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Hala Gorani Tonight
Hurricane Harvey Poised To Hammer Coast Of Texas; Hurricane Harvey Now A Category 3; FEMA Director: "Texas About To Have Significant Disaster"; Hurricane Harvey A Major Test For President Trump; Hurricane Harvey now a Category 3; 20 years on, Diana's life and legacy; Russian arms dealers amp up sales pitch; Demonstrators on the streets of San Francisco. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired August 25, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:01]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are reporting to you live from London. Hurricane Harvey is
barreling toward the U.S. coastline this hour. It has already started battering the Texas coast with winds that could turn deadly.
Take a look at this -- the storm is expected to bring more than 90 cm of rain and winds of at least 100 kilometers an hour. We are talking almost a
meter of water here when it finally makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Residents have been urged to evacuate coastal areas before it is
too late.
Hurricane warning in effect for around 1.5 million people so it's a very, very large portion of the territory there that could be affected. The
threat has led to the governor of Texas to request a major disaster declaration.
Harvey is expected to strengthen to a Category 3 before it slams into the coast. This is the first time a Category 3 hurricane would hit the U.S.
mainland in many, many years.
CNN will bring you all the latest from across the state as Hurricane Harvey closes in. Max Mayfield is the former director at the U.S. National
Hurricane Center. He joins me now from Miami via Skype. How powerful is the storm, Mr. Mayfield?
MAX MAYFIELD, FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, Hala, it's a very strong Category 2 hurricane and as looking at the aircraft data
right now, it's look like it is strengthening.
The National Hurricane sort of forecasted it to become a Category 3 hurricane by the time of its landfall late tonight and that makes it a
major hurricane. So, this is going to have tremendous impact on the Texas coast.
GORANI: And what -- yes, talk to us a little bit about the possible flooding, the storm surge, the damage, the threat to people, who live in
the storm's path with this Category 3 hurricane.
MAYFIELD: The folks there are going to have to deal with all the hazards of the hurricane, the storm surge, the wind, the tornadoes and the
rainfall. And the biggest killer in most hurricanes is the water.
So, the first thing you got to have to deal with is the storm surge. They are forecasting 6 to 12 feet on a mid-Texas cove. The only somewhat good
thing -- I don't want to (inaudible), but it's looks the worst storm surge are likely to be between Corpus Christi, Texas, and Houston Texas, the two
most populated areas there.
And that's also where the strongest winds will be, but it's still going to have major impacts there and there's enough storm surge in those
communities there to (inaudible), and the after it gets inland, the difference with this hurricane than most hurricanes, is after moving inland
and continues to move quickly.
This is going to stall. The stirring current has collapsed and so that means we are going to have a tremendous amount of rain and they are
forecasted 15 to 25 meters, (inaudible) up to 35 meters and it's still going to be very near the same place it is right now for days --
GORANI: Thirty-five inches -- I mean, you're talking feet here not inches in total accumulation of water. By the way, and officially, it has now
strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane --
MAYFIELD: Yes, the next (inaudible) comes out about two hours and I'll be surprised if it doesn't strengthen, but that's a little bit academic
(inaudible) -- don't get too hang up on the specifics there. It's going to be bad regardless.
GORANI: Yes, it will cause the same amount of damage whatever number you attribute to it. Now let us talk about the -- because we mentioned that
this path here of this hurricane is quite large.
We see it goes from Corpus Christi, where we expected to make landfall, then there is Galveston further east and above Galveston, the fourth
largest city in Texas which is Houston.
And there Houston has had flooding problems, you know, with regular storms. Here we are looking a lot more rainfall. Talk to us about the threat
there.
MAYFIELD: Well, Houston has a couple of problem, one that people problem. They've got so many people in the greater Houston area has 6.5 million
people. So, you know, 90 percent of the people are doing exactly the right thing.
Ten percent of the people, that is still 650,000 people that are not going to do right thing and critical that we have a tremendous amount of loss of
lives from the inland flooding.
And Houston has the second problem they have (inaudible) and these underpass that they have are prone to flooding, and so most people did die
from the inland flooding die in their cars.
We have a saying here, turn around, don't ground. If you see water on the hill, just don't drive there, but there is going to be a tremendous amount
of rain over such a large area, that's going to be a real problem for people.
GORANI: And Tom Bossert, the Homeland Security adviser, was speaking earlier in the briefing room at the White House about the president of the
United States, Donald Trump's main concerns. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BOSSERT, WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: The president had three primary concerns. His first concern was the life safety and the
evacuation timing, are people getting out of harm's way that need to get out of harm's way.
[15:05:08] And the second concern was, do we have the appropriate resources to bring to bear, that was a question he directed at Administrator Long and
Elaine Duke. Brock Long reported to him that we did in fact have all those resources pre-deployed.
And really the third concern from the president's perspective after hearing the briefing was not only that the people in harm's way in Texas, be
prepared and be evacuated as appropriate, but that the people in Louisiana should the forecast wobble in any direction also be prepared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: You heard there Louisiana, and of course, everyone remembers the disaster that was Katrina and the loss of life that that led to property
that that led to. What are the -- at this stage chances that the storm will -- that the path of this storm will move and that it will hit
Louisiana more than it anticipated. How much -- at this stage?
MAYFIELD: Well, you know, the hurricane looks in many, many different computer models and they are all -- they are not in agreement. The
forecast from the Hurricane Center has it after about four days of just being around the mid-Texas coast, gradually easing off to the northeast
towards Louisiana.
So that's going to take that heavy rain over the Houston, Galveston area if the forecast is right into southwest (inaudible) and then likely
(inaudible) that it is a real, real issue for a lot of people.
GORANI: Yes, sure. And the advice to people who are in the path of the storm is obviously do not take any chances, get to higher ground. How far
off the coast would they have to sort of go in order to be safe with the hurricane like this?
MAYFIELD: Well, I heard the governor of Texas speaking on TV early this afternoon and a lot of times you have to go inland to San Antonio
(inaudible) people to go tens of miles or even hundreds of miles.
But in this case, that inland flooding has now occur well away from the coastline, you know, for at least another four days in Texas even so they
may have recommended that a lot of people go to Austin, Texas, which is way, way inland.
That's a challenge (inaudible) a lot of people moving and the course, you can't move 6.5 million people out of the Houston area. So -- people that
stay home and just need to make sure they are in the high-level spot and don't get out and drive in flooded roadways.
GORANI: We all remember Sandy, of course, that caused so much chaos in New York. I mean, a third of Manhattan was out of power, and there was so much
flooding there. This is a stronger weather system obviously. It is a Category 3 hurricane. Could you compare the two?
MAYFIELD: Well, its' not as large as Sandy that's one thing, and of course, the main difference is it was much, much more (inaudible) in the
northeast of the United States than it is here on that mid-Texas coast.
But if the rain does go where we think it's going to go, not to (inaudible) to the upper Texas, there is Houston and Galveston, and then in the
southwest (inaudible) that's going to just impact a lot of people and it's to understand how you could even handle that.
They'll be going to be a lot of people impacted. I've talked to my friend, FEMA Director Brock Long, yesterday and (inaudible) I'm praying for him,
but, you know, FEMA is there to support the local communities in the state.
And Brock has been in the hurricane center for years and he knows as much about hurricanes as anybody.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much for joining us, Max Mayfield, the former director of the National Hurricane Center.
As we continue to watch there alive the satellite image that shows the size of the storm and just how powerful it will be. Thanks very much to you.
Just to recap obviously why there is so much concern, well, because this would be the first time since basically 2005 that a hurricane of this
strength hits the United States. It is in the Gulf of Mexico. There are several issues there.
First and foremost, human life. The people have to make sure they get out of the path of the storm. There are issues with the storm surge on the
coastline. There are issues with flooding inland as high north as Houston as far away from the coast as that. So where do you go? You cannot really
move millions and millions of people like this.
Secondly, this is the Gulf of Mexico we are talking, oil platforms, which is the very crucial to the oil industry in that part of the world and for
the United States as well. You do not want any damage there. We all remember what happened with one of those oil platforms several years ago.
Now we will have more on this as we continue to track the storm. We are 10 minutes into the hour right now. It is to 2:10 PM local just a reminder
that this storm is expected to make landfall at midnight Eastern, which is 11 PM Texas time.
[15:10:01] So, this is giving people there local several hours to prepare. They have been shopping for food, for obviously water, for anything to be
able to sustain themselves during the time that they will have to sort of stay put and take no chances with this storm.
We are going to have a lot more on this little bit later. Stay with us or we do have Nick Valencia. Nick Valencia tell us where you are and what the
situation is like in the part of Texas you are reporting from.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hala, sorry about that. Our team has been going back and forth between the networks here, but we are on the
seawall here of Corpus Christi. We've been keeping an eye on the water all morning long as it inches its way up the steps.
Those waves are not a normal sight here in Corpus Christi, in coastal Texas. Local officials here it was yesterday that the city mayor declared
and ordered voluntary evacuations.
I was talking to one local official here. He says he hopes they do not come to regret that later because the severity of the storm, it's just --
there is not much that can be said just about how severe this storm is expected to be.
Local residents so despite that they have -- some of them have decided to sit out anyway, Hala. I was talking earlier to some who said that they
have taken the proper precautions. They boarded up their homes.
They spent hours at the grocery store shopping for basic essentials and they think that it is not going to be as bad as predicted. Veteran
meteorologists will tell you that is not the case.
They think this is going to live up to the hype, live up to the billing, and we are seeing a little bit of indication of what to -- what is
expected. The most severe part of the storm is expected to hit sometime in the midnight Eastern hour on Friday through the noon Eastern hour on
Saturday.
All throughout the day, we have been getting intermittent bands of heavy rain. This wind gusts have really been the story of the day here in Corpus
Christi. That sustained wind is really ebbing and flowing as those bands of Hurricane Harvey make their way here.
But make no mistake about it, Hala, we are in the direct path of Hurricane Harvey. Corpus Christi expected to take a very hard hit -- Hala.
GORANI: And how -- and so people -- some people have decided to stay, but presumably most people have listened to the advice of officials and sort of
evacuated the area where the storm surge is expected to be dangerous.
VALENCIA: I'm sorry, Hala. You broke up there a little bit. We are having a little bit of transmission issue here. Can you say that again?
GORANI: Yes. Most people, though, listened to authorities and left the area, right, Nick?
VALENCIA: Hala, I'm having trouble here. I'm sorry. It's getting wet and really miserable out here. The conditions are deteriorating and this is
just what people here are having a deal with.
That wind is starting to pick up. The city officials had been helping people evaluate here throughout the morning hour. That assistance stopped
a little while ago. Voluntary evacuations, still no mandatory evacuations. It is a surprise to a lot of people here, but this is an area that has been
hard hit before -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Nick Valencia in Corpus Christi. He's having in trouble here and it's understandable the wind is an issue,
by the way, when you have an earpiece.
Sometimes it affects how much you can hear people technically speaking. It will muffle the sound and make it more difficult to hear, which explains
partly why he is having issues, but also it is raining and certainly, that is having an impact on how well he can hear us. Those are some of the
technical explanations behind-the-scenes TV business issues that we sometimes deal with in the field.
We are going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll have a lot more Hurricane Harvey and we will also go live to Washington, D.C. for the
latest on Donald Trump's feud with top Republicans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:15:00]
GORANI: Back to our breaking news, Hurricane Harvey, President Trump has been tweeting about the hurricane lost in the sea of all the tweets that he
has written attacking top Republicans. He has written a couple on Harvey.
He said, "I have spoken with Governor Abbot of Texas and Louisiana Governor Edwards closely monitoring Hurricane Harvey developments and here to assist
as needed." He later tweeted this picture of himself being briefed by officials."
Tom Sater is at the CNN International Weather Center with the very latest. So where is the storm now and has it or has it not strengthened to Category
3?
TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It has made it to Category 3 status and this is the first major hurricane to affect the U.S. in 12 years. So, there are
many, Hala, and you know, I mean, they always think, my goodness, why are you using words like catastrophic or devastating?
Are you overhyping the storm? You are using phrases like we have never seen before. Well, let me answer that the National Weather Service has an
office in Houston, Texas and they put out a statement this morning that use language that we have not heard since Hurricane Katrina.
Saying things like, there will be many locations that will be uninhabitable for weeks if not months. Yes, it is a Category 3 and many people just want
to focus on that, but that is only one edge of the sword.
Yes, it's going to make landfall probably just before the midnight hour, local time, near Corpus Christi, 16 million are in the warning mainly in
read. That is the bull's-eye. That is Ground Zero.
The problem is we are already 75 miles away. We've got power outages. We have got winds that are tropical storm force. They are not hurricane
force. We've got rain all the way extending into Louisiana.
But with a storm surge moving up, that will be several meters, maybe 4, probably 4-1/2 m is going to hold all the rainfall that is falling back
into the gulf. So, when we look at this. this is just -- this is the other edge of the sword here, Hala.
Once it moves in, OK, that is fine. Let's get in and get it out, but for days now, we have noticed we are missing something. We are missing a
dominant steering factor to push the system to the north or the south or west wherever.
This is what it's going to look like. These are the computer models. We called it the spaghetti plot. Just put all the models together. You want
to see this. You want to see agreement that helps us have confidence in the forecast where to evacuate, but watch what happens next.
This birds nest if you will, what is this? I mean, you know how do we cover typhoons in the Western Pacific and cyclones in the Indian Ocean and
Bay of Bengal. We have never seen anything quite like this.
This means it's going to stall. It's going to hang around. Some models want to keep in the state of Texas for seven days. The last time, we've
seen anything even resembling this was a very weak tropical storm named Allison in 2001.
It came through with no fanfare, took 41 lives, $9 billion with the damage and over 500 millimeters of rain. So, a large swath of rainfall easily
500, 600 millimeters.
You can lose power for a couple of days, but when your home starts filling up with water, there could be thousands of calls to emergency services that
will strap the entire state of Texas for days. This is going to be most likely catastrophic.
GORANI: My goodness. Stalling for seven days, people are going to have to put up with this for a long time. Thanks very much, Tom Sater.
David Paulison is a former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA. He joins me from Florida. Thanks, sir, for being with us.
You took over at FEMA right after Katrina in 2005. How concerned are you about this one?
DAVID PAULISON, FORMER DIRECTOR, FEMA: This is a -- this is a -- yes, I know you keep the same words over and over there, but it could be very much
a devastating storm. One, it's going to slow down before just a shore and when that happens, it pushes a tidal surge of water much, much higher.
So, there is going to be a huge tidal surge coming into the coastline, and then -- as we just saw earlier, it is more the like it's going to stall.
We don't know which way it's going to go or if it is going to go anywhere.
[15:20:02] And if it sits for such a long time, it's going to dump an enormous amount of water that -- from Corpus Christi all the way to
Galveston and this area is already low-lying. It can't handle that much water.
So, there's going to be a tremendous amount of flooding. My concern is a lot of people have chosen not to evacuate like they were asked to do. Even
at some of the areas that had a mandatory evacuation, they did not leave.
Those people are going to be stuck there for a while. We surely hope that they have food, water and medicines and to get them for four, five or six
days before people get in back inside.
GORANI: And also, there is only so much you can do to prepare. I mean, the buildings are there. They are what they are. Whether they are on
stilts are not, they are going to suffer damage inevitably from the flooding and from the winds as well.
PAULISON: That is correct. If the building is not built substantially, you know, they could come apart in a hurricane. We saw that in Hurricane
Andrew. They went to South Florida. I happened to be the fire chief at that time, brand-new fire chief at that time.
We had buildings that came apart, a hundred thousand homes were destroyed, and what we did in Florida was we look very carefully why those buildings
failed and we changed our building codes to adapt to that.
So, now the buildings that are built in South Florida are much, much stronger and capable of handling some of these high winds that we
occasionally get.
GORANI: Is that the case in Texas, the building codes similar to the ones in South Florida or not?
PAULISON: The ones in parts of Texas, a lot of more old buildings have not built to new building standards. So, yes, you are going to see if this
thing makes landfall into Category 3 or Category 4 like they are predicting, you are going to see a tremendous amount of damage to the
buildings themselves.
GORANI: And they are deploying 700 National Guards, state and national guards, what is their job in a situation like this?
PAULISON: It's mainly logistics and also for presence for security. In Louisiana with Hurricane Katrina, the governor did not deploy the National
Guard ahead of time and you saw what happened with the looting in the streets.
So, I think the governor of Texas is wisely doing out as a precaution and also you have -- now you have several 700 able-bodied people that can help
with logistics and moving supplies, food, water, those types of things that they are going to need after the storm.
GORANI: Yes. And one of the big issues with Katrina was the aftermath, was where people who were homeless ended up, how difficult life was for
them, how dangerous in some cases. This is also going to be an issue if buildings are destroyed in Texas.
PAULISON: That's correct except for the fact that, you know, in Katrina, an evacuation was not called for early enough and we had over 1,800 people
died, a lot of them drowned in their own homes.
At least with Texas, they have called for an evacuation. A lot of people have heeded that and hopefully most of those people have been able to get
out. Those that have, they are going to need to be very careful, very careful.
GORANI: What's your concern for the oil platforms, those offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as well because we've had big issues with
oil spills obviously and that has really hurt the environment in some parts there.
PAULISON: It surely it. Surely has and along that whole coastal area is a petrochemical industry, from Galveston all the way to Houston obviously. A
lot of them already shutting down and preparing for the storm to come in and we surely hope that they have designed those facilities to withstand
these types of winds.
GORANI: David Paulison, former FEMA director, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate your time this evening.
PAULISON: Thank you.
GORANI: Thank you. Hurricane Harvey will be a major test for Donald Trump. The first natural disaster of his administration and the first big
one of this size in many, many years. He'll tracking developments this weekend from Camp David, the presidential retreat near Washington.
It has been quite a week, though, for Mr. Trump from his carefully scripted address on Afghanistan to his freewheeling campaign rally in Phoenix to his
increasingly bitter fight with fellow Republicans.
President Trump is still throwing fuel on the fire of a new series of tweets today. Let's bring in CNN White House reporter, Jeremy Diamond.
So, let's start with these tweets because he didn't stop with Mitch McConnell. He's moved on to Senator Corker of Tennessee.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. That is exactly right. The president is firing off again at Senator Corker. Now this comes a week
after Senator Corker raised questions about the president's stability and competence.
he president did not actually respond to those comments last week, but today just this morning as a lot of these clips were circulating again on
the morning news shows after White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders yesterday responded for the first time to Corker.
That is when we finally saw this response from the president, who said that Corker had talked to him about whether or not he should run for reelection
in 2018 and the president now suggesting that Tennesseans, the state that Corker represents, are not happy with Senator Corker.
[15:25:11] Now this is interesting, of course, because Senator Corker and Donald Trump had previously been quite close. The president actually
considered Corker for the position of secretary of state back when he was president-elect preparing for his new administration.
But clearly amid the criticism from Senator Corker it appears those relationships have cooled and this is just one as you pointed out, just one
of the many relationships of the president is having with the Senate Republicans that are souring.
GORANI: So, help me understand something, if the president needs Senate Republicans to pass his legislative agenda, why does he keep attacking them
so publicly?
DIAMOND: I do not know that I can provide you with an answer to that one. Certainly, a lot of heads are scratching around here in Washington,
including at the White House, where many here recognize that this -- the president is dealing with Senate where he has a Republican majority, but a
very slim Republican majority.
You'll remember, of course, during the healthcare debate, the president did not succeed in getting 51 Republicans actually he only needed 50 Senate
Republicans plus Mike Pence to put them over the line with healthcare and he was not able to do that.
So, now as he enters this next phase, which is tax reform, the president is once again going to need at least 50 Senate Republicans meaning that he can
only lose two of those and we know that if you count the number of people that the president has criticized among the Senate Republicans, I believe
that number is a little bit higher than two.
GORANI: And the hurricane, of course, is barreling towards Texas, Harvey, we understand -- we heard from Sarah Huckabee Sanders just a few minutes
ago that the president could be heading to Texas next week, I guess, that's dependent on whether or not there is a lot of damage. How much are White
House officials right now preparing for the possibility that this could be really catastrophic?
DIAMOND: That is right. Well, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said that the president may make a trip to Texas next week. They
are certainly beginning to plan for that possibility, but here the White House really is in full hurricane preparation mode.
The Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert came out to the podium today just a few moments ago to talk about the efforts that the White House is
undertaking to prepare for this hurricane.
He said that the president may soon issue a disaster declaration, which would allow federal funds to begin going to state and local authorities in
Texas, which is expected to be hardest hit by this potentially Category 3 hurricane.
Now this is the first Category 3 hurricane to hit the United States in 12 years, and so, of course, this will be a major test for this
administration. Of course, you'll remember Hurricane Katrina, which the Bush administration's response to that hurricane was widely criticized
amid, you know, questions about mismanagement to that hurricane.
So, of course, this presidency and this administration are trying to avoid any kind of disastrous response to this really trying to make clear to the
public that they are fully on top of this, that even amid questions about some vacancies in the administration.
Several posts are currently being held by acting directors or acting secretary like the Department of Homeland Security, but Tom Bossert, the
Homeland Security advisor, reassuring the public that the administration is fully prepared to handle the response to this hurricane despite some of
those vacancies.
GORANI: By the way, these -- I am just telling our viewers know, Jeremy, these are live images from Corpus Christi that is where we expect Hurricane
Harvey to make landfall around 11 PM local time, the midnight hour Eastern Time, which was about 5 AM, 6 AM European Time.
I want to ask you a question about a top advisor of Donald Trump, Gary Cohn, he gave an interview to the "Financial Times" and there are some
reports suggesting that he was considering resigning to the point that he had already drafted a resignation letter after President Trump's comments
on the Charlottesville -- the killing of Heather Hayes in Charlottesville - - during the white supremacist marches.
What are we hearing now? I mean, from the White House regarding that because this is really a very close top advisor to the president?
DIAMOND: That's right. Well, Gary Cohn said in this interview with the "Financial Times" that he believes the administration needs to be more
forceful in condemning these hate groups issuing an implicit criticism of the president's response to the Charlottesville protest, including that
incident in which Heather Heyer was killed by apparently a white supremacist driver.
And the administration is saying that listen Gary Cohn has been very upfront about how he felt about this issue and all this comes as Gary Cohn
came under immense pressure to resign.
He is one of the most-high profile Jewish members of this administration and Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying that listen Gary Cohn has made clear how
he feels. It appears the White House was comfortable with him making these comments despite the fact that it is so unusual to hear that kind of
implicit criticism from such a high-ranking administration official.
GORANI: He did say the administration - we've got to go - he did not point the finger at Donald Trump, which was interesting wording.
Anyway, Jeremy diamond, thanks very much, live in Washington at the White House. We'll be right back.
Coming up on the program, we are tracking that powerful hurricane as it gets closer to the coast of Texas. Forecasters are predicting catastrophic
storm surge flooding and it could have deadly consequences for the state.
And coming up as well, the People's Princess 20 years after her death. We hear from the makers of a CNN special Princess Diana. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, the president of the United States has made some comments on Hurricane Harvey as it continues its approach toward Texas. He was
departing for Camp David, the presidential retreat. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you have a message for the people of Texas?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good luck to everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Do you have a message for the people of Texas was the question? Good luck to everybody was the response. All right. He's on
his way to Camp David, as we mentioned.
Let's return to our top story with more on Harvey, the powerful Category 3 hurricane, bearing down on the coast of Texas. This is the first major
storm on course to hit the US in 12 years of this magnitude, of this power on. And there's a record storm surge and heavy rain predicted as well.
We are hearing President Donald Trump could travel to Texas early next week. But that's -they're planning for that possibility at the White
House.
The coastal city of Galveston, Texas is preparing for the storm surge from the hurricane. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins me now live with more.
Ed, what's the situation where you are and what's the biggest concern in Galveston?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, here the concern is going to be flooding (INAUDIBLE) rain here.
But if you look over my shoulder, you might see that line of dark clouds there. That just passed over us and dropped a great amount of rain. The
next one already starting to come onshore. So, this is a really large storm that stretches here from Galveston Island, which is on the eastern
edge of the storm, down that way toward the center of that storm, which is toward Corpus Christi.
[15:35:11] And it's - millions of people who live in that area, not just on the shore, but even inland that they are very concerned about as this rain
will continue. The forecasters are expecting this storm to essentially stall out after it makes landfall, and even spiraled its way up the coast,
continuing to drop more rain.
(INAUDIBLE).
GORANI: OK. Ed, we're having trouble hearing you. It's the wind, obviously. It's getting in the way there a little bit, but we were able to
understand essentially the gist of what you were saying, with people that concerned about flooding. Galveston is on the coast. It's south of
Houston, as we were mentioning about Houston.
It's also a city that's prone to flooding, and we're talking about millions and millions of people there. And so, even if just a few of them have not
sought shelter are gone to higher ground in areas that are prone to flooding, it could cause major, major issues for the people who lived
there, first and foremost, but also for first responders and ambulances and firefighters and all of those people who are there to help those affected
by the hurricane.
Let's get an expert on the phone now. Bill Read is the former director of the US National Hurricane Center. He joins me from right outside of
Houston, near the Texas coast. So, talk to me about your biggest concern as this storm system approaches the coast of Texas.
BILL READ, FORMER DIRECTOR, US NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: I'm sorry. You got cut there. Can I hear that question again please?
GORANI: Yes. What is your biggest concern as Harvey approaches Texas?
READ: Well, immediate concern is for any folks that didn't evacuate along the coast - just along the coast at Corpus Christi all the way up to
Matagorda Bay.
The storm is going to come inland as a pretty strong Category 3, maybe even it may approach Category 4 (INAUDIBLE) and a deadly storm surge along
(INAUDIBLE) that path.
Once we get it in land, it's going to stall and then that's the big rain that everybody has been talking about that are almost unbelievable in the
forecast. That's going to cause a lot of flooding.
GORANI: Let's give people a sense of perspective here. The rainfall could total 36 inches. We're talking about 3 feet here.
READ: Right. Believe it or not, that is the forecast that we've gone with. The computer - some of the computer model estimates have actually
been higher than that, which I've never seen before, anything with values quite that high.
GORANI: So, could be historic. So, when we say historic and catastrophic, we're not overstating it?
READ: No. Not really. Every storm is different, but 1979, not far from here, the town of Alvin, which is southwest of Houston, recorded 42 inches
in 24 hours from a stalled tropical storm.
GORANI: And for those people who haven't evacuated the coastal areas, what is the biggest concern there? I mean, this could be deadly. This is no
joke.
READ: Right. We always help anyone that is in a substandard structure for a wind, such as a mobile home or an RV. We really want them to leave.
The storm surge is another matter. Properties right along the coast are subject to flooding from the storm surge. And that, combined with the
battering waves that come in with it, has proven deadly in the past. And I'm afraid, if people didn't leave, they'll do the same with this storm.
GORANI: Bill Read, thanks very much. Formerly at the US National Hurricane Center speaking to us from Texas. Thanks very much for your time
this evening.
READ: My pleasure.
GORANI: Thank you. Let's turn our attention now to an important anniversary coming up here in the UK and indeed around the world for all
who knew her.
Almost 20 years after the car crash that took her life, CNN is revisiting Princess Diana's legacy. In a special that airs Sunday, we speak to her
inner circle about Charles, Camilla and the last days of her life. Some have never spoken on camera before.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The most famous and photographed woman in the world. A princess with style and substance.
[15:40:00] A loving mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Diana was absolutely born to be a mother.
WARD: A passionate advocate.
DIANA, LATE PRINCESS OF WALES: I'm only trying to highlight a problem that's going on all around the world.
WARD: Through it all, her every move scrutinized and scandalized.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was followed everywhere. I think she found that time very difficult.
WARD: Behind the flashbulbs, a life marred by loneliness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wanted her freedom. She wanted a life.
WARD: The tragedy that took her life -
UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR: Princess Diana at the age of 36 has died.
WARD: - left the world devastated and in disbelief.
(CRYING)
WARD: 20 years later, what do we know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went to her lawyer and said, they're going to kill me, and here's how.
PATRICK JEPHSON, FORMER PRIVATE SECRETARY TO DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES: She knew something was wrong.
WARD: Friends, family, those who were there speak out about Diana, a woman who transcended celebrity and transformed a monarchy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: CNN's Clarissa Ward presents Diana: Chasing a Fairytale and she joins me now live from New York. So, Clarissa, you spoke to some people
who have never been on camera before talking about Diana. What was the most interesting or surprising thing you learned from talking to them for
this documentary?
WARD: Well, I have to say, Hala, that some of it was somewhat disturbing and saddening. We spoke to one of the medics, one of the first responders
who arrived on the scene as Princess Diana was fighting for her life in that terrible car accident. And we also spoke to some of her friends who
have not actually spoken out before.
And they gave us an insight into her private life. I think so many people think of Diana because she was so beautiful, because she was so iconic,
because she was this incredibly advocate and activist and such a strong woman, a lot of people maybe don't realize how much pain and turmoil and
sadness and loneliness there was behind-the-scenes.
This was a woman who was not just a princess, but someone who very much wanted to have a love, a love that she would share with someone for the
rest of her life.
And despite her valiant attempts to make Prince Charles really love her, despite her falling for the doctor, Hasnat Khan, later on in her life, she
never was in the end very successful in finding that love.
So, there are also, though, I should say - it's not only tragedy. There are elements of fairytale. There are elements of drama. She had enormous
humor and charisma, and it's just been sort of fascinating to immerse oneself in a woman who died 20 years ago, but whose memory is still as
vivid and alive as it ever was.
GORANI: And I wonder, how do you explain that having spent several months on this documentary? Why she is still - why she fascinates people so much?
She died 20 years ago. So, anyone under the age of 30 would have been too young to remember. I remember exactly where I was, by the way, when I
learned that she had passed away in London all these years ago.
But for others, she's still sort of an icon despite the fact that they don't have - that they weren't really old enough at the time to remember
her when she was the most famous woman on the planet.
WARD: No. That's exactly right. And that is what makes her story so extraordinary. I also remember exactly where I was when I heard that
Princess Diana had died.
And, of course, on the surface of it, you have what an incredible story. Of course, no one is going to forget a story like this, a beautiful
princess falls in love, loses her love, gets a divorce, ends up having her life taken in this unbelievably tragic and horrible macabre way. So, you
have that element.
But then you have another element, which is that Diana really did have a je ne sais quoi. She had this quality with people, this humanity, this
compassion, this down-to-earth natural charisma that we see so rarely.
I think you look at all the celebrities of today who spend their whole time kind of posting selfies, and yet none of them have even a modicum or a
shred of this sort of very natural magnetism that Diana just had in spades.
GORANI: And we are - you said she didn't really maybe achieve that one goal of finding a true love with a man that would love her back, and that
that would be maybe the ultimate fairytale she wasn't able to achieve, but she did have two beautiful boys, who probably in the end were the loves of
her of her life.
And they've been speaking out publicly, a lot more recently on this, and they were very silent about this - about her death for many, many years.
WARD: And I think it's incredibly brave of them. I think what we're seeing is Diana's legacy, Diana's influence really being embodied in them.
They're tackling tough issues to talk about, like grief, like mental health, like trauma, and they're speaking about them in a public way,
exactly as their mother would've advocated doing.
[15:45:12] I think what we see with Princes William and Harry is that they have is that they have sort of taken all of the best traditions and
qualities of the monarchy, which is a remarkable institution, that has been going for many hundreds of years, but they have combined them with this
more down to earth, human, sincere compassion that made Diana unique.
GORANI: Yes. Clarissa Ward, thank you so much. Really look forward to it. Diana: Chasing a Fairytale debuts at 9 PM Eastern time this Sunday.
That's 9 AM on Monday in Hong Kong. It's a two-hour special and it will run throughout next week on CNN.
And CNN can take you on a one-of-a-kind guided tour of Buckingham Palace. Max Foster leads you inside the royal residence for a 360 degree tour, but
you get to decide what you want to see apparently. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Enter the music room. This grand space with columns of its own ceiling is used for royalty
christenings and entertainment.
The three eldest children of the Queen were christened here. Now, it's been turned into a temporary tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, to mark
20 years since her death.
But this day (ph) includes a re-creation of her death as her sons, Princes William and Harry, remember it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, you can take a tour and log on to CNN.com/VR. You can watch it on your computer, your smartphone or even your virtual reality headset,
if you have one of those lying around the house.
Still ahead, Russian arms dealers amp up their sales pitches. And CNN looks inside their arsenal at an arms expo near Moscow. That story is
coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: All right. Just a reminder that we are tracking Hurricane Harvey as it barrels toward Texas. On the left, you're seeing live images coming
to us from Corpus Christi.
Corpus Christi, Texas is where the hurricane is expected to make landfall, to hit land, as a Category 3 storm. And by the way, Category 3 is very
powerful. And it is the most powerful storm to hit the United States in about 12 years.
It is a monster storm. It's expected to dump a feet of water in Texas and parts of the state, by the way, that flood quite readily, such as the
Houston area. So, we're going to keep our eye on that and we'll have live reporting throughout the next few days.
Let's turn attention now to world of arms, arms sales and arms dealers. They are all sharpening their pitch, pushing for global dominance of the
weapons industry. They've been showcasing new hardware at a large expo near Moscow. Fred Pleitgen checks it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[15:50:04] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian combat helicopters on the attack in a large-scale
maneuver. This video provided by Russia's Defense Ministry is also designed to market the choppers.
Perhaps not as technologically advanced as American or European gunships, but also less expensive and more resilient, the head of Russia's state
helicopter company tells me.
Our equipment is famous for being easy to use and to maintain, he says, because our helicopters can be used without hanger storage. They operate
under severe conditions and temperatures and also in sandstorms.
While the company says it wants to expand its civilian helicopter business, they also want to grow in the military sector, and say their products are
catching up fast technologically.
We got a tour of the newest version of the Mi-28 attack helicopter called the Night Hunter.
(on camera): It took the Russian helicopter industry a long time to get back on its feet after the fall of the Soviet Union, but now they say
they're back and they want to compete for international contracts.
(voice-over): And it's not just shoppers Russia is selling. We went to one of the largest arms expos currently happening outside Moscow where
defense companies are actively marketing everything from tanks to ballistic missiles.
Aside from lower prices, their sales pitch includes fewer export restrictions than Western companies.
Touting success on the battlefield where Russian forces have helped Syrian government troops make major gains, but where the US accuses Russia of
causing thousands of civilian casualties, a claim Moscow denies.
Another big sales booster, experts say, is the machismo of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
RUSLAN PUKHOV, DIRECTOR, THE CENTRE FOR ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES: I think German tanks are the best in the world. But the
best seller is not Leopard, it's T-90 because Russia is very proactive because Putin riding the horse and Angela Merkel is not riding the horse,
because Putin is hunting and Angela Merkel is not.
PLEITGEN: With Russia under international sanctions, Moscow hopes the arms industry will give its economy a much-needed boost and its defense
companies are aggressively trying to expand their markets.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: And coming up on the program, organizers call it a celebration of love, compassion and inclusiveness. We will take you live to San Francisco
for the rally underway there against hate. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Hate speech has no place in our city. That is what organizers of a rally in San Francisco say about their efforts to counter alt-right
protests with a peaceful expression of unity.
Demonstrators out on the streets right now. Let's bring in Sara Sidner. She's live in San Francisco. And that's in anticipation of some alt-right
events that are planned for the next two days, right?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There is a group called Patriot Prayer that is supposed to be here. They're known for their alt-right
views, although the leader of that group has said that white supremacists and hatred is not welcome at his rally.
Every time that he has had some sort of rally, there have been people there from white nationalist organizations who have shown up.
The people here in San Francisco say they are allowed to speak, they are allowed to have their free speech, but doesn't mean that they're not going
to have people speaking against them. And that's what this rally is all about, united against hate.
It is here outside the beautiful City Hall here in San Francisco. You're having all sorts of different people. The person speaking right now is
Renel Moon Brooks. She is a very well-known radio personality here. The Mayor Ed Lee has spoken as well.
[15:55:13] And I think she just introduced MC Hammer. So, there he is also speaking to the crowd. There's probably about 200 to 250 to 300 people who
have gathered here. And they're gathered in anticipation of that rally tomorrow in Crissy Field.
The police have beefed up staff. Hospitals are beefing up just in anticipation of any problems basically tomorrow. This rally so far has
been extremely peaceful, Hala.
GORANI: MC Hammer there? You mean it's Hammer time?
SIDNER: That's him right now. Let me have our cameraman Jeff. He's showing you - I'll let you listen a little bit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MC HAMMER, HIP-HOP ARTIST: It's not to be taken lightly. So, when the call went out to unite against hate, I was in Texas, I responded right away
that I would just (INAUDIBLE) make sure that I get home because hatred has no place in San Francisco.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: So, you heard that. That's MC Hammer saying hatred has no place here in San Francisco. He rushed back from Texas where he was to come back
home to send this message to the crowd here, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Sara Sidner, thanks very much. Well, he's probably better off there than in Texas where, of course, as our viewers know, we
have been following Hurricane Harvey. It is now a Category 3 storm as it continues barreling toward the United States coast.
The outer bands are already pounding the coast. You've seen some of our reporters there. We've had some communication problem with them as well,
some technical issues, some of the lines have sort of suffered because of the weather.
The storm's winds have increased to 190 kilometers an hour. It could strengthen further because it makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday.
Harvey is expected to slam into Texas near Corpus Christi, with isolated tornadoes possible across the coast. So, there is that added issue as well
of tornadoes.
This has been the WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for watching. "Quest Means Business" is coming up next on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
