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International Court Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant; Russia Hits Ukraine with New Ballistic Missile; Trump's Picks Feel the Heat as Gaetz Drops Out; Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro Indicted Over Alleged Coup Plot; Five Tourists Die of Suspected Methanol Poisoning in Laos; Atmospheric River Unleashes Heavy Snow, Rain, Flooding; Japan Celebrates Ohtani's MVP Award. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired November 22, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Paula Newton, live in New York. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: What in God's name are they talking about in the Hague?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Benjamin Netanyahu calls out the International Criminal Court after it issues an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, accusing him of war crimes in Gaza.
Ukraine's president warns of a severe escalation in its war after Russia's launch of an experimental ballistic missile never before used in combat -- combat.
And just hours after his first pick for attorney general crashes out, Donald Trump chooses another MAGA loyalist to be America's top law enforcement officer.
ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Paula Newton.
NEWTON: And we do begin with both outrage and applause over the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and former defense minister.
Now, the court accused Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation, as a method of warfare and murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
Now, Gallant said the warrants set a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense, and Mr. Netanyahu called the ruling absurd and antisemitic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: The truth is simple. No war is more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza after Hamas attacked us, unprovoked, launched the -- launching the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Israel does not, Israel will not recognize the validity of this decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, the ICC issued a separate warrant for the Hamas military chief, Mohammed Deif, on the right -- you see him there -- who is also accused of crimes against humanity.
Israel says he was killed in an airstrike, but Hamas has not yet confirmed his death.
Meantime, the White House released a statement from President Joe Biden, calling the warrants against Israeli leaders outrageous.
The Palestinian Authority praised the action, saying it, quote, "restores hope and confidence in international law and its institutions, and in the importance of justice, accountability, and the prosecution of war criminals."
Now, many ICC member countries have indicated they would comply with the court's decision. CNN's Nic Robertson has a closer look now on what it means for the Israeli prime minister.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here on a visit to Gaza this week, now faces the most serious international challenge to his authority ever, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A result of his leadership leading to the deaths of more than 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
The ICC says it has reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes, including starvation, as a method of warfare; and crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Netanyahu is accusing the ICC of antisemitism.
NETANYAHU (through translator): This is an antisemitic measure that has one goal: to deter me, to deter us from exercising our natural right to defend ourselves against our enemies, who rise up against us, to destroy us.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Israel's former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who opposed some of Netanyahu's tactics in Gaza, is also accused. He is pushing back, saying the ICC is creating a dangerous precedent for self-defense.
The ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas's military chief, Mohammed Deif, whom the IDF says it killed in July.
Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, two other Hamas leaders who had been on the potential arrest list in May, are also now dead. Netanyahu is now in an unenviable club. Omar al-Bashir of Sudan,
President Vladimir Putin of Russia also wanted by the ICC and unable to travel freely.
[00:05:04]
Any of the 124 countries that are signatory to the Rome Statute will be obliged to arrest him, or Gallant, and send them to face trial at the ICC in the Netherlands, an obligation the E.U. foreign policy chief says must be upheld.
JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: It is not a political decision. It's a decision of a court, of a court of justice, of the international court of justice.
ROBERTSON: It's going to put a lot of the E.U. off-limits. France, Italy, the Netherlands have already said they'll arrest Netanyahu if he shows up in their countries. And Canada's Justin Trudeau has said the same, that Canada stands up for international law.
Where Netanyahu will be able to travel, those countries that are not signatories to the Rome Statute, like the United States and India, two of his favorite allies.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: To the war in Ukraine now, where President Vladimir Putin says Russia launched a new mid-range ballistic missile on Ukraine's Dnipro region on Thursday.
Now, the Ukrainian military earlier claimed the weapon was an intercontinental ballistic missile, a development that raised alarm in the West.
Now, the attack came after Ukraine fired longer-range American missiles into Russia for the first time this week. That's according to Russia's defense ministry and two U.S. officials.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen picks up the story from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment one of Russia's newest missiles dropped its payload on one of Ukraine's largest cities.
Several sub-warheads impacting in Dnipro, apparently not fully laden with explosives, causing no explosions on the ground, but aiming to deliver a strong message from the Russian leader.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In combat conditions, the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was also tested, in this case with a ballistic missile and non-nuclear hypersonic equipment. Our missile men call it Oreshnik. PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Ukrainians exclusively sharing these photos
of the missile debris with CNN, Kyiv saying the speed, trajectory, and impact of the rocket bore the hallmarks of an intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying thermonuclear warheads, although Western officials say it was not an ICBM.
"Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is, and how he despises dignity, freedom, and people's lives in general," Ukraine's president said.
Russia's strike comes only a day after Ukraine, for the first time, used U.S. supplied ATACMS surface-to-surface missiles against targets inside Russia.
PLEITGEN: Vladimir Putin says that the Russians used this new intermediate range ballistic missile as a direct response to the Ukrainians hitting targets deep inside Russia, using longer-range weapons provided by the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Ukrainians say Russia's new missile was launched from the Astrakhan area of Russia near the Caspian sea. Russia has test- launched ICBMs from there in the past.
Russian officials refusing to comment most of the day. The foreign ministry spokeswoman even getting an apparent order to remain silent during her press briefing.
MARIA ZAKHAROVA, DIRECTOR OF THE INFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Yes. I'm having a briefing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: On Yuzhmash and the ballistic rockets, about which the Westerners started talking about, we are not commenting at all.
ZAKHAROVA: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Yes, OK. Thank you.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): She later said the caller only clarified a topic for her press conference.
On the ground in Dnipro, the damage from the new weapon seemed minimal, but Putin's message has been delivered. Russia is capable of unleashing much greater havoc on Ukraine and its Western allies if it chooses to do so.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Mick Ryan is a retired major general in the Australian army and the author of "The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire."
And he joins us now from Brisbane, Australia.
I'm grateful to have you with us. Mick, is it possible that Putin launched this, really, as a measure of deterrence? Not so much for Ukraine, but for the U.S. and Europe, because it wants to send a message not just to the administration in the U.S. right now, but more importantly, Donald Trump?
MICK RYAN, RETIRED MAJOR GENERAL, AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Yes. G'day, Paula.
I think this is a message that's fair -- fairly and squarely sent to the incoming Trump administration. They are seeking to ensure that they give those in the incoming administration who wish to stop this war and allow Putin to basically control his periphery as much ammunition as they possibly can.
[00:10:05]
So, this is really focused at Washington rather than Kyiv.
NEWTON: You know, it's interesting, because you can argue both points of this, right? Does this actually belie Putin's weakness? His vulnerability after nearly three years of war?
Or that, you know, despite everything that's happened and that -- that means severe -- I mean, really catastrophic casualties on the Russian side. Does it mean that, despite all that, he's going to continue whatever it costs.
RYAN: No, I think that's absolutely what it means. He is someone that can't afford to lose this war now.
It was not a war that he needed to fight, but in his conduct of the war, he's made it one that's existential, at least for him, not for Russia.
So, he can't afford to lose it. And he is, once again, escalating the war to demonstrate that he doesn't want to lose it. And messaging Western leaders that, you know, it's not worth their while supporting Ukraine.
NEWTON: You notice that I did use the word "deterrence." And a lot of times, many people who've gamed this out do see this really as a game of deterrence, not necessarily aggression at this point in time.
When you look at the actual specifics of this missile -- and it, we should say, it is new, so to speak -- what makes it so formidable? Because many are questioning whether or not it could be -- you know, there's any defense for it. Ukraine certainly has said explicitly it has no way of shooting it down.
RYAN: Yes, I think this is why we need to look at this strike as beyond Ukraine or D.C. This is a missile that could hit anywhere in Europe.
And in the last six months, we've seen the U.S. and Germany agree to deploy in 2026 long-range missiles that can hit Russia.
So, I think, as well as targeting the Trump administration and its support for Ukraine, this is also targeting NATO, saying that Putin is very unhappy about the deployment of these U.S. missiles from 2026 in Germany.
NEWTON: You know, the intriguing part of all of this has been whether or not the United States knew this was coming.
Now, look, Russia indicated and confirmed to Russian state media that, in fact, it did tell the United States 30 minutes before the launch. But in closing its embassy -- the United States, that is -- in Kyiv. It seemed to understand and know this hours beforehand.
Do you believe that, you know, that the U.S. intelligence really is still quite formidable inside Russia?
RYAN: Well, clearly, someone in the U.S. system knew this was coming before that 30-minute warning because of that closure of the U.S. embassy. There were certainly rumors on Ukrainian telegram channels well before this strike that something was coming from the exact base it was launched from.
Now, the Russians probably did that deliberately, because this is politically political telegraphing not a military strike.
So, our intelligence agencies are probably working OK here, because the Russians wanted them to pick up the preparations.
NEWTON: You know, Donald Trump still continues to say that he'll have this settled in 24 hours.
How difficult is it right now for the incoming administration to really weigh Putin's motives and what he will or will not agree to, if they try and get him to the negotiating table?
RYAN: Well, I think it's extraordinarily difficult, but I think Putin also believes he has the whip hand here. He feels he has strategic momentum in this war and that he doesn't need to give up anything that he's gained in this war. Because the West so far hasn't been able to stop him, and they won't prevent him from holding onto what he's got.
So, I think it's going to be very difficult for the incoming administration.
NEWTON: Yes. We'll wait and see, as we see Russia's next move in all of this.
Major General Mick Ryan in Brisbane. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
RYAN: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, Donald Trump has announced a new pick to be attorney general, hours after his first choice for the job stepped aside.
She is former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi. The longtime Trump supporter recently helped lead the legal arm of the America First Policy Institute, a right-leaning think tank.
Now, Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general after Trump told him he didn't have the votes to win Senate confirmation.
The former congressman has denied persistent accusations that he paid a 17-year-old for sex.
Trump posted on social media, "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against the -- me and other Republicans. Not anymore. Pam Bondi will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting -- fighting crime and making America safe again."
Now, with Gaetz out of the running for attorney general, critics are likely to turn up the heat on a number of Trump's other controversial picks.
CNN's Brian Todd has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT GAETZ (R), FORMER FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN: Make sure that we get the country back on track.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matt Gaetz is gone, but Donald Trump's headaches with troubled cabinet picks persist.
[00:15:06]
DONALD MARCHICK, CO-AUTHOR, "THE PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER": It's really not just one nominee. This is like the "Star Wars" bar scene of nominees. There's a whole host of problems with the entire slate.
TODD (voice-over): There's Pete Hegseth, the president-elect's choice for defense secretary.
CNN has obtained a police report with details from a female accuser, where she alleges that in 2017, Hegseth blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her cell phone from her, and sexually assaulted her.
Hegseth denies the allegations, says the encounter was consensual; and he was not charged with a crime in connection with the incident.
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to be the director of national intelligence, wrote bills while she was a congresswoman supporting two of the most notorious intelligence leakers in history: Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, according to new reporting from CNN.
Gabbard did not respond to CNN's request for an interview. She's already been blistered for her past support of Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and for supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including criticism from fellow Republican and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
NIKKI HALEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: DNI, Department -- Department of National Intelligence, this is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer.
Linda McMahon, Trump's selection to be education secretary, is accused in a recent lawsuit of knowingly enabling the sexual exploitation of children by an employee of World Wrestling Entertainment, which she used to head. McMahon denies the allegations.
Then there's Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health and human services secretary. Health experts have sounded multiple alarms over Kennedy's stance against vaccinations and his false conspiracy theories about the COVID virus.
This past summer, "Vanity Fair" magazine published allegations that Kennedy had sexually assaulted a former nanny for his family. Kennedy sidestepped the accusations.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not a church boy.
TODD (voice-over): What do all these picks say about Trump's transition process overall?
JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: There certainly seems to be a common theme of not having had a whole lot of vetting. He has chosen people who are loyal to him and who he has a good connection with, or a vibe with. And sometimes, that is taking precedence over a strong and really robust vetting process, which will present problems, analysts say, in the weeks ahead.
The danger is that the government will not be staffed on day one or shortly after inauguration if he doesn't choose picks which are going to be acceptable and pass muster with the United States Senate.
TODD: Analysts say one of the most problematic challenges for the Trump team going forward is that at least three of the nominees who are left -- Pete Hegseth, Linda McMahon, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- have dealt with cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct, not a subject that the Trump team wants front and center in confirmation hearings.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Joining me now from Los Angeles, Jessica Levinson. She's a professor at Loyola Law School and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast. Good to see you.
As we continue to try and parse fast-moving developments with this transition, you know, Donald Trump seemed to capitulate pretty quickly on Gaetz. Why do you think that is?
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR AT LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Because there was just no path forward. I think this was the nomination where, frankly, right out of the gate, it wasn't clear that it was going anywhere.
And then it just got worse. From the moment that the nomination was announced, there was a drip, drip, drip. And it seemed like the news just couldn't -- it kept getting worse for Matt Gaetz, and that he could not overcome the threshold that he needed for a confirmation.
I think that President Trump saw that very clearly. Some people are saying that the mission was already accomplished for this particular appointment, in that he resigned from the House. And it looks like, at least for now, that that ethics commission report on him will not see the light of day.
NEWTON: Yes, it will be interesting to see if he takes up his job in the next Congress, because he did win that election in Florida.
Let's go to the next person in line, though, Pam Bondi. She is experienced and loyal. But this is interesting. Maybe she's not too far from the kind of attorney general that Trump wanted in Gaetz. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BONDI, FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: The prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated. Because the deep state last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated. And the house needs to be cleaned out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Needs -- needs to be cleaned out. Do you believe she'll tone this down if she's confirmed?
LEVINSON: I think that depends on her boss. So, if she is confirmed, and if President Trump continues this type of rhetoric when he becomes president again, then I think there's very little to indicate that she would tone this down.
[00:20:03]
The question is whether or not actions follow the rhetoric. And if she does, in fact, do something that we've not seen in modern times with the head of the Department of Justice, which is use that very powerful agency to go after a president's political opponents. That obviously is not what we're accustomed to. It's not what we've seen in the past.
It's quite arguably not what the Department of Justice is there to do. But again, I'm looking not really so much at the rhetoric, but at the actions.
NEWTON: Yes. And it's interesting. You just remind everyone that the Department of Justice must be independent, right?
LEVINSON: Well, must be, I think, best practices certainly is that it is. And that's why, for instance, you've seen the Biden administration not only say, we're not going to get involved with some decisions, which many presidents before President Biden have said.
But also, you see the Biden administration appointing special counsels. Jack Smith, of course, was a special counsel, to create even more separation between the administration and the investigations into President Trump.
Because President Biden's administration acknowledged that it could look like he was going after a political opponent.
I don't think we're going to see a lot of special counsels appointed during the Trump administration. And I think this really is a test as to whether or not our gentle person's agreement that the Department of Justice is independent from the president will continue to hold.
NEWTON: Yes, it is quite a test.
I want to move on to the nominee for defense secretary. That would be Peter Hegseth, who paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault. I want you to listen to his reaction about that. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, CO-HOST, FOX NEWS HOST: As far as the media is concerned, I think it's very simple. The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared, and that's where I'm going to leave it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: You know, he's denied any wrongdoing whatsoever.
But there is a nondisclosure agreement. His lawyer admits that to CNN.
What do you think Trump voters make of this selection? And his judgment overall with these picks?
LEVINSON: So, one thing I just want to mention is there is a difference between no charges were brought and being completely cleared. And I don't know that he's making that distinction in a legal sense.
In terms of Trump's voters, I mean, I think that this is what Trump said that he was going to do; that he was going to, he said very clearly, over and over again.
For instance, we just talked about the Department of Justice that he was going to go after political opponents. Now, we're talking about Pete Hegseth, who doesn't have, frankly, the resume that we're accustomed to when it comes to the secretary of defense.
But he has been very loyal to the president and, obviously, a regular on FOX News. And I think those are the types of qualifications that President Trump is looking for.
Whether or not the allegations of sexual misconduct that have been made with respect to a number of the different nominees here is something that affects Trump's base.
I really don't know, in the sense that, for years now, we have seen that allegations that would typically sink a president or a candidate have really not affected this particular president and his candidacy.
NEWTON: Yes, it is a very good point. And yet, we did have the Senate this time indicate quite clearly to President Trump that they would not likely confirm Matt Gaetz. So, we'll see what they will do with some of these other confirmation processes.
Jessica Levinson, once again, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, Brazil's former president has been indicted in an alleged coup plot that even involved possible assassinations.
Ahead, details on the allegations against Jair Bolsonaro and dozens of others.
Plus, dozens are dead in Pakistan as gunmen attack in a region that's seen clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims in recent months. The story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:26:19]
NEWTON: Gunmen opened fire on buses and cars carrying Shia Muslims in Northwest Pakistan Thursday, killing at least 42 people and wounding 20 others. That's according to the Associated Press.
Now, at least ten people were brought to hospital in critical condition. The attack took place in the Kurram district, where clashes between Sunnis and Shias have killed dozens in recent months.
And it comes just a week after authorities reopened a highway that had been closed due to violence. No one has claimed responsibility, so far.
Brazil's federal police have indicted the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, in connection to an alleged plot to kill his successor.
CNN Brazil reports Bolsonaro had full knowledge of a plan to prevent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after his election victory in 2022. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The indictment of former President Jair Bolsonaro is rocking Brazilian politics this week.
POZZEBON (voice-over): The prosecutors have indicted the right-wing leader on Thursday on charges including attempting a coup d'etat, criminal organization, and the violent suppression of the rule of law.
Bolsonaro, who lost the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has always denied these charges. But it's the third time that the former president has been indicted. According to our affiliate, CNN Brazil, the federal police allege that
Bolsonaro had full knowledge of a plot to prevent Lula and his government to take office in January 2023, and that that plot included even plans to kill Lula, his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, and the supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The prosecutors have presented their final investigation report, which is hundreds of pages long, to the supreme court in Brasilia. It will now be a decision for the Brazil's attorney general to rule whether to present formal charges against Bolsonaro and essentially put him onto trial.
POZZEBON: If we were to go on to a trial, it would likely take place next year. But this scandal is already making headlines today.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Five tourists have now died in Laos due to suspected methanol poisoning in connection with tainted alcohol.
More details now from CNN's Mike Valerio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the new health alert from the U.S. embassy in Laos says essentially this.
If you're traveling within Laos, in the area, be especially watchful for bottles of liquor that may look like they've been tampered.
Perhaps there's a label on one of the bottles that doesn't look right, that doesn't look like it's been printed professionally.
VALERIO (voice-over): So, that is the warning that has gone out, because we seem to have this expanding story line from Laos of more and more people being poisoned by alcohol tainted by methanol.
So, to give you an idea of what we're talking about, two people from Denmark, one American citizen, one Australian citizen, and one person from the United Kingdom all dead in this same town of Vang Vieng.
It's in the middle of Laos, a beautiful, idyllic, unspoiled corner of Asia, where so many tourists and backpackers go as they look for the journeys of a lifetime. A real adventure.
And we've been able to follow the story lines of two Australian teenagers, Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both 19 years old, both from Victoria, who were aiming to have this similar journey of a lifetime before heading on to university studies.
[00:30:00]
But their family members tell our affiliates in Sydney a few days ago that late last week, they're both suspected of consuming some kind of tainted alcohol.
They both fell violently ill to the point where they both needed to be moved from Laos to neighboring Thailand to a hospital in Bangkok. And one of the teenagers, unfortunately, has died. Bianca Jones. So far, Holly Bowles, as far as our reporting shows, is remaining on life support.
VALERIO: So, the story line right now rests on the question of whether this will grow. And when we're talking about why methanol, our reporting has also shown that just a little bit of methanol, used in counterfeit bootleg alcohol, can make you drunk a small quantity.
But a small quantity of methanol -- methanol in alcohol can also be toxic. It's used to produce alcohol in a cheaper way. But it's also a far more dangerous way to manufacture alcohol, as well.
So, this story expanding to several countries beyond the borders of Laos here in Asia.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Still to come for us, another storm is on the way as people in the Pacific Northwest struggle through a powerful storm that dumped torrential rain and heavy snowfall in the region. We'll have details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: And welcome back. For CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Paula Newton.
Northern California and parts of the Pacific Northwest are bracing for another storm. It's expected to strengthen and move toward the coast on Friday.
Now, this is coming on the heels of a powerful atmospheric river boosted by a bomb cyclone that unleashed heavy mountain snowfall, torrential rainfall, and life-threatening flooding right across coastal areas of Northwest California.
We get more now from CNN's Chad Myers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a couple of things going on here. Flooding in Northern California. Also, some very heavy snow in the mountains.
And it's all because of the atmospheric river we've been calling it all week. It's just a river of moisture in the atmosphere, and when it hits the topography of land, all of that rain and the snow wants to fall out.
So, 12 inches of precip here. So, about 300 millimeters of rain. Twenty inches of snow in the mountains. And it's very heavy snow. This is the stuff you make snowballs and snowmen with.
But the problem is -- now it's warming up, and now it's going to rain on that snow. And that snow is going to try to melt. And it may not melt slowly. It may melt rather quickly, clogging drains and causing more flash flooding.
We already know that there will be at least a couple of rivers that are going to get to major flood stage here. So, there's your rain and the snow.
[00:35:03]
Great news for the ski resorts there, but they really don't need all of it at once.
Now we move toward Europe, where look at all the areas today that will have some type of weather alert from low to medium and even to high in Romania, with wind and snow there.
And then there's a big storm system that's going to affect Northwestern Europe by the end of the weekend, with a major wind event.
Now, there will be snow. There will be significant snow, and likely most of it will be closer to Turkey. Yes, seems a little bit far South, but that's where the storm is going.
Now, the wind. There's the low-pressure center that is going to be West of the U.K., and we are going to see that wind. This is Sunday.
And I mean, this is one of those 60, 70 kmh, maybe even a wind gust along the coast of over 100 kmh. So, pretty big event here coming into Northwestern Europe. And eventually by next week, all across the entire continent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Thank you, Chad.
Now, the clock is ticking at the U.N. climate summit. Thursday's proposal for a $1 trillion deal, where wealthy nations would offer financial aid to poor, developing countries combating climate change, fell through and in remarkable fashion.
Negotiators and leaders at COP-29 lambasted the draft, calling it a, quote, "big step back" ahead of Friday's deadline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOPKE HOEKSTRA, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR CLIMATE ACTION: I'm really sorry to say, but the text we now have in front of us, in our view, is imbalanced, unworkable, and unacceptable.
CHRIST BOWEN, AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE MINISTER: This is a big step back, and it is not acceptable at this current moment of crisis. CEDRIC SCHUSTER, CHAIR, ALLIANCE OF SMALL ISLAND STATES: We cannot
afford to undermine the progress and hard-won balance achieved less than a year ago in Dubai.
SUSANA MUHAMAD, COLOMBIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: The critical objective of this COP is right now an empty placeholder.
JUAN CARLOS GOMEZ, PANAMA'S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE: We are a failing planet and people once again at this COP.
TINA STEGE, MARSHALL ISLANDS CLIMATE ENVOY: We cannot afford to keep saying we must deal with the problem and then fail to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: The U.N. secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, returned to the host country, Azerbaijan, from a G-20 meeting in Brazil to try and see the deal through.
Now, he's urged all parties to make a final push and warned that failure is not an option.
And we will be right back after this short break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees' Aaron Judge have been named Major League Baseball's most valuable players.
Now, in the American League, this was Judge's second MVP honor of his career. For Ohtani, this was his third MVP award and first in the National League.
The slugger became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and of course, steal 50 bases in a single season, all while recovering from elbow surgery.
[00:40:04]
CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more now from Japan's national hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What can't Shohei Ohtani do?
The news of him winning the most valuable player award comes on the heels of his stellar season.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Ohtani made history as the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. He's also won MVP this time solely as a designated hitter.
He didn't pitch this year because, yes, he was recovering from elbow surgery while breaking all these records.
And Japan couldn't be prouder. Fans here have been eagerly awaiting their favorite baseball superstar to win MVP once again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I thought he was a monster for being able to hit that hard in rehab. I admire him.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Japan also hoped he'd win MVP unanimously, and he did.
This also marks his first MVP win in the National League, and he achieved it in a year when his team, the Dodgers, won the World Series.
So, even though this is his third MVP win, in a lot of ways, this one feels even more special for both him and his country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): From children to old people, everyone is longing for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, Dodgers!
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): People in Japan were with Ohtani every step of the way. During the World Series, roughly 13 percent of Japan tuned in, giving the games higher TV ratings here than in the U.S.
Ohtani's first season with the Dodgers was nearly flawless.
MONTGOMERY: So, on behalf of Japan, congratulations again, Ohtani.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now to a towering story of friendship as Two Guinness world record holders with very different perspectives met for the first time.
Rumeysa Gelgi of Turkey is 2.1 meters, or seven feet tall, while Jyoti Amge of India stands at a little over half a meter, or two feet. Both were born with genetic conditions that affect their height, and they met in London Wednesday for Guinness World Records Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG GLENDAY, GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Guinness World Records is all about celebrating differences and by bringing together these two unique women --
RUMEYSA GELGI, WORLD RECORD HOLDER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
JYOTI AMGE, WORLD RECORD HOLDER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
GLENDAY: -- with very perspectives on life, they can learn a lot about each other, but we can learn a lot about them and about the world around us.
GELGI: You are so beautiful.
AMGE: Thank you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, Guinness World Records named the women icons as part of a new category introduced for the book's 2025 edition.
And that does it for us. I'm Paula Newton. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM, but first WORLD SPORT starts after a quick break.
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