Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Drone Attack in Israel Kills 4 Soldiers, Injures Dozens; Israel Has Implemented a 'Concerted Policy to Destroy' Gaza's Healthcare System; Harris, Trump Locked in Razor-Tight Race; Biden Tours Storm Damage for Second Time in Two Weeks; Auto Show Kicks Off as European Car Industry in Crisis. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 14, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
[00:00:32]
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, a deadly Hezbollah drone strike targets an Israeli army base. One of the bloodiest attacks on Israel since last October.
Deadlock in key battlegrounds states. U.S. presidential candidates looking to seize momentum in the home stretch.
And later, as the Paris motor show gets set to debut the latest innovations, Europe's car industry in crisis.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: And we begin in the Middle East where Israel is grappling with one of the bloodiest attacks on its soil since the war broke out last year.
Israeli officials say Hezbollah launched a drone attack on Sunday, killing at least four soldiers and wounding more than 60 people. The drones targeting an army base in Israel about 40 miles from the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah called this retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Thursday. The Lebanese Health Ministry says those strikes killed 22 people.
The IDF's top spokesperson says the military will investigate why the attack didn't trigger an early alarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are now busy contacting the families. All of the soldiers at the base were instructed to call home and update their families that they are OK.
We are managing the incident. We will learn from and investigate the end stuff, how a UAV entered without an alert at the base. The threat of UAVs is a threat we are dealing with since the beginning of the war. We need an improvement to our defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Lebanese health officials say Israeli strikes on Saturday alone killed 51 people and wounded more than 170 others. Attacks were reported across Lebanon from the North to the South.
CNN's Ben Wedeman with more now on that deadly drone attack in Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hezbollah has announced its responsibility for the drone attack in central Israel --
WEDEMAN (voice-over): -- Sunday evening, saying in a statement that a swarm of drone struck the training base of the Israeli army's Golani Brigade.
The attack, the statement said, was in revenge for a pair of Israeli airstrikes on a residential area in central Beirut Thursday, strikes that killed 22 people and wounded 117, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Southern Lebanon, reported that before dawn, two Israeli tanks destroyed --
WEDEMAN: -- the main gate of one of its bases in the central section of the border region, then entered the base and only withdrew after a protest was lodged with the Israeli military.
UNIFIL also reported that two hours later, Israeli forces fired smoke projectiles toward the same base, requiring 15 peacekeepers to receive medical treatment.
UNIFIL, which operates under a United Nations Security Council mandate, described the Israeli actions as a flagrant violation of international law.
Five UNIFIL troops have been injured by Israeli fire in recent days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Sunday, regretting any harm to the peacekeepers; accused Hezbollah fighters of hiding behind the peacekeepers; and urged UNIFIL to withdraw from the combat zone in South Lebanon.
A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said UNIFIL forces remain in place.
I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says his country is ready to respond to any action or, quote, "misstep" by Israel as the country weighs a possible retaliation for Iran's October 1 missile attack. Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister warned there were no red lines when it comes to defending his country's people and interests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We are prepared for any kind of circumstances. We are ready for war, but we are also ready for peace. This is the definitive stance of the Islamic Republic.
We are entirely ready for a military conflict. We are not afraid of war, but we do not wish for war. We want peace, and we will seek a just peace in Lebanon and Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:05:10]
HOLMES: The Israeli cabinet has been meeting on a possible response to Iran but has not yet decided what action will be taken, or certainly hasn't announced it.
Meanwhile, the U.S. announced on Sunday that it will send an advanced anti-missile system Israel to help bolster the country's air defenses, along with about 100 U.S. troops to operate it.
Cedric Leighton is a CNN military analyst and retired Air Force colonel. Always good to see you, sir. I want to talk about this missile defense system in a minute.
But let's start with Hezbollah striking deep into Israel and succeeding, and hitting a military facility, and causing casualties. That's a new development in terms of Hezbollah penetration into Israel. How significant, do you think?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it's pretty significant, Michael. One of the things about this is what were the tactics and techniques that Hezbollah used to carry out this attack.
And it seems as if they may have, first of all, overwhelmed the Israeli missile defense systems. And they were also able to perhaps evade detection with the drone that was used that actually, you know, carried out this attack that was actually the lethal weapon in this particular case.
They probably were able to navigate the area close to the surface of the Earth. In other words, they didn't need (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or its navigation. And that kind of navigation is extremely hard to detect when it comes to drones or airplanes.
And if they did that, then they're certainly really figuring out what the vulnerabilities of the Israeli missile and air defenses are.
Plus, what the vulnerabilities of Israeli radar are.
HOLMES: Right. OK, let's turn now to the U.S. moving this anti-missile system into Israel.
Briefly, what's going to be the impact of this system, its effectiveness militarily?
LEIGHTON: But I think it will be significant in the sense that it's, in some ways, it's a deterrent. But this terminal high-altitude air defense -- area defense system is really a -- it's designed to go after ballistic missiles. Everything from short-range missiles, all the way to the intermediate range.
And these are the classes of missiles that the Iranians use for many of their attacks against -- against Israel or any of the other areas that they're targeting.
So, it's significant in the sense that when it -- when it is put in place, it will actually add a layer to the Israeli air and missile defenses and will augment the Iron Dome, the David Sling and the arrow systems.
HOLMES: There are many, even in Israel who have long feared Netanyahu actually wants a war with Iran. And crucially, wants to drag the U.S. into helping fight it.
I mean, does having this system and, importantly, U.S. boots on the ground to operate it. Add to that risk for the U.S. being dragged into a conflict it doesn't want to fight.
LEIGHTON: Yes, certainly the U.S. does not want to fight this conflict, as you pointed out, Michael. You know, having 100 or so soldiers on the ground is, you know, a bit of a significant presence, but it's not unheard of. We've deployed this system to Israel before at least twice, once as early as 2012 and the second time in 2019.
What it does, it does, you know, signify a presence in the Middle East and certainly an effort to protect Israel. It is a defensive effort on the part of the United States.
However, if those troops are harmed in any way, that could then result in the U.S. being dragged into the war. And that could, of course, have significant consequences beyond what we would, like, imagine at this point.
HOLMES: Yes, pretty much, having been covering the region since the late 1980s, pretty much everything is, quote, "retaliation." I mean, Israel says it's going to retaliate for Iran's missile strike.
Iran will say those strikes were retaliation for killing Nasrallah.
You know, Hezbollah says its missile attacks on Northern Israel are retaliation for the Gaza War. And on it goes.
I mean, Iran is preemptively warning of retaliating to any Israeli strike. What are -- as a military guy, what are the risks of endless, quote, "retaliation"?
LEIGHTON: Well, pretty significant, and especially when nobody wants to step off this retaliatory ladder. That's going to be a big issue.
And it really will require the intervention that the diplomatic side from a number of countries that could help stop this. But there is a certain risk in a never-ending escalatory retaliatory effort on both sides, whether the Israeli side or the Iranian side. And each side seems to want to escalate the conflict to some extent before they get the other side to back down. And neither side, of course, wants to back down.
[00:10:09]
So, that's going to be the significant issue in the coming -- the coming weeks, probably. And when this is -- you know, finally runs its course, there will be in effect, a war of sorts, in the sense, probably, more of a cold war between Iran and Israel.
And that, of course, will continue for a long, long time, even after this latest crisis blows over.
HOLMES: Indeed. The rules of unintended consequences. Colonel Cedric Leighton. Always good to see you, my friend. Thank you.
LEIGHTON: Thank you, Michael. Great to be with you.
HOLMES: Now, an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in central Gaza has killed three people and wounded dozens of others.
Have a look at the scene inside the al-Aqsa Hospital courtyard. Several tents were in flames, with people trying unsuccessfully to put out the fires and get out of the flames. People literally burned to death. You can see it in some of the videos.
Gaza officials say this was the seventh time that the camp inside the hospital grounds has been struck. Israeli military says it conducted a precise strike on what it called a Hamas command and control center inside the compound.
Clearly, civilians had to fight their way out of the flames. Some did not make it.
Throughout Gaza, more than 40 people, at least 13 of them children, were killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday, according to hospital officials.
And a warning: what follows is disturbing video.
At least 22 of the dead were killed when the al-Mufti School, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp was hit. More than 5,000 displaced people are sheltering there, according to Gaza's civil defense.
A paramedic who spoke to CNN said the Israeli military classifies the area as a safe zone. One Palestinian wounded in a different incident voiced his despair over the conditions in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no medicine, no treatment for the wounded, and no doctors. No one cares for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.
Now, an independent U.N. commission of inquiry has released a new report, documenting numerous alleged human rights abuses committed by Israeli security forces in Gaza, in part by specifically targeting hospitals and medical workers.
Just quoting from it here now: "The commission finds that Israel has implemented a concerted policy to destroy the healthcare system of Gaza. Israeli security forces have deliberately killed, wounded, arrested, detained, mistreated, and tortured medical personnel and targeted medical vehicles, constituting the war crimes of willful killing and mistreatment and the crime against humanity of extermination," unquote.
The commission also highlighted the tragic case of Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli shells and bullets this year. Five-year-old Hind and six of her family members were fleeing the fighting in Northern Gaza when their car came under Israeli fire her family was killed.
But the little girl survived alone, trapped in the car with their bodies for a time. She called the emergency services, pleading for them to rescue her.
Twelve days later, the bodies of little Hind and her family were discovered in their bullet-ridden car, and so were the two Palestinian paramedics who'd been dispatched to help them. They were killed when their ambulance was destroyed by an Israeli tank shell.
The U.N. report found that the Israeli Army's 102nd -- 62nd division is responsible for their deaths.
Israel responding, saying, quote, "The report shamelessly portrays Israel's operations in terror-invested health facilities in Gaza as a matter of policy against Gaza's health system while entirely dismissing overwhelming evidence that medical facilities in Gaza have been systematically used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad for terrorist activities."
Christopher Sidoti is an international human rights consultant and serves as a commissioner on the U.N. commission of inquiry which put out that report. He joins me now from Sydney, Australia.
Good to see you, sir. The report very direct, accusing Israel, as we said, of a concerted policy of destroying Gaza's healthcare system. Crime against humanity of extermination and so on. Israel denying that.
How strong is the evidence for the report's conclusions?
CHRISTOPHER SIDOTI, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONSULTANT: The evidence is very strong, Michael. Very strong indeed. We do not produce anything in our reports. We make no findings unless the evidence is strong.
We do not accept mere assertion by anybody. We don't accept the assertions of the Israeli authorities or of Hamas or other groups. We want evidence. And unless we have corroborated evidence -- that is witnesses, videos, and other forms of digital evidence, documentation -- we don't come to a conclusion.
[00:15:12]
So, everything we say in our report is well-documented.
HOLMES: The report -- and we should say this -- also accuses Hamas of war crimes in its treatment of hostages.
SIDOTI: Yes.
HOLMES: The report writes, in both cases, about accountability. How do you think those accused in this report, both Israel and Hamas, should be held accountable? And do you think they ultimately will be held accountable?
SIDOTI: They should be held accountable by being brought before the International Criminal Court, charged and prosecuted. They should have the opportunity to defend themselves, an opportunity, I have to say, which neither the Israeli military nor the Palestinian armed groups have given to the innocent victims, the tens of thousands of innocent victims of this fighting over the last 12 months.
But those who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity should be tried, should be given an opportunity to defend themselves, and if convicted, they should be punished.
But this is what accountability means. How likely is it?
HOLMES: Yes, carry on.
SIDOTI: How likely is it, your second question? I believe it will happen. I believe that this is so outrageous, what has happened in the last year, that they will be at last accountability before an international court.
HOLMES: Yes, yes so much has happened. So much more will happen before it gets to that, sadly. The commission's report will be presented to the General Assembly later this month in New York.
What do you want to see happen there? Because the U.N., let's face it, has often been seen as impotent, toothless. What do you want to see happen with this report when it gets there?
SIDOTI: I'm as critical of the U.N.'s effectiveness as anyone else, but I have seen some effectiveness in relation to our reports.
To take an example, when we reported to the General Assembly two years ago, we recommended a referral to the International Court of Justice to look at the question of the occupation. That will stand within six weeks, and the court gave its decision in July of this year. I expect our report to be taken seriously. We will be following up in
the next week or two with specific advice to the General Assembly on action that should be taken arising from the court's finding that the Israeli occupation is unlawful. And I expect the General Assembly to act on that.
So, I have high expectations in spite of the record of ineffectiveness in the past.
HOLMES: The evidence that you looked at, the overwhelming evidence, it makes you wonder, you know, even when the war stops and whatever Gaza looks like after that in terms of its ability to even function as a society.
Even then, what sorts of resources are going to be needed to rebuild some sort of functioning healthcare system? Because the needs, even after the war, are going to be enormous.
SIDOTI: Absolutely enormous. At this stage, nobody could make an accurate estimate in impact because the destruction is continuing.
You mentioned at the beginning of the -- of this interview the destruction of a hospital again today. So, it's continuing. It's said that it will take decades and tens of billions of dollars.
Too many times, we have seen Western states, particularly Europeans, pouring money into the reconstruction of Gaza after another episode in this endless war.
HOLMES: Yes.
SIDOTI: I don't know that they will be so keen to do at this time, unless they have guarantees that the tens of billions that they pour into Gaza will not be destroyed by the Israelis in the next outbreak of violence.
So, the reconstruction of Gaza depends upon a peace settlement.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. I mean, just the damage done is just mind-boggling. The report -- we're almost out of time, so real quick, if you will. The report also -- because this is an important aspect. It talks not only of the direct military strikes on facilities and stuff (ph). It writes of healthcare workers being abused, tortured, even in Israeli detention facilities.
How disturbing are those allegations? These are people in custody.
SIDOTI: Yes, extremely disturbing. We have received a very large number of accounts. And we have talked to people who have been released from Israeli custody. We have even been able to see video footage and documentation from some of the prison guards.
So, we know what's gone on. And for detainees generally, including medical workers, there has been torture. There has been rape and other forms of sexual violence. There is no doubt about it. So, these matters, too, they're connected with the healthcare system, but broader than it, because of the way in which detainees are treated.
And I should add, we also said that there had been torture mistreatment, and sexual violence against the Israeli hostages. And the hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.
HOLMES: Yes. Chris Sidoti there in Sydney. Appreciate you coming on and talking about this important report. Thank you.
[00:20:05]
SIDOTI: Thanks very much, Michael.
HOLMES: Well, with 22 days and counting, U.S. presidential hopefuls are hitting the campaign trail hard and trading barbs along the way. But with a race this close, how does someone pull ahead?
We'll discuss it when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Just over three weeks left until the U.S. presidential election, and there is still no clear front runner, according to new polling.
CNN's latest poll of polls shows an average of 50 percent of likely voters will support Vice President Kamala Harris, while 47 percent will back the former president, Donald Trump, well within the margin of error.
The deadlock extends to key battleground states, where even smaller percentages separate the nominees in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Now, battleground states will be the focus for both candidates in the coming weeks. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz fanning out across the country this week, hoping to pick up new support to widen the gap between her and Donald Trump.
In North Carolina on Sunday, the vice president highlighting the differences between her and Trump, saying she has a definitive plan to provide economic relief to Americans and will protect a woman's right to choose.
Harris voicing concern about what will happen if Donald Trump wins reelection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I do believe Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the effect of him being back in the White House would be brutally serious.
Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails. He who has vowed, if reelected, he would be a dictator on day one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Harris accuses Trump of, quote, "fanning the flames of fear and division" as he takes his anti-immigration rhetoric to disturbing and very dark new levels.
Trump doubling down on his false narrative that the Biden-Harris administration has opened the floodgates in some way to a crushing wave of violent migrant criminals that's threatened to destroy the United States as we know it.
And while studies generally find no evidence that immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than people born in the U.S., some studies suggest the opposite. Trump continues to paint an erroneous picture of impending doom wrought by Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: For four straight years, she's imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons all over the world. Not -- not South America, all over the world they come, from prisons and jails, insane asylums, mental institutions. From Venezuela, from the Congo, all over.
[00:25:08]
And she's resettled them into your communities to prey upon innocent American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And joining me now from Los Angeles to talk about the election campaign and where it stands is Caroline Heldman, Democratic strategist and professor at Occidental College.
Professor, I mean, we know Donald Trump lies and distraught -- distorts. But the last few weeks have been extraordinary in that regard, even for him. The immigration scare tactics, as we just heard. This weekend suggesting the U.S. military gets used on what he called the enemy within.
You called this his Apocalypse America Tour. Is that just going to get worse in these next few weeks?
CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST/PROFESSOR: Michael, I think it's going to get much worse as we get closer to the election. We're so close, and Donald Trump is really feeling the pressure in this incredibly tight race.
We've heard him actually ramp up his rhetoric on immigrants.
I mean, this is a man who came down an escalator and very soon thereafter called immigrants rapists and murderers. But just this past week, he talked about them being genetically criminal. And it's a really troubling ramp-up of the racism.
And of course, the lies post-hurricane that are potentially discouraging people from seeking the FEMA assistance and other federal assistance that they may need. His own party had to check him on that, because they're worried about the damage that he's doing.
So yes, this is --
HOLMES: Yes.
HELDMAN: -- Trump a little unhinged in this last month.
HOLMES: I mean, it really is; it is dark, doomsday stuff. I mean, given that rhetoric. And quite apart from the immigration stuff, there were 100 economists from all political persuasions who wrote in "The Wall Street Journal" that his economic policies would damage the economy.
Given all of that, the immigrant hate messaging, why then, is it that the poll says it's a dead heat? That's resonating, all that stuff, clearly.
HELDMAN: It's absolutely resonating. I mean, look at how he has risen to where he is. He's risen by making people who feel like they've been left behind, feel good about themselves.
These are people who are threatened by the social order giving women and people of color more leeway. He hasn't been shy about this.
So, his rhetoric is really speaking to these folks who want, you know, to take America back. Well, where do they want to take it back to? They want to take it back to a time when women or people of color didn't have the power that they have now.
And so, he can get away with almost anything. He even said, you know, I can shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, and they'll follow me. Because this is an emotional, fear-based race, rather than one that's based on policy.
HOLMES: And yet, voters seem so entrenched that -- that very little seems to move the needle. When you look at the two candidates' polling, I mean, it's just been the same line all the way through. Nothing changes.
How, then, do Democrats, for example, get independents or swing voters or perhaps Trump-hating Republicans to vote for Harris?
HELDMAN: That's a great question, Michael. I don't think we're going to see much of a swing from Trump's voters. But they're really vying for that 4 percent that is undecided, meaning that they are likely voters, but they don't know who they're going to vote for.
And just for context, when it was Biden and Trump in the race, that was 25 percent were undecided. So as that number has whittled down, it seems to have broken evenly for the candidates. And you're right, the polls are eerily stable. They're not shifting,
you know, when the Fed cuts the interest rate, when you get a great jobs report, even with two assassinations. They're just not moving.
So, at this point in time, the candidates are really doing micro targeting, right? So, Kamala Harris is going after where she's a little weak, which is black voters, Latino voters, and young voters.
And Donald Trump, I think he will just ramp up that rhetoric and really feed that fear, because it's incredibly effective for him.
HOLMES: Right. Only got a minute left. But I wanted to ask you this. I mean, the swing states, as usual, are going to be deciding things. What can voters there expect in terms of being swamped, I guess, by politicians and political ads?
HELDMAN: Michael, I wouldn't want to be in a swing state. Just -- it's going to be a barrage.
And it's -- you know, Harris is spending most of the money there. The Republicans are actually breaking about 80-20 with mailers. But Harris is about 80-20 with TV.
So, good luck in those swing states. They're just going to have a deluge of political advertising for the next month.
HOLMES: Yes. Professor Caroline Heldman, thank you so much. Good to see you.
HELDMAN: Good to see you, Michael.
HOLMES: Well, for the second time in two weeks, President Biden got a firsthand look at the hurricane devastation in Florida while pledging more than half a billion dollars to help states make their power grids stronger.
We'll have details on that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:32:12]
HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Now, just for the second time in two weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden returned to Florida to survey the damage from a major storm, this time, Hurricane Milton.
During his visit on Sunday, Biden announced more than $600 million in projects to help states like Florida bolster their power grids.
Fuel and power shortages continue to hamper recovery efforts across Western and central Florida. Nearly half a million customers still without power.
And almost 30 percent of the state's petrol stations were without fuel as of early Sunday.
CNN's Brian Todd now with more from St. Pete Beach in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden got an aerial and ground tour of the hardest hit areas of St. Pete Beach and the areas near here today.
And this was kind of a bipartisan tour by nature. Several prominent Republican officials touring the area with the press and speaking after the president and including St. Pete Beach Mayor Adrian Petrila; Kathleen Peters, the Republican chair of Pinellas County, both of whom Republicans.
Also accompanying the president was Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a staunch Republican; and Republican Senator Rick Scott.
So, the president really trying to strike that bipartisan tone as a response to the hurricane, because -- kind of playing off the idea that some people here were playing politics on Kamala Harris and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, both accusing each other of playing politics with the response.
But the president himself kind of trying to stay away from that fray, striking that bipartisan tone while he was here saying both Democrats and Republicans are coming together to gather themselves in to help this area respond to the hurricane.
The president also kind of striking a personal tone, talking about how his own homes were damaged in major storms, and talking about the damage that was suffered here.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thankfully, the storm's impact was not as cataclysmic as predicted.
But on top of the two before, it just keeps getting worse. And you know, but for some individuals, it was cataclysmic. All those folks who not only lost their home, but more importantly, though folks who lost their lives, lost family members, lost all their personal belongings.
Entire neighborhoods were flooded, and millions -- millions are without power.
TODD: We should also note that President Biden was scheduled to be overseas at this very moment. The White House had scheduled a trip for the president to go to Germany and to Angola, which would have been the president's first and only trip to the continent of Africa while he was president.
That trip had to be postponed. It was postponed on the eve of the day that Hurricane Milton hit this area. But President Biden says he is still determined to make a trip to Africa before he leaves office.
[00:35:03] Brian Todd, CNN, St. Pete Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The World Motor Show is getting underway in Paris. But as automakers put their innovations on display. Behind the scenes, Europe's car industry is in turmoil. We'll explain why.
Also, the latest test flight from SpaceX goes off without a hitch. The daring moves they tried and succeeded at, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: SpaceX adds another feather to its cap with the successful launch and landing of the most powerful rocket system ever built.
Starship's latest test was in line with SpaceX's mission to recover and reuse their equipment with the goal of making space travel cheaper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, three, two, one. We have liftoff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The Starship had no crew and was remotely piloted during the test. SpaceX attempting an ambitious moon, trying to catch the super heavy rocket, as it's called, the booster, in midair on re-entry with a pair of massive metal pincers they called chopsticks. It was extraordinary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can see those chopsticks.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is absolutely insane. On the first ever attempt, we have successfully caught the super-heavy booster back at the launch tower.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You can just see the SpaceX team going nuts there. It was extraordinary.
If tests continue to go according to plan, SpaceX hopes Starship will one day put the first humans on Mars.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to demand more affordable housing. Many signs they held said housing is a right, not a business.
Tourism is a key driver of the Spanish economy, of course, but residents blame the housing prices on landlords, who turned properties into expensive short-term vacation rentals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIANCA PRIETO, NURSE IN SPAIN (through translator): We Spaniards cannot live in our cities. We're being driven out of the cities, not just out of the center. Cities don't belong to us.
So, we have to regulate it. The government has to regulate prices, to regulate housing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:40:03]
HOLMES: Smaller demonstrations took place in Barcelona on Sunday. Residents there blaming events like the Americas Cup yacht race for pushing up housing prices.
The Spanish government has said it will start cracking down on short- term and vacation rentals.
Well, it's almost time to start your engines, because the 90th edition of the World Motor Show kicks off today in Paris. Leading automated -- automotive brands will put their latest innovations on display.
But as they do, European car makers are facing a crisis, as CNN's Anna Stewart explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Driverless cars, monster trucks, and electric vehicles.
This year's Paris Auto Show promises to be a return to former glory. Fresh from launching its new robo taxi, Tesla returns for the first time in six years.
But the main focus will be competition between China and Europe.
STEFAN BRATZEL, DIRECTOR, CENTER OF AUTOMOTIVE MANAGEMENT: Now, a few Chinese manufacturers in this motor show. And so, I'm quite interested what their innovations are.
STEWART (voice-over): Europe's car industry is in crisis. Stellantis, BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen, all recently issued profit warnings.
CARLOS TAVARES, CEO, STELLANTIS: We are going to be challenged -- and I would say brutally challenged -- by the Chinese offensive on the European market.
STEWART (voice-over): The European Union says China is flooding the market with low-cost electric vehicles. They recently voted to impose tariffs up to 45 percent on EV's made in China.
BRATZEL: I think it's not a really good idea because, of course, we will have a kind of a chain reaction on the very important Chinese market.
STEWART (voice-over): China has already hit back, targeting French brandy and threatening tariffs on imports or pork products and large- engine vehicles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): Yes. This is a very tough market environment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): Growing regulation to protectionist measures.
OLIVER BLUME, CEO, VOLKSWAGEN GROUP (via phone): Our environment is challenging.
STEWART (voice-over): For Volkswagen, that could mean closing factories in Germany for the first time in the company's history.
BRATZEL: We in Germany won't be cheaper, but we have to be as much more innovative as we are more expensive.
STEWART (voice-over): This week in Paris, it's all glitz and glamour for Europe's carmakers.
But under the bonnet, the struggles may be just beginning.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'll be back in 15 minutes with more news. WORLD SPORT in the meantime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:45:30]
(WORLD SPORT)
[00:56:46]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
