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Ukraine: Power Outages In Every Region After Large-Scale Attack; Newborn Killed In Missile Strike On Maternity Ward; Meta: Fake Accounts Promoting U.S. Interests Tied To Military; Race To Review Trump's Taxes After Supreme Court Decision; Walker Getting Tax Break On Texas Home Meant For Primary Residence; Soon, Police Update On Brutal Stabbings In Idaho. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 23, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And of course, as you mentioned, this is the time of the year when power is needed more than at any other time because it's the onset of winter.

Temperatures plunging below freezing in some parts of the country. The snow has already started to fall. People want the energy for heating and for cooking and they haven't got it.

So it's a real crisis situation facing the people of Ukraine. And it's set to get even worse as the winter goes on -- Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Matthew, I wanted to get an update on the attack at the maternity ward. Zaporizhzhia, where it took place, one of the regions that Putin illegally annexed. Why was this maternity ward a target?

CHANCE: It's not clear. It's not clear whether it was a target or whether it was, you know, an attempt by the Russians to attack infrastructure there, power infrastructure and it missed.

I think there's a degree of carelessness at the very least about Russian targeting of their missiles.

Although, no one is ruling out that these civilian infrastructure targets like hospitals could also be deliberately targeted by the Russians.

They've done that in Syria and there's lots of suggestions they could well be doing that in Ukraine as well in order to increase the hardship of ordinary people.

The specific incident we're talking about here, a massive missile, the strike on that maternity clinic in Zaporizhzhia in central Ukraine. The doctor was pulled from the rubble. A young mother was pulled from the rubble.

But the newborn baby that was right there, at least one of them, didn't make it. Two days old. So another tragic story, another loss of life, another family in ruins

as a result of these missile strikes and, you know, within this increasingly brutal war between Ukraine and Russia.

SANCHEZ: Yes, another heart-wrenching scene in this needless invasion of Ukraine.

Matthew Chance, reporting from Odessa, thank you very much.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, says it's uncovered a network of dozens of fake social media accounts that are being run by the United States military.

CNN's cybersecurity reporter, Sean Lyngaas, broke this story for CNN.

Sean, tell us about these accounts. What do they look like? What kind of content were they sharing?

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Boris, it's good to see you again.

This is really interesting because, most of the time, we talk go this type of covert influence operation in terms of what the Russian government or the Chinese government or the Iranian government is doing and how U.S. tech companies are uncovering it.

This time, it was an alleged U.S. military campaign, covert, pretending to be authentic users, and not identifying themselves.

Some accounts Meta flagged were accounts that were promoting U.S. interests as you'd expect them to do in Afghanistan and Central Asia.

For example, right before the chaotic withdrawal that the U.S. had from Afghanistan in August, last August 2021, there was an uptick in posts promoting U.S. interests and talking about Afghanistan.

And other examples include posts about Central Asia, the country of Tajikistan, which most Americans might struggle to find on a map, but is a potential ally to the ally in the region against Russian interests.

The posts that the military were allegedly running we're talking about how Russia was a threat, and that the only the U.S. was really the stable bulwark in the region.

So it was interesting covert activity that the U.S. military is reportedly investigating and seeing if it violated any of their rules of conduct. It certainly violated Facebook's rules -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, fascinating stuff.

Sean Lyngaas, thank you very much. Great reporting.

On the World Cup front, a powerful stand and surprising defeat today for four-time cup champions, Germany. During a pregame picture, the German team put their hands over their mouths, protesting speech restrictions in Qatar, who is hosting the World Cup.

The captains of Germany and six other European teams were planning to wear One Love armbands that celebrate equal rights. But they scrapped those plans after FIFA warned that wearing them would result in a yellow card.

Germany's Soccer Association tweeted this in part, quote, "It wasn't about making a political statement. Human rights are nonnegotiable."

Adding, "Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice."

As for the actual German game against Japan, another major upset. Japan ranked 21st in the world shocking the Germans with a 2-1 victory.

The race to review Donald Trump's tax returns is on. Democrats are hoping to get ahold of those documents by next week. So what are the next steps? We'll take you live to Capitol Hill.

[13:34:54]

Plus, he's running for Senate in Georgia but Republican Herschel Walker is getting a tax break as a primary resident of Texas. How does that work? We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Just into CNN, we are getting a new look at the suspect in the Club Q shooting massacre. This is from their first court appearance that wrapped up just moments ago. It was very brief.

[13:40:08]

As you can see, Anderson Aldrich is there, in that lower window. He -- or they -- I should say, is behind some attorneys. Remember, in legal documents filed last night, their attorneys said that the suspect identifies as nonbinary.

They are slumped over, wearing an orange jumpsuit and restraints. They were ordered held without bail.

Prosecutors are going to file charges in the coming days. And the next court date in the case was set for early next month.

So the race is on. A Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee said he and his colleagues should be ready to work holidays, weekends, whatever it takes to review Donald Trump's tax returns before Republicans gain control of the house.

This, of course, comes after the Supreme Court, Trump's last hope of keeping the documents hidden, ruled that he must turn them over to Congress.

Let's bring in senior legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid.

Paula, Trump broke precedent when he refused to make his tax returns public. What are lawmakers going to be looking for now that they finally got what they've been looking for, for years?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the past three years, lawmakers have been arguing in court that they needed these records so that they could assess the IRS' ability to apply tax laws to sitting presidents, particularly those with complex business holdings like former President Trump.

And they said once they could look at these records, then they could assess whether they needed to pass or try to pass additional legislation.

Now that they have them, I will note though, they are prevented by law from making them public. They're only supposed to use them for the legislative purpose.

Also, as you noted, the house is about to change hands. These records will stay with the committee.

And, Boris, it will be interesting to see if they do put forward any kind of legislation connected to the original argument they were making for why they needed these.

Because there's a much bigger umbrella question here, right? Which is, what are you hiding? Why wouldn't you release these?

They may not know what it is they're looking for exactly but there's a big question about why these haven't been released.

And again, it is a major loss for the former president. He has been fighting for years.

Look, Boris, the former president has a lot of different legal controversies and cases. I covered them closely. But most people in America know he refused to release his returns.

This is something he's been fighting for such a long time. And this is one of the biggest losses in recent memory. And it's also a pretty big boost for congressional oversight power.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it seems like there's now a precedent that's been set.

So I guess another question that's out there is whether it's going to be easier for Congress to potentially access Trump's tax returns in the future potentially in the next election.

REID: It's a great question. I mean, for the next two years, it appears they will have a Republican majority in the house so it's unlikely they would go necessarily for Trump's tax returns, again.

But as you noted, there's now a precedent. And there's really a framework for crafting these arguments that will survive judicial review.

But now that Republicans are in charge, they can now use the same legislative purpose framework to craft requests for other presidential financial records. And it will be interesting to see if they use that to their advantage.

SANCHEZ: Paula Reid, thank you so much for the reporting.

We want to turn to Georgia and that Senate race that's going to decide just how much padding Democrats are going to have in that chamber.

The state Supreme Court has just rejected an emergency request from Republicans that would have blocked counties from offering early voting on Saturdays.

Voting began yesterday in the runoff race between Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

CNN national politics reporter, Eva McKend, has been closely following the race.

Eva, Democrats fought for weekend polling hours. How significant does the Warnock campaign believe that this ruling is for them?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Boris, the Warnock campaign is saying that this is a victory for every Georgia voter.

Democratic activists I've been speaking to all this week say Saturday voting is crucial for black turnout in the state. And also helps ensure working class Georgians who may not be able to vote on a weekday can vote as well.

But Republicans have argued adding the Saturday essentially changes the rules in the final hour and unfairly benefits Democrats.

At least two of the counties offering Saturday voting, though, Ware and Walton Counties, went for Herschel Walker by around 70 percent in the general election.

Now, counties in Georgia, they're not required to offer early voting on Saturday. But many have said they will do so after Democrats successfully sued to challenge instructions from state officials claiming that early voting the Saturday after Thanksgiving was unlawful.

But one thing is for sure, Boris, both Democrats and Republicans are going to be taking advantage of this.

[13:45:04]

SANCHEZ: So, Eva, we were talking about Donald Trump's tax returns. And we have some new reporting concerning Herschel Walker, who Trump has avidly backed his tax records.

CNN's "KFILE" reviewed them and found that Walker claimed a tax exemption on his house in Texas that's only intended for primary residences. Walker apparently did it in 2021 and 2022 after he announced his Senate run.

What is his campaign saying about this? MCKEND: The campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

From "KFILE's" reporting, the tax break saved Walker approximately $1500. On the grand scheme of things, we aren't talking about a whole lot of money.

It's surprising he would sort of get ensnared in this when political candidates' finances are so heavily scrutinized but he ran afoul of Texas tax rules and Georgia rules.

On the trail, I've only heard this come up once. I was speaking to a man at a Walker rally who indicated to me he was likely going to be a split-ticket voter, voting for Governor kemp and Senator Warnock.

And said he was surprised that his fellow conservatives sort of wasn't holding it against Walker that he had so recently lived in Texas.

You know, he only registered to vote in the state of Georgia last year when he has mounted this Senate run -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Eva McKend, thank you so much for the reporting.

The biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, is just days away, and while the economy has lowered consumer confidence, overall spending is still strong.

CNN business and politics reporter, Vanessa Yurkevich, spoke with some shoppers about how they plan to spend this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENISE SALLETTE, HOLIDAY SHOPPER: I have three girls. They're not little. They're bigger. But they do understand that, you know, times are hard right now and it's just me being a single mom.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS REPORTER: Has that impacted the way you'll spend the holiday season?

CYNTHIA PENDELTON, HOLIDAY SHOPPER: For me, not really because I try not to overspend anyways, so even before this has gone on I try not to exceed what I can do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: According to the National Retail Federation, while online sales are expected to increase this year, a return to in-store shopping will make up a larger portion of all holiday retail sales.

It has been more than 10 days since the brutal stabbings of four Idaho college students. So why are there still more questions than answers in this case? We're going to bring you an update next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:09] SANCHEZ: About two hours from now, we expect an update from police on the brutal stabbing deaths of four students from the University of Idaho. Ten days into this investigation, there are still no arrests and no murder weapon has been found.

CNN national correspondent, Natasha Chen, is live in Moscow, Idaho. She joins us now.

Natasha, I imagine this has to be a grueling time for these parents. What questions are on their minds right now?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The parents, the community of students, and these families, whose children all go to school at the University of Idaho here, they all have burning questions that mostly have not been able to be answered by police.

We are getting a press conference, as you said, in a little while where people are hoping for more information.

From what I understand, we're going to be getting a little more clarity on what the process is like for law enforcement right now.

Of course, besides asking about who did this and why, I think a lot of people are going to wonder about the possible motivation, the targeting of this. Police still believe it is targeted.

When I asked about that yesterday, the spokesperson told me that, you know, they believe that because of evidence found at the scene and because two people in the house actually survived the attack.

And so potentially, if this was a more non-discriminate killing, maybe everyone in the house would be dead. So that's just one theory right now.

They are having to combat a lot of rumors that have popped up in the community, online. And that is speculation that's happened in the public because of sort of the lack of details presented to the public.

Here is the family of one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves. This is her dad, brother, and sister addressing that vagueness and the lack of information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE GONCALVES, FATHER OF VICTIM KAYLE GONCALVES: We all want to play a part in helping. And we can't -- if we don't have real substantial information.

ALIVEA GONCALVES, SISTER OF VICTIM KAYLEE GONCALVES: A lot stems from the vagueness. And it's human nature to want answers. It's human nature to kind of put forth a theory so that you can even comprehend it in your brain.

And so I think that's how we're getting all of some of these really, really off-the-wall theories. And some of these theories like Kaylee had a stalker that we're sitting here scratching our heads saying, no, you know, it couldn't be. If it was, it would be news to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And that's one example of something police had to clear up last night in a press release. They said, at this time, they cannot verify or identify a stalker that some people have described.

So that's just one of the many things that they've had to come out publicly and say is either not true or not able previously confirmed at this time.

[13:55:00]

Now as far as the bigger picture, University of Idaho students have been told by their president last night that they can take the rest of this semester in person or remotely because a lot of students gave their input about how they would like the remainder of the semester to go.

This speaks to some of the nervousness and anxiety of students not knowing exactly how safe it is to be back.

I asked the spokesperson yesterday, what is the threat level? And he said, you know, because a suspect has not been caught, it's always wise to walk in pairs at night, lock your doors.

And hopefully, people get a little more information in just a little bit -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: We will be watching that press conference shortly. It is coming up in the next two hours.

Natasha Chen, from Idaho, thank you so much.

Thank you for sharing part of your afternoon with us. That does it for me. I'll be back, same place, same time tomorrow. Hope you'll join us.

The news continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)