[John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Calling it quits but why now? The high-profile U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations suddenly announces her resignation taking many at the White House by surprise everybody. Hello everybody, I'm John Vause in Atlanta.
[George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm George Howell in Destin, Florida where we wait waiting for this category three hurricane that has the potential surely to get to a category four in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Michael is moving this way right now just over 300 kilometers from Panama City, Florida. That's where the eye of the storm is tracking right now. Panama City, right in the bullseye. Everything to the west of it certainly in the storm zone into the east of it on that northeastern quadrant of this storm, that's typically where you find the rougher side, the dirty side as they call it of the storm where tornadic activity is possible. The stronger bands and the storm just continuing to bring in more water and just dumping it. That part of this state is really bracing for a really long, long several hours. This storm right now moving a faster than we've seen with other storms, more of a classic hurricane right now moving about a 19 kilometers per hour. It will move and quickly hit hard and then move right out to the Atlantic. To talk more about the storm's track and what's expected let's bring in our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. Pedram, in the CNN International Weather Center. And Pedram, tell us first of all I was talking about that the eastern part, just east of Panama City. What are the expectations for storm surge, for the winds that are coming in?
[Pedram Javaheri, Cnn Meteorologist:] Yes, George. You know, the eastern side as you said certainly going to be the rougher side of the storm system. And when you take a look at how this is going to play out here over the next couple of days, of course, we're watching this as a strengthened rather quickly over the past couple of hours and will continue to strengthen as it moves over towards the north and east here. And already see some of those outer bands, George. So we already seeing some of those thunderstorms begin to push it at least towards areas not far from Apalachicola. You'll begin to feel that as you approach Destin here, as the storm approaches Destin over the next couple of hours. And that's where we see some of the strongest really gust begin to move in as early as 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. and then of course really pick up an intensity into the afternoon hours. And the latest guidance actually has strengthened this form up now to a Category Four potentially as it approaches land sometime between noon to around say 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon local time. So this would be the first Category Four to impact this region of the Florida Panhandle since 1950, since records began. So certainly worth noting here a significant historic storm as it approaches land. And then at that point they'll kind of really skirt off to the north and east and rather quickly move offshore very much a different story when we saw with Florence which was a slow-moving system but hung out for several days and kind of sat there producing tremendous rainfall. The storm system will do that but we'll do it much quicker duration here and of course, hurricane warnings have already been prompted across this region. As you take a look, the storm surge threat becomes the primary concern and they look at a coastal area like as is across this region of the Panhandle kind of a concave coastal region where the water essentially gets the funnel in here. We have a considerable threat here for storm surge as much as two and a half to almost four meters high in the area that it makes landfall not far east there of Panama City. Also with the amount of wind in the forecast here as a Category Four approaches land, we know the widespread concern here for places such as Tallahassee well-known for about 50 percent of the tree canopy there covering the city, well known for all of these trees that often do come down with powerful winds, with tropical systems and none have been as strong as this one going back to 1950. So the concern here is significant power outages, east of Panama City working their way into portions of Georgia and of course on it to the Carolinas where the storm system ends up sometime on Thursday. And that's the last thing we want to see, George, where water levels have finally been dropping and then they can go right back up again the next couple of days.
[Howell:] All right. All of that very important, Pedram, thank you so much. Pedram really explaining the metrics around this particular storm. Let's talk now about the people, who this will impact, how many people, and really what it means here to the southeastern part of the United States. So we understand right now some 28 million people in this part of the U.S. under some form of a watch or warning. And again, this part of the country really hasn't seen many of these major storms. Pedram pointed this out, 1950. Since 1954 major storms have come through. So really they've dodged a lot of bullets. This one seems to be moving in and again targeting Panama City at this point. Let's talk more about this now with Jeff Petrowski. Jeff is a storm chaser just in Panama rather in Mexico Beach that is just north of Panama City. And Jeff, tell us your expectations about what's coming in. I think we're having some trouble there with Jeff's audio. Jeff, I don't know if you can hear me but we'll keep in touch with you. Again, Jeff Piotrowski, a storm chaser. He is in Mexico Beach, just north of Mexico Beach which is east near Panama City Panama City that we continue to follow that part of the state. So here's the thing. many people have been told to evacuate. The question is have they. Some people have decided to ride this out. And here's the thing, this is a Category Three storm. It has the potential to get up to a Category Four. Right now, again, some 300 kilometers offshore from where we are. And as we understand the Gulf water is very warm. So as the storm continues to track in and as our meteorologists just pointed out, the storm has the ability within full to get up to a Category Four storm. We also saw the last storm Florence that came through the East Coast, people had a lot of time to prepare for that. That storm track toward the East Coast over several days. People made the precautions of decisions to either leave or stay. This one happened much quicker John and now we understand you know, people many people who've decided to stay here. They're just going to have to brace and get through it.
[Vause:] I guess the question there, George, is you look around at your location there, you know, people have had you know, a fairly limited chance to prepare for the you know, for Michael as it arrives. What exactly have they been doing you know, in the last 24 hours?
[Howell:] Right. You see the typical things, John. People boarding up, people deciding do you stay or you go. People also deciding you know, what can be done to protect their property. That those are really the big decisions that are made during a time like this. But again, it comes down to that critical decision, did you stay or did you go. And for people who left, they will be wondering if is their property safe, what's left over. For people who are here, they're going to have to wait and see how powerful the storm is.
[Vause:] It just raises the question what can you prepare for when you have a Category Four hurricane potentially bearing down which could bring 13-foot storm surges with it. You know, what exactly can you do to make your property and your life safe under those circumstances? It's a big question.
[Howell:] John, you know, the simple answer to that not much, but you know people are certainly doing what they can because this storm seems to be one that will be historic for this part of the country.
[Vause:] George, thank you. Please stay with us. We know we had some communications problem. And so they begin as the weather gets worse. There'll be a lot more of that to come. We'll be back with you in a moment. Thank you, George. Well, for almost two years, Nikki Haley has been a high flyer within the Trump administration winning praise for her role as Ambassador to the U.N. surviving public disagreements with the president, the likes of which could have sucked the careers of others in his cabinet which is why so many were taken by surprise on Tuesday when Haley announced her resignation. The President though was
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Well, Dina is certainly a person I would consider and she is under consideration. We have actually many names. And you know, Nikki has been great. Nikki is going to be working along with us and helping us with the choice plus he's going to help us with 2020. And Nikki is a great friend of mine. We've become real friends over the last year. She's done a fantastic job and so she'll be involved.
[Vause:] Joining me now David Rohde, a CNN Global Affairs Analyst and Executive Editor, New Yorker Web site. David, thank you for taking the time. You know, despite what the President has been saying, we know, who does not want the job and that would be White House Adviser and Trump favorite for pretty much everything Ivanka. The first daughter tweeted out a fairly emphatic statement saying that she's just is not interested in being Haley's replacement. And so with that in mind a few hours ago it came an opinion piece put out by the Editorial Board of the New York Times, it was full of praise for Nikki Haley and they write it one day she may eventually find herself having to defend facilitating some of President Trump's worst policies and instincts but she will also be able to point to a more constructive role she played. Indeed a replacement in her mold may be the best to hope for from Mr. Trump. So is there another Nikki Haley out there and is this role within an administration really that important? So it only goes to the early comers or those who are on their way out, the elder statesman if you like.
[David Rohde, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] I think the role can be important and I think Nikki Haley showed that she disagrees with the President on a variety of fronts. She actually you know, opposed Trump when he was running for president. Is there another figure who will speak that openly, it's you know it's not clear. Dina Powell who works in the National Security Council, her name has come up. I don't know if she has the sort of political sway and a Republican Party that Nikki Haley had. And the reality is you know, this President totally dominates this Republican Party. His sort of favorite now in terms of foreign policy is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo so the short answer is I don't think there is another person who can sort of question Trump and challenge him the way Nikki Haley did.
[Vause:] Yes. There are also a lot of questions out there about the timing of this announcement. Why now? Notably Haley, you know, floated the old cliche need to spend more time with family excuses. This what she said.
[Nikki Haley, United States Ambassador To United Nations:] There's no personal reasons. I think that it's just very important for government officials to understand when it's time to step aside. And I have given everything I've got these last eight years and I do think that sometimes it's good to rotate in other people who can put that same energy and power into it.
[Vause:] You know, that need to take a break, this sort of crop rotation system for senior government officials, it's often what a president will say when he's firing someone is it?
[Rohde:] Yes, I don't I don't think she's forced out but I think there's something happening here. Officials in the White House were surprised by this announcement. They didn't expect it would come. It distracted from the president you know, swearing in Brett Kavanaugh as the new Supreme Court justice last night, and so that I think there's a lot of speculation about why she's done this. You know, Nikki Haley has spoken out about women who are saying they're victims of sexual assault being listened to. She has disagree with the president so I think there's more to this and that will come out in the days ahead. I don't think you know, this is a sudden announcement that surprised people across the White House, that's no accident. There's something more to this story.
[Vause:] I'm just wondering. Could it simply be that she's now planning on cashing in on her government experience? She wants this high paying job in the private sector because the home state newspaper The Post and Courier has reported this. The federal ethics reports show Haley a debt from $525,000 to about $1.1 million in 2017. The last year available for this numbers, $25,000 to $65,000 on two credit cards, listed a mortgage on the line of credit for 250,000 to 500,000. This report goes on to detail finds with troubles for her parents. They sold a strip mall to Haley's husband for $5.00
[Rohde:] I think that you know, she could have headed for the exits after the Midterm elections. You know, even if the Democrats there well in the election said that won't be a surprise. So I don't and you know, there are these financial difficulties you mentioned, again, I would have expected her to get through November. We're weeks away from this vote. There will be a lot of turnover I think in the administration after the midterms no matter what. So again, there's some other reason she's leaving. It's not clear yet but I think it will emerge. And one thing just you know, it's a it's a symbol. She's one of the few female members of the cabinet that really is a sort of powerful figure and so her departure you know, it creates even more of a cabinet of older white men. And you know, you talked about a replacement, you know, that'll be a big question will he try to find another woman and he does lack women in his cabinet.
[Vause:] Yes, there's not a lot diversity within the administration right now. And we saw sure should not that Haley's resignation was not the only surprising statement that she made, on Tuesday there was also this.
[Haley:] Jared is such a heavy genius that no one understands. I mean to redo the NAFTA deal the way he did, what I've done working with him on the Middle East peace plan, it is so unbelievably well done.
[Vause:] She went on to say how Jared Kushner has been hiding this this genius that he has. But you know, to be fair, there's also gushing praise for so many others within Donald Trump's administration. Is it that kind of a glimpse of how you know, Nikki Haley has handled Donald Trump?
[Rohde:] I think so but look, I want to be respectful to Donald Trump. Again, these statements and her sort of you know, praise for Donald Trump and his son-in-law you know show the total power of Donald Trump over this Republican Party. She is a politician Nikki Haley. She will be running for office in the future. Donald Trump can turn on any candidate in any race in this country, in a Republican candidate and back their opponent and that Republican politicians career is over. So I think she was exaggerating about Kushner. She was praising the president. That is a way to handle Donald Trump. But the point here is you know Nikki Haley is savvy and this is absolutely 100 percent Donald Trump's Republican Party. He controls it and Nikki Haley showed that today.
[Vause:] Yes. Absolutely. He owns them 100 percent. David, thank you so much. Good to see you.
[Rohde:] Thank you.
[Vause:] Well, there is significant new reporting about the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist. Coming up, what U.S. intelligence may have known by our communication intercepts about plans being made by the Saudis. Also to come, first, her husband went missing. Now, she fears for her own safety. CNN's exclusive interview with the wife of the former Interpol chief who is now detained in China.