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Poland Accuses Belarus Of Helping Migrants Get To Border; U.S. Reopens To Fully Vaccinated International Travelers; Witnesses Say Tigrayans Being Targeted In Wave Of Arrests; Daniel Ortega Wins Another Term After Stifling His Competition; Obama Swipes At Trump Over Paris Agreement Pullout; Rapper Travis Scott Facing Multiple Lawsuits After 8 Killed. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 09, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, caught in the middle, out in the cold. A growing battle over what to do with thousands of migrants stranded along the border into the European Union. The U.S. finally reopens its doors to vaccinated international travelers, but it comes as Europe suffers through its latest coronavirus search.
And former U.S. President Barack Obama lashes out at China, Russia and even Donald Trump but not doing enough to stop climate change.
We begin at the border between Poland Belarus where thousands of migrants are gathered in hopes of crossing over into Poland. But Polish officials are not having it. And they say that their military is preparing to face any scenario.
Tensions at the border have been on the rise for weeks as thousands of migrants moved into the area.
Poland accuses Belarus of working deliberately to move the migrants to the border, but Belarus says the migrants merely want to cross into Poland as refugees and pose no threat.
The governments of Alexander Lukashenko denies creating any sort of migrant crisis and in fact, blames the West for the crossings. The U.S. government is warning Belarus to watch its step.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NED PRICE, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The United States strongly condemns the Lukashenko regime's political exploitation and coercion of vulnerable people and the regime's callous and inhumane facilitation of irregular migration flows across its borders.
We call on the regime to immediately halt its campaign of orchestrating and coercing irregular migrant flows across its borders into Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: But in the middle of all this political bickering and threatening, strand thousands of migrants hoping to get across the border before the situation deteriorates any further.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are (INAUDIBLE) who want a better future for their kids, but so many of them doesn't have food, water. They have (INAUDIBLE) and they are freezing. The weather is really cold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: With a humanitarian crisis seemingly just around the corner and a political crisis raising the risk of military action, there is certainly a lot at stake here.
Joining me now to talk about this and what could happen, CNN European Affairs Commentator, Dominic Thomas.
Dominic, the scenes are chaotic to say the least. What is the most immediate danger posed at the moment?
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, you're absolutely right to underline and underscore here the fact that this is a human tragedy, you've got people here in cold circumstances, already vulnerable populations living in highly precarious circumstances.
And what we see here is a situation that has been really in place since the summer months, effectively escalating as the Lukashenko regime is effectively involved in a standoff against its European Union neighbors.
And in this particular context, as the situation escalates, as the European Union, and this particular case, as Poland, essentially attempts to sort of close its borders and to prevent the flow of these migrants that are ending up stranded in a place that they don't want to be, where they were essentially brought in by the Lukashenko regime, and are now attempting to continue onward with their journey.
And paradoxically enough, their journey is not even really aiming at Poland, but at other areas of the European Union, such as Germany. And these are, of course, highly complicated issues when it comes to the E.U. When we just think back to the 2015, so called migrants crisis.
COREN: Dominic, the Polish government says there's about 3,000-4,000 of these migrants that are amassing on the border, there are now at least another 10,000 across Belarus heading towards the border with Poland. I mean, I guess what is going to happen to these people?
THOMAS: Well, at the moment they're stranded there. As I said, it's an unusual situation to the extent that they have been essentially encouraged, incentivized even by Lukashenko to distract from his local politics, to upset the European Union, to essentially destabilize further relationships in the area and to effectively use them as pawns.
[00:05:13]
THOMAS: Ultimately, I think what is going to have to happen is the European Union as it did in 2015 is going to have to find a way to on the one hand, apply pressure along with the international community on Lukashenko to stem the flow of these migrants entering his national space, while at the same time endeavoring to accommodate them and to welcome them into the European Union and to process these migrants at this particularly precarious time of the year.
COREN: I think this has been described as hybrid warfare. Tell us how Lukashenko is trying to destabilize the region. And what he is trying to I guess, gain from all of this?
THOMAS: Yes. Well, you talk about this sort of militarization that the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talked about this as instrumentalizing migration.
The Lithuanian President Nauseda talked about how this is effectively being weaponized.
There is a clear understanding on Lukashenko's part of the kind of the vulnerability of the European Union around the question of migration, and how this has fueled far right politics and divided people over immigration and identity questions.
This is somebody who has effectively been in power all the way back to 1994, Belarus has not known another leader, an old-style dictator who clearly lost the 2020 elections, who interfered with a Ryanair jet, forcing it to land in his national territory to arrest one of his detractors.
And he is furious at what he sees as the primary instigators of sanctions against him as being the European Union, while also supporting some of his opponents.
And what he's doing here is clearly lashing out, exacerbating tensions in a region where with Ukraine, one could argue the tensions are already there, trying to bring Russia into the fray, and to further kind of, you know, raise the tension with the European Union as a way to detract from his own domestic political problems, and to enlist Russia in this particular issue.
And it is clear that he is hitting the European Union around one of the most sensitive issues of this early part of the 21st century, which has to deal with how to introduce or to bring migrants into the European Union space.
COREN: Dominic, very quickly, tougher E.U. sanctions, is that the answer to addressing this?
THOMAS: Well, I think they've absolutely got to do that. And I think they've also got to enlist Russia, if that's even possible in applying pressure to Lukashenka.
Lukashenko is the source of the problem, the cause of the problem. And this will end once they get to him through whatever mechanism that would be, and it seems that sanctions are the only thing that he will listen to right now.
COREN: Dominic Thomas, we certainly appreciate the context. Many thanks for joining us.
THOMAS: Thank you.
COREN: Recorded COVID cases around the world top 250 million on Monday, the sign infections are still rising even as many countries rollback restrictions.
This comes nearly two years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Since then, the virus has impact almost every corner of the globe and more than five million people have lost their lives.
Well, three countries the United States, India and Brazil account for more than 40 percent of all known cases according to Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. alone accounts for about one out of every five cases.
On Monday, also marked a different kind of pandemic milestone in the U.S. as the country reopened its borders to fully vaccinated foreign visitors, ending a 20-month travel ban.
The restrictions are being lifted at the same moment COVID cases are surging across Europe. But that didn't stop a steady stream of European travelers from packing onto flights.
CNN's Melissa Bell reports from Paris.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bags are packed and they're ready to go.
For the first time in more than a year and a half, the United States finally opening its borders to foreign vaccinated travelers. And what that means this Monday morning here in Charles de Gaulle Airport here in Paris in the 2E Terminal is a much busier terminal than I've seen in a long time. And a lot more flights up on the boards to Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Miami and some pretty excited travelers.
MAXIME BAREI, TRAVELER: We are happy because of the weather, especially. We can call it freedom, yes. I hope it continues after because we hesitate about, you know, the fourth wave was upcoming and I don't know if borders will be closed again one time.
[00:10:06] BELL: That new wave of infections has already arrived in Europe causing the World Health Organization to sound the alarm late last week.
HANS KLUGE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EUROPE REGIONAL DIRECTOR: Cumulatively, there are now more reported cases, 78 million, in the European region than in Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western Pacific and Africa combined. We are once again at the epicenter.
BELL: The reason for the European surge, likely a combination of factors including low or lagging vaccine rates in eastern Europe, the circulation of a new subvariant of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, one that's estimated to be even more contagious, colder temperatures pushing more activities indoors, waning immunity from early COVID inoculations and infections, as well as fatigue and complacency surrounding protective measures like mask wearing and careful hand washing.
The end result, a startling statistic. In the last four weeks alone, Europe has registered more than a 55 percent rise in new COVID-19 cases. But so far, those numbers not causing a change of course in the U.S. decision to reopen its borders or dampening the excitement of these travelers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow! It's just amazing, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's amazing. Yes, it's been a long time waiting.
BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN Paris.
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COREN: Well, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez is a viral researcher and internal medicine specialist. He joins us now from Los Angeles.
Doctor, great to have you with us. You I know welcome the reopening to vaccinated travelers, tell us why.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST AND VIRAL RESEARCHER: Well, I think that it is a cautious welcome. I think you can stem that tide. I think that it's something that we're going to have to learn to live with. This virus is not going away.
Best case scenario in a few years, it will be what's called endemic, which means it will be throughout the world. So, I think saying that I am you know, sort of enthusiastic about it is a little bit exaggerated. I think it's something that's necessary. But I think right now, it's something that we have to be extremely, extremely cautious about.
COREN: For sure. I mean, families have been separated for the past 20 months, if not longer. But I guess the question is, is this the right time considering the surge in cases of COVID-19 in Europe? RODRIGUEZ: No, it is -- it is not the optimal time. And again, we are
embarking on as usual, you know, a great experiment. And I think there's a lot to be learned from what happened, you know, in the east coast of the United States in July, where restrictions were, you know, lifted, and then all of a sudden, you know, we saw breakthrough cases.
And I think people need to be very cautious and not throw all caution to the wind. They may come to the United States or Americans may go abroad and things may change so that travel restrictions may change abruptly and people may be stranded in different countries.
We will learn soon enough whether this experiment, if you will, is going to work.
COREN: Doctor, I guess the question is considering that the United States already accounts for one in five COVID cases around the world, are U.S. hospitals ready for its own surge considering that you are approaching the winter months?
RODRIGUEZ: No, we haven't been before and we won't be ready for those cases. Unfortunately, we don't seem to learn, you know, from the past and you know, the past is prologue and it may happen again.
And we -- our biggest downfall is that we get overly confident when things start looking good. And we let our guards down and in the United States we're at that moment.
And I keep saying that this is much like the weather and the weather will change and just because there is no rain right now, it doesn't mean that there are not storm clouds on the horizon, there are.
But at the end of the day, we need to somehow learn to coexist with this virus. Is it the optimum time? No.
COREN: You say we have to learn how to coexist and I think most people would agree with you but you know in the United States how polarizing, you know, the issue of masks swearing is, mandates within the government, within workplaces.
So, how do you, I guess, you know, bridge this? Considering you are approaching winter, you are going to be getting international travelers coming into the United States.
Do you think that the restrictions will force the unvaccinated to reconsider their stance?
RODRIGUEZ: I do. I really do. I think that what motivates people is being denied certain activities that they prize, whether it's going to a stadium, whether it's going to a dinner, and it's unfortunate that that is what it takes.
But, you know, that is what seems to motivate people, and I'm always remiss to use the word mandate. This is a requirement, nobody is vaccinating people against their will.
But these requirements may keep you from not having the job that you would prefer or going to the restaurant that you would like, and that is what is driving this and it's unfortunate because what should be driving this is common sense and its sciences -- science and unfortunately has been politicized and weaponized almost from the word go.
COREN: We can only hope that common sense eventually prevails. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.
RODRIGUEZ: Thanks, Anna.
COREN: In New Zealand, thousands of protesters rallied outside parliament on Tuesday against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and lockdown measures. MAGA and QAnon flags could be seen in a small but vocal crowd. Police are also monitoring a range of protest activity across the country.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says 89 percent of eligible New Zealanders have had their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and the protesters do not represent the vast majority of citizens.
In a briefing to the U.N., a former Nigerian president set a plan to ease the crisis in Ethiopia could be in hand by the end of the week. The escalating conflict has killed thousands in the past year and created famine like conditions in Tigray.
And as a rebel alliance threatens the national capital, witnesses say authorities are targeting ethnic Tigrayans with a wave of arrests.
David McKenzie has the details.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has confirmed that there have been sustained arrests of people, many of them ethnic Tigrayans of the last few days since the state of emergency was implemented last week.
People have been taken they say from their homes of streets and from their workplaces. It points to the level of tension in the capital Addis Ababa, though the government has long said that people arrested are those supporting the TPLF, that rebel group based in Tigray.
You had large scale protests, pro-government protests on Sunday. Tens of thousands of people coming to support Prime Minister Abiy and his government. It shows the level of passion and also the level of government organization and fear potentially from the two rebel groups that appear to still threaten the capital, though haven't moved closer to it in the last few days.
There have been high level talks of the last few days from the African Union envoy, former President Obasanjo, he was in Tigray talking to TPLF leaders, addressing then the Peace and Security Council at the African Union based in Addis Ababa.
These very intense diplomatic moves are to try and find an off ramp to this conflict before it degenerates into a wider scale war. David Mackenzie, CNN Johannesburg.
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COREN: The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. was blunt in her call for an end to the conflict saying "The wall between angry belligerent men victimizing women and children has to stop".
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LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The conflict in Ethiopia has now been going on for a full year. And this is a tremendously sad milestone. And as my Irish colleague stated, we really remained silent for too long.
Over the past year, we have seen constant violence. We've witnessed widespread human rights abuses and atrocities.
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COREN: Ethiopia's U.N. Ambassador told the Security Council the conflict is not between two parties but between the government and a criminal group referring to the Tigray's People's Liberation Front.
Well, coming up next, Nicaragua's president tightens his grip on power as many Nicaraguans inside and even outside the country say they fear his campaign to silence critics. This story is just ahead.
Plus, new lawsuits. Ignored warnings and a lack of contingency plans, we'll look at what went wrong at that deadly music festival in Houston.
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COREN: China appears to be building mock versions of U.S. warships in its vast Northwestern desert for possible target practice.
Maxar Technologies released satellite images of the construction reviewed by the independent U.S. Naval Institute. They appear to show the outlines of a U.S. aircraft carrier and at least two guided missile destroyers.
Militaries around the world regularly build mock ups of real world targets but the Pentagon has been concerned about Beijing's expanding military capabilities and it claims -- and its claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea.
The international community is slamming Nicaragua's election and its results as President Daniel Ortega claimed a fifth term after stifling his competition.
The U.S. joined other nations in condemning the vote, it called undemocratic and threatened action including sanctions to promote accountability. Well, Mr. Ortega celebrated his win on Monday alongside his wife, who's also the vice president. Nicaragua's electoral councils said about 65 percent of voters turned out at the polls, but one group said the abstention rates average more than 80 percent across the country.
Well, Sunday's election in Nicaragua came after a month-long government crackdown on Mr. Ortega's likely political rivals. That action is typical of the regime's campaign to silence critics and it doesn't stop at the country's borders.
CNN's Matt Rivers explains.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He calls himself an elected president. But for many, Daniel Ortega is a dictator, whose regime is getting stronger and more dangerous.
Under his rule, a campaign of political terror has gripped the country, dissent can lead to house arrest, jail time, some even allege they have been tortured. It is a dangerous time in Nicaragua, something we tried to go see firsthand.
For that, we took a bus in Northwestern Costa Rica to the Nicaraguan border, entering via land to try and avoid the attention of the authorities. But after 10 minutes with an immigration official, it was clear we were not getting in.
IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL: Are you working CNN right now? Are you working with CNN right now? What report are you doing for CNN?
RIVERS (on-camera): So, they just took our passports and our Mexican residency card and asked if anyone on the team worked for CNN. Even though we did not offer that information, it's clear that they know who we are.
And soon after, immigration officials denied our entry.
So, we've been formally escorted out of the country. After waiting three hours, they told us that we need to send a formal request to the government in order to be allowed in, without giving us any reason as to why we weren't allowed in. They won't answer our questions.
And so now, officially, we're back on the Costa Rican side. Clearly, they don't want people like us inside the country.
Our experience just a small example of the staggering level of government control faced by Nicaraguans.
Since June, dozens of perceived enemies of the regime have been thrown into jail, while countless others have been harassed and followed.
[00:25:02]
RIVERS (voice over): In roughly a dozen interviews, CNN conducted with people inside the country, each said most neighbors won't even talk politics anymore, fearful they could be denounced as traitors.
One current government official would only speak to us over the phone as he stood in an empty field, fearful of being heard.
He says, only Ortega's followers are the ones who can walk freely. The vast majority of us live like hostages. Every time I leave my home, I'm terrified.
We granted him anonymity because he said government forces surveil his house constantly. If they knew he was speaking to foreign journalists, he says, he'd be imprisoned.
I was afraid to speak with you. But at the same time, the conviction and the hope that our voice will reach others around the world, makes us take the risk.
It has certainly reached other Nicaraguans around the world. Tens of thousands of whom have fled the country since government crackdowns ramped up in 2018. But for many, the terror of the Ortega regime doesn't stop at the border.
Jorge (PH) spoke to us from an undisclosed location in Mexico. He says he was tortured by Nicaraguan police after participating in anti- government protest in 2018. Even alleging they used a razor blade to carve the word (INAUDIBLE) into his leg, a threat of future violence.
Someone even spray painted his home writing: "If you -- around, you die."
He says, people I had grown up with and known and become my enemies.
He fled to Guatemala and felt safe for a bit until he received this photo. Someone he says who worked for the Nicaraguan government snap this picture of him at the bus stop he used every day writing, "You thought the Guatemalans would take care of you? You and your family are going to pay in blood."
My family and I do not feel safe because we know what they can do. We wouldn't be the first or the last Nicaraguan to be murdered outside the country.
He's still receiving threats in Mexico, and though CNN has no way to know for certain that Nicaraguan state agents were threatening him, that is the consistent fear of so many here in San Jose, Costa Rica, where thousands of Nicaraguans have fled since 2018.
There, we met with this group of Nicaraguan exiles, each of whom say they've received threats from the Ortega regime since fleeing in the last few years.
One story from Raisa Hope (PH) stood out.
A Nicaraguan activists, she fled back in 2019 after threats to her life, she now runs a flower shop in San Jose where her friend Bethanysi Seladon (PH), a fellow Nicaraguan activist visits her often. About a month ago, a man entered the shop, closed the door and pointed a gun.
He told us, stop -- around mother --. We said, don't hurt us, but he started strangling me.
Raisa (PH) was pistol-whipped and knocked out. Bethanysi (PH) kicked to the floor. She suffered knee fractures as a result.
Crying, she says. The first thing I thought about, my son. This man is going to kill us.
Eventually, the man left without stealing anything. Both women filed a police report and suspect the same thing. They were targeted by Nicaraguan agents.
Nicaraguan human rights groups say they've recorded dozens of such suspected attacks in Costa Rica in recent years, though proving the Nicaraguan government is behind them is near impossible.
Officially, Costa Rica's government says they found no such cases of Nicaraguan spies attacking exiles.
We're always talking to Nicaragua, he says, and maintaining a conversation to respect each other's sovereignty, but not everyone in the government agrees.
A senior government official with deep knowledge of the situation tells CNN there are. In fact, Nicaraguan intelligence operatives working right now here in Costa Rica, including those that target Nicaraguan exiles, adding the number of operatives working here has increased since Nicaraguans began arriving in mass back in 2018.
The government, the source says, is hesitant to speak out publicly on the issue, fearing it could damage diplomatic relations at a tenuous time.
On Sunday, protests were held in San Jose, people chanting and waving the Nicaraguan flag. But in Nicaragua, things were much quieter. No protests are allowed these days. But it doesn't mean that they're not happening.
CNN spoke to several people who said they would not vote, a form of quiet protests, they said, refusing to participate in the coronation of a dictator.
Matt Rivers, CNN, San Jose, Costa Rica.
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COREN: Well, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Still ahead, Barak Obama takes the stage at the U.N. climate meetings with criticism for China, Russia, and Donald Trump.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Back in the United States, of course, some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris Agreement in his first year in office. I wasn't real happy about that.
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COREN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren, live from Hong Kong.
Well, former U.S. President Barack Obama says the world is nowhere near where it needs to be in fighting the climate crisis. At the U.N. summit on Monday, he urged stronger action and global cooperation and took a swipe at Donald Trump. CNN's Rene Marsh reports.
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RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Barack Obama, back on the world stage, speaking out in Glasgow, Scotland, at an international gathering on climate change, COP26, trying to convince the world that America is still serious about fighting rising global temperatures.
OBAMA: The U.S. has to lead.
MARSH: In an urgent and very political speech, Obama expressed regret over the Trump administration's inaction on climate change.
OBAMA: Back in the United States, of course, some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris agreement in his first year in office. I wasn't real happy about that.
MARSH: In an effort to shore up U.S. credibility, Obama laid out progress made in the U.S. even without leadership from the White house.
OBAMA: In the U.S. alone, more than three million people now work in clean energy-related jobs. That is more than the number of people currently employed by the entire fossil fuel industry.
So despite four years of active hostility toward climate science, coming from the very top of our federal government, the American people managed to still meet our original commitment under the Paris agreement.
MARSH: World leaders at this summit are under pressure to outline specifics on how they will cut greenhouse emissions by 2050.
A huge crowd, waiting and cheering for Obama, as he arrived for a round table discussion with young leaders who want to see more dramatic action.
OBAMA: The danger of our activism is that we're typically talking to people who already agree with us. We don't -- we're not oftentimes talking to big parts of our populations that don't agree with us, or at least have different priorities.
MARSH Including from the largest emitters, China and Russia, whose leaders were absent from the conference. Obama echoing those concerns.
OBAMA: International plans so far reflect what appears to be a dangerous lack of urgency. A willingness to maintain the status quo on the part of those governments. And that's a shame.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: CNN's Rene Marsh reporting there from Scotland. Well, the COP26 climate meetings were focused on gender equality and science and innovation in the coming hours.
Delegates are also hoping to finish up rules for implementing the Paris agreement by the end of the conference. Many countries want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANS TIMMERMANS, E.U. CLIMATE POLICY CHIEF: We need to find a solution, uncommon timeframes. We need to find a solution of loss and damage. And I think this can all be done this week if we all put our minds to it, if we all look forward to finding a compromise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Environmental activists say some of the leading fossil fuel fuel producers, including inside China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, are resisting efforts for stronger limits on global temperatures.
Lawsuits are being filed following the deadly chaos at a Houston music festival. Details on that, and what organizers seemed unprepared for the tragedy that unfolded. Next.
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(CHEERING)
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COREN: It was a sweet homecoming to four astronauts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The quartet splashed down off the Florida coast Monday night, after spending six months at the International Space Station.
Like most astronauts, they were undoubtedly happy to be back on Earth, able to hug family members, see friends and eat real food.
But this return to Earth bought a special kind of relief. Issues with the toilet on board the Dragon capsule left the crew without a bathroom for their journey home. Instead, they had to rely on undergarments. A delicate word for adult diapers, the nine-hour trip home. A situation one astronaut described on Friday as "suboptimal."
Lawsuits stemming from the tragedy at the Astroworld music festival, are beginning to mount. At least 18 have been filed so far in Harris County, Texas.
Most of them are against Live Nation Entertainment, and rapper Travis Scott, whose concert turned deadly on Friday. He and rap star Drake, who was also named in at least one of the civil suits, are accused of inciting the crowd. Eight people were killed, and dozens injured, when concert goers surged towards the stage.
And we're now learning organizers had no plan in place for dealing with that sort of disaster.
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports on the investigation.
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[00:40:00]
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before Travis Scott took the stage at the Astroworld Festival on Friday night, the rapper and his head of security met with Houston's police chief. The chief says he expressed concern about public safety, and urged Scott and his team to be mindful of what they were posting on social media. But it didn't take long for chaos to unfold.
BAHEER KASHIF, ASTROWORLD FESTIVAL ATTENDEE We were all just doing everything we could to fight our lives. It was a nightmare. It felt like -- it felt like hell on earth for those 15, 20 minutes I was there.
LAVANDERA: Baheer Kashif went to the show with three friends. This video from earlier in the day captured how packed in the crowds were. It only got worse later in the night.
KASHIF: People were stepping on each other, I could feel that I probably stepped on a few people. I could feel people pinching my legs to get me off of them, and it -- we were just falling on top of each other.
As people fall, people are going to start getting crammed all over on top of them. And now you're stuck at the bottom of the dog pile.
LAVANDERA: Houston Police have launched a criminal investigation into what happened at the concert that left eight people dead.
As the mayhem in the crowd unfolded, the show on stage kept going. Multiple civil lawsuits against Travis Scott in the entertainment company Live Nation have already been filed.
Before the Astroworld festival, Scott had faced criminal charges twice, for inciting his concert crowds. In 2018, according to "The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette," Scott pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
Police say he encouraged the concert crowd to rush the stage in a 2017 show in Rogers, Arkansas.
And in 2015, "The Chicago Tribune" reported that Scott pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor reckless conduct charge for urging a Lollapalooza crowd to climb over security barricades.
In an Instagram post, Travis Scott indicated he wasn't aware how bad the crowd situation had become in Houston.
TRAVIS SCOTT, RAPPER: At any time 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.
LAVANDERA: Houston authorities released the names of all the victims who died in the crush of people at the concert. John Hilgert was 14, and Brianna Rodriguez was 16.
The other victims were in their twenties: Danish Baig, Rodolfo Pena, Madison Dubiski, Franco Patino, Jacob Jurinek, and Axel Acosta.
CNN has obtained the 56-page operation plan for the Astroworld festival. The document does not include a specific plan for how to handle surging crowds.
The plan said when dealing with large crowds, the key in properly dealing with this type of scenario is proper management of the crowd from the minute the doors open. That did not happen.
This is video of crowds, pushing through a VIP entrance, bypassing the security, hours before the Travis concert started.
JARED KUKER, ASTROWORLD FESTIVAL ATTENDEE: Everyone is screaming. I mean, it's like an airplane type of situation. People are screaming, like bloody murder.
It's kind of just like a matter of fact, thought. It was like OK, it's going to be it.
LAVANDERA: Jared Kuker says everyone around him was struggling to stay on their feet and breathe. At one point, he fell down and landed on someone he thinks might be one of the victims.
KUKER: I remember looking down, and the person on the bottom was just laying there, and all I could do was I just slapped their face, and I think they were unconscious. They might have passed out at that point.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Houston.
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COREN: Thank you so much for your company and for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. WORLD SPORT starts right after this break.
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