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Tropical Storm Ian Predicted To Become Major Hurricane Before Making Landfall On Florida; Hurricane Fiona Becomes Post Tropical Cyclone And Threatens Parts Of Maritime Canadian Provinces; Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Addresses United Nations General Assembly; Protests Erupt Across Russia Against President Putin's Partial Mobilization Of 300,000 Reservists; President Biden Underwater In Polling On State Of U.S. Economy; Protests Continue In Iran Over Death Of 22-Year-Old Woman While In Custody Of Morality Police. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 24, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ELENA ADAMS, DART MISSION SYSTEMS ENGINEER: And my heart was actually palpitating because I was like, this is not normal, right. It's just the rehearsal. But yet you really felt like you were about to hit that asteroid for the first time.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're really testing --

ADAMS: We're testing.

FISHER: -- the technology that could potentially save all of humankind down the road.

ADAMS: Down the road, right.

FISHER: Kristin Fisher, CNN, Maryland.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: You can hear the intensity and the excitement over it.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Alex Marquardt right now.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alex Marquardt in Washington in today for Jim Acosta. Thank you so much for joining me.

The Atlantic hurricane season is kicking into high gear. Tropical storm Ian is strengthening, predicted to become a major hurricane, and it's on a collision course with Florida. Officials there are bracing for impact as tropical storm force winds could hit the state as soon as Tuesday. Then further south in Puerto Rico, residents still dealing there with power outages, property damage, and washed-out roads after hurricane Fiona ravaged the island nearly one week ago. And Fiona is not done yet. It could become one of the strongest storms

that Canada has ever experienced. It made landfall this morning in Nova Scotia. Entire homes, as you see there on the coast, just washed away. CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking the latest from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. Allison, this is a major hurricane that could slam Florida in the coming days.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, it's expected to get to major hurricane strength. We're not there quite yet, but let's break it down, because you have two very significant storms to talk about. This is tropical storm Ian. Right now, sustained winds only at 45 miles per hour, gusting up to 60. But the potential is there as it makes its way towards the Cayman Islands, which is where we forecast this is likely to get up to hurricane strength, category one, maybe even possibly category two as it's crossing over the islands.

Further strengthening will take place as it makes its way over Cuba and into the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico from. From there that system is expected to make that righthand turn back towards Florida. At this point in time almost the entire state of Florida is still in the cone, meaning if you live anywhere from, say, Destin, Florida, down through the Keys, you still have the potential for these significant impacts from this particular storm.

The reason why there is such a wide swath is because the models really differ. The American model much slower, landfall on Friday over towards the panhandle. The European model has it more towards south Florida and a much earlier landfall time of Wednesday. Rainfall amounts overall are pretty similar, widespread about four to six inches with some higher amounts maybe up around that one-foot range. It's really more where the bullseye of that highest amount is because, again, it all comes back to where the system makes landfall.

Now, let's talk about the second system. This is post tropical storm -- or cyclone Fiona. Winds right now still 75 miles per hour, so don't let that post tropical name fool you. This is still a very significant storm making its way through Atlantic Canada. Take a look at this. You can see all of those waves really crashing along the shoreline.

You've got some significant beach erosion there already taking a lot of that debris and crashing it up along the shore as well. You also have damage to buildings. We've got a lot of trees down, power lines down across much of this area. Again, you can see all of that debris really scattered along the roadways, even on top of some of these homes.

And again, that water, that has been a big concern with what Environment Canada has really been focused on was all of the water, not just the storm surge, but also the rainfall coming down. And, yes, the strong winds, that's led to a lot of power lines down, a lot of trees down not only blocking roads, but some of them unfortunately even crashing into people's homes.

This is one of those. You can see that tree coming down through the roof, causing some damage there. And they've been significant winds, two total reports of over 100 miles per hour, even Sydney, Nova Scotia, up around 88, and Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward Island, picking up that wind gust of 75 miles per hour.

Now, the forecast track for this does finally take it over Labrador and up into the Labrador Sea, Alex. So we should start to see conditions improve, especially in Nova Scotia, over the next three to six hours.

MARQUARDT: So much to track, and we know, Allison, that you will be all over it. Allison Chinchar in the CNN Weather Center, thank you very much.

So let's get straight to CNN correspondent Carlos Suarez. Carlos, Ian could become the first major hurricane, if it turns into a hurricane, to hit the state of Florida since 2018. So what are Florida officials doing there to get ready?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alex, in the past hour, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, he expanded a state of emergency from 24 counties to the entire state of Florida. The Florida National Guard has been called up and is on standby. Now, exactly where they go will depend on where Ian makes landfall.

[14:05:01]

Emergency officials throughout Florida, they are urging folks to get their hurricane supplies this weekend. This morning down in the Florida Keys, officials there held off on an evacuation order, and they are set to meet again later this afternoon. Parts of the lower and middle Keys are still rebuilding following hurricane Irma which hit in 2017. Alex, that was a category four hurricane.

MARQUARDT: And then, Carlos, in Puerto Rico, they were hit by that monster storm Fiona just a week ago. What is the status of the ongoing recovery efforts there on the island?

SUAREZ: Yes, so that is very much ongoing. As of this morning, just under half the island remains without power. And the government of Puerto Rico has come under increased criticism in recent days for suggesting that the power would be back on sooner. Folks across the island are having trouble finding diesel and gas, and water crews, they are still working to fully restore running water.

MARQUARDT: Carlos Suarez, thank you very much.

Now switching gears, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is addressing the United Nations General Assembly today. His address coming as four Russian occupied areas in Ukraine have been voting in referenda on whether to join Russia. These referenda are illegal under international law and they've been widely dismissed as a sham by Ukrainian and western governments.

Meanwhile, Russia has replaced its deputy defense minister with the colonel general who led the siege of the southern city of Mariupol. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Alex, as yesterday, people living in occupied areas here were demanded by Russia to, in this sham vote, express their alleged consents to become part of Russia. We're beginning to get the first numbers from this orchestrated Russian process. And even in their official statements, it doesn't seem they are really trying to suggest there is a lot of support for this on the Russian territory of Ukraine itself.

Of the 19,000 people that an official statement from the Donetsk Peoples Republic voted, that is one of the four areas where these Russian fake referenda were occurring and are recurring now, that statement said that only 550 people on occupied Ukrainian territory actually voted. The remainder of the 19,000 voted from inside Russia itself. So even in their public statements, it does appear Russian officials pay little mind to how this may feel like a genuine sense of endorsement of their presence from inside of Ukraine.

As far as Russia's mass mobilization goes, they've called it a mobilization that's partial, but we're hearing from the Sakha Republic, Yakutia, in Russia that in fact some individuals may have been mobilized by mistake. Also to Russia making key moves in its military hierarchy, replacing the deputy defense minister for logistics at this stage.

Remember, for the last six to seven months they've really struggled to supply and equip their regular army. And so the massive challenge in this partial mobilization is to get these tens if not hundreds of thousands of ordinary civilians actually vaguely equipped in a meaningful fashion so they can fight on the front line and not, as some fear, end up being cannon fodder.

Still, 1,500 individuals, though, arrested in protests across Russia because of this partial mobilization, dissent rippling across Putin's country, and a real sense, I think, that this is a key moment for his regime over the past 22 years of him essentially leading the country. Many, I think, fascinated to see whether or not it's possible to take this number of forcibly conscripted troops to any meaningful progress on the battlefield. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Nick Paton Walsh there in eastern Ukraine.

And CNN's Kylie Atwood is at the United Nations where she has been all week for the U.N. General Assembly. Kiley, we just heard from Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. What did he have to say?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, what he said, Alex, was that the west is, quote, throwing a fit about these referenda that you guys have been discussing that are happening in Ukraine in Russian-occupied areas. And he tried to essentially make the case that those referenda are legitimate, saying that the people in those areas want to be part of Russia.

Of course, we know, however, that those are being run by Russian- backed proxies and are anything but legitimate, with many European countries and the United States coming out this week at the U.N. and saying that they will not recognize the results of those referenda.

The other thing that he spoke about was this deal that had been hatched earlier this summer to try and get that Ukrainian grain out of the country, because Russian had been effectively blocking that grain. And there was a deal, that grain is getting out of the country. Most countries have welcomed in. But the Russian foreign minister reiterated some of the concerns that we have been hearing from Russia, that that grain is now going to the poorest of countries.

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But we've heard from U.S. essentials saying that is essentially just not true, calling it misinformation, saying that that grain is actually getting to the places where it needs to go.

And no surprise here, but he reiterated a lot of what we have heard from him in the past, talking about neo-Nazis in Ukraine, talking about an economic war being carried out against Russia by the west. And what we'll watch for later today, Alex, is the Russian foreign minister is going to take some questions here at the United Nations, and maybe during that period of time he will discuss some of the things that he didn't bring up during this speech, like what is happening on the battlefield in Ukraine, and these new Russian troops that are being sent in that President Putin just announced this week. Alex?

MARQUARDT: It's been a very, very busy week at the United Nations, so much of that focus on Ukraine. Kiley Atwood at the U.N., thank you very much.

Now to discuss that mobilization of Russian troops and more are retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack and CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with me today. Lots to get to.

I want to start with this mobilization. President Putin announcing earlier this week, 300,000 reservists there, they're being called up. Colonel Leighton, we have seen these scenes of Russian men angry that they are being called up, families devastated that their fathers and sons are going to fight in this war in Ukraine where Russia recently has seen so many setbacks. How worried should President Biden be about the morale of the troops and the anger that he is facing inside Russia?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Alex, in a word, he should be extremely worried, because the one thing you don't do is have a bunch of, frankly, pissed off troops and pissed off families joining the armed forces and joining this war effort. These people are not motivated properly. They are not going to be trained properly. They are not going to be in a position where they can really do much for the Russian war effort because they don't have the knowledge, they don't have the experience, and they will not be able to bring anything to bear that you need from a military perspective either operationally or tactically. And that's going to be a significant problem for Putin and his generals.

MARQUARDT: General Zwack, on that point, we have heard that these forces who are being mobilized could get as little as two weeks of training. What can we expect them to act like and to fight like once they are on the battlefield in Ukraine? BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET), U.S. ARMY: It's a recipe for ongoing

disaster. And I think that the Russian forces in Ukraine already are verging on meltdown. This mobilization, conscription, this reverberates through Russian society now. And everybody knows. Their disinformation isn't working anymore. And two weeks, three weeks, pull them together, train them.

They're not going to get them all at once. They will come in as drib- drabs. Unhappy people in the provinces, unhappy people in the cities, and unhappy people out in Ukraine. No. This is dangerous for the Russians. I think that the military leadership quietly is seething. And, again, it is a recipe for a meltdown the way it looks like it's being handled.

MARQUARDT: Colonel Leighton, even if Putin is able to send 300,000 more troops into Ukraine, and there is a possibility that it could be more than that, we are now seeing Ukraine on the offensive and making real inroads in terms of taking territory back. What impact can those Russian troops actually have?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's going to be minimal, actually. And as General Zwack was kind of alluding to, we are looking at them being cannon fodder. And that's going to be a real disaster because when you do that, when there's meaningless use of lives, use of military force, then people start to notice that. And even in a country like Russia, they're going to look at this and they're going to say, what is this worth? What are we doing this for? And that is going to be, I think, a significant problem, Alex, for not only the people themselves, the conscripts themselves, but certainly for their families, and most definitely for the Russian military hierarchy.

MARQUARDT: General Zwack, could the intention by President Putin to be to drag this conflict out? Not necessarily to take more territory with these new forces that are going in but to harden that line, really fight to a standstill, and up the pressure on Ukraine to come to the table and negotiate and put that pressure on Ukraine to give away territory?

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ZWACK: I think it looks like for Putin, the way things are playing out, that the harder he tightens his grip, the more he loses his grip domestically. And again, this is not just the military, but this is societal. And yes, they could prolong it with this. But you know what, this may actually accelerate an end state, a conclusion that could mean the collapse of Russian forces. The Russian military has a history a little bit in Russia of, yes, we think of them, and they ever, they are patriotic and they're loyal. But they have also been king makers when things are really, really bad. And things are really, really bad.

So we're going to have to see how this plays out. But I think I'll stop where I started. The tighter Putin tightens his grip, the more he loses it. And we are hearing the word within, disaffection within the Russian senior ranks, the fact that threw out Bulgakov, put in the butcher of Mariupol. And it's interesting, I'll stop here, is that the minister of defense and the chief of staff are still in place. The logistics guy, I think they threw him out because they didn't want to throw out the top two guys that had been there for 10 years.

MARQUARDT: It has been a logistical mess for the Russians since the beginning. Colonel Leighton, finally to you, these referenda, if they go ahead as we expect them to, Russia will claim these territories as their own, and then when Ukrainian moves on them, they will claim that Ukraine is actually targeting Russian territory. So how afraid are you in that case that Russia will escalate? We have heard President Putin say I'm not bluffing when it comes to nuclear weapons.

LEIGHTON: I think we have to be very concerned that this escalation is a real possibility, Alex. I give it a 40 percent chance that something like that is going to happen, and that he may potentially, Putin may potentially try to employ nuclear weapons at the tactical level, even though Medvedev, the former president, said that they would use strategic nukes. I think that is more unlikely. But I do think that there are certain ways in which we can really put pressure on Russia to make sure they don't go that far. But it is going to be a danger. We definitely have to watch out for it.

MARQUARDT: We truly are in a new phase of this war. Gentlemen, we have to leave it there. Colonel Cedric Leighton, General Peter Zwack, thank you both very much for your time and expertise.

Now, up next, the stock market is dropping, prices are still rising, and Americans have a lot of questions. Luckily, Professor Scott Galloway has many of those answers. He joins me live next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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MARQUARDT: Recession fears are growing as the economy continues to struggle. Stocks falling Friday to their lowest level since November of 2020. And inflation, of course, is still high. And there are just 45 days left until the midterms, and the economy remains the top issue for voters, one that the American people are not giving the president high marks for.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins me now. Priscilla, how is Biden addressing these economic woes ahead of the midterms?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, ultimately, he's projecting confidence about the economy and its recovery as the country bounces back from the pandemic. And he provided a glimpse of what that message is going to look like in the leadup to the midterm elections yesterday during a DNC event. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I came to office, the economy was flat on its back, millions out of work. So we acted quickly. We passed the American Rescue Plan which changed this nation from economic crisis to economic recovery. (APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: And every single Republican voted for it.

Nearly 10 million more jobs have been created since I've been president, the highest number of jobs in that period of time of any other president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, as you heard there, he talked about the jobs that have been created. He also went on later to talk about the low unemployment rate, and also criticized Republicans for passing legislation, cutting taxes under President Trump and how that increased the federal deficit.

But ultimately, Americans are still seeing high prices. And inflation is at the highest level since the early 1980s. Biden, though, not believing it's going to get worse before it gets better and saying in an interview this week with "60 Minutes" that he expects that there will be a, quote, soft landing.

So he is projecting confidence even as Republicans also gear up for the midterms and plan attacks on the economy and inflation. Of course, Biden, in his speech just yesterday, indicating that he plans to really underscore the state of the economy and the confidence and optimism he has for it coming up to November. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Priscilla Alvarez in Wilmington, Delaware, with the president, thank you very much.

Joining me now to discuss this is Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU's Stern School of Business and author of "Adrift, America in 100 Charts." Scott, thank you so much for joining me today.

As you just heard from Priscilla there, President Biden's approval rating is resurging from a pretty dismal low in the mid-30s, but he's still underwater on one issue, on the economy, which of course Republicans are keen to make this the center of their focus during the midterms. In a recent poll, Biden's approval rating bouncing up nine points to 45 points, but his approval of how he's handling the economy just at 38 percent. So how does the America people's perception, their perception of the economy match with the actual reality of what's going on?

[14:25:05]

SCOTT GALLOWAY, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, NYU STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: Yes, I don't think the music matches the words. I think in an era of social media where we have companies that have a profit incentive to pit us against one another, I don't think you're ever going to see the kind of presidential approval ratings we saw in the 80s and 90s.

In terms of the economy, though, I think the Biden administration has done a pretty poor job of articulating the message and the victories. He was forceful saying that this has been the strongest job recovery in history. But also, I think the message has to be it sucks to be a grownup. And the administration are being grownups there. They are raising interest rates.

They are taking the tough medicine of ensuring that we don't have out of control Weimar Republic like inflation. We just came out of a pandemic where we overdid the stimulus. We spent 27 percent of our GDP and flushing it into the economy. One out of three dollars has been printed since the economy. And about 80 percent of it ended up in the hands of the top quintile of incoming earning households.

He was dealt an inflation hand, which is very scary. And they're doing the right thing. They're quelching demand by raising interest rates and they're focusing on longer term investments in infrastructure to increase supply. So the perception is worse that the reality. They are being grownups here. They are doing what's required long term for America long term.

MARQUARDT: And Americans are facing really just an onslaught of numbers and facts and arguments from both sides, and each side sort of cherry picking the arguments and that the data that they want to prove their point.

I want to give you some of those datapoints and ask you whether any in particular stands out to you as most important. We have the stock market that just dropped to its lowest point in nearly two years. But then there is the unemployment rate which is still near historic lows at 3.7 percent. And you have mortgage rates that rose to nearly 6.3 percent, the highest since 2008 when we're speaking about recessions. And then gas prices declining 98 straight days until the midweek. So what do you think there is most important?

GALLOWAY: Well, what's interesting is that there were 21 headlines in "The New York Times" when gas prices were accelerating. Now that they have gotten down about 98 of the last 100 days, there has been one headline. So the reality is the media plays a role here. The media loves negative news. Saying things are slightly better today doesn't sell newspapers.

We're at full employment. We're at incredibly strong employment. And also, Alex, a recession isn't the worst thing that can happen. There are some plants, pyrolithic plants, that only germinate after a fire. Jamie Dimon when asked what a recession was said something that happens every seven years. And we've gotten into this uncomfortable gestalt where America is no longer the best place to get rich but the best place to stay rich. And that is, we have decided that anything that brings down prices for the already wealthy is bad for America.

I remember in 2008 when we let stocks fall to their natural level after a financial crisis, a lot of us were able to buy Apple and Amazon on sale. So having a recession and perhaps seeing some capital destruction and giving a younger generation an opportunity to buy-in at lower prices when full employment is basically the norm right now, that is not the worst thing in the world. MARQUARDT: So when you hear the arguments that the president is

making, particularly ahead of the midterms, to try to shore up support for Democrats, how would you have him sell what you clearly feel are really some surging and positive strong parts of this economy?

GALLOWAY: Well, government is here for a reason. We give them 23 percent of our GDP, and we expect them to do things. And this is the first administration that has attempted and actually passed things on gun legislation or infrastructure or climate change. And that's what you expect government to do.

We're also, the reality is geopolitically, if you look at us on the global stage, I would argue we've never been stronger. We are reattaching hands with our brothers and sisters overseas. Europe has new unity. We are food independent. We are energy independent. Our problem, if this were a horror movie, we would find out the call is coming from inside of the house. We have turned against each other -- 54 percent of Democrats are worried that their kid is going to marry a Republican. A third of each party sees the other party as the mortal enemy.

Go outside our borders, the best and brightest all have one thing in common. They all want to come to America. So when you look at it objectively, I would argue we're doing better than any nation on earth. Our GDP hasn't been as robust at growth as China, but it's been more consistent. No one is lining up to get vaccines out of China or Russia. So America is still that shining light on a hill. It's just internally we seem to be eating each other alive.

I would argue that his message should be nothing but putting his shoulders back and saying America is still the best place in the world, and we are the grownups here. We are going to make hard decisions because we are worried about our kids and our grandkids.

[14:30:10]

MARQUARDT: Professor Scott Galloway, on that note, we have to leave it there. Thank you very much for your time.

GALLOWAY: Thanks, Alex.

MARQUARDT: And coming up, "We do not want Islamic Republic of Iran," and "Death to the dictator," those bold statements from protesters in Iran after a young woman died in the custody of the morality police for apparently not wearing her head scarf properly. We'll have a live report next. Stay with us.

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[14:35:00]

MARQUARDT: Iranian authorities are vowing to go keep cracking down on Internet access until protesters in the streets go home, but those streets remain full of anger. State news agency reporting that at least 1,200 Iranians have been arrested. Those protesters furious over the death of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police. She died after she was taken to the so-called reeducation center, apparently for not properly wearing her head scarf or hijab. Dozens of people have reportedly been killed in those clashes with security forces.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins me now from Istanbul. Jomana, incredible scenes in streets all across Iran. The president now saying that they are going to deal with those demonstrators decisively.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this is what we have been hearing over the past couple of days, Alex. And it is very worrying for a lot of Iran observers, people who have watched this country very closely for years now. They say that we are seeing the signs of an intensifying crackdown that is coming.

Over the past few days, it did seem like the government, to an extent, was allowing these protests to go on, perhaps acknowledging the widespread anger and outrage over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. But as we've seen those protests that initially started with calls for accountability, for justice for her killing, that really morphed into something much more than that where you had thousands of young Iranians on the streets of dozens of cities across the country calling for change, calling for freedoms and rights they've never had.

Those incredible scenes, as you mentioned, that we've been seeing of women removing their head scarves, burning their headscarves. We've also seen incredible images coming from the city of Mashhad, the birth place of Iran's supreme leader, where you had people setting fire to a statute of one of the leaders of the Islamic Revolution, just unthinkable scenes in the past.

But what we've been seeing is indications that they are now, the regime is drawing a line. They are not going to allow this to continue. As you mentioned, we have had reports from state media saying that at least 1,200 people have so far been detained. We've seen videos coming up of people being rounded up, taken off the streets. You've had statements coming from the army and the Revolutionary Guard Corps indicating that they are ready to get involved in this crackdown.

And then you've got the ominous warnings with the language that you and I have heard covering multiple different countries in this region describing those protesting as rioters, describing this all as a foreign conspiracy, all that we have seen in the past being used as a pretext to crackdown on these protests.

So Alex, a lot of that hope that we saw in the initial days of these protests, Iranians outside the country watching this, hoping that this would be a turning point, they're now watching this, very concerned about what is going on with much of the country going dark, with the Internet outages, that the regime is going to unleash brutal force to crush these protests as they have done in the past.

MARQUARDT: Yes, it is hard to overstate how remarkable these scenes are, and the risk that these protesters are taking by going out into the streets. This story far from over. Jomana Karadsheh, I know you will continue to cover it. Thank you so much for all your reporting. Just moments ago, the two Americans who were captured by Russian-

backed forces in Ukraine and held for more than three months, they landed in Alabama. They're finally home. CNN's Kylie Atwood is back with me now. Kylie, you have been following the story very closely. These men were part of an extraordinary prisoner exchange. What are they now saying?

ATWOOD: Yes, that's right, this was a prisoner exchange between the Russians and the Ukrainians that the Saudis and the Turks helped to facilitate. And it happened in recent days. And now these two men, Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh, who were two American veterans who went to fight alongside the Ukrainians and were captured back in June, they have finally arrived back in the U.S. They came to New York yesterday. Now they have arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, where they are going to be reunited with their family.

And I spoke with their family members yesterday as they were waiting for them to get back here to the United States. They were elated, as you can imagine. They were getting texts in for the first time from two men, selfies of them together. They said that they looked like they were doing all right.

They had some health checks in Saudi Arabia before coming to the United States. And they talked about just how treacherous the last few months were because they really didn't know what these two men were going through as they were captured by Russian-backed proxies while they were fighting, as I said, in Ukraine.

[14:39:56]

And so what we'll look to hear from these two American veterans is what that was like, what the conditions of their captivity was like, how they were treated. Of course, they said they are incredibly happy to be home today. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Very hard to imagine what they have seen and what they've been through. And you're right, I'm sure we'll hear their stories very soon. Kylie Atwood at the United Nations, thanks again.

Up next, the "CSI" actress Eva LaRue was terrorized by threatening letters for years. How an Arby's cup finally helped the FBI crack the case.

Plus, make sure to tune in tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. to the real life story of succession, "The Murdochs, Empire of Influence." That premieres with two episodes. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murdoch is the most ruthless businessman in world history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest newspaper baron the world has ever known. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This fortune was built on the back of salacious

tabloids. Sales are booming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His major legacy will be FOX News.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to realize if you can make them afraid, they'll keep watching.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rupert's goal was never money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has got his eyes on a much bigger game.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rupert Murdoch is the most powerful political force in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians have been sucking up to Rupert Murdoch for decades.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is building this dynasty to hand to his children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He set it up into a trial by combat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no such thing as a sure bet in the succession battle. It's a kill or be killed mentality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoever succeeds him wields this absolutely gargantuan influence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Murdochs, Empire of Influence," two-episode premiere only on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:03]

MARQUARDT: Well, this next story sounds like something right out of a TV shore. For years an unknown man stalked actress Eva LaRue from "CSI." He threatened horrific acts of rape, torture, and death. The FBI finally cracked the case using forensic genealogy. CNN correspondent Jean Casarez tells us how it all unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For 12 years, Eva LaRue was stalked by a man who threatened to kidnap, rape, kill, and then dismember her and her young daughter. He sent detailed letters threatening explicit sexual violence, signed, Freddy Krueger, a fictional serial killer.

EVA LARUE, ACTRESS, STALKED OVER 12 YEARS: Hellish, nightmarish, deviant, perverse, sick letters.

CASAREZ: The FBI shared the letters with us. So from one of them, he specifically said my main mission in life is

to stalk you, rape you, and to terrify you. I want to make your life so miserable that you can't stand it.

Approximately 49 letters in all.

LARUE: So every time he would find us, we would move.

CASAREZ: You sold our house?

LARUE: Sold my house. Yes, sold my house.

CASAREZ: When the letters began, Eva LaRue played a DNA investigator on "CSI Miami."

LARUE: This is what I do.

CASAREZ: But in real life, she was depending on investigators to save her. There was evidence --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the defendant licked the letters on the envelope, he left traces of DNA.

CASAREZ: But the perpetrators DNA didn't match any database.

LARUE: So we are playing the fact that we have this technology and we catch everybody. But in real life, the technology had not been invented yet.

CASAREZ: Then the science of genetic genealogy emerged. Investigators granted CNN an exclusive interview about the procedure first used on the state level in California to identify the Golden State serial killer.

STEVE BUSCH, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT/CEO, INDAGO SOLUTIONS: We used it as an investigative tool to reverse engineer family trees and figure out who he was.

CASAREZ: Investigators compared DNA on the stalker's letters with DNA in public databases, like those where consumers trace family connects and ancestry, consenting their DNA could be used by law enforcement.

STEVE KRAMER, FORMER FBI ATTORNEY/PRESIDENT, INDAGO SOLUTIONS: We built family trees and identified a common ancestors between the matches and your suspect, and then you build down until you find the person that had the right age, lived in the right location, and maybe matched the physical description of the suspect at the time.

CASAREZ: And you knew that the letters were coming from Ohio?

BUSCH: The letters were all postmarked.

CASAREZ: Meanwhile, the stalker was becoming even more threatening, now targeting Larue's daughter at her school.

KRAMER: Now he's tracking down the high school that the victim goes to, the 17-year-old girl, and calling that school.

AMY WHITMAN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT, VIOLENT CRIMES/MAJOR OFFENDERS: So this is a recording from a voice message left at the high school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. I want to leave a message for Kaya Callahan. This is the man who is going to rape her, molest her, and kill her.

CASAREZ: The investigation had ramped up. They had a suspect. His real name, James David Rogers.

WHITMAN: So, when this last recorded call came in, we hit the gas pedal as quickly as we could.

CASAREZ: Agents took a public tour of the suspect's workplace at a nursing care and assisted living facility. They saw the type of item they would need for a DNA comparison.

BUSCH: It was actually an Arby's cup and straw. They watched him dispose of some trash into a trash receptacle. They were able to pull that trash. And we took the DNA off of the straw, the Arby's straw, to compare to the DNA on the letters. And it was a one-to-one match. It was a 100 percent match.

CASAREZ: Rogers was arrested in an early morning FBI raid at his home last November.

AMY POMERANTZ, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: We decided to arrest him because we weren't sure what he was going to do.

CASAREZ: Rogers pleaded guilty to federal crimes ranging from stalking, to mailing threatening communications, and was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

LARUE: This happened from the time my daughter was five years old. This happened during her formative years.

[14:50:02]

KAYA CALLAHAN, STALKED FOR 12 YEARS: We feel OK now.

LARUE: We know where he is for the next three years. We know we're safe for the next three years.

CALLAHAN: I feel OK. So that's nice to feel.

CASAREZ: Jean Casarez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MARQUARDT: What a story. Our thanks to Jean Casarez for that report.

Now, it was a final game for one of the greatest tennis stars to ever live. How Roger Federer said good-bye. We'll have that coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARQUARDT: It was a very emotional night as one of the greatest to ever play the game of tennis, Roger Federer, took the court for the last time.

[14:55:00]

The 20-time Grand Slam champion played in the Laver Cup in London alongside longtime rival and friend, right there, Rafael Nadal. The duo lost their game, their doubles match, but that loss was overshadowed by Federer's tearful farewell. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER FEDERER, FORMER PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: It's been a perfect journey. I would do it all over again.

(APPLAUSE)

FEDERER: It's been great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And from this tennis fan, a thank you for all those years of just tremendous performances.

Up next, Florida is now bracing as tropical storm Ian barrels towards the state, likely to hit as a major hurricane. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)