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Florida Braces for Catastrophic Flooding from Hurricane Ian; Jurors Interviewed for Oath Keepers Trial. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 28, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (D-FL): If you are in an evacuation zone, particularly in those Southwest Florida counties, your time to evacuate is coming to an end. You need to evacuate now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:00:03]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A life-threatening Category 4 storm headed right toward Florida. I'm John Berman, live in Tampa this morning. Brianna Keilar is in Washington. And that is the news from overnight.

Hurricane Ian strengthened to a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, wind gusts of 165 miles per hour. The storm forecast has adjusted somewhat South of where I am in Tampa, headed right toward the Ft. Myers are in Florida, about 100 miles South of here.

But the threat to Florida is enormous. More than two and a half million people under some sort of evacuation order. Yes, the wind speed is a serious threat now, a Category 4 storm. But also, storm surge. Where I am in Tampa, they could see storm surge of six feet, which could put the water pretty much right where I'm standing, if it hit that maximum level.

Down toward where the storm is expected to make landfall, they could see storm surge of 12 feet. Imagine that.

But it's not just the wind and the surge. It is also the rain. The rain here, which has been falling all night, sometimes much harder than this. This could go on for another 36 hours. They could see up to two feet of rain in some places, including right here in Tampa, which means they could see a storm surge coming up from the bay, and they could see fresh -- fresh-water flooding coming down from the rivers and streams.

You can get a sense of just how dangerous the situation here is, Brianna.

KEILAR: Now this hurricane is also sparking tornado activity ahead of its landfall. One reported overnight in Broward County. You can see here ripping trees from the ground. It also caused heavy damage to planes at the North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines. It flipped aircraft there.

Just take a look at these images from onboard a U.S. government plane that is flying through the eye wall of this monster storm. And the new stunning visuals that show the hurricane full of lightning as it is sweeping over the Gulf on its path to Florida -- John.

BERMAN: All right. We have team coverage for you this morning. Randi Kaye South of here in Punta Gorda, Florida, where the storm could be making landfall. Carlos Suarez here in the Tampa area. Chad Myers, standing by for us in the Weather Center.

Let's go first to Randi Kaye, down in Punta Gorda. Randi, good morning to you. What are you seeing so far there?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning, John.

We are seeing conditions deteriorate here, certainly, in Punta Gorda. There's been some pretty heavy rains and some pretty good wind gusts coming at us this morning.

I'm just on the edge of downtown Punta Gorda. And this is the Peace River here behind me. (AUDIO GAP) about a (AUDIO GAP) 12 feet. (AUDIO GAP) A lot of this water is going (AUDIO GAP) for downtown Punta Gorda and flood those streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DESANTIS: If you are in an evacuation zone, particularly in those Southwest Florida counties, your time to evacuate is coming to an end. You need to evacuate now.

KAYE (voice-over): Governor Ron DeSantis issuing another plea to residents in the storm's path to leave.

DESANTIS: Now is the time to act. You need to get to higher ground. You need to get to structures that are safe. There are shelters open in all of these counties. And that would be preferable than remaining in one of those very vulnerable areas.

KAYE (voice-over): More than two and a half million Floridians are under some sort of evacuation order, FEMA issuing this dire warning.

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: By the time it reaches the shores of Florida, the storm is going to slow down to approximately 5 miles per hour. And this is significant, because what this means is that Floridians are going to experience the impacts of this storm for a very long time.

KAYE (voice-over): Southwest Florida already feeling the impact of the storm, with hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy rain.

KEVIN GUTHRIE, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION: If there is a flooded roadway, do not drive through the flooded roadway. You do not know what is going on with the roadway underneath. Please turn around the do not drown in that situation. KAYE (voice-over): In Broward County, a possible tornado touched down overnight, leaving in its path downed trees and planes overturned on the runway at North Perry airport.

Five thousand Florida National Guard members are ready and pre- positioned to support Hurricane Ian response efforts, with 2,000 more ready to assist from surrounding states.

According to DeSantis, more than 30,000 personnel are also standing by to help with power restoration.

In Punta Gorda, emergency services, including police and fire departments, will be suspended when winds reach 45 miles per hour, and won't resume until after the storm passes.

GUTHRIE: We cannot send first responders into harm's way because you decided not to leave. You must leave now.

[06:05:03]

KAYE (voice-over): Still, some in Punta Gorda are trying to hunker down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to stay on the boat as long as we can. And till the water starts to get too high. And then probably go up to our day room, which is a hurricane-safe proof building.

KAYE: Emergency officials would probably tell you you're crazy to try and stay on the boat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.

KAYE: Why do it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because it's everything we have.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It's everything we own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sold our house up in Michigan and all our property and everything we own for this life. It's all we got.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (on camera): We (AUDIO GAP) -- folks, their boat is docked just a short distance away from where I'm standing. We're going to check on them in a little bit.

But right now, 120,000 people under evacuation orders here in -- in (AUDIO GAP), as well. That's about two-thirds of the county. And that is because - mainly because of this storm surge.

When Hurricane Charlie blew through here, John, back in 2004, there wasn't much of a storm surge, about three or four feet. Now they're expecting three times that here in Punta Gorda.

Back to you.

BERMAN: So Randi, one of the concerns among officials in the state, overall, is that, as this forecast has shifted further South, I know that we're worried that it might catch the people where you are by surprise.

There was initial concern up here in Tampa and even North of here early on, not so much where you were. Do you have the sense that people had the time to take the precautions that they needed there?

KAYE: It seems as though they have. I mean, when we spoke to officials yesterday, they were saying that people were heeding the warnings and evacuating.

But then you have people like that couple, who wants to stay on the boat. They say they've lived through 80-mile-per-hour winds. And I said, This is going to be a lot more than that. So they're not sure what they're going to do, but we did get a sense it was very quiet around town.

And they know what happened with Charlie. They had very, very little notice when Charlie was supposed to hit Tampa, as well, back in 2004 and took a quick right turn and ended up plowing through here. But John, that was a very fast-moving storm, moving about 25 miles an hour.

Hurricane Ian might just sit right on top of this area and just -- just pour water on it, pour rain on it --

BERMAN: Yes.

KAYE: -- for a couple of days, possibly.

BERMAN: That's exactly right. Rainy day in Punta Gorda. Randi, you and your team stay safe. That rain very much coming down here in Tampa, as well.

And as Randi was saying, the concern is that it won't stop raining like this, and it might get even harder over the next 3 hours. More than a foot of rain.

Want to bring in Carlos Suarez, who is also here in the Tampa area, where we could see, you know, half a year's worth of rain, Carlos, over the next day and a half.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, John. Good morning.

We are where the Hillsborough Bay meets the city of Tampa. This is an area of Hillsborough County that officials expect to flood, even as Hurricane Ian tracks to the South of where we are right now.

Nearly 400,000 people. We're talking about two mandatory evacuation orders that went out. Nearly 400,000 people across Hillsborough County were told they needed to get to higher ground.

Forty-three hurricane shelters opened two days ago. But I have to tell you, John, in my experience covering storms, it does seem that folks did take these warnings seriously. On our drive up from Pinellas County yesterday, on my way in, I was able to see one hurricane shelter, and it was pretty busy.

And a drive around town last night showed a lot of businesses closed. A lot of them were boarded up. Gas stations were still open. There was a couple of them that had run out of gas. But a number of them just had a short line. It seems like folks did get prepared ahead of whatever impact we were going to get from Hurricane Ian.

Over in Pinellas County, in the Gulfport area, the barrier islands to the West of where we are, we're told the count sheriff's office was out there, making sure that businesses were closed and that folks got out in time -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, Carlos, same thing here in Tampa. It does appear as if people heeded the warnings, at least on the storm surge front. People getting away from the rivers and streams, just in case it rises above where it's safe. I'm not so sure the flooding coming the other direction, that people are ready for that. We will see.

Carlos Suarez, thank you very much.

Let's go right to the Weather Center now. Chad Myers standing by with the latest forecast. Chad, what are you seeing?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, the 140-mile-per-hour number came over at 5 a.m. Before that, it was 125. Hurricane hunter aircraft have been flying through it. The pressures are going down, and the winds are still coming up.

The storm is going to be very significant for anywhere from Sarasota down to Fort Myers, even Naples.

Some of those towns will -- every square foot of those towns will be under some feet of water. That's how much surge is going to come in with this.

And Randi really touched on it. Randi Kaye in Punta Gorda. She said, you now, we didn't get a surge in Charlie. And no, we were down there. And no, this was a wind storm.

This is a wind storm and a surge storm and a flood storm, all in one. And this is going to spread itself out across the entire state. Everybody is going to see something from this.

[06:10:06]

In fact, there's a tornado warning on the ground now on the Eastern side of the state. This is as those storms come onshore. They can rotate, even water spouts coming on shore.

But the big problem I see, a 12-foot surge. All of those canaled homes in Cape Core, in Punta Gorda -- and there are thousands of them -- they're only three feet above sea level. If this water comes up 12, that means water is up to the gutter. There's no place for you left in that house. You absolutely need to be out of those Zone A's, and in many spots, the Zone B's, as well. That kind of got put into effect about 6 p.m. last night in some of those places.

So people are still trying to get out, because they got some late notice. But this is a storm that is still developing. The eye is still getting smaller, and there's more lightning around the eye. That means these cells around the eye and in the eye are getting stronger.

There's the tornado watch. Here are the winds already. Some spots already at 45 miles per hour. Naples now at 51. It is the bubble of water under the eye and around the eye that I'm concerned with, that will actually come onshore.

It is the hurricane winds. Look how large the hurricane winds are. Here's Fort Myers. Here's Tampa. Now watch what happens. This comes onshore and the red area that is hurricane and above, because some of this will be Cat 3 and 4, still gets almost all the way toward Orlando. And many, many people went to Orlando.

So you're going to see wind gusts of maybe 85 or 90 miles per hour in the places that you evacuated to.

And then the stretch across, that's even Orlando at 20 possible inches of rainfall. You're going to have to watch where you are. You're going to have to know what county you're in, what area you're in, what level, what river is around you. Because I know you're not familiar with it. You just booked some hotel randomly. But you're going to have to be careful here.

Those are the places that are going to get affected the most. Flash flood warnings likely today, tomorrow as this storm continues to get stronger. It's still in warm water. It will eventually come onshore.

And even for you, John, if the storm kind of tracks on the left side, you could get surge. But my concern, Sarasota southward, all the way down to Naples, those are the areas that are just going to be massively flooded.

BERMAN: Chad, to the extent that it matters, exactly, when is the hurricane expected to make landfall?

MYERS: When's the worst going to happen, or when will the eye, the middle of the eye? Because that's when the hurricane center calls it. Hey, the middle of the eye is onshore. It is -- it is landfall.

But the worst stuff is not middle of the eye. The worst stuff is the eye itself, and that could happen in the next four to six hours if the storm does track to the right, as it is forecast to do.

But tropical-storm-force winds are already occurring. Now, the eye wall and the eye are two completely different things. You need to know that things are going to go downhill very rapidly, as soon as 10 a.m. this morning. BERMAN: Yes. All right. That's why I asked it that way, Chad. Because

things are just going to get bad very quickly. Please stay where you are and stay safe at this point. Chad Myers, thank you very much.

So, Brianna, this whole state, practically, up and down the peninsula, West all the way to East, bracing for some kind of impact now.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. I want to bring in Nick Pachota. He is the vice mayor of Venice, in Sarasota County, Florida, which is certainly, Nick, where you're really hunkered down, because we're watching this eye wall, and it's really heading straight towards you, as we're expecting this to make landfall just South of Venice today. What are you preparing for?

NICK PACHOTA, VICE MAYOR, VENICE, FLORIDA: At this time, I would say most preparations have completed and now it's just a matter of hunkering down and waiting for the storm to pass. We've made evacuation notices. We've done the best we could educating and, you know, moving people to shelters and where they need to go.

And now we're just, you know, praying. And we've got a great city staff. I mean, our staff are some of the most well-trained people. We've got public safety on stand-by. So it's just kind of like we've been referencing with Hurricane Charlie. We're just going to have to hunker down, wait and pray.

KEILAR: Charlie is your reference point here, but what are you expecting compared to Charlie?

PACHOTA: You know, right now it's really going to depend on where landfall is. You know, with Charlie, I feel like we dodged a bullet. You know, it hit further South than us, and we didn't really feel a lot of the effects.

Depending on where this eye lands, you know, we could feel some very significant effects. And like everyone's been saying, you know, this is a much different storm. We're looking at up to a 12-foot storm surge, and we're a coastal community with a barrier island that's 2.2 square miles. So we have some great concerns.

You know, we have three bridges that access our island that are currently in the lockdown position so that vehicles can pass. But as everyone's saying, after 45 miles an hour, you know, there's -- there's no public safety available until after the winds die down.

[06:15:09]

KEILAR: So the people who haven't left, like you've said, it's time to hunker down. Do -- do you think that people evacuated in the numbers that they needed to, that you were expecting to?

PACHOTA: You know, it's hard to say. We haven't gotten shelter counts for our residents here in a while. It's tough to say who actually went and didn't.

We had law enforcement patrolling our barrier island and other evacuation zones, you know, letting everyone know that it is an evacuation. We've -- we've been in contact with all of our special needs patients and made sure that they got transported where they needed to be transported.

So I think we've done the best we could, and now it's just going to be a hurry up and wait and pray for the best.

KEILAR: Well, we'll be praying with you. Nick, thank you so much. We'll be checking back in with you here in the days to come.

That's really it, John. You know, you see folks who they're watching the storm track. It's tracking a little farther East, and they dodged a bullet with Charlie. They're hoping to do it again, but it's just really uncertain at this point what -- what they may be expecting.

BERMAN: Right. Well, at a minimum, feet of rain, multiple feet, perhaps.

KEILAR: Yes.

BERMAN: Up to two feet of rain. Not to mention the wind and the storm surge.

I want to go back down to Punta Gorda, Florida. Storm chaser Michael Gordon is there.

Michael, if you can hear me, what are you expecting where you are?

MICHAEL GORDON, STORM CHASER: I've been here for about an hour or so. And the winds have really started to pick up. These outer feeder bands are really starting to bring some pretty heavy winds.

There's already been a decent amount of debris across the roadways from the palm trees. The storm surge, I believe, in this area, depending on the location of where the eye actually makes landfall, could be very significant as the bay comes into Punta Gorda. It could get pretty ugly down here where I'm at now.

I can -- there's some things -- I just see -- I just see this area getting a lot of flooding when the eye hits just North of here. It's going to bring in all -- I mean, probably the most -- the most deadly part of the storm surge, 9 to 12 feet.

Hoping that everybody has taken shelter or are, I guess, in a safe place. I'm going to get out of here probably here in the next few hours and move to another area up on some higher ground, because currently right now I'm pretty much real close to sea level.

BERMAN: Yes, Michael, I was going to ask you. It's one thing when you chase storms to be in the wind, to get a sense of the force of a hurricane. You can protect yourself in most cases like that, but not the storm surge.

The storm surge, if you're talking 9 to 12 feet where you are, there's really nothing that you can do other than get to a safer place.

How quickly are you worried that it could come in? Do you think most people where you are have gotten out?

Michael, can you hear me?

All right. I think we lost Michael Gordon, who's down in Punta Gorda, Florida. But you can hear him talking down there. Yes, that may get impacted, a Category 4 storm, which is devastating in and of itself, but the real concern there is the storm surge where he is.

Chad was talking about it, those low-lying areas that could see 9 to 12 feet. That would mean water up to the gutters. People have to be gone by now from there, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. They have to have left.

Our special live coverage is going to continue as Florida is bracing for Hurricane Ian, as much of the state here is facing dangerous storm surge, feet upon feet, and catastrophic flooding.

And what potential jurors in the Oath Keepers January 6th trial are saying about whether they can be impartial.

And breaking here just moments ago, the head of NATO calling mysterious leaks in the Nordstream gas pipe lines -- pipe lines from Russia to Europe sabotage.

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[06:23:28]

KEILAR: All right. We will go back to Florida as Hurricane Ian begins to hit the state. But the storm is also impacting Washington.

The House Select Committee Investigating the January 6th Insurrection has postponed its highly-anticipated public hearing that was set for today.

Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chair Liz Cheney said in a statement, "We're praying for the safety of all those in the storm's path. The Select Committee's investigation goes forward. And we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings."

Meanwhile, potential jurors in the historic trial of the Oath Keepers leader and top lieutenants telling attorneys that they would be able to put aside their own opinions of the extremist group in order to judge the case fairly. All five Oath Keepers are charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6th attack.

CNN's senior crime and justice reporter, Katelyn Polantz, joins us now on this story. Really interesting here. What kind of questions were these potential jurors asked yesterday?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bri, this isn't an easy thing during jury selection. It takes a long time. They're being very careful. And these jurors are being asked a lot of questions. They're being asked what their feelings were about January 6th.

They're being asked if they know anyone on Capitol Hill or who was affected. And a lot of them do have questions. I mean, one of them said yesterday, these people were invading my home. That they did feel strongly.

[06:25:00]

And they also are being asked in this particular case, this is about the Oath Keepers, five Oath Keepers in particular, leaders of that group. They're being asked if they know about that group. And one of them said that they did recognize the Oath Keepers, that they received them as a group with guns and aggression. That was their impression of them.

But all of that said, the court is very careful about this. This is about making sure people can be impartial about these specific defendants, not necessarily January 6th, not necessarily the Oath Keepers or domestic extremist groups like this.

It is a question of can you be impartial for these particular individuals? Have you heard of these guys before? And the jurors are largely getting qualified, even if they have some strong opinions here, because many of them haven't heard about these particular people.

KEILAR: Really interesting that they haven't. Katelyn, thank you for the reporting.

So we have so much more on the preparations for Hurricane Ian. There are major power outages expected. Downed trees, flooding, other damage could delay restoration efforts. We are live in Tampa with the latest.

And this: a handful of COVID cases triggering a snap lockdown in China and rare protests in one southern city.

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[06:30:00]