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Marital Law in Effect in Ukraine; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D- RI) is Interviewed about Dark Money in Elections; Florida Seniors Struggle to Rebuild. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired October 20, 2022 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:34:29]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, four regions of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia are now under martial law. It comes as Ukrainian officials reported overnight that a Russian rocket struck a children's school in a village in Zaporizhzhia. And in the Kryvyi Rih region, reports of serious destruction after another night of strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow.
So, Matthew, what can you tell us about the Russia-enforced martial law now in place in those four Ukrainian regions?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean it's obviously a big escalation in terms of what the Russians are doing.
[09:35:01]
And it's a very serious bit of legislation in those areas where the Russians are in control and where they've declared martial law. It basically gives the Russian military absolute power to do whatever they want effectively in terms of, you know, rounding people up, sending them to the front line, detaining people, confiscating property. You know, so it's a very draconian set of legislation.
How much impact it's going to have directly in terms of changing things on the ground is not clear. It's already a war zone. And as I mentioned, Russia doesn't control all of those areas.
Much more significant, I think, is the fact that there's been a heightened military security regime placed on areas all across the Russian Federation. So across the border is the - is the heightened -- most heightened part of that. The border areas between Russia and Ukraine where there's going to be increased military patrols. Much more of a military grip on that volatile area where there have been significant attacks emanating from Ukraine over the past several weeks into Russian territory. But even sort of further eastwards toward Moscow, the Russian capital, there are much tighter rules being put in place. We're going to see a step up in security checks, you know, kind of random searches and things like that. And, you know, across the country, as I say, emergency power is being
granted to various regional leaders. Significant because on the one hand it's an answer to Vladimir Putin's own critics or the critics of the - the way the conflict has been conducted in this country, showing that the Kremlin is not prepared to back down, but instead is doubling down, but also sort of laying the political groundwork to take much greater control if it's deemed necessary by the Kremlin of Russia itself. And so I think it's, you know, very concerning to lots of people watching Russia and, of course, inside Russia as well, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. We've already seen hundreds of thousands of Russian men mostly flee the country after the conscription was made mandatory.
Matthew Chance, thank you.
Well, next, more than a billion dollars of outside spending has already flooded into local races for the midterms. I'll speak with a Democratic senator who says something must be done to control record amounts of dark money.
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GOLODRYGA: As we count down to the midterm elections, we are now learning just how much financial influence is coming from outside groups. According to Open Secrets, a non-profit research organization, outside groups such as political action committees have spent a record $1.3 billion this election cycle. And there's still 20 days to go until Election Day.
I'm joined now by Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. He wrote a book on this exact issue, and it's called "The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court."
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, thank you so much for joining us.
So, your book really zeros in on the role of dark money and how it played into the Supreme Court and control of the Supreme Court. But now, obviously, there's a fixture on elections in general as well. $1.3 billion and counting before the midterms. What has that money done in terms of impact on elections in your view?
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): Well, it's done a couple of things. It's taken issues like climate change and made them impossible for us to work on because the whole climate denial operation is funded by dark money. It has moved the center of gravity of political campaigns away from the campaigns themselves and to these so-called outside groups that spend dark money. And they often spend more money than the actual campaigns themselves now. And, of course, the prolonged campaign, success now, to capture the court for those big dark money donors is a third element of this problem.
GOLODRYGA: Talk about the impact on the courts and why you view that as problematic. WHITEHOUSE: Well, take a look at the Dobbs decision. I don't think
that would have happened had the dark money apparatus not controlled all three of Trump's decisions. And they're kind of on a roll. They went after voting rights to hurt Democrats. They allowed dark money into politics to hurt the ability of regular voters to have their voices heard. They're taking the size of polluters versus regulators. They've turned the Supreme Court from a body that was supposed to call legal balls and strikes into an activist contests in our political fight on behalf of a lot of very big, dark, right wing money.
GOLODRYGA: And nationally in polls you've seen trust in the Supreme Court go down as a result of that.
Your book also connects some of these dark money groups to the January 6th insurrection, specifically a group called The Rule of Law Defense Fund, which started to run these so-called war games in September of 2020 to be ready in case Trump did lose the election.
WHITEHOUSE: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Talk about -- more about this through line between this group and the insurrection on the 6th.
WHITEHOUSE: Well, I hope you'll find out more from the Department of Justice as they continue to investigate. But what we do know is that this rule of law defense fund, which is the political arm of the Republican attorney general's association helped bring people to the January 6th rally. And we don't know how they're funded because the -- they don't report who their donors are.
[09:45:04]
I suspect big fossil fuel interests because they are the most prominent funders of this stuff. But it's getting a little bit weird when the Republican attorney general's political association --
GOLODRYGA: We appear to have lost his connection there. We had some issues before earlier.
Are you back, Senator?
OK, let's try it again.
WHITEHOUSE: I hear you. I don't know if you hear me.
GOLODRYGA: OK. Oh, yes, we see you. We see you and hear you fine. You can continue.
WHITEHOUSE: Yes. So it's weird when a presumably law bound group like - bringing people to an insurrection.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, we lost you again. We'll have to see what we can do in the break and get you back.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, thank you so much. We appreciate it. And sorry about that, folks at home. Well, still ahead, CNN's live in Florida where senior citizens who
weathered Hurricane Ian are trying to decide if they should take on the cost of rebuilding or just move on.
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GOLODRYGA: This morning, parts of hurricane ravaged Florida are still off the grid. Officials say northern areas of Captiva Island may not have electricity until November. And power should be restored to about 25 percent of Sanibel Island this week.
Yesterday, the causeway to Sanibel Island, the only road to the destination, reopened.
CNN correspondent Gabe Cohen is in Florida following the recovery efforts there and spoke with some of the people struggling the most, seniors now faced with the hard question of rebuild or call it a loss.
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GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than three weeks after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, Johnnie Glisson is still sleeping in his pickup truck.
JOHNNIE GLISSON, HURRICANE IAN SURVIVOR: I just play with my guitar, read my Bible and it's all good.
COHEN: The storm flooded his house outside Ft. Myers. There is little left beyond this damp couch on cinderblocks where he rested his back after long days of clean-up.
GLISSON: It helps me feel like this is still a home, and it's my home. So, probably more of a symbol than anything that says that I'm here and it's coming back.
COHEN: The 74-year-old bought this home for retirement.
GLISSON: Breaks your heart. It breaks your heart.
COHEN: As he picks up the pieces, he says he has no insurance to help.
GLISSON: I'm not leaving.
COHEN (on camera): Do you know how you're going to afford to rebuild?
GLISSON: We have FEMA out there. And so I'm hoping to get some help there.
COHEN: A sprawl of destruction line so many streets in southwest Florida, the remnants of wrecked homes waiting to be hauled away. Thousands of Floridians are just starting their recovery and relief groups say seniors were hit especially hard.
ROB GAUDET, CAJUN NAVY: Florida is where people come to retire. There's a large elderly population that really are facing their darkest hours.
LISA NEEDHAM, HURRICANE IAN SURVIVOR: I'm sorry I didn't tidy up for you.
COHEN (voice over): Lisa Needham's home in Arcadia is gutted down to the studs.
NEEDHAM: The water level was up to here.
COHEN: The items that made this house a home are piled by the curb.
NEEDHAM: I can't replace that. The house is a house. But those things, I still have the memory, though, so it's OK.
COHEN: The 62-year-old and her boyfriend are living in their friend's RV, expecting the rebuild could cost as much as $80,000 and take months at least.
COHEN (on camera): Have you thought about relocating?
NEEDHAM: No. This is what I wanted. It's what I always wanted. So, I'm going to stick with it.
COHEN (voice over): They have flood insurance but don't know how much they'll get back. Lisa retired last year and now she says she may have to go back to work.
NEEDHAM: To put out that kind of money would be very tough on me right now.
COHEN: The storm displaced thousands of Floridians. Few had flood insurance. And rebuilding isn't an option for everyone.
TOBY FREEMAN, HURRICANE IAN SURVIVOR: I'm going to be stuck here for a while, if not offer.
COHEN: Seventy-seven-year-old Toby Freeman is in Buffalo, New York, where his daughter, Krista (ph), lives after he says seven feet of water wrecked his home. His wife, Karen, is still recovering in a rehab center in Florida.
FREEMAN: The only thing I got out of that house was the clothing on my back, and I had to throw it away.
COHEN: They say they have little savings and no insurance. So they're moving to Buffalo. Krista is dipping into her retirement fund to help them find a home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to take care of my family. I wouldn't have it any other way.
COHEN: Alice and Richard Johnson (ph) aren't leaving Florida, but they're moving into their RV full time. They didn't have flood insurance, they say, and a lot of their retirement funds are tied up in this house.
COHEN (on camera): Was that a difficult decision?
ALICE JOHNSON, HURRICANE IAN SURVIVOR: Probably one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made in my life.
COHEN (voice over): Alice turns 85 next week, and they want to focus on enjoying life together.
JOHNSON: How many good years do I have left to live? I don't want to spend the next two years rebuilding a house, dealing with contractors, doing work ourselves, going -- even picking out furniture, for what, or who, for me? I think that we would rather sell it and live for the next couple years.
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COHEN: Now, Bianna, there are some signs of progress. Behind me is the Sanibel Island causeway. It's the only road on and off that island, which washed away when the island got pounded by the storm.
Well, just yesterday, crews were able to finally reopen this road, allowing people who live on Sanibel to get on and off more easily.
[09:55:07]
Again, it is a step in the right direction. But the clean-up, certainly the recovery there, has barely started, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, it's hard to see that wreckage behind you and call it progress.
Gabe, just incredible reporting. I can't get 75-year-old Johnnie out of my head sitting there in his truck and reading his Bible and playing guitar. Thank you so much for bringing us their stories.
COHEN: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, still ahead, a stunning resignation in the U.K. Liz Truss making dubious history as the prime minister with the shortest tenure in British history. So how soon could we see her successor? We're live at Downing Street up next.
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