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Blinken Pledges $1 Billion More To Ukraine; Missile Strike On Donetsk Market Kills At Least 17; Russian President Claims Counteroffensive Is Failing; South Korea Teachers Demand More Protection On The Job; NASA To Launch Mission To Asteroid Next Month; Japan Launches Lunar Lander And X-Ray Satellite. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 07, 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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[02:00:32]

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.

Russia launches the deadliest attack on Ukraine in months, killing and wounded dozens in a crowded market as the U.S. Secretary of State makes an unannounced trip to Kyiv with another billion-dollar aid package in tow.

Mexico Supreme Court decriminalizes abortion right across the country, extending a recent Latin American trend. Plus, mass protests in South Korea. Why are tens of thousands of teachers taking you to the streets of Seoul?

The audacity of evil and utter inhumanity is how the Ukrainian president is describing a deadly strike on an open market in the Donetsk region. Now, this surveillance video showing the explosion that killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens more. Everyday people just going about their business and doing their daily shopping. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine said it is another example of the suffering Russia's invasion inflicts on civilians.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian terrorists destroyed shops, a pharmacy, people who did nothing wrong. The attack came as Ukrainian counter offensive moves into its fourth month now and as the top U.S. diplomat began his third visit to Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion. Antony Blinken announced a new infusion of aid worth more than a billion dollars.

And meantime, the Kremlin said the U.S. is intent on keeping the war going "until the last Ukrainian." CNN Frederik Pleitgen picks up the report from there.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The moment the powerful missile hit a market in Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine. Chaos and carnage in the immediate aftermath. And while Russia has not commented on the strike, the Ukrainian say this was the work of a Russian surface to air missile use 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.

Whenever there's any positive offensive step by Ukrainian defense forces, Russians targets civilians and civil infrastructure, he says, wherever their missiles and artillery can reach.

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.

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.

On a visit to Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken praising Ukraine's recent advances on the battlefield.

ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We see the important progress that's being made now in the counteroffensive, and that's very, very encouraging.

PLEITGEN (voiceover): But Moscow says its forces are inflicting massive losses on advancing Ukrainian troops. And despite losing territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming Kyiv's offensive is failing.

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.

Ukraine's leadership says they will fight for every inch of their territory and vow to avenge the civilians killed in yet another mass casualty incident near the battlefront.

Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

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NEWTON: Now meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Biden administration has "no illusions that the counteroffensive will be easy" but he says the U.S. is pleased by the progress Ukrainian forces are making. Listen.

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BLINKEN: Since I was last year almost exactly one year ago, Ukrainian forces have taken back more than 50 percent of the territory seized by Russian forces since February of 2022.

[02:05:02]

In the ongoing counteroffensive, progress has accelerated in the past few weeks. This new assistance will help sustain it and build further momentum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now that praise and the new cash in the United States comes as Ukraine fields criticism that in fact its counter offensive is going too slowly. And those critics may be keeping Ukraine from shoring up more support from NATO ally.

Sam Kiley breaks down what Ukraine has accomplished so far and where Russians are pushing back.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anthony Blinken has just been in cave with another check for a billion dollars' worth of American military aid for the Ukrainian war effort. Very significant increase upon the already massive levels of donations coming from the United States and others but the Americans are way ahead in terms of their support for Ukrainian war effort.

But the critics in the United States are pointing to these very small yellow and white dots here on the map. These are the very small incremental gains that the Ukrainians have been making. Now, their critics are saying they're not getting through those American -- the Russian frontlines hard enough or fast enough. The Ukrainians are responsive -- response to that and indeed, more sensible voices, frankly, within NATO, as saying, well, this whole front line here has been a long anticipated and indeed all of this stuff down in the south too.

The Russians have had plenty of time. Many months to reinforce. They've got at least three lines of defense in some areas, possibly five that includes minefields, tank traps. It's now up to infantry to infiltrate these areas, clear the mines by hand, and then get that armor that the United States and others have been donating into the battlespace. This is going to be where the concentration at the moment of the future operations of the Ukrainians are likely to be.

And that is because they want to expand this area. So they can use that as a bridgehead to go forward into Crimea and indeed cut the Russian supply lines to the east and west. But the Russians get a vote in this. If we take a look at what's going on on the Eastern Front, we'll be able to see much more closely, first of all, where these Russian gains have been made, but also where the Ukrainians have been pushing them back.

Particularly here south of Bakhmut. But of course, just in the last 24 hours, the Russians have struck back killing a large number of civilians and others here in Konstantinovka in a missile attack with at least 16 killed, more than 20 injured. Now that is part of the steady state of this war. The constant attacks on civilians behind the frontlines as part of the Russian effort to try to drain the energy out of the Ukrainian war effort.

Now, of course, the new Ukrainian commander is saying that every single inch of Ukrainian territory as far as they're concerned will be liberated as part of that campaign. But again, the Russians are counterattacking particularly here up near Kupiansk and all along this northern front here. They've actually made some minor gains there. The Russians have but they've been assaulting with very severe and heavy numbers of armor, tanks in particular being put to use there.

They are being held by the Ukrainians but all of this is adding up to a degree of frustration among the Ukrainians, allies in the West, very often derived from a lack of understanding of the what this battlespace really is like. And speaking as somebody who's been on the ground here, the NATO doctrine is you need three to one advantage in terms of troops from the Ukrainian perspective.

Indeed, the troop numbers are actually the other way around. So, any kind of Ukrainian advance under those circumstances particularly without air cover, and they have none so far, is nothing short of something close to a miracle.

NEWTON: Our thanks to Sam Kiley. Now, Mexico Supreme Court has declared loudly and clearly that access to abortion care is a human right. And any effort to stop it is a violation of those rights. The country's top court ruled the federal government's ban on abortion is unconstitutional and reproductive rights activists are celebrating.

CNN's Rafael Romo has our details.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voiceover): The effort to decriminalize abortion in Mexico has been going on for years, especially in Mexico City where abortion rights groups have taken to the streets to say my body my decision. In fact, by the time the Mexican Supreme Court issued a ruling Wednesday decriminalizing abortion at the federal level, 12 out of 32 states had already invalidated laws banning abortion.

MARIA ANTONIETA ALCALDE, DIRECTOR, IPAS/MEXICO AND ENTRANCE AMERICA: Our reaction was of pure joy and celebration, but also have been very proud of being part of these Green Wave. This movement that have been working to advance the abortion agenda.

[02:10:08]

ROMO (voiceover): In a statement, the court said that banning an abortion is unconstitutional because it violates the human rights of women and people with the capacity to gestate. Anti-abortion groups in Mexico blasted the ruling.

ALICIA GALVAN, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, PATIA UNIDA FOUNDATION: There are millions more Mexicans who are in favor of life from the moment of conception until natural death.

ROMO (voiceover): The Supreme Court first ruled that it was unconstitutional to criminalize abortion in 2021. The same day the ground shook and Mexico. The earthquake was filled for about a minute but the shockwaves sent across the nation by that court's ruling are still being felt.

GALVAN: It is a black day for Mexico. The country is mourning the Supreme Court of Justice, the highest-level institution in the country. They want in charge of watching over justice and human rights, both to betray the first human right, without which no other human rights can exist life.

ROMO (voiceover): Back in 2021, the court issued a decision on a law enacted in the northern state of Coahuila which said that women who get an abortion may get punished with up to three years in prison and a fine.,

Exactly a week before Wednesday's ruling, Aguascalientes had decriminalized abortion becoming the 12th state to do so. Mexico City was the first jurisdiction to end the ban on abortion in the country back in 2007. Starting a trend that is still mostly conservative country where more than three quarters of the population identify as Catholic. Abortion rights groups say even before the ruling, Mexico had already become a destination for some American women seeking an abortion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before Mexican women used to go to the U.S. to look for abortion services. And now Mexico, more and more American women are coming to Mexico for services.

ROMO (voiceover): And while no woman can be prosecuted any longer for having an abortion in Mexico, there are still 20 states where the procedure remains illegal. But the ruling paves the way for the federal healthcare system to start providing abortions.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

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NEWTON: Mexico's presidential race now has two female front runners. The ruling party Modena announced that Claudia Sheinbaum would be its nominee for the 2024 election. Sheinbaum is a former mayor of Mexico City. She is set to take on Senator Xochitl Galvez, nominated by the opposition coalition on Sunday. Incumbent president -- Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will step down next year since the law prohibits him from seeking a second six-year term.

A U.S. federal judge has ordered the state of Texas to remove its floating barriers in the Rio Grande in a victory for that Biden administration. The Justice Department sued Texas in July claiming the state did not have the authority to install the boys on the water border with Mexico. The state's Republican Governor Greg Abbott claimed he didn't need permission for the buoys as they were meant to deter migrants from crossing the border.

The judge on Wednesday said "permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation's waterways." Abbott's office says they are prepared to appeal the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court.

A warmer than expected usual -- unusual winter in southern hemisphere is being blamed for severe and deadly weather in that part of the world. In southern Brazil, more than 30 are confirmed dead and heavy flooding caused by extra tropical cyclone. The rainfall totals are equal to what the area normally would receive in the entire month of September. Now our affiliate CNN Brazil called it the worst natural disaster to strike that region in some 40 years.

A powerful storm system meantime is unleashing deadly flooding on Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. At least eight people have been killed after days of heavy rain. Flash flooding turn the streets of Istanbul into a river. The subway station was partly submerged and dozens of people had to be evacuated at a library. Severe weather has shut down the port of bullous in Greece which got 10 times, think about that, 10 times its monthly rainfall in less than 14 hours Tuesday.

Bulgaria and Greece are also dealing with tornado reports and rescue crews are scrambling to save lives with more rain in that forecast.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers gives us the latest.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Devastating pictures coming out of parts of Greece here where there have been almost three quarters of a meter of rainfall, a meter of rainfall there in some of these areas that have been so hard hit where the rain simply will not stop. And it will not stop again today.

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Another level three for Meteoalarm over heavy, heavy rainfall flash flooding. And the rain that comes down just isn't going to soak in. There's no place for it to soak in. When you're looking at 754 millimeters in the past three days, even for Volos where those pictures were, 375 millimeters. It's been stuck there for a bit. I would suspect that many of the -- even the rain gauges aren't even working at this point.

There's your low to the southwest, making the rainfall come up in the same places that we've had rainfall for day after day after day. Here's what it looks like right now. The -- still that convective purple, heavy rainfall coming down there, especially on the eastern coast here of central Greece. The rainfall finally moves away. It will go away finally for Friday and Saturday, but it's going to take some more time.

Still another 100 millimeters possible there along that same coast. And then there's Hurricane Lee in the middle of the Atlantic, going to be a very hefty storm. Very, very big storm here. Will be called a category four hurricane at this point in time, somewhere in the ballpark of 240 kilometers per hour. Missing all of the islands so far. All the models taking it to the north and then eventually even a turn to the right, and maybe away from land. But it's too early to tell.

I think really we won't even see any landfall for seven to 10 more days. And that could be anywhere from the Carolinas in the U.S. all the way up toward Nova Scotia. We simply don't know where this thing's going. It's just too far out there. It's in very warm water right now rapidly intensifying. But look at this blue. This is the wake of what was Hurricane Franklin. Hurricane Franklin was also a 240-kilometer per hour storm out here in the Atlantic, churning up the water.

Using the energy and the heat from the water. And that's where the storm is going. There may be some time where this storm stops intensifying. So that is some of the good news.

NEWTON: Indeed. Thank you, Chad Myers. Now, African leaders are called for urgent action to cut carbon emissions at the end of their three- day Climate Summit. They say many countries on the continent face disproportionate burdens and risks from climate change. And they're urging major polluters to contribute more to help fund climate change action in their region. They also issue the so-called Nairobi declaration that says in part, Africa is not historically responsible for global warming but bears the brunt of its effect impacting lives, livelihoods and economies.

CNN's Larry Mundo covered this summit and has the details now from Nairobi.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: African leaders speaking with one voice at the conclusion of the first Africa Climate Summit. Even though the Nairobi declaration, as it is called involves some compromises. This is the unified approach. Going to COP 28 on the socioeconomic transformation and climate action agenda for the continent.

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

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am very optimistic, of course, a lot more action needs to be taken. And so, for me, this is the formula. While we have already identified what we need to achieve, 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.

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MADOWO: One of the achievements of the Africa Climate Summit has got to be the convening power here. Not of the -- not just the global heavyweights 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 such as Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno from Chad, a military appointed ruler.

Isaias 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.

Marry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

NEWTON: The world's most popular tourist destination (INAUDIBLE) recognize that there, will start charging an entry fee next year.

[02:20:02]

Visitors to Venice will have to pay five euro to enter on peak days if they're not spending the night. Now the move which starts sometime in the spring makes Venice the first city in the world to charge day trip visitors. Officials called fee system an experiment for now, in an effort to manage high volumes of tourist traffic.

The follow from an unwanted kiss at the Women's World Cup is growing with a formal complaint now filed over the incident.

Plus, a daring prison escape and now an urgent manhunt for a British soldier awaiting trial on terror charges. Those details ahead.

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NEWTON: Spanish prosecutors can now move forward with a 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 woman's World Cup final last month. The Fallout has led to a major shakeup in Spanish football. CNN's Patrick Snell has our report.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Well, on Wednesday, we learned that the player that Luis Rubiales kiss 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 courts prosecutor's office will file a complaint as soon as possible, which will be sent to you as well as the press release.

The statement took place at the state attorneys 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 sacking with Montse Tome succeeding him. Former Spain captain Veronica Boquete saying that replacing Vilda as head coach of the team wasn't enough.

"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 a Spanish national team. A 41-year-old former player has been working for the Spanish Federation since 2018 and did work under Vilda whose 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.

[02:25:04]

An eight-year tenure that's been steeped in controversy and complaints from some of the players about the structures and management in place.

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JORGE VILDA, FORMER HEAD COACH, SPANISH WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM (through translator): I'm as good as one can be after being named World Champion 16 days ago. And 10 days ago getting a four-year contract extension. Plus, the year I had left. And then after today being fired what I believe to be unfairly.

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.

NEWTON: Our thanks to Patrick Snell there. A manhunt is underway for a British soldier who escaped from a London prison disguised in a chef's uniform. Daniel Abed Khalife was waiting trial on terror charges which he denies.

Geraint Vincent from ITV News has our report.

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GERAINT VINCENT, ITV NEWS CORRESPONDENT (through translator): Daniel Albert Khalif 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, METROPOLITAN POLICE: We have a focus of our effort in London at the moment. We have counterterrorism command officers now leading the investigation. Supportive officers from across the Metropolitan Police and our partners. But we also have notifications out to every force in the country. We're working really closely with borders colleagues to try and understand any risks 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: Mr. Khalif is a soldier who was based at these barracks in Stafford. He was arrested after allegedly leaving fake devices at the base. Magistrates in Westminster 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 put a ladder over one of the walls. More recently, problems at the category be jailed persist. There was another escape four years ago and the chief inspector of prison 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 legislation and the Official Secrets Act that he is in Wandsworth. But I find it completely inconceivable that somebody is -- who is, you know, a potential national security risk has been allied as we believe to work in Wandsworth kitchen.

VINCENT: The police think that Daniel Khalif is most likely still somewhere in London. They say the threat he poses to the public is low, but that he shouldn't be approached. They describe their search for him as urgent and extensive.

Geraint Vincent, ITV News.

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NEWTON: In the U.S., authorities are still searching for a convicted murderer who escaped from a prison in Pennsylvania last week. Now, new surveillance video shows Danelo Cavalcante crab walking. I mean, take a look at this. Up two walls at the prison. The acting warden says he then pushed through razor wire that was installed after an earlier prison break by someone else. Police say Cavalcante was spotted on Tuesday moving into the woods and was also seen several other times including inside someone's house.

His Escape has put residents near the prison on edge and forced two school districts to close. Cavalcante was convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 2021. He's also wanted in a homicide case six years ago in his native Brazil. South Korean teachers say it's time for change after a suspected suicide by one of their colleagues. Still ahead. A teachers union leader will speak with us from Seoul as fellow educators make their case loud and clear.

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NEWTON: South Korean teachers are taking to the streets to say they've had enough of what they describe as harassment by parents. In fact, hundreds of thousands of educators held rallies like this one, in recent days and the tipping point was a suspected suicide by a colleague in seoul who would be among 100 teachers who've apparently had taken their own lives over the past five years.

Teachers say they face way too much pressure from overbearing parents, who reportedly take advantage of a controversial child abuse law. For more now, we are joined by Hyunsu Hwang, he is the director of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union.

And he comes to us live from Seoul. Thank you so much for joining us on this important issue. You know, South Korean teachers have been under this kind of institutional and personal pressure for years. How and why has this apparent suicide motivated so many to demand reform loudly and take to the streets?

HYUNSU HWANG, DIRECTOR, KOREAN TEACHERS AND EDUCATION WORKERS UNION: Okay, thank you for having me, Paula. So, I am Hyunsu Hwang. I'm an international director of Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union. You know, many people in the world they like the Korean pop and Korean dramas and Korean movies, K-movies, but when it comes to education, quite different situation is happening.

You know, the young teacher committed suicide in July, it has triggered a huge protest of teachers. And so teachers are coming out of school and they're protesting against the government and the national assembly and the society as well. So the teachers say that we cannot tolerate this situation anymore.

Especially in the primary schools, there are many things that teacher should do. So parents always want teachers to educate and to give care, and in education, care is mixed in the primary school section.

So, in the classroom, there are many things happening and teachers should manage everything, especially the school violence among the students, they should mediate the situation.

In this situation the teachers are really vulnerable from the parents pressures. And so parents are involved in the school violence case and the teachers should mediate the situation and so some parents, if they are not satisfied with the results, they sue the teachers. And the teachers get told you are not on our kids side or something like that, so many things are happening. [02:35:03]

And also teachers should do, after school, there was some violence among the students in the playground after school, teachers should also care about that. They should investigate the situation even after school. So there are many things.

NEWTON: This new law has been controversial. Can you explain how a law that was devised to protect children is now, in some ways, being used against the educators?

HWANG: That's exactly right. you know, the law was passed in 2014. So it's called the Child Protection Act, or something. And in article 17, there is a clause about emotional child abuse. But it is mentioned in the clause above that there is no concrete definition of what emotional abuse is so in the classroom.

If teachers say something to the students and the students felt that the teachers hurt my heart and then they came home and told the parents, and the parents called and lie to the teachers saying that you said this to my son or daughter, so you are emotionally abusing my son and so i will sue you. This is happening.

NEWTON: It must be incredible pressure for educators like yourself. I want you to listen, now, to what one of the mourners said during one of these protests. Listen.

(begin video clip)

JUNG CHAI-JIN, 67-YEAR-OLD MOURNER (through translator): It's heartbreaking for every citizen in South Korea. How can this happen in the public education field? They study hard to go to education schools and become teachers because they love children. Why do they have to die like this in the classroom? Why do people who lead our country say nothing about this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, she points out that reform is needed. What are government leaders doing about this? Are you optimistic that there can be reformed and quickly?

HWANG: Well I would like to add one more thing in this situation, so I would like to point out the role of the ministry of education. So in this situation, the teachers announced that we will gather together on monday this week, and so the government said that if teachers do act collectively, the teachers can be fired because the government said that under the public official law, if teachers act collectively they can't be fired.

So the ministry of education threaten teachers to be fired when they get out of the school on Monday, it made the teachers very furious and angry. There's a Korean saying, don't pour oil on the house on fire but the ministry of education poured oil on the house on fire. So that is why more than 120,000 teachers came out of the school this Monday. NEWTON: That's important context that you're reporting there. Listen, we have to leave it there for now, but it is an issue which we have to continue to follow. I thank you for your time.

HWANG: Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.

NEWTON: Now, after several delays due to bad weather, Japan launches a rocket with a double mission. to study our universe and to attempt a precise landing on the moon. Details after the break.

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NEWTON: NASA says it is on track to launch a spacecraft, next month, to study a metallic asteroid. Known as the Psyche mission, the launch window opens on October 5th. The spacecraft will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon heavy rocket.

It will travel more than three billion kilometers, and reach the asteroid Psyche by, wait for it, 2029. Then spend some 26 months orbiting the asteroid. NASA officials explained the goal of the mission Wednesday. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI GLAZE, DIR., NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE DIVISION: The psyche asteroid is representative of one type of asteroid. But in fact, there are several types of asteroids, some with different chemical or physical properties.

Some that are found in distinct locations within the solar system. And each of those asteroids is a remnant of the earliest building blocks that made up all the planets and moons. So by studying these small bodies, we can learn about the origin and evolution of our solar system, as well as the active processes that are still at work today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Japan, meantime, successfully launches the H2A rocket carrying its so-called Moon Sniper Lunar Lander and a new X-ray satellite. The satellite, a television called Crism, is already in Earth's orbit, pardon me, and will study galaxy clusters, black holes and the chemical makeup of the universe.

Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, or SLIM, 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, hence the nickname Moon Sniper. Pretty slick Japan. Thanks for joining us. I'm Paula Newton. WORLD SPORT is next. Then I'll be back in 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM.

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