this was the best scenario. we took the appropriate precautions. i ll ask a woman who may be new york s next mayor if the city get it done and cory booker from the front lines. and maverick billionaire mark cuban is not afraid to say what he thinks about the economy, sport, politicians, just about anything. tonight he says he ll raise hell. watch out, america. this is piers morgan tonight. good evening. of all the places to be hit by a tropical storm who expected vermont to take such a pounding? the creeks and rivers are a raging torrent tonight, one the governor fears will take many more lives. 27 people in nine states have died in hurricane irene. millions are still in the dark and irene s price tag could go as high as $6 billion. in the wake of the storm administration officials will visit virginia, north carolina, and vermont tomorrow. all of this six years to the day after the massive tragedy of katrina. joining me is gary tuchman in brattleboro. what s the latest
tonight, hurricane or hype? vermont reeling from the worst flooding since the 20s, but was irene overblown? it could have been worse. we are not out of the woods yet. did government and the media go too far? better safe than sorry. we want to protect people and protect people s lives. this was the best scenario. we took the appropriate precautions. i ll ask a woman who may be new york s next mayor if the city get it done and cory booker from the front lines. and maverick billionaire mark cuban is not afraid to say what he thinks about the economy, sport, politicians, just about anything. tonight he says he ll raise hell. watch out, america. this is piers morgan tonight. good evening. of all the places to be hit by a tropical storm who expected vermont to take such a pounding? the creeks and rivers are a raging torrent tonight, one the governor fears will take many more lives. 27 people in nine states have died in hurricane irene. millions are still in the dar
we begin this morning, talking about the aftermath of irene, the massive storm that paralyzed and pummeled much of the east coast. today, it s blamed for at least 21 deaths in nine states from florida to vermont. and at last count, about 3 million homes and businesses are still without power. more than a billion dollars in damages is blamed on the storms winds. flooding damage will be much more costly. three navy ships should be positioned in relief efforts from new york to new england. cnn crews are in place, measuring the storm s impact and the struggle for the millions of americans trying to move on now. we ll take you from north carolina to new york to new england and give you the big picture from the cnn weather center, right here in atlanta. let s go ahead and begin in vermont, a state reeling from some of its worst flooding in decades. gary tuchman there in brat tleboro. reporter: they don t deal with hurricanes, at least not until yesterday when tropical storm ire
so i want people to understand that this is not over. response and recovery efforts will be an ongoing operation. and i urge americans in affected areas to continue to listen for the guidance and direction of their state and local officials. before the storm made landfall, the department of homeland security and fema worked very closely with our state and local partners as well as volunteer organizations to preposition supplies and teams of first responders along the hurricane s projected track. and the american red cross opened shelters in communities across the region. i want to thank those americans for their work over the past several days, which has saved lives and property up and down the east coast. we continue to have search and rescue personnel on alert as well as water, food and other needed resources. and moving forward, fema s working with state and local responders to assess damage and assist in the recovery. i do want to underscore that the impacts of this storm
really aren t too terribly far apart and the deal can be done by the august 2nd, tuesday deadline. let s listen to the president, this is when he spoke around 10:30 this morning. let s listen. good morning, everybody. i want to speak about the ongoing and increasingly urgent efforts to avoid default and reduce our deficit. right now, the house of representatives is still trying to pass a bill that the majority of republicans and democrats in the senate have already said they won t vote for. it s a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months, holding our economy captive to washington politics once again. in other words, it does not solve the problem, and it has no chance of becoming law. what s clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan, it must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the american people. not just one faction. it will have to have the support of both the house and the senate, and