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Influx Of Migrants At U.S.-Mexico Border Warns Of Humanitarian Crisis; North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles; Snow Is Piling Up On Livestock And Pets; Putin Visits Military Headquarters Coordinating Invasion; Qatar And FIFA Face Criticism Over Human Rights; Beloved Mountain Lion Put Down Humanely. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired December 18, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to everyone here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, crisis at the southern U.S. border. Cities struggle as the constant flow of migrants arrive to seek asylum. We look at why those numbers are expected to increase dramatically in the coming days.
Nightmare on a trip to a wonder of the ancient world. Hundreds stranded in Peru amid protests and political turmoil. One tourist toward described conditions there.
Today is the day. Argentina faces defending champion, France, at the World Cup finals. We're live in Doha with a preview of the face off between Messi and Mbappe.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: U.S. officials are sounding the alarm about a potential humanitarian crisis at the southern border. Large numbers of migrants brave dangerous conditions to seek asylum. Straining the resources of the border towns that receive them.
Officials in El Paso, Texas, say that more than 2,500 people arrive each day in the past week.
The mayor declared a state of emergency on Saturday. He cited the number of people sleeping in freezing temperatures at the anticipated end of a Trump era policy just days away. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR OSCAR LEESER (D-TX), EL PASO: As we see the increase in asylum seekers into our community, and we see the temperatures dropping and we know that Title 42 looks like it's going to be called back on Wednesday, we felt there was proper time today to call a state of emergency.
And the reason why we're doing it is because I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum seekers or our community was not safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: As the mayor mentioned, unless the Supreme Court steps in Wednesday, we will see the end of Title 42, a Trump era public health measure, which allowed for the expulsion of certain categories of migrants. When that happens, authorities expect the number of asylum seekers to rise even higher.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is in El Paso, where city officials and volunteers are scrambling to care for migrants as temperatures fall.
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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.
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LAVANDERA (voice-over): 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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BRUNHUBER: The leader of a city just north of El Paso says President Biden should visit the area. The mayor of Las Cruces, New Mexico, said such a move would demonstrate that the region is safe and underscore Biden's commitment to find a solution. The White House says that there is a, quote, "robust effort" underway to prepare for the end of Title 42.
They emphasize the change doesn't mean that the border is open. The administration has asked Congress for more than $3 billion to boost resources and a six-point plan to address logistics.
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BRUNHUBER: For more, I want to bring in Monika Langarica. She's a staff attorney at the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy. She joins me from San Diego, California.
Thank you so much for being here with us. As we're seeing a huge crush of migrants are hoping to come across, if and when the Title 42 policy goes away. I want to play you a clip from a Democratic congressman, Henry Cuellar, from the other day, who just came back from a border visit, talking about what happens when Title 42 ends. Listen to this.
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REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): Communities are going to be overwhelmed, not only El Paso. We've seen that in the past with Rio Grande Valley, in Eagle Pass and Del Rio. They're going to be overwhelmed. There're just not enough shelters and border processing centers to handle the large numbers of people.
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BRUNHUBER: I would ask, you is he right?
How much harder will it make it to handle the already ongoing crisis?
MONIKA LANGARICA, UCLA CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION LAW AND POLICY: Sure. Thank, you Kim, for having me. First, it is critically important to note that essentially, for over 2.5 years, the U.S. border has been shut to people seeking asylum due to this debunked so-called public health policy known as Title 42.
It's important to know that that is how we got here. That's how we reached this point. There's this backlog of people trapped in border cities, waiting to exercise their right to seek asylum.
But this reality is simply not insurmountable for the U.S. government. The federal government knows exactly how to process people humanely, efficiently and in large numbers.
In fact, it did exactly that with Ukrainians fleeing war, who came to our borders in large numbers earlier this year. The U.S. took in more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in five months, including over 20,000 people who were welcomed along the land border in the month of April alone.
There's no reason why, once Title 42 lifts, when it lifts, the U.S. can't do the same for Haitians, Venezuelans, Central Americans. It's just a question of whether the administration and the federal government is willing to exercise the political will to do that.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean, that is certainly a question. But you said that they have the capacity. I, mean there is already a backlog of millions of people in the system, waiting to have their cases heard.
How are they supposed to handle this fresh influx?
LANGARICA: There is a backlog. There's a backlog of people waiting to seek asylum. There are backlogs from the court. But implementing Title 42, expelling people summarily to Mexico without due process, that takes resources.
Incarcerating people in border (INAUDIBLE), in ICE boxes, that takes resources. Putting people in ICE prisons takes resources.
Now is the time for the Biden administration to invest, to show (INAUDIBLE) this issue, to invest in humane, welcoming efforts at the border that will help restart the asylum system rather than in these punitive policies that foment chaos and (INAUDIBLE) on the border.
BRUNHUBER: On the flip side, it seems as if another Trump era policy, the Remain in Mexico policy, will remain there, according to a federal judge this week.
When you compound, that what effect might that have, do you think?
LANGARICA: It's an important example of how we've gotten to this point. Where since day one of the Biden administration, this coalition of Republican led states have essentially sought to sabotage the Biden immigration agenda by filing lawsuits like the one challenging (INAUDIBLE) in these handpicked district courts that they've been in, seeking to block features of the Biden administration's agenda (INAUDIBLE)
But the Biden administration has also failed to act in some cases and affirmatively gone out of its way and others to restart (INAUDIBLE) billboard (ph) policies.
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BRUNHUBER: That's a complex issue. We'll have to see whether in the new Congress there will be political will to get something done. Certainly all sides agree that the situation can't go on the way it is. Really appreciate your insights into all of this. Monika Langarica, thank you so much for speaking with us.
LANGARICA: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Tourists who had come to Peru for the trip of a lifetime have found themselves in the middle of something they could not have anticipated. Airport 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.
The 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.
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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BRUNHUBER: Earlier, CNN spoke to a tourist who found himself stranded in Peru while trying to leave Machu Picchu. He is still in Peru, waiting to fly back to Canada. Here is part of that conversation.
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TONY HEPBURN, CANADIAN TOURIST: 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. 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. We were certainly not expecting that kind of aggression.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): As you can, see Tony and other tourists get out of the van at a checkpoint. The crowd left the tourists alone and went after their driver.
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BRUNHUBER: Japan is denouncing North Korea's latest missile launch while South Korea calls it a serious provocation.
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BRUNHUBER: 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.
The U.S. House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol is expected to announce on Monday that it is referring it least three criminal charges against former president Donald Trump to the Justice Department.
According to a source familiar with the case, the charges are obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the federal government and insurrection. Committee chairman Bennie Thompson says the panel could also issue up to six other categories of referrals, including referrals to the House Ethics Committee and campaign finance referrals.
Former president Trump also faces potential criminal charges here in Georgia. Sources tell CNN that the special grand jury investigating Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 election is winding down its work.
It's been looking what Trump has described as a, quote, "perfect phone call" with Georgia's secretary of state when Trump asked him to find votes after the 2020 election. It's also looking at false election fraud claims and fake electors.
The special grand jury can't hand out indictments but it can make recommendations. Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis would have to seek them from a regular grand jury.
All right, still to come, a severe cold spell will plunge the majority of the U.S. into freezing temperatures just before Christmas. The latest weather update coming up.
Plus, a clash of superstars at the World Cup final. Messi fights for his first title. But Mbappe is going for a second in a row.
Who's the favorite to win?
We'll discuss that after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Have a look here. The snow is so heavy in the state of South Dakota that it is piling up on the ears of cattle in the field. We're not sure if the dogs here are enjoying the enormous drifts or if they are just huddling together to stay warm.
Residents said they received at least two feet of snow after a blizzard plummeted the region.
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BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, it'll be a very white and freezing Christmas for many here in the U.S. as a burst of cold, arctic blast with some temperatures plunging, bringing heavy snow. More than 200 million Americans could see temperatures fall below freezing.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's president has taped a video he hopes will be shown at the World Cup final later today.
But according to an exclusive statement from his office obtained by CNN, FIFA rejected it, saying it was too political.
Here is this exclusive look at part of the message FIFA doesn't want shown.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Every 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. The World Cup but not the world war. It is possible.
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BRUNHUBER: 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." Ukraine says Qatar was on board with showing the video.
Russia's rolling out a new recruitment campaign to bolster its military. Coming, up you'll see one of the ads and what it promises young recruits if they go to war with Ukraine. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Russia says president Vladimir Putin has visited the command center before making his war against Ukraine. The Kremlin says he was their all day Friday at the headquarters of what Russia calls its special military operation. Morale is reportedly sinking among Russian forces. Russia denies it needs more recruits.
But it is rolling out a new campaign to persuade people to join the military. 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: In addition to Russia's deadliest attacks on civilians, its strikes on infrastructure make life miserable for Ukrainians as the weather gets colder. President Zelenskyy said on Saturday that electricity has been restored for nearly 6 million people. But he added big problems remain with the water supply. CNN's Will Ripley has more from southern Ukraine.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many people here in Ukraine are living in the dark right now and in the cold as winter temperatures set in across much of the country and blackouts and heat outages and power and water interruptions are a regular way of life. There are some communities where it's impossible to cook at home for
most people. There are long lines for people trying to get a hot meal or whatever the state could provide them. A lot of times those meals are cooked over wood stoves.
In Kyiv, the capital, which was battered with more than half of the 76 missiles that Russia fired on Friday, with 60 of them, Ukraine says, being shot down but 16 of them hitting civilian targets, all civilian targets. They're trying to repair the grid as best they can.
But each time Russia launches a wave of attacks like, this the repairs take time. And they're taking longer and longer especially, as they, in some cases, run out of replacement parts.
These Soviet era parts for this infrastructure build during the Soviet days is now getting pummeled. And it is not so easy just to push a button and get it started up again.
This is work that is happening around the clock. It is exhausting, expensive and very difficult. And it's getting more difficult by the day.
You have concern by military analysts and the top echelons of Ukraine's leadership, including the head of Ukraine's armed forces, that Russia is doing this to try to exhaust Ukraine, to prevent them from regrouping and re-assembling and recharging their own forces during the winter months, which many had hoped you might see a lull in the fighting.
And yet there has been this constant grinding of shelling and rocket attacks on the front lines here in southern Ukraine, also in Eastern Ukraine. And then in the north, you have the number of Russian troops on the increase.
And you have joint training exercises between Russia and Belarus. So there's a lot of speculation by military analysts and by the Ukrainian government, although it's not necessarily sure what specific intelligence is based on, is that Russia is planning to make a move once again on Kyiv, at some point early next year.
In "The Economist," the head of Ukraine's armed forces said it could happen as soon as next month or maybe the month after that. Best-case scenario, for the Ukrainians, spring. But they believe that it is inevitably going to be coming. Both sides have used misinformation in the past to try to throw off the other side.
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RIPLEY: There's a lot of questions about Russia's actual battlefield capability, given their limitations and training and supplies for troops.
But nonetheless, a lot of people are suffering right now. And by all indications, in each wave of these attacks, it seems to make clear that Vladimir Putin is still continuing on the path that he has been on from the beginning of this unnecessary, brutal and unprovoked war. And that could mean, likely will mean, a lot of suffering for a lot of
people as Ukraine drags on through the winter months -- Will Ripley, CNN, in southern Ukraine.
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BRUNHUBER: For the latest, CNN's Barbie Nadeau is tracking events from Rome.
Barbie, there are two areas to focus on, Kherson and Kryvyi Rih. let's start with Kherson.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a strategic city that was liberated from Russian forces in November. It has become a focal point right now. We've seen so many attacks, especially on civilians. A retirement home was hit. Casualties reported there.
There has been one death and two injuries in attacks against churches, against a hospital, against a school. So as you see this continuing pummeling of the city, you have a lot of people trying to take cover, trying to stay safe as best they can, as the shelling goes on there.
BRUNHUBER: Speaking of shelling, some of the worst attacks recently have happened in Kryvyi Rih. Take us through what's happening there.
NADEAU: This is a city in southern central Ukraine, about 600,000 people, seen as a strategic city, the seventh largest in Ukraine. And this is where the 18-month-old boy that was pulled out of the rubble early this week on Friday, his parents were pulled out of that rubble of a residential building that was hit with a missile.
A 64-year-old woman as well was killed in that attack. When we see these civilian targets, with these young children, innocent victims, an 18-month-old boy becoming the latest poster child in this unforgivable onslaught against Ukraine.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much for the update. Barbie Nadeau live in Rome.
A group of retired admirals and generals is calling on Congress to save Afghan allies facing deportation from the U.S. In a letter around two dozen U.S. flag officers say they want the Afghan Adjustment Act included in the omnibus spending bill.
Backers of legislation say tens of thousands of Afghans risk being deported if the act doesn't become law and some Republicans have raised concerns about security and vetting.
All right, still ahead, seeking justice for Qatar's migrant workers. Why advocates say laborers still owed compensation for the sacrifices they made to bring the World Cup to life. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: As the World Cup final approaches, FIFA and host country, Qatar, are facing new criticism over human rights abuses. Advocates are calling on organizers to do more for the migrant workers who helped make that tournament a reality.
They say workers and their families still deserve compensation for unpaid wages, injuries and even deaths. The call action coincides with International Migrants Day and Qatar national day, both happening on the day of the final. CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now with more.
Larry, obviously, with the game going on today, much of the focus has shifted to what is happening on the soccer pitch. But it is vital not to lose sight of the important stories going on off the pitch which you've been following. Take us through what you found.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, we find that the action has come at a great cost. Some context here, Qatar says it needed 30,000 foreign migrants to build the seven new stadiums that were built for this tournament.
Thousands more were needed to build a new airport terminal, a metro, roads, hotels, supporting infrastructure to make sure this tournament could go on. Some of them tell us, even during the World Cup, they're working hard, sometimes 14 to 16 hours a day. Have not been paid for some of them. They didn't get time off.
They don't have their passports, they can't change jobs. It's a litany of complaints about different employers who are connected to FIFA and the tournament and the Qatari government.
Viewers at home who watch the tournament don't see that but the reality of life for many of the foreign migrants who have made this tournament possible. You see this new criticism from Amnesty International, from Human Rights Watch, from migrant defenders, (INAUDIBLE) and others who have been following these cases over the past decade or. So since Qatar won the rights to hold the World Cup.
This statement from Amnesty International speaks about it, says, "However good the football has often been, the tournament has come at a heavy cost for hundreds of thousands of workers who have paid illegal recruitment fees, had wages stolen or even lost their lives.
"These workers and their families deserve compensation and we're still waiting for FIFA and Qatar to commit to ensuring remedy for everyone who made this World Cup possible."
The realities are, some migrant laborers back in Kenya tell us they went to harrowing experiences while building the World Cup stadiums. This is their story.
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MADOWO (voice-over): Boniface Barasa is back in Kenya but says he is still suffering from trauma after three years as a construction worker in Qatar before the World Cup.
BONIFACE BARASA, CONTRACT WORKER: I saw the supervisor call another Kenyan a lazy Black monkey. Then when the Kenyan asked him, "Why are you calling me a Black monkey?" the supervisor slapped him.
MADOWO (voice-over): The 38 year-old is a lifelong football fan but says he hasn't watched any matches because the pain is still too fresh.
BARASA (from captions): Another one died from that harsh weather conditions. Another was beaten and he went missing.
MADOWO: You saw someone die in front of you?
BARASA (from captions): Yes. Somebody collapsed and died and I think that was because of the harsh weather conditions.
MADOWO: Because of the heat?
BARASA (from captions): Because of the heat, the limited drinking water breaks.
MADOWO (voice-over): Last month, the Qatar World Cup chief acknowledged that 405 migrant workers have died in projects connected to the tournament. As the World Cup got underway, some Black migrant workers have taken on highly visible roles in a country where they are often invisible.
Part of the workforce but not the society. Kenyan traffic officer Dennis Kamau, handing out red and yellow cards and detains fans, another attracting global media attention. And 23 year old Kenyon Abu Bakr Abbas (ph) has become a viral megastar as metro guide.
Organizers even brought him on to address fans before the England-USA game. Advocates for migrant workers dismissed these as isolated cases into MTPR (ph) that had a dark, exploitative work environment.
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MALCOLM BIDALI, CO-FOUNDER, MIGRANT DEFENDERS: As we speak, people are still not getting paid. People are still living in cramped conditions. People are still facing physical ramifications (ph) of assault, discrimination, long working hours, working conditions, horrible working conditions.
MADOWO (voice-over): Malcolm Bidali was a security guard in Qatar but says he was detained for advocating for migrant workers' rights.
BIDALI: I'm very worried and scared and concerned of what happens because like all the media, spotlight and everything else will shift and will move away to the next big thing.
MADOWO (voice-over): Qatar says it dismantled the previous restrictive migrant labor system, which has been precise (ph) across the Gulf for exploiting foreign workers from Africa and South Asia and taking away their passports. But critics say the reality has not changed. Geoffrey Owino was a city
inspector at Lusail stadium, who believes he too was deported from Qatar for speaking up for migrant workers.
MADOWO: The African migrant workers complain about exploitation despite all these changes Qatar said it's put in place.
GEOFFREY OWINO, FORMER MIGRANT WORKER: On paper, laws are very. But implementation and goodwill (ph) from the government of Qatar is the problem. That is why workers will continue complaining until a framework, a robust justice system is put in place, whereby violators of these laws against migrant workers are punished.
MADOWO (voice-over): Geoffrey said he receives complaints and distress calls from migrant workers all over the Gulf, desperate to return home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO: A Qatari official has previously told CNN that any reports of migrant workers being deported or detained for unexplained reason are simply untrue. But the criticism here is that, even though Qatar has reformed labor practices since all of this attention and scrutiny, they're not implemented. They're not enforced.
So there's been some criticism even more recently with the death of migrant workers, (INAUDIBLE) began, including this week, of John Njue Kibue. He was a security guard, who (INAUDIBLE) which will be the scene of today's final.
He is said to have fallen from the eighth floor and then was in an intensive care unit and eventually died. His family is seeking justice. They're not quite sure what happened. That speaks to the conditions that migrant workers operate in here and why there is still a need for as many migrants rights organizations calling for migrant workers here in Doha.
And compensation for the migrant workers who might have died during the building of stadiums and in this process.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Just the latest among so many tragedies. Appreciate you highlighting this important issue, Larry Madowo, in Doha. Thank you.
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 reads, "Women, life, freedom," the main slogan of the antigovernment demonstrators.
State media says she was arrested for her lack of evidence for her claims. Pope Francis just turned 86 yesterday. Now he has revealed he signed a
resignation letter a few years ago just in case. An interview with the Spanish news outlet ABC was asked what would happen if a pope couldn't perform his duties due to an accident or health issues.
Francis answered he's already signed what he called his renunciation and gave it to Vatican's secretary of state. Although he appears in good health now, the pope has used a cane and a wheelchair in the last few years. He's had sciatica and even surgery. He's often indicated in the past he would resign if his health got bad.
The mountain lion who had his star turn in front of the Hollywood sign has died. Nicknamed P-22, the cougar became famous after "National Geographic" captured this stunning image. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The star of Hollywood nightlife has been euthanized. His name was P-22, he was the most famous lion in Tinseltown since Leo from MGM. As we hear from CNN's Camilla Bernal, you know he's gone, his legacy will live on.
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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a mountain lion that had been tracked for about 10 years. And he was essentially a celebrity, a beloved mountain lion here in Los Angeles, with a Facebook page and Instagram page.
But unfortunately, about a month ago, the experts that track him started noticing changes in his behavior. They say he was getting closer and attacking dogs, even dogs on leashes that were close to people. They also say he was getting a lot closer to urban areas and deeper into these urban areas.
They believed that he was in distress, which is why they decided to capture him. Once they captured him, he went through a medical evaluation. They already thought that he'd been hit by a car but the medical evaluation revealed that he had trauma to his eye, to his head and some internal organs.
They also discovered pre-existing illnesses, including kidney disease, some infection in his skin, weight loss. And so, when they took all of that into consideration, they essentially decided that putting him down was the best scenario for P-22.
This week after he was captured, some of the experts that have been tracking him for years spoke out saying that his legacy, his data will live on. Here's one of those experts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH RILEY, CHIEF WILDLIFE ECOLOGIST, SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL REC. AREA: He's been an incredibly interesting animal. We've really gotten a lot of really great information from him.
He's persisted in the smallest term range that has ever been recorded for an adult male mountain lion. And just an -- like I said, a really interesting animal. The truth is he'll be a part of our studies, forever be a part -- an important part of our mountain lion studies.
I'm sure we'll be looking at his data for years to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: And they also say that his data was extremely helpful in the building of the world's largest overpass for wildlife. It is currently being built here in Los Angeles.
[04:55:00]
BERNAL: And it is essentially a bridge that will be over 10 lanes of Highway 101 here.
So bottom line, it's not just about a celebrity mountain lion; it is about conservation efforts for these animals -- Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: There's a brand-new satellite zooming above us in space right now. It blasted off on a SpaceX rocket on Friday, a first of its kind NASA mission. The satellite will be not looking out into space. It will be looking down to survey all the Earth's water and not just the oceans. CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: This mission is actually generations in the making. It goes back to a relationship with NASA and the French to the '80s. Really becoming obsessed on how to measure the surface water of the Earth.
The ocean topography, that is what SWOT, the state-of-the-art satellite, that will be able to accurately measure sea levels around the world, hugely valuable when it comes to construction and adaptation with sea level rise.
Also rivers that have been never measured before, Alaska, for example, has 1 million miles of rivers but only 10 percent of them have gauges. Now all of them will be measured.
In an age of increasing uncertainty on the water cycle, we've seen this with mega droughts, not enough water in some places, way too much in others, the flooding in Pakistan.
This tool, international data available to all, will be so valuable going forward. At least until all the other NASA spacecrafts find some other planets with water. But probably wiser to pay attention to the stuff we have now, these days especially. Huge day for science -- Bill Weir, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you for. Watching. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more CNN NEWSROOM. Please do stay with us.
