Like in Need None of. That matters when, i talk about politics now we have to all get together and get this. We need a lot of help to have to have a lot of help down here. We look out for one another. We pull together, we pitch in, we persevere, and we pull it through. That is really the American Spirit thats what made america originally great. And thats why today ive come to us that with large semitrucks, many of them filled with Relief Aid and a Tanker Truck filled up with gasoline. We have a couple of the big Tanker Trucks filled up with gasoline which they cant get. Now and will be working to distributed throughout the day. And i want to thank again, Franklin Graham and everyone had samaritans purse. You people are fantastic by the way, just fans and people appreciate you very much for the incredible Partnering And Work that theyve done. Not only here, but all, all the time, theyre always seemed to be the first ones at areas that need help a short time ago, i received a briefing on the situation here in valdosta from fema and the National Guard, as well as a number of state and local officials. Quite a few of them. Its amazing the way its just all been pulled together. Really amazing. I want to thank Mayor Scott james Valdosta Whos worse, got thank you. Really great job i want to thank Lieutenant Governor Burt jones and agricultural commissioner tyler harper, representatives. As i said before, Austin Scott and Mike Collins and all of the others present. I also want to thank governor Brian Kemp was working around the clock to get this problem solved. He hes working hard around roundtheclock we also have a salute to the incredible first Responders Law Enforcement heroes, and they are here as doctors, nurses firefighters, coast guard, National Guard who had been serving with such extraordinary grace. And the work is incredible. Nobody thought that see something like this you are the best you are truly the best of america and youre appreciated by america. Sometimes you dont feel that way, but you very much appreciated by america and i know each and every view is is giving to this community of everything you have. Youre doing things that you wouldnt normally even think about doing the people on the ground are doing the best they can in every challenging circumstances we do need some help from the federal government. They have to get together ideally with the governor that governor needs to hes been trying to get them and im sure theyre going to come through but hes been calling the president , hasnt been able to get him. But theyll come through. Im sure and georgia, North Carolina need the help probably worst of all. But North Carolina has really been had they have really been hit . Nope, they say nobody seen anything like that at all. Every part in listening to former President Donald Trump in valdosta, georgia giving remarks after Hurricane Helene swept through the southeast, killing up words of 119 people. The former president there actually holding a Moment Of Silence for those killed, saying to the communities affected, we love you, we love everyone. Theres a lot of work ahead. He actually gave a message of unity during this speech, something that its rare for former President Trump at least during this campaign cycle, he said that the election and politics dont matter at a time like this. Thats part of the American Spirit. He described getting a briefing from fema and the National Guard he also talked about the community needing help from the federal government, saying that that will likely come soon. And notably plea he talked about having a conversation with Elon Musk, the Tesla Founder and ceo, about getting starlink to help get wifi to communities that are currently experiencing difficulties with communications. Yeah, thats right. Lets go to cnns Kristen Holmes with us now and kristin, its interesting because former President Trump is talking in about how politics dont matter. But clearly they do when you have a Swing State that is so important being affected by such a big storm, we know that fema has already deployed some satellites for Starlink Connectivity to the region. And you hear trump trying to create the sense of the biden Administration Hasnt really done much to help out. Hes made some baseless claims about that. We know the president has approved an Emergency Declaration days ago in georgia. Tell us what youre seeing here and what the Trump Campaign is saying. Yeah, well look, this is a Red State and Donald Trump is being treated as a principle here. He is being treated not just as a former president , but it almost as though he is a sitting president as boris you just noted getting a briefing from fema, getting a briefing from the National Guard that is not something that is typically just offered to a candidate. They are treating him as though he is a former president who is there to help. And one thing that i had noticed earlier during our 10pm conversation was the Donald Trump did not have that much to offer in terms of resources since he is not a sitting president , but i will note that he and the Campaign Say that they have arrived in that area with trucks full of supplies that they plan on giving out. So there is something there for them to offer. He also said that he had a Tanker Truck full of gasoline, which obviously if youve ever covered one of these storms, you understand that one of the first things that hardest Things To Come by is gasoline. So he said that he was going to be giving that out. He is clearly taking this seriously as a politician is on the ground trying to show that he is there in support of the people on the ground in georgia. Of course this comes as while he is again offering a message of unity, he has spent the last several days slamming Kamala Harris, his rival for not being on the ground, for not helping with this storm. And i do want to zero point out what you said was very interesting about the Starlink Fema yes. Has been doing that, but Donald Trump taking it to another level, saying hes going to personally have a conversation with Elon Musk, which does matter given what we know about their relationship trying to insert himself there to say that he has the efforts the is the resources to actually help people on the ground. Its interesting you see that disparity and the comments he made before todays event, and the comments hes making now, Kristen Holmes. Thanks so much. Want to get you a look on the ground from this area as people across the southeast face a long road to recovery and the catastrophic aftermath of helene, the Storm Ravaged Communities from florida to virginia with some of the hardest Hit Area for years as weve been saying in western North Carolina lets go now to cnn Correspondent Mirror Bill gonzalez, who is live there asheville. So hard hit mirror bell. Weve seen some of the pictures coming out of there. Tell us what youre seeing yeah, boris. Hey, boris and brianna, the Death Toll here is just continuing to rise. We know that across the south east, that number has just been going up at more than a third of those are right here in North Carolina and the devastation is just being felt on so many levels. The loss of huge human life, of course, being the first one in looking around, you can see that also the community itself is severely damaged. The streets are filled with mud and heavy sludge, making them pretty much impassable for so many cars, making it dangerous for people to be outside in these conditions, we also know that this community is three out of the for highways leading up to this communities are also impassable. So as you can imagine, the devastation is clear here joining me right here is Will Queue at and you are part of this community. Youve been with us all morning long talking about this devastation. Can you just tell me your reaction to seeing this first thing in the morning it was horror horrible honestly, i mean weve never seen anything like this before and i just came here. I got here around 8 30 this morning just to see if i still had a Job And Place to work and many other people are probably doing the same and its just, its been terrible for a little bit of context. Will you work here at a local Business Distributing Dairy . Is that correct and talk to me about what it looks like inside the facility right now . Yeah. Its pretty much ruined. Its lifted up off the ground a little bit, but its still got about three or four feet of water so yeah. Were just going to try to find somewhere else to set up shop and and try to get back in business we know that this community you dont personally know anybody who has been severely injured or who is unaccounted for. But we know so many of your neighbors are. Can you speak to what concerns you and others have at this moment . Yeah. I mean, its its horrible seeing all this and there is other places that are definitely worse than this. So were kind of lucky in a sense, and we have people and neighbors who had been out here all morning, helped clean up and. Have been handing out water and snacks so its just been its been nice seeing everybody out here and helping each other you we know right now theres no internet, very spotty Cell Phone Service. It sounds like a headache, but its more than that for the people who live here, talk to me about what its like, not having those Essential Services available to you all. Yeah, we just got Cell Phone Service back last night at around 11 00. So we were at a Cellphone Service prefer about two days but i mean, we were you cant get gas right now and if you cant go anywhere, you cant call anybody, even for the people stranded you know, its a very essential thing that we need to have are stored as soon as possible. That way we can find people who are lost and get them to their families, or people who may be stuck. And, in a house somewhere in a flood, they cant get out. They dont have food and water. I mean, its its definitely one of the first things that we should get back going for sure. We know that right now in this county alone, theres been reports of hundreds of people unaccounted for because theyre not able to reach their Loved Ones. You talked to your neighbors are what are their concerns right now with trying to reach people will its just, you want to make sure your Loved Ones are okay and if you cant get a hold of them and after especially after all this happened its its hard. You worry. Its the uncertainty. I think of it that causes the worry and then you just want to make sure everybodys safe. We are definitely hoping for that. Thank you so much for sharing that with us and we know that at this moment will and other people are helping neighbors out, helping with that cleanup and are helping assess the Damage And Anyone who may be stranded. Alright. Mary gonzalez, thank you so much obviously, theyre facing a lot there turning back to the politics of all of this, this disaster and the southeast hitting with, of course a national election just 36 days away. So lets bring in our panel to talk about it. We have republican strategist shermichael singleton, democratic strategist Meghan Hays and cnn senior political analyst, Gloria Borger you guys, i wonder what you think about this visit of trumps, all of this is happening, its affecting key states in this race for the White House states that also need a lot of help. Were hearing from people who need so much help. What do you make of what youre seeing with worries that hes in valdosta, georgia, thats a southern part of the state. Thats Trump Country effectively. Yes, it will pull resources away from him being by him being there. But you talked about as Kristen Holmes stated, bringing resources, having fuel theyre talking with Elon Musk to make sure that people have internet connectivity. And so while hes not the sitting president , what hes showcasing is that during moments such as this i am capable and ready to beat her to lead through these types of disasters that matters. And what we know will be a critical battlegrounds. They were Kamala Harris has somewhat moved the margins in places like atlanta those a large african africanamerican population, marietta, georgia is another place at her campaign has focused heavily on to make this race competitive in georgia. So i think its smart strategically speaking for the former president to be there and then he said, well, Wheres Vice President harris . You can debate whether or not she should be there or not. But to point out that contrast, i think matters i mean, the amount of resources that poll Todays Visit is insurmountable to these communities and its really not a good use of resources on the ground. The local fire at the police, all the people that have to support these visits. I know when i was at the White House, we always waited until we were invited to come. Theres a lot you can do from afar. He could have done a Press Conference from florida. He couldve done a Press Conference from New York were talking about the resources, so i do have a little bit of a problem with pulling the resources away from folks who need, but also the federal government is on the ground. They have 50,000 people with fire putting up Power Lines and pulling resources from different states to get those Power Lines back up. They have 3,300 federal people on the ground with fema, making sure people are getting food. So i do think the federal Government Responses then theres always been spd with the president on these types of disaster situations, but it is political and i understand why he wants to be there for a photoop. I just the amount of resources you pull its really not appropriate to be on the ground right now, also posted today on Social Media that he was hearing that the federal Government Wasnt giving funding to parts of the state that were maga and theres no evidence about that. He has made this political, even though he didnt do that behind the microphone, he has made this political on Social Media already. He did insinuate, to your point . Yes. Shortly before we came back to studio, that he had spoken to governor Brian Kemp of georgia. Right. And that governor can but had some difficulty getting in touch with President Biden, but a quick fact check there the White House has pointed out that biden had a conversation not only with governor kemp, but also with governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, as well as officials across tennessee in florida, the entire affected area promised all the resources the federal government can provide. And i think the declaration have been signed, that Emergency Declaration days ago. So its all very false. His cant trumps comments or false. I get that point. I get your points about the federal Government Response being quick. I think thats the expectation. I was Deputy Chief Of Staff at hud. You