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Jamal Khashoggi: U.S. Calls On Saudi Arabia to Be 'Transparent' About Missing Journalist; Second Skripal Suspect Identified; China Accuses Former Interpol Chief of Corruption. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 09, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A high profile journalist missing now for almost a week. Turkey accuses Saudi Arabia of murder. It's not clearly what actually happened to Jamal Khashoggi.

Also another high-profile disappearance, after sending this cryptic message, the former chief of Interpol not seen in days. Beijing says they have him in custody, accusing him of corruption.

The U.S. president takes a victory lap and a whole lot more during a nationalized television swearing in ceremony, putting Republican strategy ahead of next month's congressional elections.

Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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VAUSE: Saudi Arabia is vehemently denying allegations that a journalist was killed inside its consulate in Turkey. Jamal Khashoggi visited the building a week ago and hasn't been seen since. The Saudis insist he left alive but Turkish officials believe he was killed inside.

An allegation that the Saudi ambassador in Washington called absolutely false and baseless. On Monday, Turkey's president demanded the Saudis produce evidence of proof of life.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): I feel responsible as president for getting to the bottom of this case. The consulate officials cannot save themselves by simply saying he has left. They have to produce concrete evidence. If he left then, they must have video to prove it.

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VAUSE: Jomana Karadsheh joining us now from outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Jomana, we have a lot of accusations and demands for evidence of proof

he's alive. It would be very simple for both sides to come forward with some kind of corroborating evidence that either case is true.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Turkish officials said, John, that they will release the results of their investigation. They will release recordings and evidence to back their narrative that has been that Jamal Khashoggi went into the consulate last Tuesday and he did not leave the building.

Saudi Arabia has maintained and we've heard it from so many different officials from that country, saying he did visit the consulate but he left a short time after that.

As you mentioned, it would seem like it's something very simple for the Saudis to prove. There are so many surveillance cameras around the diplomatic mission here, around this building. They could just release the security footage. You heard from President Erdogan, saying just show us that he actually left the building.

There have been these comments from Saudi officials have been saying, comments that the cameras were not recording on that day, which is really raising a lot of skepticism and, you know, more questions here about the Saudi narrative.

VAUSE: Also having for the first time, coincidentally, made by the Trump administration, this is the first I've actually heard anything of substance from the president and the vice president, the U.S. secretary of state. But it is pretty weak stuff. The demand for a transparent investigation, Mike Pompeo saying the free world demands answers and defending journalists and calling his disappearance a possible attack on the freedom of the media or freedom of the press.

But overall this is pretty weak tea.

KARADSHEH: And you know what, John, for the past week, we have been out here. We've boon talking to friends and colleagues, people who knew Jamal Khashoggi. They say they want to see the one country that they think has the power, has the leverage on Saudi Arabia to try to push for answers and that's the United States.

Because the relationship, especially between President Trump, the royal family and the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who has a close relationship with president trump and the other members of the administration. And they've always praised the young crown prince.

The hope was that the U.S. would put its weight behind Turkey in this situation, its NATO ally, and push the Saudis for answers. That doesn't seem to be happening right now, at least publicly.

The statements don't -- don't seem to be what people here were expecting to hear from the United States. Especially when you hear President Trump saying, yes, he's concerned but he's -- he's hoping this situation would sort itself out.

This is -- it seems like -- like it is too little too late at this point for many who have been waiting for the United States to take a stronger stance.

VAUSE: OK, Jomana. Thank you. We appreciate the update there, live from Istanbul.

More now on the missing journalist from Saudi Arabia, the ambassador to the U.S. calls the allegations that he was killed inside the consulate in Turkey as absolutely false and baseless.

Jamal Khashoggi disappeared --

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VAUSE: -- last week after going into the consulate in Istanbul. The ambassador says Saudi investigators are working with Turkish authorities to find out what happened.

This puts a spotlight on crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's move to silence critics and dissidents. For more on this, Robin Wright is with us. She's a senior fellow at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and contributing writer at "The New Yorker."

Robin, thanks for being with us.

What was that last week?

There's been a lot of back and forth between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, basically about the security video from the Saudi consulate, the ambassador in D.C. from Riyadh, he said the cameras weren't recording.

He also reports footage from Turkish cameras are believed to be available. Then you got the Saudi nationals who the Turks say arrived the day Khashoggi disappeared. The Saudis said that never happened but there would be a record of the plane landing, a passenger manifest.

There's a whole bunch of stuff out there, other evidence as well.

So what do you make of all of this together?

Explain what is really going on here.

ROBIN WRIGHT, "THE NEW YORKER": There's been no proof of life since his disappearance. No sighting of him by anyone. This is very much unlike Jamal, who is a thoughtful person and would never abandon his fiancee.

He had been long worried about his security, the last time I talked to him in August, he pointed out he thought the kingdom was intent on silencing his voice, wanting him out of the picture.

This comes at a time that crown prince Mohammed has become increasingly authoritarian in silencing, not just critics but women's rights activists, the clerics, rich business men. He's engaged in what are some very unprecedented acts in the kingdom to consolidate his power and to eliminate those who challenge him. VAUSE: You've known Khashoggi for a very long time. You wrote about this in "The New Yorker," about the last conversation you had back in August, he was worried about his safety and because of what he told you, the Saudi crown prince has no tolerance of willingness to accommodate critics, although he is technically next in line for the throne and acts as the country's de facto leader and has already become more autocratic than any of the previous six kings who've ruled since the death of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia back in 1953.

In many ways, if Khashoggi has gone missing or been abducted or killed by Saudi agents, it would fit the larger pattern of intimidation of those who are critics of the Saudi royal family.

WRIGHT: It -- it does indeed. The irony in all of this is that Jamal was a very reluctant dissident. He was a man who, for a long time, supported his kingdom and his king. He long supported the type of government, the way of life, even though he wanted reforms.

He wanted opening up of society politically and socially, economically. But the pressure had become so severe on him a year ago that he -- he opted to take a step that -- as he conceded, for years had not spoken out when friends had been arrested.

But he abandoned his home and his family and his profession and he left and lived in the United States. I think, as he acknowledged, he was deeply fearful of the consequences. But I think even he would have been stunned at the prospect of what reportedly may have happened to him.

VAUSE: For almost a week, the only official statement coming out of the U.S. is a pretty low-key one. It read, "We're not in a position to confirm these reports but we're closely following the situation."

Monday brought the first public comments from the U.S. president. Here's what he said.

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TRUMP: I am concerned about it. I don't like hearing about it. Hopefully that will sort itself out. Right for you nobody knows anything about it. But this is a pretty bad stories going around. I don't like it.

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VAUSE: That's fairly timid stuff considering he's a well known critic and a high-profile dissident. He's also a U.S. resident.

WRIGHT: Absolutely. But President Trump has enormous stakes in Saudi Arabia, remember it was the first place he visited after becoming president among much pomp and ceremony. The kingdom is very important to his plans for brokerage a Middle East peace plan. Without Saudi Arabia it won't come off.

And Saudi Arabia is also important for his counter terrorism strategy. Jared Kushner his son-in-law and Middle East adviser is one of the closest personal friends to the crown prince. This is a very deep relationship. The United States has enormous stakes in this investment in Saudi Arabia so it is unlikely that things will change dramatically as a result of Jamal's fate.

VAUSE: OK, Robin, thank you so much for speaking with us.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

VAUSE: The wife of Interpol's now former president --

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VAUSE: -- insists he's the victim of political persecution. Meng Hongwei disappeared last month after traveling to Beijing from France. On Monday, Chinese authorities said he was in their custody, accused of corruption and accepting bribes.

CNN senior producer Steven Jiang following the story for us from the Chinese capital.

So Steven, what do we know about the basis of the accusations against Meng, is it to do with his time working in China as part of the security apparatus there or is it time as head of Interpol or is it both?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: There is a lot of confusion on that. As you know, the Chinese statement coming out yesterday is very typical of the Chinese government, very vaguely worded and filled with jargon.

They accused him of corruption. That's a charge his wife has denied. But there's also a reference in the statement about his former political patron, that is the country's former domestic security czar, who is now serving a life sentence for cooption.

The question here is that -- that patron actually fell from grace in 2014 but Mr. Meng continued to rise through the ranks after that. And he was made Interpol's president in 2016.

So that -- that didn't seem to add up. There was also some speculations about an incident back in February, when Mr. Meng was still the president of Interpol, the Interpol made a decision to let a wanted emergency on the ethnic Uighur activists living overseas. That upset the Chinese government greatly because they've been trying to crack down on Uighur activism both at home and abroad.

Nobody knows for sue. There's a lot of murkiness remaining in the case. As you said, all of the international spotlight is increasingly shining on Grace Meng, the wife, because she's been making very public and bold accusations, against the Chinese government in Lyons, France. She not only showed reporters very chilling messages from her husband before he disappeared, including a knife emoji, but also said she's ready to turn her grief and fear into a pursuit of truth, justice and responsibilities to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again in China. VAUSE: Steven, there are reports out there, we know that Meng was halfway through a four-year term as president of Interpol but apparently he's now resigned from that position.

What do you make of that?

JIANG: That resignation came after he disappeared. So you can make your own decision. But a lot of people assume that was made under duress. So no matter what you think of the case so far, the action of the government here as well as the accusation by his wife really have exposed a dark side of the system here, the nontransparency of the political and legal system.

That's reinforcing the notion by a lot of critics of the Chinese government, especially concerning and unsettling at a time when the government is increasingly trying to project its power and increase its influence overseas.

VAUSE: Steven, we appreciate the update on the story. Steven Jiang live for us in Beijing.

For the first time in history of the U.S. Supreme Court, it has a justice with the first name Brett. Now the battle over Brett Kavanaugh's seat is over, the war goes on. We'll look at the effect it may have on the next month's critical midterm elections.

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VAUSE: The U.S. president stood in the East Room of the White House Monday evening congratulating the newest Supreme Court justice. The swearing in of Brett Kavanaugh was completely ceremonial. He'd already taken the two required oaths on Saturday.

Monday night's ceremony was Mr. Trump. It was a victory lap after a contentious and politically divisive confirmation process. The president claimed -- falsely -- that Kavanaugh had been found innocent of the sexual assault allegations that were made during his confirmation process and he offered an apology.

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TRUMP: On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. Those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation.

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VAUSE: When Brett Kavanaugh took the microphone he spoke about impartially and being a justice for all Americans, not just for those who supported him.

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BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Although the Senate confirmation process tested me as it has tested others, it did not change me. My approach to judging remains the same. A good judge must be an neutral and impartial decider who favors no litigant or policy.

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VAUSE: Monday's swearing in was also probably a sign of things to come. The midterm elections are a month away with control of Congress at stake. And as CNN's Jim Acosta reports, Trump is now not holding back.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With his nominee Brett Kavanaugh heading to the high court, President Trump is still delivering some low blows.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: False charges, false accusations, horrible statements that were totally untrue that he knew nothing about. It was a disgraceful situation brought about by people that are evil and he toughed it out.

ACOSTA: At a speech to law enforcement officials in Orlando, Mr. Trump did not make it clear whether he considered Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, as being evil as well. But before he left for Florida, the president signaled he could see the battle in political terms, predicting that many Democrats are suddenly going to abandon their hopes for a blue wave in the upcoming midterms.

TRUMP: A man that was caught up in a hoax that was set up by the Democrats, using the Democrats' lawyers and now they want to impeach him. I think a lot of Democrats are going to vote Republican because I have many friends that are Democrats. The main base of the Democrats have shifted so far left that we will end up being Venezuela.

ACOSTA: The president's Kavanaugh playbook was on display at a rally over the weekend in Kansas, where President Trump accused Democrats of using mob tactics, pointing to the protesters shouting at senators up on Capitol Hill.

TRUMP: It is unthinkable.

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TRUMP: In their quest for power, the radical Democrats have turned into an angry mob.

ACOSTA: The president may be forgetting he too has repeatedly encouraged unruly behavior as a candidate. TRUMP: I would like to punch him in the face. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They would be carried out on a stretcher, folks. I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any votes, OK?

ACOSTA: Still, the anger flowing through both parties after the Supreme circus is palpable, from GOP Senator Lindsey Graham's emotional defense of Kavanaugh.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I have never been more pissed in my life. I voted for Sotomayor and Kagan. I would never done this to them. This is character assassination. This is wanting power too much.

ACOSTA: To the Democratic outrage directed at Republican Senator Susan Collins, who now says she does not believe Kavanaugh assaulted Ford.

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SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I do believe she was assaulted. I don't know by whom and I'm not certain when, but I do not believe that he was the assailant.

ACOSTA: Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell got testy over the weekend when he left open the possibility he could support filling a Supreme Court vacancy during the next presidential election, something he would not do when Barack Obama selected Merrick Garland in 2016.

CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": If you can't answer my direct question, are you saying that President Trump...

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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, the answer to your question is, we will see whether there's a vacancy in 2020.

ACOSTA: The president wasn't completely focused on Kavanaugh as he invited Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to ride on Air Force One. Rosenstein no longer appears to be on thin ice after he once talked of secretly recording the president and even having him removed from office using the 25th Amendment.

TRUMP: We had a very good talk, I will say. That became a very big story, actually, folks. We had a good talk.

ACOSTA: As for that meeting the president had with Rod Rosenstein, the White House told reporters the two men discussed, quote, "general Justice Department business," but there weren't many other details -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: For more now, political analyst and author of "Stand Up: How America Became Ungovernable." Bill Schneider is with us from Washington.

Bill, good to see you.

This was anything but your run of the mill swearing in ceremony and by that I mean, it was actually a fake ceremony in some ways as Kavanaugh had taken the oath on Saturday. And listen to how the room reacted when Trump walked in.

VAUSE: We also heard moments ago Trump apologizing to Kavanaugh on behalf of the nation. In many ways, it seems like Donald Trump just kicked off the Republican campaign for next month's congressional elections for the midterms.

BILL SCHNEIDER, POLITICAL ANALYST: That's predictable. Donald Trump makes sure that the news is all about him. Every president plays an important role in a Supreme Court appointment and nomination but still the whole fight has really been about Donald Trump as much as it's been about judge Kavanaugh.

VAUSE: Not long after this made for television but not legally required swearing in ceremony, "The New York Times" ran with this headline.

"Trump Seeks to Make Kavanaugh Furor a Campaign Asset, Not a Liability."

So the detailed strategy by the president focusing on the treatment of men during this #MeToo era and a lack of due process and how crazy those liberals are and progressives have been.

Given the incredibly low support among women for this administration, is this strategist best explained along the lines of what have we got to lose?

SCHNEIDER: That's an explanation that works. Men came out for him in 2016. He's dependent on them to win. There is a big gender division over Kavanaugh's confirmation but there's an even bigger partisan division. That's the real division in the country.

The difference between men and women was big but the difference between Republicans and Democrats was even bigger. And President Trump has really governed in an unusual way, more than any president I think certainly in memory and maybe in history, this president is a divider. He makes no pretense, like most of his predecessors, of trying to heal the division in the country.

VAUSE: You mentioned the polling numbers. There's new numbers out from CNN. It shows a slim majority of Americans now opposing Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court at the same time support for his nomination has actually inched up as well.

That's because a poll taken back in August, many didn't declare a preference either way. But now they do and this growing opposition is coming purely from the Democrat side. The Republican support for Kavanaugh is actually higher than it ever been. It's inched up a few points there as well.

As you say, this president, with his divide and conquer strategy which has worked in the past -- but this is about the Supreme Court. And it seems this is at a whole new level, a level the country has never seen before.

SCHNEIDER: Yes, the Supreme Court, even the Senate are supposed to be above partisan politics. That hasn't been true of the Senate in a long time and certainly not true now.

This was a historic division in the United States. I can compare it to what historians call the great division in France during the Dreyfus Affair 100 years ago, where all of France was divided left and right.

The Left and the Right dreamed of annihilating each other. That's what's happened in the United States now. The Senate now, which is supposed to be the place where partisan passions cool, the Senate has now become the real hotbed of partisanship and unfortunately, so has the Supreme Court becoming a partisan division.

And that's very unfortunate because the Supreme Court is the voice of the Constitution and it's not supposed to be partisan.

VAUSE: The one driving factor in politics in the U.S. right now seems to be anger at the other side.

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VAUSE: Yet after he made this controversial appearance before the Senate committee last week, on Monday, Kavanaugh tried to reassure those who doubt that he'll be a impartial, unbiased judge. This is what he said.

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KAVANAUGH: Every litigant in the Supreme Court can be assured that I will listen to their arguments with respect and an open mind.

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VAUSE: Now compare that guy from the other guy at the Senate committee hearing last week.

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KAVANAUGH: This is a circus. The consequences will extend long past nomination the consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque and coordinated character assassination will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country.

As we know in the United States' political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Who do you believe here?

The mild-mannered, calm, reasonable Supreme Court sworn in Judge Kavanaugh or angry, hostile, beer-loving, what goes around comes around frat boy like who testified last week?

SCHNEIDER: We don't know yet. We have to wait and see what he does on the court. He probably will defend himself by saying when he talks about partisan division and passion, he was talking about the Senate and the confirmation process.

We can only hope so, because when it comes to passing judgment, the Supreme court is the final word. It has authority over both the executive and the legislative branch. It is the Constitution. It is the voice of the Constitution. And for that to become partisan in the United States is a very severe blow to our democracy.

VAUSE: Kavanaugh did say on Monday that the Supreme court is not political. But yet last week after he was confirmed, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, tweeted, congratulations judge Kavanaugh it's only 6-3 liberal Supreme Court under Hillary Clinton, we now have a 5-4 conservative Supreme Court under President Donald Trump. For many a tremendous legacy for the president and (INAUDIBLE) blah blah blah.

Can everyone now at least stop pretending that, when it comes to the politics and the nature of the Supreme Court?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, politics -- look, there's an old saying. The Supreme Court follows the election returns. Well, this court really does. You have the conservatives who control now all three branches of the government and their control of the Supreme Court is a very risky thing. Because if they insist on making decisions, if they make decisions based on a conservative script, I think a lot of the country is going to be disillusioned.

This really started long before Judge Kavanaugh was nominated. You can really go back to 2017, 2016, when Barack Obama made a nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court and the Republicans in the Senate simply refused to carry out their constitutional duty and act on that nomination.

They just held it up for 11 months. That was a real provocation and it was truly perfectly partisan.

VAUSE: Yes, and it has just become more and more partisan since.

Bill, as always, good to see you. Thank you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And we have a programming note here. Hillary Clinton will be Christiane Amanpour's guest, 6:00 pm in London, 7:00 pm in Berlin.

Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, it has a new lead in the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter. Report from Moscow in a moment.

Also they call him the Brazil's Donald Trump. This far-right presidential candidate has forced an unexpected runoff in one of the most divisive elections the country has seen in years. After the break, details on what comes next for Brazil.

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[02:31:07] VAUSE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. This is the top stories this hour. Turkey's president calling for proof Saudi Arabia that a high profile journalist actually left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. Jamal Khashoggi has been missing since visiting the consulate for a marriage documents. The Saudis insists he left alive (INAUDIBLE) he never came out.

Interpol's former president being investigated in China for alleged corruption. (INAUDIBLE) revealed on Monday that Meng Hongwei was in custody accused of accepting bribes. Meng's wife insists he's the victim of political persecution. Hurricane Michael now battling Cuba and is expected to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday. Forecasts warning the storm could bring life threatening floods in Northern Florida, some parts of North and South Carolina.

Well, it could be a new revelation in the identity of the second suspect in the Skripal poisoning in the U.K. back in March. The intelligence website Bellingcat says the details will be made public on Tuesday at British Parliament. Details now from CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After claiming to have revealed the identity of one of the two alleged assailants of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the Novichok poisoning that happened earlier this year, the British investigative website Bellingcat now claims to also know the identity of the second man alleged by British authorities to have taken part in the poisoning. Now, British authorities have always they believe that two men were using aliases and the second man they named as Alexander Petrov.

But Bellingcat now says that they believe that his true name is Alexander Mishkin, that he's 39 years old, a military doctor and that he was also recruited by Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU. Now, Bellingcat issued a press release ahead of what they say tomorrow will be a larger press conference as to what exactly their methodology and also their sources was. But they do say that they talked to several sources both in St. Petersburg and also in the home village of Mishkin which they say is called Loyga, north of Moscow.

Now, the Russian authorities we've been asking them for comment on this. We reached out both to the spokeswoman for the foreign ministry and to the Kremlin as well. So far they have not answered. In the past though, the Kremlin and the foreign ministry have said that they don't believe that any of the reports from Bellingcat are credible. But of course, all of this comes after several days with embarrassing revelations for the Russians.

The GRU of course being accused by the Americans, the Dutch, and also the British of having conducted cyber operations against these countries. And some of the alleged evidence was made public. So far, we're seeing a fairly muted response to the Russia -- by the Russians to a lot of those allegations. But clearly, a lot of people here in Russia believed that this is a big setback and has been a big string of setbacks for the Russians and for their military intelligence service. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

VAUSE: Brazil's closely watched presidential election is now heading for a runoff later this month after a far-right Congressman known as the Brazilian Donald Trump pull off a surprising win in the first round. We have more now from Shasta Darlington.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Voter anger over corruption, crime, and economic recession propelled Jair Bolsonaro to the head of the pack in the first round of voting in Brazil's presidential election. The question is whether or not it will hand him a victory in three weeks' time when he goes to a runoff vote again Fernando Haddad. He's the candidate for the left-wing Workers' Party. Now, Bolsonaro definitely has the advantage.

One day after the elections on Monday, the markets were soaring, an optimism that Bolsonaro would win, that he would roll back social spending and implement market friendly reforms to help pull Brazil out of its economic stagnation. And it wasn't just Bolsonaro who defied the pollster's projections. Many of his allies running for seats in Congress also did much better than expected. His small Social Liberal Party looks like it's going to win 52 seats in Congress. They only had eight seats before election.

[02:35:11] Now, as for Haddad, on his first day after the election, he went to visit Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in prison. That's because Haddad replaced the former president on the ballot just a month ago after he was jailed on corruption charges and barred from running for office. Haddad has been trying to win over this broad base of support that Lula enjoys in some of the forest regions of Brazil. So far, he hasn't been able to really get a hold of all of that.

So over the next three weeks, his focus will be on trying to shore up his support. But he definitely has an uphill climb ahead. I'm Shasta Darlington for CNN in Sao Paulo.

VAUSE: The European Union is urging a speedy investigation by Bulgarian authorities to find the killer of journalist Viktoria Marinova.

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MARGARITIS SCHINAS, CHIEF SPOKESPERSON, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The Commission expects a swift and thorough investigation by the responsible authorities that will bring those responsible to justice and clarify whether this attack was linked to her work. We must make sure that journalists everywhere are safe and make their valuable contribution to our democratic societies.

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VAUSE: Hundreds of mourners held vigils in cities across Bulgaria demanding justice for Marinova. (INAUDIBLE) prosecution say she had been raped, beaten, suffocated. And just over a week ago, Marinova (INAUDIBLE) television show. They were reporting on allegations of corruption involving E.U. funds. Marinova said she would carry out a similar investigation. The group Reporters Without Borders ranks Bulgaria the lowest for press freedom in the European Union.

Up next here on CNN NEWSROOM, a new U.N. climate change report warning of dire consequences unless major changes are made and fast.

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VAUSE: Apparently, Google has its own social networking site, you know, like Facebook. It was called Google Plus. If you don't know about it, don't worry because you are not alone. Everything Google turns to -- Google does turns to gold. Anyway, this (INAUDIBLE) it's shutting down because of a report that Google tried covering up a data breach which was exposed a gigantic number of accounts of half a million. (INAUDIBLE)

[02:40:08] A new report from the U.N. is warning we have until 2030 to stop a catastrophic impact from climate change. The report is urging governments to make rapid far reaching changes. CNN's Nick Watt has details.

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NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Deadly wildfires from California to Greece that record setting range is dumped by Hurricane Florence on the Carolinas, droughts crippling Cape Town, South Africa, and heat waves hurting Europe brown. And now, we have only 12 years to stop all of this getting much worse. Average temperatures have risen about one degree Celsius since 1880. In Paris, leaders pledge to keep the rise well below two degrees.

This report now suggests we aim for 1.5, a benchmark we're predicted to reach by 2030.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The message is that countries will need to cooperate.

WATT: Yet, President Trump is trying to revive the polluting coal industry here in the U.S. He's also pledged to withdraw from the historic Paris climate change agreement and recently rolled back Obama-era targets for cutting vehicle emissions.

DREW SHINDELL, CO-AUTHOR, CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT: They really benefit a tiny group of fossil fuel companies at the expense of the American people.

WATT: And in Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest, the lungs of our planet, the presidential frontrunner says he'll also withdraw from that Paris deal.

SHINDELL: From the standpoint of getting the whole world motivated to actually make the changes it would be needed to meet the goal, we have an awfully long way to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very clear that half of degree matters.

WATT: Apparently, if we're up two degrees rather than just 1.5, sea level will rise an extra four inches. The Arctic already at record low, ice levels has seen in this NASA image will be totally ice-free on average once a decade instead of once a century. All of the world coral will completely disappear and flooding and wildfires here at home will be even worse.

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WATT: We haven't heard any reaction yet to this report from the Trump administration. But we have heard from former Vice President Al Gore who said that the Trump administration has become a rouge outlier and it's shortsighted attempt to prop up the dirty fossil fuel industries of the past. Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

VAUSE: And the U.N. report put a price tag on limiting the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 degree Celsius by 2030. Nearly, $2.4 trillion in energy investments between now and 2025. That's actually 2.5 percent of the world GDP. But the report also outlines as of suggestions of what everybody could do to (INAUDIBLE) carbon emissions like using video conferencing instead of traveling on business, eat less meat, less dairy, reducing food waste, and switching to electric car.

Finally, here from Central Arizona, a reminder of why everyone should wear their seatbelts. Look at this. This is what happens. The driver of that white pickup truck both so delicately (INAUDIBLE) says she lost control after being sideswiped by another vehicle. The white Truck was sent flying into the air when it collided with an oncoming car and then landed where it landed. Two people inside the red car, they were not hurt. In fact, no one was hurt because police say they were all wearing seatbelts.

Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is up next. You're watching CNN.

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