james murdoch is now at the top of the company, almost certain to succeed his father. >> and he's in the midst of trying to buy bskyb, the british broadcaster, when the hacking scandal breaks. outrage in britain is one used of hacking the phone messages of public figures. thousands of victims. >> the murdochs are going to need every bit of help they can get to outrun the scandal and get this deal done. ♪ welcome to all of you watching here in the united states and around the world. i'm laila harrak. ahead on cnn newsroom, russia blaming ukraine for the crimean bridge explosion as russia's president prepares to meet with his national security team. we have the latest in a live report. plus we're less than 30 days away from the u.s. midterms and what could be a referendum on president joe biden's popularity. we look at what key issues quill drive people to the polls. fork's propaganda machine is

out with new details on the scope of its recent military drills and what role kim jong-un played in them . we twin in ukraine where two explosions have been reported in the country's capital. the mayor of kyiv says they happened in the city center and that all services are at the location. it comes after russia suffered a humiliating blow this weekend when an explosion damaged its bridge to crimea. a key supply line for his troops. president vladimir putin has blamed ukraine for the blast, calling it a terror attack. despite moscow's fury, a kremlin spokesman is playing down concerns that russia might respond with a nuclear attack. dmitry peskov was asked about it, but he simply dismissed the

question. however, russia has been intensifying its missile strikes on the ukrainian city of zaporizhzhia. hours ago, it reportedly destroyed an apartment block, leading to several casualties. before that attack, ukraine's president said the strikes this week had killed 43 civilians including 14 at this building. among the victims, a child as young as 10. >> translator: i remember that when we woke up, i heard some sounds. i thought something was right next to my ear. i heard the air raid sirens and some person next to me screaming. there was no mobile connection. it was horrific. this russian federation, the way it's doing all of this, special operation? i don't think this is a special operation. >> for more on all this, i'm now joined by cnn's salma abdel

aseize. russia is ramping up attacks, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: in the last hour, our teams on the ground in kyiv hearing approximately two separate explosions hitting the capital, hitting kyiv. and this is extremely significant. it is very rare for the capital to be struck by russian missile attacks. it's hundreds of kilometers away from the front line. this would be, i think, the first strike in months on kyiv. i know we have crews trying to rush to the scene right now, so we'll wait to find out more on that. again, that would be a significant escalation if, indeed, those missile strikes hit kyiv this morning. you mentioned sap rear sha, a city that's very much been in the crosshairs over the course of the last week. president zelenskyy saying yesterday in his nightly address, more than 40 have been killed in that city over the course of the last week in multiple missile attacks. so yes, this is a continuation

of russia's invasion, russia's attacks on ukrainian soil. but if indeed the capital has been hit, if indeed we're seeing an increase in this barrage that comes of course a couple of days after this explosion on the kerch bridge, this all-important supply route that connects crimea to mainland russia. now ukrainian officials have made no secret of their celebrations of this attack, but they have not claimed responsibility. but president putin yesterday and his aides were steadfast, they were clear. they are blaming ukraine. take a listen to what they said. >> translator: as reported, we have no doubts that this is a terrorist attack aimed at the destruction of the critical infrastructure of russian federation. authors, executors, and masterminds are the secret services of ukraine.

secret services of ukraine and citizens of russia from foreign countries are the ones who helped to execute this terrorist attack. >> reporter: parts of the bridge are back up and running, laila, particularly the train section of the bridge. that seems to be functioning again. there is some resumption of traffic. ferries are being set up to transport large trucks and buss to mainland russia and back. for practical, logistical reasons, russian officials seem to have this under control. make no mistake about it, this is a personal affront to president putin. it is his bridge, it is his project, it is his connection. and we are expecting him to hold a meeting with his own security council today. so we'll see what response we can expect from the kremlin on this. >> salma abdelaziz reporting, thank you so much. earlier i spoke with senior analyst david sanger. i asked him about putin's setbacks and how this is playing out at home.

>> that putin's intent had been, first, to have a very quick war, that didn't work out. and then, if it was going to drag on, have a war that basically wouldn't be noticed by most of the russian people. that it wouldn't affect their daily lives. that became harder and harder as sanctions began to bite, particularly the export controls put in place by the united states. but now that the war has gone really bad, and now that putin has ordered a call-up of 300,000 essentially untrained or little-trained troops, just males from the russian population who did not intend to be going to fight in ukraine -- suddenly the effects have been much greater. people have begun to understand the degree to which putin miscalculated, beginning to understand the size of the casualties which the british estimate as 20,000 dead, another 60,000 or so injured.

on the right, many are saying they prosecuted the war badly. i think the bridge explosion just added to that. it left open the question, how can you allow sabotage on what was a prized possession of vladimir putin? he was at the opening of this bridge. >> and that was david sanger speaking with me earlier. in the next hour, watch our full conversation where we discuss america's options if mr. putin resorts to nuclear weapons. meantime, a top white house official is trying to downplay fears of a nuclear attack from russia. days ago, president joe biden warned of a potential nuclear armageddon at a democratic fund-raising event. john kirby says those remarks were not based on new intelligence. cnn's arlette saenz has more from washington. >> reporter: the white house continues to face questions about president biden's recent

comments on the prospect of nuclear armageddon. in a fund-raiser earlier last week, the president said that the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons is at its highest point since the cuban missile crisis 60 years ago. national security council spokesperson john kirby was asked once again about the president's comments on sunday morning, and he said while there is no imminent threat, no new intelligence that suggests russian president vladimir putin has decided to use nuclear weapons, the president's comments, he argued, simply speak to the reality and the gravity with which they're viewing the situation. >> his comments were not based on new or fresh intelligence or new indications that mr. putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons, and quite frankly, we don't have any indication that he has made that kind of decision. the president was reflecting that the sticks are high right now, given what's going on on the battlefield in ukraine, and given the very irresponsible and reckless comments made by

vladimir putin in just the last few days. look, he's also said, we're not going to be intimidated, neither we nor our allies are going to be intimidated by this, we're going to continue to provide support and security assistance to ukraine as is necessary. >> reporter: in that same democratic fund-raiser earlier in the week, president biden publicly mused about whether there's an off-ramp for putin. kirby was asked about those comments and he did not outline any options the u.s. is considering to try to defuse the situation but argued it's ultimately up to putin to de-escalate and end this war. while russia and ukraine remain top of mind for president biden, he is also preparing to travel out west this week. first a stop in colorado on wednesday, where he's expected to announce a new national monument. the president will designate camp hale, which was a world war ii training ground high up in the rocky mountains, as a national monument, which would essentially protect it from development.

after colorado, the president will also be making stops out in california and also in oregon. arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. north korea claims the missile it launched over japan last week was a new type of intermediate-range ballistic weapon. this as japan and south korea say the hermit kingdom fired off a pair of ballistic missiles on sunday. the latest in a spate of launches in the past two weeks. we're joined by our kristie lu stout live in honk done. pyongyang's propaganda machine pushing out new details about its recent missile test with kim jong-un in full focus. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: laila, according to kcna, the north korean state news agency, north korean leader kim jong-un personally guided the recent military drills and tactical missile tests we've seen in recent weeks, all apparently in response to this large-scale military drills conducted by the united states,

its ally in the region, south korea. let me show you these photographs released earlier today by the north korean newspaper, the "row done sin minimum." you see kim jong-un, guiding these tests, pointing, offering field guidance, watching these tests from a distance. kcna say north korea is fully confident in its capability right now. "the effectiveness and federal combat capability of our nuclear combat force were fully demonstrated as it stands completely ready to hit and destroy targets at any time from any location." kcna added a chilling detail, that on september the 28th, military drills were conducted to practice, quote, "neutralizing airports in south korea." kcna also quoted kim jong-un himself, saying that he is in no mood for talks or dialogue. according to kcna, this is what kim said. "even though the enemy continues

to talk about dialogue and negotiations, we do not have anything to talk about, nor do we feel the need to do so." north korea has been carrying out a flurry of missile tests. in the last two weeks it's carried out seven different launches, including one launch of two missiles early on sunday. we also know last tuesday, north korea fired a missile over japan for the first time since 2017. this year, north korea has fired the highest number of missiles since 2011 was the year when kim jong-un took power. tensions are running high as the u.s. and allies in this region respond to this uptick in military activity by north korea. you have those recent drills by the u.s. and its allies in the region. you have the redeployment of the "ronald reagan," the u.s. aircraft carrier in waters near the korean peninsula. the new sanctions sought by the u.s. against north korea for its fuel procurement program. concerns continue to rise about a possible nuclear test by north

korea. if that happenings, it would be the first time north korea would do so since 2017. >> kristie lu stout, thank you so much. still to come on cnn, republicans are rallying behind u.s. senate candidate herschel walker despite an abortion sca scandal. we hear why one republican says walker deserves support in georgia. police in new york are looking into whether two people were targeted by a gang when they were shot outside house republican lee zell done's home. details coming up. all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work helping them achieve financncial freedom. we''re proud to serve people everywhere, in investing for the retirement they envnvision. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive.

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and a nanny to a couple of rambunctious kids. now, all that experience has led her to a job that feels like home. with home instead, you too can become a caregiver to older adults, with a career that makes a difference. ♪ apply today. ♪ republican leaders are standing behind u.s. senate candidate herschel walker. despite allegations he once paid for an ex-girlfriend to get an abortion and also urged her to terminate a second pregnancy, mr. walker, who supports a ban on abortions without exceptions, denies the allegations. while florida senator rick scott, chair of the national republican senatorial committee,

will campaign with mr. walker in georgia tuesday. take a listen. >> herschel needs to come clean, just be honest. we know we all make mistakes. it's just better if this actually did happen to say i'm sorry and ask forgiveness. but this is also about positions. >> is the gop, are you sending a message that republicans are willing to win at all costs? >> i think people make mistakes. if people acknowledge them and ask forgiveness, none of us are perfect. meantime, u.s. president joe biden is dealing with a political setback of his own, low approval ratings. in cnn's polls, which tracks five major national polls, mr. biden's approval rating stands at 39%. while 52% disapprove of the job he's doing as president. with less than a month away from the midterm elections, this is

not a strong position for the democratic party. that has some democratic candidates distancing themselves from the president as they campaign. joining me from los angeles is jessica levinson, a professor of law at loyola law school and host of "the passing judgment" podcast. jessica, so good to have you with us. looming over november's midterm is that all-important question of popularity. how popular is president joe biden? why does that even matter? >> it matters because the conventional wisdom is when the president has really big coattails, then his party does better. i say his, of course, because we've never had a female president. n now, when the president's popular, it means his policy proposals are popular. people down-ballot, senators, members of congress, can run on that administration's platform and say, we delivered, look at all of our legislative achievements.

it also matters because when we look at history, typically the party in power, which right now is the democrats, they don't fare particularly well in the midterms. so we're kind of trying to overcome history, democrats are, to figure out can, in fact, democrats retain the house? can they retain a slim majority in the senate? >> on the other side what role does public opinion about former president donald trump play for republican candidates? >> great question. i think a big one, because this is trump's party. when we look at what people think of him, we're largely asking what people think of the candidates that he has endorsed and or who have basically run to him to try and embrace him as publicly as possible. so he does still loom large over these midterm elections. but his legal cases loom large, and again, whether or not he has any coat tails and whether or not people are willing to vote for candidates that he has basically thrown his arms

around. >> i'd like to focus now on the race in georgia. what does it say about the republican party that accusations against herschel walker in georgia are helping his fund-raising rather than the accusation hurting his campaign? is it just about winning the senate, at the end of the day? >> so i think for a lot of voters, it is. it's about making sure that democrats don't win, that democrats do not have power over the upper house. and so maybe they're not huge fans of herschel walker, maybe they are. but the bottom line is making sure that you can thwart president biden's legislative agenda. and they know the way to do that, the pathway is largely through georgia. and it's no coincidence that this is a toss-up state. people feel very strongly about voting for the candidate in their party even when they don't love the candidate, even as we've seen on the national level, when there are accusations of sexual misconduct, of wrongdoing.

obviously we had a president who on that "access hollywood" tape was recorded saying some really, i think, disastrous things about women, and he still won higher office. >> could the georgia race end in a runoff? and should that happen, would that help one candidate more than the other? >> so there could potentially be an automatic recount if it's very close. but i think that's a lot of -- we don't know. we don't know which voters would, if there's a recount, potentially, you know -- basically, which voters would be recounted if there are problems, if it would change the outcome. i think it's too soon to know. we'll know based on how many vote by mail ballots there are, how many people vote in person. then you can kind of figure out who would benefit from which type of ballots. >> the overturning of roe v. wade has been a motivating turnout factor among democrats. what will drive turnout on the

republican side? >> i think the economy. and that will also, of course, drive democrats as well. democrats are very concerned about reproductive choice, but they're also very concerned about their pocketbooks like all americans. republicans tend to vote as thinking that the economy is or polling indicates economy is their top priority. and so it's going to matter what it looks like at the gas pump, at the grocery store, at restaurants, what people's wages are. all of those things, which frankly no political candidate can fully control. but all of those will weigh heavily on people's minds when they go into the ballot or they send in their vote by mail ballot. >> jessica levinson, thank you so much. >> thank you. police on long island in new york are investigating whether a shooting outside the home of a republican national candidate may be gang related. a law enforcement source tells

cnn authorities are looking into background of two 17-year-old males who were injured when a car drove by and opened fire on them near u.s. congressman lee zeldin's home in suffolk county. mr. zeldin was not home at the time of the shooting. he tweeted that his two teenaged daughters were there and were able to hide and call police. rising crime has been a central theme in mr. zeldin's campaign for governor of new york. he was attacked by a man holding a sharp object at a july campaign event. still ahead this hour -- anti-government protests continue in iran december spice a rising death toll. we'll have the latest on the fight for women's rights. an alleged hack of a state news broadcast as well.

as mentioned grow between taiwan and mainland china, taiwan's president sends a strong message to beijing as the island celebrates its national day. that's still ahead. ty, using less or a lot less oralal pain medicines. and improved quality of lilife. ask your doctor about salonpas. it's good medicine. president biden signed ththe inflation reduction act into law this afternoon. ok, so what exactly does it mean for you? out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped. for seniors, insulin will be just $35. families wilsave $2,400 on health care premiums. energy costs, down an average of $1,800 a year foramilies. and it's paid for by making the biggest corporations pay what they owe. president biden's bill doesn't fix everything, but it will save your family money. sand. (engine revving) (cheering) love a bit of sand.

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♪ welcome back to our viewers around the world. i'm laila harrak and you're watching "cnn newsroom." protests in northern iran on sunday, one of many demonstrations across the country. students are chanting "freedom, freedom," demanding justice for

the deaths of four young women over recent weeks, as well as other basic freedoms. this as human rights groups report multiple deaths over the weekend and an alarming toll since the demonstrations began. cnn's nada bashir joins me from london with the latest. iran continues to be rocked by protests. the government simply cannot contain this. >> reporter: absolutely. we continue to see the brave show of defiance from women, from people across the country, protests taking place up and down the country despite the violent crackdown we've seen over the last few weeks by the iranian authorities. we have now learnt new details, of course, around the impact of this violent crackdown, according to one human rights group based in iran. they've noted the situation to kurdish cities over the weekend where we did see a heavy crackdown bit iranian security forces. at least four people now reported to have been killed after security forces reportedly

opened fire on a peaceful protest there. and of course, we have seen a crackdown on demonstrations across the country. we've heard from human rights groups, including human rights watch, amnesty international, detailing the use of excessive and lethal force by the iranian security forces. we're talking about tear gas, metal pellets, beatings, live-fire ammunition as we saw over the weekend. we've heard from one human rights group focused on iran, iran human rights. they've been tallying the death toll from the beginning of this demonstrations, at least 185 deaths over the course of these protests according to them, including 19 children. a significant impact in terms of police force. we heard from iran's deputy minister for security, saying anybody arrested over the course of these protests, or the regime

describes them as riots, would be tried quickly and the verdict would be decisive. the iranian regime taking a hardline stance on all fronts. demonstrators up and down the country taking part in these protests. women at the forefront of this movement, of course. even young children, young schoolgirls, taking a defiant stand against the regime, against the restrictive measures placed on women by the iranian regime. we've seen videos of women removing their mandatory hijabs, cutting their hair in that symbolic show of defiance. we saw iran's state broadcaster being hacked momentarily. there was clearly a growing sense of momentum and disillusionment in the iranian regime. >> nada bashir reporting from london, thank you so much. hundreds of provisions took to the streets in hold sairdy

with protesters in iran, the latest showing of support from the international community. chanting "women, life, freedom" in farsi and carrying signs, some say "down with the islamic republic." others, "justice, freedom, the right to choose your outfit." taiwan is celebrating its national day with parades, performances, and a determination to defend its democracy. ♪ >> a festive scene in taipei earlier as crowds marked 111 years of a revolution that ended the last chinese imperial dynasty. taiwan's president delivered a passionate speech on the values of freedom and addressed the tension with mainland china. she says beijing must respect the island's sovereignty. >> translator: the broadest consensus among the taiwanese people and our various political

parties is that we must defend our national sovereignty and our free and democratic way of life. on this point, we have no room for compromise. >> taiwan's president says she is willing to work with the mainland to find ways to maintain peace and stability across the taiwan strait, so long as it's based on rationality, equality, and mutual respect. still ahead this hour, we're tracking a weekend of violence in the west bank and jerusalem. a live report from the region coming up. (patrick) it took a few years, i started to notice that i couldn't go as long. (ray)e) if it's der 20 degrees out, ing can't go outside my house.

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♪ authorities in israel have been searching for a gunman who carried out a deadly attack in east jerusalem. they say the suspect opened fire at a military checkpoint on saturday and killed at least one israeli soldier. it happened after israeli forces killed at least four palestinians over the weekend,

including two during a military operation in the west bank. on saturday, mourners held funeral processions for some of the victims. let's go to cnn's hadas gold live in jerusalem. >> reporter: what happened was that a military checkpoint in northeast jerusalem near the shoe afat refugee camp, we see a man coming up to a group of soldiers and opening fire point blank. israeli officials say an 18-year-old soldier, noah lazar, was killed and a 30-year-old israeli guard is in critical condition in hospital after being shot in the head. a manhunt is under way to catch the shooter. this is a bit of an unusual tack because not only where it happened, in a place that we aren't used to necessarily seeing clashes or attacked of this sort, also because it was a shooting attack. we're seeing more and more shooting ar tacks in this

region. as you noted, this attack happened after four palestinians were killed in a span of two days across the west bank. two of those were teenagers, 17-year-olds who were killed in the yeah 9 refugee camp while the israeli military were there. they said they came under attack and responded with live fire. another two palestinians were killed in the west bank, the youngest a 14-year-old, adele ibrahim dod. when we asked the israeli military about that incident, they said the 14-year-old threw a molotov cocktail at their soldiers and the soldiers responded with live fire. i want to give a bit of context as to where this is all happening right now. it is incredibly volatile right now in this region. it feels as though everything is smoldering with dry kindling and it will just take one match and this entire region will completely blow up, even more so than what we're seeing. there are daily israeli military

raids in the west bank, daily clashes and attacks, increasingly seeing young minutemen, especially in areas of jenin and nabos, taking up arms by themselves, not necessarily aligned with any specific militant group, and clashing with israeli military. israeli military launched these nearly daily waves after a series of attacks earlier this year targeting israelis. so far this year 21 israeli soldiers and residents have been killed. the deadliest year since 2015 and it doesn't seem as though there's any international force or political force here that is working to stop this cycle of violence. >> hadas gold reporting in jerusalem, thank you. nigeria says a boating accident over the weekend has claimed the lives of 76 people. according to officials, the vessel capsized in a southeastern state which has

recently experienced heavy flooding. authorities have been searching for any missing passengers and the president has ordered a review of safety protocols to prevent future tragedies. dramatic images of a volcano erupting on the italian island of stromboli near sicily. luckily, no injuries have been reported, but local residents are advised to stay away from doors and windows that could shatter from the explosions. while the stromboli volcano is set to be one of the most active volcanos on earth, it has been erupting almost continuously for decades. thanks for joining us. i'm laila harrak. "world sport" is next. in north america, i'll be back with more news after a short break.

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back to the developing story in ukraine where at least four explosions have been reported in the country's capital. the mayor of kyiv says they happened in the city center and all services are at the location. cnn's fred pleitgen is live in kyiv with the latest. what more have you learned, fred? >> reporter: the last two explosions, now four explosions, they happened just a couple of minutes ago. it's unclear what exactly is being attacked, but i can

confirm at least some of those explosions have been in the city center where i'm standing right now. the seat of one of those explosions, we're not exactly sure what the target was here. we can see that there's burned cars behind me that appear to have at least been hit as well. maybe a secondary explosion or something. the buildings around here, a lot have had windows blown out. certainly, this was a very large explosion that took place just at the place where i am right now. we also saw some of the emergency services here carrying away when seems to be maybe rocket or missile parts or maybe shrapnel as well. sort of collecting that, maybe for some sort of investigation to happen. i want to read you the latest. the mayor of kyiv literally just put out some new information. "the capital is under attack of russian terrorists," as he put it -- the ukrainians blaming this on the russians already. "the rockets in the city center and the solominski district, the air raid alert, therefore the threat continues." we've had several air raid siren

alerts late last night, early morning hours as well. clearly ukrainians believe their capital city is under threat. other cities in the country might be under threat as well. it's unclear why this is happening. of course, one of the reasons that could be the case is the fact that obviously the kerch bridge, the very important bridge linking pain land russia to occupied crimea, was hit on the weekend and the russians blame the ukrainians. vladimir putin in moscow today is chairing a meeting of russia's national security council where no doubt they will be talking about some sort of response. the ukrainians have not claimed responsibility for that, but certainly this string of rocket attacks on the ukrainian capital definitely coming in the wake of that attack on the kerch bridge, which obviously disabled that bridge for a very long time, now is only allowing a trickle of the normal traffic to come across all right rerch bridge is a vital artery of supplies for russia's military in the south

ike. right now, tense aptmosphere in the capital. >> fred, in terms of how unusual is it to have these types of explosions in the ukrainian capital? put it in perspective for us. >> reporter: very good question. at the beginning of russia's invasion of ukraine, this was unfortunately a fairly common occurrence, people were taking shelter all the time, there were a lot of high-profile and heavy rocket missile attacks on prominent locations here in ukraine. in the past couple of weeks, months, as, first of all, the ukrainians ousted the russian forces from the area around kyiv, but then pushed russia back in other areas as well. one of the things that happened which is very important, ukrainians got very modern air defense assets from western countries, from the u.s., from germany. there's a fire truck going

through, got to wait for a second. it has indeed become a lot more rare to have something like this happen. one of the things that the russians threatened, that vladimir putin threatened, is that if the u.s. were to give yours longer-range missiles, longer-range rockets, then the russians would start hitting what vladimir putin called "decision-making centers." it's unclear whether or not this would be such a case right now. but certainly hits on the ukrainian capital have been rare, which why is a lot of people are taking shelter in the ukrainian capital. >> is ukraine in general bracing for an onslaught of retaliatory acts by the russians because of what happened, the explosions at the bridge in crimea? >> reporter: you know, i think they are. i think it's something that the ukrainians have been seeing, also, over the past couple of

weeks. as they've been pushing the russians back, the russians are trying to use their longer-range assets too wreak havoc in a lot of cities in ukraine. over this past week especially, the southern city zaporizhzhia, where there were a lot of rocket attacks on that city. i think ukrainian officials coming out last night saying, in the past couple of days, 43 were killed there alone. saturday night, there was a big rocket attack on some residential buildings in the city of zaporizhzhia that killed 13 people there alone, caused parts of those buildings to collapse. in odesa, south ukraine, drones trying to hit some of the place there. trying to hit areas as their forces have been pushed back from a lot of the front lines in the east and south of the country. one of the things that the

ukrainians have been questioning is how many of these longer-range missiles and assets the russians actually still have left? they did use a lot of the ship-launched missiles during the early stages of their ukraine campaign, of the war in ukraine. the ukrainians were saying about that attacks that happened over the weekend, in some cases cruise missiles used in those. it's very difficult to independently verify that, but seems as though the russians are using heavy ordnance on the ukrainian capital today. >> frederick pleitgen reporting there on developments, thank you so much. we'll catch up with you a little later, thank you. hurricane julia made landfall in nicaragua as a category 1 storm on sunday, leaving behind massive flooding in its wake. this is santo domingo, nicaragua, where floodwaters could be seen rushing down the

streets. heavy rain and strong wind also hit the coastal city of blue fields. so far, no reports of casualties. julia has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it till poses a threat to several central american countries in the way of heavy rain, wind, and the risk of landslides. britley has developments. >> reporter: julia hitting el salvador this morning, being basically torn apart due to higher elevations. the still dealing with a lot of convection around an unorganized center. winds of 40 miles per hour, guesses of 50 as it moves west-northwest. still dealing with the threat of flooding through the upcoming days with more rain to come. not sxwrugs with the system but

surges of moisture. this is bluefields yesterday as the system came onshore. hurricane-force winds 74 plus miles per hour. not just storm surge but heavy rain, and of course many roadways turned into rivers. all right, guatemala, honduras, all picked up, as fast, over 100 millimeters of rain. many still dealing with more to come. the whole system bringing in quite a bit of rain to el sal salvador, the bull's-eye of where this heavy rain is expected the next 24 to 40 hours. there are several surges of moisture expected through the end of the week. elval have a doer, 4 to 6 more inches of rain on top of the 100 millimeters that has already come into play. again, mudslides one of the bigger concerns. with that, el salvador picking up roughly 4 to 6 inches of rain, by the way, that is nearly a month as worth of rain within five days.

one of our bigger concerns, flash flooding. you remember, it's only 12 inches of moving water to lift a vehicle off the ground. turn around, find a different route. >> thank you so much. an american football player has been sidelined because of a new safety rule imposed by the national football league. sunday, democrat follow fins quarterback teddy bridgewater suffered a blow to the head and was ruled out of the game. under the new rules players cannot return to the field if they show seigns of poor motor control. the rule change was announced saturday after another dolphins player suffered head injury but was somehow cleared to return to the game. that player was later hospitalized with a concussion. to major league baseball, the san diego padres beat the new york mets on sunday, winning the three-game postseason wild card series. san diego's victory allows them to move on to the national

league division series against the los angeles damagers. mets played well during the regular season and were at the top of their division for 175 days. new york lost to the atlanta braves the final days, forcing them into the wild card series where they were eliminated. 40,000 runners took to the streets of the windy city on sunday morning for the chicago marathon. athletes from around the world weaved through neighborhoods all over the city. in the end, benson kitruto of kenya won the men's race in 2:04. on the women's side, kenya's ruth chebnatik grabbed her second marathon win, 2:14. both charley brown and lucy would probably faint if they saw this great pumpkin.

just outside of chicago, illinois, it weighs more than 1,700 pounds. ordinarily 800 kilograms. the man to grew the giant says it needed 150 gallons of water a day and crew grew at a rate of 40 pounds every 24 hours. no word yet on what he plans to do with it on halloween. you can take a guess. that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm laila harrak. i'll be back in just a moment with more news.

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this is cnn breaking news. >> hello to our viewers joining us from all around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." multiple explosions have been heard this morning in the capital of ukraine. a cnn team in kyiv has heard at least four blasts so far. an ukrainian official says at least one of them was an attack that destroyed a children's playground. while this comes after russia suffered a humiliating blow over the weekend when an explosion damaged its bridge to crimea, a key supply line for its troops. presen