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Judge Unveils Full List of Items Seized at Mar-a-Lago; Russia's Gazprom Halts Supplies to Nord Stream 1; Deaths of Several Prominent Russian Business Men a Mystery; Western U.S. Residents Asked to Save Energy during Heat Wave. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired September 03, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, classified documents, thrown together with magazines, newspapers, even articles of clothing; a complete inventory of what the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago and what it could mean for Donald Trump.
Russia bids farewell to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR. But one person is opting out of the ceremonies.
And Serena Williams' legendary career comes to an apparent end. We'll have more from New York on her final match and her plans for the future.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM, with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We're now learning startling new details about exactly what FBI agents took from Donald Trump's home in Florida. The full inventory was released on Friday by a federal judge, who is considering Trump's request for a special master.
But Trump's former attorney general scoffs at the idea of appointing a special master, calling it "a waste of time." Well get the latest from CNN's Sara Murray.
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SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A newly unsealed inventory revealing the trove of materials seized from Mar-a-Lago, including thousands of government documents and 103 papers marked classified intermingled with magazines, newspapers, press clippings, photos and articles of clothing. DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, mostly the boxes are pictures and newspapers and shirts and gear and, you know, golf balls and just -- it's a lot of stuff. You know, when you're there for four years, it's a long time.
MURRAY (voice-over): While Trump has downplayed what was recovered by the FBI, a seven-page list ticks through how sensitive the material was, 18 documents marked top secret, 54 documents marked secret and 31 marked confidential.
Investigators also collected dozens of empty folders with a classified banner or labeled return to staff secretary/military aide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of this is going to help Donald Trump.
MURRAY (voice-over): A federal judge in Florida unsealing the inventory and pondering whether to appoint a special master to independently review the seized material.
WILLIAM BARR, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: The whole idea of a special master is a bit of a red herring. At this stage, since they've already gone through the documents, I think it's a waste of time.
MURRAY (voice-over): The investigators' haul, which included more than 11,000 government documents without classified markings, revealed just how much Trump was holding on to, even after more than a year of negotiating the return of documents and 18 months after leaving office.
TRUMP: So what you do is you accumulate a lot of stuff over a term and then all of a sudden you're leaving and stuff gets packed up and sent --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
TRUMP: -- all sorts of stuff.
MURRAY (voice-over): But in Trump's office alone, investigators retrieved a number of boxes, including 27 documents marked classified in some way.
BARR: People say this was unprecedented. Well, it's also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club, OK.
MURRAY (voice-over): And investigators found them after Trump's team had assured the government any potentially classified materials had been kept in a more secure storage room and after a representative for Trump signed a document, saying everything with classified markings had been turned over a month before the search.
Meantime in a separate criminal investigation into the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and the events leading up to it, former Trump White House lawyers Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin appearing before a grand jury today. Both men pushed back on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and are
key witnesses to the final days of Trump's presidency. CNN reporting they appeared after weeks of discussion with the Justice Department over executive privilege.
MURRAY: Back to that trove of documents that came from Mar-a-Lago, we're only learning all of these details about them, of course, because the former president has sought a special master, this independent reviewer, to oversee these documents.
The judge still has not issued a ruling on whether she will grant that request from the Trump team. But she did suggest she was leaning toward it, asking in a hearing earlier this week, what's the harm of putting forward a special master? -- Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, maybe it's a coincidence. Sources tell CNN that, just days after the Mar-a-Lago search, the National Archives suddenly received a new batch of texts and emails from Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff. The Archives are the custodians of all presidential records.
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BRUNHUBER: After seeing what Meadows submitted to the January 6 committee, apparently realize they didn't have everything from him. Meadows' lawyers have already arranged to turn over the additional materials. But there's speculation that the Mar-a-Lago search may have sped up the actual transfer.
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Now to Ukraine, where the U.S. nuclear watchdog says that it will have a long-term presence at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency went there on Thursday for the first time since the war began.
The plant has repeatedly taken artillery fire in recent weeks, raising fears of a nuclear incident. The agency's chief is spelling out the timeframe for announcing what the inspectors actually saw there. For more, Melissa Bell joins us from Kyiv.
Melissa, what more are we learning about the inspectors' visit and the reaction from Ukraine and Russia?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a good deal more about the details about the IAEA's mission at the Zaporizhzhya power plant. There are six inspectors that stayed behind. They will be providing a much more detailed report than we've had so far about what exactly is happening at the plant, the damage that has been done to it.
This, by early next week, just after the weekend. Beyond that, that permanent presence he spoke of and that he was looking for as Rafael Grossi left the plant on Thursday, will be made up of two inspectors that will stay behind. This was all a part of the press conference that he held back in Vienna at the IAEA headquarters yesterday. Have a listen.
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RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, IAEA: It is clear that those who have these aims, these military aims, know very well that is the way to cripple or to do more damage is not to look into the reactors, which are enormously sturdy and robust, but to hit where it hurts so the plant becomes, you know, very, very problematic.
So my concern would be, you know, the physical integrity, would be the power supply and, of course, the staff.
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BELL: And that is what they're going to be keeping a close eye on. Remember, Kim, it was just a week ago, over a week ago, that the power supply to the plant was hit, taking it and Europe that step closer to nuclear disaster.
That is what they want to avoid. He mentioned, also, the workers. Just having that presence, of course, hugely important to them. They've been working since the month of March, when the plant was occupied by Russian forces in extremely difficult conditions.
Some of them telling us that they feel like hostages; even speaking to the outside world is incredibly dangerous for them. There's also the fact that this plant had, according to Ukraine but also American intelligence, been used as a military base, that should change as well as a result of this international presence at the plant.
So lots of good news, quite an achievement on the part of Rafael Grossi. And the question is what kind of access they're going to get, how free they're going to be in their movements.
And you ask a good question, what is the reaction of each?
Ukraine would like the team to go further and insist it be demilitarized. President Zelenskyy has spoken yesterday about his disappointment that that hasn't happened yet, urging the IAEA to make sure the zone is demilitarized. But that seems unlikely, lying as it does on that crucial front line along the Dnipro River.
You can't see that Russian forces would accept that at all. Again, the fact that the presence is happening, the fact that it will be permanent, a game-changer in terms of the plant's security. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Exactly. Game-changer, as you say. Melissa Bell, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
Europe could be facing a rough winter as Russian energy giant Gazprom closes down a crucial pipeline to Germany. Gazprom says it's turned off gas supplies in Nord Stream 1 due to an oil leak. CNN's Anna Stewart reports, many in the West are skeptical and say the timing of the shutdown is suspicious.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russia has been long accused of using energy as a weapon. And this latest announcement is raising eyebrows.
Gazprom shut down Nord Stream 1, a key pipeline for gas to Europe, early this week, for 3 days of maintenance. That announcement took the market by surprise, given it only recently went down a scheduled 10- day maintenance shut down.
On Friday the evening when it was due to be turned back on, Gazprom said they had discovered an oil as the compressor station, releasing a photo you see here. And they went on with a statement saying, until the issues in the operation of the equipment are resolved, gas supplies to the Nord Stream gas pipeline have been completely stopped.
The EU is Russia's biggest gas customer. Russian gas accounted for around 35 percent of its gas imports last year. The bloc has been trying to reduce its reliance on Russian gas ever since the invasion of Ukraine, filling storage facilities and importing more from elsewhere.
But it will struggle to get through this winter if Russia doesn't resume supplies by the pipeline Nord Stream 1.
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STEWART: Now the timing of this announcement is hard to ignore. A few hours before the Gazprom announcement, the West's biggest economies, the G-7, agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil. According to Google analysis, Russia earns $600 million a day from oil. They could make record annual revenues from oil and gas this year.
Now the G-7's oil cap with the price yet to be agreed aims to reduce Russia's revenues and its ability to fund the war in Ukraine. But while still allowing Russian oil to be sold on the market, thereby not reducing global supplies. Russia has already threatened to retaliate to any oil price cap.
According to Russian state media outlet Tass, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told journalists, we will simply not supply oil or petroleum products to companies are states that impose restrictions, as we will not work non-competitively.
Russia has already stopped exporting gas to a number of Western countries citing payment issues. The price of the latest pipeline shutdown, the Nord Stream 1, was only running at 20 percent capacity.
A further fall in gas, if the pipeline remains off line and potential oil as well, if the G-7 agreement of this cap is implemented and Russia retaliates, puts the energy prices ever higher, fueling inflation and threatening to push major economies into recession, landing ever more weight to the arguments that Russia is weaponizing energy.
Turbines for Nord Stream 1 is casting doubt on gas pumps for the reason for the shutdown, telling CNN that this type of oil leak would be sealed onsite. They say it's a routine procedure during maintenance work, that, in the past, the occurrence of this type has not resulted in a shutdown of operations -- Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: The German based company that makes turbines for Nord Stream 1 is casting doubt on Gazprom's stated reason for the shutdown. Siemens Energy tells CNN this kind of oil leak can be sealed onsite. They say it's a, quote, "routine procedure" during maintenance work.
They add that, in the past, the occurrence of this type of leak has not resulted in a shutdown of operations.
News broke earlier this week that the chairman of Lukoil, a major Russian energy firm, died after falling out of a window. He joins several prominent businessmen, many with ties to Russian oil and gas sector, who have died in accidents or apparent suicides this year. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh takes a closer look at these mysterious deaths.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): It should sound extraordinary but in Putin's wartime Russia, it becomes staggeringly common: a wealthy energy executive declared dead from suicide.
This time, oil executive Ravil Maganov seen here earlier with the Kremlin head, died on Thursday at 7:00 in the morning after falling from the 6th floor of a central Moscow hospital where he was being treated after a heart attack, says a state media law enforcement source.
They added, he was taking anti-depressants and committed suicide.
The oil giant Lukoil behind 2 percent of the world's crude, were tightlipped on the circumstances, saying he died, quote, "following a severe illness."
They've been less cagey about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, expressing in March their deepest concerns about the war, calling for its soonest termination and urging a lasting cease-fire, rare public dissent which, elsewhere in Russia, the Kremlin has quashed quickly.
Maganov's untimely death made him the 6th high-profile businessman to die of apparent suicide since January. Four of them from state giant Gazprom, currently at the forefront of Russia's energy battle with the west. The first two died in the same village in their cottages.
Transport head Leonid Shulman four weeks before the war, he left a suicide note said Russian media. And just a day after the war began, another top Gazprom executive Alexander Tyulakov was found dead in his garage there.
Then, there were two murders suicides in April. Both former executives from Gazprom both said had killed their wife and daughter and then themselves.
Vladislav Avayev in their Moscow home and Sergey Protosenya in a Spanish villa. Finally, in July, the director of another subsidiary was found dead in his cottage's swimming pool, local media reported. The gunshot wound to the head and a pistol nearby.
Maganov is not Lukoil first loss this year. A former top manager was found dead in the basement from an apparent heart attack. Some experts doubt these deaths bear the Kremlin's fingerprints.
MARK GALEOTTI, PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR, MAYAK INTELLIGENCE: People do commit suicide. Particularly for these people, they're in their industries where they got used to a very elevated quality of life and they knew that hard times are coming.
At the same time there has been a resurgence of the 1990s phenomenon, which is business disputes being resolved by violence and murder.
WALSH: Perhaps the settler hand here than in the anarchy of the `90s. Yet, in a world where the Kremlin rules and ruins at will -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: Serena Williams may have just played her very last game. Ahead on CNN, what the superstar had to say about her future.
Plus, the U.S. space agency's mission to the moon is set for liftoff, again, after a few setbacks. It looks like all systems are go.
But will the weather cooperate?
We'll have details, next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Water distribution efforts are in full swing in Mississippi but state officials say their efforts to restore water service to the city of Jackson experienced setbacks Friday. The water treatment facility had to be shut down for several hours, causing pressure in the system to drop again.
Representative Bennie Thompson met Friday with a delegation from Washington including officials from FEMA and the Environmental Protection Agency. In July, EPA reports that Jackson didn't have enough staff for its water system. The mayor says the city has been transparent about staff shortages and deferred maintenance.
Now in the Western U.S., the problem is a heat wave that just won't quit.
[04:20:00] BRUNHUBER: California power grid operators are asking residents to conserve energy during peak hours for the fourth day in a row. Officials say conservation is crucial to help balance supply and demand. Expect high electricity demand for people using air conditioning to combat the heat.
In Nevada, much the same story. Officials are asking customers to save energy by using large appliances like dishwashers and washing machines at night or in the early morning hours.
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BRUNHUBER: So as of now, it's all systems go for NASA's Artemis I mission. Monday's liftoff was scrubbed because of a number of issues. The unmanned rocket travel farther beyond the moon than any spacecraft intended to carry humans has ever gone.
NASA says this is the first step toward sending people back to the moon in 2025. The latest launch window opens at 2:17 pm Eastern time.
Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, may have played her last match. Her dream of winning a 24th Grand Slam title before "devolving" away from tennis came to a sudden end in the U.S. Open when she lost in the third round to a tough Australian.
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BRUNHUBER: The full extent of what the FBI took from Donald Trump's home revealed some of the country's most sensitive secrets, found stashed in miscellaneous boxes mixed with personal belongings. We'll hear what Trump's former attorney general thinks about it next.
And he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War. Today Mikhail Gorbachev is being honored in a farewell ceremony and will be laid to rest in Moscow. A live report straight ahead.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the U.S., it's Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
New details about the FBI search of Donald Trump's home show the former president appeared to be extremely reckless about handling top secret government documents.
On Friday, a judge released the full list of what was taken from Mar- a-Lago, including classified materials, found stashed among boxes of magazines, clothing and other personal belongings. And dozens of folders marked classified or confidential were empty. [04:30:00]
BRUNHUBER: Trump's former attorney general said Trump only has himself to blame but the FBI search. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, FORMER US ATTORNEY GENERAL: Let me just say I think the driver on this from the beginning was, you know, loads of classified information sitting in Mar-a-Lago. People say this was unprecedented. Well, it's also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club. OK?
And how long is the government going to try to get that back?
You know, they jawboned for a year. They were deceived on the voluntary actions taken. They then went and got a subpoena. They were deceived on that, they feel. And the facts are starting to show that they were being jerked around.
And so how long -- you know, how long did they wait?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A judge is now considering Trump's request for a special master to review the seized materials, which Barr calls, quote, "a waste of time." Trump's allies have tried to argue that the materials seized were perfectly safe the whole time. But that's extremely difficult to believe, based on the sheer volume of documents found in very insecure places.
Brian Todd has our report.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the ornate multi- chandeliered Donald J. Trump ballroom, to gold trimmed sitting and dining rooms, new focus tonight on the layout inside Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's 20-acre expanse on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach.
A new inventory says federal investigators took several boxes of documents and other items from Donald Trump's office at Mar-a-Lago. Where would they have to go to find them?
LAURENCE LEAMER, AUTHOR: Trump's office is right above his golden grand ballroom.
SARAH BLASKEY, CO-AUTHOR, "THE GRIFTER'S CLUB": Those areas are private. They're accessible only to the family and then also the staff that keep it clean and that kind of thing.
TODD: The sheer opulence of the 114-room mansion is what stood out to those who have been there and written about it.
LEAMER: It's not like Trump Plaza or Trump buildings in New York with his name splashed everywhere. It's just gold, gold, gold, gold. TODD: Gold plated and wooden crests abound, a room with marble east decor and the unforgettable billiard room with the portrait of a younger Donald Trump wearing a V-neck tennis sweater.
LEAMER: Mar-a-Lago is a monument to Donald Trump. Why does he have to be there?
Why would he want to be here when he's president?
Because he needs to constantly be celebrated.
TODD: There's an elegant outdoor dining terrace but wherever you dine at Mar-a-Lago ...
MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, AUTHOR, "THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMP": They always serve his kind of food. There's a lot of beef on the menu. You don't have to get a salad if you're not interested and I think there's always plenty of ketchup for whatever he's eating.
TODD: The author Laurence Leamer has written a book on Mar-a-Lago and says he's been on the estate several times.
What struck Leamer is how close the family quarters are to an open, crowded area.
LEAMER: The family quarter is just up the hall from the place where everybody's having dinner. It's kind of extraordinary.
TODD: All this luxury accessible to people who can afford steep membership fees.
D'ANTONIO: When he became president, Donald Trump and his children doubled the entrance fee in order to join Mar-a-Lago from $100,000 to $200,000. I think it's worth noting that those fees are the same today.
TODD: Including a $14,000 annual fee to stay a member. Weddings, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs are often booked at Mar-a-Lago.
The annual New Year's Eve Party said to be a hot ticket and there's always a chance of a surprise encounter.
D'ANTONIO: Anyone who's booked a room there might get to meet the former president because he loves to pop in. He loves to hear the applause. It's something he's obviously addicted to.
TODD: The authors we spoke to who wrote books on Trump and Mar-a-Lago say it's there that people go to actually do business with Donald Trump, to close a deal with him where he's always felt the most comfortable -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Moscow is bidding farewell to Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet president, who played a key role in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end. He died Tuesday after a long illness. A public service is being held in the Hall of Columns at the historic House of the Unions. That's where we find Fred Pleitgen.
Tell us more about what you're seeing there.
What do you make of the way Gorbachev is being mourned there?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I do think it's very respectful. There are a lot of ordinary people, ordinary Russians, who have come to pay their respects. There were already lines forming outside of the building, outside of the House of Unions, which is a very famous building, right next to the Russian parliament.
[04:35:00]
PLEITGEN: It's right across from the Kremlin area as well. And people are going past the casket right now, many of them laying flowers, paying their final respects.
Next to the casket, some family members are seated there. Essentially what the Kremlin has said is this is not a state funeral. This is a very beautiful, important venue but they say it has elements of a state funeral. There is an honors guard. That was just changed a couple seconds before we went to air right now.
And also they say the ceremony itself has elements of a state funeral as well. After this, after what you're seeing right now, Mikhail Gorbachev will be laid to rest at the Novodevichy cemetery here in Moscow, an extremely important cemetery. Nikita Khrushchev buried there as well as is Gorbachev's late wife, Raisa.
He will be laid next to her, the two of them very, very close. Mr. Gorbachev loved his wife very much until she passed away in 1999.
BRUNHUBER: You emphasize the fact that this isn't a state funeral as was given to Boris Yeltsin. And Putin isn't attending, either.
Is this a bit of a snub?
PLEITGEN: It certainly can be seen as a bit of a snub, especially considering the fact that Mikhail Gorbachev is viewed as one of the great leaders of the 20th century in many Western countries, at least abroad.
What the Kremlin said is that Vladimir Putin doesn't have the time to attend, that he has a very busy work schedule. 3but all of that is very reflective of not just the way he viewed Gorbachev. He's pivotal to bringing down the Iron Curtain.
For many Russians, many felt that their life situation got worse with the end of the Soviet Union. They felt that their country, Russia, was humiliated on the international stage for a long time, especially if you look at the 1990s.
You had a military decline. This, of course, after being on par with the United States as far as military power was concerned when the Soviet Union was in place. There are certainly a lot of hard feelings among a lot of Russians, more of a controversial figure inside rather than outside.
Nevertheless, even Vladimir Putin said that Mikhail Gorbachev was a huge international figure and obviously also someone whose hand was forced. The Soviet Union, in the 1980s especially, was in massive stagnation, with a lot of shortages, a lot of economic difficulties. And reforms were needed in the Soviet Union back then.
BRUNHUBER: Appreciate having you on the spot, Fred Pleitgen in Moscow.
And last hour, I spoke with Anne Applebaum, a staff writer and author of "Twilight of Democracy," and I asked how she thinks the last Soviet leader will be remembered by history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNE APPLEBAUM, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": The really important things that Gorbachev did were the things that he didn't do. He didn't prevent the reunification of East and West Germany. He didn't tell East German guards to fire on people when they were crossing the Berlin Wall.
He didn't stop Ukraine from declaring independence. He didn't prevent the Baltic States from saying they wanted to leave the Soviet Union. There were some episodes of violence, when the Red Army, the Soviet army, sought to block some of those things from happening briefly.
But in the end, he was somebody who did not want to use violence. He wanted to end the practice of violence in the Soviet Union and had actually been talking about that since the 1960s.
And so, in that sense, the expression "man of peace" is correct. He wanted a reconciliation with the West. He wanted an end to the nuclear standoff. And although he didn't intend for the reunification of Europe to happen, he didn't stop it, either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Investigators in Argentina have yet to determine a motive for the assassination attempt on the country's vice president. A sea of people filled Buenos Aires on Friday to show their support for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
She narrowly escaped being shot outside her home Thursday night because the gun didn't go off. But the brazen attempt was caught on live television and has shaken the country. Stefano Pozzebon has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A near miss, recorded by the cameras of national television shows an attempted assassination attempt directed at Argentinian vice president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
[04:40:00]
POZZEBON (voice-over): An armed man was able to push past a crowd of cheering supporters and point a gun at the vice president's face. He pulled the trigger but the firearm apparently jammed and did not go off.
Fernandez de Kirchner then escaped an armed and the suspect was arrested and is now in custody. The most motive behind the failed assassination attempt is still a mystery. Even people that witnessed it could not understand what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): What I saw was that everyone turned around. Even an elderly man, old ordinary people, they turned around and try to help. And then security and police got involved and took him that way.
A lot of pain, a lot of helplessness. I say that as a society we're getting last because hate is leading us to demented things, to kill someone.
POZZEBON: Argentina's president, Alberto Fernandez, condemned the attack in a national address late Thursday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO FERNANDEZ, ARGENTINA PRESIDENT: Today, a little after 9:00 pm, a man tried to take the life of the vice president of our nation two time former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. This is the most serious attack we faced since recovering our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON: The attack comes at a moment of high political tensions in Argentina, exacerbated by economic crisis and the world's highest inflation rates.
And as Fernandez de Kirchner, one of the most charismatic and controversial figures in South American politics faces corruption charges dating back to a decade ago, during which he was the president of Argentina.
Her supporters say the investigation is politically motivated and held sit-ins in front of her house for day. It was at one such rally that the gunman got cut close to her on camera.
The government declared Friday a holiday to allow the nation to come together, President Fernandez said. Schools closed down. Even national football matches were canceled.
But analysts believe the real test will come now.
How will Fernandez de Kirchner, a firebrand politician who's been accused in the past of throwing fuel to the fire for political profit, come back after this attack?
And how will the nation manage to steer away from political violence just as the pressure is the highest? -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: After the break, India hits a new military milestone. The country's first home-built aircraft carrier. What it means for India's friends and potential foes. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: China is warning the U.S. of quote, "counter measures" if Washington doesn't pull back from a major weapons package for Taiwan. This after the Biden administration approved more than $1.1 billion in arms sales to the island.
The White House formally notified Congress of the deal on Friday, which includes up to 60 anti-ship missiles and a 100 air to air missiles. Taipei is welcoming the move but Beijing isn't.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington says the sales, quote, "severely jeopardy" U.S.-China relations. He called on the U.S. to abide by the One China policy.
China has some more military competition in the Indo-Pacific. Its rival, India, has joined the Carrier Club, commissioning its first home-built aircraft carrier. Vedika Sud reports this is more than a warship; it's a powerful symbol.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A strong message sent out to the world from the sprawling deck of India's largest domestically built warship. After a 17-year wait, India's first aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, which means victorious, has been inducted into its navy.
It is catapulting the nation into a select group of countries that have built their own advanced and complex battleships.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (voice-over): In the past, in the Indo-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, security has been neglected. But now, this region is a major security priority for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD (voice-over): The deck, the size of two football fields, can operate up to 20 aircraft, including MiG-29 air fighter jets. They will be launched from the deck. The carrier will also serve as a base for helicopters and defense systems, including surface to air missiles.
According to defense analysts, once it becomes fully operational, its firepower will impress in the distant reaches of the Indian Ocean. But there has been a further delay. The Indian navy says it will take another 15 months for the craft to be fully operational.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ship can, like any other warship, be utilized to ensure safety and security and also provide credible deterrence with extreme visibility.
SUD (voice-over): Amid rising tensions with neighbors, China and Pakistan, India now has two carriers in its arsenal. This significant addition to its fleet could give New Delhi a larger and more strategic role in the informal coalition known as the Quad.
AJAI SHUKLA, DEFENSE EXPERT: Right now within the Quad you have the United States, which is a sort of a massive naval force. But the other countries, Australia and Japan, they don't have aircraft carriers. They don't have the ability to sort of create aerial capability, fight aircraft capability in areas that are far from their shores.
SUD (voice-over): Beijing has been aggressively building its naval fleet and has already launched its third carrier. But analysts say India has the edge with decades long experience in operating such warships.
Armed with experience and knowledge in building an aircraft carrier, the India navy could soon announce a bigger and better version of this carrier, a bold and strategic move to project India as a self-reliant and formidable power in the Indian Ocean -- Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.
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BRUNHUBER: And 25 years have passed since a royal tragedy. When we come back, remembering the life and legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales.
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BRUNHUBER: It's been 25 years since Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in France. Her storybook marriage to Prince Charles had collapsed. But as Isa Soares reports, she forged a legacy as the people's princess that endures to this day.
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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A family broken, a nation in mourning, the world in shock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Britain's Princess Diana has been killed in a car crash.
SOARES (voice-over): And 25 years ago, Diana, Princess of Wales and mother of a future king, died in Paris.
Offering a human, personal and often glamorous face to the British monarchy, she captured the hearts of people in Britain and around the world.
DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES: HIV does not make people dangerous to know. So you can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it.
SOARES (voice-over): She died as she had lived, under the harsh glare of paparazzi flashes and the intrusive presence of the media.
A year after her divorce from Charles, the Prince of Wales, her life and lovers were still front page news. In a relation with Dodi Al- Fayed, the son of then owner of London's luxury department store, Harrods, Diana was hounded by photographers at home and abroad.
CCTV images from inside the Ritz hotel that night show the measures the couple took to avoid ever present photographers.
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SOARES (voice-over): Hiding near a back entrance, a decoy vehicle out front, the couple rushed out to a car and sped off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the car then pulls away.
SOARES (voice-over): Moments later, the paparazzi realize they've been outwitted. After a high-speed race through Paris, tragedy struck. Diana's car struck a central pillar of a tunnel by the Seine.
In the wreckage, lay Dodi al-Fayed and his driver, with Diana fatally injured. Although hurried to a nearby hospital, after doctors spent hours trying to save her, Diana died in the early hours of August 31st.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She died at 4:00 am this morning.
SOARES (voice-over): A French investigation said that the driver, drunk at the time, was responsible for the crash. A later British inquest ruled that the pursuing vehicles were also partially to blame. Diana also wasn't wearing a seat belt.
But despite the tragic end to Diana's life, from her pioneering work, campaigning for AIDS sufferers, to the fight against land mines, her legacy lives on, most noticeably in the monarchy that has embraced the human connection.
Fittingly, Diana Spencer is still remembered as she wanted to be, the people's princess. As she once said, the queen of the people's hearts -- Isa Soares, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a few minutes with more news. Please stay with us.
