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NEWS STREAM
U.S East Coast Braces for Hurricane Sandy; Violence in Syria; Interview with Pakistani Interior Minister; Giants Win World Series
Aired October 29, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, and welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet.
We begin in the U.S., where millions of people are bracing for Hurricane Sandy. The super storm has stopped subways and airplanes, and even forced U.S. presidential candidates to change their plans.
Plus, the push for peace in Syria is dealt another blow. The latest on the seemingly impossible mission.
And a giant victory. San Francisco wins the biggest prize in baseball.
Homes evacuated, businesses and schools closed, transport at a standstill. Entire communities hunkering down. Hurricane Sandy has not yet unleashed its full force on the mid-Atlantic states, but the storm is already making its presence felt. A disruption has extended to the U.S. election battle, and rallies for both presidential candidates in key swing states have been canceled as the East Coast prepares for the worst.
States of emergency have been declared up and down the coast, and the number of people potentially affected is staggering. Between New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. alone, 10.8 million commuters will find themselves without service as they wake up this Monday, and more than 7,000 flights have been canceled, and more than 2 million children in nine states and the U.S. capital will stay home from school.
The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will be closed Monday on account of the storm, and while the U.S. is awaiting the full impact, Sandy has already killed at least 67 people in the Caribbean, including 51 in Haiti alone.
Now, Sandy may have stared as a tropical cyclone, but the storm is going through a transition as it approaches those mid-Atlantic states. Mari Ramos joins us from the World Weather Center to explain exactly what is happening now. Mari.
MARI RAMOS, METEOROLOGIST: You know, officially it's still a hurricane, and this storm is expected to go through this transition that everyone is talking about, that they are expecting this to happen, and we're starting to see the beginning of that. There is a large weather system to the east of the U.S. that has very cold air, and that cold air will begin -- has already began to entrain, to move into Sandy, and that is what's making this big change, or at least part of what's making this big change.
So let's talk a little bit about this, Kristie. Tropical cyclone, that's what Sandy still is, compared to what's called an extratropical cyclone, which is what Sandy will become, we think, probably sometime later today. First of all, a tropical cyclone has a warm core. In other words, the center of the storm is considered warm, compared to an extratropical cyclone, that has a cold core.
I'm going to go ahead and move quickly through some of these, but the energy source with the warm core system, you get it from the warm ocean waters. That's when you have these tropical cyclones that form in the tropics, you got to have the warm motion water. That's what fuels it.
When you talk about an extratropical cyclone, they get their energy from this clash of the warm and cold air masses, and it gets transformed very, very quickly. So in other words, they don't need that warm water any more in order to survive. Usually you see a tropical cyclone move into the colder water, the cooler water, and it dies out. That's normally what would happen, but because of this next weather system coming in, that's helping keep the energy up for what soon will be extratropical cyclone Sandy.
The other thing is, when you talk about a tropical cyclone, a hurricane for example, we always tell you guys, you know, the strongest winds are always near the center, right around the surface, and that's where you're probably going to see the most damage, and it's usually pretty compact and right along in an area that is a little bit easier to define. But when you talk about an extratropical cyclone, the stronger winds are actually up into the upper layers of the atmosphere, and these strong winds extend very far away from the center. That is why Sandy has blown up into such a large storm, because we're starting to see that transition into an extratropical cyclone. It's actually one of the largest cyclones that has ever made landfall in the U.S. You can see the rain and the clouds spreading all the way from the Great Lakes up into Canada, and even across the northeastern U.S., and all the way down to the Carolinas. Kristie, perfect storm, we keep hearing this, right? Well, there's a bunch of things that are happening with this. You're talking about very strong winds, you're talking about the storm surge that could be extremely dangerous. These strong winds spreading inland, and not just along the coast. You're talking about coastal flooding, you're talking about flooding rain that is also spreading farther inland, and then you're also talking about extreme snowfall.
The one thing that I think makes this particularly dangerous, not only is it covering a huge area, but it's also covering a huge area that has a huge population centers, so I think this is going to be a big storm and something to contend with for quite a while. Kristie, back to you.
STOUT: All the ingredients that go into making a perfect storm. Mari Ramos there with the explainer, thank you.
Now here on NEWS STREAM, we like to keep you apprised of all the big news across the tech world, and Sandy has already preempted a string of major events in the U.S. Google was hoping to roll out a range of new Android products in New York on Monday, but it's forced to cancel that event, as the storm bears down on the city. And Facebook was planning to reveal more about its ecommerce project called Facebook Gifts. But that event, scheduled for Thursday, has also been postponed.
And that's not to say that Sandy isn't inspiring some tech activity. Instagrammers are documenting the storm's arrival in photo form, and the web domain Instacane.com has sprung up, showing plenty of stormy skies and warning signs. And Google is also publishing a crisis map, complete with forecasts, evacuation routes, and shelter locations. You're watching NEWS STREAM. And coming up next, Hurricane Sandy is throwing the final days of the U.S. presidential campaign into disarray. How President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have both canceled events in key states, only eight days out from the election. We'll be going live to Washington for the latest on that.
Also ahead, Myanmar's shame. A new report says violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims has displaced more than 20,000 people.
And we have an update on the condition of the teenage activist Malala Yousafzai as Pakistan defends efforts to find her attackers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: All right, let's get the very latest now on conditions along that eastern U.S. coast. Rob Marciano joins us live from Asbury Park on the Jersey shore in New Jersey for the latest on the approaching storm, Hurricane Sandy. And Rob, what does the storm look like now from your position?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, conditions have gone downhill in just the past couple of hours, Kristie. Last night when we came into town, the water was lapping up across the boardwalk at the high tide. That is extraordinary alone, and now you can see just over my right shoulder those waves that are churning up the Atlantic Ocean here and beginning to reach up toward that boardwalk again. Later on tonight, that high tide will coincide with the expected landfall of Hurricane Sandy, and that water should come over that boardwalk and infiltrate this area across the coastline.
Many, most, all, actually, of New Jersey's shoreline communities have been evacuated here. And its northernmost county, where there are 600,000 people live, there are a couple of shelters set up, but most people have gone to areas of friends and families, and gotten out of the way of this storm, taking the advice of their leader, Governor Chris Christie, who is certainly a straight talker, and he gave a warning last year when Hurricane Irene came to town, and he did so again yesterday, speaking with his constituents about this storm. Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, R-N.J.: So don't be stupid. Get out. And go to higher, safer ground. The margin for error for me being wrong and you going to stay at a friend's house for two days I think is significantly better than winding up with a severe injury or death for yourself or for your family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Last year around this time, Hurricane Irene came through, and the governor gave similar words that there's some criticism, and in some people's eyes, they thought it was a little bit overblown, but this time around, folks seem to be taking the threat very seriously. This is a huge, huge storm. I'm sure that Mari has pointed out, the timing of which is to be later on tonight, but the center of it really is of a little consequence, because the ranging effects with this are -- will be for hundreds of miles, and we have high wind warnings that are posted as far north, really, as the Canadian border, as far west as the Great Lakes, and as far south as northern Georgia, and on top of that, there is this cold air component, Kristie, that has blizzard warnings posted for parts of western -- West Virginia. So an extraordinary event, no doubt about it, and the rainfall obviously is scraping the coastline here of north Jersey. The southern part of Jersey has seen already several inches of rainfall, and some flooding down there, into Delmarva and through Virginia. And North Carolina beaches as well, where by the way, just offshore, there is a vessel in distress there, and the Coast Guard is answering the call to a large vessel that is undergoing some problems because of this hurricane, soon to be a super storm, as it interacts with a very, very strong cold front.
And by the way, temperatures are probably around 7, 8 degrees Celsius right now as far as what the wind shields feel like. It's not like your typical hurricane, that's for sure. Kristie.
STOUT: Yes, a very big system, a very big threat. That vessel just off the shore that you mentioned is the HMS Bounty, a vessel that international viewers or cinema goers are all familiar with.
Now, just focusing on where you are in New Jersey, what will be the major threat in this state, either along the coast or in inland cities, or in Atlantic City? What would be the major threat there? Will it be the storm surge? We are seeing those big waves churning behind you. Or will the big threat be from the flooding?
MARCIANO: Well, both. First, the storm surge along the beach front communities. We expect to see a meter and a half to as much as three meter rise in water level when it coincides with the tides tonight, which on top of that, we have a full moon, so that makes the tides even higher than that. So we're going to have a tremendous amount of flooding from the coastal storm surge, possibly two or three tide cycles, and then we'll have the flooding just from the rainfall that comes down.
But I think the widest reaching event will be the winds, because not only here along the coastline where we'll see hurricane force winds, but pretty far inland, and very far to the north, we're going to see damaging winds of about 300 mile expanse, where winds will be over 55 miles an hour, and that's going to be enough to take down trees and power lines. And in some cases, Kristie, people will be out without power for days if not weeks. So that's going to be the main impact, and people have prepared for that, prepared their homes, stocked up on food, supplies and water, to be without power and basic infrastructure, really, for the next several days.
The cities have, across this area, have pretty much shut down. Only essential personnel, including of course emergency personnel, are on duty right now. Everybody else is basically sheltering in place and rightfully so. Kristie.
STOUT: So wind storm, surge and flooding, all very dangerous conditions there. Rob Marciano, reporting live from the Jersey shore. You yourself take care. Thank you very much indeed for that update.
Hurricane Sandy is also stirring up a political storm. Now with just eight days to go until Americans head to the polls, Sandy has forced President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney to cancel events in states that could be hard hit by the massive storm, including Virginia. Virginia is one of eight remaining battleground states, shown here on the map in yellow. And these tossup states could hold the total of 95 electoral votes. That is a significant portion of the 270 electoral votes needed to take the White House. And on Monday, Mr. Obama canceled a scheduled appearance in Florida. He will head back to Washington to monitor the impact of the hurricane. But Romney is still set to campaign in Iowa, Wisconsin and the all-important state of Ohio.
CNN's political editor, Paul Steinhauser, joins me now live from CNN Washington with more. And Paul, we got to talk about the race and the hurricane. Both campaigns have canceled events. Tell us what's happening, and what could be the political impact here.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Kristie, more than a dozen events now being canceled, dating back to Saturday, because of Sandy, because of the storm. And both campaigns will say, listen, politics is important, but the safety of the people in the storm's way comes first.
You mentioned the president. He arrived in Orlando, Florida, last night, and now he is turning around. He met with some campaign workers down there, but he is turning around and coming back here to Washington, D.C., to monitor to the storm. But he's leaving behind somebody who also can campaign for him, former President Bill Clinton will be campaigning in Florida this morning and in Ohio. A previous stop that had also been on the schedule that has been canceled for the president, but the former president will campaign.
Before President Obama went to Florida last night, he did meet with emergency, federal emergency management workers, and here is what he said about the storm and the federal response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This hasn't hit landfall yet, so we don't yet know where it's going to hit, where we're going to see the biggest impacts, and that's exactly why it's so important for us to respond big and respond fast, as local information starts coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: As you mentioned, Mitt Romney continues to campaign. He's got an event in Ohio this morning. He's campaigned throughout Sunday in Ohio with his running mate, Paul Ryan, the congressman from Wisconsin. Mitt Romney originally had been planning to campaign in Virginia on Sunday. Obviously, that was canceled because of the storm. As you also mentioned, Mitt Romney going on to two other battleground states today, Iowa and then Wisconsin, so he does continue to campaign, but in his speeches to the crowds, he has been talking about the storm. Here is what he's saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I know that right now, some people in the country are a little nervous about a storm about to hit the coast, and our thoughts and prayers are with the people who will find themselves in harm's way.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: While safety comes first, a lot of people are asking, who does this storm hurt, who does this storm help? Well, let's be honest, maybe if the president's supporters are not as motivated as Mitt Romney's, then maybe it would help Mitt Romney, because you would think those people would definitely vote regardless of weather. But at the same time, the storm does allow the president to look, well, presidential, as he monitors the storm and deals with the federal reaction. Mitt Romney does not have that luxury. Kristie.
STOUT: That's right, President Obama is in commander in chief mode now. Now, let's talk about newspapers endorsements, Paul. We know that the New York Times has endorsed Barack Obama, and the Des Moines Register - - this is interesting -- has endorsed Mitt Romney, the first GOP endorsement of the paper since the early '70s. Just how critical, Paul, are these newspaper endorsements in this race?
STEINHAUSER: Newspaper endorsements are I guess -- they don't hurt. They may not help, but they definitely don't hurt. The New York Times is probably not a big surprise. It's got what's considered a progressive editorial page, so that endorsement, you know, will help the president with his base.
As for the one in Iowa, that is actually maybe a little more important. The Des Moines Register is the biggest newspaper, the largest newspaper in Iowa, a very crucial battleground state where the polls are tight. As you mentioned, it hasn't endorsed a Republican for president since Richard Nixon in 1972. They said it was about the economy. Here is what they wrote in their endorsement. "The president's best efforts to resuscitate the stumbling economy have fallen short. Nothing indicates it would change with a second term in the White House."
The Des Moines Register did endorse Mitt Romney back in the primaries, back in the caucuses, a very vigorous endorsement, so it's not out of the, you know, a total surprise they endorsed him. We'll see if it matters in Iowa, Kristie.
STOUT: All right, Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much, and we'll check in with you a little bit later. For all the latest, go to cnn.com/elections. You can use the CNN electoral map to make your own predictions for the November 6th vote. You're watching NEWS STREAM. And coming up next, tens of thousands of people forced to flee as deadly ethnic violence rocks western Myanmar yet again. The alarming humanitarian crisis there when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you are back watching NEWS STREAM. And let's recap our top story this hour. It is Monday morning on the East Coast of the United States, where Hurricane Sandy is on track for landfall later in the day. And New York City is in emergency mode. Its normally busy streets deserted as residents brace for what is predicted to be a monster storm. About 50 million people are likely to feel the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Public transport systems in New York, New Jersey, Washington and Philadelphia have been shut down, and thousands of domestic and international flights canceled. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas. And the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are closed Monday, possibly Tuesday as well.
Campaigning in the presidential election has also been thrown into chaos a week out from polling day. President Obama has canceled an appearance in Florida to return to Washington to monitor the response to Hurricane Sandy.
Let's take you now to China, and in the eastern part of the country, plans to expand a petrochemical plant have been scrapped, after days of demonstrations. Now, for a week, thousands of protesters faced off with police outside Chinese government offices in the city of Ningao. They have been protesting the chemical plant on environmental grounds, and such protests have become more common in China in recent years. This one comes just before the change of leadership in Beijing. It's an event that happens only once every 10 years. The 18th Communist Party National Congress is expected to start on November the 8th. It usually lasts for one week, and new members of the Politburo standing committee will be announced, and CNN will have complete coverage of this important leadership change.
Sectarian fighting meanwhile in western Myanmar has left more than 22,000 people homeless and desperate. The U.N. says the need for humanitarian aid is urgent. There has been unrest for months there, as tensions between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims continues to boil. But the latest flare-up over the past week, it escalated into widespread destruction. An estimated 4,600 homes have been wiped out, and for those who lost everything, there's little hope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZOMILLAH, REFUGEE (through translator): They came to attack us with knives. They set fire to our home, but we have nothing left for them. I left with only the clothes I'm wearing. I don't even have shoes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: And we have new satellite pictures from Human Rights Watch, and it shows the shocking extent of the damage caused by these recent clashes. Now, this is a predominantly Muslim area of Kyauk Pyu, the image was taken in March, and it shows a beachside community. And if you fast forward to October, it's an entirely different picture. Over the course of 24 hours, Human Rights Watch says it was battered beyond belief. And those red and yellow dots show the 600 homes, nearly 200 house boats that arsonists were said to have torched, forcing hundreds to flee the area. There are worries that the ongoing violence will undermine Myanmar's democratic reforms, and critics say many of the country's leaders have turned a blind eye to the deep-seated ethnic conflicts. Speaking to CNN's Pauline Chiou, Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch says that there are serious problems at hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL ROBERTSON, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Well, it's gotten very much worse. Kyauk Pyu is an area that previously not touched in prior sectarian violence that occurred in June. So the spreading of the violence to Kyauk Pyu represents an escalation of the problem in Arakan (ph) state. And as you see in those photos, the entire Muslim quarter of that town was burned out. Arson that took place at the hands of the Buddhist Rakhines, driving their Muslim Rohingya neighbors out of the area. And many have fled now to -- on boats at sea or by land to internally displaced persons camps.
PAULINE CHIOU, CNN ANCHOR: We have to remind our viewers, this is the result of sectarian violence between Muslims and Buddhists, but what is the root cause and what is the country doing to try to correct the problem?
ROBERTSON: Well, the government is not doing enough. This is a long- time enmity between these two ethnic groups. It's got ethnic and religious grounding for these problems. The government knows about these problems, but it has not taken the action to (inaudible) in particular the Buddhist Rakhines and local security forces have been working with them. So we had information, again, that not only were houses set alight, but then also local police were involved in shooting at the Muslims who were trying to put out the fires.
CHIOU: Now back in May, we did see violence because three Muslims were accused of raping and killing a Buddhist woman, and that is what started the violence back in May. So why is the violence starting up again today?
ROBERTSON: Well, it's because the government hasn't dealt with the root causes of the problem. It hasn't ended the discriminatory treatment against the Rohingya. It has not dealt with the aftermath of the sectarian violence that took place, which has created a great deal of hatred, particularly by the Buddhist Rakhines against the Rohingya, and the feeling that they don't want to be anywhere near them. And people in both communities, extremists in both communities have been empowered by a lack of accountability, where people who are involved in previous crimes, involved in sectarian violence, have not been brought to justice. So it's a very, very sad situation, one which is getting worse simply because the government is not dealing with these root causes, and instead continues to try to put a Band-Aid on it and you know, try to ignore the very, very serious situation that's taking place there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Human Rights Watch there. You can learn more about the sectarian violence in Myanmar. This story, it examines the reasons behind the ongoing (inaudible). You can find it on cnn.com.
Now, coming up here on NEWS STREAM, the U.N. Arab League envoy to Syria laments the failure of a holiday truce, and wind and rain batter New Jersey. The East Coast of the United States battens down the hatches ahead of Hurricane Sandy. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching NEWS STREAM, and these are your world headlines.
The East Coast of the United States is being battered by Hurricane Sandy. You're looking at a live picture from Ocean City, Maryland, of waves overtopping a seawall. Now, flooding, high winds and widespread power outages are expected, and thousands of domestic and international flights have been canceled. And public transit systems in New York, New Jersey, Washington and Philadelphia are closed.
President Barack Obama has canceled a campaign stop in Florida to return to the capital to monitor the emergency response.
Ukraine's ruling party appears to be heading for a victory after Sunday's parliamentary election. With nearly half the ballots counted, Viktor Yanykovych's Party of Regions, which favors close ties with Russia, has a 35 percent share of the vote. The election is being seen as a test of democracy in the former Soviet republic.
After police in London said they'd arrested a man on suspicion of sex offenses, British media announced the man is former glam rocker Gary Glitter. They go on to report that he's the first UK arrest in the Jimmy Savile scandal. A Scotland Yard investigation is pursuing hundreds of claims of abuse against Savile. The longtime BBC star died last year.
Now, Syria's holiday truce is in tatters with each side of the conflict accusing the other of violating a temporary cease-fire. Opposition groups say at least 128 people were killed in fighting in Syria on Sunday summoned military air strikes on rebel positions in several Damascus suburbs.
U.N. Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi brokered the cease-fire in Syria last week, only to see it fall apart within hours. He's now in Russia for talks with a key ally of the regime, but the bloodshed goes on.
Nick Paton Walsh is covering the story for us from Beirut. He joins us now. Nick, intense shelling and fighting in Damascus, and across Syria today. What is the latest?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The key thing is from the Damascus country side, a town, area called Jaramano (ph), where it appears a car bomb targeted what state television said was a bakery, causing at least 10 people to be killed, some of them including women and children. We can't verify state media's account here, and car bombs normally in the past have targeted military objectives, but this is one example of violence across the country today, a sign really that the cease-fire never really existed in anything apart from the mouths of those diplomats talking about it.
One example of the excesses we've been seeing is that car bomb. The second, of course, again repeated today, across the border with Turkey. It appears that somebody from the Syrian side, most likely the military, fired across into Turkey, near a town called Besasland (ph) in the region of Khattay (ph). Around 300 meters away from most populated areas, but as usual in these circumstances, the Turkish military fired back, so another troubling instance there of that war spreading into that border region. But of course, the bombing continuing, aerial bombardment in the suburbs around Damascus again, eastern Guta (ph), as the area is referred to. You can see here the impact of a MiG dropping its payload on those residential area around there. So the death toll really continuing, very much as we've seen before, this the last day of the proposed cease-fire, and yesterday, over 120 people being killed. Not much different from the terrifying norm we've seen, Kristie.
STOUT: And all this violence has left the cease-fire in tatters. Lakhdar Brahimi, we know that he's now in Moscow. What's next for diplomacy?
WALSH: It's very hard to say, really. I mean, if the diplomats can't get the violence to stop in any coherent fashion, then the concept of talking, I think, to many individuals may seem to be hard to really ratify or wish to continue. I mean, certainly diplomats like to say that this will be -- this battle cannot be won militarily, but it's not clearly what the two combative sides on the ground seem to think. They both think they can gain some sort of military advantage.
Lakhdar Brahimi himself in Moscow talking very much down I think the cease-fire that he tried to implement. He himself referred to it as cease- fire, but let's just hear the language he's used for the last four days when speaking in Moscow earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, U.N.-ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY: Let me just say a word about these pause -- I call it a pause, not a truce or a cease-fire. What I did was really just make an appeal to all those who are fighting inside Syria to give their people a respite for three days. It wasn't arranged with any side. It wasn't discussed at length with any side. And everybody said that they were interested. Some people did say that, no, they will not respect the cease-fire, mainly because they were certain that the other side will not respect the cease-fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: What did the last few days really tell us? I think it shows that the rebels themselves are not coherent or united enough to be dealt with on a political level. Certainly one element of them said they weren't going to respect it in the first place. It shows that certainly diplomats are willing to talk about the need for peace, but not able to see that translate into something on the ground, and perhaps now we're also looking at Damascus seeing themselves, perhaps the reason why Lakhdar Brahimi is in Moscow, that we're not going to see a change in Damascus's policies, and that's perhaps one of its key international allies, like Moscow or Tehran, apply further pressure upon them, and no sign of that in the imminent future, Kristie.
STOUT: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, reporting for us. Thank you, Nick.
Let's return now to our top story. As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast of the U.S., many Caribbean islands are counting the cost of the storm. Sandy killed more than 60 people as it tore through that region, and most of the deaths occurred in Haiti. And in Cuba's second largest city, the situation remains dire. Patrick Oppmann reports from Santiago de Cuba.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The day we meet Christopher, he turned 3 months old, a happy and lucky baby. Lucky to have survived the hurricane that laid waste to his home town of Santiago de Cuba. His mother Yunayka tell us, Hurricane Sandy took everything from them.
YUNAYKA JUSTE, LOST HOME TO HURRICANE (through translator): The roof started coming off. My house is made of wood, and then a tree fell and collapsed on the front of the house.
OPPMANN: Yunayka takes us to see where her home was. When Yunayka's house came crashing down around her, her neighbors had to come in and pull her out from underneath the rubble and underneath this tree. She says if they hadn't, she and her baby probably would not have survived the storm.
But the storm left holes in her roof, and she, her baby and her mother are now homeless.
JUSTE: I don't have the money to fix my home. I am hoping for help from the government. Where am I going to live with my baby? In the street?
OPPMANN: It is a question you hear all around Santiago, where Sandy's punishing winds stripped government propaganda from buildings, blocked streets with telephone poles, left a 1950s Buick needing a new windshield.
The storm here killed at least 9 people and damaged thousands of homes. Nearly everyone is hard hit, 9-year-old Kaitlin (ph) tells me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My house is OK, but the house of (inaudible) is gone. We lost a lot of homes in this neighborhood.
OPPMANN: You can't escape the destruction.
Walk around Santiago de Cuba, and all you'll hear is a sound of people trying to make their homes livable again. Ask anybody where the worst damage is, and they'll say everywhere.
Cuban authorities had told residents to funnel their pain into efforts to rebuild, but as night comes in the city still left without electricity, Yunayka and baby Christopher go to sleep in a neighbor's house. They don't know where they will sleep tomorrow. And it is clear that the pain inflicted by a hurricane will be felt here for some time to come.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Santiago de Cuba.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Let's get the latest on Hurricane Sandy. The crew of the HMS Bounty have been forced to abandon ship as a result of the storm. Let's get details now with Mari Ramos. She joins us once again. Mari.
RAMOS: Kristie, yes, this is a developing story. And unfortunately, because of the hurricane, the Coast Guard is saying that they are having a very difficult time -- the rescue will be delayed of these crew members. There are about 17 people on board, and CNN has been able to confirm from the Coast Guard that they did abandon ship. Now, this is happening with at least 18-foot seas. They are about 90 miles offshore here from the Carolina coast. This is the approximate location of the ship that the Coast Guard gave us, and you can see how widespread -- of course you have Hurricane Sandy right over here, they are caught right in the middle of this.
The vessel reportedly earlier this morning, they were able to make contact with the Coast Guard, and they had been taking on water. And they also had lost any kind of propulsion. We have a picture of the ship in better times. This is what the ship, the HMS Bounty, actually, looks like. It's a sail ship, and you may remember it from "The Mutiny on the Bounty," it's been in that movie back from the 1960s. Seventeen people on board have now abandoned ship according to the U.S. Coast Guard, and because of problems with visibility and high waves, the rescue has been delayed. Of course this is happening in the waters right there, off the Carolina coast, right smack in the middle where Hurricane Sandy is churning.
Coming back over to the weather map. We'll let you know what happens with that, but this is what the storm looks like now. You can see the radar right over here. All of that water continuing, all the rain continuing to move on. And this push that you see right here from the clouds, this is what's going to make the problems here with the flooding situation so drastic. We have some pictures to show you from New Jersey. Let's go ahead and take a look at see what that looks like right now. They are not even getting the worst of the storm right now. This is Atlantic City, thank you, in New Jersey, and you can see the high waves. Look at the beach, almost completely gone already, with the water, and this is early on. The storm is not expected to make landfall until maybe another six, eight hours from now, and then you have the other half of the storm that has to move through there. These areas were evacuated, and you can see that water already getting almost all the way up to the shoreline there, a pretty scary situation, and of course that's going to be one of the big concerns, that water, the storm surge moving through there, but then you have the problems of the flooding inland. You have the problems of the high winds over a wide, widespread area, and authorities very concerned for people, particularly along the coast because of the storm surge. Any of those coastlines, and when you're talking about the northeast, you're talking about coastlines all around the area here.
So the storm will move inland. That cold, warm air combination that we were talking about earlier will continue to field (ph) the storm, that wind field expand, and it's going to maintain its strength over land for quite a while, so we're not over. This is not over when the storm makes landfall. This is going to be around for a couple of days. Let's go ahead and check out other cities now.
And you are looking there at the city of Venice. Yes, that's (inaudible) square, under water, as you can see, (inaudible) again a problem. These pictures taken just in the last 24 hours. This has been the highest the water has been so far this year. It happened last week. This time it went up to about 110 centimeters. By Wednesday, it could be up to 120 centimeters, where 64 percent of the city could actually be under water. We'll keep you posted on that one as well. We'll take a break right here on NEWS STREAM. Don't go away.
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STOUT: Welcome back. You're looking at the video rundown of all the stories in today's show. Now, we are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Sandy as this huge storm heads towards the eastern United States, but now we want to update you on a brave young woman. The Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai. Now, she has become an international symbol of courage after she was shot in the head for her support of girls' education. And Malala Yousafzai is recovering in a British hospital, but her attackers are still at large. Matthew Chance asked Pakistan's interior minister why the gunmen have not been brought to justice yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why haven't the Pakistani authorities brought the person who shot Malala to justice? Why haven't they arrested him?
REHMAN MALIK, PAKISTANI INTERIOR MINISTER: There were two young boys. And one of the boys stopped the vehicle and the guy, the guy in the front actually engages the driver, started talking about just to find a way forward to a certain place, and the guy goes behind the vehicle, stands there and asks who's Malala. And then one of the girls (inaudible), and he said, she's identified, that's her, Malala. But she was not aware of the fact that she's going to be shot in the next few minutes.
So we are looking for those guys. From the police sketches, we have identified two people, and we are carrying out arrests.
CHANCE: What role do you suspect Atala Kahn (ph), this guy who was identified as the prime suspect by Pakistani police, what role did he play in the attack on Malala?
MALIK: He was the one who had taken those two guys to the spot. We have some intelligence where some people, four to five, had traveled form the border to that area, with a specific target. At that point of time, we didn't know as to what specific target they were coming to Swat, but after this incident, when we put (inaudible) together, the forensics together, we came to the conclusion that it was basically the same guy who had arranged these two guys to be there.
CHANCE: Does Pakistan want her back or do they want her to stay away?
MALIK: She's the pride of Pakistan. We'd love her to come back. It is our own country. And the good thing is that when the parents told me that when they asked Malala, what does she want, what should we have (ph) brought for her from Pakistan, and she said, bring my books home and the syllabus, because she wants to go back, take her exam, and what (inaudible) they sent her. Whenever she comes back, we'll have a special exam for the same class when she returns.
CHANCE: So why has Pakistan not launched an offensive in the tribal areas to try and tackle and crack down on the militants in the country?
MALIK: We were not looking for the opportunities. We have to go for actions according to the requirement. And as per the recommendations of the people who are fighting on the border, and you know, a military solution is not the solution to every solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Here is wishing both justice and recovery for Malala Yousafzai. Now, you are watching NEWS STREAM, and after the break, the end to another season for Major League Baseball. The San Francisco Giants took on the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. We'll tell you which team swept the big win.
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STOUT: Welcome back. And let's recap our top story this hour. The growing threat from Hurricane Sandy to the eastern seaboard of the United States. Now, this enormous storm is set to make landfall later on Monday. About 50 million people are expected to be affected in the coming days. Either directly by flooding or high winds, or the closure of businesses, schools and government offices.
Now, thousands of domestic and international flights, to and from the East Coast, have been canceled.
Now, here in Hong Kong, this month's fairy disaster served as a shocking wakeup call to many of the city's residents. One local lifeguard chief says only 20 percent of Hong Kong's citizens can swim. As Raymond Ascensio (ph) now reports, he's launched a mission to change that, and to save lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex Kwok is on a crusade. The head of Hong Kong's largest lifeguard union believes just one in five city residents can swim. Even though this is the city where proximity to the sea is part of daily life.
Hong Kong is not made of just one island, but more than 200.
ALEX KWOK, HONG KONG KOWLOON LIFEGUARDS UNION: I asked my friends, including lifeguards, I feel it's kind of surprising, shocking, because the fairy disaster made me thinking. If more people could swim, maybe you know, we could save their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hong Kong is still reeling from this. The city's deadliest fairy crash in four decades. 39 people died after two boats collided, throwing dozens into the sea on October 1st, China's national holiday. Some victims might have survived if they knew how to swim, says Kwok.
The lifeguard of a dozen years blames the government for not providing enough public classes.
KWOK: The government said it's about (inaudible) we have over like free (inaudible), research, we have all the money, we can do a lot of the things, including, you know, to teach more students how to swim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2011, Hong Kong turned away 13,000 applicants for its public classes, because there were not enough spots. Candy Kwok, who is no relation to the lifeguard, decided to avoid the hassle and sent her daughter Angel to private swim lessons. Costs vary. Here at Sanford Swim School (ph), they are 10 times more expensive, but at least they are available. After the fatal fairy crash, Candy can rest easy.
CANDY KWOK (through translator): Since Angel can swim, she won't panic and can save herself. I think her odds of surviving a water-related accident are double.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 2013, the government says it will increase the number of public classes by 7 percent. But Hong Kong mind-sets need to be changed, too. Focusing on the extracurricular as well as the academic.
A. KWOK: We're so conservative. A lot of parents don't want their children go do the outdoor activity, including hiking, swimming, probably they want to protect their children. But in the long term, why (inaudible) the ocean or the swimming pool, it will be excellent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking to the future, Kwok hopes more parents can open their minds, while Hong Kong can open even more classes designed to keep the city's children safe in the water.
Raymond Ascensio (ph), CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Now, the Detroit Tigers came into the World Series the heavy favorites, but San Francisco made surprisingly quickly work out of them. Here is Amanda Davies with more on the big win. Amanda.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie. And boy, are they celebrating it. If the pictures going around are anything to go by, it's been one heck of a party as San Francisco celebrates a second World Series title in three years. They've announced they are planning a victory parade on Wednesday, aptly on Halloween, with their orange and black colors as well. They beat the Detroit Tigers in game four on Sunday. The game went to extra innings when one of the Giants' top performers during the entire post-season, Marco Scutaro, got (ph) a hit in the 10th inning, and brings (inaudible) as the Giants take the score and the lead. In the Boston half of the inning, Sergio Romo's strike-out over (ph) Miguel Cabrero as the Giants sweep the Tigers and win that World Series crown once again.
The celebrations were off and running well into the night, and featured plenty of bubbly in the dressing room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PABLO SANDOVAL, WORLD SERIES MVP: You learn from the things happening in your career. You got to (inaudible), you never give up, so I guess I've been (inaudible) all the things that happened in my career, and (inaudible) happened early and later in my career, so I'm just blessed to be here and to be part of the World Series.
BRUCE BOCHY, LED GIANTS TO 2ND WORLD SERIES IN 3 YEARS: The term team work and team play and play as a team, that's used loosely, but these guys truly did, and they set aside their own agenda, and that's what's best for the club. And we put guys in a different role, nobody ever said a word or complained or anything, and that's the only way it got done. And it shows so much character in that club house, how they kept fighting and said, hey, we are not going home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIES: Onto the football news and controversy in Chelsea, just can't seem to escape each other at the moment. The English Premier League leaders have made a formal complaint against referee Mark Clattenburg, also accusing him of using inappropriate language towards two of their players during Sunday's defeat by Manchester United. United went 2 up thanks to an own goal from David Luiz, and then Robin Van Percy (ph). The (inaudible) pulled one back. Ramirez leveled early in the second half, and Chelsea then controversially had Bronislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres sent off. United well and truly took advantage to make it 3:2, although Hernandez's goal had a more than a hint of offside about it.
Well, the spoils were shared in the (inaudible), but refereeing issues dominate the headlines from that one as well on Monday. The Everton boss David Moyes conceded that Luis Suarez's late disallowed goal should have stood, but says the Uruguayan should have been sent off for diving even before that happened. Liverpool raced to a 2-goal lead, but the blues did pull one back, and then Stephen Neysmith (ph) equalized 10 minutes before halftime. Everton showed the fighting spirit that's made them a top 4 side this season. They were perhaps lucky to get the point, because Suarez got the ball in the net four minutes into stopped time only to be denied by the linesman's flag. Was he offside? Well, the official said so, and that was a point apiece. So here is conformation, let's take a look at the top of the table. At the moment after nine games played in the English Premier league, Chelsea leading the way, but only by the skin of their teeth.
Well, coming up on WORLD SPORT in just a few hours time, it's the interview you really don't want to miss. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy sitting down together with our "LIVING GOLF" host Shane O'Donoghue. It's a CNN exclusive if ever there was. These two golfers the top two in the world right now, and we'll bring you parts of that interview later on Monday on WORLD SPORT. It's airing at 5:00 Central European time. That's 12:00 pm. midnight Hong Kong. That's it from me for now, Kristie. It's well worth to watch that one, I can tell you.
STOUT: Yes, a reason to stay up late here in Hong Kong. Amanda Davies there, thank you.
And that is NEWS STREAM, but the news continues on CNN. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next. Let's bring up some live pictures of Battery Park, New York as the community there and across the eastern U.S. brace for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, due to make landfall later on Monday. You're watching CNN.
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