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Putin Orders Military of Draft of Russian Men; Occupied Regions in Ukraine Voting to Join Russia; Mass Protest in Iran; Christiane Amanpour Pulls Out of Interview with Iranian President; Canada Bracing As Hurricane Fiona Approaches; Man Sentenced To 24 Years For Brutal Assault In China; Former Chinese Officials To Be Jailed For Life. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired September 23, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Live, from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Emotional goodbyes as thousands of Russians are forced to leave their families to serve under Vladimir Putin's mobilization order.

Protests turned deadly in Iran as outrage grows over the controversial death of a young woman.

And Canada braces for Hurricane Fiona, possibly the strongest storm to hit the country in half a century.

And we begin with Vladimir Putin's latest one-two punch for Ukraine. A land grabber, Russian occupied territories disguised as referendums coupled with a draft back home that seeks to add 300,000 soldiers to Putin's military.

Residents began voting in the hours ahead in four regions of Ukraine -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Now, they make up about 15 percent of Ukraine's territory. If they join Russia, Vladimir Putin is expected to use that as a pretext to declare war on Ukraine in defense of what he can then consider Russian territory.

The draft of Russian reservists and military veterans is already in full swing. Video posted on social media shows families gathered in Russia's far east to say goodbye to their loved ones. Husbands, fathers, sons boarding buses and planes in a mobilization not seen since World War II. Ukraine's president is urging Russians to keep up their protests against the draft. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through interpretation): Russia's decision on mobilization is a frank admission that the regular army, which has been prepared for decades to take over a foreign country, did not withstand and crumbled. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Many Russians are showing their opposition to the partial mobilization by taking to the streets. And as Matthew Chance reports, we're not talking about your typical demonstrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suddenly, an exodus across Russia's borders. Social media now filled with images like these near the country's southern frontiers of vehicles backed up out of sight.

Everyone is on the run from Russia, the male voice says. Endless cars. It's mind-boggling. In the west towards Finland, border officials also reporting significantly higher traffic, nearly 5,000 crossing in a single day and more expected by the weekend as Russians make for the exits.

Across Russia, there's a growing sense of alarm, even anger, at the call up of reservists to fight in Ukraine. More than 1,300 protesters have already been detained, many of them women, terrified their husbands and sons will be killed.

I've got two kids, a conscription age, says this protester. I brought them up alone and I don't want to lose them, she cried.

And for what, asks her friend? Yet, just so they can kill the sons of other mothers, she answers.

But the mobilization is taking place regardless. Images of reservists like these boarding a military transporter in the Russian far east show how many are heeding the call to arms. At assembly points, families are saying emotional goodbyes before their men. Some, apparently in middle age are bussed away, as what was cast as a limited, special military operation, feels more and more like a full- blown war. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Alright, for more on this, let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean following developments live from London. Scott, so what more are we learning about the referenda and why now and what effect might it have?

[02:04:58]

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim. Yeah, the consequences of this could be absolutely huge. And this is something that, of course, has been discussed since really the early days of war since the Russians marched in and took some of these regions, especially Kherson, with relative ease.

But a vote hasn't actually been taken place up until this point. And until recently, local officials have said that the security situation there, as Ukraine mounts a counteroffensive, simply would not allow for this. And yet all four of these regions have suddenly had a very, quick very sudden and very coordinated change of heart.

So, voting is now underway in four of these regions. So, we're talking about Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, that will go on for the next five days and wrap up on Tuesday and we could have results of these referenda as early as Wednesday, though some of these regions could take up to five days after the voting actually finishes to announce the results.

Ukraine has called these votes fake plebiscites with no legal consequences. Of course, western leaders have denounced them as a sham as well. And observers have suggested that, look, the likelihood that these votes will be fair is pretty low, pointing out the very obvious concerns.

First and foremost, the fact that many of the people in these regions live very close to the front lines. And, so it's an extremely dangerous situation. It is very difficult for them to move around. Certainly, voting in this kind of thing probably not top of their priority list.

You also have an enormous number of people who are displaced, not only within the region, but also outside of them as well. So, even if you are still inside of the region, well, chances are you are not in the same place that you usually live, and so the voting rules may be out of date, may be difficult to reach some of those people if they're not where they're supposed to be.

Ukrainian officials also have said that, look, in Kherson for instance, they estimate that half of the pre-war population has left. Now, local officials in Luhansk, for instance, are making it easy for people who have left to vote. People in Russia are able to vote. There is a couple of hundred polling stations set up there, but obviously, they haven't extended the same courtesy for people who have fled further into Ukrainian territory.

Now, there will be international election observers on hand. The difficulty with that, though Kim, is that they are not exactly impartial. They are all from Russia. You have the local election chairwoman from the Kherson region, for instance, telegraphing the results already, pointing out in a recent press conference that 80 percent of people in a recent poll, she says, in her region, say that they would like to separate from Ukraine and to join Russia.

The really concerning part, though, is obviously that Russian lawmakers have been saying that if these regions do in fact vote to join Russia, they will be entitled to the full protection of the Russian state with all of its consequences. And obviously, those consequences lately have taken on a whole new meaning since Vladimir Putin threaten the use of nuclear weapons. And so, this is a situation that has the real possibility of escalating fast and making a very dangerous situation even worse. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that is the key point you made there. Scott McLean in London, thanks so much.

And allies of the United Nations lashed out at Russia in the meeting of the Security Council Thursday, during a week that see Moscow stepping up action against Ukraine. As we heard, the Ukrainian foreign minister derided Moscow's efforts to draft hundreds of thousands of troops.

And the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken described efforts to seize Ukrainian territory as a repudiation of diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: One man chose this war. One man can end it. Because if Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Yesterday, Putin announced mobilization. But what he really announced before the whole world was his defeat. You can draft 300-500,000 people, but he will never win this war. Today, every Ukrainian is a weapon ready to defend Ukraine --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, left the chamber right after delivering his own remarks where he dismissed the world's condemnation while blaming Ukraine and the west for the invasion. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through interpretation): The Kyiv regime owes its impunity to its western sponsors. First of all, Germany and France but also the United States. Over the past few years, the Kyiv regime has conducted a frontal assault on the Russian language. It brazenly trampled on the rights of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.

(END VIDE CLIP

BRUNHUBER: For more on the referendums in the occupied regions of Ukraine, we're joined by Mariia Zolkina. She's a political analyst at the Ukrainian think tank Democratic Initiatives Foundation and she is speaking with us from Warsaw, Poland. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, what will these referenda mean for those areas of occupied Ukraine? Does it pave the way for Russian annexation?

[02:10:06]

MARIIA ZOLKINA, DEMOCRATIC INITIATIVES FOUNDATION: Hello. First of all, it's not a referendum, it's not a voting neither from political nor from a legal point of view. It's very dangerous to try to speak about this action as about a voting process, trying to figure out if there are some legacy, if there is some observers, voting protests, et cetera. Nothing exist, just voting boxes which will be stand somewhere under the guns of Russian occupational forces.

So, for Ukrainian side, it's of course, the signal that Russia will announce annexation of these territories like it did towards Crimea and part of Donbas in 2014. In Donbas, it ended up with not annexation at that time, but still, the same scheme was used.

But it will not change the strategy of Ukraine. So, in contrast to 2014 now, we are not going to negotiate and trying to settle down the issues after these referendums by political means, exactly that we know that Russia will use it to claim this territory belongs to Russia and Russia can defend by military means.

BRUNHUBER: So, from an emotional, sort of personal point of view, I want to ask you. I mean, you grew up in Luhansk, I understand. What are people saying? How are they taking all of this?

ZOLKINA: So, first of all, Luhansk province is -- now has some kind of an earthquake in terms of public opinion after the Kharkiv region was extremely rapidly liberated by Ukrainian forces.

And I think that that counteroffensive in Kharkiv actually has triggered partially so rapid decision about to serve the referendums exactly because Luhansk (inaudible) was from Russian point of view, at the risk of being liberated by Ukrainian forces next.

And what I know from my sources from occupied territories, people are very afraid. They know that they cannot protest. They are locked right now. Those who didn't left before, they are locked right now. And in contrast to what happened in occupied part of Donbas eight years, now people have almost no chance to omit participation because now the so- called voting commissions, self-proclaimed, they are starting from this morning in Ukraine, going from door to door to make everyone participate in this crime and demanding to put into the criminal code of Ukraine, the constitution of Ukraine.

BRUNHUBER: Oh, interesting. So, there will be forced to vote here. They won't have a chance to boycott, for instance.

ZOLKINA: And moreover, during the previous eight years, their political regimes in so-called (inaudible) republics in DPR and LPR in occupied part of Donbas, the regime was much strong and straight (inaudible) in Russia itself. It was really totalitarian one. And what we have been observing in my native Luhansk region, in Donetsk region, in Kherson, is even more stricter.

So, people are under real pressure. This process has no legacy at all. It's not allowed to neither, according to Ukrainian legislation, nor according even to the Russian legislation, to conduct any local referendums on changing the territorial status, official status of any territory. And that's why even if to close our eyes that this territory is occupied and Russian occupational forces are there so not voting is possible, then even according to legislation that say those states it's not possible as well.

BRUNHUBER: So, the key question here, do you think this referendum, combined with mobilization will lead to a serious escalation in the war? If Russia frames this as Ukraine attacking what they will then formally consider Russian soil?

ZOLKINA: There will of course consider Russian soil immediately. It's very important why people on occupied territories are so concerned right now and afraid of the consequences. They know that they are very next for them turn to be mobilized. And they know they will be forced to be sent to the front line against Ukrainian army. That's the personal tragedy of people living in occupied territories.

But political Russia will threaten Ukraine and western allies by using, for instance, nuclear weapons starting from recently occupied territories, so which they will consider the Russian territory up to this said referendums.

And main goal for all these said referendums and mobilization is to make Ukraine and its allies stop with any attempts to de-occupy this part of Ukrainian soil.

[02:15:06]

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, you raise the real threat of the use of nuclear weapons, which, of course, everybody is fearing and hope we won't -- that won't come to pass. Really appreciate your insights into this important issue, Mariia Zolkina. Thank you so much for talking to us.

Now, some Ukrainians are returning home where many homes are simply gone. They are coming back to newly-liberated areas in the east, which have been under Russian control for months. As Ben Wedeman reports, many people are finding out that there is not much left to come back to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anatoly is trying to make his demolished house a home again, one nail at a time. For without a roof, plastic sheeting on the windows won't make much of a difference. This is all they could salvage. Anatoly is overwhelmed by what he and his wife Svetlana found when they returned to their village of Prudyanka.

What can I say, he asks? You can see for yourself. Svetlana was born in this house 53 years ago. Her reaction? Pain, she says, shock, pain, terrible pain and bitterness. The fruits of a life's labor withered on the vine.

(On camera): This is what happened to many of the towns and villages caught on the front lines of this war. They were totally destroyed.

(Voice-over): Up the road, residents unload relief supplies trucked into the town of Kozacha Lopan.

Mayor Vyacheslav Zadorenko is back in his office after months away. He says these armbands were handed out to the workers in the local Russian installed administration. Food provided to collaborators and newspapers. About 100 people were collaborators, he tells me. When the Russians left, most left with them.

Oleksandr from the mayor's office shows us where town residents were brought for interrogation and tortured in a dark basement. As many as 30 people to a cell. Prisoners, he says, were seated in this chair and subjected to electric shocks. Vladim (ph) spent a few days there. He recalls his interrogators beat him first then asked questions.

They beat me on my back, my head, then shoved me on the floor and kicked me, he says. Then they gave me a cigarette and started the interrogation. They asked me if I was pro Ukrainian. I'm Ukrainian, I said, of course I'm pro Ukrainian.

He was released, but his son, Vladimir, was taken by the Russians. He's still missing. Vitaly (ph) draws water from the neighborhood well. He recalls when Russian soldiers asked if he and his wife had any Nazis at home.

This is a normal village, he chuckles in the retelling. We're farmers and workers. Kozacha Lopan is the last up on the train line before the Russian border. Soldiers took over the railway station.

(On camera): These are all letters and pictures sent by Russian schoolchildren to the soldiers here at the railway station. You have things like this, pictures, and here's a letter from Alexander in the fifth grade, who says, you are heroes. Thank you for guaranteeing our safe future.

(Voice-over): Misguided, discarded messages of support for a disastrous war. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kozacha Lopan, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A young woman arrested in Iran for how she was just, dies mysteriously days later. Now Iranians in dozens of cities are willing to risk their lives show their outrage, tearing at symbols of the regime and calling for death to the dictator. We have a live report just ahead. Plus, we're learning more about the young woman whose death sparked these protests. CNN spoke with her cousin about the family's tragic loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAKO AILI, MAHSA AMINI'S COUSIN: She was a good person. Her life did not end for nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:20:00]

(VIDEO PLAYING)

BRUNHUBER: Public outrage in Iran over the death of a young woman in police custody has galvanized protesters in dozens of cities. Women have been burning head scarves and cutting their hair in protest over what happened last week to Mahsa Amini. She was only 22 and died mysteriously after Iran's morality police arrested her for the way she was dressed.

Her family says they don't trust Iran's leaders to tell the truth about how she died. The government has responded to the growing unrest with riot police, tear gas, water cannons and other harsh measures. Iranian media report at least 17 people have died in the crackdown. And despite widespread internet outages meant to curb dissent, the public anger is spreading, imposes one of the most serious and direct challenges to Tehran's leaders in years.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is covering this for us and joins us live from Istanbul. Jomana, what more can you tell us about the growing anger and the regime's reaction?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a week since the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police, and of course that is what sparked those protests, Kim. But they have snowballed into something much more than that. You've got a generation of Iranians, young men and women, who are taking to the streets in acts of defiance that we have never seen before on this scale.

They are calling for freedoms that this generation's really never had. And you are seeing all these incredible scenes and images that we have been getting out of the country, despite the attempts by the authorities there to quash these protests. As you mentioned, according to the U.N. experts and the Amnesty International, they say that that authorities there have been using excessive force in attempting to suppress these protests and dealing with the protesters on the streets.

At least 17 people have died in the country as a result of what's going on the streets. And we have seen their attempts, also, to block the internet. You've had internet outages across the country, blocking access to social media platforms. This is something we have seen in the past and so many Iranians outside the country who are watching what is going on right now.

You know, they're holding on to the hope that this could be the beginning of something, that this could be a turning point in the country, but also, they are very, very concerned, Kim, because we have seen this all before. They say they are concerned about the kind of crackdown that the government might be already unleashing and will be unleashing to try and put an end to these protests.

It has been a week since Mahsa Amini's death. We are no closer, it seems, to real answers to what happened to her. Her family is still demanding truth and accountability for what happened. They say they don't believe the government when it says that it's going to deliver an investigation because they don't trust that the government is capable of delivering a credible investigation into her death.

Her father calling them liars. Yesterday we heard President Raisi in New York citing the coroner, saying that there was no sign of abuse or beatings, but that the investigation is ongoing.

[02:24:59]

We got a chance to speak to Mahsa Amini's cousin. He told us a bit more about who she was as a person and what they believe happened to her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KARADSHEH (voice-over): The world knows her as Mahsa. To her family,

she was the kind and shy Zhina, that's her Kurdish name. Her cousin in Norway sharing these family photos with CNN of happier times from their childhood in Iran.

AILI: She was very -- a very happy girl living in a not so good country with dreams that I maybe know about. Very respectful and very kind. Good hearted. Took care of her mother and brother.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Amini's death after being taken into the custody of morality police last week has sparked unprecedented protest. Calls for accountability of her death have turned into cries for freedoms -- this generation of Iranians has never known. With women at the forefront of the protest, burning the head scarves they've been forced to wear for decades.

AILI: It makes me sad and happy in one way because it's sad that someone's life has to go away for these things to start. And I know that when they demonstrate in Iran, it's not like if you demonstrate in America or in Norway or in Sweden. They are risking their lives.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Amini's family is demanding justice. They don't trust the government's investigation. They want the truth. They accuse authorities of covering up. Last week, police released this edited CCTV video. They say it shows Amini at the so-called reeducation center where you can see here collapsing.

Police say she was taken because she didn't abide by their strict Islamic dress code. They claim the 22-year-old appeared unwell, had a heart attack and collapsed into a coma. She died in hospital three days later. Family members say they saw her beaten up by the morality police as she was dragged away. It was the last time they saw her awake. They say doctors told them she had severe head injuries, swollen limbs and had a heart attack.

AILI: She had no heart disease or anything. And it was damage to her head, like she was bleeding out ear.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Violent acts of repression by this notorious force known as the morality police have been on the rise, according to the U.N. This video from an activist group purports to show those abuses. CNN can't independently verify the circumstances of this video or when it was filmed. The fury on Iran's streets has been years in the making. Amini's death appears to have been the final straw.

AILI: I want the world to know that she was a good person. Her life did not end for nothing. I hope this can start something to maybe, towards to get a better Iran, a more free Iran. I'm going to start crying.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Diako he's overcome with emotions, hope for the homeland he hasn't seen in more than 10 years, and the pain of a family grieving their beloved Zhina.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KARADSHEH (on camera): And Kim, as you can see, he was very emotional

there. He says he feels guilty that he is outside the country, that he is free to speak out. He is very concerned about family members inside Iran, those taking part in the protests, and very worried about Mahsa's own family, her brother, father, and mother, for taking the great risk of speaking out and standing up to the government.

BRUNHUBER: Alright. What a great reporting there. Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul. Thanks so much for that. And CNN chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, was supposed to interview the Iranian president Thursday in New York in what would have been Ebrahim Raisi's first interview on U.S. soil but it did not happen.

At the last minute, a Raisi aide told Christiane he wanted her to put on a head scarf. Well, she declined and the interview was canceled. In (inaudible) conversation with Anderson Cooper, Christiane explained why she said no and how it all transpired. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: As you can imagine, we had done quite a lot of ground work to try to get the interview. And it was difficult. There is no doubt about. It was difficult to get the agreement and it wasn't, you know, hundred percent until actually yesterday, Wednesday.

And then it was, well, it's going to be at this hour, then it's at this hour, then it's at this hour. Anyway, we turned up, as you can see, we had set up all the lights, we were told that it was going to go on. And we were told he was about to come down, something like at about 8:30, after saying some prayers and the rest, resting.

[02:29:59]

And then I was told that by one of the aides that the president had a suggestion, that I should wear a head scarf. So look, you know I'm used to covering these kinds of situations but I will wear a headscarf in Iran, where it's actually the law and pretty much you have to, certainly, as a foreign correspondent anyway. But here, you don't. And I just figured instantly in that -- in that moment that I had no choice but to A., stand up for journalistic principles, and B., you know, it was happening at a very important time when the whole idea of the hijab was, as you can see, at issue in this -- in this terrible round of protests.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We should point out. We have video of you interviewing various Iranian presidents over the years and there's this precedent --

AMANPOUR: Yes.

COOPER: -- Of interviewing here in the U.S. not wearing it.

AMANPOUR: Yes.

COOPER: It -- this time, in particular, because this woman who died in police custody from these -- you know, this really notorious morality police, you know, the idea of having to wear a headscarf at that time, it's --

AMANPOUR: Well, it was just a non-starter. I mean, it was just a non- starter. It's never been -- it's unprecedented that we got this kind of pressure and this kind of suggestion. I genuinely believe that A., either he did not want to do the interview or he did not want to be seen publicly, especially inside Iran with a female journalist who was not wearing a scarf, given the circumstances of what happened.

COOPER: What do you make of what is -- what -- I mean they were just -- were sees extraordinary.

AMANPOUR: Well, the important thing is what's happening. Yes, the important thing is what's happening. And, of course, I would have wanted to ask him how he's going to deal with that, which are the most significant protests in Iran since 2019.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Fiona is far from over after battering the Caribbean. Bermuda and Canada are next in line. We get the latest forecast next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Eastern Canada is bracing for what could possibly be the strongest storm to ever hit the region. Hurricane Fiona is showing no signs of slowing as it makes its way up the Atlantic. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Western Newfoundland are expected to be the hardest hit. Bermuda is being lashed by the storm right now after residents spent the last few days boarding up and stocking up. Fiona already left its mark in the Caribbean, leaving hundreds of thousands in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic without clean water or power.

All right, let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. And, Derek, I understand there have been new Hurricane warnings issued. What more can you tell us?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. Just a few hours ago, that shading of Red was pink indicating a hurricane watch for Western Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island's now it has been upgraded to a hurricane warning and that does include the Halifax region as well. Some of the most populated areas within that region.

[02:35:06]

That's ahead of hurricane Fiona, 215-kilometer per hour sustained winds. That makes it a Category 4. At the moment, the most immediate threat actually, Bermuda. This particular area getting the outer rain bands from the storm. They do anticipate -- the National Hurricane Center anticipates that they will experience hurricane force winds in the coming hours. This storm is expansive. We're talking over 1200 kilometers or roughly 740 miles, that's roughly the same size as Alaska. That's the entire diameter of the cloud field of this particular hurricane. Now, tracking its progression over the past few days, I mean, this thing has done some damage. Think about what it did on Monday into Puerto Rico knocking out the entire U.S. territory without power. You can see this nighttime image taken yesterday of just how little the actual territory has received back in that power, about 63 percent of customers without power still as we speak.

And then as it tracks northward, it is now impacting not only the Turks and Caicos, which is a British territory but now Bermuda which is under hurricane warnings. And it will move north in a very fast fashion. And if it does so, it'll become extratropical, meaning that holds some of its characteristics of a tropical system, but it will no longer be characterized as Hurricane. We're splitting hairs here.

The big problem is going to be, of course, the winds, the storm surge, the coastal erosion right along the coastal areas of Newfoundland as well as Nova Scotia, and then you can't forget about these impressive wave heights. Some of our computer models indicating near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That splits Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. that area could experience upwards of 10 to 15 meters swells in the open ocean.

This is a powerful storm. It's gaining latitude very quickly, so much so that it may change some of the precipitation over to snowfall on the backside of it, so cold enough in the northern latitudes there to fall as snow. We're also monitoring another storm system that could potentially become Tropical Storm Hermine in the next 24 hours, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Got you. Yes, sounds absolutely frightening. We'll be following this throughout the weekend. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, I really appreciate it.

VAN DAM: OK.

BRUNHUBER: Now, the damage that Fiona left in Puerto Rico that Derek was just talking about will take some time to repair. The storm killed at least two people there, almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory. On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden authorized 100 percent federal funding for debris removal, search and rescue efforts, and to restore power to the island. As of Thursday, 890,000 customers have running water and almost half a million customers or 38 percent have electricity. But officials can't estimate when power will be restored in the most affected areas.

Well, in a brutal assault caught on video in China, the main attacker found guilty on a number of charges. We'll have details straight ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:40:05]

BRUNHUBER: The main assailant in a brutal assault on women in northeastern China has been sentenced to 24 years in prison. Video of the attack shocked the nation and provoked widespread anger. Now you're about to see may be hard to watch. Have a look here. The man that you'll see, along with four other defendants were found guilty of violently assaulting the women in a barbecue restaurant in June. The attack happened after one of the women apparently refused their advances.

All right, let's go to CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang who has the latest here. So, Steven, bring us up to speed on the outcome of this absolutely horrific case.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Kim, you know the verdict and sentence really not surprising given the vicious nature of their crime. As you mentioned, that video went viral about three months ago and really difficult to watch. Now after online criticism of the authority's initial slow response, they did manage to fairly quickly run up more than two dozen suspects, some connected to this assault, others connected to this ringleaders. Other alleged criminal activities ranging from illegally running casinos to robbery and unlawful imprisonment. And on Friday, a total of 28 people, including the ringleader, were convicted for various crimes and were given sentences ranging from six months to two or 24 years, as you mentioned.

Now, there is obviously some sigh of relief from the members of public, but there's also lingering doubts about whether or not the authorities have addressed the root causes of this incident. Because remember, from the very beginning, they have been trying to steer public attention away from gender-based violence and assault and harassment against women in society. Instead, they've been portraying this as an isolated incident perpetrated by local gang members. Remember, this is a government that has been cracking very hard down on feminist activism, which they linked to a subversive overseas forces. There is also a general lack of support, legal, and otherwise for women of such crimes.

So what -- given that, there is really a lot of doubt whether or not the root causes, the systemic issues got addressed, but as far as the government is concerned, they have wrapped up a very high profile -- high profile case that have galvanized the nation just a few weeks ahead of their major Communist Party Congress, during which the leadership was undoubtedly tout their achievements on all social issues, including protecting women's rights, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, appreciate the update, CNN Beijing bureau Chief Steven Jiang, thanks so much.

And two former senior Chinese officials convicted of bribery have just been sentenced to life behind bars. According to state media, the court first sentenced the former Justice Minister to death after he was found guilty of accepting close to $16.5 million in bribes from 2004 to 2021. And we're getting word China's former Deputy Minister of Public Security has been sentenced to life as well also on bribery charges. Now sentences come amid a government crackdown ahead of a key Communist Party Congress as Steven just mentioned, where President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term. Well, NASA has released stunning new images from its James Webb Space Telescope showing the planet Neptune. And it's hard to detect rings. Have a look here. This is the clearest view of Neptune's rings in more than three years, according to NASA. Now, thanks to incredible image quality, we were also able to see Neptune's faint dust bands. And the telescope captured seven of Neptune's 14 known moons including the largest, Triton. Neptune is three times farther from the Sun than Earth that orbits one of the dumbest areas of our solar system.

All right, I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN NEWSROOM." "WORLD SPORT" is next.

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