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Ukrainian President Sacks Defense Minister; Ukraine Puts Drones to Work on the Battlefield; 70K People Stranded by Muddy Conditions at Burning Man; Africa Climate Summit 23 Convenes in Nairobi; China Considers Screen Time Limits for Children & Teens; Stolen Child Reunited with Mother 42 Years Later; Pope Visits Mongolia. Aired 12- 12:45a ET

Aired September 04, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:31]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, 550 days into the war, President Zelenskyy dismisses -- dismisses Ukraine's defense minister.

China considers screen time for young people in an attempt to curb Internet addiction and cultivate good morality.

And Africa's climate summit kicks off this hour. We're live in Nairobi to discuss the effects of climate change on the continent.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: Well, in the middle of a major counteroffensive against invading forces might seem like a strange time to shake up military leadership, but that's what Ukraine's president is proposing.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy announcing on Sunday that he's dismissing a defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov. Reznikov has served in that role since before Russia's invasion, appointed in November of 2021.

In recent months, President Zelenskyy has overhauled the country's defense sector, cracking down on corruption. Reznikov hasn't been directly implicated in any of that, but Mr. Zelenskyy says it is time to make a change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Oleksii Reznikov has been through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction, with both the military and society as a whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Mr. Zelenskyy says he's nominating Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar and former lawmaker who currently leads the country's privatization fund.

He's played a role in the Black Sea grain deal and other wartime negotiations.

The new changes, if approved by Parliament -- and they will be -- come as heavy fighting continues in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.

Now Malcolm Davis is a senior analyst of defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He joins me now from Canberra.

Always good to see you, sir. Reznikov hasn't himself, as we said, been directly accused of corruption. But there have been a number of scandals in the ministry: things like procurement practices and so on.

Do you think his removal is part of what's been an anti-corruption push by Zelenskyy?

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST OF DEFENSE STRATEGY AND CAPABILITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: I think almost certainly. Zelenskyy's key focus, apart from winning the war, is ensuring the peace after the war, and that means bringing Ukraine into NATO and the E.U.

And to achieve that, they'd have to be free of corruption at all levels of government.

So whilst I think there's been no indication whatsoever that Reznikov himself was corrupt, I think he's failed to stop corruption occurring within the Ministry of Defense. And so clearly, Zelenskyy has decided that now is the time to move him onto a different role and bring in Umerov to replace him.

HOLMES: We'll talk about it in a moment. Reznikov had led the ministry, as we said, since before the start of the full-scale invasion. How effective was he in the role, and how might his departure impact readiness and so on?

DAVIS: I think he's been very effective under very difficult circumstances. Very few defense ministers have to actually manage defense policy during wartime, and he's done that exceptionally well in the sense that he's been front and center in engaging with Western countries to ensure that Ukraine gets weapons that they need and gets them in reasonable quantities.

I think one area where maybe there has been a challenge is getting the critical types of weapons such as armored fighting vehicles, battle tanks, in particular the F-16s and also long-range missiles quickly enough.

But this is not really Reznikov's failure, per se. It's more a failure of the West in the sense of being overcautious in supplying Ukraine with those critical capabilities.

So I think he has been effective in so many ways. HOLMES: Yes. What do we know about his replacement -- replacement,

Rustem Umerov? I think it's significant he's a Crimean Tatar in the environment of what's going on, particularly in the South. But what do we know about him in the context of, you know, these gains on the battlefield recently?

DAVIS: I think the very fact that he is Crimean Tatar, I think, is hardly significant. It reinforces the dissection that Ukraine is focused on regaining control of Crimea.

[00:05:10]

And if you look at their counteroffensive, that is exactly where that counteroffensive is focused. So having a Crimean Tatar with Umerov as minister of defense, I think is a good move by Zelenskyy. It establishes probably greater rapport with the people in the Crimean Peninsula, as being able to manage the situation after Ukraine hopefully wins this counteroffensive.

HOLMES: And what is your read on the advances in the counteroffensive in a tactical sense? What do you think Ukraine needs to achieve before, you know, the rains come? Autumn is not far away, and then, of course, winter.

DAVIS: Yes, and I think that's a valid point, is that time is not only on their side. Their counteroffensive was delayed because of a slow response by the West to supply the types of capabilities that they would need, such as the tanks and the armored fighting vehicles.

So they're now battling against the clock.

They're advancing South towards Mariupol from Tokmak. Tokmak is the next big target for the offensive if the Ukrainians can break through the Russian lines there. And they've indicated they've broken through that first line of a defense, breaking near Tokmak, at least the Russian forces around Tokmak have made it Tokmak unusable as a resupply area.

And that makes it virtually impossible for the Russians to hang onto Crimea. It sets them up for an advance deeper into Crimea by Mariupol in the spring of 2024. But they would certainly have to hunker down during the rains and winter period of '23/'24.

HOLMES: There are those who've criticized the pace of the counteroffensive, but you mentioned first line of defense. Both those defenses are formidable, aren't they? And Russia had a long time to put them in place. So what do you make of their pace, given what they're up against?

DAVIS: Well, I think that they've been cautious in an appropriate sense. They're not concentrating forces needlessly that could then bring in Russian long-range fire to decimate Ukrainian forces. They're advancing on a wide front.

But they are making gains. They're apparently pushed through the Russian first line of defense, and they're now advancing potentially further than that.

But we still have yet to see how tough those defenses are behind that first line of defense, and whether the Ukrainians can widen that breach sufficiently to pour through heavier forces like armored fighting vehicles and main battle tanks.

If they can, then they certainly can make record advances before the winter, essentially denying the supply lines for the Russian forces in Crimea and then establishing a good position from which they can poise to advance into Crimea in the Northern spring of 2024.

Obviously, the Russians will try and defend that as much as they can, but there is some question about just what is the quality of Russian troops behind that first line of defense. And I think it will be critical to see just how effective that Russian defense is.

HOLMES: Always great analysis. Malcolm Davis, good to see you, my friend. Thank you so much.

DAVIS: Thank you.

HOLMES: Now Mr. Zelenskyy spoke by phone with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday about the logistics of creating a new Black Sea shipping corridor for grain exports.

Russia pulled out of the previous deal that guaranteed safe passage around a Russian blockade. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan negotiated that agreement, and he's set to meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the hours ahead. A new shipping deal, of course, is on the agenda.

Now this coming a day after Russia attacked port facilities near the Danube River that Ukraine uses for food exports. The attack site is just across the border from NATO member Romania.

And the attack drew swift condemnation, with Romania saying it contravened international law.

And Ukraine says more than two dozen Russian drones were used in the overnight attacks in the Odessa region, adding that most of those drones were shot down. Ukraine also putting drone technology to work.

CNN correspondent Melissa Bell with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Here we can see Russian military equipment hidden in this small forest.

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ukraine's security service preparing for a raid across enemy lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: It is an infrared [camera], right?

BELL (voiceover): In a war of artillery, and drones, and plenty of creativity.

[00:10:03]

BELL: It looks almost like a -- like a toy.

"PIXEL," SBU DRONE PILOT: It is Chinese toy with some upgrades and some innovations, with some magic.

BELL (voice-over): Enough magic that this specially-made drone will travel far beyond the Zaporizhzhia front line.

In search of a Russian air defense system, it flies deep into enemy territory towards a town that is one of the main objectives of the Southern counteroffensive, Tokmak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: We are approaching the target. We are approaching the target.

BELL (voice-over): At the other end of the phone, and watching the same screen, a HIMARS unit is ready to launch. The call sign of this drone's unit commander is Bankir, a reminder of his life before the war, when this land was still Ukrainian.

"BANKIR," COMMANDER, SBU UNIT: Now you can see, this is Russian's weakest moment (ph). This is checkpoint, Russians, you can see in Tokmak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Left, left. Aim left.

BELL (voice-over): But tonight, they've been unlucky. The air defense system they wanted to hit is no longer there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: We're coming home. The target is not there.

BELL (voice-over): Home for tonight is a field about 15 kilometers North of the front line. Using only red lights to avoid detection, they've got a birds-eye view of the battle below and what's happening beyond.

"BANKIR": We are hunting for them for some time. We have some results. We know where we know they're hiding. We know where they are moving. So it's just about time, just to find them.

BELL (voice-over): And each time it flies, the drone records precious information. The state of Russian defenses, vehicles, and systems being moved, even if tonight a Russian air defense system and its four to five officers were, unbeknownst to them, spared.

BELL: Are you disappointed?

"BANKIR": No. No. We are -- we are not disappointed. This is our source, it's our work, and we -- we will continue to do it.

BELL (voice-over): Until, he says, every last inch of Ukrainian territory has been freed, however long that takes.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Zaporizhzhia region.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is trying to put to rest allegations that his country supplied arms to Russia. He says an independent panel has found no evidence that weapons were loaded onto this Russian cargo ship, the Lady R, near Cape Town last December.

The U.S. ambassador to South Africa made that claim earlier this year, saying he would bet his life on it.

But Ramaphosa says the ship imported military equipment to South African forces, and the equipment was ordered in 2018.

All right. Turning now to severe weather in Spain. Storm warnings are still in effect through Monday for cities from Madrid to Barcelona. That's on the heels of massive flooding from the storm known as Dana.

Torrential rain swept across the country. One visitor says he and other travelers had to act quickly to stay safe during a frightening ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN CARLOS PENAFIEL, VISITING FROM BARCELONA (through translator): We organized amongst ourselves to make ropes with towels and bed sheets and used them to pull two young men who were grabbing onto columns. We pulled them to the top floor and saved them. It was terrifying. Very, very scary, with small children, women. Nobody showed up. We were left alone to save ourselves. It was terrifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Officials are warning against unnecessary travel in the Madrid area today, and Atletico Madrid's match with Sevilla has been postponed.

Officials say some 70,000 people remain stranded in the Nevada desert after heavy rain swamped the annual Burning Man Festival. After three months of rain fell between Friday and Saturday, leaving behind thick, ankle-deep mud.

Ongoing rain on Sunday has now forced organizers to postpone the main event of the burning of a large wooden effigy.

CNN's Camila Bernal with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is still muddy. It is

still messy for thousands of people who are stranded here in Black Rock City.

Where we are right now is the main entrance and exit point to the festival. So thousands are expected to exit here on Monday. We saw many, many cars trying to get out, because this is the entrance of the playa.

So here behind me is where people are getting stuck in that mud.

And I want to show you what that mud, that cakey mud looks like. This is what a lot of people are walking hours in. And you're seeing it, in their shoes. They are covered in this mud is what you're seeing on this bike.

It makes it impossible for not just bikes but also for cars and RVs.

Here behind me this RV, they told me that they were stuck here for hours, trying to get out of the mud. So it is difficult to get out.

[00:15:11]

And the concern, of course, is for people who did not bring enough supplies, enough food, enough water, and need to get out. Here is one person that I talked to who told me she just needed to get out today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's quite expansive out there, and it probably took me three hours of slogging to -- to walk just from my camp to the road. And I did get a little bit of a hitchhike into -- in the back of someone's truck.

But yes, it's just really thick, dense mud. So wherever it's wet, it's just heavy and sticky, and it's a real sloppy mess out there. Most everything is turned off, but there's still some people partying.

BERNAL: And everybody that I've talked to has remained extremely positive, telling me they're making the best out of a very difficult situation, saying they're still having fun, that they've enjoyed this festival.

Unfortunately, though, authorities did report one death. They said a body was found in the playa. They did not give any details as to what happened.

And organizers here are continuing to tell people to be safe. They're getting prepared to get thousands of people out of here. So they're telling them that this is going to be a long process, the exodus as they call it.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Black Rock City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: In Taiwan, no deaths have been reported, but more than 40 people were injured after Typhoon Haikui hit the island on Sunday afternoon.

Right now, the storm has moved into the Taiwan Strait and is heading towards the mainland. As it approached Taiwan, some 7,000 people rushed to flee their homes.

The island's electricity provider is still working to restore power to tens of thousands of customers.

More than 200 flights have been delayed or canceled, and officials suspended school and work days in several counties and cities.

Still to come on the program, we'll go to the African climate summit, now convening in Nairobi to talk with an expert about the continent's climate challenges.

Plus, authorities in China considering placing limitations on screen time for young people. We'll tell you about the proposals and the reactions to them after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: You are looking at live pictures there after the four crew members aboard the SpaceX Dragon touched down. They're back home from the International Space Station, splashing down just moments ago. You can see their -- their craft just bobbing about in the water there. And boats going out to retrieve them.

They'll be taken to tender vessels, and they actually get a helicopter ride back to the mainland.

Now, they undocked on Sunday. The departure was actually delayed 24 hours, due to Hurricane Idalia. NASA was worried the high winds and heavy rains could impact the splash-down area.

This is actually just off Jacksonville, Florida. The crew, it's two NASA astronauts. There's one from the United Arab Emirates. There's also a Russian cosmonaut. And they have been on the International Space Station since March.

We are keeping an eye on the recovery efforts. All seems to be going smoothly at the moment. We'll keep you updated.

World leaders, scientists and environmental activists are convening at this hour in Nairobi to address the urgent consequences of climate change.

The three-day Africa Climate Summit '23 will explore solutions to the particular impacts climate change is having and will have on the continent.

Participants putting particular focus on drought and other weather- related developments, the changing climate's escalating impact on migration, and ways to fund climate mitigation initiatives in countries saddled with debt.

Now, Rebekah Shirley is the deputy director of the World Resources Institute and is at the summit in Nairobi. And delighted you could join us. Climate change is discussed. I mean, it's events in the West which generally get the most attention.

Do you feel Africa gets forgotten in the climate change conversation?

REBEKAH SHIRLEY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me, Michael.

Yes, absolutely. And that's a multi-layered question, a multi-layered answer.

First of all, of course, it's the least contributor to climate change. Five percent of global historic emissions and, actually, about 2 percent when you remove the emissions from South Africa, were oftentimes not in the headlines as an emitter.

But also, science is now very clear, the latest reports from the IPC saying that Africa is actually the continent growing fastest on Earth, faster than any other continent.

We have a number of countries on the continent already reporting more than one degree Celsius on average of temperature increase, and that's has led to multiple impacts.

But, you know, not being an economic powerhouse on the continent -- on the planet obviously means that that is oftentimes not seen.

And then thirdly, I would say the big challenge for us in Africa is therefore not as the emitter but as the most vulnerable, means that our challenges are really our adaptation and responding to the loss and damage happening across the continent.

HOLMES: Yes.

SHIRLEY: And that's something that has had to pay for. So oftentimes not making the headlines.

HOLMES: Yes, you know, there's so many impacts that are particular to Africa. The International Organization for Migration, you know, in 2022, various disasters caused more than seven and a half million people to be internally displaced. They say tens of millions could be displaced in the next few years.

What are the effects of that on people, families, communities?

SHIRLEY: Yes. The largest effect that we're seeing on the continent so far from climate change relates to this change in rainfall patterns you were talking about earlier linked to drought.

And the drought leads to, you know, situations where we have a scarcity of resources, which leads to people conflict, community conflict, and of course, the immigration and the migration that you're talking about.

Also human-wild (ph) conflict, which is really important, as well. What does this mean for people? Agriculture and food is the mainstay of the economy in Africa. Half of all jobs and livelihoods, a third of the economy. So when that is the most vulnerable sector to climate change, it obviously means big impacts to community, big impacts to families and households, and cities, as well.

HOLMES: This is, this summer, the biggest gathering of its type in Africa's history. I mean, it is a significant moment. What needs to come out of it?

SHIRLEY: It's significant, because this is not -- this is the first time that African heads of state, through the auspices of the African Union, are convening themselves, Michael, not just been convened on the constant planet (ph) agenda.

So over 20 heads of state are here right now, are piling in. It's a major moment for the future of climate action in Africa, not just because it's the first summit of its kind, but what it's anticipated to yield, which is a roadmap for low carbon development across the continent.

So what needs to come out of this is, of course, that declaration, that Nairobi declaration of how the continent is going to move forward. We also to see transformative thinking on the way that we finance both the loss and damage and adaptation, but also the investment of its unity that Africa represents to the world, as a hub for climate solutions.

And that narrative is something that's quite new coming out of this summit.

HOLMES: Yes, and the thing is, the money that's been promised to Africa for mitigation has generally not shown up. There is a limit to what African nations can do on climate change, when they're not the primary source of the problem.

As you point out, just -- just 3 percent, I think, is the official number of percentage of global emissions.

So what, then, does the word need to do to help Africa mitigate the worst of the climate change impacts? COP28 is coming up in November, for example.

[00:25:10]

SHIRLEY: In terms of helping Africa adapt to climate change, it's supporting adaptation financing and loss and damage finance -- financing.

But actually, even though not a big part of the emissions challenge, Africa could be a major solution hub for decarbonizing the world's-- the world's -- the world's challenge.

You know, the focus of this summit, as I mentioned, is to demonstrate articulate investment opportunity that Africa represents. The, you know, untapped clean energy resources, the world's major stock of critical minerals, the world's last remaining carbon-safe forest, the Congo basin, millions of hectares of land waiting to be brought back to productivity through restoration. And of course, the youngest population on the planet.

And all of that means we can actually think about Africa as a manufacturing and industrial -- reindustrialization hub for the globe's low-carbon commodities that we all need. So there is actually an opportunity for Africa to be able to help the world. And that's the positioning of the summit.

HOLMES: A potentially hugely consequential summit. Good luck with it. And hopefully, you get the results that you need. Rebekah Shirley, thanks so much.

SHIRLEY: Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: Now China is considering placing limits on screen time for kids and teenagers in a bid to curb Internet addiction and cultivate, quote, "good morality." All devices would be required to have a built- in minor mode, which would restrict screen time based on age.

CNN correspondent Ivan Watson with more on the proposed rules and the reactions to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an all-too-familiar scene. A child begs his mom for one more minute on her phone. A daily battle over devices.

China's answer: minor mode, a proposed law to order tech giants to limit children's screen time and shut off apps. For one tied parent, the proposed rules would be a relief.

CRYSTAL GUO, MOTHER (through translator): This would be wonderful if it were true. There would be less anger between us, mother and son. He just can't keep this phone out of his hands.

WATSON (voice-over): Under the new mode, children under 18 will get a maximum of two hours on smartphones per day and will be locked out overnight. But Beijing's top-down approach has its critics.

ANDREW COLLIER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ORIENT CAPITAL RESEARCH: The broader worry I have is that China under the current leadership is imposing a very strict cultural moralism on their citizens, which is not going to be necessarily helpful for their personal growth, or for the future of the Chinese economy.

WATSON (voice-over): As part of China's broader digital crackdown, minors are already banned from gaming on weekdays. Social media apps have time limits, and some parents shift their children off to boot camps to kick Internet addiction.

Mengtai Zhang, who was sent to one of these camps at 16, says Beijing's latest rules won't work. MENGTAI ZHANG, ATTENDED INTERNET ADDICTION CAMP: Without those

structural changes, limiting children's time on video game, it won't change anything for the addiction. If they find a way to create a more meaningful space for children to spend their time together and have their parents relax from the work, the situation would be much better.

WATSON (voice-over): Children are also finding ways around Beijing's roles. This ten-year-old explains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Some kids use their parents' I.D. to login. They never put their phones down. They'll look at it until the battery runs out.

WATSON (voice-over): The new guidelines order Internet providers to highlight socialist and patriotic content, and promote family values. This mom hopes the rules will also mean more outdoor play.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It takes away from your time to play, exercise, and read. It takes away from your time to do more interesting things.

WATSON (voice-over): But her son says parents need to lead by example.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not easy to control myself. Adults can't either.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Don't speak about us adults, speak about yourself.

WATSON (voice-over): A battle over screen time that's far from over.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still to come on the program, Gabon's military set to swear in a transitional president after seizing power from the previous leader last week. We'll bring you the latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: In the day ahead, the leader of Gabon's military coup is set to be sworn in as the country's transitional president. This coming almost weeks after General Brice Oligui Nguema and members of Gabon's presidential guard seized power from President Ali Bongo.

The coup ended the political dynasty of the Bongo family, which had been in power for more than 50 years. It also marked the eighth military takeover in Western Central Africa in three years.

In Chile, a joyous ending to 42 years of sorrow. A mother who was told her child died at -- died in childbirth got a stunning phone call telling her he was actually alive.

But as Rafael Romo tells us, many babies were stolen there in the 1970s and '80s, and this reunion is heartbreakingly one of just a few. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERING)

JIMMY LIPERT THYDEN, SEPARATED FROM MOTHER FOR 42 YEARS: When I arrived in Chile, I felt like a lost puzzle piece, a piece that had been lost for 42 years.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): It's a birthday party that had to wait for more than four decades.

THYDEN: They stole 42 years, but they will not still 43.

(SINGING)

ROMO (voice-over): Jimmy Lipert Thyden is celebrating with the family he never knew he had.

THYDEN: I am blessed in the fact that I have a loving family on both sides of the equator.

ROMO (voice-over): His story begins in 1981 in Valdivia, a city in Southern Chile.

THYDEN: My mother, my Ma, she gave birth to me one month premature. They told her, you know, oh, he looks jaundiced, you know. He looks yellow. We need to put him in an incubator. And they carried me out of there before she could hold me, before she could name me. They carried me out. And then they came back and told her that I had died.

ROMO (voice-over): Tyden says that it was all a scheme to make money out of unsuspecting foreign families looking to adopt children, especially Americans who had no idea what was going on.

ROMO: Your adopted family in the United States had no idea that you had been stolen as a baby?

THYDEN: They never believed for one second they were buying a child. They never would have -- would have done that.

ROMO (voice-over): During the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s and '80s, babies were funneled to adoption agencies, some from the upper classes, taken or given up to protect reputations of their mothers; and some from the lower classes, where children were simply stolen.

Chilean authorities say many priests, nuns, doctors, nurses and others conspired to carry out illegal adoptions. Authorities told us the number of stolen babies could be in the thousands.

But the investigation into the adoptions has languished over the years, and some of the hospitals where the children were born have shut down, as we have found out over the years.

[00:35:05] ROMO: For many women in this country, what this hospital in ruins means is a place where their children were stolen, a place that became a nightmare for them.

They were looking for a place where they would deliver a healthy baby. Instead, they left empty-handed.

CONSTANZA DEL RIO, FOUNDER, NOS BUSCAMOS: Jimmy Thyden is (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

ROMO (voice-over): Constanza del Rio, the founder of Nos Buscamos, says that after Jimmy Thyden got in touch with them, she recommended a DNA test.

THYDEN: Hello. My name is Jimmy Thyden.

ROMO (voice-over): When a match came back a few weeks later, she says she knew the next step was making a phone call to a woman who had believed for decades her son had died shortly after being born.

"She couldn't believe it," she said. "She thought it was a joke in poor taste, because she had been told her premature baby boy had died."

THYDEN: She didn't know about me, because I was taken from her at birth. And she was told that I was dead and that when she asked for my body, they told her that they had disposed of it.

And so we've never held each other. We've never hugged. And today, I'm going to get to do that for the first time.

ROMO (voice-over): After several agonizing months, Jimmy Thyden was finally able to travel to Chile --

THYDEN: Mama.

ROMO (voice-over): -- to give Maria Angelica Gonzalez, his biological mother, the hug that had to wait for 42 years.

ROMO: What would you like the world to know about what happened to you? What do you want people to know about your case?

THYDEN: I want them to know that there's tens of thousands of children like me. We tell our story. We do these interviews, because we will tell these stories until every child is found.

How do you get back the time lost? You can't, Jimmy Thyden says. In the end, he added, the wisdom about what happened came from one of his daughters, who told him if a bad thing hadn't happened, she wouldn't be here. And thanks to that, her father now has not one but two families who love him deeply.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Santiago, Chile, and Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: What a powerful report.

All right. Quick break here on the program. When we come back, Pope Francis's message to China during his visit to neighboring Mongolia. More on the pontiff's historic visit after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Peruvian and Japanese archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a pre-Hispanic ancestor worship site in Northern Peru.

Archaeologists say they found burial chambers, human remains and ethnically diverse ceramic offerings dating back between 800 and 1,000 A.D.

[00:40:03]

According to the researchers, the site would be one of the largest settlements in the area.

Pope Francis on his way home from Mongolia a day after celebrating mass in a country with a Catholic community of only 1,500 people. It was the first ever trip there by a pontiff, and during that he urged Catholics in neighboring China to be good citizens and good Christians, a rare instance of the Holy Father publicly addressing the issue of religion in China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): A gathering of the faithful, in one of the smallest and most remote communities of Catholics in the world.

On Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated mass in Mongolia, a country with a population of around 3 million people, but only about 1,500 are Catholics. And nearly all of them came to see the pontiff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm so happy that Pope Francis visited Mongolia. I got emotional when I attended mass. I think it furthered my spirit. I'm very, very thankful.

HOLMES (voice-over): But Vatican watchers say this trip to Mongolia wasn't just about spreading the church's message to a country where no pope has visited before.

It was also strategic and a chance to ease tension with two of Mongolia's neighbors, China and Russia.

Relations between the Vatican and Moscow have deteriorated since the invasion of Ukraine. And there have been tensions with Beijing over its treatment of religious minorities and a controversial agreement to jointly appoint bishops in China.

But on Saturday, in words thought to be directed at China and Russia, the pope said the church is not a threat to governments and secular institutions.

And during mass, he made yet another overturned by sending greetings to his Chinese followers.

POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): To the people, I wish the best and to go ahead. Always make progress. To Chinese Catholics, I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens.

HOLMES (voice-over): Some small groups of worshippers traveled from China for the service, which was more of a low-key affair than other papal trips that can draw over a million people.

But this woman, who came from Hong Kong, said it was worth the journey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did it feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Very amazing. Yes, because he is my Papa. And then when they had the -- I joined -- today I joined the mass. I feel very amazing.

HOLMES (voice-over): The pope leaves Mongolia, no doubt encouraging the Catholic base there. Whether he made any headway with Mongolia's neighbors remains to be seen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Thanks for watching and spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. WORLD SPORT up next. I'll see you with more news in about 18 minutes.

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