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Russian Hospital Fire; Climate Change Deal; Saudi Women Seeks Social Changes. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired December 13, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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

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[03:00:09] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN HOST: Deadly fire, at least 21 people are killed as flames engulf a hospital in Russia.

Will they agree? Almost 200 nations now need to decide whether to sign up to a global climate agreement dubbed the deal to save the planet. And will it? We'll look into that.

And history in Saudi Arabia, women get to vote for the first time. Has the gulf state finally turned a corner on women's rights?

It's all ahead here on CNN Newsroom. We're live from Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

And we begin this hour with this developing story from Russia, where a fire at a psychiatric hospital has killed close to two dozen people. At least 21 people are dead, another 23 injured after the fire broke out late Saturday evening in the Southwest region of Voronezh.

A hospital employee told state-run media, there were about 140 disabled people in the hospital, including 50 who were bed-bound. At least 51 people were rescued unharmed. So far the cause of the fire is unknown.

Now to the climate deal in France reached this weekend. Delegates from nearly 200 nations are now heading back to their countries with an historic plan in their hands to help combat global warming. Representatives approved the final draft on Saturday and this is what it looks like when they did so. U.S. President Barack Obama also applauding.

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BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: This agreement sends a powerful signal that the world is firmly committed to a low-carbon future, and that has the potential to unleash investment and innovation and clean energy at a scale we've never seen before.

The targets we've set are bold and by empowering businesses, scientists, engineers, workers, and the private sector, investors, to work together, this agreement represents the best chance we've to save the one planet that we've got.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: The best chance, but how far does it go? What's in the plan? Will it sets a goal for limiting the rise in earth's temperature and helps poorer nations pay for the effects of global warming which they did not cause. It seeks to limit global warming to 2 degrees celsius, but strives for a limit of 1.5 degrees celsius if possible. And it urges donations of $100 billion as I mentioned to help poor countries who are suffering from climate change problems they did not cause.

Critics say the agreement lacks key specifics on enforcing these parameters that they're setting and that there's no punishment for nations that don't do their part.

Professor Patrick Parenteau of Vermont Law School is a climate environmental law expert. He joins us now via Skype from Vermont. Thank you for joining us, professor.

PATRICK PARENTEAU, VERMONT LAW SCHOOL: You're welcome, Natalie.

ALLEN: Let's talk about what has happened in Paris. They're calling this a historic breakthrough. Yes, all these countries finally get come together and have an agreement on a cop meeting. What's your reaction?

PARENTEAU: I think it is fair to say that it is historic. It's also a little sobering. I do think that we have to recognize the accomplishment of almost 190 countries coming together and agreeing on a path way forward. We have to give the French government and the administrators of the conference a lot of credit for overcoming the obstacles and reaching compromise.

The sobering part, however, is the gulf that exists between where this agreement leaves us today and where we have to get very quickly in order to stabilize the climate and then void some of the most catastrophic consequences that the scientists are telling us we're in grave danger us.

ALLEN: Right. And I've seen others concur with you on that talking about the big polluters, United States, China, and the others, need more of an urgent wake-up call than what perhaps this agreement, albeit historic and a breakthrough, will actual produce.

PARENTEAU: That's correct. There is a signal to the world and to the marketplace from this agreement, but the signal is too soft, I think, for the challenge that we face. This is more of a political agreement than a legal document, frankly. It's important, certainly for the nations to commit to what they've committed to and to commit to, as they put it, ratcheting up the pledges that have been made, but the time frame is very short.

[03:05:07] The amount of carbon that we're putting into the atmosphere every year on the order of 36 billion tons is still going into the atmosphere. It will be there for centuries. The scientists telling us that the climate systems of the earth are actually more sensitive than we thought. The rate of melting of the ice sheets, the warming of the oceans, the acidification of the oceans, the sea level rise. Virtually every measurement tells us that things are bad and getting worse very quickly.

ALLEN: Well, outside of this agreement, then, if this does put climate change more on the map for the world, what would you hope, as far as technology and advancements for cleaner energy? What would you hope that we could see in the next, say, five, 10 years?

PARENTEAU: We need a trillion dollars a year redeployed from fossil fuels, including the massive subsidies that those industries are getting, into the clean energy sources that are scaling very rapidly -- wind and solar costs are coming down dramatically. They're being deployed all across the globe. It's the fastest growing sector of the energy economy. But it's not fast enough to keep pace with the continued emphasis on finding new sources of oil and gas in ever deeper parts of the ocean, in tight shale formations in North America, and all around the world.

The science is very clear that we're very close to exhausting the carbon budget that would have any chance of holding temperatures under the degree of 2 degrees celsius, much less achieving the more rigorous goal of 1.5 degrees celsius which is need to protect the island nations of the world.

So a very concerted, public, private effort, and it's money. It's all about not just billions, but trillions that have to be redeployed.

ALLEN: A sobering assessment, we appreciate your expertise, environmental law expert, Patrick Parenteau from Vermont Law School, thank you.

PARENTEAU: You're very welcome, Natalie.

ALLEN: And you can learn more about the climate agreement at our website, cnn.com/climate.

Well, Geneva is on edge after police arrested two people and charged them with terror. Authorities say the suspects were carrying Syrian passports and had traces of explosives in their vehicles. It's not yet clear whether the arrests are linked to the attacks in Paris last month.

For more CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us live from Geneva. The encouraging news is that the U.S. Intelligence warned Geneva of suspects that could be there, and now they have found two. What do we know, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, good morning, Natalie. It's not clear yet if these two men are part of the group of four ISIS members that U.S. Intelligence officials picked up through eavesdropping on their communications, who said in their conversations that they were planning to attack Geneva, possibly or Toronto, or Chicago. It's not clear that these two men are part of that group.

What authorities here are saying is that they appear to be Syrian, because the passports they have appear to be authentic. But they're not saying more than that. They're not telling us their names. And they're not saying if these men had the Schengen visa in their passports, as a visa that would allow them to travel legally around Europe. That would be a very, very important detail at this time.

The traces of explosives that have been found in the vehicle, this is what Swiss authorities say, a European security source has given us a little more detail on that, saying this was traces of precursor materials, precursor chemicals, this would be the materials that might be used into making a home-made bomb. And some of these materials you can buy in a hardware store, in a gardening store, in these types of places. So it's possible.

And the implication is, by the Swiss authorities, that these men were planning to either manufacture a bomb, transport a bomb, and conceal a bomb. That's what the Swiss authorities are saying that they're being investigated for. They also say they're investigating them for possible ties to a terrorist organization. And they're not saying which terrorist organization at this stage, but the implication so far do seem to be connections towards ISIS because there were at least three leads -- separate leads, in the previous few days, connected to ISIS cells and attacks. So, that's the situation. That's the concern at the moment, Natalie.

ALLEN: And you're standing there live for us in front of the U.N. Headquarters there in Geneva. Is security still especially tight there, Nic? And what's been the reaction from the people who live in Geneva to this?

[03:10:01] ROBERTSON: Absolutely the security is tight. At the U.N., the guards there are now carrying heavier automatic weapons than they would do normally.

There are more police on the streets. Some of them are plain-clothed and then we saw two plain-clothed policemen taking a man away in handcuffs yesterday on the streets of Geneva. So, they're out and picking people up off the streets so there will be people may not see them.

The mood here and the reaction is the streets are generally quite calm. This is a huge weekend for Geneva, it's known as the L'Escalade, it's a celebration of the last time that Geneva went to war. It was with the French, it was 1602, over 400 years ago, and you will have and you will have today and you had yesterday, people in traditional costumes from that era on the streets, marching bands playing their fights and beating their drums. It's a real time of celebration here, but of course a lot of people on the street and a lot of noise.

Yesterday they were firing off their replica musket guns and these made huge bangs. So, there's a lot of people out on the streets, perhaps more than normal. And so that's an indication that Geneva is not, if you will, overreacting with fear to these arrests -- and the police do say they expect more arrests in the coming days. But obviously, it's in amongst those big crowds that the police have a much tougher job to do at this time, Natalie.

ALLEN: Certainly. And with the current climate in the world certainly it's worth celebrating not having a war since 1602. Nic Robertson for us live there in Geneva, thanks very much.

A step forward for oppressed women in Saudi Arabia. For the first time, women have been able to vote. But how significant is this step, really? We'll have a report next.

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ALLEN: Local elections in Saudi Arabia take on an added meaning this weekend. Women have been allowed to cast ballots for the very first time. The move has been described as a step forward for equality in this male-dominated kingdom. But groups that watch developments in Saudi Arabia say it's a hollow victory.

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VANESSA TUCKER, VICE PRESIDENT FOR ANALYSIS, FREEDOM HOUSE: Unfortunately, it's much more of a symbolic victory, and I think it's quite unlikely that this will actually mean much in terms of real change for women in Saudi Arabia. Even if women in large numbers are elected to office, we're talking about a consultative council that's really only advisory in nature. And it's important to keep in mind the much broader political climate in Saudi Arabia, which is one of extreme political repression.

[03:15:16] Saudi Arabia is one of the top -- the worst scoring countries in freedom in the world, which is our annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, and that's in large part because its political life is almost completely non-existent.

I think it's possible that we'll see small steps forward, but given the nature of the bodies that these women would probably be elected to, they're not bodies that would have control over policy related to women in general. They're municipal councils that relate to things like roads, parks, civic issues. So, while those are important, it's not going to be an arena in which women can push for serious policy changes in regard to women in the country.

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ALLEN: Almost 1,000 female candidates ran in the election, but the campaigning was limited, because due to the country's strict rules, the women were barred from speaking to male voters to try to get their support.

Voting is now under way in France's regional run-off election. The polls opened about an hour ago, and we're waiting to see how Marie Le Pen and her anti-immigration national front party does. The far-right party had a surprisingly strong showing in last week's first round. Today's outcome could give Le Pen a launch pad for a presidential bid in 2017.

Well, U.S. voters about -- they're ready to start voting in the presidential election. The primary season kicks off in about seven weeks, and Republican Party officials are reportedly discussing the possibility of what is known as a brokered national convention next summer. Basically what that means, if no contender wins, a majority of delegates before the convention in these primaries, candidates will have to make their case for the nomination during the convention. That hasn't happened in decades. And Republican front-runner Donald Trump tells CNN's Jake Tapper, the possibility has him considering an independent bid for president.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you think about the idea of the brokered convention? When Dr. Ben Carson heard about it, he got very upset. He said it sounded like people in power, in the Republican establishment were trying to right the wheel of the voters.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, I watched what Ben said. I agreed with him 100 percent. I even wrote him a little note. I thought it was excellent. And frankly, he may be right. I haven't seen it yet. I've been hearing about it. I've been hearing about these closed door meetings. And I don't like that. That wasn't deal I made. I signed a pledge, but the pledge was a double deal. They were supposed to be honorable. So, we're going to find out. If it's that way, they're going to have problems. But I hope it's not going to be that way. I hope it's not going to be that way.

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ALLEN: Well, coming next here, it sounds like a real down beat story but has a good ending. Hundreds of abandoned dogs in Turkey are finding out they really are man's best friend. Those friends just happen to be on the other side of the planet. We've got the story next.

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[03:21:32] ALLEN: This is been a historic weekend with the climate deal in Paris and of course Derek often tells us a lot of what's going on in the climate is connected to extreme weather and we have some developing right now.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And here it is now. Typhoon Melor just -- was or east of the Philippines. This is locally known in the Philippines as Nona. And it intensified within the past couple of hours.

In fact, I'm going to show you here at home, Natalie. Take a look at this. It was 145 kilometers per hour sustained about two hours ago. And the joint typhoon warning center has upped that number to 165. So this storm continues to strengthen. There's a well defined eye in the satellite loop as well. And it's still a few hundred kilometers just offshore of the Philippines, but this path takes it directly into Southern Luzon. Remember this is an island of about 100 million people. But Luzon actually encompasses the largest population density.

Fortunately, it will be in a weakened phase as it reaches Manila. That would be until mid week, but nonetheless, the storm is still formidable and it will bring a significant amount of rainfall to this part of the world.

So let's try and time this out. If you happen to be watching from the Philippines, we expect landfall across the eastern sections of the Luzon region, that would be just south of the (inaudible) region, that would be late Monday and early Tuesday morning. Then we see the storm system slows down. Remember, there's -- this is mountainous terrain. So it's possible that it produces a significant amount of precipitation as it well, as it almost acts as a sponge. Look at the storm pushing up against the side of a mountain and it squeezes out all the available moisture and of course that's in the form of heavy rainfall.

Our computer models indicating anywhere from 300 millimeters to upwards of 500 millimeters, especially across those mountainous regions.

Now, another part of the world seeing extreme weather lately, well, this would be the southern part of the U.S. This is the U.S. State of Texas. They had two tornadoes on Thursday -- or I should say Saturday, rather. And they were significant. Take a look at the damage that was caused by these storms.

You can see there was, well, this is a funnel cloud reported from some people along the Willis, Texas, region but the result unfortunately when it ran into a populated area was this, Natalie. Not good, very scary for the residents there.

ALLEN: Hopefully that person got the video and made a right turn right there.

VAN DAM: I think they could. They must.

ALLEN: All right. Thanks, Derek. A woman in Istanbul has spent the last 12 years rescuing hundreds of dogs, specifically golden retrievers, unable to find homes and new owners. Luckily, there's a silver lining for some of the goldens.

Senior international correspondent Sara Sidner has our story.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's play time. First this raucous crowd greets each other in all manner of ways. Then, they turn to the humans.

All these dogs are here because of Yasemin Baban. All these dogs were once abandoned and unwanted on the streets of Istanbul. And you won't believe where they're about to end up.

YASEMIN BABAN, DOG RESCUER: Dogs has no chances. They cannot talk, they cannot beg, they don't steal.

They just want food and affection.

SIDNER: After seeing the conditions of a shelters 12 years ago in Turkey, she dedicated her life to saving domesticated animals.

[03:25:05[ BABAN: I left the shelter crying and I once again then cried and then I said, crying is not enough, someone has to do something. Then I started to volunteer in shelters.

SIDNER: She was soon warned of a disturbing trend. The reason you see so many Golden Retrievers here being rescued is because people in Turkey love the puppies, they're really popular. But once they get grown up they end up putting them out either on the streets or in the forest. And that's also why they're good natured, because these were people's pets at one time.

But their sweetness hurts their chances of survival in the streets of Istanbul where tens of thousands of hardcore stray street dogs lived.

AHMET, DOG RESCUER: We vaccinate them. We neuter or spay them. And I would put them a chip which is for their identification of the dog. And we issue their health certificates, their passports.

SIDNER: That's where the story turns in to a very long journey for these Goldens, from Istanbul, Turkey to Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It turns out Americans love their Golden Retrievers and Baban found just the place, Adopt a Golden Atlanta.

BABAN: Americans Golden rescues have lists of the people waiting to adopt dogs. And here we don't find anyone.

SIDNER: So far, Adopt a Golden Atlanta has taken in 123 Golden Retrievers from Istanbul, they call them Turkey dogs. With all the animosity building between east and west, this is one connection that has no bark or bite.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Istanbul.

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ALLEN: See, told you, had a good ending. Thanks for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Natalie Allen. Top stories are right after this.

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