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One World with Zain Asher
Milton Exits Florida After Leaving A Trail Of Destruction; Biden Speaks To Florida Governor About Milton's Aftermath; Israel Launches New Strikes On Lebanon; Tampa, Florida Under Flash Flood Emergency Notice; Walt Disney World To Reopen On Friday; Matriarch Ethel Kennedy Dies At Age 96; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired October 10, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:33]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: All right. Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching ONE WORLD.
Hurricane Milton may have moved beyond Florida, but the effects of the powerful storm will be felt for some time. Flooding is still a danger and
has emergency crews out in full force rescuing people trapped by floodwater.
In addition, some three million homes are in the dark. That's turning a very long night into a very difficult day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saw the tornado coming, I yelled for my wife to come look at it. It's cool. Kid, wife come look at it. Started to get close, hit
the trees, and we all started going for the hallway. Didn't even make it there in time, started to doot-doot. And I heard a piece of glass crack.
And it sucked the whole roof off, and I felt the thing suck me up. I grabbed my kid and my wife and hunkered down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm about a block from the water. And the house vibrated when the gusts really picked up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Born and raised, you never see nothing like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The storm itself, at this hour, has moved off of Florida and is now churning in the Atlantic Ocean.
Now, it came ashore Wednesday night as a category three storm then weakened to category one.
Unfortunately, there have been four fatalities all blamed on the storm. They were all in St. Lucie County when nine tornadoes ripped through the
county, three of them in less than 25 minutes. Across Florida, at least 30 tornadoes were reported.
Milton's powerful winds blew the roof off Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. It was going to be used as a base camp for first responders.
For all of its death and destruction, Florida's governor says the hurricane could have been much worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses. And you have people that are out there
assessing damage right now. First responders have been working all through the night to help people who were in distress.
And what we can say is the storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meteorologist Elisa Raffa joins us now with the current fix on Milton's position. And you heard there from the governor, we heard from the
FEMA administrator, this could have been a lot worse. And that is not to deny the significant impact and damage that was caused by Milton. Walk us
through it.
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, we were worried -- what we were worried was the -- was about the center of Milton going to the north of
Tampa Bay. That would have taken a lot of that storm surge into a very populated area. So we dodged a bullet with that.
But the tornado, the way the tornadoes just blew up yesterday, you know, tornadoes are common when you have a land-falling hurricane. But not like
this. Usually you get, you know, very weak and brief EF zeros, EF ones. These were massive, destructive, tornadoes that we were able to capture on
camera.
We hit a record, 126 tornado warnings across the state yesterday. That was the most that I've ever been issued in a day and it surpasses previous
hurricanes like Irma for the amounts of tornado warnings that the state has seen.
The wind field was one that we were very worried about, right? It spanned - - it was spanning more than 200 miles at the time it made landfall. So that's why you have such widespread power outages. More than three million
people still without power across Florida because those winds were just so far reaching across the peninsula.
Look at some of these wind gusts. Venice 107 miles per hour. Sarasota 102 miles per hour as that eye was coming inland. St. Petersburg peaked at 101
mile per hour for gust.
Thankfully, the winds are coming down now that the center of Milton is moving offshore. We're still finding some gusts to 30 miles per hour in
Jacksonville, 25 mile per hour gusts in Daytona Beach. St. Petersburg 22- mile per hour gusts there, but again, clearing.
The problem now is the residual flooding from flash flooding event that unfolded. Incredible rainfall amounts from Tampa.
Look at this corridor, stretching to Orlando, Daytona Beach. This was actually on the north side of the eye.
Typically, we see the heaviest rain total, as you know, to the -- to the right side. But this storm was a little bit lopsided because of a front and
the rainfall caused flash flooding for places inland that might not have been an evacuation zones.
I mean, St. Petersburg got 18 inches of rain, 18. Clearwater, 14 inches of rain. Tampa, nearing 10 inches of rain, all just out of Milton. That 18-
inch, you know, the totals that are more than nine inches in St. Petersburg are more than three months worth of rain.
[12:05:15]
So when all of that comes down incredibly quickly, you find flash flooding from the heavy rain, and we have found that being a problem and people
needing to get out from the flash flooding.
We can still find some storm surge on the east coast of Florida, three to five feet, still possible again on the east coast because the storm was so
far reaching. So something that residents around the Jacksonville area will want to keep in mind. We did break records for storm surge for places like
Naples, one of their top storm surge values.
But again, because that track just came just to the south of Tampa, we avoided the worst of the storm surge in the Tampa Bay area. And I think
that's why officials are saying, we really just kind of missed out on that worst-case scenario. Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. But not to deny the fact that so many of those tornadoes did extensive damage. And as you note, something that you had been warning
about, and that is mass flooding as well, something we've seen that's become more common with these storms as they become more powerful, thanks
in large part to global warming, over the course of the last few years.
Elisa Raffa, thank you.
Let's go to Fort Myers in Southwest Florida, where at least two tornadoes touched down. Our Carlos Sanchez is there. And we see the devastation
behind you. I'm hoping those residents were not home and that there were no injuries in that vicinity of the tornado touching down. But walk us through
what you see in the destruction.
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna. So the damage that we have seen across Fort Myers, Florida was really brought on by the storm surge
and those two tornadoes that move through parts of Lee County yesterday.
We are live at one neighborhood where that was hit by one of these tornadoes. And the damage here is a little bit widespread. I'm going to
show you a couple of places that was hit by this tornado.
Just behind me here on the left side of where we are is the roof of an apartment building that, as you can see, was torn away by that one tornado
that hit here yesterday afternoon. Another tornado hit just to the north of where we are in North Fort Myers.
And so the folks out here, all day long, have been dealing with some of the recovery and the cleanup efforts.
This home here, you can see the family that's gathered out front here. They've got workers on the roof. They're trying to lay down a temporary
roof. You can see the portion of it there that was torn away by this tornado that hit here.
The owner of this house tells me that the family was inside at the time, but because of all of the plywood that they had set up for the storm, they
really weren't quite sure what was taking place outside, but they knew something was happening.
And then it was quite clear to them that what was taking place was a tornado. Everyone that was inside this house were told was OK. And so the
folks out here are now starting the process of trying to just clear out a lot of this debris here.
There was a construction crew earlier today going home by home by home and helping to get all of this debris out, which you can see now liters at the
front yard of this home. Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable. And seal that devastation and then to juxtapose that with sunny blue skies there above you. Quite a difference from what we
saw just 12 hours ago.
Carlos Suarez, thank you.
Well, the White House says President Biden spoke to Florida's governor earlier about the impact of Hurricane Milton.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is standing by live at the White House. And, Arlette, we know the president has been juggling a lot pressing issues from the
Middle East to obviously concerns about Milton and its impact on the state of Florida.
Thankfully, a bullet was dodged in terms of experiencing the worst. But now as the cleanup and the aftermath continues, we're starting to get more and
more assessments. What's the White House saying?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, President Biden, just in the last hour, was in the Situation Room receiving a
briefing from his team to talk about the way that they will help in this response to Hurricane Milton. That includes hearing specifically in how
FEMA is helping, also the DOD and Coast Guard as well.
Ahead of the storm, the White House really was trying to pre-position as many resources as possible to help in the response and recovery efforts
immediately after Milton hit Florida.
President Biden, this morning, also spoke with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and told him that the federal government will ensure they have
everything they need as they recover from the storm.
The White House noted that DeSantis himself had said that they are still doing the damage assessments, but he did thanked the president for the
federal government support
Now, the White House and FEMA have surge resource edge such as a search and rescue teams. Also, power teams that can help with some of the widespread
power outages that are taking place in Florida right now.
They are ready to deploy up to 20 million meals and 40 million leaders of water as they're trying to get these resources into those communities.
[12:10:01]
A short while ago, we also learned that the president spoke by phone with one of the Republican senators in the state, as well as a Republican
congresswoman, to suss out exactly what they needed in this response.
It also comes at a time, though, where President Biden is warning about the misinformation that's been spreading about the federal government's
response to specifically Hurricane Helene, and warning that similar things could occur with Hurricane Milton.
Yesterday, he said that that was downright un-American for people to spread lies about what the federal government is doing. And he took aim at former
President Donald Trump, saying that he has promoted many of these lies.
So you have the White House also in this mode, where they are trying to counter some of these false narratives relating to the amount of checks
that people will receive from FEMA in as they're recovering, the way that FEMA is spending their money.
All of these things, officials say, are really complicating some of the efforts of those on the ground who are simply trying to get these resources
out to the communities who have been devastated by these hurricanes.
So we will see whether we hear from President Biden a bit later today, but he has pledged that the federal government will be there the entire way to
help these communities recover, not just in Florida, but also other areas in the southeast that have been impacted by Hurricane Helene, specifically
Western North Carolina as well.
GOLODRYGA: The president delayed a trip overseas ahead of this storm, so that he could be at the White House and monitor the situation on the ground
there.
But you're right, both the president, the vice president, even the FEMA administrator yesterday were asked about their concerns over misinformation
and the impact that it could have for those who are in the path of the storm and obviously now dealing with the recovery.
I know that FEMA Administrator Criswell says that at this point -- Criswell says that at this point at least, they have the resources they need.
But, Arlette, question was raised in terms of whether the damage assessment would be so large. That Congress would, in fact, have to come back to
session to address more funding. Where does that stand?
SAENZ: Well, that is the big question, whether House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would agree to bring the lawmakers
back to town to deal with additional funding.
So far, there really has not been any movement on that front, as they are more eager to wait until after the election to deal with some of these
issues.
But there is one Republican congresswoman down in Florida, who a short while ago had said that she would call for Johnson to try to bring the
House back to address these funding concerns. And it also comes at a time where the administration has said that they have what they need right now
to cover these storms.
But then there is the question of what this recovery will look like in the long haul and what exactly FEMA and other agencies might need.
One area where the administration has warned about is the Small Business Administration and some of the programs that they have to help, not just
small businesses, but homeowners recoup some of the items that they've lost. So these are all things that the administration will try to tackle.
But a big question about whether Congress will come back, so far, there seems to be a little appetite for that happening.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Arlette Saenz, the White House for us. Thank you.
Well, many people worried that the hurricane would blow construction cranes --
SAENZ: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: -- down in Florida, and that's what happened to this one in St. Petersburg, which hit a building as it fell.
Eighteen inches or about 45 centimeters of rain fell on the city overnight. That's considered a one in a thousand years event. This is drone footage of
the downtown area you're looking at now. People are being advised to stay where they are, as crews survey the widespread damage.
Joining me now is Jim Kilpatrick, the fire chief for St. Pete Beach. Jim, thank you. Chief Kilpatrick, can you hear me? Can you see me?
I believe -- there we have you back. I'm sorry, we've been having some technical issues, so bear with us.
First and foremost, your assessment now just hours after the storm has passed, the damage in your view and your warning and advice to residents
who may think now is the time to come out.
JIM KILPATRICK, ST. PETE BEACH FIRE CHIEF: Well, we were still reeling from Helene and we still had damage and debris from Helene. These structures
have been weakened. And now with the 2nd impact from Milton, my concern is the structures, the debris in the road, in the yards, you know, that we
still have to get out of there to provide a safe access for these resources that we need to provide power, water to these families and to these homes.
We need all the resources we can get. FEMA has been a great partner so far, the state, fire department emergency management, the county, all have been
helping us and we couldn't do it without them.
So my concerns now are that people are having access back to their homes and these hazards are still existing. So we were asking folks to stay in
their homes, to protect in place and do not venture out until the roads are cleared and we give the all clear sign.
[12:15:11]
GOLODRYGA: In terms of the flooding, how severe is it at this point?
KILPATRICK: We had some moderate flooding in lower lying areas on -- in our city. But the flooding impact from the previous storm was five to six feet
across the whole city.
So the double impact has really wreaked havoc with our housing and with our community as a whole.
GOLODRYGA: Double impact. I mean, this happened, these two storms back to back within just a matter of two weeks. We know that over three million
people are without power.
Talk to us about the power situation there. It looks like you're in some -- the stairwell of a building. Perhaps that's backup generators. Or do you
have power now?
KILPATRICK: No, this is our tertiary EOC. We had to retreat from our primary, our secondary, and this is our third established EOC across these
two weeks.
We are our own generator power currently at this EOC. Power is being restored in spots. We felt like we did a good job pre-positioning assets
outside of the area to come in immediately. The National Guard was here before sunrise. Duke Energy was here at sunrise. And we are continuing to
push through and restore power to these homes.
Sewer is going to be restored soon. Potable water is online, but we're pressurizing the system, and it's still a boil notice at this point, but we
will work through all of that every day until it's back to normal.
GOLODRYGA: We're looking at images from last night where the roof, the partial roof was ripped off there from Tropicana Field. And we noted that
this was meant to be a base camp for first responders.
Ultimately, it wasn't used as a base camp. But can you just walk us through some of the planning? You may have to reconfigure going forward for storms
like this, because you could imagine that those first responders could have well been injured if that's where they had been.
KILPATRICK: Well, on a smaller scale, this EOC was meant to be for a skeleton crew of staff and incident management team members. We are housing
probably 250 people in this building. And we are reaching out to our partners in the community to provide resources for all of those responders
that were displaced at Tropicana Field. And we're hoping to find places for them to bed down during their missions.
GOLODRYGA: These images are just devastating, the aerial images now over Tropicana Field that we see from last night.
We also know that St. Petersburg shut down its drinking water at midnight this -- today due to not enough crews being there for repairs. What is the
water situation there at this point?
I believe -- Jim -- apologies. We lost Jim Kilpatrick as he noted he's on a backup generator there, so apparently there must have been some
connectivity issues. We appreciate him for taking the time to speak with us.
Still to come for us, Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon as it considers how to respond to last week's Iranian missile attacks. We'll have
live reports from Tel Aviv and Tehran when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:09]
GOLODRYGA: Israel's security cabinet is set to meet this hour to vote on how to respond to Iran's ballistic missile attack last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed the matter in a half-hour phone call Wednesday. Israel's defense minister
has vowed the response will be, quote, powerful, precise, and above all surprising.
This as Israel launches new strikes on southern Lebanon, hitting what it said were Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Beirut.
CNN reporters are covering all the angles. Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran, Iran for us. Let's begin with Nic Robertson who is in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Nic, with this planned vote today in Israel, one would imagine that Israel's retaliation will be coming imminently. Walk us through some of the
concerns among Israelis there about how Iran may counter-respond to that and perhaps some more about the timing as to when this may happen.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I think what's on the table appears to be everything, despite President Biden saying in that
phone call yesterday and having said publicly as well that he doesn't want Israel to strike Iran's nuclear facilities and he doesn't want them to
strike Iran's oil facilities, their refining facilities as well.
He's worried about escalation. And he's talked about using proportionality and as Iran struck Israel's intelligence and military bases proportional
would be striking Iran's intelligence headquarters a military basis.
But at the moment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and much of his cabinet look at the world around them and they see that they've changed it.
They've seen that they have really undermined Hezbollah's ability to strike -- to strike hard into Israel and Hezbollah was always the Iranian proxy
that was sort of seen as the guardian for Iran, that if Israel was to strike Iran at these sensitive sites, nuclear sites, other sites, then
Hezbollah would mount a huge barrage of missiles here. That seems to be off the table.
So, the calculus, I think, in the region at the moment really doesn't know what to expect. But we understand that what the White House has said
publicly about that phone call yesterday, and they have been pretty coy about the details, but they haven't said that they've had commitments from
Prime Minister Netanyahu not to hit the nuclear facilities, not to hit the oil facilities.
So when this vote happens today, the cabinet will have discussed what the response will be. And the vote then empowers the prime minister and the
defense minister to then authorize the strikes. So it just moves that trigger point further forward.
And the defense minister yesterday, you're right, exactly right about what he said there, precise, surprising. He framed it this way, he said they,
Iran, won't understand what happened to them or how it happened even.
It implies some kind of stealth attack, but it's hard to see how that could be possible. Israel is still a big distance from Iran.
GOLODRYGA: Right. And Defense Minister Gallant was scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., to meet with his counterpart, who he has spent a great
deal of time and spoken with over the course of the last year.
The U.S. had been hoping, perhaps, to get more information, specifically as to what this strike may look like. That trip was canceled last minute by
the prime minister, leading to more speculation about how much the United States really is aware of what Israel will strike and win.
Nic Robertson, thank you. Let's go to Fred Pleitgen in Iran. It's rare that you have access like you've had, Fred, in these days, anticipating Israel's
response.
What is the reaction to some of these very harsh warnings and threats that we're hearing from those in the Israeli government about what this response
may look like?
[12:25:13]
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very harsh indeed, and that's certainly something that the Iranians are reacting to as
well.
No doubt right now the Aerospace Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be on high alert to see whether or not there's any Israeli jets
or anything else approaching the airspace of Iran.
One of the things that we have to keep in mind is that the Aerospace Forces is the same part of the Revolutionary Guard Corps that also hit Israel with
those strikes on that military base that Nic was talking about, and of course, that intelligence headquarters as well.
What the Iranians are saying is that they're obviously going to try to fend off any attack, but they've also threatened a crushing response to any hits
that the Israelis might conduct. And it was quite interesting because the deputy head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ali Fadavi, he came
out a couple of days ago and he said that if the Israelis hit energy installations in Iran, for instance, oil and gas facilities, of course, a
lot of those are in the Persian Gulf, some of them also in the border area between Iran and Iraq, all of this is still very much in the western part
of the country that then the Iranians could in turn hit targets that are not of military nature, like for instance, energy installations in Israel
as well.
Yesterday, I managed to speak to a senior politician in the Iranian Parliament and he essentially told me the same thing.
So what we did today, Bianna, is we went out on the streets of Tehran and we spoke to people about all this uncertainty and what all this means. And
what we did see was actually a lot of defiance among many people. Here's what people told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Israel is nothing. It is just bullying. Fifty thousand innocent people have been killed by Israel. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love our country. We don't want actually to be destroyed by any enemies. This is what we want.
PLEITGEN: Do you think Iranians will defend Iran if there's a confrontation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are ordinary people. We are not military. We are not militia. We're just caring about my country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So that is a couple of people that we spoke to over the past couple of hours.
At the same time as all of this is unfolding and the Iranians obviously have their operational things that they're focusing on, they have also
launched what can only be described really as a diplomatic blitz here in the Middle Eastern, greater Middle Eastern region as well.
They have the foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who just yesterday visited Saudi Arabia, spoke to Mohammed bin Salman there. Talked about intensifying
relations and trying to improve the situation here in the Middle East through cooperation of the nations of the Middle East.
And then also you have the president of this country, Masoud Pezeshkian, who really has an interesting trip coming today and tomorrow. He's going to
Turkmenistan, where tomorrow he's meeting with Vladimir Putin to obviously speak about the situation here in the region as well. And no doubt that
standoff with Israel is definitely also going to be one of the topics between those two then, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, no doubt. And the relationship between Israel and Russia has only gotten closer over the course of the last few years since Russia's
invasion of Ukraine.
Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much.
Meantime in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned shelter killed at least 28 people, including children, according to the Palestinian Red
Crescent. The strike tore down the walls of the school. The Israeli military says that it struck terrorists who were operating inside a command
and control center at the school compound, saying that numerous steps were taken to protect civilians.
Meantime, the International Rescue Committee has released some stark numbers saying that some 51,000 children in Gaza could now be unaccompanied
or separated from their parents. Many of those will be from families where parents have been killed in the war.
In other cases, multiple evacuation orders, displacement, and arrests are to blame. The charity says as a result, a generation of children will
experience lifelong health and developmental issues.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:04]
GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
Officials in Florida are now assessing the damage left by Hurricane Milton. CNN's Isabel Rosales is in Tampa and joins us live.
Unbelievable video there of just how high that water is behind you. You're knee-deep in it. Walk us through what you're seeing.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, so this is the upstate area of Hillsborough County. This is not an evacuation zone. These people had no
idea that all of this torrential rainfall would pull up and cause such flash flooding. So we're seeing -- look at this. Let's push in on that.
Residents from these apartment complexes having no other choice but to pack their belongings, whatever they can, put it on their shoulders and treads
through these dirty floodwaters to get out of here.
Some can do that, but there are also some who cannot. Let's -- let me show you something.
This is the Great American Assisted Living Facility. Right here. This is one of the first operations that Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
conducted this morning on amphibious vehicles getting in here because the residents here can't do that. They can't walk through there. A lot of them
need to use wheelchairs. A lot of them are bedridden. A lot of them use walkers. So they had to get these amphibious vehicles in here and get them
out.
I spoke with the residents who accounted to me, traumatizing hours overnight and into the day of the water suddenly rising through the night.
This is a one-story building right here. And they were up to their knees and beyond full of flash flooding and had to sit there and wait for hours,
cold, until finally the conditions were safe enough. The winds lowered. There wasn't any more rainfall that these first responders could get out
and not risk their own safety and get out to them and bring them over here.
They dropped them off over there onto land and that is where we saw Hillsborough County Sheriff -- Hillsborough County school bus picked them
up and take them to safety over at a nearby center that's normally used for basketball games.
Well, now, it's suddenly and immediately become a shelter, giving them blankets, food, water. But questions remain of what's next for this
community because this is not going away anytime soon. All of that is ruined in there. And these are people with medical needs, oxygen, and
again, precarious situations that now don't know where they're going to sleep the next day, the next week. Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. That is who your heart goes out to the most, those most vulnerable and the recovery will be unfortunately very, very long there.
Isabel Rosales, thank you so much.
Let's go to Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis who is giving an update on Hurricane Milton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESANTIS: Mississippi, Texas, Camille, some of those. But to have 18 to 20, that's a big deal.
So doesn't mean there's not going to be a lot of damage, doesn't mean there's not going to be a lot we're going to have to contend with. But just
in terms of what we were prepped for, I think that we probably have an abundance of resources.
[12:35:08]
My sense is we'll probably be able to release a lot of the search and rescue resources that we've had on hand very soon. And then just get back
to getting everybody back online with power, making sure the gasoline is flowing and everything.
So all in all, everyone's done a good job up to this point. We got a lot more work to do. And I'll let Kevin come in and say a few things.
KEVIN GUTHRIE, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thank you, Governor.
You know, I think in this situation here where we're at, the strength of what happened here is organically our state mutual aid system.
The very first group that was on hand here was a Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Search and Rescue Team. That's not even officially a part of our
state eight team search and rescue team system.
Maybe we want to change that in the future and put them on that, but, you know, that type three team, which is a self-funded 100 percent by Palm
Beach County Fire Rescue was the first ones in to this situation followed up by Miami Dade Task Force one and then Ohio and Virginia Task Force.
And again, I think again, that's just a strength with not just the --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: We've been listening to the Florida division head of the emergency management program there who was introduced by Governor Ron
DeSantis.
I want to bring in someone familiar with crisis management in the wake of a natural disaster. Lieutenant General Russel Honore played a pivotal role in
the days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana, back in 2005. General Honore, thank you so much for joining us. Hopefully we won't
have any connection issues today.
But something just piqued my interest that I heard from Governor DeSantis, and unfortunately it's something you didn't experience when you were
overseeing the emergency management recovery there after Hurricane Katrina. And that is the governor saying at this point, they have an abundance of
resources. I would imagine that is a relief for you to hear.
LT. GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), UNITED STATES ARMY: Absolutely. They pre- deployed a lot of assets in. And the surge that was predicted focused on Tampa happened further south in smaller communities. So I'll leave it to
him to stand by that assessment.
But every house that flooded still has to be searched is the normal rule and he might adjust that. And then he have to deal with the getting the
power back on. It's still an enormous task.
But I think he's trying to get people confidence that they have what they need to get the initial job done. I think that's the message he's sending.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we're looking at live images of Tampa, Florida, of the roads continuing to be flooded there as the assessment continues right now.
And we just heard from our reporter, who was in Tampa, and what's notable is that she was not -- she was in an area that was not part of the
evacuation zone, and she was knee-deep in water.
General, can you hear me? I believe we lost Russel Honore. I spoke too soon. I'm so sorry. We keep trying to bring him on for you at home. He was
such a pivotal voice during the recovery of Katrina in 2005. I'm sorry we weren't able to hear more on his assessment of the situation right now with
Hurricane Milton. We appreciate it. And we'll try to reconnect with him if possible.
Meantime, up next for us, we'll look back at the dramatic moments when Hurricane Milton came ashore last night, including this one with our own
Anderson Cooper.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:40:18]
GOLODRYGA: More now on our top story. Florida has dodged a worst-case scenario. That's what CNN is hearing from the Federal Disaster Response
Chief about Hurricane Milton as it moves offshore.
But the danger isn't over yet. As you can see in this video, people are being rescued after they were trapped by flood waters. And officials say
the flooding could last for days.
Emergency crews are starting to assess the damage after a rough night for Florida. We spoke to many Floridians who say they've never seen anything
like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of our life. And we remember some back when we were 16 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did it feel, sir, seeing this vehicle and the CSO coming out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen vehicle from outside. I've never seen it from the inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, rescue, rescue. This has been wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you couldn't get out the flooded.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We couldn't get out. They wouldn't let us out. Nobody could come get us. And it was -- it was -- it was just scary. But praise
God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just with the hurricane in the water, it just kept rising. And I've been here 14 years and I've never seen it get this high.
You're a little emotional, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're fine. Stressful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Sorry. I've always -- as the owners probably know, I always tried to treat this like it's mine. So to see this is hard.
Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: See the emotions running high for the storm made landfall late Wednesday on Florida's western coast as a category three hurricane.
CNN's team was there covering it all. Here's a look at some key moments for our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: We're coming to you from Bradenton. We have just gotten word that Hurricane Milton, the eye has made landfall in Siesta Key.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: We got the slop. We got so much more of the rain. Whoa. Let's push. Whoa, there goes the hat. And now it's
really gusting.
That was a monster. That was a -- that was a take-your-breath-away. Whoa, watch out, watch out. Now we're seeing signs starting to fly, boys. Back
up, back up, back up.
There's a construction sign that just is about to blow through this intersection.
COOPER: You can get a sense of just how fast the wind is moving there. You can see it in the light there. It is now just whipping off the Manatee
River. It's coming in from kind of the north, I guess, northeast.
And the water now is really starting to pour over. If you look at the ground. Whoa. OK. That wasn't good.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm in downtown Tampa on Howard Avenue, and it is about the worst it's been all night. You can see the violence of this
storm right around me. It's starting to flood the street. We've had six inches of rain in the last couple of hours. We're going to get another five
to eight inches of rain in the next probably five hours here.
And just look at this. I mean, it is -- the word is violent.
COOPER: Take a look at this. This is a tree that has been uprooted. The roots are still -- the path to ground it was in is still connected. There's
actually like a water pipe that's I guess in part of the root system that is now still connected and pouring water out of the pipe. But the tree is
almost completely knocked over. That's been knocked over by the wind.
WEIR: But Anderson and I, years ago, we covered Katrina at the same time, and that was a kind of once in a hundred years sort of lifetime storm, that
there were prime time concerts and specials and fundraisers. The whole country was focused on that disaster for so long, but now these storms come
and we don't have time to absorb the last one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:45:11]
GOLODRYGA: Our reporters there facing the brunt of that terrible storm last night. Our thanks for that report from them.
Well, the director of the National Hurricane Center walked us through Milton's impact when we spoke to him earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL BRENANN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: We've seen Milton play out pretty much as expected as we went from landfall through the
substantial impacts we've seen all across much of Central Florida overnight. Yes, you're right with the center coming in south of Tampa that
pushed the worst storm surge down into places like Venice and down into Sarasota County.
But the flood the flooding that you saw in the Tampa area with 18 inches of rain in St. Petersburg, greater than 15 inches in some locations really
puts a lot of water everywhere anyway, regardless of whether it's coming from the bay or from the sky.
And then they got into that Northwestern eye wall where we saw some really intense winds and they were in that eye wall for quite some time. And
you've seen the damage, you've seen the wind damage with, you know, gust 90, 100 miles per hour across portions of Central Florida.
Still substantial winds ongoing along the Florida East Coast this morning, so still a very dangerous situation across much of Florida. It's important
to remind people that we lose a lot of people after storms in these types of major hurricane landfalls, so we want people to be safe in that post-
storm environment. Don't go out and about. It's dark, there's damage, there's flooded water, there may be power lines down. Don't be going out
until your local officials tell you it's safe to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Yes. That post-storm environment remains especially dangerous for residents there.
Cities dotting Central Florida's western coast got the initial brunt of the storm. And then, of course, Hurricane Milton hit just two weeks after
Hurricane Helene left devastation across the region.
Clearwater, Florida, is just west of Tampa. And the mayor there had this assessment of Milton when he spoke to CNN's Kasie Hunt earlier this
morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE RECTOR, MAYOR OF CLEARWATER, FLORIDA: I feel like we've received a direct hit from Hurricane. And when you combine the two hurricanes that
came through terrible storm surge, which we've talked about two weeks ago and then last night, hurricane force winds and heavy rain, which caused
flooding in places which normally don't flood in Clearwater and throughout the county. And then you saw the wind damage is south of here in St.
Petersburg on the baseball stadium.
And as I drove my car a short distance from my hotel to city hall this morning, there are trees down everywhere. Many of the trees damaged by wind
as you might expect. But also we had trees collapsed because the ground was so wet and saturated that the trees collapsed.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: So Mr. Mayor, what can you tell people who are just waking up this morning, who may unexpectedly be needing help to do at this
point? And what are your first responders doing at this hour?
RECTOR: We're reaching out and we're going to make, you know, return any calls that we get. Hopefully, and I haven't heard yet that we've had to,
you know, rescue anyone from a dangerous situation yet.
But we had a lot -- a lot of elderly who were in shelters. And I'm sure they are very uncomfortable. And I'm sure with their medical needs and
being in an uncomfortable place that our firefighters, our EMTs are working very hard this morning to assist them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meantime, a Tampa man who was locally known as Lieutenant Dan rode out the hurricane in his boat.
CNN's Isabel Rosales caught up with him on Wednesday as the storm was starting to move in. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: My God, you're still there. Yes.
JOSEPH MALINOWSKI, TAMPA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Hi.
ROSALES: Hi.
MALINOWSKI: How you doing?
ROSALES: Are you doing OK?
MALINOWSKI: I'm doing fine. How are you?
ROSALES: Doing great.
MALINOWSKI: Are you?
ROSALES: You're -- yes, you're still riding this out, huh?
MALINOWSKI: Yes. I'm drier than you are.
ROSALES: Yes, you are. You are drier than I am at this moment.
So you haven't changed your mind, right? You're still staying?
MALINOWSKI: I'm staying.
ROSALES: OK.
MALINOWSKI: I'm staying right here.
ROSALES: Staying here?
MALINOWSKI: Yes.
ROSALES: All right. Please be safe, sir. Please be safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: After that, police were able to coaxed Lieutenant Dan, named after the character in the film Forrest Gump. His real name is Joseph
Malinowski. They weren't able to pull him off his boat. Here's Tampa's mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA MAYOR: The Tampa police department, this morning, just saved Lieutenant Dan. He has been rescued and he is now in a
shelter as well.
So if we can get Lieutenant Dan to go to a shelter, we can get anybody to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: So I managed to pull him off his boat, but local media then reported that Lieutenant Dan didn't stay in that shelter for long. Reports
say that he was spotted back on his boat earlier today. Wow. That's quite a risk he took.
Well, up ahead for us on ONE WORLD, she was the matriarch of one of America's most influential political families. When we come back, a look at
the legacy of Ethel Kennedy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:43]
GOLODRYGA: Well, this just in to CNN, Walt Disney World will reopen Friday. The most magical place on earth closed before Hurricane Milton hit. Disney
is assessing impacts to the theme park ahead of its reopening.
The theme park is about 20 miles southwest of Orlando, which saw heavy rain and power outages.
Well, she was the matriarch of one of the world's most famous political families. Ethel Kennedy is being remembered for her work as a human rights
activist. But she was probably best known as the widow of Robert F. Kennedy. She suffered a stroke last week and has died at the age of 96.
CNN's Tom Foreman looks back at her life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the last links to the Camelot of the Kennedys, Ethel Skakel Kennedy knew triumphs few can
imagine. From her own family's rise in politics to the extraordinary changes that eventually brought the nation's first African-American
president, a fact she reflected on in the film made by her youngest daughter, Rory.
ETHEL KENNEDY, WIFE OF U.S. SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY: Oh, it's so refreshing and wonderful and shows how our fabulous country has moved
ahead.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Born to a large family in Chicago, when she was 5, her father, a successful businessman, moved the family east to wealthy
Greenwich, Connecticut. She was raised Catholic. As a young woman, she led a charmed life, attending the best schools and falling in love with Robert
Kennedy.
They married in 1950. And as he and his brother John rose in political prominence, she was right there with them, the charming socialite. Ethel
was considered by many to be more outgoing, more exciting, more entertaining than John's wife, Jackie.
But Ethel Kennedy's role took a more serious turn after President Kennedy was assassinated. As her husband became a senator and then sought the
presidency himself, she struggled to raise 11 children, the last of whom she was expecting when Robert, too, was gunned down.
The losses for Ethel Skakel Kennedy grew her whole life long. Both of her parents died in a plane crash. A brother was killed when another plane went
down. Her son, David, died of an apparent drug overdose. Another son, Michael, in a freak skiing accident. Her granddaughter, Saoirse, died of a
drug overdose.
[12:55:03]
Months later, another granddaughter, Maeve, drowned with her 8-year-old son in a canoeing accident. She took each disaster in turn.
And still, those who knew her say her faith never wavered. She founded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial to raise money for the humanitarian and
environmental causes in which she believed.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND: I want to welcome each of you.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Their oldest child, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, followed her father's footsteps into politics. And yet, troubles continued.
In 2014, another daughter, Kerry Kennedy, was tried for driving under the influence of drugs. She was acquitted, but her mother looked framed (PH).
Through it all, Ethel Skakel Kennedy stood by her family. She went on carrying her husband's name and memory as a living legacy of Camelot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And that does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
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[13:00:00]
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