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Hundreds Of Thousands Without Power In Louisiana and Texas; Damage Extensive After Laura Slams Gulf Coast With 150 MPH Winds; Officer Who Shot Jacob Blake On Leave Along With Two Others. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired August 27, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Nine hours after first making landfall in Southern Louisiana, Hurricane Laura continues to leave a path of destruction in its wake.

We know of at least one death so far, a 14-year-old girl in Louisiana killed when a tree fell on her home. The hurricane is one of the strongest to ever hit this country, becoming just the tenth storm in U.S. history to have winds reaching 150 miles per hour or greater when making landfall.

It's also the most powerful storm to hit Louisiana in more than a century. One relatively positive development I guess we can say is it appears Louisiana avoided the worst of the predictions of a 20-foot storm surge to come with these horrific winds but make no mistake.

Hurricane Laura is still very dangerous. Not only was it overnight but also as we speak, flash flooding, heavy rains, high winds all still happening at this hour as storm, as you can see there from the radar is moving north very strongly.

And as this storm hit in the middle of the night, people are really just starting to get a sense of the damage that they are facing today. Homes and businesses destroyed, trees down just everywhere, and that is likely just the beginning of it for folks.

The storm also blowing out windows all over the place hundreds of thousands of people are without power. The cleanup will no doubt be a herculean task. One of the hardest hit communities is Lake Charles, Louisiana, and that's where CNN's Gary Tuchman is and was overnight. Still standing there today, Gary. How - what are you seeing right now?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I've got to tell you it was absolutely a hellish night, it was made so much worse because this was at night. 125-mile-per-hour winds for an hour and a half shaking everything. I mean, we were in a hotel on 12th floor for part of time. It was like it was an earthquake.

It just kept shaking and the sound, it sounded like an airplane going down the runway and a freight train combined. I was in that room for a while thinking how could anything less than this great big hotel in survive?

Believe it or not, this city, Lake Charles looked a little better than I imagined, but there are lots of places not looking very well, this is one of them. This was on Tuesday, passed by it, a very busy golden corral restaurant, and it's now been decimated.

This is a main street here in Lake Charles, a very busy thoroughfare with stores with businesses. And take a look down the street right here. You can see lots of power lines are down. We were very careful as we drove here to stay away from the power line that's a message for all you kids out there. Never step on line live power lines or drive on power lines.

We don't do that when we cover these hurricanes. In this direction you see the same thing. The power lines down here also next door to this golden corral, an insurance office. Right over here and then behind the insurance office, a local TV station we'll give them a plug, KSWL, their TV station was heavily damaged.

The fact is that right now, as you said, Kate, a 14-year-old girl, first fatality announced by the Governor's office in an area, a parish north of here, where the winds weren't as severe. It would be absolutely amazing if the death toll doesn't go higher than that. I fully expect it to.

Right now there are police and National Guard on the roads in the air and in the water looking for people that they can help, but I'll tell you. I've got a lot of hurricanes in my career since the 1980s, and this was a really scary event, and the fact is what made it even scarier, people took it seriously.

People were not wandering around yesterday even before this arrived. What made this scary is a lot of people did not want to evacuate because this is the first time in our lifetimes that we've had a pandemic at the same time as hurricane season.

A lot of people didn't want to leave and stayed in their homes so we're hoping the death toll doesn't go as high as it is right now. Kate, back for you.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, I mean let's continue to hope and pray that it does not, but just seeing some of the destruction and damage that you're seeing in just this one area, it does seem hard to believe, but we'll continue to wait and see and hope everyone as much as they could is evacuated and got back to safety. Gary is on the ground, we're going to keep getting back to Gary with more updates. Thank you, Gary, really appreciate it.

So let's talk about where Hurricane Laura is now, where Hurricane Laura is headed and what areas are still under threat as we speak? CNN's Meteorologist Jennifer Gray she is joining us now. She's been tracking all of this. Jennifer, what's the latest update that you're getting? What are you seeing in the hurricane's track? JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right, well, this is still a very significant storm. I just want to add a little bit of context to what Gary was saying because he's 30 miles inland, and I fear when we get cameras down to say southern - parish now where Cameron is we're going to see much, much more damage.

[11:05:00]

GRAY: That's where the storm made landfall right around Cameron with winds of 75 miles per hour now gust of 90 moving to the north 16 miles per hour. And you can see as the storm heads to the north and east. It's slowly weakening but still significant amount of wind damage will be felt all across central and northern Louisiana.

We have had wind gusts of 80 and 85 miles per hour in Central Louisiana, and we continue to see those tornado watch boxes as well, so the tornado threat is definitely there, and it will continue to be that way throughout the day.

52-mile-per-hour wind gusts in Shreveport and 58 in Nakanishi and 44 in Monroe. And so as the storm heads to the east, the wind is going to be the biggest concern, not the flooding because the storm is actually moving.

It's not like storms we've seen in the past where they just sit on top of areas so current power outages, about half a million people without power. That number most likely will go up. A lot of trees across the region where the storm is headed in North Louisiana and into Arkansas, so we're going to see quite a few power outages because of those wind gusts staying so high.

Here's the maximum wind threat. You can see up to 110 miles per hour and that area is shaded in red. Right now I would say the highest wind gusts we're going to be getting would be about 80, 85 and then that number will slowly go down as the storm continues to weaken, but still a tropical storm into portions of Arkansas.

45-mile-per-hour winds and then downgraded to a depression most likely later tomorrow, so here are your forecast wind gusts as we bring the storm to the north. 80 miles per hour in Shreveport and down to 63 by the time we get into is being - into 1:00 pm and then the winds going up as it goes north and then declining as the storm passes.

So still a significant wind threat with this storm. Here's the high risk forecast radar. You can still see the center of the storm and the rain wrapping around it, and so that's going to continue to push through the north impacting places like, Little Rock, Texarkana and then off to the north and east, Kate.

So it's wild to see a storm still holding together this far north, this far inland, but I do think that we will see more damage and even more destruction as pictures come out across that southern coast of Louisiana.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely. We'll be getting crews in there. We know we will. We'll stick close to you, Jennifer. Thank you. So we're just beginning as Jennifer is pointing out, just beginning to get a sense of the destruction left behind Hurricane Laura. It will take days to fully assess the damage much longer than of course to begin recovery and get fully recovered especially in those parts of Louisiana.

Joining me right now someone with some perspective on this kind of recovery effort is the Former Head of FEMA Craig Fugate. It is good to see you again.

I'm just wondering as you are hearing these stories of what people lived through overnight and as you're seeing Gary Tuchman is on the ground and damage that he's seeing there on the ground there in Lake Charles, what's going through your head as - as - from the posts that you've held and your expertise and kind of what Louisiana and - and the Gulf Coast is dealing with in this moment?

CRAIG FUGATE, SENIOR ADVISOR, BLUEDOT STRATEGIES: Well, Governor Edwards and his team in Louisiana are battle hardened. You already heard there was already National Guard on streets so they are not waiting for the storm to pass and do assessments. They are responding same thing with FEMA region six and their folks moving in.

Search-and-rescue teams under mutual aid from surrounding states. All of these folks are moving over the last couple of days just to get ready for this storm. I think what we want people that can still hear us to understand, the danger is not over. In Florida, our experience was as many people as we lost during the storm, we would often lose more after the storm in recovery.

Falls, heart attacks, car accidents, electrocutions, the message about stay out of water, stay away from power lines. We lost a family that way, so if you're safe in your home and everything is okay, stay off the roads and check on your neighbors because that could be the fastest response.

BOLDUAN: Yes. That is an excellent point to make, as many people are injured and lost in the midst of a storm. It's the immediate aftermath when people are going out that can be just as dangerous. I mean, with the storm that hits in the middle of the night, it is really now just, you know, as the sun is up, that people will be able to get a sense of the damage.

How long do you think with assets that are moving in and have been pre-position, how long do you think it will be before they really grasp and get a full sense of the extent of the damage from this storm?

FUGATE: Well, I think they will be getting that over the next couple of days. Their priority right now is just to get into areas and do search and rescue. Those will be, you know, the most critical things that have to be done now.

Start working on getting in emergency someplace, food, things like that and in power restoration as you've seen. This is going to go up in Arkansas, and people may discount tropical storm force winds but trust me tropical force winds will drop a lot of tree - come up a lot of power outages. [11:10:00]

FUGATE: More people are losing power. So once we get through the search and rescue and start getting supplies into the hardest hit areas, the big driver of this will be getting the power back on.

BOLDUAN: I also want to play for you what the current Head of FEMA, he was on ABC this morning and he talked about responding to a hurricane in the midst of a pandemic. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER GAYNOR, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: When you think about evacuation, you can think of more time and you can think about sheltering, you're going to need more space. We're not going to put people into - where we can; we're not going to put people into traditional shelters like gymnasiums. We're going to put them into hotels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You know, he says that they are prepared and they have been prepared, but how much do the pandemic and the threat of COVID complicate emergency response efforts after something like this?

FUGATE: Well, it adds to the challenges but probably the biggest challenge with was to communication to the public. COVID is bad and drowning was worse and people that did not evacuate, that they now have to launch search and rescue on, that was the biggest concern that we've seen is the fear of COVID, people not heeding evacuation orders.

Understanding that some areas may not have significant damage and were blessed but if we don't evacuate the risk of drowning is so great. We never get that back so that's been - I think the ongoing challenge and will be a challenge rest of the hurricane season is we evacuate water.

Water is the greatest danger from these storms. It is the biggest killer, and you have to weight risk of COVID versus drowning when you're making decisions about the safety for you and your family.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Craig Fugate thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it.

FUGATE: My pleasure.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, we're going to have more on this breaking news as we follow Hurricane Laura, still a danger, still a threat as Craig Fugate was just pointing out. One storm chaser who rode it out in Lake Charles is going to be joining us and what it was like overnight and how it compares to all storms that he's seen?

Also ahead, we have new details about the 17-year-old now charged with first-degree homicide following that deadly shooting of protesters in Wisconsin.

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[11:15:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning new developments out of Kenosha, Wisconsin, including more details about the 17-year-old now charged with first- degree homicide after three people were shot, two of them fatally during Tuesday night's chaos.

His name is Kyle Rittenhouse. A lot is still not known about why he was there, why he started shooting? But social media posts do place him at the scene of Tuesday's protests, and police are trying to make a definitive determination if he's the person seen in multiple videos armed with a long gun.

Protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake stretched into a fourth night last night. Last night's demonstrations, as you can see there, were far more peaceful than what we saw play out earlier this week. Let's go there. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is standing by and he is in Kenosha for us. Shimon, what are you learning about this teenager charged with first-degree homicide now?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Only 17, as you pointed out, and what we know is from the police. They say he doesn't live far from here in Antioch, Illinois, and as you said, it's just not clear why he opened fire on other people killing two and then injuring another person?

Of course, this is all part of the investigation, but it's very clear that by bringing charges at the very least investigators believe he had no right to fire this weapon, that there was no right to self- defense. There was a Facebook group that was encouraging vigilantes to come here, to help protect property.

Property, Kate, think about it, that didn't even belong to them. They were here on their own protecting various businesses, doing this on their open, and he was part of that group. How he came into contact with that group is not clear yet? Also, how he obtained the weapon?

He's 17 years old in possession of a long rifle. That is also part of the investigation. He's in custody right now in Antioch. He's expected at some point to come here. On Friday he's going to be in court there where he's going to have an extradition hearing and then he's going to make his way here at some point to face the murder charges, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And there's also new information, Shimon, coming out about Jacob Blake's shooting and the officer involved with that. What are you learning?

PROKUPECZ: Right. The officer is a seven-year veteran. Police here, authorities here finally identifying him, finally releasing some information. His name is Rustin Shesky, a seven-year veteran. We also learned from authorities yesterday that they recovered a knife from the vehicle, from Jacob Blake's vehicle.

But it does not really explain yet why police shot him seven times in the back, and the mere fact that just because he had a knife doesn't necessarily mean that police would be justified in shooting him the way he did. Police came out yesterday and admitted that this was done in a way where he was shot several times in the back, but they are not explaining why the officer fired? Did he feel threatened in some way? Did Mr. Blake have the knife in his hand?

What caused the officers to pull their guns out, chase him around the car, follow him into the car and pull him and that one officer obviously firing his weapon?

The other thing, Kate, that we learned and we're told is that the Department of Justice, the FBI, here are now a part of this investigation and have opened up a civil rights investigation and that is going to parallel with the local investigation and ultimately this is all going to be up to the district attorney here on whether or not he's going to file charges against that officer.

[11:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Yes, clearly much more to come. Shimon is standing by, thank you. Buddy I really appreciate it. Joining me right now is the Alderman and President of the Kenosha City Council Anthony Kennedy. Thank you for taking the time and coming on. I wanted to get your reaction to this 17-year-old. Can you hear me?

ANTHONY KENNEDY, FORMER 10TH DISTRICT ALDERMAN IN KENOSHA: I'm not the Council President. My term ended in April, and my name is Anthony Kennedy.

BOLDUAN: That's what I said. I'm sorry if I misspoke. I believe I said Anthony Kennedy apologies. Can I get your reaction to the 17-year-old now arrested and charged in this shooting incident in which two protesters were killed and another wounded?

KENNEDY: I have been adamant in stating that there are outside agitators coming to our town to disrupt and destroy things, and that narrative hasn't been listened to until Tuesday night and now you have the proof. We have told you this. We kept repeating this. We knew this to be true and because the faces we were seeing were not faces that we know.

That doesn't mean that I know every single person in Kenosha, right? But it's not that big of a town, and you go placed and when there are large crowds you get to turn see the same faces and those faces were not familiar to us, so we told you that there was going to be outside agitators.

We know that social media was being weaponized and the information on social media was being weaponized to serve someone else's agenda. These people being here, these infiltrators, these rioters, these looters.

They have nothing to do with police reform or they have nothing to do about building capacity in our community. They are here to sow destruction. We told you about it. You didn't listen, and now here are the consequences.

BOLDUAN: Who are you speaking to when you say that?

KENNEDY: I'm speaking to - who is the we that I'm referring to or who is the you I'm referring to?

BOLDUAN: The you, who is the you? Who wasn't listening?

KENNEDY: I would say that members of the media weren't listening. I would say that officials weren't listening.

BOLDUAN: I want to play for you--

KENNEDY: This information has been weaponized and such a speed and such a factor that it's not just some thought exercise, it's not just some typing and some things into a website somewhere. This is translating into calls for action and those calls are having people coming for the community with some other agenda.

With not helping us build anything, not helping us put capacity in place. Just to sow destruction. Those rioters, those looters, those agitators, those supremacies they are here to destroy the fabric of things that we've build in this community.

BOLDUAN: Let me play for you something that the Kenosha Police Chief said about - about this last night. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAN MISKINS, KENOSHA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Persons who were out after the curfew became engaged in some type of disturbance and persons were shot. Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I'm not going to make a great deal of that, but the point is the curfew is in place to protect. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What seems to be glaringly missing there from the Police Chief is that this 17-year-old was also out past curfew. It sounds like the Police Chief here is blaming the victims, blaming the protesters that were killed, is that how you hear this?

KENNEDY: No. What I hear is a man taxed to the limits of his ability in his charge to keep our city safe, a man who has been running a pitched battle for three days in a row. And so if he doesn't have the tone or if he doesn't have the messaging right, I'm willing to give him a pass because I know what he and his administration has been through the last couple of days.

I'm extremely stressed, frustrated, hired and I'm just sitting in a basement answering email. I can't imagine what my chief is like trying to control his department, control the hazards that are coming in place and trying to really do that protect thing and protect and serve. So what I hear is something that might be off tone.

[11:25:00] KENNEDY: But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that if he had a night's sleep he would have given you a much more articulate, a much more informative statement. Having said that, now that we have additional Natural Guard here, it's my hope that the police department can transition from a military operation, because that's really what we had.

We had military operations, the running battles, and they can transition into law enforcement, enforcement of the law. One of the questions that was asked to me is why aren't they arresting people? You arrest someone that resource can take that person away from the scene to process them, et cetera, et cetera.

It takes a person, it takes a police officer, a law enforcement off the line and the chief, and he didn't tell me this. I haven't been briefed by this, but it's my opinion that the chief needed every single person that you can possibly get so you have to make some decisions that are pretty darn hard.

BOLDUAN: Okay.

KENNEDY: I'm not willing - well, let me back up and say that hopefully we start transitioning to law enforcement and there is a curfew in place and that good guy with the gun that showed up to help us that got 17-year-old who showed up to helped us, that lie, that absolute lie, that white supremacist.

He gets arrested. Unfortunately the kid who had the spray can in his and he gets detained also, but the curfew is there and it's been hard to - to enforce the curfew given the amount of violence that these rioters, looters and white supremacists have started in our community.

BOLDUAN: Anthony Kennedy, thank you very much for coming on. I appreciate it.

KENNEDY: Thank you for the opportunity.

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, Hurricane Laura now pushing deeper into Louisiana and heading toward Arkansas now, the damage extensive. The storm chaser who was in the middle of it overnight joins us next.

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