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American Morning
Hurricane Dean Hits Jamaica, Heads for Mexico; Oklahoma Floods
Aired August 20, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's got a heck of a "gee whiz" factor, but also some very real-world applications. You look at what's happening in Oklahoma. You look at what could happen after Hurricane Dean.
This is the Superdome in New Orleans just after Katrina, and you can remember how much trouble first responders had getting to people. Before, you could take a look at one particular part. You could get the detail, but you lose the big picture. You pull out enough to get the big picture, you don't have the detail.
If they could see this, you could -- first responders could look and say, OK, that road is flooded. So is that one. We've got to bring the A through here and get it through that row (ph).
It just gives them an incredible view that they just cannot get any other way. And, of course, if you're sitting at home like my dad is right now in Michigan, he's probably taking a look at this and going, "How much can I get that for at Costco?"
Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes. You're thinking, how many years until that's in my living room? We're like, what, 10, 15 years away?
LAWRENCE: Ten, 15 years, give or take.
CHETRY: All right. Chris Lawrence, thanks so much.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice over): Hurricane Dean's Caribbean nightmare -- pounding Jamaica, barreling toward Mexico. And it could blow up into a Category 5, the strongest, today.
Hang on for dear life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was really tired at the time and she had just kind of given out.
CHETRY: Escaping floodwaters in Oklahoma more than once. We're live with the rescued and those who saved their lives.
Plus, a billowing fire on a jet overnight. The incredible pictures and tales of survival on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And welcome. It's Monday, August 20th.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez, sitting in for John Roberts.
By the way, we're expect to go get new information on what is going on with the hurricane. Don't expect, folks, that this thing is going to get weaker. Expect, in fact, t hat it's going to get a whole lot stronger as it goes over some of those hot, open waters.
CHETRY: Still a Category 4, could move up to Category 5 strength. We're talking about Hurricane Dean. And so far, as we've said, it still is remaining at Category 4, which still means sustained maximum winds of 150 miles per hour. That's what we're hearing from the National Hurricane Center.
Overnight, it sideswiped Jamaica with intense winds, at least a foot of rain, and a storm surge overnight that battered Jamaica's southern shores. The new advisory that's just out from the National Hurricane Center shows Dean still a major Category 4 storm with winds -- maximum sustained winds up to 150 miles an hour. It has the potential still to reach a Category 5 within the next 24 hours as it heads over the open waters, the warm open waters, and into Cancun, Mexico, as well as the rest of the Yucatan peninsula.
SANCHEZ: You know what else we're going to be watching? We're also going to be watching some extreme weather in the states.
Dramatic flooding and rescues from parts of Oklahoma. Have you seen some of these pictures that we've been monitoring overnight?
A woman plunges back into the floodwaters from a rescue chopper. Bang, there she goes. They had her up, suddenly they lost her.
All this is the result of -- remember Tropical Storm Erin last week? Well, it went through Texas, then it went through Oklahoma. It wasn't a perfect save, by the way, but it did work out in the end. They were able to go back and get her again.
Coming up, we're going to show you some of the interviews that we've done over the last hour with some of the folks who were involved in that rescue. Both the folks who rescued and the folks who were rescued.
Kiran, to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rick. Thanks so much.
Well, we have reporters covering every angle of the extreme weather. Susan Candiotti in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Susan Roesgen is in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. And Reynolds Wolf is in the CNN weather center.
We start with Reynolds right now. We just got the news about Dean, still a major Category 4, but it still could gain strength as it hits the open waters more.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, there's no question about it. The most damaging things to a hurricane would be, one, cool water. Number two, strong upper level winds, which we also refer to as shear.
This storm is moving rapidly into an area with very, very warm ocean water and in a minimal shear environment. So, yes, we do anticipate this storm to reach Category 5 status with maximum sustained winds above 155 miles an hour.
Now, winds are currently at 150, so keep in mind, strong Category 4, a Category 5 storm at this point doesn't matter. It's still powerful, it's still a tremendous threat to life and to property. People need to be very careful. This storm now leaving Jamaica in its wake, but right now it is the Cayman Islands that are experiencing tropical force-winds, heavy rainfall, and some strong surf.
Now, this storm, where is it expected to go? Well, the latest path from the National Hurricane Center still brings that storm closer to the Yucatan Peninsula. And as we goat to 2:00 a.m. in the morning, 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, the storm expected to be just to the north of Honduras, north of Belize, south of Cancun and Cozumel, roaring on to the peninsula -- or actually the Yucatan Peninsula, the east coast at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday. Then crossing over that area of land.
One thing to remember about the Yucatan is that it's not a mountainous region. It's flat like a parking lot, for heaven's sake.
The storm expected to cross that area. And by 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, it should weaken, be downgraded to a Category 1, but still strong, with winds of 85 miles per hour.
Then it continues its trek west/northwest as a Category 2. It's going to gain strength. Winds back up to 105 miles per hour at 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
Now, again, this is just the projected path that we can expect, Kiran. Keep in mind these numbers that we have in terms of the strength, that can fluctuate. There's a chance it can cross over the Yucatan Peninsula at a greater rate of speed and come over on the other side as a Category 2. Not likely, but it could happen.
It could also move a bit farther to the north. There's still an outside chance the storm could deviate its path all together and move directly into the Gulf of Mexico, or pass farther to the south and hit Honduras.
But right now, the path, as we mentioned, brings it right into the Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 5 on Tuesday morning, 2:00 a.m.
Kiran, back to you. CHETRY: Reynolds, thanks so much.
Well, Susan Candiotti is in Jamaica, where Dean already made its mark. There was talk of some mudslides as well.
What's the update, Susan?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No mudslides, Kiran, but they are telling us about serious landslides that they are worried about, particularly in a rural area called St. Andrew Parish. That's near Kingston, the southeastern end of the island.
You know, the island, as a whole, was spared a direct hit because the eye passed about 50 miles south of it. But nevertheless, serious bands of wind and rain did envelop Jamaica overnight and throughout the day yesterday.
Good news, no deaths have been reported. But they do have unconfirmed reports of injuries, and they're still trying to check that out.
Officials tell me that they are mainly concerned with the amount of wind damage that occurred. And they've got teams out there assessing the situation.
Some street flooding. Here in Montego Bay, for example, we're already seeing a lot of cars showing up in the street as they drive about to see how much damage there was here.
About 5,000 people overall filled shelters as they fled there for protection from the storm. And they are telling us that power is still out. We know that for a fact, it's still out across the island. They turned off the utilities on purpose to try to preserve the power grid system, and that power will slowly come back on line, but not until they assess how much damage there was.
We're getting reports from the hotels that, overall, they fared fairly well also. About 14,000 visitors remain on the island either because they couldn't get out or they decided to stay. The airports remaining closed until they get a chance to figure out how well the runways fared as well.
So, overall, we're hearing that not as much damage, they don't think, as Hurricane Ivan back in 2004, which was another Category 4 storm. And we'll see how the day goes on.
Back to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Susan, thank you.
Well, this is what Hurricane Dean looks like to the astronauts right now. We're going to see it in a second. There it is.
It's the image that's captured from external cameras on the International Space Station. You see the big circular motion right now as that storm makes its way toward the Yucatan Peninsula, gathering steam, gathering moisture as it moves. As Reynolds said, they believe it will finally make hurricane 5 strength as it continues to grow throughout tonight, into the early morning hours of tomorrow.
It's an amazing shot, isn't it, Rick?
SANCHEZ: That's amazing.
And you know what's -- we've been watching the weather, Kiran, not only in terms of what is going on in the Caribbean, also what's going on in the United states. Now, this has to do more with a tropical storm that went through just last week. But we've got some more pictures. In fact, let's go ahead and put those on some of the big screens and you'll see them.
This is parts of flood-ravaged Oklahoma. Now, watch this woman right here. Bang! She falls back into the water.
Wasn't able to hold on to her with the bottom of that helicopter, which, by the way, is not equipped to do rescues. There is no harness, obviously, as you see on some of the Coast Guard rescues that we've shown in the past.
Eventually, he does go back. He returns and brings her safely to higher ground.
Virtually, the identical thing happened to her partner who was with her at the time. Their truck had submerged into the water. That's why the hospital was called in to save them both.
In the last hour, by the way, we spoke to the couple. We understand they're doing fine. Kiran was talking to them, asked them to describe what they were thinking just before they were rescued.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNICE KRITTENBRINK, RESCUED: Just hoping that there was going to be a rescue. And we were doing some praying.
CHETRY: And Leroy, we saw how difficult it was to get a grip on that helicopter. In fact, you slipped once, as did Bernice.
What was that like?
LEROY KRITTENBRINK, RESCUED: Boy, it wasn't good.
CHETRY: I imagine it wasn't.
L. KRITTENBRINK: I couldn't get my hands around the pipe or the skid on the helicopter and hang on. So Randy here grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up high enough to where I could get my arms locked around that skid. And that took me up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Leroy seems like a funny guy, doesn't he, the way he explains himself so well? He's in good spirits, anyway. You know what's amazing about this? We're talking about a hurricane in the Caribbean that's a Category 5 storm that might be able to do an awful lot of damage. This thing that we're talking about here in parts of Texas and Oklahoma was really only a tropical storm that eventually turned into a tropical depression, and look at the kind of damage it's done, as Susan Roesgen can testify there to.
She's there in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, following the story for us, and she picks it up.
Boy, I can see there's a little bit of flooding there behind you as well, Susan. Describe it for us.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rick, I just talked to a mother with four young children who lives in a house behind that big red building. And she stayed in a hotel last night. She hasn't been able to get back in and see what kind of flooding she has in her home yet.
But Rick, I also talked to the head of the helicopter crew that did those dramatic rescues that you pointed out just a minute ago, and he said that this crew had never, ever done any water rescue, period. They just don't have that kind of thing frequently in Oklahoma, and that may explain why the rescues were more dramatic than they were smooth.
In any case, there's going to be some more helicopters up in the air today. The fire chief here locally wants to go out and get an aerial look at the damage, at the flooding here that's still behind me. And folks want to know what they're going to face ahead.
It looks like most of this storm went on into Minnesota, into Wisconsin. Twelve people, Rick, 12 killed in three states, six of them here in Oklahoma. And the fire chief told me earlier that he's afraid there might be more fatalities in this area once they find more of those vehicles like that couple's that were just swept off the road in rolling water yesterday -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: What a story. Susan Roesgen, thanks so much for bringing us up to date on that. We'll be checking back with you, by the way, as things develop on that story.
Kiran, back over to you.
CHETRY: And it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories news this morning.
Investors hoping for a repeat of Friday's big rally on Wall Street. Ali Velshi is here with that.
Last time we checked in with you, futures looking up.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unbelievable. I haven't seen all green around the world at this point in the morning for a long time.
Asian markets closed very well. European markets are up. Futures are looking good. But, boy, what a different week it was last week. And it is only Monday.
Take a look what happened last week. I mean, it looked -- this is one week in the Dow.
I mean, it started off at 13,300-ish. Look at those dips toward the end of the week. And then Friday morning, suddenly, when the Fed cut that discount rate, it jumped up.
What you really need to think about though is, while you should be aware of what's going on, take a look what has happened so far this year and, frankly, over a longer period. But just this year alone, if you were invested in some something that was like the 30 Dow stocks, you would be up almost five percent. In the Nasdaq stocks, 3.75 percent, and then the S&P 500, still almost two percent.
Not fantastic numbers, but given what you'd think about these markets, I think a lot of people fear that it's a lot worse than it's been so far. The question is, where does it go for now? What do you do with your investments?
Diversification still seems to be the answer. And most experts think that the market is headed up eventually, while we may have some speed bumps along the way. But for now, positive open now on the Dow -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We'll take it. Sounds good. Thanks, Ali.
Well, eating for two, should you do it? Or should you continue to count your calories? Some new guidelines for pregnant women and just how much weight you should gain. They are undergoing a federal review right now.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with more.
Hi there, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Kiran, this news is likely going to be a big downer for pregnant women who think they can just eat and eat. For 20 years, doctors have been telling women, gain about 25 to 35 pounds when you're pregnant. And guess what? Doctors are thinking maybe now that is too much and that that range needs to come down.
Why? Well, studies are finding that even when women gain that amount of weight, they tend to have babies that grow up to be fat toddlers. And also, doctors know that a lot of women, about half of all women, gain more than what they're told to gain. You gain that much more, you're at higher risk for needing a C-section, you're at a higher risk for getting gestational diabetes, and possibly even pancreatic cancer.
So, for those reasons, doctors might be bringing that number down -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. So, we don't know yet, though, what they might bring it down to at this point?
COHEN: No, we don't know exactly, but the experts we talked to said it probably won't come down all that much. Maybe it would come to about 25 to 30 pounds. So it would come down just a bit. And I think doctors are also realizing that no matter what kind of range they give, they need to figure out a way to how to get women to listen to them since half the women don't.
CHETRY: Right, that's true. And also, I mean, there's only -- the only way that you can watch your weight is either eat less or exercise more. And I think that women who are pregnant worry about doing either of those things.
COHEN: That's right. And women definitely should not be dieting when they are pregnant. Doctors are extremely clear about that. But they don't need to be going to town as it were when they eat, either.
For examples, what doctors say is, eat an extra 300 calories a day. That's not really that much. That's about half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of low-fat milk. That's not that much.
So, you're eating an extra 300 calories a day. Or that's what you're supposed to eat. A lot of women don't listen and eat much, much more than that.
CHETRY: And can you still keep up your same exercise regimen if you're pregnant?
COHEN: You can within guidelines. Doctors say, whatever you were doing, pretty much whatever you doing before you were pregnant, you can keep up while you're pregnant. There's certain activities they don't want you to be involved in, but certainly it's very safe for pregnant women to exercise.
CHETRY: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. Outrage and questions just three weeks until the 9/11 anniversary. Your "Quick Hits" now.
Investigators want to know why there was no water in the burning Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero when firefighters went in over the weekend. Two firefighters were killed in this huge fire.
Also this story. An illegal immigrant who took refuge in a Chicago church to avoid being separated from her 8-year-old son is now facing deportation to Mexico.
Elvira Arellano was arrested yesterday in Los Angeles. This is where she was campaigning for immigration reform. The church had been her sanctuary for more than a year.
A couple disasters in Minnesota after a bridge comes down and waters rise. What is being done to rebuild and recover? The governor is going to be talking to us in just a little bit.
Also, incredible pictures coming up overnight. A plane exploding into flames moments after landing. One hundred sixty-five passengers, including young children, were on board. Passengers say everything was just covered in fire. The dramatic escape caught on tape.
All this and more ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. And good morning, everybody.
I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to show you something that caught our eye last night. See that right there behind me? Take a look at that plane.
It's a plane that suddenly caught fire last night. It's China Air, by the way, 165 passengers and crew on board this China Air jet. Every single one of them managed to escape as the plane just burst into flames at this airport in Okinawa, Japan.
It's amazing. It's a 737, a Boeing, of course. It just arrived on a flight from Taiwan. Officials say the plane was already being evacuated when suddenly there was an explosion in one of the engines as well, the left engine, they say.
Let's put in the other shot. You're going to see now what happens when the fire was out.
Look what's left of this plane after the fire is extinguished. Almost nothing. It's a burnt-out twisted heap of metal and wreckage. Unbelievable.
Kiran, to you.
CHETRY: It sure is unbelievable.
Well, some severe storms flooding Minnesota overnight. At least five people were killed. Roads and bridges washed away. Homes flooded all the way up to the rooftops.
All of this as the 12th victim of the I-35W bridge collapse is pulled out of the water in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is with us from St. Paul.
Governor, thanks for joining us this morning.
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: Well, good morning to you.
CHETRY: You had a chance to tour some of these areas hit hard by the rains and flooding.
What's the situation like on the ground? PAWLENTY: Well, in southeastern Minnesota, we have all or most of many towns that are under water. So yesterday, I took an air boat ride through the downtown of a small community, water up to nearly the second level of many homes and businesses. Much damage, much dislocation, much trauma, and we're doing all that we can, of course, to respond and to recover and to help and assist in the situation.
CHETRY: Yes, it is such a scary situation for so many people living there. I understand you've ordered 240 National Guard soldiers to help in the area with the flood relief and also to provide security. There's also -- Red Cross set up emergency shelters there and are sending volunteers at this time.
Is this enough? I mean, do you have it covered?
PAWLENTY: Yes. The challenge that we have, though, is that the rains continue. The former single-day rain record in Minnesota was about 10 inches in the 1970s. There are unconfirmed reports that the single-day record now is going to be something close to 15 inches, just to give you a measure of how much rain is on the ground. And this is on the ground now that continues to rain, and the forecast for the rest of the week is more rain in many of these areas.
The response has been well done and has been very, very robust, but more rain continues and more problems continue to mount. So far, six confirmed dead and some others that are missing, but the response has been very appropriate and very robust. But we will put everything that needs to be done to respond properly to this event.
CHETRY: So, again, as you said, six people and countless others displaced right now. One of your state's senators, speaking about the flooding, called it, "The worst disaster that's hit southeast Minnesota in a lifetime," and this comes on the heels of the tragic I- 35W Bridge collapse. So, you know, it makes people across the nation wonder, how are those in Minnesota dealing with all of this?
PAWLENTY: Well, Minnesotans are a very hardy and strong people, but even the strongest among us need thoughts and prayers and compassion. And of course our hearts continue to go out to the families who have lost loved ones or have people missing either in this event or the bridge event. There's still one person missing there.
But in Minnesota, we have the saying called "Minnesota Nice," which is really a Minnesota goodness. And there's an outpouring of response and compassion and generosity and prayer, and I know the victims and those who have been traumatized by these events feel that and are grateful for it. But, even though we have very big challenges in these events, I think Minnesotans can be proud of the response. It's been well done and we're doing everything we can to relieve and soften the impacts of these events.
It doesn't take away the hurt, but it's been a very, very positive response in terms of the emergency recovery and the citizens' response as well. CHETRY: Governor, you've called for the bridge to be rebuilt by December 2008. It seems like that's very ambitious. It's not very far away from now.
Can you do that and still ensure the safety of whatever structure is put in its place?
PAWLENTY: In short, yes. If you look at the new design build process and standards around the country and around the world, that is not unreasonable or ridiculous timeline. We think that bridge can be built, first and foremost, safely, and also appropriately and well within that time frame.
We estimate that having that bridge down, and direct and indirect cost to our economy and other things in Minnesota, is $500,000 to $1 million a day. And so getting the bridge built promptly is important, but first and foremost, it will be done safely, and we can do it within that timeline.
CHETRY: Governor Tim Pawlenty, good luck. I know you've got a lot going on in your state today, and our thoughts are with you this morning. Thanks.
PAWLENTY: Thank you. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Speaking of politicians, here one keeping a promise. Your "Quick Hits" now.
Florida Congressman Gus bilirakis told a local chapter of the American Cancer Society that he would shave his head if they met their fund-raising goal of $750,000. There you go. That's what he looked like before. And then, of course, the Kojak look.
Well, her exit from "The View" made headlines. Now Star Jones returns to TV, and with her own show, no less. And a very, very, very different look.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: So, what have we got here?
CHETRY: This is your first time with the Ballot Jackpot.
What we do is we get people from the -- the Democrats, people from the Republicans, and we pose a series of questions.
SANCHEZ: Look out! Look out! There's something in there.
CHETRY: A series of questions. You never know what we're going to pick.
OK. Get this one.
SANCHEZ: Hillary versus Rove. Big controversy yesterday if you watched the debates. There was talk about that on the morning talk shows.
Debating the debates. Mr. Obama says, you know what? I'm tired of these things. I don't want to be in them anymore.
How is that? Not moving that enough for you?
CHETRY: Yes. The whole go is that you can't actually see what is written there.
This is Edwards' two Americas. There's some new controversy over...
SANCHEZ: Yes. A rich guy -- a rich guy saying, I don't want to be part of that, right?
CHETRY: And there's more. There's a lot more in here.
SANCHEZ: Well, who is going to talk about that? Us?
CHETRY: We're going to talk about it with Leslie Sanchez and Jamaal Simmons (ph) coming in just a couple of minutes when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
Meanwhile, we're still continuing to track Hurricane Dean. Still a Category 4, but a strong storm making its way to Cancun.
SANCHEZ: There is the loop. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. It is Monday, August 20th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. I'm filling in for John Roberts. We are following one doozie of a hurricane. Category 4 and could become a Category 5 the next 24 hours and that is important, folks. That could really pack a wallop.
CHETRY: We're talking about maximum sustained winds at 150, as soon as it goes up to 155 that's when it hits the Category 5 -- category. We're talking about Hurricane Dean and CNN is your hurricane headquarters, tracking dean through the morning.
It's delivering a blow to the Cayman Islands, right now, and its on a collision course with Mexico. We have team coverage. Our Rob Marciano, in Cancun. Reynolds Wolf is at the CNN Weather Center. We begin with Rob.
What is it like in Cancun as you guys brace for this big storm?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The sun is coming up now. I suppose the nice part about that is that it's breaking through the clouds right now. We haven't even seen the western edge of the cloud canopy of this storm, although we have seen the winds pick a little bit. They're out of the northeast 15, maybe 20 miles an hour. We're right along the beach here in Cancun, which is just loaded up with hotels up and down this strip, eight miles, 10 miles, 12 miles or so. In many cases it's like this where between a parking lot and/or a balcony or a porch or just a hotel. You're literally feet away from the beach. So there's not a whole lot of protection here when you're talking about a storm surge coming in and winds potentially as high as 140 miles an hour.
Even before this storm comes in with these constant northeast winds we're starting to see some beach erosion, which was a huge issue when Hurricane Wilma just sat out there for over a day, sitting and spinning, and battering this coastline; all sorts of damage. Over 90 percent of the infrastructure for tourism was damaged or destroyed, a lot of this beach was completely wiped out, and we're seeing this pier that's right out here. Wiped out as well, we're seeing that as well.
Looks like, according to what I here from Reynolds, and the National Hurricane Center, the track of this is going south of here. That's a good thing that it's not going to be a direct hit but a bad thing in we're on the wrong side of this storm. We're going to continue to get these onshore winds. This is going to be the area where we will see some of the strongest surge, and as this storm continues to get stronger, we may see the hurricane force wind field expand past 60, 70, 80 miles an hour.
So everybody here certainly watching, Kiran, very closely the track of this storm and if it does strengthen to a Category 5, but a Category 4 is certainly bad enough.
CHETRY: Sure is. Rob Marciano in Cancun for us. Thanks.
Right now Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in the CNN Weather Center. He is keeping an eye on the track of Hurricane Dean.
Hi, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLGIST: Hi, there.
It is hard to miss this storm. This is a storm like a giant wrecking ball about to make its way to the Yucatan Peninsula; a wrecking ball the size of Texas. Take a look at the storm, especially the last couple of frames you'll notice the eye wall beginning to break down just a little bit, trying to reform a little bit farther west.
Now, the storm is directly south of the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands have been experiencing some heavy surf and some heavy rainfall and also some winds that have been tropical storm force. The storm continuing to march westward and as it does so it is going to enter a minimum shear environment, very warm water, which will give the storm the chance to strengthen even more.
Right now it is a very strong Category 4 with winds 150 miles per hour, sustained, with gusts up to 185 miles an hour. All it needs is to get five miles per hour faster in terms of is sustained winds and it will be a Category 5. It should easily do that by tomorrow morning at 2:00 a.m. Category 5 making landfall south of Cancun into the Yucatan Peninsula and then crossing the peninsula by the time we get to 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, a Category 1 emerging back over into the Bay of Campeche and deeper into the Gulf as Category 2 at 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday with winds of 105 miles per hour.
Remember, this is just a forecast track. There is the possibility the storm could go much faster across the Yucatan, perhaps emerging into the Bay of Campeche as a Category 2 storm. It might not weaken completely. We're not talking about high elevation on the Yucatan. It is very, very smooth, almost like a giant parking lot. So there's a lot that can change between now and tomorrow morning and over the next couple of days. We will keep an eye on it for you, Kiran. Back to you.
SANCHEZ: You wonder what is going on in the Cayman Islands right now? I mean, that's not a big place and they are getting upper level shear of that thing. We'll see. That's the thing about hurricanes, you don't know what happens like 24 hours after it goes through.
CHETRY: Right. We're still waiting to see the total impact on Jamaica.
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
CHETRY: We don't know, although it has passed through.
Right now it is time for our Monday edition of political hot topics, or we call it "Ballot Jackpot". We take a lot the of the hot topics that have been generated in the political world over the weekend, throw them all in here. And then we draw them one at a time and our guests weight in. And joining us today, to weigh in, besides Rick, who is joining us for the first time, we have a Democratic strategist and Republican strategist.
SANCHEZ: Yes, on the Democratic side is Jamal Simmons from Boston, on the Republican side we've got author of "Los La Republicanos", how did I do?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, AUTHOR, "LOS REPUBLICANOS": Very well, Rick. Thank you.
R. SANCHEZ: Leslie Sanchez is joining us from Washington.
CHETRY: You said that way better than I ever could.
L. SANCHEZ: He said it better than I do, Kiran.
R. SANCHEZ: Cool last nail, Sanchez, a cool last name.
CHETRY: All right. Let's let them have at it. You know, this is his first time. Go ahead.
R. SANCHEZ: Me? Oh, my gosh!
JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Go ahead, Rick. R. SANCHEZ: Folks, here we go. Hillary versus Rove: A lot of comments exchanged as you know over the weekend. Mr. Rove decided that he was going to go out on a Sunday talk shows and have a couple of different things to say. One of the things he said was about Hillary Clinton. Why would he start going after Hillary Clinton at this point in the game? Let's start with Ms. Sanchez.
L. SANCHEZ: Thank you so much. You know, Karl Rove made a very obvious point. He said Hillary Clinton is a flawed candidate. She has the highest negative ratings of any primary candidate in modern history, not only because of her failed stances I think in appealing to women, and a lot of ethnic minorities, but clearly she is somebody seen as a front runner on the Democratic side, but she has such high negatives it's going to be a significant impact.
R. SANCHEZ: Do you think he wants her to win? Do you think Republicans in general hope that she gets the ticket for the Dems?
L. SANCHEZ: I think there's a lot of conspiracy theories. You have a lot of Democrats on the blogs saying that is the case. I think he pointed out the obvious. She is somebody who is going to have a very difficult time in the general election; she's not popular for many reasons.
CHETRY: However, Jamal, she has gotten through worse before. People said the same thing during her first Senate race?
SIMMONS: Yes, we're not really sure whether or not Hillary is the actual frontrunner. If you look at some of the early states they don't always show that.
The big thing here, for Rove, is the Republicans have a passion problem on their side. So what Karl Rove is doing, I this -- is trying to gin up the Republican base against Hillary Clinton. Nothing that energizes hard-core Republicans more than anti-Clintonism.
CHETRY: All right.
R. SANCHEZ: Here we go, number two.
CHETRY: Let's get another topic here.
Debating the debates. You guys know this weekend, I think it was Barack Obama's campaign manager, one of the strategists said there's too many debates he can't attend all of them so if they're not sanctioned by the DNC, we're not going. What do you think, Jamal, is that a good move?
SIMMONS: Well, having been through these wars myself a couple times, no campaign really wants to go through all of thee debates and forums. The problem is how do you say no to some important group in the Democratic constituency? So this works for Obama as long as the other big candidates follow him. But if he finds out that Hillary and Edwards are all going to go to the debates and he's not there, and there will be an empty seat with Barack Obama's name sitting on it, that won't go over well. CHETRY: Leslie.
L. SANCHEZ: Kiran, I say it's about time. I think Jamal said the right thing. The Democrats focused on having a debate for every special interest group out there. You've got the Hollywood liberals, you've got the labor, you know, the gay/lesbian community, you've got every type of special interest, plus the cable network debates on top of that. It's overload and a lot of debate fatigue and unfortunately it's a lot of talking points at this point, and focus group tested messages, and you're really not getting to the candidates.
R. SANCHEZ: By the way, Newt said that same thing last week, remember? What did Newt say? Actually he used an even more derogatory term.
Mr. Cheney, the vice president of the United States, suddenly a soothsayer. Where do you guys want me to put that, right there?
CHETRY: Yes, let's put it right there. And let's listen. This is something that the vice president said, I think more than 10 years ago. Let's listen.
R. SANCHEZ: When he was Defense secretary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the U.S., or U.S. forces should have moved into Baghdad?
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
CHENEY: Because if we had gone to Baghdad we would have been all alone, there wouldn't have been anybody else with us. It would have been a U.S. occupation of Iraq, none of the Arab forces that were willing to fight with us in Kuwait were willing to invade Iraq.
Once you got to Iraq and took it over and took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place? That's a very volatile part of the world and if you take down the central government in Iraq, you can easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
R. SANCHEZ: That's brilliant! Who is this guy? You know? That's interesting commentary. Boy, if they had had that guy working at the beginning of the Iraq war, then we probably wouldn't be in as big a mess, don't you think?
SIMMONS: Rick, you're stealing my lines.
(LAUGHTER)
R. SANCHEZ: I mean, isn't it amazing that he has this geo- political analysis of what the U.S. shouldn't do in Iraq, and then he becomes the vise president vice president and does the opposite! Leslie, I'm confused.
L. SANCHEZ: Very clearly, that is not a fair observation. The reason is, I mean, you're not talking about the same period of time. It's a post-9/11 world, there's very different circumstances.
(CROSS TALK)
R. SANCHEZ: But the point is everything that he said could happen as a result of going into Baghdad has happened!
L. SANCHEZ: Well, there's a lot of things that have happened that people upset about, there's no doubt about that. I would say this. If you look even at -- kind of fast forward, looking at presidential Democrat and Republican candidates, at least the Republicans, are waiting to see what General Petraeus is going to say rather than making a lot of speculation and conjecture about what the situation could be like.
R. SANCHEZ: Jamal, take us out.
SIMMONS: Well, Leslie, everybody knows that what is going on in Iraq right now, with the surge, is like a big balloon and every time you press down one side of the balloon, crime and violence pop up on the other side. There's not enough troops to hold down the entire balloon at the same time. And Dick Cheney knows, and apparently he knew back in 1991, that this is what would happen when you went into Iraq.
So the question is why do we really go? I think the jury is still out on that. For all of the American soldiers and Marines that are over there, they need to get this mission figured out, and figure out how to get some stability there, and bring those troops home.
CHETRY: Hey, it was great to have you both of you with us. Leslie Sanchez, Jamal Simmons, thanks to both of you for being with us. We'll see you back here on Friday.
R. SANCHEZ: Simmons and Sanchez, Chetry and Sanchez, got a little ring to it?
CHETRY: That's right. All right, thanks, guys.
Your "Quick Hits" now. And some miner families in China furious and demanding answers after 181 men were trapped underground by a flood Monday. China's work safety branch says it's pumping the water out. There is no sign, though, if the miners are dead or alive.
Mexico's annual bull run ends in disaster. You see some people getting tossed around like rag dolls. The bull ran through the streets for basically two hours goring people right and left. Several street fights also broke out among the participants and the spectators who had been drinking all day.
Hurricane Dean extremely dangerous, gaining strength. Right now headed for the Yucatan Peninsula; hurricane warning in effect for Mexico as well as the Cayman Islands. We have a live update ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Religion and values have become pretty well fused with politics in recent years. That is part of her series this week, "God's Warriors", Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour found one man who is challenging the new norm. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Visit Boyd's church and you'll hear a Christian message with a strong focus on personal relationships with Jesus Christ.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the one hand, I'm a conservative Christian and I am pro-life to the core of my being. I also believe that homosexuality misses God's ideal.
AMANPOUR: But listen to what Boyd says next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the Bible also says that gossip -- in fact, right next to homosexuality it mentions gossip, and it mentions greed, and it mentions gluttony. In fact, greed and gluttony are two of the most common sins held up in the ancient world as supreme sins, and they're frequently mentioned in the Bible, way more than homosexuality.
I never quite could understand what sin gradation scale some people go by where they decide certain sins are worse than other kind of sins, and those are the ones we need to go again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God and abortion.
AMANPOUR (on camera): To be specific, in order to be pro life, do you then have to support a candidate's whose mission is to overturn Roe versus Wade?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christiane, I don't think so. To be pro-life is not just to be about concerned about the womb. It's to be concerned about life. For example, what is the relationship between poverty and abortion, and studies show there's a direct correlation there. So maybe the best way to lessen abortion in society is to go for the candidate that you think is going to do the most for poverty.
And so we need to take great care not to naively think that we can translate our particular value into a particular vote. Don't label your way of voting -- Christian.
AMANPOUR (voice over): Boyd's concerns over the fusion of faith and politics began building shortly after the first Gulf war. When he attended a video presentation at a Fourth of July service at another church. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there is patriotic music playing and flag waving in the background. A sort of silhouette the three crosses, and four fighter jets came down over the crosses and split, with the flag waving in the background. And there were some people who stood up, they were ecstatic. And I started crying. Because I wondered how is it possible that we went from being a movement of people who follow the messiah, who taught us to love our enemies, to being a movement that celebrates fighter jets, that fuses Jesus' death on the cross with killing machines.
And that was, I guess, a wake-up call to me about how serious this problem is among evangelicals in America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: It's a special "CNN Presents God's Warriors". It begins tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. By the way, you can go to cnn.com/godswarriors, for more information on this. Good series. Guaranteed. Christiane will be with us tomorrow morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
CNN "Newsroom" is just a couple of minutes away. Heidi Collins is here with a look at what is coming up.
Heidi, what you got?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hey, good morning to you, Rick.
That's right we are Hurricane Dean all morning long in the "Newsroom". The big storm aiming at Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Right now, Dean is brushing the Caymans and its eye scraped Jamaica's southern coast. We'll have the very latest for you and watch it throughout the program.
And incredible rescue scenes out of Oklahoma. The leftovers of Tropical Storm Erin saturate the Plains.
A plane blows up after landing. The amazing part, passengers and crew escape. No one is seriously hurt.
Breaking news, when it happens, you're in the "Newsroom" at the top of the hour on CNN.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Heidi. Look forward to it.
CHETRY: A link between alcohol and strokes, topping your "Quick Hits". There is a study out of China suggesting that heavy drinkers, these are men who have at least 35 alcoholic drinks in a week, that's more than five a day, increase their risk of stroke by more than 20 percent.
And it turns out family is the key to happiness for young people even though it may not seem that way when you're living with a teen in the house. A study by MTV and Associated Press asked people ages 13 to 24 what makes you happy? Spending time with family was the top answer, followed by spending time with friends.
I wonder if they broke it down. It's after you go to college, and you realize there is no one to do your laundry, and there's no hot meals. You start to appreciate your family much more.
SANCHEZ: I have a feeling my 16-year-old will be appreciating my wife and myself a lot over two years.
CHETRY: Well, meanwhile, a Star reborn -- Star Jones back on TV. She has a whole new bod and new stage. Lola went on her new set to talk about the all-new Star, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Her departure from "The View" made headlines. Now Star Jones is coming back to TV and our own Lola Ogunnaike caught up with Start to talk about her new show, and life after "The View" and what it's like to drop 160 pounds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN HOLLYWOOD CORRESPONDENT: You look completely different. The cheek bones, chin, the eyes, the hair, do people even recognize you when you walk down the street?
STAR JONES, TALK SHOW HOST: It is kind of funny. I do get a little bit of a double take often, but then I just open my mouth and then all of a sudden they go, there is my girl right there.
I'm not thin by any stretch of the imagination.
OGUNNAIKE: Oh, Star, are you thin.
JONES: No, you're comparing me to when I weighed 307 pounds.
OGUNNAIKE: No. You're a size 8. There are very few people in the world that an 8.
JONES: But I'm healthy.
OGUNNAIKE: You're thin.
JONES: But I'm the size --
OGUNNAIKE: Look at that wrist! That's a thin wrist!
JONES: In my head, you know, I still see the girl who was 300 pounds.
OGUNNAIKE: I feel like your personality has also changed as well.
JONES: I'm free. You know?
OGUNNAIKE: Before you were big, bold, in your face, Star.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: That is not a naive 20 something-year-old! That is a hooch!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OGUNNAIKE: Now you seem a little more subdued. A little more, I don't know, peaceful.
JONES: I think some of the bold, boisterousness was used to camouflage fear and insecurity.
OGUNNAIKE: Uh.
JONES: But do not be misled. The new Star is still in your face.
OGUNNAIKE: Now, you're talking finally about what you went through to get to the size you are now.
JONES: Uh-huh.
OGUNNAIKE: Before, when you were on "The View" you called it a medical intervention.
JONES: Which it was, I mean, it wasn't a lie. I don't want anybody to think that I lied.
OGUNNAIKE: But you were dancing around.
JONES: Oh, God, yes. I really thought I would be the subject of people's judgment. And that scared me. It almost paralyzed me, in a way, that you -- meaning other people -- would think, "Hmm, maybe her whole life is a lie." I was afraid to also sound like a poster child for a surgical procedure. This is not liposuction and it is not a quick fix. It will change your life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Wow. So, you know, she did have very highly publicized struggles with her weight. Why did she finally decide to get the gastric bypass surgery?
OGUNNAIKE: She had a friend pulled her aside, Kiran, and said you know, what Star, you are killing yourself. You have got to do something about this. And to put it into perspective. She was in 307 pounds at her height. Shaquille O'Neal is 325 pounds and 7'1". She was 307 pounds and 5'5". She was a big girl.
CHETRY: Yes, the transformation really is amazing. So, she is launching her new show today. How is this going to be different than what you saw on "The View"?
OGUNNAIKE: One of the most obvious things, other than her physical appearance, is that she is on her own now, so the weight is on her little narrow shoulders, pardon the pun. This is a show she's been dreaming about for years. It is going to be a mixture of pop culture, politics. You know? Law.
CHETRY: Legal stuff?
OGUNNAIKE: Legal stuff, because that's her background.
CHETRY: And did she weigh in about Whoopi Goldberg now being added to the cast of "The View"?
OGUNNAIKE: She absolutely did. You know she was very public about her -- she was very public about wanting an African-American face on the show and thinks Whoopi is a good choice, actually. She likes Whoopi. She's in support of her and she says she's smart enough to handle the job.
CHETRY: Lola, great interview.
OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.
CHETRY: Rick.
SANCHEZ: I wonder how viewers are going to respond to her not being big. I don't mean her size. I mean her personality. She almost comes across demur all of a sudden. It will be fun to watch.
Here is a quick look at what the CNN "Newsroom" is working on at the top of the hour for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS (voice over): See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Dean, heading for Mexico today after plowing past Jamaica.
Heart-pounding rescues in Oklahoma. Remnants of Tropical Storm Erin unleash floods.
A plane explodes after landing. Incredibly, everyone escapes.
And fall classes begin today at Virginia Tech. Students dedicate a memorial to 32 people killed in April's shooting spree.
NEWSROOM at the top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, that is going to do it for us. Thank you so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Rick will be back tomorrow. Hope you guys are, too.
SANCHEZ: But did we have a good time or what?
CHETRY: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: And a lot of news to boot. CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins, another good time, begins right now. COLLINS: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Monday, August 20th. Here's what's on the rundown.
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