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CNN Saturday Morning News

A look at Hurricane Frances Waiting of South Central Florida's Coastline; A discussion on Bill Clinton's Surgery

Aired September 04, 2004 - 09:00   ET

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

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


DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is Frances, and she is pounding the Bahamas overnight. It is 9:00 in Melbourne, Florida, waiting for Frances to come ashore.
Good morning, I'm Drew Griffin at CNN headquarters here in Atlanta.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Welcome to this special edition of CNN SATURDAY MORNING, continuing coverage of Hurricane Frances all hour.

But first, some other stories making news right now.

GRIFFIN: We are awaiting a news conference this morning with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, expected to speak at the state's emergency operations center in Tallahassee. That could happen at any minute. We're going to bring you that when it happens.

Many are mourning the deaths of at least 322 Russians involved in the recent hostage standoff with Chechnya. Currently, more than 500 people are hospitalized as the three-day drama ended in chaos, Russian commandos storming the building after terrorists inside that building set off explosives. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited victims at a school in southern Russia.

NGUYEN: No fast food for a while. That could be the case for former president Bill Clinton. Clinton is in a New York hospital awaiting heart bypass surgery next week, sometime early next week, an exact day has not been set. The 42nd president admits he's a little scared but optimistic about the procedure. He spoke by phone last night from his hospital room on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." Clinton says he checked into a hospital after experiencing tightness in his chest and shortness of breath.

Medicare premiums take a big jump next year. The 17 percent hike will be the largest increase in the program's 40-year history. Monthly payments for Part B will rise from about $67 to just over $78. Medicare Part B covers doctors' visits and most other nonhospital expenses.

And sources say another boy accused pop singer Michael Jackson of touching him inappropriately and was paid money to keep quiet. The sources say it happened in 1990, but the information surfaced when authorities were investigating the entertainer in 1993, a case then. Jackson denies the claim, saying he would never harm a child.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

GRIFFIN: Just about an hour ago, CNN affiliate WSVN fed in this video of a pier collapse. Watch this. This is in Volusia County near Daytona Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... going, going, gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Gone indeed. It may prove to be an ominous sign of the strength of Frances, which remains hours from landfall yet. Along Florida's east coast, Hurricane Frances gets closer. Hurricane warnings posted from Florida City north to Flagler Beach, the latest advisory showing the storm downgraded last night to a category two, 110-mile-an-hour winds, or 105-mile-an-hour winds, I should say. It's about 110 miles east-southeast of West Palm Beach.

There are mandatory evacuations blanketing much of Florida's east coast, 2.5 million people affected by the state's largest evacuation order ever.

We are focused on Frances, with CNN reporters in several places, Karl Penhaul in the Bahamas, Bill Hemmer in Melbourne, Florida. There you see them there. Sean Callebs, West Palm Beach, and Kathleen Koch in St. Augustine. Meteorologist Orelon Sidney in Orlando. Betty?

NGUYEN: But first, we want to head to Freeport in the Bahamas, the current target of Hurricane Frances. Pelting rain is flooding parts of the city, and people are being rescued from rooftops.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is there and joins us now by videophone.

What's the situation at this hour?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Betty.

The main problem, as you say, has been the flooding overnight. The core of the storm started to pound the Bahamas in the afternoon, but the winds really intensified on Grand Bahama in the evening.

And talking to authorities in the incident room this morning, they say that in the darkness hours still they were pulling people off rooftops by fire trucks, in some cases some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) called in to try and also help rescue some of the people in several neighborhoods that were under four to five feet of water.

Now, talking to the weather experts at the weather center at the airport, they're telling us that they have to be pulled out, in fact, they had to be evacuated from the airport. The airport itself is under many feet of water. They said that the last registered wind speed they managed to record was 86 miles an hour. After that, all the apparatus was blown off the airport roof. And then, as I say, fire trucks were sent in, and the weather -- the meteorologists had to board those trucks and pull out altogether. So there's been no further weather update in that sense. They do tell us, though, that the Grand Bahama is currently in the eye of the storm. What that means is that things are relatively or much calmer now than they were before, but as the eye passes over, then once again the winds will pick up as the tail end of the storm pulls out.

But certainly no reports or deaths of -- or injuries, but around 300 people had to be evacuated, beyond the ones that already been evacuated as a preventive measure. Telephone lines are down, power is out across most of Grand Bahama, and many roofs have been ripped off of buildings.

NGUYEN: CNN's Karl Penhaul, assessing the damage in the Bahamas this morning as daylight occurs. Thank you, Karl -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: The outer bands of the hurricane are already hitting the Florida's east coast. We are actually going to go now to Florid, this is in Tallahassee, to Governor Jeb Bush at the Florida emergency management center, about to give an update on where his state stands. This may be the director of emergency management, and his name is Craig Fugate. Let's listen in.

(INTERRUPTED BY A LIVE EVENT)

GRIFFIN: All right, that's FEMA director Mike Brown, along with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, cautioning everyone to be cautious and ride this storm out with some patience, as it is a slow-moving storm. They have a million meals a day ready. And we will continue to listen in, if any new developments come out of that news conference.

Apparently we're going to go back right now.

(INTERRUPTED BY A LIVE EVENT)

GRIFFIN: ... citizens to be patient as they wait for Hurricane Frances to come ashore, dangerous, even though it's been downgraded to a category two -- Betty.

NGUYEN: We want to go now to CNN's Sean Callebs, who is in West Palm Beach. And as we were watching the governor speaking just moments ago, in the corner of the screen you could see a boat that was adrift out there in the ocean. Sean, is that boat really adrift, or is the owner of it trying to fight this storm?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, all weekend -- well, from our vantage point, we certainly can't talk to anybody on the boat -- but we've been watching this now for about 20 minutes. It is clearly simply drifting. Apparently on the front of it, there was a chain. It may have been an anchor dragging, because it appears to swing toward the back. But in the last, I'd say, five or so minutes, it's moved somewhat significantly.

One of the benefits clearly of living in south Florida, having a pleasure craft. But this clearly a luxury yacht that is simply adrift in the intercoastal waterway.

And look over here. Mike, if you can pan over, we'll show you, first, there is a cement barrier that's not terribly far. But then a little bit further down the way, you can see a bridge that connects West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. So clearly, unless somebody or somehow could get (UNINTELLIGIBLE) quickly, it is headed for certain peril.

There's a still news photographer from a newspaper who said he's been following it for 40 minutes. He just pulled up within the last couple of minutes or so. But you can see (UNINTELLIGIBLE) thing is simply drifting right toward us. Before, it was much closer to the Palm Beach area.

So, Betty, this doesn't appear like it's going to end in any good fashion...

NGUYEN: Not a good situation there, no.

CALLEBS: ... for this, for this boat.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about the rain a little bit...

CALLEBS: Now, the wind...

NGUYEN: ... because earlier, you were experiencing a little bit of rain. It seems like it's mainly wind at this point.

CALLEBS: Right, there's still a lot of wind. That's really been the -- how we can characterize the conditions here in West Palm Beach. There was some rain over the past, I'd say, half-hour or so. But it's kind of coming down sideways. But with the wind, very intense. We heard people talk about the projectiles coming down. You can tell these palm trees are just getting shredded. Stuff has been flying all around us.

And the governor awhile ago talked about, they certainly don't want any injuries through abject stupidity, so we're not encouraging anybody to come out in these kind of conditions. And in between our live shots, we try to get as safe as possible.

But the winds are definitely picking up here. This is the strongest it has been throughout the day. You can see the whitecaps on the intercoastal waterway.

And once again, the ship -- the tail end drifting toward us, and apparently still dragging something on the front. So unless that anchor can catch something or hold it, it appears that this luxury yacht is just going to be headed for the cement wall, or that bridge, and that's not going to be good.

NGUYEN: Yes, neither situation is a good one. Sean Callebs, we're going to let you get out of that wind and take some safety right now. Thanks so much for that report. We'll be checking back in with you. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Rob Marciano, we're watching that video, and intercoastal waterway is seeing some pretty big waves. That's incredible stuff.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, there are wind -- there are waves offshore. One of the buoys off Cape Canaveral, I mean, well to the north of the storm, reporting waves of 22 feet. So when you get winds this way -- and it, when, and not only winds that are this strong, but a storm that's been sitting out there so long, really whipping up those -- the ocean, and it'll whip up the bays and the intercoastal waterway as well.

Where Sean Callebs was, West Palm Beach, the last report, peak winds around 50 miles per hour. Just to the north of there, Jupiter Beach, or Jupiter Inlet, we have had a peak wind gust already this morning at 87 miles an hour.

All right, here are the rains, Melbourne south towards Fort Pierce. This is the actual Doppler radar, indicating where it's raining right now over the past 20 to 30 minutes. This is that radar estimates as far as what has rained since this storm began. And you can see the blues here by our legend here, an inch of rain already in some spots. And this is going to be interesting to watch as we go on through time, as the rain begins to pile up.

One of our Traficant (ph) of computer models here indicates just where the heaviest rain is expected to be over the next 12 hours, the whites indicating 10-plus inches of rain. And this is all going to be moving onshore. So coastal residents and then inland residents as well from West Palm Beach up to Daytona, in through Orlando and Ocala, will be seeing five to 10 plus, maybe 15. And still, there is a potential in isolated areas to see 20 inches of rainfall.

So aside from the wind and the battering waves that are going to be coming onshore -- are actually doing that right now and will continue to do that through the afternoon. Tremendous amount of rain. So even though this is not a category three or four or five storm, it's going to be a doozy, it's going to do some damage here, because it's going to take so long to get through the peninsula.

Drew and Betty, that's the latest from my end. Back to you.

GRIFFIN: All right, Rob.

Right in the path of that 16 inches of rain, I think, is Bill Hemmer. Bill, are you ready for 16 inches of rain?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I tell you, we -- the rain has left us for the moment, Drew. But I can tell you, the gusts continue to come. We have no measurements out here, so we can't be precise with what I'm giving you right now. But I can tell you sustained winds well over 30 miles an hour. But when the gusts come, that's when we start to get around the 50- to 55-mile-an-hour range. Still, far away from a category one hurricane.

But the reason I mention that wind speed is just based on what the governor was saying, Jeb Bush, and the FEMA director, Michael Brown. They are stressing even sustained winds at 55 miles an hour can do an awful lot of damage. And they don't want anyone to let their guard down, knowing that this hurricane, once a category four earlier in the week, is now a category two.

We can show you, based on what we experienced about three hours ago, what a 55-mile-an-hour sustained wind looks like. Look what we found about three hours ago in this same location.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Going to move away from here and head toward the outside of this barrier wall that's been keeping us protected here. Now, these are not the hurricane-force winds we expect later on in the day and the evening. But still, you can tell, simply by walking in this wind here.

They have warned us this initial band would come through. And indeed, that's what we're experiencing. This band that we're getting with the wind pounding on your skin now, tropical storm winds, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 45, maybe gusts over 55 miles an hour. This is just a shade of what's expected here from Frances later today as the storm comes rolling toward Florida.

Two days ago, the storm was much stronger than it is now. But still, a very dangerous storm, and one that the warning has gone out throughout Florida to be on notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: And that is clear evidence as to why 2.5 million people were told to clear out yesterday. And based on what we can tell, this place is pretty much deserted.

By the way, we take no chance when we're out covering these storms. Oftentimes we'll spend hours scouting locations to find the best location where we and our crews and everyone else can stay safe while we cover this storm.

As we speak now, looking back out -- Joelle (ph), go back and out to the ocean there quickly. The whitecaps are as far as the eye can see, the surf is strong. And if anyone has ever been to the ocean, if you come to the ocean during this hour, you can see just the strength of Mother Nature and the force that these storms pack.

The skies have gotten light sometimes, then they grow darker. They'll go light and then dark again, depending on where the band is coming and whipping around to this part of the east coast of Florida.

The other thing we noticed here throughout this morning is that the wind shifts slightly. Earlier today, it was coming directly from the northeast, now it comes a little more toward the north, which shows us and displays the bands as they whip around. Boy, when we get it from here.

Back to you now, Drew and Betty, at the CNN Center.

GRIFFIN: All right, a wind-whipped Bill Hemmer in Melbourne, Florida. Thanks for that, Bill.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: And you want to stay tuned for continuing coverage of Hurricane Frances as it barrels towards Florida. We'll have more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Former president Bill Clinton is preparing to undergo heart bypass surgery sometime early next week. But he called into "LARRY KING LIVE" and had this to say about his condition and his spirits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON (on phone): I feel really blessed, you know, because a lot of people who have a heart attack never get any advance warning, as Dr. Frist said, or Senator Frist said. And I've had some difficulty ever since I got out of the White House in getting my distance up in running. And I just had a feeling a couple days ago I had to have it checked when I finally got some tightness in my chest and I hadn't done any exercise. That's the first time that ever happened to me.

We did this angiogram, and found out I had blockage that was too significant to open and put a stent in. We had to do the whole surgery. So I'm trying to get my head in the game.

LARRY KING, HOST: But you looked so great, you'd lost so much weight. Didn't you think that if you had a problem, it was over?

CLINTON: Well, I -- no. And we -- I'd also been treating the high cholesterol. And then I stopped taking that medicine because I got my cholesterol down low. And I had in the past had a little blood pressure problem, which I treated, and then I got it down.

But, you know, some of this is genetic, and I may have done some damage in those years when I was too careless about what I ate. So for whatever reason, I've got a problem, and I've got a chance to deal with it. And I feel that I really got -- let me just say this. The Republicans aren't the only people that want four more years here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Some positive thinking there. Bill Clinton is in a New York hospital at this hour. He's waiting to undergo that heart bypass surgery next week.

Our Maria Hinojosa is outside New York Presbyterian, where Clinton is staying, and she joins us now with an update. Good morning to you.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

Yes, surgery, the bypass surgery, has been postponed. There had been some talk that perhaps it would happen overnight. That is not the case. It will happen sometime early next week, though we haven't been given any details about who or when the surgery will be performed, and we've been told that we will only get an update once it is completed.

Now, just a little bit of increased security here in front of Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, which is in northern Manhattan, about 40 blocks north of where President Clinton has his office in Harlem. Just one police car is standing out in front, and one police officer making sure that anyone who goes inside the hospital has business to take care of there.

But, of course, one big secret that was not a secret at all was the former president's love of junk food, of Big Macs. He talked about it. We saw it all the time. And as you heard him saying, there was a part that he says might be blamed on genetics. But when he spoke to Larry King, he said he also had to take some responsibility himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

CLINTON (on phone): I'm just going to have to be really careful. I put about 10 pounds of that weight I lost back on my book tour, and I got to take it off, and, you know, just do everything I can to try to keep my cholesterol down, keep my blood pressure down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: Now, they say the president could stay in the hospital about three to five days after the operation, and within four to six weeks, could be up and running, back to normal, Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Maria Hinojosa in New York this morning. Thank you, Maria.

Drew?

GRIFFIN: Overseas now, the death toll has surged yet again in yesterday's horrific end to that standoff in Russia. Officials now say 322 people are confirmed dead, children making nearly half the number of people.

Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in that town of Beslan, and that's where our CNN's Ryan Chilcote is right now -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that official death toll of 323, as you said, which is made up of more -- almost half children between the ages of 7 and 17, is expected to rise.

But, Drew, it's one thing to talk about the numbers of children that were killed in this. And it's an entirely different thing to see the bodies of these children. It really drives home the atrocious nature of this attack.

We have some pictures from a morgue in Vladikalkaz (ph). That is where -- it's a city near the city of Beslan, where we are now. This is where all of the unidentified bodies are being brought. And families were brought there recently. There are about 200 bodies inside of this morgue, people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the body bags laid out in rows. In some cases, whole families laid out next to one another.

An obviously very emotional scenes as the families go through those body bags, go through the remains to try to find their loved ones. That is not possible in all of the cases. In some cases, their bodies are just too charred from the fire that broke out in the school's gym after the fighting broke out. In those cases, they're taking forensic samples to then do some DNA testing.

Also, we have some pictures of the bodies of some of the militants that were holed up in the school. They were holding these children, their parents and teachers, hostage. Russian officials say they have killed 26 of the hostage takers. They say that they believe that they have now killed all of them.

Of course, that contradicts earlier reports we had yesterday that 13 had escaped, it also contradicts some reports from Russian officials that three were arrested earlier -- late yesterday evening, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Ryan Chilcote, a terrible situation there, what some are calling Russia's 9/11. Thank you, Ryan.

NGUYEN: We want to go back now to our top story and take you to West Palm Beach, Florida, and CNN's Sean Callebs, where we've been watching this morning this boat that appears to be adrift.

Sean, is there someone on that boat?

CALLEBS: Yes, definitely. If you look on the bow, you can see somebody with a jacket trying to tie off. Now, they're making contact there with the edge of the Palm Beach Yacht Club. We saw several times this boat, called the "Explorer I," try to make a run back up the intercoastal waterway unsuccessfully. Probably or perhaps having engine trouble or simply not enough power to cope with the wind from Frances coming down this way.

But this person is doing a remarkable job of getting the craft into the position that it is. You can see on the front a couple of anchor lines have been dangling down that allowed this boat to slowly make it up. But look on the front, you can see a couple of gashes.

NGUYEN: Oh, that's just not holding at all.

CALLEBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) efforts.

Exactly. Best of efforts tying this thing off simply the storm too powerful, now apparently trying to make another run back up the way, carrying not only its anchors, but now also a pole from the yacht club.

So this is quite a drama out here on the intercoastal waterway. In the background, you see the old historic Biltmore Hotel. We don't know if this is a yacht that came loose of its moorings, or if this is someone who was going to try and ride out the storm. But without question, a very tense, very difficult situation for the crew aboard that craft at this time.

The person who was on the bow, at least for now, is in safe, we can presume. Try and see how it does, with this wind and rain picking up from Frances, and the yacht trying to make it down the intercoastal waterway

And Betty, actually, about what appears to be 200 meters up the intercoastal waterway, another yacht appears to be making its way down as well.

So this is clearly making its presence known here in this area.

Like I said earlier, one of the benefits living in south Florida, having a pleasure craft. But something like this happens, you can only do the best you can. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this guy is apparently trying to turn back into the wind, maybe trying to make one more pass at getting tied up to the yacht club.

NGUYEN: Sean, obviously, the owner of this boat is trying to salvage it from any damage, but the main concern has to be getting these people to safety. Is there anyone, are there crews coming to help these folks?

CALLEBS: Well, we haven't seen anybody out here trying to help. There are apparently -- there are some people who are out in the hurricane and probably shouldn't be, who have stopped to look at what's going on. But you see on the bow, with the flight jacket, now reaching down in to try and get another rope to try and tie up.

So they're doing everything they can. Clearly, these are very experienced people, just to get this yacht in position to even tie up. The weather out here -- the winds have really picked up. They are probably gusting somewhere between 40 and 45 miles per hour.

And let's watch this play out once again, and see if they are able to get tied off. No one at this yacht club. It's boarded up, all the windows are covered.

Trying to make one more pass here to see if they can tie off.

NGUYEN: I don't know if that's going to be strong enough. Last time they tried to do that, just minutes ago, it didn't hold.

CALLEBS: Yes, this is...

GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NGUYEN: This is a very tricky...

CALLEBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... situation there. What is beyond this point that we can't see? Is it a beach? Is it a sea wall? What is he headed into besides this little pier that we're looking at?

CALLEBS: Well, see, right now, there's an opening, and if they can gun the engine and get into this opening, at least they -- they're going to run -- no longer run the risk of floating down and slamming into the bridge that connects West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. But once they get in that opening, just to make that run, it just drifts so quickly.

NGUYEN: Oh, he's turning sideways now.

CALLEBS: But apparently they got tied off, or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) an the anchor is caught in the front. So maybe they're going to be able to maneuver their way in somewhat. And there's a walkway, if you look, on the stern. So if they can get this tied off, maybe they'll be able to moor it as safely as possible, and then make a run for safety.

NGUYEN: And the rain is starting to come down...

CALLEBS: But no other...

NGUYEN: ... right now too, isn't it, Sean?

CALLEBS: A little bit. It's still pretty strong. And it's gusting in a pretty fierce fashion. So even while you may be lulled into that sense, OK, now we're safe, now we're safe, it picks up. I mean, literally, this is a storm, the weather conditions change every five minutes out here. But they seem to have wedged themselves in, in pretty successful fashion...

GRIFFIN: Yes, looks like he's dropping anchor off the front.

CALLEBS: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pretty experienced -- Well, the anchor has been off front the whole time. That's one thing we have seen. It has been dragging down for the last half-hour or so, probably the only thing keeping them from completely drifting down the intercoastal. But in the back, apparently trying to tie off as well. And if they can get it wedged in between that cement wall and the dock back there, probably going to be their best chance of getting off the boat safely and also preserving that boat.

But again, I want to mention, there's another boat drifting down. It's about 200 yards, it's getting slowly, it's getting closer to us. And once again, the wind and rain picking up. So a very difficult task for these folks.

We don't know if they were trying to ride the storm out, and it broke loose of the moorings, or for some reason they were trying to come in. There, somebody was able to get off the back, and now obviously running down the dock to safety.

So this is apparently where they're going to try and put this boat.

We're -- our producer is going down to try and talk with them, to see if there is someone we can call. NGUYEN: But Sean, this is not the only boat...

CALLEBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... that was adrift out there. You say there is another one that you can see?

CALLEBS: I'm sorry. Can you repeat that, please? It's very windy.

NGUYEN: Did you say there's another boat that's also adrift besides this one that's obviously just tied up?

CALLEBS: You know, I'm having trouble hearing you. I think you're asking, where are they tying off? Is that the question?

NGUYEN: No. I was if there was another boat that's also adrift.

CALLEBS: Yes, I'm sorry. Yes, Mike, if we can stand up for just one second and shoot back up the intercoastal a little bit, you can see that boat has moved significantly closer to us since we've watched this drama unfold. You may be able to see it with all the mist and the rain.

And then it appears just to the left of that, we see the mast of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of what appears to be a sailboat. So intercoastal clearly very popular place for people to tie up, easy to get out into the ocean, access, fishing, pleasure craft, things of that nature.

Now the yacht is back this way -- has turned itself into this opening. We don't know if they broke loose, or if they're going to try and make a dash...

NGUYEN: But one person has gotten off of that boat and got to the shore?

CALLEBS: Yes, the one person is actually running down this way. I'm going to -- trying to see what the person -- well -- One person clearly -- the yacht club is locked. The person is having to climb over the gate to get out. Our producer is down there talking with him, so hopefully we'll know in a minute what can be done. But it seems like it's got itself wedged in as safely as possible at this point.

NGUYEN: Pretty good situation, considering it was...

CALLEBS: Now, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... adrift there for, what, about at least 40 minutes, we were watching, from here.

CALLEBS: OK, Betty, we're going to throw it back to Atlanta. We're going to go down and talk with the person who just jumped off this craft.

GRIFFIN: Keep your picture up there. We're going to talk right now with the U.S. Coast Guard's Lieutenant Tony Russell.

Lieutenant, are you there? Lieutenant Tony Russell with the U.S. Coast Guard?

LT. TONY RUSSELL, U.S. COAST GUARD (on phone): Yes, I'm here.

GRIFFIN: Yes, can you describe this situation we're seeing here? Do you know anything about the situation?

RUSSELL: We don't have any specific details about how this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) got in this situation. So we are aware of it right now, though. But unfortunately, at this point, with the weather up there, we're very limited in our ability to respond or provide any assistance, as are the other search and rescue units in that area.

So we certainly hope for the best from a safety perspective. We're going to monitor it. And if there is anything we can do, we will. But we also have to be cognizant of the safety of our personnel, and they're all right now hunkering down as this hurricane goes through that area.

GRIFFIN: Absolutely. Lieutenant, I'm wondering if the vessels out at sea or were at sea were give enough warning. Certainly the people of Florida evacuated the coast. But tell us what the situation maritime is.

RUSSELL: Well, we've been monitoring this hurricane as well as everybody else for nearly two weeks now. As these hurricanes make their approaches, we certainly evaluate the impact that that has on shippers and the maritime community. We've been out flying days in advance of the hurricane, issuing marine information broadcasts just to ensure that any vessels who haven't already gotten the word know about the approach of Frances.

We've also been advising boaters through marine information bulletins, as well as through the media, to take the precautions in advance and tie down their boats, or if they need to move the boats out of the storm's path, to do it well in advance.

Some of the other things people have to understand is, right now, all the drawbridges are shut down, so you're very limited in what you can do. And on the commercial side, we've also been working days in advance with the port communities to ensure that there's as little risk of damage in those ports as well, so that they can resume normal operations as soon as possible.

GRIFFIN: All right, lieutenant, we're watching this situation unfold. And this captain may have actually saved his vessel, at least temporarily. He did make this pier here.

RUSSELL: Well, we certainly hope for the best. But even being tied up at that pier in these weather conditions, what could potentially happen with any vessel, is that they can, since they rub up against the pier, against the concrete and wood structures, may damage the hull and things of that nature. So while we have certainly hope for the best, even tied up, they're not in an ideal situation. So we're going to continue to monitor that closely, though, and anything that we can do to provide assistance, both from a safety standpoint and from a marine environmental response, we'll do that when we're able to.

GRIFFIN: OK, Lieutenant Tony Russell from the U.S. Coast Guard. Thank you very much.

RUSSELL: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: As we continue to watch this picture, this live picture from West Palm Beach, we want to go now to Sean Callebs, who is there. Sean, did you ever get a chance to speak with the captain of this boat?

CALLEBS: The captain is still on the boat. We did speak with the person who was tying off. It was a young woman. And she said that the skipper lost an engine, and they were simply adrift. And she ran down through this dock, and then came down, and the fence was locked here. And as she tried to climb over the edge -- There are a couple of other people from the yacht club now going down to help the skipper.

Sorry. Hang on, here. Conditions. Now these people are going out to try and help the skipper.

But when she tried to climb over the gate here, she slipped and almost fell in the water and cut her hands pretty badly. She just went in now to get some first aid in the condominium complex right across the street from where we are.

But this guy did an amazing job of getting his boat in here. A lot of people are now watching this, and a lot of them very familiar with the maritime industry, and a lot of people simply amazed that without an engine, this guy was able to navigate under these kind of conditions.

But then you see some people who saw this unfold. They are people who frequent this yacht club as well, and they're going down to help this guy tie off.

But he lost an engine in the intercoastal, had an anchor out, was trying to control the situation as best as possible, knowing this bridge is only a few hundred yards from here. He tried to make the dash inside this opening, but wasn't able to do that.

Now they're trying to do everything they can to keep this thing from breaking loose and going out once again.

But even as we mentioned, there's that other boat just getting closer and closer down to our left. So this is exactly what we heard officials, state officials and emergency officials, talk about, trying to stay out of the storm in these kind of conditions. We didn't know if this was somebody who was out on the high seas, or somebody who saw the boat simply breaking loose in the moorings and went out to do what he could, Betty.

NGUYEN: Absolutely, because we've been watching this for close to an hour now. This boat was originally adrift, and somehow managed to tie up here. And I guess the big question -- and we'll learn this as information comes in -- why didn't these folks heed the warning and evacuate a lot sooner than now? Because it appears Frances is arriving, and they're still trying to tie up the boat.

CALLEBS: Exactly. Well, we don't know if this was somebody who was actually out on the ocean and was trying to make his way in, or if this is someone who just decided to try and ride it out on this pleasure craft.

But Mike, if we can pan down that way to the left, there you see that other boat, how much it has gained in the past just few minutes or so. It is moving down this intercoastal pretty rapidly, as is the sailboat.

Now, great, I would say there's probably about 20 people out here at this point right now. A lot of them are waiting for these boats to get down and see what they can do as best as possible. We're still waiting for the young woman to come out to see how her conditions are. We had a first-aid kit in our satellite truck, and I know that they're tending to her, so hopefully she's fine.

But this is exactly the kind of thing that state officials, emergency crews, had been worried about. And it's really pretty amazing that this situation didn't work out any worse than it did, because this guy wasn't able to get control of this ship right through here, it had nowhere to go except for the bridge. And trying to navigate something that size in these kind of conditions through those narrow openings that connect West Palm Beach and Palm Beach could have been very disastrous, Betty.

GRIFFIN: And the bridges are closed, as we heard from the Coast Guard, which means that that boat probably was too tall to get through the pass. And if it broke its mooring, it literally was, Sean, trapped, and it would either head into that bridge and damage the bridge and the boat, or simply damage the boat and be stuck there. This was an incredible (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CALLEBS: Yes, you know, we heard the bridges were -- we heard the bridges were closed as well. But we saw a tow truck go over within the past half-hour or so, so I don't know if that was when...

GRIFFIN: Well, I mean...

CALLEBS: ... the police or some other emergency crew...

GRIFFIN: Closed shut, they're drawbridges, so they would close shut. So nobody was there to raise the bridge so this boat could pass.

CALLEBS: Exactly, exactly. This is something that could have been a lot worse. And I'm eager to try and talk with this gentleman to see how he was able to navigate his way in. And there were only two people on this vessel too. It's even -- makes it even more incredible, that she was able to tie off and keep the boat from drifting.

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Aired September 4, 2004 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is Frances, and she is pounding the Bahamas overnight. It is 9:00 in Melbourne, Florida, waiting for Frances to come ashore.
Good morning, I'm Drew Griffin at CNN headquarters here in Atlanta.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Welcome to this special edition of CNN SATURDAY MORNING, continuing coverage of Hurricane Frances all hour.

But first, some other stories making news right now.

GRIFFIN: We are awaiting a news conference this morning with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, expected to speak at the state's emergency operations center in Tallahassee. That could happen at any minute. We're going to bring you that when it happens.

Many are mourning the deaths of at least 322 Russians involved in the recent hostage standoff with Chechnya. Currently, more than 500 people are hospitalized as the three-day drama ended in chaos, Russian commandos storming the building after terrorists inside that building set off explosives. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited victims at a school in southern Russia.

NGUYEN: No fast food for a while. That could be the case for former president Bill Clinton. Clinton is in a New York hospital awaiting heart bypass surgery next week, sometime early next week, an exact day has not been set. The 42nd president admits he's a little scared but optimistic about the procedure. He spoke by phone last night from his hospital room on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." Clinton says he checked into a hospital after experiencing tightness in his chest and shortness of breath.

Medicare premiums take a big jump next year. The 17 percent hike will be the largest increase in the program's 40-year history. Monthly payments for Part B will rise from about $67 to just over $78. Medicare Part B covers doctors' visits and most other nonhospital expenses.

And sources say another boy accused pop singer Michael Jackson of touching him inappropriately and was paid money to keep quiet. The sources say it happened in 1990, but the information surfaced when authorities were investigating the entertainer in 1993, a case then. Jackson denies the claim, saying he would never harm a child.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

GRIFFIN: Just about an hour ago, CNN affiliate WSVN fed in this video of a pier collapse. Watch this. This is in Volusia County near Daytona Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... going, going, gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Gone indeed. It may prove to be an ominous sign of the strength of Frances, which remains hours from landfall yet. Along Florida's east coast, Hurricane Frances gets closer. Hurricane warnings posted from Florida City north to Flagler Beach, the latest advisory showing the storm downgraded last night to a category two, 110-mile-an-hour winds, or 105-mile-an-hour winds, I should say. It's about 110 miles east-southeast of West Palm Beach.

There are mandatory evacuations blanketing much of Florida's east coast, 2.5 million people affected by the state's largest evacuation order ever.

We are focused on Frances, with CNN reporters in several places, Karl Penhaul in the Bahamas, Bill Hemmer in Melbourne, Florida. There you see them there. Sean Callebs, West Palm Beach, and Kathleen Koch in St. Augustine. Meteorologist Orelon Sidney in Orlando. Betty?

NGUYEN: But first, we want to head to Freeport in the Bahamas, the current target of Hurricane Frances. Pelting rain is flooding parts of the city, and people are being rescued from rooftops.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is there and joins us now by videophone.

What's the situation at this hour?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Betty.

The main problem, as you say, has been the flooding overnight. The core of the storm started to pound the Bahamas in the afternoon, but the winds really intensified on Grand Bahama in the evening.

And talking to authorities in the incident room this morning, they say that in the darkness hours still they were pulling people off rooftops by fire trucks, in some cases some (UNINTELLIGIBLE) called in to try and also help rescue some of the people in several neighborhoods that were under four to five feet of water.

Now, talking to the weather experts at the weather center at the airport, they're telling us that they have to be pulled out, in fact, they had to be evacuated from the airport. The airport itself is under many feet of water. They said that the last registered wind speed they managed to record was 86 miles an hour. After that, all the apparatus was blown off the airport roof. And then, as I say, fire trucks were sent in, and the weather -- the meteorologists had to board those trucks and pull out altogether. So there's been no further weather update in that sense. They do tell us, though, that the Grand Bahama is currently in the eye of the storm. What that means is that things are relatively or much calmer now than they were before, but as the eye passes over, then once again the winds will pick up as the tail end of the storm pulls out.

But certainly no reports or deaths of -- or injuries, but around 300 people had to be evacuated, beyond the ones that already been evacuated as a preventive measure. Telephone lines are down, power is out across most of Grand Bahama, and many roofs have been ripped off of buildings.

NGUYEN: CNN's Karl Penhaul, assessing the damage in the Bahamas this morning as daylight occurs. Thank you, Karl -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: The outer bands of the hurricane are already hitting the Florida's east coast. We are actually going to go now to Florid, this is in Tallahassee, to Governor Jeb Bush at the Florida emergency management center, about to give an update on where his state stands. This may be the director of emergency management, and his name is Craig Fugate. Let's listen in.

(INTERRUPTED BY A LIVE EVENT)

GRIFFIN: All right, that's FEMA director Mike Brown, along with Florida Governor Jeb Bush, cautioning everyone to be cautious and ride this storm out with some patience, as it is a slow-moving storm. They have a million meals a day ready. And we will continue to listen in, if any new developments come out of that news conference.

Apparently we're going to go back right now.

(INTERRUPTED BY A LIVE EVENT)

GRIFFIN: ... citizens to be patient as they wait for Hurricane Frances to come ashore, dangerous, even though it's been downgraded to a category two -- Betty.

NGUYEN: We want to go now to CNN's Sean Callebs, who is in West Palm Beach. And as we were watching the governor speaking just moments ago, in the corner of the screen you could see a boat that was adrift out there in the ocean. Sean, is that boat really adrift, or is the owner of it trying to fight this storm?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, all weekend -- well, from our vantage point, we certainly can't talk to anybody on the boat -- but we've been watching this now for about 20 minutes. It is clearly simply drifting. Apparently on the front of it, there was a chain. It may have been an anchor dragging, because it appears to swing toward the back. But in the last, I'd say, five or so minutes, it's moved somewhat significantly.

One of the benefits clearly of living in south Florida, having a pleasure craft. But this clearly a luxury yacht that is simply adrift in the intercoastal waterway.

And look over here. Mike, if you can pan over, we'll show you, first, there is a cement barrier that's not terribly far. But then a little bit further down the way, you can see a bridge that connects West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. So clearly, unless somebody or somehow could get (UNINTELLIGIBLE) quickly, it is headed for certain peril.

There's a still news photographer from a newspaper who said he's been following it for 40 minutes. He just pulled up within the last couple of minutes or so. But you can see (UNINTELLIGIBLE) thing is simply drifting right toward us. Before, it was much closer to the Palm Beach area.

So, Betty, this doesn't appear like it's going to end in any good fashion...

NGUYEN: Not a good situation there, no.

CALLEBS: ... for this, for this boat.

NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about the rain a little bit...

CALLEBS: Now, the wind...

NGUYEN: ... because earlier, you were experiencing a little bit of rain. It seems like it's mainly wind at this point.

CALLEBS: Right, there's still a lot of wind. That's really been the -- how we can characterize the conditions here in West Palm Beach. There was some rain over the past, I'd say, half-hour or so. But it's kind of coming down sideways. But with the wind, very intense. We heard people talk about the projectiles coming down. You can tell these palm trees are just getting shredded. Stuff has been flying all around us.

And the governor awhile ago talked about, they certainly don't want any injuries through abject stupidity, so we're not encouraging anybody to come out in these kind of conditions. And in between our live shots, we try to get as safe as possible.

But the winds are definitely picking up here. This is the strongest it has been throughout the day. You can see the whitecaps on the intercoastal waterway.

And once again, the ship -- the tail end drifting toward us, and apparently still dragging something on the front. So unless that anchor can catch something or hold it, it appears that this luxury yacht is just going to be headed for the cement wall, or that bridge, and that's not going to be good.

NGUYEN: Yes, neither situation is a good one. Sean Callebs, we're going to let you get out of that wind and take some safety right now. Thanks so much for that report. We'll be checking back in with you. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Rob Marciano, we're watching that video, and intercoastal waterway is seeing some pretty big waves. That's incredible stuff.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, there are wind -- there are waves offshore. One of the buoys off Cape Canaveral, I mean, well to the north of the storm, reporting waves of 22 feet. So when you get winds this way -- and it, when, and not only winds that are this strong, but a storm that's been sitting out there so long, really whipping up those -- the ocean, and it'll whip up the bays and the intercoastal waterway as well.

Where Sean Callebs was, West Palm Beach, the last report, peak winds around 50 miles per hour. Just to the north of there, Jupiter Beach, or Jupiter Inlet, we have had a peak wind gust already this morning at 87 miles an hour.

All right, here are the rains, Melbourne south towards Fort Pierce. This is the actual Doppler radar, indicating where it's raining right now over the past 20 to 30 minutes. This is that radar estimates as far as what has rained since this storm began. And you can see the blues here by our legend here, an inch of rain already in some spots. And this is going to be interesting to watch as we go on through time, as the rain begins to pile up.

One of our Traficant (ph) of computer models here indicates just where the heaviest rain is expected to be over the next 12 hours, the whites indicating 10-plus inches of rain. And this is all going to be moving onshore. So coastal residents and then inland residents as well from West Palm Beach up to Daytona, in through Orlando and Ocala, will be seeing five to 10 plus, maybe 15. And still, there is a potential in isolated areas to see 20 inches of rainfall.

So aside from the wind and the battering waves that are going to be coming onshore -- are actually doing that right now and will continue to do that through the afternoon. Tremendous amount of rain. So even though this is not a category three or four or five storm, it's going to be a doozy, it's going to do some damage here, because it's going to take so long to get through the peninsula.

Drew and Betty, that's the latest from my end. Back to you.

GRIFFIN: All right, Rob.

Right in the path of that 16 inches of rain, I think, is Bill Hemmer. Bill, are you ready for 16 inches of rain?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I tell you, we -- the rain has left us for the moment, Drew. But I can tell you, the gusts continue to come. We have no measurements out here, so we can't be precise with what I'm giving you right now. But I can tell you sustained winds well over 30 miles an hour. But when the gusts come, that's when we start to get around the 50- to 55-mile-an-hour range. Still, far away from a category one hurricane.

But the reason I mention that wind speed is just based on what the governor was saying, Jeb Bush, and the FEMA director, Michael Brown. They are stressing even sustained winds at 55 miles an hour can do an awful lot of damage. And they don't want anyone to let their guard down, knowing that this hurricane, once a category four earlier in the week, is now a category two.

We can show you, based on what we experienced about three hours ago, what a 55-mile-an-hour sustained wind looks like. Look what we found about three hours ago in this same location.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Going to move away from here and head toward the outside of this barrier wall that's been keeping us protected here. Now, these are not the hurricane-force winds we expect later on in the day and the evening. But still, you can tell, simply by walking in this wind here.

They have warned us this initial band would come through. And indeed, that's what we're experiencing. This band that we're getting with the wind pounding on your skin now, tropical storm winds, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 45, maybe gusts over 55 miles an hour. This is just a shade of what's expected here from Frances later today as the storm comes rolling toward Florida.

Two days ago, the storm was much stronger than it is now. But still, a very dangerous storm, and one that the warning has gone out throughout Florida to be on notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: And that is clear evidence as to why 2.5 million people were told to clear out yesterday. And based on what we can tell, this place is pretty much deserted.

By the way, we take no chance when we're out covering these storms. Oftentimes we'll spend hours scouting locations to find the best location where we and our crews and everyone else can stay safe while we cover this storm.

As we speak now, looking back out -- Joelle (ph), go back and out to the ocean there quickly. The whitecaps are as far as the eye can see, the surf is strong. And if anyone has ever been to the ocean, if you come to the ocean during this hour, you can see just the strength of Mother Nature and the force that these storms pack.

The skies have gotten light sometimes, then they grow darker. They'll go light and then dark again, depending on where the band is coming and whipping around to this part of the east coast of Florida.

The other thing we noticed here throughout this morning is that the wind shifts slightly. Earlier today, it was coming directly from the northeast, now it comes a little more toward the north, which shows us and displays the bands as they whip around. Boy, when we get it from here.

Back to you now, Drew and Betty, at the CNN Center.

GRIFFIN: All right, a wind-whipped Bill Hemmer in Melbourne, Florida. Thanks for that, Bill.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: And you want to stay tuned for continuing coverage of Hurricane Frances as it barrels towards Florida. We'll have more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Former president Bill Clinton is preparing to undergo heart bypass surgery sometime early next week. But he called into "LARRY KING LIVE" and had this to say about his condition and his spirits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON (on phone): I feel really blessed, you know, because a lot of people who have a heart attack never get any advance warning, as Dr. Frist said, or Senator Frist said. And I've had some difficulty ever since I got out of the White House in getting my distance up in running. And I just had a feeling a couple days ago I had to have it checked when I finally got some tightness in my chest and I hadn't done any exercise. That's the first time that ever happened to me.

We did this angiogram, and found out I had blockage that was too significant to open and put a stent in. We had to do the whole surgery. So I'm trying to get my head in the game.

LARRY KING, HOST: But you looked so great, you'd lost so much weight. Didn't you think that if you had a problem, it was over?

CLINTON: Well, I -- no. And we -- I'd also been treating the high cholesterol. And then I stopped taking that medicine because I got my cholesterol down low. And I had in the past had a little blood pressure problem, which I treated, and then I got it down.

But, you know, some of this is genetic, and I may have done some damage in those years when I was too careless about what I ate. So for whatever reason, I've got a problem, and I've got a chance to deal with it. And I feel that I really got -- let me just say this. The Republicans aren't the only people that want four more years here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Some positive thinking there. Bill Clinton is in a New York hospital at this hour. He's waiting to undergo that heart bypass surgery next week.

Our Maria Hinojosa is outside New York Presbyterian, where Clinton is staying, and she joins us now with an update. Good morning to you.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

Yes, surgery, the bypass surgery, has been postponed. There had been some talk that perhaps it would happen overnight. That is not the case. It will happen sometime early next week, though we haven't been given any details about who or when the surgery will be performed, and we've been told that we will only get an update once it is completed.

Now, just a little bit of increased security here in front of Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, which is in northern Manhattan, about 40 blocks north of where President Clinton has his office in Harlem. Just one police car is standing out in front, and one police officer making sure that anyone who goes inside the hospital has business to take care of there.

But, of course, one big secret that was not a secret at all was the former president's love of junk food, of Big Macs. He talked about it. We saw it all the time. And as you heard him saying, there was a part that he says might be blamed on genetics. But when he spoke to Larry King, he said he also had to take some responsibility himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

CLINTON (on phone): I'm just going to have to be really careful. I put about 10 pounds of that weight I lost back on my book tour, and I got to take it off, and, you know, just do everything I can to try to keep my cholesterol down, keep my blood pressure down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HINOJOSA: Now, they say the president could stay in the hospital about three to five days after the operation, and within four to six weeks, could be up and running, back to normal, Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Maria Hinojosa in New York this morning. Thank you, Maria.

Drew?

GRIFFIN: Overseas now, the death toll has surged yet again in yesterday's horrific end to that standoff in Russia. Officials now say 322 people are confirmed dead, children making nearly half the number of people.

Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in that town of Beslan, and that's where our CNN's Ryan Chilcote is right now -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that official death toll of 323, as you said, which is made up of more -- almost half children between the ages of 7 and 17, is expected to rise.

But, Drew, it's one thing to talk about the numbers of children that were killed in this. And it's an entirely different thing to see the bodies of these children. It really drives home the atrocious nature of this attack.

We have some pictures from a morgue in Vladikalkaz (ph). That is where -- it's a city near the city of Beslan, where we are now. This is where all of the unidentified bodies are being brought. And families were brought there recently. There are about 200 bodies inside of this morgue, people (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- the body bags laid out in rows. In some cases, whole families laid out next to one another.

An obviously very emotional scenes as the families go through those body bags, go through the remains to try to find their loved ones. That is not possible in all of the cases. In some cases, their bodies are just too charred from the fire that broke out in the school's gym after the fighting broke out. In those cases, they're taking forensic samples to then do some DNA testing.

Also, we have some pictures of the bodies of some of the militants that were holed up in the school. They were holding these children, their parents and teachers, hostage. Russian officials say they have killed 26 of the hostage takers. They say that they believe that they have now killed all of them.

Of course, that contradicts earlier reports we had yesterday that 13 had escaped, it also contradicts some reports from Russian officials that three were arrested earlier -- late yesterday evening, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Ryan Chilcote, a terrible situation there, what some are calling Russia's 9/11. Thank you, Ryan.

NGUYEN: We want to go back now to our top story and take you to West Palm Beach, Florida, and CNN's Sean Callebs, where we've been watching this morning this boat that appears to be adrift.

Sean, is there someone on that boat?

CALLEBS: Yes, definitely. If you look on the bow, you can see somebody with a jacket trying to tie off. Now, they're making contact there with the edge of the Palm Beach Yacht Club. We saw several times this boat, called the "Explorer I," try to make a run back up the intercoastal waterway unsuccessfully. Probably or perhaps having engine trouble or simply not enough power to cope with the wind from Frances coming down this way.

But this person is doing a remarkable job of getting the craft into the position that it is. You can see on the front a couple of anchor lines have been dangling down that allowed this boat to slowly make it up. But look on the front, you can see a couple of gashes.

NGUYEN: Oh, that's just not holding at all.

CALLEBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) efforts.

Exactly. Best of efforts tying this thing off simply the storm too powerful, now apparently trying to make another run back up the way, carrying not only its anchors, but now also a pole from the yacht club.

So this is quite a drama out here on the intercoastal waterway. In the background, you see the old historic Biltmore Hotel. We don't know if this is a yacht that came loose of its moorings, or if this is someone who was going to try and ride out the storm. But without question, a very tense, very difficult situation for the crew aboard that craft at this time.

The person who was on the bow, at least for now, is in safe, we can presume. Try and see how it does, with this wind and rain picking up from Frances, and the yacht trying to make it down the intercoastal waterway

And Betty, actually, about what appears to be 200 meters up the intercoastal waterway, another yacht appears to be making its way down as well.

So this is clearly making its presence known here in this area.

Like I said earlier, one of the benefits living in south Florida, having a pleasure craft. But something like this happens, you can only do the best you can. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this guy is apparently trying to turn back into the wind, maybe trying to make one more pass at getting tied up to the yacht club.

NGUYEN: Sean, obviously, the owner of this boat is trying to salvage it from any damage, but the main concern has to be getting these people to safety. Is there anyone, are there crews coming to help these folks?

CALLEBS: Well, we haven't seen anybody out here trying to help. There are apparently -- there are some people who are out in the hurricane and probably shouldn't be, who have stopped to look at what's going on. But you see on the bow, with the flight jacket, now reaching down in to try and get another rope to try and tie up.

So they're doing everything they can. Clearly, these are very experienced people, just to get this yacht in position to even tie up. The weather out here -- the winds have really picked up. They are probably gusting somewhere between 40 and 45 miles per hour.

And let's watch this play out once again, and see if they are able to get tied off. No one at this yacht club. It's boarded up, all the windows are covered.

Trying to make one more pass here to see if they can tie off.

NGUYEN: I don't know if that's going to be strong enough. Last time they tried to do that, just minutes ago, it didn't hold.

CALLEBS: Yes, this is...

GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NGUYEN: This is a very tricky...

CALLEBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... situation there. What is beyond this point that we can't see? Is it a beach? Is it a sea wall? What is he headed into besides this little pier that we're looking at?

CALLEBS: Well, see, right now, there's an opening, and if they can gun the engine and get into this opening, at least they -- they're going to run -- no longer run the risk of floating down and slamming into the bridge that connects West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. But once they get in that opening, just to make that run, it just drifts so quickly.

NGUYEN: Oh, he's turning sideways now.

CALLEBS: But apparently they got tied off, or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) an the anchor is caught in the front. So maybe they're going to be able to maneuver their way in somewhat. And there's a walkway, if you look, on the stern. So if they can get this tied off, maybe they'll be able to moor it as safely as possible, and then make a run for safety.

NGUYEN: And the rain is starting to come down...

CALLEBS: But no other...

NGUYEN: ... right now too, isn't it, Sean?

CALLEBS: A little bit. It's still pretty strong. And it's gusting in a pretty fierce fashion. So even while you may be lulled into that sense, OK, now we're safe, now we're safe, it picks up. I mean, literally, this is a storm, the weather conditions change every five minutes out here. But they seem to have wedged themselves in, in pretty successful fashion...

GRIFFIN: Yes, looks like he's dropping anchor off the front.

CALLEBS: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pretty experienced -- Well, the anchor has been off front the whole time. That's one thing we have seen. It has been dragging down for the last half-hour or so, probably the only thing keeping them from completely drifting down the intercoastal. But in the back, apparently trying to tie off as well. And if they can get it wedged in between that cement wall and the dock back there, probably going to be their best chance of getting off the boat safely and also preserving that boat.

But again, I want to mention, there's another boat drifting down. It's about 200 yards, it's getting slowly, it's getting closer to us. And once again, the wind and rain picking up. So a very difficult task for these folks.

We don't know if they were trying to ride the storm out, and it broke loose of the moorings, or for some reason they were trying to come in. There, somebody was able to get off the back, and now obviously running down the dock to safety.

So this is apparently where they're going to try and put this boat.

We're -- our producer is going down to try and talk with them, to see if there is someone we can call. NGUYEN: But Sean, this is not the only boat...

CALLEBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... that was adrift out there. You say there is another one that you can see?

CALLEBS: I'm sorry. Can you repeat that, please? It's very windy.

NGUYEN: Did you say there's another boat that's also adrift besides this one that's obviously just tied up?

CALLEBS: You know, I'm having trouble hearing you. I think you're asking, where are they tying off? Is that the question?

NGUYEN: No. I was if there was another boat that's also adrift.

CALLEBS: Yes, I'm sorry. Yes, Mike, if we can stand up for just one second and shoot back up the intercoastal a little bit, you can see that boat has moved significantly closer to us since we've watched this drama unfold. You may be able to see it with all the mist and the rain.

And then it appears just to the left of that, we see the mast of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of what appears to be a sailboat. So intercoastal clearly very popular place for people to tie up, easy to get out into the ocean, access, fishing, pleasure craft, things of that nature.

Now the yacht is back this way -- has turned itself into this opening. We don't know if they broke loose, or if they're going to try and make a dash...

NGUYEN: But one person has gotten off of that boat and got to the shore?

CALLEBS: Yes, the one person is actually running down this way. I'm going to -- trying to see what the person -- well -- One person clearly -- the yacht club is locked. The person is having to climb over the gate to get out. Our producer is down there talking with him, so hopefully we'll know in a minute what can be done. But it seems like it's got itself wedged in as safely as possible at this point.

NGUYEN: Pretty good situation, considering it was...

CALLEBS: Now, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

NGUYEN: ... adrift there for, what, about at least 40 minutes, we were watching, from here.

CALLEBS: OK, Betty, we're going to throw it back to Atlanta. We're going to go down and talk with the person who just jumped off this craft.

GRIFFIN: Keep your picture up there. We're going to talk right now with the U.S. Coast Guard's Lieutenant Tony Russell.

Lieutenant, are you there? Lieutenant Tony Russell with the U.S. Coast Guard?

LT. TONY RUSSELL, U.S. COAST GUARD (on phone): Yes, I'm here.

GRIFFIN: Yes, can you describe this situation we're seeing here? Do you know anything about the situation?

RUSSELL: We don't have any specific details about how this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) got in this situation. So we are aware of it right now, though. But unfortunately, at this point, with the weather up there, we're very limited in our ability to respond or provide any assistance, as are the other search and rescue units in that area.

So we certainly hope for the best from a safety perspective. We're going to monitor it. And if there is anything we can do, we will. But we also have to be cognizant of the safety of our personnel, and they're all right now hunkering down as this hurricane goes through that area.

GRIFFIN: Absolutely. Lieutenant, I'm wondering if the vessels out at sea or were at sea were give enough warning. Certainly the people of Florida evacuated the coast. But tell us what the situation maritime is.

RUSSELL: Well, we've been monitoring this hurricane as well as everybody else for nearly two weeks now. As these hurricanes make their approaches, we certainly evaluate the impact that that has on shippers and the maritime community. We've been out flying days in advance of the hurricane, issuing marine information broadcasts just to ensure that any vessels who haven't already gotten the word know about the approach of Frances.

We've also been advising boaters through marine information bulletins, as well as through the media, to take the precautions in advance and tie down their boats, or if they need to move the boats out of the storm's path, to do it well in advance.

Some of the other things people have to understand is, right now, all the drawbridges are shut down, so you're very limited in what you can do. And on the commercial side, we've also been working days in advance with the port communities to ensure that there's as little risk of damage in those ports as well, so that they can resume normal operations as soon as possible.

GRIFFIN: All right, lieutenant, we're watching this situation unfold. And this captain may have actually saved his vessel, at least temporarily. He did make this pier here.

RUSSELL: Well, we certainly hope for the best. But even being tied up at that pier in these weather conditions, what could potentially happen with any vessel, is that they can, since they rub up against the pier, against the concrete and wood structures, may damage the hull and things of that nature. So while we have certainly hope for the best, even tied up, they're not in an ideal situation. So we're going to continue to monitor that closely, though, and anything that we can do to provide assistance, both from a safety standpoint and from a marine environmental response, we'll do that when we're able to.

GRIFFIN: OK, Lieutenant Tony Russell from the U.S. Coast Guard. Thank you very much.

RUSSELL: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: As we continue to watch this picture, this live picture from West Palm Beach, we want to go now to Sean Callebs, who is there. Sean, did you ever get a chance to speak with the captain of this boat?

CALLEBS: The captain is still on the boat. We did speak with the person who was tying off. It was a young woman. And she said that the skipper lost an engine, and they were simply adrift. And she ran down through this dock, and then came down, and the fence was locked here. And as she tried to climb over the edge -- There are a couple of other people from the yacht club now going down to help the skipper.

Sorry. Hang on, here. Conditions. Now these people are going out to try and help the skipper.

But when she tried to climb over the gate here, she slipped and almost fell in the water and cut her hands pretty badly. She just went in now to get some first aid in the condominium complex right across the street from where we are.

But this guy did an amazing job of getting his boat in here. A lot of people are now watching this, and a lot of them very familiar with the maritime industry, and a lot of people simply amazed that without an engine, this guy was able to navigate under these kind of conditions.

But then you see some people who saw this unfold. They are people who frequent this yacht club as well, and they're going down to help this guy tie off.

But he lost an engine in the intercoastal, had an anchor out, was trying to control the situation as best as possible, knowing this bridge is only a few hundred yards from here. He tried to make the dash inside this opening, but wasn't able to do that.

Now they're trying to do everything they can to keep this thing from breaking loose and going out once again.

But even as we mentioned, there's that other boat just getting closer and closer down to our left. So this is exactly what we heard officials, state officials and emergency officials, talk about, trying to stay out of the storm in these kind of conditions. We didn't know if this was somebody who was out on the high seas, or somebody who saw the boat simply breaking loose in the moorings and went out to do what he could, Betty.

NGUYEN: Absolutely, because we've been watching this for close to an hour now. This boat was originally adrift, and somehow managed to tie up here. And I guess the big question -- and we'll learn this as information comes in -- why didn't these folks heed the warning and evacuate a lot sooner than now? Because it appears Frances is arriving, and they're still trying to tie up the boat.

CALLEBS: Exactly. Well, we don't know if this was somebody who was actually out on the ocean and was trying to make his way in, or if this is someone who just decided to try and ride it out on this pleasure craft.

But Mike, if we can pan down that way to the left, there you see that other boat, how much it has gained in the past just few minutes or so. It is moving down this intercoastal pretty rapidly, as is the sailboat.

Now, great, I would say there's probably about 20 people out here at this point right now. A lot of them are waiting for these boats to get down and see what they can do as best as possible. We're still waiting for the young woman to come out to see how her conditions are. We had a first-aid kit in our satellite truck, and I know that they're tending to her, so hopefully she's fine.

But this is exactly the kind of thing that state officials, emergency crews, had been worried about. And it's really pretty amazing that this situation didn't work out any worse than it did, because this guy wasn't able to get control of this ship right through here, it had nowhere to go except for the bridge. And trying to navigate something that size in these kind of conditions through those narrow openings that connect West Palm Beach and Palm Beach could have been very disastrous, Betty.

GRIFFIN: And the bridges are closed, as we heard from the Coast Guard, which means that that boat probably was too tall to get through the pass. And if it broke its mooring, it literally was, Sean, trapped, and it would either head into that bridge and damage the bridge and the boat, or simply damage the boat and be stuck there. This was an incredible (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CALLEBS: Yes, you know, we heard the bridges were -- we heard the bridges were closed as well. But we saw a tow truck go over within the past half-hour or so, so I don't know if that was when...

GRIFFIN: Well, I mean...

CALLEBS: ... the police or some other emergency crew...

GRIFFIN: Closed shut, they're drawbridges, so they would close shut. So nobody was there to raise the bridge so this boat could pass.

CALLEBS: Exactly, exactly. This is something that could have been a lot worse. And I'm eager to try and talk with this gentleman to see how he was able to navigate his way in. And there were only two people on this vessel too. It's even -- makes it even more incredible, that she was able to tie off and keep the boat from drifting.

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