Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Tropical Storm Ian Moves Toward Florida; Dozens of State Troopers Deployed to Puerto Rico for Relief Mission; Russian Foreign Minister Attempts to Justify Invasion of Ukraine; Mahsa Amini's Death Sparks Protests beyond Iran; Election in Italy Could Move Country Far Right; Trump Waging Secret Court Fight to Block January 6 Testimony; COVID-19 on the Increases in England and Wales; Train Hits Police Vehicle with Suspect Inside; NASA's DART Mission Prepares for an Asteroid Collision. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 25, 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]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, 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 --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): -- just hours after hurricane Fiona crashed into eastern Canada, there are new tropical storm concerns; this time in the Caribbean, as Ian has Florida in its sights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Protests inside Russia against president Vladimir Putin's push to mobilize thousands more troops.

And it's being called the mission to save humanity. We'll take you inside NASA's plan to crash into an asteroid.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin by tracking two dangerous storm systems.

First, tropical storm Ian, churning across the warm, energizing waters of the Caribbean right now. The latest forecast shows it strengthening to a category 4 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico before slamming into Florida next week. It could be the first major hurricane to hit the state in four years.

President Biden has declared a federal emergency in the state. Florida governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency as well. Residents from the Florida Panhandle to the Florida Keys are being urged to prepare for storm surge, hurricane-force winds and heavy rain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA (D-FL), MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: We want everyone to ensure that their emergency equipment, their hurricane shutters, their battery-operated radios, battery-powered, that they're all in good working order and that sufficient emergency supplies are on hand -- seven days of perishable food, enough water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Fiona is now a post-tropical cyclone and continues to move through eastern Canada. Hurricane-force winds battered the Maritimes as the storm destroyed homes, downed trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of residents. Prime minister Justin Trudeau offered his reaction earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We're thinking, first and foremost, of the people who have had a terrifying past 12 hours, people who have seen their homes washed away, seen the winds rip schools' roofs off. As Canadians, as we always do in times of difficulty, we will be there for each other.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[03:05:00]

BRUNHUBER: A week after hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico, residents are getting help from dozens of out of state troopers. Over 100 law enforcement officers from New York and New Jersey flew to the island Saturday to help with recovery efforts. More will be deployed in the coming weeks.

More than 800,000 customers, about 53 percent of island residents, still don't have power. Just over 1 million residents, about 80 percent now, have running water.

Thousands of homes are without power and two people are reported dead after a typhoon blasts central Japan. The storm dumped an astounding amount of rain in one city, about 417 millimeters, more than 16 inches. The heaviest daily rainfall on record fell in a number of places.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Floodwaters caused this riverbank to collapse and take a road with it. Japan's bullet train service was suspended for a time but has since resumed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING) BRUNHUBER: More people in Russia are openly saying no to president Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization, refusing to go to war in Ukraine; in some cases, fighting back. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Video out of Siberia seems to show crowds clashing with officials, trying to put draftees on buses, as Putin signs new laws, hoping to boost the ranks of his military.

The laws make it easier for foreigners in the military to apply for Russian citizenship and pose tougher penalties for refusing to fight and disobeying orders. Police are also stepping up a crackdown on protests against the mobilization. An independent monitoring group says close to 1,500 people have been detained in recent days.

Meanwhile, Russia's military is trying to put its own spin on things, showing conscripts being given weapons. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls it, quote, "a mobilization to graves."

Russia's foreign minister is defending the war in Ukraine as a necessary operation aimed at eliminating security threats. Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Sergey Lavrov also criticized the West for imposing sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Washington is trying to turn the entire world into its own back yard and the way of doing this is through unlawful unilateral sanctions.

The cynicism here is obvious because these restrictions hit civilians. They prevent them from getting access to basic goods including medication, vaccines and food.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Lavrov claimed the West is trying to destroy Russia and remove it from the world map. CNN's Kylie Atwood has more on his remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: During his address at the United Nations, the Russian foreign minister went after the West and repeated a number of lies about what is going on with regard to the Ukraine war.

He was asked during a press conference after his remarks what the goals of Russia's invasion of Ukraine are. He didn't give a direct or revelatory answer. He referred only to remarks that had been made by President Putin, telling reporters they should read more of what President Putin says.

He was also asked about the possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. We have seen President Putin dangling that threat in recent days. And he said only that there is a doctrine for nuclear security in

Russia and that would determine when nuclear weapons are used. There was a back and forth with a reporter, who asked about China and potential pressure from China on Russia to end the Ukraine war. And listen to how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: I'm asking you, are you coming under any pressure?

I don't know, I'm asking.

LAVROV: No, no, no, no. You asked me what about, how do we feel under pressure from China?

Look, let's be honest. Let's be honest.

QUESTION: Are you coming under any pressure from China?

LAVROV: Look, you may tell your readers, listeners, viewers, that I avoided to answer your question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: He obviously didn't want to answer that question but we should note, on Saturday at the United Nations, the Chinese foreign minister also delivered remarks.

One of the things he said is that the parties to the Ukraine war conflict should prevent spillover effects. He didn't specifically call out the Russians.

And it appears that even though President Xi has expressed to President Putin some concerns and questions about the war in Ukraine, there is no real action on behalf of China to make Russia try and end this war in Ukraine -- Kylie Atwood, CNN, the United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Let's discuss this with Alexander Baunov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Thanks so much for being here with us. We heard Sergey Lavrov there. Obviously, they have to frame this as a war against not just Ukraine but the whole West in order to justify this mobilization to their own citizens.

[03:10:00]

BRUNHUBER: Are Russians buying this?

ALEXANDER BAUNOV, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Well, somehow, yes, because the Russians were convinced, by the means of propaganda and based on their experience of hardships, economic hardships, that the West are against them.

And, in general, many of Russian citizens, ordinary Russian citizens, do buy this. But they are more and more reluctant to participate.

They were called to take part in offensive support of this invasion. Now they are called into the army. That's a totally different thing. They may support this narrative but they don't want to participate. That's a clear difference.

BRUNHUBER: So given that, you know, the people who haven't been able to escape, those who will be forced to fight, how effective do you think they'll be, given the lack of morale and fighting spirit so far we've seen from many Russian professional soldiers?

BAUNOV: I think, first of all, that the mobilization -- which is not partial, it's gradual; partial means you have some sealing (ph) in numbers -- no numbers were renamed (ph) officially.

So as many soldiers you need, as many you call into the army, into the front. So the spirit is low. But it's the way to intimidate both Ukrainians and the West, showing that now it's not a so-called special operation on the periphery of national life anymore.

Now it's the whole nation fighting for its whatever, territory or what may be called Russian territory or its honor and its glorious past or glorious future or whatever you call this.

And that's a signal not to go to -- well, we are escalating and we are raising it to make and to sacrifice more the are use (ph) so don't go farther. But of course, the moral and the effect -- efficiency (ph) on these soldiers should be very well (ph), that's clear.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, in the months past, when you and I have talked about the prospect of mobilization, it sounded as though, if I'm framing your argument right, that Putin had sort of a deal with the Russian people, that he would wage this so-called special operation, shield them from feeling the effects of sanctions and, importantly, wouldn't call them up to fight. Well, now that sort of implicit promise has been broken.

How much support will that cost Putin?

BAUNOV: Very much. Of course, we can't have real numbers because, in an autocracy, a dictatorship, which Russia is right now, you cannot know the real figures.

But of course, as his popularity, just because the whole enterprise, the whole invasion was based on the idea that the professional soldiers and the government are doing their job. And the ordinary citizens are continuing their normal lives. And it's not anymore.

And then, if you take this in a broader context, well, the whole -- Putin's autocracy is based on this idea of, we are taking from you your political freedoms, your political rights.

In exchange we're giving you some sort of respect, economic development, stability and Russia's glorious past. We return -- well, the pride, the national pride, the national pride here.

So it's broken now. It's obviously broken because it's no stability when the people are called to fight. And it has or will have important consequences for Putin's relations with its base, its electoral base, I would say.

BRUNHUBER: I'm wondering about what those consequences might be. We also have reporting that there's dissent within the military, that Putin is calling some of the shots on the battlefield.

So will he pay a price for this?

Or are we making too much of the cracks that are starting to appear?

Is his hold as firm as ever, do you think?

BAUNOV: We see some cracks, absolutely. We see huge queues on Russian borders. We see incredible prices on any air tickets to any directions. We don't see queues or impressive queues before the military commissariats where the whole procedures is done.

And many queues on borders with those countries who allow Russians to cross the border from land, like Kazakhstan or Georgia.

[03:15:00]

BAUNOV: And again, the prices for tickets are incredibly high, like many thousands of dollars to any direction, anywhere. That's the first appearance of this crack.

Then we have, of course, the (INAUDIBLE), then we have the (INAUDIBLE) to go in the army. And then we have the mood. The mood is different. It's not, well, relaxed and supportive as it was before. We cannot hope for it -- well, (INAUDIBLE) start a revolution because Russian dictatorship is very much (INAUDIBLE), is very harsh.

It's not like, you know, national dictatorship (ph). It can turn out easily like (INAUDIBLE). But it starts changing.

BRUNHUBER: All right, well, we'll continue watching. Really appreciate all of your insights, Alexander Baunov, thanks so much.

BAUNOV: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: South Korea calls Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile launch a, quote, "significant, provocative action, harming peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula," and calls on North Korea to stop immediately.

Seoul says Kim Jong-un's regime fired a short-range ballistic missile into the waters off the East Coast of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday.

North Korea has conducted at least 19 missile launches this year. This latest one comes just ahead of planned military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and visits to the region by the U.S. vice president Kamala Harris.

A critical national election in Italy is now underway. It's one that could see history made but at the cost of another European party labeled as far-right coming to power. We'll have a live report from Rome next. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The tragic death of a young Iranian woman while in police custody is resonating far beyond Iran. Solidarity rallies have sprung up around the world with more planned on Sunday.

We may never know exactly why Mahsa Amini was arrested by Iran's notorious morality police, who enforce the country's Islamic dress code. It could have been as trivial as a lock of hair that was too visible.

Such draconian restrictions seem wildly out of place in the modern world. So chopping off one's hair in public has become a potent symbol of defiance toward Iran's hardline regime. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us from London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: What's the latest on these protests?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you mentioned there, Kim, these protests, really arguably bolder and bigger than anything Iran has seen in years. It's gone way beyond calls about the morality police and really come down to these demonstrators, demanding serious changes.

Some of them even demanding -- hearing them chanting, "Death to the dictator," demanding the end of Islamic rule in Iran. You are looking at some extraordinary scenes playing out across the country.

Friday, 40 cities in Iran rocked by protests. I want to show you one example of just how brave these protests are in the city of Mashhad. This is the hometown of the ayatollah. You see that statue there, it's a symbol of the Islamic revolution, being burned by a crowd, extremely heroic.

And they are facing an absolutely brutal crackdown in response. Amnesty International saying live fire is being deliberately and directly fired into crowds of demonstrators. You have those internet restrictions that have been in place now for days, limiting people's abilities to organize, limiting the news coming out of the country. And there are concerns that this crackdown will only intensify, that

this brutal repression of dissent will only get worse. We've seen examples of this in Iran, examples of what the Iranian state does when it's threatened.

Take 2019, when there were fuel protests. Hundreds of people were believed killed by the security forces at the time. And there's fears there may be a repetition of that. So far, dozens of people have lost their lives, demanding change, demanding accountability, demanding greater rights for women.

There are signs from the Iranian president, who's called these protesters "enemies of the state" and a threat to national security -- that language, that rhetoric, is extremely worrying.

You're looking at some of the supporters of these protests -- I'm going to take the United States, for example, taking this two-pronged approach. So the U.S. putting sanctions against the morality police, against the minister of intelligence, against some figures in the Iranian military.

But at the same time, expanding internet rights so that average Iranians, who want to demonstrate, who want to be out in these protests, could potentially have more access to the internet. But all of this just ramping up, these cities being rocked by unrest and no sign of it slowing down.

BRUNHUBER: The situation is so volatile, Salma.

The question is, what happens next?

ABDELAZIZ: Absolutely, that is the most important question of all. There's two parts to that question.

What happens to the demonstrators?

Do they continue to go out in the streets, burn head scarves, demand an end to the regime, demand greater rights, demand freedoms that have not been seen in Iran for decades?

Or are we going to continue to see this brutal repression end this dissent?

BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much for keeping an eye on that story, Salma Abdelaziz, live in London.

In Italy, a contest that could see the country turn hard to the Right. It was called after the collapse of Mario Draghi's coalition this year and comes as the country sees deepening economic and political crises. Joining me from Rome is CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau.

[03:25:00]

BRUNHUBER: Barbie, you've been following these elections closely.

What more can you tell us at this stage? Tell us where you are.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're in a polling station. The polls have been open for about 2.5 hours. We've seen a steady stream of people coming in to vote. This is a hugely crucial election here, because the center right coalition, led by the far-right (INAUDIBLE) party is Eurosceptic, supported the Ukraine war.

But there are issues within that coalition that aren't necessarily cohesive. So we're seeing a lot of people coming out to vote today. The results will be in about 11:00 tonight local time. People are on tenterhooks to see how this vote is going to go.

Giorgia Meloni would be the first female prime minister in a very male-dominated country but she has issues among the feminist population. She's promised clamping down on abortion rights. She's made comments about LGBTQ rights, things like that.

So a first female prime minister in a country like Italy doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a lot of females supporting her.

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned a lot of people were coming out to vote. When we spoke yesterday, there were questions about turnout.

Quickly, do you get a sense that people are engaged here?

NADEAU: Yes, I mean, we've seen a steady stream of people. It's bad weather, forecast to be storms today. That often affects the vote in a country like Italy, where people are kind of weather-shy.

But we have seen a number of people. In about four hours, we'll get the first results of how many people have come out to vote today.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Barbie Nadeau in Rome.

A quick break for viewers in North America. More news in just a moment. For international viewers, "INSIDE AFRICA" is next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to those watching in the United States and Canada, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

A state of emergency declared for all of Florida as tropical storm Ian churns toward the Gulf Coast. If forecast models are accurate, it will be the first major hurricane to hit the state in four years.

Ian is expected to strengthen to a hurricane later today before passing the Cayman Islands and Cuba in the days ahead. Officials from the state are urging Floridians to stock up on essentials and prepare for what could be a category 4 storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR TERESA HEITMANN, NAPLES, FLORIDA: This is the calm before the storm. I've seen lines at the gas stations and the natural gas, propane. They're taking it serious. And I encourage those that are not, to always take a storm seriously, because you can never estimate where that storm might turn.

And we need to be prepared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BRUNHUBER: The congressional committee investigating the January 6th insurrection is tentatively planning another hearing on Wednesday, possibly its last. The select committee has yet to make a formal referral to the Justice Department on whether to pursue criminal prosecution.

Democrat Adam Schiff, a prominent member of the committee, says he's frustrated by the slow pace of the government's investigation. At an event in Texas on Saturday, Schiff lamented that federal investigators apparently began their own probe from scratch, even though a great deal of evidence had already been uncovered. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It would be equally breathtaking if we were to say to the Justice Department, turn over to Congress all your files.

My first reaction when we got the request, turn over your files to us was, why don't you have your own damn files?

Why haven't you been conducting your own investigation?

Why do you need us to do it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: There are multiple investigations of Donald Trump now unfolding in various proceedings, including a secret court battle being waged by Trump's legal team. CNN has exclusive information that the former president's attorneys have been fighting to keep key members of his administration from testifying before a federal grand jury.

CNN's Marshall Cohen explains why this one case is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting some fresh insights into the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the January 6th insurrection and former president Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Sources tell CNN that there is a secret court showdown going on with regard to what information will be presented to the grand jury involved in this investigation.

On one side you've got the Justice Department. They are seeking testimony from some top Trump White House officials.

On the other side of this legal dispute, you have Donald Trump's lawyers, trying to block that testimony. They are asserting privilege, things like attorney-client privilege and executive privilege.

Now these proceedings, this battle is being waged in private because federal law prohibits any disclosure of anything related to a grand jury. However, we have been able to learn through our sources and, frankly, by seeing some of the Trump lawyers walking into court earlier this week, that this battle is underway.

What might happen here, what might happen if the judge sides with the Justice Department, the judge might clear the way for additional testimony, for people from the Trump White House to answer key questions about their conversations with Donald Trump while he was trying to overturn the election.

Now we don't know exactly who this case is about, because, as I said, these are all closed-door proceedings, not open to the press, not open to the public. However, we do know who has already testified to the grand jury.

These following people, folks like Pat Cipollone, White House counsel under Trump; Patrick Philbin, his deputy; and then two senior advisers to vice president Mike Pence, Greg Jacob and Marc Short.

All four of these guys have already testified to the grand jury, answered some questions but declined to answer some other questions because of privilege. That would be the scenario where the DOJ wants to get involved and try to get a court order, forcing them to answer more questions.

So at this point we know that the fight is being fought. We don't know the outcome yet. We'll have to just wait and see how it all plays out in court -- Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: For the second time in six weeks, the CEO of Pfizer has tested positive for COVID-19. Albert Bourla says he's feeling well and doesn't have any symptoms. He's received four doses of the vaccine that his company helped develop.

He's been waiting to take an updated booster shot. He cautioned the virus is still with us, despite the progress we've made so far.

In fact, while much of Europe appears to be emerging from the pandemic, a few areas could be on the verge of another wave. In England and Wales, for example, the seven-day average of new cases has risen by 13 percent after falling for nearly two months.

The exact cause of this latest outbreak is unclear but experts say the virus may have spread in schools during last week's royal funeral services or as a result of new transmissible variants. It's believed the U.S. will follow the U.K.'s trajectory, as it has in the past.

A dramatic new turn in the welfare fraud scandal linked to former U.S. football star Brett Favre. The former director of Mississippi's welfare agency, John Davis, has pled guilty for his part in a multimillion-dollar scheme.

Auditors say money meant for the welfare program was funneled into projects linked to prominent people, like the former athlete. Dianne Gallagher has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Davis didn't have much to say as he left Federal Court on Thursday.

UNDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Davis, would have anything to say to the people taxpayers of Mississippi?

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The former head of Mississippi's welfare agency pleading guilty to state and federal charges connected to one of the largest public corruption cases in state history.

JODY OWENS, HINDS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's been justice delayed but not just denied.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): A conspiracy that according to the auditor and court documents, saw at least $77 million meant for needy families in the nation's poorest state, instead be funneled through nonprofits to pet projects of the politically connected and celebrities like pro football Hall of Famer Brett Favre.

In a release announcing Davis' guilty pleas for one count of conspiracy and one count of theft from programs receiving federal funds, the Department of Justice said Davis worked with four unnamed co-conspirators.

Writing that he directed the welfare funds to nonprofits and then directed those nonprofits to award contracts for social services that were never provided.

UNDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Davis, as it relates to count one conspiracy to kind of plead guilty or not guilty?

JOHN DAVIS, FORMER MISSISSIPPI WELFARE AGENCY LEADER: Guilty.

UNDENTIFIED FEMALE: As relates to count two fraud against the government. How do you plead guilty or not guilty?

DAVIS: Guilty. GALLAGHER (voice-over): Davis enter that guilty plea 18 times on state charges in a Hinds County courtroom also on Thursday, five counts of conspiracy and 13 counts of fraud against the government.

Admitting for example, he conspired with former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase, who was also already pleaded guilty in the scheme. DiBiase receives welfare funds and was supposed to teach classes about drug abuse but instead use the money to pay for, among other things. A stay at a drug rehabilitation center in Malibu.

DAVIS: It was not OK. And I can't tell you other than it shouldn't have been OK. I should not have allowed that to happen. When I New that kind of money was being used. I should have stopped it.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Davis has agreed to cooperate with state and federal investigators and testify against others.

OWENS: We're still looking through records and text messages. We continue to move up. And we also continue to work the federal authorities Washington and in Mississippi to continue to move forward. John Davis is critical because the letter continues to move up.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Text messages were released last week as part of the state's ongoing civil litigation by attorneys for a nonprofit founded by Nancy New who has already pleaded guilty in connection with the welfare scheme.

Nancy New, former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant and Brett Favre working to obtain funds for a multimillion dollar volleyball center at Brett Favre's alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport at the time.

Favre and New repeatedly referenced John Davis and update each other meetings with him.

In 2017, Favre texting, "John mentioned 4 million and not sure if I heard him right, very big deal and can't thank you enough."

Earlier this year the state filed civil suit against 38 people in entities including Brett Favre, however, Favre does not face any criminal charges. His attorney told CNN that the former quarterback did not know the money came from welfare funds.

PAUL HOLMES, ATTORNEY FOR BRETT FAVRE: Brett, it could have been more honorable in any of it, he had no idea where it came from.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): The former governor has not been charged nor is he a defendant in any civil suit. In the past he has denied any knowledge of the scheme. All of the multiple investigations into the fraud scheme remain ongoing.

SHAD WHITE, MISSISSIPPI STATE ATTORNEY: I can tell you this on my end, we're going to continue to make sure that this case is thoroughly investigated. As everyone knows we have turned over every piece of evidence that we have over to federal investigators. GALLAGHER (voice-over): John Davis is set to be sentenced in federal court early next year -- Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: Coming up, a shocking story out of Colorado. A train slams into a police car with a handcuffed woman inside. She survived but there are questions about how it all unfolded.

And a marble plaque heavy with history is being shown to the public for the first time. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BRUNHUBER: Newly released police body cam video shows the moment a train in Colorado hit a police vehicle while a suspect was inside. The detained woman is in the hospital with multiple injuries and is expected to survive. We have to warn you, this video we're about to show you is graphic and may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Send medical, the suspect was in the vehicle that was hit by the train.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The woman's attorney says she saw the train coming toward her, frantically tried to open the doors and escape but she was handcuffed and unable to move. CNN's Camila Bernal has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is hard to believe and hard to watch. Here is what happened. According to authorities, they received a call about a road rage incident involving a gun. This is about 30 miles outside of Denver. And Platteville police responded to this incident.

When they arrived on scene, they found 20-year-old Yareni Rios- Gonzalez. She pulls over just past the railroad tracks. So officers park right on the tracks. Then moments later, two more officers arrive there.

[03:45:00]

BERNAL: And they arrest Rios-Gonzalez. They put her in the back of that patrol car that was parked on the tracks. Then they go search her truck.

As officers are searching her truck for that gun, they're looking for this gun that supposedly was involved in this incident, you hear the train horn. Then there is chaos and, suddenly, that train crushes that patrol car with Rios-Gonzales inside. Immediately, you hear officers calling for medical attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Medical emergency, the suspect was in the vehicle that was hit by the train.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: We have reached out to her attorney and have not heard back but he has told local media that she has nine broken ribs. He also said she has injuries in her back and in her head and a broken arm. Authorities calling it serious injuries but also saying she is expected to survive.

The officer that parked that vehicle on the tracks has been placed on administrative leave. It is a paid administrative leave. And of course, all of this is still under investigation -- Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Louise Fletcher, the actress who played Nurse Ratched in the Oscar winning movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," has died.

(VIDEO CLIP, "ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST)

BRUNHUBER: Fletcher won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as the villainous character. Although she played many other roles, Fletcher was best known for her portrayal of the authoritarian, controlling nurse. It ranked fifth in the American Film Institute's list of greatest villains.

According to her agent, Fletcher died Friday at her home in France with her family around her. She was 88 years old.

We're getting a look at Queen Elizabeth's final resting place at Windsor Castle. It's called the ledger stone, crafted from hand-carved Belgian black marble with brass letters. The queen's name is inscribed as well as those of her late husband, Prince Philip; her late mother and her father, King George VI.

The ashes of the queen's sister, Princess Margaret, are also interred in the same chapel.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BRUNHUBER: NASA is postponing Tuesday's attempted launch of the Artemis I rocket due to tropical storm Ian. Officials will decide later today if the rocket will have to be rolled back to the maintenance facility.

If they do, that will take roughly 11 hours and will begin late Sunday night or Monday morning. The launch has already been scrubbed twice for technical reasons, including liquid hydrogen leaks.

It sounds like a plot out of a Hollywood movie but NASA is going to try to redirect an asteroid. It's preparing to launch its first planetary defense test mission called DART.

The goal is to try to knock an asteroid from its current path. There's no danger from this asteroid but this mission is a test run for the next one that might be. Kristin Fisher has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNDENTIFIED MALE: This comment is what we call a planet killer.

UNDENTIFIED MALE: It's what we call a global killer.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hollywood's been scheming up ways to save the world from killer comets or asteroids for decades.

UNDENTIFIED MALE: United States government just asked us to save the world.

Anybody want to say no?

FISHER (voice-over): But instead of bringing in Bruce Willis, NASA has a different idea. And it's about to test it for the very first time.

ELENA ADAMS, DART MISSION SYSTEMS ENGINEER: It's kind of what we all fear, right?

What if there was an asteroid that was coming toward Earth?

Can you really stop it?

Can you really do something about it?

And for the first time, our technology allows us to actually do something about it.

FISHER (voice-over): NASA is planning to ram a refrigerator sized spacecraft called DART into an asteroid named Dimorphos, which is roughly the size of the Pyramid of Giza and poses no threat to planet Earth.

The goal is to see if the impact will push Dimorphos slightly off course. If it works, it means that this technique could be used to deflect a future killer asteroid that is headed for Earth.

BOBBY BRAUN, JOHN HOPKINS APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY: This inaugural planetary defense test mission marks a major moment in human history. For the first time ever, we will measurably change the orbit of a celestial body in the universe.

FISHER (voice-over): Mission control is inside the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland.

(on-camera): What is this place going to be like, on impact day or impact night, I should say.

ADAMS: Oh, my goodness, it's going to be filled to the brink with people. There's going to be people in every single seat in the whole Mission Operation Center but 44 people in here alone.

FISHER (voice-over): And there'll be able to watch the impact live as will everyone on Earth, thanks to a camera that's mounted on the spacecraft.

(on-camera): These are live images.

ADAMS: Live images from DART right now.

FISHER (voice-over): One of the most tense moments for the team will happen at 50 minutes to impact. When the spacecraft will switch its sights from a bigger asteroid it's pointed at now to a smaller second asteroid, which is the real target.

EVAN SMITH, DART DEPUTY MISSION SYSTEMS ENGINEER: That's a very, very sweaty time for us. So we have a lot of contingencies built right around that 50-minute transition. We're going to be watching the telemetry like hawks, very scared but excited.

ADAMS: Then we're going to have it get closer and closer and fill the field of view of our imager then we're going to hit.

FISHER (voice-over): It's a moment this team has been training for four months. But even the rehearsals have been tense.

ADAMS: We're just oh, one by one stood up with all of our heads up. And all of us were intently watching the screens, just watching the asteroid get bigger and bigger 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 that you were about to hit that asteroid for the first time.

FISHER: You're really testing --

ADAMS: We're testing.

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

ADAMS: Down the road right. FISHER: We should note, almost immediately Monday night, if the DART spacecraft successfully hit its target --

[03:55:00]

FISHER: -- NASA says it's going to take a few weeks to determine if DART was successfully able to move that asteroid just a little bit off its current orbit -- Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The beer industry may be facing turbulent times here in the U.S. A shortage of aluminum cans and carbon dioxide could be the latest supply chain issue facing brewers and customers.

Breweries already face rising prices for malted barley and hops, along with high transportation costs. It's all impacting the bottom line and the Brewers Association warns some companies may be forced to close. Experts say current trends may not necessarily result in shortages. But variety and selection could be limited.

Comic book fans, assemble: it's National Comic Book Day here in the U.S. The genre has exploded into the mainstream, with major Marvel and DC superheroes dominating cinemas.

The art form dates back to the 19th century. The arrival of Superman sparked the so-called golden age of comics, followed by Wonder Woman, Batman, Captain America and others. Iron Man and Spider-man would come along years later.

DC Comics and CNN share a parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.

[04:00:00]