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Dozens Of Children Among 36 Killed At Nursery School; Biden Warns Putin Over Nuclear Saber-Rattling; Ukraine's Progress Raises Doubts About Russia's Military; North Korea Believed To Be On Verge Of 7th Nuclear Test; Amnesty Intl.: Security Forces Kill 82 People In Zahedan; Human Rights Watch: Iran Used "Excessive And Lethal Force". Human Rights Watch: Iran Used "Excessive and Lethal Force"; Warning of a Recession; Biden Takes First Steps Toward Decriminalizing Marijuana; This Year's Nobel Peace Prize Winner to be Announced in Coming Hours; 18 Dead after Two Migrant Boats Sink Off Greece; Uganda's Ebola Outbreak; Residents Recount Riding Out the Hurricane in Naples, Florida. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 07, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:30]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, massacre at a daycare center. Three dozen people dead, most of them children following a stabbing and shooting rampage in Thailand. Warnings of 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: And we begin this hour with new details on the horrific massacre at daycare center in Thailand. At least 36 people killed including two dozen children when a former policeman armed with a knife and several guns forced his way inside. A local hospital says the youngest victim was just three years old. The oldest was 69.
Police say most of the children died from stab wounds. While the motive is not entirely clear, authorities say the attacker had been suspended from the police force earlier this year for drug possession and was in court Thursday on drug charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE GENERAL DAMRONGSAK KITTIPRAPAS, THAILAND NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF (through translation): After inspecting the crime scene, we found that the perpetrator tried to break in and he mainly used the knife to commit the crime by killing a number of small children while a few survived. Then he got out and started killing anyone he met along the way with a gun or the knife until he got home. We surrounded the house and found that he committed suicide in his home. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Relatives gathering at the site of the massacre to remember their loved ones. Members of the Thai military in all white laid a wreath outside the nursery. And family members dressed in all black, placed white roses on the doorstep.
More now from CNN Selina Wang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A daycare center teacher describes the moment to a former police officer stormed the nursery, pulls a gun from his waist and aims it at her face. More than 20 children killed during their lunchtime nap. A massacre inside a nursery in a small and peaceful town around 540 kilometers northeast of Bangkok.
I didn't expect he would also kill the kids, she says, describing how he repeatedly used a knife to kill the children and a pregnant teacher who she says died inside the room. By a roadside, the body of a woman allegedly run down by the shooter as he drove away in his car. Officials identifying him as 34-year-old Panya Kamrab, a former police officer who had been fired and was in court earlier Thursday on a drug charge just hours before the shooting.
Police said he went to the child care center looking for his two-year- old stepson, discovering the boy was not there. The man began shooting and stabbing people at the nursery, later driving home to kill his wife and stepson before taking his own life.
Ambulances and medical workers rushed to the nursery. Family members of the victims were weeping outside the building. Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wrote in a statement, "I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families and the injured. I've instructed the National Police Chief to quickly enforce the law and all concerned parties to give help and rehabilitate those who are affected urgently."
The Prime Minister has ordered an urgent investigation into what is now the country's deadliest ever massacre carried out by a lone perpetrator. The country left in shock and horror.
Selina Wang, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And CNN's Blake Essig is following developments live this hour from Tokyo. Blake, this is a pretty remote place. How's the community dealing with the horrors that played out?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Michael, understandably, there's a sense of shock, sadness and really profound disbelief after this peaceful quiet province in northeastern Thailand is now believed to be the scene of Thailand's deadliest massacre ever carried out by a single person. [01:05:02]
Earlier today, as you mentioned earlier, mourners dressed in black lined up to lay white roses at the nursery where 23 out of the 24 kids inside at the time of the attack, at least one of them as young as three years old, were attacked and killed by this attacker. A heartbreaking number of victims that one teacher who survived the massacre says could have actually been a lot worse and that's because on a normal day, she says there are about 70 to 80 kids at this nursery but because of heavy rains along with the fact that many kids stayed home with older siblings who had a break from school, likely ended up saving a lot of lives.
While authorities and local residents still are trying to piece together exactly what happened here, Thailand's Criminal Investigation Bureau says that the attacker was a 34-year-old man, armed with multiple guns and a knife who entered the nursery while these kids were asleep. And one of the school's teachers said she was eating lunch with a co-worker when the attack started.
She said that she had heard what sounded like fireworks and describe the moment the attacker shot and kicked down the door before entering the nursery. Take a listen here to what she saw next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): He spent quite a long time in the center. I saw him using the knife smacking on the dead bodies of the kids again and again. He also use the knife to smack on a pregnant woman teacher who's due to give birth in one month. She died inside that room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG: Now following the attack, police say the suspect fled the nursery trying to kill really anyone he came into contact with along the way, using his guns, knife and even trying to strike by standards with his car in the process. Investigators immediately launched a manhunt for the suspect to return home before killing his wife and two-year-old son as well as taking his own life.
Now in the end, Michael, at least 36 people are dead including 24 children. While some of these people that were involved in yesterday's massacre did survive, some of them injured had been discharged while there are still many people who still remain in the hospital. And later this evening, some of them could be receiving a visit from Thailand's king and queen. Michael?
HOLMES: Meanwhile, what more are we learning about the man who did this and why?
ESSIG: You know, Michael, I mean, motive why -- I mean, I think these are some of these questions they're going to be asked and wondered about for a while but authorities have identified the shooter, a 34- year-old man, former police officer who was dismissed from duty and charged with a drug-related offense last year. His police chief said that possession of drugs is charged, is a result of confessing and taking -- excuse me, in taking a crystal meth as well as possessing crystal meth and yaba, which means that crazy medicine in Thai and that's a combination of meth and caffeine. The police chief also said that the attacker appeared in court on that drug charge just a few hours before the massacre took place with a verdict that was expected to come down today.
Police say the attackers two-year-old stepson was enrolled in the child care center that was attacked and officials say that this 34- year-old went there looking for that child who wasn't there at the time. And it was then that this horrific attack got underway. Michael?
HOLMES: All right, Blake Essig there in Tokyo with the very latest. Thanks very much, Blake.
You know, Russia's military has been on a losing streak in Ukraine and because of that, concerns are growing about what President Putin might do if his back is against the wall, if he's cornered. He recently suggested that using nuclear weapons isn't off the table.
Just a few hours ago, the U.S. President Joe Biden gave a stark warning to Mr. Putin. He says he thinks the Russian leader meant what he said but he also warned Mr. Putin of consequences, saying there's no such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not ended up with Armageddon.
A senior U.S. government official telling CNN that the President's comments caught other officials off guard saying there was no obvious signs of an escalating threat.
Lieutenant General Mark Hertling is a CNN Military Analyst and former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe and Seventh 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.
[01:10:02]
There has been threats to that potential. He has dispatched some of his administration. 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, the really dysfunctional mobilization they've held in the last couple of days, and the annexation of some of the old blast within Ukraine has all caused us to come back to the forefront.
HOLMES: Right.
HERTLING: But I think the President is really sending another signal.
HOLMES: I want to -- and it's interesting, it's timely, 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 planning?
HERTLING: It's extremely thorough. And I've been involved in those kinds of war games 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? So I mean, it goes down in multiple layer of action, reaction drills.
You also, within those planning sessions, have something called Red Teamings, which I talked about in that Twitter feed, where you have someone posing 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 then happen next, and try and go down the rabbit hole to address each one of the possibilities. But when you're talking about nuclear weapons, Michael, you know, escalation 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 it. You said, "Bottom line, there are all sorts of contingencies of what might happen and there are no pundits anywhere who can predict with any certainty -- what Putin will do."
So even with this detailed planning, how much of a wildcard is someone like Putin, especially when cornered?
HERTLING: The decision maker is the wildcard. You know, 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 a case with Putin, you know, his military has practiced the use of nuclear weapons.
As recently as 2013, the last exercise I went to 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, everybody 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 of Mr. Putin, who has already made some really 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. We're almost out of time, but I wanted to ask you this, because, you know, I've heard 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's unfolded in Ukraine?
HERTLING: Well, when you're doing an assessment, and I think the intelligence agencies are getting a bad rap on this, because they've all been saying, hey, if they're 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'd suggest, Michael, is the Russian military has deteriorated significantly in the last -- well, I don't know, I'll put a figure of six to eight 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 kleptocracy in the system.
So you really can only count the number of tanks and aircraft, 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.
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HOLMES: Yes, 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 Europe's largest nuclear power plant. The agency's Director General Rafael Grossi met Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday. That meeting coming a day after the Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Russian state property.
Now, the facility is occupied by Russia but operated by Ukrainian technicians and very much on Ukrainian soil. Grossi said he will head to Moscow for further talks on the issue, but he made it 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 very clear, but there are practical consequences and I am dealing with 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 the south over past two weeks. That includes for the first time since the war began one village in the Luhansk region. Ukraine also claims Russia's mobilization effort keeps 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.
Until recently, Russia has been relying on a different kind of soldier in Ukraine, such as the so-called Wagner group, a private mercenary force that's been deployed from the get go. But as Melissa Bell finds out, the war is now taking a toll on Wagner's ranks and morale. We warn you some images you're about to see are graphic.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The chaos of Ukraine's frontlines through the eyes of a Wagner mercenary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Legs, guts, arms, boys, it's almost stuff (ph).
BELL (voice-over): A video shared exclusively with CNN by a member of Vladimir Putin so-called private army. One of those that who seen enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I'm sorry, bro. I'm sorry.
BELL (voice-over): A far cry from the slick propaganda used by Wagner to entice recruits to the depleted Russian front lines. Long kept in the shadows by Moscow, the Elite paramilitary group or the musicians, as they call themselves now lionized for their role in Russia's springtime victories.
Like the surrender of Azovstal or the full of Mariupol. The mercenaries experience initially making all the difference to Moscow, according to this former Wagner commander.
MARAT GABIDULLIN, FORMER WAGNER MERCENARY (through translation): Without their active assistance, the Russian armed forces would not have been able to move forward at all.
BELL (voice-over): The Kremlin didn't respond to our requests for comment. But a month-long, CNN investigation has found what the war has cost Moscow's elite fighting force. It's men, it's confidence and it's allure.
Marat Gabidullin says Wagner fighters are paid $5,000 a month to do the work regular Russian soldiers can't or won't.
GABIDULLIN: There is not enough motivation on the money. Russian piece for the American dollars. BELL (voice-over): Through their telegram channels and through intercepts, Ukrainian intelligence, keeps a watchful eye.
Moral within Wagner is low, says Andrei Yusof (ph). It wasn't designed to participate in a full-scale war.
GABIDULLIN (through translation): They're dissatisfied with the overall organization of the fighting, the inability to make competent decisions to organize battles, and of course, this means losses.
BELL (voice-over): This video shared with CNN by Ukraine's Defense Ministry shows a mercenary desperately asking why there is no body armor for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): There are no more flak jackets, no more helmets either.
BELL (voice-over): Of the estimated 5,000, Wagner mercenaries sent to Ukraine 1,500 have been killed, according to intelligence sources in Kyiv. In Russia, that's meant recruitment drives. From front pages to billboards, the W orchestra is waiting for you, says this one, with a number to call and no experience needed.
A recruiter telling CNN through WhatsApp that barring thuggery, terrorism and sexual impropriety, all criminal convictions are negotiable.
[01:20:05]
A man who appears to be the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, personally offering clemency to prisoners for six months of military service. The illusive oligarch no longer denying ties to the group that the war in Ukraine has both exposed and transformed.
YURIY BELOUSOV, UKRAINE'S WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR: It really shows that these guys are in trouble, so they really don't have people. They're ready to send anyone. There's no criteria for professionalism anymore.
BELL (voice-over): And that could mean more possible war crimes, especially on the retreat. This video shared with CNN by a Wagner soldier appears to show mercenaries lining up the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers. In a chilling conversation, they debate whether to booby trap them or shoot those who come to retrieve them before realizing that they're out of ammunition.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, a human rights groups are blasting the Iranian government for its violent crackdown on peaceful protesters and now the U.S. imposing new sanctions. Also, South Korean fighter jet scramble in response to North Korea's unprecedented level of military provocation. The latest from Seoul when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: North Korea is widely believed to be on the verge of carrying out another underground nuclear test, it would be the 7th. At the same time, the North has been test firing ballistic missiles at a record pace in recent days, one of them flying over Japan. It is not clear what North Korea's leader hopes to achieve with all of this. But the U.S., South Korea and Japan are dramatically ramping up their defense posture, just in case.
We get the latest from CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As North Korea continues to break its own missile launch record, South Korea says trilateral naval exercises are back in its waters. The U.S., South Korea, and Japan holding drills to track and intercept missiles, a response to the North Sea launches.
ANDREI LANKOV, PROFESSOR, KOOKMIN UNIVERSITY: What is the impact of all this, you know, American aircraft carriers cruising around Korea? Pretty much nothing. It will probably make some people in the United States and Republic of Korea a bit happier, but it will have zero impact on most carriers' behavior and decision making.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): North Korea blame their recent flurry on the U.S. Thursday, calling them just counteraction measures against last week's U.S., South Korean naval drills.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It will only increase the condemnation, increase the isolation, increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): But a United Nations Security Council hearing this week suggested Pyongyang is not isolated. While the U.S. blamed Russia and China without naming them for enabling North Korea, Russia and China blame the United States for increasing tensions, a schism that benefits Pyongyang.
[01:25:07]
CARL SCHUSTER, FORMER U.S. NAVY CAPTAIN: Kim Jong-un is doing what he thinks she can get away with. He's not expecting any kind of strong U.S. reaction. He's letting the South Korean government and the U.S. government know that he has significant capability.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): North Korea is expected to continue capitalizing on geopolitical turmoil, a 700 grand nuclear test expected at any time, if it happens, most likely after the Chinese Party Congress. So it's not to anger its main benefactor. Kim Jong-un also released a five-year plan less than two years ago. He appears to be working his way through that list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: This leads many experts to believe that this cycle of testing will continue, especially as Kim Jong-un knows that he is very unlikely to face any more U.N. sanctions, while Russia and China are in no mood to side with the United States.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
HOLMES: Now as promised the U.S. has imposed further sanctions against Iran over its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters is coming as Amnesty International accuses security forces of carrying out a massacre in southeastern Iran a week ago. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is tracking these developments. And warning, her report contains graphic images of bloodshed.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN 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 shut down. 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 Baluch 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 open fire on them. And protesters responded by setting the police station on fire. 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.
HOLMES: Human Rights Watch also condemning the Iranian government's hardline response. It's accusing security forces of using, quote, excessive and lethal force against peaceful protesters.
Lama Fakih is the Middle East and North Africa Director for Human Rights Watch comes to us now live from Beirut, and thanks for being available. The report points to a need for more international pressure on Iran to end lethal force. So the U.S. did announce sanctions on individuals in the security apparatus. Is that enough? Should there be stronger pressure and what pressure?
LAMA FAKIH, MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thank you, Michael. So the U.S. announced sanctions are welcome and they are necessary, but they're not going to be sufficient. With a government as oppressive as Iran, we need to see a coordinated action from a group of states, including states in the Global South. And we also need to see action at the U.N.
[01:29:43]
And this is why we are calling -- me and others have been calling for an international mechanism to investigate the abuse system (ph) of conflicts of this protest movement and to ensure that there is accountability.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Iran is of course, when it comes to sanctions and the mechanism is a different thing obviously but Iran has withstood years of sanctions. Do you have any confidence they would be susceptible to such pressure, or just likely -- you know, carry on?
FAKIH: Unfortunately, the repressive tactics that we have been seeing over the course of the past weeks in Iran are nothing new. You know, most recently, in a protest movement in 2019, we saw the same types of abuses and after those abuses as well, there was impunity for those crime.
So what needs to change is a direction toward accountability. We have seen Iranian women, kids, men, get on the streets and speak out against the brutality of the regime. We need to see actions in international community standing by them to support them as they continue to demand their rights.
HOLMES: The Human Rights Watch report which people can see on the Website, and read in detail gives the, you know, real details of incidents of security forces acting with -- unlawfully, excessive lethal force against protesters. What sorts of force, how brutal according to your investigation?
FAKIH: The Iranian government has responded to what has been -- mostly people protest in illegal ways. We and others have documented how security forces have approached with shotguns, with handguns, opening live fire into the crowded areas. They take protesters into alleys, into homes, throwing, lobs tear gas
at them. In one case, we spoke to a woman who describe trying to defend a child who was being beaten by security forces. And instead of letting the child go, she was stabbed in the chest with pellets.
This is the kind of brutal response that we have been seeing from the Iranian government. In response again, to people who are out on the street, peacefully demanding their rights.
HOLMES: You know, that was a striking thing as I was reading the report. You've compiled the names of, I think it was 47 individuals, who you know, human rights groups like yours or credible media outlet, documented as being killed, most of them by bullets.
And as you touched on them, at least nine are children. I mean just how indiscriminate have the security forces been with the brutality?
FAKIH: Unfortunately, the information that we have compiled is really the tip of the iceberg. I mean as you've reported, the Iranian government has also taken steps to restrict access to information to people on the ground and for people to know what is happening in Iran today.
So what we do know is that the Iranian government is deploying that security forces in illegal ways to stamp out individuals who are on the street demanding their rights and standing up to decades, and decades of oppression. Decades of women not being able to access their very basic rights.
HOLMES: Lama Fakih in Beirut with Human Rights Watch. Appreciate you making the time. Thank you so much.
FAKIH: Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Now the world economy could be heading towards a long recession, that dire warning coming from the International Monetary Fund. We'll have details for you in just a few moments.
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HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Now the head of the International Monetary Fund warning that tightening fiscal policies could push the world into a prolonged recession. The IMF managing director saying the world could lose $4 trillion. That's about the size of the German economy in economic output between now and 2026.
She says multiple crises have driven the world into a period of, quote, 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 more fragility, greater uncertainty, higher economic volatility, geopolitical confrontations, and more frequent and devastating natural disasters. A world in which any country can be drawn off course more easily and more often.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, the IMF head is urging governments to use targeted and temporary monetary policies to help their most vulnerable citizens without adding to overall inflation.
Now the White House is weighing how to respond to a decision by oil producing countries to dramatically cap oil production. Biden administration officials acknowledge the production cuts puts the U.S. in a difficult position in its relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Many had criticized President Biden's July trip the Middle East and his fist bump with the Saudi Crown Prince. Mr. Biden told reporters on Thursday he's looking at alternatives to bring down oil prices and prevent gasoline prices from rising again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a lot of alternatives. The trip was not essentially for oil. The trip was about the Middle East and about Israel and rationalization of positions. But it is a disappointment and it says that they're a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, also Thursday, Mr. Biden announced he would pardon thousands of people convicted of federal -- convicted federally of marijuana possession. It fulfills a campaign promise just weeks before voters head to the polls in the midterm elections.
CNN's Phil Mattingly reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For President Biden today was technically, to some degree, about campaigning. An event in Poughkeepsie, New York to highlight his legislative successes with several Democratic members of Congress up for reelection with a little more than 30 days. A couple of fund-raisers in New Jersey and New York.
The most important moment of the president's day was the stroke of a pin that pardoned thousands of individuals that had federal charges for simple possession of marijuana. It was a seismic moment for what it stood for, just as much as for what it meant for the policy or those thousands of individuals.
The White House has long, to some degree, pushed away efforts by advocates to get them to move from this direction. This signals not only are they moving in the direction, but there's potentially much more to come. The president also urging governors to do the same for state charges and ordering an expedited review by his administration of the scheduling of marijuana.
Now a schedule one drug that is the equivalent of heroine or LSD, something the president made clear he doesn't believe it's remotely equivalent to marijuana.
Should the government come back with recommendations that would change the scheduling, that would change the legal status of marijuana altogether in yet another step toward the decriminalization of this substance on the federal level.
We've seen it with states over the course of the last several years. More than 20 in all that have legalized it. You've seen it in the advocacy effort from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. Some saying this is a great political issue for the president.
As I said, about 30 days before the midterms, timing usually not random at this point in time. But the politics, the policy, more than anything else, an extraordinarily important statement on an issue that many people have said was something not treated the right way for decades.
Phil Mattingly, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:39:55]
HOLMES: Less than four hours from now, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo, Norway. The Nobel committee, notoriously secretive and has a pretty good record of choosing relative unknowns and keeping it quiet as well.
But experts have zeroed in on these people as strong possibilities, at least. This year's announcement also coming of course, amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, and many have championed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to receive it though some experts think that's a long shot.
We will know one way or another when the announcement comes down at 5:00 a.m. Eastern time. That is 5:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, 10:00 a.m. in London. A bit over what, three hours?
On Thursday, the Swedish Academy in Stockholm awarded the Nobel prize for literature to the French Annie Ernaux. The academy said her autobiography deserved the prestigious prize because of their quote, "courage and clinical acuity".
The 82-year-old author called the award a great honor. She advised young people to read a lot and try not to write well but honestly.
A quick break here. When we come back the United States announces enhanced screenings for travelers from Uganda, as the African country's ebola outbreak worsened. We will get the latest, straight ahead.
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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 and the energy crisis.
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. Their meeting in the Czech capital could signal a fresh start for the long-time allies whose relations have been strained in the aftermath of Brexit.
Authorities in Greece are searching for those still missing after two separate boats carrying migrants sank, at least 18 people known to have died. Crews are being carrying out dramatic rescue efforts with dozens pulled to safety, sometimes up cliff faces.
Elinda Labropoulou has more from Athens.
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ELINA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: At least 18 people, 16 women, a man and a boy, have died as two boats carrying migrants sank in Greek waters in two separate incidents in just 24 hours.
The 18 bodies were recovered near the eastern island of Lesbos. A boat that was carrying 40 migrants sank. 25 people have been rescued so far. Now several kilometers to the west of that near the island of Kythira, a sailboat that was carrying 95 migrants hit rocks and sank.
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LABROPOULOU: Officials said (ph) 80 people have been secured as 15 are still missing. A dramatic rescue operation took place as migrants jumped into the sea and trying to hold on to rocky cliffs. Rescuers trying to get them out using ropes as people who are disappearing under huge waves, in some cases, within seconds according to eyewitnesses.
Now search and rescue operations will continue during the night, despite the difficult weather conditions, strong winds continue to blow in the area. And the feeling is that Greece has been living a double human tragedy these last 24 hours. It's not the first time that people have seen lives lost in the Aegean crossing from Turkey to Europe via Greece. The Greek government has been calling for further cooperation to prevent smugglers using these routes or taking advantage of innocent people trying to reach Europe.
Elinda Labropoulou, CNN -- Athens, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Uganda's ebola outbreak is causing some global concern with the U.S. announcing a hard screening for inbound airline passengers, traveling from that country. 44 cases have been confirmed in Uganda, including ten health care workers.
CNN's Larry Madowo with our report.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even the dead are a risk. Every departure a potential new case, as ebola continues to spread through Uganda.
DR. KYOBE HENRY BOOSA, INCIDENT MANAGER, UGANDAN HEALTH MINISTRY: The epidemic appears to have started around the beginning of September when people started dying in a small village of the sub (INAUDIBLE)
MADOWO: The outbreak only declared much later on September 20th, after a diagnosis in the central Uganda district of Mubende. Two weeks later, it spread significantly. Yet experts fear there may be dozens of under reported cases.
BOOSA: This is a rapidly evolving picture, very complex.
MADOWO: Uganda is no stranger to ebola. The last outbreak hit 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to reassure Ugandans and all residents that the government has the capacity to control this outbreak, as we have done before.
MADOWO: Uganda has decided against closing public spaces, but it says the same infrastructure practices used to curb the spread of COVID-19 will be used to keep ebola in check
BOOSA: We do think that using what we've done before we should be able to appropriate the response to this current outbreak.
MADOWO: And while the variant responsible for this particular outbreak, a Sudan virus, doesn't currently have a vaccine, trials could start four to six weeks.
DR. SOUMIYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: There are about six candidates, vaccine candidates available for the Sudan ebola virus, which are mostly in very early stages of development. But three of them have some human data, some immunogenicity and safety data and so they can actually proceed to be used in the field.
MADOWO: The idea is to vaccinate health workers and contacts of known positive cases to slow down the spread, a so-called ring vaccination, similar to what was done in the DRC in 2019. Among the vaccine candidates for the trial 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.
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HOLMES: When we come back, a massive recovery effort underway in Florida after Hurricane Ian devastated that state. Coming up, why some minority communities say their needs are being neglected.
We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: And SpaceX's latest mission for the U.S. space agency NASA has reached its destination. The SpaceX crew dragon capsule docking safely with the International Space Station Thursday, all part of a five month science (INAUDIBLE) mission.
Now on board there is a diverse four member crew including the first Native American women sent into orbit, a Japanese astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut. The crew, expected to conduct spacewalks and perform more than 200 science experiments.
Now, we are tracking another powerful storm, churning in the Atlantic, tropical depression 13 formed in the Caribbean and is now located about 60 miles west-southwest of Curacao. Tropical storm warnings have been issued along the coast of Colombia.
It is expected to strengthen into a category one hurricane before making landfall in Nicaragua, on Sunday morning.
CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz joins me now with the very latest developments. Good to see you Britley. What is going on?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good to see you.
We are definitely dealing with more of a life-threatening flooding situation, of course, as that rain comes down, then we wind up with landslides.
So, I want to show this situation out of Caracas, Venezuela. This is the Guaire River along the Francisco Fajardo Highway, it is (INAUDIBLE) and, that water? Coming up awfully close to the banks.
And, a lot of this water will continue to rise and spill over the banks as it continues to fall to the ground. Right, now wind speeds of about 65 kilometers per hour, this will continue to work its way towards the Guaire Peninsula and push landfall there within the upcoming hours. Move into the warm waters of the Caribbean, and continue to strengthen.
Right now for the peninsula, we have tropical storm warnings in effect. The Santa Catalina Islands under hurricane watches at the moment. And the waters within the Caribbean in the low 30s. That is fuel for tropical depression 13 to strengthen to one said a category one storm.
Making its way on to the Nicaragua coastline, sometimes late Sunday into early Monday. Then, weakening significantly as it hits the friction of the land moving towards Honduras and into Belize.
Again, bringing in heavy, heavy rain and expect not only rainfall but the life threatening landslides that is expected along with it. 50 to 100 millimeters of rain expected in some of these areas and parts of Guatemala and Honduras. It can pick up over 250 millimeters of rain.
I want to show you some of the model runs -- the American versus the European. Coming in closely together, so yes, there's agreement. But along with it comes the winds. And with that, it pushes the water up on to shore.
And we're talking about 30 to 90 centimeters of storm surge here for the islands, the Santa Catalina Island. So we're watching this very closely, the life-threatening storm surge as well as the landslides are going to be some of the biggest concerns.
HOLMES: All right. Britley Ritz, thanks so much. Good to see you.
All right. Federal land state agencies have poured billions of dollars into Florida since Hurricane Ian hit the state. But some residents of Naples say officials aren't doing enough for their community and they say, the neglect began before the storm.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
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SHARDA WILLIAMS, RIVER PARK RESIDENT: This has been how high the water got inside and you see, it's going all the way across there.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sharda Williams (ph) rode out the storm at home with her family in the river park neighborhood of Naples.
WILLIAMS: There was not one dry spot.
KAYE: Sharda says the water from the Gordon River rose so fast and flooded her home in this historically black community. She showed me how the water came up above the fence out back and covered the dock.
In the middle of the storm she and others waded through deep water to get to higher ground at this nearby 7-11. All the while, terrified there were alligators or snakes in the water.
WILLIAMS: It was scary. Not knowing what would happen -- there was very -- IT was very scary. I don't ever want to go through it again. Never. It's just heartbreaking. [01:54:56]
KAYE: Two hours later, she says police and fire rescue picked them up at 7-11 and dropped them at Coastline Center Mall nearby. She said they were soaked and left without any blankets or supplies.
WILLIAMS: I would think they would have brought some type of blankets or something, you know, we all just walked through water, wind, going like crazy. There were kids and stuff.
KAYE: Do You feel like this community was sort of forgotten during the storm.
WILLIAMS: I do.
KAYE: Multiple residents here in River Park, which is right on the water, told us they didn't receive notification to evacuate their homes. But the city of Naples told us, the day before the storm, they ordered a mandatory evacuation which included this community. Telling us, in the statement, they reached out to thousands of residents.
The notice was sent via email, code red, press to all media outlets and neighborhoods, fire rescue app and social media. The city says first responders did not go door to door in any neighborhood in the city of Naples.
Curtis Williams lives across the street from Sharda. His house flooded and nearly everything he owns was destroyed.
CURTIS WILLIAMS, RIVER PARK RESIDENT: Not one city employee, police or whatever, came through the neighborhood before the floodwater and said it was a mandatory evacuation. Not one.
KAYE: He said, they easily could've driven through the neighborhood with a bull horn, telling people to leave.
21-year-old Trinity Williams, Sharda's cousin, says the floodwater came up to her chest. She is furious by what she calls lack of action from officials and emergency responders.
TRINITY WILLIAMS, RIVER PARK RESIDENT: I've seen the people yelling at the 7-11, people swimming through the water. And they came, they've seen, and they left. They came, they seen and they left.
KAYE: The city tells us, their fire station run flooded during the storm and stopped responding. Also that their first responders were trapped in areas throughout the city as waters rose quickly.
The city told us, they sent a high water rescue vehicle to this community and drove three loads of residents to higher ground at the Coastline Center Mall.
As numerous people in the area were trapped, the goal was to get everyone to safety and high ground, the statement said.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me? KAYE: And after the storm --
Did search and rescue teams come or --
WILLIAMS: No. I have not seen. The fire trucks, came, now you know they were bringing food and trucks but not any cars trying to get people out or anything. You know, make sure homes and stuff was ok, I mean none of that.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN -- Naples, Florida.
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HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, spending part of your day with me.
I'm Michael Holmes.
The news continue with Kim Brunhuber right after the break.
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