is awesome. the x1 voice remote. xfinity. the future of awesome. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thank you for sharing your day with us. irma is on a direct path to southern florida. giant storm surge predicted. the governor says the most catastrophic hurricane in state history. officials warning residents they best heed evacuation orders. >> i don't know anybody in florida that's ever experienced what's about to hit south florida. >> images from irma's path across the caribbean are heart breaking. tiny barbuda, fewer than 2,000

residents. the prime minister puts the cost of rebuilding at $100 million. >> my main concern right now is how we're going to survive after this. every house, every infrastructure, everything is completely damaged and gone. >> as irma takes aim, hurricane harvey still very much and issue. first installment of aid money approved from congress. all 90 no votes came from republicans. most at a broader deal president trump made with the democrats. >> the idea we're voting against relief is absurd. all we're asking for is a comma. we're doing to do something about the $20 million for the next generation. yes, hugely frustrated. and irma closing in on florida. downgraded to a category 4 not

making it any less deadly. irma expected to slam into miami this weekend. the red cross says 26 million people are still sitting in the storm's path. president trump is getting briefed again this hour and issued a warning on twitter saying, "irma is bigger than we have ever seen. get out of the way if possible." more than 650,000 residents urged to leave their homes. some chaos on highways. official warning, if you call 911 during this storm, no one will pick up the phone. >> this is very, very serious. if you decide to stay in the keys you are on your own. the hospitals are closing. emergency managers, we're leaving, moving. if it's coming to key west we're going you tup the keys vice ver. no one will be around. >> not sure what or who to believe, look what irma has done to small islands across the

caribbe caribbean. homes smashed to bits. waves rushed into a -- the shore so fast, that cameraman almost washed away. let's watch. >> he says he barely escaped. the tiny island of barbuda barely inhabitable. the prime minister estimating some 95% of buildings damaged. devastation, cost $100 million to fix. islanders who lost everything say they've never, ever seen anything like it. >> last night was the most devastating experience i have ever had in my life, and i am almost 60. i witnessed hurricane louis, but never like this. this one is the worst and the most devastating, done more

damage to barbuda. >> left to right, katia, irma and jose. and straight to chad myers at the cnn weather center. chad, you hear the warnings. always people who don't listen to them. take us through the path and explain just what is coming to south florida. >> the reason why they don't listen to them, john, is because typically we're talking about a category 1. you know, you're going to get five mile wide of an area that really gets damage in a cat 1. this is not close. this is a category 4 but not any smaller in size than when it was a category 5. what's happened is that the eyewall got messed up for a little bit, called an eyewall replacing cycle. it's replaced and stronger again and could get back to a 5. there's no reason to let your guard down here, because, oh,

it's a 4. it's still the same. it's the same, except for maybe a little rise in pressure, this is still a devastating storm. you can see the eye is not as distinct now, but it will get back. i guarantee. it's going to get back over warm water against to the south of caicos, north of cuba, may react there and maybe flooding, damage in the florida keys and eventually gets to the key west keys. key west, islislamorada, and th is sunday, 8:00 a.m. won't lose pow everybody over the everglades and moves north. no real land there. it will get stronger, possibly, because the water in the everglades is warmer than the water in the ocean. so here's what the models look like. by sunday, 6:00, west palm, about 40 miles per hour. miami almost 60. naples, getting to 90 miles per hour by later that afternoon. this is a big storm right over

the everglades. that's some good news over the everglades, but not really because the storm gets bigger and 100 mile-per-hour winds to fort pierce including fort myers. up north over orlando. seeing 90 to 95 per hour gusts. tampa 85. jacksonville, a lot of onshore flow. savannah and charleston, flooding along the coast pushing water inland and then all evacuees are going, atlanta. atlanta's getting 60 or 75 mile-per-hour winds because the storm isn't done yet. landfall around islamorada, make surface to key west and the biggest, key biscayne. where andrew went in, and into homestead. not as much surge as wind. this is going to bring 10, maybe 12 feet of water. anyone not more than 12 feet above water is going to get

water in their house and it's going to be sloshing and the waves on top of it, 10 to 20 feet. you can imagine power will do to the homes. they will be gone and why you need to be gone in some of the low-lying areas. some flooding and rain, but this is more of a floodmaker because of the surge and then wind damagemaker, all along the coast. both sides. east side and west side. nobody gets spared here. because it goes right up the middle. john? >> nobody gets spared here. important. listen to your governor, your mayor, listen to chad myers. he knows about these storms. we'll check in later for more. plenty in florida remember the last killer hurricane. andrew. 25 years ago's we found a man who survived that storm now helping people prepare for this one. >> serious. you know? this ain't no game. you know? i feel for a lot of people and i can't help it. i can't get to, because i'm only one guy and my brother and i. you know?

so -- hopefully i made some type of change or saved a life or two. all that matters at the end of the day. >> amen to those good samaritans. that was homestead south of miami. brian todd in a county north of miami, one concern keeping older residents safe. how are they going with evacuations? what do local officials say? >> reporter: a very complex and frankly tense evacuation scenario. they have to -- mandatory evacuation for palm beach went into effect two hours ago. trying to get people from that barrier island. palm beach, across the intercoastal waterway and across the bridges soon as possible. before tomorrow. they want people off the roads by tomorrow. a lot of people are staying. hunkering down. it's dangerous to stay on that barrier island. get across positive west palm beach where we are. 15 general shelters in west palm beach. none we know of in palm beach

because they want people to get out. they're locking down this bridge so no boats can go through. a given. won't be boats on the water then but also manning checkpoints on these bridges. police checking to see if anyone coming across during the storm has proof of residence of palm beach. you don't have that, you can't get on to palm beach. they won't want anyone coming in just to see the waves. complicated process. trying to get people off this barrier island because the storm surge we're told will be about five to ten feet. i'm standing five feet above the water here and, of course, that means it's going to come up to where i'm standing and even higher. there's going to be wave action on top of that. this is a slightly higher elevation than over there. so they've got to get people off that island. talked about the elderly. that is just a huge problem right now. they're trying to get as many elderly people into shelters as possible. they have one special needs shelter in palm beach county. the pre-registration is just about at capacity, john. i just talked to the owner and manager of an alzheimer's care place run out of a house like

one of these here. only four patients there and going to move them from that place to another one of his facilities, not a shelter. thinking he can care for them better there. concerned because they get confused, ask questions, get scared. that in a microcosm is the problem associated with moving the elderly and getting them secured that's multiplied thousands of times, of course, because there are so many elderly here in palm beach county and opening up a special shelter for special needs people if they need to, john. >> brian todd, west palm beach. remember the logistical challenge. hundreds of thousands of people moving. if you have to move, have to get to a shelter, have questions, deal with them now, deal with them as soon as possible. the longer you way, the harder to get help. despite evacuation odors many wouldn't or couldn't leave. now stuck waiting and worrying about friends and neighbors and also about the coming hurricane jose. and lives on st. thomas. hunkered down with the storm with three others and joins me

on the phone. you went outside to check on neighbors. tell us about the destruction and how people are doing. >> caller: hi. yeah, we decided to venture out and try to help the neighbors here on st. thomas. we're in a lot of shock. there's more destruction than we could have imagined. there are wires down everywhere. trees blocking roads. so i'm -- >> you say the only hospital on the island destroyed. one of the things you're doing, you're rare, goes in and out, but you have cell phone capability right now, which is rare. most of the communications are knocked out. what are you doing? using your own social media to help neighbors communicate? >> caller: yes, we are. thank god for social media. i didn't know i'd ever say that, but thank god. kept us able to find out who is safe. the more we're trying to get the word out, people back in the states have been contacting my social media, trying to find out if their loved ones are okay,

because as far as we know, there is no internet whatsoever. of course, no tv. there is absolutely no cell phone reception outside of what we're understanding from at&t, one tower that is hitting the north side of the island. so we're trying to be able to get as much information back to you guys in the states from people that are here. there's a lot of people that still have no contact whatsoever to let loved ones know they are okay. >> so elizabeth, do you have any way of getting information from local officials about when services might be restored? about where supplies might be available for people who need them or in the dark? >> reporter: no. absolutely not. i'm sorry. what? >> there's no -- >> caller: we have -- absolutely none. we're not getting any information from the government. as far as what to do, where to go.

when help is coming. we did see a couple helicopters flying overhead this morning. we saw somebody being lifted off the top of a house from our house the other day. outside of that, we have no idea. we're not even -- we have no information where jose is. how close it is. i have a son back in the states that i've been texting back and forth and the boys and my husband, communicating with family to find out what is going on, and is anybody going to come here? when can we get out? we have enough water and food to get us through the week, but -- you know, where we go after that, from what we understand, grocery stores are destroyed. we found out from our landlord who was able to get down to our house with a bobcat clearing away debris that -- everything's gone. everything is gone. so outside of my communication, really, with my son, who lives

in ohio, who's name is cole, goes to capital university there and kept us up could date on either where the storm was. he was taking us through it step by step watching the eye and told us the second it was hitting. so -- >> elizabeth -- >> caller: that is the only communication we are having. no whatsoever. so we look forward to finding out when the we'll have help coming in, and what we can do. >> elizabeth doody thompson from the u.s. virgin islands, st. thomas. the government says three navy ships are coming to the u.s. virgin islands to help. keep you up to date on the situation and any help we can help with, if we can. up next, congress approving badly needed relief for hurricane harvey. president trump cleepleased. other republicans, not very happy.

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welcome back. showing you live pictures from our affiliate. homestead, florida, 35 miles south of miami. those lines, people waiting to get signed up for a shelter. early glimpses of the massive logistical challenge facing local and state officials across florida. hundreds of thousands told to evacuate their homes and get to safer ground. live pictures of homestead, florida. officials, and people lining up to get into a shelter opening in homestead directly in the path of irma. now scripted. we'll keep you in touch. and a big win for president trump. the question, what price? voted 316-90 in favor of

legislation including nearly $8 billion as a first installment. all 90 no votes came from republicans and those votes had little, maybe nothing to do, with harvey money. republicans don't like the rest of the legislation raising the borrowi ining limits, keeps the government running through december. and the deal with top democrats and zero concessions in the process. emotions are raw. in a closed door meeting before the vote, the treasury secretary asked members to vote for the package, for me. that prompted outrage from members. the president's budget director, former house member not long ago defended the boss. >> i thought it was absolutely the right thing to do. i think the president is sending the message that -- the president is a very results-driven person. he saw about opportunity to work with democrats on this particular issue at this particular time to get those things done. we would love, love, love to continue to work with

republicans and will to get tax reform done, to get infrastructure done to address again the debt ceiling. >> count them. three loves there. love, love, love, continue working with republicans. here to share reporting and insights, our guests. how long is this? what is the lasting impact? republicans are mad. surprisingly in a meeting with their leadership sitting there the president pulled out the rug and sided with democrats. a win for the president. most americans think, good. washington is working. this is the way it's supposed to be. keep the government running. getting harvey relief money to the people who need it, raised the government's borrowing limits to pay bills like american families have to do. out there. good thing. in town, republicans seething thinking the president turned his back on his own party and this deal sets up for them tough votes and complications? >> their worst nightmare. what everybody feared.

conservative republicans feared donald trump would do when in office. cut deals with democrats and essentially freeze them out. you heard mick mill va, what's immediate challenge in front of me kind of guy, that had a lot to do with this. it's not clear this will be a template necessarily for him going forward and not clear it will indice democrats to work with them on other issues. they have a lot of leverage. this deal has shown that. for this 15 minutes, week or two, it gets him to where he needs to be. danger, he's liked the results of this. getting good reviews. public likes it. gushing about the headlines in the newspaper which he rarely does. feels pretty good when i cut a deal. >> first deal. >> and can get things done. irony, a deal to do none of the things he campaigned on. doesn't cut spending. doesn't cut taxes, doesn't build a wall. doesn't crack down on

immigration. it is a risk, and we'll see how long it lasts. >> to your point. the administration is trying to tell republicans, president did this just once. calm down. stay with us. we got to do tax reform and other things we need to do. listen to the president yesterday, to julie's point. the first big deal he brokered. >> i think we will have a different relationship than you've been watching over the last number of years. i hope so. i think that's a great thing for our country, and i think that's what the people of the united states want to see. they want to see some dialogue. they want to see coming together to an extent, at least, and i think you see that with daca. you see that with so many different things. >> if you listen to that, in washington, so you just raised the debt ceiling without spending cuts. conservatives are mad about that. there's the president of the united states saying we're going to do more including giving what a lot of conservatives think is amnesty to d.r.e.a.m.ers.

>> it's never weis to assume one thing president trump does is necessarily indicative of future actions. one aide i spoke to is worried that the positive coverage he's gotten out of this is going to motivate him to want to cut more deals with democrats. the intriguing thing here is, nothing forcing speaker ryan and leader mcconnell in the senate to accept the deal. they control the floor. could have said no and we're going a different way. this shows how much power president trump has over their base and decision-making and if president trump decides to do this, could be -- decides to move further in this direction, could be a sign of things to come. >> to the point of not getting carried away here. remember back when the house voted on eventually voted in the way that trump liked on the first version of the health care bill? he held that big sort of celebratory moment in the rose garden? you know, you would have thought that was a moment where he reveled in working with republicans. it wasn't that much longer he was attacking mitch mcconnell

and attacking paul ryan. i mean, if you're the democrats here you don't get, sort of suddenly think, well, now we have a lasting, trusting partner in the white house. >> i don't think they think that but i think they have think they have a hand grenade that divides republicans now. >> the most surprising thing it took trump this long to snub republican leaders and cut a deal with democrats. this is what he campaigned on, on getting deals done and basically snubbing democrats since he got to the white house. the most shocking thing to me is that it took this long and i do think he could try do it again and most sitting at home say maybe it's not a bad thing if both parties are involved in passing major legislation that impacts the future of our count. not a great example of that, but for the future. >> the question, a lot of republicans thinks it makes it harder for tax reform. have to vote on a spending plan by early december making it harder and go to a mid-term election year and house republicans since, mr.

president, you may lose the hout because house. any minute we expect florida's governor to give an update on evacuations and preparations for hurricane irma. we'll be back in just a moment. legendary olive haircare. infused with olive oil & olive leaf extracts. it softens and shines for naturally-beautiful hair. garnier whole blends legendary olive. find every blend at walmart. [ "livin' thing" by electric light orchestra ]

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irma already run roughshod. the storm killed at least 20 people. from st. martin to puerto rico leaving behind misery at every stop. what it looks like on st. bart's. shattered remains of homes and drowned out streets. florida bracing for irma. one of the reason for panic is this. storm surge. expanding the evacuation zone. more than 650,000 people ordered to leave their homes. and storm surge, the chief concern, for fema. >> the most devastating hazard

associated with hurricanes, get out of that storm surge area and into a facility that can withstand the winds. >> chad myers is in our cnn weather center with us again. chad, break it down for us. exactly what is storm surge and explain why it is so, so dangerous. >> it is flooding. in one word. it is flooding, because the storm is going to take its bubble of water that's already under there and then run into land. right now there's storm surge going on but no "there" there. no land there. went over crooked island a while ago and no land there. when you push it into the evergrades, the islamorada area along the keys the water will pile up, not get through the cuts fast enough and you will over wash some areas in the florida keys. the most dangerous and why we say, you can't stay in the keys. i don't care how old you are or

how good you think you are or how many storms you've seen, you've never seen one that pushed water over like the 1935, the one that just completely destroyed the train they were building there in '35. just pushed everything, completely to the other side of florida bay. there is the eye right now. it is undergoing a kind of reconstructive surgery, if you will. the middle part of the eye blew off overnight because an outer eye replaced it. the winds went down. when that outer eyewall becomes the inner eyewall, the wind speed goes back up. pushing water on to land. so anywhere from here, from the right side of the eye all the way up into miami, right through here, this wind is going to pile for hours and hours and hours, and you're going to get 6 to 12 feet of water here, and then it's going to roll over the keys, and it's going to do the same thing on this side from

fort myers to cape coral to naples and to venice. john? >> chad, those who wait. some people like to wait to the very end. part of it stubborn, part pride in her home, whatever. now a day and a half, two days from irma. at what point are you certain this isn't going to take event? >> eich watching the brand new model coming in in about 30 minutes. european takes six hours to run. why has the european been better. rung it six hours, not four. more data, dimension, more layers, so it can be better, kbroi don't think. now that american and european mold are completely agreeing, we won't get any bend whatsoever. i hope so. nots much can go wrong. left, more of this side, but spare florida. spare miami. go farther to the right, truly going to hit miami with 145 mile-per-hour wind. >> in other words, folks should

get out, if -- get out if told to get out. if it take as turn -- celebrate coming home early. >> exactly right. you don't have to go to georgia. just to your local shelter. it's inconvenient, but there are shelters with pets, and places and ways to get there for free. and that's what we're asking. just get out of those homes that are going to be devastated. >> chad, we'll keep in touch. echoing that message, the republican governor's florida. if you're in florida, couldn't be more clear, be prepared to get out. the entire state, the governor says, a potentially deadly disaster zone. in miami beach, we talked about the storm surge. show us why people right where you are are so concerned. >> reporter: the surge is a huge concern here in miami beach, and i'm going to have my cameraman take you over to the skyline to show you exactly why this could be so costly. why irma is going to hurt miami beach so much.

it is -- let's see here. lots of high rises. what draws people to miami beach. booming with development. since hurricane andrew, this area has seen a population explosion. 35% growth. and that's despite the fact that these high-rise buildings have new building codes since hurricane andrew. they're considered to be more safe. i want you to take a look at this picture, from 1925. just to give you a sense of how much miami beach has changed. one year before a category 4 storm hit it in 1926, this is what miami beach looked like's so when the hurricane came through, a very different story here in miami beach. as you go around miami beach. as we've been with the fire department, the police department, the residents what we've seen is storm surge, protections, they are expecting high storm surge. this is an area that floods even on a sunny day. there is a lot of concern about debris. the population. and all of how much this is

going to cost miami beach, john. >> in miami beach, thank you for your reporting. we'll keep in touch. listen to people. they say get out, get out. the size and scope of hurricane irma, noaa's hurricane hunter are doing straight into the eye of the storm. scott price, leaving this afternoon for another higs. mission. we're hearing it's a monster, bigger than andrew, bigger than anything we've seen. explain to us just what you have seen up there. >> sure. so my experience has been very similar. i've been a hurricane hunter about nine years, and this is unlike any storm, almost any storm i've ever seen. category 5 storm. we see they are unusual. this one is particularly powerful. particularly strong. the shorreports you hear and

forecasts you see are absolutely accurate based on what we've seen in the storm telephoitself >> what are you seeing on these missions that tell you it's going to carry more water, it's wider, bigger, it's stronger? >> it's a number of things. includes wind speed, visual clues. the video that's been circulating with our air crew flying into the eye. that presentation, also known as a stadium effect is generated by extremely powerful storms. only seen it that pronounced in one other storm in nine years. so that very well defined eye with the swirling massive thunderstorms and clouds, with that very clear center is indicative of a very, very powerful storm. we've seen extremely high winds at slight level. the instrument we've used also indicated that it is an extreme storm, and very, very strong.

all of the clues that we -- experience that we see and have in the airplane support these forecasts. >> people at home are watching, they say, why are you doing this? what is the value to the people on the ground right now from the risks you're taking when you do this? >> the value in our work is the data itself. so the best data about these storms is unfortunately in the storm itself. you can only tell so much from satellite. in order to collect the most information about the storm, we need to be in it. that information that we collect feeds the, both the track and intensity forecast, which noaa forecasters then take and generate the forecast that we see on tv. so it's the data we collect, it's invaluable generating the bestpossible guidance for the public. >> scott price, appreciate your gravery and that of your colleagues. also incredibly value the information and perspective. good luck, be safe when up there later today.

>> thank you. >> thank you, sir. we expect florida's governor rick scott to step out and give his latest update of the storm. you're looking at live pictures. floridians heading north to escape irma. i count on my dell small business advisor

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and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. take you live straight to florida. governor rick scott, his latest preparations preparing for hurricane irma. >> storm surge, 3 to 12 feet. think about that. 3 to 12 feet across an area life threatening. jupiter inward southward the florida peninsula to bow neeat bonita beach. and north of bonita beach to the river. forecast 8 to 12 inches with isolated areas receiving up to 20 inches of rain.

based on what we know the majority of florida, major hurricane impact and deadly winds. we expect it along the entire east and west coast. the florida keys should be prepared to start feeling effects of this storm tomorrow morning and pan hahandle, expec severe weather. orders school bus evacuations statewide. multiple counties accepted the buses and anyone with need for buses to evacuate residents request buses right now. traffic and the roadways experts report that the keys are heavily evacuated. all gas leaks closed. still in the keys, get out now. we will quickly run out of good weather to evacuate. if you need any help in the state to evacuate, 1-800-342-3557.

but it you're in the keys, leave now. anywhere in the state, told to evacuate, leave. get ot quickly. i'm a dad and a grandfather. i love my family. i can't imagine life without them. do not put yourself or your family at risk. if you've been ordered to evacuate and are still home, please, go to a shelter. i encourage everyone to check on your neighbors. if you know someone in your neighborhood who is not evacuating and should, please contact them. take care of each other. please check on your neighbors with special needs or the elderly. if you can take people in, please, do it. today is the day to do the right thing for your family and get to safety. today is the day the right thing for your family and every family in the state to make sure you have a plan and get to safety. this storm is wider than our entire state and expected to cause major and life threatening impacts from coast to coast.

remember hurricane andrew is one of the worst storms in the had history of the state. irma is more devastating on its current path. irma has aurz caused molt poll fatalities in the caribbean. the storm is powerful and deadly. we are being very aggressive in preparation for the storm and every floridian should take this seriously and be aggressive to protect their family. possessions can be replaced. your knafamily cannot. it's hard to evacuate and very uncomfortable. i think about my mom, how hard to be completely broke with kids and have to evacuate. but you have to do it. you can't afford not do it. think about your family. you have to keep your family safe. to private business owners, please be compassionate with your employees as they prepare for the storm and evacuate. i was a business owner when hurricane andrew devastated the state 25 years ago. the get most important thing now is the safety of your employees and their families.

for the remainder of the state, evacuation orders listen to local officials. they will tell you if and when your area needs to be evacuated. listen to them. follow the news. we can expect additional evacuations as the storm continues to come up through the state. i cannot stress this enough. do not ignore any evacuation orders. all floridians should be prepared to evacuate. lake okeechobee. based on recent photographs, army corps reviewed how the dikes will be impacted. i spoke to the corner with the u.s. army corps of engineers last night and a member of the corps today. they believe additional impacts from excessive wind pushing water over the dike. they have assured me the structural integrity will not be compromised but worried about water flowing over the top. i order evacuations in the city surrounding the southern half of

loke okeechobee from lake point to palm beach and glades county. the decision made due to the sole focus on life safety. traffic. many are stuck in traffic and i know you have to be frustrated. i'll ask, be patient. evacuations are not convenient. but the goal is for them to be safe. i'm glad so many people are driving to safe places. we have increased the number of troopers on florida highways to help move traffic and keep it moving going down the road. we have 1,700 troopers working 12-hour shifts. these dedicated officers are 100% focused on safety and not taking a day off. also, all administrative duties suspected at fhp meaning all sworn fhp officers are on road helping families evacuation and bringing supplies to areas of need. and increasing roadway patrol 24/7 sow assist motorists.

around the state, hundreds of d.o.t. workers offering cameras ensuring traffic flows continue and evacuations proceed without interruptions. all of this is to help everyone that's going to evacuate get safely where they need to go. contra flow. we still need southbound lanes to get gas and supplies down to shelters and family that need it in the southern part of the state. contra flow is getting supplies to those who need them. shoulders on i-75 from wildwood to the georgia line. drive safely and listen to law enforcement who are working to keep you and your family safe. realtime traffic information and evacuation routes available at fl-511.com. seeing bottlenecks at major highway junctions bringing up an important point. if you don't need to evacuate out of the state, hundreds of miles away to stay safe, there's

a lot -- you don't always have to do that. there are shelters around the state. if you don't need to be on the road get off, go to a shelter. we coordinate with google emergency response team prepared to close roads on google maps in realtime in the event hurricane irma forces closure of any roads. in my direction, all tolls a all roads in the state waived. visit florida welcome centers transformed to emergency centers to help direct evacuees with the most up to date information and welcomes staff and all red cross certified stand ready to assist ars needed. if you are concerned you don't have a way to evacuate due to traffic, call the emergency hot line. 1-800-342-3557. we will do everything possible to get you out. fuel. one of our top priorities has been fuel availability. i was alerted yesterday by vice president pence that the federal government waived additional

rules and regulation allowing more fuel to get to florida fast. i tharng tnk the epa, president vice president to efforts to help get more fuel to the state. we no know there are problems with supply at gas stations. providing escort services to get them through traffic to get to the stations faster. law enforcement escorts continue throughout the night and will go as long as possible. probably seen some around the state. from gas stations and evacuation zones, we need you to stay open as long as possible. so people can get fueled and get out. we will arrange police escorts for your employees so they can get out safely. so, please, stay open, if you're in an evacuation zone and a gas station, please, stay open as long as you can. we all know how important fuel is. we're devoting every state resource and the federal government working to try to make sure we have all the fuel we can get here. three tanker trucks delivering fuel to tampa bay yesterday,

three fuel tanker trucks in. each delivering 1.2 million gallons of fuel. state law enforcement continues to escort fuel supply trucks from port tampa bay and direct them to gas stations. as of 6:00 p.m. last night 8.4 million gallons of fuel was shipped in to point everglades and more shipped into tampa bay. and connecting communities throughout central florida. we're making progress, unfortunately you'll still see lines and still see outages. i can't imagine how frustrating you have to be. just tell you, none of us will stop working on it. however, if you are in an evacuation zone in south florida, remember, you need to leave now. port everglades is closing tonight for safety and gas will no longer be resupplied into south florida until after the storm. if you are concerned you don't have enough fuel to evacuate,

please call the state emergency hot line. 1-800-342-3557. do me -- you have to call now. you cannot call in the middle of the storm. you have to call now so we can get you out. if you know you're going to a shelter in your county, you don't have to fill up your tank all the way. be considerate of others who might have to go further away. there's an app, gas buddy app, a great resource to find open stations with fuel. all ports remain open, operating to bring fuel and supplies in. shelters. last night i directed the closure of all schools in the state. k-12, state colleges and universities and all state offices from their normal activities. today through monday. the goal, ensure we have all space available for sheltering and staging. floridians have to have access to as many shelters as possible and we'll see more evacuations in the northern part of the

state. fortunately over 17,000 people signed up to volunteer. we need more volunteers. go to the volunteer of florida website. volunteerflorida.org to sign up. we can't thank the ones that have signed up enough, but are going to need more. there's absolutely no reason for anyone not to evacuate, if ordered to do so. shelters are available around the state. and you should follow directions of the local officials to go to the shelter that fits your needs. you can go to florida disaster dot org slash shelter. if you need a hotel, go to expediahotel.com/florida. they're helping ut on realtime. air bnb, if you're an evacuee in need of a place sow stay or air bnb host, open house for evacuating go to airhub, airbnb.com/disaster. the florida restaurant and lodge

association encouraged all hotels to waive pet policies offer shelter and compassionate with cancellations. national guard. we've already activated 7,000 members, which is right now every available member of the national guard, she have, been activated. law enforcement. fish and wildlife conservation preparing search and rescue teams for potential deployment and more than 200 officers standing by for the first wave of response based on potential storm impacts. reaching out to law enforcement across the state make sure they have resources to keep people safe. utility providers are actively prepositioning supplies around the state and in neighbors states. we know how important fuel and power will be. we will aggressively work with utilities to make sure if you lose power, get your power back on as quickly as we can. i want to thank the governors of other states that provided, every time i've asked for something they've provided it. i know the entire country is behind us. i know the president's behind us

and we have the best first responders in the country spread throughout the state ready to help and neighboring states, but are running out of time. the storm is almost here. if you're in an evacuation zone, go now. this is a catastrophic storm that this state has never seen before we can rebuild your house. if you can get possessions again, we cannot rebuild your life are and cannot rebuild your family. protecting life is our absolute top priority. there will be no resource or expense spared to protect it a family. florida is tough. florida is resilient. florida is unbreakable. we all have to stay together and help each other. florida is an amazing melting pot of loving people and i'm proud to be governor of this great state. [ speaking in foreign language ]

[ speaking in foreign language ] [ speaking in foreign language ] >> i'd reilike to introduce the attorney general. [ speaking in foreign language ] [ speaking in foreign language ] [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> now i'd like to introduce the attorney general, the -- one thing is disgusting, anyone price gouging. we have an attorney general that will prosecute people for price goumping. this is the time to help our neighbors. this is not the time to take advantage of our neighbors. >> thank you, governor. thank you. thank you for everything you're doing in your leadership. thank you to eoc to fema and all law enforcement officers and i agree the white house has been amazingly responsive. we're going to continue to monitor this news conference. the governor of florida rick scott. i'll speak with him shortly as well. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. thanks very much for joining us. right now, as you know, a massive hurricane is bearing down on the southern tip of the united states. the storm that has already brought death and destruction to the caribbean now threatens to crack the spine of florida.

tens of millions of people are in irma's path right now and told to prepare for the worst. stay with us throughout this hour as we put you on the ground right in the path of this monster storm. first, a better look where the storm is heading right now. that means chad myers is standing by to give us the latest on the forecast, the track of hurricane irma. chad what are you seeing? >> i see finally now that the u.s. model we talked about yesterday and the european model that we talked about yesterday are finally agreeing. and they are agreeing on the european version of what they had yesterday. right over the florida keys. very close to marathon florida. 150 miles per hour. eyewall replace innocent cycle going on. means an outer eyewall bigger. cut off everything to the inner eyewall, where all the wind was. didn't make it any less strong. just made the winds in the middle a little less. now that says 4.

category 4 behind me, but do not let your guard down. this storm is no smaller in size. it just has a smaller tightly packed wind field like that wind field that andrew had. that was only a small wind field. only five miles wide. we can't focus on five miles. we have to focus on the entire peninsula of florida. everyone in florida will feel a hurricane force wind gust over the next two days. everyone. now, whether that brings down power line or trees or branches, whatever, depends on close you are to the center of this. red line, american model. blue line, european model. right over marathon, florida, possibly up to about worldwide sports islamorada. seeing heaviest wind on the dirtiest side. wind sidish push the wind and storm, key largo, up to even about i would say the stretch, probably see significant wind damage there all the way up ocean reef