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At Least Three Killed In Montana Train Derailment; Germany Votes; U.S. House To Vote Monday On Infrastructure Bill; Global Rallies Call For Urgent Action On Fossil Fuels; Taliban Display Bodies Of Alleged Kidnappers; Police Make Arrest In Nessa Murder Investigation; Canary Islands Volcano In New Explosive Stage; Team USA Holds Lead In Ryder Cup. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 26, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow live in Atlanta.

Coming up on the show, the end of an era in Germany. Right now voters are choosing Angela Merkel's successor after a 16 year run.

Plus infighting in his own political party is threatening to derail the U.S. president's multitrillion dollar spending plan.

And in Afghanistan, the Taliban create a shocking display in an effort to deter crime, four alleged kidnappers hung and on full display in one of the country's largest cities.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: Stories in just a moment but we do begin with breaking news.

Emergency crews are on the scene of a passenger train derailment near the U.S.-Canadian border in rural Montana. The Amtrak train was traveling westward to Seattle from Chicago. And it went off the tracks.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are en route to the scene. This is the scene afterwards. These images showing multiple train cars on their sides, with rescue personnel at work.

What appears to be passengers are also, as you can see, standing by. Authorities say three people were killed and a number of others injured. According to Amtrak there were more than 140 passengers, 16 crew on board at the time of this derailment.

The railway says they are working with authorities to transport the injured and continue to evacuate others.

Megan Vandervest was a passenger on that train that derailed, she joins me now from Montana.

Megan, you seem to have had a lucky escape. Tell me what car you were in and tell me what happened.

MEGAN VANDERVEST, DERAILED TRAIN PASSENGER: Yes, so I was actually in the second sleeper car on the train. And we had actually gone back to our room from one of the viewing cars to take a nap. So I was actually asleep when the train derailed.

So I awoke to it derailing. And I would describe the experience as kind of extreme turbulence on an airplane but louder. And there was a lot of smoke smell and it was -- the first thought I had when I woke up was, oh, my God, we are derailing.

And immediately after I was like, that's crazy, we are not derailing. And it was probably 10 or 15 seconds of rocking back and forth and tons of noise and then we came to a stop. And then we didn't know what was going on for a couple of minutes. It was just silent. And there wasn't really any instruction. So we stayed in our room.

And they came around and we are still trying to figure out what was going on and the train probably derailed, my guess is, around 4:15. And within 10 minutes, we evacuated our cars. So we were off the train.

And it wasn't until we got off the train and we knew the extent of it. We thought maybe the car behind us had slightly come off or something like that. But it ended up being much, much worse and a lot more jarring to see, when we got off the train.

So --

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CURNOW: Just for our audience, the images we are playing, some of them were photographs that you took. Just talk us through.

VANDERVEST: Yes.

CURNOW: So you got off the train, talk us through the photographs. This is them that you took, explain to us what we are seeing.

VANDERVEST: So when we got off the train -- and initially we saw just our train, the first 4 or 5 cars and the one behind our -- the car behind ours was slightly off. And then the car behind that was in between 2 sets of railroad tracks. And the one behind that one had completely tipped over and fallen over.

That was the most shocking part, like immediate shock when we got off because we didn't know anything that significant had happened. And when we came around, ambulances were blocking our view further on.

By the time we crossed, if you look about 100 yards down, there were three cars that were completely tipped over. And that was completely, completely jarring.

[03:05:00]

VANDERVEST: And from then on it was a lot of chaos. The reaction from passengers was mixed. There was a wide range of ages and stuff. So --

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CURNOW: You are all talking to each other. There were fatalities.

And was there confusion? Was anybody trying to find each other?

Give us a sense of what you were saying to each other.

VANDERVEST: It was chaotic. To be honest, when we got off, obviously the image of it, you knew there was going to be injuries but we didn't like visually see any for ourselves. But there were people very concerned about their loved ones.

And some people had passengers in coach while they were in sleeper cars. Overall, the mood was very disconnected and I think a lot of people trying to process what happened and not really understanding, especially people who were in cars that were tipped over. They were coming out of it and not knowing what to think and how to process.

CURNOW: Just kind of confused by the experience and probably in shock.

VANDERVEST: Totally.

CURNOW: Megan, I appreciate you joining us here on CNN. You've had quite a day. You deserve some rest. Thank you very much for sharing your story.

VANDERVEST: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

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CURNOW: To Germany now, where it's 9:00 in the morning and the dawn of a new era. Voting is underway determining Angela Merkel's successor after 16 years in office. It has major implication for the future of Germany and Europe broadly.

Since becoming chancellor in November of 2005, Ms. Merkel has been one of the most powerful women in the world. She's the de facto leader of the E.U. and a symbol of stability across the continent. But it's unclear who's likely to fill her shoes, with polls showing the race is just too close to call.

Let's go straight to Fred Pleitgen, standing by in Berlin.

Too close to call, what's happening right now where you are?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, good morning. So I've been at three polling stations already this morning and you can see the one behind me is still quiet. That could be deceiving because we are right next to the route of the Berlin marathon, happening here as well. Doesn't make it easy for people to go to polling stations like this

one. But I was in two other polling stations. On the outskirts of Berlin, it was pretty full, despite the fact that we are only about an hour into the voting taking place in Germany today.

I think one of the reasons is that this race is so different. For the first time in 16 years, the next chancellor will not be Angela Merkel. You will not have a blowout victory by Angela Merkel, which is what you had in the past.

And in the past couple of days, Robyn, you have seen the candidates push into overdrive, simply because the race is too close to call.

Armin Laschet from the CDU, he was down in the polls. He's from Angela Merkel's party. It's too close to call at this time. But it is a difficult one for Angela Merkel's party to retain power and the put forward the coming chancellor candidate as well.

Olaf Scholz, he was at a campaign event yesterday as well. When you speak to the Social Democrats, you see that they are quite confident. Now they say they have to try essentially to make it across the finish line in first place.

One of the things that we have, been talking about, Robyn, has been the environment. And that's one of the reasons why we expect the Green Party to have a very, very strong showing today.

It looked for a while that the Green candidate Annalena Baerbock could actually become chancellor. She's dropped behind a little bit but it's still going to be a very exciting election today here.

CURNOW: It's exciting also because it's about quantifying Germany's past, the last 16 years, and figuring out who will fill Angela Merkel shoes, which will definitely not be an easy task.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

CURNOW: She has been a big part of many Germans lives.

So who is out there?

Who can best fill them?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's obviously one of the big things that voters here will decide. But I think one of the things that especially Olaf Scholz has tried to do, the candidate for the Social Democrats, he has tried to portray himself as what Americans would call presidential.

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PLEITGEN: He announced his candidacy early on, the party was behind him very early on. He put himself forward as that next person who could feel Angela Merkel's shoes, potentially. Whether or not he does make it, it would viewed the same way in the European Union or the international stage. That is still very much up for debate. He's been in politics for a long time but certainly not someone who's been very loud on the international stage.

But you are correct, Robyn, to say that this has been a pivotal time for the country. It's been prosperous years for Germany. But people realize that social and green reforms are needed as well.

And what is Germany's role going to be on the international stage going forward?

That's going to be a key question for the next chancellor in office after this next era of Angela Merkel comes to a close.

CURNOW: Good to see you, you are going to have a busy day, we will check in with you.

Fred Pleitgen there.

I want to go to Julian Reichelt, the editor-in-chief of the German newspaper "Bild."

Also a busy day for you.

JULIAN REICHELT, EIC, "BILD": Good morning, Robyn.

CURNOW: Fascinating time for Germany. As I was saying to my colleague, this is about quantifying Angela Merkel's leadership.

What is the big takeaway as people try to ponder the future?

Is it looking back over the past 16 years as well?

REICHELT: The big takeaway today is that, after a very solid era of Angela Merkel election victories, this is a completely different race. And it's a completely fragmented landscape.

Just to give you an example, when Angela Merkel became chancellor, she won something like 38 percent in the polls. And you would lose an election back then with 37 percent.

Today, the next chancellor, whoever that will be, will win with something like 23 percent or 25 percent. So for the first time in German history, only a fourth of the country will actually have voted.

This time it's only a fourth and that's because there are so many topics that divide Germany. There is the debate between climate and, for example, jobs in the German car industry.

There was a devastating flood here in Germany that was handled very badly by the government. And it turned many people away from the governing party.

So as I mentioned, there is immigration, there are so many topics, over the past years, that Angela Merkel always portrayed under her leadership as a uniting leadership. That has actually driven Germans apart.

And that is what you will see in election results today, with, probably, six parties making it into parliament and a fragmented party landscape.

CURNOW: So if you were a betting man, who would you bet will be the next chancellor?

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REICHELT: I am a betting man. And while the polls are very close, in fact, just a few kilometers away, it's actually too close to call. But we still have to say that Olaf Scholz had the lead, from the Social Democrats, who did a fine job of portraying himself as the legitimate successor of Angela Merkel.

He ran as a male Angela Merkel. And I think I would put my money on him.

CURNOW: What about Germany's role in Europe and in the world?

In the last 16 years, Germany has gone from the sick man of Europe to this economic powerhouse, to Angela Merkel's bastion of liberal ideas.

What does it mean about the way Germany's going to fit into this very shifting and divided Europe and divided world?

REICHELT: We've gone from sick man of Europe to powerhouse economically. But if you look at foreign policy, just recently in Afghanistan, Germany is basically still absent without leave.

Angela Merkel has refused to position Germany in a way that would match our economic strength. She has never been, when it came to the big foreign policy debates, and we had the debates over the past weeks, obviously -- and you wouldn't know from a American presidential race -- and foreign policy questions were completely absent.

It almost felt like Germany is the only country in the world where you were listening to that debates. And all the candidates were quite comfortable that there weren't foreign policy questions.

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REICHELT: It would be hard to describe Germany's foreign policy role because there really wasn't one in the past. Years

CURNOW: That's fascinating. You talk about Germans being divided over the issues, whether climate, jobs or immigration. These are hot button issues.

What is the turnout like?

How invigorated, how connected are Germans to actually going out and vote? Because we also know the enthusiasm levels tell you a lot as well.

REICHELT: I think we have been living for the past two years in the most politicized times I have ever experienced in covering politics. That, of course, was in part because of corona, because of different COVID policies. People are very passionate about that.

So it at times became very politicized, jobs, climate, immigration, then COVID on top of that. I would predict probably record turnout for this election, roughly around 75 percent.

And interestingly, it will be a huge mail ballot turnout. And that makes it almost impossible to predict and call this race, because, in the past, the mail-in ballot was more or less a thing for the elderly, people who wouldn't be able to go to the polling stations.

Now this has shifted. It used to be something that would go for the conservative level. It has shifted to the center left, where people who are very concerned about COVID, they don't go to the polling stations as much. That is the main factor that makes it so difficult to predict this result. Overall turnout will be good.

CURNOW: Great. We will speak to you again, it's certainly fascinating, implications not just for Germans but also for Europe and also shifting alliances. Julian Reichelt, always great to get your analysis.

REICHELT: Thank you, Robyn.

CURNOW: Congress and the White House are coming down to the wire with a plateful of spending bills. We have that story also.

Two Canadians returning home after three years in Chinese prisons. We talk about both of these stories which happened concurrently.

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CURNOW: This could be a make-or-break week for President Biden's economic agenda. U.S. lawmakers only have a few days to pass critical legislation worth trillions of dollars. The top priority is to avoid a government shutdown on Friday when federal agencies technically run out of money.

In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants a House vote on Monday on an $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that has already passed the Senate. But a much larger $3.5 trillion dollar spending bill is facing opposition from some of the more moderate members of the Senate, such as Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema.

Progressives are resisting making any further cuts to the bill passed by the Senate. One Democrat told CNN, we have been the ones constantly giving away in order to keep on track. Now it's time for our priorities to be the focus.

The political stakes are high for the White House. We get more now from Arlette Saenz.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden spending the weekend at Camp David, as his legislative agenda is making a make-or-break week. Speaker Pelosi told her colleagues that she wants to see both the bipartisan infrastructure proposal and that sweeping $3.5 trillion economic agenda reaching the House floor this week, as they are hoping to advance the president's priorities.

President Biden spoke with Speaker Pelosi and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer on Friday. And they talked about the future and way forward on both of those measures.

The president has acknowledged that Democrats have been at a stalemate. But he also says he is learning more about what the moderates are hoping to see with that larger package, since many are opposed -- some are opposed to that 3.5 trillion dollar figure.

The president is expected to the return to the White House on Sunday and could possibly hold other meetings with lawmakers heading into the week as well as make phone calls, hoping to get this agenda across the finish line -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, The White House.

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CURNOW: Natasha Lindstaedt teaches government at the University of Essex and joins us now from Colchester.

Our next guest joins us now from cole Chester.

You heard that the president needs to get this across the finish line.

Do you think that they will?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: I think they have to. I don't think they have a choice. They will get punished in the midterms if they don't do anything.

I think this is different from the 2010 midterms, where the Democrats did pass the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare, and they were punished.

And that was because the act had more controversy around it, although now it is popular. These bills are actually popular with the majority of Americans, if you look at any of the surveys taken on this, but particularly the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

And I think Biden has been trying to bridge the gap between progresses and moderates to try to ensure that they can get both bills passed.

The danger is in the House, if there are just even three Democrats in the House that don't support that infrastructure package, then it's not going to pass because the Republicans have been instructed to not support it, even though it was originally a more bipartisan bill.

So it's really make-or-break and I think because the stakes are so high, I think it will go through.

CURNOW: The story here, it's about this division within the Democrats, isn't it?

LINDSTAEDT: Yes, and this is something that Biden has had difficulty contending with.

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LINDSTAEDT: He's been used to making deals through long-term relationships, where there has been a lot of trust building. And that's how he's been able to make things happen in his long experience in the Senate.

You have a lot of new congress people who don't have these long term relationships. You have the progressive caucus, which has 96 members. And they really want to fight for a much bigger -- they want to fight for much bigger change in the U.S.

And they don't want these watered down policies to continue. And they feel that if they don't stand up for this, then nothing really is going to happen. And --

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CURNOW: -- in trying to be inflexible on that, are they shooting themselves in the foot and creating no movement?

LINDSTAEDT: Right, that's the issue, because the $3.5 trillion social safety net package will not pass unless there are some changes made because Joe Manchin, the Democrat from West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat from Arizona, have made it clear they are not going to support the package in its current form. That's the reality.

And though this watered down version may make some progressives upset, the bill is in danger of not passing at all. There is room for compromise here. They could decide to restrict the eligibility for some of the social care packages, they could decide to limit the number of years that they fund it.

Then they also have to have discussions about how much they are going to have to tax people and corporations in order to get this bill passed. So there is room for negotiation but it won't pass in its current form.

CURNOW: For President Biden, though, this is huge. This is about his domestic agenda, about what he sees as the future of America.

LINDSTAEDT: Right. This is a big -- his agenda. This is what it's all about, the biggest spending package since World War II. And he sees that the way out of the U.S.' dire economic situation at the moment. And also in order to fight climate change, bring people out of poverty, it's through a huge, ambitious spending program.

It's not going to happen if one of these bills or both of these bills aren't able to get through Congress. So he knows this is important.

That's why he has been holding these long meetings with both the progressives and moderates to try to find some sort of common ground because, if it doesn't work, they will get punished in the midterms. We know that this is what is likely to happen.

We already see the governor race going on in Virginia, that, as Biden's popularity dips -- and right now it is below 50 percent, so he's struggling at the moment -- that does impact some of these other races.

CURNOW: Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much for your analysis, certainly a critical, critical week for the White House. Appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So after nearly 16 years in power, Angela Merkel is stepping down.

Ahead on CNN, what's ahead for her country as German voters head to the polls?

Plus, the Taliban have put bodies of alleged criminals on display, as a warning in a move that looks more like the Taliban of old, in contrast of the more moderate version they claim to be. That story is coming up.

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CURNOW: Welcome back, it's 31 minutes past the hour, I'm Robyn Curnow live in Atlanta.

Our top story this hour, German voters are headed to the polls right now in an election to determine who succeeds Angela Merkel as chancellor. She stepping down after nearly 16 years in power.

The chancellor's Christian Democratic Union is hoping to stay in control but polling shows the race is too close to call. Environmental concerns have emerged as a key issue. Fred Pleitgen has been tracking all of the twists and turns.

Fred, the climate certainly a pivotal issue, isn't it?

PLEITGEN: It certainly is. And I think that was one of the big criticisms of Angela Merkel in the past 16 years, that she's been in office, that's really twofold.

On the one hand, its climate policy itself, to try to curb emissions from Germany's gargantuan industries.

It's also economic reforms, that would lead into that. In other words, to turn one of the biggest industrial economies in the world into a green economy, that's a pretty big thing for Germany to do.

Germany, for a long time has relied on these heavy industries, automobile and steel industries, giant industrial sectors in large parts of the country. And it's very difficult for Germans to pivot to something new.

Nevertheless, German voters understand it's something that needs to be done and they are demanding action. And they want action to happen fast.

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): It was a moment when the global climate emergency became a deadly serious issue for Germany. Flash flooding this summer in the country's west, killing dozens and destroying entire towns. The moment the environment became one of Germany's most pressing concerns, says Swen Hutter, from Berlin's Free University.

SWEN HUTTER, FREE UNIVERSITY BERLIN: We've seen now a steady rise, especially after the flux now in the summer, where we are we are back to 50 percent, saying climate is a top issue.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): An issue that can make or break candidates. Christian Democratic candidate Armin Laschet dropped severely in the polls when he was caught laughing on camera while the German president spoke to flood victims.

Meanwhile, the Green Party topped the polls for a while and is still set for a strong showing with its strong environmental agenda.

ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE (through translator): And for the children, for those of you are 17, 20, it makes a massive difference who gets to lead this country in the future.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Of course, the environment hasn't suddenly become a topic for Germans, one of the largest industrial nations in the world with a massive thirst for energy, Germany has long debated a fundamental question, how to maintain the economy without destroying the ecology.

Social Democratic front-runner Olaf Scholz says the time to act is now.

OLAF SCHOLZ, SDU FRONT-RUNNER: Two hundred fifty years of economic development of our country and often industrial development is based on the use of fossils. If we would change this, in 25 years, this is really a big process.

[03:35:00] PLEITGEN (voice-over): Climate activists have become more vocal in recent years, spurred by a global movement to tackle manmade climate change, calling for an end to diesel and gasoline powered cars and polluting industries, the bedrock of Germany's economy.

Conservative candidate Armin Laschet says his party wants to foster innovation to help curb greenhouse gases.

"For our climate policies, we want to invest in innovation and market economy mechanisms, which, in our opinion, promise more than all the bans the SPD and Greens are planning," Laschet recently said.

In the 16 years that Angela Merkel governed Germany, the country enacted some environmental policies like ditching nuclear energy and attempted to move toward renewables. But she acknowledged that not enough has been done to fight climate change in Germany but she said that goes for many other countries as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her biggest fault is knowing all about the climate crisis and not doing anything what has to be done.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): That difficult task is now left to Merkel's successor as the German public is increasingly making clear, it wants action on climate change without further delay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: So as you can see, Robyn, all the main candidates are really keyed in on that environmental agenda. All of them have put on their own things they want to do in case they become chancellor.

There's different ways of trying to do that. You have the Green Party, which wants to put through some very forceful reforms. You have the Christian Democratic Union, who said they want to rely on innovation.

It is clear in this country, however, that reforms are needed. If you look at the environment and at social and economic reforms in this country, the last time that Germany has had a major economic and social reform was really before Angela Merkel took office.

It was in the years of the Schroeder government. And many people believe that Merkel fed off of that for a long time and led to some of the prosperity in the country. And you can feel that, when you speak to people at rallies and polling stations, you can see that they certainly do understand that this is a country that does need to change in certain ways to try to maintain the prosperity that has been so large for this country over the past years.

CURNOW: Some political pragmatism there by people on the ground. Fred Pleitgen, always good to see you, we will check in with you in about 30 minutes. Thanks so much, live in Berlin.

Be sure to stick with CNN as we continue our coverage of Germany's historic election. It's a story we will follow throughout the coming hours here at CNN. In the next hour we will take a look at the legacy Angela Merkel is

leaving behind, as she prepares to step down. Fred mentioned quite a bit of it and how she went from an underestimated political unknown to Germany's longest serving chancellor and really the most powerful woman in the world. We have that story coming up.

But I want to turn to Afghanistan and the shocking images that show the lengths the Taliban seem determined to go to deter crime. I want to warn you, though, the video you are about to see is graphic and difficult to watch.

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CURNOW (voice-over): Look at this. Crowds gathered in Herat after the Taliban killed four alleged kidnappers and hung their bodies in different locations around the city. CNN was told that the men were accused of kidnapping by the Taliban.

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CURNOW: Arwa Damon joins us now from Istanbul.

These images are awful and disturbing but they certainly give us a sense and give Afghans a sense of who their new leaders really are.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really does harken back to the years where Taliban were previously in control of Afghanistan, things like executions and public stoning of women.

They were happening with crowds gathering to watch. That sends a chilling message throughout those who witnessed it and also those who heard about it. In this case, in particular those four men were killed as the Taliban was carrying out an operation to try to free a merchant and his son. Here is what the deputy governor had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Around 12:45, the kidnappers were confronted at a checkpoint. They clashed with our security forces, which resulted in one Taliban being wounded and four kidnappers being killed.

Thank God, the man was rescued with his son and handed to their family safe and sound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:40:00]

DAMON: Certainly this sends a message to anyone else who may be thinking about carrying out a similar crime.

The bodies of those four kidnappers were then hung in different locations in the city. This comes a month after something else slightly similar took place in another area. The city known as Mazar, there were also four alleged kidnappers who were kidnapping children. They were also killed and their bodies were dumped in a public square

again, sending a chilling message and also perhaps a warning to the population about how the Taliban may be aiming to govern Afghanistan.

CURNOW: With that in mind, what's the situation right now on the ground?

What's the humanitarian outlook?

DAMON: Very difficult, very dire; there are organizations on the ground who are trying to carry out their program. But by and large they are unable to do so. You really hear their frustration and desperation because they do know millions of people are in desperate need of humanitarian aid and children are on the brink of starvation.

And yet they are unable to service the population for a number of different reasons and, ranging from trying to navigate and Afghanistan and the landscape under the Taliban, trying to figure out what the rules and regulations are, to the plethora of challenges and getting aid into the country.

Yes, money had been pledged but not translated into actual food, medical supplies arriving in Afghanistan and into the hands of those who need them. When we talk about humanitarian assistance, it goes beyond food or water and baby milk.

It's things like getting mobile clinics and up and moving. A lot of populations were being serviced by these aid organizations live in far-flung villages. They rely on these mobile clinics for anything from basic care for children to women's needs and any number of things the population desperately need.

I was speaking to one of the leading aid organizations on the ground. The person I was speaking to is saying they want to maintain a low profile because they are not sure what the rules are at this stage. But while all of this was being figured out and talking and meeting was happening, people and children were at risk of dying and starving.

CURNOW: Arwa Damon, thanks so much, live in Istanbul.

Two Canadians are back at home. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor arrived in Calgary Saturday. You can see them landing. This is images of them. One of them then flew onto Toronto. At the same time, a senior Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, was touching down in China, which she received a red carpet reception.

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MENG WANZHOU, CFO, HUAWEI (through translator): As an ordinary Chinese citizen who had suffered the plight of being stranded overseas for nearly three years, there was never a moment when I did not feel the clear and warmth of the party, the motherland and the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Meng has been under house arrest in Vancouver, charged by the U.S. with fraud. On Friday, the U.S. says, the two Canadian men were taken from their cells, put on a plane and flown back to Canada.

Coming up, a new warning for an erupting volcano and why more dangerous explosions like this could be imminent.

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CURNOW: This just in to CNN: police have made an arrest in the murder of Sabina Nessa, a 38-year-old man was taken into custody on suspicion of murder in East Sussex earlier this morning. Police are calling it a significant development. The 28-year-old was murdered last Friday during a walk from her home to a nearby pub.

And we are getting new video of the volcano in the Canary Islands. Officials say the volcano in La Palma is getting even more dangerous. It's been erupting for a week now.

Drones flying near the volcano, show its cone has broken, opening a new explosive vent. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate as lava and ash engulf the area. Michael Holmes has the latest.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Red hot lava sears through the darkness over Spain's La Palma Island, a shocking display from afar and chaos for anyone living near the volcano.

Daylight in La Palma is time for cleaning up. Shopowners sweep away the ashes that have accumulated overnight. The volcano has spewed out thousands of tons of lava since it began erupting a week ago.

But experts say it is now in a dangerous explosive stage and a new emission vent has opened. Firefighters are evacuating more towns because of the volatility. So far about 6,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.

Spain's airport operator announced the island's airport was inoperable Sunday; too many clouds of ash and volcanic debris on the runways. Several flights were canceled, leaving some tourists stranded. Others joined the long lines at the ferry to try to leave town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I feel sad for the people who are having such a bad time. We feel very bad about what is happening.

HOLMES (voice-over): But leaving is not an easy option for some. Besides tourism, La Palma depends on banana crops to support its economy.

This farmer says his house was spared but his harvest is lost. The fruit that wasn't blackened by the heat is contaminated by volcanic dust.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is all burned. This has being completely burned by the heat and the wind. And the same goes for that over there. The bananas are completely burned.

[03:50:00]

HOLMES (voice-over): This family, living in the shadow of the volcano, all too familiar with its rumblings and the warnings that come with it. Their bags are packed and ready to go when authorities tell them to evacuate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I cannot sleep. It's constantly there. Yesterday, shock waves were reaching us and the house was shaking.

HOLMES (voice-over): Hoping against hope that their home will be safe, like this one, left untouched by a previous lava flow, when everything else around it was lost -- Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Team USA can almost taste it. They're on the cusp of victory at golf's Ryder Cup. Next, a preview as the America matchup against Europe heads into its final day.

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CURNOW: U.S. is within striking distance of reclaiming golf's Ryder Cup after losing four of the last five tournaments. The American team has a dominant lead over Europe ahead of today's final round in Wisconsin. Olympic gold medalist and San Diego native Xander Schauffele is leading the Americans after winning all three of his matches.

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[03:55:00]

CURNOW: I am Robyn Curnow, I will be back with more CNN, stay with us.