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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo

Putin to Begin Annexing Occupied Parts of Ukraine Friday; 200,000+ Russians Have Fled Since Partial Mobilization; Hurricane Ian Moves Offshore After Battering Florida. Aired 5:12-6p ET

Aired September 29, 2022 - 17:12   ET

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

[17:12:00]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You've been watching CNN's coverage of Hurricane Ian, which we will continue to monitor

this hour.

We'll also be bringing you with the key international headlines on THE GLOBAL BRIEF including Russia's plans to annex for additional regions in

Ukraine.

We'll take a quick break first, but please stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching THE GLOBAL BRIEF. Thanks for joining us.

We bring -- begin our international coverage with the war in Ukraine. Russia is preparing to formally annex up to 18 percent of Ukrainian

territory. Moscow-installed authorities claimed that Ukrainian regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia. The votes took place in occupied

territory in a sham referendum, which is illegal under international law.

But that does not matter to Moscow. On Friday, Vladimir Putin will address the occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as

Russian.

[17:15:01]

And next week, both houses of Russian parliament will meet to give their approval.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces are gaining ground around the key town of Lyman, in Donetsk, which is still held by pro-Russian militia. The

Russian fighters are calling their situation difficult.

Let's discuss with CNN's Matthew Chance, who joins us from New York and our Nick Paton Walsh who is in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.

Good to have you both with us.

I want to start with you first, Nick, because the United Nations warns that this is a dangerous escalation. Certainly, there's no leader of any country

or organization that has said it will recognize this annexation, this illegal land grab by Russia.

What is Putin's objective here and what will it mean on the battlefield?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yeah. I mean, we certainly were entirely predicting what Russia would do here, which is the

result of a referendum entirely in Russia's favor, and now we see it in theater of essentially endorsing that in what they say is a legal claim for

Russia to annex territory, almost falls in terms of any mandate and illegal under international law.

The question has been essentially whether this would change the battlefield because Russia has relentlessly there and the possibility of nuclear force

being involved in this conflict. There has been strong U.S. and western messaging against that and there are some questions as to whether or not

this is them trying to use some sort of blackmail to influence events on the battlefield here.

What we are seeing, though, is a continued Ukrainian advance. And despite partial opposition we've seen inside Russia, even Vladimir Putin himself

criticize today and said there have been errors in, has not yet remotely translate into a change that's arrested Ukrainian momentum. In fact, quite

the opposite, we're seeing the strategic hub of Lyman potentially facing some sort of encirclement in the days ahead according to some reporting and

some videos that show where Ukrainian forces have got to.

And so, the prospect Moscow faces is essentially territory that they are about in the hours or days ahead to claim falsely as Russian territory

being retaken by Ukraine. We saw part of the speed and ferocity of the advance and were made towards one key town, near Lyman, one key town,

Sviatogirsk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): Hidden but unstoppable, Ukraine has not bragged much about its march south from Kharkiv towards the prize of the Donetsk, but

every roof top or tree line suggests they have just been too busy advancing, day-by-day, reducing how much of occupied Ukraine Moscow is

about to falsely declare Russian territory with the ultimate goal, in circling the vital railway town of Lyman, closed, no quarter given, all the

way through the forest to the monastery town of Sviatogirsk.

The drive to this point, probably the most depressing two hours east but on the road and the whole six months of this war, just laying bear the utter

ferocity of the fighting but also to the speed of Ukraine's advance to this town, which itself is shocking. Eight years ago at the start of the

conflict, I lived on and off here for six months and just learned to appreciate its normality, its peace among the middle of the pines here.

That is just gone.

It is the most fragile who remain when Russia moved in. Anna is one of nine people left in her block. She almost did not make it.

ANNA, SVIATOGIRSK RESIDENT (through translator): The scariest was when the Russians one night were in a firefight in my courtyard. I was in the

doorway and tried to hold a steel door shut, but a soldier pulled the door, so I jumped down and fell in the basement. He tore open the door, shot his

gun into the darkness and missed me.

WALSH: Some seek survival in their god here, whose monastery looks down on the mess.

Luba asked me if they will come back, the Russians. They made such a mess of their new post office, she says.

On her shirt, a lock of hair from her local beloved priest killed by shelling in June.

I've attached it as a protective emulate, she says, tell me, can I leave here now?

Even the carcasses here still rocked by shelling. But the church bells finally rang again two days ago. They brought Ludmila (ph) to tears.

It rang and I heard, she says, and I listened and it got louder.

They are not out of the church basement, where they hid from the bombs and still try to live.

She saying it's cool down here, and you can feel that. Seven months on the ground.

Anxious to not show their faces, their plight down here is their private tragedy, one says.

[17:20:05]

Ludmila's disabled son was injured in the shelling and taken to hospital, she tells me. She last saw him alive, but that is all she knows down here.

There is a little salvation, only ruin turning to Russia. There is no letup in Ukraine's advances. All of Moscow's intimate annexation, the absurd

claim that this land is actually now Russian territory.

The land here a testimony to how the collision between this right and that's wrong shred the very thing both covered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (on camera): So, very little doubt what's going to happen in the days ahead. Russia will annexing occupied territory. The U.S. and E.U. look

likely to impose more sanctions because of it.

Ukraine utterly unbowed, they're plowing ahead, it seems, with a very successful counter offensive, particularly around here. The issue is, does

Russia have any means to arrest that momentum by Ukraine and one of these horrifying threats, frankly, of nuclear force that would change life on

this planet? A very troubling week potentially ahead of us, Lynda.

KINKADE: Yeah, we will be watching this closely. Nick Paton Walsh for us, really good to have you there on the ground for us in Kramatorsk, a

compelling piece.

Matthew, I want to go to you in New York. You were based in Moscow for many years reporting for CNN before this war. We know that Moscow is intending

to give this legal land grab a sense of legitimacy by using pomp and ceremony, holding a concert and the red square tomorrow in the Red Square,

as something an adviser to the Ukrainian president described it as a Kremlin freak show.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they would describe it as that, but nevertheless, the Kremlin has used methods like

this in the past to try to build up a certain amount of national pride or, you know, patriotism when it comes to this kind of annexation. They did in

2014 when Crimea was absorbed into the Russian Federation.

I will tell you what the situation is, very different this time because there was a genuine enthusiasm back in 2014, which I remember very well,

when Crimea was annexed by Russia after a sort of sham referendum along the same lines as the one in the four regions of Ukraine over the past couple

of days.

Whereas today, I think there is not that kind of mass populism, mass support for the absorption and annexation of these Ukrainian territories.

It must be dawning on Russians at this point that their country is embroiled in a quagmire. That would have been reiterated by the fact --

this was announced a while back by the Kremlin, which is meant to target men of fighting aid who had experience in the military, et cetera, up to

300,000 people to boost the ranks of forces fighting in Ukraine, and that led to a massive outpouring of a couple of hundred thousand by several

estimates of people, mainly men, exiting Russia from its various borders to try to escape being called up.

So, the reality of this special military operation, as the Kremlin still calls it has very much come home to the Russians. So, the fact that this

annexation is about to take place, I doubt he is going to be meeting with the same type of enthusiasm that we saw the annexation of Crimea greeted in

Russia in 2014.

KINKADE: Yeah, we will see how this plays out tomorrow. Our Matthew Chance for us in New York. Our Nick Paton Walsh for us in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

Thanks to you both very much.

As Matthew just mentioning, more than 200,000 Russians have now fled Mr. Putin's military call up. They are headed to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Finland

and the EU. That 200,000 figure is an incomplete view of the numbers. We don't have numbers from Mongolia or from Russia itself.

This partial mobilization has jolted many civilians, and it's waking them up to the reality of Russia's bloody losing war. That's what some are

telling our Melissa Bell, who is on the Russian border with Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESONDENT (voice-over): To the safety of Georgia, they have walked or cycled. Carrying what they can in their tens of thousands,

not Ukrainians fleeing the war but Russians fleeing the draft.

I came because we don't know what to expect, says Dennis. The country has no plan, and we can see that. The feeling of uncertainty is our biggest

fear

Dennis says he walk for six days to get to the crossing.

[17:25:03]

Others are stuck and their cars on the other side. The line of traffic at a virtual standstill and getting longer every day, many abandoning their cars

altogether, like this man who walked the final 20 kilometers to get across the border. He won't show his face because of the wife and three children

he had to leave behind. The war in Ukraine, he says, is not black and white, but the draft is.

If it does not concern us today, it will tomorrow, he says. On TV, they tell us, this is been done to defend our country, but on the other hand, it

turns out we describe someone else's land.

They are students, math teachers, marketing managers, many not even eligible for the draft of 300,000 men with military experience but fearful

of where it will lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All because we cannot trust our government, because they speak lies, and we already hear there will not be any mobilization at all,

but six months later, it will be here, and what will be going on another six months, I don't know. I don't want to try it out.

BELL: George's first few steps to Georgia determined but also filled with sadness, as the fear he says that he may be walking away from his

motherland for good.

Melissa Bell, CNN, on the Georgian-Russian border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Still ahead, growing questions about sabotage as a fault leak is detected in the Nord Stream pipelines.

Plus, an update on hurricane Ian. It's not moving offshore just north of Cape Canaveral in Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

Well, more than 2.6 million people are without power. Homes are being washed away, and debris is everywhere. Hurricane Ian ripped through the

state of Florida on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving a trail of destruction.

At least 15 people have died in Florida according to local officials, eight of those in Charlotte County. It's unclear how many are unaccounted for

across the state.

Hurricane Ian is now moving off Florida's he eastern coast and made landfall on Thursday afternoon near Fort Myers on the western side of the

state. It was almost a category hurricane five at that point, and then it weakened. It was downgraded. It's now category one.

It was a tropical storm for a brief time before returning to hurricane strength. It is expected to reach South Carolina on Friday.

Well, CNN's Brian Todd is in Naples, Florida, not far from when the storm made landfall. He joins us now live.

[17:00:03]

Brian, we've seen such incredible images of streets, and cars and homes underwater right across that region.

Despite people being asked to evacuate, it seems that many decided to stay. What are you hearing?

TODD: That's right, Lynda. Many people did decide to stay. In Florida, that is often the case. People here, if they are not new to Florida, a lot of

them think that they can write it out, and some of them have second thoughts. And then first responders told them at this point during the

height of the storm, we cannot come to rescue.

So, that is kind of part of the dynamic here. A lot of people did heed the warnings they had. Millions of people were under mandatory evacuation

orders, but those orders are relevant. You cannot buy law go and pull someone out of the house under a mandatory evacuation order.

Here is some of the damage that we are looking at. This is the Gulf Shore Boulevard here in Naples. Look at all this debris. We are about 150 yards

from the ocean.

What we are told is that the storm surge got 12 feet, push to four feet of water and is about up to people's waste, all the way from the beach, all

the way here and then over here to your right. I got into these apartments on the first floor.

Look, people lost almost everything as far as the furniture is concerned. They are throwing it out there. You have vehicles that have been stranded

for more than 24 hours, people had to abandon them in the middle of the storm. Somebody over there took an entire dresser out. You can see that

over there. This has been repeated all up and down the road, parts of the road are inaccessible, still closed off because there's so much sand and

debris in the way. That's another part of the dynamic here, Lynda.

They got two -- teams of tree cutters are others, have to plow through districts just to give people access, just to get access to power crews

that come in and try to turn to power on. City officials just briefed reporters saying that this city could take weeks if not months to get back

to normal.

Here is what they are assessing some property damage. The city itself could have property damage as high as $20 million. Personal property estimates

according to city officials could go to about as high as $200 million.

KINKADE: And it is an incredible figure but also the image we have seen from Naples where you are, just hours ago, we saw the local fire station

completely inundated with water. We bring up those images now. Just explain how that has hampered efforts to get to people in and around Naples,

certainly some areas still underwater.

Talk to us about those who have caught the help, was sort of what they are getting, and our emergency services are trying to access people's homes.

TODD: Well, Lynda, I can tell you that it is hampering the access to people's homes. The police chief of the fire station, the police chief of

Naples, Pete DiMaria, has told CNN that they are trying to do rescues, and they are telling people did not call 911 unless it is a dire emergency.

They are still trying to rescue people that have been trapped in homes that have been damaged. There are still some water rescues going on with the

water in many places receding.

But as of this afternoon, and he was still saying that they are still doing rescues. So, yes, that storm surge that affected that fire station, 47 feet

of storm surge, Chief DiMaria said that that really compromised their initial efforts during the height of the storm to get out. They were trying

to get out but he said his word was unnerving. They could not get out because of the storm surge at the fire station.

KINKADE: Incredible. All right. Brian Todd, our thanks to you and our team there in Naples, Florida. We will check with you soon.

We are going to stay on this story. I want to welcome Anna Jackson, an emergency coordinator for Project HOPE, a humanitarian relief organization.

Good to have you with us, Anna.

So, you are the emergency coordinator. I understand Project HOPE is a group that works around about 25 countries in natural disasters. You deployed

your team in Florida.

Just explain what your team has witnessed and what sort of areas you're working in.

ANNA JACKSON, EMERGENCY COORDINATOR, PROJECT HOPE: Sure, yeah. Thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it.

Myself and the rest of the team, we want to Orlando yesterday, stay the night, weathered the storm there and first thing this morning, started

heading towards the coast. It has been pretty shocking to see how much in addition there has been with flooding. We're seeing a lot of downed trees,

a lot of downed power lines.

And, honestly, I think part of -- you know, the hardest part has been how many roads are closed because flooding has been able to access these

impacted areas. We finally got to Fort Myers. We were able to get to make for shelter, where we're dropping of basic supplies.

[17:35:00]

KINKADE: And tell us a little bit more about that, Anna, because obviously, there are state and federal authorities working in the region, as well as a

lot of aid organizations. How do you all work together in terms of getting access to people and what is most needed right now?

JACKSON: Yeah, those are all great questions. We have a lot of partners on the ground that we do collaboration with. We collaborate with other aid

organizations, you know, really try to each take your own niche as far as the response effort and try not to duplicate things too much and

communicate with the highest needs are. We do medical supplies, medical personnel, and that's kind of for the most part what we stick to.

But today, what we did was we dropped off basic supplies that people needed immediately. That could be diapers, hygiene products, over the counter

medication, things that people will need now. And as, you know, time moves on, as the days move on and are able to access more areas, where you will

learn what else is needed and how much more we can access with medical supplies and personal.

KINKADE: Anna, this was one of the most powerful storms to ever hit Florida. The U.S. president could become the deadliest storm ever to head

to state. So far, we know that 15 people, about 15 people are dead, but there are huge concerns about running food and animals and sewage problems.

What is going to be needed in the coming days to address those issues of people stuck in their homes?

JACKSON: That's -- I think that is the big question right now. I think it's so close to the beginning. We were just able to get in, that is the phase

that all of us aid organizations are in. What can we do now?

I think resources over the time will be spread then because of the amount of need. It's all hands on deck, boots on the ground situation. And, you

know, we are just grabbing as many pieces of information we can to help with whatever people need, but, you know, I think we'll learn a lot more as

time moves on.

KINKADE: And just quickly, this hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm. It's now back to hurricane strength as it prepares to make landfall

again in the Carolinas. Do you also have a team there? What's the plan if it makes landfall there, and it obviously increases in strength?

JACKSON: That's a great question. You know, we have a team in our headquarters that is working on big picture stuff. We are here. We had

hardly a service all day. There's not a lot of power. We don't have a lot of information on the situation. And we're kind of focusing here on

Florida, but we have really wonderful team that again is looking at the big picture and planning how to have the biggest impact, you know, in the

entire region that is affected by the hurricane.

KINKADE: Anna Jackson, it sounds like you and your colleagues at Project HOPE are working hard to respond to this massive storm. Thanks so much for

taking the time to join us.

JACKSON: Thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it.

KINKADE: We want to bring in our meteorologist Tom Sater who joins us from the weather center.

We were just discussing, Tom, that this is not back to hurricane strength. What's next for Hurricane Ian?

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More misery, more water rescues, more flooding. It's just amazing what we have been putting up with.

So, again, we are ready for a third landfall. The first, of course, in Cuba, knocking out power to the entire country, well and above what we

expected as far as the brute strength and size in southwest Florida. Tens and tens of thousands of rescue and search crews all across the entire

peninsula Florida. They are making rescues everywhere from areas of Tampa and Arcadia to Orlando, Kissimmee, Winter Park, over to St. Augustine,

Jacksonville, and neither will be water rescues to the north.

The wind field is incredible. And I'll get to that. But this amount of rainfall, so many locations, well over 250 to 350 milliliters, many spots,

one in 1,000-year flood events, and now we are on track to put it right below the low country. It's called a low country in South Carolina for a

reason.

Take a look at this. We're going to see one and a half leaders into Charleston, in historic beautiful town. They flood with 50 to 60

millimeters of rain and they're going to get hard with this. And then the wind fields, shopping force winds extend outward now, 950 kilometers,

that's twice the size as it was one it moved in Atlanta.

Here are the hurricane-force winds. So again, power outages, how many millions have you seen already? So, the winds, 93 kilometers per hour --

there are a lot of violence, myrtle beach in here, Charleston, 97. This is going to make its way all the way up to Virginia in the Appalachian

Mountains. We're going to have winds blowing up all along the coast of Delaware. It's just amazing.

KINKADE: Well, and, Tom, it really has been a summer of extreme weather events.

[17:40:02]

To what extent is climate change playing a role?

SATER: Well, there's no doubt that the planet is warming, and we know this first with the atmosphere, right? A warmer atmosphere holds more water

vapor, therefore heavier rains. We're not seeing it just will tropical systems. On average, earth is warmer 1.2. Remember, we don't get much more

higher.

Seven percent increase in atmosphere vapor. I mean, we have seen these historic events, Pakistan, 468 percent more rainfall than they typically

have in their monsoon season. Historic heat wave across China, they are still breaking records. In fact, 75 days of heat wave, and I had three

weeks of above 40, the drought across Europe. I mean, we had one in 1,000 rain events, not just in the U.S. but everywhere, parts of Spain, Italy, in

towards Austria.

But again, 47 percent drought, it's getting better. However, when you look at this, it's the ocean orders that are really retaining, Lynda, most of

the heat, 90 percent of the heat from the earth warming up is absorbed in the ocean. These storms are getting stronger. They are rapidly

intensifying. It's amazing what we are seeing.

And it's all over, not just the Atlantic. It's in the Pacific. Noru is fine example to the Philippines and over to Vietnam. It's been a crazy couple of

years. It's getting worse and worse. And we're in La Nina here. That's cooler waters, wait what happens when we go and switch back to El Nino.

It's amazing.

KINKADE: Yeah, it really is. Thanks so much for breaking that down for us, Tom Sater, much appreciated.

SATER: Sure.

KINKADE: Still to come, dwelling questions over a bubbling sea. The U.S. says it will help investigate who could be behind the Nord Stream leaks.

Plus, the British prime minister is defending huge tax cuts that have caused the pound to crash. Why she is staying steadfast to her trickle down

plan?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. A very strong indication of sabotage, the words of Germany's ambassador to the U.K. as a fourth leak was detected in the Nord

Stream pipelines connecting Russia to Germany.

You're looking here at images, new images from the Swedish Coast Guard which is monitoring the gas leaks. The U.S. says it's supporting efforts to

investigate what happened.

Our Nic Robertson explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): It looks like a boiling cauldron. The busy Baltic Sea bursting with gas from

ruptured Russian Nord Stream reinforced pipeline. More than an inch of steel coated in places and approximately four inches of concrete, not easy

to break.

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: These pipelines are only about 200 feet or so of water. Russia does have an undersea capability to easily lay

explosive devices by those pipelines.

ROBERTSON: Denmark's foreign minister uncharacteristically cautious about Russian ships seen in the area days prior.

JEPPE KOFOD, DENMARK'S FOREIGN MINISTER: I don't want to go into speculation --

ROBERTSON: Unity among allies about not blaming Russia without evidence.

[17:45:04]

NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We're not going to get ahead of the investigation.

ROBERTSON: Danish and German warships deployed to secure the area. Norway putting its nearby energy infrastructure on heighten alert to, as Sweden

begins an investigation.

The Kremlin announcing its own plenary investigation into possible international terrorism.

ANDREY KORTUNOV, DIRECTOR GENERAL RUSSIAN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL: Here in Moscow, many people are saying we should look at who might benefit

from this incident. At worse, they point at the United States, which might find it easier to sell its gas to Europe.

ROBERTSON: It could take you weeks before year pin investigators to a close look at the pipes that recently stopped sending gas to Europe may never be

fixed.

FIONA HILL, FORMER DEPUTY U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There's no turning back on the gas issues, and it's not going to be possible for

Europe to continue to build its gas reserves through the winter.

ROBERTSON: But even before knowing if Russia responsible, assessments of what it means are being made.

BRENNAN: I do think it's a signal to Europe that Russia can reach beyond Ukraine's borders, so who knows what he might be planning next.

ROBERTSON: An emerging calculation Putin is escalating ahead of proposing terms for peace.

HILL: He is now trying to exit the war in the same way that he entered it, with him being the person in charge and him framing the whole terms of any

kind of negotiation.

ROBERTSON: And that's why the caution of calling Russia out is going to take global unity to get Putin to back down.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, British lawmakers are urging the chancellor to bring forward the next step of his fiscal plan in the face of massive backlash over the

government's economic policy. The prime minister is refusing to reverse massive tax cuts despite the pound crushing, and the Bank of England having

to rescue bear markets.

British homeowners are also being affected with banks cutting around 40 percent of mortgage products. That's according to analysts.

But Liz Truss, the prime minister, says now is not the time to back down, a head-scratcher, wait (ph) job, pro-rich, and anti-poor and childish

absurdity, these are some of the criticisms analysts are leveling at the British prime minister's economic policy, which is being called

Trussonomics.

So, why is the government doubling down on such a controversial approach?

Our Nina Dos Santos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soaring prices and a plunging pound, Britain's economic prospects have soured significantly in just a few short

days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High tax, high regulation socialism leads to complete disaster.

DOS SANTOS: After announcing the so-called many budget that contains $48 billion worth of unfunded tax cuts, the international verdict on new UK

Prime Minister Liz Truss's policies is damning, with critics calling on her to rethink the so-called Trussonomics.

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I promise I will do with the soaring energy crisis.

DOS SANTOS: The IMF estimates that the plan will exacerbate already stark levels of inequality. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says

that she is monitoring the elements very closely, and the rating agency Moody's has warned that parts of the new budget could threaten Britain's

credibility with investors.

So, what do economists recommend should be done now?

SIMON FRENCH, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PANMURE GORDON: It's very much a self- inflicted wound in recent days, but it is recover-able. It means grown up behavior from the government. Listening to smart people, so what are the

ways that the government rebuilt its credibility is by inviting -- back into the fold, get them to cut these proposals, and then you start to

rebuild the idea that there is a plan underpinning what to date has been a series of sound bites.

DOS SANTOS: Liz Truss slashed taxes in an effort to spur growth or at least to contain a recession that the Bank of England reckons as we're probably

kicked in already. But the UK is dealing with the highest rate of inflation among G7 countries, and sterling's recent slide has made the problem worse.

That's because Britain imports most of what it needs, and now those imports are fast becoming more expensive.

That bank has already raised rates rapidly to levels not seen since the financial crisis in 2008. For now, it has ruled out another emergency hike,

but on Wednesday, it began to buy up long dated sovereign debt. This at the UK bonds or gilts became riskier than those who have failed out euro zone

nations, like Greece.

Why would the Bank of England at this point get involved and essentially what is mopping up the damage of a big fiscal policy?

FRENCH: They have a mandate not just for monetary stability and priced ability but also for financial stability.

[17:50:04]

And this is what they justify their movements on today, the idea that the markets have become dysfunctional. It was presenting a systemic risk for

the UK economy, businesses struggling to get credit, insurers struggling to meet margin calls.

DOS SANTOS: The shadow of the banking crisis has loomed large over London's financial district for more than a decade, but it's the memory of Britain's

run on pound in the 19 80s that is today giving global markets and world leaders sleepless nights. This amid fears that UK's financial gamble could

end up sending shockwaves much farther afield.

Nina Dos Santos, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: University students across Iran are boycotting classes and gathering outside campuses and chanting slogans against the Iranian

government. They issued a petition denouncing security forces for blocking universities and arresting students without a proper explanation of

charges. Protests have swept across the country over the death of 22-year- old Masha Amini, who died in the custody of the country's morality police. She had been detained for not wearing her hijab properly.

Speaking with Iranian media, President Ebrahim Raisi says Amini's case will be investigated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This matter will surely be pursued, and I as a responsible figure, just as I told her

family, have placed a priority on this matter I'm clarity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Let's take a look at the other key stories making international impact today. A military court and Myanmar has added two more years to

disposed leader Aung Suu Kyi's prison sentence. She and a former adviser were accused of violating the country's official secrets act. The Nobel

Peace Prize laureate denies all accusations that the military has leveled against her. But she is now facing a total of 23 years in prison.

North Korea has fired at least one and possibly two suspected ballistic missiles of its east coast. Japan's defense minister says they flew about

300 kilometers before falling in the sea. It's lodge a complaint with Pyongyang. Thursday's action was the North's 21st missile launch this year.

An historic ruling for women in India. The country Supreme Court as stated that all women regardless of marital status have the right to an abortion

up to 24 weeks. The verdict is an amendment of the original ruling from 1971, which applied only two married women or in the case of a rape or

threat in the mother's life.

Still to come on THE GLOBAL BRIEF, with the World Cup closing in, Qatar prepares for a deluge of travelers. Now it's playing out its COVID-19 rules

for visitors. We'll have a live report when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.

We are less than two months since the start of the 2022 World Cup. And the host country Qatar is laying out its COVID-19 safety protocols for the fans

who are said to travel from all over the world. Vaccinations are not required, but all visitors over six years of age need an official negative

test.

Well, I'm joined now by "World Sport's" Don Riddell.

Good to see, Don.

So, over a million visitors are expected to descend on Qatar for the World Cup. So you don't need to be vaccinated, but you do need an official

negative COVID tests. So I imagine this means that you had to go to a health care clinic for it.

[17:55:03]

DON RIDDELL, WORLD SPORTS: Yes, absolutely, Lynda. They don't want any of those do it yourself test. You have to go to a medical professional to get

this test done, I suspect a lot of football fans will find themselves being a little bit antisocial before this tournament because nobody wants to get

that close to the World Cup and then find that they contracted the virus, I include myself in that.

I am going to cover it for CNN, I certainly don't want to find that I have a positive test at the last minute. Depending on the test you go for, it

will depend on what has to be done. For example, a PCR test can be administered or taken 48 hours before departure. Rapid antigen tests can be

done within 24 hours of arrival. That is if you are over six years of age.

If you're over 18 years of age, when you're at the tournament and attending the games in Qatar, you need to download it shows him up on to your phone

called Ehteraz, and you will show that before going into public spaces.

Also, once you are traveling in and around Qatar, particularly on the metro, which is what fans will be doing to get between games, masks will be

required. But it is interesting that the Qatar government has not mandated people are vaccinated. It is going to be a massive influx of fans.

The total population of Qatar as almost 3 million. They're estimating 1.2 million fans will be in country for this tournament. Clearly, they're

trying to keep them as safe as they can. You know, in many parts of the world, it kind of feels as though COVID is not behind us, but this is a

reminder that in some places, perhaps not so much.

KINKADE: Exactly. For that many people to can descend, you know, in a spot for that sort of an event. In terms of the COVID situation in Qatar, I

understand most of the world will have at least one vaccine there.

RIDDELL: Yeah, I believe it's 97 percent of the population have had at least one vaccination jab. They've had a lot of cases, 450,000 cases of a

nation under 2 million, with just under 700 deaths. It has hit them, of course, but as you say, was this many people, all converging into one very

small place, I guess the chances of spreading infection a relatively high.

KINKADE: Yeah .Well, hopefully, you have no troubles getting there and settling in. We will be speaking to you in Qatar. Don Riddell, thanks so

much.

And thanks so much for joining us today.

CNN's coverage of Hurricane Ian will continue after a short break. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for joining us.

END