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Biden to Announce Major Sanctions Against Russia After Opposition Leader's Death; Judge Working for Trump's Civil Fraud Case Finalizing an Order to Pay More Than $300 Million; Odysseus Successfully Made its Moon Landing After 50 Years, First Images Expected; Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies in Sudan Amid Ongoing Civil War; AT&T: Outage Linked To Network Expansion, Not Cyberattack. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired February 23, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, ahead on "CNN Newsroom."
The U.S. president vowing to hit Russia with a fresh round of sanctions, including some targeting Vladimir Putin. Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm being indicted for you, as I say. I'm being indicted over and over and over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump really has to pay up. A judge denies the former president's request to delay finalizing the $355 million civil fraud bill. So how long does Trump have?
And later, CNN sits down with the director and cast of the epic sci-fi sequel, "Dune: Part Two".
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is set to announce what one official calls the largest tranche of sanctions against Russia since Vladimir Putin's forces invaded Ukraine two years ago. U.S. President Joe Biden says these new sanctions are being imposed directly against Putin, who was responsible, they say, for opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death.
Biden met with Navalny's widow and daughter in San Francisco on Thursday, expressing his heartfelt condolences. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: At this point, I have the honor of meeting with Alexei Navalny's wife and daughter. As you state the obvious, he was a man of incredible courage. And it's amazing how his wife and daughter are emulating that. And we're going to be announcing the sanctions against Putin, who is responsible for his death, tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is targeting sanctioned Russian oligarchs and others accused of supporting Putin's military. It brought about 70 criminal charges and moved the case about and moved to case about -- moved to seize about $700 million worth of assets, which it plans to transfer to the Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in Russia, Alexei Navalny's mother says she's finally seen her son's body. According to Navalny's team, the medical report lists his cause of death as natural, but the Anti-Corruption Foundation says there are conditions for the release of Navalny's body, including a secret funeral.
All right, we go live now to Berlin and CNN producer Sebastian Shukla. So, Sebastian, take us through some of these conditions that we're hearing about. Actually, before we do that, can you shed any light on those sanctions that we're hearing from the U.S.?
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yeah. Morning, Kim. The sanctions coming are going to be 500 entities linked to Russia's military- industrial complex, namely the defense industry, but also the economy at-large, which has morphed since 24th of February 2022 into largely a war footing, a war economy, which is pumping out munitions and arms and tanks and drones destined for Ukraine's battlefield.
But as the U.S. government and Congress have been saying since Alexei Navalny's death, these sanctions are going to be targeted and have come about because of Alexei Navalny dying in prison last Friday.
The Russian economy in general, Kim, has managed to weather sanctions initially imposed, and this tranche will be one of the biggest, or at least the biggest, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago. But we don't know exactly yet how many or which targets the 500 will be looking at, but we should find that out later this afternoon, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Then, Sebastian, I want to turn to those conditions that we're hearing about, the release of Navalny's body. What more are we learning there?
SHUKLA: Well, Navalny's team, and particularly his mother, have been up in that Arctic region of Salekhard looking to get hold of Navalny's body, which they have been denied access to.
But we heard yesterday evening that actually his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had seen Alexei's body and that she has signed the death certificate. But as she said, there have been conditions around the release of the body. I want you to take a listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LYUDMILA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEI NAVALNY'S MOTHER (through translator): Yesterday evening, they secretly took me to the morgue, where they showed me Alexei. The investigators claim that they know the cause of the death, that they have all the medical and legal documents ready, which I saw, and I signed the medical death certificate.
[02:05:03]
According to the law, they should have given me Alexei's body right away, but they haven't done it yet. Instead, they blackmailed me and set conditions for where, when, and how Alexei should be buried. It is illegal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHUKLA: And so the cause of death was officially listed as natural causes. But also, as we went through yesterday evening, we heard from Navalny's team about some of those conditions, which are being suggested to the Navalny family. They include Lyudmila Navalnaya taking a private jet back to Moscow, the funeral not being announced publicly, and also there was debate about whether which cemetery Navalny could be buried in. The first one was rejected, but the second one wasn't.
Kim, what I think is crucial here is that, obviously, the Kremlin and the Russian authorities are very worried about any outpouring of grief and protests that may swell as Navalny's funeral comes closer, and they are trying to restrict any public protest in any way which may draw light, more light, against the Kremlin. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right. Thanks so much, Sebastian Shukla in Berlin. I appreciate that.
Ahead of Saturday's second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is dropping a hint that it may be ready to talk.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says it extends only to talk with Washington, but the caveat is negotiations must be, in his words, open and honest.
Meanwhile, a new video released by Moscow reportedly shows a mopping up operation in the town of Avdiivka, whose defenses were overrun last weekend.
That was Russia's biggest victory in months, which Ukraine blames on the lack of military aid. But pledges of more aid are starting to trickle in, with Denmark working to deliver F-16 jets this summer. Britain is promising more anti-tank missiles, while France plans to host an international meeting on aid for Ukraine on Monday.
And Kyiv is also striking back, saying it hit a Russian training ground near a Ukrainian bridgehead south of the Dnipro River. Ukraine says it held off multiple Russian attacks there and in parts of the Zaporizhzhya region that Kyiv recaptured last year. The city of Kherson has been free from Russian troops for more than 15
months, but almost two years into the war, life is still a grinding and heart-wrenching struggle, and hope is often hard to find. CNN's Nick Paton-Walsh reports.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's night when it's loudest. Kherson has seen every stage of the war's two years, invasion, occupation, and liberation. Yet day is when the damage is clearest.
PATON WALSH: Well, the Russians may be now on the other side of the river, but you can see the force of the explosions that hit here just by these tree branches thrown up here on top of a roof. And it feels kind of like a remote occupation through Russian drone strikes, artillery attacks as well. So many of the buildings around here devastated.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): But Russian positions are visible across the water, and on this side, freshly dug trenches show how worried Ukraine is still.
Across the river, Ukraine sent troops months ago, their hopes of a lightning dash to Crimea stuck in this rubble. And this week, Russia raised their flag over the tiny Ukrainian foothold of Krynki. Kyiv denied they'd taken it, and said drone footage showed the Russians fleeing.
Yet just meters from the roar are thousands of daily, silent stories of survival in a city Russia cannot own, only crush with seemingly inexhaustible shelling.
At 4am, we were woken by three shells.
They landed 100 meters away.
PATON WALSH: So they're saying that they were first hit in November, and that blew out the glass in this flat here. So they moved to their mother's apartment over there, and that basically saved their lives last night, because the shrapnel from the mortar that landed here went all the way up into the flat where they used to live.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): In basement churches, the prayers are for basics.
UNKNOWN (translated): To stay warm, to find bread, to have food. It's a hard path. But we keep walking it.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Spilling out into the light, part of a thousand people still in this district of the city when before the war there were 30 times that.
[02:10:06]
Sofia has outlasted her six siblings, and gets food for her adult daughter.
SOFIA, KHERSON RESIDENT (translated): I want to get on time to another food distribution. Yesterday they gave chocolates and a hot meal. Today who knows? There were roses here, everywhere. So many roses.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): As Putin's war enters its third year, there seems no end to a million tiny, unseen agonies.
SOFIA (translated): Welcome. My eyes hurt. But my deepest desire, I don't want anything, anything, but the bright sun.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Their old radio brings bad news of Russia assaulting Krynki.
SOFIA (translated): Those bastards, they jumped on us.
UNKNOWN (translated): They already took Krynki.
SOFIA (translated): No, they didn't. I just heard they didn't. It's hard, there was a fight there today. We will not push them back. Why? They will push them back, why not?
PATON WALSH (voice-over): The war in every home, the normal, the boring, still targets today and tomorrow.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kherson, Ukraine.
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BRUNHUBER: The judge overseeing Donald Trump's civil fraud case could soon finalize his order for Trump to pay a $355 million judgment. Judge Arthur Engleron told attorneys for the former president and the New York attorney general of his plans in an email Thursday.
CNN's Kara Scannell has more on what it all means.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He indicated to the parties in an email that he was going to now finalize this judgment, because, as we know, the ruling came down Friday, but it doesn't really become official until it's entered into the docket. So the judge noted on the docket that he was doing that, but it still has to get processed by a clerk, and once it is finally entered, which could be as soon as tomorrow or might take a couple days, then this will become official.
ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 ANCHOR: So the clock starts ticking once it's finalized.
SCANNELL: That's right. So from whenever it is finalized, Trump will have 30 days to appeal and 30 days to post $355 million plus $100 million in interest. So a lot of money.
He'll have to put that together either by posting the cash himself or getting a bond that can be backed by collateral, some of his properties. But he'll have about 30 days, and that includes the weekends.
So if you kind of can guesstimate, if this judgment does become final soon, that means he could have to foot this bill right when he's about to go to trial on the criminal hush money charges.
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BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump wants the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against him dismissed. His attorneys have filed new legal briefs claiming the charges lack legitimacy.
One of their arguments, that Trump has presidential immunity. It's already been rejected by an appeals court in his election subversion case. The U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether to block that ruling. Trump's legal team also claims Attorney General Merrick Garland unlawfully appointed special counsel Jack Smith.
Just hours ago, history was made on the moon. Have a look.
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An American spacecraft touched down for the first time in more than 50 years. The Odysseus is transmitting signals back to mission control in Houston, Texas. Odysseus is upright and has been sending back data. And we're awaiting the first images.
CNN's space and defense correspondent, Kristen Fischer, picks up the story.
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KRISTEN FISCHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Intuitive Machines has just made history as the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon.
Its Odysseus lunar lander is standing upright, according to the company, and is successfully transmitting data, although we're still waiting for those first few pictures.
Now, this was really a tense final few moments for this mission. Just a few hours before landing, Intuitive Machines announced that there was an issue with Odysseus' navigation system. It wasn't working.
But in a spectacular example of a public-private partnership, it just so happened that one of Odysseus' or Intuitive Machines' paying customers, NASA, had an experimental piece of equipment that did the exact same thing as this broken piece of navigation software.
And so engineers on Earth were able to patch up a fix and allow Odysseus to safely navigate that treacherous terrain on the south pole of the moon, dodging craters and boulders to find a safe space to land. And so that is what happened. It took a little bit longer than the company thought to communicate with the spacecraft, but it is sending back data now.
[02:15:04] And this is now the first time that any American spacecraft has landed on the surface of the moon since the end of the Apollo program back in 1972.
So it's a win for NASA as a sponsor of this mission, but certainly a win for this Texas-based company, Intuitive Machines. They were able to do for about $100 million what NASA was able to do with the Apollo program with a much larger budget.
So some big cheers from that mission control room when the landing happened. And now we get to see what Odysseus can do on the surface of the moon for the next week or so.
Kristen Fisher, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: There's a growing sense of urgency in negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The clock is ticking for mediators to reach a deal before Israel launches a ground offensive in Rafah. We'll have the latest on the negotiations.
Plus, the International Rescue Committee has issued an ominous warning about the suffering in Sudan. We'll speak to a director from the aid group, coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 23 people in central Gaza on Thursday. That's according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which didn't give further details. And they said the death toll could rise. Now, CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.
The strike comes as the next round of hostage negotiations is set to begin in the coming hours in Paris. Israel's war cabinet has agreed to send a negotiating team to the meeting with senior officials from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. There's a growing sense of urgency to reach agreement.
Israel is threatening to expand its assault in Rafah if hostages aren't released by the start of Ramadan in two weeks. Hamas' political leader wrapped up a visit to Egypt on Thursday, and they discussed the current state of negotiations.
I want to go live now to London and Elliott Gotkine. So, Elliott, on those hostage negotiations, with the clock ticking, is there any reason for optimism here?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Kim, it seems that there is reason for optimism, albeit wary optimism. Just last week, we were talking about these hostage negotiations being at an impasse. Even the Qataris, the key negotiators, the key mediators in this were saying that talks were not looking particularly promising.
Now, what has changed seems to be this deadline for an Israeli ground operation in Rafah, saying that, if all the hostages aren't released in time, and Ramadan begins in just over two weeks' time, if all the hostages aren't released in time for that holy month, then that ground operation would go ahead.
And I think the United States is also keen to forestall this ground operation. And, as a result, it has also been working harder and perhaps putting more pressure, particularly on the Israelis, to take part in these negotiations, because we knew that CIA Director Bill Burns was going to be in Paris today on Friday, that his counterparts from Egypt and also the Qatari Prime Minister were going to be there.
[02:20:09]
But it wasn't until last night that the Israeli war cabinet approved the sending of a delegation, again headed by David Barnea, the head of the foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, to not only take part in those negotiations, but also to give him more powers to enable him to take part in, in their words, substantive negotiations, instead of just being in listening mode.
And I think all of these elements, including the fact that Hamas sent a delegation to Cairo earlier in the week to discuss with the Egyptians, who were also acting as mediators in all of these discussions, all of these various elements are giving the sense that there is a renewed spring in the step of these negotiations and that some kind of deal can be reached.
Now, it may not look exactly like the framework that was agreed to the last time the parties met in Paris at the end of last month, but even a temporary pause, even if it's shorter than the six weeks that the U.S. has been pushing for and the release of perhaps fewer hostages than Israel would have hoped, even that will be seen as a victory, as an achievement, given what has been going on.
And that would, of course, enable a pause in the fighting, more humanitarian aid to get into the Gaza Strip and some of those Israeli hostages, more than 100 still being held since being abducted on October the 7th, to be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. And perhaps that kind of pause will enable additional discussions that could perhaps get us closer to the point where this war between Israel and Hamas can come to an end. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, so much on the line there. Elliott Gotkine in London, thanks so much.
The aid group, Medecins Sans Frontieres, is calling on the U.N. to deliver an immediate and sustained cease-fire in Gaza. The head of the group, also known as Doctors Without Borders, made an impassioned plea before the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
Christopher Lockyear accused the U.N. of repeatedly failing to address the conflict, and he condemned the political inaction as complicity in the humanitarian crisis. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTOPHER LOCKYEAR, SECRETARY GENERAL, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: Children who do survive this war will not only bear the visible wounds of traumatic injuries, but the invisible ones too. Those of repeated displacements, constant fear, and witnessing family members literally dismembered before their eyes. These psychological injuries have led children as young as five to tell us that they would prefer to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: MSF says medics on the ground in Gaza can't treat the wounded and injured from the ashes of destroyed hospitals. They say survivors of the war need long-term and intensive care for their physical and mental health.
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KARIN HUSTER, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: So the care that the people are receiving is what you and I would consider completely unacceptable. Women today who go and deliver have to go back home after an hour or four hours of having delivered a child, and they will go back to a tent. You will see more than likely surgeries that are probably of bigger consequence than normal. So, for example, we may be able to see more amputations than necessary because people are unable to receive care on time.
The conditions from a sanitary standpoint, from a health standpoint, from an everything standpoint is catastrophic already, even before any invasion might happen.
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BRUNHUBER: The humanitarian group Medical Aid for Palestinians says that, as of February 14, only 11 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially functioning.
And right ahead, a country ripped apart by civil war, where civilians are paying the price.
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UNKNOWN: It is arguably the biggest humanitarian crisis today.
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BRUNHUBER: What 10 months of fighting have done to millions of people in Sudan?
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[02:25:00]
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." The mayor of Valencia, Spain, has declared three days of official
mourning following a fire that killed four people and injured 14 others. Flames erupted on Thursday morning, consuming an apartment building. The fire has been so difficult to battle that even hours later, firefighters had problems entering the building and containing the flames. It got so hot, crews were working to cool the exterior of the structure.
South Korea is raising its health alert to the highest level on Friday following a mass protest staged by more than 8,000 trainee doctors that has forced hospitals to turn away patients and cancel procedures.
Almost two-thirds of the country's young doctors walked off the job to protest a government plan to increase the number of medical school students. Participating doctors say their issue is pay and working conditions, not the number of physicians. A large rally is expected in the country's capital on Sunday.
Each year, the International Rescue Committee releases a list of countries most likely to endure a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, and Sudan is top of the list for 2024. The power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has displaced millions of people, and health care services have nearly collapsed. The aid group estimates more than half the country's population, some 25 million people, are in need.
The World Food Program says they're facing hunger and malnutrition, and the suffering is only expected to grow worse throughout the year. Humanitarian access has been hindered, and it's getting harder to get aid into some areas.
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MARY LOUISE EAGLETON, UNICEF SUDAN DEPUTY REPRESENTATIVE: It feels like the country's really been abandoned, and the country's children have really been abandoned. What this means for families and children is that they're facing a lethal combination of displacement, hunger, and disease outbreaks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Etizaz Yusuf is the country director for the International Rescue Committee, and she joins us from Nairobi, Kenya. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, you know, some 10 months into the conflict, and it seems to be worsening. The U.N.'s been calling it a humanitarian perfect storm.
Tell me about the fears that families are facing every day.
ETIZAZ YUSUF, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Well, thank you very much for having me.
I do believe now Sudan is like the highest or global crisis, with hosting the largest displacement globally, with almost talking about more than 10 million population. So for me, displacement is the major fear for the Sudanese population. And with the 10 months, as you mentioned, the situation is getting even worse. So even getting basic supplies and basic commodity became very difficult and very expensive. And also for the population is being really trapped for the hard-to-reach area.
[02:30:02]
They've been facing a serious risk of starvation and hunger due to the access and security and safety of moving supplies to those area. That is specifically Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan (ph).
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Yeah, let's talk about the hunger problem, food availability, as you say, it's very limited. Prices have skyrocketed, more than 7 million people facing extreme hunger by June. Both sides are basically weaponizing aid, controlling that to essentially control people survival.
YOUSIF: Yeah, that is hundred percent right, because the axis and the movement between a state within Sudan, it became very difficult time killing each, each of the conflicting parties, they put restriction and movement of three of aid supplies into their area which meant that the delivery and scale up and expansion to reach to the people in the hot area is more difficult, very lengthy. I'm very expensive actually.
BRUNHUBER: So you also mentioned the displacement, you know, some 8 million people displaced about the population New York. We have some pictures that your team took at the border. I understand of Sudan and south Sudan. These new arrivals who were waiting for days for a boat to leave and the conditions they face. I mean, tell us what they in so many others like them are going through.
YOUSIF: You see the problem is Sudan. This crisis, it will be having a spillover and it could definitely impact the region. And also the country around us is having their own struggle and challenging, and their infrastructure.
So, Sudan is been hosting even before the crisis, almost like when 1 million South Sudanese refugees, almost like closer to 700, I guess, a Ethiopian refugees in Eritrea, those moving back to the border with the south -- with the Sudanese, it creates a really a crowd. And also those country, they don't have that infrastructure to accommodate and support.
And you are right talking about South Sudan at the border. The infrastructure is so limited to provide an accommodate all those number of refugees crossing border or also we call them a returnees because south Sudan is also started moving back to their country with the oldest regular. Now south Sudan is going through and also those border definitely be challenging, by lacking of proper infrastructure to accommodate.
So, that the comes at the border at the two sides. They are not equipped with what it can provide a dignified service delivery in those locations.
BRUNHUBER: Well, let's talk about service delivery. I mean, the conflict is so complex and vast and intense as well.
I mean, how do you even begin to help, especially with the worlds attention turned to other conflicts?
YOUSIF: You see, Sudan crisis is getting really a very low international attention. And I guess with all of the standard competing priorities, and that the conflict in Gaza, Ukraine and clearly getting, and also I guess (INAUDIBLE) globally shrinking.
So, getting Sudan back to the attention of the international community and to get more funded before it proved to be very, very difficult time, challenging. Also, do believe we have a donor fatigue because Sudan is being through this crisis, since that for crisis to 2005. And since then, they just go from a conflict to like man-made crisis and then like nature crisis.
So we've been having drought. We've been having floods and it is, I guess, a cycle for that. And also before for the war, Sudan context is so fragile with a lot of economic struggles and problems.
And also that definitely impact the service delivery system that includes education, health system, which really facing a huge challenges. Now, with this war and the destruction and the looting of the health facility, targeting of the medical (INAUDIBLE), that heavily impacted the health system, and that at that stage of almost collapsing now.
Similar, I do believe of my want to highlight that education crisis in Sudan. We have 19 kids out of schools so far. And I don't see even in the near future, we have that large number of children out of school like that.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. The situation so desperate and the need is so great, really appreciate you highlighting this for us.
[02:35:01]
Eatizaz Yousif, thank you so much.
YOUSIF: Thank you very much.
BRUNHUBER: And we'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. stocks are hoping to keep their momentum after hitting record highs on Thursday. The Dow gained more than 1 percent to close at 39,069. The Nasdaq was up nearly 3 percent and the S&P 500 added more than 2 percent.
Chipmaker Nvidia was the main driver of the rally. Its blockbuster earnings report sent shares more than 16 percent higher to close at $785.
The Federal Communications Commission is investigating a huge outage of AT&T's U.S. cellular network on Thursday. AT&T says service has been fully restored. But for about 12 hours, customers were unable to make calls, send text, or access the Internet on their devices. According to downdetector.com, major U.S. cities that were impacted include Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Chicago.
The company says it wasn't a cyber attack, but the outage may have been caused by the use of incorrect process related to network expansion.
Movie critics are hailing "Dune: Part Two" as an epic masterpiece. The movie concludes a two-part saga with dazzling visuals and technical wizardry. Now we should note the movie was made by Warner Brothers, which shares a parent company with CNN.
Our Becky Anderson attended the Middle East premiere and sat down with some of the stars to discuss the experience.
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(MUSIC PLAYING)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An ethereal masterpiece, one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, "Dune: Part Two" has landed and is already making waves -- or should I say sandstorms.
The second part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel is being described by some as one of the science fiction films of all time. And creating magic like that isn't easy.
DENIS VILLENEUVE, DIRECTOR: It was by far the most challenging project I have done. I think that that, for all the crew and all the cast, it was not easy to shoot. We shoot it in the middle of the desert. It was harsh conditions. And, yeah, I'm really grateful.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Much of the film was shot in Abu Dhabi's Liwa Desert, a site used to depict the arid lands of Arrakis and that's why some of the film's biggest stars were in the Emirate last weekend for the Middle East premiere of the film.
JOSH BROLIN, ACTOR: You know, coming back here and wearing suits and all that feels very foreign, you know what I mean? We were out in the middle of nowhere. It was very practical.
[02:40:09]
We did a lot of walking. We did a lot of helping each other out and carrying things. And it was a communal, very familial experience. It couldn't help but be.
DAVE BAUTISTA, ACTOR: I mean, obviously, it was an amazing experience but it was almost -- you know, coming into the second film, you're already familiar with everyone. You're familiar with the story. You're familiar with the director and your co-stars.
So it was just completely comfortable. I didn't feel the pressure of the first film, I was -- wanted to prove myself on the first film. And also, my role in the second film was bigger, it was expanded.
ANDERSON: Would you with a beast.
(VIDEO CLIP, "DUNE: PART TWO")
ANDERSON: How is playing a villain I hear quite softy in real life?
BAUTISTA: I --
(LAUGHTER)
VILLENUEVE: He's the sweetest man.
(CROSSTALK)
BAUTISTA: It is what makes it fun because it's escapism for me in this performance. It wouldn't be any fun just playing myself. I'm a pretty boring person. I wouldn't be interesting at all.
(VIDEO CLIP, "DUNE: PART TWO")
ANDERSON: Denis, this you have described as much better or at least better than the first part.
Can you just explain what you meant when you have said that the characters came alive?
VILLENEUVE: I think is that it's just that, as a film director, you learn -- your every move you learn and every bit a dream you experience as an opportunity to try to raise the bar and to improve yourself. And I learned a lot doing part one and it allowed me to try to this time to go back without doing the same mistake again.
So let's say that the first movie there, it was, there was a lot of homework to do for the audience for the first movie was more like a lot of exposition, a little more contemplative. That part has been done.
When you watch "Part Two" now, it's like it's a much more entertaining and playful movie also.
(VIDEO CLIP, "DUNE: PART TWO")
BROLIN: It was a feral, beautiful experience that I was very sad to leave and very happy to know that it may happen again. Not that we're focused on that, but it was a -- it was a lifetime experience.
ANDERSON: Warner Bros. has not confirmed a third film in the franchise. Not yet at least. But Villeneuve has reportedly said it would be a dream that would make absolute sense.
And with the success of "Dune: Part Two," already visible, the world may get another chance to revisit the Duniverse.
Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM.
"WORLD SPORT" is next.
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[02:45:28]
(WORLD SPORT)
