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State of Emergency in Australia; Carlos Ghosn's Audacious Escape; Protesters Withdraw From Baghdad Embassy; Israel's Prime Minister Asks for Immunity from Corruption Charges; Gun Violence in America; New Year Brings Wave of New Laws in U.S.; Sex Trafficking Victim Sentenced to Life Now Freed; Indonesia Flooding; Rising Sea Levels Threaten London's Future. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired January 02, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Leave while you still can: that is the message for tens of thousands of Australians as raging bush fires spread.
A new proxy war: the siege on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad may be over for now but tensions remain high.
Plus she was sentenced to life in prison as a teenager. Now she is a free woman. The powerful journey of Cyntoia Brown-Long.
Then one of the world's biggest cities at risk of being swallowed in London.
Welcome to our viewers. You are watching CNN.
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GORANI: We are following apocalyptic scenes in Australia. Officials in New South Wales have declared a state of emergency. Take a look at the images.
They could begin forced evacuations. And this video was shot in Victoria, a state of disaster has been declared there for several regions. And nationwide the death toll from the bush fires is 17 people. Let's give you an idea of what residents in the fire zone are facing right now. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
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GORANI: It is a vision of hell, a complete inferno. And now the Australian prime minister toured one of the hardest hit areas. He has been under heavy criticism over his response to the disaster. Anna Coren filed this report.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales with authorities bracing themselves for the return of catastrophic conditions following those devastating fires on New Year's Eve. Residents and holiday makers here on the south coast are being told to get out with fears there could be a further loss of life.
COREN (voice-over): This is what a mass evacuation looks like, thousands and thousands fleeing the areas worst hit by the deadly bush fires that have swept across the southeastern coast of Australia. A mandatory evacuation for tourists before catastrophic conditions return on Saturday. But some want to head the opposite way.
This man's daughter is stranded in one of the hardest hit regions with some friends. She told him that she is safe but he is not taking any chances.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one road in, one road out.
COREN (voice-over): It is dangerous but Trevor is not alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just focusing on trying to get the family back together.
COREN (voice-over): This woman and her family were away when the fires struck the family home three hours south of Sydney. They escaped unharmed but their house was completely destroyed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a family house so it hit a lot of people quite hard. It used to be a holiday house. So all our families stayed in there at one point or another.
COREN (voice-over): And these are two of the many stuck around and inside the areas hardest hit by bush fires across Victoria and notwithstanding. Dozens of roads are being cut off and some communities remain isolated.
Stranded residents, dependent on the Australian military for the most basic of supplies, it's part of the government efforts to deal with the crisis but, for some, too little too late.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, who has been heavily criticized for his lack of leadership and his government's inaction was heckled by residents during a visit. A large part of the town was destroyed during the New Year's Eve bush fires and they say that the government has not done enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not fair. We're totally forgotten about down here.
COREN (voice-over): The prime minister left without responding.
Conditions have improved slightly in the past few days, allowing the countless men and women who continue to battle the flames a temporary but very limited reprieve, just enough time to say goodbye to one of their own.
This firefighter was honored for his bravery at his funeral, the medal given to his young son. Just one of the many victims of a nightmare with no end in sight that is expected to worsen in the coming days.
COREN: Searing temperatures and ferocious winds are expected on Saturday, whipping up fires, many burning for months. And there is no reprieve in sight. With Australia only halfway through its summer.
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COREN: Back to you.
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GORANI: And let's bring in Angela Burford with the New South Wales rural fire service. She is on the phone.
What is the -- you must be very concerned about this very weekend's weather forecast.
What is your biggest challenge?
ANGELA BURFORD, NEW SOUTH WALES RURAL FIRE SERVICE: Absolutely. We are likely to see very dangerous conditions again this Saturday. We've seen, of course, devastation across New South Wales in what has been the worst fire season we've ever seen.
And we're likely to see temperatures in the 40 degrees Celsius with low humanity and strong, gusting winds, so those combined factors make it very difficult for the firefighters to attack the fires.
Often they have to retreat and protect life and property wherever possible. So our concern, of course, is primarily the safety of people. And also if we can protect property wherever possible.
GORANI: How many are trapped?
It is becoming very difficult for some residents to flee because they are surrounded by the flames.
BURFORD: That's right. Overnight, we have been working in conjunction with the police to relocate thousands of people. That is a massive logistical operation. And messaging has been to people to leave the areas.
It's a coastal area, popular holiday destination this time of year. And while it is difficult to relocate this many people, especially with road closures and trees falling we are happy to say that there are so many taking heed of the warnings that we are issuing, and making the most of the opportunity to move.
GORANI: And how much -- give us a sense of the scale here. I read in one of the articles about these fires in Australia, that the total area that is burning is as large as Western Europe.
I mean, how much of the country is impacted?
BURFORD: Yes, that's right. The areas that have been burned through in New South Wales alone has just been huge. We have gone through 3.4 million hectares.
And to give you some sort of a idea how large that is, in a typical fire season over the last couple of years, it is usually 280,000 hectares. And we're only a of a way through this year and we've burnt through 3.4 million.
And that continues to increase. And three or four fires have been in relatively close proximity of the others, burning in remote and difficult terrain. And due to the weather patterns that we've seen so far, they've merged and formed one large fire.
So these fires continue to burn. We have 141 fires burning across New South Wales. And the large fires are not going to be put out until we see significant rainfall, which isn't predicted for some weeks at least. So we are in for the long haul.
GORANI: Good luck to you and the firefighters. Angela Burford, thank you so much.
Let's bring you breaking news now on the case of a former Nissan executive who skipped bail in Japan, we're now hearing from Carlos Ghosn himself.
In a statement, he said, "There has been speculation in the media that my wife, Carol, and other members of my family played a role in my departure from Japan. All such speculation is inaccurate and false," and he says, "I alone arranged for my departure, my family had no role whatsoever."
Ghosn fled to Lebanon this week from Tokyo. And now Interpol has issued a red notice warrant for his arrest. His home in Tokyo has been raided by Japanese authorities and a Turkish connection to his escape has emerged. Gul Tuysuz joins me now.
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GORANI: Several arrests have reportedly been made and we have one more piece of the puzzle here. Ghosn himself is saying, despite the speculation, he is denying that his wife or his family had any involvement. We still don't know how he did it but he is saying don't blame my wife for helping.
GUL TUYSUZ, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL PRODUCER: That's right. He says that he alone engineered his escape. And in Turkey, the Istanbul prosecutor's office has detained seven people, four pilots and one manager, at a private aviation company as well as two ground service staff members.
And those people are presumedly being questioned. And all of this was taking in the Istanbul airport, not the main international airport. It has been decommissioned and is currently only servicing cargo and private charter flights.
And what they are probably going off of is the fact that there was a plane that took off from Osaka and a while later another plane took off and landed in Beirut coinciding with his movements, his suspected movements.
So the Turkish prosecutor will look into those seven people to try to figure out what happened on this one tiny little part of the mystery that is Ghosn's escape.
GORANI: And now to Iraq, where an Iranian-backed militia group are demanding parliament kick U.S. forces out of the country after days of violent protests. Demonstrators began storming the compound on Tuesday over the airstrikes that killed at least 25.
The militia group says that they will not rest until foreign soldiers exit from our holy land, quote-unquote. Iraqi security have regained control of the area but the building did suffer damage. Arwa Damon is joining us. Ryan Browne is at the Pentagon.
Talk to us about where we are now. There is calm at the building but where do we stand with this militia group?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are still demanding that the Americans leave Iraq but they said that they would give parliament about a week to begin showing that it was serious in negotiations to try to draft a bill that would be the framework for a U.S. troop withdrawal.
They are saying that if it seems as if parliament is not undertaking this in a serious manner, they have other actions that they can take.
In front of the embassy you now have the Iraqi security forces manning the checkpoints, so in a sense that's back to normal but how the group was able to waltz right through and not just stand outside the U.S. embassy but attempt to breach it and set rooms on fire is causing a lot of questions.
Was the Iraqi government unwilling to stop it or unable?
The vast majority of this group are supporters or members of the paramilitary force called the Popular Mobilization Force and made up of former Shia militia, many who gained their battlefield experience fighting. And they right now are not only very powerful militarily in Iraq but politically as well.
GORANI: And Ryan Browne is at the Pentagon.
Talk to us about the U.S. reaction to these requests and some politicians inside the country.
RYAN BROWNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we just spoke with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and he said that there has been no official request from the Iraqi government for the U.S. to at all reduce its presence in Iraq. Of course the U.S. has some 5,000 troops there and recently bolstered
its position in the country, sending 1,100 Marines into the country. And so Secretary Esper saying they are keeping an eye on Kataib Hezbollah, which the U.S. has blamed for a series of attacks on facilities in Iraq. They said that the group would regret any additional attacks and the U.S. remains ready to respond militarily to any such attacks.
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BROWNE: And he also kind of downplayed the attempts to breach the embassy compound saying that the U.S. was in a position to secure it, doing so recently on FOX News.
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MARK ESPER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: All that's happened so far is that these militia groups, directed by Iran to do this demonstration, if you will, this who, is get access to the outer compound supposed to be defended by Iraqi security forces. As we know, they have retreated. And we are prepared just the same for anything else that could happen.
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BROWNE: So the U.S. making it clear that they are ready to respond if anything else should happen. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley saying that anyone who attempts to storm the embassy would run into a buzzsaw. So the U.S. trying to show force in the face of the continued pressure for the U.S. to leave Iraq.
GORANI: Are we seeing any coherent strategy from the Trump administration?
BROWNE: It seems that they are attempt to say we will retaliate in certain situations. They did not choose to retaliate over the downing of the American drone, over -- but this loss this loss of life seems to be where they're drawing the red line.
But it doesn't seem to be linked to a broader strategy with Iran. It seems particularly narrowly focused on protecting U.S. personnel and U.S. facilities.
GORANI: Ryan Browne, thanks very much.
Corruption charges make campaigning a lot harder. But Israel's prime minister hopes his new plan will help his election chances. Will it work? We'll take a look
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GORANI: The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants immunity from prosecution on the corruption charges he is facing. He denies wrongdoing and calling the charges an attempted coup.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): I intend to ask because I'm sacrificing my life to you ,people of Israel. But there are people, who unlike me did commit grave crimes and they have lifelong immunity. They're just on the right side of the media and the left wing.
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GORANI: And his political rivals like Benny Gantz don't buy his argument.
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BENNY GANTZ, BLUE AND WHITE PARTY (through translator): I see Israel today is led by a man who is prepared to push us to the fringes and is jeopardizing the civic principles upon which we are all educated, that everyone is equal before the law.
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GORANI: Oren Liebermann joins me now from Jerusalem.
When will we learn whether he will get immunity?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It may not be for a while. Before the request can be even heard, there has to be a Knesset house committee convened with a full functioning coalition.
There hasn't been one since April. So there is no one to hear Netanyahu's request and there may not be one until after the elections in March. The indications right now are that it would be difficult to form a temporary house committee just for the sake of hearing Netanyahu's requests.
That may change after the next Knesset. In requesting immunity, Benjamin Netanyahu laid this out much as what you heard right there, where he basically spent only a few seconds talking about immunity but most of it about talking about his past achievements and turning it into a political attack.
Earlier he said it is a cornerstone of democracy and then he followed it up with the statement last night.
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NETANYAHU (through translator): The immunity law is intended to protect elected officials from fabricated legal proceedings, from political indictment intended to damage the will of the people. This law intends to ensure that those elected can serve according to the will of the people, not the will of the law clerks.
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LIEBERMANN: He clearly didn't convince the opposition lawmakers. He also didn't convince the key player, who said that he would vote against immunity and that means that Netanyahu doesn't have the numbers at this stage to get immunity.
His best hope?
Trying to get the necessary 61 seats to form a government after the March elections. And the question, has he shifted the numbers at all?
Difficult to see a situation where he gains followers. We'll get a better sense after tomorrow's election polls.
GORANI: And I think I asked you this last hour, is there any change in the political landscape or public opinion that could give Netanyahu any hope that this time around he will be -- he will succeed in forming a government and getting some sort of -- something close to a majority so that he could form a coalition?
LIEBERMANN: As things stand, all indications are that Netanyahu might gain a little bit of ground but not as much as he needs. There is a prediction that there will be a fourth election as the political deadlock becomes de facto state of Israel at the moment.
GORANI: All right. Thanks.
At least eight people are dead after a missile strike on a school in Syria. And that is according to the group, White Helmets, and the Turkish government. The strike happened in the rebel held province of Idlib.
A top military general in Taiwan is among eight who were killed when a helicopter crashed. The Black Hawk was carrying 13 when it disappeared from radar near New Taipei City. Five survived. The crash is just a week before the island holds its general election.
Investigators are trying to find out why a battery factory exploded in New Delhi Thursday. Several people and firefighters had to be rescued. One firefighter did not survive. Last month two fires at businesses in New Delhi killed dozens of people.
After months of horse trading, there appears to be a breakthrough in Austria's political deadlock. Sebastian Kurz, the leader of the country's Conservative People's Party, struck a deal to form a coalition government with the Green Party. It's an abrupt swing to the left since the last coalition government under Kurz.
So whatever gets you the prime ministership or the chancellorship.
Still ahead, more gun fatalities in the U.S. but among the grim statistics, there are signs of some progress in some of America's most violence-prone cities. We'll bring you that.
[11:25:00] GORANI: And a new year means a host of new laws going into effect across the United States on everything from gun control to marijuana, we'll take a look.
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GORANI: Let's recap the Australian bush fire crisis. A state of emergency is going into effect soon in New South Wales. Raging fires continue to spread with conditions said to only get worse.
Forced evacuations could start soon. Officials are urging people in fire zones to leave now while they can.
Australia's prime minister has been under criticism. People are angry over his handling of the disaster. Just watch as Scott Morrison is heckled while touring one of the hardest hit areas.
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GORANI: And in Iraq, the scene outside the American embassy is tense but calm following the violent protest that left the compound with extensive damage. Angry demonstrators began storming the building Tuesday over U.S. airstrikes on the Iranian backed group.
The airstrikes killed at least 25 people. And Iraqi security forces have now regained control of the area.
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GORANI: But the embassy says all public consular services are suspended until further notice.
The events in Baghdad and showdown with Iran are part of the growing foreign policy challenges facing Donald Trump as he heads toward the 2020 election.
Who will his Democratic opponent be?
That question could start to be answered on February 3rd. One month and one day from today when the Iowa caucuses kick off primary season. Several candidates are spending this second day of the new year campaigning across the state.
One of the key issues facing the Democratic candidates is gun violence. It has been a deadly start to the new year. In several American cities, in St. Louis, Missouri, five were killed in multiple shootings Wednesday alone. Another three were killed in Philadelphia in two separate New Year's Day shootings. After a wave of shootings in Chicago last weekend, police stepped up patrols there and the new year has been relatively quiet. CNN's Omar Jimenez is joining me from Chicago.
So what more can you tell us about the gun violence in these big cities at the start of the year?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for starters, Chicago has been a notorious city for all the wrong reasons when it comes to high levels gun violence. the good news is this is the third year in a row where they have seen 10 percent decline in homicides.
So they are among the cities hoping to use the start of this new decade to try to rewrite what at times has seemed like an unshakeable narrative.
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JIMENEZ (voice-over): While mass shootings, at times, leave the country in disbelief, in places like Baltimore and Chicago, gun violence is a grim part of life.
CHARLIE BECK, INTERIM CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: What people think of as traditional policing has to be much smarter, has to be much more focused.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Former Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck is now the interim police superintendent in Chicago, a city that ended 2019 with a more than 10 percent drop in murders for a third year in a row and down more than 30 percent since a spike in 2016 that saw more killings than New York and L.A. combined.
JIMENEZ (on camera): What are some of the questions that you get about the city of Chicago, about crime in Chicago and how do you answer those questions?
BECK: To be brutally honest, you know, it's still not safe enough. Five hundred homicides is -- even though that's a nice milestone, it's way too many.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But it's not just policing. Even hospitals are trying to break this deadly cycle, taking the time to sit with shooting victims and evaluate the direction of their lives.
CAROL REESE, VIOLENCE PREVENTION COORDINATOR, DEPARTMENT OF TRAUMA, JOHN H. STROGER, JR. HOSPITAL OF COOK COUNTY: We use this unique opportunity to really drill down with people on not only their risk factors but their hopes, their dreams, their emotional experience of being injured.
JIMENEZ (on camera): The goal is not to see them again?
REESE: The goal is not to see them again, ever. JIMENEZ (voice- over): They're among the tactics being used in cities across the country trying to change what has become, in some places, an unshakable narrative. Often among the highest murder rates of big U.S. cities, New Orleans has made progress, seeing its third consecutive drop in homicides last year. but St. Louis, which had the highest murder rate of big U.S. cities in recent years, saw an increase in homicides compared to 2018.
And Baltimore ended the year with the second-most homicides they've had on record, just under 350. Cities like New York and Los Angeles didn't even hit that mark and they have more than five times the people.
MAYOR BERNARD "JACK" YOUNG, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: We can talk all day about what to do after someone is killed but we must also have the heard conversation about why the perpetrators of violence have no regards for human life.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Baltimore is now one of seven cities within the Department of Justice's Operation Relentless Pursuit, an initiative aimed at combating violent crime.
And in Washington, Congress approved millions for federal research into gun violence for the time in over 20 years. Federal and city efforts meant to go hand-in-hand at the dawn of the new decade.
BECK: I know it seems difficult when you're -- when you're in the middle of this but I have nothing but the most positive belief in the outcome of what we're doing here.
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JIMENEZ: So for some cities, it is about maintaining that momentum. And for others, it is about trying to find anything that works at this point. And if there was ever a reminder to the stakes, it was just within the first few hours of 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri, that five people were shot and killed.
GORANI: And what have people told you actually works?
JIMENEZ: In Chicago, city leadership have pointed to a number of different factors.
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JIMENEZ: On just the policing side, they have opened what is described as technology centers in various districts. They have what is called shot spotter technology. They can trace where the gunshots are happening and respond much quicker.
And they can analyze their responses to be predictive. And outside of policing, they have worked with a variety of community based organizations, street outreach programs, where basically these are people who are not police officers but work to deescalate conflicts that may break out between communities or gangs and work from the ground up to keep the final outcome from being death.
And there is a lot of investment into after school programs. A combination of all three of those seem to be working but it's cautious optimism for leadership here.
GORANI: All right. Omar Jimenez, thanks so much.
Gun control laws are among a wave of new legislation in the U.S.. Colorado enacted a red flag gun law that allows family or other authorized members to petition to temporarily remove firearms from those who they consider dangerous.
Tennessee has made it easier for residents to get a concealed weapons permit. And there are laws raise the minimum age in 21 states and 26 cities. And a ban on single use plastic bags in Oregon and Illinois is the 11th U.S. state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
CNN's legal analyst Michael Zeldin joins me now.
Let's talk about the minimum wage.
What will this law change for ordinary Americans?
MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You have to understand in the United States we have a federal law system that governs the nation as a whole. And then states have individual state by state laws.
And so what we have here is individual states saying that the $7.25 national minimum wage is not a livable wage. And we'll increase in our state the obligation of employers to pay people a livable wage, $15 an hour at a minimum in order for them to just work in order for them to just work one instead multiple jobs.
GORANI: Regarding gun laws, there are passionate people on both sides. And we're seeing both cases loosening and tightening restrictions.
ZELDIN: And there are also federal laws that govern the possession of weapons. And here you have states going on opposite sides. One side saying that we want what they call red flag laws.
That is if you have a suspicion that somebody is acceptable to a gun is going to be dangerous, the police can come take the gun away. Other states are saying that you can carry guns in all sorts of places, mall, theaters.
GORANI: And the no more cash bail in New York -- our viewers have all watched U.S. cop shows, this notion that you have to pony up money in order to be released on bail, it can be unfair for people who are poorer. So this could be a big change.
ZELDIN: Yes, right now you are supposed to be released pending your court appearances unless you're a risk flight or a danger to the community. But we've developed a system that you have to pay a certain amount of money to guarantee that you will return.
And that really impacts people who can't afford it very harshly. Whether they are charged with a simple possession of marijuana charge or some nonviolent crime, if they can't make bail, as they call it, pay this money, they remain in jail. It's a terrible system. And it goes along with private prisons and other things that we need to change.
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ZELDIN: So when they get rid of that bail system, people who are not violent, who don't have a risk of flight or a danger to the community, will be allowed to go home, which is a more humane system.
GORANI: All right. Thank you very much. Also in Florida, no texting and driving.
ZELDIN: Illinois, too, the next state to legalize marijuana.
GORANI: Very interesting, all the new rules and laws. Thanks so much.
Just ahead, a CNN Freedom Project report, take a look.
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CYNTOIA BROWN-LONG, SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIM: You know, from the time that they tell me I'd do life in prison, I never believed it. I always believed that I'd be free.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You kept the faith.
BROWN-LONG: I did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: She was sentenced to life for killing her client. And now she's using her freedom to help other victims.
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GORANI: Her story gripped the world, a young woman serving a life sentence for killing a man who paid her for sex. And this happened when she was just 16. But now she's a free woman after she was granted clemency. And she is delivering on her promise to help other women trapped in what she calls a broken system.
Lynda Kinkade caught up with her as part of CNN's Freedom Project, which shines a light on human trafficking.
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KINKADE: After 15 years behind bars, you are free.
How do you feel?
BROWN-LONG: I mean, it's good. You know, it's a blessing. It's literally a miracle. KINKADE (voice-over): 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 claims it was self-defense. The prosecutors 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.
(on camera): You would've been close to 70 by the time you got any chance of release. How do you deal with that at the age of 16?
BROWN-LONG: So in the state of Tennessee, I had the opportunity for parole, but it was not a meaningful opportunity. It was after 51 years 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.
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BROWN-LONG: Before all of the -- 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 1 percent of 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's an understatement.
KINKADE: Singer Rihanna posted about her on Instagram, asking, "Did we somehow change the definition of justice along the way?"
(on camera): Did you understand how much support there was for you on the outside?
BROWN-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 (voice-over): In the United States, all underage sex workers
are defined by federal law as trafficking victims. And now she's helping others understand that.
BROWN-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 ask 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, then 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?
BROWN-LONG: I feel horrible about what happened. I feel horrible that they're still having to live with this.
KINKADE (voice-over): 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 will 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.
BROWN-LONG: You know, from the time that they told me I'd do life in prison, I never believed it. I always thought that one day, that I would be free and I held onto that. So --
KINKADE (on camera): You kept the faith.
BROWN-LONG: I did.
KINKADE (voice-over): Linda Kinkade, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Scientists are raising the red flag about the effects climate change right here in London. You'll see how much of the city could be underwater in the not-too-distant future.
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GORANI: In Indonesia, flash floods and landslides have forced thousands to flee the capital and have claimed at least 26 lives. This after what some believe are the heaviest rain in decades. Drone video shows some of the roads washed out by landslides and flooding.
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GORANI: More severe storms are expected. David Culver has the details.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): the streets of Indonesia's capital city, Jakarta, turning to rivers, the heavy rain began as 2019 ended and continued into the new year, claiming multiple lives and forcing tens of thousands to leave their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My son's body was covered with newspaper and my second child passed by. If my other child did not pass by, we would not know why my son had been killed. CULVER (voice-over): Escaping flash floods and landslide is not easy especially in the eastern and southern portions of the city. Jakarta police posting on Twitter that many roads are impassable. Train lines blocked and widespread power outages across Southeast Asia's most populous city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We hope this will never happen again because this happens every five years.
CULVER (voice-over): Indonesia's minister of social affairs tells CNN that despite temporary relief centers set up, some people are refusing to leave. And in recent years, officials have tried to make Jakarta's low lying areas less susceptible to flooding.
But the country's president blames land acquisition problems for delaying much needed infrastructure projects.
JOKO WIDODO, INDONESIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Regarding the flooding issue, the central government is still quite new. A lot of projects are still yet to be completed.
CULVER (voice-over): He also called on emergency and rescue officials to work together.
WIDODO (through translator): The disaster mitigation agency, leaders of the provinces, search and rescue teams need to move as one to give people who were affected by the floods a sense of safety.
CULVER (voice-over): Amid brief breaks from the rain, receding water leaves behind trash clinging to fences. Residents are cleaning out their homes, pushing out the mud and debris.
Children innocently playing in the water as locals fear more heavy rains could be on the way.
CULVER: Indonesia's cabinet secretary warns that extreme weather may continue across the country through the weekend and even into next week -- David Culver, CNN, Hong Kong.
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GORANI: While Jakarta's inundated right now, London is concerned about flooding at some point in the future. Scientists say parts of the British capital could end up under water in the coming decades. That is all being blamed on the rising sea levels caused by climate change. As Phil Black reports, that might not be a question of if but of when.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): London has long respected the power of the sea. Straddling the city's famous river, you'll find this, the Thames barrier, finished in the early '80s, it's a mighty mechanized fortification. This sped up video of a recent test shows how it works.
Fully extended, the gates stand five stories high. It's designed to hold back the North Sea on its angriest days, to protect lives and the vast riches of one of the world's wealthiest cities.
IVAN HAIGH, OCEANOGRAPHER, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON: If there was flooding, it would be catastrophic. You know, particularly if it happened at night. If something was to go wrong, the city would absolutely grind to a halt. You know, flooding of subway stations, flooding of the tubes.
BLACK: We meet this oceanographer, Ivan Haigh, on a day the Thames is swollen by a big tide and the storm surge.
(on camera): Have you seen the Thames look like this before?
HAIGH: I've never seen it this high.
BLACK (voice-over): It is a close call, but experts monitoring the river have decided not to close the barrier. The Thames looking bloated and full gives a powerful sense of London's vulnerability to what scientists now consider inevitable. Sea level rise caused by climate change.
HAIGH: At the moment we're on track to reach at least a meter.
BLACK (on camera): And that's factored in. That we expect that regardless of sort of policy decisions from here forth.
HAIGH: So that's very much dependent on whether we follow the Paris Agreement or not.
BLACK (voice-over): The Paris Agreement's goal is to sufficiently cut carbon emissions to keep the average global temperature increase below 2 degrees. That's to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Scientists say achieving that goal will limit rising sea levels from expanding water and melting ice sheets. But it's already too late to prevent it.
(on camera): Scientists say even if some of the best-case forecasts prove accurate, this big impressive piece of infrastructure still has a limited shelf life. Sea level rise means long before the end of this century it'll have to be replaced by a new, bigger, hugely expensive barrier further downstream.
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BLACK (voice-over): These 10 yearly forecasts show what will happen to London if it doesn't have a barrier and the world doesn't act quickly to cut emissions. By 2100 wide areas of land along the Thames turn blue. Within another 200 years, the river swallows much of central London.
But this advanced inland city, with vast money and resources, managing rising sea levels will be an extraordinary challenge. While around the world, small islands, coastal cities and river delta communities will be making due without those advantages -- Phil Black, CNN, London.
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GORANI: And thanks for joining us. I'm Hala Gorani. I'll be back with my show in two hours. And meanwhile "THE EXPRESS" is ahead.
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