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Possible Putin-Kim Jong-Un Meeting; Torrential Rain Causing Deadly Flooding In Greece; Billions Of Dollars Pledged For Climate Projects. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 06, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:22]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM. What a difference, a week makes from raging wildfires to torrential rain. Epic flooding now sweeping through large parts of Greece.

Concerns that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un could soon meet face to face to discuss a possible weapons deal.

Plus, the video that ISIS did not know was being recorded in Syria. The horrors it reveals and why it will likely the prosecutions around the world.

And we do begin in Greece which has been hit by yet another extreme weather events. This time, torrential rains and deadly flooding have swept the country over the past few days. The flooding has washed away cars, damaged buildings, and forced evacuations from homes and at least one hospital. The storm named Daniel is blamed for at least one death. A man who was crushed by a collapsing wall.

All of this comes just as crews have finally managed to contain hundreds of raging wildfires, which have devastated parts of the country for weeks now. Daniel has led to red storm warnings across several provinces, especially along the eastern coast. One Greek official calls this the most extreme rainfall within 24 hours since record keeping began in that country.

CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers shows us where the storm is headed next.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And unfortunately, that rainfall is continuing over portions of Greece, places that have already picked up somewhere between 300 and 500 millimeters of rainfall. It is very heavy here just now to the northeast of the low. This is in the Mediterranean, and then that's bringing up all of that very warm humidity, all that very warm water just to the south of Greece and pushing it right up into the same areas that have seen so much rainfall just over the past 24 to 48 hours.

So here for me to alarm, level three of three for the rainfall possibilities here. And yes, we're still seeing the pictures coming out of here out of Greece. But I know that some of these pictures are old, and they will be updated. But they can't get them out of there right now because there's just very little communication coming out of this area, especially video. Some of them online are quite disturbing and the rainfall is actually continuing.

(INAUDIBLE) 528 millimeters of rain since this rain has started. And it's in the same place that it's going to rain more tonight and into tomorrow. This could not even be a 24-to-48-hour event already. And we could still have another 24 hours to go as the continuous rotation of the low pressure pushes that rainfall over the same areas of Greece that I've seen so much rainfall already.

NEWTON: Our thanks to Chad there for that update. And the same weather system hitting Greece is also causing flooding in northwestern Turkey. At least two people have been killed there. Four others still missing. And six have been rescued. Military vehicles and a helicopter are searching wooded areas after 12 people were said to be stranded in that flooding.

And to southern Brazil were an extra tropical cyclone is battered the area killing at least 21 people. Families were left stranded on rooftops as floodwaters inundated their homes. Officials say it is the fourth severe weather event to hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul since June. Damage was reported in at least 55 cities and towns.

Bill Weir is CNN chief climate correspondent. He's done extensive reporting for us throughout the Maui wildfires, recently in Florida as Hurricane Idalia roared ashore. And unfortunately, Bill, so many other places. You've been documenting this for us for years really now. But obviously it's been so pronounced in the last few months in the last few hours. I mean, Bill, just look at Greece, right?

First, it just sums it up first. We had these ferocious fires that just whipped through neighborhoods and countryside and then split screen to the epic flooding just a few days later. I mean, how do you describe exactly, you know, the upheaval in the world right now?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It's a different planet, Paula, than the one we grew up on.

[02:05:02]

It's a different water cycle now. This is what science warned us would happen if we sort of broke out of that Goldilocks sweet spot temperature, then all of human civilization evolved. And yes, it's that -- it's that whipsaw whiplash from extreme droughts there in Greece to now, you know, a years or months' worth of rain on those -- on those burn scars, where that's -- that water has no chance to inundate the soil at all. And it just adds insult to injury. And we've seen that again and again, on three or four continents.

NEWTON: You know, you walked the devastation in Hawaii, that was what you covered most recently. Maui, they're now thinking about rebuilding, they're being resilient. That's what you have to do. But what does that look like? And just following up on something you had said earlier, I mean, you argue that many homes now are perhaps even uninsurable. And that's just not in the United States. It's all over the world because of these weather events.

When we talk about that tipping point, does that mean we will be building differently and perhaps in different places?

WEIR: It has to mean that. It really does adaptation is the only choice in a lot of ways. There's still mitigations, stopping the source of the problem, getting off fossil fuels as fast as possible. But yes, five major insurance companies in the United States just reported to regulators that they're going to stop offering coverage for the most common disasters in these areas. So, if you're in California, they won't cover you for fire.

In Florida, for wind or hail, hurricane damage. And when suddenly, you have to take all the risk of living in your version of paradise that changes everything. It's impossible to get a mortgage that affects real estate values and those tax bases pay for teachers and policemen. So, it's just a -- it's almost an economic dustbowl that comes before sea level rises lapping up on Miami Beach, for example.

NEWTON: And yet, even with the evidence literally just right under our feet, people are still in some way shape or form in denial about this. I mean, when we look at the Burning Man festival, we just had it in Nevada, that went from a dust bowl to, you know, basically rivers of mud. We had flooding in Vegas. We had all of that water in California earlier this year. Do you worry that these snapshots, these data points will give climate deniers especially those with corporate interests a little bit of ammunition?

WEIR: Well, I think denial is always going to be a good business for certain special interests. You know, the Saudi Aramcos and the ExxonMobils of the world, they're reaching their highest profits ever. They're enjoying the biggest subsidies ever. And people who are sort of upset about the climate crisis don't pick at gas stations. It's sort of those fuels are just entrenched in our lives deeply, right?

And so, the question is, how long does that social license last? How bad does it have to get before the C suites of these influential, big polluters change their ways. But in the United States, for example, a Pew poll recently said just over half of Americans think that climate change is a threat to the country. But it's so partisan, it's -- 76 percent of Democrats -- 23 percent of Republicans.

So, denial is still a plank in the major party's platform in the Western world. At a time when science is telling us everybody needs to be sort of decarbonizing and rowing in the same direction.

NEWTON: And I went to go and cover the Canadian wildfires. What I saw there was surreal in terms of the kinds of things they now have to do for fire mitigation. But to put a fine point on it, this is Canada's worst wildlife season in history. It's not over by the way. And it's something that we all should worry about, right? I mean, the landmass that's burned in Canada, including boreal forest is larger than the size of most countries on the planet. When you talk about the tipping point, do you worry that that's going to have a cascading effect? I mean, as we look at now, by the way, the implications, we saw the smoke coming down to the United States this year from those fires.

WEIR: Yes. There are, you know, I've talked to scientists who say it's impossible to model what certain parts of North America will look like in the piracy now, the age of fire, because we don't know what's going to grow back. We have no historical records to understand this behavior. Even some believe that that dinosaur extinctions were caused by massive wildfire outbreaks at a certain part in Earth's history as well.

So yes, this is now we -- and you talk about the adaptation question. I'm doing stories on construction now superefficient, insulated construction, which makes sense for energy, but also gives you clean air in the age of wildfire smoke, if you can control, you know, the oxygen, the air in your house in a much tighter way. It's better for energy, it's also better for your lungs. And these are the thought processes that are kind of being forced on us now by the changing world.

[02:10:01]

Stuff we took for granted. Air, water food supplies, security, these sorts of things kind of get upended when you can't count on the same consistent weather patterns that we grew up with right now. And so, we're living through this sort of real-world experiment, but it's not too late. There's still so much of our fate that is in our hands, I think. Every scientist would want to remind folks, it's just a matter of will and sharing the same story.

NEWTON: When you look at the extreme heat waves that we have had this year, whether it's Europe, whether it's the United States, it is reminder that in most places, developed places on earth that extreme -- that extreme heat is actually the leading cause of weather-related death. If I have to ask you the beginning of this year when it started 2023, what is clearly etched in your mind? Because we always talked about this perhaps being a threat to our very existence.

What do you say to people now that it is -- it very, it is very real.

WEIR: Just this year, there's so many examples to see Tulare Lake, a dead ghost lake in California come back to life due to atmospheric rivers and just flooded entire valley that had been farmland before. At the same time, record drought is still ongoing. To see a place like Maui paradise, you know, the neighborhood -- the chosen neighborhood of billionaires that you think is just a bubble apart from all these disasters with so much indigenous energy there to see them suffer and the way they are now.

And there's always signs of hope. There's always that one home that was built in a resilient way that survived, and is a model for comeback. The lesson, you know, can we learn those lessons going forward? But -- I mean, I can -- it's a half dozen examples to tick off of how many remember 2023 from the extremes right here. But I do think the conversation is changing as well.

We hope -- I hope we can look back and say, when we started breaking records by a half a degree Celsius, sea surface temperatures off the charts, bleaching events that really woke people up. This could be -- this could be a turning point. That's -- but you got to hope.

NEWTON: Exact -- we absolutely do. And look, we have ticks through so many things that have already happened. The year isn't over yet. And this is by no means an exhaustive list. That alone should let everyone know what's going on here. Bill Weir, I can't thank you enough. And we'll continue to have this discussion with you on CNN.

WEIR: I hope so. Thanks, Paula.

NEWTON: And now to Kenya where billions of dollars have been pledged for sustainable development on day two of the Africa Climate Summit. And when it comes as U.S. climate envoy John Kerry acknowledged that the continent is suffering to a great degree due to the worst impact of climate crisis. CNN's Larry Madowo is at the summit and has our details.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John Kerry echoing a lot of what African leaders have been saying for a long time, that the continent is disproportionately affected by the effects of the climate crisis. And that adaptation saves lives. That's why they're out here in Nairobi at the Africa Climate Summit, asking for money so that people are protected. The U.S. climate envoy announcing $30 million to tackle food insecurity here on the continent.

It's part of President Biden's PREPARE initiative to help countries deal with the effects of the climate crisis predominantly here in Africa. He also said that the U.S. and China have to work together when it comes to the climate crisis.

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JOHN KERRY, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: We are looking for places where it might be appropriate to be able to cooperate, but we're not -- it's not cooperation at any price. It's cooperation that comes because there's a reason to be able to cooperate in ways that we can have an impact on things together.

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MADOWO: The U.S. position aside, the biggest announcement out of the Africa Climate Summit so far has been $4-1/2 billion dollars for the United Arab Emirates in renewable energy investments on the continent. This is a big one ahead of the COP 28 summit later in the year that they're hosting. And it's part of what the U.N. Secretary General calls the ability of Africa to become a renewable energy superpower if more such investments can come into the continent.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

NEWTON: Ukrainian forces are trying to consolidate their gains along the southern front lines as Russian forces fire back with all the artillery they can muster. Ukrainian troops recaptured the destroyed village of Robotyne region less than a week ago. In the first breach of Russia's southern front lines. Now Ukraine says they couldn't have survived the push without the U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Melissa Bell has their harrowing stories.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The flag now flies over what's left over botany. Ukrainian leaders say it's the first victory of three-month counteroffensive, a source of great pride for the men of the 47th mechanized brigade.

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KARATSUPA, BRADLEY CREW COMMANDER, 47TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE (text): We evacuated six civilians that day.

Our infantry prepared the civilians and they collected their essential belongings.

BELL (voiceover): The soldiers hadn't expected to find them but rushed a handful of men and elderly women into their Bradley vehicle before speeding away as quickly as they could.

KARATSUPA (text): As soon as we left, our location was shelled. The Russians don't care whether it is soldiers or civilians, they don't care, it's all the same for them. They hit just two meters from Bradley. We were lucky, thank God. And thanks to the fact that the cross-eyed Russians didn't manage to hit the vehicle directly. Bradley was on fire. Smoke everywhere, the side was cracked but the reinforced armor held. The Bradley was stumbling but we managed to drive away.

BELL (voiceover): Back in the safety of a nearby wood, the civilians are given much needed water and phones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): Hello daughter. Hello, hello. Hello Doll. Daughter, we were rescued.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): I know Mom, I know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): Do not cry. We are home.

NEWTON: But for the 47th brigade, Robotyne reporting it was just the start. And some of its heroes have since fallen.

I'd like to ask about your colleagues. The day you went into a Robotyne and you took the civilians out. There was another team but they were killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): We trained with them in Germany at an American base. Believe me, it's hard to talk about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): For us, it's a terrible loss. It's very hard to think about them, to talk about them. It's heartbreaking. When you live, eat and bunk with someone who is suddenly not there anymore, it's heart-wrenching.

BELL (voiceover): Still, they carry on southwards along a stretch of road they've nicknamed the road to hell.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Zaporizhzhia region.

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NEWTON: Concerns are growing about North Korea's Kim Jong-un possibly traveling to Russia to seal a weapons deal with President Vladimir Putin. The White House National Security Adviser warned on Tuesday that the talks between these pariah states are "actively advancing " and that shows sanctions are working. The U.S. envoy to Japan says Russia turning to North Korea for weapons shows its war in Ukraine is a failure.

CNN's Paul Hancocks picks up the story from there.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The first and last meeting between the current leaders of Russia and North Korea was more than four years ago. Since then, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and his military efforts have faltering. So for Kim Jong-un, the power dynamics have changed.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: A large power is now dependent on him. That hasn't happened in a while. The second thing he gains is the possibility of access to more oil, at the moment that Kim Jong-un is testing his ballistic missiles, particularly the long-range ones, many of which have designed commonalities with Russian missiles, he can get a lot of help there.

HANCOCKS (voiceover): U.S. officials believe Moscow could receive multiple types of munitions from Pyongyang in any arms deal, which could be used on the frontlines in Ukraine. The Biden administration believes North Korea already delivered infantry rockets and missiles for use by Russian mercenary force Wagner late last year

DOO JIN-HO, RESEARCH FELLOW, KOREA INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES (through translator): Russia and North Korea have something in common. Interoperability of conventional weapons. For example, North Korea's 152-millimeter artillery ammunition and 122-millimeter multiple rocket launcher ammunition can be used on Russia and weapons immediately.

HANCOCKS (voiceover): U.S. officials assess Kim Jong-un may travel to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin this month. There is an Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok next week. Letters of support have been exchanged between the two leaders. Russia's defense minister Sergei Shoigu was given the red carpet treatment by Kim in Pyongyang in July, the North's military capabilities were on full display.

And South Korea's intelligence agency says a second Russian delegation visited at the start of August. By August 8th, the Russian plane is believed to have transferred unknown military supplies from Pyongyang no evidence or destination given. Pyongyang and Moscow deny any potential arms deal. CARL SCHUSTER, FORMER DIRECTOR, U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND'S JOINT INTELLIGENCE CENTER: Kim is was becoming more paranoid than normal over the last four or five years. And so, for him this alliance achieves makes him look less isolated, provides a psychological boost for him and his inner circle.

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HANCOCKS (on camera): Politically, both Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong- un's stand to benefit greatly from a closer alliance. They are united by a common enemy, the United States. And they both want an alternative world order.

[02:20:05]

A world where the U.S. is less powerful and where U.N. Security Council resolutions are less able to be imposed.

Paula Hancocks, CNN Seoul.

NEWTON: Steve Hall is a CNN national security analyst and former CIA chief of Russia operations. Steve, many people would say perhaps this is conventional wisdom, the White House would like to say that this actually shows desperation on the part of both countries. What do you make of it?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think it's certainly a level of desperation, at least on the Russian side. I mean, if you had asked me or I think any number of Russian analysts just a few years ago, do we think it's possible that Russia with its supposedly vaunted military would have to turn to somebody, you know, is small and impoverished as North Korea to help them with their ammunition needs for the war that they started in Ukraine.

That is certainly a mark of weakness. I mean, there's really -- I can't think of another way to interpret it. It shows that some tensions that the West is imposed upon Russia are actually biting that they can't produce their own, you know, their own throne material that they need for the war. On the North Korean side though, I mean, this is an advantage for them, because, you know, every dictator wants to be taken seriously on the world stage.

And this is an opportunity for North Korea to show that they can do that, that they can help another, you know, large country, in this case, Russia. So, it's sort of an interesting juxtaposition of these two -- of these two governments of these two strong men.

NEWTON: In terms of that juxtaposition, though, what North Korea can actually gain for Russia, is it significant? And will it continue to pose a more of a national security threat in Asia, in terms of the Biden administration, again, trying to lay out a more robust policy there?

HALL: You know, it's going to be interesting because sort of on a tactical level, in terms of what the North Koreans have asked the Russians for, which is technological assistance. There was even mentioned, you know, nuclear submarine technology is certainly something that I think, you know, the West and other democratic nations don't want to -- don't want to have happen. I mean, the more weapons that North Korea gets, especially if it's weapons of mass destruction and the capability to deliver them, that's certainly a threat to geopolitical stability.

But the problem is, is that Russia doesn't have that much that he can part with if it wants to be successful in Ukraine. Both sides are lacking. Both the North Koreans and the Russians are lacking high-tech stuff. Things that power missiles, that power rockets, to power submarines. And the Russians under sanctions don't have a whole lot of that either. So, they're not going to be able to -- I don't think provide too much that North Koreans.

They can help them with things like food, which North Korea always needs because of the constant state of almost famine in that country. And they can provide them with some smarts, they can send, you know, scientists and experts over to help them out. But in terms of actually providing them with microchips and some of the other high-tech things that North Korea wants. Russia needs those really badly too, especially given the sanctions regime that's out there against them.

NEWTON: So, then we move to the optics of this. It -- I note, and I'm not the only person to know that the last time there was this so- called exchange of letters, it was actually Donald Trump exchanging letters with the leader of North Korea. Do you think there is a point to be made here in terms of Russia, you know, again, continually keeping, you know, North Korea a little bit closer given -- again, it's medicine position in Asia right now?

HALL: Yes. I guess the North Korean leadership really likes letters. And I guess trains is the other thing they're really like in terms of how they get about. But all that aside, though, really, what's happening with Russia is they are becoming part of -- really have already been, I think, for a number of years. This group of rogue states, which you know, are trying to fight against the democratic west.

We're talking about, not just Russia, but we're talking about Iran, North Korea. We're talking about perhaps you to Venezuela, Nicaragua. China is really the interesting wildcard in this because they actually are a real superpower. Russia is not any longer. But China is pretty much by most definitions of it. And yet they had been very, very cautious with the Russians because they don't want to get sucked into something that they're going to have difficulty with the West later on.

So, it's this small group of rogue nations that is sort of pulling together and trying to help Russia because they really don't have anywhere else to turn.

NEWTON: Steve Hall, we do have to leave it there. Really appreciate your time.

HALL: My pleasure. NEWTON: A landmark moment for women's soccer in Spain as the team

appoints its first female coach. Why their predecessor was fired. That ahead.

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NEWTON: The former head coach of Spain's women's national soccer team calls his firing unfair and unexpected. Jorge Vilda says he believes the complaints about the team's management did not include him. Still Vilda says he has congratulated Montse Tome on being appointed the first female head coach of the women's team. We get more now from CNN's Patrick Snell.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Well, on Tuesday, we learned that Jorge Vilda has been sacked from his role as head coach of Spain's women's team. This amid the ongoing fallout over that unwanted kiss, the now suspended President of the Spanish football federation Luis Rubiales gave a play in the aftermath of the Women's World Cup final. Vilda was the manager who led by La Roja to their first ever World Cup triumph recently in Australia.

He's gone now and being replaced by former assistant Montse Tome mourn her historic appointment is just a few moments. Now, despite Spain's success last month, Vilda's tenure as head coach. He was appointed back in 2015. And fair to say it has been hugely controversial. If we go back to the build up to the World Cup which saw ongoing unrest between Spain's players, Vilda himself, his coaching staff and the Spanish Federation.

It led to 12 of Spain's biggest stars actually missing the World Cup altogether. This amid reports of concerns over training methods and inadequate preparation for matches.

Now in a statement from Spain's Federation on Vilda's departure. Reading in part the Federation appreciates his work as the head of the National Team and his responsibilities as the maximum sporting figure of the women's national teams as well as the successes reaped during his term crowned with a recent achievement of the World Cup. Just hours later on Tuesday, Montse Tome officially taking over from him as head coach.

And a very special piece of history indeed as the 41-year-old now becoming the first ever woman to be appointed manager of Spain's women's team. Tome has served as an assistant coach within Vilda staff since 2018 and help Spain to the 2023 Women's World Cup title last month. But Tome is a former player, Barcelona among her club. She retired from playing in 2012 and we now know she will make her head coaching debut on September the 22nd when Spain faces current world number one Sweden away in a women's nation's league match.

Now, another development, the Spanish football federation issuing an apology on Tuesday for Luis Rubiales what they called inappropriate conduct at the Women's World Cup final. That apology to the world of football and society as a whole. All eyes remaining on Rubiales though who is currently suspended by the Sport's world governing body FIFA. He's refusing to resign. He says that kiss was consensual. The player in question Jenni Hermoso says otherwise. Back to you.

NEWTON: Our thanks to Patrick Snell. Coming up for us. ISIS likes to control its own narrative but its members have been caught on camera committing crimes without their knowledge. Prosecutors are paying attention.

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[02:32:46]

NEWTON: So as ISIS worked to spread torture and terror throughout the Middle East and beyond, the group was also filling social media with propaganda videos trying to recruit new members to its so-called Caliphate.

But not all video worked to the group's advantage. In Aleppo, ISIS members were being recorded without their knowledge while they were performing their murderous work.

That's giving international prosecutors concrete evidence to push for more meaningful convictions. Jomana Karadsheh has our details, and a warning, her report contains disturbing and graphic video.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Answering the call to unite under one flag. This is the source of our glory.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was an ISIS hallmark. Slick media productions terrorizing the world. It's what they wanted us to see. But not this.

ENGELS: This film is different. This film is Islamic State without Islamic State knowing it was being filmed.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Never before seen video inside the groups headquarters in the Syrian city of Aleppo in 2013, a children's hospital turned into a house of horrors. CCTV video that captures the reality of the Islamic State, where torture was routine.

Hundreds of Syrians were held in this makeshift prison. Many never made it out to tell their stories. Others did, including some western hostages with chilling accounts of what they survived and witnessed.

DIDIER FRANCOIS, FRENCH JOURNALIST: We could hear the Syrian prisoners in the first places where we were detained in the Aleppo hospital for instance. We could see some of them in the corridors. And we could see some people lying in their blood.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This video is much more than just a snapshot of ISIS's reign of terror.

ENGELS: As a normal state of affairs, the hospital had CCTV running. The members of the Islamic State didn't realize that this was being recorded in the background and didn't think too much about it.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): And the cameras rolled for months capturing scenes like this. A captive left hanging in a stressed position, blindfolded detainees marched down the hallway, here a fighter laughing as he pushes down the head of a handcuffed and hooded detainee.

These only a few of the clips shared exclusively with CNN by the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, CIJA.

[02:35:10]

ENGELS: This is exactly the type of treatment that we've heard about from survivors. What makes this important is as you see right there, the Islamic State member without a mask on walking down the hall, that's a person that would normally try and hide his face outside.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): We've blurred faces to preserve ongoing investigations and possible future prosecutions.

ENGELS: That's incredible evidence at trial for several of these individuals who have been identified.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): According to Engels, fighters from all over the world, including senior members from Europe and the U.S., were operating in the facility. This video, he says, has already been used to identify a French suspect.

Evidence gathered has long allowed them and law enforcement in various western countries to identify and track down ISIS members who fled, before the fall of ISIS's so-called Caliphate. CIJA's war crimes investigators worked undercover collecting evidence like this from the battlefields in Syria and Iraq.

ENGELS: It's often the case that domestic law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities have enough evidence to prove that they were a member. What we think is important is that wherever possible, we're able to prosecute them for the torture, for the kidnapping, for the murder.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This is not just about the past. ISIS remains a top global security threat.

ENGELS: These are individuals who have already proven that they are a threat. And we don't want to give them the opportunity to decide to go down that path again. We've had several hundred requests for information. Our law enforcement partners have not at all forgotten about the conflict.

KARADSHEH: Just before dawn on January 17th, heavily armed Dutch police descended on the street in the village of Arkel. They raided a house, and arrested a man suspected of being a senior ISIS commander in Syria.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): His arrest in the small sleepy town where he lived a quiet life with his wife and children shocked the nation. Residents here were reluctant to speak to us about the suspect identified as Ayham al S.

He allegedly operated in Damascus, not Aleppo, so it wasn't the CCTV video that led to his arrest, it was a tip from a Syrian NGO and witness testimony that triggered a years-long Dutch investigation.

Sources say he had a long history of extremism in Syria, holding leadership positions first within an Al-Qaeda affiliate, and later, ISIS. Ayham al S, who rejects the government's accusations, now faces life in prison.

MIRJAM BLOM, PROSECUTOR, NETHERLANDS PUBLIC PROSECUTION SERVICE: He had a leading position within terrorist organizations.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Mirjam Blom is the lead public prosecutor on the case. She has charged him with two counts of membership in terror organizations, with the aim to commit war crimes.

BLOM: In order to charge him with separate war crimes, by execution or violent arrest or torture, you need more evidence than indications.

KARADSHEH: So this is ongoing and --

BLOM: We have investigations still going on, yeah.

KARADSHEH: Was he hiding?

BLOM: He was not hiding. He was just living here, openly. People like him and also war criminals like him come to the Netherlands, hiding in the legitimate stream of refugees.

And to be able to investigate and prosecute those cases, it's very, very important aspect in our mission not to be a safe haven for war criminals.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): The trail of terror ISIS left behind will haunt not only their victims, but those who tormented them. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN.

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NEWTON: And we will be right back in a moment with more news.

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[02:41:21]

NEWTON: I know a lot of you know the words to that score. The singer, best known for the mid 70s hit, Dream Weaver, has passed away. Gary Wright was 80. His hit was featured on the soundtrack for the 1992 movie Wayne's World, and it gained a whole new audience.

Wright's other big single you might remember was 1981's Really Want To Know You. He also did session work with former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Star. Now Wright's son told NBC he died of Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia. Rock legend Freddie Mercury lived a lavish lifestyle. Now almost

30,000 prized possessions from his Garden Lodge home in Kensington, West London, are going up for sale. The Sotheby's auction, which begins today, will feature costumes, fine art, furniture, photographs and more from the Queen front man.

Most notably, Mercury's black Yamaha baby grand piano, which he used to compose the 1975 classic Bohemian Rhapsody. It is expected to sell, as you can imagine, for about $3 million. I'll put money down it goes for more.

Mercury's handwritten lyrics to some of Queen's biggest hits are also on the auction block. Sotheby's says proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation. And that does it for us, thanks for joining us. I'm Paula Newton. WORLD SPORT up next. And then I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour.

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