Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Fuel Tanker Exploded On Strategic Crimea Bridge; White House Parses Biden's "Armageddon" Remarks; Uvalde Suspends School Police Force; Tropical Storm Julia Aims At Central America; Iran Denies Security Forces Killed Teen Protester; Woman Says Herschel Walker Urged Her To Have Second Abortion; Famous Painting Authenticated, Not By Vermeer. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired October 08, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): -- a fuel truck explodes over Europe's longest bridge, which links Russia to the annexed territory of Crimea. We're live in Kyiv with the very latest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Plus, President Biden facing a backlash over his comments, calling a potential nuclear strike in Ukraine Armageddon.
And Thailand is grieving after a massacre in a day care left 36 people dead, including 24 children.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Pro-Russian officials are reporting significant damage following a massive explosion on a bridge linking Russia with Crimea.
Hours ago, a fuel tanker exploded on the strategic bridge, causing a fire that's still burning. A local pro-Russian leader said two spans of the roadbed of the bridge have collapsed. Emergency crews are scrambling, trying to remove the burning train from the structure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Have a look here, the moment the explosion was caught on video. Russian president Vladimir Putin is now ordering an emergency investigation. Ukraine is not claiming responsibility but making clear it won't shed any tears over the development.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Fred Pleitgen is live in Kyiv.
Fred, what more do we know?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly seemed this was a brazen incident that happened in the very early morning hours of today. We're seeing that CCTV video that we're seeing on the screens right now, obviously very dark there in that area, at the Kerch Strait Bridge, where that explosion happened.
That tanker, as the Russian authorities are saying, then the explosion also seemed to hit the train on the railway track and causing parts of the bridge to collapse.
You're absolutely right, Kim; this is the longest bridge in Europe. It's also a pretty elaborate structure. It has two automobile lanes on the bridge and a railway bridge in the middle. Right now, all of that is shut down.
It took a long time to actually put out the fire on that train. We saw video of the train burning for a long time. And then, of course, parts of that structure also did collapse. Russian authorities saying that bridge is closed to traffic until the end of the month.
And as you mentioned, Vladimir Putin said a commission has been put in place to find out exactly what happened and, of course, to make sure that bridge starts working as fast as possible for the Russians once again.
And, you know, it's hard to overstate how important the Kerch Bridge is to the Russians. It's not just a prestige project for Russian president Vladimir Putin; it was built very quickly. It also links Crimea, the annexed Peninsula of Crimea, to the Russian mainland.
And certainly made it a lot quicker and faster not just for people to cross and also for military hardware to cross as well. A lot of that military hardware on trains crossing on those tracks, obviously closed, but on the roads as well.
One of the things that the Russians have said to stave off any sort of panic that might be happening in Crimea, they said there are supplies of fuel there for at least the next 40 days. Food stocks as well to try to prevent people from going to gas stations now and stocking up as fast as possible.
But certainly, this is definitely a humiliating blow to the Russian military, to Vladimir Putin also as well. The fact that this bridge was hit in some way, shape or form.
It's quite interesting, because Crimean officials, the one Crimean official is saying that the Ukrainians are behind it. The Ukrainians have not done that yet. But as you can imagine, Twitter and social media are ablaze, with Ukrainian officials mocking the fact that this incident happened and calling it a huge blow to the Russians as well, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, a huge black eye on Russia.
Fred, on the battlefield, you've been charting the progress of the Ukrainian troops.
What's the latest there?
PLEITGEN: Well, it's been remarkable over the past.
[05:05:00]
PLEITGEN: And of course, we use the weekend days to take stock of what's happened in the past week.
And remarkable gains on the part of the Ukrainians. In the east around Lyman and the Ukrainians have pushed well beyond that, what caught attention of international observers is the headway that the Ukrainians are making in the south of the country.
And there the Ukrainians are saying they want to keep up the pace, keep up the pressure as well. Here's what we learned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukrainian forces rolling out for yet another battle, looking to keep up the pressure on Vladimir Putin's army.
"I am very worried," the soldier says, "but I think everything will be fine."
The Ukrainians say they've already taken back around 2,400 square kilometers in the south alone, leaving President Biden warning of the threat of a possible Armageddon if Vladimir Putin resorted to using nuclear weapons in case his troops keep losing, even though the U.S. has not seen a change in Russia's nuclear posture.
The Russians hitting back, seizing on remarks from Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling for tougher action against Russia. Moscow claiming Zelenskyy is trying to drive NATO into a nuclear conflict with Russia, even though the Ukrainians have clarified that is not what Zelenskyy meant.
Yesterday, Zelenskyy called on his Western masters to launch a preventive nuclear strike against Russia, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said. By doing so, he has given the world yet more proof of the threats emanating from the Kyiv regime.
But Russia's problems on the battlefield persist. The Ukrainians saying in a village they captured from the Russian army, they found that the Russian troops seem to have been living in a pig shed.
Food rations, clothes and even washing machines stored in the midst of manure inside pig stalls.
"You were deceived and betrayed," Ukraine's defense minister said, addressing Russian troops in a video. "You were promised an easy walk but you were sent into a trap. You pay in blood for someone's fantasies and false goals."
And the Kremlin's goals appear increasingly out of reach as Ukraine continues to make progress, taking back territory from Vladimir Putin's army.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: And, of course, they want to keep that progress up. They want to keep up the pace of that as well, Kim. One of the reasons why it's so urgent for the Ukrainians, they obviously understand as well that the Russians are mobilizing, as the Russians themselves have said, hundreds of thousands of Russian men.
Of course, only a matter of time before those are sent to the battlefield as well. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Fred Pleitgen, really appreciate it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: So with us now from London to discuss all of this is Doug Klain, a nonresident fellow with the Eurasia Center at The Atlantic Council.
Thanks so much for joining us here. I want to start with that developing story, we're following the bridge explosion. Still plenty we don't know about how it happened or who's behind it. But I'm curious to get your take on it, the significance or reaction we're seeing.
DOUG KLAIN, EURASIA CENTER, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Thanks for having me. As you said there is still a lot we don't know. We don't know exactly what caused this explosion yet.
But it's already clear, in the story of this war, this is one of the great victories for Ukraine. This is a massive personal humiliation for Vladimir Putin. While Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the strike, Ukrainian officials have spent days hinting at something big on the horizon.
Ukraine's government accounts are already comparing this to the sinking of the Black Sea fleet's flagship, the Moskva. And the Ukrainian postal service has already announced a commemorative stamp to celebrate. So I think many will be watching very closely to what President Zelenskyy will say today.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely, we've already been seeing a lot of crowing from the Ukrainians. Let's go to the growing fear of a nuclear confrontation in the news recently.
Why do you think that Putin has increasingly resorted to nuclear intimidation and blackmail?
KLAIN: So Putin's nuclear threats at this moment are really an act of desperation. Russia is losing this war. And Ukraine's forces are making significant gains. The war is not going in Putin's favor so he's resorting to these nuclear threats.
Just this week, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that the risk of Russia using nuclear weapons is very real and we should take it seriously. But I think it's important to recognize that nuclear threats are a tried and true tactic that Russia uses to scare the world away from helping Ukraine.
So we can take these threats seriously without letting them set a new precedent --
[05:10:00]
KLAIN: -- that nuclear weapons allow a state to do whatever it wants. The Ukrainian officials in Kyiv have said that a nuclear strike will change only the cost of this war but not the outcome of an eventual Ukrainian victory.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, this comes, obviously, in the context of Russia's failures on the battlefield as well as the growing protests against mobilization. You've written a piece about how the Russian mobilization is, in your words, "doomed to fail."
I'll quote you here, that "sending untrained, underequipped and largely unwilling men to fight in Ukraine will be a slaughter with little precedent in modern war."
Why is that?
KLAIN: Well, because there's a fundamental difference between Russia and Ukraine's militaries. Russia's army still looks much like the Soviet Union's military did. It's inflexible and bureaucratic and they have poor resources and little training, especially now for the fresh recruits.
Ukraine's military, on the other hand, looks a lot like this as well up to 2014. But since 2014, Ukraine has spent a lot of time and resources transforming its military, making it look more professional, much more like a NATO-style military, with better resources, better professionalization, better training.
And we're seeing the impact of that on the battlefield. When Ukraine's forces are given state of the art weapons from the West, they're putting them to very good use. They know how to win.
BRUNHUBER: Now there have been growing calls for negotiation. Elon Musk's largely derided proposal got a lot of media attention. But he's hardly the only one calling for some kind of land for peace deal. President Zelenskyy has said that's not a nonstarter and you agree.
Why is that? KLAIN: It's unlikely that Elon Musk will be some grand peacemaker. But his suggestion that Ukraine trade some land to Russia for peace now is a really faulty idea that has gained some traction in the West. It's faulty for a variety of reasons.
Most of all because Ukrainians would never accept it. We've all seen the horrors that have happened under Russian occupation. In places that have become infamous, Bucha and Irpin, now Izyum. There are mass graves and the victims of torture and sexual violence have come forward to share the horrors.
So Ukraine knows that any territory it trades away to Russia, the people on that territory would be consigned to these horrors.
So why would Ukraine trade these people away, when Ukrainian forces are winning on the battlefield?
Perhaps a better way to bring peace to Ukraine, in my opinion, is that Ukraine should be given the weapons to keep liberating its territory. That's what we've seen already that works. And that seems like a better strategy than trading these people away.
BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there, Doug Klain with The Atlantic Council in London, thanks so much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Russian officials have declared three public figures foreign agents over their opposition to the war in Ukraine. They include Russia's most popular rapper, who goes by the stage name Oxxxymiron. He's been holding antiwar concerts throughout Europe but his songs are now investigated under Russia's anti-extremism laws.
Investigators also went after antiwar writer and journalist Dmitry Glukhovsky. He is facing charges under a lot of bans spreading fake information about Russia's military. And the writer is currently out of Russia.
The crackdown also included women's rights activist Elena Popova (ph).
President Joe Biden has signed a long awaited policy tightening the rules on U.S. drone strikes. Lethal drone strikes will now require the president's direct approval before launch but officials say the new rules only apply to areas outside of traditional war zones.
Countries like Yemen and now Afghanistan, where the U.S. continues to carry out counterterrorism strikes from afar. The new policy follows a separate Pentagon initiative announced in August to help reduce the number of civilians killed by U.S. military operations.
Still ahead, months after a deadly mass shooting, a Texas school district suspends its entire police force. We'll have details on the CNN investigation that may have impacted that decision.
And how much should Alex Jones' controversial comments about the murders at Sandy Hook cost him? We'll have that story when CNN NEWSROOM continues. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: The Uvalde school district of Texas has suspended the entire police department after the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. It comes after developments that, quote, "uncovered additional concerns with department operations."
Now officials didn't specify what those developments were. But it comes after CNN reported that the school's police department had hired an officer who didn't immediately go into the school as the shooting was happening, CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: The Uvalde school district announcing on Friday that they have suspended all of their officers, removing them from schools and putting them on administrative leave.
This is following CNN's reporting that one of the police officers, a newly hired police officer by the school district, was under the investigation when she worked for the Department of Public Safety for her response to the school shooting on May 24th.
Somehow, the school district hired her, despite knowing this information. They were told by the Department of Public Safety about this officer, Crimson Elizondo, was under investigation.
Despite that, they hired her anyway. We've also learned that the lieutenant, Miguel Hernandez, was placed on administrative leave. Now he's the lieutenant who has been the commanding officer for the school police since the firing of former chief Pete Arredondo.
We're told that he vetted the officer, Elizondo, but somehow he did the background check and hired her anyway. Then a school administrator, more fallout, from our reporting.
[05:20:00]
PROKUPECZ: Ken Miller, he retired after the school put him on administrative leave. Of course, you know, all of this is shocking for the families. They certainly did not expect this kind of fallout, this kind of decisive action from the school.
And, of course, this is the accountability. This is the accountability that they've been looking for and fighting for -- Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, in New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Jury members have the weekend off before resuming their deliberations in the Alex Jones case. They're deciding monetary damages for the far-right commentator's comments about the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.
As we hear from CNN's Erica Hill, the case featured emotional testimony from family members of the children killed. But Alex Jones seems unrepentant.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Jurors will resume negotiations on Tuesday morning in the damages trial of Alex Jones. The conspiracy theorist was found libel last year in defaming several families of the Sandy Hook victims.
The jury wrapped its second day of deliberations on Friday afternoon. They're deciding how much Jones should pay in damages.
The Infowars host spent years questioning the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, which left 20 children and six educators dead, calling the shooting a hoax, alleging the families involved were "crisis actors."
During four weeks of emotional testimony, family members of the victims described how they've been harassed over the past decade, both in person and online; accosted in public, sent threatening letters.
Harassment began in some cases before they had buried their children. At the end of his only day on the stand, Jones got in a heated exchange with the plaintiffs' attorney, exploding at one point that he was "done," saying, "I'm sorry."
The 15 include families members of eight victims and an FBI agent, who responded to the scene. Monday is a holiday so jurors will return for deliberations on Tuesday morning at 9:30 am -- in New York, I'm Erica Hill, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Labor Department reported more than a quarter million people joined the workforce last month. Normally that would be great news but instead it sent Wall Street into retreat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Investigators (sic) were disappointed because it shows the U.S. economy is still overheated, despite sharp interest rate hikes. All three major indices took big hits in Friday's selloff.
Of course, the strong economy is wonderful for people who need paying jobs. Unemployment has fallen to a 50-year low but the financial markets fear additional rate hikes will cool the economy too much and lead to a recession.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Even so-called snail mail is trying to slither up in costs. The U.S. Postal Service is asking for an increase in the price of what used to be called a first class stamp. If the USPS gets its way, a forever stamp will go from the current price of 60 cents to 63 cents.
The Postal Service says the price hikes, which includes an extra four cents to mail a postcard, are to offset inflation. The price hikes are approved by the U.S. Postal Service and now have to be reviewed by the postal regulatory commission. By the way, the cost sending packages may also be going up just in time for the holidays.
United in grief, Thailand remembers those killed in the day care massacre. How the country is mourning the young lives lost.
And hurricane Ian left a trail of destruction across Florida. And more than a week later, many are still trying to pick up the pieces. We'll have their stories next. Please do stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:25:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
It's been just over nine days since hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida and began leaving a path of destruction. Officials say at least 120 Floridians have died because of the storm. Close to half of those deaths have been attributed to drowning.
And more than 85,000 Florida customers are still without power. As frustration mounts over the local, state and federal response, CNN's Leyla Santiago takes a closer look at the struggles people are facing as they try to get their lives back on track.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXIS HINSON, SHELTER RESIDENT: It's been very stressful and overwhelming.
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORREPONDENT (voice-over): Alexis Hinson has been living in a shelter now for 11 days. The kids are getting cranky. It is difficult to explain to them they're new reality. Uncertainty is growing.
HINSON: It's hard to get your kids to realize what is going on when they are so young. Honestly, I don't have a plan. It's really just a waiting game right now.
SANTIAGO: The family of three is staying at the Hertz Arena, a mega shelter in Lee County run by the Red Cross. Cameras not allowed inside here but the Red Cross provided this video which shows children, families and hundreds of cots.
Organizers tell us about 500 people will be staying here tonight.
TIFFANY GONZALEZ, RED CROSS SPOKESPERSON: The Red Cross is here for as long as need be.
SANTIAGO: A big ask for many, just a warm shower, the comforts of the home that Hurricane Ian took away.
VANESSA DIEUJUSTE, NURSE: It is everything to someone affected the hurricane.
DENISE GRIFFIN, SHELTER RESIDENT: I have my first nightmare and it was about 2:00 this morning.
SANTIAGO: Denise Griffin is also staying here. Her home in Ft. Myers Beach was wiped away.
A former paramedic and 9-1-1 dispatcher, she's frustrated about how mandatory evacuation orders played out.
GRIFFIN: I wish I would have known earlier, give a couple of days I could have walked off the island but we have less than 30 hours and I have a bike and I don't have a car.
SANTIAGO: While we were, Florida's lieutenant governor stopped by. We asked her about the criticism and calls for accountability.
LT. GOV. JEANETTE NUNEZ (R-FL): We're going to engage on focusing on rebuilding. We're not going to criticize our local emergency managers.
SANTIAGO: She says she wants to focus on making sure people have access to services they desperately need.
NUNEZ: FEMA has been an integrated and an active partner every step of the way. So we're really pleased with the response.
SANTIAGO: A long term response for what's been a nightmare disaster.
That nightmare you had?
GRIFFIN: Water. I love the water but not like that.
SANTIAGO: Everyone we talked to asked how long can they provide a place to stay since they don't have a home anymore and waiting for assistance. The Lee County sheriff saying three shelters remain open.
And when it comes to progress, Florida Power and Light has said they have restored power for 98 percent of customers -- Leyla Santiago, CNN, Lee County Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: A huge weather system is gaining strength in the southern Caribbean sea. Tropical storm Julia is picking up momentum as it makes its way across Central America.
[05:30:00]
BRUNHUBER: Hurricane warnings are in effect for parts of Nicaragua, storm Julia is expected to make landfall.
(WEATHER REPORT)
BRUNHUBER: Haiti's government is asking for international military assistance to combat the humanitarian issues plaguing the country.
It's not clear which countries Haiti is asking for help. But an adviser to the prime minister says Haiti is struggling to handle everything from political troubles to economic, energy, security and health crises, like cholera. Anti government protests in their seventh week have led to the shutdown of schools, businesses and public transportation.
And on Friday the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince issued a security alert urging U.S. citizens and U.S. government personnel and their families to leave Haiti because of the health and security situation.
Mourners in Thailand have been gathering at a Buddhist temple as families of those killed in the country's deadliest massacre plan funerals; 36 people lost their lives, most of them young children, after an ex-police officer armed with a gun and a knife went on a rampage at a day care center.
Thailand's king visited two hospitals on Friday to meet with wounded survivors and families of the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHA VAJIRALONGKORN, KING OF THAILAND (through translator): I'm here today to support everyone. First of all, I would like to express my deepest condolences and sorrow that this kind of incident happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The attacker killed himself after shooting dead his wife and stepson. Thailand's police chief says he didn't have drugs in his system and that the gun he used was legally registered.
Authorities in Iran are denying that security forces killed a 16-year- old girl during protests last month. They claim she died after jumping from the roof of a home. But Amnesty International insists she was fatally beaten by authorities while denouncing the death of another Iranian woman. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARINA ESMAEILZADEH, IRANIAN GIRL: Salaam, guys. (Speaking foreign language).
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a cheerful salaam or hello, Sarina Esmaeilzadeh welcomed people into what she called, "My Whole Universe," the video diaries of a 16-year-old.
She could be any teenage girl, anywhere in the world, goofing around, dancing, singing, just having fun.
But this isn't anywhere in the world. This is the Islamic Republic of Iran, where life's expressions are anything but free.
ESMAEILZADEH (through translator): There are some restrictions that are particularly more for women -- like the mandatory hijab or many more restrictions that don't exist for men.
[05:05:00]
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Three months, after that video, Sarina joined the thousands of Iranian women and girls, rising up, for their liberties, demanding their rights.
Sarina was forever silenced on September 23rd, Amnesty International says, based on information it has. Security forces beat her, striking her on the head with batons, severely beating her to death.
ESMAEILZADEH: (Speaking foreign language).
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Iranian judicial authorities denied she was killed. They say Sarina died by suicide, jumping from the roof of her grandmother's home.
Their claim, just days after they said another 16-year-old protester, Nika Shahkarami, who was found dead in Tehran, also died after falling from a building. Arrests had been made in the investigation of her death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Family members of both girls have appeared on Iranian state media, repeating the government's claim.
The U.N. Human Rights Office told CNN they received reports authorities forced Shahkarami's family to give the interview. Amnesty International says families of victims are being intimidated and harassed into silence.
This comes three weeks after the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police.
On Friday, the government's forensic report blamed the death of the 22-year-old on an underlying medical condition after the operation of a brain tumor as a child. Amini's family repeatedly denied those claims. They say she was healthy. It was police brutality that killed her. They say doctors told them she suffered trauma to the head.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Anger over Amini's death sparked a women's uprising like no other in Iran. Too many lives already lost in this battle for freedom, for change.
ESMAEILZADEH (through translator): Lots of books and films, places I want to explore -- My YouTube videos -- So if you are a student like me and don't have much time to enjoy life -- I suggest making a list.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KARADSHEH (voice-over): So many young lives ended too soon -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Banks in Lebanon were locked up again Friday after a new series of holdups. Depositors furious that they can't get hold of their savings have been storming banks and some have been armed.
Many depositors have been locked out of their savings since an economic crisis broke out more than two years ago. The country's banking association blames the government for the crisis, accusing politicians of stealing the public's money.
North Korea is condemning the U.S. and the South for holding a new naval drill near the peninsula this weekend. The two-day exercise began Friday and comes days after a similar drill was held with Japan.
They're considered a response to North Korea's recent missile tests, including one launched over Japan this week. Washington says it will take further action by imposing sanctions on entities that support Pyongyang's weapons development.
Still ahead, U.S. authorities receive unclassified documents from Donald Trump but they fear he may still be holding onto more sensitive records. We'll have the latest on that investigation.
Plus, a new twist in the Herschel Walker abortion scandal. What a woman says the Republican Senate hopeful asked her to do. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Justice Department has started to receive unclassified documents from Donald Trump after his legal team determined it wouldn't assert confidentiality claims over them.
But the DOJ fears he could still be holding on to documents marked as classified. They're still requesting all sensitive records from the former president to determine if they were mishandled. Jessica Schneider has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Our team has learned that Justice Department officials just don't believe that former president Trump has returned all of the materials that were taken when he left the White House.
And that includes classified material. So while the FBI agents in August seized 11,000 documents, 100 of them classified, DOJ officials do believe that there might be more remaining at Trump's properties.
And, in fact, we've learned they've told Trump's lawyers that Trump must return any outstanding documents. Now this concern that classified records were still missing, it has been hinted at in several court filings in recent weeks.
We've seen DOJ lawyers reference those empty folders that were found with classified banners at Mar-a-Lago during the search in early August. Investigators also raised the red flag after they were initially blocked from using those classified materials that they did get from Mar-a-Lago as part of their ongoing investigation.
They said in their order that this blocking of using these materials impedes efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not being properly stored.
They told an appeals court that the order was preventing the FBI from taking investigative steps that could lead to the identification of other records still missing. So they've known about this and hinted at it.
So the question is, how do government officials proceed here?
Do they continue to negotiate with Trump's team?
Do they subpoena Trump or do they perform even another search at maybe one of his properties, whether it's Mar-a-Lago or others, or could they even get him to attest in court whether or not he still has classified material?
A lot of options for the DOJ. We'll see what their next move is, especially because they do believe that some of that classified material might still be missing -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: A U.S. federal appeals court will decide whether Republican senator Lindsey Graham has to testify before a grand jury in Georgia. Prosecutors say his testimony is essential as part of their investigation into efforts by former president Trump and his allies to overturn the state's election results in 2020.
Graham has filed an emergency motion to quash a subpoena compelling him to appear. Georgia's secretary of state says the senator hinted he should discard some ballots. Graham has denied accusations that he tried to pressure state officials.
Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the defamation case against Trump says that all parties should continue with depositions for now. Columnist E. Jean Carroll has filed a lawsuit, alleging the former president defamed her in his denials of her claim that he raped her in the mid- 1990s. But an appeals court must still determine whether Trump can be held legally responsible personally. He made the comments while he was still president, which could potentially shield him from liability.
Well, there's a new twist in the abortion controversy plaguing Georgia's Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate.
[05:45:00]
BRUNHUBER: The woman who said Herschel Walker paid for her to have an abortion back in 2009 tells "The New York Times" he also asked her to get a second abortion two years later. She said she refused and she now has a 10-year-old son.
She tells "The Times," quote, "As a father, he's done nothing. He does exactly what the courts say and that's it. He has to be held responsible just like the rest of us. And if you're going to run for office, you need to own your life."
Walker has denied her initial claim that he paid for her to have an abortion. This new allegation comes as we learn Walker's campaign fired its political director for suspicion of leaking information to the press.
Walker, who insists he opposes abortion with no exceptions, is a key player in Republicans' hopes of retaking the Senate. CNN's Eva McKend has more on how Walker's career got to this point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNDENTIFIED MALE: No one can touch him, one on one.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Herschel Walker leaning into his legendary football status in his run for Georgia Senate.
HERSCHEL WALKER (R-GA), SENATE NOMINEE: This is a little town is where I grew up.
MCKEND (voice-over): One of seven children, Walker was born in rural Wrightsville, Georgia where his small town high school team helped launched him to fame.
UNDENTIFIED MALE: The winner of the 1982 Heisman Memorial Trophy from the University of Georgia, Herschel Walker.
MCKEND (voice-over): A Heisman Trophy winner and all around University of Georgia College football star. His collegiate career would ultimately carry him to the pros.
UNDENTIFIED MALE: Herschel Walker's debut as a professional football player.
MCKEND (voice-over): But before the NFL would take him, he played for an NFL alternative in the early '80s, where he would meet team owner Donald Trump. DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't want to take a chance frankly, I'm losing Herschel Walker.
MCKEND (voice-over): The relationship would continue well beyond the field as President Trump appointed Walker to the Presidential Council on Sports Fitness and Nutrition.
TRUMP: The great Herschel Walker. What an amazing guy.
MCKEND (voice-over): And eventually would back Walker's own political ambitions, urging him to run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.
TRUMP: You know, Herschel is not only a Georgia hero, he is an American legend.
MCKEND (voice-over): Like Trump, Walker has also been known to go off script and deliver disjointed statements. Walker easily won the GOP primary earlier this year. Despite a myriad of very public controversies throughout his life. He spoke to CNN in 2008 about his battle that dissociative identity disorder.
WALKER: You can get angry but the anger that you can go out and really, really hurt someone. And that's when you know you got a problem.
MCKEND (voice-over): In that same interview, Walker's ex-wife discussed how Walker had threatened her with weapons.
CINDY GROSSMAN, WALKER'S EX-WIFE: Just the guns and knives and I got into a few choking things with him.
MCKEND (voice-over): Walker acknowledged those allegations.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Herschel Walker told us he was troubled by his actions will always deeply regret any pain he caused Cindy.
MCKEND (voice-over): According to a 2012 police report, an ex- girlfriend said Walker threatened to kill her. Walker denies those claims. Walker's turbulent pass has made its way into the campaign as a focus of Democratic attack ads.
UNDENTIFIED FEMALE: New details tonight about accusations --
MCKEND (voice-over): Now Walker dealing with a different kind of allegation, a claim reported by "The Daily Beast" and "The New York Times" that the staunch anti-abortion candidate paid for a former girlfriend to have an abortion more than a decade ago. The woman says she's also the mother of one of his children.
WALKER: This year, the abortion thing is false. It's a lie.
MCKEND (voice-over): CNN has not independently confirmed the allegations. As Walker repeatedly denies the report, Republicans have rallied to defend their nominee but the outcome of the race deciding not just Walker's political future but potentially control of the Senate next year.
WALKER: Let me tell you this. I'm not deterred. I'm not scared. And I'm not going to back down. The stakes are way, way too high. And we're going to win this race.
MCKEND: Now for Senator Warnock's part, he called the allegations "disturbing," and saying Georgians have a choice to represent them in the Senate. And then he shifts back to the policy issue at hand, saying he supports a woman's right to choose -- Eva McKend, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The Nobel Committee has now awarded the peace prize. You'll see how the war in Ukraine appears to have been an important factor in this year's decision. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: Russia's ruthless aggression in Ukraine appears to have been a deciding factor for the members of the Nobel Committee as they decided on this year's Peace Prize.
Out of more than 340 candidates, the honor ultimately went to a trio of human rights activists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. After the award was announced the head of Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties called for Russia to be expelled from the U.N. Security Council.
She and also said Russian president Vladimir Putin should be held accountable at an international war crimes tribunal.
A high-profile friendly took place between England's Lionesses and the USWNT Friday. After a report of sexual abuse and emotional abuse within women's professional soccer in the U.S., both teams gathered together midfield in front of a teal banner that read, "Protect the players."
All players wore a teal band for survivors of sexual abuse. At the packed Wembley Stadium, England beat the USA 2-1.
A painting by a Dutch master is now considered an imitation. Titled "Girl with a Flute," the small oil on a panel was tested for two years and now scientists and experts believe the work is believed to be someone as an associate of Vermeer.
[05:55:00]
BRUNHUBER: The painting has been at the National Gallery since the 1940s. It will be part of Vermeer's secret exhibition starting Saturday at the National Gallery. Many music fans are eager to know the answer to this question.
Which city will host the Eurovision song contest next May?
Ukraine won the popular songfest last year but, because of the war, it can't act as host for the next competition. So now we know that Liverpool, England, has beaten Glasgow, Scotland, for the coveted duties. Liverpool certainly has the pedigree to stage the big show. After all, it is the home of The Beatles.
Before we leave you, we want to tell you about a passing of note. This is Pebbles, the world's oldest dog, has died at the age of 22. The toy fox terrier was certified as the globe's most elderly canine citizen by The Guinness World Records.
Her owners said she had a long and happy life and had 32 puppies. Pebbles loved listening to country music and playing dress-up. That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For
viewers "NEW DAY" is next. For others, it's "CONNECTING AFRICA."
