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Ukraine Wary About Possible Trap in Kherson; Former Pakistan PM in Stable Condition after Being Shot; South Korea: North Fired 3 Short-Range Missiles Thursday Night; Itamar Ben-Gvir to Co-Lead Third- Largest Bloc in Knesset; Militia Member Killed in Clash with Iranian Protestors; Qatar's Human Rights Record Criticized Ahead of World Cup. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired November 04, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up, the looming battle for the occupied city of Kherson. Will Russian troops stay and fight, or are they slowly pulling back as a Ukrainian counter-offensive closes in?

[00:00:52]

Less than 24 hours after former Pakistan prime minister, Imran Khan, was shot in the foot, police say they have the shooter.

And the key maker of Israeli politics, Itamar Ben-Gvir, an anti Arab, far-right Jewish extremist with convictions for inciting racism and supporting a terror organization.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: The next major flash point in Ukraine is expected soon, with Ukraine's counteroffensive now not far from Kherson, the first major city to fall to Russia days after the invasion and the only major Ukrainian city still under Russian occupation.

For the past few days, the city's main administrative building has stopped flying the Russian flag. A flagpole with no flag has raised questions about a possible Russian retreat.

So, too, talk of a troop withdrawal on Russian media from Kremlin- appointed city leaders. Tens of thousands of civilians have been evacuated from the city and surrounding areas.

And while Russian troops have been digging in and fortifying defensive positions, there seems to be no sign of a mass troop pull-out from the region.

All of this raising Ukrainian suspicion that, perhaps, the Russians have laid the groundwork for an ambush. And, right now, it seems the Russians are waiting, waiting for the harsh cold temperatures of the coming months.

The E.U. foreign policy chief referred to General Winter coming to help Putin and its beleaguered army. Ongoing airstrikes have damaged or destroyed around 40 percent of

Ukraine's electricity infrastructure. Millions have been left without electricity. And rolling blackouts are now part of daily life.

More G-7 nations have promised to help Ukraine survive a brutally cold winter from a Russian assault the E.U. foreign policy chief said was a war crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: They are destroying the country systematically. They are bombing, destroying the civil infrastructure. Millions of Ukrainians have no longer access to electricity. And what Putin is willing to do is to put the country in the darkness in the wintertime. It is a war crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: As for Kherson, residents there have told CNN they see nothing to indicate Russian troops are leaving en masse.

The fate of the city is both strategically and politically crucial to both sides. A Russian retreat would be yet another major blow to Vladimir Putin. Pushing back a Ukrainian counter-offensive could give the Russians time to regroup and re-arm.

More now from CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Atop Kherson's main government building, a change. No Russian flag. On a bus nearby, residents cheer, realizing a Russian checkpoint is gone.

A city resident whom CNN is not identifying for their own security describes the changes.

"Almost no large armored vehicles in the city during the day," he says. "And all the military checkpoints in the city are gone."

The region's Russian-installed governor told a Russian media propagandist Russian troops are holding the city for now. But added, "Most likely our troops will leave for the East Bank."

What Russia is planning, not clear. Ukrainian officials fear deception.

NATALIA HUMENIUK, SPOKESPERSON, UKRAINE DEFENSE FORCES SOUTH (through translator): We see it and realize that these may be certain tricks. Military maneuvers to build correct defenses, as they see it. Nevertheless, we see that in Kherson, there are still regular units wearing civilian clothes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But, Ukraine still claiming gains, Thursday destroying several boats in Kherson port.

And Wednesday, destroying a Russian surface-to-air missile system often used to hit Ukrainian civilians in nearby Mykolaiv.

In the Black Sea, too, Russia appears on the back foot as grain shipments resumed following Putin's reversal of his refusal this past weekend to cooperate with the U.N.-brokered deal, citing new guarantees from Ukraine.

[00:05:06]

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements if these guarantees are breached by Ukraine.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Another sign, according to Ukraine's president, that Putin is being forced to change.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Two hundred and fifty-two days ago, Russia demanded security guarantees from the United States of America. After eight months of the Russian so-called special operation, the Kremlin is demanding security guarantees from Ukraine.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): In Kherson, Putin's intent still far from clear. Residents report plenty of Russian heavy weapons on the edge of the city.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: David Sanger is a CNN political and national security analyst. He also covers the White House and national security for "The New York Times." In his spare time, he writes books like "The Perfect Weapon." And, right now he is in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Thanks for being with us.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be with you.

VASE: OK, so there's been a constant wave of wave after wave of Russian attacks on soft targets like Ukraine's power stations and water pumping plants. It's really starting to bite. And it's not even winter yet. Listen to President Zelenskyy. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): As of this evening, about four and a half million energy consumers have been temporarily disconnected from consumption, According to emergency and stabilization schedules.

Enduring Russia energy terror and passing such a test is our national task, one of the main ones now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: They're keeping everyone together during winter when the average daytime temperature in December, January, and February in Ukraine is freezing: zero Celsius, 32 Fahrenheit.

So you know, Putin is creating terrorism on a scale not seen since World War II, in many ways. So what does success look like to him? How does he know this has worked?

SANGER: Well, John, first of all, think about the number that you heard there from President Zelenskyy. He suggested that it was well over 4 million. So more than 10 percent of the country's population before the war started. And, we know that millions, of course, fled the country, went to Poland, went to Romania, went elsewhere.

And so what it's telling you is that Putin is trying to start another flood of refugees into Europe during the winter. He's going to try to freeze out those who remain.

This is a strategy for somebody who does not have a plan or a strategy for taking the country over, so it's purely freeze them out. A lot of people will die: elderly, young people, people who just get hypothermia. I've been in Ukraine during the winter. It is, as you say, pretty bloody cold.

And this is the strategy of somebody who has, as Zelenskyy said, decided to conduct a terror campaign that fits atop the military campaign.

VAUSE: Yes, it is shameless. It is this brutal. It is cowardly. Everything and then some.

And with winter coming, Ukraine' government has urged those Ukrainians who have fled, the millions who have fled, actually, to stay outside of the country, to stay put what they are. And, there are a lot of Ukrainians who are now refugees.

Here's U.N. high commissioner for refugees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FILIPPO GRANDI, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: Russia invasion of Ukraine has driven the fastest and largest displacement witnessed in decades. Ukrainians are about to face one of the world's harshest winters in extremely difficult circumstances. Humanitarian organizations have dramatically scaled up their response, but much more can be done, starting with an end to this senseless war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well there's one person who could end the war, and that's Vladimir Putin, and he won't. So in the meantime, there's this incredible need for humanitarian assistance for Ukraine over the coming months.

Is that a much easier ask for the E.U., to supply humanitarian assistance, to get the stuff that they need? Or is there such a drain now that even that could be difficult?

SANGER: You know, I think it's an easier ask. But the fact of the matter is that there's no amount of aid that they could provide that will necessarily get the heat rolling again, or the electricity back on in the middle of the winter in Ukraine.

The aid they're going to need to take on, my guess is, is taking in more refugees. I think you're going to see a significant outflow again, just as you did during the original invasion, which was in late February.

VAUSE: And Putin is doing this. He's targeting civilians, because he's losing on the battlefield and could soon boast control of the Russian- occupied city of Kherson.

Here's an assessment from the U.N. [SIC] secretary -- U.S., rather, secretary for defense.

[00:10:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: On the issue of whether or not the Ukrainians can take the remaining territory on the West side of the -- of the Dnieper River in -- in Kherson, I certainly believe that they have the capability to do that. Most importantly, the Ukrainians believe that they have the capability to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Is this battle for the city of Kherson shaping up to be one of the biggest and bloodiest that they've seen, so far?

SANGER: You know, it's a little hard to tell if the remove that we are at right now. And it looks like the Russians are doing sort of a slow withdrawal.

There appears to have been some difference of opinion within the Russian leadership about whether to give up Kherson. The withdrawal that we are seeing, looks like it's to the other side of the river. But that doesn't mean that Russian forces would disappear from the region entirely.

But, you know, we're caught in the same paradox that you and I discussed a few nights ago, John. Which is the worse the Russians do on the battlefield, the more they are tempted either to turn to terror techniques like the ones that we've been discussing, targeting the infrastructure; turn to cyber; or perhaps turn to nuclear. The issue that we were worried about so much a few weeks ago when Russian officials were calling their American and European counterparts and charging that the Ukrainians are about to set off a dirty bomb.

So that's the situation we find ourselves in in the winter. It's hard to sort of believe that we're going to see serious negotiations this winter. Because Zelenskyy has been pretty clear that he's winning and doesn't see a need to reach an agreement that would allow the Russians to -- to hold territory.

VAUSE: Yes, this is -- this is going to grind on, it seems. And it's going to get worse and worse, as you say, for the civilians in particular, which is obviously the worst situation we could be in.

David, thank you. David Sanger, CNN political and national security analyst. Thank you, sir.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

VAUSE: Former Pakistani prime minister, Imran Khan, is in stable condition after being shot in the leg. His political party says Khan was a target of an attempted assassination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Khan was on the seventh day of a nationwide political tour demanding new elections when the gunman opened fire. Police say they have detained one suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FAISAL SULTAN, SHAUKAT KHANUM HOSPITAL (through translator): Imran Khan was brought to the hospital a moment ago. He is stable now. We have done his emergency evaluation, scans and X-rays. But there are some particles of bullets in his leg. There is a minor fracture on his leg. And, the bone has been chipped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Protests broke out across Pakistan after the shooting, and Khan has directly accused Pakistan's prime minister, interior minister, and a senior intelligence official of being behind Thursday's attack.

CNN's Anna Coren, following all developments for us. She joins us now live. So, Anna, what do we know about the suspect who police have arrested?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, John, we know that he's told police he acted alone, that he said he was upset because there was music playing during this march while the call to prayer was going on. He said he acted independently, that no one asked him to do that.

But that is all we have, a clip that the police have distributed of this gunman giving his confession.

The fear is, John, that this is going to, you know, erupt into real civil unrest. Khan, who you know, knows that he was in danger, he said as much to the media last week. He -- he says, I'm a target. There's always a threat when you're challenging the status quo. That is what he told the media.

He also went on to say that he was part of a freedom struggle. And that it was better to die than to live under these criminals. These criminals he's referring to, the government.

Now, we know that there is huge animosity between Imran Khan and the government. He was ousted from power back in April.

The government has come out, the prime minister and the interior minister and it was these -- senior military official who Khan blames for this assassination attempt. They all say that these are baseless accusations. That Khan has no evidence, whatsoever that this was an assassination attempt.

And, that the party of Imran Khan, the PTI, is stroking unrest and spreading extremist views. But let's take a look at what happened in Pakistan yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): A political campaign turns deadly in Pakistan when gunshots erupt from the crowd.

(MUSIC)

(GUNSHOTS)

COREN (voice-over): In the chaotic moments after the shooting, Imran Khan was carried out and whisked away from the crowd. A gunman had opened fire at a rally of tens of thousands of his supporters.

[00:15:07]

The target, Khan's party claims, was the former prime minister himself. Shot in the lower leg, he was bundled into a bulletproof car and driven two hours to Lahore for surgery.

A senior party leader released a statement from Khan, saying the cricketing hero blamed the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif; his interior minister; and a senior intelligence official for an attempt on his life, calling for their removal from office.

The government responded, saying this was a grievous accusation.

Outside the hospital, crowds gathered, desperate for any updates. Protests broke out across the country as news of the shooting spread. Six others were injured in the attack, and one was killed, according to a senator from Khan's political party, the PTI.

"Please pray for Imran Khan, for our fellow workers who are injured," the senator says, "and for our party member who has died."

Khan had been on the campaign trail to demand snap elections in Pakistan, after he was ousted in a vote of no confidence in Parliament just six months ago, accused of bad governance and mismanaging the country's flailing economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (on camera): Now, John, Pakistan, as we know, is no stranger to political assassinations. I know that you covered the assassination of Benazir Bhutto back in 2007 when a 15-year-old suicide bomber killed her on the campaign trail. She'd just held a rally.

Well, Imran Khan is, you know, injured but very much alive and talking and blaming the government for this attempt on this life.

The fear, obviously, is -- is that this could just descend into chaos and violence and further escalate those tensions between Imran Khan and the current government -- John.

VAUSE: Yes, assassination has long been sort of a tool of Pakistan politics, if you like, in the worst way possible.

Anna, thank you for being with us. Anna Coren there live in Hong Kong.

Well, North Korea put the missile launches on hold Thursday, instead firing off artillery rounds in anger over U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

According to Seoul, about 80 artillery rounds were fired into a maritime buffer zone known as the Northern Limit Line, what the South says was a clear violation of a 2018 military agreement between both countries.

Pyongyang has complained about the Vigilant Storm exercises since they began Monday. They were to end Friday but were extended one more day after the North fired off a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that apparently failed in-flight.

It was against this tense backdrop that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hosted his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon on Thursday. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSTIN: And at this time of heightened tension, our alliance is ironclad. The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the ROK and are extended deterrence commitment is firm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Blake Essig joins us now live from Tokyo with the very latest -- Blake.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, so far this year, North Korea has launched ballistic or cruise missiles possibly capable of carrying nuclear warheads on 30 different days.

And while many of the headlines following yesterday's launch of North Korea's newest missile, today, the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, which Kim Jong-un showed off in a highly-produced propaganda video earlier this year, is believed to have failed mid- flight after its second phase of separation. That's according to a South Korean government source.

But, even if the ICBM did fill, progress was clearly made since the last time it was tested back in May.

In May, according to the South Korean government, it's believed that the same type of ICBM only flew upward 540 kilometers. Yesterday, it reached an altitude of about 2,000 kilometers, and likely failed in its third and final stage of flight.

Those stages include the boost, mid-course, and terminal phase when the missile re-enters the atmosphere and strikes its target.

But the key here is that no one single test is special on its own. North Korea gains knowledge from each weapons test, and just like it sports, the more you practice, the better you get.

So when talking to experts, they say it's the aggressive pace of testing by Pyongyang that's most concerning. And it's likely that that testing is going to continue.

On Thursday, within hours of North Korea's failed ICBM test, the ongoing joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea that were scheduled to end today were extended an extra day.

And as a result of heightened -- of course, that is a result of heightened provocations from North Korea. It's a decision to extend that was met with the launching of another three ballistic missiles late Thursday night and this statement, put out by North Korea's top military official, that said, "The irresponsible decision of the U.S. and South Korea is shoving the present situation caused by provocative military acts of the allied forces to an uncontrollable phase. The U.S. and South Korea will get to know what an irrevocable and awful mistake they made."

[00:20:17]

Now, another big concern is that many experts believe North Korea is ready to carry out its seventh ever nuclear weapons test. And it could happen soon, with the upcoming U.S. midterm election and G-20 events coming up.

North Korea has a tendency to conduct tests ahead of important events to move itself up the agenda.

Now, South Korea's defense ministry -- minister, excuse me -- met with his U.S. counterpart in Washington yesterday, as you mentioned, where the two pledged to increase the frequency and intensity of strategic asset deployment in the region, in response to any further North Korean provocation.

And said this about what would happen if North Korea carries out a nuclear attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE JONG-SUP, SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): Secretary Austin and I affirmed that any nuclear attack by the DPRK, including the use of tactical nuclear weapons, is unacceptable and result in the end of Kim Jong-un regime by the overwhelming and decisive response of the alliance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG: Well, so far, there are no missiles flying back and forth between North Korea and South Korea today. But, really, the war of wars, these threatening words between countries continues to intensify, John.

VAUSE: Blake, thanks so much. Blake Essig there live for us in Tokyo with the latest. Appreciate it.

Well, when we come back, he was once considered too extreme for mainstream Israeli politics. But now he's the kingmaker of Israeli politics and will likely be rewarded with a senior ministerial portfolio in the next Israeli government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.

Israel's outgoing prime minister has congratulated the country's longest-serving prime minister on his imminent return to power. Yair Lapid says this office is preparing for an organized transition.

Final but not official results show Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party and his far-right allies sitting on 64 seats in the Knesset, more than enough for a majority.

Lapid's block looks likely to end up with 51. Five seats for the Arab party that will not support either side. Results will be certified on Wednesday.

Now, along with Netanyahu, the other big winner from this election is the ultranationalist, Religious Zionism/Jewish Power alliance. More than doubling its presence in the Knesset.

Its controversial co-leader could end up with a prominent position, despite prior convictions that were rooted in racism and terrorism.

CNN's Hadas Gold has more now, reporting from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Until recently, this man, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was considered a fringe far-right activist settler lawyer.

His signature white kippah almost always almost askew on his head.

Now, a leader of the projected third largest block in the Israeli Parliament. Said to be a key component of Benjamin Netanyahu's now likely comeback as prime minister.

[00:25:09]

ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, ISRAELI POLITICIANS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) GOLD (voice-over): The 46-year-old has been a provocateur since his youth.

Once a supporter of the Jewish nationalist Kach Party, deemed a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and ultimately outlawed by Israel.

He was once filmed holding a hood emblem he claimed was from the car of former Israeli prime minister Itzak Rabin, an architect of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, vowing, "We got to his car and we'll get to him, too."

A Jewish extremist assassinated Rabin three weeks later.

Exempted from the military draft -- he says he was denied for his political views -- Ben-Gvir became a lawyer, often representing Jewish extremist settlers, and famously hung a portrait in his home of Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli doctor who massacred 29 Palestinians in a mosque in the West Bank in 1994 before being killed himself.

Ben-Gvir later tweeted he would take the portrait down.

In 2007, he told CNN the holiest, most contested site in Jerusalem, third holiest site in Islam, is for the Jews only.

ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, JEWISH POWER PARTY LEADER: Temple Mount is for Israel, for the Jewish people, not for the Islamic people. They have Mecca, Medina. We have the Temple Mount.

GOLD (voice-over): That same year, he was convicted for inciting anti- Arab racism and supporting terrorism.

In 2020, his sights turned to politics, winning a seat in the Knesset in 2021 on a platform that included annexing the West Bank, relaxing the Israeli military open-fire policy against Palestinian rioters; and pushed for the death penalty for terrorists.

He has spent his time in Parliament attracting the spotlight, from stunts like pulling a gun during clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, telling police to shoot Arabs who throw stones; to being forcibly removed from the floor of the Israeli Parliament for calling a fellow member, the leader of the Arab Movement Party, who's also an Israeli citizen, a terrorist, saying he didn't belong in Israel.

Just last year, Netanyahu himself dismissed the idea of Ben-Gvir leading a government ministry. Saying, "A minister? No, not in my government."

But this year, his tune changed. Asked again if Ben-Gvir would be a minister, he answered, "Of course he can be."

-- vying to be put in charge of the police, as a Minister Ben-Gvir, that could affect Israel's relationship with its most important ally, the United States. NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: And we hope that all

Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups.

GOLD (voice-over): The extremist once shunned from Israeli politics now a top figure, appearing on cooking shows and possibly soon, the Israeli cabinet.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The British home secretary, who is at the center of a widening scandal over her attitude and handling of immigration, traveled to two migrant processing centers in Southeast England, where concerns are being raised about overcrowding.

Authorities (ph) have been warning about dire conditions, underscored by reports of a young girl throwing a bottle over a fence with a note describing sick detainees and pregnant women.

The Thursday visit follows controversial remarks by the home secretary, on migrants in Parliament earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUELLA BRAVERMAN, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: The British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our Southern coast and which party is not.

Some 40,000 people have arrived on the South coast this year alone, many of them facilitated by criminal gangs. Some of them, actual members of criminal gangs. So, let's stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Suella Braverman also accused many arriving Albanians of, quote, "abusing our modern slavery laws."

The prime minister of Albania says her remarks are fueling xenophobia.

Still to come here on CNN, deadly clashes in Iran. Police fire at protesters. Protesters throw rocks at police, and the protesters win. Report on the latest violence, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:47]

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

In North Central Iran on Thursday, a volunteer with a paramilitary militia was killed, five others injured in clashes with anti- government protesters.

A warning: some of the images you're about to see are violent, and they're graphic.

Protesters are seen throwing rocks at a police truck. It's all splattered with blood, an officer lying inside.

One activist group says the rock throwing came after police chased and fired at protesters.

More details now from CNN's Jomana Karadsheh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Protests continued in different parts of Iran on Thursday, including a large demonstration in the city of Karaj, just outside Tehran, where mourners gathered to commemorate 40 days since the killing of Hadis Najafi, one of the many protesters who have lost their lives over the past few weeks.

That gathering turning violent as security forces, trying to crack down. Violent clashes erupted. And according to state media, a number of security forces are among the casualties.

The regime has been using all the same kind of tactics its used in the past to try and crush these protests. We have seen the brutality that they have unleashed on the streets, beating and shooting at protesters.

According to the harrowing first-hand accounts we've had from protesters, as well as the horrific videos and images that have emerged over the past few weeks. The government has, also detained thousands of people, according to U.N., officials more than 14,000 people have, so far, been arrested. And, that is an estimate. The number could be much higher than that.

More than 1,000 people have so far been indicted. Some of them facing very serious charges, including corruption on earth, and war against God. These are charges that could carry the death penalty in Iran, a country where human rights defenders say there is no such thing as fair trials.

In this seventh week of these protests, turned into a national uprising, all of these tactics used by the government don't seem to be stopping and deterring these protesters, who have told us that they have had enough of the more than four decades of the repressive Islamic Republic.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A new wave of escalating violence in Ecuador's prison system has led to increased security and government promises to regain control. On Thursday, 12 servicemen were injured in clashes between inmates and

prison guards. Two days before that, at least five policemen were killed.

And the president has declared a 45-day state of emergency, now in two provinces.

We'll take a break. When we come back, Qatar facing criticism over its human rights record as it prepares to host the World Cup. But the question is how many football fans will actually really care? More on that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:48]

VAUSE: Note to staff from the new owner, Twitter's new owner, billionaire Elon Musk. Lay-offs begin today.

The memo (ph) said the employees would be notified about their employment status through the e-mails, which will arrive noon Eastern Time Friday, as the company offices will be temporarily closed, in the interest of safety.

Musk has already fired top executives and dissolved Twitter's board of directors. It's the Musk era.

In just 16 days, the first World Cup played in a desert will begin. But behind Qatar's spectacular stadiums and glitzy infrastructure, critics say there's much to criticize.

For one, the country's strict anti-LGBTQ laws. The Qatari (ph) newspaper reports that last year, 6,500 migrant workers have died since Qatar won the right to host the Tournament.

Most of them did low-wage jobs, often under blistering heat.

Organizers categorically denied the report, which did not connect the alleged deaths to the World Cup infrastructure projects but did say chances are many workers died working on those stadiums.

Joining us now is Tommy Vietor. He was a national security spokesperson during the Obama administration. He's also the founder of Crooked Media. Right now, he's one of the hosts of the podcast "World Corrupt," which focuses on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Good to see you. Thanks for being with us.

TOMMY VIETOR, FOUNDER, CROOKED MEDIA: Thank you so much for having me.

VAUSE: OK, so climate activists have also called out the World Cup and FIFA for bogus claims of carbon neutrality, which we'll get to in a moment.

But I want to start off with part of an op-ed that you and Roger Bennett wrote for CNN.com.

"Journalists are thrown in jail for investigating migrant worker conditions. LGBTQ+ people are treated as criminals. Women need to ask men permission to marry, travel and study abroad in many cases. And Qatari labor practices have been compared to modern slavery."

So that was all true when Qatar bought the rights to host the Cup. It was true when play will begin in, what, just two weeks from now. Or just over.

It will be true once the circus moves on and the world just forgets about what happened.

So naming and shaming can be very effective but only when enough people care. So that's the question. Do enough people around the world actually care that this is the situation?

VIETOR: Well, I mean, John, it's a great question. And the good news is, there's still time. I mean, the story really goes back to 2010, when FIFA, a hopelessly corrupt body that oversees the global soccer world, awarded the World Cup to Russia and Qatar.

And I don't have to explain your viewers why having an international soccer tournament in Russia is a problem at this point.

But Qatar was not really well known at the moment. In a way, I think people are finally waking up to is the fact that women, LGBT people are treated like second-class citizens. And all of the infrastructure built for this soccer tournament was built by migrant laborers.

And "The Guardian" newspaper reported that, since the awarding of these games in 2010, at least 6,500 workers have died in the process of doing their jobs. And a lot of those deaths are probably tied to building out that infrastructure.

So the point of the show is to try to educate people on what's happening, and then arm them with some ways to put pressure on the global federations and sponsors behind these games.

VAUSE: Yes. A few days ago, the head coach of England, during an interview with CNN, actually said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARETH SOUTHGATE, HEAD COACH, ENGLAND MEN'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: I've been out to Qatar several times, and I've met with lots of the -- the workers out there. And they are united in, certainly, one thing. That's that they want the tournament to happen, and they want that because they love football. They want the football to come to Qatar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:17]

VAUSE: As the group Human Rights Watch noted the following day, families of migrant workers "would like to support the World Cup but cannot, because their children are starving, and their breadwinners died in Qatar."

You know, we heard also the flip side of this, that a number of teams have actually launched protests. They've spoken out. but it's a small number.

So how important it is for the players to take a stand, raise awareness, and also for the coaches and other players to be, you know, truly aware of what's actually going on?

VIETOR: Yes. You know, this is a great question. Roger and I, in making the show, I mean, we feel like it's so unfair that so much pressure is put on players and coaches. Because they didn't ask for the games to be here. Really, it's FIFA's fault.

But it does seem important to us that the international bodies, you know, the federations in various countries speak out and say something.

There was a really powerful video that came out recently from the Socceroos, the Australian team, that spoke to a number of human rights issues. I -- I hope that other team will follow suit.

VAUSE: You know, it seems this year's World Cup in Qatar is so riddled with scandals. There have been complaints that its appalling human rights record and abusive treatment of migrant workers has taken attention away from this appalling attempt at greenwashing and bogus claims of carbon neutrality.

This is from a climate scientist: "There will be a direct cost to this tournament. This is a huge amount of emissions for one sporting event. It's these emissions that will have an impact around the world. To claim events are carbon neutral is deeply misleading and incredibly dangerous, making the situation worse, rather than better."

So basically, these games have woefully underestimated their real carbon emissions, and they're not taking carbon out of the atmosphere. They're taking measures to offset the carbon output. The whole thing is just really misleading, at best.

Is this what happens when you basically stage a football match in the middle of the desert, when it really shouldn't be played there to begin with?

VIETOR: Yes. I mean, listen, when initially, Qatar said that they were going to invent some sort of outdoor air conditioning to allow the games to go forward in the summer, when they're supposed to happen, obviously, that was absurd. So they had to move the tournament to November, to the winter, which by the way, upended the entire international league, the EPL, everyone else.

And so I think we should probably view these claims of carbon neutrality as absurd, as you know, having an international soccer tournament in a petrostate, would lead you to believe. I think the broader point here is, like, I think it's important for us to call out these kinds of bogus claims about carbon neutrality. We should call out Qatar's human rights record, because we know that Saudi Arabia and Egypt want to make a bid for the 2030 World Cup.

And you know, FIFA has claimed that they put in place certain standards to protect human rights interests going forward, but if they allow Saudi Arabia to get the 2030 World Cup, we know that those claims were as useless as the paper they're written on. So that's kind of what we're watching for.

VAUSE: Yes. And you make the good point that it's not really -- it's all about FIFA, the governing body which has to step up and answer for all of this stuff, because they're the ones who give out the games and the rights.

Tommy, thanks so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.

VIETOR: Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Another hour of CNN NEWSROOM coming up in about 17 minutes from now with my colleague and friend Michael Holmes. But first, after a short break, WORLD SPORT. See you next week.

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