Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Irma Leaves Deadly Trail In U.S. And Caribbean; Caribbean In Urgent Need Of Aid After Hurricane; North Korea Condemns Sanctions In Strongest Terms; Sanctions Cap North Korean Imports Ban Textile Exports; U.S. And South Korea Carrying Out Live Fire Drills; 370,000; U.N. Security Council To Discuss Abuses Of Rohingya; More Than 370,000 Rohingya Flee Myanmar Crackdown; Paradise Lost In The Caribbean; Soggy Homecoming In Jacksonville; Clinton Analyzes Election Loss In New Memoir; Sanders: Clinton Book Is Sad Way To Continue Attacks; Relationship Between The Clinton And Bush Families; Cruz Twitter Account "Liked" Pornographic Video; Apple Unveils iPhone X A Decade After Original. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 13, 2017 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:00] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, no food, no water, and not much hope. And amid all the despair from the Caribbean reports, armed gangs are looting stores and homes in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

SESAY: Plus, under prepared and overwhelmed: aid group struggled to keep up with the more than 300,000 Rohingyas fleeing violence in Myanmar.

VAUSE: And later, political blame game. She's back. Hillary Clinton, pointing a few fingers trying to explain how she lost the unlosable election.

SESAY: Well, hello and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. You're watching the second hour of NEWSROOM L.A. What's left with Irma is bringing rain to parts of the U.S., and millions in Florida and the Caribbean will be picking up the pieces from the devastating hurricane for months, maybe years to come. At least 38 people in Caribbean were killed, and a number of smaller islands left in ruins. The World Food Program is providing emergency food aid to thousands in the East Caribbean, but says as many as 200,000 people could be in need.

SESAY: Well, at least 17 people were killed in the mainland U.S. The emergency official, saying 90 percent of homes in the Florida Keys are damaged or destroyed. And more than four million people across the state are still without power.

VAUSE: And more than three days after Irma first made landfall in the U.S. mainland, many are now returning to their homes in the Florida Keys -- one of the hardest-hit areas.

SESAY: CNN's Kyung Lah followed one couple as they anxiously returned home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Waiting throughout the night. The lined-up cars are stretching and growing as dawn breaks.

HEIDI NEUZIL, CITIZEN OF FLORIDA: I want to go home. I want to see my home. I want to see that we have a home.

LAH: Heidi and Allan Neuzil, out of their Key Largo house since Irma hit. Fear and anxiety growing by the minute as they wait.

ALLAN NEUZIL, CITIZEN OF FLORIDA: My house, where I pay taxes, and I'm not allowed to get in here. I

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I stayed five days in the (BLEEP) --

LAH: Before tempers flare ever more, 7:00 a.m., the first roadblock comes down. The evacuated, returning home for the first time since the hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought this should never happen.

LAH: Cars moving down U.S.-1, the only highway in or out of the Florida Keys. If you had to describe in a few words, how you feel about all of this, what would it be?

A. NEUZIL: Frustrated. Angry, but the whole situation, just launched in the news and not knowing what's going on with your house and everything, your life.

LAH: You can see damage throughout Key Largo, Plantation, and Islamorada, but they're considered lucky compared to the lower keys. In Islamorada, Marilyn Ramos and her family are trying to look beyond their destroyed business.

MARILYN RAMOS, RESIDENT OF ISLAMORADA: Things aren't looking great right now. But we're just trying to clean up and do the best that we can.

LAH: While the residents of some keys got their answers today, others did not. This is the new roadblock -- another obstacle that has to wait for to get passed. Beyond the roadblock, the door by door search and rescue continues. The people who stayed behind, how desperate are they?

MANNY LEON, FIRE RESCUER, MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA: Like everyone else, you know, wanting food, and water, and wondering when the electricity is going to come back, and this is going to be a while.

LAH: Back in Key Largo, Allan and Heidi Nusal get their first look at their home.

H. NEUZL: Oh, my God the roof.

LAH: Irma toppled five tall trees, crushing them in their boat and their house -- a mess of debris. Damage: limited to one corner of the roof, and their boat, inside, it's dry. Seeing the house, are you OK?

A. NEUZIL: Now? Right now, I'm OK. Right now, my family is OK. I'm OK.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Islamorada, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, let's go now to Alvaro Perpuly; he's on the phone and joins us from Homestead, Florida. He rode out the storm with his family in South Carolina. And returned for the first time Tuesday. Alvaro, thank you so much for joining us. Tell us about that moment when you pulled up and saw your house for the first time. What's state is it in?

ALVARO PERPULY, RESIDENT OF HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA: Well, it's a very shocking moment, you know, to see the house that you lived in and grew out there, that you love so dearly, being in such terrible condition. So, we got there, and you came and enter the house because -- the car can't even enter the house because there's a tree blocking the roadway. And then, once you walk around that, there's a tree blocking bent over the fence, both (INAUDIBLE) the fence. And there's also another tree that fell on top of the roof and did some considerable damage to the roof.

[01:05:08] SESAY: The damage sounds pretty extensive and I know that you have a farming business also growing through. I know that was hit pretty bad. I mean, give a sense of the damage there.

PERPULY: Well, we grow different tropical fruit, such as star fruit, mango, avocados, in (INAUDIBLE), Florida -- the agriculture area here in South Florida. And the hurricane came and a lot of the trees just, they fell, and the crops were lost, and as the trees did fall, then the crops also the (INAUDIBLE). All the crops are just gone and they cannot be used, and it's very saddening to see that as it's about half-a-million-dollar loss with the crops. So, it is pretty devastating both for business.

SESAY: Talk to me about how you are doing in terms of processing all of this. Has it sunk in? How quickly everything changed?

PERPULY: I mean, I'm still processing. I mean, I'm still thinking about, you know, I mean, what are we going to do tomorrow? What am I going to do the next day? About how I can move forward with this. We definitely want to clean up everything and make sure that everything is cleared out. And then, regarding the business, we're just going to have to start from square one, possibly, and try to get things flowing again.

SESAY: You know, I can't even imagine, as you say, you know, the devastation is on the personal front. It's happening to your business -- on the commercial front. There is so much literal damage in there, and the dollar price tag that goes with it. I mean, where do you even begin? I mean, you say, you want to clean up, but -- I mean, what's the first step that you take? PERPULY: I mean, there really is no specific first step. There's no simple A, B, and C plan on how to deal with it. We just -- are going to start cleaning up and start with start square. And unfortunately, there is no government program, right, that helps farmers -- that helps farmers with disasters like this (INAUDIBLE). So, I mean, this is difficult.

SESAY: Alvaro Perpuly, our heart goes out to you and your family. You are going through an incredible amount of suffering as are thousands and thousands of people. We wish you the very, very best, and we will stay in touch to see how you're getting on. We wish you the very best of luck. Thank you.

VAUSE: Well, the level of destruction and despair in the Caribbean in unprecedented. Residents of some of the hardest-hit islands are struggling to cope with Irma's aftermath; they lost everything that the hurricane. And now, they've been left stranded; running low on food, water, and other supplies.

SESAY: Well, CNN has reporting team on some of the hardest-hit islands throughout the Caribbean. Clarissa Ward has more now on the devastation from Guadalupe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The island of St. Martins. Last week, one of the jewels of the Caribbean, now a paradise lost. "Not a day went by," she says, "without us thinking that we were very lucky to live on this ideally island. Today, it is just complete chaos." Six days after Irma pummeled St. Martin, officials say more than 90 percent of the buildings on the island are damaged or destroyed. Food and water are still scarce; power remains out for most. Thousands of tourists were stranded for days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was horrifying. Absolutely, horrifying. Never been that scared in my life.

WARD: The desperation has led to looting and violence with reports not yet confirmed by CNN of armed men roaming the streets. Dr. Lockland and Kiane McClay were vacationing at this resort on St. Martin when Irma struck. McClay spent several days caring for the injured, but also found himself forced to stand guard against looters sharing this text with a colleague back home. "Military is trying to control chaos but nothing is safe after dark, lots of looting. I was on patrol last night with a machete until the sun came up."

And the story is much the same all across the hard-hit Caribbean. On the British Virgin Islands, one resident told CNN that the situation is only getting worse.

KENNEDY BANDA, HOME DESTROYED BY IRMA: The supermarket here; they doubled the prices. The gas station has doubled their prices. So, we'll all run out of cash. It's just scary. And now, the gas station in front of (INAUDIBLE), that where the water came up and pulled out a gun. WARD: Help has been slow to arrive to many of the islands where people are struggling to get by day to day. And long-term officials say, full recovery may be years away. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Guadalupe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Just the pictures every time you see them it just --

VAUSE: If we look Florida, it will be hard rebuilding and there are challenges. The Caribbean is whole another level on top of that.

[01:10:19] SESAY: Well, European leaders are ramping up recovery efforts after coming under fire for reacting slowly to these pictures -- the defense of devastation on those Caribbean territories.

VAUSE: The U.K. Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, visited British military base in Barbados on Tuesday where he actually defended his government's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, FOREIGN SECRETARY, UNITED KINGDOM: We have every sympathy for them. The suffering of the people who are being hit by this extraordinary hurricane -- it's been 15- years. I think most in the mind of people, looking up to the point that the U.K. has made. This is the biggest military deployment that we've seen since Libya. We've now got a thousand troops in the area. I think more than 50 police officers; more police officers are coming in tonight. A Huge number, huge proxies, and supplies coming in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well the same day, the French President Emmanuel Macron was in St. Martin, surveying the devastation first-hand. Officials say, 95 percent of the island was destroyed. Mr. Macron details his government's priorities for St. Martin's recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: It is very critical now. What they want to be -- to have a very fast recovery. So, we are trying to speak to institutions regarding health, education, access to water, energy, and medical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Though the Netherlands visited the Dutch side of St. Martin on Monday where Irma destroyed nearly a third of all the buildings and killed four people.

SESAY: Well, satellite images from NASA gave us an unusual look at the destruction that Irma left across the Caribbean. On top, that's how the U.S. and British Virgin Islands appeared before Irma. And then, as you see, this is how they look now. Most of the vegetation has been uprooted. VAUSE: Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Island of Virgin

Gorda. Irma, essentially, changed its color. And this is Barbuda and Antigua, almost every building in Barbuda has been left destroyed or severely damaged.

SESAY: And the this is what the guest from the first hour, Julian, was saying that everything is brown. All the vegetation is gone.

VAUSE: All the leaves are being stripped. I mean, it's gone.

SESAY: We're going to take a very quick break here. North Korea is under the strongest economic sanction ever, but the U.S. says it could just be the beginning. More on their nuclear standoff ahead.

VAUSE: Also, they're called the world's most persecuted minority, and now the Rohingya may be facing what the U.N. a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. North Korea is rejecting new sanctions from the U.N. calling them "illegal and evil." The measures are meant to pull choke hole on North Korea's economy, cutting its oil imports by nearly a third and stopping its textile exports altogether.

[01:15:11] VAUSE: There, the toughest sanction ever imposed on North Korea for a solicit nuclear program and the U.S. presidents say, it could be just the start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a vote yesterday on sanctions. We think it's just another very small step, not a big deal. Rex and I were just discussing not big, I don't know, but has any impact, but certainly, it was nice to get a 15 than nothing. But those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Matt Rivers is standing by live for us in Beijing. But first, to Ian Lee this hour in Seoul. So, Ian, there's been expectation over the past few days; the North Koreans might launch another ICBM. But now there's also the possibility of making another nuclear test.

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. And that's coming from satellite imagery from 38 North, which watches North Korea. And what they're seeing is a tunnel where the nuclear test was carried out. And they are seeing workers at the site. They're seeing changes to the site, which makes them believe that there could be another nuclear test carried out. And this is something that North Korea has threatened to do, is to galvanize their nuclear program, their missile program with these increased sanctions. So, it does look like North Korea is being true to their word. VAUSE: And that nuclear test, it came so quickly after the last one. It would certainly give credibility -- what the North Koreans have been saying that they plan to accelerate their missile and nuclear development in response to these U.N. sanctions.

LEE: You know, that's the thing, John. A lot of people were surprised by how quickly the North Koreans were able to develop this program. A lot of people were surprised by the announcement that North Korea could put a hydrogen bomb on top an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. They made that announcement, and then they said they test a bomb that could be put on top of ICBM. And this has a lot of people are worried, because this did happen a lot quicker than they believed -- North Korea had those capabilities. You know, and Pyongyang has said, this is their number one project. They're willing to do everything to keep it going. So, you know, it shouldn't come as a surprise, really, that they are having the -- they do have these capabilities to continue accelerating this program.

VAUSE: Ian, thank you. Matt, to you in Beijing. In terms of what comes next here. It seems secondary sanctions are not off the table for the United States, targeting companies and countries which continue to do business with North. That specifically means China, not a lot of confidence with U.S. lawmakers that Beijing will live to its art of the deal here.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, and that really is what we've seen before in past administrations, John. I mean, that's something that the Obama administration, it's something that the Trump administration has already done targeting specific banks and individuals in China that continue to do business with North Korea. And then, a way really is, it's the United States doing something unilaterally, doing something on its own that it can't get done at the U.N. Security Council. But you heard Donald Trump say that this is just an incremental step -- these latest round of sanctions, and that's been the critique here of secondary sanctions, of U.N. sanctions.

As the Trump administrations say, well, we want to do something different with North Korea and yet, really, what you're seeing, at least so far, is the exact same thing that the Obama administration did. Yes, these sanctions are the toughest ever. Yes, it will have a financial impact on the Kim Jong-un regime. But in the end, it's just an incremental measuring, instrumental step at the U.N. Security Council and how far they're willing to go with secondary sanctions, will that upset our relationship between Beijing and Washington.

That seems, at least so far, to be going pretty well at the moment, we're not sure how far is Donald Trump willing to go to damage, potentially, the relationship between China and United States when it comes to North Korea. That's something we're going to be looking out for. But even then, experts that we talk to, question how effective secondary sanctions on their own, really can be when it comes to forcing Kim Jong-un to stop its weapons development -- the regime's weapons development program.

VAUSE: OK. Matt, thank you. Matt Rivers for us there Beijing, also Ian Lee live for us this hour in Seoul. Well, as far as North Korea sees it, the U.S. is the aggressor here: severing tensions and raising fears with its annual joint military drills with South Korea. But as Paula Hancocks reports, Washington and Seoul believed those military exercises are crucial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Engaging an imaginary enemy. The combined force of tanks, artillery, and ground fire. Two countries, united on the battlefield. South Korean air support covers for U.S. Marines on the ground. The U.S. Military says that this kind of live-fire drill is vital to make sure that they know how to cooperate to communicate, to fight alongside their South Korean counterparts. So, this is why this training happens throughout the year here in South Korea. Of course, they say that they don't have a specific enemy in mind while they're doing this drill. It's not necessarily how North Korea sees it.

[01:20:44] CAPT. DAVID ROOKS, FIRST BATTALION, U.S. MARINE: U.S. Marines are always prepared for a fight. It doesn't really matter who's on there. And you know, we're -- we do our best to not specify a particular enemy.

HANCOCKS: Pyongyang has called joint exercises radical and dangerous. Proof of a hostile American policy intent on invading the north. But for the U.S. Third Marine Division, if you don't train, you can't fight.

NICOLAS DUNCAN, MARINE GUNNER, U.S. MARINE: It's really there to build and strengthen that bond that we have with them. That way, we have a common understanding of that combined approach to conflict. So, it allows us to be able to shoot, move and communicate across the battlefield or if that battlefield wherever that battlefield may be at.

HANCOCKS: Two nationalities fight side-by-side, showing Pyongyang: if you engage one, you fight both. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Pohang, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Now, the Muslim Rohingya had been denied civil and political rights for decades. They are even called the world's most persecuted minority, but they have never fled Myanmar in the numbers we are seeing right now. U.N. says, about 370,000 Rohingya have crossed the Bangladesh in less three weeks; they are escaping a violent military crackdown. The U.N. says Myanmar seems to be carrying out a textbook case of ethnic cleansing. An activist warned: now is the time to prevent a genocide. The U.N. Security Council is set to discuss the crisis on Wednesday.

Well, the journey out of Myanmar is very dangerous. And once they get to Bangladesh, many Rohingya are finding what activists say, it's humanitarian crisis. And to make it even worse, about 60 percent of those fleeing are children. Our Alexandra Field has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The children are hungry and showing signs of malnutrition. Their mothers are heartbroken.

HASSINAH BERGUN, ROHINGYA REFUGEE (through translator): My new born hasn't had anything to eat as I'm unable to breastfeed. She's suffering from malnutrition and we haven't received any medical support or treatment. So, we're in a really dangerous situation.

FIELD: Hassinah's baby was 12 days old when the family left everything behind, fleeing violent military crackdown in Myanmar. In the eight-day journey, brought them here to Bangladesh where they have practically nothing.

BERGUN: We have been living outside of the camp for five days. We have been waiting. No one has given any shelter or support. We are living in a very miserable condition.

FIELD: Around 300,000 Rohingya Muslims have raced to cross the border in two weeks. They've been met with aid groups, underprepared to help them.

LUC CHAUVIN, EMERGENCY CHIEF, UNICEF: So, all humanitarian agencies are struggling with the increased number of refugees coming every day. And therefore, we need to scale up our operations.

FIELD: Refugees tell CNN, the camps are already full.

AL LILLAH, ROHINGYA REFUGEE (through translator): We have only just arrived here. The military came into our village. They were slaughtering us and setting fire to our houses. So, we have to leave.

FIELD: Myanmar has said it's engaging in "clearance operations," following an attack by Rohingya militants that left 12 security officers dead.

LILLAH: It has taken us seven days to get here. And we crossed the border by boat. If the military had seen us, they would've shot us.

FIELD: A week ago, this was a forest; the Rohingya cleared it. The muddy banks are now a settlement for a hundred thousand of them. Even newer arrivals are living on the road side.

SAYYID AMIN, ROHINGYA REFUGEE (through translator): We need support from international organizations and from the world. There are too many of us for the Bangladesh alone to be helping us.

FIELD: His family has shelter, some food, and water now. The rest are waiting. Alexandra Field, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Tirana Hassan is a Crisis Response Director for Amnesty International; she joins us via Skype from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Tirana, thank you for being with us. As you know, the U.N.'s top human rights official has described what's happening to the Rohingya in Myanmar; it's a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Based on what Amnesty has discovered -- new investigations -- what is your assessment of the situation.

[01:25:08] TIRANA HASSAN, CRISIS RESPONSE DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (via Skype): Well, Amnesty has been on the ground, up in cots and with the refugees. We've been collecting testimonies from many of the people who've been fleeing across the border. And we concur with what the high commission of human rights said, this is most definitely ethnic cleansing. We are seeing widespread and systematic abuses being perpetrated, you know, against the Rohingya population, and it does appear that they have been targeted because of their ethnicity and their religion.

And we will, actually, be documenting the abuses which are so systemic, including large-scale burning, people are essentially being driven from their homes, indiscriminate fire and men being taken away in significant numbers. And we believe this could actually reach the level crimes against humanity.

SESAY: And Tirana, to be clear, the military -- the Myanmar military that is behind this, they say that they were trying to root out a terrorist. Do you think that the goal here is to drive these people out for good -- those who aren't killed, who've managed to leave? Do you think the plan here is to make sure they leave and never come back?

HASSAN: I think it raised an important point in the whole -- in setting the context, which is what happened on the 25th of August. And since then, the massive wave of violence that we've seen sweeping across, particularly, the northern Rakhine State, was actually, you know, a counterinsurgency operation according to the Myanmar authority -- as you said, a clearance operation. And that happened in the aftermath of a Rakhine insurgency -- attacking a number of police force.

And you know, of course, the Myanmar authorities have a responsibility to respond through the back rip, but what we are seeing is violence which is targeting a particular ethnic, which is so widespread and so systematic that it cannot, it is certainly not proportionate. And you know, in terms of driving them out, that is the consequence of this (INAUDIBLE). When you burn people's houses, an entire religion, to the ground, people have nowhere else to go. So, they are being driven out.

SESAY: Tirana, the muted response of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has left many appalled. We've heard criticism from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Malala Yousafzai, both of them fellow Nobel Laureate. We've heard criticism and just shock, really, from thousands of others who can't believe that Aung San Suu Kyi has effective not come out and condemned the persecution of the Rohingya. I mean, has she aligned herself with the very military that imprisoned her for decades?

HASSAN: That's a very -- it's very disappointing, Aung San Suu Kyi's response to this. In seabed, significant responsibility, she could pay a very important role in actually de-escalating this conflict. And by that, I'm talking about -- there's just swirling of xenophobic sentiment, which is sweeping the country. I mean, this is incredibly dangerous. And that will sort of perpetuate the violence and the tensions that exist. However, we expect Aung San Suu Kyi to actually do her job and to actually speak out against that, to take a proactive role in de-escalating, but also to address and bring pauses of this.

This scenario came out of nowhere, but if we want to stop the killings, if we want to stop the massive displacement, it is the security forces that are undertaking that. It does appear to be an organized campaign. It's an operation being implemented by the security forces, and Myanmar has a commander in chief -- that is not Aung San Suu Kyi. So, we need to make sure there is countability from the military. And if we don't do that, we won't stop the killing.

SESAY: And Tirana, we're almost out of time, but the U.N. Security Council will be discussing this on Wednesday. Let me ask you this: is there a reasonable workable solution to foster peaceful coexistence between the Rohingya minority, the Buddhist majority, and there in Rakhine State. And beyond them, the other minorities that exist also in Myanmar. Is there a solution here that can be achieved and sustained?

HASSAN: It most definitely -- I mean, the Security Council is (INAUDIBLE). And we're calling off, Security Council has said very seriously, to take action, not just to use it as a (INAUDIBLE) and to do it behind closed doors. We need to have full accountability because what we are is a mass atrocity. The U.N. has been committed to preventing those. But we do have -- we want to address the issues of the minority.

[01:29:58] It's true that it doesn't just affect the Rohingya, it affects minorities around the country, including the Kachin, and the Shan in the north of the country. And this all comes down to getting their citizenship laws right -- changing the approach to minority right.

One of the biggest issues and the root causes of this exodus and the -- and the tensions that we are now seeing -- that we are seeing now is a fundamentally flawed citizenship acts. It's basically -- which basically denies the Rohingya people of citizenship and all the rights that come with that. They essentially do not exist. Until that is addressed, we will always have tensions.

SESAY: Yes. Yes. Tirana Hassan, we're so grateful that you could join us and give us your insight into what's happening. We appreciate it. We'll continue to check in with you as you are there in DACA. Thank you.

HASSAN: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Well, next here on NEWSROOM L.A., a paradise lost. A stopping look at Irma's brutal impact on the (INAUDIBLE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour: The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration and granted the request to uphold the travel ban for most refugees. The order affected about 24,000 people who would have been granted entry by an appeals court ruling last week. Now, they are banned once again. The Supreme Court will begin considering the full legality of the ban in October.

VAUSE: South Korean media reports the air force has conducted its first live-fire exercise for a long-range air to surface missile. The Taurus is designed for position targeting of key facilities in Pyongyang.

SESAY: A mass exodus of Muslim Rohingya, often called the world's most persecuted minority. Now, the U.N. says about 370,000 Rohingyas have crossed from Myanmar to Bangladesh in less than three weeks. Aid agencies, well, they just can't keep up. The Rohingya escaping a violent military crackdown. U.N. Security Council expects to discuss the crises on Wednesday.

VAUSE: The death toll from Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean now stands at 38, that includes victims in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the American territory of Puerto Rico.

SESAY: Well, people there are struggling to find food, water, and hope. CNN's Sara Ganim has more on Irma's impact from St. Thomas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just days before Hurricane Irma, a Caribbean paradise. The U.S. Virgin Islands now in the troughs of tragedy. These images come from the Islands of St. Thomas, building leveled, utility poles broken in two, boats ripped apart and scattered through once a lively street. Irma made landfall in this island last Wednesday as a Category 5 hurricane, the strongest to hit the island in modern history.

[01:35:04] To show you just how severe the damage here is, this image shows what the islands look like from space before Irma, blanketed with lush trees and vegetation. After Irma, brown with despair. From the ground, here is what St. Thomas' Cancer Center looked like and here is what it looks like now, barely recognizable, gutted. This was the Sugar Bay Resort & Spa overlooking water bay. These images are what the resort looks like now.

One viewer sent in this image of his property on St. Thomas before the storm, now it looks like this. Like many homes, his kept its roof but many trees surrounding the home are gone. News out of the islands has been slow-going following damage to communication systems. The U.S. National Guard has been performing search and rescue by air. And the U.S. Navy has evacuated dozens of people with medical needs from the island and delivered more than 17,000 pounds of food, water, and medical supplies.

A number of cruise lines including Norweigian and Royal Caribbean are deploying empty ships to get people out. But all those who call these islands home have a long and difficult path ahead of them. Sara Ganim, CNN St. Thomas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, the devastation is widespread, and the people of Jacksonville, Florida are cleaning up after being surprised by Hurricane Irma's historic flooding.

VAUSE: There's some residents returned home, they found Irma had not just damaged bricks and mortar but had taken some of the most precious memories as well. Here's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Molly McClendon is fearful of what she'll find as she, her cousin Carly, and her dog, Winnie, returned for the first time to the Jacksonville home she just moved into last month. The bedroom floor still has water, but Molly soon discovers the water was almost a foot deep.

MOLLY MCCLENDON, JACKSONVILLE RESIDENT: This is wet, so at least -- at least up to the bed.

TUCHMAN: She's probably stoic about her damaged bed and furniture elsewhere in the home, but what got to her was the discovery of personal and sentimental paper she kept in a folder, a folder that wasn't left in a high enough place.

I'm sorry, Molly. I'm really sorry.

MCCLENDON: It's OK. It's OK. It's just stuff.

MALE: Similar emotions up and down this streets of this neighborhood near downtown Jacksonville.

DAN HARRIS, JACKSONVILLE RESIDENT: I lived her 20 years.

TUCHMAN: Dan Harris lives and works in this home. He's a photographer. The garage where he keeps his photo equipment had three feet of water, then stayed in a home with three friends, never anticipating the intense flooding that was about to occur.

HARRIS: About 6:00 in the morning, we got up and the water was basically up to the door by then, and then at 2:00 in the afternoon, it was high tide, and by then, I had nine inches in my living room.

TUCHMAN: The four men put blocks under the furniture to salvage what they could. One thing they couldn't salvage were their cars. Harris had two vehicles that were under water for hours. The cars of his three friends were also submerged.

Everybody knows that when you lived long in the beach in Florida, you're vulnerable to hurricanes, but when Irma started tracking to the west coast of Florida, many here in Jacksonville felt the sense of relief. It turns up, for so many, it was a false sense of security.

Molly McClendon's experience was stressful from beginning to end. She had evacuated early on to her uncle's house near Orlando which was heavily damaged, only to learn hours later that she was likely to see damage of her home in Jacksonville, too.

MCCLENDON: I'm lucky enough to have a really supportive family that's going to help me get out of here and save as much as I can, and go forward, go back to working, figure it out.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN Jacksonville, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: So much to figure out. If you want to learn how to help Hurricane Irma victims, log on to cnn.com/impact. You can donate to one of the charities we vetted or you could volunteer your time.

VAUSE: We will take a short break. When we come back, looking back and taking blame, Hillary Clinton explains how she lost last year's election. She accepts responsibility for the election loss in her new book, "What Happened". She also doesn't hold back, blaming others as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:41:48] VAUSE: For just a brief moment in New York on Tuesday, it was like 2016 all over again with chants of Hillary echoing through a Barnes & Noble Bookstore. For the truly dedicated supporters, this was more than a celebrity signing as a political memoir in her new book, "What Happened", Clinton lays out an exhausted post-mortem of how she lost what many believed to be the unlosable election. A former Democratic nominee for president accepts responsibility for what happened. She does so only to point, though, there's still plenty to blame, scores to settle, and clearly, a lot more time is needed to heal the wounds of that election. And for those who are interested, the message from Secretary Clinton is simple, too bad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, they don't have to buy my book, and they can turn off the radio when they hear me talking. I'm not going anywhere. I have the experience, I have the insight, I have the scars that I think, you know, give me not only the right, but the responsibility to speak out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, for more, Adrienne Elrod, former director of strategic communications for the Clinton campaign is with us now from Washington. Adrienne, thank you for coming in.

ADRIENNE ELROD, FORMER DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR CLINTON CAMPAIGN: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Mitt Romney, John McCain, Al Gore, they all lost presidential elections, they didn't write a book about it, they didn't head on a book tour. So, why has Hillary Clinton chosen this path, essentially, to re-litigate the past?

ELROD: Well, I think, you know, there's a couple of reasons why. First of all, this campaign was like no other. I mean, we had collusion from the Russians, we had a candidate that nobody else has ever run against, the type of candidate nobody else has ever run against ever in a Presidential Election. And secondly, Hillary Clinton wants to set the records straight. She wants to show her supporters and tell the people, you know, the 65 million people who voted for her. And what was going through her mind at some of these pivotal moments during the campaign.

You know, I was in the trenches of this campaign since the very beginning. I started in March of 2015 before there was actually a campaign. I myself as a senior aide to Hillary Clinton want to know what was going through her mind at some of those pivotal moments. I can only imagine what the millions of Americans that supported us along the way are thinking. So, I think it's very important when so many other people who are out there defining their narrative and their own view of what happened on this campaign, it's so important that she is out there speaking in her own voice and her own words and telling the story about what happened in a very candid frank manner.

VAUSE: Well, when it comes to accepting blame for losing the election, she writes this, "You can blame the data, blame the message, blame anything you want, but I was the candidate, it was my campaign. Those were my decisions." But she then goes on to blame voter suppression in Wisconsin and North Carolina, WikiLeaks, Vladimir Putin, fake news, sexism, misogyny, Bernie Sanders and that extended primary campaign he run, she blames the media, Trump's outlandish attacks, and mostly, she blames the former FBI Director James Comey. Even the title on the book seems kind of passive as if the election loss was something which happened to her as opposed to many, you know, what I did wrong.

[01:44:51] ELROD: Yes. Look, you know, she definitely takes blame for this. It's a very candid, raw book. I mean, she not only is taking blame for a lot of the reason why she lost, but also talking very frankly about some of the extraneous factors that led to, you know, ultimately, Donald Trump becoming president. Russia absolutely had a massive influence and either Russians were actively as we know, trying to influence our election. James Comey coming out 12 days before the election and saying we're reopening out the e-mail investigation to Hillary Clinton's e-mails and not disclosing why. I mean, it's somebody who works very closely in -- on that issue on the campaign that was very hard for us to figure out, you know, how to respond to this, and you really had no context.

So, she does go into a lot of the extraneous external factors that led to the ultimately to this election favoring Donald Trump. But she also takes responsibility. And that is what is so great about this book, it shows Hillary Clinton's resilience that she's willing to get back up, put on her boots as we say in the South where I'm from in Arkansas, and get back to work. She wants to be very focused, she wants to play a major role in Democratic politics moving forward. And, you know, she's going to take a step back and make sure that other Democrats have the chance to really shine, that she has more than earned the right to talk about why she lost this election, what was going through her head at those pivotal moments. And, you know, I'm -- frankly, I'm halfway through the book and I can't wait to read the rest of it.

VAUSE: OK. Well, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was asked about Secretary Clinton's book during Tuesday's briefing. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's sad that after Hillary Clinton ran one of the most negative campaign in history and lost, and the last chapter of her public is going to be now defined by propping up book sales with false and reckless attacks. And I think that that's a sad way for her to continue this (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Care to respond?

ELROD: Oh, I mean, I think that's a pretty sad reaction. Look, you know, I'm not going to sit here and play numbers here, but let's remember that Secretary Clinton did receive 60 -- over 65 million votes in this election, 3 million more than Donald Trump. And he got -- he did win this election fair and square, but ultimately, Hillary Clinton have more than earned the right to share her views of what was going through her mind at pivotal moments. She has so much to offer. I frankly -- I'm very disappointed that she's never going to run for public office again, but I'm very excited to know that she will continue to be out there playing a major role in public policy and helping new progressive policies forward.

VAUSE: You know, there are some very personal and candid moments in the book as well. Like, she talks about or writes about how she coped after the election loss. Here's what she wrote, "It wasn't all yoga and breathing, I also drink my fair share of chardonnay." On the e- mail scandal, "It was like quicksand, the more you struggle, the deeper you sink." I was also surprised that she asked the former President, George W. Bush for his counsel, for his advice if she should attend Trump's inauguration. He said she should do it for the country. How close is that relationship between George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton?

ELROD: Well, look, there's a -- you know, there's no question, and they -- both families, both the Bushes and the Clintons talked about their longstanding, deep friendship. They don't always agree on policy, but they certainly have a mutual respect for each other. And of course, President Clinton and President Bush, both President Bushes have done a lot when it comes to Haiti, aiding Haiti. They've done a lot of charitable work together which is a beautiful thing to watch. But look, you know, this campaign, we cannot sit here and say that this campaign was like any other. This was an unusual election. We've never seen a candidate like Donald Trump, the United States has never experienced influence that a foreign adversarial government like Russia has put into this election.

There's a lot to unravel here and there's a lot to consider that needs to be changed moving forward. So again, Secretary Clinton has more than earned her right to be a part of this narrative, and frankly, to find her own narrative, because again, you've seen so many books out there that have been written about this election. You'll see many more. I personally, the person who I want to hear from the most and I know that I share this view with millions of other Americans and frankly millions of people around the world as Hillary Clinton's.

VAUSE: Well, look, after so many years in public office, she certainly has deserve the right not to fade away. Thanks so much for coming here, it's great to speak with you.

ELROD: Thank you for having me. Thanks.

SESAY: Well, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz blames a staffing issue for a pornographic video which was liked on his Twitter account. According to The Washington Post, the Republican said it was a mistake and not done deliberately.

VAUSE: Twitter was quick to notice Cruz's account liked a tweet from an account called SexualPosts. His communications adviser said the tweet has been removed and reported.

SESAY: Let's move on and take a quick break, shall we? Next on NEWSROOM L.A., Apple revolutionized technology with the first iPhone. How are people reacting to its newest models? We'll discuss that with a tech expert just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:51:35] SESAY: Well, 10 years ago, Apple kicked off a revolution with its first generation of iPhones. Now, the tech firm has unveiled a luxury anniversary version of its flagship product for a whopping, yes, wait for it, $999.

VAUSE: Oh, shoot, I thought it was going to be 1,000.

SESAY: Well, the iPhone X has edge to edge glass, no traditional home button, and it unlocks by recognizing your face, John, which Apple says is very secure.

VAUSE: Oh, hello, hello, phone. Apple has also revealed the new cheaper iPhone 8 and the larger 8 Plus. All the phones come with wireless charging, improved display (INAUDIBLE), sharper cameras.

SESAY: For $999.

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) at least it's cheaper to like whatever. Joining us now is tech expert Jessica Naziri whose company, take this, tries to make technology understandable and accessible providing you have $1000 to buy a phone. OK. If you heard the Apple CEO, Tim Cook at the launch, this new iPhone, it will bring world peace, it will cool the planet, and will feed the hungry. I give you Mr. Cook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE: The first iPhone revolutionized a decade of technology and changed the world in the process. Now, 10 years later, it is only fitting that we are here in this place, on this day to reveal a product that will set the path for technology for the next decade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Jessica, set the path for technology for the next -- I mean, look, OK, this phone, it looks like an evolution of the iPhone. I'm not too sure it's an evolution of the entire smartphone industry, right?

JESSICA NAZIRI, TECH EXPERT: The real question is, will $1000 phone deliver a $1 trillion company like you have said. So, for a long time, Apple had set the precedent beginning with its first phone. We saw that the smart revolution had taken place. It was an app economy, everyone is really dependent on their phone. But with this latest announcement, I don't really know if it's cutting-edge or bleeding edge.

SESAY: Yes. I mean, does Apple still have it? I mean, do they still got the magic touch?

NAZIRI: One thing that I would say is the magic touch, what might really make the difference is the Augmented Reality. We saw that with the iPhone X, there's no longer a home button, but instead, you unlock the phone through your face. So, this is a really good way for you to start --

(LAUGHTER)

NAZIRI: That's one way, exactly. It's so funny because they say only one in a million can unlock the phone, so maybe some security concerns but it's starting a new revolution for Augmented Reality. We're really excited to see what apps will come from there. And this is what's really -- what they're betting on to push the button really going forward.

SESAY: I mean, let's face it, (INAUDIBLE) sticking with your face and you hit the -- your phone, and you really -- you know, that everyone is going to make it their mission out to see where they can crack it, whether they can -- you know, that's what most people are going to be waiting to see.

VAUSE: Well, there's three jokes.

(LAUGHTER) NAZIRI: Before you could bend it, right? But now, it's cracking maybe. And all jokes aside, they say that it's more durable and this is the next revolution of phones.

VAUSE: OK. But they actually mentioned like is this really worth shelling out $1000 for, and just for context, that's more than the GDP per capita of Liberia, (INAUDIBLE), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. So, for all the Apple fan boys who are going to line up and girls who are going to line up for hours and maybe days only to shell out $1000, I mean, you know, that may be a lot of money to them, it's a lot of money for a lot of people.

SESAY: It's a lot of money for everybody.

VAUSE: Yes.

[01:54:58] NAZIRI: It's a lot of money. $1000 to set a starting point, it's almost the same price as a computer, a laptop. And so, Apple is testing their customer loyalty. There is a huge Apple bandwagon, and when people start on Apple, they stay there. But we see that a lot of it, the technology we have in there are things that we've seen on an android phone for a long time as well.

SESAY: And to that point, I mean, Samsung -- I mean, their biggest competitor, are they sweating it is what I mean?

NAZIRI: What's so interesting is Samsung had already had the OLED display and now Apple is also using that. So, again, going back to who had it first, this is not really such new technology for Samsung fans because these technologies have been on there for some time now.

VAUSE: See, this is what I notice about Apple, is that, you know, when Steve Jobs was there, it was revolutionary, everything was advanced, making new -- oh, my God, I never even knew that existed. Now, it just seems to be adapting, taking a little bit from here, a little bit from there. Mismatching altogether at --

SESAY: Some sweet packaging and --

VAUSE: Yes, exactly. And saying that you go have at it, and it just doesn't seem to be -- I mean, not the first of us to make this incredibly intelligent observation. It's just not the same cutting- edge company that it was, you know, five, six years ago.

NAZIRI: You make a really good point. And I like to say Apple used to be the cutting-edge company. Now, it's looking more like bleeding edge.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: Yes.

NAZIRI: And there are different phones out there that are a lot cheaper, for example, ZTE is one company that's selling phones for $130, has a dual camera, has really great graphics, has a fast processor but it's $130. Then we have this new Apple anniversary 10th edition, the iPhone X, and like you said, $1000. But where are the big technologies that are going to make people buy? Are investors excited about this? Some are still waiting to see. Stocks did go up a little bit, but we'll only have to see. And there are things -- delay is also with the shipment, so we'll see what happens with that.

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) the other thing to it is China and Chinese are not going to shell out (INAUDIBLE) to this and that's a huge market. But Jessica, thanks for coming in.

NAZIRI: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Good chat. Thank you.

SESAY: All right. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. We will be back with a lot more news after a very short break.

SESAY: That's right. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

VAUSE: Ahead this hour, counting the cost of Irma, the hurricane leaves almost every home either damaged or destroyed in the Florida Keys.