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Isa Soares Tonight
Russia On The Verge Of Annexing Four Occupied Areas Of Ukraine As Sham Referenda Ended Today; Series Of Gas Leaks Affect Nord Stream Pipeline; Hurricane Ian Barrels Toward Florida; Initial Results From "Sham" Referenda In Ukraine; U.S. Markets Uncertain After Dow Enters Bear Market; Chinese Protest As Country Sticks To Zero COVID-19 Policy; NASA's DART Mission Successfully Slams Into An Asteroid. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 27, 2022 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, Russia is on the verge of annexing four occupied areas
of Ukraine as sham referenda ended today. A series of unusual gas leaks affecting the Nord Stream pipeline are sparking concerns of possible
sabotage.
And Hurricane Ian's barreling towards Florida's west coast as a category 3 storm, putting millions of people at risk. But first, authorities in full
Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories are counting votes from the so- called secession referenda. Those referendums are illegal under international law, but as expected, Russian state media claims the first
partial results shows huge majorities in favor of joining Russia.
If it goes Russia's way, they will soon claim ownership of occupied areas in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson as well as Zaporizhzhia. And this could
dangerously escalate the war. President Vladimir Putin has said he will use all means at his disposal to protect Russia's territorial integrity,
raising of course, the specter of nuclear conflict.
Well, as Mr. Putin is trying to steal land from Ukraine, many of his citizens are scrambling to leave the country and its military call up. New
satellite images, you can see there, show a line of traffic that spans nearly 16 kilometers long, as people wait to cross into Georgia. Our Nick
Paton Walsh joins me now from Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine for more.
And Nick, let's start on that referendum, because Russia doesn't completely control all those areas in Ukraine, but of course, that won't stop Putin
from claiming it. So what next? How does it change the calculus in the battlefield?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: We don't know that at this stage, and Russia has tried to suggest that they may feel obliged or
unable to use nuclear force in the events that they formally declare these areas as being part of Russia. Let me just talk you through the timetable
of this.
You've heard earlier results about 12-plus percent of the votes being counted, I should say all of this are not votes, This is not a Democratic
process. This is happening under military occupation, and often ballot boxes being passed around by military men who are holding weapons. So these
numbers of 97 percent approval are essentially the number of people who've said yes when asked whether or not by an occupying force.
They want to be part of Russia who runs that occupying force. So, we knew the results would be this way, we'd expect them to probably come out in a
more formal fashion in the next 24 hours. Already hearing separatists, I should quote, separatists leaders in Russian-controlled areas saying
they're going to Moscow to try and begin the process of this formal annexation.
That is, in itself, going to start the ball rolling in the chambers of Russia's rubber-stamped parliament. And there's even a suggestion, in fact,
from the British Ministry of Defense, that Putin may use a speech on Friday to formally declare these areas as part of Russia. So, the pace could be
very fast under which this happens.
We simply don't know quite what timetable the Kremlin is thinking about. We know what the ultimate result will be. And we also know too, that the
United States will likely impose economic sanctions if there are any parts the economy left that they can put pressure on after this formal
recognition. As you pointed out there, Isa, we just don't know how it will change the battlefield.
Ukraine is still winning here. Russia is struggling, it seems, to affect this partial mobilization. And so the fear is, this may lead Moscow to lean
towards more unconventional parts for its military arsenal and possibly come closer to realizing the horrifying rhetoric that's been used over the
past days, about possible nuclear tactical strikes. Isa?
SOARES: I was reading Nick, your analysis online, fantastic analysis online on cnn.com, and you argued basically that the conflicts kind of most
dangerous moment may be nearing. I just want to read a line from your piece. You say, "we are faced with a Russia that wants to project a mad man
image ready to lose everything for everyone if faced with losing this war".
You go on to say, "this is a binary moment for Putin who has no climb-down or gentle off ramp available." As we look, Nick, at these long lines of
Russia's -- Russians really trying to avoid getting drafted. Where does this dissent leave Putin, in your opinion?
WALSH: In his most precarious moment, perhaps so far, this 22 years, effectively, heading Russia. I should point out the scenes at the Georgian
border are kind of staggering really, because it was only in 2008 that Russia invaded Georgia.
[14:05:00]
Now, Georgia has all these thousands of Russian men flooding into it to escape being involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And that is all, I
think, not lost on Russia's neighbors who have been often dependent upon their stronger military former imperial neighbor, but also now, I think,
very worried about what that Russia's invasion of Ukraine might mean for them.
Where we're going now with Putin is a moment in which it's clear, his conventional force has failed here. The regular army of the last six
months has not done what they thought they were going to do. And they've seen in the last month, a startling route, frankly, and a huge loss of
armor and manpower.
So, they're desperately trying to replenish ranks through prisoners at one point, and now through it seems, grabbing people off the streets and
ignoring the stringent criteria that Putin laid out in a speech he gave, even if he himself believed those criteria would be stuck to. So, lacking
in conventional force and facing enormous dissent at home, it's a lose-lose frankly for Putin in terms of what he can do with his normal army.
But he still needs to project strength because, as a weak leader, he's essentially of no use even to Moscow's elite, and that I think leads many,
including the U.S. officials now. We're beginning to hear using messaging about nuclear war and the consequences and how horrific it would be that
was unthinkable, frankly, for decades of peace since the cold war, which leads you to believe that they might be reassessing how likely Moscow's use
of tactical nuclear weapons has become.
As I say these words, Isa, it's horrifying to even be discussing it. But we're at a point, I feel, where the Kremlin definitely can't imagine losing
--
SOARES: Yes --
WALSH: Its only victory that they can see is their way forward in all of this. But they don't have already means to pursue that through conventional
force in their bid to try and replenish their military ranks is causing unprecedented dissent across all of Russia. And so, we are into a very
dangerous moment for Putin himself where I presume nuclear blackmail is probably the best outcome where they threatened nuclear force and try and
impose their will through a peace negotiation at best or maybe through the battlefield at worst.
But It is clear Kyiv and Washington won't accept that. And so, yes, we are -- as they formalize as they're likely to do, control over these occupied
territories and the battlefield continues to move in Ukraine's flavor.
SOARES: Yes --
WALSH: They 're losing this area that they're going to claim day-by-day, we're into a very dangerous set of weeks ahead. Isa?
SOARES: Absolutely terrifying, but very important context there from our Nick Paton Walsh in Kramatorsk, thanks very much, Nick. Well, Russia is
hemorrhaging troops as Nick was saying, as well as equipment in Ukraine. But it's continue to feed its war machine with this new partial
mobilization.
Ben Wedeman shows a senseless losses really on Russia's unprovoked war. And a warning, some of the images In his report are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bodies of dead Russian soldiers are scattered around the town of Pisky-
Radkivski, killed far from home, and what the Kremlin chooses to call a special military operation, but it's a war by any other name.
A warrant to which many more Russians will be thrown now that the so-called partial mobilization has begun. And who may well meet a similar end. This
is a bank document found on one of the soldiers. The soldier is from St. Petersburg, and he was born on the 30th of September, 2001. He died three
days before his birthday.
A charred remnants of Russian armor scattered around town. Outgoing artillery pursues an army once considered the most powerful on earth. An
army that abandoned tanks aplenty, many in working order. Dimitri(ph) and his crew are tinkering with one such tank, fresh from the battlefield. "It
has minimal breakages", he says. "I can turn it on now with any problems."
Sure enough, its motor roars to life. "When they run away, they lose not only the tanks, but also the ammunition, and the next day, it's all used
against them." This tank almost ready to go back into action. Pisky- Radkivski lies just north of the Donetsk region, which after sham referendum, President Vladimir Putin plans to annex to Russia.
Yet, few here have fond memories of life under Russia's sway. Skanislav(ph) is cutting sheet metal to put over the shattered windows of his sister's
home. "There was looting in Spring", he recalls, "they were taking everything." Down the road, Valvera and Deraisa(ph) back to what they did
throughout the Russian occupation.
[14:10:00]
"Just sitting here", says, Valvera(ph) they didn't bother us. But Deraisa(ph) found them annoying. "Nazis" she says. They always asked where
are the Nazis? The Russians have left or lie dead in the dirt. Lives' wasted or nothing. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Pisky-Radkivski, eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Now, Hurricane Ian is in the Gulf of Mexico right now and is heading towards the western coast of Florida after making landfall in Cuba
on Tuesday morning. It slammed the Caribbean island as a category 3 hurricane, packing winds of about 185 kilometers per hour.
Cuban state television says the western province on Pinar Del Rio known for its tobacco farms, has lost power and suffered heavy damage. The U.S.
National Hurricane Center says Ian can make landfall near Venice, just south of Tampa, Florida on Wednesday evening as a category 3 hurricane all
even worse.
Our meteorologist Jennifer Gray is tracking the storm. So Jennifer, barreling towards Florida. Give us a sense here of timeline and strength as
well.
JENNIFER GRAY, METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's going to be impacting a very vulnerable coast of Florida. This area is very low-lying, there are a lot
of canals and base, and so the biggest impact with those storms is going to be the storm surge. All of this water just pushing into these basin canals.
We could see up to 3 meters of storm surge.
So, it is going to be significant. As the storm pulls away from Cuba, we are in a very ripe environment for strengthening. in fact, it has
strengthened just in the last advisory. Now up to 195 kilometer per hour winds. Moving to the north at 16, tonight, it's going to parallel key west.
We could end up with a category 4 storm in the Gulf of Mexico before this makes landfall, and then you can see it making landfall potentially as a
category 3, maybe 4, but this storm is going to slow down significantly at a walking pace.
This storm is going to be traveling. And so, we're going to see a long duration event of water just being pushed into the base, the canals,
anywhere along this western coast in that cone, could be the target area for where the storm is going to make landfall. So, a lot of evacuations
have been in place. This is a landfall location, 125-mile per hour winds at landfall in Cuba at 4:30 this morning.
You can see 3.5 meters of storm surge, potentially, in this part of Florida where this storm is most likely going to make landfall. We could see up to
2.5 meters of storm surge across places like Tampa. We have watches and warnings all across state. And you can see the radar rain already falling
across south Florida that I really defined there with that storm.
It is going to continue to strengthen throughout the next 12 hours or so. And also mentioning the rain, because this storm is going to be moving so
slowly, we could see areas topping out at 500 millimeters of rain. So, we are going to see significant impacts from this storm with it moving so
slowly.
As I mentioned, the storm surge as well as the rainfall are going to be the two biggest concerns. And then as this crosses over Florida, we'll be
watching the east coast of the U.S. for additional impacts by the weekend.
SOARES: Jennifer, I know you'll keep us posted on that. Appreciate it --
GRAY: You're welcome.
SOARES: Thanks very much, Jennifer --
GRAY: Of course.
SOARES: Well, let's get more on this, CNN's Patrick Oppmann is standing by in Havana, and Carlos Suarez is in Tampa, Florida. Patrick, let me start
with you. I mean, Hurricane Ian moving off to the shore in Cuba, but as you can see, continuing your shot, It's continuing to pack a punch.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CUBA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and we are getting some of the worst rain right now. It's actually affecting our camera. So, you know,
that's just a live TV a lot of times. And a lot of times when a hurricane was off the coast, that is sometimes when you get the most wind and rain,
and so we have continued to be lash by the wind and rain.
We're hearing the rain starting to crash right now, and the tide apparently are going up, and it should be going out and the reason for that is, as a
hurricane leaves, that's when the storm surge comes in. The hurricane is no longer pushing the water out to sea, and so sea comes crashing back.
And that will -- and that will lead to a flooding in Havana which is always the main concern because when people's houses get flooded, when they're
underwater, that wave can carry people out. Those waves can carry people out. That strong currents can carry people out, it can carry away their
possessions.
It does much more damage, then the wind. Certainly, what we're experiencing now is nothing compared to what people in western Cuba have felt since late
last night and early this morning. Many people have lost the roofs of their home. The entire province of Pinar Del Rio, about 500,000 people is without
electricity right now and probably will be for days to come.
So, only now is help on its way according to the Cuban government, but a lot to pick up, a lot of damage to assess.
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No word yet on any injuries or possible deaths. This has been a devastating storm for Cuba and of course, the fear is, as it gets into the Gulf of
Mexico, it may gain even more power. It certainly didn't lose much power here in Cuba, and did just devastating damage. Even though, it didn't hit a
very populated area, you know, we're seeing pictures of trees down everywhere or farms, they're underwater, of homes that have been either
flooded or had terrible wind damage.
And this is a poor country. So how long it will take for people to recover, you know, if they ever do really. But Cubans know hurricanes, and this has
been a particularly punishing one, certainly one that people will remember for a long time. Isa.
SOARES: Appreciate it. Patrick Oppmann there, let you go. And do stay safe there for us, Patrick. Let me get to Carlos Suarez. And Carlos, as we were
looking from Jennifer, our meteorologist just showing us, you know, Tampa really is where the concern, the worry is, right now because of the storm
surge. I think she said 2.5 meters is the concern. Tell us what you're seeing and how they're prepping?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so folks out here are breathing a bit of a sigh of relief with that latest track having that storm going a
little bit south of the Tampa Bay area, because the storm surge associated with it might be a little bit better for this part of Florida. That being
said, the time for folks to prepare their homes and businesses here in Pinellas County may have run out.
A business owner told us that they want to go pick up some plywood, and they were told that, that place had run out. They went to go get more
sandbags, and they told -- they were told that also had come to a stop. A number of businesses though here in Gulfport, they prepared ahead of all
this.
They got their sandbags in place. They got their plywood up. They've made all of the preparations that they needed to, in the event that the storm
either made a direct impact or even stayed off to the coast of the Tampa Bay area. Again, we are in Gulfport, that's in the Pinellas County, which
is right along the Bay here over in Hillsboro County.
There are two mandatory evacuation orders and we're told that nearly 370,000 people there are being told that they have to leave their homes
because they live in a flood zone. A lot of these folks live along the coast there, and so they've been told, they have to get out. Here in
Pinellas County, there are also to mandatory evacuation orders.
The most recent one went into effect this morning, and everyone here is being told, they need to get out of town at the latest, tonight. If you try
to get on to the barrier islands out here, so we're talking about the St. Pete side of things, we were told that police, law enforcement is out
there, and they're asking folks to show identification.
You have to prove to them that you have a house there, that you live in an apartment building there, or that you have some sort of business there
because if you don't, the mandatory evacuation is in place and you have to get out.
SOARES: Yes, so Carlos, people are heeding the warning. They are getting out of town. I mean, are they -- where are they going? Do we know where
they're going? Are there houses being set up, places being opened up for them to stay in the meantime?
SUAREZ: Yes. So, over in the Tampa area, again, about a half hour of where we are right now, 43 hurricane shelters have been opened for about those
370,000 people that have been told to evacuate. Of, course, not all of those folks can make it to one of those storm shelters. A few of them that
we talked to, a handful of them that we spoke to yesterday told us that they've made their decision to head to the central part of the state.
And in fact, last night overnight, traffic cameras here showed traffic pretty bumper-to-bumper. Cars were lined up on an interstate here that
connects Tampa and the Tampa Bay area to the Orlando area. And so, folks are hitting the road. They're trying to do this early because one of the
concerns that emergency officials have expressed is that the longer folks wait to get out, the higher the chances are that they're going to sit in
traffic.
We still don't know where this forecast track may change. It's a little bit south now. It may change in the next advisory. They just want folks to take
advantage of the fact that we still probably have another day or so before we start seeing some of the really bad weather. And if you live in one of
these evacuation zones, you've got to get out. Isa?
SOARES: Yes, heed the call. Thanks very much, Carlos Suarez for us there in Tampa, Florida, appreciate it. And still to come tonight, no backing
down. Iranian protesters march and rallying dozens of cities despite a rising death toll. We'll update the widespread unrest next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:20:00]
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. Iran's threat to crush widespread protests appears to be doing little to stop them. Raucous demonstrations in more
than 45 cities are raging more than ten days after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of morality police. Iran says at least 41 people have
been killed, although CNN cannot independently verify the death toll.
Amini, If you remember, was Kurdish and Kurdish regions have reacted strongly to her death. Iran has been targeting them inside neighboring Iraq
with airstrikes as well as artillery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: But across the world, people are showing solidarity with the women of Iran. In Istanbul, as you can see there, popular singer cut her hair at
a concert, declaring while my sisters in Iran battle this, I cannot stay silent, she says. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is in Istanbul and she's been
following the protest for us really from day one.
And Jomana, it's clear that despite the crackdown and the rising death toll, the protesters really continue to take to the streets, defiant and
indeed determined.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They really do, Isa. Just a short time ago before we came on air, we started getting information
coming from Tehran and other cities around the country, despite the fact that you've got the government throttling the internet, making it very
difficult for us to get information out of the country.
We're starting to see video this evening trickle out, showing protesters back on the streets of Tehran and other cities, really defiant, really
determined to continue calling for change. We saw them over the past couple of weeks coming out and calling for more freedoms, for more rights.
But they are arguably more emboldened than ever. We are seeing young people taking to the streets now, demanding a change to the entire system. The
fall of the regime. Really remarkable video that we've been seeing coming out with people chanting death to the dictator, and calling for the
downfall of the Islamic Republic.
And as you mentioned, this despite the fact that they are facing what many fear will be an intensifying crackdown that so far has seen more than a
1,000 people detained, that's according to government figures from this weekend. It could be much more than that. And what that means is that we've
seen images of the people being dragged off the streets. People detained from their homes.
That includes 20 journalists according to the committee to protect journalists. And then there's all that concern, Isa, about the government
forces using lethal force to try and stop these protesters.
[14:25:00]
Amnesty International saying they're shooting directly and deliberately at the protesters. And we really don't know how many people have so far been
killed. It's pretty impossible for us to try and verify the figures from outside the country. And we're getting various range of the death toll
coming from different organizations including Amnesty International, even Iranian state media, other human rights organizations as well as opposition
groups.
And they put the death toll anywhere between 40 and possibly up to 80. But there's a lot of concern that it is much higher than that but very
difficult for us to know right now. And the concern right now, Isa, is, the more persistent these protests are, that the government is going to resort
to its old ways of a brutal, bloody crackdown to try and suppress them.
SOARES: Jomana Karadsheh for us there in Istanbul, Turkey. Thanks very much, Jomana. Good to see you. Now, for a check of some other stories
making headlines for you today. The death toll from Mondays school shooting in Russia has risen 17, that is according to Russia's state news agency,
and that includes 11 children.
Russian investigators have identified the shooter as a graduate of the school, and say they're looking into possible ties to neo-fascist views. At
least seven people were killed when a fire broke out in the basement of a South Korean shopping mall. It happened in the city of Daejeon early Monday
before the mall was actually opened.
Authorities say those who died were workers, one person survived but suffered serious injuries. And still to come tonight, fears of sabotage as
both Nord Stream pipelines suffer unprecedented damage. What this might mean for Europe's energy crisis just ahead. And markets in turmoil. We'll
look at the state of the world economy as the U.S. stock market tries to steady itself after days of consecutive losses. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back to the show everyone. And back to really to our top stories this hour. Russian state media are reporting early results from so-
called referenda in Russian-occupied Ukraine. According to those reports, the votes reportedly show a majority of residents of those regions want to
join Russia. But Ukraine and the West have been calling the referenda a sham for weeks and will not recognize the results.
Many fear that Moscow is using the stage to manage votes to justify annexing Ukrainian territory.
Multiple European nations are racing to investigate after unprecedented damage was reported to not just one but both Nord Stream gas pipelines. The
lines basically run under the Baltic Sea. You can see there. And bring natural gas to the continent from Russia.
For months, there have been flashpoints, remember, in the energy standoff between Moscow and the West. Now neither pipeline is currently operational.
But both are full of gas. Earlier, Danish defense command released this video, showing gas leaking from the undersea pipe. CNN international
diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is with me now.
Nic, these are three separate, very mysterious leaks and the last few minutes we have heard from the Danish geological agency -- and I'm quoting
them here -- that say, the signals recorded, quote, "do not resemble signals from earthquakes but resemble the signals typically recorded from
blasts."
What are you hearing?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There were two blasts. This is what the Swedish seismologists have also discovered as
well. One at 2 am in the morning, Monday morning. One at about 7 pm in the afternoon Monday afternoon.
Now the Danes are saying the first blat was about 2.3 on the Richter scale. The second one about 2.1 on the scale. So significant. But they are also
saying that these are not like earthquakes at all. These are explosions, undersea explosions, that came close to the seabed, which would indicate
the pipeline.
At the moment, everything is sort of pointing toward sabotage. Nord Stream, who own and operate the pipelines, say to have a rupture in one of their
pipelines is a one in a hundred thousand-year event.
Here, you are talking about three ruptures almost at the same time in one small area. So it really does seem to indicate that. I think perhaps you
got a clue as to where the finger is pointing, almost sort of obviously from the Swedish foreign minister, when she was asked, do you expect more
of these types of incidents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN LINDE, SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We need to be prepared for it. Putin has shown that he is desperate right now because
Ukraine has shown the support of the West and incredible ability of endurance. It's not as easy as Putin thinks. Therefore we need to be
prepared that he will act react irrationally and curly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: And the Norwegian oil minister, too, saying this really looks like sabotage.
SOARES: The Danish as well. Denmark's prime minister saying this was not accidental. You and I were talking before we came on air and had a long
discussion about this. Fascinating, of course, given what we have been seeing and the fact that as Nick Paton Walsh was setting for us today, we
know we have seen Ukraine winning in the battlefield.
Putin is under pressure at home. We see Russians fleeing into neighboring Georgia. This is very much part of the Putin playbook here.
ROBERTSON: You can certainly read it that way. When there were a number of losses for the Russian military in Crimea a few months ago, a few days
later, the narrative was completely changed when a pro Russian propagandist was killed in a car bomb.
And this week the narrative has been horrible for Putin. His recruitment program has been met with a thunder of feet of military aged men running
and driving for the borders of the country. That has been negative.
And he is losing ground at the same time. This changes the narrative again so that is sort of Putin's playbook. But what we have seen consistently is
Putin getting it wrong. Putin used to have a reputation for sort of having his finger on the pulse of Russia and sort of knowing what he can get away
with.
I think we have heard from Western officials over the past week indicating that they think Putin is sort of, you know, is, A, getting it wrong but
also making bigger mistakes or gambles.
And it is not clear yet because we do not have the evidence of what happened in this pipeline. But it is beginning to point to a potential
escalation with the West by Putin.
Is it because he feels he is running out of time?
He's certainly not getting the ground in Ukraine. He is losing public opinion at home. The money will run out eventually because of sanctions.
So is this an indication that he is feeling the heat and is upping the tensions?
SOARES: I know this is being investigated from the E.U. side and you will keep an eye on it.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks are uncertain today since the lowest close since the height of the pandemic back in 2020.
[14:35:00]
SOARES: The Dow entered bear market territory on Monday and that basically means it declined 20 percent from the recent high.
Meanwhile, the British finance minister has highlighted his commitment to, quote, "fiscal sustainability." This a day after the pound hit a record low
against the dollar amid the U.K. government's tax cut. It has now rebounded slightly by about 1 percent as you can see there.
CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon joins me live from New York to discuss.
Right now, we would be looking at what, five days of losses?
Yet we have had a pretty aggressive rate hike from the Fed. The markets are not convinced.
What is going on?
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, Isa, because after those five days of losses that you pointed, out we hoped a little earlier
that maybe we would break that streak because markets were actually in positive territory. Take a look now.
You can see not so much, at least not at the moment. You can see the Dow is off about 7 points, the Nasdaq about 3 percent and the S&P about 0.5
percent as it posts its worst day in two years.
To your question, I think there are two things happening here. On the one hand you have investors questioning, how low must markets go?
We had hoped and we had thought maybe that those June lows that we saw this year might be the lows of the year. We were bouncing off of that. And now
we got these really aggressive comments from Federal Reserve Jay Powell and the selling start to commence.
The selling really picked up. We actually heard from some investment banks just today, saying that they expect more selling to come. On the other
hand, you have certainly economists and many wondering, how high must interest rates go before we start to see a real improvement in inflation?
We know the Bank of England raised interest rates half a percent last. Week the Federal Reserve raised three quarters of a percent. That is not, all
Isa, they are expected to go higher for longer.
In the case of the BOD (ph), some traders expect that that could hit about 5.5-6 percent by next spring and the case of the Federal Reserve, some are
expecting about 5.5 percent. To put that in perspective, Isa, it was not long ago, just last year, when both banks were practically in negative
territory. We were just basically positive for interest rates.
So the pace at which we are seeing the interest rates hikes, the magnitude of the interest rate hikes, are quite significant, quite historical and
that is why you are seeing this unease in the markets, as traders wonder, how are we going to get out of this?
How much pain will this cause?
One estimate today, saying best-case scenario here in the U.S. between 5 million and 6 million U.S. jobs will have to be lost to bring inflation
down to the Fed's 2 percent target.
(CROSSTALK)
SOARES: Wow. It is very hard, indeed. They are having similar thoughts here in the U.K. You mentioned the BOE; I saw comments by Larry Summers
that called the policy here utterly irresponsible. The BOE is only meeting in November. So as you well know, an hour a day in markets is a long time.
Do you think the BOE will have to move that date up?
The concerns here is that this is a big concern, this tax move here from Kwasi Kwarteng.
SOLOMON: It is a great point. But it is really a head-scratcher like you said. You have prominent economists like Larry Summers, like Mohamed El-
Erian, who talked to our colleague, Becky Anderson, yesterday, saying why would they implement this policy at this time with inflation practically at
10 percent in the U.K. and a global recession?
A head-scratcher in terms of what they do. I think it remains to be seen but you do know when the pound falls, when the U.S. dollar increases, it
certainly heightens problems for the British.
For example, making imports like food and energy, essentials more expensive. The only group you can argue that benefits from something like
this is American travelers in the U.K. right now. But it really is a head- scratcher and certainly a problematic one.
SOARES: I have a lot of people -- because it paints really a crisis of confidence, almost not with sterling but also with assets. Rahel Solomon,
really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Still to come tonight, anger in China as one city goes into yet another lockdown.
Will the country's strict zero COVID strategy continue?
That is next.
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[14:40:00]
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SOARES: For most countries, COVID-19 lockdowns are a thing of the past but not in China. Residents in one city, Shenzhen, are angry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES (voice-over): In a rate display of frustration, locals from a village took to streets in protest of yet another snap lockdown imposed
there on Monday. These cities circulating on social media show dozens clashing with authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Will, these protests are pretty rare but they do speak to the utter frustration being felt by many in China over these COVID restrictions
that are just not stopping, not ending while the rest of the world moves on.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are absolutely right, Isa, the rest of the world is essentially living a relatively normal life or at least
returning to normality. We are days away from doing away with quarantine here in Taiwan.
They just did away with it in Hong Kong, the Chinese territory. Yet in Mainland China, it is still about a month if you have to quarantine if you
come in from another country. If there are a handful of cases in your city, you can expect lockdowns, mandatory COVID testing, disruption to public
transportation, disruption to business.
This is all in Shenzhen happening right now, a city of more than 18 million people with 10 local cases reported today, 10 local cases. A 1 in 1.8
million chance today that you could catch COVID in Shenzhen. Of course those are just the reported cases. We do not know what is circulating
unreported.
But because of the mandatory testing, they are going to find pretty quickly whether that number 10 will grow up and maybe it'll be a couple of hundred.
Across all of China, only 800 or so COVID cases reported on Tuesday, 800 cases in a country of 1.4 billion people.
In your lifetime, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than you do of catching COVID in China today. Yet, you know, people are
obviously frustrated when they are living in these residential areas that are subject to these snap lockdowns.
Why is China still clinging to zero COVID?
Of course China's President Xi Jinping has said this is the only way to go. If you break it down, Isa, China has essentially failed to develop an
effective vaccine, at least as effective as the Western vaccines that China refuses to buy.
They also refuse to buy outside antivirals that are lifesaving because, in China, the domestically produced antivirals are not effective.
Why won't they buy foreign vaccines?
Why won't they abandon these lockdowns?
A lot of analysts feel that it's simply because the Chinese government, led by Xi Jinping, weeks away from an unprecedented third presidential term,
refuses to admit that they made mistakes, that they made mistakes in handling COVID-19, that they have put all their money and resources and
surveillance in tracking and testing.
And yet, did not actually develop the type of vaccine that will get into the arms of the at-risk elderly population and many others in that nation
of more than a billion people.
[14:45:00]
RIPLEY: Instead, they are just surveilling everybody, tracking everybody and living in this dystopian alternate reality that the COVID pandemic is
still raging, even though the case numbers are small.
I mean Shanghai was in the news for months. They had zero local cases as did Beijing. So clearly that is the goal of every Chinese city, because
that is what president Xi and the Communist Party insist on doing. At the expense of 20 percent youth unemployment and China now being seen as a
risky investment by a lot of companies that are moving operations to places like India, Vietnam, Thailand and Mexico, Isa.
SOARES: So important that you put that into context. The financial aspect, the impact that that is happening from this, what you call dystopian
ultimate reality. Will Ripley, great to see you. Thank you very much, Will.
Japan held an elaborate state funeral Tuesday for former prime minister, the longest serving prime minister who was shot in July during a campaign
speech. While many mourners spent the day paying the respects, many others took to the streets to protest Abe's policies and the high cost of a
funeral amid rising inflation.
Our Blake Essig reports now from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Starting early Tuesday morning, mourners lined up for the opportunity to lay flowers, pay their
respects and say a final goodbye to Japan's longest serving prime minister.
ESSIG: Among the lines of people are blocked-off roads and tens of thousands of police officers patrolling the streets of Tokyo.
ESSIG (voice-over): They are here to provide security for the 4,300 guests. That includes 700 foreign dignitaries. They are attending the
government funded state funeral for Shinzo Abby. It is inside of Japan's iconic Budokan arena.
For several hours, flowers were offered, a video tribute was played and speeches were delivered to honor the man that the current prime minister
says accomplished so much for his country. He was taken too soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): You breached the intersections of the two oceans. You had taken your ideas further and
developed them into a framework for a free and open Indo Pacific region that serves many countries and many people.
The multilayered diplomacy has noticed good relations with every country in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG (voice-over): Outside of the arena, protesters marched. They chanted. They clashed with police. They were protesting an event that wound
up costing taxpayers 1.6 billion yuan or 12 million USD that they say never should've happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The cost of the state funeral was way too high. So many people are struggling to get by after the pandemic. I
can't get my head around why we are having a state funeral. It is a very bad thing. It is so expensive.
ESSIG (voice-over): A nation divided on full display as Japan bids a last farewell to one of its most polarizing figures of all time, a man that was
both revered and resented for his role in shaping the Japan that exists today -- Blake Essig, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Still to come tonight, a spacecraft, an asteroid and a deliberate crash. How NASA is aiming to prevent a doomsday collision with Earth. What
the DART mission will tell us.
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[14:50:00]
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SOARES: NASA has successfully crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid 7 million miles from Earth, all in the name of planetary defense. This is the
moment the first of its kind mission made impact on Monday night.
It sounds like a plot of a Hollywood movie. But this is not "Armageddon." It is a real life test to see if we can redirect, really, an asteroid if we
needed to. Kristin Fisher has the details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): In a galaxy where asteroids have pummeled planets for billions of years, now one planet strikes back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Lift off.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ten months, around 6.8 million miles later and with the speed of nearly 14,000
miles per hour, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, known as DART, made history on Monday night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh.
Whoo!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow.
FISHER (voice-over): The NASA crew and scientists around the world celebrated the culmination of a grueling journey, live.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantastic. Oh, fantastic.
FISHER (voice-over): DART's mission, the first of its kind, was to test technological capabilities to protect humanity from hazardous asteroids or
other deadly objects in space.
ELENA ADAMS, DART MISSION SYSTEMS ENGINEER: You see it so beautifully concluded today, was just an incredible feeling. And also very tiring.
(LAUGHTER)
FISHER (voice-over): The DART spacecraft was about the size of a refrigerator. Its targets asteroid, Dimorphos, is about the height of the
Washington Monument. Over the last seven years, thousands of people have been working on this planetary defense test mission.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over) : This is an important test for planetary defense mitigation strategies, in case we ever have to do this for real.
FISHER (voice-over): That meant building an unmanned spacecraft and deliberately crashing it into a moving planetary object; in their very
first attempt, right on target.
MARK JENSENIUS, DART SMART NAV GUIDANCE ENGINEER: Once we got a look at Dimorphos, I think that is when the team was confident that we were going
to hit.
FISHER (voice-over): A remarkable achievement that could possibly present future events from hitting our planet.
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST: These are baby steps right now just to see if it works, to see if we have the power to do this. Then when the
big one comes, you want to make sure that there is enough of these practice runs that, in fact, we could end up succeeding.
FISHER (voice-over): In the coming weeks, NASA will analyze images and video that a briefcase-sized cube set captured during the impact. But NASA
says it will take months before it knows if the DART mission was successful.
ADAMS: What we are going to be seeing probably in the next couple of months we are going to get confirmation of exact period change that we
made.
FISHER (voice-over): Asteroids, especially big one, are not just a Hollywood imagination as in the 1998 movie, "Armageddon."
(VIDEO CLIP, "ARMAGEDDON")
FISHER (voice-over): Asteroids are very real threats. Having the means to deflect them is of vital interest to everyone on planet Earth.
MICHIO KAKU, PHYSICIST: If we can confirm that the thing was deflected by less than 1 degree, we know that, this would, in principle, work on a large
scale.
FISHER (voice-over): The last time a deadly asteroid hit Earth was around 65 million years ago.
TYSON: You can bet that if the dinosaurs had NASA, they would've deflected that asteroid.
FISHER (voice-over): Monday's test hopes to prevent that from ever happening again.
ADAMS: Should all Earthlings sleep a little easier tonight?
I definitely think that, as far as we can tell, our first planetary defense test was a success. And I think we can clap to that. Everyone. Right?
So, yes, I think Earthlings should sleep better. Definitely I well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FISHER: Not many times that you can say that you are actually going to sleep better after crashing a multimillion dollar spacecraft.
[14:55:00]
FISHER: But congratulations to the DART team. They have achieved that first objective but it will still be several weeks if not months before we
know if the DART spacecraft was successfully able to push that asteroid just slightly off course.
SOARES: Fantastic stuff, one for the dinosaurs, thank. You
Don't forget you can catch up with interviews as well as analysis from my show online or Instagram. Thank you very much for your company. Stay right
here with CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next. Have a wonderful day, bye-bye.
END
