Return to Transcripts main page
Inside Politics
Cat 4 Hurricane Michael Strengthening; Trump Emergency Officials Meet Ahead of Hurricane Landfall. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired October 10, 2018 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00] DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: We've had all kinds of debris, it's frankly just getting a little bit difficult to stand up in these conditions, but the point is that the Apalachicola is taking a really heavy hit from this powerful, powerful storm. There's a mandatory evacuation that's under way.
Highway 98 which is the major artery in and out of this location, it goes to Tallahassee and it goes to Panama City. It is no longer accessible. The bridges are closed off. Emergency personnel are begging for people who decided to ride out the storm to hunker down, stay indoors, stay away from windows as the peak of major Hurricane Michael starts to sink its teeth into this area.
John, if you can hear me.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: I can hear you, Derek, I hope you can hear me. Help us with some context as we see those rising waters, how far are you from the coast.
VAN DAM: Back to you, John.
KING: Derek, if you can hear me, how far are you from the coast as we see the rising waters in the streets?
VAN DAM: Well, I'm going to keep talking because I'm not sure if we're still transmitting or not. But I just want you to see how incredibly fast this water has come up. This has changed -- all right, guys, we're going to have to call it quits. I think it's time where we have to go inside. So John, I'm going to send it back to you in the studio and we're going to get to a safe location because Hurricane Michael is about its strongest.
KING: Derek, you and your crew get some cover, get to safety please, that is always priority one.
Jennifer Gray is still with us in the CNN Weather Center. Jennifer, help us understand, put up a logic up on the map for us and we're seeing the rising storm surge already where Derek is.
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we'll do that for you. It's a good idea because where Derek is, they're seeing some very strong bands (INAUDIBLE). They're seeing some very strong bands right now. There's Apalachicola here, I'll highlight it for you so you can get a better idea. He's right here, the center of the storm is right there, so you can see that the eye of the storm. And so he's getting some of these very strong bands, you can see those oranges that come through there. So those are some of the strongest winds, of course not the strongest winds that are contained within the storm, but he is experiencing some of the strongest winds that he's experienced so far.
And for Apalachicola, they are going to experience a little bit stronger winds. They're continuing to get the storm surge. Where you saw the water level where he was now, that's expected to double.
So Apalachicola is getting about six feet of storm surge right now, they're expecting to get 12 to 13 feet of storm surge. And that's not just for Apalachicola, that's for Port St. Joe, that's for Mexico Beach. That's for any of these areas along the coast and I'll highlight it for you as well because it's very hard to see on this radar scope.
That's the coast of Florida, and so all of these areas along the coast are expected to get that eight to 13 feet of storm surge.
And I understand we have Diane back. Dianne, can you hear me?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mm-hmm.
GRAY: Are you -- has it gotten worse for you? Where you are, the winds are picking up I'm sure by this time though the storm is about 30 miles from the coast where you are.
GALLAGHER: Yes, and Jen, we are starting to sort of experience -- it's the longest sustained feeling like this that we have had all day. Like I was saying before, we were getting the bands of intense winds and then these breaks and we're just not getting the breaks anymore. And I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance. I keep looking over to my right here because my producer (INAUDIBLE) is watching. We've got some stuff that we're afraid might fall. So we're in a good position, I'm far enough back, it's not going to hit me, but it might mess with some of our equipment.
And look, that's just what we're kind of dealing with right now. If you can kind of see to just look, there goes a sign right there that just popped off of this gate area right here. I mean, the trees in some of these cases are literally bending over right now.
And so it is just part of this as it begins and comes around here. Now, look, I know that after our last (INAUDIBLE) we just did with John, I had people on Twitter very worried that we were nowhere, we are in a place -- we are in the safest place we can be right now. I can walk just a few feet away from me, and be in a very safe area which is the best thing to do when you're out here like this.
You mentioned the trees, Jennifer, I guess my question to you is, we're on Panama City Beach, we're on this like barrier sort of island area connected by the bridge. Will this impact the landfall or the speed of the winds or anything like that on the main land here in the Panhandle at all of these barrier islands? GRAY: Not much. When you have a storm this big, the barrier islands aren't going to slow it down really and they're not going to weaken the storm. What it's going to take as it getting onto that main land mass, if it get it on to the mainland, then that's going to finally start to slow this storm down.
[12:35:01] The storm has incredible momentum and has incredible amounts of wind speed and it's moving quickly.
So as the storm finally pushes inland, that's when it will start to gradually lose its strength. But we're still talking about a Category 2 storm in South Georgia by rush hour this evening. And so I don't want people in South Georgia being caught off guard either because a lot of trees like in your shot that we're seeing now, that's going to be one of the biggest hazards with this storm is going to be the winds. It's going to take down those trees, those branches are going to snap and so that's what's going to be incredibly dangerous.
For you, Dianne, you still in it for the next couple of hours. If that eye goes right over you, you can actually see these clear skies above you, and it is going to be incredibly peaceful and calm. It's going to be the most eerie feeling probably.
And then you have the backside to contend with. So the winds are going to pick up even more and you'll have the backside of the storm. But where you are, let me show our viewers exactly where you are. You're in Panama City here, and here's the eye of the storm, so you're getting not the worst of the winds yet. Your winds are going to increase even more.
When you start getting into these shades of purple or oranges and reds, that's when you're going to get those very strong winds and that's where we're seeing those winds for 100-miles-per-hour plus, with this storm, Dianne. So, you're still in it for the next several hours unfortunately.
GALLAGHER: It definitely feels that these -- when those big gusts come through with that rain, the raindrops feel larger now. I don't know if that's a thing or not but they feel larger than they did before, we've got more debris coming off here, flying back into the areas behind me. It feels like I'm basically getting slapped in the face with Michael right now.
It is intense, it hurts to be very honest, when these big gusts come just on your skin for a little bit. And it's odd because it is really warm outside but it feels cold as that wind comes through right here. It really does chill you down.
I've got a really good grip on how I'm standing right here. But if you can see, again, the best thing I can point to are the trees. I'm trying to turn my face away from the wind here, just to avoid it getting into my eyes and my contact lenses.
But I mean, if you watch this, it is just skirting across this parking lot area. And we're at higher elevation, this is why we moved inland for safety reasons instead of being just a foot or two above sea level there at the coast. We came to a little bit of higher elevation here in Panama City Beach.
The mayor actually talked about how interesting the topography basically is, that it can go from just two to three feet above sea level to several feet above sea level (INAUDIBLE). You know, you never want to say you're safe (INAUDIBLE) from things like storm surge, things like that.
But we moved up here for safety but we still have to worry about that rainfall and any sort of flooding or anything like that. We're talking six to 10 inches of rainfall that they predicted here. So it feels like it's coming out (INAUDIBLE), we're not even in the heart of it yet.
GRAY: Right. You still have a ways to go, you are going to get six to 10 inches of rain,. The biggest deal with this storm will be the storm surge, John. They're expected to get eight to 13 feet of storm surge in Panama City, all the way through the Big Bend of Florida. So, John, this is a serious storm, it's still about 20 to 30 miles from shore, so it should be making landfall within the next couple of hours.
KING: Twenty to 30 miles from shore. Jennifer Gray, appreciate that. Dianne Gallagher, (INAUDIBLE) stay safe even as you keep us informed. Safety, make sure that's priority one.
A quick break but when we come back as we watch Michael approach the Florida Gulf Coast, the president of the United States just received an update from his FEMA team preparing emergency response. Much more as Michael's path continues in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:42:45] KING: Back to the breaking news. This video just in to CNN. The president receiving an update on Hurricane Michael and its path from FEMA and from his Homeland Security secretary. Let's listen to the president.
KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: -- ever since Harvey, Irma, and Maria were Cat 4s. These are big storms that we're looking at. So look at the Panhandle, as you can see in the (INAUDIBLE) sir, and then it will go through Georgia and the Carolinas. Unfortunately, we do expect additional rain in the Carolinas which could lead to additional flooding.
FEMA is moving forward, as we are with our interagency partners ready for a deploy. We have search and rescue ready to go. We have very close contact with state and local authorities. We also spoken with the governor and local officials.
And I'll turn it over to Brock to (INAUDIBLE).
BROCK LONG, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Unfortunately, this is a Gulf Coast hurricane of the worst kind because all of the elements associated with hurricanes come into play. So as you see on the left, the storm surge estimates are anywhere between nine and 14 feet. Storm surge is going to be the worst where the eye makes landfall just to the east or south of where the eye makes landfall.
Somewhere right now, it's projected between Panama City and Apalachicola. And then it's going to push forward. So not only is it going to bring 14 feet of ocean water and coastal flood elevation. There will be wave action on top of that which is the primary driver of why we evacuate, sir.
And then coupled with that, you've got over 140-mile-per-hour winds. You know, either structures built before 2001 are not designed to handle that type of wind typically and it's going to unfortunately push through the state. So we're asking citizens in Southwest Georgia, Central Georgia to be vigilant and make sure that they understand what's about to come because this area is going to see a Cat 1, Cat 2 storm as it moves inland. And with the vegetation there, what we're anticipating is a lot of downed trees impacting the area. And you know, here again, we're going to see a lot of devastation along the coasts structurally. And then as it moves in, you're going to see power outages throughout the state.
And unfortunately, you're going to see rainfall into South Carolina and North Carolina. The Cape Fear was projected to start receding from Hurricane Florence two days ago and this will basically exacerbate the problem and add to it a little bit so it's going to keep those waters from receding a little bit as it exits the state by Friday.
[12:45:06] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So they're saying that this is one of the most powerful hurricane ever to hit our country, is that actually a fact?
LONG: Well, you know -- so in this area, this would be the most intense hurricane that struck this area since 1851 if I remember correctly so --
NIELSEN: It's a big storm.
LONG: Yes. Intense, very intense. But --
TRUMP: And this one is going to be heavy rain or is it going to be the winds that are going to be the problem?
LONG: Storm surge and winds. And then for Georgia, they're going to see high inland winds. So you may see sustained Category 1, Category 2 winds with higher gusts that are associated. So we're expecting a lot of damage inland as well but we have leaned forward with Governor Scott and his staff and Director Wes Maul down in Florida. They've been leaning forward as well and, you know, right now there's no identified short falls when it comes to prepositioning.
So we have teams, equipment, personnel, not only with -- embedded with state of Florida staff and some of the local county emergency managers but we have equipment teams staged in Maxwell to Atlanta to Orlando ready to move in once we can -- once the elements subside and push through and then we can move in and attack --
NIELSEN: We're working really closely with the (INAUDIBLE) about 14 states. Different utilities from 14 states are already ready to help with any energy outages.
TRUMP: Electric companies all over the country actually they're all lined up. As soon as it goes by, they're going to be working and we've got food supplies, food chains, we're working with all of the states and -- let me ask you, this started out very innocently a week ago. This was a small storm in an area. They never thought it was going to grow into a monster.
LONG: All right. So, the first initial indications from the National Hurricane Center started to come in around Saturday. And they picked it up and started raising the flag that hey, this system is going to from away to a depression and could potentially rapidly intensify.
And -- unfortunately, that's typical of the Gulf Coast, and when they do this, citizens have less time to prepare or heed the warnings. We are concerned that many citizens chose not to heed those warnings. But we're prepared with search and rescue teams to try to go and do what we can.
TRUMP: Any questions please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Are you concerned that folks in Florida and Georgia (INAUDIBLE)?
LONG: Yesterday, we were concerned that we were not -- we did not like the level of evacuation activity that we were seeing. And, you know, Governor Scott, kudos to him, he leaned forward, used the new wireless emergency alert capabilities that we have and sent out text, you know, messaging last night. Leaned forward and said hey, get out of there
And so we were trying to get people to really this -- the storm seriously. A lot of people did heed the warning but then there are those who chose to stay behind. And unfortunately, first responders may not be able to go in and rescue those who dial 911 at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, can give us a sense of the officials you've been in contact with (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: I have, I have. And the other governors depending on what happens here, but they are all either contacted or in the process. I had a long talk with Rick Scott, Governor Scott of Florida. Very well coordinated with all of the states.
And, you know, one of the things that must be said is it's not so easy for some of these people to leave. Some of the areas are very poor. It's not easy for a person without the necessary money to leave.
So what we've done is we've sent busses, we've sent a lot of different -- we're doing a lot of different things to try and remove people from the area. But a lot of people are very poor in certain of those areas, and it's very tough for them to leave. That's one of the problems you're finding, I guess.
LONG: Yes, in some cases, you know, what we ask to do on blue sky days is ask people who may not have the means or the mechanisms to get out of town to register with their local emergency management agencies. And Florida has been pretty robust in doing that. So that we have some idea how to pre-plan for that.
And then, you know, we do what we can to be able to support the movement of people. When it comes to Georgia, you know, we're not evacuating for storm surge in Georgia. This is going to be high winds, so we're asking people to get within a facility that can withstand the winds and try to shelter in place or seek out public shelters that may be open in Southwest Georgia.
TRUMP: But if you look at the size, how long it is. Take a look at that, and the red area basically is the area where it's going to hit pretty heavily. And that's a lot of shore. That's a lot of land.
NIELSEN: There'll be of course (INAUDIBLE) and storm surge all the way down in Tampa bay which as you know is very low lying and floods very easily. But to give you that idea of the breadth of its path, it is quite large.
[12:50:00] TRUMP: It's almost the entire size of the Gulf. When you look at it topically, it's almost the entire size of the Gulf. And they haven't seen that -- maybe they haven't seen that at all. Nobody have seen that before.
LONG: The eye diameter is pretty wide which unfortunately is not good news as it makes landfall. So some people may say it's similar to an EF-3 tornado making landfall in areas that are close to the eye so it's a --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) the infrastructure or (INAUDIBLE) in any way that they would struggle to deal with this hurricane?
LONG: Not in this area. Irma did not really heavily impact the Florida Panhandle. Most of the hit to -- from Irma was in the southwest portion of Florida and moved up through and created some issues in the Jacksonville area, northeastern portion. But this area, it's been a long time since it's been hit so the vegetation hasn't been stressed and we're going to see, you know, a lot of damage and devastation unfortunately. And we have to set citizens expectations that the power is going to be out for a while.
And what FEMA's role in that is, as the secretary would say in our partnership with the five sectors, you know, we work with Florida power lines, the Gulf powers, the southern companies, the Georgia powers to be able to help them, you know, facilitate their mutual aid to come in. And they've got power crews coming in from multiple states across the country that are already pre-staged. And when we're hit, we'll work (INAUDIBLE) was called first push debris to get the roadways open and -- so that we can get then down the roadways to start fixing the power. But that's going to take some time.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, we don't know. (INAUDIBLE).
There are thousands of people already (INAUDIBLE) and probably we'll do that tonight and we're going to go down here as soon as we can. We don't want to interfere with anybody but we want to go as soon as possible.
You have -- you know, right nearby, we have thousands of people going tonight and they've already -- many are there already.
What time are we -- were you going to be there? What time are we planning on that?
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Yes, it's about 7.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, I don't know what to do because you have so many people already there and it's sort of unfair to them. So it's a mix. I'll be totally focused on this. But we're going to make a determination over the next little while but you have people that --
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: No because I have great people including these two. But I have great people. It wouldn't make any difference in that sense, but I would like to be seeing what's going on.
We want to get down there as soon as possible. At the same time, I don't want to go down where we're interfering with the people, the first responders, the FEMA people. I want them to focus on the storm not me. So we'll probably look to Sunday or Monday to go down and meet with the governors, meet with everybody and do what we have to do like we did in North Carolina and South Carolina (INAUDIBLE) really well.
Now they're going to get hit also. I mean, North Carolina and South Carolina are going to get a lot of water. Nothing like they had two weeks ago, but they're going to get a lot of water also and that water is still draining out. So this is a pretty big problem.
I really worry a little bit about South Carolina and North Carolina from the standpoint they're already saturated and they're going to get a reasonable hit, right?
LONG: Right. Yes, they will, so you're going to see as much as -- you know, possibly eight inches in isolated areas through South Carolina and North Carolina. And as I said, it's all about the rivers being able to process the water from Florence, and some of them haven't had the time to do that so this doesn't help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: I will have to take a look at it exactly. When you say release the journalists, who are you talking about?
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: That, I'd have to look into. I'm not familiar with that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I ask you about Jamal Khashoggi?
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you concerned that (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: I would be certainly concerned. And in fact we have a call into his wife, his wife wrote a letter and addressed it to my wife and myself. And we're in contact with her now and we want to bring her to the White House. It's very sad situation, it's a very bad situation and we want to get to the bottom of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: I don't want to make -- I don't want say that. I hope he's not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) going to be responsible?
TRUMP: Well, I have to find out who did it. But people saw him go in but they didn't see him come out as they understand it. And we're going to take a very serious look at it, it's a terrible thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still think it was the Saudis?
TRUMP: I rather not say but the answer is yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: I would say fairly quickly. I would say fairly quickly. They're in touch -- you may just speak to the first lady's folks because they're in touch and she'll be most likely coming to the White House and we'll work on it together.
[12:55:10] It's a terrible thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lindsey Graham says there will be help (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Well, Lindsey can speak for himself. But this is a bad situation and we cannot let this happen. To reporters, to anybody, we can't let this happen. And we're going to get to the bottom of it, OK?
But you may want to speak to the first lady's office about it.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: I'd rather not say, but in a very high level, the highest level. Let me say this, it's the highest level.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You mentioned that you talked to --
TRUMP: More than -- and more than once.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had mentioned that you spoke with the (INAUDIBLE) so -- I mean --
TRUMP: Well, I do anyway and I've always found him to be a fine man, we had a very good relationship. I'm not happy about this. We have to see what happens. You know, we have to see what happens. Nobody knows what happened yet.
They don't know over there, but it's a very serious situation and it's something we're taking very seriously., OK?
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: We'll take care of that. We'll take care of that.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Well, they won't do it without our approval. They do nothing without our approval.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Yes. They do nothing without our approval.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: We'll talk to you about that later.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And by the way, when we get Alice Johnson (INAUDIBLE), a great person and such a great case. I'd like to find a lot of people like Alice Johnson and there are a lot of people that are in a situation like that. And we are actively looking for those situations.
She's a terrific woman. I've been watching her a lot and what a great spokesman she is for that situation. And that's covering a lot of people. There are a lot of people like that, that will unfortunately be locked up for many, many years and there's no reason for it. So we'll be -- we are looking for -- we are actively looking for other situations exactly like that.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: No, but she's somebody we're talking to. We like Dina. Dina did great here, she then went back into the private sector for a while, but she always wanted to come back. She loves this administration so we're certainly looking at Dana and we're looking at others. There's some tremendously talented people.
Nikki is going to be here until the end of the year. Nikki is our friend, she's been great. I want whoever it is to spend some time with Nikki before Nikki goes out. And gets herself a job and hopefully -- she's going to make a lot of money.
And I think Nikki will come back in some form too but she's an extraordinary person, good person. And -- but we're looking at many people, many people want that job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) of the fact that she announced her departure (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: No. There's no good time. I mean, there really is no good time. She told me about this a long time ago, and frankly it's, you know, almost four weeks so it's not that bad.
No, I don't think so at all. I thought it was very elegantly done. If she waited until after, and then say, oh, you know, if we win, they'd say why she doing it? And if we listen they'll say, oh, well, that's obvious why she's doing it. OK.
So, there's really no good time to do it. But she and I have spoken at least six months ago, maybe even a year ago we had conversations. She wanted to be here about two years.
And I think the point really was last week at the United Nations. She wanted to get through that. And then go probably into the private sector for a while. And I'm sure she's going to come back into government because she's a terrific person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was the process look like, Mr. President? What are you looking --
TRUMP: Very strong vetting, but some of the people we (INAUDIBLE). Some of the people that are with us. We're looking to people that are already with us.
And we have some incredible talent in this administration. We have some great, great talent and they have already been vetted, they're already approved.
Any other questions on this.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Yes, I know they did.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: India is going to find out, aren't they?
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: India will find out. You'll see. Sooner than you think.
(INAUDIBLE) TRUMP: Yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington and we want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.
You've been watching President Trump get a briefing in the Oval Office from FEMA officials as one of the most powerful hurricanes in United States history. (INAUDIBLE) that's ready to make land in the coming minutes. (INAUDIBLE) this hurricane will make landfall in Florida.
