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Growing Number of Countries Restrict Travelers from China; Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Sworn In as Brazil's President; SOS Amazonia Restores Brazil's Natural Beauty after Years of Abuse; Kenya Faces Plastic Pollution; Idaho Suspect's family Speaks Out. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 02, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead. we are hearing for the first time from the family of the man accused of killing four college students in Idaho. We'll have details on that and what comes next in the case.

Residents of Northern California starting the new year with an evacuation warning as longtime residents face the worst flooding they've seen in years.

And the late Pope Benedict the 16th is lying in state at the Vatican for mourners to pay their last respects. We'll bring you a live report from St. Peter Square.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for being with us. Well, the family of Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the stabbing deaths of four Idaho College students is speaking out and offering their condolences. Kohberger himself is sitting in a Pennsylvania jail awaiting extradition and facing four counts of first degree murder.

CNN's Veronica Miracle has the family statement and the mood in Moscow, Idaho.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bryan Kohberger's family has now put out a statement through his public defender saying, quote, "first and foremost, we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them. We will continue to let the legal process unfold, and as a family, we will love and support our son and brother.

We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions. We respect privacy in this matter as our family and the family's suffering loss can move forward through the legal process."

Bryan Kohberger's attorney, his public defender in Pennsylvania also says that Bryan's father came to Washington State to make that cross- country drive in that white Hyundai Elantra that police have been looking for all the way to Pennsylvania so that Bryan could be home in time for the holidays with his family at his parents' house.

And that is where he was apprehended according to his attorney. And at that time, both his father and Bryan were cooperative with police, his attorney says. It is important to note that police have not said and and made any indication that Kohberger's father is at all implicated in these murders.

And here in the community of Moscow, there is an incredible sense of relief. For the last seven weeks the community truly has been on edge. Businesses have been closing down early. Some businesses have lost employees as this is a college town, and there are students who work for local businesses, and those students didn't feel comfortable being in this city. They went home to study virtually. Now that an arrest has been made, there is just such a sense of relief here in the community of Moscow.

Veronica Miracle, CNN, Moscow, Idaho.

CHURCH: Multiple law enforcement sources say a teenager who attacked New York police officers on Saturday had desires to join the Taliban. The teenager is in custody after pulling out a machete in the attack on three officers near Time Square on New Year's Eve.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more now from New York.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're learning more about that suspect behind the attack on three police officers at the New Year's Eve celebration in New York City, New York Times Square. We can now confirm the suspect is Trevor Bickford, 19 years old, from Wells, Maine.

That's according to multiple law enforcement sources who also tells CNN he was carrying a handwritten diary, and in it he expressed his desire to join the Taliban in Afghanistan and die as a martyr.

Now, investigators also believe that Bickford arrived in New York City on Thursday and checked into a hotel in the lower East Side. He then traveled to the Times Square area on New Year's Eve. And that's when police tell us he approached one of the security checkpoints where thousands of people who were trying to get into the area, were being screened for security.

[03:04:58]

Once at that point, Bickford approached a police officer and tried to strike him with a machete. He struck him on the head, injuring him. He then struck a second officer. That is when a third officer who was also on the scene, pulled out his service weapon and fired a gunshot. The suspect sustained a gunshot wound on his shoulder and he is recovering at the hospital.

Now, multiple law enforcement officials also tell us federal authorities at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney have been discussing whether to charge the suspect federally or under state law, or possibly both.

So far, the suspect, Trevor Bickford, has not been charged formally. We also -- it is also not clear to us just yet whether or not he has retained a lawyer. Now, law enforcement sources telling us investigators are seeking search warrants to look into his phone and other online activities. Those three police officers that were injured near the Times Square celebration are making a recovery.

And I should just note that if this should be, if this should this be deemed as a terror attack, it would mean that there was an attempted terror attack at one of the most crowded and popular events here in New York City on one of the biggest nights of the year, New Year's Eve. There is a massive police presence every year in the area of Times Square.

And, even though Mayor Eric Adams said, there is no credible threat to the city of New York right now. Certainly, we will be looking to learn more about the suspect and exactly the motivation behind his attack.

Gloria Pazmino in New York, CNN.

CHURCH: A storm system that's causing life-threatening flooding in the western U.S. is moving east, putting more than 15 million people under winter weather alerts. At least two people were killed by flooding in parts of California over the weekend. Firefighters used a boat to rescue five people trapped in their cars on Saturday night in a town south of Los Angeles. Here's what one firefighter said about the flooding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I've worked for the Cosumnes Fire Department or previously, the Elk Grove Fire Department for 21 years. This is the most significant flooding I've seen in this area in those 21 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: In Sacramento County, residents were told to avoid travel because of wind gusts, which knocked down trees and left debris on the roads. Some communities south of San Francisco were advised to evacuate due to rising creeks and rivers.

More than 60,000 homes and businesses are still without power in California according to poweroutage.us.

Well, as we take a look at the path of the storm, weather alerts span parts of California as it moves northeast. To the south, people can expect rain in parts of Arizona and New Mexico, and that could turn into snow over the Rockies. Some areas could see more than six inches or 15 centimeters. Well, officials are assessing the damage from an earthquake that shook

Northern California Sunday morning. The mayor in the town of Rio Del says the 5.4 magnitude quake was shorter, but felt more violent than one that struck the region on December 20th. The mayor says there's a 35 foot crack in one of the main roads. Thirty percent of the town's water is shut down and power is out for some customers.

U.S. President Joe Biden hopes to show he can work with Republicans as he returns today from his holiday in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He's coming home to a very different political landscape with the Democrats no longer holding a majority in the House of Representatives. Mr. Biden is expected to travel across the country in the coming weeks to promote his massive infrastructure package, which he signed into law last year.

On Wednesday, he'll make a rare joint appearance with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. With time running out and just a razor thin majority to work with, Republican Kevin McCarthy is scrambling to lock down enough votes to become speaker of the house on Tuesday.

In a conference call with party members on Sunday, he outlined more concessions he has agreed to make in his campaign for that leadership role and that includes making it easier to oust the speaker in the future. But not long after that call, a group of nine Republicans released a letter saying, his concessions were insufficient and they're still not sold on picking him as house speaker. Though, they did say progress is being made.

[03:10:07]

And earlier, I spoke with Ron Brownstein, CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic, and I asked him to weigh in on the troubles McCarthy is facing as he tries to secure the speakership.

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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's been exactly 100 years, Rosemary, since we've had a election for the speaker go past a first ballot. Nineteen twenty-three was the last time it was hap -- that it happened. That's the only time it's happened since the Civil War.

It was more common before the Civil War, but has only happened once. Since Kevin McCarthy is at real risk of of having this go at least passed up one ballot because you have these conservatives who want to make a point, and maybe as you note, they've already made their point that even if McCarthy can get the votes together to become the speaker, they have already demonstrated that he has to concede to them so much in order to get there that they will be in a very strong position to define the party in 2023 with all of the risks that entails after what we saw in the midterm election.

CHURCH: Yes, very important point. And Ron, what will be the likely priorities of the Biden administration for the start of the new year ahead of the -- with the Republicans taking control of the house.

BROWNSTEIN: I, you know, I think the biggest priority for the Biden administration is going to be implementing what they have already passed. You know, they passed three giant bills in that first term that all have a long rollout of federal investments. An infrastructure bill that has over a trillion dollars in spending for roads, bridges, airports, other projects.

A $50 billion dollar semiconductor bill that's designed to jumpstart the recovery of the U.S. semiconductor industry, which is already have been involved in large plant investments in New York, Ohio, and Arizona. And then of course they have about $360 billion in clean energy investments through the Inflation Reduction Act.

And I think the biggest priority of the Biden administration is going to be to try to have the rubber meet the road on all of those bills and show and demonstrate an impact in communities around the country. You know, he may be cutting ribbons at new plants or new factories literally every week between now and 2024. We know that he's going down this week and appearing, apparently with Mitch McConnell to talk about infrastructure. I think that's going to be the number one priority.

And then the second, I think priority is going to be unilateral executive action, particularly regulatory action where he can act without needing Congress. It's hard to imagine many deals being made with this Republican Congress, but on environmental issues, on immigration issues, there's a number of fronts where I think they're going to be trying to move forward in their priorities through executive action.

CHURCH: All right, Ron Brownstein, we'll see what the new year brings. I appreciate your insight as always. Thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Ukrainians are hoping the new year will bring an end to the war that has ravaged their country. The mayor of the capital Kyiv visited Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut on Saturday to ring in the new year with a call for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VITALI KLITSCHKO, MAYOR, KYIV, UKRAINE (through translator): The fourth brigade of Ukraine's National Guard, Liberty Battalion Bakhmut, the guys who protect our beloved mother Ukraine every day protecting its territorial integrity, independence, and peace of every Ukrainian. These guys will do everything for 2023 to be a year of peace. So everywhere who comes with a weapon leaves our territory legs forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Instead of fireworks, Kyiv residents heard the sound of air raid sirens on New Year's Day. Officials say 20 aerial targets were shot down overnight, Sunday into Monday, but the shelling has damaged critical infrastructure causing power outages and disrupting some heat supplies.

And CNN's Nic Robertson is following all the developments for us. He joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Nic. So, as we just reported, Kyiv came under attack on the first day of this new year. So what does 2023 likely hold for Ukraine as Russia increases these attacks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And it really has stepped up over the holiday season. The president of Ukraine, President Zelensky, said that 45 drones were fired in that sort of wave overnight into the new year and overnight tonight, coming into the 2nd of January.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said that there were 40 drones targeting the capital there. So, this is a significant number and we've seen that over the holiday period. Typically in the past, Russia can't sustain it. Typically, Putin does like to ramp up at certain times and then ramp down.

[03:15:00]

The Ukrainians say that is running out of some of the sort of longer range smarter weapons systems that they have. The unity that President Zelenskyy says that the Ukrainians have stands in contrast to the way that Putin in his New Year's message to the Russian people, sort of reframed in a way or change the framing of his message about why the fight in Ukraine is important.

He said it's, you know, part of Russia. But the narrative that he's using to Russian people to support the war now is, you know, this is in support of your families. You know, he's even offering to people who sign up to join the Russian military in Ukraine. He is offering to pay tuition for their children.

So, he is really putting, he's really telling people it's your families that are most important, your friends, your compatriots, and then the motherland. So it's a change in narrative.

So, Russia, this year will continue to struggle to motivate people in this fight. Ukraine, it seems under these heavy barrages doubles down in terms of its unity and willing -- willingness to fight back. But it really does seem to be a question in 2023 for Ukraine and its allies to come up with the weapon systems to allow it to sustain the fight.

Putin recruited 300,000 people late last year. He's put about 100,000 into the fight in Ukraine. That leaves about 200,000 since fall last year that have had now, will have had some training and some better experience, war fighting experience, and those forces could come into the front lines this year.

So that's a -- that's a concern for Ukraine as well. So, despite Ukrainians and many others want in the war to end, I think what we've witnessed coming into the new year really shows all the signs that this war is far, far from over. CHURCH: Yes. Which is just heartbreaking in itself. Our Nic Robertson, many thanks for that analysis. I appppreciate it.

One man was the leader of a religious faith. The other a legend in a sport loved with near religious fervor. Each being bid farewell this week. We are live in Vatican City after the break with new details on the funeral services for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI.

And touching tributes to football legend Pele. How Brazilians are remembering their hero ahead of his public wake.

Back in just a moment.

[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: Public viewing for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict the 16th is now underway at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. He will lie in state there for three days. The Catholic faithful will be able to pay their respects in person from today through Wednesday. The funeral which will be led by Pope Francis is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Vatican Correspondent Delia Gallagher is there in St. Peter Square and joins us now live.

Good to see you, Delia. So you've been talking with some of the people standing in line. What are they telling you about why they've come?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: So, Rosemary, we had a chance earlier to speak to some of the people who are mostly people living here in Rome. Theology students who told me they were very by Pope Benedict's writing, some priests and nuns, and of course tourists who are here over the new year who wanted to also come and pay their respects.

I have to say, Rosemary, just in the last half hour we've seen the line grow considerably. There might be about a thousand to 2,000 people now. They have to go through security first, so that holds it up a bit. But it is moving, it's going all the way Back across the square here.

Something that we kind of expected that we weren't going to see these massive crowds. This is a three-day event, so we'll probably see smaller crowds like this coming through. Of course, it's just opened the Basilica, so this is probably one of the largest flocks we're going to see for this morning. Many people wanting to come down and pay their respects to the Pope Emeritus.

Now Rosemary, we also heard from Pope Francis of course, several times over this weekend paying his respects, talking about the kindness of Pope Benedict and his nobility of spirit. It is Pope Francis who will be saying his funeral mass on Thursday, as you mentioned.

And afterwards, Pope Benedict will be buried in a crypt underneath St. Peter's basilica and people will also be able to go there and visit his tomb. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And, you know, Delia, when we spoke last hour, it was much quieter, wasn't it? And we -- we've really seen a difference in this, in this last hour. Talk to us about the mood there.

GALLAGHER: Well, the mood, Rosemary, really hasn't changed. It's still very somber. This is a more kind of quiet event. I mean, I can only compare it to the last funeral we had, which was in 2005 of John Paul II. And of course, it's not like that at all. We're talking about two different people, two very different circumstances in which they died. One was a sitting Pope. Pope Emeritus, of course, was retired.

So, I would say the mood still very somber, Rosemary. People remembering him, remembering what he meant to them personally, wanting to pay their respects. But nothing like, of course, the crowds that we saw in 2005, Rosemary, here when they opened the barricades for people to come through, there was a stampede, there was a rush. It was a bit less organized, but there were also hundreds of thousands of people here. In fact, you couldn't move in this place.

But as I say, that was a very different time. John Paul II was sick for about two months before he died, and he was a different sort of figure compared to Benedict. So, the people here, a bit more somber, a bit quiet, but still coming to pay the respects. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Delia Gallagher joining us from St. Peter Square. Many thanks.

In Brazil, football fans are preparing to bid a final farewell to their late hero Pele.

[03:25:03]

A short time ago, they saluted him with fireworks as his body was transported to the city of Santos. That's where Pele played most of his career and where his wake will be held in the coming hours. Thousands of people are expected to show up to play their respects.

And CNN's Darren Lewis joins us now with more on all of these. Good to see you Darren. So, let's talk about Pele's legacy and of course the incredible influence he had on football.

DARREN LEWIS, CNN SPORT SENIOR ANALYST: Yes, indeed. On of the newspaper last week, Rosemary, posted a picture of their frontpage of his feat. But it was a lot more of he was, a lot more then just his -- he did electrify a nation and the world with his incredible talents on the pitch. We saw from the avalanche of tributes last week just how big an impact he has had, not just on the pitch, but also socially as well.

We also had three days of national mourning. Last week, there was a minute of silence at the inauguration of the incoming Brazil president as well. Now, we will have the opportunity for pans to pay their respects at a wake. It will be a 24-hour wake at the Stadium of Santos, where he became a star sporter with 600 goals for that club before he made that successful transition to the national stage where he went on to win three world cups for Brazil, the first of which was as a boy at just the age of 17.

I think as far as today's concern, fans will get the chance to go into the 16,000 capacity stadium from around about 10 o'clock local time. His coffin will be in the center of the pitch. They will get the chance to pay their respect. Then after than, Rosemary, they will be a procession through the streets of Santos. And that procession will go past the home of his 100-year-old mother, Celeste.

Now, some people, construct by the fact that his mother outlives him, but there is still a lot of love for her as they remains for him. Security being stepped up at the airport because there is expected to be a deluge of the great and the good sport stars, politicians, celebrities, all of whom would like to come and be a part of something very special, the chance to say goodbye not just to a footballing icon, Rosemary, but to a sporting icon.

And you have seen from the likes of Usain Bolt, Sachin Tendulkar, Lewis Hamilton, of the past week are just some of big names outside of football who have seen fit to pay tribute to this man, a wonderful servant of football and a wonderful sporting icon.

CHURCH: What an incredible legacy he has left behind. Darren Lewis, many thanks for your report. I appreciate it.

COVID case numbers are surging after Beijing backed away from its zero-COVID policy. Just ahead, how countries around the world are reacting as China struggles to get back to normal.

[03:30:00]

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CHURCH: Nearly 4,000 nurses at a New York hospital have reached a tentative deal on a labor contract the day after threatening to strike. But at seven other hospitals, roughly 12,000 nurses are still negotiating their own contracts, and if a deal is not reached by January 9th, they will move forward with a strike.

A union representing those nurses says they are demanding better working conditions. They want hospitals to hire more staff and retain current workers to improve patient care.

Air travelers from China are facing a growing number of restrictions from countries around the world. This after Beijing scrapped its zero- COVID policy, causing a surge of coronavirus cases.

Morocco will ban all travelers from China from entering regardless of nationality starting on Tuesday. And Australia is joining countries like the U.S., Canada, England, France, South Korea, Japan and several others, requiring travelers from China to show proof of a negative COVID test.

Beijing maybe getting help from some unlikely places. On Sunday, during her new year's remarks, Taiwan's president offered to assist mainland China in dealing with the COVID surge. So, let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancock. She joins us live from Seoul, South Korea. So, Paula, how are people in China coping with the surge in COVID cases after Beijing backed off its zero-COVID policy?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, there is re-split at this point. When you talk about the capital, Beijing, for example, you can see that there is some sense of normality coming back there, the fact that there is congestion back on the street. You can see people shopping and it is busy once again.

But, of course, there is the other side of it as well where hospitalizations are significant, where we hear people saying that they are unable to find basic medicine like fever-reducing medicine to be able to treat themselves at home.

So, you do have two very different perspectives at this point and, of course, it's made more difficult by the fact that we don't have actual data or numbers to go by. So, it is very much anecdotal. It's our teams on the ground seeing what they are seeing when it comes to hospitalizations, when it comes to an increase in the number of people at crematoriums, for example.

So, Beijing has said they're not going to be giving daily updates on the amount of COVID cases. They've severely refined what they consider to be a COVID death. So, those figures are not something which many countries around the world can based their assessments on and that is why one of the reasons that we seeing so many restrictions in place.

We also heard from the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, over the weekend in his new year's address, and he did actually acknowledge that it is a difficult time.

[03:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): Now, the epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase and it's still a time of struggle. Everyone is working resolutely, and the light of hope is right in front of us. Let's work harder. Persistence means victory and unity means victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: The World Health Organization says that its officials have spoken to high-level Chinese officials on Friday, and they were asking for more specific and detailed information, details on more genetic sequence data. They want to know more about hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths, and the level of vaccination within China. Very unclear at this point or at least they haven't said publicly if they have received any of that information.

But that is what is concerning many countries around the world, this lack of information, and a concern that there could be new variants created from such a sheer volume of virus traveling around within China itself and, of course, coming across the borders as well. As you say, Morocco has now banned all travelers from China. There's no indication how long that will last. Australia also putting restrictions in and saying potentially it could start testing wastewater from flights from China, something that the U.S. is considering as well. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right, Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul, many thanks.

As China eases its COVID restrictions, it's trying to shift attention to economic growth and away from a new COVID outbreak. CNN's Selina Wang has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People in China will take any opportunity to celebrate.

UNKNOWN: Woo!

WANG (voice-over): The country is finally opening up after years of lockdowns, abandoning its zero-COVID policy. There's hope that 2023 will look more like that. This year, China even managed to pull off the Beijing winter Olympics.

(On camera): Here we go, we're taking off!

(Voice-over): I flew into Beijing from my previous posting in Tokyo to cover the games in January.

(On camera): First thing I saw walking off the airplane is a sea of hazmat suits.

(Voice-over): With literal walls separating us from the rest of China.

(On camera): He said the police will take me if I were to walk out of the gate.

(Voice-over): In 2022, China became a giant sanitized bubble under constant high-tech surveillance. The country growing more isolated. As ties fray with the west and grow tighter with Russia, military tensions rise over Taiwan. While the man who's calling the shots, Xi Jinping, stepped into an unprecedented third term as China's supreme lead this year.

His goal is to make China great again and turn it into a technological superpower. And not just on earth. This year, China successfully launched crude missions to its new space station, fueling national pride.

2022 also marked a milestone for China's national animal. Fifteen panda cubs were born at the Chengdu Panda Research Base alone. And next year, China is preparing to host the Asian Games, an event that people hope will boost the COVID-battered economy and morale. There's relief and joy that people have their freedom back. Finally, in 2023, there's hope people in China can party and travel without fear just like they used to.

Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are tracking developments in Australia where at least four people are dead and three are in critical condition after two helicopters collided midair. It happened earlier near the popular tourist strip of main beach on the Gold Coast just south of Brisbane.

Police say the helicopters crashed onto a sand bank near the Sea World Resort. It's the height of the tourist season there with schools closed for the summer right now. The main road into the area is closed to traffic. Police are asking anyone who saw the collision to contact investigators.

Still to come, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is sworn in as Brazil's new leader. The challenges facing the new leader as he seeks to change course from the Bolsonaro era. Back in just a moment.

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[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Brazil has a new president, and he's no stranger to the office. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president for the third time on Sunday after a 12-year hiatus. He has inherited a country from his predecessor with crippling debt and much higher levels of poverty than when he left office. But he is promising a brighter future for Brazil under his leadership.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN PRODUCER: Brazil have been a holding its breath for the past two months. But today, the country was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. That's because outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro, had said he was not going to accept the result of the election if he lost. His supporters took to the streets, blocked highways, and marched to military headquarters asking for military intervention.

But instead of resisting the transfer of power, Bolsonaro himself left the country on Friday, leaving for the United States and leaving the door open for the new administration to focus on the future.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office for the third time today but stepping into a very different Brazil than he left -- when he left office in 2010. This is a country that has a sluggish economic performance, skyrocketing levels of inequality and poverty.

And Lula, speaking to his supporters that went to greet him in Brazil today, he got very emotional, speaking about hunger. Food insecurity has always been a topic, very close to Lula's heart, and he told a story of a man he saw in 1989, his first presidential campaign, that said, help me, please, I'm hungry, and how that shaped his political career.

Today, Bolsonaro's absence also contributed to that tone, to that emotional tone that even for Brazilian standards was quite high, quite emotional. Lula getting tearful many times throughout the day.

And instead of being received by the outgoing president to get the customary presidential sash that we do here in Brazil, he was handed over the sash by a group of people representing Brazil's diversity. This was a very famous indigenous leader, a Black woman worker, a young Black kid, all of this a nod to what the priorities of Lulas' government will be for the next four years.

[03:45:02]

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And one of those top priorities is to restore the environmental protections that Bolsonaro dismantled and save the Amazon rainforest. CNN's Paula Newton traveled to Sao Paulo State to see how Brazilians are already fighting to reverse years of deforestation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To save the planet, Luis Pinto says, you don't have to go to the Arctic or even the Amazon, this sky-high porch (ph) will do.

What was once degraded pasture is now, after 15 years, an eco- paradise, two miles of forest restoration.

LUIS PINTO, SECRETARY OF STATE AMAZONIA (voice-over): This project doesn't change a big landscape, but it shows it's possible to bring back life, to bring back water, to bring back biodiverse to the central pacific of (ph) Sao Paulo.

NEWTON (voice-over): Pinto walks us through the effort to revive the Atlantic forest, home to more than 145 million Brazilians, and yet about three-quarters of it has already been wiped out.

This is an effort to bring some of it back and it works like an eco- lab. By planting trees, the forest provides for clean air and water, bringing back eco diversity for plants and animals.

PINTO: So, we need a lot of technology knowledge and research to know which species to plant and how. NEWTON (voice-over): Projects like these are now at a crossroads of climate and political history in Brazil, a country that is one of the planet's most significant stores if biodiversity. For four years, the government of President Jair Bolsonaro was accused of undoing the environmental progress of former president and now president, Lula da Silva.

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research estimates that in the Amazon alone, deforestation nearly doubled since Bolsonaro came to office in 2018. Ricardo Salles was Bolsonaro's environment minister.

(On camera): To many environmentalists, you are as good as the devil. You are a bad guy.

RICARDO SALLES, FEDERAL LAWMAKER AND FORMER ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: Yeah. You know, people don't understand that what we did was to show that the solution for the environmental challenges in Brazil include as a main path for the solution, the economic equation.

NEWTON (voice-over): Salles now speaks as a newly-elected lawmaker in a majority conservative congress in Brazil. His policies are still clearly popular with many here.

TXAI SURUI, INDIGENOUS LEADER: I was so scared, you know.

NEWTON (voice-over): Indigenous leader Txai Surui says she and her people, the (INAUDIBLE) tribe, have been threatened and harassed when trying to protect Brazil's fragile environment. She accuses the Bolsonaro government of dismantling key environmental protections.

SURUI (through translator): We don't need to destroy to develop. We can do that in harmony with nature. And it is the indigenous peoples who teach that.

NEWTON (voice-over): It is that fundamental struggle on climate action that so threatens progress in Brazil.

PINTO: We need to understand, first, as a nation, that is key for the planet and the decisions we will make will be important for us but also for others.

NEWTON (voice-over): And so, watch the space, Brazil's future climate action, and it's debate over environmental policy will be consequential far beyond its borders.

Paula Newton, CNN, in Sao Paulo State, Brazil.

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CHURCH: In Kenya, pollution washes up on the shore from other countries. We will tell you about a unique effort there to turn cast- off plastics into building materials. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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[03:50:00]

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CHURCH: The impact of plastic pollution is being felt around the globe. Authorities in Kenya have tried to tackle the problem. But as CNN's Larry Madowo reports, much of the plastic waste is coming from beyond Africa.

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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ancient city of Lamu, a popular part of the northern coast of Kenya. But the Indian Ocean brings more than just tourists to the Lamu archipelago. Tons of marine litters also washing up on the shore, mostly plastic. They pick up what they can, but more keeps coming.

(On camera): It is manufactured in Indonesia.

UNKNOWN: Definitely, I never seen this being sold in Kenya. Fasclean, never seen this brand --

MADOWO (voice-over): Not a brand from here?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): That's not a brand that is sold here.

MADOWO (voice-over): It's manufactured in China.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): China. Lastly, noodles, don't recognize them over here.

MADOWO (voice-over): Kenya banned single-use plastics from protected areas, including beaches. But they are still being manufactured locally and piling up all over the coastline, a major headache for the local government.

FAHIM YASIN TWAHA, LAMU COUNTY GOVERNOR: More the receivers of plastics than the givers of the plastic. This plastic is dumped elsewhere and drifts to our shores. I guess we are a magnetic place. We hope we can also attract good things and not just junk.

MADOWO (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE), who calls herself Mama Plastiki, has been collecting the junk from hear community for 35 years, but there's nowhere to take most of it.

MAMA PLASTIKI, LAMU RESIDENT (through translator): We don't have a market for this plastic, so it has slowed us down a little. We had two people working on this, but we ran out of money, so we are stuck with it.

MADOWO (voice-over): Even this better-funded effort to clean up plastic from around Lamu is barely scratching the surface.

(On camera): The mountain of plastic waste just keeps growing here on the Kenyan coast and is threatening the ocean, the mangroves, and the tourism industry here. (Voice-over): Discarded plastic is sorted then crushed at this facility, breaking it down into smaller particles that can get molded into something more useful.

(On camera): This is incredibly strong.

MORRIS KILONZO, PLASTIC RECYCLING EXPERT, THE FLIPFLOPI PROJECT: This is the product of salted, crushed and washed plastics.

[03:55:02]

KILONZO: Look at this.

MADOWO (on camera): And it could revolutionize construction.

KILONZO: This one (INAUDIBLE). We can innovate and put whatever is lying in the backyard to something useful.

MADOWO (voice-over): These boats are leading a scientific expedition to study the impact of marine litter on the east African coast. Its organizer, The Flipflopi Project, says this is the first time such research is being carried out on this part of the west Indian Ocean. The scientists are measuring the presence of nano, micro, and macro plastics in the ocean.

(On camera): What do you hope to learn from the samples you're collecting?

BAHATI MAYOMA, AQ UATIC ECOLOGY AND POLLUTION LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM: For the first time, we'll be able to understand how deep can you still find plastic pollution. Most focus has been on the surface. I want to understand because much of the organisms, they live underneath.

MADOWO (voice-over): By 2050, without intervention, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean, the U.N. has warned. Some of it may build the next sailing boat like this one, made entirely of flip flops, but most of it just suffocates marine life and coastal communities.

DIPESH PABAN, COFOUNDER AND LEADER, THE FLIPFLOPI PROJECT: Someone needs to pay for this. This is not something that these communities and us as local organizations can support and solve. Yes, we are contributing to it, but it's a global problem. It's no different to climate change in that respect.

MADOWO (voice-over): Recycle, reuse. Residents here are doing everything they can to tackle a global problem at the local level.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Lamu, Kenya.

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CHURCH: And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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