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50 Million in Path of "Superstorm"; 14 People Found in Lifeboat, Two Missing; Blizzard Warnings In West Virginia; Flooding in New York's Battery Park; "Superstorm" Causing Power Outages; Sandy's Big Impact on the Election; New York Braces for Sandy; Super Storm Shutters More Trains, Roads; Obama Back in Washington; Hurricane Sandy Gains Strength, Waters Rising on Long Island

Aired October 29, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Carol Costello reporting live from Washington, D.C.

We begin with Hurricane Sandy. Of course, within hours, it's expected to have slowed into a superstorm. Most of us have never seen anything like it in our lifetimes.

It's already huge. The tropical storm force wind is expanding a width of nearly 1,000 miles. It's aiming right at the heart of the east coast. The most heavily populated corridor in the country.

Fifty million people expected to feel the effects, hundreds of thousands are now under evacuation orders. FEMA predicted damage cost of about $3 billion and that's just for wind damage along.

Heavy rains or snow storm surges, widespread flooding across the region depending, of course, on where you live and less than an hour ago, we learned that the Coast Guard has rescued 14 crew members of the "HMS Bounty."

The crew had abandoned ship, which was built for the Hollywood movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty." That ship was stranded 90 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

We don't know if the crew of the "HMS Bounty" heeded all the warnings to stay out of the water because a hurricane was about to hit, but when the "HMS" started taking on water, like I said, 90 miles off the Cape -- coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. They were forced to abandon ship and get into lifeboats.

CNN's Sandra Endo is in Ocean City, Maryland. You've been talking to the Coast Guard. Most of the crew members have been rescued by helicopter, but two apparently are in the water -- Sandra.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. It's pretty horrifying when you hear about the story of those 17 crew members on board that ship. What the big question is right now, Carol, is why they were out there. So that is the big question we're still trying to figure out from the Coast Guard. But certainly the rescue efforts under way and hopefully they'll be safe and sound soon -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And it's interesting that you say that because the conditions where you are right now probably are pretty reflective of what it was like in North Carolina at times. Describe the situation right now in Ocean City, Maryland.

ENDO: Well, right now, I can tell you what's happening along this beachfront, I'm standing on the property side, the street side of this protective sand dune. And you could see it's taking on water.

There are some flooding going on right now. Severe wind gusts at this level. Right on the other side of the sand dune is the high tide. You can see the waves crashing even from my vantage point as well, but those waves are fierce.

And you can take a look at how much water is pouring over these sand dunes because of those waves. Just yesterday, Carol, we were able to walk down this path to the beach, but that beach is gone.

And also to give you a perspective of what's going on here, this is the waterfront property here in Ocean City. You can see it's taking on water. Obviously, a lot of the property has been boarded up and protected.

But this is certainly not what residents and local authorities want to see right now because they expect conditions only to worsen as Hurricane Sandy approaches later tonight.

But again, it is high tide. We are seeing a lot of waves come over the sand dune here, flooding this area and also approaching the property line here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Sandra Endo, conditions are deteriorating in Ocean City, Maryland. I can't imagine what it's like off the coast of North Carolina out in the middle of the ocean.

They are in the water waiting to be rescued by the Coast Guard, going back to the "HMS Bounty" right now, the ship that tried to escape the hurricane, but got caught up in the hurricane. It's a replica of an historic ship.

There it is. A crew of 17 on board, as we said, the U.S. Coast Guard managed to rescue 14 people. But at last check, two people were in the water and the Coast Guard trying to find them.

Lieutenant General Russel Honore is the man used to witnessing rescue operations. I know you come up to many of them yourself, what's it like for the U.S. Coast Guard to find somebody in the water in these conditions?

GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): Well, it's literally like finding the needle in the haystack. In this condition, technology helped that crew. From everything I've seen and heard, they were able to communicate with a Coast Guard 6130 aircraft that flew over them.

That maintained contact, which then allowed the Coast Guard to bring in the helicopters to rescue those that have been rescued. But this is a very dangerous operation. It's still ongoing. So it's hard to say much more, particularly since two people are still missing, according to the Coast Guard's last report.

COSTELLO: Yes, I talked with the Coast Guard. They kept saying that their resources were few, yet they had to go out and conduct this rescue. It puts an enormous strain on the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct an operation like this, too, especially when they have their forces like out someplace else.

HONORE: Well, we understand that much of their assets are moved away from the eye of the storm so they can respond. And they only keep what they really need inside the effects of the storm.

In the case of their biggest ships that have the capacity to fight that kind of sea, they move them away from the storm, a lot further obviously than this particular "HMS Bounty" was.

So the rest of that story will still play out. It may be a little early to sound like we're doing any judgment call because in the protocol in search and rescue is to not put blame on the victims and we can't do that.

So we need to see what happened. The ship captain may have had an equipment malfunction, something to cause him to stray in that water. But at this point in time, they're very luckily, those that have been rescued, you have the best Coast Guard in the world and they did their job.

COSTELLO: No doubt about that. Final word about this, these people were trying to move this ship because they loved it. They just wanted to move to it safety and now that ship will probably be destroyed.

HONORE: More than likely, Carol. And thank God for the Coast Guard to get those that have been rescued, but this is still a big storm. And the worst of it is yet to come, unfortunately.

Hopefully everybody on land is taking heed. They still have power and televisions on to continue to prepare and stay informed or have your weather radio available so they can stay informed.

COSTELLO: General Honore, thanks so much for sharing your insight. We appreciate it.

The storm is huge. Where you are will ultimately determine what you see. Consider this, a blizzard warning is in effect for parts of West Virginia. But to the South, Virginia has watched floodwaters rise since yesterday. Parts of the state could see as much as a foot of rain and the state's National Guard is rolling in as the power outages spread.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOVERNOR BOB MCDONNELL, VIRGINIA: It's downed power lines from the high wind and probably over a million people without power, would be our estimate right now. But fortunately we're prepared, the state, local and federal folks working very well together. And so far, there are no fatalities and people are heeding the mandatory evacuation warnings in certain coastal areas, so it's going OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I almost fell backwards off my little pedestal. I'm standing on the balcony outside of the CNN Bureau. Below me is Aims Street. I'm in Washington, D.C. It's been a pretty steady downpour for most of the morning.

The rain is not especially heavy just yet. They're expecting the downpours to be really vicious about noon. That's when the winds will also pick up. They're expecting 40 to 50-mile-per-hour wind gusts.

Things will get really nasty because it's pretty cold out here, 45 or 50 degrees. And when it's damp, it feels so much colder. Later on this afternoon, I'll be in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, an area prone to flooding and I'll be bringing you updates from there.

State of emergency blankets New York City and some of the predictions this morning are pretty dire. Some weather experts say the projected storm surge could create, quote, "a worst case scenario."

CNN's John Berman is in Battery Park City, a low-lying section of Manhattan that's, as you can see, already seeing some flooding. Hi, John.

JOHN BERMAN, ANCHOR, CNN'S "EARLY START": Hi, Carol. This is really an ominous preview of what's to come. A couple of hours ago, the water came up over the seawall right here. It was during high tide at about 8:30.

The water rose, came over the wall and it was much deeper than it is right now. It was about 6 or 8 inches up here right now. They're expecting a storm surge here of 6 to 11 feet when the storm really starts hitting the coast later tonight. And at high tide, which is 8:50 p.m., 6 to 11 feet.

If it was flooding this morning, that gives you a sense of just how bad it will be later on. This is the evacuation zone in New York City, Lower Manhattan right here and also some other areas in the five boroughs.

Some 375,000 people were ordered to leave their homes. They moved to about 76 shelters throughout the city, maybe they moved in with friends uptown or went to a hotel.

But Michael Bloomberg, the mayor here, really wanted those people to get out, for their own safety and also for the safety of emergency workers who might have to go in and rescue them if something goes wrong. The subways are now shut down in the city. There's really no way to get around here. Lower Manhattan, really a ghost town although there are some tourists here, some people coming to take pictures of the flooding as it came in this morning.

I hope they don't come back tonight because again, tonight, it could be much, much worse. They're expecting a storm surge anywhere from one to two feet higher than we saw during Hurricane Irene.

During Irene, there was minor flooding, but one to two feet more than that, two feet more flooding, two feet of a higher storm surge could create serious, serious problems in Lower Manhattan.

It could fill the subway system. You could see problems with the electrical system here. And again, you're not talking about major waves like you're seeing up and down the east coast, not big, crashing, 20-foot waves.

No, it's a slow, steady rise in this water you see behind me. And by 8:50, 9:00 tonight, it could be very, very high, dangerously high -- Carol.

COSTELLO: John Berman reporting live from Battery City, low-lying part of Manhattan. Thanks so much, John.

The storm is probably at least 12 hours from landfall. John's talking about that, but already New Jersey shoreline appears to be in the crosshairs. Let's get the latest from Asbury Park that's where meteorologist, Rob Marciano is. The waves are still foamy, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Carol. Well, conditions are about the same as when we spoke about an hour ago. The surf continues to pound this area even though we're an hour off of high tide.

The water really hasn't gone back all that much. That's what we're going to continue to see. Even though the tide is going out, the storm surge continues to hold the water and continues to try to push it in.

This should all be beach. This should all be sandy coastline right here. But now, it's a foamy brown mess of angry Atlantic Ocean, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, which is about 240 miles to our east- southeast and heading in this general direction.

We anticipate it to make landfall near Atlantic City, near the Delmarva. That means we're going to be on the bad side of this storm. We'll continue to get this pounding surf.

The last time it was like this, it was a little over 12 months ago during Hurricane Irene. The problem is that was at the height of Irene. Irene came on shore well to our north.

This storm will bring this water up as much as another eight feet, which means the boardwalk will be compromised and the water will be going over the top of that. That's why this area's been evacuated. Shelters are open. There have been 600 people that have taken advantage of that, but for the most part, people who live here have taken refuge with their friends and family just a little bit further inland.

Just spoke with an official from the fire department here. A few minor calls into the Asbury Park Fire Department with some trees and some power lines down, but no widespread damage as of yet and no rescue operations under way.

They certainly hope that trend will continue through the overnight period. In the next 12 hours, that's when things are going to get really hairy -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Rob Marciano reporting live from Asbury Park, Long Island. Thank you so much, Rob. Appreciate it.

If you want a sense of just how seriously local officials are taking this approaching storm, consider this -- the New Jersey Weather Service issued this dire warning yesterday for anyone ignoring the evacuation orders.

Quote, "If you are reluctant, think about the rescue/recovery teams who will rescue you if you are injured or recover your remains if you do not survive. And listen to what Connecticut's governor said earlier on CNN --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR DANIEL MALLOY, CONNECTICUT: We expect today's tide, the one at noon today, could be in the area of the 1992 perfect storm back-up in Long Island Sound. That's going to be a big wake-up call for people if that happens as to what tonight could be, which is far worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Getting around during this superstorm is going to be very, very difficult. As you can see, look at how massive that thing is. Thousands of flights have already been canceled at airports up and down the northeast. Some airports have already shut down operations completely.

Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado joins us now. Good morning. Give us the latest.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. We're going to focus on some of the travel-related issues with Hurricane Sandy. We do have this information in to us.

Governor Malloy of Connecticut has issued a closure of all state highways in Connecticut by 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. So hopefully you've been listening to authorities and have your plan under way.

As we go from cars into the air, we talk how this is affecting travel. This is our flight explorer. Want to point out, this is the northeast, of course you see New York. Normally you would see this whole area just lit up in blue.

Now you're seeing all these planes really flying into Illinois, Indiana. This is not something you normally see. This is all being rerouted because of Hurricane Sandy. Of course, we all know how weather conditions are going to get worse.

I take you back over to our graphic. As we talk about some of the winds, the winds are going to have a big effect here. I wrote down 37, 43, 37 in New York. Of course, we saw Rob Marciano in New Jersey.

But we're talking a high wind warning in place. This is in effect for, say, high-profile vehicles, as well as for people who are going to be trying to fly out. We're going to see a lot of cancellations.

Of course, we do know there have been thousands so far. But look at these winds, spreading over towards the Great Lakes as well as into areas including parts of Detroit.

On the radar right now, you do see the rain coming down. We have been hearing reports of flooding along some areas along Interstate 95. And that means we are looking at some flood warnings.

And more of that flooding is going to continue to get bad as we go through the next couple of hours. You really want to make sure you listen to local authorities and got Tennessee supplies that you need because the worst is still to come -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Jennifer. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with much more.

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COSTELLO: You're looking live at pictures out of Atlantic City, New Jersey. You can see that rough surf there. All the casinos are closed. Evacuation orders have gone out in this part of New Jersey.

As you can see from what little bit we can see, people have heed the warnings. The biggest concern that people have all up and down the east coast and into the Midwest are power outages, they are getting ready and so are the utility companies.

Clay Anderson from Pepco, which runs the utilities here in the Washington, D.C. area is on the phone right now. Hi, clay.

CLAY ANDERSON, PEPCO SPOKESMAN (via telephone): Good morning, Carol. How are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good. I'm sure you're rather busy this morning. I have heard that utility companies have set up these tent cities and that you have troops in those tent cities ready to go.

ANDERSON: We do have our out-of-town crew that is started moving in over the weekend. Fortunately, we have over 400 men and women that have moved in from states as far away as Alabama and Louisiana and we're hoping that there will be more to come. The winds are coming through gusting in excess of 40 miles per hour. This is a day that we hunker down, watch the storm and as soon as we get a window, we'll send the trucks out and begin the restoration process.

COSTELLO: As you know, a big election is coming up, Clay. And power could go out in some of the polling places. Do you have contingency plans?

ANDERSON: We are working with city and county governments. We've been having meetings over the last several days in the District of Columbia as well as Montgomery and Prince Georgia counties talking to the county supervisors, the mayor here in Washington, D.C. so Pepco is well aware of the election cycle.

Again, hundreds of thousands of people want to place their vote. We have to make sure that those polling places will be available. But also with us, we're looking at priorities as far as hospitals, nursing homes, water treatment facilities.

With the derecho that went through, we had to work with our sister utilities to make sure that water filtration was available in Montgomery County. So we have a list of priorities, but we understand this is an election year.

COSTELLO: Absolutely, and just the last question for you. You mentioned the derecho, some people were without power for weeks. And they weren't very happy with the utility companies at all. Are you better prepared for this storm?

ANDERSON: We're better prepared because we started the communication process. We told our customers several days ago, all of our customers, that Sandy was coming, to expect an extended period of outages, to get an emergency preparation kit.

We've been telling them throughout the weekend, this may be a hurricane, but it's going to be very cold, very wet and very windy. But Pepco will be up to the challenge.

COSTELLO: Everyone is hoping so. Clay Anderson from Pepco, thank you so much for taking the time out to talk with us this morning.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Sandy is already impacting election 2012 in a big way. President Obama canceled a campaign appearance in Orlando to attend business. And we understand he is cancelling another campaign appearance later on for Wisconsin.

Also early voting just got later in Connecticut, Maryland, D.C. and Virginia. This tweet sent out by the Connecticut Governor, Dan Malloy. He said, the deadline to register to vote was Tuesday, October 30th. Deadline being extended to Thursday, November 1st, due to the storm.

Now, both presidential candidates are counting on early voters and on absentee ballots. So will Sandy be the decider? With me now, Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, Maria Cardona and Republican strategist, Ron Bonjean.

Welcome to both of you. I actually like Tim Cain's weather-related campaign advice. According to "The Atlantic," the Senate candidate has asked supporters to uproot his campaign signs so they won't become projectiles. But seriously, Maria, how will Sandy change things?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, there's no question that a storm this big with 50 million people in its path certainly will change things. And both campaigns have to sort of rejigger the way that they are looking at this campaign, including canceling events.

We saw the president's canceled all of his events, which I think was a very smart idea, coming back to the White House and giving him the ability to look presidential and to exert some leadership over this storm.

And Mitt Romney has also canceled events throughout, which I also think is smart. Both campaigns have to be very careful not to look overly political in the coming days when folks are focused on surviving the storm.

But, if we are going to look at this from a purely political perspective, I actually think it helps the president because it freezes this race for two to three days. And it gives the president a chance to look presidential.

And any coverage that is going to happen, frankly, is going to be the president doing what he needs to do in terms of being the commander in chief of the United States at this time.

COSTELLO: So that presents quite a dilemma for Governor Romney. What does he do?

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, I have to say I don't think this hurricane helps anyone. I don't think it helps the president because although he is at the White House and he will be commanding the -- commanding FEMA, any slip-up, any problem can seriously backfire on him.

And what both candidates have to do here is they have to show compassion and they have to connect with what people right now care about whether or not their power is still going to be on, their basements flooding.

They have to stay out of the way, but try to show some compassion. That's why you see the president going back to Washington. You see Mitt Romney now urging voters -- urging people to help the Red Cross and using his campaign bus to distribute supplies.

Any way they can connect with voters around the storm, but not get in their way I think is smart.

COSTELLO: Well, frankly, Maria, if your basement is slowly becoming a water field, I'm not sure you're paying attention to either candidate. And the election is sort of out of your mind at the moment.

CARDONA: Yes. I agree. Again, people's attentions are going to be on how do they survive this storm, especially, again, 60 million people, 50 million people in the storm's path, all up and down the east coast.

So I agree with Ron in that both candidates have to make sure that they are in tune with what people are going through to make sure not to politicize this tragedy because we've already seen lives lost from this storm.

And a lot more is going to be coming in the coming days. But I do think that it also gives a chance for the media and for folks to look at what these candidates have said in the past in terms of the kinds of services that the government provides in the wake of this kind of storm.

And so, for example, in 2011 during the republican primary, Mitt Romney said flat-out that he thinks that FEMA should be abolished and should be privatized, really? At this moment in time, I think that's the kind of comment that could come back to haunt somebody like Mitt Romney.

COSTELLO: OK, so I have to give Ron the last word. So Ron, button it up for us.

BONJEAN: Well, I have to say that I don't think anyone -- most people don't have a positive impression of FEMA. And I think Mitt Romney is right on the button, but I don't think anybody cares about that right now.

I think people care about whether or not their power is on, whether or not their basements are going to be flooded. And I think if the president gets too far in front of this and something goes wrong, people are going to remember, my power's not out.

And the president's talking about FEMA. I'm not a big fan of FEMA. That could sway their vote.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Ron Bonjean and Maria Cardona, thanks so much for the discussion this morning. We appreciate it. We're going to take our viewers live to New York City because Governor Cuomo is having a big news conference. This is in Albany, rather. Let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the agencies that assist FEMA in doing the federal response to disasters, New York State is very well-prepared. Our assets and our capabilities only come in after the state has exceed their capabilities, which at this time, again, the state looks very well-prepared to do what needs to be done to ride out the effects of this event.

So a couple of things that we'd like to emphasize, as we've talked about the surge a little bit in Lower Manhattan, that's one of the scenarios we think could be problematic so right now, we see the storm at Hurricane Irene levels. All of you that are familiar with the Hurricane Irene effects from last year, this event -- we're already at those levels at this point. If you've driven along in the city in Manhattan, as the governor has done, you've seen those levels, where they're at.

So we think there could be some overtopping based on the tidal surge that's going to happen this evening. We're going to be prepared to assist the state and any assistance they have with the specific capabilities and emergency power generation, potentially some pumping and other things that may be necessary, again, if the capabilities are exceeded.

The other potential area we see that could be problematic is the barrier islands in Long Island, if we have a breach there. We don't see any impacts that could happen that are going to affect life based on that.

But I think it would be wise for all to follow the guidance that's been put out by the state in terms of actions to take for evacuation. For post-storm recovery operations, again, that's where we'll work -- the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will work with FEMA and quickly try to restore navigational projects and begin efforts to pre-storm levels.

We're also very -- we have capabilities and contract mechanisms and assets that are in the area to help with debris removal, infrastructure assessment and there are several other things that would come through from FEMA if those things are required.

So we're closely in contact with the state at the Emergency Operations Center in Albany and prepared to assist where necessary. Thank you.

GOVERNOR ANDREW COUMO, NEW YORK: Thank you very much. First, let me begin by thanking Howard Glazer, the director of State Operations, who's been coordinating this effort and been doing a great job.

Colonel Paul Owens, we thank you very much, and the Army Corps of Engineers for their cooperation and assistance. We're also joined by State Police Superintendent Joseph Tomico, Major General Patrick Murphy, Captain Gordon Lobo from the Captain of the Port, from the United States Coast Guard, Michael Moriaty, the deputy administrator of FEMA and Scott Wreckler from - -who is the director of the Port Authority and Joseph Loda who is the chairman and CEO of the MTA.

First, let me report that yesterday we spent the day traveling the state and we are very comfortable with the preparation that has been done all across the state. We're comfortable with the level of coordination between the state government and the local governments.

We went as far as the Adirondacks yesterday and people are prepared. We went through Hurricane Irene just a little while ago. In a cruel irony, I think the frequency of the exposure is actually assisted us in getting prepared.

So I think we've done everything that we need to do. And so far, as you've heard, the storm is as we predicted. There's going to be a lot of rain and there's going to be a lot of wind. And that is proceeding.

The question is the extent of the storm surge. It is already high. It's already at Irene levels. And the question is going to be, what level does the surge take us to later on this afternoon, later this evening when it's actually high tide?

And that's -- if there's a possible area of concern, that is it. And that's what we are monitoring closely now. As an added precaution today, we are announcing that we are going to close the Holland Tunnel and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel now renamed the UL Carrie Tunnel actually at 2:00 today. Those tunnels are prone to flood. And as a precaution, we're going to be closing those tunnels at 2:00 today.

The bridges at this point will remain open. They close at 60-mile- per-hour winds. Weather forecast suggests gusts up to 90 miles per hour. So people should keep an eye on that --

(CROSSTALK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Ok we're going to -- we're going to -- we're going to wrap this up right now. And it's good to hear that people seem to be prepared in New York State as they seem to be prepared here in Washington, D.C. The worst is yet to come. So be careful. We're going to have much more on Hurricane Sandy right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our "Top Stories" now, just minutes ago, New York's Governor announced the closing of the Holland Tunnel, that's of course in Lower Manhattan, New Jersey, that -- that tunnel will soon close. So keep that in mind.

Also, Connecticut's Governor ordered that all state highways closed by 1:00 p.m. Eastern as super storm Sandy bears down on the northeast. Boston's public transportation system say on its Web site that it's suspending service today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Hurricane Sandy just hours from exploding into this super storm. Most of us have never seen anything like this in our lifetime. It's already huge. Tropical force winds spanning a width of nearly 1,000 miles. That's how wide this thing is, it's aiming at the heart of the East Coast, the most heavily populated corridor in the country, 50 million people are already feeling some of the effects. Hundreds of thousands are now under evacuation orders.

FEMA predicts damage costs of about $3 billion. And that's just for the wind damage alone. Heavy rains or snow storm surges and widespread flooding across the region of course depending upon where you are.

Ok the sandbags are in place, the sump pump is working and you've got the flashlights, the batteries and the generator. That means as of now if you live in Sandy's path, life is pretty much on hold. Alison Kosik is in New York. It's eerie, I mean, not some -- this is H Street in Washington, D.C. There's virtually no traffic. It's sort of like a ghost town.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes you could see New York City, you know the city that never sleeps. I came back from -- from Jersey last night covering the hurricane, you know around midnight. And it was desolate, which is really unheard of in Manhattan.

You know you were talking about public transportation earlier, Boston shutting down its public transportation system. Connecticut shutting down its state highways and for the East Coast, it really is all about public transportation.

And because all these systems are being shut down, 10 million commuters Carol, they can't rely on that. And talking about here in New York City and Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia and I'm not even counting Amtrak or those canceled flights. Granted no one is really going to work today.

But this is still a big deal, you know New York City it's got the biggest transportation system in the country. Millions of riders are affected. Now the reason why you're seeing these trains and the public transportation being shut is because some of these trains are above ground. They can't run with these high winds.

Others are below ground and then you've got the possibility of flooding and then you've trains that are at street level and downs trees could get on the tracks.

So what you're seeing are these transportation systems being proactive, getting these trains and buses into safer areas. They say that will help get things back running faster when the storm passes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes I know Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor shut down, the Metro System here in Washington, D.C., shut down. I'm going to ask you a stupid question. When do you think the trains might be running again?

KOSIK: Not a stupid question. It is the burning question everybody wants to know. And to be honest with you no one is really sure yet. We're still waiting for the storm to actually make landfall. And then of course everybody has to assess the damage before anything gets up and running.

What the MTA is warning though, is that this is going to be a lengthy process. And we really going to have to all be patient. Because what they wind up doing they inspect every train, every bus, every mile of track before they give the ok to get things running.

So yes this is going to be a huge inconvenience for millions of people. But you know, safety -- safety is really the big concern here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And I must share this with you, Alison. Just because -- it's actually snowing here in Washington, D.C. I can see the snowflakes coming down, very lightly. But the rain now has turned to a sort of weird snow.

Come back live to me, there it is. That's the U.S. Capitol. That's sort of like to my right. But you can't really see it because the flakes are really fine and tiny. But what a strange hurricane it is.

We'll be back with much more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Ok, you're taking a live look at Asbury Park, New Jersey. You can see the surf's really rough there right now. I'm just wondering what the temperature is. Here in Washington, it's 52 degrees. But yet there are these kind of weird light snowflakes falling.

Also in Nashville, Tennessee, it's 37 degrees right now. It's just a strange weather system. And we all get to share.

Just a short time ago, President Barack Obama returned to Washington. Now, Mr. Obama left Central Florida this morning where he was going to attend a campaign rally. And just moments ago, he arrived back in D.C. This is Andrews Air Force Base. You can see the President getting into his special car along with Secret Service agents, making their way back to the White House.

Actually these are live pictures, you're saying? No. He's driving toward the White House right now. And you can see how much security the President actually needs around him. Good thing there's no traffic today. Everybody stayed at home.

Dan Lothian is at the White House. Good morning, Dan. The President decided to come back from Florida and he also canceled another campaign stop. Tell us about it.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Not only pulling out of Florida but also over not only today but also tomorrow stops in Ohio. He was supposed to have another event in Virginia tonight. Also in Wisconsin and Colorado, those events the President will not be attending because the White House said that it was important for the President to be back here at the White House to monitor the ongoing situation with Sandy.

In fact, we were told by White House Spokesman Jay Carney that once the President does get here to the White House, he will be convening a meeting in the White House situation room with his top emergency management officials. Some will be coming in via video conference. Others will be here in person.

And this is in addition to some of the briefings that the President has been getting over the weekend, including one yesterday at FEMA where the President went in person and then promised that the federal government would do whatever it takes to help out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And my message to the governors as well as to the mayors is, anything they need, we will be there. And we're going to cut through red tape. We're not going to get bogged down with lot rules. We want to make sure that we are anticipating and leaning forward into making sure that we've got the best possible response to what is going to be a big and messy system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: And that is the message we are told that the President conveyed to a number of governors in those impacted areas, those potentially impacted areas. The President, again, promising that the federal government would not let them down.

In addition to that, the President has signed emergency declarations in at least eight states including Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and of course here in the District of Columbia. And the big warning from the White House is that everyone out there in those impacted areas should take this seriously.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. I'm just curious. I know the President was expected to speak at a campaign rally in Florida. Why did he make that decision? Because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to fly back to D.C. in time because of the storm?

LOTHIAN: Yes, the White House says that the main reason that the President did pull out is because they wanted him to be back here to not only attend these meetings and these briefings, but to essentially sort of stay on top of the situation. The campaign trail is critical, it's important, certainly with just days to go before the election. But they feel that the best place for the President to be, to really be on top of this storm is right here at the White House.

COSTELLO: Dan Lothian reporting live, along with me in Washington D.C. Thanks, Dan.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with much more of Hurricane Sandy.

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COSTELLO: Well, as expected, Hurricane Sandy is picking up steam, a lot of steam, a lot of steam. Let's head back to Atlanta and check in with Jennifer Delgado. Tell us about it.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Carol. We have the new advisory in from the National Hurricane Center. We do know now that Hurricane Sandy, the winds have come up. Now they are at 90 miles per hour. Keep in mind, those are certainly stronger. It's still a strong Category 1. It would be a 96 for it to be a Category 2.

Also want to point out to you the pressure. This is one of the lowest pressures recorded for a storm north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and we're talking about 943 millibars.

On the satellite imagery you're seeing this for yourself, you know, thinking, really this doesn't look that bad. But the problem is the strongest winds aren't in the center of circulation, don't focus on this. This is a wide storm. We're going to be feeling the effects of the hurricane force winds as we go through the next several hours.

We're expecting this to make landfall late tonight into early Tuesday morning. And again, we're talking areas including the possibility of south Jersey. Now, as we look at this and we track this for you-- Monday, notice, 90 miles per hour. Regardless, we are going to be experiencing the hurricane force winds. And then it's going to be slow moving.

As it does move slow, we're talking about the increased threat for flooding and of course we've been going on about this, how the storm surge is going to be the big story, especially for New York. We could see record heights there, six to 11 feet.

We'll continue to talk more about storm surge and the update with the National Hurricane Center coming up in the next hour -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jennifer, thanks so much.

In New York, residents are preparing for the worst. That's a good thing. Right now, the entire New York City public transportation system, shut down. That means there are no buses running, no subways, no trains. And just a couple of minutes ago, the governor of New York said the Holland Tunnel would also be closing down.

There are other major disruptions through the nation's largest city -- schools, the stock market, businesses, it's all closed down. Soledad O'Brien is at Columbus Circle in the heart of Manhattan.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Not only the Holland Tunnel, they're expecting at 2:00 p.m. to also close the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. And one of the reasons for that is that those tunnels are very prone to flooding anyway.

And we've already seen in lower Manhattan, we've seen some flooding. Governor Cuomo in his briefing which just wrapped up a few minutes ago, said that we're at Irene levels, meaning that the storm surge that we got in Irene, we're already there. And we are, as you well know, many hours away from Hurricane Sandy hitting here. So things are looking a little difficult, if you're just looking at the flooding alone.

Let me tell you a couple of other worries for people who are in Manhattan. I'm in the Central Park, basically at Columbus Circle. Those trees over my shoulder, that's Central Park right now. Big concern with those trees, of course. They lost about I think two dozen trees in Irene. Irene, a much tamer version of a hurricane than what we are going to see. Big worry that some of those trees could come down in this storm. They spent about $200,000 doing repairs in Central Park after Irene. We expect that number to go much higher.

Another problem, scaffolding. This scaffolding here is scaffolding around an art project. But there's tons of scaffolding like that all over New York City, big worries about that. And finally take a look at that crane there. Mayor Bloomberg said that in fact, the crane structures and all these sites been examined and they've all been tied down. They should be safe given what we know about the winds. But as you were just reporting, Carol, 90 miles an hour now for these winds, there are big concerns about construction sites like that as well.

That's it from here in midtown Manhattan. Back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Soledad. I swear the wind just picked up in Washington, D.C. It's gusting now -- I feel these strong gusts like you normally do during a hurricane as the bands come closer and closer.

Soledad talked about the trees. Well, the leaves are falling right now. It's fall and they're beautiful but they're falling; and that's creating another huge problem for the utility -- actually for those who keep track of the storm sewers because the leaves go in the storm sewers, so does the water. The leaves plug those up and then what do you get -- you get flooding in the streets and maybe in homes. That's causing a big problem in that way as well. Want to take a quick break. We'll be back with more.

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COSTELLO: Let's head quickly to Long Island to Lindenhurst; that's where Jason Carroll is. There's major flooding there right now. Tell us about it, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just within the past few minutes, Carol, we've seen the waters start to rise here. We're in an area called Lindenhurst, Long Island. The problem with communities like this, on wide south, you have the great South Bay and criss- crossing through this area, you have canals and the water's slowly started to rise you can see down this one particular street, a car tried to make it. It got stuck.

We've been talking to a number of residents here who decided or in the process of deciding should they stay, should they go as the water continues to rise here.

Two folks right up here. We've got Anthony here on my left. We have Betty Lou on the right. Anthony, you've been here for about a year. You're going to stay. What would it take you to leave?

ANTHONY: Probably my mom and my dad to come and grab me out because they're freaking out. But I'm going to stay.

CARROLL: This is an area under a mandatory evacuation. Betty Lou, you've lived here for 51 years. You say already -- this is already worse than Irene was.

BETTY LOU: Yes, it is. It's worse than Irene was. We're just hoping for the best. But it's not as bad as Gloria was.

CARROLL: (inaudible) you're still debating if you will stay or if you will go.

BETTY LOU: Correct. My daughter, Denise, is looking at us and saying, "You better come out here, mom." She wasn't able so we are on the fence.

CARROLL: As you look at some your neighbors here across the street -- I'm going to have you just sort of pan over here. You can see some of them, Carol, they've been watching from their homes, that's what everyone's been doing. Even though the community is under a mandatory evacuation, a lot of folks are still coming out here deciding whether they're going to stay, whether they're going to go as the water here in this area of Long Island continues to rise -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I just can't imagine the feeling. You're looking at that water on the edge of your property and there's nothing whatsoever you can do to stop it. That must be an awful feeling. We'll check back to Lindenhurst (inaudible); Jason Carroll thanks so much.

I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me today. "CNN NEWSROOM" continues with Ashleigh Banfield after a break.

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