order for the president ploy active duty troops in such a situation, there needs to be request from the governor, so it put all the blame on biden, put all the blame on harris, didn't mention that they had to wait. >> yeah. they're important questions to raise. but some of these allegations do not appear to be fully fleshed out for sure. and daniel, the op-ed, also doubled down on this claim from trump that fema has run out of money because it's been spent on migrants. what's the truth here? >> the truth is that this is false and i think this is another example of senator vance delivering trumpian lives in a slightly more sophistic good way. so this are bad says that some have claimed that

fema, disaster relief money is separate from the money that is going to migrate. this is not a some have claimed that is the truth. these are two separate pots of money, specifically allocated by congress for two very different purposes. $1,650 million for migrant shelter program to be administered by fema and then more than 35 billion this year to fema for disaster relief. there's no basis for these claims. they're being, you know, the money, is being the stolen taken his missing, no. fema is spending money as congress required, and there's no hanky panky going on here in brazil local officials, we hear at democrats, republicans, they are concerned about this disinformation, misinformation that is out there. >> we heard that from iran desantis, the biden administration. clearly, we just heard that in the briefing they're concerned as well oh, yeah. >> this is a gone all the way up the ladder. in fact, i spoke to a source who told me that president biden this week asked for a memorandum from his team about the digital response and how exactly they were remediating the misinformation because the scale and scope of

this is unlike anything that they have seen before, it becomes so ramping. and when false claims that you all have discussed how the direct impacts on the ground and that's ultimately the main concern within the white house and within the department of homeland security that people will not seek out the needs that they need to have met because they don't think that it is available given what is being said, the homeland security secretary said this earlier today, president joe biden also just touched on this president trump has led the onslaught of lies, assertions have been made that property is being confiscated that's simply not true. >> you're saying people impacted by the storms will receive $750 in cash and no more that's simply not true. they're saying the money is needed to for this crisis is being diverted to migrants what a ridiculous thing to say, it's not true now the claims are getting even more bizarre. congressman marjorie taylor

greene, a congresswoman, georgia is now saying the federal government is literally controlling whether we're controlling the weather it's found ridiculous it's got to stop moments like this. there are no red or blue states there's one united states, america where neighbors are helping neighbors volunteers and first responders are risking everything, including their own lives to help their fellow americans state, local, and federal officials are standing side-by-side. >> now part of this has also included the white house finding other corners of the internet that they can occupy with accurate information yesterday, they launched a white house read it page, so they are trying new tactics, including the transportation secretary talking to elon musk to try to tamp down some of these concerns are some of these false claims i should say, in all of government from an effort right now, they're working around the clock to try to swat this away, knowing that it can have that real impact on the ground. i will also tell you, brianna, i spoke to a fema official yesterday who told me they were getting calls from

their colleagues who are on the ground in north carolina, for example, who are also facing threats from people. and those threats are stemming from they're hearing on the internet. so this isn't just the survivors who are being affected, but also the fema personnel on the ground who are meant to help them. >> yeah. we've heard mayorkas and desantis saying there are people afraid their land will be seized if they deal with fema officials, not true. and there are republicans who were fact checking that claim about the government controlling the weather republicans are not, are displeased about this to daniel. >> they are always appreciate when members of congress do my job for me. so we had north carolina republican congressman chuck edwards put out a fact sheet online where he said, no, nobody can control the weather. you also debunked a bunch of other claims and another republican congressmen congressman carlos gimenez of florida, less diplomatic with his colleague posting on x, formerly known as twitter. he said, nobody can create or control hurricanes and anyone who thinks that they can should

have their head examined. he was very clear. he was talking about cars. >> i'm so sorry to interrupt you. i want to get now to my colleague, dana bash. dana, i understand that you got vice president harris on the phone. >> that's right. brianna. thank you so much. vice president harris at believed that you are now on the telephone fresh off of that briefing that we all saw here on cnn. thank you so much for being here. what is the most important thing that you learned that you want to amplify for americans tens who are in the path of this dangerous storm right now the briefing was very helpful on a number of fronts. >> but most importantly, in getting the word out to folks in florida in particular to please heed the advice and direction of your local officials because this storm is unlike anything we have seen before. and that's the point of emphasis. this is unlike anything we have seen before. we got a lot of tough, strong people in florida who have been

through a lot of hurricane hurricanes, tornadoes. but this is not like anything they've dealt with before. so if they have been told to evacuate, they must evacuate. we expect that this is going to be catastrophic and deadly and i would emphasize that i would also emphasize the information that we received that even if the designation of the categories shifts from a five to four that's not actually a downgrade in terms of the danger and the dangerous potential of it. and so let's not have people rely to their detriment on oh, this sounds like it's going to be less serious than we thought they made very clear. category five, category four are almost equivalent in terms of the danger and the damage that they will create. >> so i would i would urge people to really take that information away as well as to note there are dedicated folks on the ground from fema, from

federal, state, and local agencies that are there to help you, to help you in terms of advice. >> now, to help you get out and to help with recovery and rebuilding after this storm and the hurricane passes. >> and madam vice president, i just want to follow up on the fema readiness part of this discussion and we heard the administrator, deanne criswell say earlier today that the agency is down to $11 billion in disaster relief funding because it spent about 9 billion just over the last week. are you confident fema has the resources to manage what we are? never mind what we're about to see in florida but of course, that's on top of hurricane helene two weeks ago fema absolutely has the resources that it needs now and to deal with this hurricane as it hits and the aftermath and of course, we want congress when they come back to do their job of making sure that they

pass legislation to provide more aid. >> because again, this is really historic in terms of what we've seen and so we do need to buff up, be aid and assistance that we give fema understanding that this is unusual and may be sadly, the new normal, but you don't believe that because congress is not in washington right now, you don't believe that they need to come back earlier in order to give fema more resources? >> fema has what they need right now. >> okay. i want to talk a little bit more about what both you and president biden talked about in this briefing. >> and each of you has talked about many times over the past few days, which is this dangerous misinformation that is coming from a lot of corners including your opponent in the race for the white house several local republican leaders have been pleading with them to stop. have you spoken to gop officials in florida to

figure out how to help combat that right now, as it's about to get a whole lot worse. >> well, i'll tell you. i have spoken with local officials who had been struck, for example, by hurricane helene and they are doing an extraordinary job in trying to combat the misinformation. and i'm talking about sheriff some talking about mayor's. i'm talking about local officials. i don't we even know their party affiliation by the way, but leaders on the ground who know that it is not in the best interest of the people living in those areas to not know their rights, not to know what they're entitled to and to be afraid of seeking help. it is dangerous. it is it is unconscionable, frank believe that anyone who consider themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled. and that's why i call it dangerous. and we all know it's dangerous. and the

gamesmanship has to stop at some point, the politics have to end ashley in a moment of crisis and the crises that we've been seeing effects so many people i've met, people who've lost family members do hurricane helene. we know the desperation and the fear that the folks who are attempting to evacuate florida are experiencing. the last thing that they deserve. it the have a so-called leader, make them more afraid than they already are we have been fact-checking and in fact, just before you came on, we did so our my colleague, brianna keeler, along with daniel, dale and priscilla alvarez are doing that and we're continuing to do it. >> one of my sort of follow-up questions to that is about we know what republicans, many republicans are saying that that is just not true. one of the things that came out of the fire in hawaii last year was that a lot of the

misinformation was reportedly being stirred by foreign adversaries do you have any indication that that is happening right now i do not know. >> i do not. but whatever the source, dana, just so we're clear, it hurts the american people and it's got to stop madam vice president. >> i also just want to ask a little bit more about the federal response to one of the republican senators from north carolina, thom tillis, who i should say is not critical of the federal response he says he believes that president biden should appoint an active duty commander to lead the federal response to these storms is that a good idea showed he do that? >> i mean, dana, we're looking at that. we've already as part of the briefing, heard just minutes ago that tornadoes have actually already hit the area so now is not the time to necessarily think about

restructuring as much as it is to get boots on the ground and the support directly that is needed as a matter of urgency. >> and certainly all good ideas are welcome. but right now, let's let fema, let's let the folks who are on the ground do the work they need to do right now in real time. >> that's about assisting with evacuations, getting correct information out, battling sadly, the misinformation and putting in place the resources that can hopefully mitigate against the predictable damage including, for example, we are a very good briefing from the commandant of the coast guard. the work that needs to happen around being concerned about potential damage to the port in tampa that kind of work needs to happen and that's where my focus is. >> yeah. and the window for evacuation is definitely closing as we speak madam vice president, before i let you go, i do have to ask you about another phone call that i believe you participated in earlier today with president biden, and that is with israeli

prime minister netanyahu did he talked at all about what his plans are to retaliate to retaliate against iran after its ballistic missile attack against israel last week well, i'll tell you, and i don't have any announcements to make about what happened during that call and i'm not i just can't get into private diplomatic conversations on this channel. >> but, but it was an important call okay. >> thank you so much. i appreciate you coming on spending a few moments with us thank you, madam vice president of course. >> thank you. and thanks for getting the word out and around the clock information to the folks who are in desperate need of accurate information appreciate that. >> thank you. take care. >> thank you. i want to go back to boris sanchez, who is of

course, in florida in tampa. boris, as you hear the vice president and you are talking to people on the ground there and witnessing. i mean, it was remarkable to me to see that you were talking, you were looking at some emily's there who are still just right behind me, though they were not supposed to be. what is your sense of the message that the vice president sent out just now? >> it is significant that the federal government and at multiple levels, not just vice president harris just now, but president biden earlier have had to continue reassuring folks that the federal government is doing everything that it can to help them in light of the disinformation that is out there from congresswoman marjorie taylor greene and others about whether and control of whether dana actually yesterday, i always what a site where folks were dumping out debris from hurricane helene, which hit here about two weeks ago as a category four storm. folks were

moving debris out on a.i. an elderly woman. what she thought of the fact that there were two storms coming into this area. one that rarely see storms of this strength almost back-to-back within within weeks of each other. and she told me that she believed it was geoengineering so clearly the disinformation is landing with folks the hope is that people are there will take the warnings from federal and local officials seriously and not be out in the elements as this storm gets closer and closer we're talking about a potential 12 foot storm surge here in tampa bay. further south and sarasota, you're looking at a potential surge of 15 feet and i just want to point out down right now as we're nearing low tide, the water has receded significantly in this area. so what you see is that the wind is pushing this water out as the hours pass as this water will come back with a vengeance, there was almost no doubt we're going to see widespread flooding and of course, these very powerful winds sending rates sideways at

me right now, dana unbelievable boris, thank you so much. i want to now go back to the anchor of this hour. brianna keeler, along with priscilla alvarez and you were both before the vice president came on talking about trying to poke holes in a lot of the misinformation that we're seeing that the vice president was talking about yeah, it's dana, it's something that is obviously so concerning to the administration and we're really seeing the effects of it and concerns about it. >> in a bipartisan way, right? you have republicans as well who are very worried about this and what it's going to mean on the ground and that it could be hurtful and potentially fatal for some people she really touched on that, that she said she didn't know priscilla where the information was coming from when dana asked her. but that wherever it's coming from, and that seemed to really be her emphasis dana and priscilla, that wherever this information is coming from, or if you're talking about

restructuring response, let's focus on the here and now let's focus on the fact that misinformation is very helpful in the here and now. >> well, it's not only that, but it speaks to how urgently the administration and the white house with the president and the vice president both appearing in that that briefing that was open to press and the vice president joining you, dana to talk about the severity of this storm. not only is it because the storm is severe, but also because they are keenly aware of the misinformation that is currently circulating on all corners of the internet and is keeping some people according to the homeland security's secretary, from getting the help that they need in their efforts. now, i've been talking to sources about this. this is unlike anything that they have seen before and from my coverage of hurricanes, the department of homeland security, it is also been striking to see just how much information has been out there, false information that that people are gravitating toward. in fact, transportation secretary pete buttigieg spoke with elon musk about something

that he had posted on his platform x about recovery and rescue efforts. and i am told that the president had asked his team this week to put together a memorandum on the digital response and how they were remediating misinformation in the white house. this has become a growing concern in this storm is only exacerbating this storm being milton. those concerns because seeing what they've seen already, seeing that the fema personnel in north carolina are getting threats by people because of this false information. they are trying to get ahead of it as best they can. i had one source told me look unfortunately, we have a playbook now that they had to pull together over the last week to put into play. now with milton to make sure that the information, the right information is getting to these survivors and people who are currently evacuating in florida. >> bri think about this, that we have been talking about misinformation, disinformation for years and it has largely been through the prism of politics this is life, life or

death. >> and it's stunning to me that it is happening in with the magnitude that it is. and you guys played the sound bite from iran, desantis, as i think thank you. said, certainly no fan politically of joe biden or kamala harris, echoing what they said about the danger of people believing things like boris was told by somebody there in the storm about that this is sort of a manufactured whether system by who knows who yeah. >> dana, i mean, i think part of it is because politics has been injected into this. and when you listen to ron desantis, right he is going to be judged by how his government, his state government reacts to this storm. he is going to be judged in very real terms. he's going to be judged politically for that as well. but i think dana and you've covered this. so

often over past presidential cycles. a natural disaster is something that can cost a candidate dearly and we can't ignore that. that's been injected into this, dana. >> yeah. and of course, i'm thinking about what happens when it's done right when it is not just a bipartisan, a nonpartisan effort. remember back in 2012 chris christie, when he was dealing with hurricane sandy, he put it all aside and you got a lot of political criticism for it. but you know what the people of new jersey and new york and elsewhere who were hit by sandy. they were the beneficiaries of a government that is trying to work the way it worked bri yeah, these are lives and these are livelihoods at stake. and that is what we're facing with this one-two punch from hurricane helene. and now hurricane milton, as we await landfall, there in florida