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Trump, Clinton Get Set for Second Debate; Hurricane Matthew Slams Florida. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired October 07, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Feeling pretty strong tropical- storm-force winds here, where we are in San Marco, just alongside the St. Johns River.

Let me give you an idea closer to the beach what's being felt, the storm surge there, as predicted, now five to nine feet. Those areas were under a mandatory evacuation, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach there in the Jacksonville Beach community.

And we know that the storm surge here, according to the mayor, expected to be three feet. Now, that's down from the six to nine that was forecast earlier, but still, according to the mayor's office, three feet still life-threatening.

Many of the communities here alongside the St. Johns River flood during an afternoon thunderstorm, during a nor'easter. But with this sustained rain over the last couple days now and the storm surge, no question the community of San Marco, Riverside, Avondale seeing some flooding issues.

We know that the National Weather Service here in Jacksonville has issued a flash flood warning until 6:15 p.m. We're told that they're asking everyone to move to higher ground. Also, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office telling people do not go outside until you get the all-clear from the emergency operations center.

That's not expected to come for several hours, as our own Chad Myers tells us, that the worst of Hurricane Matthew is not going to hit the first coast of Florida until maybe three hours from now.

Now, the same dog barking at Jacksonville bit Daytona earlier today. We know our Boris Sanchez is there, where he saw windows broken out of hotels. We saw a lot of damage there, sheet metal blowing down the street. We got Boris Sanchez there.

We had some difficulty trying to get you last hour. What are you seeing there now?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor, our video capabilities have been in and out all day, as you can imagine with weather like this.

If you hear that loud noise behind us, it's actually a generator that is now helping to power at least half of our hotel because it's lost power. I want to paint the picture for you. If you just look down the street, there are several police officers that have just arrived in what appears to be the parking lot of a Burger King.

I'm not sure exactly why they're there, but I saw them talking with someone that was walking around that area. This just kind of gives you an idea of what we're seeing throughout Daytona. Officials starting to get a good idea of the extent of the damage and also securing property and securing people.

Just a few moments ago, as we were standing here doing a live shot, a huge piece of sheet metal actually came off the roof of our hotel and landed just a few feet away from us. We kind of had to dance away as it was moving in the wind, though we are now in the southwest corner of the storm, what is supposed to be the weakest portion of the storm, the wind gusts are still extremely strong.

And you can see that piece of sheet metal still right there, just one of many examples of debris we have seen become projectiles today. As we were standing in front of the lobby earlier today, you mentioned some of the glass that broke through it.

As we were standing there, there was a large crash in an awning above us in the loop right in front of the lobby and we got quickly out of the way as a huge chunk of what turns out to be wall and window of the hotel that we're staying in crashed right in front of us. We got inside and moments later the awning that we were standing under, a pile of wood came right through literally where we were standing, shattering glass in front of us.

Fortunately, we had gotten out of the way, but it's just another example of the close calls that you face when you're looking at conditions like this. Another thing that I have seen here, a ton of people walking the street to take pictures. Just a moment ago, there was a guy driving around in a clown mask.

Gives you an idea of the kind of person that would come out here to do whatever that guy was doing. Not a very good idea to be outside in these conditions. Even though the storm is mostly gone, the conditions out here are still, still very dangerous. Even as the storm was at its worst, we were still seeing people walking around taking pictures.

One guy came out in his pickup truck and started doing doughnuts in the middle of an intersection. Fortunately, that guy was apprehended. He's been arrested. Hopefully, we don't see that as the storm moves further north and people heed the warnings as they should, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Boris Sanchez there for us in Daytona Beach.

Of course, the threat is very real there. Any standing water, although you may live in that community and you think you know what's under that water, after the storm that passed through that community, it is very possible that you don't know what's there. And, of course, with those downed power lines, the question, are any of them live? And you could be in some really serious danger if you get close to any of those.

Again, our thanks to Boris Sanchez there.

We are seeing the ebb and flow that is the signature of these type of storms.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

[15:07:18]

BLACKWELL: And, of course, as you say that this area and several areas dodged a bullet as it relates to the wind, Chad, we know that, with these storms, the majority of the deaths are related to the water, to the flooding, to the rain there. So, this still is a very dangerous storm, although, as you say, a bullet dodged there with the wind.

Let's just take a walk to a few miles south here to the community of Orange Park, to Clay County, Florida, which is really part of the metropolitan Jacksonville area.

We have on the phone with us John Ward, who is the head of emergency management there in Clay County.

John, good to have you with us.

And we don't want to ignore Orange Park and Clay County there so close to Jacksonville, as we have talked so much about the River City. What are you seeing there, your biggest concerns at this hour?

JOHN WARD, CLAY COUNTY, FLORIDA, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: Well, I think, as you have heard many people mention, it's the storm surge.

For us, it's along the river. We have the St. Johns River that flows north into the ocean, so we're getting significant surge and swelling down the river, which is flooding our estuaries. We have been seeing the winds bands. They are going to continue and get worse as the evening progresses. We are seeing widespread power outages and widespread trees down.

BLACKWELL: Are you seeing any flooding of streets and homes there and businesses? Give us an idea of any damage reports you're getting.

WARD: We are seeing right now -- we're seeing water coming up over the barrier walls, coming up into the estuaries.

And, again, we won't feel the worst of this until later on. So we are confident that we are going to have many homes that are flooded. We're confident we're going to feel -- we're going to have many homes that are flooded as this -- as the worst part of it comes in later on this evening.

BLACKWELL: Are your first-responders still able in these conditions, as we feel a bit of a breeze, stronger winds, actually, coming through right now -- are they still able to get to people calling for help, calling for rescue?

WARD: We are doing that geographically. Our county is 642 square miles, so we have some portions of the county that are under high winds and others that are not. So we have geographic command areas set up, and they're responding accordingly, and if not holding the calls and then moving in at that point.

BLACKWELL: All right, John Ward for us there, head of emergency management in Clay County, which is just south of where I am in Jacksonville.

John, keep us updated if conditions change there.

We will continue our live special coverage of Hurricane Matthew here from Jacksonville, again, the storm surge the major concern here. And as the winds pick up, they challenge these trees planted in saturated ground, power outages now up to more than 90,000 customers across this city.

[15:10:04]

Quick break, and we will be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell live in Jacksonville, awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Matthew, which is still a strong hurricane, Category 3, with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour.

Of course, the surge, the storm surge, is the concern here in downtown Jacksonville all along the St. Johns River. We have been hearing reports and seeing pictures on social media of downed trees, of localized flooding.

We have our Rosa Flores, who is out in Jacksonville roving around, taking a look at some of the damages in communities there.

Rosa, what are you seeing?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we're seeing that storm surge that you were just talking about.

[15:15:00]

And I want to show you, because we were actually here yesterday, my team and I. And we were actually able to drive past where I'm walking right now, probably about 10 meters or so, because water is not supposed to be here.

And you can see if you take a look, that, in this inlet, the water, the surge is really rolling at a pretty good clip. You can see that there are still boats out here. And if you look closely at this house that's right next to me, you can see that this is debris. This is debris that was coming back, that was coming from the back of the this house, according to the neighbor that I talked to just moments ago who decided to wait out the storm here, instead of evacuating. As you know, that's one of the big worries from officials here in

Jacksonville, the fact that people did not evacuate. Now, let me just measure the water here, Victor, really quickly just to give you a sense.

Again, this is a street. We were on this street yesterday. Right now, it's at about 11 inches going to about 12 inches. We're starting to get a little more rain. And so, of course, these conditions continue to deteriorate.

Now, I want to get us into a rolling vehicle, because we're actually going to be able to show you what some of these streets look like. Like you were saying, Victor, we have seen downed trees. You can see limbs here, this, of course, a huge worry for first- responders, because they know that a lot of these trees can become flying projectiles.

Now, you can see shingles here also, just another one of those things. You can see palm trees. You can see a lot of the trees already swaying, moving back and forth, power lines another huge worry.

Now, I'm going to hop in this vehicle here, so that we can start taking a look, and you will see for yourself the conditions that we're seeing in this particular neighborhood. Now, we are, like you mentioned, Victor, right along the St. Johns River.

Now, the St. Johns River has a lot of different inlets. They're almost like little fingers that go into neighborhoods, and those fingers are surrounded by homes. So that's where we're driving here, along one of those fingers that comes out of the St. Johns River.

Now, the storm surge expected in the St. Johns River is probably about three feet in this area where we're at. Closer to the beach, it would be six to nine feet. But now that we're in the vehicle, we can show you what this particular neighborhood looks like.

You can see that there's definitely a lot of debris on the roads. You can see that some people did not evacuate. You see cars and in many cases even debris that people set out before the storm.

They were trying to cut tree limbs and branches to try to avoid that. But then, of course, first-responders tell us that that's also not a great idea if you put it right in front of your house, because all of that turns into projectiles.

But we're going to make a turn here really quickly, and we will be able to show you some of -- some more of what we're seeing in this particular neighborhood.

But, Victor, if you can hear me, you know, you and I have been talking about this particular storm here. Yes, a lot of people did not evacuate, and so that's one of the big worries. So, when we look at these neighborhoods -- we were driving here last night. We could see people inside these homes waiting out the storm, a huge concern for first-responders -- Victor. BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes.

And 450,000, we're told, by the mayor's office of the more than 800,000 people who live in the city, so a little more than half here, but still the request was for so many to leave, some mandatory evacuation zones.

Got Rosa Flores there covering this storm in a way that only CNN can.

Rosa, thank you so much.

Now, as we have talked about many of the evacuations and those who have heeded the warnings and the calls from their local officials, there are some who are still keeping an eye on their homes as they heed those warnings and requests.

Let's go now to Grant and Wray Lynch. They have a host in Palm Coast, which is here in Florida about 60 miles south of where I am in Jacksonville. And they are watching from Lake Mary via security cam, and we have some of that video watching with you.

Thanks for joining us.

And give us an idea of what you're seeing and how you have seen the conditions change over the last several hours.

WRAY LYNCH, FLORIDA RESIDENT: This is Wray. I'm Grant's father.

It's been pretty crazy. Last night, we were watching the security camera and really couldn't see anything because it was night- vision.

But as the day progressed and light came up, we were kind of watching the waves. And I saw them go over the dune. And I told my wife, just watch. And we couldn't believe what we saw.

[15:20:00]

It was -- I mean, it just started coming. And then, when it hit the glass windows, I thought the glass would shatter because it went up to the top of the glass.

GRANT LYNCH, FLORIDA RESIDENT: There was rocks coming from the beach and hitting the windows. It was crazy.

BLACKWELL: Wow. And I'm watching some of this video with you.

As you're watching it, what's going through your mind?

G. LYNCH: I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen the water even get that far to the house.

It's 150 feet away from our house to the dunes. And once you go from the dunes to the ocean, it's about another 200 feet. So the waves had to be 10-plus waves to get to our house. BLACKWELL: Wow.

We have heard from our meteorologist that the storm surge along the Jacksonville beaches, it's five to nine feet, probably something similar down south, 60 miles from where we are there along Palm Coast.

But are you speaking with your neighbors? What are you hearing from them? Did any of them stay behind?

W. LYNCH: No, nobody stayed behind. As you can see now on the TV, that's the back of the house, and we boarded it up and put about 50 sandbags in front of those glass doors.

And that's a picture of how high the dune is from the water if you're out in the ocean. So, it came up pretty high. I would be surprised if it wasn't over 15 to 20 feet.

G. LYNCH: And those sandbags were 60 to 80 pounds and that wave just moved them like they weren't even there.

BLACKWELL: You know, Grant, Wray, as we're watching this video, it seems like an obvious decision to evacuate when you're seeing the reason that officials asked so many to leave.

But before we saw the storm come and we saw this damage, why did you make the decision to leave, the decision that frankly so many did not?

W. LYNCH: We really wanted to stay. We almost turned back to go back to the house because we had some valuables we really wanted to remove, because we didn't think the storm was going to be as bad as it was. But as predictions came out, I'm like we need to go back. And by that time, the bridges had already closed.

BLACKWELL: All right, Grant and Wray Lynch, we're watching the security camera footage of their home there in Palm Coast, again, 60 miles south of where I am here in Jacksonville.

You're seeing the water lap up against their house, a significant surge there of what has been from officials the major concern from the start of this storm.

We thank you both for sharing that video and your story with us, but, again, an example of why officials for days have asked people along the coast of Florida and on up into Georgia and the Carolinas to leave, to head west, because they saw coming what we're seeing now.

So, many people, unfortunately, did not leave.

We will continue our live special coverage of Hurricane Matthew and the impact as it continues up the East Coast of Florida. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:20]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Brianna Keilar, and we will get right back to Victor Blackwell in Jacksonville and our breaking news coverage of Hurricane Matthew in just a moment.

But, first, let's talk politics, just two days before Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face off in their second debate. And for her part, Clinton is holed up in a hotel in Rye Brook, New York, prepping for Sunday's rematch.

Trump just held a town hall in New Hampshire, and he insists it was not debate prep. We asked a few in the mostly friendly crowd how he did.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He likes to joke, and I think people get him a little bit better. He's more down to earth. And I think he comes across a little bit better in situations like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have got to stop all of the -- the deviating and all this going off track on things we don't care about. I don't care about his 1995 taxes, to be totally honest. I don't care. Right now, we're in 2016. I care about what's going on in our nation now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been following Trump even before he announced his presidency. I have been following him on Facebook.

And everything he says, I just totally agree with. Everything he's been saying, my father and I have been saying for like 10 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Let's discuss all of this with CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash and CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston.

We will talk about the town hall and these expectations over the weekend in just a moment, but, first, I want to ask you about something we just learned.

Hurricane Matthew, you had the Clinton team asking to extend the voter registration deadline, which is Tuesday in Florida. Governor Rick Scott, who is a Republican and Trump supporter, he said, no, we're not going to do that.

Maeve, give us a sense of what the discretion he has on this, if politics may be at play and if there's a precedent for this.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, politics certainly may be at play here, because, obviously, he's supporting Donald Trump.

And -- but this is kind of a gray area just in terms of voter registration. All of the different states handle this differently. But we do know that, in 2011, for example, the governor of Connecticut there delayed voter registration after a storm to allow -- to give people more time to register.

And, of course, there's also other examples where -- that aren't so much voter registration, but just making sure people could vote, like after Hurricane Katrina and Rita and, of course, Superstorm Sandy, where you had New York providing voter shuttles to new polling places.

So, there's certainly a precedent for making accommodations for people who are affected by this storm. Right now, Governor Scott doesn't seem inclined to change his mind. So we will see how that goes.

KEILAR: I know, Dana, you might not be surprised by this decision.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No.

Look, Governor Scott is a supporter of Donald Trump, was even during the primaries. And I just was sort of communicating with some Republicans in Florida, asking