for help investigating the mysterious illness. what they are asking for in a cnn exclusive. they are democrats, republicans, business leaders and moms. the historic year for women on the ballot in 2022. hello and welcome to the lead. i m casey hunt in for jake tapper. we begin with president biden getting a firsthand look at the damage caused by hurricane ian in florida. he made it clear the federal government is committed to helping the state, which he predicts will take years to recover. earlier in his visit, he met with ron desantis who briefed him on the destruction. the two men on opposites ends of the political spectrum. biden s visit comes as the u.s. death toll from hurricane ian rises again to at least 110 people killed. search and rescue teams are working nonstop to find survivors. for first time, residents and businessowners from sanibel island are allowed to return. only to survey the damage. they can t stay. local officials warn that conditions on the islan
still cut off from the mainland. search and rescue operations are still under way. serious questions are being asked about whether evacuation orders came too late for some. nearly 2,000 people have been rescued so far according to the florida governor. thcht is footage from sanibel island, blue skies overhead. a neighborhood still flooded to the point that only way out is by chopper. we have two reports tonight. the first is from ft. myers beach and our randi kaye who is among the first reporters to get in and witness the enormous destruction and still on going rescue operations up close. this is what she saw. this is our first look from the ground at ft. myers beach, hurricane keyian s winds combined with the storm surge, chewed through homes and businesses. sparing nothing in its path. massive devastation. something somewhat used to my first deployment was hurricane katrina. so, you know, a lot of hurricanes over the years. this certainly is a big, big disaster. repor
conspiracy theory. opening statements were delivered for stewart rods in a courtroom today. they re accused of plotting to overthrow our government by force on january 6, 2021, among other crimes. all five have pleaded not guilty. three other members of the oath keepers have pleaded guilty to the sedition charge, as part of plea deals. two more sedition trials are scheduled to take place this year. but this is the first time in over a decade that federal prosecutors have argued that americans plotted to violently oppose the u.s. government. they re opening statement featured videos capturing the oath keepers actions at the capitol that day, along with messages and other communications among the defendants. stewart rhodes himself never entered the building on january 6th, but he was videoed on the capitol grounds. the doj has a recording from rhodes from four days after the attack saying his only regret is that the oath keepers should have brought, rifles, end quote on januar
senate. mitch mcconnell worries aloud that it may block his return to the senate majority. and democrats say thousands of new irs agents will replace retir rees and improve customer service. up first for us, though, a new deadline and legal siren for the former president donald trump. federal prosecutors now have until next week to tell a judge what portions of the affidavit should stay secret. the judge disagreeing with the justice department say they are pieces of that document that could be made public without harming the case. they argued the probably cause for that warrant application. we learned the affidavit relies on substantial grand jury information and prosecutors say a full and public release of the document would lay out all to see the road map for the justice department s case, including next critical steps. we also got a glimpse of a new document with new allegations against the former president quoting willful retention of national information, language that p
mass shooting. additionally there s new word how his father apparently helped him obtain a gun license he likely should not have had given the red flags in his recent past. this young man who apparently had attempted suicide and yet his father helped him get a gun license. more on all of it shortly. first, though, because we now have the names of all seven people killed. we want to begin with who they were. he d just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. his wife and four daughters were everything to him. his daughter telling cnn he would have turned 70 on friday. despite being the oldest victim at 88, steven strausss was still active, still enjoying life according to one grandson. nicholas toledo had eight children, countless grandchildren. one of them describes him as a loving man who was creative, adventurous and funny. in highland park from mexico visiting family he was 78. taught preschool, served on the staff of a local citadel, just couldn t find a lovelier person.