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Ian's Death Toll Rises To 67 In Florida; Russian Forces Retreat From Key City Putin Claimed To Annex; NFL-NFLPA To Modify Concussion Protocols After Tagovailoa Injuries; Brazilians Vote In Contentious Election Plagued By Violence, Fear. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired October 02, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:26]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, thank you so much for joining us this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. My colleague, Boris Sanchez is in Fort Myers, Florida. And this is our special CNN live coverage for us. We'll get to you in a moment. Ian's death toll in Florida is rising today that number are climbing to 67. But that could rise even higher as officials carry out more search and rescue missions today and work to asset access areas cut off from flooding. More than 800,000 customers are still without power in the state. And new today the Fort Myers Police Department is warning residents to be on the lookout for hurricane recovery scams. Fort Myers Beach, in fact, will be closed for the next week, as some are demanding answers over whether Lee County ordered mandatory evacuation soon enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Every loss of life, you have to say yourself, what could you do differently next time so it never happens again.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Should that have been done differently?

SCOTT: Unfortunately, we can't bring anybody back. We're going to look and find out. I mean, you know, I'm, you know, I want to know, because it's an issue I had as governors trying to say what did I learn to try to make sure that we don't lose a life.

KEVIN RUANE, COMMISSIONER, LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: In New York Times had one of the six models, the six models that go along with this and one model certainly set a 40 percent probability and that's what they're hanging their story on. It's inaccurate. We've done everything we can from using state resources, federal resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Boris Sanchez is in Fort Myers, Florida continuing our live coverage from there. Boris, have you been hearing from a lot of, you know, residents, people who are trying to recover, people who are trying to find loved ones just assess the damage? Have they been uttering complaints about should there have been a mandatory evacuation that came sooner?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Fred, I spoke to a couple of people yesterday who said that they would have likely left before Myers area had they known that the hurricane was going to go in their direction. Obviously the evacuation order was issued Tuesday morning by Lee County officials. There were indications as soon as Sunday night according to documents obtained by the CNN, by rather by the New York Times and reviewed by CNN that indicate that in the destructive pathway of a hurricane, the plan here in Lee County is to leave.

If there are indications that the storm surge was going to be over a certain height at a certain percentage. It appears as though according to our review of the documents, that an evacuation order should have been issued by officials potentially sooner than it was. We are of course going to dig in and continue demanding answers from officials as folks here tell us that they have -- are having a difficult time trying to recover from the damage done by Hurricane Ian. We're standing just a few short miles from Fort Myers Beach.

We're still in the area of Fort Myers, that area inaccessible to us, as recovery efforts by officials continue there. Notably it is no longer a search and rescue in that area we're told. It's now a recovery. And that has an enormous implication of course for a number of fatalities. That number expected to go up as you noted for at least 67 people killed here in Florida because of Hurricane Ian. I can tell you that where we are standing in this marina. It was essentially washed back into the waterways, several buildings here, totally destroyed.

I counted at least a dozen vessels lifted out of the marina and strewn through this community actually just came back from walking through several 100 feet of mangroves with one gentleman who had been operating his business out of this marina since 1986. We're working to bring you that video and sound right now. His boat was lifted out of the Marina torn from where he had tied it up and it wound up, I believe that's it right there. It is. He wound up having to cut through these mangroves trying to get to his boat. It turns out it was intact.

Believe it or not one minor abrasion to the boat that led to a leak but other than that his boat was intact. He was in tears telling us about how he built that boat with his father, just one example of so many of property that has been destroyed here. Of course keeping in mind that so many lost so much more, the death toll at least 67 and Florida. Flooding of course remains a major roadblock for these recovery efforts. As we said before getting to Fort Myers Beach for us is impossible, getting to areas like Sanibel Island and Captiva Island also extremely difficult not just for us but for rescue crews as well.

[11:05:13]

We want to take you to one area that has been a hard hit and that is seeing issues with infrastructure. CNN'S Nadia Romero is live for us in Arcadia, Florida. And Nadia when we spoke to you earlier this morning, we saw that the road behind you was blocked because of water. People there say they feel stuck because of the flooding as the water receded more, our supplies finally coming in. It looks like folks are getting stuff handed to them behind you.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, finally more supplies are coming in. They've been coming in all morning. Take a look behind me. There were four boats that just arrived moments ago. This last boat now is being unloaded by volunteers, community members, and members of the National Guard who have the MREs here that they're loading up so that people can have access to them people, who need it here in Arcadia whose roads have been blocked. So highway 70 here has been blocked since the day after the storm.

And that's why you have to use boats to get water, MRE's, medical supplies, pet food, diapers, all of the above to be able to come here for people who can't transport themselves. So if you look right down the road here, this should be Highway 70, you should be able to take this road, clear down pass over two bridges and make your way to Palm Beach or further down to Fort Myers. Obviously, you can't do that anymore.

We spoke with the emergency county manager of the county here about what it takes to run this operation. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN LIVENGOOD, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OF DESOTO COUNTY: We have a semi-truckload full trying to get over here. What we're trying to do is the National Guard and with help of the community, they're doing as fast as they can is bring these MRE's to the other side. And then the smaller boats that you guys see coming back and forth are actually helping bring the MRE's back and forth. But because the boats are so small, it's taking a lot of trips.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: Yes. It takes a lot of trips, because you have to think about these boats are small, so there's not a lot of space, and then weight becomes an issue. And once you start piling on those boxes of MRE's or cases of water, the weight rises quickly. So there's not a lot of room to put everything on there. So there's multiple trips that have to happen. And that can only happen Boris starting when there's daylight because as you know, there's no electricity in many of these areas. It's very dark. There's concerns about gators and snakes.

And so once we have daylight then they can finally start these distribution operations up again. So you can see behind me, they have started to pile up the MRE's and bottles of water. And that is so important here because just yesterday, just as quickly as they were able to get the supplies, the supplies were going to people's trucks and they were often on their way. Now they're going to able to pile up some of these resources for anyone who needs them.

Also Boris coming up later this afternoon, we do expect Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to make his way to Arcadia. And we'll be bring you his latest comments coming up. Boris? SANCHEZ: And Nadia I'm sure he's going to be asked about whether evacuation orders in places like Lee County were issued when they should have been or if perhaps they were delayed more than necessary. Nadia Romero, from Arcadia, Florida, thank you so much.

There is obviously a tremendous amount of need as Nadia points out. We're feeling that to where we are in Fort Myers. At this marina, we heard from one man this morning who rode the storm out here at his business, which is effectively a leveled. It is barely standing and he actually came up to us this morning asking for food saying that he hadn't had anything substantial to eat for several days. This is the kind of need the kind of devastation that President Biden and First Lady Joe Biden will face when they traveled to Florida.

And Puerto Rico also to survey damage caused by Hurricane's Ian and Fiona respectively. We want to take you live to the White House now because CNN's Jasmine Wright is there for us and she has details about these upcoming trips. Jasmine, bring us up to speed on what President Biden plans to do.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Boris. Well, it be a busy week for the President and the First Lady who had to Puerto Rico on Monday to survey damage after Hurricane Fiona and then head to Florida on Wednesday to survey damage after Hurricane Ian. Now we don't know exactly what the President and First Lady planned to do on the ground there, where exactly they will go. But we do know that a lot of planning and consideration goes into these trips when the President goes to serve a damage on the ground just because of how large the footprint that he leaves behind.

Of course not only does he bring the Secret Service, but also local officials in the area have to redirect to protect the President tour around with him that could possibly be doing other rescue and recovery efforts. Now yesterday, right before the White House announced these two trips to Puerto Rico and Florida, the White House, I mean President Biden was actually at the black -- Congressional Black Caucus dinner. And he's vowed for his administration to do everything that it will take to really put together these rescue and recovery efforts in both locations. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:10:10]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our hearts to state the obvious, it can't go without saying, are heavy, the devastating hurricanes storms in Puerto Rico, Florida and South Carolina. And yes, go, we owe Puerto Rico a hell of a lot more than they've already gotten. My administration is working closely with the CVC members to do whatever it takes, whatever it takes to help search and rescue, recovery and rebuilding, it's going to take a long time, so we cannot tire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So there we just heard from the President now on Saturday before he gave that speech. We know that he received an update on Hurricane Ian focus really on power, restoration, and water restoration in Florida and the damage reports from South Carolina. Now something I think that we can expect when he's on the ground in Puerto Rico in Florida this week is, he becomes that kind of consolidator and chief really engaging as we've seen him before in sites of tragedy with those victims who have lost a lot in the situation.

Now on the official front, we don't know exactly what officials that he will be meeting on, the ground in those two places. But we know just over the last week that he's had three separate conversations with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Now of course, those two have had their political differences over the last year over a multitude of issues, including immigration. But for the last week, we've seen them really work together to try to provide some support for the people of Florida.

Now, ask this week if the President would meet with DeSantis while he was on the ground, he said that it was not about politics. It was an irrelevant question. But he said that if DeSantis wanted to meet, he would meet with him. So of course, we're waiting to hear more details from the White House on whether or not that happens. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jasmine Wright, we know you'll be watching closely and we'll bring us the very latest from the White House. Thank you so much. Let's send it back to Fredricka Whitfield who is in Atlanta. Fred, obviously, there is so much devastation here in southwest Florida, so many stories to share and communicate. But I think one of the things that we want to remind viewers of is that there is a tremendous amount of need, and every little bit that they can contribute if they can goes a long way right now.

WHITFIELD: Oh, right. I mean variety of stories, but just the gentleman approaching you all asking for food. I mean, that is a microcosm of what, you know, day to day struggle has been like for so many now for many days since Ian hit. Thank you so much for us Boris. We'll check back with you. So, for more information on how you can help victims of Hurricane Ian go to CNN.com/impact.

All right, still to come this hour, a major military victory for Ukraine. Those were Russian flags torn from the roof of a government building and dropped right there in eastern Ukraine just days after this city was illegally annexed by Russia.

[11:13:03]

Plus, a week after a scary moment on the field for the Miami Dolphins quarterback, the NFL Players Union fires the neurotrauma consultant who was involved in the concussion evaluation. The changes the NFL is now making to their protocols.

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WHITFIELD: All right, right this just in to CNN, Ukrainian forces tearing down Russian flags over the city of Lyman, which is where our CNN's Nick Payton Walsh has just returned. Nick, what did you see? NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, extraordinary really the strategic victory for the Ukrainians. But Lyman itself when we entered about half an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the city had been cleared of Russian troops. Lyman is ghostly, very few local still there. In fact, very few Ukrainian soldiers even on the streets, we were told many of them in fact have been told to move on to the next objective, which is the town of Crimea, and other parts of Russia supply line further to the east.

Significant damage done certainly to the railway, the railway station, many key buildings across that particular town, but one thing that we did not find which we had been expecting to see, according to many Ukrainian officials, they felt that possibly hundreds of prisoners had been taken and that a large number of casualties had been inflicted on Russia there. We did not see signs of large numbers of Russian dead or any Russian prisoners. Now maybe, as we were told that perhaps they had indeed, been taken away and cleaned up already.

But some local said to us, in fact, the Russian withdrawal had been relatively orderly, and that it had in fact occurred about two days ago. So probably sometime during Friday, the Russians got up, got onto their armored vehicles and left. In fact, the suggestion had been some of the outcry on social media by Russian social media users linked to the military may, in fact have been designed to create a smokescreen, that there was panic and chaos, when in fact, the Russians were just pulling out.

But there is one extraordinary thing about that timing, I should say. But if they did indeed leave on Friday, and just as Vladimir Putin was standing up in the Kremlin signing pieces of paper in which he falsely claimed where I'm standing and even Lyman are actually now part of Russia. And as he stood in Red Square chanting about victory, his military were conducting a withdrawal from Lyman.

Now that is indeed startling in terms of the disconnect of what he was saying and what was really happening, but also to it might suggest that he wasn't getting the full picture of exactly how badly his forces were functioning, but Lyman certainly in Ukrainian hands, the occasional rattle of small arms fire on its outskirts as we understand them, maybe some Russians possibly still in areas of the town, but locals there I think, just bewildered by how fast their lives have gone back and forth.

One woman in tears when she said to me, you know, we don't know what's happening. One day I wear one hat, the next day I wear another hat, and burst into tears. It's simply how hard it's been for them to go through the violence of the past months. But certainly the strategic hub, Lyman, it fully in Ukrainian hands, very few people on the streets at all, no sign of Russian troops there at all, minimal Ukrainian numbers, but a phenomenal strategic victory for the Ukrainians that's likely to have a roll on effect to Russian positions further towards the Russian border in the days ahead.

[11:20:33] WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Payton Walsh, thank you so much. It is extremely unbelievable endurance and, you know, real resistance at so many Ukrainians continue to demonstrate. Thank you so much. Let's talk more about all this. Let's bring in Ivo Daalder. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration. He is also the co-author of The Empty Throne: America's Abdication of Global Leadership." Ambassador, so good to see you.

IVO DAALDER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Glad to be here. I was ambassador to NATO, not the United Nations.

WHITFIELD: To NATO, oh, sorry about that. Big correction we made there. Thank you. All right, Ambassador, so despite the military losses piling up, Putin, you know, is pushing forward with this illegal annexation? I mean, to whom is he sending this message? Is it the region or is it the world?

DAALDER: Well, he's first of all, sending the message back to the people in Russia, he's not had a very good week, when you look back, he had partial mobilization that has really gone terribly wrong, more people are leaving the country than have been able to be mobilized so far. He's lost a key strategic area that Nick just talked about in Lyman, an area that was necessary for the defense of and taking control of the entire Donbass region, which he is now losing as well.

And he is finding that the continuation of this war is not leading to where he wants it to lead, which is the control of declaring the control of parts of Ukraine, annexing it, but as losing on the battlefield, and that's his biggest problem right now, these -- the military side is not on the same level as what he's trying to achieve politically.

WHITFIELD: So what or who can stop Putin?

DAALDER: Well, ultimately, only Vladimir Putin, and those around him can stop him. And he's clear that this is a man who has not learned the first law of holes, which is that if you're in one, you stop digging. Every time he finds that he's in trouble, he just brings out a bigger shovel or a bulldozer in order to go deeper, and it's not clear that he's ever going to stop. So unless people around him are going to be able to tell him, we need to shift course, and perhaps we need to have a new leadership, my fear is that he's going to continue to push and push and push. And that's one of the concerns we have. He has one big weapon left, nuclear weapons.

He continues to threaten the use of these weapons. He did it again on in his speech on Friday, saying that this is a possibility. And there's this worry that now that he is declared part of Ukraine Russian territory, he might be tempted to use nuclear weapons into defense of what he falsely claims is Russian territory. The good news is that I think the President of the United States and everyone else was made very, very clear that the consequences of doing so would be catastrophic for Russia for him. And as a result, we hope that saner minds will prevail, but it is a dangerous time.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And on the issue of that continued, you know, nuclear weapons threat. I mean, here's the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, telling CNN, of his assessment of Putin's willingness to use a nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There are no checks on Mr. Putin, just as he made the irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine. You know, he could make another decision. But I don't see anything right now, that would lead me to believe that he has made such a decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what are your views on that?

DAALDER: Yes, no, I think he's right. I mean, all the intelligence that we hear about indicates that there were no signs of imminent or possible use of nuclear weapons. But the Secretary Austin said, this is a decision that really one man has in his own hands. It's Vladimir Putin's decision. And once and if he makes that decision, the consequences would be horrific. The key for us is to make absolutely clear that the West stands united is fully behind Ukraine. Ukraine is going to recapture in one form or another through diplomacy or military means the territory that the Russians have occupied, and then even the threat where the actual use of nuclear weapons is not going to change course. That's fundamentally the message that needs to be sent to Vladimir Putin and it is being sent I think by NATO, by the United States, by all of our allies in Europe. And as long as we're united on that, I think in the end, Putin is going to find that he's on the short end of the stick.

[11:25:17]

WHITFIELD: All right, former ambassador to NATO, big apologies for our error at the very top, Ivo Daalder, thank you so much.

DAALDER: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right, next, we'll return to Southwest Florida where the daunting recovery effort has just begun. Stay with us.

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[11:30:04]

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the CNN Newsroom. I'm Boris Sanchez coming to you live from Fort Myers, Florida where recovery efforts are underway as searchers are combing through the rubble trying to find those who are still unaccounted for. Slowly, officials tell us this search and rescue effort is turning into a search and recovery effort. As of today, Hurricane Ian's death toll in the state stands at 67. We understand that number likely to climb in the next few hours as teams get entry into areas that were previously cut off.

For folks who are now able to access places like this marina in Fort Myers, they are serving the damage done by Hurricane Ian and in the last hour or so actually trudged through hundreds of feet of mangrove swamp with a boat captain that operated out of this marina since 1986. This is Lewis MacDonald. He ran Mac Attack. The ship that he built with his father, and used out of this marina to run his business for decades, he would go fishing for shark in the summer and all sorts of fish.

As the winter months came on, we were able to get access to his boat and he became emotional talking about the fact that even though his boat got lifted up by this storm, a storm surge that was in the 10s of feet, 20, if not more feet high. His boat was still relatively intact. There was only a small hole that he says he will be able to plug. And just the way it landed on the mangroves, he believes he's going to be able to salvage it. He calls it a miracle. I want you to listen to part of my conversation with Captain Mac, this morning, I should say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: We're standing in a mangrove. I counted some dozen plus boats all around us and yours is relatively intact.

LEWIS MACDONALD, BOAT CAPTAIN: Yes. It's not damage compared to the rest of them.

SANCHEZ: And how does it feel?

MACDONALD: That feels great. Now my nervousness is getting it out with the crane that he doesn't mess it up.

SANCHEZ: Yes. You had been at this marina for since 1986.

MACDONALD: Correct right out of high school.

SANCHEZ: And you were telling me this is blood, sweat, and tears for you?

MACDONALD: Yes, my father and I built the boat, not the hall. But everything you're seeing here that the cap, the cabin, the flying bridge, the decking, some of the stringers for the engines. We put all that in ourselves. And then a few years later, he died of cancer. But I know a lot of people lost their boats. I'm not trying to make my boat any better than theirs. But for me personally, it's not just a boat and a business. It's part of my family, you know, that was close to my dad, real close.

SANCHEZ: This was a miracle.

MACDONALD: Yes. Flat out miracle.

SANCHEZ: What's your message to folks out there that are struggling right now? You're -- you've been in this community a long time, been through a lot of hurricanes. What would you say to those folks that are having a rebuilding?

MACDONALD: Take your time. We've got to find a place that allows us to do work on boats where we can get done because there's not going to be any place nearby anymore to do work on boats. Don't overdo it. I'm not a young kid anymore. I'd like to say, I'm in good shape. And maybe it was emotions. But you work a couple hours, take an hour break or something. Cool yourself down, drink some water.

SANCHEZ: This may come off as a weird question Mac. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I just wonder if your dad was looking down on you now, with everything that just happen. What do you think he would say?

MACDONALD: I'm proud of you because I did. I prepared for at least a 10 foot storm surge. And I tied the boat up to lots of different piles. I had over -- I want to say 16 dock lines, way away from the boat. I did a video for insurance to show that with doing everything right I took everything off the dock. But everything inside, tied everything down so it wouldn't blow away in the boat and it worked.

SANCHEZ: How far away, so this is the dock, right? How far away are we from the actual marina right now?

MACDONALD: And the marina? I'd say we're probably 600 feet from where the boat was initially tied up at.

SANCHEZ: Across an entire street.

MACDONALD: Yes. And it came over to power lines because they're all still standing. It didn't float underneath them. It had to float over top because I'm too tall. So that's high water.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes, yes. And I guess overall, this is one of the best possible outcomes you could have had given how high the water was.

MACDONALD: Correct. I had one little hole about the size of my thumb, probably a bolt from a piling as she was settling, punched in on -- which I'll show you in a minute on the starboard side of the bow, that's why I was here early this morning with portable tools, ground out the hole, patch the hole, so no water will come in in case the water does rise, rest of the boats dry inside. Some damage up on the railing which you can see. Other than that the mangrove trees which was nice the way the water settled at the speed it did, they kind of like a sponge, I guess. But how strong sponge work as the boat settled everything just started picking up the weight as well as those too big as you can see the dock sections.

[11:35:17]

SANCHEZ: Incredible.

MACDONALD: Yes, since my dad and I built the boat and I've been doing this since 1995 but at that Marina since '86, not the whole park but all the gunnels and the superstructure and inside and the flying bridge. And then few years later he, you know, he died of cancer. So to me, it wasn't just a boat or a business, it's part of my family, sorry. So I'm thankful that, you know, God spared it and let it come down like this. Now, I just need a good crane operator that can get it from here to the road about 150 feet without destroying it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Captain Mac and his wife Loretta (ph) for sharing their story with us. We still have much more to come from Fort Myers and all across the region affected by Hurricane Ian. Stay with CNN, we're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:14]

WHITFIELD: The NFL's concussion policies might be changing following two very scary injuries to the Dolphins quarterback. This past week was a devastating week and a devastating hit for the player. The National Football League and NFL Players Association releasing a joint statement saying both sides agree modifications are needed to enhance player safety. CNN's Coy Wire has more.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: At least one change has already being made, Fred. Saturday the NFL and the NFL Players Association began conversations around the use of the term, gross motor instability within their concussion protocol. It's one of the gauges by which doctors determine whether a player can and should return to play after head trauma. The NFLPA has reportedly fired the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was involved in clearing Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to return to the game against Buffalo last Sunday after he hit his head on the turf and then stumbled off the field, the Dolphins maintain, they followed all protocols.

Just four days after that hit, Tagovailoa's head was slammed to the turf again against the Cincinnati Bengals resulting in a frightening scene. He was taken off the field in a stretcher to the hospital diagnosed with a concussion. He was cleared to fly back to Miami with the team later that night. He remains in the concussion protocol. Now Los Angeles Rams star defender Jalen Ramsey says that while safeguards are in place, more focus can be placed on player's health. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JALEN RAMSEY, LOS ANGELES RAMS DEFENSIVE BACK: There is like there's tests you have to take like we got to do stuff like at the beginning of the year like when we don't even have concussions like baseline tests and long 30-minute tests like all type of crazy stuff. So it is stuff like in place to make sure you guys are good and guys are healthy. I'm sure he wanted to play, wanted to be out there for his team, they franchise quarterback, right? I'm sure his teammates want him to play. I'm sure the organization want him to play. But if he was like in a situation where like it wasn't smart for him to even be out there, I would like to think that they wouldn't put him out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: So Fred, the questions still remains, why was Tagovailoa allowed to go back onto the field in the game last Sunday. He is expected to be interviewed as part of the ongoing joint investigation by the NFL and the Players Association in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much Coy Wire. Let's talk more about all of this. I want to bring in now Chris Nowinski for more on all of this. He's a neuroscientist and founding CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation. He's also the author of "Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis." Chris, so good to see you. I mean, there's so much to evaluate here. I mean, especially for those of us, you know, the lay persons but you are an expert in this field. So I love your perspective on what you are observing, you know, starting with the Sunday game against the Bills when he initially took that, you know, hit, Tagovailoa, you know, taking that hit. And then your thoughts were about what, what did you see?

CHRIS NOWINSKI, CEO, CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION: So too much showed five distinct signs of concussion and should have been held out for the rest of the game. He grabbed his helmet, he stumbled when he got up, he then did a shake the cobwebs which never do unless you have a concussion. And he fell, and then he had to be held up by his teammates. So I was certain he wasn't coming back. And I was an absolute shock that the Dolphins tried to claim it was another injury.

And so I immediately tweeted, you know, we talked -- I talked with you times about it. There's an article all saying this is obviously he had a concussion. There's no room for wiggle room. And so it was a dramatic failure on behalf of the medical team, the coaching staff, the ownership coach, their star player back in with a clear concussion. I thought they would sober up later on the weekend, at least hold him out and claim it was the back injury. But for them to then play him on Thursday, was absolutely preposterous. And worst case scenario essentially happened. And it was just very sad to watch.

WHITFIELD: And you had actually tweeted, right, of Thursday, before the Thursday game, you know, saying that if he plays it's a massive step back for concussion care in the NFL, especially after all that has been learned and publicly learned over the last few years. So help us understand all the people surrounding this player and other players. You've got a team doctor, and in the case of concussions are looking at for head injuries, there's also the neurological consultant who might even be on the sidelines who would weigh in. So who or who failed Tua? I mean, there were all of these people to observe just like you did, you know, through the television set just like I or anybody else who may have been watching a game may have seen, who failed him?

[11:45:02]

NOWINSKI: Everybody in Dolphins organization and the NFL failed Tua. So you've got the team doctor and the unaffiliated doctor, both I don't know what their training is on this, but they blew it dramatically. And this has happened before. And that's why the NFL now requires them to review the video, just in case they happen to not see the play live. So they have no excuse. And I don't think, I mean, I'm glad to see the unaffiliated doctor was fired. I don't think the team doctors should be in charge of NFL players anymore by any stretch, but the Dolphins probably be slow to let him go for legal reasons.

Then the coaches need to know, they can overrule the doctors if they're erring on the side of caution. They saw what they saw. There's no way an NFL coach doesn't recognize that concussion very clearly. So that was just, I think the lack of guts. And then we're talking about the, you know, ownership not, you know, and the coaches all making that mistake on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, go and I think we'll just let this thing fly.

And the reason I tweeted before the game I wasn't going to but then I saw the NFL promoting the game. It's big Thursday night game, Tua versus Joe. And I was like, I know -- now they're complicit. I thought the NFL would be smart enough to call the Dolphins and be like, are you out of your mind because someone's got to step up and protect Tua. And I was putting it out in the press. But apparently no one was listening. And so now we all have to wonder will Tua ever play again. And he's, you know, what's going to happen to him in 20 years.

And I -- you know, heads need to continue to roll on this because this is someone's life. People die from this stuff every year. They die from the complications years later. And it's -- I'm furious at the example they're trying to set for the country for all the 40 million kids playing sports.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's so unsettling. I mean, you've also called out NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, you know, for putting Tua at risk for a second impact syndrome. Explain the implications of SIS. I mean you gave a touch of it, but elaborate further.

NOWINSKI: Yes, so it happens to a handful of football players and other athletes every year where if you pick another blow to the head before your concussion is resolved, for some reason, it causes massive swelling in your brain, you have to -- if you don't get to a level one trauma center right away, they take off your skull and let that swelling happen, you're going to die. Half the people die, half the people survive but most of them are dramatically impaired for the rest of their life.

And so I made the point that, you know, Roger six years ago you were running around the country taking credit for the Zack Lystedt law with Zack Lystedt who was a survivor of second impact syndrome and has never been the same. And you should know better. He's got to have the guts to call down to the Dolphins. I mean, he knows what a concussion looks like too. So, you know, people, you know, they -- I always hear the football Bills character, I played myself. But there was no character anywhere up and down the line here for the people for that who could protect Tua. Thank God he didn't die, but it's not overall --

WHITFIELD: Right, it's not over. Oh, it is so sad. It really is so sad. And of course we're all hoping and praying for Tua for his recovery short term and long term because as you said, you know, it is impactful. One concussion makes an impact for the long term. And now you're talking about multiple or even, you know, a tight sequence between, I mean, it is really so unsettling. Chris Nowinski though we really appreciate your expertise. Thank you so much.

NOWINSKI: Thank you.

[11:48:22]

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up tonight on CNN join CNN's Fareed Zakaria as he goes inside the highest court in the land after recent controversial decisions here why America is losing faith in the U.S. Supreme Court. Fareed's new investigation, Supreme Power, begins tonight at 8:00.

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WHITFIELD: Polls open this morning in Brazil's historic presidential election plagued with tension and violence leftist former President Lula da Silva widening his lead despite a prior corruption conviction. Right Wing incumbent President Bolsonaro who calls former President Donald Trump his idol says, there are three possibilities for his future prison, being killed, or victory. CNN's Brazil bureau chief Shasta Darlington is following this closely for us. Shasta?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. We've seen Brazilians streaming to the polls across the country with a very difficult choice between them. On the one hand, the left wing Lula who has really come back after those convictions, a Supreme Court announced those convictions and he's really been able to gather support around economic issues, promising to return to the era in which he led a huge economic boon.

And on the other hand, you have the right wing Bolsonaro really trying to gather his base around him. He has a lot of the evangelical supporters and a lot of business people who've also been supportive. At this point, though, the Lula isn't drawing a wide lead in the polls, 50 percent versus 36 percent, according to the poll last night. And there are almost 12 candidates in this election. So they aren't the only ones. The big question is whether or not Lula will get more than 50 percent of the vote today, which would mean he could avoid a runoff. If not, we'll see both of these candidates just heading back to the campaign trail for another round of elections at the end of the month. And again, tensions continuing to rise I'm sure ahead of that, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Keep us posted on all of that Shasta Darlington, thank you so much.

[11:55:00]

And thank you for joining me I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta, see you again in the newsroom 2 o'clock Eastern time today. Right now coming up on CNN Dana Bash talks with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Florida senators Republicans Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, State of the Union is next.

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