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CNN International: One Tank And No Fly-Over At Toned-Down Military Parade; Ukraine Says It Intercepted 23 Out 25 Russian Cruise Missiles; Wagner Chief Rails Against Russian Military On Victory Day; Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan Arrested By Paramilitary Police; 13 Killed As Israel Islamic Jihad In Gaza; China Launches Probe Into Global Consulting Firm Capvision; Were Police Too Heavy-Handed With Protesters?; Frontline Towns Battered As Counteroffensive Looms. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired May 09, 2023 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:01]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with a dramatic arrest that could fuel fresh turmoil in Pakistan. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested by Paramilitary Police. Here you can see the chaotic scene. Scores of security personnel in riot gear breaking into a window to get to Khan as he was submitting data in Islamabad's High Court.
His party says the politician was whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location. Khan is accused of corruption. We'll come back to this when we can get hold of our correspondent.
But meanwhile, Russia usually flexes its military might on Victory Day. But this year, it has been a more subdued affair. The annual military parade marked the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. This year, however, there was only one tank and no traditional flyover by Russian jets. While the day was dedicated to past victory, it was the current war with Ukraine that was on President Vladimir Putin's mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The Ukrainian nation has become hostage to a coup which led to a criminal regime led by its Western masters. It has become a pawn to their cruel and selfish plans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Clare joins me now. A lot of people on social media picking up on that one singular tank. Obviously --
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
FOSTER: -- the military has been depleted, but it's also deployed. So is it fair to point that out?
SEBASTIAN: You know, I think if you're a Russian watching this on state TV, and they have been enrolling coverage of this all day, in fact, they've repeated the entire event now at least once, I don't know that an untrained eye would notice much difference to previous years, but I think we can show you a comparison to pre-war 2021.
You can see that on the left in 2021, there were much more modern tanks, lots of them, on display. Clearly a big difference. This year, only one, and it was a T-34 tank, which is a World War II era tank. So really a museum piece in itself.
Look, yes, they've deployed a lot of tanks, but we also know that a lot of tanks have been destroyed in Ukraine. One recent estimate, a conservative estimate, was that about half, at least half of their operational tank fleet has been destroyed in Ukraine. So they are experiencing something which, you know, really is not reflected in this display of military might.
Look, they did also have an S-400 air defense system on display. They had an intercontinental ballistic missile. Russia at pains to make sure the world still knows that it's a nuclear power. But this event today, I think, really showed that, you know, almost 15 months into this war, Russia can no longer insulate even Victory Day, even the most important day in its calendar from this war.
It is hitting home. People are feeling anxiety. They are feeling a sense of insecurity after that drone attack on the Kremlin. We've seen recent, you know, fires at fuel depots in western Russia, trained derailments, things like this. There is a sense that this war is reaching the Russian shores, that people are worried.
And I think this was an opportunity for President Putin, who came out and railed against the west, all the normal talking points. But to exploit this moment to further try to rally Russian support, even if this war isn't showing much progress in Russia's favor.
FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you very much indeed.
To Ukraine now, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Kyiv meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Her visit falls on the E.U.'s Europe Day. And earlier, both paid tribute to Europe's values.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Ukraine is on the front line of the defense of everything we, European, cherish. Our liberty, our democracy, our freedom of thought and speech. Courageously, Ukraine is fighting for the ideals of Europe that we celebrate today. In Russia, Putin and his regime have destroyed these values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: In the hours before von der Leyen's arrival, Russia sent another barrage of cruise missiles across Ukraine, though Ukraine's Air Force say they intercepted all except two of them. CNN's Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine. What's the situation today, Nick?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, I mean, interesting today on the day of Putin's bid to garner some sort of sense of national pride and history on Red Square, that at the same time, one of Russia's most prominent military figures is again deeply critical of the behavior of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
You remember Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, well, he's, for the last week, been up and down about has he got enough artillery shells? Is he going to stay with his forces in the strategic -- sorry, the symbolic city of Bakhmut that Russia's been fighting for all winter? Well, it appeared yesterday that he decided to stay, and indeed, he'd got enough artillery shells.
[08:05:00]
Today, he's saying, in fact, no, we haven't had the amount that we were required. And indeed, even accusing regular units of the Russian Ministry of Defense's soldiers from abandoning an area on the front line 2 kilometers deep and 500 meters wide, essentially putting extra work on the Wagner mercenary group's plate.
Now, it's extraordinary to see this spat continuing over -- well over a week now, and it had seemed briefly resolved. He'd indeed, he'd said he was going to leave Bakhmut tomorrow, but changed his mind. Now there appears to be yet another issue, and he appears to be pointing squarely at the Chief of Staff, Gerasimov, saying essentially that he appears to have intervened and reduced the supply of artillery shells going to the front line.
Whatever the truth of all of this, and you know, some people might say that Prigozhin is essentially having a very public conversation with himself about this issue because he's not received any formal public response from the Ministry of Defense at all to this. And indeed, Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense, was publicly seen on Red Square parading up and down as part of that parade.
Whatever the truth of what's really happening here, it is an awful look for Russia at this stage, trying to project strength despite the very paltry showing of equipment and hardware on indeed central Moscow today. At the same time, there are signs of Ukraine's counter offensive potentially beginning, potentially picking up pace.
They're very secretive about where it's happening, what success it may or not behaving, indeed, even if it started. But Russia's bid to try and answer those military changes on the ground are these consistent barrages of missiles and drones, and they've been relentless over the past week.
The startling thing, Max, has been the response of Ukraine's air defense systems. Now, there have been casualties, five injured from drone debris yesterday around Kyiv, but 15 missiles overnight towards the capital intercepted, say Ukrainian officials. So there may be some that get through that hit military targets that we don't know about, Ukrainian secret about that as well. But there is a startling picture emerging here, a pattern really, where Russia, it seemed, is trying to lash out despite its apparent failures on the battlefield to achieve what it wanted. Remember, they wanted to take Bakhmut entirely by today. That's another goal they set themselves. They're lashing out and finding increasingly sophisticated Ukrainian air defense is stopping their ability to have any impact.
And so, remarkable that on this day, where Putin was trying to project such strength and history import of Russia's military might, that we're again left reminded of their impotence. Max?
FOSTER: OK, Nick in Zaporizhzhia, thank you for that.
Let's take you back to Pakistan where former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested. Sophia Saifi joins us from the capital, Islamabad. And it's the images really that have captivated people the way they burst into this courthouse and pulled them out.
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Max. I mean, these are very dramatic images that have come out of Islamabad this afternoon. I mean, they've seen many, many paramilitary troops. They're Rangers, that's what they're called here in Pakistan. They're not the police who have apprehended Imran Khan.
As you see from the footage, they came out in droves and then grabbed Imran Khan, put him in a car and have driven him off to the National Accountability Bureau, which is an anticorruption watchdog here in Pakistan. There have been charges of corruption against Khan. He's been making multiple court appearances. He'd driven from Lahore to Islamabad this morning to make that court appearance.
He's just released his party, has just released a prerecorded statement from Imran Khan in which he said that the reason people are watching this video is because he's been detained. In the video, he said that the reason that he's been detained is because the current authorities, the powers that be, the government, does not want him to continue his political path. They do not want him to fight for the fundamental rights of Pakistanis.
They want Imran Khan, according to Khan, to kind of understand and approve of the current government that is in power. We have -- I mean, Imran Khan was ousted in a vote of no confidence in April of last year. And there's been a consistent state of political uncertainty here in Pakistan.
Imran Khan had an assassination attempt against him last November. He'd come out and accuse the Interior Minister, the Prime Minister, as well as a senior intelligence officer, for being behind the attack. He hasn't given much evidence for it.
Just last night, Pakistan's military had released a very ominous statement saying that Imran Khan's statements were irresponsible and that he should refrain from making such statements. Khan had responded, again, quite vehemently to the ISPR statement, which is the Pakistani military's PR, the Pakistani's military's official spokesperson who'd come out and made those statements. Now the people that have arrested Khan, who have apprehended Khan, are not the police. The police had tried to arrest Khan previously in March. There were clashes then. Protests have broken out across the country and now we're just waiting to see what the response will be across the country as the afternoon goes into the night to the arrest of this very popular politician here in Pakistan. Max?
[08:10:03]
FOSTER: OK. Sophia in Islamabad, thank you.
Russia says it'll consider the U.S. request for access to detained journalist Evan Gershkovich. So that's according to state media, which quotes the deputy foreign minister as saying all requests for consular visits are being considered.
Last month, Russia rejected a U.S. request to visit the Wall Street Journal reporter after the U.S. failed to provide visas to Russian journalists visiting the United Nations. Gershkovich was arrested in March on espionage charges.
Israel launched a series of deadly airstrikes in Gaza overnight, targeting what it calls kingpin terrorists. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza says 13 people were killed, including at least four women, several children. Islamic Jihad confirms the attacks three of its commanders targeted. Israel says these strikes were a response to the group's incessant aggression.
Hadas Gold is in southern Israel and joins us now. What more can you tell us, Hadas?
HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, here in southern Israel, there is a quiet tension in a sense because there is an expectation that there will be a response from Gaza, from the south of where I'm standing right now, whether that will be in the form of rockets. And the bigger question will be who will be involved in that response.
These airstrikes came sort of as a surprise from Israel last night at around 02:00 a.m. in the middle of the night. Israeli military announcing that it was striking Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, killing three of their commanders, including the commander in chief of the Al- Quds Brigade of the Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.
They also said that they targeted 10 other sites. These are things like weapons manufacturing sites, rocket launchers and the like. But we are also hearing from the Ministry of Health in Gaza that among those killed were some of the family members of these commanders and potentially another family that were potentially uninvolved.
These included women and at least four children are among those dead. 13 total dead, and at least 20 others were wounded. The Israeli military saying that they tried to avoid collateral damage, as they said, but they are looking into those reports of civilians being killed as well. Israeli military saying that they were responding to more than 100 rockets that were fired last week by Islamic Jihad towards Israel. That was in response to the death of a prominent Islamic Jihad member who died after a prolonged hunger strike while in an Israeli prison. And the initial Israeli military response to those rockets, there was one, but it wasn't that big.
It actually elicited some criticism from the right wing flank of this current Israeli government, who said they were even boycotting votes in the parliament because they said the security response was weak. That, of course, changed overnight.
Now the big question will be, what will the response from Gaza be? It has been quiet so far. The funerals have been held for those that were killed. And the militant factions in Gaza, including Hamas, who runs the Gaza Strip, saying that there will be a joint response, saying that they will be holding Israel responsible.
This will not go unanswered, but so far it's been quiet. There's been nothing yet from Gaza, but the expectation is that something will come and that Hamas may choose to get involved this time. If you keep in mind that in August there was that short sort of two to three daylong conflict between Islamic Jihad and the Israeli military.
In those days, Hamas stood on the sidelines, and it was relatively a short-lived conflict. That may change this time. The Israeli military may be calculating that Hamas will try to stay out of it again. But Hamas is saying that there will be a joint response from Gaza.
The Israeli military has called up reservists already and has notified residents here in the south, specifically around Gaza, to stay near their bomb shelters until at least tomorrow. Max?
FOSTER: OK. Hadas, thank you for joining us with that.
China's Foreign Ministry announcing they've expelled a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai comes just a day after Canadian officials did the same to a Chinese diplomat after claims that he harassed a Canadian lawmaker, who had criticized China's treatment of the Uyghur minority. Now both diplomats have just days to leave their respective countries.
In China, authorities -- multiple offices of global consulting firm Capvision. Chinese state media accused the company of ignoring national security concerns and leaking sensitive intelligence abroad. The consultancy firm, which is headquartered in Shanghai and New York, adds to a growing list of global consulting companies that have been ensnared in Beijing's widening crackdown on what it perceives as national security risks.
London's Metropolitan Police facing scrutiny over its handling of antimonarchy protests during King Charles's coronation. Dozens of people were arrested. After the break, will ask if the police were too heavy handed.
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[08:16:55]
FOSTER: Were police too heavy handed with protesters? London's Metropolitan Police has faced criticism for its handling of anti- monarchy protests during the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday in London. A total of 64 people were arrested for various offenses, according to the Met police, and six of them were detained under a controversial new law called the Public Order Act, which makes it illegal for demonstrators to use equipment to lock themselves to an object or a building.
The Met later expressed regret for those six arrests, admitting that the investigation was unable to prove that the group intended to lock on and disrupt the protests. But some accused the force of trying to prevent the protest altogether. The Met police released a statement saying that those targeted were those it believed had an intention of disrupting the event.
Now, the man sitting on the left of this video is the chief executive of Britain's largest anti-monarchy group, Republic. He was amongst those arrested. Graham Smith told the BBC he'd received a personal apology from police officers. He joins me now from Reading in England.
Thanks so much for joining us, Graham. Just take us through what happened, because you were basically picking up placards, weren't you, at the time?
GRAHAM SMITH, CEO OF ANTI-MONARCHY GROUP REPUBLIC: Yes. When you'll see on the footage of the van that we had hired, it was full of placards. We turned up fairly early in the morning. We had a couple of trolleys and our intention was to very quickly unload, get them down onto Trafalgar Square where the protest was, and get the van back up to North London where it could be parked and left out of everyone's way.
So we were trying to be helpful and efficient so we didn't start to obstruct other people. My apologies, I think I just lost you there.
FOSTER: Carry on.
SMITH: Sorry about that. So, yes, as soon as we started trying to unload the van, we were surrounded by police officers. And when I say surrounded around, I mean, they were everywhere. I would guess 30 to 40 of them.
They immediately instructed us to cease and desist unloading. They then detained us, searched us, searched the van and then arrested us and kept us in custody for 16 hours and haven't since said, you know, they had no grounds or they certainly said they had no grounds for going any further. In my view, they had absolutely no grounds for any of it, and that these were wholly unjustified.
FOSTER: And also, you had been working with them, hadn't you, for months. I'm aware of that. That you basically have, you know, you basically warn them, you were there to protest as well, and the officers you dealt with didn't seem to have any awareness of that. Whilst you've been speaking, we've actually had a statement from the Met police, from the commission of the Met police, and he's saying that they had a low tolerance for protests, but he wants to challenge anyone claiming there was a protest ban around the coronation.
He says it's not accurate. There were hundreds of undisturbed protesters along the route, including a large group in Trafalgar Square, although small in comparison to tens of thousands seeking to enjoy the event.
[08:20:01]
SMITH: Right. But, I mean, the point is, I mean, they are being incredibly disingenuous and dishonest. They certainly banned me from protesting and my colleagues and dozens of other people, you know, it's very difficult to protest from inside a police cell.
You know, and they certainly disrupted and diminished our protest. We did have some of our people still there, but it was a rather disorganized and muted affair simply because of the action that they took. And we, you know, we had those meetings, and it wasn't simply that we said, look, we're going to be protesting. We had two sit down meetings with a senior police officer.
We had numerous phone call conversations with other officers, and we went into great detail, including what equipment we would have for amplification, how many placards, how many people were likely to be there, where we would be. We gave them a map of where we would be and they repeatedly said until Friday that they had absolutely no concerns about any of that at all.
And not only did their restless almost immediately on arrival, those that were on the square with amplification equipment were threatened with the rest if they used it. They confiscated the amplifiers that we had there for people making speeches and confiscated other items of equipment as well, including one of those large flags you may have seen in the footage.
So, you know, this was a deliberate, concerted effort to diminish and disrupt the protest. And I would have very strong words for the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police if he thinks that my right to protest was in any way was not interrupted because I spent 16 hours in a police cell without any cause for suspicion or concern whatsoever.
FOSTER: OK. Graham, thank you so much for joining us.
Just adding that Mark Rowley also says --
SMITH: Thank you.
FOSTER: -- "While it is unfortunate that the six people affected by this were unable to join the hundreds of peaceful protesters, I support the officer's actions in this unique, fast-moving operational context." So seems as though the Commissioner is still supporting what happened to you.
Now, as Ukraine's counteroffensive looms, CNN travels through a village on the war's front line.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: For many Ukrainian civilians, the front line fighting seems to be edging ever closer. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh visits one village where the last few residents are facing a gut-wrenching choice whether to stay or to go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice-over): Occupied Ukraine is aflame and evacuating its civilians. Russia's wholesale departure can't come soon enough for front line town Narajiv (ph), ravaged by Moscow, where four missiles hit on Thursday alone. Rescuers left guessing what the constant bangs mean and have done.
(on camera): We see people just down the road here carrying on life as per normal despite dust in the sky around us.
(through translator): Is that Ukrainian?
DMYTRO HAIDAR, FIREFIGHTER (through translator): No, that might not be.
WALSH (on camera): That may not be, in fact, outgoing from Ukrainians?
HAIDAR (through translator): Thirteen thousand meters away is the last Ukrainian position.
WALSH (on-camera: He's saying it doesn't, in particular, time of day when these sort of things start. Could be anytime at all, frankly.
(voice over): As dusk falls, the sky is lit in a jewel (ph). All they can do here to stay alive is read the horizon.
[08:25:04]
Some of it perhaps further south into occupied areas than a week earlier. But so much of it also very close.
Dawn is often jarring. We hear a jet overhead. The slowly building, grating sound of damage moving towards you. A missile, a half million dollars KH-31, Ukrainian officials later say, lands just 700 yard away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be careful of double taps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, got it. I was on the floor, buddy.
WALSH (voice-over): Another blast follows. Either jet entrails or anti-aircraft fire settle to shape a Z in the air, the symbol of Russia's invasion. It is soon gone. The damage it leaves, though, isn't. This is where it hit, or missed.
(on camera): Down here you can get a feeling of just how massively brutal Russian fire power can be. And also how indiscriminate. I can still smell the explosive down here and you're kind of left wondering where the obvious military target is.
(voice over): At the end of this road is Polohy, one of the towns Russia has said it is evacuating. We are just 1 mile from Russian frontline positions here, a world torn apart as Moscow tries to hold Ukraine back.
(on camera): Well, no more than 10 miles in that direction are the first towns that Russian occupying forces say they're going to be evacuating because of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. But look here, the last town really held by Ukraine, absolutely battered. And so few people left here, there's little need to evacuate.
(voice over): Where there were once 3,000, there are 200 people trying to stay, says Raysa.
RAYSA, MALA TOKMACHKA RESIDENT (through translator): We can't leave. We don't have a way out. We survive just on aid they bring to us.
WALSH (voice-over): Caught in these wide open spaces where a distant bang can suddenly alter life in an instant.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mala Tokmachka, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London.
World Sport with Andy Scholes is up next.
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