the area of cuba and coastline that are built out of wood and old and i saw houses that looked like they would fall apart in a light rain. this is not a light rain. this is the most serious hurricane that hit this island in many years. we have no words of injuries or deaths. you can only imagine for the people that are going through the long night that we just experienced, what a horrible experience that was and the morning they wake up to is not much better. and it is not done yet. daylight will reveal some of the extent occurred. patrick oppmann in cuba for us. you will bring us those reports i m sure in the hours ahead. meanwhile, florida is staring down hurricane irma. now back as patrick said as a category five strength. those who cannot leave or chose not to, are starting to pour into emergency shelters. we ll talk to the city manager of north miami next. we ll be right back.
cuba is already seeing damage as hurricane irma rips through with high winds and there has been flooding as well. our patrick oppman is following the storm near the cuban coast. he joins us now. you certainly had rough times a few hours ago. how are things now, patrick? much worse, michael. that gust was bad. the house and town where we have been reporting from is now under water. probably a good 3 to 4 feet of water. halfway up the first floor of the house. there is another floor on top of us. we should be okay here. it is tragic. you look down the street. we walked down the main street of the town and waves are rolling down it. you wonder if people were able to get out in time here. this is a category five storm that is barrelling down on cuba
the cuban government must have been involved to allow these attacks to go forward. and what we re told though, wolf, is that for the time being, there does not appear to have been any further attacks. so basically what you re suggesting is some very high-pitched audio with, was sent out to the homes of these u.s. diplomats, that they couldn t hear anything but it would have an impact on their hearing, is that right? that s correct, it s a sonic weapon. this is a new tool that countries use to disrupt and cause injuries. none of these devices as far as we know have been discovered. again, sources telling us that these devices were placed in diplomat s homes or around their homes to try to cause them great distress, wolf. i m sure it s an ongoing mystery that needs to be fixed. thanks so much, patrick oppman, our man in havana, appreciate it very much. that s it for me.
deputy national security advisor ben rhodes who has been the lead negotiator with the cuban government for now years also was there but of course it was a very small delegation. that s not a surprise because, of course, even with restored diplomatic relations fidel castro is a controversial figure in the united states. you saw that with the protests and celebrations in miami over his death. perhaps most surprising was there wasn t a high level russian delegation and you can read any number of things into that. other world leaders, particularly from latin america, did come here and did celebrate this man s life and there was a good turnout from the people you would expect, other socialist countries and of course they say they ll continue on with his revolutionary ideals. patrick oppman, thank you very much for your reporting. much appreciated. this is a picture of donald trump s top aide in a way we ve never seen before. there she is.
Transcripts for CNN CNN Newsroom Live 20160502 06:51:30 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.