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Casualties in Ian's Aftermath Rising; Hospitals Face Daunting Task Taking Care of Their Patients Amid Building Damages; North Korea Launch Missile Over Japan's Island; Vladimir Putin Claimed Another Four Ukrainian Territories; U.S. and NATO Plans for Contingency Move. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 04, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, as utility crews work to restore power and rescue teams comb through the wreckage, hospitals face challenges of their own. We'll discuss how healthcare facilities are managing in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
North Korea test fires a ballistic missile over Japan, sparking international condemnation. We're live in Tokyo with the latest.
And as Russia's parliament meets to rubber stamp the Kremlin's annexation move, Ukraine's forces advance on the ground turning back Russian troops in the south.
UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: And thanks for joining us.
More than 100 people are now confirmed dead in Florida after Hurricane Ian slammed into the state and crushed everything in its path. A week on, many communities are nowhere near full recovery. Residents lack basic resources, neighborhoods remain flooded, and rescue efforts are still underway.
So far, authorities have managed to save almost 2,000 people. Many of them were stranded on hard-to-reach islands. They've also restored electricity to more than two million customers, but about 450,000 are still without power.
CNN's Carlos Suarez is in Florida with more on the recovery efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unrecognizable in parts still underwater, and others. Hurricane Ian's destruction and path so vast search and rescue efforts continue days after the storm tore through Florida.
UNKNOWN: We can't get over the bridge.
SUAREZ: Residents in DeSoto County hit by river flooding are stuck. Airboats are now key to getting supplies in and people out.
UNKNOWN: These airboats are going out, taking people into town, and it's been going for a while now.
SUAREZ: The death toll across the state, climbing rapidly.
BENJAMIN ABO, MIAMI-DADE FIRE RESCUE VENOM ONE: A lot of sick people that are running out of their medications. A lot of people that are running out of their water and, so we can get everything up and going, we're trying to get them out.
SUAREZ: Hundreds of Sanibel Island residents cut off from the mainland have been rescued so far, with no timetable to rebuild the only road to the island.
MAYOR HOLLY SMITH, SANIBEL, FLORIDA: We are encouraging everyone to get off the island, but we also need to understand that this is everyone's home and they need to get back and protect it.
SUAREZ: Meanwhile, there are mounting questions in Lee County over why the first mandatory evacuation orders there came just one day before landfall. County officials there are standing by the decision- making, saying they based the orders on the storm's forecasted path.
BRIAN HAMMAN, COMMISSIONER, LEE COUNTY: They made the call as soon as the forecast called for them to make the call. Monday afternoon, we were telling people you do not have to wait for evacuation orders to leave. You can leave now.
SUAREZ: But the county's own emergency plan suggest evacuations should have happened earlier, specifically when there is a 10 percent chance of six feet or higher storm surge. It was Sunday night when the National Hurricane Center first mentioned four to seven feet of surge for that area.
But the first mandatory evacuation orders for Lee County were not issued until Tuesday morning, over 24 hours later. It turns out that the day before the town of Fort Myers Beach, quote, "encouraged people to leave with a Facebook post, which made a point of noting that county's decision wouldn't come until the next day."
CARMINE MARCENO, SHERIFF, LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I'm confident, confident in the decisions that were made. And like I said yesterday, stand by them and I wouldn't change anything.
SUAREZ: Officials here say residents didn't want to leave, whether they were ordered to or not.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): They informed people and most people did not want to do it. I mean, that's just, that's just the reality.
SUAREZ: Mixed opinions from residents themselves on how the county handled the decision.
KEVIN SHAWN CRITSER, PASTOR, CHURCH BAPTISH CHURCH: And then when that evacuation order came, we're like, 24 hours, that's -- that's not a lot.
BRITTNEY MONUS, FORT MYERS RESIDENT: We have so many retirees here and elderly that need more time to be able to get to places or people that don't have vehicles that need more assistance.
RICHARD PHILLIPS, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: That wouldn't deter whether I go or not. It's all for each individual. It's right for me doesn't mean it's right for you.
[03:04:58]
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SUAREZ (on camera): Late Monday, the Lee County manager said that Fort Myers Beach could be without power for the next 30 days. That's how dire the situation is out there. Over in Pine Island, we're told that the National Guard has started to drop food by air after Hurricane Ian wiped out a bridge connecting Pine Island to Cape Coral.
Carlos Suarez, CNN, Fort Myers, Florida.
CHURCH: And Florida hospitals are also struggling to get back online following Hurricane Ian. A number of hospitals were damaged in the storm, including one that lost its roof. Some remain closed or understaffed because their workers were impacted by the storm themselves. Issues with water pressure and electricity are putting a strain on the system as well, and hospitals are also reluctant to discharge patients who have lost their homes.
Mary Mayhew is the president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, and she joins me now from Tallahassee. Thank you so much for talking with us at this very difficult time for your state.
MARY MAYHEW, PRESIDENT & CEO, FLORIDA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So, what impact has Hurricane Ian had on healthcare systems across Florida?
MAYHEW: Well, I think it's important to underscore that emergency preparedness is foundational for hospitals and certainly for hospitals in Florida readiness to face hurricanes is front and center in their preparedness. But certainly, the impact of Ian as devastating as it has been, it has certainly been disruptive to healthcare services. We depend on 24/7 access to hospital services.
I will say though that that given the strength of Ian, it is absolutely remarkable that we've had really very few hospitals that sustained any significant damage to their facilities as a result of the hurricane.
CHURCH: And that is absolutely extraordinary when we -- we looking at images right now, and of course we've all seen extraordinary and extensive devastation and destruction across much of the state. So, hospitals of course have generators as temporary backup when there is a loss of power. But when do you expect to have all hospitals back on the power grid and running as normal, or is it pretty close to that?
MAYHEW: Well, again, in the span of less than a week, given the impact, especially in southwest Florida to the electrical grid, there has been significant restoration of power and there were five hospitals in the hardest hit county that had such significant interruption in service, both electrical support as well as the public water supply.
All of those hospitals are now, back with their power fully restored and with the water fully restored. That is what had created the biggest challenge for those hospitals and led to a number of the evacuations of patients over the last several days. So, a lot of progress in a short period of time.
CHURCH: And I did want to ask you about that, the impact this hurricane has had on those hospital patients who had to be relocated for safety concerns and probably missed critical care while they're out of that hospital. What is their situation?
MAYHEW: Well, again, hospitals are very prepared for patient transfers for evacuations. Now, generally you want to sustain hospital operations before, during, and after a storm. What the hospitals were forced to do when the public water was disrupted was to transfer some of the most critical care patients.
We worked with hospitals all around the state that made beds available. They deployed ambulances, air transport to help support the relocation of those patients so that their critical care needs were still being met at the receiving hospitals.
Really, it truly amazing the level of coordination and cooperation that occurred throughout the state in a short period of time.
CHURCH: And what is your greatest concern at this juncture as you wait for the state to get back to some level of normalcy, because that could take some time.
MAYHEW: Well, as you -- you're seeing the scenes from that area, the devastation is unimaginable. It is going to take a significant period of time to begin restoring some of the infrastructure, the roads, the bridges.
[03:09:57]
We do want to make sure that individuals and families have access to healthcare services. I think it's also important to understand that in many communities, many areas of the state, the hospital is the largest employer, which also means that there are so many nurses and doctors and other staff and the hospitals who've lives have been upended, who are displaced from their homes. While at the same time we are depending on those individuals to help support access to healthcare services. It's going to be a long road ahead.
CHURCH: Yes, the very important point you highlight there. Mary Mayhew, thank you so much for joining us and for all that you do. We appreciate it.
MAYHEW: Thank you very much.
CHURCH: For the first time in five years, North Korea has fired a ballistic missile directly over Japan. An escalation that's been quickly condemned by both Tokyo and Washington. South Korean officials believe the missile was launched shortly before 7.30, local time Tuesday morning, traveling over Japan's northern most island of Hokkaido.
Residents on the island were warned to take cover, and train services were suspended before the missile crashed into the Pacific Ocean. North Korea has now launched five missiles in just the last 10 days, and has fired the most in a single year since Kim Jong-un took power in 2012.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments from Seoul, and we have Blake Essig standing by in Tokyo.
Good to see you both.
So, Paula, what is the latest on this North Korean ballistic missile launched over Japan?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we really have seen a flurry of short-range ballistic missile launches over the past 10 days. As you say, this is the fifth launch that we have seen in that very short period of time. But what we saw this morning, Tuesday morning was the most significant missile launch. It was an escalation in Pyongyang's testing regime at the moment.
This one, according to officials in South Korea and in Japan, was an intermediate launch, meaning it was longer than the sort of launches we have seen in recent weeks and months. As you have mentioned as well, the fact that this is already a record-breaking year, 23 missile launches have been carried out by North Korea this year alone.
Ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, something that hasn't been seen in North Korea. So, it certainly is a significant escalation the type of this launch. And of course, the fact that there was no warning from North Korea, the fact it flew over Japan itself, there was no warning for either flights or ships in the waters.
And this was something that was picked up on in the White House statement, condemning this launch saying, that it shows a blatant disregard for the U.N. Security Council resolutions and also a blatant disregard of international safety norms. It has been widely condemned by Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo. The joint chiefs of staff here saying it is a serious provocation that threatens peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. Now, in addition, there was a phone call that was not answered by North Korea today. There were two that happened daily. The inter- Korean hotline, the unification ministry admitting that North Korea did not pick up the phone this morning. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. And Blake, what's been the reaction in Japan to this escalation?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, honestly, it's been a bit mixed, Rosemary, although I think it goes without saying that North Korea launching a ballistic missile directly over Japan is cause for concern.
Now, as a result of this morning's launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile, the Japanese government issued a rare J-Alert, which is only issued in times of national emergencies like earthquakes, terrorist attacks, in certain missile launches.
This morning that J-Alert was issued to areas believed to be at risk, specifically Japan's northern most island of Hokkaido, while sirens could be heard even here in Tokyo. Take a listen.
Now despite the warning though and those sirens, life continued as normal across Japan with many people apparently ignoring the warnings. Some wrote on social media that despite the air raid warning and initial concern that a missile was heading their way nothing could be done. So, most people just continued on their way to work and went about life as normal.
[03:14:54]
While people here in Japan are seemingly used to North Korea's routine missile test. This morning's launch does really amplify an already tense security environment surrounding Japan. And at a press conference a short time after the missile was fired, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called North Korea's recent test outrageous, while the country's chief cabinet secretary also weighed in, calling today's launch a threat to the public.
Here's more of what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HIROKAZU MATSUNO, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): A ballistic missile launch that flew over our country is not only an issue for aircraft and vessels, it's a serious and problematic action that involves the safety of residents living in the area where the missile flew over. We have strongly protested against North Korea in the strongest terms.
FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is an act of violence following recent repeated launches of ballistic missiles. We strongly condemn this.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ESSIG: Now, Rosemary, this isn't the first time that North Korea has launch a missile that flew over Japan, and experts believe that the missile tested today was a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile, the same type of missile that flew over Japan in 2017, making this the third time that this particular missile has traveled over Japan and the eighth time that it's been tested. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks in Seoul, Blake Essig in Tokyo, many thanks to you both.
Well, newly released records from the U.S. National Archives show the agency alerted lawyers for Donald Trump in May of last year they were missing two dozen boxes of records. Among them, letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The archive says the documents were not turned over as promised by White House counsel Pat Cipollone.
CNN has previously reported on the archives' effort to recover documents from Trump throughout 2021. the FBI eventually obtained a search warrant for the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence where many of the documents were being kept.
And still to come, Ukrainian forces are making gains on the battlefield, as Russia's parliament moved forward on annexing four Ukrainian regions. The latest on all the developments just ahead.
Plus, protesters turn out in force over British Prime Minister Liz Truss's tax plan, and now she's been forced into an awkward about- face. We're back with that and more in just a moment.
[03:20:00]
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CHURCH: At this hour, Russia's upper House of Parliament is scheduled to meet and move forward on rubber stamping Vladimir Putin's decision to illegally annex four Ukrainian regions. On Monday, the lower House voted to approve the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions despite being a violation of international law.
Those votes taking place even though borders have not been determined and some territory Moscow now claims is back under Ukrainian control. Videos show the Ukrainian flag being raised as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reports that settlements in several regions have been newly liberated.
Ukrainian forces are pushing towards the occupied city of Kherson and have captured one town on the Western Bank of the Dnipro River. They're also said to be advancing into the Luhansk region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): The prospect of these hostilities is obvious. More and more occupiers are trying to escape. The enemy army is suffering more and more losses, and there is a growing understanding that Russia made a mistake by starting the war against Ukraine. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments. She joins us now live from London. Good to see you, Clare.
So, as the Russians continue to lose ground, how is Putin's army regrouping and how could today's annexation vote change the equation?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so the regrouping, Rosemary, is a bit of a euphemism for retreating in Russia, but we know that there are issues in the Russian army. These are in fact being brought up in the very parliamentary sessions that are rubber stamping these fake annexations in the Duma.
The lower house session yesterday we heard the leaders of several of the other parties, not Putin's party, United Russia, it should be noted criticizing the state of the armed forces. The head of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov have said that he doesn't understand what the commanders are doing when it was obvious that the Ukrainian forces were advancing on Lyman for -- for three weeks, he said.
Leonid Slutsky who's the head of the liberal Democrat Party, said that it's a disgrace for our men on the front simply don't have uniforms or equipment. I'm paraphrasing. But he said, when the other side are fighting with NATO issued uniforms and beautiful weapons. So, you can see that they're not overtly criticizing President Putin himself or even the principles behind the war, but they are criticizing the state of the Russian forces.
And we see that play being -- you know, playing out on the battlefield as Ukraine continues to advance. As to how these annexations affect things on the battlefield, well, the parliamentary votes don't really change anything. This is just a rubber stamping. There never really is any dissent in these parliamentary votes, but it shows that Russia is trying to give an official front to these fake annexations.
Annexations where they really don't even know yet what the territory is, that they're annexing suddenly in the case of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and where they continue to lose ground. But it does show that Putin is on the back foot here, and that sets up a dangerous situation where we know, for example, that the U.S. is assessing scenarios around what they would do if President Putin did use his nuclear arsenal, for example, launch a battlefield tactical nuke. Although there is no evidence at the moment, Rosemary, that he's planning to do that.
[03:25:01]
CHURCH: All right, Clare Sebastian joining us live from London, many thanks.
Well, meantime, the U.S. is considering responses to possible Russian escalation in Ukraine, including fears Moscow could use tactical nuclear weapons. Officials caution the U.S. has not detected any preparations for a Russian nuclear strike, but as Moscow's invasion falters and Putin publicly threatens to use nuclear weapons, the U.S. is looking at contingency plans.
He is more from us official John Kirby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We have been taken this seriously, as I said, from the very beginning of this re- invasion back in February of this year. We obviously take that rhetoric seriously. It's irresponsible rhetoric coming from a modern nuclear power. So, of course, we have been thinking through, how we can make sure we can preserve our national security interests and those of our allies in NATO.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The International Energy Agency is warning that Europe may be in for a rough winter due to a potential natural gas shortage. In its gas market report the agency advises E.U. nations to adopt gas saving measures and reduced demand by 9 to 13 percent compared to their five- year average consumption.
The report predicts this could ensure enough gas is stored for the cold months ahead. Many European countries have been trying to achieve energy independence from Russia since the war in Ukraine.
Well, still to come, dramatic accusations in court as the U.S. Department of Justice makes its opening statements against a group of defendants for their alleged role in the U.S. Capitol riot. Back with that in just a moment.
[03:30:00]
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
An historic trial is underway in Washington over the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors made their opening statements Monday against five defendants they say concocted a plan for armed rebellion. The alleged members of the far-right group, the Oath Keepers, have pleaded not guilty to the charge of seditious conspiracy among other charges.
CNN's Sara Sidner has more from day one of the trial.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jurors deciding the fate of the five defendants facing Seditious conspiracy charges for their role in the January 6th capitol attack heard from Federal prosecutor Jeff Nestler first.
In his opening statement, he said, the defendants concocted a plan for armed rebellion to shatter a bedrock of American democracy. He then played videos like this one.
UNKNOWN: We're in the capitol (muted).
SIDNER: Showing members of the far-right militia-style group, the Oath Keepers storming the capitol. They use their military experience plotting to oppose by force the government of the United States, the prosecutor said. It is the most serious charge anyone has faced from that day and very rare.
CARLTON LARSON, PROFESSOR OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, U.C. DAVIS SCHOOL OF LAW: It is unprecedented in the sense that we've never had a violent disruption of the -- of the transfer of power from one president to another. That makes this absolutely unique event in American history.
SIDNER: Prosecutors using just some of the hundreds of hours of videos including this, showing the Oath Keepers wearing combat gear, moving in a military stack formation and breaching the capitol.
Forty-year-old Jessica Watkins of Ohio is an army veteran, 47-year-old army veteran Kenneth Harrelson of Florida, 53-year-old Florida man, Kelly Meggs all went inside. Two of the charged did not.
UNKNOWN: Every single (muted) in there is a traitor. Every single one.
SIDNER: That's Navy veteran Thomas Caldwell, an associate of the Oath Keepers outside the capitol talking about members of Congress, and the founder of the Oath Keepers, army veteran Stewart Rhodes of Texas, pictured outside, prosecutors say was the general of the entire operation.
But the defense attorney for Rhodes said in his opening statement that the government's story of the Oath Keepers role on January 6th is completely wrong. And they will prove it. He said, our clients had no part in the bulk of that violence, and they were a peacekeeping force awaiting President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act.
An attorney for Jessica Watkins said his transgender client has had trouble fitting in and called her a protest junkie who wanted to go wherever to help people. She couldn't have been there to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's electoral win because he said, she believed the certification was done by the time she got there.
Caldwell's attorney went after the government for misstatements for first saying Caldwell was the mastermind, but later saying Rhodes was. This is the biggest bait and switch in the history of the American justice system what they're doing here, he said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER (on camera): You have to remember in this case there are five defendants. That means there are five attorneys who all can speak for their client at different times. It's going to be a long trial, but after the defense tried to tear apart the government's case, we heard from the government's first witness.
The first witness was an FBI agent who said that day he was later called in to help secure the senators, and he says as he went into the capitol, it looked like a bomb went off in there because of the destruction. And he said he witnessed at some point members of Congress, including senators, crying.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off a new term on Monday and added nine cases to the docket, including two that could shape the future of internet, speech, and social media.
[03:35:04]
During its first day back, the high court left in place a ban on bump stocks and declined to take up an appeal, challenging a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in facilities that receive federal funding.
Justices also declined to consider an attempt by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to block a defamation lawsuit against him over his unfounded claims that Dominion voting systems rigged its machines in favor of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
All right. To Birmingham, England now where conservative activists say they're nervous about the party's hold on power after an embarrassing episode for the new prime minister. Liz Truss and her finance minister were forced to reverse their plan to cut taxes on the wealthiest Britons while others struggle with the cost-of-living crisis. She's scheduled to address the conservative party conference tomorrow.
So, let's go live now to CNN's Bianca Nobilo in Birmingham. Good to see you, Bianca. So, how much trouble is Liz Truss in? Can she rally up support here?
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: She's in a huge amount of trouble and whether or not she can rally support remains to be seen. But I would say that people here are dubious as to whether or not she's got what it takes to try and garner support for her leadership. So, she's just one month into the job. She's as unpopular as Boris Johnson was in the dying days of his premiership.
And bearing in mind, Rosemary, and for our international viewers, this is a prime minister that didn't win an election. She doesn't technically have her own mandate. She was ushered in by this very skewed sliver of the conservative party membership, less than 1.2 percent of the British electorate as a whole.
And, in fact, members of her own party and people here in Birmingham have been starting to suggest that if she really wants to press ahead with these radical plans, she might need to go back to the country and call an election. Now, that's a highly unusual thing for a party currently in power and also trailing behind in the polls to say. So, it does highlight the concern, the frustration, and the anger at the way that Liz Truss and her chance to have handled the last week.
When I speak to people here, M.P.s, and there's not that many who are here because they aren't excited to show their support for the prime minister and the new government, they're not sure as to whether or not she'll make it through to early next year. They've changed leader recently, so they don't want the optics of doing it again.
But equally, I haven't spoken to anybody that thinks she'll be able to regain the confidence and be able to really lead and not just continue as a lame duck prime minister, sort of beaten around by a very rebellious party trying to extract what they want from what they see as a weakened leader, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Bianca Nobilo joining us live from Birmingham. Many thanks.
Well, those hoping for an end to Brazil's bruising and bitter presidential race will have to wait at least a few more weeks. Neither of the front runners secured enough votes to win outright. So incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are heading to a runoff.
The leftist Lula scoring some 48 percent of the vote, and President Bolsonaro with 43 percent, which exceeded expectations. He urged his supporters to keep the focus ahead of the next vote on October 30th. And Lula's Base celebrated his first-place finish more than 123 million Brazilians took part in the first round of voting.
Well, for the first time since the unrest erupted in Iran, its supreme leader is speaking out about what triggered that unrest and accusing some of its familiar foes of fanning the flame.
[03:40:00]
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CHURCH: Iran's supreme leader is speaking out for the first time about the death of a 22-year-old woman arrested by morality police calling the incident tragic, but that's doing little to lessen the outrage. In a city close to Tehran female students loudly lashed out of the regime as Mahsa Amini's death has become a catalyst for anti- government protests across the country.
The situation in Tehran was calmer on Monday, but riot police maintain a strong presence near Revolution Square following a violent crackdown at a prominent university over the weekend.
So, let's bring in CNNs Nada Bashir who has been following this for us. So, she joins us live from London. Nada, what is the latest on the protest, and of course, the crackdown.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, of course, you've seen there those shocking images coming out over the weekend of the chaos and panic following that violent crackdown by the Iranian authorities and security forces on students. And peaceful protestors taking a stand, demonstrating for greater human rights, of course, sparks by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was beaten for wearing a hijab incorrectly according to the Iranian regime.
And we have for the first time in response to these protests from Iran supreme leader Ayatolah Ali Khamenei speaking yesterday. He addressed the death of Amini. He said that it was a tragic incident, which had saddened the entire country.
[03:45:04]
But the focus of his remarks was on criticizing those he described as inciting instability, insecurity, and violence on the streets. And in fact, he laid blame on the U.S. and Israel for what he described in his words, as interfering in Iran's affairs and trying to stand in the way of the progress that he has outlined that the country has been making in the face of western sanctions. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN (through translator): I say clearly that these riots and the insecurity were engineered by the U.S. and the occupying false Zionist regime, as well as their paid agents with the help of some traitors Iranians abroad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: Now, Rosemary, there has been fierce criticism for members of the international community as you can imagine. The Biden administration has expressed its outrage. It said it has been appalled and alarmed to see that violent crackdown. We've had a statement from the White House saying that the U.S. government will be looking to impose further costs on perpetrators of human rights violations against peaceful protestors in Iran.
Canada has also said that it'll be looking at expanding sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals accused of committing human rights violations. And here in the United Kingdom, the Iranian envoy to the U.K. has been summoned by the British foreign office.
But later today, in Strasburg, the European parliament will be meeting for a session to discuss the situation in Iran. Top of the agenda will be proposals for further sanctions, tougher sanctions on the Iranian regime, as well as called for a thorough independent and transparent investigation into the death of Mahsa Amini, as well as looking at that violent crackdown by the Iranian authorities.
But of course, this is a movement which has swelled over the last few days and weeks, moving far beyond just the call for further rights for women. But also, there have been expressions of grievances over the country's floundering economy, and of course human rights abuses in general.
But the heart of this remains that call for further rights for women. Women, of course, taking a central role in this protest movement as we've seen over the last few days. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Nada Bashir, many thanks for that report.
A regional police chief in Indonesia apologized a short time ago after a weekend football match spiraled into chaos and one of the deadliest disasters ever in the sport.
Indonesians are demanding accountability as they mourn the victims. Players from the home team were visibly emotional as they paid their respects a a memorial on Monday. At least 125 people were killed and more than 300 injured after fans and police clashed on Saturday. Thirty-three children were among the dead, including one as young as three years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMHURI, SUPPORTER, COORDINATOR, AREMA FC (through translator): We are very sorry for this incident. Let's pray for our supporters and our brothers who passed away. May they rest in peace, and for those who are now being treated to recover.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: At least nine police officers have been suspended and are under investigation, and the city's police chief has been removed from the job.
A damning investigative report shows a culture of verbal, emotional, and sexual misconduct committed by coaches of the U.S. National Women's Soccer League. The very first page of the report summary details a disturbing encounter between a coach and a player reviewing game footage together, quote, "he told her he was going to touch her for every pass she f-up. He pushed his hands down her pants and up her shirt."
The report comes a year after professional players refused to compete in games demanding this behavior be addressed. Behavior that many executives, coaches and owners knew about, but did nothing to stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CINDY PARLOW CONE, PRESIDENT, U.S. SOCCER FEDERATION: This is very emotional for me, and honestly, I'm having trouble absorbing everything in the report. I think it will take some time to really read through it and think about the actions and inactions of certain people and that, and it'll take us some time to really think about what needs to be done in terms of discipline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The reports lead investigator says the culture of verbal and emotional abuse is starting in youth leagues.
Still to come, we will show you never before seen footage of the Fab Four when Beatle mania was in full swing and tell you why it was locked away until now.
[03:50:00]
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CHURCH: This year's Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine has been awarded to an evolutionary geneticist. Svabte Paabo of Sweden was recognized for his discoveries about extinct human species and the evolution of man. The Nobel committee says he accomplished something seemingly impossible by completely sequencing the Neanderthal genome and uncovering the genetic differences between the humans of today and our extinct relatives.
Paabo also discovered a previously unknown extinct human by extracting DNA from tiny fossil pieces in Siberia.
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There they are. Well, you are about to see some never-before-seen footage of the Beatles that will make fans twist and shout. This video of the Fab Four has been released in Japan and shows the group getting off a plane in Tokyo in 1966. It was filmed by Japanese police, but was tied up in legal proceedings for years.
The long and winding road that led to its release included a stop at an edit bay where the faces of everyone but the Beatles was pixelated to protect their privacy. There you go.
And thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. CNN Newsroom continues with Max Foster, next.
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