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CNN International: Janelle Monae talks New Movie, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"; Search and Rescue Operations Resume, Three Still Missing; Oxfam: Richest 1 Percent Gaining Majority of World's new Wealth; FAA Investigating Near Miss between two planes at JFK; CNN Investigates how January 8th Attacks Unfolded. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 16, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

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MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead rescuers race against the clock to find any survivors in this rec department building. It was hit by a Russian missile over the weekend. I'll report from Dnipro Ukraine coming up.

Authorities recovered the black box from a deadly plane crash in Nepal. What we know so far about the tragedy? And 30 years on the run not any more one of Italy's most notorious mafia bosses is caught.

Two days after Russia's deadly missile strike on an apartment building in Southeastern Ukraine, the desperate search for survivors continues. For the mayor of Dnipro says the chances are minimal of finding anyone else alive.

Kyiv says 40 people were killed in the attack, including three children and dozens of others may still be trapped under the rubble. During his nightly address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke directly to Russian citizens.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I want to say to all those in Russia, and from Russia, who even now could not utter a few words of condemnation of this terror although they see and comprehend everything perfectly. Your cowardly silence, your attempt to wait out what is happening will only end with the fact that one day the same terrorists will come for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Kremlin denying responsibility for the strike calling it the result of Ukrainian counters missiles and air defense. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Dnipro, where the scene has been described as apocalyptic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The morning brings to light the full extent of the destruction. The residential building home to dozens of families annihilated down to the foundation. Even though rescue crews still work, the chances of finding survivors now virtually zero.

All night residents watched in fear, anger and grief. All her Nevin Shanaya says she passed by the building only about half an hour before this--. There are many friends and people close to me here many, many she said. Elena Loya stunned by the scale of the destruction curses the Russians. I simply hate those children, people die here, and we can't speak anymore.

Throughout the night, the death toll continued to jump. On top of the many killed Ukrainian authorities say dozens were injured, many of them children. In just this location Dnipro, one of many sites in Ukraine, Russia targeted with barrages of missiles this weekend.

PLEITGEN (on camera): The Ukrainian says the reason why the damage here is so extensive is that this building was hit with a cruise missile called the Kh-22. That's designed to destroy aircraft carrier strike groups. And obviously, when it hits the building, it completely annihilated it burying dozens of people underneath.

PLEITGEN (voice over): The Ukrainians call the attack state terrorism. And the President says rescuers will continue to try and save anyone trapped here. Let's fight for every person; President Zelenskyy says the rescue operation will last as long as there is even the slightest chance to save a life.

But even the slightest hope has now all but died and this is essentially a recovery operation. The crews searching for bodies where so many lives were violently ended in an instant Fred Pleitgen, CNN Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Police in Nepal say crews have now recovered 69 bodies following that horrific plane crash on Sunday near the City of Pokhara. There were 72 people on board and one official says the chances of finding any survivors are extremely low.

Hundreds of emergency personnel are still searching through the debris video online of this show the plane just moments before it crashed. Authorities say they recovered the plane's flight data recorder, as CNN's Vedika Sud joins us live from New Delhi. I mean that's one positive at least they've got the black box?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Well, that's the only real hope they have to understand what happened on that ill-fated flight on Sunday Max, isn't it? Now this black box rather the black boxes which are basically in essentially voice recording data. And along with that the data recorder will really help in understanding what went wrong on that flight on Sunday.

[08:05:00] SUD: 69 bodies have been recalled abode which essentially means today on Monday in Nepal, one body, another body has been recovered as a Sunday night; it's sorted 68 and now at 69. Of the 69 bodies from the 72 passengers that were onboard about 38 have been identified by family members what we know through officials is that these bodies will be handed over to the families only after post mortems are conducted.

Remember, 15 foreign nationals were on board. When that crash took place in Pokhara in Western Nepal on Sunday. Those bodies will be airlifted to Kathmandu, the capital City of Nepal, and the post mortems will be conducted there after which it will be handed over to the family members. We do know through the spokesperson of Yeti airlines that the weather yesterday, on Sunday in Pokhara was pretty clear.

And that's one reason why we've seen a series of air crashes in Nepal. It's because of inclement weather conditions, because of the mountainous topography in and around Nepal, due to which there have been air accidents in the past. There's been a history of it, because of which people have been questioning what really went wrong with this aircraft.

But for the family members, Max, there's so many questions they have. They want answers to them and the government has now formed a five- member committee. And they are expected to submit their report after interrogations on what happened to this flight within the next 45 days, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Vedika thank you. One of Europe's most wanted men is in custody after 30 years on the run. Police arrested Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro whilst he was being treated in a private clinic. Prosecutors say Denaro is responsible for dozens of Mafia related murders.

In 1992, he was sentenced to life in prison in absentia for his role in the murders of two anti-mafia prosecutors. Barbie Nadeau joins us live from Rome with details this very high profile arrest and it's a huge story in Italy, isn't it because he was hiding for so long.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, it's actually really shocking that he was in this private clinic. We don't know what he was being treated for? But he's in a private clinic in Palermo, where the biggest city in Sicily. And he doesn't look much different than the photo that the Police had published it not so long ago that said what he should look like.

He's been not seen for 30 years and he looks a lot like they thought he might look which means he was really hiding in plain view. He is the number one most wanted man here in Italy. He's on Euro Paul's most wanted list. He's been for a time in the past on FBI's most wanted list and this isn't banned, you know, responsible for hundreds of deaths in this country by ordering them from while he was hiding out.

You know, those include as the anti EU anti-mafia prosecutors you mentioned but also an 11-year-old boy who was dissolved in acid all sorts of horrific crimes. You know, what remains to be seen now is who's going to be held complicit in the fact that he was in this clinic as private clinic? And who was around him what other arrests might have been made or might be made? And who's going to replace him now that he's behind bars, Max?

FOSTER: What's the government response to this? Presumably they are satisfied with all the work that went into it?

NADEAU: That's absolutely right. We heard from Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister who was saying, you know that the work that they had done over the years and years, has finally paid off. But it has to be said that there have been a number of times that he's escaped capture when they've had hundreds of agents, raiding farm houses and other places thinking they're going to get him this time for the last 30 years and they didn't get him.

So you know there's been a lot of embarrassment on the part of the anti-mafia Police that he's been on the island of Sicily, which isn't that big. For all this time it looks a lot like they thought he would look and somehow he's escaped capture until now. Again, though, they're proud of getting him now, but there's going to be a lot of questions to ask why it took so long, Max?

FOSTER: OK, Barbie, thank you very much indeed. Oxfam calling for targeted new taxes on the world's wealthiest individuals. A report by the charity shows that the richest 1 percent captured nearly twice as much new wealth as the rest of the world combined.

Over the past few years, it comes as business and political leaders are gathering today in Davos, Switzerland as the annual World Economic Forum kicks off. Anna Stewart joins us from London. No great surprise but the numbers is pretty stark at the way the wealth is increasing of the top 1 percent.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: That's the most depressing part of this report is it comes out every year. It's always launched the start of Davos and it is quite unsurprising. But you're right to delve into some of the differences this year. There were some stark differences in terms of why the top 1 percent of the wealthy has got even wealthier.

They're really looking at the pandemic but also looking at the war in Ukraine. They're saying during the pandemic government's injected trillions of dollars to protect economies, and that has essentially inflated the prices of financial assets. So those invested in the financial markets have done particularly well.

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STEWART: The war in Ukraine that has seen energy companies, profits. So shareholders there have done really well, but the most interesting part is it says for the first time in a quarter of a century the rise in extreme wealth has been matched by an increase in extreme poverty.

At the same time, inflation is biting energy prices are high that feeds through to food and actually a new line from web today saying the majority of their community of Chief Economists expected global recession this year. So things are likely to get worse, according to them.

FOSTER: It comes from Oxfam, this report, they're obviously much focused on the poorest, but what solution can they offer?

STEWART: So they really want to see a redistribution of wealth, and that is nothing new from there. They're saying today, every billion err is a policy failure. They want higher taxes for the ultra-wealthy; they want essentially a baseline for income tax at 60 percent. They'd like to see a higher; they'd like to be tax on things like financial assets.

So that you tax people like Elon Musk on what he holds in terms of shares, without having to sell them. They want to see a one off wealth tax; they want to see a windfall tax for energy companies. This is what they want. They set the bar high. They do come up with these solutions. It's unlikely to make a huge amount of difference but it does add pressure on policymakers or business leaders who are meeting in Davos.

FOSTER: And the part of the 1 percent among them.

STEWART: And those ones, yes.

FOSTER: Anna, thank you. The pressure is mounting on the Biden Administration after it was revealed on Saturday, that more classified documents have been found at the President's home. The White House says five additional pages of classified material were discovered a Joe Biden's Wilmington Delaware home on Thursday evening. This is in addition to the other classified files found in the home and at a private office.

He wants us in Washington, a special counsel has been appointed to investigate and the House Oversight Committee has requested more information related to the search like visitor logs from Mr. Biden's home.

Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida has died at the age of 95. That's according to Italian media "Founding members". She was one of the most famous film stars of the 1950s and the 1960s and one of the last remaining actresses of the Hollywood golden age. She's symbolized together with Sophia Loren Italian cinema all over the world.

Still to come, another plane crash in Nepal prompting broader questions about the air safety in the Himalayan nation we'll look at whether this latest crash is a sign of a larger problem?

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FOSTER: Welcome back, is Nepal a dangerous place to fly? It was supposed to be a very short flight from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara. Only lasting about 30 minutes long, but it turned into Nepal's worst air disaster in 30 years, because he does have a reputation for dangerous aviation frankly.

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FOSTER: This is the video of the most recent crash. It's often to do with inclement weather there, mountainous topography. But as you can see in that video, the weather was pretty good. Now just the last 10 years, Nepal has seen some horrific plane crashes. In May 2022, Tara Air Flight crashed into a mountain, killing 22 people.

In March 2018, U.S.-Bangla Airlines Flight crashed on landing killing 51 people and another Tara air crash in 2016, killing 23 people. Let's bring in CNN, Pete Muntean. He joins us from Washington D.C. I mean, it is a terrible record for one country. Is it just bad luck or should people worry about flying there?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, even the EU aviation Authority has put Yeti airlines along with all Nepali carriers, unknown as banning them from EU airspace. The issue here, according to the EU is that there's simply just not enough oversight of these air carriers and not enough safety procedures in place, which is why we're seeing accident after accident.

They've raised a lot of red flags, even Yeti airlines, the airline in question here in this most recent accident, has had about six crashes in its history of 25 years. That is not a great average here, Max. And so regulators in the EU and beyond have some real reason of concern here. Now, Nepal is trying to make its civil aviation industry much, much stronger. And this new airport was built only 15 days ago, it was just opened.

And so they're trying to add in more technology, more safety procedures, better airlines and better policies to make it so that the air transportation system there in Nepal, is used with a lot of regularity and a lot of safety. That is the big key here and that is the big concern of regulators around the world.

FOSTER: You've seen the video; we know that they found the black box, where do you think investigators will be going on this as a first port of call?

MUNTEAN: Of course, the cockpits voice recorder and the flight data recorder. And I think here especially when you see that video, the flight data recorder may be the most telling, because that accident looks like at least to me as a pilot and flight instructor a loss of control at low speed and low altitude something that is unrecoverable in almost any airplane. And so the flight data recorder will give some really critical clues here as to how fast the airplane was going.

The inputs that the pilots were even putting on the controls very minute, very granular detail also the cockpit voice recorder here, it's so good that it's been recovered, because we'll be able to hear the pilots and hear their conversations and there a bit of their judgment about what led up to this accident. We know from initial reports in Nepal, that this flight was cleared to land a going to the Northwest.

It was coming from the Southeast that made the most sense a straight in approach, that's the easiest to do. Although for some reason the flight crew asked to circle around and land from the Northwest to the Southeast. That turn that base to final turn that's what it's called, in technical terms.

The right hand-turn or sorry, the right angle turn from the left. That is something that in aviation is known as a bit of a death knell. That can be one of the most critical spots for pilots where they have to accurately control their speed and are low to the ground, it leaves very little margin for ever, Max.

FOSTER: The video is horrible to see the people afraid of flying already. It will put them off flying; just reassure people about the safety of flying.

MUNTEAN: Well, especially in the west, aviation is incredibly safe. Here in the U.S., we've not had a major air disaster in about 20 years. And so the protocols that are put in place, what aviation does as an industry, not only in the U.S., not only in the EU, but around the world, that is the key thing.

You know, aviation has been around for about 120 years, we've been doing powered flights and about 100 years or so of commercial flights, but there's still a lot to learn. It seems like we've reached the pinnacle of it and technology has come up to the point. Now the big question is pilot training, especially with so many pilots clamoring for jobs at airlines that are clamoring for pilots because they're dealing with shortages.

And so really now the question is whether or not the pilots are up to snuff that technology is there the airplanes are safe, most of the procedures are safe. But now the question is whether or not the pilots will be able to make the grade and make it so that aviation continues this excellent safety record.

FOSTER: Absolutely, Pete Muntean appreciate your time thank you very much indeed. And near miss between two passenger planes at New York's busy JFK International Airport is now being investigated by U.S. authorities it happened Friday evening. The animation shows just how close it was to being a tragedy.

[08:20:00]

FOSTER: The FAA says the crew of a departing Delta flight with 151 people on board. A board is takeover stuffing within 1000 feet of an American Airlines jet that was taxiing on the same runway. Here's some of the audio from the control tower.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delta 1943 canceled takeoff since 1943 canceled pick up points --.

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FOSTER: No one was hurt and as Pete says it does show that the procedures in place are still safe. Coming up a CNN investigation breaks down, how the attacks on Brazil's democratic institutions unfolded last week? That report after the break.

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FOSTER: When we call him for the riots that rocked Brazil's Capitol, CNN is gathering new evidence about how events on January the eighth unfolded CNN Investigative Producer Katie Polglase reports.

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: So for this investigation, we looked into the visual evidence from midday. We looked at Telegram, Twitter, TikTok, and even YouTube live streams to build a detailed chronology of what happened on January 8. And it was clear to us that the protesters started marching around midday.

They start walking the seven kilometer walk towards the Congress area and there are Police there standing watching them go by some check bags, but they don't stop them. Some even smile, some even give them a thumbs up. And by the time they then arrive at Congress, there is some pushback we see in some videos, Police officers spraying pepper spray at them from behind metal barricades, but they're quickly overwhelmed.

The volume of protesters is so large; they quickly overrun the Police barricades that are there and then by just after 3 pm, the entire area is in chaos. They have already gained access to the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and the Congress. And so the question is why was the police?

So there was no coordination in their response to what happened and this is also what the investigation is looking into. There is one most telling video we found from just outside the Presidential Planalto palace. You can see a commanding officer saying to the other officers that beside him command your troops dammit.

And the officers Look at him, they seem hesitant, unclear how to respond and that really encapsulates the chaos that was there the lack of coordination in terms of how they were meant to be responding to this attack. Now there are two key figures that are under suspicion for this one is Anderson Torres.

He was the Head of Security at the time, and notably, he was also the Former Justice Minister under President Jair Bolsonaro's regime before the allegation is that he may have supported the protesters intentions when they stormed Congress an allegation that he strenuously denies, but he was arrested when he returned to Brazil on Saturday, after holidaying in the United States.

And the other key figure is Fabio Vieira. He was the Former Commander of the Military Police. These are the officers we see many of them at the scene, some of them smiling; some even filming what is going on, not appearing to be that in control of the situation. Both of them are under investigation as the Supreme Court continues to look into how this happened and why there seemed to be an apparent lack of Police response to the attack on January the eighth. Katie Polglase, CNN, London.

[08:25:00] FOSTER: CNN hasn't received a response from the Federal District's Military Police of which Fabio Vieira was in charge regarding the alleged security failures of their forces. Finally, before we go the size of TV and cinema came out for the Critic's Choice Awards on Sunday. The Los Angeles awards show featured standout fashion moments on the red carpet ranging from bold pops of color to more classic palettes on the nominees.

Big winners on the film side included the cast and crew of everything everywhere, all at once, which took home the award for Best Picture. Cate Blanchette won the Best Actress for her term in the psychological drama, Tar, which she also executive produced. And among the many emotional wins of the night was Brendan Fraser, who took home the award for Best Actor for his dramatic role in "The Whale", here's part of his acceptance speech.

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BRENDAN FRASER, ACTOR, "THE WHALE": If you like a guy like Charlie you I played in this movie and anyway, struggling with obesity. You just feel like you're in a dark sea. I want you to know that if you too can have the strength to just get to your feet and go to the light good things will happen.

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FOSTER: Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London "World Sport" with Amanda Davis, up next.

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