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U.S. Federal Judge Grants Trump Request For Special Master; Trump Describes FBI & Justice Dept. As "Vicious Monsters"; Biden Blasts "Extreme" Republicans Ahead Of Midterms; One Suspect Found Dead, Manhunt For Second Suspect Ongoing; Around 50 Million People Under Flood Watched In U.S.; More Than 1,300 Killed In Pakistan Flooding; Dozens Dead After 6.6 Magnitude Earthquake Hits China; ; Britain's Next Prime Minister; Nuclear Plant Disconnected from Ukraine's Power Grid; The Highs and Lows of PM Boris Johnson's Leadership. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 06, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:14]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: A Trump appointed federal judge has approved the former President's request for an independent review of documents and evidence seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate. This is a big win for Trump's legal team. Part of the ruling means investigators would not have access to the documents or the being examined by a so-called special master. Both sides now have until Friday to submit a list of potential candidates for that job.

CNN's Sara Murray picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A judge today granted Donald Trump's request for a special master to review the materials the FBI seized from the extraordinary search at Mar-a-Lago. Judge Aileen Cannon writing, because of Trump's role as a former president, "the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own. A future indictment base to any degree on property that ought to be returned would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude."

And a major victory for Trump, a third-party attorney outside of government will soon be tasked with sifting through thousands of documents, to identify personal items and materials that could be protected by attorney-client or executive privilege.

JENNIFER RODGERS, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: While it does delay things and slow it down, which of course is bad for DOJ in their case, I think at the end of the day, we're not going to see a lot of documents pulled by the special master.

MURRAY (voice over): The judge pointing out that some of the seized materials include taxes and accounting information. The ruling allowing U.S. intelligence agencies to continue their national security damage assessment, but halting the Justice Department's criminal review of its Mar-a-Lago Hall.

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I don't think this has a massive impact on their investigation in the long run. If I was the prosecutor working on this case, I'd say let's just trudge forward with the special master, get through this as quickly as we can so we can move on.

MURRAY: Even as the judge acknowledged, there was not any evidence of a callous disregard for Trump's constitutional right, adding the Trump ultimately may not be entitled to return of much of the seized property or to prevail on his anticipated claims of privilege. That inquiry remains for another day. Meantime, Trump speaking at his first rally since the FBI searched his resort last month.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They rifled through the First Lady's closet drawers and everything else, and even did a deep and ugly search of the room of my 16-year-old son. The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters, controlled by radical left scoundrels.

MURRAY (voice over): The former president slamming law enforcement, as high-ranking Republicans offered explanations for why Trump made that hoarding top secret information.

MICHAEL MCCAUL, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: You know, I have lived in the classified world most of my professional career. I personally wouldn't do that but I'm not the president of the United States.

MURRAY (voice over): And allies like South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham --

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): What I've tried to do is state the obvious.

MURRAY (voice over): Still cleaning up his comments, warning of riots in the streets, if prosecutors charged the former president.

GRAHAM: We've had a standard set when it came to Hillary Clinton. If he does what she did with classified information, and he gets prosecuted, and she did, it will create a problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now when it comes to the special master, the Justice Department had previously asked the judge rule in such a way where they could appeal her decision down the road. The Justice Department now is saying that they're examining her ruling and considering what their next steps are.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

VAUSE: To Los Angeles now. Jessica Levinson is a professor at Loyola Law School and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcasts. Welcome back.

JESSICA LEVINSON, LAW PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Thank you. VAUSE: OK, so in really in favor of the appointment of a special master, Judge Aileen Cannon argued it was in part in, "The interest in ensuring the integrity of an orderly process amidst swirling allegations of bias and media leaks. She also cited the historic nature of the case." So in other words, perceptions matter. And because this is a former president of the United States, he gets special treatment that no one else does?

LEVINSON: This is a curious ruling on so many levels, and I have to say if one of my students read something like this, I would really be crestfallen because it reads more like a political conclusion in search of legal reasoning. Now, there is something there in part of it that I think can withstand scrutiny. But, by and large, I think you point to one of the huge problems behind this order, which is the idea that we have to treat the former president as if he is above the law, as if he is entitled to special solicitude.

And she waxes poetic about the need for fairness and integrity. And she worries out loud about the stigma that could attach to the former president. But that stigma is the same one that could attach to anybody who is part of a criminal investigation this way. I mean, taken to its logical conclusion, we should just fail to continue criminal investigations because a stigma might attach. There's so many parts of this, where I think the Department of Justice has to appeal because you don't want this type of language to stand as legal precedent.

VAUSE: Well, Judge Aileen Cannon was a Trump appointee. So to the former Attorney General and one-time Trump ally Bill Barr, when he was asked about the need for a special master, he told the New York Times, "I think it's a crock of, rhymes of hit. I don't think a special master is called for."

[01:05:10]

You know, that's a view shared by a lot of legal experts and a lot of Democrats like Representative Joaquin Castro. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAQUIN CASTRO, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Most defendants in this case would not have a special master appointed. And so, this is a basically an extra accommodation for a former president of the United States. I do think that it was probably a delay tactic by former President Trump. And also I don't think it's going to fundamentally change anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We've heard that a lot. The ruling Monday may not change anything fundamentally, it's going to slow down. But what about the undecideds, which are yet to come? Who will be this special master? What will be the scope of that review? How much time will they be given?

LEVINSON: So all of those things, plus, I would say you don't want a ruling like this to pick up on what I was saying before. You don't want a ruling like this to be able to be cited in other criminal cases. So yes, it has repercussions for this investigation. And let's remember that a delay is real in this case, a delay means that the Department of Justice cannot continue to question witnesses, cannot continue to follow-up with a documentary evidence and delays matter.

There's that old saying justice delayed is justice denied. And of course, we're looking at the electoral calendar. So yes, the Department of Justice may be able to continue with its investigation eventually. But one, it matters when you have to postpone because we know we're running up to the midterms, then we're running up to the presidential election. The former president is likely to say again, that he's going to be a candidate for the presidency, at which point, his claim will be, well, the Biden Department of Justice is just going after me because I'm his opponent.

So it's still a delay, still changes things. And then you ask a series of great questions, who can be the special master? Judge Cannon and said, give me names by February, excuse me, by Friday. But the other issue here is the special master needs guidance. There is no there- there when it comes to this executive privilege claim. You can't, as a former president, say, I'm trying to prohibit an agency of the executive branch from obtaining these documents.

And even if you could, you could never say that in the face of a criminal investigation. So there are a lot of questions that this special master is going to have to try and answer when there's no basis to try and rifle through these documents looking for executive privilege.

VAUSE: You know, even before this legal when by Trump, he was ramping up the attacks on the Justice Department and the FBI over the weekend. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters, controlled by radical left scoundrels, lawyers and the media, who tell them what to do you people right there, and when to do it. They're trying to silence me and more importantly, they are trying to silence you, but we will not be silenced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I take the Department of Justice next week. On Monday, Trump called for the 2020 election to be overturned by the FBI and the DOJ because the FBI and the DOJ was caught in a non-existent vote rigging scam. I mean, this stuff is nonsensical. But is there a concern that longer this investigation takes, the more time Trump has to genomic space with false claims and commentary language, and those predictions of violent outbreaks here, if he's arrested becomes self-fulfilling prophecies?

LEVINSON: Yes, I think there is a real danger here in the sense that we've seen his defense. His defense has been to try and throw a bunch of things at the wall and see what sticks. And the longer he has before the investigation continue, I think the worse it is for the rule of law. Now for people who oppose Trump or who criticized Trump, for the rule of law, for Americans who care about living in a society where law enforcement officers can obtain a search warrant, again, finding probable cause that a crime was committed, and then get the documents that they seize at that place, which happens to be the residence of the former president and continue with their investigation.

So we've seen again, this ever changing defense from the president -- the former president that I think will just continue. It's -- the documents were planted. Oh, actually, they're unclassified. Oh, actually, they're privileged. It just -- it doesn't make any sense. But politically, it might be a winner for members of his base and I think that's what matters to him.

VAUSE: Yes. Jessica, thanks for being with us. Jessica Levinson there in Los Angeles.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

VAUSE: Hard to believe the U.S. midterm elections are now about two months away. President Joe Biden was on the campaign trail Monday to help Democrats hold on to Congress. In the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, he talked up recent legislative wins and positive economic news. Biden is hoping voters see the November elections as a choice between his leadership and the extremism of Donald Trump and his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:10:11]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Extreme MAGA Republicans don't just threaten our personal rights and our economic security, they embrace political violence. I'm not talking all Republican, I'm talking about these extreme MAGA Republicans. Think about it. Think about it.

The definition of democracy is you accept the will of the people when the votes are honestly counted. These guys don't do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting in from just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Biden kicking off the fall election season with two Labor Day rallies, in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Those are the two states that Democrats have their eyes on trying to win back Republican seats in the U.S. Senate. Now President Biden clearly was making a direct appeal to some independent voters and Democrats and others trying to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans.

He also was touting his accomplishments on the economy and other legislative achievements. But he talks specifically about why he believes President Trump and the MAGA Republicans, as he calls them, are bad for the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: One of the things that was clear to me is that this new group headed by the former president, a former defeated president, we found ourselves in a situation where we really are going to look forward to look backwards. And it's clear which way he wants to look. It's clear which way the new MAGA Republicans are. They're extreme. And Democracy is really at stake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So President Biden moderating his tone there from what he's been doing in recent days, really calling out Trump supporters. Of course, he's not trying to reach out to them. They are true believers in the Trump brand, but he is trying to reach out to some voters who may be open to at least supporting some Democrats or some independents as well. So that clearly is the challenge for Democrats.

Certainly, any President's political party faces headwinds in a historic midterm election. There's no doubt. But Democrats believe that they have some advantages, largely because Donald Trump is back center stage. And that, of course, turns off so many voters in the middle and on the left. So now, nine weeks left before those midterm elections, the President tried to rally Democrats. His agenda for the rest of his term depends upon it.

Jeff Zeleny CNN, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

VAUSE: A developing story now out of Memphis, Tennessee. Police found a body not far from a 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher, school teacher and mother of two, was abducted last week. CNN's Gary Tuchman is on the scene.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Memphis police told us on Monday night that they have discovered a, quote, deceased hardy, about three blocks away from us in the South Memphis neighborhood of the city. You can see behind us there are scores of police officers, police cars, police helicopter flying above us.

What we must emphasize, there is no confirmation whatsoever, that Eliza Fletcher is the body. That hasn't been confirmed yet. There's a very likely possibility it is because of this turnout that we're seeing with police. But it's important for us to emphasize that has not been confirmed at this point.

Eliza was kidnapped about 20 minutes away from here when she was jogging on a path near the University of Memphis Friday morning, in the dark. The man who allegedly kidnapped her has been arrested and is being held right now. Police told us he wasn't talking. So they had to keep searching for this 34-year-old woman who had been missing.

Police officers tell us they received a tip that came in this neighborhood. They were looking for hours. Now they have found a dead person. We're being told it was several police officers who came upon that person. So I don't know when we will find out any confirmation. But either way, it's very sad news. This has been a very sad and traumatic story.

I feel so sorry for this family and for so many people in Memphis, who loved this very distinguished family and philanthropic family.

This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Memphis, Tennessee.

VAUSE: Well, one or two suspects in a deadly stabbing spree in Canada has been found dead. But the manhunt continues with Myles Sanderson seen here on the right who may be injured and seeking medical attention. On Monday, he was charged with murder and attempted murder for his alleged role in the attack, which left 10 people dead and wounded 18 others.

Authorities have urged residents to remain vigilant saying Sanderson is considered armed and dangerous. Police found the body of the other suspect, his brother, Damien Sanderson, not far from where the attack unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASST. COMMISSIONER RHONDA BLACKMORE, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: At 11:30 a.m., a deceased male was located on the James Smith Cree Nation. At 1:17 p.m. today, it was confirmed by Saskatchewan RCMP forensic investigation section that the deceased is Damien Sanderson. His body was located outdoors in a heavily grassed area in proximity to a house that was being examined. We can confirm he has visible injuries. These injuries are not believed to be self-inflicted at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:15:15]

VAUSE: This killing spree has left so many in Canada badly shaken. CNN's Paula Newton now has the latest on the manhunt and the timeline of the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Police say the stabbing rampage began in the pre-dawn hours Sunday in an indigenous community in central Saskatchewan. At 5:40 a.m. Central time Sunday morning and for several minutes afterward, police say they received reports of multiple stabbings in several locations in James Smith Cree Nation. By 7:12 a.m., Saskatchewan law enforcement issued a dangerous person's alert, telling residents to shelter in place.

Later that hour, they identified the suspects as brothers, Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson. By 8:30 a.m., the manhunt was extended by hundreds of miles. And at 9:45 a.m., police alerted that there was at least one stabbing victim in the neighboring village of Weldon and that some victims were randomly attacked.

RUBY WORKS, RESIDENT, WELDON, CANADA: I was thinking back to defend me, they could have killed me. I don't know why they did this. They took innocent people's lives. They shattered this community. NEWTON (voice over): And then by 12:07 p.m. in Regina, Saskatchewan, a three-and-a-half-hour drive away, police say they had a credible tip the suspects were in the city driving a black Nissan Rogue. Then, the trail goes cold. Police appeal to the public once again. And late Monday announced that Damien Sanderson has been found dead but Myles Sanderson is still at large.

CHIEF EVAN BRAY, REGINA POLICE SERVICE: I think the most recent reliable information we have says that he is in Regina or was in Regina. The most recent. That most recent information is a day old. We acknowledge that. But we have nothing that can tell us differently.

NEWTON (voice over): Crucially, police also say Damien Sanderson's wounds were not believed to be self-inflicted, and his body was found in the community of James Smith Cree Nation, the scene of the first attacks. Despite an expanded search, Myles Sanderson remains on the run. Police are telling all residents in Saskatchewan to remain vigilant and that the suspect is dangerous and has an extensive criminal record. The tight knit indigenous community is devastated by these vicious attacks that has now shattered so many lives.

HAROLD BURNS, ELDER, JAMES SMITH CREE NATION: It affects everybody from James Smith. Whether you're -- they're all part of family. You know, I have -- a niece was killed, first cousin was killed, you know. So how do you speak on that? How do you respond?

NEWTON (voice over): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is marshaling resources to the communities, but conceded how unnerving this savage crime has been.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Sadly, over these past years, tragedies like these have become all too commonplace. Saskatchewanians and Canadians will do what we always do in times of difficulty. And anguish will be there for each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: People in these tight knit communities are describing this as a massacre and police would like to think that Myles Sanderson, if he is injured, will come forward, or that someone will come forward with more information about his whereabouts.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

VAUSE: Heavy rains turns roads into rivers in Rhode Island when a several U.S. states under flood watches or warnings. Have a look at the U.S. weather in a moment. Also, aftershocks rattling Southwestern China after a deadly earthquake hit the Sichuan region. We're live with an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:23:08]

VAUSE: In the United States, heavy rain has flooded streets in Rhode Island. Flash flooding shut down this section of highway in Providence on Monday. Rhode Island is one of more than a dozen U.S. states under flood alerts over the past few days.

Let's bring in Meteorologist Gene Norman for the very latest. You know, these pictures are amazing. I mean, this is just becoming more and more common.

Gene Norman, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly right, John. And the all- weather adage is that a flood usually follows a drought. And in the northeast, there has been a tremendous drought all summer long. And now like flipping a switch in the atmosphere, we have too much happening at the same time. This is the estimate of the rainfall from the past couple of days.

And you can see these little bull's eyes of orange and red. Those are at least 6 inches of rain, but pretty widespread coverage of those showers over the past couple of days. And again, some heavy downpours leading to flooding. In fact, 55 million people are still under a flood alert from Southern Maine all the way down to D.C. that of course includes New York, Philly and Boston.

The current radar shows us a moderate batch of rain is moving across the area. Nothing too intense right now and certainly nothing severe as far as strong thunderstorms. But that good soaking rain falls on top of areas that already gotten a lot of rain. The computer forecast model shows the showers will continue and then eventually begin to dissipate by the time we get to sometime late on Wednesday.

And again, by then we should see an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain indicated by the yellow shaded areas that you see there. Now the heatwave out west and the flooding in the east are actually connected. This is the Jetstream riding high across the West, that ridge of high pressure baking the West, but then there's a dip in the eastern half of the country. And along that dip, the conveyor belt of moisture coming into the Gulf has been producing all the flooding.

Eventually, this will all break down toward the end of the week and even some of the hot weather out west will begin to back off just a bit. But until then, we still have heat advisories and excessive heat warnings in effect across a good part of the West for over 40 locations set records on Monday. Triple digits again across the board right through Thursday.

[01:25:10]

John, I think the worst of the heat will actually be today and tomorrow.

VAUSE: Then hopefully it's done. Fingers crossed. Thanks, Gene. Appreciate it.

Well water levels in lakes and rivers across Pakistan continue to rise, leaving millions of people in dozens of cities in danger of flooding. Some parts have received five times the average monsoon rainfall. A third of the country is submerged. The World Health Organization warning that stagnant water is spreading disease.

Joining me now from the hothead province, Sindh province is Susannah George, Washington Post Bureau Chief in Pakistan. Susannah, thanks for being with us. This seems to be flooding emergency which won't quit. Add to that, the limited resources that Pakistan has to cope with natural disasters. So how dire is the crisis right now? How much worse is expected to get?

SUSANNAH GEORGE, AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN, BUREAU CHIEF, THE WASHINGTON POST: You can see behind me some of the fields that have been most recently flooded here in Sindh province. These fields were flooded when the Pakistani government made the controversial decision to intentionally breach a lake upstream from here, that move displaced tens of thousands of people and flooded hundreds of more villages downstream.

But we're hearing that water levels in the lake are continuing to rise. And that may force the Pakistani government to make another breach of the lakes retaining wall. That would only add to the growing humanitarian crisis here. Where we are now is in Sindh, that's just south of some of the worst hit villages further north from here. These are villages that are still underwater.

We visited families at some of these villages. And they told us they don't want to leave their homes because they know even if they reach dry land, there will not be shelter for them and there won't be aid, though these floods have been going on for weeks, for months since June. But the Pakistani government only declared a state of National Emergency a few weeks ago, and then began appealing for outside aid.

So there's a growing anger here among Pakistanis that the government has acted too slow. And even those who have been able to be rescued from the flooded waters are not receiving the humanitarian assistance that they need once on dry land.

VAUSE: Susannah, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate the update. It's a very sad story. We know that of the 1,300 that are dead, third of them were kids. So Susannah George reporting in Sindh who keep watching, thank you.

You can find out ways to help those impacted by Pakistan's devastating floods. You can find that information at cnn.com/impact.

An earthquake in southwestern China has left dozens dead. Rescuers are searching rubble and debris right now looking for survivors that's after the 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province, Monday afternoon, local time.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout following all these developments. She is live with us from Hong Kong. OK, so a day on from the quake. We're not getting a better idea of the --

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

VAUSE: -- extent of the damage and the devastation. What's it looking like?

LU STOUT: Yes, John, the death toll is rising. You know, a day after this 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan, the biggest earthquake to rock the region since 2017. According to state run media, the reporting at least 65 people have died as a result of this earthquake. They report 248 more people are injured. 12 people remain missing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered a, quote, all-out effort in order rescue effort rather to save lives and to minimize casualties. I want to show you this. It's a dashcam video that's been going viral on Chinese social media. And you see the precise moment when the quake struck, and it underscores the sheer force of the earthquake.

You know, you see the trees, the building, swaying and shaking. And at one point right there, the outer facade of a building simply crumbles apart. The extent of the devastation that is still being assessed right now. But we know that power and communication lines have been disrupted. We also learned that near the epicenter of the earthquake that roads and homes have been destroyed.

And keep in mind this has been a brutal and cruel summer for the people of Sichuan Province, a province that's home to some 84 million people. If you zero in on the situation in its capital city of Chengdu where all of its 21 million residents were forced to go into lockdown because of rising COVID-19 cases. And I want to show you this next video here that's been going viral in social media showcasing the heightened tension among residents who are venting their frustration about still being stuck in lockdown, even after being struck and terrorized by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake.

The region and its people have endured so much, John. You know, the earthquake, the lockdown in Chengdu, the record-breaking heatwave, the drought, wildfires as well. It's just misery upon misery for the people in this afflicted province of Sichuan. Back to you.

[01:29:44]

VAUSE: I remember back in 2008, when there was a magnitude 8 earthquake which hit Sichuan. The numbers that came out, came out in dribs and drabs. At first there was a few dozen, then there was maybe 10, 20, 50. By the end of it, the toll was 80,000. What's the likelihood that we'll have a similar situation here that there will be those sort of numbers released over a period of time?

STOUT: Yes. That's what we need to monitor and to look out for, I think it's very significant when that order was issued by Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that an all out rescue effort must be mobilized in order to minimize casualties and to save lives.

It gives you a hint that the devastation could be far worse than initially reported. The death toll, again, it keeps rising to yesterday and today between the hours of this morning and this afternoon.

We'll have to continue to monitor those official numbers that we're getting out of China. But also keep an eye on these scenes that are coming out, not just the state-run media but also the social media. Not just of the frustration that's being vented among the survivors. But also just seeing the sheer force of the earthquake and also the devastation. Looking at what's happened at the powerlines, looking at what's happening at homes. So far there have been no reports of damage to, for example, the hydro power plants and facilities and dams in Sichuan. But that is one to monitor. Back to you, John.

VAUSE: This story is not over yet, not by a long shot. Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout live for us in Hong Kong.

STOUT: Thank you.

VAUSE: Still to come, a new leader for Britain's ruling conservative party. And after the audience with Queen Elizabeth, a new prime minister for the country. A look at the challenges ahead for Liz Truss.

[01:36:31]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Boris Johnson's turbulent time as U.K. Prime Minister will officially end in a few hours, when he offers his resignation to Queen Elizabeth.

Liz Truss will then take his place after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party. Both Johnson and Truss expected to make public statements in the hours ahead.

We've already heard from French President Emmanuel Macron who last month Truss said the jury is still out if Macron was friend or foe of the U.K. Still Macron welcomed her win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I say welcome to Liz Truss. I expressed to her that France congratulates her and we are available to work as allies and friends.

The United Kingdom is a great country, that, like us, is committed to defend democracy by the side of Ukraine and that also needs to strengthen its energy sovereignty and win the battle against climate change. That's the real agenda. The rest is just fluff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Along with the cheers, there were jeers as well. Truss booed arriving at the Conservative Party headquarters in London on Monday. Not a good sign of things to come.

Let's head now to London, CNN Nada Bashir is standing by with the very latest. And Nada, thank you for coming in early. What can we expect on this day? It's a busy day for Liz Truss, a lot to do.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, it's a busy day but Liz Truss, bit it's also going to be a busy day for the outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson, in the next hour or so. We can expect Johnson to step outside here on the streets of 10 Downing Street to make his final address as prime minister.

We saw him stepping before that podium back in July announcing his resignation, saying that he would be sad to leave, what he described as the best job in the world. And today, we also hear his final speech -- he'll be speaking for the press and the country just in about an hour or so, before his planned trip to Balmoral in Scotland. Now physically the outgoing prime minister -- the incoming prime minister will travel just down the road to Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen. But, she's currently residing in her summer residence in Balmoral in Aberdeenshire in Scotland where the prime minister will be traveling, shortly after his address to visit the Queen to tender his resignation, formally and crucially as per custom in the United Kingdom to recommend Liz Truss for the position of prime minister.

Now, shortly thereafter, Boris Johnson's visit to the Queen, Liz Truss herself, will also hold an audience with the Queen. She will be formally invited by the monarch to form a government and following that custom tradition, she will travel back here to Downing Street where she will give her first addressed as prime minister, outside the doors of 10 Downing Street just behind me where will soon be residing.

But, of course, that is in the end there is a significant series of challenges that lie ahead for the incoming prime minister. First and foremost, of course, within her own party. She will be looking to form a new cabinet, selecting cabinet ministers who will take charge of her government over the coming weeks.

But of course, there is a (INAUDIBLE) -- in trade for Liz Truss. She comes into government at the time of immense crisis, for the British government, not at least the war in Ukraine, but several challenges at home as. Well and we heard from her, addressing those challenges, just yesterday, her victory speech pledging to deliver, deliver, deliver -- John.

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) We'll see what happens. Nada Bashir, Thank you, live in London.

Quite dangerous to your circadian rhythm, thank you.

Well, for the first time since stepping back from her royal role -- the Duchess of Sussex delivered a speech in Britain, saying it was good to be back in the U.K. Meghan gave the keynote address at the One Young World Summit in Manchester where she was accompanied by her husband, Prince Harry.

It's been over two years since they stepped back from their royal duties. According to the British newspapers there are no plans for Prince Harry to see his brother on this trip. Relations between the two, apparently, remain a little strained.

[01:39:51]

VAUSE: We'll take a break, when we come back the last working reactor shut down at Europe's largest nuclear power plant. (INAUDIBLE) and shelling why Ukraine is once again placing the blame on Moscow.

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VAUSE: Ukraine's president says shelling by Russian artillery caused a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which disconnected the last working reactor from the power grid. A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says the reactor should be reconnected once the fires are out.

An IAEA team was given access to the plant last week and it's expected to report on safety conditions at the facility. President Zelenskyy says the continued Russian shelling around the plant proved Moscow has little interest in that IAEA report and on the plant's safety and is unconcerned by the risk of a nuclear accident.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Shelling the territory of Zaporizhzhia means that the terrorist does not care what the IAEA says, what the international community decides.

Russia is interested only in the fact that the situation would remain the worst and as long as possible.

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VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Sam Kiley reporting from Odessa.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For the third time in 10 days the Ukrainian authorities are deeply concerned about the disconnection of a nuclear reactor at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Powers Plant, which is 20 miles south of the city of 700,000 people because they say that it has been disconnected, forcing the use of the back up power, the diesel generating system in order to cool the nuclear reactor.

Now this has happened three times in the past. And every time it happens, the concerns over a nuclear meltdown increase. Now, there are two U.N. inspectors still on the site. They are supposed to be there permanently, or at least for the foreseeable future. So, it will be interesting to see whom they blame or whether they go public with what's going on there.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, has been claiming relatively-limited successes. Saying that at least two villages in the south, during the southern offensive here have been captured. And one village in the east.

Now, these villages frequently change hands fairly often during these campaigns. But there is no doubt that here in the south, the Ukrainians' counter offensive still means that they have the initiative using a lot of NATO's supply firepower to overwhelm superior numbers of artillery and men that the Russians have here on the ground.

Sam Kiley, CNN -- in Odessa.

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VAUSE: And a U.S. official says Moscow has turned to North Korea and is in the process of buying new supplies of rockets and artillery rounds. It's another sign the Russian military they say is suffering from severe shortages.

The print license of one of Russia's last independent newspapers has been revoked by a Moscow court. State media watchdog says Novaya Gazeta failed to provide documents proving ownership after the company changed hands in 2006.

The editor and chief, a Nobel Peace Laureate says that they will appeal this decision. He says it's no mystery why the government is doing this.

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DMITRY MURATOV, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "NOVAYA GAZETA" (through translator): The decision is a political hit job that has no legal basis whatsoever. We were in court for allegedly not handing over some documents 20 years ago. When, in reality, it is absolutely obvious to everyone what's behind this.

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VAUSE: The Israeli military admits an Al Jazeera journalist may have been killed by Israeli fire. The IDF says there's a high possibility Shireen Abu Akleh was accidentally shot while covering a military operation in May. But the soldiers were not aware that they were firing at the journalist.

A senior official says soldiers thought they were firing at militants despite images from the scene showing Abu Akleh wearing a vest labeled "Press" on the front and back.

Still to come, the good, the bad, the ugly. A look back at Boris Johnson's time as U.K. prime minister and all the problems he faced, some he made himself.

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VAUSE: Not quite six months in a leaky boat, but 11 days adrift at sea in a freezer. Unable to swim, even surviving a shark attack, an incredible story which began when this guy's boat sank on a fishing trip off Brazil's northern coast.

Speaking with affiliate CNN Record TV, he says he scrambled to reach the freezer after noticing it did not sink. Good plan. At one point, he bailed water out by hand to try and keep the freezer afloat. The man rescued, don't know what happened to the freezer. The U.K.'s next prime minister will inherit a lot of the economic

problems from the time of Boris Johnson. Here's a look back now at some of BoJo's (INAUDIBLE).

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know who this is? Does everybody know him. He's going to be a fantastic prime minister.

BORIS JOHNSON, OUTGOING BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I have just been to see Her Majesty, the Queen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your message to the country, Mr. Johnson?

JOHNSON: The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters -- they are going to get it wrong again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, prime minister.

JOHNSON: Take this country out of the E.U. on October the 31st to get Brexit done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you make a promise, today to the British public that you will not go back to Brussels and ask for another delay to Brexit?

JOHNSON: Yes, I'd rather be dead in a ditch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you lie to the Queen when you advised her to provoke (ph) to suspend parliament?

JOHNSON: Absolutely not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The prime minister's advice to her majesty was unlawful, void and have no effect.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Boris Johnson, prime minister of the United Kingdom for five more years, now has an absolute majority.

JOHNSON: There you go.

I do not think it vainglorious or implausible to say that a new golden age for this United Kingdom is now within reach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The deadly coronavirus has officially been declared a global health emergency.

JOHNSON: From this evening, I must give the British people a very simple instruction. You must stay at home.

I was at the hospital the other night, where I think there were a few -- they're actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody. You'll be pleased to know --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus.

JOHNSON: Be in no doubt that I can continue to lead the national fight back against coronavirus.

What's the name of that drug again?

(INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Near enough, yes, something like that.

It depends on who's been in the Peppa Pig World.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is everything ok Prime Minister?

JOHNSON: President Putin, of Russia, has unleashed war in our European continent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there more revelations to come?

JOHNSON: All guidance was followed completely.

That's not true.

What I can tell you is that all the guidelines were observed.

Firstly, I want to say sorry. And I'm sorry for the things we simply did not get right. And also sorry for the way that this matter has been handled.

[01:55:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boris Johnson, announcing that he is resigning as prime minister.

JOHNSON: I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But then (ph) the brakes. Hasta la vista, baby. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Boris Johnson there, gone but not forgotten.

It's been a revolving door at number 10 over the past six years. There is one resident though of the famed prime minister's office that staying put. On the day the U.K. learned who would be it's next prime minister, Larry the cat sauntered outside the official residence, checked it all out, took a moment. That was it.

The chief mouser has been on the job since 2011 outlasting David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson. Presumably he will be on hand to congratulate incoming prime minister Liz Truss, and the one after that, the one after that, after that and so it goes.

Please stay with CNN for our special coverage of Britain's next prime minister as we take you live to London next hour.

And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Rosemary Church and Max Foster after the break. I'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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