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Hurricane Dean Slams Into Mexico; Immigration Activist Deported

Aired August 21, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the winds are down, but the rain is coming down faster. Hurricane Dean may have dwindled to a Category 1, but a foot or more of rain will leave its mark on the Yucatan.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, but Dean once again is on the verge of open ocean, after that, another rendezvous with Mexico.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 3:00 here in the east. Our top story, Hurricane Dean. It may soon be a tropical storm, but don't expect it to fizzle out. It's heading for open water and then central Mexico. At the moment, Dean's bearing down on the city of Campeche.

And CNN's Chris Lawrence and his crew are just south of there -- Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, we are here right about, I would say, about 35, 40 miles south of Campeche, in Champoton, a small city right on the Gulf of Mexico.

You can take a look behind me. This is the gulf. There's a restaurant back there, just behind me. And literally, I would say, 40 minutes ago, this water was just churning up. Those waves were lapping the bottom floor of that restaurant. But now that a lot of the winds started to die down, and we're just kind of getting this steady rain, we're starting what could be the next problem for the folks that live here, and that's flooding.

You see at all this runoff just coming right off the street pouring right into the gulf there. And with this rain coming down, we have started to see water starting to back up a little bit on the street. You take a look out here, you can see folks starting to come back out, literally (AUDIO GAP)

LEMON: And that was CNN's Chris Lawrence reporting from near Campeche. We will try to get established a signal -- reestablished it with Chris and get another report for you, if we can -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, actually, what we were seeing from Chris Lawrence there was pretty different when we talked to him last hour. Take a look at what we saw about 50 minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Campeche a little bit to our north is a little bit of a tourists area. This is an area where people live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Not only Chris Lawrence, but our Jacqui Jeras is tracking every move that Dean makes.

It seems like where you are along the coastline there, Jacqui, it's worse in some areas than others.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, what a difference an hour makes, too, there where Chris is.

And, actually, if we get back with him, I would be interested to know what direction his wind is coming from to get a better handle on where the center of the storm is right now. It's very difficult to tell on infrared or visible satellite, because the eye is not very well defined anymore. It kind of got filled in as it weakened down.

Now, here's Campeche and Champoton is right down about here. And we think that the center of the storm is almost all the way offshore right now, so he was very near the center certainly and saw some probably of those hurricane-force wind gusts and all that water.

And it's very interesting to note, too, as the center of circulation in this area, look at how much rain is up here towards Merida and Campeche, very little, actually. Most of the action is what's going on on the south side of this storm. Now, as it gets back over the open water, we think it will probably get a little bit better organized. It will have that energy once again, water temperatures 85, 86 degrees here. So, we will probably be ramping back up.

So, maximum winds right now are 85 miles per hour. But that's just very close to the center of the storm. But this is a big, big storm system and we're looking at, you know, about a good 200-plus miles of the tropical-storm-force winds.

There you can see the forecast track. It's moving on off to the west. And we will watch this move over the water through the overnight hours and early morning hours tomorrow, and that second landfall is coming on Mexican's mainland likely south of Tampico some time midday tomorrow afternoon.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much.

We were able to connect with our Chris Lawrence once again.

Jacqui, you might talk about the wind shift.

Jacqui was wondering about what the conditions were like there, as well as we are wondering, Chris. Give us a feel. Does it look like it's getting better where you are there in Campeche? LAWRENCE: Yes.

It's like Jacqui said. What a difference an hour makes. It went from almost nothing here to the wind just whipping up. And this aluminum roof above us just shaking, shaking, shaking and the waters churning right here in the gulf to almost totally die down again.

And we were all wondering does that mean the storm's completely passed us by, gone out to sea, and everything is -- you know, the worst is completely over, or did it mean the eye was coming in and we were just seeing a momentary lull before it kicked back up again? But definitely a huge difference, especially in that wind speed, and the amount of rain that was coming down just about 45 minutes ago.

JERAS: Chris, this is Jacqui Jeras. Do you have any idea of what direction your wind is coming from right now?

LAWRENCE: I can tell you before, it felt like it was coming -- it was hitting my right side. So, it felt like before, it was coming south. Would that make it south? Yes, I'm directionally challenged.

(LAUGHTER)

JERAS: I know. You have got to think about it for a minute.

LAWRENCE: It was coming out and pushing out this way towards -- yes, I did. You know, it felt like it was coming this way, like it was pushing out towards the gulf. Now, the breeze is so slight, it's hard to even really get a direction on it. It's just kind of lightly blowing right now.

JERAS: All right. My guess is you might have been actually in the eyewall, and that kind of the south side of the center of the storm was just on up to your north. And so, it is passing off towards the west now and getting over to the bay. So, so your wind should lighten up.

You might see some more squall lines come in in the next couple of hours, and as those do that, you will see those winds pick up with the squalls. So, you have got a nice little calm break here. But I do expect things will be picking up for you again on and off over the next maybe three hours.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui, Chris, thanks.

And, Chris, it's OK. We're all directionally challenged.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Poor Chris.

LAWRENCE: A lot of folks here were asking us about that. We were trying to figure out if it was over or if this is just, you know, a momentary lull or, hey, is it OK? Can we start taking our tarps down, and, you know, declaring everything OK here?

PHILLIPS: All right, Chris Lawrence, Jacqui Jeras, thank you so much.

As you can imagine, Chris isn't getting a chance to get much sleep. He's been up all night working his way through Mexico there to bring us those live pictures, first time we have had a chance to see him this afternoon.

Chris, thanks, and Jacqui.

LEMON: Absolutely.

And we have talking about Hurricane Dean. But Tropical Storm Erin certainly left a mess behind, especially, especially in the Midwest and in Ohio.

Joining us now on the phone is Henry Guzman. He's the director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety in Columbus, Ohio.

We're hearing about massive flooding and even rescues in your area and also in a place called Bucyrus.

HENRY GUZMAN, DIRECTOR, OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: That is correct.

LEMON: Talk to us about that, your effort and what's going on there now.

GUZMAN: Well, these rains have dumped about to six to nine inches in areas of northern Ohio in the past 24 hours. We have got about 19 counties that have been impacted by flooding and wind damage starting overnight last night and into today.

And we have about five counties, the northeast, northwest, north central have declared county emergencies. We have had to call the national -- I'm sorry -- the U.S. Coast Guard to rescue about five individuals that were on rooftops. Our water rescues couldn't get to them because of swift waters.

We have the Red Cross that has opened shelters in the affected communities, although -- and we have not had any confirmed reports of any fatalities of any nature, although we have had numerous closings of -- some schools have opened, were due to open, and they are now closed as a result of high waters.

LEMON: OK.

Does it appear to be worse there? I know that you're in Columbus. Or is it worse in Bucyrus? Or -- because we're hearing, again, about rescues there. And I'm not sure which place is worse.

GUZMAN: Well, Columbus is in central Ohio. And the rescues that occurred in northwest Ohio. And that's where it seems like the -- it's been worse. And Bucyrus is towards that direction. And so it's in that area that we have had. It's pretty open up in that area of the state. And that's where a lot of the flooding is occurring.

LEMON: Now, we have been hearing from people who live there who say that they didn't expect Tropical Storm Erin, a tropical storm at all, would leave this much damage behind, especially in flooding. Did it kind of surprise you, the amount of water that this storm left you with?

GUZMAN: Well, it was sort of surprising. But this state has been known for flooding conditions, because of the numerous rivers that we have that end up overflowing.

But, nonetheless, because of the preparation that's taken place and because of the citizens prepared, they have also dealt with it in the past. And we have the governor's office represented there at the Emergency Management Agency, along with other agency representatives and other agency departments that are have been working on this issue all through the night and into the day today.

And we want to continue to ask our residents in the affected areas to use caution and not drive into high-water areas obviously.

LEMON: That's always a problem. Let me ask you what about people hurt or even worse?

GUZMAN: We haven't had any reports of any injuries either.

LEMON: OK.

What do you want people to do? Is there something you want to get out there, now that you have this platform that you want to tell people?

GUZMAN: I think it's important, again, is to -- if you don't have to travel, don't travel. Stay off the roadways. Allow emergency crews to do their thing and our first-responders to do their thing. And that's the best recommendation that we can make at this time.

LEMON: All right, joining us from Columbus, Ohio, Henry Guzman, who is the director of the Department of Public Safety there.

Thank you. Have a good evening and good luck to you guys.

GUZMAN: Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

PHILLIPS: Well, a rescuer remembered. Services were held this afternoon in Huntington, Utah, for Dale Black. He was among three men killed last week searching for six missing coal miners. Black would have turned 49 this week.

Ashley Pruitt talks about her father's sacrifice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ASHLEY PRUITT, DAUGHTER OF DALE BLACK: From the beginning of this tragic accident, my dad worked as hard as we knew he would to get those miners out of there. And he never gave up hope. There were times when he was up there that he didn't even need to be, but he just wanted to do his part in the rescue efforts.

On August 16, 2007, we lost one of the greatest men ever put on Earth. He will be loved, and he will be missed. But he will never be forgotten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Black's fate is the main reason manned rescue efforts are on hold indefinitely. The mine's owner said the men are probably dead, their bodies might never be found, and risking more lives just isn't justified. Some families don't like that decision. Crews are drilling a fifth borehole right now, looking for signs of life. It should reach the mine this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Main gear touchdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It came home early and slightly wounded. But Endeavour did come home. The shuttle landed safely this afternoon at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, 13 days after setting out for the International Space Station. NASA trimmed a day from the mission because of the potential threat of Hurricane Dean to Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Another nagging worry, a three-inch gash on Endeavour's heat tiles. But NASA determined it was not a threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM GERSTENMAIER, NASA: I want to congratulate the entire team for just a great mission. The shuttle team was phenomenal. They dealt with a lot of really complicated things. We have all four control moment gyros now working on the station, which is a great thing. They got all the transfers accomplished. We got the EVA activities that were important done. The teams just did a phenomenal job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And the crew included former teacher Barbara Morgan, who was Christa McAuliffe's backup for the doomed Challenger mission in 1986.

PHILLIPS: Well, another day, another scare involving a product from China. Wal-Mart takes action after dog owners say tainted treats sickened their pets. We will have the details straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And she left her sanctuary and left herself open to arrest. An immigration activist and mother of an eight-year-old is deported -- her story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Just getting video in from one of our affiliates out of Ohio, WEWS. This is in Mansfield. We had talked to you throughout the past couple of hours about the evacuations that have taken place in Ohio because of the rising waters.

Jacqui Jeras here to explain more.

Has the rain pretty much stopped, Jacqui, and now they're dealing with the rising waters and the evacuations, hoping it comes down a bit?

JERAS: Yes, for the most part. There's been a stationary frontal system that has just been stalled out here over the past couple of days. And radar is estimating anywhere between seven to nine inches of rain has fallen here, just an incredible situation.

All the surrounding counties, too, by the way, around Mansfield are also under flood warnings. This is south and west of the Cleveland area. Interstate 75 is closed in Bluffton. There are many homes which have been flooded and also evacuations have been taking place in Crawford County. So, that rain very heavy here. Also, the remnants, remember, Erin, and what Erin did, over in Oklahoma and on into Missouri? That's starting to get absorbed on up into this area and enhancing some of that rainfall.

And unfortunately, we have got a very active weather pattern here. So, we're expecting rain throughout much of the week. Here you can see Cleveland, Mansfield, right along here. This is Interstate 75, I believe. And there you can see all that rain has pushed on down to the south and dissipated now, but we could be seeing some more rain going on in the future in the next couple of days.

(CROSSTALK)

JERAS: Well, there you can see -- hey, there you go. Dave Hennen working for me behind the scenes.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Sometimes we lose the radar. Sometimes it comes back.

JERAS: I know. Love that. See, here's that -- the purple and the white area right down in here, that's a swathe of about 20 miles there that is seeing that seven to nine inches. Just incredible.

Oh, there we go. We have got some cities on there. Here's Findlay. Findlay is one of the towns that we know that is getting flooded as well, and here's Mansfield right, and then Cleveland right up here up to the north and to the east of there.

PHILLIPS: Great. We will keep tracking it.

Thanks, Jacqui, and, thanks, Dave Hennen. JERAS: Sure.

LEMON: All right. It's 16 past the hour, 3:16 here in the East and here are three of the stories we're tracking for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Touchdown. Space shuttle Endeavour landed safely at Florida Kennedy Space Center this afternoon. NASA shortened the mission by one day because of the potential threat of Hurricane Dean.

And speaking of Dean, it's now been downgraded to a Category 1 storm as it races across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It made landfall as a Category 5. Dean is not expected to threaten the U.S., though.

You might want to check your dog's bowl. Wal-Mart has stopped selling two brands of doggie treats made in China. But it stopped short of announcing a recall. Some customers say their dogs got sick, and there's a report of at least one dog dying.

PHILLIPS: Well, families can move on and repair work can begin in Minneapolis. Recovery crews pulled the 13th and what's believed to be the final body from the wreckage of the I-35W bridge collapse; 45- year-old Gregory Jolstad was part of a construction crew on the bridge when it fell into the Mississippi River August 1.

President Bush will be in Minneapolis this evening to get an update on the bridge. The governor has asked the president to declare the collapse a major disaster. That could mean more federal money is on the way.

LEMON: A mother deported, a son left behind. Some call the woman an immigration pioneer. Others call her a law breaker.

CNN's Carol Costello reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was anger in Chicago -- protesters gathering outside of the U.S. immigration office, calling agents unfair, cruel, for arresting Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant they call their Rosa Parks.

EMMA LOZANO, PRO-IMMIGRATION ACTIVIST: We should praise her. Rosa Parks was praised for defying broken law and we need to praise her and respect her and admire her for what she's doing, as well.

COSTELLO: Arellano, who entered the United States illegally twice, had been hold up, along with her 8-year-old son, in this Chicago church since August of 2006 to avoid deportation.

But last week, she left her sanctuary to drum up support for immigration reform.

Authorities found her in Los Angeles. She was arrested and cuffed in front of her sobbing 8-year-old son and then deported.

Activist Emma Lozano was with her at the time.

LOZANO: They were yelling at us, those 15 agents. They surrounded us. It was so exaggerated, like if they were arresting bin Laden.

COSTELLO: But immigration officials say Arellano's arrest was done by the book and tell us ICE coordinated closely with representatives from the Mexican consulate to ensure Arellano's safety during the evening repatriation.

Arellano's actions have made her a polarizing figure. Although many in the Latino community support her, many do not.

Some cite her use of the little boy to fight for her causes.

Saul, who was born here and is a U.S. citizen, spoke at an immigration reform rally on Saturday.

And they did not like her using the church to escape deportation.

JAVIER SALAS, UNIVISION RADIO HOST: And I don't agree with the strategy that she has, because I think she's bringing more negative stuff to the Latino community.

COSTELLO: Arellano, who is now to believed to be in Tijuana, vows to continue her fight. In the meantime, her child has been left with her friends.

(on camera): Immigration police have stepped up their efforts to deport illegal immigrants, telling us in the last 10 months they have deported 220,000 people.

Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A massive storm and major impact. Hurricane Dean slams into Mexico. The latest developments live from the storm's path.

This is CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, by the time Dean makes landfall again, it could be another powerful hurricane.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is in a small village along Mexico's Gulf Coast, which is bracing for a possible direct hit.

Karl, exactly where are you?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're about 100 kilometers north of the -- or 60 miles north of major port city of Veracruz now, Kyra. A little further north than where we are now is where forecasters expect that the eye will come ashore again, again, still waiting for predictions as to what strength it may come onshore. But what the state governor of Veracruz has said is that he has put the population on high alert, even though it's not be as powerful as was when it came ashore (r)MD+IT¯(r)MDNM¯ Yucatan. He's taking no chances.

And so he's saying that some of the low-lying coastal villages will be evacuated. He's already canceled school classes and sent children home to be with their families and make hurricane preparations.

And as we were leaving the port city of Veracruz, even though that city isn't expect to feel the full brunt of the hurricane-force winds, we did see some of the fishermen making preparations and hauling some of the very small fishing boats on land.

And, so, in fact, one of the major highways is lined not with cars, but with small fishing boats. They're taking them completely out of the water just to make doubly sure that they are not battered by any of the wave action that comes in on the back of that hurricane -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Karl, we have been trying to gauge how many of the locals there are in the area and the number of tourists. Veracruz a popular place, I know, that tourists make their way through. Where you are exactly, is it more locals that are bearing down for this?

PENHAUL: Absolutely. There are one or two beauty spots and beach resorts on the way up this coast. But on the whole, it is very sparsely populated. The villages, really, aren't very big here. We did see one or two American tourists as we left the port city of Veracruz, but they tend to go up the coast just on day trips back and forth.

And most of the drivers, the taxi drivers and such like in the city of Veracruz itself are well aware that this storm is coming and they are advising tourists not to go out today, to delay any trips until tomorrow or the day afternoon, after the hurricane's passed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, our Karl Penhaul just north of Veracruz, Mexico, there -- Karl, thanks.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, very few storms have ever been this strong. Hurricane Dean screams ashore in Mexico. And we're just starting to get an idea of the damage -- the latest details straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone.

I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

A Hercules of a hurricane, Dean wallops the Yucatan Peninsula.

PHILLIPS: And our I-Reporters have been charting the path of destruction. You'll see the pictures and the video firsthand.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, all eyes are on Dean as the onetime category five super storm churns across the Yucatan Peninsula. It's now a cat one, with top sustained winds of 85 miles an hour. But it will cross more water and regain power before it slams the coast of Mexico a second time.

We've seen damaged building, flooded streets, but so far we've heard of no one hurt in Mexico.

CNN has reporters and crews all over the region.

We're going to be calling on them all afternoon, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: One of those reporters is CNN's Chris Lawrence.

He is south of Campeche, Mexico.

He filed this report for us just moments ago.

(AUDIO GAP)

LEMON: All right, we'll get some pictures with some sound on it for you in a little bit, just from that report from Chris Lawrence, again, who is south of Campeche.

Let's check in now with the person who is monitoring all of this for us at our hurricane headquarters, Jacqui Jeras, our in-house meteorologist -- Jacqui, what's the very latest?

JACQUI JERAS, ATS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's about half and half -- on the shore and over the water, right south of Campeche. And it's actually very near where Chris Lawrence is, kind of somewhere in the bend area on our satellite map.

We're looking at a category one hurricane, maximum sustained winds at 85 miles per hour. But once we get the complete center back over water, we'll start to watch this thing slowly get itself back together and start to strengthen. And it could become a major hurricane, making the second landfall on Mexican's mainland sometime tomorrow, we think midday.

Now, this is going to be a very different storm when it makes landfall on the mainland compared to when it went over the Yucatan. It was category five then, with 160 mile per hour winds. Now we're looking at 111 plus, as a category three.

But there are going to be a lot of differences in terms of the impact, and not just the wind. Rainfall will be one of those big things. And this is a computer model forecast. And there you can see all these purples and these reds.

Here's your legend. That means anywhere between four to eight inches will be widespread in the path. But we could be seeing rainfall totals as high as 20 inches, and a lot of that has to do with the terrain.

And meteorologist Dave Hennen now is joining me to tell me the differences between the flat Yucatan and the mountains on the mainland.

DAVE HENNEN, ATS METEOROLOGIST: Big, big difference, Jacqui, something we'll be watching, certainly, over the next couple of days.

We were talking about elevations in the Yucatan of about 800 feet. That's the highest spot I can find of where Dean went over.

It will be a whole different story when this storm moves a little bit closer.

Let's take you to Google Earth now and talk a little bit about it.

First of all, the landfall last night. If you had to pick a place to put a category five hurricane, this was probably the place. And that was in the very unpopulated area of the Yucatan.

Now, let's take you to where Dean is now and we'll show you through the Yucatan. Google Earth does a very good job of showing you elevations. So notice how flat it is here. And as we head through time, the storm right now -- we just talked to the Hurricane Center a moment ago -- the storm located literally right on the coast now, moving into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. And there is the second landfall.

Now, we're going to zoom into the second landfall location, which is north of Veracruz, a town of about 500,000 people. And look at the coast here. So right along the coast it is flat. You will get this storm surge right in this area here as the storm moves in.

But notice back here. These are mountains back behind it. And the mountainous terrain here is very high. This is the tropical storm symbol located right there. So that shows the storm as a tropical storm. And we're talking about mountains here upwards of about 8,000 to 10,000 feet. And so you're going to take all of this water, if you think about it, you're dropping all of this water down onto the mountains on a flat ground. And it has -- it is where it is. It is just flat. It's not going anywhere.

When you have mountains, it's much like the Western U.S. -- all of this is going to move down into the river valleys.

We've got one more move for you here to show you all these river valleys that are located back through Mexico and where they are. All these rivers and all this water is going to run down into these rivers and be channeled down through those mountains and channeled into those small areas. And we are going to have, we think, some pretty catastrophic flooding occurring back through Mexico as this storm makes landfall -- Jacqui.

JERAS: Landslides and mudslides also a problem because of that?

HENNEN: Right. Exactly. And another thing to watch out for, we've been watching the track of this. Mexico City, which has about 20 million people around Mexico City, some of the computer models now shifting a little bit farther to the south. So the remnants of this may, indeed, take some very heavy rainfall into Mexico City, something, of course, we'll watch very closely.

JERAS: Yes, a very big difference in those impacts. More of a flood maker now, as we head toward the next potential landfall.

Back to you -- Kyra and Don.

LEMON: Jacqui Jeras and Dave Hennen, the best weather team on television.

Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, we've been talking about all of these parts of Mexico and how the hurricane has been going through and really has a lot of residents fearful of how it could affect not only their homes, but also the ruins throughout Mexico, particularly in Tulum, where there are ancient Mayan ruins.

Our Gary Tuchman has been there talking about the history behind those ruins. Now on the phone, Enrique Perez.

He actually lives in Tulum, Mexico and he knows a lot about those ruins. And he's actually been fearful that this hurricane could affect the history of that area.

Enrique, just kind of set the scene for us right now, what you're seeing and what your hometown is like right now.

ENRIQUE PEREZ, TULUM RESIDENT: Well, the hurricane already left and the weather is perfect right now. We have a lot of sun. And, actually, it was not that strong as we were expecting.

PHILLIPS: Well, that's good to hear, because there was a lot of fear, not only for residents like you, but, also, we're looking at video of the beautiful Mayan ruins that exist there overlooking the water in Tulum. Tulum meaning the wall. These Mayan ruins some of the best known and most famous in Mexico.

Tell our viewers, sort of set the scene why so many people come to your hometown of Tulum to see these ruins.

PEREZ: Well, we have a lot of tourists coming into the area and these ruins have standed many hurricanes many times. And the winds last night were not as strong as we thought they were. The thing is that, as you say, there was a lot of water and the problem was that the water came into -- the into the highways that goes into the hotel zone near the beach. And that's the area that was affected.

But the rest is mostly fine.

PHILLIPS: So not only has the site of these ruins existed since A.D. 564, but you're saying they've -- they've made it through numbers of hurricanes before, all of various temples there in Tulum.

PEREZ: Yes, they have standed lots of hurricanes, two or three every year, and nothing has happened to them, no?

PHILLIPS: How is your family and your friends?

Is everybody just sort of dealing with the aftermath right now?

PEREZ: Well, everybody is fine and people is calm. There was no lives lost or anything. We went with the Mexico -- we call it wide point, which means that nobody dies. And most of the area is OK. Some trees fell down, but that's about it.

PHILLIPS: Well, that is good news.

My final question, Enrique, these Mayan ruins, the Temple of the Frescoes, Temple of the Descending Gods, what do these ruins mean to you and the people there of Tulum?

PEREZ: Well, for us, it's something that is very magical because we believe that the Mayans were very evolved in energy matters. And we believe that their predictions and everything that they wrote in the coduses about the energy of the place and the space is -- is something very special for us.

PHILLIPS: Well, I tell you what, that positive and good energy sustained all of you and the ruins throughout Hurricane Dean.

Enrique Perez, live from Tulum, Mexico.

Thanks for your time.

PEREZ: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Let's get a live report now just south of Campeche.

CNN's Chris Lawrence joining us with the very latest from there -- Chris, what can you tell us?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, you know, the interesting thing about here is I remember Jacqui Jeras, talking to her just about, you know, a half hour, 45 minutes ago, and talking about how the wind had died down so much. And she was saying, you know, you may start to see those bands kick in again.

And sure enough, that wind, we're just starting to see it start to really pick back up again and start to send some of that driving rain back into the area.

Nothing like it was you know, maybe an hour-and-a-half, two hours ago, where the water was just churning out there in the Gulf. But definitely noticing a difference from even a half an hour ago, where the wind was almost completely still here.

Now, it is starting to pick up a little bit again -- Don.

LEMON: And, you know, Chris, absolutely when you have these hurricanes and you've covered -- you've mentioned that before in your report, you've covered them a lot here in the U.S. You don't have these bands and bands that go through. Sometimes it's calm and then all of a sudden it goes right back up, the winds pick up very quickly.

LAWRENCE: Yes. And if you can't see the big picture, if you don't know the forecast models, if you're just standing here or you're like a lot of the people who are living here, you don't know, you know, you're not sure, does that mean the storm has passed completely, you know, it's safe to like take the barricades off the windows, take the tape down, come on back out.

Or is this just a lull?

That's the interesting thing about a hurricane is it's not just this sustained, steady wind and rain. It's these peaks and valleys that kind of shoot up and down.

LEMON: All right, Chris Lawrence joining us from just south of Campeche, Mexico.

Chris, thank you for your report.

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN crews aren't the only ones bringing us firsthand accounts of the damage from the storm.

So are our many I-Reporters, including Dan Conklin, who sent us this video you're about to see from Portland Cottage, Jamaica. Melissa Long from cnn.com is here with a host of other examples, as well.

They've been coming in by the dozens.

MELISSA LONG, CNN.COM: They have, yes. In fury, just like the storm, actually.

And this is the video you were just mentioning a moment ago.

We've been tracking Dean's movements through our citizen journalists, our I-Reporters. And thanks so much for sending them in.

I want to start by showing you an image captured by a 12-year- old. Dakota Ross Cabrera. She had her camera ready to go as the storm quickly sprinted across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Now, she says she's never been in a hurricane before. She says it's kind of scary.

Yes, I think it is pretty scary.

Now, Dad says they have plenty of food stocked up.

Thanks to that 12-year-old for capturing the images for us.

Just before hitting Mexico, Dean targeted Belize.

Now, Kevin Canning shared this video. He's a resident of Canada and he decided to ride out the storm while on vacation with his mom because his mom is fighting cancer and he worries this could be their last trip together. So they decided to hang out there in Belize City and try to make the most of it.

Now, New Jersey's Brian Middleton, also in the middle of his vacation. It was interrupted by the storm. He captured these images from the Cayman Islands as Dean was storming through. He says that virtually all the properties around his hotel were boarded up, with people thinking they might get a direct hit. So trying to be proactive there.

Jose Sanchez got this video as an outer edge of Dean blew through Honduras. He says that downtown La Cebia was flooded just five minutes, even though the area did not get the brunt of the storm. It was nowhere near the eye of the storm.

He used his cell phone to capture these images. Amazing technology from cell phones these days.

And then take a look at these enormous waves hitting the seawall in the Dominican Republic. Jose Tomas Lopez Ramirez says the force of the water was so strong it tossed up rocks from the ocean. And he says he's so thankful that no one in his area was hurt.

Now, thank you to our citizen journalists, our I-Reporters.

And don't forget, you can send in your I-Reports if you happen to have a technologically savvy cell phone or digital cameras. You can, of course, capture those images of news that's happening where you are and send it to us by logging onto cnn.com and then just look for the little I-Report logo.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Thank you so much.

LONG: A pleasure.

LEMON: Well, very few storms have ever been this strong. Hurricane Dean screams ashore in Mexico and we're just starting to get the idea of the damage. The latest details straight ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the family of an Iranian-American academic says they expect her to be released today from an Iranian prison.

Haleh Esfandiari has been in custody since May. She went to Iran to visit her mother and was promptly accused of plotting to topple the government.

Her family says that they were contacted by authorities and told to come bail her out.

It's not clear what happened with the charges against her, but the White House says it welcomes the news.

Medical help and supplies are trickling into areas hard hit by last week's earthquake in Southern Peru. At least 540 people died on Wednesday's magnitude eight quake. Nearly 300 planes have arrived with 600 tons of food and supplies.

LEMON: Today's CNN Hero left Peru when she was only four years old. Now Ana Dodson is a remarkable 15-year-old who returned to her native country to improve the lives of orphans -- lives which could have easily mirrored her own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANA DODSON: If my parents hadn't adopted me, I would have probably either been on the streets or in an orphanage.

I was born in the Hills of Pisco, Peru. My mom first got me when I was four weeks old. I really wanted to go see an orphanage in Pisco. I felt this great pull for these girls who had nothing. And I was like, wow, I could have been one of these kids.

But there was this one girl, Gloria who came up to me and said, "Ana, I know you'll never forget me and I know that one day you'll help us."

That just really made me decide I needed to do something.

My name is Ana Dodson and I've started an organization called Peruvian Hearts that help orphans in Peru.

ANITA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Hello, Ana.

I want to tell you that you're a good friend with a big and generous heart. They have given us vitamins and we are now in very good health.

DODSON: We have sent a stipend of money for food and for their education. Each day after school, a tutor comes over for three hours.

We've done renovations, painted the orphanage. And there are 19 children right now. The change that I've seen in them is amazing. One girl said, "We are now getting fat because of the vitamins."

ANITA (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Ana, I will always carry you in my heart, no matter what happens in life.

DODSON: And at the orphanage, it is to the point where these girls can dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: And there is a lot more about Ana Dodson and her organization on our Web site, CNN.com/heroes.

You can also nominate a hero of your own. Winners will be honored right here during a live global broadcast on December 6th, hosted by our very own Anderson Cooper.

More NEWSROOM in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, when Dean slammed ashore, many of us were sleeping. Not so our daring crews, though, across the Yucatan Peninsula.

Here's just a taste of their early morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Stronger winds and more rain announced landfall by Hurricane Dean near Chetemal, the capital of the state of Quintana Roo. The winds are quite strong now. No electricity, at least in this part of town. At this point, for the next several hours, all people can do is really wait to see how quickly it will pass through the region.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hurricane Dean has made landfall just to the south of where I'm standing and we are feeling the effects, no doubt about that. It is blowing sideways and now the rain is coming down.

Take a look what's going on behind me. This surf, just in the last 20 minutes, has come up about 10 feet.

I'm going to shine some light for you, and you get you get an idea of just how angry that sea is.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, "AMERICAN MORNING" CO-ANCHOR: This is a category five, the strongest hurricane that forms. This is -- we're talking about sustained winds at 160 miles per hour.

PATRICK JONES, MANAGER, F.M. LOVE TELEVISION IN BELIZE CITY: We are just waiting now the winds to die down somewhat for us to actually get out there and sort of like survey the damage and get the first pictures of what Hurricane Dean has done to Northern Belize.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Basically what happened was our camera actually somehow became charged and got shocked, so much so that Walter, our cameraman, can't even pick up the camera at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you want to impact your world and help the victims of Hurricane Dean, log on to CNN.com/impact. We can help you with the relief programs in the region. LEMON: Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

PHILLIPS: He's standing by in "THE SIT ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- hi, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hi, guys.

Thanks very much.

Hurricane Dean, it isn't done yet. The category five storm slammed into Mexico's coast with ferocious force. Now much weaker, as we just saw, but could come roaring back over the Gulf's warm waters. We're watching it closely.

The White House hopeful, Senator Barack Obama, calls a Bush administration policy involving Cuban-Americans a strategic blunder.

Now, Republican candidate rival, Mitt Romney, is stepping into the fray.

And warning a true hero -- it's a very emotional day in Huntington, Utah, where one of the rescuers killed while trying to reach six missing miners is being remembered.

All that, guys, coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

PHILLIPS: Thanks -- Wolf.

LEMON: The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at the trading day -- hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra and Don.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: Thanks, Susan.

PHILLIPS: All right, now we're to take it over to "THE SITUATION ROOM".

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