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Influx Of Migrants At U.S.-Mexico Border Warns Of Humanitarian Crisis; Tourists Stranded In Peru Because Of Protests; Ukraine Wanted Video Played At World Cup Final; U.S. Hospitals Struggling As Flu, COVID-19, RSV Spike. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 18, 2022 - 03:00 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 (voice-over): Hello and welcome to the viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.
Ahead this hour, America braces for a bigger migrant crisis as Title 42 comes to an end. We will take you to both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border to see how asylum seekers are faring and what government officials are doing to prepare.
Hundreds of tourists stranded in Peru in the midst of political turmoil. I will talk to one visitor, who is still in the country, about their experience.
Plus it is game day in Qatar. We are just hours away from the World Cup final between Argentina and France. That preview is just ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: U.S. officials are sounding the alarm about a potential humanitarian crisis at the southern border. As large numbers of migrants brave dangerous conditions to seek asylum. But strained the resources of the border towns that receive them.
El Paso, Texas, officials say more than 2,500 people arrived each day in the past week. The mayor declared a state of emergency Saturday, citing the number of people sleeping on city streets as temperatures fell. And the anticipated end of a Trump era policy just days away.
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MAYOR OSCAR LEESER (D-TX), EL PASO: I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum seekers or our community was not safe and I really believe that today our asylum seekers are not safe as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets.
And that is not the way we want to treat people. We know that the influx on Wednesday will be incredible. It will be huge. Talking to some of our federal partners, they really believe that on Wednesday our numbers will go from 2,500 to 4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000.
And when I asked him, I said, "Do you believe that you guys can handle it today?"
The answer was no. When I got an answer of no, that meant we needed to do something and do something right away.
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HARRAK: Unless the Supreme Court steps in, Wednesday will see the end of Title 42, which will allow for the expulsion of certain categories of migrants. When the policy ends authorities expect the number of asylum seekers to rise even higher.
The mayor of one New Mexico city says U.S. president should visit to show that the region is secure.
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MAYOR KEN MIYAGISHIMA (D-NM), LAS CRUCES: It would do two things. One, I think it would speak volumes for the president but also to let them know exactly that the border is a safe area.
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HARRAK: We have teams on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. We will start with Gustavo Valdes in Mexico, who watches as asylum seekers cross the Rio Grande River and line up to present themselves to U.S. authorities.
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GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Since Friday, we have been seeing --
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VALDES: -- situation unfold every few minutes. A group of migrants get to this part of the Rio Grande with families, with children, trying to cross into the U.S.
You see, they get somebody to help them, trying to keep their feet dry as much as they can. It is a shallow part of the Rio Grande in this part. They get across. They try to do it carefully. It is still dangerous. We have seen people tumble and fall, including without (ph) and severe injuries.
And the goal, once they cross over, is continue the short trek up that hill, where the U.S. government has built a temporary fence at the end of the existing border wall. And those people are waiting to be processed.
The process seems to be faster than in days past when there was a long line of people waiting. People who had to wait more than a day to be processed. In the past couple of days what we have seen is Border Patrol agents taking them in a little faster. They wait for a van or a big bus.
And that is how they take them somewhere else to be processed. That doesn't mean that they are being accepted for asylum; it just means they are being processed somewhere else. We are seeing the early (ph) part of this group trying to keep their documents -- their documents dry.
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VALDES: This is the end of a long road for many of them.
Where are you guys from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Venezuela.
VALDES: They are from Venezuela. Most of these people are from Venezuela. They said they're tired because it has been very cold. They need to cross. They think that they are going to have a chance now.
The U.S. authorities insist that the end of Title 42 doesn't mean open borders. These people are still subject to deportation. For these people, that doesn't matter. The only thing they are worried about is that they are sent back to their countries.
They want that, if they are going to be allowed into the U.S., that they at least would rather stay in Mexico. That is something that is still to be seen. And like these people, over the weekend, the local authorities in Ciudad Juarez are telling us they suspect there are thousands waiting for the opportunity on Wednesday to cross into the United States -- Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Once again, large groups of migrant who have arrived here in the U.S. are bracing for another frigid night on the streets of downtown El Paso.
The people that you see around me mostly have not been able to get into one of the shelters that have been so overwhelmed by this latest surge of migrants in this area.
This is all happening days ahead of the expected lifting of Title 42, that pandemic era public health rule that allowed customs and border protection and border officials to expel many migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border because of public health reasons.
And many of these people really just trying to get through the night as they await being able to get on a bus or a flight to their final destinations elsewhere in the country.
What you are seeing playing out is really people, kind of, desperate for whatever blankets and clothing, whatever they can get to get through these nights. We've seen the generosity of people who -- like this woman here who arrived a short while ago and was giving away blankets.
Migrants who've lined up single file to be able to get their hands on a blanket or shoes or sweaters, sweat shirts, anything that can help them through the night.
And they're camped out around these bus stations because they are waiting to either board these buses. But many of these tickets are several days out so they had to sit here. And that is really the main concern that local officials here in El Paso have and what they have been working to try to prepare for.
And they've realized that at this point they just need to be able to manage this situation as best as possible. And the thing that they want to do, the best at is moving people out of here as quickly as possible because they know that behind them there are thousands more migrants possibly coming in the days ahead.
So they say the biggest challenge they will have is to get these people to bigger transportation hubs like Phoenix, Denver, Dallas and Houston so that they can then move on to their final destinations.
And they hope that if they can move people out of El Paso quickly enough that will alleviate the pressure and the burden on a lot of the shelters and the charities that are really helping these people get through these initial days here in the U.S. But they are all bracing for large numbers of people.
In the last week, El Paso has seen about 2,000 to 2,500 people per day. Local officials are now estimating that once Title 42 is lifted it could be anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 people per day here just in the El Paso region alone -- Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.
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HARRAK: Tourists who had come to Peru for the trip of a lifetime have found themselves in the middle of something they could not have planned for. Airports and railroad shutdowns caused by widespread protests in the country have left as many as 300 tourists stranded in the ancient city of Machu Picchu.
A local mayor told CNN that he had requested helicopter flights to evacuate them. Rafael Romo has more on the story.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: The problem wasn't only the fact that several regional airports, including Cusco, one of the busiest ones, had to close due to the fact that they were targeted by protesters, who were bent on disrupting traffic to the rail line, connecting Cusco to the ancient city of Machu Picchu, also suspended service for the same reason.
I have been in touch with Americans, who had planned the trip of a lifetime and wanted to end the year in an exotic location. They told me as early as Monday they noticed people protesting violently on the street in cities like Cusco and Machu Picchu.
But when airports and rail lines shut down, they ended up missing connections to travel back to Lima, the capital, and therefore were unable to return home. Peru's ministry of transportation confirmed the Cusco airport has reopened. That is good news for those people trying to fly back to the capital.
What is going on in Peru?
It all started December 7th, when then president Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested after he announced plans to dissolve congress and install an emergency government.
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ROMO: He was apparently trying to get ahead of a congressional vote on his impeachment. His supporters have staged violent protests that have left at least 24 people dead, disrupting traffic and leaving many people stranded, including hundreds, if not thousands of foreign tourists.
I spoke with an American man who is visiting Peru with his girlfriend. Jon Royer told me there were a couple of times he became scared, as protesters took to the streets after former president Pedro Castillo was ousted last week.
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JON ROYER, AMERICAN TOURIST: My girlfriend was in the restaurant and all of a sudden we heard the whistle blowing. And all the shops started slamming their doors. And everybody ran off the street or into the shops or just ran up the street. And I did the same thing. I ran up the street --
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ROMO: I see.
ROYER: -- to get back to where my girlfriend was.
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ROMO: And just to give you an idea of how popular Peru is as an international destination, more than 1.6 million foreign tourists visited the country between January and October, according to government figures. Some of them, more than 382,000, Americans -- Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
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HARRAK: I want to reach out now to Tony Hepburn, a tourist from Vancouver, Canada. He joins us from Cusco, Peru, where all of this is happening.
Tony, so sorry we are meeting under these circumstances. I understand that we find you in Cusco.
How are things there right now?
TONY HEPBURN, CANADIAN TOURIST: Things are pretty quiet at the moment. The curfew is from 8:00 pm until 4:00 am. And our hotel is pretty much deserted now, as most people seem to have left.
HARRAK: Can you share with us, please, what you saw since you arrived in Peru?
HEPBURN: It was all over the news to start with. But it had happened before. So it didn't seem to be anything too unusual at the time. And when we arrived in town, as we were walking through, I saw the trains sitting in the station.
And I noticed the guy that was welding the gate shut on the train station, which was unusual. So that was our first clue that something wasn't quite right. And then our guide told us that there were rocks on the tracks, boulders the size of small cars, in some cases.
And they had started small fires and burned some of the railway ties and such. So it was completely impossible for the train -- and then we, as a team, eight of us took a vote as to whether we were going to walk out, which we elected to do the following morning at about 5:30.
And then 30-odd kilometers later, we ended up back at the trailhead, hoping to catch a ride back toward Ollantaytambo.
HARRAK: Did you witness anything during the long trek?
HEPBURN: At the beginning, it was a larger than expected group of people. We were thinking we would see roughly the same number of people that we saw on the trail, which was a few groups.
But it turned out to be maybe 150 people or more. There were people walking with suitcases and with wheels and setting out on the tracks to -- and were eventually a couple of kilometers down the tracks, they were starting to ditch luggage and abandon things that they were trying to carry.
There were people from little kids from 5 years old up to Grandma and Grandpa. It was then strung out over -- we left at 5:30 in the morning; we got there 3:30 in the afternoon. So it was a good nine or 10 hours for most people.
And I'm sure there were a lot of people who didn't actually make it and probably ended up camping somewhere on the side of the train tracks.
HARRAK: Were there any confrontations with protesters?
Were there checkpoints along the way?
HEPBURN: No, not -- the first 20 kilometers was nothing. And then we got to a couple of small towns. And we didn't realize how intense it was until we got to the trailhead. And then we managed to get a sprinter type van.
A couple of kilometers down the road, we stopped short maybe 500 meters of a blockade that was set up. And as soon as the driver got out and opened the door, we saw a big group of people running toward us from a few hundred meters away.
One fellow, who was carrying a sickle -- and our guide was saying, grab your stuff and get out of here.
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HEPBURN: Get as far away as you can. There was a river on one side, so you could only go so far. But we managed to grab our stuff and get as far away as we could. But this guy just walked up to the driver and kicked him and then clocked him in the head with another hit.
And they basically just swarmed him. And I hope he is OK. I have no idea what eventually happened to him. But it was pretty intense.
HARRAK: Hats off to you and to your fellow travelers, making the best of a very scary situation.
I'm wondering, did you receive any help from Peruvian authorities?
Is anyone helping you arrange flights out of the country?
HEPBURN: We -- the tourism police were quite visible in Aguas Calientes. The park rangers were there. They were very concerned for the tourists. They made quite an effort to make sure that we all understood what was going on.
And they definitely wanted to get us out safely. It was an awkward situation and they did their very best to make sure we were not placed in harm's way.
HARRAK: Tony, we wish you and your fellow travelers safety and safe journeys back home. Thank you so much for sharing your personal account with us.
HEPBURN: My pleasure. Thank you.
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HARRAK: Japan has launched a protest with North Korea over its latest missile launch, something Seoul calls a serious provocation. South Korea's joint chiefs of staff say at least two ballistic missiles flew into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan early Sunday.
Japanese officials say they flew 500 kilometers, apparently without damaging aircraft or ships in the area. The U.S. and South Korea called on Pyongyang to immediately stop the launches. This is the 35th day this year North Korea has launched missiles.
In Ukraine, the president's office says the suburbs of Kherson came under Russian shelling on Saturday. They said that at least one person was killed and two were injured as enemy strikes damaged a school, a church and the hospital.
To the north, rescuers have been digging through the rubble after missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih on Friday.
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HARRAK (voice-over): This video captures the moment children were found alive. One of them clutches what looks like a teddy bear. But not everyone survived. Officials say an entire family perished and an 18-month-old baby is among the latest killed by Russia's war.
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HARRAK: Attacks on infrastructure continues to have a devastating impact as the weather gets colder. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says electricity has been restored for nearly 6 million people. But he added in his nightly address, big problems remain with the water supply.
Morale is reportedly sinking among Russian forces after stark losses in Ukraine. Russia denies it needs more recruits. But it is rolling out a new campaign to convince people to join the military. Take a listen to this translation.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Participants in the special operation receive many benefits from the government. Sasha is happy. He now has the kind of salary he couldn't have even dreamed of before.
A new profession, new friends, career advancement, free health care for himself and his family, government benefits. Also the status of a combat veteran and therefore respect. Well done, Sasha. Be like Sasha.
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HARRAK: The Russian war on Ukraine is having an impact at the World Cup and leading to more criticism for FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino. Ukraine's president has taped a video he hopes will be shown at the World Cup final later today.
And according to an exclusive statement from his office obtained by CNN, Qatar was on board with the idea but FIFA rejected it, saying it was too political. FIFA hasn't responded to a request for comment but Ukraine's presidency says there is still time for it to, quote, "correct the error."
Here is this exclusive look at a part of the message FIFA reportedly doesn't want to be shown.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Everyone father would like to take his son to a football match all over the world and every mother would like her son to be back from war.
Whenever it is, Ukraine strives for peace more than anything else.
Stadiums and stands get empty after the match and, after the war, cities remain empty. That's why wars must fail and peace is to become the champion, as it is here in Qatar now.
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ZELENSKYY: The World Cup but not the world war. It is possible.
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HARRAK: The snub by FIFA hasn't dampened Ukraine's passion for football. Despite ongoing Russian attacks, Kyiv has just hosted a youth soccer tournament. Will Ripley has the details.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Ukraine, ferocious fighting, not just on the front lines but the football field.
This youth tournament in Kyiv has 30 teams from all over Ukraine, including areas battered by regular Russian attacks.
"They've been training this whole time," says this dad from Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine. "They go to the bomb shelter when there is an air raid siren but then they keep training."
Tournament organizers say the fact it's even happening this year is a victory.
"I was so worried about the tournament," he says. "Today is the final. Our mission is to give these kids back their childhood."
Getting those kids to Kyiv from some of Ukraine's hardest-hit areas, a huge logistical challenge, not to mention keeping players and parents safe.
RIPLEY: Did you hear the explosions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, of course, we all wake up.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Wednesday's Russian drone strike on Kyiv scattered wreckage all over their football training center when Ukrainian air defense shot the drones down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ukraine, it's about the brave people.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Bravery on and off the battlefield; 11-year-old Igor (ph) from Kyiv says his dream is to be on a national team and go to the World Cup.
This may not be the World Cup. But for these families, it's a fight for the future of Ukrainian football, a fight for the future of Ukraine. "This is my motherland," says 11-year-old Pavlo (ph). He is from
Dnipro, this year's tournament champions. As for the war, every Ukrainian here agrees, they're playing for the winning team -- Will Ripley, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
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HARRAK: Still ahead, a clash of powerhouse teams and superstar players. We will have a preview of the World Cup final between France and Argentina.
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HARRAK: There is much more to come on CNN. We will look at the Biden administration's plans to handle an anticipated surge in migrant numbers, as a Trump era policy ends this week. That is ahead.
And we have the latest developments on the political unrest that has rocked Peru for weeks. We hear from an expert on Peruvian politics.
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HARRAK: The White House says there is a robust effort underway to prepare for the end this week of Title 42. The pandemic era policy that kept many migrants out of the U.S.
While anticipating an increase in the already high number of asylum seekers at the southern border, the Biden administration has asked Congress for billions to boost resources. CNN's Arlette Saenz reports from the White House.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Biden administration is bracing for a possible surge of migrants as Title 42 is expected to end on Wednesday. Homeland Security officials recently had warned that they anticipate a likely increase in migrant flow immediately when the policy is lifted.
Here at the White House, officials have long known that the Trump era policy would end at some point.
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SAENZ: But it took on additional meaning when a judge last month ruled that Title 42 needed to end by December 21st. That is Wednesday.
On Friday night, a federal appeals court blocked a challenge from some Republican-led states that would have kept the policy in place. And the White House has said they have a robust effort underway to try to manage the border in the wake as they are expecting Title 42 to be lifted.
The White House has been trying to make clear that the lifting of Title 42 does not mean that the border is open and that they are going to work to try to manage migrant flow. The Department of Homeland Security has released a six-point plan detailing some of these efforts, including surging of personnel and resources to the border to help with processing.
They have also established or they're in the works of establishing some temporary facilities to help with this processing and also ramping up on the ground and air transportation to try to move some of the migrants and process them as well.
Additionally, the Biden administration has asked Congress for more than $3 billion to address border security issues. And what White House officials consistently say is that the only way for these issues to be fixed is if comprehensive immigration reform is passed on Capitol Hill.
In the coming days the White House is certainly facing a very steep challenge when it comes to this expected flow of migrants that could begin on Wednesday and flow into the coming weeks -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
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HARRAK: Peruvian president Dina Boluarte has barely been on the job for a few weeks and she is already resisting calls to step down. She took over from her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, who was impeached and removed from office December 7.
Since then, Peruvian officials say that at least 20 people have been killed amid widespread protests, many demanding new elections. But on Friday, lawmakers rejected the necessary reforms. Then on Saturday, President Boluarte responded to protesters who have called for her to step down.
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DINA BOLUARTE, PERUVIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I'm only fulfilling the constitutional mandate. There is a group saying, Dina, step down.
But what will be solved by my quitting?
Is the problem solved?
The problem will not be solved. We will be firm until congress approves to bring forward elections.
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HARRAK: Joining me now is Mitra Taj. She is a freelance journalist currently located in Lima, Peru. Her work has appeared in "The New York Times" and "The Economist."
So good to see you. Extraordinary times in Peru once again.
How much pressure is there on the president right now?
And what kind of backing does her administration enjoy among the Peruvian people?
MITRA TAJ, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: She is under quite a lot of pressure. She has had more than a week of violent protests against her government since she took office.
She was sworn in by the head of congress to replace the former president, Pedro Castillo, after he announced on TV what amounts to a coup or a self coup, a dissolution of congress, the organization of the ports and new elections for officials to write a new constitution.
HARRAK: I understand there is still a nationwide state of emergency in place.
What does that concretely mean for people in Peru?
TAJ: It means that some constitutional rights and civil liberties have been suspended. That includes the right for free transit, the right to free assembly, the right to not have your home raided if the police or authorities choose to do so.
Today we saw one of the effects of that. There were two offices, one of the local leftist party and another of a former organization that were raided today by police with a lot of people arrested and not clear exactly what the charges are.
There were some objects found, like a few machetes and slingshots according to police. But the people who were arrested said they were planted.
In terms of what else it means, it means that Peru is basically living under a state in which it is not clear what rights are still remaining for people or what might happen next.
HARRAK: The political situation has been so fraught in Peru, not just now but for the past couple of years. I was wondering if you could provide us with context in terms of, what is congress' role in all of this.
And why do presidents find themselves always in hot water in terms of the past couple of years, where they are almost always impeached?
TAJ: There has been -- Dina Boluarte is the sixth president in the last five years. Pedro Castillo is the fourth former president to be held in some sort of pretrial detention, facing criminal charges.
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TAJ: So this is kind of (INAUDIBLE) at this moment, where there is just a lot of anger. The political leads, the political system, (INAUDIBLE), a lot of people saw Mr. Castillo as different, as -- he's a former farmer, a former schoolteacher, a union activist.
He moved from his rural homestead, directly to the presidential palace, unlike other presidents, who are also from rural backgrounds. So a lot of people identify with him in a way that other presidents -- that a lot of people, especially in rural areas, identify with him strongly.
So that is why we are seeing this anger toward congress, which has tried to impeach several former presidents before him -- or two former presidents before him. The impeachment he was facing the day that he tried to illegally take power, the courts said congress was the seventh impeachment attempt in Peru in recent years and the third against him.
So there is kind of a sense that congress needs to go also. People are furious at Congress. They think they're not really doing anything to help the situation, that they represent old ruling elites and that is why you have this general widespread demand for new general elections, new elections for the president and lawmakers.
HARRAK: There seems to be political instability, institutional instability. You mentioned there potential elections will be held.
Can they be held?
When will they be held?
TAJ: That is the question right now. It is not so easy to just call for elections. In this constitution there isn't a clear path for that. That is why reforms are needed. Constitutional reforms which take longer than other kinds of reforms.
Congress had an opportunity to kind of show a goodwill gesture toward people, toward protesters demanding elections by calling -- by accepting a reform that would have new elections as early as the end of next year.
That is something that President Boluarte has also proposed and backed. But yesterday they were rejected, the first attempt at that. And now they are kind of dragging their feet on when they will start a new plenary session that would be able to pass that reform.
HARRAK: Mitra Taj, in Lima, thank you so much.
TAJ: Yes, thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: In Iran, authorities continue to crack down on voices of dissent. A leading Iranian actress has been arrested after protesting against the execution of a protester.
She also posted this picture of herself on Instagram last month, showing her not wearing the hijab and holding a sign that read, "Women, life, freedom," the main slogan of the antigovernment demonstrators.
State media says she was arrested for her lack of evidence for her claims.
Still to come, three deadly viruses threatening Americans this holiday season. Next, some advice doctors and health officials have to stay safe.
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HARRAK: Health officials and the U.S. are warning that holiday gatherings could further increase the spread of three deadly viruses, flu, COVID-19 and RSV. They are urging people to get vaccinated and mask up when indoors.
The viruses are already stretching overwhelmed hospitals across the country. Many of them are reporting severe nurse shortages that they cannot fill. Gloria Pazmino has more.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Flu certainly continues to be a concern even though the numbers are starting to improve. When you look at what the target is for flu vaccination, 70 percent. The numbers show that we are not quite meeting the mark. Only 40 percent of adults, 46 percent of children have gotten their flu vaccination.
So federal officials are encouraging people to not just get their flu shot but also get their COVID vaccine and their booster. We are now in this moment, where we are dealing with this triple threat, RSV, COVID and the flu.
All of this as we head into the height of the holiday season. Many people are hoping, once again, to gather and to get together with family and friends safely because we haven't really been able to do so for such a long time.
I do want to put the numbers in some context. According to the CDC, so far, more than 15 million people have become sick as a result of the flu; 150,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths in the season so far. To put that in historical context, those numbers have not been as high
during the season for at least a decade. And that is certainly part of what is leading officials to be concerned about what is left of the flu season.
There are things you can do to prevent getting sick and getting other people sick. Officials once again encouraging people to mask up while they are indoors. Several cities around the country have issued new guidance, not a requirement, that people wear a mask when they are indoors or in crowded places.
And of course, they are reminding people to test and to vaccinate. The federal government is also responding once again. People can go online and request a free COVID test to be delivered to their homes. All of this in an effort to prevent and to make sure that people can gather safely during the holiday season -- Gloria Pazmino, in New York, CNN.
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HARRAK: Football fever in France and Argentina, how both countries are cheering on their favorite players as they prepare for Sunday's World Cup final.
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HARRAK: That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I am Laila Harrak. Kim Brunhuber picks up the coverage after a quick break. I will catch you tomorrow.
