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U.S. Government Shutdown Looms; Lavrov Attacks West in Fiery Speech; U.S Grapples With Surge at Southern Border. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 24, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: From rescuing man's best friend to serving humanity itself. There are countless people out there quietly making a difference.

I hope the stories we shared with you tonight inspire you to become a champion for change as well.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Thanks for watching.

LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers joining us from the United States and around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, teetering on the brink. With just a week to go, U.S. lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown.

Moscow ramps up its rhetoric, Russia's foreign minister calling the West an empire of lies, as he unleashed a barrage of attacks on the U.S. and its allies.

A Texas border city hits a breaking point with more than 2,000 people a day seeking asylum amid a surge in migrants at the southern U.S. border.

We begin this hour focused on the looming deadline to fund the U.S. government and House Republicans floundering efforts to work out a deal. On Saturday, GOP leaders tried to find agreement among their fractuous caucus in a conference call. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy admitted later that a number of hardliners were unmoved.

With the September 30th deadline less than a week away, President Joe Biden expressed his frustration Saturday evening.

At a Congressional Black Caucus awards dinner, he slammed House Republicans for hurting Americans and failing to handle what he called one of lawmakers' most basic obligations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Let's be clear, if the government shuts down, that means members of Congress, members of the U.S. military are going to have to continue to work and not get paid. The government shutdown could impact everything, from food safety to cancer research, to head start programs for children. Funding the government is one of those basic responsibilities of Congress. And it's time for the Republicans to start doing the job America elected them to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Well, right now, McCarthy is planning votes next week on several individual spending measures but it's not clear if they can pass. They all are dead on arrival in the Senate and they don't avert a shutdown. Still, McCarthy said he hopes hardliner opposition will soften as zero hour approaches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think when it gets crunch time, people will finally that have been holding off all this time, blaming everybody else, will finally hopefully move off because shutting down and having border agents not be paid, your Coast Guard could not get paid. I don't how that's a victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: CNN White House Reporter Priscilla Alvarez has more now on what the federal government is doing to prepare for potential disruption.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The Biden administration is preparing for a potential government shutdown next week if a short- term funding bill is not passed in the coming days.

Now, on Friday, the Office of Management and Budget formally initiated the process, essentially telling federal agencies to dust off their plans in the event of a government shutdown. That includes, for example, how many employees would be furloughed, how many would be considered essential and would have to work without pay, as well as what activities and services may be disrupted.

Now, there are some services that will continue to, be it federal law enforcement activities, border protection or air traffic control, but the White House making clear over the course of the last week that it is incumbent on Republicans to get these bills passed.

Now, we heard from Republicans on Saturday who tried to lay out a path forward and also project some confidence, saying that the majority of their conference does not want to see a government shutdown happen. But the reality is that they just don't have enough votes. And for those bills that they do have enough votes, those are dead on arrival in the Senate.

So, all of this raising the question that there's about whether there will be a government shutdown a week from now.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.

HARRAK: Embattled U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is now facing calls to resign from inside the Senate itself. Fellow Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania became the first senator of either party to say Menendez should step down following his indictment on corruption charges. Other Democratic lawmakers and officials have also called for his resignation.

The Justice Department named Menendez, his wife and three other people in Friday's indictment, all deny any wrongdoing.

[03:05:00]

The senator faced similar charges in 2015, but that case was dropped after a mistrial.

Well, Friday's indictment alleges Menendez accepted bribes in exchange for his influence as chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee.

Well, those bribes allegedly included mortgage payments, a luxury car, gold bars and nearly half a million dollars in cash.

Americans' views of the country's current political climate are going from bad to worse. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that just 16 percent of U.S. adults say they trust the federal government most of the time. Overall, public trust in government has plummeted to some of the lowest levels in decades.

Meanwhile, just 10 percent of Americans say they often feel hopeful thinking about politics, while nearly two-thirds report they usually feel exhausted.

Joining me now to talk about all of this, Thomas Gift is the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London. So good to have you with us.

Let's start with the potential government shutdown. We've seen this before. Is it becoming normalized? Why does the nation find itself time and again in this situation around this time of the year? And what does it say about the state of politics in this country?

THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much for having me, Laila. It's great to be with you. You know, it does seem like this has become the norm, unfortunately. And in this case, as in past cases, the House speaker here, Kevin McCarthy, really has nowhere to turn because he's being dragged across the political embers by a small number of hard-line fiscal hawks in the Freedom Caucus.

And what we're seeing from them, I think, is largely performative politics. And it's underpinned by this feeling that we're very accustomed to, that politics as normal isn't working for us. So, let's blow up the system. Let's light it on fire. It's a style of politics that I think is more concerned with maintaining ideological purity and ensuring that the other side loses than it is concerned with what's doing right for the American people, unfortunately.

And it's really hard to negotiate with the cadre of politicians like that because they're essentially willing to take the country to the brink. I mean, there's no doubt that America has a spending problem, its deficits are enormous and they're growing and there's a real cost to that in terms of servicing the debt over the long-term, kicking financial obligations to the next generation, et cetera.

But like we saw with the debt ceiling debate earlier, there's a right way to address the problem, I think, and there's a wrong way to address the problem. And just holding the federal government hostage by threatening a shutdown really isn't the solution, but it's the dysfunction that we've become so used to.

HARRAK: But it's difficult to see who is winning here. I mean, it looks like a lose-lose situation. Is there an off-ramp?

GIFT: Well, I'm not sure if there's a clear off-ramp. I mean, there are a couple of options. One is that the hard line of the Republican Party really just folds kind of like what we saw with the debate over who was going to get the speaker's gavel to begin with. There's also a possibility that Kevin McCarthy may have to go across the partisan divide and work with some Democrats and try to get a majority there.

But it does look like a lose-lose situation, certainly for the American people and, of course, federal workers who have the real potential to be furloughed. This has the possibility of broad ripple effects throughout the economy at a time when the economy could be stronger. So it's, again, the dysfunction that Americans are, I think, going to be quite dissatisfied with.

HARRAK: Well, let's talk about that dissatisfaction that Americans are feeling. Because according to a new report by the Pew Research Center, the words most used by Americans to describe current national politics are divisive and corrupt.

The findings, honestly, don't make for very pleasant reading. Are you surprised by the level of disillusionment that Americans feel when it comes to their elected officials?

GIFT: Well, I'm really not. And as you suggest, the poll does make for depressing reading. And to me, what it shows is that Americans are not just angry about the country's politics, which we hear about a lot. They're really exhausted, and they're embarrassed, I think. And more broadly, what this tracks is a wealth of other data that we see that Americans have lost trust not just in their political parties or their leaders or their institutions, but the very idea of democracy itself.

It's kind of stunning. One of the data points that I saw in the poll was less than one in ten respondents say that freedoms and democratic values are a strong point of the nation's political system.

It is worth noting, I think, that support for democracy generally has really eroded not just in the U.S. but in other advanced OECD democracies. So, this is part of a broader global trend. Fewer people say that living in democracy is essential.

And I think that's especially true if you look at some of the data among young cohorts.

[03:10:03]

And in the U.S., you can kind of see why, because for millennials and younger generations, what do they see from their political leaders? Well, they see standoffs like the one that we just talked about. They see endless wars. They see a financial crisis. They see stalled economic mobility, a mismanaged pandemic, highest inflation in four decades, you know, a former president who says that their vote can't be trusted.

So, there are lots of trends, I think, that are creating this dissatisfaction. But, certainly, the disillusion with democracy generally, I think, is really concerning.

HARRAK: Well, I wish we could end on a more positive note, but that's the state of things right now. Thomas Giff, thank you so much for your time.

GIFT: Thank you.

HARRAK: Russia's foreign minister unleashed a flurry of unfounded accusations in his speech at the United Nations on Saturday. The forum was the U.N. General Assembly, Sergey Lavrov, spelling out Russia's take on the war in Ukraine. He claimed that Ukraine is led by a racist regime propped up by the West, that the U.S. or Britain don't want the war to end, and that Russia recognizes Ukraine's sovereignty despite invading that country and trying to annex parts of it.

Lavrov was later asked when he would consider the U.S. to be at war with Russia, which led to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: So, you can call this whatever you want to call this, but they are directly at war with us. We call this a hybrid war, but that doesn't change the reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Let's get you more now. Nada Bashir joins us live from London. Good morning, Nada.

What else did Mr. Lavrov say?

NADA BSAHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, certainly, strong words from the Russian foreign minister directed towards Ukraine and, of course, Ukraine's Western allies, namely the United States and Britain, as you heard there saying that the U.S. is already directly at war with Russia, but also accusing the United States and Britain of not wanting the war in Ukraine to end, dissuading others in the international community from coming to the negotiating table with Russia.

And he was pressed by journalists around the possibility of negotiations of a peace plan. He actually poured water, of course, on President Zelenskyy's own ten-point proposal for peace, which has, of course, been out in public eye for some time now. We've heard repeatedly from the Kremlin its views on this peace plan, and that was reiterated by Sergey Lavrov speaking yesterday in New York. He said that this plan simply isn't feasible in Russia's eyes, that it is unrealistic. And, of course, as you would expect, that peace plan put forward by President Zelenskyy makes no mention of ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia, nor does it shut down Ukraine's hopes of one day joining the NATO alliance, two key sticking points in the eyes of the Kremlin.

When it comes to negotiations and to the potential for peace, there were also, of course, as expected, questions around the grain deal and in particular the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's proposals put forward earlier this month in the hope of bringing Russia back to that grain deal.

And we heard from Lavrov yesterday expressing Russia's respect, in his words, for the attempts of Antonio Guterres to revive this deal. But, once again, he said that in the Kremlin's eyes, this simply is not feasible, that these plans won't work in action.

He accused the United Nations and Ukraine of essentially failing to uphold their end of the bargain when it comes to the grain deal, of failing to protect Russia's interests when it comes to the export of Russian agricultural goods and fertilizer through this safe Black Sea corridor.

He also accused Ukraine of exploiting this safe corridor of using the Black Sea to launch surface drones against Russian vessels. And, of course, it is important to note that Russia has, over recent weeks and months, repeatedly targeted Ukrainian port and grain infrastructure along the Black Sea, while we have seen Ukraine in recent days using this backup corridor unilaterally established through the Black Sea.

There are now concerns, particularly after Lavrov's remarks, of the long-term viability and security of this corridor. Laila?

HARRAK: Nada Bashir reporting in London. Thank you, Nada.

And for more analysis, we're joined by Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. And he's speaking with us from Florence, Italy. A very good morning, sir.

Let me get your reaction first to Mr. Lavrov's fiery speech to the U.N., where he said that the U.S. is directly at war with Russia, but stop short of addressing directly the war in Ukraine.

ALEXANDER BAUNOV, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE RUSSIA EURASIA CENTER: It's quite typical speech of a Russian diplomat of recent months or even years, because even before the war, Russian diplomacy was busy to justifying the decision of its leader and the worldview of its leader, of Russia's leader.

[03:15:07]

Partly, it became a sort of propaganda agency even before the war. So, we have three main audiences for Russian diplomacy. It's Russian domestic audience, not the foreign audience, as usually a main audience of diplomacy, of diplomats, but Russian domestic audience when Russian diplomats, including Russian foreign minister, are competing with the state propagandists, Putin himself, but, of course, these parts of the world who are sympathizers of Russia, exactly is in Russian economy. Russian diplomacy is trying to replace its ties with the west by switching to the domestic market, parallel import and looking to the places other than the west. And this radicalization of the language of Russian diplomats has its audience in developing countries or even inside the western countries.

HARRAK: Now, he has also gone as far as to dismiss Ukraine's peace plan unsurprisingly and I'm wondering what he's signaling with that. Are we to make of this that the Kremlin is in this for the long haul? What's your read?

BAUNOV: Nobody in the Kremlin is seriously discussing the Ukrainian peace plan, their sort of competition who is worse insulting Ukraine and Ukrainians. So, no surprise in this radicalization of the language.

What they really want is to sell themselves to the world as a country. who is speaking on behalf of the non-western world, as they put it, global south, global majority, imitating this way the glorious days of the Soviet Union, when the Soviet Union was a haggle for anti-colonial struggle of irrelevant nations and anti-colonial, anti-imperialist narratives of the Soviet Union. They are trying to sell again to the rest of the world to oppose Russia as the leader of the non-western world and to sell its role to the non-western world, which is not very logical because Russia is an old colonial empire trying to imitate in its discourse, in the speeches of its diplomats, the grievances of their, let's say, old colonial and now developing countries.

HARRAK: My final question to you, this all comes at a time when Ukraine has launched one of its most ambitious strikes on Russian targets in occupied Crimea, targeting now the Russian Black Sea fleet. What kind of impact does this have on the Kremlin? How is this seen in Russia? And what does it mean for the war?

BAUNOV: Trying to play down -- again, inside Russia to play down the consequences of these strikes. And if they mention these strikes, it's only to justify the idea that Russia, in fact, is waging a war against the west and its real enemy is the West and not Ukraine, because if it were Ukraine, Russia would be victorious a long time ago. But the west, of course, is much more powerful, much more dangerous.

And these successful strikes by Ukrainian forces under Russian targets is a proof for domestic audience, but also for these sympathizers around the world who are totally indifferent, by the way, to Ukraine and Russia. But they are rejoicing the simple fact of Russia's opposing in the west, even if this opposing takes shape of a brutal war of aggression.

These sympathizers, however, are not keen, very keen to become allies. So, Russia is fighting without allies. But it has its fan club, let's say, of sympathizers who are, as I said, rejoicing the very fact that Russia is fighting against the West. So, they stress this fact of fighting against the west.

HARRAK: So, it's resonating with a segment of supporters there.

[03:20:03]

Alexander Baunov, thank you so much for this conversation. Thank you for joining us.

BAUNOV: Thank you for inviting me.

HARRAK: Still ahead, the state of Texas, the U.S. and Mexico have their own plans to handle an influx of migrants at the southern U.S. border. How trains, buses and the military all play a part in schemes to slow down the surge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRAK: After nearly five months of deadlock, there's hoped the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike could soon come to an end. A source tells CNN that the major film and television studio sent their best and final offer to the striking writers on Saturday. Well, it comes after four straight days of intense negotiations. Both sides will meet again in the coming hours.

The Writers Guild of America, which has over 11,000 members, has been on strike since May over wages, worker protections, and the use of artificial intelligence.

And United Auto Workers are walking picket lines again this weekend against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis facilities now in 20 states.

[03:25:00]

But there is a glimmer of hope that progress is being made in this increasingly contentious labor dispute.

The UAW expanded its strike Friday, targeting 38 auto parts and distribution centers. But talks continued Saturday between the Union and all three automakers. And the new strike sites did not include Ford while the Union president said Ford appears serious about reaching a deal, and there reportedly has been progress on some key issues.

Mexico says it has a plan to depressurize the migrant surge at its border with the U.S. Officials have agreed to implement 15 actions in places that border cities like Eagle Pass, Texas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency, while Mexico also says it will deport migrants who are seeking entry into the U.S. and prevent them from using its railway system to reach the border.

Mexican officials also say they will allow U.S. Border Patrol agents to expel migrants through an international bridge, which connects El Paso, Texas, to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. While El Paso officials say the city has reached a breaking point as it struggles to deal with the influx, the city has opened an overflow shelter for the unprecedented surge in arrivals. It claims to be receiving more than 2,000 migrants every day. The governor of Texas is pledging to send more buses to transport the migrants to other cities.

CNN's Rafael Romo reports.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Texas Governor Greg Abbott is railing against the Biden administration, saying border communities are overwhelmed and overrun by the large number of migrants arriving there and calling the situation a crisis.

Governor Abbott announced he had directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy additional buses to the border cities of Eagle Pass and El Paso. The purpose is transporting immigrants to what Abbott calls a self-declared sanctuary city, which are municipalities mostly run by Democrats.

In a statement, Abbott said Texas has bussed nearly 12,000 migrants to our nation's capital, nearly 15,000 to New York, and an additional 8,700 to Chicago.

In a statement, Abbott said that until President Biden upholds his constitutional duty to secure America's southern border, Texas will continue to deploy as many buses as needed to relieve the strain caused by the surge of illegal crossings.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has announced several steps being taken to address the situation, including the deployment of 800 active duty military personnel, adding capacity to border facilities, and continuing to conduct deportation flights.

The problem goes beyond the migrants who have already made it to the U.S. southern border. Take a look at how these migrants are traveling through Mexico on cargo trains using bed sheets as tents to protect themselves from the sun during the long trip north. There may also be tens of thousands of others on their way north.

On Tuesday, Ferromex, Mexico's largest railroad operator, suspended service of several northbound train lines after reporting half a dozen injuries and deaths of migrants.

We reached out to the government of Panama, a Central American country that serves as transit point for many immigrants coming from South America and other parts of the world. They told us that during the month of August, nearly 82,000 migrants crossed through their territory. And so far this month, more than 55,000 have done the same.

So far, this year, nearly 400,000 migrants have traveled through Panamanian territory.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

HARRAK: Grain imports complicate Ukraine's relations with one of its closest allies. Still ahead, a former Polish foreign minister will join me to talk about the dispute between Warsaw and Kyiv. Plus, Venezuela takes back a major prison in that nation, a prison that had been run by gangs for years. We'll tell you what they found inside.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

HARRAK: Ukraine's backup plan for exporting grain through the Black Sea is picking up steam. The U.S. ambassador in Kyiv says three more cargo ships have passed this week through a Black Sea corridor set up by Ukraine. They are set to load grain in Ukrainian ports. Two other vessels already are heading out taking grain to Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The temporary routes was announced last month after Russia pulled out of a grain deal brokered by the U.N. while Moscow is not guaranteeing the safety of ships. using the new route.

But grain exports are putting Ukraine at loggerheads with one of its closest European allies, Poland. This week, the Polish prime minister threatened to pull the plug on all weapons deliveries to Ukraine. That's after Poland extended its ban on importing Ukrainian grain to protect its farmers.

The move prompted Ukraine to sue Poland and two other E.U. countries that have similar policies. And President Zelenskyy later slammed those bans as political theater in his speech at the U.N.

Well, Polish President Andrzej Duda later walked back his prime minister's comments, but the prime minister still took a parting shot at Mr. Zelenskyy telling him on Friday never to insult Poles again.

For more analysis, we're now joined by Radoslaw Sikorski, a former foreign minister and defense minister of Poland and current member of the European Parliament. Sir, a very good morning, thank you so much for joining us.

Let me ask you just right off the bat, if I may. Is Poland contemplating changing its policy when it comes to Ukraine?

RADOSLAW SIKORSKI, FORMER POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I hope not, and this public spat is completely unnecessary. What should have happened more than a year ago when Putin imposed his ban for Ukrainian exports across the Black Sea was to have upgraded our rail connection, our ports and for Ukrainian grain to be transported over land to its traditional markets in Africa and Northern China.

And we could have got E.U. support for the upgrade and for the higher cost of such transit. Instead, two-thirds of the grain that Ukraine moved into the European Union actually stayed in Poland and Polish farmers are understandably angry about that. But it was actually our government that failed to perform the original plan.

Slovakia has now made a deal with Ukraine and I hope Poland does so soon. [03:35:03]

HARRAK: And so are you optimistic that this issue will be resolved after the Polish elections?

SIKORSKI: It should be resolved. It must be resolved. It's not just a short-term issue. The average landholding in Europe, in the European Union, is between 10 and 20 hectares, whereas in Ukraine you have some of the best soils in the world and these Texas-sized farms.

So, Ukraine is more competitive and in the process of Ukraine joining the European Union, we will have to find inventive solutions for the imbalance.

HARRAK: Let's take a big picture view. I'm going to ask you whether Poland supports Ukraine's accession to the E.U., which, as you know, is an aspiration that Ukraine has now for decades. This grain fight, laid bare at Warsaw's misgivings about the prospect of Ukraine, maybe joining the E.U. one day for reasons that you just outlined also a little bit in terms of the farmer's interests. Does Ukraine joining the E.U. in the future pose a problem for Poland?

SIKORSKI: Well the Treaty of Rome, the original treaty, says that any European country can join, can apply. I define a European country as a country whose majority territory is in Europe. So, Ukraine clearly qualifies. And Ukraine has earned the right to apply through the valor and the sacrifice of its soldiers and of its people. But there will be 35 chapters to negotiate. I hope we start negotiating in December and agriculture will probably be the hardest one.

HARRAK: It could be the hardest one. Okay.

Let's turn our attention back to the war in Ukraine. Now, tensions is between Warsaw and Kiev aside, Hungary's foreign minister said that new sanctions against Russia cause more harm to Europe than Russia. He made that statement after meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in the sidelines of the United Nations meeting in New York. Is the E.U. capable of speaking with one voice on Russia?

I mean, we've heard, of course, now the spat that broke out between Poland and Ukraine. Now, the Hungarian foreign minister basically saying, you know, we should stop sanctioning Russia. What's going on?

SIKORSKI: Well, Mr. Szijjarto has a medal from Putin and a recent one. So I'm not surprised. But we are just so much richer than Russia. We can afford these sanctions. And, remember, they have three components, the freezing of central bank reserves, and those will only be released when Russia pays compensation to Ukraine, restrictions on the purchases of Russian oil and gas, and those are working, Russia has far less revenue. But perhaps the most important one is restrictions on Russia being able to purchase dual-use technology microchips and so on, which is making it more difficult for Russia to rebuild the army that Ukraine so effectively destroys.

HARRAK: But in a few words, is the E.U united still in its support for Ukraine? SIKORSKI: The west is united, the E.U., the United States, Japan, other democracies. Remember, there was an overwhelming vote in the U.N. General Assembly to condemn Russia's act of aggression. This may not stand. Ukraine has to win this. And so far, I think the democratic world has overperformed in this emergency and Russia has underperformed.

HARRAK: All right, we've got to leave it there. Radoslaw Sikorski, thank you so much for joining us.

Now, the government of Venezuela has regained control of one of the largest prisons in the country, which had been run by an international criminal gang for years. The government says it took 11,000 troops and other personnel to take back the prison.

This is video, the government says, is the operation in progress on Wednesday. Authorities say that while the gang ran the prison, they installed several amenities that must have made incarceration more like a vacation.

Stefano Pozzebon has details.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: On Saturday, the Venezuelan government invited members of the media to tour a prison just days after security forces regained control of the structure from the inmates who had been running it for years.

The Tocoron Penitentiary Center in the Central Venezuelan state of Aragua is one of the largest in the country. And according to the Venezuelan Information Ministry, it was run by criminal gangs.

But on last Wednesday, the government deployed over 11,000 security forces, including members of the National Guard, to take control of the prison.

And when the cameras were allowed in on Saturday, the journalists, including a crew of CNN Espanol, were able to see where the inmates had built a recreational structure, including a swimming pool, several restaurants, one of them a steakhouse, all inside the prison walls.

[03:40:07]

The government has dubbed the operation a success but relatives of some of the inmates who spoke with CNN said that they had no idea of where their loved ones had been taken following the takeover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIBERIA CASTRO, MOTHER OF INMATE: What really worries me is that they've transferred my son just today, the last group four days since the takeover, and right now they haven't told us where they've taken him. We don't know what's happened to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: When the security forces took back control of the prison they seized the heavy weaponry including machine guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

On Saturday the Venezuelan minister of interior, Remigio Ceballos, denied the allegations that the takeover was in some way negotiated with the criminal gangs. He said that the operation had been a total success and dismantled the leadership group of a powerful criminal gang who was known to operate from inside Tocoron.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

HARRAK: Asian leaders are urging the world to act quickly to restore order to a country wracked by gang violence. On Friday Prime Minister Ariel Henry asked the United Nations to deploy a multinational mission of police and military personnel to Haiti. He says armed gangs are committing kidnapping, sexual violence, human trafficking, recruitment of child soldiers and murders, And that's just a partial list. The prime minister warning there's no time to waste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL HENRY, HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: Democracy is at peril. Our country needs a return to normalcy in order thereafter to be able to address the major challenges it faces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Meanwhile, the United States is announcing $65 million in new funding to Haiti's police and other measures to support the country.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more on that.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The United States government on Friday announcing that it's taking further steps to help Haiti crack down on its out of control gang violence problem. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that five Haitian individuals, including former and current Haitian officials, will now be under visa restrictions They will be unable to travel to the United States.

Blinken as well saying that the U.S. will send $65 million to help professionalize Haiti's national police force. This is a police force that is increasingly finding itself outgunned by Haiti's violent gangs. The police actually have carried out protests against their own government over the past several months on occasion because they say that when they are sent out to the street to fight these gangs that have taken over large areas of the country and the capital of Port-au- Prince, that they are simply unable to do so because they do not have the manpower and they do not have the resources they need to fight against the gangs.

Of course, billions of dollars have flowed to Haiti over the years to help Haiti following natural disasters. But so much of that money, investigations have uncovered, is either stolen or misspent. Over the years, it has been proven already that Haiti's problems, many deep systematic problems, are simply ones that money alone cannot solve.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana, Cuba.

HARRAK: Coming up, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is facing questions after two high-profile ministers disappeared from public view.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

HARRAK: The largest ever Asian games are underway in Hangzhou, China. They opened Saturday with a massive light show and digital fireworks. More than 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and territories are participating in the games and host nation China has already claimed the first gold medals, winning the lightweight women's double skulls in rowing. And the two-week event is showing how much the country has opened up since its draconian COVID-19 lockdowns.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been hosting other leaders and dignitaries from around the world, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. And as Mr. Xi puts on a glamorous show for the world to see, there are questions about whether cracks are beginning to emerge among his handpicked ruling elite. And that comes after the sudden disappearance of two senior Chinese cabinet members in recent months.

CNN's Will Ripley reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Away from the great hall's glaring lights in the shadows of Xi Jinping's China, a silent storm is brewing, trouble at the top of the Communist Party. Two high-profile senior officials, once trusted members of Xi's inner circle, abruptly vanished from public view with little explanation.

First, it was Foreign Minister Qin Gang, China's second most powerful diplomat on CNN last year.

QIN GAN, FORMER CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER: We are fully justified to do what we must.

RIPLEY: A close aide of the Chinese leader, winning favor with the help of his wife's homemade moon cakes, The Washington Post reports, just seven months into the job, a dramatic fall. In June, he disappeared. In July, he was dismissed.

The foreign ministry in Beijing refusing to address reporting by The Wall Street Journal, saying they are not aware of claims Qin was ousted for an extramarital affair during his stint as China's U.S. ambassador in Washington.

Citing sources familiar with a Communist Party investigation, The Journal claims Qin's affair led to the birth of an American-born child, a potential problem for China's national security.

TERRIL JONES, LECTURER, CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE: So, there's a question as to, well, you know, are there such people in China still whom Xi Jinping can trust and rely upon to be his closest aides and associates. RIPLEY: Palace intrigue at a fever pitch, speculation swirling over another apparent disappearance, China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu, last seen in late August, more than three weeks ago.

Back in June, he briefly shook hands, but refused to meet with U.S. Defense Minister Lloyd Austin in Singapore. Now, Li is under investigation, Reuters said last week, a government probe reportedly over the purchase of military equipment.

Last month, a surprise shakeup in the People's Liberation Army, Rocket Force, two leaders suddenly replaced without explanation. Beijing notoriously nebulous when it comes to bad-behaving senior leaders.

This latest scandal involving the defense minister setting China's heavily censored social media on fire from the foreign ministry --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not aware of the situation.

[03:50:00]

RIPLEY: -- a familiar response, no answers, but plenty of questions about instability at the top and the potential danger it brings.

JONES: But I do think there's more to it. I mean, Xi Jinping, he would not take these measures against such high-level military and diplomatic figures unless he felt some kind of genuine risk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): What these purges do is they raise a question about President Xi's judgment, because Qin and Li were both considered loyalists. They were handpicked by the president himself. And their removal from such visible positions so abruptly, it raises questions in the international community about the stability of the Chinese system.

And, you know, Chinese leaders have long said that their stability makes their system superior to democracies.

President Xi, however, might be sending a message to the world that no matter who he has put by his side, if they fall out of favor, no one is indispensable. No one is irreplaceable under his one-man rule.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

HARRAK: And we'll be right back.

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HARRAK: Anti-monarchy campaigners staged a demonstration inside Buckingham Palace on Saturday.

[03:50:02]

Well, the group calling itself Republic said it was the first ever protest inside the palace. They released a picture of demonstrators wearing shirts that, when placed together spelled out, not my king.

Well, the group says the participants were briefly detained before being escorted out of the front gates. The head of the group says King Charles III does not enjoy the deference that protected at the monarchy while his mother was on the throne.

Festival goers in Plains, Georgia, received an unexpected surprise on Saturday, the sight of a black SUV carrying none other than the former U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, and First Lady Rosalynn Carter at the annual Peanut Festival.

The Carter Center noted that Carter, who has been in hospice care since February, turns 99 next Sunday. One person said the crowd sang happy birthday once they recognized the former president. Mr. Carter, of course, was a well-known peanut farmer in Plains before entering politics.

Now, finally, this hour, the woman who could go down in history as one of the greatest female athletes of all time has one more international soccer match to play before retirement. On Saturday, Megan Rapinoe was asked about some of the highlights of her 17-year career. She mentioned her team's advocacy for LGBTQ rights and racial justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN RAPINOE, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: I'm incredibly proud of everything that we've done on the field. Obviously, we've been, you know, a really special generation of players. But I think it says a lot about us that everything on field, I feel like, kind of pales in comparison to what we've achieved off the field.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Rapinoe's farewell international match will be later today in Chicago.

And that wraps up this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Laila Harrak.

Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage after a quick break and I'll see you tomorrow.

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