Nightly News Full Broadcast - Oct. 11
NBC News- 51 views
- 12 Oct 2024
Major flooding continues in Florida as death toll rises after Milton; Search continues in neighborhoods ripped apart by tornadoes; ...
Tonight, the urgent search and rescue effort in Florida's Storm zone as the death toll from Hurricane Milton rises. With the floodwater still rising, first responders out in full force using boats to rescue families and pets still trapped in their homes. A 91-year-old woman carried to safety by deputies. At least 17 dead, and more than 2 million homes and businesses still without power. Statewide, nearly a third of all gas stations running out of fuel. Communities still cut off by the devastation caused by Milton and its deadly tornadoes. Our team in the hurricane zone. Also, tonight, the dramatic rescue after a deadly accident trapped nearly two dozen tourists at a Colorado gold mine. The victim who died now identified as a tour guide and father. The race for the White House, Barack Obama hitting the campaign trail for Kamala Harris, taking aim at Donald Trump, his blunt message to black men. And with 25 days to go, Mr. Trump campaigning in Aurora, Colorado. It comes after he spread falsehoods about migrants and gangs overrunning the city, despite the Republican mayor saying that's not true. And the spectacular show in the sky, the Northern lights visible as far south as Texas.
Will there be another chance to catch them tonight?
This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
Good evening and welcome. Almost 48 hours now since Hurricane Milton broadsided the Florida Peninsula. Efforts to locate and rescue people trapped by floodwaters are still underway, with some places like the Barrier Island of Minnesota Key, along the state's West Coast still inaccessible. Lack of access frustrating both recovery efforts and residents who are eager to go home and see what's left. Officially, the death toll from Milton stands at 17. Millions of homes and businesses are still without power. Fuel, too, is a problem. The tracking site Gasbuddy reports 77% of Tampa's gas stations were without fuel as of midday. Gas shortages also exist in Sarasoda, down through Fort Myers and Naples. We are also seeing the slow motion effects of this storm. Rivers are rising, increasing the flood threat as we go into the weekend. Sam Brock leads off our storm coverage from Florida.
With floodwaters rising to dangerous levels. Come over here, sir. You got to come to me. Tonight, urgent rescues near Tampa. Got it. Sheriff's deputies carrying this 91-year-old woman to safety after her home was surrounded by water. This looks like a boat ramp. This is an entrance into a neighborhood. There's cars underwater. Some homes are completely underwater. All you see is the apex of the house. Among those rescued, 135 disabled elderly residents who had evacuated to this area while on the opposite Coast in Port Orange. It looked like we were in the middle of a lake. There was water in every direction, as far as you could see. Officials say hundreds of people have been rescued since Hurricane Milton roared ashore Wednesday night. The death toll from the storm has now risen to At least 17 more than 2 million homes and businesses remain without power. Even gas is still hard to find with long lines at stations that haven't. Some of the hardest hit communities are inaccessible. This little stretch of land, there's a bay right here. On the other side, you can see Minnesota Key. There is incredibly extensive damage. Their residents just want to get over and see what shape their property is in.
It's the one thing they can't do right now. With feet of sand and debris and crews trying to restore electricity, Charlotte County officials tell us it's not safe for anyone to be there right now. It's numbing.
It's been numb for the last two weeks.
Peter Higgeman and Rod Nybert both live on the Key with their families and rent properties to vacationers. This is everything I have in the world. To lose all that, I lose my retirement, I lose my business, I lose my income, I lose my house. Your entire life savings is wrapped up in those homes. Yes. So many lives upended. Is that not even your refrigerator in the water over your shoulder? No. To be honest with you, most of this is not ours. Like Charlotte Sal, whose restaurant, Landee's, has been hit by hurricanes three times in five years. She says she's committed to recovering and reopening again. We just keep going. We've been through three of these in a pandemic. We just keep coming back.
Sam, we're two days on now, and this flood threat is not over.
Oh, absolutely not, Lester. Right now, rivers that are at or above major flood stage, residents living nearby need to prepare to evacuate at any time for so many communities. It's 48 to 72 hours more of standing by.
Lester. Okay, Sam Brock, thank you. Some of Milton's worst destruction wasn't from the hurricane itself, but from the outbreak of tornadoes had spawned, including a strong twister in Fort pierce on the East Coast. Stephanie Gosc is there for us tonight.
Tonight in the Spanish Lakes Retirement Community, they are still searching through shredded mobile homes looking for victims. We're yelling out, looking for signs of life. We have dogs out there sniffing. The residents here were braced for Hurricane Milton. What they got were tornadoes. Authorities are keeping the public out while they're searching. But from this vantage point, you can see over the canal and into the neighborhood. That's a home on top of another home. And damage like that extends all the way down that street. Six of the 17 people killed by Hurricane Milton lived in Spanish Lakes, and there is concern that number may go up. Among those who died, 66-year-old Debbie Kennedy. I asked questions for hours. I tried to get people to go over there and look for-her daughter, Brandee, eventually getting the devastating news. Nobody expected that type of event to happen, especially hours before the storm was even due to hit. When the tornado ripped through Fort pierce, the eye of Hurricane Milton hadn't even made landfall. According to a county spokesperson, in the span of just a couple of hours, 911 received nearly 1,000 calls. It pulled it out, flew away.
Logan and Kylee Barbery hid in the bathroom with their two babies and their dogs while the outdoor patio was entirely ripped off.
It is the most terrifying experience I've ever had in my life.
You have your babies there. Yeah. To have them survive, it's just like, and us survive. That's all I need. Heartbroken now, she says, for the loss of life and the destruction in her hometown. These things do get ripped from you, and you aren't expecting that. In this hurricane, the most lethal punch came nowhere near landfall, and they didn't see it coming.
Stephanie Goss joining us now. Stephanie, experts believe the Fort pierce tornado could have been as strong as an EF3. Is that typical to see a tornado of that size embedded in a hurricane?
No, it's not, Lester. They're typically EF0s or EF1s. But in 2024, three hurricanes spawned EF3 tornadoes, and that was before Milton.
Lester? Okay. Stephanie Goss, thank you. We turn out of the tragedy at a tourist gold mine in Colorado, where they're still trying to figure out why an elevator that takes people deep into the mine malfunctured function. A tour operator died, and a dozen people were trapped for hours. Liz Kreutz is there.
New details tonight about the dramatic rescue at a tourist gold mine in Colorado. Officials identifying the victim as 46-year-old Patrick Weer, a tour guide at the mine, and a well-known member of the tight-knit historic mining community. Even for those who don't know him personally, it's just the nature of our communities that this is very difficult for everyone. Authorities The stories say Weer was about 500 feet down the elevator shaft with a group of tourists when it appeared the door may have malfunctioned. His cause of death still under investigation. What happened to Patrick that caused his death? I do know that there was a lot of internal injuries in things that occurred. It was pretty tragic. First responders lifting the other riders in the elevator, including two children, to safety, while another dozen tourists already in the mine remained trapped 1,000 feet down for hours. Do you know much about how they passed the time for nearly seven hours? I'll tell you, they have a guide that was at the bottom with them. That seemed to be a very good talker, keeping them in high spirits. The family run Gold Mine, a popular tourist destination that's been offering tours for roughly 60 years.
The county sheriff saying the family's knowledge was invaluable in the rescue. That owner actually rode with the inspectors to make sure this elevator could go down safely. There was a lot of pressure on that family. What Without their help, we may not have been able to get people up out of there.
Liz, what's next for the mine attraction?
Well, Lester, the mine is now closed for the season. As the investigation continues, OSHA is now involved. We know that officials here have made a point of highlighting both the historic and economic significance of this mine here to the community, and they say they are hopeful it will eventually reopen.
Lester. Liz Kreutz, thank you. Just three and a half weeks now until election day, and former President Obama delivering a pretty blunt message to black men last night as he campaigned for Vice President Harris. Here's Gabe Gutieris.
Tonight, with just 25 days to go, the Harris campaign with an all-out push for critical swing voters. The Vice President in Battleground, Arizona. This is a fight that is not against something as much as it is a fight that is for something. After former President Obama campaigned for Harris for the first time in must-win Pennsylvania, arguing he was responsible for the strong economy during the Trump years. Yeah, it was pretty good because it was my economy. And in a striking admission, Obama, one of Harris's most high-profile backers, acknowledged her campaign as an enthusiasm problem among black voters.
We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running. I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.
Obama speaking bluntly about his concerns why some black men may not be supporting Harris. Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president. By far, Harris still leads former President Trump among young black men. She is somebody who is going to fight for freedom, and I really like her message of turning the page. It's honestly, I'm tired of the things that Donald Trump says and what he stands for. But polls suggest Trump has cut into Democrats' advantage since 2020, and that could be crucial in tight battlegrounds like Pennsylvania. A question now, will Obama have an impact? I feel like I think blacks have been used for their vote for years. Laquent Dickey voted for Obama twice. Since then, he switched to Trump over Harris. She hasn't answered anything about any of her policies, any of them. So There's no clear line of what her policies are.
And gay vice President Harris will ramp up her own outreach to Black voters next week.
Yes, Lester. A senior campaign official says they want to have candid conversations with Black men across battleground states. So on Tuesday, the Vice President is now scheduled to highlight new economic policies to benefit Black Americans during a town hall in Detroit.
Lester? All right, Gabe Gutieris, tonight. Thank you. And former President Trump was in Colorado today, going after Vice President Harris on immigration as his own plan for mass deportations faces new scrutiny. Garret Hake has that story for us.
Tonight, former President Trump casting Aurora, Colorado, as a cautionary tale. I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered. Trump falsely claiming Venezuelan gangs have overrun the city, highlighting viral videos of armed men in apartment complexes and vowing mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, starting with convicted criminals, assisted by local police. We will begin the task of finding and deporting every single illegal alien gang member from our country. We'll get them out. But Aurora's police chief tells us crime is down. He says there is an issue with migrant gangs here, but the city is not overrun, as Trump says. Do you recognize that, Aurora? You know what? Right now, that is not the situation that we have. But what we do have is a new group that have come into the city of Aurora. They have caused without question major concerns. He wants federal help to deal with migrants, not responsibility for deporting them. You don't have any or very little federal assistance. I think it's really a disaster. A recent poll shows 59% of likely voters support mass deportation of undocumented migrants. Trump's former acting ICE director argues it's necessary after over 10 million migrants crossed the border since the Biden-Harris administration began.
If we continue to let people to the border, break the law, and then release them in the United States, then this cycle will never end. But immigration advocates say mass deportations endanger families. Families will be forced to leave their children here in order for them to have a good life, to remain in safety. Vice President Harris has blasted Trump's deportation plan. I will put my record up against anyone in terms of the work I have always done and will always do to ensure ensure we have a secure border. And tonight, the Harris campaign accusing Trump of, quote, trying to fan the flames of division with debunked lies.
Lester? Hink, thank you. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today to a Japanese movement that campaigns against the use of nuclear weapons, and his members are survivors of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during World War II. The group was honored for its long campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world. In 60 seconds, the future of the road. Is it Elon Musk's new driverless taxis and vans? Why some say there might be roadblocks ahead after this. We're back with Stocks ending the week with new records, the Dow and the S&P 500 both closing at all-time highs. But the news wasn't so good for Tesla. Its stock dropping more than 8% after CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company's newest vision, fully autonomous taxis. We get more from Gatti Schwartz.
Overnight in Los Angeles, Elon Musk revealing his next destination, the fully driverless cyber cab. As you can see, I just arrived in the robotaxi, the cyber cab. The Tesla CEO showing off what he says is the company's first fully autonomous robo taxi, with no steering wheel, no pedals, a whole lot of AI, and a price tag of around $30,000. You could fall asleep and wake up at your destination. Musk also hyping a robo van that can carry up to 20 passengers. Now, can you imagine going down the streets and you see this coming to war, too? But critics are quick to question the timeline of that future. Musk says mass production of the cyber cab is at least two years away. I tend to be a little optimistic with time frames. Tesla's stock dropping 8% today. Investors skeptical after Musk's track record of over-promising on deadlines. It's still four years behind competition. There's a lot of ground for Tesla to make up, that's for sure. Meanwhile, While competitors like Google's Wemo have been on the roads for years without drivers. It's just me and the steering wheel here. Wemo having logged more than 22 million driverless miles across four cities, while Tesla's with full self-driving capabilities still need a human in the driver's seat, and even that tech is under scrutiny.
Earlier this year, federal regulators said a critical safety gap in Tesla's self-driving systems contributed to at least 467 collisions, including 14 deaths. We'll see autonomous cars become 10 times safer than a human. But for now, that promise of a cyber cab and full self-driving safety remains as elusive as an Android's dream. Gatti Schwartz, MBC News, Los Angeles.
And up next for us tonight, the reverse migration. Why more people are saying they've had enough of Florida, and it's not just the storms. Florida has been a top destination for American begins to relocate in recent years. But as these powerful hurricanes have taken their toll, some Florida residents are wondering whether it's time to seek safer ground. Here's Marissa Para.
It's been six years since Jenny Galt moved to the Sunshine State. What was it that had you attracted to the idea of living here? My grandparents lived in Fort Lauderdale, and it always... For a kid from Illinois, it was paradise. She dreamed of retiring in Florida. Now, she wants to put her home back on the Tampa Bay market. That's the prettiest city I think I've ever been in. So why not stay?
It's a little hard with the weather.
Two hurricanes in the row has tapped me out, mentally and almost financially. That's why Galt has decided this one will be her last. A lot of work. I'm 60. I don't want to keep doing it. I'm hot and I'm sweating, and I'm hauling tree limbs. Just years after Florida's In a pandemic population boom, nearly 12% of Florida homeowners say they plan to leave the state in the next year because of rising insurance costs. Floridians pay the highest premiums in the US, about $11,000 annually for homeowners insurance, compared to an average of nearly 2,400 nationwide. Just two in five Floridians have money set aside for disasters like this. For a lot of people, it's leading to a breaking point. It's impacting condo owners, too, with updates to meet new safety standards, causing condo fees to spike and constant building in the state, inventory is soaring. In Tampa, the number of condos for sale is up nearly 60% year over year. Some of these condos have gone from $350, $400 a month for fees to $700, $800, $900 a month. And those prices don't come down over time. They only go up. After two storms in two weeks, galt is spent.
If I left here, I'd go back to Illinois.
I have my old job waiting for me.
No more warm winters. No, but no more of this. Marisa Para, NBC News, St. Petersburg, Florida.
We'll take a short break. Coming up, what was behind this unexpected light show, Across American Skies. The Good News From Above is next. There is good news tonight about the Northern lights. They may be visible again this evening in the Northern States, the Lower Midwest, and Oregon, after last night's rare and dazzling show. Joe Freier now with the stunning images.
It looked like someone brushed a pack of neon highlighters across nature's ceiling, a tie-dye sky draped across much of the country: Wisconsin, New Jersey, the US capital. In Indiana, it was as if Earth's atmosphere decorated for Christmas early. The Aurora Borealis is a show with admission typically reserved for colder climates like Alaska or Iceland. But last night, this northern light was a Southern site. It stretched to Texas, Alabama, Florida. The reason for such a heavenly display, an unusually mighty solar storm created by a huge burst of energy known as a coronal mass ejection. Experts warned all that energy could have disrupted power or communications down here on Earth, but all it seemed to do was power, our wonder. And odds are good. Many across the country will see it again soon. A rare storm lighting up the sky in the best way possible. Joe Freier, NBC News.
It's beautiful. That's nightly news for this Friday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night. Thanks for watching. Stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.