welcome to cnn's special live coverage of hurricane dorian. i'm john king in washington. erica hill in charleston. as you can see, she has a front-row view of the storm's power. this is the view from the international space station. take a look. beyond words. dorian weakening just last hour to a category 2 storm, but its impacts still being felt up and down the coast. multiple tornados have touched down this morning. parts of downtown charleston already under water. 2:00 p.m. is when the next high tide arrives, and with the storm surge, officials worry tide levels could reach 10 feet. those worries were the reality in the bahamas where rescues are

still under way today. our cnn crews on grand bahama spotted u.s. coast guard choppers flying over the wreckage just this morning. the coast guard says they have rescued 135 people and 6 pets across the island so far. on the abacos, at least 80 people have been rescued according to a government official. the view from above shows everything below leveled by this storm. at least 20 people were killed in the bahamas. as we've been saying for days, that total, sadly, likely will rise. erica in charleston now where 200,000 are still without power. that makes plotting the next hours, never mind the next few days all the more difficult. >> reporter: the hard part now, john, is we are still in the thick of it so there are still hours of rain and wind to come, which means it delays getting out there and assessing what's happening. i just spoke with the mayor of point pleasant and he said that is one of the things that will delay that process because it has to be safe for crews to be out there.

in the last hour or so conditions have really picked up in charleston. we are feeling the force of these wind gusts. despite that being downgraded to a category 2, that difference of 5 miles an hour, you don't really feel that difference when you're here on the ground. i want to go to the cnn weather center. meteorologist allison chinchar is standing by. allison, as we are feeling this wind pick up, i would imagine that the eye wall is getting closer to us because that is where the strongest winds are. it also seems these gusts have been more consistent and they seem to be sticking around for a little bit at this point. >> yeah, that has to do with the fact that the storm is getting closer to you, and that's what's going to happen not just where you are but for north and south carolina. as the storm edges closer to you, those wind gusts, those strong wind gusts are going to get more frequent. you're not going to have quite as many gaps in between them. the rain will get heavier, things of that nature. also, one of the other main concerns with this particular storm is the potential for tornados as well as we go through the day. it's all from these feeder

bands, right through here, these outer pan eer bands as they mak way onshore. they have been producing numerous, more than a dozen tornado warnings so far today. we have one active, you can see here, just to the north of wilmington at the moment. but much of this area is under a tornado watch through the afternoon hours today. it's portions of virginia, north carolina and south carolina that have the threat for not only tornados but also water spouts. the reason water spouts are important is because we've already noticed that at least one of them this morning originated as a waterspout and came on land causing damage across portions of morehead city. the orange, that is a level 3 out of 5 for severe weather, so again the threat is relatively high for those tornados. in addition to that, you also have to worry about the flooding. this is likely to be the biggest widespread problem from dorian going forward, not just in the form of storm surge but also very heavy rainfall.

virginia, north carolina and south carolina, you are talking widespread amounts of 4 to 6 inches, but you will have numerous locations, especially where you see those shades of red or even pink where you're talking 8, 10, if not even a foot of rain coming down. now, you factor that on top of the storm surge, this is why coastal flooding is likely going to be pretty significant. these red areas right here, erica, you're talking about wilmington, myrtle beach and hatteras. you're talking 4 to 7 feet of storm surge. >> reporter: and that is a lot to contend with. allison, thank you. we are still under a flash flod warning here in charleston, in north charleston as well as mt. pleasant. that goes thank yrough 1:15. we have not only the high tide coming, it is supposed to crest at 2:00 at around 9.5 feet is the forecast, but the consistent heavy rains and that storm surge. when they all come together at once, where does that water go. brian todd is in the historic downtown area down by the

battery. brian, i know you found a significant amount of flooding where you are. you're also seeing some of these transformers blowing as we hear reports of power outages. we're seeing lights flickering around here. what more have you found, brian? >> reporter: right, erica. we're at east bay street and market street. i'll have our photojournalist, harlan schmidt, go right past me down the street on market. you can see that downed power line sparking and it might explode. we rolled up on this thing about 30 minutes ago. you can see it whipping around and causing sparks but it really explodes every few minutes and then the lights flicker on and off where we are. clearly it's knocked out power down market street over there. significant flooding here on market street and other streets here in charleston. there you see it going. get ready, it could explode because there's a transformer that really exploded violently a few minutes ago when we rolled up on this thing. we are a safe distance away from it, probably 150 yards away, and

we are on the other side of a cross street here. but we've been having to warn people who have walked around this area to clear out and not go down that street and not drive down that street because obviously that thing is still whipping around and still very much of a danger. officials here in charleston tell us there are also more than a hundred downed trees in this area. they have got 85 road closures, 26 of them flood-related, including one not far from here near the ashley river, which is a very low-lying river. there you see it sparking again. this thing could really blow in a second because it's been very, very violent at times while we've been here and very, very dangerous for anybody along these streets. you know, charleston is used to this kind of thing, but this is the third major hurricane to impact this area in the last three years. you had matthew in 2016, you had irma in 2017, now this. they also had a 1,000-year flood event in 2015. the city is kind of wondering how much more it can take.

you can see that thing still sparking. we'll get some information also from the mayor's office about power outages. the power is out down here. interestingly every time that thing blows, the power kind of goes on and off where we are and kind of kicks back on so there are currents running all over this area. very, very dangerous here, erica. we'll toss it back to you. >> reporter: all right. and i know you said you and your crew are a safe distance away, but i know there will be people watching this at home n case you missed that, we know that you are saying your best to stay safe so appreciate that and appreciate you keeping us updated. i want to go down to art perry who is on james island which is just across from where i am. you are riding the storm out there, art, and posting videos of what you have seen. what are you experiencing right now? >> well, right now i'm watching this tree dance with these power lines right above the house here. i believe it's going to make it, but i don't know. it's been interesting here -- go

ahead. >> reporter: are you worried that that tree -- you're saying you're watching this tree dance with power lines above your house. are you worried that could in fact fall toward your home? >> no, ma'am, no, ma'am. we haven't had power since 1:00 this morning so it ain't going to make no difference to us right now. it's definitely a whole lot worse right now than it has been the rest of the time. it's a solid, constant strong wind. >> reporter: yeah, that's definitely what we're feeling here right in downtown charleston. you know, we talked a lot, we heard from the mayor of charleston yesterday saying if you had flooding during irma, if there was flooding for you during matthew, then you need to get out because you likely will see flooding again. what made you decide to stay? >> well, you know, the local -- the local news and weather and all the police and the emergency did a really good job of getting everybody ready for it. this is the third one we've had in three years so you don't really get used to it, you just kind of learn to adapt to it.

once you're in it, you're in it. it's risk/reward, we knew what we was getting into. >> reporter: have you ever evacuated before? >> we left during matthew, i believe. matthew, yeah. we left during matthew but stayed during irma so we figured why not. we knew it was going to be a pretty good one, but we'll take our chances. >> reporter: and what about the folks around you where you are, did many other people decide to stay or are you the lone holdout there, art? >> our neighbors are all pretty close knit, we've all been in contact with each other. i believe everybody but two houses stayed. then i got out in it this morning about 4:30 and -- sorry, hold on. okay, good, it's safe. i thought that tree was coming there. but everybody that we've talked to is doing well. we've got kids -- there's some kids next door and they're well taken care of. we're just riding it out. >> reporter: art, i hope you'll keep us posted. we'll keep checking your twitter feed as well. be careful, be careful of that

tree. we are glad that you are safe and we want it to stay that way. art perry joining us there from james island. as you can see, the conditions are really pick ing up here. art is feeling it on james island. we are just across the river from him in downtown charleston and hurricane dorian really making itself known in these parts. our live coverage continues after this short break. stay with us. (door bell rings) it's open! hey. this is amazing. with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay? even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira can help get, and keep uc under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. and it helps people achieve control that lasts. so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened;

as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, control is possible.

hmm. exactly. and doug. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice. but, uh... what's up with your... partner? oh. well, we just spend all day telling everyone how we customize car insurance, because no two people are alike, so... limu gets a little confused when he sees another bird that looks exactly like him. [ loud crash ] yeah. he'll figure it out. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

welcome back to our special live coverage of hurricane dorian. the prime minister of the bahamas calling it, quote, generational devastation in his country after hurricane dorian. harbors, shops, work places, homes, even the grand bahama international airport demolished by dorian. at least 135 people have been rescued so far in the bahamas, that according to the u.s. coast guard. cnn's paula newton joins us live from nassau. paula, you're just back to nassau. at this time yesterday we just arrived at man-o-war cay. you've gathered some remarkable images and heard some remarkable sad stories. bring us up to speed. >> reporter: yeah, john. yesterday when we had arrived, it had been about an hour on the ground. after that, the devastation that we saw was incredible. i want you to see some of it now. john, you were talking about each and every home. probably about half of them in the area i went through were

completely destroyed. the first thing that happened was those rooftops would come off. after that they had debris from their own homes, other homes, air conditioners, all of it spinning around and potentially lethal projectiles headed everywhere. keep in mind when you see this video, at the time the storm was hitting a lot of people didn't have rooftops. they were trying to get to other homes or places of shelter. but look at this video, john. you're talking about unrecognizable -- we had shown some of the footage to some of the islanders and even they could not recognize what was what. you had boats completely turned upside down, barges turned upside down. boats that had been flung tens of feet away from their original location. these all became very dangerous scenes, as this storm spiraled out of control really in front of them. john, they want you to know that as much as horrible as these pictures are, in fact they don't begin to describe the horror they felt in their own homes or

when they all tried to find any neighbor's house, any neighbor's bathroom, any neighbor's shed that was still standing and they would move over hours. you're talking more than a day and a half from house to house, from room to room, pulling mattresses off of beds to hold together windows and doors so they wouldn't blow open. all the time trying to shelter the most vulnerable among them, the elderly and the children. i want you to hear now from sherri roberts and her experience. take a listen. >> it's not just us. >> no, it's everybody. >> everybody is hurting. we're not any worse than anybody else. everybody is hurting. we thank god for life. we've got each other and we thank god for life. god is good. through it all, god is good. >> reporter: and you were with your family when you went through the storm? >> yes. yes. >> reporter: you have children? >> yes, we will be okay. we will be okay. >> reporter: any children here with you? >> my grandson.

my grandson and my husband. my daughter. >> reporter: i think i met your daughter, christine? >> yes, yes. we appreciate it. >> reporter: what was it like to ride out the storm? >> words can't describe it. i don't wish it on nobody. nobody. words can't describe it. they can never categorize this, never. it was like an atomic bomb went off. it just -- >> my grandfather ran out in the middle of the hurricane because the roof of the house, water was leaking in and he ran out about 220 gust of winds. he came out and he saved us. he had to go underneath the house, get a ladder and to get up in the middle of the house. it was crazy. i don't know how he made it. every one of us was screaming, telling him to come back inside.

if it wasn't for him, the whole house probably would have blown down. >> the community has come together and families have taken in other families. everybody has been awesome. i mean everybody has come together. like i said we're all hurting. it's not just us, we're all hurting. and we can't thank you enough for getting the word out for us. you all are our voices and we thank you for it. >> reporter: listen to sherri there and the emotion, so warranted after all the trauma. they tell me they can't process it. they can't process what they have been through or what they're seeing in their own community with the complete and utter devastation of a community that's been built really over decades. john, they're wondering what to do next. >> paula, so you have these people, like an atomic bomb. that is a very apt description from that woman there. god bless her for keeping the family together and keeping her wits about her. as you spent the night, you

brought back these amazing still images of the devastation. this is their livelihood, tours and fishing and recreation. when you look at these pictures, it is gone. what are the people you spoke with, what do they plan on doing now and next? >> reporter: yeah. you hit it straight on there, john. that's the problem. john, they don't know what to do next. when the prime minister of the bahamas says this is a generational issue, it's all staring them at the face. they don't have any infrastructure. their main concern now is their health. even dealing with things like sanitation, water, food. they'll be okay for a week, but what then? and i think the issue is that this is transformational for these communities, communities that may no longer exist, john. and that's what's really hurting them. at man-o-war i spoke with families wondering how to get their kids to schools. their schools are completely destroyed. will we ever return to the islands where we were born, where we want to raise our families. and we are wondering now can we raise our families there, and that is the issue.

john, you start from a to z, they need it all, this is from the ground up but worse than that, they need to get rid of all this debris on the islands. they need that heavy equipment to start cleaning up and get rid of things that are hazardous and toxic. there are so many issues piling up now, john, and they are trying to process it all. they don't even know -- they had no communications. i had to tell them in terms of what went on throughout the entire bahamas and they were shocked and horrified by that. so they're trying to come to grips with all of that. where they might have gone to freeport, they then heard that freeport is suffering its own ordeal with dorian and those are the kind of stories that they are trying to come to terms with and deciding what they do next and if they can return to these islands or if they're going to have to leave permanently. >> paula, when you add the isolation into the devastation in the sense of how difficult is it still to get between the islands for those, whether it's medical attention, food and water or temporary help with the

sanitary conditions you talk about or just any temporary help, how difficult is that challenge at this moment? >> reporter: i want to make it clear, it is immensely difficult. these are resourceful, self-reliant people. they know what they're doing. so feature it, john, when i went to you live yesterday, they had cleared just the hour before the baseball diamond, baseball diamond, cleared it of debris because they knew a helicopter had to land so they started with that. they thought, okay, let's at least get a helicopter in there. we were the first helicopter to get in there. now they have been ferrying people to other locations, still in the abacos islands, people who need medical attention, those families who have small children, starting to get them out. they're good for food and water for about 10 days or so, but that's not the half it, right? the issue in some areas, not on man-o-war, thank goodness, but in great marsh is they still have recover bodies, john. and people there know that there

is a limited time to do that before disease, things like cholera, start to set in. the sanitation is also going to become an issue in the coming days. it is a monumental task ahead, john. >> i hope that people around the world understand it better in part because of the hustle of you and your crew in the last several days. we appreciate your work as well as we can bring attention to that devastation and those families who need help. to that point, paula newton, thank you. for more information about how you can support nonprofits and others working to help hurricane dorian victims, go to cnn.com/impact. coming up for us, hurricane dorian very much at the top of the mind for 2020 democrats. at last night's big town hall on the climate crisis, we'll have highlights for you. that's up next. these days wre a. i hear you, sister. stress can affect our minds. i call this dish, "stress." stress can also affect our bodies. so, i'm partnering with cigna to remind you that your emotional and physical health are more connected than you think.

go in for your annual check-up. and be open with your doctor about anything you feel. physically, and emotionally. body and mind. cigna. together, all the way. that's better.

today's senior living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service

that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. a place for mom. you know your family we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice. you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase.

hey. you must be steven's phone. now you can know who's on your network and control who shouldn't be, only with xfinity xfi. simple. easy. awesome.

welcome back. we're continuing, of course, to track hurricane dorian. we'll have the latest on that storm coming up. for now we turn to the climate crisis and last night's remarkable town hall marathon right here on cnn where democratic candidates for president laid out their vision for what they say is an urgent necessary, a cleaner, greener future. ten candidates trying to stand out spanning seven hours of live television. plenty of spots where they disagreed or pitched some distinct ideas. on the whole, the democratic field agrees on the big problem. >> what you've described is the

most existential threat to our country's future. >> an existential threat to who we are as human beings. >> what the scientists call an existential threat to this planet. >> it is the existential threat. >> the entire way of life is being threatened. >> the most existential crisis. >> a very real and present crisis that we have in this country. >> it is a monumental crisis. >> we need to take urgent action. >> we can do something. we have to act, now. >> ten candidates talking about an issue that we have seen in the polling. when you travel and talk to voters, important to democratic primary voters, especially younger democratic voters. this is an urgent concern for them. what are the differences? senator cory booker disagreeing with senator bernie sanders, senator elizabeth warren among those who say get rid of nuclear power as part of this getting to a cleaner, greener future. cory booker says that's unrealistic. >> my plan says that we need to be at a zero carbon electricity

by 2030. that's ten years from the time that i will win the presidency of the united states of america. and right now nuclear is more than 50% of our non-carbon causing energy. so people who think that we can get there without nuclear being part of the blend just aren't looking at the facts. >> does that and do other differences between and among the candidates make a difference here or is this mainly about convincing the slice of the electorate that thinks this is urgent that i've got it. >> it might make a difference with slightly more tuned in voters, younger voters, which consider climate change one of their top priorities when they cast their vote. those are voters who are much more in line with someone like sanders, bernie sanders, who is adamantly opposed to nuclear. but i think that on the whole, a voter is probably not going to cast their vote in the primary

deciding whether or not a candidate supports nuclear versus totally banning natural gas or fracking as opposed to just as long as they are willing to confronting the entirety of the climate change crisis. >> you mentioned fracking. an example of how when it comes to energy and climate issues, yes, there are ideological differences but often it's geographical. julian castro saying states should decide whether or not to ban fracking. he wasn't prepared to go there. >> the candidates agreed much more than they disagreed but on some of the issues where there are regional interests, some of the candidates have a history or a past where they have voted in favor of things like fracking maybe in part because their constituents supported those policies in the past. we've seen those candidates trying to shift to the moment and try to make sure they are as progressive as possible. i think the biggest difference is between the candidates saying certain things are pragmatic and can be achieved versus the most ambitious, most progressive plans from people like senator

sanders and warren saying we need a bold, progressive agenda. the difference between pragmatism and progressive boldness is sort of where we see the fault lines in this debate. but in terms of the overarching issue, they do agree more than they disagree. >> elizabeth warren among the candidates saying when you hear the opponents, when you hear our critics, your fuel costs are going up, paper straws versus plastic straws, she says pay no attention. >> understand this is exactly what the fossil fuel industry hopes we're all talking about. that's what they want us to talk about. this is your problem. they want to be able to stir up a lot of controversy around your light bulbs, around your straws and around your cheeseburgers, when 70% of the pollution, of the carbon that we're throwing into the air comes from three industries and we can set our

targets. >> this is my question here. can any of these democrats win that argument with the country -- the rest of the country, the nondemocratic base of the country that will go through a lot of shock and trauma if you address on the scale they want to address it the climate care crisis. can they convince the country come along. >> it's their burden obviously. i think what we also saw last night was the beginning of a reality check. that we're going to see democratic candidates like cory booker was doing there say, whoa, whoa, these plans are not possible. this is the aspirational time of a campaign where candidates throw out ideas. like let's think big, let's think large, but on climate and other issues, are senator warren's plans, are senator sanders' plans and others workable. i believe democrats think they can get younger voters, republicans and independents on this issue. this is not just a democratic/republican issue.

it's a regional issue as you said, but there is an opening most democrats believe of getting some younger voters who do believe this is an issue if they like democratic policies are not. >> i think the big question going down the line to november 2020 is will democrats settle on a message that appeals to the whole and not get bogged down in the divisions. because you have a bunch of house moderates who are running in gop won districts and they do not want to talk about a $10 trillion energy plan so can they settle on a message that works for the party. >> can you have a north star and a more realistic conversation about what's achievable in the short term. dan crenshaw tweeting instead of hours of grandstanding, here are bills democrats could work with republicans on. crenshaw saying there are some things we can do. president trump just denies the problem. he was tweeting last night democrats' destructive energy proposal will raise prices at the pump.

don't they care about poverty? but there's a divide among republicans but the preliminary challenge for the democrats is if you want to pick a particular thing, like they're going to take your car away or make gas more expensive, it's easy to criticize. can they win the bigger aspirational argument. >> we'll see. on climate the party is being moved to the left and we'll see where they settle on. but you're absolutely right in terms of can the party can together. say the nominee is not as progressive. will people flip out about that? don't lose the forest for the trees some will argue, but we'll see. >> and democrats have a very sharp contrast with republicans in this. the closer we do get to november 2020 democrats are much more willing to engage on the climate science and talk about actual policy proposals to address the problem, whereas the vast majority of republicans do not want to address this issue. trump doesn't even want to acknowledge that climate change is occurring. >> there are wet days and dry days, you know.

but i do think to close on a serious note, we still don't know who the third-party candidates will be. if there's disappointment on this issue, it is an opportunity for a green party candidate that could siphon away some younger, potentially democratic votes. we'll see. coming up for us, a closer look at hurricane dorian from the famous frying pan tower in north carolina. first, vice president mike pence visits the embattled british prime minister and shares a message of support. >> i spoke to president trump this morning, your friend, and he asked me to sendi you his vey best greetings and to assure you that the united states supports the united kingdom's decision to leave the european union. we're anxious to stand with you and to do everything in our power to strengthen what has been a historic and special relationship. it was a life changing moment for me.

i had no idea that my grandfather was a federal judge in guatemala. he was an advocate for the people... a voice for the voiceless. bring your family history to life like never before. get started for free at ancestry.com

back to work, and back in the blind, because opening day is coming. it's your season. so save big at bass pro shops' and cabela's gear up sale. your adventure starts here. mytill he signed up for atunitedhealthcareealth medicare complete. ♪ now, it's like he has his own health entourage. he gets medicare's largest healthcare network,

a free gym membership, vision, dental and more. there's so much to take advantage of. can't wait till i'm 65. a few more chairs, please. unitedhealthcare medicare complete plans, the only plans with the aarp name. free dental care and eye exams, and free designer eyewear. go ahead, take advantage.

welcome back to our live coverage, i'm eric a hill in charleston, south carolina, where the winds are really whipping up. there's a major concern not just in charleston but all up the coast. these pictures coming to us out of myrtle beach where you can see in the shot there's an suv, we have confirmed there's no one in that car. it seems t.o have been abandone.

looking to be almost swept away. here in charleston the city was offering free parking in a number of parking garages. part of that is to urge people to get their cars off the street because if there is flooding, you don't want anything else in the street that doesn't need to be there understandably. so again, those parking garages open for free parking for cars only, not boats or trailers. also want to bring you now to myrtle beach where we had just seen images of that suv. my colleague, rosa flores, is stan standing by. rosa, you're actually at a location where a tornado we believe did touch down? >> reporter: you're absolutely right, and i just talked to a resident who says that he witnessed this so he described beyond that sound that we normally hear individuals say, that freight train, he says he heard the snapping of the trees. he was outside his door. then look, he said he heard this roof, and pieces of this roof just peel off.

and of course there was a family at this house at the time that this alleged tornado hit. according to this neighbor, the family was able to leave, they were able to seek shelter, they have insurance so they're in a neighboring city in a hotel. now, i want to walk in this direction because this is the direction that according to the horry county fire rescue that they believe the tornado traveled. you can see that this electric box has already been repaired. you can probably hear the generators. there's generators here because electricity is still out, they're still trying to repair it. if you look closely at these homes, you'll see pieces of the homes have been peeled off, others are bent or literally uprooted. there's uprooted trees or snapped trees, and then there is this dramatic picture that i want to leave you with, erica, because if you look in the distance, you'll see that this entire tree was peeled off and

it's pretty dramatic. and you'll see how the tornado also splashed the homes here in this neighborhood. this is in unincorporated horry county. just take a look at this and you'll see the force of this tornado. erica. >> the power of nature. rosa flores for us in myrtle beach. rosa, thank you. i also wanting to bring in richard neal from south port, north carolina, near the mouth of the cape fear river. richard, many people may be familiar with the frying pan tower cam that you put up so we're able to watch some of the conditions there. you don't put it up just for people to see the conditions, you actually have a bigger message you want to get out there. why is it so important that people see the power of mother nature from your camera? >> you know, people all hear about the things going on with the ocean, but until you actually see it yourself, you don't know what it's like and only can imagine it. this puts people in the eye of what's actually happening so you

can see the storm, you can see the waves and almost feel the wind tearing the flag. >> we can see conditions picking up there. we know the storm is certainly headed your way. appreciate taking a minute. we'll continue to watch it there on your camera. john, as you can see, this is not letting up here in charleston. we're going to hand it back to you and go dry off for a little bit but we'll continue our coverage with our colleagues up and down the coast here live on cnn. >> appreciate that, erica. at every stop you see the images and understand the power of the weather. up next for us, president trump's decision to go all in on defending a false hurricane forecast. >> i'm really worried about -- i feel sorry for the president. and that is not the way we should feel about the most powerful figure in this country.

my mom washes the dishes... ...before she puts them in the dishwasher. so what does the dishwasher do? cascade platinum does the work for you, prewashing and removing stuck-on foods, the first time. wow, that's clean! cascade platinum. billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. so you can... breathe easy. there's therabreath at walmart.

this is the averys trying the hottest new bistro. this is the averys. wait...and the hottest taqueria? and the hottest...what are those? oh, pierogis? and this is the averys wondering if eating out is eating into saving for their first home. this is jc... (team member) welcome to wells fargo, how may i help? (vo) who's here to help with a free financial health conversation, no strings attached. this is the averys with the support they needed to get back on track. well done guys. (team member) this is wells fargo. can't imagine doing it any other way. this is caitlin dickerson from the new york times. this isn't the only case. very little documentation. lo que yo quiero estar con mi hijo. i know that's not true. and the shelters really don't know what to do with them. i just got another person at d.h.s. to confirm this. i have this number. we're going to publish the story.

i have this number. behr presents: a job well done. painting be done... and stay done. behr, ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with interior paints. right now get incredible savings on behr. exclusively at the home depot. you'when you barely the clip a passing car. minor accident -no big deal, right? wrong. your insurance company is gonna raise your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different insurance company. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

as dorian threatens the carolinas today, president trump's focus very much on alabama and his ego. a new series of tweets today, you see them from the president, defending what the president knows is indefense ill, his inaccurate claim that alabama needed to brace for the hurricane. his own national weather service quickly pointed out the president was wrong. he didn't appreciate that, as he made clear yesterday. >> got lucky in florida, very, very lucky indeed.

we had actually our original chart was that it was going to be hit -- hitting florida directly. and you see it was going to hit not only florida but georgia. it was going toward the gulf. that was what we -- what was originally projected. >> now that was a real projection, that's true, but note the modification, a sharpie map edit to show the storm threatening alabama, so that's a fake map originating from the real oval office. what's more, even the original sans sharpie was days out of date by the time the president first warned about alabama getting hit. the forecast that morning when the president said alabama was in the track showed dorian turning north along the florida coast. but for the president being right no matter what trumps everything else. >> i know that alabama was in the original forecast. they thought it would get it. the original path that most people thought it was going to be taking, as you know, was right through florida where on the right would have been georgia, alabama, et cetera. >> and that map that you showed

today looked like it had a sharpie -- >> i don't know, i don't know, i don't know. >> three i don't knows there at the ending as to who put the sharpie to the map. white house officials do not push back strongly when you suggest it was the president. i don't know, i don't know, i don't know. alabama was in the path. when the president said alabama was in the path was days after alabama was no longer in the path, period. those are the facts, period. >> right. >> how you view this is how you view the trump presidency probably. this is why it matters. the president's words in times of national crisis, in times of international crisis, must matter. they must carry weight, they must be accurate. this is just one more example of, a, he must be at the center of everything. why he was talking about alabama and the forecast in the first place was not all that necessary. it's not really his job at that point. b, what the president says has to be credible so all of these words, every sort of passing month of this administration,

can you believe him, can you not believe him? i think that's why this is the big deal. not specifically the sharpie. a lot of people are saying the media is making too much of this. the reality is the president's words must be true. in this case they're not. >> hogan gidley, the president's deputy press secretary saying trump is right, we should focus on the hurricane. we're having this conversation 54 minutes into this program where we focus most of our time on the hurricane, including the great reporting by cnn correspondents. those images are real. those images are real. the president took a sharpie to a map or someone took a sharpie to a map on president's behalf to perpetuate a lie. >> and the president has been focusing much more on alabama than where the hurricane actually went in the bahamas and elsewhere in the carolinas. you have to wonder why the president was bringing out that old map yesterday, because it was several days old at that point. the hurricane was not going through florida and definitely not through alabama so you have to wonder whether the president

was trying to cover his tracks and edit what had already happened and say i was right by saying this could go to alabama even though it was several days after he originally made the statement and after the hurricane turned. it was clear the president fixated on this issue and is hill tweeting about it today. >> he restirs it. we did get back to covering the storm and then he brings it back because of why? >> the national weather service of alabama even corrected him last weekend saying no. it is not -- we're not going to be in the path of the hurricane at all. but this is a classic example of when the president is faced with any element of criticism or fact checking, that he doubles down and refuses to say i was wrong and instead continues to attack the press and continues to attack anyone that corrects him. >> he bends the truth all the time, twists the truth all the time. lies frequently. you would hope that during a hurricane or approaching hurricane to your point, jeff, people could trust the word of

the president of the united states. not in this case. thanks for joining us on our special coverage of hurricane dorian. it continues with brianna keilar after a very quick break. have a great afternoon. azing. wag g? go to hilton instead of a travel site and you'll experience a whole new range of emotions like... the relaxing feeling of knowing you're getting the best price. these'll work. the utter delight of free wi-fi... . oh man this is the best part. isn't that you? yeah. and the magic power of unlocking your room with your phone. i can read minds too. really? book at hilton.com. if you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25% off that stay. expect better. expect hilton. to maximize freshness. hey... which is great, ...cool. unless you don't live within 5 minutes of a jimmy john's. that's why jimmy john's is buying someone a house,

a really real house in a jimmy john's delivery zone. for real. tell us why it should be you at jimmyjohns.com. because sandwich.

tell us why it should be it's my special friend, antonio. his luxurious fur calms my nerves when i'm worried about moving into our new apartment. why don't we just ask geico for help with renters insurance? i didn't know geico helps with renters insurance. yeah, and we could save a bunch too. antonio! fetch computer! antonio? i'll get it. get to know geico and see how much you could save on renters insurance.

i'm brianna keilar live from cnn's washington headquarters. under way right now, hurricane dorian, a category 2 storm battering the east coast with high winds and heavy rain. south carolina is feeling the brunt right now with north carolina also in its immediate path and there are plenty of dangers like flooding. as you can see, downed power lines are an issue from the high winds there. the storm is also generating multiple tornados on the coast. in charleston, high tide is less than an hour away, which just adds