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Mandatory Evacuations Underway for Parts of Lee County, Florida; Russian Citizens Flee to Neighboring Countries Amid Backlash to Putin's Partial Mobilization Order; Soon, Attorneys for Man Paralyzed in Connecticut Police Incident File Lawsuit. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 27, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, more than 8 million people across Florida are in the path of Hurricane Ian, currently category 3storm. It is expected to intensify before it hits the state of Florida sometime late tomorrow or early Thursday. Several counties have issued mandatory evacuations, including Lee County, that includes Ft. Myers and Cape Coral.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now is the mayor of Cape Coral, Florida, John Gunter. Good to have you, Mayor. We certainly know you have a lot of work to do there, so thanks for taking the time.

MAYOR JOHN GUNTER, CAPE CORAL, FLORIDA: You're quite welcome. Glad to be here with you.

SCIUTTO: I want to put a map up on the screen because this is will explain to folks who don't know Cape Coral well, the layout there. The blue lines, as we're showing on the map now, show all of the canals, hundreds of miles of canals, as I understand it, that are vulnerable points, right, if there is storm surge as advertised. Tell me how much of that area -- how high above sea level it is. What are the most vulnerable areas and what do you do about this threat?

GUNTER: Yes. I mean, our city has probably more canals than any other city in the world. And we are away that there are possibilities of storm surge and the prediction is anywhere from five to ten feet, so that is very concerning to us and we're making sure that we get that message out to our community. Because we realize that not only (INAUDIBLE) have high wind potential but high surge possibilities. So, we want to make sure that our residents evacuate those low-lying areas.

HARLOW: Mayor, what would five to ten foot storm surges actually mean for those, if we could pull up just the visual there, because that is just stunning to see? We have got 400 miles of canals and that means a whole lot of vulnerability in the middle of this storm, right?

GUNTER: Yes. And some parts of our city, we are three to four feet above sea level. So, if you are talking about a five to ten foot storm surge, it could be catastrophic in some areas.

SCIUTTO: As often happens, as evacuation orders are issued, some people heed them and some people don't. And, anecdotally, we've heard of people not heeding those orders, trying to ride this one out. I wonder if some of those folks are watching, what you say to them? GUNTER: It is simple. We cannot take this storm for granted. This is

a major hurricane with some catastrophic possibilities for a community. We have to heed those warnings, evacuate those areas. One thing our city does is after we have sustained winds of 45 miles an hour, our public safety, our police and fire become stationary. We won't respond to any emergencies until the wind subsides below that 45 mile an hour threshold.

So, we urge our residents, our community and all of the residents of our county to please heed the warnings that we have given them. This is a serious storm. And as we have learned in the past, these storms are unpredictable. So, even though there may be a path where it is going to go by our city at any given time, historically, we've seen these storms before take a right turn that was unpredicted and a direct landfall of the eye wall with this particular storm no matter where it hits is going to be a catastrophic event. We want our residents prepared.

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So, we are preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.

HARLOW: The evacuation order, I believe, just came this morning. Is that correct? And if so, could you speak to people who feel rushed and they don't know where to go?

GUNTER: Yes. I mean, we have two different evacuation zones in our city, zone A and B. We do have other zones in our city, zone C and D. So, our recommendation, if you're in zone A or zone B who do not have the opportunity to leave the area, to go to family and friends that are at least in zones C or D, please evacuate these other two zones with five to ten possible storm surge. That could be catastrophic and life-threatening. So, we want them to take that very seriously.

HARLOW: Mayor John Gunter of Cape Coral, Florida, thank you and good luck. Good luck to all of your teams.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GUNTER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And, folks, listen to what he says.

Still ahead, a different kind of evacuation, miles of cars attempting to leave Russia, an image of defiance, perhaps desperation, as military age men try to avoid the President Putin's military conscription order in an attempt to boost his forces in Ukraine. Our next guest knows intimately what it's like to be in opposition to the Russian leader, Bill Browder, he joins us.

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SCIUTTO: Right now, many Russians are scrambling to leave their country amid fears that the nation's borders may soon be closed off. New satellite images show a line of traffic that spans nearly ten miles as people wait to cross into the neighboring country of Georgia. This as state media report the Kremlin could ban military age men from leaving the country as soon as today.

The rush to call up new troops is splitting families apart. CNN obtained video of a groom forced to say goodbye to his new wife just before joining the military there, right after their wedding.

Joining me now is Brill Browder, he's the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, formerly Russia's biggest foreign investor. Bill, good to have you on today.

BILL BROWDER, CEO, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Great to be here.

SCIUTTO: Bill, you've been a long time resident in Russia, observer of it, contact and disputes with senior officials in Russia. We are seeing people fleeing the country by the carload, right, miles-long lines. We're seeing some protests in the country and we're even seeing some officials begin to have public criticism of the mobilization and even the Russian leadership. Is the opposition to Putin today stronger, more credible than what we've seen in the past?

BROWDER: For sure, it is. I mean, the idea that Putin has effectively crossed the Rubicon, the idea of sending men between the ages of 18 and 60 to be cannon fodder and dying on the -- in the war in Ukraine is something that affects every single male in the country. And that really does bring it home, that this is no longer a theoretical issue that Vladimir Putin's decisions and his bad decisions are affecting everyone's life profoundly.

SCIUTTO: Okay. So, more credible but more of a threat, a genuine threat to Putin's leadership or can he put this down?

BROWDER: Well, Putin is a very effective dictator. He has put down many other uprisings and discontent in the past. There were times when hundreds of thousands of people were marching through the street of Moscow and he figured out a way of effectively terrorizing his own citizens by taking a small number of them, putting them in jail for ten years and sending a message to everybody else that that this will happen to you.

Now, in this particular case, there is more visceral anger because people are all afraid of dying on the front. Having said that, Putin is a good dictator, he's very good at repressing people, he's very good at scaring people and he will use the entirety of his repression machine to go after people. And my bet is that he succeeds. We've seen it in other countries. We've seen it in Iran. We've seen it in North Korea that a dictator can stay in power for a very long time. And so I wouldn't be betting against Putin right now in spite of these images.

SCIUTTO: We're seeing an alarming series of threats in public by senior Russian officials right up to the president of the use of nuclear weapons. Dmitry Medvedev, the latest to say that Russia would use nuclear weapons to, quote, protect the existence of our state. This is happening as those areas in the eastern part of the country are going to have sham elections to make them, in effect, part of the Russian state. Are Russian leaders laying the groundwork to justify the use of nuclear weapons?

BROWDER: Well, what they're doing right now is digging into our biggest fears and worries by using the N word. To use to talk about nuclear weapons is something that nobody has done before. So, they've now put it on the table.

But before we start capitulating and folding and getting scared away, we should just think for a second about what would actually happen if they did use a nuclear weapon. First thing that would happen is that the wind blows from west to east, and so the fallout would go over Russia. The second thing that would happen is that Putin would lose the entire support of all of the non-aligned countries, the Indias, Chinas, South Africas, et cetera.

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And, third, it is not clear that he would actually further his military goals. He wouldn't end up with Ukraine by killing a million people. He would just end up in a totally desperate, isolated situation

And so, I think that right now there is a lot of escalation that is going to happen between where we are today and all of these terrible threats that they're making.

SCIUTTO: The trouble is that he's already in an isolated, weakened space, is he not? And you, by the way, credit due to you, that you said early on that Ukraine would push back and push back hard and they've proven to do so, and you can make a pretty strong argument that Putin has lost this war strategically, at least to this point. In your view, has he lost and would he accept loss?

BROWDER: He definitely wouldn't accept loss. The reason why he went into this war is because he was worried his citizens rising up against him because of 22 years of stealing enormous amounts of money. He was basically -- he had created an impossible situation.

And so he did what most dictators do. He pulled into the dictator's playbook and created a foreign enemy to start a war because he wanted people to support him. And for a while, he had 80 percent popular support. Now he is losing the war, he looks weak.

And so what does he do into this situation? He's got to throw everything else he's got at it, which is why he's drafted between 300,000 and a million able-bodied men to show up at the front. He has got a lot of money. He's buying equipment from Iran and North Korea. And he will throw everything he has at this because there is no way that he can show weakness. Because if he shows weakness to the Russian people, that they will get rid of him. And if they get rid of him he dies. That's his calculus. SCIUTTO: Yes, it's an alarming forecast. Bill Browder, always good to draw on your experience, thanks so much.

BROWDER: Thank you.

HARLOW: Jim, that was fascinating, I mean, given Bill's experience, shall we say, with the Putin regime.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Were you surprised? I mean, his comment also about the blowback from any potential use of a nuclear weapon by Russia was interesting to me and one I haven't heard many make.

SCIUTTO: It's interesting, and that's dissonance there, right, that even Putin knows the blowback would be significant, including from his alleged partners, like a China. On the flipside, as browder says, and this is the view, frankly, of lots of folks in the U.S. intel community, for instance, that Putin cannot lose. Because if he loses this war, then, effectively, he loses respect and power. So what wins out there, right? Some desperate act by him or eventually seeing the light? It is a tough bet, right, either way.

HARLOW: Yes. And is there an off-ramp, some way that could be provided that allows him to save some face somehow. But great interview, Jim. Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Thanks.

HARLOW: A man paralyzed while in custody of police in Connecticut. Now, his family is taking legal action. We'll bring you this story in New Haven, ahead.

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HARLOW: In just over an hour, attorneys for a man who may never walk again following an encounter with New Haven, Connecticut Police, say they will file a lawsuit. A warning before you watch this video. It is very hard to see.

SCIUTTO: We have to say that so often. Randy Cox was arrested back in June. Here is that video. He was placed in handcuffs, not in a seat belt in the back of a police van. When the driver made a sudden stop, Cox flew forward striking his head. He was severely injured and paralyzed from the chest down.

CNN's Brynn Gingras join us now with the latest. Brynn, Cox's attorneys, what do they hope to accomplish with this lawsuit?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Listen, there has been reforms since this incident happened. We don't know the details of that lawsuit just yet, Jim and Poppy, because they haven't filed it. We continue to check that docket. But they are going to have a news conference at 12:00. So, we'll definitely update the viewers. But Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump is Randy Cox -- he's 36-year-old, that's his attorney. And this happened back in June, just to remind your viewers. And, yes, he was partially paralyzed. He flew forward in that transport van in New Haven, Connecticut, hitting his head against the walls of that van. And then to make matters worse, you can see on body camera that he didn't get any medical attention for several minutes, even the police didn't even check on him for several minutes.

So, he was partially paralyzed, injuries to his neck and spine. And so, certainly, we'll probably get a bit of an update on how he's doing when we hear from Ben Crump. We have heard that he's had complications since and has had to go back into the hospital.

As for the five officers that were part of this incident, they were immediately put on administrative leave, paid administrative leave. We did just check back in with the mayor and the police department there in New Haven, Connecticut, and that is still the case.

I do want to read a quick statement for you from the mayor's office in regards to this lawsuit that is likely to be filed today.

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It says, we are committed to justice for Randy Cox for the sake of the Cox family, New Haven residents and the integrity of the police department. And once the state completes its investigation, the NHPD will move forward expeditiously with appropriate action for all of the officers involved. So, of course, I can imagine we're going to hear their calls to get these officers fired because we have heard that from the family before.

HARLOW: And, Brynn, the police department in New Haven changed some things already, right, after this because they realized what a problem -- a tragedy this was.

GINGRAS: I mean, almost immediately. And also it is important to point out that the mayor and the police chief went to visit Cox in a hospital and they could barely communicate with him. And they said that had a lot also to do with what they did.

But, quickly, what they did was they're getting rid of police vans. Prisoners are going to be transported in police cruisers. They have to wear seat belts, which, of course, is very important. And then also they are required to call an ambulance if something is -- if medical attention is needed.

HARLOW: We'll see what happens when the lawsuit is filed. Brynn, thank you for the reporting very much.

And thanks to all of you for joining us today. Obviously, we're keeping a very close eye on Hurricane Ian. We'll be back with you here tomorrow morning. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: Yes, we'll keep you updated. And I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts right after a short break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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