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Luigi Mangione Fights Extradition To New York; Israeli Launches Flurry Of Attacks On Syria; U.S.-Backed Kurdish Forces Withdraw From Northern Syria; John Kirby Says U.S. Not Considering Delisting HTS Terror Designation; Future of Russia-Syria Ties Uncertain After Assad's Fall; Israeli Pm Netanyahu's Testimony Resumes in Court Today; Brazilian President Lula Recovering After Brain Surgery; Students Lead Day of Action to Save the Planet; in Kenya, Protesters Rallying Against Femicide Clash With Police; Saud Arabia Gets 2034 World Cup Despite Human Rights Concerns; Nobel Laureates Celebrated in Sweden and Norway. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 11, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:23]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead. After a sudden outburst while entering court, suspected killer Luigi Mangione fights extradition to New York where he is charged with murdering a CEO.
Israel strikes Syria hundreds of times as key players push and pull for their own interests amid Syria's political transformation.
Plus, it's Call to Earth Day here on CNN. We will look at how sustainable farming helps bring back to life this ancient village in Hong Kong.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Appreciate you joining us. The suspect in the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson is fighting extradition from Pennsylvania to New York where he faces second-degree murder charges. 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was in court on Tuesday. His attorney says he had to tell Mangione to be quiet during the hearing after his outburst on the way into court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIGI MANGIONE, NAVY VETERAN: It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Law enforcement source tells CNN police are looking at a notebook that includes a to-do list for the shooting and notes justifying the plans. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday after a customer recognized him and an employee called authorities. Police say the suspect had a black 3D printed pistol and silencer with him. They also say they have a three-page handwritten claim of responsibility.
New York police say Mangione may have suffered a back injury in July of 2023 and investigators are looking into whether that may have played a role in the shooting. Some are praising Mangione as a hero for taking on the health care industry, while others are offering to help pay his legal bills.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This Ivy League hottie named Luigi is the Robin Hood that we never knew that we needed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I listened to Luigi's manifesto this morning three times and I cried. Honestly, it's beautiful, and I agree with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least, he left a very powerful message and he highlighted how terrible the health care system is America. Things will go down as a hero in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Brian Todd has more now on the suspect his well-to-do family and what former classmates are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORESPONDENT (voice-over): In a suburban Baltimore community, people who know the family of alleged shooter Luigi Mangione are struggling to come to grips with what the 26-year-old is accused of. They believe his family is traumatized as well.
THOMAS MARONICK JR., FORMER RADIO HOST, MANGIONE FAMILY-OWNED STATION: They're shocked. That's what they said in their statement. They're horrified.
TODD (voice-over): Mangione, an Ivy League graduate, comes from a background of wealth and influence. He grew up in an affluent Baltimore family whose local real estate empire included nursing homes and two country clubs, attending the exclusive Gilman school near Baltimore, becoming valedictorian of his class in 2016.
MANGIONE: Thank you for the all the time and love you put into our lives on.
TODD (voice-over): On Tuesday, about 150 miles away a much different picture, in handcuffs under arrest and charged in a brazen murder, seen yelling and struggling with police as he was taken into court.
MANGIONE: -- and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.
TODD (voice-over): Tom Moronic Jr. worked for the Mangiones for over 20 years as a radio host at their family-owned station, WCBM. He says the suspect's family has enormous influence in the Baltimore area.
MARONICK: They carry a lot of weight. Mangione family is one of the prominent families of Baltimore County. They own a lot of real estate. They own golf courses. They're just a very well-respected name.
TODD (voice-over): A family that includes Nino Mangione, a Republican state delegate in Maryland who is the suspect's cousin. Luigi Mangione attended the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in 2020 with masters and Bachelor's degrees in computer science. He was a member of the Phi Beta Psi fraternity, social media photos show.
He later worked as a software engineer for the online car sales company TrueCar according to his LinkedIn page. His most recent address was in Hawaii.
FREDDIE LEATHERBURY, LUIGI MANGIONE'S FORMER CLASSMATE: There was nothing came off weird about him. He had great friends. He had a lot of female friends as well. He was a relatively unassuming kid. He was down to earth. He was smart, well-adjusted socially.
TODD (voice-over): He maintained an active social media presence for years, posting smiling photos from his travels and gatherings with friends.
[02:05:05]
Then suddenly his social media went cold. Posts from X this past October show concern from friends. One says, "Hey, are you OK? No one has heard from you in months, and apparently your family is looking for you." In recent years, Mangione suffered from back pain and underwent surgery for treatment. His injury grew worse after an accident at a surfing lesson in Hawaii. Details emerged from his former roommate, R.J. Martin.
R.J. MARTIN, FRIEND AND FORMER ROOMMATE OF LUIGI MANGIONE: He was in bed for about a week. We had to get a different bed from that was more firm and I know it was really traumatic and difficult. You know, when you're in the early 20s and you can't, you know, do some basic things.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Luigi Mangione was the subject of a missing person's report filed in San Francisco by his mother on November 18 according to The New York Times, CNN has reached out to the San Francisco Police Department. The NYPD says that Mangione did have ties to San Francisco but the exact time that he was there is unclear.
Brian Todd, CNN, Cockeysville, Maryland.
CHURCH: CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem joins us now from Cambridge, Massachusetts where she is also a professor at Harvard. Thank you so much for being with us. JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So now that the suspect, Luigi Mangione has been charged with murder and is in custody, we're learning more about him and police are now looking into whether a severe back injury may have played a role in the motive for this murder. What do you say to that?
KAYYEM: So, I think what they're trying to construct is essentially what's a radicalization process. Here you have top students, the best schools, a family that clearly was supportive of him. They've been looking for him once he -- once he went into hiding. He then has something happen, whether it's a back injury or substance abuse or he -- where he basically tunes out, right? And he goes off to Hawaii. He's in a shared house, he's surfing.
He basically goes off the grid and then reemerges to kill the CEO of a major healthcare company. So, they're looking at that time period to see, you know, was he radicalized because of the injury? Some combination of both outside and internal things. Who was he communicating with? The books he was reading were clearly in the genre of -- sort of hating the health care industry.
And how did all those things lead to the kind of very targeted attack that we -- that we often don't see?
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, as you mentioned, he was -- he's a young man of privilege. He was the smartest kid in the school and a brilliant college graduate. He goes from that to being a murderer outside the court Tuesday, the suspect shouted out to the media and I'm quoting here, "It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people." It's lived experience.
Now, what does this reveal to you? And could he end up with a mental health defense here do you think?
KAYYEM: He probably could and he's probably sort of -- they're probably sort of aiming for that at this stage. That's going to be a problem for two reasons. One is in the -- in the manuscript that they found with him, he acknowledges that what he is doing is wrong, so he has -- it's not like he does something and doesn't recognize that it's wrong. And it's hard to build a insanity defense if you know that the thing you did was wrong.
Because in most cases, the insanity defenses I didn't know what I was doing was wrong because I was insane. The second is this other piece to this very horrible incident, which is him as a -- as a sort of Robin Hood, right? Him as a -- as a -- as a hero, as a martyr that people supporting his mission, even if they don't support the assassination, you know, and hating the healthcare industry.
And it seemed to me that in the courtroom, he was playing off of that and the statements he made or the yelling that he did, that he was -- he was -- he was with us. He was telling -- he was telling the American public, I'm with you. And in many ways, that's very typical of radicalized people that they don't want to acknowledge their own deficiencies, so they ignore their violence. So, they put it in a -- in a sort of aura of, well, this is more meaningful than me just murdering someone, which is actually, in fact, what he did.
CHURCH: We're also learning that the suspect's mother filed a missing person report on November 18th, 16 days before the murder but the suspect actually stopped communicating with family and friends six months ago with many posting on social media asking where he was. So, what does all of this tell you?
KAYYEM: He had a massive rupture with his past. We don't know the reason for that, if it was physical, if it was mental, if it was caused by substance abuse.
[02:10:01]
We simply don't know at the stage and that's what investigators are going to -- going to piece together. I do think the parents are interesting in the sense that they were aware of him, sort of abandoning his past. He -- they can't find him. We don't know the last time they directly communicated with him. And then they see these pictures and most parents would probably recognize their own child from these pictures.
These were everywhere on T.V., everywhere in the newspapers and they did not come forward. So, I think one of the things investigators will be looking at is what were the parents doing between the -- between the killing and between his capture at the -- at the McDonald's to get a sense of what was this family unit like in terms of his state of mind.
CHURCH: And Juliette, you mentioned that this has been playing out on social media, and it amounts to an online cult following for Mangione, many calling him a hero Robin Hood because of resentment for the health insurance industry. How dangerous can situations like this end up being when you've got that sort of following?
KAYYEM: Yes. It very much is. And I'm sort of surprised at people who I wouldn't expect it from saying, well, assassination is bad, but, right? There's no but assassination is bad. We did -- the public policy is intended to solve these problems of a democratic society. So, we don't solve them through violence and condoning it in any way, shape or form, or seeming to excuse it, or saying it's good he brought these issues to the table, it only will help others or give others justification to do the same thing for their cause.
CHURCH: Juliet Kayyem, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
KAYYEM: Thank you.
CHURCH: Now to Syria where Israel is being accused of a land grab after the sudden fall of the Assad regime. The Israeli military says it has carried out nearly 500 strikes across the country in the past two days, hitting strategic weapons stockpiles and destroying the Syrian Navy fleet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that Israel will act to protect its own security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We have no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs. However, we do intend to do what is necessary for our society. As such, I have approved the Air Force bombing of strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian military so that they will not fall into the hands of the jihadists. We want to have relations with the new regime in Syria, but if this regime allows Iran to reestablish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or weapons of any kind to Hezbollah or to attack us, we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Meanwhile, a Syrian activist group says after seizing the demilitarized buffer zone near the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, Israeli forces have now advanced to a village just 16 miles from Damascus. CNN is unable to verify the claim, but now the Arab League is accusing Israel of executing a land grab in Syria.
Meantime, the political transition appears to be underway in the country. Mohammed al-Bashir, a rebel linked government leader announced he has been named caretaker Prime Minister until March 1st.
Well, stories are now emerging of the horrors Syrians endured under the Assad regime. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh talked to one woman whose loved ones disappeared in Syria's notorious prison system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's left of Diriyah tells of the horrors that unfolded here. Every corner scarred by a ruthless regime's fight for survival. This Damascus suburb rose up peacefully demanding freedom. More than a decade on a shattered Diriyah and its people are finally free.
This was for our children, Umfiras (ph) tells me. It's so they don't have to live under the tyrant's rule. Her story of loss and pain so unfathomable for us, yet so common in this place that for years endured some of the most brutal tactics at the Assad regime. The siege starved and bombed into surrender.
KARADSHEH (on camera): Umfira says they came out asking for freedom and they were met with bullets and tanks. She says, we're not. Terrorists and they did this. And imagine, she says, there were women and children living in these homes.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): So many men like her husband, Mazen (ph) detained and disappeared. Two years later, a released prisoner told her he saw him in jail.
They beat him so much. His wounded leg was infected. He was in so much pain, she says. There was no medical care in prison and because of all he was going through, he lost his mind.
[02:15:05] The prisoner last saw him taken away, crying and screaming hysterically. She went from one detention center to the next, searching for him, until they broke the news to her in the most cruel of ways. They handed her his belongings and told her to register his death.
There are no words to describe how I was feeling when I left, she says. I was holding on to the hope he would be released and her family would be reunited. They didn't even give me his body.
This is the last photo she has of Mazen and his youngest boy, Raif (ph) doesn't remember his dad. Noor (ph) was six and so attached to his father. Every day he would wait by the door for him to come back.
When I would hear someone calling Baba, dad, it was torment for me, Umfira says. What did these children do to be deprived of their father? She has to be strong for her boys, she says. She is all they have. Her father also disappeared into the black holes of Assad's jails. Like her husband, their only crime, she says, was being from Diriyah.
KARADSHEH (on camera): She says, I'm just one of thousands and thousands of stories and that's just in Diriyah. And just imagine how many more there are across Syria.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): But the end of this dark chapter in their history, a new life in New Syria emerges from the rubble of their broken lives.
Jomana Karadsheh, Diriyah, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Syrian rebels claim they have taken the city of Deir ez-Zor the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. But an SDF source tells CNN that the U.S.-backed forces have withdrawn from only a part of the city. The SDF is also withdrawing from the Kurdish-controlled city of Manbij, close to the Syria-Turkey border. The commander of the group says they reached a ceasefire agreement through U.S. mediation and agreed to pull back.
This comes after reports that Turkey launched an attack on a dam in the area. Meantime, some displaced Syrians are returning home for the first time since civil war started in 2011 after Turkey said it will open its gate with Syria to allow for the voluntary return of migrants.
We go live now to Istanbul where I'm joined by Sinan Ulgen, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. Appreciate you being with us.
SINAN ULGEN, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE EUROPE: Thank you.
CHURCH: So, as Syria celebrates its newfound freedom from the brutal years of the Assad regime and the rebels transition to power, what role has Turkey played in all of this? ULGEN: Well, Turkey, let's recall that Turkey had a regime change agenda at the beginning of this crisis from 2011 until 2015 but then it realized that this proved to be futile, so it entered into a partnership with Russia and Iran which are obviously not natural partners for Turkey just to be able to ensure a degree of stability in Syria. But now, with the geopolitical landscape having changed after the 7th of October and the severe weakening of Iran and its proxies in Syria, but also the fact that Russia is heavily involved in Ukraine.
The opposition saw an opening Turkey's poor relationship within that opposition is with the Syrian National Army. However, Turkey also has military outposts in Idlib where there is a contact line with HDS. So therefore, there has been a contact as well with the -- with the at HDS representative. But ultimately, I think it would be wrong to assume that Turkey has control over HDS but Turkey definitely has, you know, much bigger degree of control over the Syrian National Army.
And now that the regime has changed, Turkey is indeed in a position to influence some of the developments in Syria in accordance with its strategic interest.
CHURCH: Right. And of course, you have pointed out Turkey is the main external beneficiary of the fall of Assad. So, what all does Ankara expect to get out of this? What are its main strategic goals in this new era without Assad?
ULGEN: Well, firstly, Turkey will want to make sure that the transition is successful because it is of utmost importance for the future of Syria and for the stability in Syria. So, Turkey will work with many of the internal stakeholders to ensure that there will be an inclusive process.
[02:20:07]
Secondly, another core strategic interest is the creation of appropriate conditions within Syria for the safe, large scale and voluntary return of the refugees that are currently hosted by Turkey, the numbers are, you know, around four million. That's a very sizable number. It has had a political impact in Turkey that hurt the popularity of the government. So, there are aspirations in Ankara that this time around, there will be a fundamental and effective dialog with the new authorities in Syria which was not the case with Assad. That would allow this return on the refugees,
CHURCH: Right. And what will those discussions with the transitional government entail to return these four million or so Syrian refugees being hosted by Turkey right now?
ULGEN: Well, firstly, obviously, there needs to be a political consensus about the future of Syria so that the country does not fall yet one more time into this vicious circle of internal strife. Secondly, Turkey will work with external partners, international institutions in order to engineer a large-scale package of humanitarian assistance, economic assistance, but also try to transfer some of its own capabilities for state building capacity building, because at least at the beginning, it will be very important for the new transition government to assure basic services to Syrian citizens.
That's one of the mistakes that the international community made in Iraq after the American intervention which had led to an environment that was more amenable to the rise of radicalism. That's something that Turkey would want to prevent in Syria.
CHURCH: Sinan Ulgen, thank you so much for joining us from Istanbul. Appreciate you.
Donald Trump is just weeks away from his return to the White House and some of his controversial picks for the new administration are moving closer to getting approval from the Senate. We'll take a look.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, we are following developments out of South Korea, where we have learned police have raided the presidential office in Seoul. This is part of their investigation into President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived attempt to impose martial law just one week ago. Meantime, the head of the country's Correctional Service says former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has attempted to end his own life while in custody.
Kim was detained in Seoul on Sunday, he allegedly recommended that martial law be imposed and was the first figure detained over the case. Kim resigned from his post on Thursday.
[02:25:13]
Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth has spent the past few days on Capitol Hill looking to sway any Senate Republicans still skeptical of his nomination. And now the odds of him getting confirmed seem to be improving. Manu Raju has the latest.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pete Hegseth had a critical meeting with one-swing Republican vote. That's Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, someone who often breaks ranks with her party leadership, someone who breaks ranks with Donald Trump, including voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial. Someone who has opposed the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to sit on the Supreme Court over his own sexual assault allegations with, of course, Kavanaugh also denied.
Here, Murkowski met with Pete Hegseth. They had what she called a good exchange of ideas, but she refused to say if she would back him, and went to the lines to try to avoid reporters' questions. She did respond to some, including mine, but would not say if she would vote for him on the Senate floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): I had a good exchange with Mr. Hegseth.
RAJU: Are you ready to support him?
MURKOWSKI: I had a good exchange and we'll see what the process bears.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But ultimately, Pete Hegseth can only afford to lose three Republican votes. The question is, are there are more than three who could scuttle a nomination? At the moment, no republicans are opposing him, which is why Republicans are confident they can ultimately get there. Now, there are other controversial picks who Republicans believe are falling in line behind what Donald Trump wants.
Including replacing the FBI Director Christopher Wray who's got three more years serving his 10-year term, replacing with Kash Patel. Someone who is a MAGA fire brand in line with Donald Trump's politics. I caught up with Senator Lindsey Graham who is a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and I asked him about Donald Trump's apparent threat to get rid of Christopher Wray, fire him from the job, and replace him with his pick to lead the FBI Kash. Patel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Do you think that Wray should be fired?
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I think he should. I think is pretty obvious. He wants a new FBI director. So --
RAJU: Would you be OK if --
(CROSSTALK)
GRAHAM: Yes. I like -- I like Director Wray but I think the -- it's time for a fresh start at the FBI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So, there is a belief that a lot of Republicans are falling in line behind ultimately, what Donald Trump wants. But these confirmation hearings will take place early next year. They can be complicated. The process can be thorough, the bidding could be rigorous, and if allegations of past controversies come up, it can always lead to a problem for any given nominee. So, a lot of questions still about if any of that will come up, particularly with Pete Hegseth but at the moment, Trump and his team are pretty confident that Trump will get his cabinet in place and his senior officials in place early next year.
Manu, Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
CHURCH: Residents in Southern California are being forced to flee from a fast-moving wildfire that's burning homes and vehicles. The so- called Franklin fire in Malibu is so intense it's altering the weather and making already extreme conditions even worse. Fire officials say at least seven structures have been destroyed and eight damaged. About 18,000 people are under evacuation orders or warnings, including 98- year-old award winning actor Dick Van Dyke, who says he and his wife and pets were able to get out safely.
Strong gusty winds have been fueling the flames, but they're expected to improve significantly in the coming hours. One official blames the climate crisis for the intensity of these wildfires.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE CHIEF: I certainly think that global warming is impacting wildfire throughout the United States, and it's making it even more challenging for fire departments to respond to wildfire. It's undeniable. It -- from my perspective, that global warming is causing more challenges for us.
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CHURCH: Still to come, Israel's Prime Minister will testify for a second day in his ongoing corruption trial. We'll tell you what's at stake for Benjamin Netanyahu if he's convicted.
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[02:32:00]
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A White House official says the U.S. is not seriously considering lifting the terror designation for a key rebel group in Syria which helped bring down the Assad regime. But the Biden Administration says the U.S. is in communication with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the other Syrian rebel groups following their offensive, and monitoring their actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR: There are no discussions right now about changing the policy with respect to HTS, but we are watching what they do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The future of Russia's longtime ties with Syria is uncertain after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Moscow had always played a key role in shoring up the government in Damascus and has military bases in the country, but the Kremlin acknowledges the challenges it may now face in holding onto them under the new government. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As Syrians embark on a new era after ousting longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia fears the era of its massive military footprint in Syria could be coming to an end. The former commander of Russian forces in Syria, and now member of parliament, is already warning Russia's leadership not to make concessions.
Any gesture of goodwill in the Middle East is perceived as weakness. Weakness is unacceptable, he says. What should be done in this situation, he is asked. Talk from a position of strength, he answers.
But how much power does Russia still hold in Syria? Kremlin-controlled TV strategizes over what might come next with maps showing Russia's bases in Syria. A guest acknowledges Moscow was caught off guard again.
Thinking about how it all happened in Syria reminds me about how it all happened in Ukraine in 2014, he says. I want to highlight one universal lesson for world powers, don't take wishful thinking for reality. When a power is crumbling in days and can't protect itself, this is a verdict.
For years, it was the Russian military that kept the Assad regime afloat. Russia's Air Force pounding rebel groups, its Navy firing cruise missiles at ISIS militants in eastern Syria. In return, Assad gave Moscow a 49-year lease on both its main air base near Latakia and a military port in Tartus, allowing Vladimir Putin to project power throughout the Middle East.
PLEITGEN: The fact that Russia has its military assets in Syria also makes Moscow a key player in the Middle East. But now, the Russians acknowledge that that status is in jeopardy.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Once a key ally for the Russian leader, Putin now allowed Assad and some of his family members to flee to Moscow. A decision folks in Moscow told us they support.
[02:35:00]
We don't abandon our men, he says. He is our man. It was the right decision. He has nowhere to go. He would've been killed.
But even here, Syrians living in Russia telling me they're happy Assad has been ousted.
We will be able to live in calm and peace, and be able to safely visit our country, he says. We don't have to worry that someone can throw us in prison because they don't like what we said. We're happy that the dictatorship is over.
Moscow hopes the end of Assad's rule will not spell the end of its military engagement in the Middle East, while acknowledging it's still too early to predict.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take the stand just a short time from now for a second day. He's fighting back against what he calls baseless accusations in a sweeping corruption trial. CNN's Jeremy Diamond recaps what happened on day one of his testimony, along with details of the historic trial.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the first time that a sitting Israeli prime minister has taken the stand in his own defense in a criminal trial. It is an extraordinary moment, not only for the history that is being made as the Israeli prime minister walked into this courthouse and then began testifying in his own defense, but also because of the moment at which it comes with Israel facing a multi-front war. That was part of the reason why the Israeli prime minister sought to delay this very moment of testifying in this case, unsuccessfully though as the judges ultimately ruled that he would have to show up to testify in his own defense, a process that could take several weeks.
We expect that the prime minister will testify as many as three times a week for as long as six hours per day, initially beginning with questions from his own defense attorneys who have been giving him a lot of running room here to make comments about foreign policy, accusations against the media, as he really tries to make his own case. But then, the more serious cross-examination will come from the prosecution.
And there are three cases that are involved in the trial that the prime minister has been facing for four years now. They are Case 1000, Case 2000 and Case 4,000, all of them effectively boiling down to allegations of corruption that the Israeli prime minister offered favors to wealthy businessmen in exchange for more favorable media coverage or in exchange for lavish gifts, some several hundred thousand dollars in champagne bottles, in jewelry and other gifts that these businessmen allegedly provided.
Now, the prime minister and his attorneys, of course, maintain that he is innocent and we have heard the prime minister already on the stand, making his case, defending himself against these allegations, insisting that he is innocent.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv,
CHURCH: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is recovering after undergoing emergency brain surgery. The 79-year-old complained of worsening headaches on Monday and was flown to a hospital in Sao Paulo after an MRI scan detected bleeding on the brain. Doctors say the bleed was linked to a fall he suffered in October. He remains in the Intensive Care Unit, but is speaking and eating normally. The emergency surgery added to health concerns about the aging president.
Coming up, an ancient village in Hong Kong was nearly abandoned. Now, it's coming back to life and so are the sustainable farming techniques of its people. We'll take you there next.
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[02:41:00]
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. We are returning to our 'Call to Earth Day' coverage. Thousands of students around the globe engaged in a day of action to help save the planet that they're inheriting. We have correspondents filing reports from all around the world, including Seoul, London and Nairobi. Our theme this year is 'Connected Generations'. We will be looking to the wisdom of our ancestors for sustainable living practices and how we can use them in our daily lives. And we start in Beijing, where our Steven Jiang is talking to students who are learning about ways to cut carbon emissions using wind power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: We are at the British School of Beijing, Sanlitun, and these are all year six students, 10, 11 years old from many different countries. But living here and studying here has taught them that most things these days you use in your daily life are actually made in China before being shipped to different parts of the world. That's why China's home to seven of the world's 10 busiest container ports.
And I think they've even made a map to show that. Right, Gou Shing (ph)? These are very busy shipping lanes originating from China, but that's not necessarily a good thing for the climate, Seisha (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it isn't. International shipping is 3.3 percent of carbon emissions.
JIANG: Wow. That's very alarming. But, you guys were telling me how you learn in ancient China, it was also a maritime power, but their boats back then were not powered by fossil fuels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been trying to use technology from the past to save our future.
JIANG: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We -- by retrofitting sails to container ships, we can use renewable energy to power them.
JIANG: That's really exciting. And I think some of your classmates have made some of these sailboats, right, Donna (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. We have created different types of sails to test out in the water tank. We have lateen sails, square sails, and log sails.
JIANG: OK, let's give it a go to see which one is the best, the most effective. And Oscar (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.
(CROWD CHEERING)
JIANG: That is just such an exciting moment. I think they have more to test, but they're also putting everything in writing to try to explain to a child of the future what they are thinking and doing in these letters to the future. Right, Olivia (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Dear child of the future, I sincerely wish that you are living in a better society, a society that doesn't burn fossil fuels.
JIANG: (Inaudible)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's stand together and use the technologies of our ancestors. Let's use sails to power our ships.
JIANG: Andrea (ph)? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The oceans and the skies will be as blue as sapphire. This is the world we will pour our hearts into for you.
JIANG: That is just so eloquently put, and it's so reassuring, heartening to hear from these young but very environmentally conscious minds. And the good thing is they're not alone in trying to draw from ancient wisdoms to save the planet's future because the global shipping industry has indeed been pioneering with installing foldable sails on cargo ships with the ultimate goal of achieving this very ambitious target of zero shipping emissions by the year 2050.
Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And now to Hong Kong, where students at the Peak School are learning about the benefits of native bees and even making bee hotels. Kristie Lu Stout is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Hong Kong, I'm at the Peak School, one of dozens of schools across the region that is marking 'Call to Earth Day' and they are fully committed to the cause. The community here, they consider themselves caretakers of the natural environment here in Hong Kong. They look after native plants. They also look after native bees.
In fact, in this exercise behind me, you'll see the students are learning how to build bee hotels, homes for native bees using upcycled materials like tin cans, as well as natural materials like pine cones and bamboo. This is proof positive that we can help build a better natural world.
[02:45:00]
And it's a philosophy that's also in place in a remote corner in Hong Kong where there's a 300-year-old Hakka village. Watch this.
LU STOUT (voice-over): This village is more than 300 years old. It's one of the oldest settlements in Hong Kong. It's not just its age that makes it unique, but its biodiversity. An ancient woodland on the hillside, a mangrove forest along coastal mudflats, a marine park rich with aquatic life, and a freshwater stream running through fertile farmland. Lai Chi Wo's location is no accident. It is part of the traditional philosophies of the Hakka people, the indigenous group from China who built the settlement centuries ago.
SUSAN WONG, VILLAGE CHIEF, LAI CHI WO: So from our ancestors to now, it has been passed down to not let anyone cut down trees on the mountain. If you cut all the trees out, the mountain will become bare and nothing can cover the village. The village will lose its character.
LU STOUT (voice-over): 73-year-old Susan Wong was born in Lai Chi Wo in the 1950s and grew up playing in these Fengshui woods. Fengshui which literally means wind and water is a design philosophy about how homes, villages, and cities should be arranged with nature for good fortune. In Lai Chi Wo, the position of the forest shelters the village from typhoons, prevents landslides, and manages extreme heat and cold. The village was prosperous for generations, but when Hong Kong industrialized rapidly in the 1960s, it became harder to make a living from farming.
WONG: We had nothing. We were very poor. We didn't even have shoes or clothes to wear.
LU STOUT (voice-over): Like many residents, Wong's family moved overseas when she was 15. More people left and Lai Chi Wo became a ghost town. But in 2013, help came in the form of investment from NGOs, government agencies, and banks launching a revitalization initiative.
WONG: I hope this village can become sustainable and more people will come back to live here, making it a bit more vibrant and not just a wilderness.
LU STOUT (voice-over): So far, the project has received more than 100 million Hong Kong dollars, around $12.8 million in investments, which it used to restore five hectares of abandoned farmland and rebuild dilapidated homes. Villagers began to move back, including Wong.
LU STOUT: Was this the home you were born in?
WONG: Yeah.
LU STOUT: Wow.
WONG: (Inaudible) this, but not like that.
LU STOUT (voice-over): Wong and her father, who is now 103-years-old, grow mandarins in the family orchard, along with chilies, flowers, and other vegetables. They use organic farming techniques such as nutrients from discarded oyster shells.
WONG: No, this is oyster.
LU STOUT: It's very good to use everything. You eat the oyster.
WONG: Yeah.
LU STOUT: And then you keep the oyster shell to feed the plants.
WONG: Yeah.
LU STOUT (voice-over): The project also introduced new crops like coffee, which grows in the shade. It protects the forest while boosting profits for farmers.
LU STOUT: Because this is a precious cup of coffee. The beans grown and nourished on site here in Lai Chi Wo. We got to see it on the farm just moments ago. Cheers. It's fruity. It's chocolaty. It's nice.
LU STOUT (voice-over): Wong never imagined she'd return to her childhood home, but the redevelopment project has made it possible.
WONG: And in that moment, I really happy because I like this village. You keep it green, keep it water fresh, people come relax.
LU STOUT: And to everyone watching, you too can be part of the 'Call to Earth' community just like these students here at the Peak School. Just use the hashtag '#CallToEarth' and let us know what you are doing to help safeguard the planet. Back to you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Wonderful. And to learn more about our 'Call to Earth Day' theme 'Connected Generations', head to cnn.com/lostvoices. For thousands of years, indigenous people have protected the planet. In the lost voices interactive, we hear from communities on the front lines of climate change and why their ways of life are worth preserving. We'll be right back.
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[02:51:15]
CHURCH: Hundreds of people in Nairobi, Kenya have been protesting a wave of femicide cases and clashing with police who fired tear gas to break up the demonstration. At least three people were arrested. The clashes didn't stop the demonstrators, who regrouped and continued blowing whistles and chanting 'stop killing women.' Researchers say gender-based violence is a result of patriarchal views and inadequate legal protections for women.
In the coming hours, FIFA will formally announce the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups. Morocco, Spain, and Portugal will share hosting duties in 2030, but it's the selection of Saudi Arabia as the 2034 host that's raising questions. CNN's Amanda Davis reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two FIFA to host the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia --
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman have made no secret of their desire to become the world's sporting destination of choice. Now, it's set to host the biggest prize of them all, the FIFA World Cup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Qatar.
(CROWD CHEERING)
DAVIES (voice-over): It's the most controversial awarding of the tournament since that infamous day in December 2010 that saw Russia and Qatar given the nod for 2018 and 2022 amidst corruption scandals and human rights concerns.
DAVIES: Do you think FIFA learned any lessons, Steve, good or bad, from the Qatar experience?
STEVE COCKBURN, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S HEAD OF LABOUR RIGHTS AND SPORT: My fear is that the lesson they've learned from Qatar is that they can ride out the criticism.
DAVIES (voice-over): In Qatar, there was unprecedented levels of construction of stadiums and infrastructure. Migrant workers died in the process. Saudi Arabia meanwhile has pledged to build 11 new purpose-built venues.
It was seen as a landmark moment in 2017 when FIFA became the first global sports body to write human rights commitments into the bidding process for its major events. But nearly eight years on, actions are speaking louder than words.
LINA AL-HATHLOUL, SAUDI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think no organization, human rights organization has been consulted. And I will even add on that Saudi Arabia has been forbidding human rights organizations from entering the country since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power.
DAVIES (voice-over): Lina al-Hathloul is a Saudi human rights activist. Hers is one of 11 organizations that recently raised concerns about FIFA's approach to Saudi's World Cup bid. Amnesty International called it an astonishing whitewash, while Human Rights Watch dubbed it an abysmal failure to implement mandatory human rights risk assessments. Their latest report published just last week revealed that in the first six months of this year alone, 887 Bangladeshi workers died in Saudi Arabia.
Citing unpublished Bangladesh government data, the report said the majority were recorded as dying of "natural causes". There've been questions about how many were caused by working conditions. FIFA's overall assessment of the Saudi bid awarded it a higher score than any other that's gone before, judging the human rights risk to be medium based on an evaluation carried out by a Riyadh-based company.
[02:55:00]
COCKBURN: I think it's impossible to get there unless it was already decided that it was going to be medium risk. I think this has been decided for a long time and it's lost a huge opportunity here.
DAVIES (voice-over): FIFA has told CNN it has implemented "a thorough bidding process" for the 2034 World Cup and its bid report says Saudi Arabia submitted commitments to respecting, protecting, and fulfilling internationally recognized human rights. Saudi authorities haven't responded to our request for comment. But the head of the Saudi bid says that while progress has been made, there's still room to improve.
HAMMAD AL-BALAWI, HEAD OF SAUDI ARABIA'S WORLD CUP BID UNIT: We're very proud of what we've achieved. We are very hungry to do more and that is a commitment that we have in the areas of human rights, across all areas.
DAVIES: The way in which this process has been engineered means the awarding of the 2034 tournament has been a done deal, despite questions over transparency, the path has been cleared for Saudi Arabia to have its moments in the spotlight in 10 years time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: This year's Nobel Laureates were honored Tuesday during ceremonies in Sweden and Norway. After accepting the Peace Prize, representatives of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Group, Nihon Hidankyo, stepped out onto the balcony in Oslo to greet hundreds of people who marched in a torchlight parade.
The rest of the Nobel Laureates received their awards during a royal ceremony in Stockholm. The recipients included physicists whose work preceded the artificial intelligence boom, researchers who studied colonization to understand today's wealth inequality, and South Korean author Han Kang who won the prize for literature. The Academy said her award is for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.
I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Do stay with us.
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[03:00:00]
