Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Protests Across China In Unprecedented Challenge To Zero-COVID Policy; Former NASA Astronaut Tours Devastated Parts Of Ukraine; NASA Releases New Images Of Moon From Artemis Program. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 27, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

BEN MANKIEWICZ, HOST, "TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES": These movie is a little bit different than the rest of the year, but the plan, the key to any movie, be it a Christmas movie or any other movie is that it moves us in a meaningful way, and the movies you've mentioned they do, whether it is by making us laugh or making us cry, or if they are a particularly special movie like "It's a Wonderful Life" by doing both.

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: Ben Mankiewicz, thank you so much for joining us.

And be sure to tune in "'Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen" premieres tonight at 8:00 PM only on CNN.

I'm Paula Reid. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right now.

[15:00:36]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington and we are following the very latest on rare scenes of protest and defiance across China as the regime's Zero-COVID Policy is leaving citizens with zero tolerance and zero patience. Anger is growing after never-ending, stringent lockdowns that cost the Chinese people money, social freedoms, and in some cases their lives.

These widespread protests come just days after high rise apartment of fire killed 10 people. Video appears to show lockdown measures delaying firefighters from getting quick access to the scene in a Southwestern province of China. Crowds can be heard chanting "Freedom of speech. Freedom of the press." Others are calling on President Xi Jinping of China to step down holding blank white pieces of paper symbolizing censorship, their inability to express themselves on full display there.

And indeed in many areas, these peaceful protesters are already being censored and confronted by police.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

ACOSTA: In Shanghai, a man gave his speech while holding flowers only to be dragged away and this video shows police beating and dragging a protester across the ground. Amnesty International warning that in the coming hours and days, we can see more of this, more arrests and long prison sentences for protesters.

Let's go now to CNN's Selina Wang at a protest in Beijing.

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So I'm in the middle of the protest that is happening in Beijing. It's just past 1:00 AM. There is a crowd of mostly young people that have gathered here to protest the COVID measures in China. They've been chanting "No to COVID tests, yes to freedom." And this is happening in Chaoyang District. This is where the center of the COVID outbreak is in Beijing, where they urge all residents to stay at home. So, it's really unprecedented that we're seeing such a large crowd of people here.

A lot of the folks as well, you can see they're holding these white pieces of paper. This is a symbol of anti-censorship. And we also saw protests in Shanghai, we saw protesters also hold those white pieces of paper.

Now in this district as well, around here, there are many foreign embassies, including the American Embassy over there. So, notable that they chose this site for this protest.

Now, this protest has been going on already for several hours. It's very late. You can see the policeman right now is telling me to move back a little bit, but there is a large police presence here, actually on this whole row -- a whole row of policemen, but it is a peaceful protest so far.

You could hear the cheering, the chanting, cars are also driving by frequently, they're honking in solidarity. The folks here don't look like they're going anywhere, anytime soon.

ACOSTA: All right, and we'll have much more on those protests throughout this program this afternoon.

Turning now to the war in Ukraine where Russian shelling today has killed at least two people. This comes hours after two Russian missiles slammed into a rail facility in Eastern Ukraine heavily damaging it and at least 13 people were injured in a nearby missile attack.

But after days of darkness, the lights are coming back on in much of Ukraine. The country's national power supplier says it has repaired most of the electric grid after Russian strikes last week caused widespread blackouts.

Our next guest arrived in Kyiv overnight to assess the toll of the war firsthand, retired NASA astronaut and a regular guest on this program, Scott Kelly joins us now from the Ukrainian capital.

Scott, great to see you, and I know you're getting a full picture of what's happening there as best as you can. You have to see these Russian atrocities for yourself you have said and you just visited Ukraine's largest pediatric hospital. Tell us about that visit.

SCOTT KELLY, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Jim, so it was -- you know, on one hand, it was really sad to see the horrific injuries that these children have as a result of Russian airstrikes. But, you know, somewhat you know, it was also heartwarming to see their resilience and, you know, like the resilience I think that all the Ukrainian people are demonstrating in this horrific war.

[15:05:00]

KELLY: But also you know, like, I said just very, very sad to see and it's just hard to understand how Russia could attack this country and knowingly attack and kill and wound and maim children. It's really horrific.

ACOSTA: And you also visited Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv. We spent a lot of time reporting on this area of Ukraine. The area contains a mass grave with evidence of civilian slaughter, hundreds of civilians were murdered there by the Russians. How does -- and we remember these images -- we're showing them on screen now -- vividly, because it was an international outrage at the time. What did you see today?

KELLY: You know, not only you see the photographic evidence, the place where the mass graves are located, but just talking to the people that lived through this, and when they came back to Bucha to hear firsthand from them how they found people just murdered in the streets, bodies buried in mass graves, the stories of murder, torture, rape, looting was just horrific, and the war crimes are unconscionable.

ACOSTA: And another reason you're there is because you're an adviser to a company that is donating a radiation protection equipment for Ukrainian first responders, if I have that right.

KELLY: Yes.

ACOSTA: That would be in case of a Chernobyl-type event. I guess, first of all that tells us that this is a huge concern. This is a big worry there in Ukraine. How important is that protection going to be do you think and how necessary is it do you think?

KELLY: So the company is called StemRad and they are a company that actually has hardware on Orion right now that is designed to protect the future astronauts that will fly around the moon, but they also make a radiation protective vests that would protect the first responders in the event of a radiation, a nuclear accident, or, you know, I hate to say, even a nuclear attack.

In the case, if you compare it to Chernobyl, over 90 percent of the people that died would have survived, the first responders would have survived had they had this technology. So, we're providing it to the Ukrainian government, so I'm here for that. But I'm also here to raise awareness for the fundraising, not only for my own cause to raise money for ambulances, but for Ukraine, to save people's lives, but also a new initiative to raise money for generators for hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure that Russia continues to destroy.

ACOSTA: And how important is all of this? You know, we've talked to a number of people on this show. Other folks have been on other programs here on CNN talking about, I mean, it's almost like a voluntary effort that is underway. You know, we had Jose Andres talking about food yesterday, to supplement what the Ukrainians are doing and supplement what governments from around the world are doing, including the United States. How critical is it to see these voluntary efforts go in there and try to lend a hand?

KELLY: Absolutely critical, and just to see the resilience of the Ukrainian people and how they've all come together to combat this, you know, enormous enemy that is fighting this war in an illegal way, I think it's incumbent on any person that has the ability to help if you believe in freedom and democracy, I think you should find a way to contribute and help because not only is Ukraine fighting for their own freedom, but I think they're defending democracy for every freedom- loving person around the world.

ACOSTA: And before we go, we have to ask you about your area of expertise, space, and there is a lot to tackle, but one question, in particular, SpaceX is carrying a fresh load of supplies to the International Space Station, including tomato seeds, this could ultimately impact the way astronauts eat in space. How important would that be? And I guess what, what do you see in this mission right now?

KELLY: You know, someday we're going to go to Mars and fresh food is going to be important, and when you're that far away, you're not going to be able to send it from Earth, you're going to have to grow it yourself.

So, you know, growing tomatoes now on the Space Station is a stepping stone from another level from when I was on the Space Station, we were growing lettuce and flowers. Tomatoes are more complicated. It's going to be great to follow along, and I'm sure that technology one day is going to help us get to Mars.

ACOSTA: All right, well, we'll let you get back to the stuff you're doing on the ground here on Earth, which is lending a hand in Ukraine, a greatly needed thing. Hats off to, Scott, as always.

Keep us posted on how things are going over there. We'd love to check back in with you. Safe travels.

KELLY: I will. Absolutely. Thank you, Jim. Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right, Scott Kelly, thanks very much.

In other news from space, there are images from space that both inspire and humble and NASA is releasing these incredible photos of the moon taken by the Orion spacecraft as part of the Artemis 1 Mission.

[15:10:10]

ACOSTA: NASA says Orion has surpassed the record set by the Apollo 13 mission when it comes to the distance traveled in a spacecraft designed to transport humans. By tomorrow, Orion will be more than 270,000 miles away from Earth. The hope is all of this work will eventually establish a path to Mars. Scott Kelly was just talking about that a few moments ago.

Joining me now is someone you also know well, renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson He's also the author of the book, "Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization," a book I could never write, but thank goodness, we have Neil to talk about all of this.

Neil, for people who say we've seen pictures of the moon before, why is this so special? You know, I guess I shouldn't ask that type of question, because who cares what they think -- no, I'm just kidding. But this is an extraordinary thing that's taking place right now. It really is, isn't it?

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST AND AUTHOR, "STARRY MESSENGER": Personally, I think it should have happened decades ago. It has been 50 years, 50 count them, since we left low Earth orbit. That was the 1972 Apollo 17 Mission that went to the moon, walked on the moon, returned to Earth. We haven't left low Earth orbit since then.

So for me, it's a long time coming that this should have been happening decades ago. So for me, it's not -- yes, of course, we've seen pictures from the moon, but it is communicating something else that we are redoubling our efforts to turn space into our backyard.

And I think overall, that's a good thing for civilization, because to think that Earth is the only thing we should ever think about and care about when we're this dot in the middle of this vast universe, which has unlimited resources, unlimited discovery that could ultimately come back and help what our problems are here on Earth, I'm all for it.

ACOSTA: Yes, and I mean, we were just talking to Scott Kelly about this. He is going to be talking to the Ukrainians about a radiation vest technology that's used in the space and applying it on the ground in Ukraine to try to protect the people there in case there's some sort of Chernobyl type of incident. So, you're absolutely right about that.

And all of this brings to mind the words of astronomer, Carl Sagan, when he wrote of Earth as a pale blue dot. He said look again at that dot that's here, that's home. That's us on it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. These new images, they really do put things in perspective.

TYSON: Yes, because when you go into space, especially Deep Space, and you see Earth there not as you learned it in your schoolroom globe, with color coded countries, no. It is says nature intended you to see it with mountains, land and clouds and oceans and that that can change you.

I have this diabolical plan where I get Elon to build a space bus and we have -- there's the Airbus company to make a space bus, cram all the warring leaders of the world onto that bus, send them out to the moon and have them gaze upon Earth and contemplate what their hegemonistic motives ever meant or would mean going forward. Because here we are together, alone, and get once again to quote Carl, with no hint that help from elsewhere is going to come to save us from ourselves. We are in this bathtub together called Earth and space, so change you for the better.

ACOSTA: And let's talk about Mars. Scott was talking about Mars, I want to talk about Mars with you. The hunt for life beyond Earth, the Mars Rover dug up some intriguing clues finding signs of a watery past, rocks loaded with the kind of organic molecules that formed the building blocks of life. I hope I have that right. How significant is that?

TYSON: Yes, so this continues to affirm the possibility, let me even say likelihood that the prevalence of water elsewhere, not just on Earth, the prevalence of organic molecules elsewhere, not just on Earth -- by the way, we found organic molecules in meteors, okay, meteorites that have been found here on Earth that fell from space.

So all the basic ingredients are there, and the question is what kind of spark is necessary? Spark is a very loose word I'm using there to go from inanimate organic molecules to self-replicating life. That's a big frontier in Biology today, but it happened on Earth and it happened pretty quickly.

And Mars, a near neighbor, to have all the right ingredients, this gives us very high expectations for there to be life in many, many places possibly in our solar system, but certainly across the galaxy.

[15:15:07]

ACOSTA: I mean, what is your sense now, Neil speaking of Mars, as to when humans can get there.

TYSON: Yes, that's complicated. And dare I say, I wrote a whole book on this, "Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier." Mars is expensive and it's dangerous. And generally just the urge to want to do something that's expensive and dangerous doesn't ever get funded, unless there is some geopolitical reason that drives it. I'm reading "The History of Civilization" by the way, when I say this -- some geopolitical reason, or a very clean and clear economic return on that investment.

As a result, I don't see it happening as soon as others do, unless some adversary says we're going to put military bases on Mars, and we say, well, we better get there as fast as possible. And if that were the case, we'd be there in 10 months, no doubt about it.

ACOSTA: Right. And I think some of that competitive, I guess, energy that you're talking about is driving, I think part of the reason why we're desperate to get back to the moon. I think there's part of that involved in that, right?

TYSON: Yes, yes. I mean, we don't want to be so blunt and admit it to ourselves, but when China started rising up, and fulfilling on their promises of what they would accomplish in space, and the moon showed up in their targets, and possibly Mars, that became a flame lit beneath us to sort of redouble our efforts that had been languishing for decades. So, I don't think that as a driver can be ignored in this case.

ACOSTA: And NASA's James Webb Telescope has also given us new data about an exoplanet, a planet outside of our solar system. Let's talk about this, it's as massive as Saturn, eight times closer to a star than Mercury is to the Sun, making the temperature on the surface if I'm getting this right, 1,600 degrees. Why is it important that we have this data?

TYSON: Well, so it's not so much the data on that specific planet, but the more we gather data on all the exoplanets, we have multiple satellites, multiple telescopes engaged in this search. And in 1995, we knew of one planet orbiting a star outside of our own solar system. Today, that number has risen to 5,000.

And the value of JWST because the JWST can see the edge of the universe, as well as newly born planets like right in front of our noses. The value there is, it has the power to be able to analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets. And if you can do that, without being able to see the surface, which we don't expect to happen anytime soon, but the atmosphere can be touched by the chemistry of life on the surface, just as Earth's atmosphere has been touched, you would not have oxygen in our air, were it not for plant life generating it, and so we call them biomarkers.

And so as we comb the catalogue of exoplanets, if you were to rank them by which ones you might want to visit first the day that technology ever comes, you can then put the ones at the top of the list those that have possible chemical evidence for life on their surface, and the James Webb Space Telescope will be a leading instrument to help us sort that catalogue.

ACOSTA: All right, very good. Neil deGrasse Tyson, thanks so much for breaking it all down for us. Telescopes, missions to Mars, missions to the moon, I think we covered just about everything, didn't we? We covered a lot -- not the entire universe, but much of it.

Neil, thanks as always. We appreciate it.

TYSON: Always great to serve you. Thanks.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you.

Coming up: Former President Trump once again trying to defend himself after hosting a Holocaust denier at Mar-a-Lago for dinner. We'll break it all down next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:12]

ACOSTA: A little more than a week after he announced he is running for election again, former President Donald Trump is once again trying to defend himself after hosting a Holocaust denier at Mar-a-Lago for dinner.

Nick Fuentes has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a White supremacist who has called for the military to be sent into Black neighborhoods and he has also demanded that Jews leave the country.

In a post last night on Truth Social, Trump once again claimed he didn't know who Fuentes was, but that he was brought to the dinner by rapper, Kanye West, who has also had a history of making antisemitic remarks.

Trump also wrote: "So I help a seriously troubled man who just happens to be Black, Kanye West, who had been decimated in his business and virtually everything else and who had always been good to me by allowing his requests for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago alone so that I can give him very much needed advice. He shows up with three people, two of which I didn't know, the other a political person who I haven't seen in years. I told him, don't run for office, a total waste of time, can't win." And then the rest you can read there on screen.

Joining me now CNN political analyst and White House correspondent for TheGrio, April Ryan and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Alice Stewart.

April, let me start with you first. I believe that was the fourth attempt by Trump to say "Don't blame me," but not once has he said that he was sickened to be in the presence of a Holocaust denier, which is what any normal human being would say.

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I talked just before this segment, I talked to Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League, and he said -- you just talked about some of the things he said, but he said it's awfully appalling and it is totally in character for Donald Trump and he said --

[15:25:00]

RYAN: He also brought up the example that he didn't know who David Duke was, so that's kind of going back to this moment but -- and then he also -- Greenblatt also talked about Kanye West, and the fact that he is also exhibiting racist behavior with White Lives Matter, and his talk about slavery, and then also his misguided mindset, if you will, on what happened to George Floyd.

So, Donald Trump is in company that does not bode well for his attempts to endear the Jewish community nor the Black community and even the community at large because this is viewed as racist, antisemitic, and more.

ACOSTA: Yes, and we're talking to Jonathan Greenblatt, by the way from the Anti-Defamation League in our five o'clock hour, so stay tuned for that.

But Alice, you know, part of the problem with Trump's explanation is as ridiculous as it is, is that we've heard a version of this before multiple times in fact, let's watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, okay. I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with White supremacy.

You also had people that were very fine people on both sides.

What do you want to call them? Give me a name. Give me a name?

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: White supremacists.

TRUMP: Who would you like me to condemn?

WALLACE: Proud Boys.

TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and standby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Alice, what did you think when you heard about this? And why are we not seeing, you know, a stampede of Republican leaders coming forward to absolutely denounce this and say, Donald Trump is no longer a member of this party. We just aren't seeing anything like that. Why not?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I expect to see more of that. We had Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, on "State of the Union" this morning, he talked about this. He said, when you meet with people, you empower them and it is wrong to have people like this in your presence, in your home, basically.

And to be quite honest, Jim, you're known by the friends you keep and if a friend of yours brings a racist to your home, it says just as much about you as it does about them. And the fact that Donald Trump allowed this person down to Mar-a-Lago says an awful lot about him.

When you bring someone to the table, you give them a voice in the conversation. And now, this antisemite, Holocaust denier has a big platform and a voice for his hatred, and that's wrong.

Here is the political implication of this, Jim. You know how this works. Anyone who is seriously looking at being the Republican candidate in 2024, you're up in Ohio, you're up in Iowa, you're in New Hampshire, you're in South Carolina, you're having dinners with pastors and farmers at the machine shed in Des Moines, Iowa, not with racist and antisemites in a country club down in Florida.

So this, I think, will have tremendous political implications for him as we move forward, because there are other options out there to think about.

ACOSTA: And April, President Biden on Nantucket this weekend was asked about this. And you know, you and I both know April, covering the White House, sometimes the President hears a question, doesn't want to answer, doesn't need to answer it, but President Biden made this comment. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, what do you think of Donald Trump having dinner with a White nationalist?

What do you think of that, sir?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't want to hear what I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: April, what did you think of that?

RYAN: Well, you have to remember that those words still speak volumes, "You don't want to know what I think." But this President, this current President, became a candidate for the Oval Office because of what happened in Charlottesville and that clip you just played, "There are very fine people on both sides."

But at the end of the day, you have a President of the United States who realizes that the man who was the impetus for him to run again, is doing it all over again and this could indeed be his opponent. So, he is probably being very strategic, if I'm putting on my understanding that of what a President does, he is probably being very strategic in this moment, as to when to talk and how to talk about Donald Trump.

But also one thing that we are forgetting in this conversation, I wonder what Jared Kushner, his son-in-law is saying about this moment? That is one person I want to hear from as well, in this moment.

ACOSTA: Yes. Absolutely.

And Alice, let's move on to something else, besides, you know who -- Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk -- said on Friday, and this kind of goes to what you were talking about a few moments ago that he would support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis if he were to run for President in 2024. He made the comment as part of a lengthy thread about why he decided to give Trump his Twitter account back. He is obviously a billionaire who now owns this platform.

But what impact do you think that has that Elon Musk has -- you know, and you're hearing this from other folks in the Republican Party. There is a lot of movement towards Ron DeSantis, which is -- maybe it is a sort of a hold there, a placeholder for anybody, but Trump.

[15:30:11]

STEWART: Right, look, one of the things that we are seeing a lot more from Republicans and Elon Musk, and people with big platforms and voices is we do need to turn the page. And another thing that Musk said was that he would support someone that is more centrist and sensible, and he has expressed his concerns about the Biden administration. So, I think it's positive that you have someone with a platform like Elon Musk to encourage people, specifically Republicans, let's find someone a lot more sensible than this. And I encourage Trump's base, now is a good time to listen to those voices.

Here is my message to Trump's base: If you really want to help Trump's legacy, you need to lock arms and line up behind someone else. Someone who is more centrist, someone who is a rational Republican or a commonsense conservative, someone that can win a General Election because I can tell you, Jim, and you know how this works, someone that is as extreme as Donald Trump and an election denier cannot win a national election in the future, and learned that from this past Midterm Election.

ACOSTA: Well, he keeps losing.

STEWART: Right.

ACOSTA: He is -- you know, he was a loser in 2018 in the Midterms there, 2020 and of course, 2022.

April, Musk also said that he was "fine with Trump not using his restored account." I mean, I guess we do have to remember, April, why Trump's account was shut down. It was shut down because of Trump inciting an insurrection on January 6th. But what do you make of what Elon Musk is doing there?

RYAN: Words matter, and Elon Musk has aligned himself by allowing Donald Trump to have his Twitter account back with someone who is very controversial as an investigation continues on what happened on January 6 and other issues.

But at the end of the day, Elon Musk owns Twitter, like he owns Tesla. It is his entity, but it is also others' decision to stay on it. There has been a change with Twitter, a noticeable change, and the question is, how long will people stay with Twitter as these changes continue to unfold?

ACOSTA: Yes, it is not easy to ride on the back of the tiger when the tiger is a dumpster fire full of extremists.

All right, Alice Stewart and April Ryan, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Coming up, why Iran is now calling for the US to be kicked out of the World Cup before their big match this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:57]

ACOSTA: This just in: Iran is now calling for the US to be kicked out of the World Cup after US Soccer made a move on social media to show solidarity with the protesters in Iran. CNN's Patrick Snell joins me now.

Patrick, I can't imagine they're going to kick the US out of the World Cup. What's happening?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi, Jim. Yes. We're certainly waiting to hear from World Cup organizers, FIFA are on this to try and check the very latest, but here is what we do know. There is so much building up on this already very high profile international football fixture on Tuesday at the World Cup.

Just from a pure footballing perspective, the US has to win against Iran to avoid being eliminated from the tournament, while a draw most likely sees Iran advance to the last 16 at America's expense.

But you're quite right, the build up to it all, now, even under further scrutiny after US Soccer telling us today it changed Iran's flag. This was for a 24-hour period on its social media accounts to show "support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights," but did always plan to go back to the original flag.

Now, the emblem from Iran's flag missing during that period on the US Soccer's social media, but the emblem remaining on its main website. Now, in response, Iran state media reporting on Sunday, and this could be highly significant that the United States should be kicked out of the tournament and suspended for 10 games for what it called distorted image of the country's flag.

We haven't heard anything from FIFA officially on this, Jim, but it's just another high-profile incident in the build up to a game already attracting major scrutiny.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, this game is going to be huge on Tuesday. I mean, are there any other big matchups that you're watching for this week that -- I don't know -- that sort of meet that high drama that we're seeing between the US and Iran?

SNELL: Well, as you mentioned high drama, from pure footballing perspectives, Jim, at this very minute, Germany and Spain are going head to head in a massively important game, especially for Germany who had that shock opening defeat to Japan. Spain a few moments ago have taken the lead, a really important goal from Alvaro Morata. Germany can't be eliminated on this day, Sunday.

But if that is indeed two straight defeat for them, it leaves them on the brink of elimination from the tournament. We will stay across that.

Early in the day, Jim, shock loss of Belgium as well, another powerhouse nation. They were beaten two nil by Morocco and Morocco were the winners in this one on Sunday. They were well worthy of that win. A huge, huge historic win for Morocco, and I do want to say that Canada who had been playing in their first Men's World Cup since 1986, they have much to be proud of, Jim, but they were eliminated after the four one loss to the 2018 finalist, Croatia on this day.

But a special piece of history for Canadian Football, Jim. They actually scored their first ever goal at a Men's World Cup and it came in the very first minute of play from Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies in that one, Jim. Back to you. ACOSTA: All right, but good to see Croatia pull out a win on that one. All right, Patrick Snell, thank you very much. Appreciate all of that.

Coming up, mystery in Mexico. Prosecutors now saying the death of an American woman on vacation was no accident, and now an arrest warrant has been issued for one of her friends. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:44:22]

ACOSTA: One month after an American college student was found dead at her vacation rental in Mexico, Mexican authorities have now issued an arrest warrant and begun extradition proceedings for a friend who was on the trip with her.

Investigators say, Shanquella Robinson was vacationing with six friends when she died in "a direct attack," not an accident.

CNN's Ryan Young has the latest.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is just a perplexing case and people are trying to figure out the details of this investigation.

We know Mexican authorities have moved forward with putting out that warrant. We don't know the name of the person they are looking for just yet, but we do know that six friends traveled down with Shanquella Robinson, the 25-year-old from North Carolina, and on October 28th, the first day they were there, there was some sort of attack.

[15:45:08]

YOUNG: There is video that has been spreading throughout social media that shows an attack that her father has actually identified to us and seeing his daughter in that video. We haven't been able to authenticate that video yet. So, that's why we're not showing it to you, but it is gruesome to see how she was hit over and over again.

At some point, authorities were called, but it was too late for her. If you listen to her mother, you can understand why she is upset and doesn't really trust some of the friends who called her on that initial night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALAMONDRA ROBINSON, MOTHER OF SHANQUELLA ROBINSON: On Saturday evening, they called and said she wasn't feeling well, and they were going to call a doctor. But when they called, the doctor hadn't arrived yet, but they say she had alcohol poisoning. We received the autopsy report on Thursday, and it said that her neck had been broke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Jim, you can understand the frustration from that mother who has been watching this case since October 28th. Now the FBI, of course, is involved in this investigation as well, but what's going to happen after Mexican authorities get a hold of the person they have a warrant for? What about the other friends who were in the room or whoever was recording the video that we can't show just yet.

So many questions still to be answered in this case, that has so many people baffled in terms of what could turn some friends against each other in a situation and this woman get beat over and over to the point where she died -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Ryan thanks, and in the meantime, a remarkable rescue at sea was caught on camera just over a week ago. A fishing vessel off North Carolina's Coast started sinking prompting two mariners to abandon ship. Fortunately, Coast Guard members brought them safely to shore earlier today CNN spoke to Petty Officer Tyler Robinson about the rescue mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETTY OFFICER TYLER ROBINSON, US COAST GUARD: We got on scene. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep up with the water, the rate of flooding was too high. So our dewatering wasn't able to keep up.

And then our next mission was to get the people off. And then you can see in the video how the vessel capsized so quickly and how quick the situation can go south and put lives in jeopardy.

We train in all kinds of weather. And unfortunately this night, the weather wasn't an ideal for the current situation. So it definitely makes it a little more stressful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Robinson said the two fishermen had just purchased that boat the day it sank and they were very thankful for the Coast Guards help.

Great work there on the part of the Coast Guard.

Quick break, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:13]

ACOSTA: What Holiday movie do you watch every year? Settle in with CNN for the stories behind everything we love to watch at Christmas time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America has just been through a long Depression and World War Two and many of Hollywood's famous actors went to war and Jimmy Stewart was one of them.

JIMMY STEWART, ACTOR: I'm very proud to be here, and I'm going to do my best to be useful as a soldier in the United States Army.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jimmy Stewart as a pilot delivered 20 bombing missions. Of course, he had PTSD. He risked his own life on those 20 missions, and his men were at risk whenever he sent them up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stewart wondered if he could ever return to acting, something that seemed frivolous. Frank Capra, who was a director who made films for the war effort understood this about Jimmy Stewart and he went to Stuart, and he said, this is the right role for you. The main character contemplates suicide. And apparently, that was it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The film reflects the darkness that the world has emerged from, but it's also the optimism that comes from having seen the worst of human beings and understanding that good people triumphed and that good people could triumph.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: "Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen" premieres tonight at eight right here on CNN.

And one company is on a mission to improve one of the oldest and most effective ways to prevent extreme wildfires, Jon Sarlin has this week's Mission Ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON SARLIN, CNN PRODUCER (voice over): These fireball dropping drones are improving one of the oldest and most effective ways of preventing extreme wildfires, prescribed burning.

CARRICK DETWEILER, ROBOTICS RESEARCHER, DRONE AMPLIFIED: We can reduce these huge wildfires by using more fire when it's safe to do so.

SARLIN (voice over): Many experts say prescribed fires should be used more often, but they can be dangerous for firefighters who often hike in the mountains with a drip torch or drop fire from helicopters.

DETWEILER: About a quarter of all wildland firefighting fatalities are related to aviation, and for me, this really was a motivation to get these systems into the hands of firefighters.

SARLIN (voice over): Robotics researcher, Carrick Detweiler started his company Drone Amplified to make prescribed fires safer, easier, and less expensive.

Drones can cover as much ground as helicopters, but Carrick says hundreds of their drone systems can be hired for the price of a helicopter mission.

DETWEILER: We call these dragon eggs. They have potassium permanganate. When you mix it with glycol, it starts a chemical reaction and a fire.

SARLIN (voice over): The technology allows firefighters to work at a distance from the flames in areas difficult to reach due to terrain or visibility.

DETWEILER: You can drop the balls in specific locations and this lets you do much more precise burns. SARLIN (voice over): Precision is important because even though prescribed burn escapes are extremely rare, the outcome can be devastating.

[15:55:10]

SARLIN (voice over): Two recent controlled burns in New Mexico led to the State's largest wildfire on record.

DETWEILER: Our system can help prevent escaped fires through the use of thermal cameras. Our app also allows the firefighter to put in geo fences to precisely control where the fire is starting and this lets the firefighters actually control the intensity of the fire.

SARLIN (voice over): Carrick says a hundred of their drone systems are now working for clients like the US Forest Service and other Federal agencies, but in the future, they envision similar systems in the back of every firefighter's truck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:00]