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Florida Residents Begin to Assess Damage Left by Hurricane Michael; Floodwaters Caused by Hurricane Michael Hit Parts of Virginia. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 12, 2018 - 8:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That coastal community flattened by the storm, lives shattered. More than 1.2 million customers are without power this morning in seven states.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: There is also a major development in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A source tells CNN that Turkish authorities have audio and visual evidence they say he was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Now a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators is threatening to block an arm's deal with Saudi Arabia, and they're calling on the White House to investigation. But of course it is complicated because of the Trump family ties to the Saudi crown prince and geopolitics.

So let's begin our coverage with Brooke Baldwin. She is live for us in Destin, Florida. Brooke, you have been there observing from the air and the ground the worst of this devastation. What are you seeing?

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So you mentioned those 11 fatalities and those five most recently as we learned from Virginia. We also just learned that of the five, two were from rising floodwaters. That is a state of Virginia that is several states north of where I am here in Destin, Florida.

We have been talking all morning about just the utter devastation in Mexico Beach. And we were one of the first crews on the ground rolling in along with the National Guard. We saw coast guard. We saw firefighters, fire and rescue all around doing door knocks, search and rescue.

But to actually be on the ground and see and hear the stories because of the storm surge. I saw it for myself inside of homes. You can see it on the walls 13 feet high. It was that water. I was listening to your interview with Brock Long. It was the storm surge that brought homes, I saw one home that was at the water's edge thrown 150 yards across this highway 98 and land in someone else's front yard. And I know this not because I saw the home myself upside down like out of the Wizard of Oz, but because the guy next door watched the storm do it as he rode out this storm. Scott Boutwell told me all kinds of stories. I found him because he was walking around exhausted, shaken, and carrying this dirty, wet briefcase, the only piece of his home he had left. Here's part of the conversation we had.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BOUTWELL, SURVIVED HURRICANE MICHAEL: The stuff I thought I had, this stuff I thought was of value is even gone here. It's hard to talk about it.

BALDWIN: I can't even begin to understand that this is -- this was your home.

BOUTWELL: It's already been sinking in a little bit, it's all gone. But the biggest thing is like that we woke up and that we were OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And I don't know if you guys could hear, but all those high pitched beeps, beeping, beeping, punctuated throughout all the debris fields, through all the rubble. And what we realized what it was, was people's smoke detectors going off. You think about a smoke detector that is posted up in your home as something that warns you of an emergency forthcoming. And it was as though the warnings perhaps hadn't been strong enough.

I met a woman named Sherry (ph) who I caught as she was walking off the beach. She rode out the storm with two girlfriends of hers just down the way Port St. Joe. We happened to come upon her as she was coming home for the very first time to Mexico Beach, looking for her home. And just imagine, the only way she could tell where her home was, was because of the way her driveway had been paved. The rest of it was gone. Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: There are no words.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, there's not. There is so many memories here.

BALDWIN: Can you tell me what Mexico Beach was like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was beautiful. Everybody was just kind. They helped each other. If there was a need, they'd help you. I just knew everybody here, just about.

BALDWIN: And to see this feels like what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't describe it. It's just terrible. I just can't describe the feeling, and I know I'm not the only one here that feels that. They've lost everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: After our conversation, John, we made sure to give her and her other friends our satellite phones so that they could, because there has been zero cell service in that area, gave them our satellite phones and stood there as they called sisters and husbands to tell them if they were OK because no one really knew. It was this blackout area. You saw the video from us and elsewhere. And people knew it looked like a bomb went off in this town in Mexico Beach, but nobody knew if their loved ones had survived. So at least we could provide them that, John.

[08:05:06] BERMAN: You were their first connection to the rest of the world, the first chance that they had to know that the world cared and that the world was coming to help them. Brooke Baldwin, thank you so much for your reporting. I know you are headed back to Mexico Beach today. We look forward to seeing you there for your show at 2:00 p.m. eastern time.

I do want to give you an update on the deaths we just learned about overnight from million in Virginia. "The Washington Post" is reporting that four out of the five deaths, people swept away in floodwaters, floodwaters in Virginia from Michael as it passed through there. These are new pictures from Roanoke. Look at that. Look at the rising waters in Roanoke, Virginia. Four of the five death "The Post" says, from the rising floodwaters there, and the remaining death we believe was a firefighter killed trying to respond to the storm.

Obviously, we're going to keep getting updates from all of these states affected by Michael throughout the morning, including the search as rescue teams back down in Mexico Beach. Joining me now on the phone is Mexico Beach councilwoman Linda Albrecht. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. We have seen and haven't had a chance to talk to you over the last day. We know you are getting updates from Mexico Beach. The sun rising there once again this morning. Just give us the latest on what you are hearing.

LINDA ALBRECHT, MEXICO BEACH COUNCILWOMAN: OK. Well, first I just want to extend my sympathy to all those who have lost somebody in this. Going through a death is a horrible thing. What we're going through in Mexico Beach is nothing compares to losing a loved one.

But what I can tell you that I have heard, search and rescue is still being -- is still continuing, and our roads are still blocked with debris, so the cleaning up of the street is an ongoing issue right now. We're hoping that the residents, everybody is anxious to go back and see what is left or what is not left, and to have a good cry with your neighbor, and maybe collapse and say a prayer to the Lord that you are safe. But please don't rush back yet, because we don't want to get in the way of those that are working to clean up so that we can go back safely.

BERMAN: What do people --

ALBRECHT: Go ahead.

BERMAN: What do people in Mexico Beach need the most right now?

ALBRECHT: They need understanding of their feelings because unless you have gone through this you have no idea. They need -- FEMA is helping. We have a great interim administrator, Tanya Castro. She is now going to be representing Mexico Beach at the EOC in Dade County. Food was airlifted either last night or this morning for the workers that were able to come in. We have staff that can't get into the city. We have essential staff

that can't get into the city. And so food was airlifted into there. We have lots of volunteers that are cutting up trees, and with their equipment moving the roads, clearing the roads so that we can get in. I would love to be there. I wanted to go there yesterday and they said absolutely not. I wanted to go there today and they said wait. The roads are not clear enough. There is still wires underground. Live or not, who knows? So I'm hoping to get in tomorrow.

But Mexico Beach needs your prayers. It is not Mexico Beach that we all know. We were a quaint, old Florida village. Many, many houses were built in the '50s, cinder blocks, and they were unique and we loved it. And we don't have a Mexico Beach that way. It will be a Mexico Beach, but totally different. Just prayers and hugs and kind words, that's really what we need right now.

BERMAN: Linda, I don't know if you are near a television.

ALBRECHT: Yes. I'm watching it right now.

BERMAN: We're looking at these live pictures as a rotating camera from up on high takes a look at some of the damage in Mexico Beach. Linda, I know, we have been speaking to you again since yesterday, you haven't gone back to look at your own house yet. You were waiting to find out how it fared during the storm. What have you heard?

ALBRECHT: Well, I wish you could pan all the way down there. I did, yesterday, -- I do not have a house. Yesterday I was watching the news all day looking for a video, and they would always stop about 10 blocks before my block. And last night we found one online, actually it was from -- I'm going to give them a kudos to Action News Jax. They went all the way down to the east end. And I found my house.

[08:10:08] I wish you could pan down there now and I'd have a beautiful view of it. It is a house on cement pilings. The cement pilings are still there. My stairs are still there. But all I see is my floor. And everything in my house, it was almost like it was just pushed back with a bulldozer. I still have memories on the end of my floor, and the rest has been dumped down into my backyard.

BERMAN: All that's left is the floor, the foundation, and the stairs, and your memories. I'm so glad you said your memories because one of the things that I was speaking to people in Panama City yesterday, there was a sense of despair. They say, where do we start? I don't know where to start here. Do I clean up the foundation? Do I clean up the furniture that's destroyed or do I just leave it be and start somewhere new?

But you don't have nothing. You have your life and you have your memories and you have your love of Mexico Beach, and that's somewhere to start, right?

ALBRECHT: Oh, absolutely. And I do have to give a shout out to -- nobody really thought this was going to become anything. Tropical storm, hurricane one. And this just popped up. So we didn't have a mental preparation this time to grasp this. But there were two boat captains, Doyle and Captain Ship of Miss Merry Boat. They kept saying, this is something to watch. We're concerned about this one. This is something we need. Don't think this is a nothing.

And so with their speaking and talking around the town, I started to think, OK, what am I going to pack? And, so, I went into each room. Now, you have to understand, my husband passed away last November. So I went into each room and I stood and I looked, and I thought, what memory do I want to have with me in two months? And so I took things that were a memory of my husband and I, were special gifts that my friends gave me and my husband. I have blankets. I have crystal dolphins. I have crystal glasses from our wedding 45 years ago.

And when you said memories, that's what's going to sustain me. When I start my new life and I will have all new furniture, but I see these little things around the house, that will put a smile on my face, a great memory in my mind, and a tear to my eyes. But I will have that in my heart forever. And so, yes, you do need to grasp those memories because that's what's going to get you through all this.

BERMAN: Linda Albrecht, you are the legacy of Mexico Beach, and you will help rebuild that community. We thank you so much for being with us. Please let us know what you need as you head back over the next few days when it's safe. We appreciate you being with us.

ALBRECHT: All right. And I just want to thank you for reaching out to this tiny town. We're only three miles by two miles. And sometimes we are forgotten in the big county. And you have given us enough coverage so people realize what a gem we have here. We always used to laugh and say, don't talk too loud because we don't want everybody to be running down here. We like the quaintness. But thank you. And Brooke Baldwin has been wonderful with me. I just want to give a great shout out to her for being down there yesterday. And so thank you again.

BERMAN: We love Brooke even more. Linda Albrecht, thanks so much for being with us. We'll be coming to Mexico Beach for decades. We appreciate you being with us.

ALBRECHT: Have a good day.

CAMEROTA: Wow, John. Obviously everybody can relate to feeling so attached to your belongings and having only that and trying to hang on to those.

We do have an update. Because of the breaking news this hour, there are five new fatalities. These in Virginia. That is what is astonishing. So far away from where hurricane Michael made landfall. So we started with six fatalities. It has gone up by five. We understand that four of those fatalities in Virginia were trapped in the floodwater, and a firefighter was killed during the storm. We don't have details yet of how, but you can just see. That's Roanoke, Virginia, that is underwater right now.

BERMAN: Look at that.

CAMEROTA: It defies words, as we've said. Meanwhile, we're hearing remarkable stories of survival. They include

a kennel owner who rode out the storm alongside the pet that he was taking care off as the building was destroyed around.

[08:15:03] Charlie Burgess is the owner of Pawaday Inn in Panama City. He joins us now, along with one of the dogs that he saved.

We understand that's Lucy right next to you, Charlie. Wow. What an ordeal you just lived through.

So, you had 12 dogs to protect and two cats, as we understand it. What did you think when you heard that Hurricane Michael had become a category four and was headed straight to you?

CHARLIE BURGESS, OWNER OF PAWADAY INN: Well, we started to wonder a little bit about it, but we didn't have time to pack them up and go anywhere because it was too late by then. So, we decided --

(CROSSSTAK)

CAMEROTA: Sorry to interrupt you. You live in a room at the kennel so that you can provide 24/7 care for the pets. What did you do, Charlie? How did you protect the pets during the storm?

BURGESS: Well, we -- once the boarding area, the roof -- like it was sucking up and out, we relocated the animals from the boarding area to the front of the building and a couple in the back of the building, which was a more sturdier side of the building. And then about five minutes after we did that, the roof totally sucked up off of the boarding area.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

BURGESS: And then, then it blew the back of the building off, and that's where she was in the back, so we had to -- me and the other guy, Robert, we had to push through the door because we couldn't get through because the wind was so strong and we had to get her and about three other ones out of the back and move them to the front. We finally got them out there.

CAMEROTA: Let me ask you. What was happening? After the roof blew off and then as I understand it the walls around you were collapsing, how were all the animals like Lucy reacting?

BURGESS: Believe it or not, there was only one of them that was really excited. The rest of them were just stunned. They were just standing there looking and they were really waiting on us to do something, which we did.

We got them out and we got them up to the front. We put them in the tub. We call it the tub room, which is the tub room in the kitchen were the two rooms only still standing besides the front. That's where we had all them at.

CAMEROTA: But did you ever consider -- I mean, when you realized how bad it was going to get, did you ever consider leaving the animals behind?

BURGESS: No, no. We would have had -- no. We wasn't going to leave. Because they don't belong to us, but the owner of the shop -- she's the owner. I'm just running it.

Tracy Westbrook, her philosophy was to be with the dogs 24/7. You know, that way the owner feels safe that the dogs are being looked after.

CAMEROTA: Well, we -- I mean --

BURGESS: So we just rode it out. That was all we could do.

CAMEROTA: It's remarkable.

BURGESS: Making sure that the dogs and the cats were safe. We were lucky.

CAMEROTA: I'm sure the owners are so grateful. The pets were lucky to have you as their protector and that you decided to try to save all these pets' lives and you succeeded. You saved all the dogs lives. I know you lost one cat, which you are very sad about, but you saved the other cat and I know the owners are very grateful to you.

Charlie Burgess from Pawaday Kennel, thank you very, very much for joining us.

BURGESS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: If you would like to help those affected by Hurricane Michael, go to CNN.com/impact.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And they need help, they really do.

A source tells CNN that Turkey had evidence that a missing journalist was murdered inside the Saudi consulate.

Plus, a new interview with the first lady where she's asked directly about the stories about her husband's reported infidelity.

Maggie Haberman joins us to talk about this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:22] BERMAN: A major development in the disappearance of a Saudi journalist. A source tells CNN the Turkish authorities have audio and video evidence that shows Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

How is the president going to respond to this?

Joining us now is White House correspondent for "The New York Times" and CNN political analyst, Maggie Haberman.

Maggie, it's been fascinating watching the president specifically how he has handled this, because he stands around it. MAGGIE HABERMAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Oh, yes.

BERMAN: He seems very uncomfortable condemning the reports of what apparently -- reports now say happen that this individual, Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate.

HABERMAN: And I think you saw the president say yesterday to reporters in the Oval Office was not something that I think most of his administration wanted him to say. He put it in very stark terms. Well, A, he is not a citizen. B, it didn't happen here. And, C, we have an arms deal with the Saudis, which is striking -- it's astonishing to hear our president say this.

Still, this is not something we are used to. I think he would rather not talk about it. I think his aides would rather not have him talked about it. But if you are going to have him flooding the zone press- wise, as he's been doing all week, this is what is going to happen.

I don't expect it to get much better in terms of his language except that we are seeing the Senate push him, right? And this is what we saw with Russia as well. If he is pushed by the institution of this country that has a check on executive power, he will generally modulate his behavior.

But what that translates to, I don't know. The big question right now is this conference that is taking place next week. As of now, Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary this morning said he is still planning ongoing. A lot of people are waiting from a signal from the administration. So far, the signal is just keep it up.

CAMEROTA: By the way, the president seems very fixated on the $110 billion arms sales to Saudi. He wants that money for the U.S. and says they will get it elsewhere if the U.S. doesn't go along with it.

But that number is suspect. A lots of fact checkers say there is just memorandums of intent, that they are not actually getting $110 billion.

HABERMAN: Over and over we have heard this number is not quite the high bar the president sets it at. We are not surprised to hear him use a number as big as possible, right, to say, look at something historic that I did.

But, again, we have never heard a U.S. president certainly in my lifetime talk so candidly about, well, here is the dollar value of this life versus this. And it -- he never has appeared to understand the degree to which a president's words carry, the U.S. president's words carry across the globe and what the U.S. does in this moment sends a huge signal if the Saudis feel like they were going to be repercussions, they might be doing things differently.

[08:25:04] BERMAN: This wasn't even implicitly. This was explicitly --

HABERMAN: No, it's the inside perks at outside as this president does over and over.

BERMAN: All right. Maggie, there has been this remarkable interview, Tom Llamas from ABC, did with the First Lady Melania Trump, where there has been one piece of news after another coming from it as ABC has rolled it out.

And there is a new piece they unveiled this morning where Tom asked the first lady about her marriage. So let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM LLAMAS, ABC NEWS: You are not the first first lady to have to deal with her husband's alleged infidelities. Has this put a strain on your marriage?

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY: It is a concern and focus of mine. I'm a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do. I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage.

LLAMAS: You mention you still have a good marriage. Do you love your husband?

MELANIA TRUMP: Yes. We are fine, yes. It's what media speculate, and it's gossip and it's not always correct stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Reaction?

HABERMAN: Look, number one, anything she says for the most part is going to be news because she has done so few of these interviews, right? Number one.

Number two, we know that she is deeply bothered by these reports about infidelity. She hates seeing these headlines, and the president tends to react to seeing her hate seeing these headlines. I think she handled that about as briefly as you could. She clearly doesn't want to talk about this.

This is no -- correct, I don't fault her at all. This is not something that I think she felt like she signed up for. I think she wants to move off this topic as quickly as possible.

I think that there is a growing recognition that she is not going to be able to do that. When you are the first lady, it is harder to claim the zone of privacy, which another first lady, Hillary Clinton, tried for a very long to take, right? This is going to keep coming up.

And it's just worth noting that the context with which this question has come up is in connection with a criminal case involving the president's former lawyer, Michael Cohen. This is not just talking about things that have happened in the past. It is a very specific contest.

CAMEROTA: OK, Kanye West, there's spectacle in the Oval Office.

HABERMAN: Of course, we're going to do there.

BERMAN: She broke the story.

HABERMAN: Very proud.

CAMEROTA: We have rarely seen President Trump speechless, but he was speechless. And he didn't know what to say afterwards, it seemed, because it was such a sort of meandering, surreal experience. What is the feeling inside the White House about this?

HABERMAN: It's really funny. So, this was very much a Jared Kushner show, the Kanye West arrival at the West Wing. The president had met with Kanye West during the transition as you might remember. Kanye West talked about his love for the president.

The president does tend to have a little bit more of an inner guide than I think it seems sometimes about how closely you want to hold someone. Jared Kushner brought Kanye West in to talk about prison reform and also to talk job opportunities for inmates after they get out of prison and then this lunch was put on the president's calendar.

The president -- if you look at his face as Kanye West was going a filibuster, he looked sort of -- you're right. It is speechless and confused, right? He's not certain quite what to do with this.

There are mixed reactions in the West Wing. You can see Jared curb near there looking very happy. His wife Ivanka not looking quite as happy, and I think that represented the split that you saw in the White House.

There were a bunch of aides who flocked to the West Wing with their cameras. I heard from other West Wing aides who were hugely embarrassed that that had happened. Thought that was not a good look. This is not a rock concert.

And what -- the main sentiment I have heard from people in the West Wing is, why have we taken what was a pretty good week for the president, with Kavanaugh, which is something that Republican candidates would probably rather be talking about and why are we now doing Kanye week? And I think that there's not a clear answer.

CAMEROTA: Excellent.

BERMAN: Let's leave it there.

CAMEROTA: On that note, thank you.

BERMAN: Great to have you here, Maggie. Thanks so much.

HABERMAN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right. As we've been covering all morning, the catastrophic devastation in Florida's panhandle. Communities have been reduced to rubble. Senator Marco Rubio is going to join us with what's next for Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)