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CNN International: Lebanon: Israel Strike Kills 9 Christian-Majority Village; Iran: Ready to Respond to any "Misstep" by Israel; Harris Unveils Proposals Targeting Black Male Voters; New Women's Marathon Record; Florida Republicans Join Biden at Bipartisan Hurricane Event. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired October 14, 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)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the scene in Lebanon where U.N. peacekeepers say they will remain despite coming under Israeli

fire in recent days. It is 04:00 p.m. in Beirut, it is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos, and this is "Connect the World". The Israeli

Defense Minister visits a base hit by a deadly Hezbollah drone attack.

Officials are looking into how the attack happened without setting off an alarm. The United States is sending troops to Israel to operate an anti-

missile system. The risks involved as fears mount that the war could expand.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls with three weeks to the U.S. presidential election. We

will be live in Washington. Right, the stock market in New York will open in about 30 minutes from now. Let's check in to see how the futures are

looking right now.

And it's a pretty mixed picture as you can see, S&P looking stronger, about a quarter of a percent. NASDAQ, four tenths of a percent higher, and the

DOW Jones, with a negative bias, stocks surged to new highs on Friday after strong bank earnings. And of course, all eyes will be on those corporate

earnings as we head into the new week.

We'll check in on those numbers when markets open in around 30 minutes from now. Well, Israel wants to know how a Hezbollah drone broke through its air

defenses and struck an army base deep inside its own territory. Four soldiers were killed and more than 60 injured.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the base, and he said the government was working on the drone threat. Meantime, as tensions deepen

between Israel and Iran, the U.S. is sending Israel an advanced anti- missile system and about 100 troops to operate it.

And the Israeli military says one of its tanks backed into a post belonging to U.N. peacekeepers. In Southern Lebanon, Sunday, it's the latest in a

series of incidents that the U.N. says could constitute a war crime. We've got a lot to get to this hour. We've got CNN's Jeremy Diamond standing by

for us in Jerusalem.

Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon and we've also got Ben Wedeman standing by in Beirut. Ben, I want to start with you with news just coming into CNN,

on this strike in a village which is about 100 kilometers north of Beirut, nine people have been killed. Tell us about this village and how

significant the strike is.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is the village of Aitou, which is in the Zghorta region, which is a very much part

of the middle of what is known as the Christian heartland. Here in Lebanon, as you said, the preliminary death toll from that strike on a residential

building is nine, although that is expected to rise.

This is the first time there's been a strike in this area. It's not clear what perhaps the target was, although it is known, of course, that having

1.2 million. More than 1.2 million people in Lebanon have been displaced from their homes in the South, in the Bekaa Valley in the East, as well as

the southern suburbs behind us.

And that clearly, people are trying to find accommodations where they can well away from the areas that are normally under bombardment under Israel

the threat of Israeli strikes. So, as I said, the preliminary death toll of nine that's expected to rise now, as you can hear, perhaps you can hear

above me is an Israeli drone flying over Beirut.

That drone essentially disappeared on Friday evening reappeared this morning. There have been no air strikes on Beirut since Thursday evening,

when there were two air strikes by Israeli war planes that demolished one building, leaving 22 people dead and 117 wounded.

CNN understands that there's some sort of unwritten agreement between Israel and the United States that Israel would refrain from bombing Beirut.

However, the presence of this drone over our head suggests, perhaps that this understanding between Israel and the United States might be yet

another understanding between the United States and Israel that falls by the wayside, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, and Ben, we can hear that drone.

[09:05:00]

It is very evident in the background as we get this news coming in of this village that was struck about 100 kilometers north of Beirut. Ben, thank

you. I want to go to Jeremy now. And Ben, was describing the fact that things have been quiet in Beirut. Things could change because we saw this

drone attack that went undetected into Israel.

Could you explain to us why it is especially worrying and how it could alter things as they stand right now, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is one of the most significant attacks carried out against Israel since October 7th of last

year. We are seeing dozens of Israeli soldiers as casualties in this attack. Four Israeli soldiers were killed, 61 were injured, at least eight

of whom are considered to be in serious condition.

And we should note, in addition to the numbers of casualties, it is also about how deep Hezbollah was able to actually penetrate into Israel

striking an Israeli military base that was used as a training facility for the Golani Infantry Division, and which lies some 40 miles, or about 60

plus kilometers south of the Israel-Lebanon border.

And Hezbollah was apparently able to strike this base using those explosive drones that managed to slide under Israel's air defense and radar systems

undetected. That's because at least one drone struck that base last night around dinner time, without any air raid sirens going off, and certainly

without that drone actually being intercepted.

Now the Israeli military says that it will investigate this incident to understand why this drone was not detected and was not intercepted before

it struck the space the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant also saying that they must investigate and implement the lessons of that investigation.

But now the question will, of course, turn to how will Israel retaliate for this strike, which has really shaken the Israeli public, beyond just the

military. And we know, of course, as Ben was saying, that there appears to be this new understanding about not striking Beirut for the time being,

whether or not this will change the calculus is a major question or perhaps there will be other targets that Israel will hit.

But make no mistake about it, there will be a significant response for this attack by the Israeli military.

GIOKOS: Yeah, indeed, Jeremy, there for us. Oren, the THAAD system. It's one of the U.S.'s most powerful anti-missile systems, and that's being

dispatched to Israel. There are so many questions around this, I guess one of the most important is, when will it be active? What is the timeline on

this?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The THAAD system, which stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense is designed to be able to be

deployed quickly. But we haven't yet gotten a timeline from the Pentagon on how soon it will get over to Israel.

It takes about 100 troops to operate a THAAD, so they too will be going with the system, and it will add to Israel's already advanced air defense

systems. Obviously, we have seen that air defense system fail, as we did with this Hezbollah drone. It also wasn't able to intercept all of the

missiles launched from Iran on October 1st or back on April 13th.

So, it's not just adding a quality system. It is adding quantity to Israel's air defense systems, which is the shorter-range Iron Dome, medium

range David sling and the longer-range arrow missiles. The THAAD has been deployed to Israel in the past. In 2019 it was there for training exercise

to make sure it could work alongside the Israeli systems.

We also saw deployed to the Middle East after the October 7th attack. And although it's obviously done very well in testing, we have seen and have

operational successes back in January 2022, a THAAD system in the UAE intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles. And that, of course, is what its

focus is, ballistic missiles, short, medium, long range.

It can intercept them at about 100 miles or more, and it can detect them at more than 10 times that range. And that's what it will be doing here, not

only on its own, but also integrating with Israeli systems and with the Navy destroyers in the region that have intercepted Iranian ballistic

missiles in the past.

So, you see it fitting in here. Now, the U.S. doesn't have a lot of these, so every time they're deployed, it is a significant milestone and something

to watch very closely. It tells you how seriously the U.S. views the entire situation. The U.S. has been in touch with Israel on how Israel will

respond to that Iranian blood ballistic missile barrage from earlier this month, and Iran has promised to retaliate if it's attacked again.

So that is what the U.S. is watching very closely, and that's where the THAAD will fit in here to bolster Israel's air defenses, Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right, Oren Liebermann there for us. And Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that analysis. I want to turn now to Gaza, panicked scenes

after Israeli airstrike hit the courtyard of a hospital earlier Monday, killing four people. And I must warn you, the footage that you're about to

see is disturbing.

[09:10:00]

Hospital officials say 41 people, including children, were killed in Israeli air strikes on Sunday, a school in the nursery at refugee camp was

one target. A young survivor says children were playing marbles when the attack happened. The United Nations says polio vaccinations, which were due

to be administered to children in the school Monday, have been canceled as a result.

We've got CNN's Nada Bashir, following the story for us. Nada, I mean harrowing pictures, specifically, when we saw images from that hospital

enclave, give us a sense of the aftermath, what doctors are contending with right now. People killed, children injured, as well as losing their lives.

I mean, it's really a very harrowing situation that's playing out.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Eleni and over the weekend, we have seen a number of strikes taking place across the Gaza Strip,

particularly in the central Gaza area. But I think many were shocked and disturbed to see the videos emerging from the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital

overnight.

This is, of course, one of the last remaining hospitals still functioning in Gaza, it is somewhere where thousands of civilians have gathered to take

shelter on hospitals grounds in search of safety in the hope that the hospital will not be struck. But of course, what we saw last night is

indeed the striking targeting of the compound surrounding the hospital's grounds.

According to the Israeli military, they say they were targeting what they believed to have been Hamas command and control center. They say that they

took steps to mitigate civilian harm, but no evidence has been provided yet by the Israeli military to support these claims.

What we do know, and what the military would have also known, is that this is an area surrounded by thousands of civilians. Now hospital officials

have told CNN. They estimate around 5000 civilians had been sheltering and continued to shelter around the hospital compound.

And what we've seen is this video emerging showing the aftermath of that strike, the tents that have been put in place to shelter these civilians

engulfed in flames, as you mentioned, some of the footage that we have received is simply too distressing, too disturbing, to show on air.

But there has been footage emerging, showing the bodies of displaced civilians inside their tents themselves engulfed in flames. So, you can

imagine how distressing this has been for those who have been taking shots at the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital. And again, this is one of several strikes

that we have seen in this area and its surroundings.

We saw, of course, over the weekend, the Al Mufti School targeted an UN-run school that is also being used as a shelter. And of course, this is making

the situation on the ground not only deeply insecure and challenging for civilians, but also, of course, for humanitarian organizations on the

ground.

GIOKOS: Absolutely, and part of that humanitarian effort is the polio vaccinations the second round, it was canceled by -- for the school that

was struck yesterday. Very quickly, tell me about what this means for the next phase?

BASHIR There are certainly risks and challenges ahead, but the UN says that this second phase of the polio vaccine rollout is underway. They are aiming

to vaccinate, to immunize, around 590,000 children under the age of 10 in just two weeks. So, this is a significant challenge.

But again, this is the second phase. We've seen that first phase being carried out, but there are challenges ahead, including, of course, the

ongoing airstrikes and bombardment that we are seeing, which is making it deeply insecure for those medical workers and humanitarian workers.

Roads are severely damaged. There are limited gas supplies. A huge number of challenges ahead. And of course, there are the Israeli evacuation orders

which are in place, which are making extremely difficult to reach certain parts of Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, where there has been a huge

shortage in the amount of aid getting in. So significant challenges ahead, but that vaccine rollout is certainly underway today.

GIOKOS: All right. Nada Bashir, thank you so much. Iran and the world are waiting to see how Israel will respond to Iran's missile attack. Earlier

this month, Tehran has warned the U.S. and countries in the Middle East that it will retaliate against any new Israeli attack. The sources told CNN

those warnings come amid an urgent diplomatic push by Iran to try and limit the scale of Israel's response.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran for us with the latest. Fred, always good to see you. Iran's Foreign Minister has been traveling around the region,

meeting with officials. Meantime, we still have not seen Israel retaliate against Iran. There's a lot of uncertainty right now, but I guess the

underlying question here is, could diplomacy possibly be working?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think, Eleni, that the Iranians are really trying two things at the moment,

deterrence and then also diplomacy as well. And you're absolutely right. The president of this country has been traveling the region, but also the

foreign minister, very much, has been traveling the region as well.

In fact, Abbas Araghchi, he was in Syria. He was in Lebanon. He was in Saudi Arabia. Now, yesterday, he was in Iraq. Really sending the same

message, and Iran's message in all of that is that Iran, right now, does not want escalation, but is also ready if escalation happens.

[09:15:00]

It was quite interesting because Abbas Araghchi was saying in Iraq that Iran is ready for peace, as he puts it, but it is also ready for war. And I

think one of the other interesting things that we heard from him as well, he said, right now, for the Iranians, there are no red lines, as he puts

it, as far as the safety of their population is concerned, but also Iran's interests as well.

That's what they were saying, and they also said that any attack by Israel will be met by retaliation coming from the Iranian side. And the Iranians

are saying that they conveyed that message, not just to countries here in this region, but specifically also to the United States as well.

Now, of course, all that happens through intermediaries, because these two countries don't have direct diplomatic relations with one another, but that

clearly is the message that the Iranians are trying to send right now. Another interesting thing that also happened as well is that this weekend,

on Saturday, the Speaker of Iranian parliament piloted an Iranian government aircraft into Beirut, Lebanon then went on the ground to service

survey some of the damage from the recent air strikes.

And also, there sent a clear message from the Iranians, from Iran Supreme Leader saying that support from Iran for Hezbollah and for Lebanon will

continue, but also warning the countries of the region not to allow Israel to use their airspace for an attack on Iran. He said that that could have

very detrimental effects for them.

So clearly, the Iranians right now starting a diplomatic push, a diplomatic blitz, almost, if you will, in this entire region, at the same time trying

to, at least rhetorically, send a message of deterrence to the United States and, of course, specifically to Israel as well, as far as this

possible strike that could happen any time, really, as you correctly said, in the not-too-distant future, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, Fred Pleitgen for us in Tehran, great to see you. Thank you so much. Right, Election Day draws closer in the United States. Donald

Trump claims the enemy from within is the biggest threat to democracy. We'll have a full report that's coming up next. And Kamala Harris on the

attack saying Trump is not being transparent with voters. The digs she made at a rally in North Carolina will break that down for you, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back. Now, with just 22 days to go until Americans choose their president. Donald Trump claims the enemy from within is the biggest

threat to the election. He told Fox News on Sunday he isn't worried that his supporters or foreign actors will cause chaos, but people he calls

radical left lunatics might.

His preferred solution, let the National Guard, or if necessary, the military, take action against them. Right, for more on Trump's remarks,

let's turn to Kristen Holmes, who's in Washington for us. Kristen, good to see you. Look, as we've just reported, Donald Trump claiming.

[09:20:00]

There will be problems on Election Day due to quote, the enemy from within. What more can you tell us about his campaign?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is just a side show for Donald Trump, talking about the potentials for 2024 we know

that he wants to sow seeds of doubt around what's going to happen in the election, particularly if he loses. We saw this in 2020 and he's going to

do it again this time around.

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to the 2024 election, Donald Trump and the Republicans have changed a number of election laws that basically

ensure that the election is not going to be called on election night in 2024. I mean talking about hand counted ballots, particularly scrutiny in

places like Pennsylvania and Georgia, which could very well determine the election.

So, there are going to be questions around election night, but that is because of some of the things that Republicans have actually put into

place. Now, the other thing obviously heard from him over the weekend was this rhetoric on immigration. He talked about this time and time again.

He is going to just continue getting darker and darker here. This is not going to change in any way. They believe this is working for him. One of

the things we've seen is that the polls show it might be, this is a tightening of the race, so we're in a really critical time here, and Donald

Trump believes this is the messaging he wants to put forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's the enemy from within, all the scum that we have to deal with that

hate our country. That's a bigger enemy than China and Russia.

I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. It should be

very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Donald Trump believes, again, that this rhetoric is working for him, and if polls are accurate, showing a tightening of the race that we

have seen, perhaps it is. The people that Donald Trump are trying to reach aren't necessarily middle of the road voters or independent voters.

They are trying to reach conservative leaning voters who don't typically head to the polls, and they believe that this kind of rhetoric, dark

rhetoric, whether it be on immigration or the enemy within, talking about Democrats or liberals who might be poisoning America, the kind of rhetoric

he's used in the past that, that works when they're trying to garner votes.

GIOKOS: Right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Well, the latest CNN poll of polls showing no clear leader in the race for U.S. President. In the

study, which finds the average of other nationwide polls, support for Kamala Harris is at 50 percent with Donald Trump on and 40 percent -- 47

percent.

Both campaigns are zoning in on key battleground states. Harris will speak in a bellwether, Erie County, as Pennsylvania, and Trump will focus on the

economy, also in Pennsylvania. On Sunday, Harris cast her campaign as the underdog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's going to be a tight race until the very end, and we are running as the

underdog. So, we have some hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work. Hard work is good work, and with your help in 23 days, we will win. We will

win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, our Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak, joining us now live to break this down. Kevin, good to see you. Look VP Harris

unveiling a new proposal specifically targeting black male voters. Give us a sense on why she's focusing on this demographic.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and it's actually quite a sweeping proposal. It's all about the economy, trying to help black

men build wealth and start businesses, and taken with her campaign travel this week, it does give you a sense of how urgently her campaign views the

imperative to try and shore up support among black men.

And that is a group that Democrats have been warning could be slipping towards Donald Trump. We heard Former President Barack Obama talk about

this last week, and they do now view it as something of an urgent matter to try and bring those voters back into the fold.

And when you look at this plan, it really does try and demonstrate her focus on improving economic conditions for that particular voting bloc.

She's proposing new loans for black entrepreneurs, new apprenticeship programs hiring more black teachers. She talks about a health initiative

for particular ailments that affect that community.

She is also reiterating her support for legalizing recreational marijuana and helping black men become leaders in the nationwide cannabis industry.

So taken together, you can see this real push to try and bring black men, particularly, back into the democratic fold, and that has been a source of

concern for Democrats who see black voters sort of shifting away.

There's not a real concern that Donald Trump will win among black men. Certainly, polls show her still leading by a wide margin.

[09:25:00]

The concern is that she's underperforming compared to previous Democratic nominees. And in a race where it's this close, any sort of slippage in any

sort of erosion could affect the final result, and that's so -- that's why I think she's doing this today, and she will continue doing it when she's

in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Today, she's going to meet with small, black owned business people. She'll talk about this tomorrow at a radio town hall with Charlemagne tha God who

is a radio host who has a wide following among black millennials. And so, she's really focusing on this in the final weeks before the November

election.

GIOKOS: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. Good to see you. Well ahead on "Connect the World" shares of truth social rise after a summer on

the skids, but what could Trump's Wall Street fortunes mean to the race for the White House? Plus, five days after Hurricane Milton plowed through

Florida, the state is facing a series of issues hindering recovery efforts. Details on that story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect the World". Now, after dropping to a record low in September,

Trump media and its social media platform Truth Social is enjoying a rebound. The Trump media's share price has almost doubled over the past

three weeks to around $25, that's still less than half of the value of its 12-month high back in April.

This turnaround has been boosted by Trump's odds of winning back the White House. While the race remains close, the betting markets and a few recent

polls have shifted towards Trump. We've got CNN's Matt Egan joining me now to make sense of some of the stock movements.

You know, many people are saying what we're seeing with truth social is basically a barometer for the former presidents, and really doesn't have

anything to do with how the stock performs. Could you give us a sense of what we're seeing right now and whether it is linked to the probabilities

of a Trump presidency?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Eleni. I'll do my best to try to make sense of this really ridiculous stock. Now, it was getting crushed all summer

long, and then it's been on fire. I mean, for the last three weeks, since September 23 it's up 108 percent. So more than doubling in three weeks.

Just a stunning move, just the latest stunning move for this company. And I think it shows two things.

[09:30:00]

One, this is not a normal stock, right? It doesn't trade on fundamentals, things like earnings and revenue. It trades on hype and momentum and on the

vibe in Trump World. It also shows that this stock is inextricably linked to the election. Now, back in the summer, when President Biden stepped

aside and dropped out of the race, this stock got absolutely crushed.

It fell to record low after record low. You could see it on that chart. At one point it was down 82 percent from the peak. But what's happened is that

some of the polls do suggest that the race has tightened, and that really this is a coin flip. It could go either way. And so, it's like someone

flipped a switch for this stock price, because it has just been on fire.

Now, Wall Street veteran Matthew Tuttle, he told me it's really simple. People realize that if Trump gets elected, this stock has the potential to

do something. And if he doesn't get elected, it probably goes to zero. Just a stunning statement there, when you think about, I mean, this company is

worth billions of dollars, and yet some of the experts are saying it could really go either way, whether or not it continues to be worth billions of

dollars or it goes to zero.

And don't forget that the net worth of the future or the former president and potentially Future President of United States, Donald Trump, is tied up

in this company. He's the face of the company. He owns almost 115 million shares. Those shares back on September 23rd were worth $1.4 billion but

because they bounced back so much, this is now worth almost $3 billion, it is quite the gain for Trump in just three weeks.

But long-term Eleni, listen, we know this company faces real challenges, true social remains pretty tiny. It is not broken through in the

mainstream. The company is losing money. It's burning through cash. They're generating very little revenue, less than a million dollars in revenue per

quarter.

And so that's why Professor Jay Ritter, who's been studying capital markets for four decades, he told me that he thinks in the long run, this company's

stock is still going much, much lower, because he says it's just dramatically overvalued at current levels, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, absolutely fascinating. I have to say that once the speculation dies down, fundamentals always kick in. That is the rule of how

markets work. So Matt, really good to have you on and great job on breaking that down for us.

EGAN: Thank you, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Right, I want to get you up to speed down some other stories that are on our radar right now. Taiwan has condemned the latest round of

Chinese military drills around the island as an unreasonable provocation, after Beijing deployed warships and fighter jets as a quote stern warning.

The drills came after Taiwan's President gave a speech Thursday, saying the island is not subordinate to China. Evan Gershkovich, "The Wall Street

Journal" reporter freed from Russia earlier this year, is writing a memoir. The book is set to cover his 16 months spent in a Russian prison, along

with reporting about his five years living in Russia before his arrest.

The book is set for release in 2026. French far right leader Marine Le Pen denied violating rules as her trial opened today. Le Pen and two dozen

others from her national rally party are accused of embezzling European Parliament funds, a conviction could squash her hopes for succeeding

President Emmanuel Macron in 2027. In an extraordinary first SpaceX has launched and landed, part of the world's most powerful rocket system. Take

a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 4, 3, 2, 1. We have lift out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: A phenomenal speed there will the starship was piloted remotely, and for the first time. Its, incredibly powerful rocket booster was

navigated back to Earth. All right, the so called super heavy booster measures roughly the same as a 20-story building. In an extremely precise

maneuver, the booster was caught in mid-air by a pair of metal pinchers and they called chopsticks.

The successful landing is the latest step in SpaceX's mission to recover and reuse their equipment, with the goal of making space travel cheaper.

Well, coming up in "World Sport", there's a new woman's marathon record after a Kenyan runner smashed the previous record in Chicago this weekend.

Details coming up after this. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:35:00]

GIOKOS: The death toll from Hurricane Milton in Florida now stands at 23 according to the latest from law enforcement. In places like Hillsborough

County, recovery efforts are being hindered by ongoing flooding. Milton dumped more than 40 centimeters of rain in some areas, and water is slow to

subside due to Florida's flat terrain.

The state is suffering from a domino effect of problems, floodwaters and debris blocking roads so that fuel trucks couldn't get to gas stations,

crews couldn't fix downed power lines, and those fuel and power shortages, in turn, have hampered recovery efforts. Almost 30 percent of the state's

gas stations were without fuel over the weekend, and more than 400,000 customers statewide are still without power this Monday.

And for the second time in just two weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden was back in Florida surveying the damage. During his visit on Sunday, President

Biden thanked FEMA and local officials for their recovery efforts. He also announced more than $600 million in projects to help states like Florida

bolster their power grids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This the whole of government effort, from state and local to FEMA to U.S. Coast Guard, Army

Corps of Engineers, the Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, just to name a few, FEMA has delivered 1.2 million

meals over 300,000 liters of water, 2 million gallons of fuel, and so far, we've installed 100 satellite terminals to restore communications in

impacted areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, noticeably absent from the president's statement was any mention of the misinformation being spread by his critics, namely Donald

Trump, who has cast doubt on the federal government's response to the recent storm. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

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 president and speaking after

the president, 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.

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 and to help this area respond to the hurricane.

[09:40:00]

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Thankfully, the storm's impact was not as cataclysmic as we predicted, but on top of two before, it just keeps getting worse and but

for some individuals, it was cataclysmic. All those folks who not only lost their homes, but more importantly, those folks who lost their lives, lost

family members, lost all their personal belongings, entire neighborhoods were flooded and millions were without power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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, Brian Todd, CNN, St. Pete Beach, Florida.

GIOKOS: All right, moving on to the world of sports, Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich has shattered the woman's marathon world record by almost two

minutes in Chicago. The 30-year-old finished in two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds, breaking the previous record set in Berlin last year. Amanda

Davies now joins us for more on this incredible feat by Ruth, Amanda.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, I mean some sports, some events, she breaks a world record by tenths of seconds or seconds or centimeters.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

DAVIES: She smashed this by nearly two minutes and broke a barrier that many people thought would not be possible, and that is a woman's marathon

being run under 2 hours 10 minutes. She is the first woman to ever do that in history, and she did it on this course in Chicago, which we know is

fast.

The men's marathon world record was set here just last year, this time last year, and that made this moment all the more emotional, because that was

set by fellow Kenyan, the Late Kelvin Kiptum, in just his third ever marathon. He set the new world record, then tragically was killed in a car

accident in February this year.

And Ruth emotionally dedicated this success and that victory to him. And we've got more on that, and we're hearing from her in just a couple of

minutes in "World Sport".

GIOKOS: Yeah, incredible story. And of course, Kenyans dominating these types of events, which is incredible to see, Amanda. All right, we'll see

you after the break. I'll be back at the top of the hour.

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