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NATO: Leaks In Russian Gas Pipeline To Europe "Sabotage"; Hurricane Ian Strengthens To 155 MPH, Just Shy Of Category 5; U.S. Embassy Warns Americans To Leave Russia Now. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 28, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR (via Webex by Cisco): I think we're going to see more and more things that Putin is going to try to do to weaken the resolve of the NATO countries, but also to try to intimidate anybody who might oppose it.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think Russia's behind the sabotage of the pipelines?

BRENNAN: Well, I think all the signs point to some type of sabotage. These pipelines are only in about 200 feet or so of water and Russia does have an undersea capability to -- that would easily lay explosive devices by those pipelines. And I do think it's a signal to Europe that Russia could reach beyond Ukraine's borders.

So, who knows what he might be planning next, but I think this is clearly an act of sabotage of some sort and Russia is certainly the most likely suspect.

KEILAR: Why blow up their own pipelines if they can obviously just cut off the gas flowing from them?

BRENNAN: Well, there's been no gas flowing through those pipelines, although there is some gas that's been pent up in them. That's why we've cut the methane release. But there's also pipelines that are going to Europe that are bringing gas from Norway. And so, it won't take much if Russia decides to go after the other pipelines that are bringing gas into Europe.

So I think this might be, again, a sign that Russia is intent on doing whatever it believes it needs to do or to weaken European resolve. But I think this might be just the first salvo of some additional things that might be coming toward Europe.

KEILAR: It's incredibly alarming to hear, obviously, those details.

We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: I want to send it back to John Berman who is live for us in Tampa. And right now, this hurricane strengthening to winds of 155 miles per hour approaching the coast there, Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, 155 miles per hour is just two miles per hour short of a category 5 storm. The impact really could be devastating here.

The conditions here starting to get worse again with the rain picking up. It will pour like this over the next day to day and a half. But further south here is where the area of major concern is. As I said, it is now a powerful category 4-near category 5 storm expected to make landfall in the next few hours.

They have increased the projected storm surge forecast for those areas up to 16 feet. A 16-foot possible storm surge in areas that are low- lying, to begin with. The impact there could just be devastating.

More than 2 1/2 million people up and down the coast now under some kind of evacuation order. The hope, at this point, is that all of those people, if they were told to leave, they left already. Because you are either running out or have run out of time to go anywhere as the winds hit that tropical storm force zone, especially south of here.

Near here, there have been 40-mile-per-hour gusts and as the wind picks up there is concern for flooding -- standing water on the roadways, which just won't be safe to travel on anymore.

We are standing by for a news conference from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. We will bring you that live when it happens to get an update on where things stand. Because things, frankly, have become worse over the last hour or so, so we need to get a sense of what might things be like going forward.

First, let's go to the weather center. Chad Myers joins me now. Chad, where do things stand at this moment?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, the eye is getting smaller and like a dancer on ice on a skate, when that dancer brings the arms in they go faster. When they put their arms out they go slower. This now -- storm is bringing its arms in.

One hundred fifty-five miles per hour. There is the proof. A hurricane hunter flew right through the middle of it. No thanks.

Temperatures are still very warm in the water. Winds are now approaching 50 to 60 miles per hour on land. The hurricane-force winds may be about 75 miles across from one side to the other. And, of course, in the middle, where it's the cat 4-almost 5, you're going to see well in excess of that 75-mile-per-hour threshold.

It will even likely get to almost hurricane strength or stay there in Orlando, where a lot of people did move to. That's where they evacuated. That's where the most hotels are. Twelve to 16-foot storm surge right there.

Now, the biggest storm surge that I actually got proof of was about 28 feet in Katrina. That was with a storm that traveled directly onshore -- perpendicular -- 90-degree angle. That happened there.

[07:35:00]

I can't tell you how impressive this number is when you're talking about a storm that's moving at a 45-degree angle and not a 90-degree angle because at this angle, it would be worse than 16.

The bubble under this storm is tremendous because it's been in the water so long. The bubble of water, feet tall, then has to slash into these bays and harbors. Charlotte Harbor, right here, in trouble -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Chad Myers. We know you're watching it closely. Please keep us posted because we keep getting new information from the National Hurricane Center. We'll come back to you in just a little bit.

In the meantime, I want to go to Pete Muntean, who is dry at Reagan National Airport right now. And Pete, they've closed all the airports around where I am or are about to close, and I have to imagine that the ripple effect of the air traffic is just going to be enormous.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The ripple effect is only going to get bigger here, John. You know, with Florida taking a huge blow here from Hurricane Ian, and especially the aviation infrastructure there, it is a big destination for a lot of folks, even in fall, which is typically a slow time of year for air travel.

Look at the cancellations right now according to FlightAware. Miami, Orlando, and Tampa top -- the top three airports for cancellations in the U.S. right now. They make up about half of all of the cancellations nationwide right now.

The Tampa airport officially closed at 5:00 pm last night. The last flight out, Delta flight 2790 bound for Atlanta. The official FAA notice says the airport is only open to emergency flights right now.

Airport officials are busy preparing because they are worried about flooding seeing as though the airport topographically sits pretty close to the bay. There will be an army of volunteers staying behind as the airport expects this storm to come in.

I want you to listen now to the airport CEO who says that they will be there waiting this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE LOPANO, CEO, TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: We have a team of storm riders made up of about 120 employees that will ride out the storm. Once the storm has passed, our team will conduct a damage assessment of our airfield and terminal facilities and determine whether we can reopen immediately or whether we have issues that we need to address as a result of the hurricane's impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: More airports will be closing. Orlando airport closes at 10:30 today, John.

BERMAN: All right, Pete Muntean at Reagan National Airport. I'm here live in Tampa where it's raining hard right now.

Let's go right to Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, who is giving a news conference with the latest information.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: But outside of Southwest Florida, crews are responding to those power outages.

Don't go outside in the eye of the storm. It's still dangerous. There's actually a calmness if the center of the hurricane is right over you. You think maybe the storm has passed.

That's not the case. It's still very dangerous. There's possibilities of tornadoes. It would also be very difficult to potentially get back into your home. So even if it seems calm, wait to make sure that the storm has actually passed.

Once the storm has passed and it's safe to go outside, I urge you to be cautious. Avoid downed power lines. Avoid standing water. Stay clear of damaged trees.

If you are using a generator for power, make sure that is being operated outside your home. Do not operate that indoors.

And then, don't drive in flooded streets. People will look and think they can drive through it and it doesn't work out well for them.

As the storm has approached we've already had enough winds to have local bridges close. So the bridge on state road 64, Manatee Avenue East, has now been closed. The bridge at S.R. 684 and Cortez Road have now -- has now been closed. And the John Ringling Causeway has been closed. And that is basically a function of when the winds reach a certain threshold. Obviously, you're going to see more bridge use suspended given the ferocity of this storm.

This morning, Director Guthrie asked for additional airlift, hoist, and high water vehicles from the Department of Defense in coordination with FEMA. The Department of Transportation also has 1,200 personnel on standby to perform cut-and-toss operations. They'll be bringing in supplies by plane, boat, and by high water vehicle.

All the airports in Southwest Florida have leave-behind teams in place so that they will be able to get the runways in good shape once the storm has passed.

[07:40:00]

We have 5,000 Florida guardsmen activated, 2,000 from neighboring states. We have air assets, urban search and rescue teams stationed now in Miami that will be able to respond over to Southwest Florida. Florida Fish and Wildlife, both vehicle assets, water assets, and air assets. And the U.S. Coast Guard has now staged four cutters. They also have shallow draft vessels ready to provide search and rescue assistance to the flooded areas. There are over 30,000 linemen staged and ready for power restoration

efforts across the state of Florida, and that includes linemen across all of our major utilities. And a lot of these linemen are coming from out of state, so this is a major, major effort. Of course, the storm has to pass. There needs to be the ability for them to get in and access what they need to access, but that's going to be a priority, and Kevin and his team are going to be working hard on that.

I want to thank the 26 states that have sent support to us during this time, including Tennessee, Virginia, Montana, Louisiana, New York, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, and Georgia. We very much appreciate the assistance.

And as this storm hits, we've got massive amounts of assets that are staged, but we're already discussing about ways where we could get more value-added support. So, most of you have said call and we may be doing just that as the recovery efforts go forward.

So this is a major, major storm. It's something that we knew was going to be significant. That the strengthening of this over the last night has been -- has been really, really significant. It's potentially that it could -- that it could make landfall as a category 5.

But clearly, this is a very powerful, major hurricane that's going to have major impacts both on impact in Southwest Florida, but then as it continues to work through the state it is going to have major, major impacts in terms of wind, in terms of rain, in terms of flooding. So this is going to be a nasty, nasty day-two days.

Probably, we think now it will be exiting the peninsula sometime on Thursday -- yesterday -- based on how fast it was moving. We thought maybe it wouldn't be until the wee hours of Friday morning. So, this is going to be a rough stretch.

We're here to respond to the areas that are affected once the storm has passed. Local emergency responders are standing by ready to go.

You know, we -- I think most people heeded the warnings of doing the evacuations in those very sensitive locations, but not everyone may have done that. And so, we understand that a storm of this magnitude -- you know, there's going to be a need to begin those -- to begin those rescue efforts apace.

Kevin Guthrie is here for an update from Florida DEM.

KEVIN GUTHRIE, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thank you, Governor.

Hurricane Ian, as the governor has mentioned, is projected to make landfall this afternoon on the Charlotte County coast. This will cause life-threatening storm surge, flooding. Tropical-storm-force winds will be felt throughout the entire state and even isolated tornadoes.

I urge Floridians who have made the decision to shelter in place to stay indoors and stay off the roads. You do not want to be outdoors or on the roads as a storm of this size is making landfall in your area. It is extremely dangerous.

If you have battery-operated or hand-crank weather radios you should be checking them now, changing the batteries, and making sure that they work. Power outages will occur.

If you get a weather alert for a tornado -- and as the governor has already mentioned, if you're in the Southwest Florida area you should make the same preparations as if it is a tornado going over your house. Get to an interior room free of windows. Have stuff to be able to protect your head and body from the debris, such as a blanket, sleeping bag, mattress, or even, potentially, helmets.

If there are flash flood warnings in your area, remember it is --

BERMAN: All right, John Berman here live in Tampa, Florida.

You've been listening to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida officials briefing the public about what is, frankly, a devastating storm approaching the Florida coast.

You are now starting to hear some experts call this a near-worst-case scenario as Hurricane Ian has strengthened to 155 miles per hour. That's just two miles per hour short of a category 5 storm expected to make landfall in the next several hours south of here in the Fort Myers-Punta Gorda area. The expected storm surge is now upwards of 16 feet -- 16 feet in some places.

The governor and these Florida officials -- what they are doing is they're talking to the public trying to get them ready. That's what they've been doing over the last several days -- get them ready for what is now actually happening, telling people at this point, if you haven't moved, it might very well be too late to move.

[07:45:01]

And that's the message we're also getting from emergency officials -- that they are just about at the point where they will not be able to help you if you are in some kind of emergency because it's just too dangerous to go outside. So, to get the people ready.

And also, Gov. DeSantis and Florida officials have been getting responders ready for when they can get out to help people, to help get power back up. To help get the services to where it will be needed, and it will be needed over such a wide swath of this state as this storm could very well sit over Florida for a full day, Brianna.

So, this is a situation which is now getting bad and is expected to get much, much worse.

KEILAR: Yes. And west of you, in Clearwater, Berman, which, of course, is also there along Florida's west coast, more than 400,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders because of Hurricane Ian's expected life-threatening storm surge.

Joining us now is the mayor of Clearwater, Florida, Frank Hibbard. Mayor, thank you so much for being with us. I know you're probably watching the track of this, seeing it going a little more easterly, which may be good news for you. What are you preparing for?

MAYOR FRANK HIBBARD, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA (via Webex by Cisco): Well, it is good news for us but we're certainly concerned for those neighbors to the south.

Our biggest thing now is don't let up. We hate to see complacency. Because these bands are still going to bring with them tornadoes, incredible rains. And we will have downed trees just because the ground gets so saturated the trees literally tip over, take out power lines, and create very dangerous conditions.

KEILAR: And you are just so exposed there to the -- to the Gulf in Clearwater. Have people left? Have they evacuated as they were supposed to?

HIBBARD: We had mandatory evacuations on our barrier islands but understand we don't go door-to-door. We encourage people. We try to convey the dangers but they ultimately have to make the choice. We believe that the majority of our barrier island, Clearwater Beach, has been evacuated and currently, it is barricaded off. Nobody can enter the beach area. They can still leave.

But people need to know once winds hit 45 miles per hour, first responders are not going out.

KEILAR: What is your reference point for the last storm, Charley? What does that tell you, if anything, about what to expect here?

HIBBARD: Well, Charley was very similar. The Tampa Bay area had the bullseye on its back and that hurricane made a hard right turn and went into Port Charlotte.

We are very vulnerable as a region because the bay is so big, and if we're on the wrong side of the bands it's going to push incredible amounts of water. And just think of it as a bathtub. It's going to eventually overflow.

KEILAR: Yes, it's certainly a way to think about it. And there's so -- certainly, something Clearwater is dealing with and so many surrounding areas there.

Mayor, thank you so much for your time this morning. We appreciate it -- and stay safe.

HIBBARD: Certainly. Thank you.

KEILAR: We'll have more on our special coverage, here in a moment, of Hurricane Ian -- but breaking news from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Officials are warning Americans not to travel to Russia, and they are asking Americans in Russia to leave immediately.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:45]

BERMAN: I'm John Berman live in Tampa, Florida. This is CNN's special live coverage of Hurricane Ian, which is approaching the southwestern coast of Florida with wind speeds of 155 miles per hour now. It could be a devastating storm. Storm surge expected to reach up to 16 feet in some areas.

Here in Tampa, we've seen bands of this storm coming through bringing drenching rain. We're in one of those welcomed bright sky moments where the rain has mostly stopped falling. But you can see the Hillsborough River here and some of the concern is there could be a storm surge of up to six feet as this river pushes up, and then freshwater flooding with rainfalls of 12 to 24 inches coming down in the other direction.

A storm of this size and scope is having a major impact on all aspects of life in Florida. One of those aspects is sports. We've actually seen some joggers run by here recently -- some brave joggers. But professional sports, college sports obviously feeling the impact.

Let's go to Andy Scholes for some information about that -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, John. So the big NFL game this Sunday is Tom Brady and the Bucs hosting Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Tampa. Now, the forecast for Sunday in Tampa is 84 and sunny but the big question is what kind of shape will the city be in after Ian passes by.

The NFL says they are monitoring that situation. No changes as of now. The game could be pushed back to Monday or even moved to another location altogether.

The Bucs, meanwhile -- they have moved practices this week to Miami. Before leaving, Brady said he had to get his house prepared for the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS QUARTERBACK: I don't think that anyone is really prepared for this. I know I've been preparing all morning and get all my stuff outside and try to put it inside. Try to get all the stuff on the ground level up a little bit higher. I'm right here on the bay so they're talking about pretty high storm surges.

And it's a scary thing -- I will say that. It's a scary thing when it really hits your doorstep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, we have already seen changes to the college football schedule.

South Florida, who plays in Tampa, will now play Saturday's game against East Carolina in Boca Raton. Florida and Central Florida are moving their games from Saturday to Sunday. South Carolina -- it's moving its game from Saturday to Thursday to get ahead of the storm.

And the Tampa Bay Lightning -- they were supposed to play a preseason game tomorrow night at home but they will now play that game in Nashville. And John, the team is going to remain there in the city of Nashville to continue training camp until further notice.

BERMAN: All right, Andy Scholes. Obviously, these teams and sports leagues -- they're just watching the situation right now and they will respond depending on just how bad it gets here.

So, sports leagues -- also, schools feeling the impact. Obviously, public schools all closed up and down Florida right now to brace for the impact and make sure that students are home safely. Also, the nearby local colleges.

With me now here is Sean Schrader who is, I believe, a first-year MBA student at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus, which is right across the bay here. You've been smart staying inside and out of the rain for some time.

How have students been getting ready?

SEAN SCHRADER, CAMPUS GOVERNOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA ST. PETERSBURG: Well, this is a really serious storm. Thankfully, it's unfortunate for somebody else but some of the impacts are still being felt here in the Tampa Bay area.

[07:55:00]

I think the big thing for students is either they have relocated to go back with their family, whether that be in another location in Florida, or go out of the state. However, there has been a small number of students who have decided to stay at USF, and thanks to the university, they have provided that safe housing for them.

BERMAN: I vaguely remember being of student age and sometimes you make unwise decisions when you are that age. How are the school's, and what's your recommendation to other students about what to do over the next 24 hours or so?

SCHRADER: Well, you've seen, really in large part here across Tampa Bay, a lot of closures have taken place. At USF, closures are in place at least until Monday for classes.

The recommendation I have is really we are not bigger than the weather. I mean, this is serious. I mean, you see the wind, you see the rain coming in. This is a really big threat. And I think it's just a matter of staying safe, following the local guidance that's out there, and keeping up-to-date on your emails about when stuff will reopen -- which, hopefully, will be sooner rather than later.

BERMAN: Hopefully, it will be soon, although they're expecting 12 to 24 inches of rain in this area right now.

You're from Florida so you're used to the weather. You know, the colleges -- you get international students. You get students from other parts of the country. How are they responding to a hurricane?

SCHRADER: Well, it's really challenging for them. If you're from another part of the country or you're from another part of the world, you don't have those same luxuries that others might have of having family close by, people close by you can stay with, or knowing how to navigate this kind of situation.

That's why the University of South Florida has been really, really helpful to provide on-campus housing and on-campus support at their Tampa campus where it's not as bad. They have been able to evacuate students from St. Petersburg where everybody's able to stay collectively and shelter in place for the time being.

BERMAN: All right, Sean. Go home, get inside. Spend the next 24 hours or so studying and doing whatever you can. It'll be a few days before you're back to school.

We appreciate you being with us --

SCHRADER: Thank you. Stay safe.

BERMAN: -- Sean. Thank you very much, Sean Schrader, MBA student at the University of South Florida.

You can see the impact this has had on, really, every aspect of life.

Where do you guys want me to go? All right. So, Brianna, you get a sense of how this is affecting people here. Right now, in Tampa, this is the nicest we've seen it for some time. Brightening skies and almost no rain, but you just get the sense that it's going to come down soon, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, it is just going to be -- it's just that thing, right? It's nice -- the calm before the storm there, Berman.

So we do have some breaking news here this morning. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is warning Americans not to travel to Russia. It's also advising Americans who are already in Russia to leave immediately while they still can.

CNN's Kylie Atwood at the State Department with more. Kylie, this is a pretty ominous warning.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, it really is, Brianna, and there's a few pieces of it that are worth noting.

So, as you said, first of all, telling Americans to leave Russia immediately if they are in the country while there's commercial options still available, noting how hard it is already to get out of the country. And what it does in this security alert is note that the Russian government has begun these -- this mobilization of its own citizens into the war in Ukraine.

And it says, quote -- I want to read this to you -- "Russia may refuse to acknowledge dual nationals' U.S. citizenship, deny their access to U.S. consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia, and conscript dual nationals for military service." Essentially, what they are saying there is that they're fearful that if these Americans don't leave the country they could be sent into the Ukraine war on the Russian side -- forced to go into that war.

And the other part of this security warning this morning is telling citizens to stay away from all of those protests that are happening in the country because they say in this security alert that Russian authorities have arrested Americans who have participated in those demonstrations thus far. And so, what they're saying is that they shouldn't go to those protests. They shouldn't photograph security personnel at any of those events because while there is a right to peaceful assembly, that is something, of course, that is not guaranteed in Russia -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. They're saying this is not protection against being drafted into the Russian military at this time.

Kylie Atwood, thank you for that report.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

So, overnight, the Florida Keys --

BERMAN: I'm John Berman live in Tampa, Florida. Brianna Keilar is in Washington, D.C.

This is CNN's special live coverage of Hurricane Ian, which is bearing down on the southwest coast of Florida. Wind speeds now of 155 miles per hour. That was the last reading from a plane that was flying through the storm from the National Hurricane Center -- 155 miles per hour.

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