Torrential Rain, Intense Winds Pummel Gulf Coast as Hurricane Isaias Closes In

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1:22Part of the hurricane's intercourse started hitting about an hour ago and conditions will only worsen from here. So will the damage and destruction, in the words of the National Hurricane Center forecaster just before airtime. The National Weather Service tonight issued a rare extreme wind warning for more than 500 ,000 people in the western Florida Panhandle. That's the highest level alert of its type. The agency calling this a, quote, extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. In addition, areas in the region could see as much as nine feet of storm surge. Now, because of how quickly it is moving places as far north as Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York even could be hit by heavy rain from the storm as soon as Sunday.

2:01You can see right now localities from Mobile, Alabama to Pensacola, Panama City, Florida, all in the path of this. And a short time ago, Alabama and Florida officials began telling people to stay at home or stay wherever they are, saying it is simply too late to safely leave. We'll be talking to local residents, officials, and first responders on the seen all throughout the region. CNN's Rafael Romo is in Pensacola Beach, Florida for us tonight in Gulf Shores, Alabama, CNN's Isabel Rosales, and in the CNN Weather Center, meteorologist Melissa Nord with a new bulletin from the National Hurricane Center.

2:34So I want to start with CNN's Isabel Rosales. What's the latest where you are? Hey Anderson, yeah, here in the last couple of hours, the rain has improved, so it was actually slapping us in the face coming in sideways. That has gotten better, but the wind has not. Right now we're seeing gusts approximately 56 miles per hour. And after speaking to our meteorologists, it's only going to get worse here in the incoming hours before the eye passes over us here in Gulf Shores. So we're looking at 60, 70, up to 80 mile per hour winds here in this part of Alabama. Even worse to the east where Rafael is at in Pensacola Beach, triple digit wind speeds.

3:15As I move here to the corner and we zoom in, you can see what the power of these gusts. You can see that canopy moving in the wind, and you can't see it because the sun is down. But over in the gulf that I'm looking at right now, those waves extremely choppy. And the wind direction right now, Anderson, actually pushing that water back. But once the eye goes over us, that wind direction will turn, and we were going to start seeing that storm surge six feet expected for our area here. And as we come on the air, Anderson, there is a curfew now in place here in Gulf Shores and in nearby Orange Beach.

3:52The messaging here from leadership is stay home, get off the roads. It is not safe. You spoke to the mayor earlier. What are local officials most concerned about right now? Yeah, and it's as you're mentioning that the time of preparation has passed. It is simply too late. They're saying this is the time to hunker down, to weather the storm, and also not cause confusion in these roads. They want to keep these roads clear for first responders. And indeed, the mayor was telling me there's going to be a point here where it's not even safe for them with these wind gusts. That continues to get worse.

4:28And they're going to have to make that call to pull back the first responders and not answer these emergency calls. But they're going to wait until the very last minute, until these roads are impassable or the winds are simply too strong. But for now, they're saying, hey, just please respect the storm. Respect your lives. Everything else is replaceable. Isabel Rosales, thanks for checking with you throughout the evening. We're trying to establish contact with CNN's Rafael Romo in Pensacola Beach, Florida, which is getting hit especially hard right now. In the meantime, the National Hurricane Center, they are out with a new bulletin.

4:58For that, I want to go to the CNN Weather Center, get the latest from meteorologist Melissa Nord. So how close are we to landfall and can you pinpoint exactly or have we learned anything new in the bulletin? I guess I should start with. Well, we have. So Anderson, we knew that wind shear was going to be playing an impact on Isaias as it crept closer to landfall. And that's starting to happen. So the eye, the structure of the storm is looking a little bit different than four or five hours ago. But it's still a dangerous, powerful storm. It's now a category two winds of 110 miles per hour. But that landfall is only one to two hours away from now.

5:31But even though we're still an hour or two away from landfall, the western panhandle of Florida is in the core, the worst part of this storm in terms of the winds that we are expecting. It's this northern eye wall, which is moving on shore, that has prompted a high wind warning. We're seeing some of those wind gusts just south of Pensacola that were 83 miles sustained, gust of 97 miles per hour. So that's already within that category 2 range. The center of the eye, so to speak, still about 35 miles off the shore, but they are in the worst part of it at this point. And it's a big storm. The tropical storm force winds extend over 200 miles outside the center.

6:14We're seeing the power outages go up in Anderson. There's also this tornado threat that we're going to be watching to the east of where landfall is. And that'll be closer to Tallahassee through the evening into the overnight stretching into southern Alabama and Georgia where tornadoes can spin up. But we've got that high wind warning right now where those wind gusts are very high. Yeah, Melissa, we'll check back in with you. I think we have Rafael Romo in Pensacola, Florida. What's it like, Rafael? Hey, Anderson. We're having all kinds of issues because the hurricane is so powerful right now that it's been difficult to establish a connection.

6:51And the easiest way to describe it for me right now, it sounds like a freight train going by. You hear the howling of the wind. The only reason why I'm standing here is because there's a building on the other side that is right now serving as a barrier for our team. And that's the only reason why we can do this, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to stand right there. It is just very, very powerful. I was reporting earlier that so far the power, the utilities were holding in the last few minutes. I have seen the lights flicker multiple times and I don't know that they are going still beyond by the time this is over.

7:36So very treacherous conditions. Also in the last few minutes, we were seeing the wind go in that direction behind me. At some points, we are starting to see that turn that you always see when the eye starts to approach the area where you are. That, what you just saw, Anderson, the lights are gone. We also see some lightning here. So very, very treasurous conditions here in Pensacola. Anderson. So, Rafael, those flashes, is that lightning? Are those, like, transformers? Or is that lightning? it's it's a it's a combination of lightning and lights flickering I'm talking about public lights street lights that have been flickering for the last I want to say 30 minutes to an hour just on and off going on and off but when everything gets dark then that's when you start seeing the lighting here which to be honest with you it's something that I hadn't seen This is the most powerful hurricane that I have covered since Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017.

8:44This is incredible. This is insane. The power of this Hurricane Anderson is just very difficult to describe. How prepared, and by the way, obviously, anytime you or your crew needs to move or come inside, feel free. But how prepared are local officials for what's going on and what comes next? That's a very good question, Anderson. I was talking to Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves yesterday and he said, listen, everything under our control we have done. We have shelters opened. We have deployed personnel. We have high water vehicles. We have resources from the state. But the one thing that we cannot control is the intensity of the hurricane.

9:30and that's what we're seeing right now. Anderson, a moment ago I also saw a part of a branch of a tree was flying by. Things like barriers, the plastic barriers that you see on the street are no match for the powerful winds that we're seeing right now. And there was a wooden bench that was pushed by the wind against our car. that gives you an idea of how powerful the winds are and raphael how far are you from from the water i your your background is obviously completely black so it's hard to tell where you are uh how far are you yeah so so we're in one of the barrier islands here in pensacola uh on my left is open ocean and on my right is the bay uh it's a very narrow uh barrier island that's where we're I at one point I'm assuming that the wind is going to start changing direction and it's going to start blowing from that direction towards us see what I was telling you before the lights are back on and we have seen a little bit of that the direction of the wind changing in the last few minutes but again that's an indication that the eye is getting closer to the area where you are and And that's why we're seeing these conditions, Anderson.

10:59All right, Rafael Romo, we'll check in with you shortly. We want to check in on conditions east of where Rafael is. We're joined now by storm chaser Jonathan Petromala, who is farther east along the Gulf Coast tonight in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Jonathan, talk about what you have been seeing. We're looking at live pictures. Where are you right now, and what are you seeing around you? I'm on the eastern side of Fort Walton Beach. Just over my shoulder is the Island Hotel. We're right off of the beach. Obviously, it's a black hole back there. Power has been knocked out for much of this beach area.

11:33These winds have been vicious over the last hour and a half, really, as the inter-color of East IEA begins to make its final approach on landfall probably the next hour of being nearby here. And with it, those wicked winds gusting 100 miles an hour or so, knocking out power, blowing out. So those boasters and the circuits are scraping out in the distance. Also, this island hotel I mentioned, as you gave him, I told you, we're watching the roof slowly peel away in these winds. It's really just when those gusts of wind come through, that's when we're noticing, of course, the most damage. That's when we get the most vicious winds and hurricanes like this.

12:12And so we're watching this roof slowly peel away in the wind. You heard the reports, of course, but please down on the roofs as well. And this is going to be an actually further inland. There's a lot of power out of this. Thieves are going to fall on power lines. Power lines are going to be knocked over. And then you have the storm surge. We're always seeing the first signs of the storm surge perverse in East IES. They're predicting 69 feet right over here. Now, one interesting aspect of the beaches here in the panhandle, especially around Pensacola, here, East, through Destin, they have very mature dune systems here.

12:44And so what that means for the viewers at home is they're very large. They have good plant growth on them. And so that makes them more able to stop waves. It's a great protection, a great barrier, natural barrier from storm surge and from hurricanes like this to protect the infrastructure like Highway 98, which was supposed to be in front of the U.S. You're obviously in a pretty good location. You're in a very secure stairwell, concrete. You got, it looks like they've got an emergency generator going. So there's light there. Do you, are you gonna stay in that location for a while? What is your plan?

13:19Most likely, we're going to be moving around. That's what we do. We're more mobile. The winds aren't quite as extreme to keep us from driving around, but we have to be cautious. We have a lot of really bright lights and good lighting on our cars, but you have to be careful, of course, because you don't know what you might be running into, whether it's a storm surge coming in or power lines that can be down and fleas across the road. But this is a barrier island, so you don't have those large oak trees. that we have to be concerned about if you go further inland. And those are the obstacles. Those are the problems that I really get concerned about when we're out in these storms, trapping hurricanes, are, of course, the trees and the power lines.

14:00And what you have to worry about those, of course, not just falling on your car, but also blocking your routes. And you always want to leave yourself an escape route because when you have water, when you have storm surge, you want to make sure you're being very smart with it. Now, the wind is blowing offshore where we are. Now, as it makes landfall, that's going to shift around and the water is going to start following the wind more. And so it's been fighting against this wind. It's been trying to make its way onshore. But with the direction of the wind, just the way the storm is coming in, it hasn't been coming onshore with the hurricane.

14:34And so that's protected a lot of this coast from the most significant storm surge so far. I appreciate what you're doing and we'll check in with you shortly. I want to get an update from our meteorologist Melissa Nord at the Weather Center in Atlanta about the wind direction. What are you seeing out there? Well, Anderson, watching kind of how the wind directions were changing in Raphael's live shot as well, that's very true because as this eye starts to come on shore, again, the winds around this go counterclockwise, so they're going like that. So originally it was more of an east wind, now Pensacola more of an offshore wind.

15:08Then when Isaias makes landfall, the wind direction for a lot of these places changes again. But at this point it is right now for the next hour and a half or so when the worst conditions in terms of the winds are happening along that Emerald coastline. So landfall expected between really 9 and 10 PM and that's going to be east of Pensacola likely closer to Fort Walton Miramar Beach 38 a beautiful stretch of coastline, beautiful beaches, great place to take your family. But right now in in this extreme wind warning. So again, Isaias is only about 30 miles away from landfall and those power outage numbers are going up significantly.

15:50In fact, we've seen in the state of Florida alone, those wind outages, the power outages are now stretching over 100 ,000 customers and residents without power. We also have the tornado threat that we're watching throughout the evening. That tornado threat will stretch inland overnight tonight after Isaias makes landfall and moves inland. But the core of those winds, the hurricane force gusts could extend Anderson 100 miles inland. We've just pulled up our current wind gusts. You can see Pensacola currently. So this is the airport, the international airport there. 44 mile per hour winds sustained gusting to 92.

16:28So that's in that northwestern eye wall. And that's why the power is going out so much where Rafael was there. And here's the storm surge forecast. Again, it's right east of landfall. Not on the western side, but the eastern side, just east of landfall, where we have the storm motion plus the winds that are all pushing that wall of water upwards. And even after landfall, we see more of that push of water because of the wind direction. So the peak storm surge we're expecting east of Pensacola all the way almost to Panama City, six to nine feet. So for perspective, a one-story house, you know, your ceilings are typically about eight or nine feet.

17:08So that's covering the first floor of some of those homes as Isaias is making landfall and just after as well. You can see the power address is going up. Over 80 % of customers without power now in Escambia County there where Pensacola is. Anderson. All right, Melissa Nord, we're going to check back with you a little bit later on. Coming up, we're going to, of course, keep reports coming from the storm zone. And throughout the hours, the hurricane hits the Gulf Coast. Coming up, we'll talk to the mayor of Pensacola next. We'll be right back.

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19:01Most gauges around Tampa Bay are measuring roughly two feet of surge. I want to get the latest from Rafael Romo, who is in Pensacola Beach floor. I know your shot went down for a while. You're back. We're still seeing those flashes of light. That's lightning? Yeah, that is lightning for sure. And remember, I was telling you before, Anderson, that the lights were flickering and they were on and off, on and off. Now they're gone for sure. There's no power anymore in this area where we are. Also, the other thing that I wanted to describe to you, Anderson, that sound that you've heard it yourself before because you have covered many hurricanes.

19:40That sound of a freight train approaching, it is more intense now. I can say we're in the thick of things right now because really the wind is pushing everything around. And the only reason why I'm able to stand here is because I'm fortunate to have a building on this side, on my right side, that is acting as a barrier between the wind, the very strong winds of the hurricane and our team. We are operating purely on battery power. That's the only reason why we can operate here. But again, very, very treacherous conditions here in Pensacola, Anderson. All right, Rafael Romo, appreciate it. Joining us now is the Sheriff, Anthony Lowery of Baldwin County, Alabama.

20:28Actually, we don't have him. We'll get to him shortly. So, Rafael, in terms of how things have changed just in the last 30 minutes, what have you seen?

20:44Earlier the winds would fluctuate every so many minutes. Now they are very sustained and pummeling everything here in Pensacola. We get bands of torrential rain coming in. Something just hit me on my foot. And that's really the danger again here that this kind of wind can cause all kinds of projectiles flying by. I was telling you before, there was a wooden bench, a very heavy one, that was pushed by the wind against our car. It was a slow push, but still, that gives you an idea about how powerful the winds are. Add to that the fact that it is pitch black here, with the exception of the lining, and you get the idea of the conditions that we're experiencing here in Brazil.

21:32And in terms of flooding, what are they anticipating there?

21:38the early forecast said that we could expect seven feet that was a storm surge that was revised later to nine feet uh it remains to be seen what's going to happen but i can tell you earlier i was on the other side of the barrier island and the water was what's already started coming up it's difficult for me to see right now we are probably i want to say about 50 to 100 feet from open ocean. I haven't seen any movement, but again, that's the real risk here. And that's what authorities were talking about earlier, the risk of storm surge, flooding, and that can complicate things very, very rapidly here.

22:22And have a lot of people evacuated from, I know you're on a barrier, have a lot of people left that area?

22:31Yes, that happened earlier because the fastest way of getting out of here is a bridge connecting to the mainland. That was shut down at 3 this afternoon. Many of the people who were told to evacuate did so yesterday, but there are many other areas here, low-lying areas, mobile home neighborhoods that were told in advance that they needed to evacuate. And authorities tell us that for the most part, people have listened to their warnings and have left the place. Governor Ron DeSantis was saying earlier that every county where a state of emergency has been declared has a shelter. And for days, authorities were asking people to go to those shelters, including shelters that can welcome people with their pets just so that they can be away from the danger and safe.

23:24Yeah. All right, Rafael, thank you. We will check in with you in a little bit. Joining us right now on the phone is the Pensacola Mayor, D.C. Reeves, who declares a state of emergency for the city. Mayor, thanks for being with us. What are you hearing right now from your folks out there about conditions? Yeah, thanks for having me. We are currently out of power. It's going to nightfall now. The main big reports we're getting were the entire ECUA, the Scamia County Utility. The water is under a boil water notice. for all customers with multiple transmission. We also, of course, do not respond right now in terms of wind for police and firing, which is standard, and obviously did put a lot in the line of the first responders in high wind.

24:14So it was real, real heavy here. Ten minutes ago, shingles popping on the roof, and that's also considering, Anderson, I'm sure you've reported, it's sliding a little east of Pensacola compared to what we were talking about this morning. How does that impact things one way or the other?

24:36Yeah, I mean, obviously the west wall, if you grow up here as I did, you're used to these situations for better or worse. But being on that west side, certainly it's actually gone relatively quiet right now. and this is all in the last maybe five minutes. But I would say most of the reports I'm getting from our department directors at the city is power out across the city. I don't mean completely that we've confirmed that, but just generally speaking, most people we're talking to have lost power in the Pensacola area, and we're continuing to get reports from the EOC. We did have one fire that was beyond the Do Not Respond, and our team was able to still somehow get there.

25:25We can't confirm that there was a rescue involved quite yet, but obviously our hero is getting out there and dealing with a significant fire in the city limits. And, I mean, at this point, are you telling, you know, emergency personnel not to go out or if conditions reach that point yet where it's just not safe to go out? Yeah, it's been that way since probably about 540. That's a call that's made from the emergency operations center. For instance, it starts with maybe in the high-stainment. The equipment graduates from there until you also just do your first responders up there. And we warned our citizens about we do every day.

26:13Yeah, Mary Reeves, we're having trouble hearing. You're cutting off a lot, and I'm sure you're busy, so we're going to let you go. Mayor Reeves, I really appreciate it. Wish you the best. Joining us now also is the Sheriff Anthony Lowry of Baldwin County, Alabama, which includes Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan. Sheriff, appreciate your time. What are you most concerned about right now? Well, right now we're just concerned about the trees and the debris that are in the road. We haven't had the heavy rain impacts that we expected. We certainly had a lot of wind, a lot of wind from the north, which is unusual for us in a hurricane.

26:46We were blessed not to get the surge that we thought we were going to get, but the wind coming down Mobile Bay has been pretty significant. And is it clear how long emergency services could be suspended? Well, I will say this. We're fortunate, as you've heard the mayor talk about, the bump to the east is going to allow us to get our services back on the road. We have a lot of Baldwin County that's coming up essentially at 45 miles an hour. our vehicles are off the road. The part of the county is coming out from under that, and we're able to respond to part of the county now. And do you have a sense of how many people have stayed behind or are kind of riding out the storm?

27:24Well, you know, Anderson was a really unique weekend. This was our shrimp festival weekend, so we had about 85 % occupancy on the island for that. I don't think many of those actually evacuated, so we still have a lot of people in Baldwin County that don't actually live here, plus probably another 40 ,000 that have moved here since Hurricane Sally in 2020. Wow. Well, Sheriff, we wish you the best. Thank you so much. We're going to check back in with our correspondents across the storm zone coming up as Hurricane Isaias comes ashore. We'll be right back.

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28:49The other footage from a surveillance camera shows some of what happened before. Ice agents approaching the man's car. An agent wearing plain clothes goes up to the car with a gun as the vehicle begins to back up. The agent then starts punching a window on the driver's side as the vehicle begins pulling away. New York's mayor, Zahran Mamdani, has made no secret of his position on ICE's presence in the city, and he weighed in last night. We know that ICE is rotten to its core. Today's shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known, which is that ICE operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country, that they have killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.

29:35The D.J. secretary, Mark Wayne Mullen, today said the agents were not aware a child was in the car. He also had this to say about the mayor's remarks. His words are dangerous and incite hostility. It doesn't help. He said that ice is rotten to the core. Really? Men and women at ICE each day are enforcing the laws that he refuses to enforce. CNN's Shimon Prokip is at the scene of tonight's protest and yesterday's shooting. He joins us now. So what have you been seeing throughout the day? What are things like tonight? So just in the past 30 minutes or so, protests stopped for about two hours or so.

30:20Protesters were out here, actually were outside the ICE offices here in Foley Square in lower Manhattan. They were just demanding accountability. Many people want answers. Even though there is that video, Anderson, there's still a lot of questions here of why these officers approached the car this way. Perhaps why didn't they wait for the man that was inside to come out? Why they approached with their guns out? The tactics here of ICE officers are being questioned by many, so much so now that the Bronx District Attorney's Office, where this happened, said in a statement that they are launching an investigation.

30:51They were actually out in the Bronx today, in the community where this happened, trying to get answers, looking for witnesses, looking for video. And also the NYPD, I think this was quite a statement from the NYPD and how they have been handling this, really trying to show that they are separated, that they are not cooperating or working with ICE in any way. They released that body camera footage of the moments after where they took that man who was shot in a police car to take him to the hospital. And then Significant, it was their video. They are the ones that released the video on that pole camera that shows the moments before the shooting.

31:30Now ICE hasn't released any of their footage, their body cameras. It is the NYPD that is doing that. The FBI was out last night collecting evidence. They have the car. There's that bullet hole in the windshield on the driver's side. But now it will be up to the Bronx DA's office to decide whether or not They're going to bring charges. But many people here in the community, here in Manhattan, where we have seen so many of the protests outside Foley Square, they're back at it, and they said they're going to be back out at 1 o 'clock tomorrow protesting again. And they're calling for answers. They're also calling for the police commissioner here to resign, to be fired.

32:06They are not happy with what she did last night when she gave information out. She also talked about the man who was shot. She talked about his criminal record, and they were very unhappy about that. And so they're seeking accountability here from so many, Anderson. What more do we learn about the shooting from the new video that was released today? Did they shoot into the vehicle as it was pulling away? Well, so in the video that we have that the NYPD released, you don't actually see the gunshots. It is after that moment. It's off camera is when it's believed the shooting takes place. What the Department of Homeland Security is saying, as we've heard them say many times, that the driver weaponized the vehicle, that he used the vehicle essentially as a weapon, and that is why these officers fired, fearing for their life.

32:57None of that is captured on tape. We don't know where the officer is that is firing. We don't know how many officers fired. We also learned today significantly, Anderson, that these officers had no idea that the child was in the car. And that in and of itself could be potentially a problem for them because they should have known the circumstances that they were facing. But it is the tactics. Certainly, many in law enforcement will question the tactics here that time and time again, ICE officers, when they are approaching vehicles, when they are trying to do traffic stops, the tactics here aren't what you normally see by any police department and law enforcement do across the country.

33:39And the mayor, Mamdani, had a phone call with President Trump. Do we know details of that? Yeah, so it was incredible to watch this unfold last night because while we were out in the Bronx last night, we were waiting for the press conference. And many of us were sort of assuming he was probably on the phone with the president. But when he came to the podium very late, over an hour late, he came right out and he said, I was just on the phone with the president and the secretary of Homeland Security demanding that they that ISIS gets out of New York City. But also he was trying to get them to release the man that was shot.

34:18He was demanding with the president and to the Department of Homeland Security secretary that ICE release the man. But what we're told is that Department of Homeland security wanted the NYPD to take custody of this man, but there was nothing to charge him with, so they couldn't take custody of him. But it was really just a moment to listen to the mayor there describe how he's on the phone with the president for two hours. No resolution here in terms of ice. Ice is going to continue as far as we know here in New York City, but these protesters out here, Anderson, they're going to continue as well.

34:56Shamal Prokbez, appreciate it. Thanks very much. We have more on the hurricane, which is coming short in Florida and Alabama as we speak. Also, the defense secretary, Pete Hegsteth, plans to live stream a military firing squad execution. And the questions that has raised will be right back.

35:15Observe. The North American Dad. 50s. Great polo collection. He enters his vehicle information on Carvana. An offer appears in minutes. Remarkable. He squints, reads it again, smiles and says, dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling, no hassle. No one called him boss. He's still on the couch. Astonishing. Sell your car today on Carvana.com. Pickup fees may apply. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like all I want. Right. Okay, we can't afford that. You know what?

35:57Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Live video from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with Hurricane Isaias coming ashore. A short time ago, Pensacola Beach was taking the worst of it. Here's what it looked like to CNN's Rafael Romo. The hurricane is so powerful right now that it's been difficult to establish a connection.

36:32And the easiest way to describe it for me right now, it sounds like a freight train going by. You hear the howling of the wind. The only reason why I'm standing here is because there's a building on the other side that is right now serving as a barrier for our team. And that's the only reason why we can do this, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to stand right there. It is just very, very powerful. I was reporting earlier that so far the power, the utilities, we're holding in the last few minutes. I have seen the lights flicker multiple times, and I don't know that they are going to still be on by the time this is over.

37:17So very treacherous conditions. Also, in the last few minutes, we were seeing the wind going that direction behind me. I'm going to get an update now from CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord. How's it looking, Melissa? Well, Anderson, you saw the lights flickering in Rafael's shot there. We've seen the power outages increase incrementally over the last hour. In fact, now over 400 ,000 customers without power, over 300 ,000 of those are in the western panhandle of Florida. You can see Escambia County in purple right there. Over 80 % of customers are without power. We're also seeing that as the core of East IEAS is coming onshore, the winds are starting to really push that water up as well.

38:02So these are the current storm surge numbers. Panama City, which is located about 30 minutes drive east of where landfalls can end up being. Four and a half feet. OK, so the water is coming up. Apalachicola three and a half feet. Even in Cedar Key, it's almost three feet of storm surge at this point of water rise. And here's why the winds. We just had a wind gust at Pensacola International Airport of 92 miles per hour, and we've also had a wind gust near Santa arose a sound of 99 miles per hour at a weather flow site. So that's that northern eye wall core that is moving on shore Anderson and we are just minutes away from landfall.

38:42You can see here this is the northern eye wall. Look at the lightning right here that's been moving on shore just east of Pensacola. That's where we're seeing some of the strongest wind gusts from the eye wall of Isaias. The eye itself that land faults right in here, the center of it, that'll move on shore here over the next hour. That landfall likely somewhere very close to Destin or Fort Walton Beach. Then as it moves inland, we could see hurricane force winds Anderson that extend 100 miles northward after landfall. Well, that's an award. Appreciate it. Thank you. We're going to continue to follow developments of the storm throughout the hour.

39:16Other news now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drawing bipartisan criticism after announcing that the firing squad execution of the Fort Hood mass killer will be live streamed so the public can watch. Former U.S. Army major and psychiatrist Nadal Hassan was convicted of killing 13 people, wounding 32 others at the Texas Army base back in 2009. His execution by firing squad is planned to be streamed on December 3rd. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy calls the plans disgusting and medieval, while outgoing North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis writes on social media, quote, public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do, should not be happening in America.

39:55Georgia Republican Congressman Austin Scott writes, quote, live streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that. Today, Vice President J. D. Vance said this about Higgseth's plan. This is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people. Now that said, I mean, look, if it's ultimately live streamed, I'm not going to be watching it. Joining us now is Army veteran and former JAG lawyer, Margaret Donovan. So, Margaret, according to Amnesty International, only two countries have been confirmed to have held public executions in the past year, Iran and Afghanistan. And I'm wondering your reaction to Hegseth's plan.

40:32Well, I think that there is a lot of irony there in that the past 25 years of combat for American troops has been against adversaries who do exactly that, who do public executions and then upload them online to YouTube, to social media. It is not the United States who does that particular practice. I think most people find this really barbaric. That's maybe the one silver lining is that this is universally repulsive, and I'm not sure why Congress hasn't reigned in the secretary yet. But I'd also like to note that this is a form of martyrdom. If you know the case of Nadal Hassan, you know that he was notoriously unrepentant for his crimes.

41:10He sidelined his own attorneys at trial so that he could grandstand in the courtroom. And he has been seeking martyrdom since he first committed this act. So this idea, not only is it repulsive to most people, but it is arguably giving him exactly what he sought, which is eternal martyrdom, because this will be uploaded and watched by radicalized masses across the globe. Keep in mind as well that Nidal Hassan was injured in the attack. He was paralyzed from the waist down because he was shot by somebody disarming him during the attack at Fort Hood. And so you had the additional optics of us executing a paraplegic who was in a wheelchair, and there simply is no reasonable mind who would think that this is a good idea.

41:54Are they going to shoot him in the wheelchair, or are they going to prop him up somehow? Do we know? I don't think that that has been disclosed yet. I'm not even sure if the secretary has thought that far. Because just in the world of, like, disgusting images... Which is the worst option? Yeah, I'm not sure which is the worst option.

42:16Right. So, I mean, either way, this is really sort of playing into the hands of, you know, radicalized people who are going to watch this and consider Hassan to be some type of hero to Islamic extremists. So this is absolutely not what you want to do. You do not want to make him famous. And in fact, I would say that the fact that he is roaring back into the headlines now is really just increasing his celebrity. I think many would agree he should face the death penalty, but that should happen quietly, professionally, somewhere in Leavenworth, and we should never think about him again. Yeah, I mean, it actually gives actual video for jihadists to use in promotional videos, because the whole idea, if the whole idea is martyrdom, they're actually going to get video of this guy being martyred, in their terminology.

43:07shoot. Yeah, that's precisely right. And that's why this is something that should happen quietly. The true justice for the victims of that shooting, I think many would agree it should be death for Nadal Hassan. It should not be celebrity. Yeah, Margaret Donovan, appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, an anniversary that might not make headlines, but should and certainly does in the lives of all who knew this beautiful little boy named Keegan. One year ago tomorrow, on the day of his first birthday party, he suddenly died. In a moment, you'll hear Keegan's mom, Brianna, about how she and her family lives, keeping Keegan's memory alive.

43:45We all have dates on our calendars that may not be noticed by others, but for us, they loom large. Well, tomorrow is just such a day for the family of a little boy named Keegan. Keegan's mom, Brianna Langerfeld, left me a voicemail about him, and I'm gonna play it for you in a moment. You see, Keegan died unexpectedly on the day his family was going to celebrate his first birthday. It was five years ago. Tomorrow is the anniversary of his death, and Keegan would and should be six years old. This family has found a way to honor Keegan, a foundation called Keegan Cares that pays for grief therapy for other families.

44:19So I just wanted to take a minute to honor them. My name is Brianna Lagerfeld. I'm mourning the loss of my beautiful, sweet, amazing one-year-old son, Keegan on October 16th, 2021. And on the day his birthday party was scheduled, I went to wake him up and found he had passed away sometime overnight. My world ended in that moment. His death was declared as son of unexplained death in childhood. And to this day, we have no reason for his passing. We're about to head into five years. And some days it feels like it's been 100 years. and some it feels like it was yesterday. We do so many things to honor Keegan.

45:04We've created the Keegan Cares program where we pay for grief therapy for other lost families, but still he's not here. And it breaks my heart. The past few years I was with a group of friends. Everyone was laughing, but I couldn't. I began to think of Keegan and see his face, and in that very moment he came on screen and said exactly how I was feeling. Because some of you watching right now, maybe a lot of you watching tonight, may see all these crowds and the merriment and feel alone, even if there are others around you. So wherever you are in the world or in your grief, you are not alone. You are here with us, and I am grateful that we are together.

45:45That probably sounds silly, but I felt like it was a sign from Keegan, and I feel like I don't get those a lot. But a film that you've said on your podcast, grief is a form of love, and I'd rather grieve Keegan than not have them at all. Well, Brianna mentioned that that program, Keegan Cares, the Instagram address is on your screen, at Keegan underscore cares. You can find out more about it there. You can also watch more videos and hear other family stories on my podcast, All There Is, and my streaming show, All There Is Live. It's all on my grief community page at cnn.com slash all there is.

46:21CNN's hurricane coverage continues throughout the night. The Source with Caitlin Collins starts now. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can't afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only.

46:54greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Observe the North American dad, 50s, great polo collection. He enters his vehicle information on Carvana. An offer appears in minutes. Remarkable. He squints, reads it again, smiles and says, dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling, no hassle. No one called him boss. He's still on the couch. astonishing. Sell your car today on Carvana.com. Pickup fees may apply.