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10,000 North Korean Troops Training in Russia; Israel Bans U.N. Agency Delivering Aid to Palestinians; 43.5 Million Votes Cast with 7 Days to Go; LA Dodgers One Win Away from Becoming MLB Champions. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired October 29, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: A Russian attack has damaged an historic Soviet-era skyscraper in Ukraine. Reuters is reporting that the Derzhprom building, which was one of the most celebrated landmarks in Kharkiv, was struck by a guided bomb on Monday. Kharkiv's governor says several floors have been destroyed.
The building was completed in 1928, when Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine. It was also on a tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
And new this hour, South Korean lawmakers and media reporting that North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia are now being taught basic Russian commands, including words like fire, and may be sent to the front lines of the war with Ukraine. But it's unclear if they'll be able to overcome the language barrier. The U.S. Defense Department believes North Korea has already deployed 10,000 of its troops to train in eastern Russia. Pentagon officials say some of those forces have already moved closer to Ukraine.
And NATO's new secretary-general says it's clear that Russia can't handle its own war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: But the deployment of North Korean troops to Kursk is also a sign of Putin's growing desperation. Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Putin's war, and he is unable to sustain his assault on Ukraine without foreign support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the U.K. Foreign Office estimates that nearly 12,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded each day in August alone.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Now, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is paying a surprise visit to Georgia just days ahead of the disputed parliamentary elections there, or days after, rather. Orban met with his Georgian counterpart earlier today. The strongman was the first world leader to congratulate the ruling party on their victory, which the opposition claims is illegitimate. FOSTER: Meanwhile, Georgia's pro-Western president urged citizens to help save their, quote, European future, as the country remains torn over keeping ties to Russia or joining the EU.
MACFARLANE: Now, anti-government Israeli protesters are calling for a deal to free the remaining hostages in Gaza. On Monday, a massive crowd took to the streets of Jerusalem, chanting as Israeli police forcefully removed some of them. The call for action coming after Gaza hostage and ceasefire talks were held in Doha.
FOSTER: A spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli Prime Minister did not receive a Gaza proposal following those talks, adding that if a proposal had been raised, Netanyahu would have accepted it. On Sunday, Egypt had proposed a 48-hour ceasefire in order to swap four Israeli hostages in Gaza for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The U.S. State Department had this to say, as further talks are expected in the days ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MILLER, SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: So we've always made clear that we are open to different types of arrangements, and we want to look at different types of arrangements and see if there are any possible. But ultimately, we have two major overriding goals here. One is to bring the hostages home, and the other is to end the war.
And those are the two things we are trying to pursue in our negotiations and in our conversations with other officials in the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Gaza's Ministry of Health is calling for doctors and anyone with surgical skills to come to the Kamal Adwan Hospital. In northern Gaza, the hospital is still operating after Israeli raids, but only just. Officials in Gaza say most of the medical staff are gone, either detained or forced to leave by Israeli forces.
MACFARLANE: Well Israel says its troops raided the hospital last week after significant fighting nearby. They claim to have found weapons and ammunitions on hospital grounds. Meanwhile, there are still sick and wounded patients sheltering in the hospital, desperately waiting for care.
Tarik Jasarevic is a spokesperson for the World Health Organization. He joins me now from Geneva. Thank you so much for your time.
Let's talk about the situation at the hospital right now, because your director said when the siege began that one patient was dying every hour. I know the WHO had lost contact with the hospital. What is the situation now? Has that resumed? What can you tell us?
TARIK JASAREVIC, SPOKESPERSON, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Well, our team managed to get to Kamal Adwan yesterday and to bring some medical supplies, water and food. What they have found there is really just one orthopedic surgeon, one pediatrician, chief nurse, a handful of young doctors and nurses with some 100, 150 patients still there. We did transfer those most critically injured to al-Shifa 23 people.
But really what we need is sustained access to all health facilities in the north of Gaza. This month, it was very difficult to move and reach hospitals.
[04:35:00]
Only one out of four planned missions of WHO managed to get through. So we really need to get to health facilities because the situation, especially north of Gaza, is really catastrophic with intense military operations, evacuation orders, displacement. Really for people there, it's essential to have access to humanitarian aid, but eventually we need a ceasefire.
FOSTER: What was your response then to the ban on UNRWA within Israel?
JASAREVIC: Well, you have to understand that UNRWA is irreplaceable. They are running half of the health centers in Gaza. Only last year, they performed over 5 million medical consultations. 3,000 of UNRWA staff are health workers. In Gaza in total, there were 20,000 health workers and according to the Ministry of Health, unfortunately 1,000 health workers have been killed last year. So what UNRWA is doing cannot be done by anyone else.
MACFARLANE: We were reporting there that a two-day ceasefire had been tabled or proposed by Egypt. The talks obviously around a ceasefire are still ongoing. But I wonder from your perspective, even a limited two-day ceasefire, what would that enable your teams and all aid workers there to do on the ground in that short window?
JASAREVIC: We use every opportunity to reach health facilities that are still functioning and I will remind you that less than half of hospitals are only partially functioning in Gaza. We try every day to go and bring supplies we have to those places. But again, if you have a situation where people cannot reach the hospitals, where health workers cannot reach the hospitals, it's obviously difficult to have.
We tried to have a polio vaccination, you will remember, and we had to postpone the second round of polio vaccination in north of Gaza because of the lack of that humanitarian space and lack of that security and pause in fighting. Again, we will use every opportunity we have. But eventually, what people of Gaza need is a sustained ceasefire so we can really get people out of Gaza, those who need medical care.
More than 15,000 people should go out of Gaza and receive medical care. They're unable to do that. We need pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, to be able to receive medical care.
Again, the only solution for the health system to start to slowly rebuild is to have security and for security, obviously, we would need some political solution.
FOSTER: The fear of Israel is that, you know, you've got Hamas fighters embedded with the population. Can you just describe the sort of people you're talking about who you feel do need to get out? JASAREVIC: Well, almost 100,000 people have been injured. Now, 24,000 people are being injured in a way that it's changing their life and they need rehabilitation and they cannot get it there. So what we really need is one, access to health facilities so we can get there and help.
But also we need this evacuation corridor so we can get, as I said, more than 15,000 people who need to get out. So really, the problem is that we don't have that humanitarian space we need to do our job, which is to try to support health system in Gaza and try to help those who need medical care, either inside or outside Gaza right now.
FOSTER: OK, Tarik Jasarevic, thank you very much indeed for joining us. You see those images. We're going into the cold months, aren't we, as well? It compounds everything.
MACFARLANE: It absolutely does. Tarik, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.
Now, Typhoon Kong Rey is now the equivalent of a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane and it's expected to intensify quickly in the coming hours. Kong Rey is currently forecast to strengthen to a Category 3 but could potentially reach Category 4 when it makes landfall across southern Taiwan later Wednesday.
FOSTER: The storm's outer bands pose a threat to the northern Philippines where recovery efforts are still underway from last week's devastating tropical storm. Kong Rey is forecast to bring up to 15 inches of rainfall and strong winds across the northern Luzon.
MACFARLANE: All right, so to count more celebrities are making their voices heard with a week to go until the U.S. election. We'll look at the efforts they're taking to get people to the polls.
FOSTER: Also, I heard a cheesy stash gone in a flash. Brilliant writing. Colossal cheddar heist hits one of London's most famous dairy companies.
MACFARLANE: I think it was me.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: No, no, no, no, no. It's not your season yet, Mariah. It's voting season.
MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: OK.
WASHINGTON: Now I nee to know, have you registered?
CAREY: Yes, I have registered.
WASHINGTON: Did you make a plan? CAREY: I made a plan and I executed it.
WASHINGTON: Yes. That's amazing. Because it's my season before it's her season. Now all we need is you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The queen of Christmas being put on ice there. Singer Mariah Carey and actress Kerry Washington came together to film that video, reminding their fans to get out and vote ahead of next week's presidential election.
[04:45:00]
FOSTER: You literally have to just hear the first word to know the song. Washington is openly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris. Carey has not made a public endorsement, but she did perform at the White House last Christmas. Mariah Carey isn't the only American getting into the swing of things ahead of the election next week. Seven more days.
More than 43.5 million people in the U.S. have already cast their ballots.
MACFARLANE: And among them, the man who until about three months ago had planned on being the Democratic presidential nominee. Here he is. President Biden.
Brian Todd has more on that. And a look at how early voting could impact the razor thin margin in the race for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is your ballot. You can separate them.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden voting early on Monday in his home state of Delaware. A reporter asking him about casting a ballot that he had hoped to cast for himself.
REPORTER: Is it bittersweet for you?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, this is just sweet.
TODD (voice-over): The president's party, meantime, has brought out the star power to promote early voting. Former President Barack Obama hitting the trail in battleground states in recent days.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Find out where to vote early.
TODD (voice-over): So far, more than 43 million Americans have already cast their ballots, either in person or by mail. Michigan has never conducted early in-person voting in a general election until this year. The secretary of state in the Wolverine State says it's been a hit.
JOCELYN BENSON, MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: A quarter of a million Michigan citizens voted in the first two days alone.
TODD (voice-over): The state of Georgia got off to a record start for early voting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought we were going to hit the game a little bit, but it looks like everybody got the same thing in mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time I've ever done it. And with the likes of this line, maybe the last.
TODD (voice-over): State officials in Georgia said that as of Monday afternoon, more than a third of active voters in Georgia had already cast their ballots.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So now is the time to vote early.
TODD (voice-over): Once again, Democrats seem more likely to vote early or at least by mail, if not in person. But Republicans are expected to turn out on election day.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Kamala Harris is almost certainly going to win that vote by mail. She leads in an average of the recent polls, get this, by 43 points. That early in-person voting, that's going to be pretty split down the middle.
But then we're expecting that election day vote to be very good for Donald Trump. In the average polling, we see him up by 17.
TODD (voice-over): This year, more Republicans are voting early than in 2020, partly because the former president has changed his tune on it. For years, Donald Trump denigrated early voting as being suspect, even fraudulent. Now.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Early voting is underway. Get everyone you know and vote.
TODD: Why do you think the Republicans have changed their messaging on early voting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know they've gotten trounced on this, right? Republicans are playing catch up, whether or not they'll fully ever equal Democrats on the early voting front, unknown.
TODD: Analysts say it's almost impossible to project from early voting who will win this election. One key reason why it's difficult to tell from that, the fact that the majority of states don't report to us the party affiliations of those who vote early.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well celebrities are also speaking about specific issues. Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio posted a video online targeting Trump for allegations made by The Washington Post that he promised to reverse climate policies in return for campaign donations from oil executives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: Donald Trump continues to deny the facts. He continues to deny the science. Now he's promised the oil and gas industry that he'll get rid of any regulation they want in exchange for a billion dollar donation.
We need a bold step forward to save our economy, our planet and ourselves. That's why I'm voting for Kamala Harris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, during his time in the White House, Trump overturned more than 100 environmental actions put in place by the Obama administration. And Trump recently promised to reverse actions taken by the Biden administration as well if he's elected. Here's what he said just a few weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I haven't heard the environmental stuff mentioned in six months. I was saying the other night, what the hell happened to the environment? They don't ever talk about the environment anymore.
You know why? Mike is saying, don't talk about it now. No, it's one of the great scams of all time. You know why they don't talk about it? Because people aren't buying it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: On the environment, the production of chestnuts in Greece set before a steep decline in some areas by as much as 90 percent.
MACFARLANE: Farmers say an exceptionally hot summer and winter are to blame. CNN's Elisa Raffa has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISA RAFFA, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Greek farmer is sifting through leaves in search of chestnut burrs. His harvest, like that of many other farmers in the area, has been hit. Greece is one of the world's largest producers of chestnuts, a popular winter treat.
But now that crop is becoming the latest to suffer due to climate change.
[04:50:00]
Withering heat and drought in southern Europe has stunted Greece's chestnut harvest. Chestnut harvesting in the country is projected to fall to about 15,000 tons in 2024. That's half the five-year average. The decline comes after Greece's warmest winter and summer months on record. ANESTIS ALTINIS, CHESTNUT FARMER (through translator): It is a unique phenomenon. At least, I don't recall anything like this ever happening before. We've almost reached the end of the chestnut harvest. But the chestnuts are still hanging on the trees.
RAFFA (voice-over): While Greek farmers have been able to salvage some chestnut burrs, many still hang from trees, intact but useless. This is not ideal timing for the country, which relies heavily on agriculture exports. Chestnut producers in the area say they have experienced more than a year-long pause in rainfall following the Daniel floods in September of 2023.
GEORGE NANOS, PROFESSOR OF ARBORICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY (through translator): We have many dead trees from the Daniel floods, but we also have trees that are either dead or severely stressed with very little production. There are significant production losses due to the lack of water and high temperatures, which often occur together during the summer seasons. But this year, the situation is truly tragic.
RAFFA (voice-over): A recent report from Greece's central bank said it expects crop and fruit prices to rise in the coming years due to climate change. Another blow to Greek farmers as the country deals with a struggling economy still recovering from a decade-long debt crisis.
Elisa Raffa, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Just into CNN from the Middle East. Hezbollah has elected Naim Qassem as the group's new secretary general following Israel's killing of their leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon last month. That's according to the Iran-backed militants' media office.
MACFARLANE: The council says the decision was made in accordance with Hezbollah's process for selecting leadership. The statement says Qassem is committed to Prophet Muhammad's authentic Islam and the core principles of Hezbollah. And I'm sure there'll be plenty more on this developing story in the hours ahead.
Now, the Los Angeles Dodgers are one win away from becoming World Series champions. Facing the Yankees in New York Monday night, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman tied a record with this home run in his fifth straight World Series game. That gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the game and they went on to win it 4-2.
Afterwards, Freeman gave credit to LA's pitchers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDDIE FREEMAN, DODGERS FIRST BASEMAN: This is what you got to do. You got to pitch in October and we've been doing that.
DAVE ROBERTS, L.A. DODGERS MANAGER: We have got to stay focused, stay urgent. I think offensively, to be quite honest, we left a lot of runs out there tonight. Still found a way to win a ball game and there's just got to be urgency. I just don't want to let these guys up for error.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Game four is tonight in New York. If the Dodgers win, they'll have their eighth World Series title.
MACFARLANE: And Monday's Ballon d'Or ceremony celebrated the beautiful game's brighter stars. Spanish football swept the best player categories with Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri winning his first Ballon d'Or.
FOSTER: Rodri played a crucial role in Man City's record fourth consecutive Premier League title this year and Spain's Euro 2024 championship in July. Meanwhile, Barcelona and Spain star --
MACFARLANE: Aitana Bonmati.
FOSTER: -- took home her second consecutive Ballon d'Or feminine.
MACFARLANE: And London hosted a massive interactive game of Tetris to celebrate its 40th anniversary of the popular puzzle. Are you a fan of Tetris?
FOSTER: I was. I mean, my kids still play it. It's so addictive.
MACFARLANE: I know. What a great way to waste the day.
FOSTER: Yes.
MACFARLANE: It was created in 1984 and has remained a global phenomenon, as we're saying, understandably. Billions of players online every year. The event was held, held at Outernet, a large LED screen -- you can see there -- for entertainment venue. And organizers say it was one of the biggest multiplayer Tetris games ever held.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDRA PAYNE, DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE CONTENT, OUTERNET: So using an application which you can access by QR codes and you can come and scan them in the space. It launches a web-based app on your phone, which you can then control and move the pieces in real time directly on the screen.
So you can play by yourself. You can play with your friends and family, strangers in the space as well. And just like with any Tetris game, the object is to try and build your lines, move your tetrominoes down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really good. It's fun, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really fun. The graphics are unbelievable here. So it makes it really easy to play and quite exciting to watch as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Story of the day, you know, as a talking point, a dairy disaster for a famed British company, which says it was robbed of more than 20 tons of cheddar cheese.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE OLIVER, CELEBRITY CHEF: Hello, you gorgeous, lovely people.
[04:55:00]
Now, you're going to think I'm joking, but I'm not. There has been a great cheese robbery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver there, posting to Instagram, urging his followers to keep an eye out for the stolen goods, which he says cost Neal's Yard Dairy nearly $400,000.
MACFARLANE: Gosh. They're a London-based company that sells top- quality British and Irish cheeses to stores and restaurants around the world. The company says it was approached by a fraudulent buyer posing as a legitimate distributor and only found out it had been scammed when it was too late. No arrests have been made.
Very serious, but I'm really reaching to try and find a cheese pun here to end the show.
FOSTER: I think we need some sniffer dogs. It's going to stink wherever it is.
MACFARLANE: We'll end on that cheesy note. Thanks for joining us.
Stay tuned for CNN "THIS MORNING: up after the break.
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