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Traffic Jams Clog Crimea Bridge; White House Concerned Over Putin's Saber Rattling; North Korea Fires Two More Ballistic Missiles Into Sea; France Sets "Energy Sobriety" Plan; Trump Campaigns For Republicans In Rural Nevada; Uganda Ebola Outbreak; Rare Turtles Breed After 20 Years. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired October 09, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, rescue efforts underway in Ukraine after a new rocket attack just a day after an unexplained explosion on a bridge in Crimea. We will have a live report from Ukraine.
Plus Hurricane Julia makes landfall in Central America with the potential for life-threatening flash floods.
And an Israeli soldier killed during a shooting at a military checkpoint. We will have the latest from Jerusalem.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya, where residents are now urged to head to air raid shelters after a second deadly rocket strike within days. Have a look here.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): These are scenes of the aftermath after multiple rockets slammed into residential areas Saturday, reportedly killing at least 17 people. Further south, Moscow is scrambling to get the bridge linking the occupied Crimea with Russia back up and running.
A part of the bridge collapsed after a huge explosion and fire Saturday. Now Russia says repair work will be underway around the clock. Some train and road traffic has already resumed but divers will go into the water later today to see if the structure can support trucks.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Ukraine isn't claiming responsibility for what happened but President Zelenskyy made it clear he's far from feeling sorry about it. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today was a good and mostly sunny day in our country. Over most of the territory it was about 20 degrees Celsius and sunny.
Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea, although it was still warm. But however the clouds are, Ukrainians know what to do and they know that our future is sunny. This is the future without invaders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Our Fred Pleitgen is monitoring developments in Ukraine and he joins us from Kyiv.
Fred, let's start with that deadly attack in Zaporizhzhya.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kim. It's another deadly attack, a devastating attack in the town of Zaporizhzhya. There seems to be some pattern evolving as the Russians are losing ground in a lot of the battlefields in the south of the country, especially around the Kherson region.
They seem to be using longer range assets, rockets and missiles, to especially strike that very large city of Zaporizhzhya. It is a regional hub down there in the south of Ukraine. This particular attack had 17 people killed in it so far. That's the latest information we have. And more than 40 people wounded or injured.
We can see some of the video on our screens now. It's something that the Ukrainians have said, that it was big residential buildings that were struck. A lot of those Soviet era buildings obviously have a lot of residents in there. And then strikes on those buildings can cause a lot of damage and a lot of carnage as well.
This comes a few days after a large scale strike on Zaporizhzhya, where at least 11 people were killed there also. Residential buildings were struck; at least one large residential building, at least partially collapsed, obviously causing a lot of people to be buried underneath the rubble.
The latest we have is that rescue crews are still working the scene over there, obviously checking to see whether people are still trapped underneath the rubble there. But again, another big devastating attack on that major population center in the south of Ukraine.
That, of course, is a place where many people, also from the southern region and eastern regions, have fled to and now are seeking shelter there, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: And then, Fred, we are still monitoring the fallout of that bridge explosion. What's the latest there?
PLEITGEN: Yes, so the Russians have said they have both road traffic and rail traffic up and running again on that bridge. But it certainly seems to be only a trickle of what you would normally see going over that bridge. The Russians I think call it reverse motion as they put it, as far as the car traffic is concerned, which essentially means they have one lane out of normally four lanes operating right now because part of the bridge collapsed after that attack.
So it's basically one car going in each direction at any point in time. Also the train traffic going slower than usual. Again, still unclear who was behind all this. Both sides are blaming each other. Here is what we know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The devastating blow to Vladimir Putin's war effort in Ukraine both strategically and symbolically.
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The Kerch Bridge that links Russia's mainland with occupied Crimea on fire and heavily damaged.
Moscow's investigative committee acknowledging that severity of the attack.
SVETLANA PETRENKO, RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (through translator): According to preliminary information, a truck exploded on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge from the side of the peninsula in the morning today, which caused seven fuel tanks to ignite on a train heading toward the Crimean Peninsula. As a result, two lanes partially collapsed.
PLEITGEN: This CCTV video appears to show the moment of the blast. A truck is seen driving on the lane leading toward Crimea when, all of a sudden, there's a massive explosion. Though it's not clear whether it is a truck that actually blew up.
Russian officials saying several people were killed in the attack.
Moscow already pointing the finger at Ukraine. But so far, no claim of responsibility from Kyiv's leadership.
"Crimea, the bridge, the beginning, everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," an adviser to Ukraine's president tweeted.
While Russian authorities say fuel and food supplies to Crimea are insured, videos released on social media show long lines forming at gas stations on the peninsula hours after the blast.
The Crimean Bridge is a vital supply artery for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine but it's also a prestige project for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin personally drove a truck across the bridge when it was opened in 2018.
The attack came just a day after Putin's 70th birthday, leading Ukraine's national security adviser to tweet this video, apparently mocking Russia's leader.
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PLEITGEN: Ukraine's postal service was quick to issue a stamp commemorating the bridge explosion. Residents in the capital taking selfies in front of the main postal service.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We have waited for the moment the bridge burns. I think all Ukrainians waited for it. We are very satisfied it's finally happened.
PLEITGEN: Moscow says it got the railway section of the bridge up and running again quickly.
But the damage to the road section is more extensive, creating another bottleneck for Russian forces in southern Ukraine already struggling with logistics.
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PLEITGEN: And, Kim, we're mentioning the fact that the Russians are testing whether or not the bridge structure is strong enough to carry trucks. Obviously one of the reasons for that is not just to bring regular supplies into Crimea but also, of course, military supplies as well for the logistical effort.
One of the things we have been seeing, especially over the past week or so, is the Russians seriously losing ground in the south of Ukraine, especially the Kherson area, where the Ukrainians have been making sweeping gains.
The other big issue that the Russians have down there is indeed logistics, to have this major bottleneck on their hands as well certainly another big problem facing Vladimir Putin, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely vital as you have highlighted there. Fred Pleitgen live in Kyiv for us, thanks so much.
Earlier I spoke about the bridge explosion with Oleksiy Sorokin, senior editor of "The Kyiv Independent." And I asked him about Ukraine's reaction to the incident and what it all means for Russia. Here he is.
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OLEKSIY SOROKIN, POLITICAL EDITOR AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, "THE KYIV INDEPENDENT": As of now, as your colleague said, there is no official response from Ukrainian authorities.
But there is a lot of memes. Basically this is major news in Ukraine now. And as we know the Crimean bridge was a symbol of Russian occupation of the region. And now that it's damaged, a lot of people in Ukraine are actually very happy.
BRUNHUBER: So talk to me about why exactly that is. I mean, it surely has to do with the symbolic significance of this bridge to Russia and to Putin specifically.
SOROKIN: Well, basically since 2014, the Russian regime was built on two major pillars: one is the victory in Second World War; every year they have a major parade, every Russian opponent is called a Nazi.
And the second pillar is occupation of Crimea. And this bridge that connects Russia and occupied Crimea was a symbol that Crimea is now eternally part of Russia. And destroying this symbol for Ukraine means that Ukraine can even theoretically approach the deoccupation of the peninsula.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Sorokin discussing the bridge explosion near Crimea.
The Biden administration says it still hasn't seen any indication that Russia is planning to use a nuclear weapon in the war. That's despite the U.S. President's comments last week that the risk of Armageddon was higher than at any time in the last 60 years.
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BRUNHUBER: Arlette Saenz has more on what the White House thinks about the nuclear saber-rattling from the Kremlin.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials say there was no new evidence that prompted President Biden to make those comments about the prospect of nuclear Armageddon.
Instead, officials say that the president's comments, warning that the nuclear threat in the world is at its highest point in nearly 60 years, comes as there's growing concern within the White House and for the president about Russian president Vladimir Putin using nuclear weapons, as he has escalated some of his rhetoric in recent weeks.
Take a listen to the White House press secretary.
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KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Russia's talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible. And there is no way to use them without unintended consequences. It cannot happen.
We won't be intimidated by Putin's rhetoric. We have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture nor do we have indications they are preparing to use them. But Putin can deescalate this at any time. And there is no reason to escalate.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SAENZ: But these comments from President Biden also offer a rare window into his thinking, particularly when it comes to the issue of trying to defuse the situation, even as Russian president Vladimir Putin continues to see losses including that explosion on that critical bridge from Russia to Crimea.
President Biden in that fundraiser on Thursday night, saying, quote, "We are trying to figure out, what is Putin's off-ramp?
Where does he find a way out?"
He is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military, as you might say, is significantly underperforming.
So this provides a clearer view into how the president has been thinking about this issue; as his administration has said, they've warned Russia directly that there would be catastrophic consequences if Putin does use a nuclear weapon.
And the president speaking in the most stark terms yet about what that threat will look like -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN sources say top Biden administration officials met face-to-face Saturday with the members of the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. The White House has called the delicate relationship a work in progress. It was the first sit-down meeting for both sides since this man, Ayman al Zawahiri, was killed by a drone strike earlier this year.
The Biden administration said he had been sheltering at a safe house in Kabul and blamed the Taliban for violating an agreement by hosting the Al Qaeda leader. It's been more than a year since the U.S. withdrew the last of its troops from Afghanistan, resulting in the Taliban regaining control of the country.
North Korea has fired off so many ballistic missiles in such a short period of time that South Korea, Japan and the United States are scrambling to figure out why. South Korea said the North tested two more short-range missiles on Sunday, calling it a serious provocation and prompting an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
No fewer than seven missile tests have been detected in the past two weeks. Since the start of the year, there have been at least 25, including cruise missiles. Adding to the growing tensions North Korea is widely expected to conduct another underground nuclear test in the near future.
CNN's Blake Essig is standing by in Tokyo for us.
Take us through the details of the latest launch and the reaction.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, North Korea fired two missiles that fell into the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula in the early hours of Sunday morning local time. Each missile flew about 200 miles an at altitude of roughly 60 miles.
Meaning most likely these were short-range ballistic missiles. South Korea's National Security Council condemned the latest testing, that North Korea's constant provocation would lead to more sanctions and international isolation.
While Japan's minister of defense also weighed in, saying that they are looking into the possibility that today's launch was from a submarine. And he had this to say about North Korea's recent series of tests.
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TOSHIRO INO, JAPANESE STATE MINISTER OF DEFENSE (through translator): Since the end of September they have launched missiles seven times, escalating its direct provocative actions. These actions by North Korea are a threat to the peace and security of our country, region and the international community and it absolutely cannot be tolerated.
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ESSIG: While an investigation is underway into the most recent test, the big question being asked is why is North Korea firing so many missiles.
Experts told us earlier this week that North Korea could be trying to show off its arsenal or remind the world that North Korea can't be ignored. There's also the possibility that this latest flurry of missile tests by North Korea demonstrates that its missile program is still in rapid development.
And it's likely that these tests will continue to go on until this current round of modernization is finished. But Kim, if you ask Pyongyang through North Korean state media, the reason for the latest string of tests.
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ESSIG: It's because of the recent joint military drills that have been conducted by the United States and South Korea.
They say that these repeated missile tests are a just reaction to those drills and that they consider them extremely provocative and threatening. Of course, the United States, South Korea and Japan have all condemned North Korea's recent tests, calling them dangerous, reckless and destabilizing for this region.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Blake Essig in Tokyo.
For the first time in days, some Florida residents are returning home, getting a chance to see what hurricane Ian did to their lives. We will have an update on recovery efforts straight ahead.
Plus, Europe is taking steps to address its energy crisis as winter approaches. The united efforts to cut back on fuel use when we come back. Stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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BRUNHUBER: We are tracking a powerful weather system battering Central America. Hurricane Julia has made landfall in Nicaragua as a category 1 storm. Heavy rain and life-threatening flash floods are expected.
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BRUNHUBER: Some people from Ft. Myers Beach, Florida, are being allowed to return today to survey the damage left by hurricane Ian.
City officials say residents need to bring identification to prove they own or live in the area and have to be prepared to leave by 7:00 pm curfew. Officials said Saturday Ft. Myers Beach was still without running water or power. Florida governor Ron DeSantis spoke earlier amid growing frustration over the state's response. Here he is.
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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Obviously here you suffered catastrophic damage in Ft. Myers Beach. And there is a premium on rescue efforts and rightfully so. And those efforts were ongoing and continue to go on.
But we also have a situation where you have a lot of people who left their homes and they're wanting to go know when they can get back. So I know that they've started an initial wave of people. Just from the state's perspective, it's our hope that everybody is able to go back to their property.
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BRUNHUBER: Hard-hit areas like Sanibel Island are also struggling to recover. The state says two contractors have been hired to help rebuild the causeway linking the island to the mainland, tracking website power outage says 50 million customers are still without power across Florida.
European leaders are trying to tackle the energy crisis. The European Commission president says there's growing support among member states for joint energy purchases.
Ursula van der Leyen says this would eliminate the need for countries in the bloc to outbid each other for supplies. Michael Holmes reports France is one of several countries asking the public to help.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A cool dip gets the blood flowing even if the heat in the pool isn't. Under new energy savings measures, the French government is asking operators of public swimming pools to lower the water temperature by 1 degree Celsius.
This outdoor pool going a length further by shutting off the heat completely to reduce its gas bill. Brave swimmers wear wet suits to swim in the brisk waters. There's a chill in the air as Europe heads into winter during an energy crisis.
ADRIEN ROUDOT, MANAGER, NOGENT NAUTIQUE SWIMMING POOL (through translator): In September 2020, the price of gas was on average 11 euros per megawatt an hour. In September 2022, we have an average of 151 euros. I'll let you make the calculations.
HOLMES (voice-over): The French government setting out a plan to save power this winter, which is being called energy sobriety. The goal is to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent over the next two years by lowering thermostats, working from home, turning off the lights.
Even the famed Eiffel Tower will go dark a little earlier each night. Although gas prices have eased since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they're still more than 200 percent higher than a year ago.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Russia, which once supplied 40 percent of Europe's needs, cut supply in retaliation for sanctions over the war, forcing countries to look for alternatives.
Britain's national grid warning of a worst-case scenario over the winter if gas supplies run extremely low. The utility company says it's unlikely but if shortages escalate, there could be planned power blackouts for periods of three hours at a time.
During her leadership campaign, U.K. prime minister Liz Truss pledged there would be no energy rationing. But when asked about it again recently, she didn't repeat the guarantee.
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LIZ TRUSS, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: What I'm saying is that we do have good energy supplies in the U.K. We can get through the winter.
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HOLMES (voice-over): For many countries, the solution for now is to stockpile energy. Many places filling their storage tanks to around 90 percent capacity. And the European Union is also considering a gas price cap. But some countries oppose that, saying it would make it more difficult to get supplies.
Finding long-term alternatives to Russian gas won't be easy. There are discussions of building a new pipeline through the Pyrenees, which is backed by Spain and Germany. France says it's willing to talk about the project but has its reservations. Finland is ahead of the game. Its new nuclear reactor reached full
power last month, making it what the operator says is the most powerful electricity production facility in Europe. That could go a long way in reducing strain on its power grid -- Michael Holmes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Four weeks and counting, protests in Iran still going strong, despite brutal crackdowns. Ahead, the latest act of defiance from rights activists.
Plus Donald Trump steps up his midterm campaigning.
But will the Trump factor help Republicans in closely watched races?
Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Anti-government protests in Iran are still going strong, despite a massive crackdown by security forces. Have a look.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Demonstrators are chanting, "Woman, life, freedom," a signature slogan of the uprising. It happened as they held more rallies Saturday in many parts of the country.
Activists say security forces tried to stop the movement and killed at least two people as they fired at the crowds. Demonstrators have remained defiant, still calling for an end to authoritarianism, with many demanding the ouster of their leaders.
An Israeli soldier was killed during a shooting at a military checkpoint in east Jerusalem, according to Israel Defense Forces. Israel's prime minister called it a severe terrorist attack. Border guards are searching for suspects. The shooting came hours after a pair of Palestinian teenagers were killed during an Israeli military opening.
Let's bring in CNN's Hadas Gold in Jerusalem.
What more can you tell us?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've been in a period of volatility especially for Palestinians in the West Bank that we haven't seen since 2015. And the Israeli security establishment was already on high alert because of that but also because of -- this is a period of the Jewish high holidays.
But last night's shooting attack was a bit unusual, first of all, because of where it took place in northeast Jerusalem, which is an area usually relatively quiet, not a place where we normally see any sort of clashes or attacks of this level.
It's also unusual because of the type of attack. From video that's circulating it appears as though a man comes up to a group of soldiers who were checking cars at the checkpoint and essentially shoots them point blank.
The Israeli officials are saying an 18-year-old female soldier was killed in the attack and a 30-year-old Israeli guard is in very critical condition, according to the hospital. A manhunt is underway to catch the suspects.
Last night we could hear helicopters buzzing over Jerusalem all night long. We understand they have not still not caught the suspected attacker. As you noted, this attack comes after a violent two days, where actually four Palestinians were killed across the West Bank by Israeli forces. That's according to Palestinian health officials.
Two were killed in the Jenin refugee camp, the Israeli military said they were there to capture a Islamist jihad militant. And two Palestinians were killed in separate incidents across the West Bank, the youngest of which was a 14-year old killed, along the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces said soldiers fired upon somebody throwing Molotov cocktails at them.
I want to give you context as to where this is happening. It's hard to describe how sensitive and volatile the situation is right now. There are nearly daily Israeli military operations across the West Bank, nearly daily clashes, increasingly armed Palestinian youth, 18, 20 year olds picking up guns.
This is all happening in a political vacuum on essentially both sides. There doesn't seem to be anybody or any sort of force moving toward negotiations or a political horizon that could calm the situation down.
The Israeli military has launched nearly daily raids that have killed more than 105 Palestinians after a series of attacks earlier this year that killed some 18 people. But these daily, daily -- daily raids are killing Palestinians at a level not seen since 2015.
Israel says most of those killed were violently attacking their soldiers. But dozens of unarmed civilians, including journalists, have been caught up as a result. Now we are seemingly now in this sort of endless cycle of raids, the clashes, of attacks both Israeli on Palestinian, Palestinian on Israeli.
And there is a lot of people asking is there any way to essentially stop what many are fearing is going to be a third Palestinian intifada.
BRUNHUBER: That's the question. We appreciate you keeping an eye on the volatile situation. Hadas Gold live in Jerusalem for us.
The U.S. midterm elections are just one month away and Republicans are putting a lot of time, money and energy into two Western battleground states, Arizona and Nevada. And in Nevada, turnout among rural voters is considered critical.
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BRUNHUBER: That's why former president Donald Trump was in Nevada on Saturday before heading to Arizona today. We have more from CNN's Kyung Lah in Las Vegas.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The western states of Nevada and Arizona, the focus of national politics, as political figures land in the Sun Belt states. Former president Donald Trump in the state of Nevada, in the rural regions, holding a rally for the Trump ticket.
That includes candidates for governor as well as U.S. Senate, secretary of state and attorney general. He is trying to give energy to the Republican base, urging turnout.
On the Democratic side, the incumbent senator, Catherine Cortez Masto, is doing counter programming in Clark County, where Las Vegas is. She is turning to the turnout machine of the union vote, those canvassers fanning out, trying to encourage people to vote, especially Latino voters and women.
The senator conceding that this is a very, very close race and that she needs women to turn out as well as Latinos. She is focusing on the economy as well as abortion.
On Sunday, Donald Trump will be in the state of Arizona, another critical battleground, where he will be boosting the Trump ticket there. He will be standing alongside Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake.
She has made election denial a central tent pole of her campaign, she has even called herself Trump in a dress. These two Sun Belt states proving that what happens here in November this year will have a direct impact on 2024 -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Las Vegas.
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BRUNHUBER: Senator Rick Scott of Florida will travel to Georgia on Tuesday to support fellow Republican Herschel Walker in his bid for Senate. Scott's support highlights how critical the election in Georgia is, as Republicans fight to take control of the Senate from the Democratic Party.
Walker's campaign has been reeling following reports he asked a woman to terminate two pregnancies. CNN hasn't independently confirmed this reporting.
The Senate committee nominee has been struggling to defuse allegations around the story for days. Democratic rival senator Raphael Warnock says Walker struggles with telling the truth. Here he is.
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SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): It's up to Georgia voters and it's not up to him, it's not up to me, it's up to them. My opponent has trouble with the truth and we will see how all of this plays out. But I am focused squarely on the health care needs of my constituents, including reproductive health care.
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BRUNHUBER: Back in May, Walker said he supports a full ban on abortions with no exceptions. Warnock has avoided directly commenting on the controversy surrounding his political opponent.
Meanwhile, thousands of abortion rights supporters rallied in cities across the U.S. on Saturday demanding change. Have a look.
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BRUNHUBER: The so-called Women's Wave Day of Action comes a little more than three months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending protected rights to an abortion. The rallies are intended to push support toward political candidates who support abortion rights in next month's midterm elections.
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BRUNHUBER: The Amazon-backed electric vehicle company Rivian is recalling almost every unit they produced so far. The recall includes more than 12,000 electric pickups, vans and SUVs.
Its vehicles, including some Amazon vans, are made in Illinois. They want to expand manufacturing in Georgia and is also in talks with Mercedes to invest in electric vans in Europe.
Coming up, the race to contain Ebola, we will look at what's being done on the ground in Uganda to protect people from the deadly disease in the U.S. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Uganda's Ebola outbreak is causing global concern, with the U.S. announcing enhanced screenings for inbound airline passengers traveling from the country; 44 cases have been confirmed in Uganda, including 10 health care workers. CNN's Larry Madowo reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even the dead are a risk. Every departure is a potential new case as Ebola continues to spread through Uganda.
LT. COL. DR. KYOBE HENRY BBOSA, UGANDAN HEALTH MINISTRY: The epidemic appears to have started around the beginning of September when people started dying in a small villages in (INAUDIBLE).
MADOWO (voice-over): 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 underreported cases.
BBOSA: This is a rapidly evolving picture.
MADOWO (voice-over): Uganda is no stranger to Ebola. The last outbreak in 2019 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, PRESIDENT OF UGANDA: (INAUDIBLE) Ugandans and all residents that the government has (INAUDIBLE) 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 approach a response to this type of outbreak.
MADOWO (voice-over): 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 early stages of development. But three of them have had some human data, some (INAUDIBLE) 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, as so-called ring 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 they developed with AstraZeneca.
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MADOWO (voice-over): Fresh hope against a deadly disease that has ravaged the African nations for decades -- Larry Madowo, CNN, Ghana.
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BRUNHUBER: And with us now to discuss the ongoing Ebola outbreak is UCLA professor Dr. Anne Rimoin.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So as we know all too well from COVID-19, any outbreak of a deadly disease worldwide should be concerning to all of us everywhere. But we don't want to panic.
How worried should we be here in the U.S. and in other countries about the latest outbreak?
DR. ANNE RIMOIN, EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, thank you for having me. Always a pleasure to be with you.
You're asking a very important question, how concerned should we be?
Well, globally, we always have to be concerned. As I've said before, an infection anywhere is potentially an infection everywhere. That said, I think that we have to be really thoughtful about controlling the outbreak where it starts.
I think that the risk to the United States is very low. I think if we do have a case, we will be able to contain it very quickly as we did in the United States in the past. But really we need to be thinking about how do we help Uganda contain this now.
BRUNHUBER: So how concerning is it, though, that there is no vaccine for this strain?
And how long might it take to make one?
RIMOIN: There are many vaccine candidates that are available and they need to be trialed. Uganda is working very quickly with collaborators to be able to get these vaccines tested in the field, in this current situation.
You know, the good news and the bad news is that there have been other outbreaks. We are now very familiar, unfortunately, with how to be able to test these kind of vaccines in urgent situations.
And so I have every confidence that the government of Uganda, with collaborators, will be able to test these quickly and to really assess how well they work.
BRUNHUBER: As I said in the intro, the U.S. announced it's screening passengers from Uganda.
How effective is screening passengers?
I mean, it didn't work all that well, for example, for containing COVID.
RIMOIN: Well, Ebola is a very, very different kind of pathogen than COVID-19. I mean, certainly in terms of screening, it may catch something. But it's really not likely to be the most effective way of being able to contain this outbreak.
The most effective way is to provide resources to the Ugandan government to be able to do the kind of surveillance necessary, to have the kind of PPE, the therapeutics, all of the materials available to them, to be able to contain this virus at its source.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean, you've referenced the past; we have that experience, especially from 2014, during what was the worst ever Ebola epidemic in history. And then back then, I mean, you talk about surveillance, back then it was weak surveillance.
Poor public health infrastructure meant that it spread pretty quickly. And we had 11 people here in this country treated for Ebola.
What lessons have been learned from that?
And what more should the U.S. be doing beyond screening at airports and so on?
RIMOIN: Well, Kim, you bring up a very important question.
What more can we do?
When are we going to learn this lesson, that the best way to prevent pandemics, epidemics, outbreaks is to get it to the source before it starts?
We need a better global health surveillance system and to be doing things like getting diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines ready. You know, if you think back to the last 20 years, we've been seeing more and more outbreaks occur over and over again. The time between outbreaks is becoming shorter and shorter.
So we have to learn that lesson. And to -- it's, as I've said before, it's much easier to stay out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble. And it couldn't be more true than when it comes to preventing spread of disease.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Well said. Listen, always appreciate your expertise on our problem. Thank you so much for joining us.
RIMOIN: It's my pleasure.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, much needed changes to America's top sports league. How the NFL plans to protect its players from dangerous head injuries. Stay with us.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, ignition. And liftoff. Falcon 9.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): That was the scene in Florida on Saturday, as a SpaceX rocket launched two communications satellites into orbit. The satellites are called the Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34.
They are owned by Intelsat and they're part of a project to replace part of the company's aging fleet of satellites that keep cable television stations on air, including CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: An urgent change is coming to America's most popular sports leagues. The NFL says it's updating its concussion protocol to better protect the safety of its players.
Under the new rules, the league will no longer allow athletes to compete if they experience poor muscle control. It comes after officials were criticized for the way they handled the injury of Tua Tagovailoa.
Two weeks ago the player was cleared to compete, despite having hurt his head. He would he later be hospitalized with a concussion.
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BRUNHUBER: Now to an incredible moment and unbelievable teamwork captured on camera. Have a look here.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): In Michigan, frantic parents waved down a public school bus driver after their car was stolen with their 2-year old inside. CNN affiliate WXMI reports the bus driver called 9-1-1 and radioed to other bus drivers to be on the lookout.
Another bus driver found the toddler near where the car was stolen. The driver put the child in the bus and kept the boy safe. Thanks to the quick action of the bus drivers, the child was safely returned to his parents.
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BRUNHUBER: It took 20 years of waiting but the parents in this story here, they finally did it, they reproduced. Have a look here.
Conservationists at the San Diego Zoo showed off their tiny Indian narrow-headed softshell turtles. They found two nests with 41 eggs over the summer and now they're hatching. The turtles are native to South Asia and are listed as endangered. While they're tiny now, they will grow to a length of 3.5 feet.
Congratulations to the happy parents there. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers
in North America, "NEW DAY" is next. For other viewers, it's "MARKETPLACE ASIA."
