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Erdogan On Missing Saudi Critic: I am Chasing Investigation; Kavanaugh Confirmed After Contentious Debate; U.N. Climate Panel: Unprecedented Changes Needed; Interpol Missing President; Brazil Votes; Mike Pompeo Set to Visit China; New York State Limo Crash; Fraud Trial for Sarah Netanyahu; Tokyo's Iconic Fish Market Closes. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 08, 2018 - 00:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It is a mystery and Turkish officials believe it was likely a murder. Questions about a missing Saudi journalist last seen entering but not seen leaving the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

America's top democratic has wrapped a trip to the Korean Peninsula with the likelihood of a second summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un.

In a newly released climate change report, a U.N. panel says urgent action is needed before nature creates new coastlines with rising sea levels.

These stories ahead here. Hello, everyone, thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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ALLEN: Our top story: A prominent critic of Saudi Arabia was planning to get married this week. Instead, his friends are not preparing to hold a funeral in his absence. Journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been missing since Tuesday when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents he needed to get married.

What happened there is a mystery but senior Turkish officials are doubling down on the claim that Khashoggi may have been killed inside. Saudi Arabia strongly denies any involvement in his disappearance.

Meantime, U.S. officials say they can't confirm what happened to him but moments ago, CNN learned from two senior administration officials that the U.S. is quietly investigating the case and seeking answers from senior levels of the Saudi government. the incident could have significant geopolitical consequences. Our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Last Tuesday Jamal Khashoggi walked through these doors into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a simple visit to collect marriage papers for his wedding in a few days. It was the last time he was seen.

According to Turkish officials, Khashoggi's fiance waiting for him outside raised the alarm nearly four hours later. The Saudis insist he left the building.

"My understanding is he entered and got out after a few minutes or one hour. I'm not sure."

That despite all the cameras around the consulate there is no video footage of him.

On Saturday Saudi diplomats allowed journalists into the consulate to show he wasn't there but at the same time, unnamed Turkish officials were claiming Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate and his body removed.

Official Turkish media also report at the very same day that Khashoggi vanished, some 15 Saudis arrived in Turkey and had gone to the consulate. Turkish prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Everything including entries and exits to the consulate are being investigated and departures and arrivals to airports are also under investigation.

The Turkish president who knows Khashoggi well says he hopes Khashoggi will resurface. But friends of the Saudi journalists in Istanbul say they are making funeral preparations.

TURAN KISLAKCI, HEAD, TURKISH-ARAB MEDIA ASSOCIATION (through translator): Today we were meant to meet. It should have been today that he had his papers this week either today or next Sunday he was planning to get married but this never happened.

ROBERTSON: Jamal Khashoggi was not a Saudi dissident but a powerful critic, an insider who had fallen out with the all-powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the war in Yemen, the crisis in Qatar and the way he thought debate at home was being suffocated.

He always pushed the envelope. Religious conservatives loathed him. Last year he moved to Washington, a self-imposed exile, telling CNN that reformers in the kingdom were being stifled. He said he, too, was under pressure.

Khashoggi's colleagues at "The Washington Post" say they won't let this drop, raising the specter of increased scrutiny of Saudis already closely watched leader in waiting.

KAREN ATTIAH, "THE WASHINGTON POST": We're not going to shut up. We're going to keep his name out there and we're going to again if anything anybody who would want to silence him they've only made us want to present who he is, who was to the world even more strongly. ROBERTSON: As the mystery deepens and Saudi Arabia violently denies knowing anything about Khashoggi's disappearance --

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ROBERTSON: -- some in Saudi even suggest that Turkey, which sided with Qatar and is to speak with the kingdom, is exploiting the situation.

But if, as some Turkish officials insist, evidence emerges that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, the repercussions will be profound. And the vision that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants for Project Saudi Arabia will be severely tarnished -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

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ALLEN: We'll continue to follow any developments in that story.

There's a new twist in the mysterious disappearance of Interpol's president. The international police agency says Meng Hongwei, seen here, has resigned just days after he was reported missing during a trip to China.

Authorities there say Meng, a Chinese government official, is under investigation for allegation violations of laws. His wife said she received two text messages from her husband shortly after he arrived in China, one with the words, "Wait for my call," then minutes later, a knife emoji. That's the last contact she's had with her husband.

CNN senior producer Steven Jiang joins me now from Beijing.

Yet another mysterious disappearance, Steven.

What more are you learning?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: That's right. The plot has thickened since we last talked about this on Saturday. You mentioned this resignation Mr. Meng allegedly sent to Interpol.

But that was very much an open question, whether or not he made the resignation under duress along with many unanswered questions at this stage. You mentioned the Chinese government now confirming that Mr. Meng is indeed here and in detention and being investigated for alleged violation of laws.

But they did not say very in a very brief one-line statement what kind of crimes he's possibly committed. Usually it is corruption when you see statements like this from the government. But it could be other types of wrongdoing as well.

Some people already starting to speculate whether or not it could be related what he did or did not do while the president of Interpol because when he was elected into that position, there were a lot of concerns about whether or not he would Beijing's bidding in terms of political driven (INAUDIBLE) to capture Chinese fugitives overseas. There's another question about the wife's role. She told reporters in Lyons, France, where Interpol is based that, you know, she received threats and also that very chilling image as well as a message from her husband.

That knife emoji very much implies he's in danger. But could it also be some sort of signal he was sending her, to ask her to report him missing to the French authorities?

That's exactly what she did and that triggered this whole ever-growing international saga. The wife is now under French authorities' protection. But he's now left alone. He's left on his own here in China. Things are not look very good for him.

If we know anything about the very secretive investigative process targeting a Chinese official, that's investigators often use over the top tactics, including torture, to extract confessions.

ALLEN: Very, very terrifying for this man and you've said before that sometimes people can disappear for months there in China. We know you'll stay on it for us, Steven Jiang, thank you so much.

Now we turn to Brazil, a far right candidate, some call the Trump of the tropics, is now closer to becoming the next president of Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro tapped into widespread public anger over Brazil's economic crisis, corruption scandals and soaring violence. On Sunday, he secured a stunning lead in the first round of the country's presidential election. Shasta Darlington has more for us from Sao Paulo.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The message from Brazilian voters was loud and clear, they're fed up with the endemic political corruption and the rising crime and violence.

Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain and far-right candidate, may not have won in absolute majority in Sunday's elections but he's riding a wave of conservatism as he heads towards a runoff later this month.

He beat pollsters' projections, he had supporters celebrating in front of his house. But the candidate himself gave a fairly sobering speech on social media, saying the next three weeks are not going to be easy.

JAIR BOLSONARO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, BRAZIL (through translator): We indeed are able to change the destiny of Brazil. We cannot continue flirting with socialism or communism.

DARLINGTON: Bolsonaro's standing just went up in the polls when he was stabbed during a campaign rally and forced to recover, first in the hospital and then at home. In the end, he's going to face off against Fernando Haddad.

He's the candidate for the --

[00:10:00] DARLINGTON: -- left-wing Workers Party, who really only joined the race a month ago when former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva was jailed on corruption charges and forced to pull out of the race. After voting himself, Haddad told his supporters that he's trying -- going to try and unite other parties behind his candidacy.

Now what's interesting here is that these are the two most popular candidates but also the two most unpopular candidates with very high rejection rates.

In fact, just a week before Sunday's election, tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets in marches organized by women encouraging Brazilians to vote for anybody but Bolsonaro using the slogan "Ele nao," or "Not him."

Now, of course, they have three weeks to try and unite Brazilians around them -- I'm Shasta Darlington for CNN in Sao Paulo.

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ALLEN: America's top diplomat is set to head to China after wrapping up his trip to the Korean Peninsula. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in. But much of the focus has been on his earlier talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

CNN's Sam Kiley is tracking the trip and he's live in Hong Kong for us.

Hello to you, Sam. First of all, any reaction from Beijing on Pompeo's meeting with Kim Jong-un in North Korea?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. Pompeo is actually wheels up on his way to Beijing and the Chinese could be expected to react positively because there's been no negative outcome from the meeting with President -- Chairman Kim and President Moon down in South Korea.

Mr. Pompeo said there had been small steps but that there was going to be a long road.

This is a really much better, warmer meeting he had on the previous occasion when, after he left the North Koreans, alluded to him having used gangster-type tactics. In this case, the North Koreans are agreeing with the Americans that it was a convivial meeting. They had lunch for over an hour together. That was believed to have been unscheduled.

But I think really essentially, as far as Beijing is concerned, they will want to hear from the horse's mouth how it went. And that was what Mr. Pompeo said he was also doing with Mr. Moon. He didn't talk much in public about what went on but he did give the South Korean president full briefing.

ALLEN: It'll be interesting to see if this leads to a second summit with the U.S. president. Meantime, Sam, U.S. vice president Mike Pence has criticized China in recent days. Tell us about that and whether that could affect Pompeo's reception when he arrives in Beijing.

KILEY: The Chinese were extremely angry at what Mr. Pence had said. They accused the American vice president of slander, insisted America should look to itself when it came to issues about human rights, rejected entirely the notion of rivalry on the international stage and insisted that they were trying to advance the relationship with the United States in a much more constructive way.

This all against a background, not only of the trade war which is unfolding between the United States and China with some $250 billion worth of tariffs being applied to the Chinese imports by the Americans.

But also a Pentagon report that suggested that there were extreme vulnerabilities in the entire military industrial complex, that a huge number of very sophisticated weapons and weapons platforms -- and that includes everything from nuclear weapons to aircraft carriers -- were dependent on Chinese technology as well as other technologies from around the world.

And that makes the U.S. very vulnerable. So I think Mr. Pompeo will have a slightly frosty reception from the Chinese, at least in private. Probably in public, a lot of smiles and handshakes.

ALLEN: All right, and you'll be covering it for us. Sam Kiley there in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

Next here, heartache in New York State. A community in shock after one of the worst U.S. car crashes in the last decade.

Also ahead, the latest details on a deadly shooting in a West Bank factory. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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ALLEN: Welcome back.

At least 20 people have been killed in a car crash in New York State. The deadliest transportation accident in the U.S. in nearly a decade. Investigators say most of the victims were in a limousine headed to a birthday party when it plowed into a parked SUV. The crash killed the driver, all of the passengers and two bystanders.

Witness describes chaos, screaming and a huge response from ambulances and first responders. Investigators are not yet identifying the victims and are trying to determine what led to the crash.

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CHRISTOPHER FIORE, FIRST DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT, NEW YORK STATE POLICE: The limousine traveled across the intersection into a parking lot and struck a 2015 Toyota Highlander that was unoccupied and parked. Two pedestrians standing nearby were also struck and killed.

ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB CHAIRMAN: Twenty fatalities is just horrific. I have been on the board for 12 years. And this is one of the biggest losses of life that we have seen in a long, long time. This is the most deadly transportation accident in this country since February 2009.

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ALLEN: The family of two of the victims tell CNN they were just married in June. We'll have more on the story at cnn.com, including more about the investigation.

Israeli security forces are looking for a man they say killed two Israelis at a factory in the West Bank on Sunday. Soldiers searched the village where the suspect, the 23-year-old Palestinian, lives. Officials say he used a homemade automatic weapon. A man and woman were killed and another person --

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ALLEN: -- seriously wounded. An Israeli military spokesperson as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are calling it a terror attack. But authorities are also investigating whether the suspect was seeking revenge against his employer.

Israel's prime minister is no stranger to scandal but on Sunday, it was his wife who went on trial. Sara Netanyahu is accused of misusing state funds. She did not enter a plea and her lawyers say she's innocent. We get more from CNN's Oren Liebermann from Jerusalem.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sara Netanyahu is the constant companion to her Prime Minister husband. Always by his side, whether it's a first visit to India or welcoming close friends to Israel.

"The people of Israel love us unlike the media," she told the trustees. One half of the power couple in Israeli politics, Netanyahu's third wife regularly hosts world leaders at the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, always in the picture. This time, she has the headlines all to herself. Her trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust now underway.

The trial focusing on the alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars at the couple's official residence. The case is all about catered meals. Prosecutors say Sara Netanyahu ordered approximately $100,000 in meals and spent thousands of dollars more on high-end chefs, illegal under Israeli law when there's already a chef in the residence.

She's maintained her innocence. Her lawyer called the indictment false and hallucinatory.

"It's the first time in Israel and in the world that the wife of a leader is put on trial for food entrees," her legal team said in a statement.

"There was no fraud, no breach of trust, or any other felony. We're certain in the end that justice will speak. Truth and logic will prevail."

This case comes as her husband also faces serious allegations. Benjamin Netanyahu is a suspect in three separate criminal investigations. Police said they have enough evidence to charge him with fraud, bribery and breach of trust. He, too, has repeatedly insisted he's innocent, often saying there will be nothing because there is nothing.

In one of those cases, investigators have said, Sara Netanyahu is also suspected of bribery.

Her lawyers firing back, calling it an absurd suspicion and saying, "These things never happened."

Formal charges in all of these cases remain in the hands of Israel's Attorney General. For now, it is Sara Netanyahu alone who is on trial -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

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ALLEN: Emergency teams are working in Northern Haiti after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake shook the region late Saturday. At least 12 people were killed and 188 injured. Haiti's president traveled to the area Sunday to see the damage.

Haiti still recovering from the massive earthquake in 2010 that killed more than 220,000 people and destroyed much of the capital.

More than 5,000 people could still be missing in Indonesia more than one week after a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the island of Sulawesi. More than 1,700 people are confirmed to have died in the disasters. Military, civilians and volunteers are keeping the search and rescue efforts going.

Officials say the thousands of missing are mostly from areas destroyed by soil liquefication (sic). That's when oversaturated ground essentially turns into rivers of mud, sweeping away entire neighborhoods. That video there gives you a sense of what people endured.

A Tokyo institution is closing its doors. The world's largest fish market is ending operations after 83 years. The new fact is set to open in another location next week. But Tokyo is finding it hard to say goodbye to such a cherished part of its past, as CNN's Alexandra Field discovered.

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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is 5:30 am at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market. A thousand colossal tuna fish have come off the boat. The prize catch is inspected, then a flurry of movements. The bell rings, the auctioneer begins his rhythmic chants. Deals are done by the flash of a hand.

The best fish sells for nearly $40,000 U.S.

YUKUTAKA YAMAGUCHI, TUNA WHOLESALER (through translator): I wake up 2:30 am every day. I come to the market at 3:30 am. When I walked through the market this morning, all my memories came up to me.

FIELD: Yukutaka Yamaguchi joined his father's business here 35 years. He buys certain fish on Saturday. It will be the last he'll take away from Tsukiji. The catch of the day has come into the biggest fish market on earth for the last time.

YAMAGUCHI (through translator): I entered the auction for the first time in my 20s and sold raw tuna for the first time.

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YAMAGUCHI (through translator): All these memories and emotions now overwhelmingly pours into my heart.

FIELD (voice-over): The metaphorical bang of Tsukiji auctioneers' gavel has long been the beating heart of the Tokyo food scene. 40,000 people come here every day, buying a total of very 400,000 tons of seafood each year. For many of them, Tsukiji feels like the antithesis to Tokyo's unrelenting modernity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love this chaotic fear. This is the real market. I will miss it here tremendously.

FIELD: In Tsukiji's place will be Toyosu Market, a modernized venue not far from here. This week Toyosu will become a provider for restaurants from nearby Ginza and Shinjuku and all across Japan.

The new look has been controversial. The discovery of polluted soil at the new site still fears over public safety. City planners say chemicals at Toyosu have been sealed up and that Tsukiji's aging facilities mean the market has to move.

But many people don't want to give up their piece of history. Yukutaka is proud of the city icon that he has helped to make.

YAMAGUCHI (through translator): My work is tough but I want to become a tuna man even if I was a bit worn for the next flight. I think this market is wonderful. And I want to work here.

FIELD: One city government idea is to pave this over for a parking lot as Tokyo plans to host the Olympics in 2020. In a city that is forever looking forward, Tsukiji will be remembered by many as a part of Tokyo's old soul -- Alexandra Field, CNN.

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ALLEN: We return to U.S. politics in a moment. The confirmation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court may be over but it will reverberate right into the November midterm elections. We'll look at the impact it could have -- coming next. (BREAK)

[00:30:00] ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen with our top stories for you. Turkish officials are doubling down on their claim this journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia, may have been killed inside the Saudi's consulate in Istanbul, where he was last seen, Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is personally chasing the investigation. Saudi Arabia denies any involvement.

Interpol says its president has resigned, this, after he went missing. Meng Hongwei was reported missing days ago, by his wife. She said he travelled to China, then, sent her cryptic text messages suggesting he might be in danger. Chinese authorities said Meng is under investigation for alleged violations of law.

The parents of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, says the terror group, Boko Haram, has threatened to kill her, this month, if their demands are not met. The 15-year-old was abducted in February and is being held after reportedly refusing to renounce her Christian faith.

The (INAUDIBLE) has reached Brazil where this far right candidate almost secured an outright win with 47 percent of the vote. Jair Bolsonaro campaigned at an anti-establishment candidate. A runoff with second place leftist candidate, Fernando Haddad is set for October 28th.

We are a little more than one day into Brett Kavanaugh's tenure as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and the controversy over his confirmation shows no sign of subsiding. Republicans and Democrats alike, are using the fight over his nomination, as a rallying cry in the upcoming midterm elections.

Democrats call it an assault on women, while Republicans say the other party is an angry mob. On CNN's State of the Union, two U.S. senators traded barbs over Kavanaugh's final confirmation.

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SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I found Dr. Ford's testimony to be heart-wrenching, painful, compelling, and I believe that she believes what she testified to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could you lose this seat over your vote?

COLLINS: You know, I have to do what I think is right. And over the years, the people of Maine have trusted me to exercise my best judgment. That's what I did in this case.

SEN. MAZIE HERONO (D), HAWAII: She says that she thinks that -- she said that Dr. Ford thinks that she was assaulted, which is even more insulting than saying that she gave a very credible account. I certainly believe Dr. Ford. The senators who are making these confirmation decisions are people who are elected by their voters. And so, as voters, they have a role to play.

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ALLEN: Meantime, President Trump is taking a victory lap after what he sees as one of the best weeks of his presidency. We'll likely hear more about the victory as he campaigns across the country, this week. Let's talk about this with Democratic Strategist, Caroline Heldman and Staff Writer at the National Review, a Conservative Magazine, Alexandra DeSanctis. Thank you both for joining us.

Well, despite the sexual allegations about Brett Kavanaugh, he is now on the Supreme Court. Many women in the United States might be thinking, wait a minute, what happened to the Me Too movement? Alexandra, can you address that?

ALEXANDRA DESANCTIS, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL REVIEW: Yes. I think what we've seen over the last couple of weeks, is the fact that the Me Too movement is a very powerful thing, still. You know, women's voices and stories are heard.

And I think in the case of Brett Kavanaugh, the Me Too movement justice was done because evidence -- we never got enough corroborating evidence to show that Brett Kavanaugh was in fact guilty of the things that he had been charged with.

And I think, to me, the Me Too movement was powerful because women who spoke the truth, then, brought men to justice. And in this case, I think justice was, Brett Kavanaugh being cleared of the things he'd been accused of.

ALLEN: But most agree that the investigation into the allegations was incredible and didn't go far enough. What do you say to that?

DESANCTIS: I don't agree with that. You know, I think -- this obviously wasn't a criminal trial, and I think there are certain standards that we have to use in the preponderance of the evidence. It was more likely than not that Brett Kavanaugh committed these offenses. And I think the FBI interviewed as many people as they could, in the time they were given.

ALLEN: Caroline, let's have you weigh in on that.

CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's pretty clear that given that he had three women who came forward with allegations, and none of them were consulted during the investigation process and the fact that it was crammed in such a short period of time.

Nobody thinks this was a legitimate process. Whether you're a guy got on the court or not, I mean, let's be serious, right? If you don't actually interview witnesses, how is this supposed to be a legitimate process?

[00:35:10] And as a data scientist, I know that when one woman comes forward, there's a 90 percent chance she's telling the truth. When two come forward, the odds go up to 98 percent. So, with three accusers, you know, I think that it's not surprising that about half of the Americans believe Dr. Blasey Ford and only about a third believe Kavanaugh, and senators gone against public opinion on this.

ALLEN: And let's talk about the fact that this is politics. Alexandra, if politics weren't an issue, would this be the same -- would this have the same outcome? I mean, clearly, Republicans wanted him in. Democrats wanted him out and Mitch McConnell and President Trump were very determined to get him on the court and they won. Was this basically politics?

DESANCTIS: Yes. I think if we're going to talk about politics, we need to look at the way these allegations were handled by Democrats. You talk about three allegations. The third allegation by Julie Swetnick is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

It was completely uncorroborated. And when she went on T.V. to talk about it herself, the story changed multiple times, multiple of the facts changed and yet these allegations were brought up during the hearing to Brett Kavanaugh by Senate Democrat.

So, the idea that politics is only on one side here, and the Republicans are using this, you know, political excuse to try and cram a guy on the court, that's not at all what happened. In fact, many who came forward with shaky stories were used by the Democrats to try and take down a man they didn't like.

So, there's plenty of, you know, political games to go around here, I think.

ALLEN: So, as a young woman, you weren't offended by this investigation?

DESANCTIS: I was not offended at all. In fact, I think, you know, what's most important to me is that we get to the truth of what did or did not happen. And you say witnesses were not interviewed. All of the people named by Dr. Ford were, in fact, interviewed and all of them gave sworn testimony saying they had no idea that any party like this ever occurred, they had no recollection of it.

And her former best friend, Kaiser, in fact, said she'd never met Brett Kavanaugh, so the idea there's always evidence out there of Brett Kavanaugh being a sexual abuser that was just ignored. It's ludicrous.

ALLEN: Caroline?

HELDMAN: Well, I would say that what we're hearing now are Republican talking points. They're not accurate. The fact of the matter is, the FBI investigation was truncated, it was limited. It didn't get to the bottom of it. Data science tells us that having three women come forward and make allegations leaves almost no chance that these allegations are not true.

And we have gone against public opinion, putting them on the court. It's all about politics. And at the end of the day, Gorsuch went right through. So, it's not about Democrats trying to stall a Conservative candidate from getting on the court. I think what the Republicans, including the person that I'm debating right now, don't quite understand. This is much, much bigger than the party. This is about not believing sexual violence survivors.

The Republicans should have put up another candidate, that candidate would have been conservative. They would've been confirmed. They wouldn't have been somebody who tells lies big and small, and they wouldn't have threaten the long-term legitimacy of the court in order to score some short-term political gain.

ALLEN: Caroline Heldman, Alexandra DeSanctis, thank you both.

HELDMAN: Thank you.

ALLEN: A looming crisis, a new climate change report warns of irreversible rift if global warming isn't stabilized and assumed. We'll look into it, next.

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[00:40:00] ALLEN: Ivan Cabrera joins me now because there's a new report out about climate change and it is not positive to say the least. And you're going to break it down for us.

IVAN CABRERA, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST AND WEATHER ANCHOR: Yes. It is now positive. I mean, it just keeps getting worse, urgent transformational change. That is the headline. That is what we're talking about. That's what needs to happen for us to really make a difference here.

And we're not just talking unspecific; we're going to nail down the numbers here because they got very specific in this report. I've been reading through it. Let's head over here and then talk about this. The intergovernmental panel on climate change has put out the report. And I'll tell you what, we have been, of course, talking about the evidence that is already there.

So, this is not something folks that we have to wait 10, 20, 50 years. It's happening right now. The additional floods we're getting, the storms that are stronger, the droughts that are more long-lived and last for years and years and years.

Each event can't be attributed to climate change but boy, they are going to become more frequent and more intense as the planet warms up. And it has continued to warm up before we started, you know, make things, right? The industrial revolution, can you see the blue line? That entire blue line, about 1900 to present, that basically represents a degree Celsius of warming across the entire planet.

That's how much we warmed the planet, one degree. Now, this is what we're talking about here with this report, 1.5 Celsius, that is the goal that we're trying to get to, trying to limit the planet so that it doesn't warm above that, because if it does, we're really going to be in trouble. So, what does that mean? That means that by 2030, CO2 emissions, we got to cut that by 45 percent, and by 2050, by 100 percent. So, essentially, we have to become carbon neutral, sourcing electricity, 70 to 85 percent from renewables by 2050. And then we have to put a price. This is the one folks don't like to talk about on greenhouse gases. It's going to cost money, right?

And so, this is what we're talking about. This is why we have these accords and this is why this is a worldwide event that all nations have to contribute to get this number below 1.5, because as I've said, if it goes above that, it really starts wreaking havoc even more so across the planet.

ALLEN: All right. We'll talk with an expert on climate in the next hour about, what can we do to counter reverse it? Ivan, thank you so much.

CABRERA: You're welcome.

ALLEN: I'll be back with more news in 15 minutes. Next is "WORLD SPORT".

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