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Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's State Funeral; Interview with Economic Adviser to Japan's Prime Minister Takeshi Niinami; Influence of Abe on Japan with Taiwan; Protests Over Russia's Troop Mobilization; Hurricane Ian Strengthens En Route to Cuba and Florida; Parts of Canada Struggling to Restore Power After Hurricane Fiona; Power Outages in Puerto Rico Persist After Hurricane Fiona; Russians Fleeing the Country to Avoid Military Conscription; Anti-draft Protests Erupt in Dagestan, Russia; Russia Grants U.S. Whistleblower Edward Snowden Citizenship; Russian School Shooting; Iran Tightens its Grip as Protests and Dissent Grow; Italian Elections, Far-Right Coalition Claims Victory; UK Attempts to Calm Markets After Pound Plummets; US Stocks Fell on Monday, Dow Entered a Bear Market; Saving the Planet by Crashing a Spacecraft; Interview with Australian National University Astrophysicist Brad Tucker; Georgia Meloni, Italy's First Female Prime Minister. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 27, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Kristie Lu Stout.

Now, just ahead, a state funeral underway now for Japan's assassinated former leader Shinzo Abe. Why this final goodbye is causing so much controversy.

And tracking Ian. The hurricane expected to go from mean to monster and western Cuba is getting hit right now.

Plus, as military agent men flee to Finland and Georgia, the Kremlin admits mistakes and a pro-Putin TV host criticizes Russia's draft effort on state television.

A final farewell to Japan's longest serving prime minister. State funeral is underway right now in Tokyo for Shinzo Abe who died in July after being shot during a campaign speech. Dozens of world leaders are among the guestlist of some 4,300 people. Abe's wife transported his remains to the funeral which began with a 19-gun salute.

Afterwards, the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, thanked the former leader for his serving which he had previously stressed a state funeral was needed to honor Abe's diplomatic achievements. But not everyone in Japan feels the same. In fact, protesters are marching in the streets of Tokyo. They're speaking out against the government's use of some $12 million in public funds to bankroll the event. Our CNN's Blake Essig joins us now from Tokyo with more. And Blake, Japan is bidding farewell to Shinzo Abe with tributes and protests. Tell us how.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie. A state funeral for Shinzo Abe is underway as we speak. As you mentioned, Abe's remains arrived with his wife about an hour ago. And throughout this, roughly, 90-minute-long service, flowers will be offered. A video tribute with images of Abe has been played and speeches are being delivered as we speak.

Right now, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is delivering a speech. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the current prime minister, was up first and he talked about Abe's accomplishments. How much he will be missed and that he had so much more life to live. As you mentioned, roughly, 4,300 people, including 700 foreign dignitaries are now inside Japan's iconic Budokan indoor arena for a government funded state funeral to honor the diplomatic legacy of Shinzo Abe.

And since early this morning, members of the Japanese public unable to attend have been whining up for the chance to lay flowers and say a final goodbye to Japan's longest serving prime minister. Supporters point to Abe's diplomatic legacy and how he raised Japan's global profile. How he implemented a new peace and security law along with his vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, which has been mentioned multiple times, so far, during this service.

And there was also Abenomics which some people believe helped reinvigorate Japan's economy put in life. And now, in death, Shinzo Abe has been and will continue to be a polarizing figure. A man who is both admired and criticized here in Japan. In the events leading up to this event and happening now have showed how divided this country is when it comes to Shinzo Abe at his state funeral. Kristie.

STOUT: You know, it reveals so much that you have Shinzo Abe, this leader who's having a controversial state funeral right no. It's prompted leaders all over the world, from every corner to fly in and to pay respect to him. And yet, many people in Japan are protesting his state funeral this day. What does that say about Shinzo Abe, the man and the leader?

ESSIG: Oh, Kristie -- I mean, he was polarizing. Again, admired and criticized here in Japan. And as we speak right now, people have been protesting all day just about 20, 25 meters away from where I'm standing, there are people protesting. It's been constant.

People are also protesting outside of Japan's parliament where Abe spent more that three decades of his life. Although, Abe was known as this international statesman here in Japan, again, he's considered a polarizing figure. So, as you move forward when it was announced that this government funded state funeral would be held without consulting Japan's parliament --

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-- it ended up costing taxpayers at least 1.6 billion yen or about $12 million U.S. There are a lot of people who weren't happy about it. In fact, one man even set himself on fire outside of prime minister Kishida's residence in protest last week. While less extreme large gatherings, like the one happening just off-screen here have taken place on a regular basis since the event was announced about two months ago.

And the main reasons that these people are here protesting, and really, you have this mounting opposition involved deep divisions about Abe's leadership. The statement funeral is a poor use of taxpayer funds, especially with some people struggling to eat. And then obviously, there's obvious connection to the -- excuse me, the unification church. And the fact that the decision was made without consulting Japan's parliament.

And really, in the end, that this event is seeming to be used as a funeral politics. Several heads of state and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris have already planned or hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Kishida while in Tokyo. Those bilateral meetings, Kristie, are expected to continue after the state funeral has finished.

STOUT: Yes, Shinzo Abe, a giant in diplomacy and yet controversial at home for all the reason you laid out. Blake Essig reporting live for us in Tokyo. Thank you, Blake.

And joining us now is Takeshi Niinami, economic advisor to the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida. He also served in the same role for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as Yoshihide Suga.

Sir, thank you very much for joining us here on the program. You, of course, had a close relationship with Shinzo Abe. How do you remember him?

TAKESHI NIINAMI, ECONOMIC ADVISER TO JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER: He was really bright, model-looking leader and very easy person to talk to. He always listened carefully to others, including things he preferred not to. So, he was a very cheerful. I played golf, not only with council meetings with him, to advise what to do for economic growth of Japan.

He was open. And throughout the end, he talked about the loss of the related things after the media left. So, he was very open and he wanted to discuss a lot of complicated issue of the prime minister. So, he was very frank.

STOUT: You described him as frank, cheerful, and open. You valued his economic vision, as well as his leadership. And the state funeral of Shinzo Abe is underway, and it is controversial. There are protests in Japan. In a recent poll found that only about a third of the people in Japan are in favor of holding the funeral. What do you make of that?

NIINAMI: First of all, the fact is he was the longest serving prime minister in our history, which means we supported him for such a long term. That is a support of the general public. We should give great honor and respect to Mr. Abe. In this context, I think it's a good thing to have a funeral. To provide an opportunity for more people, including people from abroad to pay condolences to the great leader.

STOUT: And many world leaders are there to pay condolences and to pay tribute to Shinzo Abe. What does that say about his leadership, especially when outside where the state funeral is taking place, you have many Japanese protesting and opposing the state funeral.

NIINAMI: Well, the matter of fact he contributed to stabilizing the -- especially Asia. Prime Minister Abe tried to engage with President Xi. To have direct communication path, that's amazing pact. While he passed the security law to protect the country and led nations and led by the United States. I think he, as the longest serving means a lot to all of the stabilization of Asia. As well as Asia-Pacific.

So, which means, he included lots of political leaders in the world. And the longest servings -- serving means a lot to the world, not only for Japan.

STOUT: You praised his longevity being Japan's longest-serving prime minister. Also, as his former economic adviser, you praised his economic vision, otherwise known as Abenomics.

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You also praised his handling of security issues, especially in regards to its neighbors in Asia. Shinzo Abe was a man you knew very, very well. What do you think is the one thing he will be remembered for? The one thing that he did that fundamentally changed Japan?

NIINAMI: His bold decisions. His front forward depended the landscape from gloomy and the subsiding to poverty. Remember 10, 15 years ago, Japan had so many prime ministers and could not make any decisions in significance. But made a huge change. That means that Japan's landscape changed. And -- plus, more jobs for young people, women and even elderly people with wager hike.

I think his economic policy made a great change for the better of this country. But eventually, coronavirus shifted the Prime Minister Abe's regime. That was really a huge, huge negative impact after all.

STOUT: Takeshi Niinami, we thank you for joining us to discuss the life and the legacy of Shinzo Abe. Sir thank you. Take care.

NIINAMI: Thank you.

STOUT: Now, Shinzo Abe was popular in Taiwan for supporting the island against China's increasingly assertive policies. And although Japan doesn't have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, I want to show you this photo. This photo shows him with Taiwan's then-president in 2010. Well, Taiwan has sent representatives to Abe's funeral. And Taiwan's vice president attended Abe's private funeral in a personal capacity in July.

CNN's Will Ripley is live from Taipei with more on Abe's connection with Taiwan. Will, good to see. You know, Shinzo Abe transformed Japan's relationship with Taiwan. So, how is the island on this day viewing and reacting to the state funeral? WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just like on the day of the assassination, Kristie, as you remember all too well, there was lots of sadness here in Taiwan, certainly at the government level. And that is reflected in the fact that Taiwan has sent its delegation to attend, including, you know, two former legislative speakers and their de facto ambassador, even though they are not formal diplomatic allies.

The friendship and the cooperation between Japan and Taiwan, certainly increased dramatically under Shinzo Abe's tenure. And the statute in Gaojian (ph) is kind of the perfect, you know, as you just showed the photo, the perfect representation of, you know, Taiwan's feelings towards Shinzo Abe. Calling him, you know, in Chinese on the statue, Taiwan's eternal friend.

Of course, what they credit Shinzo Abe with here in Taiwan is elevating the Taiwan issue to the global stage. To make obvious to other democracies around the world to Taiwan's strategic role. And the importance of this self-governing democracy in terms of, you know, all areas, whether it be business and whether it be just the fundamental principles of democracy in a region that is increasingly being encroached upon in the view of Abe and others by China.

And it's noteworthy that, you know, this issue of Taiwan has really continued to drive a wedge deeper and deeper between Japan and China as well. And that's also evident, you know, even though this is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationships between China and Japan, they didn't send their vice premier like they did to the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth. They sent a former technology minister who is, you know, part of a -- one of the handful of political groups that the communist party allows to exist.

And, you know, this is the nation that even though officially they put out statements of condolence on the day that Shinzo Abe was killed, they did not censor the Chinese medicines who, you know, and overwhelmingly posted negative comments, even celebrating the death of Shinzo Abe. The Chinese government, kind of, dismiss that. They certainly didn't censor like it they censor a lot of other things in the Mainland, Kristie.

And so, you know, Shinzo Abe definitely irritated China over the issue of Taiwan. But also things like visiting the Yasukuni Shrine back in 2013 which is a shrine that honors Japanese who died in battle, including convicted war criminals, you know.

And so, Shinzo Abe was certainly a controversial figure in Japan. He did make a state visit in 2018, Xi Jinping was supposed to visit reciprocally in 2020. And as your previous guest mentioned, the coronavirus pandemic, you know, put that trip by Xi Jinping on hold. Postponed, it seems that now indefinitely. There's really no talk of Xi Jinping making a state visit to Japan. And the two nations really are in just a -- as much of a deep freeze. A deep freeze that really began or at least solidified during the Abe years.

[02:15:00] STOUT: You know, interesting to hear from you about how Abe, during the Abe years as you put it, elevated Taiwan's status. And it'll be interesting to see if his successors continue to carry that legacy. Will Ripley, reporting live for us in Taiwan, in Taipei. Thank you so much, Will. Take care.

You're watching CNN Newsroom coming to you live from Hong Kong. And up next, growing opposition to Russia's troop mobilization. After days of protests, Moscow responds with a rare admission.

Plus, Hurricane Ian is getting stronger as it closes in on Cuba. And then, takes aim at Florida with residents in the storm's path told to get out and to get out now.

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STOUT: Welcome back. Now, a powerful hurricane is getting stronger as it batters Cuba and moves toward the U.S. Ian is currently a category two storm and it's expected to grow into a major hurricane in the coming hours. Now, authorities in Florida are telling people to get out now. Warning that it could be the storm of a lifetime when it arrives.

Now, the storm's path is raising fears of a near-worst case scenario for the Tampa area. Here's a look at Hurricane Ian from space. Tens of thousands of people in Cuba have evacuated ahead of the storm's landfall. Our CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the storm.

Now, Pedram, a lot of people are bracing for this major, major storm. What's the latest?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Kristie, we're looking at a storm here that is about 500 kilometers, as far as this cloud field is concerned. So, you kind of imagine New York State, this would fit right across New York State as far as the size of the storm is concerned.

And 175 kilometers per hour happens to be one kilometer per hour shy of a major hurricane category three. So, of course, the difference between such a storm is going to be negligible. The impacts are going to be significant.

Western Cuba here, over the next couple of hours, will feel the brunt of the storm system with a storm surge of, get this, up to four and a half meters high over across portions of Western Cuba. That is catastrophic storm surge. You've got to keep in mind, even if you have infrastructure to support yourself from a storm surge of this magnitude, about half of all fatalities, half of all damage associated with these tropical systems occurs based on that storm surge.

A lot of people kind of looked at that windspeed and think that is going to be the most menacing aspect of the storm. But it is the water element, the flooding, the storm surge that is the most concerning. And of course, beyond this, the system has no plans of weakening.

In fact, if you look at the model guidance, certainly portions of Western Florida on alert here as the system approaches and it really takes a very eerie track here. That Parallel track to the coastline, with hundred plus years of data looking across areas of Florida. Very rarely do we see a storm of this magnitude kind of parallel the coastline and bring with it the amount of damage and the potential that is in place here over the next couple of days.

You notice, category two strengthening to category three very quickly going up to category four in what is the warmest oceanic heat here across portions of the Atlantic Ocean. Water temperatures about 30 to 31 Celsius.

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We're talking bathwater warmth in place to support the storm system. And as it parallels the coastline here, Wednesday into Thursday, we'll see significant speed decrease on the storm. In fact, see the lines right here, that are kind of across this cone? That is the progression over a span of 24 hours. And the storm is expected to slow down to a walking pace. Around say, five maybe six kilometers per hour from Wednesday into Thursday.

So, you kind of picture a major hurricane going at a walking pace for a span of maybe 36 hours or so across this region. The impact certainly will be catastrophic. We know that base, the water waves, the inlets across Tampa Bay region, across the Pinellas County area. $30 billion worth of built property across this landscape, that is among the most valuable area of property across anywhere in the state of Florida. And certainly, a storm of this magnitude will leave behind significant damage.

And you'll notice, we're talking nine feet, in some cases 10 feet or over three-meter storm surge are going to leave behind significant damage. Again, when you look at that, what a storm surge kind of breaks down to, anytime you get into this threshold of about, say, seven, nine,10 feet, you're going to get up to the top story of some of these properties of the coastal area. And really, devastation is going to be in place.

This certainly could be a billion-dollar disasters as we often see with magnitude -- category three and category four hurricanes. As far as the broader picture here, Kristie, you kind of see what we're looking at, again, the western coast of Florida, that parallel track this system is slated to take is really what's the biggest concern with the storm surge threat that is in store. Kristie.

STOUT: Wow. Pedram, that storm surge visualization that you just shared was scary, to say the least. Thank you so much for covering this storm for us and for tracking it. We need to keep an eye on it. Thank you so much, Pedram Javaheri.

Canada, meanwhile, is still reeling from the aftermath of what was Hurricane Fiona. More than 170,000 customers are without power across Nova Scotia. You're looking at one of the hardest hit areas, Glace Bay. No power has led to long lines at gas stations of people needing fuel for generators. The government is looking to free up more than $40 million in immediate relief funds to help residents. And meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, it's much of the same. About 40 percent of customers there still don't have power after Fiona. The deadly storm made landfall on the island last week as a category one hurricane.

Now, Russia has acknowledged mistakes have been made in the mobilization of what we're supposed to be military reservists. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, now admits that people have been erroneously called up to join the military after Russia was forced to retreat in parts of eastern Ukraine. And he says regional governors are trying to fix the situation. This, as the government faces growing opposition to its war effort, including heated protests against the draft.

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STOUT: And this is how one officer responded to demonstrations in Dagestan. On Monday, there were more reports of scuffles and arrests in the capital of the largely Muslim region. And we're also tracking scenes of panic in Siberia, where authorities say a gunman opened fire at military enlistment office. The shooter was arrested, and a wounded recruiter is said to be fighting for his life.

And in Southern Russia, people have been trying to flee the country to dodge the draft. These satellite images show long lines of cars waiting to cross the border into Georgia. With some queue stretching for 16 kilometers. Let's get more now from CNN's Clare Sebastian. She joins us live from London.

Clare, these anti-mobilization protests, they've been spreading in Russia, have been turning violent, and now the Kremlin is admitting mistakes were made.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie, it was not exactly an apology from the Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, but he did admit that there had been errors in terms of carrying out the official decree on mobilization. Multiple complaints have been coming in that people who weren't eligible, according to the official criteria, were being drafted up. He said that governors in some regions are actively working to fix this.

So, sort of, punting it to the governors, distancing themselves a little bit while still acknowledging that this is happening, perhaps, an attempt to try to calm people who are out protesting. Try to create the sense that they're not ignoring the problem. And this had been building as well in other officials' quarters, the heads of both houses of parliament over the weekend have criticized the way that the mobilization is being carried out. The mistakes that were being made and calling people up.

And there was even some pretty strongly worded comments of this from Vladimir Solovyov who is a talk show host. Seen as one of the most ardent Kremlin propagandists who called the people who are carrying out the draft "Idiots". And said that they should be punished for the mistakes that are being made. Even suggesting they be sent to the front lines.

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But he also stopped short of actually criticizing President Putin, himself. Simply punting it to the officials that are carrying out the mobilization. There's still a rare admission from these official quarters that things are not going 100 percent to plan. Kristie.

STOUT: Yes, pressure is building on Putin inside Russia, also the battlefield in Ukraine. Be we have to talk about the so-called referendums. They're happening in four occupied regions of Ukraine. They come to an end today. Can anyone stop Putin from claiming these regions?

SEBASTIAN: I mean, it doesn't seem that way. The official state news agency (INAUDIBLE) has just put out a new turnout number based on, sort of, incomplete, obviously, count of votes that suggest that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas, that turn out is in the 80s. And the other two regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in the 60s.

So -- look, these are not free and fair votes. These are, you know, at gunpoint. Essentially there are reports of people going door to door in the Luhansk region accompanied by armed guards. But Russia says the turnout is massive and that's it's going really well in the Kherson region. The Russian-backed leader said -- there said earlier this week that he feels that he already has enough votes for a positive result.

But of course, there's another side to the story. On the other hand, western officials are watching this very closely. The U.S. has already said that it won't recognize the result. And Ukraine is also very concerned that Russia is going to use this mobilization to try and draft up Ukrainian citizens living in this area. Kristie.

STOUT: All right. Clare Sebastian, live for us in London, thank you very much indeed for that.

Russia has granted citizenship to the U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday. The former intelligence contractor fled the U.S. in 2013 after leaking information on surveillance programs. He faces up to 30 years in prison if he ever returns to the U.S. And Snowden celebrated the news in a Twitter post, saying in part, "A little stability will make a difference for his wife and his son's." And Snowden won't be subject to the Putin mobilization order. His lawyer tells state media that his client does not have to sign up because he didn't serve in the Russian military.

The Kremlin is calling a mass shooting at a school, that left 15 dead in western Russia, a terrorist attack. Authorities say a former student wearing Nazi symbols opened fire on Monday, killing 11 children and four adults before taking his own life. Dozens more were injured. Investigators have been searching the shooter's home to learn more about his background and his alleged neo-fascist ideology.

And social media video anti-government protests happening throughout Iran yet again on Monday night, even as Tehran tries to crack down on the demonstrations through censorship and lethal force.

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STOUT: The pro-reform activist at outlet IranWire is reporting at least 50 deaths as a result of the crackdown. Amnesty International says four children are among the dead. Now, CNN has not independently verified those reports.

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STOUT: Now, CPJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists, says at least 20 journalists have been arrested by Iranian authorities amid the arrests.

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STOUT: Now, these protests began after the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini, who was in the custody of Iran's Morality Police. Her family has blamed police brutality, but authorities claimed she died of a heart attack. An aid to Iran's supreme leader has promised her family a thorough investigation into her death, this according to state media.

You're watching CNN. And still ahead, Italy has set forward it most far-right prime minister since World War II. Putting it on a potential collision course with the E.U. Following reaction from Rome next.

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STOUT: Welcome back. Now, Giorgia Meloni and her far-right Brothers of Italy Party have claimed victory in the country's general election. Nationalists within the E.U., including France's Marine Le Pen welcomed the victory. In contrast, the vice president of the European parliament said, "This will be difficult times for Europe".

Now, for more on this, let's bring in CNN Contributor Barbie Nadeau. And Barbie, after that crashing victory for Italy's nationalist right, tell us more about the reaction.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, we talked to a lot of people yesterday about their reaction. And, you know, one of the things, people who didn't vote for her are hoping that she can bring change to the country. That she can unite the country. And people are really softening, you know there are a lot of people who are really worried about her far-right politics. But even her rivals right now, political rivals, are saying that they don't believe that she's going to take Italy to far-right. Listen to -- even Matteo Renzi, the former prime minister what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTEO RENZI, FORMER ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: That is not a danger for Italian democracy. She is my rival. I will -- I'm rival. We will continue to fight each other. But the ideas are now, there is a risk of fascism in Italy is absolutely a fake news.

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NADEAU: Now, you know, you have a rival there who campaigned against her because they thought she had, you know, ties to former neo-fascist party. And they're softening their stance too, at this point. Everybody is hopeful, let's say, here, Kristie.

STOUT: Interesting to hear from Renzi saying the risk of fascism is "Fake news." But why did we have this election result? You know, why did Giorgia Meloni and her party gain such a decisive win in Italy. What does it say about the state of modern Italy today?

NADEAU: Well, I think the biggest factor in this was the low voter turnout, only 64 percent of the population come out to vote. So, a lot of people protested the election by just not attending it. And you know, a lot of people also that we talked to, especially after they voted said that they were not necessarily voting for Meloni. But they were -- they didn't have anyone else to vote for.

They didn't feel good about the populist five-star movement that won so easily in 2018 elections. And they were disillusioned by the left because they weren't -- they didn't really put forward a party platform. They were -- their whole campaign was just basically against Meloni. So, there was a lot of discontent, the voters, you know, took to the polling booth.

STOUT: Barbie Nadeau reporting live for us from Rome, thank you very much. Take care.

Now, markets around the world were in turmoil on Monday. The British pound hit a record low against the U.S. dollar amid growing fears about the stability of the British government's finances. Now, the Bank of England said it was monitoring markets very closely but stopped short of delivering an emergency rate hike. Out -- the euro also previously hit its lowest value versus the dollar since 2002. And as you see on your screen, the British pound gaining in value since then.

Now, let's take a look at what Dow futures look like at the moment. As you can see, green arrows on your screen with Dow futures up about one percent, Nasdaq futures up about 1.3. percent, the S&P 500 futures up just touch over one percent.

On Monday, U.S. stocks closed lower over fears of a strong dollar. The Dow dropped more than 300 points and entered a bear market for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

And you're watching CNN Newsroom coming to you live from Hong Kong. And still to come, a mission to protect the planet. NASA slams a spacecraft into an asteroid on the name of defending humanity.

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STOUT: Welcome back. Now, you are about to watch the most expensive demolition derby in history. Now, if NASA scientists are right, the results could very well save the planet.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10, nine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Oh, my gosh.

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STOUT: You got to love that reaction of Mission Control. Now, NASA intentionally crashed the DART spacecraft into an astronaut on Monday. The intentional collision of the unmanned craft was designed to see if humans can bump an asteroid off course if it's heading for Earth.

Now, joining us live from Canberra, Australia is Brad Tucker. He's an astrophysicist at the Australian National University. He joins us now.

Brad, thank you for joining us. And they did it, NASA successfully slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid. What's your take on the significance of this moment?

BRAD TUCKER, ASTROPHYSICIST, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Look, it -- super exciting moment. And you know, I was cheering here. I know, friends all-round were cheering. And it's momentous for a few reasons. One, the actually -- the technology involved, it may not be apparent, but you know, we didn't know what this asteroid looked like. We didn't know its shape, the features. And all of it had to be essentially automatically programmed and machine learning to say, can I identify the asteroid? And there was too close asteroids as well.

So, they had to separate them and they weren't able to separate the asteroids until just about a half hour before. So, all that had to be done. And in fact, we saw the course correction so all of that showed we can send an object to a target and it kind of lined on the target to hit where we want.

Important for landing, or in this case, hitting the asteroid to deflect it. And then the bigger part is, you know, we are actually generally testing a way to defend the Earth just as we practice fire drills and evacuation drills. This is practicing an emergency drill for Earth as a whole. Something that's never been done like this.

STOUT: It's never been done before. And as you pointed out, they didn't even know what the asteroid looked like and yet the collision was a success. But did it nudge it enough? Did it move the trajectory of the asteroid?

TUCKER: Look -- and that's the big $300 million question in this case. And it's going to take some time to understand that, obviously. You know, we saw it hit.

STOUT: Yes.

TUCKER: And now telescopes all around the world, as soon as that moment hit have been monitoring this system to see how much it changed. And one of the reasons why there are two asteroids that have been chosen in this system is that as you hit that smaller one, it's going to change its orbit around the bigger one. Now, that's something we can monitor quite accurately from Earth repeatedly.

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So, over the coming weeks we'll know that very clear answer of how much it was shifted by. You know, we kind of estimate that it would shift on order of 10 to 50 or so kilometers per year. That would be the shift in its orbit.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but that's enough that over years it drifts quite far away. So, we'll know that answer, you know, in pretty clear time. And that will then guide future missions, designs, and planning. Because if you know how much you've shifted it by, then that will tell us how far away do we need to find the asteroids.

STOUT: Yes.

TUCKER: Do we need to find it a million kilometers away or a billion kilometers away. That's a very big difference in terms of the search efforts that will be needed.

STOUT: Yes, and that's why scientists right now, they're just waiting to get the quantitative data before they can come up with that answer that we all want to hear. But already, some data has come in. The first images have come in of the asteroid targeted by the DART Mission. One scientist called it adorable, said it looks like a little moon.

What will scientists be looking out for, you know, when they do the image analysis? What can they glean from the imagery?

TUCKER: Well, that's right, you know. And we kind of already saw in those -- as you said, in those first images. You kind of saw that boulder clumpy feel. Now, asteroids can kind of be solid bodies, more like you think of the Earth or the moon, or in this case, lose piles of rubble. Kind of like a ball of mud that has bits to it stuck in it.

And now, in recent times, we've had the Hayabusa2 Mission, the Japanese mission landing on the asteroid Ryugu. NASA's OSIRIS-REx landing and both taking samples from the asteroid Bennu. In those cases, we saw a similar thing. More, kind of, lose pile of rubble.

Now, that tells us a lot about the composition. The history of the asteroid. The chia cube, this was a smaller satellite that kind of hitched a ride and then followed the DART Mission flew right through the debris. So, we'll be able to understand the exact composition and ratios and elements. And then even further down the road, the Hera Probe, a European probe will land in the crater, kind of doing a forensics analysis almost of the impact.

So, we can learn a lot about asteroid and their composition. And that's another big key to this. You know, it's one thing to hit a ball of sand, it's another to hit a giant chunk of iron. And that's the range of asteroids in space and that affects how much you can shift it.

STOUT: Got it. Brad, and also just to clarify, there are currently no asteroids on a direct impact course with Earth right now, but there are a lot of near-Earth asteroids out there. So, how great of a threat do they pose and are we on track to one day defend our planet?

TUCKER: Look -- that's exactly right. We don't know of one that we're worried about but you want to be prepared. And so, there is still a lot more work to go to even searching for them. You know, the DART project was born out of a report that the Obama presidency had for the -- with Office of Science and Technology to say, what can we do to prepare for these events?

And so, there's a lot more work still to be done. But again, you want to be prepared. If COVID showed us anything, those one in 100-year events happen one in a 100-years. And so, though we don't expect an asteroid anytime soon, it maybe a couple 100 years, you do want to be prepared if one does get awfully close to the Earth. You want to at least know you have something that's going to work.

STOUT: Yes. Always best to be prepared. It's always fun and enlightening to speak with you. Brad Tucker, thank you so much and take care. And thank you to our audience, thank you for joining us. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. World Sport is up next. And then my colleague, Paula Newton, will be here with more news from around the world in about 15 minutes. Keep watching CNN.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: New tonight, NASA's DART Mission spacecraft deliberately and successfully crashing into an asteroid marks humanity's first test of planetary defense. The asteroid named Dimorphos was not at risk of impacting Earth but NASA does hope the demonstration will give them a better idea of how to deflect any asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth in the future. For more, I want to bring in now CNN's Space Analyst Mr. Miles O'Brien, that's our expert.

Hey Miles, good to see you.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE ANALYST AND PBS NEWSHOUR SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Don.

LEMON: So, this kind of stuff out of -- is out of movie, right? Like, "Armageddon". And this mission is a success. How important is this moment in knowing that we can protect our planet from these types of cosmic threats?

O'BRIEN: Yes, I think it's kind of a pivotal moment in human history, Don. We proved that we have the capacity, at least, to do this if a big asteroid were headed our way. And over the course of the long term, that is inevitable, we would have something in our arsenal that could give us an opportunity to defend ourselves and kind of put our dukes up with this thing.

You know, we live in a tough neighborhood. There is a lot of big rocks out there. We don't know where all of them are yet and that's an important thing to do. But if we do find ourselves in the -- in a situation where a huge rock which could cause an extinction event like the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, or something that might wipe out a whole city, it's nice to know that we could do something about it.

LEMON: So, explain to me, Miles, how did NASA actually make this happen? Because this spacecraft was the size of a refrigerator.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's kind of David versus Goliath, kind of thing. This vending machine thing that's about 1,300 pounds hitting a rock that's five billion tons. And you would think, well, what could that do? But, you know, it's not unlike playing pool, you know. One ball hits another and you're going to have an equal and opposite reaction. This is a little bit of Newtonian physics.

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So, that part of it is not a scientific mystery. What they really wanted to find out, first of all, is could they navigate to this object only a little more than 500 feet across, about the size of it the Great Pyramid. Over the course of a 107 million miles. And then once it impacted, just how much of a push could they give it with that object that is so small but traveling 14,000 miles per hour.

And that --that's what's happening right now. Astronomers all over the world are going to crunch the numbers and see how much the orbit of this little moon of (INAUDIBLE) as Dimorphos, how much that orbit changed.

LEMON: Yes. Miles, in the short time we have with you, we became smarter. Thank you. Sorry that our time is short tonight. We really appreciate it. You be well. It's good to see you my friend.

O'BRIEN: All right. You're welcome.

LEMON: Italy's election, resulting in the country's first woman prime minister. But her rise also represents another marker, Italy's most far-right leader since the fascist era of Benito Mussolini.

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LEMON: Italy is about to make history with the first woman set to become prime minister. And 45-year-old Giorgia Meloni is expected to lead the most far-right government since the era of fascist leader Benito Mussolini. She's head of the ultra-conservative Brother of Italy Party. And with the support of right-wing coalition partners, Meloni's expected to form a new government over the next few weeks. Her party's agenda is rooted in anti-immigration, anti-abortion, anti- LGBTQ policies. Maloney is also a critic of the European Union.

Stay tuned. Thanks for watching everyone. Our coverage continues.

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