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Hard Right Wins Majority in Italian Government; War Disproportionately Impacts Russia's Ethnic Minorities; Threat of Attack Remains in Kupiansk after Russian Retreat; Pro-Government Rallies in Cities Across Iran on Sunday; Noru Weakens after Slamming Philippines as Super Typhoon; Tropical Storm Ian Gets Stronger as it Approaches Cuba; State Funeral for Former Japanese PM Set for Tuesday. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 26, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Welcome live from Studio Seven at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:33]

Coming up here on the program, official results still to come in, but all indicators are that Italy has elected its first female prime minister, leading the most right-wing government since Mussolini.

In Russia, protesters are being violently detained as hundreds take to the streets against Putin's mobilization for his war in Ukraine.

And Typhoon Noru hits the Philippines with massive waves, floods and high winds. I'll speak to a UNICEF representative in Manila about what the country needs to recover from the worst storm of the year.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we'll start with Italy's election. Exit polls showing Europe's hard right has scored another stunning success at the ballot box.

An alliance led by Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy Party appears on track for victory as the official results are still awaited. Giorgia Meloni, a 45-year-old mother from Rome, will likely become the country's first female prime minister and the most far- right Italian head of government since Mussolini.

She addressed supporters a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIORGIA MELONI, BROTHERS OF ITALY PARTY (through translator): It's important to understand that, if we're called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone. We will do it for every Italian. We will do it with the goal of uniting these people. To highlight what unites them rather than what divides them. Because

the major objective we've always given ourselves in life and that we've given ourselves as a political force is to ensure that Italians could once again be proud to be Italian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And while those official results are still pending, Italy's Democratic Party has already conceded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORA SERRACCHIANI, DEPUTY CHIEF, ITALIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (through translator): We are the second political force, and therefore, we believe we have to make an opposition that will be an important opposition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Italy is in the midst of a deepening political and economic crisis. The snap election was triggered after Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned in July after he failed to unite the government behind his economic policies.

On the streets of Rome, reactions to Sunday's election is mixed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): An uncertain future awaits us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I am fairly happy. What matters is that whoever wins has the chance to form a government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Well, I'm not a Brothers of Italy voter, so I can't be happy. In my opinion, the center-right government won't last that long. I think there's too many internal divisions between Forza Italia, the League, and Brothers of Italy. So I don't think this government will last that long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: More now from CNN's Barbie Nadeau, who is following this critical election for us from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: All indicators going to a very comfortable victory for the center-right coalition in Italy's general election.

Now, this coalition was led by the far-right Brothers of Italy Party, led by Giorgia Meloni, who is now on track to be Italy's first ever female prime minister. She campaigned on strong traditional family values. This coalition was anchored by the Donald Trump-loving Matteo Salvini

and his Lega Party. They campaigned on anti-immigration and secure borders.

The other anchor of this coalition was a longtime politician in this country, the political legend Silvio Berlusconi, who three times was elected to prime minister of this country.

What this victory means is this will be the first time since the end of World War II and the fall of fascism that Italy has been led by such a far-right-leaning coalition government.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Heated protests have erupted in some of Russia's ethnic minority regions over the government's mobilization order and the war in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, this video is from the prominently Muslim region of Dagestan. It shows women arguing with police and questioning why their children are being drafted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The woman venting their anger there with chance of no war as the woman walks away.

In other confrontations, police responded more aggressively. Arrests have been reported yet again. And this video shows officers pushing back demonstrators forcefully. Nearby authorities also responded with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHATTERING)

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A gun fired into the air as an officer tries to disperse a large, large crowd of protesters. Now, we also saw big crowds at this anti-conscription rally in the far Eastern Sakha Republic. Authorities there have acknowledged that some residents have enlisted -- been enlisted by mistake, and two senior Russian lawmakers expressed concern with the chaotic handling of the conscription.

Many Russians have been trying to evade the draft by just fleeing the country. Have a look at that image there. This is the border with Georgia. Hundreds of cars lining up to get out.

A Ukrainian official says the predominantly Muslim ethnic group also fleeing Russian-held Crimea to avoid the draft. According to Ukraine's presidential representative to the peninsula, the Crimean Tartars have been disproportionately targeted by Russia's conscription.

And now, she says thousands of Tartar men and their families are seeking safety in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Here's how Ukraine's president reacted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The criminal mobilization is being used by Russia not only to extend the suffering of people in Ukraine and to further destabilize the world, but also to physically eliminate indigenous men living in territories controlled for now, temporarily, by the Russian Federation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. I want to bring in Anton Barbashin. He is the cofounder and editorial director at Riddle Russia. He joins me now, live from Berlin. And appreciate you doing so.

Let's talk about the cost of this war in human lives to these regional areas, these minority areas: central Asia, Buryatia, Dagestan, which is majority Muslim, and elsewhere. What has been the cost to those people?

ANTON BARBASHIN, COFOUNDER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, RIDDLE RUSSIA: Well, first of all, we have to say that before mobilization, we've certainly seen most of those (ph) republics like Dagestan, Buryatia and Tovar in Northern Siberia being hit very hard with the death toll. But they're not exclusively just those republics. Say Kostroma (ph), of Pskov (ph) region were also hit hard.

But if you actually look at the numbers proportionately to the population. Those republics are smaller, so the absolute numbers of death toll there are quite higher than in Russian republics.

But since mobilization started, we actually see a much greater push to get people from those republics to go to war. Mobilization there seems to be in much greater disarray. People have been drafted from universities. And it's already starting to make people question the policy, like Dagestan, for instance.

HOLMES: Yes. And as you say, I mean, the death toll on a per capita level from these areas is way above somewhere like Moscow, for example.

I read a quote in a "Foreign Policy" article, quoting a man in Dagestan who was told, You're fighting for your children's future. And his reply was, We don't even have a present.

What is the general status of minorities in Russia, non-Slavs? How -- how were they treated even before this war?

BARBASHIN: Well, the situation here is rather complex. There are quite a few very different republics. Chechnya has a very exclusive rights. It's governed by its own people. It has quite great subsidies from Moscow.

But in other cases, like Tuva, it's one of the poorest republics of Russia. In some other cases, we have very mixed republics, like Tatarstan and others.

But generally speaking, it's -- it's not exactly great. Because, for instance, Putin has been trying to increase the policy of Russia- dominated history teaching. Some of the languages are being deprived of their rights.

HOLMES: Yes, yes, yes. Languages being wiped out and signs in minority languages being pulled down in places like Moscow and so on.

It's interesting that Putin constantly pointed to the alleged ill treatment of Ukraine's Russian-speaking minority as a reason for the invitation. But here we are with soldiers with roots in poorer regions becoming -- what the former Mongolian president this week said was cannon fodder for this war.

[00:10:06]

What power, what voice do they have to change this? I know there are a civil society organization. What can they do to change this?

BARBASHIN: Well, one of the specifics here is that some of those regions have a very kind of, I would say, weak civil society. They don't have enough freedom of journalists. So it's much easier for the state to do whatever it wants in those regions. And, you know, those people do not have enough voice.

But now, we're actually seeing that, because of the mobilization, because of the push that kind of Kremlin is trying to assert, we're hearing more of them from Sakha, from Dagestan and many other regions.

HOLMES: I was reading a well-known Russian analyst, who I won't actually name here, because they're in Russia and, frankly, I'm afraid for their safety.

And he wrote recently that, quote, "a deeply-ingrained culture of Russian supremacy and racism remains utterly unexamined."

Would you agree with that? And what is the effect of that racism and xenophobia, even, on Russian society?

BARBASHIN: Look, Russia is one of those European empires, former empires, that never actually spoke about its past honestly. I mean, for 70 years after the empire collapsed, we had a Soviet Union where the dominant idea was the so-called Soviet people, where religion, ethnic bases, did not supposedly matter. And Russia was able to avoid a conversation of how it got so big, how some of those indigenous nations where slaughtered in some of the cases, how they were incorporated into the Russian empire.

And basically, Putin is using that and is trying to make them look to the West as the enemy. And not really consider some of the local issues -- the local issues that arise from basic racism that does exist, in fact, in Russia.

It's probably not as bad now as it was 10 to 15 years ago. We don't see much of the ethnically based violence. But still, the situation is not exactly ideal.

HOLMES: It's such an important aspect of this conscription debate. Who is getting constricted, and where are they coming from? And you know, it's not the wealthy sons of politicians. That's for sure.

Anton Barbashin, we really appreciate you taking the time. Very important issue. Thank you.

HOLMES: All right. In the Kharkiv region, the city of Kupiansk is under Ukrainian control after Russia's retreat.

But the threat of Russian shelling remains. And not all civilians are welcoming the Ukrainians as liberators.

CNN's Ben Wedeman with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a few loaves the bread, the residents of Kupiansk risk their lives.

Ukrainian forces retook the city about two weeks ago, but the fighting is far from over. Yulia describes it in one word: "intense." That's the echo of cluster bombs falling not far away.

"Sometimes, I'm scared," says Danilo (ph) over the sound of nearby shelling. Sometimes, I don't care."

WEDEMAN: These are the few people left in Kupiansk. The city, even though theoretically, the Russians have left, the Russians are just across the river, and in fact, according to the soldiers here, there are still Russians inside the Ukrainian-controlled part of the city.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Russian forces took control of Kupiansk with little fighting in the first days of the war. It served as the administrative center for the Russian-occupied part of the Kharkiv region.

Pro-Russian sympathies linger on here. The Russians paid salaries and pensions, and the recent Ukrainian counter-offensive turned the city into a war zone, sparking resentment against both sides.

"We're one and the same," says Yevgeny (ph). "The mood of the population is shocked." WEDEMAN (voice-over): It's too early and too dangerous to begin

clearing away the rubble. Wreckage still scattered in the streets.

WEDEMAN: OK. Basically, there is a fairly constant flood of incoming and outgoing artillery and rocket fire here.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): An hour's drive away in the town of Izium, no shelling, but shellshock still shows on the faces of people waiting for food. The fighting has moved on. The scars it left, deep.

"They hit my home," she says. "War spares no one," adds Katarina (ph).

The local fire station's become a warehouse for supplies donated by a town near Kyiv. In her grandfather's arms, Halina (ph) recalls intense bombing.

[00:15:05]

"It killed our dog. It hit the roof. We were hiding in the basement," she says.

Back in Kupiansk, a tank rumbles toward the front. The battle rages on.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kupiansk, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Anti-government protests continue in Iran, despite a security crackdown demonstration and acts of solidarity spreading around the world.

On Sunday, the European Union condemned Iran's use of force against protesters, but Sunday also saw pro-government demonstrations in some Iranian cities. Jomana Karadsheh with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It appeared on Sunday like the running government was still mobilizing the masses. Crowds of its supporters taking to the streets of the capital, Tehran, and other cities in these pro-government rallies.

Crowds estimated in the hundreds of thousands, according to state media. They were out to start unity and outrage against what they described as these acts of sabotage by those they referred to as the rioters, in reference, of course, to the protesters, dismissing what the world has been seeing going on in Iran as the works of a handful of mercenaries serving foreign enemies, they say, forcefully removing the head scarves of women on the streets.

Of course, the world has seen those remarkable images, the video of those acts of defiance by women in Iran in recent days, removing their head scarves. The head scarves they've been forced to wear for decades. Burning them, cutting their hair in public. We have seen this young generation of Iranians rising up on the

streets, demanding freedoms and rights that they have never had.

But it appears that the government is continuing to dismiss what is going on as a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the Islamic Republic. We have heard President Ebrahim Raisi saying that they must be dealt with decisively.

Statements, indications from the army and the Revolutionary Guard Corps that they are ready to intervene in the crackdown also, and to try and crush these protests.

It's very difficult for us to assess what is really going on on the ground in Iran, what the casualty toll is on this ongoing crackdown. But according to estimates from various groups, including human rights organizations and state media, they say that dozens have, so far, lost their lives in the country.

Amnesty International saying that authorities have opened fire live rounds, deliberately and directly at protesters. State media also, the government saying that a number of the -- the security apparatus have also been killed in recent days.

And according to state media, more than 1,000 people have been detained so far.

It is very difficult for us to know what is going on on the ground in Iran in real time, because the government is continuing to restrict the Internet and to block social media platforms. So, it's very hard to assess how big, how widespread, the protests still are.

But on Sunday, despite the restrictions on the Internet, we began to see video emerge of protesters back out on the streets with nightfall, more defiant protesters back out in the capital Tehran and other cities, chanting the now familiar slogans: "Death to the dictator" and "We are all together, we must not be afraid."

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, Typhoon Noru is battling the Philippines as officials warn residents of catastrophic flooding. I'll be speaking with a UNICEF representative there about what the country needs right now.

Also, we're tracking Tropical Storm Ian, which is getting stronger as it heads toward Cuba. Stay with us for the full forecast.

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[00:21:21]

HOLMES: The Philippines are still reeling after being slammed by a super typhoon on Sunday. Noru has since been downgraded to a regular typhoon, but catastrophic flooding is still a possibility in many cities, like you can see there.

At least five people reported dead from the storm, so far.

On Sunday, the storm battered the Philippines with high waves amid the downpour. The Philippine National Weather Service says it is the strongest typhoon the region has seen this year.

Joining me now is Niko Wieland. He is the chief communications officer for UNICEF in the Philippines.

Thanks so much for being with us. Noru, or Karding, as it's known in the Philippines, it had wind gusts of 240 kilometers an hour on Luzon, the main island, where more than half the country's population lives.

What were conditions like, and what have been the challenges for organizations like yours?

NIKO WIELAND, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, UNICEF PHILIPPINES: Thank you so much for having me. Yes, indeed. Very particular instance was that this typhoon quickly exploded into a super typhoon category.

So, it hit the offshore islands and was on may province in the East Coast last night. So evacuations were underway, obviously. And as the storm progressed, towards mainland, it de-intensified.

However, it brings heavy torrential rain. As you've mentioned, the risks of flooding.

What does that mean for children? Many of them had to leave their homes with their families. They are currently in evacuation centers. And it puts them under extreme stress, obviously. And we are coordinating with the U.N. humanitarian country team now and getting the assessments on what the impact actually was to further assess the situation.

HOLMES: You mentioned the intensification. And that was the crazy part of this. This thing intensified faster than our own meteorologist has never seen before. The experts called it explosive intensification in an incredibly short period of time.

How did that affect the ability to prepare and even warn people what was coming?

WIELAND: Absolutely, it's a challenge. The Philippines is one of the top five countries most vulnerable for climate disaster. So prepared is absolutely key. And it certainly put a strain on efforts to evacuate people on time.

That's why we advocate it's so important to put children at the center of your preparedness and evacuation scenarios, because it means for them to be exposed to other impacts, such as, for example, being out of school for a long period of time. Having to leave their belongings at home, being more vulnerable to exploitation. And other issues that we know from temporary evacuation.

If storms come in, then this wasn't by far the strongest this year. These are all elements that have to be considered to make children at least feel safe when they have to evacuate their homes into centers and be able to -- to reach them there with essential service, such as nutrition, health services, and protection services, as well as safe water.

You mentioned the flooding. One of the highest risks in flooding areas are waterborne diseases. And children, especially if they're malnourished, they are most vulnerable to waterborne diseases, which can be deadly.

HOLMES: You touched on this. Let's talk more. Your focus is the kids. What does the Philippines need in order to help people? Help the children? Help those helping the children?

[00:25:09]

WIELAND: No, absolutely. The particular situation IS in the Philippines, children have been exposed to a protracted crisis. This is partly the COVID-19 pandemic, which we saw one of the longest school closures, almost two years.

Children have been exposed, as well, to movement restriction, difficulties of socially interacting. So that type of thing comes on top of a lot of burden already. So it's most needed that we understand what's the situation right now. That's why we are working very closely with our local government partners and embedded in humanitarian human coordination system to understand what is the extent? What is the impact in the affected areas? And be ready to support and step in when needed.

HOLMES: You mentioned something that's really important. The Philippines is made up, I think, of more than 7,000 islands. How difficult is communication in a situation like this? Do you know what's going on in some of these islands?

WIELAND: Communication is certainly difficult, especially if we are talking about offshore islands. A lot of security measures, we see that our power supplies are being, as well, like cut. So we have communication access to some of these areas by satellite phones.

Certainly, the next two -- or one or two days will give us a better picture of what the full extent is. Our concern is with children at the front base, especially on the offshore islands in the East Coast that were hardest hit.

We are also concerned about the mentality (ph) of children that are out of school right now, because classes have been suspended in about 16,000 schools.

So we are working on getting the full picture and assessing with our partners where and how we can support the families that are in most need right now.

HOLMES: Always doing great work, UNICEF. Niko Wieland, appreciate you taking the time to come on. Thanks so much.

WIELAND: Thank you so much. Thank you.

HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, people in Cuba are preparing as Tropical Storm Ian battles towards them, possibly as a hurricane. We'll have the complete forecast right after the break.

Also, Japan is preparing to say goodbye to an assassinated former prime minister, Shinzo Abe. We'll have a live report from our Blake Essig in Tokyo. Stay with us.

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[00:30:04]

HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Tropical Storm Ian is getting stronger in the Caribbean and is heading for Cuba. Ian is expected to become a major hurricane by Monday, and a hurricane warning has been issued for Western Cuba.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann with more from the capital, Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Cuban officials have warned residents in the Western portion of this island to remain on alert as Ian approaches Cuba. Certainly, in the low-lying areas, areas that are close to the water.

Most likely people will have to be evacuated from those areas.

West of Havana, it is mostly agricultural areas, and what we've heard throughout the day on Sunday is that people are reading their farms, are taking their livestock to areas that will be safer for them, are trying to collect crops. There's a lot of tobacco grown in this area. Because they know that, when the heavy winds and rain come in, that that is when they could lose their crops.

So they've been warned to get ready in advance of this powerful storm's arrival.

Up in the island (ph), the Cuban government has not really given specific instructions to people. They are watching where the storm goes, if it will stay go offshore or if it will make landfall in Cuban territory.

Surely, if it comes to Cuba as a major hurricane, a Category 3 or above, it would cause quite a bit of damage here. People have been hoping they would get through this hurricane season in Cuba without a hurricane striking the island.

That does not appear to be the case, though, and Cubans are very concerned. Because already, the Cuban economy has taken so many hits throughout the last year or so, with the result of the pandemic, essentially ending for more than a year all tourism to this island.

The impact of U.S. sanctions, bad economic decisions made by the Cuban government.

So this storm, if it hits parts of the island where food is grown, or tobacco is grown, it will only damage the economy all that much further. So Cubans are simply wondering if the impacts of the storm will be too much for them to bear.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Meantime, people in Florida are preparing for Ian, and it is expected to make landfall in the area later this week. A tropical storm watch in effect for the Florida Keys, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has activated 2,500 National Guardsmen to help prepare for the storm.

The governor says although Ian's path is uncertain, it is still expected to impact the state.

Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. It's been a very active weather nap. What are you seeing?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Michael, here we go. You know, you look at the satellite imagery right now. It doesn't really look like an impressive storm. Just a tropical storm.

And I'm here to tell you, this time next week, by the time the storm looks like this again, we might have millions of dollars in losses across portions of not only Cuba but, of course, on into areas of the Western part of Florida.

But notice this. We're talking about 100 kilometers an hour. This is just shy of being a Category 1 hurricane. Could get there within the next, say, 12 or so hours.

And we do have hurricane watches and warnings that have been prompted across the Cayman Islands, which is about 200 kilometers to the North, about 600 kilometers to the North and West there, the Western tip of Cuba.

That is precisely where the storm is forecast to end up sometime in the next, say, 38 hours or so, say the early morning hours of Tuesday. And it is going to eventually work its way over some of the warmest water temperatures where the greatest heat content in the Western Caribbean there is right there.

So this is the concern, the storm that has what it takes to really strengthen rather quickly. Notice, storm surge threat, this is going to be the biggest aspect of the storm system that often takes the most lives, often leaves behind the most damage. Could be as high as four meters across portions of the Western tip of Cuba, once the system arrives early Tuesday morning, late Monday night.

And then notice portions of Western Florida could get into storm surge, potentially exceeding two meters, as well. So how strong is it going to get? Well, going to strengthen, we think,

into a Category 2 as it approaches the Western tip of Cuba there, again, late Monday night, early Tuesday morning.

Once it re-emerges across parts of the Gulf of Mexico, the heat content remains extreme across this region. Environmental conditions favorable for the storm to go from a Category 3 to Category 4 could be among the stronger storms we've seen in quite some time on the Western side of Florida.

And it really takes a very precarious track here, because it does kind of parallel the coast of Florida throughout this entire journey. So it's going to impact a lot of people from Monday into Tuesday, and eventually, Wednesday and Thursday, where landfall is possible as a strong Category 3, maybe even a Category 4 across portions of Western Florida, including those near Tampa. We're on alert here.

But you look at this, Michael, this is certainly not a map you want to see, you know, this region of Florida. Very susceptible. And of course, the amount of rainfall, the amount of storm surge, the amount of population exposed, all this makes this one of the strongest and most dangerous storms of the year around the world.

HOLMES: Yes. And you'll be keeping an eye on it for us. Pedram Javaheri, thanks so much. Good to see you.

[00:35:05]

And now, to the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona. A body that was washed out to sea in Canada has now been recovered. At least seven deaths attributed to the storm across Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Canada.

The Nova Scotia premier says climate change is a contributing factor to the intensity of Fiona and other storms. The officials say that the priority now is restoring power and clearing roads across the province. Just take a look at that damage.

In Puerto Rico, nearly half of the customers there still don't have power one week after Hurricane Fiona hit the island. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was in Puerto Rico on Sunday, surveying the damage left by the storm and meeting with local officials.

New York City is home to a large Puerto Rican community. The mayor traveled to the Dominican Republic on Monday.

Still to come here on the program, not everyone in Japan supports the state funeral for assassinated former prime minister, Shinzo Abe. We'll explain in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Japan is preparing for the state funeral of former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on Tuesday. Abe, of course, was assassinated during a campaign speech back in July. Leaders from around the world will attend the ceremony, but some in

Japan don't believe Abe should be getting a state funeral.

CNN's Blake Essig joins us now, live from Tokyo with more on all of this.

Good to see you, Blake. So tell us how this event is being received by the Japanese public.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, this is very much a nation divided when it comes to the celebration for a man who was equally revered and criticized here in Japan.

That being said, about 4,300 people are expected to attend his state funeral, including about 700 foreign dignitaries. Among them, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and the prime ministers from Canada, Australia, India, and Singapore.

Now, while the government says tomorrow's state funeral is meant to honor Japan's longest-serving prime minister, hosting the event has instead created controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESSIG (voice-over): Across Japan, the feeling of shock, sadness, and disbelief, continues to be felt nearly two months after former prime minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down on the street while delivering a campaign speech.

In the days that followed, Japan said its final goodbye to its longest-serving prime minister.

But as messages of condolence came pouring in from around the world, current prime minister Fumio Kishida made the decision to further honor Abe's diplomatic legacy by holding a state funeral.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): By conducting the state funeral, we are mourning former Prime Minister Abe by showing our country's determination to resolutely defend democracy and not give in to violence.

[00:45:10]

ESSIG (voice-over): That decision, that opposition lawmakers say was made without consulting Japan's Parliament, is expected to cost taxpayers more than 1.6 billion yen, or nearly 12 million U.S. dollars.

JUN AZUMI, DIET AFFAIRS CHIEF, CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JAPAN (through translator): Prime Minister Kishida made this decision by himself. He didn't make a proper effort to reach a consensus that involved the voices of the citizens and the opposition parties.

ESSIG (voice-over): The prime minister defended his decision to lawmakers but admits his explanation was insufficient. As a result, public opinion against holding a state funeral continues to mount. In fact, according to the latest poll from Yomiuri Shinbun, a slight

majority of the public stands in opposition.

More recently, one man reportedly told police he was so against the event that he set himself on fire outside of Prime Minister Kishida's residence.

ESSIG: Gatherings like this one, protesting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's upcoming state funeral, have been held on a regular basis since the government announced the plan back in mid-July.

ESSIG (voice-over): Although the specific reason for each person here varies, the underlying message remains the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm against the idea of holding the state funeral for anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Many people can't even eat right now. Instead of spending billions of yen on this funeral, they can help the lives of many people. It's outrageous that they choose to use it on something like this.

ESSIG: While many people, including the thousands gathered here at this event, don't think it should happen, others say a state funeral is appropriate to honor Abe's legacy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I support a state funeral. Abe was an international statesman who attracted more people to Japan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): His legacy is reflected in the way he raised Japan's global profile. And he was able to implement a new peace and security law while facing huge opposition, and how that law has now become essential for maintaining peace and security. I think his past achievements for Japan makes a state funeral appropriate for him.

ESSIG (voice-over): Despite the public backlash, appropriate or not, a state funeral for Abe will take place. A polarizing figure in life and even in death, as deep divisions about his leadership haven't disappeared.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ESSIG: Tomorrow's state funeral will be the first held for a former prime minister since 1967, when one was held for Sugaru Yoshihide, a man who was a key player in Japan's postwar democracy and recovery, and is credited with helping putting Japan back on the global map.

Now, as for tomorrow's event, a divided nation will once again be on a display with areas set aside for mourners to gather and lay flowers, while at the same time multiple protests are expected to be held -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Blake, appreciate it. Blake Essig there, reporting for us from Tokyo. And thank you for watching the program. I'm Michael Holmes. You can

follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @HolmesCNN. WORLD SPORT coming up next. I'll see you in about 15 minutes or so.

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