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Latest on Russia Flight 9268 Crash; Egyptian President to Meet U.K. Prime Minister on MetroJet Crash; Trump Responds to Challengers; Trump to Appear on "SNL"; ISIS Suspected in MetroJet Crash, Egyptian President Meeting U.K. Prime Minister; Worries on ISIS Capability to Take Down Jets; Accusations Myanmar Election Not Free, Fair; Recent Attacks Highlight India's Rising "Hindu Nationalism"; Heavy Snow to Hit Eastern China. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 05, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:10] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. and British authorities suggest an ISIS bomb was behind the downing of the Russian MetroJet flight. What this means for Egypt, Russia, and countries around the world.
Plus, Donald Trump steps up his attacks as polls show some Republican rivals gaining on him.
And later, the fledgling democracy of Myanmar prepares to vote amid concerns of widespread human rights abuses.
Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Rosemary Church live at CNN world headquarters.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Max Foster at 10 Downing Street for our coverage of the Russian MetroJet crash in Egypt.
CHURCH: And we begin with that crash of flight 9268 in Egypt. U.S. Intelligence now suggests a bomb planted by ISIS or its affiliates brought down that plane, killing all 224 people on board. New video shows the scene right after the crash. One U.S. official says the theory is that someone at Sharm el Sheikh Airport helped get a bomb on the plane.
British authorities are reviewing safety procedures at the airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER HAMMOND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: As a result of our review, we have concluded there is a significant possibility that that crash was caused by an explosive device on board the aircraft. We have concluded that we have to change our travel advice and we are now advising against all but essential travel by air through Sharm el Sheikh Airport. That means that there will be no U.K. passenger flights out to Sharm el Sheikh from now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Russia has deployed satellite monitoring and drones over the crash site to better coordinate the search for debris. So far, recovery teams have covered 33 square kilometers or about 13 square miles.
FOSTER: It's a fast-moving investigation, crossing several countries, as well.
We're going to get the very latest on what we know so far with CNN's aviation correspondent, Rene Marsh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION & GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): When MetroJet flight 9268 took off, the autopilot was set for 32,000 feet. The plane climbed steadily but never made it to that altitude. At just over 30,000 feet, the plane dives rapidly, plunging at 300 miles per hour.
LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: The confirmation that this plane was falling at such a rapid speed, vertically and horizontally, indicates this airplane was a brick. At some point in time, something caused it to be a brick.
MARSH: A possible bomb on board MetroJet flight 9268 is now the leading theory for U.S. Intelligence and British officials tonight.
PETER MCLOUGHLIN, U.K. TRANSPORT SECRETARY: We cannot categorically say why the Russian jet crashed, but we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down as a result of an explosive device.
MARSH: All U.K. flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have been halted. Focus has been intensified on the security at Egypt's Sharma al Sheikh Airport where the doomed Russian flight took off.
LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, FORMER U.S. ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: ISIS has been operating successfully. They've done assassinations of political leaders in the region. There's no reason to think they've not been able to compromise the security of the airport.
ABEND: This could be an inside operation. Somebody that is -- or some people that are familiar with how the baggage process works. And let's not just limit it to the cargo hold. Catering could be involved with this, too.
MARSH: Today, Egyptian investigators searched wreckage for clues, including bomb residue. Despite the reporting from both U.S. and British officials and another claim of responsibility from ISIS, so far, the Egyptians maintain it's found no evidence of terrorism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one way to nail the image of Egypt.
MARSH: So far, Russia has publicly maintained it's too early to draw conclusions. Russian state media reported victim's bodies show no sign of trauma from an exPLOsion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Russians don't want to show vulnerability to the Islamic State, because they're fighting in Syria, and the sense they may be drawing violence for Russians for what they're doing in Syria may not play well in Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi is in London where he's expected to meet Thursday with the prime minister to discuss the MetroJet crash investigation.
So let's go back to our Max Foster, who is at 10 Downing Street.
Max, Prime Minister Cameron and President el Sisi set to meet in a matter of hours. What is expected out of that meeting and how tense might it be, given what Mr. Cameron has said about the possibility of a bomb having brought down that plane?
[02:05:22] FOSTER: I think inevitably it's going to be tense. We heard from the foreign minister that they feel this was premature for the U.K. to install these restrictions before the conclusion of the official investigation in Egypt. You have to think Sharm el Sheikh is at the center of a big tourism industry in Egypt. It's crucial to the Egyptian economy. And this is going to knock confidence in terms of British passengers but probably international passengers, as well, in that resort in Sharm al Sheikh. So there's a huge amount of concern. We haven't heard from the Egyptian president on it. So we'll get the first comments from him here in London.
But at the same time, David Cameron wants assurance from the president that it's safe for British travelers to go through that airport. It's apparent they don't feel, based on the intelligence he's received that we haven't be party to, that he's not comfortable with passengers going through there. All these passengers are stranded. He thinks that's a price to pay, because the airport isn't up to snuff in terms of security -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: You mentioned those passengers. We're talking about thousands of British tourists stranded there in Sharm el Sheikh. When might they be able to come home?
FOSTER: Well, I'm willing told by the foreign office not to rearrange their flights yet. The ones at the airport waiting to fly, yesterday the flights were suspended, we now know that today's flights were suspended, as well. The Brits have said they're comfortable, that the Egyptian authorities have improved security, but they haven't gone far enough yet. So they're not comfortable for the British tourist to go to that airport yet. But they're being told not to rearrange their flights, which suggests things are moving in the right direction, and in the near future, those passengers may be able to take flights by the end of this week.
We'll bring in Ben Wedeman on that, our CNN International correspondent, in Cairo.
Ben, a British team on the ground there. What do you know about what they have been looking at?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Obviously they are looking at the security measures being taken at Sharm el Sheikh. Apparently they were given access to the behind-the-scenes areas of the airport that normal persons couldn't see, according to reports in the Egyptian media. They were taking photographs and what not, to get an idea just what sort of level of security exists at Sharm el Sheikh. Now, I've been through that airport many times. Oftentimes, one leaves there with the impression that security is relaxed, keeping in mind, of course, it is a resort town that deals essentially with only tourists, few businessmen, and generally it doesn't seem like a tense pace where security is particularly tight under normal circumstances -- Max?
FOSTER: For the flights to cancel there from the U.K., they're advising all but nonessential travel to be canceled to Sharm el Sheikh, it's a huge dent to what is a usual part of the economy to Egypt. So what response have you had to the government there?
WEDEMAN: We did hear Egyptian officials saying they were somewhat surprised by the British decision to halt or suspend flights to Sharm el Sheikh. Obviously, for Egypt, tourism is an important mainstay of the economy. Tourism has been limping along since January of 2011, when the revolution took place here. It has never really recovered since then. 2010 saw 14.7 million tourists coming to Egypt. It's never recovered. And Egyptian officials, before this incident, were hoping that tourism would make a recovery this year. But obviously with all the publicity around the crash of the Russian airplane, those hopes for a better year have clearly been dashed -- Max?
FOSTER: Obviously, we're waiting the outcome of this investigation, but there seems to be some credibility given to the theory that ISIS can bomb flights over the Sinai. Is that credibility there on that theory, as well, even before we've had the conclusion to the investigation?
WEDEMAN: Egyptian officials have been tightlipped when it comes to this investigation and played down the possibility that it was -- that it was, indeed, some terrorist act that led to the crash of the airliner. Yesterday, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority, spearheading this investigation, came out with a very short statement. It mentioned that the voice recorder, the cockpit voice recorder was damaged. Beyond that, it said, further information will be made available in due course. And it's not clear when that due course is going to be. Many people are waiting. Egyptian officials are eager to down play the possibility that terrorism had a role in this -- Max?
[02:10:37] FOSTER: Ben, in Cairo, thank you very much, indeed. Back with you to get more details out of Egypt.
Rosemary, in terms of he next update here in London, we know it's just been announced that the prime minister is going to head up an emergency meeting later on this morning before that meeting with the Egyptian president. We expect to get a statement after that in terms of the latest government response.
CHURCH: Max Foster, we'll come back to you at 10 Downing Street in just a few moments. Many thanks.
I want to bring in CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, for more insight. He joins us live via Skype from Oregon.
Thank you, sir, for talking with us.
U.S. Intelligence suggests an ISIS bomb may have brought down this plane. British Prime Minister David Cameron seems to agree. It's not conclusive, though. But what do they know that we don't at this point?
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's a really good question. I can tell you from my background in the community that to utter the word "explosive device" or "bomb," they would have to have some indication that it's true. They're going out on a limb here. So they must have intelligence to indicate this was an explosive device. Both the British and Americans would be reticent to do that without indication.
So I can tell you what happens after one of these events. It's just like a crime scene. Everybody goes back to the surveillance tapes. That's what the intelligence community does. They'll review the intercept, talk to anybody that might have had any insight and see what they can come up with. So there's something there they're not telling us.
CHURCH: Rick, ISIS did claim responsibility for the plane crash but that was dismissed initially. Now it's been given serious consideration. Does ISIS have the capability to do this? And if they did, how did they pull it off.
FRANCONA: Second part first. They probably pulled it off by recruiting someone at the airport to do this. That wouldn't be hard to do in Egypt. If you look at the ISIS affiliate in Egypt, these aren't people that came to Syria or Iraq to become ISIS, these are Egyptians, members of the Muslim Brotherhood that came to the Sinai after the coup in 2013. Other groups. There's an al Qaeda affiliate that has now defected to ISIS. These people are Egyptians. They know how to work the system. They live there. The Sinai has just been real hot bed for Islamic fundamentalism. So for them to recruit someone in Sharm el Sheikh is not out of the question.
CHURCH: Right. If this was a bomb, and I keep saying this, we don't know that for sure, what will this mean in terms of security at airports all around the world? And why has Egypt been so slow, it appears, to question baggage handlers, caters, and others that work at the airport who possibly could have been involved if this was a bomb?
FRANCONA: I think the Egyptians wanted to downplay any sense or any indication that this was terrorism, because it's been talked about that this will cripple the Egyptian tourist economy, which is not in good shape any way. So that's one of their big considerations.
CHURCH: Rick Francona, always a pleasure to get your analysis on these types of matters. Unfortunate circumstances as they are. Many thanks to you.
Next here on CNN, we will hear reaction to the Russian plane crash from some of the U.S. presidential candidates. Stay with us for that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:15:40] DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good day. I'm Derek Van Dam, with a quick look at your "Weather Watch."
(WEATHER REPORT)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. We are following new intelligence details in the crash of MetroJet flight 9268 in Egypt. The U.S. and Britain are suggesting a bomb brought down the Russian airliner, killing all 224 people on board. 58 bodies have just been identified. That's according to Russian media. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the crash. Meanwhile, Russia has deployed satellite monitoring and drones over the crash site to help with search efforts.
British and Irish officials say they are concerned about security at the small airport at Sharm el Sheikh, suggesting someone there may have helped plant that bomb. They have suspended flights between the resort city and their countries. But no conclusive word on whether that is a bomb. We do need to emphasize that.
Earlier, we asked CNN intelligence and security analyst, Robert Baer, to weigh in on the responsibility ISIS may be responsible for the plane crash. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: There are hourly reports coming from the debris field, from people from Boeing, the French, the Irish. They're very concerned there's going to be more attacks. They need to know whether, in fact, this was a bomb. These reports are probably fragmentary and a lot of guess work. But if you're sitting in London or Washington and seeing results of this and saying, man, this looks like a bomb. And the more pieces of luggage they pick up and the more bodies they examine, the more the picture will start to form that it could have been an exPLOsion.
Frankly, I don't think 10 Downing Street is going to go public like this, take on the Egyptian president and cancel flights out of Sharm el Sheikh, unless it has good evidence. They have to be looking at more than just motivation. You know, an opportunity. I think the picture is coming together. But we won't get a complete description of the bomb and the rest of it probably for months.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:20:12] CHURCH: Bob Baer talking to CNN earlier.
We'll have more on the plane crash later this hour. In the meantime, be sure to check out the latest developments related to this story on our website at CNN.com.
We are hearing reaction to the Russian plane crash from some of the U.S. presidential candidates on the campaign trail. Ben Carson was asked if the U.S. was doing enough to protect its citizens from potential bomb threats from terrorists. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: You know, I think our people are actually doing a very good job already and we haven't had any bombs on our planes for that reason. Obviously, you don't want to relax the surveillance that we have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Jeb Bush used the plane crash to briefly outline how he would handle ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: First of all, I don't know if it's true. But ISIS has a desired strategy to put the black flag of ISIS in the White House. And to destroyed Western civilization. It's not a law enforcement exercise. We need a strategy to take them out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: In the meantime, support for the Republican candidates is shifting. The latest national poll shows Trump, Donald Trump with a slight edge over Ben Carson. And Marco Rubio has gained a couple of percentage points to tie with Ted Cruz for third place. Jeb Bush has dropped to 4 percent support, tying with Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, and Rand Paul. Now, Chris Christie's standings in the polls will probably put him on the undercard of the next primary debate. The New Jersey governor has an average of 2.25 percent of support. FOX is requiring candidates to have 2.5 percent to appear in the primetime debate on November 10th.
Trump is still leading the Republicans, and his confidence appears unshaken. But he's responding directly to challenges to those gaining support.
Dana Bash has our report from the campaign in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CROSSTALK)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wherever Donald Trump goes, it is an event.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I don't know, does he register in the polls?
BASH: Especially when he comes to the New Hampshire state capital, the first major GOP candidate to file for this primary.
TRUMP: This may be a very important signature.
BASH: Whether it's voting-aged adults --
TRUMP: Are you all hard working?
(SHOUTING)
BUSH: -- or kids on a school trip excited to see a celebrity.
TRUMP: Who's the best student?
(SHOUTING)
BASH: Trump supporters here are quite enthusiastic.
Trump is still on top in New Hampshire, but other candidates are gaining traction. A fresh poll has Marco Rubio now in third place, five times the support he had just two months ago.
(on camera): There's a brand new poll showing Marco Rubio doing much better. What do you say to that?
TRUMP: All I know is I'm number one.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: That's all I know.
BASH (voice-over): Despite the bravado, Trump's stepped up attacks on Rubio reveal concern.
TRUMP: Marco Rubio has a disaster on his finances. He has a disaster on his credit cards.
BASH: Trump is seizing on new Florida newspaper reports about Rubio's use of a Republican Party credit card for personal charges when in the state house. Rubio insists he paid personal charges back.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R), FLORIDA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every month I would go through the bills, and if there was something personal, I paid it directly to American Express. And if it was the parties, the party paid for it.
BASH: But Rubio is only one Trump threat.
(CHEERING)
BASH: Ben Carson is practically tied with him in a new national poll and here in New Hampshire.
DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: It doesn't particularly surprise me, given the kind of people that the two of us are.
BASH: Yet Trump says the neurosurgeon doesn't have the aptitude to be president.
(on camera): You're questioning Ben Carson's aptitude to be president. What do you mean by that?
TRUMP: Aptitude to do any of the deals you have to do. Ben doesn't have that. It's not for him. If you think it is, you're just kidding yourself.
BASH (voice-over): Jeb Bush is in the Granite State, too, a three-day bus tour trying to reboot his campaign, as he's now slipped behind Chris Christie here. And Trump can't resist taking shots at Bush.
TRUMP: I'm not an entertainer. He goes, I'm not a good talker. I don't speak well. I don't debate well. I don't do anything well. But you should vote for me. That's Jeb Bush.
BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:25:] CHURCH: And one of Trump's next stops is as host of the U.S. comedy show "Saturday Night Live." Promotions for the show have jokingly referred to equal air time rules for candidate. And in another spot, Trump spoofed his well-known bravado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hi, I'm Donald Trump, and I'll be hosting "Saturday Night Live" this week with a musical guest, CeCelie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CECELIE, SINGER: And to make things extra fun, Donald promised he's not going to brag or say he's the best at anything, right, Donald?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That's right, CeCelie. And I'm going to do the best job anyone's ever done, not saying it.
CECELIE: You just said it.
TRUMP: What can I say? I'm the absolute best. What can I say?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: But his appearance is stirring controversy. Protesters gathered outside NBC for a "Dump Trump" rally. Reports say an immigration reform group delivered a petition with more than 500,000 signatures, demanding Trump be taken off the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTOR: I think it's very regrettable that they're putting their ratings over the comments that Mr. Trump has said about immigrants and Latinos across the nation. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Two Hispanic groups wrote a letter to the show's producer last month saying they were flabbergasted at Trump's invitation to host.
We'll get back to the MetroJet plane crash just ahead, including a look at how ISIS may have outdone its rival terror groups by bringing down a passenger plane.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Max Foster at Downing Street for our complete coverage of the Russian plane crash over Egypt.
[02:30:06] CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church here at CNN world headquarters. Let's update you on our top stories this hour.
We have new video from just moments after the crash of MetroJet flight 9268. U.S. Intelligence now suggests a bomb planted by ISIS or its affiliates brought down the plane. Another U.S. official says the theory is that someone at Sharm el Sheikh Airport helped to get a bomb on the plane.
A U.S. defense official says a Chinese fast-attack submarine closely tracked a U.S. aircraft carrier in the eastern Pacific last month. There was apparently no indication of threatening behavior or communication between the two vessels. It was the latest in a series of tense naval incidents between the two countries.
Campus police at the University of California, Merced, shot and killed a man who stabbed four people Wednesday morning. The school's chancellor says the victims do not appear to have life-threatening wounds. Authorities say the attacker was a male student who lived on campus.
More now on the crash of MetroJet flight 9268. British authorities say they believe a bomb may well have brought down the plane.
We want to go back to our London correspondent, Max Foster.
Max, Prime Minister David Cameron is set to meet with Egypt's President el Sisi in just a few hours. It's likely to be a pretty tense meeting. What are the expectations, though?
FOSTER: I think it will be tense, because what Downing Street has done is cut off the lifeline to the Egyptian economy, which is flights in and out of Sharm el Sheikh, which is at the heart of its massive tourism sector. We've heard some soundings of disgruntlements, suggesting this was a premature move, the investigation has not been completed, no official results, so why is Britain acting now? Britain feels as though it has information to suggest that airport isn't safe for British travelers, and it's stopped all flights in and out, saying all but nonessential travel should not be taken at that airport. And, Rosemary, thousands of tourists are stranded there and can't get back to the U.K.
CHURCH: What's going to happen to them in the short term at least?
FOSTER: They've been told not to cancel their flights back, which suggests they may get another opportunity. We know there's a British team on the ground there checking out the security measures at the airport. They are aware that the Egyptians have improved the situation but they haven't gone far enough. So at the moment, the flights are still suspended today, an extension from yesterday. Whether or not people can fly back, you know, by the end of the week, we'll have to see. But they've been told not to cancel their flights just yet.
One of the big concerns is that ISIS capabilities have reached a level at which they can bomb a plane over Egypt. We don't know whether that's true yet. We need more evidence of that.
But there is that concern out there, and Deborah Feyerick has been assessing that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If British and U.S. Intelligence officials are correct, ISIS or ISIS affiliates have achieved what hated rival al Qaeda has been trying to do since 9/11, blow up a commercial passenger plane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will be the most significant terrorist attack since 9/11.
FEYERICK: Intelligence officials tell CNN an explosive device may have been hidden inside luggage and that someone working inside the airport may have helped get it past security, unlike the highly sophisticated explosives used by al Qaeda. Authorities believe ISIS used a more conventional device. A source telling CNN it may have included a barometric pressure switch set to go off at a certain altitude.
Al Qaeda has targeted U.S. passenger planes at least four times since 9/11. The first was shoe bomber, Richard Reid, in 2001, his attempt, foiled by passengers on board. A plot by British extremists to hide explosives inside water bottles was discovered in 2006. On Christmas day in 2009, the underwear bomber failed to detonate plastic explosives as the plane was landing in Detroit. A year later, explosives were discovered in two printer toner cartridges on UPS and FedEx planes. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's master bomb building, Ibrahim el Siri (ph) claimed credit for both devices.
Sinai has increasingly become an ISIS battleground and haven for militants. ISIS claimed credit for the Russian plane, saying they, quote, "brought the plane down."
(on camera): The last successful terror attack against a passenger plane was in 2004. The target, two Russian planes brought down by two female Chechnyan extremists, known as the Black Widows. The women each smuggled eight ounces of explosives on board inside a body cavity. They detonated their devices mid-air. As in this tragedy, there were no survivors.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:35:29] FOSTER: Rosemary, we don't know the nature of the intelligence, which sparked the concern here at Downing Street, but we will hear a bit more about it possibly today. David Cameron, in the next couple of hours, chairing an emergency meeting, assessing the threat there at the Sharm el Sheikh Airport.
CHURCH: Max Foster at 10 Downing Street. We'll come back to you very soon.
Russian state media is reporting 58 of the 224 victims from the MetroJet crash have been positively identified. This is likely welcome news for families, but it won't bring answers to a man who lost his best friend.
He told CNN International diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, he's left with a question he'll they have get answered.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Happier times. Leonard, in the blue hat, Victor in the red. Holidays together with their girlfriends. They were close. Leonard, best man at Victor's wedding. Always sharing good times together. But last week was different. Leonard took his girlfriend, Alexandra, alone on a special trip to Egypt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One day before, I was chatting with him on a special page. I asked him how it's going, how is everything? He told me that he's going to tell me everything when he comes here.
ROBERTSON: But his best friend never came back. He died as MetroJet flight 9268 plowed into the Egyptian desert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a very kind person, and I am sure you couldn't find a person that could tell something bad about him.
ROBERTSON: The website created for his friend has had tens of thousands of hits. It's a comfort, but there's more pain to come, help Leonard's father identify his son's body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't imagine who is going to be there to identify the body. I know it's not going to be whole bodies, just fragments.
ROBERTSON: This happy photo of the Egyptian beach is how he'll remember his best friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) ROBERTSON: What was it Leonard was going to tell him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he did have something to tell me, so I think it was -- they wanted to tell us not in chatting but in real life.
ROBERTSON: But it's something we'll never know. In their last picture, Leonard and Alex, engagement rings, out of shot.
Nic Robertson, CNN, St. Petersburg, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:41:30] CHURCH: Myanmar is just days from a landmark parliamentary election. But pro democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, says the process so far has not been free and fair. She says there have been irregularities in advanced voting, as well as fraud and intimidation. Despite this, Suu Kyi's party is expected to do well at the polls Sunday, but Western expectations for democracy in Myanmar, she says, are too high.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNIDENTIFIED QUESTION)
AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR OPPOSITION LEADER: Let's wait to see whether that will be the case after the election. So far, I think it's still the case. I think there are other Western countries who have been overly optimistic about the so-called democratization process that's been taking place here since 2010. I would like to remind you since 2012, I have been saying what we need is a healthy dose of skepticism and all this over optimism is not helping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And there's cautious optimism in Myanmar as the country prepares for the election, but many are questioning how far their limited democratic freedoms will go.
CNN's Ivan Watson has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SHOUTING)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protesters rushed through the streets.
(SHOUTING)
WATSON: They move swiftly, fired up with adrenaline, demanding the release of student activists stuck in jail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want freedom. (SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want freedom.
WATSON: Police watch closely, but for the moment, they do not intervene. Last March, other demonstrators weren't so lucky.
(SHOUTING)
WATSON: That's when police cracked down hard on a student protest. Activists were on a march to the commercial capital to demand changes to an education law. But police stopped the march, arresting scores of demonstrators, and released their furry on a protester's truck.
(on camera): Things like this police crackdown were supposed to be a thing of past. Four years ago, the military junta that long ruled this country made the decision to open up the country to reform to transition to a civilian government. But the prosecution of student protesters has led many to question the new government's commitment to democracy.
(voice-over): On a rainy day, supporters gather at a courthouse where dozens of the student activists arrested last March are now standing trial.
This 28-year-old, a long-time political dissident, faces a possible sentence of nine years in prison for participating in an illegal protest.
UNIDENTIFIED POLITICAL DISSIDENT (through translation): This is not real democracy.
WATSON: Human rights monitors argue talk of Democratic reform in Myanmar is little more than window dressing.
UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN RIGHT MONITOR: I think it really shows that there are some people within the government, pro-military elements, that do not want to reform any further in the country, that this is the limit.
WATSON: This is another political dissident who spent four years in prison. She may now go back to prison again.
UNIDENTIFIED POLITICAL DISSIDENT: I try to change our education, to get democratic education. After that, I was sent to the prison again.
WATSON: After the judge approves yet another delay in court proceedings, the prisoners march out, chanting defiantly.
(SHOUTING)
[02:45:11] WATSON: This dissident takes her place on a police truck back to jail.
(SINGING)
WATSON: The prisoners sing a full-throated song of protests. Myanmar is in the midst of an historic period of transition but no one
knows where this bumpy road will take the country next.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Myanmar.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And the spokesman for Myanmar's president has defended the arrests. He told CNN the government has a responsibility to balance new freedoms with maintaining law and order during the difficult transition from decades of authoritarian rule.
Well, there's growing concern over an increase in religious intolerance in the world's largest democracy and recent attacks on Muslims are at the center of it.
As Sumnima Udas reports, opponents are blaming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what some are calling the rise of Hindu nationalism.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every person has the right to practice their faith how they choose.
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's something even President Barack Obama alluded to during his India visit earlier this year.
OBAMA: India will succeed so long as it's not splintered along the lines of religious faith.
UDAS: But today, religious decisions are dominating headlines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if it was this, do we live in a country where a man should be killed?
UDAS: On September 28th, a Muslim man is lynched after rumors he ate beef. October 9th, one young Muslim is set ablaze on rumors he was transporting beef. On October 15th, another Muslim man was killed for smuggling cows. Hindus believe cows are sacred. Slaughtering them has been banned for decades. But enforcement was lax. Now hard-core Hindu groups appear to be turning to taking the law in their own hands. Concerning to many who say they see growing intolerance and it goes beyond religion.
This man was smeared in black ink last month by allies of Modi's Hindu National Party for organizing a book launch with a Pakistani politician-turned author.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What outrages us, it seemed the design to subvert a pluralistic idea of India.
UDAS: This is one of more than 40 writers who returned their literary awards in protest of what they call an assault on India's diversity. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the great Indian tradition, there has always
been space and respect for dissent, space for debate and discussion.
UDAS (on camera): What's at stake here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire concept of India.
UDAS: Violence along religious lines is not new to India. But the recent attacks on Muslims has sparked renewed debate over whether Prime Minister Modi's rise to power has emboldened his extremist Hindu supporters, looking to push a Hindu or religious agenda, and whether his government is doing enough to stop it.
(voice-over): But he rejects that criticism saying he has condemned religious violence. His spokesman says the criticism is manufactured by opposition parties and opponents.
PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN: The propaganda happens. Everybody falls for the propaganda. To say one or two incidents here and there, are reflecting as intolerance.
UDAS: Propaganda or real protests, in the world's biggest democracy with the second-largest Muslim population, some worry the perception of growing intolerance may overshadow Modi's mandate for development and economic growth.
Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
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CHURCH: And we'll take a very short break. Coming up, heavy snow is expected to hit eastern China. Around 20 centimeters of snow are possible in the mountains. We'll have that story when we come back. Stay with us.
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[02:51:34] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley, with your CNN "World Sport" headlines.
It was a thrilling day in Champions League action on Wednesday. No surprises but the spotlight has been on Chelsea. Chelsea jumped out in front, thanks to an own goal by the visitors. But William would play savior for the home side after scoring his fifth goal. They win 2-1. So to group F where Arsenal were visiting Bayern Munich. Bayern still wounded after losing two weeks ago to arsenal. But they win 5- 1. This was only the second time Arsenal have given up five goals in European competition. Thomas Murdoch would get a brace.
So track and field's world governing body, the IAAF, confirmed French police raided the headquarters. It was part of an inquiry into corruption and doping. A statement did not comment on reports from the Reuters news agency that the former president has been placed under formal investigation. That's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
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CHURCH: Here's an amazing story. In the United States, a boy who was reported missing in Alabama 13 years ago has been found safe. Julian Hernandez was 5 years old when he disappeared in 2002. His mother had legal custody of him, but police believe his father abducted him and took him to live in Ohio, where they were reportedly using different names. Julian, who is now 18, was found when he was applying to college. His father, Bobby Hernandez, is now under arrest and facing charges in the abduction.
A shift to weather now. Heavy snow is expected to hit eastern China.
We have Derek Van Dam to talk to us about that.
How bad is it likely to be?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's interesting, because it's in a part of the world that doesn't normally see a lot of snow, especially this time of the year. Beijing has just been awarded the Winter Olympics in 2022, and their average snowfall in that area is literally just one centimeter. So we could get ten centimeters in the mountains just outside Beijing, the capital of China there. Rosemary, take a look at this. Some graphics to show you just to give you a setup on what the weather is doing across eastern China. And it has been rather rough and it's all thanks to an area of low pressure that continues to bring heavy rainfall, especially just south of Beijing. I want to show you some of the footage coming out of that region, because the snowflakes are massive. We have very large snow. This is often indicative of when temperatures are hovering slightly above freezing. This ac again, it's this low pressure system and enough cold air to transition that precipitation over to the frozen variety. So if you're located in Beijing, expect kind of some unpleasant weather going forward over the next 24 to 48 hours. The bulk of the snow fall, 10 to 25 sent meters of the snow, with temperatures around freezing in Beijing. I don't expect much of it to stick on the ground.
I'm going to transition quickly to a phenomena that just occurred. We've just had the northern lights that have created some impressive scenes. That moved across the earth's atmosphere and creating scenes like this. In Idaho, this is a time lapse of beautiful northern lights and you see that shading of red? Extremely rare as the electrons are excited by oxygen in the atmosphere.
[02:56:15] CHURCH: Wow. That is something.
VAN DAM: Beautiful.
CHURCH: Derek Van Dam, many thanks to you. Appreciate it.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. Do stay with us.
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