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U.N. Calls Iran's Crackdown On Protesters "Full-Fledged Crisis"; UNHRC Special Session Focused On Iran's Acts Of Repression; Ukrainians Describe Brutal Tactics In Their Resistance Fight; Mexico Obtains Warrants For Friend Of NC Woman Killed In Cabo; Ronaldo Becomes First Man To Score In Five World Cups; U.S. Preparing For Huge Matchup Against England Tomorrow. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired November 24, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:12]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In Iran, the government's brutal crackdown on protesters has not stopped.
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(Screaming)
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SANCHEZ: Scenes like this one have the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sounding the alarm, warning of a full- fledged crisis. The antigovernment process sparked by the death of 22- year-old Mahsa Amini in September have sparked this outcry from the people. Remember she was detained by the morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. She later died in their custody.
CNN Correspondent Jomana Karadsheh joins us now live. Jomana, Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the U.N. special session for drawing international attention to the situation there. So what happens next?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know Boris, I can't tell you what a huge victory this is. This vote by the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a fact finding mission to investigate human rights violations that have been taking place in Iran, especially over the past couple of months during the protests.
This is something that so many Iranians in the U.S. around the world, human rights advocates and groups for years have been pushing for. To establish some sort of an independent investigative and accountability mechanism to try and hold the perpetrators of human rights violations in Iran to account.
So this vote today is being described as landmark, as historic. Some would tell you that this is long overdue, but the timing of it is very critical as we're seeing these protests that have been going on now for more than two months and have turned into a national uprising that is calling for regime change. We're seeing the regime's response, a crackdown that is so vicious that it has intensified in recent days.
[13:35:10]
And, you know, they're saying that this is -- and we've heard the United Nations warning saying that this is a human rights crisis that is going on right now. It is a critical situation on the ground. So it is very important that this sort of investigative mechanism has been passed by the Human Rights Council.
A short time ago, Boris, I spoke with Iranian American human rights lawyer Gisuniya (ph), who is in Geneva. She was there for that vote at the Human Rights Council. And for a long time, she and other human rights advocates have been really pushing for this vote. And she says that this shows that the international community is united in trying to bring justice and accountability to the Iranian people.
What it will do now is you will have this factfinding mission that is established. It will collect, preserve, and analyze evidence that could be used in future accountability processes to try and hold the perpetrators of human rights violations in Iran accountable. What we're seeing happening in the country right now, human rights advocates would tell you, is the result of decades of impunity.
And Boris, they're hoping that this vote right now, that this could be the beginning of the end of that impunity.
SANCHEZ: Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for your reporting.
We want to pivot to Ukraine now, where millions of households are without power after Russian strikes caused an unprecedented blackout across the country. In the capital of Kyiv, doctors have been forced to perform surgery via flashlight. This picture was taken during heart surgery on a child. Imagine that with flashlights.
Southwest of Kyiv, some 3,000 miners have been rescued after the power outages left them trapped underground. And on the battlefield today, Russia and Ukraine carrying out a prisoner exchange. 100 soldiers in total.
In some cases, though, there was no negotiating. CNN Sam Kiley takes us to the liberated city of Kherson, where resistance fighters have shown no mercy and no remorse.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Archie killed twice while he was still a teenager.
(on-camera): If I'm the guy, he stops to pee. So I'm having a pee. And then what do you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Firm (ph).
KILEY (on-camera): Oh, God, I got chilling.
(voice-over): He says he left his victim to bleed on the grass in the pitch dark. Archie struck again moments later, another drunk Russian soldier. Another throat cut. He acted alone, but now he was one of Kherson's resistance fighters.
ARCHIE, RESISTANCE FIGHTER (through translation): They're wasted. It had only been a few days since they entered the city. I finished the first one immediately and then caught up with the other one and killed him on the spot. I threw with a knife and the jacket covered with blood and just left.
KILEY (voice-over): Archie was only 19 when the Russians captured his city in March. With a friend he says he drove around the city gathering intelligence to send to Ukraine's Armed Forces.
ARCHIE (through translation): At least 10 Russians were slaughtered every night. I wasn't the only one in Kherson. There were a lot of athletic and clever partisan guys.
KILEY (voice-over): For eight months, Ukrainian partisans waged a psychological war against the occupiers and their collaborators, targeting Ukrainians who took top posts handed out by Russia.
KIRIL STREMOUSOV, RUSSIAN-APPOINTED DEPUTY HEAD OF KHERSON REGION (through translation): As a result of a sneaky terrorist attack today, our colleague, my friend Dmitry Savluchenko has died.
KILEY (voice-over): Stremousov himself would die in the final days of Russia's occupation of Kherson city, which ended three weeks ago. Kherson was the only regional capital to fall to Russia, but its population made sure that the invaders were unwelcome from the start.
(on-camera): That's incoming. Then the last hour or so that we've been here in Kherson, there's been a constant, shelling backwards and forwards. Almost all of that shelling will ultimately rely on somebody on the ground, telling the gunner where to drop those bombs.
(voice-over): Ihor was a young father. This warehouse is wrecked because of him.
IHOR, RESISTANCE FIGHTER (through translation): The Russian military kept here around 20 to 30 vehicles. There were armored trucks ABCs. And the Russians lived here. I was passing by this place and I saw all the vehicles.
KILEY (voice-over): Ihor communicated on his phone app with his handler, codename, the smoke.
IHOR (through translation): I turned on the camera and pointed it at the building and I was just walking and talking on the phone. And the camera was filming. I deleted the video of course, because if they would stop me somewhere and check my videos and pictures, there will be questions.
KILEY (voice-over): Less than a day later, he says, Russian vehicles were a mangled mess as Ukraine rained missiles down on the newly identified target. It was a crucial stead in destroying Russia's capacity to hold on to the city. [13:40:16]
With the Russians now massed on the eastern side of the Dnipro River, they're close and still control 60 percent of the province, which they claim is now part of Russia. No doubt there are many Ukrainians among them, who will also prepare to prove them wrong and to kill.
(on-camera): Do you feel sorry for the guys who killed at all?
IHOR (through translation): Yes. No.
KILEY (voice-over): Sam Kiley, CNN, Kherson City.
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SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Sam for that report. A vacation in Mexico turned deadly for a woman from North Carolina. And now Mexican prosecutors have obtained an arrest warrant for one of her friends. What happened? And does a video reveal a key clue? We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Mexican officials say they've obtained an arrest warrant for the friend of a North Carolina woman found dead in her hotel room last month. Shanquella Robinson's family tells us she was vacationing in Cabo San Lucas with a group of friends from college when she died. A video that appears to have been taken during the trip and was later posted online reveals that Robinson was thrown on the floor and beaten by another woman while at least one other person was recording.
The FBI has since opened its own investigation into the story. Ryan Young is following this developing news. And Ryan, what can you tell us about the arrest warrant? Who's it for?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the part that we're all waiting for, Boris. The fact that one of her friends is the one that the authorities in Mexico are looking for. They haven't put their name out of that person. But just like you mentioned, that social media video has been spreading all over the Internet.
We can't show it to you just yet, but what we do know is the video was quite violent. And in it, you can hear people screaming and yelling at Shanquella Robinson is pretty much dragged through this hotel villa. We do know they called police, and at some point, she suffered some sort of spinal fracture.
And so many people were upset about this. This was spreading across the Internet because people were asking for answers. Those friends returned to North Carolina, and at this point, Mexican authorities have issued that warrant. But as you can imagine, her friends and family membershave been very upset about how long this has taken. Take a listen.
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KHADAJAH VINCENT, FRIEND OF SHANQUELLA ROBINSON: I'm glad that it's getting the attention that it needs, because I wish it was like this from day one. I'm more so disappointed that she was aroundpeople that she thought were her friends.
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YOUNG: So very tough. And we've actually spoken to the father who confirmed the video that we've all seen online is of his daughter being beaten. This all happened around after October 28, when the six friends arrived in Cabo, San Lucas. But since then, we haven't really got any information about what may have set the fight off.
But I can tell you by watching the video, you never see Robinson fight back. You see her take blow after blow after blow until she hits the ground at some point. And then there are all these questions about what happened next. How much medical attention did she receive? And then why it took so long for authorities to start this investigation and the way they did. Boris, so many questions, as you can understand why this is going viral and so many people want answers.
SANCHEZ: Yes, just a tragic story in that video is extremely difficult to watch.
YOUNG: Very.
SANCHEZ: Ryan Young, thanks for walking us through all of that.
Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo making history in what's expected to be his final World Cup. We'll take you live to Doha next.
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SANCHEZ: Cristiano Ronaldo is kicking off his World Cup campaign today in record fashion. The Portugal star and Five-time World Player of the Year is now the first man in history to score in five World Cups after he drew first blood against Ghana. And he did it fresh off a controversial breakup with his other soccer team, the Manchester United.
CNN Sports Anchor Don Riddell is live for us in Doha. Don, history for Ronaldo, a win for Portugal. Ghana certainly didn't make it easy, though.
DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Absolutely, yes. I think Portugal will be really relieved, Boris, to have got this game out of the way and to have kicked off with a full three points. It's the first time in their last four World Cups that they have started with a win. And you are right to highlight the situation with Ronaldo and Manchester United because that has really dominated the build up to their opening game.
And it seemed as though it might actually impact the team and the team dynamic. It's always about Cristiano Ronaldo. It's always been about the biggest ego in the team. And I think they really could have done without that distraction. But I think that now that they've got this game out of the way, they could actually have a good run in this tournament.
You're right to point out Ghana as well. They didn't make it easy. It was a 3-2 win for Portugal. The African team made it tough. They became the first African team in this tournament to score any goals prior to this. The four teams that go before them hadn't, but they still ended up on the losing side. So, unfortunately, a disappointing night for Ghana.
And the big game of the day, or arguably the big game of the day, is about to kick off just in a few minutes time. It's tournament favorites, Brazil against Serbia. Serbia are a team not to be underestimated, by the way. They actually qualified ahead of Portugal from the European section. I think they could give Brazil a bit of a run for their money tonight.
SANCHEZ: And quickly, Don, tomorrow is going to be huge for the United States. They're set to play against England, a very strong England team, after they drew against Wales. What is the U.S. saying about the matchup?
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RIDDELL: Well, I mean, they absolutely respect the English team they're going to play. A lot of these American players know them personally. A handful of American players will play in the Premier League, so there's going to be a lot of familiarity in this game. Good history between these teams.
You might know that the USA beat England, famously at the World Cup in 1950. They played to a drawback in 2010. I think this will be a really, really, really good game. The USA disappointed to draw against Wales the other day. They're going to be looking for something a bit better tomorrow.
SANCHEZ: Should be fun to watch. Don Riddell, thank you so much for that.
And thank you so much for spending part of your Thanksgiving with us. That does it for me. I have an appointment with some green bean casserole and some cranberry. But you don't have to go anywhere. The news is going to continue right after this.
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