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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Rescue Operation Underway Off California Coast; Hurricane Dorian Takes Aim At Florida As Powerful Category 5 Storm; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Could Call A General Election This Week. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired September 02, 2019 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:04]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow, in New York. Jim Sciutto is off today.
And we begin this morning with a host of breaking news. Right now a boat with more than 30 people on board has reportedly caught fire. This is in
Southern California. You see it there right off the coast of Santa Cruz. As we speak, the Coast Guard is attempting a rescue operation. According to
several tweets, crew members have been rescued and they are still trying to get the rest of the passengers off of that boat.
We'll bring you the latest in just a moment.
We are also, of course, following Hurricane Dorian very closely this morning. An extremely dangerous Category 5 storm right now thrashing the
Bahamas in hours, setting its sights on Florida.
And in Odessa, Texas, hundreds are gathering to honor the victims of Saturday's mass shooting. Seven people murdered, 22 others wounded. Among
the injured a 17-month-old little girl. Much more on her and all of the victims ahead.
But let's begin this morning off the coast of California. The latest on that Coast Guard rescue there in Southern California. Stephanie Elam joins
me from our Los Angeles bureau.
So it's very early in the morning there, just after 6:00 Pacific Time. What do you know?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. And this is near Santa Cruz Island, which is off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura
County, so north of here a bit. What we do know from the Coast Guard is that they are working to rescue people off of the 75- foot boat.
We do know that there are 34 passengers on board and five crew members on this vessel. We just heard a spokesperson for the Coast Guard saying that
they do believe that this is some sort of a diving vessel. Unclear why it was out so early, sun is just starting to come up here on the West Coast.
But the vessel was reporting a fire. The Coast Guard is saying that, "We're able to rescue a group of crew members." That there was one person
there with minor injuries that they were able to get off, but working to evacuate the rest of the passengers. We know that there are multiple
vessels, vehicles responding to help this boat.
But we do know why it was out so early, who was on board, these 34 passengers, and how this fire started. We do not know. We know that there
have been reports of fatalities. We have not been able to confirm that at this time -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Stephanie, what do we know about life boats, for example, that may have been on board to get them off? Do we know?
ELAM: Right. We don't -- we don't have much information. I mean, keep in mind, it is really early here.
HARLOW: I know.
ELAM: This happening here around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. But just to take a look at what was said from Aidan Cooney, who represents the Coast
Guard, talking to our Erica Hill on "NEW DAY." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AIDAN COONEY, PETTY OFFICER, U.S. COAST GUARD: We don't have that information at this time for 34 fatalities. The most information we have
that we could pass is that there have been five of the members on the boat that have been taken off the boat by the Coast Guard and that the fire was
ongoing is the last information that I was passed.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Okay. Do you know --
COONEY: And that is -- go ahead.
HILL: Do you know what type of boat this was? We know it's a 75-foot boat. But again, it's so early out there on the West Coast. Was this one
of the ferries that runs back and forth to Santa Cruz Island?
COONEY: The last I heard, it was a commercial diving vessel, possibly with tourists. That was the last information that I have been passed.
HILL: And are there typically boats out that early in the morning?
COONEY: I can't speculate as to why they were out there so early.
HILL: And how far off the coast are we talking? Do you know if it was closer to the island itself, closer to Ventura, on the mainland?
COONEY: I also don't have that information at this time.
HILL: From what I understand, there were multiple rescue assets launched from local agencies according to the Coast Guard. And as we just heard,
they have been out there for at least 45 minutes, I understand, working from the both water and from the air. Have you been given any information?
Do they have a sense at all of how large the fire is on board the boat or what may have caused it?
COONEY: No, we can't speculate to that at this time, since the situation is still ongoing. I'm sure there will be an investigation and that will
give us all of those information. And as we get them, they will be released.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: All right. So, at this point you see there are still a lot of questions out there. Santa Cruz Island is a few miles off the coast there,
depending on -- sort of in a -- not a cove but it does have a roundabout. So you could see it from Ventura County, you could also access it from
Santa Barbara. But still so early in the dark that this is happening. Not a lot of information but still surprising to hear that it's a diving
vessel, Poppy, at this hour of the morning.
HARLOW: Yes. Yes. That would have been out there you'd think 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. because it's just 6:00 a.m. now that they are responding to this
fire.
Stephanie, thank you very much. We'll let you go, get some reporting and come back as you learn more.
Now, to the major storm in the Atlantic with 160-mile-per-hour winds, 200- mile-per-hour gusts. Hurricane Dorian is the most powerful storm anywhere on earth so far this year and the strongest hurricane recorded to hit the
Bahamas.
[09:05:07]
HARLOW: So far, an eight-year-old boy has reportedly drowned as a result there. Thirteen thousand homes have been severely damaged or destroyed
already.
In the coming days, it will sweep up the southeastern coast of the United States, just 40 to 50 miles offshore. That is close enough to thrash the
shoreline with winds as high as 100 miles an hour. Evacuation orders are in effect for millions of coastal areas in Florida, Georgia, and South
Carolina. All of them hoping the storm will not take a left turn inland.
Our anchors, our reporters are throughout Florida and the Bahamas this morning. Let's start with Patrick Oppmann. He joins us live in the
Bahamas, with more.
Patrick, where are you? What are the conditions?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. We have hunkered down in an apartment overlooking the beach here in Freeport. We continue
to be lashed by the powerful winds that Dorian has brought here and this pouring rain all over my shoulder here, perhaps, is the greatest concern.
You can see the water rising in the distance. And that's because Hurricane Dorian is pushing the ocean back. That will eventually become a storm
surge.
When the hurricane leaves that water will come in, surely flood the beach. And perhaps luckily we're on the third floor, but some of the area
underneath me.
So, this is a very dangerous, in fact deadly storm there. There's at least one fatality so far. Bahamian media is reporting that an eight-year-old boy
drowned in Abaco according to his grandmother. And there are other reports of people missing, of roofs torn off, of cars and whole neighborhoods under
water.
So, it will be sometime before we get a full accounting of the damage and destruction this storm has wrought.
But you just imagine a little bit further to the north from where we are, there is a Category 5 hurricane parked over the edge of this island, and it
has been there for hours creating a level of destruction that no one in the Bahamas has ever seen, because, Poppy, they have never had a storm like
this before in their history.
HARLOW: Right.
OPPMANN: This is the most powerful storm to ever hit the Bahamas and people will never forget it.
HARLOW: I know. And Patrick, you talked about Abaco, for example, I mean, that's a place where they have flooding even just with severe rain, let
alone a storm of this magnitude that they have not seen before. Thinking of them all, thank you for being there. We appreciate it.
Joining me now on the phone is Kristoff Ayala-Strachan, riding out the storm with his family in Freeport where we just saw Patrick. Kristoff, can
you hear me?
KRISTOFF AYALA-STRACHAN, RESIDENT AND BLOGGER, FREEPORT, BAHAMAS: I can hear you.
HARLOW: Thank you very much for being with me. You were born, you were raised in the Bahamas, this your eighth hurricane. How does this one so
far compare to others? What does it feel like in your gut?
AYALA-STRACHAN: Well, you know, honestly preparing for this was just like preparing for any other hurricane. But, you know, knowing that this one
was so much stronger than the others, there was a little level of fear that wasn't present with other hurricanes.
Where I am, there isn't any flooding or anything, but there's extensive flooding throughout the island. The winds, believe it or not, are actually
increasing as time goes by.
The storm is now stationary, just about 30 miles away from me, the center of the storm. And it's expected to get a little closer to me as the day
progresses. So, we just don't know what's going to happen as it gets closer and the winds do continue to increase.
HARLOW: Yesterday you said you were pretty fearful about what was coming. And I know that you have been trying to contact some people. I don't know
if it's there on your island or elsewhere, but you had lost touch with some people because of connections. Is that right?
AYALA-STRACHAN: Yes. I was trying to reach a few people that I know on the island of Abaco. I've since heard from them this morning. They are
all right. But now just worried about family, close to areas that we know are flooded, and trying to reach them and not getting through to them on
the same island as me.
HARLOW: Where are you on the island and are there any shelters for people a little bit more inland if you're on the coast?
AYALA-STRACHAN: Yes. Well, there were about 15 or 16 shelters in total. All of them inland away from the coast, specifically, I'm in the area of
South Bahamia, in the City the Freeport. I'm also relatively inland.
And so there wasn't any concern of flooding from storm surges for us that would bring about the need to maybe evacuate to a shelter from my
household.
HARLOW: Okay, Kristoff --
AYALA-STRACHAN: But there are quite a number of shelters.
[09:10:02]
HARLOW: Good. I'm glad to hear it. Thank you for taking the time to call in. I'm glad you were able to reach those people that you were trying to
get ahold of yesterday. We're thinking of you guys as you are in the middle of this right now.
Let's get the latest on the forecast. Chad Myers joins us in our Severe Weather Center.
So, Chad, I mean, looking at that image of Freeport, what I saw with my, you know, layman's eye, is the eye seems to be right on it. And that's
when it's not as bad, right? Meaning are they going to get worse?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The eye is about 20 miles east of Freeport right now.
HARLOW: Okay.
MYERS: And so they are in the eyewall. They are not yet as bad as it will get.
HARLOW: Okay.
MYERS: They're probably 120 miles per hour and they're headed to 140 before the eastern part of that eyewall kind of passes on over. This is
what it looks like from space right now. This the visible satellite. And if you look hard enough -- maybe you can't from TV, but I can see. You can
see the ocean in the eye. You can see all the way down through a completely clear eye. So here was our reporter, Patrick Oppmann, and also
the other reporter we just had on the phone.
HARLOW: Yes.
MYERS: That's Freeport. Here is where it is calm inside there. So they are getting the north part of the storm here. This the south wind here.
So they're filling up this sort of harbor near Freeport with certainly big surge. But this here, this marsh island, this great Abaco, that's the area
that got hit when it was 185.
HARLOW: Right.
MYERS: I just can't believe there's anything left of that. At least that man said that he talked to someone on Abaco and they were okay. Because it
wouldn't be out of the question that no one would be okay. I mean, everyone could have had some type of damage or water or whatever it might
be, 25 feet. This island is 30 feet tall tops. So you all had to get to the right place at the right time to survive that. And hopefully that that
is the case for everybody out there. Communication, to be very honest, with Abaco has been impossible.
HARLOW: Yes.
MYERS: I mean, even people with sat phones haven't been able to get there. Here is the storm right now moving over Freeport, moving one mile per hour.
It's going to move very close to the coast of the U.S., very close to the Space Coast as it kind of sticks out, Cape Canaveral.
As it gets closer, the winds will pick up. We are going to get winds, I would say gusts to 90 miles per hour along the Florida East Coast. That is
a hurricane gust. That's why hurricane warnings are posted. It is going to get a lot worse than what we're seeing it right now. But it's just
going to take 36 hours because it's moving so slowly -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Right. Right.
MYERS: This is a brutal storm.
HARLOW: Brutal. Moving so slowly, which means that rain that continues is just going to pound those areas for longer.
MYERS: You bet.
HARLOW: Making the flooding worse. Chad, thank you. We're so glad you're here on top of all of this. So let's go to Florida. Chad was just talking
about the Eastern Coast of Florida all the way up in the danger zone here. Martin Savidge is in Vero Beach.
So talk to us about the preparations. Obviously, we see the wind, but blue skies behind you right now.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Weather conditions actually are not that bad considering what you were just describing there in the
Bahamas.
HARLOW: Yes.
SAVIDGE: What is catastrophic there for most people here is curiosity. There is a mandatory evacuation order in effect. It went into effect an
hour ago. You wouldn't know it by all the people that are down on the waterfront. Let me show you over here right now. This is Vero Beach
Police who have come down just to remind people that there is, in fact, a mandatory evacuation order in place.
They're going person-to-person to tell them that the bridges will eventually shut down, which means as much as you might want to enjoy the
view right now, you could become trapped on this island.
It's a barrier island and there are concerns that with the tidal surge of seven feet, it will overtop some of the dunes here. The winds are going to
get up to hurricane force. That's expected in about 24 hours. So this is not going to be just some amusement, it will actually turn into something
that could be potentially pretty hazardous.
People have been stocked up for days and that's part of the problem. They have been ready, but they have been wondering, when will it ever arrive?
And that's why they are here.
HARLOW: Yes.
SAVIDGE: Back to you, Poppy.
HARLOW: Okay. Yes. Look, I hope they listen to those officers, Martin, because the sunshine can be deceptive. That's for sure. Thank you very
much, Martin Savidge, in Vero Beach.
We have a lot ahead. More on that breaking news this hour. The Coast Guard rescue is under way right now, right off the coast of California.
More than 30 people, possibly trapped on a burning boat. We'll bring you the latest on that.
Plus, authorities are learning more about what prompted a suspect to go on a shooting rampage in West Texas this weekend leaving seven dead, 22
injured. We'll take you live there.
And our special live coverage of Hurricane Dorian continues. A catastrophic Category 5 storm as it takes direct aim at the Eastern Florida
coast. A lot going on this morning. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:17:50]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Live from New York, I'm Julia Chatterley. Welcome to our breaking news coverage. Hurricane Dorian, the
second strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic is leaving catastrophic damage across the Bahamas.
The hurricane blasting the country with winds of up to 265 kilometers per hour and moving very slowly now towards Florida. One death has been
reported so far, an 11-year-old boy is believed to have drowned in rising waters on Abaco Island. We will have a report from Freeport, Bahamas in
around 10 minutes' time.
In the meantime, that let's bring it back to what we're seeing elsewhere. The U.S. stock markets of course closed today for the Labor Day holiday,
but we are seeing some movement over in Europe.
As you can see, we've got the DAX and the CAC 40 over in Paris higher. The FTSE though outperforming, up some 1.3 percent right now on what's expected
to be a very hectic month on both sides of the Atlantic.
So this is the picture of the first day of trade this month for pound. Let's take a look at that because that's the clue, I think that you're
being given there in the stock market over in the U.K. currently trading, what? $1.2060 is the level, down some seven tenths of one percent.
It's ahead of what's expected to be a crucial week in the Brexit negotiations and a pretty historic one for the U.K. Parliament, returning
from its summer break to take on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson in what could be the final battle over a no-deal exit.
And we really are in the final hours of that fight. Boris Johnson's opening move was to suspend Parliament for over a month between now and his
do or die so-called October 31 deadline.
Reports say British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could call a general election this week. It comes as the cross party alliance, including rebel
members from his own Conservative Party make plans to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Parliament back in session as I mentioned Tuesday, after their summer recess. Bianco Nobilo joins us now from London. All sorts of rumors,
Bianca, swirling at this moment and great to have you with us. Just talk us through what could come in in the coming hours, an anticipated Cabinet
meeting in particular, but also threats, potentially, of Boris Johnson throwing out those that try and prevent no deal from within his own party
here. What will that mean when he's only got a majority of one?
[09:20:23]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's why it's the biggest threat of all. And really, there is nothing more serious than the leader of a
party can threaten a Member of Parliament with withdrawing the whip, as it is called because it means you're effectively no longer functioning as a
member of that party, and it's the end of your political career with the organization that you've been working for.
Now, that is a very serious threat. If it's true that has been widely reported in the British media, and given the Boris Johnson's majority is
razor thin, it is often referred to as a working majority of one, but in reality, nobody truly knows how many Members of the Prime Minister's own
party would support him or vote against him in a confidence vote and how many members of the opposition, Labour Party who might come from staunchly
pro-Brexit constituencies might back him.
So all of that is up in the air. The one thing I do know for sure, Julia, is this week does feel different. You and I have covered this now for
years, and it certainly has a different sort of feel about it.
I've spoken to lawmakers this morning from Boris Johnson's own party, and they said that they feel this is going to be the most unpredictable and
potentially consequential week of their careers.
CHATTERLEY: You know, there are those that look at this and say actually, this might be Boris Johnson being strategic here, perhaps, faced with a
threat of a future Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister of the U.K. versus a no- deal exit here.
Perhaps everyone looking at this thinks that if we actually go to a fresh election here, perhaps the support there is for Boris Johnson and the
Conservative Party to leave despite the chaos that we've been through for many months now. What's your -- what's your guess, here, given everything
you know about this situation, the room is sort of swirling behind the scenes here?
NOBILO: One of the key strengths that Boris Johnson kept trying to underscore that he possessed within the conservative leadership contest was
that he was a proven election winner. That is what he hit home again and again and again. And that's what the party think of him as being.
He won twice in London, which is traditionally not a conservative area. And people think that he does do well at the polls. He does well out there
on the streets, pounding the pavements and in election campaigns.
Plus, since Theresa May left and Boris Johnson has become Prime Minister, there has been a bounce in the polls. One of the peculiar things about all
the confusion that we've been witnessing over the past years and months is the fact that the Conservative Party, the governing party that's been
responsible for a lot of this hasn't taken a huge hit in the polls, and the opposition Labour Party partly because of the equivocation over their
Brexit position also hasn't had a boost. You might have expected in normal times for that to be the reverse.
So when we look at things as they stand, the fact that Boris Johnson has a majority of one, is that, the fact that he is considered to be a strong
election performer, the fact that it could be the only way to break this log jam if Parliament continue to try and thwart Boris Johnson's
government's efforts to try and affect an exit from the European Union. It does look like a lot of science could be pointing to a general election.
And from the Members of Parliament, Julia that I've spoken to in the last couple of hours, they seem to conceive of this, the ones within Boris
Johnson's own party is that if Parliament tries to force Boris Johnson's hand by passing some sort of bill which would force him to delay the Brexit
date, or potentially stop him from going for a no deal, and the government can't get out of that, because they will try according to some of my
sources, then they will look to a general election to try and break that log jam.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, to your point, it's going to be a fascinating 24 to 48 hours. Bianca Nobilo, thank you so much for breaking that down for us.
All right, let me bring in Kit Juckes, Global Head of FX Strategy at Societe Generale. Kit, great to have you with us, as always. What do you
make of what's going on and we can see some pressure once again on the pound in the session today. Does this week feel different to you, too?
KIT JUCKES, GLOBAL HEAD OF FX STRATEGY, SOCIETE GENERALE: It's definitely all coming to a head in terms of things happening. The U.K. economy is --
at least on the manufacturing side pretty much imploding -- so still suffering from Brexit in a big way. Markets at the same time are being
jostled by the impact of the Chinese decision to allow their currency to weaken pretty much in line with tariff increases that weakens the euro, and
that in turn weakens the pound's value against the U.S. dollar.
So it all knocks on, but here in terms of Brexit, I think we're going to find out whether a no-deal Brexit is what's going to happen over the course
of the next few years. It will become clearer, you know, are the rebels going to be get to get in a Boris Johnson's way or are we indeed going to
get a new election before October 31st.
[14:25:11]
JUCKES: Huge amount of uncertainty, a market that has not fully priced in a no-deal Brexit yet. And that's what's dragging Sterling down. And
certainly you can't buy it until you get some clarity that that no deal is becoming less likely.
You know, we're in the eye of the storm now and going to stay there for a few days.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, you make an interesting point here that actually the no- deal exit scenario is still not on the price -- in the price here for Sterling versus the dollar all the euro here. Can you give us any sense of
if that looks increasingly likely here? And I know it's a challenge. How much more we could see Sterling fall here? And likewise, if by the end of
this week, it looks like we're going to fresh elections. What happens to Sterling in that case?
JUCKES: Okay, it's more priced in than not. Yes, I look at for a little bit of math, I look at Sterling's pricing against the euro for how Brexit
is priced in.
If we get no deal, I think you'll take the euro-sterling rate from about 1.10 to about 1.05, five percent down from here. At the same time as that
that would mean that from just over 1.20 for cable for the U.S. dollar rate, you'd go to about 1.15.
If the Euro falls on the negativity for the U.K., or if the Chinese yuan goes on weakening and the euros just trending lower, we go closer to 1.10
as a way of thinking about it.
For a joke observation, if we cancel Brexit, and the Chinese don't devalue their currency further, we could be at 1.50 in a year. That's a real
outside bet for you. But I think you'll trade sterling five to ten percent higher than it is today, if we get a Brexit breaks, and if we get a deal.
So there's more of a no deal priced in than a deal. But it's a very, you know, it's a very binary choice now than which is what is going to make it
difficult for the market.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, I mean, there's so much uncertainty here. And to your point, it's not just about Brexit. It's not just about the weakening that
we see in the European economy. There's also the China angle here and the tariffs.
What's your guess based on what we're seeing for the Chinese yuan at this moment, because we saw fresh tariffs applied over the weekend, both from
the United States side and the Chinese side? And you put in your note, a great chart that showed the increasing importance of both China and the
Chinese currency in global trade over the last what? Fifteen years or so. Fascinating chart. What's your sense on this, too?
JUCKES: My sense on the Chinese story, look, China was a smaller player, same size as U.K. and Japan in global trade 15 years ago. Now it's with
the Eurozone and the U.S. as a big player, so bigger than the U.S., but smaller than the Eurozone as a share of global trade.
And in currency markets, that means everything. It means we're no longer in a sort of a two-system of currencies dominating -- the dollar and the
euro, but three with the Chinese yuan.
And that in turn means that if the Chinese yuan weakens against the dollar, it means that it probably weakens against the euro. And the euro
strengthens, which makes no sense for Europe at the moment.
So my concern is if -- and then the yuan has been really tracking the tariff increases in terms of falling in line with the increases in tariffs.
If we get all the tariff increases that have been announced in the rest of this year, the dollar-yuan rate seems likely to end up moving towards 7.50
over time when that's all fully priced in.
If you get more it could be higher than that, and if we do that, that that move is a further real appreciation of the value of the euro in particular
on a trade-weighted basis. And if the euro-dollar rate falls to compensate for that, then euro-dollar gets under even more downward pressure.
And if I were Europe with no inflation, massively negative bond yields, flirting with a recession, why on Earth would I want a stronger currency on
a trade-weighted basis just because President Trump and the Chinese are having an argument about trade.
CHATTERLEY: You absolutely wouldn't, and you'd be furious, too, which I am sure quietly behind the scenes there. Kit, fantastic to have you with us.
Kit Juckes there, Global Head of FX Strategy at SocGen.
All right, we're going to take a quick break here, but coming up after this, the latest from the Bahamas as Hurricane Dorian continues to batter
the island. Stay with us. We're back in two.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:32:44]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the show and returning now to breaking news coverage of Hurricane Dorian. The strongest storm anywhere on the planet
this year is still battering the Bahamas causing catastrophic damage as it inches towards the U.S. East Coast.
Winds have been measured up to 265 kilometers per hour. One death has been reported so far, an eight-year-old boy believed to have drowned in rising
waters on Abaco Island.
Our Patrick Oppmann is in Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama and he joins us now. Patrick, great to have you with us. Devastating images.
We've been watching it. Just talk us through because this is the worst storm ever to hit the Bahamas. Just talk us to what you're seeing right
now.
OPPMANN: Yes, and we really won't know the full extent of the damage probably for some days to come because so many areas are cut off.
The storm, of course, still remains over where I am, Grand Bahama, but behind me, this is our immediate preoccupation. The storm has created a
wall of water. Usually the ocean does not look like that. It has pushed all this water back and it is just created, you know, it will be great if
you were surfing, but it has created this huge, massive water that when the storm leaves, that will be the storm surge. It will have to go somewhere,
it will come back inlands.
Luckily, we're on the third floor, but I would think would flood quite a bit of the area around us and that is probably the greatest threat to this
area. It's such a low-lying island. The highest point on this island is only 30 feet tall.
So when the storm surge does come in, when the storm leaves that will also create a havoc and devastation, but you know we are seeing videos that
people are sending us of roofs ripped off, of cars underwater, whole communities underwater, and these people are asking for help, asking for
someone to come and get them out of these affected areas.
But of course, Bahamian officials said, anybody who was riding the storm out that didn't go to a shelter, they could not expect any help or any
assistance because it just -- this remains too dangerous to try and go in and help these people for first responders. So really, it is going to take
several days more. I think we'll have this hurricane over us for at least another day, a Category 5 hurricane.
It really is the absolute worst scenario. And then in the light of the day, we will begin to see the real damage that has been inflicted here.
We've only seen a very small amount. I think there's been much more devastation that we have not seen yet -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, to your point as well, it's the fact that it's so slow moving that it's not just the storm itself, but you're battered by the
rain, the wind and the storm surge for numerous days here, Patrick.
I'm seeing reports of an island-wide power outage, too. Can you tell us anything about that? Are you hearing anything?
OPPMANN: Yes, yes, it's affecting us as well. Late last night, early this morning, we lost power. We're on battery power. We're trying to set up
our generator in the middle of a hurricane and that also complicated life here because in the middle of night, you begin to hear the sound of a very
powerful hurricane overhead.
If (INAUDIBLE) right next to your ear, you can hardly talk. And then of course, you're going to turn the lights and there are no lights. So that
was -- it was a terrifying night. But now that the light is out, it's somewhat better. If I would have tried to walk out of this building, I
would immediately get knocked down, Julia.
And certainly the fact there is no power, the cell phone networks are going in and out, it just complicates us getting the real picture of what's
happening here, and as well for authorities to know which have been the hardest hit areas. So it's going to take some time.
But certainly the Bahamas, for being such a small you know, the Grand Bahama where we are and (INAUDIBLE) on Abaco, these are small little
islands and they have been hit by the biggest hurricane imaginable.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's terrifying. Terrifying. Thoughts and prayers with everybody there and Patrick Oppmann, speaking first there in Freeport.
Stay safe, Patrick. Thank you for that.
All right, some breaking news now coming into CNN. We've just learned that there are numerous fatalities in a boat fire off the coast of Southern
California. That information coming to us from Ventura County officials.
Earlier the Coast Guard said there were 34 people on board and the Coast Guard had rescued five and this report suggests the boat is a diving
vessel. We will continue to monitor the situation and bring you any updates as soon as they come in.
More of that and of course, coverage of Hurricane Dorian. Stay with us. More to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:35]
CHATTERLEY: All right, welcome back to the show. Thousands of Hong Kong students boycotting classes in the latest pro-democracy rally. They are
demonstrating outside the Chinese University of Hong Kong as part of what is now 13 straight weekend of protests.
With more, Paula Hancocks joins us from Hong Kong. Paula, great to have you with us. There was some vague hope, I think that once the students
went back to school, perhaps these protests would die down. That's not the case judging by the images and the pictures this weekend. Talk us through
it.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not, Julia. I think that was a hope several weeks ago. But there's been a realization
recently that there was going to be this this boycott of school, of university. And we saw thousands of people who decided not to go into
classes.
It was supposed to be the first day back at school today, and instead to protest for democracy in Hong Kong. We also saw during the lunch hour,
some doctors and nurses at one of the local hospitals was also -- also went on strike, or at least they formed a human chain to show their support for
the pro-democracy movement as well.
So it's not showing any sign of letting up. If anything, it appears to be changing in some ways, in the respect that over the weekend, certainly we
saw more violence on the streets than we have recently.
On Saturday in particular, we saw some hardcore protesters throwing petrol bombs and bricks at police; and in return, there was water cannons, some of
it dyed blue, so that the police could mark those people on the front line and then afterwards, they could go and round them up and arrest them. Also
using rounds and rounds of tear gas.
Now one new thing as well, the protesters over the weekend did was they started to burn fires on the streets of Hong Kong. They built barricades
up in some of the key roads, and then they set fire to them. So that's certainly a new tactic that we are seeing.
And when it comes to the police, they are more often going into subway stations to try as they say, to apprehend some of those responsible they
believe are the more hardcore protests, but they are receiving a lot of criticism from those protesters, as some of those videos are going viral on
social media showing them these people with batons.
So really on both sides now, we are seeing the violence increase. More than 1,100 protesters have been arrested since this started back in June.
That's the latest figure we have from the police -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, Paula Hancocks there, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed with that story. One continues to question how long it can
continue.
All right, let's bring it back to one of our other top stories. On Sunday, the U.S. started leveeing fresh tariffs on Chinese goods, another $112
billion worth of produce now subject to a 15 percent tariff.
The reaction in the Asian markets today are pretty mixed. The Shanghai Composite though, the outperformer closing with a healthy gain of at 1.3
percent as you can see defense and infrastructure stocks outperforming. They are clearly tied to a stimulus spending, I think from the government.
Let's talk this through. We're joined by Mark Williams, Chief Asia Economist at Capital Economics. Mark, great to have you with us on the
show. Can we quantify at this stage the economic impact of the tariffs that we've seen already imposed on Chinese imports into the United States,
but also what still to come potentially this year, too?
MARK WILLIAMS, CHIEF ASIA ECONOMIST, CAPITAL ECONOMICS: So yes, we can have a go at quantifying it. Before this all kicked off, exports from
China to the United States generated something just under about three percent of China's GDP.
So all told where we are now, the tariffs have probably knocked about half a percent off of China's GDP. The tariffs that came in this week, and then
the next sets coming in in October and December will bump up that damage.
So by the end of the year, it will be just short of about one percent of China's GDP relative to what would have been the case without the trade
war.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, so it's uncomfortable, but it's not devastating. You think the best option here for China is to wait the President -- wait
President Trump out here and basically use the currency as a valve to relieve some of the pressure here and we're already seeing that.
WILLIAMS: Well, so it was quite interesting, the response from China to this latest round of tariffs. They announced their tariff list about 10
days ago and digging into the details, what's quite clear is that they've tried to avoid actually putting tariffs on, on certain goods that they get
from the U.S.
So China's leaders understand that putting tariffs on your imports isn't necessarily a good thing. You know, it just raises costs for your
companies. So the tariffs that they've put in in this round have been focused on things like soybeans, on oil, stuff that you can get from
elsewhere.
Whereas they've left out things like the chips, the high-end chips that go into the phones that China's companies make. So they're trying to be a bit
smarter about the way that they put the tariffs on, while at the same time doing things to support their economy, letting the currency weaken, for
example. It went to seven to the dollar recently, and that will probably continue, and also just cutting interest rates and introducing more fiscal
support.
Because as you say, a one percent hit to China's economy from the Trump tariffs, it's painful, but it's not that bad. It's the sort of thing that
they can offset domestically.
And I think they are deciding just to kind of hunker down and try and get through this. And maybe after the U.S. election next year, they'll be able
to bring it to an end.
CHATTERLEY: If President Trump said something interesting this weekend, he said that, by weakening the currency, China's de facto paid the tariffs
because they've made their goods that U.S. companies are buying that much cheaper, and therefore net-net, it's China bearing the burden here, even if
ultimately, and I'm saying this, not the President, U.S. companies pay those tariffs as those goods come into the United States.
Do we have any sense of gauge of how much more China has to devalue in order to be able to offset the burden here of the tariffs and what it's
costing them?
WILLIAMS: So since the trade war kicked off, the Renminbi is now well over 10 percent down against the U.S. dollar. So that only offsets part of the
damage that the U.S. tariffs have done in the U.S. market.
But of course, a depreciation in Chinese currency also helps its exporters in all markets around the world. So actually, one of the interesting
developments over the past 12 months, I think, contrary to what Mr. Trump would have hoped or expected is that China's share of world exports has
actually risen, partly helped by this by the fact that Renminbi has weakened and offset the damage of the trade war.
So I think, you know, the policymakers in Beijing will be feeling fairly comfortable so far with how they've been handling this.
CHATTERLEY: You know, it's interesting, I'm just getting word that China has now filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization about these
latest tariffs that the United States has imposed. What good does that do, Mark at this stage?
WILLIAMS: It probably doesn't do a great deal of good in that the WTO takes a long time to come to decisions, and even then it doesn't have any
way to enforce those decisions.
But what this does do is, it is China sort of saying that we're the guys who are playing by the rules here. We're the people that are trying to
sustain the existing global order and the way that the global trading system works. It's the U.S. that's breaking everything.
Now, of course, that's actually the opposite of what a few years ago was being said where China was being criticized for intellectual property theft
and for not opening up its markets to foreign firms for example.
But I think that China sees a strategic advantage here that they can sort of play this against Trump and be the grownup in the room, be the people
that are trying to stabilize things rather than tear everything up.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, but continue to steal intellectual property and restrict access to their markets, perhaps, too. Mark Williams, Chief Asia Economist
of Capital Economics. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll get you back soon.
All right. Let me bring you up to speed now with some of the other stories making headlines around the world.
We're learning fresh details about the man police say killed seven people and wounded 22 others in Texas this weekend. "The New York Times" says the
36-year-old had been fired from his trucking job a few hours before he went on the shooting rampage.
Authorities say he shot at motorists after police pulled him over for a traffic violation. The shooting only ended when police shot him.
The Israeli Defense Forces say it's time for police in Lebanon to stand up to Hezbollah after the Lebanese militia group attacked Israeli military
targets over the weekend. Israel responded with artillery strikes.
Hezbollah's leader has vowed revenge for recent attacks on its targets in Lebanon and Syria.
All right, coming up next, Florida prepares as Dorian rages with the hurricane swirling just over 160 kilometers or a hundred miles from the
States' eastern coast. We will go live to Florida with the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:52:02]
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the show. We're following two major breaking news stories this hour. The Category 5 hurricane hitting the Bahamas, and
in California, we have learned there are numerous fatalities in a boat fire off the coast. That information coming to us from Ventura County
officials.
The boat is said to be a diving boat that was on a three-day cruise off Southern California. Earlier the Coast Guard said there were 34 people on
board. The Coast Guard had rescued five. We will continue to monitor the situation and bring you any further updates and information as it comes in.
For now though, the Bahamas currently feeling the impact of Hurricane Dorian, the strongest storm on Earth so far this year lashing the islands
with winds of up to 265 kilometers per hour.
The electric utility is reporting what it calls an island-wide power outage. Authorities predicting now up to 60 centimeters of rain.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is bracing for impact, too, although it's unclear if the storm will make landfall. Evacuations are being ordered in three
states. We're talking Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.
More than 1,000 flights have been canceled. Derek Van Dam joins us from Stuart, Florida. Derek, great to have you with us. Just talk us through
what you're seeing now. I can see a bit of wind so far at your shirt blowing there. Talk us through what you're feeling and seeing right now.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well we've got about 24 hours before we start to feel the worst impacts from Hurricane Dorian. I'm in
Stuart, Florida. About a kilometer east is the coastline of Florida, and every 30 to 45 minutes or so, we get literally lashed with heavy rainfall
and tropical storm force winds. We've had gusts over 60 kilometers per hour at a time.
Think about what's happening here. We are transferring the energy from the center of the storm which is over the Grand Bahamas right now, and in
bringing that energy right to the coastline of Florida and we feel that in the form of these rain bands that just splinter us with this heavy rainfall
from time to time with the strong winds.
We are under a mandatory evacuation for the areas that are susceptible to flooding and storm surge, more so the barrier islands. In fact, one of the
officials here telling us that since the mandatory evacuations were in place yesterday at 1:00 p.m., they have now shut off the water to the
barrier islands.
So that of course is to help secure the infrastructure, but it's also to help promote people to leave the coastline as quick as possible.
There were Martin County Sheriff authorities that were driving in armored vehicles with loudspeakers on top of them telling people they needed to
leave this region immediately.
We're still again 24 hours out from the potential worst scenario from the storm which could see winds of over 150 kilometers per hour where I'm
standing now. But again, this is a game of kilometers, a wobble to the west, a wobble to the east means the world of difference for the residents
here especially along the coastline of Eastern Florida. Julia, back to you.
[09:55:07]
CHATTERLEY: What about storm surges, very quickly here, Derek, because we've watched the devastating impact that they've had across the Bahamas.
What are we talking about there potentially, too?
VAN DAM: Yes, so we -- where I'm standing right now, this is a port. This is the St. Lucie River. It is not quite along the coastline. So this is
actually freshwater, a mixture of freshwater and saltwater, so we're not expecting storm surge where I'm standing now.
But along the coastline outside of the barrier islands, they are calling for four to seven feet, roughly one and a half to two meters of coastal
storm surge. We have a storm surge warning along the coastline and that will most definitely cause coastal erosion as the storm approaches this
region -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, Derek Van Dam, stay safe. Thank you so much for bringing us up to speed with that. All right, stay with CNN for coverage of
Hurricane Dorian.
Governor Ron DeSantis will have an update on Florida's preparations in the next hour right here on CNN. Stay with us.
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[10:00:00]
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