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Myanmar Free Political Prisoners After ASEAN Pressure; Japan: North Korea Fired Two Ballistic Missiles; China Denies Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Missile Test; U.S. Team On The Ground To Help Locate 17 Abducted Missionaries; Tributes Pouring In For Statesman And Military Leader Colin Powell; First Black U.S. Secretary Of State Dies From COVID-19. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 19, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

[23:59:57]

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

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, hundreds of political prisoners set free by Myanmar's military dictatorship. But for now, no sign of Aung San Suu Kyi, de facto leader of the overthrown civilian government.

[00:00:11]

VAUSE: New details on the notorious criminal gang behind the kidnapping of 17 missionaries in Haiti.

And he lived an exceptional life in every way and so too in death. Colin Powell was an exception.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: Just moments after Myanmar's dictator announced plans for the largest release of political prisoners in seizing power, hundreds of detainees were seen leaving the notorious Insein prison on buses to be reunited with family and loved ones.

On state television Monday, General Min Aung Hlaing said more than 5,000 people arrested during protests against the military coup in February will be given amnesty as a gesture of goodwill.

He also went on to lash out at ASEAN. Last week, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations decided at an emergency meeting to exclude Myanmar's military leadership from an upcoming regional summit.

CNN's Ivan Watson in Hong Kong following all these details, so I guess why now? Where is Aung San Suu Kyi? Does anyone believe this is really a goodwill gesture?

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why now, it is a good question. According to the military itself, the release took place kind of in the interest of peace and reconciliation in the country.

Again, releases of around 5,600 prisoners, acquitting 4,320 defendants and pardoning 1,316 inmates.

We don't know if all of these people have in fact been released. Part of the problem is that in some parts of the country, the internet is still cut off. And there is still a shortage of information coming out of those regions, particularly the Northwest where there's been really intense fighting taking place and reports of reinforcements of troops moving to those regions.

There has been skepticism expressed by human rights activists such as, for example, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which has been keeping a running list of the number of prisoners and detainees who have died in custody, as well as those who have been taken prison as well. They're saying that this is not coincidental, that it is a "distraction" for foreign governments.

And as you pointed out, this comes just days after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations excluded the military regime from having a representative at its summit taking place later in October, a blow to the junta's legitimacy.

It suffered another blow when its representative was denied access to sit down at the United Nations General Assembly meeting some time back. And that is frankly embarrassing at a time when the military regime is struggling with an expanded number of terrorist attacks in cities in the Burmese heartlands of Myanmar, as well as an intensification of fighting in the provinces where there have been traditional clashes taking place for generations with armed ethnic organizations.

Now, the general himself Min Aung Hlaing who declared himself the leader of the country when he overthrew the elected government on February 1st, he gave a speech and kind of said, hey, you guys aren't criticizing, he's talking about ASEAN, the alleged what he describes as terrorist organizations, you should be criticizing them instead of me. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MIN AUNG HLAING, MYANMAR JUNTA CHIEF (through translator): After the statement was announced in April, more violence happened due to provocations of terrorist groups. We are still solving that. No one cares to stop their violence and killing and are only demanding that we solve the issue. ASEAN should work on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, the United Nations Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews has put out a statement welcoming the release of the 5,600 prisoners. But going on to remind people that they should not have been arrested in the first place saying that "Many of those detained to date were tortured some to death, others were victims of sexual assault, some were infected with COVID-19 and perished while in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions."

So, it's wonderful to see people released. But that initial argument why were they detained for participating in peaceful political protests in the first place? John.

VAUSE: It is a good question. Ivan, thank you. Senior International Correspondent, Ivan Watson.

Well, North Korea appears to have testified at least one ballistic missile which has landed in the sea off the east coast of the country, that's according to the military officials in Seoul, who have a few other details, But officials in Japan say two ballistic missiles have been launched.

[00:05:08]

VAUSE: CNN's Paula Hancocks live this hour in Seoul. What's going on here? What's the details?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, at this point, as you say, Seoul say that at least one has been fired. They are reanalyzing, though after they heard Japan's military say that they believe that there was in fact two ballistic missiles.

It is early, it's only just a couple of hours ago that this was actually launched. So, that will be cleared up shortly.

But what they're also looking at is the range, the trajectory to give them an idea of what kind of missile this was.

Both Seoul and Tokyo agree that it was ballistic, which means it's using a technology that is banned by United Nations Security Council resolution. So, it is violating those resolutions, which Japan's prime minister pointed out.

But they want to know beyond that, whether or not this is a new type of missile that has been tested by North Korea. This is what we've been seeing in recent weeks.

According to North Korea, they tested a hypersonic missile last month, also a couple of long range cruise missiles, antiweapon -- anti- aircraft, weapons, and they've really been pushing forward in testing new weapons and new missiles over recent weeks.

Now, we saw just last week that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader had an exhibition, a defense development exhibition, it was referred to by state run media in Pyongyang. He was -- he gave a speech surrounded by new weapons, by old weapons, by many missiles and talked about the U.S. and its hostile policy towards Pyongyang. Saying that even though the U.S. says it doesn't have a hostile policy, he believes that it does.

So, what we really saw was what North Korea has accomplished over recent years when it comes to weapons and missiles and what it intends to do in the potentially the coming weeks and months.

So, this is really what officials are looking at right now, what exactly was tested today. We haven't heard anything from North Korea.

At this point here in Seoul, there's a National Security Council meeting that's being convened. And the timing as always is key. We know that there are intelligence chiefs from the United States, from Japan and from South Korea meeting here in Seoul this Tuesday.

And also, we know that the U.S. top envoy for North Korea Sung Kim will be heading here to Seoul later in the week as well to talk with the counterparts in Seoul about North Korea once again, John.

VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul.

China denies reports it tested a nuclear capable hypersonic missile. The Financial Times reports the launch was in August and if it is true, this would have huge implications in the U.S. race with China and Russia to develop hypersonic weapons.

CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The soaring tensions between the U.S. and China may have entered a new stratosphere. For years, the U.S. has been working on hypersonic technology, weapons that can travel more than five times the speed of sound. It's been a race between the U.S. and China, which may have just taken a major step forward.

According to the Financial Times, China tested a hypersonic weapon this August launched from a rocket in space, the weapon which collided back to Earth at hypersonic speeds was capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The Financial Times reported the Pentagon would not comment on the report.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said officials are concerned with China's pursuit of advanced weaponry.

GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We watch closely China's development of armament and advance capabilities and systems that will only increase tensions in the region.

LIEBERMANN: China often boasts about its space program. This past weekend, it sent three astronauts to its new space station showing off its rapidly advancing civilian space program. But it never said a word about a launch in August until now, calling it a routine test of a spacecraft.

ZHAO LIJIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): What is separated from the spacecraft before it returns is its supporting device which will be burned up and dissolved as it falls through the atmospheric layer before dropping into the high seas.

LIEBERMANN: Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said last month that China was developing new weapons with longer range and may have hinted at this as well.

FRANK KENDALL, U.S. AIR FORCE SECRETARY: They have now gone from a few 100 miles to a thousands to literally around the globe. They have gone from a few high value assets near China shores, to the second and third ion chains and most recently to intercontinental ranges and even to the potential for global strikes. Strikes from space even.

LIEBERMANN: It's not only the apparent technology the Chinese are developing. It's the intent behind it. U.S. missile defense systems are designed to face east, west and north. Officials say, detecting launches from Russia and others.

TAYLOR FRAVEL, DIRECTOR, MIT SECURITY STUDIES PROGRAM: Rather than flying over the North Pole, which would be the case with a warhead launched the top of ballistic missile, this particular kind of orbital bombardment system could go over the South Pole and thus evade U.S. missile defense systems.

[00:10:10]

LIEBERMANN: International treaties govern the use of space for peaceful purposes. But this raises a more daunting possibility, turning the final frontier into a potential future battleground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): Even if there's been no official confirmation from this Chinese test by either DOD or state or the White House, this is certainly something the U.S. was tracking.

If you look back at the 2020 China military power report from the Pentagon, U.S. says that China is working on a number of different options for its nuclear force and delivery options including hypersonic glide vehicles.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.

VAUSE: A team of U.S. officials has arrived in Haiti part of an urgent search for 17 missionaries kidnapped over the weekend. Haitian authorities believe the 400 Mawozo gang is behind the kidnappings, a criminal gang which once specialized in car theft, but has now moved on to mass abductions.

CNN's Joe Johns has more now reporting in from Port-au-Prince.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: A city descending into lawlessness, many businesses and schools were closed Monday in Port- au-Prince and an indefinite strike to protest the worsening security in Haiti.

Gangs rule the streets here and kidnapping is big business for them. A brazen abduction on Saturday, 17 missionaries were taken just north of the Capitol after visiting an orphanage. 16 Americans, one Canadian, five of them children.

The missionaries were part of a group called Christian Aid Ministries based in Ohio. U.S. officials say they do not know where they're being held. But the State Department says a small team now on the ground in Haiti is working closely with Haitian authorities to secure their release.

Security sources say this is the man behind the surge of kidnappings in Haiti. He is said to be the leader of one of Haiti's most powerful gangs called 400 Mawozo. Authorities believe they kidnapped the missionaries.

Despite a warrant out for his arrest on charges of murder and kidnapping, the gang leader often boast publicly about his gang.

WILSON JOSEPH, GANG LEADER, 400 MAWOZO (through translator): The reason why I'm proud to be a gangster is because this is what feeds me. Because we don't have a country. Guns are a form of power.

Zzz A human rights group in Haiti says the number of kidnappings in the country is spiraling out of control, rising nearly 300 percent since July.

It also says 400 Mawozo its leader shown here in a white face covering is behind many of the kidnappings. Abducting Haitians and foreign nationals and typically demanding ransoms of about $20,000.

The United Nations recently extended its political mission in Haiti, the country is still raw from the assassination of its president and a powerful earthquake earlier this year.

But some officials blame the rise of the armed gangs on a security vacuum left after U.N. peacekeepers ended their mission in Haiti just two years ago.

LAURENT LAMOTHE, FORMER HAITIAN PRIME MINISTER: The United Nations had a military component, a military force for over 14 years. Spent over $14 billion and left in 2019, creating a huge security void.

Basically, they train the police and the police is under 16,000 police officers and is not really equipped to fight off the type of gang activity, the type of gang warfare that's going on right now in Haiti.

Joe Johns, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Stefano Pozzebon tracking developments. He joins us now live with the very latest. So, (INAUDIBLE) the location and are they getting closer to finding these missionaries?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Not really, not yet, John. We still don't know where these missionaries have been -- are being kept right now. It's (INAUDIBLE) hours with U.S. authorities and Haitian authorities saying that the FBI and the Haitian police are working around the clock to try to secure those 17 missionaries and bring them back home.

What CNN has learned John, over the last few hours is that just last year in 2020, someone from the same missionary group that from whom these group of missionaries have used to belong, somebody from the same missionary group have wrote on a blog post that they're based in the small village of Jeanton (PH) in the north of a Port-au-Prince was being threatened by the gangs. And in a blog post dated from last year, they said the gangs have taken over.

[00:15:01]

POZZEBON: And that's exactly what my colleague Joe Johns -- my colleagues were saying about the situation in Haiti with gangs. An organized crime groups often overpowering the security forces thanks to links with organized crime, narco-trafficking, kidnappings for ransom. They often have access to high caliber firearms and control most of these areas where these kidnapping are taking place, John.

VAUSE: Stefano, thank you. Stefano Pozzebon there live for us with the details.

Well, still to come, the death of Colin Powell from COVID complications. The passing with soldier, a statesman and a trailblazer and what that means to those who refuse to be vaccinated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: In the House of Commons on Monday, British lawmakers honored Sir David Amess, a conservative M.P. stabbed to death last week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson lead tributes to Amess who was killed while many constituents in what police are treating as an act of terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: This country needs people like Sir David. This House needs people like Sir David and our politics needs people like Sir David.

Dedicated, passionate, firm in his beliefs, but never anything less than respectful for those who thought differently. Those are the values he brought to a lifetime of public service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A 25-year-old British national has been arrested over the killing which comes five years after the death of Labour M.P. Jo Cox and has reignited debate over security for elected officials.

One tributes up coming in for America's first black Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died from coronavirus complications at 84.

He played key roles in both us wars in Iraq and served in a number of Republican administrations. But he later rejected the party's lurch to the right and supported the last three Democratic presidential candidates.

President Joe Biden says he is forever grateful for Powell's endorsement and "For our shared battle for the soul of the nation."

Biden ordered flags of the White House and all federal buildings lowered to half-staff until sunset Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's not only a dear friend and a patriot, one of our great military leaders and a man of overwhelming decency. This is a guy born son of immigrants in New York City, raised in Harlem in the South Bronx. Graduated from City College in New York. And he rose to the highest ranks not only in the military, but also in areas of foreign policy and statecraft.

This is a guy who we talked about who had teachers who looked at this African American kid and said you can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Former President George W. Bush, who chose Powell for the Secretary of State said he was such a favorite of presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad. Most important, Colin was a family man and friend.

[00:20:13]

VAUSE: Well, tremendously respected Powell's reputation was tainted by his role drumming up support for the 2003 Iraq invasion. He himself wrote in his memoir that "It will earn a prominent paragraph in my obituary."

CNN's Wolf Blitzer has details on that, and the rest of Powell's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I will never not be a soldier.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Colin Powell, a soldier turned statesman made history on many fronts. The first African American and youngest Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and later, the first African American Secretary of State.

POWELL: So, I've always felt strongly that you should try to solve conflicts in this world through negotiations, through diplomacy.

Anytime we can solve a problem that way and not use force and satisfy our objectives, let's push for that.

BLITZER: Powell grew up in the Bronx, New York. His parents emigrated from Jamaica. By his own admission, he was not an outstanding student.

POWELL: It's been amusing over the years to have people come with me say, woah, General Powell, you're Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When did you go -- when did you graduate from West Point? Couldn't have gotten in.

BLITZER: He enrolled in the City College of New York. Geology was his major, but the ROTC became his passion. Powell flourished as a cadet, and after graduating, excelled as a soldier.

He served two tours of Vietnam before earning a prestigious fellowship, working for the Office of Management and Budget during the Nixon era in 1972.

Afterwards, Powell returned to his troops, eventually becoming a general and went back to the White House in 1987 as President Reagan's National Security Adviser.

Then, in 1989, the general became the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military when President George H.W. Bush named him Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

POWELL: Our strategy to go after this army is very, very simple. First, we're going to cut it off, and then we're going to kill it.

BLITZER: Powell became a household name during the first Gulf War. His policy of overwhelming force against Iraq became known as the Powell doctrine.

POWELL: I express my sincere thanks to each and every one of you for being here to share my final day in uniform.

BLITZER: After a distinguished 35-year career, Powell retired from the army in 1993. 10 years later, the United States would become involved in another Gulf War. And Powell again, played a key role.

POWELL: My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.

BLITZER: Then, Secretary of State Powell made a case in front of the U.N. Security Council, arguing that Iraq posed a grave threat to the world because he said they had weapons of mass destruction.

The following month, the U.S. invasion began. The war lasted more than eight years, no weapons of mass destruction ever turned up.

POWELL: I regret it now because the information was wrong.

BLITZER: After four years as President George W. Bush's Secretary of State, Powell returned to private life. He spent his civilian years empowering youth through his projects, America's Promise Alliance, and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership.

POWELL: We're going to go and educate the kids who are most in need. And when I heard their stories, I said I got to get -- this is where I belong. I'm home again.

BLITZER: General Colin Powell, a leader and a patriot who devoted a lifetime to service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For decades, CNN's Christiane Amanpour covered Colin Powell from his military leadership to his time as Secretary of State. Hear her recollections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Certainly, those who he served with was way before my time, those who we lead had huge respect for him. Basically, the whole world had huge respect for him and certainly the United States for a while, he was the most popular person in public service at one time.

And you mentioned about his, you know, people considered him running for office. But he never seriously did. And he said, this is something I actually have found out, I have no passion for, the politics of a presidential run. My passion is for my people, in other words, soldiers, people in uniform. And he was very concerned when they were deployed, it must be for achievable gains.

And what I'm saying is that his record will be mixed, because in some occasions, it was a massive success, the first Gulf War, the deployment of overwhelming force, but in some situations, the caution led to a failure of leadership. And that was one year and then onwards, Rwanda and elsewhere. So, and then, as you've all mentioned, in the second Iraq war.

[00:25:04]

AMANPOUR: But the man was very well respected. He blazed the trail in certainly the black community in the United States. He was of immigrant parents from Jamaica. And even though by his own admission he wasn't a great student, he became top in terms of domestic leadership and an influence and respect inside the United States.

And certainly, he was somebody who believed in negotiation, who believed in coalition, and he was very well respected by allies in the rest of the world as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Colin Powell's life was exceptional in so many ways, so too it seems with his death, even though he was fully vaccinated, a combination of his age, underlying health conditions and past battles with cancer, and he was still of high risk from COVID.

And for more on that, we're now joined by Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, president of Clinical Care at Providence Health and Services. Good to see you, thank you for being with us.

DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, PRESIDENT, CLINICAL CARE AT PROVIDENCE: Thanks so much for having me, John.

VAUSE: OK, let's just get this out of the way very quickly, clearly, emphatically just confirm to me that Colin Powell's death does not raise questions, it does not raise doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccines. No one is being lied to about the vaccines. Let's get that clear, right?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: That is absolutely crystal clear. The vaccines can turn what should be a normally is a severe infection into a mild infection.

But if your health is underlying poor enough, even a mild infection can tip you over and unfortunately, Colin Powell's health was not good to begin with and so, even fully vaccinated having a mild breakthrough infection was enough for him to cause death.

VAUSE: Again, doctors have been stressing this all day long, the vaccines work. They're effective. Colin Powell's death doesn't prove anything otherwise.

Dr. Peter Hotez has more on why Secretary Powell was at a higher risk, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: In no way should this be seen as a is any kind of condemnation of the vaccinations. The vaccines are working really well. It's just that multiple myeloma patients, especially older multiple myeloma patients simply do not do well, either with COVID-19 or with COVID-19 vaccinations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK, so what is it about that type of cancer in particular which puts Secretary Powell and others at a higher risk?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Well, it because it affects the immune system, the ability for the blood cells -- the white blood cells to actually be able to produce the antibodies to fight off the infection.

But it is actually an argument by the way for everybody else to get vaccinated, because there are people who cannot manufacture their own immunity that they can't really fight off the germ themselves even with the vaccine, think people like who got transplants and have other reasons that their immune system don't work.

If everybody else gets vaccinated, people with multiple myeloma like Colin Powell or people with immune deficiency because of transplants can be protected.

If everybody else is protected, we don't pass it on to people who can't fight off the infection.

VAUSE: We heard from Colin Powell's chief of staff who says he fell ill before receiving that booster shot, (INAUDIBLE).

With these numbers also from the CDC, as of last Tuesday, of the almost 190 million fully vaccinated Americans, more than 30,000 have been treated in hospital with breakthrough infections, more than 7,000 have died.

And then, we head back in August, FDA authorized booster shots for people over 65 and those in the position that Secretary Powell was in with his health.

So, does this really make the argument now for boosters given just how small those numbers are?

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: It does make the argument for boosters, although it really is probably going to end up being an individual decision that we know that because the vaccine itself, like I said, in terms of severe infection into a -- into a much more mild infection, if you don't want to get a moderate infection because your vaccine immunity is waning, that the booster shot can really help you.

If you are older and any kind of infection mild, moderate, severe could be lethal. That's when it's really worthwhile to get the infection but as the vaccine boosters become more and more available to broader and broader spots of the public, people who don't want to end up feeling sick and missing a week at work, they really might want to consider getting it.

VAUSE: I just want to wrap this up on a point you made earlier about the fact that this is a really good message to people out there, especially younger people who think, well, I'm not getting vaccinated because if I get it, I'm going to be fine. I'm going to survive. That could be true, but others won't. If you get this -- if you get this COVID-19, you can spread it to grandma or grandpa and kill them basically.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: That's exactly right. So, just imagine the holiday is coming up. Do you really want to go home at Christmas and bring home COVID to your family and be the reason that grandma ends up in the hospital?

So, I really do think that there's a lot of good rationale behind younger people who might have less risk of death themselves, but they want to keep their family safe.

VAUSE: Yes, exactly. Stop being selfish. Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, thank you.

COMPTON-PHILLIPS: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a break. When we come back, keeping refugees out. Poland promising to build a wall along its border with Belarus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:37]

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

The Ethiopian Air Force now admits it carried out successful airstrikes against separatist installations in Mekelle, Tigray, on Monday, according to the state-run news agency. Earlier though, the government had previously denied the strikes took place, and said that Tigray's People's Liberation Front is crying wolf.

CNN's Larry Madowo has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERENATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Eyewitnesses tell CNN they saw these two airstrikes. They saw people scrambling for safety, and some reports say some people were killed.

But the TPLF says the Ethiopian government is once again attacking innocent civilians, which is against international law.

Coming up to the first anniversary of the start of this conflict, and it appears to have gotten worse. It has spilled over into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.

The international community has been calling for a cessation of hostilities, the investigations of any of the atrocities that have been reported, and access for humanitarian aid.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Now to Eastern Europe, and a looming refugee crisis on the border between Poland and Belarus. The migrants actually don't want to stay in either country, simply a stop on the way.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trapped and desperate between Belarus and Poland, refugees begging for passage to Germany. And while many are stopped, an increasing number are now making it to Germany to this refugee center in the town of Eisenhuttenstadt.

Seventeen-year-old Geno (ph) just arrived from Iraq via Belarus with her mother and sister and says Belarussian authorities even drove them to the border.

GINO, IRAQI REFUGEE: They put us in a truck, and then they took us to the other border. They cut it, and they told us to walk.

PLEITGEN (on camera): They cut the border. So there was a wire? They cut the wire?

GINO: Yes, they cut the wire.

PLEITGEN: OK.

(voice-over): The E.U. accuses strongman Alexander Lukashenko of state-organized human trafficking, luring refugees to Belarus and sending them across the border, a claim Lukashenko denies.

Poland says it has sealed its border with barbed wire and will even build a wall. Refugees are often trapped between the two sides for days, and shoved back and forth. This woman from Syria tells me the group she was part of slept under trees and ran out of food and water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five days later, we drink water from on floor -- on the floor. We didn't have anything.

PLEITGEN (on camera): You drank water from puddles?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes. Yes.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Few of the refugees stay in Poland. Most try to move on to Germany, the Brandenberg state government says. They also say they've gone from 200 new arrivals in all of August to almost 200 every day now.

OLAF JANSEN, BRANDENBERG IMMIGRATION AUTHORITY: We increase the capacity here, and we of course, also sped up all of the administrative procedures, without compromising security and health checks.

PLEITGEN: Poland says the situation at its border with Belarus remains tense, and the interior minister of the German state with the highest refugee influx tells me he wants the E.U. to get tougher on Lukashenko.

"It's a question of tough international diplomacy," he says. "We as Europe cannot allow Belarus to do something like this. From my point of view, we could also involve Russia. All diplomatic channels need to be used."

But few believe solutions will come quickly. Folks at this refugee shelter say they are already preparing for more arrivals, already clearing additional stakes.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Eisenhuttenstadt, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Police in Norway say five people killed in an attack last week, were stabbed to death, not shot with a bow and arrow, as initially thought.

Investigators say arrows were fired during the rampage, where at one point, the suspect allegedly abandoned the bow.

Four women and one man were killed. Three others were seriously hurt.

Police believe the suspect may have mental health issues and is being held in a psychiatric facility.

The leader of the military group Hezbollah says last week's violence in Beirut was dangerous and marks a turning point in Lebanese politics.

Seven people were killed in the worst street violence in over a decade. And it underscores growing sectarian differences amid the investigation into last year's Beirut port explosion.

We have more details from senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The chants, the flags are out again on Beirut's Martyr Square, to mark the second anniversary, the mass uprising against a political elite that has ruled, many say misruled Lebanon since the civil war.

But where two years ago, there were tens of thousands on this day, just a few hundred. The demands, however, haven't changed.

"We want our country back," says Abita Arigie (ph). "We want our rights. We want to live like everyone else."

And they want accountability for the catastrophes this country has suffered in recent years.

Siehel Azus (ph) lost his job as an interior designer. Now, he has the time to construct a model of the fate he hopes for Lebanon's politicians.

"What matters," he says, "is that people need to wake up and rise up, and arrest all the murderers and crooks to put them in an iron cage and set them on fire."

At dusk, they gathered near the city's port, a symbol of the fatal negligence and corruption, which has plagued Lebanon for decades. And the impunity of a ruling class that is yet to be brought to account.

(on camera): Two years ago, there was a sense that something with changing. But since then, the Lebanese economy has collapsed. The country has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. There was an explosion in the Beirut port in August of 2020 that killed more than 200 people.

And most recently, there were clashes in Beirut, reminiscent of the Lebanese civil war. Whatever hope there was two years ago, much of it has faded.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, Facebook may not be too thrilled with the current reality it's facing. So now it plans to build the virtual reality of the future, just ahead.

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[00:41:16]

VAUSE: The torch-lighting ceremony in Greece for next year's Winter Olympics was disrupted briefly by human rights activists. They held up a banner which read "No Genocide Games," and they called for a boycott, all three of them.

But the ceremony went on. Police kept the activists away from the temple where the torch was lit. No word on charges being filed. The Metaverse, it's an idea straight out of science fiction, but now Facebook would like to make it a reality. The tech giant says it plans to hire as many as 10,000 workers in Europe to build a massive new online world.

Fans of the Metaverse say it's the future of the company and are already embracing the idea, as well. But as CNN's Anna Stewart reports, Facebook could face an uphill battle with E.U. regulators.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This announcement from Facebook has prompted many around the world to question what is the Metaverse? Which sounds like something straight out of science fiction.

It's a vision for the future where users could interact online as avatars in a virtual world, with the aid of virtual and augmented reality, to bring the experience much closer to real life.

Some people have already their toes in the metaverse. Those who play multiplayer games, or attend virtual conferences using V.R. headsets.

But this could extend to having virtual homes, attending virtual concerts, and virtual shopping for all your virtual needs.

And Facebook isn't the only player that's investing in the space, with competition from game developers like Roblox and Epic Games. It's interesting, though, that Facebook has picked the E.U. for this big investment, a market that's not really considered all that friendly when it comes to U.S. tech companies.

The E.U. Commission has launched many antitrust probes on U.S. tech firms, including one on Facebook in June, which is ongoing. Ireland has fined WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned company, for breaching data privacy rules, something WhatsApp is appealing.

The E.U. Parliament has also invited Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen to speak next month. But by investing in the E.U. with 10,000 jobs. Facebook will make the E.U. much more invested in its future.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after a very short break. I'll see you again at the top of the hour.

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