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Dozens of Children Among 36 Killed at Nursery School; Biden Warns Putin Over Nuclear Saber-Rattling; Ukraine Claims Major Headway on Front Lines; Amnesty International: Security Forces Kill 82 People in Zahedan; N. Korea Fired 6 Ballistic Missiles in Past Two Weeks; White House Weighs Response to OPEC+ Oil Production Cuts; 44 Confirmed Cases of Ebola in Uganda; Cuba's Famous Tobacco Growers Facing a Long Recovery. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 07, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Thanks for your company. I'm Michael, Holmes.

[00:00:22]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM. Massacre at a daycare center. Three dozen people are dead, most of them children following a stabbing and shooting rampage in Thailand.

Warnings of a nuclear Armageddon. The U.S. president's chilling comments about Vladimir Putin's threats.

And the United States takes new action against the Iranian government's crackdown on women's rights protests.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: It is 11 a.m. in Northern Thailand, where a small community and indeed, the whole country, are in mourning after an unthinkable tragedy. At least 36 people killed, most of them children, when a former police officer burst into a nursery school, shooting and stabbing his victims. It is believed to be the deadliest attack of its kind in the country's history.

Local officials say about 30 children from 2 to 5 years old were inside the school when the man burst in and started slashing people with a knife. One teacher describes what she saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Around noon, I saw him enter the gate, and the staff was having lunch. I suddenly heard what sounded like firecrackers. So I looked back, and the staff had laid down on the floor.

Then he pulled a gun from his waist, loaded it, and was about to point the gun at me. So I called to another teacher who was holding a kid, and I didn't expect he would also kill the kids. The teacher was hiding inside the room, but he shot at the door, and

kicked it open, and entered. The teacher was panicked, and trying to shout to others.

He then pulled a knife and stabbed the knife at the kids and teacher's heads. I saw a short gun, not a long gun. I saw it all with my own eyes. I told my friends, he was coming.

It's not right. He brought a gun to school to kill people. The teachers in there, I didn't think he would come and kill them. I thought he would leave. I saw him using a knife, chopping at the bodies of the kids again and again. He also used a knife and stabbed a pregnant woman, who was due to give birth in one month. She died inside that room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Just horrific. The attacker went from the school to his own home, and there, he killed his wife and child before taking his own life. Police say that he had been suspended from duty earlier this year and was in court on drug charges just a short time before the attack.

Relatives are gathering at the site of the massacre to remember their loved ones. Members of the Thai military, in all white, laying a wreath outside the nursery. And family members, dressed in all black, placing white roses on the doorstep.

Joining me now on the phone from Thailand, Polly McPherson, Reuters special correspondent for Southeast Asia. You're there in the place where this happened. I know you've been speaking to the relatives of some of the victims. I can't imagine what they're going through. What -- what did they tell you?

POLLY MCPHERSON, REUTERS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA (via phone): Hi. Yes, that's right. So I'm here. We're relatively gathering. A lot of them are obviously extremely shaken and in tears.

I've been talking to officials about -- about funeral arrangements. And you know, they've been telling us the stories of their children and adults who were killed in the center. You know, ordinary kids who spoke to an aunt, who told me her 2-year-old nephew, her chubby- cheeked little boy, loved dinosaurs and loved coming to daycare and getting the chance to dress up.

So obviously, people are very, very shaken and very shocked about what's happened here.

HOLMES: This is a pretty remote area geographically. Give us a sense of that. The area and obviously, the reaction to such a small community.

MCPHERSON (via phone): Yes, so it's very remote area. It's about 20 kilometers away from the police station where, you know, you reach the local police station. It's a very poor community, one of the poorest areas in Thailand. It's -- you know, it's a small, local community. People would be very

shocked that something like this could -- could happen here. A few people have mentioned that the -- the -- the shooter had been arrested, or had been -- had got in trouble for methamphetamine use in the past.

Many of the relatives were mentioning that as rather a problem here. And that's something that they want to see solved.

[00:05:01]

HOLMES: Given -- you know, one aspect of this. And I know most of the killings were done with a knife. Thailand has a high rate of gun ownership. Millions of guns. But how rare is something like this?

MCPHERSON (via phone): Yes, it's not -- it's not unknown, but it is very rare, there was a mass shooting a couple of years ago which involves members of the security forces.

There was a disgruntled soldier who shot 30 people in a mall. And this -- this massacre is bringing back memories of that one, and it has people asking questions.

Are these instances becoming more common here? And is there more that needs to be done to control gun ownership? The -- the -- we've been told by the police say that the gun involved here was legally -- was legally owned.

But there are a lot -- a lot of unregistered guns here, too. And just a big kind of a black Market in the sale of weapons. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for that.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes, I was actually going to mention. That's separate to this attack, because as you say, apparently legally-owned guns, most of the killings were done with a knife.

But GunPolicy.org says Thailand is -- is more generally seen as the region's principal black Market in weapons. Also, they reported that, as you said, a lot of unregistered weapons have been brought in from neighboring countries.

What is the state of oversight of weaponry flowing in and through the country?

MCPHERSON (via phone): Yes. You know, there's -- Thailand is a country which is bordered by some unstable areas to the South of Thailand. You've got a -- you've got a conflict going on.

You got me a Mark across the border, which is, you know, in turmoil, and a lot of weapons passing through that country.

So Thailand is a place where there's a lot of -- there's a Market. And a lot of experts are calling for more to be done to control the -- the legal supply of weapons.

HOLMES: We appreciate your reporting there on this tragedy, and for taking the time to join us. Poppy McPherson of Reuters, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

MCPHERSON (via phone): Thanks so much for having me.

HOLMES: Russia's military has been on a losing streak in Ukraine, to say the least. And because of that, concerns are growing about what President Putin might do. His back against the wall, obviously.

He recently suggested that using nuclear weapons is not off the table.

Just a few hours ago, U.S. President Joe Biden gave Mr. Putin a stark warning. He says he thinks the Russian leader meant what he said, but he also warned Mr. Putin of consequences, saying there is no such thing "as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon."

Now, a senior U.S. government official tells CNN that the president's comments caught other officials off-guard, saying there was no obvious sign of an escalating threat.

Lieutenant General Mark Hertling is a CNN military analyst and former commanding general of the U.S. Army, Europe, and 7th Army. He joins me now from Florida.

Good to see you, General. President Biden, you know, speaking freely about Vladimir Putin, saying he's not joking when he talks about the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Very frank comments. Is he speaking freely, do you think, or is he sending a message to the Kremlin?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think a little bit of both, Michael. You know, one of the things that the president has been doing ever since the start of this operation is -- he has been concerned about the Russian use of nuclear weapons.

There has been threats to that potential. He has dispatched some of his administration. And I know CIA Director Burns, Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, have all engaged with their counterparts and told them that the repercussions of such use would be dramatic.

And I think -- you know, based on some of the failures we've seen, massive failures by the Russian military. Some of the failures we've seen, massive failures by the Russian military, the -- the really dysfunctional mobilization held in the last couple of days.

And the annexation of some of the oblasts within Ukraine has all caused this to come back to the forefront.

HOLMES: Right.

HERTLING: So I think the president is really sending another signal.

HOLMES: I wanted to -- it's interesting. It's finally because a few days ago, you did a Twitter thread about how, you know, when it comes to the potential for a cornered Putin to contemplate nuclear weapons, that the U.S. does have extensive planning on such things. People might think, you know, well, that caught us off-guard. But

that's not the case. How thorough is that plan?

HERTLING: It's extremely thorough. And I've been involved in - in those kind of wargames, or contingency plans, where various courses of actions are kind of established. What could the enemy do? How would we react? How would he react to our reaction? How would we then act?

[00:10:04]

So I mean, it goes down a multiple layer of action and reaction drills. You also, within those planning sessions, have something called red teaming, which I talked about in that Twitter feed, where you have someone opposing the enemy and saying this is what we might do. How are you going to react to that, United States?

And it's all done within a course of action drill, where you develop not only potential reactions but also what are called in the military, branches and sequels.

OK, if this thing does happen, what will that then happen next? And trying to go down the rabbit hole could address each one of these possibilities.

But when you talk about nuclear weapons, Michael, you know, escalations possibility in any type use. We've been practicing that for decades, going back to the Cold War.

HOLMES: Yes. Decades of planning out anything that could possibly happen.

I wanted to actually ask you this, though, about in your Twitter thread, and I just want to read from part of. You said, "Bottom line: there are all sorts of contingencies of what might happen, and there are no pundits anywhere who could predict with any certainty what Putin will do."

So even with this detailed planning, how much of a wild card is someone like Putin, especially when cornered?

HERTLING: The decision-maker is the wildcard. You you know, you can -- you can address the potential ways to react and to counter any kind of moves by an enemy force.

What you don't always know is what is in the mind of the individual making the decision. And in that case with Putin, you know, his military has practiced the use of nuclear weapons.

As recently as 2013, the last exercise I went through with a Russian counterpart, they ended their exercises, their practice sessions, their training drills, with a nuclear strike. That's how they determined the end of the exercise was over. Everyone went, packed up and went home after this.

So his army is used to using nuclear weapons, at least in training. When you have an individual like a Mr. Putin, who has already made some very bad decisions in this conflict, and who has failed in every strategic objective he has attempted to reach, you don't know what he's going to do next. And you can't counter that until it happens.

HOLMES: Yes, yes. And -- we're almost out of time, but I wanted to ask you this, because you know, I've heard about Ukrainian politicians say not only is Russia not the second best army in the world, it's not even the second best in Ukraine.

Has the U.S. and others been wrong in fearing Russian capabilities all these years? Given what has unfolded in Ukraine?

HERTLING: Well, when you're doing an assessment, and I think the -- the intelligence agencies are getting a bad rap on this, because they have all been saying, hey, if they are this bad as we've seen them over the last seven months, why have we spent so much money? Why have we constructed these forces to go against them?

Well, all you can count on, really, is the type of equipment, the size of the force. You don't really get to see inside of the military to see how they will perform.

And what I suggest, Michael, is the Russian military has deteriorated significantly in the last, Oh, I don't know, I'll put a figure of 6 to 8 years on it. And it's all because of corruption, changes in the guard, changing in their defense ministry. And a lot of grift and just a crookedness and a hypocrisy in the system.

So you really can only count the number of tanks and aircrafts. You don't know how they're going to be used. So it's kind of unfair to say the intelligence community was wrong. And we were preparing for a threat that just wasn't there. You just never know.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes and seeing that army in action has been eye-opening for many people.

Lieutenant general Mark Hertling, always a pleasure. Good to see you.

HERTLING: Thank you, man. Thank you.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

Now the U.N. nuclear watchdog is not indulging Russia's claim on nuclear -- Europe's largest nuclear plant. The agency's director, General Rafael Grossi, met the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday.

Now that meeting came a day after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, declared the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Russian state property. The facility is occupied by Russia but still operated by Ukrainian technicians and very much on Ukrainian soil.

Grossi said he would head to Moscow for further talks on the issue but made clear, his agency still considers the plant a Ukrainian facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAFAEL GROSSI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: We are an international organization. We are guided by international law. And as you know very well, you all know very well, annexations are not accepted under international law, the United Nations charter, and other instruments. So this is a very clear.

But there are practical consequences, and I am giving you that, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, Ukraine claiming continued progress on the battlefield, saying its forces have liberated 120 settlements in the Northeast and South over the past two weeks.

[00:15:05]

That includes, for the first time since the war began, one village in the Luhansk region. Ukraine also claims Russia's mobilization effort keeps on facing problems. It says some conscripts are trying to bribe their way out of service, while others are reportedly faking illness, or even resorting to self-mutilation to avoid the draft.

Now in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the death toll from Russia's missile strike on Thursday has gone to at least seven. Ukraine says five people are still missing, and rescue efforts are still underway.

Fred Pleitgen with more on the fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Dangerous battles for Ukrainian forces as they continue to press counter offensives against the Russian army.

This video, the authenticity of which CNN cannot independently verify, purporting to show an infantry fighting vehicle hit by an anti-tank mine. The soldiers scramble and then return fire.

But Ukrainian military officials say they're making major headway, especially in the South of the country in the Kherson region.

"We do not name the direction," the spokeswoman says, "but more than 400 square kilometers of the Kherson region have already been liberated from the occupier."

While the Russian military has retreated from large areas in both Southern and Eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin still says it plans to achieve all of Russian President Vladimir Putin's military aims.

Russia's defense ministry saying they've already mobilized around 200,000 men, many now undergoing basic training.

But videos released on social media seemed to show major problems with the mobilization. This clip purports to show new recruits having to bed down on yoga mats for lack of beds. The narrator claiming some of the new recruits have been heavily

drinking.

In rare open criticism, a Kremlin-installed official in Southern Ukraine ripping into Putin's defense minister.

"Yes indeed," he says, "many say that being the minister of defense will allow the situation to happen. He simply could, as an officer, shoot himself. But, you know, the word 'officer' is an unfamiliar word for many."

But while Russia's forces may be on the defensive, they can still wreak havoc, hitting the city of Zaporizhzhia with several missiles overnight, leveling residential buildings.

"At first, I didn't understand what was going on," this resident says. "I covered myself with a blanket just in time. Glass splinters from the window hit me. It was as if I was in the middle of a fog."

But the Ukrainians say attacks like the ones in Zaporizhzhia won't stop their forces on the battlefield. Kyiv's troops are racing to take back as much territory as fast as they can.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: New sanctions and a rebuke from rights groups after Iran's crackdown on protesters. We'll have the details on the latest backlash for you.

Also, South Korean fighter jets scramble in response to North Korea's unprecedented level of military provocation. We'll have the latest from the Pentagon, as well, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:20:40]

HOLMES: Now as promised, the U.S. has imposed further sanctions against Iran over its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters. This as Amnesty International accuses security forces of carrying out a massacre in the Southeast of the country a week ago.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is tracking these developments. A warning: her report contains graphic images of bloodshed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As expected, the United States on Thursday announcing that it is sanctioning seven Iranian officials for their role in the crackdown on peaceful protests in the country. That includes the violence against protesters, as well as the Internet shutdown.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): They include the interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, who according to the United States, oversees the country's law enforcement forces.

And these forces, according to the U.S., not only played a part in the attempts to try and suppress these current protests, but they say over the years, they have been used by the Iranian regime against the people. Their actions, they say, have led to the deaths of thousands of people, including dozens of protesters in these current and ongoing protests.

Another official is the minister of communications, who the U.S. Treasury says is responsible for, quote, "the shameful attempt to block Internet access of millions of Iranians in the hopes of slowing down the protests."

This comes on the same day that the -- that Amnesty International is accusing Iranian security forces of killing more than 80 people in one city, Zahedan, in the Southeast of the country, over the past week. More than 60 of them killed in one day, Friday, September the 30th. That has been dubbed Bloody Friday by some Iranians.

Now this city is home to members of the Baloch minority. We spoke to an activist group over the weekend, and they say that these protests erupted after people went out to the police station, protesting the alleged rape of a young girl by a police officer.

They say security forces opened fire on them, and protesters responded by setting the police station on fire.

KARADSHEH: State media, the Iranian government, describing the events that took place in Zahedan as a terrorist attack.

While some now would welcome the news of the United States announcing additional sanctions against Iranian officials, because there have been growing calls for the United States and other Western countries to do more to support those rising up for their freedoms and their rights in Iran.

Human rights groups say this is not enough. They say that the international community must do more to try and create some sort of an international accountability mechanism that ensures that the perpetrators of this violence are held accountable for their crimes.

They say what we are seeing going on right now in Iran, this crackdown, that is the result of years and years of impunity.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: North Korea is widely believed to be on the verge of carrying out another underground nuclear test. That would be its seventh.

At the same time, the North has been test-firing ballistic missiles at a record pace in recent days, one of them even flying over Japan.

It's not clear what North Korea's leader is hoping to achieve, but the U.S., South Korea, and Japan are dramatically ramping up their defense posture, just in case.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. and key allies united in a show of force at sea.

Hours after North Korea test-launched two more ballistic missiles Thursday, the U.S. responded with its own show of force, sending two warships from the USS Reagan carrier strike group to the region, from ballistic missile defenses drills, with South Korea and Japan, after the latest launches.

South Korea says the exercises focused on the detection, tracking, and interception of future North Korean missiles.

According to a CNN count, North Korea has launched ballistic missiles six times in the last two weeks. Most were short-range ballistic missiles. But one launch earlier this week was an intermediate-range missile that flew over Japan. The first time that's happened in five years.

[00:25:07]

Kim Jong-un flying fighters and bombers for an exercise near the South Korean border according to the South Koreans, causing them to scramble their own fighters in response.

BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Clearly, North Korea is testing its missile program. It's looking to adapt. And the issue here, though, is that these actions are provocative. They're dangerous.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): With tensions rising, U.S. officials have called for Kim to engage in diplomacy rather than saber-rattling. But an administration official confirms they've heard only silence from Kim's regime.

The U.S. now pressuring two of North Korea's supporters, Russia and China, without naming them, at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The DPRK has enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council. These two members have gone out of their way to justify the DPRK's repeated provocations and block every attempt to update the sanctions regime.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Since the beginning of this year, North Korea has carried a 24 missile tests so far, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and claimed hypersonic tests. But worse may yet to be ahead.

The U.S. has warned for months now that North Korea is ready to carry out its seven nuclear test, a step officials and analysts say could come at any time.

LIEBERMANN: Secretary of state Antony Blinken warned on Wednesday that, if North Korea continues down this path, this frenetic pace of testing, that all that lies ahead for it is more condemnation and more isolation.

But given the record pace with which North Korea has been carrying out these tests, it seems that's a warning they have no intention of heating.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The United States announces enhanced screenings to travelers from Uganda as the African country's Ebola outbreak worsens. We'll get the latest for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes.

Now, the head of the International Monetary Fund is warning that tightening fiscal policies could push the world into a prolonged recession.

The IMF managing director says the world could lose $4 trillion dollars, about the size of the Germany economy, in economic output between now and 2026. She says multiple crises have driven the world into what she called a period of historic fragility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: We are experiencing a fundamental shift in the world economy from one of relative predictability, to a world with a more fragility; greater uncertainty; higher economic volatility; political confrontations fragility; greater uncertainty; higher economic volatility; geopolitical confrontations; and more frequent and devastating nature disasters. A world in which any country can be thrown off coursed more easily and more often.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The IMF head is urging governments to use targeted and temporary policies to help the most vulnerable citizens without adding to overall inflation.

Now the complicated relationship meanwhile between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia just became a little more challenging after the Saudis and their oil-producing partners announced the decision to pretty drastically cut back oil productions by 2 million barrels a day. Which could lead to higher gasoline prices in the U.S. And elsewhere. CNN's Kaitlan Collins with more on that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not mad, just disappointed.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is a disappointment, and it says that there are problems.

COLLINS (voice-over): President Biden weighing how to respond after the coalition of oil producing nations known as OPEC announced it's slashing protection in an effort to boost prices, catching the White House by surprise.

BIDEN: There's a lot of alternatives. We haven't made up our mind yet.

COLLINS (voice-over): The oil cartel's move could raise gas prices, hurt Democrats in the midterm elections, increase the chances of a global recession, and bolster Russia in its war against Ukraine.

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: It's clear that they are definitely taking the side of Russia here, because this decision benefits Mr. Putin. There's no question about that.

COLLINS (voice-over): OPEC's move undermining the crude diplomacy Biden conducted over the summer when he personally visited Saudi Arabia and fist-bumped the crown prince, over the objections of human rights groups, in an attempt to increase the supply of oil.

BIDEN: I'm doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen. The Saudis share that urgency.

COLLINS (voice-over): Despite how those production increases were only fleeting, Biden says he has no regrets about the trip.

BIDEN: Well, the trip was not essentially for oil. The trip was about the Middle East and about Israel and rationalization of positions.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good afternoon, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did the administration --

JEAN-PIERRE: Sorry for a very long two minutes.

COLLINS (voice-over): The administration now contemplating next steps, including tapping into the strategic reserves again, despite saying 48 hours ago --

JEAN-PIERRE: For very long two minutes. Apologize for that.

COLLINS (voice-over): -- that wasn't on the table.

JEAN-PIERRE: We're not considering new releases, releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, beyond the 180 million.

COLLINS (voice-over): Even before OPEC's decision, gas prices are already on their way up after a recent 99-day streak of decline.

With 32 days to go, before the midterm elections, Republicans are putting gas prices and Biden's energy policies at the forefront.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): He's made us dependent upon Russia, Saudi Arabia, and now Venezuela. He hates American oil field workers so much that he'll never turn to us.

COLLINS (voice-over): Members of Biden's own party are calling for a reevaluation of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeting, "I thought the whole point of selling arms to Gulf states was that when an international crisis came, the Gulf could choose America over Russia and China."

COLLINS: And while other members of Congress are also calling on the United States to reduce its military sales to Saudi Arabia, maybe even withdraw those defenses stems that are there, or the U.S. troops who are in Saudi Arabia.

The White House said today they have no announcements to make at this time, but Brian Deese, who is President Biden's director of the National Economic Council, said they were assessing the situation and consulting closely with Congress.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: More than 40 leaders from Europe and other countries have wrapped up an informal one-day summit in Prague. It was the first meeting of the European political community, with the goal of forging a unified European strategy to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who organized the gathering, met on the sidelines with Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss. The two agreed to meet next year in their own bilateral summit to tackle issues of mutual concern.

Now, the meeting in the Czech capital could signal a fresh start for the long-time allies, whose relationships have been sorely tested in the aftermath of Brexit.

Uganda's Ebola outbreak causing global concern, with the U.S. announcing enhanced screenings for inbound airline passengers traveling from that country.

Forty-four cases have been confirmed in Uganda, including ten healthcare workers.

CNN's Larry Madowo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even the dead are a risk. Every departure, a potential new case as Ebola continues to spread through Uganda. LT. COL. DR. KYOBE HENRY BBOSA, INCIDENT MANAGER, UGANDAN HEALTH

MINISTRY: The epidemic appears to have started around the beginning of September when people started dying in a small village in the sub-town (ph) or Kordo Madudo (ph).

MADOWO (voice-over): The outbreak only declared much later on September 20th, after a diagnosis in the central Ugandan district of Mubende.

Two weeks later, it spread significantly. Yet, experts fear there may be dozens of underreported cases.

BBOSA: This is a rapidly evolving picture. Very complex.

MADOWO (voice-over): Uganda is no stranger to Ebola. The last outbreak in the country in 2019, and only ended a year later as the world was waking up to COVID-19. Experience with the disease, partly why the government has been downplaying it.

YOWERI MUSEVENI, UGANDAN PRESIDENT: I want to reassure Ugandans, and all residents that the government has got the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to control this outbreak, as we have done before.

MADOWO (voice-over): Uganda has decided against closing public spaces, but it says the same infrastructure and practices used to curb the spread of COVID-19 will be used to keep Ebola in check.

BBOSA: We think that using what we've done before, we should be able to appropriately respond to this current outbreak.

MADOWO (voice-over): And while the variant responsible for this particular outbreak, the Sudan virus, does not currently have a vaccine, trials could start in 4 to 6 weeks.

DR. SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, WHO CHIEF SCIENTIST: There are about six candidates, vaccine candidates, available for the Sudan Ebola virus which are mostly in the very early stages of development. But three of them have some human data, some human efficacy (ph) and safety data. And so they can actually proceed to be used in the field.

MADOWO (voice-over): The idea is to vaccinate health workers and contacts of known positive cases to slow down the spread, a so-called rain (ph) vaccination, similar to what was done in the DRC in 2019.

Among the vaccine candidates to be trialed is a jab developed by Oxford University, using the same technology employed in the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with AstraZeneca.

Fresh hope against a deadly disease that has ravaged African nations for decades.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Accra, Ghana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Cities across Cuba are facing power outages more than a week after Hurricane Ian slammed into the island. The country's famous tobacco-growing region also facing a long road to recovery. We'll have that for you and more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: SpaceX's latest mission for the U.S. space agency, NASA, has reached its destination.

The SpaceX crew, Dragon capsule, docked safely with the International Space Station Thursday, part of a five-month science mission. On board, a diverse four-member crew, including the first Native American woman sent to orbit, a Japanese astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut.

[00:40:08]

In a little over four hours from now, the winner of the year -- this year's Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo, Norway.

The Nobel committee is notoriously secretive and has a strong record of choosing relative unknowns.

But experts have zeroed in on these people as strong possibilities. This year's announcement also comes amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, of course. And many have championed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to receive it, though some experts think that is unlikely.

We will know one way or another when the announcement comes down at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. That's 5 p.m. in Hong Kong, 10 a.m. in London.

It will be a long road to recovery for Cuba's vital tobacco-growing region after Hurricane Ian laid waste to much of the Western part of the island. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has our report.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The further West you go from Havana, the worse the damage gets.

Hurricane Ian plowed into Pinar del Rio Province as a Category 3 storm. Days later, people carried their rain-soaked mattresses to dry in the sun.

Pieces of someone's roof still hangs from a tree.

Some residents have that far-away look, unable to believe their eyes.

This is what tobacco grower Hiroshi Robaina's farm looked like the last time we visited him.

After Ian, Hiroshi Robaina's farm is unrecognizable.

"Here, we've lost everything," he says. "All the infrastructure to produce tobacco has been destroyed. There's no house to dry the tobacco, or the warehouse. Nothing, there's nothing left."

Hurricanes are part of life in Cuba, but residents here say Ian developed so quickly, they did not have time to prepare.

OPPMANN: Hiroshi was telling me that his grandfather, Alejandro, one of the most famous tobacco growers in Cuban history, built this tobacco curing house in 1944. It survived every hurricane up until now.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Ian knocked out Cuba's already-weakened electrical grid, the first time a storm has taken down power for the entire island.

Frustrated by the blackouts, protests have broken out. Iliana (ph) tells me she's gone for six days without power and wants solutions, not explanations from officials.

OPPMANN: After days and days without power, the situation in this neighborhood has now boiled over. People have come out to the street to protest, yelling, "Libertad," "freedom."

Counter protesters have now come in, and they're yelling, "Viva Fidel," long live Fidel Castro.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Cuba's president has called the protests illegitimate and said that officials are working around the clock to restore power.

Getting the lights back on in hard-hit Pinar del Rio could take weeks or months, officials say. This is the region where much of the tobacco that is rolled into Cuba's famed cigars is grown.

Hiroshi says usually he would be planning now for the upcoming harvest. Plans wrecked by Ian.

"I don't think there's going to be a harvest," he says. "It's unfortunate, but it's going to take months to clean this up and months to rebuild."

As a fifth-generation tobacco grower, Hiroshi says he has no choice but to start from scratch. But many here who have been knocked down by the storm may never get back up.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Pinar del Rio Province, Cuba.

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HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. I appreciate your company this hour. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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