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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
Stark COP26 Warnings; Sudan PM Returns To Residence; Brazil's COVID Report Vote. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired October 26, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:06]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN HOST: Well, hello again and welcome. I'm Bianca Nobilo, live in London. And this is THE GLOBAL BRIEF.
Tonight: Stark COP26 warnings. Why the most important climate conference is two steps behind before even starting.
Then, Sudan's prime minister returns to his residence one day after being arrested in a military coup.
And, Brazil's COVID report vote. Senators are set to recommend whether to charge the president with crimes against humanity.
Five days, that's when leaders flock to Glasgow for the most important round of climate talks since the 2015 Paris agreement.
I'm talking, of course, about COP26 and yet just days away, the divide between the rhetoric and reality is stark.
A new U.N. report warns that pledges to stop global temperatures from rising to dangerous levels are nowhere close to where they need to be, even
though we know that the window to make these changes is closing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Less than one week before COP26 in Glasgow, we are still on track for climate catastrophe even with the
last announcements that were made. We are indeed on track for a catastrophic global temperature rise of around 2.7 degrees Celsius. The
heat is on. And as the contents of the report show, the leadership we need is off, and far off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Dozens of countries have not officially updated their pledges ahead of COP26, as they'd agreed to do when they signed the Paris climate
accord. The U.N. emissions report published today says only six of the G20 nations promised to reduce emissions further, despite G20 countries
producing 80 percent of the world's emissions.
David Attenborough, he's the COP26's people's advocate, says very simply this isn't good enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, BRITISH NATURALIST: I think it will be really catastrophic if the developed nations of the world, the more powerful
nations of the world, simply ignored these problems we say, oh, it has nothing to do with us, and cross our arms. We caused it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: In the past week, several countries have committed to net zero emissions. However, it's worth remembering that these pledges aren't
legally binding, putting even more pressure on the success of COP26, and if this conference is unsuccessful, there will soon be too little too late.
Back to the U.N. emissions report which says that we need to reduce global emissions by 55 percent by 2030 to limit global warming to 2 degrees
Celsius above preindustrial levels. But the report says that the current pledge is to only reduce emissions by 7.5 percent. That is a drastic
difference. Let those two numbers sink in.
Australia is one of the countries that's making a new pledge. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced today that they'll aim for net zero by
2050, but the country has ranked last among developed nations in cutting greenhouse gas and moving beyond fossil fuels. Its new pledge is facing
criticism for not being strong enough. A new poll shows most want the government to act, which Mr. Morrison acknowledges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Australians want action on climate change. They're taking action on climate change. But they also want
to protect their jobs and their livelihoods. And they also want to keep the cost of living down, and they also want to protect the Australian way of
life, especially in rural and regional areas. The Australian way of life is unique.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: One of the biggest goals of the COP26 Summit is to end the world's reliance on coal, but Australia is the world's second largest coal exporter
and it plans to stay that way despite its net zero emissions pledge.
The country's just approved the construction of three new mines and Anna Coren asks why it's so difficult for Australia to quit the business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Opposition Labour Party MP Joel Fitzgibbon has represented the region in federal parliament since
1996. He argues Australia can achieve net zero emissions while continuing to export coal, maintaining thousand of highly paid jobs in his
constituency.
JOHN FITZGIBBON, AUSTRALIAN LABOUR MP: Clean and efficient coal replaces inefficient coal. If we were to stop sending clean coal to Asia tomorrow,
it would be replaced by something less efficient and would add to natural destruction (ph) and global emissions.
COREN: Australia does not add emissions from the coal it exports to its carbon tally. But the International Energy Agency says if the world is
going to keep temperatures to 1.5 degrees above preindustrial times, it's clear countries like Australia need to stop opening new coal mines now.
In the shadow of an expanded coal mine is John Krey's home. Gray mounds now visible from his veranda.
JOHN KREY, HUNTER VALLEY RESIDENT: We've got enough coal here to satisfy whatever the demand is, and yet we're giving permit to open more mines.
COREN: Krey says the dust, light, and noise from the mines site are making his otherwise idyllic home unlivable.
KREY: I think we'll push Australia to doing the right thing. I think it's too late for us here.
COREN: Far more of our world in danger of becoming livable, unless Astralia leaves far more of its coal in the ground.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: You can find Anna's full report online at CNN.com.
Meanwhile, the so-called Davos in the desert conference has kicked off today in Saudi Arabia, and this year's future investment initiative is
focusing on the climate emergency. The crown prince has pledged that the kingdom would reach net zero by 2060, and he announced a new $10 billion
investment to protect the environment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, SAUDI CROWN PRINCE (through translator): The kingdom announces that it will establish a cooperative platform to implement the
concepts of circular carbon economy, establish a regional hub for climate change, develop a center for carbon capture, utilization and storage, a
regional center for early warning of storm, a regional center for sustainable development of fisheries and a regional cloud seeding program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: You're going to be hearing words like net zero emissions a lot in the coming weeks, but what does that mean? It's when company or businesses
use technology or natural means to remove as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as they put in.
And we're here to break down all the climate jargon for you. Head to CNN.com for a full glossary.
CNN has just learned that Sudan's ousted prime minster Abdalla Hamdok and his wife have returned to their home one day after they were arrested in a
military coup. Sources from the prime minster's office and the military confirmed that he went home in just the past few hours, but it's not clear
if he can now move around freely and he hasn't made any public statements so far.
Yet, as the military was escorting him home, civilian sources tell CNN the brother of this woman, Sudan's foreign minister, was arrested, along with
other key opposition leaders. And this is all happening even as chaos rages in the streets. Thousands of protesters are out in cities across Sudan, as
they have been since the coup. Reports say many shops in the capital are closed and mosques are broadcasting call for general strike.
A Sudanese cabinet member told CNN that the military chief misled the prime minster and the U.S. envoy about his intentions hours before his forces
overthrew the transitional government and he said that the envoy left the country hopeful the transition to civilian rule was going well.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SUDANESE CABINET TEAM MEMBER: He told the prime minster that he's optimistic about the solution for the political crisis. We want to make one
thing clear -- the nature of the political life in Sudan, in the United States, wherever, it depends on deliberations. That takes time. It is in
the complete opposite of the psychological and professional composition of the military and armed forces. They cannot understand that things will not
work in hierarchal matter. It's not about giving instructions.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NOBILO: For his part, the military chief held a news conference today saying he's trying to prevent a civil war. He also claimed he'll continue
moving towards civilian rule, but not surprisingly, a lot of people are skeptical.
Is downplaying one of the deadliest pandemics in history a crime against humanity? That's the decision for Brazilian lawmakers today. They're due to
vote on a congressional report that recommends Jair Bolsonaro face criminal charges over his handling of COVID-19. It says his quote reckless
mismanagement cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Mr. Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing. He says the report is absurd and could hurt Brazil's economy by raising, quote, suspicions to the outside world.
You may remember Mr. Bolsonaro repeatedly dismissed COVID as a little flu, belittling the danger of the virus. And, of course, we don't need to play a
montage of the sound bites after all, it's been incredibly damaging. The lack of leadership on this crisis did affect lives.
Isa Soares spoke to some family members of COVID-19 victims about their agonizing loss.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Time, they say, heals all wounds. Almost two years since he lost his 25-year-old son Hugo
to COVID-19, this immeasurable pain of grief and loss continues to bring him to his knees. His son, one soul, in a sea of more than 600,000 lives
lost in Brazil.
MARCIO ANTONIO DO NASCIMENTO SILVA, LOST SON TO COVID-19 (translated): When I tell my son's story, when I share my pain which is so tough, I do it
to save lives.
SOARES: Marcio's indignation has pushed him to seek accountability and justice.
His testimony to Brazil's parliamentary commission inquiry into the Brazilian government's COVID-19 response one of many harrowing and
emotional witness statements from the family of COVID victims.
NASCIMENTO SILVA (translated): I did something that today I know I shouldn't have done, but a desperate father doesn't measure the
consequences.
SOARES: With Marcio recounting the last time he saw his son, a dance teacher, alive.
NASCIMENTO SILVA (translated): I went to the ICU, I opened the door and I kept signaling to him "Hugo, Hugo," your dad is here. Don't worry, your dad
is here.
SOARES: But Hugo, who Marcio says has no underlying health conditions lost his battle to the virus after being in the ICU for weeks.
NASCIMENTO SILVA (translated): When the president decides not to wear a mask when he says he won't be vaccinated, he's causing Brazilian deaths.
This denialism has killed many Brazilians.
SOARES: A parliamentary commission has blamed President Jair Bolsonaro directly, recommending he be charged with crimes against humanity, as well
as other charges for reckless leadership. The explosive report says Bolsonaro was guided by an unfounded belief in the theory of herd immunity
by natural infection.
Bolsonaro has dismissed the parliamentary report as politically motivated and having, quote, no credibility.
JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT: We know that we are guilty of absolutely nothing. We know that we did the right thing from the first
moment.
SOARES: Tell that to 20-year-old Giovanna --
GIOVANNA GOMES MENDES DA SILVA, LOST PARENTS TO COVID-19 (translated): It was a 14-day difference between my dad and my mom.
SOARES: -- who lost both her parents to COVID-19.
MENDES DA SILVA (translated): When my parents died, we didn't just lose our parents, we lost a life, a life full of happiness.
SOARES: Now an orphan, she's become a mother to her 11-year-old sister, a tragedy she blames on the Bolsonaro government.
MENDES DA SILVA (translated): So, yes, I also blame the government.
SOARES: Still, the president says he's not to blame and continues to refuse to be vaccinated.
To the victims' families, it feel like rubbing salt on the already deep wounds, an unimaginable grief that even time can't heal.
Isa Soares, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: President Bolsonaro could be sanctioned on another front as well. Brazilian senators are asking prosecutors and the Supreme Court to bar him
from social media after he posted a video that suggests COVID vaccines increase the risk of developing AIDS.
YouTube has joined Facebook and Instagram in taking down the video amid the global push for social media giants to do more to stop the spread of
misinformation.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is addressing the uproar over whistle-blower revelations that could be the biggest crisis in the company's history. He
says good faith criticism helps Facebook improved, but he believes there's a coordinate effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a picture
of the company. Countries around the world with taking the revelation seriously, including India, Facebook's single biggest market with more than
400 million users.
The opposition Congress party is calling for an investigation into Facebook's alleged role in elections, accusing the platform of knowingly
furthering the, quote, hate-filled agenda of the country's ruling party.
Listen to what the Internet Freedom Foundation's executive director had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
APAR GUPTA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNET FREEDOM FOUNDATION: One should understand that Facebook does play a role in which it helps people
communicate with each other. Given the spread of the platform, it is a venue for social debate, for civic discussion, but also for friends'
families to keep in touch with each other, to pursue interests. And this is -- while this is maybe the predominant form of use of Facebook, it is
leading to global division and ethnic violence. So, there is a benefit which is going towards certain political groups and ideologies which quite
often promote hatred.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: For the first time in four years, an American president has joined Southeast Asian leaders at the Regional ASEAN Summit. He met to discuss
pressing issues across the Indo-Pacific. Notably, he rebuked the military junta in Myanmar which was excluded from the meeting for ignoring peace
proposals. He also pledged that America would support its allies amid increasing support from China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can expect to see me personally showing up and reaching out to you.
[17:15:03]
You can expect the see the United States deepening our longstanding cooperation, pursuing new avenues and ministerial dialogue, investing in
our countries and driving inclusive prosperity in this critical region. In fact, we intend to launch a new program in initiatives to enhance our
cooperation across a range of issues, totaling more than $100 million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Earlier, America's secretary of state further challenged China's growing pressure by expressing support for Taiwan.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged countries to back the island's participation in the United Nations, something that Beijing has objected.
Let's take a look at the other key stories making an international impact today. China has locked down a city of 4 million people to contain a new
COVID outbreak. Officials in Lanzhou have closed public places, suspended delivery services and ordered residents to stay home except for essential
reasons. This comes after authorities reported 6 new cases in the city.
Russia is urging regional leaders to ramp up restrictions as the country faces its deadliest wave of the pandemic. More than 1,100 people died in
the past day, and over a quarter of a million are in hospitals. The health minister says local officials must make more beds available and limit
people's movement. COVID cases are also reaching record highs in nearby Ukraine and Romania.
Iran says a cyberattack caused an unprecedented disruption to its fuel distribution network today, causing long lines at petrol stations
nationwide. One official told state TV a foreign country is probably behind the attack. No one, though, has claimed responsibility.
Authorities piece together more evidence from the fatal shooting on a film set. Ahead, what they've recovered from the site and what investigators are
still trying to figure out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON BROWN, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: That's what's got to be remedied and perhaps it should have been done earlier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: A word of warning from Britain's former Prime Minister Gordon Brown as we discuss the safety of lawmakers in the wake of a British MP's
murder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: The threat of violence, death, and constant abuse are now a reality for democratically elected officials around the world. I've seen
this get worse firsthand over the last decade in the U.K. and Europe, and it's one of the ways that democracy is under attack in 2021.
The brutal killing of Sir David Amess, a conservative member of parliament is a stark reminder of this. He was stabbed to death while meeting with his
constituents this month. Police believe the man who carried out the attack was an Islamist extremist. Sadly, this is to isolated incident. We've seen
similar attacks on British soil in the recent years and I spoke to the former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown about the safety of lawmakers in
the U.K., and asked him about the discrepancy between the security within parliament versus the outside world.
[17:20:12]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Well, that's right, and that's what's got to be remedied and perhaps it should have been done earlier because we've heard further
incidents now with terrorist activities killing an MP and my good friend Jo Cox was assassinated several years ago when she was simply doing her duty
and meeting her constituents. So, yes, we've got to step up the protection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILOI: Police data in Britain shows the threat against MPs is growing. There were 678 crimes reported in the last four years. So, what's actually
being done to stop this?
I asked Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, that question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: There's a review being undertaken about parliamentarians both within the parliament in London but also in their
constituencies across the country. We've got make sure that they feel safe, they are safe, but also we've got to make sure that we allow constituents
to see them. That review will tell us what the future holds.
But I'm quite clear all the MPs I've spoken to over the last few days, all the MPs I've spoken to love meeting constituent. All the MPs I've spoken to
love being able to serve the constituents face-to-face.
We need to make sure, though, that we keep them safe. That will include in their home having panic buttons, I'm afraid. That will include their staff,
having panic buttons on them. That include making sure the police are nearby if there's an issue.
All these things will be looked into, because what we can't afford to do is to allow terrorists or criminals to change the way we lead our lives and
it's important we don't let them succeed. And I'm afraid if MPs stop being accessible, may stop being accessible to the electorate, that will be them
succeeding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Threats are not just one that we face here in the U.K. It goes beyond Britain's borders as well. In Poland, the mayor was Gdansk was
murdered in 2019, and just a few years before, a candidate running for the mayor of Cologne in Germany was stabbed. In 2011, in the U.S., Congressman
Gabby Giffords was shot in the head. And the riot on January 6th is just another reminder of the ever present threats lurking in U.S. democracy.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told me that she faces abuse, which is unrelenting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: When I'm trying to encourage women to run for office, they say, I don't know if I can put up
with what you put up with. But I say it's worth it. This is not for the faint of the heart. It never has been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Events like this corrode democracy because they widen the gap between lawmakers and their voters by creating the sense of fear and the
need for extra security and mistrust if people lose access to those who they elect. And this in turn creates a negative cycled that deepens the
division.
Which brings me back to David Amess, who wrote this just last year before his death, quote: These increasing attacks have rather spoiled the great
British tradition of the people openly meeting their elected politicians. Adding ominously: It could happen to any of us.
You're watching CNN. We'll be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: We're learning more about the fatal gun discharge on the set of Alec Baldwin's new film. According to court documents, detectives have
recovered revolvers, spent casings and ammunition from the site where Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed a cinematographer. The papers did not
specify what type of ammunition was seized.
[17:25:02]
But according to an entertainment site, "The Wrap", crew members have been using guns with live ammunition to shoot beer cans on the morning of the
incident. CNN has not been able to confirm "The Wrap's" reporting.
Let's get more now from CNN's Stephanie Elam who join us now from New Mexico where this happened.
Stephanie, it's so great to have you on the program. What more are you learning about the culture on set and the approach to gun safety?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Bianca, you're talking about exactly what everyone is very concerned about, safety on the set of this
movie production "Rust", because if that were the case that they were using the actual props for the movie, that would obviously not be the safest
thing to do, and we have now heard from a man who was actually up for the job of being the prop master for "Rust", but he turned it down because of
one critical reason. He said that the production was trying to do things short on money, trying to skim on the edges around spending money on this
production, and to that end they wanted to combine the job of the assistant prop master along with the armorer. And the armorer is a person who's in
charge of the weapons on set.
Take a listen to what Neal Zoromski told NBC news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEAL ZOROMSKI, VETERAN PROP MASTER: I turned the job opportunity down on "Rust" because I felt it was completely unsafe. I impressed upon them that
there were great concerns about that and they didn't really respond to my concerns about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: It's also worth noting that CNN did reach back out to the production company behind "Rust" and they referred to a statement they already put out
saying they did not receive any official complaints about safety or prop on set. Also worth nothing that the state of New Mexico saying it never
received a complaint about the safety on the set of "Rust" until the tragic accident that happened last week -- Bianca.
NOBILO: Stephanie, good to hear from you. Thanks so much.
Stephanie Elam there for us in New Mexico.
Finally tonight, we're not just your GLOBAL BRIEF, we're your intergalactic brief, too. Astronomers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, think for the first
time they found a planet in another galaxy. This animation shows just where it would be, in a spiral galaxy called M51, or as they like to call it, the
Whirlpool Galaxy. They use a new technique that measured light from a distant star, that dips when a planet passes in front of it.
But it takes around 37,000 human years to travel one light year on a space shuttle, and this planet is 28 million light years away.
I hope all you earthlings enjoy the show. I'm Bianca Nobilo. And form myself and the team, thanks for joining us. Good night.
END
