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CNN Live Today
Hurricane Frances Approaches Florida; Florida's Tourism Industry at a Standstill on Labor Day Weekend; Labor Department Reports on Jobs
Aired September 03, 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, the 3rd of September.
Russian troops shot their way into a school today, but hostage- takers are still hold something children. The exact number is unknown at this point. Four hundred people escaped, many with injuries. British journalists inside the school say that about 100 people appeared to have been killed.
Back here in the States, Hurricane Frances is taking aim at Florida's central coast today. The storm has weakened, with winds now at 120 miles an hour. But its forward speed has slowed, as well, and that means parts of Florida could see as much as 20 inches of rain -- a deluge when the storm rolls ashore probably by tomorrow afternoon.
Democratic challenger John Kerry campaigns this hour in Newark, Ohio. He says President Bush is unfit to lead the country. Kerry says he will not have his patriotism questioned by men who refuse to serve in Vietnam.
President Bush himself hitting the campaign trail today. He's in the battleground State of Pennsylvania this morning. He told delegates at the closing night of the Republican convention that he was the right candidate to lead the nation in the war on terror.
We're keeping you informed. CNN is the most trusted name in news.
We have correspondents lined up, up and down the east coast of Florida, led by our Bill Hemmer, who is in Melbourne -- Bill?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Daryn. Good morning, again.
You know, the reports we're getting on the Bahamas, pretty much telling the Hurricane Center out of Miami what Frances is doing right now -- or perhaps not doing. It's based on that reporting and the conditions there that are enabling us to try and figure out what the storm is going to do next.
Well, Judy Chavez from WPLG television is working the Bahamas. She filed this report not too long ago. Here's Judy Chavez now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JUDY CHAVEZ, REPORTER, WPLG: Well, these conditions are worsening by the minute as we wait for Hurricane Frances to bear down on us.
Tell us how you're dealing with the storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very well, very well. Everything is OK.
CHAVEZ: You a bit scared, though? I mean, the winds are picking up, the seas are getting worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we are a bit scared.
CHAVEZ: What are you doing in order to ride out the storm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're just staying in and making sure nobody goes outside.
CHAVEZ: You're working with the hotel staff, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am.
CHAVEZ: And have you seen anything like this before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHAVEZ: Tell us about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Floyd -- it was a lot of water. All the docks were under the water. And you know, there's a lot of water -- more water than now.
CHAVEZ: All right. Well, we still don't know what Frances is going to bring with it when it arrives here on the Abaco Islands, but if it's anything like Floyd, then we'll certainly experience some flooding and some storm surge.
That's the very latest here in Abaco Islands. In Marsh Harbor, I'm Judy Chavez, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That's the second report now we've gotten from Judy Chavez in the past hour, and giving watchers an indication that the eye has weakened somewhat. It slowed the storm down. It's dropped in intensity, but in no way does that mean the storm's going to stay there.
It is possible, once it crosses over the Bahamas, heading toward southeastern Florida, that it could strengthen again. At the moment, a Category 3 hurricane, which is down from a Category 4 hurricane from a day ago.
Up and down the Florida coast, on the east side of this state, people are heeding the warnings. The governor last night said two- and-a-half million people were told to get out. They're not required to by law, but a number of people have taken that warning to heart. Indeed, they packed up yesterday, got on the highways, and got out of here.
Let's go down the coast right now. In downtown West Palm, Gary Tuchman is standing by, taking the temperature down there.
Gary, good morning.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, the temperature is about 88 degrees. And it's windy, but it's still sunny. But we know that won't last very long.
You know, West Palm Beach has one of the most beautiful downtowns in the United States. But what makes it beautiful also makes it very vulnerable. It sits right on intercoastal waterways. Literally, when there is a minor storm, the water here from the intercoastal waterway floods the streets here on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach.
And right across there, you see one of the three bridges. Those are the bridges that connect West Palm Beach to Palm Beach, which has some of the priciest real estate in the United States.
They've been very lucky here over the generations. There have been some tropical storms and some minor hurricanes that have hit here, but there hasn't been a catastrophic hurricane that has hit this part of Palm Beach County since 1928.
It was called the Hurricane of 1928 before they named the hurricanes, and it was one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. It killed 2,000 people, most of them near Lake Okeechobee -- Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in the State of Florida here in Palm Beach County -- and it caused a lot of serious flooding and caused most of those fatalities.
Well, now they have levies and dikes. They don't expect anything catastrophic like that. But this is the first time in most peoples' lifetimes here in Palm Beach County that a major hurricane could score a direct hit.
As you can see, this street, Flagler Drive, one of the busiest streets in West Palm Beach. Not very many people on it now, because there is a mandatory evacuation order in effect, as you were talking about, Bill. Yesterday at 2:00 Eastern time here in Palm Beach County, the evacuation order kicked in. So, they have 300,000 of the county's one million people have been told to leave the area near the shore and go to shelters or to safer homes and stay away from here.
We just want to tell you one more thing, Bill. We're using the videophone for this transmission. One of the reasons we're using the videophone, it gives us more flexibility and portability during a hurricane. We're able to get to riskier areas. We can pack up very quickly and get out. So, we're experimenting with it during the coverage of this particular hurricane.
Bill, back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Gary, thanks for that. Gary Tuchman, down the beach quite a ways in West Palm.
Let's go up the beach now north to St. Augustine, in the old city. And when we talk about old in St. Augustine, it fits the definition -- America's oldest city, in fact.
Kathleen Koch is there this morning. Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, the city founded by Spain way back in 1565. And talking about dates, it was 40 years ago next week precisely that this area was last hit by a hurricane. That was Dora, a Category 2.
But as you can see, businesses here in Old St. Augustine are taking the threat of Frances very seriously. They have boarded up. The main reason being that this area is surrounded -- this -- old downtown is surrounded on three sides by water. Again, if my cameraman can pan over, there are two rivers and a bay that surround the city. And even in a severe thunderstorm, they get flooding in the streets.
Now, what you're seeing there is the Bridge of Lions. That connects to a barrier island, and there are a lot of people leaving that island today. Because again, when there is a heavy rain, when there is a tropical storm even, often that bridge is cut off. So, anyone who stays on that island -- if, again, Frances came our way -- would be completely cut off from the mainland.
Now, here in this downtown area, a lot of these are very old, very sturdy buildings built in the late 1800s. A lot of business owners we've talked to say they're going to stay in their buildings. They're going to ride the storm out, no matter where it goes, protect everything they have inside.
But Bill, they say they've already suffered a lot of losses, because just the threat of this storm has driven tourists away from the area. Even if some residents are staying, the businesses say they've already taken quite a hit -- Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Kathleen, thanks for that. Kathleen Koch in St. Augustine; Gary Tuchman in West Palm.
And over the next day or two, you're going to hear an awful lot -- not just about Frances, but also about Charley, because this entire state really feeling the after-effects of that storm. That struck in the southwestern corner three weeks ago today.
And the last time -- if Frances continues its current course, the last time two storms of this size have struck Florida, you have to go back to 1950 -- Hurricane Easy, followed by Hurricane King. That was 54 years ago. Those storms hit six weeks apart.
If Frances continues the course, it could be 22 days for Florida to get a double dose of weather here, and a double dose that it does not want at this point. The governor has put the warning out. He was speaking earlier today. And we'll continue to track it live here in Melbourne, Florida.
But for now, back to Daryn Kagan yet again in Atlanta -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Bill. Thanks. Back to you in just a moment.
Let's check in with Rob Marciano. He's in the Weather Center looking at the maps and the satellite images -- Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Daryn.
On top of that, just to add on what Bill has said, before Charley, we had Bonnie. Although she wasn't a hurricane, it came right before Charley. It has certainly been an incredibly active last couple of three weeks in Florida.
And behind that, the entire month of August was a record-setter, as well. We had eight named stores during the month of August. And that ties a record that was set, actually in September. Incredibly busy after a very, very slow start in June and July.
All right, here we go. Here is Frances. And we've had wind reports of 115 miles an hour in the Abacos. And that's about where it is, right there. It has weakened somewhat, we mentioned that. Right now, sustained winds are at 115 miles an hour. But it's still a Category 3 storm, and it's still forecast to stay at Category 3 status when it makes landfall, likely along the eastern shores of Florida tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening.
Around the center of this eye are some bright oranges; that indicates high cloud tops, intense convection. Most of it is to the north of east of the storm. We got a little bit of sheer, a little westerly winds in the upper layers of the atmosphere, and that tears apart this section of the storm. That helps weaken it just a little bit.
But right in through here, we've got waters that are 85 degrees Fahrenheit plus, and that could be enough to keep its intensity or maybe even strengthen it.
Right now, here's the official track out of the National Hurricane Center. Its movement is northwesterly at nine miles an hour. We have winds sustained at 115, with gusts to 140 miles an hour. It is a Category 3 storm.
It has slowed as far as the forecast track is concerned, remaining a Category 3 status through this evening, through tonight, and through tomorrow morning -- likely making landfall sometime tomorrow, late afternoon. And then, going right through possibly Orlando, Ocala, affecting Gainesville again -- these are folks that just got hit (ph) with a lot of wind and rain from Charley -- and across the Panhandle possibly as a tropical storm as late as Monday morning.
A very, very slow moving system. And just to refresh you memory what a Category 3 storm is: winds to 130 miles an hour, starting at 110 to 111. Storm surge at 12 feet or better, and severe damage expected. Not only that -- damaging winds? Yes, you bet.
And heavy rainfall -- this is a very, very slow moving storm. We could see rainfall amounts to 14 inches, possibly even more than that over an area that's already saturated from the effects two weeks ago of Charley.
All right, this is the leading edge -- Fort Lauderdale, Miami starting to see some of that action.
Daryn, I don't want to talk too much about this, but you mentioned it -- way out in the Atlantic, we've got another tropical storm. That's Ivan. We won't have to deal with that for some time. We're dealing with Frances right now. We'll keep you posted.
KAGAN: Plenty on our plate for right now. Rob, thank you for that.
MARCIANO: Sure.
KAGAN: A lot more coverage ahead, as well as other news.
Do you have travel plans this weekend? We're looking at a live picture of the Bahamas here. This is giving a little taste of what Frances will be delivering to Florida sometime over the next 24 hours.
But do you have travel plans? And we're not just talking Florida. This could be affecting where you think you're going for Labor Day weekend. We'll talk about that with a travel expert, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: All right. Well, thanks to Frances, Florida's $50 billion a year tourism industry is at a standstill on this Labor Day weekend. As just one indication, instead of two hours to get on the Space Mountain ride at Disney World, lines are barely 10 minutes long. Tourism in other states may be affected by the storm as well.
Tom Nulty is a travel industry analyst. He is here to help you.
I can't even imagine the number of folks that are planning on getting up and getting out. Florida probably not the best option on this Labor Day weekend.
THOMAS NULTY, TRAVEL INDUSTRY ANALYST: Yes, things are bad, and they're getting worse. In fact, let's just take a quick peek at this flightexplorer.com program. And you can actually see that there aren't a lot of airplanes in southern Florida right now, and in fact, those that you see on the screen, most of them...
KAGAN: Are they flying, or on the ground?
NULTY: They're flying, but most of them are departing; most of them are not arriving, because the airline's objective is, obviously, to get everybody out of town as soon as they can.
KAGAN: Well and not just people, they want to get their plans out of plane.
NULTY: Get their planes out. They do not want to have airplanes on the ground while the storm goes through.
KAGAN: So at this point, if you're trying to get into Florida by a plane, good luck, probably not.
NULTY: Good luck, and nor getting out. Because most of the airports are closing, starting -- some of them have already closed now, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach. Orlando's stopping flights at noon today for American Airlines, and other airlines are basically doing the same thing.
KAGAN: Now as entwined as the nation's flight system is, I have to think that this could mean you might think you're going somewhere that has nothing to do with Florida and find out that your plans have been changed.
NULTY: Yes, you'll find that other airports will be impacted by this, mostly because anytime you mess with an airline's schedule, what happens is everything gets messed up all over the country, and people have a difficult time knowing exactly what the delays will be like. So it's difficult.
Airlines, by the way, have gone to a point where they're relaxing their refund policies and their change policies. So they're going to make it as easy as possible on people, but it's still going to be tough.
KAGAN: So you need to have some patience out there. You already have a holiday travel weekend.
NULTY: You must have patience. And the cruise companies, you think about the problems they have here in Florida as well.
KAGAN: Already not in the best shape.
NULTY: Well, they're doing OK, but certainly because of this, they have ships that are out to sea, that are supposed to be arriving this weekend that aren't going to arrive this weekend. People get a little extra cruise out of it.
KAGAN: So some of the cruise ships have been diverted. They're hanging out in the ocean.
NULTY: They're just hanging out.
And by the way, I talked to the president of Royal Caribbean today, and he told me that he's been in touch with the ships and the people are having a great time, because they're behind the hurricane and get a couple free days out of it. So they're having a great time.
But people that were planning to depart this weekend, they have a bit of a problem. They're not going to be departing until Monday.
KAGAN: Yes, what do you do if you're set, let's just say today, to leave today on cruise vacation you've waited all year to take.
NULTY: Well, you're not going to leave today. The ports are already closed. And you'll end up waiting until Monday. Now they're going to give you some credits and other things in order to get you to stay on the ship. Your cruise will shortened. It will be five or six days instead of seven days, and -- but they're going to make it pleasant for you, and they're going to give you a chance to change to another cruise if you want, or just give you a refund. So they're being good about it.
KAGAN: So we need the customers to be a little bit patient, but it sounds the travel companies are trying to accommodate as well.
NULTY: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Patience.
NULTY: And if you're a traveler who's out there looking for help, the best place to find it is probably with your travel agent, if you booked that way. If you didn't...
KAGAN: How many people use a travel agent.
NULTY: Probably most people still do.
KAGAN: OK.
NULTY: But if you used an online travel agency, an Orbitz, for example, they are also giving support. And you can contact them by phone. And the other thing they're doing is they're proactively sending out messages to their travelers based on the itineraries they have so that people know what to expect and what to do.
But for the most part, you're not going to be doing a lot of traveling over the next 24 hours, and in the middle part of the state, Orlando, Tampa, that's going to last until Sunday before they'll start opening back up again.
KAGAN: All right, yes. And hopefully not a lot of damage as that storm passes over.
NULTY: Right, right.
KAGAN: Tom Nulty, thank you. Safe travels wherever you're headed on this...
NULTY: Thank you. Same to you. Same to you.
KAGAN: Or trying to get to on this Labor Day weekend.
We're talking jobs report, which might sound a little bit dry, but it's important for the campaign. Does it spell out good news or bad news for both America and the Bush administration? details on that, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: A number that should play out on the campaign trail -- the August jobs report is in. It is a little bit below Wall Street's expectations, but as one analyst is putting it, nothing good, nothing too terrible either.
Our Louise Schiavone joins me from Washington with more on the numbers.
Louise, good morning.
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
The Labor Department reports the economy added 144,000 jobs in August, nudging the unemployment rate down to 5.4 percent. Numbers crunchers also revised the July jobs figure upward from 32,000 to 73,000. After today, there's just one more jobs report before the elections. This late in the game, where does the president go from here?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FMR. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: On September 11, George Bush had been president less than eight months.
SCHIAVONE: Republicans this week chose to trumpet the bush administration's national security record, for the most part glossing over the job losses of the last four years. But for Americans who've lost work or know someone who has, the issue is ever present.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The message is clear, this is the first time since the Great Depression that America has lost jobs.
SCHIAVONE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that from January of 2001 to august of 2003, the U.S. economy lost 2.6 million jobs. The job market turned around in September of 2003, and by midsummer of this year, net job losses had been whittled to 1.1 million.
Republican officials concede a prolonged weak patch, but express optimism about the coming months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember, we inherited an economy that was suffering from near catastrophic set of conditions, an economy that was shocked by a variety of events over the past 3 1/2 years.
SCHIAVONE: Analysts at Challenger Gray and Christmas looked at presidential races going back to 1948. In 10 of 14 races, if the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent or lower in the three months before election, the incumbent party was re-elected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a crucial issue. Many Americans vote their job security. Do they feel comfortable in their jobs? Are they seeing their neighbors laid off? Do they think that their income is going to be steady? If they feel the economy is not strong, that often leads to a change in party.
SCHIAVONE: Ronald Reagan's re-election and Al Gore's defeat were notable exceptions to Challenger's overall findings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Republicans are hoping that the electorate will concede that the past 3 1/2 years have provided stress on the economy, that they'll give the president some credit for helping create the jobs that did emerge -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Louise Schiavone in Washington, thank you.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
KAGAN: That is going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. I hope you all have a great holiday weekend. A lot more news ahead. We're not leaving the story from Russia or Hurricane Frances.
A break now at the top of the hour. Wolf Blitzer takes over from New York City.
And as I leave you, I leave with a live picture from the Bahamas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 3, 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, the 3rd of September.
Russian troops shot their way into a school today, but hostage- takers are still hold something children. The exact number is unknown at this point. Four hundred people escaped, many with injuries. British journalists inside the school say that about 100 people appeared to have been killed.
Back here in the States, Hurricane Frances is taking aim at Florida's central coast today. The storm has weakened, with winds now at 120 miles an hour. But its forward speed has slowed, as well, and that means parts of Florida could see as much as 20 inches of rain -- a deluge when the storm rolls ashore probably by tomorrow afternoon.
Democratic challenger John Kerry campaigns this hour in Newark, Ohio. He says President Bush is unfit to lead the country. Kerry says he will not have his patriotism questioned by men who refuse to serve in Vietnam.
President Bush himself hitting the campaign trail today. He's in the battleground State of Pennsylvania this morning. He told delegates at the closing night of the Republican convention that he was the right candidate to lead the nation in the war on terror.
We're keeping you informed. CNN is the most trusted name in news.
We have correspondents lined up, up and down the east coast of Florida, led by our Bill Hemmer, who is in Melbourne -- Bill?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Daryn. Good morning, again.
You know, the reports we're getting on the Bahamas, pretty much telling the Hurricane Center out of Miami what Frances is doing right now -- or perhaps not doing. It's based on that reporting and the conditions there that are enabling us to try and figure out what the storm is going to do next.
Well, Judy Chavez from WPLG television is working the Bahamas. She filed this report not too long ago. Here's Judy Chavez now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JUDY CHAVEZ, REPORTER, WPLG: Well, these conditions are worsening by the minute as we wait for Hurricane Frances to bear down on us.
Tell us how you're dealing with the storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very well, very well. Everything is OK.
CHAVEZ: You a bit scared, though? I mean, the winds are picking up, the seas are getting worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we are a bit scared.
CHAVEZ: What are you doing in order to ride out the storm?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're just staying in and making sure nobody goes outside.
CHAVEZ: You're working with the hotel staff, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am.
CHAVEZ: And have you seen anything like this before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHAVEZ: Tell us about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Floyd -- it was a lot of water. All the docks were under the water. And you know, there's a lot of water -- more water than now.
CHAVEZ: All right. Well, we still don't know what Frances is going to bring with it when it arrives here on the Abaco Islands, but if it's anything like Floyd, then we'll certainly experience some flooding and some storm surge.
That's the very latest here in Abaco Islands. In Marsh Harbor, I'm Judy Chavez, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That's the second report now we've gotten from Judy Chavez in the past hour, and giving watchers an indication that the eye has weakened somewhat. It slowed the storm down. It's dropped in intensity, but in no way does that mean the storm's going to stay there.
It is possible, once it crosses over the Bahamas, heading toward southeastern Florida, that it could strengthen again. At the moment, a Category 3 hurricane, which is down from a Category 4 hurricane from a day ago.
Up and down the Florida coast, on the east side of this state, people are heeding the warnings. The governor last night said two- and-a-half million people were told to get out. They're not required to by law, but a number of people have taken that warning to heart. Indeed, they packed up yesterday, got on the highways, and got out of here.
Let's go down the coast right now. In downtown West Palm, Gary Tuchman is standing by, taking the temperature down there.
Gary, good morning.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, the temperature is about 88 degrees. And it's windy, but it's still sunny. But we know that won't last very long.
You know, West Palm Beach has one of the most beautiful downtowns in the United States. But what makes it beautiful also makes it very vulnerable. It sits right on intercoastal waterways. Literally, when there is a minor storm, the water here from the intercoastal waterway floods the streets here on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach.
And right across there, you see one of the three bridges. Those are the bridges that connect West Palm Beach to Palm Beach, which has some of the priciest real estate in the United States.
They've been very lucky here over the generations. There have been some tropical storms and some minor hurricanes that have hit here, but there hasn't been a catastrophic hurricane that has hit this part of Palm Beach County since 1928.
It was called the Hurricane of 1928 before they named the hurricanes, and it was one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. It killed 2,000 people, most of them near Lake Okeechobee -- Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in the State of Florida here in Palm Beach County -- and it caused a lot of serious flooding and caused most of those fatalities.
Well, now they have levies and dikes. They don't expect anything catastrophic like that. But this is the first time in most peoples' lifetimes here in Palm Beach County that a major hurricane could score a direct hit.
As you can see, this street, Flagler Drive, one of the busiest streets in West Palm Beach. Not very many people on it now, because there is a mandatory evacuation order in effect, as you were talking about, Bill. Yesterday at 2:00 Eastern time here in Palm Beach County, the evacuation order kicked in. So, they have 300,000 of the county's one million people have been told to leave the area near the shore and go to shelters or to safer homes and stay away from here.
We just want to tell you one more thing, Bill. We're using the videophone for this transmission. One of the reasons we're using the videophone, it gives us more flexibility and portability during a hurricane. We're able to get to riskier areas. We can pack up very quickly and get out. So, we're experimenting with it during the coverage of this particular hurricane.
Bill, back to you.
HEMMER: All right, Gary, thanks for that. Gary Tuchman, down the beach quite a ways in West Palm.
Let's go up the beach now north to St. Augustine, in the old city. And when we talk about old in St. Augustine, it fits the definition -- America's oldest city, in fact.
Kathleen Koch is there this morning. Kathleen, good morning.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, the city founded by Spain way back in 1565. And talking about dates, it was 40 years ago next week precisely that this area was last hit by a hurricane. That was Dora, a Category 2.
But as you can see, businesses here in Old St. Augustine are taking the threat of Frances very seriously. They have boarded up. The main reason being that this area is surrounded -- this -- old downtown is surrounded on three sides by water. Again, if my cameraman can pan over, there are two rivers and a bay that surround the city. And even in a severe thunderstorm, they get flooding in the streets.
Now, what you're seeing there is the Bridge of Lions. That connects to a barrier island, and there are a lot of people leaving that island today. Because again, when there is a heavy rain, when there is a tropical storm even, often that bridge is cut off. So, anyone who stays on that island -- if, again, Frances came our way -- would be completely cut off from the mainland.
Now, here in this downtown area, a lot of these are very old, very sturdy buildings built in the late 1800s. A lot of business owners we've talked to say they're going to stay in their buildings. They're going to ride the storm out, no matter where it goes, protect everything they have inside.
But Bill, they say they've already suffered a lot of losses, because just the threat of this storm has driven tourists away from the area. Even if some residents are staying, the businesses say they've already taken quite a hit -- Bill?
HEMMER: All right, Kathleen, thanks for that. Kathleen Koch in St. Augustine; Gary Tuchman in West Palm.
And over the next day or two, you're going to hear an awful lot -- not just about Frances, but also about Charley, because this entire state really feeling the after-effects of that storm. That struck in the southwestern corner three weeks ago today.
And the last time -- if Frances continues its current course, the last time two storms of this size have struck Florida, you have to go back to 1950 -- Hurricane Easy, followed by Hurricane King. That was 54 years ago. Those storms hit six weeks apart.
If Frances continues the course, it could be 22 days for Florida to get a double dose of weather here, and a double dose that it does not want at this point. The governor has put the warning out. He was speaking earlier today. And we'll continue to track it live here in Melbourne, Florida.
But for now, back to Daryn Kagan yet again in Atlanta -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Bill. Thanks. Back to you in just a moment.
Let's check in with Rob Marciano. He's in the Weather Center looking at the maps and the satellite images -- Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Daryn.
On top of that, just to add on what Bill has said, before Charley, we had Bonnie. Although she wasn't a hurricane, it came right before Charley. It has certainly been an incredibly active last couple of three weeks in Florida.
And behind that, the entire month of August was a record-setter, as well. We had eight named stores during the month of August. And that ties a record that was set, actually in September. Incredibly busy after a very, very slow start in June and July.
All right, here we go. Here is Frances. And we've had wind reports of 115 miles an hour in the Abacos. And that's about where it is, right there. It has weakened somewhat, we mentioned that. Right now, sustained winds are at 115 miles an hour. But it's still a Category 3 storm, and it's still forecast to stay at Category 3 status when it makes landfall, likely along the eastern shores of Florida tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening.
Around the center of this eye are some bright oranges; that indicates high cloud tops, intense convection. Most of it is to the north of east of the storm. We got a little bit of sheer, a little westerly winds in the upper layers of the atmosphere, and that tears apart this section of the storm. That helps weaken it just a little bit.
But right in through here, we've got waters that are 85 degrees Fahrenheit plus, and that could be enough to keep its intensity or maybe even strengthen it.
Right now, here's the official track out of the National Hurricane Center. Its movement is northwesterly at nine miles an hour. We have winds sustained at 115, with gusts to 140 miles an hour. It is a Category 3 storm.
It has slowed as far as the forecast track is concerned, remaining a Category 3 status through this evening, through tonight, and through tomorrow morning -- likely making landfall sometime tomorrow, late afternoon. And then, going right through possibly Orlando, Ocala, affecting Gainesville again -- these are folks that just got hit (ph) with a lot of wind and rain from Charley -- and across the Panhandle possibly as a tropical storm as late as Monday morning.
A very, very slow moving system. And just to refresh you memory what a Category 3 storm is: winds to 130 miles an hour, starting at 110 to 111. Storm surge at 12 feet or better, and severe damage expected. Not only that -- damaging winds? Yes, you bet.
And heavy rainfall -- this is a very, very slow moving storm. We could see rainfall amounts to 14 inches, possibly even more than that over an area that's already saturated from the effects two weeks ago of Charley.
All right, this is the leading edge -- Fort Lauderdale, Miami starting to see some of that action.
Daryn, I don't want to talk too much about this, but you mentioned it -- way out in the Atlantic, we've got another tropical storm. That's Ivan. We won't have to deal with that for some time. We're dealing with Frances right now. We'll keep you posted.
KAGAN: Plenty on our plate for right now. Rob, thank you for that.
MARCIANO: Sure.
KAGAN: A lot more coverage ahead, as well as other news.
Do you have travel plans this weekend? We're looking at a live picture of the Bahamas here. This is giving a little taste of what Frances will be delivering to Florida sometime over the next 24 hours.
But do you have travel plans? And we're not just talking Florida. This could be affecting where you think you're going for Labor Day weekend. We'll talk about that with a travel expert, just ahead.
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KAGAN: All right. Well, thanks to Frances, Florida's $50 billion a year tourism industry is at a standstill on this Labor Day weekend. As just one indication, instead of two hours to get on the Space Mountain ride at Disney World, lines are barely 10 minutes long. Tourism in other states may be affected by the storm as well.
Tom Nulty is a travel industry analyst. He is here to help you.
I can't even imagine the number of folks that are planning on getting up and getting out. Florida probably not the best option on this Labor Day weekend.
THOMAS NULTY, TRAVEL INDUSTRY ANALYST: Yes, things are bad, and they're getting worse. In fact, let's just take a quick peek at this flightexplorer.com program. And you can actually see that there aren't a lot of airplanes in southern Florida right now, and in fact, those that you see on the screen, most of them...
KAGAN: Are they flying, or on the ground?
NULTY: They're flying, but most of them are departing; most of them are not arriving, because the airline's objective is, obviously, to get everybody out of town as soon as they can.
KAGAN: Well and not just people, they want to get their plans out of plane.
NULTY: Get their planes out. They do not want to have airplanes on the ground while the storm goes through.
KAGAN: So at this point, if you're trying to get into Florida by a plane, good luck, probably not.
NULTY: Good luck, and nor getting out. Because most of the airports are closing, starting -- some of them have already closed now, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach. Orlando's stopping flights at noon today for American Airlines, and other airlines are basically doing the same thing.
KAGAN: Now as entwined as the nation's flight system is, I have to think that this could mean you might think you're going somewhere that has nothing to do with Florida and find out that your plans have been changed.
NULTY: Yes, you'll find that other airports will be impacted by this, mostly because anytime you mess with an airline's schedule, what happens is everything gets messed up all over the country, and people have a difficult time knowing exactly what the delays will be like. So it's difficult.
Airlines, by the way, have gone to a point where they're relaxing their refund policies and their change policies. So they're going to make it as easy as possible on people, but it's still going to be tough.
KAGAN: So you need to have some patience out there. You already have a holiday travel weekend.
NULTY: You must have patience. And the cruise companies, you think about the problems they have here in Florida as well.
KAGAN: Already not in the best shape.
NULTY: Well, they're doing OK, but certainly because of this, they have ships that are out to sea, that are supposed to be arriving this weekend that aren't going to arrive this weekend. People get a little extra cruise out of it.
KAGAN: So some of the cruise ships have been diverted. They're hanging out in the ocean.
NULTY: They're just hanging out.
And by the way, I talked to the president of Royal Caribbean today, and he told me that he's been in touch with the ships and the people are having a great time, because they're behind the hurricane and get a couple free days out of it. So they're having a great time.
But people that were planning to depart this weekend, they have a bit of a problem. They're not going to be departing until Monday.
KAGAN: Yes, what do you do if you're set, let's just say today, to leave today on cruise vacation you've waited all year to take.
NULTY: Well, you're not going to leave today. The ports are already closed. And you'll end up waiting until Monday. Now they're going to give you some credits and other things in order to get you to stay on the ship. Your cruise will shortened. It will be five or six days instead of seven days, and -- but they're going to make it pleasant for you, and they're going to give you a chance to change to another cruise if you want, or just give you a refund. So they're being good about it.
KAGAN: So we need the customers to be a little bit patient, but it sounds the travel companies are trying to accommodate as well.
NULTY: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Patience.
NULTY: And if you're a traveler who's out there looking for help, the best place to find it is probably with your travel agent, if you booked that way. If you didn't...
KAGAN: How many people use a travel agent.
NULTY: Probably most people still do.
KAGAN: OK.
NULTY: But if you used an online travel agency, an Orbitz, for example, they are also giving support. And you can contact them by phone. And the other thing they're doing is they're proactively sending out messages to their travelers based on the itineraries they have so that people know what to expect and what to do.
But for the most part, you're not going to be doing a lot of traveling over the next 24 hours, and in the middle part of the state, Orlando, Tampa, that's going to last until Sunday before they'll start opening back up again.
KAGAN: All right, yes. And hopefully not a lot of damage as that storm passes over.
NULTY: Right, right.
KAGAN: Tom Nulty, thank you. Safe travels wherever you're headed on this...
NULTY: Thank you. Same to you. Same to you.
KAGAN: Or trying to get to on this Labor Day weekend.
We're talking jobs report, which might sound a little bit dry, but it's important for the campaign. Does it spell out good news or bad news for both America and the Bush administration? details on that, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: A number that should play out on the campaign trail -- the August jobs report is in. It is a little bit below Wall Street's expectations, but as one analyst is putting it, nothing good, nothing too terrible either.
Our Louise Schiavone joins me from Washington with more on the numbers.
Louise, good morning.
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
The Labor Department reports the economy added 144,000 jobs in August, nudging the unemployment rate down to 5.4 percent. Numbers crunchers also revised the July jobs figure upward from 32,000 to 73,000. After today, there's just one more jobs report before the elections. This late in the game, where does the president go from here?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FMR. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: On September 11, George Bush had been president less than eight months.
SCHIAVONE: Republicans this week chose to trumpet the bush administration's national security record, for the most part glossing over the job losses of the last four years. But for Americans who've lost work or know someone who has, the issue is ever present.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The message is clear, this is the first time since the Great Depression that America has lost jobs.
SCHIAVONE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that from January of 2001 to august of 2003, the U.S. economy lost 2.6 million jobs. The job market turned around in September of 2003, and by midsummer of this year, net job losses had been whittled to 1.1 million.
Republican officials concede a prolonged weak patch, but express optimism about the coming months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember, we inherited an economy that was suffering from near catastrophic set of conditions, an economy that was shocked by a variety of events over the past 3 1/2 years.
SCHIAVONE: Analysts at Challenger Gray and Christmas looked at presidential races going back to 1948. In 10 of 14 races, if the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent or lower in the three months before election, the incumbent party was re-elected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a crucial issue. Many Americans vote their job security. Do they feel comfortable in their jobs? Are they seeing their neighbors laid off? Do they think that their income is going to be steady? If they feel the economy is not strong, that often leads to a change in party.
SCHIAVONE: Ronald Reagan's re-election and Al Gore's defeat were notable exceptions to Challenger's overall findings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHIAVONE: Republicans are hoping that the electorate will concede that the past 3 1/2 years have provided stress on the economy, that they'll give the president some credit for helping create the jobs that did emerge -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Louise Schiavone in Washington, thank you.
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KAGAN: That is going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. I hope you all have a great holiday weekend. A lot more news ahead. We're not leaving the story from Russia or Hurricane Frances.
A break now at the top of the hour. Wolf Blitzer takes over from New York City.
And as I leave you, I leave with a live picture from the Bahamas.
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