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Hurricane Ian Left Cubans in the Dark; Florida Bracing for Cat Three Storm; Oil Leaks Seen in the Baltic Sea; Russia Claim Referenda Votes is Not a Sham; Unrest Continue in Iran Over Mahsa Amini's Death; Typhoon Noru Battered Vietnam. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 28, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Paula Newton.

Now it is 3 a.m. on the East Coast, and almost the entire state of Florida, think about that, is bracing for the impact of Hurricane Iran. Now a monster that now stretches 700 miles across and getting stronger by the minute. And that's after causing a nationwide blackout in Cuba, Ian is churning in the Gulf of Mexico as a category three hurricane with sustained winds, sustained of just shy of a category four.

Now, along with life-threatening storm surge, Florida is facing catastrophic flooding and power winds. Conditions will deteriorate throughout the night ahead of the expected landfall in the coming hours. More than two and a half million people are under some form of evacuation at this hour. And the window to leave is running out.

Even before the hurricane makes landfall, authorities are warning residents to be on alert for tornadoes overnight. These images show the impact earlier after a tornado hit the North Perry Airport in South Florida causing, as you can see there, significant damage to several aircraft hangars.

Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the storm for us. And Pedram, I don't have to tell you, right, the storm has kept us guessing for days. What is the latest update, especially on that all- important storm track.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know this track, we're getting very close to landfall here. I would say inside the next 10, maybe 12 hours, we see landfall take place possibly sooner as the system kind of wobbles closer and closer towards the coast.

Notice yesterday we had hurricane warnings just on the immediate coast. Now whether you're across inland areas, as far north as Orlando, as far as south as Marco Island, hurricane warnings have been extended across this region, meaning hurricane conditions are expected in the coming hours, even inland.

And the reason for that is just what Paula mentioned here, the extensive nature of the storm system spanning hundreds of miles. So not only are you going to feel hurricane conditions close to the center, but as far away as 140 miles away from the center will have tropical storm force winds felt.

And yes, even inland once it makes landfall, I wouldn't be surprised you have a major hurricane traversing inland for at least maybe 50, 75 miles before it begins to weaken beyond that into a tropical storm and then reemerges over portions of eastern Florida, might -- maybe even makes another landfall across southern Georgia as early as Friday morning.

So, certainly a lot to go with this storm system before it's all said and done, and we've kind of followed this track as it's gradually shifted. We kind of gave you the numbers as well of about 100 miles spread in the margin of error with these tropical systems when you're forecasting two, three days out.

Initially, that forecast track was pushing it west of Tampa, some of them were bringing it into Tampa. Now we have a very, very, fine-tuned guidance on where the system could end up. Port Charlotte, in and around Sanibel region. That's the area we're looking at for possible landfall early Wednesday afternoon.

And that is precisely why the storm surge numbers across this region Boca Grande, Fort Myers in and around Sanibel Captiva could be up to nine feet. That is a catastrophic amount of storm surges. Just kind of giving you a visual of what four-foot storm surge looks like, bringing that water generally into any sort of coastal properties, while above nine feet you're pushing water above the first story, first floor of these properties. And that is where we kind of see the most significant amount of flooding associated with these storms.

And of course, storm surge is the top killer when it comes to tropical cyclones, which is why mandatory evacuation is in place around those areas I just mentioned. But, Paula, look at the expected rainfall totals here. This is an incredible amount of rainfall.

When we're talking about the top of the charts where our legend at the top left corner there takes it up to 20 plus inches, and then you have an incredible amount of Florida underneath a potential here to see as much as 20 plus inches of rainfall. So, you think, I'm not near the coast, I'm not going to be as significantly impacted by these very powerful winds and incredible storm surge.

Well, 20 inches of rainfall nowhere in the world is going to have infrastructure to support that amount of rainfall coming down in a matter of a couple of days without leading to significant flooding, flooding fatalities, if you don't heed the cautions, and certainly a lot of damage left behind as well.

So, this is a very serious story developing across a large area of Florida. NEWTON: Yes, Pedram, I'm just looking at Orlando and Tampa, I mean millions of people. Not to mention all the businesses, all the tourist attractions that so many of us know to be, unfortunately right now, under the wrath of Hurricane Ian.

Pedram, we'll continue to get updates from you in the coming hour. Thank you for that though.

[03:04:59]

Now joining me on the phone is Logan Parham. He is a storm chaser currently in Venice, Florida. There you go. I'm glad that you're safe, actually, which is also good.

OK. Let us know what is going on, where you are right now, and what has been going outside from what you've last seen and maybe possibly from what you can hear as well.

LOGAN PARHAM, STORM CHASER: OK. Yes. So, earlier, I woke up to some pretty strong wind gusts, I would say very near hurricane force. So, as expected, conditions are continuing to deteriorate and we'll keep up at that rate throughout the day. Really, sustained tropical storm force wind gust, getting a little rougher outside.

NEWTON: Yes, when you say that, when we -- we just heard Pedram just go through, you know, a lot of the statistics with this, there's a lot of rain, wind, storm, storm surge. When we talk about catastrophic storm surge as a storm chaser, what could that look like? Are we talking about homes and boats being completely overwhelmed?

PARHAM: Yes. Storm surge is not something that we plan on getting too close to today. You know, mainly today what we're going to have to, I mean, we're going to have to look after storm surge for certain, but if anything, we're going to do our best to stay as far inland and away from that coastal area as possible.

Also the wind threat, but, yes, storm surge. We could see homes inundated. We could see any rivers, creeks, even lakes, potentially, backing up into homes and businesses.

NEWTON: You know, people have been told now for days that they need to leave those evacuation orders, got a lot more strict and involve a lot more people in the last day alone. Are -- were you still seeing people out on the street? Was there anything that told you that people were still trying to get out?

PARHAM: Yes, actually, you know, it seemed very, very mixed from people around here. There's a lot of people, who were leaving and, you know, the roads did seem very barren at times, but then other times, it was your average Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. So, it's a -- it's a totally, a mixed amount of people who are evacuating versus not evacuating.

NEWTON: And why do you think that is? Because we've certainly seen a lot of warnings and we're looking at the conditions right now. This is really a terrifying storm, and yet people haven't evacuated. PARHAM: Yes, I think, a lot of the reason was the, the complacency

with people getting caught up in earlier forecast that it was going to be in the Tampa area. And now that it's coming south, you know, a lot of people were thinking, OK, it's going to be Tampa. It's going to be Tampa, we'll be good down here, you know, a couple, you know, 30 minutes to an hour south. And then now, you know, we see the updated track and, you know, all the models are kind of trending. It's going to be further south of Tampa.

I also spoke with a couple residents around here who said they left Tampa for here because they figured it would be safer here. So, undoubtedly a scary situation for everybody. But yes, I think really just the complacency and the early on confusion.

NEWTON: Yes. And that's alarming to hear from people who thought that they would be safe where you are right now and are not. And I guess, you know, Tampa is still going to be getting a lot of rain, but not that significant storm surge. I mean, what will you be looking for in the coming hours, given your experience with this, especially you're going to try and stay somewhere safe, but what are you looking for in terms of knowing exactly where that eye is heading?

PARHAM: So now, you know, we're getting to the point where the models are pretty much becoming almost useless, and we're using -- we're using our own radar. we're pretty much going to now cast the event from this point forward. So, any wobbles that we see in the eye, you know, go ahead and target.

We have a couple, target areas mapped out with, you know, sturdy structures, anything to keep us safe, especially if we're going to be in a car. And right now, probably within the next couple of minutes we're going to head our way over to Port Charlotte.

NEWTON: OK, we're going to try and continue to stay in touch with you in the coming hours and days. Logan, obviously goes without saying, stay safe, and we will continue to watch this incredibly menacing storm. Thanks so much.

PARHAM: Absolutely. Thank you.

NEWTON: Now meantime, Cuban officials say it could be sometime before they know the full extent of the destruction from Hurricane Ian. Power outages and infrastructure damage have made it difficult to reach some remote area.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Cuba and has our report.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuba and its 11 million inhabitants are currently in a nationwide blackout official said late Tuesday night. After Hurricane Ian battered this island, according to officials it damaged the island's electrical system to a degree that it led to rolling blackouts across this island even in central eastern Cuba that are not affected by the wind and the rain from Hurricane Ian.

To the west of Havana hundreds of thousands of of people are without power because electric cables and electric posts were knocked down by the storm in Havana.

[03:09:59]

Initially, officials said that they took down power to the city's two million inhabitants to keep from there being fires and people from being electrocuted from fallen power lines. But clearly, as of late Tuesday night, officials are unable to restore power to Cuba's capital and to the rest of the island.

This is extremely problematic for Cuban officials because for months now the island's aging power grid has been affected by blackouts sometimes for days and that has led to -- that has led to residents of many Cuban cities and towns taking the streets in rare. And what Cuban officials consider to be illegal protests demanding power has been restored.

Cuban officials asked for people's patience and said that they hoped to restore power, but acknowledged that the electrical situation on the island is, quote, "complicated."

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

NEWTON: Just ahead for us, CNN visits a town liberated by the Ukrainian military. We'll show you what Russian forces left behind. And a mystery in the Baltic Sea. Russian natural gas pipelines to Europe are damaged and leaking. Is it sabotage? And what does it mean? We'll have some answers, next.

[03:15:00]

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NEWTON: A dangerous tipping point. Former Russian president and close Putin ally, Dmitry Medvedev with a stark prediction here. The U.S. and NATO won't do anything if Russia use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. Now, Medvedev was quoted as saying, "the demagogues across the ocean and in Europe are not going to die in a nuclear apocalypse."

This as Russian state media claim the referenda widely denounced as shams in Russian occupied regions of Ukraine show that huge majorities, huge, well over 90 percent, they claim support joining Russia. And Ukrainian officials say this is all a cover for Russia to draft Ukrainian men into the Russian military to be used as, quote, "cannon fodder."

Meantime, Ukraine is making progress in its counteroffensive in the east. CNN visited a town newly liberated by Ukrainian forces. And as our Ben Wedeman reports, retreating Russians are leaving behind far more than just military equipment. And a warning here, the report contains disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.

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.

A charred remnants of Russian armor scattered around town. Outgoing artillery pursues an army once considered one of the most powerful on earth. An army that abandoned tanks of plenty, many in working order.

Dimitri (Ph) and his crew are tinkering with one such tank fresh from the battlefield.

UNKNOWN: Minimal. Minimal.

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

"When they run away, they lose not only the tanks," says (Inaudible), "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, Varvara (Ph) and Raiza (Ph) are back to what they did throughout the Russian occupation. "Just sitting here," says Varvara, "they didn't bother us." But Raiza (ph) found them annoying. "Nazis, Nazis, she says they always ask, where are the Nazis?"

Russians have left or lie dead in the dirt, lives wasted or nothing.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now European leaders suspect sudden mysterious leaks in two Nord Stream gas pipelines were actually caused by sabotage. Methane bubbles were seen rising to the surface of the Baltic Sea near the damaged pipelines. That is what you're looking at right there. With seismologists reporting two explosions in the area Monday.

Now it's not clear if that was the cause of the leaks. Russia should cut off the flow of natural gas in one pipeline to Europe last month amid tensions over its war in Ukraine, the other was not operating commercially yet.

[03:19:58]

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me now from London. And there is a lot to get to again today. But we do want to start with that pipeline. The intrigue over who did this and why is understandable. What -- what more are we learning, Clare?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Paula, efforts to get to the bottom of this are continuing. We know now from the Danish defense ministry that the defense minister will be meeting this hour with the NATO secretary General to discuss this and Ukraine. We expect to hear from them after European nations continue to investigate this.

And they are not shying away from the possibility that it could have been sabotaged. The Swedish prime minister said this was probably a deliberate act. The Swedish foreign Minister said we have to be prepared for Putin to act irrationally, actually naming him.

The Polish prime minister said that this was likely an act of sabotage and likely an escalation in the war in Ukraine. And they are also promising a response, Ursula von der Leyen, the E.U. Commission president saying that if this was a deliberate disrupt -- disruption of active European energy infrastructure that will lead to the strongest possible response.

So, they are extremely concerned about this, because of course, the bottom line for Europe is that this now means it's very unlikely that the Nord Stream 1, which up until the early summer was the biggest artery carrying Russian gas to Europe will not be coming back online for winter.

They have to now face up to that fact, and not only that fact as they try to diversify their energy supplies and save energy, but the fact that this isn't now just about Russia potentially switching off the taps or weaponizing its energy supplies that way.

Whether or not this is proven to be sabotage or anything else, this is now a message to Europe that they need to secure their energy infrastructure as well from the potential for kinetic or physical attacks. So, it's now a potentially a hybrid energy war that we're looking at.

NEWTON: Yes. The fallout of this obviously continuing today and beyond, and as you said quite significant. I do want to get back to the referenda. They're going to, as you and I both know, Clare, follow that familiar Kremlin script, right?

They're already talking that the turnout is way over 95 percent. But I guess some people are wondering about the timeline here. So, what could happen to that area after it is annexed as we expect it will be?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, the results not surprising, Paula, coming in the 90s voting for joining Russia, and most of the regions in Kherson in the high 80s. The next steps, as far as we know it, the U.K. defense ministry is saying there is a realistic possibility that President Putin will formally announce the annexation of these four territories in a speech to parliament on Friday.

They will not call it an annexation, of course, they will call it an accession into Russian territory. The speaker for the Federation Council in Russia, which is the upper house of parliament says they will move to address this next week, next Tuesday.

I think the big questions after that are, what does this mean for the residents of these regions? There are as speculation among Ukrainians and evidence they say that this is already happening, that they could be drafted into Russia's latest mobilization drive.

The question then becomes, what does this mean for Ukraine's counteroffensive? Will Russia try to reframe it as an attack on Russian territory? Territory that they now claim as Russian? And a major question will be, will Putin stop there or will he continue to try to take more Ukrainian territory after this, Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, certainly a question a lot of people are wondering about right now. Clare Sebastian for us, I really appreciate the update.

Now coming up, the very latest on Hurricane Ian. We'll return to CNN weather center for a live report when we come back.

[03:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Returning to our top story now. Calls for evacuation are growing louder and more urgent as Hurricane Ian barrels toward Florida. Now, the category three storm has already slammed into Cuba, and the island is now facing a nationwide blackout. Ian is expected to make landfall meantime in Florida in the coming hours near Port Charlotte as a category three or possibly category four hurricane. And storm surge warnings have already been issued for the lower Florida Keys.

We are joined by meteorologist Pedram Javaheri now in the CNN weather center. You have been tracking this path, and I want to get to something that you've been warning us about for days.

You know, Florida, you've told us is already saturated and now all of this water will again be dumped onto the state. I mean, what are you seeing in terms of totals there?

JAVAHERI: You know, it's incredible. Rainfall amounts that are just staggering. Of course, we've talked about the storm surge threat that has been so significant for so many days, but this is really an element worth noting here. Because we're seeing the outer bands, Paula, of the storm system already making its impacts felt across Naples, Cape Coral, Sarasota will begin to see some heavy rainfall in the coming hours.

And of course, you take a look at what the system has in in store here. We've seen the hurricane warnings that extend quite a way out as far north as Orlando. As far as south has Naples. And as the system moves in here as a strong category three, possibly category four, you've got to keep in mind a storm of this magnitude when it comes to the National Hurricane Center, their verbiage of storms of this magnitude, they go on to say here that most of this area that is impacted in that direct zone of these category four winds could be uninhabitable for a period of weeks or months. Now that's just the wind element of it, of course, but there's a significant rain element that's associated with this. And the models do bring in as much as 20 plus inches of rainfall across portions of Florida on top of the incredible storm surge that's in place.

We've seen the models shift upwards of 100 miles in the past couple of days that have now put the system in the track of the system to make landfall somewhere near Port Charlotte, Sanibel Island, areas around say Fort Myers. That's where we're looking at. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's a little more farther south than this particular track and brings it in a little bit earlier as well.

[03:30:02]

And with all of that said, it comes in as a stronger storm. Certainly, comes in quicker with a nine-foot storm search potential in place there. And again, the rainfall amounts are what's most staggering to me because not often do you see a map highlight an area so large from Tampa all the way through parts of Orlando and points northward, where it's the top of the charts there.

Twenty-plus inches of rainfall potentially in store. So not only are you going to see flash flooding risks, certainly going to see certain property damage if you don't heed these evacuations. And that's the biggest concern with the storm of this magnitude is that when they tell you you've got to evacuate, not just on the coast, if they're coming and telling you to do so inland, you're in an area where flooding is a major, major potential.

And with this much rainfall and short duration, it is going to be catastrophic for a lot of folks.

NEWTON: Yes, I mean, nearly two feet of rain in the span of perhaps a day, Pedram. Yes, we certainly hope a lot of those predictions turn out to be on the more optimistic side. Pedram, thanks for that update.

Now meantime, emergency officials in Florida are pleading with anyone still left in some areas, as you were just hearing Pedram, to urgently get to safety. Warning that help may not be available for those who are trapped. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN GUTHRIE, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: This storm will only continue to intensify. If you want to leave as a governor has said, now is your last chance. We cannot send first responders into harm's way because you decided not to leave. You must leave now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining me now from Fort Myers is Fire Chief Tracy McMillion. And chief, thanks so much for joining us on what is an incredibly busy overnight for you.

Let's deal with un -- the unfortunate facts of this storm. It looked as if Fort Myers might escape the worst of it, but now that this storm is wobbled further east and south, what are you expecting?

TRACY MCMILLION, CHIEF, FORT MYERS FIRE DEPARTMENT: So, we're experiencing some of it right now. So, as you can hear on this, this particular, interview here, you hear the wind, you hear the rain. So currently right now we're dealing with tropical storm force winds. We're expecting just being on that.

What is copped about in emergency management as the dirty side of the storm. We're experiencing a lot of wind, a lot of rain, hurricane like, you know, forces, tornadoes. There's a lot of things that go with being in the particular area that we are.

NEWTON: Yes. And give us a look inside some of those, you know, procedures and some of the emergency planning, especially since you're probably dealing with a much stronger storm than you had anticipated even 48 hours ago. And let's think first about the evacuations, right? I mean, how is that going? How is it gone?

MCMILLION: Yes. So, you know, one thing we'll always try to do is actually, you know, a plan for the worst, hope for the best. So, we always try to make sure in emergency management that we actually have, maybe very aggressive plans to keep our community safe.

So, some of the things with the evacuations and we've actually evacuated a good portion of our county, our city, things have gone pretty well with that. And one of the things that we -- we can't stress enough and that we've tried to stress throughout this whole day is for our folks to relocate, to get out of these areas that may actually experience some -- some terrible, you know, winds that may actually experience some storm surge.

And so, we've actually done some great social media. That's a great, you know, introduction to, you know, getting in contact with our community, as well as we've actually gone out into the streets, good old fashioned in the streets, human contact to try to encourage our residents to actually relocate to our shelters or somewhere safe like a neighbor. Or a friend or something that nature.

NEWTON: So, the worst of the storm, is going to hit throughout the morning and into the day tomorrow. What specifically are you guys expecting and how do you believe you will handle it? I know a lot of people have been warned that look, departments like yours can't come and rescue people when you're dealing with those high winds and that storm surge.

MCMILLION: Exactly right, Paula, then that's one of the challenges that we have. You know, we -- we are heroes, we're responders. We want to take care of our communities. That's why we're public service. But however, there's a safety measure in which we can't, you know, go out and do that.

So, when the winds and rains get too high and too forceful, and where our emergency efforts would actually be more dangerous than helpful, we have to hunker down. And that's probably the hardest thing for us as responders to do, is actually kind of sit and wait before -- before we can go out. So, those are some of the conversations that we've had with our

emergency team. Those are things that we've talked to our responders and we've been in contact with all our partners, at our county level. All our other partners throughout the state of Florida just to make sure that we're ready for it once those winds die back down that was go time. We're going out to actually take care of our public, to take care of our city and our county to make sure all our situations are mitigated.

NEWTON: And let's talk about that go time. What are you most concerned about? We have heard a lot about the winds, but we've also heard a lot about the potential for catastrophic storm surge.

[03:35:04]

MCMILLION: Yes. You know, just being in southwest Florida and having building codes that actually are a little higher than some other areas, that kind of makes a little bit of our area a little safer when it comes to wind. But definitely one of those concerns.

We have to be concerned always about wind even if you have, you know, storm shutters or you know, all those other type of building requirements that makes your house a little bit safer. We never discount wind.

However, storm surge is something that is real and it's something that we have to make sure as a group of responders and as a city that we are actually taking in account. So, this, these are some of the things that we try to educate our, you know, residents, re-educate our city, educate those that are visiting. As far as taking storms surge seriously, it is definitely one of those concerns. And also, with that, we have to actually, you know, be worried about the winds and also those things such as tornadoes.

You know, these are things that can actually come off with the winds and microbursts and things like that. So, we have to actually take all these things into account. And these are things that we put into our safety briefings, the things we put into our incident action plans. So, our responders know.

Please don't discount anything. Please consider these. And so, our plans are actually directed at all these different types of hazards and challenges to make sure that we can mitigate it the easiest as possible.

NEWTON: You know, chief, you had said that you've been in the community a long time. This is not your first storm by any stretch, but what specifically about the ferocity of this storm worries you?

MCMILLION: How fast is moving? That's one of my concerns. You know, it's actually a slower moving storm with good forceful winds. There's no such thing as a, a good storm, but one of the challenges that we have when a storm is actually moving slow, how long it's going to be impacting your community, and that actually can create more challenges, can actually, tax resources a little bit more. So those are some of the things that we're really concerned about this. And of course, obviously for us as a location in Fort Myers, we're also concerned with on the side of the storm that we are and what that actually will bring to us being the -- the dirty side of the storm.

NEWTON: Yes. Listen, we're all rooting for you and best of luck with everything and we will keep our fingers crossed, that when go time comes that the community of Fort Myers will get through it.

Chief, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

MCMILLION: Thanks so much, Paula. I appreciate you. Be safe.

NEWTON: Tough night for them. Ahead Here on CNN, a jury selection is now underway in what's considered the most significant trial yet among cases involving January 6th defendants.

Plus, Iran faces growing condemnation over the death of a young woman arrested by morality police. Coming up, a live report from the region in the latest on unrest over the death of Mahsa Amini.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: The House select committee investigating the January 6th insurrection has postponed Wednesday's hearing and that is because of Hurricane Ian. Now a new date for the hearing, which is likely to be the last, should be announced soon. And it's expected to focus on how allies of former President Donald Trump sought to declare victory in the 2020 election, but that was regardless of the outcome.

Meantime, jury selection is now underway in a federal trial that could pose a major test to the Justice Department's prosecution of January 6 rioters. Five leaders of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group are charged with seditious conspiracy in that capitol attack.

It's the first time in over a decade the Justice Department will argue a group of Americans plotted to violently oppose the U.S. government. All five defendants have in fact pleaded not guilty.

The U.N. secretary general says he's increasingly concerned about a crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran and reports of growing fatalities. The government has faced nearly two weeks of unrest over the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the so-called morality police.

And Tehran is expanding its response to neighboring countries attacking Kurdish groups in Iraq it says are supporting protestors.

But as CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports on the streets of Iran calls for justice are only growing louder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Night fall in Iran brings protesters back onto the streets, a near total internet blackout by the government is making it hard for us to know what's really going on, but video trickling out appears to show many Iranians undeterred by a government crackdown. The threat of arrest or the bullets.

It almost feels like Iran has been in ever ending cycle of protests over the past two decades, but those who know the country say everything about this time is different.

TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: This time around very quickly, almost from the outset. They started challenging not the policies of the Islamic republic, but the very structures of it.

It's also different in looking at the demographics. These are primarily very, very young people, a younger generation who have apparently completely lost faith. That this Islamic republic can be reformed.

KARADSHEH: And on the streets there have been daring calls for regime change. This video from the city of Mashhad, the birthplace of the supreme leader shows protestors setting fire to the statue of a man considered one of the symbols of these Islamic revolution.

[03:45:04]

On Monday, this group march through the capital Tehran chanting against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But it is the powerful acts of defiance by Iranian women that have stunned the world, as protests enter their second week, they're still out on the street still demanding their freedoms, their rights lost with the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Iranian government rallied its supporters in mass demonstrations, calling the protests a foreign plot, the work of a handful of mercenaries, rioters who forcefully remove the head scarfs of women on the streets.

But in reality, the countrywide protests were sparked by outrage even among government supporters over the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. The protests appear leaderless and spontaneous.

PARSI: The frustrations were so significant it was brewing, but they needed a spark. And the spark was that. This is not something that came from the outside. This is not something that was cooked up from the outside and that's why they were taken so by surprise.

KARADSHEH: While many Iranians outside the country are holding onto the hope that this wave of protests may bring change, experts say the regime is far from collapsing.

PARSI: I don't think they are about to fall because we have not yet seen the full scale of their reaction. Unfortunately, I fear that we will see a lot of bloodshed before all of this is over. KARADSHEH: Its full force may crush these protests, but it won't be

the end for a generation of Iranians more emboldened than ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (on camera): And Paula, everyone I've spoken to is very concerned that we are going to see a repeat of what happened in 2019. That is where the increase in fuel prices sparked these countrywide protests and people were out on the streets protesting against the economic situation, calling for better living conditions against corruption.

And the government cracked down by the end of that, again, under that internet blackout also at the time, estimates that came out afterwards put the number of dead at about 1,500 people. And there's a lot of fear that we are going to see a repeat of that.

And yesterday we heard from the Iranian foreign minister speaking to NPR, again, dismissing these protests as organized and orchestrated, and he described them as quote, unquote, "not a big deal." And saying, reassuring his western counterparts that there will be no regime change in Iran.

But experts we've been speaking to say that unless the regime changes, unless there are reforms, unless it attempts to try and meet the people's demands, meet the protesters halfway. We are only going to see more and more protests, more emboldened youth in Iran taking to the streets for years to come, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. And given what you just outlined about the risks, you can imagine families won -- especially the young adults go out on the streets, wondering where they are and really worrying about them when they are there.

Jomana, thanks so much for the update.

Now we are continuing to monitor Hurricane Ian. The storm is gaining strength as it moves closer to Florida. Coming up, the latest on its track.

Plus, Vietnam is being hit by typhoon Noru's brutal winds and heavy rain. More on the precautions of officials have taken there to hopefully lessen the storm's damage.

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NEWTON: At this hour, more than two and a half million Floridians are under some kind of evacuation warning as Hurricane Ian moves ever closer. And officials say the time to leave is quickly running out. Now the storms outer bands are already bringing strong winds and rain to the Florida Keys with landfall expected later in the day, somewhere between Sarasota and Port Charlotte. Now, it could make landfall as a powerful category three or even category four storm. Now meantime, Vietnam is being pummeled by typhoon Noru. The storm

made landfall earlier in the coastal city of Da Nang, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. It's expected, thankfully, to weaken as it moves inland, but parts of central Vietnam, Laos and Thailand could face flooding over the next 48 hours. The storm killed at least eight people when it passed through the Philippines earlier.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has been tracking the storm for us. And Paula, this is really quite a significant storm in its own right. What could be in store for places like Vietnam?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, as you say, it did make landfall earlier this Wednesday. Now the images that we have seen in the aftermath of the landfall it made in places like Da Nang and Hoi An is that trees are down, electricity pylons are down, roads have been blocked. There is, as far as we can tell, some flooding as well.

We haven't heard officially how much more damage though there could be. They are trying to assess that at this point. When it did make landfall, it was the equivalent of a high-end category two hurricane. Winds of some 175 kilometers per hour, just over a hundred miles per hour.

There had been precautions put in place though as Vietnam knew that this was coming. This is a fairly heavy fishing area as well. Just in this one province alone there are some 11,000 fishermen. They were all banned from going out on the sea by officials.

The prime minister himself had an emergency cabinet meeting the day before to put plans in place, saying quote, "climate change is becoming increasingly extreme and unusual."

[03:55:02]

Now, this typhoon itself was unusual in what we saw in the days before as well. You mentioned there, Paula, about the Philippines. It did make landfall in the Philippines on Sunday. But just going into the weekend it was a fairly weak typhoon and it had a rapid intensification up to a super typhoon. Leaving those in the Philippines with very little time to prepare or to get out of the eye of the storm.

As you say, we know at this point officials saying eight people lost their lives. Five more are missing. Paula?

NEWTON: And yet, a storm that we have to continue to track as it moves through Asia.

Paula Hancocks for us in Seoul. I appreciate it. And I am Paula Newton. I'm going to thank you for your company. I will be right back with more CNN Newsroom and an update on Hurricane Ian in just a moment.

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