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CNN Saturday Morning News

Hurricane Gustav Heads for the Gulf; McCain Chooses Palin

Aired August 30, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta it is Saturday, August 30th. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes. We have two major stories we're keeping an eye on, first one there, yes, hurricane Gustav. This thing became a hurricane, a category 3 hurricane, I should say, a little earlier this morning. That means it has winds topping 115 miles an hour and it is headed towards the U.S. gulf coast.

NGUYEN: On top of that, look at the right-hand side of your screen, the Republican choice for vice president, Sarah Palin. You might be asking who is she and can she deliver the female votes? We're going to delve into that.

HOLMES: Again, that very dangerous storm we're keeping an eye on right now. Hurricane Gustav, a category 3 right now, expected to get stronger even as it moves towards the Gulf of Mexico.

NGUYEN: And we have a team covering Gustav. Reynolds Wolf is in the CNN extreme weather center with the storm's location and projected path. He's hard at work. Sean Callebs is following preparations in New Orleans and just a little bit farther south, Chris Lawrence is in Plaquemine's parish. We are also relying on our affiliates along with our own resources, our affiliates along the gulf coast, and they are going to be providing some video and reports on the preparation for Gustav's possible landfall. You're taking a look at the pictures right now. The top left-hand corner that is New Orleans. It looks like a hazy morning, but let me tell you, folks there are bracing for what's to come because on the right-hand side of your screen, there's that cone of uncertainty, the projected path of where Gustav could be hitting as it grows there in the gulf down at the bottom of your screen. You're seeing it's growing right now. It is a category three storm, but even Reynolds Wolf says possibly by the time it makes landfall it could grow in strength, maybe to a category 5, that is something that people do not want to hear.

HOLMES: Sean Callebs, let's turn to him right now, he's in New Orleans for us this morning keeping an eye on things. Sean, this morning we're seeing about these evacuations, some go into effect later, some already in effect. What are people doing? Are they not messing around with this thing, are they getting out of there?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Without question. No one is messing around. The anxiety level in this city has been palpable this past week as that storm continues to churn away down in the Gulf of Mexico, certainly getting everyone's attention here. What you're seeing behind me, the initial throws of some 30,000 people that the city expects to evacuate over the next 24 hours. The way this is unfolding, there are 17 various locations around the city and city buses pull up and they're going to begin bringing people here to the Greyhound bus station, the Amtrak station right now. Basically this is beginning right at this hour. We've talked to some people already in line, some who have been in line since yesterday, and people say they're not taking any chances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean it's frustrating because like she said we've been here since like 3:00 p.m. yesterday and we thought we were going to start going in to register to evacuate at 6:00 but we're still here. The lieutenant governor came by, you know, and I guess it kind of helps to know to keep our spirits up and everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My concerns are the storm could be so bad that it could hurt my dog. I don't want to leave my dog behind because I love him and my family, we're going to evacuate because we don't want to take any chances.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: Still four days away from the scheduled landfall of the hurricane, but people here not taking any chances. Clearly T.J., what they're trying to avoid, the disaster that happened three years ago when so many trapped in the city superdome on roof tops and convention centers. They're trying to avoid a repeat of that. T.J.?

HOLMES: They certainly don't want to see that again. One thing quickly, you talk about these different locations where people can go and actually get evacuated. Was that available to people three years ago with Katrina or is this one of the lessons that were learned and giving people more locations, more options for getting out of town?

CALLEBS: Simple answer, lesson learned. People just got a notice three years ago, about 36 hours before the storm to get out of town, very few could.

HOLMES: All right. Sean Callebs there keeping an eye on things for us in New Orleans. Sean we appreciate you, be checking with you again.

NGUYEN: People who live in coastal Louisiana are already getting prepared to get out of the area. Our Chris Lawrence is in Belle Chasse with that story. Chris, when we spoke with you earlier you mentioned, what, only a third of the people had already left?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Betty. 25,000 people in Plaquemines parish, a third of them have already gone, and the thing is, you know, a lot of people sometimes want to leave but they don't necessarily have the money for a hotel or gas, money for gas to get way out of town. That's why they have shelters like these. They've already started having people start coming in. They can get checked out for medical treatment, they can come here, register so that they know who is going where and then they'll be transported by bus to an area safely out of the path of the storm. With me here is Rochelle Fugere, she's one of the people waiting to register to get evacuated. We talk about this so much, leave your home, get out of town. That's got to be emotionally easier said than done?

ROCHELLE FUGERE, BELLE CHASSE RESIDENT: It is. It's very stressful. You don't know what you're going to come back to.

LAWRENCE: But you have to go because your daughter's a nurse, she has to work.

FUGERE: Right. I mean, I can't stay there alone.

LAWRENCE: So you're here with your grandson. How has it been so far, just the emotion of leaving and getting ready to go to a shelter?

FUGERE: It's a little nerve wracking right now, but I'll calm down later.

LAWRENCE: And she's here with pepper, the most important bag out of all of these suitcases that they have here, the one that has pepper. You know a lot of people, they don't want to leave their pets behind and a lot of these rescue workers, they don't want anyone to die sitting in their home because they don't want to leave their dog or cat. What will happen with pepper, will she stay with you, where will she go?

FUGERE: They'll put him in a shelter with the pets. But it won't be -- he won't be too far away. They said he'll be around the same area.

LAWRENCE: So there is a separate shelter for him and other dogs and cats that will be fairly close to you?

FUGERE: Right.

LAWRENCE: Ok.

So again, just one story here out of a lot. We expect to see a lot more people coming through here over the next few hours as this evacuation order takes hold. A helicopter will be flying around the area, letting people know that they need to get out of here. Betty?

NGUYEN: It's so important, especially this time around as we learned the lessons from Katrina, it sounds like these larger areas like, you know, the superdome, there's not going to be a last resort shelter if you remain in the areas where they're telling you to evacuate, correct?

LAWRENCE: That's right. There is no shelter of last resort, no convention center, no superdome. Which a lot of people who were there in those areas, will probably tell you, it's a very good thing. One big difference is this time, they have stashed in the state of Louisiana, hundreds of thousands of meals ready to eat, hundreds of thousands of liters of water all over the state and millions around the entire gulf coast in different places. So there are supplies out there in place. That was not the case during Katrina. NGUYEN: Hopefully they won't need them because people will be evacuated and then this storm will come through and we'll deal with what's to come. All right, Chris Lawrence, joining us live, thank you Chris. You know we want to get the latest on where Gustav is as we're watching this storm, not only is it growing but it's moving, headed toward the New Orleans area. So, you know, as we talk about that, especially as we learn from Katrina, Reynolds, we spoke earlier with a person with the corps of engineers in New Orleans and she was talking to us about how they cannot build levees to a particular category of a storm. But my question is this, if you have, say, a category 3, don't you have an estimated storm surge that you have to be prepared for?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, I mean there are parameters. Say, for example, Betty, if you have a category 3 storm you can anticipate a storm surge any where from say 9 feet to say up to 12. If it happens to be a category 4 storm, anywhere from say 13 feet to 18 feet above normal for a storm surge cat 5, the worst, most catastrophic, 18 feet or higher. A long time ago people thought the reason you would have a certain storm surge is because the interior pressure of the storm would be so low it would actually create a bubble of water. But now we understand the reason why you have to have the storm surge is because the dramatic winds, the winds actually get that water to pile up. So when these storm systems come on shore, it's not the wind that is really the big killer, it's the storm surge and people tend to drown as these things race their way. This thing is now racing its way just south of Havana as you can see right now, kind of hard to miss, by far and away the most powerful storm on the planet at this time. Parts of Cuba back over to south Florida you're seeing some of the outer bands move into places like Miami, if you happen to be in Tampa and you step outside and you look out the window you can actually see some of the clouds that are actually some of the feeder bands from the storm system. Expected to continue its march to the northwest around 12 miles an hour, maximum sustained winds at 120 miles per hour.

And the latest forecast we have, from the national hurricane center, shows the storm is expected to intensify. In fact as we get into Sunday, winds going up to about 125 miles an hour early Sunday mind you. The forecast path brings it right on to the western part of Cuba, let's say if the eye were to pass a little bit farther off to the west over the Yucatan channel, it wouldn't have as much interaction with land. There is a chance the storm could actually strengthen a bit more, maybe even a category 4 storm. You never know. Then the path brings it back out into parts of the gulf of Mexico, the center of the gulf, 2:00 a.m. Monday still same story, 125 mile per hour winds, cat 3, then getting closer to New Orleans, passing just to the southwest, winds of 115 miles an hour. Tuesday, around 2:00 a.m., keep in mind though, the cone of probability, storm could move a little bit more to say the east, maybe farther to the west. A lot of changes can take place and the most difficult thing for the national hurricane to forecast, for anyone to forecast for these storms, not just where it's going, but rather the intensity. How strong it might be. In a very open area, with very little sheer and very warm water, there is the potential this storm could be much stronger than just a category 3. Let's pass it back to you guys.

NGUYEN: That is not news that we want to hear. But it's definitely something that we must be prepared for. Thank you, Reynolds.

HOLMES: Let's talk more about that contra flow plan we've been talking about this morning to help Louisiana folks get out of that New Orleans area. It's pretty much a plan put in place so all traffic goes one direction which is the opposite direction of that storm. Reporter Taslin Alfonzo from our affiliate WDSU is live for us in New Orleans. All right, we see that traffic behind you. This plan is in place. Is it pretty heavy? Are people getting out of there?

TASLIN ALFONZO, WDSU REPORTER: Yes. People are getting out of here, out of the city of New Orleans. It's very slow going. To give you an idea of where I am on I-10 westbound, in the city of Kenner, which is 15 miles, about 15 miles west of New Orleans, and people are, you know, being patient, they're taking their time. We talked to a few folks out here and they were telling us that they're happy that they're getting out of town before a contra flow kicks in. Contra flow is expected to kick in tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. and that's when folks won't have a choice, they're either going to have to go to Baton Rouge or Hammond which is north of New Orleans, or they're going to have to go eastbound towards Slidell out of the city or also towards Mississippi. So folks say, you know, the ones we've talked to that they're excited, that they can get out of here before the contra flow starts. They're saying they don't want to wait around, they don't want to take any chances and many of them, you can see their cars are packed. If you look in them, we took a chance to peek inside their cars, you could see pet carriers, you could see blankets, you can see water. They're loaded up, they're ready to go. They had their supplies in hand and they say that they just want to go ahead and better safe than sorry. That's the message here. Patience is the keyword of the day. On your side, live in Kenner, Louisiana, outside of New Orleans, Taslin Alfonzo.

HOLMES: Taslin, tell us as well, we know there's a game today that had to be moved up, the LSU game today from I believe it's 10:00 central time, any of that game traffic?

ALFONZO: I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

HOLMES: Any of that traffic we're seeing behind you, is any of that game traffic for the LSU game that had to be moved up today?

ALFONZO: Oh, absolutely. A lot of those folks are wearing LSU jerseys, they have little flags on their cars. A lot of them yelling, LSU fans we're excited, we can't wait. Yes the game was moved up as you said from 4:00 to 10:00 and many of them are going to Baton Rouge so it's like a two for one for them, they get to go watch the game and they get out of dodge as well.

HOLMES: And they get to get out of town, that's not a bad deal. Taslin Alfonzo again from WDSU our affiliate there, we appreciate you.

NGUYEN: Well you know like Louisiana a state of emergency has also been called in Alabama. Governor Bob Riley has told residents to take precautions and many seem to be taking that advice very seriously. Many are boarding up their homes, now no evacuations have been ordered so far, and no shelters are open just yet in Alabama. This is a question on the lips of a lot of folks today, who is Sarah Palin?

HOLMES: The answer is, she is John McCain's running mate. But that doesn't really tell the whole story and give the whole answer. A pretty big surprise, can she deliver?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, right now we're keeping an eye on that right there, hurricane Gustav gaining strength near Cuba right now, upgraded this morning to a hurricane or rather a category 3 hurricane.

NGUYEN: We're seeing sustained winds of 115 miles per hour and mandatory evacuation orders have already been in place for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Thank goodness college football is back, but it's not the best weekend for it in some areas, of course. The first games of the new season kicked off Thursday and there is a full slate of games today.

HOLMES: But for us, you and I --

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: The season doesn't really get started --

NGUYEN: Until.

HOLMES: Or nasty I should say until --

NGUYEN: September 13th.

HOLMES: My alma mater the razorbacks, take on --

NGUYEN: And the horns.

HOLMES: The longhorns. Now to put us in the mood here, ESPN's Lisa Salters is actually in town here in Atlanta for the kickoff classic happening at the Georgia dome which is right back there. Good morning to you.

LISA SALTERS, ESPN: Good morning to you both.

HOLMES: You have to forgive us.

SALTERS: No, but what's that weekend going to be like up here?

NGUYEN: It is -- actually we're both here, so get ready for a lot of trash talking.

HOLMES: Now tell us, you know what, just tell us who's going to win the Arkansas/Texas game?

NGUYEN: Just go ahead and go out there. Remember you're sitting closest to me. SALTERS: Let's see, Arkansas, who do you start with this week? Western Illinois.

NGUYEN: Yeah.

SALTERS: You guys had a lot of drama with the coach and --

NGUYEN: And then someone called us out saying that we're slow this season.

SALTERS: No, actually, so you --

HOLMES: She's a Texan.

NGUYEN: I'm Texan.

HOLMES: I'm the razorback.

SALTERS: You're the razorback and you're Texas. Mac Brown coached team I'm probably always going to go with him.

HOLMES: Wow!

NGUYEN: Thank you. I love this woman.

SALTERS: You did lose your leading rusher and your leading wide receiver last season but Colt McCoy is a gunslinger. I like Texas, Arkansas you guys are the ones with the drama. It's going to be interesting to see how you guys respond to Bobby Patrino and how much and how he left the falcons, how much that still kind of looming over him.

NGUYEN: So you're taking Texas by how much?

SALTERS: I'm probably going to give the nod to Texas because Texas is ranked number 11 and I don't think that Arkansas is --

HOLMES: No.

SALTERS: In the top 25.

NGUYEN: Not at all. It's being played in Austin, so there's a little bit of advantage there. What's the point spread here?

SALTERS: I don't do points.

HOLMES: Come on.

SALTERS: I don't do point spreads. I'm going to probably -- have to go with Texas on.

HOLMES: What should everybody be paying attention to this football season, what's going to be the drama?

SALTERS: How about this week. This weekend right here in Atlanta, this is going to be the biggest game of the day, number nine Clemson versus number 24 Alabama. I'm going to be on the sidelines, Aaron Andrews is going to be on the sidelines, Brent Musberger, Kirk (INAUDIBLE).

NGUYEN: Everyone is coming out for this game.

SALTERS: That is going to be a huge game. Are you guys going to be at the game?

HOLMES: We will not be able to make it. If you can get us tickets on the sidelines next to you, fine.

NGUYEN: Yeah, exactly. We have a lot of news brewing that we have to stay on top of.

SALTERS: I understand. That's going to be a big game of the week, 8:00 eastern. ABC, college football prime time.

HOLMES: Saban, any pressure on Saban yet?

SALTERS: I wouldn't say yet. But there could be a lot of pressure on Tommy Bowden although he did just sign an extension with Clemson. They're really picked to take the ACC this year for the first time. He's had a lot of talent on his teams but really for the first time Clemson is expected to do their thing this season.

NGUYEN: Big game.

SALTERS: So, you know, people are going to want to see what they can do.

NGUYEN: We'll be watching.

HOLMES: We got to go.

NGUYEN: We may not be there but we'll be watching for sure.

SALTERS: All right.

HOLMES: We could turn this into --

SALTERS: Good luck to both of you guys for your seasons, good luck on the 13th.

NGUYEN: But according to you we don't need luck because we're going to take it. Thank you.

HOLMES: Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your time here in Atlanta. We'll be watching tonight. Thank you so much. We'll turn back to -- we have to go back to politics.

NGUYEN: A lot of news brewing as I said, McCain/Palin, Republicans hope it's the winning ticket in the presidential race.

HOLMES: We'll have reaction to John McCain's unexpected, surprise, even shocking, some even saying irresponsible choice of a running mate, a first term governor from Alaska. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Once again we are keeping a close eye on hurricane Gustav, winds now at about 120 miles an hour.

NGUYEN: You can see the storm battering the southern coast of Cuba, well not right now. You're looking at some of the traffic headed out of New Orleans and on to safer paths as people try to get out of the way of Gustav as it's heading in. But it did do a lot of damage before heading in. In fact we have that cone of uncertainty. We're not exactly sure where, but there's a good indication that New Orleans is right in the direct path. We're going to stay on top of this. In the meantime though, again, this has been a deadly storm, being blamed for dozens of deaths in the Caribbean.

HOLMES: And again the Republican national convention, we turn to that now, happening on Monday but already some protesters getting in trouble with police. Police raided an area in St. Paul the other night at a rental hall that was used by a group that was organizing the protest. Police wouldn't say exactly what they were looking for. No arrests were actually made. The group says the hall was used for workshops and training and nothing illegal. Police claim they were trying to disrupt protests planned for Monday. At least that's what the group claims the police are doing.

NGUYEN: You know the buzz in presidential politics this morning, over McCain's choice of a running mate. McCain picked first-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Now the two will be on the campaign trail today in Pennsylvania. Here is Palin in Dayton, Ohio, yesterday, talking about her rise through the political ranks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska. We're busy raising our kids. I was serving as the team mom and coaching some basketball on the side. I got involved in the PTA and then was elected to the city council and then elected mayor of my hometown where my agenda was to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes and put the people first. Along with fellow reformers in the great state of Alaska, as governor I've stood up to the old politics as usual. To the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good old boy network.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Barack Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, gave a call to Sarah Palin to congratulate her. Here's how Obama reacted to McCain's decision to choose Palin. Here he is in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't met her before. She seems like a compelling person, obviously a terrific story, a personal story. And you know, I'm sure that she will help make the case for the Republicans. Unfortunately, the case is, more of the same. And so, you know, ultimately John McCain is at the top of the ticket. As I indicated in my speech last night, I think that he wants to take the country in the wrong direction. I'm assuming Governor Palin, agrees with him in his policies. But the fact that she's been nominated I think or will soon be nominated I think is one more indicator of this country moving forward, the fact that you've got a woman as the nominee of one of the vice presidential nominees of one of the major parties I think is one more hit against that glass ceiling and I congratulate her and look forward to a vigorous debate. I'm pleased with my choice for vice president, Joe Biden. I think he's the man who can help me guide this country in a better direction and help working families.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: John McCain's selection of a running mate caused an avalanche of i-Reports on the CNN website.

HOLMES: Actually set a record for a number of submissions over a 24- hour period. Josh Levs what are they saying?

JOSH LEVS: See these numbers, you saw how many we got in the first seven hours, we got more than 600 i-Repots. It's really incredible. People weighing in like wild. What are they saying? Let's go to one of the first quotes we pulled up for you here. This comes to us from Jill Beach who wrote us this, she says, "After watching the glitz, glamour and over hype of the DNC, I found myself starting to get sucked into the Obama orbit but now that McCain has picked a smart, successful and conservative woman, I'm back on the McCain train, baby!" On the flip side now, from Jessica Anunwah in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, she says, "Ouch. It hurts that McCain would think all women only vote due to their gender. But let's not get angry just yet. It's not that McCain is stupid. Obama was right, McCain just doesn't think." There you're seeing the spectrum of what we're getting here. Plus, we're getting some video iReports. Let's start off with this from Jason Jewitt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON JEWITT, DENVER: Shame on you, John McCain. Not for choosing a woman, but for thinking America is stupid. It's pretty clear this is nothing more than a political game. All this is a gimmick. John McCain wants to take disenfranchised Clinton voters and bring them to his side because he wants them to think one woman is as good as the next.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: On the flip side though, Katy Brown is a big fan of this decision and she's already taking on an argument that the Obama campaign has launched.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATY BROWN, KENT STATE UNIVERSITY: Taking experience off the table, really? I don't think so. We're not voting for the vice president, we're voting for the president. We don't need an inexperienced president in office. Thanks. (END OF VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Keep it coming. We've got more coming at iReport.com. We're going to keep bringing you some more right here on air, guys.

NGUYEN: All right, thank you Josh.

New Orleans is getting ready for this storm and really not taking any chances. Many of them already packing up and heading out. We've got live video and reports coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)