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Countries Pledge to Save Planet Earth; President Biden Called Out No-Show Leaders; Missing Girl Back to Her Family; GOP Wins in Virginia; State of Emergency Declared in Ethiopia; Rescue Workers in Nigeria Working Nonstop; Republican Glenn Youngkin Wins Virginia Governor's Race; Analyst Say Youngkin Won By Keeping Trump At Arm's Length; Countries Pledge To Cut Methane Emissions 30 Percent By 2030; U.S., China Race To Lead World On Climate Solutions; CDC Signs Off On COVID Vaccine For Younger Kids; 2021 World Series Champions. Aired 3- 4a ET
Aired November 03, 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, a lot of optimism at COP26, key pledges have been made to reduce methane emissions and save the world's forests. The big questions now will world leaders live up to those commitments, and will they be enough?
A state of emergency declared in Ethiopia as Tigrayan forces gain ground in advance toward the capitol.
Plus, police say it's the miracle they've been praying for. A 4-year- old Australian girl is back with her family nearly three weeks after vanishing from their campsite. And now a man is in custody in her disappearance.
UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
Well, just a few days into the highest stakes climate summit in Glasgow and we've seen dozens of nations sign off on several agreements aimed at tackling the climate crisis.
We're now just hours away from the start of another day of meetings and the U.K. is set to announce plans to become the world's first net zero financial center. As part of the proposal, U.K. financial institutions and listed companies will be required to publish plans on how they will reduce their contribution to global warming.
That announcement is just one of the pledges coming out of COP26. On Tuesday, dozens of motions agreed to cut methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels by the end of the decade. The British prime minister says there's still plenty more work to do though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We must take care to guard against false hope and not to think in any way that the job is done because it is not. There's still a very long way now to go. But, all that being said, I am cautiously optimistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): And CNN's Max Foster has more now from Glasgow.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): End of the great chainsaw massacre of the world's forest, the words of Boris Johnson, host of the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow as global leaders, more than a hundred on Tuesday announced the pack to end deforestation by 2030.
JOHNSON: End the role of humanity as nature's conqueror, and instead become nature's custodian. We have to stop the devastating loss of our forests.
FOSTER: Crucially, signatories included Brazil and Russia, two states previously singled out for allowing deforestation to accelerate in their respective territories. Russian President Vladimir Putin pre- recorded a speech to rubberstamp the deal.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): After all, our country accounts for over 20 percent of our world's forest land, we take the strongest and most vigorous methods to conserve it.
FOSTER: The pledge is backed by almost $20 billion dollars in public and private funding including $2 billion from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
JEFF BEZOS, FOUNDER, AMAZON: Well we in this room work together.
FOSTER: And it covers an area of more than 40 million square miles from the northern forest of Canada to the tropical rainforests of Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Climate activists in Glasgow expressed healthy skepticism on the news.
JO BLACKMAN, SPOKESPERSON, GLOBAL WITNESS: This is a problem with a lot of these commitments, there is an accountability gap, governments made similar promises in 2014 with the New York declaration on forests, but they didn't meet anywhere near the progress that was expected.
FOSTER: How can you guarantee that this forest deal will work better than last one in 2014?
IVAN DUQUE, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT: I think we have very concrete actions, in the case of Colombia, we have committed to declare 30 percent of our territory our protected area in 2022, and I think the next challenge is going to be mobilizing green financing to ensure that we conserve the land and that's why we're promoting natural conservation contracts with peasants and indigenous communities.
FOSTER: There are reasons to be optimistic, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told CNN.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: I will tell you there is something bigger, more engaged, more urgent and what is happening here than I have seen and many other COP, and I believe we're going to come up with record levels of ambition.
[03:05:00]
And different from all the past we have private sector coming to the table in ways that we've never seen before.
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Cutting back on methane emissions.
FOSTER: Also, on Tuesday, more than 80 nations launched an initiative to cut reduce global methane emissions, committing to cut emission by 30 percent by 2030.
U.S. President Biden said the set was amongst the most important things we can do to keep global temperatures in check and the cornerstone promise of his administration.
(APPLAUSE)
FOSTER: That promise now extends to the deal signatories, can they hit the target. That's the question.
Max Foster, CNN, Glasgow, Scotland.
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CHURCH (on camera): And CNN's Phil Black is following developments, he joins us now live from Edinburgh Scotland. Good to see you again, Phil. So, how much real progress has been made so far, and what's ahead today at COP26?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, coming into this conference the call was for meaningful, tangible action, concrete plans, not just more words and aspirations. And the opening days of this conference has sought to deliver that, not directly through the Paris agreement process where individual countries set their own voluntary target, emissions targets, because when you come into this those targets as they stand are insufficient to achieve the necessary goals.
Although, and we're also weren't expecting any surprises there, although I should say that India has commitment announced by its prime minister to significantly transition away from coal power this decade. That has been warmly received.
That said, much of the progress such as this has been through new separate big international agreements, largely negotiated ahead of this talks like the promise to end deforestation by 2030, the pledge to cut down significantly on methane emissions.
A group of smaller countries coming together to help finance and technically assist South Africa transition away from coal power, and also a group of 40 countries committing to achieve near-zero carbon steel production by the end of this decade.
Steel production is a hugely carbon intensive industry that would be a real achievement. Each of these represents targeted action against a specific problem that drives climate change. And if fulfilled, they should in theory slow the warming of the planet.
But at the moment, they are just promises. They need a lot of action behind them to back them up. And if that doesn't happen, then history will judge them as simply being more empty words.
Now the leaders have left, the big names have left, the real work begins for the negotiating teams, the slow, grinding progress, often it very technical level for the next two weeks. And the hope is that at the end of that process, at the end of that period of time, they will have built momentum, more solidarity, close some of the gaps and there will be some next stage, a clear next step on the world's efforts to combat climate change. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Phil Black joining us live from Edinburgh, many thanks.
Well China is signaling it could be warming up to more ambitious goals in fighting the climate crisis. So far, Beijing has been reluctant to commit to keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, suggesting a slightly higher cap instead.
But on Tuesday, China's special envoy for climate said his country was not resisting the 1.5 target. China is the world's largest polluter, so securing Beijing's support is critical to curbing climate change. And yet, China's President Xi Jinping has been notably absent from COP26.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden criticized his decision not to attend.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We showed up. We showed up. And by showing up we've had a profound impact on the way I think the rest of the world is looking at the United States and its leadership role.
I think it's been a big mistake, quite frankly, for China, and we expected China not showing up. The rest of the world is going to look to China and say what value are they providing?
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CHURCH (on camera): Andrew Deutz is the U.S.-based global policy director for The Nature Conservancy. He joins me now from Washington. Good to have you with us. ANDREW DEUTZ, GLOBAL POLICY DIRECTOR, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: Good to
be here.
CHURCH: So, climate activists are not happy, but world leaders are congratulating themselves for several major announcements at COP26, including 100 nations joining the U.S. to adopt strict new rules to curb methane emissions.
Well this and other deals like ending deforestation by 2030 be sufficient do you think to bring the negative impacts of climate change under control?
[03:09:59]
DEUTZ: This is a big step forward but we're not there yet. The fundamental architecture of the Paris Agreement was what's we call pledge and review. So, countries make commitments, and then every few years we come back and review those commitments, assess whether or not are adequate, and then crank this giant ratchet mechanism to increase the level of ambition.
So Paris set a goal that the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, but when you add up all the commitments that were on the table in Paris we are headed to a dangerous trajectory of 3.1. When you look at the new commitments that are on the table that have committed over the last year, we are now headed for a world of 2.7 degrees warming.
So, it's still dangerous, but it's not as bad as 3.1. So, we are making progress, but we still have to crank that ratchet several more times, and increase ambition a lot more, and a lot faster.
CHURCH: Understood. And of course, President Biden blasted the leaders of China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia for not attending the COP26 climate summit. Calling it a big mistake. How does the world make sure that those big carbon polluting nations do their part to reduce emissions when the leaders don't even turn up?
DEUTZ: Well, each one of these countries is doing a lot domestically. And the way that the Paris Agreement process works is countries make their arguments of what they can do. So, they're going to be driven by domestic pressures, and that's what's driving the commitments that China has been made.
And then they're going to be driven by international pressures as well, whether they can join these clubs of limiting deforestation or limiting methane, whether they can access the financial resources that are being put on the table. South Africa has done that successfully.
So, in each case we know we need a global solution, we need everyone to be leaders. But ultimately, the market conditions are changing, investment is going to change, and the countries that put in place the right policies are going to drive investment and are going to reduce emissions. And the countries that are left behind are going to find themselves losing out in the global competition for the economic drivers of the 21st century. CHURCH: And more than 40 countries we know including the U.S., U.K.,
India, China, and E.U. backed the first international commitment to achieve near-zero emissions steel production by 2030. How significant is this? Particularly for China, known for its dirty steel.
DEUTZ: Well, ultimately, to solve the climate probably you need all of the above solutions. So, you need solutions at every sector of the economy. Steel is important, cement is important, airlines are important, global maritime shipping is important.
And one of the things that we're seeing a lot of progress on this COP is nature is important, so we need to stop deforestation, improve forest restoration and change the way we do agriculture.
So, like I said, ultimately, the shape of the global economy and the direction of the global economy is going to be towards a low carbon future but countries and the companies that figure out how to do that first are going to be the winners in the 24 century.
CHURCH: And just finally, President Biden urged optimism at the climate summit, even though he says there's a reason for people to be worried, of course. How optimistic are you?
DEUTZ: Well, like I said, this was one more big ratchet up in the commitments. We have several more to go. The thing that I'm probably most optimistic about is that the world is finally figuring out that we need to solve the biodiversity crisis, and the climate crisis simultaneously. And we're taking steps to do that.
If we can solve -- nature can solve a third of the problem of climate change, and if we can invest in nature, we can make the climate problem easier to solve, and vice versa. If we can solve the climate problem, we could improve the state of the world's biodiversity and ecosystems. They move together.
CHURCH: Very encouraging. Andrew Deutz, sir, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
DEUTZ: Thank you.
CHURCH: In western Australia, a 4-year-old girl has been found alive more than two weeks after she disappeared from her family's campsite. We're now getting a look at the moments after police found Cleo Smith early Wednesday morning, she is now back with her family.
CNN's Angus Watson has the details.
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: A joyous its end to a harrowing story of a 4-year-old girl missing from her family for almost three weeks. Cleo Smith rescued by police in western Australia, at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday local time. Found in a locked house in the town of Carnarvon some 30 miles from where she went missing from her tent at a camp site in remote western Australia some three weeks ago.
That ended a mammoth search operation for the young girl, which included federal and state police, emergency services, and members of the local community. Police say they never lost hope, but Cleo went missing from an extremely remote area of the Australian outback leading to fears that she might have disappeared forever.
[03:14:56]
Her parents didn't give up hope also, they said that when they woke to find her missing from the tent the zipper had been raised to a height that Cleo couldn't possibly have reached, leading police to suspect she might have been abducted. Here's what they had to say about the moment she was rescued on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL BLANCH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, WESTERN AUSTRALIA POLICE FORCE: One of the officers picked her up into his arms and said, what's your name? She said, my name is Cleo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON (on camera): A 36-year-old man has been taken into custody in connection with Cleo Smith's disappearance. Police haven't laid charges yet and are still questioning him. Police say he is not related to Cleo and anyway.
Now she was taken to hospital shortly after she was rescued. She is now spending time with her parents, the family now whole again.
Angus Watson, CNN, Sydney.
CHURCH: A big election night in the U.S. and Republicans have seized the top prize. The Virginia governor's office. Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe, Virginia's former governor by about two points. This is a state Joe Biden won by double digits in last year's presidential race. He and other high-profile Democrats had campaigned for McAuliffe and this stinging defeat could be a bellwether for next year's midterm elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA), GOVERNOR-ELECT: My fellow Virginians.
(APPLAUSE)
YOUNGKIN: We stand here this morning at this defining moment. A defining moment that, yes, started with two people on a walk. And a defining moment that is now millions of Virginians walking together.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): And in New Jersey, the governor's race is a dead heat. Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli both have just under 50 percent of the vote. Murphy was the favored going in, so the strong showing by Ciattarelli is something of a surprise, but votes are still coming in from some heavily Democratic areas.
And still to come, conflict is escalating in Ethiopia after forces from northern Tigray say they are considering marching on the capitol. How the government is responding, that's next.
Plus, what we are learning about a deadly building collapse in Nigeria. The red flags raised about the high-rise before Monday's disaster. That is still to come.
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[03:19:56]
CHURCH (on camera): Tuesday saw another deadly attack on the Afghan capital. Officials say at least 20 people are dead after there were explosions and gunfire around a major Kabul hospital.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are blaming ISIS-K for the violence. The Taliban's rivals have targeted this hospital before, but so have the Taliban. Suicide bombers linked to the former insurgents attacked the hospital a decade ago.
Ethiopia has announced a national state of emergency as forces from the northern Tigray region say they have gained ground and will consider marching on the capitol. Authorities in Addis Ababa have told residents to prepare to defend their neighborhoods as tensions rise.
The U.S. State Department is advising against travel to Ethiopia and is urging Americans there to prepare to leave.
CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now live from Nairobi. So, Larry, what more are you learning about the situation?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that the government in Ethiopia is worried that these Tigray fighters might advance into the capital and that is why they set in motion the state of emergency starting yesterday for at least the next six months. It will be led by a state of emergency operation command. At the top of that is a general from the military and it's responsible to the prime minister.
There are really concerns that under these national security measures, they could be curtailing of media freedom, civil society organization could be cancelled and many of the freedoms that people enjoy, you know, just in Addis Ababa and across the country will be curtailed.
Listen to how the attorney general of Ethiopia described what this state of emergency means.
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GIDEON TIMOTHEWOS, ETHIOPIAN MINISTER OF JUSTICE: The command post order the youth who have come of age to receive a military training. The command post may put curfew throughout the nation or in selected areas, especially in cities and towns whenever necessary. It may suspend transportation and shut off communication. The command post may arrest suspended individuals without a court
warrant, and carry out investigations in houses, and offices of suspected individuals or allegedly working with the terrorist groups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO (on camera): So those are very strong measures, Rosemary, that are in place now in Ethiopia as this conflict tomorrow will mark exactly a year since it began in Tigray in the north of the country. Today we are expecting a report from a joint investigation by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the U.N. into allege atrocities.
CNN has reported extensively these atrocities including sexual violence, detentions, and killings that bear the hallmarks of genocide. This is why the U.S. and many international parties say there is no military solution to this conflict that the TPLF, the Ethiopian government must come to a table and talk. That is the only way out of it this. But as the conflict marks a year old it looks very unlikely at this moment that that will happen, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Larry Madowo, thank you so much for monitoring the story. Joining us live from Nairobi. I appreciate it.
Well it has been nearly today since the high rise in Lagos, Nigeria came crashing to the ground. Now families of the missing are praying that their loved ones can still be found alive. At least 14 people are confirmed dead in the disaster. The site was being built as high-end apartments, but there were warnings about the structure before it collapsed.
CNN's Stephanie Busari reports from Lagos.
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN AFRICA SUPERVISING EDITOR (voice over): It was built as a place where future residents who could afford the minimum $1.2 million dollar price tag could live the 7-star hotel experience before one of the three towers of the so-called luxury in the sky high-rise complex came crashing down into a heap of concrete rubble Monday in the middle of the affluent Ikoyi neighborhood of Lagos.
Now rescue workers have painstakingly moving through what remains of the collapsed building, looking for survivors.
BUSARI (on camera): Rescue officials say they are using the latest technology to find signs of lives of those trapped in the rubble in this building, giving hope to hundreds of relatives desperately waiting for news of their loved ones.
IBRAHIM FARINLOYE, NIGERIAN NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Two excavators are deployed to the areas where are hearing voices and those ones are getting closer to the people who are trapped, who are still speaking with us.
BUSARI: Rescue teams dropping oxygen tanks beneath the debris to sustain those people they believe to be alive until they can safely reach them.
FARINLOYE: Hope is high. Their voices are still very, very strong and we are keeping hope that we will be getting them.
BUSARI: As the hours pass, relatives standby agonizing, hoping that the sound of voices coming from beneath the debris means their loved ones have survived. And may still be rescued.
[03:25:04]
MOTUNRAYO ELEGBEDE, BROTHER TRAPPED UNDER COLLAPSED BUILDING: That's why we are here since yesterday. he is still inside. We are awaiting for news, for them to bring them out alive. We want him alive.
BUSARI: Yet fear in the west with each new body pulled from the rubble. The anger rising over just what caused the more than 20-story building under construction for the past two years to collapse. Authorities say they're investigating what could've caused the structure to suffer such a catastrophic failure.
But CNN has confirmed, red flags were raised about the project last year. In February of 2020, Prowess Engineering sent a letter to FourscoreHomes, the developer of the three-tower 360 degrees complex, withdrawing from the project saying, they no longer shared the same vision on how the project is being executed.
A Lagos state deputy governor telling CNN, that the building had been sealed off for several months last July amidst structural concerns.
FEMI HAMZAT, DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE: It was sealed because our agency came in to do a structural test, and they saw some anomalies and shut it down until those things were corrected.
BUSARI: FourscoreHomes has so far not responded to CNN's request for comment. On Monday, local residents told CNN that they believed dozens of workers and project officials were still inside the complex working when the building collapsed. As rescue workers call out for survivors --
UNKNOWN: Anybody there?
BUSARI: The exact number of those still missing remains unknown.
Stephanie Busari, CNN, Lagos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): It's the first election night in America since Joe Biden took office and Democrats have suffered a painful defeat in Virginia. We will have the latest results.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH (on camera): In the first major elections in the U.S. since Joe Biden took office, we are seeing strong showings by Republicans in two key governor's races. In New Jersey, Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy is locked in a much tighter than expected battle to keep his job. He and his Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli are neck and neck. But in Virginia, the next governor will be a Republican.
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[03:29:57]
YOUNGKIN: Together, together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
And friends we are going to start that transformation on day one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Glenn Youngkin has defeated Virginia's former Democratic Governor, Terry McAuliffe. It's a state Joe Biden won easily in last year's presidential election.
Larry Sabato is the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, he joins me now from Charlottesville, Virginia. Always good have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (on camera): Great to be with you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, Larry, the Virginia Governor's race is the first major election of the Biden presidency. Perhaps even a bellwether for midterm elections? So, what message does this send to Joe Biden and, of course, the Democrats?
SABATO: Well, the foremost message to President Biden is lift you ratings, do what you have to do to end the pandemic, to improve the economy, to end the supply chain problems, to do something about inflation in gas prices. Of course, I'm sure he would already have done all those things that they are easy.
But if conditions don't improve, his ratings won't improve. And if his ratings won't approved, Democrats are going to lose both the House and the Senate in 2022.
CHURCH: Yeah, a pretty tough message. And of course, in the 2020 election, President Biden carried Virginia by 10 points. So what went wrong for Terry McAuliffe and how much should the Democrats take the blame for failing to pass Biden's domestic agenda?
SABATO: Well, I have to give the Capitol Hill Democrats a lot of the blame and believe me, so does Terry McAuliffe. He's been very unhappy that all the promises made to him by various Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill were not fulfilled. And you know, he was promised a least one bill something that he could sell on the campaign trail as a former Governor, he knows what these things can be used for and how the money can best apply to various localities and he got none of it. Because the Democrats were too busy caring on a public fight and not a
green on something they could have agreed on in September that would have been perfect timing. But it's too late now and so the Democrats will reap the whirlwind.
CHURCH: And McAuliffe tried to tie Youngkin to Trump. Did that work at all for him?
SABATO: Well it did. This wasn't a runaway election. In the end, it was, you know, two to three points, something like that. Essentially it was reasonably close and McAuliffe could have won under other conditions. It wasn't a repudiation of Biden consistently.
Now, Biden was down to the 42 percent--43 percent level in the exit poll. That's terrible considering he won 54 percent just a year ago in Virginia. That's the basic problem McAuliffe and the other Democrats have, if the president trends continue, it looks like other Democrats in Virginia will lose and even the New Jersey race has been much closer than expected.
CHURCH: Yes, certainly a wakeup call isn't it for the Democrats? But how well did Youngkin avoid association with Trump? Did he show other Republicans how to run in this Trump era?
SABATO: Yes, and I should have pointed that out, his method was quite simple. Hold Trump at arm's length, never get photographed with him, say enough good things to get by and have intermediaries keep Trump happy. And that's what went on. Trump endorsed Youngkin seven or eight times during the campaign.
Even on election eve, which I'm sure that the Republican leadership would have preferred not to happen, but it did. It didn't appear to hurt Youngkin too much and that is a model for other Republicans in 2022. How to get by and get along with Trump without embracing him.
CHURCH: And just big picture, we mentioned this being a wakeup call for the Democrats. Now, do you think this will pull them into line and they'll say, you know, were not going to have much of a chance in 2022 if we don't get our act together here.
SABATO: I think it will encourage them to finally reach compromises, whatever those compromises are and get both of the big bills passed. The social spending one and the infrastructure bill.
And if they do that they will have something to run on. It doesn't guarantee that they will hold the House and the Senate, but because after all midterm elections are usually pretty brutal for the party that's in the White House.
But it will give them a better chance, and even if they lose control they won't lose control by so many seats. It will be very difficult for them to regain control.
[03:35:07]
CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always a great pleasure to get your analysis, many thanks.
SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: We are now just hours away from the start of another day of meetings at the COP26 Climate Summit. World leaders wrapped up their high-level portion of the conference by accelerating action and signing off on several pledges.
On Tuesday, dozens of motions agreed to cut methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels by the end of the decade. U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the agreement and said the push to reduce methane emissions will help both the environment and the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This isn't just something we have to do to protect the environmental future, it's an enormous opportunity that's going to improve health, reduce asthma, respiratory related emergencies, it's going to improve the food supply as well.
By cutting crop losses in related ground level pollution. It's going to boost our economies, saving company's money, reducing methane leaks and capturing methane, turning into new revenue streams. And as well as creating good paying union jobs for our workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Also Tuesday, more than 100 world leaders representing over 85 percent of the world's forest, pledged to end deforestation by 2030. That includes more than $19 billion in public and private funds towards protecting and restoring forests.
And there is a push to help fund South Africa transition away from coal. The U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the European Union will take part in that effort. British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson says the initial $8.5 billion partnership would help South Africa decarbonized its coal intensive energy system.
And in that coming hours, the U.K. is set to announce plans to become the world's first net-zero financial center. As part of the proposal, U.K. Financial Institutions and listed companies will be required to publish plans on how they will reduce their contribution to global warming. The British Prime Minister says there is still plenty more work to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We must take care to guard against false hope and not to think of in any way that the job is done, because it is not. There is still a very long way to go. But all that being said I am cautiously optimistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: One key to avoiding a climate disaster will be getting full commitment from the world's biggest polluters the U.S. and China. In the U.S. President Biden is pushing hard for green initiatives in his Infrastructure Bills and China is now outpacing every other country in producing electric vehicles.
Our CNN's David Culver reports the race to green supremacy is just getting started.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Devastating scenes of destruction, no longer needing a Hollywood portrayal. This is real, and it's happening now. The world turning to the U.S. and China for leadership in battling climate change. The two largest economies also the biggest emitters of carbon. Combined they are responsible for more than 40 percent of all global emissions. Both sides making big promises.
The U.S. pledging to reduce emissions by half of 2005 levels in 2030. China aiming to reached their peak emissions by then. America's targeting net-zero by 2050. China hoping to be carbon neutral a decade after that.
But these are promises not guarantees. Within the U.S. energy has become more efficient, about 20 percent of electricity comes from renewables like wind and solar. But politics has forged avoiding creating consistent climate solutions.
MICHAEL DAVIDSON, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: The U.S. has a credibility challenge. There is a lot of just the tension on U.S. domestic political challenges to achieving and fulfilling those climate promises. China for its part tends to under-promise and over- deliver.
CULVER: Under the all-powerful central government, China's challenges is its size and rapid growth. Shanghai, China's most developed city is home to more than 24 million people in keeping all of this up and going? It relies on a constant power supply.
In recent decades China's economy has soared. Nearly everything it seemed made in China. Giving this once rural agrarian nation, a massive economic boom built mostly on fossil fuels. China is still heavily reliant on coal. That coal provides more than 60 percent of this country's power.
[03:40:00]
In 2019 we travel to one of China's coal hubs, Inner Mongolia. Coal mining is still very active. And we found continued construction of new coal power plants. More recently though attempts to rein in emissions here sparked a power crisis. Chinese social media chronicling outages across the mainland. People trapped in elevators, traffic lights going dark, panic spread as the winter cold moved in.
LI SHUO, SENIOR POLICY ADVISER, GREENPEACE: The power crisis is a reflection of things getting deeper and real, right? We are really trying to rearrange certain parts of our economy and our power system. CULVER: By that is all changing fast. More than a decades ago green
energy solutions on a major scale were relatively new. Today China is the world's largest investor, manufacturer and employer of wind and solar power. China even promoting its green solutions as it hosts the upcoming winter games pledging this to be the first Olympics with competition venues field 100 percent by green energy.
SHUO: The Chinese manufacturers are getting very competitive. The key question is for the U.S. to really carefully think about where they can play, you know, a leading role in the supply chain of renewed energy.
CULVER: The new technologies motivating nations to get creative in securing sources of energy. A power struggle on multiple fronts. China and the U.S. competing to battle climate change might ultimately benefit the rest of the world. But at this point it is out of necessity.
David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Millions of young children in the U.S. are now eligible to get a dose of Pfizer's COVID vaccine but now experts face another challenge, convincing parents the benefits outweigh the risks.
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CHURCH: Children in the U.S. ages five to 11 can now get Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. That's after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director gave it the final greenlight Tuesday evening. At least one hospital decided not to wait until the next morning.
This hospital in Hartford Connecticut started giving shots moments after the CDC announcement. CDC's vaccine advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of the kids shots.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta breaks down the approval process and where things go from here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We've just seen the same four-step process for the authorization of those vaccine for five to 11-year-olds as we've seen for the last year and a half now. FDA Advisory Committee recommended to authorize -- the FDA officially authorize the CDC advisers unanimously voted to recommend this vaccine. And now you hear from Rochelle Walensky, the CDC Director to make it official.
[03:45:02]
What it really comes down to when they make these decisions is does the reward of recommending this vaccine outweigh the risk? We take a look specifically at the benefits of getting the vaccine. What they find is that for every million kids that are vaccinated -- and remember, there's about 28 million children who fall in these age range, they find that close to 60,000 cases of COVID could be prevented.
One hundred ninety or so hospitalizations, 130 cases of multi- inflammatory syndrome and 60 ICU admissions potentially prevented, as a result of a million kids getting vaccinated. Again, you know, close to 28 million kids fall into this category.
Also there's the impact on the pandemic overall. One of the studies that came up a couple times was a modeling studies showing that if you get about the same rate of vaccination among these five to 11 year olds, as you had between 12 to 17-year-olds, you can decrease the acceleration of the pandemic by about 8 percent over the next few months.
Potentially preventing 600,000 cases of COVID by March of next year. Keep in mind, it's not just the kids that we're talking about but it's all the other people they might potentially transmit to over the next several months. That's why so many cases could potentially be prevented.
So next steps, you know, these vaccine doses have already been going into pediatrician's offices, and hospitals and clinics, so they should be available soon. One thing that jumped out at me listening to the discussion today was overall, the side effect profile for the vaccine for five to 11 year olds was even better than you saw in older children.
Fewer incidences of fever, for example. And lower incidences of myocarditis which has been a big topic for teenagers. Myocarditis typically seems to happen after someone reaches puberty. So really, it wasn't an issue in this younger age population.
Obviously, there's a lot of hesitant parents out there, but we want to be thoughtful about this, but I think the data is pretty clear as provided now by these two organizations. As we get more information about this, we'll certainly bring it to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Thanks for that. And joining me now is Dr. Scott Miscovich, the president and CEO of Premiere Medical Group, USA. He's also a national consultant in the U.S. to COVID-19 testing. Good to have you with us, doctor.
SCOTT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN (on camera): Hi, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So now that the CDC has given the go ahead for kids five to 11 to start receiving their COVID shots that could start happening in just a few hours from now in some parts of the U.S. How big a deal is this? Even though many parents of the 28 million eligible children are reluctant to get them vaccinated at this juncture if at all.
MISCOVICH: Rosemary, first of all that was a great summary by Sanjay. And my team is out there across the country have the vaccines at hands and we will be administering these vaccines like you said within hours. And you know, I think, highlighting the side effect profile is so low that's always a question that we're giving and the answer is this is a game-changer.
Let me make a comment that I really want to highlight base off on the reporting of Sanjay. We have the holidays coming up. We know the kids as Sanjay pointed out will not be a sick and the chance of death is low. But if they have the disease and they take it and there around older family members that is a huge thing we're trying to prevent.
The positives of getting your children vaccinated now and then getting another shot in the arm before we have our major holiday season is where lives will be saved and I really can't emphasize that enough. So, this is a huge point for the pandemic for the United States and the world.
CHURCH: That is critical. My next question was going to be what you would say to those parents, who don't want to get their kids vaccinated. I'm sure you essentially say that. But for those parents who are really concerned about any sided effects with young children, because, you know, this is just a third of the dose that an adult gets. But still some of these parents are worry, aren't they?
MISCOVICH: Yes. They are wary and I'm a parent also, and I talk to parents all the time, the answer is that as Sanjay said the amount of side effects, the fever is only like a 68 percent of the children. A little bit of a muscle ache, a little bit of fatigue on the following day minor. The chances you are going to get any of the other side effects are very, very low.
And the great news, a lot of parents ask me, well, I have an 11 year old, should I wait until their 12, because they are getting one-third dose versus the full dose? No. The great news for parents is the immune system of the child it's so robust that smaller one-third dose just produces a massive amount of antibodies that protect them.
[03:50:08]
And that's what we need to see, we need to see our children being protected so that they're not, you know -- I always say one loss of life in a child is one life to many, or when I see (inaudible) no one wants to see that, this is how you prevent it, the data is crystal clear that it stimulates the immune system to prevent them from being hospitalized let alone thinking loss of life.
CHURCH: Right. And of course, we can't emphasize that enough that these children five to 11, will get just a third of the adult dosage and they will receive two shots just like adults do. At what point though would you want to see the COVID shot made mandatory for all school age kids as happens with chicken pox, measles, mumps, and other vaccines that allow all of these kids to attend school safely?
MISCOVICH: Wow. OK. Boy, yes, this is -- you went right after with this one, Rosemary. That's good, because this is big issue nationwide. It is been studied right now. It is being studied right now at numerous levels across the federal level to add this on to a mandatory vaccination.
My feeling is and I don't want to be, you know, political or otherwise I believe it will be there. I believe it is going to be a mandatory vaccination. And I believe it will save lives. Is it my decision to make, no.
It's going to go through, we all know that it's going to go to the Supreme Court. It's going to go to so many different levels. But I do believe it is safe which is the first key. And it will save lives at all levels. And I'm doing testing throughout schools throughout the United States. And getting the kids back to schools right now safely, our country needs it. The children need that, they need to learn how to deal with peers. They need after-school activities. This is how we get it as a country or as a world.
CHURCH: So great to get your calm intelligent arguments on this. Dr. Scott Miscovich, many thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.
MISCOVICH: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And still to come here on CNN, a look at baseballs new World Series champions, the Atlanta Braves and how they overcame huge obstacles to win it all.
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CHURCH: Now to Texas where the Atlanta Braves have just been crowned World Series champions, they beat the Houston Astros on Tuesday to win the series.
CNN's Andy Scholes was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The first time since 1995 the Atlanta Braves popping the champagne bottle celebrating a World Series title after completing one of the greatest runs in baseball history.
The Braves did not have a winning record until August 6th, they lost their best player, Ronald Acuna Jr. to injury in July but they never gave up. They traded for four outfielders and those outfielder is coming through bigtime in this postseason.
[03:55:12]
And no Jorge Soler, he was one of them. He was the first ever to lead off a World Series with a home run and he hit a huge how three-run homerun in the third inning of game 6 and actually left Minute Maid Park just an incredible, incredible homerun.
The (inaudible) in chipping in with a two-run homerun as well in the fifth and starter Max Green just fantastic throwing six shutout innings. Just a dominant performance from the Braves as they win seven to nothing to take the series and six. And Jorge Soler, named the World Series, MVP. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: I can't wait to get back to Atlanta, should even the fans here, I mean, I felt like we are at home there for a hot second. So they've been through, you know, the tough times and they stuck beside us and like I say, I can't wait to get back to Atlanta.
UNKNOWN: the stem went through everything possible. We had every pothole, every bump you can possibly hit on the road and we all came over every single one of them. But this team did since the deadline, we are the best team in baseball and we play like in the postseason and that's why we're here.
CULVER: How does it feel knowing what Atlanta sports have been through over the years to bring this World Series home?
UNKNOWN: This is awesome, I can say, and I'm told, Braves Country is real. It is a real thing, Braves -- you seeing now, the people that are here, they traveled here to watch the guys, watch us. And they come every night they help these guys with the emotion, the energy, and it's just so -- I'm just so happy for the city of Atlanta.
SCHOLES: This win big break for the Braves but also big for Atlanta sports fans. After years of misery watching the Falcons blow a 28 to three lead at the Patriots in the Super Bowl, they finally have another championship and it was one no one saw coming.
In Houston, Andy Scholes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We're so proud of them. Thanks so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Enjoy the rest of your day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Isa Soares.
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