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Kim Jong-un Slams Biden Administration For "Hostile" Polices; U.S. Generals: Didn't Initially Know Kabul Drone Strike Was An Error; Afghan Economy On Brink Of Collapse Since Taliban Takeover; Jamie Spears Suspended As Britney Spears' Conservator. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 30, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:11]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Vause.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, a cunning deception. North Korea's Kim Jong-un accuses the U.S. of deceiving the world, hiding its real hostile intentions with repeated offers of peace talks.

They knew within hours; America's most senior general admits the military was aware of civilians being killed soon after a Kabul drone strike.

And victory for Britney. A judge suspends her father as head of her conservatorship but does not dissolve the arrangement which has given him total control over his daughter's life for 13 years.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un might just be trying to drive a wedge between the United States and its longtime ally South Korea.

During his address to the annual session of Parliament, the Brilliant Comrade as he's known, described recent U.S. office with peace talks as a petty trick to deceive the world about its real hostility towards the North. The South Korea Kim expressed his willingness to restore a hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang as a way to promote peace.

But there was also the usual criticism of South Korea servitude to the U.S. and a lack of resolve and independence.

State media also reports that among eight new appointees to the country's top ruling body, the State Affairs Commission is Kim Jong- un's youngest sister, Kim Yo-jong.

CNN's Will Ripley live in Taipei following the details on all of this.

So, Will, Pyongyang has been a bit like a dominant volcano of late, now it seems there are signs that there is an imminent eruption. So, connect the dots here. Where's all this heading?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It's an emotional roller coaster, John. Much like many I'm sure of our viewers relationships, it's one of those things where you're hot, you're cold.

One minute, you know, North Korea is insulting South Korean President Moon and then, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un is saying that they could restart peace talks and they could open up a dialogue. And maybe -- well, she didn't really say restart peace talks, she said they're opening -- potentially willing to reopen a dialogue if there is mutual respect.

Mutual respect, coming from the country that blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office just last year, a country that is accusing the United States of deception when it makes the offer to have dialogue without preconditions. A country that continues to develop new stronger weapons, including the one they tested on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice over): If what North Korea says is true, this may be their most dangerous weapon yet, a hypersonic missile. Analysts say it could change the military equation in East Asia and beyond.

Kim Jong-un's arsenal has exploded during his first decade in power. Analysts say the Hwasong-8 could be unlike any missile he's tested before.

Exact specifications unknown. Hypersonic missiles can fly more than five times the speed of sound. Roughly 4,000 miles an hour or about a mile every second.

At that speed, a missile could fly from Pyongyang to Washington in less than two hours. Some hypersonic weapons can theoretically fly four times faster, up to 20 times the speed of sound.

Many ballistic missiles already fly at hypersonic speeds, but they follow a set trajectory from point A to point B.

North Korea says this new missile has a hypersonic glide vehicle, making it highly maneuverable, descending on a target from a much lower altitude, experts say almost impossible to shoot down.

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN: NORTH KOREA TAKES ON THE WORLD": It would mean for instance that our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California would not work against North Korea's missiles. That means North Korea would be able to intimidate the United States.

RIPLEY: South Korea says the North's newly tested hypersonic missile is likely in the early stages of development and can still be detected and intercepted by South Korean and U.S. missile defense systems, at least for now.

JAMIE METZL, FOUNDER, ONE SHARED WORLD: We don't know yet about the full capacity of these hypersonic missiles. But when you connect these new missile capabilities, new launch capabilities and the miniaturization of nuclear weapons, it leads to the conclusion that North Korea will possibly or even likely have an increased strike capability and that's going to increase the threat that North Korea poses to countries around the world.

RIPLEY: Right now, just two nations have deployed hypersonic missiles, Russia and China. The U.S. is actively testing and developing hypersonic missile technology.

Three world powers and now, possibly North Korea, a new global arms race escalating at hypersonic speed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:05:01]

RIPLEY (on camera): Kim Jong-un quoted in North Korean state media denouncing what he calls the arms expansion by South Korea and the United States but also saying that he's willing to reopen a communication line between the North and the South that had been disconnected. That could happen really anytime in the coming days.

He just said early October, the U.S. trying to defuse the situation saying it does not have hostile intent. And it's ready for talks and anytime, that a remark coming from the State Department just a couple of hours ago.

Let's talk about Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's sister just a bit more because she did get a big promotion. It was just announced that she's now a member of the State Affairs Commission, which is North Korea's highest level executive committee, their top decision-making body, these are the closest advisors to Kim Jong-un.

And it's been an interesting sort of zigzag for Kim Yo-jong's career. She's at least 32 years old. We think she's his younger sister, and she's held offices of various levels since 2014.

She was at one point an alternate member of the North Korean Politburo, then in January, it seemed like she might have been demoted. But a lot of Korea watchers said that that apparent demotion certainly didn't diminish her political power or clout.

In fact, I'm told she's likely the second most powerful figure in the country right now just beside her brother, even though officially she is a member of this committee along with others, including a newly promoted General Pak Jong Chon. He is noteworthy because he was actually one of the people overseeing the development of these new weapons in North Korea.

So, a bit of power reshuffling, a bit of dangling in all of the branch, but also testing weapons that are highly provocative.

As I said at the beginning, John, it's a roller coaster and we are all along for the ride here to see what happens next.

Whether we like it or not, a busy day in Pyongyang. Will, thank you. Will Ripley live for us there for the very latest from North Korea.

Well, the top U.S. general says the 20-year war in Afghanistan was not lost in the last 20 days or even 20 months. Mark Milley told the U.S. House Committee among the many factors which led to the collapse of the Afghan government was the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban that set a date for full withdrawal demoralizing the Afghan army, but he said he knew six years ago the war was stalemated and unwinnable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It is clear, it is obvious to all of us that the war in Afghanistan did not end on the terms that we wanted, with the Taliban now in power in Kabul.

Although, the NEO was unprecedented, and is the largest air evacuation in history, it was a tactical operational and logistical success evacuating 124,000 people. The war was a strategic failure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: During this hearing, the top military leaders say they knew within hours the U.S. drone strike in Kabul a month ago had killed civilians but did not know it was an error until a few days after that.

CNN's Anna Coren following all of this live from Hong Kong. How do you square that circle in many ways? How do you know that civilians are killed within hours but don't realize it's an error for days?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, John, we all remember what Mark Milley said, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff who came out within days of that drone strike that killed 10 people saying that it was a righteous strike.

It was several weeks later, John, that the U.S. military finally admitted after a CNN investigation, after investigations by other news outlets that they had made this terrible mistake killing these innocent civilians.

John, we have been in touch with the family who obviously have been suffering this past month. They say that no one has contacted them from the U.S. government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN (voice over): Barking dogs and a faint call to prayer are the only sounds that punctuate the silence from this hilltop above Kabul.

Yet, the serenity and panoramic views do little to ease the souls of those who've been forced to relocate here.

ROINA AHMADI, VICTIM'S SISTER (through translator): We cannot go inside the old house because of the memories. A house full of life was turned into a graveyard.

COREN: A month ago, their world was destroyed when the U.S. military fired a Hellfire missile into the family's compound. The target, a white Toyota Corolla, with aid worker and family patriarch Zamarai Ahmadi behind the wheel. 10 family members were killed, including seven children, three of whom were toddlers.

The U.S. had intelligence the 43-year-old was an ISIS facilitator with suspected explosives in the car, posing an imminent threat to U.S. troops in the final days of the airport evacuation. After weeks of defending the strike, the military admitted their intelligence was wrong.

And then, this admission during yesterday's grilling of defense chiefs in Congress examining the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At what point General McKenzie and this is for all the three of you, at what point did you know that the strike was bad, that it hit civilians?

GEN. KENNETH MCKENZIE, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Also, we knew the strike hit civilians within four or five hours after the strike occurred. We did not know though that the target of the strike was in fact an error -- a mistake until sometime later, took U.S. a few days to run that down.

COREN: Zamarai's family says no one from the U.S. government has contacted them.

MCKENZIE: I offer my profound condolences.

COREN: The only apology they've received is by U.S. Central Command General Frank McKenzie before the T.V. cameras almost two weeks ago.

MCKENZIE: And I offer my sincere apology.

COREN: They should have passed on their condolences, asked for forgiveness directly from us, says Zamarai's brother.

For 15 years, Zamarai worked as an engineer for U.S. based NGO NEI that provided soybeans for Afghanistan's malnourished and poor. NEI based in California has had a long history with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, some of its life saving programs were funded by the State Department.

SONIA KWON, SENIOR ADVISOR, NUTRITION AND EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL: I don't know of any other job in the world where you can accidentally kill someone's entire family and then just call it a mistake.

COREN: Adding insult to injury, the U.S. military continues to maintain that the chatter they've been monitoring for 36 hours before that fateful day came from an ISIS case safe house.

CNN can confirm that the purported ISIS case safe house is the family home of NEI's country director, Dr. Walid, a pediatrician and father of three young girls and has lived here for 40 years.

DR. WALID, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, NUTRITION AND EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL: So, as you see, the laptop back --

COREN: Zamarai had stopped at the house that morning to pick up Dr. Walid's computer, which he had forgot. It was from that moment, the military began following Zamarai's car and will continue surveillance for the next eight hours before launching the strike.

WALID: I'm really shocked. Why? This house is labeled as a safe house for ISIS. It is absolutely untrue. But I do expect from the U.S. government to clear the name on my house.

COREN: In fact, Dr. Walid was granted a U.S. Green Card in 2018. It was reissued a few weeks before the strike.

He now feels under threat in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Exposed as working for a U.S. based NGO plus being falsely associated with ISIS-K and wants to leave.

The U.S. military says it's looking into reparations for Zamarai's family, but that's little comfort. NEI is engaging legal representation on behalf of the family and is also demanding their resettlement.

KWON: I just hope the U.S. government has the compassion to grant what they want, which is to resettle and I think that they really deserve this.

COREN: For the surviving children, their smiles disguise their daily anguish and pain. Relatives say they often break down in tears, asking why their siblings and cousins had to die.

There isn't a single day where we don't shed tears for them says Zamarai's sister. Nothing is more painful, and nothing can relieve our pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Now, John, other than compensation and resettlement, whether it be to the United States or to another countries, Zamarai's family is wanting justice and to make sure that this never happens again. They say the people who gave the wrong intelligence that ordered the drone strike need to be punished.

We know that there are two U.S. investigations currently underway. One by the U.S. Air Force, the other by the Defense Department's inspector general and they will obviously examine what went wrong, whether someone needs to be held accountable and what needs to change in the way that they do these drone strikes.

And remember, over the horizon warfare, this is the future of warfare in Afghanistan for the United States.

John, we reached out to the U.S. Central Command, which obviously was in charge of this drone strike. They declined to comment.

VAUSE: Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live in Hong Kong.

With the harsh winter months approaching, Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis appears set to only get worse, along with shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies.

The Taliban appears to be returning to its old ways in forcing increasingly harsh punishments for those who violate their strict Sharia law.

The economy is also on the brink of collapse, billions of dollars in aid payments, which would have covered government salaries are on hold and the U.S. has frozen $9 billion in foreign reserves held in overseas accounts which has left the country seriously short of cash.

Earlier this week at the U.N. General Assembly, the Prime Minister of neighboring Pakistan, one of the serious consequences from this crisis way beyond Afghanistan's borders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: There's a huge humanitarian crisis looming ahead. And this will have serious repercussions not just for the neighbors of Afghanistan, but it will have repercussions everywhere. If a destabilized, a chaotic Afghanistan again becomes a safe haven for international terrorist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:15]

VAUSE: Alexander Matheou is the Asia Pacific director for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is with us now from Kabul.

Alexander, thank you for being with us.

ALEXANDER MATHEOU, ASIA PACIFIC DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK, so you're back in Kabul (INAUDIBLE) for the first time after 20 years, the last time you were there, the Taliban were in control. Is it just like it used to be? I mean, is it any sign of the progress, which was made over the last two decades has survived? Or is it just back to, you know, the old days?

MATHEOU: It's definitely not back to the old days. Last time -- last time I was here, every female face was covered with a burqa, and there was a very aggressive atmosphere on the streets for any deviation for what was permitted, particularly for women. And you will physically see people being beaten on the streets in my last visit.

It's not the same now, there are some women wearing burqas more than probably two months ago, but certainly that is a minority. And the markets are functioning and no roads -- no roadblocks are very few around the city.

So, no, it's not the same as it was 20 years ago. But it's probably also not the same as it was 12 weeks ago.

VAUSE: Well, everything seems to be in short supply right now that includes drinking water. Listen to the mayor of Kabul, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANDULLAH NOMANI, KABUL MAYOR: We are well aware of the problem. There are companies that provide drinking water. And a few days back, we even talked about calling upon these companies, because we have complaints from people that the drinking water has become scarce, water level has generally decreased.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Drinking water is a pretty basic supply that governments are actually meant to provide to their nations. Is there a tipping point here when this crisis goes from a struggling impoverished country to a failed state?

MATHEOU: Well, we are quite near that tipping points, I think, although nobody can be certain exactly when it will be. What we are seeing is a combination of different pressures, some of which existed before the transition of power here in August. And some of which have happened since.

The ones -- the two main ones that were drivers of vulnerability prior to August, a drought that affected over 11 million people, devastating livestock, and that had a significant impact on access to water across the country.

And there was a lot of displacement because of the fighting, where people lost their homes, had to move in with friends or family or in camps or even on the street. And they were of course and are still (INAUDIBLE) those who have not come back are extremely vulnerable.

And then, there are the things that have happened since. And the two main ones are that the -- as you have mentioned in your report, the assets, the financial assets of Afghanistan are frozen abroad, that means that people are not getting paid, basically.

So, you are going months without a salary you and -- unless you have savings at home, that means you're struggling to buy essential foods and medicines for your family. And even if you have some savings, they are surely going to be running out in the coming weeks. So, that's a major driver of vulnerability at the moment.

VAUSE: One of the reasons for the freeze on international aid is concerns about human rights abuses, which the Taliban are well known for, as well as concerns that aid would not reach those who actually need it. Instead, going to the Taliban, I guess.

Can you guarantee the international community, the Red Cross, Red Crescent, is in total control of all of its finances, all of its resources, its humanitarian assistance is going to the people who need it most, you can direct those resources as best you see fit?

MATHEOU: So, there are different issues here that needs to be sort of highlighted at the same time. The frozen assets for the government are is government financing primarily, although some of that would have been implemented through NGOs.

The humanitarian financing is a different financing channel and both of which are very important. Now, (INAUDIBLE) point, financing that goes to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, all of all the wider International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, or many of our counterparts in the humanitarian system that is a different financing channel. And that money, we can guarantee as much as anybody can guarantee and

the fact that we accompany and monitor the implementation of the programs that we receive money for and that will be increasingly important at the moment, because the government financing is so restricted. More responsibility will go on humanitarian organizations to implement primary health services.

For example, where the Afghan Red Crescent runs over 140 clinics in this country and more and more pressure is being placed upon them.

So, that money we feel comfortable about, and the government of Afghanistan, the authorities in Afghanistan here have provided assurances that we will be able to continue to operate safely and independently identify those people in need of assistance.

[00:20:01]

VAUSE: The finance and the cash and just getting money into the country is just such a huge problem right now. It's causing a lot of pain.

Alexander Matheou, thank you for being with us.

MATHEOU: Thank you.

VAUSE: A bloodbath behind bars. When we come back, Ecuador's government trying to retake control of its prisons back from war and gangs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATHEW ROSENGART, BRITNEY SPEARS' LAWYER: It's a great day for Britney Spears. And it's a great day for justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A big day for fans of Britney Spears, and even bigger day for the popstar herself. An L.A. court sets in motion an end to her father's control over her life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Now, seems just a matter of weeks until Britney Spears is totally free of the legal hold her father has had on her life for 13 years.

Fans cheered as a Los Angeles judge suspended her father Jamie Spears as head of the conservator rather of a $60 million estate that was effective immediately. For the first time since 2008, Britney Spears is now free from her father's oversight.

From Los Angeles, here's CNN's Chloe Melas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: A major legal victory for Britney Spears on Wednesday with Judge Brenda Penny moving to suspend Jamie Spears as his role as conservator of Britney's $60 million estate. He has served as her daughter's conservator since 2008, for over a decade.

Now, Jamie Spears did not want this to happen. He actually wanted the conservatorship to be completely terminated. He filed a petition earlier this month saying so.

Now, Mathew Rosengart, Britney Spears' attorney saying in court that he believes that he actually filed that motion in an effort to not have to now hand over accounting and paperwork and basically all of his checks and balances over the last 13 years which now he has to do so.

But Mathew Rosengart spoke on Britney's behalf, saying that although she's not here today, I am her voice. Calling Jamie Spears a cruel and toxic and an abusive man saying that Britney should not have to wake up one more day with her father as conservator. The judge actually called this a toxic environment and has now appointed a certified public accountant by the name of John Zabel who's going to be temporarily stepping into this role overseeing the estate.

Now, there is another court hearing scheduled for November 12th where Judge Brenda Penny is expected to terminate this once and for all.

But in the meantime, lots of twists and turns that Britney took to Instagram to say that she is on cloud nine with this news.

Chloe Melas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A lawyer for Jamie Spears said everything he did was in Britney's best interests and he loves her very much.

To Los Angeles now and Ashley Cullins is senior business editor for The Hollywood Reporter. Ashley, thank you. Welcome to the show.

ASHLEY CULLINS, SENIOR BUSINESS EDITOR, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: OK, so, the battle now to free Britney from her father's control appears to be winding down. The legal case against her father is only getting started it seems. Here's the lead attorney for Britney Spears. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSENGART: Jamie spears and others are going to face even more serious ramifications for his misconduct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, so a certified accountant has been appointed temporary conservator for the estate, the entire arrangement was not immediately dissolved. So, does this suggest these ramifications are more likely to be a civil claim for fraud or financial wrongdoing? Or could they be criminal charges as well, which are kind of separate to these proceedings?

[00:25:06]

CULLINS: It could be either. That was Matthew Rosengart, who is a very seasoned litigator. He knows what he's doing in a civil courtroom, but he's also a former federal prosecutor.

So, he's been pretty clear that once he gets his hands on the financial books and the other documents that he hasn't had access to, he's going to look for every ounce of evidence that there was wrongdoing that he can find, and use that to either pursue civil action, which seems extremely likely at this point or hand it over to law enforcement in hopes that they will pursue criminal charges against him as well.

VAUSE: And this is why the whole arrangement wasn't dissolved immediately when her father was suspended as head of it, because they wanted to keep it intact, because if they dissolved it immediately, then there would be no evidence to go through.?

CULLINS: That's part of what we think Britney's team's motivation is for keeping it but that wouldn't have had anything to do with why Judge Penny decided to rule on their petition to suspend Jamie instead of Jamie's petition to end the conservatorship.

Quite frankly, it's just a much larger, more complicated thing to do to end the conservatorship entirely. She probably wants more time to think about it, to have an entire hearing dedicated to it.

There's nothing in California law that says what kind of evidence or how much evidence she has to consider in order to just end it, but I'm sure she wants to be careful.

VAUSE: One of a flurry of recent documentaries has alerted (PH) her father hired security firms to monitor and record her communications, to spy on her what happened in her bedroom walls without her knowledge or consent. Her father would also threaten to take away her children. There's a lot of powerful stuff here. How could this go on for 13 years?

CULLINS: Well, the same documentary mentioned NDAs. If everyone in Britney's life is agreeing to confidentiality and they're dealing with people with a lot of power and resources, then they would be afraid to come forward if they witness something that they thought was wrong. NDAs keep an awful lot of people quiet about all sorts of wrongdoing.

VAUSE: Outside the court, Britney's lawyer thanked her fans for their support. He also had a sort of a reminder of how -- of how and why this ended up in court. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSENGART: It's a great day for Britney Spears and it's a great day for justice. And there's definitely something to celebrate but it's also a solemn day.

Britney Spears has been faced with a decade long nightmare of Kafkaesque nightmare orchestrated by her father, and others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Just go back 13 years, how is it this legal arrangement actually happened in the first place? And how is it that a court can order every legal right of one individual behind into another?

CULLINS: So, first, typically, conservatorships are meant for people who don't have capacity to make decisions for themselves, either because of a permanent disability or terminal illness. They're designed for people who are no longer going to have that capacity ever. They're not going to get better at any point.

So, Britney Spears case is extremely unusual and that there hadn't ever really been anything quite like this.

At the time, she had had a couple of very public breakdowns, there were multiple 5150 psychiatric holds. And the court believed that this was necessary in order to protect her interests.

But that was a long time ago. And the conservatorship process has become really, really public through Britney's case. And that's not something people normally get to see. There are a lot of intricacies here. And once something like this is set up, it's awfully hard to get out of.

VAUSE: Clearly, I mean, for 13 years. I mean, it's incredible to think.

Ashley, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.

CULLINS: Thank you.

VAUSE: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, after 11 days of lava flow, La Palma Island is now a little bigger but the emergency not over yet. Residents warned they're still at risk. More details in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: At least 116 people have been killed during violent clashes between rival gangs inside a prison in Ecuador. Stefano Pozzebon is live this hour with the details.

[00:31:57]

Stefano, what do we know at this point?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: We know, John, that the president of Ecuador made a press release on Wednesday updating the deaths. As you said, 116 inmates were killed.

Seems clashes erupted in the Litoral Penitentiary, close to Guayaquil, which is Ecuador's biggest city and the business quarter in the -- in the Pacific coast.

But at the same time, the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, spoke a few hours ago and said at these moment -- at that moment, a few hours ago, the prison was not completely secure yet and that the death toll could still rise in the upcoming hours. They hoped that, come the morning, the prison could be completely secured.

At the same time, this is not the first time that Ecuador sees a tragic massacre. Just a few months ago, in February, 79 inmates were killed in similar clashes that are blamed by local authorities on local gangs, fighting for control of the drug routes. The very remunerative drug routes that, from Ecuador, move cocaine towards the Pacific Ocean and up to North America -- John.

VAUSE: Stefano, thank you. Stefano Pozzebon, reporting there from Bogota. Appreciate it.

Lava flowing into the ocean from a volcano in the Canary Islands has now formed what's now as a lava delta on the shoreline. Officials have warned the reaction between the lava and the water could actually cause Texas gases, or even explosions. So far, the air is still considered safe to breathe.

A team of international volcano experts has descended on La Palma to work with global scientists, as this volcano continues to erupt, now into its 11th day.

CNN's Al Goodman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL GOODMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was on the tenth consecutive day of eruptions from a volcano on Spain's La Palma Island that the red-hot lava finally reached the Atlantic Ocean. That was just before midnight, the level coming down the hill and falling off a steep cliff into the ocean.

Authorities have expected this since the eruptions began back on September 19. So an exclusionary zone was set up at sea to keep ships away, and also on land, people on the western side of the island told to shelter in place, keep the windows and doors closed because of what officials said was the danger of toxic gases coming and explosions when the lava hits the Atlantic Ocean.

By daybreak, by daylight, the extent of the damage could be seeing, with officials saying the lava is not just going underneath the surface of the ocean but forming new pieces of land. A kind of a delta sticking out in a triangular fashion from the coastline.

All of this on the western side of the island, away from the eastern side, where the airport is, which has been close on and off due to the heavy load of volcanic ash. Flights trying to get through there.

Officials say some 700 buildings had been affected by the lava flow, hundreds of them destroyed. And officials say that this could go on for several weeks, even a few more months. Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In the coming hours, a judge in London is expected to hand out a life sentence for the brutal murder of Sara Everard, who was killed back in March. Her death sparked outrage and started a national debate about women's safety and sexual assault in the U.K.

Former police officer Wayne Couzens confessed to her kidnapping and rape before strangling Everard and burning her remains.

On Wednesday, prosecutors revealed that Couzens used his police I.D. and handcuffs to get her into his car under the pretense she'd broken COVID restrictions.

They said he later used his police belt to strangle her.

During the hearing, Everard's family came face to face with Couzens for the first time. The parents asked him to look them in the eye, which Couzens could not do.

Everard's father told him, "No punishment you receive will ever compare to the pain and torture that you have inflicted on us."

Well, the British government says soldiers will be deployed in the coming days to help deliver fuel across the country, as the country grapples with a petrol supply crisis.

A reserve tanker fleet of civilians has already been launched to help increase fuel deliveries. While the government says the situation appears to be stabilizing, CNN's Anna Stewart paints a very different picture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There may be more scenes of chaos and frustration outside petrol stations across the U.K. Drivers queue for hours, hoping to get fuel.

But despite increasing optimistic tones from the government, they say the crisis is easing.

KWASI KWARTENG, BRITISH BUSINESS SECRETARY: The last few days have been difficult. We've seen large queues, but I think the situation is stabilizing. We're getting petrol into the fuel courts (ph). And as I said yesterday, that was matched by the sales. So the situation of stock (ph) is stabilizing, and we'll move our way through this.

STEWART: The sentiment is shared by the industry. A joint statement from companies, including Esso, Shell and BP, saying the situation has begun to improve, and they believe it will stabilize further in the coming days.

I haven't seen much good news on the ground here in London. And that's the case for much of the U.K. Here, there is absolutely no fuel in the special station. And that's despite on Tuesday over 30,000 liters of diesel and petrol being delivered. It ran out in less than 24 hours.

The U.K. government has announced that a reserve fleet of tankers and civilian drivers are stepping in to help, and soon in the coming days, some of the British army, they were on standby. Now, they have been activated.

And that's led some people to question why some of these measures hadn't been taken earlier, given tomorrow, this crisis will enter its second week.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

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VAUSE: When CNN NEWSROOM continues, we'll look at social media and children. From tough questions about what happens in the digital world and the impact it has in real-world lives.

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VAUSE: The head of global safety for Facebook will likely face some tough questions on Thursday about harm to children from social media. A U.S. Senate committee is armed with confidential information from a Facebook whistleblower, who says the company knows its products cause psychological issues for children.

Ahead of that hearing, CNN's Clare Sebastian spoke to some New York high school students about the intersection of the real world and the digital one.

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HANNAH KURDZIEL, SENIOR, TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL: I do think there is, like, a certain dependency. I've noticed this has behavior in myself doing home schooling.

NOAH ROBERTS, SENIOR, TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL: Yes. Just going forever and not doing anything. Not in school like you need to do, yes.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High school seniors Hannah and Noah have no time to waste. They're just weeks into their final year of high school, juggling school work, clubs, and college applications. And, social media.

KURDZIEL: I think a lot of it is just a fear of missing out, or not being as involved as your friends

SEBASTIAN: Hannah is student union president, a job she says she couldn't do without Instagram. She runs the union account. And yet, last winter, she did delete TikTok.

KURDZIEL: I would just constantly be sucked into these videos that were really appealing but didn't particularly help make me happier as a person. I think overall it has been a net positive. I've stopped worrying about the way my body looks a lot.

SEBASTIAN: These teenagers are aware of the mental health risks of social media. And as "The Wall Street Journal" recently reported, so is Facebook.

The paper said Facebook's own research in 2019 showed one in three teenage girls with body image issues felt Instagram made those issues worse. News that didn't come as a shock to teachers here.

IAN MORZAN, DEAN, TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL: So we were noticing the ill effects of oversaturation, with regards to social media, students reporting sleeplessness, all sorts of other kind of social, emotional learning challenges.

SEBASTIAN: School dean Ian Morzan says that the pandemic brought things to a head. Last year, he began running regular classes teaching students to take charge of their online presence.

MORZAN: They can really have an open discourse about what's good, what's bad, and then how do they protect themselves.

SEBASTIAN: For Hannah and Noah, 18 months of virtual school did prompt a reckoning.

ROBERTS: It made you more in control of yourself, because you had to be or else you'd get completely lost in it. I think I limit my social media to a lot of healthy stuff, actually. I follow people that inspire you, your friends.

SEBASTIAN (on camera): You guys were born in the same year as Facebook was. Do you ever worry about the long-time implications of never having known a world without social media? Or how it might have shaped you?

ROBERTS: No, I don't. Because the way you guys describe before social media doesn't sound like a fun place at all. You'd get to see more people and learn more cultures much quicker than you would.

KURDZIEL: I do worry sometimes about what it means for not only things like my attentions span, or something that I think we're facing generationally. But on a more personal level, I do worry that I've become preoccupied with maybe the way I'm being perceived by other people online. And I know that's not a healthy thing to worry about a lot.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, in Queens, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. I will be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. In the meantime, please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next.

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[00:45:11] (WORLD SPORT)

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