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Lockerbie Bombing Suspect Is Now In U.S. Custody; Second Iranian Detainee Executed Over Alleged Protest Crime; Biden and Zelenskyy Speak By Phone To Discuss Recent U.S. Assistance; Germany Faces Far-Right Threat After Foiling Alleged Coup Attempt. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 12, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Laila Harrak. Coming up on CNN Newsroom. After more than three decades, an alleged bombmaker and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 is in U.S. custody. Families may be a step closer to justice. Plus, fears of a new COVID outbreak are spreading in China. We go back to the epicenter of the pandemic three years ago, a city struggling to recover. And --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Latest chapter of NASA's journey to the moon comes to a close, Orion, back on Earth.
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HARRAK: What's next for NASA and its goal of sending astronauts back to the moon after its first Artemis mission ends successfully.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: We start our broadcast with Iran, where nearly three months is the start of demonstrations that have shaken the nation. We're now learning that a second protester has been executed. News agencies affiliated with the Iranian government say the man was publicly hanged early Monday morning after he was convicted of allegedly killing two members of the Security Forces and injuring four more.
Last week, Iran carried out its first known death sentence connected with the anti-government protests. Mohsen Shekari was hanged last Thursday after his conviction in October for allegedly injuring a parent military officer.
On before we learned of this second execution, I spoke with University of Pennsylvania History professor, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, we discussed the impact of Shekari's death sentence both inside and outside Iran. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIROOZEH KASHANI-SABET, WALTER H. ANNENBERG, PROF. OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Of course, the execution has been nothing but tragic across the board for Iranian dissenters, protesters, individuals in the diaspora who have been witnessing and participating in these events. And it is symptomatic, I think of many of the larger sort of grievances against which the uprisings have, or against the sort of the uprisings that have taken place in Iran.
One of the other points that I want to make is, undoubtedly, the execution will deter some, but it certainly will not deter all protesters from continuing their revolt and their demand for freedom and enfranchisement in the shaping of modern Iran.
This is, however, symptomatic of a bigger problem in modern Iranian history and society, which is that modern Iran has never really had a peaceful mechanism for the transfer of power. This goes back to, you know, the Constitutional Revolution of 1906. It was left in Kohut with the Russian ultimatum in 1911. This was also carried out in 1941 with the deposition of Reza Shah, 1953, the coup and 1959.
And so one of the reasons why we see these cataclysmic political movements is precisely because there has never been an easy mechanism for the transfer of power in ways that don't require major political upheavals.
HARRAK: On that note, we heard earlier this week, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini's sister making headlines, because she condemned his crackdown on nationwide protests and basically called on the Revolutionary Guards to lay down their weapons. You know, every aspect of Iranian society is touched by now by what's going on. Is there any sign of dissent within the people that are in power within the government?
KASHANI-SABET: I think there absolutely is. And I think that's one of the challenges that the insiders in the regime are, of course, are facing is that they can no longer speak in a unified voice, and they lack a unified or they lack an agreement on how to kind of come to terms with this -- with the protests. I think it's extremely telling that you have the Supreme Leader sister, making these very bold statements. I think it's also significant that the former president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, also, you know, spoke in support of the women life freedom movement, you know, and embrace the themes of it.
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I think that undoubtedly there are major fissures now within the regime itself.
HARRAK: Well, unfortunately, this current regime seems to be digging in and they're sentencing more protesters to death. And meanwhile disquiet is growing about the direction this is now taking. The UN Human Rights Council has launched an investigation into the Iranian authorities' violence towards protesters, how does that help protesters in Iran? KASHANI-SABET: I think the protesters in Iran need the support of the international community, need the international community to target and to identify, you know, practices that have been heinous, and that have, you know, enabled violence against, you know, the youth of Iran, the children, the youth, the women, really individuals who are honestly very dispossessed and don't have a mechanism to protect themselves.
And, again, I think that when international pressure is brought to bear on the situation in Iran, one of two things happens normally, and usually that the thing that we've seen more and more commonly is that the regime, as you yourself had said, digs its heels in even more.
In this case, though, I think, because we're beginning to see fissures, it is perhaps possible, you know, that, at some point sooner, I hope rather than later down this road, you know, certain insiders will have the sort of the common sense or the wherewithal to prevail and to kind of, you know, point to a path of, you know, sitting down and trying to, to sort of find a way out of this.
HARRAK: Professor Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, thank you so much for joining us.
KASHANI-SABET: Thank you so much.
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HARRAK: A Libyan man accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland nearly 34 years ago, is now in U.S. custody. 270 people died that December day. 259 on the plane and 11 on the ground in the town of Lockerbie. It remains the UK's deadliest terror attack. The suspect had been held in Libya for years.
Libyan authorities say he confessed to involvement back in 2012. But it's unclear whether those statements will be allowed in U.S. court. While years of painstaking detective work went into the U.S. charges, which were announced in 2020.
The FBI says investigators sifted through 300 tons of wreckage scattered over 845 square miles that's nearly 2200 square kilometers. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more on the suspect the investigation through the years.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Almost 34 years since the deadliest terror attack in British history, and the man accused of building the bomb that killed 270 people, mostly Americans is finally going to face justice in a U.S. court.
Libyan Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi was arrested for his alleged role and blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland 38 minutes after it took off for the U.S. from London, killing everyone on board and 11 people on the ground. The U.S. first charged Al-Marimi for his involvement in the attack two years ago while he was already in custody in Libya for unrelated crimes. MICHAEL SHERWIN, THEN-ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: It is alleged in the criminal complaint in the indictment that at that time, all co- conspirators work together to arm the explosive device in the suitcase.
ROBERTSON: The Justice Department expect Al-Marimi to make his first appearance in district court in Washington in the coming days. For years, the only person convicted in the Lockerbie bombing case was Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. Al-Megrahi a former Libyan intelligence official was accused along with another Libyan man who was acquitted for planting the explosive inside a portable cassette player in a suitcase on the plane.
Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison. But eight years after his conviction in 2008, he was released from a Scottish prison with terminal prostate cancer.
Arriving home in Libya, he received a hero's welcome. In 2011, following the revolution that toppled Libya's dictator Muammar Gaddafi, I visited Al-Megrahi at his home in Tripoli. He was near death, his family as they always had, protesting his innocence.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Has he been able to see a doctor?
KHALED AL-MEGRAHI, SON OF CONVICTED LOCKERBIE BOMBER: No. There is no doctor and there is nobody to ask and we don't have any phone line to call anybody.
ROBERTSON: What's his situation right now?
AL-MEGRAHI: He stopped eating and he's sometimes is come in coma.
ROBERTSON: Coma. He goes unconscious.
AL-MEGRAHI: Yes.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): He died the following year, without ever proving his innocence. Al-Marimi's trial will likely revisit parts of Al-Megrahi's defense, particularly alleged inconsistencies about how the bomb came to be in the plane. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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HARRAK: Ukraine is slowing its ground counter offensive against Russia but not for long and promises. The country's defense minister says wet weather is making movement of vehicles and equipment difficult, but with temperatures dropping once that wet ground freezes, he says Ukrainian forces will ramp up efforts to liberate Russian occupied territories.
Meantime, Ukrainians in several regions are struggling in the cold and dark amid massive power shutdowns. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Odesa has been impacted the most after Russia's latest attack on Ukraine's energy systems. CNN's Will Ripley is in Odesa for you and takes a look at the challenging situation in the port city. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A race to restore electricity to parts of southern Ukraine this weekend, more than one and a half million people in the Odesa region alone, plunged into darkness at the peak of the outages. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blames the blackouts on Russian self-detonating drones made in Iran.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): After the night strike the strike by Iranian drones, Odesa and other cities and villages of the region are in the dark.
RIPLEY: Ukraine's military says it shot down 10 out of 15 explosive drones Russia fired Friday night. The region's energy authority warns stabilizing the power grid could take weeks even months.
RIPLEY (on camera): Before the blackouts, the Black Sea and vibrant nightlife made this southern port city a tourist hotspot with the war came a flood of internally displaced Ukrainians increasing the population of one of Ukraine's largest cities. Now the city of refuge is facing regular Russian attacks.
RIPLEY (voiceover): Odesa's power station also took a direct hit last week when Russia fired dozens of missiles at targets nationwide. An ongoing assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that left many Odesans in the dark for days.
RIPLEY (on camera): So what was that like? No power for three days?
KOSTIANTYN VOROLYN, ODESA RESIDENT: No electricity. We have no chance to cook because we have electric cooker. We have no heat because our house has no generator for this.
RIPLEY (voiceover): His parents of three young children look for creative ways to keep the kids occupied.
OLENA VORONYNA, ODESA RESIDENT: We try make some activities for them. For example music school.
RIPLEY: Just hours after Friday's drone strikes plunged much of the region into darkness, the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra gave a candlelight performance even a war won't stop the music. Will Ripley, CNN, Odesa, Ukraine.
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HARRAK: In a telephone call Sunday, Mr. Zelenskyy told us President Joe Biden, the Russian strikes had destroyed about half of Ukraine's energy system. He thanked Mr. Biden for allocating aid to help rebuild the energy grid and for another defense aid package.
Mr. Zelenskyy also spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron ahead of two Paris aid conferences in support of Ukraine this week. The leaders discussed Ukraine's defense strategy, energy and economy. And we are learning more about basketball star Brittney Griner's flying back home after being released from a Russian prison last week. One of the diplomats who left the prisoner exchange was with her on that flight from Abu Dhabi. And this is what he has to say about getting her out of Russian custody.
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ROGER CARSTENS, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS: When she finally got on to the U.S. plane, I said, Brittney, you must have been through a lot over the last 10 months. Here's your seat, please feel free to decompress. We'll give you your space. And she said, Oh no. I've been in prison for 10 months now listening to Russian. I want to talk. But first of all, who are these guys? And she moved right past me and went to every member on that crew, looked him in the eyes, shook their hands and asked about him got their names, making a personal connection with them. It was really amazing.
And then later on, on an 18-hour flight, she probably spent 12 hours just talking and we talked about everything under the sun and I was left with the impression that this is an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, humble, interesting person, a patriotic person but above all authentic.
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I hate the fact that I had to meet her in this manner, but actually felt blessed having had a chance to get to know her.
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HARRAK: Well, Griner was released as part of a prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Still ahead, growing threats to democracy in Germany, as dozens are arrested for plotting to overthrow the government. We'll have a live report. And later despite a recent change in COVID restrictions, many Chinese businesses remain closed. Why one restaurant owner says people are still afraid to leave their homes in Wuhan.
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HARRAK: The Prime Minister of Kosovo and the President of Serbia are both asking for NATO peacekeepers to do just that, keep the peace. The move comes after members of Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority use trucks and buses to block roads in northern Kosovo. A fragile piece has existed in Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia back in 2008, while the sudden flare up in tensions is causing Kosovo's government to delay local elections until April, and we need to mention after all these years Serbia has never recognized Kosovo's independence.
Germany could be having its January 6 moment authorities say dozens of people were arrested last week for plotting to overthrow the government. They said on Friday, they've identified more than 50 suspects so far, and more raids and arrests were expected. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on what's been called the Reichsburger movement.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It could have been a January 6 style insurrection in Germany. Violent protesters trying to storm German parliament in August 2020 when the leading groups the Reichsburger or Citizens of the Reich now accused of plotting a coup in Germany.
This is obviously one of the largest terrorist organizations that has existed in the right-wing sector in recent years, Bavaria's (ph) interior minister said it certainly seems to be the worst we have seen so far in the spectrum of the Reichsburger and QAnon scenes.
German authorities say they believe there will be more arrests after massive raids on Wednesday. The number of suspects has already risen to more than 50 possible co-conspirators of the group, allegedly led by this man, 71-year-old Prince Heinrich XIII of the House of Reuss. CNN efforts to reach him for comment have so far been unsuccessful.
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Residents of Heinrich's hometown say that suspicious activity was already well underway. His followers had even demanded citizens ditch their German passports. We were told that we were not German because our passports were not German. We were then given the opportunity to apply for our German origin documents with the Reuss administration, the deputy mayor said.
Authority say the Reichsburger want to set up a monarchy in Germany and have scores of right-wing extremists in their ranks. Among those arrested several former soldiers and a former member of German parliament from a far right political party.
German extremism experts warn like in the U.S., the number of extremists looking to undermine democracy is growing. It's a development which shows that right-wing extremism is moving from the margins to the center. And that protagonist from the scene can imagine overthrowing the state order. It's a very dangerous development.
German criminal authorities say they are continuing to identify people possibly involved in the planned coup. And while that plan may have been thwarted this time, groups like Reichsburger pose an increasing threat to Germany's democratic order. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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HARRAK: And let's bring in Matthew Karnitschnig. He's the chief European correspondent for POLITICO and joins me live now from Berlin. So good to see you, Matthew.
I want to start with an article that you wrote for POLITICO in which you write that the very idea that this group of plotters could storm the Bundestag and overthrow the government is far-fetched. The Federal Court of Justice concluded that the danger was real and gave this operation the green light. You know, now that we had some time to digest what has happened early this week, do you still stand by that by that point where you don't think that threat was credible?
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, CHIEF EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Yes, good morning. I actually do stand by it. Because I think the more details that come out about these plotters and who they are, the more sort of crazy, the whole thing appears to think that a small group of conspirators here they arrested 25 people, many of them in their 70s would be able to overtake the government of a country of 83 million is just absurd.
To me, that doesn't mean that they couldn't have caused harm or killed some people. But there seems to have been a slight overreaction here and I think abroad to what is what is really a very much a fringe movement.
HARRAK: A fringe movement. Nevertheless, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence has declared a far-right extremism, the biggest threat to German democracy. So what would you say informs Germany's handling of this particular case?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think in the past that the German authorities have been caught, you know, not prepared -- unprepared for a lot of the other right wing attacks and other extremist activities in Germany. So this was a real coup for them, and no pun intended to show that, you know, they are, you know, keeping their eye on extremists and ready to crack down when necessary.
And I think, you know, a lot of people were surprised to see that there were television cameras at some of these arrests that some of the journalists in Germany had been informed of these rates two weeks in advance. So that sort of left some people thinking well, how much of this is a kind of a PR move on the part of the authorities to show the public that they really do have the situation under control here.
HARRAK: Now the people planning and plotting to topple the government belong to Reichsburger movement, what is their worldview? What drives them? What inspires them? What are their goals and how common are their believes?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, as we heard in the report, they do not believe that the Federal Republic of Germany is a legitimate state. They think that the country should be run under its previous constitution, some of them want to go back to the to the old Kaiser, to the German Emperor, others believe in the third Reich structures under Hitler but what they have in common is that they want to do away with the state. They tend to be very anti-semitic. They tend to be very anti American and pro-Russian. Right now they reached out to the Russians here about this, this current plot apparently, but as I wrote, it was too crazy even for the Russians so they didn't get much of reception there.
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There are about 23,000 now, according to German authorities, and a couple of thousands of those are willing to turn to violence, according to the German authorities.
HARRAK: Matthew, I want to pick up on something you said that this group of people are anti-American, because there are some parallels. There are elements that understand of QAnon informing this far right, I expect a group. This is obviously a conspiracy theory that originated right here in the US. How closely aligned are they to the movement in the US? And what do you make of this kind of cross pollination that seems to be taking place?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, it is something that authorities are worried about, because it is quite diffuse, it's very difficult to put your finger on what these people believe. It is kind of a combination of various conspiracy theories, the common thread is that it is anti- American is anti-semitic. And, you know, it has grown over the years, it has to be said there used to be I think, in that sort of mid 2010s, around 2015, I think there were 15, 16,000 Reichsburger in Germany, now they're over 20,000.
So, you know, they've also been, you know, they've motivated. They've been motivated by the COVID situation. There are a lot of anti-vaxxers involved in the Reichsburger movement. So they're different sort of streams of conspiracy theories that have flowed into this over the years.
HARRAK: So a hodgepodge of grievances, so to speak. Now, how does this foil plan in conclusion to create, you know, basically chaos in German society fit with that other extraordinary event that we witnessed two years ago on August 29, to be exact, when far right sympathizers attempted to storm the Reichstag during a demonstration in Berlin against COVID restrictions?
KARNITSCHNIG: Well, as some of those people, I believe were also Reichsburger. But that would seem to be more of a kind of spontaneous protest that turned violent where this plot was allegedly, you know, going to be a, a well-planned assault on the Reichstag, maybe something similar to what we saw on January 6, though, it has to be said that these people are not anywhere nearly well as armed from what we know now as the plotters in the United States earlier this year.
You know, one reason is that weapons are not as easy to come by in Germany, some of the weapons that they seized were crossbow, swords, and slingshots. So it sounds really more like in keeping with the princess aristocratic heritage, something more of a medieval assault than something that we would see in a typical terrorist attack.
HARRAK: Matthew Karnitschnig, thank you so much for joining us from Berlin. Thank you.
KARNITSCHNIG: Thank you.
HARRAK: Still to come, fear of rising COVID cases in China has some residents choosing to quarantine at home instead of recording their positive results how those choices are affecting cities trying to reopen when we return.
And after 26 days and 1.3 million miles traveled, Orion is safely back on Earth. We'll discuss the end of the historic Artemis 1 mission and what it means for the future of space exploration.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Welcome back to our viewers around the world! I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN Newsroom. Fears of a new outbreak of the Omicron variants are growing in China just as Beijing starts to overhaul its zero COVID policy. Well, a top Chinese health expert says Omicron cases are spreading rapidly.
And while negative COVID tests are still required to enter some public spaces many people tell CNN they've chosen not to report positive results instead opting to quarantine at home. New cases were down on Sunday in the Chinese Capital but the true number could be much higher than reported.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now live from Hong Kong. Kristie so good to see you! Fears of a new Omicron wave and now Wuhan, the epicenter, of course, where it all began the pandemic three years ago, is bracing for a spike in cases.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely Laila. Like many other cities across the country, including Beijing residents in the City of Wuhan are bracing for this surge in COVID-19 infection just as the country is unwinding nearly three years of its tough pandemic policy. In Wuhan this is the situation right now.
You know, we know that businesses are closed there. We know that people have been seen standing in line in front of hospitals and clinics. And we also have been following these reports of pharmacies they're selling out fever medications very few people are seen in the streets of Wuhan out and about as residents there are very weary of what's been called an exit wave a new flare up of COVID infection. Watch this.
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STOUT (voice over): In this restaurant in Wuhan, China, getting a table isn't a problem. Owner Zhu Chongping says even though China revised most of its COVID-19 restrictions last week, the customers have yet to return.
ZHU CHONGPING, RESTAURANT OWNER: On our street people are still struggling. They all believe that life will go back to the way it was after reopening. Everyone has this fantasy.
STOUT (voice over): It is a weary reopening in Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago. Many small business owners say even though people are freer to move about, there are fewer customers than before. The streets aren't as bustling as they once were. And some businesses remain closed. Restaurant Owner Zhu says people are still afraid of COVID.
CHONGPING: Now that things have opened up, it also means the positive cases are all out. No one comes to the restaurant.
STOUT (voice over): Last Wednesday, China lifted many of its strict COVID restrictions, following protests against the country's zero COVID policy. In many places, QR codes are no longer needed to enter public spaces. Mass testing has been rolled back and some people are allowed to quarantine at home.
But as more people resumed contact, there are fears of more scenes like this line of people waiting outside of a fever clinic in Wuhan. Experts say China has fallen short on vaccinating the elderly with boosters stockpiling antiviral medications and improving surge capacities in hospitals. And some people worried that could mean more outbreaks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we weren't locked down at least all the asymptomatic cases would either be quarantined at home, or sent to makeshift hospitals. But now with everything opening up, all these people are out so the infection rate is high. I have a lot of friends who already have a cold or fever and I'm one of them too.
STOUT (voice over): There are reports of some pharmacies selling out of fever medications. Many people bracing for a new wave of sickness. The price of moving away from a zero COVID policy means learning to live with it.
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STOUT: And it's trying to let go of it zero COVID policy one of its top disease experts is speaking out and his warning about a surge in COVID-19 infection and an interview with Xinhua, the State News Agency over the weekend, Zhong Nanshan made an urgent appeal for a boost in the booster vaccination drive especially now ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday season, which kicks off in January in China.
This is a peak travel season inside China. I want you to look at the statement from Zhong Nanshan, who said this "Preparations need to be beefed up I suggest those planning to travel back home get a booster shot so that even with COVID-19 infection they don't become seriously ill".
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STOUT: Zhong added that Omicron's fatality rate is in line with flu or influenza, effectively downplaying the risks of COVID-19 just as China starts to reopen, back to you.
HARRAK: On that note Kristie as China is untangling itself from years of zero COVID. We understand a senior U.S. delegation is paying a visit this week. What's on the agenda?
STOUT: That's right. According to the U.S. State Department they say on the agenda for this visit is how to manage the competition between U.S. and China and also to find new areas of cooperation. A high level senior U.S. delegation is in Asia this week, visiting Japan, South Korea as well as China. This comes on the heels, of course, that high profile meeting between the U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, China's Leader that took place on the sidelines of the G 20 Summit last month in Indonesia. And this upcoming meeting effectively sets the stage for the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is due to make his visit to pay Beijing a visit in early 2023 back to you Laila.
HARRAK: Kristie Lu Stout reporting from Hong Kong thank you so much for your continued coverage.
STOUT: Thank you.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Splashed down from Tranquility Base to Taurus Litro to the tranquil waters of the Pacific the latest chapter of NASA's journey to the moon comes to a close Orion back on Earth.
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HARRAK: That was the big moment NASA's Orion Spacecraft splashed down to earth Sunday marking the end of the historic Artemis I Mission. It comes 50 years after the agency's last mission to the moon with Apollo 17.
Well, the first phase of Artemis was a critical unmanned test flight which could pave the way for astronauts to return to the lunar surface and beyond. CNN's Kristin Fisher has more on the mission and what lies ahead.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: A textbook splashdown of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean this afternoon ending a successful Artemis I Mission the beginning of NASA's new Artemis program and it happened on such a historic day, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission.
Those Astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, landing on the moon now NASA trying to do it again but it all starts with this first un- crewed test flight and so what we saw today was this Orion Spacecraft barreling through the Earth's atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour, hitting temperatures of about 5000 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's such a critical test for this spacecraft because they can't replicate conditions like that, here on Earth. By all accounts, it performed beautifully, but now they're going to have to conduct some final checks once they get this spacecraft out of the ocean and back to the Kennedy Space Center.
But for a program, a rocket a spacecraft, a mission that has encountered so many delays, so many setbacks, including getting hit by a hurricane, just five days before liftoff today, the moment that NASA has been hoping for and really paving the way for Artemis II and Artemis III when Americans and perhaps astronauts from other countries in the world returned to the surface of the Moon for the first time in about half a century. Kristen Fisher, CNN, Washington. HARRAK: Still ahead, remembering the prominent Sportswriter, Grant Wahl a friend and fellow journalist speaks to CNN about his life, career and character. Also ahead, a winter wonderland for children in the UK but the snow and cold are creating headaches for travelers. We'll get the latest from the weather center.
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HARRAK: After a thrilling weekend of World Cup action, the remaining four teams are now gearing up for the next round. The semi-finals will start on Tuesday with Argentina taking on Croatia and then on Wednesday, Morocco will try to extend its Cinderella run against the reigning champs France.
Well, the French players are coming off a close match against England and to mark the victory they celebrated with their fans at their hotel, dancing, cheering and high fiving those around them. Croatia is also coming off a nail biter against Brazil and after stunning the World Cup favorites. They will try to defeat another South American powerhouse Argentina. Their strategy will be to stop the entire team instead of solely focusing on the star Lionel Messi.
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BRUNO PETKOVIC, CROATIA STRIKER: We don't have a specific plan or individual idea to stop Messi. We have seen before when we played against very good teams with very good individual players that we were playing as a team. We never focused on an individual. So I don't believe we will have a special plan to stop one player because Argentina has a lot of good players so we will not focus just on one.
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HARRAK: And almost three days after the death of Football Journalist Grant Wahl. The sports world remains in shock. The American Sportswriter died while covering the World Cup on Friday. And over the weekend, FIFA honored him with this touching tribute.
It placed wildflowers on the stadium seat where he was scheduled to work. FIFA officials also sent condolences to Wahl's family who has been working to bring his body back home. Wahl was staying in Qatar with fellow journalist Guillem Balague. He recently spoke with CNN's Amanda Davis, about the tragedy.
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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT (on camera): How do you reflect on those events of Friday night now? How did they play out from where you were?
GUILLEM BALAGUE, FOOTBALL JOURNALIST: Sure. He told me on the Friday morning he was - he had had a longer sleep than usual. He was clearly tired. I think it gets to a point where we've been working every single day. In fact, I arrived Thursday night. It was two o'clock in the morning from Spain and he was on his computer talking to his subscribers.
And I went to bed and he was still doing that. And then he told me that he had been to hospital because we know since he arrived that he didn't feel well. He was given three doses of antibiotics. But he wasn't still well. So it had come back. He thought or I felt not sure about that. That was wrong cases.
But we walked you know fast in our pays in on the stadium. There was no there's no signs of anything. And then when he collapsed James - was who was in the same table as him but on the other side I'm had moved away from it just said, Grant has just collapsed and I got close and yes. So I see - I saw a lot of people around in trying to revive him and then after 20 minutes or so they took him away.
DAVIES (on camera): What has it been like reading everything that's been written and the attributes that have been paid?
BALAGUE: Unbelievable. I mean, I knew Grant and we spoke and we met and you know you develop a relationship and it was great when he decided to join this house. In fact, he led the whole thing once we said we're doing this right OK. We will be - needs to be in such a place he needs to have old days and perfect.
DAVIES (on camera): What was the top of his list of demands for the house?
BALAGUE: Wi Fi - good Wi Fi and that everything should work and that there was a games on the television but yes so you know aside of the - and the professional.
[01:45:00]
BALAGUE: But to hear so many stories and so many people that got in touch to say, you know, we feel your pain and I feel yours because he's somebody that left a big imprint on everybody. And he was huge, huge. And life is living a really, really big gap.
DAVIES (on camera): He wasn't afraid to challenge authority. It was here in this house, I know he will have left this house in the in that T-shirt. Just talk us through what he said about his thinking behind it and what do you want it to happen with that?
BALAGUE: So when he was wearing the T-shirts, I remember I was working on the table and I think good on you. Let's see how that goes?
GRANT WAHL, LATE FOOTBALL JOURNALIST: You do go T-shirt, Rainbow soccer and this is what you get.
BALAGUE: We're hearing that there is a problem with rainbow let's find out. And then we heard through Twitter that he had been detained. And I think we - was taken as well. And again, through his own experience, not only we found out that despite the fact that FIFA quite clearly had given the instructions that that it was allowed to go in and out with rainbow colors. We found out that those instructions weren't getting to the ground, which means that up till now I think we were of the understanding that in every big competition FIFA were in charge and then all of a sudden, we see that perhaps they not. Well, he did that.
DAVIES (on camera): Can you sum up the impact he's had on not only sports journalism, but on football, the impact that he had on the game and the growth of the game in the States?
BALAGUE: In the States I know they've been trying and trying to make it an interesting world that people can come in and consume and watch games. But you always need somebody to tell the story. And Grant managed to put it into I was going to say three dimensions.
But there's like five dimensions, all the dimensions possible. All of a sudden, you had the voice of the - you have the story behind, you had the politics behind. He challenged authority makes his work to go well beyond the game well beyond the game.
DAVIES (on camera): If there's something you'll take from Grant that you'll carry forward in your life.
BALAGUE: I put a tweet out because I didn't know how to respond to what was happening, but trying to find the right words. And I think I say something like, whenever anybody asked me what journalism is, I say Grant Wahl because he was what you're supposed to do what you're supposed to be as a professional, then there is a friend, but as a professional as the one that will always stay with me.
BALAGUE (voice over): That's Grant working over there. He's been there since this morning.
WAHL: Big day, my friend. I am conflicted about this World Cup. But I'm excited about my favorite sporting event in the world toward a townhouse I would call it at least in the U.S. I want to do the journalism I've always done. You know, I have opinions. I have columns on my side. But I didn't want to be that.
I wanted to do soccer journalism around the world, including in the United States. There aren't that many people yet doing what I'm doing. I n this sport has taken me to places I never thought I would go to places in high polygon otherwise, this is pretty straightforward. Yes, very straightforward it sends the message clear. You Google T-shirts, Rainbow Soccer, and this is what you get. There's no right.
I want to be clear. I'm supporting the LGBTQ community if I'm treated that way here when the world is watching; imagine what it must be like when the world isn't watching for LGBTQ people like.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: CNN names its top hero of 2022. How this year's winner went from dire poverty as a child in Kenya to providing computers for thousands of children?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:50:00]
HARRAK: Winter doesn't officially begin for another nine days but winter weather has hit the UK. These children in England are enjoying the cold weather making snowmen. But the outlook looks grim for Britain.
It's experiencing its first major cold snap of the season, as soaring inflation is causing some people to choose between paying for food or paying for heat. Let's go now to CNN Meteorologist Britley Ritz at the CCNN Weather Center. What are you seeing?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we are dealing with another snowfall across parts of Scotland and Ireland and even Central and Southern UK where we have yellow warnings in effect. This is London where we have almost whiteout conditions near a quarter of mile visibility, not something we really want to be dealing with.
But this guy's taken his time out there on the bike, you'll need to take your time slow down whether you're on a bike and a car on a train, or just walking there will likely be a few slick spots out there on the sidewalks. This is London once again and there you'll see the areas highlighted in yellow where we'll have snowy and icy roads travel delays are expected.
So just give yourself a little bit more time from point A to point B and we're also dealing with this not just today but rolling into Tuesday through Thursday all across Northern Scotland there were more snow once again is expected.
Not only the UK, not only Ireland and Scotland but the Slavic Republic also dealing with snow on Sunday. We've picked up over 30 centimeters of snowfall and this is just an ongoing situation for the higher elevations of Central Europe back on over into the UK and our next system pulling in across parts of the Iberian Peninsula, parts of Spain parts of Portugal also dealing with heavy rain and the threat of severe weather.
You'll see that next cold front slide in increase our rain chances over the next two to three days' time. Heavy rain expected here as well over the next 72 hours 50 to 100 millimeters of rainfall just within three days and isolated higher amounts are possible so isolated areas of flooding but not just flooding.
Also the threats of severe weather as we talked about Monday through Tuesday morning areas highlighted in red Northern Portugal up into the panhandle of Northwest Spain, where we'll have our greatest threat of severe winds isolated tornadoes are a possibility.
And again, excessive - you saw the amount of rain that we could pick up several millimeters. And that extends all the way down across Portugal.
HARRAK: Britley Ritz thank you so much. The votes are in for CNN's Hero of the Year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And now the 2022 CNN Hero of the Year is Nelly Cheboi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: The Kenyan born software engineer was honored on Sunday as part of CNN's Annual Celebration of everyday people changing the world. She found a TechLitAfrica a nonprofit organization that uses recycled computers to create technology labs in rural schools in Kenya. Cheboi credits her mother for always being an inspiration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NELLY CHEBOI, CNN HERO OF THE YEAR 2022: She really believed in educating us so she would slave away she worked really hard by the roadside. She was by the roadside for four decades. And so when she comes home, I'm four - I'm five I see how exhausted she is. And I think to her this song that says "My hands are so tiny" I cannot I cannot help you by her when I grow up.
I'm going to show you the world and then she's like, oh, you're so cute, right? And so right now in front of the whole world I have shown you the world and then CNN Heroes you have made this happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:55:00]
HARRAK: Cheboi wasn't the only one honored at the star studded ceremony in New York CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on the other honorees who share the spotlight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is the night to be inspired as we are on the red carpet honoring the 10 CNN Heroes and what incredible stories each of them have? There is a woman who has been up-cycling computers to bring back to her community in Kenya to be able to teach them computer skills.
There was a man who spent time in prison going back to his West Philadelphia community, creating a center for kids to get on the right path. Another man, a war veteran Iraqi war veteran who was using the arts to help other veterans escape the war zone and deal with PTSD I want you to hear from him.
RICHARD CASPER, CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CREATIVES: That moment for me when they're like so excited to talk about the worst thing that happened in their life, I've known that we repurpose their memory right there and they're going to be successful.
So all the texts and love that we get back, that's what keeps me going. Our waiting list is rather long because you think like; we build these programs, so vendors don't want to turn it down. 20 suicides a day in the veteran military space 14 to 20 don't seek help. This is how we're getting to just by you doing this interview is going to get veterans to note we exist, and we'll bring them out to the program and save their lives. So this is just you - just this makes me a winner.
GINGRAS (on camera): You should learn all about their inspirational stories you can go to cnn.com to learn more and donate yourself. It's incredible evening honoring those for those people who are just doing small things making a huge impact in their own communities and in the world Brynn Gingras, CNN "On the Red Carpet" in New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Finally this hour a moment of peace and beauty and with the horrors of war. That man is playing piano inside a bombed out Church in the Ukrainian City of Bakhmut. His brother says they're both volunteers who help those impacted by the war. So far they say they've donated more than 20 sleeping bags to soldiers and over 100 gifts for children.
Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Laila Harrak, do stay with us. My colleague Rosemary Church will be here after a very short break with more CNN Newsroom and I'll catch you soon.
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[02:00:00]
