michael holmes, back to you there in palm bay.u are expected to brunt of the storm right now and it looks like it's getting worse. >> reporter: yeah, it has, john, over the last hour or two in particular, it's really whipping up here. the gusts are enough to knock you off your feet just about and the rain has become torrential and the thing is we're still really an hour or two away from the worst of it. so -- and perhaps even three hours away from the worst of it. as you point out there's been a lot of evacuations. the roads were full of people heading away, but a lot of people staying here in shelters and also in their own homes riding it out, john. >> of course there's not just the wind and the rain, but the storm serge. there are many, many tense hours to come. michael, thank you. if michael is as bad as expected, it could cause millions in damage, causing a ripple effect in the united states. our cnn meteorologist explains. >> hurricane matthew is likely to have a devastating economic impact on florida and u.s. look at the int

there is our michael holmes. >> michael holmes, i think. >> getting ready it looks like.l have that and more coming right up. . >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >>> welcome back to early start, i'm christine romans. >> and i'm miguel mar questioqu. it is 31 minutes past the hour. we welcome our guests around the united states and world. now hurricane matthew lashing the coastline of florida and may very soon slam ashore somewhere along florida's flick coast atl and maybe just as bad, it may skirt along it, feeding off the ocean's injury, before making landfall in the north, and 11 million people are under hurricaine warnings and more than 210,000 homes and businesses are without power. the storm is blasting the coast with sustained winds of up to 120-miles-per-hour with the pounding surf. ten inches or more of rainfall, and a storm surge up to 11 feet. enormous. there's the potential for devastating flooding, billions of dollars in damage and of course loss of life. >> we have a whole team of reporters ready to bring you the very latest on conditions up and down t

michael holmes there, we appreciate the update.hose who decided to ride out this storm. let's go to anthony holmes. he lives in deland, florida. he is my father-in-law. we were talking to him earlier today. he decided not to. ed, i hope you are okay. what are the conditions right now. are you worried about next few hours. >> certainly worried. it's very much the calm before the storm. we're 23 miles inland from daytona beach. simply at the moment we have persistent rain. people locally most of whom i know have decided to stay are worried because this is the biggest forecast since records began in 1851. we are around four years ago when four storms hit this county. bee moment it is simply persistent rain. it's very much a feeling the calm before the storm. i think we are likely to see the peak of this around 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. this morning. that's of course eastern time. >> just explain your decision why you decided to stay, despite all of the warnings from your socia son-in-law, our daughter, and of course the officials there in fl

let's sm_3 in palm bay, florida, with michael holmes. what are you seeing there now, michael? >> reporter: the last couple of hours, it's gotten more and more powerful. the gusts have become stronger, the rain has become heavier. it is a hurricane so you have to expect that. it's not the worst of it as yet. we are expecting it will continue to get worse. perhaps the next three hours, as long as that, before things sm_3 to abate here. you mentioned the power outages, we've been seeing for hours now the transformers blowing all around us now. we're lucky we still have power right where we are because areas around us are without power. we saw the national weather service several hours ago put out what seemed to be a very alarming warning, warning of a catastrophe in this area, around melbourne and saying some areas could be uninhabitable for weeks or months. it was several hours emergency services put out the word, they're done for the night. it's too dangerous for their crews to be out. any with an emergency has to wait. everyone worried about that storm surge you're talking abo

michael holmes for us near mosul. ank you, michael. >>> lawmakers tangling with the pentagon for trying to recover enlistment bonuses paid to california national guard soldiers a decade ago. according to "the los angeles times" 10,000 soldiers are asked to pay back $15,000 or more. the demand for repayment disgraceful and threatening to launch an investigation. >>> history unfolding in chicago. the chicago cubs actually made it to the world series. ending the longest draught in sports history. wait until you hear what it will cost you to go to game one. unless you are theo epstein right there. >>> police in oklahoma trying to track down a gunman who shot and wounded two police officers. micha michael vance has been on the run since he shot and wounded a driver and sped off. police believe vance is still wounded and armed with an assault rifle. >>> a highway was shutdown after protesters blocked the area. the sheriff's office arrested 127 people trying to cement their hands to police cars. officers had to shoot down a d

cnn's michael holmes has seen this happening. michael, what can you tell us?> reporter: john, that's right. that word coming from a senior sunni tribal leader who witnessed isis members, fighters, families knfleeing across still isis controlled territory. forces are trying to circle mosul to stop that from happening. they are not there yet. the kurds may be six miles from the outskirts of mosul. if you look around mosul, they are still well back. we have been covering one particular strategically important town and surroundingvilsurrounding villag villages. they tried to probe their way in. they were hit by bombs and sniper fire. what is happening today is rockets mainly fired in specific areas. that is from apache helicopters and the like. one presumes that is to eliminate the sniper positions and get rid of the vehicle-born explosive devices. kurds can then move in to that very important city. you know, it is interesting, iraqis put out a number where they have destroyed 130 truck and car bombs in the campaign. they killed nearly 800 isis fighters. >> thank

we have michael holmes with the latest from erbil, iraq. ael. >> reporter: the push continue , john. i think there is a lot of activity in a couple of towns and villages outside of mosul. you have the peshmerga forces four kilometers outside of the mosul. there is an iraqi counterterrorism unit with eyes on mosul at the moment. you still have fighting going on in various places. we were in a town about 20 kilometers from mosul yesterday and it was pounded by coalition war planes. a couple of big 500-pound bombs and artillery going in there. that fight continuing. the place where there are a number of foreign fighters is 90% surrounded. we hear an assault will happen there today. further south from there, some better news. iraqi forces have overtaken that place and freed 5,000 to 6,000 civilians from under isis rule. interesting tid bit, we are hearing a lot of iraqi military leadership in places outside of mosul are leaving and leaving fighters to their own device. one piece of bad news from inside mosul. we got word 20 men were rounded up t

christine. >> michael holmes here for us.or that. >>> breaking overnight, caught on video, police van rammed into protesters leaving several injured. this happened at an anti-u.s. rally at the american embassy in manila. you can see the footage showing demonstrators hitting vans with batons. those are ban tons taken from police. at least 1,000 protesters gathered to demand an end to u.s. troops. and support the call of president duterte for foreign policy not dependent on the yoous. >>> dow futures slightly lower right now. investors awaiting earnings from morgan stanley, american express, ebay and others. oil is rising. goldman sachs crushed estimates on higher gold. >>> the consumer price intext ticked up last month. prices are 1.5% higher than this time last year. a problem for the federal reserve not because it's rising quickly but because it's rising too slowly. food and energy prizes rose 2.2% from this time last year. silver lining, paychecks are growing faster than your grocery bills except if you're on social securit

i want to go to irbil to nearby mosul and bring in michael holmes. michael, what is the latest in the fighting? >> reporter: john, i can tell you in the last couple hours, the iraqi military told us a number of suicide car bombs, major weapon of isis, were directed at their forces. they say they repelled the attack, but in the process of doing so, they lost one soldier and two others were wounded. they say ten isis members were killed in the exchange. showing how often this tool is used. the suicide car bomb and likely continue to be used increasingly as the forces get ever closer to mosul. now you mentioned iraqi forces feel they are doing well. kurdish forces say they are ahead of schedule too. methodically taking 200 square kilometers of land. that is sparsely populated. many or most of the villages they are taking are empty, but it is a process that they are going through. they say they know what they're doing and they will get to mosul soon enough and the real fighting will begin. we are being told that the river that runs through mosul, the g ti

our michael holmes is on the ground there. michael, it is good to have you with us.t off, what can you tell us about the news of the american casualty? >> reporter: it is very little, george. americans not releasing much information. all we know is it happened in northern iraq which is a very broad description and it was an ied. this soldier was apparently wounded in the attack. medevac away from the scene and later died from injuries. apart from that, no other details. the first casualty in the four-day operation to retake mosul. >> there is information about isis moving into kirkuk. what can you tell us about that? are forces prepared to fight on multiple fronts? >> reporter: that's absolutely right. and kirkuk is an oil-rich city. it is about 140 miles south of mosul. it is not near the frontlines. isis fighters went into the city and they launched a series of coordinated attacks. there are casualties. we are told suicide bombings and obviously small arms fire and security buildings targeted as well. local television has been showing bodies in the streets. what is

michael holmes, florida's governor issued dire warn eggs to get out. what is latest? >> reporter: said this storm could kill, evacuate. we've been talking the last couple of hours when we began, the winds were less than they are now. just to step aside to give you idea, vans coming through, been worse than this, comes and goes, strong at times, ripping through here gusting maybe 75 miles an hour. in a couple of hours, maybe three could be as much as 110 miles an hour. people been warning about the storm for days now, warnings getting more and more dire and heard from the national weather service in melbourne and just read it to you. language is dire. locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or even months. widespread extensive wind impacts, national weather service don't mess around or exaggerate, that gives you pause. talking about winds and rain at moment. storm surge is something we also need to talk about, it's just high tide right now. midnight on the east coast. high tide combined with a storm surge of perhaps as much as 12 feet is going tock devastating for coa

cnn's michael holmes is live there in iraq. michael, what are you seeing?but there are still towns to be taken and security. you know, overnight, there was some confusion, too, about the pace of this offense, you had american officials saying on friday that iraqis would be pausing on some fronts to allow other units to catch up, sort of consolidate their positions on the approach to mosul. but almost immediately, you had iraqi commanders saying, that's not so. the u.s. comments were inaccurate. meanwhile, on the battlefield, you've got the popular mobilization units. these shia paramilitaries. they announced that they are entering the fray, launching operation west of mosul to, quote, in their words, cut isis' supply lines. and that's going to put thousands more fighters in one area where isis has been able to cross back and forth from iraq to syria and vice versa. of course, syria, where the de facto capital, raqqah, is. victor? >> so, michael, what have you learned about these reports that we're seeing, that thousands of civilians are being round up. what

let's go live to irbil in northern iraq and bring in cnn's michael holmes. rnight? >> reporter: there's been progress made on all fronts. kurdish forces say they are slowing down a little so iraqi security forces and iraqi military can meet up with them. they are coming from the east and south and try to get in a similar position as they continue to move forward. you make the point that u.s. coalition spokesman saying today that both sides, the kurds and iraqi security forces are ahead of schedule. we heard a short time ago iraqi army forces are outside a christian town not too far from mosul. used to have 50,000 christians living there. it's empty at the moment. a strategic place for the military to hold and clear and make sure it is safe from ieds and the like. it shows you how well they are doing in getting closer to mosul. it is a very strategic thing. they are not in a hurry. they are taking targets as they come up. they have a plan and they are sticking to it. isis fighting back. we saw that yesterday with nick paton walsh where they were fighting back

i want to bring in cnn's michael holmes near mosul for us. ing us up to speed, michael. >> reporter: christine, an active battle field. the suicide squads coming in in the hundreds. wearing suicide belts and coming in from syria. obviously determined to fight to the death. 15 kilometers to the south of mosul, a town which is the last major population center from that direction before mosul. iraqi troops have it surrounded. we are told that inside they have moved, isis moved in some of the better fighters. more capable fighters. they are there to try to delay the advance and cause problems. damage as much of the iraqi military equipment as they can and possibly damage morale as troops get closer to mosul. and we heard from locals in mosul today that three houses that were occupied by a squad of isis experts and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry was struck. today, 20 isis fighters, we were told were killed. we heard several isis police officers patrolling the streets of the city have been shaving their beards likely to try to blend in with th

cnn's michael holmes on the ground near mosul. michael, what do you see? >> reporter: yes, john.we have been keeping an eye on this situation for last two or three days. kurdish forces with a victory surrounding the town and eight other villages. they have been forced back by suicide vehicle bombs and sniper. today, air attacks from apache helicopters. and one of the villages on outside, the peshmerga have been able to get in there and they are making progress to take what is a strategic city from isis. this is an important prize, if you like, for the peshmerga and iraqi forces making gains elsewhere on the battle field. the most forward position is eight miles from the city. they will need to bring others up from different directions before they are settled enough to start thinking about an end to mosul. >> michael holmes following the development in mosul. >>> the big question is who is winning two weeks left before election day? there is the poll and then there is donald trump's take. that story coming up. with unlimited 4g lte data. switch today. redid you say 97?97! yes. you

michael holmes reports. (robert de niro) "he's a punk, he's a dog, he's a pig." (scott baio) "i think she's a bad human being. i think she's crooked and corrupt." "you're so vain..." (susan sarandon) "she is an interventionist and she's done horrible things." celebrities, lending although some say celebrity endorsements may not persuade voters toward one candidate or another... experts believe having a celebrity back a candidate can get voters engaged in the political process. (david swerdlick, assistant editor, the washington post) "most celebrities, i think people are interested to know what they think, they help with fundraising, but it's not clear to me that people are basing their voting decisions on how celebrities endorse." star power may even help get voters to donate to a candidate. hillary clinton overwhelmingly wins holly vote over donald trump. but trump is not without support from the rich and famous. but all celebrity support may not be created equal. some well-known stars like sean penn, angelina jolie, tom hanks and -- of course -- oprah winfrey -

way want to go to michael holm in st. augustine, florida.urricane quite a bit. as it ripped a tear through the crib crayon and now made land fall in the united states. there and up the u.s. coast a lot of people with a lot of anxiety about what all that water is going the bring. >> absolutely. yeah, we started following this one in jam kachlt we are in kingston jamaica. then miami, then melbourne in florida where we took the brunt of it there. then it moved on. we have followed it up here to st. augustine in florida as well. you mentioned the water. it's important to remember that we talk a lot about wind and rain when it comes to hurricanes. but it's water that kills more people than anything else. and when you hear of these people not listening to these evacuation orders, they can really be stuck. we'll talk more about that in a moem. but the storm surge is interesting. here this is a very historic city. it was sort of set up 450 years ago by a spanish admiral. the oldest american city they like to call it. what they had here was an eight

michael holmes reports. (robert de niro) "he's a punk, he's a dog, he's a pig." (scott baio) "i think she's a bad human being. i think she's crooked and corrupt." "you're so vain..." (susan sarandon) interventionist and she's done horrible things." celebrities, lending their voices in an election. although some say celebrity endorsements may not persuade voters toward one candidate or another... experts believe having a celebrity back a candidate can get voters engaged in the political process. (david swerdlick, assistant editor, the washington post) "most celebrities, i think people are interested to know what they think, they help with fundraising, but it's not clear to me that people are basing their voting decisions on how celebrities endorse." star power may even help get voters to donate to a candidate. hillary clinton overwhelmingly wins hollywood's vote over donald trump. but trump is not without support from the rich and famous. but all celebrity support may not be created equal. some well-known stars like sean penn, angelina jolie, tom hanks and -- of c

let's hear from michael holmes. michael. >> reporter: yeah, christine, obviously isis plans to defend mosul. it's been a long time in the making. it seems they're going into effect. witnesses inside mosul are telling us that hundreds of fighters have been pouring into the city from raqqah in syria, the de facto headquarters of isis. hundreds of men coming in wearing distinctive uniforms and wearing suicide belts. they have light weapons. these are obviously suicide squads who are being brought into the city. the locals tell us that these are mainly foreign fighters who are determined to fight to the death. they're going to have the tools to do it. we're hearing isis has prepositioned dozens of explosive devices, car bombs or some of these big truck bombs that they have as well, position those around the outskirts of the city in various places. they've put in rocket launchers, we've been told, and also something we've discussed over recent days, and that is the strategy perhaps of isis to pull back from the eastern s

michael holmes, florida's governor issued dire warn eggs to get out. what is latest?kill, evacuate. we've been talking the last couple of hours when we began, the winds were

something both feared and expected. >> thank you, michael holmes.es from the site of the quake back in august that killed 300 people. just hours after a 5.5 magnitude quake near the town of visso wednesday. a 6.1 quake struck in the same region. no reported injuries, but there are reports of historic buildings damaged or destroyed. >>> all right. baseball. it's all tied up. the cubs are right back in this world series. all tied at 1-1. they beat the indians 5-1. they jumped out early and never looked back behind jake arrieta. he did not allow a hit until the sixth inning. now we go back to chicago. game three is friday night at wrigley. the first world series game at wrigley for 71 years. are you going to wear anything special? >> i'm embracing the superstition. i'll wear harry caray glasses from now until the end of the year. hard to take a shower in these things. >>> donald trump pledging to dig deeper into his pocket for the campaign. he claims he has spent more than $100 million. is that true? we will take a closer look ahead on "early start." m

michael holmes is awaiting matthew aegs arrival live from kingston, jamaica. calm before the storm? >> reporter: yeah, i think you could say that for sure. pretty much on cue. the rain started here five minutes ago. we have to expect to feel the effects of matthew in the hours ahead. the main impact likely here monday night going into tuesday. that's when things are really going to start to spark up. the last we're hearing is it could run right between jamaica and haiti. the way it circulates around, that could mean haiti is going to get the worst of it in terms of high winds and rain. one of our weather guys was telling me, haiti could get 40 inches of rain out of this storm. that's almost a year's worth of rain in the course of a day or two. let's remember, haiti has been deforested. there's not a lot of trees holding the earth together. remember, the earthquake in 2010, there's people living in tents in haiti, it seems extraordinary. a lot of preparations going on in jamaica. we were down at the fishing village, port royal, not far from here. the locals the

michael holmes live in erbil, we appreciate your reporting. we wish you and our other teams there continued safety as you continue bringing us the news. thank you. >>> many of the families rescued from isis control are traumatized but are happy certainly to be free. cnn's arwa damon visited one refugee camp and heard horror stories of life before liberation. >> reporter: despite the basic conditions at this refugee camp sprouting east of mosul, there are still smiles. it's over. they survived. 9-year-old fatima hid with her family under the stairs. she says she was scared. there were a lot of air strikes. her uncle says an air strike destroyed the wall in their home. and they escaped by using a ladder to try and jump over the wall of their house into another house where they thought that they would be safer. like everyone here, this man cannot stop talking about isis' iron fist. in this particular village he's saying that isis took their cell phones a year ago. two to three months ago, they forced everyone to remove their television satellite

michael holmes is near mosul with more. hi, michael. >> hi to you, carol.air power. not 30 seconds ago, what appeared to be a 500 pound bomb dropped not too far away, which is an indication of just how impressive that power has been. it's the second one to be dropped over there in the last hour or so. bashika is a strategically important town about 20 kilometers from mosul. as this offensive continues you've got peshmerga fighters some four kilometers from mosul. you've also got an iraqi counterintelligence unit we're being told who are within eye shot of mosul. an important town, about 10 or 15 kilometers south of mosul, surrounded by iraqi forces inside we're told foreign fighters from chechnya, from tunisia, from morocco. this is still a hard fight, and not all units are up around mosul. there's still a lot more to be done. inside the city, preparations have been made, suicide bombers, hundreds of them, we're told, have been brought in to the city from syria, and those reports coming from residents inside. also we're told of the positioning of dozens and

cnn's michael holmes live for us in iraq. iraqi troops, michael, we understand say they're making progress. there were crossed wires between them and the americans as we understand it. do you know what happened? >> yeah, clearly there are towns and villages like the one you just mentioned there which ha v to be taken and secured like shura. you have around mosul you have forces that have eyes on mosul, others are 20, 30, kilometers away. we had american officials on friday saying the iraqis would pause on some fronts to allow the other units to catch up to consolidate around mosul. you had iraqi commanders saying, that's not true. the u.s. comments were, quote unquote, inaccurate. meanwhile, tough popular mobilization units, shiite para militaries announcing they are entering the fight, launching operations west of mosul, putting thousands more fighters into this battle. in one area which is important. it's an area that isis has controlled and has been able to cross back and forth from iraq into syria and vice versa. syria, o

we want to go live to erbil, iraq, bring in cnn's michael holmes. what's happening? reporter: yeah, occurredish and iraqi forces are pushing in from the east and heading south towards mosul. some units we're told as close as maybe ten miles. but it's hard going. they're going through all of these towns and villages clearing them but they're getting resistance along the way. they say it's not as heavy as expected but they are having to take it seriously. and clearing those villages is not an exact science. because we did get as you alluded to, there are disturbing reports that some iraqi soldiers have in fact been surrounded by isis fighters. this is near a village about 15 miles south of mosul. they have gone through a couple of villages. they thought they had cleared it. and it seems that some isis fighters have been hidesing perhaps in tunnels or houses and have surrounded them. we're still not sure of their fate at the moment. but iraqi forces say they're going to continue on their way to mosul. the commander telling cnn its forces have destroyed dozens of vehicles

michael holmes spoke with people who are staying put in jamaica. >> reporter: now this is the fishing committee of port royal just outside kingston. the people here are under an evacuation order. they have been told to get to their faith in god and hunker down in their church. when you talk to some of the locals about why, tell me why you are staying. >> well, i just feel like staying here. i think i am safe over here. i am from here, so i will die here. >> reporter: why not leave? >> yes, matthew is big. but i just wa my mind tells me to say stay. >> reporter: and you will be in the church? >> i don't know yet. [ laughter ] >> reporter: at least it is close to buy. thank you very much. just an example, we've been talking to a lot of people who have all been saying the same thing. we have been through hurricanes and we are not going to leave. this is our home. they are not going to leave their homes to go to some center they are putting their faith in this building here. this church has survived other hurricanes, and they say it will survive this one as well. >> it is always a challen

cnn international correspondent michael holmes is near the front lines outside of mosul. l. >> hi, carol. yes, those suicide squads, incredible. over the last couple of days, witnesses inside mosul telling us that hundreds of isis fighters have come across and it is clear what their intention is. they're in distinctive uniforms, we're told. they're wearing suicide belts, and mainly foreign fighters, and they are clearly there to die in this fight. now, we're also told that in the east of the city, most of the isis fighters from there are starting to head to the west of the city. they have to cross the tigris river to do that. they have been putting explosives on those bridges, as they go. so we know what they're going to do. and heading in to the west part of the city. which is really a rabbit warren of alleyways and narrow roads and closely built houses. which is going to make it easier for those already embedded in a place like that, in fighting position, and going to make it pretty impossible for some of the big armored vehicles we've seen rolling across the iraqi plain

cnn international correspondent michael holmes near the front lines outside of mosul. rter: hi, carol. yes, it was only a few days ago we were talking to a sunni tribal leader just west of mosul and he was saying how isis fighters' families, even leaders were leaving mosul and heading into syria across isis-held territory. what's happened in the last few days, according to sources inside of mosul, is there has been traffic back the other way. in this case, suicide squads. we are talking about hundreds of hardcore fighters who have been crossing from syria into mosul wearing we are told distinctive uniforms and wearing suicide belts as they come into town. now, these are obviously suicide squads. they are going to be positioned around and act against iraqi forces in place when they move into mosul. also other activity inside that beleaguered city. we are told isis fighters who are there are in there have started pulling back from the eastern side of the city, crossing over the tigress river and putting explosives on the four main bridges and you can guess what they are g

michael holmes has the latest for you. he joins us live now from erbil, iraq. >> hi, carol.me very disturbing reports of a dramatic increase in the number of brutal executions going on at the hands of isis. sowing terror into the local population. u.n. reporting 232 people have been murdered by isis, executed in recent days. just around mosul. and we have word earlier this day that 20 men have been killed inside mosul by electrocution. they were tied together, and all electrocuted. this happening at mosul university. their bodies were then left out in the open as a message to the rest of the population. now, we're also hearing word that tense of thousands of people are being rounded up from the villages near mosul. just on the outskirts of mosul. and as you said, being brought in to the city to join what 1 million, 1.5 million other civilians in the city, all being held as human shields. this obviously is going to make the retaking of mosul extremely complicated for iraqi forces when they do eventually enter the city. also, word that isis is taking down all of the local iraq

michael holmes is live on the ground near mosul.hat can you tell us this -- >> of course we've been saying for some time isis has had mosul for more than two years. plentee of time to prepare a defense. and just a couple of hours agegewe herd from witnesses insides mosul, most of them foreign fighters have been pouring in to mosul from raqqa wear dg stingtdive uniforms and suicide belts. they're carrying light weapons pm these are apparently suicide squads dispatched to mosul. they will night death. and speculation that isis may pull back from the eastern side of the city to the more denseply packed western old city pack ofmosisal where it's harder to have the urban khan compat. and so what we're hearing is that indeed steams be to happening. inal to the western parshz of the city. and they've been mined with exhoegzives. the plan for that is it oo floi it up. but not now. and dozen of truck and car bombs have been prepared. along with rocket launchers. preparations to defend mosul well underway, cresteen. frrsz >>> the u.s. senate

exercise that makes you mildly >>> celebrities play a big role in us politics, but star power michael holmes takes a look. >> [ clip playing ] >> she is an interventionist and has done horriile things. their voices. although some say celebrity endorsements may not persuade voters, experts believe havinn a celebrity back can get voters engaged in the politiccl process. >> i think most people are interested in knowing what celebrities think, but it is not clear to me people are basing their voting decisions on how celebrities endorse. >>reporter: star power may even get voters to donate. hillary clinton overwhelmingly wins hollywood's vote over donald ttump, but donald trump all celebrity support may not be created equal. some well-known stone -- starss3 like sean penn, tom hanks, angelina jolie and oprah winfrey may have more sway than others. celebrity endorsements are nothing new in politics. historians trace the role of celebrities back to 1920s when warren hardy was ndorsed by >>reporter:sell.>> [ clip the vote campaign in the early 1990s used pop culture to get young people to the polls.

i want to bring in cnn's michael holmes on the ground near mosul. ing wire reports of isis fighters and families trying to flee toward syria. >> that just came in recently. our bureau here was in contact with the senior tribal leader in that part of the country. he has been reporting hundreds of isis members and families and leaders have been fleeing mosul and heading for syria. you talked about how the closest forward position of peshmerga kurdish fighters is about six miles or so. the city is not surrounded yet. there is an out and according to the tribal leaders, isis fighters, families and others are leaving now for syria. you mentioned that tragedy. the perils of a rapid advance which is ahead of schedule. a lot going through the towns and villages. some have small numbers of civilians and iraqis have liberated 78 of them so far during the operation. during the one village, the army came through and people came out to celebrate. they were cheering on the iraqi army. the army did not stop, hold and clear the village, they kept going on. you can i

cnns michael holmes is live in iraq following developments this hour. michael, let's talk about the advances you are hearing about on the battlefield and the disagreements between the united states and iraqis. >> reporter: a bit of confusion, mixed messages, if you like. there are still towns and villages yet to be taken before everyone is at mosul. some are close, within a couple kilometers. some are 20-30 kilometers away. american officials said friday the iraqis would pause on some fronts to allow other units to catch up and consolidate their positions, which almost makes sense. almost immediately, iraqi commanders said not so, the u.s. comments were inaccurate. the hush or popular mobilization unit, they are shia paramilitaries. they have officially announced they have launched operations toward the west of the mosul area to cap isis supply lines. they are putting thousands of fighters where isis has been able to cross back and forth from iraq and syria where, of course, they have the capital. that's an important development on the battle front. geor

cnn's michael holmes is on the ground following developments near mosul. michael, it is good to have you with us this hour. let's start with the very latest from the frontlines. what more can you tell us about the peshmerga push into mosul? >> reporter: there have been movement on a number of fronts around mosul. to the southeast, the predominantly christian town, there's an offensive under way there. to the north of mosul, a town that's being attacked by peshmerga fighters as well. that's only ten kilometers outside of mosul. that would be the closest that any forces have gotten to that city. we're not far from a town that has been subject of an assault that began in the early hours of this morning, around 6:30 a.m. local peshmerga forces moving in on multiple fronts to try to take that town. we were watching it being pounded by artillery and rocket fire and air strikes as well. a couple of huge bombs landing on that town. sort of softening up. this is all part of trying to encircle mosul. that's been the plan all along. eventually into the city itself. wh

. >>> nick and michael holmes reporting that there are american special op forces near the frontlines. the advisory role of american military is clearly very actively on the ground. we will get back to that soon. >>> 19 minutes past the hour. the cubs one win away from a possible world series showdown with the cleveland indians. i have my fingers crossed. andy scholes has the details with the bleacher report next. hey, searching for a great used car? i don't want one that's had a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing i like it start your used car search at carfax.com ♪ ♪ ♪thunder ♪ ♪thunder ♪ ♪ ♪thunder i spent many years as a nuclear missile launch officer. if the president gave the order, we had to launch the missiles. that would be it. i prayed that call would never come. self control may be all that keeps these missiles from firing. i would bomb the [ beep ] out of 'em. i want to be unpredictable. i love war. the thought of donald trump with nuclear weapons

michael holmes in palm bay, florida for us this evening. give us the update. >> reporter: yeah, and in fact, don, i will give you an update. the national weather service in melbourne, florida some, frightening language. i'm going to read it to you now. it warns locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months, widespread, extensive to devastating wind impacts and such effects have not been experienced in central florida in decades, talking about widespread power outages that might not get power back on for weeks, perhaps, and also damage to infrastructure roads and the like. i can tell you just over there behind us, about 30 seconds ago, bright blue flash, obviously power transformers going out. this is ramping up here in melbourne as you pointed out. this could be the worst impact storm of this point. we're expecting hurricane-force winds to officially start coming in within the next hour or 90 minutes from there and it will get worse from there. by 4:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m., could be about 125-miles-an-hour, sustained perhaps 20-miles-an-h

bring in cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr and cnn international anchor and correspondent michael holmes is near mosul. michael, let me start with you. what is the situation in and around mosul this morning? >> yeah, as you know, alisyn, the iraqis and the kurdish peshmerga are trying to encircle mosul before they can think about going in. you mention how close they are the most forward position is about seven or eight miles. that's the peshmerga in the north. making progress, too, from the south, the southeast. but not so much from the west. we're just outside bashiqa where they mounted an operation yesterday and came in on two fronts and surrounded this very strategically important area. the town and eight different villages. 100 square kilometers and it was interesting we could hear small arms fire and rockets going in and then it was quiet. now, what we've been told is that they have been encountering those suicide car and truck bombs that have been such a problem. 130 of them have been destroyed during this campaign so far. they're also up against snipers. all have been quiet for a

cnn's michael holmes is on the ground there, live in kingston, jamaica. what are conditions like?ince we've spoken the last hour, fred, we had a big storm come through here. a lot of lightning and thunder. it's rolled through now, but it shows how this is going to be building up in the hours ahead. the impacts of what is a formidable storm. we are expecting the main impact to be monday night into tuesday. that's when things are going to get hairy around here. we're told that the track at the moment is quite possible. it is going to actually suit the nu needle. it'll thread through jamaica and haiti. because of the circulation, haiti could get more winds and more rain. even up to 40 inches of rain. that's nearly the entire year's rainfall in the passage of this storm. let's remember, haiti had the earthquake in 2010. people are still living in tents, believe it or not. and it's affecting deforestation. there could be landslides. in haiti, they're battening down the hatches. >> what about evacuations, michael? >> yeah, a lot of preparations going on, including evacuations. it's inte

michael holmes, thanks for bearing the brunt of it for us. >>> kim kardashian west is back in the newsernet with any explicit photos or twitter war. instead the media star was held up by gunpoint while robberies made away with $10 million in jewelry. it's been largely publicized since every day has been reported on tabloids but on social media accounts. did she possibly make herself vulnerable to an attack like this? i want to bring in cnn correspondent melissa bell. there are still questions here as to whether this was an inside job. how hard or easy was it for criminals of any kind to find out where she was staying and what she had with her? >> reporter: jim, that, of course, is almost part of who she is, that her life is lived so publicly. we've all seen the ring that went missing that was given to her by her husband that was worth millions of dollars. we knew that she was in paris for paris fashion week. anyone who follows kim kardashian, any of her 50 million twitter followers, is kept up to date with every detail of her life, it seems. it would be easy enough to decide to target

michael holmes is likely in st. augustine, florida, anchoring coverage of the major storm this hour. michael? >> reporter: george, yes. st. augustine there, this is where there was a storm surge a few hours ago, where i'm standing now, the water was halfway up my calves. it has receded. the historic city that came into being 450 years ago when a spanish admiral settled it, is dry. it was under water for some time, though. in fact, the city was officially closed by authorities. when the storm surge was on its way, the mayor told the 13,500 residents to leave. apparently half did and half were stuck inside the city with floodwater that ranged from ankle deep to knee deep and pounding surf. the storm surge has been a real issue all along, and it continues to be in places like savannah, and charleston, and will as it continues further up the coast. power is also an issue. a million people in florida without electricity, although they're trying to get it back on as quickly as possible when we drove up here tharch from mel

michael holmes, she got married this weekend and can't be in jamaica for her honeymoon.e example of so many people affected, not to mention those living on the island. how bad is it? >> reporter: yeah, you wouldn't want to be here for a honeymoon, brooke, particularly in the hours ahead. there is a lot of apprehension here, but also a little bit of relief, the knowledge the latest forecast is pointing at jamaica escaping the worst of hurricane matthew, but it is going to get slammed pretty good in the hours ahead. western haiti, they're not so fortunate. they're really going to get hit. there's been heavy rain, winds in the last few hours, but it's going to get much worse in the hours ahead. it was interesting, yesterday, perhaps a picture of things to come, there was a 40-minute d n downpour that really flooded portions of downtown. think of what hurricane matthew can do. a shelter is open. we saw one today with a capacity of 300 people. there are only a few people there, to be honest, and a lot of people we spoke to said they're going to ignore the mandatory evacuation

augustine florida, michael holmes. a big concern where you are there, the storm surge.ll this flooding. what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah absolutely. i'm standing in storm surge. it is not very deep here. but st. augustine, the city itself, what's known as the oldest city in america, dating back 400 years when a spanish admiral founded it. it is back that way. and this water goes all the way back into the city. and in fact the city is officially closed. emergency services and an officer coming through now. they are the only ones going in and out of the city. it is officially closed. there is in fact a cur fay from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. what happens is when the storm surge came in it was meant to be eight feet of storm surge. the mayor said everyone get out. population of about 13 and a half thousand. half of them said no, we're going to stay. they are stuck there now. roads and bridges closed until emergency services say it is safe to reopen them. so that is just one example of what's happening up and down the southeast coast when it comes to storm surge. you know

haven't been able to leave behind as much force to hold these villages and in one instance, our own michael holmeswho had celebrated after the forces came through, after the iraqis left, isis came back out and murdered some of the villagers in those areas. so absolutely there are tactical setbacks on this battlefield. it is a very tough go. that is what everyone expected. but overall, the big picture, it does look at this point like the iraqi forces, the peshmerga kurdish forces and the up to 200 u.s. military advisers are making progress each day. it is going to get tougher as they get closer to the city, but they are still very much headed in that direction. >> barbara starr at the pentagon, thanks so much. joining us to discuss congressman adam schiff, ranking member of the house committee on intelligence. congressman, thanks for being with us. we just saw the tweet from donald trump, the attack on mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. again, you are the top democrat on the intelligence committee. does donald trump know something that we don't here? >> no. i think that's very unlikely. b

we want to go to michael holmes in saint augusta, florida.ribbean to the mainland united states. i know there's been severe flooding there in saint augustine. but there's still more to come, isn't there? >> yeah. there sure is. this hurricane won't quit. we will talk to derek van dam in a minute and he will tell you a cat two is a mor formidable storm. i covered the story in new jersey and that was a tropical storm so a lot of damage can be done. we followed this from jamaica to miami. we were in melbourne, florida yesterday and saint augustine, florida. this place had a real problem a few hours ago. not so long ago, right where i am standing, the water was pretty much half way up my calves from the storm surge. it now disappeared and we're in the main part of the town a short time ago. it is pretty dry. it is going to come back a little bit with the tide. the storm surge has been a major issue. this is a historic city, founded 450 years ago by a spanish admiral. they call themselves the oldest city in america. very historic place. they are w

holmes. carr goes deep for michael crabtree. he will fall down, oakland native marcus peters leads to a chief's touchdown. kansas city up 13-10 at the break. 346 chiefs lineman poe stops himself in for the two yard touchdown. chiefs up 20-10. raiders struggle in the rain. carr lolzs tses the football. the chiefs recover. 4th and 14. they are tied for first in the afc west at 4-2. >> especially a division game. especially against the chiefs. it hurts, man. it sucks. we didn't do good enough at all. that was bad. >> i can't sit up here and make up any excuses for y' all or give y' all anything. we have to continue to reset our draw and come back to work on monday and get back out there. >> seattle atlanta, 17-3 at the half. they roar back to take the lead. two minutes to play. seahawks, seechb houska, 54 yard field gone. last chance for the falcons, ryan will heave it up to jones, covers by richard sherman, grabs his arm, no flag, dan quinn is -- pete carroll and his seahawks win it 26-24 that final. >>> tony romo might be out of

holmes. carr goes deep for michael crabtree. he will fall down, oakland native marcus peters leads to a chief's touchdown. kansas city up 13-10 at the break. 346 chiefs lineman poe stops himself in for the two yard touchdown. chiefs up 20-10. raiders struggle in the rain. carr lolzs tses the football. the chiefs recover. 4th and 14. they are tied for first in the afc west at 4-2. >> especially a division game. especially against the chiefs. it hurts, man. it sucks. we didn't do good enough at all. that was bad. >> i can't sit up here and make up any excuses for y' all or give y' all anything. we have to continue to reset our draw and come back to work on monday and get back out there. >> seattle atlanta, 17-3 at the half. they roar back to take the lead. two minutes to play. seahawks, seechb houska, 54 yard field gone. last chance for the falcons, ryan will heave it up to jones, covers by richard sherman, grabs his arm, no flag, dan quinn is -- pete carroll and his seahawks win it 26-24 that final. >>> tony romo might be out of

joining us as a political panel amy holmes and democratic strategist michael tobin.asxwobout and at every turn tur it back to the personal. going after trump personally. >> i'm not sure i agree with that. hillary clinton has -- >> the election under way. we've been watching. >> i'm aware. but hillary clinton has a lot of papers on policy issues. i've spoken with her policy team at length about all her many ideas. i'm not sure i would agree that she has turned -- >> i read her book and she has some ideas. okay. >> one of the few. >> i think i'm the only one. she sold nine copies. now, fascist that does seem like, first of all, but beyond that, does that elevate the tone at all? is she going high as michelle obama advised her to do? >> it's in everybody's without addressing the candidates. it would be a shame -- >> god bless you, michael tobman. whoever wins they dodged a bullet and learned nothing from it. if you're a hillary supporter, as i am, to win and not take a look at what got trump this far through the republican primaries and to this point is a real lost oppo

holmes for the 7-0 lead. amari cooper had three catches on the drive. momentum crashed after that. his crash to michael crabtree underthrown, picked off, the marcus peters. that led to kansas city's first touchdown, and then in the second they take the lead. jamar charles gets in for his first score of the season. chiefs in the 3rd. spencer ware gets some great blocking on the left side, 45 yards inside the 5, which is also college football show every saturday here. kansas city gets tricky on the lateral pass, the defensive lineman 20-10 kansas city. two scores end the game. they still have it, car tries to escape the pocket, stripped by d. ford, fumble scooped up. that's your game. chiefs beat the raiders for the fourth straight time 26-10 is the final. >> it hurts, you know, especially a division game, especially against the chiefs. it hurts man, you know, it sucks. we didn't -- we didn't do good enough at all. i mean that was bad. >> it can't continue, not for us to be the kind of team we had designs on being. we're sitting here at 4 and 2 right now. okay, coming off a day that didn't go the way tha

holmes is here with that. >> reporter: get this, on target's website, you can still get, as an adult, a michael meyers costume, complete are a fake butcher knife. you can't get a clown costume. supposed to have scary fun this creepy clown phenomena is causing some people and retailers to adjust. the creepy chaise has gone international. bizarre bozo sightings caught on camera are lighting up social media feeds around the world. back home, this video on live leak apparently showing a knife-wielding clown approaching a home. this clown on the back of a scary clown masks are flying off the shelves. national costume retailer halloween express says its clown costume sales are up 239% this year. target tells abc news it's removing clown masks from its stores and scale back inventory online. saying this e e do six was made out of sensitivity to the issue >> reporter: even ronald mcdonald is keeping a low profile. with creepy clowns reported in at least 40 states. >> hey, you the clown that was scaring those kids back there? >> reporter: as far as ronald mcdonald goes, they're scaling back the appearances. saying, he