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Florida Reels With Hurricane Ian's Aftermath; Ukrainian Troops Take Back Lyman From Russian Control; Fort Myers Police Warn Of Scams Following Hurricane Ian; First Black Ole Miss Student Honored 60 Years After Integration; First-Round Results Of Contentious Presidential Election In Brazil. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 02, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

PETRA NEMCOVA, CO-FOUNDER, ALL HANDS AND HEARTS: There's no shortage of those, but it really depends on donations.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And quickly, Jess, how can people help? People who are watching right now. Where do you want to send them to?

JESS THOMPSON, CEO, ALL HANDS AND HEARTS: They can visit our Web site. We have the text to donate link and also AllHandsandHearts.org/donate, and the people of Florida will also need hands and hearts to volunteer. So you can also sign up through the Web site to volunteer with us or through another reputable agency.

BROWN: All right, Jess and --

NEMCOVA: But don't self-deploy because it's still a disaster zone so don't self-deploy.

BROWN: OK. All right. Thank you for that note, Petra, Jess, and thank you for all the work you're doing there on the ground to help so many people in need.

For more information about how you could help these victims of Hurricane Ian go to CNN.com/impact. And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Ian's death toll in Florida is rising today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we get some help down here? You know, would that be too much to ask?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Finally more supplies are coming in. There were four boats that just arrived moments ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This community has never ever seen this high of flooding before.

ROMERO: Now we're going into day four without having electricity. That's when you get to that life-threatening range.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no power, no phone service, nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The building is just ripped off their foundations and just swept backwards.

WHITFIELD: Should have there been a mandatory evacuation that came sooner?

SHERIFF CARMINE MARCENO, LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I wouldn't have changed anything. This storm was very unpredictable.

MAYOR Kevin ANDERSON, FORT MYERS, FLORIDA: There is a degree of personal responsibility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people got complacent.

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): Lyman was completely liberated.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: A phenomenal strategic victory for the Ukrainians. This is likely to have a roll-on effect to Russian positions further towards the Russian border in the days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington and you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In Florida more heartbreak and for many families a new loss of hope tonight. Several more bodies have been pulled from the wreckage of the hurricane. Pushing the death toll to 74 people. And officials expect that number to climb. The search crews are finally able to reach areas cut off by flooding and debris. Across the state, more than 800,000 homes and businesses remain without power. More than four days after Hurricane Ian's landfall.

And in Lee County, Florida, which accounts for more than half the statewide deaths there are questions tonight about whether residents were given adequate warning to leave.

CNN's Nadia Romero put that question to Governor Ron DeSantis a short time ago. She joins us now from Arcadia, Florida.

Nadia, what did the governor say?

ROMERO: Yes, Pamela, I mean, it was exactly what you talked about. We're talking about Lee County where we now know that they've done some 800 rescues, but more than 40 people dead in that county alone. The question was, should they have had their mandatory evacuation earlier sooner, much sooner. And the governor doubled down again today saying that he stands behind Lee County having that mandatory evacuation order coming out on Tuesday morning even though surrounding counties, surrounding Lee County had their mandatory evacuation orders much earlier than that. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: I think probably for various reasons some people just don't want to leave their home, period. They're island people, whatever. But I think part of it was so much attention was paid to Tampa that I think a lot of them probably thought that they wouldn't get the worst of it. So you know, they -- but they did and I think it's easy to second-guess them but they were ready for the whole time.

ROMERO: Is that one of the things you'll be reviewing once we get out of the aftermath, people get their power back on, looking at those evacuation orders? Because even Lee County if they would have followed their evacuation orders from what we've reviewed, they should have had that mandatory evacuation order sooner.

DESANTIS: Well, but, you know, the issue, though, is also that there were a lot of -- they informed people and most people did not want to do it. I mean, that's just the reality. So, you're in a situation, are you going to grab somebody out of their home that doesn't want to? I don't think that's the appropriate use of government. I mean, I think that that takes it a little too far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And the sad thing about what's happening in Lee County is the number of people dead but also that anticipation that the death toll will only rise as they're able to go house by house and pull back some of that debris and potentially find more people.

The governor was here in Arcadia, Florida, that's where we're able to interview him, had that one on one, because this is one of the areas that saw that damage from Hurricane Ian but also many of their roads blocked. This is Highway 70 that is still very much a river four days later. Those are RVs you're looking at, just spun around floating in the water there. This should be a highway that extends to two bridges.

And so people here can only get around by boat. You can see this boat leaving right now. This is how people are able to transport themselves around in this area.

[18:05:01]

The governor came out by boat because that's the only way you can get here. And he was also joined by members of FEMA. We know that FEMA is on the ground here as well in this county.

Pamela, the clean-up efforts will continue and so will those questions about the response. Was it adequate enough, and when you see those numbers continue to rise, more people that we know are confirmed dead, there are going to be more questions about that -- Pamela.

BROWN: And we should note, we heard what Governor DeSantis said but we should note that, as you emphasize, Nadia, that residents there are questioning why they weren't told to evacuate sooner. And you are the vehicle for their questions to the governor. Excellent reporting, Nadia Romero, on the ground there in Arcadia,

Florida.

Let's go about 65 miles south to Fort Myers Beach and that's where we find CNN's Jim Acosta.

Jim, you were out again today touring the area. What did you see? What were people telling you?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, it's just absolutely heartbreaking, Pam, when you talk to people in this area. They're going back to their homes. Some of these folks did evacuate obviously and when they go back to their homes they're just finding a heartbreaking scene. Homes filled with mud, sometimes the home isn't there at all. Maybe the ground level of the home was wiped out and so on. And it's just absolutely depressing.

You look at the video that we're showing you right now. This is one street that we went down in Bonita Springs. You can see how the storm surge just picked up all of this mud, dumped it into the street and this is how countless community after countless community what they look like right now.

This is just the scene up and down the southwest Florida coast. But in addition to those heartbreaking scenes and those very sad stories that we're hearing from residents, you are also hearing some pretty remarkable tales of courage and bravery, and people going -- putting their lives on the line just to, you know, save their fellow citizens.

I talked to one gentleman earlier today, Doug McGill, nicknamed Chainsaw. He was on his sailboat as the storm surge was picking everything up in this area. I'm just going to let this ambulance go -- I should tell you right now, Pam, there are ambulances going over to Fort Myers Beach as we speak. That's the third ambulance going into Fort Myers Beach right now. So that could be an indication that they're running into more survivors or survivors who are in trouble as a result of Hurricane Ian.

But when we were talking to this gentleman earlier today, Doug McGill, he was on his sailboat in the middle of this hurricane and as the storm surge was going through this area, he spotted three people who were essentially clinging to the roof of this two-story structure, and he pulled those people into his sailboat and then the storm surge when it receded plopped the sailboat down in the middle of the road where we're standing right now. And here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG MCGILL, RESIDENT OF FORT MYERS BEACH, FLORIDA: We were over 12 to 14 foot of water above where we're standing right now at that time.

ACOSTA: Yes. And it was over -- it was just about --

MCGILL: Over the building.

ACOSTA: Over the building and it was a two-story building. MCGILL: It was a two-story building.

ACOSTA: It's gone now.

MCGILL: Yes. But it was there. My anchor chain went over the top the corner of it. It was that high. The water was that high.

ACOSTA: And can you believe that all of you are still standing here alive right now?

MCGILL: They're still thanking me.

ACOSTA: They're still thanking you.

MCGILL: Yes. Being at the right spot at the right time. I lost my boat and lost everything I had. But I saved three guys, it was worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And that's just tells you about the awesome power of the storm surge, Pam. If you look at that sailboat that is sitting in the street right now, that is not only one that we're talking about in this area. There is a boat on top of this structure over here that's off camera and then right behind me is an entire fishing charter boat. I mean, it looks like, you know, the S. S. Minnow from Gilligan's Island or something like that.

And the entire boat, this massive, it must be a 40 or 50-foot boat, probably longer than that, picked up, lifted up off of the water and then dropped right here on the street here in Fort Myers heading into Fort Myers Beach. And it's just, again, another indication, another sign, another example of the awesome power of the storm surge and what was unleashed up and down this coast. And I suspect over the coming hours we've been talking about the death toll at 74 right now.

Pam, that number is almost surely going to go up because they are still trying to get into many of these hard-hit areas. You just saw these ambulances go by a few moments ago. That's a scene that's playing out across this community -- Pam.

BROWN: Yes. There is a lot of concern that that will go up especially as -- in Lee County in particular.

Jim Acosta, thank you for your reporting there on the ground.

ACOSTA: Yes. You bet.

BROWN: As if the victims of Hurricane Ian didn't have enough to deal with, police in one hard-hit area are raising the alarm tonight about scams targeting the vulnerable. They're warning just ahead.

Plus, CNN heads into a strategically key city in Ukraine just taken back from the Russians. We're going to show you what it's like there and we're going to ask an expert what Vladimir Putin's next move may be as desperation grows after this latest loss.

[18:10:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, this being called a significant victory for Ukraine and another stunning setback for Vladimir Putin. CNN was the first media outlet in Lyman after the retreat and CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has just returned from there. It's a strategically important city in Donetsk where the four Ukrainian regions Putin claims are now Russian territory even though Ukrainian troops continue pushing the Russians back.

Here you could see in this video coming in, Ukrainian troops getting rid of Russian flags at a government building in Lyman after Russian forces abandon the area.

Joining us now former CIA chief of Russia operations and CNN national security analyst Steve Hall.

All right, Steve, so how do you expect Putin to react to his troops retreating from those parts of Ukraine he just declared were his?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, it's kind of embarrassing when the areas that you claim to have just illegally annexed, you don't actually have control over and your enemy rules it and puts up its own flags, taking down yours.

[18:15:10]

It is never a good show. And interestingly, we're beginning to see some reports I think unconfirmed as of yet that the same thing might be happening to the south in Kherson. So obviously these things aren't going well for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine which has been sort of the story over the past couple of weeks. And you know, he just doesn't really have many good options left. You know, he's already annexed these parts of Ukraine so he can't now just willy-nilly abandon them, without being accused of abandoning part of Russia and Russian speakers that live there.

And yet, clearly he can't hold these places. So, you know, he doesn't have a whole lot of good options and I don't know where he's going to go from here. I think he's scratching his own head saying really, what can I do at this point.

BROWN: Yes. That is the big concern because the options are pretty extreme, right. He has said that he would view any attack on the annexed region as an attack on Russia so he's already put himself out there saying that. He has already put it out there that he would use nuclear weapons in defense, hinted at that. I know you can't really know what's in Putin's head obviously. But in your view, as someone who's an expert on Russia, how serious do you think he is with these threats and how should the West respond if he follows through on the threats?

HALL: Yes, I think your phrase there is the appropriate one. Hinted. So he's sort of, you know, tapping around this issue a bit. He is making veiled threats and of course his spokesman, his spokespeople, in other words, you know, his propaganda machine, the evening talk shows on Russia are saying it much more directly. They're saying well, we should use, you know, nuclear weapons if need be.

And indeed, you know, Russian military doctrine is that if Russia itself is attacked over its borders and is an existential threat, then they would consider using tactical nuclear weapons. That said, you know, we just don't know at this point. And you have to say, OK, so what are Putin's options? If he considers the nuclear option, the costs are going to be incredibly high for him.

I think he's facing even greater if such a thing is possible, you know, isolation on the international stage. Certainly a lot of his key supporters who are now becoming less firm in their position like China and India, I think would be very, very concerned about that. So, you know, I think at this point the only thing Putin has left is to try to play it for time. The hope is this extends out into a stalemate where, you know, people start forgetting about it, the news cycle moves on.

That's about the only thing I can think that might help Vladimir Putin yet somehow at some point try to make this work out for him and for Russia.

BROWN: Yes. And part of his calculation has to be the significant opposition that appears to be growing with this war in Russia. Especially with the mobilization. We've seen the protests inside Russia. How much does Putin have to worry about that opposition? How much of a factor do you think that is for him?

HALL: So it is a factor, Pam, but it's sort of an indirect factor. I think Putin knows that unless you get Russians in the streets by the millions which we haven't seen yet, if we just see sort of the standard, you know, a couple of thousand people across the country, his security services and his police folks can take care of that. They can just brutalize the protesters, they're very good at penetrating from an intelligence perspective a lot of these opposition groups.

But one thing he has to worried about is if the glue for his system starts to come apart. If Putin himself is under threat, then those who participated in it, those close to him, the oligarchs, the folks that enabled him to do these things might begin to get nervous and start saying, look, I don't see a good way for Putin to get out of this. Maybe the only way for us to get out of it is Russian leadership is to get rid of Putin. That is he's got to worry about.

BROWN: Steve Hall, as always, thank you.

HALL: Sure.

BROWN: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday night. Still ahead for you. In Ian's aftermath, there is a growing to-do list for families impacted by the storm who now need help repairing their homes and their businesses. We're going to speak to an expert who has tips we can all learn from, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:45]

BROWN: Well, police and in Fort Myers, Florida, are warning residents to beware of scams. In a Facebook post, Fort Myers Police told Floridians to watch out for these three specific issues that hurricane residents can fall victim to. All right. So the first are repair scams. With someone offering to work at a discount with supplies left from a previous job. The second one are from unscrupulous tree service companies who would ask would-be customers for payment up front. And then the third are water testing scams. So someone offering free water testing, the police say to always check the utility providers' I.D.

All right. I want to bring in Oscar Gomez. He joins us now. He has just released a list of things disaster victims should focus on when filing insurance claims and yearly taxes, hiring contractors and staying updated on disaster news. This is information we could all use, right.

So, Oscar, let's walk through your tips for home and business owners. First, you recommend reviewing your insurance policy. That seems like a good step one. Tell us more about that.

OSCAR GOMEZ, MANAGING PARTNER, EPGD BUSINESS LAW: Absolutely, Pamela, and that is in a situation like this easier said than done. Right. Some people may have had a copy of their policy in their home and not have access to their home.

[18:25:00]

Some people may not have access to their insurance brokers during this time. Their insurance brokers may be facing overwhelming amount of claims, phone calls. So the first step is really get ahold of your policy, review your policy, so you understand how to properly claim and categorize your damages. The amount of claims that insurance companies are going to be dealing with when a category 5 hurricane makes landfall are overwhelming. So the first step is you just really need to get ahold of that policy and review it.

BROWN: Yes. Which can be overwhelming in and of itself just figuring out, OK, what does my policy cover, who do I reach out to, to get a claim number and so forth and so on. I mean, that first step can be cumbersome. And it's also important, you mentioned, to take pictures. Right. To document the damage. Tell us more about why that's so important.

GOMEZ: Absolutely. When you make an insurance claim, immediately your situation becomes a case, right. You are going to be your biggest advocate. The photos and the videos that you take of your home or business is going to serve as best evidence you have for your claim.

If you've never been through this process before, your insurance policy and the claim policy is a legal document, a legal process that has all kinds of exceptions, requirements, obligations, so you want to be as prepared as possible and taking photos, taking video, that is truly -- once you're in a safe place and you can do all that, that is the best thing you can do for your home or business.

BROWN: All right. So tell us about this third tip. Using the IRS emergency extension to file taxes.

GOMEZ: Right. And the great thing about this is you don't need to do absolutely anything. This is automatic. The IRS has moved back the deadlines for people and businesses who are already on an extension for their 2021 taxes. It has been moved back to February of 2023. So if you are already on an extension, that extension would have been until October 15th.

Coming up now in a couple of weeks. That has now automatically for victims of Hurricane Ian, people who are affected, has moved back to October -- or to February of 2023. So there is absolutely nothing you need to do to take advantage of that if you're in an affected area.

BROWN: That's good to know. All right. So you also say be careful with contractors. Tell us a little bit more about what you mean by that.

GOMEZ: Right. Absolutely, Pamela. So you mentioned it at the top, whenever you get into a situation like this, the population of affected homeowners, business owners are extremely vulnerable, right. They're dealing with catastrophic circumstances in some cases and Florida already is one of the states that has a huge problem with unscrupulous contractors. So that is something that you want to keep an eye on.

Anybody who is doing work on your home and business, you want to make sure they're licensed. You want to make sure everything is set out in a contract. This is already a heavily litigated area in the state of Florida. So you want to be absolutely careful before hiring any contractors for your home or business.

BROWN: All right. Attorney Oscar Gomez, thank you so much. Really helpful tips there.

And still ahead, our coverage of the aftermath of Ian continues, but first the critical midterm elections are now just 37 days away. I'm going to speak to Chris Wallace, my colleague here at CNN who has a show coming up tonight, about the key races he's watching, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:32:37]

BROWN: We're a little over a month away from the midterms and the Senate seems like it could go either way. Some of the hottest seats are in states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Florida. And I sat down with CNN's Chris Wallace to see what he's keeping his eye on ahead of November 8th.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Chris, we're a little over a month away now from the midterms. Hard to believe. What races are catching your eye?

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, I think all of these Senate races. I mean, there are so many that are so close. You think of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado. You know, there are new ones actually coming up that are too close to call or within the margin of error. Some of them are Republican-held seats so there is the possibility of a flipping to the Democrat.

On the other hand, there are some Democratic-held seats that could flip to the Republican. So, you know, my guess is when the night is over, it's going to be where it's now 50-50, it will end up probably being 52-48 but I have absolutely no idea who it's going to favor.

BROWN: Yes. I mean, that is going to be such a consequential election, right, and there are so many interesting races to watch. Also what's going to be interesting to watch is your show coming up tonight. Another episode of "WHO IS TALKING WITH CHRIS WALLACE." Who did you sit down with this week?

WALLACE: Well, first of all, Jose Andres. And it was so interesting. We talked to him on Thursday just before he was headed to Florida and, you know, he calls himself another volunteer. He's really a field general because he has got all of those forces, the World Central Kitchen, and by Thursday night, the storm wasn't even out of Florida and he was feeding 10,000 to 20,000 meals World Central Kitchen.

We also talked to Alex Rodriguez, obviously a famous baseball player, now he's a big tycoon. He's got between $1 billion and $2 billion in an investment fund. Very interesting interview. And then Judd Apatow, the producer of movies like "40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." He's got a new movie, a gay -- the first major studio gay rom-com.

BROWN: Wow.

WALLACE: Yes.

BROWN: Looking forward to hearing more about that.

WALLACE: Yes.

BROWN: And you mentioned Alex Rodriguez, such an interesting interview where he said to you, look, there is Alex Rodriguez and then there's A-Rod. So let's take a listen to what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: I worked a lot on this question. Do you think that you're a good husband material or do you think honestly you just like the chase?

[18:35:04]

ALEX RODRIGUEZ, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: I think when you look at my life, Chris, I mentioned when I was 15 years old, and I think "Sports Illustrated" called me the top player in the country. And at that time I was Alex Rodriguez. And then somewhere along the way, at 24, I get $252 million contract and probably I lost my way a little bit and I became A-Rod. And I think after the suspension, I've worked through a lot of therapy and a lot of work to Alex Rodriguez. I think --

WALLACE: Wait. Time out. What's the difference between Alex Rodriguez and A-Rod?

RODRIGUEZ: I think when you think about it, it's the same difference between Alex Rodriguez, me pre-suspension and post suspension, I think pre-suspension, if you ask me what's winning look like, I would have say big contracts, homeruns, World Series, you know, nice cars.

WALLACE: Women?

RODRIGUEZ: Women. Post suspension, I look at more the team, building, you know, great father, being a son, being a friend. High character. Loyalty. All those things. So, in my 20s, early 30s, probably not the best. I think I'm going to make a wonderful partner or husband and father post suspension because there are lessons learned of my biggest mistakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So what else did you dig into with him?

WALLACE: Well, you know, he's really owns his suspension from baseball. He's one of the great baseball players of all time. 696 homeruns. But he's not getting into the Hall of Fame. You need 75 percent, he only got 36 percent, and I asked him about that and he says, look, that's on me. I made a terrible mistake. It was the greatest shame of my life to have to go and tell my daughters I've been suspended from baseball for a year for -- which is one of the longest suspensions ever, for using performance-enhancing drugs.

I get the feeling this is a guy who has grown up, who has learned from his mistakes, has done a lot of work including therapy. He tells us. Very interesting interview about a man who I think is in the process still of evolving and has gone from being a great baseball star to now being a tycoon.

BROWN: A tycoon. And I really appreciate the fact that he put himself out there with you. Made himself vulnerable. Talk about the fact that he's gone to therapy. Really incredible interview.

Chris Wallace, looking forward to see the whole thing coming up tonight.

So to see more stay tunes for "WHO IS TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE" starting in just a few minutes at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, I have been looking forward to this segment all day. In 1962, James Meredith made the brave decision to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi. And he became the first black student ever at Ole Miss. His integration was met with racist rhetoric from political leaders and sparked violence from protesters. It took hundreds of law enforcement officers and a federal court order just to get him on campus.

Now, 60 years later, he was honored during an Ole Miss football game over the weekend to celebrate the barriers that he broke. And the university gave him his very own jersey with the number 62. That was the year he enrolled. Well, James Meredith is here with us now.

James, wow. What a story you have to tell. What an honor for you to be there on that field accepting that jersey, being recognized for all that you have accomplishment, stepping foot on that campus 60 years ago when you were the first black student to enroll at Ole Miss. What was that like? Bring us back then 60 years ago and then to now being honored.

JAMES MEREDITH, FIRST BLACK STUDENT AT UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI IN 1962: It was extremely significant in 1962. But the problems, the black-white race thing today is far more serious and in need of fixing than it was then.

BROWN: Tell us a little bit more about what made you want to enroll at Ole Miss at the time when it was all white. You knew you would be the first black student. Why did you decide to be that person?

MEREDITH: Because I am a United States citizen and a citizen of Mississippi, and every citizen should endure every citizenship rate. I believe that then and I believe it now.

BROWN: You were honored on this same football field where students were waving Confederate flags at a similar match off between Kentucky and Ole Miss.

[18:40:02]

That was two days before you arrived on campus back in 1962. What was it like being there last night as the honoree?

MEREDITH: There was to my knowledge not a single Confederate or rebel flag. And that is a substantial difference and I believe that Mississippi is going to lead the way in finding a new formula for dealing with the black-white race problem.

BROWN: Tell us a little bit more about what you mean by that, and I know you spoke to the football team just a few days before the ceremony. What did you tell them?

MEREDITH: I'm not sure I heard your question.

BROWN: Oh, that's all right. So you spoke to the football team just before the ceremony, I believe it was a few days before and I'm wondering, if you would bring us into that conversation. What did you tell the football team there at Ole Miss before you were honored?

MEREDITH: That they needed to win that game against Kentucky so they could beat number seven and move up into the top 10. I haven't seen the report yet. But I suspect they probably did. I know they won the game.

BROWN: They did. And I'm from Kentucky. So that was a hard loss. But, James Meredith, you are an inspiration. And I love that that was your message, go out there and win, right. Thank you so much for coming on the show and congratulations on your honor. MEREDITH: Thank you. Thank you.

BROWN: All right. Well, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday. Polls are closed in Brazil and results expected soon in a tense presidential election between the far-right incumbent and a polarizing former president who did jail time for taking bribes. A look at what's at stake in Latin America's largest democracy and beyond up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:46:43]

BROWN: Well, media titan Rupert Murdoch has built one of the largest media empires in history over the last several decades. And now the new CNN Original Series "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE" reveals through exclusive reporting how one family's ambitions are shaping business, media and politics around the globe. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, in 1996, the Murdoch empire is about to reach yet another peak.

RUPORT MURDOCH, NEWS CORP: I just would like to say how delighted I am that we've now reached this moment when we can firmly announce the starting of a FOX News Channel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is announcing a 24-hour cable news network.

JIM RUTENBERG, WRITER-AT-LARGE, NEW YORK TIMES: To the outside world initially it's unclear how Rupert is going to differentiate. There is already a CNN. What on earth could Rupert Murdoch do that would be different? He keeps it very close to the vest. But there is one giveaway.

MURDOCH: And we've been very lucky in being able to obtain the services.

RUTENBERG: And that was the presence of a man named Roger Ailes.

MURDOCH: (INAUDIBLE) if you would, but we'll be ready to take your questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is writer-at-large for "The New York Times," Jim Rutenberg. He's also a consulting producer on the Murdoch series which features his exclusive reporting.

So, hi, Jim. As we saw in the clip, we learn about the launch of FOX News in this week's episode. What was Murdoch's ultimate goal in launching that network?

RUTENBERG: Well, so, at this point, Rupert Murdoch knows that television is where it's at. And he sees an opening in the market that there are sort of these ranks, millions and millions of people who identify as conservative and feel as if the mainstream media, the networks and CNN are not speaking to them. There is a kind of niche audience but a pretty big audience there to be had on cable news.

BROWN: And we also see this week how Murdoch really starts pitting three of his adult children against each other to be his successor. What did you learn about how this battle between the kids plays out?

RUTENBERG: Well, this episode, you for the first time in the series really get a full sense of Rupert Murdoch as a father. And he's, as we say in the document air documentary, he's not raising children, he has raised potential media moguls and now he's leaving it to the three children to duke it out amongst themselves and it could be a pretty bruising fight. You can also see that Rupert is a father. He's certainly -- there's a lot of trial by fire for these children.

BROWN: All right, Jim, thanks so much. Be sure to tune in, an all-new episode of "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN.

Well, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead for you tonight, will Brazil elect a new president or are two polar opposite candidates heading to a runoff with democracy in that country at stake? We are live there up next.

[18:50:00]

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BROWN: We are standing by tonight for presidential election results in Latin America's largest democracy. In a contentious race in Brazil two polar opposites are the frontrunners. On one side, incumbent right- wing president Bolsonaro, he is a Trump fan who has already tried to cast doubt on the results. Sound familiar? And also Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the leftist former president. He was credited with fighting poverty over the course of his two previous terms but was marred by a corruption conviction that sent him to jail before it was eventually overturned.

[18:55:05]

Both men are divisive figures and at stake are consequential issues impacting Brazil and beyond.

CNN's Shasta Darlington is in Sao Paulo tonight. So, Sashta, first off, any word on results?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN BRAZIL BUREAU CHIEF: Well, you know, the evening so far is a little unexpected, Pamela, where the polling stations closed about three hours ago, and right now this is an electronic voting system that's pretty fast. So with 60 percent of votes counted, Jair Bolsonaro is slightly ahead, and that is unexpected because according to all of the polls, Lula was expected to win by a double-digit margin or at least come ahead.

So right now we have Bolsonaro with 46 percent of the vote and Lula with 45 percent of the vote. That could change. There is still 40 percent of those ballots to be counted but it's definitely been a tense runup. These have been some of the most polarizing elections in recent memory and there have been some hope on both sides that they could get through this in the first round of elections but if neither of these top two candidates in a field with almost a dozen candidates, if neither of them gets over 50 percent, we will have a runoff vote at the end of the month and at this point, that's looking very likely, Pamela.

BROWN: And these are live pictures of people in Sao Paulo watching the results that you see right here on your screen.

So, Shasta, put in perspective for us some of the consequential issues at stake depending on who wins this election.

DARLINGTON: Yes, absolutely. In fact, those people are right behind me and these are the Lula supporters behind me. And they are very animated because one of the biggest issues in this election according to Polling Institutes is the economy. I know what we hear about in the United States is concern about the Amazon, and that is real, but the top issue is the economy, inflation, unemployment and hunger.

During the pandemic, hunger became quite widespread. Those issues in many ways have tended to benefit Lula. He has campaigned on his economic record when he was president from 2002 to 2010. He led this big economic boom that lifted millions out of poverty. But Bolsonaro has repeatedly reminded voters that he was in prison for corruption even though those convictions were annulled, and Bolsonaro has said the economic problems were to blame on the pandemic but he'll turn things around.

And he's really appealed to his core supporters, a lot of evangelical Christians here in Brazil. He has also -- Bolsonaro has repeatedly called into question the reliability of the electronic voting system which ironically is widely respected around the world. He said it can't be trusted. It's susceptible to fraud. He's never provided any evidence, but this has made people nervous about where this could be going.

In fact, it's getting a little heated right now. I think these are just firecrackers behind me. But there is a lot of excitement and a lot of tension, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Shasta, go take cover. Hopefully those were just firecrackers. Nothing serious. But Shasta Darlington, in Brazil, Sao Paulo, thank you so much for that.

Well, people in Indonesia are paying their respects at the stadium where a deadly riot broke out this weekend. In the capital of Jakarta, a large crowd sang and chanted at a vigil there. At least 125 people died and more than 300 were injured when angry fans in the overcrowded stadium charged onto the field. Authorities are fearful that the death toll will rise. It is one of the world's deadliest stadium disasters.

Well, today several Supreme Court justices attended the Annual Red Mass in Washington, D.C. the Red Mass is held every year by the archdiocese of Washington and the John Carol Society before the start of the Supreme Court's new term. Supreme Court justices are usually in attendance and the Supreme Court's next term begins tomorrow as it does every year on the first Monday in October.

And we end this hour in the same way we began. Wrapping up with the latest from Hurricane Ian. Officials confirming tonight that at least 74 people have died but that number could rise even higher as search and rescue crews reach isolated areas.

On Fort Myers Beach, a ladder props up an American flag as you see right here. This had been a memorial to those lost at sea.

And today, it's a reminder that homes can be rebuilt and even the most cherished property replaced.

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JOANNE FISHER, NAPLES RESIDENT: It's very sad because a lot of the history here and with all of the photos from my husband and his family, and it just tears me up but I didn't get emotional, I haven't cried but I'm almost ready to cry right now talking to you so -- but it's OK, because we're alive and we're here. And that is the most important thing.

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BROWN: The most important thing. Quite a reality check when someone who has lost so much.