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Two New Knife Attacks in West Bank and Israel; Israelis and Palestinians Make Their Case; Turkey Shoots Down Unidentified Drone; "El Chapo" Injured During Hurried Escape; Lamar Odom Has Damage to Vital Organs; Hillary Clinton Credits Husband for Some Debate Prep; New Suspects Identified in Lockerbie Bombing; Philippines Preps for Typhoon Koppu; More Rain as California Digs Out of Mudslides; Egyptians Head to the Polls on Sunday; Energy Companies Unite to Battle Climate Change; Saving the Arctic Fox; Russia and Europe Plan Moon Colonization Mission; Gender Equality in Cinema; Win the Chance to Sleep in the Paris Catacombs. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired October 17, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): No end in sight to attacks between Palestinians and Israelis. Another day begins with more violence.
Hungary closes its border with Croatia. Migrants face another roadblock on their way into Central Europe.
A major typhoon is just hours away from hitting the Philippines. Torrential rains and flooding expected.
These stories are all ahead here.
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ALLEN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world, I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Also, have you ever thought about living on the moon? Haven't done that. Scientists believe it may very well be possible. We'll have that story coming up, as well, this hour. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN (voice-over): We begin in Israel and the West Bank, where there have been two deadly attacks in the past few hours. Police say they shot and killed a Palestinian, possibly a teenager, who tried to stab a border officer during a check in a Jerusalem neighborhood.
In an earlier incident in Hebron, an Israeli man shot and killed a Palestinian he says tried to attack him with a knife.
These latest attacks come after Hamas declared a day of rage against Israel Friday. At least five Palestinians were killed in clashes across the region. Friday's violence started with a wall of flames in a West Bank religious compound.
We learn more about that from CNN's Oren Lieberman in Jerusalem.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fanning the flames of tension across an already explosive region, Israeli media have shown this video, saying it's the fire at Joseph's Tomb. The Israeli military says Palestinian rioters torched the site, holy to Jews and Christians, Friday morning before Palestinian security forces dispersed the rioters and put out the fire.
The tomb appears to be unharmed. Palestinian and Israeli leaders condemned the attack.
The day was just beginning. Israel imposing heavy restrictions on Palestinian movement in and around the Old City of Jerusalem after a wave of deadly attacks. Checking IDs, stopping cars and blocking off Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
The city remaining relatively quiet during Friday prayers. Attacks moving into the West Bank.
A Palestinian disguised as a press photographer stabbed an Israeli soldier in the Israeli settlement Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, according to the IDF, before soldiers shot and killed him.
Clashes broke out in Bethlehem between Palestinians throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, Israelis firing teargas and bullets, littering the street with a debris of clashes and filling the air with the acrid smoke of tear gas.
In Hebron, Palestinian protesters marched through the streets, carrying miniatures of the al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem and waving Hamas flags.
In Gaza, Islamic Jihad and Hamas called for a day of rage, the third in eight days, as tensions flare on both sides with the questions lingering, when will this round of violence end?
LIEBERMAN: Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the king of Jordan, King Abdullah, to try to ease tensions here and de-escalate the situation to see if calm or some sense of calm can be restored here, some sense of security for Israelis and Palestinians before this escalates any more -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
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ALLEN: Another side of this story is a report that may be difficult for many of you to watch. With the death toll mounting as the Middle East conflict escalates, both sides are going to great lengths to make their case to the world.
CNN's Phil Black examines how the two sides used TV and social media to tell very different stories about one Palestinian boy.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's distressing to watch.
A Palestinian boy, 13 years old, legs mangled under him, crying and bleeding. Around him Israelis shout obscenities, telling him to die.
What is not in dispute is that his name is Ahmad Manasra. What is in dispute is how he came to be here. An example of how both Palestinians and Israelis battle for public opinion with social media, video and accusations.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas showed the boy's image during a television address, accusing the Israelis of, quote, "executing our children in cold blood as they did with this child."
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BLACK (voice-over): Israel's government wasted no time, angrily calling Abbas a liar.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: First of all, he's not dead. He's alive.
Secondly, he's not innocent.
BLACK (voice-over): The Israeli government hosted a security video on social media, highlighting the knives it says Ahmad Manasra and his 15-year-old cousin used to attack Jews in East Jerusalem.
NETANYAHU: He tried to kill, murder, knife to death an innocent Israeli youngster, 13 years old, riding a bicycle.
BLACK (voice-over): The video goes on to show the moment the older Palestinian boy is shot dead by police. It doesn't show what happened to Ahmad Manasra. The Israeli government says he ended up here, injured and lying across light rail tracks after he was hit by a car.
And to counter Palestinian claims he was dead, the Israelis posted another video, this one showing the boy in hospital getting medical treatment.
So what does the Palestinian Authority president say now about his claim the child was executed?
His spokesman says the comments were misinterpreted, that he meant Israelis are trying to kill children like Ahmad Manasra.
Both sides are using this young boy to try to advance their own narratives, narratives that are as far from each other as the hope of any lasting peace on this city's troubled streets -- Phil Black, CNN, Jerusalem.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Since the 1st of October, there have been at least 30 violent incidents across Israel and the West Bank. Officials say eight Israelis and more than 30 Palestinians have been killed.
On Friday U.S. President Obama condemned the recent violence and reiterated that a two-state solution is the best answer for peace. He also said the region's leaders need to do more.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We also believe that it's important for both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli elected officials and President Abbas and other people in positions of power to try to tamp down rhetoric that may feed violence or anger or misunderstanding and try to get all people in Israel and in the West Bank to recognize that this kind of random violence isn't going to result in anything other than more hardship.
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ALLEN: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry may be meeting with the Israeli prime minister next week to talk about the violence.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Migrants have now reached Slovenia after Hungary sealed its border with Croatia. Slovenian police say about 600 migrants arrived in Slovenia just a couple of hours ago. They'll be registered, then head to a city near the border with Austria, where police say they can stay as long as they like.
Hungary says it's trying to reduce the flow of thousands of migrants and refugees coming across its borders daily. Croatia and Slovenia say they will keep their borders open as long as Austria and Germany keep accepting people.
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ALLEN: Turkey has slammed the European Union, saying a deal to stem the flow of migrants isn't yet done.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Turkey has become a transit stop for thousands of Syrian refugees and migrants. Many try to go on to Europe from there. The plan the E.U. came up included a path to visa-free travel for Turkish citizens.
Ankara, the capital, also wants more than $3 billion in aid and a reevaluation of Turkey's E.U. membership bid. The Turkish foreign minister called the deal, quote, "unacceptable" and said the E.U. needs to offer more money.
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ALLEN: We turn to the war in Syria now. The government there has launched a new offensive against rebel groups near Aleppo.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Turkey, meantime, says it shot down this: an unidentified aircraft that crossed into its airspace near Syria's border. Chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto has the details.
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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The wreckage of the drone lay in pieces, smoldering on the ground. Turkish forces say they shot it down Friday inside Turkish airspace near its border with Syria, where the skies are increasingly crowded with aircraft from multiple foreign powers, including Russia and the U.S.
U.S. officials tell CNN they believe the drone was Russian. Moscow says all of its drones are accounted for. Turkish officials say they had no choice but to destroy it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Turkish armed forces have warned foreign elements about violating Turkish airspace. And after several warnings, if these elements do not comply, they are shot down.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Here, new video, which witnesses --
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SCIUTTO (voice-over): -- on the ground say show Russian airstrikes against villages in Homs, Syria. Just days ago, two U.S. and two Russian aircraft came within miles of each other, so-called visual range, before they moved away.
U.S. officials immediately protested and the two sides are expected to reach an agreement soon to avoid conflict in the air.
PETER COOK, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: This is why we are working with the Russians, been in communication with the Russians specifically on this notion of safety protocols we put in place to make sure that coalition air crews and Russian air crews, for that matter, are not at risk of some sort of accident in the skies over Syria.
OBAMA: As I suspect Russia starts realizing they're not going to be able to bomb their way to a peaceful situation inside of Syria that we'll be able to make progress on that front.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): The fight on the ground is becoming more crowded and more volatile as well. The United States recently airdropped ammunition for Syrian rebels it is supporting, promising more, but only if used to attack the target the U.S. is focused on: ISIS. Former commanders say the strategy is risky. COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), USAF: It becomes very important to know who you're dropping these weapons, these arms to. And if you don't know exactly who's going to be at the receiving end, there's a risk that these weapons will fall into the wrong hands.
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ALLEN: The Russian defense ministry says it carried out close to 400 airstrikes targeting ISIS within the last week. For more, we turn to Jill Dougherty, former chief of our Moscow bureau; she's with the International Center for Defense and Security. She joins us now live from Moscow.
Interesting that Russia is now saying it is targeting ISIS. It certainly has stepped up its presence and it seems it's fine tuning its targets -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY: It's significant, too, Natalie, it says that it's not hitting the Free Syrian Army, the FSA. That's a group that the United States believes is, let's call it the moderate opposition, a group that could eventually be part of the political solution, should that happen.
I guess, on the military side, the good news is that these military- to-military talks between the Pentagon and the Russian ministry of defense have been going very well. And as we've been reporting, they're just on the verge of signing this but it's really just a flight safety agreement. It's very technical to avoid any problems in the air.
But it doesn't get into any political solution. And that's what the Russian government has been repeating. In fact, the deputy defense minister repeated again, Anatoly Antonov (ph), said this maybe could turn into a broader document that could get to some type of agreement further. But President Obama yesterday very clearly saying that there is no meeting of the minds on any broader strategy.
ALLEN: So we'll leave it for now, leaving it to just criss-cross in the skies then?
DOUGHERTY: Well, they will. But at least that could be safer, let's say. But I think what you have now is this kind of war of words.
Because if you look at what the Russian deputy defense minister is saying, he is saying that the United States has no strategy and they have a lack of confidence and unwillingness to engage with Russia in fighting terrorism.
In other words, Russia is saying the United States really is too weak, doesn't have any ideas of its own and we are leading the charge; come and join us.
And President Obama is saying we want to fight ISIL and we want to fight terrorists but we believe, Russia, that your strategy is wrong, that if you continue to bomb, you're just going to inflame the situation. That will attract terrorists and it will get worse. So that's where we are right now. There appears to be no real
movement toward some type of political solution, even though both sides say that they want it.
ALLEN: And, Jill, is there any more thought to Russia's involvement being something Vladimir Putin wanted to, in effect, flex his muscles on the world stage?
DOUGHERTY: Well, I think immediately in Syria Russia wants to be taken very seriously and be part of whatever comes next. If Assad remains in power or if he goes, Russia wants to be part of that equation. It has long-standing interests in Syria and it wants to be reckoned with there.
And in a broader sense, I think especially this rhetoric that we're hearing about, come join us, we are leading the fight against terrorism, that is having some resonance. And Russia is saying that it is a leader on the world stage in terms of fighting terrorism. It's a powerful message. It's one that President Putin wants to --
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DOUGHERTY: -- get across. It goes beyond Syria, at least rhetorically.
ALLEN: All right. Thanks so much, Jill Dougherty, following developments from Moscow.
Thanks, Jill.
Mexico's most wanted drug lord eludes capture once again. Coming up, the latest on the operation that wounded El Chapo and sent him back on the run.
We're also getting word that Lamar Odom's medical condition may be improving. We'll hear from people close to the former NBA player when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
Fugitive drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as "El Chapo" and wanted worldwide, has avoided recapture but he hurt himself apparently in the process.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Mexican officials say Guzman injured himself during a failed operation to recapture him just a few days ago. He suffered injuries to his face and leg, we're told. But authorities say they were not the result of a direction confrontation with security forces.
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ALLEN: That's all they're saying right now.
Former pro basketball player Lamar Odom has reportedly awakened from a coma but his mother-in-law, reality TV star, Kris Jenner, told "Access Hollywood" Odom has serious injuries to his vital organs. He's been at a Las Vegas hospital since Tuesday after he was found unresponsive at a brothel. CNN's Paul Vercammen has more on Odom's condition.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sign of hope for Lamar Odom, a source telling CNN the former NBA and reality TV star is conscious and was able to say hi to his estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian, the same source adding his condition remains guarded here at Sunrise Hospital in the intensive care unit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to hurry please because he's got blood coming out of his nose, white stuff coming out of his mouth.
VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Paramedics rushed the 35-year old here after he was found unresponsive at a Nevada brothel called the Love Ranch on Tuesday afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody just came up to me and said that he apparently had some cocaine on him, that did this on Saturday.
VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Employees told police Odom used cocaine on Saturday and may have taken up to 10 herbal supplement pills used for sexual performance enhancement over several days. Love Ranch employees also say Odom spent thousands of dollars on women and a VIP luxury suite.
DENNIS HOF, LOVE RANCH OWNER: He spent $75,000. And that was his number.
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HOF: What he wanted is two girls, 24 hours a day, to take care of any of his needs from food, anything in the bedroom.
VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Odom's struggles played out on national television; the two-time NBA champion frequently appeared on the hit reality show, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," after he began dating and later marrying Khloe Kardashian, their courtship and ultimate separation making headlines both on and off the screen.
Now at Sunrise Hospital, his estranged wife, Khloe, and her family are praying for Odom to recover, Kylie Jenner tweeting a picture of her and Odom with the caption, "Start your morning with a prayer" -- Paul Vercammen, CNN, Las Vegas.
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ALLEN: Hillary Clinton seems to have benefitted from her performance at the democratic debate this week, despite the controversy surrounding her. A "Boston Globe" newspaper Suffolk University poll taken afterwards has Clinton back on top in New Hampshire.
That's where the first U.S. presidential primary vote will be held. But her small lead over Bernie Sanders, who had been ahead in the state for months, is within the poll's margin of error. Clinton gave her first national interview since the debate to CNN's Jake Tapper.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So congratulations on this new poll number in New Hampshire, showing that you're pulling ahead of Bernie Sanders in a state where you've lagged a little. He's from neighboring Vermont.
The reviews obviously very positive from many pundits. I'm wondering what the pundit-in-chief, your husband, who is in Vegas, I'm wondering what he said to you after the debate.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: He thought I did a really good job. And I think that's the highest praise that I could ever get because there's nobody who -- whose opinion on kinds of these things I respect more. It was great to have him with me.
We had just celebrated our 40th anniversary on Sunday last. So the fact that he could come and keep me company and keep my spirits up and drill me on some of the things he thought were important meant a great deal to me.
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ALLEN: You can watch the full interview with Hillary Clinton later this weekend on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper Sunday. That's 9:00 in Hong Kong, 10:00 in Tokyo.
President Obama addressed Iran's weapons program Friday. Earlier in the week, Iranian TV aired footage of underground missile bunkers. And the country recently conducted a test of a new long-range smart missile. U.S. officials had said this is not in violation of Iran's nuclear agreement.
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OBAMA: The Iran nuclear deal solves a specific problem, which is making sure that they don't possess a nuclear weapon. And it's our best way to do that. It does not fully resolve the wide range of issues where we've got a big difference. So we are going to have to continue to put pressure on them through the international community.
ALLEN (voice-over): At the same news conference, Mr. Obama stood with South Korean president Park Geun-hye and spoke about North Korea's weapons. He said they would never accept the North as a nuclear state. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The Fars News Agency in Iran reports two people were killed in a drive-by shooting targeting a Shiite ceremony that happened in southwestern Iran. Two others were wounded in Friday's incident. The morning ceremony was commemorating the death of an imam. No word on the suspects at this point.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Nearly 27 years after Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, officials say they have now identified two suspects in the bombing. But these new developments could raise more questions. We learn more from CNN's Joel Lobbie (ph).
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JOEL LOBBIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The scene of pure evil, 270 lives taken in the blink of an eye. Mangled, smoldering debris all that remain from Pan Am Flight 103, blown apart midair. The Scottish town of Lockerbie, its final resting place.
Now almost 27 years on from the atrocity, a possible breakthrough in the investigation, the U.S. and Scotland naming two suspects.
Abdullah al-Senussi, a former spy chief of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a man who already has blood on his hands, known in Libya as "The Butcher." He was convicted by France over the bombing of a passenger plane the year after Lockerbie; 170 people were killed in that attack. Senussi is currently in prison awaiting execution.
He was held responsible for the deaths of protesters during Libya's 2011 uprising.
The other man of interest, Mohammed Abouajela, investigators trying to determine whether he's a known bombmaker who goes by the name Abouajela Masud. Masud is also in a Libyan prison on unrelated charges.
This new turn in a decades' --
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(voice-over): -- old probe continues to fuel a long-held belief this wasn't a lone wolf attack and the Gadhafi regime was somehow involved.
Gadhafi denies his government had any role in the bombing. And to this day, Abdelbaset Ali al Megrahi, seen here speaking with Gadhafi, is the only person convicted. The man many Libyans regarded as a hero, he was jailed in Scotland for mass murder, released in 2009 to die at home after being diagnosed with cancer. He protested his innocence, even in his final days.
But these latest developments may come to nothing with both suspects already in jail. It's unclear whether they can even be charged or stand trial. And if that does happen, wounds which have taken some 27 years to heal will all of a sudden be reopened -- Joel Lobbie (ph), CNN.
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ALLEN: Heavy winds and rain are heading for the Philippines. Yet another typhoon they will have to endure. We'll have more about it coming next here.
Plus, in California, hail the size of golf balls, walls of mud crumbling on drivers and the weather is not taking a break.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Israeli officials say a border police officer shot and killed a Palestinian, who may have been a 16-year-old boy, in Jerusalem during an attempted stabbing.
In an earlier incident, the Israel defense forces say a Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli man, who shot and killed him.
[05:30:00] Two attacks starting the day off there in Israel, sadly. An estimated 600 migrants and refugees have now reached Slovenia on buses from Croatia. This comes after Hungary sealed its border with Croatia to stop people from crossing illegally. Slovenian police say migrants will be registered and transferred to a city near the Austrian border.
ISIS claims responsibility for a deadly attack in Eastern Saudi Arabia. Saudi state media says a gunman shot and killed five people at a Shiite-Muslim meeting hall Friday. The gunman was then shot dead by police at the scene.
The quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup kick off Saturday with Wales taking on South Africa at Twickenham. Saturday's other big match will pit reigning champs New Zealand against France at Millennium Stadium.
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ALLEN: The Philippines bracing for a powerful typhoon expected to make landfall on Sunday. Hundreds of people have already sought shelter. Typhoon Koppu is set to linger over the Northern Philippines for about three days. So it could cause major flooding and mudslides. It is then expected to move north.
Our meteorologist, Karen Maginnis, is watching this for us.
This is -- this storm is equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, is that right?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. That is the latest information, the very latest information that we have. This is such a powerful storm system and it has followed all of the predictions, meaning it just increased in intensity before it makes landfall within the next 12 to 18 hours along the Northern Philippines.
But I want to point out this -- that is the eye. And it is rather spectacular looking on this imagery. But it also kind of defines the storm system. It has grown as far as the size of the storm.
It is now the equivalent of a category 4. It has a clearly defined eye and it is moving fairly slowly, westward, at about 9 kilometers per hour. So that slower movement means more impact. It's going to be more impact from the wind, more from the waves. The wave heights could be 12 meters.
We are looking at a significant, catastrophic rain event that takes place here. And by all of that, what I mean is we're looking at the potential for catastrophic flood, widespread power outages and mud and landslides.
Now the Philippines are used to these amazing storm systems. This is the time of year we have seen above-normal numbers of typhoons that have moved across the Western Pacific.
But the forecast radar -- and this takes us about 48 hours -- suggests that rainfall is going to be measured not just with millimeters but maybe a meter plus.
Where you see this white shaded area, that's where we're looking 500- plus to 1,000 millimeters, in excess of a meter of rainfall, pretty much from the lon (ph). They're seeing moderate to very heavy rainfall but primarily along this eastern shore. We are looking at significant rainfall; already evacuations have taken place.
They are saying military is at the ready and police officers are also prepared. Evacuations, the president has already said you need to evacuate some of these areas.
Where you see the white, these are just computer models suggesting a tremendous amount of moisture that is expected as this lingers across the Central and Northern Philippines for the next several days. It hasn't even made landfall just yet.
The other story we want to tell you about, this has happened in North America, in the Southwestern United States. I want set this up.
A woman is sitting in a car. She has her cell phone out. This is in the Mojave Desert. And take a look at what happens as she sits in that automobile. Listen to this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god. This car is going to hit us. Oh, my god. MAGINNIS (voice-over): Now there were about 200 vehicles that you can see that were swept off the roads. The rainfall came down. It was a heavy burst of rainfall. In the desert, that's not good news.
You can imagine how terrifying it was. No reports of injuries, Natalie, which is the amazing thing. But they were just tossed around like they were toys. But this wasn't just in the Mojave, this was in different areas. The same system will just ring out across the region. And another storm system moves in for Sunday.
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MAGINNIS: We'll stay on top of all of it for you.
ALLEN: That's right. And it is so bone dry there that the water can be dangerous very quickly. All right, Karen. Thank you.
In Southern --
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ALLEN: -- California, residents and emergency officials are bracing for even more rain, as Karen said. Flooding and mudslides closed yet another highway northwest of Los Angeles Friday.
Areas in Southern and Central California remain under flood watches; at least 12 people were rescued after a large mudslide hit north of L.A. on Thursday. It was a terrifying experience for some drivers.
We learn more from CNN correspondent, Sara Sidner.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A neighborhood street turned into a raging river. A part of one of California's busiest freeways, Interstate 5 turned into a muddy lake.
In the drought-stricken, fire-ravaged Southern California hills, short but heavy downpours can create mayhem.
Tony Hemming and his brother were on their way home after picking up their 10-year-old brother from school, when they were broadsided by a wall of mud.
TONY HEMMING, DRIVER: All of a sudden, I looked to the left and this entire embankment just gave out underway. And it was a frightening feeling of there's several feet of mud coming right at me.
SIDNER (voice-over): Hemming carried his younger brother and they all ran, leaving their truck behind. Happy they're still around it to dig it out the next day.
JEFFREY HEMMING, PASSENGER: If we were 15 feet farther, we're completely covered. You know, there was no chance of getting out of that. SIDNER: The flash floods came so fast and so furious that this little car was nearly swallowed whole. But we're told by troopers that the driver of the car did manage to get out uninjured.
SIDNER (voice-over): It wasn't just flash floods and sliding mud but hail, like folks who have lived here all their lives have never seen before. Golf ball-sized hail slammed down, damaging cars and homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Kentucky, so I'm no stranger to bad weather. This is the worst storm I have ever seen in my life. I was in a hurricane, a typhoon in Okinawa one time. Nothing compared to this.
SIDNER (voice-over): This, meteorologists say, is just the beginning of what the climate cycle known as El Nino will bring to California. Even though the state needs the rain, too much, too soon could be disastrous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have a geologist come out to inspect the hillsides and make sure they're stable and safe. Because obviously, with a lot of rain, you get a lot of saturation. So sometimes the slides don't happen on that first day. They happen later.
SIDNER (voice-over): Sara Sidner, CNN, Lake Elizabeth, California.
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ALLEN: That had to be so scary for the people in those cars.
Next here, Egypt is heading for its eighth election in four years. But some fear voter fatigue will keep many away from the polls. We'll have more on that when we continue.
Plus, the plan is to bring mankind a step closer to settling on the moon.
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ALLEN: Egyptians head to the polls Sunday and Monday for the first phase of parliamentary elections. This will be the eighth time Egyptians will take to the polls in four years. And there is concern that voter fatigue will keep participation low. CNN's Ian Lee has more for us.
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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Campaign volunteers try to wake Egypt's sleepy electorate. They sprint to the finish as polls for parliament opens Sunday. Ahmed Mansour (ph) entices voters with posters, music, handouts and horns. But for some, it's all noise.
"Yes, of course, I'm worried about the turnout," he says. "But if we have a desire for change, we actually have to change."
Mansour (ph) pledges more jobs, better health care and education. But like the more than 5,000 candidates, he struggles to energize a fatigued nation.
HISAM KASSEM, PUBLISHER AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Almost five years now after the uprising generally, the disappointment has sunk in finally. The expectations are very high and not much came out.
LEE (voice-over): This election is the final step in a roadmap after the military ousted President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Despite many promises over the past five years, Egypt continues to struggle with a stalled economy, poor education, high unemployment and poverty.
LEE: Since the 2011 revolution, Egyptians have voted for two constitutions, two presidents and now two parliaments. But all the while, voter turnout has continued to decline.
LEE (voice-over): Officials are afraid that voters are disillusioned and the trend will continue. Part of the reason may be they only gave the candidates two weeks to introduce themselves to the public.
"Honestly, I only knew there was an election a week ago," he says.
"I don't know the candidates."
"Honestly, no. I don't know any candidates," says this man.
"On what basis would I vote for anyone?"
Moki al-Sisi (ph) introduces himself by shaking every man's hand at a rally. The candidate for the ultra conservative Nour Party (ph) hopes to rally its rural base.
But even in predominantly Muslim Egypt, the party knows it's going to be a struggle.
"The challenge for us," says the head of the Nour Party, "is going to be convincing people to cast their ballot at the polling station for us."
But the fatigue and confusion about who is running could have an unintentional benefit.
KASSEM: Probably the most important thing about this election is it can't be rigged. Nobody would know who to rig it in favor of if they thought of rigging because there are no clear loyalties or coalitions.
LEE (voice-over): Egypt will have a new parliament by the end of the year. The second round of voting is next month. But will anyone know their representative -- or care? Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: A step forward in the battle against climate change. The leaders of 10 of the world's largest energy --
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ALLEN: -- companies have signed a pledge to help stop global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius. Clare Sebastian has more.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Businesses across all sectors are coming under increasing scrutiny as we get closer to the COP 21 climate summit in December.
While it's true that most do need to look for ways to stop emitting so much carbon, it has also opened up opportunities to start looking for new methods and technologies. In fact, we're seeing this in one sector that is widely seen as the main contributor to climate change, the energy sector.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Ten of the world's biggest oil and gas companies have just signed a pledge calling for an effective climate deal in December and committing to work together on researching and developing renewable energies to capture and store carbon so it doesn't get into the atmosphere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The companies have come together and said the 2 degree C target is what we should shoot for and aim for. We're very open right now that the path and trajectory that is not on that path which is why we have this renewed sense of urgency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm fully convinced but for this climate change, if we are all serious, all energy companies, we have strong human capacity, strong technology capacity, strong financial capacities are clearly part of the solution.
If we don't step into the issue, nothing will move or very little will move. So it is better to see that as positive rather than to fight against us.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Of course it's early days. These companies are still producing fossil fuels on a large scale. They have not yet set any specific targets or deadlines in their pledge and the companies signing the pledge only represent 10 percent of global energy production.
SEBASTIAN: The very fact that these companies are coming out collectively and proactively pushing for a deal which could limit the use of their core product is a rare and positive development. Of course, making these promises is just the first step. The real opportunity lies in acting on them. Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: The battle is on to save another endangered animal from becoming the next casualty of climate change.
Experts say the Arctic fox population has been devastated across Scandinavian countries due to warmer temperatures affecting their natural habitat. So conservationists have built this breeding center in Northern Norway. Here the animal can nurse its pups in safety, protect it from other predators competing for food and territory.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is like when we actually started this project, the remaining populations in Norway and Sweden combined was less than 50 individuals, adult individuals in total. Today, there is approximately 300 in Norway.
ALLEN (voice-over): And there are eight fox couples in the breeding center right now. Researchers hope to eventually release some of them back into the wild to help boost the animals' population.
Very beautiful animal.
The first man on the moon, U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, proclaimed that's one small step for man. Now Europe and Russia's space agencies are planning another giant leap for mankind.
They want to see if humans can live permanently on the moon. They hope to send a probe to the lunar south pole in 2020 to search for water and other materials to support life. There are even plans to send inflatable domes for astronauts to live in as a potential replacement for the International Space Station.
If successful, scientists hope scenes like this from the movie, "The Martian," will become a reality. The lunar base could help prepare for a mission to the Red Planet.
Until then, next here, we hit the red carpet. Female movie stars discuss sexism in cinema and what they hope will change.
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ALLEN: This year's London Film Festival focused on movies with memorable female leads, even calling 2015 the Year of the Strong Woman. CNN rounded up some cinematic superstars to get their thoughts about gender equality in Hollywood.
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CATE BLANCHETT, ACTOR: I think there's a critical mass of women across generations who are finally thinking, come on, let's just -- we need to just shift the language and shift the conversation and stop trying to propel, you know, propel us back 10 years. You know, equal pay for equal work, not just in the film industry but across all industries.
MERYL STREEP, ACTOR: If men don't look around the board of governors' table and feel something is wrong, something's just wrong when half the people there are not women, then we're not going to make any progress.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just still live in a society that's sexist and that goes throughout our history.
ROONEY MARA, ACTOR: They're much harsher on women. They use phrases that they would never use for a man like, you know, "bitch" and "diva" and "spoiled brat," up and all those sort of words that they're using to describe women who actually are strong women, who have a point of view and who have a voice and who use that voice. It's not as accepted as when a man is that way.
ELIZABETH KARLSEN, PRODUCER: Women need to be able to tell horror stories, thrillers, war movies, adventure films, romantic comedies. Whether you're Nancy Meyers or Kathryn Bigelow, whoever you are as a director, Andrea Arnold, Playa Bernard (ph), we need to be able to tell anything. We can't be marginalized into some kind of female story.
PHYLLIS NAGY, SCREENWRITER: Some time ago, I was offered what I would call women's stories. What one has to do is be brave enough to say I'm not interested in that but I would like to write a script about the mafia.
CLARE STEWART, LONDON FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: It has been a --
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STEWART: -- lot more kind of debate raised because there have been a lack of films directed by women in major festivals. And that balance really needs to be redressed.
SARAH GAVRON, DIRECTOR: You have statistics, 1 percent of films each year directed by women and not enough women are front of the camera. We're not reflecting the world we live in. Here we are, 51 percent of the population, we buy more than half of the cinema tickets. But we want those stories reflected.
ABI MORGAN, SCREENWRITER: If you don't let women be in this work and lead films and have females at the head, then they cut up currencies as actors and can't prove ourselves at the box office. So it's sort a bit chicken-and-egg.
GEENA DAVIS, ACTOR: I think we're very close to a tipping point. The ratio of male to female characters has been exactly the same since 1946. So when the needle moves, it will be, you know, momentous.
BLANCHETT: Equality is equality. And you can't have DEMINT: - equality. There's no such thing. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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ALLEN: Some Hollywood women speaking out and some protests there, as well, about gender equality.
We have this now for you. Forget about a haunted house. That's nothing. Or even a murky hostel, no. There's one place in Paris offering up a truly bone-chilling stay this Halloween right here.
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ALLEN (voice-over): For one night only, the Paris catacombs has a room to rent. Well, not exactly a room, it's more like a bed in the middle of the world's largest grave.
The walls are lined with some 6 million skulls and the underground tunnels stretch for hundreds of kilometers.
Home rental website Airbnb thought this up. It's behind the competition. The lucky winners will be the first living people ever to sleep in the graveyard. But at least their neighbors, of course, will be deathly quiet.
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ALLEN: Good luck to the person who wins that one. Not me.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.
For viewers in the U.S., "NEW DAY" is just ahead. For everyone else, it's "AMANPOUR." Thanks for watching.
