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Florida Bracing for Tropical Storm Ian; Russians Avoiding Conscription; January 6th Select Committee's Public Hearing Next Week; Giorgia Meloni Favored to Win Italian Election. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 26, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: And a warm welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," tracking Ian. Florida bracing for a major hurricane. The state's governor urging people to make preparations now.

Fleeing Russia, Putin's mobilization efforts after a chaotic start as cars line up at the border for people trying to avoid fighting his war.

Will Biden and Trump top their tickets again in 2024. New polling tests the appetite for a rematch.

And we begin this hour with Tropical Storm Ian and that's churning in the Caribbean and getting stronger as it heads north towards Cuba. Now, Ian is expected to reach hurricane status Monday before hitting western Cuba. Officials say they're expecting strong winds, heavy rain and dangerous storm surges.

Now, Ian then expected to turn into a major hurricane on Tuesday and forecast to hit the Florida coast sometime later this week. Now, people in Florida, as you can imagine, already preparing for Ian. Florida's governor has activated 2,500 National Guard troops. Tapa residents' meantime are filling sandbags, you see them there, trying to prevent that flooding. And emergency management officials are preparing for dangerous storm surges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN GUTHRIE, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: We are loading and by the day we will have loaded 360 trailers with more than 2 million meals and more than 1 million gallons of water to be ready to be sent into impacted areas.

You need to be prepared for sheltering in place. You may lose power for multiple days. Make sure you have enough food and water that you can prepare while you're sheltering in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, a tropical storm watch is in effect for the Florida Keys and officials are urging people to stay prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD CHRINISTER, SHERIFF, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: If an evacuation order is given, please heed that warning. You don't want to be that family or that individual that calls for help and us and our partners of first responders can't get to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Alright, let's bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. And Pedram, there's always that uncertainty, right? Where will the storm make landfall in terms of where it might hit in Florida?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, Paula, it's a great question. And so many variabilities within this particular forecast and the storm system that we think for the last few hours are going to remain a tropical storm and then by the time you get shortly past sunrise possibly. This is back to being a hurricane and it certainly stays there and intensifies in the coming several days.

But I want to show you exactly what is slated for the storm system because we noted here, we do have hurricane warnings across the Cayman Islands, across western areas of Cuba as well. And the system is slated to go over the warmest oceanic content here in all of the Atlantic Ocean here inside the next few hours.

So, we know strengthening is certainly going to occur as a result of this. And the storm surge potential is going to be significant across portions of western Cuba, as much as 14 feet. That's as early as later on Monday night into Tuesday morning. And then beyond this as it re- emerges across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, storm surge threat could get up as high as 4 to 7 feet across parts of southwest Florida.

And notice the storm intensity. Probably Tuesday evening, possibly a major hurricane Category 3. By Wednesday morning, up to a Category 4. And that's when the storm system gets extremely dangerous because forecast guidance has brought this little bit closer towards areas of western Florida, of course, population density increases quite a bit across the Tampa Bay area.

And the last time a major hurricane directly impacted the Tampa Bay area was back in 1921. So, 101 years since they've been impacted. There seems quite a bit of activity across the state of Florida in recent decades, but a storm of this magnitude impacting that region would be significant, but just to show you the variability between these models from one day to the next, they have shifted and in fact, looking 3 to 4 days out.

Typically, there is a margin of error about of about 125 miles. So that really speaks to how much it could change in the coming several days. I want to show you one of the European models that brings that initial landfall in Cuba on Tuesday morning and then approaches this as a major hurricane near Tampa sometime Wednesday afternoon to either Wednesday night and Thursday morning. That's one model that pushes it in then eventually being a heavy

rainfall. And Paula, the secondary ones show you the significant spread here.

[02:05:02]

It keeps it offshore, possibly bringing it near the panhandle sometime Thursday. So, we're going to be following this as the story progresses and see exactly where the storm system eventually ends up.

NEWTON: Yeah. The margin of error, more than 100 miles. Yeah, that is significant in terms of where it might hit in Florida. We know you will be staying on it and see you in the weather center and we'll continue to get your updates. Appreciate it.

Now, we go to the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. A body that was washed out to sea in Canada has now been recovered. At least seven deaths so have been attributed to the storm tight across Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Canada.

Now, new images from eastern Canada are showing the trail of destruction left behind after Fiona swept through that region. Officials say the priority now is trying to restore power and clearing roads right across the province. Several homes were washed away in dramatic fashion by floodwaters due to Fiona, one of the strongest storms, remember, that hit, strongest storms on record, in fact, to hit Canada's Atlantic coast.

Meantime, more than 50 percent of Puerto Rico now has electricity, finally, nearly a week after Fiona slammed into that island. The storm's initial hit knocked out the island's entire power grid. Now, Puerto Rico's government says now more than 825,000 customers and nearly 80 percent of its hospitals have regained power once again.

And to the Philippines now, and just still reeling after being slammed by a super typhoon Sunday. Noru has since been downgraded to a regular typhoon but catastrophic flooding has filled streets right across the country destroying homes and making cleanup increasingly hard for residents. At least five rescue workers have reportedly died due to the storm.

On Sunday, the storm battered the Philippines with high waves amid that downpour. The Philippine national weather service says it's the strongest typhoon the region has seen this year.

Heated protests have erupted in some of Russia's ethnic minority regions over the government's mobilization order and the war in Ukraine.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Now, the video from the capital predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan, about 1,000 miles from Moscow shows women arguing with police and questioning why their children are being drafted. And other confrontations, police responded with force. Arrests have been reported and this video, the one you see there, shows officers, you can clearly see it, aggressively pushing back anti-draft demonstrators.

We also saw big demonstrations at this anti-conscription rally in the far eastern Sakha Republic that is more than 3,000 miles from Moscow. Authorities there have acknowledged some residents have been enlisted by mistake.

Now, meantime, many Russians are trying to evade conscription by just fleeing the country. At the border with Georgia, hundreds of cars, I mean, look at that, have waited in line to get out of Russia. One man spoke about the challenges he faced getting through the last major Russian city before hitting that border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translation): There's wild corruption in Vladikavkaz. Just incredible. You need to pay police to enter Vladikavkaz. This happens through mediators, so-called fixers who solve the issue. You pay money and get through Vladikavkaz through a checkpoint, which is said to be set up to decongest the border. So, you pay the money to get to Vladikavkaz and then you need to pay more to get out.

(END VDIEO CLIP)

NEWTON: We have more now from our Clare Sebastian who is standing by for us who's been following all this. Now, Clare, there is a clear strategy from the Kremlin, right, at work here? Recruit from the regions, from minority populations. And yet, this is also proven to be a risky bet, right? It seems to be backfiring at the moment.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Paula. I think it's fair to assume there is some strategy here. Don't forget that when President Putin returns to the presidency in 2012, he was sort of accompanied by some of the biggest protest in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union mostly concentrated in the big cities, clearly evidenced by the way he governs.

Since then, he was rattled by this. So, clearly, they want to avoid this. They're also been cracking down on things like desertion and evading the draft Putin signed into law, amendments to the criminal code, adding penalties to those over the weekend. So they are, obviously, anticipating some backlash.

But these ethnic minorities already dissatisfied by the fact that they feel some of their rights are being eroded by the Kremlin. And now, not only victim disproportionately at the mobilization evidence shows, but also the chaos around the mobilization in the Sakha Republic, which you referenced. They have -- the head of the region said that many of them have been erroneously drafted in.

They don't have military experience, and he wants them returned. So that is not going to improve morale or patriotism around this. I think as to whether it will backfire, the jury is still out on that one. It's still early days. I think it seems at this point that Russia will be able to bring men to the front by force, by threat of imprisonment.

[02:10:02]

But some still lingering patriotism, don't forget it's hard to know from these pictures just how big these protests are. But it's significant enough for example, for the likes of Ramzan Kadyrov, the firebrand Chechen leader, Chechnya, and other Russian Republic formed around and ethnic minority.

Of course, he took to Telegram on Sunday, sort of trying to shame men for leaving the country saying, how can you abandon your motherland? Why don't you want to defend your state and your president? So, I think there is concern and I think this is part of the big gamble that this mobilization was for President Putin.

NEWTON: Yeah. And still having to capitulate even on trying to draft white collar workers. There seems to have been some success in making sure that, for now, they can stay behind. Clare Sebastian, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Ahead here on CNN for us, a new poll finds more than half of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want to nominate someone other than Joe Biden for president in 2024. We'll have a closer look at that next.

Plus, Giorgia Meloni is expected to form Italy's most right-wing government since Mussolini. More on the success of Europe's far-right ahead on CNN.

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[02:15:00]

NEWTON: So, Wednesday will be a pivotal day for the January 6th Committee investigating the capitol riot. Members planned to hold what may be the last public hearing on Capitol Hill before the committee releases its final report. Now, the hearing is expected to expose new details about the probe. Members are being tightlipped for now about what they plan to reveal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is there actually significant new information in this hearing?

RASKIN: Well, I suppose that will be in the eye of the beholder.

SCHIFF: We're not disclosing yet what the focus will be. The public will certainly learn things it hasn't seen before but it will also understand information it already has in a different context by seeing how it relates to other elements of this plot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Ron Brownstein is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic" and he joins me now from Los Angeles. Ron, look, January 6th, again, it seems like ages ago when that was a primetime event. So much has happened since then. What kind of impact do you think those hearings could have this week?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I think there are two separate tracks here. One is the track of ultimate legal liability for former President Trump. I mean, the committee has unearthed a great deal of evidence that points the way toward a potential indictment for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election. And that could be the biggest long-term ramifications.

In the near term, I think there's no question that the January 6th hearings are part of the confluence of events that have changed the fundamental frame of this election. Earlier in this year, when voters were focused solely on inflation and crime and the border, there was discussion of a big red wave. Those issues haven't gone away. Those vulnerabilities with Democrats haven't gone away.

But they're no longer the only issues on the horizon. And now you have obviously abortion, gun violence, and also the question of Trump and the threat that many Americans see him posing to democracy. And that's fairly a much more competitive environment. In the interim, it's possible four, six, eight months ago.

NEWTON: Yeah. And getting to that midterm period now where a lot of people will be making decisions on this a little bit more than six weeks away, let's take a look at the polls. So, wat about the polling intentions really surprised me, basically, because it is a split decision, right?

It is Republican candidates, 47 percent, congressionally democratic candidates are favored by 46 percent. Ron, what does that tell us and how important is the ground game going to be given the fact that we're basically evenly split?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first, right. First, it tells us that the lines of division in American life and American politics are really deeply engraved. I mean, we've seen election in which the basic contours of the two-party support look very much like what we have seen in 2016, 2018 and 2020 with relatively small changes around the edges, probably fewer changes, Paula, than you would have expected with the biggest inflation in 40 years.

Republicans are still favored to win the House. I mean, they only need to win four or five seats and the president's party has lost that many seats in all but four midterm elections since the Civil War. But the ceiling, the kind of the range of the (inaudible) analysts keep lowering. You heard -- you know, Kevin McCarthy was talking about a 50-seat gain. Now, some people think there may be a single digit Republican gain. And Democrats' chances of holding the Senate look better than 50/50.

NEWTON: A few more interesting poll numbers here, you know, there was a survey that found 56 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents which are key say they'd like the Democratic Party to nominate someone other than Biden. Ron, I'm going to put you on the spot. Do you think Joe Biden will run?

BRWONSTEIN: If he thinks Donald Trump is running, he is going to run, I believe, yes. Flat out. I mean, I don't see any way that he steps aside if his health allows, if he believes Trump is going to run because I think he believes it is his final mission after a half century in American politics to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president because he, like many Americans, probably like a majority of Americans at this point, believe that Trump and his movement is a threat to democracy as we have known it in the U.S.

So, whatever the polls say in terms of the enthusiasm, and there is a palpable desire, I think, in the Democratic coalition for a generational transition. Biden himself talked about that as you remember in March 2010 in the final event before everything shutdown in the world, he said he was going to be initiative (ph), he was going to be a bridge for the next generation of democratic leaders. But if he thinks trump is going back for it, I think he's back for more as well.

NEWTON: And that leads us into the next question, right? Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 46 percent say the party should nominate someone other than Trump. But as you see there, 47 percent actually still want him.

[02:20:01]

What does that tell you about what people are calling still Trump's party?

BRONSTEIN: I think it is Trump's party based on everything we've seen in the primaries this summer when his candidates have consistently beaten candidates promoted by more, kind of centrist or establishment Republicans. And Paula, what that tells me is that this is incredibly like what we saw in 2016 when he won the nomination.

You know, Donald Trump did not reach 50 percent of the vote in any primary in 2016 until he got his home state of New York in late April. But by that point, he had already went away from the field and was the presumptive nominee, even though his total share of the vote was lower than that poll. It was 40 percent by late April when he had essentially clinched the nomination.

And the reason is the Republican rules are much more oriented in the primaries to a winner-take-all processes that give a real advantage to whoever has the biggest chunk, the plurality of the party. And for all of the signs of vulnerability that that poll showed, it also underscored that Trump has the biggest piece -- 47 percent would make him, you know, impregnable as the nominee.

NEWTON: Ron, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: In Italy meantime, exit polls indicate voters have just elected the country's most right-wing government since the fascist era. Now, a coalition led by Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party are on track for victory as the official results are still awaited. Meloni will likely become the country's first female prime minister

and despite her political leanings, she told supporters she is ready to unite the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIOGIA MELONI, BROTHERS OF ITALY POLITICAL PARTY LEADER (through translation): It's important to understand that if we will be called to lead this country, you will do that for all. We will do that for all Italians. We will do that with the aim to unify this people, to underline what unifies it rather than what divides it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining me now is Nadia Urbinati. She is a professor of political theory at Columbia University and she joins me now from New York. You know, it's been fascinating to watch quite a rollercoaster, and it is still going, right there, counting votes, trying to figure out what this, you know, coalition will look like. Can you explain to us that this moment in time the appeal of Ms. Meloni to those Italian voters right now?

NADIA URBINATI, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL THEORY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Well, it is very interesting, indeed. She was able to create her own political career without any help. No quota, no opportunity politics. And this for her is a sign of strength and risk and perception of oneself that is without network.

The second thing that is very attractive for Italian women is the fact that she can't rule over men. She has all around her the members of her party, people of the government, they're all men, and she is the one, like a queen. So, there is this identification with power and with reaction against a tradition of totally male oriented.

NEWTON: So, as the votes start to be counted, they have to come up with some kind of a coalition government. This could take a very long time and be incredibly messy. But if we look at that far-right coalition as it existed on the day of the vote, you know, you have Mr. Salvini, Mr. Berlusconi, they certainly have positions that are even further to the right of Ms. Meloni and could she make the argument that the more votes that she has gotten in terms of expectations, that if she is in command of a stronger coalition, she can be more centrist. She will be more moderate. Is that something the E.U. is to believe from her?

URBINATI: Well, if she tries to make this claim, the fact is that she is so superior to her allies, three times more than them, that they can be very, you know, very concerned about her power. So, I think that this coalition (inaudible) put aside because her party is so strong. The coalition in the end may be weak. And this may influence, may push her to be more centrist and less radical.

By the way, from the point of her economics and political common (ph) decisions, she is not as radical or as far-right also because she cannot use the state to do what she wants. There's no room for that trying for the relation with Europe. So, she cannot really do what she wants in any case, particularly now. The perspective is not a strong government, and perhaps a difficult government to be -- to be put together in my view.

[02:25:03]

NEWTON: And how does this work in terms of the complexion of governments across Europe? And we've certainly seen it tilt right now in Italy, but we've had it in Hungary for a while. We're beginning to see that in Sweden as well.

When we think about Europe and Italy's place within it, do you think there will be more pressure to hold more right of center opinions and more radical policy positions? Maybe even on Ukraine. Silvio Berlusconi has already come out as if trying to excuse Putin's behavior.

URBINATI: Yeah. This was already there before these elections, also Salvini. The position toward Putin and Italy is very complex. It's not black and white, both in the left and in the right. But there is a kind of conservative wind in Europe, both because of the COVID and then that went to Europe, because the crisis of energy, which means economic problems.

So, this affection with the Europe of rights and the Europe of -- the beacon of rights (inaudible), in some sense is in decline. Now, the sense is that the states, initial states, they want to have more power. They want to have more ability to make decisions, and thus, they want to have Europe helping them in their autonomy, in their sovereignty as they say, not within a quasi-community or unity.

So, I suspect that this is not all an Italian issue, but it is going to be, in the future, months or years, a character of the entire continent.

NEWTON: And what goes on Italy will continue to test the European cohesion, no doubt.

URBINATI: Yeah.

NEWTON: Professor Urbinati, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

URBINATI: Thank you. Thank you.

NEWTON: Demonstrators gathered in Paris Sunday to stand in solidarity with Iranians protesting the death of Mahsa Amini. That story and much more after the break.

Plus, the U.S. Secretary of State says there won't be a return to the Iran nuclear deal anytime soon. His comments and much more after the break.

[02:30:00]

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NEWTON: Anti-government protests continued in Iran, Sunday despite a security crackdown, arrests, and internet disruptions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, it started as demonstrations over the death of 22-year- old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Now include protests against the regime itself. Dozens have been killed, but CNN has been unable to verify the exact numbers. People around the world meantime are showing their outrage over Amini's death, rallies were held Sunday in Paris and London.

But there were also demonstrations on the -- in Tehran and other cities in support of the Iranian government and condemning the recent unrest. CNN spoke earlier about the situation in Iran, with Karim Sadjadpour, a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He said the protests are showing the limits of both power and global support for the Iranian regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARIM SADJADPOUR, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: I think this is a reminder that the Islamic Republic of Iran is incapable of reforming and it's incapable of changing its ideology. There's really three ideological pillars left of this revolution, death to America, death to Israel, and the mandatory hijab for women, compulsory veiling. And the hijab is really the flag of the Islamic Republic, a symbol of its Islamic piety. And it's really the weakest of these three pillars because not even Iran's anti-Imperial allies in Moscow, Pyongyang, or Caracas are going to support the idea that women should be beaten for showing too much hair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn't optimistic about a return to the Iran nuclear deal. And during an interview with "60 MINUTES," Blinken said he didn't see any way that the parties could come to the table in the near future. And he's blaming the problem on new demands from the Iranians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Iran has continued to try to add extraneous issues to the negotiation that we're simply not going to say yes to. We will not accept a bad deal. The response that they've given to the last proposals, put forward by our European partners, have been a very significant step backwards and so I don't see any prospects in the very near term to bring this to a conclusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So the U.S. withdrew from the previous agreement in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, the Biden administration has been pursuing efforts to try and resuscitate the deal for months now.

Japan is preparing to say goodbye to assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but some people in the country say he shouldn't have a state funeral. We'll have a live report from Tokyo next.

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[02:36:37]

NEWTON: Just moments ago, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Tokyo to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Now, leaders from around the world will be attending the ceremony Tuesday. Abe, you remember was assassinated during a campaign speech in July but some in Japan do not believe he should be getting a state funeral. CNN's Blake Essig joins us now from Tokyo. You've been following the story for us, Blake, and it's been fascinating to see how such a shocking act of political violence and yet now a state funeral has galvanized so many against the government. Tell us more.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, when it comes to the celebration for a man who was equally revered and criticized here in Japan, I can tell you that for many different reasons, including the cost of Abe's connection to the controversial Unification Church and the decision-making process behind holding tomorrow state funeral, this remains a very divided nation. That being said, about 4300 people are expected to attend the event including roughly 700 foreign dignitaries, among them several heads of state, and as you mentioned, that includes U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who arrived in Tokyo just within the last hour now. While the government says tomorrow's state funeral is meant to honor Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister, simply hosting tomorrow's event has instead created controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESSIG (voiceover): Across Japan, the feeling of shock, sadness, and disbelief continues to be felt nearly two months after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down on the street while delivering a campaign speech. In the days that followed, Japan set its final goodbye to its longest-serving prime minister. But as messages of condolence came pouring in from around the world, current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the decision to further honor Abe's diplomatic legacy by holding a state funeral.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By conducting the state funeral, we are mourning former Prime Minister Abe and showing our country's determination to resolutely defend democracy and not given to violence.

ESSIG: That decision that opposition lawmakers say was made without consulting Japan's parliament is expected to cost taxpayers more than 1.6 billion yen, or nearly 12 million U.S. dollars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister Kishida made this decision by himself. He didn't make a proper effort to reach a consensus that involved the voices of the citizens and the opposition parties. ESSIG: The prime minister defended his decision to lawmakers but admits his explanation was insufficient. As a result, public opinion against holding a state funeral continues to mount. In fact, according to the latest poll from Yomiuri Shimbun, a slight majority of the public stands in opposition. Well, recently, one man reportedly told police he was so against the event that he set himself on fire outside of Prime Minister Kishida's residence.

(on camera)Gatherings like this one protesting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's upcoming state funeral had been held on a regular basis since the government announced the plan back in mid-July.

(voiceover): Although this specific reason for each person here varies, the underlying message remains the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm against the idea of holding a state funeral for anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many people can't even eat right now. Instead of spending billions of yen on his funeral, they can help the lives of many people. It's outrageous that they chose to use it on something like this.

[02:40:05]

ESSIG (on camera): While many people including the thousands gathered here at this event don't think it should happen, others say a state funeral is appropriate to honor Abe's legacy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support the state funeral. Abe was an international statesman who attracted more people to Japan.

TOMOMI INADA, JAPAN'S RULING PARTY LAWMAKER AND EX-DEFENSE MINISTER: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His legacy is reflected in the way he raised Japan's global profile, how he was able to implement a new peace and security law while facing huge opposition, and how that law has now become essential for maintaining peace and security. I think his past achievements for Japan makes a state funeral appropriate for him.

ESSIG (voiceover): Despite the public backlash, appropriate or not, a state funeral for Abe will take place, a polarizing figure in life and even in death, as deep divisions about his leadership haven't disappeared.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ESSIG: In less than 24 hours when the state funeral is held, a divided nation will once again be on display with areas set up for mourners to gather and lay flowers while at the same time, Paula, multiple protests will be held.

NEWTON: Yes, extraordinary given the event and the fact that so many dignitaries are coming from all over the world and as you pointed out, still a slight majority are against this state funeral. Blake Essig, thanks so much for that. Appreciate it.

And I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Paula Newton. For the international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is up next. For everyone else, don't go anywhere, I'll be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:27]

NEWTON: Tropical Storm Ian is churning in the Caribbean and getting stronger as it moves towards Western Cuba. Now it's forecast to become a hurricane, Monday and strengthen further on Tuesday. And a tropical storm warning is being issued for the Florida Keys as Ian is expected to impact that area. CNN's Carlos Suarez has more now from Tampa.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead of a possible impact with Ian, city officials here in Tampa opened three sand distribution sites on Sunday, and the line at each location was quite busy. Officials here echoed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's declaration that folks need to prepare now and not later in the week. At a briefing in Tallahassee, the governor said that 2500 members of the Florida National Guard had been called up and he noted that the entire state of Florida is under an emergency declaration. He once again reiterated that it does not matter where you live in the state of Florida you need to have your hurricane supplies now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS, (D-FL): It's really is important to stress the degree of uncertainty that still exists and so anybody from Tampa Bay all the way to Escambia County, there are different tracks that would take it into any one of those places. And I would also say to other Floridians, even if you're not necessarily right in the eye of the path of the storm, there's going to be pretty broad impacts throughout the state. You're going to have wind, you're going to have water, there could be flooding on the east coast of Florida as a result of this. It's a -- it's a big storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: City and county officials here have left open the possibility of a possible evacuation, all of this depending on where in tracks. Carlos Suarez, CNN, Tampa, Florida.

NEWTON: More details now on Typhoon Noru as it turns through the Pacific. Now the storm originally hit the Philippines as a super typhoon, Sunday, but was later downgraded. It's now making its way toward Vietnam, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. CNN's Michael Holmes has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): A siren whales in Manila, a warning sign for these residents it's time to move to higher ground. Thousands of people were evacuated across the main island of Luzon in the Philippines ahead of the powerful storm, Noru, locally known as Carding. Evacuation centers near Manila quickly filled up, a lesson some people heeded from the past, don't let a storm hit you while you're sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

HOLMES: One official says many people live on the riverside and their homes are made from like materials. So when the rains come, they are the first to be affected. Noru made landfall in the Philippines at full fury, super typhoon status, although it has since been downgraded. Still, officials warn the strong winds and heavy rains combined with low-lying areas in the Philippines could be perfect conditions for catastrophic flooding.

Half a world away, parts of the eastern seaboard of Canada cleaning up from a different devastating storm, this one named Fiona, no longer a hurricane but leaving a trail of destruction through Nova Scotia and other provinces.

TIM HOUSTON, NOVA SCOTIA PREMIER: Their predictions were for a -- for a massive storm, historic storm. We certainly have seen that Fiona definitely left a mark on the province. The damage is it's pretty heartbreaking.

HOLMES: The scale of the damage still unfolding but with the storms sweeping some houses into the sea and flattening others into scraps of wood, officials say it will be a long road to recovery. Canadian troops have been deployed to help clear debris to make way for emergency crews to try to restore power to some hard-hit areas.

Further south in the Atlantic, all eyes are on a system called Ian. The National Hurricane Center predicting it could reach Category 4 stages in the next few days. Michael Holmes, CNN.

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NEWTON: All right, here's a look at the markets. We are waiting to see how the DOW opens in the coming hours after a disastrous end of trading on Friday. It closed down nearly 500 points. Now the levels on Friday were the DOW'S worst since November of 2020. Stoke by investor fears of inflation and corrective action by the Fed to try and control it. Now the economy is going to be crucial in the U.S. midterm elections later this year. In a brand new CBS YouGov poll out today, 57 percent of likely voters say they feel their financial well-being is at stake with the upcoming elections, and some lawmakers are feeling that pressure as well.

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Senator Jon Tester from Montana spoke with CNN's Jim Sciutto about moves being taken to try and reduce inflation.

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SEN. JON TESTER, (D-MT): Inflation is real. Everybody's concerned about it. And whether it's the Inflation Reduction Act, which by the way is going to reduce inflation over the long haul, or whether it's a Chips Act, which will bring manufacturing back and chips built here, we've done a lot of good things. Are there some more things we could do, Jim? Absolutely. We could do some things to make childcare more affordable, which would get more workforce in which would reduce inflation. We could do some things with a comprehensive immigration package, which would get more workers in which would help reduce inflation.

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NEWTON: Now I want you to have a look at the British pound. It keeps losing ground against the U.S. dollar, falling to a record low of just over $1.03. You see there. It has gained some ground but before 1.03 was on the board. Now, there are fears of course in the UK that Sterling, believe it or not, could slide to parity, one-to-one with the U.S. dollar in the coming months. But that's not stopping Britain's new prime minister from defending a controversial new tax cut aimed at saving the economy. CNN's Jake Tapper sat down with Liz Truss to try and discuss what kind of effect this would have. Here's part of their exclusive conversation.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Your government just unveiled a new tax proposal this week that would reverse plans to raise the corporate tax rate. You've also proposed lifting the cap on bonuses for bank executives. In the U.S., President Biden is taking a very different approach. And obviously, he has a different view on economic measures such as the one you're proposing. He tweeted this week. "I am sick and tired of trickle0down economics. It has never worked. We're building an economy from the bottom up and middle out."

And so President Biden is, in essence, saying that he thinks your approach doesn't work. The opposition in Parliament says you're running -- recklessly running up the deficit and turning your back on so-called compassionate conservatism.

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I did. I don't really accept the premise of -- premise of the question at all. The UK has one of the lowest levels of debt in the G7, but we have one of the highest levels of taxes. Currently, we have a 70-year high in our tax rates. And what I am determined to do as prime minister and what the chancellor is determined to do is make sure we are incentivizing businesses to invest, and we're also helping ordinary people with their taxes. And that's why I don't feel it right to have higher national insurance and higher corporation tax because that will make it harder for us to attract the investment we need in the UK. It will be harder to generate those new jobs.

And I want the U.S. economy to be successful as well. I want the European economy to be successful as well. I want freedom-loving democracies to succeed. And one of the things that we're doing here in the UK is moving forward on our infrastructure programs, road building, broadband, mobile telephones. And I know that is what the administration in the U.S. is doing as well. But, of course, we all need to decide what the tax rates are in our own country.

But my view is we absolutely need to be incentivizing growth at what is a very, very difficult time for the global economy. And we've also put in place a package of measures to support consumers with energy prices to make sure that nobody is having to pay more than 2500 pounds on their bills, which is very important as well.

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NEWTON: Here in the U.S., conservative lawmaker Liz Cheney is drawing the line in the sand if Republicans nominate Donald Trump for president again. She says she will leave the party and campaign for rival Democrats. CNN's Daniella Diaz has more now from Washington.

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: In a wide0ranging interview on Saturday night, Congresswoman Liz Cheney dodging questions about whether she plans to run for president in 2024 and most notably, saying that she would leave the Republican Party should Donald Trump received the Republican nomination in 2024. Take a listen to what she said.

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REP. LIZ CHENEY, (R-WY): I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that Kari Lake is not elected.

EVAN SMITH, CEO, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE: So, does that include campaigning for Democrats if that's what it takes?

CHENEY: Yes.

SMITH: It does. OK, now look better. Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: Incredibly strong comments coming from Cheney who was one scene as a rising star of the Republican Party.

[02:55:03]

She was the GOP conference chair in the House. She's, of course, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and a conservative. Now she has been shunned by her party because of her comments on Donald Trump saying that the election was stolen from him, calling out those lies repeatedly, and joining the January 6 House Select Committee to investigate what happened during that Capitol riot. She also said that she would campaign with Democrats if it would mean stopping candidates who continue to push Donald Trump's lies about the election, specifically mentioning Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who is of course backed by Trump. She's that former television journalist who has become a leading voice behind Trump's lies about election fraud. When asked whether that would mean stopping Kari Lake from winning that election would mean campaigning with Democrats, Congresswoman Liz Cheney said yes. But she would not go as far as Saturday night in that interview, saying that she wants Democrats to keep control of the House. She said she believes that there are still a lot of "bad policies in the Biden administration." But she added that she wants voters when they turn out for the election, the 2022 midterms to be aware of who they're voting for and whether the candidate they're supporting is also pushing those lies that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, calling out those candidates and saying not to support them.

Daniella Diaz, CNN, Washington.

NEWTON: Now before we go, the performer at the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show will be.

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NEWTON: Rihanna confirm the NFL's announcement with this simple tweet showing her hand holding a football. Classic, isn't it? I can't wait.

OK, I'm Paula Newton, thanks for your company. I'll be back with more "CNN NEWSROOM" in just a moment. You are watching CNN.

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