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Abe Shot while making a speech at Campaign Rally Near Osaka; Abe 67, was Japan's Longest-Serving Prime Minister; Rishi Sunak to Run in Contest to Replace PM Johnson; Abenomics Rebooted Economy after Years of Stagnation; Putin's War on Ukraine Worsening Food Insecurity in Somalia; Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe Assassination. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 08, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. Hello and welcome to "Connect the World" a loss for Japan a loss for the
world that's one reaction of many pouring in after today's shocking assassination of Former longtime Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe was gunned down just after he began a political speech in Nara, Japan near Osaka. Here is a makeshift memorial at the scene. People in Japan are
absolutely stunned by the news. Police say the suspect has confessed. The 67-year-old Abe was two years out of his job, but he remained active in
Japanese politics and today, he was making what was supposed to be a routine appearance ahead of Upper House Elections. CNN's Blake Essig looks
at how things went so terribly wrong?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was speaking at a campaign rally East of Osaka on Thursday when chaos
ensues. Two shots can be heard, Abe has been hit in the chest and neck. The weapon a handmade gun lying on the ground.
Bystanders tried to aid the Former Prime Minister before he was rushed to the nearest hospital. But soon news broke he had succumbed to his injuries
and died age 67.
HIDENORI FUKUSHIMA, PROFESSOR, NARA MEDICAL UNIVERSITY: There were two bullet wounds. He was in a cardiopulmonary arrest after damage to large
blood vessels in the heart. We took resuscitative measures, but unfortunately he died at 5:03 pm.
ESSIG (voice over): Police have arrested the suspect a 41-year-old man who did not flee after the shooting a rare occurrence in Japan a country with
one of the world's lowest gun rates.
FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPENESE PRIME MINISTER: He loved this country and constantly looked beyond the current generation working hard for a brighter
future of this country, leaving behind many major successes in various categories.
ESSIG (voice over): World leaders also condemned the assassination.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We really, really deeply mourn the loss of his family a loss for people of Japan a loss for the world.
ESSIG (voice over): EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen remembering Abe as a great Democrat. In South Korea the President said
Japan's longest serving PM was a respected politician that will stay in Japan's history. Shinzo Abe's assassination now a black.in that history a
violent act of crime that is due to send ripples of shock across the country Blake Essig, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Nice and we'll talk with Blake in just a moment. First I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley from Taipei. Will, it is a shock, a towering
figure lost in an environment and in a situation that is so rare in Japan gun violence is not something that the Japanese are used to. Could you take
me through what average Japanese person is feeling right now and importantly, how this changes the mood ahead of those upper house elections
in a few days' time?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Eleni, you know, speaking of my friends, that I know from my years living in Japan who are
still there, it is a sense of utter disbelief because of the fact that you had in all of Japan last year, just one gun related death.
So for this to happen to the most recognizable Japanese politician of our time, a household name, prior to Shinzo Abe few Prime Minister's people
could even necessarily say who they were. And yet, and yet, Shinzo Abe was out like all Japanese politicians close to the public making his case for
members of his party even though he had stepped down as Prime Minister he was still the leader of a very powerful political faction of the ruling
party.
And now there could really be sweeping societal change. Are people going to feel safe when they walk through the streets of Japan at any hour of the
day or night knowing that now somebody was able allegedly to cobble together a homemade pistol and use it to kill one of the biggest names you
know, of our time in Japan in Japanese politics?
Will children as young as five or six still take the subway to school without their parents worrying about them? Those are the sad changes that
can result from an act of crime like this not to mention the loss of a man with such an enormous legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice over): Japan's longest serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had big dreams of a Japanese comeback.
[11:05:00]
RIPLEY (voice over): A comeback marred by a series of setbacks. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Abe's greatest achievement Japan spent billions only to see
the games postponed by the Coronavirus pandemic, the games were a cornerstone of Abe's plan to revive a struggling economy and transform
Japan into a global destination.
Abe promised a brighter future, a future looking bleak after 2011's massive earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear meltdown. Abenomics was an
ambitious plan to overhaul Japan's economy with stimulus and reform. It led to record high government debt and failed to make a lasting dent in decades
of deflation.
Problems made worse by Japan's aging population and shrinking workforce. Abe also tried to strengthen Japan's military reinterpreting the nation's
pacifist constitution drafted after World War II. The move led to massive protests in the Japanese capital.
Abe's visit visits to a controversial war shrine angered his Asian neighbors. He was criticized for not making a new apology at the 70th
anniversary of World War II accused of trying to rewrite Japan's brutal war time passed.
Abe began fighting for more military power during his first time as Prime Minister in 2006. At 52 he became Japan's youngest post war leader
corruption scandals within his party caused Abe's popularity to plummet. He resigned a year later blaming health problems.
Abe had ambition and roots in a powerful political dynasty, two former prime ministers in his family reelected in 2012 Abe declared Japan is back.
He tried to raise Japan's profile on a global stage developing allies in Europe, India and Southeast Asia, trying to mend frosty relations with
China.
Abe made history in 2016, appearing alongside Former U.S. President Bush Michel Obama in Hiroshima and later Pearl Harbor. Abe was one of the first
world leaders to form an alliance with Donald Trump taking the U.S. President out for a hamburger in Tokyo. Shinzo Abe leaves behind Akie,
known as a vibrant and popular First Lady and his wife have more than three decades.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: I met Aki have a number of years ago briefly and you know, you could tell that she took great pride in not only her work as the first lady
of Japan.
But the work that her husband was doing a lot of business left unfinished, a lot of goals that Shinzo Abe had have not fully been completed yet and
that are those close to him say would have been perhaps the most frustrating part of all of this, that he was taken down before he could see
the Japanese Constitution rewritten and the Japanese economy rebounding fully. And that will be his legacy those attempt to really, really
guarantee a brighter future for Japan. Some successful and some unfulfilled.
GIOKOS: Will Ripley thank you so very much. All right, standing by for more insight we've got Jeremy Diamond at the White House and Blake Essig
standing by for us in Tokyo. Blake, I want to start with you. We saw your piece and you were taking us through the timeline of what we understand to
have happened at in Nara.
You hear the gunshots? You know that this 41-year-old man is unemployed. We know that there are a lot of police officers working on the investigation.
Could you give us some insights right now in terms of what police are telling you?
ESSIG: Eleni, just in the past few hours, we have learned a lot more about the suspect in the assassination of Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. As
you'd mentioned, police say that this is a 41-year-old unemployed man who was now admitted to the shooting of the Former Prime Minister.
He was swarmed by security after the shots were fired and arrested while in possession of what NHK Japan's public broadcaster describes as a homemade
gun. Police say that this man went after Abe because he hates a certain group that he believed Abe had ties to,
And that man is being investigated as a suspect for murder now with 90 police investigators dedicated to the case. And as we'll describe
previously Shinzo Abe while a controversial figure here in Japan and around the world for some of his policies at times.
Abe an incredibly important figure in news of the shooting has absolutely shocked this country during a press conference shortly after the shooting a
current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently essentially encapsulated the feelings of the people in Japan.
[11:10:00]
ESSIG: He appeared emotional almost in tears while speaking to the press and said that this is not a forgivable act and that we will comprehend the
situation take appropriate measures. Abe's brother, the current Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi also addressed the media calling the attack, an affront
to democracy, in suppression of freedom of speech.
And then we've seen pictures of Abe's wife eyes looking down at the ground fixated as she entered the hospital where her husband was fighting for his
life. And tonight, we've seen pictures and video of people laying flowers down in Nara at the site of where this assassination took place.
To simply put, there's an overwhelming sense of sadness and shock across Japan. And those emotions will likely only deepen with the news that Former
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. Blake, we're seeing those images right now people laying flowers on the sides. Jeremy, I want to bring you in here. And we've heard
from so many world leaders, and I was just reflecting on the fact that you know, he had a relationship with President Biden, specifically when Biden
was Vice President. He had gone for burgers with Trump. He had relationship with Barack Obama, and we've heard from the White House as well take us
through that messaging.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And he was also a Prime Minister for a year during George W. Bush's Presidency as
well so three presidents in office plus Vice President Biden now the president of course.
And President Biden is reacting saying that he is "Stunned, outraged and deeply saddened by the assassination of the Former Japanese Prime Minister"
calling this a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew the Former Prime Minister.
The president, also noting the fact that Abe was in, was campaigning, while he was - when he was assassinated, saying, "Above all, he cared deeply
about the Japanese people have dedicated his life to their service. Even at the moment he was attacked he was engaged in the work of democracy".
The President also going on to extend his deepest condolences to Abe's family and all of this, frankly, a reflection of how much Abe served the
U.S./Japanese alliances and relationship over his years of service reflected not only in President Biden's statement, but also in statements
from Former President Trump who called this a "Tremendous blow to the wonderful people of Japan".
Former President Obama saying that he is "Shocked and saddened by the news of Abe's assassination". And we heard the Secretary of State Tony Blinken
talking about the fact that Abe took the U.S./Japanese relationship to new heights during his time in office, helping to deepen that partnership from
an economic perspective from a security perspective.
And so of course, the outpouring of grief is being heard loudly here in the United States, in the wake of this news.
GIOKOS: Jeremy Diamond, as well as Blake Essig thank you very much. Now, my next guest worked very closely with Shinzo Abe when he was in office. He
says Japan is shocked and united in its grief. And on CNN earlier he called the killing a terroristic attack. And Former Abe Advisor Akihisa Shiozaki
joins me now live.
Sir thank you very much for taking the time on this very difficult day! You've already shared some of those sentiments with my colleagues. But
could you give me a sense of how you and the people of Japan are feeling right now?
AKISHISA SHIOZAKI, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO SHINZO ABE: Thank you, Eleni. It's been a long and troubling day for me too. Prime Minister Abe was my
first boss in the world of politics when I served as senior staffer in the Prime Minister's Office, now a member of parliament and I've been very
closely working with him. It's a tremendous large figure a loss for Japanese politics, but, you know, definitely a loss for a lot of the public
in Japan too.
GIOKOS: We've heard from so many world leaders. We've even heard from Vladimir Putin. Is that a surprise to you that we've not heard yet from
President Xi Jinping?
SHIOZAKI: Well, you know, we need to be mindful of the time zone differences. I wouldn't be surprised if President Xi made an announcement
tomorrow morning. I think events are unfolding very rapidly. So well you know, but I think there is not so much doubt that Abe Shinzo is probably
the most renowned and widely respected Former Prime Minister in Japan, in its history.
[11:15:00]
GIOKOS: Absolutely. I think we're going to - one of the questions that have been coming up is because Shinzo Abe had taken such an assertive stance
against China you know part of the Quad we even heard from President Macron saying that Mr. Abe had sort of rebalanced power on a global scale. You
know, tell me about your relationship with him while he was navigating, you know, these global power dynamics and taking that assertive stance against
China?
SHIOZAKI: I think Prime Minister Abe was a very realistic politician in terms of international policy. We need to remember that when he first took
office in 2006, he made his first visit to China, which reopened visits between national leaders between Japan and China for the first time in a
very long time.
And since, you know, President Abe - Prime Minister Abe has been very open, expressing his concerns over Chinese aggression in the East Asia. He has
also been very vocal in strengthening and deepening the alliance between Japan and the United States.
He has also promoted in for free and open Indo Pacific area, which is now blossoming as the Quad relationship. So I think there's - it's very, you
know, difficult to characterize or simplify Abe's diplomacy in one dimension, it's been a very realistic and multi dimension, diplomacy
approach.
GIOKOS: You know Shinzo Abe was on a campaign trail just a few days ahead of the Upper House elections. Can tell me about the timing? What do you
make of the timing and timing? I'm sure you're thinking about so many possible scenarios? And importantly, how does this impact the mood of the
elections, people within Japan as well as in the lead up to the elections?
SHIOZAKI: In the immediate future, the Election Day is coming up in two days. So I think we, you know, Prime Minister Kishida, has made clear that
he will make every effort to ensure that tomorrow and the day after elections will be held openly and safely.
I think that parties are united bipartisan fashion to condemn this violence act. And so hopefully, we will pull together, pull through this challenge
and complete selections peacefully. You know, there is one and certainly here where we still don't know the background or motives behind the
shooter.
And depending on what comes out of that there might be further frustrations or eliminations of certain political parties, depending on what the
narrative turns out to be.
GIOKOS: Yes. And that's such an important point, because, you know, the little information, we have 41-year-old unemployed, and he thought that
Shinzo was part of a group that he hated. So we're still waiting for motive, we're waiting to really understand what this man was thinking. But
what is the little information we do have tell you?
SHIOZAKI: I think you know, the information that we're getting tells us that the narrative is very confusing, and that the shooter himself is not
explaining his motives in a very straightforward fashion. So we'll probably be getting more details on that aspect in the coming days. And I think it's
too early to speculate on what that might be.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, everyone is asking those questions and looking at possible scenarios. You know, as a young journalist, they used to watch
sort of the Herculean effort by Shinzo Abe to try and, you know, pull Japan out of deflation and someone that worked so closely with him, I want you to
tell me about what you saw, you know, the things that troubled him the things that he was really, you know, quite sort of ambitious about to
ensure that - he catapulted Japan back into economic prosperity.
SHIOZAKI: No, definitely, the success of "Abenomics" will be recognized as Abe's largest legacies in Japan. We need to remember that when Abe took
back office for the second time, in 2012, back from the DPJ, the NIKKEI was below 10,000 Yen and now it's above close to 30,000.
[11:20:00]
SHIOZAKI: So, basically, stock prices have tripled in eight years. So, you know, I think a lot of people would see that as a major comeback for
Japanese economy in the international scene.
In the international front, as I mentioned, I think there has been a lot of good policy achievements that Abe has made, including the sending of self-
defense forces to the Middle East, in recent years, symbolizing Japan, its willingness to take on a larger role in international policy, which I
believe is also leading in to Prime Minister Kishida's recent active involvement in the Ukrainian invasion by Russia.
GIOKOS: Akishisa thank you very much for your time, condolences to you and to that entire close to Shinzo Abe. Thank you so much for your time. All
right and we'll be back after a quick break with more of "Connect the World" stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: It may be a summer Friday in London but the UK is under pressure to come up with a new government. The big question that will run Downing
Street now that Boris Johnson has been pushed out of power over a series of scandals and he says he's staying in number 10 until a new conservative
leader is chosen.
And there are plenty of people who want to be the next Prime Minister including former members of the Cabinet, whose own resignations this week
sparked a mass exodus by government officials. Picking a new party leader could take months. The Opposition Labour Party is against that. CNN's Nada
Bashir joins me now live from Downing Street. Nada more names in the hat as we speak. I feel like we're just getting more and more candidates potential
candidates here.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely Eleni. There have been a lot of names that are swirling around. We are now getting confirmation just
in the last few moments that the Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has now thrown his hat into the ring. And he plans to run for the
leadership of the Conservative Party.
He's just sent out this tweet saying, I'm standing to be the next Leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister, let's restore trust,
rebuild the economy and reunite the country. Now he's issued a pretty lengthy campaign video already as tainment his values are non-negotiable
patriotism, fairness, and hard work same and he wants to do away with the division in the Conservative Party and in the government.
Now there was a lot of speculation on whether or not Rishi Sunak would run for leadership of the Conservative Party? As you mentioned there he was the
first one of the first to resign from the Conservative Party that tweet announcing his resignation triggering an avalanche of resignations within
the party that would eventually see the downfall of Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was of course is number two as the Chancellor.
[11:25:00]
BASHIR: But there are also other names popping up. We've already seen the Attorney General - announcing her plans to run for leadership of the
Conservative Party even ahead of Boris Johnson's resignation. Today, a dark horse candidate some two and a hard writing an op-ed for "The Daily
Telegraph" saying that Downing Street needs a clean start and that he plans to deliver that for the conservative party if he gains that support.
Now, of course, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still holding on for a few more weeks if not months. He plans to oversee the leadership of the
Conservative Party and the government until a new leader is elected. But as he said that could take a while it is a lengthy process.
We expect that committee of backbenchers the 1922 Committee which will elect its new executive next week to set out a timeline of this entire
process how long that may take? Prime Minister Boris Johnson today has announced a flurry of new ministerial appointments, and he is appearing to
get on with the job in his words.
He plans to keep going to deliver on his policy objectives and agenda that he was elected on. But we did hear from cabinet readout yesterday that he
isn't planning on making any drastic policy decisions over the coming months. He will leave that to the New Conservative Party Leader.
But aside from questions of the new leader and who that will be, there are questions around whether or not Prime Minister Boris Johnson should even
stay in place? Many are calling for him to step down and allow a New Conservative Party Caretaker Prime Minister to take the helm of the party
over the coming months.
GIOKOS: OK, Nada what about the BLK scandal? We understand now police say no more fines it is gathering that of course inflamed emotions in the UK
because of the sacrifices that will be made by the average people. Give me a sense of what's happening there?
BASHIR: Look Eleni the timing of this couldn't be more significant and more interesting. Keir Starmer, of course, was implicated in that beer gate
scandal. We've seen a lot of news around Party Gate a lot of criticism released not least from Keir Starmer directed at Boris Johnson for the
Policy Gate scandal.
But of course Keir Starmer has been under investigation after he was pictured back in April 2021 taking part in what appeared to be a gallery he
appeared to be having a beer and a meal with colleagues. He's long maintained that this was - it weren't gathering that no rules were broken.
They were simply having a meal after a campaign event.
And now that appears to have been proven true by Durham police confirming that no fines have been issued to Keir Starmer that no further action will
be taken. But what is important to remember is that Keir Starmer actually vowed to step down from his position as leader of the Labour Party if he
was fined by police. A complete contrast to what Boris Johnson did - was essentially to maintain that he did no wrong but no rules were broken
despite the fact that he was of course later fined by police, the first sitting Prime Minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law now, of course
no further action taken against Keir Starmer, the timing of this, of course couldn't be more interesting Prime Minister Boris Johnson now resigning
this is when of course for Keir Starmer the Labour Party Leader.
GIOKOS: All right. Nada Bashir, thank you so much! And we're taking a short break when we come back the shocking assassination of a longtime Japanese
Prime Minister a look at his most lasting legacy in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back! I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. Now we're returning to our top story the shocking assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe. Abe was shot in the heart while giving campaign speech just hours ago. The gunman was immediately grabbed by other security officers.
Abe was Japan's longest serving Prime Minister, he resigned in 2020.
World leaders have praised Abe as a champion of democracy and for leading a life in service of others. Let's not forget that Japan is the world's third
largest economy. Now it trails behind only China and the United States in terms of GDP. And quite possibly the defining policy of Shinzo Abe's legacy
is Abenomics, which he implemented in an attempt to transform that economy nearly a decade ago.
It has mixed record and well frankly, it is a complicated policy. Luckily, we have Anna Stewart joining us now from London to break this down as young
journalist, I'm sure you also came across the Abenomics. We used to watch in awe as you know incredible amount of stimulus was thrown into the
Japanese economy and yet we saw negative real interest rates. We also saw major buying into the Yen and Shinzo Abe was trying to reverse that trying
to get some stimulus to create inflation and growth.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: It was one of the biggest economic experiments. And I can tell you as a very young business journalist back then it was one
of the questions I had in a job interview. This is the biggest story of the decade I was told in my interview.
And it was a phenomenal experiment. If you think about it was very unconventional at the time. Abenomics was designed to really bring Japan
out of years and years of deflation. There were three arrows to Abenomics.
The first one being monetary policy, ultra-low, even negative interest rates at one point which was very unconventional at the time, huge amounts
of stimulus as well, fiscal stimulus, structural reforms, trying to combat what it is in the aging workforce situation, which is of course a problem
that many advanced economies will face.
And this is what is also interesting. In many ways Japan has so many issues that other advanced economies are facing or will face. So in some ways it
was a model. Was it a success? Well, it's an interesting one speaking to analysts and economists today, because certainly in the first few years,
there's no denying that this really did help draw a line under many, many years of deflation for Japan.
And we can show you their GDP figures from many years past and it did lift the economy somewhat you can see there, but it never had massive lift off.
And some people would say that the third arrow of the three arrows, the structural reform was never fully delivered and as a result, Abenomics
didn't really get to where potentially it could have been.
There was no doubt though, that Shinzo Abe was incredibly proud of this and recently asked post resigning as Prime Minister, what will your legacy be?
He said Abenomics.
GIOKOS: Now, a really interesting. I mean - we talk about his legacy. But actually, it wasn't just in Japan he left a mark on global monetary policy
because he broke the rules?
STEWART: They did. I mean, they weren't a pioneer, maybe of quantities easing, because we had seen that before, but to the extent that they did
it, and the fact that they really threw the kitchen sink at the economy including huge amounts of easing and negative interest rates, which, of
course, has actually become incredibly conventional, particularly since the pandemic.
It's at both a model though, and I think a lesson and Japan has been slightly stuck in this ultra-loose monetary policy very hard to get out of
it. Partly because of the issues that faces were very different to all the other countries around the world that implemented huge QE programs to fight
off an economic shock rather than years of deflation.
But getting out of it has been really hard for Japan. And as a result, it's hard to fight economic shocks along the way. And let's not forget Japan
lies on many different fault lines, both literally in terms of the economic risks it faces with earthquakes, natural disasters, but also its position
as a major economy between China and the U.S.
Its biggest trading partner being China, but the U.S. a huge security partner and ally it's very vulnerable to geopolitical shocks as well so
having that ultra-loose monetary policy has been hard to fight economic shocks as they've come.
GIOKOS: Yes, interesting to reflect on that entire he's done. And you had mentioned when we spoke earlier, that he'd actually pulled in so many women
into the workforce and remember also focusing on aging - yes, exactly and also focusing on reversing the sort of the trend of an aging population. So
Anna Thank you so much for breaking that down for us. I appreciate your time.
[11:35:00]
GIOKOS: All right. We'll have more of our breaking news coverage and updates as well as other news from around the world stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back! I want to take you now to the latest news out of Ukraine after claiming victory in the Luhansk region in Eastern Ukraine
Russia has done that squarely in its sights. The Ukrainian military says more than 40 towns and villages have come under Russian fire in the past
day in the Donbas region and Russian forces are now trying to advance west from the Luhansk, Donetsk border.
CNN Correspondent Scott McLean is joining us live from the Ukrainian Capital, Kyiv. Scott, look, you've been watching the fighting payout the
battle for Lysychansk but now of course means most of Luhansk is in the control of the Russians and we knew Donetsk is going to be the next
targets. Tell me about the frontlines there?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure Eleni. So look, the Ukrainians have conceded that the Russians have had at least partial success as of late in
terms of moving the front line forward. But for Russian standards and the standards of the volume law and the intensity of fighting that we've seen,
it appears that the Russians are content to sort of take it slow for the moment while they regroup their troops to perhaps save up or prepare for a
greater push.
Meanwhile, in the Kherson region that's in the Southern part of Ukraine occupied territory, the Ukrainian said that they struck successfully, what
they described as a warehouse full of ammunition. Later in the day, though, pro-Russian separatists who control that region say that wasn't a warehouse
full of ammunition. It was actually a hydroelectric plant.
And, well, it's actually still operating and those separatists said that, look, the people who live in that area are not going to be intimidated.
They just want to go about their lives peacefully while they join up with Russia.
Here's what remarkable Eleni, about all this is. You have all the fighting in the East in the south and to the north as well. And in recent days,
you've also had missile strikes far from the front line and yet consistently, you have also had more people coming into this country from
Poland then going in the opposite direction, despite the fact that many people are returning to homes that are damaged almost beyond recognition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATERINA TITOVA, HOSTOMEL RESIDENT: Here we spent two days and one night.
MCLEAN (voice over): As the Russians bombed the Kyiv suburb of Hostomel in the early days of war, the Titova family Russian speakers who fled to
Donetsk eight years ago, huddled in their tiny basement listening to the new war on their doorstep.
[11:40:00]
MCLEAN (voice over): Here 10-year-old - five year old sister Tasiha (ph) what she wants most? For Putin to finally die she tells them. When the
shelling hit their yard Alex and Katarina grab the kids and left the safety of the crawlspace.
MCLEAN (on camera): You had no choice?
TITOVA: You have no choice you have to live you must live to save your lives and your kids.
MCLEAN (voice over): Our Hostomel is burning, Alex said from the end of his driveway. They walked 10 miles past dead soldiers to find an evacuation
bus. Two months later they came back to find Katarina's jewelry studio missing an entire wall windows were smashed the roof of their house had
holes in it and inside there was shrapnel everywhere.
TITOVA: I even took a piece small of metal from this. It was broken this is our family from Donetsk.
MCLEAN (on camera): Why do you still want to live here?
TITOVA: I wanted to live in my own house and I wanted to make a place for my family for my kids.
MCLEAN (voice over): Plenty of others feel the same. In their bombed out village amidst the signs of war there are also signs of life. Mikhail (ph)
name its corner store was ripped apart and looted. He says he could easily have fled the country, but he would rather be here.
I have kids or grandkid who says you have to keep living life goes on down the road, this high rise complex sustained heavy damage in the fighting. In
this building, most apartments are badly damaged. This one has a new window.
MCLEAN (on camera): This is actually not the roof of this apartment block. It was actually once the penthouse suite. This would have presumably been
the doorway. There are also some dishes lying around from whoever lived here before.
MCLEAN (voice over): We slept in this room resident Alexander Rachmaninoff tells me, this is where we ate. This is our dining room. During the
invasion he and his wife were forced to stay in this filthy basement while Russian soldiers lived in his apartment. Hostomel has no shortage of
challenges and yet its people are still coming back.
TITOVA: We even thought about if our house will be burned and destroyed no matter, we will return.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN: Now that defined determination is remarkable. But the reality is that this is going to be an uphill battle for a lot of people to rebuild.
Home insurance is almost nonexistent in this country. It's just not part of the culture.
And so for the vast, vast majority of people, they're either going to have to dip into their savings, whatever they'll have to get a loan or hope
cross their fingers for some money from the government. But so far that hasn't materialized.
The people who live in that apartment building, for instance, they are trying to scrape together enough money collectively to at least put some
semblance of a temporary roof on the structure before winter sets in so they don't have even more damp and mold issues, then they surely already
have Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. And to be honest, you got to ask yourself the question whether the threat of being targeted, once again still exists? And that could only
happen if there are substantial peace talks. If there's you know, some kind of push to end this war. What is Putin saying about this?
MCLEAN: Sure. So what I should tell you before I explain that Eleni is actually what Zelenskyy said yesterday. The President, he said that, look,
they are not OK with ceding any territory for the Russians, and they plan to fight to get every square inch of this country back in Ukrainian hands.
And in response to that President Putin said, "Well, what I say can let them try" and he added that the longer the Ukrainians hold out, the more
difficult the more complicated the peace process gets. In fact, he says that the Russians are willing to fight until the last Ukrainian is
standing.
And he says that look, the fighting has, hasn't even really started in a serious way. A Presidential Adviser responded to that commentary by
pointing out the thousands of Russians have been killed tens of thousands of bits of equipment had been destroyed. CNN can't confirm any of those
numbers. But of course, the sentiment is there that look, the Ukrainians are also digging in their heels Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Scott McLean thank you so much! Now, thousands of kilometers away from this war, some of the world's most vulnerable people
are feeling the effects. Somalia is already in the middle of a severe drought, having missed four rainy seasons in a row.
Now the blockades that Russia is imposing on Ukraine are impacting Somalia's food supplies pushing the country towards the brink of famine
Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward reports.
[11:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the edge of the nine camps just outside Somalia's Capital Zamzam Mohamed (ph) shows
us the fresh graves of those who have died here.
There are 30 she says in total victims of this country's record drought. As the Camp Administrator Mohamed is tasked with burying the dead from that
corner to this one she says this line of Graves is all children.
WARD (on camera): You must weigh on your heart to have to bury these little children?
WARD (voice over): You feel such sadness when you burying a baby she tells us. I'm a mother and I can feel their pain as a parent.
WARD (voice over): Some 500 yards away - has yet to visit the graves of her three children. Severely malnourished, they died after contracting measles.
I cannot bear to go she says the grief I would feel. Aid agencies warn that Somalia is marching towards another famine. Nearly half the country is
hungry some 800,000 people have been forced from their homes this year alone.
WARD (on camera): So two months ago, this camp didn't even exist now there are more than 870 families living here.
WARD (voice over): Conditions are dire and the world's attention is elsewhere. Thousands of miles from the front lines of the war in Ukraine
the impact of Russia's invasion is being felt here, food and fuel prices have skyrocketed as Russia's blockade of Ukrainian wheat threatens global
supplies.
MOHAMUD MOHAMED HASSAN, SAVETHE CHILDREN COUNTRY DIRECTOR: The wheat that is consumed in Somalia 92 percent of it comes from Russia and Ukraine when
you put together. So the price of wheat has doubled in some areas, you know, 150 percent increase.
WARD (on camera): So you had climate change COVID with the war in Ukraine is really threatening to push Somalia over the edge?
HASSAN: Yes, definitely. Yes. Yes.
WARD (on camera): And what about if the war continues in Ukraine if that blockade remains in place? What impact will that have here?
HASSAN: I cannot imagine what will be the impact.
WARD (voice over): The stabilization ward at the - hospital offers a glimpse of what may be to come. There are no empty beds and many
desperately sick children. Doctor Hafsa Muhammad Hassan works around the clock to keep her youngest patients alive.
WARD (on camera): How many years have you been working in this hospital?
HAFSA MUHAMMAD HASSAN, DOCTOR: Eight years.
WARD (on camera): Eight years? Have you ever seen so many children being brought in with malnutrition?
HASSAN: No, this is the worst situation I'm seeing. And the numbers of the cases are increasing day by day. The hospital is much occupied with these
cases.
WARD (on camera): Are you overwhelmed?
HASSAN: Yes, it's overwhelming. The situation is overwhelming.
WARD (voice over): In one bed, we meet Haredi Abdi (ph) with her four year old son Mohamed. I already lost three children in this drought she says
softly.
WARD (on camera): So you came here to save your son? How do you cope with that kind of loss to lose three children? How do you get through the day?
WARD (voice over): I can't cope with the situation she says I just pray my remaining children will survive. It's a prayer shared by so many women
here, one that the world has yet to hear.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Our Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward there. And I spoke with her in the last hour. She told us how Russia's war is taking
attention away from other international crises take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARD: One of the other challenges that aid agencies are facing here is that because the world's attention is so understandably focused on the conflict
in Ukraine, it has been very difficult for them to get that attention and get the funding that they so desperately need to try to prevent a
catastrophe here.
The UN says it's raised just under a third now of the total $1.46 billion they need to stop a famine and one aid worker here was telling us that if
that funding doesn't come in, if we don't see a real uptick in the coming weeks you could be talking about certain parts of this country being in a
state of famine in the next few weeks. Not the next few months, but the next few weeks so the stakes really couldn't be higher Eleni.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: All right, an important story there. Clarissa ward in Mogadishu for us. All right stay with CNN we have more on the assassination of Former
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe how could it happen in a country where gun violence is practically nonexistent?
[11:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: The assassination of Shinzo Abe is all the more shocking given how it happened? The Former Japanese Prime Minister was killed by gun in a
country with one of the world's lowest rates of gun violence.
There was only one gun related death reported in Japan in all of 2021. The gun you can see on the right apparently was handmade. Abe had a small
security detail, but the shooter was able to get close enough to fire the fatal shots perhaps due to the sheer unlikelihood of such an attack.
I want to talk more about this with Chief Charles Ramsey. He's a CNN's Senior Law Enforcement Analyst and Former Commissioner of the Philadelphia
and D.C. Police Departments in the States. Thank you, sir, for joining us! I want you first to tell me you've seen the video, you've heard the guns
shots and you've seen this makeshift or homemade gun, what are your initial impressions?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, my condolences to his family. This is tragic. And it happens in a country
where you don't expect to have gun violence. But it does let you know that it can happen anywhere at any time.
No one is 100 percent immune from that kind of violence. This is an individual who made his own gun. I don't know if it was from a kit or just
from parts that he had. But it was effective. It did what he intended it to do. And it's a shame.
GIOKOS: Sir, we see these two barrels almost sort of with tape around them. And you know, many are saying maybe this was tested because it was just far
too accurate. What is your - how are you surmising how the use of this weapon and the fact that it was fatal?
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, there'll be used, they'll be doing ballistic tests on the firearm. It could have been a lucky shot, and it could have been
something where he actually practices. I'm old enough to remember something we used to call zip guns years ago in the states that were handmade using
the old antennas on vehicles and a 22 caliber bullets.
So you can make a fire able weapon, it's usually not very accurate, but if you're close enough, and if you hit the right part of the body, it can
certainly be fatal.
GIOKOS: OK, so there are 90 police officers working on this investigation. We know he was 41 years old unemployed. What would your starting point be
in terms of understanding the motive here, in cases like this, and importantly, the assembly of more than one weapon like this apparently that
was filed?
RAMSEY: Well, he didn't kill himself. So they have an opportunity to interview and they may find a motive just through the interview. I'm sure
he has a social media footprint. Just like here in the United States they'll be going through that. They'll be going to through all of his
belongings and his home his car, relatives of whatever information they can gather from friends, family, whatever they will use to try to piece
together a motive in the shooting.
You know at first blush, obviously you think of some kind of political motivation, but you never know until you really start to dig deep into it.
GIOKOS: You know, the big questions about the security detail around politicians in Japan because of gun violence being so rare. He was able to
get close enough does that shock you?
[11:55:00]
RAMSEY: Well, I mean, I'm surprised the entire event happened. But again, you know, this is a country is not accustomed to gun violence. And I mean,
you know, the detail, the security detail for the President here in the United States I imagine is totally different from what they have in Japan.
Now, they will step up security in light of this around the President and other heads of state, that visit and top officials. But you know they were
probably more concerned with perhaps a knife attack or edge weapon type attack than they were a firearm. But obviously, you can't relax. You can't
really, you know, take anything for granted. So I'm sure there'll be a review of security for everyone.
GIOKOS: Yes, Chief Charles Ramsey, thank you so very much for your insights. Good to see you today. Thank you for giving us those scenarios.
Much appreciate it. All right, thank you so very much for joining us we will be bringing you more coverage of the assassination of former Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. We've got "One World" up next with Zain Asher live from New York. I'm Eleni Giokos is in Abu Dhabi very much for joining
me today and I hope you have a fantastic weekend? Take care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
