welcome back to our viewers and united states and around the world. i'm john, those cnn center in atlanta. it is now 1 am on the u.s. u.s. east coast. the entire state of florida, embarrassing for the hurricane in. a massive storm stretching 100 miles across, which early made landfall on western cuba. knocking out the islands electricity grid causing a nationwide blackout. 11 million people right now in the dark waiting for more process to damage. as of this hour, no reports of any fatalities. since leaving cuba, it has gone in strength fueled by the warm waters of the gulf of mexico. as it heads to florida, now category three, sustained winds of about 120 miles per hour. along with life-threatening storm surge, florida is facing catastrophic flooding, strong powerful winds, all day long, tuesday, visitors across the state to make landfall, now expected sooner than first forecast, and further to the south.

but in some parts, it has always been felt, conditions tore throughout the night. some will have two feet of rain, more than two and a half million people are under some form of evacuation warning. and as of this, our officials weren't time is fast one out to leave. >> you still have time to do it. you do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles. obviously, if you have friends, family, some of that, hotels, preferable, but as a last resort, these shelters are open. and i would just urge people to take advantage of that. it's, i know it's not easy, sometimes, to leave your home, and i know people don't want to see anything bad happen when they get back. but it's, the stakes are high, it's a very powerful storm. >> cnn meteorologist -- tracking the storm for us again this hour. pedro, we know that this is moving in closely, a little more to the south than before, some changes here that are gonna make big implications when it comes to exactly where the system ends up. how strong is going to be and

the impacts really across the tampa bay area, but you notice the storm does, them the clock on measures almost 100 miles across from ends and. and a strong category 3:10 miles per hour shy of what would be a category 4 hurricane. the perspective here just pushes west of the key west and about 100 miles south of naples. the track of the system will eventually bring ashore, we think, sometimes inside the next 12, maybe 14 hours or so. in fact, forecast guidance it has to take it to a sub category four winds, that's points over 140 miles per hour winds. then moving into the tropical storm across the central portion of the state of florida. but the major concern with the state of this magnitude across this weekend is going to be the storm surge threat. we've seen the models shift from this tampa bay. few outliers still want to take it over tampa bay. the master majority around the -- puts a gourd area. that's a 75 so miles up south of tampa bay. but again, you kind of see this, you follow these trends, these models, you generally know, if it's going to shift every single model, around a little farther to the south. probably see a storm that is

wobbling farther and farther towards the south. that is why we think landfall will happen a bit sooner than initially expected. but notice, that make sure part charlotte, granted, fort myers, some of these areas could see storms surge magnets is up to nine feet. that is catastrophic! threats in place there because of that southern ship, portions of tampa bay that were forecast to be closer to nine feet this time, few pockets to get up to 6 to 3 states. that's pretty, high but one of the elements of concern. we are watching with the system, and john, when you look at the factors here at play, what's happening in the gulf of mexico. the floyd shot off of the west coast of florida there, spans about 150 or so miles off towards the west here. and it's very shallow, broad child it's in place, down 300 feet. that reason, hear the shelf in particular allows water to pile up quite effectively. so you get essentially, water that can easily go up into the base here. and create the storm surge threat that we are seeing. of course that is the primary leader and deaths and tropical

cyclones. one of the areas of concern with this particular storm in general. and that's exactly what we are watching here when it comes to this where the system could eventually end up. south of tampa bay, producing within winds upwards of 130 miles per hour sustained. and away from the center. some 140 miles away from the center. you will still feel tropical storm force winds. extending all the way into central and north central portions of florida. orlando included. so certainly not just the area of impacts, it will feel that the storm has to offer with a storm of this magnitude, size, john, despite everyone in central florida, is going to feel the impacts of it as well. yeah, and then some. some even beyond that,. >> in many parts of florida, police and fire departments as well as other emergency responders, will soon decide conditions are too dangerous to respond to calls for help. and tampa, which is especially unprepared, vulnerable to the storm, officials are warning presidents of the very real risk to property and dangerous to life. cnn's ryan young as our reporter. >> good. we are coming by, letting everybody know that you are in a mandatory evacuation situation. >> the tampa bay area, and its

final hours of hurricane preparations. >> tampa bay police, making last-ditch efforts to warn residents and flood risk zones to leave. now >> it's a enforcement to let them know that you are in an area where you need to evacuate. >> this is not a drill. this is not the time to stay! >> serious warnings of residents, here this vulnerable area, expected to be in the crosshairs of hurricane and as it barrels to the west coast of florida. >> we have over 120 miles of coastline just in this city of tampa. >> at least 2.5 million floridians under various evacuation orders. it's a storm that is predicted to cause water damage like none before. >> when you talk about ten or 15 inches of rain, on top of this surge, it's unprecedented. no infrastructure is built for that. >> with this hurricane, a direct hit is unnecessarily the cause of severe flooding. the slow moving storm is just all just the coast of tampa bay, starting wednesday evening. >> it's gonna be in our, rivers

in our streams, in our canals, it's gonna be in our storm water drains, and ditches. >> standby locations around tampa closed today at 2:00. residents doing what they can before heading out. >> we are late that we are think that if it is a storm surge, issue, we will try to seal the openings of the house. >> florida carbon or -- james davison and his wife i'm taking chances. they are prepping to house and getting out. >> i'm not a very good gambler. and it's a bit of a gamble if you don't take it seriously. >> the words storm surge is something we heard over and over. city officials are concerned that people try to drive through water, as it starts to rise throughout the city. if you look at the -- how they are preparing, you can see those barricades have been put up. that's to stop the water from affecting hospital operations. but again, they are concerned about the people who decided not to evacuate, and to try to ride this out. -- tampa florida. >> joining me now the line is -- came -- venice.

laura thank you for being with us. what are conditions like right now where you are, and when you are expecting the rain and the wind to really start to intensify? >> hey good morning sir. conditions already are starting to deteriorate fairly quickly. we are starting to have some stronger gust comes their here in there. rain is definitely getting a lot heavier. i would say conditions i made, can only get worse from here. >> last check when speed of ian was just an miles away shy from category four. a storm that's almost twice as wide of central florida. and it's expected to linger. and almost every, way it seems to be the worst possible combination of the fact is. how bad are you expecting it to get? >> yeah, it's not looking great for vast portions of this area at the moment. i would not be surprised if we see a land falling strong category 4 hurricane by probably late this afternoon. >> has it been a storm with this effect we just hit florida in the past, at all, but you

can recall? >> see we've had, we've had a run-ins with some very strong storms in the past but this area in particular, hasn't seen a whole lot since hurricane charlie in 2004, which proved to be very devastating. so it'll be interesting. >> charlie was so powerful but fairly small relative to ian, wasn't it, in terms of the distance it was spread across right? >> yes, yes, charlie was a much more smaller compact storm. this storm it's winfield was very large, the impacts were probably more than likely a lot more widespread than charlie. >> so given that, what sort of situation emergency responders are facing in florida? spread over a wide area, with powerful winds, not just one small area which will take the brunt of it, a very wide area. that will take the brunt of. it are you ready for this in florida? >> correct, yes, so i will say that yesterday it was very unfortunate to see a lot of people were still making last-minute preparations.

home depot is filled up here in venice. funeral, whole lot of people making these last mass dashes to gas, any fresh food and water they can get. so i think that a lot of residents are prepared but i think there is a lot that really ought to be honest. >> what is your advice for someone who decides to ride out the storm? >> my best advice right now is really just to have a weather radio on standby, that's going to alert you for potentially devastating winds. potential for tornadoes. keep an eye on that water levels, you know you are in a flood zone, no you're evacuation zone as well. if that water sites coming up, make sure you have a plan. you can enact on. >> and explain why it is that the storm got so big, so quickly. >> really we have seen a rapid intensification process and last night, before closing my eyes for a little bit. we saw an eyewall replacement cycle that basically means that the eyewall will replenish itself. basically become a more

stronger hurricane. conditions are prime, if that's on the, year everything is in place. and the fact that is now heading to the south and avoiding very populated areas of tampa, that's good news for tampa, right? but not good news for its now heading. which is somewhere around port charlotte. >> exactly, yes, very eerily similar to charlie where we have massive evacuations, that you haven't had before, and tampa bay area. when just the south of tampa, the brunt of, it so it's going to be very very interesting day or so. >> and very quickly, give us a timeline here of what we can expect out of the next 12 hours or so? >> over the next 12 hours, again, conditions now are starting to deteriorate, relatively quickly, they will continue to do so given way to probably sustained hurricane-force winds. if i had to guess, maybe closer to the 9 am hour. you know early this morning, as you are going to be wake, enough you are going to have pretetty strong winds ripped through and it's not expected to get better for a long time. this is a very large storm that

is forecasted to explode forward motion down. prolonging the impact of the winds. so it's going to be a day long ent. >> it's going to linger for a while i think. thank you so much r being with, us we appreciate your time sir. >> absolutely, thank you guys. >> still to come heron cnn, another mo by -- ukrainian territory claiming its own. why the was calling votes in fourth possibly russian territories share referendums. ease, i can do that. all right? when high quality is the only quality that matters, we fit your standards, with no-compromise quality and a lifetime guarantee. bath fitter. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation.

♪ my relationship with my credit cards wasn't good. i got into debt in college and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. between the high interest, the fees... i felt trapped. debt, debt, debt. so i broke up with my credit card debt and consolidated it

into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. i finally feel like a grown-up. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi. get your money right. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> 50 minutes past, hour welcome back. european leaders expect southern mustard lays into north stream gas pipelines, of course by sabotage. methane doubles were seen rising to the surface of the baltic cities, near the damage pipelines. biologist two explosions in the area on monday. unclear if that was the cause of the lakes. russia cut off the flow of natural gas and one pipeline to europe last month, amid tensions over the war in ukraine. the other was not operating proportionally yet. -- and four -- of you, can say for referendums have resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of joining russia. the referendums have been

denounced by western governments as either a sham or a farce, or both. the hastily range referendums our own health over five, days in the region of donetsk, luhansk, zaporizhzhia, and has. -- the sovereign territory. russian state military says -- in favor of joining russia. although there are reports of officials going a house to house, taking votes, accompanied by armed soldiers. u.s. says, introduced a resolution at the un security council calling on member states not to recognize any change to ukrainian supporters. here is the ukrainian secretary state. >> we and many other countries have already been crystal clear. we will not, indeed we will never, recognize the annexation of ukrainian territory. by russia. and i've also been equally clear. ukraine has the absolute right to defend its self throughout its territories. including to take back the territory that has been

illegally seized upon one way or another. by russia. >> with, us this hour, is my guest, staff writer to the new yorker, and prolific author writing on topics like russia, vladimir putin, donald trump, it's a long, long list, the most recent book is surviving autocracy. welcome to cnn newsroom. >> thank you for having me. >> okay so the referendums in the four russian occupied ukrainian provinces are straight from putin's playbook after the occupied occupation of crimea. which means any -- annexation, illegal annexation, is likely next. the vote, result, all being announced by ukraine, u.s., and europe, and the mayor of one occupied city in eastern ukraine to brett scribe the voting process of being carried out and gunpoint. saying that your times, they banked loudly, rang doorbells, they gave people a ballot and point with the rifles where to put the mark. the referendum was a sham in 2014, and crimea, it's a sham now so from the kremlin's point of view what is the value and all of this? >> well the value john is exactly what you know, you and i are doing right now.

you've use the word referendum, you use the word votes, you use the word results. right? and and i'm going to do that too. because we don't have any language to indicate that all of this is false. right? it's an event, it's a manufactured event, but it has some significance. as much as we try to detract from announcing or denouncing the significance, something is still happening. they are making some sort of mark. and the purpose of making this mark is obvious. it is to announce that these territories are being annexed. but, again think about it, we do see some sort of distinction between the way that russia occupies crimea. which is an illegally occupied territory. and the way russia occupies eastern ukraine. which is an illegal lee occupied territory. >> as expected, they are annex by moscow, this gives the kremlin an excuse, if you, like

they can claim the russian army there is to defend it on invaders. that was apart by vladimir putin to use nuclear weapons. is it even greater significance? here is a russian president. [interpreter] >> our country has also various similar weapons and in some cases, more modern weapons from later. in order to protect our -- removed russia, that will definitely use all of our mains. >> another, words and other, words basically the use of nuclear weapons the defensive capacity, as farcical as it sounds, why is that necessary? because again, it all seems like a broken theater. is it necessary for the domestic audience? is it necessary for the international audience? >> there is still a kind of legal list like aspects of this regime. it is diminishing. but at this point there is still pretending for some audience, primarily putin's own

audience, which is an audience of people from whom he perceives a potential threat. right? and his perception brought is always exaggerating. he is much more afraid of protests, much more afraid of dissent that is warranted. by the regime on the way it's constructed. >> we also hearing from dimitri -- former prime minister, former president, the deputy on the national security council, in russia. he posted on telegram that the security of washington london and brussels, it's much more important that from the north atlantic headlines from the fate of a dying ukraine which no one needs, overseas -- demagogues are not going to pursue a nuclear powers apocalypse. there was all the use of any weapon, any weapon, in the current conflict. is he still speaking for putin? is this abuse of vladimir putin? and i guess, how confident are there in moscow that they will be no nuclear retaliation? is that ironclad guarantee, in

their minds, or are they rolling the dice here? >> literary not speaking for putin, literally speaking to putin. and he is speaking to putin for two reasons. one, he is trying to convince putin of its loyalty and importance. he is trying to hold onto his seat. which is, which is, which is not important, in ten years, but he is doing what he is canned to his own position. to, he is trying to convince putin of his right, putin's right, to use nuclear weapons. and so he is trying to tell putin, exactly what putin wants to hear. which is that as long as you use a small tactical nuclearar weweapon, on the territory of occupieded ukraine, which putin is going to claim,m, it's russin territory, then nato is not going to respond because nato doesn't want that kind of escalation. >> masha gessen, dank you for your, insight incredibly valuable, we are so grateful to have you with.

us >> thank you for having me. >> hurricane ian has moved a powerful blown into cuba's aging power grid. this is more that is on the infrastructure, problem after recent protests we will tell you more on that. the report from havana. we're carvana we created a brand new way for you to sell your car go to carvana answer a few questions and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds we'll come to you pay you on the spot then pick up your car that's it at carvana

[ coughing/sneezing ] [ door knocking ] dude, you coming? alka-seltzer plus powermax gels cold & flu relief with more concentrated power. because the only thing dripping should be your style! plop plop fizz fizz, winter warriors with alka-seltzer plus. striving to reach the ultimate goal of zero poverty takes more than everyone's hopes and dreams. at citi, it takes a financial commitment to companies who empower people to lift themselves up. it takes funding and building on our know-how to help communities grow. that's how citi is helping create a better future by committing one trillion dollars in sustainable finance by 2030. because it takes everything to reach zero poverty.

♪ ♪

psoriasis really messes with you. try. hope. fail. no one should suffer like that. i started cosentyx®. five years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infection, some serious and a lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reaction may occur. best move i've ever made. ask your dermatologist

the call order. 27 minutes past hour, jan cnn, more now from breaking news from florida, an urgent calls for evacuations. as hurricane ian moves closer. this category three storm earlier slammed into western cuba, lifting a part of disruption, with the islands

power grid knockdown. more than 11 million people have been left in the dark, parts of, florida after feeling the impact of the, storm many residents bracing for the full impact of, ian and boarding up windows, filling up on gas stations, were open, stocking up on supplies. it is expected to make category three or possibly four hurricane. earlier than first forecast, as soon as wednesday afternoon. between sarasota and port charlotte. and officials are warning the president and evacuations of who are still there, potentially get to safety is now. >> i urge everyone that is in an evacuation zone, that has been asked to evacuate, the time is now! you must evacuate now! there will be a point in time where you will not be safe to travel the roads. the time to evacuate is now! get on the road! >> right, now generation in cuba is practically zero.

officials are hoping power will be resorted in the coming day, but admits it'll be sometime before the fourth set of the damage from hurricane and is known. i met in havana's cnn patrick oppmann. >> cuba and it's 11 million inhabitants are currently in a nationwide blackout. officials said late tuesday night. after a hurricane ian battered this islands according to officials, it damaged the islands electrical system, to a degree, that it led to rolling blackouts, across this island. even in central, eastern, cuba, it was not affected by the winds in the rain, from hurricane ian. to the west of havana, hundreds of thousands of people are without power because electric cables and electric posts were knocked down by the storm. in havana, initially, officials said that they took down power to the city's 2 million inhabitants, to keep from their

being fires and people from being electrocuted from a foreign power lines. but clearly, as of late tuesday night, officials are unable to restore power to cuba's capital and to the rest of the island. this is extremely problematic for cuban officials, because for months now, these islands aging power grid has been affected by blackouts. sometimes for days and that's has led to, that is led to residents of many cuban cities, and towns, taking to the streets, and where and what can consider it to be illegal protests. demanding power has been re-sports restored. cuban officials ask for people's patience and said that they hope to restore power, but acknowledge that the electrical situation on the island is quote complicated. patrick oppmann, cnn, hannah. >> now to see it and meteorologist for the latest on

the storm's path. what are we looking? at >> the radar imagery, john, the sister really an incredible depiction of the storm system with a massive i, about 100 miles south southwest of naples, florida you notice as these outer bands, the feeder bands are ushering in some moisture from portions of florida, as far east as miami, coral springs, tornado warnings popping up meaning tornadoes imminent or occurring as a result of this. as we often see this with landfall tropical systems, as these outer bands kind of interact and get friction within lands, it creates these tornadoes that pop up and that is going to be one of these concerns. you get these nocturnal 20th into the overnight hours, they can catch people off-guard. of course, just part of what hurricane ian has to offer, sitting at 120 miles per hour sustained winds, just ten hours shy -- category four hurricane, and the concern moving forward is that the system has everything it takes. to florida into a category four within the next 12 hours. right before it makes landfall. we think early wednesday afternoon, maybe as early one 2 pm, or five or 6 pm.

landfall somewhere south of the port charlotte area, not form from put the cone up. a little farther towards the north, but at this, point it is such a broad feature, the impacts certainly gonna be felt wide reaching across the state of florida. and you'll notice, say the major hurricane, shortly after landfall, continues as a tropical storm through this part of central florida. we merging back over to the eastern area of the state, there before possibly making another landfall across parts of the state of georgia. but notice, the model guidance, really getting tight here as far as the confidence on where the system is going to end up. typically, when you are within about 12 hours a landfall system, the margin of error drops down to about 10 to 15 miles. so pretty confident on where this track is. because the last couple of days, we kind of see this gradual shift, move it farther, farther towards the south, that is move tampa bay out of the hardest hit potential zones for storm surge threat. but now, areas around port charlotte, charlotte harbor, could see storm surge areas 6 to 9 feet. this would be catastrophic across this region, and of course, you are looking at a storm of this magnitude that is

spent so much time over water, strengthening and maintaining that intensity. it is piled up quite a bit of water. that's the concern with the storm surge threat and also tropical storm force winds, john, that extends some e 140 miles away from the center. so even if you are not close to that landfall, you are going t o have power outages, you are going to have trees come down. and significant flooding with as much as 20 plus inches of rainfall. before the system is all said and done. >> yeah it's going to be tough few days ahead and then some. thank you pedram, for the update. >> now facing growing international condemnation of the death of a young woman by west about immorality. police coming, up the latest on the unrest of maori me, and why protesters are not backing down.

all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work helping them achieve financial freedom. we're proud to serve people everywhere, in investing for the retirement they envision. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive.

california, mountains, oceans, natural wonders, diverse and creative people. but when the out-of-state corporations behind prop 27 look at california, they see nothing but suckers. they wrote prop 27 to give themselves 90% of the profits from online sports betting in california. other states get much more. why is prop 27 such a suckers deal for california? because the corporations didn't write it for us. they wrote it for themselves.

u.s. secretary general is increasingly concerned about a crackdown on anti government protesters in iran, and also reports of number of

fatalities. i go demonstrations over the death of 22-year-old iranian, court mahsa amini, who died while detained by the morality plays, now in a second. with the response on the high hard-line religious leaders in tehran attacks on curtis grooves in northern iraq. supporting the protesters. -- reports from all of, that's on the streets of iran, calls for justice are growing louder. >> nightfall in iran brings protesters back onto the streets. >> in a near total, internet blackout, by the government is making its heart for us to know what's really going on. but a video trickling out appears to show many arrangements undeterred by a government crackdown, the threat of the rest, or the bullets. it almost feels like iran has been in a never-ending cycle over protests over the past two decades. but those who know the country say everything about this time is different. >> this time around, very

quickly, almost from the outset, it started challenging not the policies of the islamic republic, but the very structures of it. >> it's also different in looking at the demographics. these are primarily very, very young people, a younger generation who will have currently completely lost faith. that this islamic republic can be reforms. >> and on the streets, there have been daring calls for a regime change, this video from the city of -- birthplace of the supreme leader, shows protesters setting fire to the statue of a man considered one of the symbols of the islamic revolution. on monday, this group marked through the capital of iran, chanting against ayatollah, -- but it is the powerful act of defiance, by iranian women, that have stunned the world. as protests enter their second week, there is still out on the street. still demanding their freedoms. their rights, loss with the 1979 islamic revolution. the iranian government rallied

its supporters in mass demonstrations. calling the protest a foreign plot. the work of a handful mercenaries, rioters, who forcefully remove the head scarves of women on the streets. >> but in reality, the country why protests were sparked by outrage. even among government supporters over the death of mahsa amini in morality police custody. [noise] >> the protests appear to be leader, nice and spontaneous. >> the populations were so significant, it was brewing. but they needed a spark and the spark was that. this is not something that came from the outside, this is not something that was cooped up from the outside. and that's why they are taking so by surprise. >> while many iranians outside the country are holding on to the hope that this wave of protests may bring change, experts say the regime is far from collapsing. >> i don't think that they are about to fall. because we have not yet seen a full scale of their reaction. unfortunately, i fear that we

will see a lot of bloodshed before all of this is over. >> it's full force make the protests, but it won't be the aunt for a generation of iranians more emboldened than ever. shame on -- cnn, it's stumble. >> well thank you for watching cnn international. that's our viewers and cnn international, rather, inside africa is up next. preparations for the hurricanene ian, especially in the third bibiggest city, in the state, tampa. ♪ ♪ . >> seems weird to say the name. i've got nothing left. hey if i were you, i'd try warm milk. ♪ ♪ ♪ i've got nothing left. enough out of you! ♪ ♪ ♪

as someone living with type 2 diabetes, i want to keep it real and talk about some risks. with type 2 diabetes you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. even at your a1c goal, you're still at risk ...which if ignored could bring you here... ...may put you in one of those... ...or even worse. too much? that's the point. get real about your risks and do something about it. talk to your health care provider about ways to lower your risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. learn more at getrealaboutdiabetes.com

♪ my relationship with my credit cards wasn't good. i got into debt in college and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. between the high interest, the fees... i felt trapped. debt, debt, debt. so i broke up with my credit card debt and consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. i finally feel like a grown-up. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi. get your money right. ♪ when you're tired of looking at your tired old bath, we fit your style, with hundreds of design options. bath fitter. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. this tiny payment thing- is a giant pain! hi ladies! alex from u.s. bank! can she help? how about a comprehensive point of sale system... that can track inventory, manage schedules- and customize orders? that's what u.s. bank business essentials is for. (oven explosion)

what about a new oven, can u.s. bank help us there? we can serve loans in as fast as 12 minutes. that would be a big help! huge! jumbo! ginormous! woo! -woo! finding ways to make your business boom. that's what u.s. bank is for. we'll get there together. (woman vo) sailing a great river past extraordinary landscapes into the heart of iconic cities is a journey for the curious traveler, one that many have yet to discover. exploring with viking brings you closer to the world, to the history, the culture, the flavors, a serene river voyage on an elegant viking longship. learn more at viking.com

welcome back, caught speculation are growing louder and more urgent, as it battles through florida. category three storm just battled into cuba, have the destruction on the western side of the island but also causing a neutral -- more than 1 million people right now in the dark until morning. officials hope that electricity will be restored in the day ahead. it is expected to make landfall in florida, in port charlotte, and sarasota. category three, possibly four, hurricane. forecasters are warning that this hurricane is potentially like no other. residents there have ever seen. >> there as it goes inside, it continues to grow in size, this is going to spread a swaths of multiple hazards across a good chunk of the florida peninsula. if you are not on the direct path of the center, that doesn't mean that you are out of harm's way. we have to go back to wilma to

see that type of storm surge. didn't happen in charlie, but charlie was a very small system so i definitely won't keep going to people, fall victim to, that comparison. charlie was a very small and compact system, the storm surge just wasn't that deep as what we are projecting here. look at the size of this storm. this is the wind field here, and the orange. as you can see this is a very big system. >> nearly forecaster had in making forecasts around the scene of tampa gloria pazmino has more now on preparations there. >> now the rain has already started following here, in tampa, two and a half million people across the entire state of florida are under an evacuation order. officials asking people to take that warning seriously. the storm is approaching. it will make a direct hit here on this part of the state. officials concerned about catastrophic flooding. >> residents across the

sunshine state are bracing for what is expected to be a major hurricane, which already caused severe damage in cuba. hurricane ian churning in the gulf. for the first time, in 100 years, a hurricane could directly hit tampa. >> the biggest concern is the water, we are not getting out of this unscathed. and there is going to be flooding through out the tampa bay area. >> tampa could see search waters as high as seven feet. storm is likely to slow down over the city. causing more rainfall and flooding. >> so we are talking not just the bay, but our rivers, our canals. every source of water is going to be flooded. >> flights halted across much of the state. dozens of residents lining up to get sandbags in tampa, and in orlando. all of florida bracing for the storm. >> the main message i have for everyone in florida, is that this is going to impact everyone. in different ways.

so you need to stay focused. >> hurricane ian already leaving a path of destruction in cuba. it made landfall as a category three hurricane with winds of 125 miles per hour. knocking out power, and tearing down trees. >> now local officials here warning about historic flooding. catastrophic flooding over the next couple of days. especially in the tampa area where we are now. surrounded by rivers like the one you see behind me, canals, and the coastline. officials say they are most worried about mother water moving inland, causing damage to property, and life. in tampa, gloria pazmino, back to you. >> now the latest twist in the mar-a-lago documents investigation. the new high powerful member of donald trump's legal team, sidelines. and no longer the lead attorney, occluded to a number of sources. for chris kise without a team, trump and paid a three dollar

million retainer fee upfront. >> a reporter from washington. >> we are learning more by a notable development within the trump legal team that is handling that mar-a-lago documents investigation. that is that the newest addition to that team, chris kise former solicitor general for the state of florida and who was brought on primarily to deal with this case, has really been sidelined from dealing with the documents investigation. at all. it he is still on the legal, team he may be focusing on some of the other investigations i am told, trump is facing. there is that civil lawsuit in new york. that is the grand jury in washington d.c. that is focus on the january 6th insurrection. but i am told that chris kise is not leading the efforts when it comes to the trump's legal team operates when it comes to the investigation into the mar-a-lago documents case. and how trump handled those some 11,000 government materials that he took with him when he left office. this is notable for many reasons, primarily that kise was bought out because he is someone who experience and

florida law. they believed he would be a perfect fit for this. he left a law form he had been working for for a decade to take this case. he also asked for $3 million up front which was paid for by trump's campaign arm, his outside campaign arm. to deal with that, of course given that the former president has a reputation for not always paying his legal fees or his lawyers. so that's a big question here, of what that means for the team going forward. trump spokesman said that chris kise is still an important member of the legal team, he did not deny that he is no longer leading the fronts when it comes to the mar-a-lago case but it does speak to the level of in finding and disarray usain when it comes to trump strategy on this case as of course investigators are still continuing to look into these materials, and what was behind how they were taken to mar-a-lago. kaitlan collins, cnn, washington. >> the house select committee investigating the january 6th insurrection has postponed wednesdays hearing. the course of hurricane ian. the hearing will most likely be

the last, will be soon. the former allies of president trump declared victory in the 2020 election regardless of the outcome. we have jury selection now underway in a federal trial, which could be a major test of the justice department's prosecution of january six rioters. five leaders of the oath keepers the far-right group, a charged with seditious conspiracy theory is the capitol attack. first time in over a decade the justice department will argue a group of americas plotted to violently oppose the u.s. government. all five defendants have pleaded not guilty. countdown to the u.s. midterm election has outlets now six weeks away. michigan is one of the states that could determine whether democrats we take control of the house of representatives. it also test whether democrats efforts to promote republican candidates as seen as extreme, and unelectable, will backfire on them. more now from cnn's -- . >> hillary skelton is a democrat nodding and michigan's third congressional district. >> this is a critical election. michigan's third congressional

district has been noted as one of the district that could determine who holds the house majority. >> her opponent is john gibbs. >> my opponents name happens to be hillary, and no matter what, not another hillary! [applause] >> he's a former trump administration official that's called a result of the 2020 election mathematically impossible. and both as a college student in the early 2000s, the u.s. has suffered as a result of women suffrage. now insisting that it was satirical. >> thank you president trump! >> but the trump endorsed gives also someone democratic congressional campaign committee spent about $450,000 on for this ad. >> too conservative for west michigan. >> the amount was more than gibbs has spent on his entire campaign at the time. seemingly desire to help gibbs in the trump voters and boost him as a weaker general election candidates in the incumbent republican, peter meijer. >> do you feel that someone like gibbs is a much more beatable opponents than meyer?

>> you know, i wouldn't say that necessarily. at the end of the day, republicans decided who they are standard of bearer who would be in this race. and they chose mister gibbs. >> that dynamic came at the expect of congressman meyer, who lost the primary by fewer than 4000 votes. >> i never expected the other side to as well, doubled down and a cynical ploy to put forward the candidate that they think is less electable. >> these are u.s. seats. >> some democratic voters and the grand rapids area districts weren't fancy there. >> politics socks! i think that was money that was wasted. tactically, i think i guess i get it. >> well it bothered me. and i know it bothered others. >> but some gop voters don't think gibbs is the easier candidate at all. appearing at a michigan rally alongside donald trump jr., kellyanne conway, and others. >> tell me about why? >> i mean he thinks he is very strong. and i think that he is going to be very hard to beat. >> many of gibbs supporters

feel that they lost their country in 2020. >> we are in a civilization that is not so much that -- [inaudible] it's crazy versus. normal >> for democrats, we need every vote. >> the stakes are similar. >> this election is a referendum on our democratic ideals as a states and as a nation. there is nothing easy about this race, let me tell you. this is going to be a fight to the finish. >> now this isn't just happening here in michigan. millions of dollars have been spent nationwide by democratic aligned groups. on more extreme gop candidates, in places like pennsylvania, maryland, and colorado, to create at least a perceived more favorable opponents. now the sculpting cal pain here in michigan 30 strict would tell, you they would have beaten whoever came out of the gop primary. but nationally, it remains to be seen whether these bets pay

off or end up backfiring. omar land, cnn, grand rapids, michigan. >> thank you for watching this hour of cnn newsroom, i'm john both, please stay with, that's the news continues including our coverage of hurricane ian, with my colleague kristie lifestyle. live from hong kong. ere you go! >> tecech: wow, thank you! >> customer and grandkids: bye! >> tech: bye! don't wait, schedule now.. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safefelite replace. ♪ [ coughing/sneezing ] [ door knocking ] dude, you coming?

because the only thing dripping should be your style! plop plop fizz fizz, winter warriors with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. what's it going to take for the world to reach net-zero emissions? it's going to take investing in some things you've heard of and some you'd never expect. it's going to take funding innovation in renewable energy, helping reduce carbon footprints, and big bets on environmentally conscious construction. citi has committed 1 trillion dollars in sustainable financing to help build a better future.

because to reach net zero, it's going to take everything. ♪ ♪