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North Korea Fires Two More Ballistic Missiles; Crews to Begin Second Search of Homes in Sanibel, Florida; OPEC+ To Cut Oil Output By 2 Million Barrels a Day; California Family of Four Found Dead; Mysterious Death of Teenage Girl in Iran Raising Alarm. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 06, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead --

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they continue down this road, it will only increase the condemnation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to see the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He hasn't shown an inclination to move in that direction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our worse fears we realized tonight. We have found the victims of the kidnapping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are devastated. We are shocked. We are dying every moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is the young women and girls of Iran who are paying the ultimate price for freedom, their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.

FOSTER: It is Thursday, October 6th. 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington and 5 p.m. in Seoul, South Korea.

Where the U.S. is reportedly bringing in more fire power near the peninsula following a string of North Korea's missile tests. Right now, South Korea says a U.S. air craft carrier strike group is on its way to waters off the Korean Peninsula. The move comes after Pyongyang test fired two more ballistic missiles earlier today. Now that adds up to 24 missile tests this year the highest number since Kim Jong-un came to power 10 years ago. On Wednesday the U.N. Security Council met to discuss Pyongyang's weapons program and the U.S. accused Russia and China, without naming them, of enabling North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: As we all know, the DPRK has en enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council. These two members have gone out of their way to justify the DPRK's repeated provocations and block every attempt to update the sanctions regime. In short, two permanent members of the Security Council have enabled Kim Jong-un.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: More on these developments, Paula Hancocks is standing by for us in Seoul, South Korea. So, this is an extraordinary number of tests in a very short space of time -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Max. It's what's a record number of missile launches that we're seeing this year. And you've seen six in just the last 12 days of missile launches from North Korea. Two really is quite remarkable. We heard from Pyongyang, from state run media KCNA for the first time in a while today talking about this. They said that the reason they're carrying out so many missile launches is because the U.S. and South Korea have been carrying out military drills. So, they said that they had also referred them to the U.N. Security Council for what they thought was just a just reaction to those military drills.

Now we have heard plenty of condemnation from the region itself, from Japan, South Korea, and also from the United States calling these drills -- sorry, these missile launches dangerous and reckless. We also heard from the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and he did condemn the launches but also pointed out that North Korea should come back to the table and negotiate.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe that North Korea would be much better served by not only refraining from these actions but actually engaging in -- in dialogue. I think what we're seeing is that if they continue down this road, it will only increase the condemnation, increase the isolation, increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, the Secretary of State mentioned isolation, but what we saw from that U.N. Security Council hearing is that Pyongyang is not isolated, that both Russia and China supported them when it came to that hearing and refused to condemn their actions when the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. unnamed of Russia and China, but basically said they were the two countries who were enabling North Korea.

Both Russia and China pushed back saying it was the U.S. that was actually creating tensions in this region.

[04:05:00]

China saying that the U.S. is poisoning regional security environment. So, at this point what we know militarily -- according to the National Security Council here and South Korea -- the USS Ronald Reagan is heading back to Korean waters -- may already be back in Korean waters. A U.S. Navy spokesman said we do not comment on future operations. But we really are now back into this cycle of seeing missile launches from North Korea and some kind of response from the U.S. and South Korea.

FOSTER: OK, Paula Hancocks in Seoul. Thank you.

And we have breaking news just in to CNN. At least 30 people have been killed including multiple children in a shooting in northern Thailand. Authorities say it happened at a child care center. The Prime Minister has expressed his condolences. It's not yet clear whether the 30 dead are all children. We're keeping an eye on this and bringing you more details as information comes in.

At least 125 deaths are being reported from hurricane Ian in Florida and North Carolina as recovery efforts continue there. Search and rescue teams Florida are still looking for those reported missing and will begin a second round of searches on Sanibel Island in the coming hours.

Local officials said all roads around the island would be cleared by Thursday morning when crews resume searching the damage of completely destroyed homes in that area.

Absolute carnage is how volunteers describe nearby Pine Island as they delivered emergency supplies to residents. And many homes and businesses were completely destroyed but there's been progress at rebuilding too. The bridge connecting the island to the main land has been repaired allowing more supplies to be delivered.

Florida's governor says temporary repairs to another bridge to Sanibel Island will be finished by the end of the month. On Wednesday residents were allowed back for the very first time since evacuating before the hurricane hit. The city's vice mayor tells CNN that every single home on the island has been damaged in some way. CNN's Randi Kaye was with residents as they stepped into what's left of their homes.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 7:00 a.m. and Julie Emig and Vicki Paskaly are on a boat for Sanibel Island. This will be the first time seeing their home up close since Hurricane Ian swept through here and they have no idea what to expect.

KAYE: How do you feel about coming here today?

VICKI PASKALY, SANIBEL ISLAND RESIDENT: Very apprehensive. I almost don't want to know. I'm afraid of what we're going to see.

JULIE EMIG, SANIBEL ISLAND RESIDENT: This time, it's not going to be the same. Our island has been changed.

KAYE (voice-over): We made our way from the mainland across the Gulf of Mexico because the one road in was destroyed.

KAYE: You see where the causeway used to be. What did you think?

PASKALY: Troubling. troubling to know that Mother Nature is that powerful.

KAYE (voice-over): With the island cut off Julie and Vicki had to hire a private boat to take them to Sanibel. Captain Brandon Lawson was at the wheel for the hour-long journey.

BRANDON LAWSON, BOAT CAPTAIN: Looks like there's an opening right here.

KAYE (voice-over): As we edged closer to Sanibel now just a couple of miles out, the destruction left in Ian's path became clear.

PASKALY: It's just gone, our beach is gone.

KAYE (voice-over): Once off the boat. It's around a mile on foot to their home. What they see is overwhelming.

PASKALY: We live down this way. This beautiful street. It's been forever changed. Oh my God, their house is gone.

EMIG: Total devastation, totally changed. It's just heartbreaking to see this. Unbelievable.

KAYE (voice-over): They're closer to their house now but still unsure what they'll find until they make the turn around the bend.

PASKALY: I think I see the back of our house.

KAYE (voice-over): Remarkably, their house is still standing.

KAYE: There's all kinds of stuff that doesn't even belong to them in their backyard. We found these, these are somebody else's camera negatives, certainly not theirs. And then also in the backyard, this bag of birthday cards for someone's 60s birthday, certainly not their name on it and not their collection of cards. And look at this. This is what's left of a door from a women's restroom from a clubhouse at a resort that is blocks and blocks away from here.

PASKALY: How do you ever start with this?

KAYE (voice-over): With the power out, it took about an hour to get the hurricane shutters opened manually.

EMIG: Upstairs is we're good to hear dry.

KAYE (voice-over): But on their lower-level hurricane Ian had left his mark. In the garage. The floors were slick with mud and sludge and the smell was unbearable.

EMIG: We were wondering how high the water got. Well, this tells us the story. Right here, this tells us the story. So --

PASKALY: Little over five.

EMIG: -- about six feet of water in here.

KAYE (voice-over): And their Mini Cooper -- which they left behind when they evacuated -- full of water and mold all of this just beginning to sink in.

PASKALY: I know.

[04:10:00]

KAYE (voice-over): And in their lower-level apartment the force of the water destroyed the kitchen, the island flipped on its side and the refrigerator yanked out of the wall and left to rest on top of the kitchen counter.

PASKALY: This was our dream home, Sanibel provided it to us for two years. It was wonderful.

KAYE: Until Ian took it away?

PASKALY: Until Ian took it away.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Sanibel Island, Florida.

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FOSTER: In spite of the progress being made in recovery efforts, residents in predominantly black neighborhoods say they're not receiving the same support as other groups. Community leaders in Naples, Florida, say their areas were the last to have power restored following the storm while residents claim they received no warning or alert about evacuating the area. Even if they had, many argue shelters were too far away to reach in time.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden set aside his frosty relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, as each word areas hammered by the storm with the first lady. The two politicians are trying to help the recovery. Mr. Biden promised local residents there'd be a continued federal presence to help fix the damage.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want the people of Florida to know, you have my commitment and America's commitment that we're not going to leave. Later after the television cameras have moved on, we're still going to be here with you, we're still going to be moving, we're still going to be doing everything we can to try to put your lives back together again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Residents of Fort Myers came to place flowers and photos on a memorial wall for those who died in the storm. Florida artist Leonard Sauter started the project. He also created the memorial wall in Surfside, Florida -- the site of a tragic condominium collapse which was last year.

And if you'd to help those impacted by hurricane Ian do go to CNN.com/impact for more information.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he's disappointed in a federal appeals court ruling on DACA which largely upheld a district court ruling finding that the Obama era program is unlawful. The appeals court did send the case back to the lower court to decide the legality of a new rule fortifying the program which is meant to provide temporary reprieve for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Mr. Biden says he'll continue to defend and protect DREAMers, as they're called.

U.S. financial markets are hoping to get back into positive territory when trading begins in a few hours' time. The Dow is back above the 30,000 mark after a rally earlier in the week. The Nasdaq closed a quarter of a percent lower. The S&P 500 was down 1/5 of 1 percent.

Here's what oil prices looked like after OPEC announced it would cut production by 2 million barrels a day starting November. U.S. gas prices have been creeping higher over the past two weeks and the OPEC announcement is likely to make things worse. Right now, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gas is $3.87 a gallon. That's up 9 cents from a week ago. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from the White House.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For the better part of the last three months for President Biden for his top advisers falling gas prices have been a focal point of their economic and political message. That started to change over the course of the last several weeks as prices have creeped up again and now it is set to change in a major way in a major affront to the president and his foreign policy team.

Decision by OPEC+ to cut output by 2 million barrels a day is a major problem for the administration. It's something the administration officials were aware of in the days leading up to the decision. They launched a full-court press to try and get the member nations of OPEC+ not to support such a significant and dramatic cut, the most significant cut since before the pandemic. Those efforts failed. The president saying, he was very disappointed in the decision saying he didn't believe it made any sense and White House officials making clear United States is looking at several different avenues to increase supply if they need to do so.

Something they have worked particularly through the strategic petroleum reserve to do at record levels over the course of the last several months. But this issue right now has so many different elements of it. There are the domestic overtones. Obviously, the mid- term elections less than two months away. There are the international overtones. What does this mean with the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices particularly for countries in Europe.

And of course, there are the bilateral overtones. What does this mean for the U.S. relationship in Saudi Arabia, coming just a few months after the president went to Saudi Arabia and attempted to recalibrate what had been a damaged relationship. Part to ask Saudi Arabia to pump more oil. Now they're going in the opposite direction. The administration is clearly not pleased about that effort. What that means for relations, what that means for politics, what that means for global oil supply still very much in question as the White House grapples with the newest challenge just a few weeks away from the elections.

[04:15:02]

Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.

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FOSTER: Now the U.S. is offering high tech help to investigate what damage the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Sources tell CNN that the Navy could provide its most advanced underwater sound reading capabilities to analyze audio recordings of the incidents. Three of the four pipe lines were damaged by what Russia and the West call sabotage. Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding that Moscow take part in the investigation.

Still to come, new findings from the U.S. intelligence community on the car bombing that killed the daughter of Russian political figure Aleksandr Dugin. The details in a live report.

And just weeks after a young Iranian woman died in police custody, a teenage girl turns up dead also under mysterious circumstances.

And also coming up, the climate crisis making fall weather in the U.S. a bit of a mixed bag. CNN's Pedram Javaheri has the latest forecast for you.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: In a few moments we'll break down the temperature trends across the United States. Big-time heat around the Southwest. While a hint of autumn and maybe a little wintry in some places. It's in the 40s around the Northern Plains. We'll break this down coming up in a few moments.

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FOSTER: Investigators say their worst fears have been confirmed in the search for a missing family in California. The Mercer County sheriff says all four family members were found dead in a rural area on Wednesday. The victims includes an 8-month-old girl along with her parents and her uncle. Investigators say this surveillance footage shows them being taken at gun point from the families trucking business on Monday. An armed man is seen leading them to a truck with their hands behind their backs. The sheriff later had this to say about the suspect.

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SHERIFF VERN WARNKE, MERCED COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: We really want to -- wish we were in the wild west, you know, to take this guy out and string him up, but we have a judicial system. We're going to use the judicial system. And hopefully by the time this goes to trial and so on, that it is -- you know, he's held to account and answer for everything that's gone on.

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FOSTER: The suspect is in police custody. He tried to take his own life and is now receiving medical attention. His motive is still unclear.

After weeks of anti-government protests across Iran, supporters of the Islamic Republic rallied in the Capitol. Iranian state media aired images of demonstrators, many of them women, chanting and waving flags. Earlier a crowd of female protestors chanted Basij get lost. Basij is the volunteer militia that access the country's morality police. They've been blamed for the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly. Authorities deny any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, there's growing shock over the death of an Iranian teenage girl who reportedly posted a video of herself burning her head scarf and then disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Iranian authorities say eight people have been arrested in connection with her death. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has the story.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Nika Shakarami, one of the thousands of young Iranians who took to the streets on September 20, but Nika never made it back home. She disappeared. Ten days later, her parents found her -- a lifeless body at the morgue of a detention center in Tehran. Nika's aunt spoke out in a BBC Persian interview.

ATASH SHAKARAMI, NIKA'S AUNT (through translation): I was in contact with her until 7:00 p.m. on September 20. Her friend said Nika put a story on Instagram to show she had burned her headscarf and she said to her friend, she was running away because security agents were after her. That was the last contact from her.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): According to her aunt, Nika's phone was switched off and her social media accounts deactivated.

SHAKARAMI (through translator): At the morgue, they showed a body. They only allowed her mother and her brother to identify the face. They were not allowed to unzip the cover to see the torso.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): While the circumstances of her death remain unclear, human rights groups have documented the brutal force used against protesters. Iranian security forces have dragged unveiled women by their hair, with some also reportedly sexually assaulted, according to Amnesty International.

Iranian state media released the CCTV video that investigators say shows Nika going into a building possibly falling from it later. They say they've arrested eight workers who are there. Authorities say there is no evidence the teenager was killed by police. Prosecutors say they've launched an investigation into her death. That comes just weeks after Mahsa Amini collapsed and died in morality police custody.

Amini's family say doctors told them she had had trauma and believes she was beaten to death. Police said the 22-year-old died of a heart attack. They deny any wrongdoing. And it's been nearly three weeks since that investigation was announced.

At Nika's funeral, this mourner cries, today was your birthday. Congratulations on your martyrdom. Nika Shakarami was buried on what would have been her 17th birthday.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: In about 19 minutes European lawmakers are expected to take up a resolution on the death of Mahsa Amini and Iran's violent crackdown on protesters. Earlier a European Parliament member delivered a dramatic speech about helping Iranian activists that ended with a surprising move.

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ABIR AL-SAHLANI, SWEDISH MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: We, the peoples and the citizens of the EU, demand the unconditional and immediate stop of all the violence against the women and men in Iran. Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors.

[04:25:00]

Until the women of Iran are free, we are going to stand with you. Zanani, zandgi, azadi -- women, life, freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: That's a Swedish Iraqi politician Abir Al-Sahlani cutting off her hair or some of her hair in front of lawmakers there in solidarity with the women of Iran.

A rescue operation is underway in the city of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine after a Russian missile strike destroyed several buildings. At least two women have died and at least five people are still trapped in that rubble. One official said many people have already been rescued including a 3-year-old girl.

That strike comes as a rapid Ukrainian advance is underway in the neighboring Kherson region. And to the east in Luhansk social media images show Ukrainian forces in at least one village and one official says several settlements have been liberated there.

Sources tell CNN the U.S. intelligence community believes elements within Ukraine's government authorize the car bombing that killed the daughter of a prominent political figure. Darya Dugina was killed in that blast on August 20th. But one source says intelligence officials believe she was driving her father's car and he was the actual target. CNN's Scott Mclean is following developments for us in London. What more are we learning there -- Scott. SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Ukrainians are saying

nothing about this. Ukrainian defense intelligence official said that Ukraine has nothing to add to this. Remember, this happened back on August 25th. Darya Dugina's car was turning onto the main highway about 50 kilometers outside of Moscow when a bomb planted underneath of her Jeep detonated. As you mentioned because she was driving her father's car, the initial thought was Aleksandr Dugin, a prominent proponent of Russian expansionism, was the actual target.

It is important to remember though, that this is a U.S. intelligence assessment. This is not a proven fact. There are also plenty of question marks. This assessment does not say exactly who within the Ukrainian government may have been responsible for this. There's also plenty of questions about -- still the open question, I should say, about whether or not President Zelenskyy was even aware of this at all.

The sources who have spoken to CNN though made clear that the United States was not aware of this prior to. This is obviously making a lot of news in Russia. It bolsters the Russian initial explanations. They said initially that based on their evidence collected, that this seemed to be something that was targeted, something that was pre- planned ordered. And remember that the foreign ministry spokesperson said this back in August, saying --

If the Ukrainian trace is confirmed -- and this version was voiced by the DPR and it must be verified by the competent authorities -- then we should talk about the policy of state terrorism implemented by the Kyiv regime.

Remember the Ukrainians have vehemently denied this even in the early aftermath. An adviser to President Zelenskyy said Ukraine definitely has nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, which the Russian Federation is, and even more so, we are not a terrorist state.

One other thing to mention, Max, and that is that back in August House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff was asked about this and he said that he hoped that this was an internal Russian affair, hoped that it was nothing emanating from Ukraine and hoped that Ukrainians were telling their truth -- telling the truth in their denials. Obviously now his own intelligence though is telling him something different.

FOSTER: Scott, thank you.

More fallout to the mass shooting at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. A CNN exclusive report on a former state trooper under investigation for her actions that day is back in uniform. Those details just ahead.

Plus, a list of items taken from Mar-a-Lago inadvertently posted on the court docket. New details on what Donald Trump was keeping at his estate in Florida.

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