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CNN Live Today
Hurricane Charley Aims At Fla.; Gov. Jeb Bush Press Conference; NJ Republicans Press Conference; PGA Championship
Aired August 13, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news. It is Friday, August 13th.
Hurricane Charley brushed by Key West today and took aim at the Tampa Bay area. Landfall is expected this evening with winds that could reach 120 miles an hour. We'll check live on hurricane evacuees in just a minute.
Democratic New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey will step down November 15th after admitting a homosexual affair. The surprise resignation as a former aide threatened to sue McGreevey for sexual harassment. The New Jersey Republican party is expected to respond in just a moment, live on CNN.
And a cargo plane crashed short of a runway at Cincinnati's airport today. The co-pilot was killed, but the pilot managed to walk away. The plane was operated by a contractor for DHL Air Cargo.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
We are talking big numbers today as two million people in and around the Tampa Bay area are being urged to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Charley. Our Ed Lavandera is at the shelter north of St. Petersburg. Good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
Well, this is one of those shelters that is at one of the highest points in Pinellas County. We're only about a mile away from the water, but this is good enough ground to house several hundred people. This school -- it's a middle school, actually -- actually has room for about 5,000 people. They say they can take that many.
They've had several hundred already show up here today; they anticipate many more continuing to show up. And this is one of 49 shelters that have been set up across the state. And lot of these people who are either live along the coast in low-lying areas or in mobile home areas. And of course, this is the safest place to be.
And a lot of people here, you know, kind of starting to feel over the last 24 hours that the reports and watching Charley build up in the Caribbean and make its way toward the Tampa area has a lot of people here nervous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scares the hell out of me. You're looking at the map and it's --when you're living on the coast, you dream about some day a hurricane hitting us head on. And hello, here it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: As I mentioned, there are about 49 shelters that have been set up across the state. You can kind of get a sense of what it's like to be here. Quite honestly, not a lot of excitement. Just people sitting around, reading books or newspapers, and -- you know, and watching DVDs.
They've had a chance to have breakfast. They served lunch a little while ago. And let's be honest, a lot of people here who need something to laugh about. They served pork and beans just a little while ago, and the jokes are already flying.
So, I'll leave it at that, Daryn.
KAGAN: OK. I guess you've got to keep the sense of humor working as you're...
LAVANDERA: It's that crowd actually right back there, too.
KAGAN: OK. Thank you for that. So, we have the report and the comedy coming from Ed Lavandera. Thank you.
LAVANDERA: We try to deliver it all.
KAGAN: Yes, do you. And thank you for that.
OK. Rob, Ed has set the bar high for you. Let's see what kind of information you can give us on Hurricane Charley.
ROB MARCIANO: We'll stick with the information and leave the beans alone.
Latest update out of the Hurricane Centers indicate that this thing has not weakened. It still has winds of 110 miles an hour, which keeps it at about the strength it's been all morning long.
But the latest satellite imagery certainly shows that it hasn't weakened. If anything, it's gotten a little bit better organized. And you can certainly see the wind -- the northerly track of this thing.
Went through Havana last night, just to the west, and they had wind gusts of over 120 miles an hour there. So, this thing is certainly something to be reckoned with.
And it's going to make landfall. I mean, it's surrounded by land at this point. And there it is, Daryn, just to the northwest of Key West. Still on track to head toward Tampa...
KAGAN: We're going to interrupt for just a minute. We'll get back to Rob Marciano. But Governor Jeb Bush right now talking about preparations for the hurricane. Let's listen in.
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: When gale force winds start hitting our -- the area, which will happen soon in the next couple of hours, law enforcement officials out of their safety will be seeking refuge, as well.
This is not the time to be getting on the interstate. It is time to seek a safe place to be with family or friends inside of your region. This morning, I have requested from the president of the United States a presidential disaster declaration. I've talked to the president, who is on the west coast, and he said that he was going to speak to Andy Card, the chief of staff, to immediately respond to this request.
Once again, we appreciate our partnership with FEMA. They have done extraordinary work in developing a relationship where everything possible that can be done in advance of this storm has been done.
(Speaking in Spanish)
KAGAN: We've been listening in to Governor Jeb Bush. He's repeating in Spanish basically what he said in English, that this hurricane, Hurricane Charley, is a major storm, a major hurricane on its way to the west coast of Florida and telling people basically to stay put. This is not the time to be getting in the car and heading out.
Let's bring back in Rob Marciano. Rob, I apologize for interrupting you in the middle of your forecast there, but we want to get the governor's words in there.
MARCIANO: Well, he had some word -- the bilingualness has me definitely impressed on top of that.
KAGAN: Yes.
MARCIANO: Hey, Daryn, here it is again. The radar, we showed you this. It went through Key West and had winds gusting to about 55 miles per hour. They're beginning to see those taper off as the center moves off to the north. And the track of this thing hasn't really changed a whole lot.
These are the latest numbers as of 11:00: 191 miles to the south of Tampa; max winds at 110 miles an hour; moving north toward -- at 18. And that still brings it toward Tampa.
And we've been talking about a potential for flooding in Tampa Bay because: one, the Gulf of Mexico is so shallow; and two, Tampa Bay is a bay; and three, this thing is heading right toward it.
Here's a computer animation of what we call a slosh model. And what it does is it predicts what will happen in a storm surge when a hurricane comes into a certain area. And this one has high resolution right in through Tampa. Here you go.
And depending on the category will depend on how much water covers up the land. This is a tropical storm, not even a hurricane. Now we go to a Category One storm. And there you go. Category Two storm. There's the Air Force Base, boom, that's carried up. Category Three storm, some of the downtown area is covered up with water. And Category Four, that would be nearly catastrophic. We certainly hope that's not going to happen.
At this stage of the game, we do expect it to be a Category Three. It's right on the threshold right now. I don't even want to think about a Category Five storm at this point, Daryn. But here's its track. And we'll watch it -- it really hasn't changed much. The same people who have been warned and alerted are still on their toes, and they should be.
Back to you.
KAGAN: All right, back with you, Rob, in just a moment.
Right now, we go live to Trenton, New Jersey. Republicans there holding a news conference in light of the announcement yesterday by the governor saying he is going to resign. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
JOSEPH KYRILLOS, STATE SENATOR: ... sympathy for Governor McGreevey and his family during what is an undoubtedly tough period of time for him, a very tough episode for him in his life. For whatever his reasons for discussing this or announcing things yesterday, surely it was hard.
And I've known the governor for a long time. We served together in both houses of the legislature when he was there. And I know that this is tough. And so I respect him for doing what he did yesterday.
Having said that, his decision is bigger than Jim McGreevey. It transcends one person, one governor. It's a much bigger issue. This is something that impacts everyone in the state of New Jersey. It impacts how people around the country think of us and think of the garden state of New Jersey.
And there were some awkward stories for him and for New Jersey this morning. And it is my suspicion that there will be more awkward stories in the days and weeks to come, stories that will make it very difficult for him to carry out the duties of his office.
So I'm join today by Republican leaders in asking the governor to do the right thing, to go beyond what he did yesterday and resign now. Resign now. For a few reasons.
Number one, as I have intimated, it will be extremely difficult for him and his administration to govern effectively over the course of the next three months, for the reasons I've alluded to and many of the other reasons that you can imagine. He has said so as much yesterday. That is why he is leaving. And if it's true post-November 15th, it is certainly true in the days to come.
Number two, beyond the governor's governing effectiveness, we have lived through the Senate president/acting governor model. It is a flawed one. It is one that we need to correct here in New Jersey. These are two very difficult and demanding jobs, bigger than any one person can handle.
KAGAN: We've been listening in to Republican leaders in Trenton, New Jersey there, reacting to Governor James McGreevey's announcement yesterday that he will resign. He'll resign November 15th. Republicans calling on him to not put it off until then, to resign now.
We're going to have more on the implications of that ahead. Right now, we want go back to Florida and Governor Jeb bush talking about Hurricane Charley.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BUSH: ... to get his support through FEMA is good news for us. We were counting on it, and I'm glad that we got it.
Well, it depends on the part of the team you're referring to, but it'll be immediate for the search-and-rescue elements of this, and then the other staging will take place, you know, as soon as is appropriate. My guess is, by Sunday, you'll see a real presence in the region of National Guard, of FEMA personnel, of other communities showing support of religious groups that will be organized, and that presence will be felt in the community immediately.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If you could address the question of shelter capacity: Is there still a lot of room in the shelters?
BUSH: Based on our -- the briefing we've got, yes, the answer is that we have significant shelter capacity, more shelters will be open. And the shelter space, for example, in Charlotte County, available right now is 1,500 beds, Manatee County, 3,800, Sarasota, 6,680. And in Hillsborough and Pinellas, as well, as of this morning, there was abundant shelter space.
It's really, you know, it's a guess, because the modeling isn't imprecise. Obviously it's not -- it's close, but it's imprecise. And also we don't know exactly where the storm will hit. And the further away you go from the eye, obviously, the less the wind power, and so it really does depend on where it hits, but we're talking about billions.
KAGAN: We've been listening to Governor Jeb Bush, they're answering questions about help that is on the way to potential victims and damage that might happen from Hurricane Charley.
We're about to get the latest on the coordinates for that storm and where the National Hurricane Service actually believes it is headed toward land. We're going to do that after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's get the latest now, an update on Hurricane Charley, go to Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Ed, the latest, please, on Hurricane Charley.
ED RAPPAPORT, DEP. DIR., NATL. HURRICANE CTR.: Hurricane Charley continues to move towards the southwest Florida coast. Great concern there for high winds and storm surge. Perhaps as high as 10-foot storm surge with waves on top. Maximum winds are 110 miles per hour. That's the upper end of category two. We're getting some new data now from the aircraft that's flying through Charley. And we're going to take a look at that. It may be that Charley has made it to category three.
KAGAN: And at this point, where does it look like Charley is going to make landfall.
RAPPAPORT: Well, you see on the radar picture, it's actually fairly large in terms of how much -- of where the rain is falling. But the most important part is this little inner core here, the eye and the eye wall. That's where the highest winds are, where the storm surge is going to be the highest. We think the greatest impact will be somewhere between Tampa and Fort Myers.
KAGAN: And what timeframe are we looking at?
RAPPAPORT: The conditions are going to deteriorate along the coast, starting in the next hour or two. We can see some of the first bands coming ashore there, with the worst of the weather being this evening and tonight.
KAGAN: Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center. Thank you. A very busy morning and day, and going into the evening there for you. We'll be checking back. Thank you.
We're going to fit in a break, and we're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: All right. We have a lot of Hurricane Charley coverage coming up for you, but right now, a little break from that. And we're going to check in on the 86th PGA Championship. It is in under way, round two on the shores of Lake Michigan. The course is called Whistling Straits. It is the longest course in championship history, and one of the newest, perhaps one of the toughest.
CNN Sports Patrick Snell joins us. He in Haven, Wisconsin.
Good morning.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.
Yes, where the rain actually has just started to come out, a light smattering, and that could be very, very significant later on during round two.
A lot of players trying to play catchup with the overnight leader, Darren Clarke, but things have changed. I'll update you on that in just a second.
A huge day for the world's number-one player, Tiger Woods. He had a very, very disappointing opening round by his high standards, shooting a 75, which was 3 over par. And his status as officially the world's best player could be in jeopardy. Ernie Els of South Africa and Vijay Singh could depose him if things don't go well for Woods and one of those two wins it.
Now he's not won in the last nine majors, and during that period he's not managed to shoot less than 70 on his opening round. Quite a worrying stat for Woods himself.
Now Woods is off in about three hours time, playing with the box office match, I think it's fair to say, which is Vijay Singh and the somewhat struggling John Daly, who was 9 over par for his first round.
Very, very surprising really Woods on the greens, considering officially on the tour he is ranked as the second-best putter. And I know his putting is giving him a lot of concern. And he was surprised by his underachievement on green.
So the unthinkable really could happen for Woods if he doesn't improve, and that would be to not make the cut and not feature in the closing two rounds.
I can give you the very latest from the top of the leaderboard. The leader we currently have is Briny Baird at 9 under par. That was through 10 holes. He shot a 67 in his opening round. So he's looking good.
And a word on the reigning Masters champion, Phil Mickelson, he's begun to make his move today. He is at 6 under par through 8. That's 3 under for this second round -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Patrick Snell, enjoying the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits. Thank you.
We're going to have a look at business buzz. That's coming up next. So don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
KAGAN: That actually is going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. Our coverage of Hurricane Charley continues throughout the day and the evening.
As a matter of fact, I will see you right back here, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, filling in for Anderson Cooper as he heads to the hurricane.
Right now, Wolf Blitzer takes over from Washington, D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 13, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news. It is Friday, August 13th.
Hurricane Charley brushed by Key West today and took aim at the Tampa Bay area. Landfall is expected this evening with winds that could reach 120 miles an hour. We'll check live on hurricane evacuees in just a minute.
Democratic New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey will step down November 15th after admitting a homosexual affair. The surprise resignation as a former aide threatened to sue McGreevey for sexual harassment. The New Jersey Republican party is expected to respond in just a moment, live on CNN.
And a cargo plane crashed short of a runway at Cincinnati's airport today. The co-pilot was killed, but the pilot managed to walk away. The plane was operated by a contractor for DHL Air Cargo.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
We are talking big numbers today as two million people in and around the Tampa Bay area are being urged to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Charley. Our Ed Lavandera is at the shelter north of St. Petersburg. Good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
Well, this is one of those shelters that is at one of the highest points in Pinellas County. We're only about a mile away from the water, but this is good enough ground to house several hundred people. This school -- it's a middle school, actually -- actually has room for about 5,000 people. They say they can take that many.
They've had several hundred already show up here today; they anticipate many more continuing to show up. And this is one of 49 shelters that have been set up across the state. And lot of these people who are either live along the coast in low-lying areas or in mobile home areas. And of course, this is the safest place to be.
And a lot of people here, you know, kind of starting to feel over the last 24 hours that the reports and watching Charley build up in the Caribbean and make its way toward the Tampa area has a lot of people here nervous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scares the hell out of me. You're looking at the map and it's --when you're living on the coast, you dream about some day a hurricane hitting us head on. And hello, here it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: As I mentioned, there are about 49 shelters that have been set up across the state. You can kind of get a sense of what it's like to be here. Quite honestly, not a lot of excitement. Just people sitting around, reading books or newspapers, and -- you know, and watching DVDs.
They've had a chance to have breakfast. They served lunch a little while ago. And let's be honest, a lot of people here who need something to laugh about. They served pork and beans just a little while ago, and the jokes are already flying.
So, I'll leave it at that, Daryn.
KAGAN: OK. I guess you've got to keep the sense of humor working as you're...
LAVANDERA: It's that crowd actually right back there, too.
KAGAN: OK. Thank you for that. So, we have the report and the comedy coming from Ed Lavandera. Thank you.
LAVANDERA: We try to deliver it all.
KAGAN: Yes, do you. And thank you for that.
OK. Rob, Ed has set the bar high for you. Let's see what kind of information you can give us on Hurricane Charley.
ROB MARCIANO: We'll stick with the information and leave the beans alone.
Latest update out of the Hurricane Centers indicate that this thing has not weakened. It still has winds of 110 miles an hour, which keeps it at about the strength it's been all morning long.
But the latest satellite imagery certainly shows that it hasn't weakened. If anything, it's gotten a little bit better organized. And you can certainly see the wind -- the northerly track of this thing.
Went through Havana last night, just to the west, and they had wind gusts of over 120 miles an hour there. So, this thing is certainly something to be reckoned with.
And it's going to make landfall. I mean, it's surrounded by land at this point. And there it is, Daryn, just to the northwest of Key West. Still on track to head toward Tampa...
KAGAN: We're going to interrupt for just a minute. We'll get back to Rob Marciano. But Governor Jeb Bush right now talking about preparations for the hurricane. Let's listen in.
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: When gale force winds start hitting our -- the area, which will happen soon in the next couple of hours, law enforcement officials out of their safety will be seeking refuge, as well.
This is not the time to be getting on the interstate. It is time to seek a safe place to be with family or friends inside of your region. This morning, I have requested from the president of the United States a presidential disaster declaration. I've talked to the president, who is on the west coast, and he said that he was going to speak to Andy Card, the chief of staff, to immediately respond to this request.
Once again, we appreciate our partnership with FEMA. They have done extraordinary work in developing a relationship where everything possible that can be done in advance of this storm has been done.
(Speaking in Spanish)
KAGAN: We've been listening in to Governor Jeb Bush. He's repeating in Spanish basically what he said in English, that this hurricane, Hurricane Charley, is a major storm, a major hurricane on its way to the west coast of Florida and telling people basically to stay put. This is not the time to be getting in the car and heading out.
Let's bring back in Rob Marciano. Rob, I apologize for interrupting you in the middle of your forecast there, but we want to get the governor's words in there.
MARCIANO: Well, he had some word -- the bilingualness has me definitely impressed on top of that.
KAGAN: Yes.
MARCIANO: Hey, Daryn, here it is again. The radar, we showed you this. It went through Key West and had winds gusting to about 55 miles per hour. They're beginning to see those taper off as the center moves off to the north. And the track of this thing hasn't really changed a whole lot.
These are the latest numbers as of 11:00: 191 miles to the south of Tampa; max winds at 110 miles an hour; moving north toward -- at 18. And that still brings it toward Tampa.
And we've been talking about a potential for flooding in Tampa Bay because: one, the Gulf of Mexico is so shallow; and two, Tampa Bay is a bay; and three, this thing is heading right toward it.
Here's a computer animation of what we call a slosh model. And what it does is it predicts what will happen in a storm surge when a hurricane comes into a certain area. And this one has high resolution right in through Tampa. Here you go.
And depending on the category will depend on how much water covers up the land. This is a tropical storm, not even a hurricane. Now we go to a Category One storm. And there you go. Category Two storm. There's the Air Force Base, boom, that's carried up. Category Three storm, some of the downtown area is covered up with water. And Category Four, that would be nearly catastrophic. We certainly hope that's not going to happen.
At this stage of the game, we do expect it to be a Category Three. It's right on the threshold right now. I don't even want to think about a Category Five storm at this point, Daryn. But here's its track. And we'll watch it -- it really hasn't changed much. The same people who have been warned and alerted are still on their toes, and they should be.
Back to you.
KAGAN: All right, back with you, Rob, in just a moment.
Right now, we go live to Trenton, New Jersey. Republicans there holding a news conference in light of the announcement yesterday by the governor saying he is going to resign. Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
JOSEPH KYRILLOS, STATE SENATOR: ... sympathy for Governor McGreevey and his family during what is an undoubtedly tough period of time for him, a very tough episode for him in his life. For whatever his reasons for discussing this or announcing things yesterday, surely it was hard.
And I've known the governor for a long time. We served together in both houses of the legislature when he was there. And I know that this is tough. And so I respect him for doing what he did yesterday.
Having said that, his decision is bigger than Jim McGreevey. It transcends one person, one governor. It's a much bigger issue. This is something that impacts everyone in the state of New Jersey. It impacts how people around the country think of us and think of the garden state of New Jersey.
And there were some awkward stories for him and for New Jersey this morning. And it is my suspicion that there will be more awkward stories in the days and weeks to come, stories that will make it very difficult for him to carry out the duties of his office.
So I'm join today by Republican leaders in asking the governor to do the right thing, to go beyond what he did yesterday and resign now. Resign now. For a few reasons.
Number one, as I have intimated, it will be extremely difficult for him and his administration to govern effectively over the course of the next three months, for the reasons I've alluded to and many of the other reasons that you can imagine. He has said so as much yesterday. That is why he is leaving. And if it's true post-November 15th, it is certainly true in the days to come.
Number two, beyond the governor's governing effectiveness, we have lived through the Senate president/acting governor model. It is a flawed one. It is one that we need to correct here in New Jersey. These are two very difficult and demanding jobs, bigger than any one person can handle.
KAGAN: We've been listening in to Republican leaders in Trenton, New Jersey there, reacting to Governor James McGreevey's announcement yesterday that he will resign. He'll resign November 15th. Republicans calling on him to not put it off until then, to resign now.
We're going to have more on the implications of that ahead. Right now, we want go back to Florida and Governor Jeb bush talking about Hurricane Charley.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BUSH: ... to get his support through FEMA is good news for us. We were counting on it, and I'm glad that we got it.
Well, it depends on the part of the team you're referring to, but it'll be immediate for the search-and-rescue elements of this, and then the other staging will take place, you know, as soon as is appropriate. My guess is, by Sunday, you'll see a real presence in the region of National Guard, of FEMA personnel, of other communities showing support of religious groups that will be organized, and that presence will be felt in the community immediately.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If you could address the question of shelter capacity: Is there still a lot of room in the shelters?
BUSH: Based on our -- the briefing we've got, yes, the answer is that we have significant shelter capacity, more shelters will be open. And the shelter space, for example, in Charlotte County, available right now is 1,500 beds, Manatee County, 3,800, Sarasota, 6,680. And in Hillsborough and Pinellas, as well, as of this morning, there was abundant shelter space.
It's really, you know, it's a guess, because the modeling isn't imprecise. Obviously it's not -- it's close, but it's imprecise. And also we don't know exactly where the storm will hit. And the further away you go from the eye, obviously, the less the wind power, and so it really does depend on where it hits, but we're talking about billions.
KAGAN: We've been listening to Governor Jeb Bush, they're answering questions about help that is on the way to potential victims and damage that might happen from Hurricane Charley.
We're about to get the latest on the coordinates for that storm and where the National Hurricane Service actually believes it is headed toward land. We're going to do that after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's get the latest now, an update on Hurricane Charley, go to Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Ed, the latest, please, on Hurricane Charley.
ED RAPPAPORT, DEP. DIR., NATL. HURRICANE CTR.: Hurricane Charley continues to move towards the southwest Florida coast. Great concern there for high winds and storm surge. Perhaps as high as 10-foot storm surge with waves on top. Maximum winds are 110 miles per hour. That's the upper end of category two. We're getting some new data now from the aircraft that's flying through Charley. And we're going to take a look at that. It may be that Charley has made it to category three.
KAGAN: And at this point, where does it look like Charley is going to make landfall.
RAPPAPORT: Well, you see on the radar picture, it's actually fairly large in terms of how much -- of where the rain is falling. But the most important part is this little inner core here, the eye and the eye wall. That's where the highest winds are, where the storm surge is going to be the highest. We think the greatest impact will be somewhere between Tampa and Fort Myers.
KAGAN: And what timeframe are we looking at?
RAPPAPORT: The conditions are going to deteriorate along the coast, starting in the next hour or two. We can see some of the first bands coming ashore there, with the worst of the weather being this evening and tonight.
KAGAN: Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center. Thank you. A very busy morning and day, and going into the evening there for you. We'll be checking back. Thank you.
We're going to fit in a break, and we're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: All right. We have a lot of Hurricane Charley coverage coming up for you, but right now, a little break from that. And we're going to check in on the 86th PGA Championship. It is in under way, round two on the shores of Lake Michigan. The course is called Whistling Straits. It is the longest course in championship history, and one of the newest, perhaps one of the toughest.
CNN Sports Patrick Snell joins us. He in Haven, Wisconsin.
Good morning.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Daryn.
Yes, where the rain actually has just started to come out, a light smattering, and that could be very, very significant later on during round two.
A lot of players trying to play catchup with the overnight leader, Darren Clarke, but things have changed. I'll update you on that in just a second.
A huge day for the world's number-one player, Tiger Woods. He had a very, very disappointing opening round by his high standards, shooting a 75, which was 3 over par. And his status as officially the world's best player could be in jeopardy. Ernie Els of South Africa and Vijay Singh could depose him if things don't go well for Woods and one of those two wins it.
Now he's not won in the last nine majors, and during that period he's not managed to shoot less than 70 on his opening round. Quite a worrying stat for Woods himself.
Now Woods is off in about three hours time, playing with the box office match, I think it's fair to say, which is Vijay Singh and the somewhat struggling John Daly, who was 9 over par for his first round.
Very, very surprising really Woods on the greens, considering officially on the tour he is ranked as the second-best putter. And I know his putting is giving him a lot of concern. And he was surprised by his underachievement on green.
So the unthinkable really could happen for Woods if he doesn't improve, and that would be to not make the cut and not feature in the closing two rounds.
I can give you the very latest from the top of the leaderboard. The leader we currently have is Briny Baird at 9 under par. That was through 10 holes. He shot a 67 in his opening round. So he's looking good.
And a word on the reigning Masters champion, Phil Mickelson, he's begun to make his move today. He is at 6 under par through 8. That's 3 under for this second round -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Patrick Snell, enjoying the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits. Thank you.
We're going to have a look at business buzz. That's coming up next. So don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
KAGAN: That actually is going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. Our coverage of Hurricane Charley continues throughout the day and the evening.
As a matter of fact, I will see you right back here, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, filling in for Anderson Cooper as he heads to the hurricane.
Right now, Wolf Blitzer takes over from Washington, D.C.
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