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Syrian Rebels Reach Center of Aleppo in Surprise Offensive; Moscow Launches Deadly Airstrikes against Syrian Opposition Forces; Woman and Two Children Crushed in Crowd at Gaza Bakery; Trump Lies about Taiwan Stealing U.S. Chip Production; Strikes on Ukraine Power System Create Tensions; U.K. Parliament Votes to Allow Assisted Dying; Fossilized Poop Reveals Dinos' Domination of Earth; Taylor Swift Fans Queue at Target on Black Friday. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired November 30, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Syrian rebel forces push into Aleppo, igniting a conflict in the Middle East that many thought was static.
A ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel is holding, though Israel has targeted what it calls terrorist activity in southern Lebanon.
And new insights on dinosaurs from a surprising source: their poo. What the research shows us about the prehistoric inhabitants of Earth.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin with the Syrian civil war heating up again long after the government and its powerful allies appeared to crush the rebellion. Syrian rebel forces are pushing further into Aleppo after launching a surprise offensive this week.
Video geolocated by CNN shows rebel fighters reaching the center of Syria's second largest city on Friday night. It's the first time they've set foot in Aleppo since 2016. But one of president Bashar al- Assad's chief allies is striking back.
Russian state media reports that Russian warplanes launched airstrikes on Friday, targeting rebels in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Russia claims to have killed at least 200 members of a Syrian jihadist group. CNN's Ben Wedeman is following the latest developments and he joins us now from Rome.
So Ben, a conflict that seems static now anything but.
What's the latest?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen is basically confirmation that these Syrian rebels have indeed reached the center of Aleppo.
We've seen video of rebels in Saadallah al-Jabiri Square, which is the main, large open square in the more modern part of the city. And also last night, rebels were livestreaming from next to Aleppo's ancient citadel as well, which is really the very center of the city.
And that was after what has been a lightning offensive that began only on Wednesday. Since then, the rebels seem to have taken more than 70 villages in the western part of Aleppo, Aleppo province.
Now as you mentioned, Russia has been striking back as well as Syrian regime forces but not, it appears, on Aleppo itself but rather in parts of Idlib province, where the rebels are based, as well as Western Aleppo province.
But by and large, it seems that the rebels were able to take large parts although -- of Aleppo city, although it doesn't appear they have control of the entire city without much resistance from Syrian forces, who have been in control of Aleppo since the end of 2016.
Now as far as Syria's main ally Russia is concerned, they've put out a statement. We heard from Dmitry Peskov, who's the main spokesman for the Kremlin.
He said, "We are for the Syrian government to quickly restore order in this district" -- referring to Aleppo -- and restore what he called "the constitutional order."
But by and large, it appears that those allies of Syria, that were fundamental in restoring some amount of government control to areas like Aleppo, have, by and large, not been able to do much to stop this rebel offensive.
Hezbollah, which had provided many of the sort of shock troops for the Syrian government, its forces have largely withdrawn back to Lebanon, where, of course, Hezbollah has been by and large decapitated by Israel.
The Iranians have received a series of deadly blows from Israel so far this year. And, of course, Russia, which, in September 2015, deployed forces to Syria and essentially shored up a Syrian regime, which, at the time, appeared to be on the brink of collapse, it has moved many of its forces that were in Syria back to Russia and Ukraine.
Where, of course, it's involved in the war there. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: OK, Ben you brought up Russia's comments.
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What's the Assad regime saying about all of this? WEDEMAN: Well, the Assad regime has said that they are facing a major
offensive and that they're fighting on all major battle fronts. What we've seen is they've used their obviously superior airpower to strike rebel targets in Idlib province as well as in parts of Aleppo province.
But by and large, they have sort of not been talking about what's happening very much. There have been reports that 200 so-called militants have been "destroyed," is the word they've used in the fighting in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
But we haven't heard anything from Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. And the Syrian media has, by and large, downplayed events in Aleppo. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Ben Wedeman in Rome, thanks so much.
So for more on where the U.S. stands as the situation unfolds, CNN's Oren Liebermann reports from the Pentagon.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The situation in Syria with this lightning fast offensive by the rebels to have retaken the second largest city in the country is something the U.S. will watch very closely, even if there is no direct U.S. military involvement in this.
And that's because anything that affects the stability of the Syrian regime affects Russian forces in the country and could affect the Iranian backed militias that are in the country.
And that's why the U.S. military will watch this very closely. There are about 900 U.S. troops in Syria across several smaller facilities there. They are a part of the ongoing campaign to defeat ISIS. And that's their primary mission.
They do, with some frequency, especially in recent weeks, come under attack from the Iranian backed militias in the form of rocket attacks and drone attacks. And we have seen responses to those.
For example, just this past Wednesday, U.S. Central Command, which governs operations in the Middle East, carried out a strike in response to one of these attacks on U.S. forces. But that, by and large, is where the U.S. focuses its effort, a different part of the country from Aleppo.
The U.S. also works with the Kurds, for example, to run some of the prisons that hold ISIS detainees. So that's another role the U.S. plays there. And yet the military is well aware of the instability in the wartorn country.
And that's why the U.S. will watch this very closely, to see how it develops. Certainly caught the Syrian regime by surprise. And the U.S. just trying to monitor the situation with its presence in the country-- Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.
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BRUNHUBER: A top U.S. general is in Beirut to lead international efforts to monitor the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The truce is now in its fourth day and has largely held so far, although Israel and Hezbollah have both been accused of violations.
Israel's military carried out another attack in southern Lebanon on Friday, following two announced on Thursday, this time targeting what it called terrorist activity and the movement of a Hezbollah rocket launcher.
Israel says it will work with the monitoring efforts at times but an official emphasized that Israel will take unilateral military action in certain situations in southern Lebanon in particular. Hezbollah, for its part, says it will work with Lebanon's army to uphold its side of the deal.
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NAIM QASSEM, SECRETARY GENERAL, HEZBOLLAH (through translator): The coordination between the resistance and the Lebanese army will be at a high level to implement the commitments of the agreement. No one is anticipating problems or disagreements.
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BRUNHUBER: The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has pushed the enclave into a worsening and dangerous food crisis. Relief agencies say Gaza is on the brink of famine, with aid deliveries frequently blocked by Israel and armed looting on the rise.
Things are so bad, a woman and two children were killed in a crowd crush outside a Gaza bakery on Friday. We just want to warn you, our report contains scenes of desperation that may be disturbing to some viewers. But it is the reality for people in Gaza. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In this ocean of desperation, a crush of bodies pressed against one another, heaved toward the same goal, a loaf of bread to survive.
Wave after wave of distraught Palestinians at this bakery in central Gaza fighting to feed themselves and their families before the day's bread runs out. Amid the shrieks and shoves, one girl clutches her precious cargo, struggling to keep her head above water.
Inside the bakery, a vignette into the chaos outside. "My hand, my hand." This woman shouts as her hijab is ripped from her head. "Uncle, please." another girl shouts, struggling for air.
[03:10:00] "Take the money, please. I beg you." But she is slowly being crushed by the crowd.
Outside the bakery, the scale of the desperation becomes apparent. And this is just one bakery.
"The suffering here is unimaginable," Karam Afana (ph) says.
"I've been standing for four hours trying to get a single loaf of bread. Four hours and I still can't bring bread home."
For those who left empty-handed, there is nothing but uncertainty ahead. The World Food Program says all its bakeries in central Gaza have now temporarily shut down due to a lack of humanitarian aid entering the strip.
For this woman's niece, it is already too late.
"What is the crime of this child?
"She is only 13 years old.
"Why did she have to go to a bakery and stand in this crowd?"
Zina (ph) was one of three people killed while trying to buy bread at that same Gaza bakery, crushed by the desperate crowd.
"Our bread is soaked in blood," the father of another victim says.
"Where did she go?
"How did she get in?
"How did she leave?
"I don't know. I only found her when they brought her out dead," he says.
He simply cannot comprehend how his daughter could die while trying to buy bread -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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BRUNHUBER: Canada's prime minister has made an apparent bid to head off Donald Trump's plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian imports.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Justin Trudeau flew to Florida Friday to dine with the president-elect. This photo of the dinner party was posted by Pennsylvania senator-elect Dave McCormick. Trump has proposed the tariff on both Canadian and Mexican imports. CNN's Alayna Treene has more.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, president-elect Donald Trump on Friday hosted Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, a source familiar with that dinner tells me.
And really, this is a very important and notable moment in their relationship. This dinner comes just days after Donald Trump threatened to impose massive hikes on tariffs if both Canada and Mexico did not do enough to crack down on drugs coming over the borders as well as migrants.
Now we did hear the prime minister actually address reporters on this issue Friday morning earlier in the day, before he flew down to meet with Donald Trump. I'm going to read for you some of what he said.
He said, quote, "It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There is no question about it," he said.
He went on to add that, "Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians who work so well with the United States but he would actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and business."
So clearly Trudeau being very public, criticizing that threat from Donald Trump. I think the clear question now is whether or not they were able to come to some sort of deal or agreement over that dinner.
Now I can also tell you that these two men know each other very well. They worked together during Donald Trump's first term. Trudeau's team helped renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, as it more commonly -- as it's more commonly known, with the United States.
Really working on his relationship with Donald Trump and ensuring that the United States and Canada continue to have a great working relationship. Now we do know that, shortly after Donald Trump had made that post on Truth Social, threatening to impose steep tariffs on Canada, Trudeau actually got on the phone with Donald Trump.
He said that they had a conductive (sic) call and that he believes that they will continue to work together.
He added, quote, "This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on. And that's what we'll do" -- Alayna Treene, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours Taiwan's president will embark on a tour of Pacific nations that will take him to the U.S. for stays in Hawaii and Guam.
Lai Ching-te starts his visit Saturday with stops in Tuvalu, Palau and the Marshall Islands, countries that are among Taiwan's 12 formal diplomatic allies. He'll spend two nights in Hawaii and one in the territory of Guam.
Lai's trip has already drawn the ire of Beijing, which warned the U.S. on Friday to exercise, quote, "utmost caution."
But there's uncertainty in Taiwan these days as the self-governing island waits to learn what a second Trump presidency will mean. His campaign rhetoric indicated relations with the U.S. could shift.
CNN's senior international correspondent Will Ripley has more.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Taiwan, they stole our chip business.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If this is a preview of the next four years, Taiwan better buckle up.
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TRUMP: They want us to protect and they want protection. They don't pay us money for the protection, you know. The mob makes you pay money, right?
RIPLEY (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's transactional tone rattling nerves in Taipei, raising serious questions about U.S. support for this island democracy, already under relentless pressure from Beijing.
RIPLEY: What do you do when you're on an island with less than 25 million people, with a neighbor like China and a political situation like what's happening in --
CHEN MING-CHI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, NATIONAL TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY: Oh, we have to -- we have to arm to our teeth. And we have that kind of mentality. We are willing to fight.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Taiwan will need to invest even more in defense. Professor Chen Ming-chi says, including billions of in U.S.- made weapons, despite a $20 billion backlog of undelivered fighter jets, tanks, artillery and missiles.
RIPLEY: Is Taiwan more or less safe during Trump 2.0?
MING-CHI: We don't know. One -- one characteristic of Trump, especially during the second Trump administration, will be the unpredictability. So we don't know we will be safer or more dangerous. But the thing is that we are going to pay higher price for either way.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Taiwan could be caught in a bind, facing skyrocketing defense costs and growing economic uncertainty.
RIPLEY: What are you guys thinking here? KRISTY HSU, CHUNG-HUA INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: A lot of worries going on. I mean, worries about this post-election may have a big shift of policies toward trade, toward investment.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Kristy Hsu is a top economist in Taipei. She says Taiwan's chip industry is bracing for impact if Trump reshapes trade policy policies or imposes steep tariffs. Taiwan produces most of the world's advanced chips, powering everything from smartphones to missiles.
TRUMP: These chip companies, they stole -- they stole 95 percent of our business. It's in Taiwan right now.
HSU: Taiwan is not actually stealing jobs or stealing business opportunities from the U.S. Taiwan is actually helping U.S. to extend -- extend its semiconductor supply chains.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Leaders in Taipei are publicly optimistic, emphasizing strong ties with Washington. On the streets, feelings are more mixed.
CHANG CHIA-CHEN, ACCOUNTANT (through translator): Trump doesn't like war, so that's reassuring.
ERIC CHU, STORE MANAGER: In the long run, I fear Trump may put Taiwan's safety at risk.
RIPLEY (voice-over): An uncertain future under Trump 2.0 is pretty much the only guarantee -- Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
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BRUNHUBER: Frustrations boiling over after the Republic of Georgia paused its bid to join the European Union.
Still ahead, angry protesters take their case to the streets and things get ugly.
Plus, the U.K.'s House of Commons has voted to make Britain the latest and one of the largest countries to allow assisted dying. We'll have those stories after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Protesters were back on the streets of the Republic of Georgia with their rallies reportedly doubling in size on Friday.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Police used tear gas and water cannon as they clashed with protesters for a second straight day in the capital, Tbilisi.
The demonstrators are furious that the government has paused Georgia's bid to join the European Union for four years. A decision was announced on Thursday, hours after the European Parliament slammed Georgia's recent legislative elections as neither free nor fair.
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BRUNHUBER: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is pledging to further strengthen his country's ties with Russia, according to North Korean state media. Kim spoke during Friday's meeting with Russian defense ministers in Pyongyang.
The two countries have already expanded their military ties to levels unseen since the Cold War. They have signed a mutual defense pact this year. And North Korea has sent thousands of troops to help Russia fight against Ukraine, according to Western officials.
And Washington is trying to give Ukraine some clarity about the future of U.S. military aid. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Friday and Blinken briefed him on what the official statement called, quote, "the U.S. goals for sustainable support for Ukraine."
The future of U.S. military aid is in the hands of president-elect Donald Trump, who begins his second term in January. Officials say his Ukraine policy is still in the works. But his future special envoy proposed using the aid as a condition to push Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow.
Friday's conversation happened after Russia pummeled Ukraine's power system this week, leaving more than 1 million homes in the dark. As Fred Pleitgen reports, those strikes are creating more diplomatic friction between Moscow and Washington.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Kremlin continuing to criticize the Biden administration after the White House came
out with a statement calling that big aerial attack by the Russians using drones and missiles from Thursday outrageous.
The Kremlin saying that that big attack was a direct response to the Biden administration, allowing the Ukrainians to use those U.S. supplied ATACMS,
surface-to-surface missiles, to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Of course, both the Russians and the Ukrainians have confirmed that targets were struck in the western regions of Russia using attack ATACMS surface-
to-surface missiles. At the same time, the Russians definitely ramping up their aerial campaign against targets within Ukraine. The Ukrainian saying that in the early morning hours of Friday, the Russians launched about 130 strike drones toward Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainians are saying they managed to take a lot of those drones down. At the same time, they do acknowledge that there was damage caused,
especially in the town of Odessa but also in Kyiv as well.
However, the big thing that the Russians are talking about, that Russian state media is talking about, that the Kremlin is talking about is Russia's
new gigantic intermediate range multiple warhead ballistic missile called Oreshnik.
In fact, Vladimir Putin came out and said that that missile could have a devastating effect on any sort of positions that the Ukrainians would have
on the ground.
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And he said several of those weapons paired together could actually cause an explosion that is almost the size of a nuclear weapon.
So the Russians definitely very much threatening. The Ukrainians, of course, trying to dissuade them from continuing to use those U.S. and U.K.
supplied weapons to strike deep into Russia -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
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BRUNHUBER: The British Parliament has voted in favor of legalized assisted dying. The House of Commons passed the bill by a vote of 330- 275 after hours of debate. It was a culmination of a years-long campaign by high profile figures, drawing on emotional first-hand testimony.
Canada, New Zealand, Spain and most of Australia allow the practice in some form, as do some U.S. states, including Oregon, Washington and California.
After approval by the House of Lords, the law will allow people with a terminal condition and less than six months to live to take a substance to end their life.
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JOSHUA COOK, HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE PATIENT: It's only the first stage in this bill becoming law. But finally, there is real hope for those who are terminally ill to have a dignified end. The U.K. is finally caught up to where our morals, where our
compassion is. Parliament has caught up to the overwhelming majority of the public.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, for more on this, I want to go live now to James Sanderson, chief executive of the palliative care and bereavement charity, Sue Ryder. And he's in Nottinghamshire, England.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So, as one could imagine, it was really a polarized and emotional process. I know your organization doesn't take a position on the issue pro or con.
But what did you think of the process how we got here today and how opinion in Britain seems to have changed so much so quickly?
JAMES SANDERSON, CHIEF EXEC, SUE RYDER: Well, thank you very much for having me on this morning, Kim. And I think what we saw yesterday was an incredibly sensitive and compassionate debate.
And I really want to commend MPs in Parliament for taking the time yesterday on both sides to speak in a huge amount of detail about the various issues that obviously this bill has brought up.
And obviously, now that Parliament has passed the bill to -- through this second stage, we have a lot more work to do.
And at Sue Ryder, one of the things that we've been saying over the past few days is that, you know, whilst we take a neutral stance on the position of assisted dying, we're really concerned about the fear that people have reported to us.
That because a number of people at the moment are missing out on palliative and end of life care, we don't want to have a situation where people are forced to adopt a position where they will elect for an assisted death due to that lack of support.
So that's the key thing that we now need to move on to, to see how were going to fix that.
BRUNHUBER: Right. OK. So your organization has done some research into this and it gauged some attitudes toward this issue.
What exactly did you find in terms of how their perception of this might change, depending on their access to end of life care?
SANDERSON: Yes. So we wanted to get beyond the, you know, are you in favor or not of assisted dying. And we wanted to talk to people, a representative group of people with all political views, about the sort of things that would need to be part of a system if the bill went through, as it did yesterday.
And we found that 77 percent of people felt that a few, some or most people could be forced to adopt an assisted death because of the lack of support that was available. And really, interestingly, of those that were in favor of assisted dying, that fear rose to 84 percent.
Now we know in this country whilst 90 percent of people could benefit from palliative care, unfortunately, only 50 percent of people actually receive it. And that is a gap that we need to fix. Additionally, we know that there's widespread variation across the country. And again, that's something that concerns us.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So part of the concerns over assisted dying was that people could be forced into it, let's say, by other people, pressured into taking this route, even though they themselves might not necessarily.
What you found is that some people might be sort of -- feel pressure themselves because they don't have access to end of life care.
Is that primarily because of a lack of access, availability?
Or is it affordability?
SANDERSON: So I think it could be a combination of those things.
I think, you know, people told us that they were concerned about individuals who may be lonely and socially isolated.
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Those facing financial difficulties and actually those in some communities of the country that don't have access to palliative care at the moment.
Now, obviously, at Sue Ryder, you know, we are one of the leading organizations providing palliative and end of life care and bereavement support across the country. But you know, we recognize that there are gaps in provision.
And what we've been really pleased about is both the prime minister and the secretary of state for health and social care have said that they will listen around the issues that need to be fixed in the palliative care system.
So we want to now work with them to start to try and fix these gaps and eradicate that fear. You know, the really good outcome here would be that those people who were raising those concerns over the next few months, when we have the further detail of the bill, that those fears can be eradicated by action being taken.
BRUNHUBER: You mentioned other countries.
What have we learned from some of the other countries that I mentioned earlier, that have had laws like this one on the books for a while, like Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, for instance?
SANDERSON: So obviously looking at those countries, looking at what's happened in terms of how those countries have strengthened palliative care, is going to be a key area for us.
We've also got to look at how bills have been introduced and then changed over time. And I think that's -- that was a major issue that came up yesterday with parliamentarians talking about the fact that we needed to have adequate safeguards in place that weren't able to shift over time.
So I think learning from all of those countries is going to be key over the next few months.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, a seismic shift, perhaps, in the U.K. James Sanderson, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.
SANDERSON: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: The Australian parliament sends a potentially costly message to tech firms ahead. No social media for kids under 16. And not everyone is happy about that.
Plus, the anger won't subside in Spain. Protesters fill the streets one month after hundreds were killed in devastating floods. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
A trial run for a world first law starts in Australia in January. It bans children under 16 from using social media and imposes stiff fines on companies that break the rules. The country's parliament approved the measure late Thursday. But as CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports, many people doubt the measure will actually work.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How kids use social media is a problem millions of parents face. And Australia says it's now found the solution.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: World-leading action to make sure social media companies meet their social responsibility. Social media is doing harm to our children.
MONTGOMERY: Under Australia's new law, kids under 16 are banned from accessing social media platforms. And tech companies breaking the rules could face fines in the tens of millions. But the bill, rushed through in just a week, is drawing criticism from those not convinced it'll keep kids off the Internet.
SARAH HANSON-YOUNG, AUSTRALIAN SENATOR: I mean, it's almost embarrassing. I mean, this is boomers trying to tell young people how the Internet should work.
MONTGOMERY: Tech giants, including Meta and X's Elon Musk, argue more time and evidence are needed before enforcing the ban.
But for some parents, the law couldn't come fast enough.
KELLY O'BRIEN, MOTHER OF CHARLOTTE O'BRIEN: I will miss your hugs, your kisses, your love, your beautiful, beautiful smile.
MONTGOMERY: Twelve-year-old Charlotte O'Brien took her own life, her parents say, after years of being bullied online. Cases like hers and Allem Halkic, who ended his life at 17, have driven Australia's push to protect kids from online harm.
ALI HALKIC, FATHER OF ALLEM HALKIC: If that was in place today, I know he would be alive. And that's the guilt that I have to live with every day.
MONTGOMERY: Australia's new law is divisive. But for grieving families, it's a fight worth leading -- Hanako Montgomery, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: Protesters have gathered in the Valencian town of Alfafar on Friday, marking one month since the floods that killed more than 220 people.
They say flood warnings came too late, long after water had already washed out communities across the region.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Many abandonment and feel that when those alert alarms were ringing, I was out on the street with the water up to my neck, just as many people from my neighborhood of Alcazar Park.
The alerts rang when many people were already dead. That's what I'm claiming here, along with my people. Where I grew up and where it is all destroyed, where aides are not arriving and when help arrives, it's late as always.
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BRUNHUBER: Many in attendance set off alarms and recordings, synchronize the exact time when alerts had been sent to the residents. Despite the backlash, the regional president refuses to resign.
Scientists are digging deep to uncover the secrets of evolution and, to do it, they're using dinosaur dung. All of that and more coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: New research shows how dinosaurs came to dominate the planet around 250 million years ago. Scientists conducted a 10 year analysis using fossilized dino droppings and vomit.
Now it may not sound glamorous but the remnants give us a unique window into dinosaurs' digestive systems, as well as what was on the prehistoric menu.
Researchers found the objects increased in size and variety over time, indicating the emergence of larger animals and different diets.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Joining me now from Uppsala, Sweden, is Martin Qvarnstrom. He's the lead author of the study.
Thank you so much for joining us here. So first, let's back up here. People have collected dinosaur poop for hundreds of years. But this might be the most detailed study ever.
So why did you decide to study all that, all those dino droppings?
MARTIN QVARNSTROM, RESEARCHER, DEPARTMENT OF ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY: Well, that's a good question. Well, it started out as a pretty small project 10 years ago and we decided to look into these quite repulsive fossils to understand what they contained.
And it showed that -- showed up that actually they contain quite rich amounts of undigested food remnants. So we decided to make a larger study about that. And the study just grew and grew.
And as you were saying, in the end, we analyzed these droppings and vomits for 10 years and put together this quite comprehensive picture of the rise of dinosaurs based on, you know, ecology and how their ecological roles shifted throughout their early history.
BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to get to that. But you mentioned pictures. You have some pictures to share here. I want to start with the -- with a video that shows some droppings with small insects inside it. So explain to us what were seeing here.
QVARNSTROM: Yes, I mean these were remarkable. When we started analyzing this, we had no idea that we would find such tiny, well- preserved insects in the feces of 230-million-year-old droppings from early dinosaurs.
So these are droppings from one of the earliest dinosaurs in the northern part of the supercontinent, Pangaea -- so the area we've been analyzing in Poland. And as you can see, they contain a lot of small pieces of insects and even complete beetles with the antennae and the legs preserved.
So what we can say about these early dinosaurs is that they were eating a lot of insects but also other things. So in other coprolites or fossil poops, we find fish remains and parts of plants and so on. So they had a pretty, pretty diverse diet.
BRUNHUBER: That seems to be the key, right?
Because one of the questions has been why dinosaurs managed to outcompete other types of creatures.
So what does what you found suggests about how dinosaurs came to rule the Earth for so long?
QVARNSTROM: Well, that was the key question we were trying to explore. And it turns out that it's not that easy to explain the rise of dinosaurs.
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So first of all, it took 30 million years. So that's a long time. And we think part of their success story was that they were really good at adapting to changing environmental conditions.
So that the early dinosaurs were eating a range of different things meant that they were really good and quick at adapting and flexible. And it was the same with the first early herbivores. They were also eating all kinds of plants.
So as the climate was changing because we had climate change in the end of the Jurassic, just like we do today, then the dinosaurs were really good at adapting to the new conditions and exploring these new foods.
BRUNHUBER: So other creatures may have been too specialized. The dinosaurs were able to adapt and thrive and survive. I mean, it's great to learn more about these creatures that have just fascinated so many of us since we were basically young kids.
But what can you actually learn from dinosaurs that we might apply to ourselves?
QVARNSTROM: Yes, I mean, that's an interesting question because, right now, we're living in a time of climate change and faunal turnovers as well. And I think that the fossil record is the only way or the only source we can look at for understanding what happens before, during and after a mass extinction.
So learning from the past here is really key if we want to understand how ecosystems are changing today and how they would change in the future. And, of course, our study is just a piece of the puzzle here. But, yes, it's an interesting piece, I would say. BRUNHUBER: A fascinating if slightly disgusting piece. Really
appreciate talking to you, Martin Qvarnstrom in Uppsala, Sweden. Thank you so much for being here with us.
QVARNSTROM: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come, Notre-Dame has been transformed and the French president is full of praise for the workers who rebuilt the historic cathedral from the ashes left by a raging fire. We'll have details just ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A caravan of migrants is walking through southern Mexico, heading toward the United States. Fifty-eight year old Francisco Magana is from Guatemala. He's part of a group that hopes to arrive before president-elect Donald Trump can begin his promised crackdown on undocumented immigration.
But Mexico says it's now preventing migrant caravans from reaching the U.S. border. Officials there say they're taking steps, including offering the migrants assistance and returning them to their countries of origin.
Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in many places. Have a look here in Barcelona.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): They're lighting up the city center to kick off their winter festivities with earlier sunsets and temperatures getting colder. One resident described the lights as warm, saying it's the opening of Christmas.
Another describing the display as bringing life to the city as Christmas comes into view. And you're enjoying a little extra cheer this time of year as they shop. Holiday lights will stay up through the new year for those visiting throughout the season.
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BRUNHUBER: French president Emmanuel Macron has been lavishing praise after touring the restored and gleaming Notre-Dame cathedral on Friday. He said the people who rebuilt the gothic masterpiece after a raging fire have, quote, "transformed ashes into art." CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A new dawn for Notre-Dame cathedral. More than five-and-a-half years after a fire tore through parts of the gothic structure in the heart of Paris.
Sparkling stonework highlighting the stunning results of the estimated $737 million restoration as it was unveiled to France's President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
After the 2019 blaze, the president had vowed to rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautiful than it was. Entering the cathedral with his wife Brigitte on Friday, it was clear that France had achieved just that.
"It was at the same time repaired, restored and rebaptized," Macron said.
Millions had watched in shock and horror as Notre-Dame's 96-meter spire tumbled into the church during the 2019 blaze. Now it's renaissance is complete. Touring the epicenter of the blaze, the medieval roof structure known as the Forest, Macron saw the beams rebuilt by hand from 1,200 oak trees from across France.
Among the highlights of Macron's tour, a mural in the north enclosure of the choir that was badly damaged in the fire and the Virgin of Paris, a 14th century statue that became a symbol of resistance when it was found standing resolute, surrounded by burnt wood and collapsed stone.
And the beautiful Saint-Marcel Chapel, one of 29 chapels that have been lovingly restored. Viewing the 12-meterwide grand organ, Macron described it as sublime. More than 1,300 people involved in the restoration were invited inside as the French president wrapped up his final visit to the site before it's formal reopening.
"You have transformed ashes into art," he told them. "The whole planet was upset that day in April. The shock of the reopening will be as big as that of the fire," he said, thanking the crowds.
The scaffolding on the outside speaks to the work that's yet to be done. 2030 will be the actual date of completion for the full restoration of the cathedral but what we will see is from December 8th, it will once again be open to the public.
And the many millions who watched it with such a heavy heart burn that dreadful night of April 2019 will once again be able to get inside -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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BRUNHUBER: Taylor Swift fans hit Target stores early on Black Friday. Nearly 2,000 stores across the U.S. are selling copies of Swift's new Eras Tour book and vinyl album.
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People started lining up as early as 5 am in freezing temperatures in Chicago and New York. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She actually did a different vinyl job for record store day, so this is the second time I'm doing this for her. And it was just as cold last time, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, I've loved her since she started. I grew up with her. She's near my same age, so I got to actually grow up with the songs, which has been amazing.
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BRUNHUBER: The Eras Tour book went on sale for just under $40. A vinyl version of the "Tortured Poets Department" will set you back just under 60 bucks. The CD is on sale for just under $18. And starting today, they're available on the Target app and website.
North Korea has largely remained sealed from the rest of the world, especially in the wake of COVID-19. So for those in search of that rare glimpse behind its borders, your wait may finally be over.
Starbucks just opened a new location in an observation tower across the river from the Hermit Kingdom. The town's mayor says the cafe shines a renewed spotlight on the region. Now this glimmer of normality comes as tensions remain high between neighbors.
North Korea's deployment of troops to Ukraine and recent nuclear threats toward Seoul only further impairing relations.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks so much for watching. There's more CNN NEWSROOM just ahead with Isa Soares in London. Please do stay with CNN.
