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Russia's War on Ukraine, Soledar Hands in Balance as Fighting Rages On, Ukraine Reacts to Shuffle of Russia's Military Command; Biden Faces Special Counsel Probe Over Classified Documents; Lisa Marie Presley died at 54; U.S. Defense Secretary Met Japanese Counterpart at Pentagon; Hong Kong and Mainland China Border to Reopen; Dozens killed in Peru as Unrest Continues; Navalny Continues to Fight Putin in Jail; Death Toll Rose after Major Storm Slams Southeast U.S. 2022 was the Warmest La Nina Year on Record. Royal Family Makes First Public Appearance After Prince Harry's Memoir Came Out. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired January 13, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on "CNN Newsroom," President Vladimir Putin's new general may indicate a change in Russia strategy for their war in Ukraine. Plus, more classified documents or found at the Delaware home of U.S. President Joe Biden. Now special counsel will investigate how they ended up in the garage at the world is reacting to the death of Lisa Marie Presley, just days after she attended the Golden Globe ceremony. We'll hear how she's remember by her friends and family.
UNKNOWN (VOICE-OVER): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The fate of the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar hangs in the balance amid an all-out Russian offensive to put it under Moscow's control.
Ukrainian military officials say the situation is critical but they are still pushing back against Russian attacks. However, Russian Wagner mercenaries released this video showing them inside Soledar. The group claims it has captured the entire town which the Kremlin isn't confirming and these satellite images are showing you the sheer devastation left by just one week of fighting in that part of Ukraine.
Now, the pictures on the left or from the beginning of the month and then on the right you see a little more than smoldering buildings which is all that is left in the same areas now.
Presidents Zelenskyy thanked his troops in Soledar in his evening address on Thursday. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Today, I would like to specifically mention the paratroopers from the 77th Airborne Brigade, that together with the fighters from the 46th Airborne Brigade hold their positions in Soledar and inflict significant losses on the enemy.
We have analyzed in detail the decisions needed, the reinforcements needed and the steps to be taken by commanders in the coming days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Kyiv is also reacting to the revolving door of top Russian military leaders in Ukraine saying it shows the war isn't going according to Moscow's plan. The Kremlin named General Valery Gerasimov -- as commander of the special military operation on Wednesday. His predecessor effectively fired after just 3 months. The pentagon says that is a sign of major problems in Russia's military. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: It likely does reflect some of the systemic challenges that the Russian military has faced since the beginning of this invasion. I would say, frankly, I think that the world would rather see Russia focus on withdrawing from Ukraine and saving innocent lives, versus spending time on numerous management reshuffles and Russian soldiers and their families would probably like to see that too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: But in Moscow, political squabble is brewing over who should take credit for Wagner's alleged advances in Soledar. Fred Pleitgen reports.
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While the situation on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine remains red hot, the mood in Moscow surprisingly frosty. When CNN asked people if they were optimistic about what the Kremlin calls its special military operation in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (through translator): I simply do not get why we haven't won yet. I just don't get it. I'm former military and I don't get it at all.
UNKNOWN (through translator): I think this points to a complete chaos of our authority that allowed for this terrible mess to happen, a war with a brother nation.
PLEITGEN: All of this after Vladimir Putin standing amid Russian soldiers attempted to rally the nation in his New Year's address.
There's nothing stronger than love for our near and dear he said, loyalty to our friends and comrades in arms and devotion to our fatherland. Now Putin has demoted the man in charge of the war General Sergey Surovikin and replacing him with a top general, Valery Gerasimov, who is close to Putin and Russia's Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, often accompanying them to military exercises and briefing Putin on the war in Ukraine.
The move comes as analysts a Russia seems to be gearing up for a massive spring offensive after mobilizing more than 300,000 people late last year. But also, with its top brass under fire as the only gains Russia is making around the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, are coming thanks to the private military group Wagner.
[03:05:07]
Wagner's boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has ripped into the armies leadership, essentially calling the generals running foot war incompetent and now in an audio message making clear, he is the only one who can give Putin some winds.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (through translator): I want to emphasize in the storm of Soledar, no other units participated than Wagner.
(END AUDIO CLIPO)
PLEITGEN: Wagner is known for extreme brutality. This video proportions to show the mercenaries advancing around solid are passing the bodies of dead Ukrainian troops.
Many fighters are convicts recruited from Russian jails with a promise of freedom if they survive. It's not clear what the army's change of command is a move to counter the Prigozhin's pressures. And many folks on Moscow streets certainly weren't keen to comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (through translator): We have a president, let him think for us. We have full faith in him and we trust our military.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Some voices from Moscow there, yet Yevgeny Prigozhin taking another swipe at the Russian Defense Ministry after the Russian army said that its forces had also fought in the battle for Soledar. A social media channel affiliated with Wagner, later put out a video allegedly showing to Russian soldiers saying they had not fought there and that it was only Wagner forces on the ground.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
BRUNHUBER: And Nada Bashir joins us now from London with more on developments in Ukraine and Nada let's starts with the latest from Soledar, we're just hearing from the Ukrainian officials, what are they saying?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kim, we haven't had an update from Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister in relation to the fierce fighting which has continued overnight in the contested town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine posting a telegram just a short while ago saying, "The night in Soledar was hot. Fighting continued."
And she also reported the Russian forces drew almost all of their main forces towards the Donetsk region with high intensity but noted that the Ukrainian troops are still bravely trying to hold their line despite the intense fighting that we have seen overnight.
And as you laid out, we've heard from President Zelenskyy speaking last night, he thanked the Ukrainian troops in Soledar for their efforts for holding their positions in the hotly contested town. And he also claimed that Ukrainian armed forces were able to inflict significant losses within the Russian Armed Forces but the situation there continues to be described as critical. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right not a, what more are we learning about the man who is now leading Russia's invasion and as well as the ongoing reaction to his appointment?
BASHIR: As you heard there and per Fred Pleitgen's reporting, the timing is interesting. It comes just 3 months after the appointment of his predecessor, there has been some suggestion that this might be an indicator of the continued setbacks that the Russian Armed Forces are facing in Ukraine, 11 months on since the invasion began as you heard from the Pentagon there.
The U.S. assessment is that this could certainly be an indicator of the systemic challenges that the Russian Armed Forces continue to face and of course, the Ukrainian Armed Forces and military officials have also suggested a similar line. They say that this very well could be a sign that the Russian Armed Forces are facing setbacks in Ukraine, that such personnel changes at such frequency are often an indicator that things are simply not going as planned.
Of course, we also have heard from other analysts pointing to the fact that this could very well be an indicator that President Putin is planning on escalating and ramping up his war on Ukraine imminently. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Appointing General Gerasimov is a sign that the Russian offensive is going to gear up. We can see it building up we can see the mobilization going. We can see the use of mass -- mass use of conscripts. We can see the positioning of forces in Belarus. And I think it says, that for Putin, this war and his number 2 guy, Patrushev, says this is a war against NATO. So, he is not taking this any longer as a special military operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: Now look and this was certainly suggested or perhaps hinted in the Russian Defense Ministry's announcement of Gerasimov's appointment with a nod to a potential expansion in the scale tasks ahead with regards to Russia's war in Ukraine as well as an attempt to improve management within the Russian Armed Forces. So, this could very well be perceived as an attempt to streamline the decision-making process within Russia's military command.
We also heard from a top pro-Kremlin military blogger who writes for (inaudible) who he has written that he believes in his perspective this could be an attempt by the Kremlin, by the Russian Armed Forces to place responsibility and accountability wholly under the Russian Military Command to stop the blaming of commanders in the field or generals in the field rather, and to stop blurring the lines of responsibility.
[03:10:25]
But of course, as we see the fighting continues fiercely particularly and Soledar overnight and of course as the Russian Armed Forces continue to face setbacks, there's real concern discover this could very well be an indicator of potential expansion and intensification of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine over the coming days and weeks. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Interesting, all right thank you so much Nada Bashir, we appreciate it.
Mayors of four European capitals are offering a helping hand to Ukraine as the war grinds on the mayors of Prague, Warsaw, Budapest and Bratislava paid a visit to Kyiv on Thursday, they met with their counterpart in the Ukrainian capital and discuss future assistance both to Kyiv and Ukraine and one of the visiting mayors says Ukrainians can always count on their support, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAL TRZASKOWSKI, MAYOR OF WARSAW, POLAND: We always say that our friends in Ukraine are fighting for our freedom and this is really important for us and that's why we are here to help as much as we can and we will keep on helping whatever our friends here in Kyiv and in Ukraine need, we are always your friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, the visiting mayors also took a firsthand look at the damage left Russian attacks in Kyiv's residential areas.
And Russia says it has repaired part of the bridge linking it to Crimea. Crimea relays on the bridge for supplies but the automobile lane was damaged in an explosion on October 8th. The 19-kilometer road and rail bridge was personally opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018.
Russia blamed Ukraine for the explosion that happened on Putin's 70th birthday but Ukraine never claimed responsibility. Authorities plan to finish repairs in March.
Major legal mess and PR headache is unfolding at the White House. A special counsel is now so to investigate whether the U.S. President mishandled classified materials. The Obama era documents in question were discovered in his home in Wilmington, Delaware and at a private office in Washington, most of them were found in November and December but the public only learned about them recently, questions are mounting about why they were kept hush-hush?
U.S. Attorney General has chosen Robert Hur as special counsel, he is a former U.S. attorney from the Trump administration who's promising to conduct this investigation with "fair, impartial and dispassionate judgement. The Biden team says it is fully cooperating but only a small number of documents were inadvertently misplaced and that this was just all a mistake. When President Biden was pressed about the situation on Thursday, he downplayed the suggestion that the documents were at risk. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Classified materials next to your corvette? What were you thinking?
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Let me -- I'm going have a chance to speak on this God willing soon, but as I said this week-- by the way, my corvette is in a locked garage, okay? So, it's not like it's sitting out on the street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So, the documents were stored near his prized corvette there, but who put them there? What kind of secrets today contain? And also growing questions about transparency. CNN's Phil Mattingly has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm here today to announce the appointment of robert her as a special counsel. For
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For President Biden, the dramatic escalation of a perilous moment. It was in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate the possible mishandling of classified documents and revealing a lot more detail about an issue Biden and his lawyers kept quiet for weeks and have desperately tried to manage since the story broke four days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously.
MATTINGLY: Special counsel announcement coming after Biden second public statement about a second set of classified documents found at a second location. BIDEN: As part as that process, my lawyers reviewed other places were documents from my time as vice president were stored and I finished the review last night. They discovered a small number of documents of classified markings in storage areas and file cabinets in my home, in my personal library.
MATTINGLY: But Garland's detailed timeline underscores that at the time of Biden's first statement on the issue earlier this week --
BIDEN: We're cooperating fully-- cooperating fully with the review in which I hope will be finished soon.
MATTINGLY: His lawyers had been aware of the second set of documents, discovered at his Wilmington home for nearly a month. It's a timeline that started with the November 2nd discover of ten classified documents in a former think tank office which led Garland to appoint U.S. Attorney John Lausch to investigate the matter to weeks later. On December 20th, more documents discovered.
[03:15:10]
GARLAND: President Biden's personal counsel and for Mr. Lausch, that additional documents bearing classification markings were identified in the garage of the president's private residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
MATTINGLY: All key factors for what Lausch would recommend to Garland last week.
GARLAND: On January 5th 2023, Mr. Lausch briefed me on the result of his initial investigation and advised me that further investigation by special counsel was warranted.
MATTINGLY: The recommendations that came four days before the initial discovery of classified documents leaked and before days, White House statements that intentionally avoided key details or obfuscated key matters altogether impart out of an effort to avoid this very moment, sources said, and to follow strict limits set by his lawyers.
BIDEN: I'm going to get the chance to speak on all of this, God willing, soon.
MATTINGLY: As due diligence search for any more documents was still ongoing.
GARLAND: This morning, President Biden's personal counsel called Mr. Lausch and stated that an additional document bearing classification markings was identified at the president's personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: While this investigation was clearly moved into a very new, potential dangerous phase at least based on historical precedents and special counsel the White House counsel's stressing they will continue to cooperate, saying they've cooperated and work closely with the Justice Department, something that they don't think is going to change and they said at least in the statement, after the special counsel was appointed that they believe that when this is all set is done, it will be discovered that this wasn't inadvertent issue, something that was clearly a mistake, that they believe should exonerate the president but very clearly, a problem for a president who was thought he was entering his third year in office with a fairly clear path after good midterms and a very very different economic situation.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
BRUNHUBER: But mishandled documents may very well be an inadvertent mistake ass Biden claims but the host of firing line on PBS "Firing Lane" that's still no excuse. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET HOOVER, HOST, PBS It's a pretty basic rule when you work in a Federal Government that the documents, those are not yours. Those belonged to the government. The reason the electeds have power because it is blessed to them by the public who has granted them that trust and when you go back into private life, those documents, that information belongs to the public, it belongs to the government.
Then it goes to NARA and then people and historians and reports can go access than in order to tell our history and our story. Transparency is the key. This is how we operate. How anybody ends up with classified documents boggles the mind, truly. And so, we need to understand why he has them. We need to understand why Trump has them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: While, it's unusual to have both a sitting U.S. President and his predecessor under investigation at the same time for improperly handled classified materials. These are two very different sets of circumstances and analysts warned against falling into the trap of false equivalence.
Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Mary, has died just hours after she was rushed to hospital suffering cardiac arrest. Her mother, Priscilla, made the announcement a short time ago. Lisa Marie followed in the footsteps of her dad releasing three albums as a singer and songwriter. She was seen as recently as Tuesday Night at the Golden Globe Award supporting the Baz Luhrmann film about her late father. Lisa Mary praised actor Austin Butler for his performance as Elvis. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: When you first saw him, what did you think?
LISA MARIE PRESLEY: You mean, in the movie?
UNKNOWN: Yeah, just saw him-- yeah, in the role.
PRESLEY: I was mind blown truly. I actually had to take like five days to process it. Because it was so spot on and authentic.
UNKNOWN: What do you think the biggest challenge was? Is it the singing or is there certain characteristic to pull off, a look, a twinkle or something?
PRESLEY: Characteristics, mannerisms, the singing, the talking without doing it in like a character way like it's been done in the past. You know, it's kind of done like in a sort of funny, joking way, the way he spoke. But Austin actually got it and did it perfectly without making it sort of comical.
BRUNHUBER: In the 1990s, the daughter of the king of rock and roll married Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. It was one of several high- profile relationships made headlines. CNN 's Chloe Melas has more on the life and death of Lisa Marie Presley.
CHLOE MELAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CCN has learned that Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter Elvis Presley, has died. In a statement to CNN, the family wrote, "Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie. They're profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone and asked for privacy during this very difficult time."
[03:20:07]
Early Thursday morning, CNN learned that EMT responded to her home in Calabasas, California for a possible cardiac arrest. Now, this came just two days after Lisa Marie attended the Golden Globes at the Beverley Hills in Los Angeles, alongside her mother Priscilla to support Austin Butler who portrayed her father in Baz Luhrmann's film "Elvis."
He actually won a Golden Globe Award that evening. We saw cameras pan over to her and her mother in the audience. At one point, it looked like she was wiping away tears. When Elvis died in August 1977, Lisa Marie was just 9 years old and she is the only heir to his estate.
Lisa Marie went on to have several children, one of which, his name was Benjamin. He died by suicide in 2020. And Lisa has been open about grief but she has experienced in the wake of her son's death, even writing in an essay, "The Summer" in July about what that was like. And how difficult it was. At one point writing, "My heart and soul went with you. The depth of the pain is suffocating and bottomless without you every moment of every day." Back to you.
BRUNHUBER: And Presley's ex-husband actor Nicholas Cage released this statement. He says, "This is devastating news. Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I'm heartbroken. I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son, Benjamin." Lisa Marie Presley was 54. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: U.S. Secretary of Defense honored his Japanese counterpart at the Pentagon Thursday. The meeting between Lloyd Austin and Yasukazu Hamada is just one of the Japanese Defense Minister's held with the U.S. Officials. On Wednesday, Hamada met with Austin and U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. They announced to strengthen their country's military relationship, a new U.S. Marine Regiment that would be stationed in Japan.
And, in the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the White House to hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office followed by a working lunch. Security and expanded cooperation are among the topics up for discussion. Michelle Lee is the Tokyo Bureau Chief for Washington Post and she joins me now live from Seoul, South Korea. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, let's just start with what the Prime Minister Kishida is hoping to accomplish diplomatically here in the U.S.
MICHELLE LEE, TOKYO BUREAU CHIEF, WASHINGTON POST: Well, the two leaders have a lot to talk about today. Japan is America's biggest security ally in Asia and the two countries have been working quite a lot over the past year to make sure that their national security and economic security strategy is aligned.
[03:25:11]
In Japan last month, they adopted massively ambitious new national security strategy and a huge ramp of their defense spending. And now, Prime Minister Kishida has to actually put those two plans into effect.
But he is facing some political troubles at home so he's going to want to get a nice boost from President Biden, really show off the country's ambitions and get the warm embrace that President Biden is ready to give and go back to Japan and start the parliamentary session and really get those national security and defense spending strategies into action. So, he has a lot at stake, and I'm sure it'll be a very important meeting for the two leaders.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So then, for President Biden, I mean, strengthening the relationship with Japan. Why is that so important at this point particularly?
LEE: Absolutely, well, President Biden really wants to show that Japan and the U.S. are aligned in their security interests, in their economic interests in the region to show China and North Korea, specifically, that the two countries are seeing eye to eye and working on shared goals.
China has become increasingly-- increasing threat, militarily, to Japan. They fired missiles last year for the first time that landed in Japan's waters. And North Korea, of course, has had complete spree of ballistic missile tests last year including flying a missile over Japan. And Japan is feeling the security threats in the region.
And President Biden is going to want to show that the two leaders are working together and they don't want to waiver in standing up to both China and North Korea. And by meeting with Prime Minister Kishida, he's also binding Kishida to the national security strategy and the defense spending that he has committed to but it's going to be difficult for him to actually put into. So, President Biden is definitely looking to send a message not just to Japan and to the Japanese but to other countries that have a stake in the relationship as well.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, speaking of their security links, I mean you've written about how Japan 's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as one of the first countries to impose sanctions is sort of linked to the situation in Taiwan. Take us through this.
LEE: Yes, something that Prime Minister Kishida often says is that Ukraine today could (inaudible) tomorrow. And by that he means that for a long time, they have been worried in Asia about potential Chinese takeover of Taiwan. But they always thought that it may not come, may come later on or that a full-on conflict may not be as feasible as some people think.
But when the Russians invaded Ukraine, in Japan, really resonated because them it felt like then perhaps the Chinese takeover of Taiwan could happen. And they're already seeing the results of the Russian war. So, he's been really linking the situation in Russia to the threat that Japan and surrounding countries are feeling when it comes to China and trying to really concretize that fear that people have felt before but thought that maybe it wasn't coming anytime soon.
So, you're seeing that in Japan's action now throughout the past year and moving forward. They've been very aggressive on sanctioning Russia. They've been aggressive on increasing their defense spending, really thinking through a more aggressive defense strategy and this is the first time, in postwar history in Japan, they've taken such an aggressive action on protecting their defense.
So, Japan has been very active in the aftermath of the Russian war and really deepening its relationship with the U.S., also, as a result.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I want to ask you about that because, you know, it's -- it's a really huge pivot from this long-standing postwar pacifist approach, some have likened it to sort of going from a shield to a spear for instance. Talk to me about sort of how robust this is now?
LEE: Well, for a long time, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had laid the groundwork for what is happening now. He had introduced these ideas, like you know massive spending hike in defense. And doing more counterattack capabilities. He had talked about that publicly. But he didn't get much traction because of this pacifist constitution. Because the Japanese public truly believes in defending themselves but not going beyond what the constitution allows.
Prime Minister Kishida is really building on those efforts now quite frankly, benefiting from the security environment around the world right now and with Russia and China. So, in Japan, the public opinion has really shifted and the people-- everyday, people are seeing that Ukrainians are dying, that Russians are being aggressive and their feeling the threat of what could happen in their neighborhood.
[03:30:00] So, public opinion on becoming more aggressive in their defense has actually shifted and the Japanese public wants more muscular military now to defend themselves.
So, Prime Minister Kishida is really building off that public support for wanting to be more aggressive. But where he faces some pushback now is how to actually pay for defense spending increase and possibly raise taxes.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Only about 30 seconds left. But beyond security, what are some of the other, you know, big issues that they're expected to address do you think?
LEE: This is really a victory lap for Prime Minister Kishida, so they're going to really pat each other on the back, I think. But they're also looking at other areas of cooperation, such as in space and in economic security to counter China's growing dominance and global supply chain and see how the two countries to work -- can work together to try to adjust that.
BRUNHUBER: All right. I really appreciate the analysis, as always, Washington Post Tokyo Bureau Chief, Michelle Lee, thanks so much.
LEE: Thanks.
BRUNHUBER: Well, new this hour, prosecutors have indicted the man accused of killing Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Tetsuya Yamagami has been charged with murder and violating a firearms control law. And according to Japanese media, he has been ongoing psychiatric evaluation since the arrest last July to determine whether he's fit to stand trial, but his detention period expired earlier this week.
Now, police say he confessed to the killing. Abe died after being shot during a campaign speech on the streets in Central japan. He was a country's longest-serving prime minister.
Nearly 12 years after a tsunami devastated Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, the government says it plans to begin releasing more than one trillion -- 1 million tons of treated wastewater from the facility into the sea.
Tokyo says such water is routinely released from nuclear plants, around the world. Both neighboring China and South Korea have been protesting the move, which is expected to start in the next few months. In March 2011, a tsunami knocked out power to the nuclear plant, disabling the cooling of several reactors.
All right, still ahead, Peru's political turmoil has led to dozens of deaths in the streets and growing pressure on the country's president to stop them. We'll have more coming up, stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: After three years of strict COVID policy and widespread lockdown, China is reopening its borders and plans to resume service of the high speed train linking Hong Kong to mainland China that had been shut down because the pandemic.
Tens of thousands of people from mainland China are expected to visit Hong Kong this week as businesses hope the economy will quickly bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. Hong Kong's economy fell into recession last year. And while economist expect it will rebound this quarter, a full recovery could take a year.
[03:05:10]
A senior government minister in Peru has resigned, deepening country's political turmoil. The South American nation has been gripped by weeks of protests following the impeachment and arrest of Former President Pedro Castillo in December.
Since then, at least 49 people have died in clashes between police and protesters. The now former labor minister has called on the president to apologize for the deaths of protesters and to hold elections before April next year. And amid the unrest, Peru's prime minister insists the country's president won't resign.
We get more now from CNN's Rafael Romo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN American AFFAIRS EDITOR: The violent clashes erupt in the Peruvian city of Cusco, the latest wave of unrest following the ousting of Former President Pedro Castillo.
Anti-government protesters threw rocks at riot police Wednesday, who responded by firing tear gas and moving in with an armored vehicle. The video from the scene shows the injured receiving medical aid before being carried off.
The turmoil follows demonstrations in the southern region of Puno, 18 people have been killed there since Monday night, including a police officer who was burnt to death by protesters.
Prime Minister Alberto Otarola condemned the violence during a session of congress.
ALBERTO OTAROLA, PRIME MINISTER OF PERU (through translator): I deplore this aggression against the security forces. And once again, I call for order, peace, and tranquility, for all Peruvians. We can't be killing each other.
ROMO: The arrests began in early December when then President Castillo was impeached and arrested after he announced plans to dissolve congress and install an emergency government. He was apparently trying to get ahead of a congressional vote on his his impeachment.
Dina Boluarte, Catillo's vice president was then sworn in to replace him. Now, Castillo's supporters are calling for her resignation along with prompt general elections, a new constitution, and the release of the former president. But last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Castillo had to remain in pretrial detention for 18 months on charges of rebellion and conspiracy, which he denies.
The new government won a vote of confidence in congress by a wide margin, Tuesday, alas (ph) would have triggered a cabinet reshuffle, and the resignation of Prime Minister Alberto Otarola.
Meanwhile, Peru's top prosecutor has launched an investigation into Boluarte and her cabinet members over the deadly clashes as relatives, and friends of the dead (ph) marched the city of Juliaca, carrying the coffins of their loved ones.
UNKNOWN (through translator): They're killing us, Juliaca's people. We are dying. We want justice.
ROMO: It was the worst outbreak of violence Peru had seen in more than 20 years.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Days after an anti-government mob ransacked government buildings in the Brazilian capital, the country's new president is vowing to remove die hard supporters of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, from power.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says some of Brazil's military police and members of the armed forces colluded with protesters as they enter the congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on Sunday. Lula says he wants to see all the tapes from inside government building so he can determine who is complicit in the violence.
Jair Bolsonaro has been in Florida since leaving Brazil, just before Lula's inauguration. But pressure is growing on President Biden to expel Bolsonaro from the U.S.
In a letter to President Biden, House Democrats wrote about Bolsonaro, quote, "as he is no longer the president of Brazil or currently serving as a Brazilian official, we request that you reassess his status in the country to ascertain whether there's a legal basis for his stay and revoke any such diplomatic visa he may hold."
The head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has made a rare trip to Libia. CIA Director William Burns met in Tripoli with Libian Prime Minister on Thursday. The war torn country has been split between two rival administrations since 2014. The U.N. backed government says Burns and prime minister discussed economic and security issues.
Now, even after two years in Russian prisons, Putin critic, Alexei Navalny remains dangerously defiant voicing opposition to the Russian president's invasion of Ukraine. But the push to break Putin's stranglehold over the Russia's -- Russians comes at a high cost and certainly more costly with each passing day.
Our Nic Robertson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Alexei Navalny, Putin's poisoned and jailed Uber critic is in a race for survival against his nemesis according to his team.
[03:04:58]
MARIA PEVCHIKH, HEAD OF INVESTIGATORS, NAVALNY'S ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION: So far touch woods, they haven't gone ahead with trying to kill him.
ROBERTSON: Locked uup in one of Russia's most dangerous jails, his health is failing but not his spirit.
DASHA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEI NAVALNY'S DAUGHTER: People are not allowed to communicate with him. This kind of isolation is really purely psychological torture.
ROBERTSON: Incarceration on trumped up charges of fraud and terrorism are only stoking his and his family's fire to free Russia of Putin's stranglehold.
Navalny narrowly survived poisoning by Putin's henchman in August 2020. They smeared the deadly nerve agent, Novickok, on his underwear. Putin smirked as he denied the attack.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF Russia: (SPOKEN IN RUSSIAN)
ROBERTSON: But recovering in Germany, Navalny and his team, not only discovered the poison has worked for Putin but Navalny actually got one of them to confess.
UNKNOWN: You're aware of the risks of going back.
ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION FIGURE: I understand that Putin hates me. And I understand that these people who are sitting in the Kremlin they are agent to kill.
ROBERTSON: January 17th, 2021 and despite knowing the risks, he flew back to Moscow, was arrested on arrival, has been in detention ever since. His investigative team, now in exile, hope to keep is anti- corruption, anti-Putin fight strong.
PEVCHIKH: He passes handwritten notes and then we type them up. So, the level of risks that he takes on himself is very impressive.
ROBERTSON: So far, they say Navalny's gamble to go back to Russia is paying off.
PEVCHIKH: We are now one of the most loud anti-war media.
ROBERTSON: But the cost is dire. Navalny is battling for survival from winter boots, the basic medicine, even the right to have a hygienic cell mates. PEVCHIKH: Putin is not going to survive this war. The question is how long it takes.
ROBERTSON: And can Alexei survive how long it takes?
PEVCHIKH: We really hope that Navalny, personally, and us, as a political power, that we will be in good enough shape and a very strong stape to act.
ROBERTSON: Navalny himself, clear-eyed, if he loses the race.
NAVALNY: My message for the situation and I'm (inaudible) is very simple, not give up.
ROBERTSON: Nick Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: An American navy veteran detained in Russia since April is now free. That's according to a spokesperson for Taylor Dudley's family. Last year, the 35-year-old from Michigan was in Poland for a music festival when he crossed into a territory Russia governs. The U.S. government didn't deem Dudley's detention wrongful and his family didn't publicize their efforts to secure his release.
Well, across some southern states, people are starting to clean up after a severe storm spawned dozens of tornadoes and left a trail of destruction. We have more on that after a quick break. Stay with us.
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[03:45:00]
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BRUNHUBER: The death toll has risen to seven in the southeastern United States after a series of ferocious storms swept through the region Thursday spawning about 35 possible tornadoes in Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky. At least six of the deaths were in Alabama and several injuries were also reported. About 20 homes were damaged or destroyed in one county alone.
The National Weather Service says one twister was likely on the ground for at least 80 kilometers. The strong winds and rain knocked down power lines and debris flying and ripped off rooftops. Listen to what some residents in Alabama had to say about the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, My God. Yeah, look. Oh, my God. This (inaudible). Oh, my God.
UNKNOWN: I got alert on my phone that a tornado warning is going here and just out of nowhere I heard a sound I never heard before. It sounded like a freight train coming through here and the wind picked up so strong I had to jump out and I run out because everything was shaking like never before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And in Georgia, a 5-year-old boy was killed south of Atlanta when a tree fell on the car he was in. And also in Georgia, a wall was torn off a warehouse complex west of Atlanta.
After anxiously waiting for hours to bring their kids home, more then dozen students in Spalding County have now been reunited with their parents. They've been sheltering with school officials because the roads weren't passable. The governors of Alabama and Georgia issued a state of emergency for certain areas.
Meanwhile, there's been no let up in a series of extreme weather systems causing epic flooding in California. At least 18 people have died in the past two weeks as heavy rains turned neighborhoods into lakes and destroyed countless homes and businesses, and more rain is expected Friday and Saturday.
Now, one bit of good news, less then 1 percent of California is now under extreme drought conditions down from about 30 percent of the state just two weeks ago.
Troubling news on the climate front, scientists say 2022 was the warmest La Nina year on record and this year will be even warmer. Expert say the rising temperatures were responsible for some of last year's biggest natural disasters.
CNN's meteorologist Jennifer Gray reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So, NASA and NOAA just came out with their year-end reports and found that the last nine years have been the warmest nine years on record. And what makes 2022 special is that we were in a La Nina year that typically cools the planet and this La Nina year is the warmest La Nina we've ever seen.
What La Nina does is it basically cools the water in the eastern equatorial pacific. And in turn, that normally cools much of the planet. But as you can see, aside from that one area across the eastern equatorial pacific, we are seeing warmer than normal temperatures across much of the globe. In fact, we had some pretty significant rain events. We know that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture in turn will produce rainier storms.
We had 1,000 year rainfall events this summer all across the U.S., several of those. We also had significant heat waves across, not only the U.S., but Europe as well as Asia. We're getting ever so close to that 1.5 degree Celsius number and we also had extreme flooding in Pakistan. You can see this from August 28, the before and after. There's the before from 2021 and 2022 is right there. So, you remember this flooding, it was significant across Pakistan.
So, the past nine years have been the warmest on record and 2022 was the warmest La Nina year ever recorded. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Well, now, into Tunisia where severe drought is having a devastating impact on the agricultural industy. The situation so dire, water has been rationed so people have enough to drink.
CNN's Eleni Giokos has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The water in the city of Borakdam (ph) in the northern Tunisia is drying up, cracked ground and date trees are all that remain of this once fertile area.
Historians have called Tunisia the bread basket of the Roman Empire. But a three-year long drought is threatening harvest, critical to the country's economy.
[03:50:01]
Hay prices have risen, forcing dairy farmers to sell of herds they can no longer afford. Now, supermarket shelves are left empty of milk and butter. And farmers are struggling to irrigate their crops.
HATEM NAFROUDI, TUNISIAN FARMER (through translator): The idea of watering trees in the winter, this was an impossible thing to happen. But now, we are in January and I've watered my plants for the fourth time because the autumn season was dry and the olive trees did not produce anything.
GIOKOS: The climate crisis is bringing more extreme heat to the Mediterranean in the summer months. And the rainy season of fall and winter has been unusually dry.
Only 110 million cubic meters of rain fell in Tunisia since September. That's just a fifth of the normal rates and it has officials worried.
HAMMADI BOUBAKRY, EXECUTIVE, OFFICE OF TUNISIA AGRICULTURE UNION: (through translator): The situation that we are in is due to climate change that has cast a shadow over our country and the countries of the Mediterranean and from which most countries have suffer.
Climate change is happening fast, and has taken everyone by surprise, the state, farmers, and all those involved in the agricultural sector, because the situation is deteriorating and we are now suffering from water scarcity.
GIOKOS: To make matters worse, authorities are limiting the water supply to some farms so homes and businesses have enough drinking water. And the price of water is also going up on a sliding scale. If rain doesn't come soon, officials are considering more extreme rationing measures.
Eleni Gikos, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE). BRUNHUBER: Sweden has announced the discovery of a massive deposit of rare earth elements. On Thursday, the state owned mining company, LKAB said that it identified significant deposits below the country's northernmost city, Kiruna. Rare earth elements, also effort to as REEs, are critical to powering smartphones, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. They're also especially vital to the growing field of renewable energy. Sweden's energy minister hailed the discovery. Let's listen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EBBA BUSCH, SWEDISH ENERGY MINISTER: This is really an important day for Sweden and for the whole of the European Union. It is a significant happening which can play a key role in securing a green transition within the E.U.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUHUBER: Now, the deposit is also estimated to contain over 1 million tons of rare earth oxides. But officials aren't certain of the exact amount.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAN MOSTROM, PRESIDENT AND CEO, LKAB: For us, it's open. It is not closed. We don't actually know how big it is. We don't actually know how in which way it can be utilized to develop these deposits. But what we can say, with what we know this today, is by far the largest deposit of REEs in Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Discovery would likely reduce the EU's dependence on China, which currently supplies 98 percent of the EU's demand for rare earth magnets.
Some British royals were out in public yesterday. So, just ahead, their first appearances since Prince Harry's memoir was published. Stay with us.
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[03:55:04]
BRUNHUBER: Some British royals have emerged for their first public appearances since the release this week of Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," and they're staying mum on its scaling portrayal of the Royal Family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Do you have any (ph) comments in Harry's books, sir?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: William and Kate, the Princess and Prince of Wales ignoring that shouted question as they visited the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital. King Charles stepped on Thursday as well. He visited a local community center in rural Scotland.
None of the royals have commented publicly about "Spare." The publisher, Random House Group, says the English language version of the tell-all sold more than 1.4 million copies of its first day publication in the U.K., U.S., and Canada.
Well, the latest addition to the London zoo started the new year swinging. Have a look at this. Nova, a two-toed sloth was born on New Year's Day. Zookeepers won't know the baby's sex until confirmed by vets. The baby will keep hanging on to mama for now, but experts say it should be right to branch out on its own in about a year.
And also in England, zookeepers have announced the birth of what maybe the world's rarest chimp, a critically endangered western chimpanzee. The male chimp, who hasn't been named, was born on December 9th at the Chester Zoo. The western chimpanzee's population has dropped 80 percent in the last 25 years and was extinct in some of its former habitats. The baby and new mother have been bonding with the other chimpanzees at the zoo.
Well, the U.S. government has gotten over 350 new reports of what is calling unidentified aerial phenomena or UFOs as we used to know since march of 2021. They're in a new report released by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
Lawmakers have put pressure on the Pentagon to investigate claims of extra terrestrial activity. The Pentagon attributes almost half of these instances to drones, birds and balloons. The other half are still unexplained. And of course, there's no direct mention of space aliens.
All right. That wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. Our coverage continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo live from London, coming up next. Please stay with us.
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