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Russian Defense Ministry Shows Map Confirming Ukraine's Gains; U.S. And South Korea Test Fire Missiles Off Korean Peninsula; South Korea Looks To Export Military Equipment; British Prime Minister Liz Truss to Speak at Conservative Conference; At Least 109 Deaths in U.S. from Hurricane Ian; Musk's Major Reversal to Buy Twitter; Dow Rallying Strong for Second Straight Day; Series of Homicides in Northern California are Related. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 05, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:28]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, rare admission. Russia's own military acknowledging its lost -- its losing ground on the battlefield. And state media reporting a frontline operational crisis.

The U.S. and South Korea launched a response to Pyongyang's brazen missile test over Japan, but not all of it went as plan.

Plus, targeting Tehran, the US and EU weighing sanctions on Iran for its violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us.

Well, a fast and powerful advanced by Ukrainian forces in the south is felling significant losses for Russia on the battlefield.

CHURCH (voice-over): Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his troops are now advancing even further towards the Russian occupied city of Kherson.

This, as Ukrainian forces raise the nation's flag over more liberated towns, and one official says troops are breaking through Russian defenses in the Kherson region.

That's where Ukrainian soldiers could be seen stepping on a Russian flag before setting it on fire. This time lapse shows how the war in Ukraine has unfolded from the end of February until the end of September.

The red on the map showing the Russian true presence and how it shifted and disappeared in some parts. Ukraine's president is praising his army's achievements. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): The Ukrainian army is quite rapidly and powerfully advancing in the south of our country as part of the current defense operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): And we've learned, at least, one person was killed after Russian forces launched kamikaze drones against targets in the Kyiv region and to the south in Odesa.

CHURCH (voice-over): Well, Ukrainian forces regaining ground of finding devastated towns, and in one case, they claimed to have uncovered a torture chamber in a formerly occupied town in the Kharkiv region.

Police say a number of items were found, including a container full of extracted gold teeth. Local residents report hearing constant screaming from the building.

And CNN's Scott McLean is following developments for us. He joins me now live from London. Good to see you, Scott.

So, we haven't seen this before a sobering assessment of battlefield losses by Russia's own defense ministry and Russian media. What might this signal?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, the Ukrainians sure hope that it signals something to come, a sign of things to come.

The fog of war, though, is a very real thing. It makes it very difficult to figure out what is actually going on the ground, where are the frontlines actually are, who is winning, who is losing, because, of course, both sides like to point out where they're winning, but neither really likes to acknowledge where they're losing.

But now, thanks to a Russian military briefing, we are getting some acknowledgement from the Russians that things are not going well, after they lost the strategic city of Lyman in the eastern part of the country over the weekend. Now they're losing large swaths of the country in the Kherson region as well.

So, there were two maps put up. I'll show them to you.

MCLEAN: One was at a military briefing on Monday. The other one was on Tuesday. So, the Monday one is on the left, the Tuesday one is on the right, the pink there is the Russian held territory, the white is the Ukrainian held territory. And then the blue is the Dnipro River.

So, if you just look on the right side of your screen, along the western part of the Dnipro River, all that white is areas that the Russians are now acknowledging very clearly that the Ukrainians have indeed taken back. Now, the general who is giving this briefing didn't explicitly acknowledge that there had been losses, but he pointed out that there had been Russian strikes on areas that the Russians had previously held, and are now held by the Ukrainian. So, he might as well have.

MCLEAN (on camera): You mentioned as well, Rosemary that the Russian media is also acknowledging the losses, acknowledging that things are not going well.

Case in point, a correspondent for a pro-Kremlin -- a pro-Kremlin tabloid who had been embedded with Russian forces in Lyman, said that, look, there's not going to be any good news from the eastern part of the country, from the Southern part of the country anytime soon.

[02:05:02]

And he wrote this, in part, saying, "Our enemy is introducing well- prepared reserves, realizing its advantage in both personnel and intelligence data. A certain tiredness crept in in many areas after a long attacking season during which we liberated large swaths of land. We didn't have enough strength left after that to hold on to them. Why so? Because we simply don't have enough people."

MCLEAN (on camera): He went on to say that this is the kind of sucker punch that Russia needed to realize what's going on in the ground and to justify the partial mobilization of more troops.

Now, President Zelenskyy, his advisers, they are trying to seize on this momentum. Remember, that Zelenskyy, just last week, basically shut the door entirely on the possibility of any kind of negotiations with the Russians through a presidential decree. He is now claiming, once again, as he has throughout this war that the Ukrainians will take back every square inch of land that the Russians had seized, even land that was seized back in 2014 by the Russians.

And so, it seems that the Ukrainians are putting all their chips on the table, hoping that this is indeed a serious turning point, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Scott, how is Russia responding to Western military aid being send to Ukraine to help turn the tide?

MCLEAN: Yes. So, this is something that came from a Russian diplomat, his name is Konstantin Vorontsov, and he leads the Russian delegation to the U.N. disarmament commission. And he said yesterday that American military aid to Ukraine was, in fact, hastening, speeding up, bringing closer the possibility of direct conflict between Russia and NATO. And also prolonging the crisis in general.

Of course, that is the big fear on both sides that the sabre rattling and, of course, what's happening on the ground will lead to a very dangerous escalation. It is even more acute now that President Putin is making these threats about using nuclear weapons.

And yesterday, what I found really interesting was comments made by a key adviser to President Zelenskyy, who said that, look, Russia is making these nuclear threats. Ukraine doesn't have nuclear weapons. So, if someone is going to send a message, it has to be a country with nuclear weapons like the United States. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Scott McLean, joining us live from London. Many thanks for that report.

A day after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan, the U.S. and South Korea test fired four missiles off the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

CHURCH (voice-over): In a separate exercise, South Korea says a locally made missile crashed due to its abnormal flight and the incident is under investigation.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed Pyongyang's missile launch and vowed to work towards the denuclearization of North Korea.

And for more on this story, and I'm joined by Paula Hancocks. So, she is live in Seoul. Good to see you, Paula.

So, the U.S. and South Korea test fired these missiles into the sea to protest North Korea's missile launch yesterday over Japan. What is the latest on that and, of course, other global reaction?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes. So, Rosemary, this was the second military exercise that the U.S. and South Korea had carried out in response to North Korea's missile launch yesterday.

And what we're hearing from the U.S. side and the South Korean side, is that it is to show that they are capable -- militarily capable of responding to these kinds of missile launches from North Korea.

We did hear from John Kirby, a coordinator for the National Security Council, and he explained why they needed to do this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We want to see the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he hasn't shown an inclination to move in that direction. And quite frankly, he's moving in the opposite direction, by continuing to conduct these missile tests, which are violations of Security Council resolutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, the two drills were surface to surface missiles off the east coast in the early hours of Wednesday morning. And then on Tuesday, there was also bombing drills with fighter jets that just off the west coast of Korea.

Now, we haven't heard anything from Pyongyang at this point. In fact, they haven't even announced the fact that they launched that perceived to be intermediate range ballistic missile on Tuesday. And what we are hearing is continued condemnation. We've been hearing from the U.S. President Joe Biden, who as you say, spoke to Japan's leader and called this launch dangerous and reckless. Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Paula, South Korea is pushing to become the world's fourth biggest weapons exporter. What do you learning about that?

HANCOCKS: Yes, this is something the President Yoon Suk-yeol has said that he would like to see. And it's something certainly his predecessor, Moon Jae-in was also pushing for expanding militarily, trying to become one of the world's top weapons exporters.

[02:10:08]

Now, we have certainly seen a lot of movement over recent years. And, of course the fact that many countries are now looking to buy weapons and military equipment quickly as they are donating some to Ukraine in its fight against Russia does help South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): This is the ultimate sales pitch. A highly choreographed attack on a hillside in the South Korean countryside; K2 tanks, K9 howitzers, Apaches, and drones. A combined assault for show.

For a near 2,000 strong audience, generals, government officials, and potential buyers for more than two dozen countries around the world. Fresh from South Korea's biggest ever weapons export to Poland, estimated to be worth some $15 billion, according to officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) machine gun (INAUDIBLE) weapon.

HANCOCKS: South Korea's weapons manufacturers are now emboldened by President Yoon Suk-yeol's pledge that his country will become the world's fourth biggest weapons exporter.

LT. GEN. CHUN IN-BUM (RET.), SOUTH KOREAN ARMY: Trying to achieve number four is not going to be an easy task. But it's something to go after.

HANCOCKS: On the southeast coast of the country in the city of Changwon, Hyundai Rotem is assembling and testing K2 tanks before shipping. It's sending almost 1,000 to Poland, a deal with a NATO country at a time when Ukraine financed and equipped by NATO countries is fighting Russia's invasion is significant.

HANCOCKS (on camera): Poland's Ministry of Defense says that these K2 tanks will, in part, replace the Soviet-era tanks that they donated to Ukraine in the fight against Russia.

They also say they expect the first batch of 180 tanks to start to be delivered this year.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The company believes it's key to tanks cheaper than its rivals are a good choice for price and performance. KIM HYUN-WOO, VICE PRESIDENT OF DEFENSE FACTORY, HYUNDAI ROTEM (through translator): Our K2 is continuously being upgraded and produced. Countries that buy the tank have the advantage of continuing to operate and maintain the weapon at an affordable price.

HANCOCKS: Five minutes down the road is Hanwha Defense, boasting multibillion dollar deals with nine countries including Poland and Australia. It's now setting its sights on the United States, pitching its K9 howitzer and K10 Ammunition Resupply Vehicle. Production is at a maximum.

This plant alone can produce up to 100 K9 howitzers a year, among other weapons systems.

We're told they also had a stockpile ready to go, and the ability to deliver systems quickly is key at this volatile time. Hanwha says the main strategy is not just to sell their technology but to share it long term with the customer.

LEE BOO-HWAN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, OVERSEAS BUSINESS DIVISION, HANWHA DEFENSE: We want to earn long term partnership in their country. It is our main strategic focus in entered -- to enter their market.

HANCOCKS: One advantage South Korea has, according to the experts, experience in building fighting machines for extreme weather, tough terrain, and tricky neighbors.

CHUN: The North Korean threat has given us a good reason, a motivation to make sure that our weapons are very good.

South Korea is a highly militarized country. A country still technically at war with North Korea, a peace treaty was never signed. And with a mandatory military service still in place for men.

Successive governments and companies are now working together to export the results of that militarization around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: So, experts do point out that having a neighbor like North Korea, in this case, has actually been useful in pushing these weapons companies to deliver their best and to be able to keep production high and have the stockpiles necessary when countries come to call. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, with that report, joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks.

Well, now to new developments in the Indonesia football stadium tragedy.

CHURCH (voice-over): The country's football association says a security official in charge of the stadiums' gates failed to open them fast enough for fans to escape. More than 130 were killed when violence broke out at the end of a match on Saturday. And police fired tear gas into the crowds causing the deadly rush for the exits.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong.

CHURCH (on camera): Kristie, what more are you learning about this tragic development?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The hunt for answers, Rosemary, continues in the wake of Indonesia's deadly and very tragic football stadium disaster.

What we're hearing is this. From Indonesian football authorities, they say that delays and unlocking the gates contributed to the disaster which ultimately claimed the lives of at least 131 people.

[02:15:03]

We've also learned that two Indonesian football officials have been banned for life, including a security coordinator for the team that hosted the match last weekend.

I want to bring up a statement for you. This is from the chairman of the Indonesian F.A.'s disciplinary committee who says, "Then, there is a security officer. The person who regulates the entry and exit of the audience, the door. He is responsible for several points that must be implemented but are not implemented properly. He should not be active in the football environment for life." The team was also fined around 60,000 U.S. dollars.

Over the weekend, all the violence and chaos erupted at an Indonesian league football match that took place in the province of East Java. The match between two fierce rivals ended in a stampede, which took the lives of at least 131 people, becoming one of the world's deadliest stadium disasters.

This incident has triggered outrage and grief across Indonesia and around the world, including this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON MCMENEMY, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, BHAYANGKARA FOOTBALL CLUB: People have to be able to go home from football. And then secondly, you know, the police's reaction to it. How can we make stadiums safer? How can the police have protocol which doesn't incite the scenes that we saw the other night?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Indonesian authorities have pledged to investigate both the locked gates, as well as the use of tear gas. Using tear gas as a crowd control mechanism is prohibited by FIFA. Of course, it's the world governing football body. And yet, it was used during this football match. We want to show you a photograph right now that took place in this dance before the deadly stampede took place. In this photograph, you see a man there enjoying the football game with his wife and his two daughters.

He told CNN, he ultimately lost his two daughters and his wife to the stadium disaster. And he has questions especially in regards to the use of tear gas. This is his testimony.

Andi Hariyanto tells CNN -- this: "I still don't understand. Why did the police shoot us in the stadium seats with tear gas? Don't they know that many children and women are watching the match in the stands? Why? What did we do in the stadium seats? Why did they shoot us?"

Now, the investigation is ongoing, Rosemary.

Indonesia right now is suspending all football matches. Is also requested each and every football team to send an updated security plan to the very top to the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. Back to you.

CHURCH: Kristie Lu stout, joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

LU STOUT: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, at least four people are dead and 28 others are missing after an avalanche hit a group of mountaineers in India.

CHURCH (voice-over): An Indian mountaineering organization says a total of 41 people, including 34 trainees were caught in the avalanche and the falling debris trapped them on the mountain side.

India's Air Force along with state and national disaster responders are currently conducting search and rescue operations.

In Iran, relentless protests and a violent, deadly government crackdown. We will look at how the world is responding. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:23]

CHURCH (on camera): The European Union is weighing new sanctions on Iran and the U.S. is expected to ramp up its penalties sometime this week.

CHURCH (voice-over): As the Iranian government takes a hard line against the protests sweeping the country. High school girls marched in Tehran Tuesday, calling for greater rights and freedoms.

Similar rallies were held at other schools and universities across the country. Iranian state media reports that 400 demonstrators who had been detained since the start of the unrest have now been released.

And CNN's. Nada Bashir is covering all of this live for us from London.

Good morning to you, Nada. So, the international community responding to the violent government crackdown on protesters. The U.S. and E.U. moving closer to imposing new sanctions on Iran. What impact will that likely have?

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER (on camera): Look, Rosemary, there already some pretty hefty sanctions been laid against Iran by members of the international community.

And in fact, we heard from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking on Monday, addressing these demonstrations. He actually laid the blame on the United States and on Israel for, in his words, interfering in Iran's internal affairs, inciting the instability that we are seeing, and the unrest.

For, again, in his words, in an effort to stand in the way of the progress Iran is making in the face of Western sanctions. Now, of course, we are expecting to see those sanctions, those penalties, being stepped up, not least by the United States.

We heard on Monday from President Joe Biden, taking a firm stance on what we're seeing in Iran, who was firm in his support for these peaceful protesters. But also affirm in his condemnation of the violent crackdown that we have been seeing over the last few days and weeks.

And we heard yesterday from a source familiar with the Biden administration's plan of action in response to this violent crackdown. And according to that source, we are set to see further sanctions from the U.S. government on Iran, targeting law enforcement officials and others believed to be directly involved in that violent crackdown.

This comes, of course, in addition to sanctions that are already in place on Iranian authorities, including Iran's morality police, which really stands at the center of these demonstrations in this unrest, accused, of course, of violently apprehending 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who were, of course, died in detention after being apprehended for, according to the Iranian authorities, wearing her hijab, her headscarf incorrectly.

Of course, it's not just the U.S. looking to step up those penalties on Tehran. We are also now hearing from the European Union that they will also be looking at to step up their sanctions and expand their sanctions on the Iranian regime.

We heard yesterday from the E.U.'s top diplomat Josep Borrell being firm in his support for those demonstrations. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEP BORRELL, EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: We will continue to follow what's happening in the country and to use every opportunity to raise our opposition and our concerns on human rights in Iran.

As I mentioned, we will continue to consider all the options of our disposal, including restrictive measures, the Foreign Affairs Council will decide about it on the next meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Look, those sanctions are still under the consideration by the European Union. We've heard from the French foreign minister who's spoken out in support of the sanctions. They are likely to target Iranian authorities and officials looking at asset freezes and travel bans on officials in Iran.

But, of course, these demonstrations have expanded far beyond the initial spark that we saw by Mahsa Amini's death. This, of course, is now engulf the number of grievances by members -- by Iranian citizens, including the floundering economy, including discrimination against ethnic minorities, and, of course, widespread human rights violations. And we have seen these demonstrations picking up.

And of course, we've seeing this remarkable images of women, young girls even at school, taking a defiant stance against these repressive measures, removing their headscarves in school, taking a stand against those human rights violations. We are still expecting to see protests continue across the country, many of them as we've seen in the last few days sparking up across universities across the country. Rosemary.

CHURCH (on camera): Nada Bashir with that live report, joining us from London. Many thanks.

Mona Tajali is an associate professor of International Relations and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Agnes Scott College. She's also the author of the book, Women's Political Representation in Iran and Turkey: Demanding a Seat at the Table.

[02:25:04]

And thank you so much for coming to our table in the studio and talking with us directly. We do appreciate that.

MONA TAJALI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WOMEN'S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES, AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, I do want to start, because obviously, the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini has triggered these extraordinary protests across the country, but also deadly crackdowns by the government of Iran.

And, of course, in -- we know that Amini was in the presence. He had been detained by the morality police in the country.

And what we're seeing is this incredible bravery and defiance on the part of the women of Iran, which the world hasn't seen before. Women cutting their hair, and throwing away their headscarves, their mandatory hijab.

What is the significance of this moment?

TAJALI: Yes, it is quite extraordinary. And there is a long history of this. This is we're talking about a population that, at least, for the past 43 years have been under this sort of top down Islamization policies that, at the center of it, is a very conservative gender ideology.

That conservative gender ideology wants to restrict women's movements, has a very strict gender segregation, of course, has mandatory veiling.

And from the very beginning of these top down Islamization policies, we've had women that were not silent, we've had women that really protest that and resist that. In fact, just weeks after the establishment of the theocracy, on March 8 1979, we had the first ever protest against the theocracy, which was by the women against sort of the rumors at the time of mandatory veiling.

So, what we're seeing today is sort of, basically, the consequences or the results of decades of women just laying the ground for finally saying, enough is enough, we've lost our patience. We were hopeful for reform from within the system. And we're not seeing a lot of that.

And not to mention, the slogan of Women, Life, Liberty is really at the center of a lot of this. Right? That it's really saying that you cannot have systemic discrimination against half of the society, and still expect us to just go on living our lives as if -- as if -- yes, as if that's OK.

So, it's really that anger that we're seeing of people just coming into the streets, and demanding real substantive change from the theocracy.

CHURCH: And, you know, as we mentioned at the start, these protests are so very different to others that we've seen from Iran. For starters, led by women, I mean, men are out there supporting these women too. But we're seeing the women in public situations cutting their hair, shaving their heads, just extraordinary moments that we haven't seen before.

It does that reflect just how, I mean, women have gotten to the point they're just so frustrated with the -- with the situation. But talk to us about the difference in those protest.

TAJALI: Yes, exactly. While these demonstrations, and these protests are sort of a continuation of these long lasting demands that the -- that the public had from the theocracy. But they're also new and different in the sense that yes, as you mentioned, women are now at the forefront. And the reason why women are at the forefront is because the gender ideology of the regime has just been so silencing to them for so long, that they've just lost their patience in that regard.

The other way that they've been very successful, that the women have been very successful in this round the protests is to be able to show that to the larger Iranian population, to the public, that you cannot have demands for democracy, for human rights, unless women's issues are also mentioned -- are also part and parcel of these larger demands. So, that's another major accomplishment. And that's why we're seeing men, ethnic minorities, students, labor unions, academic unions, they're all sort of showing their solidarity and support to the woman.

The other way that this is also different is that how intersectional it is, and how we're seeing, you know, previous protests were for economical crises, they were for environmental disasters, they were for a lot of different reasons.

But now, it's where all of those voices are seeing that. Wow, we're energized by women being at the forefront. I'm also going to express my anger and my frustrations from the regime, which is really significant.

CHURCH: Yes, it certainly is. And what is the situation though, if the Iran government decides, we're not -- we're cracking down, we're going to continue this deadly crackdown. The women will get nothing from this. Their frustration and desperation will be enlarged, of course, as a result of that.

Is this the moment where we see a trigger to a revolution, a social revolution, do you think?

TAJALI: Yes, yes. I mean, we do consider this a very important moment. And as you said, it is sort of akin to a social revolution, whether that social revolution is then going to lead to become a political revolution that is somewhat unpredictable as of yet.

[02:30:04]

But certainly, it's the women who are basically taking in the reigns and really discussing to see how they address this.

State violence is a serious issue. Is a serious sort of challenge that many are having. But while we still see some who are in the streets, at the same time, we are also seeing women who are taking other measures, where maybe, you know, their day to day lives, they're still carrying about maybe without the head scarf. So, there's going to be -- so, it's civil disobedience sort of ways that we're seeing this happen.

So, I think in that regard, there is no turning back. In that regard, we are seeing very expansive, sort of women -- whether it's the youth, whether it's older generations, whether it's from the middle class, lower class, they are certainly thinking that the moment has come for them to, in a unified voice, express that they need these real changes from the regime, particularly with regards to gender equality.

CHURCH: Mona Tajali, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.

TAJALI: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: And much more ahead on CNN, including the speech of a lifetime for British Prime Minister Liz Truss. How she plans to save her economic agenda, maybe even her political career. We're back with that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: British Prime Minister Liz Truss has a tough task in the hours ahead as she speaks to the Conservative Conference in Birmingham. The Tory leader is looking to regain the party's confidence and unite members behind her economic agenda. On Monday, her government was forced to abandon a plan to cut taxes on the wealthiest, while much of the country is struggling with the cost-of- living crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I took the decision very rapidly only 45p rate, that it was becoming a distraction from the core policies we were delivering, core policies on the energy price guarantee, on keeping taxes low during the economic slowdown. Those were the priorities. Frankly, the 45p wasn't a priority policy.

And I listen to people and I think there's absolutely no shame, Beth, in a leader listening to people and responding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So, let's bring in Julia Chatterley, the host of CNN's business program "First Move." She's live this hour in Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Julia. Good morning to you.

And of course, it's been billed the speech of a lifetime for Liz Truss, isn't it? What is at stake for any prime minister in the midst of numerous missteps so early in her leadership?

[02:35:00]

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN FIRST MOVE HOST: Everything is at stake, Rosemary. And great to be with you. First and foremost, she needs to start rebuilding trust across multiple sectors. First with her own party, amid serious back fighting and infighting. She's also got to reestablish trust with voters and that she doesn't just care about the wealthiest. And then, of course, it's about financial markets too that have been broiled over past two weeks. So, she's got a lot of work to do. And that's no mean feat if that she continues to press ahead with this economic growth accelerant plant, and that is the way it looks.

I pulled an extract from the speech that we are likely to hear from the new prime minister later on today. And just take a listen to this. We need to grow the pie so that everyone gets a bigger slice. That is why I'm determined to take a new approach to break out of this high tax, low growth cycle. That is what our plan is about, getting our economy growing and rebuilding Britain through reform.

Reform makes sense, Rosemary, but not at the cost of the loss of confidence financial markets, the loss of cost of the British public too. So, she can continue to push that plan, but if she doesn't reform her own plan, there's going to more trouble down the line. CHURCH: Yes, an important point. And as you say, Prime Minister Truss is promising a new Britain for a new era, but will carry on with unpopular economic reform. So, how is that likely to play out for her and, of course, the party given the resistance to her economic plan?

CHATTERLEY: In a word, badly. They need to explain better. If you look at the contours of the economic plan, reform is good, increasing productivity, increasing investment into the U.K. for -- a classic example, would all be good things. But they have to explain how they are going to go about it.

Protecting the people that are being hurt most by high energy prices and the suffering in the cost-of-living crisis that not just the U.K. is facing, all countries around the world, most countries are facing is critical too. Announcing a load of tax cuts for some of the wealthiest and richest people in the nation without funding them is a huge problem.

And as we were hearing from the prime minister and as she said there, U-turning on lowering at high rate of tax is not a problem. She's OK -- willing to step back and say, look, I made a mistake. But there's a whole chunk of other tax cuts that they've announced that remain unfunded. And the chancellor himself has to come forward, beyond her speech today and explain how this is going to work and whether or not they are going to postpone those. Otherwise, we can go back to what we've seen in the currency in the bond markets, that turbulence will be back.

CHURCH: Wow. And are all of these problems of the prime minister's own making? Does she, perhaps, need to consult more before making policy and communicate better?

CHATTERLEY: That's an easy question, yes. And as we were hearing from her again, she said, look, I've listened. I've listened and I've changed my mind. One might suggest that one could engage with people beforehand, listen to the criticism and adjust before you blanket, announce it to the nation. They have to be so careful now.

And again, the chancellor has said that he is going to bring forward his explanation of their economic plans, bring it forward from November the 23rd. That is light years away. So, they do need to come up with a comprehensive explanation and they need to do it ASAP. If not today, and we don't expected today, really soon, Rosemary.

CHURCH: You might need to be advising the British prime minister right now. Julia Chatterley joining us live from Abu Dhabi, many thanks.

CHATTERLEY: Thank you.

CHURCH: And be sure to stay with CNN for live coverage of Liz Truss' speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, that's at 11:00 a.m. in London, 6:00 a.m. in New York.

The death toll from Hurricane Ian has grown to at least 109 across the Southeastern U.S. Florida officials say it's unclear how many people are still missing. Thousands of rescues have been made in Florida alone with some areas said to be completely unlivable. President Joe Biden is set to visit Florida on Wednesday. He will meet with Governor Ron DeSantis as well as emergency officials and residents impacted by the storm.

Well, still to come, the richest person in the world makes a major reversal. How Elon Musk is changing his mind about his bid to buy Twitter just weeks before he is set to go to trial for trying to back out of the $44 billion deal. We will take a look.

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CHURCH: Cheers and probably some relief too on Wall Street, the Dow rallied strongly for the second straight day, surging 125 points on Tuesday. The Dow has gone up more than 1,500 points this week and is no longer in the dreaded bear market. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also up, but they are both still in bear territory, more than 20 percent off of their all-time highs.

So, let's take a look at how Wednesday is shaping up. The U.S. markets in negative territory. Hopefully, that's not an indication of how the day will look in a few hours, but we'll keep a very close eye on that.

Well, for months, Elon Musk has been trying to back out of buying Twitter. But now, in a surprising turnaround, he's put his original offer of $44 billion back on the table. That sent Twitter's stock price surging more than 20 percent in trading after being halted twice. It's now sitting at $52 a share, just shy of the price agreed upon in the original deal. But there is a catch. In return, Musk wants Twitter to drop a lawsuit the company filed for his attempt to reneged on the deal. In June, Musk claimed he was misled over the number of fake accounts.

Well, tributes are pouring in for country music legend Loretta Lynn who passed one on Tuesday.

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CHURCH: Lynn was a queen of country music for seven decades, even though she had no formal music training. Her best-known songs drew from her life and marriage, she documented her upbringing in the best- selling 1976 memoir "Coal Miner's Daughter" which was turned into a film by the same name.

Lynn recorded her 50th and final album last year. Her family says she died peacefully at her home in Tennessee. Loretta Lynn was 90 years old.

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sport is coming up next. Then I will be back in 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Please stay with us.

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LEMON: How much longer will they have to wait to get the all clear, do you think, to return to their homes of what's left of it?

DAN ALLERS, CITY COUNCILMAN, FORT MYERS BEACH: Well, about -- we had originally -- some of the residents were able to walk on the island to get back to their homes. Our south bridge was compromised. One of the south bridges coming out (INAUDIBLE) is really one way to get on to the island, that was from the north side, the (INAUDIBLE) past bridge.

And the people that were -- you know, you had to -- because of that, you had to haul stuff five, seven miles down the island to be able to get stuff. People were pushing shopping carts from the local grocery store with their stuff in it. It was really hindering the process of the search and rescue teams to do their job. So, the decision was made to close the bridge down. It was a difficult decision. But in my opinion, it was the right decision.

In one day, they had about 23 percent, roughly, of the island searched. When the decision was made to close the island, in one day, it went from 23 percent to over 90 percent was searched with the first wave. So, I believe that it was the right decision.

As far as when people are going to be able to get back on the island, I -- you know, originally, we had shut it down for a week. Hopefully, that timeframe was still intact. We certainly want people to be able to get back to their homes, to, you know, retrieve whatever they can, to salvage what they can and to protect their homes, which ones are still left standing. But we have to let these professionals do their job.

We have to -- there's still many, many people who haven't had contact with their family members. It's important that they get some closure, they get some answers. Hopefully, we can give them some answers. Hopefully, we still find some people that are still missing.

The Lee County sheriff's office has done an excellent job, local officials in Lee County, the state, federal, everyone has pooled their resources. And it's really impressive to see the amount of people out there that even though they are not from the state, whatever state they are from, they are very compassionate, they are very thorough, they're very kind to people they come across with. They are very good at what they do. We just need to give them the time.

LEMON: Yes. As we see in these situations, there are so many people who come out to help. Councilman, thank you. Again, sorry that you are dealing with this. Best of luck. And we will continue to update our viewers on this. It's important that they know what's going on. And we hope you guys get back to normal, whenever that is, but as soon as possible.

ALLERS: OK. Thanks, Don. LEMON: Thanks so much. Be well. We'll be right back.

ALLERS: Yes. Thank you.

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LEMON: So, police in Northern California investigating the possibility that a serial killer is in their midst. Authorities in Stockton say five homicides committed this year between early July and late September are linked through ballistic evidence and they're connecting those murders to a killing in nearby Oakland in 2021 also through ballistic evidence. So, late tonight, Stockton police releasing this surveillance video of someone that they're calling a person of interest who has been seen on multiple videos related to several of the shootings.

I want to bring now CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, Mr. John Miller.

John, thanks. Good to see you. What is going on here? You've got this police releasing the surveillance video, person of interest in these six homicides, saying that they have seen this person on multiple videos related to several of the shooting incidents. So, what do you think? What can you tell us?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, you've got a guy who did two shootings, one in Oakland, 70 miles away, 400 days ago. And then, one six days later. And then, he goes quiet for more than a year. And then, he starts doing another shooting and homicide basically every couple of weeks. So, where did he go for that year? And then, what made him return to killing and pick up that pace? So, they are going to be looking for that.

And, you know, the matches they are making are ballistic matches. So, is it possible that there is more than one person? Yes, it's possible. Is it likely based on the history and offender characteristics? No. You've got a hungry serial killer out there who is probably on the prow more often than not and who only strikes when they conditions are as he chooses, which is desolate area, a victim who is alone, no obvious video cameras, which is why the images of him are just these silhouettes for a few seconds.

LEMON: But why a year? Was the heat on or something? Why did he stop for a year, he or she?

MILLER: Well, I mean, that could be a couple of things. It could be that he tried it a couple of times and something made him nervous. It could be that he got arrested for something and went away for a year.

LEMON: Well, there's this woman -- and Stockton police says that there was one surviving victim, a woman who actually encountered the suspect, holding a gun, this is more than a year ago. She's lucky to be alive. What kind of information do you think she was able to share? MILLER: So, we learned a lot from her. She is a homeless person at that time. She's in a tent and he comes in through the tent, you know, with the intent of shooting her, and she comes at him and drives him back. Now, he shoots her, she lives, but she's the only victim that we can say saw him, interacted with them. She says that he wore a mask covering his face. He didn't say anything. And you know, she's a miracle to be alive.

LEMON: Commonalities connecting all of these shootings in both Oakland and Stockton. What kind of physical evidence would you be looking for in a crime scene to link them altogether?

MILLER: You would be looking for the bullets recovered, either from the victims, or if they went through the victims. You would be looking for shell casings from that gun if they were ejected there. That is how they are matching these crimes together. And you are looking for, how is he choosing these victims? Another number of them are homeless, but he also maybe operating on the assumption that people walking alone in the streets at that hour may be homeless, and a couple of cases, he could be wrong.

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LEMON: Where does this investigation go from here?

MILLER: Well, the bad news is every time he strikes again, police get more clues, his risk factor goes up. The good news is all this attention and additional patrols and the heat may drive him underground or, as we've seen in the past, it may drive him to another location where he just picks up again where he is not expected.

LEMON: Let's hope they get them. We appreciate you. Thank you, John Miller.

MILLER: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: We'll see you soon. Thanks for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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