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State of Emergency in Australia; Protesters Withdraw From Baghdad Embassy; Fire and Explosion in New Delhi; Israel's Prime Minister Asks for Immunity from Corruption Charges; German Zoo Fire. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 02, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers from all around the world. I am Rosemary Church. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Ahead this hour, Australia's wildfire emergency evacuations in overdrive as officials warn that weather conditions will worsen in the coming days.

Security forces take back control of the U.S. embassy in Iraq after militia-backed demonstrators end their violent protest.

Plus why the pope's new year's address also included a personal apology.

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CHURCH: And we begin in Australia: New South Wales will declare a state of emergency on Friday as the raging bush fires show no signs of slowing down. The situation is also tense in Victoria.

The Australian military is bringing in supplies by boat to people stranded in Mallacoota. Officials say they have the potential to evacuate about 500 people by boat if they wish to leave.

Meanwhile this is what it looks like on the highways of New South Wales. Thousands of people fleeing their homes after officials ordered residents and tourists to get out of areas along the coast. At least eight people have died in fires in just the past two days and the officials are scrambling to ensure supplies are reaching the hardest hit areas.

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SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Now there are parts of both Victoria and New South Wales which have been completely devastated, with a loss of power and communications.

Every effort is in trying to ensure that those things can be stood up as soon as possible. In some places where we've been able to get tankers in to restore fuel supplies, that is not greatly assisted. There are other places which are still too difficult to get these supplies into now. But we will be able to do that as soon as we possibly can.

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CHURCH: CNN's Anna Coren joins us now live from New South Wales, Australia.

So, Anna, what is the latest on the mass evacuation underway and, of course, the bush fires that have ravaged the region?

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Rosemary we are here south of Nowra, which is about three hours from Sydney and there's been a steady stream of cars. In actual fact some are coming through now from the south coast.

This is the Princess Highway which is the main thoroughfare up and down the south coast of New South Wales and holidaymakers have been told they need to get out. There's been a mass exodus underway . Police are doing this in stages because there a fire that has broken out about 10 kilometers down the road.

It jumped over the highway and also gone under an overpass so firefighters are trying to get that under control so that the people here, a long line of them, hundreds of cars here, they are trying to reach their loved ones, who are cut off at the moment.

We spoke to some of them a short time ago. There was a gentleman who was desperate to reach his 16 year old daughter. She is at Sussex inlet, which is half an hour down the road. There's one road in, one road out and it is currently surrounded by fires.

We spoke to another woman, Rosemary, whose entire family home has been burned to the ground, along with other homes. She says they are lucky to be alive.

So many people have lost their lives and the death count as it stands nationwide is 17. These bush fires have been raging for months, have obviously flared up over this week, particularly New Year's Eve, when we saw those catastrophic conditions, high temperatures and those ferocious winds.

As I'm speaking you see this steady stream of cars making their way, they're out, listening to the authorities saying they must get out of there because we are expecting a return to those catastrophic conditions this weekend.

Australia is not immune to bush fires. You and I both, growing up here in Australia, it is part of life but the fires we have seen this season are the worst on record.

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COREN: And it's not just the ferocious heat, it is the drought. Australia has been in drought now for years and there are so many people saying that climate change has taken a huge and is taking a huge role in all of this.

And there is a great deal of frustration, particularly at the prime minister, Scott Morrison, that he and his government are not doing enough. There are climate change deniers within the Australian government and people are just frustrated and say, look at what is happening. People are losing their lives, their homes, their livelihoods.

Australia needs to do more. We heard from Scott Morrison. You played a sound bite from him as you came to me and he is saying, he understands people's frustration, their anxiety, that appropriate steps are being taken.

But many people we have spoken to just feel that not enough is being done. So a great deal of anger and frustration here in Australia.

CHURCH: And totally understood. This is a tragedy; as you say, we have seen this but not to this extent. This is just unbelievable and hard to comprehend for so many Australians. Anna Coren with the latest in New South Wales, many thanks.

Well, meanwhile, authorities say some people in Mallacoota may prefer to stay until the roads clear up rather than being evacuated by boat.

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CHRIS STEPHENSON, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT VICTORIA: Some people may not want to leave and they want to stay with their caravans until they're able to get back. That could be two to three weeks at this stage.

So what we will do is offer the opportunity to get as many people out as we can into a more comfortable place. However, logistically, that is a challenge.

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CHURCH: Earlier I spoke to James Todd, the spokesman for the Country Fire Authority in Victoria and he told us more about the evacuation process. Take a listen.

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JAMES TODD, COUNTRY FIRE AUTHORITY: So these are communities that are often -- they've only got the single road in from the main highway. The main highway is closed, the roads into these settlements, a lot of these settlements are closed. They are not passable because of fallen trees and power lines and the roads being impacted.

So it'll be some time before the roads in those areas are available for use of people to get out by land. So what happens is that you are starting to (INAUDIBLE) and the Navy in particular has been deployed and there are people who, beginning tomorrow, will be several hundred people from Mallacoota, the area -- the town you talk about, will be taken by boat to other parts of the state, where they will be (INAUDIBLE).

So there are some 4,000 people as we understand it, still in Mallacoota. It has a population normally about 800 to 1,000 people. It swells during summer because of the holiday season. Many of the people there are tourists.

Obviously supplies have been provided to those communities in terms of off boats (ph) as well as pharmaceutical and medical attention. But the process they're deciding on who gets on the boats tomorrow morning will be on the basis of who is most in need (ph), (INAUDIBLE) people with health conditions, people with young families and the like.

So that will -- that is expected that that might have to happen a few times because as I said, the roads in an out of that township and right along that (INAUDIBLE) coast of Victoria and New South Wales.

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CHURCH: We want to turn to Iraq, where huge crowds have left the area around the U.S. embassy in Baghdad after two days of violent protests. Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets as demonstrators threw rocks, set fires and tried to scale a building's walls.

They are angry about U.S. airstrikes on an Iran-backed militia group Sunday that killed at least 25 people. Iran's supreme leader says the U.S. should look at its own actions before blaming Tehran.

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ALI KHAMENEI, IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER (through translator): Firstly, you are wrong. It has nothing to do with Iran.

Secondly, if you are logical, which you are not, Americans must have common sense and they should know that they don't. You would see that the people of the countries in this region hate you.

Why do they not know this?

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CHURCH: CNN's Arwa Damon has our report from Baghdad.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are standing just outside of this massive, sprawling U.S. embassy complex. You can see one of the entrances there. If I'm not mistaken, that is where you would go through if you wanted to go to consular services.

DAMON (voice-over): The Iraqi security forces are finally on the scene but the protesters managed to get this far. For more than 24 hours, attempt to breach the walls of the U.S. embassy goes to the crux of the many multifaceted challenges that Iraq faces.

DAMON: Supporters and members of what is known as the Popular Mobilization Force, the PMF, they are the ones that were part of this protest. These are not ordinary protesters.

The PMF came together as a response during the fight against ISIS. And they have continued to be extremely powerful. The message here obviously is very clear.

DAMON (voice-over): Many fighters that make up PMF gained the bulk of their experience actually fighting the Americans during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. They have historic, long-standing ties to Iran, with training, funding and weapons coming from there.

In today's Iraq, they're ostensibly under the umbrella of the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government views the U.S. airstrike against one of these groups Kataib Hezbollah as a violation of its sovereignty and an attack on its own forces.

Amid rising questions of, was the Iraqi government really helpless to stop this or simply unwilling?

Iraq's minister of interior on the scene claimed that it took them a while to spin up their forces.

DAMON: This situation has only just barely begun to get under control with the withdrawal of these protesters right now.

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DAMON: But as the spokesperson for Kataib Hezbollah, the group that was the target of the U.S. strike, said, they left because they gave America their message.

DAMON (voice-over): At dusk U.S. security personnel began removing the flags of the various groups, each which also has a powerful political party within parliament. A tenuous calm for now but power struggles within Iraq and the proxy battle between Washington and Tehran are all far from over -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

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CHURCH: Kimberly Dozier is a CNN global affairs analyst and a contributor for "Time" magazine.

Thank you so much for being with us.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So the protesters have now left but how is it even possible for them to get so close to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and for the militia group to send the message that it did eventually?

DOZIER: It was possible because it was a carefully calculated message from militia groups that are also part of one of Iraq's most powerful political blocs and they are facing a weakened Iraqi prime minister who's in a caretaker role.

There's only so much power he could exert. He did manage to call them back and pull them back. But remember when U.S. said they were going to carry out these strikes, the prime minister had then asked them not to and warned that, after they did, there would be consequences.

It seems that this demonstration, that was those consequences. It wasn't the millions of people who have been demonstrating against the Iraqi government. This was a careful show of political force that could have gotten a lot more violent.

CHURCH: Yes, it certainly has changed the focus from those demonstrators to this situation now that we are talking about. Of course, these demonstrators were angry about those deadly U.S. airstrikes that targeted the Iranian militia group and the Iraq government viewed the airstrikes as an attack on its sovereignty.

But this militia group was attacking U.S. interests.

Who's at fault here?

And has the U.S. played into the hands of Iran by going to airstrikes, by using airstrikes in this instance?

DOZIER: From the U.S. perspective, they're getting hammered; they warned the Iraqi government that they needed to be protected and they said, if they weren't getting protected, they were going to have to take action.

So from the U.S., there is very a logical chain that led to these airstrikes. But think of it from the Iraqi perspective. U.S. officials are telling them that there were 11 strikes, rocket attacks, against their forces over the last two months, including one that killed a U.S. contractor.

But there are no pictures of that. And the various Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups deny being behind this.

On the other hand, after the U.S. strikes, there was plenty of video showing Iraqis that some of their people were killed by U.S. forces. This plays into the Iranian narrative and the narrative of a bunch of very anti-American political groups inside Iraq, that the U.S. is tromping all over their sovereignty.

Remember, we started this year with president Donald Trump saying he was keeping U.S. troops in Iraq to watch Iran. And you had Iraqi officials and the population expressing outrage. So that's where they're coming from and this plays into that.

CHURCH: In a tweet, U.S. president Donald Trump threatened Iran, saying it would be held fully responsible for any U.S. lives lost and said Iran would pay a very big price.

But when he spoke to reporters, he backed away from that threat or certainly that's how it looked.

What does that signal to you?

DOZIER: Everyone knows President Trump doesn't want to get in a land war in Iran ahead of the 2020 elections. He has been telegraphing, from his Syrian withdrawal to his moves to pull troops out of Afghanistan, that he wants to bring as many U.S. troops home as possible to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise before he runs for a second term.

So Iran knows this and it's become a game of chicken in that, yes, U.S. maximum pressure sanctions are hurting Iran economically. U.S. officials say it is in full recession now.

But Iran is playing the long game in that it is trying to turn public opinion across the Middle East against the U.S.

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DOZIER: And, in some cases, that is working, which will make it harder for Iraqi politicians, who had been counting on the U.S. military to keep mopping up ISIS.

It will be harder for them to back the U.S. staying there and it will empower those in the Iraqi parliament, who have been trying since last year to pass a bill to eject U.S. forces. They've now said they'll try that again and at least one representative of Kataib Hezbollah, the group hit by the airstrikes, says the Iraqi prime minister is now agreeing to work with them to kick U.S. troops out.

CHURCH: What do you think is the likely next to move from the United States and indeed from Iran?

DOZIER: The U.S. is sending its ambassador and will redouble its efforts to reach out to its allies among Iraqi politicians and have quiet conversations to try to get this back on track. U.S. officials know that, when President Trump messages his outrage and appears like a bully to the Iraqi people, that doesn't help the Iraqi government work with them.

CHURCH: Kimberly Dozier, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis on this very sensitive topic, we do appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thank you.

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CHURCH: The Israeli prime minister makes a move which could put his corruption trial on hold for months, we will have more on that just ahead.

Plus gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees are among dozens of zoo animals killed by a fire on New Year's Day. Police think they know how the blaze may have started. We have details on the other side of the break.

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CHURCH: This just in to CNN: a number of people including firefighters are said to be trapped in the rubble of a factory that collapsed after a fire and explosion in New Delhi.

At least two people have been rescued and taken to local hospitals. The cause of the fire, which broke early Thursday, is currently under investigation. We'll continue to follow this story and bring you more details as they come in to us.

More political turmoil in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces yet another election along with corruption, fraud and bribery charges, but what he did Wednesday could put his trial on hold for months. Oren Liebermann reports from Jerusalem.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested immunity in three separate corruption investigations, saying he plans on leading the country for many years to come. He faces indictment on charges of bribery and fraud and breach of trust in these cases.

He's insisting he's innocent, calling the indictments an attempted coup driven by the media and the Left.

He says his request for immunity is so he can carry out the will of the people.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): The immunity law is intended to protect elected officials from fabricated legal proceedings, from a political indictment intended to damage the will of the people.

This law intends to ensure that those elected can serve the people, according to the will of the people, not the will of the law clerks.

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LIEBERMANN: Netanyahu's rival, Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White Party, immediately blasted Netanyahu's request, saying voters now have a clear choice in the upcoming election in March, Israel's third within 12 months as the country faces political deadlock.

"The choice is either the interests of Netanyahu or the national interest. The kingdom of Netanyahu or the State of Israel."

But here is where the legal proceedings against Netanyahu are put on hold. His request for immunity has to be heard by the Knesset house committee but since there hasn't been a functioning coalition since the April elections, a house committee was never formed.

Because of that, Netanyahu's request can't be heard and the cases against him are on ice. If the committee is temporarily formed before the next elections, it appears Netanyahu's immunity requests will be rejected.

That is because a key player here announced his party would vote against immunity. That means Netanyahu doesn't have the numbers to get his request approved -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

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CHURCH: Police in Germany say they are questioning several people about a devastating zoo fire in the city of Krefeld. They came forward voluntarily and police say they may have caused the blaze that killed dozens of primates. The cause is still under investigation. We get more now from CNN's Hala Gorani.

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HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zookeepers in Germany are calling it one of the hardest days they have ever endured. Officials say a fire swept through the Krefeld Zoo in the early hours of New Year's Day, killing dozens of animals in an enclosure called The Monkey House.

The zoo director says the loss is staggering because many of the species who died in the fire are under threat in the wild.

WOLFGANG DRESSEN, DIRECTOR, KREFELD ZOO (through translator): For us, it is especially tragic that the tenants of this house, birds and mammals, were among the victims of the fire last night. Among them were highly endangered animals like orangutans from Borneo, gorillas from Central Africa and chimpanzees from West Africa.

GORANI (voice-over): On its Facebook page, the zoo says just two chimpanzees, names Bally and Limbo, were able to survive the fire and are now being treated by veterinarians.

Police say they're investigating reports of sky lanterns flying near the zoo that could have been launched as New Year's Eve celebrations, even though they've been banned in this region since 2009.

GERD HOPPMANN, KREFELD POLICE (through translator): Some witnesses saw these torches flying close to the zoo and very low, so we can assume they fell on the ground. We have witnesses saying that it burned as well on the roof.

GORANI (voice-over): A tragic start to the new year for this zoo, that must now try to rebuild after losing so much that is irreplaceable -- Hala Gorani, CNN.

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CHURCH: As dozens of bush fires ravage Australia, firefighters are risking their lives to save others.

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CHRIS REASON, SEVEN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: How intense were the fires?

This is aluminum. It melts at 600 degrees but the firies say it was even hotter yesterday. That's like melted wax.

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CHURCH: We will hear from one fire crew about their harrowing escape. That is next.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check the headlines for you this hour. Two days of violent protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad have come to an end for now. Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators on Wednesday. The protesters are angry about U.S. airstrikes in an Iranian backed militia group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants immunity from prosecution on the corruption charges he's facing. He made a request to the Knesset Wednesday night. But because of his political gridlock, a decision is not expected anytime soon possibly delaying his trial four months.

Australian officials will declare a state of emergency in New South Wales on Friday as bushfires continue to ravage the state. At least eight people have died in just the past two days. And with conditions likely to get worse, thousands are fleeing their homes and tourists are being moved away from the south coast.

Chris Reason from Seven Network shows us how some firefighters escaped after being caught in the middle of a raging bush fire.

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CHRIS REASON, REPORTER, SEVEN NETWORK: The Central Coast firefighters sent south to help with the (INAUDIBLE) fire were caught on unsealed Hames Road near Nowra. Embers cascade down from a fire off to the left that they can't outrun. It storms closer. The radiant heat almost unbearable.

Suddenly, it's like driving through hell. This urban fire truck has no sprinkler safety system. They are beyond vulnerable. Flesh over, the air so hot, everything explodes. This is life or death. They know how close they came. The cabin could have been a coffin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we were in there in the thick of it, we thought that this could be it.

REASON: The crew managed to escape safe and sound but it could have been so much worse. This was one of their tracks completely destroyed. It's believed the brake lines melted and the wheel seized up. How intense were the fires? This is aluminum. It melts at 600 degrees, but the fire they say, it was even hotter yesterday. That's like melted wax. This crew forced to abandon the $700,000 fire truck, throw on breathing gear, and flee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had got to a point where it was too dangerous to remain in the vehicle.

REASON: They abandoned their $700,000 pumper, threw on breathing gear, and race to that truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was right on my window, and the side of my truck got melted.

REASON: That video now has gone global headlining America's nightly news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight, these apocalyptic scene is happening across Australia.

REASON: And Britain's too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Incredibly they survived.

REASON: An indicator of the inferno's intensity, a house on the same road set up a GoPro capturing the furnace as it burst through the bush. At nearby Nowra, it went pitch black at midday. Those flags at half-mast for firefighter Sam McPaul, who died at Jingellic. One of three officers now killed, it could have been more.

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CHURCH: Incredible images there. And that was Seven Network's Chris Reason reporting. Well, police in Hong Kong arrested about 400 protesters on Wednesday as another anti-government demonstration turned violent. Tens of thousands of demonstrators were back on the streets on New Year's Day.

It started peacefully, but police say some protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs. They responded with tear gas. It was the latest confrontation in protests that began in June over complaints about Beijing's control of the city.

Well, more than six months of unrest is taking an economic toll on Hong Kong. Tourism is down, and with no clear end in sight, 2020 is off to an easy stop for business owners. Kristin Lu Stout has our report.

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has been a brutal year for Michael Tsang and his Hong Kong free tours. At peak season, he says, his company takes up to 60 travelers on walking tours every day, catering to those eager to dive deep into the city's economic and political system. He takes business through local markets and into the infamous (INAUDIBLE). But half a year of anti- government protests have scared the tourists away. He says he now takes five to 10 guests on each tour through Hong Kong,

MICHAEL TSANG, FOUNDER, THE HONG KONG FREE TOURS: Before the protests, we are applying to even double our tour because there are more people joining. Obviously, that plan is not going to go ahead. And some people I started the train that I wanted to put them on a tour, now it's not going to happen.

STOUT: Hong Kong has recorded its biggest decline in tourists in 16 years with the number of arrivals plunging by half in November. Hong Kong had already been hit hard by the U.S.-China trade war and China's slowing economy, but the relentless protests have had a devastating punch.

The tear gas and petrol bombs have tarnished the city's images a stable international financial hub, causing disruptions to business of retail sales slump and a recession, its first in over 10 years. And for some, it is a grim outlook for 2020. The city's flagship airline Cathay Pacific has announced it will cut capacity as it struggles to overcome months of unrest. The turmoil is painful, but it's something economists say Hong Kong can find a workaround for.

ROBERT KOEPP, DIRECTOR, CORPORATE NETWORK, THE ECONOMIST: We have reached a new normal. Not only are people used to this kind of impasse, but they just find ways to get around it. We're actually estimating Hong Kong to grow at over two percent next year. We are on the more optimistic side of things. But I think it would be very hard to assume Hong Kong is going to continue to decline. That's what the big if though. That's if things don't get worse.

STOUT: One silver lining, the decision by Chinese tech giant Alibaba to choose Hong Kong for its recent share sale, raising around $11 billion in the city's largest listing in years. Hong Kong's free- moving capital markets may still be a draw for investors, but that offers little solace to small business owners.

The Hong Kong government has announced $255 million to support small businesses and a $2.4 billion stimulus package to help safeguard jobs and provide relief. But such measures mean nothing to Michael Tsang without a return to peace.

TSANG: I don't know what happens if this continue longer and longer. That just means that it's just harder and harder for not just me but also the tour guide to maintain a good living.

STOUT: As part of his tour, Michael shows tourists what life is like in Hong Kong subdivided flats, crowded dwelling areas created by dividing apartments in older buildings. As his visitors experience what life is like in these cramped homes, a small business owner is feeling the squeeze and the city of protest with no solution in sight. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Latin America heads into 2020 after a year of turmoil, violent protests erupted across the region, massive fires destroyed huge areas of the Amazon rainforest, and an image of a young father and his infant daughter became the grim symbol of the migrant crisis. Rafael Romo looks back on 2019.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: A change of government in Venezuela seemed imminent in January. National Assembly President Juan Guaido swear himself in as president of Venezuela before a massive crowd of supporters in Caracas, sending shockwaves across the world.

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: Well, we think every country ought to recognize the constitutional leader of Venezuela, and that's who the United States has concluded Juan Guaido is.

ROMO: When Washington recognized Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, Moscow saw it as a provocation.

SERGEI RYABKOV, DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, RUSSIA: I mean, it's just pouring, you know, gas on the fire.

[02:40:03]

ROMO: Three months later, Juan Guaido appeared at a near base surrounded by a group of soldiers to declare the end of Maduro's government. His announcement prompted a new wave of violent protests. According to the U.N., 66 people died in Venezuela in clashes with security forces in the first five months of the year.

In June, an image that by itself represented the drama of immigration. A young father and his not quite two-year-old daughter were found lying face down in the water of the Rio Grande, separating Mexico from the U.S. 2019 was also the year of one of the greatest environmental disasters in modern history. The vast portions of the Amazon burnt in Brazil.

But more than anything, 2019 will be remembered in Latin America as a year of turmoil. In Ecuador. protests erupted in early October over a plan to end fuel subsidies. In Chile, over increases in subway fares. In Bolivia, it was alleged fraud that would have allowed then- President Morales to stay in the presidency for a fourth term. And in Columbia, turmoil was triggered by inequality and lack of opportunity.

ARTURO VALENZUELA, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: There is a common perhaps denominator in the sense that these are still very unequal societies with very high levels of inequality that affect, you know, the prospects for people.

ROMO: In an unprecedented move, Chilean president Sebastian Pinera 1apologize for his country's inequality.

SEBASTIAN PINERA, PRESIDENT OF CHILE (through translator): I recognized our lack of vision and I asked my fellow citizens for forgiveness. ROMO: Towards the end of the year, the region saw important power

shifts. In Argentina, a right of center president was replaced after only one term by populist Alberto Fernandez. In Uruguay, the left- wing broad front was kicked out of power for the first time in 15 years. And in Bolivia, a popular uprising force socialist president Evo Morales to resign.

These power shifts have already had a deep impact in Latin American politics. The effects will be felt in the region for years. Rafael Romo, CNN.

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CHURCH: And we have this just in to CNN. Prosecutors in Japan have raided the home where Carlos Ghosn had been staying while he was on bail in Tokyo. The former Nissan CEO fled the country last month for Lebanon, saying he refused to be held hostage by a rigged justice system in Japan.

Ghosn faces criminal charges including underreporting his salary and abusing his position. TV Asahi reports prosecutors are working with police to access surveillance video around his home as part of their investigation.

We'll take a short break here. Still to come, the Pope begins the New Year with a personal apology. Why he's excusing himself while sending a message on violence against women. We'll have that. Plus, the climate crisis takes a toll in the horn of Africa, the troubled plans to grow food and save lives.

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CHURCH: Pope Francis launched the New Year with a rare public apology. He expressed his regrets for slapping a woman's hand on Tuesday when she unexpectedly pulled him toward her. The Pope was in St. Peter's Square greeting a crowd of pilgrims and children.

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POPE FRANCIS, LEADER, CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Love makes us patient. So many times we lose patience, even me. And I apologize for yesterday's bad example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The Pope used his first homily of the New Year to denounce violence against women calling it a blasphemy against God. Well, there really is nowhere on the planet that's not affected by the climate crisis. And some places are being forced to make tough choices in the face of global warming. One region is the self- declared state of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa. CNN Jomana Karadsheh has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Imagine learning to farm at 50. That's what Fatima was doing after losing all her goats and sheep to years of drought. These women are the survivors of extremes. They bear the brunt of climate shocks. Like other women in the developing world, they produce 80 percent of their food.

But this village in Somaliland has fared better with this year's rains than most. Everyone feels climate shocks here, desperately searching for water the rains once brought. Historical climate data in the self-declared state that broke away from Somalia three decades ago is scant. The local officials measuring rainfall here say it's dropped by more than half in the past 50 years.

The Horn of Africa is drying up faster than it ever has in the past 2,000 years according to a study by American scientists.

Even in the best of times, this inhospitable land has made life difficult for its people. For many, the changing climate has now made it impossible.

More than two-thirds of the livestock died in the most recent killer drought turning tens of thousands of pastoralists into climate refugees living in makeshift camps for years with no way out and sites. Mother of seven, (INAUDIBLE) lost her entire herd of 200 goats two years ago.

I have never worried for the life of my children, how to feed them, how to look after them, she says. This was the worst drought I have ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we are touching it. It is there. Climate change is real. In Somaliland, it's real. When you have an empty stomach, you don't have anything to put in your stomach, or to put into your child's stomach, that's when you feel it.

KARADSHEH: One of the world's poorest and least developed economies is overwhelmed. You can see how harsh life can be in the streets of the capital Hargeisa. Charcoal sellers like this one, just about everybody depends on it for cooking at the cost of cutting down and burning trees, transforming vanishing forests into deserts.

Even solutions are defeated by the very problem they're meant to solve. This was supposed to be a Star Resilience Project.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I left it so beautifully. When I came this morning, I almost died.

KARADSHEH: This greenhouse is an ingenious yet simple pilot designed using disseminated seawater to grow food along Somaliland's arid coast. But two years out of three, they've been beaten back by the climate crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is watermelon.

KARADSHEH: Rebuilding after last year's first-ever cyclone, getting battered by unprecedented winds this year. There's no question who's responsible says Moosa.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The West, those industrial countries who are really producing all those gases into the air. Are we producing anything? No, we are just getting the impact. They should help us and pay for this.

KARADSHEH: But the help just isn't there says the environment minister.

Because we are not recognized by the international community. That means we are not visible. You are not there. Definitely you are not there. You are in another world.

KARADSHEH: Searching for an economic lifeline, their government is now looking toward the sea, courting investors for more projects like the Dubai funded development of Berbera port on the strategic Gulf of Aden. Officials tell us, they're mulling over a bold idea to move much of the population to the coast, a generational undertaking that will be outpaced by the rapidly worsening climate. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Somaliland.

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CHURCH: Just ahead, a CNN freedom project report. We talked to a sex trafficking victim sentenced as a teenager to life for killing a client. But now, she's free.

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CYNTOIA BROWN LONG, VICTIM, SEX TRAFFICKING: They told me I do life in prison. I never believed it. I always thought that one day that I would be free and I held on to that.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You kept the faith.

LONG: I did.

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CHURCH: We bring you the story of Cyntoia Brown Long. As a teenager, she was forced into sex trafficking. One night something happened that would send her the prison sentence to life behind bars. But now, thanks to the efforts of some high-profile advocates, she's free. Lynda Kinkade spoke with her as part of CNN's Freedom Project which shines a light on human trafficking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: After 15 years behind bars, you're free.

LONG: Yes.

KINKADE: How do you feel?

LONG: I mean, it's good. You know, it's a blessing. It's literally a miracle.

KINKADE: Cyntoia Brown Long has spent half her life behind bars. At just 16, she was forced by her abusive boyfriend into sex work. One night, she shot and killed a 43-year-old man who had bought her for sex. She claimed it was self-defense. A prosecutor has argued it was opportunistic after she fled with his wallet and two guns. She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison for murder and robbery.

It would have been close to 70 by the time you got any chance of release. How do you deal with that at the age of 16?

LONG: So in the state of Tennessee, I had an opportunity for parole but it wasn't a meaningful opportunity. It was after 51 years that I could be considered for release. And as I said, the prospect of that was just -- I mean, it was unbearable, I couldn't imagine.

KINKADE: From activists, to lawmakers, to celebrities, people of all walks of life called for justice.

LONG: Before all of the outcry had happened, my attorneys had already been meeting with the governor's office and trying to talk about clemency, which clemency less than one percent applications are even reviewed by the parole board in the state of Tennessee.

So to say it was slim to none chance of me ever receiving any kind of relief through clemency, I mean, that that's an understatement.

KINKADE: Singer Rihanna posted about her on Instagram asking, "Did we somehow change the definition of justice along the way?"

Did you understand how much support there was for you on the outside?

LONG: You know, for me, the biggest thing was seeing how many people across the world, seeing teachers, doctors, you know, single parents, saying, I don't know what to do, I don't know how I can help but I want to do something.

KINKADE: In the United States, all underage sex workers are defined by federal law as trafficking victims, and now she's helping others understand that.

LONG: And you know, so often we're told that there are just certain young girls who are fast, certain young girls who are promiscuous that asked for these things. And it's important for young girls to know that you cannot consent to your own exploitation. If you can't consent to a sexual relationship with an adult, you can't consent to them taking advantage of you.

KINKADE: There was another victim here, Johnny Allen and his family feel like they're victims too. They lost someone. What's your message to them given that they feel the justice system didn't work for them?

LONG: I feel horrible about what happened. I feel horrible that they're still having to live with this. KINKADE: In a statement, they said, "Our hearts are broken because we

feel like Johnny never got to defend himself. We never got to be a voice for him." Cyntoia Brown Long is not entirely free. The newly married 31-year-old was still have to report to a parole officer for the next decade, on top of holding down a job performing community service, and undergoing counseling.

LONG: You know, from the time that they told me I'll do life in prison, I never believed it. I always thought that one day that I would be free and I held on to that. So --

KINKADE: You kept the faith.

LONG: I did.

KINKADE: Lynda Kinkade, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Max Foster in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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