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African Leaders Call for Urgent Action on Final Day of Climate Summit; Parts of Africa See Wave of Military Takeovers; Fallout of Controversial Abaya Ban in France; Japan Launches Lunar Lander And X- Ray Satellite; Hermoso Filed Complaint Over Rubiales' Unwanted Kiss; UK Soldier Suspected Of Terrorism Escapes London Prison; Video Shows Prisoner Walking Between Walls Before Escape. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 07, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, mass murder in a marketplace. Dozens killed and wounded in eastern Ukraine targeted by a long range ballistic missile.

2023, set to be the hottest year on record, and possibly the new baseline for accelerating temperatures on an overheating planet. And the moment of truth for the Japanese space program with the successful launch of the three times delayed mission to the moon.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: We begin this hour with anger and grief in Ukraine after one of the deadliest Russian missile attacks on a civilian target in months, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more. Two pm, local time Wednesday, many in the city of Kostyantynivka were out shopping at an open air market, and then suddenly a bright orange explosion.

Surveillance cameras recorded the moment of impact from the long range Russian missile, a rare daytime attack sending dozens running for cover and setting nearby buildings on fire. The moments after the missile strike were chaotic and gruesome. Victims were trapped beneath rubble and debris.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack was carried out by Russian terrorists, a term he often uses to describe the military leaders within the Kremlin. He said it was utter inhumanity. The missile strike coincided with a visit to Kyiv by the U.S. secretary of state who was in the capital showing support for the Ukrainian counteroffensive, now into its fourth month.

Antony Blinken announced a new infusion of aid with more than a billion dollars. The Kremlin responded to that by accusing the U.S. of being intent on keeping the war going until the last Ukrainian. More, now on the missile strike from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment the powerful missile hit a market in Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine. Chaos and carnage in the immediate aftermath, and while Russia has not commented on the strike, the Ukrainians say that this was the work of a Russian surface to air missile used to hit ground targets.

Dozens were killed and wounded here, Kyiv says, first responders trying to help the wounded while already clearing the bodies of the dead. An angry Ukrainian president slamming Russia's leadership.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Whenever there's any positive offensive step by Ukrainian defense forces, Russians target civilians and civil infrastructure, he says, wherever their missiles and artillery can reach.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): This is what Zelenskyy means by positive steps. Ukraine's army is pressuring the Russians both on the eastern front, this video, Kyiv says, showing fighting at the crack of dawn near Bakhmut, and in the south where Ukraine says its forces are pushing the Russians back after taking the Robotyne village and fortifying their own position.

One soldier who fought in the Robotyne recalling hiding in the village alone from the Russians ready to kill himself if they found him.

UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): I carried a cartridge in my pocket, he says. I don't know if I could do it but I carried the cartridge. I would not surrender to capture.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): On a visit to Kyiv, secretary of state Antony Blinken praising Ukraine's recent advances on the battlefield.

ANTONY BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE: We see the important progress that is being made on the counteroffensive. That is very, very encouraging.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But Bosco says its forces are inflicting massive losses on advancing Ukrainian troops. Despite losing territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming Kyiv's offensive is failing.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is not a mistake, he says, it is a failure. At least, today, this is what it looks like. Let's see what happens next, I hope that it will continue to be so.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukraine's leadership says they will fight for every inch of their territory and vowed to avenge the civilians killed and yet another mass casualty incident near the battlefront. Fred Pleitgen , CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining us now is retired major general, Mick Ryan, former commander of Australia's Defense College, and author of War Transformed, The Future Of 21st Century Great Power, Competition And Conflict. General Ryan, it's good to see you. Thanks for being with us sir.

MAJOR GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Thanks John, good to be with you.

VAUSE: Yes, so just for some context here. Kostiantynivka sits close to the eastern front lines. It is about maybe 15 miles south of Bakhmut. It's been a regular target. But, in the past mostly rocket and artillery fire. Ukraine's defense ministry though says that this time the city was hit by a Russian S-300 ballistic missile, that's a long-range defense missile initially capable of hitting aircraft and cruise missiles.

[00:05:07]

But appears to be re-purposed now to hit ground targets. So explain how an S-300 works in terms of targeting, accuracy. Who would give the order to fire this missile?

RYAN: Well the S-300 was always an air defense missile, but was designed from the start as a secondary role round attack missile. So this isn't some local modification, it was a deliberate design for the missile to be able to be used in these roles.

I think what the Ukrainians have found in previous strikes of this manner is that the targeting has been done by Russians who were infiltrating or sympathizers of the ground. It's very hard to make this kind of area, particularly when it occurs at the most busy time of the day for these markets.

VAUSE: Yeah, so, with that in mind, let's just take a look at this marketplace from a simple above satellite look by Google if you like. You know, it's not the most advanced technology, but we get the idea of what it actually looks like from above.

As you say, this attack came during the day, it was early afternoon, it was busy. So, is there any other explanation other than a Russian S-300 unit was ordered to target the marketplace with the sole purpose to carry out mass murder of noncombatants? And if so, why? What is the purpose?

RYAN: Well if this was a one-off, you might give the Russians the benefit of the doubt. But they have done this literally hundreds of times during this war, and there have been dozens of incidents just like this where they deliberately cause mass civilian casualties. I don't think we can give them the benefit of the doubt.

This would have been an order probably from fairly senior officers. This is about terrorizing the Ukrainian people which is a pretty awful thing to do but kind of ironic, given the Russians want to rule these people. It just gives you an indication of how they'd treat them if they occupied all of Ukraine.

VAUSE: And also, this is somewhere putting pressure on President Zelenskyy to go into peace negotiations, to try to end this war or at least put it on pause for a while. If that's the case it seems to be having the opposite effect. RYAN: I don't think the Russians understand the Ukrainians very well. They think if they target the Ukrainians, they'll put more pressure on President Zelenskyy. It has the opposite effect. You've only gotta visit Ukraine, and talk to Ukrainian people, every time the Russians do this, it just hardens their resolve. So it's having the opposite effect of what the Russians intend to do.

VAUSE: And the U.S. secretary of state arrived in the Ukrainian capital Wednesday, a few hours after the capital came under attack by Russian cruise missiles. Antony Blinken, when he was there, he announced another billion dollars in U.S. assistance, here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed on the counter offensive but has what it needs for the long term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That brings the total, since the war began in February last year, to, what, more than $40 billion from the U.S.. But here's the thing, the Ukrainians don't have everything they need for the counteroffensive.

They need better air defenses, they need M16s, they need long range missiles. And by holding back those weapons, is the U.S. dragging out the conflict at the cost of more lives being lost, at the cost of billions of dollars more in financial assistance being needed?

RYAN: Well I don't think the U.S. government is deliberately dragging out the conflict, but slow decision-making is having that unintended impact. There are those shortfalls in weapons certainly before the counter offensive was launched as well as equipment and people to clear these minefields.

So, at the end of the day the west, NATO and the U.S. needs to decide is it going to help Ukraine defend itself or is it going to help it beat Russia. And that's really the objective here. And that will require more assistance.

VAUSE: General Ryan, thank you sir. Good to have you with us. Thank you.

RYAN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Well climate experts believe the record high temperatures of the past three months suggest a preview of what's to come as the planet continues to heat at an alarming rate. The latest climate data show both air and ocean temperatures smash records around the world during June, July, and August.

Officially the hottest summer in the Northern Hemisphere in human history. And with ocean surface temperatures now the warmest they've ever been, 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARE NULLIS, WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION: Global sea surface temperatures are unprecedented, antarctic sea ice is unprecedentedly low for this time of year. And it was the hottest August on record by a big margin. This record-breaking summer sets the scene for the fact that we are seeing more extreme heat. We are seeing more heat waves, this does have an impact on human health, and on air quality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Those soaring temperatures means the climate crisis is here and it's now. It's being felt around the world, there are deadly wildfires, flash flooding all becoming more frequent, more severe. More now from CNN's Katie Polglase.

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KATIE POLGLASE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A road in the city of Volos, Greece, ripped apart by floodwaters.

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These cables, a makeshift system, and the only way to carry this man across the chasm to safety. Hard and delicate work in this endless summer of climate emergencies in Greece. For the past day and night, torrential rain from storm Daniel has fallen on Volos and the surrounding area. The impact on residents has been disastrous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The roof fell in from the rain. It's a huge damage. They should help us. I have a family and kids. How are we going to sleep? Last night we slept here and there. It's unbelievable.

POLGLASE (voice-over): The flooding follows a devastating summer wildfire season, which ravaged the same area. The barren ground unable to absorb the water when the flooding came. In northern Greece, meanwhile, wildfires killed nearly two dozen people in recent weeks. Storm Daniel is now crawling slowly across Greece, towards the southwest.

As it enters the Mediterranean sea, meteorologists fear it will pick up strength from the unusually high sea surface temperatures and develop into a medicane, a weather event with hurricane-like effects. Greece is not alone. Neighboring Bulgaria, and Istanbul, and Turkey, have also faced intense flooding.

As wildfires and flooding impact parts of Europe, typhoon Haiku made landfall Sunday in Taiwan, before bringing heavy rain to southwestern China. And the Atlantic hurricane season is reaching its peak, with tropical storm Lee expected to intensify into an extremely dangerous hurricane by this weekend after Idalia battered the U.S. Gulf Coast a week ago.

MIKE BOYLAN, STORM CHASER: We are getting some intense winds and rains. Currently protected by a building. Trees are going down. POLGLASE (voice-over): Events like this are becoming more extreme. Part of a global trend, according to a new report from Copernicus, the EU's climate change service. 2023 saw the hottest air and sea temperatures since records began in the 1940s, the report says. And they're clear that humans are to blame.

With the deputy director warning that we will continue to see extreme weather events until we stop emitting greenhouse gasses. In the meantime, the world continues to see more chaos and destruction from climate catastrophes. Katie Polglase, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The warmer winter in the Southern Hemisphere is being blamed for severe and deadly weather. In Brazil south, more than 30 are confirmed dead in heavy flooding caused by an extratropical cyclone. Recent rainfall is equal to what the area normally receives in the entire month of September. CNN affiliate, CNN Brazil called it the worst natural disaster to hit that region in 40 years.

Hurricane Lee is picking up strength as it moves through the atlantic. It intensified from being a tropical storm on Wednesday heading towards the eastern Caribbean. Forecasters say the record warm ocean waters could help the storm grow to a major category five hurricane by early Saturday. They're warning anyone in Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Bahamas, to keep a close eye on the storm's path over the weekend.

It finally happened just hours ago, the successful lift off of the H2A rocket carrying Japan's Lunar Sniper. It's a Lunar Lander as well as a new X-Ray satellite telescope. The satellite telescope, called Crism, already in Earth orbit, and will study galaxy clusters, black holes and the chemical makeup of the universe.

Japan's smart lander for investigating the moon, or SLIM, or S-L-I-M, will arrive in lunar orbit in a few months and attempt a soft landing on the moon using high precision, vision based navigation landing technology. I think that's how it gets the name Moon Sniper. Joining us now from Houston, Texas, is retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Good to have you with us.

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Good to be here.

VAUSE: Okay, so this truly was a moment of truth for the Japanese space program. Three delays for this mission, a year of setbacks and failures, say nothing of India's success last month with their lunar lander. So the pressure was really on here and I guess they pulled it off. So how successful is this, and what does this mean for the Japanese space program? And also for space travel in general?

CHIAO: Sure, well this is a big deal for them. This is their first lunar probe they're trying to launch. They've successfully launched it, but they're not out of the woods. They've still gotta get it to do a soft landing on the moon. So the main purpose of this mission primarily is to actually soft land successfully on the moon. They do have some scientific instruments but the main goal was to establish Japan as a lunar power, if you will.

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VAUSE: Okay, and this is a twofer here this mission. There's a new X- Ray telescope, there's also that lightweight high position Lunar Lander. Which one do you want to talk about first?

CHIAO: Which one, I'm sorry, which one what?

VAUSE: Which one do you want to talk about first? The lander or the telescope?

CHIAO: Oh, well, either one.

VAUSE: Okay. Let's talk about the lander. Space.com says it will take a long, looping and fuel efficient route to the moon, finally reaching lunar orbit three to four months from now. It will be another month or so before attempting a touchdown.

And that's a big shift towards being able to land where we want and not just where it is easy to land as had been the case before. So again, why is this so important when it comes to, not just exploring the moon, but future explorations of other planets, and just how difficult is this, what they're trying to do here?

CHIAO: Well trying to land on the moon is not a simple task, only four countries have done so, so far. And there've been multiple failures by others and so, anyway, this is a big deal for Japan to establish that they have the technology to do this. The fact that they're taking a couple of months to get there shows that they're conserving their fuel.

But, you know, as you mentioned, the imaged based - - the data source bring inside based is a big deal because if you remember, on Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong was coming down under the autopilot and the autopilot was taking them to a big boulder, and he had to take manual control, and fly away from it.

And so that's kinda what this vision landing system is gonna do. It's gonna look for the obstructions that weren't anticipated and hopefully be able to make adjustments and avoid any kind of problem.

VAUSE: Okay, well the main payload was the X-Ray telescope, which, according to NASA, a new generation of high resolution, X-Ray imaging that will help scientists and astronomers better study stars and galaxies, including particles launched at near light speed by super massive black hose at the centers of galaxies. Can you translate what that means?

CHIAO: Yeah, so this is an important observatory. Like all the other observatories, they complement each other on the kinds of data that they bring back. It helps the astronomers and the astrophysicists put together an accurate picture, or as good as possible a picture of the observable universe.

So obviously, being the X-Ray spectrometer, it operates in that band, in the X-Ray band. And so it complements the other telescopes, the visual, the optical ones actually see the same things that we see as humans, you know, visible light, also radar astronomy, there's infrared astronomy which the Webb Telescope is really famous for, and ultraviolet. So, I mean there are a number of different kinds of observatories and this is an important addition to that constellation.

VAUSE: Just very quickly, if you listen - - if you take a look at history, you know, President Reagan, President George W. Bush, President Trump, they have all talked about returning to the moon. But not just going up there for a day or two, but recently, to build a colony up there and a lot of other countries are now interested in setting up some kind of permanent base on the moon. How close are we to that becoming a reality?

CHIAO: We're still a ways off. I mean we haven't sent humans back to the moon since 1972. We are now starting to land some new, next generation spacecraft on the moon. Some of them, successfully, some not. And so it is a little bit of a re-learning process.

And so I would look to the future, NASA of course, SpaceX, maybe in collaboration. This is going to be a big deal. The moon is kind of a stepping stone towards Mars. So if we're serious about pushing further out, the moon is an important part of that.

VAUSE: Leroy, great to have you with us. Thanks so much. Leroy Chiao there, from Houston.

CHIAO: My pleasure, thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, the fallout from the unwanted kiss in the Women's World Cup final continues to grow. And now, there are formal complaints being filed over that incident, we'll tell you what that will actually mean in the moment. Plus a daring prison escape, now an urgent manhunt for a British soldier awaiting trial on terror charges. Those details, also ahead.

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VAUSE: Spanish prosecutors can now move forward with the case against the country's football federation chief after a star player on the women's national team filed a formal complaint over that unwanted kiss after the Women's World Cup final last month.The fallout has led to a major shake up in Spanish football, and it's not done yet by the looks of things. CNN's Patrick Snell has the latest.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well on Wednesday, we learned that the player that Luis Rubiales kissed after last month's World Cup final in Australia, Jenni Hermoso, has now filed an official complaint with prosecutors against Rubiales himself, and this is highly significant because this legal complaint is the next step required for the Spanish justice system to proceed with a case against Rubiales.

Spanish prosecutors have opened an investigation into him late last month saying they would contact Hermoso within two weeks to inform her of her rights as a victim of an alleged crime of sexual aggression. And now they've issued a statement which reads in part, yesterday, Miss Jennifer Hermoso submitted a complaint for the events that you all know.

The national court's prosecutor's office will file a complaint as soon as possible, which will be sent to you as well as a press release. The statement took place at the state attorney general's office to protect the privacy of the victim. That comes after a series of key developments. Earlier in the week we saw the appointment of a new Spanish women's team head coach, following Jorge Vilda's sacking with Montse Tome succeeding him.

While former Spain captain, Veronica Boquete, saying that replacing Vilda as head coach of the team wasn't enough. Quote, "The change we're talking about isn't about changing one president for another. It isn't changing one coach for another. It's about making a much deeper change."

Tome, on Tuesday, becoming the first woman ever to be appointed head coach of the Spanish national team, the 41-year-old former player has been working for the Spanish federation since 2018, and did work under Vilda, who's team went on to win the World Cup last month in Sydney after beating England's Lionesses.

Meantime, Vilda himself saying he feels his sacking was unfair. Vilda has long been considered a close ally of Rubiales, and was seen applauding his defiant speech where he refused to resign nearly two weeks ago.

Vilda was the man in charge of Spain, winning their first ever Women's World Cup crown, but it does now bring to an end an eight year tenure that's been steeped in controversy and complaints from some of the players about the structures and management in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE VILDA, FORMER HEAD COACH, SPANISH WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM (through translator): I am as good as one can be after being named world champion 16 days ago, and then ten days ago, getting a four-year contract extension, plus the year I had left. And then, after today, being fired for, what I believe to be, unfairly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Well, for now, the scrutiny on Rubiales remaining as intense as ever. He's refusing to resign and says that kiss was mutual and consensual. Though Hermoso herself says there was absolutely no consent on her part. And with that, it's right back to you.

VAUSE: Patrick, thank you. A manhunt is underway for a British soldier who escaped from a London prison, disguised in a chef uniform. Daniel Abed Khalife, who was awaiting trial on terror charges which he denies. Geraint Vincent with ITV News has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GERAINT VINCENT, ITV NEWS (voice-over): Daniel Abed Khalife was awaiting trial on remand at his majesty's prison, Wandsworth. He is reported to have escaped from the prison kitchen where he was working by clinging to a delivery van. He was last seen wearing a white t- shirt and red and white checkered trousers.

CMDR. DOMINIC MURPHY, COUNTER TERRORISM COMMAND, METROPOLITAN POLICE: We have a focus area at the moment in London. We have counterterrorism command officers now leading the investigation. Supportive officers from across the metropolitan police, and our partners.

[00:25:10]

But we also have notifications out to every force in the country. We're working really closely with border colleagues to try and understand any risk that might be posed by him leaving the country. And so at the moment you could describe this as a nationwide manhunt involving every force in the country.

VINCENT (voice-over): Mr Khalife is a soldier who was based at these barracks in Stafford. He was arrested after allegedly leaving fake devices at the base. Magistrates at Westminister were told that he had done so with the intention of inducing the belief in others that the items were likely to explode.

He is charged with terrorism offenses, and is accused of gathering information which could be useful to an enemy. Wandsworth prison was famously escaped from 60 years ago, by one of the great train robbers, Ronnie Biggs, who put a ladder over one of the walls.

More recently, problems at the category B jail persist. There was another escape four years ago and the chief inspector of prisons has described HMP Wandsworth as crumbling, overcrowded and vermin infested.

IAN ACHESON, FORMER HEAD OF SECURITY, WANDSWORTH PRISON: I find it rather odd that this is a prisoner who's been charged under terrorism legislature and the official (INAUDIBLE). But he is in wandsworth. And I find it completely inconceivable that somebody who is a potential security risk has been allowed, as we believe, to work in Wandsworth kitchen.

VINCENT (voice-over): The police think that Daniel Khalife is most likely still somewhere in London. They say the threat that he poses to the public is low, but that he shouldn't be approached. They described their search for him as urgent, and extensive. Geraint Vincent, for ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In the U.S., the search continues for a convicted murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison last week. New surveillance video shows Danelo Cavalcante crab walking up two walls at the prison. According to the acting warden, Cavalcante then pushed through recently installed razor wire, which was put in after an earlier prison break. Cavalcante was convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 2021. He was

also wanted in a homicide case six years ago in his native Brazil. His escape has left nearby residents on edge and forced two school districts not far from the prison to close. When we come back, what's behind a wave of military coups in Africa? And why some experts believe that there could still be more to come.

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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone, I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:00]

African leaders called for urgent action to cut carbon emissions at the end of their three-day climate summit. They say many African countries face disproportionate burdens and risks from climate change, and they're urging major polluters to contribute more to help fund climate change action in the region.

CNN's Larry Madowo has details now, reporting in from Nairobi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: African leaders, speaking with one voice at the conclusion at the first Africa Climate Summit.

Even though the Nairobi Declaration, as it is called, involves some compromises, this is a unified approach going to COP28 on the socioeconomic transformation and climate action agenda for the continent.

WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: We demand a fair playing ground for our countries to access the investment needed to unlock the potential and translate it into opportunities. We follow demand. Adjust multilateral development finance architecture to liberate our economies from odious debt and odious barriers to necessary financial resources.

MADOWO: The Africa Climate Summit ecologists (ph) said that Africa bears the brunt of the climate crisis that regular people, here on the continent suffered the worst effects of the climate changing. But those who attended disagree on what exactly was accomplished here.

DAVID ARINZE, RENEWABLE ENERGY SOCIALIST, NIGERIA: I am very optimistic. Of course, a lot more action needs to be taken. And so from -- this is the formula.

While we have already identified what we need to achieve --

MADOWO: Yes.

ARINZE: We have been able to trickle it down to what actions need to be taken meaningfully.

Going forward, we need to begin to measure our progress.

GEOFREY MUTABAZI, CO-FOUNDER, KARAA ELECTRIC BIKES UGANDA: We need to double down on action; and yes, talking is important. But action, action, action on what is available now. Double down on that. And then you can look at all the future solutions.

I feel like -- I feel like we need to -- we need to adopt already existing solutions, and scale them up massively. We can definitely fix this climate crisis.

MADOWO: One of the achievement of the Africa Climate Summit has got to be the convening power here. Not just -- not just a global heavyweight, like Ursula von der Leyen, the E.U. Commission president; or the U.N. secretary-general; or John Kerry, the -- President Biden's climate envoy.

But also, even leaders from the continent like Mahamat Deby Itno from Chad, a military-appointed ruler. Isais Afwerki from Eritrea. They're not the most democratic countries, but they all accept that climate change poses an existential threat to all of them.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Gabon's new military rulers say the ousted president is no longer under house arrest and, in a statement Wednesday, said Ali Bongo can travel abroad for medical treatment if he so wishes.

State television broadcast images also on Wednesday of a meeting between the former president and the head of the U.N. regional office at Bongo's residence in Libreville.

Gabon is the latest African country to catch what some call a coup contagion. French -- former French colonies in Africa have now seen nine coups in three years. And as David McKenzie reports, some experts believe there will be more military takeovers to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI BONGO, OUSTED PRESIDENT OF GABON: From Ali Bongo Ondimba, president of Gabon.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An extraordinary plea for international help. The ousted president of Gabon, Ali Bongo, under house arrest.

BONGO: Tell them to make noise, to make noise for the people here arrested me.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The noise was not enough. On Monday, the new military leader sworn in.

"I solemnly undertake, on my honor, to do my utmost to achieve national unity," says Gabon's junta leader.

MCKENZIE: Is there a fear that there is contagion happening here?

CAMERON HUDSON, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, CSIS: Well, I don't think it's a fear of contagion. There is contagion.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): It's just the latest domino to fall. In just three years, a cascade of military takeovers, spreading across West and now central Africa.

Most of them, former French colonies, but each with a specific cocktail of grievances over security, corruption, and a lack of opportunity.

HUDSON: This is a wave who has -- whose time has not yet crested. I think we're going to see several more of these in the coming months and years before we see a kind of return to what we thought was a normal state in the kind of post-Cold War era.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The condemnations have been universal. The impact, minimum.

African and Western powers face a dilemma. In Niger, there is apparent popular support for the coup and deep anger towards France. Plans for a regional military intervention have stalled.

French counterterror forces have withdrawn from two of the countries. The position in Niger is tenuous as best.

At stake in Niger for the U.S., multi-million-dollar drone bases, critical in fighting extremist groups. The State Department is treading carefully.

[00:35:06]

VEDANT PATEL, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We continue to advocate for a diplomatic solution that respects the constitutional order in Niger.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): In Gabon, state media showed off bags of cash. They say they were found at the son of the president's home and at the home of another official.

CNN couldn't independently verify these images.

For more than 50 years, Omar Bongo and his son, Ali Bongo, ran this oil-rich nation. Much of their wealth was kept in France.

Most Gabonese, young and old, had only known the rule of the Bongo family and its cronies.

CHRIS FOMUNYOH, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: So for them, the military coup, in the short term, looks much better than anything that they've been living through. And one can understand that boost of immediate support.

And what the military and their mercenary group bring to the continent is less opportunities for freedom, for democracy, than more. David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, the fallout from the controversial ban on abayas in French public school and why rights groups say this is an infringement on personal liberties. More details, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A legal landmark in Mexico, with a Supreme Court ruling which clearly states access to abortion care is a human right, and efforts to prevent access to an abortion is a violation of those rights.

The court's ruling Wednesday that the federal ban is unconstitutional. It's a major victory for reproductive rights in the country, which is largely Roman Catholic.

It comes as Mexico's neighbor to the North, the U.S., clamps down hard on women's access to reproductive health care.

A school in France banned a student from class Wednesday for wearing a kimono. This comes with France's ban on abayas, a long, robe-length garment often won by Muslim women.

The ban stems from a 2004 law which prohibits wearing outfits which show religious affiliations, or overtly display religious affiliations in public schools. Dozens of girls were sent home early this week for not complying with this new guideline.

CNN's Anna Stewart has more now on the fallout on this controversial band.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A daily ritual for some students in France. You can attach it to your bag. That's the rule inside.

"Put the head scarf in the bag," this teacher tells a student at the school gates. Removing any sign of their Muslim faith, before entering the classroom.

But, as summer vacation ends, France's 2004 law banning conspicuous religious symbols in state-run schools will be applied to loose- fitting, full-length dresses known as abayas for the first time.

GABRIEL ATTAL, FRENCH EDUCATION MINISTER (through translator): The abaya has no place in our schools, and neither do religious symbols.

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STEWART (voice-over): The free-flowing garments, worn by some Muslim women and girls, now prohibited in the name of French "laicite," or secularism.

This policy is a new interpretation of the controversial 2004 law from France's ambitious new education minister.

Nearly 300 students wore an abaya to school on Monday. Sixty-seven were sent home for refusing to take it off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They say that the abaya is a religious dress. But it's not at all. It's not a religious dress. It's a traditional dress.

STEWART (voice-over): A Muslim rights group has already brought an appeal against the ban to the country's highest court, with their lawyer saying the ban doesn't legally define what an abaya looks like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The ban is not based on any legal text. It's purely of a political announcement.

STEWART (voice-over): Another lawsuit is being prepared after a student wearing a kimono and jeans was expelled from class.

Disproportionate is how one teaching union described the abaya debate, when issues like funding and bullying also need to be addressed. At least one other major union has supported the government's ban.

And that division gets to the heart of the secularism debate in France. "Laicite," principal upheld by many across the political spectrum, as France's blind defense against religious discrimination.

But critics condemn it as a veiled attack on Muslims in France. Hijabs, burkinis, now abayas falling under the glare of an unyielding French state.

Exactly what Macron asked of his teachers faced with resistant students this month.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We know that there will be cases. Because we know that there will be some, through negligence, perhaps. But many to try to defy the republican system. We must be uncompromising.

STEWART (voice-over): France remains an outlier among Western nations, moving into wider acceptance of civil liberties around religious dress, with the hijab embraced elsewhere by Muslim politicians and major brands like Nike.

For schools in France, though, a new year means new rules.

Anna Stewart, CNN.

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VAUSE: I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But in the meantime, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break.

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