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51 Killed in Russian Missile Strike; Putin Heralds Nuclear- Powered Cruise Missile Test; Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrant for Juan Guaido; Biden to Expand Border Wall He's Long Been Against; Five Arrested for Allegedly Spitting at Christian Pilgrims in Jerusalem; Secret School Teaches Girls in Defiance of Taliban; French Officials Urge Calm Amid Reports of Bedbug Infestations. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 06, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN, they arrived as mourners and left as victims. Dozens killed by a Russian missile strike in one of the most deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilians since the war began.

[00:00:43]

Border wall flip-flop. The Biden administration just approved construction of a 20-mile-long wall on the Southern border.

An invasion of the bedbugs, France is facing a surge of the nasty, tiny bloodsuckers, and many fear they won't stop there.

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

VAUSE: Thank you for joining us here for CNN NEWSROOM.

And we begin this hour in the small Ukrainian village of Hroza, home to around 300 people. That is, until Thursday and a deadly Russian missile strike which killed 51 people, all of them civilians. The deadliest single attack on civilians there this year.

According to Ukrainian officials, there were no military targets in the area at the time of the attack. The victims had gathered at a cafe to mourn a dead Ukrainian soldier. Almost every family and village had sent a relative to the service.

The Unite Nations described the attack as a war crime, while the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accused Russia of genocidal aggression.

During a meeting with European leaders in Spain, Zelenskyy said the attack clearly shows the need for more air defenses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I believe that today it is impossible to protect people, especially during the winter, except by air defense. To protect people who died absolutely tragically because of this inhuman terrorist attack. Fifty civilians were killed during the funeral. Russia does this every

day in the Kharkiv region, and only air defense can help. And so, Europe has a lot of its own issues, different challenges, but from Ukraine's point of view, the key topic was air defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Fred Pleitgen arrived in Hroza amid frantic efforts to care for the wounded and find the missing. And a warning: images in his report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Utter destruction and chaos after the massive explosion. As night fell, bodies still strewn across the area as search-and-rescue crews scoured the debris.

This man, weeping in front of a body bag, too shaken to talk to us. We learned his name is Sergei (ph), and the deceased was his wife.

PLEITGEN: As you can see, this building was completely annihilated when it was hit by the missile. The Ukrainians are saying that this was an Iskander missile launched by the Russians. That is a very heavy missile that is normally used to destroy large troop formations or even armored vehicles.

And as you can see, it completely devastated this building right here.

The Ukrainians say more than 50 people were killed. It's very difficult for them to identify some of the bodies, because they are in such bad shape.

They also say, what was going on here was an event around a funeral, and they say that the people who were attending that event were all local folks.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): "There was chaos," the chief investigator tells us. "There was a fire which was extinguished by firefighters. Of course, evacuation measures were taken to get people out of the rubble."

PLEITGEN: Obviously, all of this is still very fresh. And a lot of the search-and-rescue crews are still very much at work.

We can see over there that some of the first responders are still busy sort of doing the forensics on the scene here. And also still putting bodies into body bags. There's a lot of them laying around here, and a lot of them being taken away by some of these crews here.

One of the other things that we can see over there is that, obviously, this was some sort of recreational area. There still seems to be some sort of playground that was also heavily damaged when the missile hit.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukraine's president, visiting Spain, pinning the blame on Russia. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator):

Tragically, because of this inhuman terrorist attack, 50 civilians were killed during a funeral. Russia does this every day in the Kharkiv region, and only air defense can help.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But that help will be too late for Sergei's (ph) wife and the others killed. The only thing he can do for her now is help the crews lift her body to be taken away.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Hroza, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Hours after the missile strike, Russian President Vladimir Putin ramped up his nuclear rhetoric, announcing the successful turn [SIC] -- test launch, rather, of a new generation of nuclear-powered cruise missiles.

Development began in 2018 as part of a new weapons program to build intercontinental and hypersonic missiles.

This is file video of the current Russian cruise missile.

The new missile is known by NATO as the SCC-X-9 Skyfall. The nuclear- powered propulsion system allows for near unlimited range. It flies low and in stealth, is capable, apparently, of out-maneuvering missile defense systems.

Here's more now from President Putin, speaking Thursday in Sochi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I want to assure everyone that, at the moment, the response from Russia to a nuclear strike on its territory is absolutely unacceptable for any potential aggressor.

Because, from the moment the enemy missile launch is detected, no matter where it comes from, from any point in the world's oceans, or from any territory, in a retaliatory counterstrike, so many hundreds of our missiles will appear in the air that not a single enemy will have a chance of survival in several directions at once.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now is Jill Dougherty, adjunct professor at Georgetown University and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, and longtime Russia reporter, and also following Vladimir Putin for many, many years, as well.

It's good to see you, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Hey, John.

VAUSE: OK. So not only is Putin warning of this unsurvivable nuclear counterstrike, he also says Moscow has successfully trialed a new nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed cruise missile, the Burevestnik, which has been around, I think, since 2018, at least the idea of it, anyway.

Described by one military expert as a weapon of retaliation, "which Russia would use after intercontinental ballistic missiles to finish military and civilian infrastructure and not leave a chance of survival."

The only country which has threatened the use of nuclear weapons is Russia. So where is the threat coming from? Where is this retaliation, if you like? To whom?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I mean, Vladimir Putin, of course, at this point, is making the argument that the United States is going to attack. That the United States is behind the war in Ukraine, that it's pushing the Ukrainians, et cetera.

And that the danger is, you know, the United States would do anything to destroy Russia.

So his, I would say, ace in the hole at this point, one of the only things that Vladimir Putin can really use to threaten the West, is nuclear weapons. I mean, his economy can't do it. His military certainly can't do it.

So right now, it's the threat of nuclear weapons, and specifically, now, he is threatening to pull out of the comprehensive test ban treaty.

And so, continuing what he always says, it's a mirror. We are like a mirror to the United States. Whatever they do, we will do. They never ratified. And we did, but we could pull out.

It's just more threatening. And this is what the -- you know, the Russian president has been doing since the beginning of the invasion in -- just back in February of 2022.

VAUSE: There's this talk that he's under pressure, if you like, to restart nuclear testing. Who would he be under pressure from? Who would pressure the strongmen or autocrat?

DOUGHERTY: Well, there are people in Russia right now who would want to do that, who are pushing. There are some really retrograde, nationalist, very, very radically conservative people, truly nationalist, who would want to do that.

They are constantly making threats. These are -- these are not only the TV talking heads, which you hear almost every night talking about, let's bomb London, you know, Paris, and Washington.

These are people who are actually in the military and in the security services, who at least think that it's plausible that they could attack the United States.

Now, rationally, Russia knows that that would destroy the world. And hopefully, Putin understands that, too. But at this point, you know, the rhetoric is really inflamed. And the situation inside Russia, John, I would argue, is very destabilized.

VAUSE: And we have this sort of Putin doctrine of first response as retaliation, if you like. It seems to hold true in Ukraine. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN (through translator): There is an ever-increasing military and political pressure. We have to respond.

I have said many times that we did not start this so-called war in Ukraine. On the contrary, we are trying to end it. It was not us who worked in a state coup in Kyiv in 2014, bloody and anti- constitutional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The part -- the stuff about, we didn't start the war in Ukraine, we've heard before. We know that's, you know, Putin's view.

But what is interesting here is I'm assuming the state coup he's referring to is the Maidan revolution back in February 2014 in Ukraine, which led to the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych.

It was a popular uprising. It was a Democratic sort of uprising of the people. But Putin clearly doesn't see it that way. So again, explain his worldview here.

DOUGHERTY: Well, don't forget, there is weaponization of history, and that is a very big phenomenon right now in Russia. Because President Putin is weaponizing history.

The history books are being changed. Educational books are being changed. And he is constantly talking about this, I would say, perverted idea of history. He is changing it, and he's using it in order to stir up his people and to justify himself to the world. But it is not correct.

VAUSE: And not just the big picture, it seems, when it comes to, you know, weaponization of history, he also likes to change recent history as well, possibly when it comes to the -- the assassination or the killing of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former head of the Wagner mercenary group. And whether he caused the brain crash.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, that was very intriguing, wasn't it? Putin was at the Valdai conference. I've actually been at that Valdai forum, and it's kind of a talk fest of people for several days. Putin speaks for hours, which he did for today. I think it was three hours.

And he had a couple of interesting nuggets where he said -- if you remember Prigozhin's plane went down; he was killed. Everybody on the plane was killed. And he's the man, of course, who had the uprising against the Kremlin.

And Putin said, they should have checked for drugs, but they didn't. And then he went on to say that money -- actually, he quoted it as ten billion dollars, and cocaine, was found, allegedly, in the office of Prigozhin's people, the Wagner Group in St. Petersburg.

So I think what you're doing, what he's doing, is setting up a way of besmirching the reputation of Prigozhin and justifying, this was not somebody outside. They did it to themselves, because they were corrupt. He's not saying that directly, but that certainly is the implication.

VAUSE: Yes. I guess history is, I guess, crucial to a lot of this. And a lot of justifications, and it controls the future, as Orwell once said.

Jill, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

DOUGHERTY: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Syria says a terrorist drone attack on a military college on Homs Thursday has killed at least 80 people and wounded hundreds more. Images from the scene are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Soldiers and their families had gathered for a graduation ceremony. At least six children among the dead.

The Syrian armed forces vowed to respond with full force and determination to what they described as an unprecedented attack.

Damascus has declared three days of national mourning.

Meantime, Turkey's military has carried out air strikes in Northern Syria, killing at least 11 people. Turkey says the targets were Kurdish militants, the PKK, destroying an oil well, bunkers, shelters, and a storage facility.

The attack follows a deadly bombing claimed by the PKK in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday.

Venezuelan authorities have issued an arrest warrant against the former opposition leader and former national assembly president, Juan Guaido.

The country's attorney general accused Guaido of numerous crimes, including treason.

For more on this, journalist David Shortell is with us now from Mexico City. So what are exactly are the charges that Guaido is accused of? And where is he right now?

DAVID SHORTELL, JOURNALIST: Yes John, several charges being levied against Juan Guaido, the former opposition leader in Venezuela, including, as you said, treason, and an accusation that he and his interim government unlawfully extracted money from the Venezuelan government when he was running it from the years 2019 to 2022.

Now, these are charges, of course, coming from the authoritarian government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, so it's important to keep in mind that this is a government with a very partial justice system, a government with a history of jailing political opponents.

But I'll take you through a bit more of what the attorney general did announce earlier this evening.

He is accusing Juan Guaido and that interim government of tapping into the resources of the state-run oil company and using that money to pay for some of the interim government's project and some of its legal bills, actually.

Now, you'll remember, Juan Guaido was, in 2019, recognized by the United States and a broad international coalition as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. In the years since, he ran as an interim president, a transitional government there, until late last year when the opposition actually dissolved that government.

Now, John, he's living in Miami in exile. He's actually teaching college courses there. And he forcefully denounced and denied these allegations in a livestream earlier tonight, calling them false accusations.

[00:15:02]

I'll read you a bit more of what he said. He asks the question, "Why now? Why did the Maduro dictatorship charge me now, and not before, when I was living in Venezuela?"

He goes on to say, "No, Maduro, I did not allow you to kidnap me, and I won't allow you to silence me."

Now, I spoke with some analysts earlier tonight who noted that these charges are purely symbolic. There's virtually zero chance that the Biden administration is going to act on this arrest warrant and detain Juan Guaido in the United States.

We have reached out to the Justice Department in the United States for comment, John.

VAUSE: David, thank you. David Shortell there with the very latest on those charges. Thank you.

Well, a major shift in U.S. policy towards Venezuelan migrants. They'll be diverted directly back to Venezuela if they enter the country illegally and lack a legal basis to remain.

Venezuelans make up a large share of Southern border crossings but, for years, the U.S. has been unable to deport them because of frosty relations with Caracas.

The policy change follows a recent move to extend what's known as temporary protected status for some Venezuelans, allowing them stay in the United States for up to 18 months. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken led a team to Mexico City

Thursday to discuss migration with their Mexican counterparts. A former U.S. border official described the challenges which they're now facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: You see the administration is really struggling. They've inherited a very difficult problem. This was going on long before the Biden administration. But they have very limited tools to solve it.

And I think today you're seeing Secretary Mayorkas, Secretary Blinken in Mexico, meeting with President Lopez Obrador. That could be a big part of the solution: try to limit Mexico, try to do a better job of limiting the flow of individuals through Mexico.

Look, the problem only becomes when they set forth foot in the United States. Clearly, there's very little we can do to stop people in Mexico from approaching our border. We can only deal with it once they get here.

So that's part of the reason why you're seeing this delegation in Mexico today, is to just put additional and work harder with Mexico to see what else they can do to limit the flow to our border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, the U.S. president, Joe Biden, campaigned against it. He promised not one more foot would be built of Donald Trump's wall on the Southern border. He even says it does not work.

But yet, somehow, now, the Biden administration has authorized further construction of a wall on the Southern border. But why?

CNN's M.J. Lee has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The contentious political issue of the border wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, yes, we're going to build that wall.

LEE (voice-over): Back in the spotlight. The Biden administration announcing that it is waiving 26 federal laws in order to greenlight the construction of a border wall in South Texas.

The wall will be built using previously appropriated funds, specifically earmarked for this purpose under the Trump administration.

But the building of the wall clashing with this explicit promise that Biden made as a presidential candidate.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration.

LEE (voice-over): His then-opponent, Donald Trump, made construction of a border wall a major rallying cry in his reelection campaign.

TRUMP: And we are now building that beautiful wall.

And this powerful border wall is going up at record speed.

LEE (voice-over): The administration's decision coming amid a surge of migrants at the U.S. Southern border. The administration facing intense pressure, including from some Democratic lawmakers, to get the situation under control.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): I am from a border state. And you know, it's been a crisis on the border, on and off, for decades. We've spent a lot of money on it. But we can always use more resources. Money for Border Patrol.

LEE (voice-over): President Biden himself defending the move on Thursday, saying he was powerless to stop the use of the funds.

BIDEN: A border wall, the money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate it, to redirect that money. They didn't. They wouldn't.

And in the meantime, there's nothing -- the wall, other than they have to use money for what it's appropriated. I can't stop that.

LEE (voice-over): But Biden also bluntly rejecting the efficacy of a border wall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe the border wall works?

BIDEN: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now is CNN opinion writer and attorney Raul Reyes. It's good to see you. Thanks for being with us.

RAUL REYES, CNN OPINION WRITER: You, too, sir.

VAUSE: OK, I want you to listen to a little more from interview back in 2020 with the U.S. president. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, NPR: Trump campaigned on build that wall. Are you willing to tear that wall down? BIDEN: There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my

administration. I'm going to make sure that we have border protection. But it's going to be based on making sure that we use high-tech capacity to deal with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I'll get to that legal stuff and the politics in a moment. But what happened to that high-tech capacity to deal with border security? Where's that?

REYES: That's a really good question. I mean, just on the symbolism alone of President Biden embracing what was basically Donald Trump's signature issue, you know, building the wall, build that wall, is quite huge.

[00:20:10]

And it's environmentally, politically, logistically, just fraught with all types of additional issues.

But I think what's important is, anyone observing this whole border crisis knows, this did not occur in a vacuum. In addition to the increase of migrants at the border, we're seeing big-city mayors in Democratic cities around the country complaining about the migrant situation, Republicans weaponizing the border situation politically.

And so my sense is that the Biden administration really just felt that it had to do something very visible, and this is what they came up with.

VAUSE: Well, I want you to listen to the White House press secretary explaining that, hey, this is still Trump's wall. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is not new, right? This is something that came from the last administration, under the Republican leadership in fiscal year 2019. And we are required to do this. We are required -- DHS is required to comply by the law. That's what we're doing here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, that smells fishier than a Dumpster outside Red Lobster. But assuming for a moment that the administration's hands are tied in terms of this is what they have to do with the money legally, why did the administration decide to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas, including the National Environmental Policy Act, The Endangered Species Act, The Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act, all laws which this administration recently put in place?

REYES: Well, I think the general answer to that question about why the Biden administration waited this time to -- to enact this and move forward with this, it lies in the polls numbers. Because right now, President Biden has only about a 31 percent

approval rating on the immigration issue. And only, I believe, 20 percent of Americans think that Democrats can handle the border better than Republicans.

So, the pressure is on. And you know, you mentioned the -- (AUDIO GAP) -- the administration had to do this. That's a huge assumption. Because the money was earmarked by Congress in 2019. But there was nothing in those earmark -- earmarks that said the president had to waive the environmental rules and regulations.

And there was nothing in those earmarks that did not allow the president great discretion in terms of how he used the funds, or what type of barriers were erected.

Because, basically, to put things in very practical terms, the only difference between Biden's wall and Trump's wall now is that Biden is not promising that Mexico will pay for it.

VAUSE: Which Mexico never did, and certainly -- honesty here.

The problems, obviously, on the border, as I say, they are getting worse. U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 180,000 people along the Southern border in August. More than 130,000 in July. Those numbers continue to go up.

Over 7,500 migrants were stopped on one September Sunday alone.

Now here's how a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official under the Obama administration described what was behind this sudden change in Biden administration policy with the wall. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDWEG: Well, the administration is trying to downplay this and say their hand was forced by this appropriation.

I do think this reflects the growing political and operational realities of the situation. We have increasing numbers at the border. And the administration is coming under political fire from allies who are having to deal with the influx of migrants in their cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, at the end of the day, Biden doesn't believe a wall actually works. They don't really have to spend the money. That's debatable. It's so, it's all about, what? Giving Biden political cover heading into 2024?

REYES: I think the idea is possibly to give Biden some political cover heading into 2024.

But, to be honest, this is the type of decision that is not going to win him any allies. Because, for Republicans and people on the right, this just confirms their sense that Trump was -- Trump was right all along, and that we have to build the wall. And for Biden's allies to say, I'm a progressive, immigration

advocates, in the Latino community, this feels like a betrayal. Because all of a sudden, he's aligning himself with one of the most xenophobic and anti-immigrant -- if not the most anti-immigrant president in history.

So, the idea that somehow politically, this will work out for Biden, I think that's a tough sell right now. I think it's a very visible move they're taking.

But I don't see a lot of people embracing this move. The only thing we're seeing so far is a lot of critiques from both sides about this move.

VAUSE: The sounds like a lose-lose and then lose some more proposition.

REYES: Sad to say, yes.

VAUSE: Raul, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

REYES: Thank you.

VAUSE: When we come back on CNN, the Gaza-based militant group Hamas once again claiming responsibility for an attack on Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Also ahead, Typhoon Koinu is leaving Taiwan after striking with heavy rains, high winds and deadly force. Details in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:55]

VAUSE: According to the Israeli Defense Forces, five soldiers were wounded by grenade attack Thursday in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Three soldiers were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The Gaza-based militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the soldiers had been ambushed. Hamas also says two militant fighters were killed in a separate firefight in the city, with Israeli soldiers.

Well, the upcoming holy season in Jerusalem is an important draw for tourists, especially Christian pilgrims from around the world. But not all Israelis are so welcoming of foreign visitors, and there have been some complications.

CNN's Hadas Gold has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the old city of Jerusalem --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD (VOICE-OVER): The three Abrahamic religions are literally right on top of each other. Tensions between the groups are nothing new.

But an upsurge of religious Jews spitting towards Christians or churches has led to widespread condemnations and now arrests.

Earlier this week, a video went viral of a group of Christian pilgrims along the Via Dolorosa carrying a giant wooden cross, being spat on by religious Jews.

The orthodox men and boys were on their way to pray at the Western Wall for the Sukkot holiday.

Brother Matteo MUNARI of the Church of the Flagellation, where the video was recorded, said spitting at Christian churches or clergy is not new.

BROTHER MATTEO MUNARI, CATHOLIC PRIEST: But recently more. And also they started to spit also on the same groups of pilgrims, especially when they see the cross.

GOLD (VOICE-OVER): Condemnations have poured in from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling such acts desecration and unacceptable, and a broad swath of politicians and rabbis.

Brother Matteo says it's a small group of extremists who spit at them, believing a church to be an impure place.

In the past, he says, the police didn't do much. But this week, something changed. Israeli police made five arrests, including one for assault.

Surveillance video shows undercover officers laying in wait as groups of Orthodox men walked by, arresting them as they spat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will not tolerate expressions of hatred towards anyone, regardless of their faith.

GOLD (VOICE-OVER): It's not just a moral issue for the Israeli government. Christian tourism is a major economic boost of the country.

And evangelical Christians are an important source of political support for Israel abroad, especially in the United States.

But despite the indignities, Brother Matteo says he still prays and has love for everyone.

MUNARI: It's beautiful to be here in Jerusalem, despite all this kind of phenomenon and there's wonderful people who believe in love and no matter if they are Christians, Muslims, or Jews.

GOLD (VOICE-OVER): A powerful message for a city so often on edge.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Typhoon Koinu is moving towards the Southern China coast after killing one person and injuring more than 300 others in Taiwan.

The storm made landfall on the island's Southern tip Thursday, dumping more than 600 millimeters of rain.

Heavy winds knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. Foreign officials say close to 3,000 people were evacuated.

[00:30:03]

The storm is expected to strengthen in the next 12 to 24 hours before weakening as it heads to Hong Kong as a tropical storm in the next few days. But no rainfall is expected there.

Still to come, a rare look inside the secret school that's giving girls in Afghanistan a chance to learn, in defiance of the misogynistic Taliban.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:48]

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

For more than two years now, the Taliban has slowly been outlawing female education across Afghanistan. A ban on girls attending school from the sixth grade onwards has now extended to universities.

But a clandestine network of brave women has set up secret classrooms across the country, in direct defiance of that ban and the Taliban.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz was given rare access to one of these hidden classrooms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You are witnessing a courageous act of rebellion: young girls gathered to learn in a secret classroom.

To the Taliban, they are criminals defying a ban on female education. But these students say they're determined to continue their schooling, no matter the cost. Two of them told us why.

"I've told myself that, even if the Taliban arrest me, I will stand up and tell them I don't want to be kept at home," she says. "I just want to learn, and that is not a crime." CNN was granted access to this underground classroom on the condition

we conceal the identity of the students and staff and keep the location hidden. But allowing our cameras in comes at extraordinary risk.

Around 30 students huddle into this little room to learn everything from science to math, to tailoring and drawing. Madia (ph) -- not her real name -- is their teacher.

"Fear is with us every second we're inside the school," she says. "But there is a power stronger than fear: our hope for the future."

This is one of nine secret schools that educate more than 400 girls across eight Afghan provinces. It is operated by a clandestine network called SRAK.

Families find the program through word of mouth, and demand is growing.

It was founded by this woman, Parasto Hakim. She says, because of her activism, she was recently forced to flee Afghanistan. But in the summer of 2021 as Kabul fell to the Taliban, she tells us she anticipated the ban on female education and got to work.

PARASTO HAKIM, FOUNDED SRAK SCHOOLS' NETWORK: So we were watching some documentaries. I was looking at Afghan women, setting up NGOs and, like, hiding underground in places.

[00:35:10]

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Inspired in part by Christiane Amanpour's 1996 CNN documentary, "Battle for Afghanistan," Hakim began to follow the example of women set nearly 25 years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my work. It's my right to work. And I need to work.

HAKIM: Afghanistan is fully shattered. It is in darkness.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The Taliban is forcing women into this darkness, effectively erasing them from much of public life.

The U.N. says the group's draconian rules may amount to general apartheid and crimes against humanity.

But this little classroom in the shadows provides a way of hope.

"The school is like a light for me," she says. "It is like a road for me that I can see happiness and sunrise at the end of it."

It is also a lifeline. Rates of child marriage, underage labor, and reported suicides have increased since the ban on female education, according to the U.N.

And countless girls, confined to their homes, are suffering from anxiety and depression. "Fatima" (ph) was among them.

"It felt just like being a prisoner," she says, "like a prisoner who is only allowed to eat and drink, but not allowed to do anything else."

With the support of her family, she discovered the school and found her passion. She wants to be a famous fashion designer.

"I want my future to be a bright one," she says. "I don't want to be behind a mask forever. I want to be able to show my real face."

Brave women and girls, dreaming of a future without the Taliban, and boldly preparing to step out into the light, again.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We're just about five hours away from a highly-anticipated announcement from Oslo. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is set to announce the recipient of the 2023 Peace Prize.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a popular favorite. Another possible contender is Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He led protests against Vladimir Putin and Russian corruption before his arrest and imprisonment.

When we come back, fear of the bedbug. France stares down an invasion of the bloodsuckers with crisis meetings at the highest of levels.

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VAUSE: Well, either it's a massive infestation which should have everybody in a total panic, or there's nothing to worry about. It depends who you ask these days in France about the surge in the number of bedbugs.

CNN's Melissa Bell has the very latest on the bedbug incursion from Paris.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what it takes to get rid of bedbugs. The fight is on in Paris to tackle the scourge, after reported sightings went viral, making the creepy crawlies the talk of the Internet.

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Frenzy or real issue, officials are urging calm.

CLEMENT BEAUNE, FRENCH TRANSPORT MINISTER: No invasion of the phenomenon (ph) does exist. But I say we should not hide or say that there is nothing to do. We are being more transparent and better action, that we should have no panic, as well. Because every case, which is -- signals to our transport operators are checked. BELL (voice-over): Officials and transport operators say that recent

reports of sightings in public transport are unconfirmed. And yet, the French government is holding meetings, and pest control services say they've seen a rise in the numbers in private homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have friends who've had them at theirs. So, I know it can be a real ordeal to get rid of them.

BELL (voice-over): According to France's public health body, 11 percent of French households have been infested in the past five years, but the overall rise is insignificant, year to year. Part of the problem? The ick factor involved.

JOHANNA FITE, AGENCE NATIONALE DE SECURITE SANITAIRE DE L'ENVIRONEMENT ET DU TRAVAIL (ANSES) (through translator): There is an emerging phenomenon that we've been an increase in infestations for about 20 years now. It's happened gradually, because there is no miracle product to combat bedbugs.

But today, in these last few weeks, there has clearly been a media phenomenon of psychosis created around bedbugs.

BELL (voice-over): And the media interest says as much about Paris as it does about the bugs themselves. With Fashion Week on, as well as the Rugby World Cup and, soon, the 2024 Summer Olympics, the issue is also one of image.

Bedbugs are, after all, about as universal as it gets. But France now knows that it needs answers urgently.

OLIVIER VERAN, FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN (through translator): We need to give the French people an answer. Is there or isn't there a clear upsurge in bedbugs? Since when and where?

BELL (voice-over): Bedbugs are hard enough to see, let alone count, making the spotlight, now shone, all the more difficult to bear.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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VAUSE: A little fun fact to finish on. One of the reasons why there has been an increase in bedbug numbers around the world, is because we've killed all the cockroaches, or at least a lot of them, anyway, and cockroaches kill bedbugs. So one thing happens after another. Butterfly effect.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. Michael Holmes will be here with more news at the top of the hour. WORLD SPORT is up after a short break. See you next week.

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