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Apparent Suicide of Jeffrey Epstein under Investigation; Pyongyang Slams South Korea for Hosting Drills with U.S.; Pro- Democracy Activists Gather in Hong Kong's Victoria Park; Riyadh Sends Warning to Separatists in Yemen; U.S. Presidential Candidates Take Part in Gun Violence Forum; Opposition Protest in Moscow Draws Thousands; Explosion Kills Five Nuclear Agency Workers in Russia; Richard Gere Works to Help Migrants in Mediterranean. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired August 11, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Public and political outrage growing over the death of convicted pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Victims demanding justice as questions remain about what he is accused of doing and who else might have been involved.
Five ballistic missile tests by North Korea in a little over two weeks.
So why is the president still praising Kim Jong-un and criticizing a close ally?
Also this hour:
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ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was imagining it was one of them that got shot and the other saw it.
ALLEN (voice-over): The 2020 candidates get emotional talking about gun violence while laying out their plans for reform.
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ALLEN (voice-over): It's all ahead here this hour. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Coming to you live from Atlanta, I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Jeffrey Epstein, the multibillionaire that once boasted a stunning array of famous and powerful friends, is dead. Epstein was accused of running an underage sex trafficking ring. He was found unresponsive in his cell Saturday morning and was pronounced dead in the hospital. Prison officials call it an apparent suicide. Jeffrey Epstein's death
comes one day after hundreds of pages of revealing documents were unsealed, alleging new details of sex abuse claims involving the multimillionaire. Polo Sandoval has the details for us.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The millionaire financier turned convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein had been held in Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center since his arrest in early July. He pleaded not guilty to federal charges after prosecutors accused him of sex trafficking dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14.
His request to await trial at his Upper East Side mansion was denied and he was ordered to stay at the federal facility. Prison officials say Epstein was found dead in his cell early Saturday morning, shocking news for Epstein's accusers, who have continued to speak out in the more than a month since his arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Jeffrey Epstein rape you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he raped me.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Jennifer Araoz, who told NBC enjoyed that Jeffrey Epstein had raped when she was a minor his New York mansion, told CNN she was angry at news of his death.
"I'm angry that Jeffrey Epstein will not have to face the survivors of his abuse in court. We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed."
An attorney for Epstein called for an investigation into Epstein's death and released a personal statement to CNN, blaming politicians, prosecutors, judges, the press, plaintiffs, lawyers and jail workers for Epstein's death.
"All these actors appear to bear some responsibility for his calamity. All seem to have a share Mr. Epstein's blood on their hands. All should be ashamed of their behavior."
Epstein's death comes less than 24 hours after thousands of pages of revealing documents were unsealed in the case from an Epstein accuser against one of his former associates. The 2015 defamation suit was filed by Virginia Giuffre, who says she was underage with Epstein kept her as a sex slave for years, flying her around the world to have sex with powerful men.
Among the men she claimed she was trafficked to have sex with was Prince Andrew in 2001. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson denies her claims. In response, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace says, "This relates to proceedings in the United States to which the Duke of York is not a party. Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue." After getting news of Epstein's death, Giuffre's attorney tells CNN, "The reckoning of accountability begun by the voices of brave and truthful victims should not end with Jeffrey Epstein's cowardly and shameful suicide.
"We are hopeful that the government will continue to investigate and will focus on those who participated and facilitated Epstein's horrifying sex trafficking scheme that damaged so many."
This was not Epstein's first experience behind bars. He struck a controversial deal with Florida prosecutors to avoid federal charges in 2007 and, the following year, he pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges, spending just 13 months in custody.
He got work release privileges, allowing him to go to his office 12 hours a day, six days a week. Epstein's legal team argued the plea deal was the reason Epstein should not be prosecuted in New York -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: Lisa Bloom is the victims' rights attorney that represents several Epstein victims and joins me now --
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ALLEN: -- from Los Angeles.
Thank you for being with us.
LISA BLOOM, VICTIMS' RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Thank you.
I want to begin with a tweet. You sent this out, a statement from one of your unnamed clients. Here it is.
"I will never have a sense of closure now. I'm angry as hell that the prison could have allowed this to happen, that I and his other victims will never see him face the consequences for his horrendous actions.
"I hope that whoever allowed this to happen also faces some type of consequence. You stole from us the huge piece of healing that we needed to move on with our lives."
I'm going to get to the prison in a moment but first, his accusers have been hurting for some time but what about now with this outcome?
BLOOM: It's a very emotional, painful day for them. It's been a long journey just for them to call me, to find out what their legal rights are and we have been working with law enforcement behind the scenes helping law enforcement while protecting their anonymity.
They have been thinking about filing a civil suit for months but we thought it was best to work with the criminal system first because that was more important and now this. We are resolved to go forward with a civil case. His death means any criminal case against him dies. But civil cases can go forward for money damages and those cases are
focused on the victims and how they have been so hurt, the broken trust, the relationship damage, the psychological injuries and ruined careers. And we plan to go after his estate and make sure that the victims are fully and fairly compensated from those monies.
ALLEN: Right. Let's talk about the challenge there. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said Epstein was the mastermind and without him it becomes harder.
How much harder will it be to prosecute any potential co-conspirators?
BLOOM: On the criminal side that may be true. I don't know what evidence the Southern District of New York might have against other potential co-conspirators. So far only Jeffrey Epstein was charged with crimes, even though one of the crimes was conspiracy.
I always thought it was odd that nobody else was charged in that conspiracy but I look at it from the point of view of victims. You read the statement from one of my victims. How upset she was about justice being denied.
But another woman that called me today, said I have a sense of relief. I don't have to worry about him coming after me anymore. Even in jail they were worried he might retaliate against them. So there's different emotions for different people. There's many different people he has harmed.
ALLEN: And were victims in all kinds of different ways, in different homes, in different states, in different countries for that matter. So it's not like there's one collective victim here.
I want to talk with you about the fact that he was on suicide watch in prison. And that he was taken off of suicide watch and then apparently committed suicide.
What are your thoughts on that?
BLOOM: It's highly irresponsible to take him off of suicide watch. This is a guy that had bail denied. More information was coming out about him every day. He was spending a lot of time with his attorney, that was keeping him up to date with all of the developments.
So people like that who lose so much so fast are always a suicide risk. I think the whole thing smacks of negligence. It may be just simple incompetence. It may not be some conspiracy theory, like some people are proposing on social media.
It may just be that a guard was not looking out when he or she should have been. But something clearly went wrong here.
ALLEN: Right. So what are the chances that the women that you represent will see some sort of justice now, do you think?
BLOOM: I think the chances are very good because we're not giving up. We're going to fight. I have fought other predatory billionaires before and beaten them. I just got an $11 million verdict for one woman in a case a couple of months ago against another billionaire, that's accused of preying on many, many women.
So I'm used to fighting these guys. I'm used to the fact that they try to hide their money. But this is different because Jeffrey Epstein is now gone and his money is presumably left in a will or a trust to his family, his friends, his colleagues.
And I'm calling upon them to do the right thing, to hold those assets and let the victims come forward with credible claims and prove their claims and give the victims in Jeffrey Epstein's death the justice and the compensation that they were denied in his life. I'm sure that --
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BLOOM: -- people around Jeffrey Epstein, his family, his friends are better human beings than he was.
After all, that's a pretty low bar. They probably feel mortified and embarrassed that they were even associated with him. Now is their chance to do the right thing. Throw out the legal technicality arguments, like the statute of limitations, and let the victims get compensated so they can go on with their lives.
ALLEN: Speaking of those associated or allegedly associated with him, what about the rich and powerful and in some cases famous men implicated in the documents that were unsealed.
Are these men free and clear now?
BLOOM: Well, there are continuing investigations and the local prosecutors are still conducting criminal investigations. Those investigations turn on victims coming forward.
People call me every day and they say, I have information, Lisa, I don't want to get involved. I'm afraid. I say the only way the justice system can work is if people speak out. The only way I can win a trial is with witnesses.
We need live witnesses who are willing to take that risk and, as attorneys, we circle around them, we protect them. We help them. And so many women have already gone before when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein and been brave.
So if there's other women out there that are also Jeffrey Epstein victims or simply seeking compensation or want to know what their rights are, now is the time to reach out to an attorney. And they should feel relatively safe and secure because the primary perpetrator, the predator, Jeffrey Epstein is now dead.
ALLEN: We appreciate your insights, victims' rights attorney Lisa Bloom. Thank you, Lisa.
BLOOM: Thank you so much.
ALLEN: North Korea is slamming the South for hosting joint military drills with the United States. It is even threatening to lock Seoul out of future talks with the U.S. if the war games continue.
The North is also showing off what it says is a new weapon personally overseen by Kim Jong-un. Images appear to show him grinning and pointing and watching a missile launch. Events like these have led to North Korea trading threats in the past but U.S. president Donald Trump looked to downplay things on Saturday.
On Twitter he said the North Korean leader wrote him a very nice letter and wants to meet as soon as the drills end with South Korea. He also said the North Korean leader was sorry for missile tests and he looks forward to seeing the dictator in the not too distant future.
Let's talk about this with David Culver. He is live in Seoul for us.
It's an unusual dance between these two leaders, David. Let's begin with the president's tweets.
What do you make of that?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An unusual dance and hard to follow. If you look at what the president has put out there, one might struggle to believe that South Korea is, in fact, one of the strongest allies of the U.S., certainly within this region because the way he is portraying it, he seems to express frustration toward South Korea and to be rather sympathetic toward North Korea.
And it seems that North Korea today is seizing on that opportunity. In fact, we're going through a statement that came in just a short time ago from a senior government official within North Korea, using the president's words, saying that the president seemed to be OK with these short-range missile tests as long as they weren't nuclear and they weren't intercontinental ballistic missiles.
And they see it as self-defense. So they're using President Trump's words to support what has now been several tests in the past two weeks or so.
ALLEN: Absolutely. The bottom line is, despite the back and forth with Kim Jong-un and President Trump, after all the meetings, after President Trump stepping into North Korea, there's not been any forward movement in anything credible as far as denuclearization since they met over a year ago in Singapore.
CULVER: Even since they met back in late June, Natalie. To your point, it's been several weeks and they said within two weeks or so they were hoping to come to an agreement and that hasn't come to fruition.
So South Korean leaders aren't holding their breath on that one. As I arrived here in Seoul late Saturday, got off the plane, checked my phone, our team has been updating us on the latest out of North Korea.
It was a few hours after the most recent launch there and I wasn't sure what I was going to encounter here as far as the residents were concerned. Didn't seem like there was any panic or overall concern. As I went to dinner last night, families were out, folks were together
along the river walk, just enjoying what was a cooldown after a hot, humid day. No mention of a missile launch a few miles away. That's --
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CULVER: -- the new norm here and that really stood out to me.
ALLEN: Thank you, David.
Pro-democracy protests are underway in Hong Kong for the 10th straight weekend. Thousands are marching in the streets, bringing their pro- democracy demands to the world. Protesters are also gathered in Hong Kong's most popular public park. Ivan Watson is in Kowloon and Ben Wedeman is in Victoria Park.
Let's start with you, Ivan, on what's the situation there.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This, the police have announced, is an unauthorized assembly. Thousands stream past, even though police issued an official warning and appeal for this crowd to go home.
We're in the 10th week of these protests. They have taken a number of different forms. The crowd here, a mixed demographic; you have young people, you have families with their kids, senior citizens. I've seen people in wheelchairs as well.
The opposition movement's five demands include withdrawal of the extradition law, which the government says has been killed for now but not officially withdrawn. They met with a senior government official this week that made it clear that there would be no compromise on the part of the government or the central government in Beijing.
And instead the violent protests must come to a complete stop until there can be movement with trying to deal with the protesters.
This is not a violent gathering here. We have not seen any sign of the police or confrontation yet.
But after 10 weeks, there is still a substantial part of Hong Kong's public that is willing to come out in 76 percent humidity. I'm sweating like a stuck pig. And they'll take their days off and weekends to protest like this, despite the risk of arrest and being charged with criminal offenses -- Natalie.
ALLEN: Ivan, thank you so much.
Let's cross now to Victoria Park and see what the situation is with Ben there.
Ben, hello.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie. The resolve is also present here. We have thousands of people, as Ivan mentioned, in very hot, humid weather that are gathered in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island.
This, unlike the march that Ivan is at, has been issued a permit by the police. However, there is an intention among some of the protesters here to move on and march and that march is not authorized at this point.
Now speaking with many people here, they understand that, as that Hong Kong official quoted by Ivan mentioned, that the government is not budging at this point as far as the demands the protesters have put out.
But they are determined to continue with these protests. And what we have seen is this massive sit-in at the airport, which has been the focus of the protests this weekend.
And Natalie, speaking with protesters, of course, they will mention to you the five demands but fundamentally people are worried that the arrangement worked out between the U.K. and Mainland China in 1997, where Hong Kong would be part of this one country/two system arrangement, is beginning to fall apart.
The extradition bill, many people worried, was the beginning of the erosion of the legal firewall between Mainland China and Hong Kong. They have different legal systems and political systems. And the worry has been Beijing was asserting more and more power and control over Hong Kong long before 2047, when Hong Kong will become completely a part of China, one country/one system -- Natalie.
ALLEN: That certainly seems to be something that the young people refuse to accept. Ben Wedeman and Ivan Watson, thank you both.
Separatists in southern Yemen move against government positions in Aden, provoking an angry backlash in Saudi Arabia --
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ALLEN: -- and threats from the military. We'll have a live report from the region on this developing story.
Also the Democratic presidential candidates making promises about gun violence if they're elected.
Are any of them doable?
We take a look.
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ALLEN: The situation in Yemen is flaring up again. The Saudi-led coalition says it has attacked what it describes as a target posing a direct threat after armed separatists captured the presidential palace in Aden.
Aden is home of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia. It was ousted from the capital Sanaa in 2015. According to Reuters News Service, the separatists have agreed to calls for an immediate ceasefire by the Saudi led coalition.
Riyadh is e demanding they withdraw from government held positions seized in fighting. Sam Kiley joins us now live from Abu Dhabi.
Sam, break down what is happening now and --
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ALLEN: -- how might this affect the ongoing turmoil in Yemen?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the first instance, we have just recently spoken to a local journalist on the ground in Aden, that says that the southern separatists now dominate pretty much the whole city and that relative calm is coming to the city, perhaps an observation of two realities.
The first is that fighting is over because one side has effectively or appears to have won and, secondly, perhaps a response to the agreement to respect Saudi calls for a ceasefire.
Now we understand from our colleague on the ground that this was inside the presidential palace following the capture of the palace by the Southern Transitional Council forces. But they hit an empty area. Locals interpreting this as an empty threat.
Now let's have a look at what this means for the coalition that's been fighting on rebels in the north. And what we have on the ground is effectively two elements of the coalition pitted against each other, each with backing from different external supporters.
On one hand, you have Southern Transitional Council that have been backed by the United Arab Emirates and, on the other side, the government, backed by Saudi Arabia with a significant element of a group called Islah, which the elements in the Emirati-backed council would at least see as potentially very dangerous for the future of Yemen.
Meanwhile the southern separatists never made any bones about the fact that they wish to have a semi-autonomous or entirely autonomous region in Yemen. They are separatists.
So you have now effectively a complete splintering of the coalition that has international backing, notably from the United States in their fight against the Houthis but certainly not for internecine struggles that, at the moment, could jeopardize the humanitarian effort and efforts to feed some 20 million Yemenese that who the World Food Programme fear they might have to feed this year.
ALLEN: We know that you reported on that aspect and the citizens always caught in the middle. All right. Sam Kiley with the latest on that. We know that you'll continue to watch it for us. Now we want to tell you about a story developing in Libya. The U.N.
says at least three of its staff are dead after a car bomb exploded in Benghazi. Three other U.N. personnel were wounded along with what the U.S. called scores of Libyans. The blast came amid talk of a ceasefire between the Libyan so-called government of national accord and general Khalifa Haftar.
The Democrats lay out proposals to curb violence. That story when we come back.
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ALLEN: Communities in the U.S. and Mexico are remembering the 31 people that died last weekend in two mass shootings in the U.S. The Catholic bishop of Ciudad Juarez presided over a mass on Saturday for the eight Mexican nationals killed in El Paso, Texas.
The gunman told police he was targeting Mexicans when he opened fire, ultimately killing 22 people.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a very strong blow to Mexicans and the people of Ciudad Juarez and the border. We're a fraternal community. We're a united community. We're a community that feels very sad over this situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm nobody to forgive. If he were close to me, I'd tell him, you know you did wrong and God forgive you because I can't.
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ALLEN: Meantime, one of the nine victims gunned down in Dayton, Ohio, was buried Saturday. He was originally from Eritrea and had only been in the United States for a couple of years.
The subject of gun violence is obviously a hot topic on the campaign trail. Many of the Democratic presidential hopefuls laid out their plans to try to curb gun violence at a forum Saturday in this key state of Iowa. Arlette Saenz was there.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sixteen of the 24 Democratic presidential candidates came to this gun sense forum here in Des Moines, Iowa, to try to lay out their vision for how to combat the issue of gun violence in this country. Senator Elizabeth Warren laid out a new policy proposal --
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SAENZ: -- that aims to reduce the number of gun deaths in this country by 80 percent.
Former Vice President Joe Biden was also on stage, talking about the impact of the movement from gun violence survivors and those families that have lost loved ones to gun violence. Take a listen to what he had to say.
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JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I'm going to do as -- if I am your president, if you choose me to be your president, is take what you have turned from a cause into a movement.
Things have changed. They have changed fundamentally because we're not only any longer talking about the major things that have to be done relating to dealing with gun violence in America. We have to start to educate the American public. That's what you're doing.
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SAENZ: Now over the course of the past week you also heard them criticize President Trump, saying that his message divided the countries. Take a listen to what Kamala Harris had to say at the forum.
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SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People say to me did Donald Trump cause those folks to be killed?
Well, no, of course, he didn't pull the trigger but he has certainly been tweeting out the ammunition.
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SAENZ: While there was a lot of talk about policy, there were also very emotional moments. The most emotional probably coming from California business man Andrew Yang, who was asked a question from a woman, whose young child was killed by a stray bullet. Take a listen to Andrew Yang's reaction.
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ANDREW YANG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a 6- and 3-year-old boy. Imagining -- I was imagining it was one of them that got shot and the other saw it. That scene that you described -- I'm sorry. It's very, very affecting.
You're right that when there's a gun in the household, you're more likely to have a child get shot or owner get shot than kill an intruder in the house. Those are the numbers. That is just the fact.
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SAENZ: That being one of the more emotional moments of the forum but you're hearing more and more, these Democratic candidates talking about the issue of gun control in the wake of the mass shootings last week -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.
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ALLEN: Let's talk about it. Thomas Gift is joining us from London. He's a lecturer in political science at University College London.
Thomas, thank you for being with us.
THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Thank you, Natalie.
ALLEN: You just heard on the campaign trail we had one candidate who broke down. And then you have Kamala Harris saying President Trump didn't pull the trigger but he tweeted out the ammunition. A lot of passion coming from the Democratic side.
The bottom line is what will come from it?
What are your thoughts?
GIFT: Unfortunately I'm very pessimistic about the prospects of any real change happening, at least between now and 2020. I think there's going to be a lot of window dressing and lip service by Republicans.
But ultimately because of power and influence of special interests like the National Rifle Association, it's going to be very difficult to get a coalition on board, particularly of Republicans to address this gun issue. I think if there is going to be a change, it's going to require a reconfiguration of these political alliances over guns.
Otherwise, we're just going to continue to have this same conversations that were downed in this vortex of negativity and tribalism and polarization.
ALLEN: A reconfiguration.
How could you see that?
Can you envision that?
GIFT: Well, I think the key way is to reframe the issue less around guns and more around the issue of homeland security because, ultimately, this really is a domestic terrorism issue.
We're seeing some of these gunmen, particularly in El Paso, being motivated explicitly by an ideology which is not that much different, when you think about it, to religious extremists that have attacked the United States in the past from abroad.
Homeland security and national security is an issue that Republicans in the past have been able to get behind. In fact, they had an advantage on this issue. So I think that if the issue can be framed more along those lines and less along just the lines of are people able to have guns?
If so, under what conditions?
It's more likely to create the conditions for change.
ALLEN: Right. If you get it away from the political spectrum, one candidate posed the question, can we talk about this issue without it being politicized?
That stops it right there, doesn't it?
GIFT: Exactly. Both sides are so intractable. Both sides dug in their heels so much. Both on the Right and --
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GIFT: -- Left that there's very little room for compromise and very little areas to come together without feeling like one side won and one side lost.
To the extent that you can create a win-win scenario, which is very difficult, that's more likely to promote change in Washington.
ALLEN: What about the NRA, the controlling gun lobby in the United States?
They're having internal problems.
Could that affect the equation?
GIFT: Well, the National Rifle Association, for the last two or three decades, has been extremely effective at maintaining their relatively hard line agenda, I would argue. They have taken a no compromise approach and, unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they're willing to bend. They're not willing to be pliable.
Of course, internal dissension could create strains with that organization. But I think they know what they're doing and what they want to get out of this. And, unfortunately, because they kind of pull the pursestrings of so many politicians, it becomes very difficult for Republicans, particularly, to go against them because they fear that, if they do, that the National Rifle Association is going to come into their district and pour money into that district and endorse other candidates and they'll ultimately be out of office.
It's the end of their life in professional politics.
ALLEN: Right, but the NRA has been having some money issues. We know that $30 million went to the campaign of Donald Trump. It remains to be seen how that might affect whom and how.
I want to ask you one final question, where does this put Donald Trump? GIFT: It puts Donald Trump in a bit of a tricky situation because he has made nods to the fact that he's open to change; in particular, background checks and other measures designed to limit and restrict the supply of guns and the ability of individuals, particularly with mental health issues, to obtain guns.
But he also is heavily reliant on the National Rifle Association, just like all Republicans are. Every time you say something like he's still supportive of the National Rifle Association and how he has been such a huge advocate, particularly with judge appointments on that issue.
So it's a tough notion to balance there.
ALLEN: We appreciate your insight. Thomas Gibbs, thank you, Thomas.
GIFT: Thank you.
ALLEN: Coming up here, Russian protesters are answering a government crack down with more demonstrations. Why are they in the streets?
We'll have a live report from Moscow coming up here.
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ALLEN: Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Moscow Saturday to demand free and fair local elections.
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ALLEN (voice-over): You can see the treatment of people that took to the streets. Hundreds were arrested as some 50,000 people rallied in the Russian capital. It's being called one of the country's biggest political protests in years. Demonstrators demanding independent candidates in Moscow elections. Many fed up with corruption and the policy of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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ALLEN: For more, Fred Pleitgen is live in Moscow.
The question is how long will these protests be able to go on?
And how much tolerance does Mr. Putin have for them?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They have been going on for a while. What you have seen yesterday was a lot of demonstrators showing up and a lot fewer arrests. The protests yesterday were sanctioned. But I do think the Russian authorities were quite surprised at how
many people then actually turned up. It was awful weather yet around 50,000 people turned out to demand that they elections have the opposition candidates.
The authorities put the number lower, not surprisingly. They say it was about 20,000 people that took part but, nevertheless, it was a giant turnout that took place. Now there's really two issues that are -- or three issues I would say at play with these demonstrations.
On the one hand, the protesters are saying they want those candidates to be able to participate in the elections. Some opposition candidates were even arrested before the protests. Of course the main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been in jail for awhile now.
And on the other hand some were chanting against Vladimir Putin and also police brutality, which many say they have had enough of and they want those things to change. The longevity is surprising. It will be interesting to see whether or not next weekend the Russian authorities are going to allow one of these rallies again -- Natalie.
ALLEN: Absolutely. We'll talk about another story that we're hearing about from Russia.
What are you learning about this mystery explosion at a Russian weapons testing range, involving radioactive materials?
Apparently some people working there have died.
PLEITGEN: Yes, that's one of those things where the messaging has been all over the place by the Russian authorities. It really hasn't instilled much in the way of confidence nationally and internationally as well.
A couple of days ago, there was a big explosion at a testing area apparently on a ship in the north of the country, in the Arctic north of the country. Now originally the authorities said it was a liquid fuel jet engine or liquid fuel missile engine that blew up.
And then the messaging went all over the place. On the one hand, the authorities said there was no rise in radiation and then the local authorities said, yes, there was a small rise in radiation for a short period of time and then that statement was deleted and the military said that there was no rise in radiation.
Now what we learned over the past 24 hours is five people that work for Russia's state owned nuclear company were killed in and around that blast.
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PLEITGEN: Apparently some of them were blown into the sea and later found dead there. So certainly that would raise some questions.
I want to read to you a statement that came out by this company, ROSATOM, that said the tragedy occurred during works related to the engineering and technical support of isotopic sources in a liquid propulsion system.
So certainly something radioactive going on there. One of the things that we know is about a year and a half ago, Vladimir Putin came out and said Russia wants to develop what he calls a radioactively powered, nuclear-propelled cruise missile, Natalie.
ALLEN: A story that we'll continue to follow and the protest as well. Thank you, Fred Pleitgen in Moscow.
Next here, a Hollywood actor goes to sea over the plight of migrants, especially in the Mediterranean. What Richard Gere is saying about it, next.
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ALLEN: A renowned actor is speaking out to help migrants, especially those stranded for the past week in the Mediterranean. Salma Abdelaziz looks at how Richard Gere is making his voice heard.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): A Hollywood star is lending his voice to the refugee crisis.
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RICHARD GERE, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: We're here on the Open Arms boat. I just arrived here from Lampedusa and we brought as much water and as much food as we possibly can for everybody on the boat.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Actor and activist Richard Gere visited rescued migrants Friday on board a humanitarian ship stranded in the Mediterranean.
GERE: The most important thing for these people here is to be able to get to a free port, to be able to get off the boat and get on land and start a new life, be taken care of and making lives for themselves.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The group of 120 migrants, which includes 32 children, was rescued on August 1st by Open Arms, a Barcelona based charity. But authorities blocked the boat from entering ports in both Italy and Malta.
When Richard Gere heard news of the boat's plight, he reached out to offer a helping hand. Shortly after, he was bonding with families and sharing pictures of his baby son. In recent years, an escalating migrant crisis led many European countries to tighten immigration controls, as tens of thousands of asylum seekers land on their shores.
More than 38,000 migrants have made it to Europe by sea so far this year, according to the United Nations. And 839 people have perished trying to make the dangerous crossing from North Africa.
Back on land, Gere compared the crisis to America's own immigration troubles on its southern border.
GERE: We have our problems with refugees from Honduras and El Salvador and Nicaragua through Mexico. It's very similar to what you're going through here. This has to stop everywhere on the planet now. It will stop if we say stop.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): A call for a solution to a tragedy that (INAUDIBLE) -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: That is CNN NEWSROOM for this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. I'll be right back with another hour. Please stay with us.
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