Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.S.-China Prisoner Swap; Arizona Electoral Audit Backfires on Republicans; Del Rio Camp under Bridge in Mexico Cleared of Migrants; Thousands Removed from U.S.-Mexico Border Back in Haiti; Oakland School Board Mandates Student Vaccinations; CDU's Armin Laschet Fights to Fill Merkel's Shoes; Tensions Beginning to Ease between Biden and Macron; London Sees Increase in Violence against Women. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired September 25, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thanks for joining me this hour. I'm Robyn Curnow.
Coming up on CNN, a diplomatic spat turned prisoner swap. Two Canadian prisoners are on their way home with a Huawei executive headed back to China.
And now forced out of the misery they tried to escape.
And it's election eve in Germany. We're live in Berlin with the race to determine who replaces chancellor Angela Merkel.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: Two Canadian men detained in China for nearly three years now are just a couple hours from touching back down in Canada. Late on Friday, the two Michaels, as they're called, Michael Kovrig on the left and businessman Michael Spavor were put on a plane.
At that same moment around the world, a senior Huawei executive was flying on a jet back to China, putting her protracted legal troubles on hold. Paula Newton has more on the reaction in Ottawa. Paula.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sheer speed and choreography of everything that unfolded, caught many by surprise. Yet, there is relief, not just with the families of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig but also with Canadian officials.
It was untenable, that Meng Wanzhou could have orchestrated a deal with U.S. authorities, by which she would return to China, even though she was under detention, here in Canada, under fairly loose restrictions. She had ankle bracelets, she was living in a multimillion-dollar mansion, that she was able to be released and go back to China but that the two Michaels would be left in China, at times, under harsh conditions.
That has included solitary and severe interrogations. With that in mind, prime minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement. I want you to listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: These two men have been through an unbelievably difficult situation. But it is inspiring, and it is good news for all of us that they are on their way home to their families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: The two Michaels are expected to arrive in Canada sometime on Saturday. And no doubt, there will be a lot of time to parse, exactly, what happened here. China always denied this had anything to do with hostage diplomacy and that it was not retaliation.
Yet how could anyone think anything but, given what has transpired here?
This is a win, as well, for the Biden administration. Joe Biden had said, the two Michaels would be treated as if they were American citizens and this, definitely, does herald some type of new era between U.S. and China relations. Or, at least, for this issue, they can put it aside and continue what is a long list of continuing tensions -- Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thank you, Paula.
I want to go straight to Taipei. Will Ripley joins us from there. I just see we got a news alert, Chinese state media saying that the two Michaels were released on bail.
What does that mean?
That's a euphemism, isn't it, that's not entirely true?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Robyn, it's the first time that they were mentioned on state media, that they were released and allowed to return back home at the same time as Meng Wanzhou.
Of course, it doesn't mention they are literally in planes, simultaneously, heading in the opposite direction as we speak about to touch down in their home countries. But China has long sought to put distance between the two Michaels, a national security criminal case, and the national security case of Meng Wanzhou, which they call a political case.
They felt her to be a political prisoner. Many and Canada around the world felt that way about the two Michaels, even though their trials went on. One was sentenced to 11 years, the other was still awaiting sentencing.
In terms of Meng Wanzhou, she's getting more coverage than the two Canadians. She posted her gratitude to the Chinese Communist Party and to her motherland, gushing with praise for their efforts, allowing her to come home. She'll arrive by 8:00 local time.
[05:05:00]
RIPLEY: She'll be getting more restricted treatment in her first couple of weeks in China than she had in the previous 1,000 days in house arrest in Canada. There in Canada, she could go outside. She had security guarding her multimillion-dollar mansion.
In China, you have to go through a compulsory quarantine, where you have to stay inside of a room, presumably alone and you can't leave. So this will actually be the most strict confinement she will have faced during the entire ordeal.
The spin in China, Robyn, is understandably that Meng is a victim of the United States and what they view as trying to contain her as an executive of Huawei, or trying to contain China militarily through the recently announced AUKUS alliance.
Taking the tensions of Meng Wanzhou or the two Michaels off the table leads to a long list of issues, whether it's trade, whether it's China's accusations that China bullies smaller places, whether it's Taiwan's air defense identification zone, whether it's using vaccine diplomacy to gain leverage in the region.
These are all issues that the U.S. and China will be going face-to- face with in the coming months and years ahead, Robyn.
CURNOW: Will Ripley live from Taipei, appreciate it. Thanks for joining us.
The former president's big lie is taking on a new life, despite a setback in what they called an audit in Arizona of last year's presidential election. The bogus procedure was based on Trump's false allegation that the election was stolen from him.
According to a final report, the so-called audit concluded that the original results stand. And the leader of the company said he even found more votes for President Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG LOGAN, CYBER NINJAS: If we take a look at the presidential race, Trump actually loses 261 votes from the official votes, Biden gains 99 and Jorgensen loses 244 votes. And again, these are all very small numbers when we're talking about 2.1 million ballots. These are very small discrepancies.
So we can say that the ballots that were provided to us to count very accurately correlate with the official canvas numbers that came through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: But election experts in both parties never had much faith in the so-called audit, that it would be credible, as Natasha Chen now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The importance of our society having faith in the election process cannot be overstated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After five months of chasing conspiracy theories. A partisan review of ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, confirms what we already knew nearly a year ago, Joe Biden won.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG LOGAN, CYBER NINJAS: The ballots that were provided to us to count in the coliseum very accurately correlate with the official canvas numbers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN (voice-over): In fact, the hand recount by Cyber Ninjas, a group with no experience auditing elections showed Biden with 99 more votes and Trump with 261 fewer votes than the official Maricopa County canvass.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason we know Joe Biden won is because we had the right people counting the ballots in the first place and the second place and the third place.
People who knew what they were doing were totally objective, not these knuckleheads, Cyber Ninjas, who no one had ever heard of before, who have no idea what they're doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN (voice-over): Cyber Ninjas pointed to potential discrepancies in tens of thousands of ballots it could not fully vet, saying there were inconsistencies when Maricopa County's voter registrations were compared to a commercial data company's records.
It includes heavy caveats around those doubts, noting they do not necessarily mean votes were improperly cast and says the Arizona attorney general should follow up with Maricopa County officials.
Jack Sellers, the Republican chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, tweeted, "I hope those holding on to their anger for the past 10 months will see the truth and put their energy into supporting the Democratic process instead of trying to tear it down."
This round of tearing down the Democratic process started in the spring after the county already conducted two independent audits, Cyber Ninjas was hired by the Republican-led Arizona Senate whose president insisted ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not about Trump. This is not about overturning the election. This has never been about anything other than election integrity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN (voice-over): But emails obtained by watchdog group American Oversight show her writing to her constituents that she was repeatedly in touch with both Rudy Giuliani and Trump.
[05:10:00]
CHEN (voice-over): The CEO of Cyber Ninjas, Doug Logan, has spread misinformation about election conspiracies online. Their hand count involves changing methods at times, with ballots spinning on lazy Susans, workers using UV lights hunting for watermarks and bamboo fibers, while at one point a different kind of carnival was actually set up outside.
In Cyber Ninjas' final act, their draft report included a slew of legislative suggestions, teeing up conversations about more restrictive voter laws.
CHEN: Initially during the three-hour presentation, the people inside, Trump supporters, were hanging on to every word being said.
Now also during the presentation, election officials at Maricopa County were live tweeting, fact-checking point by point, explaining how election processes actually work.
Now the Arizona president has sent a letter to the state attorney general, a Republican also running for U.S. Senate, asking him to consider an investigation based on this final report -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks. Natasha Chen there.
One local Republican leader is not on board with Trump's election lie. Bill Gates is the vice president of Maricopa County's board of supervisors. He said his party should not only move on and also push back against Mr. Trump's lie. This was his reaction to it all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL GATES, MARICOPA COUNTY SUPERVISOR: I was very pleased to hear that the count of the ballots by the Cyber Ninjas came out almost exactly as the count came out for Maricopa County. That was very encouraging.
I was frankly surprised by that. But what I was discouraged by is the fact that this afternoon long hearing, that you've been hearing about, is basically the Cyber Ninjas -- it's like we're watching reruns on TV.
These are the same sorts of things that they've been throwing out there for months, half truths, misinformation and allegations that have already been debunked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Well, the former president is still clinging to his false election fraud claims, despite what the Arizona audit says. Shortly after a draft of the report was released, Trump issued this misleading statement.
"The audit has uncovered significant and undeniable evidence of fraud. This is a major criminal event and should be investigated by the attorney general immediately."
To be clear, no election fraud was found. And Mr. Trump's efforts aren't stopping with Arizona. Texas, as we know, has begun an election audit in four counties after Mr. Trump published a public letter to the state's Republican governor.
This is despite the fact Mr. Trump won Texas and no false claims have been reported.
And a U.S. congressional committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riots has also issued its first round of subpoenas. The targets, four allies and aides of Donald Trump, including his former adviser and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The group is being subpoenaed for private depositions and records. Investigators want to know what these staffers knew before the insurrection and what they witnessed during it. Key committee member Adam Schiff explains why these four Trump loyalists were chosen to receive the first subpoenas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: On January 5th, on January 6th, they were in communication, some of them with each other, others with the president.
And we want to know what was the administration aware of in the run-up to January 6th, what did they know about the propensity for violence among those that were being rallied to come to this Stop the Steal event, as the president's campaign billed it.
What was going on at the Pentagon. And this will help us fill out the picture of what led to that bloody insurrection. And we need to know all of the facts in order to be able to protect the country going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Well, the chairman of the Select Committee tells CNN that criminal contempt is on the table if those subpoenaed do not cooperate.
Still ahead, the U.S. clears out a migrant camp, criticized as being inhumane and deplorable, what President Biden had to say and what lies for those seeking a better life.
Plus, booster doses can now go into the arms of those who qualify. We'll find out why the CDC actually broke with their own advisers to allow millions more people to get the shot.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: It's 18 minutes past the hour. I'm Robyn Curnow, live in Atlanta. Thanks for joining me.
Now the massive migrant camp in Texas at the U.S. border with Mexico has been cleared out. No one remains under the bridge in Del Rio. At its peak, as you can see here, 15,000 Haitians were packed underneath in squalid conditions.
The treatment they received sparked international outcry. President Biden had strong words for those responsible for confronting the migrants on horseback.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's outrageous. I promise you, those people will pay. They will be an investigation underway now and there will be consequences. There will be consequences. It's an embarrassment.
But beyond an embarrassment, it's dangerous, it's wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It sends the wrong message at home. It's simply not who we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: The U.S. says about 12,000 of the migrants who crossed there will have their cases heard by an immigration judge. But thousands of others have already been deported back to Haiti with many more removals pending. They hoped to escape crises dating back years in Haiti. Melissa Bell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Junior, his wife, Elianne, and their 2-year old were deported to Port-au Prince on Tuesday, seven years after the couple says they left in search of a better life. They're now staying with friends, the three sharing a single bed, not much but more comfort than they've known for several months.
[05:20:00]
BELL (voice-over): When work dried up in Brazil in June, where they'd been given asylum, the family headed north through 10 countries, some of it by bus but much of it on foot.
Elianne, though, says that the worst was arriving in the United States. As they arrived, she said, everything they had, including toothpaste and soap, was taken away from them.
She says the worst was when they were cooped up inside the prison.
"We thought they would free us," she says, "but they shackled us instead. Seeing my husband shackled was the worst. Then they handcuffed the women and they put us on the plane. My baby was crying and I couldn't even hold him. And that was what made me cry."
The family gives us a tour of the neighborhood they find themselves back in. Junior says that Port-au Prince is worse now than when they left. I asked him if it is the insecurity that has worsened. He laughs and tells me there is no security in Haiti.
The assassination of the country's president and the aftermath of a 7.2 earthquake in August, just some of the dismal conditions forcing families to embark on the grueling trek to the U.S. border with Mexico.
BELL: And yet, the flights keep on coming, seven in all arriving here in Haiti just this Friday, some here at Port-au-Prince, others at the airport in Cap-Haitien in the very north of the country. The logistics, almost impossible to deal with, says the International Office for Migration, given the sheer number of people being deported.
BELL (voice-over): Back to a place they desperately wanted to leave. The dream of finding a better life in America ends here, back on Haitian soil, with a handout of $100, a hot meal and a ride to the bus station provided by the IOM.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are going to suffer now. You see all those people being deported to Haiti, including women and children's. There are no jobs in there is nothing here. What are those people going to do?
BELL (voice-over): That's the dilemma facing thousands of migrants forced to return to a country the U.S. special envoy to Haiti called "a collapsed state" before he resigned on Thursday.
A small group of people turned out in Port-au Prince to protest the deportations, a show of dissent but little help to the migrants, still being flown back to Haiti, returning to the many problems they thought they'd left behind -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Port-au-Prince.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Pharmacies around the U.S. are now scheduling Pfizer booster doses for those who qualify. CVS and Walgreens are making extra doses available following CDC clearance early Friday morning.
But the nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Americans shouldn't be tempted to run out and get the shot before they do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: There is an immunological reason why it is important to wait. You know if you allow the immune response to mature over a period of a few months, you get more of a bang out of the shot as it were and enhancement of your antibodies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Well, Nick Watt has more on the rollout and who qualifies to get the booster dose. Nick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The booster shot is free and easily accessible.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And the rollout ramps up today.
BIDEN: When to start the shot and who will get them is left to the scientists and the doctors.
WATT: For now, only those who got the Pfizer vaccine and not all of them. The CDC now recommends these people should get a booster at least six months after their second shot, everyone 65 and up and 50- to 64-year olds with underlying medical conditions.
Also, these people may get the booster, 18- to 49-year olds with underlying medical conditions and adults at increased risk of infection in their occupational or institutional setting.
The CDC's vaccine advisers did not vote in favor of that last group.
DR. PABLO SANCHEZ, PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS: We might as well just say give it to everybody 18 and older.
WATT: The CDC director disagreed.
Why?
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Our health care systems are once again at maximum capacity in parts of the country. Our teachers are facing uncertainty as they walk into the classroom. It was a decision about providing rather than withholding access.
WATT (voice-over): Meantime, more than 70 million eligible Americans still haven't had their first COVID-19 vaccine shot.
BIDEN: The refusal to get vaccinated costs all of us. I'm going to move forward the vaccination requirements wherever I can.
WATT (voice-over): Here in California, the Oakland school board just voted in favor of a vaccine mandate for all eligible students 12 and up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The infections have been really disruptive.
WATT (voice-over): California is considering something similar state wide.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The decision will be made over the course of the next few days. We have a lot of partners with 1,050 school districts in the state of California, the largest school system in the United States.
[05:25:00]
WATT (voice-over): In Rural Randolph County, Georgia, volunteers staged a voluntary vax to school event last weekend.
SANDRA WILLIS, ORGANIZER, NEIGHBOR 2 NEIGHBOR: I don't know why people are not caring enough for their child to get them vaccinated.
WATT (voice-over): In New York, there's a Monday deadline for teachers and health care workers to get at least their first shot. Thousands haven't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is looming for Monday is completely avoidable. And there's no excuses.
WATT: So the Pfizer booster shots are rolling out.
But what if you're one of the more than 80 million Americans who got Moderna or Johnson & Johnson?
Well, the surgeon general says, "Don't worry; your health matters just as much as everybody else. Over the coming weeks, we're going to gather and analyze data for those two vaccines. Hold tight. Be calm. Your time will probably come." -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks, Nick, for that.
So as you just heard, the CDC director's break with her advisers comes at a time when it's certainly confusing to many Americans. Well, she explained it to Erin Burnett.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I have this exceptional group of scientific advisors and there were four votes yesterday.
And there was real enthusiasm, in fact, unanimity for some of the votes to recommend boosters for people who are at high risk, people over the age of 65, people in long-term care facilities, people at high risk of severe disease because of their comorbidities.
I listened intently two hours of deliberation, scientific deliberation and this last one was simply a close call.
Some people really voted for, the vote was 6-9, saying with enthusiasm to say our health care workers, our frontline workers, people who are vaccinated early, people who work in congregate settings, in correctional facilities, grocery workers, really do merit the vaccine.
And there were some people who gave reasons that they were thinking that we should wait.
So the question wasn't yes or no, the question was wait or do now. If I had been in the room, I would have voted yes. And that is where I absolutely took the advice of my advisors. But on this one, I voted to - I recommended that we make vaccines available for this group.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: You're basically saying to me that this is what you get when you get transparency and when the science is changing. So you could put it behind closed doors and you could have come out as the voice of god or we can see the sausage made and know the transparency and we got more confusion.
WALENSKY: Yes. And I would say that there was a lot of deliberation and a lot of attention watching between Friday and Thursday --
BURNETT: Yes.
WALENSKY: -- Friday of last week and Thursday. And there's a lot of scientific discussion around this. This was, as you could see with some of these votes, not all of this was a slam dunk. The science is evolving in real time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Well, Norway is about to start moving on from the COVID pandemic in real time. Starting today, most coronavirus restrictions will be no longer be in effect. More than 67 percent of Norwegians are fully vaccinated.
Officials say there's little chance of the virus getting out of control. But people who get infected still have to go into isolation.
And Sweden is lifting its advice to Swedes avoiding all necessary foreign travel making it easy for them to head abroad. Sweden's global traveling advisory was launched in 2020 but the ministry says the situation has improved so it's lifting the advice on October 1st.
This applies only those traveling from Sweden. An entry ban into the country is still in effect for most non-E.U. countries and the U.S. And Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's son has tested positive for
COVID after being in New York. He was the second member of the Brazilian delegation to the U.N. General Assembly to test positive after that trip.
Throughout the pandemic, President Bolsonaro has publicly denounced many COVID regulations, including health passports. On Friday, his son was tweeting his positive results as another argument against a health passport.
And coming up here on CNN, election eve in Germany, the latest on the vote to determine who replaces Angela Merkel as chancellor.
Plus, an Afghan imam is calling out those who helped foreigners before the takeover. We'll have his disturbing message in a report from Kabul, coming up.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It's 33 minutes past the hour. I'm Robyn Curnow.
So in just one day, Germany goes to the polls for its federal election that will determine who will succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. Her conservators are looking to stay in power but the Social Democrats or even the Green Party could come out on top.
In her 16 years as leader, Angela Merkel oversaw a remarkable economic turnaround for Germany, which went from being the so-called sick man of Europe to the continent's largest economy.
Ms. Merkel also helped to expand massive job opportunities for women and took in refugees. Between Brexit and COVID, she remained a strong leader in unprecedented times. But there has been criticism of her leadership, notably for not embracing more greener and more digital initiatives.
Fred Pleitgen joins me on this crucial day.
And you're in a pretty iconic spot there.
This is a big election in Germany history, isn't it?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're right. It's a very big election, in part because Angela Merkel is no longer on the ballot and it's the first time in post WWII Germany where the incumbent is not actually on the ballot and isn't running in the election.
It's certainly something that I would say is unprecedented and where we have excitement in the year. One of the other things you mentioned is definitely key in all of this, it's absolutely impossible to determine who the front-runner currently is.
[05:35:00]
PLEITGEN: You have the Green Party that's set for an extremely strong showing. You have the Social Democrats ahead in the polls because their main candidate, Olaf Scholz, is saying he's the most like Angela Merkel. And then the Christian Democrats are really struggling despite being Merkel's party. Let's have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): It seemed almost fitting that one of Armin Laschet's final major rallies, happened in severe rain. The center right Christian Democratic candidate's campaign has been marred by difficulties. Angela Merkel, even stepping off the sidelines to try to help him win votes.
"The (INAUDIBLE) of this parliamentarian, this chancellor," he said at the rally in Germany's north, "we will do everything to continue on this, work in the coming years. We ask for your trust, this coming Sunday."
He has been trailing in the polls and struggling to mobilize Germany's conservative base.
PLEITGEN: It certainly is an uphill battle to try and decide this election in his favor. Over the past couple of weeks, he has mobilized German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is still vastly popular in this country, trying to drum up extra support.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Center left social Democratic candidate, Olaf Scholz, who was also Germany's finance minister, currently, is ahead in the polls. He is portraying himself as being serious and diligent, just like Angela Merkel.
Some felt Laschet was punching above his weight, trying to become popular as chancellor but he also made what many Germans perceived to be, some unforced errors, like getting caught, on camera, laughing, while visiting victims of massive floods in western Germany.
JULIAN REICHELT, EIC, "BILD": Armin Laschet made it easy for the people who somewhat disliked him to explain why they disliked him and why they wouldn't vote for him. That, I think, could become the fatal effect in this campaign.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Laschet's been trying to get his campaign on track by saying, only the conservatives can ensure a strong German economy and promising strong foreign and defense policies.
"We saw in Afghanistan, that once the Americans leave, we can't even secure Kabul airport. That is why I want to install a National Security Council, within the chancellery," Laschet said.
So while he hasn't managed to close the gap with Olaf Scholz, most polls have the race too close to call, giving hope to Germany's conservatives that they may, yet, retain the chancellery, even after Angela Merkel steps down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: That's one of the things that makes this election so exciting, it simply is much too close to call. Also very important, one thing, more than ever before, no one is going to become the chancellor of Germany unless they have a very strong green agenda. That's why the Green Party is actually in line for a strong showing.
Also each one of the three candidates have all said that they want Germany to be strong in the European Union, a strong partner in NATO and want to maintain strong transatlantic with the United States.
CURNOW: Thanks for that, it's going to be a busy day, Fred Pleitgen live in Berlin.
A quick programming note, tune in for the CNN special coverage of the German federal elections. Join Hala Gorani, Fred Pleitgen and Salma Abdelaziz, as they bring us the latest. Join us Sunday, 11:55 am in New York and 5:55 pm in Berlin.
And the U.S., Japan, India and Australia have solidified their commitment to a free and open Indo Pacific region. They met on Friday for the first in-person meeting of the Quad. While China was not mentioned by name, the countries share concern over the nation's expanding influence in Asia. The Australian prime minister emphasized how the democracies stand together to overturn the region's challenges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: There is no part of the world that is more dynamic than the Indo-Pacific at this time, a region that has extraordinary opportunity, wide diversity, great wealth but many challenges that must be overcome.
And we see the role of our nations, we see our home in the Indo- Pacific as the place that we wish to focus on to ensure that our peoples can realize everything they want for themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Well, the group also said that they are making progress on commitments to combat COVID, climate change and emerging technologies.
Meanwhile, tensions appear to be cooling between the Biden administration and France, after the American-British-Australian security deal that led to a week-long diplomatic spat.
[05:40:00]
CURNOW: The two presidents have spoken to each other but the French foreign minister said it will take time to repair the wounds. People close to President Biden said he was caught off guard by France's anger after it lost that $65 billion contract to provide diesel- powered subs to Australia.
We're taking you to Afghanistan and disturbing words of the imam of the largest mosque. During Friday prayers he called for retribution against Afghans who work with foreigners, claiming they're spies. Nic Robertson has the latest in Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It really feels like a day of mixed messages at the principal press service Friday. At the main mosque in the center of Kabul the message was very clear. Anyone that worked and assisted with U.S. and other international governments is a spy.
Indeed, the imam saying they were outside of Islam, they were not Muslims, that there should be revenge through the religious education, meaning the judiciary. Going on to say that the United States and other countries were just in Afghanistan to exploit it for their own gain.
On the other hand, it seems contrary to this message of sort of, turning on Afghans who may be considered spies, you have a message from the defense minister, Mullah Yaqoob, the son of a Taliban founder, Mullah Omar, saying that there needs to be better discipline within the military forces and within the Taliban military ranks.
Anyone involved in killing and thieving will be investigated and will be held to account, making it clear that the Taliban fighters must be more disciplined.
So these two apparently conflicting messages from the mosque, very clearly, to the Afghan people, from the defense chief to his fighters but perhaps some essence of the message in there for the international community that they are going to double down on holding to their principles of not taking vengeance out on former government and military members -- Nic Robertson, Kabul, CNN, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks, Nic, for that.
The Pentagon's watchdog has launched its own investigation into last month's deadly strike in Afghanistan. Ten civilians, including seven children, were killed in that attack. The Defense Department's inspector general said several elements will be examined, including targeting, the damage assessment and a civilian casualty review. This will be the third military review of the strike, which the military called a mistake and has apologized.
Authorities are still looking for the fiance of Gabby Petito. Up next, the latest on the search for Brian Laundrie as Petito's family prepare for her funeral.
Plus, another London woman killed on an evening walk. What's being done to demand change in the U.K. when it comes to violence on women.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:45:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: Memorial services for Gabby Petito will take place this weekend in her home state of New York. During the week, a candlelight vigil was held for Gabby in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 22-year old was found dead last Sunday in Wyoming.
Authorities are looking for her fiance, Brian Laundrie. A federal warrant has been issued for his arrest but Laundrie hasn't been seen since last week. The search will resume in a Florida nature reserve on Saturday.
A brutal killing in London is reigniting anger over the risks women across the U.K. say they face. A candlelit vigil was held on Friday in memory of Sabina Nessa. Nessa's body was found in a park last week.
Police said she was heading to a nearby pub from her flat. Nada Bashir reports on how she's being remembered and the demands for change accompanying a community's grief.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds have gathered in the southeast London community as part of a candlelit vigil in memory of the life of Sabina Nessa.
Members of her family and other community leaders took to the stage not only to share their fond memories of Sabina but to share their outrage and shock at her murder.
It's the latest in a series of attacks against women in the British capital over this year alone and many people are calling for fundamental change to prevent cases like this from happening ever again.
BASHIR (voice-over): Another community in mourning. Another woman senselessly killed. Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old London school teacher murdered minutes from home. She was on her way to meet a friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As she walked through the park, she was approached by an individual and fatally attacked. Sabina's body was sadly found by a member of the public around 5:30 pm the following day.
BASHIR: Sabina's family have described her as a family-oriented, caring soul.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is truly the most kind, caring person out there. That she's the sweetest person, sweetest girl. I don't understand how someone can do this. I really don't. I really don't. It's just -- is a big loss to our family.
BASHIR: That shock is felt far beyond Sabina's family.
CROWD: No one deserves to die for being out at night.
BASHIR: Just over six months ago, another murder galvanized this nation. Thirty three-year-old Sarah Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a serving police officer. The brutality of her death and heavy-handed police response to protests in her honor woke many up to this epidemic.
Her killer pleaded guilty and now awaits sentencing. In this year alone, there have been at least 106 cases of women being killed by men or where a man is the principal suspect, according to Counting Dead Women, an organization which tracks femicide in the U.K.
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: We do have an epidemic when it comes to violence against women and girls. I think we need a whole system approach.
We need to make sure at a young age, our boys are taught to respect girls. I think we need to make misogyny a hate crime. I think harassment in the public space against women should be a criminal offense.
BASHIR: Women's rights organizations say these changes are long overdue.
JAMIE KLINGLER, CO-FOUNDER, RECLAIM THESE STREETS: Nothing has changed. I'm not safer than I was six months ago.
BASHIR: And that's particularly true for women of color.
KLINGLER: In the number of column mentions, the number of minutes you get on air time, it's absolutely proven that women of color do not get the same amount of coverage. And it's systemic in the society.
BASHIR: For now, the investigation into Sabina's tragic murder continues. And while many questions remain, there is little debate to be had on the fact that Sabina, like the countless women killed in the U.K. every year, should have been safe.
[05:50:00]
BASHIR: The investigation into the murder of Sabina Nessa is still ongoing and police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. Here at the vigil tonight, there were still forensic teams combing through the bushes looking for evidence.
There are many unanswered questions, people here wondering whether it is safe to walk these streets alone -- Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: You are watching CNN. We'll be right back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: Several flights to and from the Canary Islands have been canceled as a volcano erupts for a seventh straight day. Officials ordering more evacuations in La Palma.
Lava has destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, along with banana crops. So far there are no injuries or deaths.
The first day of competition in complete in pro golf's Ryder Cup and Team USA has a strong lead, thanks in part to tens of thousands of fans, and including an NBA legend cheering on the home team.
[05:55:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
CURNOW: Thanks, Patrick, for that.
I'm Robyn Curnow. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Robyn Curnow CNN. Our coverage, of course, continues. "NEW DAY" is next.
