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Europe with New Record High on Virus Infections and Deaths; U.K. Imposed Strict Vaccine Mandate; Countries Don't Agree on a Climate Proposal; American Journalist May Face 20 Years Behind Bars in Myanmar; Sixteen U.N. Detained by Ethiopian Military; Chile's President Facing Impeachment Proceedings. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 10, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Just ahead, warning signs of a fifth COVID wave in Europe. Infections and hospitalizations are on the rise, causing some leaders to require more vaccinations.

A stark warning from climate researchers. Global warming could reach 2.4 degrees Celsius despite pledges made at COP26.

And new charges for an American journalist in Myanmar. Details and the latest accusations and the years in prison he faces.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Europe's COVID surge appears to be going from bad to worse. According to a new report from the World Health Organization, Europe is now the only region where COVID cases and deaths are trending upward. The region now accounts for about 63 percent of all new cases and more than half of all new deaths.

The situation has some countries considering new restrictions. In Denmark, the government has proposed bringing back COVID health passes. And remember, just two months ago Denmark lifted the last of its restrictions saying COVID was no longer a critical threat.

Meanwhile, Austria has now banned unvaccinated people from restaurants, hotels and large events. And officials say the new rules will likely remain in place through Christmas.

In France, the government is looking to a tougher health pass system and booster shots to help curb cases. Starting Monday, anyone older than 65 will be required to have a COVID booster shot to remain eligible for their health pass.

France is also opening up eligibility for a third shot to anyone over 50 years old. French President Emmanuel Macron announced changes during a national address on Tuesday, warning the pandemic is far from over. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): We have not finished because the WHO says that the fifth wave has started in Europe. A 40 percent increase in a week of the incidence rate and an increase in hospitalizations are warning signs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (on camera): And in the U.K., England plans to require vaccinations for National Health Service workers starting in April. And those who refuse would lose their jobs.

For more, let's bring in CNN's Scott McLean in London. So, Scott, as you know, vaccine mandates are extremely political here in the U.S. How is this new requirement being received there in the U.K.?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, like it is in the U.S. it is certainly controversial here. It's definitely making headlines, but it also the government says, may encourage the holdouts when it comes to vaccinations for to actually go ahead and get the shot.

Across Europe, Kim, look, things are not looking good when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO just a couple of days ago, said he Europe with the new epicenter of the pandemic. Germany has just hit record high case counts. And as you said, France also saying that look, things are far from over.

What the president saying that just in the past week, cases have gone up 40 percent and hospitalizations are raising as well. Now in general, the response from government has been to at the very least, keep in place current restrictions. But more likely tighten those restrictions or even introduce new ones.

In France, Macron announced their no plans to get rid of France's green pass which requires proof of vaccination to access public transit, or to get into a restaurant. Mask will also remain mandatory on public transit and schools.

And as you mentioned, started in December, people 65 plus actually have to show they had a third booster shot in order to keep those passes current. In Austria, they are also as you said, introducing new measures to bar the unvaccinated from restaurants and cafes, unless they can prove that they have natural immunity from a previous infection.

And the government there is pretty open about the aim of all of this, which is really to nudge people, to encourage people to get vaccinated. Here in the U.K., as you said, there will be new rule starting in April if new legislation is passed that would require all health care workers -- at least the ones that deal with patients face- to-face to actually get vaccinated.

And so, while the trend is worrying across Europe, there's undoubtedly an east west divide. And I wanted to show you a couple of graphs that really illustrate that divide.

So, this graph shows cases in the U.K., Romania, Croatia and the Ukraine, and you can see in general cases are high and all four countries. So, they are trending upwards.

[03:05:02]

But keep an eye on that red line of the U.K. as we switch slides. This is the death rate. And you'll notice that while all the other countries are hitting new highs or at least on the way to hitting new highs, the U.K. is a fraction of what it once was.

In fact, it's not nothing, 250 -- more than 250 people died yesterday, but it is a fraction about one-fifth of previous peaks. Wo what is the difference here? Well, the difference is vaccinations. As we show you this last side, the U.K. is far ahead and above the way or far ahead of the other three countries when it comes to the vaccinations.

Croatia, Ukraine, they are both tightening restrictions. And that Romania is really struggling with vaccine hesitancy. And so, while the pandemic across the continent is far from over, things at least in Western Europe, Kim, seem much, much more manageable.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, it really highlights the importance of those vaccinations. Scott Mclean, thanks so much.

Singapore will no longer be covering the medical cost of coronavirus patients who are unvaccinated by choice. The change will kick in next month. The government currently covers the cost of treatments for all infected citizens, but says the unvaccinated are disproportionately contributing to the strain on health care resources. More than 86 percent of eligible residents are vaccinated so far.

On the border between Poland and Belarus, thousands of people are being used as political pawns in a move some fear could lead to acts of violence. Over the past few weeks, waves of migrants have come into the area hoping to cross into the European Union. Many of those are women and children who are camping out in freezing temperatures with the Polish army on alert just meters away.

Poland's defense minister says migrants made several attempts overnight to breach the border, but Polish troops were able to push them back. The minister says there are now 15,000 Polish soldiers at the border and that number could be increased.

Our Fred Pleitgen has more.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A migrant crisis on NATO's eastern flank that's threatening to destabilize this region. The European Union accuses Putin ally, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of unleashing a massive rush on Poland's border.

The country's prime minister calling on Polish troops to get ready. Lukashenko's regime uses civilians as weapons of a hybrid war, he said, but what we can see today our new method, and you are a key bastion against them.

Poland says around 4,000 people, mostly from Iraq and Syria, have amassed at its border with Belarus, squatting under inhumane conditions, repeatedly trying to push across. The E.U. says the Belarusian regime has lured them here, falsely promising they could enter E.U. territory. Poland calls it state sponsored human trafficking and says it will not allow the migrants to enter.

"It's a matter of fulfilling our duties as member states of the European Union, as well as ensuring the safety of Polish citizens and the Polish republic," Poland's president said.

Alexander Lukashenko denies the allegations and accuses Poland of escalating the situation. Lukashenko spoke to his biggest backer, Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, and later seemed to indicate that the situation could lead to war.

"In the modern world, taking up arms is like death. It's suicide, we must agree," he said. "And even more so, here, in the center of Europe. And even more so with Belarus. After all, here, on this piece of land, in the center, all wars have always unfolded. From here everything began. Does history teach you nothing?"

Most of the migrants who have made it across want to go to Germany, German authorities say. We were on hand as several new arrivals were being processed after arriving in Germany.

PLEITGEN (on camera): The German police has drastically stepped-up checks here at the border with Poland. And they say they are increasingly coming across people looking to claim asylum in this country, and that the vast majority of those people came into the European Union via Belarus.

Caught in the middle of this standoff, the thousands of desperate people stranded at the border, as winter fast approaches.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany.

BRUNHUBER: Transportation Day at the COP26 Climate Summit is expected to bring global process on electric vehicles, but reports say the U.S., China and Germany are resisting the proposed deal would commit countries to work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission by 2040.

Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging COP26 delegates to pull out all the stops an agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

[03:10:08]

CNN's Phil Black is live this hour in Glasgow, Scotland. So, Phil, transportation day. Take us through what we're expecting to see?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, the British government had hoped to announce a widely adopted declaration from countries promising to only produce zero emissions cars by 2040. But as you point out, it's a step too far for some of the biggest car making countries.

China, Germany, the U.S. and many others, have not signed this declaration. Now this conference has seen a series of announcements similar to this in a sense, targeting specific causes of emissions that impact climate change. But ultimately represent only limited progress. You could describe them as part successes.

Now this crucial point in the conference, with just days to go. We've had confirmation that taken together, these parts successes, these- limited deals that represent limited progress, they are nowhere near enough to achieving the goals of this conference.

A respected project, Climate Action Tracker, which closely analyzes commitments and actions by individual countries and their likely income -- likely impact on climate change has found that even if you take into account all the promises, all that has been said and agreed to at this conference, the world is still on track for around 2.4 degrees of average global temperature increase by the end of the century.

Remember, the target is around 1.5 degrees. So, what it means is that we are still on track for a catastrophic climate change. The reason is pretty simple. The science says that in order to get a handle on this, countries need to make deep, deep emissions cuts this decade. And they simply haven't indicated they're willing to do that.

For more context, I spoke to one of the authors of the report. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKLAS HOHNE, FOUNDING PARTNER, NEWCLIMATE INSTITUTE: Now with the current pledges and all the things the countries proposed, we see a roughly stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions until 2030.

So, they're not going up anymore. Which is good, because in the past they have always been great up by one to two percent per year. I think with the current levels we're flatlining until 2030, which is OK. But not good enough. They need to be halved by 2030. So, we are emitting still twice as much as we should.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK (on camera): So, in a sense, this report confirms something, confirms the practical outcomes of what we already knew -- know. that is that a growing number of countries have come into this conference promising big, long-term commitments. Hitting net zero carbon around the middle of the century.

But without detailed plans, without a willingness to start making those cuts hard and fast, pretty much right now, those plans simply aren't credible given the scale of the task in order to hit zero carbon within decades they have set. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Depressing news there. Phil Black, thank you so much. For more on this let's bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

Pedram, so the difference between 2.4 and 1.5 degrees Celsius we were talking about, I mean, that's a significant gap and not a lot of time to make up that ground.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. We're talking about less than 10 years. The analysis looking at all the data, all the countries all the commitment shows you that we're heading towards that 2.4, some estimates put it at 2.7. So, 2.4 is actually conservative estimate.

But take a look at what the Climate Action Tracker that kind of projection that looks at all of this said. What the nets zero goals with 40 nations in particular, that accounts for about 85 percent of the emission cut. So we're talking about the significant the coming from those 40 nations. And we'll touch on some of those nations momentarily.

But I want to show you what they analyze. Because within those 40 nations and that 85 percent, only about 6 percent of those cuts of the 85 percent of the cuts is actually written with some concrete plans and action that are kind of slated to occur.

Seventy-nine percent of it that make up this 85, that's all just talk. that's all written in documentation and that's just verbal agreements, I should say that have kind of taken place. So that's the concern that very little has been put in place to make this 85 percent cut within the next night or so years take place.

Now, I want to show you how things have played across various countries. And we know China, for example, they put into new target goals to stop building coal-powered power plants there abroad. that's just for this particular year they announce this. And they announce they are going to begin to cut coal use by 2026. By 2060, they want to aim to meet carbon neutrality as well.

So, all of this, again, is talk that has been set in place. Now when it comes to action, what Climate Action Tracker has kind of looked at, they said look at China in 2020. How does things play out across China, in particular?

[03:14:58]

Well, in 2020, they are responsible for about 26 percent of the world's emission. They are home to about 75 percent of the world's coal factories. And they built in 2020, three times more coal power plants than any other nation.

So, again, you notice what the goals are, where the actions are, they don't align. And it's not just China. You look at India, you look at the United States. Again, plenty of very significant goals in place.

For example, China -- India contributed to about 6 percent of global emissions. But you'll notice, they ended large stimulus package in 2020, Kim, that essentially said more formal fossil fuels or encourage more fossil fuel use and also using land unsustainably. So, again, the goals and the actions are just kind of don't align together and that's what's more concerning.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. All right. Pedram Javaheri, thanks so much.

And activist at the COP26 Climate Summit are calling for urgent action, mocking world leaders in their drawn out negotiations. They impersonated world leaders on a sinking boat Tuesday as they call for timely action to curb global warming and rising sea levels.

Protesters dressed as leaders from Britain, the U.S., China, Canada, Australia, Brazil and the Saudi Arabia. Activists say they want to see more than just talk, as the quote, "oceans are rising around us."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH SIKULU, TONGAN CLIMATE ACTIVIST: Especially high emitting nations should be held accountable for causing the climate crisis. So, these last four days in the negotiations, we are hoping that our leaders can come together, step up their commitments and ambitions, the national (Inaudible) contributions. And also, have more conversations around loss and damage because the high emitting nations need to pay for the climate crises that they are causing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (on camera): And those protests also align with ongoing pleas from developing countries for more aid to deal with the effects of climate change.

Well, more charges for an American journalist in Myanmar. Ahead, the latest accusations from the military leadership. And after more than 20 hours of debate, legislators in Chile advance an impeachment procedure against President Sebastian Pinera. We'll have the details ahead. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A U.S. journalist is facing new charges from Myanmar's military leadership. Danny Fenster is accused of sedition and terrorism. If convicted of sedition, Fenster faces seven to 20 years in prison.

The editor of the local Frontier Myanmar was arrested as he tried to leave the country in May. And he has been held in the notorious Insein Prison since then.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul of details. Paula, these newest charges, what's behind the accusations and what could that mean for him?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, at this point it's not clear what is behind these new charges. There are no details being given at this point as to what Danny Fenster is alleged to have done or not done to warrants such serious charges.

[03:19:57] They are the most serious that have been leveled against him since he was arrested at Yangon International Airport back in May this year. And it is clearly a setback in the efforts to try and secure his release.

Now the information at this point is coming to us from his lawyer as the proceedings themselves on the three previous charges that have leveled against -- being leveled against him are completely close to press and in behind closed doors.

So, there is limited information coming to us, but clearly the lawyer is concerned about these additional charges that have been filed against him. Now just recently, there were a number of prisoners who had been arrest -- had been released from prisons by the military junta. Among them were some journalists.

It was hoped that Danny Fenster would be one of them. He was not. And also, just last week, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson was in Myanmar. He said on a private and humanitarian mission. He met with the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, the one who had led this overturn of the democratically elected government back in February and is the leader of the coup.

There was also hope that Danny Fenster would potentially be released or there would be some movement in his case, as Bill Richardson has been involved and trying to secure the release of Americans imprisoned abroad in the past, especially in North Korea. But again, that wasn't the case.

And so now with these two new significant charges being filed against Danny Fenster, there is certainly concern about whether he is being used as an example, to set an example to others.

There has been an overall crackdown against the media. Many of the media come media community either an exile or having gone underground to try and continue to report, or at least say what is happening within Myanmar. But there is -- there is concern with these two new charges for Danny Fenster. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely disturbing development there. Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.

Just over a month ago, the Pandora papers will release really revealing the offshore financial dealings of the world's wealthy elite, including Chile's President Sebastian Pinera. Now all those revelations have led to impeachment procedures against Pinera over tax evasion allegations.

Journalist Stefano Pozzebon has more.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The lower house of Chile's parliament debated for over 20 hours and dragged its session well into the early hours of Tuesday to decide whether President Sebastian Pinera could be impeached over tax evasion scandal connected to the Pandora papers investigation. In one document link in that global investigation, Pinera is allegedly

linked to the sale of a mining company in a tax haven. A sale that was not disclosed and that opposition lawmakers accuse directly benefited from Pinera's role as the country's president.

The impeachment requests pass with 78 votes in favor. Sixty-seven against and three abstentions. But there was some very late drama as socialist lawmaker Jamie Naranjo dragged the session, talking for more than 15 hours himself alone, to allow another opposition lawmaker who was under a COVID-19 mandatory quarantine to arrive to parliament on Tuesday and cast his vote.

The motion will now pass to the Senate who will act as a special tribunal on that case. Pinera had previously denied there was anything undisclosed in that sale. And his lawyer reacted to the vote early on Tuesday saying that impeachment procedure was just a political maneuver.

And this is happening as Pinera is vastly approaching the end of his mandate. Chileans are set to go to the polls to elect a new president just a week on Sunday, on November 21st.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

BRUNHUBER: Swap up in Ethiopia's state of emergency more than a dozen U.N. staffers are detained. We'll explain how the central government is defending a wave of arrests, coming up.

And later, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris gears up for a meeting with the French leader as part of a fence mending mission. We're live at Paris, just ahead. Stay with us.

[03:25:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

The United Nations says 16 of its staff members are being detained by the Ethiopian government. The U.N. is demanding their immediate release along with access to the Tigray region over global humanitarian aid for millions of people.

Meanwhile, the conflict is moving closer to Addis Ababa. Recent footage appears to show fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Army carrying guns and flags. Now these images are said to be taken in Kemise a town 325 kilometers from the capital. that's about 200 miles. The fighters are threatening to march on Addis Ababa.

In the capital, Ethiopia's human rights commission says the government is arresting hundreds of ethnic Tigrayan under the state of emergency.

Salma Abdelaziz is in London with the details. So, Salma, walk us through what's behind all of these detentions. SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Kim. Let's start with

United Nations because this morning they are appealing to the government of Ethiopia to release those 16 staffers from the United Nations. They worked across multiple agencies. It's understood that also they might have dependents, separate of those 16 staffers that were detained.

It is unknown where they have been taken and the United Nations says they've been given no reason for the arrests. Now one of the concerns here, Kim, is that they may have been arrest -- arrested based on their ethnicity.

Now the United Nations could not confirm that. They said there is no national identity cards. They have not identified the staffer specifically. But what we've heard from the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, and that's a state appointed body, that it appears authorities are arresting people based on ethnicity. And that's why we've seen a wave of arrests of ethnic Tigrayans, according to eyewitnesses that CNN has spoken to on the ground.

According to human rights groups, across the capital since the state of emergency was imposed by the prime minister last week.

Now our Becky Anderson spoke yesterday to the prime minister's spokeswoman and this was her response to these allegations of ethnic- based detentions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLENE SEYOUM, PRESS SECRETARY, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE: The enactment of the state of emergency is not to target any particular person based on the identity they're aligned to. The state of emergency is put in place to protect the Ethiopian people, to protect the residents of Addis Ababa who have been told with very fierce rhetoric coming from the TPLF that we are going to siege or we are going to come into Addis Ababa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Now, this wave of arrests all started last week of course when these rebel factions led by the TPLF announced that they would, if not able to reach a deal with the government at a table through dialogue, would threaten the capital, would march on Addis Ababa.

Now, you mentioned that these rebel forces or at least 200 miles away from the capital, so still very far. This is nothing eminent by any stretch of the imagination, but it does begin of course to escalate the tensions that have plagued that country for a year now.

[03:29:55]

And the fear is, according to the United Nations, is that if dialogue the conversations that diplomats are having right now -- because you have U.N. diplomats, U.S. diplomats, the African Union -- all trying to stave off the violence. All trying to reach an agreement because they say there's a very small window of opportunity here, Kim. Otherwise this country is very much headed towards all out civil war.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Yeah. All right, will keep watching that story. Salma Abdelaziz, thanks so much.

In the coming hours, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will sit down with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Her visit is aimed at revitalizing relations between the two countries less than two months after the U.S. decision to help Australia develop nuclear submarines sunk France's own deal with Australia. And it comes just weeks after President Joe Biden and Macron met on the silence at the G20 Summit.

Let's go straight to the French capital where CNN Paris correspondent, Melissa Bell, standing by with more. So, Melissa, this -- vice presidential foreign trips are often basically just ceremonial, but this one seems as though it might be more substantive. Take us through the aims of this visit?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is very much the continuation of those efforts we've been seeing these last few weeks. The visit of Antony Blinken, for instance. The two phone calls between Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden. They're meeting, of course, in Rome at the G20, and the fact that they got together very quickly after everyone, all those leaders arrived in the Italian capital in order to meet.

This is about smoothing down the very ruffled feathers we saw in France after what's been acknowledge now by President Biden as having been a clumsily organize, or announced at least, deal between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. Going forward, the French simply hadn't been told.

And there remains I think, a great deal of rebuilding of trust to be done. And that is what Kamala Harris is visit is about. She's here for several days. It's quite a long visit. And of course, she will be meeting Emmanuel Macron, that bilateral meeting very important. They'll be talking about the Indo-Pacific region, about the areas in which they can continue to cooperate on global health and fighting the pandemic for instance.

They'll also be visiting the American cemetery, just on the outskirts of Paris here where American soldiers are buried and of course, by Thursday marking the historical ties that bind France to United States. And that is of course, their joint participation in World War I. Fighting as allies as they did.

This is something that is important from the point of view of the French. To remind the Americans about since this when the row had erupted, it was something that had come up. Not only that France had expected that sort of behavior from the Trump administration, which is about as damning an indictment as you can get.

From the French point of view, ruffled feathers already by things that had happened over the course of the Trump administration. But also because it seemed to forget, it seemed to leave aside the fact that France is the United States' oldest ally. Its first friend. And that there has then been all of these excerpt throughout history where they have fought each other side.

Essentially the French position was, the way that the United States announce the deal was simply not what friends did to one another. So yes, Kamala Harris's visit very much about cementing those ties and reminding each other about how important they are. And finding ways that they could continue to work together, despite this diplomatic spat.

BRUNHUBER: All right, you'll be covering this visit throughout the day for us. Melissa Bell in Paris. Thanks so much.

And CNN is marking the first annual call to Earth Day to raise awareness of environmental issues. So when we come back, we'll bring you the story of an entrepreneurs in the farmlands of Northern India, working to clear the air pollution.

Plus, I'll speak with one organization that's planting seeds for a more sustainable future in Morocco. The details ahead. Stay with us.

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[03:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: Over the past 10 days, we've been covering the environmental challenges facing our planet. Now these issues can sometimes feel vast and overwhelming, but we want to put the big focus right now on solutions and conservation education.

Today, on our call to Earth Day, CNN is celebrating the people creating a more sustainable future for those who are driving awareness and inspiring action. Now, most people probably don't think of farms as major sources of air pollution of burning agricultural waste can be a big problem. Now an entrepreneur in India has come up with a way to turn that waste from smoke into fertilizer.

CNN's Vedika Sud reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER (voice over): The sprawling farmlands near India's national capital New Delhi will soon be spewing thick plumes of smoke. Year after year, the toxic haze in parts of Northern India is so dense, it can be seen from outer space.

Agricultural residues, in this case, rice straws, is burned by thousands of farmers to clear the fields for winter crops. Many farmers opt to burn this tavern, which often leads to high levels of pollution in the region. Thirty-year-old Indian (inaudible) is hoping to bring back cleaner air through sustainable energy to Delhi and its neighborhood. Along with his cofounder, they've developed a small scale portable machine in the year 2018 that converts agricultural waste into biofuel.

VIDYUT MOHAN, COFOUNDER: We feed it with agricultural waste, such as coconut shells, or rice straws, or rice husks into the machine. It undergoes a thermal process just like the process of boosting coffee. It's called tory faction. And what that does is it takes out low energy containing molecules in the form of gases and leaves behind a dense, carbon rich material, which is then can be cooled and packaged to be used to make valuable products such as fuel and fertilizer.

SUD: The process of removing moisture from a bio mass to create biofuel is not new. Some observers say the high cost of creating scalable solutions have so far prevented the widespread adoption of tory faction.

But Vidyut is confident his device will be more affordable. A pilot run of the machines latest version is also being tested in a forest area on the Pacific, West Coast. The team along with state forest officials is currently looking into converting wood base residues into marketable products.

MOHAN: As compared to open burning agricultural waste, our (inaudible), prevents up to 90 percent of smoke emissions.

SUD: (Inaudible) farmer says burning of crop residue is making their lands barren, but remains the cheapest option. Mohan's sustainable technology could be a game-changer for the farmer community and provide additional revenue.

KULDEEP SINGH HOODA, FARMER (through translator): This will help us the most. They have told us to give them the crop stubble and they will give us carbonized fertilizers which will reduce our cost as farmers and help our crops, there will be lots of benefits.

SUD: The young Indian efforts have already been recognized by the United Nations Environment Program. He was also recently awarded Prince Williams inaugural Earthshot Price. Mohan's low cost innovation should hit the Indian market within a year. He believes 100 million tons of carbon dioxide can be reduced and remade. A hopeful solution that could break India's toxic smoke chain.

Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:40:02]

BRUNHUBER: Other hopeful solutions could come from the next generation and from a focus on conservation education. CNN's Cyril Vanier is live at the Rainbow School Paris. But first, we go back to Vedika Sud in New Delhi who is visiting the American Embassy School.

So, Vedika, tell me about where you are exactly and who you have there, behind you?

SUD (on camera): Kim, it's good to be with you this afternoon live from the American Embassy School in New Delhi. Right behind me is a huge tree which was planted in the 1960s on campus. And under that tree you can see almost a dozen students with their science teacher from grade seven, Dr. Preshya (ph).

Now what Dr. Preshya is trying to do right behind me is enlightened the students about the proximity and the relationship that human beings in this case -- student should be sharing with nature. So he's actually started and initiated a project today called The Trees Project, which actually brings the students closer to trees. And what they're going to do is now have a relationship with the different species of trees that have been locally planted on campus.

What they're going to do is know more about these species. They're about 50 plus of them on campus and their over 1,500 trees here. And they're going to get to know more about it. They're going to be well informed about it. Like he said, even share secrets with these trees and then go ahead and tell the students about what they learned over this year.

Also, what they're going to be doing is imparting this knowledge through a database, which the school is going to be putting together for the next students of different grades to understand. This is just the middle school that we're talking about.

Earlier today, we also had high school students who are a part of a club, The Eco And The Recycling Club. Who actually getting together to talk about how to recycle paper that is used on campus. How to make sure the sustainability is a huge factor when it comes to being environmentally aware of their surroundings.

It was a pleasure, Kim, to be them. And it is not just the high school and the middle school that were talking about. Children and students as young as three to four years, they were actually inside their classrooms and they were block printing using paint, which believe it or not, they actually organically made through the plants that have been, you know, grown on campus. They used (inaudible), they used spices, and they used leaves to do their block printing.

So out here, the motto at the American Embassy School in New Delhi is to enter to learn and leave to serve. And that's exactly what they're trying to do by being environmentally aware and they won't be leaders tomorrow to make sure that there's a better world right there for them to leave. Back to you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Alright, Vedika, you can't start early enough with that type of education. Thanks so much for that interesting look. Let's go now to Cyril. So, how are the folks you're there with making a difference?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN SHOW HOST (on camera): Good morning, Kim. Look, it is great to be with you today. And I want to introduce you to this little park that we've come to outside Paris. Where what's happening this morning, we have several dozen kids around us. Here, everywhere there scavenger hunts around the park.

And what we're looking at really is children, six to nine years old, embarking on a lifelong journey as eco citizens. Learning the environment around them. Learning to grapple with nature. Let's take a look at what's happening here at this workshop.

Hey, kids. Good morning.

UNKNOWN: Hi.

VANIER: Hi, everybody. So, I see there's a lot of peanut butter in the trays and I'm wondering what your making? Who wants to tell me?

UNKNOWN: Me.

VANIER: Alright, go ahead.

UNKNOWN: Me. We're making food for the birds.

VANIER: Food for the birds.

UNKNOWN: It's a bird feeder.

VANIER: What are you making it with?

UNKNOWN: Butter and birdseed.

VANIER: OK. And what about everything else I see on the table?

UNKNOWN: The part of brushes (inaudible) for later to wipe your hands. And sticks to put in so the birds can sit and then they can sit and eat.

VANIER: Got it. Thank you, kids.

So, look, this workshop they're making bird feeders with recycled materials, paper cups and skewers that the school has been collecting. And the whole idea -- well, I want to explain the whole idea with Dorian. Dorian Cliff, who is the Deputy Head of Rainbow School here in Paris.

He told me something really interesting earlier on. You told me, it's hard for children that age to understand or to grapple with the notion that they too can change the world. And these are the first steps. Tell me about that?

UNKNOWN: Absolutely. We want to give students these little experiences where they can make a difference. Even it is something as small as feeding the bird in their backyard. And those experiences will carry on later on. When they deal with the complexity of the environment, the climate change.

VANIER: Dorian, thank you very much. Thanks to all the kids from Rainbow School. We appreciate your time.

Embarking on their first steps. Their lifelong journey as eco citizens, for six to nine-year-olds. That's what we're looking at here this morning, Kim.

[03:45:07]

BRUNHUBER: Cyril, you can't see me but I have a huge smile on my face. Those kids were just too cute. Cyril Vanier, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Now one nonprofit organization is taking action to further sustainable

development across Morocco. The High Atlas Foundation has planted a million of fruit bearing trees across the country and promotes organic agriculture, women's empowerment, education and health.

Yossef Ben-Meir, is president of the High Atlas Foundation, he joins me now live from the Marrakesh region of Morocco. Thanks so much for being here. So just take me through where are you standing right now?

YOSSEF BEN-MEIR, PRESIDENT, HIGH ATLAS FOUNDATION (on camera): I'm standing 50 meters from the 700 euro burial of a Jewish Saint in Morocco. And the region once a tree nursery. And so what did the Moroccan Jewish community do? They lend the land next to the saint's burial ground for the community to plant their nursery.

So, I'm standing at a nine-year-old tree nursery that generates 40,000 pomegranate, fig, carat trees, every year that's disseminated to farming families throughout the Marrakesh region and beyond. So, it's a multi-cultural interface, tree nursery that is really emblematic of Moroccan life.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Emblematic of what your organization does. So, tell me a bit more about that High Atlas Foundation. It has a fairly unique mission?

BEN-MEIR: Yes. Well, we pursue the projects that communities prioritize. So we're dedicated to clean drinking water. And because 80 percent of rural income comes from the agricultural sector and most of our work is in rural places, it's natural that we're going to work in agricultural projects.

From nurseries, to building cooperatives, to certifying organic. We support communities in the entire agriculture value chain, including monitoring the trees for carbon credit offsets. And so, and by doing that, we're able to generate -- help the communities generate income so that they can invest in clean drinking water and projects beyond agriculture.

BRUNHUBER: And, you know, we -- your organization works -- so it does a lot of interfaith work. And we often hear of that in the context of politics, but how is that relevant to the environmental movement?

BEN-MEIR: Well, Morocco has -- by its fabric, by its national identity, has been dedicated to its multi-cultural self. There is -- the nation is composed of different ethnic groups, different religious groups and in its constitution and way of life, all have their part, equal part and say. And it's -- from Morocco, its normal, it's natural.

But for -- perhaps a lot of people in the world, and places in the world, it's quite special. And so we also at the High Atlas Foundation work with the Moroccan government and U.S. government, with USAID in preserving that incredible diversity and unity and social solidarity.

And to telling of those stories of the past of how Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Moroccans, lived side by side, working together, collaborating, partnering for it, to alleviate rural poverty. And so, it's a Moroccan way, but the young people of Morocco need to remember it and should have an opportunity to share that education. Because Moroccan Jewish people, and Moroccan Christian people, so many have left Morocco.

And so generally, it's the older generation that remember that rich diversity? And so we're dedicated to sharing that past with young Moroccans, so that they can carry forward that solidarity and build that unity going forward in the future. For projects, for development. That diversity past can help build the bridges to plan a sustainable future.

BRUNHUBER: So we're doing this as part of call to Earth Day. So, how are you celebrating the day?

BEN-MEIR: We're celebrating it by women and men, young people, people of all ages, of all faiths, of all backgrounds planting. And it's through that kickoff of planting of tree, also then means food security, combatting erosion, building the cooperatives for the people. It launches all different kinds of value, and income, and sustainability for the people.

So that's how we're doing it and the nation of Morocco needs more than a billion fruit trees. And communities across the land need their nurseries. And so, we're also raising awareness that by communities having their nurseries, they're able to retain values. They don't have to go to private nurseries to purchase trees.

[03:50:17]

They can get them for 10, 20 cents, if they just had their own nursery, rather than two or $3 per tree. They can get it for a fraction of the cost. And so, let the people grow their trees from seeds, into saplings, transplant them to their fields. And let it be people of all backgrounds, in all places, to achieve the future they most want.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, that's a great mission. I appreciate having you on. Yossef Ben-Meir. Thanks so much.

BEN-MEIR: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: And to learn more about the environmental challenges facing our planet, and what's been done to address some of them, you can head to our website, CNN.com/CallToEarth.

And coming next hour, protecting the tallest organisms on earth, ancient giant precious red woods. How young students are helping sow the seeds for a healthier planet. Stay with us for that.

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BRUNHUBER: The political deadlock in Lebanon has left the country's economy desperate for solutions. There's very little that can be exported, but Lebanese farmers say, they are growing something that could make a big difference if the government would let them sell it. CNN's Ben Wedeman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They're bringing in the sheaves in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. Sheaves and sheaves of cannabis or "hashish", as it's called here. The climate in this part of Lebanon is changing. It is getting hotter and it is getting drier. And perhaps this crop, hashish, is the ideal thing to grow in this changing climate. It's drought resistant and doesn't need much in the way of pesticides and fertilizers.

Late October and the days are still warm. The harvest is delayed because the rains came late. Before there was more rain in the spring, says this farmer, who preferred to give his name simply as al-Sara. There's been much less rain in the last three or four years.

Climate change they can handle. The biggest bummer for hashish farmers is politics. George Fahkri heads the Cannabis Growers Union, founded after the Lebanese parliament passed a law last year legalizing the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use.

But the government, bankrupt and perpetually embroiled in the weeds of political paralysis, has failed to translate the new law into reality. Unfortunately, Fahkri says, it's all talk, politics and campaign promises. The arguments in favor of hashish cultivation are cut and dry.

The climate here, the soil here, is the best, Fahkri boasts. People say the best hashish comes from Beqaa Valley. The quality is better than Morocco or Afghanistan, or any other country.

With Lebanon's economy in free fall, this could be a valuable source of hard currency. According to the U.N., Lebanon is the world's fourth largest producer of cannabis.

[03:55:04]

Hashish consumption is a popular if illegal past time in Lebanon. And in a country where war lords have become politicians, where corruption is rampant, growing something that relieves the pain of Lebanon's mounting woes seems a minor sin, insists this farmer, who calls himself Abu Hannah.

Growing hashish, he says, is better than being a thief or a killer, or stealing public funds or spying for foreign countries. Despite climate change, the grass could be so much greener here. Yet so far, politics threaten to send the promise of hashish up in smoke.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A copy of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa sold for over $240,000 at an auction in Paris, Tuesday. The sale of the replica, which dates back to around 1600, slightly exceeded pre-auction estimates. The coffee bears a striking resemblance to the not for sale original. The auction house says that maybe because the artists may have had access to the original and studied it carefully. Da Vinci sold the original Mona Lisa, seen here, to King Francois I, in 1518. The portrait can be found in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Well, if you've ever dreamed of living in a home to one of The Beatles, you may be in luck. The childhood home of the late Beatles guitarist, George Harrison, is set to go up for auction later this month. Harrison lived in a sleek area of Liverpool, home from 1950, when he was six, until 1962. The auction says the home became a regular rehearsal space for the young Beatles then, in a band called The Quarrymen.

The listing says the fully renovated property retain some original features from Harrison's time there, including the original bat, sink and (inaudible) buildings. The three bedroom property is expected to sell for up to $270,000 at the auction on November 30th.

And NASA is delaying its plans to return humans to the moon. The agency says is pushing the mission back to at least 2025. NASA says the delay was caused by litigation with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Space Company over not being chosen to build the lunar lander, as well as a lack of funding and the pandemic. The Artemis Program will consist of a series of launches which includes putting the first woman and first person of color on the moon.

That wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.

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