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CNN International: Milan Police Clash With Protesters After Stars Looted; Four Killed In Fire At Canadian Military Base; Pope Makes First Major Public Appearance Since Cancer Surgery. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired October 19, 2026 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. More protests are turning violent across Europe. In Italy, demonstrations over the cost of living led to chaos for the second day in Milan. Police fired tear gas and used water cannons against several hundred people who broke shop windows and began looting stores.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned the violence and called for a government meeting today to discuss a response. Joining us now from Rome is CNN's Stefano Pozzebon. So, Stefano, how much are these protests in Milan mirroring what we've been seeing in those nationwide protests in neighboring France?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christina. Well, there is a feeling that the whole of Southern Europe is in some way responding to that movement up in France, and Italy clearly being one of the places where we're seeing some of the most, frankly, astonishing violence, in particular the violence that we've seen over the weekend in Milan, both on Saturday and Sunday, is some scenes that we haven't seen here in a very long time.

Now, according to the numbers, the public broadcaster RAI is telling us that at least 270 people have been brought in for questioning and identification yesterday night, and out of those 271, four out of five were minors, and that is the first thing that stands out in this particular new wave of protests. It's done by very young people, some of them not even teenagers.

There are reports of 11 or 12-years-old people that have been brought in for questioning, and so that leads someone to question the political motivation behind that that the protest. The second thing that we're seeing is that these protests are taking place outside of an institutional opposition movement that is gathering steam here in Italy against the Meloni government.

In particular on Saturday, for example, trade unions and the opposition party of the center left had called for a national rally against Meloni's policies here in Rome, drawing more than 100,000 people. Of course, we should be talking about that, like that -- that is the background, and then instead you have hundreds of people in Milan making a mess and, in a way, hijacking the protesters, and this is of course leading to calls of condemnation from the opposition parties here in Italy.

Meloni, speaking after the protest, has called for the opposition to also condemn the violence. She's called for this emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers.

We're still waiting to hear how she intends to quell the protest in the upcoming days. Christina?

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and you're right to point out, Stefano, this is a scene we're seeing play out across Europe right now with these protests, very much led by the youth movement. Stefano Pozzebon there in Rome. Thank you.

Now, four Canadian service members have died after a large fire at one of the nation's busiest military bases. Officials there say the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

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MAJ. GEN. WADE RUTLAND, COMMANDER, 1ST CANADIAN DIVISION: During the conduct of a training, a grass fire ignited in the training area, the cause of this fire is under active investigation, and what I would say is there was multiple training activities happening throughout the training area at the time. Uncommonly strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly and shift direction towards the range administrative area.

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MACFARLANE: Well, the fire began at the armed forces base at Wainwright, Alberta, around 130 miles from the provincial capital, Edmonton. In addition to the four deaths, dozens were seriously injured, and one witness described what he saw.

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BRANDON SIMMONS, WITNESS: I seen a guy running by me that had his pants blown off, all he was -- was in his blue underwear, you know. I seen burns. I seen people that were getting unloaded out of the back of that military vehicle that were wrapped in -- in -- in pretty much tin foil. I heard people screaming inside of those vehicles, you know, that will never end up being out of my mind. Like I said, it was just a scene from a war movie.

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MACFARLANE: Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney says the fire stemmed from a quote, serious incident without providing more details. An official from the Department of National Defense says there is no indication of any terrorism. The Prime Minister added that flags on federal buildings are being flown at half-staff. For more on this story, here's CNN's Paula Newton.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Canadian military is still trying to come to grips with the scope of this tragedy, but Prime Minister Mark Carney made it clear that, in fact, he called this one of the worst tragedies for the forces on Canadian soil in peace time, and that includes people, he says dozens of people who are at this hour still critically injured, and the resources that it took on the ground, so many people, because the fire was, in his words, violent and fast moving.

They had to be triaged not just there in the community, but were medevacked out to different locations in the province. I want you to listen now to Prime Minister Mark Carney as he kind of describes exactly what they're facing here. Listen.

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: And CFB Wainwright is where the women and men of our armed forces learn to do the hardest things this country can ask of anyone. Those we lost, those who were injured, were training to defend Canada, to serve Canada, and now Canada serves them. We will be there for their families for as long as they need. We will care for the injured through every step of their recovery, and we will stand by the women and men of our armed forces as they bear the weight of this loss. They will not carry it alone.

NEWTON: Now, this base, which is about a two-hour drive south of Edmonton, Alberta, is used for live training for the military forces all the time. Well, this is live ammunition training, and while we do not know the details of exactly what happened here, I want you to look at some of the video. Look, they have tight procedures in place to make sure everyone is safe, but there was some kind of explosion or fire, and that, in the Prime Minister's words, it was violent and fast moving.

In fact, members of the community had to scramble there to make sure they could hold the line on that fire, and to make sure it did not spread to the neighboring community. There had been high winds in the area, not a lot of rain. Right now, they say that there is no danger to residents in the area, but still many people trying to come to grips with this tragedy. And as the Prime Minister said, dozens injured and many of them have severe burns. Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

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MACFARLANE: Well, Pope Leo has made his first major public appearance since undergoing lung cancer surgery. The 71-year-old Pontiff led the Angelus Prayer from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square on Sunday. CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb has the details.

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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square to hear from Pope Leo for the first time since his lung cancer surgery and diagnosis, the Pope spoke with a strong and clear voice. He wished the crowd a happy Sunday, and he reflected that the recent experience of being in hospital had made him feel closer to those who suffer and are sick. The Pope also emphasized that he is slowly planning to get back to work.

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Now that I have overcome this delicate phase, as you know, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God's help and your prayers.

LAMB: Now, the news of Pope Leo's lung cancer diagnosis has come as a huge shock to people inside the Vatican. It's not clear how things are going to pan out in the short term for him in terms of all the events and schedules that he has in his calendar. Of course, the big question is, can he make this trip to Latin America, scheduled from the 6th to the 17th of November?

The surgeon who operated on him says there's no clinical reason why he can't go. However, the trip has not been officially confirmed yet post-operation. So, it's a lot of questions over that trip, which would include going to Peru, a country, of course, Leo knows so well, having served there for many years. But the itinerary of the trip is to go to some high-altitude places in the country. So, it remains to be seen whether that trip will definitely take place.

But on Sunday, Pope Leo making his first major public appearance since his hospitalization. The Pope pleasing the crowd, offering them his blessing, and he's going to continue his recovery for the coming days. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

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MACFARLANE: Good to see him. All right, still to come. After a deadly crash in Kansas, police have released the driver, but questions remain about what led up to the tragedy.

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. One of the many toss-up races in the U.S. midterm election cycle is the 27th congressional district in South Florida. The state has largely become a Republican stronghold in recent years, but President Donald Trump's support among Latino voters appears to be crumbling in some areas. CNN's Arlette Saenz reports.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Early voting kicks off on Monday here in Miami-Dade County, where the power of the Latino vote is about to be tested in these midterm elections. Latino voters have become a key swing voting group in recent elections. They helped fuel President Trump's win back in 2024, and Republicans had hoped to be able to sustain that support for years after that. But recent polling has shown that support from the Latino community towards President Trump has been slipping.

An NBC News Telemundo poll conducted recently found that only 27 percent of Latino voters approved of President Trump's performance in office, and more wanted to see Democrats win control of Congress than Republicans, so a big question going forward in this election is whether that drop-in support for the president will translate to Republican candidates running in tough congressional races.

Right here, this is Florida's 27th congressional district, where Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar is facing off against the Democratic challenger Eliot Rodriguez. They are both well known in the Miami area, as they were both TV news anchors here for many, many years.

[04:45:00]

Salazar won her last race by more than 20 points, but now she is contending with frustration about the economy and some of the president's immigration enforcement actions. Take a listen to what some voters here had to tell us. How have you felt about the economy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Economy coming down, down, down, down, especially gasoline. The gasoline will be $, $3.49 cent, $3.59 cent. Now it's $4 getting $. That's too much. To live in Miami, you got to have money, man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You saw how the immigration go in this country? They chasing immigrant. They stay here for more than 20 years in this country. This country built -- is built for the immigration -- immigrant, and they chase it like a criminal.

SAENZ: Now Salazar has pushed back on President Trump's immigration crackdown, releasing an ad saying that some of his actions have gone too far, and that the Hispanic voters who helped get him into the White House in 2024 are feeling betrayed. Now, this is just one of the areas where Latino voters could be key in the midterm elections. You can also take a look over in South Texas, where there are a number of competitive congressional districts where Democrats believe they could have the upper hand with Latino voters.

But really, the big question will be whether these Republican candidates will be able to survive the souring sentiment that President Trump is facing with Latino voters, which have become a very key voting-block in recent elections. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Miami.

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MACFARLANE: Now, police have released the woman who allegedly drove onto a soccer field during a youth game in Kansas on Saturday. Two people were killed, including a six-year-old boy. 10 others were injured. CNN's Mark Morales has the latest.

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MARK MORALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The driver was released pending the results of a toxicology report and a mechanical examination of the car. So far, she has not been charged. However, it's important to know that she is not out of the woods yet. Remember that investigators are still trying to figure out what led to this whole thing happening in the first place, because remember, in order to charge somebody, you need evidence.

So that evidence, whatever that may be, is really going to be key as to whether or not charges, if at all, get filed. Now, investigators have been going through looking for any type of video that they can find, whether that's surveillance tape on the ground or any video that any witnesses might have taken. They've even interviewed as many as 30 witnesses that might have seen this, and that includes the driver's two children that were in the SUV before the car took off. Now, it's also known by investigators that the car was parked nearby at a parking spot before this incident all happened.

And witnesses have really been talking about how chaotic those scenes were. If you remember, first responders had arrived to the scene and actually found people that were rendering aid to some of the folks that were hurt. Now, an affiliate of ours actually spoke to some of those witnesses, where they described the chaotic scene. Take a listen.

ISAAC, WITNESS: My dad went to the truck, took the person out the truck so they don't hit any more people. Shocked he did that because if he didn't do that, maybe the car would have stopped and more people could have gotten hit.

BRYANT GARZA, SOCCER REFEREE: I was mainly just shocked, you know, when you see a car driving over a bunch of people, you're just like -- you're just in shock. I was scared, obviously. Didn't know what to think. Just ran out the way, hoping they didn't follow me, hoping I didn't get hit.

MORALES: 10 others who were injured were taken to area hospitals. Five of those were children. Police are st0ill continuing the investigation. They plan to meet with the district attorney's office next week and do an initial case presentation. Mark Morales, CNN, New York.

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MACFARLANE: All right. Still to come, the untold story of the Sherpa who accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary to the first summit of Mount Everest. We'll hear from the stars of the new film.

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MACFARLANE: A Japanese space mission is preparing to head to Mars. The Mission Moon's exploration, as the name implies, will survey the two moons of the red planet Phobos and Deimos. The journey to get there is expected to take about 10 months, and then the plan is to collect soil samples from Phobos that scientists hope will explain the origins of the two moons. Japan is hoping this will be the first time a spacecraft travels to Mars and brings a sample back to Earth with it.

Now, a breathtaking new film tells the story of one of the first two men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The film chronicles the life of Tenzing Norgay, who joined Sir Edmund Hillary's successful expedition in 1953. I spoke to the two stars.

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TOM HIDDLESTON, ACTOR: It was completely unforgettable.

GENDEN PHUNTSOK, ACTOR: Yeah.

HIDDLESTON: We -- it was an inspired suggestion by our director Jennifer Peedom. I arrived in Kathmandu, and -- and within 15 hours I was in Lukla Airport, which is really a strip of concrete cut into the mountain where all treks to Everest base camp begin. Mr. Amazing was waiting for me, and we shook hands and we embraced under a sign which said the Tenzing-Hillary Airport.

And Genden said to me, "Hey Hillary," and I said, "Hey Tenzing," and we -- and we hugged and we began this extraordinary trek, following in the footsteps of Tenzing and Hillary, and -- and experiencing the beauty and the majesty of that landscape for ourselves.

MACFARLANE: Look, one incredible thing in the film that really stood out to me was just how little technical equipment and gear those mountaineers had to climb Everest. Felt like a small pair of swimming goggles and ropes and a sturdy pair of boots, which leads me to how physically demanding was it, both for you to -- to film this, and did you have any difficult moments in the mountains?

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HIDDLESTON: We did this for real. We did this for real in the real mountains. Everything with snow on it was actually in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, in Aoraki/ Mount Cook National Park. And Hillary on the expedition, there's a detail in the film. They were climbing back to camp one night, and he fell into a crevasse, and Tenzing saved Hillary's life. It really happened to Hillary, and it really happened to me.

And they dropped me into a crevasse, and Tenzing was -- Genden was on the other side of the rope, and I was suspended, dangling -- dangling there for a time and this sheet of ice came, fell from the lip of the crevasse onto my head, and then I had this small -- or as Hillary called it, the routine mountaineering issue of trying to climb up a wall of ice.

[Video is shown from the movie "Tenzing".]

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MACFARLANE: It's such a great movie. I encourage you all to go and watch it.

Now it was a race to the finish line. Dachshunds in Munich, Germany, competed in the annual sausage dog race on Sunday. Excited owners waved toys and treats to get the dogs across the finish line, as you can see here. What started a race of just 30 dogs four years ago has now turned in, as you can see, to a full-blown competition, drawing dozens of attendees, and very sweet it is too.

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Christina Macfarlane here in London. Stay tuned for CNN Headline Express coming up after the break.

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