>> first-responders, point is made they're in harm's way and trying to help others. stuart: let's not forget the "cajun navy." they operated in louisiana and texas during the last big hurricane. they're back using local volunteers in the carolinas. they are heroes of florence. my time is up, neil, it is yours. neil: right on all fronts, guys. volunteers, in excess of 23,000 of them. stuart pointing out, ashley pointing out, they have families, they have kids, they have worries. they stopped all of that to look after folks in danger. think about that. i know i keep mentioning this. a lot of people say, neil, we have the greatest generation thing. we look back to the greatest generation. these are the kids and grandkids of the greatest generation. crises hike these prove it is in our dna to do decent stuff. that storm is going on with half a million people without power

in north carolina alone. flight cancellations not surprisingly still soaring. 2,000 at least. water rescues are going on and a number of defense, navy-related ships, keep in mind there are a lot of navy ports in and around the neighborhood have been repositioned. several held close to shore just in case they will be needed for rescue operations. all of that going on, with jeff flock in carolina beach, north carolina on the storm coming fast. jeff? reporter: yeah, neil, maybe you saw earlier this morning we were really getting hammered as the storm getting approached with us. now it is moving away from us this is what is happening all along the carolina coast. that same storm surge. walk all the way down to the dunes to see how much the waves were chewing them up. i will tell you. it is starting. it depends on how much longer

this thing continues to pound along the coast because this berm that you see here is the only thing that stands between storm surge, inundating carolina beach. coming in at a little bit of an angle, the wind is coming in at direction of the waves. that causes storm surge. up until now we have been blessed because the storm surge was being kept at bay by the wind from the other direction. now the storm has passed us, now we're getting it full blast. hopefully this does not last long. carolina beach is in pretty good shape thus far, although a lot of flooding in the streets. nothing catastrophic in terms of flooding or damage. we'll watch it as the storm progresses very slowly. neil. neil: jeff, i don't know if you can hear me. i know it is hard. you covered some hurricanes over the years, decades, how does

this stack up, early on might be from some the others even last year? >> bizarre track. bizarre track it came, if you look at historical track of all the storms, i think joe bastardi told you this, all of the storms curved directly gone up the coast. this one curves in going down the coast. that is a bizarre track. in addition it is very large and so we'll get storm surge and flooding overall. very large section. that is you know, this isn't a powerful storm. i'm standing out in less than category one winds right now. blowing hard for sure. it is big, over a large period, over a large swath and it is moving so slow that the effects, just continue to pound and pound and pound. i would say that is what makes this different. neil: very interesting. jeff, be safe to your crew, jeff

flock. we have a former fema director. dave, we thank you for speaking and taking the time to do so. curious right now, your sense how this seems, at least to me, sandy-like? in other words, surge, staying put for a long time, flooding, equally, if not even more dangerous, what do you think? >> yeah. i agree with you. this is going to be more of a water inflating event than a wind event except for the barrier islands got hammered. we'll have homes with no roofs, that type of damage. inland, we hope it won't be as much wind damage. a lot of water and flooding because of the terrain. it is not as glad what we saw in houston. more hilly, more chances much low-lying areas to flood. my concern people getting out of homes too soon. they need to stay put until the winds die down, water receding.

people decided not to evacuate, shelter in place. now is when they get hurt getting out of homes, looking at damage. stay put. stay where you are, if you are in a safe place, in the until local emergency managers say it is all clear to get out to start working around your house. neil: dave, what is the rule of how many for people who could be in harm's way next few days, not nearly as powerful as it is now, still dumping a lot of rain, what do you tell them? >> again. just stay put. our rule of thumb was if the winds are more than 40, 45 miles an hour, we can't put ambulances on the road, we can't put fire trucks on the road because they tend to turn over. until the winds die down you need to stay exactly where you are, just hunker down. if you're in a safe place f you're not in a safe place find something else to do but it will be very difficult for first-responders to get in to help you if you get hurt during

this period of time. neil: so fema's role right now would be what? >> well, fema's role, they have already prepositioned hundreds of ambulances, 25 urban search-and-rescue teams. they moved a lot of supplies n they will work with local communities to make sure they get the supplies to the right place and help to the right number of people. the urban search-and-rescue team as soon as the winds die down they will go out in the street, go home to home, check in each house, make sure people are okay. then, again working with the local community to say okay, what do we do with the supplies? where do you want them and how do you want them distributed? neil: meantime, talking to a duke power official, big utility provides most of power to folks in north carolina, upwards of four million of them, three million in the well course of this storm will be outwithout power. the only issue how long they

will be without it. what does fema do for folks like that where this could last for weeks? >> there is, shelters will be open. fema will not distribute generators unless you have a medical need for a generator. there will be food and water available. you will be without power. if you have water, you will be taking cold showers. i did it myself with hurricane irma last year. we didn't have power for four-days. you juice deal with it. as home is not flooded or safe, you can stay there if you have food and water and enough supplies to get by. hopefully if you side to shelter in place, you have enough batteries food, water, get yourself by four or five days. neil: former fema director, thank you very, very much. before we continue talking about this hurricane i want to bring along a bloomberg report that has the president now is going ahead and imposing $200 billion in additional tariffs on

additional chinese goods. we don't know the exact breakdown, what will be targeted but the president making good on that threat. that took a dow up about 70 points. reversed it, down about 40 points. we'll follow that very closely. if you're wondering to the dow, what happened to the stocks, that was it. meantime on the phone with us right now, everything going on in north carolina, the lieutenant governor of that beautiful state dan forest. dan, thank you for taking the time. how do things look there? >> depends where you are, neil. we're in the beginning of it, believe it or not, as you heard 1000 times the past week, it will be a flood event as much of anything. we were spared a little bit of wind obviously along the coast. there is a lot of wind damage. if you start to follow the thing inland, neil, you heard about the rain totals, morehead city, atlantic beach, but go to new bern, gold borrow, all of this is around with heavy rain bands, they are places that

can't sustain a whole lot of water very long. you will have a lot of inplanned flooding and cause a lot of damage. neil: governor, last report we were be looking up to 40 inches of rain expected. is that still the case? i can't fathom that the. >> we were already at that at atlantic beach. 38 inches. they are on the coast they can handle a little more because they're on the ocean. but new bern, the rivers are fairly small when you get inland, they fill up really quickly. the last flooding hurricane was matthew. that was about $6 billion worth of damage. you follow, tracking this through agricultural land. our most fertile agricultural land through the allegheny river up further north, if that flutes, thousands of acres under water, several feet of water. you will not see this on the news because there is no houses

out there. a lot of damage going to be done from agricultural standpoint as well. neil: know what impressed me, the state's lieutenant governor, you're working in sync with your democratic governor roy cooper it without an issue, without a bump or inconsistent message. it is encouraging to see in the middle of something like this politics just goes away and helping people comes this way. i find that remarkable because i can remember in other disasters dating back to katrina was not the case. >> well hurricanes aren't partisan. actually you won't find any partisans in the middle of this hurricane. you find a bunch of citizens, neighbors, friends, family, impacted by this. you work alongside thousands of people, neil. this is the beauty of it. literally thousands of people working together to provide rescue and relief and recovery efforts along the way and you know, our governor and his staff

and folks working through fema and our emergency management, they have done a phenomenal job, power companies, the people are coming from out-of-state as volunteers to help, everybody is working together. this is the kind of thing i believe the best of america, certainly the best of north carolina. what you will see going forward the best of what we call southern hospitality. neil: it is very, very clear. i commend you, lieutenant governor, and your governor. it has been sort of a bipartisan commitment to help folks out as it should be. be safe yourself. >> appreciate it. take care. neil: we'll have a update nowhow the red cross is dealing with all of this. we're getting more updates on the trade imposition on part of the administration, $200 billion additional tariffs on chinese good in addition to the other tariffs. this in addition to the 267 billion separately threatened that doesn't mean it is off the table but means the $200 billion are.

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neil: all right. better than fifth teen -- 15,000 folks in shelters across north carolina and other places as well. on the phone red cross of eastern north carolina regional ceo barry porter. thanks for coming. >> thanks, neil, for the opportunity to talk about what is going on in our state and south carolina too. neil: yeah, how are things looking there? i'm glad you mentioned south carolina. that is part of this as well. what's the latest? >> that's right. the american red cross in partnership with a lot of resources with government and non-government partners are trying to meet emergency needs of evacuees. 15,000 in north carolina, 5000 in south carolina sought shelters. a lot of people not in shelters had to evacuate the area. hundreds of thousands of south carolinians and north carolinians have moved away from the shore and riding out impacts of this storm. neil: one thing i notice about north carolina, i think it applies to south carolina as well but you could educate me,

dating back to hugo in '89, what have you, they changed a lot of things in both states. can't have homes too close to the water. they're quite far back. maybe they have improved building codes and the rest. how significant has that been and how is, are both coasts holding up right now? >> i know in north carolina parts of the area were in the storm surge so they have over the years tried to take actions to elevate properties, put them up higher or move them away. then the inland flooding which is the next concern, where the federal government has come in, mitigate, not building back into those same floodplains. two years ago we had hurricane matthew dumped 18 to 20 inches on eastern north carolina and affects thousands of people. we'll see effect this is year from florence. this is mitigation and preparedness are key factors limiting loss of life which is the most important and any

impact on property. neil: yeah, i was reading statistics on this in past storms. the loss of life is most pronounced well after the storm, with fallen trees and people go out too soon. so how does the red cross send out the word dealing with that? >> that is very true. first of all we asked folks to download an emergency app helps keep them informed of dangers. then the constant messages, because the storm looks to be past or you think it is safe, there are downed trees and power lines. floodwaters people end up driving through in matthew. two years ago this was going to be a bigger storm impact we believe, there were over 400 road closures in north carolina. surprisingly, north carolina has the most paved highwayses second only to texas. so we have a lot of roads that can be impacted. neil: i didn't know that. >> that is a little-known fact.

neil: how are your family and loved ones holding up. >> my wife school teacher. she got a break from school. at same time she is concerned about safety and others. we have to do same thing, volunteers, what is the red cross doing again, people who are the red cross, and a lot of those folks put their lives on hold and gone out to make a difference as lieutenant governorrest was telling you earlier, thousands of people coming across north carolina making a difference. neil: they're all north carolinians, or south carolinians, they're not republicans, democrats, conservatives or liberals, they're all human beings. they need our prayer and help. >> that is the hope. neil: you're providing it. barry, thank you so much. be safe. >> thank you, neil. neil: all right, it is category 1, that you've heard but it is a storm surge type of development here. if that sounds like some other storms you heard like for example sandy in the northeast

back in 2012, well, you're not imagining it. that's what worries folks. not the speed but how slow it is and how much rain it has and why it's hanging around and hanging and hanging, after this.

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>> welcome back to "cavuto: coast to coast." i'm nicole petallides live on the floor of the new york stock exchange as we continue our coverage of hurricane florence. if you see video right there in north carolina we're looking at everything that may be moving along with this, including insurers, right now are to the upside. but i will tell you they have come under pressure throughout the week as we don't know what the costs will be after this incredible storm. which is obviously expected to pack strong floods, destruction of property, more than 3 1/2 million homes in coastal counties, along north carolina, south carolina, virginia. the total, more than a trillion

dollars of value at risk according to cillo. look at hotel stocks moved to the upside, this as they're fully booked. people are running to hotels even with their pets in order to get somewhere safe, out of harm's way. here is a look at home depot, lowe's. people run to get things they need for their homes, protection, repairs, materials, all of these things. we've seen home depot and lowe's hitting highs as well as a name like generac generator. that is a four 1/2-year high. we're watching car rental companies, neil, moving to the upside. people are rushing to rent cars to get out of harms way. even afterward, neil, they will have to rent cars because their own cars will have been damaged. these are stocks on the move. first and foremost we have everybody stay safe. neil. neil: thank you very much, nicole petallides. let's go to rick reichmuth right now following this storm very, very closely. as you have been reminding us

speed of this thing. >> interesting point we can make now here. everybody talks about where is the storm ad? it is only one little point. that is where the point is. but here is where the storm is everywhere. even though the center of it is there, the reason we're talking about these extreme rainfall totals, you look at those kinds of bands right at the end of this loop here, that is incredible heavy rain still falling on places that are starting to see this rain almost, about 24 hours ago. so incredible rainfall rates are going to continue likely about another 36 to 48 hours. did come on land with sustained 90 mile-an-hour wind however. we had gusts much higher than that. show you that in a second. rainfall totals have been extreme. we have some reports. i'm not positive these can be verified. numbers 40 inches at atlantic beach. we're making sure we verify that. that is the report coming in. you get the idea.

incredible rainfall totals already with a long ways to go. look at this, cape lookout, wilmington, 105 miles per hour. those were the wind fifths reported. big tornado concerns. tornado warning in. that is still right there, sorry, tornado warning in effect. here you go, flood threat all over the place. everywhere you see this red, that is flash into thing going on right now, because of these extreme rainfall rates. a lot more rain ahead. we'll probably still have about another 25 inches for some spots still to come from this rain, neil. neil: i can picture that with snow, you know. but rain, i mean, man, that is staggering. >> to put this in perspective for you if it were snow, it would be about 25 feet. neil: is that right? >> yeah. there you go. neil: you're just a wealth of knowledge. you're amazing. rick, thank you very, very much, rick reichmuth.

so bad, could get worse the we'll keep an eye on the storm. keeping an eye on what could be a political economic storm. john roberts, white house correspond incident, telling us that president trump given aides the green light to go ahead with sanctions on additional $200 billion worth of chinese goods. this was telegraphed for some time. bloomberg mentioned this report, that the administration seriously considering it. word it could be imminent. we just don't know when it will happen. the effect on the market was quite clear. we were up. now we're down 50 points. we were up 70 points. nuveen asset management chief equity strategist bob doll. decade we've known each other you always say don't jump on headlines or flashes before we had things like flashes like this but is it your sense if the president were to impose additional tariffs on the chinese, this could hint of a

prolonged trade battle, and that the market was not like? >> exactly right. it is the uncertainty associated with this that the markets don't like, neil. looks like mexico in principle, maybe canada agreement in principle, europe. the president calls president xi, okay it is your turn. we'll see. this could be prolonged. it is pretty clear the chinese don't want to come to the table in any serious way prior to the election. after that we'll see. but this is going to last for a while, neil, and markets don't like it. neil: bob, it was only couple days ago the president some said blinked on this, you know, i want to reinitiate, start the talks with the chinese. the chinese were open to that. didn't commit necessarily to a time and a place. then lo and behold this move. what is going on, do you know? >> hard to say. there are some crosscurrents. as you well know, neil,

different words are coming from different people in the administration. neil: right, right. >> therefore it is very difficult to ferret all of this out. hook, i think most people in the administration would like to have a conversation with china, and probably vice versa, but if the crosscurrents are, i will beat you up until you come to the table is what we're seeing today. thank goodness we have these phenomenal earnings that are keeping the market from going down because of this trade and tariff problem. neil: you know you and i discussed this before, bob, one of my many crackpot theories on trade back and forth, the market, smart nice like you think cooler heads ultimately will prevail and we won't get into a full-blown trade war that could disrupt more than markets, but economies around the globe. that is what they're hoping. what do you make of that? >> i don't think that is such a crackpot theory. i think that's reasonable. look the president knows that different approaches have been tried over the years and so far nothing's worked.

so he is trying something different. we can like it, we can dislike it but he is also a man that doesn't want to sink the economy and sink his political will and therefore i think cooler heads will prevail but make no mistake about it, he is serious about trying to say intellectual property, in china, you have got to stop stealing it from us. neil: let's talk a little bit about the markets, where they stand right now. you know, they're undeniably strong. feeling seems to be absent a trade war, they will get even stronger, that they're not necessarily very rich, if you look at the lower tax rates and everything else? where do you stand on that whole thing? >> look, the bull market is not over. that is clear because the earnings pattern remains strong, but to argue we're not in the more mature parts of this bull market is hard as well. more to go but easy money is still in the rear view mirror neil.

i think pe, valuation of the stock market peaked in january. now it is all about earnings. if we have good earnings, stocks can go up. but probably not as much as earnings. think about it this year. earnings up 25%. stock market is up 10%. therefore pes are down 15%. neil: that is an interesting way of looking at it. really quickly what is your view on the strength of this market and interest rates in the face of the fed probably hiking rates at least one or two more times? we've seen some inflation data both on the retail and the wholesale side that has been softer than was earlier thought. could that keep the fed at bay? >> it could. look, neil, we're this far into the economic cycle. neil: yeah. >> the economic growth is as strong as it is, and we have not much inflation is a miracle. it is really good news. inflation is picking up but at a very slow pace.

as long as we keep the pace the fed will take its time. neil: it's a wild card, my final question, even though i said that last one is final question, the mueller investigation where it goes, former campaign manager paul manafort striking a deal with the government, is that just a outside development? you can't make out how it is going to go but it's a big uncertainty, right? >> it's a big uncertainty. look, i hate to make washington, d.c. unimportant but as long as the economy con and earnings are good, washington, d.c., is down in the terms of importance. we'll watch it. it will get a lot of headlines. markets might not like it a minute or two if something untoward develops but earnings always rife this market. neil: bob doll, always good talking to you my friend, have a good weekend. >> all the best. neil: a lot of businesses are shuttering down in in north carolina, a lot of people

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♪ neil: all right, it is more than a storm just for those who are right in its path. it could be for everybody else too. gerri willis has the business impact of what florence is doing. gerri. >> that's right, neil. big impacts for businesses. we already heard after lot of big companies closing their doors, novartis, dow dupont, nemours, volvo, mercedes-benz. take the last three of those, boeing, volvo, mercedes, all three outside of charleston. that is where the storm could be headed next.

boeing has some 6,000 employees in the area, making the dreamliner 787. boeing employs 1000 people making s-60 sedan. mercedes just opened the plant there, right. they had to close it back down. all of the companies are worried about safety of employees. dupont closing plants in five different north carolina cities. so lots of closures all across the area. november vatter -- novartis stopping pharmaceutical production in the area. retails, so many retailers cut down, carmax, cvs, smithfield foods. we were most taken by cvs. i went to their website, over 100 of their pharmacies in the area are closed down. so if you're in the area, need refill on prescription right now, well look, you will have to drive a long way to get it, right? finally, i was thinking about -- you can see the list right here of cvs closures on the left-hand

side of your screen. it actually totals over 100 of them. overall impacts last year impact of harvey, irma, maria, a you will together, 42 to $65 billion. in the short term that carved .2 of a percent, to .3 off of gdp in the area. you know as well as i do, neil, in the long run a lot of federal money comes into the area. that can turn things around and make a difference. neil: what you take away in the economy during the storm you get it back with rebuilding after. we'll see. gerri, thank you very much. >> most welcome. neil: a lot of insurance companies are looking at big exposure to this, we don't know exactly how big. this next gentleman has an idea. information institute's michael barry. >> great to see you. neil: what is it looking at? >> risk modelers are coming up with estimate. one estimate puts 3 to

5 billion, b as in boy, insured losses, auto, homeowner and business insurance claim payouts but excludes fema national flood insurance program payouts which judging what we're seeing this morning will be in the billions of dollars as well. neil: 3 to 5 billion is a big number but not nearly as big as some of the numbers feared early on. how are those -- i'm getting outside of the purview, how are those quantified? >> what happens the risk modelers they look how many properties are in certain counties. they have calculation where they look at intensity of the storm. in this case it was category 1. risk modelers and reinsurers who provide insurance to insurance companies look at it very closely how densely populated with communities. what is the storm's intensity, in terms of business policies, a lot of these business policies have business interruption coverage. how long will they be down?

what are the supply chain factors. neil: i remember living in new jersey at the time of sandy in 2012. a lot of people were surprised this non-hurricane, ultimately came to be category 1 at that was a surge storm, hanging around storm and doing a lot of damage storm. so it ended up being one of the costliest in american history. so how do you prepare or factor that in? >> first off, insurers are very well-capitalized. they have financial resources to pay these claims. they see themselves economic first-responders. you saw in 2017, you had harvey, had maria, had irma. >> absolutely. >> a lot of private capital flowed back in. yes there was federal money but the first wave of money comes from insurers. a lot of times -- neil: if you have a lot of storms like that, that is paying out a lot of money again and again so the quantity alone could be a problem. >> yes. for viewers to keep in mind, insurers are regulated on state

by state level. if i'm having a good year in arizona i can't take the money to throw it in north carolina today. each line of insurance has to stand on its own in each state. north carolina insurers set aside moneys to pay for the claims. this is not the first time it happened. this is unusual in terms of the rain. neil: nevertheless, you hear about people had no coverage or minimal coverage. what is your read on those exposed exposed in the carolinas on coverage? versus those on the coast versus those further inland, right? >> my quick read is this, standard homeowners business policy will cover you for wind-caused damage. 95% will have insurance. who are the 5%? people paid off their mortgage didn't feel they need insurance coverage. neil: even in this day and age? >> some people see it as cost savings. when we talk fema national flood insurance program. who has it?

where it is required condition of getting the mortgage. where it gets problematic, go inland and flood insurance is optional. people are finite resources maybe i go without flood insurance this year. insurance information institute we have seen so much inland flooding in places like wisconsin and kansas. so it doesn't -- neil: you're inland generally not thinking, michael, i have got to get flood insurance, right? that has changed lately, right? >> i would say yes that definitely changed. people now see, i'm far from the ocean but may be close to a creek or river or even a dam. look back a year or two ago, the dam in california everyone thought it was going to break. all of sudden there is a flood risk down the road i didn't imagine. when i think of a dam, i don't think necessarily of a flood risk. neil: what happens to people who have built homes but not to the new code? in other words does an insurance come back, local government come back and say, well, you didn't

do what we told to you do? >> there is a provision in most policies, people looking in the policy, ordnance of law coverage and there is a provision in there that will give them resources often times to rebuild to the current code, if we're talk about a home built in -- neil: what if they haven't and they're caught? >> hopefully they had food insurance guidance from the insurance professional. neil: right. >> the key thing, number, dwelling protection coverage what will it cost me to rebuild my home in the current location in event of a total loss? hopefully their home insurance policy had the number down. neil: all bets are off, michael if this thing lingers for a long time like a sandy event, right? >> right. i think the thing to look at, if this is flood event it is a big burden on fema national flood insurance program, that people today have the flood insurance coverage. that will be a key thing. if they don't have it, they're reduced looking for fema direct

assistance with the small business administration. neil: you know your stuff, michael. thank you very much. >> thank you. neil: we always put this in perspective. we are a financial network. we have to look at these costs. michael would readily agree what's more important coming out of this alive and safe, your family alive and safe, and your pets alive and safe. the other stuff, that can be sorted out. more after this. >> agreed. making my dreams a reality

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not unless you want to. no. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today with td ameritrade®. neil: florence actually made landfall near wrightsville beach, north carolina. i don't know whether that's a good luck charm or getting the short straw for jonathan serrie but that is where he is reporting right now. jonathan, how is it looking there? >> it was definitely interesting. when we went through the eyewall we were getting battered with heavy winds and heavy rains. suddenly the rain went away. things calmed down. we were in the middle of the eye, enjoyed it for 20 minutes. then things deteriorated, winds going hurricane force in the opposite direction, causing different types of props. before we hit the eye it seemed like flooding was not so much an issue but when the winds changed direction, blowing water in from the ocean we started seeing at

least some minor flooding. here this intersection, several inches of water over the roadway. it was a little higher earlier. some vehicles, official vehicles coming, deciding not to navigate through it, turning around but now the water actually seems to be receding. but i don't want to saber in the clear yet because with the storm it is very fluid. still a very powerful storm, even after it weakens below hurricane force, below tropical storm force it is going to be a rainmaker throughout the entire southeast causing flash floods and problems throughout the entire region. neil, back to you. neil: thank you, jonathan, very, very much the read from south carolina. tim scott, that state's fine senator joining us, from mount pleasant, south carolina. thank you for taking the time. how are things looking there? >> neil, it is getting windier in myrtle beach and north myrtle

beach. the wind will get stronger as eye of the storm comes across at 4:00 p.m. the mayor of north myrtle beach and i just spoken. that is what she said. mount pleasant, much lower 20, 25 mile-an-hour gusts. it will get worse because south carolina has yet to experience full effects of the storm. north carolina first, then south carolina now. neil: that should be a few hours away. we're told it might stall, which bad luck for your state, might be there a while. what are you hearing? >> exactly. well, that is the problem. i said earlier, the good, the bad, the ugly, good news, it went from a cat-4 to cat-1. that is prayers answered. the bad news hurricanes are about water and as, as the system stalls, that means that you will become inundated with more water. it will be a torrential downpour but then the water starts to rise and as it rises the concerns are not just the

coastal counties we're thinking about, it will start to make its way inland. remember in south carolina we had a thousand year flood a few years ago, we're still recovering from that. neil: right. >> if you put the combination together in our agricultural communities this could be devastating in a way that we haven't seen in more than 50 years. neil: you know, senator, there are a lot of people though who look outside, start looking at the storm in the north, figuring it is a lot of flooding all of that, but it is down to category 1, might be a tropical storm by day's end. we in south carolina don't need to worry or fuss about anything. what do you tell them? >> don't take the bait. i'm getting calls from all over the state, folks wanting to come back home because it looks so pretty outside. this is a false time. it is not real. the thrust of the storm, impacts of the storm has not yet come to south carolina. wherever you are, stay there.

in exposed areas, most vulnerable area, in safety for places like greenville, other parts of south carolina, stay put because the worst is yet to come. hopefully we can take the weather system, see good things come out of it, like positive responses from local government. positive responses from the federal government. this is a team game. this team game requires each individual to play their part, which means staying out of harm's way. do not get on the interstate heading back towards danger because it is yet to arrive. neil: senator, while i've got you here, we have bulletins coming out of the white house, where the president already talking to his aides about proceeding with tariffs with additional $200 million worth of chinese good. a concern in your state with textiles and all the rest. are you worried this is erupting into something bad? >> anytime you have a conversation about heightened tariffs, we have to realize a tariff is very similar to a tax

because at the end of the day the consumers bear the extra costs. what the president tried to do is have a paradigm shifting experience with the chinese. so far they have been enjoyed healthy markets in america but they have not opened their markets in a similar fashion. we have to have that happen. i think the best way to deal with theft, which is a larger issue from my perspective, the best way to deal with theft is use the cfius legislation that has been enhanced by congress, approved by both bodies, apart of the law. if we use cfius as a way to deal with the theft china has been so consistently involved in with our ip or intellectual property is the fastest way to curtail the exposures to the american worker and frankly the american companies. $200 billion worth of tariffs will have a negative impact on consumers but it is the president's way of trying to find a way to level the playing

field that is certainly not level with china. they are -- neil: real quickly, just a couple days ago he had been open, and initiated let's talk to these guys then something like this. he is sending mixed signals, isn't he? >> well, here is what i would say? consistency is the key to a breakthrough. we're looking forward to having a meaningful dialogue with the chinese in order to reset the field so that both countries benefit from the healthy relationship. today it is not healthy for our companies and frankly for our workers. neil: senator, always good seeing you. best of luck with all of this. tim scott, the south carolina senator in south carolina. we'll have more after this.

neil: all right. still witnessing florence's fury right now and that is why you have no less than the defense department, and we were carrying this press conference yesterday, where they are detail iing what they are doing to protect people in harm's way. you will see them in all sorts of ways, army corps of engineers rebuilding, helping with roads and bridges, to ships that are just offshore and will act as temporary housing, if necessary, and if needed. colonel david hunter with us right now, fox military analyst. we forget about the role they play. it's a crucial role. >> yeah.

the cities and states planned for this with exercises, they deal with fema, and department of defense. fema is not 911. the 911 part of this is department of defense, as you just described, was missing a bit in houston and in florida and in puerto rico. the department of defense, which you see now, have over 7,000 soldiers already prepositioned because you don't want them fighting for the storm to go help people. they have ships off the shore. we've got amphibious ships, coast guard is always wonderful. we have navy helicopters, marine helicopters, army helicopters, as you already mentioned, engineers, and this is the part that new governments have to figure out. it's not just fema in states and cities but when something this large happens, as happened last time in houston, florida and puerto rico, you have to move the department of defense en

masse in order to help in something this large. neil: i'm curious, how is that coordinated with local, state officials and the like? you have all these soldiers there. who answers to whom, who coordinates with whom? >> sure. the cities -- there's emergency management centers located in different parts of this conflict. there's a main one. city has a phone they are provided and say we have people on sixth street or we have water that's a problem. state says we can't help with that, they pass it to fema. this is right at the same time, they are in the same room. fema says no, we can't help with that, department of defense, got a three-star general sitting there right now, and they get it and they do it. it all happens in a room and has been planned for, rehearsed before. i'm very pleased to see this change and that's because administrations, again, learn

how to deal with these as they had to learn with houston, florida and then puerto rico. this one, they figured this out and what we're seeing is soldiers on the ground already and ships off the coast, ready and will help the people down in south carolina, north carolina that need it. neil: obviously there are a lot of naval facilities in and around that area. it stretches hundreds of miles. how is that coordinated, when they talk about repositioning ships and all of that? can you steer me through that process? >> sure. again, the governor says we have this need. fema agrees and there's a coordinator. i was one in seven different states. in this case, you have a three-star general already there. he gets the request, it goes directly to the pentagon. pentagon, there's no hesitation, deploys the assets that are asked for. this all changed 25 years ago in a storm in florida, but this system is very smooth and

there's nobody saying well, you don't really need that truck, you need this truck. they give them exactly what they need, and again, it's coordinated in these emergency centers, phone call direct to the pentagon, pentagon says yes, and the ships, trucks, helicopters are deployed. some of the stuff that you see like camp lejeune and some navy bases will be used. some will be national guard. but the point is, the d.o.d. is the 911 part of this kind of federal emergency response. neil: couldn't ask for a better 911. thank you very much, my friend. i appreciate it. all right. to myrtle beach, south carolina, where you will find christina. how are things looking there? reporter: i don't know, it's getting worse and worse right now. we just actually pit-stopped for a moment at a doughnut shop because it's the only place open to use the washroom. i did meet wendy, who just had to evacuate your home right now.

can you just tell me what happened? what happened to you just moments ago? >> i woke up this morning. well, i couldn't sleep and i heard something banging, banging. i live in a mobile home maybe 25 minutes inland. and i brought my daughter off the beach to live with me and i just heard something banging so i woke my boyfriend lee up. when he went outside, my roof was in the front yard with all the insulation. so then in a matter of maybe less than 15, 20 minutes, water started pour iing into my home d i was just trying to grab some clothes, some pictures or whatever i could, because i knew i was going to lose everything. so before i could just get clothes and whatever i could, right before i left, the whole ceiling fell in on me. reporter: did the ceiling collapse and you were able, both of you, all of you got out before it collapsed? >> he and i and my daughter got out -- well, it collapsed in the

living room, then i said we got to go, we got to go now, because i knew there were wires, because the smoke alarm kept going off. i knew the wires maybe was going to catch fire and would electrocute us. reporter: how about your neighbors? were you in a mobile park? >> yes. i had my mobile home on a lot, i rent a lot from them. reporter: can i ask, why didn't you choose to evacuate earlier when all the warnings came out? >> because everybody there was going to stay and there was nothing that was going to flood, and when it went down, the category went down, we thought we would be fine. he kept watching the news and said if it gets worse, we'll evacuate to florida or whatever. but we just kept watching the weather and i rode just about every storm out but hugo. reporter: you have been here for most of them. >> i have lived on the beach, practically all my life, and just got a mobile home and moved

inland maybe 16 years ago. but i rode every storm out but hugo and never had nothing happen like this. reporter: hurricane florence hasn't really even hit this area yet. >> i watched the news. when the water started pouring after he found out ruth was in the front yard, the eye was over wilmington and it was a category 1, not even a 4 or nothing. it was a 1. just from that, my house collapsed. reporter: yeah, now you don't have a home and you are driving. we will let you go back. you are going to drive to your daughter's house now. this is just one example we are seeing right now of just the devastation that's only beginning in this area. again, we are in myrtle beach. the rain and wind have picked up and it's still only going to get worse. i will throw it back to you. >> take care. evacuate. do not wait. if it's 1, 2, 3, whatever they say, don't stay. get out. because this is the last one i

will ever stay for. because i have lost everything i have. everything but my life. thank jesus for that. reporter: neil? neil: thank you. horrible. but she has her life and boyfriend's life, her daughter's life. that counts for something. that is actually everything. florence is slowly making her way right now, positioned over southeastern north carolina. we are told it's weakening but the torrential rains are continuing. t reed timmer on what happens now. what do you think? what are you getting a sense of? reporter: well, the winds are slowly starting to subside as hurricane florence drifts off to the southeast. we still do have gusty winds but they are becoming a bit more sporadic. we do expect these gusty winds to last quite a bit, quite a long time and with weakened branches and trees, also with so much rain as well, it won't take very much of a wind to knock down a tree or put a power line

in a dangerous spot. you certainly want to be careful if you are out and about in the wilmington, north carolina area. most of the area is completely without power. there are large trees down everywhere like this one behind me. now the threat really shifts toward that inland -- watching upstream, there is very prolific rainfall rates happening up there and the bands from southeast to northwest, a very slow-moving florence and there's nothing more dangerous than a slow-moving [ inaudible ] because of the flooding aspect. we do expect all of that water to run off into rivers like the cape fear river that comes through wilmington, rivers further north are already flooded because of the surge. in new bern, north carolina, it was devastated by feet of flood waters. they are working closely with the cajun navy there, pulling people out of the flood waters but the impacts of this storm are just so widespread, it's terrible to see out here. neil: the people further inland, have they been told to evacuate

as well? i guess it depends on how far inland we are talking, right? reporter: it certainly does depend on the location. for example, the new bern -- neil: all right. again, as you would imagine, we have been losing people here and there and that is to be expected. again, the latest from the national weather service is that -- national hurricane center, i should say, it is moving inland again, at a very slow rate, depending who you talk to, anywhere from three to five miles an hour. that gives it time to obviously do the drenching it is doing. already in some parts of north carolina, 40 inches of rain. now they're saying that could be conservative. you're headed down the highway

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neil: all right. it's the flooding that's the problem right now. jeff flock on the ground in carolina beach, north carolina. what's it looking like there? reporter: we showed you earlier, neil, the ocean and you know, the potential for surge. this is the other side. this is downtown carolina beach. look at this. a whole lot of water already in the downtown. i mean, this has been taking on a lot of water. this area is kind of low anyway

and look at it. i tell you, there are almost waves. this is the aptly named canal street. there's to real canal typically, but there is today. there's a marina at the end of this street and i tell you, you can't tell where it starts and where the street stops. as you can tell, we are still getting a pretty good flow on this. you look at the storm track and it's making that track, that turn to the right, so what that's doing, it just went past us to the next town down, and made the turn so essentially, the most serious area near the center of convection, that is kind of sticking with us. it's kind of hooking around us. we have been getting hammered by this, just like we got hammered this morning. this thing just does go on and on. i know up north, there's still a lot of problems and that's headed down this way, as the center of circulation moves.

a lot of water out here. we don't have catastrophic damage, the wind issue not blowing as hard as it perhaps could have and not a lot of damage that way but the water, boy, that's an issue on both sides, both the atlantic side and the sound is over there and in the middle of town. tough. neil: thank you very, very much. jeff flock. duke energy expects up to three million people could be without power in the north and south carolina. right now i think it's a little north of 600,000. back with us is duke energy spokesperson, jeff brooks. how does it look right now? >> well, we have hundreds of thousands out across the state. we are starting to see those outage numbers climb with each hour as the storm makes its way on to land and then farther south. as we said before, you don't have to be in the hurricane's direct path to be affected. the whole state is being affected. we are seeing outages in central north carolina already and that's only going to continue,

made worse even by the flooding that we know is coming. neil: i think some of your people have been warning people there it's possible they could be without power in some places for weeks. you still stand by that? >> yeah. we think that this is going to be an extended storm. it's going to be a couple days before our crews can even really get out and do damage assessments to be able to see how to build the restoration plan, then beyond that, given the damage, given the fact that flooding typically happens several days after, even worse, so we will be in this for awhile. some areas will definitely see weeks in their restoration. neil: the more common problem with flooding is just what you alluded to, power going out and lines going down. for people who are going to be further inland and sort of sloughed off this storm, this is going to be every bit as much a problem for them, right? >> i really think it could be. i think the thing that often lulls people into a sense of security is the sun comes back out, life begins to go on, but

as those rivers begin to swell with water coming from other parts of the state, those communities are going to see flooding. we saw this during hurricane matthew in 2016. we saw it during hurricane floyd several years ago. so this is a very real potential possibility in eastern north carolina. it's a very flat area and it's something we will be monitoring but it's a real threat. people need to be thinking about it. neil: what are basic rules of thumb for people in these kind of situations? people get electrocuted if you're not careful. what do you tell customers who might not be prepared for what you are talking about? >> one of the first things is kind of fight that natural instinct to get out and go drive around and see what's out there, because there are a lot of downed power lines in communities across the state and those lines, you have to assume they are energized. you have to stay away from them and keep yourself safe. we want you to get through this just fine. a lot of people are going to be using generators. if you are, make sure you follow

the manufacturer's instructions. make sure you never place that generator inside your home or in your garage, because the carbon monoxide risk. those are good things and certainly, if you do go out, wires may be covered up by water or downed tree limbs. don't take any risk. we want you to stay safe and we want our crews to stay safe. if you see them out working, give them space. don't get near them with your car. they are trying to help you. we want them to get home to their families safe as well. neil: good advice, all. thank you very much. >> thank you, neil. neil: the dow is down about 56 points right now. we are following a host of other developments here. although the storm was at the top, news on trade is not. the white house is considering additional tariffs on $200 billion plus worth of additional chinese goods. the president apparently is

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neil: all right. some interesting news here. this is coming from wral in north carolina. a tornado warning now encompassing parts of franklin and nash counties. this is something that always happens after a hurricane, but these are fairly widespread. they can be sporadic. i remember last year after harvey, there were dozens of them, all types and sizes here but again, they are bracing residents in and around those areas to be prepared. it ain't over so just be ready. all right.

prices on everything from fuel to bacon, whether or not you are in the path of this thing, you will see it and soon. it's popping up in the markets as we speak. to market analyst phil flynn. what are we looking at? >> i'm all over it. i have soeen these prices impacted. first i want to look at the meat complex. because of this massive flooding we are seeing, a lot more than anticipated, we are worried about the loss of hundreds of hogs, pigs, chickens and even cattle. the cattle market went up to its highest available limit today and a lot of traders didn't think they would lose a lot of cattle because of this storm but they changed their mind because it looks like this flooding will be a lot more widespread and deeper than anticipated. we are also seeing movement in the hogs. it has been moving for some time. we are sharply higher today in the lean hog market. lot of concerns we will lose millions of heads of pigs, turkeys, you name it. they will be drowning. they will be off the market and we are seeing the price index.

in energy, we have been all over the place. the market can't decide whether hurricane florence is going to be a demand destruction event because we won't see movement of vehicles in that area versus the fact that right now, in the world, supplies of oil are very, very tight. we have things happening overseas, more sanctions on iran. so this market has been whipsawing. where you really see the demand destruction prices are in the price of natural gas. because there are over 500,000 people without power, could be close to a million before it's all said and done, we're not going to be running these power plants, the nuclear plant shut down and natural gas, we are producing a record amount in this country so that's driving down natural gas prices. all of these impacts and crosswinds in the market really got these traders all day just going crazy and basically all night long. neil: thank you very, very much, phil flynn at the cme.

i think when people start hearing things like bacon prices could start soaring, then they start paying attention. it's done, game over. look who's here. are we going to charlie right now? or blake burman first? blake, okay. sorry about that. blake burman doesn't pipe up in the middle of someone else's hit. he's a gentleman. he's at the white house right now. not so much gentlemanly talk on trade. what's that guy in the house behind you doing? what's going on? reporter: i never want to step on gaspo but we have pretty big news at the white house. as you know, the president has been talking about for weeks now, as we have reported, that he wants to escalate this tariff back and forth with china, take the next step with $200 billion worth of tariffs against china. so the president had been talking about it. we know as of last week, the administration, the president and the top folks had still been debating exactly how to go about it, still been considering all

the options but now we can tell you, according to sources telling fox that the president has indeed given the green light to make that next step, that next jump, to institute the $200 billion worth of tariffs against china. there are still several outstanding questions here, among them what is the product list going to be, what's that going to look like, what is the tariff rate going to be, 10%, 25%, some number in between. is this going to be released in batches or all at once. remember, the first $50 billion batch that was put forth was in two separate bins. i think the first was like $34 billion, the next was $16 billion. still, lots of questions here. but the big point here is the crucial next step has been made and the president has told his trade advisers he indeed wants to go forward with this $200 billion worth of tariffs on china. back to the timing for a second. we were not anticipating an official announcement this week.

it was seeming like it could come this week but then hurricane florence sort of threw all that off track. of course, the president needs to monitor that. it's kind of locked down this white house and many within the administration to focus on that. still, we are awaiting the official announcement from the president, from the white house, from his trade advisers, whoever it might come from. but the green light has been given and we expect the next step, the next escalation in this trade fight between china and the united states to take place soon or at some point down the line, i should say, in the form of $200 billion worth of tariffs. now over to gaspo. neil: i will go to him but just a couple days ago, the president, you know, jump-started these talks again and advised his advisers hey, call up the chinese, let's see what we can do. it looked like he was being very accommodative or the markets certainly responded that way, and now this. reporter: that is certainly two dots you could connect, right?

the invitation was made to have talks start up, so some might think well, hey, has the pause button been hit on this $200 billion. when i spoke with someone, you know, here that is close to things, this person said to me look, just because the invitation has been sent out doesn't mean that this $200 billion won't go into effect. not like the pause button has been hit and that's played out now. remember, with all of this, with all of this always, always, always, it is always pointed out to us, one, this decision is always made by the president and no one else, and two, his inclination is to always lean with tariffs and no matter what the underlying circumstances are, no matter how the chess board looks at that very moment in time, we see where the president ends up moving and that is more tariffs. neil: apparently it was news to some trade advisers because they were caught flat-footed on this.

always good, thank you, my friend. charlie gasparino is with us, "wall street journal" editorial page assistant editor james freeman, also best-selling author. james, on this, it could change the dynamics or at least delay a solution, right? >> yeah. i think the question is, is the president setting the table here for a productive negotiation that ultimately leads to china treating the united states better, treating our companies better -- neil: i'm dangling these over your head. >> right. or is this a long-term strategy to drive production, manufacturing, from china to the united states. he really doesn't care whether there's a deal and that would be if you want to be concerned about maybe that outcome that he's looking to permanently manage this trade in a way that he thinks will benefit the u.s., i think that recent tweet about apple would be an argument there, that this isn't necessarily a negotiation, it's just an effort to move more

manufacturing -- neil: you are assuming a method to the madness. or is it impulsive craziness? >> i can think of many things that are great. tariffs are not the greatest. listen, we don't know exactly what donald trump believes in his heart of hearts on trade. neil: i think he believes the threat alone gets you to the table. >> right. or listen, you can make a good case because he's surrounded himself with people like peter navarro who i personally like, that he wants to drive -- he thinks that through a trade war, he can drive manufacturing to the u.s. and restore u.s. as a manufacturing powerhouse that it was in the 1950s and '60s. you could also make the case that he hasn't started a trade war yet, so he does all these threats and it hasn't gotten def-con3. neil: you think he gets impatient and all of a sudden, ip n

i'm not getting -- >> we don't know. this is the whole thing. is donald trump a guy that likes to carry a big stick and use the big stick as a threat, or does he really believe, which by the way, if he does, it's absurd because it doesn't work, we need access to their markets so we can sell stuff. that's how you -- neil: his argument has always been they need us more than we need them and they will eventually come to the table. what's your gut tell you? >> i think it is clearly true they rely more on trade than we do. it is also true he resolves fights in europe and our friends in north america and gets the whole world focused on fixing the china problem, it does put extreme pressure on them. maybe that's a best case scenario given what we are looking at now. i also think given what hank greenberg wrote in our paper recently, there is a dawning appreciation in chinese leadership that they have to change the way they do business. >> let me ask you this, does it show, and i agree, if we can get the whole world against china

and squeeze them so they do the right thing which we know they are criminals when it comes to trade. let's be honest. neil: -- going to the wto to get permission to slap tariffs on us. the same wto that has coddled and protected them as a developing country. >> we have good evidence that donald trump as president is trying to get the world against them. it seems like they are not doing that. it seems like they are making some attempt maybe to do that, but in reality, there is not like a coalition of the willing. neil: what if it's working out to your point, you get a deal with the europeans, that's more verbal than anything else, promises on agricultural goods, you got to deal with the mexicans, deal with the canadians, and we already have the south korea thing, but maybe that's what he is doing. >> i think it's always on the one hand and the other because you look at where he's going with europe, he's talking about zero tariffs, let's get rid of barriers and trade freely. you hope that's the approach

everywhere, but with china, you do have to wonder, especially when he talks a lot about trade deficits and unfortunately, that -- neil: not a lot about budget deficits that i think are far more onerous. >> trade deficits go up when our country is doing better. one interesting thing to note. the ceos that were invited to that meeting with the chinese, it wasn't with the president, it was with his top economic people, all the top ceos were invited. i can tell you jamie dimon's not going, the ceo from jpmorgan. they will send somebody else. steve schwartzman, ceo of blackstone is not going. david solomon, the soon-to-be ceo of goldman sachs i was told just today is not going. so the ceos are not going to this thing -- neil: the big, big guy isn't coming, we're big guys and we're not coming. >> i think they're worried about -- neil: freeman's not there?

>> i'm not going. >> they are worried about the big guy in washington attacking them. >> i would say it's also possible they don't think they are being treated very well there. >> i don't know about that. the impression i got from speaking with them is that they just don't want to get on the bad side of big red in the white house. i'm telling you. neil: big red. >> big orange. whatever he is. nldz neil: i see what you did there. all right. we will keep following this. we haven't seen the specifics of this. we have heard the threats of this. people can read this cynically and say it gets off the whole manafort discussion. who knows. it is what it is. it's out there, the markets don't like it.

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neil: well, a lot of homes in the carolinas are under water right now. there's a bigger problem for us

as a country, with homeowners in general under water and it's getting worse. it could have real estate repercussions for the entire country. real estate analyst roger healey with us right now. i don't know whether these are back to meltdown type numbers, they don't appear to be, but they are spiking. could you explain what's going on? >> what's going on with the home prices, you're saying? or the cost of construction? neil: the debt level issue that could impinge on a home comeback. >> i think we're okay. i think a lot of people have been sitting on the fence and the naysayers are always going to naysay but it's good. we have been on like a five-year streak. i think people are just cautious by nature, especially after what happened eight or nine years ago. as a whole, the economy and the real estate market has done very well, especially in cities like dallas. obviously there's some stuff coming that's out of our control, and i think that's

going to have an impact on the market as soon as we find out what happens with this weather. neil: dallas is a unique environment, to put it mildly. we look for signs of froth or is it getting a little too giddy on the housing front? i don't see that but a lot of people are looking at things like no doc loans that are coming back or variations of very easy loan packages given to folks, and that could be setting up something. are you in that camp? are you worried about that? >> i don't worry anymore and i lived through -- i started my company in 2006. two years later, i was like what the hell's going on, this is not what i signed up for. so we diversify our service levels and do a lot of leasing but one thing i will say is, a lot of us were trained kind of based off the movie "the big short" and a lot of the stuff that happened back when the mortgage crisis hit, we are in a position to where we will be safe if it happens. it's not going to happen again. the no doc loan thing. the first house i bought, i had

a no doc loan and i had done real estate for like seven months and pretty much they were saying do you promise to make this money, do you promise to pay this back and i was like yes. i was 24 years old. luckily, i made it through the other side but yeah, lot of the homes we sold back in the day of no doc loans, the first house they bought ended up being their first foreclosure. lenders are way more stringent and i think that the people that are worried are people that didn't experience it back in the day. neil: you know, i agree with you on that, we should maybe have you running the other way but i don't see any of the giddiness that was associated with that when people were flipping properties and doing all of that and buying, you know, homes sight unseen and selling them again. i don't see any of that. but i do wonder about affordability for a lot of folks, because that's sort of like the step ladder to the entire housing market. if it's not affordable at the low end, whether that's the case of sellers who are, you know,

just not budging or buyers who just can't afford to look at what they're interested in buying. that could feed on itself and marry that with still tough appraisals and rising interest rates, what do you think? >> so here's my thing. my position with real estate, the reason that we do all sorts of real estate but the reason i specialize in residential is that everyone needs a place to live. the rule of real estate has always been location. i think that's always going to be one of the biggest things that gets people going, and motivation, what keeps them motivated but now it's shifting more towards affordability. what we are seeing in cities like dallas and cities like charlotte, all across the country, is what used to be the bull's eye and the only place people wanted to live has shifted. so gentrification has taken over the location aspect because of affordability. with rents rising all across the country, in some cities the average rent per foot is over $2

a foot, it's going to make more sense to purchase. if interest rates rise, my guess is the fed's eventually going to realize that our economy is fueled and based on real estate, residential real estate. we will find a way to do it. you know, there's 1,000 numbers that are just shocking, especially in a city like dallas. our city is still majority filled with renters, almost 70% of people in this city rent. as the rent prices do this, eventually there's going to be some kind of collision between the two and i think that's going to give us more stability on the real estate sales side. neil: we shall see. thank you very, very much. >> yeah, thank you. have a good weekend. neil: you, too. all right. lot of folks in the carolinas are not looking at a great weekend. they are looking at a pretty wet weekend. the latest from the ground right now and it's pretty, pretty flooded ground.

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neil: all right. one thing i have discovered through this storm is the winds are incredible and our reporters who are braving it are incredible as well, especially griff jenkins in morehead city, north carolina. i don't think he's slept and i don't think this thing has slowed but what can you tell us, buddy? reporter: well, you know, neil,

the wind continues to come. we are seeing a little bit of clearing in the skies. it's certainly not the beating we were taking earlier but just to orient our viewers, this is morehead city, just north of wilmington. let me just give you a little look. we are standing here at the sound. in the distance, far distance, that's atlantic beach. that is the ocean on the other side of that, and that is where they were just absolutely pummeled. i was talking to the chief of police and the fire chief [ inaudible ] reporting from the pier over there, with a small break in the weather several hours ago and we saw the pier had been demolished. the end of it wiped away, a pier built in 1959. while we've got a little bit

[ inaudible ] the storm surge, you see the dock [ inaudible ] with the surge still coming in -- neil: i'm very sorry, my friend. obviously braving the elements. you are doing fine, your equipment is not. if and when we can, we will go back to him. meantime, 70,000 are reportedly without power in south carolina. that's on top of more than half a million in north carolina without power. this is getting to be a bigger and bigger issue. the south carolina red cross ceo louise welch williams on the phone with us now. thank you for taking the time. how are things looking there? >> things are deteriorating weather-wise in south carolina as we prepare for the impact of this storm. it's starting to rain a lot, the wind is picking up. we are getting ready. neil: so it has been taking a southwesterly direction, i guess it's going to hang in south carolina for awhile, we're told, then you will get the full brunt

of it. what do you tell folks who are in harm's way? >> right now, last night, the red cross had 5500 people in 59 red cross shelters. we are just sheltering in place. it's not the time to be moving around. it's time to shelter in place wherever you are. we are a good team in south carolina. our partners, we work with our government partners, we are taking care of people in south carolina but you just need to shelter in place at this point. neil: apparently the biggest issue will be power going out for thousands of folks at a time, because it's going to go click, click, click, we're told as this makes its way inland. what do you do in that event? >> the majority of our shelters have generators. we're prepared with things like mres and bottled water, knowing we may have to do without electricity in our shelters for a couple of days. neil: what about, i know this seems like kind of a vague question, folks who are just

dealing with this and now have been hearing about it, the arrival, now nonstop rain, maybe weeks without power if it comes to that, that's at least what duke power is saying, this is testing a lot of nerves, isn't it? >> it's testing a lot of nerves. when i walk in these shelters, people are scared. this storm as you know has been so unpredictable. you see the sphefear, you see t uncertainty. one of the worst things for south carolina is the flooding. unfortunately, many of the people that will receive a lot of this rain and possible flooding this time are just recovering from floods in years past. neil: we are learning separately, louise, from the national hurricane center that florence is moving very slowly, to your point earlier on, but it is already a catastrophic fresh water flooding event and that's going to sweep through most of

north carolina and a good chunk of south carolina, so you have sort of some twin problems there. >> we do. we've got a lot of water to deal with the next couple of days. i'm confident in our government partners here in south carolina. we pull together and we will do everything we can to make sure people are safe and make sure they have what they need in the long recovery. neil: in terms of any people who have been hurt or you know, you can always repatch a home, get a home rebuilt or whatever, but you can't rebuild lives, so i'm wondering what kind of reports are you getting on injuries or people who are in harm's way? >> i have not gotten any reports of injury or death caused by the storm at this time. but as you know, we're just bracing for the worst of it now. neil: that's a good positive thing, brace for the worst, hope

for the best. thank you very much for all you're doing. >> thank you. neil: keeping an eye on that, i would be remiss if i didn't also let you know what's going on at the corner of wall and broad. we keep trying to show you the markets and the hurricane and developments on trade. the markets already are factored in what's happening on the hurricane front here, what they might not have factored in is the sudden jump in hog-related prices, oil and energy trading picking up because of delays in getting that stuff moved around. if it can't get moved around it just sits, the demand stays, and can't be met. all of a sudden, you've got higher prices. that affects you no matter where you live. we have the dow down about 31 points because the other worry today seems to be the president's harder line posture with china on trade, ready to pull the trigger on $200 billion worth of tariffs on additional chinese goods. no response yet. or reaction from the chinese. more after this.

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there could be issue with unable to ship, all of sudden you see it at grocery store, whether you're in the path of this or not. trish regan i always found that kind of stuff fascinating, it happens no matter where you are. trish: got to be careful. neil: indeed. trish: thank you, neil. winds are whipping, waves are crashing, hurricane florence is making landfall along the north carolina coast with 90 mile-an-hour winds and dangerous storm surgeons. now the hurricane is slowly and powerfully heading south. i am trish regan. welcome, everyone, to "the intelligence report. this onslaught of florence is expected to last for days as the hurricane comes onshore in wrightsville beach at the creeping pace of 6 miles an hour. as rains likely to be bring more than 3 1/2 feet of water. the damage canlr