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Cities in Kyiv Hit by Missile Strikes; Thousands of Nurses Protested on the Streets; Inflation Affecting More Consumers; Fire Killed 10 People in France; Tourists Trapped by Protests; Migrants Haven't Seen the Life They Imagined; President Biden Wraps Up U.S.- Africa Summit; African Nations in Dire Need of Help; Losing a Child Isn't Easy for Parents; Tornadoes Ripped Southern U.S.; Elon Musk Banned Some Journalists; Duke and Duchess Reveal Reasons for Leaving U.K. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 16, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, we're follow reports of missile strikes targeting large cities across Ukraine. Now it follows a warning from Russia that if the U.S. sends these advanced missile defense systems there. We're live in Kyiv with the latest.
Thousands of nurses in the U.K. go on strike in what summer calling a winter of discontent.
Plus, a migrant crisis in the U.S. We'll have the story of one family's month-long journey from Venezuela to New York.
UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
And we begin in Ukraine where new missile attacks are reported in cities across the country this morning, including Kyiv, Odessa, and Kharkiv. CNN teams on the ground say they saw missiles and heard explosions. Those air raid sirens sounded, and then there's this dramatic video from Thursday. Have a look.
Now this video posted on social media is from the Luhansk region, which is occupied by Russia. A local telegram channel suggests an ammunition depot may have been hit. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials have commented on that.
Now to the north, the mayor of Kharkiv reports Russian forces attacked critical infrastructure. Authorities say Russian rockets hit a warehouse with no connection to the military, and two people were killed in the recently liberated city of Kherson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): During another Russian shelling of Kherson today, a shell hit the Red Cross aid station. A woman, a paramedic, a volunteer was killed. My condolences to the family. Only since the beginning of this day Russia has already shelled Kherson more than 16 times in just one day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right, let's go live now to CNN's Will Ripley in Kyiv. And Will, what can you tell us about this latest round of attacks?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, we were actually getting ready to hit the road this morning when our team started reporting hearing explosions near the area of our location in central Kyiv. We heard some of those explosions ourselves. The air raid sirens had been off for about an hour before this, you know, the sounds of the explosions, you know, started here in Kyiv.
The Kyiv mayor is reporting at least three explosions, throughout the city. Now it's unclear at this stage if these are impacts or if these are the air defense systems working. We are not there on the ground, so we can only go by what we were allowed to say on air, and that's what government officials are sharing on social media.
There are very strict guidelines here in Ukraine about missile strikes when they happen. We have to follow those rules. And so, what we -- what we can tell you is that this does appear to be a very large Russian attack on multiple locations across this country. Kyiv here, Odessa to the south, Sumy to the north, Kharkiv as well.
The city that was occupied and then liberated. And yet, you know, people there certainly very familiar with having to not just go down and shelter in place in underground subway stations. But people in Kharkiv were actually -- in Kharkiv were actually living there for a period of time towards the beginning of this war.
This is part of Russia's ongoing assault on a likely civilian infrastructure targets here in Ukraine. This is something that just in a few weeks on the ground here, I've been through a number of times. When you hear the air raid sirens, it's often one of those situations where you don't shelter in place unless you know that there are strikes that are imminent in your immediate location.
And so, it was kind of a surreal scene even as we lost power here in our hotel, the cheerful Christmas music was still playing over the loud speakers on the second floor. And people who work at the hotel were going on as if nothing was even happening.
That is the reality of life in a war zone. And yet, for some people here in the Ukrainian capital, which had -- which they've been much closer to these explosions of very terrifying and potentially, you know, incredibly dangerous situation.
In fact, it's a dangerous situation for millions and millions of people across Ukraine. UNICEF has come out in recent days saying that this constant bombardment by the Russians of the power grid is endangering not just the physical health, but the mental health of nearly every single child in this country, putting them at desperate risk.
[03:05:02]
Think about an entire generation of young people who are now conditioned to be afraid when they hear the sound of air raid sirens and conditioned to being stuck at home, sometimes for days without electricity and without heat as we are fast approaching the dead of winter and plunging temperatures here, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, a terrifying situation there. I really appreciate that. And stay safe. Will Ripley in Kyiv, thanks so much.
Well, the U.S. has announced plans to expand training for Ukraine's military starting in January.
CNN's Nina dos Santos is live in London with the details. So, Nina, walk us through this decision and what it'll mean for Ukraine.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this keeps up a really active week of U.S. announcements about how the United States is planning to further support Ukraine, to rebuff those types of attacks that you just heard Will Ripley describing as we speak this week in Kyiv, after yesterday's announcement earlier on in the week, and then confirmation thereafter that the Patriot missile air -- missile defense system from the United States is going to be heading its way towards Ukraine, that will require some training.
We now have a new announcement that 500 Ukrainian troops per month, as of the month of January, will start to be trained up by the United States in the U.S.' air bases around Europe, in particularly in Germany, where obviously the United States has a big air base in Ramstein in Germany that's been very active training up Ukrainian soldiers and continuingly keeping abreast of their needs.
From there, that is likely to be where this operation will commence. And we heard a spokesman from the Pentagon's air -- air force unit say that this training will include live fire exercises followed by squad platoon, and company level training that will then culminate, of course in battalion level maneuver training.
So, scaling up there the ability of the Ukrainians to continue to defend their country against this battery of attacks that they're facing that has significantly increased as we hear there from Will and others on the scene as we head into the dead of a really frigid winter in Ukraine.
I must add that this is U.S. official say a continuation of an existing U.S. policy that's being re-energized. Remember that the U.S. has continued to have joint training exercises with Ukrainian forces sporadically ever since 2014 when Crimea was annexed from Ukraine by Russia.
But this again, yes, another a culmination of important U.S. and Ukrainian military announcements to look forward to the new year to try and see if this can help Ukraine defend itself from those attacks on its critical infrastructure at this critical time of the year. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for breaking that down for us. Nina dos Santos in London.
British and E.U. regulators are taking a cue from Washington in their effort to tame the highest inflation in decades. They each raised interest rates by half a percentage point on Thursday, a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve did the same inflation on both sides of the English Channel is still in the 10 percent range, even though it did tick down last month.
Now there's concern more interest rate hikes will cause a recession, which is already looming in Britain. Regulators say more increases are likely because inflation is still too far high. But across the Atlantic, inflation concerns took a backseat for a day on Thursday.
U.S. markets still took a nose dive after the U.S. Federal Reserve predicted the U.S. economy will barely grow next year. As Richard Quest reports, the economic prospects for next year and now becoming more clear and more grim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Yes, this was the day when reality seemed to seep in. As interest rates rose in Europe the ECB and the Bank of England both raised rates by half a percentage point. And of course, we had the rate rise from the U.S. only 24 hours earlier.
The reality that's seeping in is that next year is going to see even higher rates with slower economic growth. Some might call that stagflation. Others are refusing to use that term, and there's still those that won't admit the reality that there'll probably be a recession in the United States.
The markets are unhappy because of what they see as the higher interest rates now moving very firmly into territory. The very goal of these higher rates is to slow down economic activity, and we saw that in the U.S. with the latest retail sales numbers, which were down.
We know that the consumer is starting to get exhausted, even though it might be Christmas. If we look into 2023, and I'm afraid the economic omens are not that good.
Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: British nurses went on a one-day strike on Thursday with as many as 100,000 members of the U.K.'s largest nurses union participating in a historic labor action. They want higher wages that officials insist the system can't afford. But nurses also say the country's healthcare service is in crisis after years of declining standards. CNN's Isa Soares talk to nurses on the picket line in London.
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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not often you see scenes like this outside London. Nurses really walking out of hospitals. St. Thomas' Hospital here and onto the picket lines, and they are protesting very much what you are hearing, overworked and underpaid.
More than 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing taking to the streets. Let's find out why they're decided to do this. Let's talk to some of them.
Can I ask you a very quick question?
UNKNOWN: I'm sorry.
SOARES: Can I ask you a very quick question? Were CNN. How hard of a decision was this for you to come out here today?
UNKNOWN: We actually been derogated, I'm on my day off, but (Inaudible) support (Inaudible).
SOARES: Why -- why is this so important?
UNKNOWN: Because people are fed up, it's been 12 years of cuts and not enough and we're short staffed. People are exhausted.
SOARES: I want to get some more. Thank you very much. Can I speak to you ladies? Anyone? Anyone who wants to talk. You're here. Clearly you want to get your message across. Can I ask you, what are conditions like? I know so many of you have taken the streets. What are conditions like?
UNKNOWN: Unsafe. It's just so unsafe. It's tiring coming to work day in and day out. And there's no staff. There's no one to help. You are providing a bare minimum of care and it's just not enough and it's not fair. Patients don't deserve it.
SOARES: Just explain to our viewers, really around the world, you know, what conditions they've been like. Because this is, this is historical strike.
UNKNOWN: Yes. So, I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: That's right.
UNKNOWN: We've -- the NHS has been in crisis for many years. It's been steadily growing. COVID Delta is a body blow. But, and now our services actually, I'd say in complete collapse, you know, people are waiting two or three hours for an ambulance. There's cues of patients outside A and E. We have our wards are criminally understaffed, day in and day out. And we can't provide proper care for patients. So, it's really driven us to take this drastic action. SOARES: So, this is not just about pay, this is about much bigger
course here.
UNKNOWN: Yes. Under U.K. law, we're only allowed to strike over pay. But we are fighting for investment in our health service, in better working conditions, in recognition for our profession and all the hard work and sacrifices we make.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: For more on this let's bring in Andrew Blick, who's a professor of Politics in Contemporary History, and the head of the Department of Political Economy at King's College London.
He joins us now from London. Thanks so much for being here with us.
So, it's not just the nurses, right? I mean, we have so many different industries affected by work action and strikes all at once. What's behind this?
ANDREW BLICK, PROFESSOR, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: Well, as you say, it's numerous groups, rail workers, postal workers are also striking. What's going on here is inflation is high. Inflation has been high for a while. Wages haven't kept up with inflation. We've got a cost-of- living crisis. We've got fuel bills increasing.
We've also, in the UK had quite a long period really going back to the aftermath of the credit crisis in the late 2000s of austerity of restrictions in expenditure on public services by government.
All these things combining. Then throw in Brexit as well. We've got labor shortages, which means it's harder for organizations like National Health Service to recruit, which increases the burden further on staff. So, all these things are really coming together.
BRUNHUBER: Now, the U.K. has seen this type of thing before in the 70s, except it was a labor government in power. So, how similar or different is what we're seeing now?
BLICK: Well, there certainly are similarities. And as you say previously it was the labor government and it's an important part of conservative party mythology in a way that the British economy was in ruins in the 1970s. Labor had ruined everything.
And then Margaret Thatcher, the conservative leader, got in, in 1979, changed the laws around unions to make it harder for them to strike. And it, according to their version of events, effectively saved the country, saved the economy from the influence of the unions. The problem is now that it is the conservatives that are on the receiving end of it. So, what are they going to do about it?
BRUNHUBER: So then using that logic, I mean, will the Labour Party similarly cap -- capitalize on this? Or will conservatives be able to sort of ride any backlash to this to sort of paint unions and the left wing is out of control. BLICK: Well, obviously the politics of this are slightly complicated
in the, as you suggested, Labour Party has close links with the trade union movement. It was formed largely by the trade union movement in the first place in 1900.
[03:15:02]
Some of these unions that are on strike, however, aren't affiliated to the Labour Party, so Labour Party doesn't necessarily have a direct link, but certainly the conservatives will attempt to deploy this politically against Labour and challenge Labour on whether or not it supports these strikes and present it as irresponsible if it does.
BRUNHUBER: So conservatives want to push anti-strike legislation, but so far polls show people are largely supportive of the worker's right to strike. Do you get the sense that that will change the longer this goes on?
BLICK: The conservatives certainly, I think looking at ways in which they can play this politically, maybe rather than trying to resolve the disputes, bringing forward legislation that will strip further the right to strike, which is already quite tightly regulated.
One question is, as you say, will the popularity of the strikes hold up? Certainly, in the case of nurses, nurses are a pretty popular group in this country. They, you know, many people have experience of being looked after by nurses. They feel that they deserve a fair deal.
So, if popularity holds up, then it may be difficult for the -- for the conservative government to gain this one. But even if the popularity of the strikes does decline, even if people do get fed up with the strikes, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to like the government.
They may blame the government even more as in a way they did in 1979 with the labor government that we were talking about previously.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well in that case, I mean, for the conservative government from the prime minister, I mean, this is, you know, far from the only issue Rishi Sunak is facing. I mean, as you enumerate the rising inflation, interest rates, fuel prices of recession. So how vulnerable is he right now, do you think?
BLICK: Sunak is in a very difficult political position. His party is divided. He became leader, but there were people in the party who clearly had different views to his own on a range of issues. He's there. He's pushed from the left and pushed from the right of his party. It's very difficult for him to move anywhere on certain issues.
This is one of a number of issues, as you say. Sunak is vulnerable, but on the other hand, the conservatives have now been through three prime ministers since the last year election. I doubt they're going to try and change prime minister again, but they may make life difficult for him, and I doubt that this point in time either they want to force a general election because on the polling evidence, they would lose that badly. BRUNHUBER: All right. I really appreciate your analysis and insight,
professor.
BLICK: Pleasure.
BRUNHUBER: Andrew Blick with King's College London, thanks so much.
Residential fire has killed at least 10 people in France. It broke out in an eighth story building in a suburb of Lyon a little after three o'clock, local time this morning. Five children are among the dead and more than a dozen are injured. At least four people are in critical condition.
Now witness told CNN affiliate BFM TV he was alerted to the fire by children shouting from a fourth-floor balcony. He says residents used a ladder to evacuate some 25 people from that. One hundred seventy firefighters were on site. Now the fire is out, but police say the cause of the fire isn't yet known.
A week of political unrest in Peru has now reached some of the country's most popular tourist spots and left many international visitors stranded with no way out. We'll have those details just ahead.
Plus, it's a policy that let the U.S. keep asylum seekers in Mexico. We'll look at why a federal judge says it has to stay in place at least for now.
Stay with us.
[03:20:00]
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BRUNHUBER: Violent demonstrations continue in Peru over the ousting of former President Pedro Castillo. Dozens of tourists are caught up in the chaos. They're stranded in a remote mountain town. They say, because protestors won't let them travel to Bolivia.
This comes as the country's Supreme Court has ordered the ex-president to remain in pre-trial detention for 18 months as he faces accusations of rebellion and conspiracy. Castillo denies the allegations.
CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: As it has been the case for more than a week in Peru, police once again clashed with protestors. This violent protest in Cusco mirrors what has happened across the South American country, including in Lima, the capital.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROMO: Defense Minister Alberto Otarola declared a state of emergency Wednesday that will be in effect for 30 days. He said the national police and armed forces are responding to acts of vandalism, violence, and seizure of roads.
Peru's national police has said earlier that highways in at least four regions across the country had been blocked by protestors demanding the immediate return to power of former President Pedro Castillo.
As you may remember, Castillo was impeached and arrested on December 7th after he announced plans to dissolve Congress and installed an emergency government. He was apparently trying to get ahead of a congressional vote on his impeachment. Castillo is accused of conspiracy and rebellion. He denied those allegations.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROMO: Dina Boluarte who was Castillo's vice president, then succeeded him after his impeachment, said Wednesday that it is technically possible to call for new elections by the end of next year, even though Peruvians are not scheduled to go to the polls until 2026.
The national police were deployed to Lima's International Airport, which according to a spokeswoman is operating normally. However, some regional airports remain closed. This means that many international tourists are stuck without a connecting flight to the capital and must stay in Peru for now.
Train service between Machu Picchu and Cusco was disrupted due to deadly protests, leaving dozens of tourists stranded at the Inca citadel.
A political crisis has gripped Peru for years. Boluarte who took over after the ousting of Pedro Castillo is Peru's sixth president in less than five years.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A U.S. federal judge in Texas has put a hold on the Biden Administration's plan to end the so-called remain in Mexico program. The controversial Trump era policy allows the U.S. to send certain non-Mexican citizens who entered the U.S. back to Mexico.
Previously, those migrants were either detained or released into the U.S. while their immigration proceedings played. Now U.S. immigration court system has hit a new record with a backlog of two million pending cases, and that number is expected to grow as the Biden administration ends the Title 42 program that allows those federal agents to return migrants to their home countries based on public health concerns.
Now those who have made it through are struggling to build a new life in the U.S.
CNN's Omar Jimenez Reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From Venezuela to Colombia, Central America, Mexico, and then by bus from Texas, eventually to New York City in July, Daylin Roxas (Ph) says she was frightened nearly every step of the monthlong journey. The first fear is the jungle, she says, navigating threats of possible violence, disease and more alongside her husband and son.
In the middle of it all, the three of them found out she was carrying a fourth. She was pregnant. By the time she had gotten to New York, the harsh conditions of her travel had taken a toll.
"I got sick because I came with a urinary infection from the trip over," she says, "was hospitalized because of the baby," the beginnings of a potential abortion.
[03:25:02]
But in November, her daughter was born symbolizing the future She came here for in the first place. Her journey mirrors the more than 30,000 asylum seekers that have landed in New York City since the spring. Some on their own volition, some sent on a bus from Texas to make a political point.
As of this week, more than 20,000 migrants remain in the city's care, and it's part of why Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in October, estimating the city will spend roughly a billion dollars on the influx of migrants.
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY): We need help. This is some serious money that we're spending because we're doing the right thing.
JIMENEZ: Mayor Adams says he plans to ask for more money from FEMA ahead of the expected lifting of Title 42. But as the weather gets colder, the reality for care and the incoming migrants is changing.
ILZE THELMAN, TEAM TLC NYC: We see people arriving in t-shirts and still sometimes even in flip-flops, and they don't have proper winter clothes. We have -- we see people, little kids with, you know, babies showing up wrapped in a blanket with a diaper on, and no winter clothing. So that is a huge challenge.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROBERT GONZALEZ, VENEZUELAN ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Also, they are coming from a tropical country.
JIMENEZ: Robert Gonzalez works with the New York based group, Venezuelan Alliance for Community Support, working to help connect migrants with resources like social service, mental health, and more. He knows while the journey here is difficult and equally difficult one lies ahead.
GONZALEZ: To find a job, to learn the language, to be ability to, you know, to understand and to integrate to a new system and a new culture. They want to be able to grow up.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
GONZALEZ: You know, like other people coming to the United States looking for that.
JIMENEZ: Roxas' (Ph) husband is now working, but since they got here in July, a baby later, they've been in shelters still in one now trying to endure. I asked her what she wants for her future here.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JIMENEZ: "We're waiting for the year to end to put in citizenship papers to become legal," she says, "to get work. We're taking English courses. We're in this process to try and bring our family, the kids that stayed to build a future here."
Now Daylin's (Ph) husband has been able to get a job in construction. She's been trying to do the same but is at home or a shelter with what is now two kids. Both she and her husband say they plan to file for asylum in the new year, which they can do as long as they do it within a year of being here on the buses that have been sent from Texas to cities like Washington, D.C., Chicago, and here in New York.
An official briefed on New York's response has told CNN that the pace of buses has slowed, but there's still a huge demand on legal services for some of these migrants on winter clothes for some of these migrants who may not be used to these cold temperatures. And these are all demands that could get that much more intense with the expected lifting of Title 42 next week.
Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. House just brought Puerto Rico one step closer to becoming a U.S. state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The ayes are 133. The nays are 191. The bill is passed.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Thursday the House passed a bill that would give Puerto Ricans binding vote for either full statehood, independence, or sovereignty in a free association with the U.S. Now only Congress can grant Puerto Rico statehood, but the bill heads the Senate where it's not expected to go anywhere in the short term, it would've to be brought up again in the next Congress.
The Biden administration put billions of dollars on the table for African nations as a three-day summit with African leaders wraps up in Washington. We'll have those details just ahead. Plus, a painful moment for the families who lost loved ones in a
Halloween tragedy in South Korea. Some of them are headed to the site of the incident for the first time since it happened.
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[03:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
U.S. President Joe Biden ended a three-day summit with African leaders on Thursday by saying he supports the African Union becoming a permanent member of the G20. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Africa belongs to the table in every room. In every room where global challenges are being discussed, and in every institution where discussions are taking place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, this was the first U.S.-Africa summit since the Obama administration, and it covered a wide range of critical issues including healthcare, food security, infrastructure, and democratic elections.
Biden said the U.S. was prepared to invest some $55 billion in African nations over the next three years. He also said he intends to visit Africa sometime next year.
Now corruption and mismanagement have plagued many African nations for decades, and following billions in new investments, the region won't be easy.
CNN's Dave McKenzie joins us live from South Africa where scandal has undermined public confidence in that country's leadership to provide even basic services.
And David, so the political turmoil in South Africa are already adding to the existing security and crime problems there.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And today, the ANC, the ruling party, the party of Nelson Mandela, Kim, will be having its -- the first day of its elective conference. Which in a very real sense chooses the next president. But factionalism, infighting, and corruption have all -- all tainted this proud party.
And many South Africans I speak to aren't that interested in politics. They're just looking to survive and get by when the government is not doing what it should. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: A cash and transit team evading a sophisticated criminal attack.
UNKNOWN: They're coming after us.
MCKENZIE: You likely saw this viral video from South Africa. Attacks like this happen here all the time.
UNKNOWN: So, basically what we do is we do live vehicle tracking and monitoring.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MCKENZIE: Some of the best protected vehicles and cash depots are tracked real time at Fidelity's nerve Center in Johannesburg.
Are you a step behind or a step ahead right now?
UNKNOWN: We try and be one jump ahead of crime. But we know that they're very creative and they're well organized. So, we are looking at the training, we are looking at technology.
UNKNOWN: We got a hijacking. One of our clients was hijacked in Benoni on the eastern end, and he's viciously updating his data to me.
UNKNOWN: Patrol, fox bravo zero, eight bravo Juliet pappa.
MCKENZIE: The intervention unit has come here to the east of Johannesburg. This location was the last spot that a signal came out of a vehicle that they think was hijacked.
This search ends without a win.
UNKNOWN: This is our vehicle tracking unit.
MCKENZIE: Is it frustrating where you see this has been thrown out.
UNKNOWN: A lot?
MCKENZIE: Why?
UNKNOWN: They get away with it too much.
UNKNOWN: The bad guys won.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
MCKENZIE: Active private security officers here outnumber the police roughly five to one. Shouldn't the government be doing this?
UNKNOWN: Well, that's why the industry is so big because I don't think government is getting to all of it.
MCKENZIE: All of this goes beyond security. On the streets of Joburg private companies have to sponsor the pothole patrol. When a fire gutted one of Africa's most important public hospitals, well-known charity gift of the givers stepped in.
[03:34:56]
South Africans frequently joke that its founder should run the country. The fire service, safety, security, construction, water, all of this is being handled by private individuals or charities. What does that tell you?
IMTIAZ SOOLIMAN, FOUNDER, GIFT OF THE GIVERS: That the message is very strong and clear. The country has lost faith in the government. That's the reality. And at the same time, the country has lost a lot of hope.
UNKNOWN: Every time when I look at my kids, especially in this moment, and I see that I can't provide them with most of the thing which they need, especially when it comes now to Christmas time.
MCKENZIE: Hope is in short supply for Vincent Indo (Ph), who lost his construction job during COVID and says his wife left him.
UNKNOWN: Yes, it's a survival of the poorest to be honest. It's not like I can say it's easy.
MCKENZIE: In deep, slow, and formal settlement the surge water runs through the streets. The electricity is more off than on. Vincent (Ph) tried to set up citizen patrols but they ran out of funds. He says the police come late if they come at all.
The government says it's working to improve services and millions depend on its social grant program, but rampant corruption and mismanagement hamper these efforts.
SOOLIMAN: At the end of the day, it is our country, and I said very clearly, the country does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people of South Africa. So, we can either sit and mourn and cry knowing nothing can be done, or what in ourselves we can do something and fix it wherever we can.
MCKENZIE: The cruel reality in the world's most unequal society, the rich can afford to secure their lives. The poor are on their own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: Well, Kim, to give you a practical example, the South Africa has seen its worst blackouts for several years, perhaps ever in fact, and most South Africans I know use their phone to have an app that tells you when it's going to happen, because they keep changing the schedules. This weekend where I live, we'll have around 10 hours a day of no power.
And it means that just people are looking elsewhere as you see to try and get some kind of services. The government says it is trying to do its best. They have built houses for millions of people since the end of apartheid. But that politics is impacting it. If you look at this US-Africa summit, which just wrapped up, the U.S.
is pledging billions in part to try and transition South Africa away from fossil fuels to solar and wind energy. But you even see pushback within the government to those kind of plans.
So, the hope is that the ANC can get its house in order, and that people can feel safe, secure, and have the lights on in this country. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Yes, let's hope. All right. Thanks so much for that. I rally appreciate, David McKenzie.
Beijing is shifting responsibility for fighting COVID from government to individual citizens as cases surge across the nation. Now this comes as China rolls back its heavily criticized zero COVID policy, and despite offers to help from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, Beijing says it can tackle the outbreak on its own through what it calls its whole nation system.
CNN's Selina Wang reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As COVID rapidly spreads throughout China, the Chinese government spin is that everything is fine. That China's COVID policy was a success and is still a success.
Propaganda has taken a complete U-turn from declaring an all-out people's war on COVID to suddenly now telling people your health is in your own hands.
There's a lot of state media headlines like this. In the People's Daily, the headline reads, start by wearing a mask and be the first person responsible for your own health. In Xinhua, the headline reads, in the fight against the epidemic everyone is the first person responsible for their own health.
Other articles are praising the last three years of zero COVID and hailing this pivot as an achievement. Including this commentary from the People's Daily that has gone viral. The key lines are, quote, "the virus has weakened, but we have become stronger. Chairman Xi's insightful judgment, scientific and firm decisions show his reliability as a people's leader. It pointed out and provided crucial guidance for us to win this people's battle, total battle and precise battle against COVID."
A lot of people online, they're furious over that article. Some are calling it a lie that completely ignores the devastating impact of zero COVID over the last three years. The trauma and pain that people faced during lockdowns. No apology or no admitting that the government has ever made a mistake.
State media has instead focused on how the government is responding. The government said it will train volunteers and retired health workers to boost manpower. The government is increasing the number of fever clinics. This social media video shows people waiting inside a Beijing stadium that's been converted into a makeshift fever clinic. You can see some lines forming and people waiting on benches.
We're already seeing hospitals under strain here in the capital. But the really big concern is what happens when people go back home for the upcoming Chinese New Year? And COVID starts to spread more rapidly in the rural parts of China with weaker health infrastructure.
[00:05:02]
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Experts say North Korea could be taking its ballistic missile technology to the next level. State media says leader Kim Jong-un attended a test of a new solid fuel rocket engine on Thursday. The test was reported as a success, which western experts said could be significant.
Pyongyang has so far been using only liquid fueled rocket engines, but missiles propelled with solid fuel are easier to launch and give adversaries less time to react.
Meanwhile, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi met with South Korea's foreign minister on Thursday. South Korea requested the meeting after Pyongyang conducted the highest number of missile tests this year in more than a decade.
Victims' families are about to commemorate their loved ones who died in a horrific tragedy during Halloween celebrations in South Korea. In the next hour, they'll hold a memorial service in Seoul to honor the 158 people who were crushed to death in late October. For some families, it'll be the first time at the site of the tragedy since it happened.
As Paula Hancock's reports, the families are still dealing with grief and pain and still looking for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A painful look at the last hours of their daughter's life. Oh Il-seok and Kim Eun-Mi look through photos on her phone trying to piece together how Chi Min (Ph) became one of the 158 victims of Seoul's Halloween crowd crush.
KIM EUN-MI, MOTHER OF ITAEWON CRUSH VICTIM (through translator): I can't look at the photos. They make me cry.
HANCOCKS: The 25-year-old was photographed at 9.35 p.m. inside a bar, then outside in the increasingly crowded backstreets of Itaewon, 9.59 p.m., her father says, she messaged friends to say she was going home, 10.07 p.m. the last photo Chi Min (Ph) took with her friend. Her friend who survived, says a few minutes later, the slow-moving crowd suddenly moved faster, sucking them into the alleyway. Her parents and older brother made frantic phone calls to hospitals and police. One o'clock the following afternoon, they were asked to come and identify their daughter's body at a hospital morgue.
OH IL-SEOK, FATHER OF ITAEWON CRUSH VICTIM (through translator): That image of her keeps coming to me so I can't sleep at night.
EUN-MI (through translator): It snowed yesterday and got called. Chi Min is buried outside. It makes me more sad.
HANCOCKS: Grief is becoming clouded with unanswered questions and anger.
IL-SEOK (through translator): I hope the truth will be revealed soon. We don't know how my daughter died, how her body ended up there.
HANCOCKS: A special investigation is ongoing. Call logs show the first emergency calls for crowd control came in about four hours before the tragedy. So far, two police officers have been dismissed and arrested, accused of destroying evidence. The chief of police in the area has been suspended.
One police officer who wants to conceal his identity for fear of retribution for speaking out says he arrived to see a pile of people in the narrow alley.
UNKNOWN (through translator): We couldn't pull people out from the bottom. There was too much pressure. I assumed they had already died. People in the second and third layers were fading, crying out for help, but we couldn't pull them out.
HANCOCKS: He says it was already too late when he arrived. And safety planning should have been made in advance.
UNKNOWN (through translator): The problem with this now is that the people who should really be responsible are not taking responsibility. The direction of the investigation is now looking up. Only down. There may have been mistakes trying to save just one more life, but if you blame us, who would want to do this job?
HANCOCKS: Political infighting and finger pointing has no place in the home where Chin Min (Ph) grew up, her parents read every birthday card, pour over every photo. Struggling to cope with a life changing tragedy that should never have happened.
Paula Hancocks, CNN. Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Coming up, after devastating parts of the southern U.S., a massive storm system is pummeling northern states with miserable winter weather. We'll have latest forecast just ahead. Stay with us.
[03:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: Malaysian state media report at least 16 people have been
killed following a landslide at a campsite near Kuala Lumpur early Friday. Seventeen people are still missing. Authorities say hundreds of rescue workers are taking part in search and rescue operations.
A massive cleanup is underway across parts of the Southern U.S. after deadly tornadoes ripped through the region, at least three people were killed and dozens injured in the hardest hit state of Louisiana. The National Weather Service confirmed that two EF2 tornadoes struck New Orleans with winds up to 135 miles per hour. The powerful twisters destroyed homes and downed trees and power lines.
Residents devastated by the deadly twisters have harrowing stories of survival. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRENT THERIOT, TORNADO SURVIVOR: So, we got in here and all of a sudden, (Inaudible) about a minute or so after that, just a strong gust of wind come through the front door, front of the house. The tornado came through the front and we in here locked up in here, me and the dog, and all of a sudden, everything just blew up like a bomb.
UNKNOWN: How? How long? Blew up like a bomb.
THERIOT: Blew up about 20 seconds, but it seemed longer than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And that storm system isn't quite done yet. The northern part of the U.S. could take a serious pounding from winter weather over the next few days.
So, for more on that let's bring on meteorologist Britley Ritz. So, Britley, where exactly are you looking at and what are the folks there facing?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. We are watching that area of low pressure across the northeast that brought in, yes, many scenes looking very similar to this across Louisiana. That same system, tornadoes, of course, there were 33 tornado reports over the last 48 hours. That same system, just as Kim mentioned, bringing in snowfall across the New England region.
You'll see areas highlighted in the darker blues and purples that's indicating heavy, steady snowfall where we could pick up several centimeters of snowfall. Now, not only snow, but freezing rain. This was yesterday across the mid-Atlantic on up into upstate New York. Many reports of freezing rain.
Area -- you see these areas with little dots popping up across parts of Virginia and into Maryland. These are areas that picked up roughly three tenths of an inch or seven millimeters of freezing rain. Not only that, but we still hold on too many under freezing rain possibilities with the winter weather advisory that's still in effect. But winter storm warnings now up into New England, that's where we are
expected to be dealing with snow and into Saturday. While Saturday the snow chances will start to taper back a bit, there's still an existence. So, we have to keep that in mind as we're traveling throughout the weekend.
Travel not advised today for many across the northeast, so keep that in mind too as you're going out and about today. Just maybe slow down. Give yourself a little bit more time from point A to point B.
As for snowfall totals, you'll see the darker pinks, even pops of purple, indicating 60 to a 100 centimeter of snowfall just through Saturday. Not finished yet across the upper Midwest. And back into the northern plains, while we're only expected to pick up five to 10 centimeters, we're still dealing with an area of low pressure. It's the winds with that low that causes the issue.
So, blizzard warnings, whipping snow around all across the Dakota's back into northern Nebraska where we can expect many to have lower visibilities. Fifty-two kilometers per hour across parts of South Dakota. Those are current wind speeds at the moment, which of course, knocks villa -- visibility down to zero kilometers. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right, Britley Ritz, thanks so much. I appreciate it.
[03:49:58]
Well, the episodes in the Harry and Meghan docu-series revealed the drama over their royal exit and allegations of Prince William shouting.
We'll have the major takeaways just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Twitter's new owner Elon Musk is falsely accusing several prominent journalists of sharing his live location and giving out what he called assassination coordinates. He says that's when -- that's why they've been banned from the platform.
One of the journalists is CNN's Donie O'Sullivan who didn't share the billionaire's real-time whereabouts. O'Sullivan and other reporters suspended Thursday. Did recently write about another social media account that tracked Musk's private plane. The bans have cast serious doubt on Musk's supposed commitment to free speech.
And a former Twitter employee convicted in the U.S. of spying for Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. While at Twitter, he helped oversee relationships with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and Africa. Prosecutors say he used his access to gather sensitive and non-public information on Saudi dissidents.
U.S. lawmakers have been calling for greater restrictions on TikTok, citing what they perceive to be Chinese security threats. This week, the Senate passed legislation banning the social media platform, which has more than a billion users worldwide from U.S. government devices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): And I think that TikTok is a national security issue. I would caution any parents letting their children use it, I think it gives the Chinese Communist Party an opportunity to spy on all of us.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): The magic of TikTok, and there's a lot of good things on TikTok. The magic of TikTok is that the algorithms can be manipulated. So, I'm concerned that this could be used as a propaganda tool for the Communist Party of China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And these are the states that have banned the app on state issued devices. The Idaho, Wyoming, and New Hampshire governors were the latest to join in. The fear is that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
Well, there are explosive allegations of royal drama in the final episodes of the Harry and Meghan documentary series. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex discussed deeply personal details about what Meghan says she endured, as well as some screaming within the royal family.
CNN's Anna Stewart has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I was pregnant. I really wasn't sleeping.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: In the final episode of their tell-all docu-series, the Sussex's recall how Meghan suffered a miscarriage.
MEGHAN: The first morning that we woke up in our new home is when I miscarried.
STEWART: This tragic moment in the couple's story came in July, 2020, having left Canada for California. British tabloid, The Mail on Sunday published a private letter Meghan had sent to her father.
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: Bearing in mind the stress that caused the lack of sleep and the timing of the preg -- the timing of the pregnancy how many weeks in she was, I can say from what I saw that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.
STEWART: Royal ladies typically bear the brunt of negative tabloid attention. Harry's mother, Diana understood this all too well. More than familiar with intrusive press attention the Sussex's is pointing the finger at the palace press team.
[03:54:58]
PRINCE HARRY: It was already clear to the media that the palace wasn't going to protect her. Once that happens, the floodgate opens. STEWART: Keenly aware of the parallels with his mother, Harry has
made clear that he doesn't want history to repeat itself. The most vitriolic attention spewed from social media, which the couples say was then amplified by mainstream media.
MEGHAN: You are making people want to kill me. It's not just a tabloid, it's not just some story. You are making me scared.
STEWART: The impact on Meghan's mental health was a key reason behind their departure from the U.K. Their plans to step back from royal duties led to a deep rift in the family and crisis talks at Sandringham.
PRINCE HARRY: The saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother.
STEWART: The two brothers, prince William and Prince Harry met with then Prince Charles and the late queen.
PRINCE HARRY: It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren't true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and, and sort of take it all in.
STEWART: In six hours of documentary storytelling the Sussex's have told their side of the story.
PRINCE HARRY: So, there was no other option at this point. I said we need to get out of here.
STEWART: The royal family aren't commenting. The tabloid press no doubt will have plenty to say.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is sharing more details about the 1963 -- 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The National Archives released more than 13,000 previously classified documents Thursday, including all of the remaining information in the CIA said it has. That's directly related to JFK's murder.
A 1964 report found Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he shot and killed Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Still, the killing is prompted plenty of conspiracy theories. Researchers say it could take days to learn what's in the newly released files.
Colorful nutcrackers shaped like soldiers owe their popularity, of course, to the famous ballet. But now, the town of Laverne, Minnesota seems to revere the beloved symbols of Christmas like almost nowhere else. This history center has more than 5,000 of them in every shape and size. You can thank 92-year-old residents, Benny Mann. She started collecting them two decades ago when she needed some Christmas cheer.
Betty donated her collection when it got so large, she was being overrun by them at home and the town needed a tourist attraction. Asked for them, and well, got its Christmas wish.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can find me on Twitter at Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a moment with more CNN Newsroom. Please do stay with us.
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