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Three U.S. Army Killed in Jordan; U.S. to Calculate Next Move in the Middle East; Russians Don't Feel Vladimir Putin's Promises; President Biden Wants Another Four Years in Office; Hong Kong High Court Grills Evergrande Group; Education and Enjoying Nature in One Package; U.S. West Coast Brace for Heavy Rain and Flooding. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 29, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, a drone attack kills U.S. Army soldiers in Jordan. President Joe Biden vows the U.S. will respond.

One of China's property developers has been ordered to liquidate. We will have a live report from the region. And drumming up support in South Carolina. Joe Biden and Nikki Haley made campaign stops ahead of that state's critical primaries next month.

UNKNOWN: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, we begin with a developing story out of the Middle East where a deadly attack on U.S. troops is marking a significant escalation of an already precarious situation in the region.

Three American soldiers were killed and more than 30 other service members injured in a drone attack in Jordan at an outpost known as tower 22. That small military base is located near the border with Syria. The attack marks the first time U.S. troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Mr. Biden is blaming Iran-backed militant groups for the attack, while in Iran, state media reports Iran's permanent mission to the U.N. denies the country had any involvement. The U.S. president is vowing to hold those responsible to account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We had a tough day and last night in Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack at one of our bases. UNKNOWN: Yes.

BIDEN: I'd ask for a moment of silence for all three of those fallen soldiers. And we shall respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi with more. So Paula, what is the latest on this deadly attack? And of course, reaction from the region.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, it's key that we heard from Iran quite so quickly on Sunday. This was through state-run media saying that the permanent mission in the United Nations said that Iran had nothing to do with the attack.

But what we're hearing from U.S. officials' side is that they believe this was an Iranian-backed group that was responsible. Now, there are a large number of Iranian proxies in the region, those that are funded, equipped, trained in some cases by Iran. And we have seen a significant increase in attacks against U.S. personnel in the region since the Gaza war started. In fact, there's been almost 160 attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria by these Iranian backed groups.

Now, we have seen also the US responding. We've seen retaliatory strikes against these groups. but so far, there had only been injuries that had been reported at the U.S. bases and with coalition forces. So, the question, of course, is what does this now change? Does this put more pressure, which we have been seeing from many in Washington, on the U.S. President Joe Biden to do more than simply these retaliatory strikes against groups that they believe have been targeting U.S troops?

Now there has been a claim or at least a comment from Islamic resistance in Iraq which is an umbrella group of many different Iranian backed groups. They say that they had been bombing in the area along the Jordan-Syria border on Sunday. They said they'd carried out a number of attacks including against a camp, Al-Rukban camp, which is in close proximity to tower 22. But as of this point the U.S. has not said who they believe is behind these attacks.

But of course, the concern is that could this be a trigger point for a wider conflict that the U.S. has been very reticent to be part of? They have directly been, as I say, attacking those Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria.

[03:05:01]

They have also been directly attacking Houthi rebel groups in Yemen itself, trying to stop the Houthis from carrying out missile strikes against commercial shipping in the Red Sea. So, there has been direct U.S. involvement, but as of this point, there has not been direct involvement between the U.S. and Iran.

Iran itself has also appeared to be quite reticent to be directly involved in any attacks, but of course they do have these number of proxies that have been carrying out these attacks on their behalf. So, Iran denying any involvement but of course from the U.S. point of view they understand that there are many proxies involved in this region that have been targeting the U.S. and coalition forces significantly since the war in Gaza started. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks bringing us that live report from Abu Dhabi many. Many thanks.

Well CNN's Kevin Liptak is following the U.S. reaction to the attack in Jordan and has more now from the White House.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Biden calling the attacks on U.S. troops in Jordan despicable and wholly unjust, saying that America's heart is heavy and vowing to respond at a time and in a manner of our choosing.

President Biden was on the road in South Carolina as this was all unfolding, briefed by his national security team, including the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

And you can imagine in those discussions a talk about how to respond in a way that would deter these attacks from happening again, but also the imperative to prevent this conflict from spreading even further.

And at the end of the day, President Biden does have quite a consequential choice to make here. He is coming under pressure from some Republicans to respond directly in Iran to some of these attacks, but certainly the imperative inside the White House has been to prevent this conflict from broadening.

And the fear among American officials as these attacks had proceeded on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria is that it would eventually result in fatalities. Now that that fear has been realized, the decision President Biden has is how to respond so that it doesn't happen again. And certainly, he will be making that decision over the coming days.

But in a statement, President Biden saying that the three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense. And their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation. Together, we will keep the sacred obligation we bear to their families.

Now at the same time, the president is dispatching his top intelligence official, Bill Burns to France for talks with his counterparts from Egypt and Israel on these hostage negotiations. Certainly, the hope among American officials is that these will be fruitful in securing the release of all of the remaining hostages in Gaza paired with a prolonged cessation of hostilities.

And really the hope had been that this pause in the fighting could cause some space for American officials and Israeli officials along with their counterparts in the region to come up with a plan to end this conflict permanently. And certainly, the death of the American soldiers in Jordan will lend some urgency to these talks as the U.S. continues to try and come up with a solution to this conflict and eventually result in lasting peace.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: I want to bring in Malcolm Davis now, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. I appreciate you joining us.

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: It's my pleasure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Well, reacting to that deadly attack on U.S. troops in Jordan, President Biden says the U.S. will respond. But how does he do that without escalating this war even more? What possible military options are available to him right now?

DAVIS: Well, I think that's the key question. He has to respond. And he has to respond in a much more robust way than what the U.S. has been doing in the past few months really to respond to these attacks by these Iranian-sponsored proxies. So he can't essentially do more of the same what people are calling pinprick strikes.

At the same time, he can't respond in a way or will try to avoid responding in a way that would then justify Iran in retaliating further and you end up in this tit for tat escalation cycle that leads to a major regional war.

So, he's got to walk a fine line in this regard. I think that there are probably various options that he can do, not only in terms of attacking the Iranian-sponsored militia groups in Iraq and Syria that carried out the attack, but also potentially attacking the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps units that may have supported it.

[03:10:08]

And that could include something similar to Operation Praying Mantis back in 1988, when the Reagan administration struck out Iranian naval vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Well, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has its own known Navy. And so one option the Americans could have would be to strike out the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval capabilities to prevent them from interfering with shipping in the Persian Gulf, particularly to stop them from laying mines in the Persian Gulf. That would be a next step along the spectrum to prevent Iran from going further in future attacks.

CHURCH: Now, this attack on U.S. troops in and of itself escalates the precarious Middle East situation, doesn't it? So how might Iran react to any U.S. retaliatory action given Iran is denying any role in this deadly attack?

DAVIS: Yes, look, I think it's obvious that any U.S. response is going to see an Iranian retaliation. They're not going to simply back down and essentially turn tail and run. So, I think that what the U.S. has to do is respond in a way that actually reduces Iran's ability to retaliate against that response. And it does then get complicated in terms of our response to their response to our response to that response, and so on. And you can go on and add an item.

But I think that the Iranians could certainly retaliate. One of the concerns would have to be that they could lay mines in the key maritime checkpoints and in the key maritime straits. They could do cyber attacks, not only in the Middle East, but also globally. They have a strong cyber warfare capability. And they could do further attacks with their own missile capabilities against U.S forces.

And as I said, taking down the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy would be an important step for the U.S. because that naval capability held by the IRGC is optimized for swarming attacks on vessels, where hundreds of small craft laden with explosives streak out and attack a vessel at sea.

So I think that the Iranians have a number of options, we have to counter those options as well as sending a message to Tehran to continue, not to continue these attacks.

CHURCH: And of course, this all stems from Israel's military campaign in Gaza. And whilst ever that war continues, the U.S. will be vulnerable to attacks like this in the region. So, what would the U.S. likely be saying to Israel at this time when it comes to their war with Hamas?

DAVIS: Look, I think that it's important to distinguish between Iranian broader attacks in the region and that not only include the Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria, but also Houthi forces in the Red Sea from Israel's actions against Hamas in Gaza.

Now, there is a connection there, and I think the Iranians continue to push this connection. But in fact, when you look at what the Houthis are doing in the Red Sea, what the Iranians are doing in Iraq and Syria, there's no real definitive response there to, by Iran to Israeli actions against Hamas. And even if the U.S. could influence Israel to wind back its operation and cease all military operations against Hamas, that doesn't guarantee that either Hamas wouldn't continue to strike at Israel or that Iran wouldn't continue to strike at U.S. forces in the region.

So these are sort of two separate conflicts going on, co-located with the potential to emerge into one larger war.

CHURCH: Malcolm Davis, many thanks for joining us and sharing your military analysis. We appreciate it.

The main U.N. agency in Gaza is urging countries to reconsider cutting of funding over allegations staff members were involved in the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel. France and Japan have joined several other countries, including the U.S. and U.K., in suspending funding for UNRWA.

An Israeli official says the country shared information with U.S. officials on the intelligence they had on UNRWA staffers who were allegedly involved in the attacks. The officials said they also reached out to the U.N. organization several days before briefing the US. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are dependent on aid from UNRWA, and some say a pause in funding would be disastrous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATI SAFI, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): The situation we live in right now has support from all around the world. The whole world is responsible for the situation that we live in right now. It is the world that cuts the aid from children and women. We are not talking only food. We are also talking on cutting medicine.

[03:15:08]

They would also cut us off from the air if they can. What is our fault as a Palestinian people? Our land has been occupied, our houses have been destroyed, and we have been through many wars and this is the worst. We don't have any hope in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, Palestinians are mourning the deaths of family members killed in overnight Israeli strikes. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at least 165 people were killed in just the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll to more than 26,000 since the war started.

It comes as heavy fighting continues in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Israel defense forces say they are carrying out precise operations against members of Hamas operating in and around Nasser and Al Amal hospitals. But the Palestine Red Crescent Society says the hospitals have been under siege over the past week.

As Moscow pours more money into its war on Ukraine, we will explain how Russians are starting to feel the economic impact at home and how it's threatening Putin's image of stability during an election year. That's next on CNN.

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[03:20:00]

CHURCH: As the war grinds on in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to project an image of economic stability in Russia, but it's proving difficult.

Joining us now is CNN's Clare Sebastian in London. Good morning to you, Clare.

So Russians are actually lining up at grocery stores and dealing with rising prices for staples like eggs. What is going on and what might this signal for the country?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, I mean, for context, a lot of the developed world saw inflation rise after the end of COVID and sort of as a direct result of the war in Ukraine. And now it's coming down in much of the developed world. In Russia, it went up, it came down a little bit, and now it's re-accelerating. Now that is a direct result of the war. We'll go more into that in a

minute. But it's one thing to have prices rise gradually. It's another thing to see an individual supermarket staple like eggs go up some 60 percent in a year even more in some regions.

And that has created a situation that the Kremlin now less than two months out from presidential elections in March has not been able to ignore.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): When your husband spoils you with expensive presents, reads the caption Russian social media brimming with egg memes. Making light of a new feature of Russia's upside-down war economy. Sudden and unexpected price rises.

Drive an hour outside Moscow though. And it's no laughing matter for these pensioners. Of course, we notice it. The pension is 13,000 rubles, says Lyubov (Ph). That's less than $150 per month. Maybe we buy less meat, says Nadezhda (Ph). There's still enough for medicines.

Egg prices rose 18 percent in December alone. Russian official data shows more than 60 percent over the year, far outstripping overall inflation at 7.4 percent. As images spread of lines forming outside supermarkets, this purportedly from Belgorod in December, Russia's president forced into damage control mode.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I am sorry about this and want to apologize for this problem. This is a setback in the government's work. Although they say this is not the case, I still think it is. The problem is related to a failure to increase imports enough.

SEBASTIAN: The government took the not-so-subtle hint. Eggs were exempted from import duties for six months and shipments started arriving from Turkey, Azerbaijan and staunch ally Belarus also ramping up supplies. Its president unable to resist a rare dig.

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, PRESIDENT OF BELARUS (through translator): Our own production covers our needs in terms of grain, pork, chicken, milk, vegetable oils and chicken eggs.

PUTIN (through translator): Send some to us. Don't be greedy.

SEBASTIAN: In Putin's surprisingly resilient war economy, the egg crisis reveals the biggest problem is not decline, but overheating. Putin says this is about higher demand because of slightly higher wages. Partly true, economists say, but what Putin doesn't say is why wages are up.

This labor shortage is a huge issue, right? Where does that come from?

ELINA RIBAKOVA, SENIOR FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Mobilization. I think to me the key issue here is the fact that there are a lot of deaths at war and then they have to be replaced, these people have to be replaced. You know, the Russian officials trying to keep it very quiet, the numbers of how many people have died.

SEBASTIAN: The weaker ruble, a direct result of sanctions, has also pushed up import costs for poultry producers. And then there's the wartime spending.

RICHARD CONNOLLY, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, RUSI: The budget for 2024 envisages even adjusted for inflation, record levels of federal government expenditure. So, when you put that alongside a, you know, a supply side tightness, with a massive increase in demand driven by the state, you've got a recipe for inflation.

SEBASTIAN: President Putin now poised for the next price spike. A threat to his image of stability ahead of March elections. Though likely not his presidential shelf life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Prices have stabilized somewhat albeit at a high level, but experts are saying that this is essentially a whack-a-mole situation. It'll be eggs one week, something else the next week. And the Kremlin will, by certainly all evidence, points to the fact that they'll paper over the cracks rather than fixing the core issues because you only have to glance at the federal budget for the next three years to see that the war comes first.

[03:25:04]

Defense spending is set to be at planned rates this year, triple what it was before the war. Russian government spending more on servicing its debt than on health care or education, the people are being asked to pay the price here. And now this is of course the opposite of a collapse that was predicted by many at the start of this war.

But this overheating, especially in pockets of the economy, presents a hidden danger to the Kremlin, especially as we are seeing signs in Russia that people are starting to make the connection between what's happening with their grocery baskets and the war itself. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Many thanks for that report. Clare Sebastian joining us live from London.

The 2024 race for the White House is heating up. U.S. President Joe Biden was in South Carolina ahead of the state's Democratic primary next Saturday. More on that and the latest political news straight ahead.

Plus, the stage is set for Super Bowl 58. We will have the highlights, the reaction, and the major storylines from an epic championship Sunday in the NFL. Back with that and more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Primary season in the 2024 U.S. presidential election is moving into high gear. South Carolina's Democratic primary will take place on Saturday, followed by the Republican primary three weeks later.

U.S. President Joe Biden campaigned in Columbia Sunday and got this reception.

[03:29:57]

Backed by South Carolina's influential representative, Jim Clyburn, Mr. Biden has been reaching out to black voters in the state. That group was critical to his victory in 2020. President Biden visited another church and a barbershop before returning to D.C. Sunday night.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was also in South Carolina Sunday even though the state's GOP primary doesn't take place until February 24th. It's home turf for Haley. She was born in South Carolina and served as the state's governor from 2011 to 2017.

At a campaign event, Haley continued to unload on her political rival, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, attacking his competency and mental fitness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And Donald Trump had a total meltdown. A total meltdown. He literally threw a temper tantrum on stage like I had never seen. He was clearly confused, right? I think we need to have mental competency tests for anybody over the age of 75. He took offense to that and I think it hurt his feelings. You can't hide behind the teleprompter at his rallies. He really needs to come face to face. Man up, Donald. I know you can do it. I think we're getting under his skin. Just saying. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, Donald Trump is blasting the United Auto Workers leader lashing out at Shawn Fain, who recently endorsed Joe Biden for president. Trump called him quote, "a real stiff who is selling the automobile industry right into the big powerful hands of China." He also accused Fain of wanting to outsource manufacturing jobs and called for his removal.

Larry Sabato joins me now. He is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and the author of "Return to Normalcy: The 2020 Election That Almost Broke America."

Always great to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So campaigning for election 2024 is already heating up with President Joe Biden delivering a fiery speech Saturday night, repeatedly casting Donald Trump as a defeated loser and questioning his mental competency. It's a new trolling tactic, isn't it? The president on the attack, is this exactly what he needs to be doing to reenergize his campaign? And will it work? SABATO: Well, absolutely, he needs to be doing it. And it's what

Democratic partisans have been asking the White House to do. It energizes them. And clearly, Biden, at his age, and Trump is very close to that, but Biden has a hard time energizing his people. He needs something like this. He needs to give people a reason to get off their seats and applaud and go out and do the work that needs to be done to make a campaign work.

So, whether it will actually work in the end that is getting him elected, I think a lot of other things have to fall into place. This is just a tiny piece of it, but it is a piece.

CHURCH: And Larry, on the other side of the political equation, some Republicans are very worried that Trump is failing to appeal to voters beyond his base. And we have seen that in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. The former president did well, of course, but there's still a lot of support for Nikki Haley, right? And his derogatory comments about her and not helping broaden his support. How bad could this get for Trump if he doesn't make an effort to appeal to Republicans beyond his base?

SABATO: Well, if that happens, Rosemary, there's only one way for him to win. And that is to encourage a massive turnout of that MAGA base, his base. And maybe they can add a few points that way. But Trump has started out this time on a path that makes it very difficult for him to attract all that many independents and certainly not very many Democrats, 10 percent at most, and 10 percent of Republicans generally vote Democratic. It all evens out in the end, more or less.

So, I think it's a big threat for Trump. He's not doing what he has to do in the way he did it in 2016. He's focusing much more narrowly, probably because he's so well defined after his presidential term and after these three years of suggesting to everybody, incorrectly, that the election was stolen.

CHURCH: And Larry, what's Nikki Haley achieving exactly by staying in the race? And is there actually a path forward for her?

SABATO: Well, you never want to say there's no path whatsoever, because the path would involve something happening to Trump in court possibly being found guilty in time for the Republican convention, though I doubt that's going to happen, or a health problem, and we hope it doesn't happen to anybody, hope there's long life for all the candidates.

[03:35:01]

But that's really why she's in it. I think she is a safety valve for the party and for the 25 or 30 percent of Republicans who still haven't signed on to Donald Trump. But that could also cause Trump a great problem in the long run. He has to get them, the Haley supporters, reintegrated into the Republican Party. And I'm not sure he can do that.

He's alienating not just Haley, but her supporters with almost each day and with each tweet. He constantly comes up with new ways to alienate and irritate his opponents.

CHURCH: And Larry, immigration is becoming a hot political issue with Trump weighing in, trying to derail a bipartisan deal that was designed to help fix the crisis at the southern border with Mexico. President Biden vowing to shut the border down if the deal is approved. But Trump doesn't want that bill passed because he says it will be a gift to the Democrats.

What is going on here and how likely is it that Trump will win this fight with his own party?

SABATO: Well, Trump is good at bringing down the superstructure, you know, he's going to bring down the superstructure with him. And he basically has made it very obvious to the public that the Republicans don't want a deal, at least the ones surrounding Trump.

There are some very constructive Republicans in the U.S. Senate who've been working hard on this and have come up with a decent compromise. But Trump is not in favor of compromise, not just because it's compromise, but because it takes a major issue away from him.

The economy is improving. That's not going to produce as many votes as Trump might have hoped that it would. So, what's he left with? He's left with crime and immigration. And so, this is another sign that perhaps things aren't going to go as well for Trump as he might think.

CHURCH: And meantime, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin says he absolutely sees himself as president. Is there a path forward for him? And if he runs as a third-party candidate, how might that impact the outcome, do you think?

SABATO: Well, I don't think he's going to try to get on all the state ballots himself. He wants to run on this group, no labels, and whatever they're able to arrange. And they do have a lot of money behind them. But you know, he's not going to win the presidency. I'm sorry.

You know, if Teddy Roosevelt couldn't do it as a former president, running as the Bull Moose candidate in 1912, and Ross Perot couldn't do it with all of his money and appeal in 1992, then I can guarantee you that Joe Manchin is not going to do it. There's less appeal there than Joe Manchin thinks there is.

And the great danger is, and he's going to have to face up to this, he could very easily throw this election in the Electoral College to Donald Trump. How would you like that for your legacy if you served as a Democratic governor and a Democratic senator for as long as Joe Manchin has? So, he's got a lot of thinking to do.

CHURCH: Yes. Food for thought indeed. Larry Sabato, many thanks for being with us. Always a pleasure to have you.

SABATO: Thank you, Rosemary. Thank you.

CHURCH: The teams for Super Bowl 58 are now set and it will be a rematch of the NFL's title game from four years ago between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

In Sunday's NFC championship game, the Niners found themselves in a big hole early against the surging Detroit Lions. Detroit dominated the first half and led by 17 at halftime, but after that it was all San Francisco scoring 27 unanswered points for an epic comeback, winning 34 to 31.

And in the AFC title game, the defending champion, Kansas City Chiefs found themselves in a defensive battle against the Ravens in Baltimore. Kansas City managed to contain Ravens quarterback, Lamar Jackson, for much of the game, and the Chiefs held on to win 17 to 10. Kansas City is now headed to its fourth Super Bowl in five years.

And the Chief's victory is music to the ears of Taylor Swift fans. It means her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce, will get to play for another league title. Swift, of course, was there in Baltimore Sunday, greeting her man with a kiss and a hug after their win. Now the big question, will she actually attend the Super Bowl? She'll be touring in Tokyo next month with her final show set for February 10th, one day before the big game. We bet she'll be there.

All right, still to come, the latest in the saga of China's Evergrande Group. How the real estate giant fell from grace and is now being forced to liquidate.

Plus, we'll take you to a tree house like no other. It gives new meaning to the phrase higher education. Stay with us for that and more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone.

A court in Hong Kong has ordered the Evergrande Group, one of China's largest property developers, to liquidate. It comes years after the company defaulted on more than $300 billion in debt and sent the Chinese real estate industry into a tailspin it still hasn't recovered from.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following developments. She joins us now live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie.

So, what does this ruling mean for China's property sector and of course the world's second biggest economy?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this ruling could send aftershocks to China's property market. On Monday, earlier today, a judge here in Hong Kong ruled to liquidate Evergrande after years of failed attempts to restructure this company.

Now the Hong Kong judge, Linda Chan, said this, quote, "it is time for the court to say enough is enough," unquote. Now for years, this company, Evergrande, has been the poster child, the symbol of China's property debt crisis. A few years ago in 2021, it triggered a market panic when it defaulted on its offshore debt.

And Evergrande has the distinction of being the world's most indebted property developer with more than $328 billion worth of liabilities and $240 billion of assets. And last year in September, its founder and chairman, Hui Ka Yan, was suspected of crimes and was detained by the police.

Now, analysts say that this decision, this ruling to liquidate Evergrande, is good news for China's economy in the long run, but it will be painful. According to Andrew Collier of Orient Capital Research, he says this, let's bring it up for you, quote, "Evergrande's liquidation is a sign that China is willing to go to extreme ends to quell the property bubble. This is good for the economy in the long term but very difficult in the short term."

[03:44:57]

And we also learned this from Gary Ng of Natixis. He says, quote, "it is not an end but the beginning of the prolonged process of liquidation, which will make Evergrande's daily operations even harder. Investors will be concerned about whether there will be a snowball effect on other developers as the queue to liquidation is long." Unquote.

Now, this process could be long and complicated given all of the players and the authorities involved. Again, the shockwaves could be felt throughout the property sector, which is massive in China. It accounts for as much as 30 percent of the country's economic activity or GDP. It also amounts to more than two-thirds of Chinese household wealth is, in fact, tied up in real estate.

So, Rosemary, this is a ruling that has a sweeping and profound impact across China. Back to you.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong.

A tree house in Peru is giving new meaning to higher education. The classroom is 30 meters off the ground. And as we hear from Rafael Romo, environmentalists hope students will learn to preserve the Amazon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): Class is in session in Peru's Amazon rainforest. One of the most biodiverse places in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund, The Madre de Dios Forest covers more than 21 million acres and is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species and more than 32 indigenous communities.

Deforestation and poaching have seriously harmed the area, but one local organization is working to conserve it and they're using an incredibly tall tree house to do it.

PAUL ROSOLIE, FOUNDER, TAMANDUA EXPEDITIONS: So, we had to find a tree that was at the edge of the Terra firma that looked out over the rest of the jungle. So, you have that view to the east.

ROMO: A conservation group called Jungle Keepers partner with online education company Udemy, these two groups are teaching students in a 32-meter high treehouse turned classroom. According to Reuters, built from sustainable wood, the jungle canopy is solar-powered with high- speed satellite internet.

While it may take more than 140 steps to get to the top, it's worth the effort as students are able to see the environment they're working to save from a unique vantage point.

UNKNOWN: These people are not only learning their skills up there, but they're learning more about their surroundings, about their community, about nature, about this land they're trying to preserve.

ROMO: Those new skills, they hope, will lead to new kinds of jobs in this area, where children as young as 11 or 12 are often forced to leave school and work as miners or loggers in the Amazon, say the jungle keepers.

They're giving local adults the opportunity to become forest rangers and learn how their land can be protected rather than contributing to deforestation.

JJ DURAND, VICE PRESIDENT, JUNGLEKEEPERS: Because they will have different jobs to do, also they can have a little bit of money so they can buy other things than only be a logger.

ROMO: As they maintain the land, attract wildlife, and report illegal activity, organizations like Junglekeepers are hoping to make a difference. Already, the trends are positive. The non-profit MAAP says Amazon deforestation has declined, with forest loss dropping by more than 55 percent in the last year.

Leaders in this initiative stress the importance of education in different communities.

UNKNOWN: It gives them the skills to not only better their own community, but then take that a step further and better themselves and really get them to where they want to go and maybe put them in better situations moving forward. It's a real game changer for them.

ROMO: A lofty goal for an even loftier classroom to save one of the most precious areas in the world.

Rafael Romo, CNN.

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CHURCH: Up next, the weather system that could cause flooding and landslides in parts of the U.S. West Coast. Back in just a moment.

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[03:50:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Heavy rain and flooding could hit parts of the U.S. West Coast this coming week due to an atmospheric river event making its way from the Pacific Northwest down to Southern California.

Our meteorologist, Elisa Raffa, has the latest.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're watching the West Coast closely this week as an atmospheric river event unfolds. We're looking at impacts from Washington, Oregon, even into Northern California as we go into the week. A level four out of five atmospheric river event is possible in parts of the coast, meaning that some of this heavy rain could be hazardous, could even cause some landslides.

Now Washington has already gotten some hefty rain totals already this weekend from one to three inches and breaking some daily records. Here's that moisture plume that they've been dealing with all weekend. Starts to shift south as we go into the middle of the week. By Wednesday into Thursday, that heavy rain starts to stretch into California.

So you can see the series of storms that does this. You'll find some rain arriving from Washington and Oregon on Tuesday, but then that front really starts to drape south by Wednesday, bringing some of that heavy rain into northern California from San Francisco up to the state line and then down into southern California, Los Angeles getting in on some of that rain by Thursday.

So, we've got multiple days here of flooding risk in California. You have that slight risk on Wednesday level. Two out of four from Sacramento down into San Francisco. And then that threat spreads into southern California by Thursday. That marginal level one risk includes Los Angeles and San Diego as we go into the week.

So, you could see where these hefty rain totals slide south through the five days. We're looking at some four-to-five-inch rain totals possible from the San Francisco Bay area and in north. But we're looking at two or three inches of that coming in just one day. So, something that we'll have to watch. And then you see those two-inch totals could spread as far south as Los Angeles and San Diego.

Plus, where you've got that colder air and the higher elevations, you're looking at up to a foot of snow possible in the Sierra Nevada's. All of this also comes with some gusty winds as the storm kind of hits the west coast. We could find some wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, maybe even some 50 MPH gusts in northern California as we go into Wednesday.

[03:55:08]

So, when we're talking about impacts, we're talking about impacts from heavy rain and from gusty winds. Stream and urban flooding will be possible when you get those heavy downpours. Numerous shallow landslides also possible. Down trees and power lines could be a problem as we go into the week. CHURCH: All right, we go to Paris now where activists have once again

sought to vandalize art as a method of protest. In the latest incident, two people threw pumpkin soup at Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, The Mona Lisa, leaving some visitors disgusted and annoyed.

Officials say museum security helped visitors evacuate and the painting's protective case prevented any damage. But the museum is planning to lodge a complaint.

And in Mexico, protesters took a stand against the return of bullfighting in the nation's capital. Demonstrators packed the area outside the Plaza Mexico bullring in the Mexico City in Mexico City Sunday, shouting, quote, "torture is not art, it is not culture, and yes to bulls, no to bullfighting."

The protest comes as Mexico City held its first bullfight in nearly two years Sunday after the country's Supreme Court paved the way for its return.

I want to thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN Newsroom continues next with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

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