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Wake Attendees Killed in a Blast; Vladimir Putin Brags Their New Nuclear Weapon; Terrorists Targeted Military School in Syria; Donald Trump's Big Mouth Spills U.S. Secrets; Biden Administration Looking to Solve Immigration Problem; Afghan Women and Girls Remain Undeterred; President Biden Will Meet President Xi Jinping. Plans Underway For Potential Biden-Xi Meeting; European Leaders Tackle Illegal Migration; Nobel Committee To Announce 2023 Peace Prize; Pro- Football Hall Of Famer Dick Butkus Dead At 80; Experts: "Mont Blanc" In Western Europe Shrank; Officials: "No Surge" In Insects On Public Transportation. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 06, 2023 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KRIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: And welcome to all of you watching around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom. A wake for fallen Ukrainian soldiers becomes a disaster area after Russia launches a missile strike. Ukraine says at least 51 people were killed with no obvious military targets nearby.

Donald Trump may have shared American nuclear submarine secrets with an Australian billionaire after leaving office. That's according to a new report.

And U.S. President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping may soon be meeting face to face. Sources say the two leaders could get together at the APEC summit in San Francisco for it would be their only second in-person talks.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin with reports of multiple strikes in Ukraine that we received over the past hour. One is an overnight drone in the Odessa region, which Ukraine describes as massive. The attack damaged port infrastructure and a grain storage facility on the Danube River, which Ukraine is using for grain exports. Local officials say emergency services are working at the scene. Ukraine is also reporting new strikes on -- strikes on its second-largest city, Kharkiv, which left nine people wounded.

Now, all that's coming on the heels of one of Russia's most horrific attacks since the war began. Kyiv says a Russian missile hit the village of Hroza on Thursday, killing at least 51 people. It happened while the victims were holding a wake for a fallen Ukrainian soldier. Ukrainian prosecutors say there were absolutely no military targets in the area at the time.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen went to the scene of the strike while emergency crews were still scrambling to find possible survivors. We just have to warn you, some of the images in his report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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 and the deceased was his wife.

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.

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.

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.

Ukraine's president visiting Spain pinning the blame on Russia.

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. But that help will be too late for Sergei's 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)

BRUNHUBER: Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the successful test of a new generation of nuclear-powered cruise missile. It's part of a program unveiled in 2018 to develop intercontinental and hypersonic missiles.

Now this is file video of a current Russian cruise missile. The latest version is known by NATO as the SSCX-9 Skyfall. Its nuclear propulsion allows for near unlimited range. And the low-flying stealth projectile could be capable of outmaneuvering missile defense systems.

Here is President Putin speaking Thursday in Sochi.

[02:05:01]

(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 counter-strike, 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)

BRUNHUBER: And Putin has suggested the plane crash that killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was caused by hand grenades that blew up inside the aircraft. Prigozhin, who led a failed uprising against the Kremlin's military leaders was among 10 people killed on the plane that crashed northwest of Moscow in August.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN (through translator): The chairman of the investigative committee just reported a few days ago that the fragments of the hand grenades were found in the bodies of the victims. There was no external influence on the plane. It is an established fact, the result of expertise performed by the Russian investigative committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And Putin also said investigators should have performed drug or alcohol tests on the victims. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTIN (through translator): Unfortunately, no examination was carried out to establish the presence of alcohol or drugs in the system of the victims. Even though we know after the recent well-known events at the company in St. Petersburg, the FSB found 10 billion in cash and five kilos of cocaine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Putin's government has denied involvement in the plane crash.

Syria is blaming terrorists for a drone attack on a military college in Homs that killed at least 80 people and wounded hundreds more. And we have to warn you, the video of the scene is graphic.

Soldiers and their families had gathered Thursday for a graduation ceremony. Ambulances rushed victims to overwhelmed hospitals. Syrian officials say at least six children are among the dead.

The Syrian Armed Forces called the attack unprecedented and vowed to respond with full force and determination. The government in Damascus has declared three days of national mourning.

Also in Syria, airstrikes by Turkey's military have killed at least 11 people. Turkey says it was targeting Kurdish militants, the PKK, destroying an oil well bunkers, shelters, and storage facilities. The attack follows a deadly bombing claimed by the PKK in Ankara on Sunday.

A stunning new report from ABC News and the New York Times about Donald Trump and America's military and nuclear secrets. Both outlets cite sources who say the former president allegedly discussed details about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago club months after leaving the White House.

Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt then shared the information with dozens of other people, including foreign officials and journalists. Now CNN has confirmed that federal investigators have interviewed Pratt.

Anderson Cooper spoke with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling about the potential damage from such disclosures. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: All classified information is provided to those only with a need to know. And every president needs to know a lot of stuff to help them in decision making. But that need to know also comes to a requirement not to disclose.

If he was truly talking about capabilities, as Maggie said, about the nuclear part, the sea-based part of our nuclear triad, I would suspect, and I don't know this for sure, that they are at the higher levels of security clearances, either top secret or code word when you're talking about the nuclear force.

That puts the country, and as the secretary said, it puts service members in harm's way when he's giving up capabilities. And one other thing I'd add to that, if this alleged incident did occur and it seems that it did. This is just one incident that's being reported.

How many other times at Mar-a-Lago or one of his golf courses did he lean into somebody and put other secrets in our citizens in danger because he's given up other secrets? That's the thing that concerns me the most. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Trump spokesperson slammed the New York -- new report telling CNN the claims lack proper context and relevant information.

Well, a major shift in U.S. policy towards Venezuelan migrants. The U.S. will deport them directly to their home country if they entered 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 due to frosty diplomatic relations with Caracas.

The policy change follows a recent move to extend what's known as temporary protected status for some Venezuelans, allowing them to stay in the U.S. for 18 months.

[02:09:57]

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 they face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: You see the administration is really struggling. They, you know, 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 like 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)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. president is adding to his predecessor Donald Trump's border wall, which is something Joe Biden said he wouldn't do. He even says he doesn't believe border walls work.

CNN's M.J. Lee looks at why his administration is changing course.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The contentious political issue of the border wall.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Don't worry, I'm going to build that wall.

LEE: Back in the spotlight. The Biden administration announcing that it is waiving 26 federal laws in order to green light the construction of a border wall in south Texas. The wall will be built using previously appropriated funds, specifically year marks 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 OF AMERICA: There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.

LEE: His then-opponent Donald Trump made construction of a border wall a major rallying cry in his re-election campaign.

TRUMP: And we are now building that beautiful wall.

(APPLAUSE)

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

LEE: 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.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's true.

KELLY: And, you know, it's been a crisis on the border. You know, on and off for decades.

RAJU: Yes.

KELLY: We've spent a lot of money on it, but, you know, we could always use more resources, you know, money for border patrol.

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

BIDEN: A border wall, when money was appropriated for the border wall, I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money. They didn't. They wouldn't. And in the meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what is appropriate. I can't stop that.

LEE: But Biden also bluntly rejecting the efficacy of a border wall.

UNKNOWN: Do you believe the border wall works?

BIDEN: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Venezuela's former opposition leader and former National Assembly president Juan Guaido says charges brought against him by the government are false allegations. On Thursday, Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for Guaido, accusing him of using resources from a state-owned oil company for his own finances and to pay for legal expenses. The charges include treason and money laundering.

Guaido called on his followers to vote in the upcoming opposition primary election later this month. He says he will provide more details on the quote, false allegations on Friday. Guaido has been living in Miami since April due to threats against him.

All right, still to come, a rare look inside the secret schools that give Afghan girls a chance to learn in defiance of the Taliban.

Plus, outrage in Jerusalem after Christian pilgrims are spat upon by Orthodox Jews. And it's not an isolated incident. We'll have those details when we come back. Stay with us.

[02:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: It's been more than two years since the Taliban began effectively outlawing female education in Afghanistan. Girls aren't allowed to go to school from the sixth grade onwards and are barred from universities. But clandestine network of brave women has set up secret classrooms across the country in direct defiance of the ban.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz was given rare access to one of the hidden classrooms. She spoke to the teacher and students about the extraordinary risks they take to continue their education.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 can seal the identity of the students and staff and keep the location hidden. But allowing our cameras in comes at extraordinary risks.

Around 30 students huddle into this little room to learn everything from science to math to tailoring and drawing. Meryam, (ph) not her real name, is their teacher. "Fear is with us every second we're inside the school," she says, "but there's 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, FOUNDER, SRAK SCHOOL'S NETWORK: So, we were watching some documentaries. I was looking at Afghan women sitting up NGOs in like hide in undergrounded places.

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

HAKIM: I love my work, it's my right to work and I need to work. Afghanistan is fully shattered. It is in darkness.

ABDELAZIZ: 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 gender apartheid and crimes against humanity.

But this little classroom in the shadows provides a ray 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.

[02:20:01]

"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)

BRUNHUBER: The European Parliament on Thursday condemned what it called the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Armenians from the Nagorno- Karabakh and suggested sanctions be imposed against Azerbaijan.

Nearly all of the 120,000 people who had lived in Nagorno-Karabakh are now believed to have fled to neighboring Armenia, their cultural homeland, after Azerbaijani forces seized control last month.

On Thursday, the Armenian prime minister met with the leaders of France, Germany, and the European Council to discuss the refugee crisis. European Council President Charles Michel said he hopes to get the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan together in Brussels by the end of the month for talks.

The ongoing holy season in Jerusalem is an important draw for tourists, especially Christian pilgrims from around the world. But not all religious Jews are welcoming pilgrims of other faiths, and ugly incidents have been on the rise.

CNN's Hadas Gold has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the old city of Jerusalem 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 de la Rosa 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.

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

GOLD: 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 lying in wait as groups of Orthodox men walk by, arresting them as they spat.

UNKNOWN: That we will not tolerate, especially the patriots towards anyone regardless of their faith.

GOLD: It's not just a moral issue for the Israeli government. Christian tourism is a major economic boost for 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 live in Jerusalem, despite all this kind of

phenomena. And there's wonderful people who believe in love and no matter if they are Christians, Muslims, or Jews.

GOLD: A powerful message for a city so often on edge.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: 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 at the island's southern tip on Thursday, dumping more than 600 millimeters of rain. Its heavy winds knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. Taiwanese officials say close to 3,000 people were evacuated.

Now, the storm is expected to strengthen in the next 12 to 24 hours before weakening. Its forecast to impact Hong Kong as a tropical storm in the next two days, but no landfall is expected there.

Al right, still to come, a potential meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping is in the works. We'll tell you where and when it could take place.

Plus, European leaders meet in Spain to hash out plans to crack down on illegal migration to the continent. We'll have details after the break. Please stay with us.

[02:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Plans are underway to arrange a potential meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping at next month's APEC summit in San Francisco. Now that's according to officials familiar with the matter. It would be the second time the two leaders meet face to face.

Joining me now, CNN's Marc Stewart in Beijing. So, Marc, just how likely is it that this meeting will actually happen?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kim. You know, for months now we've heard conversation that the APEC meeting would be the logical spot for a meeting between President Xi and President Biden. But there is still a lot of caution because this relationship between the United States and China is still very much fragile.

However, if we look back at the calendar over the last few months, there have been meetings and there have been moments that in a way could be paving the way for this monumental gathering. It was in June that we saw Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet with Xi Jinping here in Beijing, where they talked about the need to have this relationship move forward and talked about a need for stability between the two nations.

It was just last month in Malta that we saw China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, meet with National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. And then of course, we had high profile visits by members of President Biden's cabinet, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

And you could infer that one of the points of all of these meetings is for the Chinese and for the Americans to find out where there are areas of common ground and where there are points of difference, such as Taiwan, some of the economic issues.

All of this to create a starting point, a conversation forward if and when these two men meet. So, it's not necessarily an ambiguous meeting. So, there's a point of where to begin and perhaps move forward to, Kim. But again, it's still very fragile and we won't know if this happens really until it happens.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, we'll stay on top of that. Meantime, Marc, China's preparing for some more high-profile American visitors in the days ahead, right?

STEWART: Indeed, we are expecting some members of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will be here as part of a bipartisan delegation to China to confront many of these issues that we've just talked about. They are expected to spend some time here in Beijing as well as in South Korea and Japan.

I should point out that we are hearing from Senator Bill Cassidy. He's a Republican from Louisiana who says that indeed they too will be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

[02:30:02]

So, we'll have to see if that comes to fruition as well, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, it's such a tense relationship between those two countries. Lots at stake here. Marc Stewart in Beijing, thank you so much. The prime ministers of the UK and Italy chaired a group meeting on Europe's migration crisis. So that summit of regional leaders in Granada, Spain, on Thursday. Netherlands, France, Albania, and the European Commission also attended the meeting.

Group agreed on an eight point plan to address growing levels of illegal migration to the European continent. So joining me now is Camille Le Coz, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe. Thank you so much for being here with us. So this was the second high-level European meeting this week on migration, so what do you make of what was agreed so far?

CAMILLE LE COZ, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE EUROPE: Yeah I think we're really closing an historic week, with EU member state reaching a deal on this missing piece, missing puzzle piece of the pact that is this whole package of formal migration asylum that was proposed by the European Commission when he took office in 2020, and it's been at the center of fierce debate for over three years now. In the past week we've seen that Italy played very hard to get, and managed to get Germany to agree on a compromise.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. And, you know, many of the things they've been talking about have been sort of ways to dissuade the migrants from coming, do you see that they're just trying to crack down harder? I was struck, for instance, by President Macron's words, he was talking about the fight against migration. Are they striking the right balance, do you think, between the need to manage the migration flows with the need to protect the rights of migrants and refugees?

LE COZ: Yeah what we're seeing is despite this compromise, Europe remains very much divided on the approach. On the one hand we have government on the eastern side that have already expressed dissatisfaction with the deal and in a way there is a sense that this government simply do not want European response to the situation.

And on the other end, we're seeing civil society organization, political parties in the left of the political spectrum, that have expressed concerns about the loophole that they say this new agreement, this new pact, is creating for asylum seekers. We know there are coming negotiation with the European parliament and especially the key question will be how all of this will be implemented from decision.

How will decision be made at the border when people arrive? How will people be returned to their country of origin if they don't have the right to stay in Europe? I think there are many questions still pending.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah many questions, and one of the themes I'm getting from you is that a lot of these countries basically can't agree on many of these issues. You mentioned Italy, for example, which makes it harder to sort of tackle this altogether. You mentioned a few of the areas of division, so what are the biggest areas that are still left to decide here?

LE COZ: The biggest bone of contention is really been what has happening, how do we organize solidarity with countries that have an external border. And this is also why, in the past years, there's been an agreement, a shift toward looking outside. Can we work with Turkey, with Tunisia, to prevent people from coming in the first place.

This is what we've seen with Italy pleading with the commission, with other European partner to go and negotiate an agreement with Tunisia, to curb arrival, to work on strengthening border control, working against smuggling, trafficking networks. And what we've seen in the past week is also that this approach has its own limitations because this country, on the external side, on the external border of Europe, are not interested in simply being the bodyguards of Europe and preventing people from leaving their own borders.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that is it. All the focus when it comes to these source countries in terms of efforts seems to be to prevent migration, but what about the bigger issues here? The root causes behind it all?

LE COZ: Yeah, this is a long-standing issue, and this is also why this type of approach can only fix the situation in the short term. Maybe preventing people from leaving. But what's really needed is a comprehensive approach, looking to support development in these counties, looking to create legal pathways for some of these people to come work. We know that Europe is in need of labor migrants, so how can we organize this better, so that people don't come irregularly, work informally, and then at risk of exploitation?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it's harder to make that argument in the context in which this is all happening. The political environment in Europe seems to be hardening, right?

LE COZ: Absolutely. And I think this is also what we're seeing in this agreement that was reached during the vote with Tunisia in July.

[02:35:01]

In the past, Europe went for a comprehensive approach and try to bridge agreements with the countries that were much more comprehensive than, I think, what we've seen now with Tunisia, that has been very narrow, very much focused on strengthening border control, focusing on financing border guards. And I think this is a shift that we're seeing both internally and externally.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, such an important issue. We will have to leave it there, but really appreciate your analysis. Camille Le Coz, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe. Thank you for being here with us. Alright, we are just about three 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 favorite among odds makers for his efforts to end Russia's brutal invasion, but experts say his chances actually might be slim. Another possible contender is Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, he led protests against Vladimir Putin and Russian corruption before his arrest and imprisonment. Alright, still to come, fears about bed bugs are still going strong in France. Officials are set to meet to discuss the problem while transportation authorities say there is no need to panic.

(COMMERCIAL BEAK)

BRUNHUBER: Now the Chicago Bears call him one of the greatest players in NFL history. Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus has died at the age of 80. He played nine seasons for the Bears, and was elected to eight Pro Balls. Butkus was known for his intensity on the field, but retired at age 31 after a serious knee injury. His larger than life personality led to a second career in acting.

Butkus appeared in a string of TV shows and movies, including Any Given Sunday, Necessary Roughness and The Longest Yard. Well experts say western Europe's highest mountain peak has shrunk again. They say Mont Blanc has lost more than two meters during the last two years.

Surveyors who measure the mountain every couple of years say it's down to its lowest level since precise measurements began, more than two decades ago. The mapping specialists say it's not up to them to come up with conclusions from their data, but they say glaciologists, climate change specialists and other scientists could provide theories to explain this phenomenon.

And in France, an inter ministerial meeting is set to take place in the coming hours to discuss the country's ongoing bed bug problem. But, as French officials say, there's no need to panic, and stress there's been no surge in the number of insects found on public transportation. Still, the government's urging operators to strengthen how they detect bed bugs, and to be more transparent with their data. CNN's Melissa Bell has more now from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:40:09]

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what it takes to get rid of bed bugs, the fight is on in Paris to tackle the scourge after reported sightings went viral, making the creepy crawlies the talk of the internet. Frenzy or real issue? Officials are urging calm.

CLEMENT BEAUNE, FRENCH TRANSPORT MINISTER: There is no invasion. A phenomenon does exist, but I say we should not hide or say that there is nothing to do. We are doing more transparency and better action. But we should have no panic as well because every case which is signaled to our public 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, ANSES (through translator): There is an emerging phenomenon that we've been seeing an increase in infestations for about 20 years now. It's happened gradually because there's no miracle product to combat bed bugs. Today, in these last few weeks, there's clearly been a media phenomenon, a psychosis created around bed bugs.

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. Bed bugs 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 bed bugs, since when and where? BELL (voice-over): Bed bugs 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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BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Kim Brunhuber. WORLD SPORT is next, and I'll be back in about 15 minutes with some more news. Please stay with us.

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