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Financial Aid Flowing In Helping The Physical Recovery Of Notre Dame Cathedral; The World's Biggest Single Day Election; Sudan's Ousted President Being Held In Maximum Security Prison. Aired: 8-9a ET

Aired April 17, 2019 - 08:00   ET

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


WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A bold proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: [Speaking in foreign language].

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): But many thing Emmanuel Macron's call is a long shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Clearly, the President has in mind getting Notre Dame ready for the Olympic Games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): A strong showing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Voting has ended the world's biggest single day election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): Initial results indicate Indonesia's incumbent President, Joko Widodo, beating his rival. And a CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just even slowing down this multi-billion dollar trade requires so many more holes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): Nick Paton Walsh reports how Venezuela is turning into a cocaine courier to the U.S. and benefiting Nicolas Maduro's regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH: And simply making too much money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (on camera): Hey, I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong, in for Lu Stout. Welcome to NEWS STREAM on this Wednesday. As the people of France begin a

journey of emotional recovery after the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral, financial aid is flowing in and it's helping the physical

recovery of this French landmark.

The country's Cultural Minister says more than $900 million has now been pledged towards the reconstruction of the church. We saw the dramatic

crash of the spire on Monday. These are images that Parisians and people around the world will never forget.

Today, the country is looking towards a new beginning, a new look, perhaps. The government has announced that there will be an international composite

competition to redesign the spire. Meanwhile, the company is tasked with renovating parts of the Cathedral say none of their workers were on the

site when the fire broke out. Paris prosecutors, they are still investigating the cause of the fire. And they're interviewing employees --

30 of them so far, who were working there on the day of the fire.

So I want to bring in CNN's Melissa Bell, who is once again live outside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Melissa, what are you learning about

this investigation and this questioning of these workers?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, 30 of them as you just said, Will being interviewed have been interviewed now by the Paris Prosecutor's

Office. And, again, I think it's important to note that from very early on, on Monday night, the prosecutors in the early part of their

investigation said that they believe that this was accidental.

Clearly, though, it is crucial that they understand how that initial spark came to be? How this fire that so spectacularly engulfed the roof of Notre

Dame on Monday night, could have come about. So those interviews have now taken place and will continue, but we've also heard this morning and had

confirmed that of the four companies, four private companies contracted to work on the renovation of Notre Dame that was of course, going on, Will,

when this fire broke out, only two of them were actively involved on the site on the day.

And of all of those by the time the fire began just before 6:50 p.m. local time, all of those workers had gone home. But there were other people on

the site beyond the firemen, beyond the immediate Emergency Services who came here once that fire broke out, and they were people who belonged to a

Trade Union that works with France's Historical Renovation Society and some of those workers that we've been speaking to were super crucial in helping

to evacuate some -- of the crucial artwork.

But clearly, so many more questions to be answered about how this fire began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (voice over): In the aftermath of the devastating fire that left the beloved Notre Dame Cathedral charred but still standing, French authorities

looking for answers, interviewing 30 employees who were working at the building the day the fire broke out.

The blaze, which began in the Cathedral's attic, is believed to be accidental, possibly a result of restoration work on the historic landmark.

Authorities revealing that Cathedral staff struggled to find the source of the blaze for 23 minutes after the first fire alarm rang out.

President Emmanuel Macron pledging to rebuild, setting an ambitious five- year deadline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACRON (Through a translator): We will make the Cathedral of Notre Dame even more beautiful. We can do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL (voice over): One possible challenge: the part of the cathedral's roof known as The Forest, which was destroyed in the blaze. The French

Heritage Foundation tells CNN the country no longer has trees large enough to replace the ancient beech wood beams originally used in its

construction.

France's top business leaders making generous pledges, donating more than $700 million for Notre Dame's reconstruction. This, as the scope of the

destruction inside the iconic Cathedral becomes clear. Its beautiful interior extensively damaged. Mountains of debris stacked high. Light

pouring in through holes in the roof. But the pews, surrounded by piles of rubble, seemingly undamaged.

[08:05:12] BELL: The Cathedral's iconic spire, lost to the fire, crumbling as onlookers watched.

But a copper rooster that sat atop the spire recovered intact. Some of the Cathedral's priceless relics, including the Crown of Thorns also rescued,

transported for safekeeping to the Louvre Museum and Paris's City Hall.

Notre Dame's stained-glass windows, twin bell towers, famous 18th Century organ also surviving the blaze.

Paris's mayor thanking the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, who is being lauded as a hero for rushing into the burning building to rescue the Holy

Relics. Pope Francis expressing his distress and thanking the first responders in his first address after the fire.

While the number of days Notre Dame will remain closed is unknown, outside the Cathedral's walls, people coming together to hold their own service at

a vigil last night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (on camera): Now that outpouring of emotion will continue here in Paris this evening. Chrism mass, which is a crucial mass that is held

during the Holy Week ahead of Easter weekend, Will, will be held tonight Saint-Sulpice. That's a church here on the left bank, not very far from

where I'm standing. It had been due to be held at Notre Dame, so you can imagine the strength of feeling there tonight for the some 400 priests

expected together and the very many faithful expected to spill out from that church, Will.

RIPLEY: And I can imagine, Melissa, that crowd is going to be equally impressive and we know you'll be there watching. Melissa Bell live in

Paris. Thank you.

Shifting our focus now to Indonesia and a very big day there. In fact, it's the world's biggest single day election, some 190 million people

eligible to vote. Polls closed about six hours ago, and the early count of ballots cast in the country's national election shows that the incumbent

President Joko Widodo has beaten his rival, Prabowo Subianto.

Now, the Indonesians across 17,000 islands -- 17,000 islands -- they cast their ballots. More than 20,000 legislative seats up for grabs by the way,

along with votes for President and Vice President. The election is a massive undertaking to say the least and it could take more than a month to

get the official results, but they already have the early results, interestingly.

Political analyst Kevin Evans joins me now live from Jakarta to break this all down. Okay, Kevin. So a lot of factors at play in this election as

you know. Well, Mr. Joko ran on infrastructure. Probowo went after the evil elites and of course, front and center for both campaigns was

religion.

KEVIN EVANS, POLITICAL ANALYST: That's correct. In some respects, this has picked up from some recent dynamics in society over the last couple of

years, this whole issue of, how you place religion or more importantly, how you guide the relationship between the dominant religion or Islam and the

state. But there have been other undercurrents, which you noted before in terms of Joko's desire to build on infrastructure now move to education and

training and Probowo's argument that there is too much foreign ownership of the Indonesian economy and that there needs to be a greater sense of self-

reliance domestically.

RIPLEY: Curious, if you think that this race to the right is going to stick in terms of policy if Mr. Joko going to continue this conservative

stance he took during the campaign which essentially was trying to boost his religious credential.

EVANS: I actually think it will transform somewhat. There is actually counterpoint against this small internationalist kind of global Islamic

identity that has been adopted and somewhat forced on some members of society. There's a kind of a backlash towards more traditional Indonesian

identity of Islam, which is much more embracing of the various minorities within the society.

I expect to see that have a larger voice as we go forward.

RIPLEY: Okay, Kevin, please stand by. Stick around because I want to show our viewers exactly what it takes to pull off an election like this. I

guess the best word would be monumental. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice over): In Indonesia, the world's third largest democracy, the election is a horse race to the finish. Ballots travel by horseback,

by boats and through the notorious traffic jams of Jakarta.

It's one of the most extraordinary exercises of democracy in action, and in fast forward.

[08:10:09] RIPLEY: Indonesia's combined presidential and legislative votes are the biggest single day elections in the world, and polls are open for

just six hours for a nation of nearly 193 million eligible voters.

For Indonesia's mammoth elections --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BLAND, DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTHEAST ASIA PROJECT, LOWY INSTITUTE: The logistics of this election are fiendishly complicated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): The numbers are staggering -- 245,000 candidates, 20,000 seats; 800,000 polling stations and six million election workers and

they have to move all those ballots across the vast nation of islands stretching more than 3,000 miles from east to west.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAND: And it is spread over hundreds, if not thousands of islands, many of these places are very remote in mountain villages, you have to access

some places by small boats, on foot in some cases, and remember that many different areas have different ballots because they're voting for different

local candidates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): Here, it really does take a village, or at least a village polling station. That's where votes are counted, sorted and sent

out.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

RIPLEY: Unbelievable. I'm back with Kevin Evans. Okay, Kevin, that's a lot of votes in a very little amount of time. And it really does beg the

question, how reliable are these results?

EVANS: I don't think there's any question that they reflect the will of the people. This is the fifth series of national elections since the

democratic era. The country has become quite efficient and quite capable of managing these kind of massive logistical exercises. And all candidates

have appeal processes that they can go to the Constitutional Court if they think there was some problem locally.

And every so often, there is a few polling stations that are told to reballot. There are corrections made to the tabulation process. But what

always goes here is that the verdict of the Constitutional Court on any dispute is ultimately accepted, and everybody goes home to prepare for the

next election or get on with governing.

RIPLEY: Kevin Evans, just an extraordinary feat to cast that many ballots in such a short time and we appreciate your expertise joining us from

Jakarta. Thank you.

Moving now to Sudan's ousted President who we have learned is being held in the same maximum security prison where he once locked up his political

enemies. CNN has learned that Omar Al-Bashir was transferred to Kobar Prison, Tuesday evening. This is according to two prison officials who say

they witnessed his arrival. Officials also telling CNN, he is being held separately from other regime figures, and right now is under heavy guard.

This facility is a well-known site for executions. One prison official put it in these chilling terms, saying, quote, "He would have been led past the

same hangman's news, where he sent people to meet their Lord."

Following all of this for us, senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir who is covering a lot of fast moving developments in Sudan, and

once again joining us from the capital of Khartoum. Nima, is this an attempt by the military government to placate the protesters who are still

out around the clock? And will it be enough?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely is an attempt at convincing protesters that they can be trusted that, and

additionally, they have now published a list of businessmen who they say benefited from the corruption of the state. They are asking for any and

all bank transfers since the first of April to be to be taken apart, and they want people to start helping them put together a list of assets that

needs to be frozen.

They are going after the two things that they feel that the Sudanese people have suffered from the most. The intensive endemic corruption of the

regime represented not only in the person of the President, but his wife and his close family members, and also this sense of regime overreach.

So to send Omar Al-Bashir to Kobar Prison which in and of itself is quite iconic in Sudan's political history. So many of opposition figures

themselves turned rulers in Sudan throughout Sudan history will have gone through Kobar. To send him there sends a message to the Sudanese people

that he is very much not above the law.

So far though, it does not seem to be changing any minds on the ground, Will, that's what's so extraordinary. They appreciate they say -- these

activists on the ground -- they say they appreciate the symbolism of what's being done, but they will stop at nothing short of civilian rule. They

want power back in their hands they say, Will.

RIPLEY: Nima Elbagir covering a dramatic few days there in the capital of Sudan and it's only Wednesday, so we'll see what else happens, Nima. And

we know you'll be there. Thank you.

You're watching NEWS STREAM and still ahead live from Hong Kong, we turn to Venezuela, a country descending into chaos.

[08:15:16] RIPLEY: Many its ruling classes are getting filthy rich dealing drugs. We have an exclusive investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIPLEY: Seventeen minutes past eight o'clock on a Wednesday night here in Hong Kong a beautiful evening. You're watching NEWS STREAM. The first

delivery of aid from the Red Cross has arrived for the desperate population of Venezuela. The Health Minister says the shipment includes things like

emergency kits, generators and tanks to store water. Hospitals struggling with power outages right now. There's a shortage of medicine. Some of

those will also be receiving supplies.

And while Venezuela's crisis has left many people struggling just to find food and water, the basics, there are others in the country who are sitting

pretty making millions of dollars from drug trafficking.

After a month-long CNN investigation, we have learned that Venezuela is becoming a cocaine courier using a vast smuggling network through Central

and South America. CNN senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh has our exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATON WALSH (voice over): Below is a cocaine super highway, enriching Venezuela's corrupt elite and bringing coke to American streets.

These thin lines are secret pathways from Colombia's cocaine farming heartlands below across into neighboring Venezuela. From there, billions

of dollars of the drug are smuggled north in tiny planes. U.S. and regional officials have told CNN aided by Venezuela's army and elite.

The Colombian military we're with don't get any lower to stay out of the range of tracker machine guns and talk to locals mostly through the

leaflets they drop.

"We've stopped drug flights out of Colombia," he tells me, "but not from places we don't control." He means Venezuela just five miles away. Below,

they think they spotted a cocaine laboratory, one of many fueling Venezuela's role as a cocaine courier, which a CNN investigation has

learned is booming just as the country collapses.

Two hundred and forty tons went from Colombia to Venezuela in 2018, up a third in one year, a U.S. official told us, which could fetch $40 billion

on U.S. streets.

PATON WALSH (on camera): That traffic happening down below one possible reason it's alleged by so many in the Venezuelan army and government are

reluctant to give up on Nicolas Maduro. They're simply making too much money.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): The trade remains mostly secret inside Venezuela, on the other side of the border here, but we were able to learn

more about these illegal routes in from recent defectors from the Venezuelan Army Border Patrol and about how their officers order them to

let cross specific trucks carrying cocaine. For five years, this sergeant got those orders often three times a week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:16] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through a translator): The cars that cross both weapons and drugs were pickups and we would be told the color and make

of the truck and when, usually just after dawn or dusk.

Everything was coordinated by the brigade commander. He would send a lieutenant to tell you what needed to cross and this was arranged high up

above. Those who didn't agree were swapped out automatically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH (voice-over): He fled to here, Colombia, when the pressure to comply got too much and his unit found themselves confined to base.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through a translator): We were locked on the base. The general would say, "Everyone must be with us. Leave or speak against the

government, you'll get arrested." They had us brainwashed with food handouts. One night, I couldn't take it anymore. I went home and told my

wife, we leave for Colombia. My son started crying and said, "Dad, what are we going to do?" But I knew if they stayed without me, they would be

captured or interrogated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Venezuelan state TV occasionally shows how their Armed Forces crack down on the trade. Here intercepting Mexican pilots

that had previously rejected allegations that they were actually running the drugs and did not respond to several requests for comment.

But a U.S. official has told CNN these flights are surging. They used to take off from the remote hidden runways in the southern Venezuelan jungle.

But in the three years have moved north, a U.S. official told CNN, to reduce flying time.

They used to be three a week, but last year they were almost daily. This year they have seen as many as eight in a single day, a regional official

said, using 50 hidden runways.

CNN has seen a confidential U.S. radar map approximated here that shows the sharp turn left the planes from Venezuela take before landing on the remote

Central American coastline of Honduras before the cocaine travels north through Mexico into the United States.

Honduras is where we pick up the trail of this booming trafficking again, on the coastline below, turned into a surreal graveyard of narco planes.

Cocaine cargo they carry is worth so many millions, the place itself is just a fraction in a billion-dollar deal. So many are discarded like used

plastic bottles all over the jungle or crammed here into one riverbed.

The troops we're with don't want to be on camera for their safety.

PATON WALSH (on camera): Some of these have their markings torn off to make the job of working exactly where they came from even harder.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): America's drug habit is where the money, the rot all begins. But that same open market also supplies a key part of the

logistics here.

PATON WALSH (on camera): While the fires deprive much of this plane of distinguishing characteristics, but you can still see N4 there, N, meaning

this plane originated in the United States.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Brokers, a U.S. official tells me, buy up dozens of old planes at auction in the United States and hide their ownership in

shell companies to send them south to start the cocaine journey north from Venezuela.

PATON WALSH (on camera): Again, another N, which means another plane that started its days in the United States.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): It's not just traffickers in Venezuela and the U.S. making billions; the entire region is in on it. This is surely

Honduras' biggest industry. The billions at stake everywhere. From this jungle road, which is actually a hidden runway, up to the Honduran

President's brother, indicted last year on trafficking charges, which he denies. You can't stop the planes being sold or taking off, one officer

tells me. So they instead just have to try and make landing harder by blowing holes in the runways.

PATON WALSH (on camera): Just seems slowing down this multibillion dollar trade requires so many more holes to be blown in this vast expanse of

jungle.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): The amount of money cocaine brings here literally dwarfs any effort to fight it. Insane amounts of cash into some

villages along this coastline that have none. In fact, the Honduran army tells us traffickers flying toward these villages often kick their cargo

overboard when they think they're about to be intercepted.

Each 30 kilogram bundle of cocaine is attached to floats and then drifts ashore. They then pay these communities of fishermen $150,000.00 for each

recovered bundle. It's a calculus of corruption that most officials I spoke to admit beggars belief that no police or aid operation can really

hope to challenge. One that sees the collapsing Maduro government as the alleged couriers cashing in fast in a region of desperate delivery men.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:25:07] RIPLEY: Nick Paton Walsh is just back from uncovering that story and he joins me now live from London. Nick, just incredible what you

saw on the ground there. But my question is, we know the money is massive. How widespread though is the corruption believed to be within the Maduro

government and how big of a factor is it believed to be in keeping him in power?

PATON WALSH: Well, it's interesting, U.S. government officials have alleged for some years now the key players around Nicolas Maduro, often his

number two, to some degree or rather they've indicted Tarek El Aissamia and Diosdado Cabello, who have sort of served as his kind of ranking number two

deputies over the last years.

They've both been indicted and sanctioned because of American officials allegations that they are essentially profiting from or assisting in

running the drug trade through Venezuela and they have both denied that quite forcefully and they have not stood trial for it at all because those

indictments are, of course in the United States.

So two opinions there, but if you look at how that machine functions, as we saw ourselves, there's a lot of evidence, as I say, Venezuelan government

didn't respond to a request for comment for that report, but a lot of evidence suggesting that Venezuela's territory is a key conduit for all of

that. And the key point here, Will, is that Colombia is with some record assistance, they say more or less shut down their airspace to these illegal

narco flights. Instead, they moved across the border into Venezuela.

And the argument is, how can you fly that many planes out of a country without the government being aware that that is in fact occurring without

their own radars seeing how that happens? Venezuela still controls its airspace pretty well. That's the key question here and that brings into

question whether or not this goes up to the highest levels. American official say it does. If you talk to that Venezuelan defector you heard

there and many other Venezuelan defectors we spoke to didn't end up in that report you just watched. This goes all the way up through the chains of

military command, eventually profiting to those on the top.

U.S. officials have repeatedly pointed to the money flow, leaving Venezuela very quickly. One U.S. official I spoke to said it's pretty hard to

distinguish what comes from drug profits, what comes from embezzlement. But still, the evidence is quite substantial. As I say Venezuelan

officials have historically denied this. But we saw an awful lot to suggest, Venezuela -- the trade is picking up incredibly fast -- Will.

RIPLEY: Of course, none of it would be possible without an ample supply of paying customers in the United States. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks for that

incredible reporting. We appreciate it.

The sight of Notre Dame bursting into flames is one that many in France say they will never forget.

Just ahead on NEWS STREAM, honoring the firefighters who battled to save an icon of Paris, a treasure of the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:29] RIPLEY: I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong, in for Kristie Lu Stout out and this is NEWS STREAM. Here are your headlines. Early results in

Indonesia's national election show incumbent President Joko Widodo well ahead of his rival, Prabowo Subianto. Polls closed just hours ago in what

is the world's largest single day election. Get this -- more than 190 million people were eligible to vote, and they did it in a span of six

hours. Final results were expected by May 22nd.

CNN has learned that the Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir, was transferred to a maximum security prison, Tuesday evening. This is

according to two prison officials who witnessed his arrival. Officials say he is being held in solitary confinement, and he is now at the same

facility where he imprisoned and executed his political enemies.

China's economy is showing renewed signs of life this year. According to the Chinese government at least, it grew slightly more than expected in the

first quarter of 2019 expanding by 6.4 percent. Last year, the world's second largest economy cooled to its lowest level in almost three decades,

causing concern with investors around the world.

Uneasy anticipation is hanging over Washington right now. All of it because of the release of the Mueller report just about 24 hours from now.

Of course, Democrats, they are eager to open it up. They want to read with the Special Counsel found in its investigation of Russian meddling in the

Trump administration. And President Trump has said, judging from the summary at least that he is vindicated, exonerated fully.

But as CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports, White House aides are privately concerned that the details in the full report could set off some internal

drama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With Washington bracing for the release of Attorney General William Barr's

redacted version of the Mueller report, anxiety is building in the White House, with several current and former aides telling CNN they are dreading

the publication.

A number of the President's staff cooperated with the Special Counsel, including former White House counsel, Don McGahn, whose 30 hours of

testimony, sources say, unsettled the President.

Several aides now expressing concern that the release of the new information in the report may provoke Mr. Trump's anger and that the report

will be embarrassing and unflattering for the President, providing the most credible account so far of chaos inside the West Wing.

One Republican source calling the tension among the President's aides, quote, "very high," adding, "They cooperated and had to tell the truth. He

is going to go bonkers."

White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway downplaying the concern Tuesday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: That's sort of the latest iteration of the palace intrigue stories. They'd rather just try to pit us

all against each other and the President against current and former future staff. I can tell you that we're not looking at it that way at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY (voice over): Sources who have spoken with President Trump over the past few days say he is not concerned about the report's public

release, claiming it will vindicate him and help him move beyond the cloud of the Mueller investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I heard it's going to come out on Thursday. That's good. And there can't be anything there,

because there was no crime. This crime was all made up. It was all a fabrication.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY (voice over): People familiar with the matter say the President is not expected to review the report ahead of Thursday's release but will be

briefed on the findings once they're public. The President will also likely spend hours watching TV coverage analyzing the details.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tamping down expectations but keeping pressure on the Justice Department as Democrats push to see the full unredacted

report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I respect protecting sources and methods. I don't support hiding the truth from the American people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Returning to our top story, I'd like to show you some new photos. Paris inspectors are saying that the damage to Notre Dame's interior, not

as bad as it could have been, so you can see here this is what the Cathedral looked like just the day before the fire and then of course the

day after as well.

The images do show extensive damage of the interior, however, much of the interior was able to be saved. The fallen spire, it now why is it the foot

of the altar and half of all the debris that came down with it and in the ceiling, two gaping holes that are open to the sky. One is where this

spire once stood.

CNN senior international correspondent, Jim Bittermann is live this hour in Paris and he continues to follow all of this. Jim, as experts are looking

at these new images from the interior and assessing all of the damage. What are they saying about the likelihood of rebuilding Notre Dame in just

five years, as President Macron has called for?

[08:35:17] BITTERMANN: Well, that's an open question, Will. The fact is that five years is a very tight deadline and some people are saying you

could do it, and some people are saying or can't. It all depends on how you want to do it and one of the discussions that is taking place right now

is whether or not you want to rebuild it exactly as it was with wooden beams and that sort of thing or you want to put something more reliable and

perhaps safer, like steel beams to support the roof. That would, of course, be a much quicker process in terms of construction work.

So there are arguments on both sides, and we're going to see in about an hour and a half from now. President Macron is holding a meeting with all

the stakeholders in this project, that is to say, I believe associations that are involved with Notre Dame, the religious authorities, so with the

Cultural Ministry of that sort of thing, and they're going to be talking about these kinds of issues.

As the Prime Minister announced just a short while ago that in fact, they're setting up a special committee that's going to be dealing just with

a reconstruction of Notre Dame. That's going to be through a law that is being passed or the President wants to have passed next week in Parliament

that would also give a tax deduction to those people who contribute to Notre Dame's reconstruction.

So there's a lot going on behind the scenes. There's something going on up on top of Cathedral itself, we've been watching workers up there this

morning. We think what they're doing is covering those big gaping holes that you were talking about in the roof, because they want to make sure

that they don't have any further damage from rainwater or anything else leaking in to the Cathedral.

So we'll know more about that in about a half hour because we're going to get a briefing from the Fire Department's chief spokesman -- Will.

RIPLEY: It seems the building must be stable enough at least for the workers to go in there and just extraordinary to think that they're getting

close to a billion dollars raised already for the reconstruction, Jim. Thanks so much for following it for us there live in Paris with the facade

just over your shoulder. We appreciate it.

Cuba is our next story this evening and the United States doesn't have some good news for that country's government. They're making plans to punish

Cuba, punishing the government for its support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

U.S. National Security adviser, John Bolton is expected to make the announcement and just a few hours. Now, this is a major break with

previous U.S. policy. The Trump administration now planning to allow lawsuits over property confiscated during the Cuban Revolution. This is

significant and it has some potentially big consequences.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann joins me now live from Havana to explain it all. Patrick, this announcement. Gosh, it comes at a bad time for Cuba's

economy.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. And one of those pieces of property being targeted by these sanctions is right behind me.

The Havana cruise ship terminal. This was U.S. property before the revolution. It was seized and it is used by a cruise companies from around

the world who now could be targeted because they are according to the U.S. administration, the Trump administration trafficking in seized property.

And though this law has been on the books now for 20 years, administrations both Republican and Democrat have simply a way of it saying that it was

going open a Pandora's box of legal actions, of possibly legal actions that could be challenged around the world and could cause Spanish and Canadian

companies that do business in Cuba, start facing lawsuits could cause some blowback for U.S. companies operating in those countries.

But the Trump administration is saying that they take a very different view on this, that they want the hardest sanctions possible against Cuba. And

make no mistake, these are some of the toughest sanctions we've seen in decades. And they are allowing this law that has been waived for decades

now, to move forward, and it is going to cause thousands of lawsuits to be filed, some very novel lawsuits because it's not just U.S. companies that

lost property, they're also allowing for the first time, Will, Cubans who were not naturalized at the time the revolution, but lost property and

later became citizens to also sue companies who are doing business in Cuba.

And as you said, a very bad time of for this to happen because the Cuban economy is suffering and this is going to make things much worse.

RIPLEY: And ironically, you know, a lot of the aid was coming from Venezuela which is collapsing economically. So that's been cut off, and

now this. Patrick, thanks for following it for us there in Havana. We appreciate it.

Now to North Korea, and there are some new satellite photos that we want to show you. These photos that are raising questions about Pyongyang's

nuclear program. It's kind of hard to make all of this stuff out. But a Washington think tank says that these images are showing the movement of

rail cars. And these are rail cars that have previously been used to carry radioactive material. So this report from the Center for Strategic and

International Studies say that the presence of those specialized cars on the tracks at the Yongbyon reactor could -- and I need to emphasize it --

could indicate activity at the Yongbyon nuclear site. But of course all of that is not confirmed. This is basically analysis based on images from

high up in space

[08:40:16] RIPLEY: But this does come as the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un made a surprise visit to his country's Air Force and he observed

the military drill. State media reported that Kim expressed quote "great satisfaction" that his pilots are ready for air combat and of course, this

raises a lot of questions about whether the North Korean leader is going to take a more militaristic posture if diplomacy would the United States and

South Korea continues to kind of be in this standstill.

There is much more head on NEWS STREAM live from Hong Kong including what doctors are calling a miraculous recovery for this patient.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIPLEY: We continue tonight with a medical marvel. If you saw someone with the kind of injury that you see in this x-ray, yes, that was like

right through his head there. You might wonder if he'd survive, but look, he did. That's a worker in central India. Amazing.

Doctors actually describing his recovery as miraculous. After an iron rod pierced his skull just narrowly missing blood vessels by the way. Doctors

say he woke up a few hours after surgery and has no brain trauma. He's just fine. I mean he's not just fine, he's still in the hospital, but he's

going to be just fine and that is a miracle.

And that is NEWS STREAM on this Wednesday. I'm Will Ripley. Connect with me anytime @WilLRipleyCNN and don't go anywhere, "World Sport" with Amanda

Davies is next.

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