and later we will take a closer look at the movement to ban certain books in schools and libraries across the u.s. what can be done to fight the bans, that s coming up. announcer: live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom, with kim brunhuber. we begin in the atlantic basin where tropical storm ian continues to strengthen. fueled by warm energizing waters off the caribbean the latest forecast shows it growing to a category 4 hurricane over the gulf of mexico before slamming into florida. now, it would be the first major hurricane to hit the state in four years. president joe biden has declared a federal emergency in the state. florida governor ron desantis declaring a state of emergency as well and residents from the florida panhandle to the florida keys are being urged to prepare for storm surge, hurricane force winds and heavy rain. this is the calm before the storm, i ve seen lines at the gas stations and the natural gas, propane. they re taking it serious and i
august he s scheduled to go to mongolia for an apostolic visit. these are two important events on the catholic calendar for him coming up. this surgery he had on wednesday lasted three hours. doctors say it wasn t urgent. it was something to take care of persistent pain he was having. we can understand that s probably so he s in good shape to continue his work starting in august. kim? thank you, barbie, in rome for us, appreciate it. in serbia, tens of thousands of people gathered in front of the parliament building in belgrade on friday to protest against violence, this is the sixth weekly protest since the beginning of may when the country was rocked by two mass shootings that left 18 people dead. protesters blame the deaths on the culture of violence, demanding that the interior minister and the intelligence agency director be dismissed, and they want the broadcasting licenses of television stations that promote violence to be revoked. donald trump is now facing serious federa
to make the progress that his doctors say is following along as it should be, ken. yeah, barbie, you talk about the well wishers, obviously there s concern for his health from catholics around the world, but there in rome, what more are locals and visitors saying? reporter: you know, the pope is always a huge important figure in a city like rome. people, when the pope is elected they go to the square, st. peter s square to see who the new pope will be. there s always a following here, on sunday he usually gives a blessing from st. peter s square, everyone s wondering what s going to happen tomorrow, if he s going to be well enough to give some sort of message, whether it s recorded or not, people are waiting and earned wooing to see if, and when we hear from him next. but the prognosis his doctors say is good and it s really important because he s got two really big trips for the catholic faithful coming up. he s supposed to go into portugal the first week of august for world youth
all right, let s go to rome now, where pope francis is continuing to recover after undergoing abdominal surgery earlier this week. a vatican spokesperson said on friday the pope gathered in prayer and devoted himself to work. cnn s barbie nado is in rome. what s the latest on the pope s recovery? reporter: his spokesperson said this morning he had another tranquil night. that s really good news, this is an 86-year-old man who underwent his second surgery in the last two years, and the second hospitalization this year, he was in this hospital behind me in march for an infectious bronchitis. and now he s had this surgery. of course everyone s worried, it was a beautiful moment when the children of the children s ward in this hospital behind me drew pictures, and did, you know, some well wishes for the pope, and including some lovely little renditions of the pope himself in some of those images, of course, you know, everyone s really hoping that he continues
the rivers are cresting now, and that, you know, 500 roads have been wiped out. the mayor of a small town called rusey, where two people, an elderly couple were found dead in their home, warned people they can t get out. they have to find higher ground. let s hear what she had to say. reporter: we have staff who have decided you must go to the upper floor of your home. i repeat, go to the upper floor. only those who don t have an upper floor must evacuate their home. you know, paula, when you listen to that, can you imagine the desperation of those people, some with small children, some with elderly parents, how that is your option, get up to the higher floor of your house, hope you have some food with you, and just ride out this storm. reporter: yeah, and to be exposed to the elements, i mean, we ve seen rescues from rooftops, and we certainly hope it doesn t go in that direction as we await some very tense hours and days ahead there in italy. barbie nado for us, appreciate