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Lula, Bolsonaro Headed for Runoff Vote October 30; Ukraine Regains Control of Lyman; Nationwide Protests Over Amini's Death Enter Third Week; Hundreds Attend Vigil for Indonesia Stadium Victims; Officials Defend Early Response to Hurricane Isan; Truss Put to the Test as Tory Conference Gets Underway; Hong Kong Lifts COVID Restrictions after 2+ Years. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 03, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

[00:00:38]

Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM, Brazil's presidential elections head to a runoff, as neither incumbent Jair Bolsonaro or former president Lula da Silva secure a majority of votes.

As Ukraine pushes ahead with its bid to join NATO, its military is claiming victories right across territories Putin has illegally annexed.

And in Iran, crackdowns on anti-government demonstrations are mounting as riot police clashed with students at a prominent university in Toronto, Sunday.

A high-stakes presidential election in the world's fourth largest democracy is now headed to a second round of voting.

In a somewhat surprising result in Brazil, with nearly all of the votes counted, election authorities now say the leftist former president, Lula da Silva, leads with just over 40 [SIC] percent, while the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, has just over 43 percent of the tally. Now, that means neither reached the needed 50 percent majority to win outright.

Now, it's a far better showing than polls have predicted for President Bolsonaro, who performed about eight points higher than the latest numbers suggested he would.

Now, the runoff is set for October 30, and Lula says he remains confident of his chances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I want to tell you that the campaign starts tomorrow. I've never won an election in the first round. I've won all of them in the second round. All of them. Here in the second round, what's important is the chance to think

thoroughly on what you propose for society. To build a network of alliances and supporters, before winning. For you to show to the people what will happen, and who will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK, CNN's Shasta Darlington has been following developments for us from Sao Paulo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Left-wing former president Luiz Ignacio Lula De Salva came out ahead in Brazil's elections on Sunday, but failed to cross that 50 percent threshold that would have allowed him to avoid a runoff.

That means he's going to face off against his main rival, incumbent right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, in a second round of voting on October 30.

That also means Brazilians will have to face another month of the most polarizing electoral race in recent memory, marred by political violence and by Bolsonaro's attacks on democratic institutions.

And in the end, Lula was ahead by about 5 percentage points, but that's not as much as the polls have predicted. This has been a campaign marred by political violence, also by harassment, outright attacks even on posters.

The main issues have evolved around the economy. We're talking about inflation, unemployment, even hunger. And this has really played to Lula's strengths. He has vowed to repeat his economic successes of the past, when he lifted millions out of poverty.

Bolsonaro, on the other hand, has repeatedly reminded voters that after his two terms in office, Lula was arrested and put in jail, as part of a massive corruption scandal.

Those convictions were later annulled by the supreme court. Bolsonaro also says economic problems were more a result of the pandemic, and that he's the man to turn these around.

Brazilians now have another month to figure out who's their best candidate.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: OK, so on the streets of Brazil, opinion and facts seem to reflect the same division seen in the polling booths.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Today, we are going to celebrate Lula's victory in the first round to stop the setback that began in the country six years ago when former President Dilma Rousseff suffered a coup of state, and removed her from power. We stopped democracy in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I already voted, but I need to be honest with you at the polls. I think we're going to be facing the greatest electoral fraud of all time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hope that Brazil will be a democratic country again, because we have not been a democratic country in the last four years. I hope that Lula wins the elections.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think there will be no problem, but I think Bolsonaro will be reelected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:05:07]

NEWTON: All right, now let's get some analysis from Thomas Traumann. He is a journalist and political analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, and he joins me now live from Rio de Janeiro.

It has been quite a first round of elections in Brazil, perhaps a bit of a disappointment for, you know, those in Lula da Silva's party on the left.

What do you see as the implications of the second round, and do you think Bolsonaro will be bolstered by this?

THOMAS TRAUMANN, POLITICAL ANALYST, FUNDACAO GETULIO VARGAS: Good night. Yes, no doubt Bolsonaro has a momentum. People expected that he will have around 38 to 39 percent of the vote. He probably will get 44 percent of the votes. So it's much closer election than we expected.

We'll see a more radical election in the next weeks, in Brazil and what we've seen during all this campaign.

NEWTON: And I want to get to the very character of this. What do you think will dominate in terms of the discourse in the second round? How will it differ from the first.

You know, I have noticed that Lula is actually quite restrained and measured throughout this first round.

TRAUMANN: Yes. And I think he will probably do that even more. He really needs to move to the center to get the votes that -- let's say four or five million votes he needs to win by getting 51 percent of the votes he needs.

So he will probably try to get to the center, while President Bolsonaro will just keep on his radical view that, well, went right. Everyone expected that this was a failure campaign. But no doubt, there are people in Brazil that think that Bolsonaro is going very well in his anti-Battista, anti-left speech. NEWTON: And in terms of what Bolsonaro's strategy might be here, I

mean, many people were fearful that he wouldn't accept any result. Now the first round is closer than some had imagined. Do you believe this is a risk after the second round, especially if any marginal loss of loss for him is razor-thin.

TRAUMANN: Yes, I think there is a risk, and I think it would even be a larger risk now. Because in the first round, we still -- we also have the election of all congressmen. So he would need any -- any type of contestation he would do, he would need to have the support of part of the congress.

And in the second round, there would be just between him and da Silva, so let's say that all of the guys were elected today, can just join Bolsonaro and say, Well, my election wasn't rigged, but this new election probably was.

So I mean, I think, yes, we still have a risk of a tense constitutional crisis in Brazil in November after the election.

NEWTON: Yes, and the stakes seem to be getting higher by the hour. I want to -- in terms of gaming this out, in terms of who you think has a good chance of winning here, do you think this really could go to either candidate right now?

TRAUMANN: Not really. I mean, Lula has 48 percent of the vote, so I mean, that's easier to get his three points that he needs, then Bolsonaro, who has 44. So I mean, just by the max. Lula is going to do -- the fact is that Lula is probably going to be weaker than expected, he probably will need to concede more, to negotiate more with the center, and be more modest than he's expected to be.

But this is probably -- I mean, this is probably the main -- the main consequence of the second round. I still expect him as a favorite for this.

NEWTON: And in terms of the risk again of this not being recognized, if Bolsonaro does lose, how do you believe his relationship with the military plays into that?

TRAUMANN: Bolsonaro is a former captain of the army, and during his government, he had over 12 generals and ministers. So no doubt, he has an extremely close relationship with the army, and part of the army joined him in his distrust of the electoral systems.

So, yes, I think this is sort of the main point why I feel that we could have -- good enterprise in Brazil after the election, because of Bolsonaro. Not only he has a lot of supporters, and millions of supporters with him and very radical and cheerful, in that sense supporters.

But he also has the army, and that's a great difference in a country that still is a young democracy, like Brazil.

NEWTON: Yes, it will be an interesting four weeks in Brazil and beyond, and we will continue to follow it. I want to thank you for your analysis.

[00:10:08]

TRAUMANN: Thank you.

NEWTON: Ukrainian forces are eyeing more gains in the Eastern part of the country, after regaining control of the key city of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

Russian forces retreated from the city on Saturday, and just about 30 minutes after Ukraine's president declared the city clear of all Russian troops. A CNN team arrived to witness the devastation, left behind.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh gives us his firsthand look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may not look like much, but this is where Putin's defeat in Donetsk began. A prize from the last century perhaps, but trains and tracks. Still how Russia wages war today.

WALSH: This is what it was all about. The central railway hub, here now in Ukrainian hands, devastated by the fighting.

And this was such a seminal part of Russia's occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk, the concern for Moscow is the knock-on effect this is going to have for their forces, all the way to the Russian border.

WALSH (voice-over): On a town's edges, we saw no sign of the hundreds of Russian prisoners or dead that had been expected to follow Moscow's strategic defeat here. Nor inside it either.

Perhaps, they have already been taken away. Instead, utter silence. Only local bicycles on the streets. Several residents told us the Russians actually left large numbers on Friday.

TANYA, LYMAN RESIDENT (through translator): They left in the night in the day people said. I didn't see it myself, but they say they sat on their APCs, and their bags were falling off as they drove. They ran like this.

WALSH (voice-over): It would be remarkable timing, that Russia fled Lyman in the very same hours that Putin was signing papers, declaring here Russian territory, and holding a rally on Red Square.

A similar story in the local administration, where the only signs of Russia left are burned flags. "They ran away without saying a word to anybody," he says. "It was bad. No work, no gas, no power. The shocks didn't work."

WALSH: It truly feels as if there is nobody left. A ghostly silence here, apart from occasional shelling, and small arms fire.

And it is, so much of this town, properly (ph) destroyed. So many locals, we're told, leaving when the Ukrainian push towards it began. Now it's just this utter ghostliness, in a place that is such a strategic defeat for Russia.

Gunfire in the distance. They're nervous some Russians may be left.

Outside what's left of the court, the constant change in violence, is too much for some. Her husband just arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: You want the truth? You put on a hat, you take off a hat. What life is this? I am 72 years old. I'm like a rat in a basement, crawling out of the basement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: You will not show this: the truth. Yesterday, Ukraine came, checked documents on a checkpoint --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: And took my husband. A man disappeared from the police station. One hat, another hat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: People are suffering. One beats us, another beats us. And we cry.

WALSH (voice-over): The Ukrainian troops we did see had already stopped celebrating. There is little time. They're on the move again.

Another Russian target further east, Kreminna in their sights. And those left in Lyman, a town cursed to have these bars of rusting steel running through it, are gathering the ruins to burn for fuel, with winter ahead.

Left in the wake of Russia's collapse here, a town they took weeks to occupy, and only hours to leave.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Lyman, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Just astonishing what Nick Paton Walsh and his team found there.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's president said his country's military successes extend, in fact, beyond the city of Lyman. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's now seen a growing list of recently liberated Ukrainian settlements, including -- and this is significant -- two in the Kherson region.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The story of deliberation of Lyman and the Donetsk region has now become the most popular in the media. But the successes of our soldiers are not limited to Lyman.

Ukraine regained control of Lyman one day after Moscow's annexation of the region, which was declared illegal by the West.

[00:15:07]

Now Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted draft legislation on the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to the state Duma (ph).

Meantime, NATO secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, so the liberation of Lyman shows that Ukraine is making progress in the war. It reaffirmed -- reaffirmed NATO support for Ukraine, and those comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, applies for accelerated membership in the alliance.

Nine NATO countries from Central and Eastern Europe have expressed their support, but NATO's chief made clear the decision on Ukraine's application must be agreed upon by all NATO allies. And he had this to say about Putin's claims regarding NATO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: He has tried again and again to tell a story, that NATO is party to the conflict, and NATO caused this conflict. That's absolutely wrong.

First of all, this is a war that President Putin has started. It's a war by his choice.

Second, NATO is not a part to this conflict, and the main focus, the top priority now among the allies and partners is to support Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, as Putin's threats of using nuclear weapons on the battlefield, as far as that goes, former CIA director and four-star General David Petraeus was blunt in his with assessment of how the U.S. and its allies would respond. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PETRAEUS, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a NATO, a collective effort, they would take out every Russian or conventional force that we can see and identify, on the battlefield in Ukraine, and also in Crimea and every ship on the Black Sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK, meantime, Ukraine says it's ready to facilitate the rotation of experts from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Now, Ukrainian foreign ministry stressed yet again that Russia must pull all of its troops and military equipment from the plant. Now, to remind you, it is the largest of its kind in Europe and has been under Russian control since early on in this war.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of acts of nuclear terrorism.

Now the crackdown of anti-government demonstrations in Iran continue in several key cities. Riot police clashed with students at a prominent university in Tehran Sunday.

You can see this in a social media video that we've located, people shouting there at police.

Now the university's official newspaper reports its security forces have fired less lethal pellets at large groups of students. CNN cannot independently verify exactly what happened at Sharif University.

The protests began last month after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody. She was detained by the so-called Morality Police, for allegedly not complying with strict hijab rules.

Now CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has been following this story very closely from Istanbul, and she filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the gut-wrenching grief of a sister burying her brother. A forever good-bye too soon for 36-year-old Javad Heydari, shot and killed at a protest.

Fatima cuts off her hair and tosses it over his grave. These anguished cries make it hard to understand what she says, but her pain needs no words.

For some in Iran, cutting off hair is an age-old mourning rite. But it's also become a poignant form of protest, for those rising up for the rights. United in their anger, and their battle for change.

And from every corner of the world, women are sending the messages solidarity. In Syria's Kurdistan region, a woman chops off her hair to the chant, "Women, life, freedom," one of the slogans of Iran's protest.

In Istanbul as fans cheered, Turkish singer Malek Mosso cut her hair live on stage. To the women of Iran, she said, "You are not alone."

Far from the streets of their homeland, Iranian women abroad have joined in the protest. "For Mahsa Amini," this woman tweeted.

Faezeh Afshan says only her dad could tame, braid and cut her thick, curly hair. She hadn't cut it since he died in March. She was one of the first to post her hair-cutting video online.

FAEZEH AFSHAN, PROTESTED BY CUTTING HAIR OFF: It was more than a gesture for me. It was like saying goodbye to all those beautiful memories of him, cutting my hair with love, because this time I can cut it with anger. I needed to do something, to take part in what my beautiful, brave people are doing.

[00:20:11]

KARADSHEH (voice-over): What's happening in Iran is a women's uprising. Not only are they on the streets leading protests, braving the bullets, the threat of jail or flogging.

They're now challenging the Islamic Republic and its so-called morality enforcers, walking the streets in broad daylight, no head scarves, no fear. The barrier of that fear now broken, these two women sat for breakfast in a traditional tea house, a space typically for men.

Donya Arad (ph), on the right, was arrested after the photo went viral. We don't know what happened to the other woman.

But that, and an intensifying crackdown, hasn't stopped other Iranian women. Many are revolting to reclaim freedoms lost: their right to choose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Either all together, or all alone. Good-bye, beautiful. Good- bye, beautiful.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): These two sisters in Tehran with a Farsi rendition of "Bella Ciao," the anthem of Italian resistance against fascists and Nazis. Now the song of women breaking the shackles of a repressive regime.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: OK, still to come for us, remembering those killed in Indonesia when a Saturday night football match spiraled into chaos and became one of the world's deadliest stadium disasters.

And ahead this hour, Mexico braces for Hurricane Orlene. We'll track the latest storm barreling toward the region, and we'll have that and your live forecast, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: And welcome back.

Condolences are pouring in from around the world for those affected by the deadly stadium disaster in Indonesia. Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil in Jakarta Sunday to honor the victims.

At least 125 were killed, and more than 300 injured when chaos and violence erupted during a football match over the weekend, in what's become one of the world's deadliest stadium tragedies ever.

CNN senior international correspondent Will Ripley has been following this story for us from Taipei. And Will, you know, I was so struck by reading the accounts of people online, who were in the stadium, and were terrified thinking they would never get out alive.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were so many things that terrified people that night. You know, just breathing in tear gas, if you've never breathed it in before, is a terrifying experience, because you feel like you're choking. You can't -- you can't breathe, and you're desperate to get that feeling to stop. And so you try to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.

The problem is that, when police fired tear gas in that stadium, and there was an updraft, everybody ran for the same exit in this one particular section, and that caused people to be trampled, and it caused people to suffocate.

[00:25:0]

Some died instantly. Others died on their way to the hospital.

There has never been anything like this in Indonesia, despite the fact that there were previous outbreaks of trouble at matches, with a very strong rivalry between clubs.

But this is raising a lot of questions now about what went wrong. Why weren't police better trained to handle this? And is Indonesia capable of hosting major sporting events like it's set to do next year, for the FIFA Under 2020 [SIC] World Cup.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): Saturday night, East Java, Indonesia. Two of the region's biggest football rivals. The atmosphere, electric.

FIRZIE IDRIS, SPORTS JOURNALIST, KOMPAS.COM: The police already know that this is a high-risk match. There -- there were no away supporters allowed. There was an increased police presence at the stadium.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Indonesian football fans are fiercely loyal. Police prepared for brawls to break out; nobody prepared for this.

A crushing loss for the home team. Fans begin hurling objects. Police fire tear gas at the lower stands, to prevent a rush for the pitch. Instead, fans rush for the exit.

IDRIS: They also got the effect of the tear gas, that create mass panic, mass stampede. We have -- this is a tragedy that's never happened before in the history of Indonesian football.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A tragedy made worse by the number of families with children, caught in the stampede.

"Those who are here are mostly because of trauma," says this paramedic. "Shortness of breath, lack of oxygen."

Some suffocating, others trampled. Dozens died almost instantly. Many more at area hospitals. Medical teams tried to mend mangled survivors.

"Many of our friends lost their lives, because the police did not humanize us," says this survivor.

A human tragedy Indonesia's president says must never happen again.

JOKO WIDODO, INDONESIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I regret this tragedy, and I hope this is last tragedy of football in this country.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He is ordering a full investigation, including the apparent use of tear gas, banned by FIFA, football's governing association.

Tear gas was not only inside the stadium, but also outside, this survivor says. "We are all sick. Sorry for our friends. We ask for justice."

The stadium was apparently filled beyond capacity. Indonesia's chief security minister says 42,000 tickets sold, in a stadium meant to hold 38,000.

The numbers add up to Indonesia's deadliest football tragedy, the world's second deadliest stadium disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): And as far as numbers go, they're still trying to add up how much financial compensation they're going to give the families of each victim.

But how much can you possibly put a dollar value on somebody's child, or somebody's mom or dad?

FIFA, soccer's international governing body, they did issue a statement of condolence, although they haven't yet talked about the fact that this banned tear gas was allegedly used by police at the stadium.

But they did say that this was a dark day for all involved in football, and a tragedy beyond comprehension.

NEWTON: Yes, indeed, Will. hose pictures of those children being carried out who were injured is just gut-wrenching. I know you'll continue to stay on top of this, especially as we look into the investigation.

Will Ripley for us, thank you.

Now Pope Francis on Sunday offered condolences to the victims and those who are suffering after the stadium disaster, as well as people impacted by Hurricane Isan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Dear brothers and sisters, I am close to the people of Cuba and Florida, who have been hit by a violent hurricane. May the Lord welcome the victims, give comfort and hope to those who are suffering, and sustain the commitment of solidarity. And I also pray for those who lost their lives, and were injured in the clashes that broke out after a soccer match in Melong, Indonesia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Well, still ahead for us, Florida's hurricane response comes under scrutiny. Why some officials believe -- why some believe officials could have done more to save lives there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:52]

NEWTON: And a warm welcome back to our viewers, joining us from all around the world, I'm Paula Newton, and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Five days after Hurricane Isan hammered Florida, officials are defending their early response to the storm. Now, many deny that they waited too long to order evacuations in Lee County, which has now reported most of the state's deaths.

At least 76 people have died across Florida, and those who survived now face a long road to recovery.

Leyla Santiago has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Neighbors here in the city of Naples tell me there's still a little bit of disbelief, shock when they see the damage outside their doors, but the reality of this is really starting to set in. The reality of what it will be like in the weeks and months ahead, when it comes to recovery.

Let me show you exactly what some of the neighbors are having to deal with here. And you have homes where there are boats that came in to the back yard, debris, boats flipped over, cars that came in with that storm surge.

And you can have one house where the dock actually came up, and is now in another neighbor's driveway. So quite a bit of efforts will have to go into the cleanup of all this.

I spoke to one woman who still had water in her oven, in her drawers. As we talked to her, here's what she told us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very sad because there's a lot of 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 also 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.

SANTIAGO: And you know, I also talked to the city manager here, and he mentioned two things, specifically in terms of where the immediate focus is.

One is on where to find shelter for displaced people that have been impacted by Hurricane Isan.

And then of course a very big one is power restoration. At this point they are still assessing the damage when it comes to infrastructure to try to get a realistic idea as to when they believe the lucky able to get to 100 percent for power restoration. I have not spoken to one person here that does not say they expect this to be a long road to recovery.

Leyla Santiago, CNN, Naples, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Parts of southern Mexico are preparing for Hurricane Orlene to make landfall Monday.

The Category 3 storm's expected to bring strong winds to the region, and the National Hurricane Center predicts storm surges will contribute to flooding, as well as life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with more. Pedram, we were -- we're still really recovering from Hurricane Isan, and now the storm, do expected to strengthen again before it makes landfall?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it doesn't look like it. It's certainly a different setup than what we saw across Florida, which is excellent news for our friends in Mexico.

Orlene was at one point a Category 4. It's a menacing feature. You'll notice, there is some activity out there across portions of the Eastern Pacific, but now a Category 2 system. It is inhibited here by wind shear, in the mid levels of the atmosphere, and also works its way through a very dry landscape.

[00:35:04]

So it is going to weaken. But it did initially go from a Cat 1 to a Category 4. We still expect landfall on Monday. Heavy rainfall and flooding really becomes the primary threats for this particular storm.

But again, notice for a brief period, it had rapid intensification take place. And the governments across Mexico have issued hurricane watches and hurricane warnings, mainly across areas such as Mazatlan, which is home to about half a million people. So certainly, an area of interest across that region.

But the system is expected to maintain its intensity; possibly weaken here over the next 12 hours right before it makes landfall across portions of Mexico, and as it does, runs into very dry air, elevated terrain across the deserts there in Mexico.

And notice the concentration of where the heaviest rainfall is, where the most inundation, is going to be quite close to the coast, which is of course what we saw across Florida, which spanned across the entire state, eventually work its way back over the Eastern part of the United States, as well.

This system remains more localized in its effects and also for more short-lived.

Across the Atlantic, a couple of other areas of interest. Very out there at this point, but worth monitoring in the coming days, as we watch the activity here across portions of the Atlantic, Paula.

NEWTON: I know it is hurricane season, but thank goodness it's -- it's weakened before it hits landfall. We'll hope that those people will be able to deal with it when it does make landfall. Pedram, thanks.

Now, meantime, British Prime Minister Liz Truss faces a big test at this week's Conservative Party Congress. She's doubling down on tax cuts that sent the pound plunging to record lows against the U.S. dollar.

Truss says her government should have, in her words, "laid the ground better" for the announcement. But even members of her own party remain skeptical.

CNN's Bianca Nobilo has more now from Birmingham.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An inauspicious start. Liz Truss has had rollercoaster week, announcing huge economic plans with her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, which sent the markets into a spiral, necessitating a giant intervention from the Bank of England, and they caused massive amounts of public fury.

And for that reason, you might expect the protests today to be bigger in size than they are. I spoke to local policeman, and they said this is the standard number that you'd expect at an annual party congress. In fact, even protesters himself told me they thought the turnout would be bigger.

But protests are normal. Liz Truss's problems are not. At this party conference, she will have to convince her MPs and the country that the economic plan that sent shockwaves through markets, and caused so much public anger, is the right course for the country.

And secondly, and most importantly to some of these people, she will have to convince the nation that she and her chancellor are on the side of hardworking people, and not bankers and the wealthiest. Because the decisions of the last week that the government's taken have played directly into the most damaging narratives against the Tory Party: that they're not on the side of the ordinary person, but on this side of the bankers and the wealthiest.

Bianca Nobilo, CNN, Birmingham.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NEWTON: Still to come for us, we head to Hong Kong, where they're hoping for revival there. The city's ultra-tough COVID restrictions are finally ending. Tourists are coming back, and businesses are starting to see some signs of life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:27]

NEWTON: After more than two and a half years -- yes, it seems forever -- Hong Kong is finally lifting many of its COVID restrictions. Now, the city had some of the strictest quarantine rules in the world, and already, Hong Kong's struggling tourism industry is finally showing signs of life.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rain or shine, the players train for the International Rugby Sevens Tournament in Hong Kong.

For more than 40 years, its fans from around the world would come every year for the sport and the spectacle, until the pandemic. Now, after a long hiatus, they are thrilled to play again.

RUSSELL WEBB, RUGBY PLAYER: It's been three years. Three years? Yes, three years or so since the last Hong Kong Sevens, and you know, we're really excited. And you can tell the rugby community in general, really excited. It's so good for Hong Kong.

STOUT (voice-over): Also coming to Hong Kong is the international pop sensation, Black Pink, in January. And in November, a global banking summit.

The travel industry is buzzing. Expedia.com says searches for hotels in the city jumped 50 percent.

LAVINIA RAJARAM, TRAVEL EXPERT, EXPEDIA GROUP: We can anticipate the business audience coming back to Hong Kong, as well as travelers that have always seen Hong Kong as a culinary destination. So we can see a little bit of that trend coming back in the coming months.

STOUT (voice-over): With the easing of border rules, the city hopes to reclaim its spot as an international business hub and reboot its economy.

But for many, like this market vendor, they don't have months to wait.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My most frequent customers used to be tourists. Locals rarely shop here. It's been terrible, very terrible. There was no businesses at all. It's been a fruitless labor. Business has been static.

STOUT (voice-over): Tough COVID-19 measures have devastated businesses, including the iconic Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant, now no more.

Max shut his restaurant last year, after nine years in operation.

MAXENCE TRAVERSE, RESTAURANT OWNER: A lot of restaurants right now are about closing down, filling -- and filing bankruptcy, or trying to send 12 percent. Because the summer was really, really hard.

STOUT (voice-over): He says it will take more than simply ending the COVID rules to revive the city.

TRAVERSE: We need to be providing, you know, excitement from Hong Kong, because right now, we lost so many things. Nothing's happening in the convention center. There's no concerts. It -- it's not a resort (ph) and a big scene anymore.

STOUT (voice-over): Before the pandemic, it was, with big scenes like these in the stands of the Rugby Sevens, famous for its legendary party energy.

Today, rugby players practice in the rain, ahead of the return of the big tournament, and big hopes for the revival of a city.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, it looks like a real-life game of Jenga. One of Spain's biggest human tower competitions took place Sunday. It's a Catalan tradition that takes place every two years, in which teams compete to build the highest and most complicated tower.

Interesting here, children wearing helmets, usually scramble up to the top tier. The highest power this year? Ten levels tall, and the winning team took home the prize of nearly $16,000. Not bad.

Look at all the spectators there. It's incredible.

OK. Thanks for spending part of your day with us. I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next.

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