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Ferocious Shootout Caught on Video Near Kyiv; Constant Bombardment of Russia to Mariupol; Putin Yet to Achieve His Goals in Ukraine; Zelenskyy to Speak with Japanese Legislators; Navalny's Additional Sentence in Prison for Fraud; Japan's Protest Against Russia Over Peace Treaty; Interview with "Navalny" Director, Daniel Roher; Tornadoes Touchdown Across Southern U.S.; Reopening of School for Girls Delayed in Taliban. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired March 23, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world and in the United States this hour. I'm Hala Gorani coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine. Now Ukrainian forces aren't just defending positions, they are launching counter attacks against Russia and they are seeing some small signs of progress. We're closely following the battle lines. Take a look at the map.
According to a senior U.S. defense official, Ukrainian troops are fighting to retake the town of Izyum in the country's east. We're told Russia moved military vehicles there to cut off Ukrainian forces in the Donbas from the rest of the country. Here's the Pentagon's assessment of the Ukrainian military maneuvers so far.
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JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We have seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offense now.
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GORANI: Well, meanwhile, intense fighting is erupting not too far from the Capitol. Take a look.
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GORANI (voice over): What you're seeing here is a fierce gun battle by a train station in a village about 30 kilometers north east of Kiev. A local politician who posted the video claims these are Chechen immigrants who fled the wars with Russia. There were two of them and are not taking up arms to defend Ukraine against Russian invaders. Now we can't verify that information.
But in and around Kiev itself, Ukrainian forces are holding the line. But several large blasts jolted the Capitol on Tuesday while it was under curfew. One of the explosions was so strong that it set off car alarms right in the city center.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, in another part of the country, Russia is continuing to hammer Ukraine by air, land and sea. A Russian missile hit a -- and destroyed a railway station in Pavlograd. Ukrainian official says the strike derailed 15 freight cars and decimated an entire stretch of track. And this video appears to show Russia cruise missiles launched off the coast of Crimea heading toward Ukraine.
Russian ships in the Sea of Azov are also firing on the already ravaged city of Mariupol according to U.S. defense official.
NATO and the U.S. tells CNN it's believed Belarus could soon join Russia and its war against Ukraine. The Kremlin spokesperson says Russia hasn't achieved its main goal yet, a maximalist one, which is to get rid of Ukraine's entire military potential.
And an exclusive interview CNN's Christiane Amanpour asked under what circumstances Russia might choose the nuclear option.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: President Putin said that if anybody tries to stop him, very bad things will happen. And I want to know whether you are convinced or confident that your boss will not use that option.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON: Well, we have a concept of domestic security and work in public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used. So, if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept. There are no other reasons that were mentioned in that text.
AMANPOUR: So you are basically saying only an existential threat to your country. I still don't know that. I've got a full answer from you. And I just -- I'm just going to assume that President Putin wants to scare the world and keep the world on tenterhooks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Not exactly reassuring. Now, Ukrainian forces have managed to halt Russia's advanced on most fronts. Moscow's response so far has been to just bombard cities with missiles and artillery. Phil Black reports that this war of attrition is turning urban areas to rubble and taking an ever-growing toll on human lives.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukrainian forces are pushing back close to the capital. They say they've regained control of this road and the surrounding area. It's Makariv, a short drive west from Kiev. The head of the region's police released this video of his visit soon after. It shows him reclaiming a melted Ukrainian flag from the local police station. He says Makariv is still under fire and every second civilian building is damaged or destroyed. There isn't much left. But if Ukraine can now hold this ground, it could prove crucial in stopping Russian forces from encircling the capital.
In Ukraine's east, the city of Kharkiv, another much wanted price for the invading force. As reported a noticeable increase in Russian munitions fired from a far. Intelligence assessments and Western governments say that's happening more because fighting up close isn't going Russia's way. But still, no city in Ukraine has been bombarded like Mariupol. There is only daily torment for the hundreds of thousands still under siege there.
SERGEI ORLOV, MARIUPOL DEPUTY MAYOR: Each day Mariupol is destroyed more and more. Until now in our estimation, about 90 percent of our infrastructure is damaged and destroyed. Cities under continuous bombing from 50 bombs to 100 bombs. Russian aircraft drops each day.
BLACK: But Vladimir Putin spokesman is still comfortable saying this.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON: Our military are targeting only military goals and military objects on the territory of Ukraine, not civil ones. Russian military are not hitting civil aims, civil targets.
BLACK: What are the still unanswered questions of this conflict, how great are Russian losses on the battlefield? The Russian tablet Komsomolskaya Pravda appeared briefly to know the answer. In a report published Monday, it said 9861 deaths had been recorded by Russia's Defense Ministry with more than 16,000 wounded. Then much later that day, the report was edited and the numbers removed.
The tabloid said it was hacked and someone inserted false information. The published figure is notable because it tracks with U.S. Defense Department estimates of up to 10,000 Russian deaths in Ukraine. After four weeks, Russia's invasion is stalled with little momentum and no significant winds. No problem says President Putin spokesman.
PESKOV: We're speaking about special military operation that is going on and it is going on strictly in accordance with the -- with the plans and there were purposes that were established beforehand.
BLACK: Phil Blank, CNN, Lviv Ukraine.
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GORANI: Ukraine's president has been asking numerous countries for more support as his country battles Russia. On Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Italian lawmakers to strengthen sanctions against the country. He also warned them of the danger posed by Moscow that it is not ultimately confined to his country alone.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Now is the time to do everything possible to secure peace, so that the war that had been prepared for a long time by Russia by one person -- by one person for tens of years, they earned enormous money by exporting oil and gas. And use that money to prepare a war not only against Ukraine, their goal is Europe. They want to have an enormous influence on your lives, control over your politics and ruin your values, not only ours.
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GORANI: Well, Italy's Prime Minister praised Ukraine's resistance and voiced his support for its bid to join the European Union. Listen to that.
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MARIO DRAGHI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I want to say to President Zelenskyy that Italy is that Ukraine side in this process. Italy wants Ukraine in the European Union.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Italy, one of the many nations throwing its support behind Ukraine there and we saw it during that special session of the National Assembly in Italy. This week, the U.S. President Joe Biden will unveil new sanctions targeting hundreds of Russians serving in the country's lower house of Parliament. A source tells CNN Mr. Biden will make the announcement while he's in Europe for a series of meetings with U.S. allies.
Setting off what is expected to be a slew of new steps to punish Russia for its assault of Ukraine. For more, let's bring in Jana Puglierin. She's the head of the European Council on Foreign Relations Berlin Office and also a Senior Policy Fellow with the organization. Thanks for being with us. When you look at the effect in just four weeks that this Russian invasion has had on how much more unified E.U. countries are.
I mean, even E.U. countries that had some disagreements internally within the union are now very much banded together. It seems as though it's given sort of this western alliance of nations and new impetus.
JANA PUGLIERIN, HEAD AND SENIOR POLICY FELLOW, ECFR BERLIN: Yes, absolutely. Especially on the European Union, I think what we've seen, especially with the decision to now give up to one billion euros to Ukraine for military aid. This is unprecedented. This has broken many taboos. And I'm actually quite pleased to see the E.U. stepping up for once.
GORANI: Yes. So, will it be enough though, because there was still hesitation on a couple of friends.
[02:10:01]
GORANI: The first one is how far should sanctions go. A country like Germany are opposed to sector wide sanctions on oil and gas. They obviously rely a lot on Russian energy. And then there is disagreement on whether or not militarily to impose a no-fly zone because of the risk that it carries of a direct confrontation with Russia. As this war progresses, are we likely to see those positions come closer together?
PUGLIERIN: I'm more confident on the sanctions front, on sanctions or an embargo on oil and gas. Because here I think, the more we see this war targeting civilians, Vladimir Putin bombing hospitals, killing, yes, many innocent Ukrainians, the more the pressure will mount also, in the European Union. Citizens in Europe are very concerned, we have a lot of refugees from Ukraine. And I think the pressure will mount.
When it comes to a no-fly zone, I'm less confident because I think that the position also within NATO is pretty strong. The fear is that NATO as a party in this conflict should not intervene directly in order not to create kind of further escalation. And I think this position is pretty fun.
GORANI: Now, those who say impose a no-fly zone now sanction the oil and gas industry now say, their argument is, inevitably there'll be a misstep, there'll be a mistake, there'll be some sort of escalation. And it will force a NATO response, and they could have prevented something sooner. I wonder if that idea is making any headway among allies.
PUGLIERIN: Yes, that is actually pretty much discussed. And there -- yes, many different opinions. Some people argue that now is the time that Putin is after Europe next as President Zelenskyy always emphasizes. But I think the majority of (INAUDIBLE) argues that Putin so far draws a line between NATO and non-NATO states and that he respects that red line, and that it's not on us to escalate, but that if escalation will happen, it needs to be Russia that provokes it.
GORANI: I'm sure you heard Dmitry Peskov not taking the nuclear option off the table. I mean, in a way you wouldn't expect him to, because this is one of their main points of leverage on Western countries which is if you provoke us too much, we might use the nuclear option which is the most terrifying option of all. But is there -- I mean, what potential diplomatic exit is there to this tragedy, this invasion, this assault on a sovereign nation? Can we foresee anything at this stage?
PUGLIERIN: So, in my mind, Vladimir Putin is not really willing to negotiate. This is only a cover sheet. I think he wants to buy time to basically renew Russia's military approach to renew his troops. And I think as long as he's not making significant military gains, for example, in the south with Mariupol having a land bridge, to Moldova and enter to Crimea and having this whole region, I think he will not really negotiate.
So, the task for me is really to enable Ukraine to stand firm and to push Russia into a position that it needs to make concessions that it realizes that it cannot win this conflict militarily or politically.
GORANI: Alright. Thank you so much for joining us. Jana Puglierin joining us live this hour on CNN. Exact casualty numbers are hard to pin down in Russia's war in Ukraine. But one thing is clear. The death toll has been rising and it's been rising on both sides. Ivan Watson takes us inside a graveyard where burial plots are being prepared for Ukrainian troops.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This military cemetery brings home the stark reality Ukraine has been living with for years. All of these crosses, they marked the graves of Ukrainian servicemen who've died fighting against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region since 2014. And on this side, we have new graves. They're devoted to casualties from Russia's invasion of Ukraine that was launched on February 24th of this year.
One of the fallen is Mikhail Sadiraka (ph). Born in 1997, just 25 years old. And if you come over here, you see something else which is a reminder of how grim this conflict is. The authorities have dug dozens of additional grave, anticipating the likelihood of more casualties in this terrible conflict.
[02:15:11]
WATSON: This refrigerator truck represents another side of this war. It's parked outside a city morgue. And city officials say that it is partially filled with the bodies of some 350 Russian soldiers. There is another refrigerator truck they say that is parked in another part of the city with around 400 Russian corpses. And when you come to this side here, you can smell the stench of cadavers.
Ukrainian officials say that they are conducting DNA tests of the Russian dead, and that they are then going to send these bodies to the Ukrainian capital to eventually be returned to Russia and to the families for proper burial. Ivan Watson, Dnipro, Ukraine.
GORANI: Our coverage of Russia's war on Ukraine continues in just a moment. Straight ahead. The humanitarian crisis is getting worse, as some towns are on the verge of running out of food completely. And refugee families here in Lviv speak to CNN about the emotional toll this war is taking on them.
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GORANI: Welcome back, the refugee crisis from Russia's war on Ukraine is worsening every day. The U.N. Refugee Agency says more than 3-1/2 million people have now fled their country and more than 6 million others are internally displaced. The U.N. is ramping up supplies of thermal blankets, hot meals and tents along the Ukrainian border areas, as temperatures continue to remain low.
And in the past 24 hours, volunteers and translators that one Romanian border crossing helped nearly 3000 refugees, many of them fleeing the Russian bombardments of Mariupol and the Sumy region in eastern Ukraine as well. They're greeted with hot food, tea, water, medical care and suites for children but they are traumatized to the aid group Mercy Corps warns that some Ukrainian towns could run out of food in three or four days saying, "the humanitarian system has entirely broken down."
Many of those trying to escape the violence are passing through Lviv here in western Ukraine. Some of those families spoke with CNN's Ben Wedeman about the struggles and emotions that they're having to process.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): While the children play, parents ponder a fate uncertain as they wait outside Lvivs' train station. A priest tries to keep up spirits with song and dance. Volunteers provide a hot meal.
(on camera): Almost a month into this war and the sheer scale of the movement of humanity is mind boggling. More than 10 million people, basically a quarter of the population of this country has been rendered homeless.
(voice over): Around Lviv, a multitude have found temporary refuge and the blessing of an air of the ordinary. But thoughts are still with those left behind. Dasha Zuban's brother stayed in Kiev to fight.
DASHA ZUBAN, FLED KIEV: We are praying, every day we are praying for my brother, for all my friends. They have someone to serve in military, fathers, cousins, husbands.
WATSON: Diana Altaba (ph) and her three-year-old son David are staying in a stark municipal building set aside for the displaced.
I couldn't tell him what's going on, she says he's too small. When he heard bombing, he hid under the bed. I told him, don't be afraid. It's just thunder. Natalia and Bogodan Dmitrinkow (ph) bed down every night in an indoor basketball court.
I'm not so well, says Natalia, who led a choir back home. I'm nervous. I'm worried about my parents and my friend who has parents in Mariupol whom she hasn't heard from for 20 days.
She shows us video of a performance before the war shattered their lives. The choir has gone silent. The light at the end of this tunnel is receding.
At first people thought it would last two weeks, says her husband Bogodan. They said, hang on, don't lose hope. No, we hope for the best but prepare for the worst. And so, the painful exodus west goes on. This train bound for Hungary this farewell. Perhaps final. Ben Wedeman CNN, Lviv.
GORANI: Well, if you'd like to help people in Ukraine who may be in need of shelter, food or water, please go to cnn.com/impact. You'll find several ways you could help. We'll have more updates on our breaking news this hour, including the latest images of the widespread destruction in Mariupol as it continues to come under relentless Russian attack. We have some new satellite imagery to share with you.
Plus, Ukraine's president just a few hours away from his speech to Japanese lawmakers. What the war in Ukraine may mean for Tokyo's ties with Russia.
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[02:29:22]
GORANI: More now on the developments here in Ukraine. A senior U.S. defense official says Ukrainian forces are battling to retake the town of Izyum. The U.S. believes Russian forces moved into this town south east of Kharkiv to cut off Ukrainian forces in the Donbas area from reaching the rest of the country.
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GORANI (voice over): Well in other developments this video captured a pretty intense firefight between Ukrainian and Russian forces about 30 kilometers northeast of Kiev. The Ukrainian politician who posted it claims that the fighters are Chechen immigrants who are now defending Ukraine.
[02:30:04]
GORANI: We have not at CNN been able to independently verify that claim.
[02:30:00]
In the meantime, a Ukrainian official says food and medical supplies have nearly run out in Kherson. Russian forces have occupied the city now for about two weeks. Also, among other developments, the Port City of Mariupol is still the target relentless bombardment. Look at these satellite images. They are offering us the most recent view of the widespread destruction. Here's what Ukraine's prosecutor general had to say.
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IRYNA VENEDIKTOVA, PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF UKRAINE: It's not about war. It's genocide. Because war -- feat of war have some rules, some principles. What we are seeing in Mariupol, no rules at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, the Russians are now attacking Ukraine from the air as well. They have been doing so for a while now. Shown here is the aftermath of a missile strike on a railway station in Pavlohrad. And from the sea, as well, they are also attacking. New video has emerged showing cruise missiles being launched from a vessel located off the Coast of Crimea just West of the City of Sevastopol.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, Russian President Putin had not achieved his goal to demilitarize Ukraine, yet. And he refused to deny that Moscow could resort to the use of nuclear weapons.
Japan is among the countries sanctioning Russia for its war in Ukraine. Also, talks between Russia and Japan have now broken down over formally ending World War II hostilities. This comes as Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will soon address the Japanese parliament in an effort to rally more international support. Let's get the latest from CNN's Blake Essig. He's outside parliament in Tokyo. Blake?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, in just about three hours Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will address members of Japan's parliament. The goal, of course, to continue rallying global support against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy's virtual address is only scheduled to last about 10 minutes and we'll be live as long as the situation in Ukraine allows for it.
Now, since the invasion started just a few weeks ago, President Zelenskyy has taken time to speak directly to national legislators in Europe, the Middle East, and North America thanking them for their support. But at the same time asking them to do more. And of course, we expect more of that tonight during his first address to a country in Asia.
Now, in line with other U.S. and G7 nations, Japan has imposed significant sanctions against Russia and Belarus and joined, they called, cut Russia from the Swift banking system. Now, Japan has also provided about $100 million worth of humanitarian aid. They've amended rules to be able to deliver defense equipment to the Ukrainian people, and even also started allowing Ukrainian evacuees to enter the country, which is extremely unusual for a country known to be closed off to refugees.
Now, in response to Japan's support of Ukraine earlier this week, Russia suspended peace treaty talks to end World War II hostilities, and potentially resolve a territorial dispute between the two countries involving a set of islands North of Hokkaido. Now, it seems that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has further triggered a more assertive foreign policy response from Japan as the country steps up its international role and becomes more outspoken when it comes to Taiwan and Ukraine.
Just in the last few years, Japan has already been increasing its defense spending and defense capabilities as peace and stability in this region become more uncertain surrounded by China, North Korea, and Russia. But it's important to recognize that while its clear Tokyo, like most of the world has been absolutely horrified by what we've seen player in Ukraine, Japan definitely sees the Ukraine crisis as a global issue. And its tough response is meant to send a message to China in the hopes that Beijing will think twice about its goal of reunifying Taiwan with the Mainland. It's a, what if, scenario, Hala, that hasn't been lost on Japan's leaders.
GORANI: All right. Blake Essig, thanks very much Live in Tokyo. I'll have more from Ukraine at the top of the hour. First though, let's bring in John Vause in Atlanta.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, thank you for that. We'll take a short break here. But when we come back, a Russian court sentencing opposition leader, Alexei Navalny to an extra nine years in jail, allegedly for fraud. When we come back, find out why that sentence says a lot about the threat Navalny may post to Vladimir Putin's hold on power.
CRAIG PETERS, CEO GETTY IMAGES: This is an increasingly visual world. And at our core -- at a core of our business, what do we do? We helped businesses connect and compete and then have visual landscape.
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And so, whether that's, you know, small businesses and how they need to compete through our iStock brand or whether that's corporations as they struggle to how to -- to have a presence across TikTok and Instagram, and all the platforms that they need to be present on. We see just a huge amount of demand for our service.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. More people get their news from CNN than any other news source.
VAUSE: The one person who can mount an unlikely but still credible challenge to Vladimir Putin's leadership will be spending another nine years behind bars. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Alexei Navalny was found guilty of fraud Tuesday. Prosecutors alleging, he embezzled from his own anti-corruption foundation. Navalny was already serving two-and-a-half years for violating terms of his parole. This new sentence clears the way for his relocation to an even more remote, more secure facility, possibly sending him further into political exile. CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson has details.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Tender moments, as Alexei Navalny is sentenced to nine years for fraud in a maximum penal colony. The emaciated Kremlin critic comforted by wife, Yulia. This trial, like so many he has faced already, on charges Human Rights Organizations say, a trumped up to silence him. But despite the obvious toll on his well-being, Navalny refusing to be silenced. Vowing to appeal and defiantly tweeting, you only do two days in jail, the day you go in, and the day you go out.
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A quote from his favorite TV series, "The Wire". Navalny's reality, however, is far harsher. Poisoned and almost killed with a deadly Kremlin nerve agent, Novichok, while on a political campaign in august 2020. He survived by being flown unconscious to Germany for treatment. Months later, preparing to return to Russia, under no illusion about the danger he faced.
ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I understand how the system work in Russia. I understand that the -- that Putin hates me. And I understand that these people who are sitting in the Kremlin, they are ready to kill. ROBERTSON (voiceover): In January last year, his last moments of freedom recorded as he and his wife rode the Moscow Airport shuttle bus to the terminal, and arrest. By now, Navalny, not just president Putin's most popular living critic, but an icon of international hopes Putin may yet be challenged.
Navalny's political party, the Anti-Corruption Foundation FBK, gained him even more notoriety. Publicizing what he said was Putin's massive Black Sea mansion. CNN could not independently verify Navalny's claim, but the video further raised his profile, and Kremlin anger. In February, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, sent to a penal colony outside Moscow. Where he claims, guards kept him awake at night. He went on hunger strike. The Kremlin designated him as a terrorist. His health deteriorated. But his criticism of Putin remained as fiery as ever.
On the eve of Russia's invasion, tweeting this criticism of Putin's combative national security council meeting. Putin demanding loyalty from his security chiefs, and Navalny likened it to the soviet leadership, ordering the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Navalny's skill is knowing and exploiting Putin's political vulnerabilities. And today, the price for his success just went up. Nic Robertson, CNN, Brussels.
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VAUSE: Two years ago, Canadian filmmaker, Daniel Roher, spent months with Navalny making a 98-minute-long documentary titled, "Navalny". An intense stressful, up close and personal look at the man who's possibly the biggest threat to Putin's hold on power. A threat big enough for the Kremlin to spend years planning and plotting his assassination. Here's a clip from the documentary. Navalny is talking after discovering details about the Kremlin plans to kill him.
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NAVALNY: The whole idea of poisoning with a chemical weapon, what the --. This is why this is so smart. Because even reasonable people refused to believe, like, what? Come on? Poisoned? Seriously?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now live is the filmmaker, Daniel Roher. Daniel, thank you for taking the time to be with us.
DANIEL ROHER, DIRECTOR, "NAVALNY": Thank you so much. It's good to be here with you.
VAUSE: Great. Now, look, there are a couple of threads here when it comes to this extra prison time which Navalny is now serving. I want you to listen to the State Department Spokesman Ned Price, he has one aspect of that peruse.
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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The courts sham ruling is the latest in a series of attempts to silence Navalny, and other opposition figures and independent voices who have been critical of Russian authorities. This disturbing decision, the one it announced today, is another example of the Russian governments widening crackdown on dissent and freedom of expression, which is intended to hide the Kremlin's brutal war, and unprovoked war against Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, there's the aspect of actually keeping him in jail. But then there's this likelihood that Navalny would be moved far away from Moscow, to a remote prison, harder to reach, more secure, making access to Navalny even more restricted than it is right now. So, is that essentially the reason for this trial, the extra prison time will make life miserable, unable to communicate with his supporters will make him go away?
ROHER: Well, the reason for this trial is plain and simple. Alexei Navalny has been outspoken for the last 10 years or so about the regime that the world is seeing in full force. About Putin's evil corruption. And the regime wants him to go away and wants them to be quiet. They tried to murder him, he survived. And they essentially put him in jail -- and put him in prison for surviving an assassination attempt. This is the backwards, Orwellian world that it's -- Putin's Russia in 2022.
VAUSE: Well for now, we have Navalny, he is actually tweeting up a bit of a storm. One of them read, we're not just continuing the operation to the anti-corruption foundation -- the organization which he is accused of stealing from. We're going to take them to a new level. The ACF will become a global international organization.
[02:45:00]
And that seems hard to see at this point in time, because it gets to the question of how much influence will he have once he's moved not just into prison, but this remote prison cut off from his supporters?
ROHER: Well, I think one thing we have to be mindful of is that, Navalny's great genius is his mastery of the media, and his mastery of social media, and understanding how to run this organization, this anti-corruption fund. What Alexei Navalny has established and set up is an organization that can run independent of him. If he is in a gulag somewhere far off in Siberia, the organization, its staff, his colleagues have the abilities and the know-how to facilitate themselves, and to continue on without him. This is what he made sure he had in place before he went back to Moscow in January of 2021.
VAUSE: So, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, was asked a fairly straightforward question by CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. I want you to listen to the question and the answer. Here it is.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: My question is, what are you so afraid? Of Navalny, of journalists, of the truth? What is there to fear?
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON: Well, Navalny is a prisoner. He's a prisoner. He had his first sentence. Now, he's got a second one. And he is blamed and it is proven by the prosecutor's office that he is blamed for fraud. So, it's purely an economical crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's purely an attempt to dodge the question like he answered it because he didn't answer it. So, can you answer it? What is the great fear here that Navalny poses to Putin and why?
ROHER: Well, it's plain and simple. Alexei Navalny is the only opposition figure in Russia that has a national movement, that has a political organization that stretches from the furthest reaches at each of Russia's time zones that is able to galvanize and motivate and get people out onto the streets, to get people interested, and to make people care. And that is incredibly frightening. If you're Vladimir Putin, sitting in your little bunker in Moscow. Terribly frightened of anyone who is speaking truth to power, who is calling out him in his inner circle for their absurd corruption. And I think that's primarily why the Kremlin is so keen to eliminate Alexei. Whether that's by literally murdering him or by sending him off, casting him away in Soviet style to some gulag in the outer reaches.
VAUSE: So, just put this in the context of what's happening right now. We have Vladimir Putin, who's pretty much under siege because of his military offenses in Ukraine. Certainly, his accord's not going according to plan. (INAUDIBLE) his military or at least the initial military objectives that were stated out. There is clearly pressure on Putin. Now, there's -- I guess, the question of whether or not he will be forced out of power, that's obviously too early. But, the fact that, at this point in time, Navalny received such a harsh prison sentence, and prosecutors are likely to appeal it because they wanted 13 years. Do you think that this was a deliberate attempt by Putin to get who -- the only man who could possibly challenge him out of the way for good?
ROHER: It goes without saying that this is a deliberate attempt to get the only tangible opposition figure in the country out of the way. Vladimir Putin has taken off his -- any semblance of trying to be concerned for his reputation, and that of his nation. There is no reputational cost for Russia anymore. It hasn't really -- there hasn't really been a reputational cost for almost 10 years.
And now, what we are seeing in the Ukraine, this egregious and horrible war, where he is wreaking havoc on civilians, the Russian people are not being exposed to the information, to the reality of what is going on. Russia has descended into this dystopian, Orwellian state, where people, genuine -- genuinely believe what's happening in Ukraine is a special military operation. It's far worse than that. This is an egregious war, as we know. And Putin will do everything he can to silence the people who are trying to speak truth to power and shed light.
VAUSE: Daniel, thank you for being with us. Your documentary is incredible to watch. It's very revealing. Thank you for doing it. And thank you for being with us. We very much appreciate it.
ROHER: Thank you.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. Still ahead, deadly tornadoes in ripping through parts of Louisiana. Powerful storms sweeping across the American South. We'll have your forecast after the break.
LORI COHEN, CEO, ECPAT-USA: Sex trafficking is happening in all hotels, in all brands, at all levels.
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My name is Lori Cohen. I'm the chief executive officer of ECPAT-USA in Brooklyn, New York. In our research, we recognize that so much of the child sex trafficking was happening in hotels, because these were anonymous locations, and traffickers felt that there was very low risk in being detected.
In February of 2020, ECPAT-USA partnered with Maya International and with the American Hotel and Lodging Association to launch a free online training for people working in hotel and hospitality industry. It was just before the pandemic, and we thought the timing was going to be terrible. But when we counted the number, 15 months into the pandemic, we are stunned to see that over half-a-million members of the hotel industry had taken the online training.
And so, even though it's an uncomfortable topic, there is a recognition that it's absolutely essential to protect children. It's the right thing to do, and it's also good for their bottom line.
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VAUSE: A massive tornado ripped a path of destruction, Tuesday night, near New Orleans and Louisiana. Officials say, at least one person has died. Widespread damage has been reported in areas East of the city. Let's go to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with the very latest on the forecast and what we can expect. Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John. You know, the tornado threat fortunately winding down for now. There's still a risk here in place. So at least, over the next couple of hours but you'll notice, upwards of almost about to 200 severe weather reports in the past two days. About one in four of them related to tornadoes. Some of them, of course, significant tornadoes, like the one you just noted there, across Eastern New Orleans.
And here's the line of active weather. Shifting off towards the East. Areas of the Florida Panhandle, portions of Central and Southern Alabama, that's where the highest risk is here until about 6:00 am local time. For additional storms to have some rotation, certainly, spawn a few tornadoes across this region. But you'll notice, flood watch has become really the most widespread threat across this landscape because as much as four to six inches of rain have already come down in the last couple of days.
[02:55:00] Now, what's important to note, the state of Louisiana, 100 percent of the State underneath some sort of drought. So, some of this rainfall is beneficial, but fortunately, too much of it coming down in a short duration leads to the flooding that we're seeing across this region. Now, the storm is going to shift a little farther towards the East and impact portions of the Southeastern Coastline, even as far North as areas of the Ohio Valley there a chance for isolated tornadoes and large hail. But, the threat level, John, is down to two on a scale of one to five versus a four whereas been last couple of days.
VAUSE: Two is better than four. Pedram, thank you. Appreciate that.
This is just in to CNN, the Taliban have postponed the reopening of schools with Afghan girls above sixth grade. (INAUDIBLE) due to reopen for the first time since August. The Taliban had promised schools for all students would open this week, as long as boys and girls were separated. But according to state run news, an appropriate school uniform for girls must first be designed. The U.N mission in Afghanistan responded earlier saying, it deplores this decision by the Taliban.
I'm John Vause. Hope to see you right back here tomorrow. Our breaking news coverage continues with Hala Gorani live in Lviv. That's up next. You are watching CNN.
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