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Ukrainians Urged Not To Gather For Easter Vigils; Marjorie Taylor Greene Appears In Court; Meadows Had Been Warned Of Possible January 6 Violence; Trump To WSJ: Relationship With McCarthy Not Damaged After Damning New Audio Reveals 1/6 Aftermath; GOP Rep. Greene Dodges Questions In Disqualification Hearing; FL Gov. Signs Bill Stripping Disney's Self-Governing Status; Two Russian Oligarchs Found Dead Mysteriously A Day Apart Alongside Their Wives And Children. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired April 23, 2022 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:18]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, two top U.S. officials are going inside the warzone. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announcing today, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and defense secretary Lloyd Austin will visit Ukrainian capital Kyiv tomorrow as Ukraine marks orthodox Easter Sunday.
Right now, much of the country is under curfew amid warnings of deliberate Russian military strikes on churches and holiday gatherings. New video from this village near Kyiv shows the vaster structure and Russian forces left behind. The town is now free but other parts of the country are now in a critical news phase of this war.
A Russian general says Russia wants full control of southern Ukraine because that would give Russia a land bridge to Moldova and Mariupol today. Evacuation efforts were thwarted again by the Russian military, according to a city official. A new satellite images show ground near Mariupol has recently been disturbed, a credible source claiming this is the site of mass graves.
CNN cannot independently verify this but there you see the images right there. A Russian strike and the port city of Odesa has killed five people including a three-month-old baby at least 18 others are injured according to a local official in one village.
Hundreds of Ukrainian say they were rounded up by Russian troops and held hostage. Get this in a school basement for weeks. CNN's Ed Lavandera visited that village and spoke to some of the survivors.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): War stop time here. Bombs and artillery scorch this village in northern Ukraine, Russian occupation ravaged the minds of its people. The story of what happened in Yahidne a is just emerging, revealing how the Russian army held this village hostage for more than 30 days.
Sophia shows us the underground bunker in her shed where she first hid from the fighting. She says she had food stored here that the Russians ate. This is where she slept. Sophia says Russian soldiers went door to door rounding people up and taking them at gunpoint into the basement of the village school.
(on camera): Sophia tells us that when the Russian soldiers moved them all into the basement of the school building that they were put down there and that the soldiers told them that they were being put in the basement to die.
(voice-over): A woman named Natalie took us into the basement where she was trapped. I was in a stupor, Natalie tells me, I was just sitting there praying, hoping it would all stop soon.
(on camera): Residents tell us that there were about 350 people held hostage in the basement of this school building. Men, women and children forced to live in these horrific conditions. In fact, it was so strangulating, there was so little air circulation that one resident told us that 12 elderly people died here because they couldn't breathe, and their bodies were left while the fighting raged outside.
(voice-over): These are some of the only known images captured in the school's basement. The faces say it all.
(on camera): She's telling me that about 35 people slept in this small room, nobody could lay down. They slept kind of sitting with their knees up against their chest.
(voice-over): The rooms are littered with makeshift beds, schoolbooks and Russian troop meal boxes, but it's the art on the walls that stops you in your tracks. This is how the children pass the time. Colorful drawings on a canvas of anguish.
(on camera): The people who are trapped down here etched names onto this concrete wall. They mark the days with a calendar crossing out the days as they went by. Everything down here has the feel of a World War II era concentration camp.
(voice-over): Above the basement Russian soldiers took over the school building. Residents say they were used as human shields. They knew that Ukrainian military wouldn't fire at the school with civilians inside.
Olena that grabs food from a humanitarian delivery truck and takes us to her home. Russian soldiers threw grenades through her windows and defecate it on the house floors. She was also held hostage in the school basement with her one year old daughter.
(on camera): Did you think you were going to survive that? I thought my child would not survive, she tells me. I asked them to let me out so the child could breathe fresh air because she felt bad. They said let her die. We don't care.
[15:05:06]
(on camera): Sophia, how did you feel when you got out of the basement of the school?
(voice-over): She says one of the villagers open the basement door and said the Russians left. The trapped villagers surprised.
In the morning, our guys entered the village. She said, We cried, we hugged them, and cried.
(on camera): What will you tell your daughter about this experience?
(voice-over): Nothing, she says. Her daughter will not remember it. And she will tell her nothing.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ACOSTA: My next guest has been working to document evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, here's just one of her videos from the regional capital of Kharkiv.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA AVDEEVA, KHARKIV RESIDENT DOCUMENTING RUSSIAN WAR: You see the building behind me, it has no windows. And inside, it's also severely damaged. And right here behind me is a huge hole, which was made by another rocket, because this building was hit twice.
Especially damaged is this part of the building where the rocket hit. It's -- It has no floors there because every simple upside down after the attack. I will show you closer how it looks. And the moment that the carpet came in from the other floor. So the rocket actually hit there and then fall down up to the first floor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Wow. Maria Avdeeva, Research Director at the European expert Association joins me now. Maria, what you are doing is very important. The video we were just showing a few moments ago is just very disturbing.
Can you describe what it's like on a personal level to go through these decimated buildings with just a cell phone, try to document the scope of what you're seeing?
AVDEEVA: I think this is very important to show the world the war crimes committed by Russian troops here in my home city Kharkiv, and also elsewhere in Ukraine. Because when now Ukrainian troops are doing effective counter offensive operations here near Kharkiv, and new religious and small towns are liberated, we see the new evidences of the war crimes that were committed there by Russians.
And here in Kharkiv as well, Russian troops are now targeting deliberately residential areas and civilian infrastructure. For example, they devise a heated the fuse that was staying in front of the humanitarian aid center where people were staying to get that aid. And they were -- some of them were killed just on the spot because of these attacks.
So what we see here, these atrocities, I think it's very important for people in the world to see them. And that will lead to more support to Ukraine, including more weapons to Ukrainian military so that the Ukrainian military will be able to use here on the front lines now when the battle for Donbas and for the East has started. And that will allow them to defend civilian population here on the east, because Russia is now putting everything they have, all weapon they have to for attacks here in Kharkiv, and general in Donbas.
ACOSTA: And Maria, do you ever worry about your safety when you go through these buildings?
AVDEEVA: You can never be safe now anywhere in Ukraine because of course, you know that not only Kharkiv but other cities were hit by Russian missile, ballistic rockets, including Lviv, which is the most western city of Ukraine.
Of course, in Kharkiv it's more dangerous because it's under intensified -- intensive shell almost every day and but I got used to it. And I take this risk consciously. And I understand that it's very important to stay here and document what is happening, because someday, Russian generals and Putin will stay in the court and will be held responsible for the war crimes they have committed here.
ACOSTA: Well, no question. Let's hope that day comes. But, you know, I want to ask you about documenting this moment. It's a wedding in the middle of a war zone. There's the video right there. The groom holding the bride in his arms, middle of this devastation. Can you describe what you saw?
AVDEEVA: That was a great moment here in the midst of the war because this couple actually they are both volunteers at the humanitarian aid center.
[15:10:07]
So what they do, they will collect requests from the people who are staying here in Kharkiv civilians. And usually these people will be in the areas very heavily shelled by Russian troops. And that's why they cannot get out to, get some food or medicines. So this volunteer center it will collect request from these people, and then get humanitarian aid, and some other people will bring this help to these people to their apartments.
And so they decided this couple, they work together, and they decided to get married, just in the middle of the war to show the hope for Ukraine and for Kharkiv and to show that no matter what Ukraine will stand, and Ukraine will win. And this was a moment of happiness.
And they made these pictures just in the most devastated areas of Kharkiv to show that we will rebuild Kharkiv, our city and the second largest city in Ukraine, and people will again be coming and returning here. And now the light will be going as it was previously as it was before. But then, in the recent attacks, Anton was wounded. And now he's in the hospital. But still, the center continues its work and Anastasia is working there. So, both of them as other people stay in Kharkiv are real heroes because no matter what they put everything they have, and they risk their lives to continue the very important work they're doing.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And we wish that young couple the best and that they stay safe, as best as they can in all of this. Maria Avdeeva, thank you so much. We appreciate it. There's that image again. It's just inspiring to see the bravery and the courage of the Ukrainian people. Thank you very much, Marie. We appreciate it.
AVDEEVA: Thank you. It was my pleasure. Thanks.
ACOSTA: And coming up, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene testifying for three hours about what she could and often what she said she could not remember about events surrounding January 6, as challengers hoped to prevent her from running a reelection campaign. Hold on that next.
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[15:16:40]
ACOSTA: A remarkable hearing just took place that could determine whether Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is constitutionally barred from running for reelection as a result of some of her actions in the days leading up to the January 6 insurrection.
A group of Georgia voters is pointing to a section in the Constitution that says a lawmaker is disqualified from office if they've been, quote, engaged in insurrection or rebellion. Greene has said that she had no knowledge or have any attempt to illegally interfere with the counting of electoral votes on January 6, but her challengers hauled Greene into court on Friday and grilled her on her past comments falsely stating that Joe Biden had not been legitimately elected President of the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it fair to say Representative Greene that from election night of 2020 until January 6 2021, your personal opinion and your wish was that Congress not certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election?
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): No, that's not accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But the problem for Greene is she has already posted her own video before the insurrections spreading the big lie that Biden stole the election, watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: We aren't going to let this election be stolen by Joe Biden and the Democrats. President Trump won by a landslide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: No, that's not true. But Greene repeatedly had trouble remembering things during this hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In fact, do you think that Speaker Pelosi is a traitor to the country, right?
GREENE: You're -- I'm not answering that question. It's speculation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said that, have you, Ms. Greene, that she's a traitor to the country?
GREENE: No, I haven't said that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Put up Exhibit 5, please.
GREENE: Oh, no. Wait, hold on now, I believe by not upholding the securing the border that that violates her oath of office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fair enough. I'm not interested in your oath of office. I'm interested in that you said that she's a traitor to our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Hold on, she said. These aren't exactly good times for Pinocchios away from the January 6 investigation some potential contenders for the 2024 GOP nomination are in search of other sources of outrage. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has gone after Walt Disney's special self-governing and tax status after the company opposed to the state's new law that would crack down on teaching about sexuality in school.
What critics call the Don't Say Gay law. Nevermind that this policy change could result in a big tax increase for some Floridians. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has jumped on the Disney bandwagon like it was a ride on Space Mountain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I think there are people who were misguided trying to drive you know Disney stepping in saying, you know, in every episode now they're going to have you know, you know, Mickey and Pluto going at it. Like, really?
Just like come on, guys, like these are kids and, you know, you could always shift to Cinemax if you want that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, if you really believe any of that we have entered the Magic Kingdom. [15:20:00]
Absent from all of these attempts to sound the alarm for parents or any actual proposals for things like inflation, high gas prices, and yes, stopping Russian atrocities in Ukraine and you certainly won't find the same intensity when it comes to getting to the bottom of what happened on January 6. We are still learning more about what was happening behind the scenes after the insurrection.
A brand new court filing from the January 6 committee includes testimony from an aide to then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that staffer says Meadows was warned there could be violence on January 6, and the aide also lays out that several GOP members of Congress were involved in White House meetings aimed at overturning the election results including incoming Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
As part of their new book, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexandria Burns obtained audio of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slamming former President Trump for his actions on a conference call with fellow Republicans.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I've had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ACSOTA: McCarthy told House GOP members that Trump accepted some responsibility for what happened that day.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: He bears responsibilities for his words and actions, no ifs, ands or buts. I asked him personally today. Does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. That he needed to acknowledge that.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ACOSTA: McCarthy also said that it was once his recommendation that Trump resigned from office.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: Again, the only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will pass and it'd be my recommendation you should resign. I mean, that would be my take, but I don't think he would take it. But I don't know.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Of course, that audio was released after McCarthy's office denied he ever said that. McCarthy is stating privately that Trump should resign from office raises all sorts of questions like why can't he say that publicly to this day? And why did McCarthy then go to Mar- a-Lago to kiss the ring and welcome from back as the GOP standard bearer less than a month after the insurrection?
We still don't have an answer to that one. The only person who really make Trump sweat these days over his coup attempt is British TV host Piers Morgan at least. It looks pretty sweaty when you watch the cinematic trailer for the interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former president in denial.
PEIRS MORGAN, TV HOST: It a free and fair election. You lost.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Only a fool would think that.
MORGAN: You think I'm a fool?
TRUMP: I do now. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Trump has since said the video released by Morgan doesn't tell the whole story. I guess it's no surprise that Trump's longtime attorney Rudy Giuliani, who called for quote trial by combat at the January 6 stop the steel rally isn't really quaking in his boots these days. The closest he's been to receiving any kind of judgment was his appearance on The Masked Singer.
Good for Kim Jeong. But if the events of this week are any indication, maybe there is some hope that the masks are still coming off and the truth will be revealed in this investigation. It's a small world after all. And we'll continue this discussion on that in just a few moments. We'll be right back.
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[15:28:15]
TAPPER: What did Mark Meadows know and when did he know it? The January 6 Committee has been meticulously piecing that puzzle together since Meadows himself won't speak to them. And according to a new filing one thing Trump's former chief of staff knew was that violence might break out on January 6, the White House aid and Meadows office testified that Meadows was given specific information before January 6, warning there could be violence that day.
Last hour, I spoke to former DC police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and tased while defending the Capitol on January 6, he called this entire ordeal embarrassing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL FANONE, DEFENDED CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6: In a time, where so many of us Americans, myself included are inspired by the actions of President Zelenskyy, I look at our politicians and our elected leaders. And I think to myself, look, this is the best we've got. This is it. You know, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kevin McCarthy, I mean, they just -- it's just unreal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Let's discuss with CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for the TheGrio, April Ryan and CNN political commentator, Ana Navarro. Ladies, great to see both of you. It's been too long.
April, let me start with you. Meadows was warned about this potential for violence. The same aide also testified that the White House Counsel's Office said that this alternate electors plan was not legally sound. And yet Meadows proceeded with this rally anyway. And then the bogus electors scheme anyway.
[15:30:00]
APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, Jim, there was desperation at the White House after the election and before the inauguration.
They ran all the traps. They asked all the questions. They knew what was going on, according to my sources, and kept moving forward.
Meadows understood, from the tapes we have heard, those who supported him, he understood the magnitude of what could and could not happen.
So at the end of the day, Mark Meadows was very informed. And the president of the United States understood as well.
ACOSTA: Ana, let's talk about Kevin McCarthy. Tapes came out of him this week slamming Trump in the days after the capitol attack.
But Trump says it's water under the bridge. Telling "The Wall Street Journal," he made a call, "I heard the call. I didn't like the call. But almost immediately, as you know, he came here --and we took a picture right there -- you know the support was very strong."
Ana, for all this palace intrigue at Mar-a-Lago and everything we talk about here in D.C., what do you make of, you know, Kevin McCarthy publicly standing with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, taking that picture, and then we hear a completely different Kevin McCarthy on audio.
Does this surprise you at all?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it's so pathetic, right? And you start thinking this is not just one congressperson. This is a man who wants to be speaker of the House should Republicans retake the House in November.
I think this is a huge blow to McCarthy. Because the MAGA wing is not going to forget this.
There are also apparently more tapes. So there aren't receipts about the things that he's denied. So he's showing himself not only to be a liar, but he's also pathetic,
cowardly, hypocritical, and only interested in his own political future. Beyond the interest of the country. Beyond the interests of the party. Beyond patriotism. Beyond sanity. Beyond truth. Beyond morality.
He is willing to say anything, deny anything, lie about anything in order to be on Donald Trump's good side in hopes that that means he will get the blessing of Trump for the speaker. And that will keep the MAGA wing of his caucus from going rogue on him.
But I'm not sure that's going to work. And he comes in as a very weak, very pathetic, disgusting, sniveling coward fool of a speaker if he gets there.
ACOSTA: And, April, you know, it must have been contagious this week, some of this behavior, because another Republican lawmaker twisting herself into a pretzel was Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Yesterday, she testified in this hearing, which was really remarkable. We haven't really seen a member of Congress put on the stand taking an oath that they'll tell the truth and so on.
She may be barred from running in the election because of her role in what happened on January 6th.
And she was asked about her past comments and conversations that she had and there was a whole lot of this. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I don't remember.
I do not remember.
I'm sorry. I don't remember.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: April, I mean, I had a few interactions with Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, one thing that you can say about her I think is that she seems to have a pretty good memory. She seems to remember these talking points and camp lines she'll deliver when you talk to her face-to-face.
So it's kind of striking to me to hear her say over and over again say, I don't remember, I don't recall.
RYAN: Strategic forgetfulness, let's call it that, especially as she's been caught on tape, on audio and video, caught everywhere talking about the nature of January 6th, how wonderful it was.
This is an illegal maneuver to keep her afloat, if you will. She is a part of that MAGA wing that they want to stay alive. And the only way that she can keep on going, keep on going, keep on speaking, is to say that I forgot, I don't remember. When we have tape. We have audio. We have written word from Marjorie
Taylor Greene about January 6th.
So at the end of the day, it will not hold water. People will bring her lies and videotape affront so that she can see exactly what she said.
But that is a legal maneuver so she can stay out of hot water that she's already in.
ACOSTA: Ana, the governor in your state of Florida is punishing Disney for opposing this so-called "Don't Say Gay" law. Aren't Republicans supposed to be against cancel culture? What do you make of what's been happening with this?
We're showing the video right now. He's surrounded by all of these children.
[15:35:00]
The other thing that stands out to me, as somebody who's been to Disney World a lot of times with my family, I can't imagine a Florida politician going after Walt Disney World.
What do you make of all this?
NAVARRO: It's really insane. As a Floridian, I'm frankly horrified by the environment this creates.
Listen, it's not like Walt Disney World waged war against this legislation. What they did was, the CEO issued a statement about a bill that many of his employees had huge concerns about.
He didn't show up at the capitol with an army of Mickey Mouses dressed in rainbow platform heels. He made a statement. And that statement should be covered by freedom of speech.
And so if you are a pro-freedom of speech, against canceling, pro- business Republican, I don't know how you justify hostage taking, political hostage taking and political blackmail against a corporation for speaking up about a concern of their employees.
Disney is one of the largest private employers in the state of Florida. It's got thousands, tens of thousands of employees raising families in this state who care about what happens in their schools.
And you know, it's such hypocrisy and it's such insanity. It doesn't make political sense. It doesn't make economic sense. Because guess who's going to get stuck with the tax bill, now after going away and eradicating the special taxing authority. The residents of Osceola and orange county?
The residents of Osceola and Orange County, they should be paying close attention to this.
But it's also meant to send a chilling message to the entire private sector and business world in Florida. Tell the CEOs to cower under their desk and not dare speak up against anything that might be a pet cause of the legislature or the governor.
That's just wrong. That kind of stifling of freedom of speech by a corporation, by an individual, is absolutely wrong.
They're doing it out of spite. They're not even bothering to pretend that this is not punitive action taken against a corporation because of political action. They're not even bothering to say differently.
And it is, it's bad for the economy. It's bad for the business sector. I think it's just completely against Republican traditional values.
And also let me remind you that Walt Disney World has been one of the biggest political donors to Republican legislatures and the Republican governor and the Republican Party of Florida for decades and decades and decades.
I have gone to countless events in Disney World parks and hotels held by the Republican Florida raising money for them.
So I'd like to know if the Republican Party of Florida is going to return all of those donations from Walt Disney World.
I'd like to know --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: -- what the business sector is going to do to stand in solidarity with Disney World so they are not all silenced and being stifled by a legislature and governor that have just gone insane with their pettiness.
In the meantime, Floridians can't get home insurance. In the meantime, they haven't done a damn thing to reform condo laws so that condo buildings don't collapse in the middle of the night, killing an trapping people inside.
So it's just irresponsible. It's just craziness, absolute craziness.
ACOSTA: All right --
RYAN: But you know, Jim, Ana is right. But it's a little bit more sinister, the optics.
Ron DeSantis going against Mickey and Minnie. It's not just a state of Florida issue. This is a larger, national issue that plays into politics and to create this win for DeSantis who may have higher aspirations.
So let's go there. It's Mickey and Mimmie and this issue of family LGBTQ-plus and Ron DeSantis who wants to come out looking like a champion for higher office.
ACOSTA: All right, April and Ana, thank you so much. We knew you would bring it this Saturday, and you certainly did that. Thanks so much to both of you. Really appreciate it.
NAVARRO: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Take care.
[15:39:32]
ACOSTA: Coming up, the growing mystery after two Russian gas executives and members of their families died in two separate countries within 24 hours.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Investigators are looking into the deaths of two Russian oligarchs and their families. The Russian gas executives, their wives and children, were found dead within 24 hours of each other thousands of miles apart.
CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two unsettling cases, eerily similar, fueling more intrigue around the Putin regime. Within the span of 24 hours this week, two wealthy former Russian gas executives found dead with their families.
On Monday, Vladislav Avayev, his wife and daughter were found dead in Avayev's apartment in Moscow. Russia state news agency, TASS, citing a source in law enforcement, says authorities were investigating the incident as a murder-suicide.
The next day, Sergei Protosenya, his wife and daughter found dead at their home and a resort near Barcelona, Spain. A source close to the investigation tells CNN Protosenya's wife and daughter were likely murdered inside the luxury home. Protosenya found dead in the garden outside.
[15:45:13]
BILL BROWDER, FINANCIER & PUTIN CRITIC: When Russian businesspeople die, I think one kind of has to assume the worst first.
PROF. LOUISE SHELLEY, DIRECTOR, TERRORISM. TRANSNATIONAL CRIME AND CORRUPTION CENTER & PROFESSOR, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: I think these deaths in my book, are very suspicious. Because they are so similar and they're both prominent individuals who have made their money in the oil and gas sector.
TODD: If these were murder-suicides, could these men have been under financial pressure from fallout over the Ukraine war?
BROWDER: We're in a very taunt moment in Russia. Money is scarce. All sorts of people are under a lot of pressure.
TODD: Few answers, but plenty of theories.
SHELLEY: There might be people in Russia connected to the security apparatus who don't like things that these individuals are doing.
There could be patterns of retaliation against individuals who may be collaborating with foreign qualities for people in Russia that don't want certain information shared.
TODD: What's not clear tonight, whether Vladislav Avayev and Sergei Protosenya knew each other or communicated recently with each other.
And the analysts we spoke to say it's not clear if either man has spoken out against Vladimir Putin or the war in Ukraine.
Could they have been targeted by Putin, himself?
ELISABETH SCHIMPFOSSL, AUTHOR: It would almost be something, we need Putin to take measures against people of law-breaking. What he goes for is the big fishes and only very few of them in order to set an example of risk and tame them and bring them under control.
TODD: Still, some experts say, if there was foul play, it wouldn't be the first time among Russian tycoons.
SHELLEY: There is a pattern of suspicious deaths overseas. We are going to be seeing more pressures among the elite, because there is a lot of suspicion and recriminations in Russia.
TODD (on camera): Professor Louise Shelley says there is another level of suspicion to these cases. She says Spain, where Sergei Protosenya died, has among the highest numbers of Russian organized crime figures inside its borders of any country, many of whom, she says, have ties to Russian oligarchs
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Alexei Navalny is the Putin critic who was poisoned and nearly killed by Kremlin agents. He is the subject of a fascinating new documentary premiering tomorrow on CNN.
Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you come to a room of a comatose patient, you starting to just tell him some news. Telling him his story. Alexei, don't worry. You were poisoned. There was a murder attempt. Putin tried to kill you with Novichok.
Ad he opened his blue eyes wide and looked at me and said very clear, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) -- "Come on, poisoned? I don't believe it."
Like, he's back. This is Alexei. ALEXEI NAVALNY, JAILED RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Putin's supposed to be not so stupid to use this Novichok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His wording. His inclination.
NAVALNY: If you want to kill someone, just shoot him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus Christ, like real, Alexei.
NAVALNY: Impossible to believe it. It's kind of stupid. I mean, the whole idea of poisoning with a chemical weapon.
This is why this is so smart because, even reasonable people, they refuse to believe, like, what, come on, poisoned, seriously?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Not surprisingly, the Kremlin and Russia's security services deny they played any role in Navalny's poisoning. Vladimir Putin went a step further saying, if they wanted him dead, they, quote, "would have probably finished it."
[15:48:55]
Be sure to catch this incredible film. I've seen it myself. It's astounding. It's great work. It's "NAVALNY," premiering tomorrow night at 9:00 here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:53:33]
ACOSTA: This just in. A U.S. Air Force general officer have been convicted of one specification of sexual assault in a military court in Ohio.
Major General William Cooley was found guilty of abusive sexual contact for forcibly kissing a woman in a 2018 incident in New Mexico. It's the first ever court martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the U.S. Air Force's 75-year history.
On the stand, the victim described what happened and its impact as an F-5 tornado ruining everything in its path. The victim accused Cooley of groping her and forcing her to touch him.
Cooley was found not guilty of those allegations. The sentencing phase begins Monday.
Last December, Shirley Raines was named 2021 "CNN Hero of the Year." This week, we wanted to check in on Shirley and give you a pick inside her big winning night and what she's up to now.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Shirley Raines!
(CHEERING)
SHIRLEY RAINES, 2021 CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: As much you want to live in the moment and say it doesn't really matter, let's be real. I wanted to bring that prize money, that win, and that recognition to the community. I really wanted them to have that platform.
(CROSSTALK)
RAINES: Good morning, you guys.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations, Shirley.
RAINES: Congratulations to you all.
The world had an opportunity to vote for 10 amazing organizations and they chose one that dealt with homelessness, which I think to them might say, oh, my god, people really are paying attention. People really are looking. People really do care.
[15:55:05]
I'm hoping that this win will bring more eyes down here.
There's a massive need for blankets. There's a massive need for tents.
I've always said this from the beginning. I don't do hero stuff. I do human stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's something about you.
RAINES: I know there's something about you, too.
Honestly, all the stuff I've been through in my personal life, I think it's amazing to have gotten this far. Because I came from, oh, my god, the bottom. I was on CNN Heroes? It definitely should give hope to other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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