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Category 3 Hurricane Ian Strengthens On Path Toward Florida; Tampa Officials Warn Residents Against Riding Out The Storm; Sabotage Suspected In Nord Stream Pipelines Leaks; Typhoon Noru Makes Landfall in Vietnam; Seditious Conspiracy Trial Begins for Leaders of Oath Keepers; Russian Military Losing Soldiers, Equipment in Ukraine. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 28, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:42]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

As we head into the midnight hour on the U.S. East Coast, almost the entire state of Florida is bracing for the impact of Hurricane Ian, a monster storm stretching 500 miles across, which earlier made landfall on Cuba, blocking out the island's electricity grid and causing a nationwide blackout. 11 million people right now in the dark and waiting for morning to assess the damage. As of now, there are no reports of fatalities in Cuba.

Since leaving Cuba, Ian has grown in strength fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico as it heads towards Florida now Category 3 with sustained winds of more than 125 miles per hour.

Along with life threatening storm surge, Florida is facing catastrophic flooding and strong powerful winds. All day long Tuesday, residents there across the state brace for the hurricane to make landfall now expected sooner than first forecast and further south.

In some parts, Ian is already being felt, conditions will deteriorate throughout the night. Authorities are warning some areas will see more than two feet of rain.

Right now, more than 2-1/2 million people are under some form of evacuation warning. And as of this hour, officials warn time is fast running out to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You still have time to do it. You do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles. Obviously if you have friends, family, some of that hotels, that's preferable. But as a last resort, the shelters are open. And I would just urge people to take advantage of that. It's -- I know it's not easy sometimes to leave your home and I know

people don't want to see anything bad happen when they get back. But it's -- the stakes are high. This is a very powerful storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the storm first. But let's start with Derek Van Dam in Bradenton, Florida and Derek, right now, where and when Ian makes a landfall? It seems a bit of a moving target. Still, you're in the path of the hurricane. So, what are conditions like right now? What are you expecting the worst to come?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Yes, unfortunately, John, all the ingredients are coming together for the perfect storm here, really the worst case scenario for so many locations across the southwestern peninsula of Florida.

We've got Tampa, about 150 kilometers to my north, and also the Fort Myers region about 200 kilometers to myself in West.

And if it's anything like the National Hurricane -- the acting director of the National -- of the National Hurricane Center said to my colleague, Jennifer Gray earlier this morning, people need to stop looking at the internet and wish that the storm goes away because it's not. It is on our doorstep and it's gigantic. And it's growing in size as it approaches the peninsula as an extremely dangerous Category 3, and now a forecast Category 4 upon arrival.

What's made this storm particularly interesting is that the wind field continues to expand. And let me tell you why that's important because with a larger hurricane, that means we have the potential to push up more of the ocean water, right?

The Gulf of Mexico very shallow, and it doesn't take much wind to start piling that up along the western shoreline. That's exactly what's happening here. The Manatee River directly behind me, Gulf of Mexico just over my right. There's a lot of water there, a lot of warm water, that's also going to help fuel the developments of this storm right up to landfall.

The trajectory, the way that the storm is moving in is so crucial as well, because yesterday, 24 hours ago, we had a storm that was projected to basically parallel and crawl along the coastline of Florida that would also maximize the impacts. But it also allowed for a slow moving storm and a weakening storm upon arrival, but it's changed now.

We have more of a perpendicular approach to the -- to the coastline. And why this matters is because that will allow for an earlier arrival of the strongest winds and it's going to give less time for major Hurricane Ian to weaken.

So, we are anticipating a powerful using the words from the National Hurricane Center, catastrophic wind damage storm and the potential for incredible amounts of storm surge along the coastline of where we're located, John.

VAUSE: Derek, thank you, we appreciate the update there from Bradenton, Florida. Let's go to Pedram Javaheri who's following all of this for us at the CNN Weather Center.

Pedram, Ian was expected to make landfall, I think Venice, and then it was -- it'd be around the Bradenton area where Derek is now. We're talking about Port Charlotte, which is further to the south. Why does it keep changing? And what are we expecting right now?

[00:05:09]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): You know, John, every time we get an update from the National Hurricane Center, precisely showing exactly what you said, it shifts just a little bit farther towards the east or towards the south and the steering currents in the atmosphere is certainly are changing.

You'll notice, the storm surge threat certainly remains large but that energy now shifted a little farther towards the south but kind of to show you how things have played out here. We're talking about a storm that is a strong Category 3, forecast to get up to possibly Category 4 here about maybe 12 say 14 hours before landfall, it's about 100 miles or so south of Naples at this hour.

But the concern is that this comes ashore far earlier, far stronger than what was initially estimated here, possibly as early as 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, as late as maybe 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. And you'll notice the kind of guidance here on the models really shifting that to the south as well.

So, John, you we're talking about here, I've seen these initial models keep this offshore. Well, typically two to three days out, forecast guidance in the models have an average error of about, say, 50, maybe 75 miles of spread within those model guidance.

So, you really can't fall in love with any one particular guidance, but you kind of follow the trend. And every single time as we saw it shifts out, we kind of got a better idea that this system is probably going to end up farther south.

And tell you what, right now, Port Charlotte looks to be the most likely scenario and areas south of this region. But I wouldn't be surprised if further models coming in over the coming hours here shift this even farther towards the south, meaning a stronger storm gets there a little bit sooner than even initially expected.

You've got to keep in mind, as Derek noted, this is a massive storm system, cloud field 700 miles across, the tropical storm force winds 140 miles away from the center.

So, even if you're not near the system, 140 miles away from it, you're going to feel tropical conditions and that's the concern. And that's why our friends across Orlando, Disney World shutting down operations over the next 24 hours because of the system and the impacts that we'll have. Back this morning, you're going to see these tropical force winds as we transition into the early morning hours of Wednesday, pushing in towards this region.

So again, the impacts wide reaching, the storm surge threat now a little farther towards Charlotte Harbor, John.

VAUSE: Pedram, thank you. We appreciate the forecast there and Derek, we appreciate the live report there from Bradenton, Florida as well. Thanks to you both.

Many parts of Florida police and fire departments as well as other emergency responders will soon decide conditions are too dangerous to respond to calls for help.

In Tampa, which is especially unprepared and vulnerable to the storm, officials are warning residents of the very real risk to property and the danger to life.

CNN's Ryan Young has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. Hey, we're coming by and letting everybody know that you're in a mandatory evacuation situation.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Tampa Bay area in its final hours of hurricane preparations. Tampa Bay police making last ditch efforts to warn residents in flood risk zones to leave now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a reinforcement to let them know that you're in an area where you need to evacuate.

JANE CASTOR, MAYOR OF TAMPA, FLORIDA: This is not a drill. This is not the time to stay.

YOUNG: Serious warnings to residents here, this vulnerable area expected to be in the crosshairs of Hurricane Ian as it barrels toward the west coast of Florida.

CASTOR: We have over 120 miles of coastline just in the city of Tampa.

YOUNG: At least 2.5 million Floridians under various evacuation orders. It's a storm that's predicted to cause water damage like none before it.

KENNETH WELCH, MAYOR OF ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: You're talking about 10 or 15 inches of rain on top of the surge that's unprecedented. No infrastructure is built for that.

YOUNG: With this hurricane, a direct hit isn't necessarily to cause severe flooding. The slow moving storm is predicted to stall just off the coast of Tampa Bay starting Wednesday evening.

CASTOR: It's going to be in our rivers. It's going to be in our streams. It's going to be in our canals. It's going to be in our storm water drains and ditches.

YOUNG: Sandbag locations around Tampa close today at 2:00, residents doing what they can before heading out.

PEGGY DAVIS, TAMPA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: We're late. But we are -- we think that if it is a storm surge issue, we will try to seal the opening at our house.

YOUNG: Former Florida Congressman Jim Davis and his wife aren't taking chances. They're prepping their house and getting up.

JIM DAVIS, TAMPA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: I'm not a very good gambler and it's a bit of a gamble if you don't take it seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (on camera): The word storm surge is something we heard over and over. City officials are concerned that people will try to drive through water as it starts to rise throughout the city. If you look at the hospital and how they're preparing, you can see those barricades have been put up. That's to stop the water from affecting hospital operations.

But again, they are concerned about people who decided not to evacuate and to try to ride this out. Ryan Young CNN, Tampa, Florida.

VAUSE: Let's bring in Aaron Jayjack, an extreme storm chaser who right now is in Bonita Springs in Florida. Aaron, thank you for being with us.

AARON JAYJACK, EXTREME STORM CHASER (on camera): Yes, thank you very much for having me.

SANGER: OK, so they get much more extreme in terms of size, possible storm surge and rainfall than Ian. It seems Florida has never seen a storm like this before.

JAYJACK: You know, Florida gets quite a -- quite a few Cat. 3 and above storms I think like one in every three storms is rated Cat. 3.

You know, a couple of years ago it was in 2018, I was in a Cat. 5 Hurricane Michael. So, certainly they can -- they can get the big storms here in Florida.

[00:10:07]

VAUSE: In terms of size, I mean, if you go back, I think it was Hurricane Charley which was also a Category 3 that was almost 20 years ago, but it was only what? 15 miles wide or 20 miles wide or something. This one's 500 to 700 miles wide and moving slowly and dumping a lot of water.

JAYJACK: Yes, it's a massive storm. And you know, when you get these big storms like that, that can cause the -- you know, make the storm surge much worse and that's one of the biggest concerns we've got right now here. I'm just a little bit south of Fort Myers and I've been watching this path of the storm. And it looks like it could potentially, you know, worst case scenario for the Fort Myers, Cape Coral area with a massive storm like that being able to push that without water up into the coast.

VAUSE: And emergency officials seem especially concerned about just the slow moving nature of this hurricane and how long Florida will actually be dealing with it. Listen to FEMA, here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNE CRISWELL, ADMINISTRATOR, FEMA: By the time it reaches the shores of Florida, the storm is going to slow down to approximately five miles per hour. And this is significant because what this means is that Floridians are going to experience the impacts from the storm for a very long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A very long time, how does that translate into actual time on the ground in terms of hours or days? And when will Florida actually be clear of Ian?

JAYJACK: Yes, so it looks like, you know, once it comes on shore, make a little bit of a turn to the north and actually go right through the Orlando area.

And of course, it'll weaken as it moves across Florida. You know, it could take the better part of all, you know, probably all day tomorrow, you know, there'll be bad conditions across Florida all day tomorrow into the evening hours, even into Thursday, the next day, they'll probably still be as it moves north across Florida, still be getting those tropical storm force winds all the way until you know, maybe midday Thursday, late Thursday.

VAUSE: the fact that the landfall is actually moving further to the south. And it's kind of a little bit earlier. But that territory that is now aiming for, that is obviously an improvement from earlier forecasts when it's heading closer to Tampa, right?

JAYJACK: I mean, it's better, obviously for Tampa, but it's just putting different people at risk now. And you know, I've been kind of anticipating the southward trend all day, actually, for a couple of days, I've never really bought the models, the solution that I was going to go into Tampa, and that's why I arrived in Orlando last night. And my plan was to get down here to the south towards Fort Myers, Cape Coral. I'm in Bonita Springs, which is actually a little south of Fort Myers.

And I'm still -- I'm continuing to anticipate further moves to the south there. And that is a -- that's a worst case scenario.

It went up towards Tampa, models before we're kind of shown it's stalling out and then weakening more as dry air and shear affected from the west. But now that it looks like it's coming in a little faster and a little further south, it's going to be able to maintain that strain. It looks like it'll maintain that Cat. 4 strength that should intensify to possibly tonight, overnight tonight could become Cat. 4.

And that only means that it's going to become you know, it's a worse storm now for the area down here. Better for Tampa but worse off for people further south along the coast.

VAUSE: The Tampa which is the third biggest city in Florida. That's I guess what's the important point in all of that.

But Aaron, thank you so much for being with us. Aaron Jayjack there, the extreme storm chaser. Thank you, sir.

JAYJACK: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Pleasure. Thank you.

Still to come, another move by Russia to claim Ukrainian territory as its own. Why the West is calling votes in four partially occupied territories, sham referendums, more on that when we come back.

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VAUSE: Moscow back to authorities in four partially occupied regions of Ukraine, say four referendums have resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of joining Russia. The referendums have been widely denounced by most Western governments as either a sham or facile both.

The hastily arranged referendums were held over five days in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaphorizhzhia and Kherson, which makes up almost 20 percent of Ukraine sovereign territory.

Russian state media say early results show about 97 percent of the vote in favor of joining Russia, although there are reports of officials going house to house collecting votes, often accompanied by soldiers with guns.

The USS introduced a resolution at the U.N. Security Council calling on member states not to recognize any change to Ukraine's borders. Here is the U.S. Secretary of State.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We and many other countries have already been crystal clear. We will not -- indeed, we will never recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territory by Russia.

And I've also been equally clear that Ukraine has the absolute right to defend itself throughout its territory, including to take back the territory that has been illegally seized in one way or another by Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: European Commission president is warning that any deliberate attempt to disrupt the continents energy facilities will result in "the strongest response possible".

Ursula von der Leyen's warning follows Monday's discovery of three suspicious and unexplained leaks in two Nord Stream gas pipelines through the methane could be seen rising from the water surface.

Two Russian pipelines run under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark. Well, neither is operating right now. They are still filled with natural gas.

Von der Leyen and the Swedish and Danish leaders say this was likely sabotage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGDALENA ANDERSSON, SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have Swedish intelligence but we have also received information in our contacts with Denmark. And based on this concluded that this is probably a deliberate act. It is probably a matter of sabotage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: David Sanger is a CNN political and national security analyst as well as White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times. He joins us this hour from Washington. Good to see you, David.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (on camera): Great to be with you, John.

VAUSE: OK, first of all, let's go to how question, how this happened because the Swedish National Seismic Network detected two distinct explosions. One with the force equivalent of a 1.8 magnitude quake, the second, the equivalent 2.3.

Here's more now from one of their seismologists.

[00:20:11]

BJORN LUND, SEISMOLOGIST, UPPSALA UNIVERSITY (through translator): This is not an earthquake. Explosions and earthquakes look quite different in the data we register.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Add on to that, the Washington Post reporting that five European officials with direct knowledge of security discussions said there was widespread assumption that Russia was behind the incident.

Only Russia had the motivation, the submersible equipment, and the capability.

So, aside from Russia, are there any other actors out there with both capability and motive?

SANGER: Well, the Russians would argue, John, that the last thing they would do was blow up their own pipeline. And in fact, the ability to turn that pipeline on and off is one of Vladimir Putin's biggest sources of leverage.

But at the same time, the Russians may well want to show that they can completely disrupt Europe and Europe's energy supplies. They may well want to show that they can do this in a way that where they could blame others.

It's hard to imagine others with a significant motive. But I imagine, you know, you could make a case for why a number of other countries in the region might want to make sure that Russia is deprived of the revenue and deprive there permanently.

One of the big hands will be in the forensics of how this happened. If it was a mine drop, or an explosive drop down onto the pipelines from the air, that would tell you something and may give you a chance to track back the plane.

If it was done from a submersible, well, some countries have those including Russia and others don't. So, we kind of want to learn from the investigation.

VAUSE: What -- you have the New York Times with your reporting is a warning that was delivered to the Europeans by the CIA earlier this year.

But again, as far as we know, at this point, there was no indication if they gave evidence that the Russians were behind it, it was just this warning of a possible attack, right?

SANGER: That's right. And it was a little bit vague. It was what they call strategic warning, saying this is a big target, and we think someone's going to go after it. That's a different thing from saying, in tactical warning, they will go after it on such and such a date in such in such a manner.

So, there's some question about how useful that warning was. But it was issued in June as the Spiegel has reported and as we have reported in the New York Times.

VAUSE: Instead of be like saying that the internet cables, which lie on the bottom of the ocean, are also vulnerable to attack, but we don't know by who.

SANGER: They are vulnerable, they are probably just as vulnerable if not more than the pipeline. The Russians for a long time have had specialized submarines that have cutting gear on them, they could try to cut the cables at a fairly deep level.

This pipeline wasn't all that deep, the Baltic isn't that deep. So, it was an easier job. The cables of course, go across the Atlantic and would be a way of cutting off access, electronic access, internet access to the United States and elsewhere, things really got ugly, and that's long been a fear of the Pentagon.

VAUSE: And much like the National Security Adviser at the White House, Sweden's Foreign Minister tweeted, the explosions were probably caused by sabotage, going on to say we continue to collect information and do not rule out any cause actor or motive.

During a news conference, she delivered a warning that there could be worse to come from Vladimir Putin, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN LINDE, SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We need to be prepared for it. Putin has shown that he's desperate right now, because Ukraine has shown with the support of the West and incredible ability of endurance, and has shown that it isn't as easy as Putin thinks.

And therefore, we need to be prepared that he will act irrationally and cruelly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In the wake of these two explosions, other European leaders have said similar things. If they're right, what comes next from Moscow and what does the U.S. and NATO response look like?

SANGER: Well, the first thing to know is that Vladimir Putin has lost confidence, of course, in his ground troops. He thought this was going to be a three-day war it's just passed, you know, well, more than 200.

The second is that leaves him with technological options that range from cyber to these kinds of sabotage operations to chemical, biological and ultimately nuclear weapons.

We don't think he's going to move very rapidly up that scale. But we've been wrong before. And of course, his threats last week suggested that he is going to seek other means.

The big question now is does he do this beyond Ukraine's borders?

[00:25:01]

So far, he has been very careful not to attack NATO countries, supply lines coming in from NATO, even a weapons but he may be losing his patience with that.

VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. The situation inside Russia and also inside Ukraine is not true (INAUDIBLE) right now.

SANGER: That's right, it certainly is, and puts a lot of pressure on him to show that he has a way of striking us.

VAUSE: And we'll see what happens I guess as always, David, thank you so much for being with us.

SANGER: Great to be with you, John.

VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN, the very latest on Hurricane Ian, we return to the CNN Weather Center with a live report and the very latest when we come back.

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VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

[00:30:0]

Just coming up to 30 minutes past the hour, and calls for evacuation are growing more urgent in parts of Florida as Hurricane Ian closes in. This Category 3 storm has already slammed into Cuba, leaving a path of destruction and causing the island's entire electricity grid to collapse, leaving a nationwide blackout.

Cuban officials hope to restore power in the day ahead. But at this hour, more than 11 million people are in the dark. Already, parts of Florida are feeling the impact of the storm. Many residents bracing for the full impact of Ian, boarding up windows, filling up while gas stations are open.

Ian is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. Earlier than first forecast, possibly as soon as Wednesday afternoon between Sarasota and Port Charlotte. Officials are warning residents in the hurricane's path the time to leave and get to safety is now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN GUTHRIE, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: I urge everyone that is in an evacuation zone, that has been asked to evacuate. The time is now. We must evacuate now.

There will be a point in time where you will not be safe to travel the roads. The time to evacuate is now. Get on the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Back now with CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for more on the storm's path. I guess the question is, do you know how bad will it get in those areas and, you know, in evacuation zone once the storm arrives? How dangerous will it be?

JAVAHERI: You know, the National Hurricane Center, John, is saying this could be a Category 4 on landfall and recalls about 46, 48 hours ago the storm system had the potential to be maybe a Category 1, Category 2 at landfall. Because it was forecasted to be stalling just offshore. The steering (ph) environments have changed.

We've got to keep in mind, these storms do not work their way in a straight path. They wobble back and forth with every single motion here. So the system sits about 100 miles South of Naples right now. It is a strong Category 3, just ten miles per hour shy of a Category 4 hurricane.

The forecast guidance does take this up to a Category 4. You'll notice, the Northern eyewall here. Beginning to break apart a little. What we call an eyewall replacement cycle.

And essentially, I use the analogy of taking a top, spinning it on a table. Can only spin a top so fast, and after a while it starts to wobble. That's what's happening with this system. It has maintained its intensity for quite a while. So it is becoming a little bit more disorganized, and essentially, what happens is as it reorganizes back into a stronger feature, which is why we think it will bump up to Category 4.

Forecast does take it to this landfall, sometime inside the next, maybe 12, maybe 16 hours. So we're thinking early Wednesday afternoon. Between maybe 1 p.m., all the way until maybe 5 or 6 p.m., across portions just South of Tampa Bay now, around areas of Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, maybe around areas of, say, Siesta Key, Clearwater Beach.

These are the areas we're watching carefully for a major hurricane to make landfall and then continue on to a tropical storm into the interior portion of Central Florida, including areas around Orlando. And it will reemerge around the Eastern portion of Florida.

But notice, the model guidance. A lot better agreement as far as where this system is going to end up. A few outliers still want to take it in towards Tampa. The vast majority of the models want to bring it South of Tampa.

Now, within 24 hours, typically, the average spread of areas about, say, 35 to 40 miles. Tampa sits about 75 to 100 miles to the North. So I don't think it will eventually end up back in the Tampa zone.

But, it is certainly looking more likely that it will take a Southern trajectory, which means it makes landfall sooner. And it makes landfall as a stronger system.

Now notice, tropical-storm-force winds, John, will be felt some 140 miles away from the center. So even if it doesn't make landfall where you are, you're going to have dangerous conditions, almost across the entirety of the state of Florida. So certainly, a big story here over the next 24 hours.

VAUSE: And then some, I guess. Pedram, thank you for the update. We appreciate it.

Still ahead here on CNN, another typhoon making landfall. Noru bringing the threat of major flooding to Vietnam, well beyond the coastal areas. We'll have the very latest, up next.

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[00:37:46]

VAUSE: Typhoon Noru has made landfall in Vietnam, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the tourist resort city of Da Nang. Noru is expected to weaken as it moves inland. But parts of central Vietnam, Laos and Thailand are at risk of flooding over the next 48 hours.

CNN's Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul with the very latest for us this hour. This was a super typhoon when it hit the Philippines. It's weakened to this type of typhoon. But still, hundreds of thousands have been forced to evacuate. So what's the situation now? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John.

Yes, just before it made landfall, it was the equivalent of a high-end Category 2.

So it had weakened significantly from when it hit the Philippines, but still, there is concern about how much damage it may have done. Now, we know that at least 100,000 were evacuated from the coastal areas of Da Nang, Hanat Hoyang (ph), just before landfall. The vulnerable, in particular, were taken to shelters.

And we also know it's a fairly heavy fishing area. So there's more than 11,000 fishermen in the area. Officials banned all of them from going out to sea, and there's concern about whether livelihoods will have been destroyed along there, as well.

Now, we're waiting for official -- official results as to whether there has been significant damage. At this point, what we're seeing on social media is that trees, power lines are down. We are seeing some flooding, roads blocked.

But we'll have to wait for a better assessment. It is expected to further weaken as it crosses Vietnam and further into Southeast Asia, as well.

But this is, as you mention, the same typhoon, super typhoon at that point that hit the Philippines.

Now we saw a rapid intensification of that particular typhoon Saturday into Sunday when it made landfall. And we just heard this Wednesday morning, as well, an update from officials there, saying that they believe eight deaths so far. Five are still missing.

But we're waiting to see what kind of impacted this has had on Vietnam.

VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paul Hancocks, live for us there with the very latest in Seoul.

Well, another day of anti-government protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. And what started as the death of one woman detained by the Morality Police has reportedly led to the deaths of dozens more in a brutal crackdown by security forces.

[00:40:00]

All this because the Islamic Republic's Morality Police do not like women showing too much hair. America's top diplomats slammed Iran's government on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Mahsa should be alive today. The only reason she's not is because a brutal regime took her life and took her life because of decisions she should be making about what she would wear or not wear. Women in Iran have the right to wear what they want. They have the

right to be free from violence. They have the right to be free from harassment. That's true in Iran. It's true -- should be true everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: U.S. officials say they'll try and make technology available, available for Iranians so they can avoid a government blackout of the Internet.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he's increasingly concerned by Iran's treatment of protesters and the rising fatalities related to protesters, including women and children.

I'm John Vause. WORLD SPORT is up next for our international viewers. And for those of you watching in the United States, coming up next, CNN visits a town liberated by the Ukrainian military. And we'll show you what Russian forces left behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:35]

VAUSE: Calls for evacuation are growing louder and more urgent as Hurricane Ian barrels down on Florida. The Category 3 storm has already slammed into Cuba, leaving a path of destruction on the Western side of the island. Also, causing a nationwide blackout.

More than 11 million people right now in the dark until morning. But officials say electricity will be restored in the day ahead.

Ian is expected to make landfall in Florida in the coming hours, between Sarasota and Port Charlotte, as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised federal support for areas impacted by Ian.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just spoke this morning with areas likely to be hit. The mayors of Tampa, St. Pete's, and Clearwater.

All of them, all of them are in the storm's path. And they're focused on the safety of their communities, and they're doing everything they can to get people out of harm's way.

I told each one of them my conversation separately, whatever they need -- I mean it sincerely -- whatever they need, contact me directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ian's outer bands are already being felt in the Florida Keys. This has been a slow start to the hurricane season, and right now on the Gulf Coast, residents are being warned to take this storm very seriously. CNN's Randi Kaye has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): This is the type of storm surge that is life-threatening.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With Hurricane Ian barreling towards Florida, many here aren't taking any chances. Guadeloupe Gomez has been boarding up his home for days.

GUADELOUPE GOMEZ, FLORIDA RESIDENT: We say prepare for it.

KAYE (voice-over): He says at least 12 of his family members will take shelter here.

The concern with Hurricane Ian is not just the wind. It's also the rain and storm surge. Nearly 7 million people along Florida's west coast between Fort Myers and Clearwater, including all of the Tampa Bay area, are under a storm surge warning.

PATRICK FULLER, CHARLOTTE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR: Storm surge is always one of our largest concerns here in southwest Florida. You know, 90 percent of fatalities occurred due to water.

KAYE (voice-over): Charlotte Harbor, and the cities of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, are expecting the highest storm surge, with 8 to 12 feet possible. Around Tampa, a record storm surge is expected.

MAYOR JANE CASTOR, TAMPA, FLORIDA: A storm that slows down for 24 to 48 hours, and just continuously dumps rain into the Tampa Bay area is devastating.

KAYE (voice-over): Hurricane Ian is expected to dump at least 2 to 3 months' worth of rainfall by Friday, possibly as much as 24 inches of rain in Tampa and West Central Florida.

FULLER: It only takes 18 inches of water to be a life-threatening situation.

KAYE (voice-over): Tampa's airport taking no chances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 5 p.m. today, no more commercial flights.

KAYE (voice-over): Evacuation orders expanding since Monday, with shelters open for those without other options to wait out the storm.

CONNIE GOSSELIN, PORT CHARLOTTE RESIDENT: I've never been in the hurricane. This is my first time. My first time at a shelter. But I feel better here than if I would be alone at home.

KAYE (voice-over): Those riding out the storm racing to get sandbags, facing lines for gas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're out of (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

KAYE (voice-over): And the familiar scramble to stock up on food and water. Then, hurry up and wait.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Punta Gorda, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection has postponed Wednesday's hearing because of Hurricane Ian. Members there say they're paying for the safety of everyone in Florida.

A new date for the hearing should be announced soon.

It's expected to be the final one for the committee, focus on how allies of former President Donald Trump sought to declare victory in the 2020 election, regardless of the outcome.

Meantime, jury selection now underway in a federal trial that could pose a major test to the Justice Department's prosecution of January 6th rioters.

Five leaders of the Oath Keepers, a far-right group charged with seditious conspiracy in the Capitol attack, the first time in over a decade the Justice Department will argue a group of Americans plotted to violently oppose the U.S. government.

CNN's Sara Sidner is following the trial from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jury selection is underway in the first trial for seditious conspiracy in regards to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

There are five people that are facing the most serious charge that the government has levied against those who took part in the riot, or who are accused of taking part and planning this seditious conspiracy, if you will.

[00:50:03]

Now, what does seditious conspiracy mean? It is fairly simple. And it is very serious. Up to 20 years prison sentence, if they are convicted.

But what it means, essentially, is that they conspired to stop by force the peaceful transfer of power. In other words, they tried to take over the government by force.

And so that charge is the most serious charge that any of those involved in the January 6th riot have faced. This is the first time that we're seeing people go on trial.

Who is on trial? The government says these are Oath Keepers, all five of them. We know that four of them are former military and that two of them never went inside the Capitol. But the government contends that they helped plan this conspiracy. They were behind the seditious conspiracy, among several other charges.

What does this mean? It means that they are going to face some serious questions about hundreds of hours of video in which some of the defendants can easily be seen.

They're also going to be -- all of their communication between each other, tens of thousands of text messages and tons of documents, are going to be splayed out to try and prove, from the prosecution's standpoint, that they are involved in this larger conspiracy, not only in the lead-up to January 6th, including the government says, bringing weapons into Virginia that they were planning to send into Washington D.C., to conclude, or to overtake the government.

But also, after January 6th and up until Joe Biden was actually sworn into office, they say that there was talk from the leader of this group, the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, that he was going to continue to try and stop that from happening, with this group.

That is what the prosecution's case looks like.

The defense is saying that they thought that then-President Trump was going to instate the Insurrection Act and that they were just planning for that to be peacekeepers at this particular event.

So, they thought that Donald Trump was going to go ahead and enact the Insurrection Act. And then they would then be, basically, his soldiers to try to put that in place.

That, of course, did not happen. But we are watching this play out with three tables full of attorneys. Because there are five defendants. And this is going to be a long process. This trial could last up to six weeks.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The U.S. has introduced a resolution at the U.N. Security Council condemning Russia for the four referendums held in occupied parts of Ukraine.

The resolution, which was jointly introduced with Albania, would also obligate Russia to remove its troops from Ukraine. It's largely symbolic, as Russian will almost certainly 00 will almost certainly veto it. It will do that indeed.

Here's what the U.S. ambassador says will happen next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: And let me be clear, if Russia uses its veto to shield itself from accountability, we will then look to the U.N. General Assembly to send an unmistakable message to Moscow.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: This comes after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called on the U.N. Security Council to remove Russia's veto right. The Biden administration is preparing a response if Russia goes ahead with annexing the four areas of Ukraine it currently occupies.

Meantime, Ukraine is making progress in a counter offensive in the East. CNN visited a newly-liberated town. And as CNN's Ben Wedeman reports, retreating Russians are leaving behind far more than just military equipment.

A warning, though. This report contains some disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bodies of dead Russian soldiers are scattered around the town of Pisky-Radkivski, killed far from home in what the Kremlin chooses to call a special military operation. But it's a war by any other name.

A war into which many more Russians will be thrown now that the so- called partial mobilization has begun. And who may well meet a similar end.

WEDEMAN: This is a bank document found on one of the soldiers. The soldier is from St. Petersburg, and he was born on the 30th of September, 2001. He died three days before his birthday.

c The charred remnants of Russian armor scattered around town. Outgoing artillery pursues an army once considered one of the most powerful on earth.

(GUNFIRE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): An army that abandon tanks aplenty, many in working order. Dmitry (ph) and his crew are tinkering with one such tank, fresh from the battlefield.

DMITRY (ph), UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

"It has minimal breakage," he says. "I can turn it on now without any problems." Sure enough, its motor roars to life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): "When they run away, they lose not only the tanks, says the sergeant," says Aleksandr (ph), "but also the ammunition. And the next day, it's all used against them."

This tank, almost ready to go back into action.

Pisky-Radkivski lies just north of the Donbas region, which after sham referenda, President Vladimir Putin plans to annex to Russia. Yet few here have fond memories of life under Russia's sway.

Stanislav (Ph) is cutting sheet metal to put over the shattered windows of his sister's home. "There was looting in spring," he recalls. "They were taking

everything."

Down the road, Vavrara (ph) and Raisa (ph) are back to what they did throughout the Russian occupation. "Just sitting here," says Vavrara (ph), "they didn't bother us."

But Raisa (ph) found them annoying.

"Nazis, Nazis," she says. "They always ask, where are the Nazis?"

The Russians have left, or lie dead in the dirt. Lives wasted, for nothing.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Pisky-Radkivski, Eastern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back with a lot more news after a very short break. You're watching CNN.

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