Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Putin Summons Security Council After Crimean Bridge Blast; Kremlin Praises OPEC Plus For Countering U.S. "mayhem"; North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Over Japan; Taiwan Celebrates National Day Amid Rising Tensions With China; Venezuela Landslide Kills At Least 25 People, 50 Missing. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 10, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:22]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, Moscow and Kyiv trade accusations of terrorism after a deadly weekend to Ukraine and a bitter blow for Russia. Taiwan's leader delivering a warning to Beijing vowing the island will never compromise on freedom and democracy. And devastation in Venezuela days of heavy rain setting off a landslide that left dozens dead many missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: Welcome everyone. In the hours ahead, Russia's president is expected to contemplate his next moves in Ukraine and a meeting with his Security Council. It comes after Vladimir Putin suffered a humiliating blow this weekend when an explosion damaged Moscow's bridge to Crimea, a key supply line for Russian troops in the south of Ukraine. This President and his advisors say that Ukraine was behind the blast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Here as reported we have no doubt that this is a terrorist attack aimed at the destruction of the critical infrastructure of Russian Federation. An author's executors and masterminds are the secret services of Ukraine.
ALEXANDER BASTRYKIN, INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE OF RUSSIA (through translator): Secret Services of Ukraine and citizens of Russia from foreign countries are the ones who helped to execute these terrorist attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Despite Moscow's fury, a Kremlin spokesman playing down concerns Russia might respond with a potential nuclear attack. Dmitry Peskov was asked about it that he simply dismissed the question. However, Russia has been intensifying its missile strikes in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. Hours ago it reportedly destroyed an apartment block leading to several casualties. Before that attack, Ukraine's president said strikes this week killed at least 43 civilians including 14 at this one building.
Dozens of rescue workers have been combing through the rubble hoping to find more survivors. President Zelenskyy says the attacks amount to terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It was a deliberate strike. The one who gave the order and those who carried it out knew what they were targeting. The strikes this night continued a series of Russian missile strikes in Zaporizhzhia, which have killed at least 43 people since October 3 this week alone. Terrorism is a crime that must be punished. Terrorism at the state level is one of the most heinous international crimes which threatens not just someone in the world, but the entire international community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now Ukraine's leader hasn't claimed responsibility for that explosion on the Crimea bridge despite Moscow's assertions. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen with our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Satellite images taken shortly after the explosion show the Kerch Bridge engulf in flames and thick black smoke rising into the sky. Russian investigators continue to say the blast was caused when a truck exploded, causing part of the roadway to collapse and several train cars on the railway track to also blow up.
While Moscow says the rail line is back up and running few cars are able to pass what's left of the automobile section of the bridge, causing massive traffic disruption.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If there's good weather, we will be transported by ferry to cross Kerch strait. We're waiting for the ferry.
PLEITGEN: Russian authorities say at least three people were killed in the explosion, but it's also a major symbolic and strategic blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort in Ukraine. Moscow blaming Ukraine for the attack, but so far no claim of responsibility from Kyiv's leadership.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Today was a good and mostly sunny day in our country. Over most of the territory, it was about 20 degrees Celsius and sunny. Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea, although it was still warm. But however the clouds are, Ukrainians knowing what to do, and they know that our future is sunny.
PLEITGEN: Ukraine Indians across the country rejoiced in the news.
[01:05:04]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Nobody knows how it happened but it doesn't really matter. Everyone waited for read, not just us, the mood improved. We even decided to take a walk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The emotions are very positive. The news is good. We have waited, waited, and it happened.
PLEITGEN: But Russian forces are still capable of wreaking havoc hitting the major city Zaporizhzhia with cruise missiles late Saturday killing and wounding scores, according to Ukrainian officials. After a string of setbacks on the battlefield, the Russians also announcing a new top general in charge of their war in Ukraine.
LT. GEN. IGOR KONASHENKOV, RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES (through translator): The Russian defense minister has appointed Army General Sergei Surovikin as Commander of the combined group of troops in the area of the special military operation.
PLEITGEN: One of the main things the new general will have to deal with difficult logistics even as Moscow says both road and rail traffic was back up over the Crimean bridge, it's only a trickle of what would normally come across making this vital supply artery, another bottleneck impeding Vladimir Putin's war effort in Ukraine. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now from New York. Masha Gessen is a staff writer for The New Yorker, also the author of the book, Surviving Autocracy. And it's great to see you again. Let's talk about the bridge quite apart from the physical damage. What is the significance of this in terms of the symbolism of it being hit for Russia broadly, but for Vladimir Putin more specifically?
MASHA GESSEN, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Well, it's the worst birthday present that Putin could have imagined for his 70th which was October 7. The annexation of Crimea is Putin's greatest claim to fame, greatest claim to a legacy greatest claim to popularity among the Russian people. He was hoping to build on that popularity with the capture of all of Ukraine that is clearly not gone as he planned it.
And not only that, but Ukrainians have been staging and counter- offensive had been very successful, and are saying quite openly that they want the plan to reclaim all the lands occupied by Russia, including Crimea.
That to Russians, even though Crimea was annexed only eight years ago seems almost unbelievable. So for this a dangerous bridge, to basically go up in flames in a very spectacular manner on Putin's 70th birthday is not only an affront to him, but a sign that yes, Ukrainians are very credible when they say they could reclaim premiere. HOLMES: It is extraordinary. I mean, what then is your read on the political landscape in Moscow right now, the Kremlin as the hits mount up on the battlefield on the bridge. I mean, is pressure mounting on Putin and the security of his own position? Or too early to be talking that way?
GESSEN: We don't know if it's too early. And then the biggest problem is that we don't know. Right? He's has built a state that's a black box, partly because it's highly secretive, but partly because all the decisions are made, you know, basically by him. So, we don't know what he's thinking. We can get inside anybody's head. Are there coalition's forming that could possibly topple him? Probably not. Right. We're certainly not seeing any evidence of it.
But more importantly, he has not structured his power in a way that would allow such coalition's to form. What he has done there, I think quite full heartedly is empowered these vast private armies that are -- there's every sign that they're basically getting fed up with him, because they're losing the war. And because he's losing credibility as the commander in chief.
And of course, the draft which he declared two weeks ago has left -- has led to a mass exodus of men from Russia, because men don't want to serve in this war. They don't want to be cannon fodder.
HOLMES: Well, you just you just led me nicely into my next question, because I wanted to ask you about that. You wrote in the New Yorker, a terrific piece and gave great insight into the thinking of those leaving the country to escape the mobilization. What does this exodus mean in terms of the public view of this war, or is that broad support, still the dominant sentiment? I mean, what be -- would be the tipping point? This has been an extraordinary exodus far more than the numbers mobilized.
[01:10:00]
GESSEN: Absolutely. Yes. And thank you for your kind words about the piece, it was an amazing piece to report because everyone I spoke to had a different story, obviously. But you know, the draft is affecting men from 18 to 50. And those are the ages of men who are leaving. And there was an earlier mass exodus, somewhere around probably a quarter million people, it's very difficult to put an exact number on it. But probably a large number of people fled Russia in literally the first two weeks of the full scale invasion.
So the people who were seeing leaving now are people who found reasons to stay seven months ago, whether it was because they had things that were holding them in Russia, that they just couldn't leave, like, for example, elderly ailing parents, or they made a kind of uncomfortable peace with the war. They weren't exactly for the war. But it also wasn't affecting them. And they thought they could carve out space for themselves. Or, in a couple of cases, I spoke to people who were actually anti-war activists, and who thought they could fight against the war, while standing in Russia.
And for all of them, that construction has collapsed. Right. You can't care for your ailing parents if you're about to be drafted. You can't continue running your business or whatever it is you're doing and carving out a space for yourself and thinking that the war doesn't have anything to do with you. And you can't really be an activist against the war, because you're going to get arrested and sent to the front all the same. So all of these categories are leading.
HOLMES: Yes, we really got to know the people in the piece. And that was what was fascinating about it. We're almost out of time real quick. Do you think Putin would have expected this exodus or the scale of it? How embarrassing is it?
GESSEN: I don't think he expected this exodus. I think this is the problem with all autocracies is that eventually they have -- they get less and less reliable information, partly because nobody wants to give the autocrat bad news, partly because they suppress alternative points of view.
So if he's looking -- if his watching on television as he has for 22 years, he is seeing overwhelming support for the war. That's not entirely inaccurate. But the mistake he made is that he confused support for the war with a willingness to fight in the war.
HOLMES: Yes.
GESSEN: But that's a whole other story.
HOLMES: Yes, that's so well put. Masha Gessen, always a pleasure to have your expertise on this. Thanks for taking the time.
GESSEN: Thank you for having me.
HOLMES: Moscow is praising OPEC plus for deciding to cut back on oil production. The Kremlin says the move counters what it called mayhem from the U.S. and the global energy markets. That's according to Russian state media. OPEC plus is largely led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, and it agreed to slash production by 2 million barrels a day despite pushback by the Biden administration. A spike in gas prices will likely hurt U.S. Democrats in next month's midterm elections.
The U.S. facing mounting pressure to get to Americans held captive in Russia released. Former Nevada governor and Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper about his recent meetings in Russia on that very subject in some of their conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: You think that you can get Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan out by the end of the year?
BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I do think so. Now I hate making predictions. But yes, I know. They're very despairing. We work closely with families with Whelan family, with Griner family. I know they're very emotional. And this is a very emotional time.
All I can say is that the Biden administration is working hard on that. So am I. We coordinate but not always agree on every tactical decision, but I'm not going to interfere in their process. I'm just giving you my assessment after two visits to Russia, on behalf of American hostages.
And by the way, there are 47 other hostages around the world, in Iran, in -- four more in Venezuela, almost everywhere in hostile countries, that we as Americans have an obligation to bring back whether it's the government or private humanitarian efforts.
TAPPER: Obviously it's an extraordinary time to be in Russia as they're waging war on Ukraine and meeting with Russian officials. It's something none of us get to experience your visit comes as U.S. intelligence reportedly shows a member of Putin's inner circle is voicing disagreement directly to Putin over the war.
But I know you don't want to tell us the names of the officials with whom you met but what was it like to be in the room? And did you get the sense that there was disagreement among Russian officials about hostages or about the war?
[01:15:08]
RICHARDSON: I got the sense that the Russian officials that I met with that I've known over the years are ready to talk and my hope right now is that because of the nuclear situation, there should be nuclear mitigation risk talks, we should talk about the nuclear reactors, about children, about humanitarian issues, humanitarian corridors, do something about the International Atomic Energy Agency dealing with a nuclear reactors, POWs on both sides.
You know, I got a good sense from the Russians that the vibrations but I'm not a government official, and I was just there primarily to deal with the prisoner issue. And we have other Americans that are there.
TAPPER: Yes.
RICHARDSON: So I am cautiously optimistic.
(END VIDE CLIP)
HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, North Korea's propaganda machine is out with new details on the scope of its recent military drills. And what role Kim Jong-un played and then we'll have a live report on Pyongyang's war games coming up. And then a little later the death toll rises from anti-government protests in Iran, we'll have the latest on the fight for women's rights and more for an alleged hack of a state news broadcast. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. North Korea claims the missile that launched over Japan last week was a new type of intermediate range ballistic weapon. This says Japan and South Korea say the Hermit Kingdom fired off a pair of ballistic missiles on Sunday. Just the latest in what has been a spate of launches in the past few weeks. I'm joined now by Kristie Lu Stout live for us in Hong Kong. Pyongyang releasing new information also imagery about these tests, along with Kim Jong-un's his role.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, according to North Korean state news agency KCNA, they're saying that the North Korean leader himself Kim Jong-un personally guided the recent spate of missile tests and military drills all done in response to large scale military drills that were recently conducted by the United States and its allies South Korea.
We do have a number of photos that we want to share with you right now. They were released earlier today by the North Korean newspaper, The Rodong Sinmun, and they apparently showed the last two weeks of military activity and missile activity with Kim Jong-un in full focus. He has seen looking at and monitoring these launches at a distance. He has seen pointing and offering field guidance.
According to KCNA, it said that North Korea is extremely bullish about its capability and weaponry right now let's bring up a statement for you.
[01:20:04]
It said this quote the effectiveness and practical combat capability of our nuclear combat force were fully demonstrated, as it stands completely ready to hit and destroy targets at any time from any location, unquote. KCNA also added a chilling detail has said that on September the 28th, North Korean forces held a drill in which they practice quote, neutralizing airports in South Korea. KCNA also added that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in no mood for talks or for dialogue, apparently quoting the North Korean leader as saying the following quote, even though the enemy continues to talk about dialogue and negotiations, we do not have anything to talk about, nor we feel the need to do so, unquote.
North Korea has been carrying out a flurry of missile tests in the last two weeks alone. It's carried out seven launches including yesterday's launch of two missiles early on Sunday morning just last week on Tuesday fired a missile over Japan. The first such test since 2017.
This year, North Korea has fired the highest number of missiles since 2011. That was the year when Kim Jong-un assumed power. Attention has been rising as the United States and its allies in the region respond to this uptick in activity from North Korea. You've had those recent war games between the U.S. and its allies, South Korea and Japan in the region.
You have the President's what you see on your screen there of the U.S. aircraft carrier the Ronald Reagan in waters near the Korean peninsula. And of course the recent sanctions that the U.S. is slammed against North Korea targeting its fuel procurement program and heading on top of all this, world leaders are just waiting, monitoring signs to see if North Korea will indeed go ahead and conducted another nuclear test. If it does so, that would be the first such test since 2017. As you recall, Michael, that was a time of peak tension. Back to you.
HOLMES: Absolutely. It was. You know, China has its party Congress 20th one coming up, that's not far off. China does not like distractions when the big show is on. How then does it respond?
STOUT: Yes, we are edging very close to the start of this significant Party Congress. The 20th Party Congress is the biggest political event of the year. This is when the Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to be anointed to secure that unprecedented third term in power. And yet North Korea went ahead and continue this spate of missile tests, with this latest test happening yesterday.
Look, China is a friend of North Korea. China has shielded North Korea at the UN-China. We're still awaiting response is likely to put the blame on the United States for conducting these provocative military drills with its allies in the region. But the timing is significant. We will monitor to see if there's any sort of shift in tone from China, especially as North Korea continues to carry out these provocative actions so close to the party congress. Back to you.
HOLMES: Yes, I know you'd be keeping an eye on it for us. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Thanks.
STOUT: Thank you.
HOLMES: Now, Taiwan celebrating its national day with parades, performances and a determination to defend its democratic freedoms.
A festive scene in Taipei earlier as crowds marked 111 years of a revolution that ended the last Chinese Imperial dynasty. Taiwan's President delivered a passionate speech a short time ago on the values of freedom and democracy addressing the tensions with Mainland China. Taiwan's president says Beijing must respect the island sovereignty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TSAI ING-WEN, TAIWAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The broadest consensus among the Taiwanese people and our various political parties is that we must defend our national sovereignty and our free and democratic way of life. On this point, we have no room for a compromise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Taiwan is often held up as a beacon of democracy compared to mainland China and its one party communist system that Taiwan has its own brutal history of government oppression known as the White Terror. CNN's Will Ripley explores how the island emerged from decades of martial law.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): We're on the boat to Green Island, a tiny Pacific Paradise off Taiwan's east coast. Remote, rugged, time seems to slow down here. Torturously slow. Former political prisoners say they never got to see green islands natural beauty just a cage of concrete.
RIPLEY (on camera): Oasis villa, that's what they actually call this place. It's carved on a rock outside. This is no oasis.
RIPLEY (voiceover): More like a living hell says Fred Chin (ph) locked away, beaten, humiliated. It's almost like you were made to feel less than human.
FRED CHIN (ph), WHITE TERROR SURVIVOR: Yes, also that the treated us as animals.
RIPLEY: A college do in the early 1970s wrongfully accused of plotting against the government.
[01:25:05]
He served 12 years. What evidence did they have?
CHIN (ph): No evidence at all. Nothing at all. No evidence at all.
RIPLEY: A dark chapter in Taiwan's history. 75 years ago, a popular uprising triggered almost four decades of martial law under Taiwan's late leader Chiang Kai-shek. For nearly half a century, he ruled with an iron fist, purging political opponents presiding over their trials, personally ordering thousands of executions.
This part of the KMT slowly embraced democratic reforms. Taiwan held its first direct presidential election just 26 years ago in 1996. In 2000, the KMT's 55 years of continuous rule ended. Defeated by former political prisoners, like Taiwan's first female vice president, Annette Lu. Arrested in 1979 for an impromptu speech, criticizing the government.
RIPLEY (on camera): How long was the speech?
ANNETTE LU, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN: 20 minutes.
RIPLEY (voiceover): That 20-minute speech, led to almost six years in prison. She survived that, plus cancer and attempted assassination to become a two-term vice president.
LU: But more important is that people like me who are courageous, we knew we might be jailed. But we still fear that is our obligation to fight to the last that pen.
RIPLEY (voiceover): A fight many fear may not be over amid rising tensions with China. Taiwan's hard won freedom came at a heavy price for those who never left Green Island. These walls, a silent reminder of the hardships so many endured. A silent warning of what could lie ahead if If democracy dies. Will Ripley, CNN, Green Island, Taiwan.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: When we come back here on the program, Julia downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm but still posing a threat to Central America. Our weather team is following the storm's path we'll have a live update. Also ahead. CNN's Nadia Romero will take us to Fort Myers Beach, Florida to see the devastation left behind by hurricane Ian. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In Northern Venezuela, a massive landslide has left at least 25 people dead. Rescue teams are still working to find and dozens of others reported missing. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is following developments from Bogota in Colombia.
[01:29:52]
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Michael, at least 25 people have been killed and over 50 are still missing. As the small town of Las Tejerias in Venezuela has been hit by heavy rainfall over the weekend.
The town is some 50 kilometers southwest of the country's capital of Caracas and was hit by a landslide on Saturday evening according to survivors who spoke to CNN on Sunday.
Las Tejerias, like many other urban areas in Venezuela, is a shantytown where building protocols are often bypassed. As people build their own homes wherever they can.
And as the team from CNN visited the area on Sunday, it witnessed houses completely flattened and entire streets covered in mud meters deep.
Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez also visited Las Tejerias to personally lead the search and rescue operations. She said that the emergency services are working around the clock to try to save as many people as possible.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government has called for three days of mourning to honor the victims, Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Stefano, thank you very much.
Now, Hurricane Julia made landfall in Nicaragua as a category one storm on Sunday leaving behind massive flooding in its wake. Have a look.
That is Santo Domingo in Nicaragua where floodwaters could be seen rushing down the streets. Heavy rain and strong wind also hitting the coastal city of Bluefield.
So far, government officials say there have been no reports of casualties -- that is some good news. Julia now downgraded to a tropical storm. But posing a threat still to several central American countries in the way of wind and rain and potential landslides.
CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz joins me now. Latest developments from you, what are you seeing, Britley?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST; The center Michael now near Managua in Nicaragua with winds around that center of 95 kilometers per hour. Still dealing with hurricane-force wind gusts however at 140 kilometers per hour.
I want to keep this in mind too. Even though there is no well-defined center, we still have scattered rainfall all across central America.
Now, here is what is going on in Bluefield. You see this water, just coming in over the roadways. Completely inundated, that's storm surge. Also this out of Nicaragua on the east coast, On the Atlantic side. That water got pushed up all over the coastline. Not just storm surge, but the flooding concern as well causing mudslides and landslides.
So that rain that came down, completely inundated homes and roadways, completely taken over that look like rivers. Rainfall amounts over the past 24 hours for Guatemala and Honduras, over 200 millimeters of rain. And more to come as the system itself slowly moves westward.
So the system bringing in quite a bit of rain over the next few days and then several raves of moisture to follow. So we are dealing with an additional amount of rain. Another 100 to 150 millimeters of rain. Especially for El Salvador which by the way, over the next five days we can pick up our typical average for the month of October, Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Britley, thanks. Britley Ritz there with the latest for us.
Now, for the first time since Hurricane Ian ravaged much of southwest Florida, business owners and residents of Fort Myers Beach were allowed to survey the storm damage.
CNN's Nadia Romero was also there to give us a firsthand look at the devastation left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADIA ROMERO, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Fort Myers Beach now back open at least temporarily for residents and business owners to survey the damage. And this has been such an emotional day for so many people.
We are standing here at Fort Myers beach in what was a restaurant. See that red sign there. Zanzibar -- that was a restaurant owned by a large Israeli family. And they would serve Mediterranean food and they've spent their livelihood pouring into this restaurant.
This is what used to be their restaurant. A small dance floor, place for you to pick up your food, a bar to get drinks. And then all along here were other restaurants, other small business owners. Everyone that they knew.
They poured in their life savings. Taking mortgages out on top of their own home mortgages. Trying to figure out how to stay afloat. Surviving during COVID and then now having to figure out what to do after Hurricane Ian.
[01:34:54]
ROMERO: I want you to hear from two of the owners as they try to process what is happening and what kind of help may be coming their way.
LEE LEVY, CO-OWNER, ZANZIBAR RESTAURANT: It's like right now starting to sink down. That everything we worked all our life pouring -- put everything we have into in order to have it up and running is gone. And we see no way out really.
FEMA doesn't help any small businesses. So basically no help to. SBA -- they offer loans, but we already actually start returning the (INAUDIBLE) loan from COVID which we don't know how we'll pai back considering what's going on now.
But what they're offering me is like to take more loans on top of that. And when you don't have any income, you know, it's a really scary place to be especially after you've invested everything basically you have, you know to have a business.
MEIRAV LEVI, CO-OWNER, ZANZIBAR RESTAURANT: I know that we can rebuild the area. I know they are going to do it. Fort Myers, the chambers, well, they have connections. Everybody here. We know it's going to get back to normal like Louisiana. It took them while. But after a year you saw the tourists coming back. It's going to happen.
ROMERO: You heard from those two sisters there. Since the storm hit and they haven't been able to come back to see the restaurant here in Fort Myers Beach. They've been feeding other people at their synagogue, trying to keep their minds off of the destruction. But also giving back to the community despite losing nearly everything.
Take another look. The lower level. The first floors where all of those restaurants were -- a sub shop, a club, a bar, a souvenir shop. But then if you look up, the rest of the building -- that is where you would find another restaurant and souvenir shop and hotel. Rooms where people would come and stay for spring break and for holidays.
Lee tells me that this is a place of love for family, a place of light. And she just hopes that they will be able to come back here one day and rebuild.
Nadia Romero, CNN -- Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Mozambique might have taken back territory from ISIS linked fighters. But the threat very much remains. How this regional conflict could impact the global energy market.
We will have that and more after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Protests there in northern Iran on Sunday -- one of many demonstrations across the country. Students chanting freedom, freedom demanding justice for the deaths of four young women over recent weeks as well as other basic freedoms.
An Iranian human rights group reports at least four people were killed on Saturday with more than 180 possibly killed in all since the demonstrations began.
[01:39:56]
HOLMES: There are conflicting reports in those numbers, CNN cannot independently verify them.
CNN's Nada Bashir now with more on the protests from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the weekend in Iran, we've seen anti-regime protests continuing across the country.
But of course in response to these demonstrations there also continued to be a brutal and deadly crackdown on any signs of dissent.
On Saturday alone at least four protesters were killed in the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj and Saqez after security forces opened fire on protesters according to Iranian human rights group Hengaw.
Human rights groups have also detailed the use of excessive and lethal force the country by Iran's security forces. We're talking about teargas, metal pellets, beatings and even live fire ammunition used against peaceful protesters.
And while CNN can't independently verify death toll claims, the Norway-based Iran human rights organization says it believes at least 185 people have been killed since September including 19 children.
Now, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency, Iran's deputy interior minister for security and law enforcement said Sunday that any protesters arrested would not be released and would be tried in court quickly, adding that their verdicts would be decisive and deterrent.
But in the midst of this continued violence and even restrictions on Internet access in parts of the country, we also saw another public show of defiance on Saturday.
In a now viral video clip, Iran state broadcaster appears to have been momentarily hacked during its nightly news program. The broadcast was interrupted by an image of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with a target superimposed on his face.
On screen, a clear message, join us and rise up. But what was perhaps most poignant about this interruption was the broadcast of images of four women who have died in Iran over the last month. Mahsa Amini whose death in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police in September has of course sparked this latest uprising as well as Nika Shakarami, Hadis Najafi, and Sarina Esmailzadeh. All of whom died over the nationwide demonstrations.
And while the movement continues to be driven by acts of defiance, by women protesting against the Iranian regime's severe restrictions on women's rights, the movement has also now grown to encompass more wide reaching grievances held by the Iranian people, gaining support and momentum up and down the country.
Nada Bashir, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Hundreds of Parisians took to the streets on Sunday in solidarity with the protesters in Iran. It is the latest showing of support from the international community.
Demonstrators chanting women, life, freedom in Farsi. Carrying signs, some, saying down with the Islamic Republic. Others reading "justice, freedom, the right to choose your outfit."
Nigeria says a boating accident over the weekend has claimed the lives of 76 people according to officials. The vessel capsized in a southeastern state which recently experienced heavy flooding.
Authorities have been searching for any missing passengers. And the president has ordered a review of safety protocol to try to prevent future tragedies.
In southern Africa Mozambique contending with ISIS-linked fighters with the help of Rwanda's military. The insurgents have been pushed back in some areas, splitting into smaller groups.
CNN's David McKenzie spoke with residents returning to their homes amid an unsteady peace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fight against ISIS did not end, it shifted, to ungoverned spaces like this.
MCKENZIE: We are embedded with Rwandan security forces in northern Mozambique battling an ISIS linked insurgency.
The tactics are familiar, if unspeakably brutal. To sow terror, burn schools, create chaos. they've displaced nearly 1 million people.
"Jihad in Mozambique is an extension of the Islamic state jihad o over the world", he says, with a message posted in August.
What was it like when they attacked?
It first came to this area to spread their propaganda, says Usmani Gadi. They melted back into the forest, and then later attacked. In (INAUDIBLE) a strategic port town -- ISIS Mozambique arrived in force, held the territory for a year.
[01:44:49]
MCKENZIE: When they find children like this, he says they took them back to the forest. And when they find men like this, they cut off their heads.
The cost of this insurgency is in blood but also enormous treasure. We are entering the $20 billion (INAUDIBLE) natural gas plant. This
has the potential to take in at least 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. At a time of global gas insecurity. This is a massive deal.
Industry analysts say Mozambique's offshore natural gas potential could eventually rival Russia. As Europe faces out Russia's gas supply because of the war in Ukraine, alternate sources are critical.
There is not a soul anywhere here, completely entry. The militants attack Palmer, energy giant declared Force majeure. Mozambique fearing a collapse of control, looked elsewhere.
2,000 Rwandans soldiers and police, invited by the government, took the fight to ISIS.
Later, regional forces joined in.
General, what is the consideration when dealing with an insurgency like this?
The first thing you have to do is defeat to the insurgency in a military operation. But after that, we must try to win hearts and minds.
It is still opaque, why Rwanda answered the call. Aid workers and western diplomats praise their professionalism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is having a high grade fever as you see.
The displaced are tentatively moving back. Bringing what belongings they can.
"I heard that there's peace now, so I came home", says Benjamin Thomas. That piece is fragile.
Outside of Rwanda's zone of control, the killings, the beheadings continue.
Intelligence sources say the insurgents have split into smaller cells now using improvised explosive devices.
Is it not just fixing one area and pushing the problem somewhere else?
Well, you could say that it is natural for the enemy to escape to places with last -- with less pressure. But, all we need to do is maintain momentum, follow or (INAUDIBLE).
The stakes are extraordinary. And should not be ignored. The window to defeat ISIS in Mozambique before the insurgency of all is likely short.
David McKenzie, CNN, Mozambique.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: The secretary general says international troops might be needed to restore order as Haiti falls deeper into a humanitarian crisis.
The U.N. has released a statement, addressing the Security Council. It says in part, the secretary general urges the international community to consider as a matter of urgency the request by the Haitian government for the immediate deployment of an international specialized armed force to address this humanitarian crisis including securing the free movement of water, fuel, food and medical supplies.
Now, this comes amid growing protests in Haiti. And a blockade of the country's main fuel ports by violent gangs. Haiti is also facing a new cholera outbreak and many schools, businesses and hospitals are shut down.
Well, the data are clear. New polling showing Americans think there is a mental health crisis in the U.S. We will ride along with Dr. Sanjay Gupta as he travels to a city with an innovative strategy to help those in need.
[01:48:40]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And this just in from Ukraine. CNN teams on the ground in Kyiv reported hearing two explosions in the city center within the last hour. The Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko also reported the explosions on his Telegram account. He says emergency services are on the scene.
Do stay with us. We will bring you more details as they come to hand.
Now, the United States has a mental health problem, that is according to Americans. A new poll from CNN on the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nine out of ten Americans believe there is a mental health crisis in the U.S. Unfortunately, not everyone who needs help is getting it of course.
The survey asked respondents who they think needed help and why they avoided getting it. The top reasons were: being too busy, being unable to take time off of work, being unable to afford it, and being afraid or embarrassed to seek care.
Now, in some instances, Americans don't have anywhere to go for mental health services and that is especially true for kids. The American Psychological Association estimates 80 percent of U.S. counties don't even have one child psychologist.
The poll also found that 20 percent of Americans have called the 9-1-1 emergency number because they or a loved one were having a mental health crisis.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta went inside one of these call centers to see who is on the other end of the line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 9-1-1, what is your emergency?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: 9-1-1, dialing those three numbers activates one of the most sophisticated response systems in anywhere in the world. Police, EMS, or the fire department shows up to your door within minutes in most cities.
But what if the help you need is different? Less physical health, more mental.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, my name is Jordan and I am a counselor in the 9-1-1 call center.
DR. GUPTA: So what happens in these situations is that the 9-1-1 call gets diverted over here to Jordan. Because there is some concern that there may be a mental health component to it.
JORDAN HYLER, CRISIS RESPONSE CLINICIAN: Let me just try to summarize what I heard to make sure I understand what's going on, ok.
DR. GUPTA: Jordan Hyler is a crisis-response clinician here in Durham, North Carolina. She is part of something new, something increasingly necessary. It is called HEART -- Holistic, Empathetic Assistance Response Team.
Your goal is to say, look if someone is dealing with a mental health crisis, things like that. It should be treated differently than the standard 9-1-1 call?
HYLER: Yes, in the sense that we as clinicians have more training in mental health than just assessing people who are struggling with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has he ever hurt you, physically?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. When was the last time?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last week when he pushed me to the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel kind of danger to myself, not anybody else. I would like to go to the hospital.
DR. GUPTA: And too many calls like this one -- a mother, distraught, calling 9-1-1 about her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a 27 year old daughter who has mental issues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she a danger to herself right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it doesn't appear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel unsafe? Do you feel like she is going to hurt you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't know what to do.
DR. GUPTA: And just like EMS, should the need arise, HEART going into the field as well.
So this is a community response team, there is no weapons --
HYLER: No weapons at all.
DR. GUPTA: Nobody is carrying weapons?
HYLER: No. No weapons.
DR. GUPTA: That's a different vibe right away, right. You see somebody approaching, even, you know, if they are well-intentioned, if they are carrying a weapon and a bag -- it's a different feel.
HYLER: Exactly. But we come truly open and wanting to engage.
DR. GUPTA: Abena Bediako, a mental health clinician is teamed up with Alison Casey, and EMT and Christopher Lawrence, to provide care support.
ABENA BEDIAKO, A MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN: We are off to see a neighbor, who we've encountered before. Our initial encounter with him was through a trespass 9-1-1. Someone had called about him living out on their property.
DR. GUPTA: What you are witnessing is one of the most common calls they get -- trespassing.
And this is private property here though?
BEDIAKO: Yes.
DR. GUPTA: The HEART team works to defuse the situation.
BEDIAKO: We will let them know that we are helping to move. They will leave you alone.
[01:54:55]
DR. GUPTA: This pilot program was born in part after a tragedy that gripped the nation.
George Floyd -- there was obviously police scent and we know what happened tragically.
Do you think that having a team like this would have made a difference in George Floyd's case?
BEDIAKO: I think so. To have us there to advocate for him possibly.
To step in to that space for the neighbor and for the officers to just give a different perspective. If we can provide a resource that you need right now in the moment. So
that it would not escalate. We can be there for them. Even in that brief moment. It could save a life.
DR. GUPTA: If HEART does deem a situation unsafe, it also has the option of dispatching a co-response team which pairs police officers with a mental health clinician.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Diverting you to a trespass call.
DR. GUPTA: So far there are no issues today.
BEDIAKO: We are heading to the location.
DR. GUPTA: I noticed you used the turn neighbor, is that -- is that how you refer everyone that you're helping is a neighbor?
BEDIAKO; Yes. Very intentional. Because they are not subjects, they are not patients or clients. It could be me that you only have to have one day. It could be you -- you know.
DR. GUPTA: Everyone's a neighbor.
BEDIAKO: Everybody's a neighbor.
DR. GUPTA: So the HEART team works the streets. Helping a community of neighbors, more anxious and depressed than ever. Providing a dose of humanity and yes heart.
In the hopes they can help those who cannot always help themselves.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN -- Durham, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, some moments of joy for people in one Thailand town struggling with unbearable grief. A three year old girl nicknamed Amy is believed to be the only child to survive without injury that massacre at a daycare center on Thursday. She was sleeping with a blanket over her face when police say a former officer burst in and shot and stabbed at least 36 people, including 24 children. Her mother calls her survival a miracle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PANOMPAL SITHONG, MOTHER OF 3-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: My kid is not a deep sleeper. I believe there must be some spiritual and covering her eyes and ears.
I have no words. I am in shock. I feel for other families when I visited them. But when I turn around and look at myself, I am glad that my kid had survived. It is a mixed feeling of sadness and gratefulness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes.
CNN NEWSROOM with Laila Harrak, starts in just a moment.
[01:57:43]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
