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Isa Soares Tonight
More Than 2,600 Dead After Morocco Earthquake; Kim Jong-Un Heads To Russia To Meet Vladimir Putin; Thousands Take To The Streets In Jerusalem Ahead Of Israel's Supreme Court Hearing Linked To The Judicial Reform Plan; Man Describes Losing Son And Pulling His Body Out; Race To Find Survivors As Death Toll Rises To Nearly 2,700; U.S. Marks 22nd Anniversary Of Deadly Terror Attacks. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 11, 2023 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:26]
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, more than 2,600 people dead in Morocco
after Friday's deadly earthquake. I'll be speaking to one rescue worker on the ground as they race to find survivors.
Then North Korea's Kim Jong-un is on his way to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia. U.S. officials warned an arms deal could be on the cards. We'll
have the very latest for you on that. Plus, thousands are taking to the streets in Jerusalem ahead of a Supreme Court hearing linked to the
judicial reform plan. We'll be live at those protests for you.
But first this evening, Moroccan rescue teams have reached the epicenter of Friday's deadly earthquake. Aid trucks and recovery equipments arrived in
Ighil on Monday. Three days after the quake first struck. The 6.8 magnitude earthquake is most powerful to hit Morocco in more than a century. And many
people are still trapped, waiting for help to actually reach them.
Key roads into the remote Atlas Mountains are blocked by landslides as well as debris. And rescuers have been relying on helicopters to get vital
supplies in. On the ground, residents are digging through the rubble, hoping to find more survivors. The death toll is nearly -- it's already
nearly 2,700 people and expected to rise. Our senior international correspondent Sam Kiley has this report now from the Atlas Mountains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another victim buried, returned to the earth that killed when it shook. More than
2,000 people perished in the worst Moroccan earthquake in over 100 years. Most of the debts were in villages in the Atlas Mountains where homes
cracked and crumbled late on Friday night.
(on camera): The pancaking of these buildings down a side street here in Moulay Brahim killed 25 people. Three or four are still missing, believed
buried in the rubble. And this is a patent that has been repeated throughout this province, and it looks very often like there's been some
kind of airstrike, the collapsing buildings here actually leaving holes as if they'd been hit by Russian bombs in Ukraine. But this has been an all
too natural disaster.
(voice-over): At least, three elderly people have been in tuned here in the remains of their hotel, and a fourth guest is missing. After the quake,
Sami called his parents for a day and a half, it rang out until the battery died too.
SAMI SENSIS, PARENTS DIED IN EARTHQUAKE: I'm here just -- because I have lost two of my best things I had in this life. My parents. My father and my
mother. I have lost them here.
KILEY: His grief turns to anger at the government, as it does for so many here.
SENSIS: They have no planification, only they have words. It's a balloon of words. Only that they have words. That's all.
KILEY: Aid is arriving, but slowly. In Asni nearby, authorities tell me that 27 people were killed in the quake, and 1,200 lost their homes.
(on camera): So Fatima(ph) and her husband have said that when they were in the house, she was in the bath when this series of explosions broke out.
They said there was no shaking of the ground. She's saying that it felt like the blast from a Kalashnikov automatic rifle, that this was like a
sense that the place had been hit by a war. They had no idea that they were suffering from an earthquake.
Luckily for them, they evacuated their family very rapidly. Nobody in their family was killed, but in the village, there was (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN
LANGUAGE), 27 people were killed.
(voice-over): The house is now abandoned. But Fatima(ph) led a team of local women to find food and shelter for the homeless before any aid
arrived. All the food here, the result of private donations. Many villages here remain isolated, roads cut by landslides. Relief operations will focus
on getting to them. Firefighters consider searching for bodies beneath the hotel.
[14:05:00]
Their conclusion is disappointing amid shocks and shattered masonry, it's just too dangerous to rescue the dead. So for now, Sami's parents will stay
buried where they are. Sam Kiley, CNN in Moulay Brahim.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Just so much heartbreak. Well, a number of international teams have also joined the rescue efforts in Morocco. Enrique Bascuas is a team leader
for one Spain's military emergency units, and he joins me now from Amizmiz. Enrique, I understand from my team that you and your team have set up camp
now in Amizmiz. Give me a sense of what you have been seeing, your team has been seeing on the ground, first of all.
ENRIQUE BASCUAS, TEAM LEADER, SPAIN'S MILITARY EMERGENCIES UNIT: We've been seeing -- well, we have set up our virtual operations and we send our teams
to recognize their missions. And we saw a lot of buildings collapse, people are working for recovering their bodies or the person that are down there
of the damage, and we're working together with other teams in order to look at that.
SOARES: And where, Enrique, do you see the biggest needs right now? Where are the challenges?
BASCUAS: Well, challenges to go to the small villages that are very far from here. It's not possible to reach these villages by car. So, we have to
go walking and to carry all this stuff in order to carry our tools to work in these separate areas.
SOARES: So you and your teams, Enrique, from what I understand, you are carrying your tools and you're walking to these kind of remote villages. I
assume the terrain is highly complicated. Just tell me what your next steps will be.
BASCUAS: Well, we are now focusing those parts that we can reach with our cars, but we are mapping all the places where the needs -- where the help
is needed in order to go. And we are trying to have some air transport because it's very difficult to carry all the heavy equipment to reach these
places.
SOARES: And we're looking at some images, and I'm guessing a lot of the roads have been blocked, Enrique, as well, because of landslides --
BASCUAS: Yes --
SOARES: And so forth. Is there equipment on the ground? Have you and your team seen equipment to start moving, to clearing these roads?
BASCUAS: Well, we are -- you shall think we are focusing on collapsed buildings, but local authorities, they're moving with huge machinery -- you
need machinery on the -- so I have been just strolling back, we are focusing in these.
SOARES: So, your focus is on the collapsed buildings. And clearly, as we heard in that report from Sam Kiley, so many people still waiting to hear
from loved ones, still were looking for loved ones. I'm guessing at this stage, it's no longer a rescue operation.
BASCUAS: Well, we are here to rescue people. We are -- our aim is to find if somebody -- someone alive, inside the buildings, but we don't have any
clue of this alive people at the moment, so, we are working.
SOARES: Enrique, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. I know you and your team are incredibly busy. Thank you for your work,
Enrique Bascuas there, thank you.
BASCUAS: Thank you.
SOARES: Well, a powerful and deadly storm unleashed devastating floods in eastern Libya. State media reports, quote, "an official who says more than
2,000 people are feared to have been killed in one city. The official didn't give a source for his numbers, and the Red Crescent said earlier,
they estimate 150 to 250 people, I should say are dead in the city of Derna.
Now, the heavy rain inundating, as you can see, this hospital, also flooding streets and knocking out phone service. The region got more than
two-thirds of its normal annual rainfall. That is just in one day. It came from the remnants if you remember, I was talking about last week of Storm
Daniel which pummeled Greece last week.
I want to bring in our Ben Wedeman, joins me now for more. And Ben, this is absolutely devastating. Just give us a sense of what you are hearing from
authorities this hour.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the person who made this claim is Prime Minister Ossama Hamad; who is the prime minister
of the breakaway government of eastern Libya, based in Benghazi.
[14:10:00]
And he said that two -- at least, 2,000 people have been killed as a result of these floods in the city of Derna. And in addition to that, he is
claiming that as many as 5,000 people may be missing. Now I've been to Derna, it's a city of about 100,000 people at the bottom of a mountain.
Now, a dry riverbed, a wadi runs through Derna.
But it appears that as a result of the amount of rain that Storm Daniel dumped in that area, as you said, two-thirds of its annual rainfall in just
one day, that it just ripped through the middle of that city. And what we're seeing on social media are scenes reminiscent of what is going on in
Morocco right now in terms of the amount of destruction.
Now, it's not altogether clear what the source of these claim of at least 2,000 dead and 5,000 missing is. Prime Minister Hamad didn't actually
mention this source. But it's clear that there has been massive damage in Derna, and probably, massive loss of life as well. As you said, the Libyan
Red Crescent Society is saying perhaps, as many as 250 dead. But just looking at those images, one suspects, one fears, that perhaps the death
toll is much higher. Isa?
SOARES: Yes, absolutely. These images, it looks pretty catastrophic as we look at some of the images we have from overnight. In terms of what the
prime minister said, do -- is he asking for international help? Is he asking for others to help out? Because these images are truly shocking.
WEDEMAN: Yes, the Libyans are desperately asking for help. In fact, the President of the UAE, Zayed Al Nahyan has said that they're going to
dispatch urgent assistance. Immediately, the U.N. is calling for help as well. So, he said, it's not altogether clear, the extent of the damage, the
death toll, the number of missing. But clearly, there is a desperate need for help and the Libyans are asking for it immediately. Isa?
SOARES: Yes, urgent need for relief assistance, clearly. Ben Wedeman for us there, thanks very much, Ben. And still to come tonight, Kim Jong-un heads
to Russia as the U.S. warns Pyongyang against an arms deal with Moscow. Details on the North Korean leader's armored train. We have that for you.
And a warning from the top U.S. General about how long Ukraine may have to press forward with its counteroffensive before Winter sets in. Both those
stories after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:15:21]
SOARES: The ruler of North Korea is on his way to meet with Russia's president. And Kim Jong-un is said to be riding in a slow-moving armored
train, straight out with James Bond movie. News of the visit comes from a South Korean official. These are images from 2019 when he made a similar
trip to Vladivostok. Now, the Kremlin confirms Mr. Kim will meet with Vladimir Putin in the next few days.
The U.S. says an arms deal is in the works to support Moscow's war on Ukraine. Now, Will Ripley has reported from inside North Korea, and he
joins me now live from Taiwan. Will, great to see you. Just give us some context here in terms of, what more do we know that both sides want to get
out of this meeting because as we all know, they're both transactional leaders here.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But what is extraordinary is how the balance of power is shifting, and Kim Jong-un, who was standing
alone as a global pariah at the time that Vladimir Putin was hobnobbing with world leaders, now the two of them are pretty much in the same boat.
They're heavily sanctioned, they're accused of blatant human rights abuses, of course, Putin waging an unprovoked war in Ukraine, and Kim Jong-un
launching ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
And so, now that these two are coming together, combining forces if you will, potentially, this could be very problematic. On the Ukrainian front,
if Vladimir Putin is able to get from North Korea, what it is believed that he wants, which is weapons, ammunition, things like artillery that he's
running very low on, and Kim Jong-un is sitting on a huge stockpile, that could certainly be a potential game-changer on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Something that Putin wants very badly. The fact that he is actually asking North Korea, asking Kim Jong-un for help, a lot of analysts see as really
very humiliating for Putin, considering where he was and where he has fallen now as a result of his war. And of course, Kim Jong-un knows that
Russia has decades of institutional knowledge and know-how when it comes to intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons, the exact kind of
thing that Kim is trying to grow and build and perfect at a (INAUDIBLE) clip because Russia along with China, have veto power at the U.N. Security
Council.
And China would be the biggest enforcer of the sanctions that the council has crafted over the years to stop Kim Jong-un from acting, and you've seen
now cooperation between China, Russia and North Korea. This potentially means that an emboldened Kim Jong-un by partnering up with Russia and
Vladimir Putin, continuing his friendship with Xi Jinping can basically do what he wants unabated, and also Vladimir Putin gets something that could
give him an edge in Ukraine. Isa.
SOARES: And in the meantime, he is traveling from what I understand, this armored train, we compare to something like out of a James Bond movie. Just
explain this to us.
RIPLEY: So, I had a glimpse inside one of these North Korean luxury trains about five years ago, back in 2018 when we were on our way to the Punggye-
ri Nuclear Test Site, and it is very similar to the train that we see Kim Jong-un in right now. Soviet-era train cars, Kim's train is painted green,
a very signature green color with yellow trim.
But the inside of the train that I was on in the inside of Kim's train is glistening white. And they have a full course, you know, five-six course
banquet that they serve. They have musical entertainment, they have luxury accommodations, and these are the North Korean elite, members of Kim Jong-
un's entourage, they were traveling with him on this train, you know, pass some of the most desolate areas of the North Korean countryside where
people don't have electricity, they're struggling to barely put enough food on the table, in many days they're not doing that, they're not even able to
feed their families, feed their children.
And they're trying to repair damage to their crumbling homes and continue to work their state jobs and all of the mandatory compulsory ideological
training that has required North Koreans. But on the train that I took, Isa, the windows were boarded close, not allowing us to actually have a
look outside as we passed through some of these areas in the countryside that North Korea doesn't want the international media to see.
But no doubt, Kim Jong-un's windows are likely not boarded up, and you have to wonder what he's thinking. He has this arsenal ballistic missiles, and
yet, no bullet trains like most other developed countries. No high-speed rail system, a dilapidated railway, he's riding in an old rail car that can
go barely 40 miles an hour to go to this meeting though, where he's now going to use what he does have, which is weapons to his advantage.
The question, does this mean an economic advantage that will then translate down to the North Korean people or will all of this money, all of this
revenue just go to build more nuclear weapons, to grow Kim's arsenal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): Inside North Korea, one of the most secretive places on the planet, but carefully guarded state secret is leader Kim Jong-un's
actual location.
[14:20:00]
Major events are often used as decoys. Crowds can wait for hours enduring long security lines only to find the leader's seat empty. Even Kim's own
bodyguards can serve as decoys, best known for donning dark suits, running alongside the leader's limo during the Trump-Kim summit, projecting power
and security, riding an armor-reinforced rail car to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, a fellow strongman seen by some as a global
pariah.
Putin and Kim come with plenty of baggage, both saddled with heavy sanctions. For Kim's nuclear and ballistic missile programs for Putin's
brutal, unprovoked war in Ukraine and suspiciously-timed plane crash, taking out his one-time critic. Kim may not have a reason to fear Putin,
but he still does not take any chances when he travels outside North Korea.
As Moscow looks to buy artillery and other wartime supplies from its impoverished authoritarian neighbor. CNN contacted the Russian embassy in
Washington for comment. North Korea denied previously supplying Russia with rockets and missiles to use in Ukraine. In July, Putin's Defense Minister
Sergei Shoigu was in Pyongyang as Kim showed off his latest weapons, long- range missiles and military drones.
Shoigu said Russia may even be staging joint military drills with the north. The North Korean leader has a lot to gain.
DAVID SANGER, NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE & NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A large power is now dependent on him. That hasn't happened in a while.
RIPLEY: Kim may be willing to roll the dice, risking travel outside his borders, reducing the risk on a slow-moving, heavily fortified train. A
shade of army green on the outside, luxuriously appointed on the inside. The train is a simple of three generations of the Kim family dynasty, and a
nation stuck in the past. Kim has taken his chugging locomotive to Vladivostok before meeting with Putin there in 2019.
This time, Kim may hope Russia will help him with oil supplies or even technology to use its own ambitious ballistic missile program, goals
perhaps worthy of a rare venture beyond his nation's hermetically-sealed borders. Only once has Kim boarded a flight overseas, he borrowed an Air
China jet from Beijing to get to his first Singapore meeting with Donald Trump.
So much has changed since his bygone days of U.S.-North Korea diplomacy. Now, Russia is ready to make a deal, making Kim perhaps the most powerful
North Korean leader ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: Kim also rode that train to the second meeting with the former President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, and he was so certain that there
was going to be a positive outcome, that North Korean state media followed his trip. They previewed the meeting, and yet in the end, President Trump
walked out, leaving Kim basically standing there, the lunch table was set, but they didn't eat the food.
Kim had to go back on the train, all those hours, I believe it was 35 hours back empty-handed. And he never forgot that, Isa. So now, he takes his
train to a very different situation with an ally, a like-minded global pariah, Vladimir Putin and the diplomacy with the U.S. couldn't be farther
in the rearview mirror right now for Kim Jong-un.
SOARES: Indeed, and I know you will stay across this for whenever this meeting does go ahead. Will Ripley, great to see you there, live from
Taipei, thank you. Well, as Putin looks for additional military support for the war in Ukraine, he's also attempting to cement his control over
Russian-occupied and annexed territories.
Russia installed-authority staged elections in several Ukrainian regions, and that includes Donetsk. The European Union says it won't recognize the
vote, calling it illegal. Ukraine warns that Moscow could soon try to force men in these areas to enlist in the Russian army, to make up what it calls
catastrophic losses.
Ukraine's foreign minister stepping up pressure on the West to provide more sophisticated weaponry soon. Dmytro Kuleba hosted his German counterpart in
Kyiv today, blatantly saying I don't understand why we are wasting time. Just yesterday, the U.S. top general said Ukraine had just weeks left
before weather could hamper its counteroffensive. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: There's still a reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days worth of fighting
weather left. The rains will come in, it will become very muddy and it will be very difficult to maneuver. At that point, and then you'll get the deep
Winter. And then at that point, we'll see where things go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on this, Melissa Bell joins me on the ground in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. And Melissa, well, talk about the Chiefs of Staff
Mark Milley's comments in just a moment. I want to get your sense though, coming up from what we heard on North Korea, what Ukraine makes of this
meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. What could that mean for Ukraine here?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyiv, watch -- keeping a very watchful eye, Isa, because as you were just hearing there from Will, the
issue is of course, those conventional weapons that Vladimir Putin will be looking to source in Pyongyang, the United States have been warning about
it for some time.
[14:25:00]
These negotiations on weapons were as American administration officials understood it, fairly advanced, and that appears now to have been correct.
So what you're talking about are some of the much-needed ammunition that the Russians will be looking for artillery shells, all of those things
that's here on the Zaporizhzhia frontline and on the eastern front as well, Isa.
They know they need to help make a difference. That is what they're after, some of the more basic equipment, even as Pyongyang is looking for much
more sophisticated sort of satellites and nuclear-powered submarine capability. Things that are much more sophisticated. Still, should Vladimir
Putin get his hands on those North Korean stockpiles of shells ammunition, exactly what it needs, that of course, for Ukrainians, will be of extreme
concern.
Even as they try and put more pressure on with their western allies to keep getting what they need. And this is something we've been hearing again and
again, Isa, whenever we speak to any Ukrainian military official coming back from the frontline or any soldier, it is ammunition that they are
lacking and that they need far more of than have done since the start of the war.
So little by little, fresh waves of ammunition come -- have come through, fresh types of weaponry, but always slightly several steps behind. So, the
Ukrainians -- so to them, suddenly, to have Russia with a new partner, willing --
SOARES: Yes --
BELL: To give it exactly what it lacks, and Ukraine lacks, of course, could make a decisive difference in Russia's favor on those lines that are
precisely now being moved forward ever so slightly by the Ukrainians. We heard once again today, Dmytro Kuleba; the Ukrainian Foreign Minister
pressing his German counterpart who was in Kyiv for a visit today on the cruise missiles that Germany has offered, and that are simply too slow to
be delivered.
Ukraine desperately needs more, and so, it's watching with a great deal of concern. I think what we expect to unfold in Vladivostok tomorrow, Isa.
SOARES: And that pressure, of course, from Mr. Kuleba and from Ukrainian journal coming at a critical time like you said, as you've been telling us
here on the show, pretty much, every night, Melissa, the counteroffensive, Ukraine is making gains in that counteroffensive, particularly in the
south. I wonder what then Ukraine and Kyiv thinks of the comments that we just played by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, who
told the "BBC" that Ukraine has six weeks left before weather starts tampering their push. How were his words received, Melissa?
BELL: Well, of course, that is the stark reality of things on the ground here. Already, the chill in the air is tangible, you can feel it compared
to just last weekend, and inevitably, the ground here in Zaporizhzhia, but also in the eastern frontlines will get muddier, it will get wet, it will
get cold and then it will get hard. And there's simply nothing they can do about that.
And that will make a difference to their ability to move forward. And any steam, any momentum that they believe they've gained, these last few days
and weeks risks being lost or at least compromised. So, of course, the clock is ticking, what General Mark Milley said was that they're looking at
30 to 45 days ahead of them. That's on one hand a lot of time and you can say the losses at both sides are sustaining the intense nature of the
fighting that's going on in those frontlines.
But it is of course, very short when you consider their strategic claims of trying to get as far as south as it is they're hoping to get. So a lot more
pressure coming from the simple fact of the changing weather there, Isa.
SOARES: Indeed, Melissa Bell for us in Zaporizhzhia this evening, thanks very much, Melissa. And still to come tonight, the latest from Morocco in
the earthquake and the aftermath of the deadly earthquake. Rescuers are trying to reach more victims in remote areas, hoping critically to find
survivors. And then later, massive protests ahead of what could be one of the most consequential hearings in the history of Israel's Supreme Court.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:32:33]
SOARES: We return to our top story this hour in Morocco, which is reeling from a deadly 6.8 magnitude earthquake just three days ago, the most
powerful to hit the country in more than a century. The country's military carrying aid and equipment has finally reached the epicenter, Addasil. It's
in the province that was the worst hit with at least 1,400 deaths. One man's son was killed while his family was at the table for dinner. He
describes that dreadful moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMID BEN HENNA, EARTHQUAKE VICTIM'S FATHER (through translator): At night there was no electricity. We couldn't see at all. And stones were falling
on us in the dark. I hurried and luckily, there was a gate open to help my wife who was injured get out along with two other kids. My son was stuck
until the next morning. When his uncles came from Casablanca, they managed to get him out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: My goodness. Let's bring in Nada Bashir, who's in the village near the epicenter. Nada, just give us a sense of what you are seeing there in
Amizmiz.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Isa, you can see behind me crowds of people, mostly families now taking shelter in these makeshift
tents. Their house -- houses have been completely destroyed by the earthquake. In fact, this morning, we were just about an hour away from
here in the village of Imlil and Tela. It is a mountainous remote village and that has been a key issue, a key challenge for rescue teams because
many of the areas hardest hit by this earthquake are in remote areas and these roads have been damaged, have been blocked for the last few days.
And in this village we went to this morning, rescue teams have only just begun arriving. We saw those rescue teams digging through the rubble that
many of these rescuers have lost hope of finding survivors. They told us that this has now become a recovery effort for the most part. And it is
sheer destruction across these villages. Many of them have been completely flattened. These homes completely destroyed and of course the struggle to
get aid there means that people have been left without shelter, without food, without medical attention. And that is only coming in now.
We spoke to families crowded around the now-demolished home waiting for news of their loved ones buried beneath the rubble. One family waiting for
news of a 12-year-old girl. They said they could hear her voice on Saturday but they can't hear her anymore and they fear that she has lost her life as
a result of this earthquake.
[14:35:03]
And they told us for the first few days they were literally digging through the rubble with their bare hands. The rescue teams only arriving today. So,
you can imagine the devastation these families have gone through. And, of course, as you can see behind me this is very much a makeshift camp. There
are humanitarian relief teams here. We are seeing those international teams now beginning to come in. We spoke to teams from Qatar, from Spain, from
France and of course from the United Kingdom as well. They are dispersed across those areas hardest hit around the epicenter, but this is going to
be a major challenge for these A-teams over the next couple of days and weeks in order to get that relief to those most in need, particularly in
the remote areas that have been so difficult to reach due to the earthquake strike on Friday, Isa.
SOARES: Yes. Just so much anguish and despair. Thank you very much for the very latest there, Nada Bashir from -- for us on the ground.
Well, Alice Morrison is a journalist who was in the mountains when the earthquake first struck. She joins me now. And Alice, I believe from what
my team has told me, you're still in the Atlas Mountains. Just give us a sense -- there you are. I can see it. Give us a sense of what you have been
seeing in the last few days.
ALICE MORRISON, JOURNALIST: OK. So, I'm standing where I live, where I experience the earthquake in a small village called Imlil in the center of
the High Atlas. And as you can see, this probably explains to you the difficulties for everyone in getting aid here and for the government. What
I've been seeing is I've seen funerals at the roadside. I have seen people buried under the rubble. I've seen teenage boys standing in the rubble of
their homes with their mothers still buried underneath.
I've seen a massive aid effort by the government. They have got the army immobilized, there are earth moving equipment. There is a field hospital
set up in -- 16 kilometers away from where I am. But the issue here is that as you can see, all our communities are tiny and scattered. For example --
and here, we were lucky we didn't take the brunt of the earthquake, but if I can just show you this pass up there over that pass is Ouirgane, which
was one of the worst hit areas. So, some places is just so difficult to get into.
SOARES: Yes. I'm guessing some places like you said, Alice, is just so remote as well. Give me a sense of where the majority of people in these
villages. Where are they sleeping? Where are you sleeping and those within your village?
MORRISON: The majority of people, even in villages like mine where, you know, fortunately there were no deaths but the houses have all been
damaged. So, people are frightened to sleep inside even if they have a home. So, it's really tented camps. And you will see in every village and
every community along every roadside there is like a rash of tents and the citizens were all sleeping outside in flat safe places.
SOARES: Yes. We're seeing some of the video that you filmed I believe today. I think you have been going around, you've been traveling by bike to
some of these villages. And I imagine that at night, it might get a bit chilly. Give me a sense in terms of the aid. You said aid is starting to
arrive. Do people have food, blankets, water? Is that support already there, Alice?
MORRISON: Yes. The country really has mobilized. So, the support is there where there's a main road or the village is close to the main road. So, for
example, my road, I had to leave yesterday on my bicycle because the road was completely blocked and by today, the army had completely cleared it.
However, if you're in one of these villages like this one, far from a road, it's very difficult to get supplies. So you see normally, when we live
here, we travel by mule or by foot and it might be a day's walk. So, you can imagine if a village is a day's walk away from the road, getting
supplies to it is extremely difficult.
SOARES: Is that the main -- besides obviously the clearing the debris that we're -- that you're mentioning now. We're looking at some video that you
shot as they start to clear the debris from these roads. In terms of humanitarian needs, what is mostly needed right now from what you have
seen, Alice, going to these more remote villages?
MORRISON: From what I have seen, people, it is getting cold. You can probably see I'm starting to wear a big jumper. They will need warm -- of
course warm clothes, blankets, mattresses to sleep on, tents, a lot of which is being done but not everywhere. And then food and drink. I don't
know what the need would be. So for example in my village, we are okay because we have a main road and people here are very self-sufficient. They
are farmers, they have goat herds, they've got sheep, they've got chickens, cows, it's small farming communities.
But if you have been hit by a disaster and people have died then of course you need food because who is going to go and milk the cow? I mean, it's
that kind of a situation. It's a very rural, scattered environment.
SOARES: Rural, scattered, yes. So beautiful as we can see behind you in that backdrop. Alice, really appreciate you giving us a sense of what is
happening on the ground.
[14:40:20]
You stay safe. Thank you, Alice.
MORRISON: Thank you.
SOARES: Well, major protests today as thousands of Israelis demonstrate outside the Supreme Court and the Knesset. They are angry about efforts by
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit the power of the Supreme Court. They are angry about efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit
the power of the Supreme Court, efforts they say will undermine Israel's democracy. Now the court is due to hold an extraordinary hearing on Tuesday
tomorrow where it will hear arguments for and against one aspect of judicial reform plan. A law passed, if you remember back in July, that
takes away the court's ability to declare government actions unreasonable.
Earlier a smaller group of protesters scuffled with police outside the home of Netanyahu's Justice Minister. Six people were arrested. Let's get the
very latest now from our Hadas Gold. And Hadas, from what we've seen in the pictures today, we saw, you know, thousands of people taking the streets
yet again, protesting what could be, as we have said in the show, one of the most consequential hearings in the history of Israel's Supreme Court.
Just talk us through what we can expect tomorrow.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We were out with the protesters just the last few hours outside of the Supreme Court. As we speak, they are
actually marching from the Supreme Court to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence here in Jerusalem so that he will hear them as well.
These protesters say that they have come out so that the Supreme Court can hear their support for them. Hear the support for the judges because of
what will happen tomorrow. This is setting up potentially one of the most consequential legal judicial clashes in Israeli history. This hearing will
take place tomorrow. It should only last about a day or so.
And it is, as you noted, hearing arguments for and against the saw that was passed into life that essentially is about the Supreme Court's own power
and whether the Supreme Court should be allowed to essentially nullify government decisions by declaring them unreasonable. And, Isa, for the
first time in Israeli history, all 15 judges on the Supreme Court will sit together to hear this extraordinary case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOLD (voice-over): It is now the longest and largest protest movement in Israeli history. For nine months, tens of thousands of Israelis have taken
to the streets every week, protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to completely reshape the Israeli Supreme Court. When Netanyahu
returned to power late last year, he brought along the most far right wing and religious government ministers in Israeli history. But he promised he
would be in control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I'm governing -- I've governed my two hands on the wheel and believe me it's going to be a good direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD (voice-over): If Netanyahu's hands have been on the wheel, it's been a bumpy ride. And the ride is about to get even bumpier. The Supreme Court
this week will begin to hear arguments on the first aspect of the digital overhaul to pass parliament. A new law that strips the court of its power
to nullify government actions it deems unreasonable. Netanyahu has refused to say whether his government would even abide by a court ruling striking
the law down, which would spark a judicial crisis setting different branches of government against each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMIT SEGAL, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CHANNEL 12: The Supreme Court and the government alike possess a credible nuclear threat against the
other side. If both sides are rational actors they will put their -- they will disarm themselves. Problem is, we're in a crisis that is not very
rational anymore.
GOLD (voice-over): Netanyahu's allies say the judicial reform is needed to rebalance powers between the branches of government. But it's prompted a
crisis in Israel's defense forces, reservists and some soldiers' vow and not to serve, the Israeli Shekel weakening as well as concern from Israel's
greatest allies. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's far right coalition partners including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich pushing contentious new
bills and making controversial statements about Palestinians while violence and death spiked to record levels in the decades-old conflict across Israel
and the occupied territories.
Israeli security experts like Haim Tomer, a former chief of intelligence for Mossad Assad, warned that Israel's security is on the line as the
country risks tearing itself apart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAIM TOMER, FORMER MOSSAD INTELLIGENCE COMMANDER: I see that the collapses of Israel has already started. We should wait on the sidelines and see how
Israel is ruining itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD (voice-over): Questions looming as Netanyahu heads to the United States next week for the U.N. General Assembly were a long-awaited
invitation to meet President Joe Biden remains up in the air, just like Israel's future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLD (in camera): And Isa, tomorrow actually the government will be represented by private counsel. And that's because the attorney general,
who is not in a political appointee has issued her own formal opinion on the matter. And she believes that this law, this reasonableness law should
be repealed.
[14:45:02]
Now the -- we won't get a decision from the Supreme Court on this hearing likely for some time. Their deadline is they have to give a decision by
January 12th. Isa.
SOARES: Arguments starting tomorrow. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Hadas. And still to come tonight, the fallout from an unwanted kiss.
Spain's football chief, Luis Rubiales, quits while player Jen Hermoso is on it. That story after this very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: After weeks of pressure, Luis Rubiales has resigned as president of Spain's Football Federation. Calls for his resignation had grown louder
over the unwanted kiss he gave Jenni Hermoso after she and her team won the Women's World Cup. Rubiales took to social media on Sunday saying he will
continue to defend his honor just hours after his resignation. Hermoso's Football Club in Mexico honored her in her first match since that World Cup
victory.
Our Atika Shubert continues to follow the story for us and she joins me now from Valencia. So, Atika, a resignation but no apology, how is this being
received in Spain and what does this legally mean for him next?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there seems to be a bit of relief here that at least he has stepped down officially from his position.
The Football Federation, for example, has said that they are going to start making preparations for a new -- to elect a new president. Local
politicians have posted in support of Jenni Hermoso. The equality's minister in particular saying, se acabo, it's over, which has become the
rallying cry for much of the feminist rallies here.
So, I think for many people, it draws a line under one part of this incident. However, as you point out, there is still a very long legal
battle ahead and Rubiales, though he has resigned, he has not admitted to any wrongdoing. In fact, in a statement put on social media, he said that
he is the victim of what he sees as excessive persecution and in his view many falsehoods. What we know is that in terms of the legal process, the
national court today has opened an investigation and have begun gathering evidence, specifically video evidence of what happened in Australia during
that World Cup victory match there.
But it's not like they were going to see a trial any time soon.
[14:50:00]
There's still a long way to go, but ultimately, this could mean that perhaps Rubiales could be facing criminal charges, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, indeed. The legal battle is still potentially a long one. In the meantime, Jennifer Hermoso, like we said, Atika, being honored in her
first match since the World Cup win. Any word from Jenni at this point or any of the other Spanish football players?
SHUBERT: No, I mean, we heard from one of her teammates in support of her saying that the right side of history has won, that was posted on social
media. But we haven't heard anything from Jenni Hermoso herself. And, you know, keep in mind that it was only last week where she filed her official
complaint to Spain's prosecutor. And then she immediately flew to Mexico saying that she wanted to focus on football, focus on the sport. And when
she got there, interestingly enough for the timing, on Sunday, she received a standing ovation from her team, Pachuca there in Mexico and from the
crowds there in support of her.
And that's almost exactly the same time that the news of Rubiales's resignation came out. So no, no official statement, but I think those
images of her receiving that applause, that standing ovation really do say a lot, Isa.
SOARES: Indeed they do. Thank you very much, Atika Shubert, for us there in Valencia.
Americans are marking 22 years since the deadly 9/11 terror attacks. This was the commemoration ceremony at the Pentagon, honoring the 184 people who
left -- who lost their lives that day. Ceremonies are being held across the country to pay tribute to the victims and to salute the heroes who risked
their lives to save others. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: The effort to rescue an American caver from a Turkish cave could soon be completed. Mark Dickey became severely ill if you remember on
September 2nd during a cave exploration in the Morca Sinkhole in Morca Valley. He initially was more than 1,200 meters deep, but rescue crews have
now been able to move him up to 180 meters as he rests. Nearly 200 rescuers are part of the effort to try and get Mark out.
And turning now to the world of sport, in particular the world of tennis, the world's number two player has shown just how great he is once again.
[14:55:08]
Novak Djokovic won his 24th career grand slam at the U.S. Open, the thrilling three-set match. He faced off against the number three seed,
Daniil Medvedev. The victory makes the 36-year-old the oldest man to win the U.S. Open singles title. He's also the first man to win three grand
slam titles in one season for the fourth time. And this was the first time Djokovic was able to compete in the U.S. Open since 2021. He is
unvaccinated and was not allowed to enter the country to compete. And that rule was lifted earlier this year.
And finally tonight, from one incredible athlete to the next, Britain's Mo Farah kept his acclaimed racing career with a fourt-place finish at the
Great North Run Half Marathon that took place on Sunday. He crossed the finish line in one hour, three minutes and 28 seconds. His average mile
pace, four minutes, 31 seconds. Mo Farah, who is a six-time world champion and four-time Olympic champion had this to say after ending his career in
Newcastle. "When you win something, you don't quite appreciate it as much as when you lose." Very well said.
And that does it for us for tonight. Do stay right here. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" with the one and only Richard Quest is up next. Have a wonderful
day. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
