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Protests In China Poses Challenge To Xi Jinping's COVID Policies; Putin's War Hitting Civilians; Backlash For Trump Dining With A Holocaust Denier; Wind And Rain Push Delays In Airports; Dallas Cowboys Owner Seen In Picture In A 1950 Desegregation Demonstration; Iran Wants U.S. Banned In World Cup Over Flag; Sexual Abuse Of Jailed Protesters In Iran. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 27, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. A rare show of public outrage on the streets in China, as ordinary citizens vent their frustrations over that country's zero COVID policy. Protesters are out in force across the country risking the wrath of the regime, whose strict lockdown policies have kept people holed up and isolated. All came to a boiling point over this, a high-rise apartment fire that killed 10 people last week, where video appears to show lockdown measures delaying firefighters from getting quick access to the scene.

Many protesters are openly calling on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to step down, holding up pieces of a blank white paper symbolizing censorship. Shanghai residents confronted police and sang the national anthem in protest.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Some are already facing consequences for peaceful displays of protest. This video shows police beating and dragging a protester across the ground. Amnesty International warning we could see more of this in the coming hours and days. Let's go now to CNN's Selina Wang at a protest in Beijing.

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, I'm in the middle of the protests that's happening in Beijing. It's just past 1:00 a.m. There's a crowd of mostly young people that have gathered here to protest the COVID measures in China. They've been chanting "No to COVID Tests. Yes, to freedom." And this is happening in Tongliang District. This is where the center of the COVID outbreak is in Beijing, where they've urged all residents to stay at home so, it's really unprecedented that we're seeing such a large crowd of people here.

A lot of the folks as well, you can see they're holding these white pieces of paper. This is a symbol of anti-censorship. And we also saw protests in Shanghai, we saw protesters also hold those white pieces of paper. Now, in this district as well, around here, there are many foreign embassies, including the American Embassy over there. So notable that they chose this site for this protest.

Now, this protest has been going on already for several hours. It's very late. You can see the policeman right now is telling me to move back a little bit. But there is a large police presence there actually on this whole row, a whole row of policemen, but it is a peaceful protest so far. You could hear the cheering, the chanting, cars are also driving by. Frequently they're honking in solidarity. The folks here don't look like they're going anywhere, anytime soon.

ACOSTA: Selina Wang in Beijing for us. Thank you very much. Let's bring in CNN's Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." Fareed, great to see you, as always. Thanks so much. You know this all too well. These displays of defiance are rarely tolerated by communist leadership in China. They ruthlessly crackdown on dissent.

They are allowing folks like Selina, you know, do a brief live report. But what do you make of all of this? I mean, are the Chinese just keeping this contained as much as possible and allowing it until it goes away? What do you think?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: It's amazing what we're witnessing, and the reporting has been amazing. So, China has often allowed protests, people have the mistaken impression that they allowed no protest. There are lots of protests, though always on very specific local issues of food shortage or local corruption, you know, something like that.

What is extraordinary about this one is that they are allowing protests in which people are talking more generally about Communist Party rule, as you say, No to COVID lockdowns, yes to freedom. There have even been some of those Shanghai protesters who have said, you know, Xi Jinping resign, things like that. That is completely unusual. It is unprecedented.

And for it to be happening in Shanghai, at Ching Hua University, the University that Xi Jinping went to when he got his chemical engineering degree in the 70s. That is what makes this quite unusual. They are almost certainly going to crack down over time. They are unlikely to allow this to spread.

But the very fact that is happening should remind us that you know, China is not just this big black box out that there are real life people in there who have aspirations and ideas and ideals, and they're getting more and more educated. And one of the things Xi Jinping has to deal with, with this COVID locked down, it's one thing when you have a herd of, you know, peasants and things like that. You're talking about hundreds of millions of college educated people who are defying the COVID lockdown.

ACOSTA: Right, and I have to ask you, does this pose any threat or challenge whatsoever to Xi Jinping? And I guess what about the COVID lockdown policy, this extreme policy that they've had? Could that finally be coming to an end? Might the Chinese government relent?

[17:04:55]

ZAKARIA: In the past, they have course corrected when they have faced this kind of public outcry. It's a crazy policy. The reason they have it just so people understand, is they are unwilling to use mRNA vaccines to vaccinate their population because they are Western vaccines. They want to create their own. And they have -- they've been trying very hard, essentially reverse engineering, the Western vaccines, but they have not so far been able to do so.

And it's a kind of extreme version of vaccine nationalism. So, they're hoping that they will soon have that and then they'll (inaudible). We know they can vaccinate people really fast in China. But it's -- so far, they haven't been able to. As to the longer term, look, it's hard to imagine that this would dislodge -- the Communist Party is so deeply entrenched and Xi has further entrenched it. I would suspect that what is more likely is that they will race to get these vaccines, they will be able to open up, and we will -- but we will look at this as a reminder of how dictatorships work.

ACOSTA: No question about it. And Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was on some of the morning talk shows today here in the U.S., Fareed, was essentially saying what you just said a few moments ago, that the Chinese have been resistant to allowing these more effective vaccines to come in from outside of China, and that they could have gotten a better handle on things had they done that.

But you know, Fauci also was talking about how politics needs to be kept out of the investigations into COVID origins, which of course, has been a controversial from time to time. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you look at the anti-China approach that clearly the Trump administration had right from the very beginning, and the accusatory nature, the Chinese are going to flinch back and say, oh, I'm sorry, we're not going to talk to you about it, which is not correct.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS HOST: But they're talking to the Biden administration about it either is what you're saying.

FAUCI: Exactly. I think that horse is out of the barn and they are very suspicious of anybody trying to accuse them. We need to have an open dialogue with their scientists and our scientists, keep the politics out of it, and let the scientists, because these are scientists that we've known for decades and we've collaborated with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yeah, and Fareed, he was saying, you know, we have to keep our minds open to the possibility that there was some sort of leak at the lab. But Fauci went on to say, Fareed, that the evidence all indicates that this was a human to animal leap that took place when it came to COVID origins. What did you make of some of his comments?

ZAKARIA: Look, I think he's right. As far as we know, the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences actually just put out a report on November 10th saying the most likely a transmission is, as you said, a kind of wild market to Human. There is a distinct possibility it could have been from that Wuhan lab. We will never know because the Chinese are never going to cooperate to the extent that you would need them to do a kind of genetic tracing, almost detective work to find out what's happening.

And Fauci is right that it was probably spooked by the Trump people really trying to use it as a cudgel and it got their backs up. As a result, super suspicious and nationalistic about it all. But we do have a real problem here. We need a process. This is not going to be the last time something like this happens.

ACOSTA: Right.

ZAKARIA: We need a process by which scientists can collaborate and give us the best scientific conclusion not a political conclusion, but a scientific conclusion.

ACOSTA: Right. Domestic politics got way out of control when it came to containing COVID and global politics as well. You're absolutely right. Let's talk about Ukraine very quickly. Russia targeting civilian infrastructure. They're cutting off the heat, trying to ratchet up the cruelty and misery. I suppose, I mean, is this all Putin has left to try to win this war?

ZAKARIA: You're exactly right. But it's -- but it's a very powerful, brutal weapon. Putin has decided he can't beat the Ukrainian army. So, he's going to take the war to Ukraine civilians. And what he is doing is unprecedented. We have not seen this since World War II, I think, because this is the deliberate targeting of civilians and immiserating their lives, cutting off their energy, cutting off their heat.

They're like bombing sewage facilities, trying to plunge the entire country into darkness and cold. This needs to be taken up. It strikes me that there should be another round of sanctions related to this to make clear that Putin can't get away with this. This is the most brutal kind of war against innocent men, women and children. He's not fighting the Ukrainian soldiers because he's not winning there. What he's doing is fighting men, women and children.

ACOSTA: That's right. And he's inflicting unspeakable cruelty upon the civilian population there just because he can't get what he wants, which is, of course, Ukraine.

[17:10:04]

Fareed Zakaria, as always, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

ZAKARIA: Always a pleasure.

ACOSTA: Always a pleasure.

Just ahead, former President Donald Trump dines with a white nationalist and Holocaust denier at Mar-a-Lago and he's sticking with his familiar I didn't know him defense. I'll ask the Anti-Defamation League's, Jonathan Greenblatt. He's going to be with us shortly, what he thinks about political leaders and what they need to be saying about all of this in this moment. You are alive in the "CNN Newsroom." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: A little more than a week after he announced he's running for election again, former President Trump is again trying to defend himself after hosting a Holocaust denier over at Mar-a-Lago for dinner. Nick Fuentes has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist who has called for the military to be sent into black neighborhoods and has also demanded that Jews leave the United States.

[17:14:58]

In a post last night on Trump -- on Truth Social, Trump once again claimed that he didn't know who Fuentes was and that he was brought to the dinner by rapper Kanye West, who we should note has a history of making on truth social Trump once again claimed that he didn't know who Fuentes was, and that he was brought to the dinner by rapper Kanye West who we should note has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks.

Trump wrote, quote, "So, I help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black, Kanye West, who had been decimated in his business and virtually everything else. And who had always been good to me by allowing his requests for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago alone so that I can give him very much needed advice. He shows up with three people, two of which I didn't know, the other political person who I haven't seen in years. I told him don't run for office, a total waste of time, can't win."

Joining me now to talk about this is the CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt. Jonathan, great to see you, as always. Always appreciate your insights on this very important topic. It's one that we try to cover as often as we can. What do you think of what went down at Mar a Lago and Trump trying to explain this away?

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO AND NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Look, Jim, I always appreciate you covering these stories as well. The challenge is that you can't really explain the unexplainable. I mean, the idea that someone who seriously thinks he has a shot at the White House, breaking bread with white nationalists, it's appalling. It's awful. And yet it's entirely in line with Donald Trump.

In 2016, he denied who he knew that -- who David Duke was. In 2017, he thought there were fine people on both sides. In 2021, he told the domestic terrorists who rampage through the Capitol, many wearing Camp Auschwitz sweatshirts that he loved them, and now this. Literally elevating one of the worst anti-Semites in the country, Nick Fuentes, and as you pointed out, welcoming Kanye West.

I don't know what we call him anymore. Is he an entertainer? Is he just like a personality? But he's someone who has, you know, traffic and awful anti-Semitism in a very public way. So, it's hard for me to take seriously someone who thinks it's a seriously good use of his time to normalize these kinds of haters. ACOSTA: And I hate to even talk about this person or even mention his name, but for people who don't know who Nick Fuentes is and what he stands for, what can you tell us? What do we need to know?

GREENBLATT: Look, I think he's a rather nauseating individual. He's one of the most prominent anti-Semites in public life. He's been rejected by the Republican Jewish Coalition. He was rejected and President Trump was actually called out by his former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, because Nick Fuentes is a racist and anti- Semite, and someone who revels in just saying hateful, bigoted things against Jews and other minorities.

So, this is, Jim, what we've talked about before on your show with the normalization of anti-Semitism look like. We have, you know, Elon Musk talking about, you know, an amnesty this week that will bring anti- Semites flooding back to the platform. We have Amazon still elevating a horrible anti-Semitic movie that we all know is kind of recommended by Kyrie Irving in recent weeks. And now a presidential candidate doing this kind of activity. It's really, it's really unbelievable.

ACOSTA: And what needs to be done? I mean, we saw a couple of Republican lawmakers and officials come out on the Sunday talk shows today and condemn this, but it's not like we've seen a stampede of Republican leaders speaking out against Trump condemning him, cutting ties with him and so on. What more needs to be done.

GREENBLATT: Look, anti-Semitism and all forms of hate should have no place in our politics or public life. We need Republicans to call at other Republicans. So, it was good that Governor Hutchinson did this morning. It's good that Secretary Pompeo said something. But we need all prominent Republicans speak out just like prominent Democrats would -- should speak out when Democrats engage in this kind of behavior.

So that's number one, Jim, but number two, we need an -- you know, we need all hands-on deck. Amazon should step up. Elon Musk and Twitter should step up. Companies, civil rights organizations, everyone needs to say, enough anti-Semitism. Jew hatred should have no place in public life.

ACOSTA: And isn't there -- isn't there a danger, Jonathan, when you have a figure like Donald Trump engaging with people like this. He's announced that he's running for president and again. He's been -- he's had his account restored on Twitter. He's already tried to overturn the election results of this country one time. And he's meeting with these types of people. I mean, how -- what are the dangers there?

GREENBLATT: Look, I mean, he's not just meeting with them. He's validating them, Jim. He's giving them not just oxygen. He's throwing them the whole oxygen tank and a life raft. These people should be pushed to the margins not them brought into the mainstream.

[17:20:00]

And yet Donald Trump privileges them with a, you know, a place at Mar- a-Lago with time on Truth Social. This should be unacceptable. Kanye West, Nick Fuentes, I think what these people have done is disqualify them from being part of the public conversation. And I say this someone, Jim, who doesn't believe in cancel culture. I believe in council culture, but unrepentant, unapologetic, intolerance needs to be greeted by again, people of good faith with, you know, to push back on it. It should have no place in public life. It's really plain and simple.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And it's not about cancel culture. It's about right and wrong and what Trump did wrong.

GREENBLATT: That's correct.

ACOSTA: He should not have done that and people just need to say it, Republican, Democrat whoever. Jonathan Greenblatt, as always, appreciate the time. Thanks for helping us focus on this issue. We appreciate it.

Iranian state media is calling for Team USA to be kicked out of the World Cup after U.S. soccer tried to show support for protesters on social media. What happens now as both nations are set to face off in a must win game. You're live at the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

ACOSTA: And a live look at Washington right now, the nation's capital. A beautiful shot of the Capitol building. There on Capitol Hill, the picture not so pretty a few miles away where there is a ground stop at Reagan National Airport at what may be the busiest travel day of the year. Meteorologist Tom Sater was tracking it all in the CNN Weather Center.

Tom, this is not what people want to see happen at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. My goodness. But I've heard from folks today that it has just been hellacious over at Reagan National.

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. And in fact, Jim, we've seen delays building throughout the day, 4,000 flight delays. We've doubled the number of cancellations from yesterday up to 120. These numbers are just getting worse and wait times are growing throughout the afternoon. JFK and Newark had one-hour delays most of the afternoon for winds. Those wait times are up to two hours, as well as LaGuardia for winds, but that's not the only area with winds.

D.C. as you mentioned, ground stoppage. It's not the first one today. They had one earlier, the low ceiling, and because of that the wait times are getting extended and these are going to grow. Philadelphia is on the list. And now Boston as well because this rain system is moving in that direction.

Listen, we can't ask for more getting up to Thanksgiving. I mean, we had a wonderful week of weather and those that were able to travel many different days, it's different. Today's the worst weather of the week, and everybody is leaving at the same time. So, notice the rain bands is going to be leaving New York with the exception of some light rain, but it all slides up toward Boston. So those wait times are going to grow those delays as well.

We've had thunderstorms with hail in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, some heavy rainfall Chicago as well. So, this is just the main system really for the Eastern U.S. We've had some ground stop, it's for volume. And that was mainly down in airports such as Orlando, but there are strong winds back behind this. So, everyone hitting the roads, Jim, are dealing with not only the rain, but winds that are really excessive, especially in the Smokies and some of the higher terrain.

Snow in the EP (ph) and Michigan. As the rain moves out, we're going to be watching the next system and that's in the Pacific Northwest. So, problems out there, regional snowfall. This one, Jim, ejects into the Central Plains. And for Tuesday, a very rare possibly tornado outbreak or at least severe weather for the month of November. So, I mean the hits keep coming, but again, it's going to -- we're going to see those wait times continue to be extended for the afternoon for areas that's evening, up in toward Boston.

ACOSTA: All right, everybody, be careful and try to be patient at the airport. All those folks that work at the airport, we appreciate it. Tom, thanks very much.

In the world of sports, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is reacting to a newly unearthed photo from 1957 showing his connection to one of the first instances of public school integration in Arkansas. The photo uncovered by the "Washington Post" shows Jones as a 14-year-old boy peering over a crowd of white students that were blocking the doorway and shouting slurs at six black students trying to enter North Little Rock High School. Jones says he remembers being there out of curiosity, he says, not animosity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY JONES, DALLAS COWBOYS OWNER: That was, gosh, 60, 65 years ago and a curious kid, didn't know at the time the monumental event really that was -- that was going on. And I'm sure glad that we're a long way from that. I am. And we just -- well that would remind me just to continue to do everything we can to not have those kinds of things happen.

UNKNOWN: Sir, do you understand the perception that people have you standing there because that was not exactly a welcoming committee now?

JONES: Yeah, I sure do. And I understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining me now is CNN sports analyst and sports columnist for "USA Today" Christine Brennan. Christine, wow! I mean, this is stunning. And the story has now put a spotlight on Jones's hiring practices with the Cowboys including the fact that he's never had a black coach at the head coach level. Tell us about that.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Absolutely, Jim. This is a terrible look for Jerry Jones. And frankly, it's a terrible look for the National Football League as once again, the spotlight is focused on the lack of black head coaches in a league that is a majority black league. In other words, the athletes, majority of them are black. And that is a continuing story, as you well know, as a sports fan and observer, as many know, that this is a story that it just doesn't go away.

It shouldn't go away because the National Football League should be held accountable and is by so many journalists, including the "Washington Post" to reporters who worked on this and unearth that photo.

[17:30:03]

It's a terrible look. Jerry Jones can talk about being a 14-year-old sophomore and he was curious, okay. But, you know, basically Jones is, you know, he is the most powerful owner. It's kind of the power structure in the NFL, Jim, is Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys, America's team, obviously having a good season.

So, the spotlight is very intense with the Cowboys always and Jerry Jones knows that and he wants that. He loves to do interviews, he loves to be in the spotlight, and now here it is. And it's a valid question that he should be asked at every turn about his appearance there. They were blocking the entry to that school, North Little Rock High School for black kids trying to go to school. That's a fact and that is now part of Jerry Jones legacy.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you about another team in the NFC East, the Washington Commanders. This may have been -- appears to be another little moment in the Dan Snyder regime owning the Washington NFL franchise. The Washington Commanders were set to unveil a memorial for Sean Taylor who died 15 years ago tragically in a shooting, but what was unveiled looked more like a mannequin with wire arms.

I mean, this should have been a much nicer gesture, don't you think for Sean Taylor, a beloved player around the Washington, D.C. area. And you know, it just, I mean, makes me wonder as a Washington fan, here they go again.

BRENNAN: It's a huge mess, Jim. Absolutely a huge miss. It is -- this is something that is a no-brainer. You're going to honor a man who was killed in his own home in a home invasion 15 years ago at the age of 24. The safety defensive back for the Washington football team at the time. This should be, your right. Just a celebration of a life cut short way too soon.

And instead, as everyone says, and you can look at it, it looks like a mannequin. It looks like they, you know, what you might see in sporting goods. Oh, that's horrible. And you know, where's the sculpture? Where's the boss? Where's a unique, you know, man in action? There are so many ways you can portray this young man. And to do this and then have this in this kind of glass box, it just looks awful.

As you said, the hits just keep on coming in the worst possible way for this team as they continue to make PR mistake after PR mistake. ACOSTA: Yeah, and they seem to be on a roll in that regard. And I want to ask you about the World Cup. Tensions are growing between the U.S. and Iran before this big match on Tuesday after the U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the Islamic Republic emblem.

So, taking a shot there no question about it. It was meant as a show of solidarity with Iranian protesters, which -- that has been a huge story in this World Cup. But now Iran is calling for the U.S. to be kicked out of the World Cup, which is, of course not going to happen. But what can you say about that, Christine? I mean, it's -- I mean, it's yet another example of how these very important global political issues come up during the World Cup.

BRENNAN: Sports takes us to important national and international conversations, Jim, as you and I have had many times. And here's another one, and I think good for the U.S. Men's National Team, earlier in the tournament and throughout, actually.

They've been -- they've had a rainbow emblem for some team activities, hotel activities, not on their jerseys, obviously, in solidarity for the LGBTQ community, which of course, is persecuted and has very few rights, no rights in Qatar, the host city, the host country for the Men's World Cup.

And now here the U.S. Men's National Team does this, solidarity with those same Iranian players, going to play them on Tuesday. U.S. has to beat them to go on and move on to the round of 16 in the World Cup. But those are the same players who didn't sing their national anthem in their first match, before their first match as a sign of solidarity for women and the protesters in Iran.

So, I would guess that those men's soccer players in the U.S. and Iran are actually seeing eye to eye. Good for the U.S. Men's National Team to bring this up, to do this, and to focus an issue -- on an issue that is so important and should get a lot of attention during this World Cup.

ACOSTA: It absolutely should get a lot of attention and the U.S. national team are pitching in and doing quite well at it. All right, Christine Brennan, thank you so much. As always, we appreciate it. Let's take a quick break, we'll be right back. Good to see you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

ACOSTA: In Iran, the situation continues to be volatile as the government intensifies its crackdown on protesters there. Iran Supreme Leader is praising the paramilitary for its violent suppression of people he calls rioters and thugs. His own niece though is calling for change asking foreign governments to cut ties with the Iranian government. She's now been arrested for daring to speak out.

And eyewitnesses tell CNN sexual assault and abuse has been used to suppress, demoralize, and in some cases, blackmail protesters. CNN's Nima Elbagir has this exclusive report and we want to warn our viewers, this report does contain disturbing details of sexual violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over these mountains is Iran, a regime that has succeeded in cutting many of its people off from the outside world. But disturbing stories detailing the authority's brutal retribution, systematic sexual violence against anti-regime protesters have begun leaking out.

We've come here to the Kurdish region of Iraq to try and find out more. This is Hannah (ph), not her real name, a Kurdish Iranian woman recently smuggled out of Iran. She fears for her life. After taking off and burning her headscarf on the streets, she was arrested and detained by Iranian intelligence officers.

[17:40:03]

HANNAH, ARRESTED AND DETAINED BY IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS (through translation): They choose the women who were pretty and suited their appetites. Then the officer would take one of them from the cell to a smaller private room. They would sexually assault them there.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Hannah (ph) isn't only an eyewitness. She also was violated.

HANNAH (through translation): I feel shy talking about this. You can still see what the policeman did. Look here on my neck. It's purplish. That is why I'm covering it. He forced himself on me.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Then a fight broke out with another protester drawing away Hannah's (ph) attacker. Hannah (ph) and others can hear screams and they believe a woman was raped in an interrogation room. Hannah (ph) sketched out the police station as she remembers it.

She estimates 70 to 80 men and women were together in a main hall that accessed four private interrogation rooms. It was in these interrogation rooms she says that she was assaulted and others were raped. CNN was able to locate the police station through Hannah's (ph) description, eyewitness corroboration and geolocation using key landmarks. It's in the Islamabad neighborhood of Urmia.

Based on this testimony and speaking to a number of sources, a pattern of repression comes into focus. Police centers used as filtration points, moving protesters from one location to another. Often, families left not knowing where their loved ones are held.

One Iraq based Kurdish militant opposition party pack (ph) identified over 240 people who they believe are missing within this maze of detention centers. Human rights organizations believe the number is higher, in the thousands. Some of the victims as young as 14, many are men supporting female protesters, their punishment as severe as the women's UNKNOWN (through translation): They brought four men over who had been beaten, screaming intensely in another cell. And one of the men who was tortured was sent to the waiting room where I was. I asked him what all that screaming was about. He said they are raping the man.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Based on witness testimony, CNN traced the location to an Iranian army intelligence headquarters. Voiced here by a translator, a 17-year-old boy sent CNN a voice note following his imprisonment. We are withholding his name and location for his safety.

UNKNOWN (through translation): When a security guard heard me discussing the rape of the other inmates, he started torturing me all over again, they tortured, raped me from behind.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): Even as authorities visited sexual violence on protesters, regime figures accused female protesters of prostitution of quote, "wanting to be naked." Of the incidence of sexual violence against protesters inside Iranian detention facilities, most occurred in the Kurdish majority areas to the west of Iran, home to a historically oppressed minority.

Disturbingly, in some cases, the rapes were filmed and used to blackmail protesters into silence. There has been a real escalation where female protesters are, as you can see here, being openly assaulted, often sexually. But the violence against women like the protests are not confined to the Kurdish areas. They are often focused on locations where the protests are most intense, like here in the capitol, Tehran.

One of these stories is Armita Abassis (ph), a typical 20-year-old on social media sharing her love of animals and music.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

ELBAGIR (voice-over): In social media posts, appearing under her name, Abassi (ph), like many young women in Iran, criticize the regime openly after the process began. Unlike most, she did it without anonymity. It didn't take long for security forces to find and arrest her. Abassi (ph) disappeared.

Soon after, whistleblowers began to post on various social media platforms. Medics sharing eyewitness accounts of what had been done to Abasi (ph). "First of all, they say, there were a few plainclothes men with her and they did not let her out of their sight. Even during a private medical examination, they were there." "She was my patient. I went to her bedside.

They had shaved her hair. She was scared and was trembling." "When she first came in, they said it was rectal bleeding due to repeated rape. The plainclothes men insisted that the doctor write that the rape was from prior to her arrest. And then after this issue was becoming obvious to all, they changed the entire scenario altogether."

The details of these leaks were confirmed to CNN by an insider at Imam Ali Hospital where Abassi (ph) was brought to be examined.

[17:44:58]

In a statement, the government said Abbasi (ph) he was treated for digestive problems. The medics who treated her said that was not true. The Iranian regime denies the rape, accusing her of leading protests, an allegation which could see her face for death penalty.

At this usually busy border crossing between Iraq and Iran, it is deceptively quiet. Those who can cross tell us the noose is tightening on protesters. Authorities have for decades used sexual torture against Iranians and it appears once more a familiar pattern, sexual violence deployed to enforce an assertion of moral guardianship. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Iraqi Kurdistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Our thanks to Nima for that important reporting. And CNN reached out to the Iranian government for comment, but the regime did not respond. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:00]

ACOSTA: The holiday season is hear and with it comes the treasured celebrations and traditions that make it so special including all of those holiday films and TV specials. This year, settle in with CNN for the stories behind everything we love to watch at Christmas. Here's a preview of the new Original Series, 'Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen."

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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I can't think of Christmas and Christmas Eve without thinking of "It's a Wonderful Life." It's my childhood. When I was little, I would get into big chair with my dad and we would watch the movie because it was my dad's favorite movie.

KEN BURNS, FILMMAKER: I remember seeing it the first time with my family and crying and being shocked and a little bit embarrassed by the emotions.

RON HOWARD, ACTOR, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER: I don't know how many times I've seen "It's a Wonderful Life." I always see something new.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining us now is someone you'll see in this special, Ben Mankiewicz, host of "Turner Classic Movies." Ben, great to see you. Thanks so much. There are so many different kinds of holiday movies, there are love stories, cartoons, comedies, even action and horror movies. But what's the common element besides being set in the holidays that makes them so special?

BEN MANKIEWICZ, HOST, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES: Well, I think it's a lot to do with how we interpret them, right? I mean, I think we watch movies a little bit differently over the holidays. We watch movies with people we love, often with people we haven't seen in a while, hopefully, with people we love.

And I think we're more open to being emotional as we watch these movies. I think that even a movie that we'll talk about I'm sure at some point here, "Die Hard" feels different over the holidays than it would if you watched it in the middle of the summer. So, these movies they deal with love and family and forgiveness and some degree of redemption, right. There's also some terror or fear in some of them, which are themes that you will see in a lot of movies.

But again, I think we interpret anything we see over the holidays different because not to sound too in touch with my feelings, but I think our -- I think we're more apt to respond to emotional things. I think we feel closer to the people we care about over the holidays than we do with the other time of year and I think it makes us more receptive to movies to storytelling.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And is it about -- because these are the movies that we watch with our family during this time of year, and different families have different movies that they like?0

MANKIEWICZ: Yeah. Look, nostalgia has a great deal. It's why it's a big part of why Turner Classic Movies is successful and it's been on -- been around for -- we're coming up on 30 years now in 2024. So, I -- yea. I think that that these are movies that sometimes we saw with our families. But even if the movies are different, it's the act of seeing movies with your family.

And even if in my case if my parents aren't around anymore, but I'm watching a movie with my daughter. Well, inevitably I will think about over the holidays, watching movies with my parents. And the holidays, you know, Christmas has this tendency to show up every year. So, it continually gives us this opportunity to connect. You know how it is, Jim. I mean, you'll turn on Netflix, so you'll turn on HBO Max and you'll think oh, I want to watch something new and inevitably, you watch Shawshank Redemption for the 133rd time. That's how we are built as people.

ACOSTA: Yeah, no. And let's talk about our personal favorites. You mentioned "Die Hard." I think you might want to get to that one, but I'm going to say that my two favorites Christmas story, I mean, come on. The kid that gets his tongue stuck on the pole. I mean, you just can't beat that. After he's double dogged dared, I mean, that's -- you can't beat that.

And then "Christmas Vacation" would be the other one for me. Chevy Chase, I could watch a Chevy Chase movie over and over again. You wouldn't have to (inaudible) me. Tell me about yours.

MANKIEWICZ: Let me say this really quick. We were on the TCM -- we were on the TCM cruise last week and Chevy Chase was there with his family. It was wonderful and no movie got him more energized than talking about "Christmas Vacation." So, he loves that film, too. I want to throw two movies out here before getting to the standard choice. A wonderful Canadian heist film set over Christmas called the "Silent

Partner" written by Curtis Hanson with Elliot Gould and I think Chris Walken, and it's just -- it's sensational, great movie that I think a lot of people haven't seen. And then "Christmas in Connecticut," Barbara Stanwyck, those are two great ones.

But in the end, every Christmas even before we started debating whether it was a Christmas movie, for 20 years, I've been watching "Die Hard" over Christmas and --

ACOSTA: "Die Hard," yes.

MANKIEWICZ: -- you know, I don't know why this is, you know -- in many ways, not your traditional Christmas movie, but Christmas is key to the whole plot.

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They wouldn't take over Nakatomi Plaza unless security was down on Christmas. Christmas is elemental to "Die Hard." It was indeed a Christmas movie and I think we're -- in a lot of redemption, a lot of good wholesome things in "Die Hard." Also, a lot of (inaudible).

ACOSTA: It is a story of redemption. All right. Ben Mankiewicz, thanks so much. Yippee-ki-yay. I hope you enjoy the holidays. Appreciate it so much. I won't finish that line, but be sure to tune in. "Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen" premieres tonight at 8:00 eastern right here on CNN.

That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 3:00 eastern. Up next, I double dog dare you to stick around for the '80s raised on television. Have a good night.

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