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Russians Attack Civilian Area in Hroza, Killing 50+; Biden Worried about Ukraine Funds; 2023 on Track for Heat Record; OPEC Secretary General Says Orderly Energy Transition Needed; Trump New York Civil Fraud Trial Resumes; Search for New U.S. House of Representatives Speaker; Teen Girl Assaulted by Iran's Morality Police. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 05, 2023 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): This is the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD from Doha. I'm Becky Anderson. We start with that breaking news
out of Ukraine.
New details of what appears to be the deadliest Russian attack on civilians in Ukraine since the early weeks of the war. Ukrainian officials now say at
least 49 people were killed in a Russian artillery strike that hit a cafe and a shop.
That is in a town near Kupyansk in Eastern Ukraine. This video just in to CNN. We are hearing that the death toll there could rise. Children are
among the dead and wounded. Rescue teams are continuing to look for victims.
This attack happening as president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeals for more military aid at a summit in Spain. He faces the prospect of waning support
in at least some European countries and growing uncertainty over the future of U.S. aid after the ousting of the House Speaker and hard right
opposition to additional Ukraine funding.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is on the ground in Ukraine and brings us more on that Russian attack on the village of Hroza.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly first indications are that this was a catastrophic hit on a civilian area in the
east of Ukraine. Now this is very close to a place called Kupyansk, which is an active front line, where the Russians have been pressing over the
past couple of weeks.
And the Ukrainians have been trying to hold them back. The Ukrainian authorities are saying that dozens of people have been killed. But of
course, it is still very early going on. There will be rescue and recovery operations in full swing down in that village. It is called Hroza.
And Ukrainians are saying that, in that village, both a shop and a cafe were hit. They are saying that both of these are civilian areas. The early
indications that we have from the Ukrainians is also that several children are among the casualties.
Unclear how many of them were killed and how many of them were wounded but again, right now, those operations are still in full swing so the
authorities there are saying that they are still trying to come to grips with all of this.
At this point in time, it still is unclear who was behind it. However Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he angrily blamed Russia for this
attack, saying that it was a Russian crime, as he put it.
Of course, Volodymyr Zelenskyy right now is on a visit to Spain to meet with European leaders, trying to drum up support for Ukraine in the wake of
the United States, of course, being in limbo about whether or not to provide Ukraine with the aid that it says it needs and when that aid might.
Come
So right, now a devastating attack on a village in Eastern Ukraine near an active front line. But certainly, still very much a civilian area.
Ukrainians are saying that their operations to try and save people who might still be under the rubble there is very much underway -- Fred
Pleitgen, CNN, Eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Let's bring in our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, for more -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Becky, this is an area around Kupyansk, where the Russians have really, over the past month or so, couple
of months, really been putting a huge amount of pressure on Ukraine's defensive lines there to the point that Ukrainian officials had asked women
and children and old people to leave the area around Kupyansk.
Now the village that was hit, Hroza there, around 20 miles west away from the front line of Kupyansk. But this could be and appears to be at the
moment the most deadly strike by Russian forces on civilians since they hit a railway station in Kramatorsk in the early phase of the war in 2022.
And it is not uncommon these days to find Russia targeting -- and I use the word "targeting" because the munitions they've used in the past -- and I'm
thinking here of a cafe in Kramatorsk, where dozens of people were killed and injured just in the past couple of months.
And then in another town nearby, again, a similar scenario, a popular cafe was targeted. And you look at the debris field there, that those recovery
workers are going through right now, it is a massive debris field. And for a town that is not close to the front line to be hit, in a store and cafe,
does seem to suggest a level of targeting.
[10:05:00]
ROBERTSON: We know that one 6 year old boy has been killed. At least one other child injured. And in a village like this that is relatively small,
relatively distant from the front lines, people were there at this time of day, in the middle of the day, when this happened, 1 pm local time, people
would have been out.
They would've been in the stores. They would've been perhaps enjoying a cafe or a coffee in the cafe, that sort of thing. So what we've heard from,
I think, Ukraine's defense minister, really echoes what we've been hearing from President Zelenskyy as well.
And he has said, look, when it comes to defending Ukraine -- and he's talking specifically about this attack, from terrorist attacks by Russia--
he says we need to have a coordinated effort and support from all of our allies and partners to be able to stop this.
And it's really clear that what he is saying there is that the tremors, the political tremors from the United States that perhaps will cause
interruptions in ammunition supplies to Ukraine, this is not helpful.
So he is talking specifically about U.S. politics in relation to this attack and saying, the only way to defend against this is having joined up
all partners working with us effectively in a coordinated way.
ANDERSON: Including his European partners, of course. He is there in Grenada in Spain at a summit as we speak, talking to European leaders. Nic,
thank you.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it is in America's interest that Ukraine succeed. Well now, the pressure is on to turn those words into
cash. He previously asked for another $24 billion for Ukraine.
Now he is worried that approval for those funds will be delayed by what is happening on Capitol Hill. Mr. Biden's planning to lay out his case in a
speech to the American people.
So what are the options at this point?
Let's discuss that, with CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond and Oren Liebermann who is at the Pentagon.
Jeremy, exactly what is the president saying or expected to say in this forthcoming speech about helping Ukraine?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, one thing that's clear is that President Biden is concerned.
There was already some uncertainty about whether or not Congress would be able to pass that $24 billion supplemental funding request for Ukraine
before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was booted from his position.
And now, with the race for speaker uncertain, several candidates being people who are typically opposed to funding for Ukraine, like congressman
Jim Jordan, there is a whole new layer of uncertainty about whether or not Congress will approve additional funding.
The president yesterday saying very clearly, it does worry me, talking about the race for the Speaker of the House and the impact that it could
have on the future of Ukraine funding.
But at the same time, expressing confidence that the majority of House and Senate members do want to continue funding to Ukraine. The problem is,
whoever Speaker of the House, controls the floor, controls what bills come up for a vote.
And that, of course, will be crucial. We will get a chance to see President Biden today at noon in the Oval Office with his national security team. I
expect we'll hear comments from him expressing why it is so important to keep funding going.
But there is, as you mentioned, this broader speech the president previewed. We don't know exactly when he will be delivering that speech.
But what he has made clear is that he believes that he will make the argument that it is overwhelmingly in the interests of the United States to
keep this aid flowing, not only for Ukraine but for Europe, for NATO as a whole.
We have heard him make these arguments time and again. And yet, what we are witnessing is certainly a drop in support in the American public for this
funding to continue.
But nonetheless, White House officials privately expressing hope that a majority of members of Congress continue to want to see this aid flow and
they also believe that the American public, as a majority, is still on their side.
ANDERSON: Jeremy, thank you.
Oren, let me bring you in and get the view from the Pentagon and officials there, who will have seen the debris field left in the wake of the latest
Russian attack; 49 Ukrainians killed. This is one of the deadliest attacks since the beginning of this conflict.
Let's talk about the delivery and execution of aid provided by the U.S. under a program known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
How can that be affected?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So that's one of the two primary ways in which the U.S. has sent aid to Ukraine. The Ukraine
Security Assistance Initiative, the USAI, and then what's known as presidential drawdown authority or simply presidential drawdowns.
[10:10:00]
LIEBERMANN: USAI, that funding which is meant to provide Ukraine the medium and long term, that is contracting directly with arms manufacturers,
that money has already run out.
So if there is no supplemental bill passed, here if there is no additional funding, the U.S.' ability to help Ukraine in the medium and the long term
is severely degraded if Congress doesn't step in here.
On the other side of that coin is the drawdown authority. There, we have about $5.4 billion left. And that is what the U.S. can pull from its own
Department of Defense inventories and send Ukraine. That is the short term solution. That is how Ukraine gets what it needs right now.
But even that has a drawback and that's because, although there is more than $5 billion in that pot left, essentially, the U.S. has only about $1.6
billion in the money needs to replenish and restock what is sent under that authority.
So it is a real question of whether the U.S. will use that entire $5 billion or more, given that it can't replenish all of that because that
money comes from somewhere else. It is a bit in the weeds there.
But it is a fundamental question on how much more the U.S. is able to give if it does not get more money from Congress fairly soon here. There are
maybe a couple months or several weeks' worth of equipment and authority and funding left to give.
But that is certainly not a long term solution. It is not even a medium term solution. And it is hardly a short term solution. Now President Joe
Biden did say they are looking at other ways to find funding here.
But even that is not expected to keep this going and keep the aid going in the long term. So this is a serious question facing the administration and
the Pentagon right now -- Becky.
ANDERSON: To both of you, we thank you very much indeed.
Next, up on CONNECT THE WORLD, we are headed for the hottest year on record after another month of record heat. What all of this means for the planet.
And what OPEC's secretary general has to say about the race to net zero. My interview with him is coming up.
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ANDERSON: Recapping our breaking news out of Ukraine and a horrific attack on civilians, one of the deadliest since the early weeks of the war.
Ukrainian officials now say that at least 49 people were killed in a Russian strike that hit a cafe and a shop here near Kupyansk in Eastern
Ukraine. We are hearing that the death toll could rise and children are among the dead and wounded. Rescue teams are still looking for victims.
More on that, of course, as we get it.
2023 is on track to be the hottest year ever after another month of record breaking heat.
[10:15:00]
ANDERSON: Data from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service show that September was half a degree hotter and then the previous record.
That makes the month the fourth month in a row of unprecedented heat.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ANDERSON: Want to bring in our chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, from New York.
What do you make of this latest report?
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: That chart that Chad shows about the anomalies. If you look back, if we could put that back up, these
are the months of September going back to the earliest days in the 1940s.
And every year before that was below average. You can see all those cold lines there until we get up into the 20 -- 2000s.
And now this month, that red line on the side, as one climate scientist here in the United States says it, "This month ... in my professional
opinion as a climate scientist, absolutely gobsmackingly bananas." That is Zeke Hausfather out of Berkeley.
Even a historian in Europe said the first three days of October are one of the most extreme climate events in European history.
But, Becky, the question is, at what point does it change human behavior?
And what is making this worse, obviously, is the globe's reliance on fossil fuels. There is some encouraging signs on renewable energy really taking
off and exceeding expectations but not nearly at a pace to save life as we know it. It is a question of how much of it can be saved in however much
time we have to bend this curve.
ANDERSON: So Bill, I've been involved in a lot of discussions particularly here in this region, locally and this week at what was an oil and gas, now
dubbed an energy conference in Abu Dhabi earlier on this week. We're going to hear from the OPEC secretary general momentarily.
I just want to get your perspective on the acceleration in clean energy technology.
Where we are we at to your mind?
WEIR: It is this new report out of the IEA, the International Energy Agency, says that adaptation and the sinking price of renewables is so
encouraging, far more than anyone would've anticipated.
So they're saying humanity is on track for about 2.4 degrees of warming by the end of the century, by 2100. That is well above the Paris accords but
it is well below the worst-case scenarios of 4.8 degrees that we were talking about just a few years ago.
But, Becky, it's really interesting; there are dozens of countries now. If you look at their GDP growth in relation to their falling carbon usage, it
has been proven, again and again, around the world, that you can decouple your economy from old fossil fuels and still grow the economy there as
well.
In countries like Sweden and Finland, that trend is like a yawning alligator, the gap between those lines. Even in places like Egypt, it's
starting to separate as well. So it is just a matter of time.
But of course, the petrol states, both in the Middle East and petrol states in the United States that are producing these old fuels, are not going
gently away. So I think the great story of our time will be that that transition and the fight over how soon it happens, most economists say we
are beyond -- we're not going back to that fossil fuel economy.
It is just a question of how fast we go over to this new one.
ANDERSON: Yes, Bill, that conversation I had on numerous occasions this week. And so, I want to bring up our interview with the OPEC secretary
general now. It is good to have you on the goal then of the clean energy revolution, --
[10:20:00]
ANDERSON: -- which is now underway across the globe, is to end the world's reliance on fossil fuels and ease the frightening rise in temperatures.
OPEC's secretary general Haitham Al Ghais tells me that his cartel is as committed as the rest of the world to a clean energy future. But he says
world leaders are beginning to realize that the path to net zero won't be easy. He says it is best to proceed cautiously. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAITHAM AL GHAIS, SECRETARY GENERAL, OPEC: With some of the policies, some of the target deadlines for achieving some ambitious, maybe overzealous
deadlines in some parts of the world with respect to net zero, with respect to vehicle emissions, a lot of these policies have, if I may use the term,
there have been a lot of U-turns.
They've been reversed, delayed, scaled back. And of course, this will have some implications for oil demand and other commodities, whether it's oil or
gas, we are seeing some of these U-turns.
Politicians, policy makers, economists, people who are well versed in the energy affairs of the world are realizing that, hey, maybe we need to slow
down a bit, scale back a bit and make sure that we have everything ready in order to make this a smooth and orderly transition without creating energy
chaos.
ANDERSON: Much of the world, sir, agrees that humans are causing global warming and that the fossil fuel industry is largely responsible for those
emissions.
Do you, as the head of a group of oil producing countries accept that the oil and gas industry is in large part to blame for the climate crisis?
GHAIS: That is a multifaceted question, Becky. But let's take the latter part.
I disagree with that assertion that we are to blame. If we are to look at blame and start pointing fingers, which we don't do at OPEC, I would rather
much focus on historical data that is available independently; 25 percent almost by the United States alone; 17 percent was taken by the E.U. 27. The
U.K. itself, 4.5 percent. OPEC 13 countries are responsible for 4 percent only.
Lower them, one country, the U.K. So that is one context to answer that part of your question.
The other part about what the oil and gas industry -- I will speak for what the oil industry is doing-- we really don't need to look further away than
where we are today doing this interview, Abu Dhabi.
Look at ADNOC, global leader in emissions reduction; stretch targets, drive, force behind it, leadership to get to decarbonizing the oil industry
in Abu Dhabi, a model to be followed.
We have countries that originally also are at the same level, Saudi Arabia, case in point. Many others where a lot is being done. But for some,
unfortunately, we feel that they don't want to see this.
ANDERSON: Do you feel that OPEC producing countries are unfairly discriminated against?
GHAIS: Yes, in this respect, absolutely. As I said earlier on, we are doing so much to decarbonize the industry of our national countries and our
other countries. We have all ratified the Paris agreement, agreed to sign the Paris agreement.
Most of our countries, if not all, have ratified it already and plans have been submitted. And this year's (ph) have been submitted. Updates on these
embassies (ph) have been done. And we have a lot of targets, very ambitious targets.
Whether you go to North Africa, Algeria; solar energy. You go to Angola in the south, I was there a month ago. I'm seeing the penetration of renewable
energy, how they are reducing flaring. There is a lot being done.
So to blame the oil industry, which is actually responsible for modern civilization, what we have today is all thanks to the oil industry. Yes, we
have to do more and we are planning to do more. But we don't need to be told by anybody what to do, the IEA or anybody else.
ANDERSON: You say the oil industry is planning to do more and you will do more. Let's be quite clear. OPEC is an organization of leading oil
producing countries, which cooperates in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize profits for its members.
When you warn of dire consequences if hydrocarbons were to be abandoned or, you suggest, that OPEC members are unfairly discriminated against, there
will be many watching this who say, well, you would say that, wouldn't you?
So let's talk about what the energy transition looks like to OPEC members.
[10:25:00]
ANDERSON: And the role that these countries will play.
GHAIS: Well, first of all, we have to ensure the growth. We have to make sure that the world has enough energy -- stable, affordable, reliable; not
intermittent source of energy. And that is what the world's been relying on for all these years.
Reducing emissions, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reduction of flaring, methane emissions reductions, a lot is being done, by for, example
even the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.
We're leading oil companies around the world, like the likes of Aramco, ADNOC, the BPs, the Shells are all collaborating very closely in order to
work together to reduce emissions.
That is something that is really important for us to see. The oil producers really are putting their words into real actions. No source of energy can
provide what the world will need in the future.
It, is again, monumental what the world will require in the future if the world continues to grow at this rate that we are seeing, 2.9-3 percent GDP
annually. If the world population continues to grow, every form of energy will be required, including renewables.
But renewables, let's be realistic, are something from a very small base. We continue to both invest in oil, try to do everything you can to invest
in technologies to decarbonize oil, reduce emissions and simultaneously try to invest more and more in real (ph) and alternative forms of energy.
OPEC today is an open door for those who want to cooperate with OPEC on pragmatic, realistic. We are out there to provide energy security to the
world, to provide the energy that the world needs for the future, to prosper and grow.
I have a 3-year-old granddaughter. I am really keen on her having a successful and prosperous environmentally safe and clean environment in the
world (ph) in the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: The perspective from the OPEC secretary general, speaking to me earlier this week.
After this short break, I'm going to get you back to our breaking news this hour. Ukraine now says at least 50 people, 50 people have been killed in a
Russian missile strike on a store near Kupyansk. More on that, after this.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson, out of Qatar for you today. And I want to get you back to that
breaking news out of Ukraine. The interior minister there now says at least --
[10:30:00]
ANDERSON: -- 50 people were killed in a Russian attack in the east of the country. It happened in a village about 30 kilometers from the front line
city of Kupyansk just before 1:30 in the afternoon local time.
The interior minister says that a shop and cafe were hit by a ballistic missile. Rescue teams are still looking for victims. But you are seeing
video here, just in to CNN, of the aftermath of that attack. It is one of the deadliest on Ukraine and on civilians since the war started.
Let's bring in our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson for more on what is this news.
Give us some perspective about what we are looking at here.
ROBERTSON: The interior minister has given a few details. And when you listen to the numbers, it sounds really tragic. This is a village of about
330 people. As you say, about 30 kilometers from the nearest front line.
We know that Ukrainian officials had been asking local women, children, elderly people to leave the area, at least around Kupyansk, that town
around 30 kilometers away, because the Russian offensive there have been so hard and heavy with shelling over recent weeks and months.
But this really stands out as something very different. The interior minister says 330 people lived in the village. He is saying about 500 (sic)
are dead so that is almost one in seven people there apparently have been killed in the strike.
He said what was happening in the village, there was a wake underway in the cafe for a deceased villager. And the interior minister says that almost
every family in that village was represented in the cafe.
That means every part of that tiny village is going to be touched by this, as will be the rest of Ukraine, because this is one of the biggest attacks,
as you say, perhaps the biggest since the attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk early last year.
There have been other Russian attacks similar to this, that have struck cafes, popular cafes and shops, fairly close to where this incident took
place. But the death toll here is perhaps likely to climb.
When you look at that debris field, when you look at how the recovery workers are racing in there, climbing over the piles of rubble, you really
get an idea of the scale of what they're going to have to go through to try to recover everyone. And as we've said already, one 6 -year old boy killed
and other children caught in this as well, Becky.
ANDERSON: Which, Nic, makes this discussion at present about aid fatigue, both in the U.S. and in Europe, so important. We've been discussing this
past hour also about the concerns about further aid from the U.S.
We've got Zelenskyy down in Grenada in Spain, talking to European leaders at a summit there today. Just give us some perspective about where Europe
stands at present and whether it is working from the same song sheet, as it were, about aid going forward.
Does Europe have Ukraine's back at this point?
ROBERTSON: Yes, I was speaking with a senior European official last night exactly about this. And there is a real sense here that Europe is
committed. I mean, all the countries of the European Union are signed up to. This they signed up to it politically.
There are a couple of notable exceptions at the moment, Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has been a bit of a holdout there. But the
European Union has managed to stop him from vetoing some things that he would want to veto in terms of support for Ukraine.
Poland, again, we've witnessed this breakdown in relations between Poland and Ukraine. But that seems to have been patched up for now.
Slovakia, a potential new prime minister coming in there, said he wouldn't supply weapons to Ukraine.
But the big picture from the European Union is that they are in this for the long haul. They've made political commitments.
They've committed financially. Their problem, for the European Union, is if the U.S. does pull out or becomes more isolationist under heavy Republican
influence in the runup to the election, the concern is that this will put more of the bill of supporting Ukraine on the European Union.
And that, the money has to come from somewhere. And that can impact areas such as agriculture. It can -- it will have wide ranging implications. But
in the political sense, European leaders, as I understand, are committed.
But this could, because of what's happening in the United States, cause pain. And that may cause recalibration.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Nic. Thank you.
Donald Trump is back in Florida today --
[10:35:00]
ANDERSON: -- as his civil fraud trial resumes in New York City. The courtroom appeared less tense on Wednesday afternoon after the former U.S.
president departed. But tensions had flared earlier in the day as his lawyers squared off in a heated debate with a judge over the way a witness
was being questioned.
In the meantime, the U.S. House of Representatives is without a Speaker and for that matter, a leader. Work in the House will essentially will come to
a halt until a new one is in place. But as our Lauren Fox points out, Republican infighting may make choosing the new speaker a much more
difficult task.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anger and raw nerves plaguing the House GOP after the historic vote to oust former Speaker Kevin
McCarthy.
REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): I'm not surprised. Tensions and tempers have been running pretty high for the last nine months.
FOX (voice-over): Allies of McCarthy are seeking retribution from the eight Republican rebels who voted against him.
REP. GARRET GRAVES (D-LA): I think it was done for narcissistic, for selfish reasons, for fund-raising reasons.
FOX (voice-over): They delivered a not-so-veiled threat to cease all fund- raising for Republican Representative Nancy Mace ahead of the vote. In return, Mace says she's fund-raising off her decision to sink McCarthy.
MACE: I'm taking it from all sides right now. And because of the threats that I've been receiving over the last couple of weeks, it finally reached
a point last night where I was, like, You know what?
I'm going let people that need -- know that I need help.
FOX (voice-over): Now some are even threatening to try and have them removed from the Republican conference.
REP. DAVID JOYCE (R-OH): I don't see how they can really be part of a conference when they stand on the -- they come on the inside, listen to
what's going on and then go outside and lob bombs in the middle.
REP. KEN BUCK (R-CO): The very people who are blaming the eight who voted against Kevin McCarthy are the same people who have held up this process so
that we don't get to the point where we pass a budget, pass appropriations bills and deal with the -- the huge spending.
FOX (voice-over): McCarthy, too, is seeking revenge against Democrats for not throwing him a lifeline during the vote.
Two Republican sources tell CNN he was behind the move to kick former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer out of their
unofficial office spaces near the House floor.
REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Rather than, you know, being petty and silly, you know and throwing Nancy Pelosi out of her office, I mean, how does that
contribute to civility up here?
FOX (voice-over): Even though Republicans are bitterly divided, the race to elect the next speaker is in full swing.
Two leading contenders for the role are emerging, including House Republican majority leader Steve Scalise and Representative Jim Jordan.
Scalise was shot in 2017 at a baseball practice ahead of a Congressional charity game that left him in critical condition. In August, Scalise
revealed he was diagnosed with blood cancer.
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Leader Scalise, he's a good friend. I've had great conversations with him, Jim, Kevin, other people. We're -- we're working
hard. We're going to unite.
FOX (voice-over): House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan was one of the co- founders of the conservative Freedom Caucus and is a close ally of former President Trump.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): I think we're a conservative center-right party. I think I'm the guy who can help unite that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Lauren Fox reporting.
For more on how the drama is playing out in the House, I want to bring in Matt Mowers in Washington, D.C. He's a former State Department adviser to
the White House and the president of Valcour, a public strategy firm.
Matt, it is good to have you.
MATT MOWERS, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT ADVISER: Good to be with you, Becky.
ANDERSON: I am looking at this with an international lens.
And the question many are asking is, just how impactful is this going to be for U.S. politics and policy going forward?
So I guess, how long it takes for House Republicans to find a new speaker at this point and get things back on track is massively important.
What is your sense?
MOWERS: You know, there was a lot of fights with Kevin McCarthy about personality and process. There was a lot of fights about how was the House
going to operate, what would the process be for new legislation that would come up through the committee process or be top-down the way it was in past
Congresses.
The big challenge and difference here internationally is that a lot of the fights right now are going to be about policy. You already have Jim Jordan,
who's announced he's running for speaker, say that he's going to oppose any new funding for Ukraine.
He voted against the continuing resolution this last weekend, which even didn't have Ukraine funding. Steve Scalise is more of a traditional
conservative foreign policy thinker, someone who understands the need for America to engage in the world.
It doesn't mean you sideline American interests there but you do step up when you are needed. So there's going to be some policy differences here
that the conference is going to have to settle out when they have this forum on Tuesday.
[10:40:00]
MOWERS: And, then of course, when they have the vote on Wednesday, if they don't get to 218, if the conference doesn't unite around one or the other
or potentially both.
You know, if they elevate Steve Scalise to speaker and then maybe Jim Jordan to majority leader, you may have to have a consensus choice outside
of that, either among the Republican conference.
Or maybe even potentially, although unlikely, among bipartisan members, where you do still have a majority support in Congress in a bipartisan
fashion for increased Ukraine funding and policies like that.
ANDERSON: We know that Ukraine funding was an issue that was squarely in focus during this chaos. And I do just want to get your sense of how the
Republicans might lean going forward when all is said and done.
Polling certainly shows a weakening of support for Ukraine funding, particularly amongst Trump-supporting Republicans. But across the board, in
the latest Reuters Ipsos polling, when asked whether Washington should provide weapons to Ukraine, 41 percent said yes; 35 percent said no.
And that 41 percent of support is actually weakened somewhat.
This Republican Party sort of chaos and what happens next will have -- certainly not just conceivably-- could have an enormous impact on whether
the U.S. continues to support this war, correct?
MOWERS: Well, it could. And in fact, you see a diversity of polling. It is still relatively close, even in some aspects of the Republican Party.
There was a recent "USA Today" poll of primary voters in New Hampshire, which is one of the early primary voting states. So will have an increased
influence in the presidential nomination process.
You had a plurality say they did not want any more funding for Ukraine. But it wasn't far off from the marker that said -- it was about 40 percent or
so that said they would support continuing funding for Ukraine.
Often, it also depends -- and we do polling and we looked at polling in this -- how you phrase the question; there is continued support, more
often, for military provisions, to actually support Ukraine militarily so that they have the resources and tools and equipment to defeat Russia.
As compared to economic and humanitarian assistance, which does drop a little bit further down amongst public sentiment. Many Americans believe it
is in the best interest of the United States to continue to provide the military equipment necessary.
But there is a little bit of a differential when you get to other types of support. You're right, though. Amongst the broader electorate, there still
continues to be support for it. And even in a majority of Congress. They were, just a few weeks, there was a vote on Ukraine assistance.
And a majority of even Republicans in the House voted for it. And support for Ukraine is nearly unanimous amongst Republicans in the U.S. Senate,
who, to this point, have been driving lots of this process.
ANDERSON: And the reason I ask -- and thank, you because that analysis is really important.
The reason I ask is that congressional Republicans are there to do the people's business, right, to reflect the people's will, effectively.
When are they going to get back as a whole House, for that matter, and get back to doing what they are paid to do, which is the people's business?
(LAUGHTER)
MOWERS: Well, you know, Becky, that is the question that a lot of Americans are asking every single day right now. You know, look, I share
the empathy of a lot of Americans and the feelings of a lot of Americans when we hope that Congress shows up and does its job.
The members of Congress that actually show up and are looking to govern and not just get on TV and not just score points for fundraising emails. And
that is why -- you showed some clips from Representative Dusty Johnson, you've seen on CNN today Representative Max Miller and others.
You can feel and sense the frustration. And my conversations with them and many other members, they are frustrated at the eight, the eight. There was
less than 4 percent of the Republican caucus that voted to remove Kevin McCarthy this week.
That 4 percent of the conference allied with the unanimous consent of the Democrats and the minority, were able to remove Republican Speaker of the
House. There is a frustration there.
The majority of Republicans want to get to work. They want to show up and do what the American people sent them to do every day, which is, yes,
reduce spending; yes, be conscientious of we are investing U.S. tax dollars both at home and abroad.
But then ultimately, make government work and look out for America's best interests. And unfortunately, we saw a bit of a circus with a leader of
among eight members of Congress on the Republican side, along with every single Democrat.
But I know Republicans are largely hopeful we're going to return to regular order here, that government's going to continue to fund after the November
-- next funding deadline that will be coming up. And then hopefully we will have a speaker next week, although, at the moment, there is no guarantee of
that, either.
[10:45:00]
ANDERSON: Yes, good to have, you sir. We will have you back.
MOWERS: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
ANDERSON: And we will do more news after this break.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: We cover your breaking news out of Ukraine, an horrific attack on civilians, one of the deadliest since the early weeks of war.
Ukrainian officials now say at least 50 people have been killed in a Russian strike that hit a cafe and shop near Kupyansk in Eastern Ukraine.
Officials say a wake was underway for a deceased villager when a Russian ballistic missile hit.
They say at least one person from every family was at the site of the attack for the wake. We are hearing that the death toll could rise further
and children are among the dead and wounded.
Friends of a teenage girl hospitalized in Iran say she suffered her injury in an accidental fall on the Tehran metro. They gave their account to
Iranian state media. And activists have a totally different take. They say she was injured after an encounter with Iran's so-called morality police.
This report from CNN's Jomana Karadsheh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iranian activist groups are accusing the morality police of assaulting the 16-year-old girl in a Tehran metro
station for not wearing the mandatory hijab or the headscarf.
Activists say that Armita Geravand has been in a coma since Sunday, according to the activist operation group, IranWire, she was admitted to
hospital with head trauma. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.
State affiliated media posted a video of a group of girls seen entering the metro train. Some of the girls entering appeared not to be wearing
headscarves in that video.
Moments later, it goes on to show a group of girls carrying Geravand out the metro train, placing her on the platform before the train leaves. No
altercation can be seen in this edited video that was posted on state media. We have not been able to confirm its authenticity.
The CEO of the Tehran metro told state media that there was no physical or verbal interaction between members of his staff and Geravand. The Iranian
government has not yet responded to our request for comment.
And Geravand's parents told state media in an interview that they were told that their daughter hit her head after fainting from low blood pressure
while she was on her way to school. The parents say that there was no signs from the videos that they saw that she was assaulted.
But it is important to point out, we don't know the conditions under which this interview was conducted. And in the past, U.N. and human rights groups
have told us that --
[10:50:00]
KARADSHEH: -- the families of protesters killed during last year's protests were being coerced and pressured into making statements supportive
of the government's narrative.
A journalist who went to that hospital to report on Geravand's condition was briefly arrested on Tuesday and she was released later on according to
her newspaper -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We'll have more news after this short break.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Recapping our breaking news. One of the deadliest attacks on civilians since the early weeks of Russia's war on Ukraine. Officials in
the country say at least 50 people have been killed in a strike, a Russian strike, that hit a cafe and a shop in a small village near Kupyansk in
Eastern Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): And, this they say, is video of the aftermath. Officials say a wake was underway in that village to honor a deceased
villager when a Russian ballistic missile hit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines are getting anxious to get their hands on whatever weapons they can to fight off the
Russians. Fred has been speaking with soldiers about that and filed this report earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The artillery troops need to move fast. Russian drones might be in the air. Line up, calibrate, fire. Three rockets, that's
it, even though this Grad launcher would be more effective firing large salvos.
"It's not very precise," this soldier named Alex (ph) says. "It also depends on the weather and the range. It would be good to have more precise
rockets or guided ones."
But the Ukrainians are running short on even these unguided Soviet era rockets and ammo shortages are a problem across the battlefield here in
Eastern Ukraine.
Soldiers from the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade have a quick snack, then get ready to fire their Western donated howitzer. The American 105 mm
shells are valuable but increasingly scarce commodities.
PLEITGEN: Ukrainians call this the sniper rifle of their artillery because it's so accurate but it also illustrates one of the big problems they have.
They have plenty of barrels to fire from but not enough ammunition to fire.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Battery commander Miran (ph) telling me, the lack of shells means his forces are badly outgunned here.
"It's hard to give precise numbers," he says, "but I think they fire 10 times for every round we fire. Sometimes it's 1:100."
The Russians are constantly taking aim at this area though the Ukrainians say they're making gains, pushing Vladimir Putin's army back, even using
combat helicopters close to the front line.
Kyiv says it needs more ammo to sustain defenses both here in the east and in the south. The U.S. budget impasse could mean further delays. On top of
that, NATO's warning its members are running dangerously low themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started to give away from half full or lower warehouses in Europe. Therefore, the bottom of the barrel is now visible.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): For the Ukrainian artillery troops, that means rationing will probably continue all while trying to support their
advancing soldiers on the ground -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:55:00]
ANDERSON: We are in Doha, in Qatar this week. And for the past two hours, we have been talking about the intersections of climate energy and
sustainability, looking at the real world impact of the climate crisis, something that even the biggest emitters are recognizing.
We are seeing it happen right here in Doha as well. And in tonight's "Parting Shots," look at how this country, Qatar, is trying to raise
awareness on this issue by hosting the 2023 Horticulture Expo, showcasing sustainable solutions for our heating planet.
And at the Qatar pavilion, a stark admission, the gas rich country has the highest per capita emissions in the world, a reality that they want to
address.
They have a lot to lose. The sea levels rising and increased desertification and water scarcity. So that's why they are wanting to
educate themselves and visitors, not only about the causes of climate change but how modern agriculture that uses fewer resources can help
mitigate the impact.
The leaders and societies alike realizing that we all need to start taking real meaningful steps soon if we want to protect life on the planet we call
home.
That is it from CONNECT THE WORLD from the team here in Doha. Stay with CNN. "STATE OF THE RACE WITH KASIE HUNT" is up next.
END
