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U.S. President Biden Prepares to Leave for Europe; Global Crackdown on Organized Crime; Uyghurs Deported from the Middle East; Island Dealing with Worst Drought in Decades; Senate Report Details Security Failures ahead of Attack; Israel: Hamas Used Building for Electronic Warfare; Major Web Sites and Apps around the World Go Dark; Brazilian City Sees Hope after Mass Vaccination Study. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 09, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:34]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Wherever you are around the world you, are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining. I'm John Vause.
Ahead this hour: relationship rehab. Biden heads to Europe, looking for a united front against Russia. But he'll need to rebuild relations frayed by America First.
The app which brought down alleged organized crime figures across the globe. How controversial communications law in Australia made it all possible.
And how China is tracking down and forcing Uyghur Muslims living in exile to send home to be prosecuted by the state.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: After four years of insults, confrontations and arguments, Trumpism and America first, U.S. President Joe Biden will have his first chance to repair strain and fraying relations with world leaders face to face.
Joe Biden will soon leave for his foreign trip as president, -- heading for a G7 summit.
For more now on the agenda and what's at stake for the U.S. president, here's CNN's Nic Robinson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, President Biden will be arriving late Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be here to meet with him, they'll have a bilateral on Thursday. And it's Friday when the other G7 leaders will get around the table together. The first face to face G7 leaders meeting in almost 2 years, strict COVID protocols will be observed. There is tight security around their venue, naval ships out to sea, thousands of police drafted in from around the country. But the important thing on the agenda will be dealing with the COVID
pandemic, dealing with the economic impact of it. And most importantly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hosting this event who said that he wants to set a target of having everyone globally vaccinated by the end of 2022, these richer nations, these richest of the democracies around the world, to help the poorer nations.
Also on the agenda is helping education for women in developing nations, as well as global corporate taxation. Some of that has already been nailed down by G7 finance ministers, just over the past few days.
So, these leaders will be doing what they like to do best, meeting face to face, not behind a computer screen, hammering out what they considered to be the important global issues and in their minds, making the planet a better, and safer place, for us to live in.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Carbis Bay, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joe Biden leaves behind a rare bipartisan moment in Washington, D.C. The Senate passing a bill on Tuesday aimed at curbing China's growing economic influence. The bill would invest more than $200 billion in U.S. technology, signs and research, boosting America's ability to compete against China.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised his colleagues for working across the aisle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Around the globe, authoritarian governments believe that squabbling democracies like ours, can't unite around national priorities. They believe that democracy itself is a relic of the past and that beating us to emerging technologies, they, many of the autocracies, will be able to reshape the world in their own image. Well, let me tell you something -- I believe they are wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Will Ripley joins us now for more from Taiwan.
You know, Schumer may be right in the sense that this is a very symbolic moment and that the Republicans and the Democrats can come together and work on something in the national interest, because $200 billion investment that's chump change compared to what China spends.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They're throwing in trillions of dollars to try to give China competitive edge globally in a time that they feel the United States is trying to throw their technology sector into the hinterland's in terms of cutting them off for many of their top customers. That's certainly the situation that the island of Taiwan finds itself in. China, one of the biggest customers of their semiconductor industry
and with the United States pressuring like Taiwan to essentially cut China off, it certainly puts allies in this region, and around the world, in a tricky position as they try to balance the delicate relationship with the mainline at a time that lawmakers in the United States really have it out for China.
[01:05:12]
China has not done a good job with PR over the last couple of years. They are perceived in the United States on both sides of the aisle as authoritarian, militaristic, and as you mentioned, John, few issues seemed to be uniting both Democrats and Republicans more than this contempt, and this desire to really contain the rise, the economic rise of China.
Let me break down for you what is in this bill that was passed by the U.S. Senate. It's called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. As you mention, $200 billion for American technology and science. That would include $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing.
Now, that is an interesting issue here because, of course, Taiwan is the world leader in ship-making but there have been a lot of strains on the global supply in recent months, largely due to the pandemic, and also as we touched on last hour, environmental issues, climate issues, energy issues, also $10 billion invested to develop regional tech hubs in the United States, one and a half billion dollars in wireless innovation.
Now, the act also does some things that Beijing is likely to find very unpleasant, like listing state-owned Chinese enterprises that the U.S. believes are engaged in unfair trade practices, banning United States officials from 2022 Beijing Olympics, strengthening alliances here in Taiwan and across the Pacific, military alliances to being specific.
Also declaring genocide in Xinjiang, home to the Uyghur Muslims, where China is accused of placing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in essentially interment camps, reeducation camps. Also investing in American steel, materials, and other iron for federal infrastructure projects in the United States, cutting off what has long been a Chinese supplied commodity, John.
VAUSE: Will, thank you. CNN's Will Ripley live in Taipei. We appreciate that.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing back on criticism at home while wrapping up her first official trip abroad. Harris was in Mexico on Tuesday, the end of a two-day trip to focus on the causes of mass migration from Central America to the U.S.
Harris met with Guatemalan leaders on Monday. But one destination not on her itinerary, the U.S.-Mexico Southern Border. It's a decision that's come under fire from U.S. Republicans criticizing Harris calling it shortsighted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to be very clear, that the problem at the border, in a large part, if not entirely, stems from the problems in these countries. We have to have the ability to address the roofs causes of why people leave and we have to understand if it is a priority to us to be concerned about what is happening at our border, then it must be a priority for us to understand why people leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.S. has promised tens of millions of dollars for investment in Central America, also promised to help crack down on government corruption.
Well, arrests continue around the world as law enforcement agencies act on information gathered during an elaborate sting operation. The plan was reportedly born over beers between Australian police and FBI agents, the goal, to try and disrupt the world of organized crime.
So far, authorities have arrested nearly 1,000 people and seized more than 30 tons of illegal drugs, hundred of weapons and more than $40 million in global currencies. The Australian police called it Operation Einstein, a 3-day long investigation which Europol calls one of the most sophisticated law enforcement operations to date.
In a joint news conference with the FBI, Swedish, Dutch and Australian police, Europol's deputy director called for a global network of law enforcement to continue a crackdown on organized crime, he laid out what the operation has accomplished so far.
(BEGIN VIDSEO CLIP)
JEAN-PHILIPPE LECOUFFE, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EUROPOL, OPERATIONS DIRECTORATE: This information compiled over the last week, hundreds of law enforcement operation, on a global scale. From New Zealand, Australia, to Europe, in the USA, with impressive results. More than 800 arrests, more than 700 locations searched saw more than 8 tons of cocaine, and more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And it seems they all fell for an app called ANOM.
Here's CNN's Ivan Watson with details
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The police in Australia have been busy, raiding homes, seizing tons of drugs, tens of millions of dollars in cash, more than 100 guns, and conducting hundreds of arrests.
COMMISSIONER REECE KERSHAW, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE: We alleged that members of (INAUDIBLE) gangs, Australian mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organized crime groups. We allege that they have been trafficking illicit drugs into Australia at an industrial scale.
WATSON: The crackdown in Australia, part of a parallel investigation with the FBI, rolling out across at least 18 countries.
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: The Australian government, as part of a global operation, has struck a heavy blow against organized crime, not just in this country, but one we will echo that is global crime around the world.
WATSON: The FBI's man in Australia says law enforcement fooled criminal gangs by targeting their communications.
ANTHONY RUSSO, FBI LEGAL ATTACHE: When criminal organizations have to engage in the logistics of moving their illicit materials, their money, and organizing violence, all that activity has to happen over a communications platform in some kind.
WATSON: Australian law enforcement say hundreds of suspected criminals communicated on customize phones, equipped with an encrypted messaging app called, ANOM.
That app was essentially created by the FBI, and decrypted by the Australian federal police.
COMMANDER RICHARD CHIN, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE: We introduced a dedicated encrypted communications device into the global criminal marketplace.
WATSON: This animated video distributed by the Australian police, explains the operation.
NARRATOR: The customized phones were used by senior prime figures gave other criminals the confidence to use the platform and no criminals got a hold of one of these phones. The phones couldn't ring or email, it could only communicate with someone on the same platform.
WATSON: For nearly three years, law enforcement say they monitored these communications.
KERSHAW: Essentially, we have been in the back pockets of organized crime, and operation law is a criminal takedown like we have never seen.
WATSON: Thanks to the app, Australian police say they intercepted a planned mass shooting while acting on at least 21 threats to kill.
Meanwhile, authorities across Europe, New Zealand, Canada and the U.K. say they've also joined the operation, conducting their own raids and arrests.
With the round of continuing around the world, police predict criminals may start turning on each other, as decrypted messages revealed their secrets.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Calvin Shivers is the assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigative division and he is with us this hour from The Hague.
So, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us.
CALVIN SHIVERS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: So, given how successful this operation has been, why bring it to an end now, why go public?
SHIVERS: Well, certainly, you know, we could've continue this operation for several weeks or several months, but collectively, with the countries that were participants, we made a decision to end the operation now because again, these were ongoing criminal enterprises involved, you know, acts of violence, narcotics distribution, narcotics that were flowing into communities around the world, potential acts of violence that would occur all around the world.
So, we made this decision to end the operation now. But one of the things I would like to emphasize is just because we, you know, conducted these arrests over the last couple of days, it doesn't mean the operation is there. There is digital intelligence that will be developed. I would imagine there will be a number of individuals accused of -- which helps us better understand and identify additional subjects to be arrested.
So, I would anticipate for the next few weeks if not even months, that operations will continue based on what we did a few days ago.
VAUSE: The commissioner of Australia's Federal Police says every aspect of this thing and his legal. It is covered by fairly controversial law in Australia called TOLA or Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment. That was passed by Canberra in December in 2018.
This joint FBI/AFP operation is borne out of another encryption provider, Phantom Secure, were shut down in nearly 2018. And someone with Phantom Providers details that a new, more secure encryption platform was being developed, which ultimate became ANOM app.
So, two questions here, did the FBI work with Australian law enforcement because of the TOLA law? And given the timeline, would it be a fair assumption that the law which was passed was specifically passed if not least entirely but partially for the sting operation?
SHIVERS: Well, let me answer the last question first. I would say that, you know, we in the FBI really didn't have an impact on the passage of that law. So, I think that the operation itself was really born out of the relationship and I think you pointed out just a few minutes ago that we had worked with the Australian Federal Police or AFP on Phantom Secure investigation.
So, you know, that created a natural relationship, you know, based on the work we had done, based on some of their capabilities, based on the amount of intelligence that we shared.
[01:15:05]
So, I think it was really borne out of their relationship. I really credit the innovation and the thinking outside of the box of our agents and their colleagues with the Australian Federal Police.
VAUSE: Also, in 2018, in March, in fact, an inspector general's report found that the FBI had to create legal precedent when trying to access the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. It wasn't just a question of accessing that the iPhone as the FBI claimed at the time, but creating a mechanism to get iPhones in general.
So how much of this plan is perhaps the result of law enforcement frustrated with big tech companies like Apple access to encrypted data and locked devices, essentially taking matters into your own hands, creating your own platform?
SHIVERS: Well, I wouldn't say it's taking matters in our own hands. I mean, obviously there are laws with what the FBI can and can't do. And, obviously, there's legal process. And so, you know, we want to make sure we had here do whatever the laws are.
But I think here, again, I emphasize the fact that it's really creativity ingenuity, and how do we think outside the box? How can we have, you know, use what we have within existing models to identify some of these individuals.
And so, these encrypted platforms, the emphasis is these are closed platforms. And so, in working some of these investigations, we recognized that fact that criminal organizations tend to use these types of encrypted devices, to basically ensure that they have covert communication. And so, I think, if anything, it was just ingenuity that our agents used in developing these platforms to help us illuminate some of these organizations and identify some of the criminal activity.
VAUSE: How many other encrypted apps out there are now run by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies?
SHIVERS: You know, I think a lot of bad guys would love to know the answer of that question, you know? One of the things we want to do though is stay on the cutting edge. There is the evolution of technology and we look at technology as a double edge sword. It certainly makes our life easier in general, but it also gives criminals an opportunity to exploit some of the technology from nefarious activities.
So, what we always try to do is stay ahead of the curb. So, I would imagine a number of criminals out there are wondering what is law enforcement doing now. And, obviously, I don't answer that question. But, we want them to know that, you know, some of the things as they continue to evolve that we're going to evolve as well.
VAUSE: Very quickly, I like the fact that there was a subscription fee involved here. Can you tell us how much it was per month, subscription to ANOM?
SHIVERS: So, yeah, so, don't want to get into too many intimate details but again, it basically operated as a business, and I would imagine, you know, individuals who utilize the service had that expectation. These services are basically there, specifically, to facilitate criminal activity. And so, again some of these networks that operated for many years, you know, charge at this. So, I think it was just a normal course of business.
VAUSE: Clearly, it's the future for a few people there at the FBI and the Australian Federal Police perhaps in Silicon Valley.
Mr. Shivers, thank you so much, sir, for being with. It's very much appreciated.
SHIVERS: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: The war criminal known as the Butcher of Bosnia will remain behind bars for the rest of his life. Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic lost his appeal on Tuesday when U.N. judges upheld his conviction for genocide. Mladic is infamous for orchestrating the slaughter of thousands of Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.
CNN's Scott McLean has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Justice has been a long time coming for victims of Ratko Mladic. The former Bosnian Serb army leader convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide for orchestrating a campaign of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War in the early nineties.
Mladic managed to evade justice by hiding out for 16 years after the war ended. After a trial of more than four years, his original conviction in 2017 sent him away for life. The conviction describes in detail the atrocities his men carried out against Croats and Muslims.
Opening fire on unarmed detainees and civilians but also in some cases starvation, rape and suffocation. His lawyer argued that Mladic was incompetent to stand trial and his appeal aimed to acquit him or at least less his sentence.
But a 5-panel judge in The Hague appealed his conviction on 10 out of the 11 charges against him. The judge also dismissed the prosecution's argument to have the single acquittal overturned.
This failed appeal is unlikely to change the way that people in his home country view him. He is a villain to Muslims and Croats but still regarded as a hero among some ethnic Serbians.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Still to come, escalating concern over China's global reach and the treatment of Uyghurs. But tracking what appears to be the forced repatriation of Uyghurs from three major Arab countries. An exclusive report is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:22:11]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody.
In China's Xinjiang region, up to 2 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in vast government camps and continue to face what the U.S. has called a genocide.
Beijing denies the allegation, dismisses them as propaganda, and says the camps are merely vocational training centers for combating religious extremism.
Some Uyghurs have managed to leave China but say, even abroad, they are not safe. A new Human Rights Watch reports says China has struck down hundreds of Uyghurs worldwide, forcing them to return and face persecution.
A CNN investigation dives into Uyghur deportation from the Middle East, a stinging retrial from a predominantly Muslim countries.
Here's Jomana Karadsheh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This quiet Uyghur protest outside Istanbul's infamous Saudi consulate is a race against time.
Nuriman's father's fate hangs in the balance.
If he's sent back to China he will be imprisoned and there's danger of death, she tells us.
Nuriman Veli says she and her sister lost contact with their mother in China's Xinjiang region four years ago.
If God forbid, we lose our father as well, it will destroy us, she says.
Her father, Hamdullah Veli, a Uyghur Muslim scholar, was nabbed by Saudi authorities in November while on a pilgrimage to Islam's holy city. Nuriman pleads, sent him back to Turkey where he is a resident, not China.
For her father, there is still time. For others, there is little hope.
Activists say at least five Uyghurs have already been deported from Saudi Arabia. We spoke to two of those families who confirmed these deportations. This is just one part of what appears to be a terrifying campaign by China.
Over the course of our investigation, we have also found cases of Uyghurs forcibly returned to China from the United Emirates and Egypt, a violation of international law and what they may face what the U.S. has labeled a genocide.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt did not respond to our request for comment. China is a major trade partner to this Muslim majority countries, who've not only turned a blind eye to China's treatment of Uyghurs, their autocratic governments have also voiced support for what Chinese insists is a counter-terrorism campaign.
Maryam Muhammad has been keeping a dark secret from her boys, trying to shield them from the cruel reality of the world they were born into, a nightmare that followed them thousands of kilometers from their homeland in Xinjiang. She tells them, daddy is away working.
The last time she heard from her husband, Muhtar Rozi, he was being detained in Egypt on July 16th, 2017.
MARYAM MUHAMMAD, UYGHUR MUSLIM: I said, you are my precious. I love you so much and from that day I did not get any message about him.
KARADSHEH: Maryam was leading her dream. She studied and Muhtar studied at Cairo's Al Azhar University, got married, started a family. But when China's long armed reached Egypt, they scramble to get out.
Maryam said she flew Turkey with the boys, and with reports of arrests at the airport, Muhtar tried to get the ferry out to Jordan but was stopped.
There was little Maryam could do to try and find her husband. She wrote letters to U.N. agencies and governments, but she says, no one responded.
Muhtar's detention was never acknowledged. Like others, he just vanished without a trace.
Egyptian authorities believed to be acting at the behest of the Chinese government, rounded up dozens, possibly hundreds of Uyghurs, many of them male students at Al Azhar. More than 20 were forcibly returned to China, according to human rights groups.
The Chinese crackdown on Uyghurs had expanded far beyond its borders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not 21, but it's not the exact number, maybe it will be more.
KARADSHEH: Actually, Yob (ph) is a Uyghur activist. He says he's documented at least 28 deportations by these Middle Eastern countries. But no one really knows how many Uyghurs will be behind bars in the region, or how many have already been deported back to China.
Too often, family members fear that going public would only make things worse for their disappeared loved ones.
AMANNISA ABDULLAH, UYGHUR MUSLIM: He is my children's dad.
KARADSHEH: Amannisa Abdullah is tormented by devastating guilt. Did she push too much? Did she not do enough to try and save her husband?
She fears family in China will face the price for her speaking out now, but she says silence is no longer an option.
ABDLLAH: In two years, it's kind of a guilty feeling. There's always inside of me and I'm not able to sleep. Not able to even like, if I feel happy, I have no right to feeling happy. I have no right to smile. I'm living like this.
KARADSHEH: Her husband, Ahmad Talip, lived and worked in the UAE for 10 years. In February 2018, he was detained while picking up paperwork from a Dubai police station. It was two weeks from hell far a 9-month pregnant woman Amannisa chasing Ahmad as he was moved between police stations and jails.
ABDULLAH: I have fear if I don't be hurry up, my husband will be deported. I'm really worried about him at that time. I felt extremely helpless and there is no one can help me at that time.
KARADSHEH: So this is the document you got from court?
ABDULLAH: Yes.
KARADSHEH: She said no one would even tell or what Ahmad was accused, of only that he was wanted by China.
This document Amannisa obtained from Dubai's public prosecution confirms the Chinese extradition request. It also states the prosecution decided to close the case because Chinese authorities failed to provide the required documents. But Ahmad was transferred to Abu Dhabi and in a few days later, Amannisa was told he was sent back to China.
ABDULLAH: If my husband have any crime, he committed any crime, why they don't tell me? Why China don't tell me? One of the most difficult question in my life is where is my dad?
KARADSHEH: Eight year old Musa (ph) is left with photos and patchy childhood members.
This was in Dubai?
MUSA (ph): Yes. We are making a castle, but I cannot make a castle without my daddy.
KARADSHEH: Musa says he's lucky, this little sister Amina (ph) never met her father.
Like tens of thousands of Uyghurs, the family found sanctuary in Turkey. But as the government forges further ties with China, Uyghurs feel their safe space is shrinking.
With nowhere left to turn, Amannisa says she wants to ask for directions to the sea.
MUHAMMAD: I say, I want to take my child. I want to sit there. Actually, what I want to do is I want to go inside because I don't know how to swim.
KARADSHEH: Amannisa asks, and is this world is not big enough for Uyghurs?
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:29:54]
VAUSE: Human Rights Watch says in many cases, it is impossible to find out what has happened to Uyghurs forcibly returned to China. The Chinese government did not respond to CNN's request for comment or our reporting.
Beijing has repeatedly denied allegations of human rights abuses targeting the Uyghur minority and accusations of genocide. China's foreign minister recently called these allegations preposterous.
Well, for more on this, visit our Web site, CNN.com.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause.
Well, the worst drought in more than 50 years is causing major power blackouts in Taiwan. Typhoons regularly make landfall dumping huge amounts of rain but not last year, in fact not one major storm cross the island.
Let's go back to Taipei. CNN's Will Ripley is standing by.
You know, last Friday, there seemed to be a lot of rain. We saw you standing in what was a pretty big storm, but that's been a fairly rare event recently, right?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the rainy season, and so there has been some improvement in the drought situation over the last few weeks. The problem is that overall, the climate models predict far fewer rainstorms here, which means extended dry periods, very dry ground.
And then when it does rain, it's expected to be more intense and cause more flooding, which does little to actually improve the drought situation because a lot of that water ends up just getting kind of wasted.
And that is a big problem here in Taiwan, because there is no bigger customer for both water and energy than the semiconductor industry. And right now, they are projecting a shortage of both.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice over): Taiwan's worst drought in more than half a century, making this island look more like a desert. Cracks snake across the bottom of Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan's largest body of water, parched reservoirs across the island evaporate.
Recent rains put a small dent in a big problem, a problem scientists predict will only get worse.
HUANG-HSIUNG HSU, CLIMATE RESEARCHER, ACADEMIA SINICA: Our projections show that it is going to become more and more serious in the future.
RIPLEY: Climate change models paint a dire picture for Taiwan -- stronger typhoons, more flooding, less frequent rain, future droughts far more severe.
(on camera): This mural gives you an idea of what Baoshan (ph) Reservoir usually looks like. This is what it looks like now. Water levels are right around 30 percent. They were less than 3 percent before monsoon season kicked off in mid May.
[01:34:57]
RIPLEY: Taiwan is experiencing its worst drought in decades. That's a big problem, because this reservoir is the primary water source for the Hsinchu Science Park (ph), home to nearly 600 electronics companies, including the world's leading semi conductor manufacturer, TSMC.
Why is this drought a problem for Taiwan's semiconductor industry?
JEFFEREY CHIU, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY: Every layer, we need a lot of chemical process. And every process, it needs to clean the surface. We need to clean by water -- flowing, pure water.
RIPLEY (voice over): Semiconductor manufacturers are searching for solutions. Water recycling, purifying seawater -- both years away from quenching the insatiable thirst of chip factories.
Making chips also requires huge amounts of energy. Taiwan, like the world, is trying to fight the climate crisis, cutting its carbon footprint while phasing out nuclear power.
The island's semiconductor industry is investing big in green energy. Hundreds of giant wind turbines line the coast. Solar panels dot the landscape.
HSU: We need to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions. But on the other hand, we need to generate more electricity.
RIPLEY: Just after we arrived, rolling blackouts hit the Taiwanese capital. Energy demand grows as temperatures rise. Taiwan's top energy consumer, semiconductors, vital to the global economy, powering everything from cars to computers. If Taiwan's power and water supply is in peril, the whole world could feel the pain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: It really is a catch-22 for Taiwan, John, because the smaller and more advanced that these chips get, the more water they need, the more energy is needed to produce them.
And yet, there is less coal burning because the coal burning makes climate change worse, which then increases the demand for energy and causes these rolling blackouts that Taiwan is experiencing.
So it really is going to be a challenge for the government here to act very quickly in the coming years to address these issues if Taiwan hopes to remain competitive as the world's leading supplier of semiconductors that power our lives, our phones -- everything, John.
VAUSE: Everything. Will, thank you. Will Ripley live in Taipei.
Well, the stunning security failures leading up to January's attack on the U.S. Capitol have been laid out in a new Senate report. Among the most shocking revelations -- intelligence officers with the U.S. Capitol police had learned weeks earlier about threats of possible violence.
But according to this report, because intelligence was decentralized, many officials were left in the dark about that threat. The report is also the most detailed breakdown of what happened that day. Still it contains a number of omissions, including former U.S. President Donald Trump's role in the riots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR GARY PETERS (D-MI): I think it's we -- we just wanted to focus on what the actual facts were related to what happened on the Capitol grounds and the violence and what were the security breaches, and why wasn't there adequate planning for security.
But I think you are absolutely right. We have to go beyond this. This is not the end all and folks who say well, now we have this report, move on.
As one of the folks putting this report together, I will say no, that has never been the intent of this report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's unclear what this report actually means. Republicans in the Senate have already blocked the creation of an independent commission.
Israel now justifying an airstrike on a building that housed media outlets in Gaza. The high rise building collapsed during last month's conflict. Israel says Hamas militants were using the building as an electronic warfare site, but the Associated Press says it has not seen evidence which supports that claim. CNN's Hadas Gold has details now reporting from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Israeli military is giving more details into why they struck and destroyed a building in Gaza that hosted the offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera during that 11-day conflict with Hamas-led militants last month.
Now, according to the Israeli military, Hamas was using the building known as the Al-Jalaa Building to develop new capabilities that they said could electronically jam Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. This is the system that intercepts rockets midair before they can land in civilian areas.
The Israeli air force gave occupants of the building an hour's notice to evacuate before they struck the building leading to its collapse. And according to the Israeli military, they say the target was of high military value to Hamas and that the equipment was in the building at the time that it was struck and the building collapsed.
But the move was widely condemned by news organizations and international journalism organizations who called it unacceptable and a threat to freedom of the press.
[01:39:50]
GOLD: The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Gilad Erdan, met on Monday with the AP leadership in New York, he said to try to restore the relationship and give this information. And he said that Israel does not think that the Associated Press knew that Hamas was possibly operating out of the building.
The AP says that it had no indication that Hamas was operating out of the building and has called repeatedly for an independent investigation so that the facts are fully known.
Hadas Gold, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Up next here on CNN NEWSROOM, someone really did break the Internet on Tuesday. We'll have more on how and how they fixed it.
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VAUSE: A London metropolitan police officer has pleaded guilty to the kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard. The 33-year-old disappeared in March while walking in south London.
Her body was later found in a wooded area outside the city. Everard's death sparked outrage in the U.K. over violence against women. Prosecutors say Wayne Couzens has yet to enter a plea on the murder charge and is scheduled to appear in court next month.
The bad news is the Internet was broken for real on Tuesday. The good news is somehow it was fixed in under an hour.
CNN's Anna Stewart explains what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a huge web outage, albeit short-lived. Now, it wasn't the result of a cyber or ransomware attack. This was due to a malfunction at a company that many people will never have heard of.
It's called Fastly. It is a CDN, a content delivery network. And it's a company that essentially helps Web sites and services to run fast so Web sites flow quickly. They have a network of servers distributed around the world. What it means that their servers are closer to the user.
Now, the problem on Tuesday according to Fastly was some sort of a configuration error. They identified it, it fixed it, and many of the Web sites were up and running again within the hour.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened. It's happened to other media and companies like Amazon Web services and Cloud fair (ph), perhaps not outages quite the scale that we saw Tuesday, but it highlights just how reliant the Internet really is on some of these companies and how a problem at just one can have a huge global ripple effect.
Anna Stewart, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For more, Internet security analyst, Henry Nigam is live in Los Angeles. It has been a long time, Henry. So it's nice to see you.
HENRY NIGAM, FOUNDER/CEO, CYBER SECURITY AFFAIRS: You too, John. It's been too long.
VAUSE: It has been way too long.
Ok. Here is a list of some of the Web sites which were impacted by this outage. Amazon, CNN, the U.K. government Web site, "The Guardian", HBO Max owned by our parent company Warner Media, Hulu, "The New York Times", Reddit, Spotify, Target -- it goes on. It is a who's who of the Internet.
And what is quite the revelation, it seems the Internet is a bit like a set of Christmas tree lights. One bulb goes out, a whole lot of bulbs go out as well. Explain, you know, why this happened.
[01:44:54]
NIGAM: I know. And Christmas tree lights going out in the summer which is even funnier.
So I think one of the biggest things you are finding is that a lot of the companies are starting to rely on a certain small set of companies to deliver what they need to deliver, in this case Web site content.
The positive here is that it was Web site content, it wasn't personal information that was being input and taken away and something like that happening.
It wasn't related to a hacker from what we know. It was basically human error. And so what you are seeing is, what I would call a coming together of, ok, we only have three or we only have two choices. Let's just use this one company for everything we do and then everybody else is using it. So if one goes down, everyone goes go down.
VAUSE: Yes. This is about all this -- this content, Fastly -- content provider Fastly. And one of the issues is we need these content providers because of the huge amount of data being shared on the Inter webs.
Research finding (ph) by analyst group IDC last May suggested more data would be generated in the next three years than was collectively over the past three decades.
I'm no expert as you can tell. That would suggest to me, it would be a pretty good idea to find a way to prevent one small glitch from bringing the whole Internet crashing down.
NIGAM: Well yes. And one of the things that you may recall maybe 20 years ago, we used to say the Internet has no boundaries, and no jurisdictional lines and things like that. Well, maybe it's time to go back and start thinking about how the brick and mortar world works.
When some company -- a retail outlet has a problem and they say hey, we have to shut our doors today. They first thing we do is we say ok, where is the other one, let me drive to the next town over and go there.
In other words, everything stands independently. And I think what we have to start looking at because of reasons like this is, can we create silos around the world? Still deliver quickly, still deliver everybody's content, but just do it in silos so that if one goes down, you still have people in other parts of the world who are still capable of doing their business. So we didn't shut down all the airlines like we ended up delaying so many flights --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Exactly. Well, you know, this wasn't a cyberattack, it was just a glitch. For more on that, here is Michael Daniel, he was a former Obama advisor. He's also CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DANIEL, CEO, CYBER THREAT ALLIANCE: There are always going to be glitches. And given the complexity of the Internet, and how it works it's actually kind of amazing that it doesn't happen more often, to be honest.
But I do think that companies like Fastly and others that are these content delivery networks, they should be really looking at how they can invest in resiliency and redundancy, and their customers should be making sure that they are making those investments in that resiliency and redundancy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That kind of is a great idea on paper, but Fastly stock was up 8 percent because they fixed this in less than an hour, which says a whole lot about our expectations.
NIGAM: Yes. And that raised attention to a company that frankly probably a lot of people didn't know about and they thought, wait a minute, this is one of the biggest content delivery networks in the world. Everybody is going toward more and more content. Let me buy some stuff.
But the reality is if it happens again then people are going to start taking it much more seriously. And they are going to start wondering, wait, if I can do this, what if a hacker took it over and shut down the Internet. What if a hacker hiker took over and got into other parts of it?
Those are the kinds of things that if you have resiliency, if you have redundancy, and what it basically means, ok, you can take that off but I have this other area that's still protected and I can still move forward which goes back to the brick and mortar world of, ok, that store is not open today. Let me find the one that's open and just go to the next town over.
So that's how the Internet can be set up. Companies do it all the time. Some companies even rely on multiple solutions, multiple vendors and they say, well, I'm not going to rely on one. If one breaks I have another one to turn the switch to, kind of like a power generator, right.
Your producer was talking to me earlier, and she had mentioned that. It was a great point. Your power goes out, first thing people say is where is the power generator? It happens in the mall as well. When the power goes out, power generators come out.
We just expect that. and I think we are going to now move into that world where we can't rely on human error and shut down the Internet. We have to have human error, that's a given. But there is a backup plan.
VAUSE: Absolutely. So you know, if you are worried about the electricity going out you get a generator. If you're worried about the tap running dry, you can stock up on water. You can't kind of do the same thing with the Internet. You can't have a backup Internet, can you?
NIGAM: Well, you can have silos.
VAUSE: Exactly.
NIGAM: That's the most important thing to think about here. VAUSE: We've got to go. Henry, thank you. Good to see you. You're
looking well, by the way.
NIGAM: You too, John. Thanks.
VAUSE: Cheers.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, while most of Brazil struggles with vaccinations, one small city, a case study in how it has successfully contained this pandemic. How did they do it?
That's next.
[01:50:02]
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VAUSE: It was a slap in the face felt around France. President Emmanuel Macron was on a visit in the southeast greeting onlookers when he was slapped across the face. Moments before, a man could be heard shouting "down with Macrone", a slang term for Macron's presidency.
The (INAUDIBLE) has been pouring in. The French prime minister calling it an attack on democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN CASTEX, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): After the aggression on which President Emmanuel Macron was victim, I'm simply saying to the people of the nation, I'm completely in solidarity because by targeting the head of state, it's quite simply democracy that is being targeted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The leader of France's far right also condemned the slap calling it violence unacceptable. Two men including the one who slapped Macron have been arrested.
Europe looks (ph) set to open up more borders, the European parliament considering a special pass to travel across the E.U. Parliament members voted on the deal Tuesday, results are expected to be announced next hour.
The travel certificate will prove that someone has been vaccinated against COVID, tested negative for the virus, or has recovered from the disease. The pass expected to go into effect by July 1st in all E.U. countries. Some non E.U. countries are also in the pipeline to start using the certificate.
Brazil's supreme court has scheduled an emergency session to consider the possible suspension of the upcoming COPA America tournament over COVID-19 concerns. Thursday's session will come just days before the first match is set to begin and will consider requests to halt the tournament amid fears of increased COVID case. Meanwhile, the captain of Brazil's national football team says they'll be ready to participate if the matches go ahead.
One small city in Brazil sees hope for the end of the pandemic after vaccinating almost the entire adult population. Researchers say it's a case study in how successfully fight and contain this virus.
So how did they do it? Here is Shasta Darlington with more.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Serrana, Brazil -- the focus of a clinical study of vaccine immunity. These parishioners' fears of the doubt the coronavirus have given way to hope for a new beginning.
ELAINE APARECIDA DE OLIVEIRA, SERRANA RESIDENT (through translator): I think our city is privilege. The vaccine is a hope, a light in the midst of all this darkness.
DARLINGTON: The campaign by Butantan Institute in partnership with Sao Paulo University of Medicine to vaccinate almost all 30,000 residents of the city in Sao Paulo state with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine began in February, when roughly one out of every 20 people in Serrana had COVID-19.
MARCOS DE CARVALHO BORGE, RIBEIRAO PRETO MEDICAL SCHOOL (through translator): More than 10,000 people go to work in other cities. This leads to these infections and contagious diseases. So these series of factors makes Serrana almost ideal.
DARLINGTON: And while full results will not be published until July, the preliminary data from the study has given a glimpse into the very real possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic can be contained through mass vaccination.
[01:55:01]
RICARDO PALACIOS, CLINICAL RESEARCH MEDICAL DIRECTOR, BUTANTAN INSTITUTE (through translator): The reduction rate for hospitalizations obtained with the study is 86 percent in the entire population of Serrana. And the reduction in deaths was 95 percent.
And Brazil, a country with the second highest death toll from COVID-19 struggling to cope as the virus ravages its population. Those figures giving researchers reason to celebrate.
PALACIOS: We were able to affirm with the study, it is possible to control the epidemic through vaccination. We do not need to isolate, prevent the transit of people to control the epidemic. Vaccination is the key.
DARLINGTON: With vaccine shortages throughout Brazil and most of the developing world, replicating that success is easier said than done.
Reaching a level of predicted herd immunity like what appears to be on display in Serrana researchers say still requires vaccinating a minimum of 70 percent of the population. And with vaccine reluctance throughout the globe added to the mix, the order becomes even taller.
But here in Serrana, there is reason to be grateful. Father Juliano Gomez, who once saw his parishioners united in grief as COVID took and stole the lives of so many loved ones, sees light return to his community.
REV. JULIANO GOMEZ, SERRANA RESIDENT (through translator): I see us establishing this opportunity for a new normal, which symbolizes a state of more tranquility, health, and hope. It is what the world is wanting. This is happening to us in Serrana. That is why I'm very happy.
DARLINGTON: Serrana, for now, on display for what is possible. A spark of hope for the wider world still to caught in the deadly grip of the COVID pandemic.
Shasta Darlington, CNN -- Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The mystery of what causes one of earth's greatest natural wonders has finally been solved. After centuries of speculations, scientists from the University of Iowa confirmed a 75-year-old theory that the northern lights are produced by powerful electromagnetic waves during geomagnetic storms.
Scientists have even been able to recreate the lights in a lab with plasma. They say the next step is now predicting the strength of a geomagnetic storm.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues after a short break.
Anna Coren will take over in Hong Kong.
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