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Jury Finds Donald Trump Sexually Abused E. Jean Carroll, Awards Her $5 Million For Battery And Defamation; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Arrested On Corruption Charges; Islamic Jihad Vows "Response" To Israeli Airstrikes On Gaza; Russia Celebrates Scaled- Down Victory Day; Asylum Seekers Wait to Be Processed as Title 42 Set to Lapse. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired May 10, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Donald J. Trump is a sexual abuser. A New York jury finds E. Jean Carroll was telling the truth and she said he once indicted, twice impeached, one term president sexually abused her almost 30 years ago.
A day after unprecedented nationwide protests over his arrest for Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expected an a special court hearing soon.
And Hamas vows to revenge after Israeli airstrikes killed three commanders from the rival Islamic Jihad group in Gaza.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us. And it took a jury, a federal jury in New York less than three hours to find that Donald Trump is a sexual abuser.
Over the years, dozens of women have made similar accusations but this is the first time Trump has been held accountable. Part of the verdict orders the former president to pay $5 million in damages to former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll who accused him of raping her in a luxury department store 27 years ago.
His lawyers say they plan to appeal the decision while Trump himself has repeatedly called the case a scam and in a video posted to his social media platform, he accused both the judge and jury of not liking him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What else can you expect from a Trump hating Clinton appointed judge who went out of his way to make sure that the result of this trial was as negative as it could possibly be speaking to and in control of a jury from an anti- Trump area which is probably the worst place in the United States for me to get a fair trial. We'll be appealing this decision, it's a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In a statement after the verdict, Carroll says she filed the civil suit to clear her name and get her life back. Adding, the world finally knows the truth.
She also said this, this victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.
The verdict in this civil trial is just one of myriad legal cases swirling around the former president. What remains unclear at this point is what impact if any this case will have on Trump's presidential ambitions.
CNN's Jean Casarez has details down how the trial unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A Manhattan federal jury found former President Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in the 1990s and subsequently defamed her. Carroll alleged Trump sexually assaulted her in the Bergdorf Goodman in the spring of 1996 and later defamed her when he denied her claims.
The jury found his conduct was sexual abuse, sufficient to hold him liable for her civil battery claim even though the jury found she did not prove his assault met the rape threshold.
E. JEAN CARROLL, SUED DONALD TRUMP: The minute he went like this, I proceeded into the dressing room. The minute he closed that door I was banged up against the wall. I hit my head really hard. Boom.
CASAREZ: After deliberating for some 2-1/2 hours, the jury recommending Trump pay Carroll a total of five million, more than $two million in damages on the battery claim and nearly $three million on the defamation claim.
Carroll in her suit sought damages for this October 2022 social media post claiming Carroll's account was, "a complete con job". Her story was completely made up and that this can only happen to Trump.
That's only one of dozens of denials Trump made about Carroll's rape allegations publicly.
TRUMP: I have no idea who this woman is.
CASAREZ: And privately like these he made during his pre-trial deposition.
TRUMP: She's a whack job. She's not my type. I think she's sick, mentally sick.
CASAREZ: That's the only time the jury heard from Trump during the trial other than clips from the Access Hollywood tape that surfaced right before the 2016 presidential election.
Carroll's team used that now infamous video to establish Trump's character playing portions again during closing arguments.
TRUMP: You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. I don't even wait.
And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
KAPLAN: That's what you said, go ahead.
TRUMP: Well, historically, that's true with stars. Not always, but largely true, unfortunately or fortunately.
[00:05:06]
CASAREZ: Trump's lawyer in the case Joe Tacopina pressed Carroll during cross-examination asking why she wasn't yelling out during the encounter.
Crying on the stand, Carroll told Tacopina, I'm telling you he raped me whether I screamed or not. I don't need an excuse for not screaming.
Shortly after the verdict, Trump again denied knowing Carroll, calling the verdict a disgrace.
And through his attorney called his loss a result of politics.
JOE TACOPINA, DONALD TRUMP'S LAWYER: He's affirming his belief as many people are that he cannot get a fair trial in New York City. That's probably an accurate assessment based on what happened today.
Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To New York now, Joey Jackson is CNN Legal Analyst and criminal defense attorney. It's good to see you.
Great to see you, John.
VAUSE: You know, it's pretty much given that every defense lawyer who loses a high profile case comes out of court and says they plan to appeal. And we've heard from Trump's lawyers who says that one basis for an appeal will be because the jury found that Trump is a sexual abuser in this instance and not a rapist as E. Jean Carroll had alleged and that the findings after that point are in question.
I'm not a lawyer, but that kind of sounds like horse talking.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I don't see that as a significant appealable issue and here's why, the essence of the claim are there were two. One is battery, the other is defamation. What does that mean? When you batter someone, battery is the touching of someone without
consent. And so, whether the jury failed to find that there was actually intercourse and rape, right, the jury, however, did find sexual abuse in as much as there was an unlawful touching and unwanted touching that did not involve consent.
So, I don't know that you can split hairs and give the indication that simply because the jury didn't find that extra step, that everything's appealable. A battery is a battery. Whether the unwanted touching is as significant and severe as a rape or otherwise.
VAUSE: Then there's the grabbing on the Access Hollywood tape, which was used as evidence against Trump. Here's a reminder, not that anyone actually needs to be reminded. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever you want.
TRUMP: Grab them by the --.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump lawyer says that shouldn't be admissible. Usually previous charges or convictions are not admissible, but it is allowed in sexual abuse cases, right, as we're proving a patent of behavior.
JACKSON: So, yes, not only in sexual abuse cases, but other cases where you're establishing there are certain rules of evidence. And in those rules of evidence, to be clear, trials need to be about what they are about.
And here, obviously, it was about whether he engaged in this conduct, as to Ms. Carroll, in the 90s in Bergdorf Goodman, etcetera.
However, if you're establishing that a person is acting similarly to a pattern, it is their modus operandi, then you could establish evidence not to demonstrate that they did this act here, but to establish it as their M.O., it is their pattern, and the evidence would then permit that.
Is it an appealable issue? It is, because a judge will have to evaluate was it so overwhelmingly damning and harmful that the jury didn't see the facts, but just based their conclusion of a verdict upon this tape. One can argue, perhaps they did, perhaps they didn't.
Obviously, Ms. Carroll says it was one of many things that the jury based its decision on, and a judge could easily conclude that under the rules it is admissible, nothing to see here, and a non-issue as it relates to an appeal. That'll be the argument.
VAUSE: OK, so the once indicted sexual abuser, twice impeached one term former president, said his grievances about the verdict on social media, saying this, what else can you expect from a Trump-hating Clinton appointed judge who went out of his way to make sure that the result was as negative as it could possibly be?
That sounds kind of familiar. Here's Trump speaking last month after he's indicted in a criminal case with paying hush money to a porn star.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And this is where we are right now. I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: What are the odds you get two Trump-hating judges in a row?
JACKSON: Yes, I mean, look, this is his playbook. This is what he does, and there are people who buy into that, right? Converting it and deferring and deflecting from the facts at issue to its political, everyone's against me. I'm the victim. People hate me, and therefore, it's not about the facts, it's about them not liking Trump.
The reality is that there was more than sufficient evidence in this case for the jury to conclude as they did, not a criminal case, so there was not a conviction, but there was a finding of liability.
VAUSE: You know, in the context of Trump's other legal problems that he's facing, this case may not carry the same kind of level of national significance, but explain why this verdict is important, why it's significant in some way.
JACKSON: So, it's very important. You know, courts of law are for those people who are victims to get vindication, right? To be heard and to otherwise have their day in court as to what their claims are, and this is what we saw.
And although it's not a conviction criminally, it's accountability in a civil context in where you have Ms. Carroll saying he did this to me, it was wrong, hold him accountable. The jury just did that.
[00:10:08]
Now to be clear, there are other things which could land him in jail. This was to be clear monetary damages to the tune of almost 5 million, right, this lawsuit, but when you look at the issues that he's facing in Georgia with respect to election interference, when you look at what he's facing as it relates to federal crime in the insurrection of January 6th, as it relates to classified documents and other things, he could face significant exposure there, but everything is important. Every measure of justice is important, and this was a first shoe to drop.
I didn't even mention New York where he was indicted and was in the court in New York just very recently, but I think accountability comes in different forms. This was an important form today. There may be significant other forms, as I noted, to follow, John.
VAUSE: Joey Jackson, great to have you with us. Thank you, sir. JACKSON: A pleasure. Thank you.
VAUSE: CNN will host a town hall Wednesday with Donald Trump, live from New Hampshire.
The 2024 Republican presidential candidate will take questions from CNN's Kaitlan Collins. That starts 8:00 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast, 8:00 a.m. Thursday at Hong Kong, right here on CNN.
At this hour, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is scheduled to appear at a special court hearing on charges of corruption connected to his time in office.
He was arrested Tuesday, setting off unprecedented nationwide protests, and violent clashes between his supporters and security forces. More details now from CNN's Ivan Watson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An eruption in Pakistan's long-simmering political feud. Paramilitary forces breaking through the window of the high court in the country's capital to detain former Prime Minister and Cricket Star Imran Khan, seen here wearing sunglasses. Officers dragged Khan away, arresting him on charges of corruption, dating back to his time in government.
But the politician clearly anticipated something like this. He taped this statement before appearing in court.
IMRAN KHAN, FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): By the time you receive these words of mine, I will have been detained on incorrect charges. Pakistan Constitution, which gives us rights, which gives us democracy has been buried. Perhaps I won't get the opportunity to speak to you again.
WATSON: Khan went on to tell his supporters, the time has come for all of you to struggle for your rights.
In a matter of hours, protests erupt in cities across the country, some of them turning violent.
A CNN journalist in Quetta saw a demonstrator shot and killed by police as a crowd charged at security forces.
Pakistan's powerful military, a target of this anger. Khan's political party shared this footage of protesters breaking through in apparently unguarded gates at the headquarters of the military in Rawalpindi.
And CNN filmed demonstrators overrunning the residents of the top military commander in Lahore.
Khan has been leading a public campaign against the current government and its military allies ever since a no-confidence vote in parliament last year forced him out of the prime minister's office.
In March, he resisted an attempt by police to arrest him for missing a court appearance, leading to clashes between police and his supporters around his home in Lahore.
Khan claims authorities are trying to stop him from running an elections later this year. While Pakistani officials insist arrest warrants are not politically motivated.
Pakistan's already struggling with soaring inflation that seen skyrocketing prices for food and fuel. A nuclear-armed nation now reeling from economic and political crises.
Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Live now to Paula Hancocks with the very latest on this court hearing. So, what do we know what's happening right now?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, at this point, we understand that there will be a hearing that will take place. We're hearing from our team on the ground that police have just arrived outside the police headquarters where this hearing is expected to take place.
Now, we have understood from police that they won't be taking Imran Khan to a court for this hearing. It appears they'll be keeping him out of the public eye, very well aware of just how delicate this situation is.
Now, we have seen across the country in many major cities, protests on Tuesday, just after the arrest of Imran Khan. We know that at least 43 protesters were arrested in Islamabad and, of course, one killed in Quetta.
What the officials are hoping to do at this point is to try and make sure that this appearance by Imran Khan is not going to spark any additional protests. They have been trying to keep things out of the public eye, at the very least, out of the public eye. They've suspended social media, YouTube. They also have the mobile data network suspended in some cases. Some schools have been closed, some exams have been suspended and postponed.
[00:15:24]
So, really, there is a fair state of semi shutdown in some cities at this point, as we see what is going to happen.
But, of course, there are concerns that there could be more violence, more protests and more scuffles with police.
Imran Khan, the former prime minister, in that pre-recorded statement, did say that he is calling on his protesters to rise up to protest against what he believed was going to happen.
Now, he has denied the charges against him. He says they are politically motivated. The military and political leaders have said that that simply isn't true.
But it is a very delicate situation in what has been a particularly tumultuous political scene in Pakistan recently, John.
VAUSE: Paula, it almost seems that authorities were taken by surprise at the quick response by Imran Khan's supporters. They rallied to the streets across the nation very, very quickly as soon as the word got out of his arrest, this is almost unprecedented, isn't it?
HANCOCKS: Well, John, Imran Khan certainly has garnered a lot more support over recent months since he was ousted in April of last year in that parliamentary no-confidence vote.
He has really managed to cement his base, and he does have a fair amount of support across the country still, not just in a certain area, but in major cities across the country.
And this is really why you saw that very fast response when he called for people to come out onto the street. That is exactly what they did. And we did see a number of scuffles between these supporters and between police officials. There was a video given to us by Imran Khan's party itself that shows some of those supporters breaking through a gate at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi. And certainly, this is what we would expect could happen going forward.
Now, of course, from the official point of view, what they're trying to do is to break the communication between this fairly organized level of protesters. They're putting restrictions, as I say, on social media, on mobile phone networks, on all the ways that protesters would be able to communicate with each other to try and coordinate some kind of mass response.
But of course, there's only a limited amount of time that they will be able to do that. So, I think there is an understanding that this could well have happened. There was certainly an understanding from Imran Khan, pre-recording that message before he was arrested, and of course, the fact it was riot police who came to arrest Imran Khan himself, John.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancock's for the very latest. We know you've reported from Pakistan for quite a few years, sometimes, so thank you for that update.
Still to come, how bad and for how long Israel braces for an escalation in rocket fire from Gaza as the Islamic Jihad strikes back with killing three senior commanders.
And there might just be half-time in the war in Ukraine, with the defense going on offense and the offense soon to be on defense. We'll explain in a moment.
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VAUSE: A response from Islamic Jihad to Israel's deadly airstrikes on Gaza Tuesday was always a foregone conclusion. What is not known right now is when, for how long and how quickly the violence could escalate.
Should Hamas, the military group which runs Gaza, fully commit to a military strike?
Hamas has no friend to Islamic Jihad, but still, vowed revenge for the killing of three commanders of the Al- Quds Brigade, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.
Also killed in those Israeli airstrikes, five women and four children, family members, according to health officials in Gaza.
Hours later came another Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza, which the IDF says targeted Islamic Jihad terrorists as they were moving anti- tank missiles to a launch pad. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says two people were killed and two others wounded in that attack.
And with expectations, violence will surge in the coming days, Israel's Prime Minister had this warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Our principle is clear, whoever harms us, we will strike at them and with great force. Our long arm will reach every terrorist at a time and place of our choosing. We are in the midst of a campaign. We are prepared for all possibilities. I suggest that our enemies not test us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More now from CNN Correspondent Hadas Gold reporting in from southern Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Early morning airstrikes on Gaza, targeting what Israel called kingpin terrorist, senior operators of Islamic Jihad backed by Iran.
The doctors in Gaza said at least 10 other people were killed as well. Among them some of them are family members including at least five women and four children.
And Israel Defense Forces spokesman is saying "We are aware of some collateral, while insisting their pinpoint strikes had targeted only Islamic Jihad terrorists, as they tried to keep Hamas off the battlefield." The IDF saying its operation called shield and arrow is a response to more than 100 rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel a week ago those rockets in turn a response to the death in an Israeli prison of this man, Khader Adnan, a former Islamic Jihad spokesman who died after an 87 day hunger strike.
GOLD: Even before Khader Adnan's death, this has been a potentially record setting violent year in the Palestinian Israeli conflict. More than 100 Palestinians both militants and civilians killed by Israeli forces this year. At least 19 killed off the Israeli side in Palestinian attacks.
GOLD (voice over): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leading Israel's most far right government ever vowing that Israel will strike back at those who harm Israelis. Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas saying "Occupation crimes against their people will not go unpunished".
Israeli military reservists have been called up as residents in southern Israel are told to stay close to their bomb shelters, leaving this region tense at the best of times, potentially on the verge of explosion.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Ashdod, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Yaakov Katz is a senior columnist and editor of The Jerusalem Post. He's also an early riser, which is very much appreciated. Thanks for being with us.
YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST AND EDITOR, THE JERUSALEM POST: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: OK, so the editorial in the Jerusalem Post for Wednesday, here's the headline. Israel's operation shield and arrow is about Gaza rockets, not politics. That's the editorial.
Over at Haaretz though, the editorial has a different take. Gaza assassinations were all about Israeli politics.
Can I play mediator here? Can both be true? Doesn't politics always play some kind of role in deciding military strikes like the one we saw Tuesday?
KATZ: Look, politics are always part of policy, right? Any leader who's in office has to take into consideration the political impact or consequences of whatever decision they're going to make and the pressure that they're under from within their coalition or from among their electorate.
But I think in this case, actually, John, what we had was just a week ago, 104 or 102 rockets that were fired into Israeli cities. Just a couple weeks ago, during Passover, we had rockets that were fired into Israel and three different fronts, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, all at the same time.
Behind all of this, as well as attempts to build up a rocket production capability in the West Bank, directed from Gaza, is the Islamic Jihad. Israel had to defend itself, had to respond.
[00:25:03]
Are there political issues that the Prime Minister of Israel is dealing with at the same time? It's possible. But I think that here we're really looking at an act of self-defense.
VAUSE: OK, well, Hamas has issued a statement vowing revenge for the deaths of the three Islamic Jihad commanders. But there still seems this uncertainty that will actually get fully involved, fully committed in some kind of military strike. They've avoided doing so on a number of occasions.
So, will they or won't they? What's your read?
KATZ: Well, I think that's the big question, right? What we have right now is a very tense quiet, which is unlike what we've seen in the past.
Usually, after a targeted killing or three of them, as we saw just about 24 hours ago, a little more, we would have had a response already from Islamic Jihad and maybe from Hamas.
But Hamas has been sitting on the sidelines. They've sat on the sidelines in the past when Israel specifically targeted just Islamic Jihad and sent a message to Hamas, we're not looking for you to get involved. That's why none of your people were targeted in the strike. So, it'll be interesting to see what Hamas does.
But the fact that there has been no response yet, not a single rocket, is very interesting and telling. And it raises questions, what is Islamic Jihad waiting for?
It could be that maybe they're taking a page out of Israel's playbook, right? Israel got hit by those hundred rockets last week. It didn't retaliate right away.
Prime Minister Netanyahu did come under some pressure from the public and the media and within his own coalition that his response was weak. But what we saw was it was actually building up to what happened 24 hours ago with the targeting of these three Islamic Jihad guys.
So, is Islamic Jihad also trying to put Israel to sleep for a few days and then to target when it has the advantage? It's not exactly clear, but it's interesting that we're still 24 hours later with no response.
VAUSE: Well, let's hope it stays that way, but it probably won't.
The head of Israel's domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, said one of the dead Islamic Jihad commanders was overseeing a rocket operation in the West Bank. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONEN BAR, HEAD OF SHIN BET SECURITY AGENCY (through translator): In the last few weeks, we thwarted a cell in the refugee camp of Jenin that began to manufacture rockets and rocket launchers from Samaria into Israel. We see this as a dangerous precedent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Looking on the map, Israel's narrowest point, the hourglass, it's less than 10 miles from Netanya in Israel to (INAUDIBLE) in the West Bank. The rocket operation was said to be in a refugee camp in Jenin, just north of there. You know, rockets and drone or attack drones being made or shipped to
the West Bank has always been this major security concern. Is it eventually though a question of when it happens or if?
KATZ: I think so. You know, ultimately, look, just like they were able to create this production assembly line in the Gaza Strip, even despite Israeli efforts to stop it and how impressive a capability they have today. If the rocket's there, they could already reach Tel Aviv.
So, do they really need a rocket capability in the West Bank on those mountains of the Samaria that look down into Israel's coast, which includes Tel Aviv, Herzliya and other parts of the country? I'm not exactly sure if they need it.
But on the other hand, that would be a huge escalation. The reason they don't have it yet though is because Israel does have operational freedom in the West Bank. And we see periodical operations weekly pretty much inside some of these terror havens inside the West Bank, places like Jenin, Nablus and other parts of the Palestinian territories.
Israel has been able to stop that from happening, but it's possible, John, like you said, it's a matter of time when they get that, but that would be seen as another escalation.
Remember, Israel has a rocket threat from Gaza. We've had rockets from Lebanon. We've had rockets from Syria. The last thing this country wants is another rocket front on its eastern border.
VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. Maybe time for negotiations perhaps. Maybe it'll come later.
Yaakov Katz, it's always good to have you with us soon.
KATZ: Wishful thinking.
VAUSE: I know. Trying to be an optimist. Thanks, Yaakov. Appreciate you being with us.
KATZ: Thank you.
VAUSE: And when we come back, scaled back victory day celebrations in Russia. More notable for what was not in the military parade this year, and we'll explain why in a moment.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Another billion-dollar aid package from the U.S. for Ukraine. The White House says this package includes air-defense systems, as well as much-needed ammunition. A lot of other stuff, as well, there.
[00:31:29]
The U.S. secretary of state says Ukraine now has everything it needs, militarily, for their counteroffensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: My own estimation is that they have in place, across all of those dimensions, what they need to continue to be successful in regaining territory that was seized by force by Russia the last 14 months.
In Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen marked Europe Day with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He urged her to speed up deliveries of ammunition, saying the country needs that now.
Von der Leyen praised Ukraine for successfully fighting back against Russia, saying Moscow has dramatically failed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Courageously, Ukraine is fighting for the ideals of Europe that we celebrate today. In Russia, Putin and his regime have destroyed these values. And now, they are attempting to destroy them here in Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Meantime, in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin tried to convey a sense of Russian unity, strength and purpose on Victory Day, the annual celebration marking the Soviet defeat of Nazi invaders during World War II.
But the usual display of military might was lacking some muscle compared to previous years. So much of it was dedicated to Putin's costly war of choice.
Perhaps most telling is what was not on parade, as CNN's Matthew Chance reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a scaled-down Victory parade, but still a display of Russian might.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE (voice-over): No military fly-past this year, but some of Russia's deadliest weapons, including nuclear missiles, were on show.
This was the only tank, from the Second World War, perhaps hinting at shortages. Certainly, Russia's modern fleet has taken a pounding on the battlefields of Ukraine.
Flanked by veterans of what Russia calls its great, patriotic war, against the Nazis --
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) CHANCE (voice-over): -- President Putin again drew comparisons between then and now.
PUTIN (through translator): Today, our civilization is at a crucial turning point. A real war is being waged against our country again, but we have countered international terrorism and will defend the people of Donbas and safeguard our security.
CHANCE (voice-over): But even the security of this event had to be stepped up, with rooftop snipers, amid fears of another drone attack.
This one last week was blamed on Ukraine, which is denied, but it exposed how vulnerable Putin's Kremlin has become.
There were setbacks on the battlefield, too. This, the latest street- to-street fighting in the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut --
(GUNFIRE)
CHANCE (voice-over): -- where Russian Wagner mercenaries complain ammunition shortages have stopped them from taking more ground, ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, provoking another sharp rebuke from their outspoken leader.
"Everyone in Russia thinks we need to just celebrate Victory Day on TV," says Yevgeny Prigozhin. "But that was the victory of our grandfathers," he says. "We don't deserve it, not even a bit."
[00:35:12]
That's not the message, that Russia may be struggling in this war, that the Kremlin wants Russians to hear. Even though this scaled-down Victory Parade hints at the strains that Moscow is under.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead on CNN, the imminent end of Title 42. By Thursday, the controversial pandemic-era rule will no longer be in effect. With tens of thousands of migrants waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border, no more (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: (AUDIO GAP) -- aid workers found more bodies among the devastation. And some of the wounded died from their injuries.
The floods ripped through two villages in the country. A local official says more than 5,500 people remain missing. It's the DRC's deadliest natural disaster in recent history.
In El Paso Texas, migrants are being urged to turn themselves into immigration authorities, ahead of the looming expiration of Title 42, the COVID-era policy which empowered border agents to quickly expel undocumented migrants. Authorities encountered nearly 10,000 migrants along the Southern
border Monday, continuing an upward trend in border arrests ahead of the policy's expiration this coming Thursday.
The federal government estimates more than 150,000 migrants are waiting in shelters, or on the streets of Northern Mexico.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Mexico's president by phone Tuesday, trying to manage this crisis together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got an overwhelming cooperation from Mexico. We also are in the process of setting up offices in Colombia and other places where you can -- where someone seeking asylum can go first. So it remains to be seen. It's going to be chaotic for a while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: When Title 42 expires, on Thursday, U.S. officials will return to decades-old procedures. CNN's David Culver is on the Mexico side of the border, where there's a growing sense of desperation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Echoing across the sandy landscape, on the U.S. Southern border --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agua!
CULVER (voice-over): -- young voices --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agua!
CULVER (voice-over): -- shouting for water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agua!
CULVER (voice-over): Already on Texas soil, technically, having already illegally crossed the Rio Grande, hundreds of migrants camp out between the barbed wire and the border wall, waiting to be processed for asylum.
Title 42, still in effect. For this group, that means that means they could be immediately expelled by U.S. border officials, the pandemic- era policy offering no guarantees for their asylum claims to be heard.
If it expires Thursday, Title 8 takes over, requiring asylum officers to process each claim, potentially overwhelming border officials, already strained.
[00:40:12]
Worsening this humanitarian crisis, the heat, some 90 degrees at midday. You see people bundled up in winter coats and blankets, useful for the night chill and to shield themselves from the scorching sun.
We watch some Mexican locals arrive to help the group of migrants, mostly from other parts of Latin America. They carry boxes of pizza, bags of snacks, water and soda.
But it's not a handout. They sell them to desperate customers, who then crawl back under the barbed wire with their purchase, as others wait for their fill.
But this, only a small portion of the tens of thousands in Ciudad Juarez determined to cross.
Near to the city center, scenes similar to what's already happening, and perhaps more of what's to come, in U.S. border towns. This mother and her 4-year-old daughter have been here for three months, not quite sure when she'll cross.
CULVER: She says they're going to cross, but she doesn't want to do it illegally. She wants to do it the right way.
CULVER (voice-over): This as more migrants, by the hundreds, if not thousands, arrive hourly into this Mexican border city, long, dangerous journeys behind them. And, by no means is this their last stop.
They crowd around a hose of running water to wash up and drink. This man skipping the line, going to the source, bathing under the leak.
Back at the wall, rumblings of hope. A truck from the U.S. side approaches, water shooting from the sides, helping to cool the hot sand but also sparking false hope. Some in the crowd rush to fill their empty bottles as others warn, it's not for drinking. That doesn't quench desperation.
CULVER: And for hundreds of migrants who have not yet made it to the border wall, to avoid dire situations like you just saw there, many of them stayed in encampments like this one. You can see hundreds in this base alone.
A lot of the folks we talked to here have been trying from this location to try each and every day to log onto the CBP One app so as to register in hopes of giving an appointment with an asylum officer.
However, of all the folks that we've talked to and have asked, no one yet has been successful in getting an appointment.
David Culver, CNN, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hours with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break. See you back here in just over 17 minutes.
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