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Hurricane Helene Aftermath; Israel Continues Strikes in Lebanon. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 30, 2024 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:02]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And still ahead this hour, we're monitoring other big, breaking stories.

This hour, Hezbollah is vowing to fight after that Israeli airstrike killed the terror group's influential leader. But Israel is striking more targets in Southern Lebanon. And for the first time since war broke out October 7, airstrikes hit within the city limits of Beirut.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:08]

BROWN: And we are following breaking news out of the Middle East.

President Biden just urged Israel to stop any special operations raids in Lebanese territory amid these expectations that Israel could launch a limited ground operation there. And this comes just days after Israel assassinated the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

This morning, the group says a new leader will be chosen as soon as possible. Israel is also ramping up its offensive on other militant groups. An airstrike killed a Hamas leader in Lebanon.

And joining us now is Ian Bremmer, the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm.

Ian, first off, I just want to get your reaction to President Biden this hour sharply discouraging Israel from ground ops in Lebanon and what it's already engaged in with these targeted raids.

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP: It's the latest thing that President Biden has been sharply discouraging. You will remember he sharply discouraged the Israelis from cutting off all the humanitarian aid into Gaza. He sharply discouraged them from the ground incursion into Rafah.

I mean, this is ineffectual. He is seen to be weak, particularly on this issue, not just by the Israeli prime minister, but around the world. And the policy hasn't worked out very well.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who just recently got his former opponent, Gideon Saar, the former minister of defense, and in charge of the New Hope Party, to join his government, he's now more popular than he's been at any point since October 7.

So, I mean, you really see this playing out.

BROWN: Tell us why that is and why you think President Biden is so ineffectual right now. The U.S., as you laid out, is losing its influence.

BREMMER: Well, one reason is because Biden is actually a very strong pro-Zionist, so he wants to support Israel much more than American allies around the world do. It's a personally felt policy.

The second is that he is -- although he doesn't like the Israeli prime minister, he's been unwilling to do very much publicly. So, privately, he's saying, I don't want you to do X, Y, and Z. He's trying to exert pressure. But aside from some very, very limited sanctions, for example, against some settlers, some -- a couple of delays of some military programs, the reality is, there are no consequences for the Israeli government in their unwillingness to follow any of the advice that President Biden is giving them.

So I think it's a combination of those two things. Now, why it is that Netanyahu is so popular is because his policies -- and, remember, he was seen by the entire Israeli population as responsible for October 7. He didn't protect his people. He wasn't able to get the Israeli Defense Forces the intelligence to either see coming or stave off the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7.

We see now just how capable when they're focused the Israeli military intelligence is. The Israeli population, unlike the U.S., unlike the rest of the world, does not support a two-state solution. They do support the war in Gaza. They support the destruction, the complete destruction of Hamas, irrespective of the civilian casualties that we have seen, and they support the decapitation of Hezbollah.

So his policies, as much as they may be out of step with the rest of the world and with Biden, are very much in step with the people of Israel.

BROWN: And do you think, because he is gaining in popularity again after October 7, that that is just emboldening him, in a sense, to not listen to the U.S. on all of these different issues that the U.S. is urging behind the scenes and in front of the curtain, as we just heard from President Biden today?

BREMMER: Yes, of course I think it's emboldening them, absolutely. But that's not really a problem. I mean, at the end of the day, the Israelis are engaging in policies that are very much consistent with continuing this war.

Their war aims are not only the destruction of Hamas, but also getting the 60,000 Israelis that have been evacuated from their homes and can't attend school living in the north of Israel, he wants to get them back. That is a principal war aim.

So, I mean, is it emboldening him that what the Americans are saying? No, what the Americans are saying are having literally nothing to do with what Netanyahu is up to right now. And when he is able to declare victory against his Hezbollah, which I expect in the coming weeks, and he's able to return those 60,000 Israelis to their homes -- and, remember, that's the equivalent of over two million Americans.

Imagine if a year after 9/11 you had an entire state in the United States that had been evacuated. It'd be all we are talking about in the American news. It is a very big deal. It's a lot of pressure in Israel, and he's intending fully to make that happen, which is why I expect, even though there's no confirmation yet, that we are going to see at least a limited ground incursion of Israeli troops into Lebanon.

[11:40:28]

That's why you see over 100,000 Lebanese that have evacuated their homes, that are leaving the country for places like Syria and Jordan right now. They expect it too. And, again, all of this, at least for now, is giving a lot of momentum to Netanyahu's political support.

BROWN: All right, Ian Bremmer, thank you so much. Always great to have you on and hear your analysis.

BREMMER: Sure. My pleasure.

BROWN: And so ahead: He hadn't heard from his elderly parents for two days after Helene hit their town.

So my next guest drove as far as the roads would let him and then hiked 11 miles to find them. He will tell us his remarkable story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:43]

BROWN: And welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM and continuing coverage of our top story, the disaster in Western North Carolina after Helene.

There are areas that are just completely cut off. Days after the storm hit, many people still have no power. They don't have cell phone service. They're just abandoned and struggling right now in isolation. But amid this devastation, there are also these incredible stories of resilience that are emerging, like the story of this man, Sam Perkins.

He walked 11 miles to reach his elderly parents' house, hiking along a heavily damaged road carrying bottles of water and fresh food after he hadn't heard from them in two days.

Sam Perkins joins us now.

And, Sam, I know so many of us know -- can try to understand the fear you had in not being able to reach your parents, knowing the devastation from the storm, and wondering if they're still alive. First off, how are your parents doing right now?

SAM PERKINS, NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENT: They're good. They are very much on an island. Where they are is, it's not in a low-lying river area. It's up on a ridge.

And so a lot of the roads are washed out and there are landslides and there's really not a route in or out by vehicle right now.

BROWN: So, they really are in isolation. And you were there.

You have since left because you didn't want to take up the limited amount of resources they had. So take us back to the beginning of your journey. You couldn't reach your parents for 48 hours. You became concerned, not knowing whether they were dead or alive. What was that 11-mile hike to get to them like?

PERKINS: So I had done the math in my head and figuring how long someone can go without water, nonetheless if they need more immediate medical attention.

And so at 48 hours, I decided I needed to try to get there. And the roads from the town at the bottom of the mountain in Marion are closed. And there was a trooper blocking the highway there and said, if you want to walk, you can.

And I had a backpack and filled up water, some food, supplies, a power bank for recharging phones, and just started trekking. And I got a -- I was able to hitchhike with someone for a little bit of the ways at the bottom where the road was relatively clear until it wasn't. We hit a spot where the road had washed out. There was a really bad landslide.

Ironically, there was a crew up from Florida helping to chain saw, and at that point started a trek the rest of the way up the mountain to get to them, and eventually did. And my dad was out trying to do what work he could with what juice his chain saw had, and just was the greatest relief I have had in my life, and just hugged him as tight as I could and bawled, and then went inside and found my mom and did the same.

BROWN: I just -- I can't imagine how emotional that was, because, as you're on this trek, you really thought maybe they didn't survive, right?

And then you see them.

PERKINS: Yes.

BROWN: I mean, bring us in more to that moment.

PERKINS: So, yes, on the trek up, it was -- it was concerning enough for folks who were right by a creek. And my parents are high enough away from the big creek by them that I figured they didn't get directly flooded.

But I was worried about landslides, worried about trees. And I can't tell you how many landslides and collapsed roads and trees I had to cross to get to them. And so I kind of got more and more worried the more that I went up, because it just got worse and worse. I mean, there were there were undoubtedly tornadoes up there. And it was -- it was the most exhausting hike and kind of a crawl through a jungle gym of trees and landslides I have ever had to do.

[11:50:05]

But I'm glad I did it. And I'm relieved to know they're OK, their neighbors are OK, and got a list of calls and needs and kind of came back. And, yes, I didn't want to use up any of their water or food staying there.

So I came back and did what I could from this end.

BROWN: Wow, Sam Perkins, what a son. Oh, my gosh. And what a story, just the challenge of -- the physical challenge, the emotional challenge. And you did it and you got to your parents. And they are OK, thankfully.

We really appreciate you coming on to share your just amazing story, Sam.

PERKINS: Yes, I appreciate it.

And I hope folks will keep this area in mind. This is a really big season typically for folks up there with leaf season. So when everything's back open, I really hope folks will visit their whole region from Asheville to Boone, and especially this area of Little Switzerland.

BROWN: Certainly. We hope so too.

Sam, thank you.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:31]

BROWN: And finally this hour, it is hard to comprehend the full scale of Helene's devastation.

Its 500-mile path hit places many never thought would be impacted by such a storm, or certainly not impacted this bad. Asheville is more than 400 miles from the coast and traditionally storms break apart in the mountains, but Helene was different.

This storm is one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the U.S. in the last 50 years, 115 people killed, and that number is expected to grow. Scientists say that these storms, storms like Helene, are getting more dangerous and more common and posing a greater threat than before.

Our thoughts and our prayers go out to all of these communities impacted by Helene.

Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Pamela Brown. You can follow me on Instagram, X, TikTok, @PamelaBrownCNN.

Stay with us. "INSIDE POLITICS" with Manu Raju starts after this short break.