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Six People Wounded in New Zealand Terrorist Attack; Death Toll From Northeaster Flooding Rises to 46; At Least 8 Tornado Reported in Tri-State Area; Ida's Aftermath Renews Calls to Confront Climate Change; At Least Four Dead in Pennsylvania from Historic Flooding; Many in Louisiana Still Cut Off From Food, Gas and Water; Biden Vows to Fight Supreme Court Decision on Texas Law. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 03, 2021 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Police in New Zealand shoot and kill a man they saw carry-on a terror attack at a shopping mall. They say he was under surveillance the entire time.

Plus, the deadly path of destruction from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, at least eight tornadoes hit the Northeastern U.S.

And the final U.S. flight out of Afghanistan, the commander of the mission tells CNN what it was like.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin with breaking news this hour in New Zealand where there's been a terrorist attack at a shopping center in a residential neighborhood of Auckland. Six people are wounded, some in critical condition and police killed the knife-wielding attacker.

During a news conference earlier Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said the man was a Sri Lankan national was under surveillance by police. For more on the attack, I'm joined now by CNN's Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Ivan, a horrific attack though it sounds as if it could have been a lot worse had police not been so close to respond. What's the latest?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And it could've been a lot worse if the attacker was armed with a firearm. In this case the attack took place after 2:00 p.m. local time in this supermarket. And we have some images that were filmed by eyewitnesses there where you can hear the fear in their voices as they kind of in some cases are running out of the supermarket. In other cases, are inside in disbelief hearing that there appears to be a man with a knife stabbing people inside the supermarket.

As you mentioned, six people wounded, three in critical condition. And the authorities have since revealed that the attacker actually bought the knife in the supermarket that was then used for these -- as Jacinda Arden, the New Zealand Prime Minister, described it, senseless acts of violence.

Now the stabbings spree was brought to an abrupt end after, officials estimate, only took about 60 seconds by the police who were tasked with monitoring this individual. Who had been described by New Zealand's Prime Minister as a known threat. Who had been labeled and identified as a national security threat as early as 2016 and under constant surveillance.

And again, it's that monitoring team that shot and killed the individual who's been identified as a Sri Lankan national who moved to New Zealand in 2011 and who was a supporter of the extremist movement ISIS. The New Zealand Prime Minister went on to say that the authorities have done everything within the laws of New Zealand to try to protect this individual but he could not be arrested for simply supporting in words the beliefs of ISIS. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACINDA ARDEN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: What I can say is that we have utilized every legal and surveillance power available to us to try and keep people safe from this individual. Many agencies and people were involved and all were motivated by the same thing, trying to keep people safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (on camera): But really what's incredible about this case is that the suspect, Jacinda Arden said she personally knew about his case. In fact, the New Zealand "Harold" -- one of the biggest newspapers in the country -- only a couple of weeks ago had written about this person's case. And despite the amount of attention at the highest levels of the country's government, despite the undercover police that were following the individual, still able to carry out terrifying acts of violence before being brought to heel by law enforcement -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, unbelievable and tragic. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

At least 46 people are now confirmed dead after Wednesday's unprecedented flooding across the Northeast United States. But countless were saved from the deluge by first responders. The NYPD says it made over 400 rescues across the city including 69 high water rescues.

Eight tornadoes were reported across the Northeast including one that destroyed or damaged about two dozen homes in southern New Jersey. Even when the water finally recedes, the trauma for the victims will be lasting.

[04:05:00]

New York's governor said New Yorkers have never experienced anything like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): It's been a hard day for New Yorkers to not just deal with the weather but to wake up and know that we lost some of our fellow citizens simply because they weren't able to get out of their car, they weren't able to get out of their home. So, it's really a heartbreaking day here in the city of New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Louisiana later today where Ida made landfall less than a week ago. He said the government has been mobilized to do everything it can to help all of Ida's victims as quickly as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And there's a lot of damage and I made clear to the governors that my team at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is on the ground and ready to provide all the assistance that's needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: For the latest across the region, here is CNN's Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Historic flooding pummeling the Northeast and the race now to rescue people from their homes.

HOCHUL: We're still uncovering the true depth of the loss. The human loss which is hard to imagine.

CARROLL (voice-over): Officials say they have responded to at least 500 emergency calls in just one Philadelphia County.

RANDY PADFIELD, DIRECTOR, PENNSYLVANIA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: We are still seeing ongoing flooding in the southeast portion of the state, some of which is surpassing record flood levels and there are rescues ongoing.

CARROLL (voice-over): Flood gauges show the Schuylkill River rose more than 12 feet in eight hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because the rain has stopped, doesn't mean the water stops flowing.

CARROLL (voice-over): At Bound Brook, New Jersey waters are still high enough to completely cover train tracks and to flood this stadium. Parts of New York are still underwater. A major highway in the Bronx now a parking lot.

And here in Mamaroneck, New York, the cleanup is just getting underway. These bakery owners lost everything.

CARROLL: How high was the water in here, do you have any --

CHRISTIAN ESTRADA, OWNER, WESTCHESTER ITALIAN BAKERY: I would say at least six feet, almost six feet.

CARROLL: Up to the wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you see the line where that line is?

CARROLL: Oh, the line right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where -- yes, that's where the water went up to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.

CARROLL (voice-over): It all started Wednesday night, the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood emergency in New York City for the first time ever.

BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: The report was three to six inches over the course of a whole day, which was not a particularly problematic amount. That turned into the biggest single hour of rainfall in New York City history with almost no warning.

CARROLL (voice-over): But its intensity took many by surprise. The city's infrastructure was unprepared, dozens of people were stuck on city buses and in subway stations.

BEVERLY PRICE, STICK OVERNIGHT IN SUBWAY: A lot of people stranded down here, yes. Oh, my god, I've been down here from 11:20 something.

CARROLL (voice-over): The MTA reporting 46 stations were inundated with water. Officials admitting the system was not designed for this type of record rainfall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything over two inches an hour we're going to have trouble with.

CARROLL: Late Thursday people gathered around the house that you see behind me, that is the place where two people lost their lives. They were down in the basement. They were trapped by the floodwaters and could not get out. Their names will be added to the names of all of those who died during the storm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Jason Carroll reporting there from New York.

Well as we mentioned, Ida spun off many tornadoes across the region. This one in southern New Jersey, a powerful EF-3 leveled or damaged about two dozen homes. We get more from CNN's Paula Newton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are still trying to come to terms with the swathe of destruction through the state of New Jersey. You know, they had that incredible flooding towards the northern part of the state. But here we are in southern New Jersey about a 45-minute drive from Philadelphia, two-hour drive from New York City and a tornado touched down in this neighborhood.

I want you to have a look at the catastrophic damage. You know, people had so little time to get to safety and when they emerged from their basements, this is what they saw. They are saying about eight confirmed tornadoes so far in the Northeast.

Incredible right now, but in this neighborhood, no one died even though they are saying that in the state of New Jersey so far, 23 people have lost their lives. And people in this neighborhood know how lucky they are, I want you to listen now to Mike Castle who described what happened in just a few minutes.

MIKE CASTLE, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: I was up in the shower and we got the tornado alert warning and my wife said you got to get out right now. It wasn't three minutes later that all my back windows exploded and then it sounded like a freight train ran through my living room.

NEWTON: So it has been hard to come to terms with, but people in this neighborhood know that they are lucky given the destruction. I want you to have a look at the rubble they have already been cleaning up today. And these are the remnants of what were their dream homes. These homes are not old and this really was a pristine neighborhood. And now people trying to pick up the pieces.

[04:10:00]

And really asking a significant question, given climate change and given everything that they have seen going on, you know, saying this is not tornado alley. This is New Jersey, a place where tornadoes rarely strike. They are wondering if they should rebuild or move on to a place that perhaps is a little bit more protected.

Paula Newton, CNN, in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: For more on Ida's path of destruction, meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins me now. Derek, I watched as you were on location for CNN as you were battered by Ida down south, but we had no idea that it would week such destruction up north.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, the effects are just so long standing going from the Gulf all the way to New England. This of course is the remnants of tornadoes that just really put their mark on New Jersey. There were eight confirmed tornadoes that took place and this was all associated with the remnants of Ida, which as Kim just said, I was riding out in southern Louisiana. So couldn't even catch up to the storm.

It wasn't just the tornadoes that were the problem, the storm surge and the south coast and into the Gulf Coast I should say, but also the extreme amounts of rain that took place across New England and some of the major metropolitan areas. We had over 20 daily record rainfall totals just on September 1 alone. So, we have are seeing the climate crisis unfold before our eyes with the flooding events that took place in July across Europe to the Pacific Northwestern heatwave last month and now the remnants of Ida. And of course, the ongoing drought for the Western U.S., the Caldor fire that threatens portions of South Lake Tahoe.

So, what is happening here? Well, we are warming. We know that. One degree Celsius above the pre-industrial averages, that is allowing for more atmospheric water vapor, so basically the ability for the earth to produce more heavy rain events, that is taking place. And it unfolded before our eyes in Central Park this week, 80 millimeters of rain in a one-hour period, that is a record for New York City. And guess what, the last time that record was broken, just two weeks ago. You see the trend I'm talking about.

The oceans are also warming as our planet warms and it absorbs the majority of that heat, that provides the fuel necessary for stronger hurricanes. Take it from me, riding out the storm in southern Louisiana, we felt the direct impacts from an eyewall for five hours. That is winds in excess of 140 miles per hour. And that going to become more likely going forward in time with our warming planet and our warming oceans.

This has impacts on the wildfire season as well. It's extended later and starting earlier as well. Of course, the number of acres being burned is also increasing on average, you can see that according to this pie chart or this graph showing the increase in large active wildfires over the Western U.S. Kim, so much to cover here, but we're starting to draw that connection to climate change.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. All right, thanks so much, Derek Van Dam, appreciate it.

In Pennsylvania, at least four people are dead after flooding caused by the storm. Officials estimate they've responded to thousands of water rescue calls across the state. CNN's Pete Muntean is in Philadelphia where experts call the flooding historic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Conditions are improving here in Philadelphia although we are not out of woods yet. This is the most dramatic scene of the day. This is Interstate 676, the Vine Street Expressway, a massive thoroughfare straight through the center of Philadelphia. It connects Interstate 76 on the west to the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden, New Jersey in the east and this has been very flooded, the water is very high.

You can see the water, it was up to the 21st Street overpass there, it has receded some a little bit now about halfway to the bottom of the road there. This is just one scene here in Philadelphia.

The Schuylkill River was over flowing its banks earlier today, crested about 17 feet early on Thursday morning. It has receded some and will go below flood stage, according to the National Weather Service, after midnight. That means that the flood warning here in Philadelphia will stay in place until 7:00 a.m. on Friday.

Hundreds of water rescues in neighboring Montgomery County alone, according to the Governor Tom Wolfe's office. The town of Bridgeport had at least one person die in a water rescue there. Beyond the mortal toll of the storm, and this massive flooding event, a big monetary toll maybe in the tens or hundreds of millions, although no official estimates yet.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Before flooding the Northeastern U.S., hurricane Ida hammered Louisiana causing catastrophic damage to the state's power grid. Even now days later, almost a million homes and businesses still have no electricity including virtually all of New Orleans. CNN's Brian Todd reports on what has been a very slow recovery from hurricane Ida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grand Isle, Louisiana, almost unrecognizable.

CYNTHIA LEE SHENG, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA him: You can't go to Grand Isle right now, by land or by boat.

TODD (voice-over): Its roads, impassable.

[04:15:00]

SHENG: The island is uninhabitable. There's three feet of sand across the entire island, 10 to 12 breaks, 100 percent of the structures have been damaged. We estimate 40 percent of the structures were destroyed.

TODD (voice-over): Plaquemines Parish under water as far as the eye can see from officials there surveying damage, struggling to clear roadways and keep water systems going, the message is clear.

KIRK LEPINE, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA: We encourage any resident that evacuated to remain there and stay there at this present evacuated to remain that and stay there at this present time because we do not have the resources to help you.

TODD (voice-over): Power crews from all over the country grinding through neighborhoods, street by street. Power companies supervisors told us off camera that it's an enormous task.

One foreman in the New Orleans east area where some power has been restored told us to move back as his team replaced a poll because it was too dangerous. When I asked him how long it will take to replace the poll --

JIMBO WEEMS, FOREMAN, DANELLA COMPANIES, INC.: I could not even give you a solid answer on that, man. I ain't got that magic wand.

TODD: Can you give me a sense of how tough this is to replace a line like this?

WEEMS: I'm ringing wet, 16 hours a day, that's 5 days straight. It's what we do, bud.

TODD (voice-over): And when they find a downed pole or line on a given corner, it's not just a matter of propping up backup or replacing it.

TODD: Here is an example of how painstaking, dangerous and complicated it is just to restore power in a given street corner in the New Orleans area. A supervisor told us that what these guys are doing is a procedure called a locate. They've got to try to locate a power line but also locate water, gas and fiber lines that maybe down there so they do not interfere with them. So, they're using manual what they called slapstick. These are post hole digger with long handles just to try to find those line so they do not interfere with them so they can get this pole back up and running.

TODD (voice-over): Residents of New Orleans east tell us it's been tough without power.

LARRY JACKSON, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: The food just went bad. I threw away maybe like about $500 worth of food. I had to go to Mississippi to get ice. Yeah, I had to go to Mississippi to get ice and groceries and gas.

TODD (voice-over): Resident Larry Jackson took it upon himself to flag down a power company scout coming down history in the pickup truck and offered him some inventive.

JACKSON: I told them, hey, look, guys, I'll fry you some fish and make you some jambalaya to get my poles straight.

TODD (voice-over): In St. Charles Parish, cars lined up for miles in search of food and water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just don't want to get low.

TODD (voice-over): The search for gas still a struggle.

MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL (D), NEW ORLEANS: We just have not received adequate fueling services to the general public.

TODD: There is slow progress to the slow grind of power restoration here in Louisiana. Entergy Louisiana says its restored power to at least ten hospitals in southeastern Louisiana, several sewage treatment plants have had their power restored thanks to repairing of generators that they used. But for hundreds of thousands people in this general region, it's simply not moving fast enough.

Brian Todd, CNN, Kenner, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: In northern California, some ski resorts are helping the fight against the Caldor fire. The Lake Tahoe resorts are using snow making machines to protect themselves and the surrounding areas from the nearby flames. The Caldor fire has burned through more than 210,000 acres in three weeks, thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes as the flames head towards bordering Nevada. It's only 25 percent contained.

Well, from raging wildfires on the West Coast to historic flooding on the East Coast, the U.S. is battling extreme weather events fueled by climate change. Democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm and calling for action. President Biden is among them and he is calling on Congress to pass legislation to prepare the nation's infrastructure for the changing climate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: Past few days of hurricane Ida and the wildfires in the West and the unprecedented flash floods in New York and New Jersey is yet another reminder that these extreme storms in the climate crisis are here. We need to be much better prepared. We need to act.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Global warming is upon us. When you get two record rainfalls in a week, it's not just coincidence. When you get all the changes that we have seen in weather, that's not a coincidence. Global warming is upon us and it's going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it.

HOCHUL: What we're seeing now are cataclysmic rain events, record- shattering where we have unprecedented amounts of water coming out of the heavens all at once. Literally from 8:51 last night to 9:51 p.m., more water came down than we had seen in the history of New York all at once.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, still to come, abortion rights have again been thrust into the forefront of U.S. politics after the Supreme Court refused to strike down a controversial law. When we come back, we'll tell you what President Biden plans to do about it.

Plus, from taxi to takeoff, we'll show you the tense final minutes of the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of folks in danger, what all the operators do is you focus on the mission you got at hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: President Joe him Biden is vowing to fight a Supreme Court decision that effectively bans abortions in Texas. The Texas law outlaws abortions after just six weeks of pregnancy before most women even know they are pregnant. And it was written to make legal challenges difficult. By a 5 to 4 margin the Supreme Court's conservative justices denied a request to stop the law.

President Biden said: The Supreme Court's ruling overnight is an unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade which has been the law of the land for almost 50 years. It unleashes unconstitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts.

So, with more on what President Biden can and can't do about it, here is CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden sharply criticized the Texas law as well as the Supreme Court decision, he said it will unleash constitutional chaos and he said it simply does not hold up to what is widely believed by people on both sides of the aisle, certainly Democrats, as settled law for Roe vs. Wade.

But he did call for what he called a whole of government approach to see what the government can indeed do if anything about this. Calling for the Department of Human Services as well as the Justice Department to look into the legality of this.

[04:25:00]

Now the Attorney General Merrick Garland also said that his department was looking into what they can do to uphold the women's right to choose. This is something that the White House really is limited in what they can do. The Senate and House certainly there's not overwhelming support particularly in the Senate to codify Roe vs. Wade into law.

So, this is something that the White House is quite frankly limited to do and the president is being pushed by progressives and Democrats to expand the Supreme Court, to support a plan to add more justices. Of course, liberal justices in their view, to the Supreme Court. He's never been a fan of that. But there is a commission studying if that would work. The bottom line is that is not going to happen. So, this is something that really is a consequence of the election.

The Supreme Court, you know, is based on the Trump justices that make up the Supreme Court right now. So, this is something that President Biden, yes, is concerned about but, frankly, can do little about it at least in the short term.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is calling for a pause in his party's push to pass a massive $3.5 trillion spending bill which is a major piece of President Biden's agenda. Manchin is a key figure in the Senate where all 50 Democrats must vote together for the legislation to pass. The moderate Democrat has long been skeptical of the bill's staggering price tag and says more time is needed to assess the trajectory of the pandemic. Democrats had planned to having a vote by the end of the month. All right, coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the latest details on a terror

attack at a New Zealand super market and how ISIS ideology might have played a role.

Plus, a behind the scenes look at the last U.S. military flight out of Afghanistan. What the man in charge of the mission had in mind as the C-17 took off. We'll explain. Stay with us.

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