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Crisis In Myanmar; Kidnapped in Haiti; China's Economy; David Amess Remembered. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 19, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:22]

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

New details on the notorious criminal gang behind the kidnapping of 17 missionaries.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: Well, just moments after me and mouse dictator announced plans for the largest release of political prisoners since seizing power. Hundreds of detainees were seen leaving the notorious insane prison on buses to be reunited with family and loved ones.

On state controlled television Monday, General Min Aung Hlaing said more than 5,000 people arrested during protest against government's coup will be given amnesty as a gesture of goodwill. He also went on to lash out at ASIAN. Last week, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations decided at an emergency meeting to exclude Myanmar's military leadership from an upcoming regional summit.

Live now to Sydney, Australia, where we're joined by Manny Maung from Human Rights Watch. Manny, thank you for taking the time to be with us. We've heard for the UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews releasing a statement is part of what it reads. The junta seeks three things from the international community, one money, two weapons and three legitimacy. ASEAN's announcement that the junta will not be welcome at his upcoming summit denies the junta the third -- legitimacy which I can say now, is this stuff by ASEAN. Is that significant enough to have a direct link to the decision to release all of these prisoners?

MANNY MAUNG, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH RESEARCHER: Well, it is because I think that the military understands that without the support of ASEAN, they won't be able to legitimize, you know this coup any further. But we have to be really careful there because from past experience, we've seen these amnesties where they release, you know, in fact thousands of prisoners in some cases, only to rearrest many more several weeks later.

In this particular instance, we've already seen that 11 people were released from a prison somewhere in the middle of Myanmar only to be rearrested just as they walked out of the gate. So, I think that's a really good example of how this amnesty is a bit of a backhanded, you know, concession, if you will, but really, they don't do anything without a hidden agenda.

VAUSE: Is there any confirmation if the senior leadership of the civilian government, in particular Aung San Suu Kyi will be released or they have been released?

MAUNG: OK, so I have to say that this amnesty comes with the usual caveats, and this is why we absolutely cannot trust the military's moves in any way. But they've said that thousands of people will be released, some of them who are facing incitement charges.

Now, what we know is that many of these prisoners are facing multiple charges, and this includes Aung San Suu Kyi, she's facing treason charges, as well as violating the secrets -- state Secrets Act. So it's very likely that we won't be seeing her released anytime soon.

But there could be some concession given where they may allow the ASEAN special envoy to finally meet her, which is something that they haven't been able to do. On top of this, it's been made clear in the announcement that Min Aung Hlaing has said, anyone affiliated with the National Unity Government, or indeed the People's Defense Forces, which are civilians who have taken up arms against the military violations. They won't be released either. So if we look at this, again, I have to refer back to that backhanded nature of the military giving concessions.

VAUSE: And just with that in mind, it's hard to see how this can be considered a goodwill gesture, where all of these people should not have been arrested in the first place.

MAUNG: And you hit the nail on the head. Exactly. These people are civilians. They legitimately rose up to protest a coup and a takeover. Many of them have been mistreated. I've documented violations of people inside detention where they've been tortured, beaten, even raped.

And in the first instance, they should not have been in there. They should have been allowed to protest with free will to demonstrate their human rights.

[01:05:08]

But on top of that, the military argues that a 2020 November election was fraudulent. And there's been no evidence of that. Every organization that documented and actually observed the elections says that their results were resoundingly in favor of Aung San Suu Kyi and our government. VAUSE: Will lead very quickly from General Min Aung Hlaing. He's not a huge fan of ASEAN, He's speaking out against the them. Here he is.

(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)

VAUSE: I mean, there's almost nothing true in that statement. But he does talk about these uprising and these rebel fighting, but rebel fighters. Has that impact here on the military regime?

MAUNG: Yes, actually, what we've seen is that the militias or the civilians have taken up arms have actually done real damage to the military. And this is something that surprised all of us. None of us expected that this, you know, protest and uprising would last as long as it did. We certainly didn't think that the armed protesters would have any luck. But there's actually been a lot of coordination, training even of some of these writers, poets, political dissidents, who've decided that the only way to fight the military is fire with fire. And they've said to me on many occasions, that this is the only way that they see they can move forward, and especially if they don't want to be arrested or even tortured to death once they've been arrested.

VAUSE: Manny, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate your insights here and give me some sort of the accounts of what's happening inside the country. So thank you.

MAUNG: Thank you so much.

VAUSE: Well, China has denied testing a hypersonic missile, which would be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. But according to the Financial Times, the missile was launched a rocket in space back in August, made one orbit and then traveled on towards its target. Hypersonic missiles are difficult to track and shoot down with conventional air defenses. The Financial Times reports that U.S. intelligence was taken by surprise.

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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Is that we are deeply concerned about the rapid expansion of the PRC's nuclear capabilities, including its development of novel delivery systems. These developments underscore that the PRC as we said before is deviating from its decade's long nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence.

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VAUSE: China, Russia and the United States are all working on hypersonic weapons. North Korea recently announced it had tested a hypersonic missile as well. Well, North Korea also appears to have testified at least one ballistic missile which landed in the sea of the East Coast, according to military officials in Seoul, who didn't give us a lot of other details but officials in Japan say two ballistic missiles have been launched. CNN's Paula Hancocks live again for us this hour in Seoul. So what's the state here? What are we talking about one missile, two missiles? Where are we?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we just have more information from the South Korean side, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff saying that they do believe it is one missile, and it appears to be a submarine launched ballistic missile.

Now it was launched from an area Sinpo, which is where North Korea does have a submarine base, and it's where they have tested and have the facilities to do these kind of tests in the past. So this is what South Korea believes at this point.

Now we did see earlier this year back in January, there was a parade that North Korea held. They claimed that they were unveiling a new submarine launched ballistic missile. We don't know if this is in fact what they have tested today or whether elements of it have been tested earlier this morning.

But certainly it's what we have been seeing from Pyongyang. In recent weeks, they have been carrying out new weapons tests new missiles, as you mentioned, they claim they have launched a hypersonic missile. They've also, as they say have tested long range cruise missiles, also some anti-aircraft weapons.

So what we're seeing from Pyongyang at the moment is really a push forward, not in in quantity but in quality, making sure that they are testing new weapon systems. Now it has been widely condemned in the region as you might imagine, both Japan and South Korea agree. At least they did earlier that is ballistic technology, so violating United Nations Security Council resolutions.

We haven't heard anything from North Korea at this point, so we'll wait to see if we get images from them. But just last month remember, South Korea actually tested its own submarine launched ballistic missile and we have been hearing from Pyongyang. We heard from Kim Jong-un himself the North Korean leader last week at a military exhibition that South Korea was being hypocritical because they were carrying out these tests and pushing their military arsenal and weaponry forward.

[01:10:14]

But then at the same time criticizing North Korea for doing the same, claiming that they have the right to self-defense. Now, of course much of this technology is actually banned for North Korea from those UN Security Council resolutions not the same for South Korea. But this is what we're hearing from North Korea at this point that they should be allowed to carry out these tests, quite frankly, because the science is doing the same. John.

VAUSE: Paula, think you. Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul with the very latest. Thank you. A team of U.S. officials has arrived in Haiti part of an urgent search for 17 missionaries kidnapped over the weekend. Haitian authorities be the 400 Mawazo gang is behind the kidnappings, a criminal gangs which one's specialized in car theft, which now appears to have graduated to mass abduction. CNN's Matt Rivers has details from Port-au-Prince.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A desperate call for help as seen in a WhatsApp message obtained by CNN. The message reportedly from one of the 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti, it reads, please pray for us. We're being harassed, kidnapped currently. They have control of our vehicle with about 15 Americans right now. Ladies, men and children.

He then says their near Ganthier the place a source in Haiti security forces confirms is where the group was abducted 12 adults along with five children according to Christian Aid Ministries, and we're learning more about the gang who may be behind the crime, our source saying it's the 400 Mawozo gang, one of if not the most powerful in the country. It's dozens of members with a distinct Hallmark kidnapping.

Nearly a year ago the gangs alleged leader said me, I work, I'm a gangster, I carry weapons. While I'm in a gang I have guns. I don't carry weapons to terrorize. Carrying weapons doesn't make me a gangster or a bandit.

(on camera): Several miles down that road there is where our source in the Haitian security forces says this kidnapping was carried out and in a more normal situation we would drive several miles down that road and go see exactly where this took place. But following the advice of both our Haitian producer and our security team, we're not going to go any further than this because they say it's not safe. Down that road is the suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets, which is essentially completely controlled by the 400 Mawozo gang. The gang that authorities say carried out this kidnapping.

(voice-over): That gang and others have terrorized Haiti for years with kidnappings exploding since January according to human rights nonprofit based in Port-au-Prince. Foreigners get the attention. But it's ordinary Haitians that are the vast majority of kidnapping victim's data from the organization shows.

This man says kidnappings here have been happening for so long. Why didn't no one talk about it then? Why is the world making such a big deal about foreigners? It's because they're more important.

On Monday, Haitians across the capital region took advantage of the renewed attention by staying home. Schools and businesses and transport services shut down. Normally packed, Port-au-Prince empty. It was a quiet form of protest people demanding safety and security from a government in turmoil.

Nobody is safe says this man. Even normal people going out to buy food get kidnapped. It's even worse for someone in a car. There's so much fear in the country. Even people living outside the country are afraid to come back. Matt Rivers, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Stefano Pozzebon on tracking developments. He joins us live with very latest and at this point Stefano, do we know if the authorities in Haiti have actually made contact with this criminal gang in any way?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Not for money as of Monday night, John. There has been no formal communications between our authorities and the 400 Mawozo gang which is believed to be behind these kidnappings. We know that our authorities and security officials are from Haiti but also from the United States and Canada are on the ground working against the clock to try to secure the release of those 17 missionaries.

What CNN has learned over the last few hours is that the same group where are these missionaries belong to the Christian Aid Ministry in Haiti raised an alarm only last year the saying that the gangs were approaching the areas in Titalien (ph) which is a small village in the north of Port-au0Prince.

Gangs were approaching and they were getting over to control the territory in one blog post. A member of this group have wrote the game have taken over and related to gang members during the rounds in the streets and shooting rapid fire on automatic weapons.

[01:15:12]

And that is what happens John in many parts of these region, Latin America and the Caribbean, where highly armed gangs exercise a territorial control over the territory that they inhabit. And that makes the job of the security officials ever more difficult. John.

VAUSE: Stefano, thank you so much. Stefano Pozzebon with the very latest. We will take a short break. When we come back, China's economy seems to be stalling interest rates seem to be rising. Goods are stuck at sea unable to make it deport. We take a look at the world economy struggling with the ripple effects of the pandemic.

And the UK Parliament mourning the loss of a murdered lawmaker Sir David Amess.

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VAUSE: Well, Beijing is playing down many of the factors behind the slowest quarter on quarter growth rate since numbers were made public in 2010. Claiming both suggests blimps are temporary. But there is a dire situation with China's energy shortages. Shipping and business sectors have experts fearing further damage to the economy. Beijing saying it's all just a phase as one official describing the current challenges.

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FU LINGHUI, CHINESE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Domestic and foreign risks and challenges have increased. The pandemic has spread. The momentum of recovery of the global economy has slowed. International commodity prices have been operating at high levels, and parts of the country have been affected by the multiple impacts of the epidemic and floods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And while Americans are flush with cash from government handouts during the pandemic, David Culver reports that supply chain crunch could make this a bleak holiday shopping season, especially if you're looking for a fake tree from China.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With Americans starting their holiday shopping, whether or not they tick off one essential item on their list depends on what's happening thousands of miles away. Here in southern China, workers in this factory twist, hole, cut and crimped together shredded plastic strips, creating branches for artificial Christmas trees destined for the US.

(on camera): And these are the finished product. They do about 500 trees a day in this factory alone. Then they're packaged up and shipped out. But in this case, they have nowhere to go.

(voice-over): The reason --

JAMES LI, SUPPLIER FOR NATIONAL TREE COMPANY (through translator): Because many ships went to the United States this year got stuck at the ports and did not return, so we're waiting for their ships to return. Our factories goods are therefore staying here and cannot be shipped out.

CULVER: James Li says his factory has a backlog of about 150 containers worth about 3 million U.S. dollars just waiting to be shipped out.

(on camera): It's led the company to rent storage space right here in China. This warehouse has two floors just like this packed with trees. The inventory that normally this time of year would already be in the U.S. well ahead of Christmas.

(voice-over): Li warns if the shipping backlog continues.

[01:20:07]

LI (through translator): Many consumers may not be able to buy Christmas trees and Christmas this year.

CULVER: CNN followed the jam the supply chain from Li's factory in China to where most of the goods usually end up the National Tree Company in New Jersey, a large wholesaler of holiday decor that sells to retailers like Target and Amazon. The company's CEO Chris Butler lays the ongoing global supply chain crisis for the shipping backlog.

CHRIS BUTLER, CEO, NATIONAL TREE COMPANY: So COVID created some of the shortages COVID. Post-COVID has created this enormous post-COVID demand.

CULVER: It's in turn jamming up ports like these in Southern California, with a recent flyover showing some 60 container ships sitting anchored off the LA coast.

BUTLER: Every day is a fight to get containers who are fighting against toy manufacturers, electronic manufacturers, other manufacturers to get the containers and we're having to pay a lot more for those containers.

CULVER: The company says it's paid 10 times more this year to bring their products across the ocean compared to last year.

BUTLER: Because of that we're having to pass on some of those price increases to the consumer.

CULVER: The result, a 20 to 25 percent increase in the price of artificial trees this year. If you're lucky enough to still find one by Thanksgiving. David Culver, CNN, Huizhou, China.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Rana Foroohar is CNN global economic analyst. She is also the global business columnist and associate editor for The Financial Times. She is with us from New York. Good to see you again.

RANA FOROOHAR: CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Nice to see you.

VAUSE: OK, so the third quarter growth numbers from China, that's one data point right now. The second weakest quarter over quarter growth on record since rates were published by Beijing in 2010. We also have the U.S. industrial production numbers it fell 1.3 percent in September, to move it down 0.1 percent in August, that was revised downwards.

And (INAUDIBLE) the Financial Times reporting in the UK markets pricing a rise of a quarter of a percentage point of the base rate by December further increase to 0.5 percent by March next year, which means that by the end of the year, next year, interest rates are expected to climb to almost 1 percent In the UK.

That's just the big headline stuff. There's a whole lot of other sort of little pieces of information coming from around the world. So connect all of this together. What's the global trend here? Yes, please altogether. And what's driving the problems here?

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, I wish that I could say that there's one silver bullet answer, but let me just start with China because you know, it's the biggest country, it's the biggest picture problem at the moment. You know, we've heard a lot about China's property meltdown, the biggest property developer Evergrande has been in crisis.

But that's just underscoring a transition that the Communist Party is trying to make right now, which is from being the factory of the world, an export driven economy with high levels of inequality, a property bubble, and a lot of building of bridges to nowhere and things that are built on state run subsidies, to really having a totally different kind of economy and innovation economy. And a big middle class. I mean, these are big changes that the party is trying to do right now.

And one of the things that's happening is by letting a little bit of air out of the real estate bubble, and out of this sort of conventional debt driven growth model, we're seeing some slower growth. Now some people would argue that this is a good thing. This is what America should have done, you know, before the financial crisis, little bit of air at that debt bubble, but it does have knock on effects.

And, you know, we've seen in recent weeks, the supply chain disruptions, we've seen the blockages of ports. This is all rippling over into the West. I think that part of what's happening in the U.S. is about these different factors, the ripple effects of global slowdowns. Part of it is about the Delta variant, it's always comes back to COVID. And what's happening with COVID.

And in the UK, it's really about energy. It's about inflation. It's about, you know, what's going to happen this winter.

VAUSE: There's a lot of temporary events, you know, we should not systemic, they're sort of one offs. And individually, they can all be written off and dealt with. And it's not a major crisis. But there's a ton of them right now, a whole lot of blips on the radar all happening at once, all happening all around the world. So collectively, it's a different story.

FOROOHAR: Well, no, I mean I think that there is some connective tissue here. And COVID was really a systemic crisis. And it was also sort of like a scrim that was pulled up on all kinds of risk factors that were already there. I mean, a highly financialized economy, more depth than there's ever been in the corporate sector, supply chain, long supply chains, complex supply chains that have been really stretched to the max and we're ready to break.

So a lot of this has to do with risks that were already there. Yes, they're popping up in different places, and they seem disparate. But I would say that they're actually all connected. And I think that we're in the process of really moving from one economic era. One might call it the just in time era to just in case era where we're going to be focused a lot more on resiliency rather than efficiency and share prices.

[01:25:06]

VAUSE: If you take a closer look at the numbers out of China, there was strong exports in those numbers, which sort of help offset some of the problems from the energy crisis, that sort of thing. But I want you to listen to the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

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GENE SEROKA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT OF LOS ANGELES: This is going to take some time, most folks are telling me right now that we'll see strengthen the import market through an early Lunar New Year in February of 2022. And then the major retailers have told me directly, the second quarter of next year is going to be focused on replenishing this inventory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But then, after that, what, the surging demand for Chinese goods, he won't be there. So what happens to China's economy?

FOROOHAR: Well, it's interesting, you know, that snippet is telling us something kind of fascinating, which is that there's a lot of demand right now. I mean, part of the ports being clogged is about COVID, and about disruptions in the Chinese supply chains. But part of it is about the fact that you did get a pickup in demand in the U.S. that was much faster and much more robust than anybody thought it would be.

There are a lot of chain effects of that. You know, we don't have enough longshoremen, we don't have enough truck drivers to take things to the stores. You know, we're having to negotiate with unions and businesses to keep things open 24 seven. So, in a way, that's a good thing. It shows that there's a robust recovery that had been underway even amidst Delta. But it starts to have an effect if there's too much inflation, if the Fed has to move quickly, then you start to worry about what's going to happen next year. We're going to suddenly see a blip in the markets, potentially even a big correction in the markets, what might affect my thought have on business, et cetera.

VAUSE: There's even a shortage of pizza drivers to deliver Domino's Pizza at the moment, though.

FOROOHAR: That's terrible. That's not great.

VAUSE: There's a shortage of everything. My dinner always late. Rana, thank you. Good to see you.

FOROOHAR: Great to see you.

VAUSE: We'll take a break. When we come back, a year on from the lucky tollgate massacre in Nigeria, families of peaceful protesters killed by government forces still waiting for justice.

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[01:29:31]

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

In the House of Commons on Monday, British lawmakers honored slain parliament member David Amess. Prime Minister Boris Johnson led tributes to the conservative MP.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports now from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It was a somber day here in the British capital as politicians paid their respects to Sir David Amess, who of course, was stabbed to death in his constituency last Friday.

Now all this culminated with a church service at St. Margaret's Church which is, of course, right across from the Houses of Parliament.

It began with a session of the House of Commons which began with a moment of silence and then tributes to Sir David Amess, including by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said that this country needs more politicians like Sir David Amess.

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This country needs people like Sir David. This House needs people like Sir David. Our politics need 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.

There can be few among more justified than him in his deep faith in the resurrection and the life to come.

PLEITGEN: One of the other, really important, things that Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was, quote, we will never allow those who commit acts of evil to triumph over the democracy and the parliament that Sir David Amess loved so much.

And of course, there are several very important points to that. Obviously, it also commemorates Sir David Amess and for him, it was so important to be with his constituents.

He was member of parliament since 1983, and very often, spoke to people in his constituency and wanted to hear the problems that they have, and the things that they had to say.

But this also goes to a big discussion that is going on here in this country right now. And that is the safety of members of parliament, of politicians as they interact with their constituencies.

Of course, this is the second time that a member of parliament has been killed in the past 5 years. Of course, Jo Cox, having been murdered in 2016, near Leeds.

And there is a big debate on what to do next? Does there need to be more security for politicians, as they go into their constituencies, and meet with the general public there? Or, do they have to do less events where they'd come face to face with their constituencies?

It is a big and very difficult debate because, of course, it goes right to the heart of what the democracy here in this country is about, which is of course, interacting with the general public as elected officials.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- London. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ethiopia's air force confirms airstrikes have hit separatist targets in Tigray's regional capital. State run media announced the strikes, Monday, after initial denials from the government.

A witness told Reuters one strike hit close to a market behind a hotel. The government is trying to regain territory lost to the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

This conflict in Tigray began almost a year ago. Thousands have already been killed, more than two million have fled.

In the coming hours a judicial panel in Nigeria expected to release the findings on the Lekki toll gate massacre. Government forces opened fire and killed and wounded peaceful protesters.

Now one year on from the tragedy, families of the victims are demanding justice and they're demanding accountability.

We have more details now from CNN's Stephanie Busari and a warning, her report contains graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over) It was the night of peaceful protests ended in bloodshed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were peaceful. They came, and started shooting at us.

BUSARI: A CNN investigation last year pieced together what happened when a Nigerian army and later, the police, opened fire on its own civilians, as they protested police brutality.

One year on from the Lekki toll gate shootings, the Nigerian authorities have still not taken responsibility for what happened that night.

This woman's son was one of the protesters. She's too afraid to show her face for fear of recrimination.

Here is her son earlier on the day of the protest, the Lekki toll gate clearly visible, behind him. When is mother found him early the next morning he had been shot in the chest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was covered in blood when we saw him.

BUSARI: She tried to rush him to a hospital, but he died in her arms, in the car. At her son's grave, his mother said she wants the government to be honest about what really happened that night.

(on camera): What will you say to the government if they come to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will say to them the same thing I am saying to you. I cannot lie about my child's death. BUSARI (voice over): CNN's original investigation used time stamps, video data and geolocation to analyze hours of footage shot by protesters. Tracking the army's movements to the Lekki toll gate, where protests had been taking place for nearly two weeks.

This video appears to show the army shooting toward a crowd. Here, and at the top of your screen here.

[01:34:53]

BUSARI: The Nigerian army's account of what happened are shifted over time. Initially, they called it fake news and insisted soldiers had only fired blank bullets into the air. And police denied shooting anyone.

The Nigerian government threatened to sanction CNN for its report. At a judicial hearing, one general said, there is no way they would kill their brothers and sisters.

But admitted --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The soldiers would be given both and live and blank bullets.

BUSARI: This hearing was set up by the Lagos state government to look into cases of abuse and investigate the toll gate incident.

Renewed requests for comments of the army, police and the federal government have not been answered.

(on camera): It has been a year, since people gathered here, and at the Lekki toll gate to protest against police brutality and corruption. But many Nigerians believe that the issues that drew protests 12 months ago still persist. And, those who were here that night still seeking justice.

(voice over): DJ Switch was at a protest, and live streamed much of the evening on her Instagram. A year later, she recalls how she thought they were all going to die.

DJ SWITCH: I thought it was the end for all of us there. You know -- I mean when you sing the national anthem and wave your flag, your Nigerian flag, and the shooting doesn't stop, you only have one thought left in your mind.

BUSARI: Soon after the shootings, DJ Switch said she had to flee Nigeria, afraid for her safety. She hasn't been back since.

(on camera): Do you think that justice is possible for those who lost their lives?

DJ SWITCH Justice is there, waiting to be done. Young people are asking every day for accountability.

BUSARI: For many of those who witnessed these events, and who remain in Nigeria, an atmosphere of intimidation and fear has taken over. Leaving many, too scared to step forward, and push for answers.

Stephanie Busari, CNN -- Lagos, Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, one of America's most revered generals and statesmen, has died from COVID-19.

Ahead the extraordinary life of Colin Powell and why he was so vulnerable to the coronavirus.

COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Flags at U.S. federal buildings are at half staff to honor Colin Powell who died from complications from COVID-19. He only recently revealed he's being treated for cancer, as well as Parkinson's.

There is a common thread to the tribute which continue to come -- admiration for his leadership, his character, his dedication to duty and country.

Alex Marquardt looks back at his life, his death and his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The news of Colin Powell's death prompted an outpouring of grief that reflects the profound admiration of a statesman unique in so many ways.

[01:39:58]

MARQUARDT: President Joe Biden said Powell will be remembered as one of our great Americans.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Think of our Colin Powell as 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 of New York, and he rose to the highest ranks not only in the military, but also in areas of foreign policy and statecraft.

MARQUARDT: From Powell's heritage to his storied of military career before becoming a public servant who transcended party affiliation. The former 4-star general and secretary of state paved the way for so many like Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.

GENERAL LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The world lost one of the greatest leaders that we have ever witnessed. Alma lost a great husband and the family lost a tremendous father. And I lost a tremendous personal friend and mentor.

MARQUARDT: Reflecting on his career, Powell told Wolf Blitzer that making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was one of his biggest mistakes.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Was that the biggest intelligence blunder of your professional career?

COLIN POWELL, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Of my professional career -- yes, one of the biggest if not the biggest.

MARQUARDT: At 84 years old, Powell was among the most vulnerable to the pandemic ravaging the planet. He had been vaccinated but he was also suffering from Parkinson's disease, and being treated for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood plasma cells. Both wreaked havoc on Powell's immune system, making him much more susceptible to COVID-19.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Multiple myeloma is a disease that itself suppresses the immune system. But it's also important to understand that the treatment for multiple myeloma, which patients often take every day, itself can suppress the immune system.

So, General Powell represented our most vulnerable population in this country. He was over the age of 80. He had cancer and a treatment for his cancer made him vulnerable.

MARQUARDT: The vaccines are less effective with cancer patients generally. And a study in July found that just 45 percent of multiple myeloma patients developed an adequate COVID-19 response when vaccinated. A reason why the FDA and CDC have approved booster shots for the immunocompromised.

Powell had kept his cancer quiet, one of his last public appearances was in late September for the school named after him at the City College of New York.

Speaking with his daughter Linda, he grew emotional, talking about the students.

POWELL: Can you tell me where you're from? Where your parents are from? And what is your future?

Each one of them -- they're 12, I think -- each one of them did that. And --

LINDA POWELL, DAUGHTER OF COLIN POWELL: Yes. They reminded you of yourself.

POWELL: The reason I'm crying is that I looked at -- and they were me. And they came from an immigrant background like me. And they came from some (INAUDIBLE) in the rocks and they were smiling. They were happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We had Colin Powell there finishing that report from Alex Marquardt.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" starts after a short break.

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("AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS")