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Hollywood Writers And Studios Reach Tentative Deal; France To Withdraw Troops From Niger After Coup; U.S. Defense Secretary Visiting Djibouti, Kenya, Angola; Russian Foreign Minister Calls West "Empire Of Lies"; Ukraine Hits Military Facilities In Russian-Occupied Crimea; Hundreds Arrive In Armenia Following Azerbaijan Victory; Police Kill At Least 3 Armed Attackers During Standoff; Asteroid Samples Safely Lands On Earth; Pope Francis Urges European Leaders To Welcome Migrants; Reports: Murderous Sicilian Mafia Boss Dies; Cal Fire Using A.I. To Spot Fires Before They Spread. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 25, 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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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome, coming to you live from Studio 4 at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.

Coming up on CNN Newsroom, screenwriters in Hollywood reach a tentative deal, potentially ending months of strikes, which brought the TV and movie industry to a standstill.

Pulling out. France says it will end its military presence in Niger for good by the end of the year.

And out of this world, a NASA spacecraft delivers a sample collected from an asteroid. And what scientists hope to learn from it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we begin this hour with breaking news from Hollywood, where after nearly five months, the writers' strike that brought the television and film industries to a standstill could be coming to an end. The Writers Guild of America says it's reached a tentative agreement with major film and television studios following days of marathon negotiating sessions.

The WGA called the new deal exceptional with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership. The union could authorize members to return to work as early as Tuesday, even before the agreement is officially ratified.

The terms of the agreement, the details of it, not immediately known, but the use of generative artificial intelligence in production was reportedly one of the final sticking points. This could pave the way for Hollywood to restart many productions that have been halted since May the 2nd.

CNN Media Critic Brian Lowry joins me now from Los Angeles. Thanks for doing so. And before we get to the details of what we know about this tentative agreement, the big question is that, what everyone wants to know, if it is ratified, when is Hollywood going to be able to get back to work? What productions will return? And what can't return, because the actors, of course, are still on strike?

BRIAN LOWRY, CNN MEDIA CRITIC: Right, this is going to happen in stages. So, some of the talk shows, which we're already talking about coming back without writers will be back up and running fairly quickly. Things like Drew Barrymore show varieties reporting that the Late-Night Shows Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon could be back up and running in early October, and then it's going to be a matter of time.

You're going to need the actors. The actors will likely follow the template that the writers negotiated, but they have some issues that are unique to them. So the writers will have -- the actors will have to get their deal done. I think before you get wholesale scripted production back to work, it's going to be several weeks. And then you start to run into the holidays. So we really don't know exactly.

And as we said, it would have to be approved by members. Do you think that's likely? What will they have to be convinced of to vote yes?

LOWRY: I think the members are ready to go back to work. I mean, the members invariably follow the board on this. And the board has kept the members informed all the way along. I think the really interesting thing was the unity that the writers maintained through the course of this.

I think the studios thought that the pain that was inflicted on the talent guilds would shake their resolve and make them -- they knew that this was going to be a tough negotiation. But, you know, writers are not all the same. Feature writers are a little bit different from television writers and veterans show runners are different from people who are just breaking in and maybe only have one or two credits.

So to their credit, the Guild managed to keep all of those various constituencies together and came away. It looks like with a deal which has, according to the Guild, at least, something for all of them.

HOLMES: What does or might this agreement mean for the separate actors strike?

LOWRY: Well, I think, you know, basically a lot of the issues overlap. So things about residuals and greater transparency on streaming data. General just pay issues. Those will likely follow the writers' guild and those will fall into place very quickly.

Some things, though, are different. And when you're talking about A.I., A.I. means something different for writers than it does for actors.

[00:05:03] And some of the things that were sticking points with the writers, like the number of writers employed in writer's rooms on streaming shows don't mean anything to the actors. So that won't be an issue at all.

So, you know, realistically, the studios and streamers are going to have to come up with some sweeteners for the actors on the issues that matter to them, but I think the basic template should likely end up being the same.

HOLMES: Do you think the big studios hurt much in the long run financially as opposed to industry workers who've been without pay all this time, 146 days?

LOWRY: Well, the studios are obviously much better able to absorb this than individual writers or individual actors are. But, you know, ultimately, the studios, if they want to be in the business of releasing movies and television shows, they need to produce movies and television shows.

So the, you know, they saw that pipeline start to dry up a little bit. You saw studios start to rearrange their, you know, their big movie releases to try to space them out a little better over the course of the year.

You know, they put a lot of time into thinking of when's the best time to open a movie when that movie is not going to be ready and you have to move something else into that weekend, it starts sort of playing havoc with your schedule and it can start to hit your revenue streams. So the studios were, you know, obviously, they saved some money while things weren't in production, but they had some pain and we'll have some pain in this too.

And I think the whole industry is looking at potentially some pain going forward, depending on how some of the issues that led to the strike play out over the next few years.

HOLMES: Yes, I was going to ask you about that. I mean, this is reportedly a three-year deal. Are we going to have this conversation again then? Or do you think the major barriers have been broken?

LOWRY: Well, I think, look, you know, the last -- these deals run in three-year cycles. The last deal was being about to be negotiated right when COVID hit. So they basically just rubber stamped a deal. So this one could argue that this deal has -- this negotiation has been long and coming.

New technology generally drives labor disputes in Hollywood in this case, streaming really came to be with the advent of the studio back streaming services in 2019 and that needed to be addressed and this strike is that.

I think the Guild -- one reason the Guild held together so well during this was because the feeling came to be that, look, we're going to suffer in this negotiation, but we want to get a deal where we're not going to have to go on strike in three years or six years, where the broad outlines of it will be something that we can live with for a while.

HOLMES: Great to talk to you. Great analysis. Brian Lowry, really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

LOWRY: Thank you.

HOLMES: Turning to Niger now. Months after the military there overthrew the democratically elected president in a coup, France is announcing that it will withdraw all of its military forces from the West African nation.

Some 1,500 French troops are stationed in Niger to help in counterterrorism missions in the region. French President Emmanuel Macron says the country's new leaders clearly don't want to fight terrorism anymore.

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EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): It will be organized over time in the weeks to come, but it is the end of this cooperation because we are not here to participate in political life to be hostages in some way to the putschists. But I will be very clear, we already see it today in Mali.

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HOLMES: Niger's military junta welcomed France's withdrawal, saying, quote, "Imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory. Any person, institution or structure whose presence threatens the interests and outlook of our country will have to leave the land of our ancestors, whether they like it or not".

Now it's not just French troops who are in Niger right now. Some 1,000 U.S. troops are also in the country. And it's unclear at the moment whether they will stay there. Right now, the U.S. Defense Secretary is visiting Central and East Africa.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand tells us about his trip so far.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Africa this week for his first trip to the continent since becoming Secretary of Defense. Now, his meetings in Djibouti on Sunday focused on counterterrorism, and he met with the president of Djibouti as well as the president of Somalia to discuss both countries ongoing fight against terrorism and, in particular, the terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

On Monday, Austin will be traveling to Kenya, where he will be meeting with Kenyan defense leaders to discuss counterterrorism as well, and to visit U.S. troops. The U.S. has a military presence in both Kenya and Somalia, so it was top of mind for Lloyd Austin as he had these meetings on Sunday and going into Monday.

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Now, all of this comes as Niger -- in Niger, French forces have announced that they are going to be pulling out of the country by the end of the year following a coup in the country earlier this year. Well, it remains to be seen just how that is going to affect the U.S. military presence in Niger.

The U.S. still has just about 1,100 U.S. troops in the country, and it is a very key base for the U.S. to conduct counterterrorism operations. So expect the Secretary of Defense to be asked about that this week. However, the U.S. very reluctant to leave Niger, just given its importance to the U.S. counterterrorism mission in the region.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, in Djibouti.

HOLMES: Ukraine says Russia has carried out overnight strikes on the Odesa region, wounding at least one person. According to the military, Odesa's port infrastructure was hit, a house was damaged, and what they described as a non-residential building caught fire. It happened a day after Ukraine accused Russia of launching deadly strikes in the southern region of Kherson.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen with details.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL: A lot of shelling in various areas of Ukraine, mostly in places that were either close to the front lines or that are even close to Russian territory, the Ukrainians are saying two people were killed and several people were wounded around Kherson.

They are saying there was some pretty heavy shelling going on from the Russian side there. Also, in the area around Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed. Of course, that's something that's significant because the area around Zaporizhzhia is where the Ukrainians are conducting the main thrust of their counteroffensive.

And the latest that we have from the Ukrainian side is they say that they've been able to break through a Russian defense line and are fortifying the gains that they've made there. There was also some shelling coming actually from Russia on the town of Kharkiv, and several people were wounded there.

In the east, where I am, the Ukrainians also saying that they have been able to make gains. Of course, in the past couple of days, they have said that they were able to take back two key villages from the Russians, which also allowed them to take a key route under fire control. The Ukrainians are saying they've been able to fortify those positions, and want to move forward and gain further territory in this area.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Eastern Ukraine.

HOLMES: Jill Dougherty is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She's also a CNN Contributor and former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief. Always good to see you, Jill. I want to start with Sergey Lavrov's comments at the UNGA, saying that the U.S., NATO, the E.U. have supported a racist regime in Kyiv and the West is an empire of lies. What did you make of the content and tone of his words? JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, RUSSIAN AFFAIRS: Well, you know, I didn't find it very surprising, Michael. I think the racist part is slightly different word, but it fits with the description that Russia always brings up of Ukraine and then Ukraine as an instrument for the West to attack Russia. This is the narrative.

I think it's very typical. But I think what was interesting about this is -- and it's becoming a very important theme, another narrative -- is this idea that Russia is on the side of the developing world. That the West is elite, the West looks down on the world. These are some quotes from that speech by Lavrov and essentially is trying to tell the world what to do and take advantage of it.

And so Russia is going back to what I would call an old Soviet trope, an old Soviet narrative, which is that Russia positioning itself as a supporter and the defender of former colonial countries under the thumb of the West.

HOLMES: Yes.

DOUGHERTY: Now, I mean, you know, if you follow that through logically, you have to think sovereignty is very important for small countries. And here we have Russia attacking a smaller country and violating its sovereignty.

HOLMES: Yes.

DOUGHERTY: But I do think that those narratives do have some, as we say, legs. They're believed by some in the developing world.

HOLMES: I wanted to ask you what you make of the successes by Ukraine in Crimea. I mean, the Saky military airfield, Russian warships in Sevastopol damaged, and now the Black Sea fleet headquarters also damaged. What do those attacks suggest about the apparent, well, vulnerability of some pretty important critical infrastructure in Crimea?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, I think that's really a good point that I think it does, number one, illustrate that the Ukrainians are going farther and farther into Russia, that they are hitting things that are not just symbolic or even hitting Moscow.

[00:15:02]

They're hitting the command and control and some, you know, ships controlled by Russia. That I think is very significant. And they are indicating the Ukrainians that they're going to do a lot more of this. I think Russia is very worried about it.

HOLMES: Yes. You -- you're, obviously, sort of our eyes and ears when it comes to a lot of what's going on in Russia. Is the war impacting ordinary Russians now, hitting the economy? There are statistics that suggest it is. What are you seeing and hearing in terms of the impact on the home front?

DOUGHERTY: You know, in a way, it's hard to judge this because especially in the bigger cities where there is more coverage and more news and people, you know, on social media, the government is trying to say nothing is happening, you know, it's not important. Life goes on.

But I think if you look at the growing militarization of Russia, and it's really significant right now. The economy, yes, is being hit, but also you have school kids dressing up in military uniforms running around with guns.

You have a dance troupe. There's video, a dance troupe using rifles as they dance and then denunciations of your neighbor for criticizing the war, not being able to even call the war a war. So I think even though there is that attempt to downplay the significance of this, it's creeping into every aspect of Russian life right now.

HOLMES: I just quickly going back to Sergey Lavrov. I mean, he was really defiant. He rejected Ukraine's peace plan. Do you see any chance of a diplomatic end to this war, given the intractable positions taken?

DOUGHERTY: Michael, I don't think so at this point. I just cannot see it because they are so far apart. I mean, the Ukrainians, the peace plan by Zelenskyy envisions several things, but one of them is Russian troops have to pull out and land that was taken by Russia has to be given back to Ukraine.

The Russians were adamant that is not going to happen. So at this point, I think it's really the fight, it's back to the war and Ukrainians trying to make as much of a dent into Russia and reclaim their land as they can.

HOLMES: Yes, yes. Always great to get your analysis. Jill Dougherty, thank you so much.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

HOLMES: Ethnic Armenians living in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region have started arriving in Armenia. The Armenian government says more than 1,000 refugees have entered the country so far. Tens of thousands more could follow after Azerbaijan reclaimed the Nagorno- Karabakh region this week.

The area is home to 120,000 ethnic Armenians who have rejected Azerbaijani rule. Azerbaijan has said it will guarantee their rights, but experts have repeatedly warn of the risk of ethnic cleansing. The conflict between the two sides has raged off and on for decades.

In this latest bout, Azerbaijan's short offensive ended with Armenian fighters agreeing to surrender. Russia, an ally of both countries, brokered the ceasefire. Armenia's Prime Minister now says his country's interests weren't protected.

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NIKOL PASHINYAN, ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): He Martin Harvey, Azerbaijan's attacks on Armenia in the last years clearly show that the external security structures Armenia is a part of are not effective from the perspective of Armenia's security and state interests.

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HOLMES: Officials say at least 200 people were killed, 400 others wounded in Azerbaijan's military operation.

Serbia has denied any involvement in a deadly clash between police and ethnic Serb gunmen in northern Kosovo. The violence started when police saw two trucks creating a roadblock near a bridge. They attempted to intervene and a gun battle broke out.

It moved to a monastery where the attackers barricaded themselves inside. At the end of the standoff, one police officer and three attackers were dead. A candlelight vigil was held on Sunday night in honor of the slain officer.

Ethnic Albanians form the vast majority in Kosovo and Serbs in the northern part of the country have never accepted Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008.

In the dust of Utah's desert, they stuck the landing. NASA has successfully landed and recovered a capsule containing rocks and dust from an asteroid. What scientists hope to learn from this extraordinary mission, coming up.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch down. I repeat, EDL. SRC has touchdown.

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HOLMES: A 4 billion-mile journey has brought to Earth samples from an asteroid that could reveal secrets about life on not just our planet but the solar system. The capsule containing rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu landed exactly as expected in the Utah desert on Sunday, a textbook operation.

NASA is taking extraordinary measures to keep the samples pristine, including taking them and keeping them in a key clean room so they can be examined free from any earthly contamination. The capsule was dropped into the atmosphere from the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx, which scooped up the debris and is now on its way to another asteroid.

CNN Space and Defense Correspondent Kristin Fisher with more.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft left Earth back in 2016. Since then, it has traveled more than 4 billion miles to the asteroid Bennu and back before finally releasing a capsule over the United States on Sunday morning. Inside that capsule is about half a pound worth of rocks, dust from the asteroid itself.

And this is really the first time that NASA has ever done anything like this. This capsule reentered the Earth's atmosphere, traveling about 27,000 miles per hour. It hit temperatures of about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit before finally touching down at a very gentle 11 miles per hour in a remote stretch of the desert in Utah with the help of some very big parachutes.

From there, the recovery team swooped in to make sure that the capsule was intact, and safe and not leaking any toxic fumes. It was deemed to be intact and safe. And so from there, they moved it to a clean room. And from there, they're going to be transporting it to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where they will open up the capsule for the public to see.

And it's also where scientists are going to be spending the next few years studying what is inside. And this is important because scientists believe that ancient asteroids like Bennu contained the seeds of life that this asteroid in a way perhaps might have acted like a seed when it or an asteroid like it hit the earth and had molecules like, you know, water, carbon, things like that, which then seeded the earth and then proved to be the genesis for life as we know it.

So there's a very important scientific component to this, but there's also a -- the planetary defense component because Bennu was an asteroid that has a very small chance of actually hitting planet Earth in the year 2182 but that is about more than 150 years from now. So, scientists have time. But, again, very small chance, but it's enough to where NASA wanted to get an up close and personal look at the asteroid itself.

Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

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HOLMES: In the coming hours, Chinese tech giant Huawei is set to unveil new products to the company looking to bounce back after U.S. sanctions attempted to cripple its smartphone business. We'll have the latest from Beijing coming up.

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HOLMES: Welcome back, the Chinese tech company, Huawei, is set to announce new products in the coming hours, despite tough U.S. controls. It comes as the U.S. and China battle over the export of key components in devices such as smartphones.

CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Steven Jiang joins me now to discuss. So what are we likely to see, Steven, and how important is this event for Huawei?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Michael, you know, they have not set what exactly they're launching. But the expectation is they're launching a series of new products, including new phones, but also wearables, tablets and earphones. But, of course, the focus will be on the new phones.

Because as you said, Huawei used to be the world's second biggest smartphone maker. But then that part of their business got almost wiped out because of the severe U.S. sanctions on the company, basically starting in 2019, cutting off the company's access to advanced chip making tools that use U.S. technology because Washington has deemed Huawei to be a serious national security threat.

Now, the company, of course, as long denied that. But after laying low for a few years last month, coincidentally, or maybe now, while the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was visiting China, the company suddenly launched this new phone model called Mate 60 Pro that many experts since have found out use a -- domestically produced advanced chip, the Kirin 9007 nanometer chip made by China's leading chipmaker SMIC.

And experts also found two other chips made by the South Korean company Hynix. Now that company told CNN they have no idea how their products got into the Huawei phone because they have several business ties with the company because of the U.S. export controls.

But all of that, of course, has alarmed Washington because many -- as many have pointed out, this really shows the loopholes as many critics have long set in the current U.S. administration's approach to export controls with many members of Congress, of course, now calling for even stricter export controls targeting Huawei, but also SMIC.

But from the Chinese perspective, of course, this is a huge milestone, making a mockery of the U.S. restrictions on their technology transfer to China with a lot of nationalistic fervors now across Chinese social media, as you can imagine, Michael.

HOLMES: Absolutely. I know you'll be keeping an eye on it for us. Steven Jiang in Beijing. Thanks so much.

[00:30:04]

Now, as Europe battles a growing migrant crisis, Pope Francis has been urging leaders to take a more humane approach. His appeal came during a two-day trip to the French city of Marseilles, where he called on governments to welcome migrants and integrate them into European countries.

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POPE FRANCIS (through translator): People who are at risk of drowning when abandoned on the waves must be rescued. It is a duty of humanity. It is a duty of civilization.

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HOLMES: The number of undocumented migrants arriving on European shores has skyrocketed this year with more than 10,000 arriving on Italian soil alone last week.

Joining me now, live from Paris is Camille Le Coz, she is the Associate Director of Migration Policy Institute Europe. I'll get -- we'll get to the broader issue in a moment, but let's touch on the Pope. He spoke about the treatment of migrants in Europe as, quote, cruelty, a terrible lack of humanity. He spoke about a fanaticism of indifference.

The Pope has long been raising the profile of the issue, or rather the humanity of the issue, but what is the real world plight of these migrants? What do they face even when they make it to Europe?

CAMILLE LE COZ, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE EUROPE: Well, you know, 2,500 people have died at sea since the beginning of the year. We're at nearly 30,000 since in 2014. And we also know that the number of deaths is even higher than the one reported by U.N. organization.

And search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean are increasingly complicated, was conducted by NGO whose work has been constrained by the new legislation in Italy. That makes it mandatory to disembark after each rescue operations that limits the possibilities of multiple rescue operation.

And now, when these people get to Europe, for those who apply for asylum, they're facing long waiting time, the backlog of the national asylum system. So, in each member states that the highest since 2018 -- 2017, and for those who do not apply for asylum, the opportunity of getting legal status is pretty limited.

So they risk, you know, years working in the informal sector being at risk of exploitation. So, when the Pope spoke about indifference, it is true that Europeans audience are getting used to these tests, to these images. But what has been interesting is also, you know, migration is one of the most polarizing issues in Europe at the moment.

HOLMES: Yes.

LE COZ: And we've seen it just last week with, you know, the campaign for the German local election with even center -- parties at the center of the political spectrum calling to stop migration.

HOLMES: Right. I wanted to ask you this. I mean, rather than look perhaps at the allure, the attraction of, you know, Europe or whatever the destination is, what are the major factors that are pushing the migrants to leave home? What are the driving forces and what's being done about that?

LE COZ: Yes, its migration journey is so specific. It is shaped by individual, by structural factors, people are living their home to look for better economic opportunities. They're sometime under social pressure from their family and many, of course, are feeling persecution. They're feeling conflict.

One key thing to remember is that most people move internally or to the neighboring country, and only a minority makes it to Europe. But when it comes to this E.U. response, this European response, Europe has been focusing on Africa for many years. They've been funding this -- they've been investing in this development assistance to support this country, addressing what they've called these root causes of migration. But it's been a bit misleading to think that we could radically improve the economies of this country in just a few years while so much more is needed especially in climate adaptation that will become the number one priority --

HOLMES: Yes.

LE COZ: -- in this region.

HOLMES: I was going through some of the stuff that you've written and spoke about, and you wrote about what makes for successful reintegration of migrants when they are sent back or they return to their home countries. And I think that's a really important issue. What are the key things that bring success to that reintegration?

LE COZ: Return is such a complicated topic for European government. President Macron just reminded in an interview yesterday that this is a priority. This is perceived as the condition for credible European migration and asylum policy.

And yet government in countries of origin under enormous pressure from their own public opinion, just, you know, an example is the Gambia, and the Gambia remittances for migrants come for a 3rd of the GDP. So you can see how this corporation would be would be very political.

[00:35:06]

And that's also the reason why supporting migrants who returned to their own country is so important. Many have borrowed money to fund their journey and many, you know, if they return empty ended, it's like their return is going to be, it's going to be very challenging.

So for many years now, European government have been supporting some form of reintegration for this migrants. We call it reintegration support -- with support, you know, vocational training but also startup grant. The main issue remain, however, that, as we've seen so many of these people face awful journey, journey in very difficult condition.

And so many return with serious mental physical health issues and in most country adequate health care is just not available yet --

HOLMES: Yes.

LE COZ: -- when they go home.

HOLMES: Yes, it's such a complicated issue and that push rather than pull and the reintegration. Very important topics I know you deal with. Camille Le Coz, we're going to leave it there. Thank you so much for getting up early for us there in Paris.

HOLMES: Italian media is reporting that a murderous Sicilian mafia boss who was on the run for three decades before his capture has died. Reports say Matteo Messina Denaro was being treated for colon cancer when he died in a hospital in central Italy. He was arrested in Palermo in January after a 30-year manhunt.

Messina Denaro was serving multiple life sentences for the murder of two anti-mafia prosecutors, for fatal bombings across Italy in the 1990s, and for the torture and murder of the 11-year-old son of one of his enemies.

Still to come on the program, the A.I. revolution on the fire lines. How artificial intelligence is helping put out wildfires before they even begin.

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HOLMES: California's wildfire season is winding down, but the threat seems to grow more ominous every year. And so fire officials are, of course, always looking for ways to gain an advantage. And the latest may come in a network of cameras linked to artificial intelligence.

CNN's Stephanie Elam takes a closer look at this remarkable technology.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In California where wildfires are a constant threat, firefighters want every advantage they can get on a blaze before it becomes an inferno.

SCOTT SLUMPFF, CAL FIRE BATTALION CHIEF: While I was asleep in bed, my phone dinged.

ELAM (voice-over): Cal Fire Scott Slumpff got that leg up while testing new technology in July, when he got a text message with a link to this. Video of a fire that started in the middle of the night, deep in the California wilderness.

SLUMPFF: The dispatch center there was not aware of the fire.

ELAM (voice-over): But something else was, artificial intelligence. Cal Fire in partnership with U.C. San Diego's alert, California program and its network of more than 1,000 cameras across the state is using the technology to recognize a fire early on.

[00:40:12]

STAFF CHIEF PHILLIP SELEGUE, FIRE INTELLIGENCE, CAL FIRE: The next morning that fire would've been a fire of significance.

ELAM (voice-over): Firefighters were dispatched immediately knocking the blaze down before it did major damage.

SELEGUE: So the fires that you don't hear about in the news is the greatest success of this.

ELAM (voice-over): These cameras are the new eyes for firefighters. These two position more than 5,000 feet above sea level can see across this massive Southern California valley. And they're really adding precision to the spotting of wildfires compared to more traditional ways like this lookout station where I'm standing.

With this new AI technology, they can often spot wildfires more quickly than the human eye can.

(voice-over): Here's how it works. Look at this image. Could you spot a fire? Probably not. But notice that red box on the right side, that's where artificial intelligence has detected a faint column of smoke.

BRIAN NORTON, ALERT CALIFORNIA FIRE LIAISON: There's nothing on that horizontal. Then something appears on that horizon that wasn't there before, that could be smoke.

SELEQUE: We have multiple successes of fires at night that had gone undetected that were able to suppress before a 911 phone call had even come into the command centers.

ELAM (voice-over): The pilot program works so well that Cal Fire recently expanded it to all 21 of its dispatch centers where an official will validate the imagery to make sure it is not just dust or clouds.

SELEGUE: Our goal as an agency is to keep 95 percent of our fires at 10 acres or less. So this tool increases our ability to ensure that we're keeping those fires small.

ELAM (voice-over): And the AI is constantly learning. Each time a human confirms or corrects what a detects, the technology adapts.

(on camera): Do you think that it's making a difference and how you're able to protect the population?

SLUMPFF: Absolutely.

ELAM (voice-over): This technology won't replace people, Cal Fire says.

SLUMPFF: Nothing can take the place of the boots on the ground.

ELAM (voice-over): But can help first responders stop fires before they explode.

SLUMPFF: In my opinion, save lives in property.

ELAM (voice-over): Stephanie Elam, CNN, Riverside County, California

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HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Instagram, X and threads at home CNN. Stick around. I'll be back with more news in 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, World Sport coming up next.

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(WORLD SPORT)

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