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Ukraine: Russia's Black Sea Fleet Commander Killed; Thousands Arrive In Armenia Following Azerbaijan Victory; Philippines Says It Removed Chinese Barrier At Disputed Shoal; Migrant Surge at Mexico's Southern Border; Venezuelan Migrants Flee Instability, Set on Reaching U.S.; Canadian House Speaker Apologizes for Praising Ukrainian Veteran Who Fought for Nazis in WWII; Italian Mob Boss Matteo Messina Denaro Dies of Cancer; How the Search for Fossil Fuels Threatens Whales; Lego Drops Green Initiative. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 26, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:28]
LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak. A major victory for Ukraine, Kyiv's boldest attack yet claims the lives of top Russian officers.
A mass exodus says thousands of ethnic Armenians continue to flee Nagorno-Karabakh.
A sustainable pursuits abandoned, I'll speak to a recycling expert about why Lego's changed your plans is not that surprising.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: We begin this hour in Ukraine where the country's Special Operations Forces are claiming a major victory in the war against Russia. Kyiv says a Friday attack on Sevastopol in Crimea has killed the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet and 33 other officers. It's one of the boldest attacks yet on the Russian annex Peninsula.
CNN cannot independently verify that Viktor Sokolov was killed and Moscow would only say that one serviceman was missing as a result of the attack. Well, Russia responded by launching drones and missiles at the Ukrainian city of Odesa for second day, Tuesday. Ukraine says ports infrastructure was seriously damaged and an abandoned hotel was hit. More now from CNN senior international correspondent Sam Kiley.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ukraine dismissed this as a pathetic attempt at retaliation. A Russian bombardment of the port city of Odesa with drones and long range missiles. Two warehouse workers were killed. An abandoned hotel smashed in what could have been an almost routine attack by Russia but for this.
Kyiv now claims to have killed the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov. Ukraine says it also killed another 33 Russian officers in the missile strike against the fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on Friday.
The Ukrainians have targeted senior Russian officers throughout this war, often using intelligence from NATO. And specialist units have been tasked by Kyiv with these killings. They're aimed at sapping morale, and undermining command systems. CNN has no independent confirmation of Ukraine's claim to have killed Russia's Admiral, but it would be its biggest success in this campaign.
And part of an ongoing effort to break through Russia's defense lines to ultimately strike at Crimea. They've included earlier attacks on Putin's Navy and a bridge to Russia itself. The first batch of U.S. donated Abrams tanks have now also arrived in Ukraine. But they're not the strategic weapons the Ukrainians say they need.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Defense packages from the United States including artillery, necessary shells, HIMARS munitions, air defense missiles, additional air defense systems, tactical vehicles, and some other types of weapons that will prove themselves on the battlefield.
KILEY (voice-over): Kyiv wants these ATACMS. Long range missile systems to attack deep behind Russian lines to kill more officers and destroy logistics hubs. The U.S. has yet to announce that Ukraine will get these missiles before the winter freezes over the frontlines where they are.
Sam Kiley, CNN.
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HARRAK: For more, we're joined now by Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He's a CNN military analyst and former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army. Sir, good to have you with us. We're seeing an escalation and fighting in the Black Sea. Let's start with Ukraine's claim that they killed the commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in an attack on the port city of Sevastopol. Is Kyiv opening another front with these attacks on Russian targets and occupied Crimea. And what does this mean for Russia?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. I'd say that, and first of all, it's great to be with you but I'd say that this is actually a deep battle strike doing multi domain operations. So they're hitting -- the Ukrainians or hitting the Russians on the front line, trying to push through the various defensive belts that have been put in place by Russia. But they're also putting Russia on guard in their rear areas. They've been doing this for months now striking targets like ammunition dumps and command post headquarters in places where soldiers are, logistics spaces.
[01:05:15] But now what we're doing is taking it to the next level. This is a strategic type of strategic strike against the Black Sea Fleet headquarters. Not unexpected, they've been hitting Sevastopol on multiple locations for the last several weeks. But this one certainly was a very good targeting methodology by the Ukrainian forces to hit this headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.
HARRAK: Well, in return, Russia has struck the Ukrainian ports of Odesa. Can Ukraine absorb this type of retaliation by Russian forces? And how do these strikes compared to what you saw unfold in Sevastopol?
HERTLING: Well, it's fascinating because what we're talking about the Ukrainians targeting our military targets, key military targets as part of the battlefield. What Russia continues to do is conduct truthfully war crimes against infrastructure and civilian targets, things that are contrary to all the Geneva Conventions and the International Court of Law in terms of armed conflict.
So what we see is just a very different approach by the Russian military, trying to affect the Ukrainian people, making their lives miserable, a strategic approach to try and get Kyiv to do what they want them to do, but it's not working. We're going back into the winter months, there are indicators that Russia will attempt again during the winter to strike key infrastructure targets to make life miserable for Ukrainian civilians, while Ukraine continues to fight on the battlefield front.
And I personally think that the approach that Ukrainian are using are much better than what Russia using it. The Russian approach is only making the Ukrainian people more resolute in terms of getting their sovereign territory back.
HARRAK: And the final question for you, I want to ask you in terms, you know, that there's a lot of discussions going on in Washington and other European capitals. Do you feel that there is a disconnect between what is happening on the ground, the reality of war, and the conversations taking place in western capitals about the counter offensive progress that it's going too slow?
HERTLING: Yes, we've talked about that for quite some time. There's always -- the military has a term for it lately, it's called the 6,000 mile screwdriver. Now, what happens when people in government headquarters thinks -- think that the military forces are not doing what they expect them to do. And yet there's a misunderstanding of what takes place on the battlefield, how difficult it is. From the very beginning of the offensive operations I've said, this will be hard because of the opportunity Russia had of in placing mines and defensive belts.
It's a whole lot harder when you have soldiers going against those defensive belts than it is talking about big arrows and circles on the map. So, yes, I think early on, there were some disconnects between the Capitals in the west and what was happening on the battlefield by Ukrainian forces. But I think more and more as this has occurred, and we've seen slow but steady progress by the Ukrainian forces. I think the Western capitals are beginning to understand more how difficult it is and what is actually taking place.
HARRAK: All right, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst and former commanding general of U.S. Army, Europe and Seventh Army, sir, always good to have you with us. Thank you.
HERTLING: A pleasure. Thanks, Laila.
HARRAK: Thousands of ethnic Armenians have been fleeing the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. And you can see the long line of vehicles trying to exit the enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has an Armenian majority. According to Armenian state media, more than 100 bodies have been recovered from Nagorno- Karabakh following the Azerbaijani military operation. While meeting with a delegation from the U.S., Armenia's Prime Minister accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing.
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NIKOL PASHINYAN, ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER: The ethnic cleansing of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is on their way so that's happening just now. And that is very unfortunate fact because we were trying to achieve international community on debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Azerbaijan has denied those claims. Its president promised the people of Nagorno-Karabakh will be protected during talks with his Turkish counterpart.
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ILHAM ALIYEV, AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The people living in the Karabakh region are Azerbaijan citizens regardless of their nationality. Their safety, security will be ensured by the state of Azerbaijan.
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HARRAK: While meanwhile, Armenian state media reports a powerful explosion at a gas station has wounded more than 200 people. Many of them were trying to get fuel in Nagorno-Karabakh and of their journey to Armenia. It's not clear what caused the depot to go up in flames.
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While the misery on the faces of many evacuees is plain to see, they have been under a food and fuel blockade for months and now are leaving Nagorno-Karabakh out of fear that an ethnic cleansing of their community will come next. CNN's Becky Anderson shows us what they're facing.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mass exodus raising fears for Armenia of ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijan, a charge Baku staunchly denies. So far thousands of ethnic Armenians have fled the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia, a tragic journey they've become all too familiar with.
SVETLANA HARAPETYAN, NAGORNO-KARABAKH RESIDENT: Look, we had three wars, three times we left and came back and now we, I don't know.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Last week Azerbaijan forced the surrender of ethnic Armenian fighters in the breakaway disputed region, closing a major chapter in a conflict that has simmered for decades. But like every war, the horrors don't stop when the fighting abates. Although internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh is home to about 120,000 ethnic Armenians, who make up the majority of the population.
Over the last three decades, the two countries have fought intense wars over the enclave, with a larger, more powerful Azerbaijani military seizing increased territory. Russia, the traditional power breaker says it's been delivering aid to the region's capital, Stepanakert. And that its peacekeepers on the ground will help escort civilians fleeing to Armenia.
But despite Moscow's presence, Nagorno-Karabakh has been under a blockade for nine months. Azerbaijan backed forces blockading the lashing corridor, the only road connecting Armenia to the region, preventing the import of food need and separating families and loved ones.
On Saturday, just days after the ceasefire was signed, the first convoy of humanitarian aid into the region from the International Red Cross, its members also carrying out medical evacuations. But there are still fears aid isn't reaching those who need it most, with thousands here having been surviving with little to no food and fuel for close to a year. And that is why many of those fleeing seem to prefer an uncertain future in Armenia over a bloodied and vicious past in their homeland.
Becky Anderson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Gabriel Gavin is reporter at Politico and he is with us now from Goris, Armenia. Thank you for joining us, give us an update. Are people still trying to flee? Are there still people trying to cross the border into Armenia?
GABRIEL GAVIN, REPORTER, POLITICO: Good morning. Well, all throughout the night, thousands of people have been flooding across the border. Over the past couple of days, we've been up at the checkpoint, that's the last stop on the road from Nagorno-Karabakh. And there's just a never ending stream of cars, trucks, open back vehicles that people have loaded all their possessions into their bags, their suitcases, their paintings, family heirlooms, whatever they can bring with them, and driven across the border even though the weather has been pretty awful.
And people have been huddling in some cases in the back of open batch trucks covered in plastic to keep them safe from the rain. That's continued overnight. And the Armenian government says now 6,500 people have officially crossed. I've spoken to people who are currently in Nagorno-Karabakh still in the lines of cars waiting to get out who said has been there for over 20 hours. So at this at this point, the exodus really is only picking up pace.
HARRAK: What have people shared with you, give us a sense of what these past days, weeks, months have been like for those displaced from Karabakh fleeing their homes and the journey especially that they had to make it to safety.
GAVIN: Well, for the past nine months, the region has been effectively closed to humanitarian aid. So people already going into this conflict last week had suffered from a real shortage of food, fuel and other essential products. So people were already in a fairly desperate state. And it's the 24-hour -- sort of the 24 hour conflict last Tuesday. That's only worsened. The people that I'm speaking to here talk of massive shelling. I met with a woman yesterday who said that her brother was seriously injured in a hospital but she had her kids have been able to get out.
People have taken shelter from the artillery barrage and drone strikes in basements across the city. And then the question was simply, how can we get enough fuel together to load up our cars and get out. And that started to come through when both the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeepers here a little late on deliveries of petrol and diesel. And since then people have taken, you know, they've taken matters into their own hands and done whatever they can to take them in their families to safety.
[01:15:21]
I sat down with one of the first women to come across, she sat in the back of her brother's four by four, waiting for the checkpoint, she brought her two young kids with her. And they just sat in the back of the car. And while the kids ate chocolate bars, something was not had for a very long time. She just wept and said, you know, we're here. And that comes with a lot of uncertainty because people are not just leaving their homes in their home land. They're leaving their livelihoods as well, in many cases, farms, machinery, equipment, things that people made a living off, those are no longer available to them.
And they now are in a country that's incredibly tense politically, and its relationships with its neighbor, Azerbaijan. And there's no clear sense of what's going to happen in the long term for people who need housing, schools and jobs.
HARRAK: My final question to you exactly as to that point, I mean, this is a terrible situation for these families, and so much uncertainty and a future that they don't know what it's going to look like. But can Armenia accommodate these displaced people in terms of resources, support? What are you seeing? I mean, do these people even have connections in Armenia? Where do they stay? Where do they go?
GAVIN: Well, in many cases, people do have family in Armenia. I went to one house village, just actually on the border, where people had received their relatives, and we sat down with them there. And they said, you know, we're going to stay for as long as we can. But in many cases, people don't have relatives. They don't have family members they can depend on. Armenia has vowed to take in 40,000 families, but from where I'm sitting, it's clear that there's not enough support going on.
Just a day before this mass exodus, I sat down with a deputy mayor of this city, Goris. And I said, what are you doing to prepare for a potential mass exodus? And she said, nothing. We're just simply pushing to make sure it doesn't happen, which is a municipal authorities possibly not the best use of your time.
So the fact that there's not enough support in place for people. I did interview Azerbaijani foreign policy chief, Hikmet Hajiyev, just yesterday, and he told me that the Azerbaijan will guarantee the right of return for those people who were born there and have property there. It'll respect property rights, but certainly everyone I speak to here on the ground in Armenia tells me they think they've left so good.
HARRAK: Thank you so much for bringing us that update to Gabriel Gavin. Thank you.
And still ahead, we'll tell you why this member the Philippine Coast Guard is using a knife to fend off Chinese claims in the South China Sea.
Plus, the Writers Guild of America have reached a tentative deal with studios to end their strike. More on what that agreement could hold. That's next.
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HARRAK: The Philippines says it has removed a floating barrier installed by China in a contested part of the South China Sea. The Philippine Coast Guard used knives to cut ropes holding the barrier in place. Its government says it poses a hazard to navigation. All parts of the South China Sea have been in dispute for years now, as nations in the region have conflicting claims to islands and reefs. Until recently a nervous detente has existed.
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Let's get you more now. Steven Jiang is standing by in Beijing. Good day, Steven. Why did China install a sea barrier? And could we really see a maritime conflict breakout in future?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Laila, here's the thing. It's worth remembering, China actually claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea based on quote unquote, historical proof even though that has been rejected by an international tribunal. But nonetheless, they claim sovereignty over some 1.3 million square miles of area. And as you said, these waters have been hotly contested for years. But nobody does this in a way that's so extraordinary and increasingly aggressive as Beijing has in the past few years through land reclamation and massive construction. They have literally turned a previously inhabited atolls and islets into manmade islands equipped with the sophisticated radars and air strips and other equipment. That really is the basis of their growing power projection, military power projection, not only through their navy, but also their coast guard and also their nominally civilian maritime militia.
Now, we of course, have seen in the past few weeks and months this growing number of publicized incidents involving China and other claimants, especially the Philippines, we have seen the Chinese Coast Guard using water cannons and what Philippines have described as dangerous maneuvers to chase and drive away Philippine boats. The Philippines has also accused China of destroying marine ecosystem in their exclusive economic zones based on deliberate actions.
Now, for all of that, of course, Beijing has been pushing back at these accusations, saying the only thing that has changed recently, is a change of government in Manila, this new president, President Marcos, in Beijing's words is now doing the U.S. bidding by instigating tensions and creating a political force. But Beijing also seems to be especially angry at the Philippines decision to bring international media along to witness some of those encounters and saying all of that is a stage performance aimed at creating a false narrative of China being the bully and creating a more favorable international narrative for the Philippines.
But at the underlying question is the Chinese military is not leaving, they're not abandoning their militarized, manmade islands. So absent of a war, how is this dynamic? How is the Chinese behavior is going to change? Laila?
HARRAK: Steven Jiang reporting, thank you so much.
Now hoping to counter China's growing influence in the Indo Pacific region, the U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the leaders of some 18 Pacific island nations on Monday at the White House. The group met for a summit meeting as Mr. Biden announced new infrastructure funding and millions of dollars in other assistance. They also had a roundtable talk about the threat, climate change poses to their region with U.S. climate envoy, John Kerry. Mr. Biden sided World War II to suggest America's commitment to the region is long term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Like our forebears during World War II, we know a great deal in the history of the world. We written across the Pacific over the coming years. And like them, we owe it to the next generation to help write that story together to do the hard work, historic work that General MacArthur said and I quote him again, for which a better world for all will come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Well, the highlight of the summit was a new U.S. diplomatic recognition for two Pacific island nations, the Cook Islands and Niue. Meantime in Washington, pressure is building on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the deadline of a possible government shutdown draws closer. McCarthy says he thinks he has enough votes from Republicans to make some progress this week. But right now lacks enough votes to push through a short term bill to fund the government. CNN's Manu Raju has the details.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Congress is running out of time to avoid a government shutdown, 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Saturday night. That is the deadline to avoid a shutdown. And there is just no agreement yet about how to do just that in large part because of divisions within the House GOP conference, the Speaker of the House trying to convince his members to all fall in line behind the Republican only bill to keep the government open for just a few weeks.
But he doesn't have the votes because he is included in this plan spending cuts. The Democrats won't accept border security measures that the Democrats won't accept. But the cuts don't go far enough for some members on his far right which means that he doesn't have the 218 votes to get this out of his chamber. He can only afford to lose four Republicans on any party line vote. He at the moment is probably losing about seven maybe even up to 10 members on a short term spending bill.
[01:25:12]
So what is the Speaker's plan? He is still trying to pressure those same members to come on his side. This as the Senate leadership is working on a completely different plan to keep the government open, with hardly any time to reconcile differences. Now, I asked the Speaker about what is looming over all this, threats from his far right that he could lose his job as Speaker if he were to cut a deal with Democrats to keep the government open.
I asked him how much that is driving his decision making over him overspent -- over his handling of the spending talks.
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RAJU: How much is the fact that if you do cut a deal with Democrats, there could be a vote to push you out? How much is that driving your decision making right now?
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Nothing drives my decision. There's no one driving my decision wouldn't that driven my decision making 15 times before my --
RAJU: Would you cut a deal with Democrats, and that could be the end of it.
MCCARTHY: Did I cut a deal then? Did I cut a deal then?
RAJU: When for that?
MCCARTHY: We went 15 rounds --
RAJU: No, I'm talking about right now to go CR.
MCCARTHY: But let me let me explain something to you. I'm no different than I was then or before. My whole focus what's in my mind, what drives me is the American people. I'm not worried if someone makes a motion. I'm not worried if somebody votes no. I'm going to wake up each and every day with the same thing that drives my opinion of what needs to be done solving these problems. And that's why I'm going to do. And I'm going to work with people who want to get that done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, even if the Senate were to reach a quick deal, it will still take some time for the chamber to process that measure if it includes provisions dealing with aid to Ukraine, for instance, that could slow things down because of the opponents such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was warning he could drag things out. But there is talk of potentially forgoing the issue of Ukraine aid putting that to later in the fall and just simply keeping the government open just for a few more weeks.
But there's still no guarantee that Speaker McCarthy will put a Senate passed bill on the floor of the House. If he you were to do that, again, he could face that same threat to push them out of the speakership. So huge questions looming over Washington, will the government shutdown? How long could the shutdown lasts? And how will this play politically?
There are a lot of Republicans, including the Speaker himself concerned the GOP would get the blame for this as they tried to move through to get something done avert a crisis here in Washington, but it's unclear at this moment whether they can.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
HARRAK: The Writers Guild of America has secured a tentative agreement with top Hollywood studios that will most likely end months of picketing. All details of the agreements are expected to be released on Tuesday, but Hollywood won't be working at full steam just yet with the Screen Actors Guild awaiting a deal of their own. CNN's Natasha Chen reports.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Writers Guild of America told its members this deal is quote, exceptional, with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership. And I'm talking to some writers after this announcement, I found that there's a general sense of relief, though some are holding out on fully celebrating before they see the actual terms of the deal that have not yet been released.
The Guild says it will share the details on Tuesday. And ultimately, more than 11,000 members would need to vote to ratify it before the strike officially ends. As a reminder, writers have been on strike for nearly five months as they call for better residual pay on streaming shows and movies. Protections regarding the use of artificial intelligence potentially creating content based on writers ideas. Having minimum staffing levels and duration of employment as studios have increasingly use smaller groups of writers for shorter periods, resulting in wages, which writers say make it very difficult to sustain a living.
But ending the strike still doesn't mean T.V. and movie productions immediately start back up. There are still 160,000 actors on strike since July and their union, SAG-AFTRA, will still be picketing this week. There is some optimism that writers having an agreement with studios may spur a deal for actors as well. And SAG-AFTRA said they look forward to reviewing the writers agreement, while continuing to urge studios to return to the table to make a fair deal.
Meanwhile, the Milken Institute told me these double strikes have caused more than $5 billion in economic loss across the U.S. affecting not just actors and writers, but so many small businesses that have had to lay people off since the productions they support through custodial services, catering, props, makeup and more have been at a standstill. Some of the small business owners tell me they're now wondering whether actors will also form a deal with studios in time for productions to start before the holiday season, or if there may not be true income rolling in until the new year.
Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.
[01:29:43]
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HARRAK: In the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden will be in Michigan to walk the picket line with striking members of the United Autoworkers. A source says the union's president will also be there.
The White House says that while Biden is standing with the workers, he won't be involved in negotiations. But just ahead of his visit, the president repeated his position that the workers should get their fair share of the industry's profits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now that the industry is growing back, they should (INAUDIBLE) in the benefits. And as take a look at (INAUDIBLE) in salaries for executives and growth in the industry, they should benefit. So you guys have to (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: Well, the UAW has been on strike against Detroit's big three automakers for nearly two weeks now. The union's demands including 40 percent wage hike over four years, a four-day work week, and increased benefits.
Still to come, Mexico agrees to deport migrants near the U.S. border, but at its own southern border with Guatemala, a migrant influx into Mexico is nonstop.
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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak. And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
A U.S. border official says migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border are expected to remain high in the near term. It comes as federal authorities have been grappling with a new surge of migrants following the wave of newcomers last week.
According to a U.S. Homeland Security official, border patrol agents apprehended nearly 9,000 people on Sunday, and more than 7,000 just a day before.
But the border official says new deterrence measures from Mexico are expected to eventually help drive down the numbers.
While the unprecedented migration surge is not only impacting the U.S. southern border, it's also overwhelming Mexico's border with Guatemala.
CNN's David Culver is there with a look at the migrant influx headed north.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To get a better sense of the migrant crisis impacting the U.S., we wanted to come to the border, not the border you might be thinking of. Rather, we're at Mexico's southern border with Guatemala.
That is Guatemala over there. And that, if you look here, are folks crossing. They are waving at us. Migrants who have made the journey from various countries.
We have met folks from Haiti, from Cuba, from Honduras. Ultimately, though, many of them tell us, if not all, they want to go north.
[01:34:56]
CULVER: By the way, that's the official crossing, that bridge, not many people using that. Instead, they come to this side, to the Mexico side, and this is into a city that is called Ciudad Hidalgo. And they set up little encampments.
You can see here, you've got folks with tents set up. They've got clothes hanging. They're cooking food. You see a lot of families, a lot of young children in particular.
And the plan for many of them Is to be here in Ciudad Hidalgo, until they can find a way usually by bus or by car, to get to Tapachula, which is the largest city in this area, the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.
And many of them plan then to go meet with officials. And they hope to then claim asylum here in Mexico, or at the very least, try to get transit documents. And that buys them time to stay in Mexico as they plan their way into the U.S.
Most of them will tell you, and they told me this directly, they want to enter the U.S. legally. But what you have noticed here, and we have seen this in the past several months here in Mexico in particular, is the influx and the surge is a real strain on the resources for Mexican cities.
And you notice that as you see a lot of these folks are really trying on their own, figure out how to find food, how to find clothes. And they are filling up cities like Tapachula, 15,000 to 17,000 right now -- that's the number of migrants alone in Tapachula. Huge numbers that plan to wait and stay.
And so, essentially, if you look at the U.S. border as a river, you have cut it off in one part. At least, that is the intention from U.S. border officials. Well upstream, it is still flowing, and it's flowing rapidly.
And this is the impact. It's coming on over the banks. You've got migrants here who ultimately, yes, want to go to the U.S. but frankly, most of them don't know how or where they will end up. It really has become a humanitarian crisis, and most everyone you speak with here acknowledges that.
David Culver, CNN -- Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Well, many migrants traveling to the U.S. are coming from Venezuela. Stefano Pozzebon reports now on why they are taking the incredible risks to reach America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: The journey for the American dream starts before dawn. At 4:00 a.m., these group of migrants is getting ready to cross the Darien Gap, the stretch of tropical forests between Colombia and Panama.
In the darkness, a loudspeaker invites each migrant to sing the anthems of the countries they have left behind.
The voices of the Venezuelans resonate the loudest. At sunrise, the gates of these makeshift migrant camps open up and the group advances into the forest.
Panamanian authorities estimate that on average, more than 1,400 people have crossed this thick stretch of forest every day this year, already more than double the numbers in 2022. Most of those crossings are Venezuelans. But migrants from Ecuador, Haiti, Colombia, and even China also attend (ph) these routes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China? China?
POZZEBON: Hundreds of thousands of personal stories, but one shared goal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a lump in my throat. But I'm doing this for my family, for a better future. POZZEBON: The hike lasts several days across rivers and jungle mud.
But the prospect of making it to the United States, over 2,000 miles north from here is stronger than ever.
MARISELA SILVA, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: So, the longer-term mission, I think, it's difficult to say right now but what we can work, what we see in terms of trends. And the trend is that the numbers will continue increasing.
POZZEBON: Venezuelans have been leaving their home country for years. But until recently, most of them headed towards other South American countries. What set this year apart is that hundreds of thousands of migrants are now traveling directly towards the United States.
(INAUDIBLE) according to United Nations, a growing number of unaccompanied children are attempting to trek on their own. These little ones instead follow their parents, tied together so they don't get lost in the crowd.
On the other side finally in Panama, a small group gets a passage on a boat down the river. Others heal their feet, wounded from the hike, before the journey continues north.
From the air, these soldiers can only monitor the record flow. But there is no way of stopping it, Colombian and Panamanian authorities say. And for most of these people, there is no way of turning back.
Despite recent economic reforms, Venezuela remains in deep humanitarian crisis with over 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line, according to independent figures.
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POZZEBON: With living conditions in Venezuela not showing any sign of improving anytime soon, and the rest of South America that is already struggling with their own problems, call (ph) it the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, inflation in the last few years, it's only natural that a growing number of people are trying to reach what is seen as the only place where they can have better opportunities, the United States.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon -- Bogota.
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HARRAK: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the former Cosa Nostra mob boss has spent his final days in prison and it also seems that Italy is starting to say goodbye to an era of rampant mob violence.
That is ahead.
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HARRAK: A diplomatic dispute is brewing in Canada after some controversial comments from the Speaker of the House of Commons. During a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, the speaker praised the Ukrainian and Canadian veteran, who it turns out fought for a Nazi unit during World War II.
CNN's Paula Newton has the details.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The prime minister himself Justin Trudeau, came out to say that, look, this incident was not just deeply embarrassing to Canadian parliamentarians but to all Canadians.
For his part, the speaker of the Parliament did apologize, but then also said this. Listen.
ANTHONY ROTA, CANADIAN HOUSE SPEAKER: I would also like to add that this initiative was entirely my own. The individual in question being from my writing and having been brought to my attention, no one, including you, my fellow parliamentarians, or the Ukraine delegation, was privy to my remarks prior to their delivery.
NEWTON: You heard the speaker there, try and take responsibility on his own. But given the fact that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in parliament, it raises a lot of questions about vetting. And it is also embarrassing for Ukraine itself.
To that end, the Kremlin spokesperson called this, in his words, outrageous and that it shows a certain sloppiness of memory on the part of a lot of Canadian history students. And he definitely called out what he said was western propaganda.
Again, this remains a deeply embarrassing incident for Canada, and many are wondering now if the speaker will resign.
Paula Newton, CNN -- Ottawa.
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HARRAK: A man responsible for horrifying murders across Italy has died of cancer in prison. Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has spent decades on the run before being captured in January.
Ben Wedeman takes a look now at his crimes, and explains why the Mafia days of old are also dying.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He reportedly (INAUDIBLE)killed enough people to fill a cemetery. A macabre boast made to a fellow Mafioso turned state witness.
Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro died of cancer over the weekend in a prison outside Rome, almost nine months after police finally captured him in a private health clinic in Palermo. Until then, for 30 years he had evaded capture, living under a false identity in his hometown of Castelvetrano in western Sicily.
Unmolested during all those years, thanks to Omerta, the Mafia code of silence.
Messina Denaro was tried in absentia and found guilty for involvement in a series of murders, including the car bombings of two anti-Mafia judges in the early 1990s. Among the most grisly of those murders when he and his fellow mobsters dissolved in acid a 12-year-old boy, the son of a Mafia turncoat in front of his own grandfather.
He was the last of the old-style crime bosses, the godfathers he so admired, who bumped off those who got in their way.
"That Mafia is not there anymore," investigative journalist Roberto Saviano (ph) told CNN earlier this year. "The organization understood well that they have to kill less."
The law, albeit after 30 years, eventually caught up with Messina Denaro. And now, death has as well.
Ben Wedeman, CNN -- Rome.
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HARRAK: London's metropolitan police have launched an investigation into a number of allegations of non-recent (ph) sexual offenses committed in the city and elsewhere in the country.
The police force say those allegations come after British media outlets published a joint investigation against Russell Brand. Well, that report cited four women who accused the actor of sexual assault and at least one case of rape. Brand has denied the allegations.
London police are urging anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, no matter how long ago, to contact them.
Coming up -- why Lego is ditching its efforts to make its bricks from recycled plastic bottles.
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HARRAK: Australian activists are challenging an offshore gas project that's not only threatening to pump deadly fossil fuel emissions into the air, but may deafen the whales that live off of Australia's West Coast.
CNN's Anna Coren explains.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is seismic blasting. It's a method fossil fuel companies use to find gas and oil under the sea. Air guns launch sound waves towards the ocean floor. How long it takes them to bounce back is an indication of the fossil fuel trapped under the sea bed.
The bubbles and bangs may look harmless but Greenpeace warns they can be deadly to marine life. RICHARD GEORGE, GREENPEACE SENIOR CAMPAIGNER: And they're loud and
(INAUDIBLE) and that's really problematic to a whale because whales depend on their hearing for everything -- to navigate, to find their mates, and to look for food. So a deaf whale is a dead whale.
[01:49:56]
COREN: The western coast of Australia is a whale super highway. It's also where energy giant, Woodside Energy, wants to blast the southern spring searching for gas for a huge new fossil fuel project known as Scarborough.
GEORGE: If it goes ahead, we're looking at emissions equivalent to 12 years -- Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions. So it's a disaster for our climate and it's a disaster for our oceans as well.
COREN: Woodside provided CNN with its marine environment plan for the Scarborough gas project dated this June.
There will be no lasting effect on whales, however, there could be short term hearing impacts, the report reads. Woodside will have dedicated marine fauna observers and systems which can listen for whale song on some vessels, the company says. Adding, the presence of whales can postpone activities.
Another powerful concept is acknowledged in Woodside's report. The importance of the marine environment to the traditional customs and culture of indigenous Australians.
RAILING COOPER: Those animals represent a song, a dance, that we, as indigenous people, life will come to a halt.
COREN: Railing Cooper (ph) is taking Woodside to federal court, arguing she is not being properly consulted on seismic blasting.
COOPER: And it's a stie of significant area that continually get hammered. Our people are being attacked. Our ancient history, our wildlife, our ecosystems, our water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those song lines, the rocker --
COREN: Earlier this month, Cooper won a temporary injunction against the blasting while her case is heard. Woodside could begin blasting on Friday.
In a statement to CNN, Woodside said we also welcome the federal courts proposal to hold a further hearing regarding Miss Cooper's challenge. And went on to say it had consulted extensively on its environmental plans, and met regulatory requirements and standards.
The Australian government continues to back the project saying it will be good for jobs and energy security. That is despite also pledging to be carbon neutral by 2050. Scarborough is set to run two decades past that date.
Anna Coren, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will produce 1 million energy efficient heat pumps as part of its strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy prices.
Mr. Macron wants to reduce France's dependence on fossil fuels, and boost the use of electric cars by 2030. He announced on Monday his plan to train 30,000 people to install the 1 million heat pumps by 2027. The pumps are considered to be a climate friendly alternative for both heating and cooling.
Lego is abandoning plans to use recycled plastic bottles for its bricks. The toymaker says the process would create more pollution than anticipated. And they will continue to make oil-based plastic bricks.
However, in a statement, the company said it is testing other ways of making Lego bricks and added, "It is fully committed to making them from sustainable materials by 2032."
Joining me now is Judith Enck. She is the president of Beyond Plastics, and a former EPA regional administrator.
So good to have you with us. Were you surprised by Lego's announcement?
JUDITH ENCK, PRESIDENT, BEYOND PLASTICS: No, not at all. When they first announced a while ago that they were going to attempt to use PET plastic, recycled plastic for their products, I though, I don't think that's going to work.
And I can explain why. So today's announcement, unfortunately, was not a surprise.
HARRAK: Why not?
ENCK: Well, plastic recycling is really hard to do. And we have all been fooled by the plastics industry telling us just toss all your plastics in your recycling bin and it will get recycled. And in fact, in the United States, there is only 5 to 6 percent recycling rate.
And the reason is because plastics are made from fossil fuels. They are made from thousands of different chemicals and chemical additives and many different colors.
So when you mix all this plastic together, you don't have a really good material that lends itself to something like making Lego blocks from recycled plastic.
The plastics industry has known for decades that plastics are fundamentally not easy to recycle, and not easy to use in products. But they know that people have really serious environmental and health concerns about plastics.
[01:54:53] ENCK: And so, they've spent millions of dollars trying to fool people into thinking that plastics are recyclable. You can never say the words "sustainable" and "plastics" in the same sentence because plastics simply are not environmentally sustainable.
HARRAK: All right. Not environmentally sustainable. o, what is a sustainable and greener material to make Lego bricks? What would you recommend Lego do?
ENCK: Well, this is definitely a hard one. And I appreciate Lego making the effort. But if they are serious about environmental sustainability and leaving our planet cleaner for future generations, they should stop using plastic.
I understand they have 150 people looking at this alternative. They should look at things like compressed cardboard, recycled metal, make sure there are no sharp edges. Perhaps wood.
The product may look a little different. But I think little kids just want to play with these toys. Make sure they're clickable. And Lego really needs to do their homework and move away from plastics entirely if they want a have the banner of environmentally sustainable.
HARRAK: Can toys and games in general ever be made more ecofriendly
ENCK: Yes, they were for generations. Plastics only really came on the market after World War II and none of us have really voted to use more plastics. But we have our markets flooded with plastics simply because there is a glut of ethane which is a byproduct of hydro fracking.
So that makes plastic cheap for businesses. But it's not really cheap because of the environmental and health damage done by the production of plastics mostly in low-income communities and communities of color.
And then, the disposal of plastics. My organization, Beyond Plastics, did a study recently where we documented in the United States the plastic recycling rate is only 5 to 6 percent.
So I want to be really clear. People should keep recycling your metal, your paper, your cardboard, your glass. But we need to be really honest that plastics are not recyclable and cannot really easily be used in recycled products like, Lego attempted.
HARRAK: They've got to go back to the drawing board to do that.
ENCK: They do.
HARRAK: Judith Enck -- thank you so much for joining us. Greatly appreciate it.
ENCK: Thank you.
HARRAK: And that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
On behalf of all of us here, thank you so much for spending this part of your day with us. I'm Laila Harrak.
I'll be back with more news after a quick break.
Stay with us.
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