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Erin Burnett Outfront

Police Identifying 5 Killed In Colorado Shooting, 2 Heroes Who Stopped Gunman; New Special Counsel In Trump Probes Briefed And Digging In; Russian Soldier Describes Conflict As "Third World War"; Mystery Deepens In Idaho Killings As Police Reveals 911 Call Details; Iranian Protesters Defying "Morality" Police Are Being Raped. Aired 7- 8p ET

Aired November 21, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:24]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, breaking news in the Colorado nightclub shooting. Police revealing the identities of all five victims who were killed. We're going to speak to a couple who survived the shooting and helped others amid the chaos and the bloodshed. Colorado Springs police chief is also OUTFRONT tonight.

Plus, the special counsel in the Trump investigations officially at work tonight. The new details of what he's been briefed on and what it says about the speed of his investigation.

And we have new audio first out front tonight of a Russian soldiers call to his girlfriend saying half his unit is gone, he's fighting alongside prisoners just released from prison to wage Putin's war. You will hear yourself.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news out of Colorado Springs, where officials just named the five victims killed in the horrific mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub. At least 19 others were injured.

The five people who lost their lives in this attack, Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, and Derrick Rump.

Rump was a bartender in the nightclub along with Daniel Aston. Rump's sister telling CNN, quote, they were just amazing, and everybody should have a Daniel and a Derrick.

The husband of Ashley Paugh saying in a statement to CNN, quote, she was my high school sweetheart and she was just an amazing mother. Her daughter was her whole world.

The suspected gunman is in a hospital tonight, amid growing questions about whether red flag laws would have stopped him from obtaining a weapon. The suspect was arrested in June of last year after his mother said he threatened to harm her with a homemade bomb. The mayor saying this tonight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JOHN SUTHERS, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO: I would caution against an assumption that the circumstances of this case would lead to application of the red flag law. We don't know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It comes as CNN obtains new video tonight from that standoff, that the suspect had with police last year, where you see him wearing body armor and ranting about the officers outside. I will play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is your boy! I've got the (EXPLETIVES DELETED) outside, look at, that they have a beat on me. You see that right there? (EXPLETIVES DELETED) got their (EXPLETIVE DELETED) rifles out. If they breach, I'm going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) blow it to holy hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: The police tonight also thanking the heroes who confronted and stopped the gunman. They say they saved countless lives. Those men are Thomas James and Richard Fierro who told "The New York Times", quote, I just went into combat mode. I grabbed the gun out of his hand and just started hitting him in the head over and over.

Rosa Flores is OUTFRONT live in Colorado Springs to begin our coverage tonight.

And, Rosa, what are police saying about the charges in this case?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, police say that the suspect has not been charged yet, but he is in custody pending possible charges of multiple counts of first-degree murder and also hate crimes.

Now, he is in the hospital, according to police, and his condition is unclear. All this as this community continues to grieve and we learned the names of all the victims

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): Police naming the five victims of the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh, Raymond Green Vance. A shooting that also left at least 19 others injured. The shooter was stopped by two men inside the club, Thomas James and Richard Fierro.

According to "The New York Times", Fierro says he was watching the drag show when gunfire erupted. He says his instinct as an Army officer kicked in.

SUTHERS: He simply said to me, I was trying to protect my family. FLORES: According to authorities, Fierro and James confronted and

fought with the suspect, took his handgun, and hit him with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless them. It could've been a lot worse if they hadn't stepped in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To absolute heroes, if not for them, I don't know how many other people would have been injured.

FLORES: Barrett Hudson survived the shooting and said he was shot seven times, but miraculously, he escaped serious injury.

BARRETT HUDSON, SURVIVOR: I see the door kind of shut, and there's the gunman. There was a man in front of him, he put his hands up a little bit and took two steps back, and the dude just -- he killed him.

FLORES: The shooting started just before midnight on Saturday night. At 11:57 p.m., someone at the bar called 911 and police started dispatching officers.

DISPATCHER: Active shooter.

[19:05:00]

We are getting reports of 4 to 7 possibly injured.

Start doing triage. We may need to reach the hospital to see if they can handle all the patients.

FLORES: The first officer arriving on scene at 12:00 a.m., then at 12:02 a.m., the suspect was in custody.

DISPATCHER: The suspect has been detained.

FLORES: The suspect, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, is in hospital. Sources telling CNN he bought the weapons used in the attack. Now Aldrich being held pending possible charges that include five charges of first degree murder, as well as possible charges related to a biased motivated crime.

New video obtained by CNN appears to show the suspect ranting about police last year during a standoff.

ANDERSON LEE ALDRICH, SUSPECT: (EXPLETIVES DELETED) got their (EXPLETIVE DELETED) rifles out. If they breach, I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) blow it to holy hell.

FLORES: Over a bomb threat at his mother's home.

The surrender captured on camera, but local media reports no formal charges were pursued and his records were sealed according to the district attorney.

This close knit LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs now struggling to find their way forward. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm doing okay considering I lost some friends

that I care about and I don't think it's really sunk in yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (on camera): Now, Erin, Ed Sanders, the gentleman that you just heard here what he describes was the chaos in those intense moments. He says that he heard to volleys of fire, gunfire in the first volley, he says he got shot in the back, and in the second volley of fire, he got shot in the leg.

But here's what's fascinating, he said when he fell down, it was all about people helping people. He said he could hear others asking for tourniquets, just trying to help each other, and he says even though this is tough, he believes in this community, because they are resilient, and they will, will, fight back -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Rosa.

And I want to go now to Gil Rodriguez and Felicia Juvera. They were inside the nightclub, survived this attack.

And, Gil, you know, let me start with you. I can't even imagine what both of you are going through. You were there, I know, together, to support a friend who was deejaying that night. And then Gil, you saw the gunman as he began shooting.

Can you tell me more about that moment?

GIL RODRIGUEZ, EYEWITNESS TO SHOOTING AT CLUB Q: Honestly, I never saw him. Just how the events transpired, from the amount of shots that initially went off when he came into the club, I honestly thought it was multiple people shooting, either at each other, or just in general, multiple people shooting, just how quick the number of shots were coming out in rapid succession. All I had time to do, really, was flip the table next to us to use it as cover and I yelled for everyone to get down, and I was kind of holding her head down to make sure that she didn't catch any stray bullets.

I thought the bullets grazed my foot, and then I jumped on top of her, because I was assuming that the gunman was looking in our direction, and was shielding her from potentially getting a stray bullet in her direction. And shortly after, the shooting had stopped.

BURNETT: So, Felicia, let me ask you about that moment, you know, Gil is talking about, you know, maybe a stray bullet, I know that fragments from the bullets sort of did ricochet off your shoes. What do you remember about these horrifying moments? When this barrage of shots started?

FELICIA JUVERA, EYEWITNESS TO SHOOTING AT CLUB Q: Really, at that moment, I remember the sound, I thought it was the music myself, until I smelt the actual gunpowder, the smell is what got me. And when Gil said to get down immediately, my initial thought was just act react, you know, act quickly, and get on the ground, and the only thing that was going through my mind at the time was, I was praying. I was praying a lot. It was just --

BURNETT: Gil, you mentioned that -- you didn't say you have a military background, but you have. When you talk about the music, and Felicia thought it was the music. And I know your instincts lead you to go straight to the DJ booth as this was happening. How come? What went through your mind?

RODRIGUEZ: So, kind of like my instinct has kind of kicked in with my military background, just to kind of assess the situation. I -- once I kind of heard the gunshots like stop, I kind of like scanned the room to ensure that he wasn't still in the room, maybe reloading or something. I didn't see him, like at all, which kind of led me to spring up and pull out my phone, I immediately called 911, to get them on the scene as soon as possible

[19:10:10]

I couldn't hear what the 911 operator was saying, which led me to logically just go to the DJ booth and start turning on the knobs and entering the system of so that I could kind of better hear the 911 operator, as well as better understand what was going on around me.

BURNETT: Felicia, how is your friend who was deejaying doing tonight?

JUVERA: She's doing much better. I know at this point, they were -- it was a success, and they did have to take her appendix out, but she is going to make a great recovery, and she's doing much better.

BURNETT: I mean, that's miraculous, but I can only imagine, just the horror in the beginning of the process that shall be going through.

For both of you, Gil, first to you, you have military training, you are prepared for triage. But nothing would have prepared you to expect this in this place at that time. Can you even start to understand what sort of an impact this will have on you?

RODRIGUEZ: I mean, like you said, honestly, we kind of train for this. We expect stuff to happen, when we go overseas and maybe do a tour of deployment, but nothing really prepares for you when you actually experience it firsthand, just, you know, kind of instincts are pretty much the first thing that take over at that point. It's really something that you are never going to forget, that's for sure.

BURNETT: Felicia, what about you?

JUVERA: I would say -- we never ever in our lifetime think we are going to be one of the ones that are caught within this type of situation. But definitely, it's going to take a lot for me to process. I don't think it's hit me just yet, what truly transpired. It's going to be a lot -- a lot of time to get through it, and process it.

BURNETT: I can only imagine, as you say it. Nobody can imagine it will be them, and yet somehow, it is always somebody in this country.

Gil, Felicia, thank you so very much. Our thoughts are with you.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you for having us.

BURNETT: All right. And next, the just appointed special counsel in the Mar-a-Lago documents case already deep into the details as a key court hearing is just hours away.

Plus, first, OUTFRONT tonight, fear, frustration, anger in the Russian army. You will hear these revealed in a soldiers intercepted phone call. It is incredible to actually hear this. He will talk about how half's unit is gone. He'll talk about who he's fighting alongside.

And we are learning more tonight about the stabbings of those four college students in Ohio. Someone called authorities from one of the victim's phones. But who was it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:36]

BURNETT: Tonight, no signs of slowing down. Jack Smith, the newly named special counsel in the Trump investigations, is already reviewing and approving all the filings related to a court hearing tomorrow. The hearing is related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents criminal case.

Our Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez also reporting tonight that prosecutors who work under Smith haven't made major changes to their schedule in the next few weeks, which is when they were scheduled already to take witness testimony and collect documents under subpoena. One source saying, quote, the grand jury doesn't seem to have skipped a beat.

This is a growing number of former top legal officials saying that President Trump is headed for indictment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the day, I expect that Donald Trump will be indicted by the special counsel.

BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I personally think that they probably have the basis for legitimately indicting the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the Department of Defense and co-editor in chief of the "Just Security" blog.

And, obviously, you and your colleagues just put out a 169-page charging document, and very clearly showing why you think indictment is appropriate in the Mar-a-Lago case. There was worry, right? Seventy-two hours ago, there was worried that appointing a special counsel for both the Mar-a-Lago case and the January 6th criminal case investigations would slow the whole thing down, slow roll the whole thing. We're 72 hours later. He's been briefed on everything. He's approving

everything. The hearing is going ahead tomorrow. Evan and Katelyn and are reporting that nothing has changed on the schedule, nothing's been slowed down, it appears thus far. So what are you seeing now?

RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: So the reporting is consistent with his reputation, that he is this kind of dogged persecutor, who is very quick and efficient. He's a triathlete in his other life, but it seems as though that's an attitude that he takes to the work.

I do think there are concerns before the decision, that could slow things down in the abstract, having a special counsel. But the person is so important in the equation, and he's the kind of person that is obviously hitting the ground running.

BURNETT: It certainly seems that way. So, now, tomorrow's briefing, right, Jack Smith is not fully briefed on this. He approved everything, all the documents are ready. He didn't get in -- hold, on that we wait a couple of days while I we throw. It no, boom, boom, boom, going ahead.

This hearing is about the document review of the Mar-a-Lago documents, right? This is what the hearing is regarding. You believe this hearing could be very telling at this point. How come?

GOODMAN: So, I think it could be telling in a certain sense that the government's position is very strong, it's almost like a menu of choices that the 11th Circuit has to uphold the government's case and then just allow them to proceed ahead and have Jack Smith have all of the evidence that was collected in the FBI searches. I also think it's telling in other ways.

The government is sticking with the same argument that they've had before, that there's no evidence of declassification of these documents, which is telling, because they've now interviewed Kash Patel, who is the only other person out there who said, other than Donald Trump, that he declassified material. The fact that they are still sticking to that argument post having Kash Patel before the grand jury is a tell that they are pretty confident about that idea.

BURNETT: So in terms of where it goes from here, this whole okay, well, they seem to have enough on the Mar-a-Lago case if they wanted to indict, to do so, then you have January 6th separate from that, and more involved. From what you know about Jack Smith, when do you think we know?

[19:20:03]

GOODMAN: I think we might have something very significant within the next couple of months on Mar-a-Lago. I do think that is a basis of facts that already provides for an indictment, so I think he's somebody who's not going to slow down in that determination.

And the big question is does the move forward with another case, if he feels like he has enough for an indictment or does he wait for the other which is the January 6th materials, and that could be a more complicated process.

BURNETT: And then you wait for both?

GOODMAN: Right.

BURNETT: Right. Which of course, then you run the risk of the leagues and people know what you have in the first one, so there's risks there too, but fascinating.

All right. Ryan, thank you very much.

GOODMAN: Thank you.

And next, new audio from an intercepted phone call between a Russian soldier and his girlfriend. What you are going to hear reveals startling conditions on the frontlines.

And then, the mystery over who killed the four Idaho college students is deepening tonight. Police say there were other friends who were at the apartment when 911 was called.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, the Third World War. That's how one Russian soldier describes what he is seeing on the ground in Ukraine, in a new recording just in exclusively to CNN.

[19:25:01]

CNN has obtained this intercepted phone conversation between the Russian soldier and his girlfriend.

Listen to this part.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): It's World War 3 out there. If they didn't bring in the mobilized soldiers (EXPLETIVE DELETED). If we didn't go there, they'd already be here. We would be totally (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They would hammer away at Moscow and Ekaterinburg (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They'd hammer everything.

GIRLFRIEND (through translator): It's so scary, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: The soldier says that his unit of 96, 96, okay, has already lost more than half its people more than half. 50. And he says that it is clear to him that those in charge don't care about the troops.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): The commander's position was hit by a rocket for (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sake. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) incredibly he managed to gather up his unit in just 30 minutes. And they all retreated further from the shelling. But, us, we were totally (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Are we not human beings?

I don't know, some guys here (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Soon, we will just leave and go to him.

GIRLFRIEND (through translator): Go to who?

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): To the commander of the battalion. And we'll just shoot him. Nobody will even investigate.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: Threatening to shoot the commander of his battalion. It is unbelievable to hear this. And yet we have heard and seen, we've shown you this incredible discontent and unrest among the Russian fighters. In fact, we're hearing it yet again tonight in another newly obtained video believed to have been filmed recently in Russia at a training ground. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): We haven't held rifles for the past two weeks and came today to the training grounds to throw grenades. When we were there, they told us they didn't have any grenades. And they didn't even have a bus for us to return. So we walked from the training grounds back to here.

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Ten kilometers, it took ten kilometers to get back. We came from there to here.

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): How can we fight along officers who are like this (EXPLETIVE DELETED)? They would sell us off there to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Matthew Chance has much more on all of this out front in Kyiv. I want to warn you that some of the images, you will see in his report may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Russia's military highlights its barrage of Ukraine, CNN has obtained exclusive recordings of a Russian soldier describing the brutal reality of life on the front lines.

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): The commander's position was shelled, so he packed up and moved further back. But what about us? Aren't we humans, too?

CHANCE: The Russian soldier was recorded phoning his girlfriend back home, according to Ukrainian intelligence, and telling her candidly about the severe military setback suffered in the two months since he arrived.

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): We had 96 people in our unit but now there are less than 50. We don't know what to expect here. Sometimes there's friendly fire and idiots shoot at us because they don't see our coordinates.

CHANCE: But it is advancing Ukrainian forces that are the major threat, compounding low morale with high bloodshed. Ukrainian officials now reacting to this extraordinary video of Russian soldiers apparently surrendering, geolocated by CNN to a recently liberated town in eastern Ukraine. Come on out, one by one, a Ukrainian soldier calls out. Then a short burst of gunfire before the video cuts off.

Later, a Ukrainian military drone shows what appears to be the same men in pools of blood. The Kremlin says it's an execution. But Ukraine says the soldiers feigned surrender and fired. The Ukrainians accusing Russia of its own war crime. No one disputes the horror.

It's unclear if the dead Russians were regular troops or deployed as parts of the Kremlin's partial mobilization, seen here earlier this year. But the soldier recorded on the phone indicates he was recently conscripted, complaining bitterly at being unable to leave the war zone.

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Being mobilized is crap. Nobody can go home until Putin announces the order. There's no way to return. And if we weren't here, they, the Ukrainians, would already be at our borders. They would shell Moscow, Ekaterinburg, shell everything.

CHANCE: And that constant threat of Ukrainian attack is having a terrifying effect, in particular, drone strikes, which appeared to have left the soldier particularly nervous.

[19:30:08]

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): My nerves are on edge. I'm afraid of every rustle, every bang, every click makes me drop to the ground.

CHANCE: In Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine, the funerals are underway for more of those killed on the brutal front line. Deaths, Ukrainian officials insist, would never have happened but for Russia's war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Well, Erin, the big change over the past couple of days here in Ukraine has been the plunging temperatures with the first snow of the winter covering the ground. This as Russia continues its missile strikes against energy infrastructure targets, causing power cuts and shortages across the country. Russia may be on the defensive, but it is, at this point, far from defeated -- Erin.

BURNETT: Thank you very much, Matthew Chance, with that exclusive report from Kyiv tonight.

I want to go now to John Brennan, the former CIA director and the author of "Undaunted: My Fight Against America's Enemies at Home and Abroad," which is now available in paperback as well. Director, thank you for your time.

You know, when you hear this phone conversation, and it's a full conversation in lots of detail. What do you take away from it?

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Well, Erin, I think as those conversations indicate, as well as Matthew's reporting, Russian military operations on the ground in Ukraine are in complete disarray. Even after nine months of fighting, they still have not been able to coordinate a lot of their operations, the ground and air operations.

And it does seem as though the morale of Russian forces is at an all- time low. And they are sending in these new recruits without special training, without special weapons. They're basically serving as cannon fodder.

So I can understand those Russian soldiers who are calling home, I'm sure that most of them are very worried about their future, their lives. And I can just expect that this is just going to continue and get worse for them in the coming months.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, interesting. You know, sort of the mutiny when he's saying if this continues this way, we'll just go shoot our commanding officer, to actually even say such a thing.

I want to play one more clip from that specific intercepted phone call director between the soldier and his girlfriend. This is what happened after he told her that only 50 of the 96 people in his unit were still alive. He then said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIRLFRIEND (through translator): So there are 50 people there with you in the forest? Or there are more?

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Of course there are more. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) people. A lot of prisoners, people from PMCs.

GIRLFRIEND (through translator): Huh?

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): PMC. Private military company. They came here on contract.

GIRLFRIEND (through translator): Bunny, be careful there, please.

RUSSIAN SOLDIER (through translator): I'm trying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He said expletive loads of prisoners and mercenaries, right? So, more than half his unit is killed. And there is this unbelievable number of prisoners and mercenaries, more than the actual military is the clear implication.

Director, what does this say to you about Putin's standing? If this is his fighting force right now, what appears to be left are prisoners they released and mercenaries?

BRENNAN: Well, it shows he's running out of options to try to reverse his fortunes on the battlefield with conventional military means. He's opting to empty the prisons from Russia, and also use the Wagner group, this is the mercenary group, and sending them in. But they're also getting chewed up by Ukrainian forces.

So it's clear he's going to be relying more and more on these long range attacks, going after critical infrastructure, trying to destroy the electric grids, as well as the water stations, things to try to undermine the Ukrainian's morale. But if anything, I think it's Russian morale that continues to plummet.

BURNETT: Well, so you mentioned critical infrastructure. And, obviously, you've got the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in Ukraine. We've talked a lot about it. But now, once again, moving to the front burner, all this fighting is still happening around Zaporizhzhia's nuclear plant. Russia -- Russia state media tonight, the, now saying the plant is, quote, at risk of a nuclear accident. The head of Russia's nuclear energy agency today claiming that, quote, it is obvious that Kyiv considers a small nuclear incident acceptable.

Do you think, Director, that Russia is now more specifically setting Ukraine up for another false flag that could sort of open the floodgates to nuclear activity?

BRENNAN: Very possibly. Zaporizhzhia is in the middle of a war zone, and the shelling coming from both sides. There's a lot of parts of that nuclear reactor complex that could be vulnerable to the shelling. Radioactive material could be leaked out. But, also, Russia has been waving the nuclear saber over the last several months, and saying that the Ukrainians were going to use some type of dirty bomb as a pretext for escalation.

[19:35:08]

So I am concerned the rhetoric once again is focusing on the nuclear reactor plant in Zaporizhzhia. The fighting around the area is increasing, which means that what is -- has been largest nuclear plant in Europe could in fact be the site of a devastating nuclear disaster that could have far-reaching implications.

Hopefully, the reactors are not going to be breached, but given the funding that's going on, given the fact that some of the electric power going to the complexes being cut off, and they mean to maintain the electricity to keep the cooling systems running. So, it's at the worst stage in terms of where the reactors' future stands.

BURNETT: Certainly as Putin's back is increasingly against the wall. You take these phone calls with the soldiers, and it doesn't take long to get to how desperate he could be on the nuclear front.

Dr. Brennan, thank you very much. I appreciate your time as always.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Erin. BURNETT: And next, police revealing new details about the college

student killings in Idaho, including the presence of other friends at the apartment when 911 was finally, many hours later, called.

And an exclusive CNN investigation exposing the brutal rapes of those opposing the Iranian regime, including women who failed to cover their heads with head scarves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They choose the women who are pretty and suited the offices appetites. Then, they would take them to a smaller private room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:40:10]

BURNETT: Tonight, we're getting new information about the violent matters of for college students in Idaho. Detectives are revealing the initial 911 call came from one of the surviving roommate cell phones. Police are also saying for the first time that there were several other friends at the house when the 911 call came in, which, of course, was hours after the actual murders themselves.

Now, despite those details, police tonight still have no suspect, no weapon, no motive.

Camilla Bernal is OUTFRONT in Moscow, Idaho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF JAMES FRY, MOSCOW POLICE: This incident has shaken our community, and we continue to mourn the victims.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than a week after the killings of four University of Idaho students, the mystery over who murdered them only deepens.

As investigators search the crime scene, police revealing who is not considered a suspect, beginning with the two roommates asleep in the home, as four others were stabbed to death.

REPORTER: How does one individual kill four people at night and not wake up the other roommates?

FRY: I don't know that information at this point in time. That's where we're continuing to investigate.

BERNAL: But police able to clear the remains of suspects, adding that one of their phones were used to place the 911 call just before noon that day.

The initial caller not revealed. And police say several people talked to the dispatcher.

FRY: There was other friends that had arrived at the location.

BERNAL: Those friends first called over by the roommates when they thought one of the victims was passed out and not waking up. Also cleared as a suspect, a man Kaylee Goncalves several times after she got home at 1:45 a.m. Her family says it was an ex-boyfriend, and they never suspected him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is not a suspect. He is not suspicious. He's 100 percent innocent in this.

BERNAL: Police also cleared as a suspect someone seen in video from a food truck that two of the victims visited that night. And the driver that picked up Goncalves and Madison Mogen to bring them home after visiting the food truck.

FRY: Homicide by stabbing.

BERNAL: The murder weapon, we know, is a fixed blade knife, generally much stronger than a kitchen knife, and commonly used in hunting.

Police say all four victims were likely sleeping at the time of the attack. But some possibly woke up and defended themselves.

CATHERINE MABBUTT, LATAH COUNTY CORONER: There were stab wounds on the hands of at least one of the students, which make it appear that they would be defensive winds.

BERNAL: Authorities canvassing the neighborhoods for clues and additional video, as flyers reading "please help" appeared around the neighborhood.

Kaylee Goncalves' mother telling NBC she's urging the killer to end the mystery.

KRISTI GONCALVES, MOTHER OF VICTIM KAYLEE GONCALVES: The guilt has got to be just overwhelming. It's going to be sickening. Stop hiding, stop running.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL: And all of these families want to find the killer. They want answers, they want justice. But in the meantime, they're also planning funerals.

Ethan Chapin, the 23-year-old, his funeral is happening as we speak. Cameras were not allowed inside the service. But as mother spoke before the service, she was extremely emotional, saying that her son is one of the most incredible people you'll ever meet. They asked everyone to wear blue, because he is a triple, and blue was his triplet color -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Camila, thank you so much.

Hard to hear details.

Next, Iranian protesters paying a horrific price for opposing the regime. We have an exclusive CNN investigation.

And we're just getting the first image of Jay Leno after his accident nine days ago. He put his picture. He was badly burned, but tonight, he's out the hospital and recovering at home.

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[19:47:56]

BURNETT: Tonight, brutal tactics. An exclusive CNN investigation tonight revealing that protesters in Iran are being beaten and even raped for standing up to the regime and challenging Iran's moral laws. Eyewitnesses telling CNN that they're using sexual violence to demoralize and in some cases blackmail protesters.

The mass protests, which have been happening unabated for months now, began after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by Iran's so-called morality police for failing to cover her hair properly. I want to warn you that this report includes details of sexual violence.

Nima Elbagir is OUTFRONT with this exclusive investigation.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Over these mountains is Iran, a regime that has succeeded in cutting many of its people off from the outside world. But disturbing stories detailing the authorities' brutal retribution, systematic sexual violence against anti-regime protesters, have begun leaking out.

We have come here to the Kurdish region of Iraq to try to find out more. This is Hannah (ph), not her real name, a Kurdish Iranian woman recently smuggled out of Iran. She fears for her life. After taking off and burning her head scarf on the streets, she was arrested and detained by Iranian intelligence officers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They choose the women who are pretty and suited their appetites. Then, the officer would take one of them from the cell to a smaller, private room. They would sexually assault them there.

ELBAGIR: Hannah isn't only an eyewitness. She also was violated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I feel shy talking about this. You can still see what the policeman did. Look here, on my neck. It is purplish. That is why I am covering it. He forced himself on me.

ELBAGIR: Then, a fight broke out with another protester. Drawing away Hannah's attacker, Hannah and others could hear screams and they believe a woman was raped in an interrogation room.

Hannah sketched out the police station as she remembers it.

[19:50:01] She estimates 70 to 80 men and women were together in a main hall that accessed for private interrogation rooms. It was in these interrogation rooms, she says, that she was assaulted and others were raped.

CNN was able to locate the police station through Hannah's description, eyewitness corroboration and geolocation, using key landmarks. It's in the Eslamabad neighborhood of Urmia.

Based on this testimony and speaking to a number of sources, a pattern of repression comes into focus. Police centers use as filtration points, moving protesters from one location to another, often families left not knowing where their loved ones are held.

One Iraq-based Kurdish militant opposition party PAK identified over 240 people who they believe are missing within this maze of detention centers. Human rights organizations believe the number is higher, in the thousands. Some of the victims as young as 14. Many are men, supporting female protesters. Their punishment as severe as the women's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They brought four men over who have been beaten, screaming intensely in another cell. And one of the man who was tortured with sent to the waiting room where I was. I asked him what all that screaming was about. He said they are raping the man.

ELBAGIR: Based on witness testimony, CNN trace the location to an Iranian army intelligence headquarters. Voiced her by a translator, a 17 year old boy sent CNN a voice note following his imprisonment. We are withholding his name and location for his safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When a security guard heard me discussing the rape of the other inmates, he started torturing me all over again. They tortured and raped me from behind.

ELBAGIR: Even as authorities visited sexual violence on protesters, regime figures accused female protesters of prostitution, of, quote, wanting to be naked. Of the incidents of sexual violence against protesters, inside Iranian detention facilities, most occurred in the Kurdish majority areas to the west of Iran, home to historically oppressed minority.

Disturbingly in some cases, the rapes were filmed and used to blackmail protesters into silence.

There has been a real escalation where female protesters are as you can see here, being openly assaulted, often sexually. But the violence against women, like the protests, are not confined to the Kurdish areas. They're often focused on locations, where the protests are most intense, like here in the capital Tehran.

One of these stories is Armita Abbasi, a typical 20-year-old on social media sharing her love of animals.

On social media posts appearing under her name, Abbasi, like many young women in Iraq criticized the regime openly after the protests began. Unlike most, she did it without anonymity. It didn't take long for security forces to find and arrest her. Abbasi disappeared.

Soon after, whistleblowers began to post on various social media platforms. Medics, sharing eyewitness accounts of what had been done to Abbasi. First of all, they say there were few plain clothes men with her, and they did not let her out of their sight. Even during a private medical examination they were there.

She was my patient, I went to her bedside. They shaved her head. She was scared and was troubling.

When she first came in, they said, it was rectal bleeding due to repeated rape. The plainclothesmen insisted that the doctor write that the rape was prior to her arrest. And after this issue is becoming obvious to all, they changed the entire scenario altogether.

The details of these leaks were confirmed to CNN by an insider at Imam Ali hospital, where Abbasi was brought to be examined. In a statement, the government said Abbasi was treated for digestive problems. The medics who treated her said that was not true.

The Iranian regime, denies the rape, accusing her of leading protest, an allegation which could see her face the death penalty.

At this usually busy border crossing between Iraq and Iran, it is deceptively quiet. Those who can cross, tell us the noose is tightening on protesters. Authorities have for decades use sexual torture against Iranians. And it appears once more a familiar pattern, sexual violence deployed to enforce an assertion of moral guardianship.

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ELBAGIR (on camera): Iranian authorities have not responded to our request for comment, and they continue to erode the telecommunication systems to stop stories like the ones we show there getting out. But what is really important to stress, that people are finding ways to tell these stories. They are finding ways at huge risk to their lives and the lives of their families, to tell the world what is happening to them, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Nima, thank you so very much. And, of course, Nima, bringing those stories to the world.

Next, the first image of Jay Leno who was badly burned nine days ago. He's been released from the hospital, and he has released a picture showing his recovery at home tonight.

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BURNETT: We have an update on Jay Leno. He's at home tonight after being treated for burns that he got in the gasoline fire while he was working on one of his cars. He was in the hospital for nine days. The former "Tonight Show" host was badly burned on his face, trust, and hence, but today, he wanted the world to see this picture. He posed with some of his care team, and he wanted everyone to clearly see his injuries.

He said sessions in the hyperbaric chamber helped him recover. He will continue to receive outpatient treatment. The hospital says Leno was grateful for all the good wishes coming his way, and his doctors are still optimistic that he will make a full recovery.

Thanks so much for joining us. Don't forget. You can watch OUTFRONT anytime, anywhere. You just have to go to CNN Go.

Until then, "AC360" starts now.