Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Jamaica Braces For A Landfall Due To Hurricane Melissa; Trump Meets The New Japanese Prime Minister, Speaks Before U.S. Troops At The Yokosuka Naval Base; Dodgers Claim Game Three Win Over Blue Jays That Lasted More Than Six Hours And Reached 18 Innings. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 28, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church.

And we begin with breaking news from Jamaica, which is bracing for a direct hit from what's already one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic. The outer bands of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa are hitting the island now, but the storm's slow pace is increasing the likelihood of life-threatening conditions.

Emergency responders on the island have already received reports of landslides and damaged power lines. The National Hurricane Center warns total structural failure is possible, particularly in higher elevations. Jamaica's Health and Wellness Minister says three people died while preparing for the storm, and another minister warns many more could die if official warnings are not heeded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEARNEL CHARLES JR., JAMAICAN MINISTER FOR LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY: It is very slow, it is very intense. And that means the outcome may potentially be extreme devastation and danger. And I want to tell everyone who's listening, who's watching, the evacuation order is not a suggestion, it is a directive and a directive to save your life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking this storm for us. She joins us now. So, Allison, where is Hurricane Melissa right now?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary, it is just south of Jamaica right now, and we've got, we are looking at where that storm is located 175 mile per hour sustained winds gusting to 215, but keep an eye on the forward movement. It's only moving to the north- northeast at two miles per hour. I want to put this in perspective. The average human walks at about

three to four mile per hour pace. So you can walk faster than this particular storm is going right now and the biggest concern going forward with the storm is really going to be the rainfall.

So now let's take a look at what we've got. The strongest storms for pressure, the pressure for this particular storm is 901 millibars.

This places it, take a look at the top seven for storms in terms of strength based off of pressure alone. This actually beats Hurricane Katrina's strength of its storm based off of pressure. Again, just to kind of go to show you how impressive this storm is, the hurricane hunters are out in the storm right now taking brand new measurements.

So the key question here is to whether or not it's actually going to strengthen even further before it makes landfall here likely in the next 12 hours. The storm will cross over Jamaica before heading over towards eastern Cuba.

Now, we do anticipate the storm will weaken as it slides across that country, then continuing on to the Bahamas and then finally out over the open Atlantic.

Rainfall, again, this is going to be a big concern mainly because of that incredibly slow forward movement. It has a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of rain. Here you can see again all of that water just crossing over Jamaica, eastern Cuba and into the Bahamas and then eventually portioning out.

Now, here's a look. You'll notice a lot of red and pink color on the screen, you're looking at widespread totals of 6 to 10 inches. But I want to emphasize that 6 to 10 is on top of the several inches these areas have already had the last 24 hours.

So while 6 to 10 may not sound like all that much, some of them have already had 5 to 10 inches and now we're adding more. The overall totals for a lot of these places, especially Jamaica, western Haiti and southeastern Cuba, could get upwards of 20 inches total before this system finally exits.

[03:05:00]

Winds are also going to be a concern. Even if there is some weakening, you're still looking at wind gusts well in excess of 100, 130 miles per hour across portions of Jamaica and eastern Cuba before it finally starts to really weaken quite considerably as we head over the Bahamas late Wednesday.

Here's a look at that scope. Again, you can kind of see as the storm slides up, even if it impacts making direct landfall over western Jamaica, the eastern side is still going to have those incredibly strong winds, not to mention the extremely heavy rainfall. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Thanks so much, Alison. I appreciate that.

And joining us now on the phone from New Kingston, Jamaica, is Jhordanne Jones, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics at the University of West Indies, Mona. So thank you so much for talking with us. And as this Category 5 hurricane closes in on Jamaica, what's it like there right now where you are?

JHORDANNE JONES, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW AT DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF WEST INDIES, MONA (on the phone): So the weather conditions have definitely picked up since yesterday and the past couple of days. We are now seeing more intense rain and definitely more intense wind speeds. I don't know if you can hear my background, but it's definitely it has picked up significantly.

CHURCH: And so talk to us about what preparations you've made for what will be the strongest storm to ever hit Jamaica.

JONES (on the phone): So when we've had some storms before or impacts from storms, we definitely lost utilities.

We lost power, we lost water for weeks. And my family and I have just collected as much drinking water as we possibly can, anticipating that we might actually lose water over the next couple of days. And the same with power.

CHURCH: And whereabouts are you intending to take shelter?

JONES (on the phone): We aren't actually going to evacuate. We live in an apartment building, so we are well above the ground at the moment. Which helps with flooding, unfortunately, but not with wind.

So we can't evacuate anywhere else.

CHURCH: So you feel pretty safe in that structure. You feel that it's fairly solid. And as far as windows go, you've got those all covered, have you, in some sort of way, or at least taped?

JONES (on the phone): Yes, taped. So we have absolutely no idea what this Category 5 will be like. But we are taking our chances, the shelters are still at ground level. We have no idea what the flash flood situation might be in Kingston.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we did have very strong rains, and we still ended up with flash floods. With this Category 5, I don't think that ground level would be very safe. So the best that we can do in this situation is to remain where we are.

CHURCH: Exactly. And very smart, too, to have water supplies there for after this passes. How prepared are most other people across Jamaica for this Category 5 hurricane?

JONES (on the phone): That is a great question. I think they are probably as prepared as they can be. We do have family at low-lying areas, they've decided to hunker down, they are in the western section of the island.

And we're just hoping for the best. I think they've just done as much as they can over the last couple of days.

CHURCH: And Jhordanne, what are your biggest concerns right now?

JONES (on the phone): Definitely flooding. Like I said, we have had flash floods and flooding in the city with even less than a Category 1 storm. I am very concerned that we will not be able to actually leave once this storm passes by.

I expect that flooding will actually be very severe for many sections of Jamaica.

CHURCH: We wish you and your family all the best as you hunker down through this powerful storm and do take good care of yourselves and others around you. Jhordanne Jones, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.

Well President Trump has just arrived at Japan's Yokosuka Naval Base. He is set to speak with U.S. troops aboard the USS George Washington before wrapping up his evening at another event. Japan hosts more than 50,000 personnel in the country, the largest amount of overseas American troops in the world.

The military partnership between Japan and the U.S. has strengthened significantly in recent years due to rising security threats in the region.

[03:09:59]

CNN's team is covering all angles of the President's trip. CNN's senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes is standing by in Tokyo. But first, let's go to Hanako Montgomery for the latest on that important meeting.

Hanako, it was a warm and friendly meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Takaichi in Tokyo. Take us through the main highlights of their first meeting and of course the critical role played by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in all of this.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it's clear that Takaichi and Trump have a lot of chemistry. As you just saw there, both leaders actually stepped off Trump's Marine One together. And I just need to emphasize here how rare it is that a foreign leader actually joins Trump on Marine One.

And he actually told the press gaggle after he got off the vehicle, he told them that Takaichi is going to go down as one of the great prime ministers. So just emphasizing here how much of a great leader he is, how much he respects her, how much he appreciates the alliance that it seems the two are now forging.

Now, Rosemary, I'm just outside Akasaka Palace where Trump and Takaichi held their bilateral talks earlier today. And again, I mean, we heard the same sort of pleasantries, the same sort of compliments.

Trump also emphasized just how much of a close friend the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to him. He called him one of his best friends and then also drew the link between Abe and Takaichi. Now, we have to remember that Takaichi is actually a mentee of the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and they worked alongside together for many, many years as lawmakers of the same party.

In fact, Trump drew on that connection when he again complimented Takaichi for making history as Japan's first female Prime Minister. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm not surprised to see that you are now the Prime Minister. And he would be very happy to know that. And I congratulate you on behalf of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Now, Takaichi also engaged in a bit of gulf diplomacy, a nod to the trademark diplomacy that Abe really heralded during his time as the premier. Takaichi gifted Trump some golf goods that were used by the former Japanese Prime Minister to, again, really just emphasize how close Japan and the United States look to be under these two leaders.

Now, as you mentioned, Rosemary, they're both currently at Yokosuka Navy Base where they will be addressing U.S. troops. And later this evening on Tuesday, Trump is expected to attend a working dinner with Japanese business leaders, where we believe the Toyota CEO, Japan's largest carmaker, will also be in attendance.

And just also one last thing, Rosemary, during this bilateral meeting, the two leaders signed an agreement saying that they're going to cooperate more when it comes to rare earths. And this is really significant for Trump, especially going into his very difficult and tough conversation with the Chinese president Xi Jinping later this week, where he is sure to confront the president about the control he has over the global supply chain when it comes to these critical minerals. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Right. And, Kristen, let's go to you. I did want to ask you, how critical will the relationship between the U.S. and Japan prove to be in the region, given this increasing tension between the United States and China?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The alliance between Japan and the United States has always been necessary to counter the growing power of China in the region. And just one thing that the two leaders signed was this idea of a free and open Indo- Pacific.

This was something that Shinzo Abe had come up with the language as China has continued to claim sovereign territory over the Indo- Pacific. So this is Abe, excuse me, this is Japan's way of linking with the United States and declaring this a free and open space against China. I mean, economically and for defense, these are all important reasons. I want to point to what we just heard about the critical minerals deal, because there are a number of reasons why that is important as well. It's not just this kind of wrestling away from President Xi. It's also the idea that the United States is really dependent on China for these critical minerals.

One of the things that you've been seeing President Trump do across the world is try and collect these deals to try and counter some of that dependence, to try and move away from China. So this is helpful to him in that sense when it comes to that deal in particular.

I think that when you hear from President Trump talking privately and publicly, he does truly believe that the alliance with Japan is one of the most important ones, which is why when you heard this tension because of tariffs, because of trade, the two didn't really sync up.

You can see how he has really stepped into this visit here. He is in sync with the Prime Minister, as we saw, and you can see him right now.

[03:15:02]

He's stepping up to deliver those remarks in front of those U.S. troops at that base.

CHURCH: All right. Kristen Holmes and Hanako Montgomery, many thanks for talking to you both.

Let's just dip in and take a quick listen here.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED)

TRUMP: Men and women of the United States Navy, very special people. Thank you very much. It's a great honor.

Great honor to be here.

But I'm thrilled to be here among thousands of proud American patriots aboard the 100,000 tons. That's a lot of tonnage.

Forward deployed symbol of American might, power and prestige. The legendary USS George Washington. This is some ship.

They don't make them this way anymore, but we don't-- we're not supposed to say that. But they really don't.

This is great stuff. This is really an incredible G.W. They call it G.W., right? It's-- and we've come this afternoon to celebrate the strength and the skill and service of everyone on this ship.

(LIVE VIDEO FEED ENDS)

CHURCH: All right. We will continue to monitor this. President Donald Trump there at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan as part of his visit there to the nation after meeting -- a very friendly meeting with the newly elected Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. All right, so we're going to take a quick break. A new U.N. report accuses Russia of war crimes in Ukraine. We will have details on those findings next here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The United Nations is accusing Moscow of committing war crimes throughout Ukraine. This as Russian attacks continue to pummel Ukrainian city centers and energy infrastructure ahead of winter.

The new report says the Kremlin is deliberately striking innocent civilians with drones along the front lines. More than 200 people have been killed and 2000 injured in Ukraine's southern region since July 2024. Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of targeting civilians.

Pablo de Greiff is a commissioner of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, he is one of three members on the commission behind this new report. Thank you, sir, for joining us.

PABLO DE GREIFF, COMMISSIONER, INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON UKRAINE: Thank you very much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Now, your report finds that Russia's drone warfare in Ukraine combined with Russian authorities forcing civilians to relocate amounts to war crimes. What is the most damning evidence you have of Russia's war crimes associated with drone attacks specifically on civilian targets?

DE GREIFF: So, on the drone attacks, the evidence is quite conclusive. We have both interviewed the victims, but also analyzed more than 500 videos that have been posted, either by Russian Federation units that operate the drones themselves or by people very closely associated with them.

And we have been able to geolocate almost 300 of those videos in order to guarantee their accuracy. We also have interviewed close to 300 victims of those attacks.

And I think that what is important for people to realize is that these are the types of drones that provide real-time visual feed to their operators. And therefore, they leave absolutely no doubt about the fact that they were targeting civilian objectives.

CHURCH: And why does Russia target civilians, do you think?

DE GRIEFF: So, in this case, we carried out an investigation in an area spanning 300 kilometers along the Dnipro River, which in a certain sense acts as a natural barrier to the front line. And it's a front line that has been static almost since the beginning of the conflict.

So, what the Russian Armed Forces have not been able to accomplish through military kinetic means, they are trying to accomplish through the use of drones, which they send across the river. And the main objective is to create a situation of so much terror and so much dysfunction, because they also attack basic infrastructure that provides essential services, including, for example, first responders that have special protection under international humanitarian law.

They are trying to create a situation that makes the whole area unlivable and people, as a consequence, have to move.

CHURCH: And, Commissioner, what are you hoping your report will achieve by putting a spotlight on Russia's war crimes? And who will ultimately be accountable?

DE GRIEFF: So, in this report, we are much more explicit than in past reports about identifying perpetrators. For example, we have identified the units that are responsible for the drones' attacks.

[03:25:01]

We were able to identify to whom they report about those attacks and the hierarchy to which they obey. Part of the objective of this Rosemary is to accumulate evidence that may be useful for future prosecutions, either by the international court, by national jurisdictions, through the principle of universal jurisdiction. So, to accumulate evidence both for judicial and non-judicial purposes.

CHURCH: Pablo de Greiff, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

DE GRIEFF: (inaudible) Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Still to come, more on President Trump's trip to Japan. What his meeting with the new Prime Minister could signal for the future of their alliance and this as we monitor his address there at Japan's Yokosuka Naval Base. We'll be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

[03:30:04]

Jamaica is bracing for a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. Melissa is due to make landfall in the southern part of the island just before sunrise there. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warns total structural failure is possible, particularly in higher elevations.

Donald Trump has raised new questions about his health. The U.S. President told reporters Monday he had an MRI scan during a recent medical visit; he did not say why, only that the results were, in his words, perfect. At 79, he is one of the oldest presidents in U.S. history.

President Trump is meeting with U.S. troops aboard the USS George Washington stationed in Japan, the President is in the middle of a tour of Asia with Japan one of the last scheduled stops. He is also set to visit South Korea on Wednesday before returning home.

Well President Trump also met with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. To discuss the possible implications of that meeting, I'm joined now by Shigeto Nagai, the Head of Japan Economics at Oxford Economics. Thank you so much for joining us.

SHIGETO NAGAI, HEAD OF JAPAN ECONOMICS, OXFORD ECONOMICS: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, Donald Trump just received a very warm and friendly welcome in Tokyo from Japan's newly elected Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, the first woman to hold that post. She declared this the start of a new golden age for the alliance and they signed an agreement to secure the supply of critical minerals. How much more important might Japan become for the U.S. in the region, do you think?

NAGAI: I think Ms. Takaichi will really take the advantage of this close personal ties with Mr. Trump to strengthen her still vulnerable political position within Japan. And in that sense, she will be very willing to expand and strengthen the bilateral relationship further and centering on national security and strategic investment in the next-generation industries.

CHURCH: So on that very topic, how might this meeting with President Trump then help Prime Minister Takaichi when it comes to those vulnerabilities you mentioned with her own political base?

NAGAI: I think she has successfully appealed that she is a real successor of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who had a close tie with Mr. Trump. And being a successor of Abe really has a strong appeal to traditional conservative voters, right-wing voters within Japan. And also, she can use Mr. Trump's strong ties and including some pressure from him as a leverage to pursue her proactive fiscal policies centered around strategic investment in national security and the key industries.

CHURCH: Right, and of course, Japan's new Prime Minister, she faces some pretty major problems when it comes to the economy, doesn't she? How should she be dealing with these challenges as well as Donald Trump's tariffs that will heavily impact Japan's auto industry?

NAGAI: Because there's a hope that Ms. Takaichi's proactive fiscal policy will boost the Japanese economy. But at the same time, there's a rising concern given this very severe fiscal situation in Japan. This rising caution has been risen for the fiscal sustainability of this economy.

So although she will try to promote growth by proactive policy, she will have to also address this sustainability issue which has been already making the Japanese government bond market sensitive in the past several weeks.

CHURCH: And of course, Japan has already made a commitment to invest $550 billion in the United States to help strengthen its manufacturing and advance America's national security in areas such as semiconductors, shipbuilding and critical minerals. But what's in it for Japan and how risky is this arrangement?

NAGAI: Theoretically, this is a really good combination for the two economies because Japan has one of the largest capital exports that really needs good investment opportunities abroad. And also, the U.S. needs to keep financing its huge current account deficit and the need of fresh monies for gigantic investments to revive the manufacturing sector.

[03:35:04]

But there is still a remaining concern within this country on which project Japan will be asked to provide the fresh money. And there is a concern that there could be some unfair request from the United States to fund not so profitable projects without any sufficient consultation.

CHURCH: Shigeto Nagai, thank you so much for talking with us. We do appreciate it.

NAGAI: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well the man on trial for killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has admitted to the charges, that's according to the state broadcaster NHK. Abe, Japan's longest-serving modern leader, was shot with a homemade gun in July 2022, he was delivering a speech on a street in the western city of Nara. Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested at the scene of the alleged assassination; he blamed Abe for promoting the Unification Church, a religious group against which he held a grudge.

Still to come, concern in Israel over the delayed return of bodies of deceased hostages. However, a new arrival from Gaza is providing a glimmer of hope. We'll have that just after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Israel says it has received the coffin of a deceased hostage from Gaza. A Red Cross convoy was seen travelling through Gaza City on Monday after Hamas transferred the body of the unnamed hostage to the Red Cross. Israeli authorities say the remains will be formally identified at the

National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv.

[03:40:03]

If the body is confirmed to be that of a hostage, Hamas will have handed over 16 of the 28 deceased hostages that were part of the ceasefire agreement. The bodies of 12 more remain in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW HOLNESS, JAMAICAN PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe there is any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: That was the Jamaican Prime Minister with an ominous warning about the devastation still to come from Hurricane Melissa. And here's a look inside the eye of the Category 5 storm, the strongest on the planet this year, and now even more intense than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

Melissa is lashing Jamaica right now with top sustained winds around 175 miles per hour. Landfall on the island's southwestern coast is expected in just a matter of hours. And the big concern is just how slow Melissa is moving, increasing the chances of life-threatening conditions.

I do want to thank you for joining us, I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers, "World Sport" is up next. And for those of you watching here in the United States and in Canada, I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.

We continue to track Hurricane Melissa, which is due to make landfall in Jamaica in the coming hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLNESS: I don't believe there is any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm. So there could be significant dislocation. And I urge all Jamaicans and people who are friendly well-wishers of Jamaica to continue to pray that this hurricane does not hit us directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: That was the Jamaican Prime Minister with an ominous warning about the devastation still to come. And here's a look inside the eye of the Category 5 storm, the strongest on the planet this year. It's lashing Jamaica right now with top-sustained winds around 175 miles per hour.

Landfall on the island's southwestern coast is expected in a matter of hours. And the big concern, of course, is just how slow Melissa is moving, increasing the chances of life-threatening conditions.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is standing by with the very latest. So, Allison, what are you learning about where Hurricane Melissa is right now and maybe some specifics on when it might make landfall?

CHINCHAR: Yes, so right now it is still just south of Jamaica. But here's the thing. Landfall, even as slow as it's moving, and it is basically crawling at this point at only two miles per hour, likely to make landfall here about the next six to eight hours.

And the one thing we're noticing is the storm is not decreasing in strength. It is maintaining its Category 5 strength. In fact, it has been a Category 5 now for 24 straight hours, which is an impressive feat that very few hurricanes can really ever achieve.

But that means it's going to be a very strong hurricane when it makes landfall across portions of Jamaica. The hurricane hunters are out investigating the storm right now, trying to determine if it's actually, if anything, strengthening even further by taking a lot of the measurements in and around the storm.

What we do know is the storm is expected to remain very strong as it makes landfall over Jamaica and really even still could potentially be a major hurricane as it crosses over eastern Cuba. But after that, that's when we're really going to start to see the storm begin to fall apart and really start to decrease in its significance as it makes its way over the Bahamas.

But still expected to be a hurricane strength as it does so and continues to slide off to the east after Wednesday. But rainfall, because of that incredibly slow movement, it means it has a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of rain.

So a lot of these areas are just going to get pummeled with outer band after outer band and then finally over the center of the storm itself as it continues to slide off to the north and east. You've got a lot of these areas where you see that red and that pink color indicating widespread totals of six to 10 inches. I know that may not sound like much, but you have to understand that a lot of these areas have already had six to 10 inches.

So you're taking that on top of what they've already had. This is why we have the concern for flooding. This is why we have the concern for landslides and mudslides, because all of that water can't just run off all very quickly.

So a lot of these areas that could be looking at 15 to even 20 inches of rain in a very short period of time. If that wasn't enough, you also have the incredibly strong winds that are going to pummel portions of Jamaica. That's why we anticipate having a lot of trees and even some power lines coming down before the system finally crosses over portions of eastern Cuba and eventually on to the Bahamas.

CHURCH: All right, Allison, thank you so much for keeping a very close eye on that. It's a real concern, of course.

And earlier, CNN's Erin Burnett spoke to storm chaser Brandon Clement, who was in Kingston. And she asked him about the incredible force of this category five storm and the stark reality of 175 mile per hour winds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRANDON CLEMENT, STORM CHASER, WXCHASING: It's hell on earth. There's no way to really prepare for it unless you wrap yourself in concrete. You know, concrete steel reinforced concrete building is really the only thing that survives that.

And that's if you're in high ground and don't have water rushing in. So you've got multiple facets of the storm that could get you is you've got the wind, you've got the rainfall, the storm surge and you have the landslides, mudslides, even tornadoes. So there's a whole lot of different variables that could get you on the storm, especially if you're on the -- just in the east side of that.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "ERIN BURNETT: OUTFRONT": So when you're looking at the flooding and you're looking at the landslides and obviously we've been talking about the mountains that are right behind Kingston, I mean, even Kingston specifically where you are, right, that can bring those two things together.

[03:50:02]

How, you know, tell me what does flooding look like in this scenario?

CLEMENT: Well, if it's the Blue Mountains, which are right here behind Kingston, you're talking about 7500-foot of elevation at the peak. That's only eight miles from the coast, that's a massive drop in elevation very fast.

So that water is like when it rains, it's kind of like a water slide, a really steep water slide is going to create a lot of momentum going down. So you have a lot of water coming down really fast and when you have that, it starts carving out and eroding the sidewalls of mountains and those mountains can come down.

So then you have debris and mudslides that can happen. So it's not just the Blue Mountains, so there's mountains in the central part of Jamaica as well.

And there's also gradual slopes, this can happen in any of those places. So the Blue Mountains are definitely the steeper terrain and the bigger concern. But anywhere you have that heavy rainfall come down, landslides, mudslides, debris flows and then just river flooding is a huge concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Hurricane Melissa is also expected to impact Cuba, where tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After Jamaica takes a lashing, this is where Hurricane Melissa is predicted to come next, eastern Cuba.

I'm in Santiago de Cuba and you can see behind me a lot of the challenges here. You have both the sea where you have the ocean coming in, the storm surge coming in, flooding low lying areas like where we are right now.

And then you have the mountains where that historic rainfall, an immense amount of rain is expected to come down and it will flood. It will wipe out roads, it could wipe away people's houses, it is perhaps even more dangerous than the wind.

The amount of rain that Melissa is bringing with it and so there are people who live up in those mountains, areas that are hard to get to. And they are looking at just a potential wall of water coming down on them and wiping away -- washing away everything they have.

Officials here in Santiago de Cuba, even though it looks beautiful at the moment, are warning people that is about to change. They have a little over a day, perhaps less, to get ready to make the final preparations. We've seen some people doing that, other people are just going about their normal daily lives all the same.

There are thousands of people being evacuated from low lying areas, there are people who are going to shelters right now. And officials are warning Cubans who live in this area of eastern Cuba to make the final preparations. Get ready to hunker down because they are running out of time.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Santiago de Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: To your Business Breakout now and the U.S. futures.

At last check, Wall Street was flat after Monday's big gains. The main markets hit record highs over hopes of a China-U.S. trade deal but right now we are seeing they're all arrows pointing down.

And these are the business headlines.

Reports say Amazon is expected to cut nearly 30,000 jobs beginning as early as today, that's about 10 percent of the company's corporate workforce as the tech titan pushes forward with A.I. driven automation. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that advances in A.I. would eventually lead to a reduced workforce.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are blaming each other days before a major food aid program runs out of money. Some 40 million people are poised to lose critical food stamps assistance on Saturday. With the U.S. government shut down in its fourth week and no resolution on the horizon.

President Trump says he was very much opposed to the September raid on a Hyundai factory here in the United States. Members of his own administration carried out the raid that saw nearly 500 skilled South Korean workers arrested and deported. Hyundai's CEO says he hopes a deal can be reached that brings crucial foreign workers back.

Major League Baseball fans certainly got their money's worth in game three of the World Series. Monday's matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays was a deadlocked duel with both teams tied at five runs each. That is until extra innings led to a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th.

Andy Scholes has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: What a night here in L.A. All of these fans, they grinded through this game. They actually had to reopen concession stands at one point.

They had two seven-inning stretches, they had another one in the 14th inning. But in the end these fans they got to see an amazing win and another epic performance from Shohei Ohtani after doubling in the first inning the lead off for the Dodgers.

Ohtani was up again in the third and he launched this one for a solo home run. It was his second of the series that made it 2-0 Dodgers.

[03:55:10]

Then with a runner on Ohtani an RBI double in the fifth. The Dodgers they would tie this game at four later in the inning on an RBI single from Freddie Freeman. And the Blue Jays would retake the lead.

But then guess who. Ohtani again another solo home run ties the game at five. Ohtani 4/4, two doubles and two home runs at that point.

We go all the way to the 18th inning tying the World Series record which was set by the Dodgers and Red Sox back in 2018.

And Freddie Freeman finally ends it. The reigning World Series MVP with a walk-off home run. Dodgers win in 18, final 6-5.

FREDDIE FREEMAN, FIRST BASEMAN, LOS ANGELES DODGERS: When you grind and fight and our bullpen and our pitching staff did what they did. To have that go six hours and 40 minutes or so. That's as good as it gets.

SCHOLES: The game ended up lasting six hours and 39 minutes. And needless to say all the fans couldn't have been happier when Freddie ended it.

UNKNOWN: Yeah.

UNKNOWN: What I tell you?

SCHOLES: Can you believe it's over?

UNKNOWN: It's over baby, it's over.

SCHOLES: Can you believe it's finally over?

UNKNOWN: Yeah, I want to go home, go to sleep. SCHOLES: And not going to be a lot of rest for Shohei Ohtani, he's going to be on the mound starting for the Dodgers in game four later on Tuesday. But just what a game we had here Monday night in L.A.

One of these fans will never forget the media as well. That was certainly the longest game I've ever been to in my life. Back to you.

CHURCH: I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. Stay tuned for "Early Start" with Brian Abel after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)