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Trump To Kim, You Could Void Special Relationship With U.S.; FBI Says, Saudi Gunman's Motive Still Unknown; Russian And Ukrainian Presidents To Meet In Paris; U.S. House Judiciary Committee Readies for Next Hearing; Australian Bush Fires Rage On, Tropical Cyclone Headed for Madagascar. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 09, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

Coming up on CNN Newsroom, a special relationship on the rocks, the U.S. president issues a warning to North Korea after it confirms a, quote, very important test at a rocket launch site. New details about the deadly shooting on a Florida naval base plus peace tops the agenda at a high stakes meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.

And we begin this hour with a warning from the United States to North Korea. President Donald Trump tells North Korean leader Kim Jong-un he risks losing everything, a day after North Korea said it carried out a successful test at a missile site.

Mr. Trump tweeted, Kim Jong-un is too smart and has far too much to lose everything, actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong denuclearization agreement with me in Singapore. He does not want to void his special relationship with the president of the United States.

Paula Hancocks has been following all this from Seoul, South Korea and joins me now. I mean, I want to get through especially given the politics, but let's go through the nuts and bolts of this first. What do we know about this test?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, at this point, we don't know exactly what was tested because the North Koreans have not officially announced it. We are expecting that though within coming hours if the precedence of these kinds of tests is anything to go by. But they did say that it was a very important test. They said it was very successful. It was changing the strategic position of North Korea in the near future.

And what CNN learned from satellite images provided to us just last week was that there appeared to be at this Sohae launch station a preparation for a rocket engine test. So this is potentially what many experts are looking at now, that this is what it could have been, an engine that could be used to power a satellite launcher or an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile, which potentially could hit mainland United States. Now, those are the missiles that the United States is more concerned about for obvious reasons.

But we have seen in recent months that President Trump is willing to overlook these shorter range missile launches and tests from North Korea. So, certainly, given the fact that North Korea has warned there could be a Christmas present for the United States if they don't change their attitude and change their path and their ideas in how to deal with North Korea and also, of course, this yearend deadline that North Korea has imposed.

So the question is this could be a precursor to something else, and it's what the speculation among experts is focusing on what comes next.

NEWTON: The U.S. envoy is headed to the region, I believe, this week, Paula, if I'm correct about that. And the issue here is how far is North Korea willing to go in terms of -- or even looking at the threat that the president has put in front of them, right, because you and I have talked about this before. This is attention-getting, attention- seeking in a certain way. It certainly seems to work.

But are they looking for a wholesale change in their posture right now? And they kind of hinted as much. I'm not sure what it was when their ambassador to the U.N. indicated that denuclearization was off the table.

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. It's just this weekend that Kim Sung, the ambassador, said it's off the table. He said that North Korea is not looking for any discussions or any talks with the United States. Just a couple months ago, there were working level talks between the U.S. and North Korea in Sweden, they ended. The U.S. said some progress was made, North Korea said nothing was achieved and they had walked away. So -- and it was only, really, about six months ago when the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea met, that surprised meeting at the DMZ, between North and South Korea.

So it goes back to this yearend deadline. North Korea has made it very clear from quite early on during this year that if the U.S. wasn't going to change its attitude and find a new way of dealing with North Korea, which, if you read between the lines, means potentially lifting some of these sanctions that North Korea wants to be eased, then they were going to choose another path.

Now, there hasn't been an ICBM test since November 2017. North Korea has pointed this out time and time again saying that they're not carrying out nuclear tests. They see this as a great concession. But they don't believe that there have been concessions coming from the other way from the United States.

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They don't believe that the U.S. has kept their side of the bargain. So this is why we're now seeing this crunch time, really, when we could see things change considerably in the New Year, potentially even going back a couple of years to something a little more familiar in this region, which is the continual testing from North Korea and, of course, this rhetoric becoming more bellicose.

NEWTON: Yes. It is certainly a cycle that we have been used to in the last few years. Paula Hancocks, you're going to continue to follow the story for us in the upcoming hours. I appreciate it.

Now, just hours ago, 50 people were on White Island in New Zealand but when a volcano erupted. Police say some of them have now been brought to shore while others though remain on the island and unfortunately are unaccounted for.

Now, one person is critically injured. New Zealand government believes the group of people are tourists. A no-fly zone has been set up around the island to allow rescue crews to help those who have not yet been evacuated.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince has reportedly spoken with the U.S. president about the deadly naval base shooting in Florida. Now, according to state media, he reiterated that the kingdom will cooperate with the investigation and he expressed his condolences for the victims' families.

On Sunday, the three sailors killed in that attack were honored with this procession that you see right there. Earlier, the White House national security adviser said the shooting appears to be a terrorist attack, his words. But the FBI is still trying to determine why the gunman, a Saudi Air Force officer, opened fire.

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RACHEL ROJAS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: While there are many reports circulating regarding the shooter's motivation and his alleged activities leading to his attack, I can tell you that we are looking very hard at uncovering his motive. And I would ask for patience so we can get this right.

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NEWTON: now, the FBI also says the shooter bought is handgun legally. A law enforcement officer says another Saudi national, in fact, filmed the aftermath of the scene, but they believe that that person was a bystander and not involved.

Now, for more, CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer bob joins me now live from California.

Bob, I appreciate seeing especially on this story, which unfortunately since we've learned about it is just raising a heck of a lot more questions than precious answers.

Okay. So now we seem to have it on the record that they are treating this as a terrorism attack but the Trump administration still seems reflexively to try to be treating this like it's an isolated incident and no more. I mean, is there a danger in that or do you think that is a reasonable assumption at this point? BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, right now, it doesn't look very good that the president is defending Saudi Arabia at this point. The only people that can actually vet these people sent to the United States for military training is Saudi Arabia. It's certainly looks like terrorism at this point.

Saudis are very unlikely to get into random personal attacks on people with armed weapons. There are some stuff on the internet to suggest that Alshamrani was involved with Al-Qaeda, which this may turn out to be right. But right now, the president should be consulting the families and not Saudi Arabia.

NEWTON: Yes. It was interesting that even in his comment from the other day, the president pointed out that, you know, the kingdom would be trying to help the families. And, again, that would come as comfort at this point, especially when it doesn't seem that Saudi Arabia knows what this military trainee was up to.

And that brings me to my next question. Okay, they're promising absolute cooperation. With all your experience about Saudi Arabia, what does that actually mean? I mean, to what end? As you just pointed out, they were in charge of scrutinizing these people. And given the history with 9/11, you'd think that they would look at this and try and identify key risks of a larger problem that they have, which is radicalization.

BAER: Well, there're two things. One is they have never completely cooperated on 9/11. We do not know how the 15 Saudis ended up recruited and sent into the United States. Did it occur within the mosque? Did it occur within the tribe? We don't know. They did not cooperate. There were no arrests in Saudi Arabia. And the witnesses that did go back to Saudi Arabia were not properly questioned. The FBI didn't have complete access to them. Saudi Arabia (INAUDIBLE) and the security services are still penetrated by Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State's sympathizers.

The stories are anecdotal but we are not allowed to look inside the Saudi system. We simply don't know what's going on. So for one or two of these people to slip through and end up Pensacola and murder American servicemen, it doesn't really surprise me.

NEWTON: And given that, what do you think the Trump administration response should be there? Because, obviously there are other people in the national security apparatus right now that obviously are looking for answers.

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BAER: You simply cut off training. When you can clean up your house, when you give us good answers, when we get full cooperation, you can send your servicemen here to get training. Until then, you just cut it off. It's that simple. But they are not cooperating, they have not since 9/11. And right now, there is no indication that they are about to. NEWTON: Yes. And there's certainly no indication that the Trump administration is about to cut off any of that training. Bob Baer, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.

Now, the U.S. military also held a solemn transfer ceremony for the three slain sailors just a few hours ago. They're remains were at Dover Air Force Base in the State of Delaware. CNN Brynn Gingras has more on the fallen servicemen.

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SHELIA WATSON, MOTHER OF SLAIN SAILOR: He actually put that angel arms where he got to play with his niece and nephew and be with us.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN : Ensign Joshua Waton's parents saw their son for the last time just over a week ago when he went home to Alabama for a Thanksgiving break. It would be his final holiday with his family.

BENJAMIN WATSON, FATHER OF SLAIN SAILOR: He and I are both big (INAUDIBLE) fans. We watched the game in Saturday together. So we have got that.

GINGRAS: After graduating from the United States Naval Academy, Watson wanted to become a military pilot. He began flight school at Pensacola less than a month ago.

JOSHUA WATSON, U.S. NAVY SAILOR: Get to a flight school and maybe go fly a jet. That will be pretty cool.

GINGRAS: In a January interview posted on the Navy Athletics' YouTube channel, Watson said he was looking forward to training at the naval air station in Florida.

B. WATSON: He was chasing his dream to serve his country and be a pilot.

GINGRAS: But his dreams were cut short Friday when a Saudi military officer opened fire at a classroom building. U.S. Navy officials say Watson was one of three young sailors who ran towards the gunman as he advanced. All three were killed. But their actions save lives. At 23 years old he, Watson was the oldest sailor to lose his life.

Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham was only 19 years old. His father tells CNN Haitham was an all-star athlete and describes him as very kind and fun to be around. His high school principal echoed that sentiment.

ERIN SAVAGE, LAKEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: He was a perfect Kid. Students and staff loved him. A beautiful smile and always just wanted -- cared about other people and wanted to know how everybody was doing on campus.

GINGRAS: 21-year-old Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters also lost his life Friday, originally from Georgia. Loved ones in Walter's hometown are grieving. A statement on the city's official Facebook page reads, quote, we ask our community to come together for Cameron's family to mourn and remember him and to pay tribute to his sacrifice. We will forever be grateful for his courage and heroism.

Brynn Gingras, CNN, Pensacola.

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NEWTON: Okay. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart will be meeting in Paris. We'll tell you what's at stake as they discuss the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. That's next.

Plus, another impeachment hearing in Washington is just hours away. Coming up, why the chairman of the Judiciary Committee says he feels confident in the Democrat's case.

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NEWTON: In just a few hours, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold their first face-to- face meeting. The stakes could not be higher as they are expected to try and hash out an agreement to finally end a five-year conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Now, the fighting began in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, and then backed pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region. And since then, about 13,000 people have been killed in this conflict.

Matthew Chance joins us now live from Moscow.

When we talk about a hot war, that's what we mean, there are still people losing their lives on the ground there, I can't believe that it's five years ago and that they've had the framework of a peace agreement in place for four years now. So they are both going to be there in Paris. What are the odds of what can be hashed out in this meeting and the odds of it going well?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I mean, it's the first time that these two figures, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, have met face-to-face. They've had a phone call in the past but they've never sat across the table in this way. So they're going to be able to sort of gauge each other's resolution when it comes to this issue.

But it is -- I mean, the stakes are so high. Everybody is holding out hope that this is going to be the end of the conflict. But there are hopes that some progress can be made. I mean, what Ukrainians want is they want obviously this war to end.

Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in May on a platform with bringing the conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country to an end, also Ukrainian prisoners that are held in those areas and by Russia to be released. There are approximately hundred Ukrainians according to the Ukrainian government that are still in Russian hands or in Russian-backed separatists' hands. And they want to sort of return to the kind of -- some kind of trade normalization to bolster their flagging economy, possibly a gas transit deal that is so important, gas coming from Russia transiting Ukraine into Western Europe.

I mean, what the Russians want is something slightly different. I mean, they want to make sure that the Minsk accords, which is the 13- point peace plan that's already been signed by both the Ukrainians and the Russians to be implemented. And that was agreed. You mentioned back in 2015, I think, they were first actually agreed. And so the Russians are pushing for those Minsk accords to be implemented.

One of the problems with that peace accord is the sequencing. I mean, the peace accords call for the border between Russia and Ukraine is currently in rebel hands to be handled back to the Ukrainian state. They call for elections to be held in those breakaway regions and for a significant amount of autonomy to be put in place there.

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And they call for the Holic Region to be disarmed, for heavy weapons to be taken out of it.

The problem has always been what order should that take place. Should the weapons be withdrawn first then elections held or should it be the other way around? I mean, there is a solution. It's called the Steinmeier Formula. And the Ukrainian leader has recently signed up to that, which says that there should be these elections first, and they're free and fair (ph), and then the borders will be handed back. But the very fact that he said he was going to sign up for that has been met with widespread protests in Ukraine. There's a lot of domestic opposition to it. He's been accused of capitulation to the Russians.

And so he's going to have to walk a very fine line when he meets Vladimir Putin to make sure that he moves towards a resolution with the conflict but without giving too much away.

NEWTON: Yes. Well, you certainly sketched out what's at stake there and I know you will continue to follow this in the next few hours. And as you point out, whatever is decided in Paris, if anything is decided, a lot more complicated to get it done in the months to come.

Matthew Chance for us in Moscow, I appreciate it.

Jill Dougherty is a CNN Contributor and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center. She joins me now from Washington.

Jill, a lot on the line to say the least. I mean, look, it's been four years since the broad outlines of what should have been a peace agreement where there and yet it's taking this long to get to the table. What do you think success looks like with this kind of a meeting?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think a lot of the expectations are pretty limited. They'd have to be. Because, after all, as you pointed out, it's taken a long time. Finally, they are meeting but President Zelensky is under enormous pressure. He's not only meeting with President Putin, who is a much more experienced politician, there is no question, so that's number one. How will he stack up against Putin or with Putin?

The second thing would be his own people. There is a lot of the -- there have been protests several days. People are very angry. Will Zelensky give into Putin? Will he give up the store? Is he too weak? Can he do it? And then, finally, you have probably the last thing that President Zelensky wanted, which is to be embroiled in this impeachment controversy here in the United States. So it's very, very difficult and realistically maybe just the fact that Putin and Zelensky are meeting and that they're discussing and that there's some sort of movement. It might be what could be exciting (ph).

NEWTON: Yes. I mean, a Hollywood script that had half of these plotlines would have looked unrealistic and yet here we are. And, again, it's a man who is new to the job and someone who doesn't have any experience in politics.

You and I both know how deeply steeped in history this conflict is. When we talk about what's going on there on the ground, do you think Russia has kind of already won in terms of this being a war of attrition and what they hope to get out of this?

DOUGHERTY: Not necessarily. I mean, you know, that region is so -- we are talking about the Southeast Donbas. It really is pretty much under the control of these illegal formations, you know, under the influence of Russia.

But the main part of Ukraine, there has been some type of unity. I mean, if you look at the original poll numbers for Zelensky, and that's what we are looking at right now, Zelensky, he had very high ratings when he was elected.

I was looking at some just back in September, in fact, he was at 73 percent. And right now, he has fallen down to 52 because people are very, very worried. So, oddly enough, they support him overall to meet with Putin but they are nervous.

So, yes, the Russians control many areas in the east but Ukraine itself is relatively united right now. How long that can go, how deep that is is another question.

NEWTON: Yes. It will be interesting to see exactly, as you said, even with expectations are low, what the first etchings of a deal might look like even if they can't follow through this meeting.

Jill, if you will, given all your experience with Russia, I really want to take it from Putin's focus now as well. I mean, he's really had a moment on the international stage last year, you know better than anyone what true negotiators they are. What do you think he is looking for out of this?

DOUGHERTY: I think that there is a broader picture you can get into the weeds on the Ukraine part of it and Zelensky, and that's a really, really important. But I think Putin probably is looking at how he comes across to the west. Right now, he is looking like a reasonable person who is going to this meeting who wants peace, wants some type of negotiation, that's what he has been talking about, and that will win some points, it could, at least in Europe, not sure here in the United States, but then you have Donald Trump who is quite complimentary of President Putin a lot of the time.

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So I think it's that value of looking like a peacemaker, which is one of the rules that Vladimir Putin plays and wants to play quite well.

NEWTON: Yes. And he certainly relished that role in Syria. To what end still, we don't know how that's going to play out. But, certainly, I have to ask you, in terms of the Russian public itself, and you and I both know how oppressed they are in certain terms, in terms of showing any opposition, but Russians will be looking closely as well, and do you think this could be even a slight crack in the door in trying to get some of those sanctions removed if this goes well for Putin?

DOUGHERTY: Well that would be the ideal thing for President Putin. I think that it's very far in the distance. But, of course, the Russian strategy, President Putin's strategy has been to divide the United States and Europe. Europe has more financial economic interests and Russia has more to lose. And so it could be persuaded more to end sanctions so far that's holding.

But I would say that there is a little bit of exhaustion about sanctions because they haven't really worked in the way that perhaps the west wanted them to work. They worked to a certain degree but they haven't solved the problem. President Putin, Russia still has Crimea, Russia still has these illegal formations in the eastern part of the country.

but I think you can't -- you have to look at Putin in terms of both his domestic situation. This will play well in Russia. Because Russia is really -- they are so united, many people have relatives, they want this war to end. 30,000 people died.

So it will play well in Russia, it could play well in Europe and it does make Putin look like a person who is driving for peace. We'll have to see how Zelensky looks, because the stakes for him are enormous.

NEWTON: Yes, especially given Ukraine being in the news so much recently with the impeachment. Jill, thanks so much for parsing this with us. I appreciate it.

Okay. And as another impeachment hearing nears here in the U.S., Democrats have been preparing what they are calling a solid case against the president, what to expect, that's up next.

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[00:30:00] PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And welcome back. I'm Paula Newton. Want to update you now on our top news stories this hour.

U.S. President Donald Trump is warning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un he could lose their, quote, "special relationship." This comes a day after North Korea claimed it successfully conducted an important test at a missile site.

Mr. Trump also tweeted Kim Jong-un is, quote, "too smart and has far too much to lose if he acts in a hostile way."

It's believed that around 50 people were on White Island in New Zealand when a volcano erupted. About 20 people have been rescued and are said to be tourists from the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship, operated by Royal Caribbean, while others remaining of the island are unaccounted for. One person is critically injured.

U.S. investigators are analyzing videos that captured the aftermath of the Florida Naval Base shooting. A law enforcement official says one Saudi national filmed the scene. They believe that person was a bystander.

Now, we're also learning that the shooter, a Saudi Air Force officer, was -- had bought his, in fact, his handgun legally before killing three U.S. sailors. The White House national security adviser says it appears to be a terrorist attack.

OK, in the coming hours, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will hold another crucial hearing in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Sources tell CNN the hearing will showcase a pattern of behavior that shows Mr. Trump's impeachable conduct.

Democrats have spent the weekend holding mock hearings in preparation, saying things will play out like a real trial.

On Sunday, committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said he feels confident in the Democrats as they move closer to drafting articles of impeachment. Speaking with CNN, Nadler described their case as solid.

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REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): We have a very rock-solid case. I think the case we have, if presented to a jury, would be a guilty verdict in about three minutes flat.

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NEWTON: Now, a reminder that the White House is refusing to participate in these proceedings.

Joining me now is Larry Sabato. He's the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and the author of "The Kennedy Half Century."

All right, Larry, we all have to take a deep in-take of breath here. This impeachment steamroller keeps going through Congress. They might even, they say, have a vote by Friday, if we can believe that.

I want to talk to you, though, about how it's gone over with voters, because it's interesting that the beginning of this process, we were talking about whether not these hearings would flip Republicans, and now we're talking about whether or not Nancy Pelosi can keep the Democrats on side in this vote.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Yes, and my guess is that, while these hearings have been very interesting -- I think people who have paid attention have learned a great deal -- public opinion has barely moved.

Now, the good news for Democrats is that about a narrow majority, maybe 50 percent of the public, does in fact, want Trump impeached and even removed, with 43 percent or so of the public not wanting that to happen. The bad news for Democrats is that these are very much the same numbers we started out with. In other words, it's all a function of how people look at Trump and whether they approve of his job performance or not.

NEWTON: And do you buy the argument that some people say that, OK, you may not believe that this follows, in terms of being something that is impeachable, but at the end of the day, the constitutional guardrails have to be there, and that's why the Democrats claim he has to be impeached.

SABATO: I think, primarily, that's the motivation. Obviously, with so many members of Congress potentially voting for impeachment, it's tough to summarize all the motivations. But I think for the leadership, for Nancy Pelosi, for example, all things considered, she might have preferred to skip impeachment. She certainly was leaning against it for a long time.

But the evidence in this particular case, the phone call with the president of Ukraine, was so stark and so offensive to Democrats that she felt she had to move forward.

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NEWTON: And getting to that point about what's included in this and what isn't, I want you to listen to Adam Schiff, who's now talking about whether or not any evidence from the Russia inquiry, the Mueller report, should be included in the articles of impeachment. Take a listen.

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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): As a former prosecutor, it's always been, you know, my strategy in a charging decision, and an impeachment of the House is essentially a charging decision, to charge those that there is the strongest and most overwhelming evidence, and not try to charge everything, even though you could charge other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, that's definitely pointing to the fact that they're not going to include any of that. They're going to try and have a more narrow focus.

I want to ask you, do you think this is the way they're going to lose the American public, if they start to muddy the waters even more?

SABATO: I think that Chairman Schiff, along with Speaker Pelosi, is absolutely right to try and focus the impeachment on a couple of things that a distracted public can understand.

Can they use evidence collected by Bob Mueller in the Mueller report? Of course they can. But what's important to me is that this is not a doctoral dissertation.

NEWTON: Right.

SABATO: You're not exhaustively serving the literature and trying to produce every possible argument in favor of your thesis. You're simply trying to present the most compelling pieces for the public to judge and, of course, for the Congress and eventually the Senate to judge.

NEWTON: And the president is certainly talking about the I.G.'s report, which is supposed to be released any moment now. He says it will be good. It will, in some way, shape or prove -- say, shape or form, prove that the basis of the Russia inquiry, the Mueller investigation, was bogus.

It doesn't seem like, from the leaks that we've had, that that's actually the truth, but to what extent do you think that will provide cover for the Trump administration and the president himself, and another distraction from the impeachment inquiry?

SABATO: Well, if it actually says that, obviously, it will provide cover to the Trump administration and be an enormous distraction. I'll be shocked if it actually says that. You know, we've learned over these --

NEWTON: But just -- just to interrupt -- just to interrupt for a second, here's the thing. Whether it says that or not, look what William -- look what William Barr did with the Mueller report. He released that one page and made it seem as if, no, actually, we're good here; the president has been exonerated.

SABATO: Yes, and that has made him the boy that cried wolf. Because once we -- once we saw what the truth was about the Mueller investigation and what the Mueller report actually said, he lost face. And we go back to what he said, and it turned out it wasn't true. So that makes most of us even more skeptical of whatever he would say about this new report.

NEWTON: Another busy week ahead. Larry, thanks so much. Really appreciate your input here.

SABATO: Thank you, Paula.

NEWTON: OK. Of course, stay with us for special coverage of the Trump impeachment hearings by the House Judiciary Committee. That starts at 1 p.m. in London, 9 p.m. in Hong Kong right here on CNN.

OK. Bracing for impact. A tropical cyclone is heading for Madagascar, while dozens of bush fires continue to ravage Australia. Coming up, a look at if there's any relief in sight.

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NEWTON: In New Delhi, at least 43 people were killed when a fire broke out at a plastic factory on Sunday. An official told CNN the cause was a short circuit, and that workers sleeping inside were trapped behind a locked door. An eyewitness said there are no safety measures in the building, and this is not the first fire at that site.

Firefighters struggled to try and reach the factory in the city's old quarter, with its crowded and narrow lanes. It took them nearly three hours to put the fire out.

Australian firefighters are working to contain dozens of bush fires burning through New South Wales, before conditions are actually expected to worsen in the coming weeks.

Now, while the land down under burns, it's the sea that has Madagascar bracing for impact. A tropical cyclone could make a direct hit.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the latest conditions. And of course, when you're looking at these kinds of conditions, you're always hoping that the track is wrong. Right?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. It, unfortunately, is a little bit too close, Paula, as far as its proximity to land. And we're going to touch on exactly the severity of this particular storm, as it approaches. Certainly, a lot of rainfall is in store across that region.

I want to touch on, though, in an area that needs rainfall, of course, we've discussed what's been happening with the fires across Australia. Winds -- recently, winds have been coming off from the water. We've had some humidity levels increasing across the region. Unfortunately, they're going back downhill and as far north as the Gold Coast.

You notice 110 kilometers north of Sydney, smoke haze, and of course, the fire bands that are in place, widespread across portions of Australia; in particular going in towards Tuesday afternoon across this region with warm weather slated into the area at temps, potentially, back up into the lower thirties.

We have about 120 or so active fires, 40 of which remain very much -- very dangerous across the area. And you notice temps climbing up into the lower thirties. You see a dramatic drop going in towards Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, because a front is on the horizon. But fronts typically are accompanied with strong winds, and that's the concern for Tuesday afternoon. Winds potentially pushing up close to 40 kilometers per hour. So we know the firefighting activity are going to be very dangerous, very difficult for firefighters going into the next couple of days.

But take you out there towards areas around Madagascar, the Comoro Islands. You see some of the images coming out of this region. This is a Category-2-equivalent system in place there. Tropical Cyclone Belna sitting there just off the course of Madagascar. It is a menacing feature. Notice how much of an area of water it's encompassing here, with 165-kilometer-per-hour winds.

It is very close here at making landfall, but the progression is only nine kilometers per hour. So we think it will take at least another 24 hours, as it approaches, of course, the capital city of Antananarivo, and its metro population sits at around 3 million people. It is inland, so we're going to see rainfall be the predominant impact.

But those coastal communities to the north going to see the brunt of this particular storm system.

And historically speaking, across this particular region, this is among the wettest areas on our planet. A lot of people don't know. The most rainfall ever in any one location on earth in a one-week period was 5,400 millimeters not far away across this particular region of the Reunion Islands. And then even the most rainfall in one day, an incredible 1,800 millimeters, has fallen here in a one-day period from previous tropical cyclones.

So, Paula, this is a notorious area when it comes to flooding. Of course, very mountainous, as well. We're going to watch this carefully.

NEWTON: Yes. Can't even feature that amount of water. Pedram, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

And we are now going to update you on a story that just broke a short time ago. At least one person is dead following a volcanic eruption on White Island off the coast of New Zealand. And emergency officials now fear that number could go up.

It's believed that about 50 people were on the island at the time. Around 20 are said to be tourists from the Ovation of the Seas Cruise Ship, operated by Royal Caribbean. An unknown number are still unaccounted for.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke a short time ago. She says active search-and-rescue operations are now underway. A no-fly zone has been set up around the island to help rescue crews to help those who have yet to be evacuated.

We will, of course, bring you updates as we have them and when they are available. But for now, I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. World Sport is next.

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