Tensions Ahead of Sunday's Catalan Independence Referendum; Trump Attacks San Juan Mayor on Twitter; Private Citizens Step Up to Help Hurricane Victims; Daddy Yankee Delivers $100,000 in Food Aid to Puerto Rican Residents; Heavy Rain and Flood Threat in Puerto Rico; Tillerson Announces U.S. in Direct Contact with North Korea; Air France Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Canada
CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody, thank you for joining us here. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta at the CNN Newsroom. Now, Spain's Catalonia region is going to hold its controversial independence vote in about an hour. The referendum has divided the country. On the one side, residents of Catalonia want to make their voices heard in a referendum. Voters have been lining up for hours at the entrance to this polling station in Barcelona. On the other side of this argument, the central government has tried to stop the vote. The highest court says it's unconstitutional, and Madrid has sent thousands of police reinforcements to block Catalans from casting their ballots. Now, there've been demonstrations on both sides in the recent days. On Saturday, thousands of people rallied in Barcelona waving the Spanish flag and calling for unity, and Catalonia's separatist government is pressing ahead despite the pressure from Madrid, and this is all leading to a very tense situation across Spain. CNN's Hannah Vaughan Jones reports.</s>HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): First, it was the students, then came the firemen, and finally, the farmers. Campaigning in Catalonia's independence referendum may have drawn to an end, but the tension on the streets is only building. The Spanish government has said Sunday's vote is illegal, and must not go ahead. Barcelona's port has become a staging ground for Spanish police. Extra forces and police vans shipped in from across the country, all to try to block people from voting. The Spanish government has seized millions of ballots and campaign leaflets, arrested Catalan officials, and closed down political websites. It's a vote long campaigned for by separatists in Catalonia. The region in Northeastern Spain already has limited autonomy from the central government in Madrid. It has its own flag, its own national anthem, and its own language. But still, many Catalans want more. They want full independence for their region, which is Spain's number one tourist destination, famous for Gaudy, the iconic Sagrada Familia, and as the birthplace of Salvador Dali. Catalonia is also home to FC Barcelona. The football club has spoken out in support of the referendum. Donald Trump, on the other hand, speaking earlier this week alongside the Spanish prime minister, said he wants a united Spain.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really think the people of Catalonia would stay with Spain. I think it would be foolish not to because you're talking about staying with a truly great, beautiful, and very historic country.</s>VAUGHAN JONES: A historic country which could have its borders redrawn in a matter of days, according to Catalan leaders. They threaten to declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of the vote. Hannah Vaughan Jones, CNN, London.</s>VANIER: I spoke earlier to Ryan Griffiths, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, about the independence vote.</s>RYAN GRIFFITHS, SENIOR LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: -- But the Spanish government would like to -- would like the movement to basically go away. They don't want to legitimize a referendum on independence, but they also don't want to overreact -- react in a heavy-handed way that drives more of the Catalan citizens to join the independent spots. So they're kind of caught in a -- kind of a catch-22. While they know that the other side is going to keep on pushing -- but they can't -- but they don't really have a good -- they -- they're kind of caught between two bad options.</s>VANIER: All right, so what can possibly happen here? As you were speaking, we saw the police reinforcements being sent into Catalonia, but we also saw the people lining up already as we speak to vote in a few hours. So short of beating those people, or physically removing them, there are some people who are going to vote.</s>GRIFFITHS: That's right, that's right.</s>VANIER: OK (ph).</s>GRIFFITHS: Some number of people are going to get in there, and they'll be able to vote. The police are under, you know, pretty strict orders to keep it peaceful, to not -- to not overreact. But some number of people are going to get in, and vote. Now, one of the problems they have is that -- you know, that roughly half of the population would vote no in a legitimate binding referendum, but most of them are going to stay home. So whatever referendum, whatever vote comes out of the -- you know, the referendum today, it'll almost certainly be predominantly a yes vote. Now, the Catalan independence leaders have promised to declare independence in 48 hours if the -- you know, if they can show the majority supports.</s>VANIER: Ryan Griffiths there, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney. OK, so let's update you now on what's going on in Puerto Rico, and the humanitarian crisis there. Their island was brought to its knees 11 days ago by Hurricane Maria. Most of its people are reeling in misery. Even the Mayor of San Juan is living in a shelter sleeping on a cot. However, late Friday, when she begged Washington for more federal help? Well, the President of the United States seemed to take it personally, and he tweeted from his golf resort in New Jersey, "The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. ...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They.... ...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job." Well, here's the latest from U.S. emergency officials. Search and rescue teams have scoured the island from end to end, and rescued 843 people. Eleven highways across Puerto Rico have now been cleared of storm debris, and that should make it easier to move emergency aid into the battered countryside. And 70 percent of the ports and 60 percent of the gas stations are operational, even though curfews force gas stations to close by 9:00 pm. San Juan's mayor brushed off President Trump's criticism of her. Here's what she told our Anderson Cooper.</s>MAYOR CARMEN YULIN CRUZ, MAYOR, SAN JUAN: The truth is staring us in the face. Just today, I was telling you we had to evacuate yet another hospital because the generator caught on fire. So this is an (ph) another hospital that will not be able to work for another week. We transported 14 patients to one of our facilities. The damp in the Eastern part of the island is -- two towns, for the first time that I know of in my lifetime in Puerto Rico, two towns are being completely evacuated. People are still coming and saying, the Mayor of San Lorenzo, the Mayor of Comerio, the Mayor of Ponce, the Mayor of Loiza, are saying, you know, "Where's the help? We need it. Please, help us."</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The president also said in a -- in a tweet early this morning that, you had been nice to him early on, but that Democrats told you you have to be nasty toward him.</s>CRUZ: You know, I don't know, maybe he's just not (ph) used to women being big enough not (ph) to be told what to do. Right, you know? That's -- but that's not who we are here in San Juan.</s>VANIER: The Mayor of San Juan there. Now, it's important to note that some emergency aid is reaching ordinary Puerto Ricans who are struggling to get by from one day to the next. However, in many cases, contrary to President Trump's accusation, that help is coming from private citizens, not from the government. CNN correspondents are covering all angles of this. Our Leyla Santiago is in a community outside the capital, and she shows you exactly that -- one famous Puerto Rican stepping up to help his people.</s>LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She may need a walker, and has an extra load, but the walk home is the easy part for Alice Elise Negron (ph). The 62-year old was first in line for help when this package arrived in Toa Baja. ALICE ELISE NEGRON (ph),</s>CITIZEN OF PUERTO RICO (through translator Santiago): She says she doesn't know what's in the box yet, but she knows that it's a blessing -- a blessing.</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): But it's not from the federal government.</s>DADDY YANKEE, PUERTO RICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: We just have to make sure that people get the food in their hands.</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): Rather, a superstar who calls Puerto Rico home, musician Daddy Yankee, and a food bank. Do you feel the government's doing enough?</s>YANKEE: No, I don't think so --</s>SANTIAGO: No? (ph)</s>YANKEE: -- I don't think so. And that's real. You know, there's no time to play politics right now. This is a chaos. We're really struggling right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes?</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): Struggling is exactly how Edwin De Jesus (ph) describes it. EDWIN DE JESUS (ph),</s>CITIZEN OF PUERTO RICO (through translator Santiago): When Hurricane Maria whipped through town, he said he was able to get one pants, two shirts, and a radio that he's using right now.</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): He's also one of the lucky ones to receive a box each with a week's worth of food. The food bank says this load from private donors is enough for 4,000 families. DE JESUS (ph) (through translator</s>Santiago): He says, this is good because at least the help is arriving now.</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): Beyond this, the only other help residents tell us they've seen here 10 days after Maria struck. NEGRON (ph) (through translator</s>Santiago): She says some water has arrived here as aid, but that's it. She hasn't seen anything else. That's why she was first in line to get these boxes.</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): For many, these boxes bring home a bit of hope.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): Alice Elise (ph) doesn't understand English, so I'm going to read to her what this says. It said (ph), "Better days are coming. Be brave, and stay strong." (Translating into Spanish)</s>NEGRON (ph): Amen. Amen. (Speaking in Spanish)</s>SANTIAGO: Amen. NEGRON (ph) (through translator</s>Santiago): And she adds, "And have faith."</s>SANTIAGO (voice-over): Faith that more help like this will get here soon. Leyla Santiago, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.</s>VANIER: All right, let's stick with the Puerto Rico story, where we were telling you yesterday -- and Derek Van Dam is with us from the CNN International weather center. He was telling you yesterday that there was concern over possible rainfall. Derek, what do we know?</s>DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Well, Cyril, that additional heavy rain that has fallen today and that continues to fall overnight and into the day on Sunday, is putting major stresses on the nearly failed dam in the northwestern sections of Puerto Rico. This is the area where the Guajataca Dam is located. You can see that shading of red. That's a flash flood warning. The entire island's still under flash flood watches, including portions of the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. It's all thanks to additional tropical activity that continues to bombard this region with heavier rain. Additional rainfall on a already saturated environment means the ground really can't soak up that extra water. So flooding is a possibility going forward. We have at least another 15 to 30 millimeters of rainfall in the forecast for the east coast and the mountainous regions across the central portions of Puerto Rico. We have zero river gages at the moment that are indicating flood stage or higher. That's the good news. But we'll see how the additional rainfall impacts those particular rivers, and the additional flooding that is expected. You can see the computer model's indicating some sort of a clearing trend as we head into the day on Monday, so finally, we'll start to see some breaks in the cloud cover overhead. So interesting notes. New to CNN here, just on some of the services that are being restored to the island, the northern sections of the island have seen a 29 percent water restoration. You can see 72 percent in the south, 46 in the east, 19 in the west, and the San Juan metro region has had 55 percent of water restored to that particular area. But certainly, Cyril, a slow road to recovery for all of Puerto Rico going forward. Back to you.</s>VANIER: And Derek Van Dam from the International Weather Center. Thank you very much. We've been monitoring that, and we'll continue to do so. Thanks. Now, the Trump administration is acknowledging for the first time it is in direct contact with North Korea over the nuclear crisis. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the U.S. has a couple of channels of communication, and is trying to determine if leader Kim Jong Un is willing to negotiate. Tillerson says the immediate goal is to calm tensions down after escalating threats and counter-threats between the two countries. An Air France flight en route to Los Angeles Saturday made an emergency landing in Canada after suffering serious engine damage. Passengers say they heard a boom, and started descending quickly. Well, fortunately the plane landed safely in Canada after the engine blew out. No one was injured, and it's still unclear what caused that engine failure. Thank you very much for watching CNN, everybody. I'm Cyril Vanier. MARKETPLACE AFRICA is next. Stay with us.