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One Dead After Explosions Near Russian Air Base in Crimea; FBI Suspected Trump, Aides Were Withholding Documents That Had National Security Implications; Record Rainfall Kills at Least 9 in Seoul; Tourists Start to Leave Chinese Resort City Amid Lockdown; Vote Counting Underway in Kenya's General Election. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 10, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:30]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, this is CNN Newsroom. And coming up this hour, deep strike, the Russian airbase far from the frontlines in occupied Crimea, rocked by at least a dozen explosions. Ukraine denies responsibility but with a nod and a wink.
Political firestorm of FBI agents search Donald Trump's Florida home, Republicans erupt in one voice slamming Democrats for "weaponizing" the justice system. And the end of an era for one of the all-time greats of women's tennis, Serena Williams plans to call it a day after this month USA.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: We begin with the war in Ukraine, what's been described as a possible major escalation after a dozen explosions rocked a Russian airbase in western Crimea. Video from the scene shows a mushroom cloud rising from the direction of the base. Local officials say at least one person was killed, several others were hurt. Ukraine is not claiming responsibility for the blasts and Russia says though caused by a detonated ammunition not an attack. The explosions in the CRIMEA's coast came just hours after Ukraine carried out a strike in Southern Kherson targeting a railway that connects Russian held areas in the south and east with the Crimean peninsula. Crimea has been under Russian occupation since Russia's illegal annexation in 2014. Moscow's wonders serious consequences if Ukraine attack the peninsula. In his nightly address, Ukraine's president vowed to retake Crimea but to look specifically referred to the attack on the Russian airbase.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This Russian war against Ukraine and against all of free Europe began with Crimea and must end with Crimea, it's liberation. Today, it is impossible to say when this will happen. But we are constantly adding the necessary components to the formula for the liberation of Crimea.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says there is no immediate danger from the most recent shelling around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which is Europe's largest. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other for the strikes, which damaged the plants external power supply and wounded one employee. The International Atomic Energy Agency says radiation levels remain normal. Still the head of Ukraine's state nuclear company is warning the consequences of continued fighting around the plant could be catastrophic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETRO KOTIN, CHAIRMAN OF ENERGOATOM: This is the most radioactive material in all nuclear power plant as is fuel. We have actually much more materials there as we've had a Chernobyl because it Chernobyl it was only one unit. Here you have six units, six rafters completely full this fuel assemblies and those whose nuclear material
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Almost six months into this war and the worst fighting is in Eastern Ukraine where Russian forces have unleashed a relentless barrage of artillery fire for months, a Moscow is pushed to capture the entire Donbas Region. And despite the constant fighting the frontlines have barely moved in weeks. And for residents living nearby, the threat of death is never far away. Here's CNN's Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): In Siversk, civilians are buried where they fall. No time, no safety for a cemetery send off. No bomb too big, no building in this eastern Ukrainian town, seemingly off Russia's target list in their slow but relentless push westwards.
(On camera): This town is on the fringes of what the Ukrainian government controls. They're surrounded on two sides by Russian forces to the east and to the north. About five miles eight or 10 kilometers away.
(Voice-over): Shelling here an ever present danger. Among the ruins people are surviving 2000 have a pre-war 11,000 clinging on. Valeria (ph) barely seems to notice another shell exploding.
(On camera): How hard is it to live here now?
VALERIA (ph) (through translator): I don't realize it. But she's about to teach me how hard. She's not kidding. She comes back with a sore and a floorboard scavenged from a blown building.
Everyday.
ROBERTSON: Everyday so let us. OK, so this is hard. What -- why do you -- yeah, good muscles. Why do you stay here? If it's so hard why do you stay?
[01:05:01]
(Voice-over): Valeria has less than for me yes life here is very hard but this is home and leaving would be harder.
(On camera): It's home?
VALERIA (ph): My house.
ROBERTSON: Yeah.
VALERIA: My house.
ROBERTSON: But it's so dangerous, there's bombs and explosions and --
Someone has to stay she says, we go in the basement when they're shelling.
(On camera): OK, I'm coming.
(Voice-over): She leads us to the basement.
(On camera): So you're sleeping in here, you're living down here?
(Voice-over): You've been sleeping down here for more than three months, she says down here her cheerful sparkle is gone.
We have no gas, electricity, water or communication, she says. I have nowhere to go. There's more she wants to show us.
(On camera): Yeah, look at this. Smashed. Valeria's neighbors like her cooking outside. She's brought me to what's left her friend's house.
(On camera): It's all destroyed. The people who were here, did they survive?
(Voice-over): God save them, she says but now they've left. By local standards, the shelling this day less than usual. This elderly lady venturing out for food. She tells us the food handout she needs hasn't arrived. The shelling getting closer. We go, not so lucky those who leave behind. Nic Robertson, CNN, Siversk. Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The European Union's ban on Russian coal is now taking effect. The ban is part of an E.U. sanctions package approved in April to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. And it marks the first time Europe has gone after Russia's vast energy sector. More than half of the E.U. solid fuel imports mostly coal from Russia, which has also been the E.U.'s main supplier of crude oil and natural gas. European Commission estimates the coal ban will affect nearly $9 billion worth of Russian exports each year. But when it comes to the fuel bands, coal was always the easy target. Ditching natural gas and oil from Russia is a much trickier question for Europe. But Finland and Sweden are inching closer to joining NATO. The American president signed off on their application on Tuesday, Joe Biden praising the two traditional neutral countries for the strength of their democracies, militaries and economies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: It is more united than ever. And when Finland and Sweden bring the number of allies to 32 will be stronger than ever, stronger than ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: U.S. now joins the areas in red NATO members which have given Sweden and Finland the green life and yellow though which include Turkey, get to give the approval, no green light. The essential, the Nordic countries with both the most consequential expansion of the lines since the 1990s.
You may have heard the Republican outrage machine now in high gear in high volume after the FBI search of Donald Trump's president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is vowing to investigate Attorney Merrick Garland, Attorney General I should say, and the Justice Department if Republicans regain control of the House, former Vice President Mike Pence says he shares the concern of millions of Americans over the Mar-a-Lago search. I don't know former president has been subjected to a raid on their personal residence.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley says Garland must be impeached, that FBI director Christopher Wray appointed by Trump must be removed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: I've talked to him twice today. And I told him that, you know, there's legal systems in his country, avail yourself of it, and time will tell as to what's going on and they President Trump is determined now more than ever, to straighten his country up. I think this President, President Trump is going to push through this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And, of course, there's Lindsey Graham. CNN sources are shedding a little more light on exactly what FBI agents were looking for at Mar-a-Lago and why they took the unprecedented step of searching a former president's home. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has more now reporting from Washington.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We are now learning more behind that extraordinary search conducted and former President Trump's primary residence at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, including that authorities believed that the former president had potentially not turned over all of the documents that he had taken with him when he left the White House, of course, that is at the center of this investigation, something that we know authorities had been looking at for months now after the National Archives referred this case to the Justice Department given there had been concerns that he had taken classified information with him, potentially mishandled it, of course, by taking it out of the grasp of the federal government. And so we are now learning that after they had sent over some boxes, back to the net National Archives there were concerns that authorities had that they had not sent over everything. And that also comes after CNN reported there have been a meeting between investigators and Trump's attorneys at Mar-a-Lago in early June when they were actually shown a room where some of those documents were being held.
[01:10:17]
So of course, now a big question is what exactly was still in those documents that investigators took with them after they went and searched the property on Monday. For the president himself, the former president, he has been in Bedminster, New Jersey at his other club. He actually hosted Republicans on Tuesday, and sources said he is feeling boosted by this and the support that he is getting from Republicans and the criticism that they have been putting out against the Justice Department for this search warrant. Certainly an extraordinary one against the former president. When it goes to the Biden White House, they are not really commenting and said saying no one in the White House, got a heads up to this search was going to happen and found out about it like everyone else did. Kaitlan Collins, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now from Chicago, Renato Mariotti, is a former U.S. Federal Prosecutor, now host of the on topic podcast. Thanks for being with us.
RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Happy to be here.
VAUSE: OK, so when it comes to the question of timing, you know, why now, is the answer to be found in how the FBI got the warrant in the first place by convincing a judge of probable cause that a crime had been committed evidence of that crime was in Trump's former home. And with that, I want you to listen to the former president's lawyer. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN BOBB, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: The supporting documentation of what the probable cause was to obtain the warrant has been sealed. So we're not allowed to see that, you'd have -- we have to go to court to request the judge to release that which, you know, may or may not happen. So we don't know what the probable causes why they were allowed to search. But they did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK, so what does this all say to you? And when would you expect to see the Department of Justice bringing an actual case?
MARIOTTI: So regarding your first question about timing, I think the timing had to do with potentially the evidence that the Justice Department had in other words, they likely had obtained evidence that suggested, for example, that, based upon the reporting, we just heard, perhaps there's dishonesty regarding the records that had been held by the former president, and they had evidence that certain records were contained within Mar-a-Lago.
And one thing that they don't want to do is let that evidence go stale. And so they need to act quickly. While that evidence is fresh, if they want to obtain a search warrant. You know, regarding what that lawyer said, everything that she said is consistent with how every criminal case works, pretty much in other words, you know, when my clients have their home or office searched, I get a copy of the warrant, but I don't get the underlying affidavit that usually is not released until after charges are filed.
VAUSE: OK, so let me get to the why part, the question here is why and you touched on this. CNN is reporting the search of Mar-a-Lago came after the authorities believe the former president or his team had not returned all the documents and other materials that were property of the government. It's pretty bland. So if all this ends up being about preservation of presidential records, rather than something, you know, more seriously, with January 6, perhaps, could that jeopardize future investigations, or giving Trump a much needed political boost?
MARIOTTI: One thing I would suggest that all the viewers take into account is that the information we're receiving now is almost certainly from Trump's team. They've seen the warrant, they're characterizing what's in the warrant and what they know, which is very limited, potentially, but they're giving us their side of the story. I doubt we're hearing from the Justice Department, the evidence that they have, and I suspect that the allegations here are more serious than purely the fact that he had records.
We know that there were discussions between Trump's team and the Justice Department. We know for example, there was reporting that the attorneys from the Justice Department actually went to Mar-a-Lago and met with his counsel. So they in obtained boxes of documents. So there were additional boxes of documents that were seized the other day, I suspect that there was something that led the Justice Department to seek a search warrant and seize those records and something that compelled that judge to sign that search warrant. And I suspect that we will find more about that in the weeks and months to come.
VAUSE: At this point, would it be a good idea for someone from the Justice Department to step up and clarify the reasons for executing the search warrant?
MARIOTTI: You know, Justice Department usually does not comment regarding ongoing investigations. And the last time a leader in the Justice Department thought it was a great idea to comment about an ongoing investigation with James Comey during the Clinton investigation, and that really did not turn out very well for the Justice Department. If I were counseling Attorney General Garland, I was suggested he just play this by the book and, you know, do what they usually do is just say as little as possible.
VAUSE: Good point. Very quickly as to the accusation that this is all been politicized by the White House, I want you to listen to the White House Press Secretary on what the White House knew and the president knew. Here we go.
[01:15:03]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No. The President was not briefed, did not -- was not aware of it. No. No one at the White House was given a heads up. No, that did not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So we're assuming she's telling the truth that removes the administration from being involved in this from the get go in many ways. But isn't the entire process of getting a search warrant lengthy and difficult and actually designed to be immune from politics in the first place?
MARIOTTI: Yes, I mean, I will just say, in my experience, I was a federal prosecutor for almost a decade, I do not know anything about politics being involved in a search warrant process. There's generally a supervisory process within the Justice Department. And in this case, I'm sure that that went up all the way to the top levels of the Justice Department. In other words, many prosecutors, career prosecutors and appointed prosecutors were involved in that decision. And then it went to a federal judge who made his own determination regarding probable cause, you know, frankly, the there's a lot of outrage and hyperbole about this investigation. But we know very little other than the fact that a lot of prosecutors and a federal judge thought that there was evidence of a crime inside that residence.
VAUSE: To say nothing of the Trump appointed head of the FBI. Renato Mariotti, thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.
MARIOTTI: Thank you.
VAUSE: Still to come deadly torrential rainfall, hammering the South Korean capital, bringing ongoing threat of flash flooding. Also holiday from hell at a tourist resort on China's Hainan Island, 1000s of tourists caught up in a surprise COVID locked down, now allowed to go home.
And later, in the United States why public camping is now considered a serious offense a felony in some states.
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VAUSE: Record rainfall in Seoul South Korea has killed at least nine people, others remain unaccounted for, homes, roads, subway stations were flooded. Many areas lost power hundreds forced to evacuate. Cars and buses were left abandoned across roads and sidewalks blocking traffic early Tuesday. More heavy rain is expected Thursday. Let's go to CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri more on this. You know, what can you say, this is just the new normal. We have to get used to it.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The intensity picks up. Yeah, I know we've talked so much about when it comes to warmer temperatures around the world, it retains more moisture, warm air certainly can hold more moisture than cooler air can and when you see increased frequency of these heavy rain events and this is the wet season. You expect heavy rain but this particular round of heavy rain is as historic as it gets here in the typical pattern this time of year onset typically from May into July and you begin to see this flourish across the Korean Peninsula into Japan from July into August or what's known as the Mei-Yu-Baiu fronts and the direct translation for this is the plum rains and the ancient Chinese will tell you all about it. When the plum rains were experienced about 40 to 50 days of heavy rainfall, you knew it was time to harvest the plums and that was the case back centuries ago. Of course climatologically perspective of this kind of shows you how it lays out with July and August peaking at the wettest smell of the year.
[01:20:01]
But the wettest months of the year typically brings about 350 millimeters. The amount that we're seeing in a matter of 48 hours for about six weeks' worth of rainfall in a period of two days. And that's what led to the flooding here and soul included with a half a meter coming down in a span of two days, again, coming in with the wettest month of the year, but picking up six weeks' worth of it in that span of time notice the one hour total 141 millimeters a record for rainfall amount in Seoul in just one hour observed across that region, wasn't just so, you work your way a little farther towards the east, northern areas of Japan also picking up about a quarter of a meter or more in a matter of just a few hours. And the pattern is still stays put here.
We don't expect the historic amounts of rainfall to continue. But anytime you've kind of experienced historic rainfall. Any additional rains will be problematic and that's the concern. Southern central areas of South Korea just south of Seoul, is where we expect the heaviest rains to be in place here over the next 24 to 48 hours.
Now, Europe another big story developing that's the excessive heat in place there, another heat wave the fourth of the summer season building in farther towards the north. Look at London touch 30 degrees here on Wednesday the average in the lower 20s. Berlin climbs there, John, and stays there for the next seven or so days well above the average of 27 for this time of year. So we talked about a new norm the seven day forecast pretty much shows where the norms are and where the new temperatures are.
VAUSE: Get used to it. Pedram, thank you.
VAUSE: After a sudden COVID locked down last week, tourists are now being allowed to leave the resorts of Sanya on China's Hainan Island. Official say a lot about 80,000 tourists who are impacted by the surprise lockdown. Live to Hong Kong now, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout standing over details.
OK, so we're looking what 80,000 people on Hainan Island. They've been caught up in this. But this isn't the only place in China where there's a surprise it's a lockdown. You're not going anywhere. KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, there are a number of places that are being stuck in the sort of zero COVID lockdowns. In fact, most recently, just a month ago, you had the situation in Bay High, the southern resorts city where 2000 tourists were stuck there. And COVID cases are rising in a number of popular domestic tourist destinations like Shaman, like Xinjiang, like Tibet. But in terms of finance because the focus has been on that Southern tropical island this week, we have learned that charter flights are finally getting the stranded tourists off the island. This is according to state run media, they report that tourists who have been stuck there are being sent back home in batches. The first batch they were able to be sent back to a home to the Xi'an on Tuesday. So this is an operation that presumably will go on.
For 80,000 tourists on Hainan what was supposed to be an idyllic, you know, beach getaways turned into this vacation nightmare when over the weekend you had officials in Sanya, this is the resort city in Hainan immediately and hastily imposed a lockdown in order to curb rising cases of COVID-19. The number of cases very low compared to the west. But again, this is zero COVID China so it was enough to sort of start and kick start these zero COVID measures including starting from Saturday, people's movements were restricted. Public transportation was suspended a rule was put in place that you had to stay put for seven days and clear five COVID test before you were allowed to leave officials. They acknowledged the inconvenience they pledged to help stranded travelers there. But for many it was just too much as we've seen in social media accounts.
And also one account that we got from one traveler. Let's bring it up for you. This is from a foreign tourists. He's based in Shanghai. He was doing domestic travel in China. And he had to do undergo numerous COVID tests when in line for them. And for him, he just said enough was enough. He told CNN, "This situation going forward is unsustainable. It's a little bit like Russian roulette on where you go whether or not that area is going to get locked down." He requested not to be named over fears of nationalistic blowback. Back to you, John.
VAUSE: OK, so we're not just talking about tourists here. I mean, which obviously is a big impact across the country. But its factories, its schools, its universities. I mean, the list goes on. How much is this costing China to continue on with this zero COVID policy?
LU STOUT: Yeah, absolutely. And we have been covering this nonstop this year. It is exacting a huge toll on lives and livelihoods in China. This punishing zero COVID strategy. We've seen what it did in Shanghai with the prolonged COVID locked down there, the impact that it had on production, on the services sector, on the supply chain, the list goes on.
Now, it's interesting to see how it's hitting the domestic tourism industry. Look, we've known since the start of the pandemic international travelers and business travelers have not been able to enter the country the way that they were able to do so before. So for the domestic travel industry, they had to rely on Chinese tourists in order to keep churning and to keep their businesses afloat. But looking at what's happened in Hainan that is scaring off a lot of domestic travelers and that's just going to mean more bad news for another sector inside China. Back to you, John.
VAUSE: Staycation, stay home, beautiful. Best thing to do, recommend. Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout, take care.
LU STOUT: Thank you.
[01:25:07]
VAUSE: Well, votes are being counted in Kenya's general election of the country's electoral commission has received more than 90% of the presidential ballots, but they're yet to be verified. And as CNN's Larry Madowo reports counting the votes, it's a painstaking process.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Kenyan democracy in action in a uniquely Kenyan, maybe unusual way after poll close nationwide, they do this, counting the votes manually, one by one by one, as you see there, and all the candidates agents all have to agree on who voted for before that's considered as a legitimate vote. This happens across the nation. 46,000 polling stations in this election, several streams in each polling station. They do this sometimes overnight into the next day until every vote is counted. If there's a dispute, that's for the side, no hanging chads here. Why? Because even though the voter identification is electronic, they're voting and the counting is manual, because there's a huge amount of distrust. People don't trust each other, people don't trust technology. And this is the only way most Kenyans feel they can trust whatever outcome is declared.
There's a bit of a concern in this election about low voter turnout in all the polling stations we went to in this part of Eldoret. This is Deputy President William Ruto's stronghold. The voters essentially dried out by afternoon and that's appears to have been replicated across the country. Deputy President William Ruto is going up against Raila Oding, the former Prime Minister, the leader of opposition. They have been leading every opinion poll conducted. They will likely one of them will be the next President of the Republic of Kenya.
However, if neither of them gets 50% of the votes, then there will be a runoff between the two leading candidates, the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission has until Monday to declare the results. And if there's a runoff that we'll have in a couple of weeks, if either candidates can test the election outcome in court, then that could be get could get thrown out as happened in 2017. There could be another election in October, but we have to wait and see who it is that Kenyans elected to be the next leader. Larry Madowo, CNN, Eldoret, Kenya.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still come here on CNN with Russia losing 1000s of troops on the battlefield in Ukraine, the Kremlin is our turning to prisoners, for new recruits. Also Haiti in the throes of crisis gang violence hunger, a government that does not function. We'll find out who failed Haiti, when we come back.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
As Russian troop losses mount in Ukraine, Moscow is looking for new recruits within the prison system. From drug offenders to murderers, they're being offered freedom to join the fight.
It seems many are taking up the Kremlin on this offer. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has our report.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The camera is in the unsteady hands of a prisoner where the apparent scene is still startling. Convicts in a southern Russia penitentiary being recruited to fight the Kremlin's war in Ukraine, according to a witness.
It's an offer being made in cramped persons across Russia. One prisoner, like many in this murky underworld, it is rare to glimpse inside wanted his identity hidden, as he explained the deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rapists, pedophiles, extremists, terrorists are not taken. Murderers are accepted.
WALSH: What are the terms of the contract?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amnesty in six months.
WALSH: What kind of money are they promising?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: somebody talks about 100,000 rubles. Somebody about 200,000.
WALSH: Russia's small victories in this war come with huge losses, and after about six months, regular soldiers have been hit hard with up to 60,000 Russian dead or wounded troops, say western officials.
So now Russia is making ugly choices in its ugly war, sending convicts to fight. But for this prisoner with years left on a drug sentence, joining up, swap certain incarceration for a slim chance of freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it is real, then I am all for. It's either be in prison for nine years or get out in six months, if you are lucky. But that's if you are lucky.
They can promise one thing, but in fact, everything will be different. This is Russia.
WALSH: Since the start of July, for multiple crowded prisons inside Russia, like this one, whose dank cells are shown in activist video, inmates have told relatives of an almost identical offer made by apparent private military contractors.
Military experience is not essential and monthly pay can be up to $3,500, a six-month tour leads to an amnesty or pardon, but first, there is usually two weeks training in southern Russia.
And then often, there is silence, as the prisoners disappear in Russia's gray zone of expendable contractors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we have information that they want to recruit about 2,000 or 3,000 of prisoners. And for example, if they will die in the war, they will pay 5 million rubles to their family of this prisoner.
There is no really contract. There is no really guarantee to protect the rights or the health or their lives.
WALSH: Sometimes, the offer comes with fanfare. This helicopter flying recruiters to one prison, activists said, these are convicts, yes, but they still face agonizing choices. Weighing a shot at freedom against a violent death. One person explained his decision to his brother in these texts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going, don't tell mother either way, it is better that way, or else she will worry a lot and react to every piece of news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is it, we will react to every news. If you tell us where you are and what you are doing, we will be calmer, as at least we will know where to look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even I don't know that. Everything will be decided on the spot. I do know we are going to the 12th prison. And once gathered there to Rostov (ph) for two weeks, where there is a center and then to the territory.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm willing to go, lots of options, but there is only one. That is why I agree.
WALSH: Another prisoner's sister describes how he almost vanished after receiving the offer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no definitive proof that he is in Ukraine. He went to his mother on the tenth and said he was in Rostov. And to all of her questions, he replied, mother, I can't talk. Because she was glad he should go, as he would get money. But now, when I talk to her, she is afraid.
All have the same scenario. Their man asked them to send their passport details, so they can get their salaries, and then there is silence.
[01:34:46]
WALSH: What contact there has been has been darker still. Two wives of prisoners sent to the front from one Saint Petersburg prison say they have been contacted and told that their husbands lie injured in a hospital in separatist-controlled Luhansk. And a total of ten prisoners from that one prison alone are now dead or injured.
Another, a mother, has said that she has been contacted by an anonymous individual and told that she can soon collect her sons wages in cash.
Russia's regard for the norms of war or even prison long gone.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Clashes and anger in parts of the West Bank after an Israeli military operation killed a senior commander of the militant group the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.
Gunfire erupted in the old city of (INAUDIBLE) Tuesday, when Israeli forces surrounded a building, and targeted it with a shoulder fired missile. The Israeli police released helmet cam footage showing the operation. Three Palestinians were killed, including a regional commander for the militant group who is accused of being involved in shooting attacks on Israelis in the West Bank.
That Israeli raid triggered clashes across the West Bank. In Hebron, the Israeli Army said it responded with live fire as the Palestinians threw rocks and burned explosives. Palestinian health ministers say a 17-year-old was shot and killed by the IDF.
In recent days, U.S. authorities have rescued and detained hundreds of Haitian migrants from the waters of Florida. They are among thousands trying to escape the country hit by gang warfare, widespread poverty, and a dysfunctional government.
More than a year since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, gangs have now taken control of parts of the capital.
The World Food Programme's top official in Haiti has this assessment of the ongoing crisis.
JEAN MARTIN BAUER, UNITED NATIONS, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: This is a very hazard prone environment, just think of what's happening over the past dozen years in Haiti, we had a major earthquake in 2010, followed by cholera. There is also Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and then a major earthquake last year that killed 2,000 people. So it just doesn't stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) is the Caribbean correspondent for the "Miami Herald", she's with us this hour from Miami. Thank you for being with us.
JACQUELINE CHARLES, CARIBBEAN CORRESPONDENT, "MIAMI HERALD": Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Ok. So, in terms of government provided services, you know, in the institutions, the things that make society work. At this point, what is working, and what isn't working, because we've had a report that there is a police swat team, for instance, it goes out and confront the gangs. There's government planned elections for November. So some things are still working, but overall how dysfunctional is Haiti?
CHARLES: F1: Haiti's very dysfunctional, I mean there isn't a parliament, there's a government that is not elected. The government may say that they planned elections for November, but this current prime minister has not been able to sit an election council, which is needed to carry out an election.
So, police are functioning but they outgunned and outmanned. Today you have police officers who were sleeping in police stations, because they can't go home, because they live in some of these very neighborhoods that have been taken over by gangs.
And we're talking about rank and file, to even, you know, top officials in the police force. They're basically sleeping in police stations.
VAUSE: So, for a typical Haitian family, how do they navigate the violence and the chaos, to just simply live their lives?
CHARLES: So, I was just recently in Haiti, I saw this play out for myself. I mean people don't go to the beach they go to a hotel preferably some play close to home. 3:00 in the afternoon on a weekday, people are rushing into their homes, it's not that kidnappings don't happen during the day. But people are just doing whatever they think they can to provide themselves of security.
People are getting dogs, you know, rottweiler, they're selling 1,500 dollars of a pup. They're building wall higher. They're hiring private their hiring private secret if they could, but a lot of people are
fleeing, not just people who don't have documents or passports, or taking votes. But people with visas and with passports. They're migrating to the Dominican Republic. And even here to Miami, because this is just become a situation that is untenable and unlivable.
VAUSE: And it has been a sort of slow, years-long depressing downward spiral for Haiti. If you go back just a few years October of 2019. "New York Times" said the headline, "There is no hope, crisis pushes Haiti to the brink of collapse". Two months later, the Daily Observer in neighboring Jamaica, "Haiti nearing a total crash".
September last year, a report from Bloomberg "Gangs now run Haiti filling a vacuum left by years of collapse". Haiti's troubles, over the years, have all been documented, we've read the headlines and the response from the rest of the world seems to be in a collective sigh and a shrug of the shoulders, and a belief that well, they'll struggle through somehow.
CHARLES: I know right. I mean 2019, we have what we called (INAUDIBLE) and the government tried to raise fuel prices, and the whole country was shut down, and that was for months. You, know as Haitians, we always talk about the fact that just when you think that things can't get any worse, they always managed to do so.
And yes some international communities starting with the United States here's this violence or there is this, oh no, things are not worsening. Well, they've been worse before all this has happened.
[01:39:53]
CHARLES: But the reality is, today, is you are dealing with a country where people do feel a sense of hopelessness, where gangs have basically taken up every space in the capital. Things that you took for granted, being able to go for a walk or go to a restaurant, you can't do it.
Even foreign diplomats are no longer immune, we've had several cases where they have been kidnapped.
So things are not looking, you know, very bright today in this country. What we hear from people in Haiti is they want relief. Whether it's the guy on the street who's selling bread, or the professional who really wants to contribute to their country, something has got to give.
VAUSE: Here's part of a statement from the Organization of American States, blaming a global failure for the current gang violence which is gripping the country, reads in part, "This barrier has to do with 20 years of erratic political strategies by an international community, that was not capable of facilitating the construction of a single institution with the capacity to address the problems facing Haitians.
After 20 years, not a single institution is stronger than it was before. It just seems that, you know, we're going down the same path again. The actor to do what Haitians actually really need. And that is to bolster these institutions.
CHARLES: Well there is. There is a lot of debate, you know, in terms of what do you do? Everyone is talking about those comments from the Secretary General Amaldo (ph). Because they are from the OAS, the OAS is part of the international communities, so people are curious.
Who exactly the international communities is referring, and does the OAS share in some of that responsibility? What is the solution, what is the roadmap? People are applauding the fact that the OAS recognizes the role that the international community has played, and what is taking place here today.
Haitians have their share of blame no doubt, but they didn't get here by themselves.
VAUSE: Absolutely, they had a lot of help in getting to this bad point along the way, unfortunately. But Jacqueline, thank you so much for being with us we appreciate it.
CHARLES: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Still to come police now have a suspect in custody for allegedly killing four Muslim men in New Mexico. CNN was inside the suspect's home, just hours before his arrest, and spoke to his family. Hear what his daughter and the police are saying about the arrest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico say they have arrested the primary suspect in the killings of four Muslim men. Mohammed Sayeed was caught almost 200 kilometers from Albuquerque. He faces two homicide charges with more charges still likely.
Police say there's evidence that he knew his victims and the conflict now linked to the shooting, but a motive remains unknown.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more now reporting in from Albuquerque.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA: Investigators here in Albuquerque, New Mexico say tip from the public led them to 51-year-old Mohammed Sayeed. He is now accused of at least two of the four murders of Muslim men here in the area in the last two months.
[01:44:46[
LAVANDERA: Investigators say they have shell casing evidence that links Mohammed Sayeed in one of the weapons that he owns to several of these murders. They say they will continue working to find and dig up evidence that link Sayeed to the other two murders as well.
All of this transpiring very quickly, after authorities had released pictures of a gray Volkswagen Jedda that they believed Sayeed was driving to various of these murder scenes, possibly. He was discovered driving towards Texas, investigators say he was arrested in the city of Santa Rosa, and this happened just as investigators began searching, executing a search warrant at their home.
In a surreal scene, just hours before police made this announcement, we were inside Mohammed Sayeed's home, speaking with their families. His daughter tells us that about an hour before police arrived, he said he was going to drive to Texas. That he had plans of moving his family there.
They told us that despite all of this and what the police are saying, they do not believe that their father is responsible for these murders.
But despite that, investigators here insist that Mohammed Sayeed is the prime suspect, and that they can link right now at least two of these four murders.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Ed Lavandera, thank you.
So after years of steady decline in the number of homeless people in United States, it's now once again on the rise. Tennessee has taken unprecedented steps, making public camping a felony crime. In other states, it's a misdemeanor, a much lesser charge. Hear more now from CNN's Nick Watt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tennessee just became the first state in the nation to brand this a felony. Pitching a tent on public land that is not actually a campsite.
MOMMA V, UNHOUSED NASHVILLE RESIDENT: We are out here homeless, we are trying to struggle to make it. And they are just trying to make it worse on all of us by criminalizing it.
LINDSAY KRINKS, OPOEN TABLE, NASHVILLE: It's a huge deal. Because a felony offense carries up to six years in jail, a $3,000 fine, the loss of voting rights.
WATT: And makes finding a job or home even harder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WATT: The bill's sponsor declined our offer of interview, but said this:
PAUL BAILY, TENNESSEE STATE SENATE REPUBLICAN: This bill requires law enforcement to give a documented warning for the first incident, and any punishment thereafter is up to the prosecutorial discretion of the district attorney.
TENISHA GREEN: It's a felony to survive.
WATT: Tenisha Green says police have already told her she must now obey that sign.
GREEN: They say that it will be an action, we were going to jail.
WATT: Do you have any place else to go?
GREEN: I don't. I have been here a year.
WATT: Next door in Missouri, a similar law takes effect this month. -- a misdemeanor, not a felony but local governments that don't enforce the camping ban can be punished.
And money earmarked to build permanent housing must instead be used to fund treatment programs and build state sanctioned temporary homeless camps.
This is a push to put the most vulnerable people into internment camps.
WATT: Similar bills are now being considered in Arizona and Georgia.
We are sitting on the tipping point right now.
WATT: In Oklahoma are now being considered in Arizona and Georgia. We're sitting right on the tipping point right now. In Oklahoma and Wisconsin, similar bills were introduced but failed. And those similarities are no coincidence. They are all based on a
model bill produced by the cicero institute, a think tank in Austin, funded by a tech billionaire. Texas passed a version of Cicero's bill last year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no influence except the power of persuasion. We are merely saying, there seems to be a better idea. We know what is not working.
WATT: Something called Housing First has become the primary approach to tackling homelessness. Get someone an actual home, not a shelter bed. Offer, but don't mandate, addiction treatment. The rest should follow.
Many studies support this approach. Cicero does not.
We don't have decades to wait to build up brand new houses for everyone of those people. We need to have a solution that's acting right now.
WATT: He has addressed lawmakers in Tennessee.
LOUDON: Homework is damaged or bad for the homeless themselves.
WATT: And in Georgia.
LOUDON: We can offer you alternatives, but you have to move. You need that -- both the stick and the carrot and this bill provides those.
WATT: In a leafy Nashville suburb --
I'll continue or is she.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. This is what Becky Lowes local park now looks like. nothing has been working, we're exactly like what. She now supports this stick approach, the threat of a felony conviction for just tamping.
WATT: Where do you think these people should go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well we have dozens of shelters throughout Nashville.
HOWARD ALLEN, NASHVILLE HOMELAND UNDERGROUND: I was in a temporary shelter. I did not like it, because you are not treated as a human being.
WATT: A sentiment shared by many. Howard Allen now has a permanent home.
[01:49:39]
ALLEN: When I moved into my house, they put that key in my hand, I cried. And then I cried again. Because my brothers and sisters have the same thing that I have, housing. We can do it.
WATT: Maybe we can, but there seems to be increasing disagreement over how. How much carrot, how much stick?
Even here in liberal-leaning Los Angeles, after let's call it a lively public comment section. The L.A. City council has voted to ban camping, within 500 feet of any daycare center, and any school.
Nick Watt, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: In the U.K., soaring power bills are forcing a choice for many -- heat or eat? Household bill is expected to more than double by January to around $5,000 a year, that's about $450 a month, that means a third of all U.K. households will face poverty in the coming months according to the In Fuel Poverty Coalition.
Global (INAUDIBLE) gas crisis has driven up the energy crisis to record levels, all made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Research firm Cornell Insight did offer a glimmer of hope, predicting utility could drop in the back half of next year.
Still to come here on CNN, after 23 grand slam singles titles, 40 major doubles champions, four Olympic gold medals, and a whole lot of other stuff, Serena Williams is about to call it a day.
We look at her remarkable life on and off the court.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The world renowned Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake has died. His designs became popular in the 80s combining technology as well as art. An avantgarde style including -- sharp cleats, which he developed the main flow of fabric, he designed uniforms for workers at Sony, produced the black turtleneck regularly worn also Apple co- founder Steve Jobs.
Miyake was also known for a line of perfume. Many of his designs are housed at museums including London's Victoria and Albert museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Miyake walked with a pronounced limp, a result of surviving the 1945 Hiroshima bombings as a child.
According to his office, he died from cancer at 84 years old.
Tennis legend Serena Williams has announced she will begin to evolve away from tennis. Williams, who was widely hailed as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, says she is ready to focus on other things important to her after this year's U.S. Open which wrapped up in September.
She has inspired countless athletes throughout her decades long career, including tennis star Coco Gauff who credits Williams for advancing her own career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COCO GAUFF, TENNIS PLAYER: I grew up watching her. I mean that is the reason why I play tennis, and you know, tennis being a predominantly white sport, it definitely helped a lot. Because I some somebody look like me dominating the game, and it made me believe that I could dominate too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In a statement, tennis legend Billie Jean King remarked that if Serena steps away from tennis, she will leave as the sport's greatest player. After a career that has inspired a new generation of players and fans, she will forever be known as a champion, who won on the court and raised the global profile of the sport off of it.
CNN's Christina Macfarlane has more on Williams' success on and off the court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Serena Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion, has announced her impending retirement from tennis. Posting on Instagram Tuesday, the 40-year-old said there comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction. That time is always hard when you love something so much.
My goodness, do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun. I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals, and finally discovering a different, but just as exciting Serena. I'm going to relish these next few weeks.
[01:55:00]
SERENA WILLIAMS, TENNIS STAR: Thank you very much, it's great to be here.
MACFARLANE: For the past 23 years, she has redefined what it means to be a female athlete.
WILLIAMS: This is the greatest platform for a female athlete, and it's a great place to be.
MACFARLANE: Williams began to be noticed after winning the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1998, and was just 17 when she defeated then world number one Martina Hingis to win the U.S. Open.
WILLIAMS: I've been waiting my whole life for this moment, I've been practicing for so many years. And the U.S. Open was a tournament that I really wanted to win. MACFARLANE: She was the first African American woman since 1958 to win a grand slam singles title. There began an incredible rise and journey. Her most formidable opponent would become her sister Venus.
WILLIAMS: It's always challenging playing her, the first part is because she is so good, and the second part is because she's my sister, and I really want the best for her, including for her to win everything.
MACFARLANE: Together, they're unlike anything tennis had seen before. Distinct and determined. Serena would emerge with more titles, defeating Venus in four straight finals, beginning in 2002. A feat dubbed the Serena Slam.
Williams also delighted in emerging as a fashion and cultural icon, from catsuits, corset to cut outs, no one did it quite like Serena.
WILLIAMS: It's just a great feeling.
MACFARLANE: By 2012, Williams had nearly won it all. but at the London Olympics, she completed a Golden Serena Slam, claiming singles and doubles titles.
WILLIAMS: When I walked out there, I thought, I love gold, it's my favorite color, let me get gold. I don't want to get silver, let me get gold. This is what I want.
MACFARLANE: Her story has already become the stuff of Hollywood Legend. Will Smith won an Oscar playing her father.
WILL SMITH, ACTOR: I wrote me 78-page plan for their whole career, before they were even born.
MACFARLANE: Yet in sports her startling legacy seems to have fall one minute short. 23 grand slam singles, one shy of the all-time record. But arguably, it was her greatest win, defeating her sister Venus while eight weeks pregnant at the 2017 Australian open.
Her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., would change her life forever. But never, her determination to be the best.
WILLIAMS: I love tennis, and I love, you know, I love what I do. And right now, I just have to commit to me.
MACFARLANE: She says she is evolving away from sport, but only after the sport evolved because of her.
Christina Macfarlane, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause, please stay with us.
The news continues after a very short break with Alison Kosik. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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