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Putin Flaunts Alliance With Xi As Dear Friends Meet In Kremlin; French Government Survives No-Confidence Votes Over Pensions; New UN Report Warns Of Unavoidable Climate Change; 40 Plus Counties Pledge Financial And Technical Support For International Criminal Court To Probe War Crimes In Ukraine; Ukraine: Russian Attack On Motorists Is A War Crime; New York Steps Up Security Ahead Of Possible Indictment; Kenyan Protesters Denounce Government, Cost Of Living; U.N. Expert: Possible Crimes Against Humanity In Iran; Ukrainian Singers Perform At London's Royal Opera House; W. H. Hosts Cast Of "Ted Lasso" For Mental Health Discussion; Finland Again Ranked As World's Happiest Country. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 21, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:07]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom. Are there limits to the not limits friendship? Is Xi Jinping willing to his economic sanctions to supply military aid to his dear friend, Vladimir Putin.
Bracing for indictment, New York City Police increased security amid fears of protests as lawyers for former President Donald Trump make a last ditch longshot effort to avoid those charges.
And now or never carbon emissions are set to change the world forever, unless drastic, widespread action was taken and taken now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: We begin this hour in Moscow where two dear friends President Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping about to hold talks for a second day of a three-day Summit. Xi arrived on Monday his first visit to Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine. One issue on the table is China's 12- Point Peace Plan, which does not call for Russian forces to withdraw from Ukraine, a precondition for any negotiations by Kyiv and one reason why the U.S. and others do not see Beijing as an honest broker. Vladimir Putin though, says he welcomed the plan and viewed it with respect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We studied closely your proposals on the settlement of the acute crisis in Ukraine. Of course, we will have an opportunity to discuss this issue. You are also aware that we are always open to the negotiation process. We will certainly discuss all of these issues including your initiative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have now met 40 times as leaders. Xi describing Putin as his partner in war and peace. CNN's Selina Wang now has a view from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The meeting of two friends old setup to be leaders for life showing off their vision of a post American world order. The Pomp and Circumstance a credibility boost for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, displaying that he's caught a powerful friend in Chinese leader Xi Jinping, even as the International Criminal Court has a warrant for his arrest for committing more crimes and allegedly shipping Ukrainian children to Russia, and even as the West isolates him, amid stalled invasion of Ukraine.
Both Xi and Putin writing glowing op-eds about their country's relations. Xi calling their relationship an eternal friendship, Putin saying the two are standing shoulder to shoulder against America's increasingly aggressive efforts to deter Russia and China.
Xi Jinping is trying to walk a delicate line so far stopping short of providing lethal aid to Russia, though the U.S. says he may be considering it, while also refusing to condemn the invasion.
Meanwhile, Beijing is also taking advantage of Russia's isolation. Trade between the two nations jumped to $190 billion last year, an increase of 30 percent from 2021. Undercutting the impact of U.S. led sanctions, as Chinese companies snap up cheap energy from Russia giving the Kremlin key funds to finance the invasion.
But Beijing wants the world to focus less on their friendship and more on Xi's role as a global statesman who can broker peace deals like the historic deal he helped forge to restore relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
WANG (on camera): I've been talking to people in this Hutong (ph), this old Beijing residential alley to get a sense of what Chinese people think about Xi Jinping's visit.
WANG (voiceover): This man tells me Xi's visit is good because it can further improve China-Russia relations. he says he likes Putin a lot because he's a cool, tough guy on the Ukraine war. He says he just hopes everyone can have a peaceful relationship. This woman tells me she hopes Russia wins the war. But peace is best. Another woman says the war and loss of life is heartbreaking and painful to watch. She says it's wrong for America to send weapons to Ukraine. And she believes in Xi Jinping's vision of world peace. When I asked her what she thinks of Putin, she answers that he's righteous, decisive, swift and tough. But when I follow up and ask if she's heard of the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Putin, she responds, I didn't know. He started the war after all, he should sit down with Zelenskyy and talk.
This shoe repairman says, Why are they fighting? It doesn't do anybody good. But we don't know who started the war, he adds. It's the Ukrainians, right?
Xi doesn't need to convince the audience in China where media is heavily censored of the merits of his tight bond with Putin. But the rest of the world is watching to see what comes of Beijing's claims of neutrality. Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:02]
VAUSE: Max boot is a columnist for The Washington Post as well as a Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. It's good to have you back. Thanks. Good to see you.
MAX BOOT, COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK, so the White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby explained the relationship between Xi and Putin not so much as best friends forever, more of a friendship or convenience. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR: They don't like playing by the rules of that the world order has in place, and they want to challenge U.S. leadership. This is a marriage of convenience, not of affection. These are two countries that don't have a heck of a whole lot of trust between one another, but they find common cause and pushing back on the west and pushing back on American leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So I guess, is that a fair assessment? And if so, where does this personal relationship end? Because it does seem to be a personal friendship between Xi and Putin? How far is Xi willing to go then to support Putin?
BOOT: Well, I think John Kirby's assessment is on the money. This is definitely a marriage of convenience. And both Xo and Putin are cold, calculating strong men, they don't make foreign policy based on personal affection. And clearly, they both have a joint interest in challenging this American lead, liberal world order.
But at the same time, that there are real tensions between Russia and China and I believe that China and Xi are somewhat ambivalent about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has really unsettled the world contributed to inflation. It's created a dangerous situation in Eurasia.
And so I think, you know, Xi is very carefully triangulating between Russia and the United States, and certainly closer to Russia. But he has not gone all in on the Russian war effort, either. He is certainly not providing a lot of arms to Russia, which Russia desperately needs. And that's what I'm watching for the most out of these Xi, Putin meetings. Is there going to be a substantial Chinese contribution to the Russian war effort? Or is this just a bunch of talk, and that remains to be seen?
VAUSE: Well, here's how President Putin sees his relationship with President Xi. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUTIN (translator): For me, he's a good partner, and a good friend that I can count on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So clearly there is this friendship there. But and he also has high expectations from this three-day long summit, which Putin describes in an article which he wrote for the Chinese People Daily as a landmark event, which reaffirms the special nature of the Russia- China Partnership, which has always been built on mutual trust, respect for each other's sovereignty and interests.
The problem is, it seems to Xi is there, well, he does not want Putin to lose in Ukraine. The support needed by Moscow from China runs a very real risk of Beijing being hit by some very tough economic sanctions and running afoul of their major trading partners in the U.S. and the EU.
BOOT: That's right. I mean, China certainly has an economic interest in dealing with Russia, because under the threat of Western sanctions, Russia has been providing a lot of low energy -- low cost and energy to China. And that's been an economic boom for China. And China, of course, has also stepped in to the Russian market and provide a lot of cell phones and microchips and other things that are no longer available because of Western sanctions. So it's been kind of a win-win for China.
But at the end of the day, Xi understands that he has a lot more trade with the United States and with Europe than he does with Russia. So he can't afford to completely isolate China in the world, which I think is the reason why or one of the reasons why he is not providing munitions to Russia.
VAUSE: In that very long, sort of thank you note that was written in the People's Daily by Putin. He also makes this point, we welcome China's readiness to make a meaningful contribution to the settlement of the crisis, that being the Ukraine crisis. And this is a peace plan being put forward by Beijing last month. He goes on to add, Russia is open to the political and diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine crisis.
Given how much his power dynamic has changed between these two countries in the sense that Russia needs China, a whole lot more than China needs Russia. Could Xi Jinping actually exert some real pressure here, just the all stick no carrots on Putin to begin peace talks in earnest based on that 12-Point Peace Plan, which does coal respecting sovereign territory? BOOT: Well, there's no question that if Xi wanted to, he could certainly exert some pressure on Russia. Just imagine what would happen if China were to throttle back their purchases of Russian oil and gas, that would be a potential disaster for the Russian economy. But there is no indication that he is doing that, which you know, leads most analysts to suggest that his peace plan is less than sincere, he's not actually going to try to impose peace on Russia.
In fact, under the terms of the Chinese peace plan, if both sides were to freeze their battle lines right now, that would be an advantage for Russia because Russia has occupied about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, and that is something which is unacceptable to Ukraine and the Ukraine's backers in the West. So I wouldn't get my hopes up about China pressuring Russia.
[01:10:03]
As I said before, my real hope is that China will not do more to fuel and enable the Russian war effort. That's -- not so we have to hope for not that China will somehow miraculously bring Russia to the peace table.
VAUSE: Hey, Max, thank you so much, really appreciate it.
BOOT: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: Protests have turned violent in Paris after the government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote, which has cleared the way for an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64. There was heavy security outside the French Parliament Monday with the first of two new confidence loads fairly by just nine votes. And that sparks another round of protests across France.
The protests have been ongoing now for weeks, hundreds marched in the streets chanting anti-government slogans. Or in Paris, there were violent clashes, at least 70 people were detained. CNN's Sam Kiley has the latest now on the vote, and the unrest reporting in from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The government of Emmanuel Macron was ruling Renaissance Party narrowly survived a vote of confidence in the National Assembly here in Paris following an attempt to unseat it, which was the result of his decision or his Prime Minister's decision to ram through legislation to raise the pensionable age in this country from 62 to 64, last Thursday.
Now last Thursday, and in all the subsequent evenings, there have been spontaneous demonstrations in Paris and elsewhere in the country, these demonstrations here in Paris, have actually been more muted than they were in the previous three days, with a change of tactics on the street, among the protesters moving in smaller groups, burning the large piles of garbage that have collected here in the French capital, as a result of the strike action that has been taken in response to these attempts by the government to reform the pension system as part of the wider economic reforms that Emmanuel Macron, the French president has been trying to bring in.
Now, there'll be a lot more focus, though of the opposition on what will happen this coming Thursday when the unions are going to be involved in organized protests across the whole country, alongside a wide range of strikes that have already not quite crippled France, but certainly affected the garbage situation here in Paris, international and local public transport, and even the oil sector, those have already been affected.
But on Thursday, there'll be much wider strikes, much more organized demonstrations, much more widespread participation across the country. The union's hoping the opposition to these policies hope, and that could be a test for whether Emmanuel Macron is going to stick with this policy. But at the moment, all signs are that he will and that he will probably succeed. Sam Kiley, CNN in Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: After weeks of widespread nationwide protests and international criticism, the Israeli government is walking back parts but not all of its controversial plan to weaken the country's judiciary. A concession from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will mean the government will have less power in choosing new judges, but it will still have more power than it does now. Critics say that concession is not enough. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the reforms would never be accepted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI OPPOSITION LIEADER (through translator): The moment the change to the Judicial Appointments committee passes, we will appeal against it at the Supreme Court. The base for the appeal will be simple. If this law passes, Israel stops being a democratic state. We will not allow this to happen. The liberal camp is simply unwilling to live in a non-democratic state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Netanyahu government is hoping to pass the judicial selection bill before the Passover holiday begins in two weeks, but the rest of the controversial changes will then be taken up late next month at the beginning of the new session of the Knesset.
The financial health of the banking sector in the U.S. continues with another bank in trouble. Despite $100 billion in loans and credits from the world's leading largest banks, First Republic Bank continues to be under pressure. Its stock price falling more than 45 percent to another record low on Monday. And S&P global downgraded it for a second time within a week. The Wall Street Journal reporting the rival banks led by JP Morgan are working on another rescue plan for First Republic.
Despite the plan by fellow Swiss bank UBS to buy out their troubled rival for $3.2 billion, Credit Suisse shares with nearly 56 percent in the red. But U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday versus growing optimistic about regulators ability to contain the banking crisis. These are markets in the Asia Pacific region have been racking this hour. You can see green across the board there Hong Kong up by almost half a percent. Shanghai up touch, Seoul KOSPI a third of 1 percent, Australia up by almost 1 percent and CNN's Anna Stewart has more now on the global financial chaos.
[01:15:04]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): Emergency steps to settle a panicked financial market.
ALAIN BERSET, SWISS PRESIDENT: The swift and stabilizing solution was absolutely necessary. This solution is the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.
STEWART: Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS agreed to buy its ailing rival Credit Suisse on Sunday.
COLM KELLEHER, UBS CHAIRMAN: I am pleased to be here today as we announced this integration, one that reinforces Switzerland as a leading global financial center.
STEWART: The deal came after a combination of global banking fears and concerns about its own balance sheet sent Credit Suisse shares plunging, a miserable end for a bank that was once one of the world's biggest. It was founded in 1856 to finance the expansion of Switzerland's railway. The last few years have been particularly fraught. Its former CEO Tidjane Thiam had to resign in 2020 after two spying incidents, amid claims of surveillance carried out and former executives. Thiam said he had no knowledge of those efforts at the time.
A year later, it lost billions after the collapse of the hedge fund, Archegos. Then in 2022, Credit Suisse recorded its worst loss since the financial crisis in 2008, and was fined $22 million after a Swiss court found it guilty of failing to stop the laundering of Bulgarian drug money. It's left the normally staid world of Swiss banking, reeling.
URS GREDIG, JOURNALIST, SWISS TELEVISION SRF: It's also a kind of a you know, a sentiment of maybe shame as well, that they didn't succeed and, and maybe also anger because this has been discussed about for quite some time. And a lot of people said just you know, keep your house in order and get things done, but that it has to be done in that way, is quite a shock for a lot of people.
STEWART: Whilst one problem may have been solved, investors and customers will be nervously asking what's next. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, humanity on thin ice and that ice is melting fast, more on the dire warning from the U.N. and how to avoid disaster. And later this hour, songs for Ukraine, more than 100 Ukrainian women displaced by war with a moving tribute. In a moment.
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VAUSE: The bottom line for the latest report on climate change the U.N. is this chest that we will not limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is how big of a climate disaster we're facing will be determined by what we do, will do not do now.
Carbon pollution and rising temperatures have reached record levels and yet countries especially the most developed continue to burn fossil fuels.
[01:20:03]
In turn underdeveloped nations are paying the biggest price for a problem they have a very small hand in making. The U.N. Secretary General says we're nearly out of time to fix our mistakes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL: Humanity is on thin ice and that ice is melting fast. Humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years. The rate of temperature rise in the last half century is the highest in 2,000 years. Concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest in at least 2 million years. The climate time bomb is ticking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN Chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has details on the UN report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This report is by far the most stark of the five that came before it in the last 40 years. The scientists from around the world agreeing that humanity is unequivocally heating up the planet, and unsustainable ways, both with energy addictions to fossil fuels, land use problems, deforestation, agricultural practices and human consumption. And it calls for world governments to rapidly speed up any endeavor to try to put things right for this generation and all those to come beyond.
They say at the current high emission rate, we could hit that 1.5 degrees Celsius cliff that the world has been hoping so hard to avoid by the 2030s. But, it lays out a prescription for so many solutions as the Secretary General calls it, a guide for defusing a climate bomb that is to decarbonize as quickly as possible big energy systems to renewables like sun, and wind and geothermal and nuclear energy as well to triple in some cases increase the transition by six times in wealthy nations like the U.S., at the same time helping developing countries avoid deforestation by supporting indigenous communities, also justly helping coal communities transition economically after the shutdowns that must be needed as well.
But if you look at the real politics of what they're calling for a 50 percent reduction by 2030 in oil and gas use around the world and compare that to the fact that there has been no cut in fossil fuel emissions all throughout history. It is a huge ask.
President Xi meeting with Putin and Russia just approved over 80 new coal mine projects in China. President Biden in the United States disappointed his climate voters by approving the willow oil project in Alaska, up there as well. And the market signals are that Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil are some of the richest most profitable companies in the history of the world.
So the social license to burn these fossil fuels is still very much in place. These companies and Petro states are not going gently into a decarbonized future. So at least in the near term, it looks like these desperate warnings from science around the world will be ignored a little while longer. Bill Weir, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Katharine Hayhoe is the Chief Scientist for the global environmental group, The Nature Conservancy, as well as professor in public policy at Texas Tech University. Welcome back. Good to see you.
KATHARINE HAYHOE, CHIEF SCIENTIST, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: OK, so this report, unlike others, it puts in very stark and very blunt terms that sometime within the next 10 years, we're likely to pass a dangerous temperature threshold that will produce climate disasters so extreme, we will not be able to adapt, and the planet will be forever changed. But then here's the UN Secretary General.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTERRES: The 1.5 degree limit is achievable. But it will take a quantum leap in climate action. This report is a clarion call to massively fast track climate efforts by every country and every sector, and on every time frame. In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts, everything everywhere, all at once.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: If that is the only way to avoid some kind of climate Armageddon, we're in serious trouble because we've done nothing like that so far.
HAYHOE: We have not. But what we also know what the science is very clear on is that every action matters, every choice matters and every bit of warming, we prevent matters. So if we try our hardest to achieve the one and a half degree threshold, and we end up at 1.6, that is still a lot better than 1.7. If we try our hardest we end up at 1.7 that's better than 1.8. Anything we do matters. We are already seeing irreversible changes today, but literally our future remains in our hands.
VAUSE: Well, this report also makes the point that climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and planetary health. This is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all. The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.
[01:25:00]
That alone is terrifying. But here's the thing, we now have choices. The report clearly spells out, we know what must be done, we have the ability and the technology to do that, we just have to make a choice to do it.
HAYHOE: We absolutely have choices. Why? Because we caused the problem, all of the observed warming and then some is due to human emissions of heat trapping gases from digging up and burning coal and gas and oil, plus deforestation and industrial agriculture.
According to natural factors, the planet should be very, very gradually cooling right now, but instead, it's warming faster and faster. But what that means is, it is our choice on whether to stop this. It is in our hands, and we have many of the solutions. Now that's what the IPCC report is very clear on, we know what to do, we can implement those solutions. And if we do, we will all benefit.
VAUSE: But what we're seeing is governments around the world making choices like this. Biden administration approves major Alaska oil drilling project, or so China approved equivalent of two new coal plants a week in 2022. This list goes on, but you know, they're the most recent ones.
What seems to go unnoticed by so many is that carbon neutral isn't enough anymore. We need to be carbon negative. And we're not very good at the carbon negative stuff right now.
HAYHOE: We are not. We certainly have nature to help us out. If we invested in nature, in not just planting trees, but protecting and restoring ecosystems, including coastal wetlands and climate smart agriculture, nature could take up to a third of our carbon out of the atmosphere. But that's only a third.
We have to reduce our emissions, transition to clean energy, be much more efficient with the way that we use our food and our energy. And we have to build resilience to the impacts that are already here today that we can no longer avoid. We need an all of the above all hands on deck scenario if we are going to realize that small chance that we still have a better future.
VAUSE: Every bit matters. Katherine, good to speak with you. Thank you.
HAYHOE: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Somalia is suffering from the longest drought in recent memory with a staggering human toll. The World Health Organization believes the drought is responsible for the death of 43,000 people last year. 43,000. Half were children under the age of five. The WHO forecast even worse for the first six months of this year, an estimated 135 people dying every day. Still ahead on CNN and exclusive, Ukrainian couple under attack in the front lines. The moment caught on camera by Ukrainian drone and now this incident under investigation as a possible war crime.
Also ahead, sources say the indictment of Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels case could come any day now and New York City bracing for possible protest.
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[01:30:14]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Japan's Prime Minister is on his way to Ukraine right now for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That word from Japanese broadcaster NHK comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a second day of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
This is Xi's first visit to Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine. China has tried to frame itself as a peacemaker in the ongoing war, but the meeting is drawing skepticism from Ukraine and Western allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: We hope that President Xi will press President Putin to cease bombing Ukrainian cities, hospitals, and schools, to halt the war crimes and atrocities, and to withdraw all his troops. But we are concerned that instead, China will reiterate calls for a ceasefire that leaves Russian forces inside Ukraine's sovereign territory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More than 40 countries have promised financial and technical support for the International Criminal Court and its investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine. Justice Ministers met in London Monday after the ICC issued arrest warrants on Friday for Vladimir Putin and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights. They're accused of illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
Moscow calls the warrants unlawful announced its own criminal inquiries as several ICC judges, as well as the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. He says the investigation into the treatment of Ukrainian children has been apolitical and independent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARIM KHAN, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT CHIEF PROSECUTOR: If we don't, at this moment in world affairs, cling to the law, if we don't look at ourselves and decide how we can do better, not just in Ukraine, but as nations, as member states of the United Nations, we will not only miss an opportunity, but we may not have further opportunities.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Ukrainian authorities say a Russian attack last year on a couple in their car is a clear case of a war crime. It's also the subject of a new documentary by Ukrainian filmmakers. CNN's Ivan Watson has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a battlefield in eastern Ukraine, a desperate call for help as a Ukrainian woman pleads for her wounded husband's. Footage from last June shows the moment when a Ukrainian couple took a wrong turn towards an active front line. Their car came under fire from nearby Russian forces, badly wounding the driver, Valeria Ponomarova's husband.
VALERIA PONOMAROVA, WIFE OF SHOOTING VICTIM (through translation): I saw his head was injured and immediately began to bandage his head.
WATSON (voice-over): The incident captured on video by a drone piloted by Ukrainian soldiers and later compiled into a documentary by the Ukrainian director Lyubomyr Levytsky.
PONOMAROVA (through translation): I turned it fell on my knees and just screamed with the most agonizing cry. I didn't know whose drone it was, our forces or the enemy.
WATSON (voice-over): The pilot taped a sign saying, follow me on his drone and directed Ponomarova to safety. She made the agonizing decision to leave her wounded husband behind. As she followed the drone, Russian soldiers emerged to approach her car.
They took her husband, Andrii, and dumped him in a ditch.
(on-camera): This is the intersection where that terrible shooting took place in June. The Ukrainian military subsequently liberated the area, allowing Ukrainian police to come in and launch an investigation into an alleged Russian war crime.
(voice-over): Ukrainian police investigator Serhii Bolvinov says he has gathered evidence to accuse a 26-year-old Russian army officer of the war crime of attempted murder of a civilian.
SERHII BOLVINOV, KHARKIV POLICE (through translation): He is a company commander of the Second Motorized Rifle Division, First Tank Army, Western Military District. We established his identity.
WATSON (voice-over): For police to work here, sappers first had to clear the area of landmines. Then police conducted forensic and ballistic analysis of the crime scene.
(on-camera): Ukrainian police say the Russian troops were stationed here on this side of this wall, and it's from here that they opened fire on the car.
(voice-over): Inspector Bolvinov shows me what he says are incriminating telephone intercepts of their chief suspect calling his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I fucking killed a man today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): You did?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): What man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I don't fucking know. I don't know who the fuck he is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): Was it a (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Huh? Yes, yes, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): What, did he go where he wasn't supposed to or what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Anyway, the car was coming, and I hit it with a 30 millimeter fucking BMP and there were women there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): Hmm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The woman survived and the fucking man didn't.
[01:35:09]
WATSON (voice-over): Ukrainian police say the weapon was a 30 millimeter cannon aboard this type of infantry fighting vehicle. Police say they've also tracked down photos of the officer and his wife from their social media accounts.
On that dark day, Valeria Ponomarova followed the drone to safety, stepping around deadly landmines until a Ukrainian soldier met her. It was too dangerous for troops to retrieve Andrii Bohomaz.
(on-camera): Is this where they brought the victim, the Russian soldiers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).
WATSON (voice-over): But that's not the end of Andrii's story. Miraculously, he somehow survived after spending the night badly wounded in the ditch.
ANDRII BOHOMAZ, SHOOTING VICTIM: I felt being fallen. I looked around and realized I was lying in some kind of a ditch.
WATSON (voice-over): The next day, he limped to safety. It took 30 or 40 minutes. I stopped a lot because I was in a lot of pain.
Andrii is still in treatment for multiple shrapnel wounds to the head, chest, and spine. The alleged attempted murder of a Ukrainian civilian at these crossroads, just one of hundreds of potential war crime cases being investigated by police in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. But it's perhaps the only incident that has been so incredibly well documented.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Velyka Komyshuvakha, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: New York City is ramping up security ahead of the possible indictment of one term, President Donald Trump. All NYPD officers have been asked to be in uniform and ready to deploy Tuesday, according to a department memo. Barricades have been placed around the office of the Manhattan District attorneys and surveillance cameras have also been installed.
Trump is facing indictment over the alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, which was made by his former fixer, Michael Cohen, just days before the 2016 election. Cohen's former attorney testified Monday on Trump's behalf, telling prosecutors that Cohen decided on his own to pay the $130,000 to Daniels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT COSTELLO, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL COHEN: I've listened to Michael Cohen stand in front of the courthouse and say things that are directly contrary to what he said to us. Now he's on the revenge tour. I understand it, but I don't condone it. And that's why I went in there today to tell these people the truth about who the real Michael Cohen is and what he was actually saying at that moment in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump denies an affair with Daniels. An attorney for the former president predicts mayhem if the former president is charged. More details now from CNN's Kara Scannell in New York.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump's attorney is making what could be a last ditch effort to try to persuade a grand jury to not indict Trump. Trump's attorneys asked the Manhattan District Attorney's office to call lawyer Bob Costello to testify before the grand jury after learning what they said was evidence that could contradict government witness Michael Cohen's prior testimony.
Costello provided prosecutors hundreds of pages of documents and testified for about three hours Monday. He represented Cohen early in the investigation into hush money payments in early 2018. Cohen was on standby for several hours Monday afternoon to potentially be brought in as a rebuttal witness, but he left after two hours without being called.
Meanwhile, security around the criminal court in Manhattan where Trump, if indicted, would be presented if tightening. NYPD officers installed security cameras on light posts and placed barricades in the streets surrounding the courthouse, all ramping up in anticipation that a decision by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of whether to seek an indictment of Trump is coming any day now. Back to you. VAUSE: And then there is the ongoing investigation over election interference in the state of Georgia. A source tells CNN prosecutors are considering racketeering and conspiracy charges based on Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and the Fulton County District Attorney could decide on charges within the next three months.
Attorneys for Trump call the investigation illegal and unconstitutional. They've asked a judge to throw out the evidence and the grand jury report.
Joining me now from Los Angeles, civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator, Areva Martin. Areva, it's good to see you. Let's just start with that effort in Georgia by the Trump team. This is a Hail Mary. Explain what's going on here, because this just seems so out of the ordinary. But grand juries have been, you know, acting this way for 50 years or something, and now suddenly it's unconstitutional? I don't really understand what's going on here.
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, John, this is nothing other than the attempts that we see by Donald Trump in pretty much every lawsuit that he's involved in. And it's just simply a delay tactic. He files more motions than any good against than we've seen in recent history to simply delay even when there's no justifiable legal basis for the filing.
And this is another example of that. Yes, he's challenging basically the entire grand jury process. And we know that this motion has very little, if any, chance of being successful. But that never matters to Donald Trump. He is somehow lucky enough to find these lawyers who will put their bar licenses on the line, who will put their credibility on the line, and who will file these frivolous motions. And this is yet another example of that.
[01:40:09]
VAUSE: And there has to be a review of what can and cannot be done and the limitations on filings. But just sit back for a moment and explain, you know, what are the many Trump scandals here where there could be possible charges coming from. And this is a hush money paid by Michael Cohen, allegedly, to, you know, adult film star Stormy Daniels.
She said she slept with Trump. She was threatening to go public before 2016, the election then. So there's two parts of this. There is the false record keeping charge, plus the possible campaign funding violation. So remind us of the legal details here. What could facing Donald Trump?
MARTIN: Well, we know that the District Attorney in Manhattan is considering filing or handing down an indictment perhaps as early as tomorrow, indicting Donald Trump for campaign violations related to that hush money payment, as you said, of $130,000 that was made through his then lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.
We know that Stormy Daniels was about to go public with her story that she had had, a sexual affair with Donald Trump and this was right before the 2016 election. And to basically catch and kill the quiet Stormy Daniels, this $130,000 payment was paid to her.
Now, today, Robert Costello, who used to represent Michael Cohen, came forward at the request, we believe, of Donald Trump to give his version of events, to say that Michael Cohen is not credible, that Michael Cohen told him that it was his idea to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 and not Donald Trump's.
He has accused Michael Cohen of basically lying to the public, lying to the media, and lying to the grand jury. But I don't think the testimony of Robert Costello is going to in any way deter the district attorney in Manhattan from moving forward with an indictment. We know that Michael Cohen was on standby to give rebuttal testimony. He wasn't called to give that rebuttal.
He might be called again tomorrow. But my hunch is that this district attorney has all of the evidence he needs to move forward.
VAUSE: So just to clarify here, the false business records is a misdemeanor crime, but when it's done in a campaign violation finance issue, then it becomes a felony? Is this how it works?
MARTIN: It becomes a felony. And in this case, even if Donald Trump didn't initiate the payment to Stormy Daniels, as Robert Costello is claiming, we know that he mischaracterized, he falsified records. He characterized $130,000 repayment to Michael Cohen as legal fees rather than stating it as a campaign contribution.
So it doesn't much matter who made the suggestion about paying Stormy Daniels, the $130,000. The reality here is there's a check, there's a tape, and it's clear that there was an agreement that Stormy Daniels would be paid this $130,000 from Michael Cohen. And that Donald Trump would reimburse Michael Cohen for that payment.
VAUSE: So Costello really, really, really went after Cohen's credibility. Here's Cohen's response to what Costello said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: Every single thing that I have said so far has been, first of all, found to be accurate and truthful, but more importantly, corroborated by others, as well as the existence of documentary evidence within which to prove the statements that were made were in fact accurate and truthful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So Cohen, you know, all he had a kind of a credibility issue. Was there much more harm done to that by Costello?
MARTIN: I don't think so. We already know, and Michael Cohen has already admitted, John, that he's lied when he was working for Donald Trump. That was his job, was to cover up, was to fabricate stories, was to create stories to protect Donald Trump. The district attorney is savvy, he's smart. He knows that Michael Cohen has a credibility problems. This is a guy that was convicted, this is a guy that was, you know, committed tax evasion. This is a guy that has committed crime. So no one thought that Michael Cohen was an altar boy. But what we do know, and I think Michael Cohen is so right, there's documentary evidence.
So the district attorney is not just relying on the statements of Michael Cohen. He has the receipts. And that's the problem that Donald Trump has. That's the problem with Robert Costello. He's telling us what we already know, is that Michael Cohen has made false statements.
VAUSE: Areva, it is interesting, there's so much to talk about with this, but we'll have to leave it there. But thank you so much. We really appreciate your time.
MARTIN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Well, a damning report of London's Metropolitan Police paints a bleak picture of Britain's largest police force. The review was commissioned in 2021 after an officer was sentenced to life for rape and murder.
The independent review, led by Baroness Louise Casey, says in the report, "We have found widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny, racism and other unacceptable behaviors which are a far cry from the high ethical standards the public rightly expects of its police officers."
The review condemns the force and recommends it should be overhauled, called broken up.
[01:45:03]
Still ahead on CNN, protests in Kenya as prices rise and confidence in the government falls. Now authorities have responded to this chaos.
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VAUSE: Riot police have used teargas to disperse protesters in Nairobi who are demonstrating soaring prices, the cost of living and the validity of the last election. Protest was led by the opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who called for more demonstrations every week.
CNN's Larry Madowo has our report.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police faced off against protesters in Kenya in orders called a day of action by the opposition to demonstrate against the high cost of living in the country.
MILDRED AKOTH, PROTESTER (through translation): I came because costs are high. School fees, hospitals, everything is expensive. There's no way a common citizen can afford this lifestyle.
MADOWO (voice-over): The anger on the streets largely directed at Kenyan President William Ruto, who narrowly defeated challenger Raila Odinga in last year's election. That loss also fueling Monday's protest. Odinga rallying people to turnout.
His motorcade greeted by cheering supporters across Nairobi. At times, he addressed the crowd through the sunroof of his car, urging people to protest every week until Ruto resigns, or prices come down.
RAILA ODINGA, KENYAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translation): The battle has started and we will not stop until Kenyans get justice. Are you ready?
MADOWO (voice-over): His convoy and the crowd were repeatedly sprayed with tear gas and water cannons.
DALTON MACHOKA, PROTESTER: The price of flower has gone up. Petrol has gone up. The cost of living has gone up. Everything Ruto was telling us when we voted for him, it was totally lies.
MADOWO (voice-over): Odinga has run for president five times, the last time coming close, losing by a margin of about 233,000 votes to Ruto. Odinga says without evidence, the election was stolen and challenged the results. Though his appeals were later rejected by Kenya's Supreme Court.
But Odinga still has many loyal followers, especially in areas like Kibera, Nairobi's biggest Islam, where protesters threw rocks at police and lit tires on fire. The unrest closing some businesses for the day, which were already struggling with high prices.
Even some people who voted for Ruto reportedly joined the protests, saying he hasn't done enough for Kenya's working class since he took office last September. Ruto has promised to bring down costs, but inflation has remained high, rising above 9 percent in February, causing a growing discontent that could be harnessed by his opponents if conditions do not improve.
Larry Madowo, CNN.
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VAUSE: Recent government crackdown on pro-protests in Iran may amount to crimes against humanity, according to a senior U.N. official. The protest began after the death of Mahsa Amini, after she was detained by the morality police.
[01:50:08]
A report by the special rapporteur found 22 year old Kurdish Iranian was killed as a result of beatings by state morality police, disputing Tehran's claim that Amini died from preexisting medical conditions. And he noted a sharp increase in executions in Iran last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAVAID REHMAN, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN: The scale and gravity of the violations committed by Iranian
authorities, especially since the death of Ms. Amini, points to the possible commission of international crimes, notably the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, enforced, disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence and persecution.
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VAUSE: Means death sparked those widespread protests which have resulted in what the U.N. describes as sham trials and death penalties for many protesters.
Next on CNN Newsroom, an emotional performance at one of London's most storage venues.
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OLGA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE: It's huge support for me. It's huge, huge support and feeling that I'm not alone.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More than 100 Ukrainian women play to a packed house. A concert dedicated to their homeland.
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VAUSE: More than 100 Ukrainian women displaced by war are making their voices heard. They took to the stage of one of London's most famous venues. The Royal Opera House performed an emotional concert dedicated to their homeland and the Ukrainians fighting on the front lines.
We get more now from CNN's Isa Soares.
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(SINGING)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why my land, they sing. Each word a haunting loss that fills the room with pain and longing. For this group of around 130 Ukrainians, mostly amateur singers, this performance at the Royal Opera House in London is deeply personal. It has taken over two months of rehearsals and hours of fine tuning to get to this point.
For members like Olga, who was forced to flee from her hometown of Irpin after Russia's invasion, this is an opportunity to be part of a new community in a new country.
OLGA: It's huge support for me. It's huge, huge support and feeling that I'm not alone and that I united with people, with the different people we are together.
SOARES (voice-over): These songs now offering a connection to home and a reminder of the many lives lost. More than 360 Ukrainians apply to be part of this project for what originally supposed to be just 45 spaces.
JILLIAN BARKER, DIR. OF LEARNING & PARTICIPATION, ROYAL OPERA HOUSE: I think it's that sort of sense of coming together as only music making can is bringing out a lot of emotions.
SOARES (voice-over): Those selected to perform were from all age groups, but mostly women. Men more likely to stay behind and fight on the front lines. Natalia's husband is one of them. She tells me he's currently fighting in Bakhmut, one of Ukraine's fiercest battlegrounds.
NATALIA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE (through translation): I am constantly thinking about him and it's both pleasure and pain to sing this song. It's always in my soul. On the other hand, it's as if I've got a lump in my throat when I sing it.
[01:55:12]
SOARES (voice-over): Words of love that leave Natalia shaking and longing to be home.
NATALIA (through translation): The whole of our Ukrainian choir dedicates our singing to our Ukrainian people, our Ukraine which we love so much and of course we also dedicate it to our men who are fighting now.
SOARES (voice-over): Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well may not have been biscuits with the boss, but the cast of Apple TV's "Ted Lasso" met with U.S. President Joe Biden and the First Lady, Jill Biden, on Monday. They discussed mental health with the Bidens. It's a topic which has been part of the President's unity agenda. He's also raised it in the past few State of the Union addresses.
Actor Jason Sudeikis says the issue is something that connects everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON SUDEIKIS, ACTOR, "TED LASSO": No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter who you voted for, we all probably, I assume, we all know someone who has or have been that someone ourselves, actually, that's struggled, that's felt isolated, that's felt anxious, that has felt alone, right? And it's actually one of the many things that, believe it or not, that we all have in common.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Mental health has been part of the storyline for the last two seasons of "Ted Lasso," with the main character attending therapy to help manage his panic attacks. Sudeikis says there's been a positive response from viewers. Well, the United Nations has released its list of the world's happiest countries and smile if you're a socialist. There are some familiar names topping the list that includes Finland, which has won the title of the six-year running. Finland scores highest on measures including life expectancy, social support systems, corruption rates, generosity, overall freedom.
Neighbors Iceland and Denmark also scored well in categories like life expectancy, GDP and community generosity. How about that?
Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm John Vause. Our coverage continues with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.
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