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Hurricane Henri Threatens 40-Million-Plus In Northeastern U.S.; Volunteers Travel To Remote Regions Of Haiti As Desperation Rises; Pace Of Child Hospitalizations On The Rise Across The U.S.; Four Dead, Five Missing After Flooding In Western North Carolina; "We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert" Coverage Begins 4 P.M. ET. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired August 21, 2021 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: So that is one of the big things here. But of course everyone here very excited, hoping things get underway here and it's going to be an exciting day. It's going to be an exciting night, things kick off at 5 o'clock.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. I can't wait, too. I mean, I'm not there but I'm going to feel like I'm there, as will all the viewers. All you have to do is tune in. We'll be doing that. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much.
So where and how do you tune in?
It's this afternoon, CNN's special coverage of "We Love New York City: The Homecoming Concert," beginning at 4:00 pm Eastern, hosted by Anderson Cooper. The concert kicks off at 5:00 pm.
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WHITFIELD: And in the storm's path, more than 40 million Americans prepare for rain, wind and storm surge, as Henri is set to become -- in fact, it is already the first hurricane to hit New England in 30 years.
Plus chaos in Kabul: a dire situation continues to unfold at Afghanistan's main airport. The latest from the Pentagon straight ahead.
And imminent approval: CNN has learned the Pfizer vaccine could get full FDA approval as soon as Monday. What this could mean for the fight over vaccine mandates.
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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
We begin with this breaking news this hour as hurricane Henri gathers strength and takes aim at the Northeast. More than 40 million people could be impacted. Henri became a hurricane just last hour and could be just as strong by
the time it makes landfall, which is expected tomorrow on Long Island, New York. Cities are preparing for massive storm surge, flash flooding and strong winds into next week.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[12:05:00]
WHITFIELD: Mark Pappas directs the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. He joins us now from Providence.
Good to see you.
How are average citizens preparing?
What are they doing?
Are they sandbagging?
Are they putting up plywood?
What's the scene?
MARC PAPPAS, RHODE ISLAND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: We're not to that point where plywood and sandbags are being deployed. I just got off the phone with the National Weather Service. We had the latest up to date forecast specific to Rhode Island.
It's predicted the storm will make landfall over Long Island; that puts us in the are of concern, where the winds are a little more heavy and storm surge is a little greater. We're looking at winds 50, 60, 75, maybe even 80 miles per hour on the coast; 40 to 50 miles an hour inland.
And Narragansett Bay is certainly a concern for the storm surge predicted.
WHITFIELD: That is pretty significant. So Rhode Island's governor is freeing up federal funds to help with the response.
So what kind of resources does that give you to work with?
PAPPAS: Sure. We've been watching the storm for a while now. Especially when it took that northern turn. And when it did so, we were in constant contact with the governor's office. And he signed that pre-landfall declaration.
That frees up the National Guard to do what we need them to do, depending on what happens with the storm. It frees up federal money to come in. And it gives the governor executive powers to initiate REMA, to open our emergency operations center and enact our comprehensive emergency management plan.
WHITFIELD: Do you brace yourself for the type of damage you could expect there? PAPPAS: I mean, you know, we've seen these storms before. It's tough to make a comparison. They're like people; they have different personalities and react in different ways. So we just have to be ready to react to whatever this thing does.
A 20-mile jog in a storm impacts us differently, whether it goes east or west, we're very small. But in Rhode Island we have 400 miles of coastline so we have to be cognizant of those communities in low-lying areas that could be impacted by the surge.
We have folks, the elderly that live in those areas and special needs folks that we need to be ready to pull the trigger and get them out of there, if conditions dictate.
[12:10:00]
WHITFIELD: Yes. Many of them are in a condition they really can't just leave ahead of the storm.
Are you retrieving some of the people, the more vulnerable ones in the low-lying areas, ahead of the storm just to make sure?
PAPPAS: The local municipalities have visibility over special needs populations and they're doing their due diligence to reach out to those folks and make whatever preparations that are specific to those families and loved ones.
WHITFIELD: Marc Pappas, we wish you the best and everybody else there in New England. Thank you.
PAPPAS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Still to come, fluid and dynamic, that's how the Pentagon is describing the chaotic situation playing out at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The latest on the mission to get Americans out of the country.
Plus a week after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, many areas still have received little or no help. Next, CNN takes you to the Haitian island, where earthquake aid cannot reach.
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[12:15:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Scenes of joy at Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., as some of the first evacuees from Afghanistan arrive in the U.S. and are reunited with their loved ones right there. Lots of smiles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The Pentagon saying a short time ago that almost 4,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul in the last 24 hours. Thousands more are still waiting at the Kabul airport. But the Pentagon says they are fighting against time to get everyone out. Let's bring in now CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann.
What's the latest?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We just got an update from John Kirby. The situation is dynamic, fluid and acknowledges difficult, not only for those on the field trying to move people through but from around the airfield; 3,800 people moved in a 24-hour period but only six C-17 flights with 1,600 passengers.
And that's the main way the Air Force is moving people. That's about a third of the number of the previous 24-hour period because there was a backlog, essentially a blockage of people going through Kabul International Airport and where they could go to.
Qatar the first place to take Afghan evacuees filled up fairly quickly and the Air Force needed to move people out of there before it could get more people out of Kabul. So that slowed this entire process down. That's part of what they're trying to move through as they go here.
The other 2,200 or so people moved out on 32 charter flights and also other militaries flying their people out as well as some Afghan evacuees. The blockage is no longer the processing at the airport; it's where do you put all these people flying out?
Having said that, we can look at some of the work troops are doing on the ground in what is a very difficult, dangerous situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Kabul has become a tale of two cities. Outside the gated walls of the airport, panic, despair. Inside the compound, there is what so many Afghans feared was lost, a measure of hope.
There are 5,800 troops at Hamid Karzai International Airport, some for security of the most important real estate in the country right now.
But for many others, this is a humanitarian mission. The military has come with food, water and medical supplies. Here, something as simple as water, large, clear plastic bottles, something that's small, has an impact on those fleeing for their lives, especially after hours of waiting in the summer heat of Afghanistan.
A father passes his child to a Marine for medical help. The Marines say the infant was treated and reunited with family at the airport.
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Having prepared and partially executed a NEO, a non-combatant evacuation operation like what we're seeing right now, it is the toughest mission the military does. So many challenges that require continuous adaptation to changing circumstances.
LIEBERMANN: Here, another child passed to Marines, a picture that underscores how important Afghans feel it is to leave the country they once knew.
Powerful images like this have helped define this evacuation effort, pictures of the crowd and pictures of the people.
It is a difficult mission, one the White House acknowledged is a dangerous one, under pressure from the clock, the environment and the enemy. But it is one that presses on and brings some hope, maybe even some happiness to those who have known days of fear.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN: The embassy in Kabul, which is now operating at the airport, is telling U.S. citizens to wait in place until they're instructed to move to the airport so there's confusing mixed messaging about what Americans waiting to get out should do or try to get some clarity on that.
It's because of the security situation according to the embassy but General Hank Taylor said there is no reported change in the current threat environment.
So is this an instruction for Americans to stay away from the airport as blockages are worked out and throughput increases?
We're trying to find that answer out.
WHITFIELD: All right, Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. Keep us posted.
For information on how you can help Afghan refugees, go to cnn.com/impact. We're back in a moment.
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[12:20:00]
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WHITFIELD: One week after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti, injured Haitians from remote parts of the country continue to flood hospitals near the epicenter after days of travel. Many parts of the country continue to wait for help. CNN's Matt Rivers is in Port-au- Prince for us.
Matt, how desperate is the situation?
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, I think it's kind of amazing that, a week after this earthquake and officials here are still just trying to get an idea really of the extent of the damage, exactly where the need is and, in many cases, that just entails getting on a helicopter and going to try and find some.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIVERS (voice-over): Our chopper takes off with no clear destination in mind. Flying with charity group World Central Kitchen or WCK, we want to find remote villages in Haiti that still need help.
[12:25:00]
RIVERS (voice-over): A week after this earthquake just finding out where the needs are, remains a challenge. A tip led us to Grande Cayemite, an island off Haiti's coast.
On the ground, we're told damage is actually a bit further west, which it is seen from above. Dozens of structures were damaged and the contact in town told us no one has come to help them yet, but we can't either.
RIVERS: So there was damage in that town and the people there clearly wanted us to land and the problem was there was no safe area for us to touch down and that gives you an idea of how difficult it is to access these places. Just because you want to go somewhere doesn't mean that you can at least right away.
RIVERS (voice-over): Another tip leads us back into Haiti's mountains and the remote town of Minish. Destruction greets us as we land and the charity starts to assess the damage.
RIVERS: In terms of figuring out exactly what needs what you really need to go to the ground?
JEAN MARC DEMATTEIS, BOARD MEMBER, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Correct. And these areas are remote, for the cell service has been knocked out and due to damage from the earthquake. So there's no substitute for just getting out there and on the ground.
RIVERS (voice-over): There team fans out and so do we, the damage is as bad as anything we've seen. Entire blocks destroyed, near some damage lead distinct smell of bodies lingers. Amidst all the rubble there is grief.
Rose Mika Fontus' mom died when her home collapsed. My mom was everything to us, she says and now she's gone. We're just waiting for help.
Rose is now homeless, saying the government has yet to visit her town, they've had to make do with what they have not easy in such a remote place. That's where charities like WKC are trying to help fill the gap. People crowd around as the team drops off a few hundred sandwiches. Now that they know where to go, aid workers say thousands more meals will likely follow soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIVERS: And Fred, it's a great thing they were able to identify that town in need. But actually getting the resources, the substantive resources needed into that area, that's another challenge entirely. I spoke to the U.N. development program director here and he said they do expect aid will increase from the central government in the next few days, something that's desperately needed across this region.
WHITFIELD: Matt Rivers, thank you for showing us the struggle and some answers that are -- and help that are coming their way.
Still to come, imminent approval?
A source telling CNN that full approval of the Pfizer vaccine could come soon. The news coming as hospitalizations among children reach their highest levels of the pandemic.
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[12:30:00]
WHITFIELD: Full FDA approval of Pfizer's Coronavirus vaccine could come as soon as Monday. The formal green light is expected to open the door to more vaccine mandates and could encourage hesitant people to get shots. CNN's Nadia Romero joining me now from Miami. Nadia, what more are you learning?
NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, if you want to know about COVID-19 you have to talk to the people on the front lines battling against the virus to keep people alive. So I spoke with a pharmacist and an emergency room doctor both tell me FDA approval is exactly what they need to strengthen their argument about why they believe that people should get vaccinated because the majority of the people who are trying to save in ICUs are unvaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMERO (voice-over): A full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is quote imminent. And a Biden administration officials that approval of the two dose vaccine could be as early as Monday. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations filling up ICUs across the U.S. with the worst event in the nation southern states like Florida.
MARY MAYHEW, PRESIDENT & CEO, FLORIDA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: We are seeing a much younger group of individuals who are hospitalized for COVID in our intensive care units on ventilators. These are healthy, young 20 year olds, 30 year olds.
ROMERO (voice-over): The Sunshine State now sitting under a dark cloud of COVID-19 milestones. There have been more than 17,000 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in about six weeks amid severe staffing shortages. Florida's governor pushing infected Floridians to undergo antibody treatments. Studies show it can reduce the risk of hospitalizations and deaths. This Florida woman sick with COVID collapsing on the ground while waiting for an antibody treatment.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I think this is probably the most significant thing we can do to keep people out of the hospital. ROMERO (voice-over): But the governor doesn't support mass mandates. Under his direction, the Florida Board of Education ordering Broward and Alachua counties to allow mask opt out for students in the next 48 hours or start losing funding. Late Friday and emergency meeting, the Sarasota County School Board voted to adopt a 90-day mandatory mask policy for students, employees, visitors, and vendors with only medical or IEP opt outs in place.
On Thursday in Georgia, the state seeing its highest number of COVID- 19 cases since January. But Governor Brian Kemp giving businesses a pass to ignore local COVID-19 ordinances.
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Georgians know the risks of COVID-19 and they also know how to go about their lives.
ROMERO (voice-over): Cobb County Schools just north of Atlanta in the midst of a fiery debate over mask mandates in the classroom. Friday, the district reporting a little less than double the active cases from last week.
[12:35:10]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if there are a certain number of positive cases that you're looking for, or do a certain number of kids need to die before you humble yourselves enough to admit that you're wrong.
ROMERO (voice-over): In Alabama, every county listed as high transmission for COVID-19 but still some at a Lauderdale County School Board meeting wanting to make mask optional for kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're hurting our children. And these teachers that want to act like they have control of our children and dictating to them, no.
ROMERO (voice-over): Texas Governor Greg Abbott, still battling COVID- 19 himself and local mask mandates. The state Supreme Court allowing local mask mandates including those in schools to remain in effect, at least for now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMERO: And here in Florida, the battle continues between Governor Ron DeSantis and some Florida school districts. The state's largest school district, Miami-Dade County public schools will start on Monday with a mask mandate. Fred?
WHITFIELD: All right, Nadia Romero, thanks so much.
All right, the Mississippi Health Department is now warning people against trying to treat coronavirus with a mainly -- with a drug mainly used to treat animals. This alert comes as the state's Poison Control Center reports a spike in calls from people who took Ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID. The FDA issued a similar warning back in March. The anti-parasitic drug is often used in livestock to prevent
heartworm disease and certain parasites. It is approved by the FDA to treat humans with conditions caused by parasitic worms but it is not approved to treat COVID and it is not an antiviral medication. Official say animal drugs are highly concentrated, and can be very toxic for humans.
We'll be right back.
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[12:41:41]
WHITFIELD: As the Northeast braces for the arrival of Hurricane Henri, residents in western North Carolina continue to struggle with the aftermath from flooding caused by Tropical Depression Fred. The death toll from that storm now stands at four. And rescue crews continue to search for five people who remain missing in Haywood County. Fred dumped heavy rain as it moved slowly across the region earlier in the week. Flooding washed away roads, bridges, and businesses and even homes.
Mike Graham is the owner of the Jukebox Junction Restaurant & Soda Shoppe in Canton North Carolina. He's kind enough to be with us today. Mike, it's so good to see you. So let me start by asking how you, your family, your restaurant, staff, how's everybody doing?
MIKE GRAHAM, OWNER, JUKEBOX JUNCTION RESTAURANT & SODA SHOPPE: Well, I'm doing fine. My family is doing great. The restaurant is getting back up and getting ready to reopen on Tuesday. Hopefully, we didn't have near the damages they had just over the hill in Caruso and in the town of Canton and the town of Clyde.
There's just total devastation. It's like maybe if it was like an inland tsunami, like a 10-foot wall of water coming down the mountain. People had no warning that it was coming. I would say there are over 300 families now homeless.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
GRAHAM: Either their homes have been totally destroyed and wiped out or severely damaged. The outpouring of help and aid coming from all over the state, North Carolina, all over from South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia. Right now, the restaurants being used kind of as a command center for some of the search and rescue teams from Charlotte.
And hopefully, you know, once I get the situation with my water hooked up, I can start cooking and serving those individuals. It's just amazing. The outpouring of people, you know, all of a sudden, you know, mask, no mask, vaccine, no vaccine, all that stuff doesn't really matter right now, people are this pulling together.
And you know, we've lost -- had damage in two of our schools. One of our public high schools has been damaged. Our Haywood Christian Academy, I'm sorry, Bethel Christian Academy has just been ravaged. It have over 13-feet of water in their school. WHITFIELD: Oh my. Yes, we're looking at the images I mean, to see the damage, the water damage to see people pulling together and helping. And isn't that something there's always a silver lining even when you have devastation like this, of how people will pull together and we're seeing that, you know, evidenced in your town.
So, you know, I wonder Mike if you could tell me, you know, while you all are, you know, trying to pick up the pieces get water running at your restaurant. I understand your parking lot has been turned into sort of a staging area for recovery efforts. I mean, talk about generosity. You are helping out the emergency personnel by allowing them to use your space. What's going on?
[12:45:07]
GRAHAM: Well, today it's just a checkpoint -- checking people that are going through the intersection to make sure that they belong there. Police are checking their license. That's pretty much what we got going on in Parkland today. All the search people have dispatched out to their areas where they're searching.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, Mike Graham, when water is up and running again there at the Jukebox Junction, what is the specialty that everyone can't wait to eat again there?
GRAHAM: Fredricka, I don't really want to talk about the restaurant right now. Can I give you a couple of things where people can donate to --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GRAHAM: First off with the Bethel Christian Academy, they can go to BCACanton.org, and the link to donations at the top of the page, but they have some just horrific pictures of their school there. And the next thing, the next is helping Hayward.org. OK. That's a nonprofit. And then the main one here is Mountainproject.org. They help -- it's a great organization here in the county in Haywood and Jackson County.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GRAHAM: They do such work, such wonderful work.
WHITFIELD: OK.
GRAHAM: Now, the big -- the biggest issue we're going to have coming down the road is housing for these folks that have lost everything.
WHITFIELD: I can see that.
GRAHAM: I mean, there was already a housing shortage here in the county. And we really need for the President to go ahead and declare this a federal disaster area. And he can add that through with New England, it's fixing to get clobbered here in the next day or so.
WHITFIELD: Right, well --
GRAHAM: So just do a package deal for us would you Mr. President?
WHITFIELD: I'm sure he's listening. Mike Graham of the Jukebox Junction, thank you so much. I can tell you what the special is. You all are serving up help. And I know how grateful people are about that.
GRAHAM: We're serving help, love, and compassion to our neighbors. And they're doing the same right back.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GRAHAM: You know, I have a -- the person that provided those pictures that you're showing. Her name is the Danica Clarke (ph) she used an ex-employee of mine. She lived up the river and she actually helped the lady -- save the lady from the river. I mean, there's so many heroes out here. They're unsung, you know, and the calling phrase I'll just call jukebox hero, so, you know, they can do it.
WHITFIELD: I love it. Mike Graham --
GRAHAM: I wish I -- OK, I wish I could share something that somebody wrote, but I don't have enough time, I guess. But it's the beautiful attic (ph), it'll explain exactly what the feeling is here in the mountains. But maybe that can be happened at another time, I guess.
WHITFIELD: Well, I think you've conveyed it very beautifully. Mike Graham, thank you so much. Thanks for taking the time. And of course we're wishing you, all your neighbors, everyone there the best. Appreciate it.
GRAHAM: Good. Thanks for letting me share.
WHITFIELD: Absolutely. Thank you.
All right, tomorrow night on CNN watch the series finale of Jerusalem: City of Faith and Fury. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighteen years have passed since the 1948 Arab- Israeli war. After a period of calm, tensions are rising again in the Middle East. The young nation of Israel struggles to find stability as the entire region hovers on the brink of a new conflict.
FADI ELSALAMEEN, NON-RESIDENT FELLOW AT THE FOREIGN POLICY INSTITUTE, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Israel is still a very young country. The idea of accepting Israel as part of the Middle East is foreign.
URI BAR-JOSEPH, POLITICAL SCIENTIST: Israel and its Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon were at a state of conflict since 1948. The Middle East was Arab for at least 2000 years. And suddenly these immigrants come from Eastern Europe and they build their own community here. And it was the new Ireland of foreigners in the midst of an Arab Middle East.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:49:23]
WHITFIELD: Jerusalem: City of Faith and Fury airs tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on CNN.
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WHITFIELD: Excitement is building as New York gets ready to celebrate its comeback from the coronavirus. Just a few hours from now, 20 performers will take the stage in the star studded "We love New York City: The Homecoming Concert." With us now to talk more about this big show is CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas and Doug Davis, he is the son of Clive Davis who is co-executive producer of tonight's show. Good to see both of you.
DOUG DAVIS, FOUNDER, THE DAVIS FIRM: Thank you for having me.
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right, Chloe, let me begin with you. A lot of big performers, you know, will be taking to the stage tonight. What does this mean for the return of live music in New York City?
[12:55:08]
MELAS: Man, I'm somebody who has missed going to see concerts in person. And I did go to MSG when it opened to see Foo Fighters. And it felt just so energetic and incredible and magnetic to be there. But I'm telling you, this is one of those moments that you're going to remember tonight, for it's a concert for the ages, one that you don't see more than once in a generation.
We're going to see so many big names take the stage. And I think that this is just one of those moments that says New York is here. We persevere through the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's a celebration.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So Doug, I mean, you helped organize this concert. I mean how did you and your dad, Clive Davis, decide who would be part of this lineup?
DAVIS: Well, the concert was the mayor's idea to culminate this homecoming week. And he arranged a phone call with my dad that I was on with the head of city events, Dan Gross, and it was such an electrifying phone call. I get chills when I think about it. The mayor said, Clive, I want to give you Central Park. I want to give you the Great Lawn. I want you to throw a concert for all time to reopen the city, which will really be a concert for the world.
So with that kind of setup, we knew that we had to rise to the occasion. And I think my father and I both saw this as a calling. He's a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn. We have both lived here our whole life. And we knew we had to go to superstars. So my father went first to those who he has the closest and longest relationships with. He called Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon first. WHITFIELD: Nice. And it sounds like everyone said, yes, I mean, Jennifer Hudson, Barry Manilow, Carlos Santana, EW&F Earth Wind and Fire. I mean, you're right that the biggest stars there are. So I mean, is it your view this will send a real resonating message to America of hope of inspiration that, you know, through music and these performers?
DAVIS: I think it will, and I know it already has. I feel like this concert has already saved lives. I know of people who got vaccinated in order to attend. And I know when they see how much fun, what it looks like to be on the other side of vaccinations that this concert will inspire others to be vaccinated, and I know will save more lives.
WHITFIELD: And that's right, because everyone has to be vaccinated, right, Chloe in order to be in attendance?
MELAS: Yes, you have to have at least the first dose of a vaccination in order to attend. And again, there's going to be social distancing enforced, masks are optional. But, you know, this is going to be outdoors and people are going to be taking precautions to make this a safe, but very enjoyable experience for so many people that have been just waiting to be able to see their favorite artists take the stage. And wow, talk about the biggest names in music tonight all on one stage. I mean, it's mind blowing.
WHITFIELD: It really is. I mean, Doug, I love the lineup, but do you have a favorite in the mix?
DAVIS: Well, I knew we had to reflect the demographics of the city with who was on stage. So we did bring in the Philharmonic and Andrea Bocelli for classical music lovers. We brought in Kane Brown for country fans and Maluma for Latin music fans. Me personally, because I'm very close friends and work with LL Cool J. He has assembled something that will be the talk of the town afterwards.
WHITFIELD: Really?
DAVIS: I cannot give away his surprises. But he has a segment that really will bring 60,000 people to their feet.
WHITFIELD: Because he's going to knock us out, right? Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait. All right, Doug Davis, Chloe Melas, thank you so much.
MELAS: Thank you.
DAVIS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, so don't forget our coverage begins at 4:00 four Eastern today exclusively on CNN.
All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Hurricane Henri is barreling toward the Northeast right now. More than 40 million people are under storm warnings. Henri is now a category one storm and could make landfall in southern New England or New York tomorrow afternoon. Allison Chinchar is tracking the storm for us in the CNN Weather Center. And Derek Van Dam is on the scene in Providence, Rhode Island. So Allison, let's go to you first.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right, so let's take a look at where the storm is right now with statistics showed that the state -- a sustained winds, excuse me, are 75 miles per hour gusting up to 90 miles per hour. Forward movement to the north northeast is just about 14 miles per hour.
We do anticipate the storm to make that little bit of a curve back towards the west, which is why we're still thinking that landfall is most likely going to happen over Long Island timing wise still thinking right around lunchtime on Sunday. It will continue to push a little bit farther inland before then going back out to the east over the open Atlantic.
[13:00:02]
One thing that we did notice in the last advisory that started to tick up was the winds that are forecast with this.
