Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

33,00 Boeing Union Members Set to Strike-Bound in Protest to the Proposed Four-Year Plan; Three of the Six U.N. Staff Killed in the Latest Strike were Claimed to be Hamas Members. Pope Francis Wraps Up His 12-Day Four-Nation Tour in Asia and Oceania; Young Chinese Couples Prefer Pooches over Parenthood as the Country's Birth Rate Dipped Further in 2023. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 13, 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)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

33,000 Boeing workers are set to strike at this hour. Why employees at one of the largest airplane makers in the U.S. are taking action?

No more debates. Former U.S. President Donald Trump says he will not face Vice President Kamala Harris for a second time.

And a stern warning to NATO from Moscow, but Vladimir Putin says could put the alliance on a collision course with Russia.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: The largest airplane manufacturer in the United States, Boeing, is set to be strike-bound at this hour. About 33,000 of its union members are expected to hit the picket lines. Now this is the first strike at the beleaguered airplane maker in 16 years. Union members rejected a proposed four-year contract, even though union leadership had described it as the best it had ever negotiated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HOLDEN, PRESIDENT, IAM DISTRICT 751: This is about respect. This is about addressing the past. And this is about fighting for our future. Our members rejected the contract by 94.6 percent.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HOLDEN: They voted to strike by 96 percent.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Boeing issued a statement saying, quote, "we remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement."

All right, I want to bring in Jeffrey Thomas, who's the editor-in- chief and managing director at airlineratings.com, and he joins us now from Perth, Australia. Thank you so much for being here with us. So are you surprised at what has happened here? Explain how it came to this.

JEFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: Well, look, yes, we certainly -- Look, there's two sides to it. Yes, I'm surprised, but then possibly no, I'm not. Because the Boeing workers have over the last 16 years had several contracts that they have not been happy with at all and were forced to accept them.

And so this combined with the auto workers last year in the U.S. negotiating a pay increase from $20 an hour to $35 an hour, that's almost a doubling of their salary, has really set the tone for what the workers believe big corporations can pay.

Now balancing that, the problem for Boeing and the problem for the workers is that the aviation industry is incredibly competitive. You've got new aircraft coming out of China. Are you going to get larger aircraft coming out of Brazil with lower cost bases? Boeing's going to face more and more intense competition in one of the market segments that's traditionally one of the most profitable, the 737 type aircraft. So, you know, a galloping wage increase. Was he a big problem?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, indeed. Before I get to more on the impact on Boeing, I'd like to know sort of what impact it might have on us, on passengers and so on.

THOMAS: Well, from the traveling public's perspective at the moment, it will have no impact at all because it doesn't affect aircraft that are in service, obviously, but deliveries of new aircraft to airlines around the world and around the United States will be impacted if it's a prolonged strike.

And the last strike they had lasted 57 days and it's two months. And that will have a profound impact on deliveries. Which will impact on the traveling public particularly getting up towards the festive season. With so if airlines will not be getting the aircraft that they were promised.

BRUNHUBER: So as you say, I mean, this is a another blow for Boeing It's been basically a year of damage control for the company's this has certainly won't help.

[03:05:00]

THOMAS: Look, no and the strike vote of 96 percent really underscores the discontent of the workers, justified or not. And really clearly the new Boeing president, new CEO, Kelly Alberg, has really got to get down with them, sort this out very, very quickly, because there's two aspects. The cost of Boeing, of course, will be very, very great. But also Boeing desperately needs harmony within its workforce, even if it costs a company more than it's willing to pay.

BRUNHUBER: You talk about them having to solve this quickly. I mean, I understand it could cost Boeing something like a billion dollars a week. So how long do you expect the strike to last?

THOMAS: Well, that's a very good question, Kim. The workers have got to sort of find the funds themselves to survive. Boeing itself also, its credit rating is way down. It's under enormous pressure to deliver aircraft and produce aircraft, to get the cash flow back to where they want it to be.

So there's a lot of challenges that really need a quick solution, not months, just, and not weeks, but days. I would like to think they could get down, sort this out within a week, and even if it cost Boeing more than they wanted, it needs to be fixed.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, certainly. This is the last thing the trouble company needed right now. We'll have to leave it there. Jeffrey Thomas, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

THOMAS: Pleasure.

BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump now says he won't participate in another presidential debate. Despite his reluctance, Trump claimed he won the debate with Kamala Harris while speaking in a rally in Arizona on Thursday. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As everyone saw two nights ago, we had a monumental victory over comrade Kamala Harris in the presidential debate. We won big with independent voters, moderates, Republicans, and working people all across this nation, putting forward a clear vision to very simply make America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, the vice president says she wants to go another round with her adversary. She's coming off one of her strongest single fundraising days yet. And Harris repeatedly hit a rival over his debate performance while campaigning in North Carolina. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On Tuesday night, I talked about issues that I know matter to the families across America. But that's not what we heard from Donald Trump. Instead, you know what, I called it at the beginning of the debate. It was the same old show. Same old tired playbook we've heard for years with no plan for how he would address the needs of the American people. Well, folks, look, it's time to turn the page. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Alright. We'll have more on Harris' campaign in North Carolina in a moment, but first let's take a closer look at Trump in Arizona.

CNN's Steve Contorno has more from the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Donald Trump on Thursday visited Tucson, Arizona for his first campaign event since Tuesday night's debates. On the stage, he attacked the debate moderators, put his own positive spin on the events, and suggested that it was rigged. However, he also made clear that he will not participate in another debate.

TRUMP: So because we've done two debates and because they were successful, there will be no third debate. It's too late anyway, the voting's already begun, you've got to go out and vote.

CONTORNO; Trump's speech on Thursday was billed as an address on housing and the economy. He unveiled a new proposal to get rid of taxes on overtime wages, but he spent most of his time here talking about immigration. It's one of his top issues and it's an issue that they believe will resonate here in Arizona, a border state.

A recent CNN poll showed that Trump wins on this issue by a 17 point margin over Vice President Harris.

TRUMP: People said that I was angry at the debate, angry. I was angry. And yes, I am angry because he allowed 21 million illegal aliens invading our communities. Many of them are criminals.

CONTORNO: Trump also continued to suggest that migrants are eating pets and stealing geese. He continues his West Coast tour on Friday with events planned in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Steve Contorno, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Harris eager for another matchup with former President Donald Trump. She believes the debate showed clear contrast and illustrated in her view that Trump is unfit for the presidency.

[03:10:05]

HARRIS: Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our debates. He watched it, and he watched it. And look, I believe we owe it to have another debate. We owe it to the voters. Because here's the thing, in this election, what's at stake could not be more important.

On Tuesday night, I talked about issues that I know matter to the families across America, like bringing down the cost of living, investing in America's small businesses, protecting reproductive freedom, and keeping our nation safe and secure. MCKEND: And Democrats believe North Carolina is in play this cycle for

a number of reasons. There are nearly a dozen historically black colleges and universities in this state. We know the campaign has been doing direct outreach to those communities. They've seen more than 160,000 North Carolinians request early ballots to vote early.

The vice president referencing that early voting in particular. And they believe that the Republican candidate for governor is especially weak, and that he'll bring down the entire ticket. So it is for those reasons and the strength of their argument that they believe they have on reproductive rights that they are investing so heavily in this state.

Eva McKend, CNN, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Richard Johnson. He's a lecturer in U.S. politics at Queen Mary University of London. Good to see you again. Thanks for coming on. So listen, Donald Trump says he won't debate again. Do you think that's true or is he just posturing?

RICHARD JOHNSON, LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Well, I would imagine he's being given advice at the moment that another debate is not advisable. I mean Kamala Harris came in at that debate and really just blew him out of the water. I mean she came in as so prepared. I think they really weren't expecting her to be as focused on message and consistent as she was, you know to -- to be fair Kamala Harris has had a reputation at times for what or a word salad and being a little bit vague. There was none of that in evidence in the debate. And I think quite frankly, Donald Trump and his team were surprised and taken aback by it.

BRUNHUBER: But do you think there is a situation in which, let's say the polls do change a little bit that he could reconsider and want a rematch?

JOHNSON: Well, in spite of what I've just said about the strength of Kamala Harris at the debate, I'm not expecting dramatic shifts in the polls. And that's just because a great deal of elasticity left in this election. People's minds are mostly made up.

We're really now talking about a set of voters who political scientists might call low engagement or low information voters and what we really mean by that is people who aren't paying much attention to politics.

What I would say is that the particular line that has attracted the most attention from this debate, Donald Trump's line about the pets, may seem ridiculous, indeed racist to some viewers, but to others, it may be something that catches their attention for people who aren't particularly interested and involved in politics.

I mean, if you think about messages that get engagement on social media. Things that have animals or pets in them will often be shared and people will engage with them.

And this is all to say that I think we need to be careful about how we think about the impact of this debate on the polls, because for many who are watching it and are highly engaged in this election, it's a clear win for Kamala Harris. For people who are just hearing discussion about it, that story about the pets may entice their interest in the campaign.

And immigration is one of those issues, one of the few issues where Trump is streets ahead of Kamala Harris. So there could be unpredictable effects from the debate. So yes, going back to your question, it's possible that Team Trump could say, let's have another crack at it. But I think it was so taken aback by Kamala Harris' performance that I'm not sure they want to necessarily risk it again.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and on the pets, I mean, it's equally possible that this will just turn off. Even more voters who might be on the fence saying, this is just Donald Trump again with more crazy conspiracy theories. And just in terms of data sort of backing up your point about the polls, I mean, there's still relatively little data on whether the debate had any effect. But a new Ipsos-Reuters poll suggests it hasn't.

[03:15:10]

The latest poll shows her up five points on Donald Trump. And before the debate, she was up four. So I'm -- if it doesn't move the needle concretely, could it be important in other ways? And I'm thinking more in terms of Harris, especially in terms of voter enthusiasm and raking in more money.

JOHNSON: Yes, I mean, this is an all hands on election. And every time that Kamala Harris scores a win, it prevents Donald Trump from scoring a win against her. This is going to be a photo finish election. And so. Kamala Harris, from the time that she became the presumptive Democratic nominee, she's had a string of good news stories. Her campaign has not really stumbled, it's not really fallen back.

Just before the debate, there were some people starting to say, well, perhaps the momentum is slowing down, perhaps the enthusiasm is starting to fade, the novelty of her candidacy is not what it once was a month or two ago.

And I think what the value of the debate is from her side is that it has reinjected energy and enthusiasm into her campaign, and she needs all of her activists and her core supporters out there.

I mean, there still is an issue if you look at some of the polling, that there are still certain weaknesses that she needs to address African Americans in the "New York Times" gender poll, only 75 percent of them said they're backing Harris. She needs to be 10 percent. 10, 15 points higher with that group really. 52 percent of Latinos said they're supporting her.

She should be 10, 15, 20 points higher with them going by recent elections for Democratic candidates. So there's still work to do, but the avoidance of any missteps and indeed a victory against Trump, as she had in the debate, gives her the necessary momentum to focus on those communities that still need to be persuaded.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, still plenty of time for things to change on both sides. Richard Johnson, good to see you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Russia goes on the offense at home trying to retake territory captured by Ukraine. But as Moscow claims to make progress, Kyiv says everything is still going according to plan. We'll explain.

Plus, an Israeli strike on a shelter in Gaza killed 18 people, including six UN workers. Now, the Israeli military is accusing some of those U.N. employees of being Hamas members. We'll have the latest in our report from the region next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Moscow's putting NATO on notice that it should think twice before letting Ukraine strike deeper inside Russia with Western-made weapons. On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin issued one of his strongest statements on the subject. He said if Ukraine gets NATO's go-ahead, the alliance could be on a military collision course with Russia. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is their direct involvement. And this of course would, in a significant way change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. It will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: But U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Poland indicated that the permission is on the table. Ukraine has been asking for a green light to hit deep inside Russia with long range missiles for months. And U.S. President Joe Biden is now coming under domestic pressure to allow that. Here's what Secretary Blinken said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Look, a hallmark of what we've done from day one, in fact, even before day one, of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022 was to try to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, when it needs it, to deal with that aggression. And as what Russia's doing has changed, as the battlefield has changed, we've adapted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now that's happening as Moscow tries to retake territory Ukraine captured last month in Western Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Thursday that Moscow had launched a counterattack in the Kursk region. Video shows a Russian attack on a village held by Ukraine on the western edge of the area. Moscow claims it has already taken back 10 settlements, but according to the Pentagon, the Russian operation isn't a game changer, at least so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. PATRICK RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: What we have seen is Russian units beginning to try to conduct some type of counter offensive in the Kursk region. At this stage I would say that it's marginal, but something obviously that we're keeping an eye on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Ukraine says it has captured about 1,300 square kilometers of territory and about 100 settlements inside Russia. President Zelenskyy says Kyiv knew Russia would push back and what's happened so far is in line with Ukraine's expectations.

I spoke last hour with global affairs analyst Michael Bocircu in Odessa, Ukraine, and I asked him to explain why it's so important for Kyiv to be able to conduct strikes deeper inside Russia. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND SR. FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Ukraine is a big country about the size of France and it's impossible to defend it from incoming missiles, especially those high- speed ballistic missiles with air defense systems alone. Hence, Kyiv is arguing that it needs to be able to strike the launch pads from where these missiles come deeper inside Russia.

Up until now, Western-supplied missiles like the Stormshadow or ATACMS have been limited to Russian occupied territories Crimea etc. But with further range, for example, the Anglo-French storm shadow has a range of about 250 kilometers they could they could strike some of the airfields from which these missiles are being launched and also what's fueling this, I think is news that Iran is sending a new shipment of short-range missiles to Russia range about 120 kilometers and Kim If those missiles are launched from Belarus, they could actually strike Kyiv. So that's, I think, accelerated the whole discussion here.

[03:25:01]

BRUNHUBER: Now, Russia has again warned that allowing Ukraine to strike deeper into Russian territory could dramatically escalate the conflict. We played that clip there from Putin warning that it would essentially mean that Western countries are at war with Russia. And that's why the Biden administration has been cautious to this point.

So why if they do change, why now, what's different now than it was six months ago or two years ago aside from the issue of -- of the Iran ballistic missiles?

BOCIURKIW: Yeah well first of all with Mr. Putin, I mean I personally believe he's bluffing as he as he has many times, I don't think he will escalate that much further. We've seen the lack of their capabilities when Ukraine invaded Kursk. But what's different now as I think but a couple of things really I think They've seen the way the Ukrainians have managed the deployment of tanks, of F-16s, of other weaponry, which they were very, very reluctant to give earlier on.

And I can't help but think there's a little bit of domestic political calculation going on. You may remember Kamala Harris in that debate with Mr. Trump brought up Polish-Americans living in Pennsylvania. Well, there's a big Ukrainian community as well, you know, big Baltic community.

So I think the administration is signaling that we have your back, Ukrainians, Baltics, Polish citizens, and we will help Ukraine push back Mr. Putin. And then, you know, there's legitimate fears finally that if Mr. Putin is not stopped, he could go further into Europe. And hopefully these missiles will make him think twice about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Israel's military is defending its actions after a strike on a shelter in central Gaza killed at least 18 people, including six U.N. employees. The Israel Defense Forces claims three of the six UNRWA staff were members of Hamas, but didn't immediately provide any evidence. At least 44 other people were wounded.

The IDF admits to carrying out Wednesday's strike on the U.N. school where thousands of displaced people have been seeking refuge. Israel's military claims Hamas was using the location to plan and execute terrorist attacks. The U.N. says the three people accused by the IDF were, in fact, teachers.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments from Abu Dhabi. So Paula, what more are we learning about this?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kim, this isn't the first time that this has happened, that Israel has accused UNRWA employees of also being members of Hamas. In this particular occasion though, we understand from UNRWA that six of their employees were killed in this Israeli airstrike, 18 killed in all.

And they have given the names, they have given the details of those that were killed in the airstrike, saying that they were teachers before the war began, saying they are also well known in the local community, one of their colleagues within the same facility that was hit said that they had been distributing food earlier that morning and then they had sat down to lunch when the bombs hit.

Now this particular individual who didn't give her -- who was unable to be on the record with her name as she's not allowed to speak to the media -- said that no resistance fighters existed or operated from the school and what Israel is claiming is an unacceptable lie. Now what we've heard from Israel is that they say the reason they targeted this particular school is that there were Hamas terrorists operating inside the compound who were planning attacks against the IDF and also against Israel.

They claim three of those UNRWA workers were actually affiliated with Hamas as well, although they haven't given specific evidence to back up those allegations.

It has been rejected by UNRWA itself though saying that Israel has given them names of those they believe are affiliated with Hamas as recently as July and those particular names were not on that list.

Now the strike itself has been condemned by the U.N. Secretary General and also his spokesperson was asked specifically about the Israeli allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESPERSON: We have no way of -- We're not in a position to confirm it, to deny it. Our focus is on humanitarian help. What is clear to us is that no one in this conflict, and all parties, and I do mean all parties, should never use civilian infrastructure as a place from which to launch attacks, to target attacks. The use of human shields has been condemned, and we will continue in that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:30:00]

HANCOCKS: There's also a statement from the head of UNRWA, Phillip Lazzarini, saying that as of now, around 220 UNRWA employees and U.N. employees have been killed in this conflict, being condemned by all sides, saying that these facilities, that schools, that hospitals should not be used by either side. Now, the area where this happened, we understand from UNRWA, had about 12,000 displaced Palestinian sheltering in it at the time of the strike. It hasn't been used as a school since October of last year. Kim?

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Alright. I appreciate those updates. Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.

After the break, Donald Trump says there will be no more debates for him as Kamala Harris hits him on policy. We'll have more on the U.S. presidential race next.

Plus, the top U.S. law enforcement official says the Justice Department won't be intimidated by threats. Coming up, details on Merrick Garland's fiery new warnings. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Donald Trump says there will be no third debate for him in this U.S. presidential race, but a top adviser for Kamala Harris predicts another debate will happen. As for Harris, she says she is game for another showdown. Meanwhile, Trump was in Arizona Thursday disputing the 2020 election results.

[03:35:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I got more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country. And they said we lost, but we didn't lose. And we're never going to let that happen again in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: In North Carolina, Kamala Harris went after her rival, criticizing his policy responses in Tuesday's debate. She targeted his remarks on replacing the Affordable Care Act. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And as he said in the debate, he made clear he has no plan to replace it. In fact, you remember? God said, do you remember? He has quote, "concepts of a plan." Concepts of a plan. I mean we're 54 days from this election. Concepts of a plan. Which means no actual plan. Which means no actual plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: A judge is throwing out three charges in the Georgia election subversion case, two of which were charges Donald Trump was facing. One count of filing false documents and another count of conspiring to file false documents has been dismissed. Trump's lawyer is hailing the rulings as a victory.

But the decision hasn't yet been formally applied to Trump since his case has been paused pending appeals. And in a separate ruling, the Fulton County judge upheld the marquee racketeering charge in the case, which includes Trump.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is implicitly pushing back against Donald Trump and his allies for threats and attacks against Department of Justice employees and for trying to use the DOJ as a political weapon against their real or perceived enemies. More now from CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An indignant attorney general takes aim at those who he believes have leveled threats against prosecutors and other staffers at the Department of Justice.

MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon. TODD (voice-over): In an impassioned speech to justice employees,

Merrick Garland said it's dangerous now for people at the department to simply do their jobs. And he condemned what he called the escalation of attacks against government lawyers, law enforcement agents and others.

GARLAND: These attacks have come in the form of conspiracy theories, dangerous falsehoods, efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out, and threats of actual violence.

TODD (voice-over): Garland never mentioned former President Donald Trump by name, but it was clear the recent actions of Trump and his allies fueled much of his frustration.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, "THE WASHINGTON POST": The former president definitely amped up the threats against the Department of Justice, and he has been threatening to put people in jail who work for the Department of Justice, who work for election offices, by threatening them with this idea that they were cheaters during the election.

TODD (voice-over): Indeed, in recent days, Trump threatened prosecution and long prison sentences for election officials and political workers who Trump suggested could cheat in this year's election. The former president, posting on Truth Social, quote, "When I win, those people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." It's part of Trump's efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of this year's election, even though there's no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularity in any recent U.S. election.

Trump has often suggested recently that he would weaponize the justice system to go after his political opponents if he's elected again, even though during the recent debate he accused the Democrats of doing that to him with the recent criminal prosecutions against him.

TRUMP: They weaponized the Justice Department. They used it to try and win an election. They're fake cases.

TODD (voice-over): Garland defended the department's integrity.

GARLAND: There is not one rule for friends and another for foes. One rule for Democrats and another for Republicans.

TODD (voice-over): And he reiterated his prosecutors and agents won't be intimidated by political attacks.

GARLAND: But it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them. He's worried about election-related violence.

OLORUNNIPA: He's worried about Trump inspiring someone who may take what he is saying and run with it and feel like they need to take things into their own hands.

TODD: At certain points in his speech, Merrick Garland seemed to express real exasperation with the attacks on the Justice Department. He thanked prosecutors and other department staff for refusing to bend to politics and break under pressure. Garland said, quote, "you deserve better."

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

What was Hurricane Francine is now a post-tropical cyclone, but the storm still poses serious risk to the southeastern United States. Around 8 million people are under flood alerts, around 10 million are under wind alerts.

[03:40:02]

Francine battered Louisiana when it made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday, flooding hundreds of structures across the state and bringing more than a month's worth of rain to New Orleans in a matter of hours. Less than two weeks ago into this month, New Orleans has already seen its third-west September on record, with the rainfall total exceeding 15 inches so far.

Firefighters in Southern California are working to contain multiple fires. A number of homes have been destroyed. Tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated. Fire officials say steep and difficult terrain, as well as poor visibility, are hampering efforts to contain the flames. CNN's Stephanie Elam is in the fire zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A race against time, fighting extreme wildfires along multiple fronts in Southern California. After triple-digit heat and high winds have fanned surging flames, firefighters are now battling three immense firestorms in the region, where more than 100,000 acres have burned in recent days.

In Orange County, a woman fleeing the airport fire on foot as a fire battalion chief comes to her rescue. The blaze is only 5 percent contained as scorched air rises, creating fire worlds of smoke and flames, searing ranch lands, engulfing homes.

There are nearly 11,000 residents in the evacuation zone of the bridge fire.

MIKE DEVESTERN, WRIGHTWOOD, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Everybody burning out, going to the gas station, gassing their cars up, trying to get out of here before they got burnt. It was scary.

ELAM (voice-over): The blaze is still at 0 percent containment and is igniting dry brush spreading across mountaintops. Some firefighters here had to stop fighting the flames to help residents flee, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

JOHN MILLER, SPOKESPERSON, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: They were actively helping law enforcement evacuate people from the community. It was a life-saving mission.

ELAM: Were you able to see what it looked like at that time?

MILLER: In inferno.

ELAM (voice-over): In San Bernardino County, the Line Fire, where fire clouds morph into thunderstorms, wind gusts and dry conditions have banned the flames, torching homes and cars and knocking out power lines. Firefighters now hoping cooler temperatures ahead will help them hold the line.

ELAM: And I spoke to a man who says he rode out the bridge fire here in Wrightwood in a building, and he said when the fire came past them, it was like it was roaring. It was moving so fast, propelled by those super intense winds, and it just goes to show you how the fire jumps so quickly from Sunday to where we are now. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Pope Francis is heading back to Rome. Coming up, details of the Catholic leader's 12 day tour across the Asia Pacific, his longest yet. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Pope Francis is flying back to Rome right now after an almost two-week tour of Southeast Asia. As CNN's Christopher Lamb reports from Singapore, the Catholic leader preached to large crowds with a message of hope and interfaith understanding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pope Francis has concluded the longest trip of his papacy. A 12-day marathon visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. For the 87-year-old Pope, it's been a chance to highlight key themes of his papacy. Fraternity, protection of the environment, inter-religious harmony.

POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): The Church desires to increase inter-religious dialogue. In this way, prejudices can be eliminated and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow.

LAMB (voice-over): And an opportunity to showcase his vision of a Church that goes to the peripheries. Despite health difficulties and his use of a wheelchair, the missionary pope seemingly energized by his time in the region getting a rock star welcome wherever he went, and in East Timor, almost half the population attending a papal mass.

Asia is an increasingly influential in the Catholic Church. And Francis in a region of geopolitical importance.

In the background, China. The Vatican long working to rebuild ties with Beijing and support Catholics in the atheist state.

Francis in Asia underlining that the Catholic Church is not European or Western, but global.

Francis still has plenty of challenges. In East Timor, the scourge of clerical sexual abuse involving high-profile members of the clergy, the Pope urging leaders to tackle the problem.

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): We are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.

LAMB (voice-over): This visit likely to be remembered as the Pope's most ambitious and pointing to the future of the Church.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Still ahead, pets over parenting. Young Chinese couples are putting off starting a family, choosing to pamper their pooches instead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JARED ISAACMAN, POLARIS DAWN MISSION COMMANDER: Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, work sure looks like a perfect world.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The four civilian astronauts on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission have made history with their spacewalk. Two went out of the craft and two stayed in the capsule, but all four were depressurized and exposed to the vacuum of space, a milestone in a historic and potentially dangerous maneuver. Now the mission has set records and took the crew farther into space than any human since NASA's Apollo program more than 50 years ago. The capsule is expected to return to Earth this weekend.

A runaway penguin lost at sea off Japan for two weeks is now safe. The penguin named Penn was swimming with staff from a traveling zoo when she escaped. Now since the feathered fugitive was born in captivity and had never been in open waters, her chances of survival were dim. But then Typhoon Shanshan hit, as zookeeper tells CNN. That probably helped her survive, keeping her cool and hydrated and safe from boats and fishing nets. Penn was found Sunday eight miles from where she went missing.

Well call it a canine conundrum for the Chinese government, Beijing needs its young people to start families and help ease a worsening demographic crisis. But instead of pacifiers and prams, couples are choosing a hairier path, CNN's Marc Stewart reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Married for seven years, Hanson and his wife, Momo, may resemble China's family of the future.

STEWART: Do you have any children?

MARK HANSON, BEIJING RESIDENT: No, not yet.

STEWART: Are you planning on having children?

HANSON: Not right now, not this period of time.

STEWART (voice-over): The only parenting they're doing revolves around their six dogs.

MOMO, BEIJING RESIDENT (through translator): Yes, they're all part of our family. We're one big family.

HANSON: It's like our children, yes, it's like our daughters, our sons.

STEWART (voice-over): A reflection of the independent-minded younger generation in China, where having children is no longer a priority.

HANSON: Different generations value things differently.

STEWART (voice-over): According to a recent study by Goldman Sachs, the number of pets in urban China is expected to surpass the number of children ages 0 to 4 by the end of the year. By 2030, there could be nearly twice as many pets in urban China than young children.

Business opportunity for this doggy daycare owner who has also chosen not to have kids.

TAO, OWNER, SPACE DOG DAY CARE: I feel like people start to be more like this is what I want or this is what I like for my life rather than like, oh, this is what the society taught me to do, or this is what my parents want me to do.

STEWART (voice-over): Officials reported a record low birth rate last year as the population decreased for the second year in a row, a sharp dip partly due to COVID lockdowns.

[03:55:05]

While analysts expect a rebound this year, it is still a blow to the world's second largest economy, one so worried about overpopulation. It limited most urban couples to a single child, even forcing abortion and sterilization.

At a women's conference last year, China's strongman leader, Xi Jinping, lectured delegates to foster a new type of marriage and childbearing culture. The message is clear for Chinese women, get married and have babies. But some women choose to have puppies instead.

STEWART: This new found pet popularity comes at a time when the Chinese government is offering things like financial incentives and time off from work all with the goal of promoting parenthood.

STEWART (voice-over): Yet for many young Chinese, none of this seems to matter.

MOMO (through translator): I don't think my choice for not having a kid would make much of a difference for China.

STEWART (voice-over): The country's leadership very much begs to differ as they doggedly try to boost China's birth rate and its economic strength.

Marc Stewart, CNN. Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A New York City art show hopes to promote harmony between humans and animals. 100 wooden elephant figures have popped up in New York's trendy Meatpacking District. It's part of an art installation titled "The Great Elephant Migration."

The organizer says the sculptures are crafted by indigenous artists from southern India and are based on real wild elephants from the coffee plantations there. Spectators are invited to touch the elephant sculptures, which range in size from baby to adult. The pieces are also for sale with proceeds going to conservation groups.

Well that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. More CNN NEWSROOM just ahead with Max Foster in London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)