Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Outgoing U.N. Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet Releases Controversial Findings On Her Final Day; IAEA Team Heading To Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant; E,U. Going To Suspend Visa Agreement With Russia; Despite Conflict, Ukrainian Students Return to School; Zelenskyy's Message Begins the 90th Venice Film Festival; Spain's Famous La Tomatina Makes Comeback; Threats to Democracy Will Be the Topic of Biden's Primetime Speech; Alabama Pastor Wrongfully Detained While Watering Neighbor's Flowers. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 01, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:36]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead. Down to the wire and explosive report drops just minutes before the end of a top U.N. officials tenure. What it includes and why China is so angry about it. Striking back. Donald Trump's response to the bombshell filing by the U.S. Department of Justice.

And back to school. Ukrainian children packing their notebooks, pencils and textbooks for classes and underground bunkers.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And thank you for joining us. For the long-awaited U.N. report on China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslims has finally been released. And Beijing is already blasting the findings, saying they are a fast planned by the U.S. and other Western countries. The overall assessment by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights is that serious human rights violations have been committed in China's Xinjiang province.

That assessment is based on interviews with 40 people of Uyghurs, Kazakh and Kirghiz ethnicities. The report says "allegations of patterns of torture or ill treatment including force medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender based violence."

The report years in the making was released in the final minutes of Michelle Bachelet term as human rights commissioner. And CNN's Steven Jiang brings us reaction from Beijing. But first we go to Kristie Lu Stout who joins us live from Hong Kong. So Kristie, what are the main takeaways in this U.N. report containing serious human rights violations?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, Rosemary, here's the report in this 45 pages long. It was also released just minutes before the end of the tenure of the outgoing U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bashley. And this is a damning document. It says serious human rights violations were committed in Xinjiang. It says crimes against humanity may have been committed in the region as well.

And it systematically goes through all the key allegations that have been leveled against Beijing for the way it's been treating Uyghurs Muslims as well as other ethnic Muslim groups in Xinjiang, including rape and sexual violence, including torture and even forced medical treatment. And critically, this report says all those allegations are "credible." Other report uses voices of people who had first hand or direct experience of what was happening inside these detention centers inside Xinjiang.

They either work there since 2016 or have been detained there since 2016. And a number of individuals said that they were subjected to forms of forced medical treatment that they are regularly administered injections or pills. I'm going to bring up one such account for you that comes from the U.N. Human Rights report in which one individual says this "we received one tablet a day, it looked like aspirin, we were lined up, and someone with gloves systematically checked our mouths to make sure we swallowed it."

Other spoke of various forms of sexual violence, including sexual humiliation, including rape, including invasive exams, and one woman said that one such exam took place in a very public fashion. And it made "old women ashamed and young girls cry." And when you read these accounts, they are distressing. They are disturbing as well. All in this new U.N. Human Rights report.

Now China has blasted the release of the report, said that it's based on disinformation in lies. We have this statement for you which comes from China's mission to the U.N. in Geneva in which they say this "all ethnic groups, including the Uyghurs are equal members of the Chinese nation. Xinjiang has taken actions to fight terrorism and extremism in accordance with the law, effectively curbing the frequent occurrences of terrorist activities."

Look, China has called the camps in Xinjiang, vocational training centers, educational retraining centers. The U.N. has for years now cited experts that have called them extrajudicial detention camps. The report also lists a number of recommendations.

[02:05:03]

Among them, recommendation for the Chinese government to take prompt steps to release all those who have been arbitrary detained. Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. And Steven, let's go to you as we just heard China's not happy, in fact very angry about this report and is making that very clear. What all is Beijing saying? STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Rosemary, their responses can probably be described as fast and furious. And Kristie mentioned some of that, all of that not surprising. Now, this report was released just some 40 days before this all-important Communist Party Congress where Xi Jinping is almost certain to assume a precedent breaking third term as the country's supreme leader.

So from the outside, this may be an embarrassing moment for him. But when you look at the reality here, Xinjiang is one of the most heavily censored and indoctrinated subjects in this country. So, it does seem many, if not most Chinese people have bought into the party -- party's version of events. So the leadership, he could actually take advantage of this report by a further whipping up nationalism at a time when they were facing a growing number of domestic challenges, including the economy.

Actually, as we speak, CNN viewers in China are staring at a screen of color bars as the censors here, again, not surprisingly, have blocked our coverage on this topic. Not remember Xi Jinping very recently went to Xinjiang in July. And really, that was widely viewed as a victory tour because he has time and again said his policy on Xinjiang is "absolutely correct." Now, the underlying message from his most recent trip was that the success of his heart line policy was why the region has become stabilized allowing the authorities to now refocus on economic growth.

So the message is very clear. That is they're not really pulling back from the harsh crackdowns in the region. Instead, the massive infrastructure of surveillance and security has now become part of the region's daily routine and a social fabric, which in a way is even scarier. Another point worth noting, of course, is the late release of this report, just some 12 days ahead of the U.N. Human Rights Council this last session this year may make it difficult for some member states to go through the details and make up their mind.

So this could also work in China's favor. And remember China already holds of great sway within the U.N. system, including at the U.N. Human Rights Council. They're a Beijing aligned bloc has in the past consistently voted on any resolutions condemning China's human rights, including Xinjiang. So it's very likely that Beijing's carrots and sticks approach with other countries as well as its attempt to redefine human rights may still work even with this stronger than expected conclusion in this latest U.N. report. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, Steven Jiang in Beijing. Many thanks to you both.

U.N. inspectors are now on route to the embattled Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, amid fears that shelling around the facility could trigger a nuclear accident. And just last hour, we saw the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency head out from the city of Zaporizhia to make the roughly two-hour drive to that facility. Before they left the head of the agency spoke about the risks involved in their mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAFAEL GROSSI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: We are moving. We are aware of the current situation there has been increased military activity, including this morning. Until very recently, a few minutes ago, I have been briefed by the Ukrainian regional military commander here about that and the inherent risks but weighing the pros and cons and having come so far, we are not stopping. We are moving now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A startling moment near the Russian city of Belgorod, a rocket or missile appears to veer off course and into a residential area. The city is close to the border with Ukraine. There has been no comment from local officials and it's unclear how much damage was caused or whether there were any casualties.

Moscow says the European Union is shooting itself in the foot by moving to suspend its visa agreement with Russia. The E.U. reached a consensus to do that at its meeting in Prague on Wednesday. It would make it harder for many Russians to travel to the E.U. But as Fred Pleitgen reports the decision is yet to receive the final green light.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this decision by the E.U. foreign ministers will still have to be ratified by a formal European Union summit.

[02:10:02]

And it's definitely not the full on visa ban that many Eastern European and North Eastern European countries would have wanted. It is more of a compromise. And essentially, what it does is it makes it more difficult for Russians to obtain visas to come to the European Union. The process gets more difficult, the process gets more complicated, the process takes longer. And the process also becomes more expensive.

And there are certainly E.U. officials who believe that fewer Russians will be able to come to the European Union. Now, this does not preclude some European countries from taking even tougher measures. And there are some who have called the decision that was made a first step and have said that they might put in place even tougher measures unilaterally or perhaps in conjunction with some other European Union member states.

The Russians, for their part, have already angrily reacted to all of this. In fact, Russia's deputy foreign minister has said that there will be a staunch reaction coming from the Russian Federation. And that reaction could be symmetrical or asymmetric. Not exactly clear what the Russians mean by that. But certainly the Russians do say they are going to take a very tough line.

Fred Pleitgen CNN, Moscow.

CHURCH: And CNN's Melissa Bell is following developments on the Atomic Energy Agency inspectors heading towards that nuclear plant in Zaporizhia. What is the latest that you have on this? MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've left the city of Zaporizhia and they're heading towards that plant. It's couple of hours drive, even though it's just sort of south along the Dnipro river there, Rosemary. And as you heard a moment ago, Rafael Grossi really acknowledging this morning, the very significant risks involved in this trip. Now bear in mind that the very reason that they need to get there and the reason he explained once again this morning that it was necessary that this mission take place is precisely what's making it very difficult for them to carry out.

And that is that of course this power plant is on the front line in the gray zone, as he called it between the last lines of defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the first lines of occupation of the Russian forces. Now, it is near the town of Enerhodar and what we are waiting to hear is how safely they're able to get there when they're able to get to this powerplant.

Now what Rafael Grossi said this morning, he was hoping to do their first mission. He said was to get to the plant, see about its safety and security with a view then to being able to set up a permanent mission inside the plant. That is their long-term aim. But it is of course fraught with difficulty. There was some question when they were here in Kyiv, on Tuesday about how safely they'd be able to get to Zaporizhia.

And there are some questions this morning about how safely they will get to the plant itself. Remember that the plant itself, Rosemary has been at the heart of shelling and of accusations on the part of Ukraine. That it is being used as a military base, that military hardware is being kept there and that shelling is being carried out from there. So, given all of those accusations, it's essential that the team are able to get there simply that we can find out exactly what's been going on.

And of course, the extent of that damage. So we're keeping a very close eye on this, Rosemary. The arrival of that 14 team -- 14 strong team at the Zaporizhia Power Plant, what access they're going to get and how their triggers along the way, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. Such an important but dangerous mission. Melissa Bell joining us live from Kyiv keeping an eye on those developments. Appreciate it.

Well, Donald Trump's lawyers will be in a Florida courtroom in the day ahead making their case for a special master to review documents seized in the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago was state. Trump's legal team claims it's no surprise agents found classified material at his home, and it was never cause for alarm. The Justice Department sees things differently though accusing the former president of hiding and moving documents to obstruct its investigation.

CNN's Sara Murray has our report.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Trump team is doubling down on their request for a special master to review the materials that were seized from that August search in Mar-a-Lago. That's from a court filing from the Trump team on Wednesday night. They say the notion that presidential records contained sensitive material should not have been caused for alarm and they say the National Archives should have continued to negotiate in good faith with the former president to get those documents back.

Of course, we know those negotiations went on for months and the former president still had not returned all of those. Now, the Trump team did not rebut fact, by fact and many of the damning items the Justice Department laid out in a court filing and their narrative events earlier this week. They did take issue with a June 3rd meeting. The Trump team says has been significantly mischaracterized.

This is when investigators showed up at Mar-a-Lago to collect documents after they'd issued a subpoena. And a Trump lawyer signed a document saying essentially we've handed over everything with declassified markings pursuant to the subpoena.

[02:15:02]

Of course we later learned from the Justice Department that was not the case. There were many documents with classified markings left behind at Mar-a-Lago. The Trump team also had some pretty pointed words for how the Justice Department has conducted themselves saying, left unchecked, the DOJ will impugn leak and publicize selective aspects of their investigation, with no recourse for movement, that's Trump.

But to somehow trust the self restraint of currently unchecked investigators. Of course, the moves the FBI have made so far had been signed off on it by a judge, but we are going to hear more about this fight in hearing in Florida on Thursday, Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Republicans in Congress continue to leap to the former president's defense. Take a listen to Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado Wednesday night on Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEN BUCK (R-CO): I understand that former president's former secretary of state's may very well have classified information, he may be writing a memoir, he may be writing an autobiography. And the fact that he had documents in and of itself isn't a concern. How he treated those documents and what negotiations occurred with the archivist we just don't know at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So let's talk more about this with Jessica Levinson. She is a professor at Loyola Law School and host of the podcast Passing Judgment. Good to have you with us.

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So Donald Trump's lawyers have now responded to the DOJ is explosive court filing that alleges White House classified documents were hidden and moved to obstruct the investigation into how those materials were handled. Trump's legal team says they want more transparency and oversight of the DOJ and a doubling down on their call for a special master to review those documents. What do you make of their response?

LEVINSON: Well, it was a very muddled response. It was a bit chaotic. But I think in the end, it didn't really address either the factual assertions in the DOJ filing. Of course, the background to the filing was filled with those allegations that you just mentioned that Trump and/or his attorney really obstructed the investigation by willfully hiding these documents. And then the DOJ filing pivoted to.

And here's the law as to why Trump is not entitled to a special master. And that's where I saw he really didn't respond. And the reasons are really pretty damning and difficult for Trump to respond. He seems to have given up on some of the arguments. He's focusing in on this idea, a little bit of executive privilege. But as the Department of Justice laid out, there's binding Supreme Court precedent that indicates in this type of scenario where it's part of the executive branch, looking at these documents for very specific purposes.

And the assertion, which is kind of clumsily asserted here is executive privilege, it makes no sense to have a special master.

CHURCH: And Trump and his team were very angry about this photo being included in that filing of highly classified documents. If we bring that picture up again, those documents found at his Mar-a-Lago office. The shocking image tells the story, of course. So given this DOJ filing and the response from Trump's lawyers, what are you expecting today when the judge makes a ruling on whether the former president gets a special master he's requesting to review White House documents found at Mar-a-Lago?

LEVINSON: Well, one thing I want to point out about the picture is we wouldn't have seen any of this if Trump hadn't asked for a special master. So basically, every step along the way, we know more, and what we've learned every step along the way is worse for Trump because of what he said. He called the search warrant itself into question, we saw the search warrant. It has three really specific crimes listed which of course it does, but obstruction of justice, the Espionage Act, these are serious crimes.

Then he keeps going, and we have the affidavit. The Affidavit gives us even more details about the potential wrongdoing here. And now of course, we have the picture that you just showed which gives heart palpitations to people who have ever worked in government. And if you think about what's contained in those documents, and who is potentially threatened if those documents fall into the wrong hands.

That's why we want these documents back. They're the people's documents, not the president's documents. Having said all that, what's going to happen tomorrow? Here we have a new judge. She was appointed by the former president confirmed I think after he lost the election. She doesn't have a very long track record for us to be able to go on and predict what's going to happen. Legally speaking, I do not think he has a very strong case. CHURCH: So has a crime being committed here?

LEVINSON: So, I will say I think if this is John Smith, not Donald Trump, we're talking about indictments. We're not talking about special masters. The DOJ lays out in great detail all the ways in which they tried to get these documents back.

[02:20:07]

Again not the president's documents, the people's documents, how he said no how his counsel and/or him -- and/or Trump himself said, we have nothing else that's responsive. The FBI doesn't believe him. They go in and get documents. They are in fact responsive. They're classified, they're highly sensitive. All of this indicates that an indictment could be coming, could but it wouldn't be probably until after the midterms.

CHURCH: Jessica Levinson, always great to get your analysis. Many thanks for joining us.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, Serena Williams' fairytale run with U.S. Open will carry her into the third round of women's single play. The American tennis legend upset world number two, Anett Kontaveit from Estonia on Wednesday night in New York. And this could be the final tournament of Williams' storied career after she announced earlier this month. She was evolving away from tennis. The 40-year-old star said Monday she wanted to be vague about her possible retirement. We will of course have more on this in World Sport this very hour.

So, still to come. As Pakistan waits for floodwaters to subside. A growing shortage of food and clean drinking water is leading to sickness. We will have the latest.

And a super typhoon has now become strongest -- the strongest storm on the planet so far this year. We're tracking its trajectory, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The U.S. and South Korea are holding their biggest combined military exercises in years and they are happening around 30 kilometers from the border with North Korea. More than 1000 troops are participating in live fire drills. The U.S. and South Korea say they are defensive in nature. North Korea says they are invasion rehearsals. They come after a flurry of North Korean missile tests. And as Pyongyang continues to defy the international community with its nuclear program.

Coronavirus is forcing Chengdu, China to impose a city wide lockdown for its 21 million residents from Thursday through -- to Sunday. The city has recorded more than 700 locally transmitted COVID cases in the last week. The city plans to give COVID tests to all residents who are being told to stay at home. Businesses will be shut down except for essential services including grocery stores, pharmacies, medical institutions and restaurants for takeout only.

New problems caused by deadly monsoon rains in Pakistan are starting to become clear. Some cities have been destroyed.

[02:25:04]

Entire fields of crops have been washed away leading to soaring food prices. CNN spoke with flood victims who say despite emergency aid, many are still without shelter, food or clean water to drink. As the death toll rises and rescues continue, the World Health Organization has classified the disaster with its highest emergency rating and have released $10 million from an emergency fund to help the country.

Let's turn to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam who joins us now. It's just extraordinary, isn't it? The images coming from Pakistan.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Yes, incredible to see what is happening across Pakistan as we speak. And the U.N. secretary general just kind of contextualizing this, calling this a monsoon season on steroids. And what I'm about to show you will prove just that. You're looking at some of the local river gauges in the Indus River in the southern and central portions of Pakistan. That magenta color to the north and the purple color there indicating high to very high flood stages.

Now we're going to go to a satellite image. This is taken one year ago almost to the dates. And this is the Indus River right here. You can basically follow that. Now let's fast forward to an image that was taken about three days ago. And you can see how the Indus River resembles more of a lake. Go backwards in time you can see the difference compared to what they're experiencing now.

Incredible amounts of water flowing into the Arabian Sea, along the Indus River. Here's a look at some of the compelling images coming out of the area. Aerial photography of what people are having to contend with. And guess what, we still have another month of the monsoon season that ends at the end of September and we are already at 183 percent of average across the country, Pakistan as a whole. Incredible.

One particular location, Pakpattan has received over 1200 millimeters of rain. That is 25 times their normal rainfall. And that really just shows you the type of rain that they have dealt with over the past few months across Pakistan. Fortunately, the heaviest of rainfall stays away in the next five days. So, hopefully they get a moment to dry things out in the river levels to come down.

Let me show you the Western pack real quick because this is newly reinstated. Super typhoon Himnamnor at 260 kilometers per hour brushing Okinawa. This forecast storm is expected to move north in the coming days perhaps impacting the east coast of Taiwan and southern portions of the Korean peninsula by early next week. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Appreciate it. Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is ordering federal assistance for the capital of the U.S. state of Mississippi which is thirsting for water after a treatment plant was damaged in recent flooding. The governor says a new pump has been installed at the facility which moves clean water to tanks around the city. But it has mechanical and electrical issues and needs more new parts. Residents of the city of 150,000 are getting murky brown water from those tanks.

Cars lined up on Wednesday to get bottled water. Residents understandably are frustrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrible, and I will likely to be fixed. Please fix our water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been raw.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then nobody to pay attention to this until it happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean Jackson has to do something about these. What about the kids? What about the community? What about the people? I mean, somebody could do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The mayor of Flint, Michigan says his heart goes out to the people of Jackson. That city dealt with a water contamination crisis after it switched water supplies to cut costs. Flint's mayor says he hopes to speak with Jackson's mayor soon.

Well, next on CNN NEWSROOM. Going to school in the midst of war. Students and teachers across Ukraine are adapting to a new reality as they return to class today. I'll speak to a photo journalist who has seen firsthand the challenges they face.

[02:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: How do you focus on learning when you are in the middle of a war? Students and teachers across Ukraine will have to really just to the reality as the new school year gets underway for many today.

When kids head back to school, this will be the new normal bombshell towers built inside schools to protect against Russian attacks. There are signs the war is already taking a toll on children's mental health and their ability to learn. And one educational worker says there's a risk of a lost generation of Ukrainian children if they can't go to school.

Our next guest saw some of those challenges firsthand as he took these pictures in Ukraine. Ashley Gilbertson is a photojournalist who documented the impact of the war on children for UNICEF

Ashley joins me now from New York. Thank you so much for being with us.

ASHLEY GILBERTSON, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Hi. No problem at all. Thank you.

CHURCH: So, Ashley, the latest United Nation's assessment is hard to read. 1,000 children killed or injured since the war began in Ukraine, thousands more traumatized, and you just returned from an assignment with UNICEF, focusing on the state of children there. What did you find?

GILBERTSON: Well, first of all, that number is, like, the verified number. So, the real number is going to be a lot higher than that. But I found that the -- well, as you would expect, the war is over for children. Expect this one is particularly bad, because the use of explosive weapons, so cruise missiles or artillery, you know, these projectiles they're hitting children very severely in civilian areas. And they're getting lodged in playgrounds and schools.

So, it's not just the explosion in buildings, but it's the aftermath as well. Children, beyond just the fighting are exposed to these deeply distressing events. So, I meet eight, nine, 10-year-olds who are telling me stories that you wouldn't want to hear from your closest adult friend. Just, deep, deep trauma.

But beyond that, fleeing the violence, they're risking family separation, they're risking violence and abuse, I mean, sexual exploitation. Like, I saw signs taped up to the wall at Kyiv train station, like, I can get your girls out of Ukraine. This isn't -- these are not honorable people putting those signs up.

CHURCH: Yes, and as you're talking with us, we're looking at your incredible images there. And around 2,300 education buildings have been damaged by war. Nearly 300 were totally destroyed. School starts today in many cities across Ukraine. How are kids preparing and what kind of emotions will they be taking along with their book bags?

GILBERTSON: Well, I think that this is where we start seeing the resilience of children. You know, that we have so much to learn from them in some ways. You know, there's always hope when you're dealing with these kids. That -- and one of those big hopes is really school. Going back to school they're so excited to see their friends. And there are kids who are saying, you know,

like, they love the atmosphere at school and I sort of, pushed harder, what's the atmosphere? And it's their friends. It's this community.

But that said, you know, I spoke to an eight-year-old who told me he's a bit sad because not all his friends are there because they have left after the city was liberated by Ukrainian forces. So, this knowledge that we try to protect our children from, you know, this trauma is, like, very real and, sort of, daily in Ukraine. But they're very, very excited about going back to school.

[02:35:00]

CHURCH: And we've been continuing to look at some of the images that you took in Ukraine. I do want to highlight a couple of photographs and get the stories behind them. The first is Masha (ph), posing in front of what was her classroom in Kharkiv. What more are you able to tell us about her?

GILBERTSON: Marsha was, I think, more grownup than most of my friends that are war correspondents. I mean, she was 12 years old. And she's standing in front of her school and she told me, they bombed it about a month ago, it was an airstrike, and I don't know why. And I remember photographing her and, you know, I've got to hold myself together while I'm making these pictures, especially for the kids.

But you hear that, like, I don't know why they bombed it. Just the innocence. She said, I thought that COVID was bad. But this is the worst time of my life. And so, I asked what she wanted to do. She wants to be a psychologist because she wants to hear people's problems that have come up through the war and outside of the war and try to help them. She told me that she started keeping a journal of her thoughts. She started meditating and doing yoga to try to deal with the stress.

Like, the strength of Marsha, I was so moved by. She told me she was in a bomb shelter when the bombing started -- like when the war started. Her friend had an asthma attack. So, she started calming her friend down with breathing exercises. Under Russian shelling saying, it'll be all right. You won't die. Everything's going to be OK. A 12- year-old girl.

And these are the positions that we, as adults, are putting these kids in. You know, they are the ultimate, the most vulnerable victims in this conflict.

CHURCH: Yes, and clearly her story and all these children's stories have touched you very deeply. What about Diana (ph)? She is on rollerblades here in a suburb of Kharkiv. Her school was also destroyed. What more did you learn about her and her life?

GILBERTSON: Right, Diana was a nine-year-old that we found in Saltivka. Saltivka is a neighborhood in Kharkiv that was, like, actually the largest residential neighborhood in all of Ukraine and it was hit very, very hard by the Russians throughout the beginning of the war. The Russians pulled back a little bit, but it's still being hit by missiles and by artillery.

So, apparently, when Diana returned after evacuating for a little while, her mom told me that she started crying and said I don't want to be here. All the buildings are destroyed. But Diana said, she turned to her mom and said, it's ok. Like, I've gotten used to it.

She is living in a huge apartment complex. Building after building after building. There's not one window that's still intact. Russian shells still come in every night, every day. And in fact -- I mean, she told me about her birthday, having it in a bomb shelter, and she didn't want cake. She didn't want anything. All she wanted to do was go to the park with her mom. But she can't go to the park or the playground, or her old school because it is all filled with unexploded ordinance. So, she rollerblades outside her apartment.

And that night, I went home -- well, I went back to the hotel and there was a huge explosion. And the hotel -- I mean, the city shook. And it was the same night that a cruise missile hit that -- hit the dormitory -- well, in Kharkiv killing 14 people. She was OK, thankfully. But living in an environment like that, I've never seen anything like it.

CHURCH: It is just such a horror and it's so important that you shared these stories that we understand what is going on in the lives of these young children living through this war. And when this war does eventually come to an end, the suffering, of course, won't be over for the children of Ukraine. What will they need to help heal their scars, if that is even possible?

GILBERTSON: I'm not sure about healing scars ever, right? But you learn how to carry what they've experienced. And I think that in order to do that, they're going to need a lot of psychosocial help. I mean, all of these buildings, we can be rebuilt. But the scars that they're going to carry will need, you know, real attention from experts.

But, I mean, I think, most importantly we need a ceasefire. We need this war to stop. I mean, the most important thing for all of these children in Ukraine is that we find a way to peace. That we can find diplomacy rather than artillery and cruise missiles.

UNICEF, in this case, has been doing incredible work in Ukraine. Direct working conflict zones on the front line. Working to fix schools, help children, and it's -- I was deeply moved by the work that we're doing. So, supporting them is the start now.

[02:40:00]

CHURCH: Ashley Gilbertson, thank you so much for sharing your incredible images and the stories behind them. We appreciate it.

GILBERTSON: Thank you.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back after a short break. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The Venice Film Festival kicked off with a powerful message from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Wednesday. The festival is celebrating its 90th anniversary. And celebrities and politicians alike are walking the red carpet, and that includes former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. The festival runs until September 10th and includes the prestigious Golden Lion Award.

Well, a messy tradition celebrated for generations has returned in Spain. Thousands turned out for the Tomatina Festival in Valencia province. Throwing around 130 tons of overripe tomatoes at one another. The festival is back after a two-year pause due to COVID-19. And it's now marking its 75th addition. It's said to have originated from a spontaneous food fight amongst villagers back in 1945.

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sport is up next. Then I'll be back with more on world news in about 15 minutes. You are watching CNN.

[02:45:00]

I think that is what not only democrats want, but we have a lot of trouble in American politics acknowledging and naming what is happening. It is so far out of the tradition of the way American politics have unfolded throughout our history. The evidence, I think, is overwhelming.

[02:45:00]

BROWNSTEIN: But the evidence, I think, is overwhelming. That Donald Trump is the leader of an undemocratic, small D, movement. An authoritarian movement. Whether the president should have called it fascist or authoritarian, he is calling out a reality.

When you look at the evidence, two-thirds of Republican State attorney's general and two-thirds of Republican House members trying to overturn the 2020 result. When you look at the polling, it shows a majority of Republican voters. Multiple polls say that traditional American life is disappearing so fast and we have to use force to save it.

Nearly half of Republicans describing the attack on January 6th as patriotism. More than half describing it as defending liberty. What happened today in Michigan, when two Republicans without any real plausible cause on the state canvassing board voted to deny a place on the ballot to the referendum guaranteeing abortion rights? The number of election deniers who are getting, you know, nominated around the country.

As Liz Cheney has pointed out, this is the, you know, the biggest threat to the functioning of American democracy that we have seen, certainly, since the Civil War. And I think there are a lot of people, not only Democrats, but those who are concerned about the basic health of American democracy who, as difficult as it is, say that it is important for the president to begin naming this more aggressively. And that's certainly what I think what we're going to see tomorrow.

LEMON: Ron Brownstein, thank you. We'll be looking and we'll talk about the speech tomorrow. Thank you so much.

A black pastor in Alabama arrested while watering a neighbor's flowers at his neighbor's request. We're going to show you the body camera footage, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:50:00]

LEMON: Arrested for watering neighbor's flowers while the neighbors were away on vacation. That's what happened to a black pastor in Alabama. Even after telling police officers, his neighbor asked him to water the flowers. Police say they were responding to a 9-1-1 call from another neighbor claiming there was a suspicious car parked at the house. And the person that the caller, "Did not recognize." Now, there is police bodycam video from the incident and we have more tonight from CNN's Martin Savidge. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It's a warm late spring evening in the small Alabama town of Childersburg. Police were responding to a 9-1-1 call from a neighbor reporting she sees a young black male and a car she doesn't recognize at her neighbor's home who she knows are away.

We're watching the police bodycam footage. What officers find is a man holding a garden hose, watering flowers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing here, man?

PASTOR MICHAEL JENNINGS, CHILDERSBURG, ALABAMA RESIDENT: Watering flowers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that. Is that your vehicle?

JENNINGS: It's not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not.

JENNINGS: That's the neighbor's vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The neighbors?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Do you live here?

JENNINGS: No, I don't live here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. They're saying that this vehicle is not supposed to be here and you're not supposed to be here.

JENNINGS: Who's saying it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called about it? I don't know who called.

JENNINGS: I'm supposed to be here. I'm Pastor Jennings. I live across the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're Pastor Jennings?

JENNINGS: Yes, I'm looking out for their house while they're gone.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): The scene quickly escalates when police demand 56-year-old Michael Jennings, a pastor of 31 years, provide some identification.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, man, don't do this to me. There's a suspicious person in the yard. And if you are not wanting to identify yourself --

JENNINGS: I don't have to identify myself. SAVIDGE (voiceover): Jennings, who, at one time had trained to be a police officer, and has already told police his name, his occupation, and where he lives refuses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He don't live here.

JENNINGS: (INAUDIBLE) neighbor. (INAUDIBLE) you think --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not saying nothing about --

JENNINGS: You have no right to approach me. I have done nothing suspicious or anything wrong.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): Moments later, when Jennings attempts to use his cellphone, he's placed in handcuffs.

JENNINGS: Who called you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have to tell you.

JENNINGS: I don't have to I.D. myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will not listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a call on you, all right. You have to identify yourself to me.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): As Jennings continues to protest, the lead officer appears to lose patience. And the helpful neighbor is arrested, not even allowed to tell his wife across the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you know what? You know what, 1015. 1015. 1015. I ain't going to sit there and have that dude.

No, you ain't let nothing now.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): Despite the officer calling him Pastor Jennings, he tells his colleagues Jennings refused to identify himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here to investigate a call and he wouldn't give us his name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told he was trying to call the owner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But still I need his name, you know. We got to have something.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): Jennings is charged with obstructing government operations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pastor Jennings was in your yard when the police showed up on the scene, is that right?

ROY MILAM, PASTOR MICHAEL JENNINGS' NEIGHBOR: That's right. SAVIDGE (voiceover): Roy Milam says Jennings has always been a great neighbor. So, naturally, they asked him to look after their home when he went on vacation.

MILAM So, yes, we were upset about it. It was upsetting that -- to know that we asked him to come out here and they -- and he got arrested for that.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): Harry Daniels is Jennings attorney.

HARRY DANIELS, PASTOR MICHAEL JENNINGS' ATTORNEY: He was under no obligation under the law in the State of Alabama to give his I.D., nor did he have any obligation to identify himself.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): In a recent interview with "Good Morning, America", Jennings said he feared for his life.

JENNINGS: I was thinking if I did something wrong or I resisted, that I could have been shot. So, I was trying to cooperate, even though I didn't understand what was going on. I was agitated. I was angry. But I need to comply.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): In the police bodycam footage, police speak to the woman who made the original 9-1-1 call. Now, recognizing the pastor, she tells the officers it's all a mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he lives right there and he would be watering their flowers. This is probably my fault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

SAVIDGE (voiceover): According to one of the officers, the woman also declines to identify herself, but Jennings is the only one who goes to jail.

[02:55:00]

Even after Jennings' wife shows up with her husband's I.D. 10 days later, after reviewing the 9-1-1 call, the body camera footage, and speaking with the officers, the chief of the Childersburg Police Department issued this statement, saying, as a result of my investigation, I have recommended to the municipal judge that the City of Childersburg that the warrant be dismissed.

SAVIDGE (on camera): You have no doubt in your mind this was racial profiling in the part of your officers?

DANIELS: Well, I think, if you look at the video, the evidence is clear that they believe -- what's the difference between Pastor Jennings and the neighbor beside a man and a woman, black and white? And they believed her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: The attorney for Michael Jennings says that his client doesn't hold any ill will against the woman who called police. After all, he says, she was only doing what he was doing, looking out for a neighbor's home. But that same attorney says that Jennings will be filing a lawsuit against the Childersburg Police. Don.

LEMON: Martin Savidge, thank you so much. And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00]