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U.S. And China Agree To Strengthen Climate Cooperation; Fossil Fuel Producing Nations Stall COP26 Agreement; U.S. Preparing New Sanctions Against Belarus; Amnesty International: TPLF Fighters Allegedly Gang Raped Women; WHO: New Cases Up Seven Percent And New Deaths Up 10 Percent In Europe. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 11, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:29]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Coming up this hour, trying to keep 1.5 alive. At the summit, considered the last best hope to avoid a climate catastrophe, they're now haggling over what was once a done deal.

The U.S. and E.U. preparing new sanctions accusing Belarus of waging a hybrid war by sending thousands of migrants illegally into Europe.

And a sign of the times in India, an ancient religious festival celebrated by bathing and cleansing in what is now a toxic river polluted with untreated sewage and industrial waste.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: And so now, it has come down to this, the one overriding goal for the COP26 Climate Summit was to reach agreement on how to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But all the commitments made in Glasgow have come up way short. And right now, the planet is on track for an increase somewhere between 2.4 and 2.7 degrees.

And there are deep divisions emerging over the final wording of the declaration which right now acknowledges the role fossil fuels play in the climate crisis and the need to phase out subsidies for the oil, gas and coal industries.

The head of Greenpeace International says the draft is more of a polite exercise asking countries who they mind crossing their fingers and hoping for the best.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to the Glasgow Summit Wednesday in the hopes of sealing a deal. He urged delegates to keep 1.5 alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have to bridge the gap between where we are and where we need to be if we're going to cut emissions in half by 2030.

And we need to pull out all the stops if we're going to do what we came here to do, and that's keep 1.5 alive and make Paris the success that the world needs it to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meantime, the U.S. and China appear to have put their many disputes to one side and announced a surprise deal working together to address the climate crisis. Details are few which vaguely worded, that's light on specifics, lacks any commitment from China or major international agreements.

Still, U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry says he's pleased.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SPECIAL CLIMATE ENVOY: The United States and China have no shortage of differences but on climate. On climate, cooperation is the only way to get this job done. This is not a discretionary thing, frankly. This is science. It's math and physics that dictate the road that we have to travel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This pledge comes ahead of a virtual meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents.

Earlier, Xi Jinping address to Summit of Asia-Pacific leaders via video link with a story about how his upbringing helped shaped his views on the environment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): It had come to me that harms done to nature will eventually harm ourselves. China's carbon reduction action is a profound economic and social transformation.

However, formidable the task may be, we will work tirelessly to make our contribution to promoting global green transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Live now to Beijing and CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang.

You know, when it comes to politicians who seem to talk a lot, but don't actually say anything, Chinese, they're up there with the best of them.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, John. But you know, this Joint Declaration is attracting so much attention not just because it did come from the world's top two polluters, but also because the current state of the rest of the bio -- of their bilateral relationship which has been basically in the deep freeze.

Now, as you heard John Kerry saying there, they have long treated this as a top priority for the current White House. And they had long asked the Chinese leadership to carve out a special lane for cooperation despite tensions elsewhere.

But you know, the Beijing leadership had long rejected that approach saying you simply cannot expect our help or cooperation while in their words you are attacking us or harming our core interests. So, why the sudden have changed that virtual summit between Xi Jinping and the Joe Biden now slated for next week. That is the key here. Timing is everything.

Obviously, both sides want to provide some momentum going into that and also create this more positive atmosphere for the two leaders' first virtual meeting since Mr. Biden took office.

[00:05:00]

JIANG: We've seen signs in recent days, for example, by Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Adviser just told CNN a few days ago that the U.S. is now seeking to see a fundamental transformation of the Chinese system.

And Xi Jinping himself, of course, has also been saying, including to the audience you mentioned in the U.S. that China is very much wanting to engage with Washington to enhance cooperation and exchanges across the board.

So, all of this is really paving the way for a smoother start of that summit.

But still, you know, structural contradictions between these two powers very much remaining place or even deepening on issues ranging from Taiwan to human rights.

So, that is really the question here, even with this Joint Declaration, which is a positive sign, very symbolic for the climate cause, whether or not this relationship has hit the bottom.

But I think maybe the takeaway from both sides right now is given the stakes here, the sin -- the two of -- two of the world's most powerful nations simply cannot afford to have a direct conflicts, that they better not freeze out each other. So as to avoid any risk of miscalculation, John.

VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang, we appreciate that.

Jeffrey Sachs is the director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and author of The Price of Civilization. Welcome back, it's good to see you.

JEFFREY SACHS, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Great to be with you. Thank you.

VAUSE: OK, so the big surprise on Wednesday was this joint announcement from Beijing and Washington to work together on climate change, here's China's chief climate negotiator.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XIE ZHENHUA, CHINA'S SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE (through translator): Climate is a common challenge faced by humanity and will impact the well-being of future generations. It's becoming increasingly urgent and severe, turning a future challenge into a crisis happening now.

In the area of climate change, there is more agreement between China and the U.S. than divergence, making it an area with huge potential for cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That's all good, couldn't agree with it more but actually, read, the U.S. China Joint Glasgow Declaration on enhancing climate action in the 2020s outlines lofty goals, shared interests, ambitions, desires, hopes and dreams.

Not one bit of real substance, or no detail, it's vague on pretty much everything. While at the same time, China remains firm on refusing to revise its short-term goals on reducing carbon emissions, kind of feels like we're being punked.

SACHS: Well, I was pretty happy to see it, actually, because the U.S. has been yelling a lot at China. I don't think that that has been too conducive to a good joint approach. So, I was happy to see a joint statement by the two countries.

They do need to work together, at least they said they are going to work together. I think it did provide some measure of relief in a week that has a lot of frustration also.

VAUSE: Yes, I guess in many ways, it kind of reflects the summit overall, because in the next few days, we'll see this debate over the final declaration. And according to CNN's reporting a draft copy states, the world should be aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and acknowledges the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis, a first for the annual Conference of the Parties on climate, the COP group.

If that language stays and that still is up for negotiations, it will be considered a win. Is it a pretty low bar for what passes for good news these days?

SACHS: Yes, it is. All of this should be taken for granted. We should be well beyond these declarations and working assiduously to actually end the carbon energy system into decarbonize by mid-century. We are way off track. There have been some useful pronouncements, it's not all negative what's happening.

But Greta actually, certainly, has made a point with her statement that there's a lot of blah, blah, blah.

VAUSE: There's a lot of blah, blah, blah and the problem with blah, blah, blah, is that it spin or creates a perception that something significant is being done. Does that potentially sort of undermine the pressure which has been coming from the public on these politicians to get some real action, to get some real change? If you think, well, they all say it's great, then I'm going to back off.

SACHS: I think people see what's happening, which is that vested interests are fighting back the big oil, big coal is fighting back almost everywhere in the world, including in the United States. This is why President Biden only had a very muted presence at COP26 because back home, he can't get the vote.

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia who owns a coal company for heaven's sake oversees in the Senate the whole energy system.

So, there's so much conflict of interest, I would say it's a pretty overt corruption.

VAUSE: And the U.K. Prime Minister called out nations who sign up in public, and then walk away in private, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:10:05]

JOHNSON: It's very frustrating to see countries that have spent six years conspicuously patting themselves on the back for signing that promissory note in Paris, quietly edging towards default, now that vulnerable nations and future generations are demanding payment here now in Glasgow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And sort of related to that is sort of what happened on day two of the summit, Indonesia signing up to stop deforestation by 2030, significant commitment.

Two days later, the Environment Minister tweets: Forcing Indonesia to reach zero deforestation in 2030 is clearly inappropriate and unfair.

No one forced them to sign it. But it doesn't matter, because it's unlikely they'll stick to this deal in the first place.

Why did these deals not come with some kind of enforcement mechanism, but they did for the Montreal Protocol back in 1987 on the Ozone?

SACHS: When it came to Ozone, we needed to change from those chemicals, the chlorofluorocarbons that were destroying the Ozone level. And they didn't just say stop using them, they said stop producing them.

And in the case of carbon energy systems, we haven't even said to the carbon producers, United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, stop producing them. We've said, stop using them. And so, we don't have the two sides in a balanced way. The producers,

the users, we don't have the rich countries helping the poor countries. There's a tremendous shortfall of operational cooperation.

And yet, the consequence isn't just stalemate, the consequence is a planet that continues to warm dangerously, that's the real problem. Stalemate doesn't mean an action, stalemate means continued dangerous warming.

VAUSE: Jeffrey, thank you so much for being with us. And hopefully, we'll have some good news at the end of all of this.

SACHS: Let's hope that we'll find some, definitely we need it.

VAUSE: Absolutely. Thank you, Sir.

SACHS: Thank you.

VAUSE: The E.U. and the U.S. are preparing new sanctions on Belarus over the migrant crisis it created on the border with Poland. Thousands of people have been camping out with few supplies and little shelter as temperatures fall below freezing. They're mostly from countries in the Middle East brought to this no man's land -- on Europe's doorstep.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed directly to Russia's Vladimir Putin to exert his influence if nothing else, to end the suffering of thousands of people.

Putin responded by sending two nuclear capable bombers flying over Belarus.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the very latest now reporting in from Berlin.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Poland now says it has around 15,000 troops and border agents at its border with Belarus as the situation there remains extremely tense and thousands of migrants still remain camped out there.

Of course, the temperatures there now freezing a consistently below zero during the night. And also, the conditions there, very dire with very little in the way of facilities.

Of course, a lot of trouble also getting food and water and especially medicine to the people there who are very much in need.

Now, the Polish government says what is happening at that border is a brutal attack on its border and the Polish Prime Minister said in a press conference with the head of the European Council, that Poland doesn't consider this to be a migrant crisis but considers this to be a political crisis.

Poland of course, accuses Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of luring people especially from Middle Eastern states to Belarus, and then giving them false promises that they could cross the border into the European Union which the polls obviously say is not true. The polls say that no one will be allowed to pass.

The European Union also places the blame squarely on Alexandra Lukashenko. The E.U. says it wants tougher sanctions on Lukashenko. The E.U. is also talking about possibly taking action against airlines that fly people to Belarus.

And the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She was at the White House, and afterwards she said that she believes there needs to be a unified response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: This is not a bilateral issue of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus. This is a challenge to the whole of the European Union. And this is not a migration crisis. This is the attempt of an authoritarian regime to try to destabilize its democratic neighbors. This will not succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, of course, Alexander Lukashenko and the Belarusian government deny all of this and in fact, the Belarusian government has said that once a unified position, together with the biggest backer of the Lukashenko regime that of course, being Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And the Russians also said today, they're very concerned about what is going on there on the border between Belarus and Poland. And also, the Russians flew strategic nuclear-capable bombers into Belarusian airspace. Of course, the Russian saying this has nothing to do with that current situation.

[00:15:06]

PLEITGEN: Nevertheless, of course, it is another escalation in what is really becoming a very dangerous situation there on NATO's eastern flank. Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Elisabeth Braw is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a columnist for the prestigious Foreign Policy.

Elizabeth, thank you for being with us.

ELISABETH BRAW, SENIOR FELLOW, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Well, the Polish Prime Minister is now calling for greater international efforts to stop the flow of migrants to Belarus, and then on to the E.U. And he says this is one way of dealing with this immediate crisis. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI, POLISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We must talk about the effect of blocking of flights from the countries of the Middle East to Belarus, because we know that this is only an instrument of political blackmail. And we need to start diplomatic actions from the European Union, from Brussels, in the capitals of the countries of the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Even if that does work, because it's hybrid warfare tactics here, that means Lukashenko or anyone else who's like him, can then just devise other ways to destabilize the West, it's limited to imagination. (INAUDIBLE) a much bigger strategy that many governments should be considering right now.

BRAW: Yes, so the problem with aggression like this is that that's the target, the country can really do nothing to stop it, right? You can't say, OK, if you weaponize migrants, we are going to weaponize migrants and attack you because that's not what democratic countries do.

And if we stop some airlines, if we put sanctions on some airlines from -- to prevent them from flying migrants from the Middle East, or whichever country it is to Belarus, then Lukashenko can just turn to other airlines and other countries.

So, we're always chasing solution while he keeps innovating.

VAUSE: And he say that countries governments need to start educating the populations about exactly what's happening and be prepared for this.

BRAW: They really need to. So, for 30 years, at least 30 years has been this notion that we are living in global peace, or somewhat -- something resembling global peace apart from things like Iraq -- in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that we the wider population don't really need to worry about anything, because the armed forces will take care of whatever national security threat comes up.

But it's not like that as (INAUDIBLE) are experiencing, as the Lithuanians experience and as Latvians are experiencing, and even the Germans where several thousand of those migrants have now made their way after crossing into Poland.

VAUSE: Here on the NATO's website, it claims the alliance has developed a strategy on its role in countering hybrid warfare to help address these threats. What is notable just before that paragraph, though, is one which says, responding to these thress -- threats rather, risks for the most part with the targeted nations. So, if there is a strategy here, what is it?

BRAW: Well, it's not obvious, that's a short answer. So, NATO keeps sending us a strategy but the tools that NATO has are the armed forces of its member states. And what you need to do in a situation like this has nothing -- very little to do with armed forces and that is a problem. So, we have -- the West has a fantastic military alliance. But a

military alliance can do very little when the tool of aggression is not -- is not military aggression. So, that's where we are.

And so, what national governments can do is to essentially try to keep a closer eye on the borders to seal that borders. And that requires a lot of money and effort. And that's where we are at the moment and Poland is building a barrier. Lithuania is building a barrier. But I think we also need to educate the public about how vulnerable our societies are.

VAUSE: We have Belarus claiming to be the victim here, especially with talk of more sanctions from the E.U. I want you to listen to their foreign minister, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR MAKEI, BELARUSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Political blackmail at the Belarusian state continues. The fifth package of restrictions is on its way. It has already been ruined (PH) in the place. The reason for them this time was the migration crisis provoked by the European Union itself and its member countries bordering on Belarus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And this comes up after some adamant denials on Tuesday that in fact Belarus was weaponizing migrants as part of this hybrid warfare.

Yet, back in May, after the President Lukashenko was heavily sanctioned for illegally forcing down a commercial jet arresting that opposition journalist who is on board, he went on to warn, this is back in May. We stopped drugs and migrants, now you will eat them and catch them yourselves.

Kind of hard to play the victim and deny you're not doing anything wrong when you told the world you'll be doing this and it happened, you know, six months earlier.

BRAW: Oh, absolutely. But he doesn't care about his reputation. So, he doesn't care that he sounds ridiculous. In fact, that is part of his strategy because he can play the madman. And how do you counter madman because a madman can do crazy things.

And so, now, we have a situation -- we have a situation where he can do even crazier things and where other rulers -- authoritarian rulers can say, well, Lukashenko seems to be quite successful with his scheme, just like Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un have been successful with their schemes over the years. I'm going to try that too.

[00:20:15]

VAUSE: Yes, Elisabeth, thank you for that. It's a really interesting article in Foreign Policy. Appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

BRAW: Thank you. VAUSE: New disturbing allegations of extreme violence in Ethiopia. Coming up, Amnesty International's report, accusing fighters from the Tigray region of gang rape and other abuses.

Also ahead, how the Europeans are trying to control what is right now the world's worst outbreak COVID-19.

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VAUSE: For the past years, sexual violence has been a despicable hallmark of the conflict between the Ethiopian government and rebel fighters from the northern Tigray region. And a new report from Amnesty International has found this happened as recently as the past -- this past August, Tigray rebels gang raping women and committing other human rights abuses.

Details now from CNN Salma Abdelaziz.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Disturbing new reports emerging from Ethiopia where violence continues to escalate, Amnesty International accusing the TPLF, the Tigray People's Liberation Front of mass sexual violence. The Amnesty speaking to 16 people in this report that say they were gang raped, and physically assaulted by TPLF forces in mid-August in the region of Amhara.

Now, CNN has not independently spoken to these victims. We cannot verify their accounts independently. But we did reach out to a TPLF spokesperson for their response to these allegations and here's what they told us.

We take these allegations very seriously. We believe the allegations which are being attributed to our forces are basically groundless because our forces do not indulge in the very practices of our enemy forces.

The TPLF went on to say that they are willing to take part in an independent investigation. But this is consistent with what we heard from the United Nations last week, which is that all parties to the conflict in Ethiopia could be responsible for war crimes and human rights violations.

We also heard more from the United Nations, 70 truck drivers contracted by the U.N. and other various agencies have been detained by The Ethiopian central government. Of course, the United Nations appealing for their release. This comes after 16 U.N. staffers and their dependents were also detained by authorities.

Now, the United Nations has been given no reason they say as to why all of these staffers and drivers were arrested. But we've also been hearing from human rights groups about a wave of ethnically driven, ethnically based detentions across the Capitol and across other regions as well.

And the concern is, is that as ethnic violence continues to escalate, inter communal violence continues to escalate the window for finding a solution is closing.

Diplomats right now are scrambling to try to reach an agreement to bring down the violence, bring down the temperature across Ethiopia. The United Nations saying there's a small window of opportunity here, otherwise, the country could be headed towards all out Civil War.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:24]

VAUSE: Well, there are progress -- there's progress and there are also setbacks in the global battle against COVID.

First, the good, the World Health Organization says the number of deaths worldwide down four percent from last week, and all the green and light yellow indicate where cases are falling or holding steady.

But Europe remains mostly orange and red, which is not good. New infections up seven percent compared to last week, the death toll increased 10 percent during the same stretch.

We have more details now from CNN's Scott McLean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A new report from the WHO shows that, while COVID in most parts of the world is stable or declining, it is a much different picture in Europe, as case counts in many European countries continue to rise.

Germany saw record high case counts this week and France has seen the number of daily new cases roughly double over the past four weeks.

French president Emmanuel Macron announced that indoor mask mandates and the controversial health pass system will not be abandoned anytime soon.

The pass, which shows proof of vaccination or a recent negative test is required to get into cafes, restaurants and public transit.

Next month, people over 65 will also need to show that they've also had a third booster shot in order to keep that health pass valid.

Since Macron's speech, almost 150,000 people have made an appointment for the booster shot.

Now, in absolute terms, France's infection rate is relatively low, because vaccination rates are so so high; 87 percent of French people, 12 and over have been fully vaccinated.

That is not though the case in many Eastern European countries, like Ukraine and Romania, where vaccination rates lag behind Western Europe and daily death tolls are hitting record highs. Meanwhile, the German vaccine committee is recommending that people under 30 are only vaccinated with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine because of concerns over a very rare but mild heart inflammation with the Moderna vaccine.

France has issued similar guidance based on a study that shows that the risk for young people under 30 is five times lower with the Pfizer vaccine.

Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The teenager charged with killing two people during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last August took to the Stanford day of emotional and high stakes testimony.

Kyle Rittenhouse testified for most of the day Wednesday, saying he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot a man who'd thrown a plastic bag at him. But he also admitted he knew Joseph Rosenbaum was unarmed. Rittenhouse broke down in tears during his testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE RITTENHOUSE, DEFENDANT: I was cornered from -- in front of me with Mr. Ziminski. And there were -- there was people right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Rittenhouse testified he brought an AR-15 style rifle into a volatile situation in Kenosha to protect himself. He acknowledged using deadly force in shooting for people. His testimony came a day after the prosecution rested.

Well, still to come, from a distance it kind of looks like snow but what you're actually looking at is toxic foam covering a sacred river in India. The details of that health hazard and what its posing, that's up next.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:31:18]

Well, this time of year, it's an ancient Hindu ritual of cleansing and bathing. But these days, for many in India, it takes place in one of the country's most sacred and also most polluted rivers.

Despite all of the health risks -- and there are many -- Hindus have been wading and polluting -- in these polluted waters, rather, of the Yamuna Rivera.

CNN's Vedika Sud is close by to the river -- Not too close, I hope -- with more on this. And you can see all that toxic foam on top. It doesn't look great, Vedika.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it doesn't look great at all, John. I would say it's a great morning here, but it really isn't. Very quickly, you can see the haze behind me. It's gray here, because the air quality index is very poor in many parts of New Delhi and the adjoining states.

Currently, I'm standing right in front of the Yamuna River, which is considered to be one of the most sacred rivers in India.

What you see, John, is foam. This is toxic foam that has covered many parts of the Yamuna River right behind me, and this flows through Delhi and two adjoining states, as well, along with others.

Now, this is the problem. This happens every year, John. There's nothing new about it. It happens year after year, and it is more evident in the winter season. That's when the air quality index is also in the severe to very severe category, in many places in the national capital region.

Now, according to the final report by the monitoring committee of the Yamuna River, this is caused by sewage, industrial waste, and also because there's a lack of fresh water in this river, Yamuna.

Now, in the last two days, and actually until about three hours ago, this morning, here near New Delhi, which is the national capital of India, we had hundreds of devotees that were thronging the banks of this river, because they are participating in a Hindu celebration. And as part of that ritual, some of them were also taking a dip in this toxic water right behind me.

According to medical experts, this water could be hazardous, because of the toxic levels in it. It could lead to skin problems.

But a lot of people take these rituals very seriously, and despite these, you know, toxic foams that you see, which has got a huge and heavy cover over the Yamuna River, they actually took a dip in the water.

Now, according to the central government, they have commissioned 24 projects to make sure that they reduce the levels of pollution in the Yamuna River. Until now, John, only about five have been completed.

You also have the Delhi Water Board, that's deployed workers to clean this foam. They're using water sprinklers. They're also using ropes. But very little is being done. It's been more reactive than proactive to this problem that has existed over the years, John.

VAUSE: Vedika Sud there on the Yamuna River. We appreciate the live update, the live report. Thank you, Vedika.

Well, two Australian states, Queensland and New South Wales, are bracing for heavy rain and potential flooding from a storm system moving east. It's already swept through central Australia, where police rescued a man in Alice Springs. He was forced to cling to a tree for more than six hours after his car was swept away. The town recorded its heaviest 24-hour rainfall in more than 20 years.

To get more now on this, CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us. You know, when you get that much rain in Alice Springs, this is not your normal, I guess what, coming into summer period.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, as you noted, too, John, this system is moving to the east here. So areas just to the east going to see significant rounds of rainfall. And we've already seen quite a bit of it here in the last three days.

That's what's concerning. The soil is already saturated, so it certainly cannot take that rainfall in a 24-hour span. And that's concerning.

And you'll notice that convection, the thunderstorm activity across this region, in fact, data showing upwards of 1.3 million lightning strikes in a 24-hour span across the continent. So it kind of speaks to the severity, the intensity of these storms here that have dotted the landscape brought with that incredible amount of rainfall.

[00:35:05]

But what are we looking at here moving forward? Well, look at what has played out here just in the past 24 hours. Samuel Hill, across areas of Queensland, just north of Brisbane there, 340 millimeters. That is about one-third of the annual rainfall coming down in just 24 hours.

Bundaberg, about 70 millimeters. And work your way a little farther towards the north. Some of these observations not too far from where you're from, John, in Townsville, picking up some impressive weather here in the last couple of days.

But, how about Alice Springs? Three hundred millimeters. Around that number is what we expect in a given year. That 100 millimeters, again, is one-third of its annual rainfall. Wettest observation since February of 2000. Speaks again to the rarity of seeing this amount of rainfall.

That system is on the move. Our friends across Queensland, New South Wales, portions of Victoria, not only could see heavy rainfall out of this, but an incredible amount of snowfall. How about upwards of 50 centimeters?

Now, keep in mind, we're transitioning out of spring into summer in the coming weeks and months, but 50 centimeters among the most snow you'll see here in the month of November. Last time we had anywhere close to this amount was back in 2018.

And again, this energy does eventually end up around portions of New Zealand, as well. So, a multi-day event shaping up across this region, John.

VAUSE: I also lived in Bundaberg, by the way, a city of about 10,000 people. It was a big day when we got --

(CROSSTALK)

JAVAHERI: I'll add that to my notes.

VAUSE: Thank you.

JAVAHERI: I always try to keep track of your -- your location.

VAUSE: You're a good man, Pedram. Thank you.

Well, coming up here, climate change has shattered millions of lives in a drought-stricken region of Kenya. Local communities they are the ones paying the price for a crisis of someone else's making.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you angry about it?

ZENA MOHAMMED, KILIFI DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT: Of course, we are very angry about it, because we're not the cause of all this mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one, zero. Ignition. And lift off!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A four-member crew now on its way to the International Space Station after blasting off Wednesday night on board a SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Docking with the space station scheduled for Thursday evening.

After that, the three U.S. and one European astronaut will spend six months carrying out experiments.

This is the fourth time NASA has used a SpaceX, a private company, to send astronauts to the space station.

Some areas of Kenya are experiencing severe drought for the second straight season. The rain shortage is ravaging the livelihoods of local communities and causing food insecurity for millions of people. And they're angry.

CNN's Larry Madowo explains why.

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MADOWO (voice-over): Who lives the cow by the roadside, where it dropped dead? Only someone helpless, watching her livelihood crumble.

Kenya has declared this year's drought a national disaster, but here in Kilifi County, it is a personal tragedy for people like Janet Monje.

(on camera): Every time one of her cows drops, they can't raise it again. Because they've got no energy. There's no grass. And so this is what's left of her herd.

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(voice-over): The land has dried up, and the future looks uncertain, shaky.

VASISTA MONJE, RESIDENT (through translator): I can't find grass, and I have to buy water for them. That's the big burden I have.

MADOWO: Dead livestock litter the landscape here. They're dying faster than their owners can dispose of them, so they leave them to rot. Thousands of livestock are dead here from poor pasture conditions and water stress.

Dama Ngala tells me she's worried sick about her dying herd.

(on camera): This will be the eighth cow in two weeks that they've had to slaughter. And -- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MADOWO: And she's afraid these two will go, as well. So that will be the ninth and the 10th.

DAMA NGALA, RESIDENT (through translator): My family depends on these cows. Even the economy of this area is built around them. God, show us the way, because I don't know what I'll do.

MADOWO: This once prosperous agricultural community has become a dusty, barren wasteland. The region has suffered two consecutive poor rain seasons, and has seen more frequent droughts over the past decade.

KELLY BANDA, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: Why are we -- Should we go through this? There are people out there who are the biggest polluters who are making us go through -- undergo through this kind of stress.

MADOWO: Kelly Banda is a lawyer who says the impact of climate change on his area turned him into a climate activist, helping his community cope with the new reality.

(on camera): What's at stake here?

BANDA: The situation is going to worsen, and I feel like my people are going to vanish. The whole situation is going to worsen. People are going to die. More people are going to die.

MADOWO: Food and water have become scarce for the people of Kilifi, and the animals. A perfect storm for a community dependent on the land and their livestock.

The government distributes food aid to those most in need, but they say it's irregular and insufficient.

(on camera): The water got all the way here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MADOWO: A village elder shows me one of the many dams that have dried for months, leaving the people, animals and land thirsty.

Some have turned to producing charcoal to support their families, a major strain on the already depleted environment. This heap will sell for about $4, hardly enough to feed one family for a day, let alone three.

(on camera): It's rare to see older women -- they're all older than 60 -- doing this charcoal business. It's usually younger men, but the drought having hit this has, and many men having left the village, this is the only way they have a way to raise their families and to make a little cash.

(voice-over): A stone's throw away, Kilifi's (ph) coastline is jammed by the Indian Ocean. But even this marine ecosystem is under threat from rising sea levels and destruction of the mangroves by those who live around them.

A local official also blames it on the world's worst polluters.

(on camera): Because you live here, and you have to deal with the flooding and the hunger, and the rising sea levels, and the debts that this leads to, are you angry about it?

MOHAMMED: Of course. We are very angry about it, because we're not the course of all this mess. There are people in other countries who caused all this. Yes? And they've been -- they continue doing so without fear, without any commitment to reduce their emissions.

MADOWO (voice-over): That evening, the community prays for blessings from above to come down; maybe a little rain to save their crops and their animals.

Africa contributes less than 5 percent of the greenhouse gases responsible for changes to the climate, but is the continent most vulnerable to its consequences.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Kilifi.

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VAUSE: Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. We'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT is up after a short break.

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