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Hurricane Matthew Still Strong Category-Three Storm with Sustained Winds of 120 Miles Per Hour. Aired 3:30-4:00p ET

Aired October 7, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I know, Dana, you might not be surprised by this decision.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. Look, governor Scott is a supporter of Donald Trump, was even during the primaries. And just was sort of communicating with some Republicans in Florida asking, frankly, almost rhetorically if Rick Scott were Democrat would he have said no? And the answer was I mean, what do you think?

So of course there's politics at play here. There's no question about it. Just historically, Democrats tend to be more aggressive in registering voters and doing it closer to the deadline which is why Robby Mook, the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, made this special plea to extend the deadline in Florida because it is such, such a swing state. And as we know, every vote does count, especially in the state of Florida.

And just by way of comparison, Maeve was talking about some of the historical comparisons. Look at South Carolina also in the path of this storm. That Republican governor did extend the deadline there. So it just gives you a little bit of a different take. South Carolina is not a swing state so the stakes aren't as high there.

KEILAR: Certainly. OK. So we have the big town hall coming up on Sunday. Anderson Cooper is going to moderate this.

And Maeve, this can be a bit of tricky format. Donald Trump hasn't had a ton of experience doing this. And so, he has this town hall last night even though he is insisting it wasn't debate prep and even though you had questions funneled through a radio host so it wasn't that one-on-one with voters that we are going to expect on Sunday. When you watched that, what did you take away from what Donald Trump is going to bring on Sunday or what he needs to improve on?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, what I took away from it is that he is really not that interested in practice at this point. I mean, all three of us have covered tons of town halls in New Hampshire in the past and it very rare that you would have a pre- selected audience like that and one host sort pre-selecting the questions. And they were really a lot of them laughable softballs like that about his childhood memory and the World Series. So that clearly was not a format that will prepare him for the tough questions that he will face in the debate on Sunday.

But this is a tricky format. There are a lot of things to think about when you are on that stage, not just the space between you and your opponent but how you connect with the voters in the audience while still landing attacks on your opponent and, you know, whether you can show command of the stage but not wander around too much like McCain famously did in one town hall meeting. So I mean, there's a lot to think about and there is a lot to practice and Donald Trump would be well served looking at some of that tape.

KEILAR: Yes. And Dana, real quick as we get back to hurricane coverage, what is your expectation? What does he need to do? What does Hillary Clinton need to do?

BASH: Well, first of all, I would just say that there was one moment last night, Brianna, where he said, I'm not doing this for practice. It is like my staff thinks that I'm a child. Something along those lines which kind of made me chuckle because that is the reason they added this town hall. Not because they think he is a child but because they couldn't get him to practice in the more traditional way and this was their best shot.

They are doing practice inside Trump tower today, much smaller groups than they had before. There were got unruly, I was told. Reince Priebus the RNC chair, Chris Christie, his friend from New Jersey who made last night's town hall happen. So that is the kind of thing they are at least trying to change a little bit when it comes to his debate prep but he's just not interested in doing it. He feels that he is best off the cuff and that is how he is going to approach Sunday.

KEILAR: Yes. They are like forcing him to do his homework. But he did it last night so we will see how Sunday turns out.

Dana Bash, Maeve Reston, thank you so much to both of you.

Ad we will be back with live breaking news coverage of hurricane Matthew.

But, first, here is a look at some of the damage that this cat-three storm has already left in its wake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wind is whipping the trees out here. And of course the big concern are these power lines up here. We are going to get out of here for our own safety but we wanted to show you, this is the worst of the damage that we have seen. You can't even tell that there's a house behind this massive mound of trees here on Hampton road in Daytona Beach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in Melbourne, right by the causeway. It's still closed right now as lots of people are waiting to get across the bridge and see what kind of damage has been done to their homes. We are watching F-DOT turn cars around. And if we can turn this way across the street, it's a near parking lot. People are getting turned around and they are just not leaving. People are just that anxious to wait for the (INAUDIBLE) to open and be able to make their way across and see what happened to their homes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Category three storms are capable of

bringing down some pretty large-sized trees which is exactly what has happened here. That power line looks a little tenuous above us. But this just some of the damage up and down the treasure coast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:39:20] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell live in Jacksonville, Florida.

We are still several hours out, maybe three hours away from feeling the worst of hurricane Matthew. Still a solid category three storm with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. But we just felt a very strong gust. You can see the palm trees here are submitting to that really strong wind. The rain continuing as it has for more than a day now causing localized flooding, downed trees. More than 100,000 customers according to JEA, the power company here, without power. And again, still two hours out from feeling the worst of this storm.

Now, this is an emergency for states up and down the southeast coast -- Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina.

Let's go up to Georgia and the city of Savannah. We spoke with Chatham County officials earlier today about the mandatory evacuation. So many people heeding that warning and getting out of the county. We were told 75 percent of the people got way.

Our Sara Ganim is there in Savannah near the water now. And, again, storm surge a concern up and down the coast. What are you seeing there, Sara?

[15:40:30] SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor. Yes, I'm on one of those barrier islands near of Georgia where you can see, this is the reason we have been talking about preparations all day. You can see this is the beginning of the flooding, the beginning of a storm surge and the wind for the first time today has really picked up here in the Savannah area. These gusts, they are quite - they are a lot to feel when you're standing out here.

You can see that this is an area - this is an area home to more than 30,000 Georgia residents who were told yesterday that they need to evacuate. You can see why. Look at this water, these are homes out here. And this water is rising and it is rising quickly and this is just the beginning. It's just now for the first time that we are starting to see those really gloomy gray skies turn into dark skies.

The scary part of the storm when you look outside and see those skies getting dark, Victor. You know, you have lived in Florida for a long time. When it gets dark, that is when it really starts to get bad during these storms. And like I said, this flooding, this is the beginning of the surge.

I talked to residents earlier today who were evacuating from this area in anticipation of this. I want you to take a listen to what some of those residents are going through as they leave this area, Victor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, because most of all I was scared. I'm not sure how this storm is -- well, this hurricane is going to hit. So I have to be more safe than sorry and think about my kids first.

GANIM: You have kids, you have neighbors, a lot of them did not leave, are you worried about them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I really am. You know, my aunt came over and awoke me to actually leave because I was going to make the decision to stay. Like I said, my whole life is here so leaving at all is a big, you know, heartache for me. So with my neighbors, I just hope everything works out for them because a lot of them are staying.

GANIM: What were you able to grab to bring with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I basically grabbed one suitcase, all of our stuff is in it. I had to pack for three kids and dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: Victor, you know, you heard the evacuation rate was quite high, but we were driving around these islands and sue a few people still out. Officials really urging them please leave as soon as you can. Now is the time. The sense of urgency is here. They need to get out. As you can see the water is rising. The wind gusts are rising as well. In intensity, the storm is headed this way. And as the local and city and state officials, even the president of the United States said, this area could see a storm surge up to 11 feet - Victor.

BLACKWELL: Alright, Sara Ganim there for us in Savannah.

Of course, you are right, now is the time as we heard from officials in St. Lucie County, they asked people to leave. And at the height of the storm, there was one woman who needed help. She was going into cardiac arrest. And because they could not get to her that woman, unfortunately, tragically died. She is the only, thus far, storm- related death here in the U.S. But, of course, that's because she was there when they asked her that she leave as part of that evacuation.

I want to stay in Georgia, though, and go to Camden County with the emergency operations management there and Steve Howard who is the Camden County administrator.

Steve, good of you to be with us in such a busy time. Tell us what you are seeing there. And what's the worst of it you are seeing?

STEVE HOWARD, CAMDEN COUNTY, GEORGIA ADMINISTRATOR (on the phone): Well, we are starting to see now some of the big effects. We are starting to see flooding in the downtown St. Mary's River front area. And we are very concerned about that and make sure that there is no vehicles that remain off the road. And also, it's important that those that did not evacuate that would remain indoors.

We were expecting some catastrophic damage for our area. It is very close to our coast so it's critically important citizens understand what is in store for them and it is important to ensure they would remain safe.

BLACKWELL: Those who have not evacuated, you are asking them to stay indoors. Do you have any idea, even just a ballpark estimate, of how many people did leave the area in anticipation of hurricane Matthew?

HOWARD: We don't know percentages but we did receive lots, you know, a lot of information that a lot of folks did leave this area. We instituted a voluntary evacuation on October the 5th. We thought that was important to begin that process and then made a decision the following day when we had the most information that we could to make a best-informed decision to encourage mandatory evacuation. And as well as even until last night we did that as well for one final plea and as well as code red notifications to the citizens to encourage them to leave now when you can because when the weather deteriorates it's too late. So it's really important to ensure that they did find safety and to continue to move out of this county.

[15:45:42] BLACKWELL: Yes. And we are learning up and down the coast that there is a false sense of security because many of the people who have moved to this coast or have been here for some time and never experienced a hurricane feel like everything is going to be OK and they stay any way when, indeed, they should leave and they are seeing farther south why that was the prudent choice.

Steve Howard, thank you there, the county administrator in Camden County, Georgia.

We are going to take a quick break and continue our live special coverage of hurricane Matthew still a solid category three storm with 120 mile per hour sustained winds just off the east coast of Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:26] BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell live here in Jacksonville, Florida on Florida's first coast. And Florida govern Rick Scott earlier today said that this is the city, the most populous city in the state of Florida. He is most concerned about as hurricane Matthew continues to charge north along the east coast of this state.

I want to read you something. I have been following the Jackson sheriff's office on their twitter account here. And mayor telling people, you need to go inside. This is not a joke. Please heed the warning. So a very serious announcement here from the Jacksonville sheriff's office.

And pictures of their officers sand bagging their owned substations as the flooding beings where they are, trying to protect their resources as well.

Now, of course, this storm is battering the east coast of Florida. And there has been one storm-related death in St. Lucie County here in Florida. But as we have said and as the president said today, do not forget about the hundreds of people who were killed by hurricane Matthew earlier this week. And we are talking about Haiti. More than 280 people who lost their lives from this storm and the expectation is that that number could go higher.

Let's now go to Port-Au-Prince. And we have with us Laura Sewell who is the assistant country director for care.

Laura, thank you for being with us. And thank you again for sharing some of the photographs of what you are seeing there. Give us an idea today, what you are seeing, what is the greatest need.

LAURA SEWELL, ASSISTANT COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR HAITI, CARE AID ORGANIZATION: Definitely we are seeing (INAUDIBLE). There's one of the country called (INAUDIBLE) which is in the west which we haven't been able to access until today. So today is the first day we are really getting to them. We are also seen this area because the road (INAUDIBLE) and what we're seeing is that the situation is very bad. We are seeing houses that are completely torn apart. Roofs are torn off. The wind has just damaged all of the trees. It's just looking really like a nightmare. So we are really seeing terrible some effects from this hurricane.

BLACKWELL: We know the infrastructure is a problem especially now six years after the earthquake that shook Haiti. And still so many people, as you said, are not getting some of the assistance they need because of the inability to get to those families, get to those provinces. Not much damage we know in Port-Au-Prince, but outside of that major city still so much that needs to get to those families.

Laura Sewell there, the assistant country director for care in Haiti, thank you so much for being with us.

And CNN is covering this hurricane in a way that only we can. Our team spread across Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia as well.

I want to go now to Brian Todd who is in Charleston, South Carolina and our Ryan Young who is along the barrier islands here in Florida, both watching the damage that storm which has passed Florida. And that portion of Florida has caused. And the as preparations continue there in South Carolina.

Let me start with you Ryan Young who is there on Coco beach I believe at last check. What are you seeing? What are you hearing as this storm now continues to head north?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We wanted to show you some of the damage. And this is a big way to show it to you. Look at the size here. You can see in here, this fell apparently just last night. They heard a large bang and you look at the size of it. In fact it's almost like a sail right now. We are kind to try to stay back from it because you can see, I'm almost 6'0" tall. You see how much taller it is from me. This could still topple.

They have been without power for four hours here. More than 400 people are here at this hotel. The manager tells us they have been sheltering some people who tried to get away from the island. They weren't able to get off this area because they were worried about the storm.

One of the things that we have been seeing all over the place, though, debris like this. And you can see that nails are sticking out, how dangerous this could be from flying around in the air. One of the things that we notice, though, lot of people trying to get home in Coco Beach right now, but police stopping them as well, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Ryan Young there in Coco Beach. We are up against the clock.

Brian Todd, give us a look at the preparations there in Charleston.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, preparations are going to have to stop pretty soon because it's hitting us in earnest right now, just in the last couple of minutes. A major rain squall has been pounding us here in Charleston.

This is the Ashley River. You can see how close the river is to this parking area up here. We are going to back up just a little bit in the parking area. This place was flooded a little while ago. Our photo journalist Eddie Gross (ph) is going to pan up a little bit out here. Eddie, if you can show them.

This is the James River connector bridge. They are going to start to close down these bridges shortly when the winds get up to 40 miles an hour or higher. These high stand bridges are going to shut down.

Just a few minutes ago, Victor, this parking lot was flooded. The floodwater has receded. But as you can see, the water levels are very close to these parking lot and to the streets here on a normal circumstances. They are expecting eight to eleven feet of storm surge in the coming hours here in Charleston. It is just now starting in earnest. Some of these areas will undoubtedly are going to be flooded. And they say that's where the real danger lies for the residents who have chosen to stay -- Victor.

[15:55:44] BLACKWELL: Yes, the Carolina is now beyond preparation. It is time now to get ready for the storm to reach that area.

Of course, we will continue our live special coverage on CNN. We continue that right now. We are going to send it to Washington for "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)