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CNN International: First Look at Hurricane Damage in Palm Beach County; Milton Exits Florida after Leaving a Trial of Destruction; White House: Discussion in Biden-Netanyahu Call was "Direct"; Daylight Reveals Extensive Hurricane Damage Across Florida; Milton Wreaks Destructive Across Florida; Officials: Wait Until Floodwaters Recede Before Venturing Out. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired October 10, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: From St. Petersburg to Fort Myers to Fort Pierce Florida, surveying the damage caused by Hurricane
Milton. It is 09:00 a.m. in Tampa. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, welcome to "Connect the World" wherever you are watching,
you are more than welcome.
We will have a lot more on the Israeli Prime Minister's quote, direct call with U.S. President and his security cabinet meeting later today, as the
world still braces for the response to Iran's missile barrage on Israel. We'll be live in Tel Aviv, Washington and Tehran a little later this hour,
but we begin with breaking news out of the United States.
Well, daylight in Florida, bringing us a good look at the destruction caused by Hurricane Milton, which has now exited Florida and is off the
Atlantic Coast. You are looking at pictures from Clearwater in Central Florida, first responders there are conducting water rescues to ferry
people out of their homes where they may be trapped and all over the area, authorities urging patients and warning residents to stay put, because the
danger from flooding down trees and power lines is still not over, they say.
The hurricane roared on shore in the Sarasota area, south of Tampa on Wednesday night, it was a Category III Storm. This is how it looked and
sounded. Well, ferocious winds ripped the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, which was supposed to house
first responders, while the Tampa area was largely spared the worst of the feared storm surge.
The City's Mayor says the biggest problem today is the flooding caused by unrelenting rain. And to the east of the hurricane's center, far from the
evacuation zones, Milton spawned dozens of these tornadoes. This is video from Port St. Lucie, where multiple fatalities are now reported. Well, a
few minutes ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gave this update on the storm, saying, as bad as the damage is, it could have been a whole lot
worse. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): What we can say is the storm was significant, but thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario. The storm did weaken
before landfall, and the storm surge, as initially reported, has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.
Right now, it looks like Sarasota County had the most significant storm surge, likely somewhere between 8 to 10 feet and remember, with Helene, we
had 15 to 20 feet up in Taylor County
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: -- from CNN, Affiliate WPEC is in Palm Beach County, with a look at the damage at first light.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARA DUFFY, WPEC: Now that the sun is coming up, we are getting a clearer idea of just how much damage Milton left behind overnight and into these
early morning hours. And the damage is a lot more widespread than we first realized when we came out here earlier this morning, it was so dark out on
top of the power outages, it was hard to tell, and now, as you can see, just total devastation. We've seen trees just snapped right in half.
Vehicles that had rolled across multiple lanes of traffic ending up here, just feet away from a neighborhood pond area, a big chunk of the dock
that's also in this community, lake and pond area that was now pushed all the way up onto the road. Debris scattered everywhere.
Now, if you take a look to the side of us here, as neighbors start making their way out, they're also realizing just how serious this is. We've seen
multiple vehicles just kind of pulled over to the side of the road, many of them with the windshield blown out, glass shattered everywhere.
Park benches, a reminder of what was here, not even 24 hours ago, certainly a much different vibe out here. As you can see in the distance here, trees
barely recognizable and homes just shattered in the distance there, it looks like it's a small RV that's actually toppled on its side, so it
really just kind of reinforces just how strong that storm and wind must have been last night.
[09:05:00]
Now, first responders have said that they reported to the scene here for a tornado that they took at least five people to the hospital. Three of them
had to get trauma lifted out of here, which, as we know, means they were seriously injured. Several others were treated on the scene.
And as of right now, we're still just trying to talk to people in the area, see what they know, how they've made out overnight, and really just where
they go from here. So as the day goes on, we'll certainly assess the damage further and hopefully have some updates throughout the day and check in
with you. But for now, reporting from the acreage in Palm Beach County, Florida I'm Kara Duffy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Hillsborough County Sheriff, urging residents there to be patient with rescue crews as they conduct rescues and try to get those in
need of help. You are looking at a sinkhole in the area there now. CNN's Isabel Rosales spoke with County Sheriff Chad Chronister on the ground a
short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've got the Sheriff right here. Sheriff, is it OK to talk with you?
CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF: Yeah.
ROSALES: Chad Chronister of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff, -- what can you tell us about what's happening with these rescue
operations?
CHRONISTER: Yeah, we're -- we have three of the amphibious vehicles staged throughout the county, and they're in full operation at assisted living
facility up on the north end. Here at the hotel, we have some elderly folks that struggle with some disabilities and able to get them to some dry land,
get them some medical attention.
These are people who didn't heed the warning. This is into -- these are individuals in areas where we've never seen flooding, never seen flooding,
and to go from no flooding to three feet of water up over your knees, I can imagine how frightening that was for everybody here.
ROSALES: Yeah, and specifically the assisted living facility, another separate operation happening right now in the northern part of the county.
That's why the University of South Tampa, another place you would never imagine to see flooding like this. That's a more complex situation, because
you have people dealing with medical complications. What can you tell me about what's happening there?
CHRONISTER: Yeah, that takes a little more of a triage. Certainly, have to handle a fragile situation with the utmost care and a lot more care. We
have almost 100 residents up there, and that's certainly going to be a more prolonged rescue operation.
ROSALES: Any message you want to give to folks out there that -- you know they're stuck, stuck, and we're blindsided again in these areas that
they've never seen conditions like this before?
CHRONISTER: Just hang tight shelter. I know you're uncomfortable. Almost 600,000 people in our county without power. We'll come to you as quick as
we can.
ROSALES: And any idea how many of these calls you have right now?
CHRONISTER: Right now, these are the two big facilities. We have another rehabilitative facility. We have a hotel here, and then up on the north
end. But again, out east and up north, we've never experienced this type of flooding, so I'm sure it was quite frightening for these folks who thought
they were they were safe.
They were sheltering in place and now faced with having flooding and not knowing what was going to stop again, you can see the relief. My heart is
certainly full of content knowing that we're going to get them to drier ground and get them to medical contention they need.
ROSALES: Sheriff, thank you so much for your time. Back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Boris Sanchez, joining us from St. Petersburg. And you are just in front of what is the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, which has
had its roof ripped off, as I understand it, by these ferocious winds. Just tell us what you are witnessing in these morning hours.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky. This is one of the centers of the community here in St. Petersburg, Tropicana Field, the home of the
Tampa Bay Rays. And as you can see, the roof was just shorn by the powerful winds of Hurricane Milton. That's significant in part because of what this
field represents.
It was one of the bases of emergency operations in response to the hurricane. So, you had emergency personnel stationed inside. You had them
sheltering there. You also had significant resources allocated to the area. Right now, those resources are being dispersed to the community.
Fortunately, I can report that in the immediate vicinity of the baseball stadium, there does not appear to be a significant amount of damage.
There's no flooding here. There are minimal tree limbs that are down. But that doesn't represent the whole picture for Pinellas County and
neighboring Hillsborough County and areas further south where this storm made landfall.
Here in Pinellas County, there are a number of areas that at this point are inaccessible. We try to make -- we try to make our way to one, but
sheriff's deputies were blocking off a bridge, saying that in part it was because of downed power lines. There is still standing water in some parts,
and that combination of power lines and water never a good one.
We heard Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis talking about this, the fact that almost after every hurricane, major hurricane that Florida has faced, there
are always fatalities after the storm because folks go outside their homes, they start wandering around. They see that the storm has passed, that the
wind and the rain has passed, and they see sunshine.
[09:10:00]
And they think they're safe, but there's a lot of danger lurking, not only with downed power lines, but also teetering debris that could fall at any
moment. We've seen expansive flooding, expansive property damage as well. We know that in neighboring Hillsborough County, there are water rescues
that are underway right now.
There was an assisted living facility there. This is a more sort of rural agricultural area. They were being evacuated the senior citizens there in
two to three feet of standing water. So obviously it's a delicate process to get folks out to safety, and officials don't want that complicated by
folks coming out and trying to survey damage and getting themselves into danger Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Boris, thank you very much indeed. Well, more on those tornadoes that we've been reporting on statewide, more than 125
warnings were issued on Wednesday, the most ever in a state in a single day. Most happened in the morning and afternoon, as Milton's outer bands
moved through well before that hurricane made landfall.
The worst hit area four tornadoes appear to have been St. Lucie County in South Central Florida, which is on the Atlantic Coast. Multiple fatalities
reported there. The County Sheriff described the impact to us earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH PEARSON, ST. LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF: Our area is not used to seeing any kind of tornado activity. We had one tornado pop up. It actually struck our
Sheriff's Office, taking out a 10,000 square foot red iron structure that was housing all of our emergency equipment in preparation for Hurricane
Milton. Shortly after that, maybe 20 minutes later, all of our alarms have gone off. All the messages came out there. Our deputies reported at least
visually seeing six tornadoes on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the White House's President, Joe Biden, was briefed after Milton made landfall on Wednesday night, and an official tells CNN official
accounts are stepping up their social media messaging to make sure that the public knows how hard the government is working to fix the damage and get
help to the people in need.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House for us. And just to explain very specifically what the Biden Administration is doing as we get these first
glimpses of the damage done by Hurricane Milton.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, the White House says President Biden will be updated and briefed by his team throughout the
day on the impact of Hurricane Milton. This comes after he had received a briefing last night from his Homeland Security Adviser and a FEMA
Administrator right after Milton made impact in Florida.
The President yesterday, also last night, spoke with the Mayors of Orlando as well as Sarasota to try to anticipate some of the needs that they might
need in this recovery. It comes as the administration is trying to show that they have pre-positioned resources that they are ready to immediately
respond in this response and recovery following Hurricane Milton.
FEMA Administrator, Deanne Criswell was at the state's emergency operation centers this morning getting updates on what exactly the state will need.
They have already mobilized Coast Guard and FEMA Search and Rescue Teams as well as Swift Water Rescue Teams.
Images that you've seen throughout the day already of people being rescued from their homes at times. They also have deployed power teams with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to try to help with some of the power outages that are widespread in Florida. And then the administration is having pre-
positioned, is ready to deploy about 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water.
All of these resources they are hoping to get into those most devastated communities down in Florida. But even as they are dealing with this
response and recovery, you have also heard warnings from President Biden himself around some of the misinformation that's been coming relating to
the federal government's response.
He was very blunt last night, saying that Former President Donald Trump is responsible for some of those false claims. And the White House has taken
steps trying to rebut some of those false narratives, as they have warned that these -- this spate of misinformation will complicate officials on the
ground's ability to get the resources that they need, the communities that need it most.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Arlette thank you. Let's get you to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam then, who has the very latest. Derek on the
storms track just get his bang up today, if you will?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK, well, so I think what's really important to know is that when we look back at the history books of what
Hurricane Milton did to the State of Florida, often an overlooked parameter of these hurricanes is the tornado threat, and this ended up being a
significant part of the story.
Remember, each hurricane has got its own fingerprint, its own characteristics, and its own threats as well, but the tornadoes that were
spawned from the sky were very, very damaging.
[09:15:00]
In fact, they're normally just the spin up minor damage type tornadoes with the outer bands of an approaching hurricane. But this was not the case,
unfortunately. And this is on the eastern side of the State of Florida, the Florida Peninsula, far away and far remote from where we anticipated
landfall, where the most impactful conditions from storm surge and wind would actually be.
And this caused a significant amount of damage. In fact, there were 126 tornado warnings issued with the outer rain bands from Milton before it
even approached. So, this kept the National Weather Service very busy across the State of Florida, but it also set a daily record, and it's no
difference. And we understand that these hurricanes produce these tornadoes, but significant amounts of tornadoes, that's saying something.
And this one eclipsed all the previous other record counts of tornado warned storms.
But if you line this up, 2017 that was Irma, 2024 that was Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, 2022 that was Ian, and that was the fourth number of
tornadoes reports ever reported. So, the tornadoes and the wind from this storm knocking out power to over 3 million customers. This will take weeks,
if not longer, to really restore electricity to all of the neighborhoods and areas impacted by this major hurricane.
We're still feeling the effects of tropical storm force conditions right along the Space Coast. That's Cape Canaveral, where we launch a lot of
satellites and shuttles into the sky. And it's the rain that was also a major factor in this storm that brought over 10 inches of rain in some wide
swath of the central parts of the peninsula. In fact, setting some records in St. Petersburg, they saw 18 inches of rain. That's a foot and a half of
water, and that's inland flooding.
Remember, that's three times their monthly average, occurring just in a period of three hours. So, we're seeing these ongoing high-water rescues on
live TV unfolding right in front of us, and there have been quite dramatic this morning as people stuck inside of buildings various things.
Now the storm is exiting off the east coast. There's still a surge component. There's still the inland flood component working against that
onshore push, but a significant storm, to say the least maybe we didn't get the worst-case scenario because it landed south of Tampa Bay, but this is
still a very impactful hurricane for the State of Florida, right after another major hurricane two weeks ago.
ANDERSON: And you're absolutely and you are right to remind us of that, and your reporting has been exemplary. Thank you very much indeed.
DAM: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Well, a week ago, Iran fired scores of missiles at Israel. Now with war raging in the region, Israel may be getting closer to a response.
We're going to do a lot more on that just ahead.
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ANDERSON: A little over a week ago, Iran attacked Israel with some 200 ballistic missiles. I was in Tel Aviv and witnessed that attack. Or how
will Israel answer that attack by Iran?
[09:20:00]
All the source tells us the Israeli Security Cabinet will vote to decide in its response when it meets a few hours from now. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and the U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the matter during what was a half hour telephone call yesterday that the White House
describes as quote, direct, Israel's Defense Minister has said the response to Iran will be, quote, powerful, precise, and above all, surprising.
CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv for us this hour, our Senior White House Reporter, Kevin Liptak is in Washington, Fred Pleitgen is on the ground in
Tehran. To all of you, thank you for joining us. Fred, let's start with you. Nic in Israel, tell us what more we are expecting from this security
Cabinet today, and whether we have any further idea about what this response might look like?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The only other detail that we heard from the defense minister yesterday, and those were pretty
strong words that he had, you know, surprising being one of them, above all, surprising precise. And it made a note that the Iranian missiles fight
on Israel weren't that precise.
But he said they will have no idea what happened, or how it happened, what's happening to them. So, it's really painting a picture of some
stealthy kind of mission. But even that doesn't give us clues into what the targets might be. We know that there was this direct phone conversation
between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.
And the Irish Prime Minister met with President Biden not long after, and he said, look, I can't share with you what the president said to me, but I
can tell you that these were -- this was strongly put to the Israeli Prime Minister. President Biden has said he doesn't believe that it is correct
and right to hit nuclear sites inside of Iran.
He doesn't believe that the Iran's oil infrastructure should be hit. But of course, the Prime Minister here, Benjamin Netanyahu, really believes that
Hezbollah in the north in Lebanon was a real arm of Iran's government, and that if he strikes very sensitive sites in Iran, then he would fill the
full punishment from Hezbollah.
And right now, he feels that Hezbollah is down, that their command and control is down, their leadership is down. They're not the force that they
were. And I think the concern remains that he has not, as far as we know, told President Biden that he -- that the nuclear power sites are definitely
off limits, or told him that anything is off limits.
So, I think at the moment, the best information that we have is that this is going to be stealthy and surprising. And the question for the region
after the strikes, whenever they come, would be, does this lead to escalation? And that is what the region is, absolutely this moment, waiting
and watching to find out, Becky.
ANDERSON: Kevin, publicly the U.S. warning the Israelis off either nuclear sites or indeed, oil installations. What does the U.S. support? Is it clear
in terms of strike options at this point, because it is very -- has very specifically said it will support Israel.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and that is a difference from what happened in April when Biden essentially told Israel
not to respond to a barrage of Iranian missiles. And I think what the White House would probably like to see this time is something akin to what Israel
did back then, which is largely a strategic retaliation that essentially ended the escalation for then.
So, I think you know, when you talk to American officials, they are clear that they don't want to see Israel respond in a way that would be
escalatory. And I think that's very much the message that President Biden delivered on that phone call yesterday. You know, when the White House
calls this phone call direct, that's generally Washington code for a very blunt conversation between two men who have essentially lost a lot of trust
over the last year.
President Biden doesn't actually have a lot of faith that Netanyahu is listening to what he's saying and taking into account the recommendations
that he's offering, but the fact that they had this phone call after two months of silence really tells you that President Biden does feel the need
to at least voice his opinion to Netanyahu directly before he takes a decision on how to respond.
And certainly, I think in the back of President Biden's mind is how this is going to affect the American election, which is happening in less than a
month. There are a lot of American officials who say privately and who fear privately that Netanyahu could be trying to create an advantageous
environment for Former President Trump by creating an escalatory situation in the Middle East.
And that's something that they're very concerned about. You know, in this phone call, in the readout afterwards, the White House didn't explicitly
say whether they had gotten a good read from Netanyahu on how exactly he plans to proceed.
[09:25:00]
But they did say that the two men had agreed to remain in contact, and I think that's significant, just given how long they had gone without
speaking before this phone call. It had been 49 days now, as this situation intensifies, as this retaliation seems to become closer.
I think it's clear that they want to remain in very close coordination, in no small part, because President Biden is concerned about the thousands of
American troops in the region who could also be put in harm's way, depending on how this situation unfolds.
ANDERSON: Well, the leaders, then of the United States and Israel discussing what Netanyahu's next move might be. Kevin, thank you. Fred,
you're in Tehran while you've been there, that conversation has taken place. We've also seen Iran's Foreign Minister traveling around the region
where I am, that is the Gulf, Arab Gulf region.
And he has met the Leader of Saudi Arabia, and is on the move, as I say, around this region. I just wonder what his travels and meetings suggest
about what is going on here in region and regional relations, and what people inside Iran are telling you about what they expect to happen next?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Becky, I think the people that we've been speaking to here on the
ground, they certainly are concerned about the situation, about possible escalation, not necessarily about Israeli possible strikes in themselves,
but about things possibly escalating between Iran and the United States.
That's definitely something that is on people's minds. A lot of people here, though, seem pretty bold when they're talking about Israel. They do
expect the Islamic Republic, as they put it, to stand up to Israel. But I also think you're absolutely right. It's very interesting to see some of
the shuttle diplomacy, if you will, that's been going on by top officials of the Islamic Republic.
It's not just the foreign minister, it's actually the speaker of parliament. Who's in the region traveling right now, the President of Iran,
of course, traveling to Turkmenistan today, where tomorrow he's going to meet with Vladimir Putin. And then we do have the Foreign Minister, Abbas
Araghchi which I think was a very important meeting yesterday with Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The Iranians there saying that he tried to make clear to Mohammed bin Salman that it's important for countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia to
improve their relations. The Iranians saying that that is something that is actually happening. Of course, what the Iranians are trying to do is drum
up support for themselves and against Israel.
It's unclear to what extent that is actually happening, but the Iranians at the same time, are also vowing a crushing response if the Israelis do
attack Iranian territory. Here's what we're learning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): After Iran's massive missile strike targeting military installations inside Israel's territory, Iran is now bracing for
what the Israelis say will be a strong response. On Tehran streets, some concern and a lot of defiance. Everyone's mind is busy thinking of what
might happen, this man says.
And if Israel makes a move, we will certainly respond to it. And this woman says, I am not concerned about war because I believe in my country and our
leadership. I know if anything happens, nothing will threaten the Iranian nation. If there is a need to protect our soil and our land, like our
fathers and brothers who participated in the eight-year war, we will go to war as well, this man says.
And you will see the result of the jihad that has been ordered. If you want war, we are the masters of war, this poster in Revolution Square reads both
in Farsi and in Hebrew. Iran's capital, is also plastered with billboards pledging to stand by Hezbollah after the killing of the group's longtime
leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
PLEITGEN: The Islamic Republic of Iran and its Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are making very clear that despite the current struggles of the
Hezbollah organization, they will continue to support Hezbollah against Israel.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Israel's government has vowed to hit Iran hard after last week's missile attack, when the Revolutionary Guard used around 200
ballistic missiles, some hitting Tel Aviv and an air base inside the country, sparking fears of a wider conflict, possibly pitting the U.S. and
Iran directly against one another.
An Iranian Member of Parliament sending a warning to the U.S. The U.S. is aware of everything the Zionist regime does, he says. We would suggest
that, firstly, the U.S. stop the military help, stop the arms and the backing of the Zionist regime, and then secondly, for the U.S. to force
Israel into a ceasefire. But so far, the risk of escalation continues in a region already on edge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:30:00]
PLEITGEN (on camera): And there you have, Becky, the Iranian response to all this. And of course, at the same time, the Iranians very much gearing
up for what could be that very strong Israeli response. No doubt, the air defense forces here in this country right now on high alert, Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. And coming up, I'll speak with Kirsten Fontenrose, the President of Red Six International, who
has written an analysis piece for the Atlantic Council, in which she argues, and I quote, in the last three administrations, the U.S. strove to
alter Iran's foreign policy using carrots, then sticks, then carrots again.
What has not been tried is a long term, multi domain, bipartisan strategy for addressing Iran's goal to unseat the U.S. as the partner of choice for
many important Arab states. Well, is that even possible in the current climate? I think it's a really important piece of analysis, and one well
worth discussing, and we'll do that with her next hour.
So do stay with us. For that well as the world waits for Israel's next move as regards Iran, the IDF has launched new strikes on Lebanon, striking what
it says where Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Beirut's southern suburbs, again. Lebanese officials say since Israel's campaign of
airstrikes intensified this month.
More than 1500 people have been killed and more than a million have been displaced. U.N. says a quarter of Lebanon is now under Israeli military
displacement orders. Meanwhile, in Gaza, an Israeli air strike killed at least 28 people inside a shelter, which was in a school that's according to
the Palestine Red Crescent.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond tells us some Palestinians say they were fired on as they were trying to get to safety amid heavy bombardments across Northern
Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Nine-year-old Dana, is among those wounded in the attack. A pink shirt smeared red with her own blood
after she was shot in the neck. At the hospital, her mother says an Israeli drone opened fire as they were fleeing South. The quadcopter started
shooting intensively, she says. Everyone was running. There were so many bullets, even my children's backpacks were full of bullets. The Israeli
military declined to comment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Israel has renewed operations in Northern Gaza, saying it is trying to stop Hamas re-emerging there as a threat, and we will have
Jeremy's full report for you next hour. You're watching "Connect the World". To our show, of course so do stay with us over the next 90 minutes.
I'm Becky Anderson, next up counting the cost of living.
Key new data gives us an insight into inflation in the United States and what that means for consumers. Stand more on what is one of our top
stories, the impact of Hurricane Milton, we will be live for you again in Florida. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:35:00]
ANDERSON: Right, welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You are watching "Connect the World". Time here in Abu Dhabi is 25 to 6 in the
evening, it is, of course, 09:35 on the East Coast of America. Let's return to the impact of Hurricane Milton. Carlos Suarez is in Fort Myers in
Florida, which has been under tornado warnings for hours. Tell us what's been going on there and what have you witnessed?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, good morning. So, Fort Myers, Florida saw some widespread damage brought on by flooding and a few
tornadoes that we believe hit this part of Lee County. We're in a neighborhood just to the south of downtown Fort Myers, where we believe,
again, according to the folks out here, that one tornado hit this part of Lee County yesterday afternoon, you can see the roof of this house is gone.
The folks inside there are taking a look at the damage, what's left of their home, the debris that covers their front yard is not even from this
neighborhood. This sign here, this debris belongs to a business, and so it's probably not even from this area where we are. And then across the
street is another house I'm going to walk over and show you some of the damage here.
The owner of this house tells me he was on the roof just a few minutes ago, actually, and he told me that, yesterday they had put up all this plywood,
all in an effort to better prepare for this storm. They knew it was going to rain, they knew there was going to be some wind, and they knew that they
were probably going to be damaged.
What he didn't think was that this tornado was going to hit and that much of the damage to his house was going to come from the fact that the roof,
part of the roof, gave way, and so all of this water and all of this debris and everything that was kind of flying around out here yesterday made its
way inside that house.
He's in the process right now of trying to figure out exactly what they are going to do. Becky, one of the things that we've been reporting outside of
the main area where this hurricane hits up in Sarasota County in the Tampa Bay area, is the fact that a lot of the damage and a lot of some of the
deaths that we have seen took place elsewhere in the state of Florida, almost on the other side, on the east coast of Florida, in part because
these tornadoes that hit.
We know, two tornadoes hit one in Western Broward County, which is in the South Florida area, and another tornado hit near Lake Okeechobee, which is
kind of in the central part of Florida. Those two tornadoes, again, hit that part of Florida. And then here in Lee County, we believe two tornadoes
also touched down, one here and one probably about 20 minutes out to the north of where I'm joining you live from right now, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and you can prepare, but you may never know what is coming. Of course, this is terrifying stuff. Thank you. Let's take a quick look at
the state of trading then on Wall Street this Thursday, because the markets have just opened about eight minutes.
Markets look as if they are being influenced somewhat by new U.S. inflation data, the Consumer Price Index, which measures price changes across
commonly purchased goods and services, was 2.4 for the 12 months that ended in September, 2.4 percent that's down from 2.5 percent in August, which
means, of course, that price increases are easing less of a reason.
I guess, to go for big rate cuts, and that is perhaps why these markets are slightly lower today. Let's get Matt Egan's analysis on here. He's here to
break down the numbers for us. What does this tell us about the success of the Fed rate easing policy to date? And importantly, what happens next?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Becky, I think a lot of this really depends on your perspective, right, because big picture, 2.4 percent inflation,
that is another step in the right direction. It's actually the lowest annual rate for consumer price increases in 3.5 years. You'd have to go
back to early 2021 back when vaccines were only just starting to become available.
That was a really long time ago. And this is also a massive improvement from two years ago, when there was 9 percent inflation in America. Many of
us, myself included, had never lived through anything like that. We had $5 gas. There were price spikes on everything from eggs to cars.
[09:40:00]
But when you zoom in, this report was actually a little bit disappointing. I think there may be some yellow lights flashing over at the Federal
Reserve, because while 2.4 percent inflation is encouraging, it was actually supposed to be 2.3 percent month over month, prices did go up a
little bit more than expected.
Core inflation, which economists say tends to be a better barometer for where things are going on an annual basis, that actually heated up digging
into the report. There were a few different important trends here, while energy prices, especially gasoline fell shelter, cooled off.
Some other things actually got a little bit worse. There was a price increase for apparel, for food, new cars, used cars. So, we do have to keep
a close eye on those items to see whether or not this was just a one-month blip or perhaps something more concerning, because, as you mentioned,
Becky, the Fed is going big with these interest rate cuts, right?
Just a few weeks ago, they cut interest rates for the first time since COVID was a big interest rate cut by 50 basis points. So, some economists
are out saying that they think the Fed is still probably going to be able to cut interest rates at the next meeting, but also probably not another
big rate cut.
I think fitch rating summed it up best that they said that inflation is dying, but it's not dead. One other really important point here, though, is
where things look in terms of prices and wages, because the last jobs report showed that on an annual basis, worker paychecks were up by 4
percent and today's report showed that prices were up by 2.4 percent.
So, this is more evidence that paychecks are beating prices, which is exactly what we want to see. And perhaps it means that people are going to
start to feel better about where the economy is, Becky.
ANDERSON: And with 20 what 27 days to go until Election Day. It will be interesting to see how that affects those who are getting ready to go out
and vote. I just want to focus for a moment on Hurricane Milton, because there will be a cost, of course, an enormous cost to pay here, how much
access are people going to have to gas to fuel the cleanup? And how big is that cleanup likely to be? Do we have any numbers at this point?
EGAN: Well, Becky, first and foremost, the primary concern here, of course, is the cost to human life, which is perhaps going to be significant, but
there is this situation around the cleanup and the costs here now, fuel has been a major issue before the storm, right?
A GasBuddy, as of last night at 07:00 p.m. Eastern Time, they're reporting that about one in four gas stations in Florida had no fuel. And this was
much worse in some of the hardest hit areas around Tampa, more than half the gas stations did not have fuel. Sarasota, almost half, one in three in
Fort Myers.
Now that's a reflection of the fact that demand spiked, but this could become an issue as the region tries to clean up and tries to repair and
check on everyone, and as people start to go back to their homes when it becomes safe to do that. Now we know that officials in Florida say that
they are surging supplies of fuel to where it's needed.
Some of the good news on that front is that Tampa may not have gotten hit quite as hard as people had feared. That is significant, because the Port
of Tampa is actually where this whole state gets a lot of its gas from. So, it's too early to say just how much damage was done here.
They're going to be doing assessments, but the hope is that maybe the Port of Tampa did not get hit as hard as it could have, and perhaps that allows
it to open sooner, which would allow the state to bring in more gasoline and to get those gas stations back to where they need.
So, the next few days will give us a clearer sense, Becky, for just how much damage was done, because we know this is just a major population
center, a major commercial property center. Moody's estimates that $1.1 trillion of commercial properties were lying directly in the path of this
storm. And we'll find out soon enough just how much damage those properties sustained, Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir, thank you very much indeed. Important analysis by our very own Matt Egan. All right, stay with CNN, please. Our
breaking news coverage of Hurricane Milton continues. We will also get you bang up to date on what is going on in this region of the Middle East. That
is after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
ANDERSON: Well, the Salvation Army is on the ground in Florida ready to respond quickly in the aftermath of Milton. In the past few days, Salvation
Army crews have mobilized, putting 30 mobile canteens on standby. It just so happens that the Salvation Army disaster warehouse in Florida is located
in Tampa.
Joining me now is Jeff Jellets. He's a Territorial Emergency Disaster Services Director for the Salvation Army. And what are you hearing from
your people in the hurricane zone at this point?
JEFF JELLETS, TERRITORIAL EMERGENCY DISASTER SERVICES COORDINATOR FOR THE SALVATION ARMY: Like a lot of Floridians, we are in damage assessment
phase. Power is out too close to 3 million people, and so we're hearing about a lot of power outages, some structural damage, particularly in those
areas where those tornadoes spun up yesterday and through the evening.
But the good news is, for the most part, we believe that most of our or all of our emergency responders are safe, which is going to allow us to start
pushing out into those communities and helping.
ANDERSON: Your warehouse is in Tampa was that hit or was that spared?
JELLETS: Our fingers were crossed. Yeah, it is right down in near downtown Tampa. We just got over to it this morning, and we are very lucky. It is in
good shape, no significant damage. And more importantly, all of our emergency equipment and supplies that are stationed there are in good
shape.
So, we'll be able to rapidly push that equipment, those supplies. We also have a team in Lakeland, Florida strike team of a command crew and mobile
feeding units. They are also fine. So that's really going to help us speed up our response efforts.
ANDERSON: That's terrific to hear. What are the biggest challenges as you understand them now, on the ground,
JELLETS: I think access is going to be number one. There are a lot of trees down, a lot of debris on roadways, and honestly, damage assessment is still
ongoing. We think we know where some of the worst hit areas are, but there's a lot still to be discovered. We're going to be pushing a team,
actually, down from Atlanta.
We've got 10 more mobile feeding units that we're going to stage here today. They will move south on tomorrow and hopefully be able to get to
Sarasota, Florida, but they begin operations as well.
ANDERSON: That's good to hear. How does this disaster then, I know you're only in this sort of initial assessment phase at present, but given what
you know today, how does it compare to previous emergency responses that you as an organization have dealt with?
JELLETS: It's hard to assess it fully at this point, because damage assessment is still coming in. But look, this is a historic hurricane
season when you can couple this disaster with Hurricane Helene, we've already served over 340,000 meals, and that's still ongoing. This is
probably one for the record books.
The Salvation Army has been stretched. I don't think we've been stretched this much since Hurricane Katrina, dealing with these two significant
hurricane events.
[09:50:00]
ANDERSON: Yeah, what do you need at this point? What's your message?
JELLETS: Look the best thing to do is charities like the Salvation Army depend on cash donations to provide whatever is needed, wherever is needed.
If your charity of choice is the Salvation Army, go to help salvationarmy.org. That's help salvationarmy.org make a donation.
We'll use that to buy food, other supplies, infant products, whatever is needed in those disaster zones, and your cash donation will be immediately
put to work.
ANDERSON: Keep up the good work, sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson.
Still to come, Florida Health officials warning about a dangerous, sometimes deadly bacteria often found in standing water in the aftermath of
a hurricane. We'll have a live report on that, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, back with our top story. Officials in Florida are warning people to wait until flood waters recede, to venture back outside. Here's
the city manager of Plant City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MCDANIEL, PLANT CITY IN FLORIDA CITY MANAGER: Storm water like this is potentially toxic. You don't know what's in that water. Our sewer lift
stations are overwhelmed. You have gas, you have oil, you have other contaminants mixed into this water. It's not healthy to get out there in
it, so please refrain from coming out and getting into this flood water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, there's also another significant threat, and that is disease. CNN's Meg Tirrell joining us now, what's the risk here, Meg?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, it's a bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus, and this is fairly rare, although it is found in
warm, salty coastal water, and it can accumulate after a hurricane in floodwaters. This can be very, very dangerous. It can be fatal in severe
infections or lead to amputation.
The way it can infect people is through if they ingest it, or really, what you worry about here is through open wounds, those becoming infected. And
so, Florida Health officials are warning folks who have compromised immune systems, who have open wounds, and really, everybody should try to avoid
going into the flood waters.
And open wounds include things like recent piercings and recent tattoos. If folks have to go into those flood waters or they're in their homes, they
say, try to put a waterproof bandage over the wound and wash it out with soap and water as soon as possible after coming into contact with
floodwaters.
The symptoms of these things include redness, swelling, blisters and fever, signs of infection. So, these can be quite dangerous. And Becky, we have
seen increased cases of these Vibrio infections and deaths after hurricanes before. If you look back at the historical data from Florida just over the
last few years, you see, there's an increase in 2022 that is due to Hurricane Ian.
There were 11 deaths from Vibrio infections associated just with that storm. We also see an increase here in cases and deaths in 2024, the cases
there, they say, also are associated with Hurricane Helene. So, this is something that folks worry about.
[09:55:00]
11 deaths are a significant number of deaths associated with the hurricane from these bacteria. So, if folks can avoid floodwaters, they absolutely
should do so, Becky.
ANDERSON: It's a very good advice. Thank you very much indeed. And that is it for the first hour of "Connect the World". I'll be back with more after
this short break, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
