Transcripts For CNNW Inside Politics 20190902 : comparemela.

The bahamas right now and threatening florida next. The Prime Minister of the bahamas says the devastation is unprecedented. The Foreign Affairs minister there is urging people to stay inside. From all accounts, we have received catastrophic damage. It is not safe to go outdoors. Power lines are down. Lamp poles are down. Trees are across the street. Its very dangerous to be outdoors if you dont have to be outdoors. As soon as conditions permit First Responders will go to areas where we had reports individuals are in distress. Were holding strong. We ask you to continue to pray for us. And look at this video taken this morning in freeport where dorian was still a category 5 storm. The woman who took this video said there was 6 feet of water outside her house, 5 feet of water inside. She says everyone is hunkered down upstairs, safe for now, but she says the worst is yet to come. And dorian is inching closer to the southeastern coastline of the u. S. Where it threatens millions of people. Its impossible to know for certain where dorian will make landfall in the u. S. , if at all. Cnn is on the scene for the duration of this storm. John berman joins me from right . Reporter ive got to say the winds are picking up a little bit over the last few minutes, dana, the sky is getting darker. Every half hour, hour or so we get one of those powerful rain bands. The first bands from Hurricane Dorian. And then the wind gets north of 50 miles an hour or so and you can really feel the power of this storm, which is still about 100 miles that way over the bahamas. Also the surf here beginning to kick up seriously, not even high tide here yet. High tide about another hour away. Already the water getting very, very close to the dunes. Imagine what will happen here when there is the 4 to 7foot storm surge that they are expecting. It will send the water clear over the dunes and thats the area of greatest concern on the florida coast. But again, as you said, inching over the bahamas now, Hurricane Dorian is, and moving closer to florida. How close will it get . Lets get the latest forecast. Lets go to the weather center. Allison chinchar is there. Allison. Yeah, thats right. So we take a look. One of the most notable things in the last few hours is the eye is starting to expand again. This is very important because that means the overall wind field of the storm is also expanding. That now puts more folks in florida at risk for those incredibly high winds. Sustained winds right now at 155, the storm is still moving only 1 mile an hour at this hour. Again, lots of heavy rain across portions of the bahamas. But were starting to get some of those outer bands beginning to reach into areas of florida as we speak. The watches and warnings have since expanded to additional counties across portions of florida. You can see that map here. The pink is a hurricane watch. The yellow a Tropical Storm watch. The blue is a Tropical Storm warning. This red area here is a hurricane warning. So what does this mean . You get these watches, you get these warnings. The main focus with these is the wind. Lets take a look. The area in orange, winds about 58 to 73 Miles Per Hour. This red area here, however, along the coast, were talking places like west palm, jupiter, ft. Pierce acti, even melbourne youre talking 74 to 110mileperhour winds. This is the same for places like daytona beach, the palm coast, st. Augustine, stretching into portions of the georgia coast, again, where youre looking at winds about 74 to 110 Miles Per Hour. That will make significant Power Outages and do some damage to these communities here as well as the path is still expected to continue to slide up the east coast and head towards other states like georgia as well as the carolinas. Reporter thanks so much, allison. Its such an important point you make. It doesnt have to make landfall. The eye doesnt have to make landfall here on florida to have a serious impact. They will experience hurricaneforce winds and even as we speak, one of those outer bands now, the rain is starting to come down. You can feel it on your skin, the wind picking up. When the bands come through, the wind speeds get to be 40, almost 50 miles an hour. Tomorrow morning at this time 70 to 100 miles an hour along the coast where we are right now. Nothing, though, compared to what theyre experiencing 100 miles that way over the sea in the bahamas where this storm is still devastating that island chain. Im joined now by Florida State rep chevron jones. The representative has family that has been riding out the storm in the bahamas that amazingly has been sending back footage of what theyre seeing. Representative, thank you so much for being with us. Before i ask anything else, from what you hear is your family doing okay . Thank you so much, john. Yes, my family is doing okay, thank god. Reporter what has it been like for them . How much have they been able to tell you about what they have seen and experienced . So weve been on group chat since last night, kind of going back and forth, and they have been sharing their pictures and their videos with everything thats been going on. All of them are in one area. Theres a lot of flooding, the power is out. Just as early as this morning, we have been communicating with each other but they have been trying to conserve as much power as they can on their cell phones. The last message came from my cousin, chrissie, at 8 39 and she said she was going to leave so she can conserve her battery power. So theres a lot of flooding and they are out of power. They will need a lot of help in the coming days. Some of the images weve seen, its hard to distinguish where the ocean stops and the streets begin because the water is simply everywhere. Is that their biggest concern . How were the winds overnight . Thats one of their biggest concerns. The winds have been massive. As you guys have been showing, we also have video from my cousin, video outside of her door where the storm surge and how far it has come up to her to her home. And so, yeah, its a lot and they are they are in need of a lot of help. They are going to be in need of a lot of help. I know there are a lot of efforts that has taken place here in miami. I spoke with congresswoman wilson this morning and she shared the work that shes doing along with the white house and with the governor to send that effort over as soon as conditions become safe. Reporter listen, representative jones, thank you for being with us. We wish your family the best. They have a long way to go there. Smart to conserve the battery while they can. Im glad they have you to lean on to support them while theyre getting through this. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Reporter joining us now is the mayor of Palm Beach County, florida, a little south of where i am. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for being with us. I am sure youre doing exactly what were doing, which is gazing out to the sea every five minutes or so periodically and just thinking about where that storm is and how much closer it is moving to the florida coast. Tell me what youve been doing. John, thanks for having me. Right now im currently in our Emergency Operations center in West Palm Beach thinking, first of all. About all of our neighbors who have been impacted in the bahamas right now thats feeling the pain of this dangerous disaster, storm that isido dori. Right now were concerned about how its going to move and how it could potentially affect Palm Beach County and the whole coast of florida. Reporter whats your area of biggest concern, mayor . Well, we have like first of all, we have mobile homes. We have mandatory evacuations in Palm Beach County for zone a and b. Zone a is pretty much our mobile homes and our substandard housing and low homes also. And also we have our barrier s islands, jupiter inlet, so we have some areas that were really concerned about. Pretty much our whole coast in Palm Beach County. Right now because of the fact that were going to pretty much around 2 00 really feel the Tropical Storm winds in Palm Beach County, were urging all of our residents in Palm Beach County to make their final storm preparation, because this is not a storm that you want to have apathy and play games with. This is a storm that we want all of our residents to not be on the road, lock down, be ready and lets ride out this storm. Reporter be ready, your plans needed to be made already. Stay safe over the next few days. Mayor, thank you very much for being with us. You please stay safe as well. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much, john. Reporter all right, were getting periodic communication with Patrick Ottman who was in freeport on grand ba hahama. Patrick, what are you seeing . Just the wind coming in sideways, it really is incredible. Its incredible because we are on our i dont know what, 12, 14, ive lost track, the storm came in last night in the middle of the night and it sounds like a plane taking off. Here we are all these hours later and youre watching the rain go sideways like this. If i were down there, because im in a good covered spot. But if i were down on the ground i would be flying out to the ocean. That wind, i wouldnt want to guess how fast its going but it is really going. Again, just amazing that all these hours later as dorian has been hanging out over grand bahama, its still giving this island absolute hell. There have been communities under water, cars have been its hard to get word from certain areas. You look out at the wind just going along guessing ain80, 100 maybe more Miles Per Hour and its crazy that all these hours after dorian arrived here in the bahamas that we are still getting absolutely pummeled by the storm. It will not let go. Back to you, john. Reporter patrick, i simply cant imagine being inside those winds for as long as you have been and the people in freeport, all of grand bahama. It has been a harrowing 24 hours and it will continue for several hours more, and only then will we get a real sense of how much damage was done there. Our Patrick Oppman whos doing amazing work along with his team in freeport, please say safe. Dana, as you can see here, the wind is starting to pick up. Were getting moments of the rain but nothing compared to what patrick has been going through there now for a full day in freeport. And chances are, john, those conditions thats headed for you soon. I just have a quick question. While you were talking, there were people on the beach behind you. Theyre not there anymore, but they were. Do you have a sense theres somebody right there. Do you have a sense that they are actually taking the Evacuation Orders seriously where you are . Reporter i think many people have. I think people out on the beach are all locals from the Barrier Island who have chosen to stay. It was empty earlier this morning when i was here when it was raining much harder than it is now and winds were blowing more fiercely. Theres been a period of two hours where its been a little better conditions and thats when everyone came out, which is unfortunate frankly. I think things will get worse steadily over the next two to four hours and hopefully most of these people will get somewhere safe. I think by and large people on the east coast of florida are taking this very, very seriously as they should. Good. Reporter because even the slightest variation in the path of this storm could be devastating, dana. And it has been the most unpredictable of storms as we have been reporting. John, well get back to you soon. Actually right now were hearing there is a press conference in california from the u. S. Coast guard about the fire that was on a boat, deadly fire that was on a boat off the coast of ventura. Lets listen. Coast guard and Partner Agencies have responded to a vessel fire near Santa Cruz Island this morning at 0330 which is 3 30 a. M. Coast guard sector los angeles, long beach overheard a mayday call over channel 16 of an engulfed 75foot commercial diving vessel with 39 people aboard. Crews from the coast guard, Santa Barbara Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department and the vessel assist have responded. Fire Department Crews were fighting the fire when the vessel sank 20 yards offshore in 64 feet of water. Five people were evacuated aboard a Good Samaritan pleasure craft known as the grape escape. Currently 34 people aboard the vessel are unaccounted for. Watch standards at coast guard los angeles sector long beach launched two harbor 45foot response boat medium crews. Coast guard air station San Francisco Forward Operating base magoo dolphin mh65 helicopter crew, a Coast Guard Air station san diego mh60 jayhawk helicopter crew and a coast guard cutter narwall. The vessel currently has a portion of the bow sticking out of the water. Those are my comments at this time. Ventura county, would you like to make a comment . Dustin gardner, Ventura County Fire Department. Weve been in unified command since this morning at 0330 with the United States coast guard, Channel Islands harbor ventura and it will continue to be a unified effort as we switch to Santa Barbara county. Sheriff in Santa Barbara fire as the incident goes on and we go into a recovery mode. So there is no chance of youre talking recovery mode. Theres no chance of further rescues . Step up to the microphone, please. Presently the coast guard has full efforts in a response posture right now. We are currently still in the response phase. What does that mean . Are there divers in the water looking in the wreckage . I dont have any Additional Information regarding that at this time. What does response effort mean . Search and rescue activities, yes, maam. So what can they be doing at this point . Right now theyre conducting shoreline searches for any available survivors. What is the distance from where the boat was to the shoreline . Its approximately 20 yards from my last from my last brief. So at this point no word of anyone who made it to shore otherwise . I dont have any Additional Information at this time. 34 unaccounted for folks on board. Are there divers in the water . I cant answer that question. I dont have that information. One question at a time, please. Does the Boat Operator have any violations . The vessel has been in full compliance. We are working we are working deliberately with the vessel Owner Operator who is with us at the time. Working on a plan to conduct further assistance for his vessel. Whats the location . Its at plats harbor, isnt that correct . Plats harbor, 20 yards off of plats harbor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island. The fire, you must have some initial information. Was it something that started small . Was there an explosion that was quick and out of nowhere . The only mayday call we received was the vessel was engulfed in flames. Thats all we received. How long was it between that call and the time crews were able to arrive . I dont have that for you right now, but i can get that for you. Its 34 unaccounted for people on board. How was the crew able to the crew was awake and on the bridge and jumped off. To clarify, five crew members. Were there only five crew members and all made it off . Five crew members on board. Were they all awake at the time . They were awake at the time. Did the crew try to help the other passengers . I dont have any Additional Information regarding that. You mentioned the grape escape. Weve seen things printed great escape but some shirts that said grape escape. I believe its grape, grape. Thats a rescue vessel . Its a Good Samaritan. A person who offered their services to help. A woman wearing a grape escape shirt simply a Good Samaritan. Do you know where all the passengers as opposed to crew below decks on the vessel . The report i received they were below deck asleep. Did you receive any witness accounts that anybody was able to get above deck from below decks . I dont have any information. And there are no witness accounts from anybody other than the five crew members in the water . I dont have any Additional Information. If you will, well go ahead and continue our response search efforts. So with that ill close out this brief. Thank you. Its rochester. First name . Monica. My rank is captain. When can we expect another update . And what do you say to family members who want information . Id like you to go ahead and work through our Public Affairs person here, petty officer coony and he will set up the next briefing. Were working on a family assistance center. Was there thats all the questions i have for right now so we can go ahead and continue our response. Thank you very much. Youve been listening to a briefing from the coast guard, absolutely terrifying and tragic. Just to recap, after 3 00 this morning pacific time, there was a mayday call that a