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Deadly Attack On Denmark; Bali Reopening To Tourists; Biden Announces 90-Day Sprint To Unclog U.S. Shipping Ports. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 14, 2021 - 02:00:00   ET

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

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[02:00:21]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. And bizarre and deadly attack in Norway. Police now trying to find out why a man went on a rampage with a bow and arrow.

Severe disruptions in the global supply chain driving up prices. How the U.S. is trying to clear up the backlog at its busiest shipping ports.

Plus, 18 months without tourists but now Bali is back in business. International travelers finally allowed into Indonesia's travel hotspot.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, the holiday shopping season is just around the corner. But severe disruptions in the global supply chain and making it almost impossible for retailers to get enough merchandise to meet consumer demand. The sudden bottlenecks at ports around the world leading to tight supplies and higher prices.

And Moody's Analytics predicts it will get worse before it gets better. Border controls and mobility restrictions on availability of a global vaccine pass and pent up demand for being staggered home have combined for a perfect storm where global production will be hampered because deliveries are not made in time, costs and prices will rise and GDP growth worldwide will not be as robust as a result.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden stepped in to ease the U.S. backlog. Here is CNN's Phil Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today we have some good news. You're going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing mounting disruptions and a very real threat to holiday shopping.

BIDEN: With the holidays coming up you might be wondering if gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time.

MATTINGLY: President Biden rallying the private sector to directly take on widespread supply chain bottlenecks.

BIDEN: If the private sector doesn't step up, we're going to call them out and ask them to act.

MATTINGLY: Port of Los Angeles expanding to 24/7 operations, matching the Port of Long Beach together accounting for 40 percent of shipping containers entering the U.S. The effort targeting one major impediment even as others from trucking, to rail lines, to logistics all remain significant hurdles. Labor unions committing to provide the workforce. Companies including Wal-Mart, UPS, FedEx and Samsung pledging to expand a 24/7 operations or increased nighttime efforts.

BIDEN: Today's announcement has the potential to be a game changer. I say potential because all of these goods won't move by themselves.

MATTINGLY: All part of a dash to ease a crunch that is disrupted goods up and down the supply chain around the world. Critical piece of pandemic driven interconnected economic issues serving as an anvil weighing down Biden's robust recovery goals. Consumer prices jumped more than expected in September as Americans pay more for meat, eggs, milk homes, gas and electricity.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The fact that a lot of these issues are not as simple as a one sentence explanation. And that different industries have different issues in the supply chains, different issues that are causing some increases in prices.

MATTINGLY: The economy, just one of a series of factors ranging from Afghanistan and the Delta variant to a legislative agenda stuck in the mud on Capitol Hill. Driving down Biden's approval. All reflected in a new CNN poll that shows only a quarter of Americans say they will be better off if Biden's domestic agenda is enacted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Phil Mattingly at the White House with that report. In the U.K., cargo ships carrying holiday toys and electronics were diverted from the port of Felixstowe because of a shortage of truck drivers to clear the docks. British officials are downplaying the delays, adding the country should plan for holiday shopping as usual. The choke points in the global supply chain were also on the minds of the G20 finance ministers as they met in Washington.

Take a listen to France's Bruno Le Maire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO LE MAIRE, FRENCH FINANCE MINISTER: That's the right response to these bottlenecks are more independence. And the investment plan just announced by President Macron yesterday has a clearly this major political and economy goal to reduce the dependence of France and all European countries to key technologies to chips, to semiconductors, to all the products on which there are bottlenecks and shortages today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:05:17]

CHURCH: CNN Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar joins me now from New York. Great to have you with us.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Great to be here.

CHURCH: So President Biden is dealing with a multitude of economic crises right now, including supply chain issues, inflation, worker shortages, but now he has a solution to help speed up the delivery of goods across America. Announcing the Port of Los Angeles will now operate 24/7. The second port on the west coast to do so. How likely is it do you think that this will solve supply chain issues in this country?

FOROOHAR: Well, it's not going to solve every single supply chain issue in America. But I think it's going to do a lot in the short term. You know, a huge amount of America's supply chain touches one of these ports. And, you know, this is -- this is the first of I think many steps that we're going to see, to mitigate both the short-term inflation that are coming from these sorts of choke points but also really does start pushing Biden's own longer term agenda which is build back better.

Do more in America, build out America's infrastructure, make supply chains more resilient, and possibly more regional, and even more local.

CHURCH: And some business owners have suggested that Mr. Biden should deploy the National Guard to help with this massive backlog. Should that happen to at least in the initial stages of clearing goods stuck at the port?

FOROOHAR: Well, yes, I'm all for using the National Guard and, you know, even other resources within the Defense Department in a case like this, I mean, I think that's a good use of national resources. In an ideal world, America would actually change the system by which, you know, when we have downturns, we fire people in mass. And then it takes a long time to build back up that labor market.

You know, other countries do things differently. Germany has furlough programs, many other Asian countries, and European countries buffer labor in different ways. And so I think that that's going to be a conversation we're going to hear more about too. How do we stop having this sort of feast or famine situation where you can't literally can't find people to unload shipping containers, you know, at the last minute? And that's something that I think has to change.

CHURCH: Yes. Of course, if they go 24/7, they're going to need some extra help. Right? And of course, overseas ports have already been working 24/7 to get backed up supplies moving. So why has it taken the us so much longer to do this?

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, part of it is a labor issue. You have to negotiate with the unions. But again, I would say that the U.S. tends to do a very bad job of mitigating issues with companies and labor. You know, we don't have the sort of more collaborative system that other countries do. We have a very contentious system in general, and the kinds of jobs that you're seeing being squeezed right now, these were jobs that were tough to fill, even before the pandemic.

So things like longshoreman's work, truck driving, I mean, these are -- these are positions that were tough to fill in part because these jobs are ultimately going to be threatened by technology. You know, at some point, truck drivers are going to give way to self-driving vehicles. And I think a lot of people have been moving out of these professions in anticipation of that.

It's interesting to note as well, that some countries in Europe, for example, that have had labor shortages have started deploying robot software. You know, you're seeing a lot of agricultural workers in Europe being replaced by robots. I think that's something that you're probably going to see more of to post pandemic.

CHURCH: Always enlightening to get your analysis. Ronna Foroohar, thank you so much for joining us.

FOROOHAR: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Well, Europe is desperately trying to find a way out of its energy crunch. The European Commission and International Energy Agency are pushing to accelerate investments in renewable energy. But for immediate relief, Europe is looking to Russia for help. The Kremlin says Russia is sending as much gas to Europe as it can. And President Vladimir Putin denies using energy as a political weapon.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has more on how Europe is handling the crisis and the IEA's report.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a stark warning from the International Energy Agency that without drastic action, the world will fail to meet its net zero emissions target by 2050. The IEA says even if all current commitments are fulfilled, CO2 emissions will only fall by 40 percent by 2050. But this wasn't just a warning about the risks of climate change. This was a warning about the risks to economies if energy transitions aren't managed properly.

[02:10:03]

SEBASTIAN: Current price volatility it says is giving countries "advanced warning" of what could happen if they fail to invest quicker in clean energy technologies. And that's exactly what Europe is grappling with right now. The E.U. Commission Wednesday outlining a dual approach. A short-term package of measures, like tax cuts and vouchers to shield households from soaring energy prices this winter.

And accelerating longer term investments in renewable energy to ensure a sustainable transition and greater energy independence. Well, right now, of course, Europe is not energy independent. In fact, it's heavily dependent on Russia which has been criticized for using the current crisis to further its own political gains and accelerate the approval of new pipelines like the controversial Nord Stream 2.

Well, President Putin Wednesday deny this and said he would be willing to talk about doing more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia flawlessly fulfills its contractual obligations to our partners, including our partners in Europe. We ensure guaranteed uninterrupted gas deliveries to Europe. We have all the reasons to believe that by the end of this year, we will reach record levels of gas deliveries to global market. Moreover, we always strive to meet our partners halfway. We are prepared to discuss any additional steps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: All of this coming just weeks before the Cop 26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. The IEA says there needs to be a "unmistakable signal from leaders to spare the needed investment." Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: The head of the International Energy Agency says investments in clean energy need to be triple by the end of -- need to triple by the end of the decade to fight climate change and stabilize energy costs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATIH BIROL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY: We are seeing a great creative momentum in terms of clean energy across the world in North America, Europe, Asia, around the world. But looking at the challenges we have in front of us, both energy challenges and climate challenges. We need to accelerate our efforts in terms of the solar wind, electric cars and other clean energy technologies.

Otherwise, we may well see A, more turbulence in the energy markets as we are experiencing now. And B, we may well be short of reaching our climate cause. We will look at the (INAUDIBLE) we don't have lack of capital, there is enough money. And I believe money capital will meet the clean energy projects sooner or later in North America and in Europe. But the issue is, bulk of the growth of emissions will come from the emerging countries in the future.

And today, only a tiny bit, 20 percent of these clean energy investments are going to emerging countries. So therefore, my hope, my expectation is for example, in the upcoming climate summit in Glasgow, there will be some international architecture mechanism so that the rich countries provide some catalyst money for the clean energy investments in emerging countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The IEA report also says the development of new oil fields and coal mines must stop if the world is going to limit global warming.

We're now two developments out of Norway. A country on edge after a man armed with a bow and arrow went on the attack in a town southwest of Oslo. Police say they've arrested and charged a 37-year-old Danish citizen after five people were killed and two others injured in the rampage on Wednesday. So far police do not know his motive and have not ruled out the possibility of a terror attack. They do believe he acted alone.

CNN's Melissa Bell is following developments and joins us now live from Paris. Good to see you, Melissa. So, what were you learning about this attack with most people of course wanting to know if this was an act of terror or a random isolated attack?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The question of whether there was a political motive to this of course top of everyone's minds after this horrifying attack. That was the word used by the outgoing conservative Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg when she spoke last night. An attack, all the more horrifying for happening in an extremely residential area of this town of some 28,000 people.

It was just after 6:00 p.m., Rosemary, this man is 37-year-old Danish citizen went on the rampage carrying we know a bow and arrows. Some witnesses say that he was carrying a quiver full of arrows on his shoulder. The investigation continues as to whether there were other weapons involved. But it was a rampage that lasted for over half an hour from when the moment it began in a shop.

[02:15:04]

BELL: An initial confrontation with the police we were hearing from the chief last night before eventually the man was apprehended more than a half an hour after the attack began. This is a -- an attack because of the weapon that was used, because of the number of people known to have died so far in a country that is frankly not used to these kinds of attacks. It's been 10 years now since that horrifying attack that killed 77 people back in 2011.

Carried out by a right-wing extremist. And beyond that, Norway is not a country known for having a very high murder rates. So a great deal of shock that this could have happened in Norway. Have a listen, Rosemary, to what the outgoing Prime Minister had to say about an attack that happened on her very last day in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNA SOLBERG, OUTGOING NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We don't know if it's a political attack that has taken place. The police will have to investigate that. We know that in many countries over a long time attacks have been prevented by good police work, but that the issue of lone perpetrators is difficult. But we need to know more to find out if this is one of these situations.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BELL: So all eyes very much on what the police will have to tell us over the course of the day. What new details emerged about the identity of the man about the motives for the attack, and precisely what are the weapons he may have been carrying. But for now, as you just heard there from the Prime Minister, the suggestion is that this could have been the act of a lone perpetrator of functioning, carrying out an attack for reasons for the time being. We know very little about, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Indeed. And we will await to receive more details on this. Melissa Bell brings the latest live from Paris. Many thanks.

Well, Bali is making a big move to end its tourism drought brought on by the pandemic. Up next, the island reopens to some international visitors in hopes it's empty beaches will soon be filled.

And the long awaited decision from the U.S. on the restrictions at its land borders. We'll have the details for you on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

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CHURCH: A place nicknamed the Island of the Gods is hoping to become a magnet for Mere Mortals once again. Indonesia's resort island of Bali has been off limits to international travelers for a year and a half. But now that the COVID situation has improved, one of the world's most popular tourist destinations is officially reopening to visitors from a select number of countries. And journalist Manisha tank joins us now live from Singapore. Good to see you, Manisha.

So it is of course an island destination right at the top of the list for most Australians and of course many other nations in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. So, who is being allowed in right now?

[02:20:02]

MANISHA TANK, CNN BRITISH TELEVISION PRESENTER: Yes, that's right, Rosemary. I think it's only four hours from the northern borders of Australia. But yes, it is open for 19 countries. Visitors from 19 countries and they include the likes of India, China, Japan, South Korea. These are all economies from which tourism sprouts and of course tourism dollars are really important to an island like Bali.

The island's governor has come out in this week to say 54 percent of its economy relies on tourism. But here's the thing at the moment, we're not entirely sure whether Bali is open to tourists. And there are no international flights arriving. This has been confirmed by a spokesperson for Ngurah Rai International Airport which is the main airport to bring in those international people.

I say people because we know as of last week that paramedics, investors, urgent or skilled workers were allowed into Bali, but it's not been fully confirmed where the tourists can come yet. But for whoever does turn up, it will have to be a five-day quarantine in a hotel. I recently did a quarantine here in Singapore myself. And I can tell you that doesn't mean that you couldn't roam around the hotel, you are confined to a room, it also requires visitors to have $100,000 worth of COVID-19 insurance.

And it isn't yet clear what the visa requirements will actually be for those 19 countries. So there are still many questions, Rosemary, even though those borders are open but just put it in a wider context. I do want to mention the fact that coronavirus, COVID-19 was raging across Indonesia just months ago, but it now seems that those rates have fallen drastically. And though the nation's rate of vaccination stands at about 20 percent, in Bali, the health ministry tells us it's around 90 percent for those who've been double vaccinated.

And that's the other key. If you do think of going to Bali, you're going to have to make sure that you are fully vaccinated, otherwise you won't be getting in, Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes, that's incredible what they've done there. What they've achieved. Manisha Tank, reporting live from Singapore on what the situation is in Bali many things.

Well, Canada and Mexico are welcoming the U.S. decision to reopen its land borders with the two nations which would revive tourism and give a boost to struggling businesses. Fully vaccinated visitors will be able to enter the U.S. in November. Mexico's president is cheering the decision. Nearly a million people cross the U.S.-Mexican border every day, the world's busiest before pandemic restrictions were imposed.

Rafael Romo has reaction now from Mexico City.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Families with relatives on both sides of the border could not be happier. Closing the border more than 18 months ago meant people belonging, even to the same family were separated by the pandemic and businesses on both the American and Mexican sides have taken a big hit. According to officials, the reopening is thanks to a joint effort by Mexico and the United States to improve vaccination levels.

Mexico's Health Department announced Tuesday that's 75 percent of the country's adult population. Nearly 67 million people have received at least one dose of any of the different coronavirus vaccines. And according to health authorities, vaccination levels are as high as 95 percent in places like here in the Capitol. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reacted to the announcement of the border reopening, saying that it was the result of hard work made by the governments of both his country and the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We're going to have normality at our northern border. Mexico's made many efforts and procedures with the United States government. There have been many meetings with the goal of achieving the reopening of the border. And at the same time, we decided to vaccinate in the border areas to help bring about this agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And let's remember that three top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met with President Lopez Obrador here in Mexico City on Friday. The meeting was about a new bilateral security agreement, but there were other issues discussed as well. The Mexican government announced last month that more than 3.8 million people who live in 45 cities on six different states along the U.S. border had been vaccinated.

Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard says improved vaccination levels meant a faster border reopening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCELO EBRARD, MEXICAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The vaccination levels in Mexico, especially in the northern region, but also in the rest of the country are very elevated or comparable with those of the United States. I will even say that there are cities in Mexico that have a higher vaccination levels than those in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: President Lopez Obrador had pushed since mid-September for a full reopening of the border given the improved vaccination levels. American border towns were also pushing for reopening because they have lost millions of dollars in the more than 18 months. They haven't had any Mexican shoppers spending money in their businesses.

[02:25:07]

ROMO: Rafael Ramo, CNN, Mexico City.

CHURCH: Northern Ireland's unique trade status has been a source of friction between Britain and the European Union, both before and after Brexit took effect. London wants to renegotiate the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol. The E.U. has rejected calls to scrap the agreement, but on Wednesday proposed creating a so-called express lane for British goods destined for Northern Ireland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAROS SEFCOVIC, VICE PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Indeed, we have completely turned our rules upside down and inside out to find a solid solution to an outstanding challenge. That involves the E.U. changing its own rules on medicines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Although it belongs to the U.K., Northern Ireland remains within the E.U. single market to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland. A British official said the E.U. proposals were welcome but added the Northern Ireland protocol needs fundamental changes.

Well, China's effort to raise all reminders of the Tiananmen Square Massacre means this tribute could soon be moved out of Hong Kong. And I will speak with the artist who created it in just a moment.

Plus, Star Trek's Captain Kirk makes history on his 10-minute flight to the edge of space. His emotional reaction back on planet Earth.

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CHURCH: For nearly a quarter century, this sculpture has stood atop a podium at the University of Hong Kong. The Tower of twisted bodies marks the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Beijing's Tiananmen Square back in 1989. The pillar of shame is the only remaining memorial to the victims still standing on Hong Kong soil. But its days appear to be numbered. The university had its American lawyers sent a letter saying the sculpture needed to go by October 13th. That was yesterday.

And that's if it's still there. The university will deal with it in a manner it sees fit. At last check the artwork was still there. Its Danish creator has threatened legal action if it's removed since it remains his property. He's trying to transfer the pillar to another country. Jens Galschiot joins me now from Odense in Denmark. Thank you so much for talking with us.

[02:30:09]

JENS GALSCHIOT: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, we know that human rights groups are calling out to that -- to U.S. law firm that's been hired by the University of Hong Kong to remove your famous Pillar of Shame sculpture that memorializes the victims of the Beijing's Tiananmen Square massacre. So, I want to get your reaction, of course, we -- to this moment, we know that you are going to take legal action. But what was your first thought when you heard this was happening?

GALSCHIOT: I was really shocked because this American firm, Mayer Brown, has send me a letter, they said not be (INAUDIBLE) address, after four days I should take it away. And they send it to some of my organizations in Hong Kong, the democratic movement and they are entailed (ph). So, I took to the press and I'm trying to talk with my lawyer, but my lawyer is also in jail because she's a leader of the democracy movement. So, I'm going to get a new lawyer to get contact with Mayer Brown, to say, we're not able to take it away.

So, I think, this is the kind of mafia thing, Mayer Brown, doing with us and Hong Kong University. So, I was really shocked by these individuals.

CHURCH: And understandably so. And of course, ironically, this move to remove this artwork is bringing this sculpture more attention that perhaps it ever would have received. Why do you think China feels so threatened by your sculpture that's been on display for 24 years as the last remaining memorial to the victims?

GALSCHIOT: I think this is because this is art, and art making symbol of the burn (ph), symbol of the situation in Hong Kong, and maybe a symbol of what happened in China. So, when they destroy -- when they see a symbol that is still operating in Hong Kong, people are going to put flowers around the symbol to memory about what happened in Tiananmen crackdown in '89. So, every year and every month there's a kind of ceremony about it. All of student knows this monument, all people from their growing up the last 20 years. So, when they will take this down, I think they're trying to make attack to the spirit of the democracy movement. They have put the leader in jail and now, they're trying to take the symbol away and put it away from Hong Kong. So, I think this is the reason, China is behind that.

CHURCH: And why did you see a need to create this sculpture?

GALSCHIOT: I create this sculpture for many, many years ago to make a monument about a crime and something you will remember in the story. And this is a reason I put it in Hong Kong because I know the only way to put a monument about the Tiananmen crackdown was to put it in Hong Kong and then, let's say in China, oh, it take a while in (ph) Hong Kong just two weeks before (INAUDIBLE) we put it in Hong Kong. And now, the monument is in Hong Kong, have been there in 25 years.

And I think the Chinese government was really angry at me. I am banned from China. I can't go there. So, in a way, I make the monument to help the Chinese population to remember what happened in '89 in Beijing.

CHURCH: And what will likely happen to your sculpture once it's removed? If you are legal action doesn't prevent that from happening, it is still your property, but what will you do if it is remove?

GALSCHIOT: I have a challenge (ph), this is my prophecy and I think they are surprised for that because they thought it belonged to the democracy movement and they thought they could just destroy it. But when they see this is my property, they have a big problem now.

So, yesterday, when they should have moved it, then they dropped it and said OK, we want to make some accusations, make it a legal way. So, in the first case we have won the case, won the case, and I don't know exactly what we should do but I have some more time now. I prefer it stayed in Hong Kong, but I don't think it's the right to stay there because the Chinese authorities don't want to have a monument like that. But I will try to see, this is against the security law a sculpture in Tiananmen Square in Hong Kong. I think this is (INAUDIBLE) to know that.

But if it does possible to put it in Hong Kong, then I will put it out and there's a lot of possibility, but maybe I'll put it -- take it to Washington to put it there somewhere. I have connection there. So, this is a possibility, maybe put it in Europe and maybe put it in Taiwan, if we could do that. So, there's a lot of possibilities open what we are doing that. But we save it from Hong Kong now and the moment this is safe for many only a couple of day, but we will see what happens.

[02:35:00]

CHURCH: And we shall watch to see what does happen to your work. Thank you so much, Jens Galschiot, for talking to us. We appreciate it and we appreciate you. Thank you. Well, Spain's prime minister is asking the residents of La Palma for patients, saying the government can't begin to rebuild until the island's volcano stops erupting. It's been spewing lava for almost a month now, forcing thousands of people from their homes. Al Goodman has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: The volcano eruptions on Spain's La Palma Island show no signs of slowing down in the coming days, Spain's prime minister said Wednesday while visiting the island. And right now, it is the northern flow of lava that is causing the biggest problem. It is the most fluid, also the hardest. That's what prompted officials to order the evacuations of 700 to 800 people this week, that brings to 6,700, the total number of evacuees since the eruptions began three weeks ago on an island of 80,000 people.

It is also the northern flow of lava the caused the fire at a cement factory, earlier this week, which prompted the lockdown of 3,000 people who live nearby. That order was later lifted, but the authorities are trying to stay a step ahead of the lava with the evacuation and lockdown orders on La Palma, which is one of the smallest of Spain's Canary Islands.

The Spanish government has approved $260 million in aid for La Palma to rebuild homes, businesses and roads. But as the prime minister as he said, none of that can really get going in a big way until the eruption stop and the lava stops flowing.

Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Time to take a short break. When we come back the view from above.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: Weightlessness. Oh, Jesus. No description.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk on a real-life mission space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk calls it the most profound experience unlike anything they described. A 10-minute trip to space, three minutes of weightlessness for Actor William Shatner blazing a trail for future space tourists.

CNN's Kristin Fisher has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one. KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): And with that, 90-year-old "Star Trek" icon William Shatner became the older person ever to travel to space. Shatner and three other passengers were propelled from the Desert of West Texas to the edge of outer space aboard a New Shephard spacecraft developed by Jeff Bezos's rocker company, Blue Origin. It's the same spacecraft that took Bezos to space this summer.

[02:40:00]

Bezos, a lifelong "Star Trek" flew Shatner as a guest along with Blue Origin Executive Audrey Power and two paying customers.

The out of this world adventure lasting just 10 minutes from takeoff to landing, leaving all four passengers, including Shatner, mesmerized by the view.

WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: Weightlessness. Oh, Jesus. No description.

AUDREY POWER, BLUE ORIGIN EXECUTIVE: This is nuts.

SHATNER: Oh, God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is earth.

FISHER (voiceover): Shatner and his crewmates experienced about three minutes of weightlessness before the capsule started its descent back to earth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There goes the drone (ph) parachutes.

SHATNER: That was unlike anything to describe.

FISHER (voiceover): After landing safely, a Blue Origin team secured the capsule and Bezos himself did the honors.

JEFF BEZOS, FOUNDER, AMAZON: Hello, astronauts.

FISHER (voiceover): Cheers as each of the four passengers walked out of the capsule, including Captain Kirk himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Captain Kirk himself, the great William Shatner.

FISHER (voiceover): Shatner telling Bezos, it all happened so quickly.

SHATNER: It was unbelievable, unbelievable. I mean, you know the little things, the weightlessness. But to see the blue color go (INAUDIBLE). And now, now you're staring into blackness.

FISHER (voiceover): Shatner clearly taken aback by the gravity of the moment.

SHATNER: I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. I -- it's just extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this. FISHER (on camera): William, you've had one of the most -- perhaps one of the most interesting lives that any human could possibly have. Where does this stack up on your list of life experiences?

SHATNER: This is enormous. I am overwhelmed. And it takes more than a little thing to overwhelm me.

FISHER: You said, everybody in the world needs to see it. Why? What do we need to see?

SHATNER: Yes, but it's not tourism. Everybody in the world needs to have the philosophical understanding of what we're doing to earth and the -- and you hear this so often, the necessity of cleaning our earth, stopping right now the apocalypse that's coming our way.

SHATNER: So, William Shatner really walking away from this experience convinced that the world would be a better place if more people had a chance to go into space and see what he saw. But right now, the cost of going up in one of Blue Origin's New Shepard rockets or a Virgin Galactic spaceship too, it's exorbitantly expensive. And Blue Origin won't even say how much the two paying customers on this flight paid.

So, I asked them directly, that wouldn't tell me what they spent. All they would say is that whatever they paid Blue Origin, they both felt that it was worth it.

Kristen Fisher, CNN, Launch Site One.

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CHURCH: He was a perfect choice, right? Well, Guinness World Records has named a 24-year-old in Turkey the world's tallest living woman. Rumeysa Gelgi is 215.16 centimeters tall. Her height is due to a condition called weaver syndrome which causes accelerated growth and other abnormalities. Gelgi wants to use her new celebrity to teach people about rare medical conditions like hers.

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back in 15 minutes. World Sport is coming up next.

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