hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. we begin with the breaking news. hurricane matthew battering the florida coast with 120 mile-per-hour winds, and pounding surf. take a look at these pictures from a cnn affiliate in st. augustine, florida. adults and children stranded in a bed and breakfast. the center of the storm 90 miles southeast of jacksonville, florida. utility companies say nearly 827,000 customers in the state are without electricity right

now. forecasters predict the storm surge in florida, georgia and south carolina could reach as high as 11 feet. at least one death in florida is blamed on the storm pap woman died overnight of a heart attack after emergency crews were unable to respond to the call. president obama was briefed on the hurricane just a little while ago here in washington and warned people still in the storm's path to listen to local officials. >> and so i just want to emphasize to everybody that this is still a really dangerous hurricane. that the potential for storm surge, flooding, loss of life and severe property damage continues to exist, and people continue to need to follow the instructions of their local officials over the course of the next 24, 48, 72 hours. >> florida's governor rick scott says damage assessments are under way and echoed the

president's warning that the danger is by no means over. >> while the kwli not made direct landfall there's still time to make a direct hit and as we've seen it's wobbled. we are very concerned about storm surge. and the worst effects are still likely to come. >> we're covering this story like only cnn can. our meteorologist chad myers is tracking the hurricane's path from the weather center. correspondent boris sanchez is in daytona beach, florida, cnn's victor black sewell in jacksonville. chad, update on where matthew is right now and where it's headed. >> just now to the east of daytona beach and headed to the northwest. now, the problem is, wolf that i see, is that the coast turns quicker than the hurricane may. its forecast the turn it is, i get it, but it may continue to go straight. it's that, a motion will

continue until acted upon. that whole thing. this will continue north of jacksonville right over st. augustine and into taibbi. this is the problem i see, we're piling up all of this water from savannah down to about brunswick, georgia. as the storm turns to the right is may mush water into hilton head, myrtle beach, charleston. a significant storm surge is already happening right now in st. augustine. this is a big part of the weather we're talking about now. at least a couple feet of water, downtown st. augustine. this is the story we're looking at at this point in time. i move you now into a local radar. this is the local radar. i'm watching the eye move slightly offshore. that's good news. we need it to move offshore see that it doesn't pile up the water into tybee island. here's the latest, though. it's still 120 miles per hour. this storm has not slowed down

much. i know it's not 140, but that's because the inner part of the eye is not quite put together like it was yesterday. it's still going to be 115 mile-per-hour storm as it gets towards brunswick. as it gets towards charleston, probably 100 miles per hour and then turning to the right moving away from land, but it's all of these marsh areas that have water getting pushed up in them. like the savannah area, all of those yacht clubs around savannah. likely water coming up six to eight feet and that is over the sea wall in a lot of those towns. over the sea wall for sure right now in st. augustine, likely over the sea wall in some other little cities here and bigger cities, even into carstharlesto. doesn't take much to flood charleston on a good day. ray can do that. could see 10 to 16 inches of rain. future radar. it will continue to rain all day, all night and the water comes up in a saltwater surge

and come down in a freshwater flood and those two may come together at the wrong time, wolf. >> very dangerous. >> yes. >> stay tuned. boyers, what are conditions like right now, have officials begun t to do assess the damage where you are? >> caller: wo . >> reporter: wolf, may be too early for that. the less severe portion of the storm, rain and wind still coming down heavily. not sure if you can hear the wind we're dealing with right now. ow individuvideo capability wen and dealing with that all morning and dealing with debris. debris, standing across the street from what looks like a gift shop. we've watched all morning as the roof has come apart in this gift shop. pieces of the roof are blocking the intersection in front of us right now and pieces of the roof

of our own hotel we are in have come off and fallen in the street as well. a couple hours ago we standing in front of an awning at the front of the lobby and a huge chunk of window, at least 500 pounds fell. as we moved inside, glass started breaking through the awning. we quickly rushed out of there. we're in a much safer location now but did get a few moments ago a look at the other side of the hotel on the coast, and we get a look at the storm surge it was very, very intense. that separated the beach and the yard in the hotel. right now an official with hotel security manager told me they have about two feet of water on the first level of our hotel. he said we're toast. as i mentioned before, the roof, pieces of it have come off. there are windows that are -- they're fearful they could break, water pounding on the side of the building right now. there are guest rooms inundated

as well. fortunately it doesn't appear anyone is hurt. where we are now, though one other concern is that the lights may go out at any moment. we've been watching power line just flailing in the wind. at any moment they might snap and this hotel, at least a third packed with people and employees. so the concern is far from over, even though we're -- supposed to be in the less severe part of the storm, things still feel very severe where i'm standing right now, wolf. >> sounds like it, too. boris, be careful over there. victor, forecasters are predicting a storm surge. we've been telling viewers as high as 11 feet. what's the potential impact on jacksonville where you are? >> well, they're just a few moments ago, wolf, there was a flash flood warning that came out from the national weather service here in jacksonville for

warning people to get to higher ground. move to higher ground with an exclamation point. a flash flood warning now until 6:00 p.m. from national weather service and that storm surge, this is the hour that the city is most concerned about. from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. we spoke with the mayor's office. they say this is the hour they near that storm surge will impact people most. even before the eye of this hurricane gets closer to the north coast here. the first coast of florida. they say that areas like sanmarco where we are right now, across the saint john's river, in riverside, areas including avondale, could see that flooding. we've also seen in the last few moments a pickup in the wind here. over my shoulder, the main street bridge and we've seen occasional car drive across, although that is against the guidance of local officials, we know also that the wind here has caused an increase in the power outages. just a few moments ago, 36,000

outages. now almost 50,000 people are without power across jacksonville. so we are seeing an increase of the wind. seeing an increase in the rain and this is the hour the worst the city expects of that storm surge as we get closer to when the, the really intense winds will hit this city. wolf? >> we'll stay in close touch with you. be careful, vict peor. bring the mayor in. thank you so much for joining us. you got a lot going on. what's your biggest concern, mayor, right now? >> the lives of our people. the lives of the people of jacksonville. we have been monitoring this for over a week, our emergency opposite center. we began, i ordered an evacuation in the beaches and cities low-lying areas two days ago. added additional evacuations on to that early yesterday because the storm surge primarily. obviously, wind concerns with trees falling and whatnot, but the storm is a big danger, with storm surge expected up to nine feet. along the coastal and beach

communities. expected to be 12 feet yesterday. dropped to 9. it's still incredibly dangerous. anything over three feet is life threatening. >> have the residents of jacksonville heeded calls to evacuate? >> so evacuated close to half the residents under my order. there are some that chose to stay. and while that's disappointing, we're in the storm now. there's no -- there's no value in passing any judgment when we get through the back end of this we will be here for all of our people. >> and at what point, mayor, do you close the city's bridges and we know you've got quite a few? >> yes. sustained winds of 40 mimes hour. in fact, it's been an hour or two. all bridges leading in and to and from the beaches closed. all access closed off to the public there. any fwlach sustained 40 miles per hour we closed them. very dangerous conditionses, and it's going to get worse here in

the afternoon and it's going to be pretty bad up through the evening. there's also concern, we don't want people to be complacent. when this thing moves out of here or appears to move out of here, there can stillen bands and squalls, danger for trees falls, power lines falling, et cetera. >> jacksonville is a major city. good luck mayor. good luck to you and all the people in your beautiful city. we'll stay in close touch. >> thank you. >> let's head down the coast a little bit. the florida coast. mayor of melbourne florida. kathy meehan joins us on the line. mayor, thanks so much for joining us. what have you been experiencing over the past few hours? >> in the past few hours we've been assessing the situation in the city of melbourne. as far as i know, the bridges are still closed. they're saying that you know, there are power lines down and some flooding issues.

so right now we're -- we want our people to have electric. so we're right now getting our electric back up. now, where i'm staying right now, at my daughter's house, we still don't have electric yet. >> it could take a few days to regain power in some of these areas hit so hard. right? >> yes it could, right. and wind. it's still windy here. we have gusts, and it's just -- unbelievable. but we -- i'm real pleased on the outcome, because we really dodged a bullet here. >> did most of the people in melbourne evacuate? >> i don't know how many went into the shelters, but the residents in the beach side community, some of them did. ordered to evacuate, but i still had some that stayed. i have great concerns with them.

>> what is your biggest concern right now? >> getting the streets cleared. and, also, you know, just having the electric on. >> and what advice do you have residents who are still there in melbourne what should they be doing as we speak? >> well, right now it's real windy. i haven't got a report yet. we have staff out there assessing's streets and -- i was out there earlier, but, you know, we still have traffic lights that need to be fixed, and, you know, just for their safety. so we're waiting word on the officials. yes, you can go out there and -- on the streets. >> and start the cleanup. but that hasn't happened yet. >> yes. >> kathy meehan, mayor of melbourne, thanks so much for joining us. good luck. >> all right. thank you so much. all right. bye-bye. >> as matthew pounds the coast, bracing for fury.

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look at these live pictures coming in from tybee island. bracing for impact from hurricane matthew. the hurricane's outer bands already whipping up georgia's coast and expected to batter south carolina by tomorrow morning. both president obama and governor nikki haley issues dire warnings. >> those of you who live in georgia, i think, should be paying attention. >> there is nothing safe about what's getting ready to happen. this is the last time you will hear my voice when i'm asking you to evacuate. >> straight to cnn sara ganim in georgia, brian todd in south carolina. sara, what's the situation there? are peek evacuating? are they ready? >> reporter: wolf, moments ago the last of these buses with

people on them evacuating savannah, georgia, rolled out of this parking lot, the civic center here. more than 2,000 residents in the area did come here yesterday and today to get on those buses, to get out of the zone where officials believe that in some areas the storm surge could be up to 11 feet. those people headed to augusta, georgia to safety, but there are many people who were left behind. i talked to many residents who were in tears as they were leaving knowing that their neighbors, elderly residents who they were friendly with, people who have kids were staying behind, and i talked to one family who was leaving behind their own elderly parents who just simply refused to evacuate, despite the orders from officials. take a listen to what this family was going through as they got on these buses with their 1-year-old child. >> we're deciding to leave, because it's just getting a little too serious. we was going stay, go to the

missions. now the missions are evacuating and we heard it's supposed to be a category 4. that's too much. savannah can't hand al category 2. were you know what i'm saying? it's in the best interests for our child. if it wasn't for our child we probably would try to ride it out but we have our little one. we have to think about our family as a whole >> reporter: ar other members of your family. >> my mom, i tried to contact her. if she's out there, i really, reality want you to leave. i really, really, want to you leave just to make sure you're safe. >> reporter: just moments ago, wolf, officials told me they actually sent a bus out to tybee island where we were yesterday, an island most of the homes are at sea level, and they sent a bus throughout for the last of the residents that were trying to stick it out and stay behind at home. nobody got on the bus, i'm told. so those people in the next 24 hours could see a storm surge 11

to 15 feet. when i was out there yesterday, you could tell that they were, those homes were in danger. and emergency officials here are getting off the streets as well. so those people who have decided to stay behind overnight will be on their own for the most part. wolf? >> these are all heartbreaking stories. people obviously relubt luctant leave their homes and possessions but it's obviously very, very dangerous in the process. stand by. brian, you're there in south carolina. they're bracing for a disaster there as well. are you seeing people on the streets? are they listening to the governor's warnings to evacuate? >> reporter: some of them are listening, wolf and some are staying put. that really is upsetting state officials at this hour. told in the 1:00 eastern hour is when they expect tropical force winds. we are a little north of charleston and what they're

genuinely worried about a storm surge. here's why. look at this low-lying marsh next to me here. this is the ashley river that gets flooded quickly during routine rainstorms. gets higher than normal, and these streets over here experience washout. they really expect the storm surge to be between 8 to 11 feet nap is going to cause wash jover from here on to these streets, as you can see here are at sea level and in some places below sea level. the town of buford, south carolina is below sea level. officials saying as of now, 310,000 people have evacuated, wolf. not enough. that's about half of those who they've asked to get out. they're saying people out on these barrier islands just east and south of charleston are really in danger at this hour. here's another thing i'm going to show you. this is the james island connector. photojournalist eddie grose will shift left here. that's the james island connector bridge. all bridges and many are like that, 65 feet above the water or higher, when the winds get to 40

miles an hour and above, they're going to shut down. so if people try to leave at those points. not far from now, by the way, timewise, they're out of luck. they'll be stranded. wolf, again, storm surge is a huge issue here, because it is such low country. the marsh, the rivers and the tip of the peninsula at harbor are just right at sea, street level. these streets are going to get flooded in the coming hours. storm surge a huge worry right now. >> i understand completely. all right. brian thank you very much. bracing for the worst there in south carolina. officials in florida, they pleaded with residents to evacuate areas in jeopardy from hurricane matthew. many listened. just ahead, we're going to go live to orlando. that's about 50 miles from the florida coast where many residents fled to find shelter from the hurricane. i'll speak to the florida senator bill nelson about how his state is handling this disaster. showing you some live pictures now coming in from daytona beach in florida.

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updating the breaking news this hour -- hurricane matthew is pounding the eastern coast of florida right now. take a look at live pictures from jacksonville, florida. president obama and local official warning dangers from the monstrous storm is by no means over. the latest developments involving hurricane matthew located about 90 mime 0 miles st of jacksonville. 120 mile-per-hour winds. storm surge along the florida, georgia and south carolina coast

could reach 9 to 11 feet. a major concern of low-lying areas of jacksonville and historic cities of savannah and jacksonville. utility crews in florida are working to restore electricity to almost 827,000 customers who are without power right now. millions of people involved. many of the people have heeded warnings to simply evacuate, to get out. cnn's alison kosik in central florida in orlando for us now where many on the eastern coast have fled to. alison, are people still arriving where you are? >> reporter: they are. orlando is 70 miles west of the coast. so what a lot of floridians do who live along the coast's areas, those barrier islands, they head west, and many times come to orlando, because it offers so many hotels. this is the land of disney world. yes, a lot of people we found did evacuate, and they're still hanging around, because a lot of the roads that lead to their

homes are not open yet. they're stuck here a while riding out the tides with all their friends and family at the hotels in and around the disney properties. speaking of disney, the most magical place on earth, behind me is one of the quietest places on earth today, because it is closed for the, only fourth time in its 45-year history, and each time it has been closed, it was because of hurricanes. many people coming on vacation, not what they want to hear. we ran into a group of people from wales, taking it easy, though. listen to this. >> what do you like when you see all of these rain and see all of this -- >> we're used to it. >> used to it. >> yes. [ laughter ] >> knew it would be like, tomorrow nice, sunday lovely. we don't care. it's still warm. we're quite happy. yeah. quite happy. >> reporter: but i want to kind of emphasize here, disney world

closing, kind of a monumental event here in orlando. disney world really doesn't close. we took a ride around the property yesterday. surreal to see the ghost town feel when you see all the lights on, but not a person or a car in sight. it really is an amazing sight. we're hearing, wolf, disney world is reopening tomorrow morning at 8:00. animal kingdom adding extra hours starting at 7:00 a.m. wolf? >> good to hear that. alison, thank you very much. joining us on the phone now is florida senator bill nelson in the orlando area. thanks for joining us, senator. tell us what you've been experiencing over the last few hours? you're monitoring this hurricane. >> well, wolf, a lot of that success that she just mentioned is because people complied with the orders. the mandatory orders to evacuate the barrier islands. the low-lying areas. the curfews.

the people of florida have been through a lot of tragedy, and they have responded again magnificently. you remember the tragedy of the pulse nightclub. how that brought the people of orlando together. now as you look at the whole state, we've dodged the bullet in south florida and central florida, but it's roaring north into north florida, and the damage there is not going to be the wind. it's going to be the water surge. >> so where's it going to be the greatest danger right now? the jacksonville area? what you're concerned about? >> yes. there are a lot of low-lying areas on the marsh, adjacent to the st. john's river. even on the inland waterway, and then as you get further north into the barrier islands, and amelia island which is the

northern-most island, there's a lot of marsh there. it's going to fill up with water. then as you get on up into georgia and the carolinas, they're going to get it as it tries to make that right turn all of those counterclockwise winds coming off the northeast to the northwest are going to hit the shore. >> so the danger is clearly by no means over in florida, for example, northern florida. in georgia. in south carolina. this hurricane continues to threaten a lot of people? >> indeed it does. i just hope that the folks in georgia and the carolinas have obeyed the mandatory evacuations like there is in florida. and if they do, then there's going to be a lot less danger to

life. fortunately part of dodging this bullet is that the good lord answered a lot of prayers, and took it down from a category 4 to a category 3 by the time it gets to georgia, it looks like it might about category 2, and the difference between a 2 and a 4 is a huge magnitude, because of the destructive force of the wind and the ability to bring in the huge water surge at the beach. >> let's not -- mislead viers out there senator. eve an hurricane category 2, or a 1 for that matter, potentially poses enormous dangers and enormous risks. >> particularly with regard to the water surge. and it doesn't just happen over the dune line on the beach. it fills up all of the

tributaries coming into rivers. it backs up in the marshes. and as a result, if there is destruction, significant destruction, you're going see a lot of that further north as it moves northward. >> bottom line, everyone should continue to heed the warnings from officials, if they tell you to evacuate, that's a good idea indeed. senator nelson, thanks as usual for joining us. >> hey, wolf, i give you one report. i've talked to the head of the kennedy space center, and everything was buttoned down there. the big question is, was there erosion of the beach which is right next to the two big launch pads at the kennedy space center. we'll find out tomorrow. >> let's hope for the best. senator nelson, thank you so much. hurricane matthew kills

hundreds of he'll in haiti. leaves behind that nation's worst humanitarian crisis since devastated by an earthquake six years ago. up next, we'll speak with haiti's ambassador to the united states. i'll ask how his country is coping, how the people there are dealing with this latest disaster, and what haiti and haitians urgently need. stay with us. [ male announcer ] at customink, you can create

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before reaching the united states, hurricane matthew left a path of destruction through haiti. hundreds of people, hundreds of people are dead. hundreds of thousands are in need right now. president obama urged all americans to help. >> haiti is one of the poorest

countries in the world. it has consistently been hit and battered by a lot of international disasters to compound what is already great poverty there. we know that hundreds of people have lost their lives, and that there's been severe property damage, and they're going to need help rebuilding. so i would ask all americans to go to the american red cross and other philanthropic agencies to make sure that we're doing what we need to do to help people in need. >> i'm joined now by haiti's ambassador to the united states. mr. ambassador, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> my deepest, all of our deepest condolences. we know huchhundreds of people killed in this hurricane. any late information how many have been killed? >> sure. i would like to express our

sympathy by those affected by the hurricane in the northern florida region as well. we thoroughly understand what they're going through having lived through in the past few days in haiti. for now we're in the process of assessing the extent of damages caused by the hurricane in haiti. unfortunately, the toll continues to rise. there's been hundreds as of this morning, the official death number was about 300. we expect unfortunately that number to rise a little bit as now we begin to access communities, regions that were inabscessable because of the roads, because of the bridges that fell due to the hurricane. now we -- we -- folks are actually being reached out to. only one major area in the country, the region of the country in the southern part of the country where communication is still an issue, but at least the government in partnership

with other organizations are working diligently to ensure that access is available so people can reach their families, so people can actually evacuate certain areas, but also we want to express the fact that some preventive measures were taken as well. >> because haiti, as the president -- president obama said, one of the poorest countries around the world, and so many people don't live in sound, solid structures, and they are extremely vulnerable to a hurricane like this. >> well, keep in mind this type of hurricane, the last time haiti has seen a hurricane of this intensity was 1954. so this is new territory for a lot of people in haiti. even for the u.s. as well's in that sense, yes, our structures of houses were an issue, but more importantly, we wanted to make sure folks living in the coastal areas were actually moved away on time from -- >> so they evacuated? >> there was a big -- >> was most of the deaths from the actual wind or from the

water, the surges? >> it's a little bit of both. some cities were flooded. a lot of people live in coastal areas. some were not able to evacuate on time. again a few hours prior to the arrival of the hurricane, it was still unsure in the minds of certain how high, how big this hurricane was going to be, but a lot of measures were take ton evacuate a lot of people. so shelters were put in place in many communities to ensure that folks moved away from areas of dangers. >> what do you need right now? what do the people of haiti need from the united states and from countries gand people all over the world? >> first of all, i also want to thank the people of the united states, the u.s. government and other partners around the world who have expressed their solidarity, expressed their suffer thi suffer t sympathy and is a hours help in haiti. unlike the hernearth wake we wao

make they're there's no a disaster in type of the terms of relief coming to haiti. we know a lot of people want to go to haiti, provide assistance to haiti. we want to first of all make certain that people understand that an assessment is being done. there are organizations on the ground. the government at the central level at the municipality level, ngos on the ground with the experience, with the know-how, with the understanding of the complexity of communities are doing those things. >> because we know after the earthquake there were volunteers, doctors, nurses, other specialists who just came into hate toy try iti to help. >> as much as we may be in need of folks we encourage people first and foremost be in touch with organizations on the ground. be in touch with local municipalities. we at the embassy of haiti and d.c. can provide that information. we have a hot line where people can seek information. so, yes, as important as it's going to be for people to provide assistance in some form,

we are discouraging people from simply hopping on a plane not knowing. you need to be -- you need to be certain there's a, a support system in place for you so that you can be more useful. you can be more efficient in the type of support you're providing to haiti. more importantly, there are folks willing to donate as well. we also are encouraging people to actually look at local organizations. look at local institutions. because at the end of the day we want to be certain that this is a haiti-led relief effort. we want the solidarity of the world, but we want to be certain that the haitians, those who understand their communities, those who understand the rights in their communities, they lead that process in collaboration with friends and partners around the world. >> and millions of people will want to help, i am sure. mr. ambassador, thanks for joining us. good luck to all the people of haiti. >> thank you. >> haiti's ambassador to the united states, and here's important information for you. those you can help hurricane

matthew in haiti and elsewhere go to cnn.com/impact. you'll be able to impact your world. as hurricane matthew causes more damp,age, a crucial momentn the president's campaign is two days away. hillary clinton and donald trump getting ready to go head-to-head in the second presidential debate. what's at stake, how the two candidates are preparing for this critical town hall. stay with us. with the right steps, 80% of recurrent ischemic strokes could be prevented. and i'm doing all i can to help prevent another one. a bayer aspirin regimen is one of those steps

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. live pictures from tybee island. the breaking news this hour, hurricane matthew slamming the eastern coast of florida. we got these live pictures from tybee island in georgia right now. president obama warns that hurricane matthew is still a very, very dangerous storm, florida's governor says the worst may be yet to come for his state. georgia and south carolina, they are very much in the storm's path right now. here are some other late-breaking developments involving hurricane matthew. located 90 miles southeast of jacksonville, florida, with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. forecasters say along the florida, georgia, and south carolina coast could reach nine to eleven feet, that's a major concern in low-lying areas like jacksonville as well as historic cities of savannah and charleston. utility crews in florida are dealing with massive power outages more than 800,000 customers right now.

without electricity that number could go up. officials with the federal emergency management agency have just briefed hillary clinton and donald trump on the hurricane's impact and the federal government's response neither candidate is out there on the campaign trail today, we're told they're both preparing for the presidential debate just two days away. many saw trump's last-minute town hall as a practice of sorts but trump insists it was not and the pre-screened questions seemed to prove that. listen. >> after the first debate the media and even some within the party suggested that you should have gone after hillary more. did you hold back and do you plan on criticizing her more this weekend? what would you say to convince hispanics who are deceived by barack obama, hillary clinton, and the biased media to vote for

you? when you become president and you -- can you assure the american people that you are going to clean house from the top at the fbi -- [ cheers and applause ] -- justice department, state department, and the v.a.? and in what order would you start. >> i want to bring in the executive editor for cnn politics, he's already in st. louis where the debate will take place. listening to those questions posed to donald trump last night, do you think that town hall helped him prepare for sunday's debate because the questions from people at that debate are going to be obviously very different. >> no doubt, wolf. the only question he didn't get is, "why, donald trump, are you such a great person? we're looking forward to you becoming the next president." we're told going into this town hall that his campaign setup was going to be a practice of sorts to get him used to being able to interact with the audience. i don't think we necessarily saw that last night. he did interact a little bit, made some jokes but we didn't see that personal connection

that you really need to do in these town hall settings. there is so much on the line, wolf, for donald trump on sunday night in this debate that will be moderated by anderson cooper and martha radatz. he did so poorly in the previous debate he needs to make up ground. i don't think that last night was really the testing ground that he needs heading into sunda sunday. >> based on what we're hearing, is he having mock rehearsals with stand-ins that hillary clinton, for example, has been doing? >> what i've been told as well as sara murray, who's traveling with the trump campaign is that he is taking questions from reince priebus, the chairman of the republican national committee. chris christie, who ran against him for the republican nomination and really tried to base his campaign around town halls is doing the follow-ups, trying to ask him hard follow-ups but certainly not the traditional sense where you have the candidate in a mock situation up against somebody playing hillary clinton. donald trump doesn't like to do that. in fact, today he met with his

national security round table and talked to them. tomorrow we'll see him in wisconsin at an event that has been really created by reince priebus. he'll be with speaker paul ryan in wisconsin one day before the debate. wolf? >> reince priebus is from wisconsin, so is paul ryan. i'll see you in st. louis. thanks so much for that, mark preston. that's it for me, i'll be back 5:00 p.m. east american the situation room. our coverage of hurricane matthew continues with victor blackwell on the ground. that starts right after a quick break. i absolutely love my new but the rent is outrageous. good thing geico offers affordable renters insurance. with great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. [doorbell] uh, excuse me. delivery. hey. lo mein, szechwan chicken, chopsticks, soy sauce and you got some fortune cookies. have a good one. ah, these small new york apartments... protect your belongings. let geico help you with renters insurance.

i'm victor black well in jacksonville the governor that rick scott says he is most concerned about getting the worst of hurricane matthew. still a solid category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. in just the last few minutes, we've seen an uptick in the winds. we have seen an increase in the rain here with those outer bands