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At Least 4 Killed In Georgia High School Shooting; U.S. Charges RT Employees Over Alleged Secret Funding Of Right-Wing Media; Netanyahu Says He Won't Change Israel's Policies In Gaza; Harris And Trump Accept Debate Rules, Including Allowing Mics To Be Muted; Super Typhoon Yagi Rapidly Intensifying As it Nears China; Georgia HS Shooting Suspect's Classmate Recounts Deadly Encounter; Pope Francis in Indonesia; Beluga Believed to be "Russian Spy" Allegedly Shot Dead. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 05, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:26]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm John Vause, live in Atlanta. Ahead this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like a moment of just straight silent, and you just hear gunshots, and everyone responds to the corner.
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VAUSE: The moment of terror at a high school in Georgia, two students, two teachers, shot dead. The alleged shooter taken alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Is Keith going to come home alive or dead?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: How the Israeli Prime Minister answered that question, as well as a question about the fate of all hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
And the standoff over live mics or muted mics is over. Clearing the way for the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUE: Well, this may have been the deadliest school shootings this year in the United States, the tragic events at Appalachia High School on Wednesday played out like so many other school shootings. A student at the school allegedly a 14-year-old boy armed with an AR-15 style semi-automatic weapon sends the school into lockdown. Frantic parents rush to the school as the suspect opens fire, killing four people, wounding nine others.
Authorities have identified the victims, two students, also 14 years old, and two math teachers. Investigators say there is no known connection between the suspect and his four victims. In the hours since many gathered to hold a vigil seeking comfort in shared grief and remembering those who were killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHRINE MALDONADO, STUDENT: When I found out, I started crying, and I just got mad because I was like, why would you just shoot in innocent people that you even know? So it's just like, really sad, because, like, you even know him, and he's actually, like, a sweet person, you know, like, class clown. He was one of those, and he was funny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: According to law enforcement officials, the suspect was interviewed by the FBI last year over threats to carry out a school shooting, but found no probable cause to take further action. The suspect threatened to the school's resource officer, similar to a police officer trained in school based law enforcement.
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SHERRIF JUD SMITH, BARROW COUNTY, GEORGIA: Hate is not going to prevail in our county, and hate is not going to prevail in our state, and pure evil did what happened today.
CHRIS HOSEY, DIRECTOR, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We have heroes in our midst. We've talked about our law enforcement personnel, our fire, our EMS. Those that are deceased are heroes in my book. Those that are in the hospital recovering right now are heroes in my book, but also the heroes that we need to remember is our faculty and staff here at this school. They acted admirably. They were heroes in the actions that they took.
The protocols at this school and this system activated today prevented this from being a much larger tragedy than what we had here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Investigators are questioning the suspect as well as his parents, but the motive at this point remains unknown. The shooting since students scrambling for safety as their parents rushed to the school, waiting for answers. CNN's Brian Todd begins our coverage.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Law enforcement officials say they got their first alerts of a shooting at just before 10:30 Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about an hour northeast of Atlanta. SMITH: I never imagined that I would be speaking to the media in my
career over something that happened today, the pure evil that happened today.
TODD (voice-over): Officials say four people were killed, two students and two teachers, nine others were taken to local hospitals. The suspect, a 14-year-old male who was a student at Apalachee, is alive and in custody.
SMITH: Obviously, the shooter was armed, and our school resource officer engaged him, and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with an OIS, an officer involved shooting. He gave up, got on the ground, and the deputy took him into custody.
Officials say the alleged shooter will be charged with murder and tried as an adult. Multiple law enforcement officials tell CNN's Mark Morales and John Miller this same high school had received a phone threat this morning, before the shooting occurred. The caller warning there would be shootings at five schools, and that Appalachee high school would be the first. It's not known who placed the call.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: What they are investigating now is, is it possible that that threat came from the student who is in custody as the alleged shooter? Is it possible that that threat came from someone that he asked to make that phone call at or about the time that he opened fire?
[01:05:08]
The timing here is obviously going to be important.
TODD (voice-over): This video filmed by a student shows students being led down a hallway by law enforcement with their hands up as the school was being evacuated. Students recounting the horror and confusion inside the school as the shooting unfolded.
JANICE MARTINEZ, STUDENT: I told everybody to get down. Get down, because this, like, you don't joke around with that, you know. We got in the corner, some girls started crying, and then, like, I was like, calm down. And then the teacher was, she was shaking and everything. I was like, no, it's going to be OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple gunshots, rapid fires and, like, two times, maybe, like, two rounds. Like, it was just constant, and it just didn't stop.
TODD (voice-over): The mother of 17-year-old Appalachee student Ethan Haney shared with CNN his text to her during the shooting, school shooting right now, Ethan texted. I'm scared, please. I'm not joking. I'm leaving work. His mother texted back, I love you, Ethan replied. His mother asks where he is. Class, he replies, someone's dead.
Sheriff Jud Smith says the shooter has been interviewed by law enforcement officials, and that officials have also spoken with the shooter's parents, but he would not give any specifics on what any of them said. Asked if there was a connection between the shooter and the victims, the sheriff said none that he was aware of. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: Steve Moore, CNN law enforcement contributor, retired FBI special agent. Here we go again. Huh? OK, I want you to listen to Governor of Georgia speaking within hours of this deadliest school shooting in the state's history. Here he is.
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BRIAN KEMP, GEORGIA GOVERNOR: We've done a tremendous amount on school safety, but today is not the day for politics or policy. Today is the day for an investigation to mourn these precious Georgians that we have lost.
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VAUSE: Maybe that investigation look into why this school, despite being built relatively recently, had no metal detectors, or why the school wasn't locked down after multiple warnings it could be the target of a shooting on that same day, why the late shooter was interviewed about online threats about a school shooting, but was it under closer surveillance?
You know, there are so many factors here which seem to have come together at the one time to allow the shooting to happen.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, it's, it's just astounding. I've never seen a shooting that was given so much pre- information, so much indications that it could possibly happen and I'm so glad to hear you say metal detectors are lockdowns. We are -- we protect our money better than we protect our students. Yes, we need to get a handle on what's going on with guns in our society. Yes, we need to address that.
But nobody thinks that's going to happen in the short term. In the short term, we need to be protecting our schools a lot better than we are doing.
VAUSE: Yes, you know, one of the issues here the lead shooter was armed with an AR-15 style weapon. That seems to be the weapon of choice for most mass shooters. It was used at the school shooting in Uvalde, where the Texas police allowed 19 children and two teachers to be shot dead. There's Parkland, Florida also an AR-15 style weapon, 17 students, two teachers dead. Sandy Hook, you got 20 kids dead, six teachers.
In April of this year, Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to 10 years in prison for providing their weapon to their son, Ethan, who shot and killed four people. What does that now mean for the parents of the accused shooter here in Georgia? What's their responsibility, especially finds out where he got this gun from.
MOORE: I'd get a pretty good lawyer right now, because what happens is, a year ago, the FBI identified that location, that boy and that father, and I don't know that it was investigated as completely as it could have been. Remember, they said that there were photographs of weapons in the post.
Well, why didn't somebody look at the gun safe and say, yes, these are the weapons. Why did -- why did they not proceed further on this? And trust me, I mean, I know how many of these threats come constantly, and when the threat comes down, and it's a 13-year-old to think just some stupid kid. No, no, this time it wasn't.
And so again, John, we need a new paradigm. You know, we couldn't wait for terrorism to be knocked out until we started protecting our airline travel. Unfortunately, that's what we're going to have to start doing with our schools.
The thing that is new about this one is, and I'm sure you're aware of this, 90 percent of the time or higher, the shooter once they are -- they hear a siren, see lights, see policemen enter the building, they end their own life because part of psyche of a school shooter is they're not going to take me alive.
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They're not going to have that control over me. I'm going to maintain that. This is very unusual for somebody to be confronted and put their hands up. Yes, all shooters know that if they don't put their hands up, they're going to be shot by police. They all usually understand that and make that part of their plan. This one hadn't planned on dying.
VAUSE: Well, I want you to listen to the Sheriff Jud Smith, who, like so many, have been left in shock by this mass shooting which happened in their community. Here he is.
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SMITH: I never imagined that I would be speaking to the media in my career over something that happened today, the pure evil that happened today.
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VAUSE: Why? Why are people surprised? This happens all the time in this country.
MOORE: It's like being in a car crash. You just assume it's going to happen to someone else. My mind was changed on that when I was talking to you from a mass shooting less than a mile from my home. You have to realize that this is going to be, at a certain extent, the new norm.
VAUSE: Steve Moore, we've talked about too many mass shootings, too many school shootings over the years, but I'm glad you're with us. Thank you.
MOORE: Thanks. VAUSE: Federal Court will hear arguments in the coming hours about how
to proceed in Donald Trump's election subversion case. The case was upended by a controversial Supreme Court ruling which granted broad immunity from criminal charges to former presidents, including Donald Trump.
Justice Department is accusing Russia's media, now known as RT, of funding a Tennessee company to push Russian propaganda was meant to influence the U.S. presidential election this year and help put Donald Trump back into the White House. Prosecutors say another goal was to weaken opposition to Russian interests, especially its ongoing war in Ukraine.
Here's U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
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MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: As RT itself has boasted the government of Russia continued to use RT to direct disinformation and propaganda. In the wake of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, RT's editor in chief said the company had built, quote, an entire empire of covert projects designed to shape public opinion in western audiences.
We allege that as part of that effort, RT and its employees, including the defendants, implemented a nearly 10 million scheme to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.
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VAUSE: CNN has confirmed the company referenced in the indictment is tenant media. Officials say it's linked to right-wing commentators with millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms.
Ukraine's parliament is expected to consider the resignation of the Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Shortly before announcing his attention to step down, Kerry spoke to CNN urging Western allies to send more powerful missile defense systems for makers approve his resignation. Kuleba's departure will be part of a major government shakedown, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says is needed to give the war effort new energy.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I'm very grateful to the ministers and the whole government team that worked for Ukraine and the Ukrainians for four and a half years, and some for five years. We need new energy today, and these steps are related only to the strengthening of our state in different directions.
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VAUSE: Kyiv's cabinet reshuffle comes its creating forces are deep in the trenches in eastern Ukraine, as well as in Russia's Kursk Region. For the very latest here's CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
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Frederik Pleitgen, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Elite soldiers from Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade get out of their armored vehicle and right into a massive firefight. One of the soldiers is wounded, the others scream for a tourniquet, but the unit keeps moving.
While Ukraine's army has been losing ground in many areas in this part of the Kharkiv region, they've turned the tide. Later taking several Russian dugouts, the deputy commander says.
The enemy has no results, he says. Moreover, we have positive results. We've pushed the enemy back and captured a battalion line of enemy defense.
While the 3rd Assault Brigade says they'll keep pushing forward. Ukraine remains badly outmanned by the Russians, and the 3rd Assault Brigade wants ever more combat drones to be their great equalizer. This is their drone school they call The Kill House.
PLEITGEN: Drone technology is developing extremely fast on the battlefields in Ukraine. The 3rd Assault Brigade believes in the future, they will need even more drone pilots, so they're training as many as possible, as fast as possible, to get them combat ready.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): They've already trained more than 1,500 perspective drone aviators here, not just to fly the FPV drones effectively, but to use them as lethal weapons capable of destroying even tanks and armored vehicles.
The greatest effectiveness of a pilot is his or her desire, the school's boss tells me. FPV pilots are people of a special mindset. They know how to hit the target, what ammunition to use.
The ammo is becoming more lethal as well. A different Ukrainian unit now acknowledging they're using a trial version of a fire spewing drone that drops an incendiary substance on Russian positions. But the Russians keep hitting Ukraine with much bigger munitions, missile strikes killing several people in Lviv, in western Ukraine, overnight, search and rescue crews recovering the bodies for hours.
Kyiv's leadership has vowed revenge for Russia's aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities, a driving factor also for the soldiers attacking Russian positions on the northeastern. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
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VAUSE: Despite days of nationwide protests and very public criticism from the United States, the Israeli Prime Minister refusing to budge on a ceasefire deal with Hamas. He again blamed the Gazan based militants for a failure of a ceasefire deal, despite media reports that he in fact torpedoed a deal back in July.
As part of any potential agreement, Netanyahu insists Israel retained control of the Philadelphi Corridor, marriage (ph) strip of land which separates Gaza and Egypt. He argues that without Israeli control, the corridor will allow Iran to smuggle weapons to Hamas via Egypt.
Jeremy Diamond asked the Prime Minister about the fate of the hostages.
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DIAMOND: Prime Minister, Jeremy Diamond, CNN. I spoke to Aviva Siegel tonight, a former hostage whose husband is still being held in Gaza. She told me that she believes that you are sentencing her husband Keith to die by prioritizing the Philadelphi Corridor over a deal. And she has this question for you, is Keith going to come home alive or dead?
NETANYAHU: I'll do everything to make sure that Keith and all the author of hostages come back. I'm telling you that if we relieve the pressure, if we get out of the Philadelphi Corridor, we're not going to get the hostages back. Certainly we're going to condemn a lot of them to stay there. We could get a few out. They'll give us that, but they'll leave a lot with them. We won't have the pressure point, and something else will happen. We will not be able to come back.
So we won't release all the hostages, and we won't achieve the defenses that we must have to prevent more October 7 again and again and again, that is my responsibility. I can understand the torment of families. They don't, you know, none of them believe that we'll get the hostages in the first batch either, none of them, few of them, quite a few of them didn't believe it.
And they came and they said you'd have to get them out. You have to get them out. You're not going to give them out. You have to make this concession or that concession. I didn't make those concessions and we got them out.
So it's very hard, you know, I don't stand in judgment of these tormented souls because they're undergoing an agony that is hard to fathom, and I understand that. But the responsibility of leaders is not merely to share the sentiment, the emotion, but also to exercise judgment, the correct judgment, to make sure that these horrors do not happen again.
I believe that our strategy is the best way to achieve both goals, both releasing, freeing the hostages and ensuring that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A senior U.S. official says the Prime Minister's comments, especially about the Philadelphi Corridor, are not helping the ongoing negotiations. The official says the prospective agreement between Israel and Hamas is about 90 percent complete, but disputes remain over the presence of Israeli forces in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners for hostages.
Well, the negotiators are working to close the remaining gaps. It's unclear when the in person talks will actually resume.
So it's a deal when we come back, the Harris and Trump campaigns agree to rules for next week's debate, still Donald Trump already and still casting doubt on whether or not the debate will be fair.
Plus, Super Typhoon Yagi barrowing through the South China Sea. How the region is faring against the storm and bracing for it when we return.
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VAUSE: ABC News has announced the rules for the September 10 presidential debate in Philadelphia, and apparently both the Harris and Trump campaigns have agreed to the format, which is exactly the same as the CNN one.
Debate will be 90 minutes long, two moderators, no audience. The former U.S. president won the virtual coin toss and has chosen to go last with the closing statement. Harris campaign has agreed to a key sticking point, muted microphones while the other candidate is speaking, but again, laid out its objection to that condition, insisting the Vice President will be, quote, fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, because there'll be no cross speaker, no crossing examination by the prosecutor.
At a Fox News Town Hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wednesday night, Donald Trump said he was going to let Harris talk when he asked about the -- when he was asked about the upcoming debate, he also cast doubt on the fairness, claiming Kamala Harris wanted notes at a desk, something the debate rules do not allow, and made a baseless allegation that Harris would get the questions in advance.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: A lot of people are going to be watching to see how nasty they are, how unfair they are. I agreed to do it because they wouldn't do any other network. She all -- the other thing is, her best friend is the head of the network. Her husband's best friend is married to the head of the network, and they're going to get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump also insisted he wasn't weird sources. Sources tell CNN Kamala Harris will head to Pittsburgh in the coming hours to prepare for Tuesday's debate. She'll also hold campaign events while she's there. In New Hampshire Wednesday, Harris says so far so good when asked about her debate preparations. She also unveiled plans to support small business and address the school shooting in Georgia. CNN Priscilla Alvarez has details.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice president Kamala Harris, traveling to New Hampshire on Wednesday, where she unveiled a new slate of economic proposals. But before doing so, addressing that tragedy at a high school in Georgia, saying that it was tragic and that it should not happen.
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Our kids are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God given potential, and some part of their big, beautiful brain is concerned about a shooter busting through the door of the classroom. It does not have to be this way. It does not have to be this way.
And you know, this is one of the many issues that stake in this election.
ALVAREZ: Now the Vice President has been the lead of the White House Office of gun violence, an office that has been focused on identifying any executive actions or measures that can be taken by the administration outside of Congress, but the Vice President clearly keeping the focus and the pressure on lawmakers, also noting over the course of her remarks that while she is in favor of the Second Amendment, she is also in favor of gun safety laws.
Now, again, the purpose of the visit here in New Hampshire was on the economy. In that front she introduced multiple proposals that she argued would help entrepreneurs and small businesses, including, for example, removing the tax deduction, or excuse me, expanding tax deduction, removing regulatory hurdles. and increasing, community based lending, all of that with the goal of increasing exponentially, increasing the number of small businesses, if she were to win term in the White House.
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Now again, the Vice President has been focused on the economy over the course of the week, looking ahead to that presidential debate, framing her proposals as helping the middle class a critical constituency heading into November. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN traveling with the Harris-Walz campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And the latest CNN poll shows Kamala Harris that Donald Trump locked in close races in key swing states with no clear leader in the battleground states of Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Harris holds an advantage over Trump among likely voters in Wisconsin and Michigan. Trump has an edge in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania remain the key toss up states here in CNN's John King explains what the polls are actually saying.
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JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our New polling shows yes, some Harris momentum, but the big headline is this is a very, very, very, very, I could add a few more very close races. Let's just look at the data what it says.
This is where we are right now. The yellow states are our toss up states. They include North Carolina. We did not poll in North Carolina this time. I'm going to lean it red. Democrats will get mad at me, but I'm going to lean that one red until I see data that proves otherwise, because it has gone red in every election since 2008 when Obama wanted was Republican before that.
Here's our new polling. Harris ahead in Wisconsin, outside the margin. Harris ahead in Michigan, just outside the margin. That gets rid of 250, right. Donald Trump ahead in Arizona, outside the margin. That let me make that red that would move him up to 246 pretty close, right? And then you mentioned these other states are too close to call. Pennsylvania a genuine tie.
Let's just say Harris is exact is really plus one in Georgia and plus one in Nevada. This is just one poll. This is a hypothetical here. That alone, though, if she could help, that would get her to 272 and she could win the presidency without Pennsylvania.
But again, she's plus one in the polling. It's just as plausible. And we've seen other data that Donald Trump could win Georgia and Donald Trump could win Nevada as well. That would get him to 268. So what happens then? You're looking at Pennsylvania, right? Let's assume Harris ekes it out. It's a tie, right now. If Trump wanted, he'd be president of United States. If Harris wanted under this scenario, and again, it's a scenario that gets you to 269, 268 and it all comes down to Nebraska's second congressional district, either a tie or it puts Harris over the top at 270.
I'm not saying that's going to happen. This is Trump's biggest advantage, which is why he wants to hold it and why you see the vice president out doing economic speeches, her ads are also tilting now heavily toward the economy.
In Arizona, Trump's up five overall. Voters view him as the better candidate by 15 points on the economy. In Georgia, where Harris is tied, maybe plus one, Trump has a slight advantage. You can see the trend here. In places where Harris is competitive or ahead, Trump's numbers are lowers. Nevada is the outlier. It got thrown this economy got thrown in the trash during COVID.
But the key for Harris is to bring this Trump advantage down where she's winning in Wisconsin. She's up six in the state. Trump only plus two in the economy. This is her biggest challenge. Try to -- if she can't catch Trump on the economy, at least make him plus two or plus four, not plus 8, 16, or more. The economy right now is Trump's biggest advantage by far.
The gender gap gets talked about a lot. Let's look at women voters. If you look at these numbers, Harris is essentially tracking Biden a little better in some places. She would probably like to improve these numbers. But when it comes to women, look at Harris now and Biden 2020, and they're relatively good right there. She would like to improve them, obviously, because she's struggling. One reason you want to improve them is because she is struggling a bit
among men voters, male voters, especially when you look out in the western states. In 2020, Trump won them by two points. In Arizona, he's up 14. In 2012 and '10, that's about the same. But if you look at Nevada, eight plus 18 plus five. So this is a problem for the vice president. Without a doubt, she needs to try to improve her standing among male voters.
And again, you can trace a lot of that back to the economy and people just don't know a lot about her. Here's one other thing quickly I want to show you, though. Hispanic voters are critical in both Arizona and Nevada. And look at this. Biden won by 24 points. Harris only by six in Arizona right now. Biden won in Nevada by 26, Harris by 20.
Smaller subset of voters here, so the margin of error is a little higher. So this might not be as bad as it looks, but it's still bad, and one of the places the Vice President has to do some improvement among men, among Latinos, most of all, that would help itself on the economy.
Independents and moderates this. This is into just independent voters, but the trend lines are similar with moderates. Look at how Trump is now winning in Arizona, in Georgia, in Michigan, among independents, right? Biden won all of these battleground states among independents back in 2020. This is an area the vice president needs to improve her standing. Voters in the middle, these are people who self-identify as independents. You see very similar numbers among people who self- identify as moderates. She's struggling in the middle. She is viewed as more liberal than moderate Joe Biden, and so she's struggling a bit in the middle.
But here's the opportunity. A lot of people don't know a lot about the Vice President, which is why she's out there giving these speeches. Right.
[01:29:44]
Look at this. The percentage of voters in each of these battleground states who say they might change their mind -- in the teens, 11 percent in Georgia, tends to be in the low to mid-teens in all these other battleground states.
But look at the Independents 24 percent, 23 percent, 27 percent, 23 percent, 29 percent. They are open to changing their mind if Kamala Harris can prove herself on the economy and on leadership.
These are the independent numbers. They're very similar among moderates. We don't talk much more about this in this polarized climate, about the middle of the electorate, there is room for her to grow in the middle if she makes her case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. Navy sailor has been detained in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. U.S. officials tell CNN the sailor was there on personal travel, not official travel nor approved leave when he was detained Friday. The State Department is warning of the high risk of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals and the arrest comes amid unrest in Venezuela as the opposition and multiple countries refuse to recognize the disputed reelection of President Nicolas Maduro.
Earlier this week, the U.S. seized Maduro's luxury plane for sanction violations.
A powerful storm moving through the South China Sea has now become a super typhoon with water temperatures near record highs. Yagi underwent rapid intensification at a rate rarely seen. The storm is set to make landfall Friday in China. Parts of the region already feeling the effects.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout following all the developments for us live from Hong Kong.
So what are they doing right now to brace for what is one of the powerful -- most powerful storm in decades to hit that region?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, preparations are underway, John. Hong Kong and southern China are bracing for the arrival of super typhoon Yagi, a powerful storm that has already taken lives, has killed more than a dozen people in the Philippines.
Now Yagi is expected to skirt around 300 kilometers to the southwest of Hong Kong tonight. And tomorrow morning conditions as you can see behind me are mild now, but the weather will deteriorate.
Now Yagi is expected to make landfall Friday evening across southwest portions of China near the northern tip of Hainan, the island province there.
Now this is a point you raised the in last hour, John. That projected landfall in Hainan is rare. In fact, from 1949 to last year 106 typhoons hit Hainan, but only nine were super typhoon.
So this is a rare event. Storm preparations are underway here in Hong Kong. Signal number 3 has been raised that for context is the second lowest typhoon warning, but the observatory in Hong Kong says it will consider raising it to number 8 later today.
If and when it issues a signal 8, Hong Kong stock market will be suspended. And because of the typhoon, kindergartens and schools for children with special needs have already been suspended today.
There have also been flight cancellations. Let's bring up the graphic for you. Hong Kong Express, the budget wing of Cathay Pacific has canceled six flights, United as well has canceled flights to Hong Kong and in mainland China Hainan's International Airport is canceling all flights from 8:00 p.m. Thursday evening to Friday midnight. We also learned that Greater Bay Airlines has announced cancellations as well.
Southern China will certainly feel the effects of the super typhoon, especially the island province of Hainan which is known as the Hawaii of China. It's famous for its five-star resorts, for its famous beaches.
And the government there has already upgraded its emergency response. We know that bus services, ferries, railways, flights as well -- all been suspended. Residents and tourists to the island have been advised not to go outside unless it's absolutely necessary.
We've also learned that fishing vessels had been recalled in both Hainan as well as neighboring Guangdong province.
Now Chinese authorities here not taking any chances. This summer, China's had a devastating season of weather, extreme rain, deadly flooding that's left hundreds dead or missing, over a million people relocated, devastating financial losses and residents across the regions being advised to take precautions.
Back to you, John.
VAUSE: So very quickly we know that the Philippines, you mentioned briefly, was hit incredibly hard with (INAUDIBLE) people killed there. That was when it was a powerful storm. So how are they now recovering? How badly was the Philippines affected by all this?
STOUT: Yes. Yagi -- and this was when Yagi was just a tropical storm. I shouldn't say "just" but it was not the super typhoon it is now. It killed at least 13 people in the Philippines earlier this week.
It made landfall this week on Monday, it knocked out power in the affected area and the deaths that were caused by landslides and drowning. And four people were reported missing after there was a landslide and flash floods swept them away.
We know that search operations, rescue operations have been underway to look for the missing. And since this storm, again, swept through the Philippines, Yagi has strengthen. It is now a super typhoon. Hong Kong, Hainan island, and all of southern China are on alert, John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout with very latest there on Yagi. We appreciate the update. Stay dry.
Two students and two teachers killed in a U.S. school shooting. In a moment, we'll hear from a student who sat next to the suspect in class. He also witnessed this entire tragedy.
More in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone.
I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonder all my life -- I'm 15 I've been here like a long time. I just never thought -- that's why my parents came here to such a peaceful town and just nothing ever happened. I didn't think it would be here where I live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a place where I'm supposed to feel safe. Like this is -- honestly a place I did honestly feel safe. Every time I walked into school, I never thought anything would happen to me. Like that's honestly a place I've honestly felt protected.
Now, I don't even want to be in the hallways alone. This is a kid that's younger than me coming into school about to kill me. This is a kid killing people that are grown. They should definitely have changes and more security and definitely more patrol.
This should not be able to just happen.
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VAUSE: Still no official word on a motive after that school shooting in Winder, Georgia Wednesday, which left to 14-year-old dead as well as two teachers dead.
The 14-year-old suspect now in custody and police say he was armed with an AR-15 style semiautomatic weapon. He will be charged as an adult with murder. It appears there's no known connection between the alleged shooter and his victims.
Investigators say he'd been questioned last year by the FBI about school shooting threats, but they found no probably cause to take further action.
The first calls of an active shooter came in around 10:20 a.m. Sheriff deputies arrived on the scene within minutes.
The suspect surrendered ultimately to the school resource officer.
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GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): This is everybody's worst nightmare. and I just want to offer my sincere condolences, and our thoughts and prayers to the families that have lost loved ones, for those that are injuring -- injured and continuing to fight through just a tragic time for really this whole community that has been affected by today's actions.
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VAUSE: CNN spoke with a student at Apalachee High School who sits next to the shooter in Algebra class. She explained what happened Wednesday when the suspect abruptly left the classroom and then came back just a few minutes later.
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LYELA SAYARATH, APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I just remember like the moment that it happened, he was at the door and I knew they were looking for him already, but he was out the door and they almost let him in until they backed up and then he turned away. And that's when we hear the first round of fire.
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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So he was in class with you, in Algebra class. He left. Then he came back, was at the door and then knocking to be let back in. Why? You told me something about the doors.
SAYARATH: Yes. They lock automatically so, you have to be let in to come back in to our classroom. So I think he wanted to come to us first.
ROSALES: Come to you first to shoot?
SAYARATH: Yes. To shoot us first.
ROSALES: And then he was at the door. Student went to open the door and then what happened?
SAYARATH: She backed away. I think she saw him or maybe somebody said something, but I'm pretty sure she saw that he had a gun. And so she backed away.
ROSALES: So she was about to let him into the class, you think, to shoot the students, saw that he had a gun, did not let him in.
What happened next?
SAYARATH: He turns to the classroom to what would have been my right and he just starts to shoot and you hear like about 10 to 15 rounds back-to-back.
ROSALES: What did you hear? What did you think was going on in those moments?
SAYARATH: When -- as soon as they didn't let him in, you kind of like, I don't -- I already kind of had a feeling it was going to happen.
It was him but as soon as they didn't let him in and you hear the gunshots you kind of like, no.
ROSALES: You knew that something --
SAYARATH: Yes.
ROSALES: -- Very bad was happening next door.
Did he ever say anything?
SAYARATH: No, he never really talked. He was pretty quiet. He wasn't there most times either. He just didn't come to school or he just would skip class. But even when he would've talked, it was one-word answers or short statements.
ROSALES: Can you tell me what it was like inside of the classroom when you hear those gunshots go on. How I heard that you helped to keep the other students calm right?
SAYARATH: Yes. Most of -- like when we heard it, most people just dropped to the floor and like kind of crawled in area, like piled on top of each other, lost his shoe when they were trying to get to a corner. The teacher turned off the lights, but we all just kind of piled together.
And like, I pushed desks in front of us. I was just telling people like, oh, push desks in front of you, block in front of you, get low -- things like that.
ROSALES: How quickly from the moment that you heard the gunshots go off, to the hard lockdown alert going on the screens, letting everyone else in the school know that something had gone wrong? How long did that take? Do you recall?
SAYARATH: Maybe a couple of minutes but it wasn't instant.
ROSALES: At what point did you know that this was over?
SAYARATH: When the cops came in the room and asked us to put our hands up, asked us if we had anything. A little bit after that, they let us all out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The gun violence archive tracks mass shootings in the United States to find as an attack in which four or more people are killed or wounded. So far this year, the group has recorded 385 mass shootings nationwide. That's actually not bad. The U.S. has seen more than 600 mass shootings a year since 2020.
When we come back, Pope Francis meets with Indonesia's Grand Imam in a show of intricate (ph) partnership. We'll have more on his tour of Southeast Asia including a live report in just a moment.
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VAUSE: In just a few hours more than 80,000 people expected to attend mass presided by Pope Francis in Jakarta, the Catholic leader in Indonesia on a whirlwind tour of the region. He just spent the last few hours with the Grand Imam of Southeast Asia's largest mosque in an effort to strengthen bonds with Muslim leaders.
Live to Jakarta and CNN's Christopher Lamb is traveling with the Pope. And this is all about building interfaith, but there's also a lot of other messages that come with this too by Pope Francis, his most ambitious and most grueling of his papacy.
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely John. It's been a really grueling and hectic schedule of events for Pope Francis so far. This is Thursday, a third day of his tour of Indonesia and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. And he was at the Istiqlal Mosque as you mentioned for a very important interfaith meeting. He and the Grand Imam of Indonesia signed an interfaith declaration calling on religions and all people to take further action to tackle climate change, to ensure that religion is not used or manipulated for the wrong ends, for violence or for extremism.
Now the Pope, as you mentioned, is going to be celebrating a mass at the national stadium here in Jakarta on Thursday. I'm told that there're already crowds gathering some six hours before the mass actually is due to take place. And we are expecting a large crowd to be there.
Indonesians, Catholics make up about 3 percent of the population. That is still 8.6 million people. There's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for the Pope here in Jakarta and you'll expect to see that on display when the Pope celebrates the mass later on.
Of course, it is a grueling schedule for the 87-year-old pontiff. It's very hot and humid here. He seemed to be coping well though so far, John.
VAUSE: Christopher, thank you. Christopher Lamb for us live in Jakarta with the very latest on the Holy Father's trip to the region. Thank you, Christopher.
Michel Chambon is a French Catholic theologian, as well as a research fellow at the National University of Singapore. Thanks for being with us.
MICHEL CHAMBON, RESEARCH FELLOW, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SINGAPORE: Thank you.
VAUSE: So during his remarks at the presidential palace, Pope Francis had a lot of praise for Indonesia, including for building and respecting religious diversity. He also spoke about what the church, the Catholic Church should be doing as well.
Here he is.
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POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): The Catholic Church desires to increase inter-religious dialogue. In this way, prejudices can be eliminated and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow.
This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion, attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence.
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VAUSE: he then departed from his prepared remarks, adding the Catholic Church would do this without proselytism. Never proselytism, he said. What's the context for that? This was an ad-lib remark. What's the
significance especially where and when he said it.
CHAMBON: Well, indeed the Holy See has been pushing for say (INAUDIBLE) inter-religious diplomacy around the world. And he's looking for allies and Indonesia has been a very strong actor on this front for already several years.
So clearly, by visiting Jakarta yesterday and today, the Pope is showing how the Vatican and Indonesia hand in hand in their view of region as grassroot resource to build social cohesion and more common and peaceful coexistence between different groups.
And this is not always easy because even among Catholic circles, there is tension about the value of inter-religious dialogue and collaboration.
There are a number of Christians who have even opposition against Islam. So the Vatican is speaking as clear and strong stand that no, Muslim are not necessarily the enemy of Christian, not at all. They're arbiters (ph) first and foremost. And we need to have strategic action to build that brotherhood.
VAUSE: Well, from the presidential palace, the Pope visited the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. This visit, as you say, is all about interfaith relations and listen to this Muslim woman who is inside the cathedral to see the Holy Father.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is part of a cathedral most holy for Catholics miraculously in front of me also stands the mosque within which I pray every day.
This is a symbol of tolerance where differences should be faced and bridged.
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VAUSE: To be fair, just one person, but it seems indicative of the Pope's visit overall doesn't it?
CHAMBON: Yes. Well, I think most people don't really pay attention to the unique experience of Indonesia.
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CHAMBON: It's a country who had been independent for 80 years. It is gigantic with a high number of different islands with very deep geographical challenge because it's highly-fragmented between different small and large islands.
And despite the fact that the eastern part of the country is predominantly Christian and also part of the country -- the western part is predominantly Muslim. And that Muslims represent 80 percent of the population, Indonesia has a vibrant democracy has been able to build an inclusive system able to navigate communal tensions among them.
And there is a strong, strong agreement among Indonesians that religion is positive -- it's a highly positive resource to build national cohesion, development, moral leadership and so on.
So this woman I think reflects these strong Indonesian belief that whatever religion is we can live together.
VAUSE: Francis also seems to have inadvertently perhaps entered into an ongoing debate here in the United States. A political debate over the fickle (ph) childless cat ladies. He was also praising Indonesia for it high birth rate when he said this.
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POPE FRANCIS: This might sound funny. These families prefer to have a cat or a little dog instead of a child. And this is not right, is it?
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VAUSE: It's not the first time Pope Francis has made this sort of remarks about people preferring, you know, dogs and cats as pets over having children. It's similar to the comments made by the Republican nominee here in the United States for vice president J.D. Vance.
But in the wider context, Pope Francis is talking about a lack of government support, with lower wages, a lack of social support and social systems which makes having a larger family just simply too expensive.
So it's more of a social contexts rather than, you know, this political context that we're looking at here in the U.S. right?
CHAMBON: Yes.
So clearly it's very different context, even birth rate in Asia especially East Asia, is going down. So this is a global challenge about which kind of society you want to build, which kind of family policy we want to support.
Yet I will be careful about portraying Francis as offensive or so on. I think he's really good at making some productive remarks. He's not afraid of some kind of -- how do you say -- critical tensions I think. But I think we all share those concerns and debate about which kind of society and family policies we want to support as a society.
VAUSE: Michel Chambon, thank you, sir, for being with us. We really appreciate your time. Thank you.
Well, seven years after 72 people died in one of Britain's worst high- rise fires in history, and a final report has blamed decades of failure for the disaster at London's Grenfell Tower.
The report says flames erupted in the early morning hours when an electrical fault occurred in a refrigerator on the fourth floor. Many residents were asleep at the time. The fire spread quickly through the 24-story apartment building due to the buildings highly-flammable exterior cladding.
The 1,700-page report lays out a litany of malpractice and negligence accusing government regulators and the construction industry of incompetence, dishonesty, and greed.
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SIR MARTIN MOORE-BICK, GRENFELL TOWER INQUIRY CHAIRMAN: The simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable and those who lived in the tower were badly failed over a number of years and in a number of different ways by those who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the building and its occupants.
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VAUSE: Grenfell United, which represents the survivors and their families, said the report marks a significant chapter in the journey to the truth but that justice has not been delivered.
Two popular online retailers based in China could be in the hotseat in the U.S. Coming up, why U.S. safety regulators say they should be investigated for allegedly dangerous practices.
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VAUSE: Now to Norway and a possible murder mystery involving a beluga whale believed to be a Russian spy. He may have been assassinated. Nicknamed Hvaldimir (ph), he rose to fame in 2019 when he was seen wearing a harness and camera mounts, which read equipment St. Petersburg. There (ph) is speculation the whale is trained by the Russian military, a claim the Kremlin has never confirmed nor denied.
Hvaldimir quickly became a celebrity in Norway, he'd swim right up to boats, he'd allow people to touch him and pet him.
Animal rights groups though say he was found dead off the Norwegian coast over the weekend with gunshot wounds. They want a criminal investigation.
Two U.S. officials want the government to investigate the online Chinese retailers Shein and Temu for allegedly -- for allegedly selling quote "deadly baby and toddler products".
The officials are with the Consumer Products Safety Commission. They sent an open letter citing recent media reports that dangerous products sold to kids were easy to find on their Web sites. They say they wanted the commission to look into how the two companies comply with U.S. safety rules, their relationship with third-party sellers and consumers and any representations they make when products are imported.
Both companies say they'll comply with safety rules.
An asteroid about a meter wide struck the earth's atmosphere over the Philippines Wednesday creating a spectacular fireball as it burned up during entry. Asteroids this size are harmless and fairly common with one hitting the earth about every two weeks according to the European Space Agency, but they are rarely seen before they strike. Experts say it's just the ninth asteroid which has been spotted before impact
I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church in just a short break.
See you right back here tomorrow.
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