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Putin Declares Martial Law in Four Illegally Annexed Regions of Ukraine; Biden to Announce New Oil Reserve Sales to Hold Down Gas Prices; Today, Trump to be Deposed in E. Jean Carroll Defamation Lawsuit. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 19, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

Happening right now, martial law. Russia President Vladimir Putin is cracking down on four regions he illegally annexed in Ukraine, as Russian-backed separatists evacuate civilians from the frontlines, another sign that his war is losing momentum.

Plus, hours from now, President Biden will announce new actions to tackle gas prices, including another release from Strategic Oil Reserves, as voters say inflation and rising prices are key issues heading into the midterms.

But let's begin in Ukraine. Earlier this morning, I wrote with Russia and Cyber Expert Dmitri Alperovitch, and asked what he makes of Putin's move to declare martial law.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, EXPERT ON RUSSIA AND CYBERSECURITY: It's absolutely an act of desperation. Things are not going well for Russia. It's going from bad to worse. Putin is losing more and more territory in all four of these recently annexed territories.

And just yesterday, the new head of the Russian ground forces, Suvorikin, said that they may have to make some hard decisions in Kherson Oblast, where their position is particularly untenable on the right bank of the river. And that's probably an indication that they're looking to withdraw potentially from that in the coming weeks and months.

And what Putin is trying to do there is forestall, of course, any further loss of territory, desperately trying to put the military back in charge of everything, including civilians in those regions, but it's really not going to help him much.

GOLODRYGA: Let's move on to the latest barrage of attacks that we've seen from Russia on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and really exposing what appears to be at least some sort of vulnerability on that front there in Ukraine. These have been targeted attacks. Now, more than 1,000 cities and settlements in Ukraine are without power.

Because of them, how vulnerable are Ukrainians in the coming weeks and months as winter is approaching to being deprived of heat and even water?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, this is energy blackmail on the part of Putin. He is trying to take out power and all sources of energy in Ukraine. He has been doing that consistently for several months now, first, disconnecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest power plant in Europe, from the Ukrainian grid, and now continuing these destructive actions against other power plants throughout the country.

And President Zelenskyy is warning his population that this will be a very challenging winter, potentially without electricity and heat in some regions of the country, perhaps many. And that's what Putin is counting on. He's trying to break the Ukrainian will. I don't think it will work, but it's going to be a very, very tough winter.

GOLODRYGA: And, of course, some of the weapons used in these attacks have been Iranian-made drones and Iranian-supplied drones. We have got more information reporting overnight that in addition to these drones, that there are so-called drone trainers that have actually sent to Crimea to help Russians and may also be supplying Russia with ballistic missiles and surface-to-surface missiles.

You have many western nations apparently on board with levying more sanctioning against Iran, but what specific sanctioning would be most effective to stop the sale of these arms, in your view?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, I believe we need to look at similar sanctions that have already been instituted against Russia, particularly using something called the foreign product direct rule, to prevent foreign companies from dealing with Iran and selling them technology that's in part based on American intellectual property. That's what's preventing Russia from acquiring chips that are necessary, of course, for production of military and other industrial equipment. We need to be doing the same thing with Iran.

American companies already are prohibited from doing business with that country, but foreign companies, companies in Europe and elsewhere, are sending them a lot of equipment, a lot of machinery, and we can put a stop to that largely through this foreign product direct rule.

GOLODRYGA: What more could the U.S. be doing to help Ukraine and President Zelenskyy's call for more air defense in response to these specific types of attacks?

ALPEROVITCH: Well, we need to be looking at anti-drone systems, not just air defense systems. Air defense systems, of course, are very expensive. Some of those missiles cost $50 or $100 million, and you're looking at taking a drone that may cost $20 million. So, it's going to be great asymmetry in terms of costs. You want to look at something that's using directive energy and some of these other newer technologies that are going to be much, much cheaper at taking down these cheap but destructive drones.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we know that Russia has apparently bought thousands of these drones already and have them in their arsenal.

[10:05:02]

Dmitri Alperovitch, thank you so much for your time this morning. We appreciate it.

ALPEROVITCH: Thank you so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: And CNN International Security Editor Nic Robertson joins me now live in Kyiv. So, Nic, what will this martial law declaration mean for people in these regions? They aren't even fully under Russian control. As you heard from Dmitri, he uses this as a sign of weakness on Russia's part.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And when you look more broadly at what Putin is doing to reaffirm and take control of an already very authoritarian Russia by the other decrees that he's signed, I think it does speak to that issue that he is doubling down on trying to take control of a situation that's unraveling here in Ukraine, and apparently unraveling, to his surprise, although a lot of people expected it, when he called for conscription, several hundred thousand people ran for the borders. They didn't want to be conscripted into fighting in Ukraine.

But in Ukraine, today, you have the Ukrainian civilian residents of Kherson, which is illegally occupied, illegally annexed and controlled by Russian-imposed authorities, who this morning told by text message that they would evacuated or they needed to evacuate from Kherson towards Russia. Now, the implicit effect of martial law is that they will have to do what the military tells them, or potentially face being locked up or potentially worse.

We don't know what the punishment is for disobeying the military under martial law because that's the sort of ambiguity that Russia likes to operate in. But it is very clear a degradation for the Ukrainians civilians who are living inside Russia-occupied Ukraine at the moment. Their future and livelihoods are more tenuous, their lives are in greater danger. And today, many are being forced out of their homes from Kherson towards Russia, and even more uncertain futures.

GOLODRYGA: And this is all happening while Kyiv continues to be bombarded. You've been hearing explosions there. What more can you tell us about that?

ROBERTSON: Yes, air defense explosions, intercepts made of cruise missiles and drones across the country. Across the country, Ukrainian authorities are saying at least four cruise missiles have been intercepted and at least ten drones now have been intercepted by air defense authorities, and some of those clearly happening over Kyiv today. Some missiles have got through in some of the central cities in Ukraine and have damaged electrical power-generating facilities there. And the populations there, the residents are now without electricity and water. Not clear how long it will take to repair those facilities and get them back up online. But the fact that the air defense is having a good track record against the drones, the fact that they're able to take down the cruise missiles is affording a better level of protection in the capital, at least, and many other cities than was the case about a week-and-a-half ago, where Putin suddenly escalated the war into the cities around Ukraine, targeting the energy generation facilities with the ferocity that really wasn't matched previously. The Ukrainians seem to have pivoted their air defense more effectively at the moment. But, of course, it's incomplete and they need a lot more help.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, which is what they're asking the west, as we speak, for more air defense systems. Nic Robertson, thank you.

Well, now to the White House and President Biden's plans to address gas prices, in part, when he speaks this afternoon, as well as new release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

CNN Correspondent Jeremy Diamond is at the White House. So, Jeremy, what do we expect to hear from the president today?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna. President Biden is expected to announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That will round out the 180 million barrels of oil that the president had pledged last spring to release from that strategic reserve, in part, to try and stabilize global oil markets amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Now, what you also have to deal with is the fact that OPEC+ announced a 2 million barrels of oils per day production cut earlier this month. And so when you think about 15 million barrels of oil, to put that in context, the U.S. uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day. So, this is not going to have a huge impact immediately on oil prices or on gas prices, but it is a signal to oil markets and also a signal to the American public, with midterm elections less than three weeks ago, that the president is trying to tackle these rising gas prices. Gas prices right now are about 20 cents higher than they were a month ago, although down still from their peak earlier this summer.

[10:10:00]

And the president is also announcing plans to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is now down to 400 million barrels of oil per day, saying that when oil comes down to about $72 per barrel, that's when the U.S. will replenish that stock. But senior officials are making very clear, as we saw earlier today, including Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to the White House and global energy adviser at the State Department, he said that the U.S. is prepared to go further and significantly release more barrels of oil from that Strategic Petroleum Reserve. So, we could see more action going forward to try and combat rising oil and gas prices. Bianna? GOLODRYGA: Yes. The administration really putting more pressure on oil companies as well, telling them to do more, to refine more oil and open more refineries.

Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

So, are President Biden's attempts to address voters' concerns about inflation working? CNN spoke to voters in one swing district in Michigan about just that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM ROY, MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN VOTER: The gas prices and the economy and the inflation. I hope that things get -- we can't continue to spend, spend, spend. It's like a credit card. You can only tap that for so long before it's over the limit.

TRACY BOTTECELLI, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC VOTER: I want to scream from the mountaintops, it's not one guy who is doing this.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, don't blame the Democrats, don't blame the president?

BOTTECELLI: No. Blame corporations and the corporate greed, and, yes, don't blame politics for every single thing that happens in our world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN Political Director David Chalian joins me now. So, President Biden is a bit more experienced to know that politicians are the ones that are blamed for things that are under their control and things that are out of their control as well. And, I guess, David, the question is, how much longer can the administration, you know, making a point correctly that the inflation is a global phenomenon, how much longer can they continue to use that as a line to justify their policy, saying that, listen, things aren't as bad here as they are abroad?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, they can use it all the way through the election in the next 20 days, Bianna, but as you note, it's not likely to be resonant with a huge -- voters, who obviously, they may appreciate learning that -- their day-to-day reality at the pump or in the grocery store. And so -- and the president and his team are keenly aware of this. They understand, as much as they want to put this into a larger context of what's happening globally, that Americans are going to respond with their pocketbooks as to how they perceive the current policies of the Democratic-controlled Washington and the administration, yes.

GOLODRYGA: And, David, what we are not hearing in this latest round of debates the past few weeks is the Inflation Reduction Act. Now, we're expected the president address it and tout it again this afternoon, but what do you make of that? I mean, inflation is the name of the legislation, but, clearly, inflation is not down enough for Democratic candidates to really use this as an example to show voters that this is something that has been working to help them?

CHALIAN: Yes. Well, no doubt, legislative -- they've gotten done. They say it's inside that legislation about prescription drugs and letting Medicare -- lots of popular items in there for Democrats to pick out, and they do on the campaign trail. But no Democrat wants to be caught talking about a piece of legislation that has not been fully felt by the American people yet when they are experiencing this pain. Politicians want to speak to that pain directly. So, that's why you're not going to here a slew of Democrats on the campaign trail just sort of point to one bill that the president signed into law.

GOLODRYGA: And, David, we spent a lot of time focusing on the elections in the campaigns in Georgia, in Pennsylvania, in Ohio even, but I'm curious to get your thoughts to last night's debate in Florida between Val Demings and Marco Rubio, and specifically on the issue of gun rights. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): Americans have a Second Amendment right to protect themselves. They have -- and these killers that are out there, they're intent on killing as they are, they have found multiple ways to get a hold of weapons and cause mass destruction.

REP. VAL DEMINGS (D-FL): How long will you watch people being gunned down in first grade, fourth grade, high school, college, church, synagogue, a grocery store, a movie theater, a mall and a night club and do nothing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: David, that was quite a compelling moment. And given her past in law enforcement, is this sort of a blueprint that Democrats can use in addressing this very issue?

CHALIAN: Well, certainly, inaction on guns by a lot of Republican legislators is something Democrats bring up, especially in a chance to woo some independent voters that have the gun issue as a priority. Again, nothing comes sort of close to where we are in the economy, and we should note, Florida is sort of a red-leaning state of late, and Marco Rubio is in sort of the driver's seat in that race.

[10:15:08]

But that did not cause Val Demings, as you note, to back off of this. Remember, Marco Rubio appeared in a CNN town hall in the immediate aftermath of Parkland. He talked about the notion of maybe raising the minimum age required to purchase an assault-style weapon federally and then backed off of that. So, she was trying to hold him to account and use an issue that has particular resonance in Florida in the aftermath of Parkland, where Florida legislative officials and the governor moved forward on some legislation there and tried to use that as a contrast.

Again, I think she saw an opportunity with this issue, but this is still a race that's probably an uphill climb for Val Demings. GOLODRYGA: What can we expect from your analysis in terms of voter turnout this year?

CHALIAN: Bianna, this is fascinating. It's always a danger to read tea leaves so early, just as early voting is starting to come in. So, I think we have to be a little careful, because it's a partial picture, right? Like we have to see what turns out on Election Day as well.

But what we are seeing in these first few days, more than 2.5 million people have voted nationwide, and what we're seeing in some of the states is that we are seeing levels of voting that sort of compare to 2018, which was a four-decade high turnout in a midterm election. In fact, the Georgia secretary of state, I think, just announced that the first couple days of early voting in Georgia has surpassed the 2020 presidential level of early voting turnout at this point 20 days prior to the election. That's just astounding to think of that.

But, again, it's a partial picture. We have to see if that pace keeps up all the way through Election Day, but this is an engaged electorate for this midterm election season.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, a lot of hot topics that they are focused on. That's true. David Chalian, thank you.

CHALIAN: Sure.

GOLODRYGA: Well, today, former President Trump is expected to answer questions under oath as part of a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, a woman who alleges Trump raped her in the 1990s. What to expect from that testimony.

Plus, New York City opens a new facilities that can process up to 500 migrants a day as it struggles to provide services to people coming from the southern border. We'll take you there live to see how it works and how much it costs to operate.

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[10:20:00]

GOLODRYGA: Today, former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be deposed under oath in the defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who has accused him or rape. Former Magazine Columnist E. Jean Carroll sued Trump in 2019 for defamation after he denied her claim that he assaulted her in a New York department store in the 1990s.

CNN's Kara Scannell joins me now. Kara, so, it's unclear what we'll actually hear from the former president. We probably won't hear anything about what he'll actually say behind closed doors.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes. I mean, deposition is taking place today behind closed doors. So, we won't know what he's saying, at least as of now. This could potentially become public at some point. But for now, we'll be sort of guessing about what his answers are. I mean, he has been pretty adamant in his denials of E. Jean Carroll's claims that he raped her in a department store, and that's the basis of this defamation lawsuit, because you not only denied, he also went on to say that she made this up to boost sales of her book and that she wasn't his type, as well as some other criticisms.

And so this deposition is kind of a long time in the making. A federal judge cleared the way for this to happen last week, saying that there had already been enough delay tactics by Trump in getting even to this point. So, he said Trump would have his deposition today. E. Jean Carroll had her deposition on Friday.

One of the other issues is that the judge thought that they're running out of time because both the former president and E. Jean Carroll are in their 70s. This case has been percolating through court since 2019. And there's really still -- it's an unsolved issue. There's a question before the appeals court here. And if the appeals court finds in favor of Trump, then this lawsuit will essentially go away. But in the meantime, this judge is saying, we don't know when that will happen, so let's move ahead for this trial that he is scheduled for February.

Now, what also is on the horizon is E. Jean Carroll has said that she's going to sue the former president under a new New York State law that goes into next month. That law allows people who have been sexually assaulted or abused to bring civil claims against his accusers even years after the encounters. E. Jean Carroll said that she intends to do that at the end of next month. And the judge overseeing this case said that the deposition today is one that will be very important and critical to that future lawsuit.

GOLODRYGA: So, this case isn't going away any time soon for the former president?

SCANNELL: No. It looks like it's going to be something we'll be following for quite a while.

GOLODRYGA: Kara Scannell, thank you.

Well, just days after the January 6th committee voted unanimously to subpoena former Presidnet Trump, Congresswoman Liz Cheney says the panel to issue that subpoena soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): We all felt that our obligation is to seek his testimony, that the American people deserve to directly hear from him, that it has to be under oath, that he has to be held accountable. And so we'll be issuing the subpoena shortly, both for his testimony under oath, as well as for documents. And we'll take whatever next steps we have to take, you know, assuming that he will fulfill his legal obligation and honor the subpoena. But if that doesn't happen, then we'll take the steps we need to take after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Well, joining me now to discuss is John dean, former White House Counsel for President Nixon.

[10:25:01]

Great to have you on, John.

So, as we heard from Liz Cheney, she said, if he doesn't comply, that they would take the steps necessary after that. Do you think that could possibly include contempt of Congress charges?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that would be the logical next step if he does not comply. The degree to which he doesn't comply could make a difference. But most likely, like the others who have defied the committee, if they do that, they expose themselves to a vote of the House for contempt, and that is sent to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Whether that will happen or not, another story.

GOLODRYGA: Well, time does seem to be on the former president's side, given that the midterms are just three weeks away. And if Republicans do take over the House, which at this point they look like they may very well do, this committee will be disbanded. Then what happens in terms of this subpoena? Is it too disbanded?

DEAN: It will disappear. I'm sure that's what he is betting on, hoping for, working towards, and that is to make this committee go away. That will probably -- they will wrap up their affairs. But whether they'll get to actually bring Mr. Trump before them is really an iffy question at this point, because he does have a lot of procedural delays. He can throw it into court right away.

It's not that presidents have not been subpoenaed by Congress. They have. You go all way back to John Adams, John Tyler. Both were subpoenaed and appeared. Harry Truman was subpoenaed and didn't appear. He said, I, under the separation of powers as president, you have no right to question me about these issues, and they never did settle that, and so it stood where it is. Bill Clinton was subpoenaed but agreed to provide the information. Richard Nixon, he was subpoenaed for documents. So, it's not totally unusual to have a congressional subpoena but it is a process.

GOLODRYGA: Well, thus far, we have just seen him respond in what was a 15-page diatribe, angry diatribe at that, on his social media platform, Truth Social, in which he once again said that this was an illegitimate committee.

Let me move on to another issue, and that is that CNN has obtained a copy of a new audiobook by The Washington Post Journalist Bob Woodward. And it really gives a view as to some raw moments between the former president and the journalist back in 2019, when he was interviewing him in the Oval Office, president at the time. And he shared with Woodward letters that the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong- un, had written to him. And, obviously, these letters have subsequently helped spark this DOJ investigation into documents that he had taken with him to Mar-a-Lago. Listen to the audio of the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Nobody else has them, but I want you to treat them with respect. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand. I understand.

TRUMP: And don't say I gave them to you, okay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So, by even just saying don't tell anyone that I gave them to you, obviously highlighting the significant of these documents and how classified they really were. Does this help the DOJ at all in their case potentially stating that Donald Trump at the time knew that these were classified documents?

DEAN: A little bit. They show his awareness or state of mind that these are very sensitive, that they're probably classified documents. There were no stamps on them. I don't know what kind of folder they were contained in, but it certainly makes us aware that he was aware that this was national security information. So, it could help the department.

You know, I'm amazed that Trump knew he was being recorded and makes the kind of statements he makes to Woodward, which is fascinating. It's just that he seems to feel the normal rules don't apply to him. If he's opening and outward about his misconduct, if will you, that he can get away with it. And that's sort of been his standard M.O. during his business life and his presidency.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. It's almost like he can't help it, that there's a sense of bragging or being proud of having such documents in his possession.

Finally, let me ask you about the special master in that case. We heard from him, Judge Raymond Dearie, really sort of chide both sides, but in particular Donald Trump's side, by saying, where is the beef, in terms of providing any more information behind these documents, these classified documents that he's supposed to go through. What do you make of that?

DEAN: I think we've got a very good judge. He's a very seasoned judge. He took on this special master function, which is often done by a very low-level person, typically not a sitting district court judge. He is far senior to Judge Cannon, who appointed him, and so he had to agree to do it.

[10:30:05]

But he also probably assumed that these people what play by some rules.