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U.S. Midterms; Tornadoes Reported Across The U.S. South; U.S. Announces $400 Million In New Military Aid For Ukraine; Trump Misses Document Deadline; London Mayor Demands Review Of Asylum Seekers' Treatment; South Korea Detects Four Short-Range Missiles From North Korea; Hong Kong Rugby Event Returns. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired November 05, 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): Hello and 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, it's the final weekend before critical midterm elections here in the U.S. I'll tell you where the big names are focused and whose message seems to be resonating with voters.
Tornadoes are wreaking havoc in the south central U.S. At least nine touched down in Texas. We're live at the weather center in just a few minutes.
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JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The United States is going to be with Ukraine for as long as it takes in this fight. There will be no wavering, no flagging, no flinching, in our support, as we go forward.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A top U.S. official meets with President Zelenskyy in Ukraine and announces a new round of military aid. I'll have a live report from Kyiv, just ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The January 6 investigation, the U.S. President's domestic agenda, voting rights, abortion rights all on the line as Americans prepare to vote in next Tuesday's midterm elections.
Candidates across the board are pulling out all of the stops in the final weekend of campaigning. President Biden in Illinois this morning with a message on lowering prescription prices and shoring up Social Security and Medicare. Then, he'll head to battleground Pennsylvania where a crucial Senate
seat is in play. Despite the discouraging poll numbers of late, the president sounded optimistic. Here he is.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know you always ask me, how are we doing?
We're going to win this time around. I feel really good about our chances.
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BRUNHUBER: Now Biden isn't the only political star hitting the campaign trail this week. In the hours ahead, he will rally with former president Barack Obama in Pennsylvania for the Democrat Senate nominee.
Later, Donald Trump will hold his own event for the state's Republican nominee. And over the next few days, we'll see more rallies from Florida to Illinois, where Vice President Kamala Harris is also set to speak.
Now according to two prominent election models, from FiveThirtyEight and "The Economist," races in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania are so close they're considered tossups. Four others tilt in one favor of one party or the other.
In Arizona, New Hampshire leaned Democratic, while North Carolina and Wisconsin lean Republican. It's important to remember these are predictions. Vote tallies are what counts. So how close are the races?
Well, here's CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten.
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HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Let's start in Arizona. Mark Kelly barely ahead of Blake Masters. No clear leader there.
Go to Georgia with the latest Marist College poll has a dead even race, 49-49. Georgia, there's a special rule there. You need a majority of the vote. If no candidate gets the majority of the votes, that means a runoff in December.
Finally in Pennsylvania where John Fetterman is taking on Mehmet Oz, we have two different polls, one that shows Fetterman up by six and the other that has them tied, so who really knows.
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BRUNHUBER: It's been jaw-dropping here in Georgia. More than 2 million people have already voted. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the record breaking early voting in Georgia is coming to a close. At least 2.4 million ballots have been cast. There are still mail-in ballots yet to be returned. So these numbers are going to continue to grow.
But what is undeniable is the enthusiasm here in this southern state, as the entire nation watches what could be control of the U.S. Senate.
That Senate race between Democratic incumbent senator Raphael Warnock and his opponent Republican Herschel Walker is in a statistical tie, as both candidates crisscross the state on bus tours, making their final pitches to voters.
There's also the much-watched gubernatorial race. It's a matchup, a rematch from 2018, between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican incumbent governor Brian Kemp.
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GALLAGHER: Now voters we spoke to at this particular polling place said they were very concerned about abortion rights, they were concerned about climate change.
But we talked to other voters across the state more in step with polling, who discussed the economy and crime as some of their top issues that they care about going into the ballot box. Again, the entire nation watching what is happening here in Georgia, Election Day on Tuesday -- Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Atlanta.
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BRUNHUBER: A short time ago I spoke with political science professor Thomas Gift in London. I asked him to assess the mood ahead of the crucial election. Here it is.
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THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, I think, Kim, it's all the economy. It sort of started out the economy. Then some other issues percolated and it's back to the economy again.
That's really the story of the election and I think it's what's going to dominate. While I don't think inflation by itself is going to sink Democrats, it's really a problem they haven't been able to solve.
First Biden said inflation was going to be transitory. Now he's trying to blame other culprits -- COVID-19, price gouging, the war in Ukraine. There may be some merit to all of those justifications. But polls show voters are upset.
All of this, I think, was exacerbated to some extent by the policies that the Democrats pushed or at the very least some policies they put forward, like the Inflation Reduction Act.
It's true unemployment remains low, around 3.5 percent; consumer confidence is still fairly high. So there are some countervailing pressures on the economy. But inflation hits everyone and the majority party is going to get scapegoated and I think that's what this election is going to be about.
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BRUNHUBER: That was political science professor Thomas Gift speaking to us last hour.
And join us Tuesday for in-depth special coverage of the crucial midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. That starts at 4:00 pm Eastern, 9:00 in London.
It was a frightening sight for people in a number of states. More than a dozen tornadoes were reported late Friday across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas. And that number could increase in the coming hours.
Officials in Oklahoma say at least one person died in the storm and they're searching for possible missing people. At least 10 people were injured in Lamar County, Texas, after a tornado touched down there.
We're getting more new video into CNN. Have a look here.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This is in eastern Texas where you can see some houses were entirely demolished, trees knocked down, people's belongings, clothes, strewn about. This is in Bowie County, in Eastern Texas. This building ripped off its foundation and ripped to shreds. In Lamar County, people there are grateful to be alive. Listen to this.
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CRAIG HOLCOMB, TORNADO VICTIM: As soon as it happened, I started going to the houses, looking for people, making sure nobody's in them and stuff. So I've talked to all of our neighbors. Everyone that was home is safe. That's the main thing.
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BRUNHUBER: Of course, then they take stock of the damage and the tough task of cleaning up again.
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BRUNHUBER: Iran is making a stunning confession about supplying military drones to Russia and now says drones were transferred to Moscow. But there's also a disclaimer. We'll have a live report from Kyiv.
And Twitter's new owner makes good on his promise of massive job cuts. We'll hear from a former employee who lost his job in the latest round of layoffs. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Another $400 million worth of U.S. military aid will soon be headed to Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan announced the package on Friday. It includes dozens of refurbished tanks, drones and surface-to-air missiles. The Pentagon is also sending refurbished HAWK air defense systems.
It's all been made clear, Ukraine can count on more U.S. help and not just with weapons. Here he is.
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JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We laid out how we are thinking about making sure that the resources are there for continued security assistance, continued assistance to help power Ukraine's economy, continued assistance to help repair its energy grid, help for refugees and other humanitarian needs here.
And we fully intend to ensure that the resources are there as necessary and that we will get votes from both sides of the aisle to make that happen.
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BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Iran is making a major U-turn on its claim about supplying military drones to Russia. Iran's foreign minister now says that Iran did supply drones to Moscow but only in the months before Ukraine. Before, Iran had denied supplying drones. Salma Abdelaziz joins us from Kyiv.
Let's start with the news of Iran's about-face.
What more can you tell us about this stunning admission here?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very interesting statement from Iran's foreign minister, saying in a press conference that Iran did provide drones to Russia but it was in the months leading up to the invasion of Ukraine.
He goes on to say that he is isn't touch with his Ukrainian counterpart, the Ukrainian foreign minister, and they have asked for any evidence that Ukraine has that Iranian-made drones are being used here in Ukraine.
He goes on to say if indeed there are evidence that Iranian-made drones have been used in Ukraine by Russia, we will not be, quote, "indifferent to the matter," and that Iran's position on the war is that it should end peacefully and those forced out of their homes should be allowed to return. A bit of context, Kim: Iranian drones have been used in Ukraine,
because Ukrainians have found the remnants of those drones here in Kyiv. And those have been shown to journalists. We do know they have been used.
Iran has denied any involvement. But it's preparing even more. And these are really, really terrifying for civilians here in Ukraine, particularly the Shahed drone. It's difficult to detect, it's self- detonating, it's terrorized civilians across the country.
And again, because it's difficult to detect, that means it sometimes surpasses air defense systems. You did mention that Ukraine is receiving even more air-to-defense missiles from United States. And we'll see what happens, if Ukraine provides this evidence, what the next steps will be.
But it's also important for Tehran to point that out, that U.S. officials, European allies have warned Iran they could put in more sanctions if it continues to support Russia's war here.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely, plenty of consequences there. Salma, let's turn to the vital battle for Kherson.
What's the latest there?
ABDELAZIZ: So indications, Kim, that both sides are really gearing up for the battle for the all-important strategic region of Kherson. I just want to pull up a map to show you why it is important and what we are hearing as we talk through it.
If you look at that map, the Dnipro River cutting through Kherson, Russian-backed officials have imposed an evacuation, a forced evacuation, to create a 15-kilometer buffer zone all along the river.
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ABDELAZIZ: They also say, Ukrainian officials, that any boats, any water-crossing equipment are being destroyed by Russian forces. Essentially that they're trying to gain full control of that river, of that vital supply line, as Russian forces really dig in and prepare for this battle.
On the Ukrainian side, President Zelenskyy has absolutely vowed to win back these lands for Ukrainians. He says that they are preparing as well for that battle. There have been reports earlier this week that Russian forces might be pulling out of the city of Kherson.
Ukrainian officials have denied that. Again, this is not going to be an easy battle, especially heading into the winter months, Kim. Do not expect anything to change overnight.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Thanks a lot, Salma Abdelaziz. Appreciate it.
The Ukrainian president has two words to describe the recent wave of Russian strikes on the country's electricity system: energy terrorism. Some 4.5 million businesses and homes are now facing blackouts, including 450,000 in Kyiv alone. As Christiane Amanpour reports, the city's residents are learning how to cope with that.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Week four of Ukraine's new struggle against the cold and the dark, rolling blackouts blanket Kyiv, nighttime is spooky and we are entering this high rise apartment complex to see how the residents are coping with Russia's constant attacks on key infrastructure.
Up to the 12th floor, no light in the stairwell but our cameras and no elevator. Luliia Mendel meets us hobbling down on crutches and the foot she fractured by tripping over the steps the first night of the Blackouts.
LULIIA MENDELL, JOURNALIST: Hi.
AMANPOUR: Hi.
(voice-over): She's a journalist and a former press secretary to President Zelenskyy.
(on camera): Hi, how are you?
(voice-over): Together we visit her neighbor Natalia with an 18- month-old daughter Lina (ph), just one of a whole generation of war traumatized Kyiv kids, especially with the constant air raid sirens.
(on camera): Is she stressed?
NATALIA HORBAN, KYIV RESIDENT: She is like, uh-uh, she's pointing to the window.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
HORBAN: So she knows that something goes wrong. AMANPOUR (voice- over): The two of them are recovering from a two hour ordeal trapped in that tiny elevator when the power went out. Now all over Kyiv, residents are putting small care boxes inside with water, snacks and anti-anxiety medicines.
By the time we sat down to talk, the power popped back on again after nine hours on this day.
(on camera): Do you feel demoralized?
Do you feel like OK, all right, enough already, it's time to surrender and negotiate?
MENDEL: No way. Look, we have past through the hardships of '90s. And we didn't have light water heating and everything for hours and hours every day. And that then was desperate because we didn't -- we knew it was about poverty, now it's about war and we know that we must win.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Winning this phase of the war comes with weapons like these to charge phones and any other emergency equipment. HORBAN: It's the most important thing here to have in Ukraine. It's a power bank, without it, you don't have any connection. And it's the most important now to know that your relatives are OK.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): They tell us generators are almost all sold out and super expensive now, as well as candles, torches and headlamps. Natalia has improvised light from a water bottle and her iPhone.
Downtown, it's dire for businesses too. Every beauty salon operates on hair dryers for that blowout and, of course, water to wash out the shampoo and the die. Olena (ph) is taking her chances today that.
OLENA (PH) (through translator): After we finished dyeing it, I might have to go home to dry it but it's fine.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Just one floor here has power and the others are dark. Before the war, Hairhouse had 150 clients a day. Now it's more like 50 and the salon has lost 60 percent of its revenue.
But as Dmytro, the commercial manager tells me, they keep calm and carry on.
DMYTRO MEDVEDEV, COMMERCIAL MANAGER, HAIRHOUSE: I believe that we should work even without light. Even without electricity, we should help our army, we should help our people and we will do our job to the end. And we believe that sooner or later the light will come.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Like so many civilians, they say, enduring these hardships on the home front is part of their war effort supporting their troops on the front lines who are fighting to keep Ukraine independent fighting for their homeland -- Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kyiv.
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BRUNHUBER: Former U.S. President Donald Trump sends a message to the January 6 committee but fails to comply with their request for documents. Details and a look at what happens next, after the break. 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.
Well, in three days, the U.S. will hold midterm elections to decide which party controls Congress and command of the Senate will likely come down to these four races. In Arizona, senator Mark Kelly will try to fend off Republican
challenger Blake Masters trailing so far in the polls.
In Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto is tied with Adam Laxalt.
In Georgia, Raphael Warnock is in a tight race with Herschel Walker. And the winner will need an outright majority.
And in Pennsylvania, the race between Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman is still considered a toss-up.
And the committee investigating the attack on the Capitol has extended its deadline for Trump to provide documents. The committee announced the move in a statement, acknowledging Trump failing to honor its initial subpoena.
The panel said it, quote, "received correspondence," end quote, connected with the subpoena from Trump's legal team but did not explain what that correspondence was.
The new deadline for documents is no later than next week. And the former president remains under subpoena for testimony beginning November 14th.
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BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is Jessica Levinson, professor of law at Loyola Law School and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast.
Thanks so much for being here.
To start, are you surprised by the committee giving Donald Trump an extension?
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BRUNHUBER: I mean it seems to play into his hands, making it easier for him to run out the clock on the Democratic majority.
JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: It does but I think they're looking at the electoral clock. And they understand that this committee is going to be dissolved in December.
So to the extent they can get anything from the former president, I think they're seeing that as a win. They didn't give him limitless time. They gave him basically a few more days.
And I think they're hoping that they can get some useful information. And they also want to show good faith, that they're trying to agree to allow him to comply as much as he's willing to. And then they still can consider legal options.
BRUNHUBER: Do you think they actually will get anything from him?
It seems doubtful, no? LEVINSON: That's the big question, as to whether or not they get anything. The fact that he's talking at all, the fact that he's interacting with them at all is a sign that maybe they will get something. My guess is it will be a small sliver of what is actually responsive to the subpoena.
At this point we're talking about documents but there is also that November 4th deadline for testimony. And the former president has not ruled that out. But it's difficult to imagine that he actually would appear and answer questions.
BRUNHUBER: It seems like they're kicking the can further down the road here. Meantime, we got hints that Donald Trump may announce he's running for president as soon as the week of November 14th, as the DOJ is discussing the need for a special counsel to oversee the two federal investigations into Trump.
Do you think they will basically have no choice if they want to avoid the appearance of the Biden administration targeting his political rival?
LEVINSON: Well, I think that's certainly part of the point of announcing now that he wants to run for president, because any investigation, even an ongoing investigation that started far before the former president became a candidate again, will potentially look politically motivated or, at the very least, he will continue to claim it is.
Now is the only choice here basically a special counsel, somebody to come in as an independent overseer?
You know, I'm not sure at this point that the former president would accept anybody as truly independent.
We can imagine because we remember what happened with respect to the Robert Mueller investigation and how he was really vilified by the former president.
So I'm not actually convinced at this point that there will be some appointment of an independent person to oversee these two investigations; in part because you need somebody who is qualified, who is viewed as independent and who wants to do it.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. A good point. And even Trump-appointed judges, who have ruled against the former president, have been accused of being part of this witch hunt and so on.
So hard to say but do you think it's likely that Donald Trump will be indicted?
And if he is, for what?
For his involvement in overturning the 2020 election or the documents at Mar-a-Lago?
LEVINSON: You only ask me the easy questions. I would say, if we were talking about somebody whose name is not Donald Trump, I think, if you look at the evidence piled up in either of these investigations, the answer has to be that an indictment is possible.
I think at this point potentially the easiest legal path is related to the Mar-a-Lago investigation, in part because the January 6 investigation is just so new to our country it takes in some ways creative legal arguments. It's not to say they won't indict.
But Mar-a-Lago is the more typical indictment that we see with respect to other people. Of course, there's nothing typical about this.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, exactly right. So if the Republicans do take the House, presumably, as you said, they'll shut down the January 6 committee. They have a long list as well of targets for their own investigations and possibly impeachments. Here's the president on Thursday.
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BIDEN: I've already been told, if they win back the House and Senate, they're going to impeach me. I don't know what they'll impeach me for.
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BIDEN: Recently, they said we should stop talking about that until we win.
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BIDEN: Well, all kidding aside, think about it, so much is at stake.
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BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean, he was sort of doing a bit there. But he's right, so much at stake, as he says.
So what are you expecting here?
LEVINSON: So I'm expecting that if, in fact, Republicans do take the House, I think they will follow through on what they've been saying, that there will be investigations. They will try and impeach even the current president.
I don't think they have specified what that will be for. And I don't think that it will be successful. At this point, there's nothing that President Biden has done that is an impeachable offense, at least that's come to public light.
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LEVINSON: We're certainly aware of nothing that would indicate that he's committed a public offense which is an impeachable offense. But I think we'll have at least two years of lots of investigations. I don't know at this point and I don't know that Republicans know into what.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, they've talked about Hunter Biden, going after Dr. Fauci, investigating the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The list seems endless.
Is it just going to be another couple years of chaos, basically?
LEVINSON: I think it will be. And depending on what happens with respect to some Supreme Court decisions dealing with election laws, I think it can be even more chaotic than we're predicting or we will predict next week, after we have most of the results from the midterm elections.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, depending on all of the legal challenges that we may be discussing coming out of that, listen, we'll have to leave it there. Thanks so much for joining me, Jessica Levinson, really appreciate it as always.
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BRUNHUBER: Former Trump adviser and strategist Steve Bannon has filed a notice of appeal following his conviction for contempt of Congress. Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for failing to appear before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.
Bannon was also convicted of not turning over documents to the committee. Bannon is free, awaiting his appeal.
San Francisco's district attorney said the police and FBI had a successful interview with Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shortly after he was attacked last Friday in his home.
The prosecutor told CNN that Pelosi had good recall of the events and was able to convey that to the investigators. He's now back home after spending six days in the hospital for a skull fracture and other injuries. His wife spoke on camera for the first time after the attack. Here she is.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words, your prayers and your good wishes for Paul. It's going to be a long haul but he will be well. And it's just so tragic how it happened.
But, nonetheless, we have to be optimistic. He's surrounded by family, so that's a wonderful thing.
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BRUNHUBER: Pelosi's alleged attacker waived his appearance in court on Friday. A status hearing is set for later this month, with a preliminary hearing in mid-December. He's pleaded not guilty to all state charges, including attempted murder.
Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, has carried out his pledge of sweeping job cuts at the social media giant. He laid off about 3,700 staffers, about half of the workforce. He tweeted, quote, "Unfortunately, there's no choice when the company
is losing over $4 million a day. I think everyone who exited was offered three months of severance."
The company locked its doors, cut access to internal systems and informed employees by email. An employee who was let go spoke about his experience.
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SIMON BALMAIN, FORMER TWITTER MANAGER: It's been really a journey since April, since he first made that offer and spent most of the summer trying to get out of it. Even today, he's at a conference that he tried to get out of it, which we all knew and publicly attacked the company and the work the company was doing the whole time.
And ultimately, you know, he had to complete this deal or face the court case. I think when it finally happened, it wasn't so much him coming in that day or anything like that but it was the immediate firing of the whole executive team, I think, that really hit a lot of people.
Because these are people, managers or managers' managers, people who have very strong connections and relationships and communications with a lot of senior executives, who were very good, some very incredible people.
That was definitely a big shock to have that whole sort of layer cut out and no communication from the new management at all in that time was -- yes, it was weird and difficult to deal with, for sure. It's frustrating, of course.
The sort of waves of annoyance and frustration and all that stuff are absolutely mitigated by the extreme solidarity we've seen from people in the company, people in the same position, people that left the company in years gone by. It's like a giant support network, which has been absolutely amazing.
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BRUNHUBER: Twitter employees have filed a class action lawsuit, arguing the layoffs violate the 60 days advance notice required by federal and California law.
London's mayor is calling for an urgent review of how the British government treats asylum seekers. It comes after reports of abuse, neglect and overcrowding in migrant facilities, amid controversy of comments made by the home secretary.
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CNN's Bianca Nobilo explains.
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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The British government is under increasing fire for an immigration system that even it admits is broken. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called for an urgent review into the treatment of asylum seekers after a group of asylum seekers was reportedly left stranded in central London this week.
This as police are investigating two incidents of sexual assault at the London hotel used to house migrants. Charities have been warning of dire conditions in an overcrowded immigration center in Kent called Manston.
Disease outbreaks and zoo-like conditions are among what is being reported there. The controversially reappointed home secretary Suella Braverman has told the House of Commons that 40,000 people have tried to cross into United Kingdom by boats this year.
She characterized this as an invasion on our southern coast, to instant backlash. Amid mounting pressure, the home secretary visited the immigration center on Thursday in a military helicopter to speak to officials and survey the conditions.
She's singled out Albanians, who according to U.K. government figures, make up around a third of the small boat crossings. The Albanian Prime Minister accused Rishi Sunak's government of un-British attitudes toward migration, saying that Albanians are being used as a scapegoat.
With the number of people trying to get into the United Kingdom by the coast increasing and an immigration system at breaking point, the humanitarian and political issues are not likely to go away anytime soon -- Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: North Korea is once again firing missiles. We're live in Beijing with escalating signs of tension along the peninsula. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): South Korea is either cancelling or at least minimizing events that are likely to draw huge crowds. Now these images came to us from Seoul moments ago, a vigil for the 156 people killed in crowd surge during Halloween festivities.
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BRUNHUBER: The city's government says street viewing events for the 2022 Qatar World Cup have been called off. The music awards announced on Friday it's minimizing the red carpet event and cancelling the live broadcasting plan. While you'll see vigils like this, some people are using social media
to express frustration, saying the government is forcing people to mourn and making them further depressed.
A short time ago, South Korea's military reported detecting four short-range ballistic missiles fired from North Korea. Selina Wang joins us from Beijing.
Selina, the frequency of these launches is raising eyebrows. Take us through the latest launches and the context of what we've been seeing thus far.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim, this week, it's really been this unprecedented barrage of weapons testing from North Korea. By CNN's count, this would be North Korea's 31st day of missile launches just this year.
So the big question, of course, is what does Kim Jong-un want?
We know that he's unhappy by the U.S.-South Korea joint military drills that were happening this week. We also know he's not happy about the new South Korean leadership that's taking a much more hawkish stance from North Korea.
So starting on Monday, we really saw the tensions dramatically escalate. That's when we saw the beginning of Operation Vigilant Storm, the large-scale military exercises between South Korea and the United States, that involved thousands of military personnel from both sides.
It involved hundreds of aircraft. North Korea released a lot of harsh and angry rhetoric in response to this, calling it a rehearsal for an invasion.
And then on Wednesday, we saw North Korea fire the most missiles ever in a single day. Also this week, North Korea firing a suspected ICBM and that also this week, we saw South Korea scrambling for fighter jets because they detected a large number of North Korean warplanes.
Now those U.S.-South Korea military drills that were scheduled to wrap up today, well, they were actually extended by one day. And the announcement came about extension, well, it only angered North Korea even more.
What is next? This is what concerns analysts and experts watching this, because they say Kim Jong-un could be preparing for something even bigger.
Just last week the U.N. nuclear watchdog warned that North Korea could be preparing for its first nuclear test since 2017. There was also a U.N. Security Council meeting this week, where we heard the U.S. accusing Russia and China for providing blanket protection for North Korea over any further U.N. Security Council action.
We have also heard Russia and China, both, what the U.S. says, bend over backwards to try and justify all of these weapons launches from North Korea.
Now the context here is that, for Kim Jong-un, these weapons are critical for him and what he says is regime stability and providing any leverage in potential discussions with the United States. The U.S. has reiterated that it is still open to diplomacy and discussion with North Korea -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. I appreciate you monitoring all of the developments there, Selina Wang.
After years of COVID caution, they're throwing caution to the wind in Hong Kong. We'll tell you about the return of a major international sporting event, when we come back. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Hong Kong is ready to party like it's 2019 -- in other words, before the pandemic made getting together in crowds and cheering for your favorite teams nearly impossible. Now the Hong Kong Sevens is back. As we hear from Kristie Lu Stout, the city is ready to show it's back as well.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the city's biggest sporting event. It after a long hiatus, the Hong Kong Sevens is back.
ROBBIE MCROBBIE, CEO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HONG KONG RUGBY UNION: We really want to make a statement that we still hear Hong Kong is still a resilient, vibrant city; we're still open for business.
STOUT: This iconic leg in the global rugby series is Hong Kong's first major sporting event since the pandemic began. It's seen by many as a symbol of the city's reopening after more than two years of isolation.
STOUT (voice-over): Hotel quarantine has been eliminated, social distancing restrictions eased and hoping to revive its status as a global business hub. Hong Kong this week hosted a high profile financial summit of first and almost three years.
SEBASTIAN PAREDES, CEO, DBS BANK HONG KONG: We've been closed for too long. We are beginning to open up following the other parts of the world that have already opened up. And this is a tangible demonstration that Hong Kong is back.
STOUT (voice-over): Back but not quite a mask mandate remains in effect. Visitors are not allowed into restaurants or bars during the first three days in the city. And then there's the task of navigating Hong Kong amid simmering U.S.-China tensions.
VERA YUEN, LECTURER OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: The West would now understand that Hong Kong is not only part of China but its closer to China than before. This geopolitical tension is going to cloud the future of Hong Kong's economic development.
STOUT (voice-over): Hong Kong needs the return of international business. In the wake of punishing COVID-19 controls and Beijing's political crackdown, its economy is struggling. Talent has been leaving in droves and competition is rising from regional rivals like Singapore.
To bring in more business, Hong Kong's top leader, who was sanctioned by the U.S. government --
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STOUT (voice-over): -- recently unveiled a $3.8 billion trial for top global talent.
ALICIA GARCIA-HERRERO, CHIEF ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIST, NATIXIS SA: I wanted to focus on the visa requirements because I think that particular policy will bring talent from the Mainland. It will be more Mainland dominated, it won't be as global as it used to be, it will be a different international financial center.
STOUT (voice-over): For more than four decades, people from all over the world would come to Hong Kong for the sport and the spectacle. This year the fans are back. But thanks to lingering COVID curbs at a reduced capacity and with far fewer international guests.
MCROBBIE: We're not quite back to full normality yet but we're well on that path. And I think we are hopefully an important milestone on that journey.
STOUT (voice-over): The buzz is back but it's hard to reclaim the title as Asia's world city when the stands are stacked with local fans -- Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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BRUNHUBER: In less than 24 hours, the clock will be set back, the official time is 2:00 am Sunday. And most digital devices will update automatically. People in Arizona and Hawaii, they don't observe Daylight Saving Time so the clock change won't affect them.
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can follow me @KimBrunhuber. For other viewers, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For others, it's "AFRICA AVANT-GARDE."
