Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Iraqi Prime Minister Survives Assassination Attempt; Deadly Crush At Houston Music Festival; U.S. President And Cabinet To Launch Infrastructure Tour; U.S. President Joe Biden Says He'll Sign Infrastructure Bill "Soon"; Ethiopian Military Calling On Veterans To Rejoin Armed Forces; Republicans Push Back Against Biden Vaccine Mandate; Thousands Swarm Glasgow Streets To Demand Climate Action; Paris Mayor's Green Plans Divide Public Opinion; Remembering Marilia Mendonca; Nicaragua Elections. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired November 07, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We're learning more about the tragic events at a concert in Houston that ended with eight people dead. Artist Travis Scott speaks about the horrible outcome.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Gunfire in Baghdad after an attempt to assassinate Iraq's prime minister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And a look at the next steps for President Joe Biden's agenda.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM, with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The rapper at the center of the concert tragedy in Houston, Travis Scott, has posted an emotional statement on social media. This comes as we learn new details about the deadly stampede Friday night.
At least eight people were killed and scores of others injured when the massive crowd rushed the stage at the Astroworld music festival. All of those killed were under 30 years old.
One witness says, "all hell broke loose" when Scott took the stage. Another concertgoer described the crowd surge as "a death trap" as people fought for their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You can see an ambulance in the middle of the crowd but no one seems to notice and the music just plays on. The following video was shared by a concertgoer, who told CNN she thought she was going to die that night. Some may find this hard to watch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breathe. Breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And that's what we're hearing over and over again from the fans caught at the front of the stage, that feeling of being trapped in a crushing sea of people. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK JOHNSON, ASTROWORLD CONCERTGOER: It was going on for over two hours. And it just got worse and worse. Everyone is like, you just can't breathe. You just feel like, feel like there's a weight.
ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, ASTROWORLD CONCERTGOER: It was so hard to move your arms. And it was so hard to breathe that I was like pushing there in front of me just like to get a breath -- just to breathe.
MADELINE ESKINS, ASTROWORLD CONCERTGOER: I just remember looking up and passing out. And then I was in and out for a little while. I didn't see anything but I kind of could feel what was going on.
Someone pulled me over a fence and I was sat in a chair and then I passed out again. And when I woke up, I was in a different area in a chair, with a water bottle in my lap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And we're hearing more from rapper Travis Scott about Friday night's tragedy. Just a short time ago, he posted a video on his Instagram account, saying he was devastated. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS SCOTT, RAPPER: I just want to send out prayers to the ones that was lost last night, we're actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time.
You know my fans, my fans, like -- my fans really mean the world to me. And I'll always just really want to leave them with a positive experience. Anytime I can make out, you know, anything that's going on, you know, I'd stop the show and, you know, help them get the help they need, you know? I could just never imagine the severity of the situation. We have been working closely with -- we have been working closely with everyone to just try to get to the bottom of this, the City of Houston, HPD, fire department, you know, everyone to help us figure this out.
So if you have any information, you know, please just contact your local authorities. Everybody continue to just keep your prayers.
I mean, I'm honestly just devastated and I could never imagine anything like this just happening. I'm going to do everything I can to keep you guys updated and just keep you guys informed on what's going on.
[04:05:00]
SCOTT: I love you all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And the company responsible for organizing the festival Live Nation issued this statement.
"Heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld last night. We will continue working to provide as much information and assistance as possible to the local authorities as they investigate the situation."
So how could something like this happen in the first place?
How could so many people get trapped, with nowhere to go in such a wide open area?
Houston's fire chief explained what went into the planning ahead of the concert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF SAMUEL PENA, HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT: When we have large events, one of the things that we consider is to ensure that the crowds are subdivided. They had two separate stages and two separate areas. That was part of the plan.
We had inspectors to ensure that the means of egress, the doors in and out of that venue, were maintained open and unobstructed. What we're looking into is what caused the crowd surge, what led to the crowd surge and those incidents at the point of the -- of the -- where the concert was being at, the stage.
So again, our role in this is to participate with the police department. We're going to be looking at the films and the video as the chief mentioned and we're going to ensure that the item that should have been in place were in place and that we learn from this event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Paul Wertheimer is the founder and head of Crowd Management Strategies and he joins me from Los Angeles.
Thanks so much for being here with us.
So when you heard what had happened and saw some of the footage, you know, from the crowd and so on, what was your first reaction?
PAUL WERTHEIMER, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, CROWD MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: Well, I thought this is a classic, preventable crowd craze tragedy. A crowd craze is when people move toward something of perceived value.
And in this place, in this case, it is the artist on stage. It is a known kind of disaster that occurs at rock concerts. And it could have been prevented through proper planning and management of the crowd.
BRUNHUBER: So before we get into that, I just want to know a bit more about how this happens. Take us through the mechanics of how a surging crowd can become so deadly.
WERTHEIMER: Well, a surging crowd becomes really deadly when the crowd capacity is not appropriate, when the crowd becomes too large and they move, like I said, in this case, in a crowd-crazed manner toward perceived -- something of perceived value, toward the front of the stage.
This tragedy builds over time. It doesn't just happen like a lightning strike. It takes time, 20 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour sometimes, for the crowd to build.
And people just continue to -- if they're not managed properly and prevented from moving forward, they just keep moving forward to get toward the stage. This is done in a crowd festival kind of crowd configuration.
Crowd festival standing room is the most dangerous and deadly crowd configuration in rock 'n' roll and festivals, always has been. That's why it is so important to manage a festival seating crowd properly.
And the promoter and the artist and the security and the venue operator and those who approved the plan for this festival knew or should have known of the danger of festival -- unmanaged festival seating and knew or should have known of national standards and techniques to prevent this very type of disaster.
BRUNHUBER: What needs to happen to make sure things like this never happen again?
WERTHEIMER: I'll tell you what needs to be happening. People need to be held criminally liable, the people who plan and manage and approve these events. That's the fact.
Until they're held responsible, this -- these kind of disasters will drone on as they have since the beginning of rock 'n' roll. You've got -- those responsible for the safety of people in crowds have to follow proper safety features, which are known throughout the industry.
BRUNHUBER: And lastly, you know, for concertgoers, what advice can you quickly give them, dangerous signs to look for, things like that so this doesn't happen to them?
WERTHEIMER: Of course, people in the crowd, I spent over 15 years to 18 years in crowds just like this; they assume their safety is being looked after. But in fact, there is no safety net. It is hard for them to recognize the dangers.
[04:10:00]
WERTHEIMER: It is not the role of 16-year-old Susie or 18-year-old Johnny to be fire marshal, crowd security guard and crowd safety expert.
But what you can do and what some people are able to do is recognize impending dangers, when the crush is getting serious and breathing is getting difficult.
But the fact of the matter is, the people responsible for the safety of people in crowds are those people who organize the event, manage the event, profit from the event and approve the event.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, let's hope some changes are put into place here. Really appreciate your expertise, thanks so much.
And now the investigation into the tragedy is expanding to include Houston's Homicide and Narcotics Divisions as well. Houston police chief Troy Finner explained why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TROY FINNER, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: One of the narratives was that some individual was injecting other people with drugs. We do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff, that was out and treated him last night.
That he was reaching over to restrain or grab a citizen and he felt a prick in his neck. When he was examined -- he went unconscious -- they administered Narcan. He was revived.
And the medical staff did notice a prick similar to what you would get if somebody was trying to inject.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Coverage of the Astroworld concert tragedy, including the latest updates, at any time of day or night at cnn.com.
The U.S. is condemning a brazen assassination attempt on Iraq's prime minister. Mustafa al-Kadhimi has survived a drone strike in Baghdad's green zone in what the State Department calls an apparent act of terrorism. Jomana Karadsheh is tracking events from neighboring Turkey and joins us from Istanbul.
What can you tell us about what happened and who might be behind it?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, right now the Iraqi government, senior Iraqi officials are choosing their words very carefully when condemning this attack. No one is really pointing the finger at anyone, although suspicion here falls on Iranian-backed militia groups in the country.
But we have not heard anyone just yet blame them for this attack that we understand Iraqi officials are currently investigating.
This happened overnight, early hours Sunday, where the residents of the Iraqi prime minister, in the heavily fortified green zone, where you have several embassies, including the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of the Iraqi government, the residence was targeted, according to the interior ministry, by three drones.
One drone hit the residence of the prime minister. And as we can see from the images that have emerged, extensive damage there. We understand the prime minister was returning at that point to his residence. He escaped unharmed, as we saw him later on appearing very calm and composed in that statement he made to the Iraqi nation.
But according to officials, a number of his security detail were injured in that attack. Now the reason, people would suspect that it is these Iranian-backed militias that were fast to come out with statements today, two of the most powerful militias.
They came out with statements essentially denying their involvement in this, raising questions about whether there was really an assassination attempt, claiming that this is basically trying to set them up and blame them for this incident.
The reason why they are suspected is they have been blamed for these attacks in the past, targeting the green zone, targeting U.S. military bases in Iraq and in Syria as well, using these explosive-laden drones. It is pretty much their M.O.
And that is why people would first think of these Iranian-backed groups. And you have to look at the tension building in Iraq, in Baghdad over the past few weeks since the country's parliamentary elections.
These groups emerged as the biggest losers in this election. They lost a lot of the seats that they had in the previous parliament. They have since refused to accept the results of the October 10th elections.
Supporters of these Iranian-backed militias have staged a sit-in outside the heavily fortified green zone for weeks now. And we saw that turn into violence on Friday, when they clashed with the security forces. So there has been a lot of concern about those tensions that have been rising between these groups and between the Iraqi prime minister.
[04:15:00]
KARADSHEH: They have made no secret their dislike for the Iraqi prime minister, who is seen as having a close relationship with the U.S. and other allies. I mean, no matter what happens now, all eyes, Kim, are on the Iraqi government.
The Iraqi prime minister, how are they going to respond to this unprecedented escalation in Iraq?
A lot of concern about where this goes, where this goes next -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: This is just adding to all the uncertainty and chaos in the country that it certainly doesn't need. Jomana, thank you so much.
President Biden notches a critical win in Congress on infrastructure. But now he must gear up for an even bigger fight on the rest of his domestic agenda. We'll talk about what's at stake with political analyst Ron Brownstein.
And Ethiopia's government prepares for war in the capital as rebels advance. We'll explain what it is asking for military veterans when we come back. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[04:20:00]
BRUNHUBER: President Biden and senior administration officials will fan out across the U.S. in coming weeks to promote the trillion dollar infrastructure bill that finally cleared Congress late Friday.
It represents America's largest ever investment in the vital public system to help power the economy. Here is what the president said on Saturday about his hard-won victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A once in a generation investment that is going to create millions of jobs, modernizing our infrastructure, roads, bridges, broadband, a whole range of things.
To turn the climate crisis into an opportunity and it puts us on a path to win the economic competition of the 21st century that we face with China and other large countries and the rest of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So even as the president savors the win on infrastructure, the rest of his ambitious agenda is far less certain. CNN's Arlette Saenz has the latest from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden plans to hit the road to promote the newly passed $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure proposal.
A White House official says that the president and top cabinet officials will be fanning out across the country over the course of the next few weeks to explain to the American people what exactly is in this plan.
Now while the White House is taking a victory lap on that bipartisan infrastructure bill that the president will soon sign into law, there still remain questions about the larger social safety net package he's hoping to get passed in Congress.
Now moderates and progressives came to an agreement, with moderates committing to hold a vote on the package by the week of November 15th. There are still questions on whether moderates will stick to that plan and what will happen when the bill makes its way over to the Senate.
President Biden expressed confidence that it will pass. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I'm not going to get into who made what commitments to me. I don't negotiate in public. I feel confident, I feel confident we will have enough votes to pass the Build Back Better plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: As they await the fate of that plan, President Biden said he soon will be signing the infrastructure bill into law. He plans to host a signing ceremony here at the White House to bring together both the Republicans and Democrats that came together to work on that bill -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Ron Brownstein is a senior CNN political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic." He joins me from Los Angeles.
Thank you for being with us. Let's start the with achievement itself.
For those watching this at home, how will their lives get better and which Americans stand to benefit most concretely from this?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: There is the potential here this is part of a broader package that is the biggest infusion of public investment from the government into the economy since the 1960s, early 1960s as a share of total GDP.
The president will be signing a bill that includes big investments in what we can -- historically have thought of as infrastructure, fixing bridges and roads but also in beginning the transition to a clean energy economy, with a lot of money for modernizing the electric grid, for building EV -- electric vehicle charging stations around the country, for supporting mass transit.
BRUNHUBER: President Biden touted this as a, quote, "blue collar blueprint" to rebuild America.
So does this help there in those swing states, among those blue collar voters or, you know, when it comes to the election, will cultural issues still dominate?
BROWNSTEIN: That is a great question. The fundamental bet politically, one of the fundamental bets politically that Biden has placed, is his belief that, if he focuses on kitchen table issues -- shots in the arms, checks in the pocket, shovels in the ground -- that he can win back some of the working class white voters and even now some working class Hispanic voters who have been drawn to conservative Republican message on a broad array of cultural, racial and identity issues.
There is no guarantee that it is going to work. But this is going to be the best, I think, test of this theory, which has really been an argument in the Democratic Party for as long as I've been covering politics, for 30 years.
There have been Democratic strategists arguing that, if the party can show working class voters that government can deliver for them, can make a positive difference in their lives, that they can win back some of those voters.
Now, you know, there is a lot in these two packages that will potentially do that. This does have a heavy tilt, the infrastructure plan, toward creating blue collar jobs. And when you get to the broader package, things like the child tax credit, child care subsidies, lower prescription drug costs, lower healthcare prices, there is an opportunity to make a difference on the bottom line of families.
But whether that overcomes the cultural barriers there with the Democratic Party, very much remains to be seen.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, so this and Build Back Better, there seem to be coming together in the worst way imaginable in terms of process. And the narrative is forming that it will hurt Democrats and the president in the midterms and so on.
[04:25:00]
BRUNHUBER: But is that right?
Do voters care about process?
You made an interesting link with something you wrote in 1994, I think, about the way Democrats and the president, you know, were putting -- the Democrats were putting their self-interests over president and party and that ended up going pretty poorly. So explain the parallels that are there that you're seeing almost 30 years later.
BROWNSTEIN: Right. So the broad point is that legislative success is necessary but usually not sufficient to guarantee political success in year two.
Ronald Reagan passed his tax cuts in '81; Republican lost seats in '82. Lyndon Johnson had the Great Society Congress; in '65, created Medicare/Medicaid and the Voting Rights Act. They lost seats in '66.
Obama passed the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and lost seats in 2010. So it is no guarantee of success.
But it can be a -- you know, obviously legislative achievements can be important, once they have time to kind of penetrate and kind of infuse people's lives and that's why they are often more valuable for a president running for re-election than they are for his party in the midterm a few months later.
What happened in '94 was the other side of the coin, where Democratic divisions ultimately almost derailed President Clinton's economic agenda and then did in fact derail his healthcare plan and, for a time, the sweeping crime bill.
And what happened was the Left and the Right of the Democratic Party each made decisions that they thought were in their logical self- interest, voting against the parts of all of these plans that they thought would hurt them at home.
But what they failed to consider was what any management -- anybody who has been in business school out there, will tell you is called the prisoner's dilemma, the idea each side in maximizing their self- interest increases the risk to all of them.
That's exactly what happened. The Left and the Right all thought they were helping themselves by voting against key components of the Clinton agenda. But in the end, they cemented an issue -- an image of dysfunction that hurt them all.
That really is the risk to Democrats in the way this has unfolded for so many months. They seem to be kind of distracted in their own internal struggles and stalemate while the country is -- wants to see action and particularly wants to see action on controlling COVID and getting inflation and the economy more stable.
So there is a real risk that, even if they pass this, they have discredited, to some extent, but they're still much better off doing it than not.
BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll see if history repeats itself. Always appreciate your analysis. Ron Brownstein, thanks so much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: More countries are telling government employees to leave Ethiopia. We'll have the latest on the crisis as rebels move toward the capital.
Plus, a push to get more vaccines into Americans' arms hits a stumbling block in court. Why the workplace mandate is now in legal limbo. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
More countries are telling their nonessential staff to leave Ethiopia. Canada and Belgium have joined the U.S. in telling some of their diplomats to get out. Meanwhile, the central government is calling on veterans to rejoin the military. That's on top of the state of emergency that allows conscription.
For more on Ethiopia, let's bring in Melissa Bell in Paris.
So Melissa, the U.S. tried to broker peace; they sent envoys, tried to pressure the government. It doesn't seem to have worked so far. Now the U.S. government among several telling Americans to leave the country.
Does that suggest a diplomatic solution isn't likely here?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly suggests, Kim, there has been a ratcheting up of tensions over the course of the last few days, even though the government line on this has been that international news organizations have been alarmist in their reporting of that joint rebel advance that you mentioned a moment ago.
We saw that again in the signposts that were carried by protesters this morning in the Ethiopian capital, a pro government rally, thousands of people turned out, many of them carrying signs, indicating their anger at global news organizations.
And it has been very difficult because of the communications blackout in some parts of the country to get a real picture of what's going on. Clearly we hear the government calling on veterans as well as those conscripts it called on as part of the state of emergency earlier last week to take up arms.
We have seen those inflammatory messages from the Ethiopian prime minister. That creation of an alliance on Friday, nine groups, including the Tigray People's Liberation Front, including the Oromo Liberation Army, forces that have seen those very fast advances over the course of the last week, joining forces with seven other military groups or political parties to call for the Ethiopian prime minister to stand down.
They mentioned in their statement it is an alliance to try and push out what they describe as the genocidal Ethiopian government.
Of course, one of the big questions over the course of the last week, as swift advances have been made, is do the forces have the capacity militarily to take on the Ethiopian capital?
But perhaps more importantly, do they have the will to do so? What we heard from the rebel leaders over and over again is that this
is an offensive about liberating the region of Tigray, as they see it, allowing that much needed humanitarian aid to get to those many hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans currently facing famine.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris.
The U.S. has just crossed a symbolic milestone in its COVID vaccination campaign. The CDC says 70 percent of American adults or more than 180 million people are now fully vaccinated.
So if you look at the entire population, not just adults, it is more than 58 percent and you have to remember children 5 to 11 years old just started getting the vaccine this past week.
The president's plan to get shots in the arms of more adults is facing a pushback in court. More than 2 dozen states are suing the Biden administration over its vaccine mandate for workers at large private companies.
On Saturday, a federal appeals court in New Orleans temporarily blocked the mandates, saying it raises grave legal and constitutional questions.
[04:35:00]
BRUNHUBER: The government has until Monday night to respond and the Justice Department says it will vigorously defend the mandate.
Concerns are growing that Europe could be in for a rough winter, as the latest surge of the pandemic sweeps the continent. At least six countries have seen record numbers of cases over the past week and experts warn it won't get any better in the months ahead. Nada Bashir has more from London.
What is the biggest concern right now?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alarm bells are being rung by the WHO, Kim. There is a warning now that Europe is at the epicenter of the pandemic once again.
And the World Health Organization came out in last few days to say that, if we do continue on this current trajectory of rising cases, of rising hospital admissions, that Europe and central Asia could seeing something like half a million deaths between now and the beginning of February.
So there are some real concerns, particularly as we head into the winter months. We have seen rising numbers of cases, hospital admissions, ICU admissions and deaths and the European CDC has said that they expect this trend to continue over the next two weeks at least. So there are some really worrying trends that we're seeing.
And there is a real push now for people to get vaccinated. Now the WHO has warned there has been an uneven uptake of the vaccine in Europe. We have seen some parts of the continent, particularly in parts of Eastern Europe and some parts of the Balkans, where there are still vaccine hesitancy.
But in other parts of Europe, there is a push now for people to get the booster jab. Germany's health secretary said he wants people to go out and get the jab as soon as they past that six-month mark after the last second dose.
And in the U.K. there is a push for those people who received the vaccine to get the booster jab. We have seen some countries like France and Italy introduce health passes, to check who has had the vaccine and to limit the amount of people accessing recreational activities, like go to the cinema, restaurants, theaters.
And most recently on Saturday, Greece introduced new measures to check people are either being vaccinated or testing negative for coronavirus.
And this is really all part of a push to stem the spread of the virus and to make sure that healthcare sectors and hospitals across the continent don't fall under that amount of pressure that we saw last winter, particularly as there are concerns now around the Delta variant, highly transmissible, and what some health experts described as the twindemic, governments struggling to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and also the seasonal flu, putting immense strain on hospitals.
So there is a sense of urgency, a sense of concern and not a lot of time, as we move into winter. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Let's hope the measures you detailed can help turn things around. Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much.
Still ahead, calls for change echo through the streets of Glasgow, Scotland, as tens of thousands of protesters ascend on the city.
Plus wider efforts to reduce car traffic in Paris is running into roadblocks from residents. We'll experience ahead. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Protesters filled the street on Saturday, demanding more urgent action on the climate crisis. It comes as the second week of the COP26 climate summit is set to begin. As CNN's Phil Black reports, the protesters want to make sure their voices are heard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This wide range of people and groups, coming from across Scotland, the U.K. and much further, too.
They're marching through the Glasgow weather to demand climate action that is just, delivers for people from all countries regardless of how rich they are and is sufficiently radical to result in the sort of change that science says is necessary to get a handle on climate change.
What do you think of the progress of the conference so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a good start. But much more needs to be done. Every country in the world needs to be getting involved. Every country needs to be held to it (ph) but especially the West, because we have done so much damage in the last 100 years, I suppose, yes.
BLACK: You look like a really diverse group.
Where have you all come from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All over the U.K., from cities, urban areas, rural areas, like, yes, we're all together as a movement of farmers, land workers, activists, teachers, researchers, yes.
BLACK: As farmers, you're used to this sort of weather, I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, everyone is pretty hardy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(APPLAUSE)
BLACK: Who are you guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're the greenwash busters.
BLACK: Tell the nice people who are watching what greenwash is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greenwash is telling people you're doing one thing and saving the planet and actually destroying it. It's just for marketing purposes. It's all over Glasgow. COP26 is full of greenwash.
BLACK: Hi, can you hear me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BLACK: Why are you this today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dressed to make people aware that the Earth is getting too hot.
BLACK: The Earth is getting too hot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And we need to stick to 1.5 degrees. BLACK: And we need to stick to 1.5 degrees.
And you are dressed as an avocado, because...?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, in case of -- with temperatures so great, increasing. And we can actually grow avocados here.
BLACK: We don't want avocados in the U.K., that's what you're saying?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be grown here.
BLACK: To be grown, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACK: To be eaten here, absolutely.
Yes, they're wonderful but not to be grown here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They went from making commitments, to making pledges, to now just doing the whole conference via press announcement.
BLACK: Does this event give you hope?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes, there is loads of people here. There is loads of people here all wanting to work together, to make a better world. Of course it gives me hope.
BLACK: The mood on this wet, awful day, is surprisingly warm and even joyous at this times. But the issue is really serious and increasingly urgent. COP26 now has one week of negotiations left, to deliver a result that meets the hopes and expectations of all these people -- Phil Black, CNN, Glasgow, Scotland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: British prime minister Boris Johnson is urging world leaders to keep the momentum going. In a statement, he praised the progress made so far, highlighting a pledge to curb methane emissions in more than 100 countries, as well as commitments to ending deforestation.
But he says more work still needs to be done, writing, "There is one week left for COP26 to deliver for the world. We must all pull together and drive for the line. But we cannot underestimate the task at hand to keep 1.5C alive. Countries must come back to the table this week, ready to make the bold compromises and ambitious commitments needed."
[04:45:00]
BRUNHUBER: In Paris, an effort to turn the city green is fueling rising tensions among residents. CNN's Jim Bittermann explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Out on the graceful avenues and boulevards of Paris, a battle has been looming; 1.5 centuries after Baron Haussmann plowed through large parts of the city, to straighten out and broaden the narrow, twisted streets, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, a kind of anti-Haussmann, has slowly been reducing the size of thoroughfares for years, part of her environmental plan to clean up air pollution and make the city friendlier for bicycles and other two-wheeled vehicles like electric scooters.
The upshot is a growing battle between the Parisians, who love to wield transportation --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it could be a good idea and not have cars in the town centers.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): -- and the motorists, who are wed to four wheels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a bit of a war of the bikes and scooters, against cars.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): High-speed lanes, along the Seine, which ones whisked suburbanites to and from Paris each day, have been shut down to make room for joggers, cyclists and picnic tables, all part of the Paris administration's dream of ridding Paris, as much as possible, of cars.
DAVID BELLIARD, DEPUTY MAYOR, PARIS: So we want to transform public space. And today, public spaces are occupied by cars and car drivers. We have half of the public space in Paris which is dedicated to cars.
BITTERMANN: But it's not just the repurposing of the public space; just as bad, say motorists, is the reduction of the speed limit on most streets in town to 30 kilometers. That is just over 18 miles an hour.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): The constant flashes of speed radar cameras bear witness to how many motorists just can't bring themselves to go that slow. Drivers say the reduced speed limits are just another way to strangle the cars out of the city.
The head of a motorists' association claims commuters have no alternatives to using their cars because public transportation is overcrowded and, often, unreliable.
PIERRE CHASSERAY, PRESIDENT, 40 MILLION MOTORISTS ASSOCIATION: For those who live around Paris, already, it is unfair. They need their car and they can't go to work. It's something incredible.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): Some of Paris' district mayors, like Florence Berthout in the Latin Quarter have no problem with projects to make Paris a greener city. But, she believes, the mayor is taking on the motorists in a very public way, just to attract Green Party votes in her run for president next spring. As well, she accuses Hidalgo of not only pitting suburbanites against
Parisians but creating another battle around among (ph) Parisians themselves with pedestrians, scooters, bicycles and cars, all fighting for the same space.
And, she says, bicyclists and scooter riders often don't respect the laws, abandon their rented vehicles everywhere and, just generally, behave badly.
FLORENCE BERTHOUT, MAYOR, 5TH ARRONDISSEMENT (through translator): They must be punished. And they must be punished regardless of the mode of travel. There is no reason to be more lenient with users of two wheels, scooters, who cause dozens of minor or serious accidents, every day.
BITTERMANN (voice-over): So while Paris has taken major action to rid the streets of automobiles and make the city more bicycle friendly, going green is not proving to be politically very simple -- Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Nicaragua is getting ready to vote for its next president. But many call the election a sham and illegitimate after a campaign of political terror by the current president. We'll have details ahead. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Fans are remembering the life of Brazilian singer Marilia Mendonca. On Saturday, thousands flocked to the artist's hometown for a public wake.
The 26-year-old Latin Grammy winner, along with four other people, tragically died in a plane crash Friday. They were headed to one of Mendonca's first concerts since the pandemic started. The cause is still being investigated but a Brazilian electric company says the plane hit one of its power cables before the crash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: About three hours from now, polls will open for the presidential election in Nicaragua. The country is ready to cast their votes but experts say the winner has already been decided. Current president Daniel Ortega has made sure he'll win a fifth term. CNN's Matt Rivers explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the scene in Nicaragua just 3.5 years ago as protesters filled the streets. They waved flags and demanded change within long-time president Daniel Ortega's administration and his policies.
When change did not come quickly, there was a least a thought among many that presidential elections in 2021 could put the country on a freer, more democratic course. That would not be the case.
Starting in June and leading up to this weekend's elections, Ortega has embarked on a campaign of political terror. The 75-year old has utterly crushed his opposition, using a vague national security law as justification. He has overseen the imprisonment of dozens of perceived enemies, everyone from would-be opposition candidates for the presidency to journalists, to human rights activists.
People like Ana Margarita Vijil, a longtime crusader for a freer Nicaragua, arrested back in June. Her mother told us afterwards she calls an arbitrary arrests, she didn't know where her daughter was for nearly three months, though she recently saw her in prison.
"She told me the conditions are horrible. She says she can't speak to anyone ever. She can't even look the guards in the eyes. She's lost a lot of weight and says it's so cold, she shivers inside her cell."
Human rights groups say the treatment of Vijil is part of a coordinated government campaign to rid the country of any credible opposition, paving the way for Ortega to win elections, now widely seen as entirely illegitimate.
In a joint document, 10 prominent international human rights groups denounced the elections as a sham, saying in part, quote, "It is clear that conditions do not exist in Nicaragua for holding elections that guarantee the exercise of rights."
[04:55:00]
RIVERS (voice-over): She says these elections are not elections. There's going to be some voting, sure. But these aren't elections.
Ortega's crackdown has paralyzed the country with fear, according to roughly a dozen people that spoke to CNN from inside Nicaragua. Gone are the days of protest, where now, even waving the country's flag is illegal. To speak out against the regime is to get thrown into prison.
So some are calling for a more quiet form of revolt: simply don't vote in an election already decided.
"We are calling on people to not go to the ballot box," she says, "so we can show that we are not participating in this sham process. It's a form of protest."
Maria is OK with us showing her face, just avoiding her last name. She knows there might be consequences. Her friend asked to remain anonymous though he was clear, despite all that has happened in his country, the fight for democracy goes on. "As long as we are a little free," he says, "we can raise our voice,
connect with people all over democracy. If we can do that, democracy will continue. You can't kill the idea of democracy."
Matt Rivers, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: We're going to end with a dose of inspiration from a 10- year old who survived brain cancer and then met his hero. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOAH REEB, CANCER SURVIVOR: Whenever I was going through a rough time, I would think, oh, if Tom Brady thinks I can beat cancer, I can beat brain cancer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: So that's Noah Reeb. You may have seen him on TV, when Tom Brady went over to him and gave him a hat. Noah spent the game holding up a sign, "Tom Brady helped me beat cancer."
This week Noah shared a little more behind the story. The quarterback sent him a video, telling him to hang tough in the middle of one of his fiercest bouts with cancer and, well, that's just what he did. Noah is in remission. That's great to hear. Great story.
And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news. Please do stay with us.
