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Occupied Regions to Vote on Becoming Part of Russia; Russians Fleeing Country to Escape Military Draft; Ukrainians Find Destroyed Homes After Russian Retreat; Public Anger Growing in Iran Over Death of Mahsa Amini; Hurricane Fiona to Skirt Bermuda After Pounding Caribbean; Heated Exchanges in Courtroom as Alex Jones Takes the Stand. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 23, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Max Foster here in London. Just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They beat me on my back, my head, then shoved me on the floor and kick me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have families in this courtroom here that lost children, sisters, wives, moms. Is this a struggle session? Are we in China?

ALEX JONES, HOST INFOWARS: I've already said I'm sorry how many times and I'm done saying I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a significant storm that is lashing Bermuda as we speak. But it is racing northward and that is why we know that it's got its eyes set on the eastern sections of Canada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Hello and welcome, it's Friday September 23rd, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Ukraine. Where voting begins today in four occupied regions on whether to become a part of the Russian Federation. The areas make up about 15 percent of Ukraine's territory. If they join Russia, many believe that will provide Vladimir Putin the pretext to claim Russian territory is under attack and escalate the war.

The Russian president's mobilization of 300,000 reservists, military veterans is prompting people to flee the country in all directions. A long line of cars backed up at Russia's border with Finland. The government in Helsinki is considering new restrictions to keep most Russians from entering the country.

Meanwhile to the south, Russians are crossing into Armenia and Turkey. According to one witness, traffic at a checkpoint with Georgia stretched 5 to 6 kilometers into the nearby mountains. And it was a similar scene along the border with Kazakhstan. Trucks and passenger vehicles lined up as far as the eye could see all heading out of Russia.

Ticket prices are also soaring for flights out of Moscow. Most of which have sold out for the next few days. The Kremlin calls reports of an exodus an exaggeration and fake news.

Meanwhile, the mobilization of Russian reservists and military veterans is in full swing. Video on social media shows families gathered in Russia's far east to say goodbye to their loved ones. Ukraine's president is urging Russians to keep up their protest against the draft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia's decision on mobilization is a frank admission that the regular army, which has been preparing for decades to take over a foreign country, did not withstand and crumbled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean, joining us now and following developments. Clearly Scott, this call for mobilization has sparked panic, widespread panic in Russia. And there are reports now that Putin's initial draft is already going far beyond, you know, what he was threatening 300,000 military, those with military experience.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. So, when Vladimir Putin announced this partial mobilization -- in his words -- he didn't mention the number 300,000. The number 300,000 comes from the Russian defense minister who said this on Russian television on Wednesday.

There has been suggestions, as you mentioned, that the number could be quite higher. Those come from two places. First is from the chief of staff for Alexey Navalny. The imprisoned Russian opposition leader who says that -- who point out rightly that the official decree on this doesn't mention the number 300,000. He's claiming that there is a secret annex to this degree, which is classified -- but we don't have any evidence of that.

The other place that this suggestion is coming from is President Zelenskyy, who is citing Ukrainian intelligence saying that the number could actually be up to 1 million. But again, he doesn't share what that specific intelligence is.

What we know about the degree is that it doesn't mention partial mobilization. It mentions mobilization. So, depending on how you read that that could mean technically that there's no cap on the number of people who could actually be called up. But the reality, Christina, is that look, Russia is going to struggle to mobilize even a number far less than 300,000, let alone 300,000 people. So, the idea that a million conscripts could be called up and sent to the front lines, if that were to happen, if that were to be true, it certainly could not happen quickly. This would be a very, very long process, given Russia's limitations here.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and also of course today, voting begins, and this sort of essentially phony referenda in four regions in Ukraine. And as we saw in Crimea in 2014, this is likely to be a forgone conclusion in the days ahead. So, talk us through what the process is and what we are actually seeing is happening.

MCLEAN: Yes, so this is taking place in two regions of the south. Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, then in Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas region as well. Voting starts today, it goes on for five days and it is a very strange process. It's difficult to understate just how weird this is.

[04:05:00]

For the first four days of voting, it's going to be door to door balloting. Literally officials bringing in the ballot box around, knocking on doors and collecting votes from people. Only on the last day will people be allowed to actually show up at a polling station.

Obviously, the Ukrainians have called these votes play fake plebiscites with no legal consequences. Western leaders have dismissed them as a sham. And observer have pointed out the very obvious concerns. Notably that so many people have been displaced within the regions, have left the regions, aren't even there to vote even if they wanted to. You also have international election observers who will be on hand. But these aren't exactly impartial. They're all from Russia.

But the most concerning part in all of this is that Russian lawmakers have stressed that look, if these regions do actually go and vote to join Russia, they will be entitled to the full protection that Moscow has to offer. And all of the consequences that it entails and those consequences obviously have taken on a new meaning as of late. When you have Vladimir Putin threatening the use of nuclear weapons. So, this really has the potential to escalate in a way that I think nobody wants to see.

MACFARLANE: Very severe consequences potentially to come. Scott, thanks very much.

Allies at the United Nations lashed out at Russia in a meeting of the Security Council Thursday. During a week that's seen Moscow stepping up actions against Ukraine. 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. We can expect that President Putin will claim any Ukrainian effort to liberate this land as an attack on so-called Russian territory.

This from a country, that in January of this year, in this place, joined other permanent members of the Security Council, in signing a statement affirming that -- and I quote -- nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought. Yet another example of how Russia violates the commitments it's made

before this body. And yet another reason why nobody should take Russia at its word today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: But the man who serves as the face of Russia at the U.N. wasn't there to hear the criticism. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov left the chamber immediately after delivering his own remarks, but he dismissed the world's condemnation, while blaming Ukraine in the West for the invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The key 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 key regime has conducted a frontal assault on the Russian language. It brazenly trampled on the rights of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, as the U.S. slams what it considers a future land grab, some Ukrainians are coming back to the areas Russia used to hold. And as Ben Wedeman reports, many people are finding out there's not much left to come back to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anatoli 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.

Anatoli is overwhelmed by what he and his wife, Svetlana found when they returned to their village of Prudianka.

"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.

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

WEDEMAN (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 torture 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.

Vadim 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.

[04:10:00]

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 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 stop on the train line before the Russian border. Soldiers took over the railway station.

WEDEMAN: These are all letters and pictures sent by Russian school children to the soldiers here at the railway station. Things like this, pictures. And here is a letter from Alexander in the fifth grade who says, you are heroes. Thank you for guaranteeing our safe future.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Misguided, discarded messages of support for a disastrous war.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kozacha Lopan, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Iran's hotline regime is facing one of the largest outbreaks of civil unrest in years, after a young woman died in police custody, detained because the authorities did not like how she was dressed.

Despite a harsh government crackdown and internet blockages, public hostility towards the government has only spread and intensified. Iranian media report at least 17 people have died in the unrest. It began last week when Mahsa Amini who was only 22 years old was allegedly -- was arrested for allegedly not conforming to the countries Islamic dress code. Her mysterious death three days later is now igniting angry demonstrations in dozens of places.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is covering this for us and joins us now live from Istanbul. And Jomana, these protests have gathered momentum fast and are now really an open challenge to the government. How are the regime reacting?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a week since Mahsa Amini's death in the custody of morality police, Christina. And of course, that was the spark of these unprecedented protests that the government is really trying to repress it appears. But we are seeing a generation of Iranians, young men and women who are rising up on the streets, demanding freedoms they've never had.

But for the family of Mahsa Amini, they are demanding justice. They want accountability. They are demanding the truth. They want to know what happened to her. They don't believe the governments version of events. We spoke to her cousin, who told us a bit more about Mahsa, as a person and what they say happened to her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (voice-over): The world knows her as Mahsa, to her family she was the kind and shy Gina. That is her Kurdish name. Her cousin in Norway sharing these family photos of CNN of happier times from their childhood in Iran.

DIAKO AILI, MAHSA AMINI'S COUSIN: She was a very happy girl living in a not so good country with dreams that I maybe don't 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 the morality police last week has sparked unprecedented protests. Calls for accountability for 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 have 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're 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 her 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.

[04:15:00]

AILI: She had no heart disease or anything. And it was damage to her head, like she was bleeding out of her 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 didn't end for nothing. I hope this can start something to maybe, towards to get a better Iran, more free Iran. I am going to start crying.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Diako is overcome with emotions, he hopes for the homeland he has not seen in more than ten years, and the pain of a family grieving their beloved Gina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (on camera): And, Christina, over the past week the family has had calls personally from the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. They've had a visit from a representative of the supreme leader. All promising them a thorough investigation, but the family says they don't believe that this government, they don't trust its ability to deliver a credible investigation into her death.

And we heard yesterday Ebrahim Raisi in New York appearing to still stand by the government's version of events that this 22-year-old died of natural causes, saying they're continuing an investigation. But so far according to the corner investigation there were no signs of abuse or beatings on her body. And that is something that is likely going to anger her family, and really enraged the streets -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: It's so important and moving to hear from Amini's cousin there. Thank you so much for that report.

Now Alex Jones has admitted he lied when he said the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax. But on the stand Thursday, he said he has done saying he's sorry. A look inside a chaotic day at court next.

Multiple storms are brewing in the Atlantic, including hurricane Fiona currently on a destructive path towards Canada -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Christina, not only do we have hurricane Fiona, but we also have this developing area across the Caribbean that has the potential to impact the United States next week. I'll have the details on both of these systems coming up after the break.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: You are looking at the coast of Bermuda in the hours before hurricane Fiona really started thrashing the island and bringing high winds, coastal flooding, and dangerous storm surge. Fiona already left its mark on the Caribbean leaving hundreds of thousands in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic without clean, water or power.

Eastern Canada is also preparing for Fiona in what could be the strongest storm to ever hit the region. And if that wasn't enough, there are more systems brewing the Atlantic and Caribbean including one that could have its eye on the U.S. Gulf coast. Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, this hurricane is still gathering momentum it seems.

VAN DAM: Yes, without a doubt, in fact residents across the eastern Maritimes -- the Canadian Maritimes I should say -- are really bracing themselves for what could potentially be a once in a generation storm. What was a few hours ago tropical storm watches and hurricane watches have now been upgraded to warnings. That shading of red over the western sections of Newfoundland, eastern Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Those are the hurricane warnings, that's where the Canadian Hurricane Center believes a direct strike will be felt from hurricane Fiona. Halifax by the way included within that.

The more immediate threat is what is happening to Bermuda as we speak. Here it is, feeling the outer rain bands which have embedded -- wind gusts in excess of hurricane-force, still at 215 kilometers per or hour 130 miles per hour. That makes it an equivalent to a category four Atlantic hurricane. Very powerful formidable storm, hurricane warnings hoisted for Bermuda, that'll continue for the coming hours. Storm surge a threat as well. But this storm is going to gain momentum, pick up some forward speed, and really slam into the Canadian Maritimes by Tuesday -- excuse, me overnight Friday into Saturday.

Now the storm system has the potential to bring wind gusts well in excess of that hurricane-strength across Newfoundland and portions of Nova Scotia. So, the potential for real damage exist here as we are talking about that once in a generations storm. But thanks to all this wind, it also will bring in significant swells and waves.

A coastal erosion a possibility within this area, storm surge and open ocean swells right within this what is known as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, could see open ocean swells in excess of 30 feet. Just incredible amounts of energy associated with the system.

So cold behind the backside of this system, we could see some snowfall because of the gaining latitude of hurricane Fiona going forward.

I mentioned the storm system in the central Caribbean sea, this will likely become Hermine coming in the next day or so. All of our computer models starting to come into some consensus that by the middle of this week, this upcoming work week Tuesday into Wednesday, the Florida Peninsula could feel the impacts of what will be another storm -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, Derek still so much to keep track of with this. Thank you very much for now.

The damage that Fiona left in Puerto Rico will take some time to repair, the storm killed at least two people there, and it's exactly five years after hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory. [04:25:00]

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 homes and businesses have electricity. But officials cannot estimate when power will be restored in the hardest hit areas.

Fiona also killed two people in the Dominican Republic, nearly three quarters of a million customers still don't have their running water there. And more than 210,000 are without power. Officials say the storms destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

Now if you want to help those affected rather by hurricane Fiona, please go to CNN.com/impact. You'll find a list of verified organizations ready to help to make a difference.

Donald Trump and some members of his legal team say the FBI planted evidence during a search of Mar-a-Lago last month. Now the special master appointed to review the documents is telling the former president and his attorneys to provide evidence to back up their claims. Judge Raymond Dearie says the Trump team has until the end of the month to submit a sworn declaration detailing whether they truly believe Justice Department included anything in the inventory that was not actually taken during the search.

Now for years, Alex Jones has used his right-wing radio show to lie about the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school. Saying it never happened, that it was a hoax and part of a massive plan to take guns away from Americans. And now he's in the midst of a second defamation trial brought by some of the families of those killed in that horrific shooting. As our Brynn Gingras reports things are not exactly going as smoothly in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some very explosive exchanges happening in a Waterbury courtroom where Alex Jones took the stand for the first time in this trial. There were moments where the judge was yelling, Alex Jones was yelling, the plaintiff's attorney, the defense attorney so much so that there were times that there needed to be sidebars. The jury taken out of the room. And at one point the judge even telling everyone that she will hold everyone in content if this continues.

At one point she also admonished Alex Jones on the stand saying to him, that this isn't your press conference, this isn't your show, follow the rules and respect the process.

One of those exchanges happened after the plaintiff's attorney showed a video of an interview from one of these victims family members, Robbie Parker. His daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, and after that I want you to listen to the exchange happened. ALEX JONES, HOST, INFOWARS: But I legitimately thought it might be

staged and I stand by that and I don't apologize for it.

PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: And don't apologize, Mr. Jones. Please don't apologize.

JONES: No, I've apologized to the parents over and over again. I don't apologize to you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection, objection, objection.

JONES: I don't apologize to you.

JUDGE BARBARA BELLIS, CONNECTICUT SUPERIOR COURT: It's hard for me to get a word in edge wise.

GINGRAS: The jury here in the courtroom as this was all happening family members as well, packed the courtroom, some were crying. Now the jury is tasked with deciding how much in damages Alex Jones and his company will pay for the lies that were spread about the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.

Now he will be back on the stand on Friday morning for cross- examination and possibly redirect. And it's interesting to note that as the judge said, everyone could be held in contempt if everybody is out of line the next day. Alex Jones left the courthouse and did not give a press conference, which is something he has done quite often throughout this trial. So, we will continue to keep an eye on this for you.

Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Now, some potential military conscripts and Russia are making a decision with their feet. Rushing out of the country as military mobilization gets underway. That story is just ahead.

Plus, --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two years, ago if you would have said to me four years ago Roe v. Wade will be overturned, I would have said you're crazy. That'll never happen. But it happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Abortion rights topped the list for many Democrats looking towards the November midterm elections. Republicans seizing on crime and border security. We'll preview the top voter issues.