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Lawmakers Call On U.S. To Retaliate Following OPEC Plus's Production Cut; Police: Suspect In Custody After 2 Killed In Las Vegas Stabbings; Jury Deliberations Underway In Lawsuit Against Infowars' Alex Jones; Former Wagner Commander Takes CNN Behind The Lines Of Putin's So-Called "Private Army". Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired October 07, 2022 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00]
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): So it's just not true that oil production is enough. But we also need the oil from the global markets.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I didn't say that oil is not -- what I'm asking you is what other Americans are asking and when they hear oil executives, as you know, they've testified before you who say, if you made permitting easier, if you allowed more drilling in this country, we could produce more in this country.
Now, obviously, we have to consider the climate change impacts. That is huge and that is foremost. But looking at the pricing now in this huge amount of control that OPEC has over it, is it not true that allowing more drilling in this country, and more easier permitting, would have made a difference, would make a difference?
KHANNA: Poppy, it's not in the short term, because I think even those all executives will tell you that it's at least a two-year lag from that permitting. And we can debate whether we want to have long term more infrastructure to increase production. I don't think long term that's what we want.
I think short term, we need an increase in production. And the biggest thing we can do in that is having an export ban. I mean, we're still producing all this oil and sending it overseas exempt our European allies, but then that. And if there's short term ways to increase production, many of us are open to that.
HARLOW: I would say, you know, one of the downsides, even if you do exempt our European allies who need this oil right now, that that could amplify global inflationary pressures. But you said you don't think, Congressman, that it is right to move on permitting in that way. I thought it was really interesting that just a few days ago, the Washington Post editorial board basically said Democrats are wrong on that when it comes to clean energy.
Here's their argument, "Legislation that critics have unfairly characterized as a sop to Big Oil, but is, in fact, indispensable in the fight against climate change. If this country is to transition quickly to renewables and other nonpolluting sources of energy, maintaining onerous rules on building out energy products -- projects, puts renewables at a disadvantage relative to sources that have associated infrastructure built already."
They say, that Democrats who oppose, for example, Manchin's plan on this part were short sighted and they didn't see the impact for renewables.
KHANNA: Poppy, I agree with the Washington Post that we need to expedite permitting for renewables for transmission lines. But that's not what the permitting reform was. That reform would have provided -- gone over frontline communities for fossil fuel infrastructure. So what I have said and many of the climate groups have said is let's have an expedited permitting bill on the transmission lines, on solar, on wind, on batteries, and we'd be for passing something like that.
HARLOW: So finally, let me ask you this, because the average -- we just look, the average for gas prices in your home state of California this morning, 6.39 a gallon.
KHANNA: Yes.
HARLOW: You have said that you hear -- and this is a quote from you -- almost nonstop from your constituents about how high gas costs. And, by the way, now it's going to go up. Are you concerned this is going to hurt your fellow Democrats in the midterms?
KHANNA: I'm concerned it's going to hurt the American people. I mean, gas is too high. And we need to do everything we can. And we have the tools to bring it lower by demanding our leverage on the Saudis so that they produce and by having restrictions on our exports --
HARLOW: Yes.
KHANNA: -- and that would significantly lower the price. But, of course, it's going to be an issue in the elections. And it's, more importantly, it's an issue that Americans are facing and people in my district are facing.
HARLOW: Congressman Ro Khanna, always appreciate you coming on this program. Thank you.
KHANNA: Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: You got it. Have a nice weekend.
KHANNA: You too.
HARLOW: Well, after days of emotional testimony from the families of Sandy Hook victims, these are parents whose children were murdered in the elementary school. There is a jury right now deliberating right now whether or not and how much money the Infowars host Alex Jones should pay in those families to damages. We'll explain it all live ahead.
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[09:38:49]
HARLOW: Welcome back, a suspect is in custody this morning after two people were killed and six others wounded in a stabbing attack happened yesterday in Las Vegas. These attacks happened outside of the Wynn Hotel and Casino. Late on Thursday morning, police arrested a 32- year-old man on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of attempted murder.
Our Camila Bernal is joining us following all of this. Do we know first of all the conditions of the six wounded?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Poppy, good morning. So we know three people are still in critical condition last we heard. Three others were stable. Unfortunately, of course, we know two people died. One of them dying at the scene, the other one dying at the hospital. Among the victims both locals and tourists.
Look, this happened in the middle of the day, in the middle of the strip. We know this was unprovoked. There was not an altercation beforehand. This was a man who went out on the sidewalk and stabbed his first victim. Then he kept on walking and kept on stabbing people. Of course, this was chaotic. He was using a large kitchen knife. People were out on the strip. They were seeing all of this. Here's how one witness described it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[09:40:03]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then I realized, oh, it's even worse. And I start hearing -- at the same time, I'm seeing screaming and a guy took off a shirt to give chest compressions to the guy who dropped in front of me. I hear more screaming down here. And then immediately after that, more over here, and I'm like, OK, this is even worse than I thought it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: And police saying that people were willing to help. There are people who chased this man as he ran away in Las Vegas, and they say they arrested him within minutes. Of course, that was not enough because people died. They're still people at the hospital.
But we do know that he acted alone. They identified him as 32-year-old Yoni Barrios. They say he is not from the Vegas area. So what they're saying is that people in Vegas right now are not in danger. But police do have to go through a lot of witness statements and a lot of surveillance video because, again, this happened in the middle of the day, where everyone was able to see. But, of course, people still asking why. And as of now, we do not have a motive.
HARLOW: Camila Bernal, thank you very much. What a tragic story. Thank you for the reporting.
Meantime, testimony resumes in the homicide trial against the man accused of intentionally driving his SUV through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin. This happened, you recall last year. As these proceedings began yesterday, the judge ordered Darrell Brooks to be moved to a separate room over his erratic and disruptive behavior. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE JENNIFER R. DOROW, WAUKESHA COUNTY CIRCUIT You have got to stop. It's fine if you object, I will rule on it as I deem appropriate under the rules of evidence, which by the way, I provided a copy for you. See that big book over there?
DARRELL BROOKS, DEFENDANT: No, I don't see.
DOROW: It has the criminal statutes.
BROOKS: I don't see.
DOROW: It has the traffic code and has the rules of evidence. Well, it's on your table. I'm directing the bailiffs to remove him to the other courtroom.
Every day that we have been in court since Monday, he has shown a complete and utter disrespect for the simple rules of civility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Brooks is a prose defendant representing himself amid concerns over his mental health here. As you just heard from the judge, prosecutors rejected the idea that Brooks is mentally incompetent, and said his interruptions were attempts to disrupt court proceedings. Brooks is charged in the deaths of six people, and of course, wounding dozens more.
Well, at this moment, a jury is deliberating how much Alex Jones and his company owe families of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. A lawyer for those families urged jurors to award damages equal to the suffering his clients endured because of the lies and conspiracy theories he spread about the school shooting.
Our Jean Casarez joins me with the latest. Jean, you have been following this so importantly, and you've been bringing us the voices of the parents who lost their children, and then who were revictimized again and again and again by what Alex Jones did. So what is the jury considering right now?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. And both of those were already determined because he has been found liable for those in the civil courts. So now it's all damages. It's all money. And in civil court, that's really the way that you can make someone whole again, is through money.
And so they are looking at the wrongful conduct and what these victims went through, and the damages they incurred to make them whole again from the past, but also looking at future potential damage to them from all of this. They've got a lot of work to do. They are deliberating right now, but on the forefront of their mind, has to be all day yesterday were closing arguments from both sides. We want to let you listen to a little bit of those closings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH KOSKOFF, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: Alex Jones is a liar, you got that right? This idea that he is even a conspiracy theorist is a lie. He's not a conspiracy theorist. When it comes to the truth, Alex Jones is nothing but an arsonist. He sets fire to the truth. And he spreads that roaring fire immediately from his place in Austin, up to Connecticut, to Washington.
NORM PATTIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Aren't these the words of a man who for the sake of $1 targeted these families? Or are they the words of a man who's lost trust in our basic institutions?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: The jury has to be unanimous in their monetary decisions here for compensatory as far as punitive damages. It's yes or no which are the punishment damages, then it goes to the judge. But there's 15 plaintiffs and the jury has to go one by one, because different things happen to different people.
Some people had their pictures disseminated everywhere, and they were specifically talked about. Others were not but he said they were all fake actors. So they were able to be plaintiffs and this is in Connecticut, Poppy, where it all happened.
HARLOW: That's right. Jean, thank you for staying on this very much to bring us -- I mean, the verdict could come.
CASAREZ: Anytime (ph).
HARLOW: And that the jury's decision anytime. Thank you very much.
Well ahead, it is a group known as Putin's private army but the Wagner mercenaries are facing a losing battle on the frontlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARAT GABIDULLIN, FORMER WAGNER MERCENARY (through translation): They're dissatisfied with the overall organization of the fighting, the inability to make competent decisions to organize battles, and of course, this means losses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Up next, you will see CNN's exclusive interview with one of the group's former commanders.
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HARLOW: New this morning, three human rights defenders have been awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize as Putin's ongoing war in Ukraine rages. [09:50:05]
Imprisoned Belarusian advocate Ales Bialiatski is Ukraine center for civil liberties and also Russia's human rights organization Memorial. They will all, the three of them, share the $900,000 prize money. And an official ceremony will be held on December the 10th. According to the committee, the new Laureates were honored for, quote, an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses, and the abuse of power in their respective countries amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
Meantime, as Vladimir Putin turns 70, it appears his private army of mercenaries is struggling in Ukraine. Russia's notorious military operation known as a Wagner group is now desperately looking for recruits after major losses on the battlefield even offering clemency to prisoners to get more men in uniform.
Our Melissa Bell has this exclusive report. And I do want to warn you, some of the images you're about to see are very graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The chaos of Ukraine's frontlines through the eyes of a Wagner mercenary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Legs, guts, arms, boys, it's almost stuff (ph).
BELL (voice-over): A video shared exclusively with CNN by a member of Vladimir Putin so-called private army. One of those that who seen enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I'm sorry, bro. I'm sorry.
BELL (voice-over): A far cry from the slick propaganda used by Wagner to entice recruits to the depleted Russian front lines. Long kept in the shadows by Moscow, the Elite paramilitary group or the musicians, as they call themselves now lionized for their role in Russia's springtime victories.
Like the surrender of Azovstal or the full of Mariupol. The mercenaries experience initially making all the difference to Moscow, according to this former Wagner commander.
GABIDULLIN (through translation): Without their active assistance, the Russian armed forces would not have been able to move forward at all.
BELL (voice-over): The Kremlin didn't respond to our requests for comment. But a month-long, CNN investigation has found what the war has cost Moscow's elite fighting force. It's men, it's confidence and it's allure.
Marat Gabidullin says Wagner fighters are paid $5,000 a month to do the work regular Russian soldiers can't or won't.
GABIDULLIN: There is not enough motivation on the money. Russian piece for the American dollars.
BELL (voice-over): Through their telegram channels and through intercepts, Ukrainian intelligence keeps a watchful eye.
Moral within Wagner is low, says Andrei Yusof (ph). It wasn't designed to participate in a full-scale war.
GABIDULLIN (through translation): They're dissatisfied with the overall organization of the fighting, the inability to make competent decisions to organize battles, and of course, this means losses.
BELL (voice-over): This video shared with CNN by Ukraine's Defense Ministry shows a mercenary desperately asking why there is no body armor for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): There are no more flak jackets, no more helmets either.
BELL (voice-over): Of the estimated 5,000 Wagner mercenaries sent to Ukraine, 1,500 have been killed, according to intelligence sources in Kyiv. In Russia, that's meant recruitment drives. From front pages to billboards, the W orchestra is waiting for you, says this one, with a number to call and no experience needed.
A recruiter telling CNN through WhatsApp that barring thuggery, terrorism and sexual impropriety, all criminal convictions are negotiable.
A man who appears to be the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, personally offering clemency to prisoners for six months of military service. The illusive oligarch no longer denying ties to the group that the war in Ukraine has both exposed and transformed.
YURIY BELOUSOV, UKRAINE'S WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR: It really shows that these guys are in trouble, so they really don't have people. They're ready to send anyone. There's no criteria for professionalism anymore.
BELL (voice-over): And that could mean more possible war crimes, especially on the retreat. This video shared with CNN by a Wagner soldier appears to show mercenaries lining up the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers. In a chilling conversation, they debate whether to booby trap them or shoot those who come to retrieve them before realizing that they're out of ammunition.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: Poppy, I think it's important to understand exactly what the Wagner name had come to represent. It isn't simply the tool through which the Kremlin has these last few years pursued often linked financial, geopolitical, ambitions, interests in parts of Africa and the Middle East. It is also of -- very closely linked with Vladimir Putin himself, the Kremlin's organization, how it functions.
It had become really a projection of the Kremlin's power, Poppy, on the world stage, that it should be beginning to unravel in Ukraine. Of course, the ultimate irony since it was in Ukraine that it was born with the annexation of Crimea, and annexation of President Zelenskyy vowed once again last night to reverse.
HARLOW: What an important point and what a fascinating report. Melissa Bell, thank you very much for bringing us that. Exclusive reporting from Melissa there.
Well, we have new jobs numbers out this morning slightly better than economists had expected here in the U.S., still one of the lower monthly jobs' gains in almost two years. We'll discuss what this all means for the fight against inflation with the Labor Secretary Marty Walsh ahead.
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