Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.N. Votes To Condemn Russian Annexations In Ukraine; NATO, Allies Pledge To Bolster Ukraine's Air Defenses; Jury Awards Sandy Hook Families & First Responder Nearly $1B; Wall Street Pulls Back Ahead Of Key Inflation Report; Biden Admin Formally Identifies China As Top U.S. Challenge; Migrants Take More Risks On Long Journey To U.S. Border. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 13, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:30]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Oh, the company you keep. At the U.N., only North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Nicaragua vote with Russia supporting for sham referendums over parts of Ukraine.
After a decade of hateful light about the Sandy Hook school shooting, a jury has ordered Alex Jones of Infowars to pay almost $1 billion in damages. And "Mission Possible?" New details about the long talk of Tom Cruise moving in outer space. Now with a spacewalk because why not? He's Tom Cruise.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: At the U.N. General Assembly, an overwhelming vote in favor of demanding Vladimir Putin reverse course on his illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory was a sign that global opposition to Russia is not only steadfast but growing. Of the four resolutions passed by the U.N. since the invasion, this one received the most support.
Among Russia, North Korea, Syria, Belarus, Nicaragua voted no what Washington described as a rogue's gallery. 143 countries voting in favor bringing a round of applause.
And there it is. The sham referendum stage last month with the unverified results claiming four occupied regions had voted to become part of Russia. The U.N. resolution calls on all countries not to recognize the four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Colleagues, the facts are clear. A U.N. member state, one with a permanent seat on the Security Council has attempted to annex territory from its neighbor by force.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Also on the diplomatic front, the presidents of Russia and Turkey will soon meet in Kazakhstan. According to a Kremlin aide, Russia tied to Erdogan is expected to offer to act as mediator in a possible third round of peace talks. Turkey is a member of NATO but has close ties with Russia has stayed neutral since the conflict began and refrain from imposing sanctions on Russia.
Meantime, Russian shelling and aerial attacks continues in some parts, with Ukrainian officials saying and chemicals drone hit a community in the Kyiv region. There's no information on damage or casualties as of yet. The military claims it's propelled several advances in the Donetsk region, although one city Zaporizhzhia was hit with more than 300 shells on Wednesday alone.
Ukrainian advances are continuing in southern Kherson region. Five more villages now said to be liberated. One soldier posted video on Facebook of his unit raising Ukrainian flag. Counter offensives have pushed Russian forces back in Kharkiv Izium, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, but Putin's troops to control large swathes of territories in Ukraine's east and south.
Meantime, NATO and its allies are promising to help Ukraine improve its defense capability against Russian aerial attacks. Already France, U.K., the Netherlands have pledged air-to-air missiles, ammunition, for Howitzers, air defense systems and radars. The U.S. and Germany have also committed to more military support.
At a meeting in Brussels Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised to get advanced systems to Ukraine as fast as we can physically get them there. And the top U.S. General said it will take a coordinated effort.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: A lot of the countries that were here today have a wide variety of systems. And the task will be to bring those together, get them deployed, get them trained, because each of these systems is different. Make sure that they can link together with a command and control, the communication systems and make sure they have radars that can talk to each other so that they can acquire targets on the inbound flights. So it's quite complicated from a technical standpoint, it is achievable. And that's what we're aiming at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We get the very latest now from Ukraine with CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting in from Kyiv. And a warning, his report contains some graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Another mass casualty attack in Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Bodies strewn across a market in the eastern town Avdiivka. Just one reason why the Ukrainians disagree with President Joe Biden's remark from the interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that Putin is a rational actor.
The adviser to Ukraine's presidential administration tells me he believes the opposite is true.
[01:05:07]
MIKHAIL PODOLYAK, ADVISER TO UKRAINE'S PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE (through translation): He is not rational. He is emotional. He takes a lot of decisions from an emotional position and without a deep understanding of what is going on. Every decision that President Putin makes is a mistake.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): As jets patrol the sky over Ukraine's capital, Russia continued its blitz of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, hitting the town of Zaporizhzhia and targeting critical infrastructure, especially power plants. The adviser telling me Ukraine is working hard to repair the damage and appreciate support from the U.S. and its allies.
PODOLYAK (through translation): Our partners all reacted very quickly to what happened on Monday the 10th. All our official partners, including the United States, announced that the types of strikes were inhumane because they consciously targeted civilian infrastructure.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukraine's military says it's able to shoot down many of the missiles and drones Russia fires at its territory, but only has old Soviet era Surface-to-Air Systems and not enough of them.
At a meeting in Brussels, NATO made clear providing Ukraine with modern anti-aircraft missiles is a top priority.
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: This content group stands united and determined. We will continue to boost Ukraine's defensive capabilities for today's urgent needs and for the long haul.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Ukrainians say they continue to make headway against Russia's forces on the battlefield. Kyiv saying its forces took back several key villages in the south of the country. And the presidential adviser telling me despite Vladimir Putin's nuclear threat, Ukraine must prevail.
PODOLYAK (through translation): Look, the threats of the use of nuclear weapons is not the problem of Ukraine. In any case, we cannot stop our counteroffensive. In any case, we cannot give up our territory to Russian control, because it will mean an endless war for us. It will be impossible to rebuild the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: One of the things that Ukrainians say they have managed to do is stabilize the power system here in Kyiv and also in the surrounding areas as well. They say as a result of that, they're not going to have to force people to use less energy but they are calling on people to conserve as much energy as possible and use as little as possible as, of course, the threat of further Russian missile attacks on critical infrastructure remains. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
VAUSE: To Los Angeles now, Daniel Treisman, professor of Political Science at UCLA and author of "The Return: Russia's Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev." Thank you for being with us, Daniel. It's good to see you.
DANIEL TREISMAN, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UCLA: Sure.
VAUSE: So we'll start at the U.N. The vote condemning Russia's sham referendum on -- and the illegal annexation. Here's Moscow's man at the U.N. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VASILY NEBENZYA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. (through translation): The results of the vote speak for themselves. The populations of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine and have made an informed and free choice in favor of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But that's not entirely true, but the results do speak for themselves in this vote. Back in March, the UNGA voted to condemn the invasion, 141 in favor. This time, 143 in favor. Last time, four countries plus two are sort of oppose saying this time round. I guess in one respect, it indicates that opposition to Russia has remained steady, maybe grown a little bit. But at all the atrocities have been committed and after seven months of war, you would expect that number to be a little bit higher there, right? But at least, I would.
TREISMAN: Well, it is, of course, disappointing that India and South Africa saw fit abstain from vote rather than condemning the illegal annexation of these territories. But I think that 143 states that very clearly condemned what Russia is doing, that's a very strong statement. And maybe the others will come around to that eventually. Clearly, there were very few countries and only the countries were already know or solidly on Russia's side that would actually vote no on this resolution.
VAUSE: Yes, there was some initial hesitation though, but now the U.S. and NATO they seem all in on getting air defenses to Ukraine. I'd like you to listen to the U.S. Defense Secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUSTIN: The systems will be provided as fast as we can physically get them there. And this is something as I said at the top that we remain focused on. And we're going to provide systems that we have available, that countries like Germany has available. We're also going to try to provide additional munitions to the existing systems that the Ukrainian forces are using.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And that sounds there's a great deal of urgency about this right now. But in some cases like France, they're talking weeks, in the coming weeks before these air defense systems are actually delivered. That is a long time to be a sitting duck waiting for a missile to, you know, come in from the skies above.
[01:10:11]
TREISMAN: Right. President Macron mentioned two weeks as a possible timeframe for getting anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine. The pledges will be made by the Western countries, by the U.S., U.K., France, Germany. Germany's already provided one system, as I understand. But the key question is how fast can these systems get to Ukraine, because every day, more people are being killed not just soldiers, but civilians, women and children.
And there's a lot of cities in Ukraine that need to be defended. So it's absolutely crucial now that all states do everything they can to actually deliver these systems not just pledged and deliver these systems to Ukraine, which needs them so badly right away.
VAUSE: And there's also been a lot of reporting on Russia's stockpiles of long-range precision guided missiles, they may be running loads, and it appears that way. But the use of the sort of dumb bombs, if you like, there's so many area technology. But what about the current status of weapons stockpiles of NATO countries, much of it tends to be sent to Ukraine. And it seems that Europe's defense industry is not really set up for mass production for a war like this.
TREISMAN: Yes. Of course, this war was quite unexpected to many people. And now that whole military industrial complex needs to be cranked up. We need to start producing these weapons much faster. That requires state investment in a number of countries. A lot of countries again have made pledges, have started moving down that path. But we really need the investment to be made fast. The money to go to those companies so that they really can expand production quickly.
VAUSE: Is there a timeframe on, you know, investing that money and getting crushed up to the required amounts that the Ukrainians need and also NATO needs?
TREISMAN: Well, so there's two parts to that, right? There's, first of all, getting the weapons to Ukraine, there is still some weapons in stockpiles, obviously, and those need to be turned over and delivered to Ukraine, committed to Ukraine and delivered. But the longer-term problem is to replenish those NATO stocks for defense of NATO countries. And that, of course, can't be done overnight will take some months. But it needs to start right away.
VAUSE: Daniel Treisman, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
TREISMAN: My pleasure.
VAUSE: After a decade of hateful, harmful lies, as well as idiotic conspiracy theories, there are now consequences for Alex Jones of Infowars. The Internet shock jock drew big following with fictional claims. The school shooting at Sandy Hook in 2012 was a hoax, staged by those opposed to guns.
And for the damage done to some of the families whose children were gunned down and murdered, a jury has ordered Jones to pay almost $1 billion in damages. Jones called the ruling a joke, vowed to appeal. Will also imply the families will not get paid because his company is in bankruptcy and, quote, there ain't no money.
CNN's Brynn Gingras has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury --
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who was found liable last year of defaming families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims must pay for his words.
ROBBIE PARKER, DAUGHTER MURDERED AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: So I'm just proud that what we were able to accomplish was just to simply tell the truth, and it shouldn't be this hard, and it shouldn't be the scary.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The Connecticut jury of six unanimously decided Jones must pay $965 million in compensatory damages to the 15 plaintiffs. 14 are family members of victims and the 15 is an FBI agent who responded to the scene on the day of the shooting. Family member sat in court, some crying as the verdict was read. Jones was not there.
ALEX JONES, HOST, INFOWARS: The whole thing was fake.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The Infowars host spent years spreading disinformation about the 2012 Sandy Hook School 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'd been harassed over the past decade, both in person and online.
PARKER: For years, I've been dealing with this, and everybody was online, or everybody was in the comfort of their studio in some other state. And I never had a chance to tell anybody how I felt or what I thought. I'm paraphrasing at this point, but like just how dare you. You're talking about my daughter.
She was killed. Who do you think you are?
FRANCINE WHEELER, SON MURDERED AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: And she said, who's that? And I said, that's my son Ben. He died in his first-grade classroom at Sandy Hook School. And she said, what? I said, yes, he died at Sandy Hook. And she said, you're lying. That didn't happen.
[01:15:03]
GINGRAS (voice-over): During the trial, Jones took the stand only one time on September 22nd and got in a heated exchange with the plaintiffs' attorney.
CHRIS MATTEI, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: Today, a jury representing our community, and our nation rendered a historic verdict. A verdict against Alex Jones' lies in their poisonous spread and a verdict for truth and for our common humanity.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Jones defense team opted not to cross examine him and Jones never took the stand again during the trial. His attorney saying this after the verdict was read today.
NORM PATTIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR ALEX JONES: Certainly, it's more than we expected. That's an understatement. But we look very much forward to an appeal in this case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS: Even as the verdict came down, Alex Jones is on his show mocking the verdict saying he has no money. His attorney says they plan to appeal this decision. The plaintiffs' attorney says they are going to fight this to the very end. Now those plaintiffs are going to also be awarded punitive damages, but the amount is going to be determined at a later court date.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, in Waterbury, Connecticut.
VAUSE: In the coming hours, the U.S. House Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is set to hold its first public hearing since July. Sources say it will feature new testimony and evidence although no witnesses will be appearing in person. Lawmakers are expected to treat the hearing as a closing argument ahead of midterm elections less than four weeks away. Sources say they plan to argue former president Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE RASKIN, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: The political coup and all of the events surrounding the attempt to overthrow Joe Biden's majority in electoral college, they insurrectionary violence, the mobilization of the mob, all of it flowed out of the will and determination of one man to seize the presidency and that's Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A programming note now attack on democracy, the January 6 hearings live with Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper. That's Thursday starting at 1:00 p.m. in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London right here on your Cable News Network.
Wall Street is bracing for the latest inflation figures from the U.S. Labor Department and the consumer price index is released in the coming hours. They'll close down 28 points on Wednesday and an anticipation the news will not be good.
And the reason behind investor pessimism was another inflation barometer released on Wednesday, the Producer Price Index which tracks how much American producers have paid for their goods and services. The rise of 0.4 percent in September was higher than anticipated, though the annual rate did dip slightly to 8.5 percent. Those rising costs are eventually passed on to consumers and indicates inflation is not under control, which will likely trigger another round of aggressive rate hikes by the Fed.
Now the British Prime Minister Liz Truss is ruling out reductions in government spending. And she says she will not reverse plans for tax cuts. But she will, quote, spend public money well. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What we're making sure is that we protect our economy, this very difficult time internationally. And as a result of our action Mr. Speaker, and this has been independently corroborated, we will see higher growth and lower inflation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Across France, long lines for fuel have become a common sight amid a strike by refinery workers. French Energy Minister says nearly one in three gasoline stations nationally are facing shortages. President Emmanuel Macron told broadcaster Fred Stew (ph), the government will order essential staff to return to work if workers and energy companies failed to reach an agreement in the coming hours. But the union representing the workers plan to challenge any such order in court.
In fact, the clime man nicknamed France's Spider-Man is claiming for an end to the strike. Alain Robert climb the pronounced tallest skyscraper in Paris. It's a big one to draw attention to the shows. I pronounced that wrong. Sorry Spider-Man.
Kim Jong-un is praising North Korea's latest missile tests. Why this one's a little different from the flurry of recent launches? Plus, nearly two years into the Biden administration and now officially named China as the greatest global challenge facing the U.S. More on that in a moment.
And then later the fake German heiress who inspired Netflix series and was recently released from U.S. custody. She spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It doesn't sound like you're really actually all that repentant. It doesn't sound like you're actually really regret what you did or even necessarily think you did anything wrong?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:21:48]
VAUSE: Another missile tests by North Korea making 26 by all count so far this year. This time, long range cruise missiles which are not banned under U.N. sanctions, but are still capable of carrying a nuclear payload were tested. State media reports leader Kim Jong-un guided the launch and is pleased with the results, which he says proves his nuclear combat forces are fully prepared for war and to bring the enemies under their control.
The Biden administration has singled out Russia and the invasion of Ukraine as the most immediate threat to global stability, which says China remains America's most consequential geopolitical challenge. The White House has now formally put that assessment in writing with its first national security strategy, document which is required by Congress.
The administration makes the case that unlike Russia, Chinese leader Xi Jinping appears to have developed the most long-range abilities to further its global ambitions at the expense of the United States. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says that U.S. will need to act quickly to counter China's growing influence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The stakes could not be higher. The actions we take now will shape whether this decisive decade is an age of conflict and discord where the beginning of a more prosperous and stable future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Saudi Arabia claims its move to slash oil production was not politically motivated against the U.S. But President Joe Biden says he was deeply disappointed. And his National Security Adviser says all aspects of U.S.-Saudi relations will now be reviewed, that includes potential arms sales. U.S. officials and lawmakers view the 2 million barrels a day cut is only benefiting Moscow and its war in Ukraine. But senior Saudi officials are pushing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Saudi Arabia is not siding with Russia. Saudi Arabia is taking the side of trying to ensure the stability of the oil market. Saudi Arabia does not politicize oil. We don't see oil as a weapon. We don't -- we see oil as a commodity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The cut in oil production threatens to worsen global inflation at a time of soaring energy costs. President Biden says he'll consult with members of Congress on possible consequences for the Saudis.
Washington is preparing to roll out a new program for Venezuelan migrants seeking to come to the U.S. Under the program, about 24,000 Venezuelans will be admitted into the U.S. annually. There's been a massive increase of migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, all trying to cross the U.S. border with Mexico.
CNN's Rafael Romo reports that journey stretches for thousands of kilometers with obstacles every step of the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Panama, they're the target of an air and land military operation. In Colombia, the country's Coast Guard is trying to intercept them in the ocean. And in Guatemala, national police in riot gear tried to stop them, but they lacked the numbers to do so.
From South America to the United States trying to stop yet another wave of migrants seems to be a losing battle for all the countries involved. It seems like more than ever, migrants are willing to face any risk and pay ever increasing amounts of money to reach the United States. In Panama, the number of migrants who continue crossing the parallels Darien jungle is increasing.
[01:25:04]
By the end of September, over 134,000 migrants had crossed the Colombian border into Panama, already surpassing last year's total of 133,000.
This Marine Corps captain in Colombia says that smugglers used to charge $1,000 per person to cross from the Colombian San Andres and Providencia islands to Central American countries like Nicaragua, an amount that he says has now increased to 4,000.
The influx of migrants is not only increasing the nationalities of those seeking to reach the United States have also changed in the last few years.
This Guatemalan immigration official says they routinely detain migrants from countries as close as Cuba and Haiti and as far as Senegal, but these days most seem to be Venezuelan nationals. This man in Caracas who chose not to reveal his identity because he works for the government of Venezuela says he's desperate to leave his country. He says his government job pays about $5 a week, which forces him to hold two other jobs to make ends meet.
He says he's decided to leave. The question is how to get safely to the United States with no visa for any Central American country or his final destination. Cousins Mario Mosqueda (ph) and Jefferson Losada (ph), also from Venezuela, have already made it as far as Guatemala.
Venezuela is unlivable, the father of three says. The economic crisis has been very hard. And the truth is that I'm making this sacrifice to give my children a better life.
As the United States approaches midterm elections, immigration has once again become --
JODEY ARRINGTON, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: This crisis is a direct result. Let's be very clear, a direct result of President Biden's unilateral actions.
ROMO (voice-over): -- a political hot potato with Republican governors from Texas and Florida, busing immigrants to places like New York and Washington, D.C.
RAUL REYES, ATTORNEY AND IMMIGRATION ANALYST: What we have here just -- is sort of a perfect storm. New York shelter systems were overcrowded and overwhelmed before any of these migrants arrived. Meanwhile, at the border, we're seeing the same -- similar situation with a different population of migrants, where their resources are very strained.
ROMO (voice-over): Back in Guatemala, Cousins Mario Mosqueda in Jefferson Losada press on. In Venezuela, minimum wages not even enough to eat, they say, before leaving to join a group of other migrants with whom they share the same dream of reaching the United States regardless of the risks involved.
Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, days after blast damaged a bridge linking Russia to Crimea. Questions remain of exactly what was the cause of the explosion. But Vladimir Putin, he knows who's responsible.
Germany's economy is in a tight spot because of energy shortages caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But now, Europe's largest economy is taking steps to cut dependency finally on Russian energy. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:32]
VAUSE: Russian security services have detained eight people believed to have played a role in the explosion on a bridge linking Crimea to Russia. At the same time Vladimir Putin is blaming Ukraine's special forces for the weekend blast.
And as CNN's Oren Liebermann reports, whoever is responsible, the attack was sophisticated and devastating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON, CORRESPONDENT: From three different angles, surveillance video catches the moment of the Kerch Bridge explosion. Video experts have played and replayed to figure out what happened.
What is certain is the explosion maximized the damage, detonating between two bridge supports and causing the span to collapse into the water below.
Satellite images clearly show the impact to the bridge, a vital link between Russia and Crimea.
CHRIS COBB SMITH, FORMER WEAPONS INSPECTOR: The results (INAUDIBLE) let's call it variable put into the mix which meant that the detonation happened at exactly the right time, and in exactly the right place.
LIEBERMANN: The low quality surveillance video played frame by frame at the moment of the blast raises many questions.
SMITH: We can't tell from that video footage whether that vehicle -- whether it was that vehicle that it was detonated and caused the explosion.
LIEBERMANN: It is unclear whether it was the truck that carried the explosives or an undisclosed weapon, perhaps a missile or drone that struck the bridge in the darkness and caused the fireball.
Chris Cobb-Smith says it's unlikely the explosion came from below the bridge.
SMITH: It has certainly been a blast that affected -- affected the span still remains. (INAUDIBLE) there's something some sort of over pressure definitively on the road. There's also signs of it was -- you can call it (INAUDIBLE) if you like or signs of burning which aren't evidence on the underside of the bridge.
LIEBERMANN: The scan evidence makes it less probable that Ukrainian special operations forces connected explosives to the bridge or that the attack came from a boat on the water.
The bridge is hundreds of miles from Ukrainian controlled territory by land or by sea, both patrolled by Russian defenses. So no explanations is without its problems.
But Ukraine has shown its military capabilities before. Flying helicopters in and out of Mariupol while it was under assault and attacking the Saki (ph) airfield in Crimea, an operation that still hasn't been thoroughly explained.
The Kremlin, immediately blamed Ukraine for the attack.
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 the Russian Federation. And the authors, executors and masterminds are the secret services of Ukraine.
LIEBERMANN: The U.S. has been tight-lipped about the Kerch Bridge explosion.
JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We don't really have anything more to add to the reports about the explosion on the bridge. I just don't anything to contribute to that.
LIEBERMANN: The Ukrainians claim they don't know what happened.
DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I really don't know who blew up the Kerch Bridge. I wouldn't exclude if the Russian it was something happening inside of Russia, because this bridge is so -- it's so heavily protected from all sides. LIEBERMANN: But experts say it would be unlikely for Russians to
target their own critical 0infrastructure. Russian state media said eight people have been detained over the explosion. All that is missing now is a convincing explanation.
As for the question about what could this explosive have been made of -- again, that's a very difficult question to answer, but it would have to be something the creators expected would get through Russian inspection, even if they're not all that thorough.
That lent some credence to the idea that perhaps it was a fertilizer bomb, maybe with an accelerant, something or something similar to that.
Meanwhile, another question how big was the explosive? Experts seem to be in agreement that this is a very large explosive which again lends some credibility to the idea of a truck bomb, and leads us away at least to some extent from a missile or a drone which simply could not carry a warhead of that size.
Oren Liebermann, CNN -- at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The European Union is moving to DART (ph) what one senior officer calls an energetic missile fired at the economy by Moscow.
On Wednesday E.U. officials agreed on the need to bid selectively for natural gas and avoid bidding wars among individual member states. Although a top E.U. energy official says the proposed cap on natural gas used for producing electricity remains in limbo.
[01:34:50]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KADRI SIMSON, E.U. ENERGY COMMISSIONER: We will see over the weekend how we can proceed with capping the gas for both generation if this is set at that stage we can say that there's a broad majority member states supporting this measure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And Vladimir Putin is now offering to start natural gas exports to Europe through a link of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that was not damaged by last month's explosions.
The E.U. is facing a massive energy crisis and a possible recession with Russia cutting off gas supplies, but Vladimir Putin says Europe has only itself to blame for the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUTIN: Why is Russia to blame? They want to blame someone else for it in this case, unfortunately. They are to blame themselves. It is not the result of any actions under the special military operation in Ukraine, in Donbas.
Russia is ready to start such supplies. The ball is in the court of the E.U. If they want, they can open the tap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, Germany has long relied on Russia for much of its energy need, but as CNN's Clare Sebastian reports Germans are now moving to wean themselves away from that dependency.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: through the early autumn drizzle, Germany is racing against time. The construction started on this liquefied natural gas terminal on its north sea coast in May.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normally, it takes four to five years to realize such a project, sometimes even six years.
SEBASTIAN: This one will be up and running by early next year. It's operator says capable of providing up to 8 percent of all the gas Germany needs. Gas that used to come from Russia.
Until the war in Ukraine, Russia provided more than half of Germany's gas. Now because of Germany's own efforts to reduce its reliance, and Russia cutting supplies, no Russian gas is currently flowing.
HOLGER KREETZ, COO, ASSET MANAGEMENT, UNIPER: Obviously, we had to bring coal-fired power plants back into operation. We had to invest in to bringing for a certain period of time new gas into Germany. It was not a question of whether we like it or whether we not like it, but it is really, it's a must for the society.
SEBASTIAN: Skyrocketing gas prices have already forced some German companies to curb production. Inflation mostly due to rising energy prices hit 10 percent in September.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a plan.
SEBASTIAN: And amid fears of shortages, the E.U. agreed on voluntary cuts to energy usage this winter. At the same time, the German government says it will borrow almost $200 billion to shield consumers from soaring costs, a policy that for Claudia Kemfort, a longtime adviser to the German government, doesn't make sense.
CLAUDIA KEMFORT, GERMAN INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH: Actually, the houses are not saving enough gas, but also the government is doing the next mistake in announcing that we might get a gas price cap. And that brings a signal to the private household, oh, everything is fine, we can continue in consuming gas as we did in the past.
SEBASTIAN: Are you worried about the winter?
KEMFORT: If the winter gets very cold, and we do not get any Russian gas anymore, it might come to scarcities.
SEBASTIAN: Some Germans are not waiting around to find out. Domestic solar panel sales were up 22 percent in the first half of the year.
Johan and Marika Schmidtman (ph) have come to this Berlin workshop to learn how to operate one for their balcony.
MARIKA SCHMIDTMAN, BERLIN RESIDENT (through translator): Because energy costs have skyrocketed so much that we are simply saying we can somehow throttle them.
SEBASTIAN: They are also hoping to be part of the renewable energy transition, one that is now happening alongside an energy emergency.
Clare Sebastian, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, actor Tom Cruise well known for his out of the world stunts, could he be ready to do them actually in out of space?
Also, Russian-German scam artist Anna Sorokin speaks to CNN about the Netflix series she inspired and a depiction of her unique accent.
[01:38:57]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth and the impact they have on the environment is just as massive. But shrinking habitats are leading to more and more negative interactions with people.
Today on "Call to Earth", an organization in southern Africa is alleviating human-elephant conflict by promoting a positive relationship between the two.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: if you take a trip to the northwest of Namibia, an arid region of Southern Africa where sandy desert, rocky mountains dominate the landscape, you may come across an unexpected site.
These desert-adapted elephants, are actually African Savannah elephants that have developed a distinct skill to help them live here. They are only one of two desert-dwelling populations in the world.
In this part of the country, there are 22 elephants from three different herds that roam freely. This according to Herman Kasaona, an elephant guardian who works for the conservation and volunteer project Elephant-Human Relations Aid.
HERMAN KASAONA, ELEPHANT GUARDIAN, The elephant can smell water a little bit far, deeper under the ground, and also so clever and smart. That is how the elephant know how top survive in the desert area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a keystone species, the elephants actions, movements and feeding habits are central in maintaining diverse and healthy ecosystems.
But for a period of more than 30 years, they were absent from this landscape, forced out by political conflict, poaching and expanding human settlements.
Then in the late 1990s, they began to return in an area where water is a precious resource, issues often arise, but there is help.
KASAONA: We make a peace between the human being and the elephant. So we try to solve the conflicts between the two. You see how intricate (INAUDIBLE) cut itself from other elephant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Known as PEACE coordinators -- an acronym that stands for people, elephants amicably co-existing. It is the job of Herman and fellow guardian Taiwin Garoeb (ph) to mitigate any conflict that may arise.
And they have a number of ways to go about this (INAUDIBLE) starting with access to water.
KASAONA: We build a small den for the elephant away from the community village. We try to protect the community water point for the elephant not to damage the water tank.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: since 2003, the organization has built more than 230 protective walls with help from over 3,500 volunteer. But water is not the only resource of concern.
KASAONA: The elephants broke into the garden of Fiona Hamsis (ph). They eat some popos, some tomatoes. They destroy the garden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of Taiwin's job is to be a first responder to these types of incidents.
GAROEB: I have to go check how much they make. ate. So, if I have to right foot, I have to start building fences again.
After building up the fence I have to put on chili bumps so they don't like the smell. And they can smell it from 50 meters so they won't come near the fence anymore.
[01:45:01]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to establish a series of workshops, trainings and development program. Education is also key to the group's effort. All of it designed to promote the conservation of Namibia's desert adapted elephants and uplift local communities.
KASAONA: The female elephant and the male elephant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want the people especially my community to know that the elephants can understand us, if we know how to talk with them. We have to protect them for our next generations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Please let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the "#calltoearth".
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Russian-German scam artist Anna Sorokin has been released from U.S. custody, that was last week. and is now telling her side of the story after a Netflix had dramatized her life, It became one of the streaming services' most popular shows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA SOROKIN, FAKE GERMAN HEIRESS: Everything that is wrong with America right now.
I am famous People are painting a public picture of me as if I am a criminal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Sorokin was found guilty of scamming banks and friends out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending to be heiress, Anna Zalvy (ph) who claims she have a multi-million fortune and she worked her way up into the upper echelons of New York society.
Sorokin is currently fighting deportation in and spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How does it feel to be semi free?
SOROKIN: I am so happy to be given this opportunity. I feel like I'm getting a second chance to fix my mistakes. And I'm so happy ICE agreed to release me even if it's just house arrest.
TAPPER: House arrest and you have this ankle monitor. Is that annoying?
SOROKIN: No. I'm getting used to it. They've taken it out (INAUDIBLE) so it's not dangling as they used to.
TAPPER: Are you allowed to leave the apartment at all?
SOROKIN: No.
TAPPER: Not at all?
SOROKIN: No. Well, I'm supposed to check in with my (INAUDIBLE) parole and my ICE officers but otherwise no.
TAPPER: Do you have any -- idea how long you're going to be in house arrest?
SOROKIN: No. Not yet. ICE is figuring it out now.
TAPPER: Figuring it out. And then you have this free time, I don't know if you've had any time to binge any TV shows.
SOROKIN: No, I'm not.
TAPPER: There's one on Netflix, called "Inventing Anna", I'm not sure if you've seen it.
SOROKIN: No, not yet.
TAPPER: You haven't seen it.
SOROKIN: No but I feel like about half an hour Maybe part of it.
(CROSSTALK)
SOROKIN: I'm thinking about someone like everyone else, like basic, you know.
TAPPER: Have you heard that you think she got your accent, because it became her depiction of your accent was so famous for a while, there was even a skit on Saturday Night Live about it, and you know, people would do the accents.
Is that -- I mean is that something you enjoy. Or thought it was weird or what --
SOROKIN: I don't think I sound like but I think she got me from the time before because I used to like 10 years ago. I used to travel so much. I was like and might need plenty. But now I just spend so many time in the space. And I'm glad (INAUDIBLE) you are so bay circumstances and people would do the accent. I guess, my accent is not strong as it used to be. TAPPER: So I wondered you wanted to be famous and well connected. You
came to New York with all sort of plans and you now know as a notorious con-artist and grifter and wine.
And I wonder if you -- do have any regrets?
[01:50:00]
SOROKIN: Absolutely, yes. I feel so sorry for a lot of the choices I've made. I just feel like I've learned much absolutely as a person.
TAPPER: But you convinced people that you were an heiress, that you had lots of money that you didn't have.
SOROKIN: I actually never said that to anybody. That was just an assumption they had.
TAPPER: Well, you're saying all this stuff to me, it doesn't sound like -- it doesn't sound like you are actually, really regret what you need or all that repentant. It doesn't sound like that you regret what you did or even necessarily did you did anything wrong?
SOROKIN: I mean I've definitely did a lot of, and I made a lot of wrong choices.
TAPPER: Like what?
SOROKIN: Well, misrepresenting, I guess my financial, my financials to financial institutions. But I am trying to like not glamourize my crimes, and not lead anybody to believe that that's the way to get famous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: As for the future, Sorokin says she plans to focus on her art. While she was detained there were frequent posts on her media accounts featuring her artwork.
The production team behind Lebron James' YouTube series "Shots Uninterrupted" has pulled the plug on an upcoming episode featuring Kanye West. Allegedly he's using hate speech.
The decision comes just days after the rapper suspended from Instagram and Twitter, restricted for being violating the platform's policies.
It was a shared post that was criticized as anti Semitic on both platforms. It stirred controversy last week for wearing a t-shirt with the words "White House matter" during a is white lives matter in a fashion show.
Tom Cruise can do a lot of thing, and he can jump from the tallest building in the world. He can cling to the side of a Cargo play on take off.
And for years, Hollywood (INAUDIBLE) have reported he's been working on a film that would be shot in outer space.
It appears those plans are actually still in motion. Speaking to the BBC, the head of Universal Films Entertainment, says the project is still in development, aiming to film scenes on the International Space Station, including a spacewalk.
Miles O'Brien is CNN's space and aviation analyst, and this time, he is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You get around. It is good to see you.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE AND AVIATION ANALYST: I do, John, not at Mach 10 or Mach 25. But I do get around.
VAUSE: Well, you're not Tom Cruise. Speaking of Tom Cruz, I don't want to be Johnny Killjoy from the get go. Head of universal did say the movie is still at the aspiration stage.
So look, just from a practical point of view, and how likely is it that a man who will be in his in the early 60s, no space experience will be able to do something like a space walk.
And then of course, I suppose he is going to try to film it, but this talk about Cruise and his capabilities here?
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I would never under estimate Tom Cruise. He has done some amazing stunts. He makes a profession out of it. I think that's all commendable. What I wonder about, John, is just the business model of all this. this is going to cost many hundreds of millions of dollars for this shot which could be created really well on a green screen in Hollywood with many high definitions of camera, and a full (INAUDIBLE) of people around Tom Cruise with makeup to and everything else to make it look good.
So question I come to is to me says, does this really make the movie any better or does it make Tom Cruise feel like he is better somehow.
But, you know, listen, he would have to go up to space, and in a very short order adapt to it, and do well, and you know, there is all kinds of things like the space adaptation sickness, and just going out there into the void for the first time is an experience that many astronauts will tell you there is really no simulation on the ground can really train you for that moment. So, you'd have a brief moment to look really good and really Maverick-like up there in space.
And when in fact they might have to be wiping some of the vomit off of his face, because he is not feeling so well. So I don't know if it is a great way to make a movie, but I know it's a great way for tom cruise to have bragging rights.
VAUSE: Absolutely. And this whole Tom Cruise goes into space to film a movie thing has been kicking him out for a few years now. Elon Musk is somehow involved in
O'BRIEN: Well, Elon Musk would, you know, put him on a dragon rocket, and there a group in Houston that would to provide the civilian space service.
But you know, one thing they found when they flew a recent mission to the International Space Station with civilians is that they really didn't do as well as they thought they would. They were very labor intensive for the astronauts, So you can imagine Tom Cruise showing up with at least one cameraman and more people, who knows, depending how much they want to spend.
And you can bet that would take a lot of time and effort out of the normal function of the International Space Station. We all love a good movie, let's just hope in the end, that the taxpayers don't this bill, but it's Tom Cruise and the movie company.
{01:54:51]
VAUSE: Remember the movie 2010, the year we made contact, the sequel to 2001, you know. The plot of the sequel is that Moscow and Washington are on the brink of war. Both countries -- all of their people are in joint space mission to return to earth. In case you do not remember it, here is a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No Russian citizen is allowed to remain on or is allowed to enter the Discovery. The boarder is effective immediately. The launch and a full re-entry is 28 days, and the fuel below consumption is (INAUDIBLE). appears to be reactivated and there is function well enough operate beyond (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The reason why the clip is totally gratuitous, wouldn't any kind of filming on the real International Space Station re quire Russian agreement and on that front it's a little dodgy at the moment?
O'BRIEN: Well, they could probably circumvent hat because of the way there is a dividing line, and it depends on which space suit you use, if they are using the U.S. extra vehicular mobility unit, that requires only U.S. assets.
But yes, it does get into sticky areas because inevitably there will be the possibility of interaction with the Russians, and the Russians might want some money for that. They drive a hard bargain generally in space.
VAUSE: And the year we made "Contact" the movie, they find organic molecules on Jupiter. In the real world, French scientists say they have found evidence that ancient Mars may be teeming with microscopic organisms it would be on the ground.
This is a very difficult segue, so stay with me, but the organisms actually change the atmosphere so much by their own existence that they cause their own demise. This is a pretty gloomy outlook from this study about our own fate here on earth, isn't it?
O'BRIEN: It is a gloomy outlook on the prospect that life itself may be self-destructive, and yes, take that one for a moment, and think about it. Yes, microbes on Mars are posited to have existed. This is done with some computer modeling, imagining the atmosphere of Mars 4 billion years ago.
They believe these French researchers that it's like there are microbes there that were consuming lots of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which was blanketing Mars with enough greenhouse gases to keep it warm enough to have liquid water and oceans. They spit out methane which interestingly is a very potent greenhouse gas, but was not enough to keep Mars warm.
Mars dives into global cooling, and becomes what we see it today -- very cold and very dry. So it is a lesson that life can create serious climate change, and maybe there is a lesson for us in there if we look at it not too hard actually.
VAUSE: You think? Yes., absolutely.
Miles, we appreciate that. Thank you. Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Good to see you, John.
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. My friend and colleague Lynda K Kinkade picks it up,
after a short break. I will see you back here tomorrow.
[01:57:48]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
