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U.K. Prime Minister: We're Better Protected Than Last Christmas; Biden: Unvaccinated Face Winter of Severe Illness, Death; Powerful Typhoon Slams Philippines with Torrential Rain; Gang Releases Remaining U.S., Canadian Missionaries; Turkey Cuts Interest Rate Again Despite Soaring Prices; New South Wales Hits Another Daily COVID Case Record; France Bans U.K. Tourists Over Omicron Concerns; Kim Jong-un Marks a Decade of Rule in North Korea. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired December 17, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN, it's beginning to look a lot like last Christmas, with the highly contagious Omicron variant turbocharging the global pandemic, adding to the misery of a Delta variant surge of new infections.

[00:00:41]

Almost 24 hours since making landfall, Rai continues to batter the Philippines with powerful winds and heavy rain.

And free at last, but at what cost? Officials confirm a ransom was paid for the safe release of the last of the Christian missionaries, kidnapped two months ago in Haiti.

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

VAUSE: Thanks for joining us. It seems in just a matter of days, the threat from the Omicron variant has escalated, as fast as it can spread. Around the world, governments and health officials issuing grim warnings of a tidal wave of COVID patients in the coming weeks, adding to infections from the Delta variant, which have already been surging.

And as Omicron threads across the U.K., health officials report record numbers of new daily cases. And they warn that will likely continue day after day for weeks to come.

France has announced a ban on non-essential travel to and from the U.K., effective midnight Friday.

And British travelers with a compelling reason to visit France are required to spend 14 hours in isolation on arrival.

Queen Elizabeth has once again canceled the traditional pre-Christmas lunch with extended family.

English Premier League postponed Thursday's match between Leicester and the Spurs, as well as five others which are scheduled for the weekend. And across the Atlantic on Broadway, lights have dimmed for a number of big productions, including "Hamilton" and "Moulin Rouge" as cast and crew test positive for the virus.

While the number of Omicron infections in Britain is believed to be doubling every two days, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says there will be no national lockdown and, unlike last year, there are no plans, at least for now, to cancel Christmas.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): COVID cases have once again reached record levels in the U.K. With nearly 90,000 positive tests recorded on Thursday. Despite the worrying surge, Boris Johnson said Christmas is still on, for now.

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is very different from last year. Because what we have is the additional protection of the vaccines and the ability to test.

ABDELAZIZ: His chief medical officer sounded more cautious during a parliamentary committee on Thursday and urged people to limit their socializing.

CHRIS WHITTY, ENGLAND'S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I think people should prioritize what really matters to them and then cut down on the things that don't.

ABDELAZIZ: More concerning, for every one person infected, on average, they will infect three to five others, a health expert said.

DR. SUSAN HOPKINS, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER, U.K. HEALTH SECURITY AGENCY: With the doubling time of every two days, the R value for Omicron is estimated to be much higher. Very broad-brush estimates of between three and five at the moment.

ABDELAZIZ: In Scotland, residents were asked to stay home as much as possible and warned that vaccines were not enough.

NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: We are in a situation right now that, no matter how fast we go with vaccines, this variant of the virus is, at the moment, running faster.

ABDELAZIZ: As a precaution over the rising cases, Queen Elizabeth canceled a pre-Christmas family lunch, a Buckingham Palace source told CNN. The source said it was felt the lunch would put too many people's Christmas arrangements at risk if it went ahead.

And across Europe, leaders are watching the U.K.'s battle with Omicron very closely.

France announced tourism from Britain would be limited. And those arriving from the country would need a compelling reason for entry. Vaccination has also been ramped up, with Italy now vaccinating

children between 5 and 11. And Germany expanding its booster campaign to avoid its healthcare system being overwhelmed.

Across the region, governments preparing for a tidal wave of Omicron during the holiday season.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Dr. Larry Brilliant is with us now. He's been on the medical front lines for more than four decades. Notably, part of the WHO's smallpox and polio eradication teams.

Dr. Brilliant, good to see you.

DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, FOUNDER AND CEO, PANDEFENSE ADVISORY: Nice to see you, John. Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: It's a pleasure. Now, the U.S. already dealing with a COVID surge driven by Delta. In the coming weeks, Omicron is expected to make what is a bad situation a whole lot worse. I want you to listen to the U.S. president, Joe Biden. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:05:00]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for unvaccinated. For themselves, their families and the hospitals they'll soon overwhelm. But there's good news. If you're vaccinated, you have your booster shot, you're protected from severe illness and death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But here's the rub to that last part of the statement. Almost 40 percent of the U.S. population is not fully vaccinated. Less than 30 percent of those fully vaccinated have actually received a booster.

So if boosters are the main defensive line here against Omicron, that means in this country, more than 270 million people, in the words of the U.S. president, are facing a winter of severe illness and death. This feels like the early days of pandemic all over again.

BRILLIANT: Yes, I think that's right, I think that dividing it, the U.S. or any country into three categories. Those who have never had the disease and have never had a vaccine. Those who have had three doses. And in between, various shades of two doses, and the disease. One dose, had the disease; two doses, didn't have the disease.

The group in the middle, which would have been adequately protected against Delta, is now susceptible to Omicron. I think Omicron kind of looks at everybody that hasn't had three doses, as if to say, Well, you're part of my market. You're my customer. I will infect you. You're only a little speed bump in my way.

But if you get three doses, there's almost a qualitative difference. You go from 40 percent protected to 95 percent. So lesson No. 1, get your third dose, if it's available to you. If it's possible at all.

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. government and many other governments around the world, for that matter, define fully vaccinated as two Pfizer or Moderna shots, one J&J. Should that now be revised to two shots plus a booster?

BRILLIANT: Yes, of course it should. I mean, it's just a matter of time.

It's a matter, also, of language and the way in which the FDA looks upon the approvals. But there's no question, from an epidemiological point of view. Fully vaccinated is three choices. And it may, in due course, be four doses

VAUSE: There's also been a sort of throwback, if you like, to the early days of the pandemic, in terms of really stupid statements made by people in very senior positions. Like CEOs of airlines. In particular, Gary Kelly of Southwest, and Doug Parker of American. Here they are before Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY KELLY, CEO, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: Yes, I think the case is very strong that masks don't add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment. It's very safe and very high quality, compared to any other indoor setting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Parker.

DOUG PARKER, CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINES: I concur. The aircraft is the safest place you can be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: What is this magical air filtration device of which they speak? I mean, this was gob smacking to hear, not just with Omicron there, but with the travel season upon us for the holidays. It was unbelievable.

BRILLIANT: Yes. It's -- it's one thing to be safer than any other place, and that's different than being safe.

So they are using MERV 13, MERV 14 filters. New rapid air exchange systems, so they can exchange all the air in the cabin very quickly.

I do think that modern airplanes, of which not every plane that you fly is, have really good air conditioning and air exchange systems. That's a very different thing than saying, you're safe, if you're inside of a tin can for 12 hours with 300 people who may or may not be carrying the virus.

You should be masked up when you're on an airplane, and please don't pay attention to the self-serving comments you just heard.

VAUSE: Yes. Absolutely, good advice to finish on. Dr. Larry Brilliant, thank you very much.

BRILLIANT: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Developing story now from Japan. Twenty-seven people are believed to have died in a fire in a commercial building in the city of Osaka. While the cause of the blaze is still unknown, there are reports it may have been deliberately lit.

The investigation focusing on the fourth floor. Images from the scene clearly show smoke billowing from the windows on that floor.

The strong winds, torrential rains and flooding from Typhoon Rai continue to cause widespread damage and chaos across the Philippines. In parts, phone lines are down, and power is out, hampering ongoing rescue efforts.

Still the Coast Guard was able to save a one-month- old baby, using a plastic tub in chest-deep water to float the baby to safety.

More than 330,000 people are in government shelters, many leaving their homes ahead of Rai making landfall on Thursday. While, the storm has now weakened a little since then, officials warn flooding and landslides remain a real threat.

Meteorologist Derek van Dam tracking the system. He joins us now from the CNN Weather Center. What do you got? Where is it?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, indeed, what we're seeing here is the first images coming out of the Mindanao area, where it made landfall as an equivalent Category 5 hurricane.

[00:10:05]

Of course, it was a super typhoon when it made landfall 260 kilometer- per-hour winds. And some of the images that we're seeing are just absolute desperation by the individuals there, who have been impacted by this monster of a storm.

Incredible to see what it's done over the past 24 hours. And prior to landfall, as well. That rapid intensification my colleague Pedram was caught talking about last night.

Now it's contacted with several of the islands across this archipelago, and it's now about to make another landfall across the Palawan province. The capital city there, Port-au-Prince City. This is a population of roughly 300,000 people currently.

And according to PAGASA, the Philippines meteorological agency, under a Storm Signal 3. That means within the coming hours, they will experience winds in excess of 120 kilometers per hour.

Seek shelter if you're in a strong building. Evacuate the low-lying areas that are susceptible to storm surge. And of course, the extremely heavy rain.

Our forecast winds paints a very dark picture. The forecast computer model showing winds forecast showing winds in excess of 110 kilometers per hour, for that particular capital city, before reentry in the open ocean waters of the South China Sea, with the potential for this storm to re-intensify.

I'll show you where it's going in just one moment. But there's the storm surge forecast; two to three meters for some of those low-lying areas.

Rainfall across this region, the Palawan province could exceed 250 millimeters of landslides. Localized flash flooding still a threat.

Into the South China Sea we go. Over the next 24 hours, you can see the joint typhoon. Weather Center (ph) has this typhoon strengthening again, and then starting to skirt the outer provinces, or the outer periphery of Vietnam by this weekend. And it has a potential to bring heavy rain and strong rains to the coastline there -- John.

VAUSE: It's a big one, and I guess it's going to be a few days yet before they're out of the woods. Thank you, Derek. Derek van Dam there with the very latest.

Stay with this story a little longer. Let's go to CNN's Vedika Sud in New Delhi, who's monitoring the situation from there. So where's it worked out. What's the situation on the ground?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we don't know the extent of devastation yet. Like you mentioned, it's going to take a couple of hours or days before we know the extent of damage, especially to the eastern coast of the Philippines and the central business area.

Now, what we do know is that communication lines are down, and they could be down for the while. The officials have had a press conference from the disaster management teams. And they have said our focus is entirely on rescuing people, evacuating them.

Till now, over 330,000 people have been evacuated. Till late last night, it was about 200,000. So you have obviously troubling (ph) figures and increasing figures of evacuated people. They've been evacuated throughout the night into the early morning.

Strongest images coming out of Philippines. The first is the one that you mentioned of an infant who was held up in a basket to get the child out of a very high levels of flood water.

The second is from inside a house where a couple are being rescued. The water's chest high, and the idea was to put them in a box along with the little belongings that they had packed in plastic bags to pull them out of the area.

Like I said the focus for the next couple of hours will just be to deal with rescue and evacuating people. What we're hearing from officials in the Philippines is that this typhoon will exit the Philippines area of responsibility only by Saturday. We don't know about the casualty numbers yet. Evacuations carry on,

and that, like I said, is going to continue in the coming hours, John.

VAUSE: Vedika, we appreciate the update. Thank you. Vedika Sud there, live.

Now Richard Gordon is the chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross. He's also an elected senator in the Philippines Parliament. He joins me now from manila.

Thank you very much, Senator, for being us. Right now, do you have any kind of early damage assessment, or is that just not possible until weather starts to weaken a little more?

RICHARD GORDON, CHAIRMAN/CEO, PHILIPPINE RED CROSS: There is extensive damages, John, particular in the coastal areas. A lot of houses, especially the, you know, lesser strenuously built homes, are destroyed or partially damaged. Even in the key ship (ph) places like Shabu, buildings have been affected. Business has been affected.

You know, a lot of people go around and there's an explosion of debris, from fallen trees and falling buildings. There were two casualties in the area. Two dead from fallen trees. And from a fallen wall.

In the meantime, all the areas that have been beside the ocean are certainly affected severely. Even the Red Cross buildings, their roofs are torn off in a couple of places.

And certainly, right now the focus is to try and get some areas which are still flooded, people on rooftops in the whole (ph). And they need food, and we're rushing food there. At least to try and -- the floodwaters are still about five feet deep, or chest high, in some places.

[00:15:06]

And in another part of another province, rivers are swollen. Last night, there was a lot of flooding from then to now. And now it's in the Versailles area, across the ocean from the Mindanao and the Versailles.

So there's an awful lot of suffering, a lot of vulnerability that is ongoing right now.

VAUSE: Do you have an idea right now of how your rescue teams actually are actually accessing these -- I guess, are you reaching everybody that is in need? And if not, when do you think you'll reach that goal?

GORDON: Well right now, we're organizing a caravan from Mindanao for the Mindanao area. And from the islands, they'll have to take ferries. Unfortunately, the seas are still heavy. And we're going to access food from supermarkets or malls that are available.

The airports are still not operational. Maybe some will be operational by this evening. Commercial flights are still not allowed. Private aircraft is allowed, but only with special permission.

So we are preempted by infrastructure that has been affected. Spotty communication also affects us. So we're sending satellite phones in Mindanao and in the coastal areas of the Versailles, because communications are down for the most part.

And therefore, how do we access? Well, we're using 6-by-6 trucks to get to flooded areas so that we can at least rescue. And at the same time, provide food and medicine.

In the evacuation centers, where we have about 750 evacuation centers and about maybe 36,000 families, we're looking at preventing additional fresh air from sickness, like fever, cough, pneumonia and, of course, we're also worried about COVID.

So by and large, we are hemmed in by nature, and by other threat of disease. And certainly, we're trying to get our goods across, and we will do that. We're now staying here (ph) to this. But that the airport will be there. The government is doing its best.

But certainly, the Red Cross is just a voluntary organization. We are no strangers to this. We're pretty good at it. But so, looking down the stretch to we have recovery by way of homes, and by way of recovery of crop damage.

VAUSE: Dick Gordon, you're the man in charge. You've got it all under control, it sounds. You've got a busy few days ahead of you. We wish you all the very, very best and also, our best to the people of the Philippines as they deal with this disaster. Thank you, sir.

GORDON: Thank you, John. Thank you.

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, a happy ending in Haiti for Christian missionaries kidnapped by a criminal gang back in October.

Also ahead, Turkey's lira in freefall as the president pursues an economic policy he insists will fight inflation, but it's only making a bad situation a whole lot worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:20:07]

VAUSE: The last of 17 missionaries kidnapped by a criminal gang in Haiti in October has now been released. A ransom was paid, but not by the U.S. government, according to a U.S. official.

A Haitian source says the amount was far lower than the $1 million per hostage which the gang had demanded. That source adds medical checks showed the missionaries lost weight during their ordeal.

Matt Rivers picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A moment two months in the making, with the news that all 17 missionaries, including 16 Americans and one Canadian, kidnapped by armed gang members in Haiti, are now free.

It started back on October 16, as the group was returning to their home base from visiting an orphanage east of Port-au-Prince. Among the missionaries representing Christian Aid Ministries, five children, including an infant, a 3-year-old, a 6-year-old, and two teenagers. The bus they were in got stopped by armed men as they drove through the suburb of Croix des Bouquets.

(on camera): Several miles down that road there is where our source from the Haitian security forces says this kidnapping was carried out. And in a more normal situation, we would drive several miles down that road and go see exactly where this took place.

But following the advice of both our Haitian producer and our security team, we are not going to any further than this, because they say it's not safe. Down that road is the suburb of Croix des Bouquets, which is essentially completely controlled by the 400 Mawozo gang, a gang that authorities say carried out this kidnapping.

(voice-over): As the group was being kidnapped, this WhatsApp message obtained by CNN was reportedly sent by one of the missionaries. "Please pray for us. We're been harassed/kidnapped currently. They have control of our vehicle with about 15 Americans right now. Ladies, men, and children."

A few days later, the game that took them, seen here in an older video, said they would kill the missionaries if they didn't get paid ransom. As Christian Aid Ministries quietly opened negotiations with the gang, we got some insight into what conditions might be like for those kidnapped.

We spoke to a French priest, who'd been kidnapped by that same gang in Haiti earlier this year who told us about one of the places the gang held him.

He says, "It was like a dark hole, like a prison cell the last place we were in, with no windows. At the beginning, they were giving us food once a day, but by the end, they stopped feeding us. They forced us to go hungry," he said, "believing it was a negotiation tactic."

But the first sign of hope, two missionaries, both adults, freed by the gang on November 21. Then came three more, freed exactly two weeks later. And the remaining 12 would soon follow.

Meanwhile, Haiti's kidnapping crisis goes on unabated. An overmatched federal government is unable to quell the gangs behind the crimes.

With total kidnappings this year nearing 1,000, according to a Port- au-Prince NGO tracking that data. Nearly 100 in November alone. The vast majority of victims are Haitians, not foreigners.

Thankfully, the ordeal for 17 foreign missionaries is over. But for many Haitians, the nightmare continues.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: As inflation takes hold in many economies around the world, global financial markets have been waiting for months to see which central bank would be the first to raise interest rates.

Thursday, we had a surprise winner. The Bank of England hiking the base lending rate to .25 percent. Officials admit it's all weak tea and will not be enough to slow the U.K.'s 5 percent inflation, the highest it's been in a decade.

A day earlier, the U.S. Federal Reserve outlooked three interest rate increases for next year to try to cool down inflationary pressures.

Now the European -- the European Central Bank was chosen not to -- has chosen not to raise interest rates for now. But says it plans to scale back its stimulus program, beginning in March.

Initially enacted to offset the economic fallout of the pandemic, the same stimulus programs are now helping to fuel skyrocketing prices. Complicating everyone's math is the uncertainty over the Omicron variant, which many fear has the potential to derail a fragile global recovery.

And then, there's Turkey. Inflation is at 20 percent. But instead of raising interest rates, which is Economics 101, Turkey's central bank on Thursday issued its fourth rate cut in as many months.

Turkey's president insists the policy will help the economy. But as CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports, it's doing the exact opposite.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As expected by many, the Turkish Central Bank on Thursday lowered interest rates yet again. And we saw the markets reacting to this, with the Turkish lira hitting yet another record low.

This has been the story of the Turkish lira for weeks, for months right now. It has lost about half of its value so far this year, more than 13 percent of that in November alone.

[00:25:03]

Experts, economists blame this on the Turkish president's unorthodox monetary policies. When countries are facing inflation, what they try to do to cut that inflation is increase interest rates.

Not Turkey. The Turkish president has long been a staunch opponent of interest rates that he argues causes inflation. He says it isn't evil that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. And he has made clear that the path forward for his country, according to President Erdogan, is to continue these rate cuts, these interest rate cuts that he says will stimulate growth; they will create jobs; they will increase production, exports; bring in more tourism and investment. Something that a lot of experts and economists have questions. The Turkish -- question.

The Turkish president is promising results in the next few months, telling people that they will see the results of this economic plan of his in about six months' time.

It has been an incredibly difficult time for ordinary Turks, who are facing inflation that has hit more than 21 percent. What that really means is that people, a lot of Turks, feel that they are getting poorer by the day.

They are waking up to find their incomes, their salaries, their life's savings losing value, sometimes on a daily basis as the price of pretty much everything has been increasing, sometimes on a daily basis.

People say that they are struggling to make ends meet, and that they can no longer afford a lot of the basics.

To that effect, we heard the Turkish president also on Thursday saying that Turkey will be increasing the minimum wage by about 50 percent. But to put that into context, that is still less in U.S. dollars than what it was worth at the beginning of this year.

This could provide some relief in the short term, but the question is, for how long? As experts are warning that there really is no end in sight, with this current economic policy, to rising inflation.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, COVID down under. The Australian state of New South Wales sees another day of record high new infections. A live report on all the details, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

More than 2,000 new COVID infections were reported Thursday across the Australian state of New South Wales, another daily record. For more, let's go to CNN's Steven Jiang in Beijing.

[00:30:03]

So Steven, I guess you know, I guess, you know, the concern here is how much of this is Delta, how much of this is Omicron? Do we know what the breakdown in?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know Omicron is in the mix. We don't have the breakdown.

But this is an increasingly alarming trend, of course, as you allude to. This is the second day in a row they have broken their own record in terms of new case numbers. And if you look into the detail, it looks pretty grim, as well. One

death reported on Friday. Two hundred fifteen people in hospital, including 24 in intensive care.

And all of this, of course, is happening in a time when the authorities have just eased a lot of their COVID restrictions, lifting mask mandates and compulsory health QR code checks in many public places.

So now of course, with the highly transmissible Omicron in the mix, you are also looking at this possibility of this variant could be resistant to vaccines. Because New South Wales does have a very high vaccination rate, of 93 percent for people aged 16 and above.

So this is really why authorities there are issuing very dire warnings, in terms of their modeling showing daily case numbers could reach 25,000 per day by January.

But of course, as of now, the officials there are trying not to reinstate strict lockdowns, or other travel restrictions. But this is something they may have to revisit very soon.

And one thing worth noting, John, of course, is a lot of this -- a lot of those new case members are driven by large gatherings. Those super- spreader events. High school graduation gatherings. Nightclub parties, including one in Sydney, a Taylor Swift themed dance party.

And you probably know -- and your daughter must know -- one of her most favorite songs is "I knew you were trouble." I think that's something people wanted to say to Omicron -- John.

VAUSE: Yes. And then some. Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang there, live for us in Beijing.

Well, as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the U.K., France is growing increasingly concerned, and now taking action to try and get ahead of the spread.

CNN's Cyril Vanier has details from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: It's a remake of a movie that we saw last year. France sees a new variant surge in the U.K. and tries to buy time by limiting travel to and from the U.K. to essential purposes only. A death in the family, a legal obligation, a medical emergency, et cetera.

The French citing the British government's own fears of an impending tidal wave of infections to explain their decision.

The goal is to slow down the spread of Omicron while the French get their booster shots in droves. Every day roughly 1 percent of the entire French population receives a booster. And therefore, renewed protection against the virus. But once again we find ourselves in this race, the vaccine versus the

virus. The European CDC saying Omicron will be the dominant strain in Europe next month.

For now, however, the persistent Delta variant is just as worrying, if not more. And multiple countries are taking stricter measures as they see cases rise.

It's back to home schooling in Denmark. The sale of alcohol is banned in restaurants and bars in Norway. And Italy is imposing a quarantine on unvaccinated European travelers.

In France, a new Coronavirus Defense Council has been brought forward to Friday morning. That could pretend new measures here, as well.

Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In Australia, five children have died in a rare but not uncommon accident. Wind lifted their inflatable bouncy castle at a school event.

People have been laying flowers at a makeshift memorial. Four other children are in hospital with serious injuries.

Parents say the children fell from a height of around 10 meters after wind gusts lifted the bouncy castle off the ground.

This happened at an event celebrating the end of the Tasmanian school year. An investigation is underway. Police have asked people to avoid the area for now.

Ten years ago, he took the reins in North Korea after the death of his father. Quickly launched purges against some of the top people in government, including his own family.

So what's changed? A haircut, lost some weight. A decade of Kim Jong- un. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:24]

VAUSE: Well, a network of privately run spying for hire firms is snooping on influential people around the world. Or so says Facebook's parent company, Meta, and the University of Toronto.

It's not done directly by any government. Instead, Meta and the U. of T. researchers say seven surveillance for hire groups, from China to Israel, use spyware and fake social media accounts to keep an eye on politicians, journalists, dissidents, in more than 100 countries.

Meta says they took down hundreds of fake Facebook and Instagram accounts, notified by 50,000 people who were the target. Ten years ago today, a dictator died, and another rose to power. In

North Korea, they gathered Thursday to honor the dear leader, Kim Jong-Il, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 17 years.

When he died, he handed the family business over to his son Kim Jong- un. Since then, North Korea has launched more rockets than ever before. Kim has made history himself, meeting with the leaders of China and the U.S.

But despite the many changes, much remains the same for the people of North Korea. Paula Hancocks looks back now at the decade of the brilliant comrade, Kim Jong-un.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: October 2010, Kim Jong-un was introduced to the world as North Korea's heir apparent. A warning to expect another dynastic success of the Kim family.

The following year in December, Kim Jong-Il died, and his son took control.

JOSEPH YUN, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH KOREA: I was in State Department when we heard Kim Jong-Il had died. His father had died. And we thought goodness, is this it? Essentially, a 25-year-old is taking over, a 26-year-old taking over? And you saw him kind of looking bewildered, as he walked by the hearse.

HANCOCKS: Speculation of instability for an opening up by a leader briefly educated in the west, soon died down once purges began, as Kim consolidated power.

YUN: We saw him, you know, essentially, having his uncle, who was almost like a regent, being executed. Some are rarely executed. And then of course a few years later, his older half-brother being killed, assassinated in an airport in Kuala Lumpur.

HANCOCKS: Kim Jong-un oversaw more nuclear and missile tests than his father and grandfather combined over the past 10 years. Intense development and launches making North Korea far more than just a regional threat.

ANKIT PANDA, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Many of the developments that we saw North Korea complete during Kim Jong-un's tenure so far were initiated by his father and his grandfather.

So there is a story here that involves all three Kims, but certainly Kim Jong-un will be remembered in North Korea for crossing the most important threshold, which includes bringing the United States into range with ICBMs.

HANCOCKS: Intercontinental ballistic missiles, a new version paraded just last year.

In January of this year, at the 8th Party Congress, Kim Jong-un announced his weapons agenda. Hypersonic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles among them, testing this year, reported to be from that very wish list.

PANDA: If I were North Korea, I would focus on doing one thing or two things, or three things and doing those well. But what we see in North Korea is really more than 10, around 15 potential nuclear delivery systems in development. It's really remarkable.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Little Rocket Man.

PANDA: Tense exchanges between Kim and then-U.S. President Donald Trump brought the peninsula closer to military confrontation than it had been in years. Both sides blinked, and more than a year of unprecedented diplomacy ensued. Kim achieving what his predecessors could not: meeting a sitting U.S. president.

YUN: He appeared quite confident, talking with Trump, one on one, as a leader to leader. And also, you saw him doing things that you don't normally expect a communist dictator to do, which is he was walking around at the marina area, kind of waving at people and taking selfies.

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HANCOCKS: Three meetings with former President Trump, five with China's leader, Xi Jinping, and three with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kim Jong-un is well-established on the international stage.

DUYEON KIM, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: I think he's really tried hard, and pretty much has succeeded, in trying to be perceived as this normal leader of a normal country. And, you know, really putting his stamp, his mark on old policies.

HANCOCKS: His pledge to revive the economy, however, remains elusive. International sanctions and closed borders, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have crippled the country, already considered one of the world's poorest.

The U.N. said this year around 40 percent of the nation suffered food insecurity before the pandemic, and that has only increased. Adverse weather and bad harvests pushed Kim Jong-un to admit this year, quote, "The people's food situation is now getting tense."

CHEONG SEONG-CHANG, SENIOR FELLOW, SEJONG INSTITUTE (through translator): The biggest difficulty North Korea is facing now is that even North Korea doesn't know how long this isolated situation will last.

HANCOCKS: Kim Jong-un's health has kept experts and intelligence agencies guessing. South Korea's national intelligence service told lawmakers Kim has lost more some 20 kilos, 44 pounds, but appears healthy.

Photos over the span of recent months show a significant change. Assumed health scares earlier in the rain sparked fevered speculation of who might succeed him. That has not calmed down.

YUN: I see him beyond 10 years -- 20, 30, 40 years. And assuming his health holds up.

HANCOCKS: Ten years into his rule, Seoul's spy agency says they believe Kim is beginning his own brand of self-idolization, removing the photos of his predecessors from a key meeting, and starting a new concept called Kim Jong-un-ism.

KIM: Our people first, our nation first, self-reliance, really trying to differentiate himself from his father and grandfathers.

HANCOCKS: A metaphorical coming of age. His predecessors introduced their own "isms" at a certain point. A sign Kim Jong-un is just starting to stamp his style on the country he inherited.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break. Hope to see you again at the top of the hour.

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