Return to Transcripts main page
Wolf
Florida Governor Urges Evacuation; Storm With 140 Plus Winds; Presidential Debate In Three Days; Clinton Preparing For Debate; Trump On Campaign Trail; Sanders Campaigning For Clinton; Governor States This Storm Will Kill You; Hurricane Matthew Now Category Four Storm. Aired 1-1:30p ET
Aired October 06, 2016 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BLITZER: We're covering breaking news. Two major stories this hour. Up first, a dangerous and deadly storm churning towards Florida's east coast after pummeling the Bahamas. Take a look at this. These are live pictures coming in from Jacksonville Beach, Florida where the storm is already kicking up big waves.
Here are the latest developments. Hurricane Matthew has strengthened to a powerful category four with winds of at least 140 miles per hour. Authorities have told -- have told 2 million people in coastal Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to get out of harm's way. It's the largest mandatory evacuation since Sandy struck the northeastern U.S. back in October of 2012. Matthew could make landfall in Florida later tonight or early tomorrow. We'll keep you updated on where it is and where it's headed.
Our other big story, the countdown to the next political showdown. The rematch between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton just three days away. Trump holds a town hall in New Hampshire later this evening. It's seen as a sort of a dress rehearsal for Sunday's town hall-style debate.
Clinton is also in debate prep mode right now and off the campaign trail. She getting some help from her surrogates, Senator Bernie Sanders. He's out there campaigning for Clinton in Ann Arbor, Michigan this hour.
Also this hour, Chelsea Clinton takes part in an early vote rally in Minneapolis. We're watching all of these political events with just less than 33 days and counting until Election Day here in the United States.
In the meantime, let's get back to our main story, the breaking news. Hurricane Matthew, the storm is massive. The White House and the Florida governor, Rick Scott, stressed that point and issued a dire warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE PRESS PRESS SECRETARY: It's likely that the storm could strengthen further before making landfall. And that, obviously, is deeply concerning.
GOV. RICK SCOTT, FLORIDA: Do not go on the beach. This will kill you. These are all projections. It could be much worse. Time is running out. We are preparing for the worst. We're hoping for the best. And no one should take any chances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: We're covering the story the only way CNN can. Our Meteorologist Chad Myers is keeping us updated in the weather center. Boris Sanchez is in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nick Valencia is in West Palm Beach, Florida. Chad, where is hurricane Matthew located right now? Where is it headed? When will Florida, for example, experience the worst of this hurricane?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has just left Nassau, headed towards Freeport in the Bahamas and, eventually, making a run at Florida. And the governor said, best case scenario, worst case scenario. Best case scenario as that the storm turns a little bit and stays in the water. Worst case is that it stays straight and heads right into the shore. Right onto the shore of the northern side of maybe Coco Beach. Somewhere there around Cape Canaveral as a 140 to possibly 145 mile-per-hour storm.
The storm had a little trouble overnight because of the higher elevations of Cuba, giving it some dry air. The farther it moves from Cuba, the less influence Cuba is having on the storm, so that's why it's strengthening now, plus it's in very warm water. It's in the Gulf stream. It's in the Gulf stream, that water that comes out of the Gulf of Mexico, goes around the Florida Keys and then on up to the northeast coast. That's why the water in the Carolinas is so warm, because it's really out of the Caribbean.
Category four hurricane trying to make landfall here somewhere in the overnight hours. A sleepless night for anywhere from about Fort Pierce, West Palm all the way up to Melbourne. Winds going to be 80 to 90 miles per hour most of the night. But it's that peak wind. It's that peak gust, Wolf, that we're worried about. If we get 145 on land with the eye wall, that's where the devastation will happen.
We talk about these models all the time. Here is one of the models. Here's a graphic presentation of what a model looks like. We're moving ahead, 6:00 tonight. Not on shore yet but we do have outer bands making very heavy gusts all the way up and down the east coast already, from West Palm to Melbourne. Probably gusts around 60. And, all of the sudden, tonight, somewhere maybe 4:00 a.m., that's when the eye wall will probably touch land.
It may not get all the way on shore. We might not even get the middle of the eye on shore. It's possible. The best case scenario is if this eye is here. If that's to the right by 50 miles, we're in great shape and we dodged the bullet. But it doesn't look like it.
There's not a single model that's not right along the shore right now, eventually into Jacksonville, into Charleston, into Savannah, into Tybee, all the way up the east coast until it turns. Before it gets to Myrtle Beach, it turns back off to the right and stays off shore after that -- Wolf.
[13:05:07] BLITZER: Chad, what about a little further to the south, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, that area? What can the folks over there expect?
MYERS: Well, and that's a real good question because the Fort Lauderdale area I think has the chance of seeing the back side of an eye. The back side of an eye would be the -- as the eye moves up to the north, the wraparound from the storm would blow from the -- either the west or the northwest and blow from Fort Lauderdale the wrong direction.
We always think, oh, the wind's going to come this way. But not if the eye's here. The wind will actually blow in the clockwise direction. And clockwise means we're going to have something possibly like this. And even if you get a wind to 60 or 70 miles per hour in Fort Lauderdale, there will be some damage. Not like the onshore flow we're going to get here that could be 120 to 140 though.
BLITZER: All right, we're going to stay in very close touch with you, Chad, stick around.
Boris, you're in Daytona Beach, Florida, a little bit further north up the Florida coast. Are conditions dramatically deteriorating even as we speak?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's coming in bands. Just about an hour ago, my crew and I were on the second level of the hotel here. And things drastically got out of hand. The wind started pushing us around. The rain really pounding where we were standing.
And our hotel's actually been evacuated. It's one of dozens in this area that have been boarded up. And people have been asked to leave. Obviously, Volusia County right now in the middle of a mandatory evacuation.
But some people are not heeding the warnings, Wolf. I want to point out the hotel right next to us. There is at least one family there that is refusing to leave. They asked us earlier. They said they were indecisive about whether or not they would take off. They have decided to stay, despite warnings from the governor, Rick Scott, who has said this storm will cause fatalities.
For several days now, he's been asking people that are in this coastal area to leave because the storm surge is going to be very, very strong, Wolf. We were standing more or less where the tide is landing right now just yesterday. And the waves keep coming closer and closer and growing larger and larger.
It looks like blue skies now but in a few hours, that will change. Despite that, again, a lot of people not heeding the warnings, sticking around. Not a very good idea when you consider that more than two people are in the evacuation zone right now. As you mentioned, Wolf, the largest mandatory evacuation since Hurricane Sandy back in 2012.
We heard from the police chief here who told us that if people decide to stay, once we get closer to the hurricane, they will not be able to help them at all because hurricane conditions make it impossible for them to do their jobs. So, they're asking folks to stay out of this area. To get out as soon as they can before things get drastically worse -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Boris, we're going to stay in touch with you as well.
Nick Valencia, you're in West Palm Beach right now, expected to get really the brunt of this bad weather. Describe what's happening where you are right now and what the folks are anticipating in the coming hours.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the weather has already started to turn here in West Palm Beach. It was just about 30 minutes ago that we all got alerts on our phones, saying the hurricane is approaching, take shelter now.
I just got off the phone with the mayor a little while ago. She tells me that, unfortunately, more people are staying in West Palm Beach and deciding to ride this storm out than leaving. It's going to be a really difficult situation for those first responders when they, inevitably, have to go in to try to rescue people who have decided to stay behind.
We're here at a hotel now where a lot of local residents have decided to take shelter here for the next night or so, depending on how bad this storm is. Shanaye, why don't you come in here and join me. You've been through storms here before. You're a local resident.
SHANAYE HOWZELL: Yes.
VALENCIA: What are you expecting? Are you worried? Are you nervous, concerned at all?
HOWZELL: I am a little bit worried because this storm has had, like, more attention than the ones we had in the past.
VALENCIA: Right.
HOWZELL: But I think everything will be OK.
VALENCIA: People were talking about storm surges, falling branches. I mean, what worries you as you see this rain and this wind start to pick up behind us?
HOWZELL: Yes, I'm a little worried. And my parents live, like, directly by the intercoastal. But, I mean, I'd rather be with them than anywhere else. VALENCIA: And you guys are going to hunker down in your -- in your
house here?
HOWZELL: Yes, we're going to. Yes, we're --
VALENCIA: And when you hear --
HOWZELL: -- going to tough it out.
VALENCIA: -- when you hear the governor and local mayor say, you know, it's ill-advised, that you shouldn't be in your home, what do you say to those people at home saying, Shanaye, what are you doing?
HOWZELL: I don't know. I mean, I guess, it's home. It's hard to leave your home. So, I guess, yes. We'll just have to see what happens.
VALENCIA: Any added precautions? Have you -- we saw stores -- empty store shelves. No bread left. No water left. Generators gone. What have you seen when you -- have you gone to the store yet?
HOWZELL: No, I'm pretty sure my parents stocked up though. No, I haven't but I heard, like, it's been really scarce. I mean, a lot of gas stations don't have gas, I mean, since two days ago.
VALENCIA: Well, our meteorologists have been predicting it's a desperate situation.
HOWZELL: Yes.
VALENCIA: We wish you the best of luck out there.
HOWZELL: OK.
VALENCIA: Shanaye, thank you very much for joining CNN.
Wolf, Shanaye is one of those that is going to choose to ride it out. And, like I mentioned, the mayor here in West Palm Beach saying that it's really unfortunate.
For her first responders, they're not going to dispatch anyone once these winds really start to pick up. They expect this storm to last well into Friday with clean-up happening, perhaps, over the weekend. But, right now, here, people are on edge as this storm is fast approaching -- Wolf.
[13:10:01] BLITZER: Understandably so. Nick, we'll get back to you.
I want to bring in the mayor of West Palm Beach, Mayor Jeri Muoio. Right now, Mayor, you're over at the emergency operations center. I know you're very busy. So, what's your message to the folks in West Palm Beach right now? Should all of them be evacuated?
JERI MUOIO, MAYOR, WEST PALM BEACH: Well, particularly those in the evacuation zones, so in A and B, really should leave. It's -- if there are any issues -- as your reporter said earlier, if there are any issues, our emergency people are not going to be able to go out and help them if the winds are high. And it will just will be much safer for them if they leave this setting.
BLITZER: What have the authorities, have the experts told you to brace for, Mayor?
MUOIO: Well, you know, we're expecting hurricane force winds. We know we will definitely get tropical storm force winds. But we expect to get hurricane force winds. And, you know, we're ready. We have plan. We're working that plan. We're ready. And we're just waiting for Matthew to show up in full storm.
BLITZER: What time do you think that will be, that -- the full strength of Matthew hitting West Palm Beach?
MUOIO: Well, right now, we're seeing bands. It's raining outside. I'm looking outside. It's raining. But I think it'll will be later this evening when we see the full brunt of the storm, more toward 10:00, 11:00.
BLITZER: What's your greatest concern, Mayor, right now?
MUOIO: Well, my concern is -- my greatest concern is that people will not take this seriously. It's a serious storm. It's a large storm. It's going to stay around for a while. The high winds will be problematic. And if you need -- are in an evacuation zone, you need to leave and go to a shelter.
BLITZER: What about the elderly? A lot of seniors in West Palm Beach where you are right now, people have retired. They've moved there from all over the country. Are they OK? Have they been moved into safe areas?
MUOIO: Well, you know, we have our emergency hot line number. People have been calling if they need help. We have gotten several calls of people needing medical assistance. There is a shelter for people with special needs. If you need medical assistance, you need to get to that shelter.
BLITZER: Where will you ride out this hurricane, Mayor?
MUOIO: I'm at the emergency operations center, and I will be here overnight and into tomorrow.
BLITZER: Mayor Jeri Muoio of West Palm Beach. Mayor, good luck to you. Good luck to all your constituents, --
MUOIO: Thank you.
BLITZER: -- everybody in West Palm Beach, indeed in the entire area of Florida. This is a massive, massive hurricane.
And to our viewers, for ways you can help those affected by Hurricane Matthew, go to CNN.com, slash, impact. You will be able to impact your world.
Coming up, much more on the hurricane. We're following its movements right now. We'll update you on that.
Also, we'll have a check on the race for the White House right now. Hillary Clinton is hunkering down while Trump hits the campaign trail. Take a closer look at how the candidates are preparing for the next presidential debate. That's Sunday night in St. Louis.
Also, take a look at this right now, a closer look at what Hurricane Matthew did to Cuba. These are images we're just getting in. It's a category four storm. It's moving towards Florida, closer and closer. We've got some live pictures coming in, pictures from Nassau in the Bahamas where Hurricane Matthew did extensive, extensive damage and Haiti as well. We'll update you on all that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:17:58] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Keeping constant track of Hurricane Matthew. It strengthened to a category four, expected to hit the Florida east coast later tonight. We've got some live pictures we're showing you from Nassau in the Bahamas, as well as Miami. This storm is moving closer and closer toward Florida right now. We'll update you completely on the devastation it has already caused and what we can anticipate in the few - in the hours ahead.
But I want to quickly turn to the race for the presidency here in the United States. Donald Trump is set to hold a town hall in New Hampshire tonight. The last-minute event, somewhat of a practice run ahead of Sunday's town hall style debate in St. Louis.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is staying home today. She's prepping for the debate. But her deep bench of surrogates, they are hitting the campaign trail in her place. Senator Bernie Sanders is stumping for Clinton in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny is on the screen for us there.
Jeff, so what's Bernie Sanders's message to the voters today?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Bernie Sanders' message to voters is quite simply, if you liked me, vote for Hillary Clinton. There are still some of his old supporters out there who are thinking of a third party candidate or simply not enthused about this race. But he is trying to send the message that, look, he says explicitly, this race is not about Donald Trump, it's not about Hillary Clinton, it's about you. And you can see him talking behind me here, Wolf. It very much sounds like an old Bernie Sanders rally, except, of course, his punch line is different. He is asking his supporters and all Democrats to vote for Hillary Clinton. This is what he said earlier in Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I want to make it clear, this campaign is not a personality contest, all right? We're not voting for class president of our high school. Now, I read the polls. I understand that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump are particularly popular. I get that. But forget about that for a moment. Take a hard look at the agendas of the campaign, what these candidates stand for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:20:04] ZELENY: Bernie Sanders is on his first full week of campaigning solo, Wolf. He has been across the country all week and will continue tomorrow. He is going to many of those states that he won during his primary, like here in Michigan. He is trying to build up this Democratic fire wall here. A new poll this morning shows that Secretary Clinton is up by 11 percentage points in Michigan. Frankly, a lot of Democrats here don't necessarily believe that. She is coming back here to campaign on Monday. And Senator Sanders is laying some groundwork here, trying to get some younger voters and others, a, to register, the deadline is next week, and, b, to come out for Hillary Clinton.
So, Wolf, we saw that long Democratic primary process, so acrimonious. All that is over. Bernie Sanders is campaigning aggressively and full- throated endorsement for Hillary Clinton and urging his supporters to do the same.
Wolf.
BLITZER: She's lucky to have a big bench, a full bench of surrogates like Bernie Sanders, I must say that.
All right, thanks so much, Jeff Zeleny, in Michigan for us.
And watch Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump face off in St. Louis for the second presidential debate. It will be co-moderated by our own Anderson Cooper. CNN's special live coverage begins Sunday, 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
Coming up, this storm will kill you. Those are the words from Florida's Governor Rick Scott. He says time is running out before Hurricane Matthew roars ashore in Florida. We're looking at live pictures coming in from Cocoa Beach in Brevard County in Florida right now after Matthew clobbered the Caribbean, leaving dozens of people dead. Florida is now bracing for this category four storm. The Florida senator, Bill Nelson, he is monitoring the situation on the ground in Florida. He's standing by to join us live for an update.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:26:08] BLITZER: Our breaking news coverage of Hurricane Matthew continues right now. We're tracking the latest projected path of this extremely dangerous category four hurricane as it prepares to move up Florida's east coast. You're looking at live pictures coming in. On the right side there from Jupiter, Florida. That's expected to feel its pain fairly soon. Right now the Bahamas, by the way, are bearing the brunt of Matthew, which has already been blamed for more than 100 deaths in the Caribbean. Floridians, meanwhile, are bracing for the worst hurricane to strike the state's central northern Atlantic coast in recorded history.
Our meteorologist Chad Myers is joining us live from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta.
Chad, where is Matthew heading specifically and give us an idea of just how much damage a category four storm with winds of about 140 miles per hour, maybe gusting up to 165 miles an hour, how much damage can that cause?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure. Oh, devastating. I mean the same damage that we see from the same storm when it was just as strong when it hit Haiti. We showed you the pictures of Haiti, how devastated that was. I know our buildings are, you know, stronger, but they're not any stronger when you talk about 140, 160 mile-per-hour wind.
So to get back to your question, it just went by Nassau just now, headed toward Freeport and eventually on up toward Cape Canaveral. And the closer it gets in here, the stronger the winds will be the closer it gets to land. Clearly that's what a hurricane is all about.
Something that I'm hoping for, because of all the things we can hope for here, is an eye wall replacement cycle, Wolf. I believe that as we look at this eye, it is getting so small that it might blow itself apart. It might not be able to maintain such a small eye for as long as it takes to get to here. And if that happens, then all of a sudden you lose that 140 and you get 120. Sure, a bigger area of 120, this second eye wall here, but you lose 140.
So, yes, it's hard to describe whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the timing, but if we can lose 140, we lose devastation. A lot of buildings will hold up to 120. The shingles will be gone, but the roofs will still be there. And even after Andrew, after the new building codes were put in, now we have all these straps on the buildings and all that, those are new buildings. A lot of those old buildings were never retrofitted at all.
Let's get to something here. This is -
BLITZER: Chad -
MYERS: Oh, go ahead, Wolf.
BLITZER: No, no, no, go - finish your thought.
MYERS: I was going to talk to you about the hurricane, about how the eye is the center of the hurricane, but it's the calm place. So don't focus on the eye. It's where the air is sinking and it's sunny and it's nice in there, but it's the outer eye wall, or the inner eye wall, the closest eye wall to that sinking air that has the biggest rotation, the biggest wind. And all of a sudden we're talking about how big can the wind be.
Well, it depends on where this storm is. Is this storm right down the middle of the path, right up - down the middle of the National Hurricane Center. I'll try to step on land here rather than walk on water. But there is the storm. If that happens, then we will be still in that 120 to 140 category. If the storm falls apart or turns left a little bit, we have a big difference in the forecast. If the storm turns left, even Orlando will hit the hurricane forecast, hurricane windfall. And if it falls a little bit farther offshore, then we only get those hurricane winds right there on the shore. That's what we hope for, a right turn or an eye wall replacement cycle that blows everything up, Wolf.
BLITZER: And very quickly, Chad, a lot of us remember Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, the destruction it did along the Gulf Coast, New Orleans specifically.
MYERS: Sure.
BLITZER: That was, what, a category four hurricane as well, right?
[13:29:50] MYERS: It was, but at a time, in the Gulf of Mexico, it was a category five. And that's when it built its storm surge. So when Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian and Biloxi got blasted with the 25-foot wall of water essentially, that's what all that damage came from. Then the back side, the water got into Lake Pontchartrain and that water came up Lake Pontchartrain, failed on the levees on the