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Category 3 Hurricane Ian Intensifies on Path to Florida; Hurricane Ian Set to Slam Florida's West Coast; Hurricane Ian Leaves Cuba in a Nationwide Blackout; Thousands Flee Russia After Partial Mobilization Announced; European Leaders Suspect Sabotage in Pipelines Leaks. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 28, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States an all around the world. I'm Paula Newton joining you live from Atlanta. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People in southwest Florida, this is going to likely make landfall as a category 4 hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This storm will only continue to intensify. If you want to leave, now is your last chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire state is going to be touched by this storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to be in our streams. It's going to be in our canals. It's going to be in our stormwater drains and dishes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not scared. I'm not. I'm prepared though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can already start to see what it is doing to the waters in the Gulf just slamming these waves up against the seawall right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: It is Wednesday, September 28th, 4 a.m. here on the U.S. East Coast where a monster category 3 hurricane is at this hour churning towards Florida and parts of the state are already feeling the effects. Now these are images from Key West where major flooding is being reported and hurricane force winds and strong storm surge warnings are already out there on the coast.

Now right now it's all hands on deck. Thousands of National Guard members as well as urban search and rescue teams are mobilized ahead of the hurricane's expected landfall in just the coming hours. And more than 30,000 utility workers meantime from 23 states are getting ready to help with what are sure to be extensive power outages. Now nearly 3 million people are under evacuation orders. Think about that. Florida's governor says if you haven't already left, the time to do so is quickly running out. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON DESANTIS (R) FLORIDA GOVERNOR: If you are in an evacuation zone, particularly in those southwest Florida counties, you know, your time to evacuate is coming to an end. You need to evacuate now. You're going to start feeling major impacts of this storm relatively soon.

You don't have to traverse all across the state of Florida. You need to get to higher ground. You need to get to structures that are safe. There are shelters open in all of these counties and that would be preferable than remaining in one of those very vulnerable areas with really, really potentially catastrophic storm surge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So, to try to help, authorities have suspended tolls on central Florida roads to make it easier for people to evacuate. Long lines of cars stretched for miles Tuesday as you would expect as people try to flee to safety.

Now even before the hurricane makes landfall authorities are warning of possible tornadoes, one hit overnight already at the North Perry Airport in south Florida. As you can see there, flipping aircraft and causing significant damage to hangers.

Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has been tracking the storm for days now. And you do have a clearer idea, right, of when and where this storm is going to hit? So, what can residents expect?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, far better idea than we did this time yesterday. You know, these last 10, 12 hours before landfall the models really hone in on the location, the intensity of the storm which is expected to strengthen possibly to a category 4 just before landfall. Improbably you notice this -- As far north as Orlando, as far south as Naples, Marko Islands, hurricane warnings have been prompted. So, it's not just the coastal regions that are expecting hurricane conditions.

The scope of this storm kind of shows you the vast reach of it. With 120 miles an hour sustained winds near the eye wall, about 140 miles away from the center you'll still feel tropical storm force winds. In Fort Myers, from Key West to Fort Myers already beginning to see the brunt of the storm. As far as the Gusty winds, the heavy rainfall all beginning to gradually move in. And of course, we've seen the models kind of gradually shift this towards a little farther towards the south and east within every single run where within a span of say 24 to 36 hours we have about a 100 mile spread of where the storm was initially forecast to move into and where it's forecast to move into now.

So, we're in a watch this very carefully because, again, confidence now increasing that we think landfall will occur somewhere near Sanibel Island, not far from Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, around Clearwater Beach. These are the areas that we're watching carefully.

And then notice around areas of Tampa Bay, the storm surge threat has dropped significantly as a result as the storm it's self has shifted farther towards the south. In fact, storm surge at its highest value across the region, maybe 3 to 6 feet. Generally speaking, 1 to 3 feet is what we expect.

[04:05:00]

And then moving a little further towards the south, where landfall is expected, with the storm coming in at a category 4 here. Expect the storm surge threat right along those shores of Port Charlotte and Charlotte Harbor to be as high as 9 feet. Really inundating this community across this region.

This is a significant storm surge. We'll show you the animations of what that means. Four foot storm surge certainly begins to bring some water into the properties on the coast. But any time you exceed 9, 10, 12 feet you can get water above the first floor of some of these homes. But certainly, the energy that was expected a little farther towards the north now puts a lot of other people at risk in areas to the south.

About 50 percent of tropical cyclone fatalities do occur because of storm surge. That's why we really kind of try to hammer this particular element home so much here when it comes to the weather and tropics. But notice, we've already seen significant wind gusts as far south as Havana, Cuba with wind gusts there upwards of 87 miles per hour. But when it comes to this storm system, it's not just the storm surge, not just the category 4 winds. You think, you're not at the coast, you're not going to be dealing with those. Look at the rainfall expectations.

When you've work your way to areas well to the north here, were talking expansive area where the forecast models have brought as much as 20 plus inches -- the top of the chart rainfall -- across an expansive area. So, the flooding here is going to be significant. Certainly, the flash flood risk is high and a lot of property damage is also going to be in place as well. So, when they tell you to evacuate, even if you're not by the coast, I think you should be evacuating.

NEWTON: Yes, as you pointed out there, the risk to inland Florida as well really challenge our conventional wisdom about these storms. Pedram, thanks so much. We'll continue to check in with you within the hour.

Now the massive hurricane has kept meteorologists like Pedram and of course, storm chasers guessing as it's shifted course. You saw Pedram say there as much as 100 miles just in the last little while. Now take a look at these images from on board a U.S. government flight on Tuesday. This is actually inside the eye of the storm here. Meteorologists and storm chaser Reed Timmer has been tracking hurricane Ian. Here's what he's seeing from the Fort Myers area.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REED TIMMER, EXTREME METEOROLOGIST AND STORM CHASER: You can definitely feel the power of the system already, even with the number of (INAUDIBLE) and even the severity of these outer bands. And we're in a mandatory evacuated area. Sanibel Island is just off to the west and we're expecting an 8 to 12 foot storm surge here. It's going to be an absolutely devastating storm surge, life threatening. It needs to be taken seriously. You absolutely need to leave especially these mandatory evacuated areas.

I think people are really starting to take this seriously. Because it is going to be a category 4 at landfall. Previous hurricanes like a Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Ida last year are similar in intensity. And it looks like this is also going to produce a huge amount of rainfall as well. Flash flooding is going to be a substantial threat. There's actually a high risk for excessive rainfall by the Weather Prediction Center across the central portion of the state including Tampa. So, all types of flooding expected from this storm system -- flash flooding, coastal flooding, storm surge flooding. And it's possible that with the storm slowing down on the approach to Florida, that storm surge could last across multiple tidal cycles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Joining me now from Fort Myers is Fire Chief Tracy McMillan. And Chief, thanks so much for joining us on what is an incredibly busy overnight for you. Let's deal with the unfortunate facts of this storm. It looked as if Fort Myers might escape the worst of it. But now that this storm has waddled further east and south, what are you expecting?

CHIEF TRACY MCMILLION, FORT MYERS FIRE DEPARTMENT: So, we're expecting some of it right now. So, as you can hear on 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 talked 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 anticipated even 48 hours ago. And let's think first about the evacuations, right. I mean, how is that going? How has it gone?

MCMILLION: You know, so one of the things we will always try to do is actually, you know, plan for the worst, hope for the best. So, we always try to make sure in emergency management that we have maybe very aggressive plans to keep our community safe.

So, some of the things with the evacuations. We've evacuated a good portion of our county, our city. Things have gone pretty well with that. One of the things we can't stress enough and that we try to stress throughout this whole day as far as folks to relocate, to get out of the areas that may actually experience some terrible, you know, winds, that may experience some storm surge.

And so, we've actually done some great social media.

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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 of that nature.

NEWTON: So, the worst of this 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, but 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 we have. You know, we are heroes, we're responders. We want to take care of our communities, that's why we're public servants. 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, too forceful, where emergency efforts would 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 we go out.

So, those are some of the conversation that we've had with our emergency team. Those are the things we talk 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. And once those winds die back down, it's 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 of our situations are mitigated.

NEWTON: You've been in the community for 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 it's 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 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 can create more challenges. It 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 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. Appreciate it. MCMILLION: Thanks so much, Paula. Appreciate you. Be safe.

NEWTON: Now, as you can imagine, after everything we just discussed the storm is of course causing major delays for events and sports in Florida. The NFL football team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved their practice across the state to Miami. Not sure how that worked out given the map were looking at. The team also postponed a ceremony for Bruce Arians, the former head coach. And several college football games from Florida to South Carolina have been delayed or moved due to those storm concerns.

Meantime, all of Cuba's 11 million residents are without power at this hour after hurricane Ian damaged the island's aging power grid. And Cuban officials say power outages and infrastructure damage will make providing help for those in rural areas even more difficult. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuba and it's 11 million inhabitants are currently in a nationwide blackout. Officials 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 were not affected by the wind and the rain from hurricane Ian.

To the west of Havana hundreds of thousands of people are without power because electric cables and electric posts were knocked down by the storm. In Havana initially officials said that they took down power to the city's 2 million inhabitants to keep from there being fires and people being electrocuted from fallen power lines. But clearly, as of late Tuesday night officials are unable to restore power to Cuba's capital and into the rest of the island.

And 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 then has led to -- that has led to residents of many Cuban cities and towns taking to the streets in rare and what Cuban officials consider to be legal protests demanding power has been restored. But Cuban officials asked for people's patience and said that they hope to restore power. But acknowledge that the electrical situation on the island is, quote, complicated.

[04:15:00]

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Plus, growing lines at Russia's borders as thousands of Russians try to flee after Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization orders. Also ahead, a pair of Russian pipelines that ferry gas to Europe are

leaking in the Baltic Sea. And the European Union says they were deliberately sabotaged. We'll look into that mystery when we come back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I feel like as Floridians we don't get nervous or scared until like the last minute and everybody is like, oh, it's coming. And we're like, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not scared. I'm not. I'm prepared though. I got three generators in my truck. I'm ready to rock and roll. Come on, what's the name? Not Irma but -- Ian. Come on, Ian!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK, so good humor there. and that's despite dire warnings from authorities.

[04:20:00]

Some in Florida are choosing to ignore evacuation orders in spite of -- sorry, in favor of, in fact, riding out that storm. Now parts of Florida are already beginning to feel the impact. Storm surge warnings have been issued for the lower Florida Keys. And Ian is expected to make landfall on the state's Gulf Coast in the coming hours. That would be near Port Charlotte.

Meantime, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection has postponed Wednesday's hearing because of hurricane Ian. A new dates 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 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 that the Justice Department will argue a group of Americans plotted to violently oppose the U.S. government. All five defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Meantime, thousands of men are trying to leave Russia after President Vladimir Putin's announcement of that partial mobilization or draft of Russian citizens. The European border agency Frontex says nearly 6,600 Russians entered the European Union last week. That is in fact a 30 percent increase from the previous week. And Georgia says the number of Russians arriving daily in the country has nearly doubled. CNN's Melissa Bell reports from the Georgia/Russia border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian forces making a dash towards the border with Georgia. Their task to issue summons to the droves of eligible men fleeing the draft. After being instructed to check all men trying to pass through from Russia. It's part of a coordinated effort with the Georgian authorities who've seen an unprecedented number of arrivals since Russia announced its first mobilization since World War II. With up to 10,000 Russians are now entering Georgia each day, according to the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Russians now driven by fear.

KONSTANTIN, RUSSIAN AT BORDER (through translator): Those who understand what is happening. Those who are aware of what is happening are well aware that this will not end in a day or a month. There will be a second and third wave of mobilization and we are against it.

BELL (voice-over): Already the crossing has been getting harder with fears it may soon become impossible.

KONSTANTIN (through translator): It was very difficult. Almost impossible. All of the checkpoints were closed. You must find some way. In some places the locals helped people. They guided us over the mountains.

BELL (voice-over): Those with the means headed to the airport trying to desperately board flights. For others the flight is harder but no less urgent. Moscow's call to arms has pushed droves of men not just southwards but also towards the central Asian country of Kazakhstan whose president pledged on Tuesday to welcome them.

Russians heading also towards Finland whose borders remains open to them. Meanwhile, Russia showing no sign of slowing down its mobilization efforts now extending them to occupied territories inside Ukraine.

As residents in the occupied city of Donetsk received messages on Tuesday asking them to attend the military commissariat. A move local Ukrainian officials say Russia is justifying with the cessation referenda taking place across Ukraine this week. Which despite being widely dismissed as a sham, have nonetheless triggered fear about what lies ahead not just for Ukraine but for Russia itself.

Melissa Bell, CNN on the Georgian/Russian border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now the European Union says it's deeply concerned about damage to Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and is vowing to ramp up energy security. And it says all available information indicates a deliberate act caused the Nordstrom pipeline that ferried last year, to start leaking. Seismologists in fact reported two explosions in the area Monday. Russia cut off the flow of gas in one pipeline last month, in the tensions over its war in Ukraine. The other was an operating yet commercially. European leaders including Sweden's Prime Minister say whatever happened was no accident.

(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)

NEWTON: Now to get more on this CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now from London. And I know there's news on this just out in the last few hours. But you know, Clare, it's understandable, right, that there's a high level of concern throughout Europe about this.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Paula, a high level of concern. And no one really shying away from the topic that this could have been sabotage.

[04:25:00]

I think when you have three separate leaks in two neighboring pipe lines happening really in the space of one day. And seismologists noting events on the Richter scale consistent with explosions, it really makes sense that people are coming to this one conclusion.

The EU now promising to ramp up the security around its energy infrastructure. We're also hearing this morning from the Danish defense minister who just met with the NATO general secretary. He said, while it's too early to make any conclusion, it's hard to imagine this to be pure coincidence. He said also that Russia has a significant military presence in the Baltic Sea region and we expect them to continue their saber rattling. So, they are also worried geographically about that Baltic Sea region and Russia's presence there. The Danish environmental agency did though note that they don't expect any risk to health from these gas leaks to that nearby island of Bornholm.

But as to how this affects Europe, well as you know there was not actual gas flowing to Europe through these two pipe lines. The Nordstrom 2 never started pumping gas. It was canceled as a result of the war in Ukraine. Nordstrom 1 gradually cut back until the beginning of September, it was cut to zero. Russia says because of sanctions. The West says it was political. But this is still a warning shot potentially to Europe that they not only need to secure their energy supplies through their Russification and energy savings. But they also, as Josep Borrell, the top diplomat said this morning, needs to secure that energy infrastructure -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, quite a development in what has been a surprising timeline since this conflict began. And I want to go now to that referenda that we were discussing earlier. It will in fact follow the Kremlin script. But if we look at that script, Clare, what are we expecting in the next few days?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, there's been a final count now of the ballots, Paula, not at all surprising around its percentages that vote. So, three out of four regions in the 90s, the Kherson region in the 80s voting for joining Russia. As for the next steps the U.K. defense ministry says there is a

realistic possibility that on Friday President Putin will announce the annexation of these territories when he addresses Parliament. The speaker of the federation council which is the upper House of Parliament in Russia has said that they will address this next week. To state media it could involve some kind of act of Parliament or a treaty on the accession of these territories.

Ukraine though clearly saying they will not recognize this. The foreign ministry had a statement this morning saying that this showed contempt for all those who have been calling for diplomacy. And this once again sets up that this is now a dangerous moment in this conflict. Will Russia reframe Ukrainian attacks as now happening on Russian soil. Because don't forget, some of these regions that they have are essentially about to annex were not even occupied by Russia. So, there is likely to be still be fighting in these areas -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, in fact, Ukraine has been pushing in those areas despite holding those referenda. Our Clare Sebastian, thanks again.

Now police going door to door in Tampa warning residents time is running out to seek shelter. Coming up, why police say they may soon be unable to help those in need.

And we are of course tracking the storm for you. A live forecast with our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is next.

JAVAHERI: Yes, Paula, we've got hurricane Ian right now a strong category three has already prompted nine reports of tornadoes in the past few hours across parts of Florida. We'll touch on that threat, the threat of her storm surge and also the incredible amount of rainfall in store. All that coming up in a few minutes.

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