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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hurricane Laura Slams Into Gulf Coast with 150 MPH Winds; Laura Strongest Hurricane to Hit Louisiana in More than a Century; Athletes Take Stand After Kenosha Police Shooting; CDC Pressured From the Top Down to Alter Testing Guidance; Futures Fall as Storm Hits Heart of Oil Industry. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 27, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And we begin with the big breaking news this morning. The strongest storm to hit Louisiana in a century making landfall overnight. Category 4 hurricane Laura is expected to bring storm surges to Louisiana and Texas that officials are calling unsurvivable as far as 40 miles inland. Surges of 15 feet or higher could overwhelm coasts in both states.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Water levels are already rising quickly, more than 1.5 million people are under some type of evacuation order. Coronavirus and the need to maintain social distancing is complicating the hurricane response. In Louisiana, the state is taking people to hotels instead of shelters. Laura is just the tenth hurricane to make landfall in the United States with winds of 150 miles per hour or more.

JARRETT: And power is already out for more than 200,000 customers in Louisiana. Conditions are deteriorating rapidly in Lake Charles, that's where CNN's Martin Savidge is this morning for us. He joins us live. Martin, when we checked in with you earlier, you had to head into the hotel there for shelter. What are you seeing now?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we ventured out a little bit. This is as far as where we'll go. We're inside actually the parking deck and I don't know if you can hear the incredible roar, it sort of ranges between a shrieking loud whine and then at times it just sounds like a 747-jet engine at full takeoff power. There's no way that we could step beyond the threshold of this building here. We simply would be swept away.

It's very clear there's already a lot of tree damage outside. We know there's been structure all damage as well to this hotel complex. We have been hearing that at least in the parish inside of Lake Charles there is not flooding. Now if that holds, that would be extremely good news. Because that has been one of the greatest fears. But of course, we still have a long way to go. But the initial report is that there is not flooding in the city of Lake Charles.

Now we are hearing that there's structural damage, but there's no way to really ascertain how severe or how widespread it is. You can still hear that this storm is going wild. And the storm surge was projected to potentially go as much as 40 miles inland. The topography around here is extremely flat so there's little to stop it from coming right from the ocean shore and marching all the way in. We still have a long way to go. We think the eye passed by us, but if there was any respite, it was very brief and now the violence outside is almost unbelievable -- Laura.

JARRETT: All right, Martin, glad to see that you've got those protective glasses on. We'll check in with you soon.

ROMANS: All right, Beaumont, Texas is also directly in the path of hurricane Laura. CNN's Derek van Dam is there and joins us live. What are the conditions like now, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Christine. We are getting battered here in Beaumont, Texas, but getting crushed near Lake Charles where Martin is located. This has been an extremely scary storm for people within this area because they know the power of the hurricanes that move through this region. They lived through Harvey. They lived through Rita. They lived through Ike.

But this area just as soon as you think that maybe you're in the clear, well, all of a sudden, a band of rain and extremely heavy wind starts moving through and it knocks out our power. Last hour we had full power at the hotel that we're staying at, but now we're completely in dark just like the hundreds of thousands of other people across extreme southeast Texas and into western Louisiana.

Now the eye is moving across the central portions of Louisiana as we speak. Now that is going to lure a sense of false security for people there. Because they think the storm is over, but that is false. You got to remember the back side of the system can often be just as destructive if not more because all the damage that is already on the ground is going to be picked right back up again after that lull in the winds.

We have another 6 to 12 hours of tropical storm-force winds here in be Beaumont, Texas. That means there are no search and rescue operations ongoing. Remember, winds have to drop below tropical storm force for those to be reinstated. That was according to one of the local Beaumont police officers that we spoke to this morning. She also told me that previous hurricanes that have moved across this region have knocked out power in some of the rural areas for over a month.

So we have to be prepared that the potential at least exists for considering the COVID pandemic that this is amongst that the potential exists for several days if not weeks of no electricity within this area that has been hit so hard by major hurricane Laura. Of course, we've got storm surge concerns closer to the coast, closer to the east. We've got Interstate 10 behind me. It's open here, so we have an exit point. But residents that are ten miles to my east near the border of Texas and Louisiana, not so fortunate because Interstate 10 is currently closed, no evacuation options for you there. You have to try to take the side roads north to get out. But of course, that ship has sailed because if you haven't evacuated by now, it's too late -- Christine. ROMANS: This is no time to be moving anywhere.

[04:35:10]

This is hunker down and tried to get through this. Derek, thanks so much. And, Laura, just the size of the storm, you know, the biggest storm to hit the coast there in 150 years, could redraw the coastline it's just so huge.

JARRETT: Yes, it's one of the things that our reporters have been mentioning. You know, this is a recovery that could take years and we're still in the middle of a pandemic. I mean, it's just unfathomable if you think about.

All right, we'll be getting a new update from the National Hurricane Center about 25 minutes away. So where is hurricane Laura headed now? Meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking the storm for us. Chad, it seems like one of the thing that makes this storm different is just how far inland it's supposed to go.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure, because it had so much momentum. It came off the Gulf Coast and just rolled right on land. And I think what the surprise will be here -- and there's always something that no one really thought about -- is how much surge is going to be to the east. How much surge is going to be to the east of the eye? Because they just talked about how the water is not going up yet in Lake Charles. Because it was the center of the eye eastward that the surge is happening. But that water is coming up in Lake Charles.

Something else for Lake Charles, gusting from 120 to 135 for over one hour. That is an EF-2 tornado over the town of Lake Charles for an entire hour. And that tornado is 30 miles wide. This is the destruction that we're going to wake up to or going to wake up maybe till tomorrow. Because I've seen some pictures here, the storm chasers are out there, and buildings are destroyed. Lake Charles is really a big disaster zone right now and they are only on the one side of the eye. There's another side to come.

About 130 miles per hour still right now. It'll move to the north. It'll eventually get all the way up toward Shreveport and Little Rock and Lafayette, you're going to be in it really probably 70 miles per hour now, but it's still going up. It's the surge we talked about, 15 to 20 feet. The eye came on shore a couple of hours ago near Cameron, Louisiana. So, the surge for Holly Beach and Cameron and points east, 20 feet. And those islands aren't even 20 feet high. So, it would be unfathomable to think that that lot is left there.

The water is going to go all the way to I-20. It's going to take some time. So, I know people are going, oh, we missed the surge. No, that water is still moving in your direction. That wind is still blowing from the ocean, from the Gulf all the way up toward you. And then finally by Little Rock by 6:00 or 7:00 tonight, you get into 60-mile- per-hour winds and that's not 130. But we will see power lines down, trees down.

But so many trees are shredded in Louisiana right now that it's going to take a very long time for power to come back up. It's going to take a long time to get out of places even if you did survive because the roads are going to be closed with power poles and trees and all that. You will have to cut your way out of there if you survive this if you stayed because this is going to take a long process just to get to you.

So, let's get to the future radar. There's Lake Charles. There's Alexandria. Moving up towards Shreveport, on up toward Pine Bluff later on today. And even though the winds will have died to maybe less than 100, every time a storm comes over, the winds are going to pick up. It's going to be 40 to 70, 40 to 90, 40 to 100, every time a storm band rolls over, there's going to be the potential for a tornado as well. Because these storms are all spinning because the entire thing is a big clock.

And so, as it continues to move on by, these storms will continue to spin and tornado warnings will continue to be posted and also obviously, we'll have significant rainfall. Not only are you pushing 20 feet of saltwater up these rivers, you're going to try to have to drain all of the rain that is coming out of the storm too. That's going to make the flooding in some spots even worse -- Laura.

JARRETT: All right, Chad, thank you so much for breaking all of that down for us. We'll check back with you in a little bit.

ROMANS: Yes, there is just so much going on here in terms of the storm. Josh Morgerman has been tracking hurricane Laura. He's a storm chaser and he is joining us from Sulphur, Louisiana just to the west of Lake Charles. What are you seeing there right now? How have the conditions deteriorated over the past couple of hours?

JOSH MORGERMAN, HURRICANE CHASER: Well, they're actually (INAUDIBLE). Sulfur was the bull's-eye right you through the center of this hurricane. So, we went to the front side versus the front eyewall which was ferocious. I saw palm trees just snapping out, flying debris, you know, windows are breaking. And it was like this roaring sound like you couldn't believe. And then it calmed down. I got in the eye for about an hour, it was dead calm. Like you could officially build a card house outside if you wanted.

And now, the back side of the hurricane is moving in, so the wind is picking up again from the opposite direction. You can hear it whistling and howling now outside. So, we're about to go through the other half of the hurricane.

JARRETT: Josh, what is the biggest concern right now? I imagine there is a lot, but I mean, is it the storm surge, obviously extremely dangerous? Is it the wind gusts? What is most concerning for you?

MORGERMAN: It is a great question because I was sort of wrestling with that in my mind.

[04:40:00]

This area is very prone -- you know, all of southern, southwestern Louisiana is prone to massive storm surge. The locals didn't seem to worry about it -- too worried about it at least right here in the town of Sulfur. That was my biggest concern. The interesting thing is (INAUDIBLE) because they're so complicated, but I have not seen any storm surge at our location. The water has not come up and flooded the building or the parking lot.

So, for here at this location, it's definitely been the wind. There's a lot of damage to the building. Those winds were absolutely ferocious. And you know, there're broken windows, walls have separated from the building, things like that. So here it's wind and I'm hoping it stays that way because of course, that water, you know, once it comes up, it's bad news.

ROMANS: Yes, Josh, we've been looking at unsurvivable storm surge is what the national hurricane center said. And that really got people's attention. I mean, 30 to 40 miles inland, that is remarkable. That's the kind of water that can change inlets, make new inlets, sort of redraw the topography there where you are.

MORGERMAN: Yes, this area of the world, like kind of southeast Texas and southern Louisiana is some of the most dangerous territory on earth in terms of hurricanes. Because this whole place is basically, a big marsh land with towns and cities built on it. And most of it's like just a couple feet above sea level and so it is so vulnerable.

This is the hardest -- I chase hurricanes and typhoons all over the world, every continent, every hemisphere and I most dread chasing around here because of that, because it is so flat and the storm surge can just come rushing as you said up to 40 miles inland. I mean, it's unbelievable. You just -- what do you do with that, you know. The amount of people in danger from this thing is just incredible.

JARRETT: You know, Josh, as you said, you've been chasing storms for, you know, nearly three decades at this point. Have you ever seen a hurricane like this? I mean I think it is tied for the worst -- I think it was the last 150 years was the last one this bad.

MORGERMAN: This is the absolute -- this is going to become the new benchmark storm for this region of the United States. You know, the past biggies in this region were hurricane Audrey of 1957, which made landfall almost in the exact same place. Killed hundreds of people in the town of Cameron.

The reason being, going back to what we are talking about, the main town was actually quite far inland, and people thought that they were safe. And didn't realize that the surge is going to come in and hundreds died. So, lessons learned. And then in 2005 hurricane Rita made landfall in this location right around here and devastated this region again. But I think that hurricane Laura just because of its intensity by far the strongest on record for this region, I think Laura is the new benchmark for this part of the United States.

ROMANS: Yes, so much of this story still unfolding, Josh. You know, I mean, you have this storm -- another half of this storm to get through here and then the sun will come up and we'll have to see what kind of damage there is, water rescues and the like. And this will be days and weeks potentially without power for some folks just given the sheer size of the storm and the wind.

MORGERMAN: Well yes, I think it's going to be -- I mean, I hate to say it, but it's going to be a long tough road for the reasons you described. And the thing about the storm surge floating around here is that it comes up and then it takes a long time to go back out into the Gulf. So, there's going to be flooding. It's not like the hurricane leaves and then everything is nice. There is going to be a lot of water everywhere. And that's going to kind of hamper the efforts to clean up. You know, it's pitch black right now, there is no power or anything. You know, all you hear is sounds, you know crashing and howling. And you know, I just can't imagine what this place is going to look like when the sun comes up.

JARRETT: Josh, before we let you go, do you have any sense -- it might be hard to tell, whether people took this warning seriously and got out in time? You know, people there are obviously used to riding out tough situations. They've been through things like this before. But this one is different. Do you have a sense of whether people kind of hunkered down because of the coronavirus or got out?

MORGERMAN: You know, that's a great question and I had trouble getting a sense for it. One thing I'll say is, you know, sometimes when hurricanes approach parts of the United States, you just sense this mass panic in the air. Like you can taste it. You see the long lines at the gas stations, people hoarding, you know, supplies and all that. I didn't sense that.

I thought folks in southeast Texas, southwest Louisiana, seemed rather calm. Like there were no lines at gas stations or anything else. It seemed like people were taking, you know, proper precautions. One thing I'll say though is that a lot of people stayed here in Sulfur. I mean, I see them around and there are a lot of people in this hotel.

And if you look at the surge maps, the surge maps said that there was a chance that this hotel, this area was going to be under water. And when I talk to the locals, and I asked them before the hurricane, I said, hey, so what do you think? You know, I talked to a couple people who lived in Sulfur their whole lives and had been through lots of different hurricanes. And they said, well this area, it's never flooded before. We don't think that it will flood this time.

Microphone off there should be two things of 24 each right Now I was concerned because Laura is a stronger bigger hurricane than the previous ones that they've been through.

[04:45:00]

But so far, I mean knock on wood, so far looks like the locals might have been right about this one at this location.

ROMANS: All right. Josh Morgerman, hurricane chaser in Sulfur, Louisiana. Stay safe. Keep us posted. Thank you so much for your time. I know, it's kind of a harrowing night.

In about 15 minutes, we'll get another update from the National Hurricane Center. We're going to bring that to you. Again, strongest storm in 150 years to hit that part of the Gulf Coast. We're following Laura.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JARRETT: Athletes across the U.S. are taking a stand after police in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back. According to reports, the L.A. Lakers in the L.A. Clippers voted to boycott the rest of the NBA season while other teams have voted to keep playing. It all began with the Milwaukee Bucks players deciding to boycott their playoff game Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we take the court and we represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable. We hold ourselves to that standard and in this moment, we are demanding the same from lawmakers and law enforcement. We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:50:00]

ROMANS: The Bucks move cascaded three NBA playoff series put on hold within hours. WNBA, Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games were called off, including the Reds/Brewers game in Milwaukee. Long time NBA player and broadcaster Kenny Smith, he took a stand of his own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNY SMITH NBA ANALYST: And for me, I think the biggest thing now is to kind of as a black man, as a former player, I think it's best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight.

And figure out what happens after that. I just hope you all don't question that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I respect that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: What a moment. The Bucks ownership backed the move to boycott. The team, senior vice president tweeting.

Some things are bigger than basketball.

And former President Barack Obama praised the Bucks players for quote, standing up for what they believe in.

ROMANS: Investigators have finally released a rough timeline of what they say happened Sunday when Kenosha police shot Jacob Blake. Wisconsin's Attorney General says police were called by a woman who said her boyfriend was at her place who was not supposed to be. Officers arrived and attempted to arrest Jacob Blake although officials never explained if Blake was in fact the boyfriend who the woman had called about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH KAUL, WISCONSIN ATTORNEY GENERAL: During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession and DCI agents -- that's the Division of Criminal Investigation -- recovered a knife from the driver's side floor board of Mr. Blake's vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Now a Blake family lawyer says Jacob Blake did not have a weapon in the car. The officer who pulled the trigger has been identified as seven-year veteran Rusten Sheskey. He is now on administrative leave.

Meantime, a suspect has been arrested in the shooting that killed two people early yesterday. This's 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse. He's been charged with first degree intentional homicide. He is accused of shooting two people with a long rifle. It's part of a vigilante show of force as protests grew in Kenosha.

ROMANS: All right, in Minneapolis, the National Guard is being deployed and a curfew has been imposed after rioting and theft at retail stores in the downtown area Wednesday night. The unrest was sparked by false rumors that police had shot a homicide suspect who actually took his own life. Police almost immediately shared surveillance video of the suicide. Though it did little to calm crowds.

All right, 52 minutes past the hour. This monster storm made landfall just about three hours ago. We're going to get a live report from the National Hurricane Center soon here in about seven minutes, about what's happening with hurricane Laura.

[04:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking this morning, hurricane Laura making landfall overnight as a category 4 storm bringing with it, devastating winds to the Gulf Coast. Officials say unsurvivable storm surges are forecasted to get Louisiana and Texas as far as 40 miles inland. Surges of 15 feet or higher could overwhelm coasts in both those states. Water levels are already moving up quickly, and more than 1.5 million people are under some type of evacuation order. We have reporters live in Texas and Louisiana in a few minutes.

JARRETT: Turning now to the coronavirus. CNN has learned that the CDC was pressured to change coronavirus testing guidance. A federal health official says word came straight from the top down. The new guidelines say some people without symptoms don't necessarily need testing even if they have been in close contact with someone infected. Now, doctors say that makes no sense at all. There is no new evidence for it, and they suggest it could be a way to artificially drive down the testing numbers. Still the top federal official in charge of testing defends the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, HHS ASSISTANT SECRETARY: There is no direction from President Trump, the Vice President or the secretary about what we need to do when. This is evidence-based decisions that are driven by the scientists and physicians both within the CDC, within my office in the lab task force and certainly among the task force members.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CDC Director Dr. Redfield also says that the new guidelines, quote, received appropriate attention and input from task force experts. But at least one task force expert did not weigh in. Dr. Anthony Fauci was undergoing surgery during the August 20th task force meeting where the guidelines were discussed. Fauci now says he's concerned that the new guidelines, quote, will give people the incorrect assumption asymptomatic spread is not of great concern, in fact, it is.

Let's get a quick check on business this Thursday morning. Look at markets around the world, Asian shares mixed, Europe opening lower here this morning. On Wall Street futures are lowers at Harvey oil industry is slammed by hurricane Laura. Stocks finished higher Wednesday. The Dow up 84 points, still about 1,000 points below its February high. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq hit record highs again. Something the campaign has pointed to as a sign of the President's stewardship of the economy as millions of people are still unemployed.

A shakeup at TikTok, Kevin Mayer stepping down as CEO as the app faces backlash from President from. The White House decided national security concerns around the personal information of its users. The President has said TikTok owes the U.S. for its success and wants it sold to an American company by September 15th or he will shut it down here.

JARRETT: All right, a historically massive storm slamming the Gulf coast, we have a new update from the National Hurricane Center. EARLY START continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JARRETT: Right now, unsurvivable storm surges as hurricane Laura slams the Gulf. CNN has it covered right.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, August 27. It is 5:00 a.m. in New York and 4:00 a.m. in Texas and Louisiana.

And we begin there with the breaking news. The strongest storm to hit Louisiana in a century making landfall in the last two hours -- three hours now. Hurricane Laura is expected to bring storm surges that officials are calling unsurvivable to Louisiana and Texas, as far as 40 miles inland. Louisiana has not seen a storm this strong in 150 years. Surges of 15 feet or higher could overwhelm coasts in both states.

JARRETT: Water levels are already rising quickly. More than 1.5 million people are under some type of evacuation order. And coronavirus, of course, and the need to maintain social distancing complicating the hurricane response. In Louisiana, the state is taking people to hotels instead of shelters. Laura is just the tenth hurricane in history to make landfall in the U.S. with winds 150 miles per hour or more.

[05:00:00]