Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Four Missing After Cargo Ship Capsizes Off Georgia Coast; Inside Look at the Taliban Group; National Weather Service Warned Staff Not to Contradict Social Media Post; mark Sanford Launches Primary Challenge Against Trump; Interview with Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) on Cancelled Secret Taliban Meeting at Camp David. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired September 08, 2018 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:16]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Thanks for being here. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

Our breaking news tonight, rescue efforts on hold off the coast of Georgia after a massive cargo ship nearly 700 feet long capsized in St. Simons Sound. The Coast Guard says it was able to rescue 20 crew members before a fire onboard made it too risky for them to continue, so now the fate of four more people onboard remains unknown.

CNN's Natasha Chen has made her way to St. Simons, Georgia.

Natasha, I understand you are learning about the harrowing rescue of the 20 people who managed to get off that ship. What are you hearing?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, it sounds like it was a team effort and very difficult to accomplish. Right now, this sight behind us, this ship that we want to show a little closer view of, it's a sight that stops you in your tracks. I mean, this is one of many cargo ships that pass here on a daily basis that locals see, but never have they seen a ship not going anywhere, on its side. You can see right now that the U.S. Coast Guard is kind of on standby right outside the ship there. And you mentioned, they had to put a hold on their rescue mission on the ship.

And that's because earlier today, there was black smoke and flames visible. Lieutenant Phillip VanderWeit of the U.S. Coast Guard told me that there was possibly even multiple fires. And so because of that and instability, they had to get off of the vessel and stop that operation for now.

Just about an hour ago, the U.S. Coast Guard did tweet that they have a damage assessment team coming from station Brunswick. And so that's the team that's going to have to come here and make sure it's safe and stable for a rescue crew to get back onboard to look for those four people. I do want to mention that rescue that you talked about of the other 20 people, there is video from the Coast Guard that they shared from early this morning, about 4:00, 5:00 a.m. there were people, they said, coming from different exits off of this ship. So that made the rescue extra challenging. Some of them were hoisted

up into a helicopter. Others were lowered. Some by fire hose on to boats. And so it was a very difficult mission with lots of parties involved. And now it's a waiting game of seeing when they will be allowed back on that ship.

And I just want to briefly show you, too, this side of the camera, just how many people have come out on the pier here. They've been here all afternoon just looking at this site, taking pictures of this ship. So this is definitely something unusual that folks don't see every day. And everyone is wondering, Ana, about how those four people are going to get off the boat and what their condition is.

CABRERA: You have quite the audience there, Natasha. What about the fires burning onboard? Do we know, are they out yet?

CHEN: Yes, so the Coast Guard tells me that the smoke has ceased. They no longer see a sign of fire on the outside of the ship, but they can't be entirely certain that everything is extinguished inside. And that's why they need that damage assessment team to come out and reassure them, make sure that everything is stable enough for people to get back onboard. There are folks specifically trained for this type of situation coming for different areas and that's what the wait is right now.

CABRERA: OK. Natasha Chen reporting for us, thank you.

Also developing tonight, we now know leaders of the Taliban will not be setting foot on American soil at the invitation of President Trump, at least not for now. Few people outside the White House even knew about this meeting for face-to-face peace talks set up and now canceled until this weekend.

It was a secret. Part of the president's explanation is that the Taliban admitted to a bombing last week that killed an American soldier. The secret plan was for Taliban leaders and the president of Afghanistan to meet with President Trump at Camp David in Maryland. That was going to happen today. When the American public was going to find out about this, we don't know that.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the administration still wants to strike a three-way deal and a source close to the planning tells CNN that they're looking for new dates to meet and negotiate. Pompeo was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning and says the Taliban is making all the right promises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: They have committed to us that they would sign an agreement that so said -- that said that they would break from al Qaeda. That said that they would take --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you trust them?

POMPEO: To take on -- Jake, trust but verify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: "Trust, but verify." He's talking about the Taliban. The super-violent radicals who gave shelter to Osama bin Laden.

So, let's take a look inside this group whose leaders, at least temporarily, were invited to sit at the historic presidential retreat at Camp David.

[20:05:05]

CNN chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, has spent considerable time talking to Taliban commanders at great risk to herself. Watch this interview she did with a Taliban leader who admits to the group's violence and brutality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We start out by asking about the Taliban's brutal tactics and the U.S. concern that they could, once again, offer safe haven to terrorists.

MAWLAVI KHAKSAR, TALIBAN SHADOW GOVERNOR (through translator): Whether it's the Americans or ISIS, no foreign forces would be allowed in the country once we start ruling Afghanistan.

WARD (on camera): Are there real efforts being made to stop killing civilians?

KHAKSAR (through translator): Those responsible for civilian casualties are the ones who came with their aircrafts, artillery, B-52 and heavy weaponry.

WARD (voice over): In reality, the Taliban is responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in the last three years alone.

(On camera): And what about these suicide bombings at polling stations, for example? These kill many civilians.

KHAKSAR (through translator): We deny this. This accusation is not acceptable to us.

WARD (voice over): There are small signs that the Taliban is moving with the times.

KHAKSAR (through translator): I listen to the radio. Also Facebook and other media.

WARD (on camera): You're on Facebook?

KHAKSAR (through translator): Yes.

WARD (voice over): But it's clear that the fundamental ideology has not changed.

(On camera): So if somebody is found guilty of stealing, you cut off their hand? KHAKSAR (through translator): Yes, we implement the Sharia. We

follow Sharia instruction.

WARD: And if somebody is found guilty of adultery, you will stone them to death?

KHAKSAR (through translator): Yes, the Sharia allows stoning to death.

WARD (voice over): As we're leaving the interview, the military commander for the district arrives and a dispute breaks out about us. They should have brought a man, one of them says.

(On camera): So the issue right now is that they don't want us to walk outside with the governor because I'm a woman. They think it's inappropriate.

(Voice over): We agree to follow the men at a distance, something I've never had to do in my career.

(On camera): Do you want to see peace between the Taliban and America?

MUBARIZ MUJAHID, TALIBAN MILITARY COMMANDER (through translator): It would be better if this question was put to the spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate.

WARD: Do you feel like the Taliban is winning the war?

MUJAHID (through translator): God willing, we are hopeful. We are supported by God.

WARD: As people try to process the extraordinary news that senior Taliban leaders were invited to Camp David on the week of the 9/11 anniversary, the question many will now be asking is what happens next? What does all of this mean for the negotiations that have been going on for almost a year, nine rounds of talks between the U.S. and the Taliban?

Well, in his tweets, the president says that he's called the talks off, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to indicate that they will continue as long as the Taliban honors its agreement to reduce violence. The Taliban has also released a statement, accusing the U.S. of being against peace, saying that Trump's tweets have lowered the U.S.' credibility, but they stopped short of saying that they will actually step away from the negotiating table.

Now, there have been many criticisms of this potential deal between the U.S. and the Taliban. On the grounds that it concedes too much to the Taliban without extracting enough concessions from the group. That the Afghan government has not been sufficiently involved in negotiations. That there are no preconditions of a cease-fire or guarantees to protect women's rights, but still, many see this as being the U.S.'s best chance of getting out of its longest war after nearly 2400 U.S. servicemen have been killed and with no victory in sight. Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: At first, it was almost funny, the back and forth between President Trump and the National Weather groups on whether Dorian would actually hit Alabama. Trump tweeting that it would, in fact, hit sparked this tweet from the National Weather Service in Birmingham, saying that it wouldn't, and then there was this. A map that appears to be altered with a black Sharpie to include Alabama in the cone of uncertainty.

But it doesn't stop there. CNN has now confirmed the National Weather Service told its staff not to contradict a social media post clearly from the president.

CNN's White House correspondent, Boris Sanchez, joins us now.

Boris, what more have you learned?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ana. This memo coming from the National Weather Service, giving a very thinly veiled reference to the president's tweets and this ongoing controversy about what the president said regarding a warning to the people of Alabama about Hurricane Dorian.

[20:10:08]

It effectively tells staffers at the National Weather Service to be quiet and to not raise any of their opinions about this whole controversy, even though President Trump has not stopped weighing in. He tweeted about it several times this weekend. Again, we should be clear. When the president tweeted this warning to the people of Alabama, Hurricane Dorian had already shifted. It was not threatening the people of Alabama at that point at all.

The president insists, though, that the press has got this wrong. Here's an excerpt from an e-mail that was sent out ordering that this memo be sent out to NWS staffers. It tells staffers to, quote, "only stick with official National Hurricane Center forecasts. If questions arise from some national level social media posts this afternoon." Again, a thinly veiled reference to the president's twitter feed. "Staff should not provide any opinion about the national level post."

The memo warning staff to be quiet about this whole thing. A spokesperson for the National Weather Service telling CNN that they want their staff to be focused on the weather and not on politics. But this simply goes beyond politics. This is a federal agency essentially telling its staffers to be quiet and to not contradict the president, because they risk making him look bad -- Ana.

CABRERA: Boris Sanchez at the White House for us. Thank you.

Coming up, another prominent Republican jumping in to challenge President Trump. But the candidate's home state of South Carolina has already nixed the Republican primary in that state that would have let voters decide. So what's next for Mark Sanford?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:07]

CABRERA: President Trump has a new Republican primary challenger. Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor and congressman, announcing today his plan to take on the incumbent president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK SANFORD (R), FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: I have and, you know, I plan to announce that back home this week. We had a hurricane come visit us on the coast of South Carolina, so that sort of disrupted plans on that front, but I'm here to tell you now that I am going to get in. I think as a party we have lost our way. The president has called himself the king of debt, has a familiarity and comfort level with debt that I think is ultimately leading us in the wrong direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Sanford comes with well-documented personal baggage. As governor, he disappeared for a week in 2009, telling his staff that he was hiking the Appalachian trail. In reality, Sanford, who was married, was in Argentina with his mistress.

He is now the third Republican to challenge Trump. Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld are also in the race.

Let's discuss with CNN political analyst and congressional reporter for "The Washington Post," Karoun Demirjian, and national politics reporter for Yahoo! News, Brittany Shepherd.

Ladies, good to have both of you with us.

Karoun, let me start with you. The fact that Walsh, Weld and now Sanford have jumped into this 2020 race, does that mean they sense some weakness in Republican support for the Trump presidency?

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it's a reflection of what we've always known was there, which is that there is a subset of the Republican Party that is not in lockstep behind President Trump despite the control that he has over most of the organs of the GOP. And you're seeing that frustration from that wing of the party that is, you know, the more traditional people who have been around for a long time for the most part. Putting some -- these candidates putting their name out to say that they will challenge Trump for the party nomination.

Now, how significant of a challenge that any one of them can mount is up for question, because they don't have the same sort of spotlight or soap box or name recognition at this point as President Trump does. It takes a lot for anybody to challenge a sitting president also, and then also, what opportunity are they going to actually have to be able to launch a campaign that can compete with the president's which has already been well underway for a while?

We don't know. But the fact that more and more names keep coming out there suggest that there is a part of the GOP that's up for grabs. Whether it's going to be one of these candidates or the general election that they're not comfortable with Trump. And if there's a sizable enough number of people that aren't comfortable with Trump, that could mean more numbers of humans in play for when we actually get to the general election next year in November.

CABRERA: Brittany, at the same time, though, you do have South Carolina skipping its GOP primary altogether as a show of support for Trump and multiple other states considering doing the same thing.

BRITTANY SHEPHERD, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, YAHOO NEWS: Well, yes, Ana, it's clear that folks like Bill Weld and Joe Walsh and Mark Sanford have a very, very tough battle ahead of them. If you look at the data, around even the most conservative estimates have 90 percent of the American GOP supporting President Donald Trump. But 10 percent is not an insignificant number of voters to try to capitalize and court.

And when I think of someone like Mark Sanford, I think a little bit of what Jay Inslee was in this Democratic primary. And if you can stay with me for this tortured metaphor for a second is that before Jay Inslee came into the race, climate change was not the center point of Democratic politics in the way it is now. Look, CNN even had a multi- hour debate just on climate change.

And you wonder if Mark Sanford isn't going to do the same thing with debt in the way the Republican Party has kind of ran away from that conversation. Donald Trump has diametrically changed the Republican Party. And folks like Mark Sanford might be running maybe not to win, but to kind of course correct what's happened to the GOP.

CABRERA: Karoun, as the president runs for re-election, he has Kellyanne Conway advising him. But you know who is advising his challenger Joe Walsh? Kellyanne's husband, George Conway. He's railed against Trump as a racist, and yet the man he's reportedly now working with, Walsh, has tweeted this. And I'm quoting. "To say that it's racist to call Haiti an S-hole is like saying it's racist to say Chicago has a violence problem. Haiti is an S-hole, and it's run by blacks. The violence in Chicago is all black-on-black. Those aren't racist statements. They're just facts."

So, is that hypocritical on Conway's part to now be throwing his support behind Walsh?

DEMIRJIAN: Well, OK, so the Conway marriage has clearly been in a microcosm of the divisions we've seen in the GOP in multiple places. And also, I think that we have seen plenty of criticism of Walsh's past statements, whether it's this tweet, whether it's comments about birtherism, whether it's -- plenty of things that have -- plenty of issues of race and racism that have dogged the various parts of the GOP for a long time.

I think that you have Conway -- George Conway backing somebody who's not necessarily the paragon of virtue in representing everything that is anti-Trump that Conway himself has criticized.

[20:20:05]

So, is it in part potentially hypocritical? Sure. Is it that you're going to find a perfect foil to President Trump in a GOP potential candidate? Though I think that in many ways is wishful thinking, there's many parts of President Trump that actually the GOP finds objectionable, particularly when it comes to the racially charged and oftentimes racist statements that the president does give voice to.

But it doesn't mean that there's some other candidate there that's waiting in the wings that has a perfectly unsullied past. And I think what you're seeing is a lot of people rally around these imperfect and in the past potentially objectionable GOP candidates because they think it's a better option. And that's what you're seeing George Conway do as well.

CABRERA: Brittany, we've just learned that the president is heading to Baltimore on Thursday to speak at a Republican conference there. And that's significant, because that's the same city he famously called a rat and rodent-infested mess not that long ago. What do you think? Interesting choice?

SHEPHERD: Very interesting choice. Of course, the president will have a lot to answer for in Baltimore. It's only about 45 minutes from Washington, D.C. and I'm curious to see what Democrats and what honestly -- what Democrats show up around his rally. You're going to see lots of anger in Baltimore. There's definitely lots of emotion in Baltimore. And look, Baltimore is a very complicated city. It can't be reduced to one phrase or one tweet. And I am also really curious what Republicans might be coming out and saying, hey, look, President Trump, this seems a bit anti-ethical or hypocritical to your message beforehand.

CABRERA: Brittany Shepherd, I don't think you've been on our show before, great to have you with us tonight. I hope you'll come back. And Karen Demirjian, as always, good to see you. Thank you both.

DEMIRJIAN: Thank you.

CABRERA: And so Republican -- he is a Republican, he's in Congress, he served in Afghanistan, and he is not happy that President Trump initially invited the Taliban to join him on United States soil this weekend. Representative Adam Kinzinger will explain his reaction to the president's reveal of this secret meeting with the Taliban at Camp David that was planned, that was called off at the last minute, next, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:25:59]

CABRERA: Last night at Dover Air Force Base, a somber reminder that U.S. lives are still at risk in Afghanistan amid these discussions of troop withdrawals and peace deals. This is the dignified transfer of the remains of Army Sergeant 1st Class Elis Barreto Ortiz. Sergeant Ortiz, a 34-year-old soldier from Puerto Rico, died Thursday when a Taliban car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in Kabul. He became the 16th U.S. combat fatality this year in Afghanistan. He leaves behind a wife, two sons and a daughter.

Now the president cited Sergeant Ortiz's death in his decision to cancel his secret meeting with the Taliban. Those tweets by the president were the first inkling that most Americans had of the President Trump's intent to meet with Taliban leaders at Camp David. That includes Republican congressman and Air Force veteran Adam Kinzinger, who flew missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. And Congressman Kinzinger is here with us now.

Welcome.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Thanks.

CABRERA: You say you were sickened when you read the president's tweet last night. Explain why.

KINZINGER: You know, it's a couple of things. There's nothing wrong with negotiating. Every war in history ends in some kind of a negotiation. Where I've been very concerned in this process is the idea that the negotiation, you know, "success," quote-unquote, is simply having the Taliban talk to the Afghan government. There actually needs to be a peace deal between them that's enforceable. But I think what really is beyond that and really struck me in really disbelief is the idea that Taliban leaders, in the week of 9/11, but even beyond that, Taliban leaders were going to come to really the area in the United States, not too far from New York, Camp David, that has been a place of such wonderful things that have happened in the past.

You know, negotiations between nation states can happen there, but a terrorist organization that doesn't recognize nation states, that kills innocent women and children, that denies women the right to really even be in the same room as their husbands, is just a minor part of the terrible things that they do. To have them at Camp David is totally unacceptable.

The president did the right thing by walking away. I'm very concerned, though, that we were really close to having Taliban leaders there.

CABRERA: And to be clear, CNN's reporting is that the White House is still trying to find a date in time to perhaps have this kind of a negotiation in the future.

KINZINGER: Again, nothing wrong with a negotiation, but the president should not be negotiating with these really evil people. We can't forget what they did. We can't forget what they continue to do. And I think, you know, we're at a moment where Americans, they think about terrorism, but it doesn't seem like an imminent threat. And there's a reason for that. It's not because terrorists have gone away. It's not because their desires have gone away. But it's because we fight them over there now. We are sending our fierce U.S. military, these men and women that

raise their right hand to protect and defend us, we're sending them over there to do the fighting there so we don't have to do them in the streets of America. I'd love if terrorism went away. I'd love if we could walk away from this fight. But we can't, though, because you may not be interested in war, but war may be interested in you. And that's the case when it comes to terrorism.

CABRERA: I mean, think about this, 16 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan so far in 2019. Even after the 15th death, the president was willing to bring in the Taliban for the first time ever to Camp David. On the 16th death, though, he's tweeting to tell us about this secret meeting no one knew about and drawing a line now? What do you make of that?

KINZINGER: You know, I don't know. I don't know if there's more to the story or not. Again, I think the president made the right decision absolutely by canceling them coming. They never should have been coming in the first place. But I think keep in mind this. You know, we're engaged in a war in Afghanistan. The president has said a number of times, it's almost like a peacekeeping operation. But this has prevented Afghanistan.

I'd love to see them much further long. This has prevented them from becoming another safe haven for terrorism, the Taliban from resurging, from ISIS -- from even getting a stronger foothold there as well as al Qaeda. This is going to be a long generational fight. I wish it was a microwave war where we could be over in a week, but it's going to be generational. And when we forget that, we're only going to have to make sure then that the next generation's going to have to do the same fighting.

Right now, this is the first war where a father and a son can be a veteran of the same theater. And if we pull out and watch that resurge, again, without a peace deal that's enforceable, it's only going to be the next generation having to do the fighting again.

ANA CABRERA, CNN NEWS HOST: As someone who served in Afghanistan yourself, how do you think the troops on the ground are feeling right now about these new developments?

KINZINGER: You know, I think, probably, a little confused there, but they're fierce people. They're going to go deal what they're asked to do. They'll leave if they're asked to leave. They'll stay and fight is they're asked to stay and fight. Nobody wants to be there. I don't know any member of the military that enjoys being in Afghanistan or Iraq for that matter.

But they know what their nation calls them to do. We have a generation. Every civilization is a generation of heroes away from extinction. And this is our generation of heroes that are willing to do what the vast majority of Americans aren't, and God bless them for being willing to do it.

CABRERA: You've expressed skepticism in the past of negotiations with the Taliban, really, from the get-go. You're saying, you know, there are circumstances in which you would support those negotiations.

But I just wonder, I mean, if it's -- if you can't trust the Taliban and you're expressing concern that, if the U.S. pulls out, that we're going to lead to a similar situation that we saw previously when the U.S. has pulled out early, I mean, how does the U.S. then get out of Afghanistan? What should be the goal? What would tell you there's enough stability to bring the troops home?

KINZINGER: You know, I mean, when you have to see it, you'll know. And the bottom line is this, I think you have to have a ceasefire that's lasting between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The Taliban have to agree that the Afghan government has a right to exist.

And they can run maybe for political office in that future government, you know, as you see some cases where terrorist organizations become political forces. But to say, you know, that we're going to leave and that condition is just simply that the two are going to talk, Afghanistan and the Taliban government or the Taliban, are going to talk, is not going to be in any way enforceable, and they will resurge.

And they've always had the saying, we've all heard it, where they say, America has the watches, but we have the time. The only way the United States will ever be defeated is by defeating our will. Because we have -- we win these fights.

But if we defeat our will and we determine that it's time to just go away because we're tired, that generation after World War II was exhausted, but they stayed in Europe and ultimately defeated the Soviet Union. We can't act like we're tired right now. We have to continue to press this fight to victory.

CABRERA: Before I let you go, as we were discussing in our last segment, there's a new GOP primary challenger for Trump in 2020, Mark Sanford, former congressman from South Carolina. That makes three now. Are you OK with states like South Carolina, canceling their Republican primaries?

KINZINGER: No, you know, I know Mark Sanford well. I like him as a friend. Trump's going to win the primary. I think every state should have a primary. Let people have their voices heard. That's a very American thing.

And in the party, if there's people that are -- want to vote against President Trump, it will be their opportunity. And then they'll all unite behind him in the general. But, yes, I think cancelling a primary, it just sends a bad message and it takes away people's right to be heard.

CABRERA: Does Trump have your vote in 2020?

KINZINGER: Yes, he will.

CABRERA: OK. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks so much for being here.

KINZINGER: You bet. See you.

CABRERA: Coming up, the desperate effort to save hundreds of cats and dogs as Hurricane Dorian sent water pouring into a Bahamas animal shelter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: The death toll from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, rising today to 44. That's according to the Bahamas' health minister. Another 70,000 people there, left homeless by Dorian's wrath. Volunteers with search dogs are scouring the streets in flattened neighborhoods looking for hundreds of people missing.

Amid the growing crisis and tragedy in the Bahamas, we're getting a story of one man's strength, determination, and courage.

I want you to picture this; the roof being ripped off your home, water up to your chin and rescuing not only yourself, but your 24-year-old son who has cerebral palsy and cannot walk. Now, imagine doing all of that and being blind. That was the reality for a brave man I spoke to, named Brent Lowe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT LOWE, HURRICANE DORIAN SURVIVOR: Well, everybody's doing well now. We're doing pretty fine. I found my son yesterday. He's in the shelter with his aunt. So, I'm going to see him as soon as I leave here.

CABRERA: OK, that's good to hear. That's good to hear. Can you take us through what you experienced when Dorian hit and how you managed to get yourself and your son to safety?

LOWE: All right, about 2:00 Sunday, when the wind really came down hard, there was -- there was a banging on my door, so I opened the door. It was my neighbors, my landlord and my son's aunt. She said, they need to come in because their roof had just blown off, so we all got in.

And after the eye passed and the wind came out of the southeast, that's when my roof came off and water started to come into the house, so we decided that we have to go to the neighbors. So, I had to put my son on my shoulder, because he's big, he's heavy.

And when I step off the porch, my front porch, the water was probably to my chin. And we, me, and my sister and all of our -- all of our relatives, we had to walk through the water, to the neighbor's house. I mean, it felt like -- it's about a three-minute walk, but it felt like forever --

CABRERA: Wow.

LOWE: -- walking through that water, because the wind was blowing and it was just hard.

[20:40:07] CABRERA: Wow. Describe for me just --

LOWE: Yes.

CABRERA: -- how challenging that was physically and emotionally?

LOWE: Well, physically, because he's heavy --

CABRERA: Yes.

LOWE: -- and he was squirming because, you know, it was raining and the breeze was blowing so hard, I think he was scared. And it made it even harder because he wouldn't keep still, you know, I mean, he just kept squirming and moving backwards and forward, until we got there. Yes. So, it was really tough. I was terrified, terrified.

CABRERA: Sure. Sure. I know you're no stranger to hurricanes. How did this one, Dorian, compare to others?

LOWE: Well, I thought Floyd was bad, but, boy, Floyd was minuscule compared to this. Just totally different. Never experienced anything like this in my entire life.

CABRERA: What do you know about the damage now in your neighborhood, in your community?

LOWE: Well, you know, I can't see, but what I've been told, everything just totally destroyed. We have no grocery stores, we have no gas stations, everything -- all the churches, all the businesses, everything just destroyed. Everything.

CABRERA: I'm so sorry. What's your plan now?

LOWE: Just destroyed, totally destroyed.

CABRERA: What's next for you and your family?

LOWE: We don't know. We still -- we need to try to find some way to stay. We need to try to find somewhere to live. And we don't know exactly what we're going to do yet. We're still trying to figure all of that stuff out.

CABRERA: Well, Brent Lowe, we wish you --

LOWE: Trying to find somewhere to stay so we can get Brandon. Go ahead.

CABRERA: Absolutely. I just want to wish you the very, very best, you and your son, your whole family. Thank you for taking the time to share your story.

LOWE: All right. Thank you for having me.

CABRERA: Of course. For more information about how you can help the victims of Hurricane Dorian, please go to cnn.com/impact. (END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, we are also hearing the incredible story of how the staff of an animal shelter in Freeport, struggled to keep hundreds of cats and dogs from drowning, as Hurricane Dorian battled the island. CNN's Gustavo Valdes reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This is the face of a lucky dog, one of the survivors of the hell unleashed by Hurricane Dorian, as it battered the Bahamas.

FELICIA TELFORT, SUPERVISOR, HUMANE SOCIETY OF GRAND BAHAMA: About 300 and some animals were here at the moment.

VALDES: Felicia is the shelter supervisor, who along with five colleagues, tried to keep safe 300 dogs and 100 cats, most of them waiting to be adopted, but some already had families who had been forced to evacuate.

ELIZABETH BURROWS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HUMANE SOCIETY OF GRAND BAHAMA: The government-run shelters will not allow pets.

VALDES: Elizabeth Burrows, executive director of the Humane Society of Grand Bahamas, trusted this building, built in 2008, with some elevation to avoid floods.

BURROWS: And since we didn't flood in the other storms, we really felt like -- we felt we'd might get some water, but we had no idea that we would get the flood that we did.

VALDES: But the water from the storm surged unexpectedly, threatening the lives of the animals, and in spite of the danger to themselves, Felicia and her co-workers desperately tried to save the dogs by keeping their crates above the rising waters.

TELFORT: Water was about this high when we were doing this.

VALDES: With the water now chest high and the building, flooding, they sought shelter.

TELFORT: Making sure that everything would be put to safe, to try to put it up high and we went up in the manhole because the water started to come up so high.

VALDES: The manhole is the access to the attic, which had no stairs, so they had to pull each other up.

TELFORT: So, the kennel dogs, they were still howling and crying. We experienced all of that, until they were not even crying anymore.

VALDES: That silence represented the death of more than 220 dogs and 50 cats.

BURROWS: I felt devastated. I -- we couldn't have predicted this. But I still feel responsible. My heart is broken for the shelter animals that we lost and I feel so bad for the people who entrusted their animals to us and ultimately, we couldn't protect them.

VALDES: Dorian also destroyed their medical equipment, food, medicine, and vehicles. In spite of their near-death experience, Felicia says she doesn't regret risking her life.

TELFORT: It wasn't about us being heroes. It was about us caring about the animals just as much as we care about ourselves.

VALDES: Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Freeport, the Bahamas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Coming up, what has rock star Mick Jagger, taking on the president of the United States?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Federal authorities have now served search warrants on the company that owns the Conception dive boat as part of an ongoing investigation into the deaths of 34 people. The 75-foot vessel burst into flames on Labor Day, trapping 33 passengers and one crew member who were sleeping below deck. Only five crew members survived. The warrants are for the boat's training, safety, and maintenance records.

Some encouraging news for fans of actor and comedian Kevin Hart, he is reportedly able to walk again, although, he's in tremendous pain. That's according to close friend and actress, Tiffany Haddish, who updated reporters on his condition this weekend. Hart was seriously injured in a car accident last Sunday near Los Angeles.

Mick Jagger is calling out President Trump and other world leaders for being uncivil and rude and for lying. The Rolling Stones' frontman is especially critical of President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, saying the U.S. should be a world leader in environmental control, but, "decided to go the other way."

That quote, part of an interview Jagger did with The Hollywood Reporter while promoting a new movie in Venice.

[20:50:07] Good luck getting your hands on some the Kansas White Claw this weekend. The company that makes the popular Hard Seltzer confirms they're looking at a nationwide shortage right now. White Claw is suddenly super trendy, with sales blowing up nearly 300 percent in the past year. Manufacturers say they're working around the clock to try and meet the demand.

Coming up, the waxy blunder involving a BBC show trying to do a serious segment on the royals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CABRERA: A spectacular sight in the sky over Washington State. Get this, in a matter of just five hours, the National Weather Service counted more than 2,200 lightning strikes. The storms caused power outages for thousands of people in the western part of that state.

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is riding a wave of support ahead of this week's presidential debate, and we mean that, literally. This is video Yang tweeted out earlier today, showing him crowd surfing through a packed room in California. The Yang gang went wild.

Finally, tonight, Jeanne Moos waxes poetic about a blunder involving the BBC and a segment on the royals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUKWESA BURAK, PRESENTER, BBC NEWS: Is that with me now.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Oopsy.

BURAK: Morning, lovely to see you.

[20:55:01] MOOS: Maybe not so lovely to see the image of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan that the BBC picked to illustrate this serious segment on the Prince's eco-tourism initiative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The question is, will they be traveling commercial?

MOOS: Actually, the question is, how did a picture of the royals, made out of wax at Madame Tussauds' museum, end up on screen? Meghan's eyes look slightly maniacal. But whoever picked it must have found the wax couple awfully realistic.

That was very naughty, BBC, tweeted one viewer.

Oh sure, mistakes happen, like the time the Royal Mail designed a D- Day stamp that actually showed American troops landing over 8,000 miles away from Normandy or when they add agency for French tourism, accidentally used a South African beach to lure folks to Northern France, or when FOX News had to apologize for showing an image of Patti LaBelle while paying tribute to Aretha Franklin, after Aretha's death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That powerhouse voice.

MOOS: But, at least, Patti LaBelle was real, not wax. We can only imagine what Prince Harry and Meghan would say.

MEGHAN MARKLE, THEN-HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS: Come on!

MOOS: On the other hand, knowing how crazy the T.V. news business gets.

BURAK: The Royal family.

MOOS: There but for the grace of God, go we. They may be wax, but we are the dummies. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: That does it for me tonight. I'm Ana Cabrera. Thanks for being here. And "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN" marathon starts right after a quick break. Good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)