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President Trump On DACA; Preparing For Hurricane Irma; Confusion over DACA; Military Action in North Korea; Florida Governor Talks Hurricane Preparations; Florida Senator Rubio on Hurricane. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 6, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history, it's ripping through the Caribbean right now, with winds gusting up to 225 miles per hour. The storm now on a collision course for Florida, where millions and millions of people are in its path and mandatory evacuations are already underway. We'll take you there live.

And a confusing twist, very confusing, the president sending mixed signals in his controversial decision to end the so-called Dreamer program. Is he backing off his threat? Brand new developments just coming in.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: But we begin with the breaking news. Hurricane Irma is roaring through the Caribbean right now. The current forecast puts it on a collision course with Florida.

Our Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking Irma for us from the CNN weather center in Atlanta. Allison, update us, first of all, on where the storm is headed and the overall forecast for Florida.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. So, right now, it is current in the Caribbean. Again, already has made impacts over numerous countries there and making its way towards west, moving west, northwest around 15 miles per hour.

The current winds are around 185 miles per hour. That means sustain, meaning they are consistently reading at around that -- around that speed, gusting upwards of 225 miles per hour.

But everyone wants to know, where does it go from here? In the short- term, we expect it to cross over portions of the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and even over portions of Cuba.

It's after that point when Irma takes a sharp right-hand turn. This is where the variation begins. It could make that sharp right-hand turn early, going straight over the Bahamas, and then make its way towards the Carolinas, or it could sharpen its right-hand turn directly over Florida.

Given that this is still several days out, this is why it is still an if, rather than when. Here's the reason why. All of the forecast models are pretty much in agreement, in the short term. Right up until that sharp right-hand turn. Notice when that turn takes place, again, we talked, some of them take it to the east of Florida and heading up to, say, Wilmington, North Carolina or Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Others, however, take it straight up through Miami. So, this is where the confidence gets a little bit lower, as exactly where it goes when it makes that right-hand turn.

But, for now, the important fact is this is an incredibly strong storm, category five strength, making its way over the Virgin Islands, as we speak, and heading towards Puerto Rico.

However, Puerto Rico has been experiencing some of those incredibly heavy rain bands for at least the last several hours and will continue to do so.

So, we still have hurricane warnings out for Puerto Rico, the northern edge of the Dominican Republican and Haiti, as well as the Turks and Caicos.

Hurricane watches are out now for portions of the Bahamas and Cuba just to give people enough time to get ready and evacuate in some of those areas.

We also have tropical storm warnings out for the southern edge of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where we don't necessarily expect the winds to be quite as strong. But the storm, itself, is still expected to produce very big impacts, especially in terms of the storm surge.

Now, here's a look at the storm forced winds. These areas show you, even though it's a category five storm, this region is where we expect to have minimum tropical storm forced winds if not potentially higher.

So, again, Wolf, the key thing to note is, regardless of exactly where the U.S. landfall is, whether it's the Carolinas, whether it's Florida, this is going to be a major hurricane, so all of those regions need to start preparing.

BLITZER: Yes, it's clearly a monster hurricane right now.

Allison Chinchar, we're going to get back to you.

President Trump weighed in on Hurricane Irma just a little while ago. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a new and seems to be record-breaking hurricane, heading right toward Florida and Puerto Rico and other places. We'll see what happens. We'll know in a very short period of time, but it looks like something that will not be good. Believe me, not good.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: The center of this massive hurricane, as we have just heard from Allison, expected to reach Puerto Rico any time now. Across the island, people have been boarding up. They've been stocking up on water, food and emergency supplies.

Let's go to our Correspondent Leyla Santiago. She's joining us live from San Juan. Leyla, what are the conditions like right now? What kind of preparations are in place?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we are certainly feeling those heavy rain bands that Allison was talking about. Take a look behind me. This is the northern coast of Puerto Rico, this is where we will see the strong impacts of Hurricane Irma, as she arrives, as she approaches Puerto Rico.

Not only are we seeing, sort of, aggressive waters off this coast, but we are also feeling those heavy winds. The rain is coming down. We've been feeling that for several hours now.

[13:05:00] Many people already going to shelters. There are 460 of them that have been established on this island. And the governor is warning, time is running out.

I can actually hear, also, roofing being impacted by this approaching category five storm.

You know, we actually talked to one woman who lives in this area, works in this area. And just as she was closing up chop, Wolf, she locked the door to her business and then looked over at us and said, now this is in God's hands.

And that has certainly set the tone of what people are feeling, sort of a lot of fear of what is to come. As many have said here, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst -- Wolf.

BLITZER: One thing we do know, the authorities there say if power is knocked out in Puerto Rico, it could be, get this, weeks, maybe even months before it's restored? Why is the electrical system in Puerto Rico such a huge concern right now?

SANTIAGO: Well, let's look -- let's rewind a little bit. This is something that they are actually, kind of, used to here. Power outages are common.

And let's also look at the time here. We are in hurricane season, so this is a Caribbean island that is -- that is used to, as much as one can be, these type of tropical storms and hurricanes.

But this, according to the governor, Puerto Rico has never seen a weather system of this magnitude in its recorded history. So, there's a lot of concern about power outages of what's to come, because, you know, they already have some experience dealing with this. But nothing of this magnitude. The destruction and the damage that could be coming and could be catastrophic.

And let me put one more thing into perspective for you, Wolf. This is an island that has something else looming above and it is not this storm. It is an economic crisis. They are $70 billion in debt. So, if there is destruction, rebuilding here, they can't afford it. And no one really knows how it will be paid for -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, billions and billions of dollars, that's going to be the cost of this enormous reconstruction, not only in Puerto Rico but certainly in Florida as well.

Leyla Santiago, we're going to get back to you.

We're also standing by, we'll speak with the governor of Florida, Rick Scott, shortly. He'll update us on preparations there.

As this hurricane, Hurricane Irma, barrels closer and closer to the United States, up on Capitol Hill here in Washington, the attention is turning to Hurricane Harvey. Last hour, the House of Representatives passed an emergency funding measure by an overwhelming margin. There were only three no votes. Next it goes to the Senate.

But if the Trump administration gets its way, that funding bill will be tied to the debt ceiling debate that is currently underway.

Let's go to our White House Correspondent Sara Murray. She's joining us. Sara, explain the Trump administration's strategy here by tying these measures together?

SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, from the view of the president, they need to get all of this done. They need to do the Harvey funding. They need to raise the debt ceiling, and so why not do it all together?

He has made clear, the president, that he's pretty sick of Congress not bellying up to the bar when he does send them priorities. And so, this is, essentially, a way to dare them to vote against a couple of things that they know they need to do.

And now, we know Trump met with congressional leaders here at the White House. The Democrats came out of that meeting and said the president also agreed to tie a three-month debt ceiling increase with a three-month continuing resolution to fund the government and Harvey relief.

So, it's possible this turns into an even, sort of, bigger package than we were anticipating -- Wolf.

BLITZER: To the very controversial DACA decision on the Dreamers, for a moment, Sara. The attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions, he announced yesterday the program is being phased out.

Later, President Trump tweeted this and I'll read it to our viewers. "Congress now has six months to legalize DACA, something the Obama administration was unable to do. If they can't, I will revisit this issue." Close quote.

But this morning, the president was asked if he was having second thoughts about doing away with the entire DACA program. And said he has not had any second thoughts.

These sound like mixed messages being delivered right now. What do we take away from his comments?

MURRAY: Well, Wolf, they are absolutely mixed messages. It seems like the president is trying to give himself a little bit of wiggle room, particularly after what was a damaging and unpopular news cycle for him yesterday.

But I think that's probably cold comfort to nearly 800,000 people who would be impacted by this program, if the president decides he doesn't want to revisit it or Congress decides not to act.

Their futures are, essentially, in limbo, waiting to see if the president will intervene, waiting to see if Congress will intervene. And I think now that they have handed over all this information to the federal government, they probably don't feel particularly secure about what happens if this program does expire.

[13:10:01] The White House says it's going to be a low priority to kick lapsed (ph) Dreamers out of the country. But we know, from talking to immigrations and customs enforcing officials, that if they see someone, if they encounter someone who is in this country illegally, they don't turn around and look the other way. They have said they will put you in front of the judge.

So, again, not exactly a lot of comfort out there for the nearly 800,000 people who could be affected by this -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, clearly, mixed signals coming out of the White House.

Sara, thank you very much.

Joining us now from Capitol Hill, Florida Republican Congressman Francis Rooney. Congressman, I want to get to the whole Dreamer program in a moment.

But first, your home state of Florida. Your district includes Fort Myers, Naples, Sanibel Island, Southwest Florida. You've already record -- received some record rainfall there, some flooding. We're going to be talking with the Florida Governor Rick Scott in a few minutes.

But are you encouraging residents, first of all, in your district right now to evacuate or just prepare to ride it out?

REP. FRANCIS ROONEY (R), FLORIDA: Well, what we've been encouraging our people in District 19 to do is to get all the information of the first responders, the emergency operations centers, and we've been sending that out to everyone in the district to make sure that they know who to call. If a tree falls down in their yard, who to call to get the power, who to call if there's rising water coming into their house.

All these types of devastations that could occur, people to be as prepared as possible. Like Governor Scott said, prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

BLITZER: And what do you anticipate happening in your part of Florida, your district?

ROONEY: Well, as your newscast -- as your weather person said, it's pretty uncertain now where this northerly turn may occur. It depends on how it interacts with that cold front that's coming across North Florida. If it goes the way the National Weather Service is calling for it now, it's going to Miami. It'll be about 80 miles east of us. But it could very well go right over Naples.

BLITZER: Yes. And you'll still feel a big, big chunk of it as well. This is a huge monster storm.

Last hour, Congressman, as you know, the House of Representatives, your House, the emergency spending request to deal with the enormous cost of Hurricane Harvey out in Texas and Louisiana. Do you support the White House now wanting to tie that emergency funding effort to also raising the nation's debt ceiling?

ROONEY: Well, I'm not really schooled up in all these legislative machinations, being a business person. But I want to do whatever helps get that money approved and also get the debt ceiling thing behind us.

You know, all this talk about the debt ceiling, to someone who runs a business, seems a little perverse. The debt ceiling is a lagging indicator. What's important is deciding what this government should spend and not spend. That's what determines how much debt we're going to have.

BLITZER: Well, the debt's clearly going to go up, as a result of the $100 or $200 billion it will -- it will require to rebuild chunks of Texas. And who knows how much it will cost to fix your home state of Florida.

As you know, the way it stands right now, FEMA will be out of money by Friday, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And with Irma expected to hit your state very soon, where is the money going to come from? You're going to have to raise that debt ceiling.

ROONEY: Absolutely, Wolf. We're going to absolutely have to raise the debt ceiling and pay for these repairs to these areas that have been devastated. And what you said about Irma is so correct. I mean, it's so big that no matter where it goes, it's going to have significant impact on Miami across to Naples and could go well up into either Orlando or Jacksonville.

BLITZER: So, you support, bottom line, what Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin said on Sunday. That funding -- the emergency funding for Harvey, and presumably for Irma, should, in fact, be tied to a clean increase in the nation's debt ceiling?

ROONEY: Well, I think -- I don't care whether they tie it or not. I think both of these things need to happen.

BLITZER: All right.

ROONEY: We can't default on our debt, you know? That's one of the things that makes our currency strong. It makes American the leader of the world.

BLITZER: All right, that's a fair point.

Let me ask you also while I have you, Congressman, about the administration's decision to end DACA, the program to phase out the protections for the so-called Dreamers. What's your reaction to the president now, saying that if Congress can't fix this, in the next six months, he'll, quote, "revisit the entire issue"?

ROONEY: I don't know what to make of that. I mean, I think -- I thought he had it in a pretty good spot, where he's putting the bright light right where it ought to be, on the Congress who has the constitutional responsibility to deal with immigration.

You know, a couple of times since 2007, the Congress has gotten right to the -- right to the edge on passing comprehensive immigration reform and has fumbled the ball both times.

So, hopefully, we'll be able to take advantage of this DACA issue to enact a fundamental reform of the laws about who comes in our country. So that we know who's here. So that people don't overstay visas. And so that we can get some of the skilled workers we need in here to do the work to build our economy.

BLITZER: So, are you disappointed with the president's, sort of, confusing tweet about revisiting the issue in six months if Congress can't get the job done?

[13:15:03] ROONEY: Well, if it were to take away pressure from the Congress, I would be. But I don't think it's going to. I think Congress is going to do its job this time to enact a legislative solution and put behind us the constitutional overreach that created DACA and DAPA in the first place.

BLITZER: As the president was walking over to Marine One just in the past hour or so, he said this about the very, very dangerous situation involving North Korea. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a very good phone call. It lasted for a long time. President Xi would like to do something. We'll see whether or not he can do it. But we will not be putting up with what's happening in North Korea. I believe that President Xi agrees with me 100 percent. He doesn't want to see what's happening there either. We had a very, very frank and very strong phone call.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: We're going to see what happens. We'll see what happens. Certainly that's not a first choice, but we will see what happens. Thank you very much. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Not a first choice, the military option. You're in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, congressman, what do you think the first choice right now should be in dealing with this threat from North Korea?

ROONEY: Well, I think if we -- if we step back a second and look at it from Kim's point of view, he says for the past 30 years we've done some aggressive things and the United States gets mad and we have a summit and they enact a sanction or something here or there, then it all goes away and he continues to upgrade his program and now his son's upgrading the program. And so we have two generations of continued nuclearization.

So if it were me, I wouldn't be too willing to talk about talking to North Korea. I think I'd tell them to talk to China. China is the one that can solve it diplomatically. We desperately need China's engagement. And I think it might be good for Kim to realize that there's a different approach from the United States, that we're not going to come to the table, talk and then go back away.

BLITZER: Congressman Frances Rooney of Florida, thanks so much for joining us.

ROONEY: Thanks for having me on, Wolf.

BLITZER: And good luck to all the people in your district, good luck to all the folks in Florida who are potentially in danger right now. Thanks so much for joining us.

Florida clearly is on alert as this historic hurricane barrels towards the state. I'll speak live with the governor of Florida, Rick Scott. We'll talk about the evacuations that are already underway and what's planned next.

Plus, there's breaking news that Donald Trump Jr. set to be questioned in the overall Russia investigation about his role in the infamous meeting over at Trump Tower in New York City last year. You're going to hear who he'll be facing.

And up on Capitol Hill, there's other developments, including a first on CNN right now. Hillary Clinton like you've never heard her before. Brand-new confessions about her marriage, the new name she's citing for her election loss. We have a copy of her brand-new book. We'll share details with you. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:14] BLITZER: We're following the breaking news, Hurricane Irma slamming into the Caribbean and heading toward the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Forecasters now say Florida could be in the bull's-eye of this category five monster storm by the weekend.

On the phone with us from Miami is the Florida governor, Rick Scott. Governor, I know you've got a lot going on. Thanks so much for calling in.

First of all, what can you tell us about the mandatory evacuations that are already underway in at least parts of your state?

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA (via telephone): Sure. I was just down in the Florida Keys this morning. We have mandatory evacuations there. If you look at this as a major storm, it's way bigger than Hurricane Andrew, which was 25 years ago. It's bigger, more wind, and clearly more storm surge. And so the -- we're evacuating The Keys now.

I was down there and that evacuation, people are leaving. We are starting to do evacuations in Miami-Dade and in Broward County, which is the Fort Lauderdale area. So my job is to make sure we keep all the roads open, make sure we get all the evacuation routes open, open up shelters around the state, make sure people can get their food, their water and make sure everybody gets prepared. I want everybody to be prepared.

I always tell them, we can rebuild your house, just remember, you can't rebuild your life. So take this seriously. Take the time to be prepared and do it today. Don't wait for tomorrow.

BLITZER: So what's your message to the nearly 3 million people who live in Miami-Dade County alone, the millions more in Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale is, or in Palm Beach County a little bit further north? Should they get in their cars and start driving inland, drive north? Should they get on planes if there are still any flights -- I don't think there are many flights available any longer. What should they do?

SCOTT: The biggest thing is, watch what's going on. Listen to your local officials. We're working with our local officials to make decisions on evacuations. Make sure you have water. Three days of water per person. Three days of food per person. Get your medicines. You can get your medicines early if you need to. Follow -- know your evacuation routes. Get a plan. You can go to floridadisaster.org to understand the plan.

And we'll be making these decisions about evacuations as we follow this storm. This storm can go up our east coast, our west coast or right through the middle of our state. It's a massive storm and so we're just working to get everybody prepared all across our state right now. And we just don't know where it's going to hit us.

BLITZER: What really worries me, and, governor, and you and I have spoken about this over the years, you've got a lot of retirees, senior citizens, elderly down in there. Many are in nursing homes. What happens to them?

SCOTT: Well, we -- I did a call yesterday with all of our hospitals and our nursing homes. We're already evacuating hospitals down in the Florida Keys. So we'll work to evacuate the nursing homes and our hospitals as we -- as we need to. [13:25:04] We are bringing in all the resources we need. I've already

called in 1,000 members of the National Guard. I'll add another 6,000 members tomorrow. And they'll be doing things such as helping with sheltering, helping do evacuations, making sure evacuation routes are clear.

So we're talking to everybody and trying to solve everybody's problems. Our shelters, we have pet shelters, we have just normal shelters, we have special needs shelters, and we're opening them around our state, not just where -- in the southern part of the state, but we're opening up shelters around the state so people can move and get out.

The best thing is, you know, get ahead of this. Get ahead of this. If you can go someplace for -- inland, you know, generally that's better -- that's better to do. But, most importantly, watch what the storm is doing right now. Follow the news.

BLITZER: One quick, final question. I know you've got to run, governor. The traffic, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, people trying to get out of the -- of harm's way, what are you doing to make sure that people can get in their cars and leave if they have to?

SCOTT: You can go to www.fl511.com and you look at traffic cameras all around the state. So we're following that. We're working with the highway patrol, our Department of Transpiration. I was in The Keys this morning. Traffic was flowing fine this morning. So we're doing everything we can to keep the traffic flowing. But I tell everybody, if you -- if you have the chance to evacuate, it's best to evacuate, but clearly listen and do it quickly once your local officials tell you to evacuate.

BLITZER: Good luck, governor. I appreciate what you're doing. I know this is a huge, huge crisis for everyone in Florida right now.

Governor Rick Scott, thanks so much for joining us.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is also joining us on the phone right now. He's joining us from Florida.

What's your advice to your fellow Floridians at this critical moment, senator?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA (via telephone): I think they continue to do what they're doing, which is to get ready. You know, unfortunately, what I get from this case, in some ways fortunately Florida has extensive experience now. A lot of people down here are new, but others have been here for a while and have lived through this. And you get ready for these because you just don't know how it's going to turn out. Obviously, you've got to pay careful attention to what the National Hurricane Center is saying. But here's the bottom line. Any time you have a category four or five hurricane anywhere near you with any possibility of impacting you, you have to get ready for it. You can't wait -- you're not going to -- 24 hours ahead of it is not going to give you enough time. So it's important for people to continue to do what they're doing, which is getting ready and making preparations for their homes and their families.

BLITZER: If this is -- if this hits Miami, let's say, and hopefully it doesn't, and it moves away, but let's say it does, are those buildings, those high-rise buildings, the cranes that are there building new buildings, are they ready to sustain a hurricane category four or even a category five that is potentially out there?

RUBIO: You know, that's a good question. I'm obviously not an architectural expert to give you advice or a clear answer on whether that's the case or not. I know that any new construction in Florida over the last 10 or 15 years was built to the building code, which is much stronger than what we had during Andrew. Obviously when you're talking about a big glass building with a crane right next to it, there's certainly a big concern about what impact that could have. But -- but, no, it's a good question to ask and I think we'll -- obviously one that we'll need to ask here in the hours to come.

BLITZER: Is the federal government, senator, doing everything possible in advance to gear up for what could be a real disaster?

RUBIO: I think the federal government, from everything we've seen, is doing everything it can to pre-position itself to provide assistance. I think part of the problem here potentially is both the sheer size of this storm and the sort of projected path it would take. Let's say it comes right up the spine of Florida, even up I-95 here on the east coast. All of those assets that we need to bring down to help people are positioned outside of Florida, in Alabama and Georgia, for example. That stuff cannot begin to come down to help people until that storm is cleared and it's safe to do that. And so that's why it's so important that people be prepared to sustain themselves and their families with three or four days of food and water and medicine because it will take a while. This storm, if it comes through and clears out, that's one thing. But if it actually continues to pound other parts of the state, it may be a while until, you know, FEMA and other agencies can kind of begin to deliver assistance down there.

BLITZER: And, very quickly, senator, are you with the secretary of the treasury, Mnuchin, when he says pass all the emergency spending money for Hurricane Harvey in Texas and it's presumably going to be tens of billions of dollars, if not more, for Florida as well, but link it to raising the nation's debt ceiling?

RUBIO: Well, you know, I'm not in Washington right now. I'm focused here on D.C. When it comes to -- I'm sorry, I'm focused here on what's happening in Florida. So I know that's an ongoing issue that I haven't followed it closely this morning as I've been involved here on what's happening in Florida.

[13:29:50] Obviously on the FEMA money and Harvey, I said I'm supportive of funding. Obviously I would say the same thing I would say about Florida if God-forbid we get hit by that storm and that is any funding should be directly tied to the event that happened. It should not be used as a vehicle for (INAUDIBLE). But i would -- I'll be supportive of that, as I have been in the past. The times -- I don't ever (INAUDIBLE) pay for it in the middle of a crisis like this. You can't really hold that up, although I'd prefer --