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Trump, Clinton Prepping for Second Debate; Hurricane Matthew Targets Florida. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 06, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:45]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It's the top of the hour. I'm Brianna Keilar.

And the warnings could not be more urgent: Get out now. This storm will kill you. Those are the official words that millions along the nation's Southeast coast are hearing, as a deadly hurricane right now tears its way toward Florida for what officials say will likely be a -- quote -- "direct hit."

Hurricane Matthew has already killed at least 113 people in the Caribbean. Moments ago, federal weather officials confirmed Matthew is a Category 4 system picking up some steam there in those Gulf Stream water, some speed.

And Matthew is doing exactly what everyone fears, getting stronger.

Joining me now, we have seen CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray in Melbourne, Florida.

Jennifer, I understand that Matthew's bands are beginning to touch Florida. You have been talking to us as some -- sort of in between some of them.

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, exactly.

We had a strong one just a moment ago. The winds were extremely gusty. And I was telling my photographer, Tom, I said, you know what? This was really bad and this is nothing. It will get three to four times worse than what that one was and maybe even worse than that.

But looking around, you're right, we are in between those bands now. You can see the ominous skies behind. This is actually the Indian River. The land you're seeing back there, that is Melbourne Beach, and they were ordered mandatory evacuations. And surely we hope that they got out and got inland just a little bit, because you can also see the bridges in the distance, when those bands come by.

You can't see them. But right now, you can see and you don't want to be driving over one of those bridges in the next couple of hours. We expect for conditions to deteriorate rapidly once we get into the overnight hours. I would say around dusk we will start to notice a bigger difference. We did run into some people trying to fill up with gas earlier today.

Some of the gas stations were completely out. Others had a little bit of a line. So it looks like people are trying to prepare. We saw some businesses boarded up as well.

But we're expecting to nine feet of storm surge. And some experts show it as high as 11 feet where we are standing. We will stay here as long as we can, but we are not going to be able to ride out in the storm here. We will have to go inland because the water will be above my head. That's why it's so important for people, especially right along these barrier islands and along the coast, they need to seek shelter inland.

You need to find a sturdy, sturdy building. It's been more than a decade since the east side of Florida has experienced anything of this magnitude, and so a lot of people, Brianna, new to the state, it's a very transient state, and so we're worried about people taking this serious.

We hope that people got in. We're looking at the conditions to continue to deteriorate as we go through the next couple of hours. But we're talking about very high storm surge, we're talking about gusty winds, 140 mile-per-hour winds right around that eye wall.

Hurricane-force winds extend 40 miles from the center. And when you think about this storm, just brushing along the coast, that is miles and miles of coastline that could experience very, very strong winds.

So this is a big one, Brianna, nothing that anyone should not take seriously.

KEILAR: Yes, and power outages we're expecting for days and weeks afterwards.

Jennifer Gray in Melbourne, Florida, thank you so much for your report.

Despite mandatory evacuations, some businesses are staying open. One merchant said he's not worried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Worried of what? More than nostalgia. What is going to happen? More thunder? We can't do more. We're going to try to hunker down here. It's better -- safer than my house.

This is what I got. I can't get out. Where am I going? Leave everything and go?

QUESTION: So this is your life's work, is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly. So I'm going to be here, and we are going to do the best we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Daytona Beach, Florida, is now under a hurricane warning.

And CNN's Boris Sanchez is there.

I know some people are getting out, some people are obviously not heeding the warning there, Boris. Why is that? Do you have a sense of that? It just seems that once this really gets bad, there's not a lot you can do by being there, even if it's to save a business.

[15:05:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Brianna.

I actually wanted to point out a family that had just come out a few minutes ago and they're standing on the beach. This is exactly what Governor Rick Scott warned people not to do. Though it's calm right now, we saw ourselves just about two hours ago things completely got out of hand. We were standing on that balcony right there getting ready to do a live shot, and the wind just knocked us over, pounding rain came in and we had to get out.

Actually, everyone in this hotel had to get out. We have been evacuated. It's been boarded up and there are sandbags set up. The management is basically gone and told us we can stay here only for a few more hours before we have to go ourselves.

We keep seeing people decide that they're going to stay behind. I can tell you, growing up in Florida and having to deal with these hurricanes growing up, you just have this confidence that everything is going to be fine because you have seen these hurricanes come through before.

What I can tell you is that it's been a long time since a hurricane of this magnitude has come by Florida, and so many people have moved here since then that haven't had to experience the powerful winds and the storm surge and the rain and the flooding and the power outages that not only create headaches for weeks from when a hurricane hits, but also are extremely dangerous as it comes to ground.

There's actually several families that are staying that this hotel behind me. And they were kind of indecisive as to whether or not they were going to stay or leave. One of them I talked to is a family from Indianapolis and they, I don't imagine, have had much experiences with hurricanes like this one.

Again, Florida Governor Rick Scott not mincing words. He's saying that this storm is going to cause fatalities and the best thing you can do not only for yourself, but for rescue crews that are out there tasked with trying to keep people safe, is to get out of the storm's way. The police chief of Daytona Beach, we talked to him this morning and he said it would be impossible for one of his rescue crews to go out in the middle of the storm and try to save anyone.

So if you decide to stick around and you find yourself in a very difficult situation, your options are limited. The best thing you can do is head out. There are more than 100 shelters already set up. But, again, it's almost irrational confidence that we have seen again and again, people coming out to the beach, people coming out to fill sandbags, as this storm is only a few hours away. It's really not a good idea, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, that's what Rick Scott said. He said some people don't want to be in shelters, but, as you point out, it's a lot better than the worst-case scenario alternative.

Boris Sanchez for us in Daytona Beach, thank you so much.

The mandatory evacuations extend beyond Florida. This is a huge hurricane. And Matthew is hovering or is expected to hover over the Southeast coast for days.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

[15:10:55]

KEILAR: Florida's barrier islands and beaches are really the most at risk here. Much of the coast is now under evacuation orders. And that includes Satellite Beach.

Joining me now by phone is the city's fire chief, Don Hughes.

And, Chief, give us a sense of what the conditions are like and what your major concerns are with the water and the wind.

DON HUGHES, SATELLITE BEACH, FLORIDA, FIRE CHIEF: Well, thank you for calling and asking for this.

Currently, the city of Satellite Beach has been under mandatory the evacuation order since 3:00 p.m. yesterday. At this moment in time, approximately 40 percent to 50 percent of our public did evacuate the island. The others have remained.

Currently, we have just had one of our bands that came through with some high-gust winds, but other than that, maybe light rain at this moment in time. But we know to start expecting our stronger tropical storm winds beginning at approximately 8:00 p.m. tonight.

KEILAR: So you have got about half your folks still there, right?

HUGHES: That's the estimate, yes.

KEILAR: OK, so that's the estimate.

What happens as this storm gets worse and people -- obviously, you can't send out your first-responders at the height of this. What are you going to do? What are you expecting?

HUGHES: Well, we have been very clear with residents who have stayed that there should be no expectation of public safety services.

But we know as an organization our incident management team has been up and running since yesterday. And we are building those contingency plans. Frankly, where we will be at is that once we get winds greater than 80 miles an hour, our operations will be curtailed very much. And then if we are to truly expect the 120-mile-an-hour winds, as somewhat indicated, then we will be hunkered down and there will be probably -- I would say about eight hours that there won't be any public safety response for any emergencies on the island.

KEILAR: When was the last time that your community experienced a hurricane and something like this, as strong as this one can be?

HUGHES: Well, that's a very unique challenge that we have, because longer the time goes, people's memories fade.

Really and truly, this city has not experienced a hurricane of hurricane-force winds probably since 1979. The 2004 hurricanes, people felt that they lived through the hurricane, but the reality was, was that our winds were only 60 miles an hour with some hurricane-level gusts.

We have been trying to say to the public that you cannot compare 2004 to this storm. You didn't go through a hurricane in 2004. You went through a tropical storm.

So, remarkably, you know, we're saying 50 percent evacuated. I'm actually surprised that the number was that high. Many people are now realizing, after watching, that, yes, the storm is really going to hit, and so we do have people still making their evacuation plans and hopefully they will be off the islands before the storm winds hit.

KEILAR: All right, chief Don Hughes, thanks so much. Good luck to you. We know that you are going to be very busy here in the coming hours.

The folks there recall 60 mile-per-hour winds in 2004. We're talking 140 miles per hour and that's what the chief is trying to impart to people.

Next, I'm going to speak live with one man in Florida who says he is not leaving, he's staying inside of his home.

Plus, as the storm hits, Donald Trump is going to hold a town hall tonight to serve as a rehearsal for his rematch just three days from now with Hillary Clinton. Hear what happened when he watched the video of his first debate performance. This is CNN's live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:55]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're really getting slammed by these winds right now. And some of these structures even having a hard time, so we're going go inside I think will be some good advice. Let's take it inside. The wind is just too strong right now.

So, Nick, I'm going to ask you to back up a little bit. Maybe let -- I want to get him out of the wind, because I'm worried about that camera. But you can see what we're dealing with. Forgive me. I know I'm kind of talking in circles, but we're just getting slammed out here by the weather.

But I was trying to say we saw that structure across from us actually shifting in the winds, which is not something -- it's a big metal structure there over the bar by the pool. So, that's shifting.

I'm told by hotel employees they have lost a couple of their security cameras outside, which is not surprising, given the strength of these wind gusts that we are seeing. And here in the lobby, of course, the wind bringing in all of this rain. It's a mess here. They are doing their best to try to keep these...

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: Again, if you need to evacuate and you haven't, evacuate. This storm will kill you. Time is running out. We don't have that much time left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And welcome back.

[15:20:00]

We are watching Hurricane Matthew. It's a frightening Category 4 storm that's claimed the lives of more than 100 people in the Caribbean. It's now closing in on the Florida coast.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the weather is getting worse by the minute.

Set the scene for us there, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna.

Just take a walk with me, I will show you what we're working with here. The weather has really ebbed and flowed. It was about three hours ago that everyone in this area of West Palm Beach got an alert on their phone saying that the hurricane was fast approaching.

We did see the weather sort of take a turn there. But now you can see behind me there's not a whole lot going on. The wind has died down, the rain has gone away. Closer towards the beach over the bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway on Palm Beach, there is more activity.

But just to be clear and honest to our viewers, it's not safe for our news crew to be out there. We decided earlier this afternoon, early this morning to take a precautionary measure for our news crew to stay safe and not brave the elements.

We're here at a hotel, where a lot of the residents have evacuated from their homes. They have come here to try to set up shelter, to try to have a room for the night. A lot of people, unfortunately, are not heeding the warning of the local officials, of the mayor, of the governor to evacuate their homes. I spoke to the mayor earlier today, Brianna, and she was telling me more than half of the residents have decided to stick out the storm, to wait it out. And they're not taking the storm all too seriously.

We did have a mandatory evacuation in place for Palm Beach at about 11:00 a.m. Here in this area, there are mandatory evacuations as well under way. But the weather for right now has kind of calmed down. A lot earlier, it was heavy rain, heavy winds. But that really hasn't sustained itself.

Later this evening is when West Palm Beach is expected to get a brunt of that damage, but for now at this hour, at this moment, it's kind of calm here in West Palm Beach.

KEILAR: All right, keep an eye on things for us there, Nick Valencia, in West Palm Beach, which is directly in the path of Hurricane Matthew.

This came straight from the Florida governor's mouth. He said this storm will kill you. Still, some in the path choosing not to evacuate. Case in point is the Albert family. They live in Jupiter, Florida. They're just about a mile from the beach there.

And Jonathan Albert is joining me now to talk about this.

So, tell us about why you're staying, because this is a mandatory evacuation and there are warnings from official that this is could be the worst hurricane this area has seen in decades.

DR. JONATHAN ALBERT, RESIDENT OF FLORIDA: Right.

Well, we didn't actually even decide to stay until maybe two hours ago. The reality is, there's a lot of work to do in a hurricane area. I was actually seeing patients through the afternoon yesterday, taking care of some of their needs, the refills that needed to get done, all of the oxygen tanks that needed to be filled.

So, as soon as I got home from work yesterday, we went straight to work getting the shutters up, getting the house secured. And then we realized that a lot of our neighbors were sort of in the same place.

I have spent the morning actually helping neighbors. My wife has spent the morning helping neighbors get their shutters up and just sort of dealing with all of those issues, trying to help people really get to the point where we could get out. Frankly, by the time all that work was done, it really was best not to leave, so we're staying in place.

KEILAR: OK, OK, and so -- and this is a unique location. Tell us about where you are, where you're situated, as it sounds like a lot of people in your neighborhood are riding this out together.

ALBERT: We are. You know, there are -- we in a small neighborhood north of the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter, Florida.

We're about a mile from the ocean, but we have the Loxahatchee River which comes off the ocean about a quarter-of-a-mile from the house. Our neighborhood is a little bit unique. We're actually on a high point, which I know sounds a little odd for Florida. Florida is fairly flat, but we're actually on a high point on this street.

We're not in a flood zone. And so after kind of checking the storm surge predictions, we just -- we felt like we were in a better place to stay put here.

KEILAR: OK.

But you hear the National Hurricane Center, because they're warning that, look, we're talking about a serious Cat 4 storm, 140 mile-per- hour winds. They're talking about, it's an issue of water, it's an issue of wind, of debris flying around, hitting windows, roofs being ripped off.

They're describing it as catastrophic damage. When you hear that, what are you thinking?

ALBERT: Well, again, I think it's trying to, given the time that we had, just be in the safest place we could possibly be.

You know, I had work to do. My wife is a beekeeper. We had to go around yesterday and she had to go around even this morning, secure beehives, so that, frankly, people near the bee yards wouldn't have hives full of bees flying into their homes. So, again...

KEILAR: You can secure beehives in a storm, so that they will withstand these 140 mile-per-hour winds?

[15:25:02]

ALBERT: You can try.

KEILAR: All right.

ALBERT: Ratchet straps and cinder blocks go a long way. You get them into -- they're normally in fairly sheltered places anyway. But we do try.

KEILAR: We see your wife there. We see photos of her. Pretty amazing. I was not expecting that that is what you guys would have been up to, but thank you for sharing that with us.

And, look, we're thinking of you, Jonathan. We're thinking of your family and also your neighbors. It sounds like there's a lot of people there who are riding it out. So, hang in there for this.

ALBERT: Thanks very much.

KEILAR: South Carolina is preparing for a direct hit from Hurricane Matthew. We will be live in Charleston.

But, first, Donald Trump is doing some very public debate prep tonight at a town hall in New Hampshire. Will he change his tone after a big debate performance by his running mate? We will debate that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)