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California School Shooting; El Paso Shooting Aftermath; New Israel Airstrikes in Gaza Amid Fragile Ceasefire; Bolivia Crisis; Public Impeachment Hearings. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 15, 2019 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Coming up here on "CNN Newsroom," in just 16 seconds, the lives of two teenagers cut short after yet another school shooting in the United States.

The state of a ceasefire now unclear after renewed attacks in Gaza by Israel, which it says were in response to rocket attacks.

And Hong Kong protesters are taking over roadways in the city's central district for fifth straight day. A live report later this hour.

And we begin, everyone, in California, where yet another American high school has been devastated by a deadly shooting. Police say the 16- year-old student opened fire, killing two of his classmates and wounding three others, before shooting himself in the head. He has survived so far but is in critical condition.

Investigators are now trying to determine a motive for the attack. CNN's Nick Watt is in Southern California with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was absolutely terrifying.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At least two students dead, others injured.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Active shooter at Saugus high school. All schools in vicinity are on lockdown.

WATT (voice-over): Around 7:30 a.m. at a high school about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, students were arriving, starting their days.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we heard the first gunshot, we thought it was not something serious, and then we heard two more.

KENT WEGENER, CAPTAIN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Detectives have reviewed the video at the scene which clearly showed the subject in the quad withdraw a handgun from his backpack, shoot and wound five people, and then shoot himself in the head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the gunshots, and we were just like, let's go, let's run. We had to go underneath the pipeline. We literally crawled underneath the pipeline.

WATT (voice-over): Six injured students were triaged then rushed to local hospitals. It turns out one of them was the shooter.

LARRY EVERHART, SANTA CLARITA RESIDENT: I saw all kinds of kids running up the street, you know, screaming, crying, and yelling. They were saying, oh, can we go in your house? I was like, I don't know. There must have been 20 of them who went in the house. I wanted to make sure they were safe.

WATT (voice-over): Students have prepared for this, trained for just such a terrifying active shooter situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard from our friends who are still stuck in school, they are hiding in closets. They are just trying to find anything that --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are scared to die and they are hiding in closets. It is very said.

WATT (voice-over): This mom had just dropped after her 16-year-old son when the gunfire started.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just panicked the whole entire morning until I heard from him again, and he said he was OK.

WATT (voice-over): The panic is over, the gunman no longer a threat to others.

WEGENER: The weapon that he used was recovered at the scene. It's a 45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, which had no more rounds in it, had no more bullets in it.

WATT (voice-over): But the grief remains, so too the fear for those injured and the shock. We all know these shootings happened, but when it happens in your community --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You won't let go of your daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I was scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very scary. We ran. We heard the one shot and then four after. And we just started running. And all I heard was these kids running and just screaming and calling their parents. And it was very sad.

WATT (on camera): Authorities are still trying to figure out if there was any ideology, any real motive behind this. They are combing through the shooter's social media and have also already questioned his mother and his girlfriend. Nick Watt, CNN, Santa Clarita, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And CNN law enforcement analyst Josh Campbell joins me now to talk about this. Josh, police got there within two minutes. I mean, you can't do much better than that. But two dead, three wounded, the whole incident took 16 seconds. I mean, it all just speaks to how soft to target a school is, and how to stop this thing?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely. That is a quick response by law enforcement, talking about less than two minutes. This was in a suburban location, north of the city of Los Angeles. But, as you mentioned, even though law enforcement arrived quickly, they were not able to prevent the carnage that then ensued.

And also, you look at the school. I mean, this is a spread-out campus, multiple buildings. A Herculean task was underway for law enforcement officers the moment that they arrived. And, again, although they did arrive quickly, we do know that there were two that were dead and then obviously injuries as well.

[02:05:04]

HOLMES: You know, we always hear the thoughts and prayers and often the claims of mental illness being the problem even though it is no more of a problem in the U.S., anywhere else (ph). Is it not the fact that is it about the availability of weapons in this country and the gun culture in general that makes situations like this almost impossible to prevent? We will be having this conversation again soon enough.

CAMPBELL: That's right. I mean, that is my professional judgment. When you talk about access to weapons that can kill and those types of weapons in the hands of violent people, it is a recipe for carnage. We continue to see it time and again. And it seems as though in the aftermath of these incidents that, you know, it becomes very political very quickly, and you have people saying, well, it is too soon to talk policy.

But, you know, how many of these incidents that you and I am have been talking about in the aftermath as police officers are standing over the bodies of innocent American citizens at the hand of a gunman? And again, the true line there is access to weapons of war.

HOLMES: Yeah. You know, I was reading in The Washington Post, 230,000 students have experienced gun violence at some level at schools since Columbine in 1999. That is just a stunning number. Where is the political will for change? I, mean, Republicans, including the attorney general, they blame Democrats for no movement on gun reform.

But the thing is Democrats have passed bills in the House that gotten nowhere in the republican-controlled Senate. What about the will? You have 90 percent of people in this country who want to expand the background checks.

CAMPBELL: Exactly. And it seems to be -- I mean there is obviously a very powerful gun lobby in the United States. There is this argument that perhaps this is a slippery slope. That if they agree to any type of reform, that that is going to then lead to weapons being confiscated by the government, which I think is obviously a very political argument.

There are people on both sides of the aisle who believe that, you know, lawmakers can come together and pass some type of reform that does not lead to these full-on restrictions. But again, the unique nature of United States where you have a Second Amendment of U.S. Constitution and the right to keep and bear arms, it remains a very politically heated issue, and any type of reform is seen by many as infringing upon that right.

But again, as we talk about access and things like that, especially as it relates to mental illness and background checks and things that can be done in advance, I don't buy the slippery slope argument because there are certain reforms that I think most sides can come together. But we just don't see that kind of political will and that leads to you and I talking about these incidents and the country seemingly moves on until the next one.

HOLMES: Absolutely. I mean it is infuriating, really, that we keep having these conversations. When it comes to law enforcement side of things, your expertise, in situations like this, what happens after the shooter is arrested or killed or in this case wounded? What does law enforcement do? Preservation of evidence, obviously social media warning signs?

CAMPBELL: That's right. There are different phases of the investigation. Initially, the emergent phase, law enforcement officers want to stop any ongoing threat to loss of life, and that was obviously done very quickly. We know that the shooter turned the weapon on himself. That then led to the second phase of the investigation where authorities want to determine what was motivating this person.

Now, he has been listed currently in hospital in grave condition, so we don't believe that he is in a position now where law enforcement officers can interview him. And so they will have to look outward, really circle the target, as we say, talk to his associates. We know that they were preparing search warrants on residents associated with him. They are going to want to talk to anyone who knew him again to try to get in the mindset.

The one thing we don't yet know, as you and I say or talking right now, is whether he showed up at the school trying to target a specific person or whether his goal was just to kill indiscriminately. That we don't yet know, but we expect that will be part of the investigation.

Authorities will be talking to witnesses that were there to try to figure out if he did utter anything before the event. But again, it is a very sophisticated level of depravity here. We know that the subject had a 45- caliber semiautomatic pistol. The weapon was found empty. He expended every single round in that pistol, saving the last round for himself.

HOLMES: Josh, thank you for that. Josh Campbell, thanks.

CAMPBELL: My pleasure.

HOLMES: A Walmart in El Paso, Texas is reopening nearly four months after a gunman killed 22 people at the super center. You may remember this incident. A banner reading, "El Paso Strong" was draped over the building on Thursday morning as customers feel the store.

The Walmart is now equipped with added security cameras and automated security gates at the entrances. A memorial for the victims is expected to be completed in the coming week.

To the Middle East, a fragile ceasefire in Gaza is coming under pressure. The Israel defense forces say it has launched fresh strikes in response to rocket attacks, targeting what it calls Islamic Jihad terror targets in Gaza.

[02:10:03]

HOLMES: Now, on Thursday, a truce appeared to have been restored after more than 48 hours of cross border fighting. CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now live from Jerusalem. Oren, can we still call it a ceasefire?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point, it looks like the answer to that question is yes, this is still a ceasefire, although one of the most fragile ceasefires, if not the most fragile, that we have seen after these almost repetitive 24-48 hours of an eruption of fighting over the course of the last year and a half or so.

There have been violations. There now have been four rounds of rocket fire and Israel has responded to the last one of those with airstrikes. And yet, the indication is that both sides, that is Israel and Gaza, crucially Hamas, want the ceasefire to hold.

We just got another strong indication of that because the great march of return as it is called, the series of protests along the Gaza border has been cancelled today, an indication that those in Gaza, the organizers of the march, and perhaps even Hamas do not want to raise the tension any higher than it already is.

So, Michael, even if it is a fragile ceasefire, it looks like, at least for now, it is holding and that both sides want to stay that way.

HOLMES: Yeah. Oren, speak a little bit more about the role of Hamas in all of this. It is trying to stay out of this in a way. What pressure can it exert on Islamic Jihad? Does it want to? Will Islamic Jihad listen if they did?

LIEBERMANN: The inter-factional sort of politics and friction between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is one of the key aspects, and what we are really looking at in the sort of behind the scenes story of what happened here. Hamas did not get involved in this round of fighting. Israel was very careful, almost went to great pains to point out that it was Islamic Jihad that fired most if not all of the rockets in the last few days and it was Islamic Jihad targets that these the Israeli military was hitting.

Hamas, it seems, and it seems Israel believes this as well, wants ceasefire and perhaps wants a long term arrangement with Israel. Islamic Jihad has made it clear that it is a more radical organization and does not want to see that.

But at this point, Islamic Jihad has agreed to the ceasefire. So even if the long term goal here is a ceasefire that is one that Hamas wants much more clearly, the Islamic Jihad and that friction there between the two most powerful factions in Gaza is something we need to watch.

As for the key question of, who it is that launched these four separate rounds of rocket fire, it is a difficult one to answer no. Probably not Hamas because they have not gotten involved, probably not Islamic Jihad, at least from the leadership level because they agreed to the ceasefire, which means there are smaller factions in Gaza organizations and perhaps some splinter or rogue organizations within Islamic Jihad itself that oppose the ceasefire.

Is that enough to disrupt it? We will see in the next few days. Is that enough to spark some inter-factional fighting within Gaza itself? That question may well be yes right now.

HOLMES: Oren Liebermann, covering it all for us there from Jerusalem. Thanks, Oren.

The United Nations is sending an envoy to Bolivia amid renewed clashes as the country's interim leader says former President Evo Morales will not be allowed to run in the next election. Jeanine Anez spoke after more than three weeks of street clashes that left at least 10 people dead. She said it would be illegal for Morales to run for a fourth consecutive term.

Morales resigned and fled to Mexico following protests over disputed election results. The senate leader who has claimed the interim presidency told Morales's political party on Thursday to look elsewhere.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANINE ANEZ, INTERIM BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I would suggest to the movement for socialism party, from now on, they have every right to participate in the general elections. But they need to start looking for a candidate. Evo Morales is not qualified for a fourth term. That's why there have been so many protests on the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. We will take a short break. When we come back, more witnesses to testify on Friday in the U.S. impeachment inquiry. Ahead, what to expect from those hearings and a look at the bombshell revelations from Wednesday's testimony.

Also, protests in Hong Kong expand a day after an elderly man dies after he is hit in the head with a brick. We are live in Hong Kong as chaos clogs parts of the city.

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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: A quiet weather pattern for much of the United States although there is a disturbance that is starting to form over the south-eastern portions of the country. That will bring a lot of rainfall to places like Georgia, Florida, as well as the Carolinas. It will intensify just off the southeast coast of the U.S.

So, a lot of wind associated with this system, especially along the coastal regions of the states that I just mentioned. Otherwise, it is mostly sunny skies across New England, the central U.S., through the Great Lakes, and across the southwest. We do have a cold front that will bring some showery activity across the Pacific Northwest.

There is the rainfall across the Atlanta region, to Jacksonville, Charleston, as well as Charlotte and Raleigh, even as far south as Miami. So, plan on a wet forecast if you're traveling to those locations. Some of the rainfall totals could exceed 100 millimeters over the next five days. You can see chances of snowfall across northern New England and to the Great Lakes as we head into early parts of next week.

Eight degrees and rainy for Atlanta, three for Chicago, the big apple at about 11 degrees but dry conditions for you. Several opportunities of winter-like temperatures though over the next seven days. You can see the cool temperatures overspreading the Great Lakes region. You can see that with our four-day forecast for the major east coast cities. And as we travel little further to the south, this is where the warmth is located. Look at the Bahamas, upper twenties and sunshine.

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HOLMES: Welcome back. Another round of public hearings in the U.S. impeachment inquiry gets underway in the coming hours. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch will take center stage. Republicans planning to highlight her lack of first-hand knowledge of President Trump's interest in Ukraine. They used a similar strategy in Wednesday's public hearings as Sara Murray now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raise your right hand.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By Republicans' accounts, the first impeachment hearing delivered little more than hearsay, while Democrats insist it was damning.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I am saying that what the president has admitted to and says it's perfect -- I said it's perfectly wrong. It's bribery.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): With all of that, we found out nothing new.

MURRAY (voice-over): Both sides are gearing up for another public hearing on Friday as they tussle over the gravity of the revelations from Wednesday's testimony.

Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, revealed in his testimony that just a day after President Trump spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Zelensky, Trump was already pressing the U.S. ambassador for updates on the investigations. Trump had asked Ukraine to launch into his political rival Joe Biden and the 2016 elections.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): So your staff overhears the president asking about the investigations, meaning Burisma and the Bidens in 2016. And Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: He did.

SCHIFF: And I think you said that after the call when your staff asked Ambassador Sondland what President Trump thought of Ukraine, his response was that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, is that right?

TAYLOR: And Burisma, yes, sir.

SCHIFF: And I take that the import of that is he cares more about that than he does about Ukraine?

TAYLOR: Yes, sir.

MURRAY (voice-over): Republicans have dismissed the account as little more than second-hand information.

[02:20:02]

MCCARTHY: What we did hear from the witnesses was that they had never spoken to President Trump, had not met with the chief of staff, their understanding which is the foundation of the case for the Democrats was based on second-hand information.

PELOSI: On the one hand, they say that it is second hand. On the other hand, it struck all of the people who they would consider to have first-hand knowledge from testifying obstruction of Congress, obstruction of justice.

MURRAY (voice-over): The "it's all just hearsay claim" could soon reach its expiration date. On Friday, the Taylor aide who heard the call will give a private deposition. Next week, lawmakers are set to learn more first-hand when the U.S. ambassador to the E.U., Gordon Sondland, testifies publicly. Democrats are already calling for Sondland to do some cleanup after his private testimony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he misled the committee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He certainly had gaps in either his memory or his testimony.

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): I think he shaves a lot of truth from his answers, and I think he's going to have to pay for it.

MURRAY (voice-over): But before Sondland, lawmakers and the public will first hear on Friday from former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who was recalled from her post early at the president's request.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't know her. But if you look at the transcripts, the president of Ukraine was not a fan of hers either.

MURRAY (voice-over): She is expected to tell lawmakers about the sneer campaign the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, waged against her, and the conspiracy theories he was spreading.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: CNN political analyst Nathan Gonzales joins me now from Washington. He is also the editor and publisher of Inside Elections. It is good to see you, Nathan. Let's talk about the vigils from all of this. Twitter -- you know, it was interesting reading Twitter today eviscerating some media outlets, suggesting there was not enough (INAUDIBLE) was the word and one thing to grab the public attention.

It is a pretty shallow view of what was substantive testimony, but does speak to how the Democrats need to win the public over.

NATHAN GONZALES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Well, on one hand, I would agree that with these televised hearings, it is not just about the content and what the witnesses are saying, it is about the tone and the look of things. But I happen to disagree with the initial reports about how it did not capture the public's attention because candidly, we don't know yet.

I think it's going to take time for people to form their opinion and for us to get accurate survey data to analyze that opinion. And, you know, we've only finished day one of multiple days of testimony. And so I'm skeptical that we can draw any grand conclusions from just two witnesses on one day when we have a long road to go.

HOLMES: Yeah. It was disappointing reading some of the coverage saying that it was not entertaining enough. It is not meant to be entertainment. It is meant to be substantive procedure and a lot of it was. What do you make of the GOP talking points that seem to be falling one by one?

I mean, no quid pro quo, but others in the administration saying there was. And then Ukraine got the aid without the investigation being launch, but the aid was only unfrozen after Congress was told about the whistleblower complaint and it opened up an investigation. The talking points seem to be dropping. How do you see the GOP responds?

GONZALES: Yeah, the Republicans, the defenses have been shifting for the last few weeks even before we got this far. You know, on one hand, when you try to drill down beyond the process arguments which were kind of blown up because they are not secret anymore, it is all on television on seven different channels, you can watch it, but now there appears to be a difference between those Republicans who say, sure, the president may have done something inappropriate, but should not be impeached for it.

And then there are people such as the president himself or the White House who say it was a beautiful call and there was nothing wrong. To me, those are two very different things because when we go back to Bill Clinton in the 1990s toward the end of that process, Clinton finally apologized and said he was wrong.

And I think that that helped with some of the public sentiment, people in the middle. Now, in this case, voters -- Republicans already made up their mind and Democrats have already made up their mind, but just some of those nuances for people in the middle, I think, are important.

HOLMES: I'm wondering what you think about the recalled ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, testifying tomorrow. Democrats confidentially strike a blow at the GOP positions?

GONZALES: Yeah. You know, there are a lot of surprises. I mean, there was a little surprise in the first day with this new call that really did not surface previously. But because these witnesses have been deposed previously, I don't expect a lot of surprises and exchange. I'm not sure that it's going to change a lot of minds. But until we get through it, we are not going to know.

[02:24:59]

GONZALES: Then it comes back to that question of how does this look on TV? What are the sound bites coming out of it to the people who are not going to watch hours of testimony because they have a job or they are taking care of their kids? What are the sound bites coming out of it that they see later -- tomorrow night on TV?

HOLMES: That is a good point. Today, we had Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She used the word "bribery" and one imagines very deliberately so, a shift away from quid pro quo or at least a shift away from Latin (ph). I mean, bribery is a word that is in the Constitution. Did you think that's significant?

GONZALES: Well, as you said, there are no accidents when it comes to words that come out of Speaker Pelosi's mouth. She has been doing this a long time. She is very intentional and deliberate. And so I believe it is a shift in strategy.

Will it work? It could. I'm actually a little bit confused because even going to the quid pro quo, that -- when you look at federal law, just soliciting a foreign government to be involved in our elections is -- would be a crime. And so it didn't even take a quid pro. That is actually something that I think Republicans and the White House interjected into this, and that's almost a higher standard. But, clearly, the Democrats think that is a change in message needed to be made and they're going to make that shift for now, at least.

HOLMES: That's true. That's been successful (INAUDIBLE) by the Republicans, where is the quid pro, that does not have to be one. That's a very good point. Nathan Gonzales, thank you so much. It is always good to see you.

GONZALES: No problem. Thank you.

HOLMES: And CNN special coverage of the impeachment hearings begins at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time. That is 1:00 p.m. if you're in London. Be sure to tune in to CNN for extensive live coverage throughout the day.

Another short break. When we come back, protests in Hong Kong take another tragic turn, and Xi Jinping says China is determined to protect its "one country, two systems" policy. We are going to have a live report from Paula Hancocks on the escalating violence in Hong Kong.

Also, Venice has weathered Napoleon and the bubonic plague, but now the flooded city up against government bureaucracy. Why the current state of emergency didn't have to happen. We'll be right back.

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[02:30:41]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Time to update you on our top stories this hour. In California, at least two students were killed, three others wounded when a classmate opened fire at their high school.

Police say the 16-year-old suspect shot himself in the head. He is in critical condition in the hospital. Investigators still trying to determine the motive.

A ceasefire in Gaza coming under increasing pressure. Israel, says it launched fresh strikes against Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza in response to rocket attacks. Both sides calling a truce in the early hours of Thursday after two days of cross-border fighting.

The U.N. says it is deeply concerned about renewed clashes in Bolivia, so, it is sending an envoy. Meanwhile, the country's interim leader Jeanine Anez, says former President Evo Morales will not be able to return to run in the next election.

He resigned you may remember and fled to Mexico following protests over disputed election results.

Hong Kong Central District is at a virtual standstill. Anti- government protesters blocking roads causing major transportation delays. Police, say protesters with bows and arrows at a university are firing into the streets. These are live pictures coming to you from Hong Kong. All of these this coming a day after a 70-year-old man died after he was hit in the head with a brick during the unrest.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping, reiterating his support for the one country two systems' commitment but warned the violence is jeopardizing the territory's prosperity.

Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Hong Kong. Another day, another protest. Tell us where you are and what you're seeing.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, this is the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. And this has become one of the several strongholds that anti-government protesters have really dug into. And you can see that they put barricades up to make sure that the police can't get through as they say.

All the way through here, they have these bricks. They also, I'm going to step very carefully, have broken glass. They have little bits of plastic with nails sticking out of them to make sure that these cars could not get through here.

And you can see, this is all the way down to that roundabout there that they have done this, trying to protect this university, they say. Interestingly, on that corner, about 100 meters from where we are is a unit where the PLA is based. This is the Chinese military.

Now, on any given day, there are several thousand Chinese military that are based in Hong Kong, but interesting that, that is so close to what is happening here. And this is what we are seeing in a number of different universities around Hong Kong that some of the more radical, the more violent elements of this protest movement are digging.

In inside here is effectively a self-contained village. It is self- sustained, there is food, there is water, there is medical supplies, and they are also even managing to cook for each other.

There's volunteers coming here. There was one of the local businessmen came in his lunch hour to try and cook for some of these protesters. So, there is still some support for the protests within Hong Kong, but certainly, they are causing disruption. They have taken this particular university, they say because they wanted to make sure they could close the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, which is a crucial part of the transport infrastructure here. There's also a big subway and train terminus that they have shut down.

Now, police have said that they have decided to pull back from these universities and not do what they did Tuesday night which caused what we saw was one of the worst violent scenes that we have seen in five months.

They say that emotions are running very high and they are pulling back. But they are concerned about what they say is happening inside these universities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TSE CHUN-CHUNG, POLICE, HONG KONG: It's very sad to see the school has been used as a weapon factory and an arsenal with all kinds of offensive weapons like bows and arrows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, we've seen this firsthand. I mean, we've seen the petrol bombs, we've seen the bows and arrows, we've seen the catapults. And I asked one of the front liners, one of these more radical protesters who is on the bridge, and was on the lookout for the police. About what are you doing? This is escalating the violence, and police say that they're worried that this escalation on the protester's side will be more deadly. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police use real bullets to shoot -- to shoot us. And I don't think that our weapon is enough to defend ourselves, and I think this is OK.

HANCOCKS: How do you think this will end?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sad. You know I don't think that things settle in Hong Kong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, that's definitely a sense, Michael, that protestors here, the more radical and the more peaceful are dug in for the long haul.

HOLMES: All right, Paula, thanks so much. Paula Hancocks, on the scene for us there in Hong Kong.

All right, a big development in the fight against climate change. The influential European Investment Bank, says it will end financing for fossil fuel projects by 2022 as part of a new energy lending policy to tackle climate change.

This is a pretty big deal. The new focus will be on clean energy innovation. The policy unlocking 1 trillion euros for sustainable investment. Jess Phoenix, the co-founder of Blueprint Earth, says private companies are likely to follow suit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESS PHOENIX, DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER, BLUEPRINT EARTH: I see what will happen is some of the larger economies will realize that they're having to subsidize fossil fuels so heavily that they're not really getting the most effective return on their investment that they would be getting from investing in Greentech R&D.

And so, I think we're going to be seeing a shift particularly among private sector companies towards fostering innovation in the areas that are going to see us through the climate crisis.

So, I think it's going to be a lot more private innovation as well as some of the other big banks starting to follow suit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And we'll have our full interview with Jess Phoenix in the next hour. Do stick around for that.

Meanwhile, there is little relief in Venice, Italy where floodwaters are expected to reach what forecasters call the exceptional height of 1-1/2 meters in the coming hours. A state of emergency is actually in effect now.

Tuesday's high tide might never have reached the UNESCO World Heritage City and its treasures if a major engineering project had been ready on time. CNN's Tom Sater explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM SATER, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: In 1966, Venice experienced its worst flood in history when water levels reached 194 centimeters according to government statistics.

Italy then invested billions of dollars in a system of floodgates that were supposed to protect Venice from the disastrous flooding the city is experiencing right now. It's called MOSE, an Italian acronym for Experimental Electromechanical Module.

The flood protection system is a series of underwater barriers designed to safeguard the three inlets leading to Venice's lagoon during high tides. The system consists of a series of bright yellow gates that reach from one side of the inlet to the other. Set in a trench on the seafloor.

Each gate is built from reinforced steel that provides resistance from the pounding waves. When a tide higher than 110 centimeters is forecast, compressed air is pumped into the gates causing them to rise above the surface. When the high waters recede, the gates sink below the surface to their original position.

There are a total of 78 gates among the three inlets. Engineers are currently working on how to raise them simultaneously. The first testing is expected next year. Work began on the barrier project in 2003. It has been under construction for years.

An embarrassing corruption scandal, cost increases, and related delays have caused many setbacks. It is now scheduled to be an operation by 2022.

And as the climate crisis continues to cause sea levels to rise, the threat to the city is expected to worsen. Tom Sater, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Extraordinary. All right, we'll be back after a quick break. You're watching CNN, the world's news leader. We'll see you after the break.

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[02:41:16]

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS AFRICA: At the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, brilliant minds are monitoring dark skies and bright stars, looking for answers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the legend, this is where you see all the (INAUDIBLE). I can believe everything and just choose to see one.

GIOKOS: Here in the Northern Cape, a radio telescope called MeerKAT is bringing the sky online for astronomers near and far to use.

FERNANDO CAMILO, CHIEF SCIENTIST, SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY: South Africa's beautiful dark skies where you can really see the sky very well with your eyes. And, of course, it has radio- quiet spaces where we can build a radio telescope. South Africa was interested in bringing to the country a mega-science project. And so, MeerKAT was built in part to essentially show that South Africa is ready to host such a high-tech international project.

Radio astronomy is a relatively new science. Radio waves come from to us from galaxies stars across the universe. So, making images with a telescope like MeerKAT is very different than taking a photo with a camera or an ordinary telescope.

So, first, you collect radio signals that hit each of our 64 antennas separately. So that combination of having many, many dishes and also separated widely up to eight kilometers gives this unique capability to MeerKAT to make really, really high fidelity, sharp images.

GIOKOS: Scientists all over the world use this data to investigate mysteries of the galaxies.

CAMILO: So, the first major discovery that MeerKAT made, it was reported in the journal Nature. Is to discover these two big radio bubbles at the Milky Way Center (INAUDIBLE), in the center of the galaxy where there's a massive black hole.

People have been looking at the galactic center for decades with radio telescopes. But ours had some unique capabilities that allowed us to make this discovery that nobody have ever seen before.

South Africa has emerged as a real player in the world leagues, radio astronomy in just about 15 years. I mean, 15 years ago, there was something like half a dozen radio astronomers in South Africa. And now, one of the world's best radio telescopes is in South Africa.

GIOKOS: As MeerKAT continues to look into the past, the telescope is securing South Africa's astronomy status into the future as it expands into a larger project over the next decade. Eleni Giokos, for "INNOVATE AFRICA". (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. "WORLD SPORT" up next. I'll see you in about 15 minutes with more news.

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