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Russian Held Territory to Vote Where They Want; World Leaders Not Buying Russia's Justification of War in Ukraine; Russia Take Chances with Untrained Conscripts; Hurricane Fiona Headed to Canada and Bermuda; Russian Men Refuse to Go to War; Ethnic Group Wants Reparation; Justice Handed to Women Brutally Assaulted in China; Hong Kong Ends Strict COVID Rules; Roger Federer Retires from Tennis. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 23, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: 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, residents in occupied parts of Ukraine are set to vote on whether to become part of Russia. We'll look at how the vote many drives as a sham could have a real impact on the war.

Canadians right now are preparing for what could be the strongest storm ever to hit the Eastern coast of Nova Scotia. We're tracking hurricane Fiona at the CNN weather center.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER FEDERER, SWISS TENNIS PLAYER: Walking out on court and having the chance to play with likes of Rafael or Novak also in the past has been an amazing experience for me. So.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Tennis great Roger Federer gets ready to say goodbye to the sport. We'll have a preview of the special final match later today.

It's 10 a.m. across Ukraine where occupied parts of the country are voting today on whether to become a part of Russia. Ukraine and the west call the referendums a sham, but the votes could result in Russia annexing about 15 percent of Ukraine's territory already controlled by a Russian Armed Forces.

Vladimir Putin's mobilization of 300,000 Russians to join the fight is already underway across the country. Video from social media shows families in the country's far east saying tearful goodbyes and men boarding buses. But not everyone is willing to submit to the draft. Cars lined up for as far as the eye could see at border crossings, leading out of Russia and into Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Finland, and Georgia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging Russians to continue their protests against the draft. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Fifty-five thousand Russian soldiers died in this war in six months, tens of thousands are wounded men. Do you want more? No. Then protest, fight, run away or surrender to Ukrainian captivity. These are the options for you to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean following developments live from London. And Scott, let's start with the referenda, why now, and what effect might they have?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Kim, yes, these referenda are something that have been bandied, bandied around, sort of, talked about the possibility of happening really since the outset of the war, but they haven't come to fruition until this point.

Even recently, local officials in these occupied territories have been saying that security situations simply would not allow for any kind of a vote to take place. And yet, all four of these regions, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Donetsk all decided in unison. And very suddenly earlier this week that they were going to hold these votes with voting beginning today.

Now the Ukrainians have called these fake plebiscites with no legal consequences. Of course, western leaders have denounced them as a shame. And it's really difficult to, you know, it is really difficult to understate just how unusual the process is here.

The voting is going to be taking place over the next five days. The first four days here is going to be door to door voting. So literally you'll have officials going around house to house, with ballot boxes, presumably getting people to vote only on the fifth day of voting, will people be allowed to turn up to an actual polling station.

Observers have pointed out the many obvious concerns here with this kind of voting, the fact that so many people have been displaced. The fact that so many people are not even in the regions that they live. Ukrainian officials say that half of the population of Kherson, for instance is outside of the region compared to the population pre-war.

And then obviously you have the really scary part, which is the fact that Russian lawmakers are saying that, look, if these regions do in fact vote to join Russia, they will be entitled to the full protection of Moscow and all of the consequences.

And of course, those consequences have taken on a whole new meeting this week, given that Vladimir Putin is now threatening the use of nuclear weapons, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, frightening, prospects. So, let's turn to the world reaction and the U.N. General Assembly yesterday we heard plenty of condemnation and criticism from the U.S. and from other countries as we might expect. So, take us through the highlights and Russia's reaction.

[03:05:00]

MCLEAN: Hey, Kim. Yes. So, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov walked into the U.N. secure -- security council chamber just before he was set to speak. And he walked out just after it. And several officials from other countries had said that look, or had suggested that he was not in the chamber because he didn't want to hear the widespread condemnation of Russia's war in Ukraine.

You had U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken not surprisingly particularly scathing, saying that the international order we've gathered here to uphold is being shredded before our eyes, saying that the fact that Vladimir Putin chose this week to announce this -- this draft, this escalation really shows the contempt that he holds for the U.N.

You had Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba saying, contrasting, trying to contrast the fact that many Ukrainians at the outset of the war return to their country to fight. And now you have so many Russians fleeing for the exits once this draft has been -- had been announced.

When Sergey Lavrov did speak, he went back to the typical script that we've heard Russians give over and over again as a -- as a justification for this war. So, I just want to play what he said and then contrast it with what the Ukrainian foreign minister said. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): 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.

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now U.S. official, U.S. State Department official, Kim, said afterwards that Russia felt the hot breath of world opinion not even the Chinese foreign minister spoke up in defense of Russia, instead pleading with the two sides, Ukraine and Russia, to get in a room and start talking, start negotiating. BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much. Scott McLean, live in London for us. Thank you so much.

And now for more on all this, we're joined by Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He is speaking with us from Canberra. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So, I want to start with mobilization and analysis by the Institute for the Study of War concluded that partial mobilization is unlikely to quote, "dramatically shift the tide of the war." Do you agree?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Yes, I do. And this is looking to be more than just a partial mobilization. If you look at how the mobilization process is occurring. But, however it occurs, and however many people they mobilize, it's not going to deliver highly trained, highly motivated professional fighting forces to the front line in time to make a difference.

What you will get is large numbers of disgruntled conscripts that don't want to be there that don't have effective training or weapons. There was a photo on Twitter, for example, of some being sent off with World War II rifles, you know, that they will get there and they will simply be cannon fodder for the Ukrainian military forces. So, this is not a solution to avoiding defeat for Russia by Ukraine.

BRUNHUBER: So, the mobilization and the referenda taken together, then what does that say about the state of the war from Russia's point of view?

DAVIS: Well, they're losing, essentially, Putin knows that they're losing. And I think what has happened is that, that lightning offensive by the Ukrainians east of Kharkiv into the Donbas and the steady offensive in the south towards Kherson has really demonstrated that the Russians do not have the means to be able to achieve their objectives on the battlefield.

And so, what that implies is that after the winter, as we go into the northern spring when maneuver operations can begin again, you're likely to see more offensives by the Ukrainians against the Russians. The Russians will still be no better prepared than they are now. And so, they are likely to route even further.

And as I -- and I think that at that point we do face a serious problem in the sense the Putin then has to choose accepting defeat or reaching for some sort of escalatory step.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, well, that's exactly my question that I wanted to ask you, because you say Russia is losing, so that may sort of explain the reporting that we have that Russia's military it's divided and that Putin himself is giving directions directly to his generals, which if history's any guide, it's usually a bad sign.

So, that is the question. Do you think that it signals that what could have been sort of a slow-motion defeat might turn into a quicker defeat or that for Ukraine, as Putin gets more and more desperate and takes control of battlefield strategy things could get much worse for Ukraine, or I guess it could be both really.

[03:10:06]

DAVIS: Look, I think -- I think what will happen is that the Ukrainians will make perfect advances in the northern spring. They will start to take back larger chunks of the Donbas, and start to make real progress in the south around Kherson.

Ultimately, their goal is to reoccupy Ukrainian territory including Crimea. And I think that at a certain point for the Russians they are facing the writing on the wall. They are facing the fact that they have been militarily defeated on the battlefield, that they don't have the means to turn this around short of using nuclear weapons.

And even that, doesn't really achieve much for them because of the risk of escalation. So, I think at that point, the pressure would then be on Putin. And you know, potentially the risk would, for him, would be that he would be removed from office in whatever way necessary, shall we say.

BRUNHUBER: Well, well, that would be a dramatic if it did happen, but, you know, you, I want to back up, you talked about nuclear weapons. The referenda that Putin has announced there that many people have said that that will sort of enable them to claim that Ukraine is attacking Russian soil. So does that increase the likelihood then of conflict with the west.

DAVIS: Look, I think it does. and I think we have to be cognizant and aware of that. We shouldn't just dismiss out of hand the prospect or the potential for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. But Putin would know that if he does that, the west will intervene militarily at the conventional level. And strike out Russian forces across the length and breadth of Ukraine. And that will lead to an escalatory spiral that ultimately leads to strategic nuclear exchanges. And at that point, the whole world, it loses.

So, I don't see how using tactical nuclear weapons achieves anything beyond ensuring the certainty of the destruction of Russia, and certainly bringing down the Putin.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, well, let's hope certainly that that doesn't happen. I really appreciate your analysis, Malcolm Davis. Thanks so much for joining us.

DAVIS: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Now, some Ukrainians are returning home to find many homes are simply gone. They're coming back to the newly liberated areas in the east, which have been under Russian control for months.

And as Ben Wedeman reports many people are finding out that there's not much left to come back to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

"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.

This is what happened to many of the towns and villages caught in the front lines in this war. They were totally destroyed. 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.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WEDEMAN: Oleksandr (Ph) from the mayor's office shows us where town residents were brought for interrogation and torture in 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 ask 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.

Vitali draws water from the neighborhood well, he recalls when Russian soldiers ask if he and his wife had any Nazis at home. "This is a normal village," he chuckles into retelling, we're farmers and workers."

[03:15:04]

Kozacha Lopan is the last stop on the train line before the Russian border. Soldiers took over the railway station. These are all letters and pictures sent by Russian school children to the soldiers here at the railway station. You got things like this, pictures. And here's a letter from Alexander (Ph) in the fifth grade who says, you are heroes. Thank you for guaranteeing our safe future.

Misguided discarded messages of support for a disastrous war.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kozacha Lopan, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Public outrage in Iran over the death of a young woman in police custody has now spread to dozens of cities.

Video obtained by CNN from the pro-reform activist outlet IranWire shows protestors tearing down symbols of the regime in brazen act of defiance not seen in years. According to Iranian media, there have been at least 17 deaths for public fury over Masha Amini's death shows no signs of cooling off.

Just 22 years old, she died last week in the custody of Iran's morality police after they arrested her because of how she was dressed. The government claims she died of a heart attack, but her family says it doesn't believe that.

Hurricane Fiona is far from over. After battering the Caribbean, Bermuda and Canada are next in line. We get lays forecast coming up.

And they say they were stripped of their land in the name of the British crown. And now a group of Kenyans are suing. We'll have that story still ahead. Stay with us.

[03:20:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Hurricane warnings are now posted for parts of Eastern Canada as it braces for hurricane Fiona. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and western Newfoundland are expected to be the hardest hit. Bermuda is being lashed by the storm's outer bands right now after residents spent the last few days boarding 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 recently there have been some new hurricane warnings issued. What more can you tell us?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it wasn't a few hours ago really that we were looking at shades of pink across this area. This is Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and prince at Rhode Island. But as you just mentioned that those have now been changed to warnings. This means that the Canadian Hurricane Center knows that this storm means business and it truly does. The more immediate impacts are to Bermuda.

So, let's get right down to business. There's Bermuda there. There's the center of hurricane Fiona, by the way, still equivalent to a category four hurricane, 215 kilometer per hour sustained winds, 130 miles per hour for our domestic viewers.

But it's such a large storm, 740 miles wide or 1,200 kilometers wide that the outer rain bands bringing hurricane force gusts currently to Bermuda, with the potential for storm surge impacts and localized flash flooding. But this storm is going to pick up in forward speed. It's going to

have a lot of momentum and it's got its eyes set on the Canadian Maritimes for Tuesday into Wednesday. This could potentially be a once in a generation storm for these locations.

I mean, just look at these projected wind gusts Charlottetown, 142 kilometers per hour by Saturday morning local. That's incredible. That will cause damage. This is going to be a very impactful storm for this particular area. The Gulf of St. Lawrence has the potential to experience open ocean swells in excess of 15 meters. That is significant too, because the shipping industry throughout this area is large and very, very impactful for that region.

Now it's going to gain so much latitude that the potential to bring in enough cold air behind it to change what was hurricane precipitation, meaning more rainfall into snow. That's amazing. Right? So, some snow possible out of the backside of the system, but localized flooding potential, real potential for in Western Newfoundland and into Nova Scotia.

Now it's not only Fiona that's causing the tropical mischief across the Atlantic. We've got our eyes set on the Caribbean Sea right now. That little x is actually an area of tropical disturbance that the national hurricane center has recognized. This area just north of Aruba could potentially develop into our next named storm, Hermine, that's what it would be.

Computer models all starting to cluster, whereas 24 hours ago, there was quite a spread on timing and location, but now we're really focusing our attention on the Southern Florida Peninsula midweek this week. A lot to talk about. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. We'll be tracking it throughout the weekend. CNN meteorologist Derek van Dam, thank you so much.

Now the damage that Fiona left in Puerto Rico 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 now have running water and about 38 percent of the homes and businesses have electricity, but officials can't estimate when power will be restored in the hardest hit areas.

And Fiona also killed two people in the Dominican Republic. Nearly three quarters of a million customers still don't have running water there. And more than 210,000 are without power. Officials say the storm destroyed more than 2000 homes.

[03:25:02]

And if you want to help those affected by hurricane Fiona, please go to cnn.com/impact, and you can find a list of verified organizations ready to help you make a difference there. Well, some potential military recruits in Russia are rushing out of

the country before military mobilization gets underway. We'll have that story ahead.

Plus, they were forcefully evicted from their land during colonial rule. Well, now a group of Kenyans are suing the British government. That story when we come back. Stay with us.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

All right, let's get you caught up with the latest developments in Ukraine. In the hours ahead four occupied regions begin their referendums on whether they want to unite with Russia. The vote is supported by Moscow, but condemned as a sham by the west.

Moscow is moving ahead with its partial military mobilization. Social media videos show tearful goodbyes between purported recruits and their families. And a new proposal looks to impose military service on immigrants from Central Asia, but many Russians aren't waiting for draft letters, opting instead to head across the border.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is now calling on Russians to protest against the mobilization.

Now for more on that, Ivan Watson joins us from Hong Kong. Ivan, the pictures of the mass exodus are certainly dramatic. So many Russians trying to get out or trying to figure out other ways of escaping being dragged into the war.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're seeing this phenomenon in the 36, 48 hours since Putin announced he was going to try to draft 300,000 men into the military to fight his war in Ukraine.

Instead of scenes of patriotic Russians waving flags saying, hey, we're going off the war to defend our country. Instead, we're seeing lines 10 kilometers long reported at the borders with Kazakhstan, the border crossing with Georgia, for example, people waiting 10, 12 hours. They say to try to get through to evade the possibility of receiving draft orders to go into the Russian military.

We have also been hearing that the flights are sold out, and that the price of those tickets to on planes out of the country have gone through the roof.

CNN caught up with one young man, a 29-year-old who made it to the Georgian capital last night on a bus service that went through the Russian Georgian border. He said that half of his family was Ukrainian. He was angry that he couldn't go see the funeral of his Ukrainian grandmother who passed away nine days ago. Take a listen to what he said happened when he was at the Russian side of the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: What was the situation at the border? Like did it take a long time? Did they ask you any questions?

UNKNOWN: Yes. About the Russia, about the -- how I think about Russia, how I think about Vladimir, mister -- how I think about this, some situations with Ukraine, how -- where I'm leave, where I'm going, who am I, what I'm doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And another man that reached to Tbilisi via neighboring Armenia from Russia, also described being asked at the border, questioned about his military record, whether he had one. CNN speak -- spoken to another man who left from Moscow by train, even before Putin had announced the partial mobilization when there was talk of referendums in the breakaway regions of Ukraine, grabbed a train to Belarus, to Minsk and out then is going to try to make his way further.

He said to CNN that he is a reservist, an officer in the Russian military reserves who doesn't believe in the war and is fleeing because he does not want to fight authorities. And Kazakhstan says they've seen an uptick of 20 percent more passenger cars since Putin made his mobilization announcement on the 21st coming across the border.

So, this is a phenomenon we're seeing, a trend, and it does not bode well for the draft effort in Russia. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: I appreciate the reporting on this. Ivan Watson, live in Hong Kong.

A group of people in Kenya is taking the U.K. government to court to get reparations and an apology from the Royal family for the brutality suffered when the British colonized their homeland.

CNN's David McKenzie has been following this story and he joins us live from Johannesburg. David, an unusual story with a long and complex history. Take us through it.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, Kim, many millions of people across the world celebrated the lifetime of service of Queen Elizabeth when she passed on. But for many others, it's a much more complicated history as we show you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: And this land was part of that.

MCKENZIE: James Bi (Ph) shows the legacy of the past.

UNKNOWN: That is part of this property. MCKENZIE: Their modest plot borders what was once their land. Some of the most fertile in Kenya now a lucrative tea Mecca. It was taken from them in the name of the British crown.

[03:35:00]

It's a colonial era eviction that led to generations of struggle for the Kipsigis in Kenya and for Bi's family.

UNKNOWN: I'm very bitter because the load I carry are still the same. He thought my father could carry. That is why as we are here, the load that I took.

MCKENZIE: In Kenya and across their empire, British colonial authorities ruled with an iron fist, displacing local communities for white settlers, crushing dissent. It's a shameful history for modern Britain and its Royal family.

UNKNOWN: British should compensate us. They should bring us our land.

UTEMBEKA NGCUKAITOBI, SENIOR ADVOCATE, LAND RIGHTS AUTHOR: What the British did in Africa were crimes against humanity.

MCKENZIE: South African advocate and author Tembeka Ngcukaitobi says there's a growing movement in Africa to seek justice and compensation from Britain.

NGCUKAITOBI: Restitution lies at the heart of what Africans can do in order to confront the legacy of British imperialism.

MCKENZIE: And what responsibility do the Royals have for that?

NGCUKAITOBI: The Royals have been at the heart of conquest of Africa. There have been central to the conquest of Africa.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, FORMER QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family, to which we all belong.

MCKENZIE: Imperial expansion came before Queen Elizabeth. During her long reign she presided over the dissolution of the empire. But she never publicly acknowledged her family's role in its brutality and it didn't go unnoticed.

NGCUKAITOBI: A lot of people don't appreciate the impact of Queen Elizabeth II. Because far from the sort of benign queen that she has been projected to have been, what she was able to do was to put a soft glove over the iron fist of imperialism to give imperialism an acceptable face.

MCKENZIE: What happened was a sin committed by the past kings and queens and the Royal family says 83-year-old Elizabeth Rotich (Ph) who says her family was pushed off her land and a sin like that follows through the generations.

She says she mourns the queen's passing, but wants an apology and compensation from King Charles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE (on camera): Well, they're not waiting for that. The Kipsigis, Kim, have lodged a claim at the European Court of Human Rights. You may remember that some 10 -- 10 years ago, another group of Kenyans received some level of compensation, as well as an apology of sorts from the British government. And you know, advocates and historians I've been speaking to about this story say, particularly with the passing of Queen Elizabeth, they expect the calls to grow throughout regions that were once ruled by the British crown to be asking for reparations from that period. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yes. An important story. Thanks so much for following. David McKenzie in Johannesburg.

Well, brutal assault caught on video in China. The main attacker found guilty on a number of charges while details straight ahead. Stay with us.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 what you -- what you're about to see it may be hard to watch. Just a warning there.

The man, 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 live now to CNN Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang who has the latest. Steven, so bring us up to speed on the outcome of this terrible attack.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Kim, the verdict and sentence not surprising given the vicious nature of their crime, that viral video caused a nationwide uproar. And there is some online criticism of the police initial slow response, but they did after that managed to fairly quickly round up more than two dozen suspects, some connected to this assault. Others connected to the ring leader's other alleged criminal activities ranging from robbery to illegally running casinos and unlawful imprisonment.

And on Friday, a total of 28 people were convicted for various crimes. And the given sentence -- sentences ranging from six months all the way to 24 years, as you mentioned. So, there is some sigh of relief among the public, saying -- thinking these people got what they deserve. But there is also lingering concerns about whether or not the authorities have properly addressed the root causes of such a horrific incident. Because remember, from the very beginning officials have been trying to divert public attention away from gender-based violence or assault and harassment against women in Chinese society. Rather they have -- they have been portrayed this as an isolated incident perpetrated by local gang members.

[03:45:07]

And, this is a government, remember that has been cracking down very hard on feminist activism, linking it to a subversive overseas force. There is also a general lack of legal and other support for female victims of this kind of crimes.

So, all of these issues very much remain, but of course, as far as the government is concerned, they have now wrapped up a very high-profile case that has galvanized the whole nation just a few weeks ahead of a major communist party Congress, where the leadership is undoubtedly going to tell their achievements in all social causes, including protecting women's rights and welfare. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang, thank you so much.

And two former senior Chinese officials convicted of bribery have just been sentenced to life behind bars. According to state media court, first sentenced the former justice minister to death after he was found guilty of accepting close to 16 and a half million dollars in bribes from 2005 to 2021.

China's former deputy minister of public security has been sentenced to life as well. Also, on bribery charges, now sentences come amidst a government crackdown ahead of a key communist party Congress where president Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term.

All right, coming up, Hong Kong's government announced it is ending a controversial measure aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19. We'll have details ahead in a live report. Please do stay with us.

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Some breaking news coming into CNN. Moments ago, Hong Kong's government announced it's ending a controversial measure aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us from Hong Kong. Kristie, an important development. Take us through what brought this about now after so long and more importantly, what it means.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, for more than two and a half years, Hong Kong has been locked in one of the toughest quarantine regimes on the planet. And just moments ago, Hong Kong's top leader, John Lee announced the end of hotel quarantine. Instead, it will be replaced by three days of self-monitoring. He also announced that negative PCR test is no longer mandatory before boarding a flight to Hong Kong.

All these measures become effective this Monday, September the 26th. Now Hong Kong with its fake tether to mainland China and its zero COVID policy has long throughout the pandemic had tough border controls in place. At its peak new arrivals had to pay for and spend 21 days in hotel quarantine. That was eventually eased down to seven days. Then last month to three days hotel quarantine plus four days self-monitoring.

Now we've just heard from John Lee, the chief executive of Hong Kong. It is the end of hotel quarantine, but instead replaced by three days self-monitoring starting this Monday.

There's a chart that we've been sharing with their audiences in the last few weeks here in CNN of the population decline, a historic one here in Hong Kong. Experts say as a result of the city's tough pandemic policy and the political crackdown here. A record number of people have left in the last year.

In fact, over 113,000 people have left in the last year. The timing is also critical in the next month. Hong Kong is planning to host the international Rugby Sevens, as well as a high-end banking conference. Those are seen as opportunities for the city to open up and to finally become Asia's world city, especially as rival city, Singapore has already opened up and seen business booming.

But I do want to remind our viewers and our audiences, despite the fact that this is very welcome news to residents and businesses here in Hong Kong, many tough pandemic measures remain in place.

For example, a mask mandate remains in effect even for children as young as two years old. Back to you.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, still, this is huge for Hong Kong residents and travelers as well. Thanks so much for bringing that to us. Kristie Lu Stout, live in Hong Kong.

LU STOUT: You bet.

BRUNHUBER: Roger Federer is getting ready to hit the tennis court for the last time of his professional career. He is set to retire after playing a double match in the Laver Cup in London Friday night. His partner for the historic match, longtime friend and rival, Rafael Nadal. The pair have 42 Grand Slam titles between them. Both say they are looking forward to the partnership. Here they are.

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ROGER FEDERER, 20-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Super special. Playing with Rafa feels really different, you know. Also just, walking out on court and having the chance to play with likes of Rafa or Novak also in the past has been an amazing experience for me. So, to be able to do that one more time, I'm sure it's going to be wonderful.

RAFAEL NADAL, 22-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: After all the, yes, all the amazing things that we share together on and of course, be part of this historic moment going to be something, yes, amazing unforgettable for me. And yes, super excited. I hope I can have a good answer play at the decent level, and hopefully together we can create a good moment and maybe win a match.

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BRUNHUBER: Now, Federer and Nadal have faced off against each other 40 times in their careers, but this isn't the first time they'll be on the same side of the court. They actually played together at the first Laver Cup in 2017.

And NASA engineers say the unmanned Artemis moon rocket could launch as soon as Tuesday following a successful fueling test at the Kennedy Space Center. Crews are working on a problem with leaking liquid hydrogen which forced NASA to scrub its second attempt to launch earlier this month.

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Mission managers will meet Sunday to go over the test results and discuss potential launch date.

I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. Christina Macfarlane will be here in a moment with more CNN Newsroom. Please do stay with us.

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