Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Deadly Attack Killed Five People; Deliveries Will Operate 24/7; Russia on the Rescue to Europe Oil Crisis; William Shatner Reaches Outer Space at 90; Volcano Lava Flow Shows No Sign of Stopping; More Guns Confiscated by TSA. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 14, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, here, on CNN newsroom.
Five people are dead after a brazen bow and arrow attack in Norway. We will have the latest details in a live report.
Plus, global supply chain bottlenecks are threatening empty shelves and holiday chaos. It's all hands-on deck as some U.S. ports try to keep up with demand.
And actor William Shatner gets his astronaut wings after making an historic trip to space.
UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: And we begin with the latest on the violent rampage in a small town in Norway, which left five people dead and two others wounded. A 37-year-old man armed with a bow and arrow has been charged and police say it appears he acted alone.
The crime scene is spread out across a wide area of Kongsberg, so far, a motive is not known, and investigators are not ruling out a possible link to terrorism.
Murder is rare in Norway, just 31 cases reported last year. That's according to the New York Times. Notably, just months ago, Norway marked the 10th anniversary of the deadly attack by a right-wing extremist who killed 77 people.
And CNN's Melissa Bell is following developments for us, she joins us now live from Paris. Melissa, what more are you learning about this attack as people await word on the motivation behind it.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's the big question this morning as Norway wakes up to an attack that will have horrified you a little bit more for the murder rate being so low for these sorts of attacks being very rare in Norway, and for the attack, according to the town's mayor, the fact that the attack happened in a densely populated residential area in this town to the southwest of Oslo.
What we know, 37-year-old Danish citizen, nothing for the time being about his motivation. We understand that he acted alone, that had been one of the big questions as well. The police chief holding a press conference last night to give more of those details, explaining that one of the areas of investigation was also whether the man had been armed with more than the bow of the arrow and the quiver full of arrows as described by eyewitnesses speaking to local media.
We also heard yesterday from the outgoing prime minister, it was on the very last day, her very last day in office that the attack took place, this, Rosemary, was what she had to say.
(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 attack 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 (on camera): There had been, of course you mentioned, you referred to that worst terror attack in the history of Norway, 10 years ago this summer in which 77 people had died. There was another terror attack in 2019 when a man, armed man entered a mosque, and at that time the head of the country's intelligence service had warned that right-wing extremist attacks were on the rise worldwide and that Norway could be the victim of such an attack going forward.
But as you say, Rosemary, for the time being no indication of what this man's motives were. Although clearly, this Thursday morning that is the big question.
CHURCH: Most certainly is. Melissa Bell giving us the very latest live from Paris. Many thanks.
Well holiday shopping season is just around the corner, but severe disruptions in the global supply chain are making it almost impossible for retailers to get enough merchandise to meet consumer demand. The sudden bottlenecks at ports around the world are 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, unavailability of a global vaccine pass, and pent-up demand from being stuck at home have combined for a perfect storm where global production will be hampered because deliveries are not made in time.
[03:05:03]
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 VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today, we have some good news, it's going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Facing mounting disruptions and a very real threat to holiday shopping.
BIBEN: With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if the 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 then to act.
MATTINGLY: The 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 remains significant hurdles. Labor unions committing to provide the workforce for companies including Walmart, UPS, FedEx, and Samsung, pledging to expand 24/7 operations or increase 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. A critical piece of pandemic driven interconnected economic issues, serving as an anvil weighing down Biden's robust recovery goals.
Consumer prices jump 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, from 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 would be better off if Biden's domestic agenda is enacted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY (on camera): And President Biden made clear in his remarks that one piece of that legislative agenda that $1 trillion infrastructure proposal would help try and deal with supply chain issues over the long term. When it comes to the short-term White House officials are exceedingly cautious about making any predictions, any guarantees about solutions.
The reality and the risk at this moment, is that the global supply chain is driven largely by private sector actors. Very interconnected internationally. Something that White House officials simply don't have a lot of control over. As one official told me, you can't just simply flick a switch and turn everything back on.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
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 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 chokepoints.
But also, really to start pushing Biden's own longer-term agenda which is Build Back Better, do more in America, build out America's infrastructure, makes supply chains more resilient, and possibly more original 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, you know, 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 this system by which, you know, when we have downturns, we fire people on masks, and then it takes a long time to build back up that labor market. You know, other countries do things differently, Germany has furloughed programs, many other Asian countries and European countries buffer labor in different ways.
[03:09:57] And so, I think that that's going to be a conversation we're going to hear more about to, how do we stop having the sort of feast or famine situation where you can't, literally can't find people to upload shipping containers, you know, at the last minute. That's something that I think has to change.
CHURCH: Yes, because 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 backup supplies moving.
FOROOHAR: Right.
CHURCH: So why has it taken the U.S. 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 longshoremen 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 notice, well, that some countries in Europe, for example, that have had labor shortages have started deploying robot software. You know, you are seeing a lot of agricultural workers in European replaced by robots. I think that that's something that you're probably going to see more of two post pandemic.
CHURCH: Always enlightening to get your analysis, Rana Foroohar, thank you for joining us.
FOROOHAR: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: In the United Kingdom, 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.
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 reports. CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN 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 fold 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. Current price in utility says it's given countries, quote, "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 is being 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 on Wednesday denied 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 tried to meet our partners halfway, we are prepared to discuss any additional steps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN (on camera): All of this coming just weeks before the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. The IEA says there needs to be a quote, "unmistakable signal from leaders to spare the needed investment."
Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: And just ahead on CNN Newsroom, floating weightless above the Earth. Actor William Shatner talks about his historic trip to the edge of space.
Plus, the volcano that's been erupting for nearly a month shows no sign of slowing down, putting La Palma's rebuilding plans on hold.
[03:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH (on camera): It only lasted about 10 minutes from launch to touchdown, but "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk says for him, it was a profound experience. William Shatner spent decades playing the space voyager on TV and in movies. Now, he knows what it feels like in real life.
CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
UNKNOWN: Two, one.
UNKNOWN: Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, Audrey Powers and William Shatner were very few humans have gone before.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was not the captain on this mission but one would never know it because for the 10 minutes 17-second trip to space all eyes were on Blue Origin's most famous passenger, William Shatner, "Star Treks" captain James T. Kirk.
WILLAIM SHATNER, ACTOR: Warp Speed.
No description to even compare this.
CARROLL: Shatner and the crew on board Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin capsule soared to an altitude of more than 347,000 feet. Making Shatner, who is 90, the oldest person to reach space.
SHATNER: That was unlike anything they described.
CARROLL: The trip included just a few minutes of weightlessness, and a view of the planet only few have seen, which was not lost on Shatner, who wants back on the ground was greeted by cheers and Bezos. The entire experience so moving, for a moment, Shatner wasn't sure if he would be able to find the right words.
SHATNER: In a way it's indescribable.
CARROLL: But he did it in a way, only Shatner could.
SHATNER: Mother of Earth and comfort and there is, is there death? I don't know exact death. Is that the way death is, whoop and its gone, Jesus. It was so moving what you have given me. It's the most profound experience I cannot -- its odd, I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. I, I just, It's extraordinary, extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don't want to lose it.
CARROLL: The mission, giving Shatner, who's been passionate about issues surrounding the preservation of the planet, a whole new perspective.
SHATNER: The moment you see how what, the vulnerability of everything it's so small, this air which is keeping us alive, is thinner than your skin.
CARROLL: For now, so much attention on the billionaire space race after Bezos and Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson's launches earlier this year. Those who boldly get to go where few have gone before can do it because they have hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Shatner says, if more people could see what he just saw --
[03:20:03]
SHATNER: It's unlike anything you will ever see in your life.
CARROLL: It might change a lot of perspectives.
SHATNER: Everybody in the world needs to have the philosophical understanding of what we are doing to earth.
CARROLL: For now, Shatner's fans happy to see the arc of a man who inspired so many by playing a space captain.
SHATNER: Once again, we've saved civilization as we know it.
CARROLL: Finally, really sees space for himself.
SHATNER: I'm a rocket man.
CARROLL: Yes, William Shatner.
SHATNER: Rocket man.
CARROLL: You are indeed a real-life rocket man.
SHATNER: I think it's going to be a long, long time.
CARROLL: Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Yes, he is, indeed. All right, well 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 the laws upside down and inside out to find a solid solution to an outstanding challenge. It 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.'s single market to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland. British officials said the E.U. proposals were welcomed, but added the Northern Ireland protocol needs fundamental changes.
The Polish parliament has approved a bill to build a border wall with Belarus to stop the flow of migrants. Record numbers of migrants, mainly from Afghanistan and Iraq have been trying to cross into Poland from Belarus. Warsaw says it's documented more than 18,000 attempts since August, prompting Polish authorities to impose a state of emergency last month. The wall will reportedly cost about $400 million and include a monitoring and detection system.
Spain's prime minister is asking the residents of La Palma for patience, 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 show no sign of slowing in the coming days. Spain's prime minister said Wednesday while visiting the island, and right now it's the northern flow of lava that's causing the biggest problem. It's the most fluid, also the hottest.
That's what prompted officials to order the evacuation 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. It's also the northern flow of lava that caused a 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 said, none of that can really get going in a big way until the eruptions stop and the lava stops flowing.
Al Goodman, CNN, Madrid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Two companies in the Canary Islands are using drones to help dogs stranded by the volcanic lava. The drones dropped care packages, with food and water, and the dogs can pry them open with their teeth and pause. The companies are working with veterinarians who decide what the dogs need. The government says hot air and ash from the volcano prevent helicopters from flying into rescue dogs.
Well, the head of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration says there is a huge gun problem at the nation's airports. Security agents are confiscating more guns from passengers than ever before. And the really scary part, the vast majority of those guns are loaded.
CN's Pete Muntean reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are disturbing new numbers and
TSA administrator David Pekoske and I spoke exclusively about this. He says this is a big problem, especially since we have already reached the record set in 2019 with 11 weeks still left in this year.
[03:24:58]
The TSA has recovered 4,650 guns at airport checkpoints across the country since January 1st, 3,900 of them have been loaded. The record in 2019, 4,432 guns found at TSA checkpoints. You can face a $10,000 fine for a first offense of bringing a loaded gun to an airport.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske says this is a serious issue and passengers need to take this more seriously.
DAVID PEKOSKE, ADMINISTRATOR, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: It's a huge problem. I mean, as a passenger, I don't want to have another passenger flying on a flight with me with a gun in their possession.
MUNTEAN: Why do you think the numbers are up?
PEKOSKE: Well, again, I think it does reflect society. I think more people are carrying weapons across the country, and then we see whatever is happening in the country we see reflected in our checkpoint operations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: Pekoske also underscores that this is happening during a time when there's an uptick in unruly passenger incidents, not only on-board commercial flights, but also at TSA checkpoints. He says this just shows that the security system is working.
Remember, there are a patchwork of gun laws, both state and local, and the TSA would like help with that. The U.S. attorney's office in the western district of Pennsylvania is now telling local sheriffs to revoke the concealed carry permits of those who violate these rules at airports.
Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Bali is making a big move to end its tourism drought brought on by the pandemic. Coming up next, the island reopens to some international visitors and hopes its empty beaches will soon be filled.
The U.S. makes eagerly awaited border decisions.
Coming up, an easing of restrictions for visitors from Canada and Mexico. We are back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH (on camera): Welcome back, everyone. Well, signs of progress on the global fight against COVID. The World Health Organization says deaths dropped 10 percent last week, and the number of new cases fell 7 percent. Much of the world is now in the yellow and green, but new infections and fatalities are up in Europe.
Meanwhile, U.S. vaccine advisers are getting ready to dive into the next round of questions about booster shots, which include whether the Moderna and J&J boosters should be authorized, and if any of these shots should be mixed and matched.
Well, as the global number of new COVID infections continues to decline, one of the world's top tourist spots is trying to get up and running again.
[03:29:56]
Indonesia's resort island of Bali has been off limits to international tourist for about a year and a half, but now that the COVID situation is improving.
[03:30:00]
Bali is officially reopening its doors to visitors from a select group of countries.
The island is counting on a much-needed economic boost as visitors return to the popular destination, 60 percent of Bali's GDP comes from tourism and 42 percent of the islands workforce was impacted by the shutdown. Bali is hoping to see some 3.6 million visitors in 2022. That's much more than this year, but still down from 2019's total of 6.3 million visitors.
So, let's bring in journalist, Manisha Tank. She joins us live from Singapore. Great to see you, Manisha. So, for years Bali, of course, has been the top holiday destination for Australians and other travelers in the Asia-Pacific and beyond. So which visitors again, will be allowed in?
MANISHA TANK, JOURNALIST (on camera): Yes, well, 19 countries are going to allow the visit -- will be allowed to send visitors to Bali. But that comes against the backdrop of quite strict requirements, Rosemary, which I will get into just in a second. Just to tell you the names of some of those countries China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Qatar, France, Portugal.
The reason I'm reeling off some of these names is because these are the sources of very important tourism dollars. And to give even more context in some of the statistics that you shared about the reliance on tourism of the Balinese economy.
I can tell you on a normal year some reports point to about $10 billion worth of business for Bali coming from and coming into the country in terms of the expenditure that those tourists bring and the boost to the local economy. So it's really significant.
However what we don't know as yet is how they will actually come in and whether they will take to all of these restrictions. Yes, the borders of Bali are open. The international airport is open today. But the issue is around visa requirements. It's not entirely clear which visas are required, which citizens from which countries.
Also, you have to do a five day quarantine, and anyone who has done a quarantine will tell you that doesn't mean that you run around your hotel resort or anything like that, or in the beaches, you will be confined, say the Balinese, to and to.
Other officials in Indonesia, you will be confined to a hotel room for five days. You will also need $100,000 worth of COVID-19 insurance. So there are some loopholes to get through. And as yet, we do know that there are no incoming flights, actually scheduled into the international airports.
So, if those tourists are coming, they're not coming just yet. But this is still a very important moment for the island which has been effectively shutdown to visitors for the last 18 months. All of this amid vaccinations increasing and that's one last thing to share with you, of course, you have to be double vaccinated if you want to visit Bali as those borders reopen today. And Rosemary, ceremonially, I do have my Balinese wall hanging up in the wall that is from the last trip that I made to the island.
(LAUGHTER)
CHURCH: I love it, fantastic backdrop. Beautiful fabric saw from Bali. It is a wonderful destination, but I did want to ask you how worried officials would be that these new conditions for entry may be too strict of this time and visitors will select other destinations instead.
TANK: Well, I do want to tell you that I've been looking through local media here in Singapore and it obviously notes very quickly that Singapore is not one of those countries that's on the list. And there was a large number of tourists, who would make it from places like this, or Thailand, or other parts of Southeast Asia to Bali.
So still not open for those travel lanes as yet and there are questions around whether that will happen before December, before the Christmas holidays which is always a big one. But, yes, it needs to open and it needs to open soon. That's what the governor of Bali has been saying.
CHURCH: Baby steps here. Manisha Tank, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
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. The easing of COVID restrictions comes more than a year and a half after the pandemic began.
A senior Biden administration official said increased vaccine availability and higher vaccination rates factored into the decision. And we have reaction from Rafael Romo in Mexico City. But we begin with Paula Newton in Toronto with the Canadian response.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The U.S. lifting those
border restrictions was not if a great deal of relief here in Canada. No one thought the border would stay closed for 19 days, let alone 19 months when this pandemic started.
At issue now is what's will fully vaccinated mean in terms of going to the United States. Here in Canada, more than one in 10 Canadians has likely, what they call a mixed dose. So, they might have gotten AstraZeneca. But then they may have gotten a Pfizer or a Moderna to follow that up.
[03:35:15]
Right now they are waiting to hear from the Center for Disease Control in the United States as to whether or not that constitutes being fully vaccinated. Having said that, Canadians now can finally cross the border in November again, if they are fully vaccinated.
And that was actually met with a great deal of relief in the United States as well. It has been those communities, all along the border, from Washington State to Maine that have been saying look, Canada opened its land border in August. It is time for us to do the same. Our communities are suffering. Our businesses are suffering.
Many expect that there will be some wrinkles along the way in the coming weeks or months. The border is certainly going through some staffing issues. But again this will usher in a new stage of this pandemic, something many people on both sides of the border have been waiting for. Paula Newton, CNN, Toronto.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice over): 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 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 capital. 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.
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (through translator): We are going to have normality at our northern border. Mexico has made many efforts and procedures with the United States government. There had 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.
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 have been vaccinated. The Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard says, improved vaccination levels meant a faster border reopening.
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 to those in the United States. I would even say that there are cities in Mexico that have a higher vaccination level than those in the United States.
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 shopper's spending money in their businesses.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: COVID vaccinations have been picking up in the U.S. with the percentage of those fully vaccinated now hovering around 57 percent. But that's still far from where health officials want us to be. And one of the big challenges is still winning over the many vaccine skeptics. Now a group in Texas is aiming to do just that.
CNN's Miguel Marquez has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Seferino Cantu (ph) consider getting vaccinated for months, finally he's taking the plunge. Now more worried about the virus than vaccines side effects.
The coronavirus is more dangerous he says because it can affect everything even your mental capacity.
The 63-year-old, retired laborer is diabetic, has high blood pressure and no health insurance. Getting the shot in his arm, not easy.
UNKNOWN: He would always tell me, I'll be back. I'll come back. I'm not ready.
MARQUEZ: And this was over how long?
UNKNOWN: I guess, I talked to him about three, four months ago.
MARQUEZ: A familiar problem here at McAllen's El Milagro Clinic. Vaccinating those needing it most. HHS estimates about half the unvaccinated are willing to get it, like 55-year-old, horse race trainer, Juan Manuel Salinas.
I want to see the reaction of other people before I got it, he says. If they were OK then I'd do it too.
[03:40:05]
He was tough to convince and his daughter works at the clinic.
BREE SALINAS, FINANCIAL MANAGER, EL MILAGRO CLINIC: He had all the resources. We do need to pick you up, we do it for free here at the clinic. He said, yeah, I'll go. I'll go. So --
MARQUEZ: And then never did.
SALINAS: Never did.
MARQUEZ: Her long effort finally paying off and hope for more success ahead. El Milagro Clinic is now getting help from Project Finish Line.
JOE AGOADA, FOUNDER OF PROJECT FINISH LINE: What we hope to achieve is to get vaccine access to those that may be on the fence. I call them the unvaccinated but willing.
MARQUEZ: Project Finish Line now working with free and charitable clinics like Milagro in 16 states providing money for pop-up vaccinations in rural places like Ennis, Texas. Phone lines for community outreach, even helping organize free rides provided by Uber.
AGOADA: We hear individuals who take the bus to and from work every day and cannot take a day off of work. So they really need help with actually that transportation barrier.
MARQUEZ: He says transportation, translation and a trusted source of vaccine information are the biggest barriers. Above all, persistence, and lots of patience for those on the front line.
SALINAS: It gets to the point that staff thinks that they sound like a broken record. They will come around, there's a lot of people that are willing, just don't have the tools, the information and the resources.
MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, McAllen, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A case that's put a strain on Italian-Egyptian relations heads to court. Coming up the latest on the trial in an Italian student's murdered in Cairo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Four senior members of Egypt's security services are going on trial in absentia for the murder of an Italian student five years ago. Giulio Regeni disappeared in Cairo early in 2016. The 28-year-old was a post-graduate student at Cambridge University. His body was found nine days after he disappeared with signs of extensive torture.
Italian and Egyptian prosecutors investigated the case together. But reached different conclusions straining ties between the two countries.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Rome with more on this. He joins us now live. So, Ben a truly disturbing story. What is the latest on this trial?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, this trial begins today. This, of course, five years after he was murdered in Cairo, Giulio Regeni, who had gone to Egypt to study Independent Trade Unions, a fairly sensitive topic given that the Egypt's current rulers and Arab dictators in general, they love to hate Islamists.
[03:44:57]
But when it comes to trade unions, workers' rights, a very sensitive topics, they get very concerned. Now this -- the saga of Giulio Regeni, since he was killed in the beginning of 2016 has really underscored a very dark chapter in Egypt's history. He apparently was so badly tortured that his mother couldn't even recognize his body when it was eventually found by the side of the Cairo, Alexandria Highway in early February of 2016.
Now initially the Egyptian and the Italian investigators tried to cooperate together, but Italian prosecutors say that cooperation ended completely in 2018 when they increasingly believed that Egyptian officials with the National Security Agency had a direct role in the murder of Regeni.
And now, of course, this trial begins. Now this trial could take a long time. The four members of the Egyptian National Security Agency are not present, of course, and it appears the Egyptian authorities are unwilling to cooperate with this trial.
And in fact, the Egyptian investigation which was rocky from the start was concluded officially in December of last year with no one being charged. But despite this and despite the -- there's a good deal of resentment among ordinary Italians over this case against the Egypt, Italy itself the government even though it initially recalled its ambassador to Cairo has continued to have close relations with the Egyptian regime.
In fact it has recently concluded a multi-billion dollar deal for the sale of Italian manufactured frigates. There are also other arms deals in the making. So, what it really underscores is that when it comes to money, justice takes second place.
CHURCH: Yeah. Ben Wedeman, joining us live from Rome, many thanks. Well, diamonds have brought a sparkle to the Southern African nation
of Botswana. But while this valuable commodity has been a boon for the country's economy, poverty remains a big concern.
CNN's Scott McLean spoke with Botswana's minister of mineral resources.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): How important is diamonds has been to the economy in Botswana?
LEFOKO MOAGI, BOTSWANA MINISTER OF MINERAL RESOURCES: Diamonds have really been a mainstay of our economy in Botswana. We started diamond mining around 1970s, early 1970s. And up to now there has been over 728 million karats of diamonds mined out of -- rough diamonds mined out of Botswana. You see and we have seen a country which was very barred at independence which was in 1966. So our country does not develop into a middle income country as we speak now.
MCLEAN: You've seen poverty decline quite quickly. You've seen life expectancy rise quite dramatically as well. And yet you still have about 15 percent of the population living on $1.90 per day or less. I wonder, how is that acceptable in a country like yours that has such immense wealth under the ground?
MOAGI: Yes. Like I took the bar continue as improvement. Those are the things that we would like to eradicate, we'd like to deal with it, you see? As you know, Botswana currently I aspiring to move from a middle income country into a high income economy, you see. And by so doing, we cannot be content if some of our people are still living in that object poverty.
MCLEAN: In June, the third largest diamond in the world was found in Botswana. Then in July, they found an even bigger one. Each is worth tens of millions of dollars.
MOAGI: There's something called planning and digitization, you see. So there were bigger ties on how small stones will come out of a big stone like this.
MCLEAN: Are you worried about the impact of synthetic diamonds on your industry or the mining industry in your country?
MOAGI: Anything that will impact our business is to worry you, you see. We believe that our issue is to market our natural diamonds more. Because we cannot discount that for anything else. It is mined ethically. It is mined with the nature in hand. You see, it's about the welfare of the people there, so we can never really substituted it for anything else.
MCLEAN: Botswana is also rich in coal which powers most of the electrical grid.
And yet you want to do away with that? Why?
MOAGI: Well, as you know we are signatories to international treaties.
MCLEAN: Surely the coal mining also provides good middle class jobs.
[03:50:00]
MOAGI: Yes, it does. And we believe that with the skills that we will transition to bring our energy skills. Those skills from the coal mines will also move into the new skills and bring our energy space. And therefore those skill -- those people don't necessarily have to lose their jobs.
MCLEAN: Botswana though contributes just 0.01 percent of global emissions.
The COP26 meeting, you know, what do you want to say to the Americans? What do you want to say to the Chinese? To the really big polluters out there in the world?
MOAGI: I want to say, this transition must be at just cost, you see. You got -- if ours o do it tomorrow, it means you are literal saying to Botswana, stop, exactly where you are, you see. But you can't, and their lives are out there. There's a livelihood out there. There are communities out there. There's an economy out there. So we need to do this transitionally.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Botswana is also exploring an oil field along the border with Namibia that could be worth billions of dollars. The minister downplayed concerns from environmentalists and said locals support the project as a way to lift themselves out of poverty.
Squid Game has taken the streaming world by storm but a neighboring country has nothing nice to say about the South Korean smash hit. We will explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Suicides among schoolchildren in Japan have hit a record high. According to broadcaster "NHK," 415 children between the ages of six and 18 died by suicide last year. Nearly 100 more than the previous school year.
An official with Japan's education ministry says the pandemic has changed the school and family dynamics impacting children's behavior. But in the majority of cases, "NHK" reports the reasons behind the suicides were unknown.
It's just heartbreaking. Well, the streaming series Squid Game has become a global sensation and the biggest release ever on Netflix. But the South Korean show is not getting much love from its neighbor to the north.
CNN's Brian Todd explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Kim Jong-un's propaganda
machine seems to be throwing some heavy stones from its Glasshouse. A North Korean website has seen fit to weigh in on the hugely popular South Korean produced Netflix series, Squid Game, which depicts a fictional game show that has deadly consequences.
The North Koreans say the show reflects the sad reality of a quote, beastly South Korean society where mankind is annihilated by extreme competition. The website saying Squid Game portrays the south as an unequal society where moneyless people are treated like pawns for the rich.
JEAN LEE, THE WILSON CENTER: They try to portray South Korea as this capitalist hell hole. And so this very much fits into the narrative that South Korea is this place where the people are just slaves to making money, that it's a grim existence.
TODD: Squid Game hosted Netflix's most popular premier ever with over 110 million people taking a look. The plot hundreds of people heavily in debt, entered a game to win a huge pile of cash. One of the fictional characters is a North Korean defector. The downside, if the contestants lose a game, they are killed on the spot.
[03:55:04]
LEE: All of that that we see in Squid Game reminded me frankly of North Korea.
GREG SCARLATOIU, COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: It's about having no way out, being completely in trapped under extraordinary adverse circumstances.
TODD: It is North Korean's who can actually be shot on sight if they tried to leave the country, like this defector who's sprinted through a hill of bullets as he made a desperate dashed across the demilitarized zone to South Korea in 2017.
As for the North Korean website saying South Korea is a place where the poor are pawns for the rich and well connected, human rights monitors say Pyongyang does protests too much.
In North Korea 30 percent of children are malnourished. In North Korea people are starving. Today, North Korea is imprisoning 120,000 people in political prison camps and in other detention facilities.
Human rights groups say the money North Korea could be spending feeding its people, it instead often spends on its military. This week, Kim Jong-un, again, glorified his newest weapons with an elaborate exhibition and a speech in front of what North Korea claims is a hypersonic missile, a cruise missile, and a massive ICBM.
The event included a martial arts display with soldiers doing flying kicks into blocks. A soldier inexplicably sprinting head first into a block. In one sequence a bare-chested soldier breaks out of chains, spreads out a bed of broken glass, flies on it. A slab is placed on his chest, then smashed with a hammer. Why would this not be enough for Kim's propaganda machine? Why use Squid Game to attack the south?
LEE: This is North Korea's attempt to show and express that, hey, the sufferings maybe richer, but they are not happier.
TODD: This certainly isn't the first time North Korea has taken a shot at South Korean culture. This past June, according to "New York Times," Kim Jong-un characterized the South Korean entertainment scene, including k-pop as a quote, vicious cancer, corrupting the hairstyles, speech and behavior of North Koreans. Human rights monitors tell us k-pop has become increasingly popular in North Korea with tens of thousands of North Koreans having access to it almost exclusively through the black market.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day and feel free to send me a tweet @RosemaryCNN. We've love to hear from you. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Isa Soares.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
