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Criminal Investigation Begins After 8 Died at Astroworld; Trial Set to Resume for Three Med Charged with Murder of Ahmaud Arbery; China's Ruling Party Kicks Off Plenary Session; Top African Union Official in Tigray to Defuse Tensions; W.H.O.: Europe is Once Again the Epicenter of Pandemic. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired November 08, 2021 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The Houston Police Department has launched a criminal investigation into the deadly crush at the Astroworld Music Festival on Friday. And hometown rapper Travis Scott is facing at least one lawsuit. An attendee who said he was trampled is seeking more than a million dollars. Entertainment company Live Nation and the concert promoter ScoreMore were also named in that suit. The eight people who died included teenagers as young as 14 and 16 years old. Scott said on social media that he's devastated and could not have imagined the severity of the situation.

The sold-out Astroworld Festival was so tightly packed that when audience members were pushed towards the stage, some say they were crushed to the point that they could not breathe. Here's how they're describing the terrifying experience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA WHITE, ATTENDED ASTROWORLD: Oh, definitely was traumatizing. I've never been in such chaos, like so unorganized, and just so many people like slamming into me. Like it was just -- it was really hell. It was really hell.

SINCLAIR HOYT, ATTENDED ASTROWORLD: You could feel everybody pushing up behind you. Like you couldn't move your arms. You couldn't breathe. You couldn't see anybody. It was like you were seeing the back of like really tall people's heads. So, like when everybody was moving there was like 15, 20 minutes we weren't in control of our bodies. And we were like literally moving with like the wave of like the people and like it was very claustrophobic.

JOYA MELVIN, ATTENDED ASTROWORLD: I got separated from my friends and I got pushed in the middle. And when really each song was going on I saw two people, and they were literally behind me and everybody was moving out of the way with a whistle. And they were like, it's a dead body, move out the way. It's a dead body.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Earlier Houston's mayor spoke to CNN about the state of the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER TURNER, HOUSTON MAYOR: We want to look at every single detail looking at the site plans, the security plans. Talking with the producers of this concert Live Nation. We want to visit with as many witnesses. So, if people have any information, please call that information into the Houston Police Department. We are waiting for the medical examiner's report, but that is a question. We want to know what happened. How it happened. And to make sure that we have all of the details such that this will not happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And he went on to say the investigation will probably take weeks if not longer.

Well, a trial here in the U.S. State of Georgia continues today for three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery was out for a jog in Brunswick, Georgia last February, when he was shot and killed. In her opening statement Friday the lead prosecutor argued the defendants followed, cornered, and fatally shot Arbery without evidence he did anything wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA DUNIKOSKI, PROSECUTOR: All three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions. Not on facts, not on evidence, on assumptions. And they made decisions in their driveways based on those assumptions that took a young man's life and that is why we are here.

How do you know this was an attack on Mr. Arbery? Gregory McMichael said it perfectly. Mr. Arbery was trapped like a rat. That's what he told the police. Trapped like a rat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, the defense argued their clients, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael a William Brian Jr., were acting in self-defense. They say they were trying to conduct a citizen's arrest suspecting Arbery burglarized a home in their neighborhood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB RUBIN, ATTORNEY FOR TRAVIS MCMICHAEL: It's tragic that Ahmaud Arbery lost his life but at that point Travis McMichael is acting in self-defense. He did not want to encounter Ahmaud Arbery physically. He was only trying to stop him for the police.

FRANK HOGUE, ATTORNEY FOR GREGORY MCMICHAEL: The why it happened is what this case is about.

[04:35:00]

This case turns on intent, belief, knowledge, reasons for those believes. Whether they were true or not. Were there good reasons to believe them?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And deciding their fate, a nearly all white jury -- 11 white jurors and one black juror. Prosecutors have accused defense attorneys of disproportionately striking black jurors and the judge actually agreed.

Well, China's ruling Communist Party is kicking off a four-day plenary session. President Xi Jinping is set to tighten his grip on power. During the closed-door session of 300+ member committee, the party is expected to adopt a document that will likely place him on the same Mao Zedong. CNN's Beijing's bureau chief Steven Jiang joins us now. Steven, talk to us about just how significant that is in China.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN Beijing BUREAU CHIEF: Rosemary, President Xi Jinping's real power derives from the top position within the Chinese Communist Party. That's why we're watching so closely this conclave of a small group of people, mostly old men because of this top-down power structure in this one-party system as illustrated by this graphic now.

This of course, is the world's biggest ruling party with over 95 million members. But what really matters here is the Central Committee. That's what's meeting here behind closed doors. And when you go up from there, the numbers quickly become even much smaller culminating in the seven-person Politburo standing committee. Which is the parties and indeed the country's top decision-making body and that body has been dominated by one man, Xi Jinping.

Now this party -- this meeting is happening at a time when Xi Jinping continues to reassert a party's dominance in every aspect of Chinese society, not just politics including foreign policy and military, but also the economy and even people's private life. Now for the weeks and months state media here has been relentlessly touting Xi's achievements since he took power in late 2012 and really using extravagant terms we haven't seen for years. Building this personality cult leading up to this meeting. During which they will pass this so- called resolution on the party history.

Now this may not sound very exciting to most people, but previously this had only happened twice in the party's 100-year history. Both occasions it cemented the supremacy of the party's leader at the time. First Mao Zedong, and then Deng Xiaoping. And now course, only for a third time Xi Jinping which would mean from this point onward, any hint of opposition to him of his rule would be considered party heresy and not tolerated. All of this, Rosemary, of course is to pave the way for him to seek an almost unprecedented third term as the party's supreme leader a year from now allowing him to continue to dominate not only Chinese politics but also the world stage for the foreseeable future, if not for the rest of his life -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Steven Jiang bringing us that live report, many thanks, as always.

Iraq's Prime Minister is vowing to pursue his would-be killers after surviving an assassination attempt on Sunday. Mustafa al-Kadhimi convened an extraordinary cabinet meeting following the botched hit job at his residence in Baghdad's green zone. So far, there's been no claim of responsibility for the attack which reportedly involved two drones armed with explosives. Mr. Kadhimi wasn't hurt but several members of his security detail were.

A top African Union representative traveled to the capitol of Ethiopia's Tigray region on Sunday looking for a way to resolve the conflict between the central government and a rebel alliance. Meantime, this was the scene in Addis Ababa. Thousands rallied in supported the government and against rebel groups and what they're calling foreign interference.

CNN's David McKenzie joins us now live from Johannesburg, South Africa. So, David, thousands of pro-government protestors rejecting reports on where things stands in the country. What more are you learning about the situation on the ground and of course efforts for a solution to this?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the efforts to try and calm the situation which at one point, Rosemary, last week looked like it could descend in a full-blown civil war. That is the main thrust, the main intense thrust by the international community over the weekend and into today.

You have an ongoing meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union which is, of course, based in Addis Ababa. They are representative to the Horn of Africa. Former President Obasanjo was in Tigray to speak to a rebel leadership there of the TPLF to try and calm the situation.

[04:40:02]

Both sides appear not to be backing down. The military state of affairs is unclear. Earlier last week the rebel groups from the TDF were relatively close to Addis Ababa and certainly caught some by surprise by taking two major towns, if possibly temporarily.

Now you have these very large pro-government protests and signs of support in Addis Ababa, in the main square on Sunday. You had people with signs, many of them printed in English, clearly many of them in fact meant for the international community and the media. Many of them in fact criticizing the coverage. The government has called the coverage alarmist.

But then you just look at some of the things they'd be doing. There has been a state of emergency put in place to allow broad powers of arrest and conscription has restarted for those over 18. Even a voluntary call for people to take up arms and veterans to come back to the military. This is not a sign necessarily of an overly confident Prime Minister Abiy in his prospects of hanging on to power.

But it could be said also it is a symbolic push to show that he believes his people or those in the capitol at the very least and other parts of the country are willing to fight back and to say they don't want to be taken over by the TPLF and others who helped rule the country for many decades. Where this goes now, that depends on the discussions with the diplomats, but at this stage neither side have shown any concrete signs of getting to the negotiating table -- Rosemary.

All right, David McKenzie, many thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Well, some news coming into CNN. Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega looks set to be re-elected for a fourth term. That is according to preliminary results announced by the Supreme Electoral Council overnight Monday. Its reporting that Mr. Ortega won more than 70 percent of ballots counted to date. The country's long-time president is defending his country's election amid protests and widespread criticism that Sunday's vote was a quote, parity and a sham. But his supporters flooded the streets to celebrate. Mr. Ortega's government is being slammed for stifling the competition in the lead up to the vote. Dozens of critics were detained including seven who were likely presidential candidates.

Well Nicaraguan's in cities from Spain to the U.S. turned out in protest over what some called an electoral farce. In Costa Rica dozens of protesters dressed as clowns saying Sunday's election was a circus.

And still to come, the U.K. is ramping up its push for COVID booster shots ahead of the holiday season. We're live from London after this short break.

Plus, severe rainfall in the West and cold weather in the East. The latest from the CNN Weather Center coming up.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Officials in the U.K. are urging COVID boosters to avoid restrictions this Christmas. It comes as case numbers are starting to decline in the U.K. after surging for weeks. But the country is still averaging more than 30,000 new infections a day, and the health secretary says getting booster shots to as many eligible Britons as possible is the best way to avoid new restrictions. So far more than 10 million people in the U.K. have received a booster dose.

But meanwhile, other parts of Europe are still struggling to beat back the latest COVID surge. On Monday Germany's infection rate hit a new record high with more than 15,000 new infections in the past 24 hours.

In Austria new infections have quadrupled in the last month forcing officials to crack down on COVID rules. Starting Monday unvaccinated customers will be banned from restaurants, hotels and large events.

Iceland is also tightening its COVID rules as new infections approach record highs. The average number of new cases has more than doubled in the last month alone.

And for more we're joined now by CNN's Nina dos Santos from London. Good to see you, Nina. So, Europe is again at the epicenter of this COVID pandemic. What went wrong? And what is the new advice here? NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some uncharitable people

might say it's empathy. On the other hand, governments will say that, you know, things were looking brighter a few months ago, that more and more people were getting vaccinated and that people wanted their lives back. And as a result, travel restrictions were loosened. Mask wearing was no longer obligatory in some parts of Europe. And also, more and more people had seemingly developed an immunity to COVID-19 thanks to having two vaccinations.

But now we know that people are spending more time indoors as it's getting colder. That means that there's a greater risk of the virus circulating. There's also concerns that immunity is starting to wane. This is something that a U.K. was scientist and government advisor was warning about on the television just yesterday. Saying that particularly among the elderly populations, there's evidence that immunity can be lasting only six months. And that's behind the big push for booster shots that is happening more in the U.K. with more than 10 million people now having received the Sunday's figures.

Many more millions of people across the U.K. woke up to text messages saying that they were eligible for a booster shot this morning and to call in and book one in as soon as possible. All of this as the U.K. government desperately trying to avoid having to introduce any kind of lockdown measures ahead of Christmas.

But a the rest of cross Europe where unlike the U.K., it's not a situation where 80 or 90 percent of the population is vaccinated. In France it's 68 percent, in Germany it's 67 percent. They are really concerned about some of these pockets of infections particularly in east Germany where they say that they are dealing with a massive fourth wave of the pandemic that's causing a lot of hospital beds to be blocked. And that's really all the concern they have that the health system could get overwhelmed as we head into the winter. When of course the seasonal flu virus starts to circulate as well.

We didn't have the risk of that twin-demic happening this time last year because people are still social distancing but that is no longer the case.

So just to update you, obviously Iceland tightening restrictions. Austria tightening restrictions. Slovakia and Greece dealing with massive waves of the pandemic that have brought the infection levels right back up to the peak.

[04:50:00]

And this is why this region is now set to be by the W.H.O. the epicenter of the fourth wave of COVID-19 -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Certainly, a wake-up call to all of us. Isn't it? Nina dos Santos bringing us the latest there from London. Appreciate it.

Well, parts of the U.S. are facing another weather event called an "atmospheric river," we will explain what that means when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, if you're in the Eastern U.S., enjoy the warm weather while you can because it won't last long. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Rosemary. The conditions across the Eastern U.S. have been somewhat chilly but we do have to start off across portions of the western and northwestern United States. Yet another atmospheric river pattern shaping up across this region. Essentially that means as moisture is directed towards this region at an incredible rate over the next several days. And in fact, through Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night amid several bouts of heavy rainfall here and some significant snowfall especially when you climb up above say 3,000 feet here. Could see as much as 8 inches or more it to the Cascades, portions of the northern Sierra as well.

[04:55:00]

And notice the areas indicated in red there. Coastal Oregon, coastal Washington, it's 4 to 6 inches of rainfall over the next 48 to 72 hours. The areas that have seen burns and burn scars that are in place, those are going to see some significant flooding. Of course, the system comes in with considerable winds. Along the coast of there of southern Oregon could see winds close to hurricane force as the system moves ashore.

Now across the Eastern United States, very chilly in the morning hours across really a large area of the Eastern United States. But frontal boundary on approach and in advance of it we are sending in southerly air. So, if you're tuned in on the Midwestern U.S., on the northern fringe of this you're getting some of that warmth surging in. Look at St. Louis, spring like temperatures into the middle 70s. Chicago at 66 degrees even as far north as Minneapolis flirting with the 60-degree mark. That is going to be short lived here. Dramatic shift towards, as you expected this time of year, cold air does dive farther south by the time we get in towards this weekend. Over the next several days a gradual cooling trend for Chicago down to the middle 50s. Atlanta from the middle 70s eventually down to the 60s. And in Washington, enjoy it, maybe one of the final runs here at 70 degrees before we drop it back down close to 50 degrees that's how we get into this weekend -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Good advice, Pedram. Many thanks.

Well, it's always news when moose, yes, moose are on the loose. This big guy was galloping towards a touchdown at South Dakota State University's football field. That's a running any halfback would envy. Then the animal ambled calmly out an open gate and was herded out of town.

North of the border in Saskatoon, Canada, another moose roaming a neighborhood before crashing through a school window. He had scattered everywhere but only one minor injury was reported. It all ended happily, I have to tell you.

And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "EARLY START" is coming up next. You're watching CNN.