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Russia Targets Ukraine's Energy Sources and Utilities; E.U. Figures Out a Way to Survive Energy Crisis; Prime Minister Liz Truss Will Face Tough Questions; China Plans a Reunification with Taiwan. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 19, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on here on CNN Newsroom. Russia's new commander says Moscow's goal is a friendly Ukraine, as his forces unleash a barrage of missiles and drone attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure.

Just hours from now Liz Truss is due to face more tough questions from parliament after her mini budget U-Turn, another crucial leadership test for the embattled British prime minister.

And China builds up its military as it promises reunification with Taiwan. We'll discuss what the fall of Taiwan would mean for democracy beyond its borders.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us.

And we are following developments out of Ukraine where officials say Ukrainian forces have now shot down 13 kamikaze drones over the Mykolaiv region as Russia continues to launch aerial attacks on cities across Ukraine.

But the chief of military intelligence in Ukraine is predicting an end to the war by next summer saying, quote, "Russia's loss is inevitable."

His comments coming as Ukrainian intelligence believes Russia's supply of many missile types are now critically low. Still, Russia reports more high precision strikes as the country's top commander says Russia's goal is a friendly Ukraine independent of the west.

Whatever Russia's aim, its ruthless airstrikes are having a devastating impact on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian president says 30 percent of the country's power stations have been destroyed in the past nine days, and that's causing massive blackouts across the country. Two central Ukrainian cities say they just lost power due to overnight shelling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Electricity consumption needs to be very thoughtful and its use by power hungry appliances should be limited during peak hours. The more mindful will be our electricity consumption from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. the more stable will be our electric power system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Nic Robertson is following developments for us and joins us now live from Kyiv.

Good to see you, Nic. So, what is the latest on Putin's drone and missile strikes hitting cities across Ukraine and of course, targeting these power stations.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It goes on. Now more information coming in. Three cities in the center of Ukraine. Kryvyi Rih, Enerhodar, and Nikopol all been hit overnight by strikes that have targeted the electricity power infrastructure that's affecting water and electricity supplies in those -- in those cities, city officials say.

The energy supplier in Ukraine says that generally they can do the sort of, less extensive repairs within about 48 hours. But it is a big effort for Ukraine to continue to be able to keep people warm, to be --allow them to have their lights on. In what appears to be a war of attrition, to try to turn out the lights in Ukraine at the moment by targeting the electricity supplies.

Mykolaiv, as you said, there are 13 drones are shot down overnight. That is quite a significant defense of Mykolaiv, which has taken very heavy shelling over recent weeks and months. Significant because Ukraine seems to be getting better at taking out more of the drones.

That said, some, you know, some weapons, some missiles are still getting through. Interesting that we heard on state, Russian State television, Sergei Surovikin, the Russia's new general in charge of operations in Ukraine, saying that they want to have friendly relations with Ukraine while at the same time continuing to shell them.

That flies in the face of logic to a degree, but he is also saying that he's going to pull out the civilian population in Kherson. That Russian forces there will continue to fight to grind down the advancing enemy. This is an important town and perhaps an important move by the Russian military on the verge of happening here.

[03:04:56]

If they pull out of -- if they pull out of Kherson, then this is the last major foothold they have west of that important strategic river that runs north, south in Ukraine, the Dnipro River.

So that would be significant. And perhaps the Russian general, by taking the state television is signaling that that is the move that is -- that is coming. But the view from here, it is one of optimism according to the head of defense here, Budanov, saying that Russia's loss is inevitable and it will lead to the destruction of Russia.

So, it seems to be them signaling coming from, if you read the signaling coming from both sides. Ukraine has momentum here, and certainly feels emboldened by what's happening. And Russia on the other hand, seems to be on the back foot in Kherson at least.

CHURCH: And Nic, since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February this year, it hasn't only been a war on that nation, has it, but also a war on truth, particularly on the battlefield. What have you been learning about Russia's miss -- disinformation campaign?

ROBERTSON: It really seems that when you examine closely what's said on Russian state media, it doesn't reflect the facts on the ground. It pop -- props up Putin's position, and you have to sort of analyze that statement on state television last night by the new general in charge in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin.

Why does he go on state television and announce these moves around Kherson? It perhaps signals something else other than a defense of the city. It perhaps does signal that they're pulling out. He said that they're pulling out the civilians from that city. Now, there is no other place here that it seems where Russia in -- where the offensive and the war has been going on has cared too much about what is happening to the civilians around them. Ukrainian civilians.

And there is a potential here while the civilians are pulled out, a potential for the military to retrench its position around Kherson. But we got more insights into just the overall nature of this sort of misinformation propaganda campaign that's coming out of the Kremlin when I talked to a former Russian soldier who become a journalist at the state news agency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Since the war in Ukraine began, Russians have been denied the truth about what's happening to their army.

GLEB IRISOV, FORMER RUSSIAN AIR FORCE LIEUTENANT AND JOURNALIST: So, when the war started, I was at military desk at TASS agency. The main Russian information agency --

ROBERTSON: Gleb Irisov, a former Russian air force lieutenant turn state journalist is lifting the lid on the state's secrecy.

IGOR KONASHENKOV, SPOKESPERSON, RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE (through translator): Four hundred ninety-eight Russian service men died.

ROBERTSON: It was March 2nd, more than a week into the war before Russia admitted its troops were dying in Ukraine. But Gleb says they'd known since the get-go; he was manning the military desk phones at TASS as the war began.

IRISOV: I started to receive a lot of messages from my sources. They taking heavy, extremely heavy casualties.

ROBERTSON: What numbers?

IRISOV: So, number was enormous.

ROBERTSON: He'd served in Syria in the air force, but quit and discussed over Russia's part in Assad's war. His wife worked at TASS. He got a job there thinking he'd be able to report facts about the poor state of Russia's military.

But as soon as the war started in Ukraine and Russian casualties began piling up, his hopes fell victim Putin's propaganda machine.

IRISOV: Instructions from the minister of defense, from FSB, from the Office of the President.

ROBERTSON: New laws preventing protest over the war in Ukraine put Gleb, his wife, and young family in danger. He quit a week into the war. A week later, they fled for safety to Armenia then Georgia, then Turkey, then Mexico, finally to the USA, and a chance to tell the truth about the war.

IRISOV: If you want to really to spoke out, you need to be at some kind of safe place.

ROBERTSON: His insights are remarkable. Rampant corruption and warlordism (Ph).

IRISOV: Putin himself and his friends, they used these military systems, they wash tons of money through this military system.

[03:09:56]

ROBERTSON: Gleb's observations about Putin's newly promoted general, Sergei Surovikin reveal the propaganda machine he fled remains in overdrive. General Armageddon as Surovikin is known actually at danger to his own side.

IRISOV: He have made the life of his commanding officer there of absolutely impossible.

ROBERTSON: Gleb knows Surovikin served under him in Syria. He says the general signed off on his resignation.

Is he going to change the morale in the Russian forces?

IRISOV: I strongly believe that nothing can change, the morale of Russian forces there. No way.

ROBERTSON: Putin's propaganda machine may be working. His army is not. Gleb is witness to both and brave enough to speak about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROBERTSON: And his insights on Sergei Surovikin, he doesn't see him as being any different to any other Russian general that President Putin has brought in. In terms of his experience, in terms of what he brings to the battlefield.

Perhaps the one thing that he says that Putin will value a lot right now is loyalty. And he believes that this is a very, very important to Putin as he's under a huge amount of pressure now to come out of this war looking like he's won. And this of course demands the loyalty of his commanders in the field to do what Putin says.

CHURCH: All right, our Nic Robertson with that report, and joining us live from Kyiv. Many thanks.

Well, in the coming hours, Britain's Liz Truss will face tough questions during the weekly prime minister's questions. That's -- if she shows up to Parliament, of course. She was notably late on Monday and deputized the House of Commons leader to speak on her behalf.

The prime minister is also under fire from fellow conservatives. Her credibility took a big hit after the finance minister tossed out her mini budget, and now we've just received a report that inflation in the U.K. soared more than 10 percent last month.

CNN's Scott McLean is tracking this for us. He joins us live from London.

Good morning to you, Scott. So, all eyes, of course, on Liz Truss scrutinizing her every word. How critical is this day for her and can she survive?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, Liz Truss's political life may well be on the line today. She was in the House of Commons, as you mentioned on Monday, but she didn't actually answer any questions. She will not be deputizing her answering today as she takes questions from the opposition and from her own party as well.

She has to face the music and really answer for the chaos of the past few weeks. Yesterday, she put out a statement saying that, look, she wanted to be honest with the public about the tough times ahead. And you mentioned we're already starting to see that things are not exactly improving.

Inflation to the end of last month ticked up slightly year over year compared to the numbers from August now more than 10 percent. A junior cabinet minister was asked yesterday how many chances Liz Truss has left, and his answer was pretty blunt. Not that many.

She has already fired and hired a new chancellor and rolled back almost her entire economic plan in order to restore trust. The question now though, is, has she dug herself such a deep hole that she cannot get out of it?

A no -- a new poll shows that only one in five people think that the conservative party should keep her on as prime minister. Two or three quarters think that she cannot regain the trust of the British public, and two thirds think she cannot win back the trust of the markets.

There are sort of, a general perception, certainly if you read the British press that Liz Truss is not in control of her own government. And this new poll shows that the public, by and large agrees with that. Most people say that it is the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, that is calling the shots on the economy more than the prime minister.

That's on top of a poll that shows that the conservatives would be absolutely trounced by the opposition labor, where an election to be held today, and if you're a vetting person, well, the bookies odds on favorite are on the year 2022 as the year that Liz Truss will be replaced as prime minister.

Of course, a handful of conservative M.P.s, backbench M.P.s have already called on her to resign. So, what is stopping the party from actually pushing her out? Well, first of all, the rules say that she can't face a leadership challenge for at least a year. Of course, those rules can be changed, but perhaps more practically is the fact that there isn't an obvious successor that could easily unify her party.

And that is what the foreign secretary James Cleverly pointed out this morning in an interview saying that, look, the people who plotted to oust Boris Johnson didn't have an obvious plan B. There is no obvious plan B in this case.

And look, if we go through another leadership race or just select a new leader, that doesn't exactly say to the British public that we're focused on them rather than ourselves. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. Very difficult situation there. Scott McLean joining us live from London. Many thanks.

[03:15:01]

Well, rising energy prices are hitting the U.K. and Europe hard and could make for a very difficult and costly winter.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has more on how the E.U. plans to bring down gas prices and secure supply.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The European Commission is making it clear it thinks the only way to get through this energy crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine is for the E.U. to do it together as a block to buy gas together through a joint system that would prevent member states bidding against each other and driving up prices.

To share gas and make that sharing mandatory in the event of an emergency so that hospitals and other protected customers can keep operating. And of course, by continuing to work on reducing demand. That will of course get harder as winter takes hold.

Well, the E.U. stops short of proposing an immediate cap on gas prices. A policy that has proved controversial among some member states, and even though Europe has filled its gas storage to 92 percent, well ahead of its target of 80 percent by November 1at, the E.U. Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson made it clear winter could still hit hard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KADRI SIMSON, E.U. ENERGY COMMISSIONER: As we make every effort to keep prices predict predictable and gas flowing to Europe, we cannot exclude a real supply crisis with a shortage of gas and for this solidarity and demand reduction are a key.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Well, these are not yet binding proposals. Member states would need to agree on them, and that will be difficult. And Europe isn't the only area contemplating a real supply crisis.

The head of the national grid here in the U.K. warned on Monday that in a worst-case scenario, rolling blackouts could happen in the U.K. between 4 and 7 p.m. on very cold days this winter.

The U.K.'s electricity operator said earlier this month, that would only happen in an extreme scenario. Its base case is still that the U.K. will have enough electricity and gas this winter.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

CHURCH: And let's get a very quick check on trading in the European financial markets. And you can see there the FTSE 100 is up 0.17 percent. The DAX, 0.19 percent. And the Paris CAC also up a similar amount, the Zurich SMI down.

And still to come, assessing the Chinese threat to Taiwan. And when China's military might make a move. We're back with that and more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The Chinese Communist Party Congress is underway this week and it's shining a spotlight on the fate of Taiwan. The U.S. Secretary of State is warning Beijing may be moving much faster than expected with its plans for a so-called reunification.

[03:19:59]

CNN's Will Ripley is closely monitoring this for us. He joins us live from Taipei. Good to see you, Will.

So, what all did President Xi have to say about this and how is Taiwan responding?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he singled, Rosemary, at least seemed to signal in his opening remarks at China's Communist Party Congress that within his reign of power, reunification with Taiwan will happen.

And while he says he is hoping for a peaceful reunification of the island that he and previous Chinese leaders have never actually controlled, the way that it's being read by many people around the world, including here in Taiwan, is that China is planning very intensively for a military take over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: The loudest applause at China's Communist Party Congress when leader Xi Jinping promised reunification with Taiwan, the self- governing democracy claimed, but never controlled by Beijing's communist rulers.

XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We insist on striving for the prospect of peaceful reunification. But we will never promise to give up the use of force.

RIPLEY: Do you think Xi Jinping actually believes that peaceful reunification will happen?

IAN EASTON, AUTHOR, THE CHINESE INVASION THREAT: No, absolutely not. If he did, he would not be engaging in the largest tailored offensive military buildup that the world has witnessed in at least a century.

RIPLEY: China's power, bigger economically and militarily than the former Soviet Union says, Ian Easton.

EASTON: Their biggest military strength is size. Size of their missile force, size of their amphibious force, size of their air force, their navy, their cyber capabilities, their space capabilities.

RIPLEY: Is there any doubt in your mind that Xi Jinping is going to try to make a move on Taiwan?

EASTON: No, there's no doubt. The only question is how and when.

RIPLEY: That burning question top of mind for Taiwan's government, the island's record defense spending dwarfed by China's massive military.

SU TZU-YUN, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE & SECURITY THREAT: Actually, Taiwan right now faces the threat from China is very huge and immediate.

RIPLEY: The threat from China is huge and immediate.

TZU-YUN: Yes.

RIPLEY: And getting bigger. U.S. intelligence says President Xi gave the order China's military must be ready to take Taiwan by 2027. But he's still deciding if he'll do it.

President Joe Biden said repeatedly the U.S. military would defend Taiwan. He's authorized more than $1 billion in arm sales to Taipei. Taiwan taking cues from Ukraine focusing on asymmetric, unconventional warfare.

TZU-YUN: That can give Taiwan more opportunity to be defeat such a huge force.

RIPLEY: Defending this democratic island from its nuclear armed nemesis will be the greatest military challenge of the 21st century, Easton says.

EASTON: So, if Taiwan falls and Xi Jinping is able to shatter the U.S. alliance system, democracy will cease to exist in our country. Taiwan is the front line. It is the geostrategic nerve center of our world today, and that is likely to remain true for decades to come.

RIPLEY: The U.S. and its allies must do more than sell weapons, he says. Defending Taiwan is defending the free world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: China's military budget is growing every single year. Well over $200 million is what's predicted for next year, and China gets a lot more out of that money in terms of manpower and industrial output than the United States, which still has the world's largest military and defense budget.

But when you look at the sheer numbers, and you need a big navy in order to conduct an invasion of an island like Taiwan, China's navy, according to the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence in 2020 is on track to have 63 more battle four ships than the U.S. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right, Will Ripley reporting from Taipei. Many thanks.

Well, my next guest is the author of "The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers." Richard McGregor is also a senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, a foreign policy think tank. And he joins us now from Sydney, Australia.

Thank you so much for being with us.

RICHARD MCGREGOR, SENIOR FELLOW, LOWY INSTITUTE: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, as we just heard, during his keynote speech at the Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping said it was up to the Chinese people to resolve the issue of Taiwan and the China would never renounce the right to use force against Taiwan, but will strive for a peaceful resolution. What exactly do you think he means by this?

MCGREGOR: Well, in some respects, the language used that the party Congress on Taiwan was pretty boilerplate. But you know, it's basically baked into the cake in internal Chinese politics that Taiwan will be returned or be made part of China.

[03:25:04]

And no Thai -- Thai Chinese leader, especially somebody like Xi Jinping is going to back away from that. So, it didn't give us any indication about deadlines and the like. You know, China would be rethinking the scenarios for Taiwan after Ukraine, but there's no absolutely no change in their objective. It's just not clear how it will happen.

CHURCH: Right. And while President Xi insists complete reunification of Taiwan must and will be realized, Taiwan responded by saying it will never compromise on sovereignty. So. what will likely happen and will the United States end up being dragged into a future conflict with China as a result of this, given President Joe Biden has previously suggested U.S. forces would defend Taiwan against Chinese.

MCGREGOR: Well, you know, the Chinese say will happen. The Taiwanese say it won't, and therein lies the problem. You know, I think there's probably about 10 percent support in Taiwan for unifying with Beijing. And of those 10 percent, about half of them don't want to do it under the Communist Party, the remnants of the old Civil War division, if you like.

So, the problem is that Beijing has really given up on or completely failed at persuasion. And if you fail at persuasion, then the only options you have left are kind of hard power.

Now, that doesn't mean China would invade Taiwan. There are many other, you know, they don't want to do that. They're not silly. They know how damaging and risky that could be. You know, you could have a blockade of Taiwan as we saw sort of a model for after the Nancy Pelosi visit. You could have China putting all sorts of pressure on Taiwan.

What Xi wants to do is to force Taiwan to the negotiating table to start talks. In other words, to concede the principle. If there's an all-out war, would the us come in on Taiwan's side? I would say probably, but it really depends how it happens and how quickly China gets control of the island.

CHURCH: Yes, certainly unnerving to think of that possibility and the consequences. But on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned that China's moving to seize Taiwan on a much faster timeline than previously thought.

Now we did hear the possibility of 2027, that was tossed around a little bit. As you point out, no specific date has been given, but when do you think China will try to do this?

MCGREGOR: Look, it's unpredictable. In some respects, I think people are waiting for the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election early that year. We've got the U.S. presidential election later that year. The figure 2027 has been used by the U.S. Indo PACOM commander previously saying that's when he thought China might be ready to do that.

But it is quite possible it would be brought forward. One of the lessons of Ukraine that China may take might have taken away is that if you're going to do the do this, do it quickly. Don't wait. you know, as much an element of surprise as possible. There's people in China who have been advocating they should have done this years ago because it's only getting harder. So, it's possible earlier. I would not think so in the next few years though.

CHURCH: All right. Richard McGregor, we thank you for your analysis. I appreciate it.

MCGREGOR: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, still to come here on CNN, concerns arising over the fate of a female Iranian athlete who did not wear a hijab during a competition in South Korea. We'll have a live report for you, next.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A nationwide protests against Iran's authoritarian regime are in their fifth consecutive week. Demonstrations erupted last month after Mahsa Armini died in the custody of the morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

CNN obtained this video from the pro-reform activist outlet IranWire. It shows protestors gathering around a fire in Amini's birthplace Tuesday. She's become a symbol in the fight for women's rights and freedoms in Iran.

These are university students in northern Iran chanting for freedom and equality during their protest March on Tuesday. Meantime, an Iranian rock climber is now back in Tehran after competing without her hijab in South Korea on Sunday.

Elnaz Rekabi told Iranian state media on arrival that she accidentally competed without her head scarf, but there's growing concern she could face repercussions given Iran's current climate.

And CNN's Anna Coren joins us now from Hong Kong with more on this. Good to see you, Anna.

So, a lot of concern for the welfare of Elnaz Rekabi. What is the latest on this?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, we simply don't know, as you say, a great deal of concern about her wellbeing, her welfare, and her fate for days. She had disappeared after competing in the Asian championships rock climbing event in Seoul on Sunday. She was seen not wearing a hijab.

In all her previous events, she wears a hijab, but not on Sunday. And many people believe that she was acting in solidarity with the women of Iran, that she was staging a protest. And of course, these images of her rock climbing in Seoul went viral on social media.

Obviously, she flew into Tehran very early this morning where she appeared to receive a hero's welcome. She came forth in these, Asian championships. She spoke to the media and apologized for what had taken place. She said it was unintentional. It was an accident that she was busy preparing her equipment and her hijab had slipped off. And she didn't realize.

But why don't we take a listen to what she said to reporters when they were asking if she was facing any problems. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELNAZ REKABI, IRANIAN ROCK CLIMBER (through translator): No, I am back to Iran in perfect health and peace of mind, despite the overwhelming stress that I had. Thank God nothing happened. UNKNOWN (through translator): There were some youths that for 24 to

46 hours, nobody knew what happened to you.

REKABI (through translator): No, nothing like that happened. Everything happened according to plan. We are back to Iran and even now everything is according to plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Now under Iranian law, Rosemary, obviously women have to wear the hijab in the country and when they're out of the country representing Iran. In 2016, she spoke to Euronews. Rekabi spoke to Euronews and she was asked about wearing the hijab rock climbing. She said, yes, it gets hot, but we have come up with an outfit that respects the hijab and also allows us to climb.

She clearly was not wearing that on Sunday. Now we know that from the airport she was placed in a carve. She was there also with other teammates. We don't know where she has been taken. Now we don't know if she was coerced into to making this statement to the media, making this apology where the pressure has been placed on her family.

She says that she hopes to continue to rock climb and represent Iran. Her brother spoke to state media before she arrived and let me just read this to you.

[03:35:01]

She says, my -- he said, my sister is a child of Iran. He goes on to say she belongs to this land and will always play for this country. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, we'll continue to follow this story of course. Anna Coren, many thanks.

Well, CNN has learned some of the protestors injured in Tehran's brutal crackdown over the past month are avoiding medical treatment for fear of being arrested.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has the story and a warning some of the video in her report is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The repressive Republic is crushing dissent with brutality that knows no bounds. Kurdish cities like this one bearing the brunt of an unforgiving crackdown that's left no place safe, with security forces now hunting down the injured.

UNKNOWN (through translator): The injured don't go to hospitals because if they go there, plain clothes police will arrest them. Even in most pharmacies, they cannot go and get treated because they will be immediately identified and eventually lead to their arrest. For this reason, people are not being treated for their wounds. KARADSHEH: This is the leg of a 14-year-old boy peppered with what

appears to be birdshot wounds, protesters in his town know better than to go to the hospital.

A story replicated over and over across the country. Doctors, protestors and a human rights group tell CNN hospitals have turned into a trap, too dangerous for protesters. A doctor inside Iran who doesn't want to be identified for his safety spoke to us through the voice of a translator.

UNKNOWN (through translator): They mostly come undercover, but most of times they are recognizable by some signs. They come and ask about new patients if they want to use force, we have to answer them. Most of the times we use fake names or fake calls for protestors to help them so that they would not be recognized by intelligence forces.

KARADSHEH: Security services are tracking down on identifying people by the horrific injuries they're inflicting on protesters. And it's not just at hospitals. Protesters say ambulances are being used to detain people.

In this video, people attack an ambulance with security forces inside. The narrator says protesters are saving a girl. Not knowing who they can trust, desperate protesters are now turning to an Iranian-American doctor in New York for critical medical advice over Instagram.

KAYVAN MIRHADI, INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: The pictures they would send me are, you know, as basic as, you know, fractures and when they're running away from the police versus like brutal beatings. People have sent me skull fractures that they're trying to treat in the -- into their house. The multiple pellets throughout their body. A lot of them fear, like, you know, spend the next 10 years of my life in prison. Or just kind of let this, you know, Broken femur heal on its own.

KARADSHEH: Dr. K as he's known, is relying on a small underground network of doctors he trusts.

MIRHADI: A lot of this is happening, you know, in covert areas, you know, like hidden areas by doctors that they -- they want to remain anonymous.

KARADSHEH: Doctors helping protesters have reportedly been arrested, but that isn't stopping those putting duty above self.

UNKNOWN (through translator): As a doctor, I see this as a duty to save people anywhere. When the hospital is not safe, I try to help people on the street no matter where -- no matter what risk. No one should die cause of seeking freedom.

KARADSHEH: Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And we asked the Iranian government about the apparent arrest of protestors and hospitals and clinics, but received no response. And still to come, Haitians are running out of food and water as gang violence consumes the country. What a former prime minister says needs to happen if other countries step in. We're back with that in just a moment.

[03:40:0]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Haiti is grappling with a worsening humanitarian crisis amid efforts to manage violent gang activity. Thousands of residents have been in the streets for weeks venting their anger and frustration as vital resources like fuel have become scarce.

Food and water are now luxuries many don't have. Outside countries have offered help, but that outreach has been met with even more protests. Some Haitians are blaming countries like the United States and Canada for the increasing violence.

Meantime, the United Nations is split over how to respond. Some member countries have proposed sending in defense forces while others say they need to honor the wishes of the Haitian people.

The Biden administration drafted a resolution for the U.N. Security Council supporting the deployment of armed forces to Haiti.

Earlier, I asked former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, what the move would mean for Haiti. And here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENT LAMOTHE, FORMER HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is one step that needs to be done. One step in the right direction of course. You know, it's not the first time that Haiti would be receiving foreign troops. So, I hope that the international community learns from their mistakes in the past.

You know, the problem is not simply sending the troops in. This time it will be sending the troops but not a military occupation. More of assistance to the police in the army, in equipment, in resources, in training, in intelligent in order to defeat the gang. That's priority number one.

But in order for that to work that has, that alone is not going to solve the problem. That has to be accompanied with an aid package. Because, you know, for the past 15 months the people of Haiti have seen terrible misery and poverty.

So, the assistance to the police needs to be accompanied with an aid package. And afterwards, train the police, train the army, equip the police, equip the army. But that never again will be the face this gang warfare that is living right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And many thanks to former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe for joining me for that interview.

And thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church Marketplace Europe is next.

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