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Florida Residents Return to Survey Hurricane Damage; President and First Lady Will Visit Puerto Rico and Florida; Indonesians Mourn Victims of Football Stadium Disaster; Criticism Grows Over Police Handling of Stadium Disaster; Police and Students Clash at Prominent Tehran University. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 03, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up date with our top stories this hours.

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, says she will now reverse part of her tax plan, scrapping the highest rate of income tax. Earlier in a tweet, Truss spoke to critics saying we get it and we have listened.

At least 76 people have been killed in Florida after hurricane Ian slammed the state five days ago. Emergency workers are continuing search rescue and recovery efforts. Plus, more than 600,000 people still remain without power.

We're getting a better sense of the damage as people return home and as officials clear away the debris. Here you can see a police car pushed by floodwaters into the woods in central Florida.

A nearby bridge was also torn apart by the hurricane. In these images show the only roads in and out of Sanibel Island. They were destroyed by the storm stranding those who chose to stay behind. Many residents are now unsure of what to do next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICKEY ANDERSON, SANIBEL ISLAND, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Can we get some help done here? You know would that be too much to ask. I mean look around here, there's nothing. We have no power, no phone service nothing. So, we were just like a little help. I would like a little help to get my home back in shape because I have nowhere to go.

DIANA STOCKBRIDGE, PINE ISLAND, FLORIDA RESIDENT: There's nothing left. I don't know. I am optimistic. It's just -- it's heartbreaking. For all of those families, for all of those businesses, that's why I am very sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What goes through your mind when you look at all of this?

PATTY MCIVER, IONA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: The first thing is we're alive. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

[04:35:00]

MCIVER: We're alive, we don't know our future because we don't know -- can we rebuild -- what a lot of people don't have insurance because they have insurance but they don't have flood insurance. This is everything that I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is your life.

MCIVER: This is the only home I have I don't have a lot more home or, you know, I don't know where to go from here.

HANK DEWOLF, NAPES, FLORIDA RESIDENT: That's a Cuddle Creek floating dock which is on the other side of our house. It came up off of its piling and apparently made its way around through the condo complex there and it ended up, up there. So, you can see, that's sitting up pretty high. So, you can see and it weighs about 4,000 pounds. So, you can see how high the water had to be just to be able to get it there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden will travel to Puerto Rico and Florida to see the damage caused by the hurricane Fiona and Ian. , and to meet with local officials and survivors. Arlette Saenz has a preview of that trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden will begin to see firsthand the damage wrought by a pair of hurricane when he travels to Puerto Rico and Florida this week. The president and first lady will first travel to Puerto Rico on Monday where they will see the devastation wrought by hurricane Fiona two weeks ago. The president is expected to deliver remarks there and meet with local officials while on the ground.

Then on Wednesday, the president will travel to Florida to see the devastation after the impact of hurricane Ian. One question is whether President Biden will meet with Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, with whom, President Biden has many political differences. But he has said that he is willing to meet DeSantis. And that in this moment, they need to put those political differences aside to focus on this recovery effort.

President Biden has said that the federal government will be there throughout the process of the recovery in both Puerto Rico and Florida, calling that hurricane Ian's impact not just a Florida crisis but an American crisis.

Now, on Sunday, the FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell offered some advice to homeowners. Saying that they should purchase flood insurance if they live near water even if it's not require.

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Our flood maps address a very particular type of flooding. But what I would say, Dana, is that people need to understand that while in certain areas we require flood insurance, everybody has the ability to purchase flood insurance. And if you live near water or where it rains it could certainly flood and we have seen that in multiple storms this year.

And so, again, going back to people understanding what their potential risk is and just because you're not required to buy flood insurance doesn't mean that you don't have the option to buy it. It is certainly your best defense to help protect your property and the aftermath of any of these storms.

SAENZ: Now Florida is a state that actually has more flood insurance policies than any other state in the country. But only 13 percent of homes in Florida have that flood insurance and in those counties that face mandatory or voluntary evacuations, only 18 percent of homes had flood insurance. So many of these communities still recovering in what would be a very long process after so many homes and areas were damaged due to hurricane Ian.

Arlette Saenz, CNN the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, the Supreme Court begins its new term on Monday, and one historic change is the addition of course of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. But the court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June will continue to have implications on abortion rights this term. The justices will also hear arguments on major cases including the voting rights act, and affirmative action in college admissions. And the court also consider cases on same-sex marriage issues and environmental laws.

And we want to take a moment to bring you some market news as well, because the oil is high this hour, up more than 4 percent. This comes on whether OPEC plus is considering reducing upwards at the meeting later this week. Oil prices have fallen each month since June as COVID-19 lockdowns hurt demand in China. A top energy consumer will be keeping an eye on this throughout the morning for you on CNN. Those numbers are pretty high.

There are growing calls for accountability in Indonesia over Saturday's deadly stadium disaster. At least 125 people were killed, and more than 300 injured when chaos and violence erupted after a football match. Indonesian authorities have opened an investigation into the police use of tear gas on the crowds. The club president of the home team says he's ready to take full responsibility for the incidents. Meanwhile, people are honoring the victims.

[04:40:00]

Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil in Jakarta on Sunday and members of the home team and community laid flowers in a makeshift memorial just a short while ago.

CNN's international correspondent Will Ripley is following the story from Taipei, of course, overriding and one of the questions of what happened. Have we got any better sense of who's to blame here?

WILL RIPLEY, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly there are multiple investigations taking place right now, Max. From a police internal investigation into the 18 officers who were equipped with tear gas, to the added government level. You have the president ordering three different ministers to look into various aspects of this. From the way that the football match was held, the number of tickets sold, to the police response and the security that was set up.

Because in Indonesia, soccer is a very passionate sport. People get very much so involved in these games that at a lot of games that they actually forbid, you know, away fans from attending. And yet even when it was a friendly crowd, when the out of town team lost, things turned really, really ugly, really quickly starting with the fans. But it was really the police response and the firing of tear gas that witnesses describe, survivors discard. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMAD RIZAL HABIBI, ATTENDED FOOTBALL MATCH: (through translator): Suddenly I heard people screaming and explosions. I didn't know where is was firecrackers. Then it became more difficult to breathe and my eyes got irritated. Then I saw smoke coming up from one corner of the stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Now I don't know if you've ever been tear gassed, I have, and your immediate reaction when you start to feel as if you're suffocating is to run in the opposite direction. That's why FIFA, the governing body for football globally, does not allow tear gas to, you know, contain fans at sporting events. It is specifically not allowed. So, why did the police have that? Why did they use it? Why did they hit people and beat people which is what they're accused of doing. The head of the football club, Arema, did say that the team itself is ready to take full responsibility for this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GILANG WIDYA PRAMANA, AREMA FC PRESIDENT (through translator): I would really like to, once again, apologize to all victims, to the families, to the people of Indonesia, to all who were involved. To the football association of Indonesia, to the police, to the president. For the tragedy that happened at Arema.

I as the president of Arema FC, am ready to be fully responsible for the incident on October 1st. We are ready to give compensation, anything to the victims even though anything we do cannot bring back the victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: And that is the point that's being made despite financial compensation offers for those who are injured and for the family of the killed, you cannot replace somebody's child or their parent. And the grieving process is just getting started. We're seeing these heartbreaking scenes funeral being held --

including for children. And we know that there was a number of children among the 125 who were killed. All of them have been identified and collected by their families who never would've thought, Max, that they would be going to a football match to have fun with their friends, with their families and to never come home. It's just something that people did not imagine could happen.

And is being blamed largely on the firing of that tear gas creating mass panic and people running towards a single exit, essentially. And that's how people were suffocated, that's how they were trampled, some people died instantly right there in the stadium. But a lot of people were so badly hurt that they died on their way to the hospital or shortly after arriving at the hospital, Max. So, truly heartbreaking story. And the investigation into who is to blame, who's accountable, what they need do to prevent that from happening again is just underway. But you know, they're slated in Indonesia to host a major, you know, football event just next year, you know, that FIFA is organizing. And so, it really is important questions that are being asked right now.

FOSTER: Yes, absolutely, Will, thank you.

Still to come, police clash with students at a prominent university in Iran, as crackdowns on antigovernment protesters continued. We'll have a live report after the break.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Police clash with students at a prominent university in Tehran on Sunday, as the crackdown on antigovernment demonstrations continued across Iran. The university's official newspaper reports that security forces fired less legal pellets at large groups of students. The protests began last month after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police constancy. She was trained by the morality police -- as are called -- for allegedly not complying with strict hijab rules. Let's bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh. She's been following the story closely for us from Istanbul. And the point here is not just the reaction but the fact that these protests continue against the big risk that these protesters are taking.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's quite remarkable, Max. I mean, as the government's crackdown seem to intensify and widen towards the end of last week, people were wondering if we're going to see these protests really continue. And that is exactly what we saw this weekend. We saw thousands of students, university students with the new fall term starting taking to the streets and protesting on campus. Thousands across different cities, including the capital Tehran, really defiant, really determined.

And of course, and then we saw yesterday evening, reports begin to emerge with a very disturbing incident. Violent crackdown by the authorities on protesters at a university in Tehran. This is one of the country's most prestigious universities, Sharif University. And we've been really trying to piece together what happened because communications in Iran are very difficult right now. The government is restricting the internet so it's very hard for us to reach people on the ground. And it's very difficult for them to get information to the world.

So, as we have begun to piece this together, according to information coming from the university's newspaper and an eyewitness that we have just spoke to, it appears that this was quite the brutal force that was unleashed to try and crush the protest taking place at the university.

As you mentioned there, they were saying that the security forces opened fire using metal pellets. Yes, they're less lethal but these are still live rounds at protesters. They were using batons to beat up protesters, and try and push them into the university campus, stopping them -- containing them into that campus, and encircling them according to these reports.

[04:50:00]

And we've seen horrifying video emerging with these students with backpacks on their backs, running through the university car park, really harrowing accounts that we're getting of what transpired at Sharif University.

A lot of concerns about casualty figures. We still don't know how many people were hurt. But this one eyewitness that we spoke to, says he saw people who were wounded, who were injured in this confrontation with the security forces. And a lot of concern as well for those who may have been detained.

We don't know how many students were detained, according to state media, they say students returned to the dormitories and everything was calm after that. But now we're looking into how many students may have been rounded up and detained. And this one protester in Tehran we spoke to today, Max, he says, this crackdown has only made them more determined. He says this is a one way street and there is no turning back.

FOSTER: OK, Jomana, thank you.

Still to come, hurricane Ian can spoil the highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch in Tampa by the Kansas City Chiefs, proved to be an even tougher foe for the hometown Buccaneers. We'll have the highlights, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:55:00]

FOSTER: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were finally able to play it home for their Sunday night NFL game after hurricane Ian, but they lost their Super Bowl rematch against Kansas City. The Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 249 yards and three touchdowns, including this amazing toss. The Chiefs won the game 41-31. On the losing side, Tom Brady threw a 385 yards and three touchdowns,

but normally star Buccaneers defense struggled in this one. They allowed 28 points in the first half, after giving up just 27 points total in the first three games of the season.

It Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers reached a new league milestone on Sunday. He threw his 500th career touchdown pass becoming the fifth player in NFL history do so. It came during the fourth quarter against visiting New England Patriots. The 38-year-old Rogers linked up with Romeo Dobbs to force the game into overtime, Mason Crosby later kicked a 31 yard field goal in the closing seconds. The Packers beat the Patriots 27 to 24.

The Oakland Raiders have their first win of the NFL season. They faced a tough challenge from their division rivals the Denver Broncos. Quarterback Russell Wilson there with one of his three touchdowns, but the Raiders got a big game from running back Josh Jacobs who finished with a career-high 144 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Oakland winds it 32 to 23.

And the New York Giants managed to defeat the Chicago Bears on Sunday, despite losing both of their quarterbacks to injury. Starter Daniel Jones was limited with his ankle issue and his backup, Tyrod Taylor, was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the fourth quarter. So, the Giants went with extra running backs and no true QB late into the game. New York held on for the win, 20 to 12.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Max Foster in London. EARLY START with Christine Romans is next.

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