leyla is outside and these still photos coming in right now.t to bring in chad meyers from the weather center. san juan is not going to be as bad as other areas. san juan has big steel and concrete buildings. roofs ripped off and that's bad but in the countryside it's going to be worse. >> if you take a ride all the way here across to palmas del mar out to el conquistador resort, and then further south here to st. croix, you will see houses without roofs and then you will be able to notice homes without walls. this was the equivalent of an ef-2 tornado that lasted 20 to 30 minutes. it will come by and be gone in 17 seconds. this is a duration destruction where you lose a little bit of the house and then you keep losing it and then another piece breaks and then the pressure pushes the backside of the house out. when you take a wind and push it in the same direction for so long, structures that man builds cannot withstand that especially if they are made of wood. what we are seeing in san juan is a microcauseam of what the rest of puerto rico loo

let's go to leyla santiago. she is in san juan, puerto rico. leyla, what's the latest from there? >> reporter: chris, this is becoming just ferocious. i mean, these are winds that are taking down debris. take a look around me. you can see limbs of trees that have come down, parts of roof that have come down. i want to take you up a little bit so you can see these palm trees that are being stripped of their leaves. let me take you a little further north so you can see these buildings. that is an apartment complex. and you can tell those windows will not sustain these winds and this rain. i can hear -- i can hear the roofing of buildings here in san juan coming off. as i look in the distance, it is hard to see beyond several feet in front of me. but, you know, one of the things that is very telling, we are surrounding right now at this hotel by first responders. and i asked one of them if he could compare this to others. he was here for georgina, here for hugo. he said he has never seen anything like this right now. first responders getting calls for rescue, but it is too dangerous

thank you so much, ivan watson and leyla santiago. thank you for your reporting on the situation there. >> i want to talk more of president trump's comment of attacking san juan's mayor. lets talk it over. wanda summers and john phillips. brian, i know you had been monitoring the reaction on this president's favorite platform, twitter, what are you seeing? i am struck by commentators and moderates have chime in d in an said what the president said is inappropriate. >> there is confusing messages coming from the president. the most popular from the president, and 15,000 people shared on their own twitter feed. the star of the creator of "hamilton," he tweeted this morning, mr. president, you are going to hell. there are a lot of messages out there critical of the president. some cases gaining a lot of attention. former president obama's tweet encouraging puerto rico efforts. that's way more popular than our current president. his words are shocking and i would argue that some of his words are beyond thepale. a lot of reactions are gett

. >> cnn's leyla santiago and derek van dam are in san juan for us right now. leyla, first to you. you got outside a few minutes ago. you had a chance to assess some of the damage. tell our viewers exactly what you're seeing. >> well, at this point, we still have heavy winds and rain, still coming down as hurricane maria continues her path through puerto rico. but i'll let you take a look behind me. because if you just look at the debris on the ground, if you just look at the trees that continue to sway, i know we're wiping off the camera right now, given that there are heavy rains coming down, but take a look at these apartment complexes, that no longer have some of the boards that were put up. some of the metal sheeting that went up. they are just completely exposed in areas. and then let me bring you back down a little bit, so that you can see the impact to businesses here. the trees are still swaying quite a bit. a little left on them. and then look at that hard rock, cafe, that has a tree completely come down. the hard rock cafe sign is on the ground. starbucks coffee, next to

. >> let's go to leyla.earing desperate pleas for help from so many, many people. >> reporter: yeah, you know, let me just address what the president said, wolf, really quick. when i asked the governor, i said say yes or no, are you getting the help you need? his response was, it's complicated. he said and the immediate, yeah, we are getting a lot of aide in. but in the long-term we need more help. we need the federal government, congress to pass a relief package that will help us in the long-term. and we haven't gotten that yet. now, what i am seeing on the ground, i spent my day going to hospitals, and i am seeing hospitals that are days away from being in the dark. they don't have the diesel they need to run the generators to run a hospital for some of the most vulnerable people out heremehere. and when i talked to the mayor of san juan, she was quit to note some of the hospitals are in her area and she's becoming frustrated and upset by the text messages of desperation, hospitals in the middle of the nig

so with me right now, boris sanchez and leyla santiago. leyla, let me begin with you. thousands of puerto ricans are trying to to get out apyou're at the dak where people are lining up to board cruise ships. do they expect all those people there are getting out today and how are they triaging the situation? >> reporter: so let me walk you through because you're right, typically in this area i see tourists and these are mostly puerto ricans trying to get on to this ship. as you see behind me, this is a line where people that they are classifying as special needs. directly behind them, that is a line for people with children. and then this line extends to further down the block where there are thousands of people trying to get on the ship right behind me. now, as i was talking to some of the organizers here, they told me that if they were registered, they would get on the ship today. when i asked when the ship leaves, they told me as soon as it is at capacity. but still you have a lot of people here who are showing up hopeful when they see these lines at trying to get on

cnn leyla santiago is originally from puerto rico. after a week of covering hurricane maria and aftermath, she was able to make it to her hometown. and leyla, how is your family? how bad is the damage? >> reporter: well, my family is it okay. thank you for asking, jake. i had actually flown over my hometown a few days ago, so i knew how bad the damage was, and it's not good. this is interior part of the island. it's up in the mountains. and i mean it looks like -- i mean, it looks horrible. stores are down. roofs are ripped off. and so when i was finally able to get in and find my family, it was emotional. it was emotional. and i realize that i'm one of the lucky ones. because there are thousands of people in the u.s. mainland that haven't been able to hear what i heard, which was my family saying i'm okay. you know, my family saying we survived. we lost some stuff with the business, but that's fine, you no he, that's all material. and we will rebuild. but to hear your family say i'm okay. i mean, i know we need a lot of relief on thi

leyla santiago is joining me now right there, what you hearing about this?i'm seeing about this, kate. look behind me, the aid is here. this is the port where all of the aid is just sitting. water, generators, food, it is on this island and they can't seem to move it from where we are right now. i was just talking to some of the port authority workers who tell me it is just sitting behind the fences of where we are. it's been doing that for days now. we are eight days now since maria struck this island leaving it devastated and one of the shipping companies here, the president, tells us they have about 3,000 containers right now, 4%, 4%, of the 3,000 containers have actually made it out off this port. so what's the problem? why is it just sitting here? they don't have the drivers. they don't have the commercial drivers that can transport this to the parts of the island that need it most, not just san juan but the remote parts of this is island that we have visited, we have taken choppers to go to and found elderly people without food and water, what is sitti

let's begin with cnn's leyla santiago live in san juan, puerto rico. >> reporter: chris, we're certainly still feeling the wind and there's still a bit of rain coming down. the big problems on this island right now you mentioned, the power. more than a million without power, more than 56,000 without water and there is no word on when that will come back. officials saying this might not be a matter of days but rather weeks or months. we are expecting the governor to give up an update in about an hour. hopefully we'll get more details. in the meantime, emergency crews are already on the streets trying to get fallen trees off the roads and help the people who may be also dealing with flooding. i tell you what, people here considering themselves lucky when you think about the other islands in this caribbean. let's go to barbuda where it has certainly seen devastation. government officials there saying this damage is estimated to be at $100 million. 95% of the buildings seeing damage there. even worse, this has proven to be deadly. this claiming the life of an infant in barbuda. that is not t

we're going to start with cnn's leyla santiago. she's in puerto rico right now feeling the brunt of it. leyla, there is no simple way to evacuate puerto rico, so how are residents taking cover? >> reporter: just in the last half hour, the governor of puerto rico has announced that there are about 3,000 people in the nearly 500 shelters that have been established on this island. if you just look behind me, you can tell it is windy. these waters on the northern coast of puerto rico are certainly becoming more and more aggressive already. we know of a lot of road closures in the area. so for many who will soon probably be dealing with flooding, it is too late to sort of do any last-minute preps or last-minute moves for those who are not already in shelters, jake. >> and leyla, puerto rican officials have warned well before irma that it might even be months before crews are able to restore electricity to the island. explain that situation. >> reporter: right. first of all, they were already seeing a lot of power outages right now and n

>> right on leyla.ll be getting to you a lot in the coming days. >>> when we come right back, how florida is preparing for irma and a storm official who plans to hunker down for the storm will all join me next. i'll ask them what they expect from this storm. look at that thing. mom, i just saved a lot of money on my car insurance by switching to geico. i should take a closer look at geico... you know, geico can help you save money on your homeowners insurance too? great! geico can help insure our mountain chalet! how long have we been sawing this log? um, one hundred and fourteen years. man i thought my arm would be a lot more jacked by now. i'm not even sure this is real wood. there's no butter in this churn. do my tris look okay? take a closer look at geico. great savings. and a whole lot more. after a hall of fame career, it's no wonder why i use blue-emu arthritis cream. blue-emu's non-greasy, deep-penetrating formula gets down deep into those joints for big time pain relief. blue-emu, it works fast

leyla, what was it like? there as people were evacuating with the few bags of belongings they had left. there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of people overwhelmed by what the future may hold. one man saying he was reminded that nature is truly powerful. and when you ask them what would you say to people in florida, they told us get out. you do not want to be in irma's path. once a caribbean getaway surrounded by turquoise water, now demolished, left desolate, unrecognizable by hurricane irma. this is the shocking view as we fly on to the island of barbuda. jerome teague says hurricanes are a way of life here. but not this one. >> this is the worst one i ever see. >> reporter: and this could get worse, as the hurricane-ravaged island braces for jose. those who braved irma now arriving in antigua, evacuated to escape a second major hit. elvis burton is determined to protect the place he has called home for 12 years. at least what's left of it. he evacuated, but returned to find a home no longer livable, savaged by

let's go to leyla santiago.right now. >> reporter: we're still seeing a bit of rain and wind gusts coming in from the north, coming in from that way where irma is. we're expecting that to continue on through the night. for the people here, from the people i'm hearing from in my homes, there's really a sigh of relief. breathing in a sigh of relief, given that it's not as bad as many expected it to be. that's what a lot of people here on the island are saying. you talk to the emergency management, the governor himself saying don't let that guard down yet. we're going to have a lot of problems as a result of a hurricane that never made landfall here. one of the major problems flooding already on the eastern part of the island, they've had to rescue several dozen people from cars and homes that have been flooded. the other bug problem anderson, there have been power, more than 900,000 homes without power at this hour. already authorities are saying it isn't a matter of days, it could be weeks, possibly months before

leyla, thank you so much.een doing an amazing job of being our eyes and ears on the ground, and literally being thrown around by the wind this morning. so thank you so much, and thank you. please stay safe, continue to stay safe. i want to go now go to cnn's rafael romo on the eastern part of the island of puerto rico which took the brunt of the storm. rafael, how's it looking right now? >> reporter: kate, i could begin by telling you, this was a category 4 hurricane that hit the island shortly after 6:00 this morning. i could also tell you that it is the strongest in almost 90 years, but -- and leyla mentioned something about this, but i want to show you, because it is very evident here on this side of the island, if you look at the palm trees around here, they have absolutely no leaves, whatsoever. no matter where you go here, there are no leaves that were left on the palm trees. all you see are the trunks. this is what a category 4, category 5 hurricane will do to the vegetation around here. look at -- take

leyla santiago has been live for days. what's happening, leyla?er: alyson, that dam is the concern and a priority for the government there. we actually flew over that area yesterday. we could see the dam. we could see the amount of water. the governor himself saying it's a concern because it is releasing water. erosion is starting to take a toll. and it could break. they are evacuating, or attempting to evacuate more than 70,000 residents. we were able to land right near the dam to talk to some of the residents. many of them have no communication, weren't even aware they were supposed to be evacuated. and very stressed out about the situation. they had water. they don't have power. they vice president been able to communicate with loved ones around the island. we were able to get to several remote areas yesterday as we traveled. remember, the government said they haven't been able to reach many of the places on the island. and 6th single place we stopped, many had said we were one of the first people to arrive. the government aid has not arrived.

leyla, you're doing a great job. stay strong. you and the team stay safe. thank you. >>> 3.5 million americans are without power. why? the grid was so flimsy to begin wfpl joining sus the ceo of puerto rico's electric power community. mr. ramos, it is is about describing the realities of need and the time that it will take to get back up, sir. ? well, chris, good morning. it is devastation. we have only been able to fly helicopters due to weather conditions. it is is raining hard right now. we said after the eyewall passed our grid will be destroyed. >> in terms of getting it back, do you think that the fema officials, that the government officials understand what is needed yet is the commitment there? >> yes. the commitment is there. the local and u.s. fema personnel for the last couple of weeks. we have a pretty good idea of the help we need. we have already requested an amount of additional personnel, drugs, materials. we're ready to begin the work. the assessment is very important in order to have logistics made. we have a plan to bring power for a medi

and leyla santiago has an emotional reunion with our family. we'll bring you her story, are but first ivan watson in one small town still lacking basic necessities, food, water, electricity and desperate for help. >> reporter: welcome to florida, florida, puerto rico. like so many other communities on this american island, this town suffers from fuel shortages and the collapse of many other utilities. >> this is no water in the house. no telephone, no internet, nothing. >> reporter: have you seen any -- officials -- >> nada. no, no, no, one, no one pass through my neighborhood. >> reporter: one neighborhood in florida is struggling with an additional problem. are these fish in the road. >> si. >> yes. fish in the road. >> reporter: you can fish in the street? >> yeah, a little one, big one. >> reporter: this town is up in the hills, nowhere near the coast, and yet somehow the storm backed up a nearby creek, creating this flood that has inundated dozens of families' homes. among those homeless. >> we lose everything. first floor, second floor, e

someone passing by found the dogs, gracie and leyla, starved and beaten at penn's pines park in upper darby. they're now undergoing treatment atta artar aardvark animal hosp. leyla is improving well, but gracie is still touch and go. >> it will be at least two more days, three more days, before we know if she's going to make it. she was in the worst condition i've ever seen. they both had wounds all over their face and their neck, which are classic for fight wounds. >> a humane officer investigating the case believe the animals could have been part of a dogfighting ring and that's something sthoauthorities are n looking into. >>> the lawsuit over median parking on broad street in south philly is over, for now. a judge threw out the lawsuit yesterday. a group of neighbors called the fifth square filed the suit. they argued that the long-running practice of parking right in the median along broad street is not safe. the group tells nbc 10 they are now reviewing other legal options. >>> for a lot of families, this is the first week back to school, and that means parents also need to get

these pictures leyla is showing are stunning. we can't fully establish communications with our own reporter. we are talking people in this situation without power for months. fema having to get things in via ship. this is a crucial situation right now in puerto rico. >>> next, more breaking news, this from kim jong-un with his most threatening words yet. coming out with a personal statement calling the president of the united states, donald trump, deranged saying he will pay dearly and talking of war. >>> tom price took dozens of flights on private charter planes at your expense. so many more than what we already knew. >>> facebook finally handing over russian ads to congress. is this just the tip of the facebook iceberg? ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis,... ...isn't it time to let the real you shine through? maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... ...wi

leyla just returned from barbuda where she's seen the devastation firsthand.tigua nearby. leyla, we're seeing these images now, but i imagine as you walked around, drove around, just devastation. >> reporter: yeah, what you see from above, right, in those aerials and kind of what you feel when you're down there is very overwhelming feelings. it is pure destruction, it is desolate, people are overwhelmed. you can tell that it's not a what am i going to do tomorrow, it's a what am i going to do next hour? they are overwhelmed trying to get off of the island, those that were still there. the priority now not so much to save what irma did leave behind but to save lives. on wait therthe way there, we a saw five ferries coming from antigua to barbuda. so right now they're bracing for things to come with hurricane jose, and it was just this feeling -- barbuda is such a vibrant island, not just in color but in hosting people. to see it so did he sesolate is overwhelming, and then people with tears in their eyes not knowing what to do next and not knowing what the next

how are people preparing tonight, leyla?you know, as we were out and about even on the southern part of the island today where it's really expected to take quite a hit, people were really taking to these warnings, really out and about in the stores. there were lines for water, people trying to get their hands on generators which pretty much seems impossible here right now. even there there was no school, lot affbusinesses already closing down. people out and about just trying to make last minute preparations for hurricane maria, which was a little bit different. i've got to tell you don, a little bit different than what we saw for hurricane irma. certainly there were prep rags underway. but i made sure to des all the people i talked to on the streets today, if this was different, and there seems to be an understanding yeah, this is different. and people here really understanding that because we are expecting direct landfall and because it has been as you mentioned a decade, they really fear the devastation, the destruction t

leyla santiago has an emotional reunion with her family in corizol. but first, our dr. sanjay gupta reports on the difficulty hospitals face trying to get medicine and supplies. >> we don't have antibiotics to give the patients and we have no place to get them. >> i kept thinking to myself, how difficult can this be? if these life-saving supplies are on the island of puerto rico, what's standing in the way of that happening and can i make it happen myself? the first place i'm going to try are these "d" mat tents. disaster tents. this is what they were asking for. so we've been waiting about 45 minutes now outside the hhs tent. we know they have medications. what we heard is they have to run it up to lines of command, two chains of command, and then they get back to us. but, again, it's been 45 minutes. how are you doing? we're going to go and try somewhere else. we're trying to get to some of these medications because we went to some of the shelters -- you can get some here. >> is there medications here? >> we have the medications just arrive. okay. thank you. because t

let's begin in puerto rico with leyla santiago showing us the aftermath. >> reporter: as people wake up this morning they are still finding roads that are not completely open because of debris like this. fema is sending in more relief aid that is expected to arrive into the airport this morning and people, as they wake up, are asking the same questions they have been asking now for days, do you have power? do you have signal? you have reached your loved ones? we are facing a grim reality. the numbers we mentioned, 13 deaths confirmed by the governor are preliminary because there are parts of the island you cannot reach, you cannot get to. not even the governor's office has been able to reach. in the meantime, we are expecting more of this, more rain coming down here today. sections of puerto rico's northern coast underwater two days after hurricane maria ravaged the island. the flash floods innodate the islands. many come home to find their houses destroyed. search and rescue teams working around the clock to rescue survivors as heavy rain continues to fall. maria dumping as much as

>> thank you very much, leyla. tonight, many americans received their lives to get help and supplies. you can see people here, as you see, clinging to a wire. it's a metal wire. they are attempting to cross a river to try to get food and water they need. ivan watson is also in puerto rico tonight. ivan, you were there. you saw the desperate things people are doing right now just to get food. >> reporter: oh, what's crazy about that, erin, is that washed out bridge is only 45 minutes drive from downtown san juan. 25 miles as the crow flies. you have a bridge to a small town, a neighborhood in the municipality. 1,000 people living in that town. the surrounding countryside is ravaged by hurricane maria. there's no electricity in municipality. there are long, long lines of people waiting for gas. there's no cell phone connection, no telephones, either. it's worse for that community, because to get in and out, they have to ford the river with water going up to their knees and then since they can't get their vehicles acr

now joining me now from leyla from puerto rico.y issued a dire warning to a dam in the western part of puerto rico. >> reporter: right, jake, we actually watched the helicopter, which i suspect is carrying relief aid right now fly over us. i have spoken to the governor's office and they tell me that will require them evacuated 70,000 people. because this dam on the west coast, that area, has now created a flash flooding issue. that is going to be the big priority whether it comes to emergency management. national guard is there. emergency management there. and governor indicating that the coast guard is head that way. and that is only one part of the island. many parts like where i am right now, you see this type of devastation. the roads are flooded. there is debris across major inter states making impossible to reach all parts of the island. so the governor is saying, admitting that they actually don't have fool damage assessmen assessment at this hour. and i have spoken to one woman whose name is louise, and all she's asking for

i want to get out to leyla santiago, she's live for us in san juan. i've been watching your report all day, the weather in puerto rico has deteriorated as the hours tick by. what are you seeing right now? >> reporter: we are still seeing raining and heavy wind gusts. a lot of people on this island breathing a sigh of relief. this is not initially what is expect expected, this was expected to be a catastrophic event here. that is what a lot of people are saying on a social media call i have made. government officials and emergency management officials are saying don't let your guard down now. even if this, this rain and this wind that is in what we saw earlier is the worst of it, we still have a lot of problems coming as a result of it. let's start with power, more than 900,000 households right now without power. don, authorities have already said, this will be a matter of days. it could be days, possibly months before the power is back and restored for the folks that lost it tonight. then there is the flooding. that is going to be an issue already on

leyla santiago surveyed the destruction. >> people are really upbeat, despite the physical problems you. it surprises me how upbeat people are. we've been through this. this is bad, but we'll get through it. >> so what are we looking at here? it seems like everywhere you look there is damage. can you quantify that somehow? >> difficult, you know, but i'll say at least 80% of all homes, all buildings have been damaged one way or another. some of them totally destroyed. this is my home. >> this one here is your home? >> this is my home. you can see what it looks like. >> can we go inside? >> you're welcome to. this is representative of what has happened. by the way, the windows in our home we bought in miami. they're supposed to be miami-dade -- can withstand 200-mile-per-hour wind. >> so you think hurricane mode a lot. >> all the time. we live in a hurricane zone. so when we build homes, we think of hurricanes. >> so now that we're upstairs, walking through here you have to be careful. immediately i've noticed here that you don't have a roof. what do you feel when you see all of this? i

leyla santiago, cnn, san juan, puerto rico. >> tears in her eyes. just so telling. >> exactly. while maria is a grim memory for the caribbean, that storm is still out there, moving north. and our meteorologist derek van dam joins us now with the latest, just back from the region, of course. but what's happening with that storm going forward? >> can you believe it's been nearly two weeks and we're still talking about hurricane maria? unbelievable. coming from san juan and puerto rico, major humanitarian effort under way there. and it should continue. because no electricity for the majority of the island. no communications, as you heard in that package just a minute ago. and also many locations not having any running water. now as we move into the atlantic ocean, we're still talking about maria. but the good news is there has been some slight weakening overnight from a category 2 to a category 1, according to the national hurricane center. 140 kilometer per hour sustained winds. that's 85 miles per hour. it's a large storm. so we do believe the outer fringes of hurricane maria wi

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leyla santiago and sanjay gupta.lways hate to compare one disaster to another, because obviously each is unique and for people on the ground this is the worst thing that's happened. what do you see here that you haven't seen in other places or have seen in other places? >> even in haiti, we started to see things like water come in to places four or five days in. in port-au-prince, people were waiting in line. nine days and they're still not seeing that. this distribution is worse. these commodities are on the island. they said we're going to get the stuff on the island, we finished our job, and then the actual getting it to the people who needed it, that part of it got lost. >> boris, you were talking to port officials, he said the fema stuff got distributed. we got that out of the port but port official was saying it's the commodities that are in the crates that could be if on the shelves. >> there's a series of logistical issues layered one on top of the other. there's a lack of truck drifrz to pick up the goods. y

. >> leyla, puerto rico took in a lot of evacuees during hurricane irma. are those people still in shelters tonight even as we speak? >> reporter: still in shelters tonight at last check with government officials. many of them right now at the puerto rico convention center, which we visited as well. and we actually talked to one man, 22-year-old guy from the british virgin islands. and he was telling us that he felt he had been welcomed here, that there was a lot of help. but he was concerned because he still had final in gourdo where he was from. and they didn't even know maria was on the way given communication lines are still not so great over there. so still evacuees on this island. those numbers seem to be going down quite a bit as they make their way towards other destinations. puerto rico not only bracing for another hurricane themselves but still housing some that managed to escape from their home islands destroyed by puerto rico. >> thank you, leyla, appreciate that. >>> this is "cnn tonight." i'm don lemon. it is 11:00 p.m. on the east coast, and

so with me right now, boris sanchez and leyla santiago. leyla, let me begin with you. puerto ricans are trying to to get out apyou're at the dak where people are lining up to board cruise ships. do they expect all those people there are getting out today and how are they triaging the situation? >> reporter: so let me walk you through because you're right, typically in this area i see tourists and these are mostly puerto ricans trying to get on to this ship. as you see behind me, this is a line where people that they are classifying as special needs. direly

so it's still like leyla said, it's not over yet.oke, back to you. >> sounds like watch out for flying debris. we're going to take you back to puerto rico and watch what's happening there as far as maria and the aftermath is concerned, the 100% power outage. let's just talk about where maria is heading next. might the path include the united states? allison chinchar is back at it again today in the cnn severe weather center. allison, i see the eye spinning. where is it headed? >> it's just now making its way off puerto rico. yeah, the winds are starting to calm down but they still at times are gusting very strong and we have that. we now know it's a category 3 storm. winds are 115 miles per hour. but the gusts are still 165. keep in mind that would be a category 5 if those were sustained winds. so they are likely still experiencing incredibly strong wind gusts as the storm continues to exit off of puerto rico, but it's still going to be raining there for hours and likely very windily conditions as well. here's a look at the track. so

leyla what are you seeing? >> reporter: we're still saying rain and gusts of winds coming down every now and then. really, it's dark, not because it's nighttime but because there is no power on this island. power is a major issue. the other big issue right now, anderson, is communication. as i've been talking to people on the street those are sort of the big questions, do you have power, do you have generator then it's do you have a signal. a lot of people still trying to gethold of loved ones. there was a 6:00 p.m., curfew put in place by the governor and yet i still see people walking back and forth and they are either trying to get to their homes, trying to get to loved ones or just in awe, in disbelief of the damage that maria has left behind. it was powerful when everyone sort of felt safe enough and come out and see things like what is directly behind me. this roof that came down on the street that's blocking the street. what we're seeing on a lot of roads, either flooding or things like this. i talked to

leyla santiago thank you for the update.iculties and we know even the supreme court justice sonya sotomayor has family she can't reach. it has wide ranging tentacles stuc touching so many on the mainland. an update from the national hurricane center on the path of maria and what's next. i want to go to our cnn meteorologist chad myers. any potential still to the u.s. mainland? >> you know, 12 hours ago we said no. after this update, it's still a maybe. and an honestly probably, 2 to 5% chance of that happening. weather people use percentages whether it's rain or sunshine or whatever it might be. what we know right now is that the storm is still 125 miles per hour. and that it is not losing strength. hurricane hunters flying back and forth seeing the storm as still a strong storm. finally now, though, we have enough clearing in san juan, that we're going to send a helicopter to st. croix to get some pictures and some really some feeling for what's going on there. because it's almost been a total blackout there. the east side

i want to get to leyla in say juan. we spoke last night. the weather in puerto rico has really deteriorated as the hours tick by. what are you seeing right now? >> reporter: well we are still seeing rain, heavy wind gusts coming in. but really a lot of team on the island are breathing a sigh of relief because this is not what was initially expected from people here on this island, given that this was preliminarily expected to be catastrophic event here. so that is what a lot of people are saying on social media, calls that i have made to others that are in their own homes. and yet government officials, emergency management officials are saying don't let your guard down now. because even if this, this rain and this wind that is what we awe earlier is the worst of it, we still have a lot of problems coming as a result of it. let's start with power. more than 900,000 households right now without power. an don, they have already -- authorities are already say this will be a matter of days, it could be days possibly months before the power is ba

leyla, stay safe there, traveling around after a hurricane, not easy. we'll check back with you in a little bit. where are we looking next? fears of deadly mudslides, that's a particular concern when it comes to haiti. cnn's paula newton is live in haiti with the latest. you heard us talking about the mudslides. we know what happens in that place and help is always slow and always inadequate. >> reporter: still preparations are unnerving here. there are not a heck of a lot of evacuations going on. what is happening now, it just started raining. we are expecting this storm to hit later this afternoon. like you said, though, it's the flooding and mudslide risk. we had people during hurricane matthew swept right from their homes into the ocean. as i said, unsettling, lack of preparation. people know a storm is coming but there isn't much they can do. remember, chris, this is the poorest country in the hemisphere. what passes for preparation here is a heck of a lot of prayer. i don't have to remind you this country has already dealt with a lot. the earthqua

>> thank you, leyla santiago. i want to get to miguel marquez now. miguel is live for us in miami. as we watch this barrel towards florida there, miami-dade county has issued mandatory evacuations for its coastal cities. so talk to me about what is going on, the gas shortages, the water. what's up? >> yeah, you can measure the concern that people have by those shortages. water in particular and gas also. water, whether we went into a walgreens or a target or a public supermarket, there was just no water to be had. the stores do say they're get mortgage in the next day or two. walmart in particular is drawing from distribution centers as far away as nevada to get water to this place. 1300 semitrucks they say are coming in. this is a gas station that has been very, very busy all day long. in fact, i can see another gas tanker getting ready to come in. the lines for this gas station have stayed consistent throughout the day. it was about two hours at the longest. it's about one hour right now. the other thingy show you, we're on u.s. 1. the traffic on that far side, that's coming from

here is the latest from cnn's leyla santiago in san juan. >> reporter: from above, the images tell theion. but on the ground, the faces tell the story of its desperation. as many on this island of 3.5 million people struggle to reach their loved ones. >> this is the only place where we can get signal. >> reporter: on this highway overpass, dozens pull over, hoping that this spot is the one to reunite family, if only by voice. jose flores drove for hours to get here, to get to cell service, to get to tell his daughter in florida one thing. >> so she'll let my family know that we're fine. >> reporter: for others, borrowed satellite phones are their last hope. people are trying anything they can to reach out. this note handwritten was passed along to our photographer in hopes that it would reach a loved one. it says, among other things, tony okay. tony at frank's house and love you all. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. >> reporter: later that day we were able to get a call out to his girlfriend in new york. >> so it was just such a relief. neither i nor his family has slept all week ju

let's begin with cnn leyla sant in the capital of san juan. earlier you were being battered by high winds tough to stand. what are conditions like there now? >> reporter: you know still rain coming down, jake. so a little windy but not anything near what we saw earlier. the big problem now is the rain continues. and take a look behind me. there is quite a bit of flooding that has come as a result. many of the major roads impassable. but see that white van as a point of reference of what i'm seeing right now. you can see it's coming up on the back bumper. and it has come up pretty quickly from when we first got here. and this is not the worst we have seen. we have sent crews out and about in puerto rico. and they have seen the highways, major highways are impassable. but let miwe walk around here i san juan and take a look at that time this roof or part of the roof that came down on this street. i actually talked to a woman who lives right across the street. and she says when she heard it, jake, she thought it was the entire building. that's ju

leyla santiago arrived in a helicopter yesterday and got a giant hug from a woman because she was thest person from the outside who had been there in five days? >> yes. definitely. i don't think there are places we haven't been to at all but i was in ponce the second largest city in puerto rico and they haven't had any visitors either until i got there yesterday. so incredibly appreciative. and i'll tell you a story, we visited one of the largest hospitals they had safely delivered a healthy baby, 8 pounds, who had a neurological condition that needed a neurosurgeon to fix. they could hold her for a few days, but they couldn't transport her out of ponce to san juan. they didn't have any way to let the hospitals up here know they had this critical child. we brought a stat phone and shared our phone, they called the hospital up here, got in contact and today that child will be going up to san juan to get the surgery that it needs. something as simple as just being able to communicate is totally holding back the ability to respond. they're not getting their medicines and medical supplies

leyla santiago with more on that. >> once a caribbean getaway surrounded by turquoise water. now demolished, left desolate, unrecognizable by hurricane irma. this is the shocking view as we fly on to the island of barbuda. germ roam teague says hurricanes are a way of life here, but not this one. >> this is the worst one ever. >> and this could get worse, as the hurricane-ravaged island braces for hurricane jose. those who braved irma now arriving in antigua, evacuated to escape a second major hit. elvis burton is determined to protect the place he's called home for 12 years, at least what's left of it. he evacuated but returned to find a home no longer livable, savaged by nature. >> it's my home. i have to try and save it. records even more are determined to save live, get people out of barbuda, save the people who seem to have lost it all. it's hard to imagine that an island now rubble, an island home to nearly 2,000 residents could get any worse than it already is. but the prime minister has said 95% of the buildings are damaged, and it will be quite the rebuilding effort.

. >>> let's start with the latest on irma and cnn's leyla santiago is in puerto rico. we know they're prepared. we spoke to the governor this morning. but they are praying that it moves just to the north. and they still get hit, but not as hard as they could. >> reporter: right, chris. there's certainly a sense of unease and uncertainty as everyone waits. puerto rico is waking up today crossing their fingers, praying for a better outcome here. the governor, i know we spoke to him on cnn. he's expected to take to the podium any minute to give an update as far as numbers and preparations for today. the last we heard from him, they are trying to take advantage of these last few hours before a potential hit from ir march. right now irma is about 200 miles southeast of where we are right now. everyone is just hoping that they can escape that destruction that the governor has been talking about. i talked to one woman yesterday who corrected me when i said, hey, let's talk about this hurricane. she said, oh, no, it is not a hurricane. this thing is a beast. there is a lot of

cnn's leyla santiago has just landed in antigua.you were in barbuda just a little while ago, an hour or so ago. tell our viewers what you saw. >> reporter: you know, wolf, as we were flying in, we certainly saw devastation. we're going to show you aerials that we captured while we were coming into this once caribbean tropical island surrounded by turquoise water. and then when you get on the ground, you not only see the devastation, you feel the desperation of the people there, people who are trying to still get out at this hour, actually, many of them evacuating to where we are right now in antigua. you know, as we talked to the last few people still on the island of barbuda and we were asking them to just describe what irma was like, one man described it like a lion roaring. another person said it was a monster. and so now the question is what will jose do? what will hurricane jose do to that island and the people who have already lost so much? most people left barbuda with just one bag because their things were destroyed. their h

what's the situation there, leyla? >> reporter: we're certainly feeling the winds pick up, the water, the waves come in a little more aggressively here in puerto rico. irma right now at this hour, 225 miles southeast of where we are. and yet, as we drove around this morning, i could also tell that people are getting ready. people went to sleep last night not knowing what we would wake up to today, i have been in touch with the governor's office, they tell me they're wrapping up a meeting right now to get the latest with all the emergency management officials who have been working overnight. there are shelters in place, 460 of them. many of them already opening up ready to take people, especially from the eastern part of the island where these are really flood-prone areas. you can see the water coming up behind me. puerto rico is a caribbean island. we are used to seeing tropical storms and hurricanes this time of year. it's hurricane season. this is something the governor has said that is expected to be catastrophic, e

leyla santiago, cnn, san juan, puerto rico. >> well, maria is a grim memory for people in the caribbeancompletely over. meteorologist derek van dam joins us with the latest. you're just back from the region, from puerto rico. >> a lot of destruction there. >> yeah, we saw it firsthand. it really is an ongoing humanitarian crisis. no water, no electricity. and no food for many. so you can imagine as the days and months go on, stresses will get worse for the people down there, unfortunately. all right. let's talk about the details. because things have changed. unfortunately, it appears as if this storm is going through a weakening stage, still chushing across the atlantic. this is a category 1. it was a category 2 about 12 hours ago. so some weakening taking place. this is all thanks to the colder waters that were kind of mixed up in the atlantic ocean from hurricane jose, believe it or not. this is interesting, because now the outer edges of hurricane maria will actually scrape the east coast of the united states. right along the cape hatteras, specifically the outer banks of north carol

leyla, what's happening there?> reporter: well, a lot of people are getting ready right now, brooke, you know, there are no schools open today. yet you still see a lot of traffic, even on this gorgeous day here in puerto rico because a lot of people are heading up to those stores trying to get last minute supplies. and when you think about the timing of this for this island, you know, very interesting. a lot of factors playing a role here. there is still 62,000 clients without power right now since irma came through. and really the power system took quite a hit. a power system that is already vulnerable given the economic crisis this island is in. and even though there wasn't power for days for a lot of people, puerto rico really opened its arms and took in a lot of ee vac evacuates from ot islands. i went to the town and they had a lot of people from evacuated from caribbean given the aftermath of irma. and now they are waiting here waiting to see what comes next from maria. that is taking a direct aim, as you sai

joining us now is leyla hussein, a psychotherapist and campaigner on fgm.re children separated from their parents for so long? for me i think it is important that we make it very clear — whenever a child is at risk of any harm, obviously, i think the authorities do the right thing by removing the child. is it delayed? yes. is it wrong? yes. but there is a reason. the reason it happens, unfortunately, when we work in such cases, multi—agency work needs to take place. unfortunately when we are dealing with fgm, there aren't enough experts who are working with the authorities, hence why there is such a long delay. but when you talk about multi—agency approaches, for most people watching, they assume it's physical college is fairly easy to spot, it's something that actually a doctor can look at and tell very quickly — why isn't that the case? there are different types of fgm, that important. but also we need to understand, communities who practice fgm still don't see this as a form of abuse. this was something that was good for us, it's something for profession

leyla, thank you. i'll check back in you with tomorrow ahead of maria. and just a quick programming vote before we go. this friday at 10:00 p.m. a special report we are calling it twitter and trump. twitter and trump. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me. the lead with jp starts now. >>> thanks. mocks donald trump. well, welcome. the lead starts right now. asking the world body he has trold in the past for help controlling kim jong-un. >>> dangerous deja vu, another hurricane getting power full by the second and taking aim at islands that irma just smashed into. plus an eye opening look opioid in america. how addiction is crippling a generation of kids leaving granld parents and foster families caring for the children left behind. >>> good afternoon, everyone welcome to the "the lead." i'm jake tapper. president trump began first ever u.n. assembly saying united nations has not reached full potential. and saying he wants to make the world great. not great again. just great. president trump has long been a critic of the international body. today h