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U.S. Reopens to Fully Vaccinated International Travelers; Thousands of Migrants Move to Belarusian-Polish Border; Obama Urges Stronger Action, Global Cooperation; China Builds Mock Versions of U.S. Warships in Desert; Ortega Slammed for Campaign to Silence Critics and Rivals; 18 Lawsuits filed claiming negligence at Astroworld; Empire State Building Ready to Welcome Crowds. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 09, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, the U.S. finally reopens its doors to vaccinated international travelers, but it comes is Europe suffers through its latest coronavirus surge.
Caught in the middle out in the cold, a growing battle over what to do with 1000s of migrants stranded along the border into the European Union.
And former U.S. President Barack Obama lashes out at China, Russia and even Donald Trump. They're not doing enough to stop climate change.
We begin with a pandemic milestone in the U.S. On Monday, the country opened its borders to fully vaccinated foreign visitors ending a 20- month travel ban. For families separated by the pandemic it was a cause for celebration. Scenes like these playing out as loved ones returned for the first time in months. The new rules could also be a boost for the battered travel industry. It was a U.S. Commerce Secretary.
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GINA RAIMONDO, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: We've been planning for this day for months. And we are all very excited. As I have said America is open for business. We are ready. We are excited and it's a huge shot in the arm to the economy overall, but especially to the travel and tourism industry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: But those changes come against a dark backdrop on Monday recorded COVID cases around the world top 250 million. More than 5 million people have died. Three countries, the United States, India and Brazil account for more than 40% of all known cases according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. alone accounts for about one of every five cases.
All right now though it's Europe that seeing an alarming rise in cases. Infection rates have hit new record highs in some countries and others have started putting up restrictions to try to contain the latest outbreaks. CNN's Nina Dos Santos reports.
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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Record new infections reported in Germany, Greece and Slovakia, hospital beds filling up fast and the death toll on the rise. In Austria those not fully vaccinated or recovered from COVID were barred from bars, hotels and other indoor public spaces under a new rule that took effect this week.
In Iceland, where the health ministry recently loosened COVID restrictions, masks were made compulsory once more. This is what today's epicenter of the pandemic looks like. The reason the World Health Organization says is stuttering uptake of the vaccine.
STEFAN WAGNER, WAITING TO GET SECOND VACCINATION (through translation): This is my way to work. And this vaccination point had been deserted for a long time. Now you can see how in recent days, and especially over the weekend, it's very popular and I welcome that.
DOS SANTOS: From Spain where covered stands at 80% to Slovakia at around 42% coupled with the recent loosening of social distancing requirements over the summer, and for the result, a massive campaign for boosters across Europe. In the U.K. 10 million have already had a third COVID shot. But those without American citizenship but fully vaccinated, a trip to the United States is finally possible as the country reopened its borders to travelers from much of Europe for the first time in 20 months relief for airlines and travelers alike just ahead of thanksgiving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's even better today to know that we are flying with a full plane and that we can finally bring these continents and cultures together again.
DOS SANTOS: Across Russia, it was back to work despite transmission rates, so high authorities imposed a week-long holiday last week. With winter on its way, health experts are warning there's no time to lose in the race to once again contain COVID-19. Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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, INTERNATIONAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST & VIRAL RESEARCHER: Well, I think that it is a cautious welcome. I think you can't 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.
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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 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, it -- 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's no rain right now, it doesn't mean that they're 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 that 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 mask wearing 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 re-missed 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.
We can only hope that common sense eventually prevails. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, great to have you with us. Thanks so much. Thanks, Anna.
COREN: A tense situation at the border between Poland and Belarus is growing increasingly dangerous. For weeks 1000s of migrants have been moving towards the dividing line in hopes of crossing into Poland and perhaps pushing on further into the European Union. But Polish officials are not having it and say their military is preparing to face any scenario.
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 government 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 it step.
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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPT. SPOKESPERSON: United States strongly condemns the Lukashenko regimes 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.
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We call on the regime to immediately halt its campaign of orchestrating and coercing irregular migrant flows across its borders into Europe.
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COREN: But in the middle of all this political bickering thousands of migrants are stranded, hoping to get across the border and into the European Union before the situation deteriorates any further.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are innocent people who wants a better future for their kids but so many of them doesn't have food, water. They have small kids, and they are freezing. And the weather is really cold.
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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: Yeah. Well, you're absolutely right, to underline, 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, they're 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 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 three to 4000 of these migrants that are passing 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. 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: Yeah, 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: Yeah. Well, you talk about this sort of militarization of it. 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 20 elections, who interfered with Ryanair air jet forcing it to land in his national territory to arrest one of his detractors. And he is furious, and 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 already there, trying to bring Russia into the fray and to further kind of raised 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.
[01:15:11]
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, it 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 Lukashenko. 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 were certainly appreciate the context, many thanks for joining us.
In a briefing to the U.N. on Monday, a top African Union envoy said a plan to ease the crisis and Ethiopia could be in hand by the end of the week. The escalating conflict has killed thousands in the past year and created famine, light conditions into grime.
And as a rebel alliance threatens the national capitol, witnesses say authorities are targeting ethnic Tigrayans with a wave of arrests. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. called for an end to the violence.
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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 colleagues 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: In 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 People's Liberation Front.
Still ahead this hour, new satellite images appear to show mockups of U.S. warships in the Chinese desert, what military experts are saying about Beijing's intentions.
Plus, Barack 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 U.S. PRESIDENT: Back in the United States, of course, some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris Agreement and his first year in office. I wasn't real happy about that.
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COREN: 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 has this report.
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RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL 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 us 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 3 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 manage 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 roundtable 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 either 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: And their national plans so far reflect what appears to be a dangerous lack of urgency or willingness to maintain the status quo on the part of those governments. And that's a shame.
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COREN: CNN's Rene Marsh reporting from Scotland.
The COP26 climate meetings will focus 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 on common timeframes. We need to find a solution and loss and damage. And I think this can all be done this week if we all put our minds to it and if we all look forward to finding a compromise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Environmental activists say some of the leading fossil fuel producers including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are resisting efforts for a stronger limit on global temperatures.
Well, cause for plant-based diets to save the planet from the climate crisis are growing louder, but there's another quiet a revolution reshaping agriculture. Some experts say what people eat is not as important as how they farm. CNN's David McKenzie has this report.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Danie Slabbert likes to say, he's just a simple farmer, likes to say what he does is simple to understand.
DANIE SLABBERT, FARMER: So, this is so simple. This is what we want, look at the soil.
MCKENZIE: The soil is alive, but the soil also is doing the job for you, you don't have to add all this.
SLABBERT: This soil is a natural system it does the job for me.
MCKENZIE: Healthy soil doesn't need additives like toxic and costly fertilizers, simple as that may sound if you care about climate change. Here is a story worth listening to. Livestock accounts for just over 14% of global emissions. But Slabbert says we are missing the point when it comes to food, want to save the planet focus on how we farm not what we eat.
(On camera) People these days are saying that meat and cattle is bad for nature or bad for the planet. Is that true? Do you see it that way?
SLABBERT: David, that can't be true. Animal support of nature. It was in the bigger plan.
MCKENZIE: He gives his cattle a chance to act the way nature intended.
SLABBERT: Hundred to two hundred years back in this specific area of South Africa there was millions of animals migrating throughout summer in these areas.
MCKENZIE: From above it's easy to see, high intensity grazing mimics those great migration and with 30 to 40% of the Earth's surface covered by grassland it's a method with global potential.
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(On camera) So, these cattle are actually replenishing your land.
SLABBERT: Exactly that tells, the microbial life in the stomach of cattle are the same system of the microbial life and soil. So those two worked together beautifully.
MCKENZIE: Research done by Texas A&M, shows even moderately effective grazing, sequestering more carbon into the soil than the cattle and meat, the healthier the soil, the more carbon is captured.
SLABBERT: In Africa, spatially is feeling the heat. So, climate change is a real issue. And we get all this blame as farmers, but we've got the solutions in the palm of our hands.
MCKENZIE: Healthy soil also retains moisture, plowing destroys that ability, which is why his cornfields look like this. Not like the perfect never-ending rows of industrial agriculture. And when winter comes, he'll graze the cattle here to replenish the soil in time for the next growing season. With 46 tons of fresh, natural maneuver for free.
SLABBERT: And you can really get this biology going, then you don't have to buy something out of a bag.
MCKENZIE: Letting nature work sounds simple enough but then what simple is often ignored.
(On camera) Have we forgotten the connection with the land?
SLABBERT: Yeah, David, in a sense, I think we have. So, this whole chemical evolution as give us so much recipes to just put everything in synthetically. And it really disconnected us with nature and with the land. If you maybe can smell this, you will smell the life. MCKENZIE: You can.
SLABBERT: That is the beauty.
MCKENZIE: David McKenzie, CNN Reitz South Africa.
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COREN: Will join us on Wednesday for the first ever call to Earth Day. CNN is partnering with schools, individuals and organizations around the world to raise awareness of environmental issues. It will be a day of action dedicated to conservation, environmentalism and sustainability. Follow us online and on TV and follow the #CallToEarth on social media.
Coming up next, Nicaragua's president wins another term after cracking down on his rivals, his campaign to silence critics sparking fear among Nicaraguans inside and outside the country.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong.
Well, 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. The Pentagon has been concerned about Beijing's expanding military capabilities, and its claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea.
Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Daniel Davis is a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities. He joins us now from Virginia. Great to have you with us.
Militaries around the world regularly build mockups of real targets. But I guess this is particularly sensitive, because of the strained relationship between China and the United States at the moment.
I mean how significant is this and how worried should the United States be.
LT. COL. DANIEL DAVIS, SENIOR FELLOW, DEFENSE PRIORITIES: I think you hit the nail right on the head. This is something that militaries do all the time. I mean I certainly did it when I was on active duty for 20 years.
And even more so to the point, this was done in 2013. We've actually got some satellite images from 2013 in the Gobi Desert where China was doing this. So this is just a continuation of a long term. So the bottom line is, there's nothing new here, and there's no new capacity here. But what it does show is that China is very serious when they say that they are willing to use force to recapture Taiwan and that they may be willing to go to war with us to take it. It is that serious to them and we need to be very, very how we proceed in this situation.
COREN: Well, there was a Pentagon assessment which say that Beijing is rapidly expanding its arsenal and military capabilities. Even the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley has warned the China's military progress amounted to, quote, "one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power the world has witnessed." I mean that is a big statement.
Is the U.S. concerned, and what should they be doing?
DAVIS: Well, I'll tell you, I'm concerned about the statement because we've known this. There's no way that this should be surprising anyone in Washington D.C., least of all, the Pentagon because their own reports have been talking about the progressing capabilities of the Chinese military, or more than two decades.
So this shouldn't have taken anyone by surprise, and the fact that they're saying it is, is somewhat troubling to me, to tell you the truth. Because it almost -- it implies that we are undervaluing, or under assessing the capabilities that they play -- that they possess and that could mean that we could make the decision, a bad decision, to actually use force.
And the other thing that Chairman Milley said that was somewhat troubling to me was that he seems to say there's no problem. They won't do it within the next two years but after that. I think as does the minister of defense for Taiwan itself, he said that they have to capacity now but they could perfect it in tow to three years.
So the threat is upon us right now that they could take Taiwan and we need to be very, very careful and cognizant of the potential cost to the United States.
COREN: Do you think the U.S. military underestimates the Chinese?
DAVIS: I do think they do. And based on some of these comments, I think that we undervalue just how great the threat is if we attack China over the situation of Taiwan.
In the global situation, in the global dynamics, the United States is overwhelmingly more powerful than China, in just about any category you want to look at it.
But in the Taiwan Straits, like 100 miles off China's shore, 6,000 miles off our shore -- China has all the tactical and conventional military advantages.
And in a fight that they really want, it's important to them, they have the decisive advantage. And if we don't take that seriously, we could blunder into something thinking that we can handle it when we probably can't.
COREN: Well, a few weeks ago, the Chinese tested a hypersonic weapon which once again caught U.S. military leaders by surprise. Chairman Milley said it was very close to being a Sputnik moment.
Does the U.S. have anything like this in its arsenal and is China changing the game in your opinion?
DAVIS: Well, this is yet another one of those headscratchers because in 2015, 6 years ago, the Pentagon report on Chinese military power talked about the Chinese developing a hypersonic glide vehicle.
I don't again understand how you can say it caught you by surprise unless you're not paying attention to your own (INAUDIBLE).
But we should be paying a lot of attention to this, and by the way, to answer your specific question, they're actually third in line here.
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DAVIS: So this is the Sputnik moment because the Soviets or the Russians have tested hypersonic weapons, we've tested hypersonic weapons and now China is coming in.
And what this shows is that they are a capable adversary and that we cannot take them lightly because it could turn out to be to our disadvantage if we do that. It is a risk.
COREN: Do you believe that the United States is falling behind?
DAVIS: I don't think that we are falling behind. It's just that we're still at the very top of our game. We're still doing a lot of things riding, we have great technology. But China is no longer the China of 1953 or 1950 when they -- the Peasant Army attacked into North Korea against the U.S. military. This is not even 20 years ago.
This is, now that they are moving so it shows that they're moving into parity with us, not that we're falling behind. But that they're capable.
And I'll just tell that the really important thing to understand about that is they are not (INAUDIBLE) no threat to attack the United States or our territories in the area, because we still possess an overwhelming advantage in military terms and especially in nuclear terms.
And China is not going to do anything about that. What China might do though is attack us if we go into their back garden. That is a critical difference.
COREN: Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, great to get your insight. Thank you so much.
DAVIS: Thank you. Always my pleasure.
COREN: The international community is slamming Nicaragua's election and its results as President Daniel Ortega claimed a fifth term, after stifling competition -- I should say.
The U.S. joined other nations in condemning the vote it called undemocratic and threatened action, including sanctions (INAUDIBLE) and accountability. Mr. Ortega celebrated his win Monday, alongside his wife who is also the vice president.
Nicaragua's electoral council said about 65 percent of voters turned out at the polls. But one group said the abstention rights (ph) averaged more than 80 percent across the country.
Well, Sunday's election in Nicaragua came after months' 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 arrets, jail time, and 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.
(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 is clear, that they know who we are.
(voice over): And soon after immigration officials denied our entry.
(on camera): So, we have 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 are back on the Costa Rican side. Clearly, they don't want people like us inside of the country.
(voice over): 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. In roughly a dozen interviews CNN conducted with people inside of 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 speaking 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 would be imprisoned.
"I was afraid to speak with you, but at the same time, the conviction and 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.
[01:39:55]
RIVERS: Jorge spoke to us from an undisclosed location in Mexico. He says he was tortured by Nicaraguan police after participating in anti government protests in 2018. Even alleging they used a razor blade to carve the word "Plomo" into his leg, a threat of future violence. Someone even spray painted his home writing, quote, "If you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) around, you die."
He says, "People I had grown up with and known have 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 snapped this picture of him at the bus stop he used every day, writing, quote, "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 of 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 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 stood out. And Nicaragua activist, she fled back in 2019 after threats to her life. She now runs a flower shop, in San Jose where her friend, Berenice Selazon (ph) a fellow Nicaraguan activist visits her often.
About a month ago, a man entered the ship, close the door and pointed a gun. "He told us, stop (EXPLETIVE DELETED) around, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)." We said, "Don't hurt us." But he started strangling me.
Raisa was pistol whipped, and knocked out, Berenice kick to the floor. She suffered knee fractures as a result.
Crying, she says, "The first thing I thought about was 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 group say, they have recorded dozens of such suspected attacks in Costa Rica and recent years. Though proving the Nicaragua government is behind them, is near impossible.
Officially, Costa Rica's government says they found no such cases of Nicaraguans spies attacking exiles.
"We are always talking to Nicaragua," he says, "and maintaining a conversation to respect each other's sovereignty. But, not everyone in the government degrees.
(on camera): A senior government official, with dep 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 en masse 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.
(voice over): 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 are not happening.
CNN spoke to several people who said they would not vote. A form of quiet protest, they said. Refusing to participate in the coronation of a dictator.
Matt Rivers, CNN -- San Jose, Costa Rica
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Rapper Drake is facing a lawsuit in connection with the deadly crush at a Houston music festival. And now for the first time he is speaking out about that incident.
After the break.
[01:43:48]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: Well, Texas authorities have now released the names of all eight people killed at the Astroworld music festival. But the medical examiners office says it could take several weeks to determine how they died.
A judge says the toxicology report, which could also take weeks, will be a key part in figuring out how things went so terribly wrong. Dozens of people were seriously injured in the crush and six are still in hospital. One of them is a 9-year-old-boy, his grandfather says he's in a medically induced coma.
Well meanwhile, rapper Travis Scott and Live Nation Entertainment are facing a flurry of lawsuits that accuse them of negligence.
CNN's Josh Campbell takes a closer look at the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A criminal investigation underway to determine what went horribly wrong at a music festival in Houston. Leaving 8 people dead and dozens injured when a crowd surge forward, crushing concert goers during Travis Scott's performance at Astroworld music festival.
3 people were trampled at the same event in 2019. But a detailed operations plan for this year's festival did not include specific contingency plans for a surging crowd incident. Instead documents obtained by CNN showed that organizers planned crowd management techniques for scenarios including a possible riot, or civil unrest.
There were warning signs from the start, when massive groups of people crashed through a vip entrance earlier in the day. Destroying an entrance and ignoring security personnel.
Before us Scott took the stage Houston police chief Troy Finner met with the rapper and his head of security over concerns about the crowd. The chief saying in a tweet, I expressed my concerns regarding public safety and asked Travis Scott and his team to work with HPD for all events over the weekend.
Fans in the crowd say they could tell something was wrong early on.
MADELINE ESKINS, CONCERT GOER:: About 30 minutes before he performed, he started a timer on the big screen. As the timer got closer to coming down to zero, it just -- it got worse and worse.
CAMPBELL: The surge of people intensified when the concert started at 9 pm.
SINCLAIRE HOYT, CONCERT GOER: One of their songs, you could feel like everyone pushing up behind you, like you couldn't move your arms. You couldn't breathe. You couldn't see anything.
CAMPBELL: 30 minutes later, officials say they first received reports of injuries in the crowd declaring a mass casualty event at 9:38 pm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were like it's a dead body, move out of the way. It's a dead body.
CAMPBELL: But the music did not stop for at least another 30 minutes. Even as first responders and an emergency vehicles struggled to get through the crowds. With concert goers at times dancing on top of it.
Scott maintains he had no idea how severe the situation was in the crowd. As he paused he said at times to ask for help.
TRAVIS SCOTT, RAPPER: I'm honestly just devastated.
CAMPBELL: The festival headliner who also acted as an event organizer now facing multiple civil lawsuits from concert goers after the deadly event.
Once suit saying Scott, entertainment company Live Nation and concert promoters Score More consciously ignored the extreme risk of harm to concert goers. And in some cases, actively encouraged and fomented dangerous behaviors. CNN has reached out to Travis Scott, Live Nation, and Score More for comment on the lawsuit.
Scott has seen a history of crowd control issues at his shows, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor reckless conduct charge in 2015, according to the Chicago Tribune, and a disorderly conduct charge in 2018, as reported by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
In his 2019 Netflix documentary, a member of Travis's team told security guards how unruly fans were expected before a show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of kids are just trying to get out to get to safety because they can't breath. It's so compact. You won't know how bad it could be within a crowd until we turn off.
CAMPBELL (on camera): Now, as investigators here in Texas work to determine exactly what happened, the Houston fire chief is weighing in on what could've been done differently to prevent this tragedy.
[01:49:54]
CAMPBELL: He spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday and said that those who were in positions of security as well as Travis Scott himself had certain responsibilities that night.
He suggested that if the rapper or someone in a position of authority at the concert had called for the lights in the venue to be turned on, as his first responders were trying to get to the victims, that simple act could've calmed the crowd possibly leading to a very different outcome.
Josh Campbell, CNN -- Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, rap star Drake who made a surprise appearance at Astroworld is also facing legal action. He's accused of inciting the crowd in least one civil lawsuit.
In his first public statement since the tragedy, Drake wrote on Instagram, "I hate resorting to these platforms to express an emotion as delicate as grief but this is where I find myself. My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering."
Well, as international tourists return to the United States, one iconic New York destination is ready to welcome them back.
A trip to the Empire State Building. That's ahead.
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COREN: Recapping our top story this hour. The U.S. has reopened its borders to fully vaccinated international visitors. Many flights Monday were full of travelers eater to see loved ones they had not visited in nearly two years.
A Delta spokesman said the airline has seen a 450 percent increase in international bookings, in the six weeks since the reopening was announced.
The travel ban halted tourism from 33 countries, along with land entries from Mexico and Canada.
A must-see for many of those visitors to New York's is the Empire State Building. 2020 was certainly a tough year, as many tenants were left -- left their offices in the building and tourists stayed away.
Well, Richard Quest reports that the iconic skyscraper is ready to welcome crowds once again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The highest structure raised by the hand of man. So said the "New York Times", when the Empire State Building opened in 1931.
It opened as the depression got underway. The building had been nickname the empty state building. It was only a quarter full.
That nickname, the Empty State Building, could've been used again last year when the pandemic hit.
TONY MALKIN, CEO, EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST: Well, there was a ban on all non essential workers from the entrance into office buildings. By the middle of March of 2020, about 3.5 percent of the turnstiles swipes into our buildings that we had in the year earlier period of 2019.
QUEST: Were you surprised that more people didn't just (INAUDIBLE) finish it. Go out of business?
MALKIN: Let's put it this way. There was a lot of surprise in March, April, May of 2020. It was what we like to call, the land of pivot and flex, constant fluidity in the situation.
QUEST: For nine decades the building has stood in the center of Manhattan, the defining feature of New York's burgeoning skylines.
MALKIN: It's bulletproof.
[01:54:46]
QUEST: $165 million renovation had just been completed when COVID arrived and tourism revenues went to zero. But the owners held their nerve. And in the spirit that this building was first conceived, they planned for the future.
Imagine this building itself, magnificent. The tourists are back.
MALKIN: The tourists are coming back, yes.
QUEST: Are you ready for the bonanza that is about to arrive? Once the U.S. opens up to pretty much Europe and those transiting through Europe?
MALKIN: I'll tell you Richard, we are. And I'll tell you something else. What's really changed a lot -- when we shut down and we did shut down from March through July here at the Empire State Building. We re- though, first time ever, we'd only even re-developed $165 million redevelopment of the observatory attraction.
But for the first time ever we went to actually zero. And we rebuilt our business in a different way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the world's most famous building.
QUEST: This is 103.
MALKIN: That's right.
QUEST: All right. Hold on to your hats.
We can see the edge.
MALKIN: Right.
QUEST: We can see the rock, and we can see the side.
MALKIN: Right.
QUEST: And on the other side is --
MALKIN: Down that way.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: I mean you're all sharing a view of each other.
MALKIN: Well actually no, we're at the center of it all. We're the center of New York City. There is an international recognition. It lives in the hearts and minds of everyone from 5 and 6-year-olds to 9- year-olds. And how does it happen?
QUEST: The Empire State Building has appeared in many movies and TV shows.
And when it comes to the holidays, it's a colorful part of the city's culture.
MALKIN: It speaks to the concepts of hopes and dreams. Everybody has hopes and dreams. And this doesn't belong to one culture. It was built by many cultures. And it caught the fancy and the fantasy moment of the world.
QUEST: It's 50 years since the Empire State was the tallest building in the world. But that doesn't matter. Because today, there are bigger, smarter, posher, taller buildings. But none quite like this.
Richard Quest, CNN -- at the Empire State Building in New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Stunning building in a beautiful city.
Well, thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Anna Coren from Hong Kong
The news continues with Rosemary Church right after this.
[01:57:38]
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