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National Assembly to Vote on South Korea President's Impeachment Tomorrow; Rebels Took Over Hama in Syria After Syrian Army's Withdrawal; Georgia Enters Second Week Of Political Crisis; Oldest Known Wild Bird Finds A New Mate And Lays An Egg. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired December 06, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."
Growing calls for South Korea's president to step down, widespread anger now bolstered by a decision by the country's ruling party leader.
Syrian leaders celebrate the seizure of Hama, their swift advance bringing them one step closer to the capital.
And later, the world's oldest known wild bird becomes a mom again at the age of 74.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Well it is 4 p.m. in Seoul, South Korea, where President Yoon Suk-yeol may be at the end of his political rope. Now these are pictures outside of South Korea's National Assembly. The leader of Yoon's ruling party is now suggesting he won't oppose an impeachment vote expected on Saturday.
The party leader says he has credible evidence the president tried to use troops to arrest key political figures during his short-lived martial law declaration on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAND DONG-HOON, PEOPLE POWER PARTY LEADER (through translator): Yesterday, I said I would work to prevent this impeachment from passing in order to protect citizens and supporters from damage caused by unprepared chaos.
However, considering the new facts that are coming to light, I judge that an immediate suspension of President Yoon Suk-yeol official duties is necessary to protect the Republic of Korea and its people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Hundreds of protesters marched through central Seoul on Thursday calling for Yoon to resign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE CHUL-WOO, 70-YEAR OLD RETIREE AND PROTESTER (through translator): It's a regression of democracy. And with that, the freedoms that have been made from democracy, such as freedom of the press and personal liberties, are all going to be lost. I have experienced the pain of torture myself. I worry that such oppression could once again be inflicted upon our people. And that's why I'm here in the protest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CNN's Ivan Watson is in Seoul, where he's been speaking with lawmakers about the martial law decree and what they're doing to prevent a possible repeat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An unarmed politician blocks a soldier from entering the National Assembly in South Korea.
Aren't you ashamed, she yells.
Less than 48 hours later, An Gwi-ryeong shows me the scene of her confrontation.
WATSON: This is where the soldiers were and the police.
WATSON (voice-over): An says she was defending democracy.
AN GWI-RYEONG, POLITICIAN (through translator): If the troops had entered and disrupted the vote of the National Assembly, we wouldn't have been able to lift martial law. And we wouldn't be here today.
WATSON (voice-over): Late Tuesday night, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared emergency military rule over Korea, a move that shocked the country.
LEE JAE-MYUNG, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KOREA LEADER (through translator): My wife suddenly showed me a YouTube video and said, the president is declaring martial law. I replied, that's a deep fake. It has to be a deep fake. There's no way that's real.
WATSON (voice-over): Lee Jae-myung says he feared he would be arrested because he is the leader of the country's main opposition party. So that night, he instructed his fellow lawmakers to rush to the National Assembly to stop what he says was an attempted coup.
MYUNG (through translator): When I tried to enter, I saw that the police had blocked the entrance.
WATSON (voice-over): Lee then live-streamed on YouTube how he jumped a wall to get in.
MYUNG (through translator): I pushed the mute button by mistake and didn't realize.
WATSON (voice-over): By 1 a.m., 190 lawmakers made it past a gauntlet of soldiers and police into this chamber.
WATSON: In the pre-dawn hours here on Wednesday, lawmakers voted to overrule a decree imposing martial law on Korea. And ever since then, groups of legislators have been taking turns sleeping in this National Assembly hall.
WATSON (voice-over): Among them, opposition lawmaker Kang Sun-woo.
Are you protecting the National Assembly by staying here?
KANG SUN-WOO, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBER, DEMOCRATIC PARTY: We are afraid that if President Yoon makes another sudden declaration of martial law, so each group is taking turn and watching the main room. So if that happens again, we should lift it immediately.
WATSON: Another vote?
WOO: Yes.
WATSON (voice-over): Among the obstacles to another possible power grab, the president's own political party, whose members joined the vote to overturn military rule.
[02:05:05]
HOON (through translator): Martial law in South Korea is an extremely special and exceptional authority granted to the president in situations like in wartime or national emergencies. The current situation is not that.
WATSON (voice-over): In this exclusive interview, Han Dong-hoon says he delivered a tough message to the president in a face-to-face meeting on Wednesday.
HOON (through translator): I told them what happened last night left a big scar on Korea and our party.
WATSON (voice-over): In a moment of crisis, rival politicians united to stop the president's threat to democracy. And they now want to strip him of the powers of the presidency.
Ivan Watson, CNN, in the National Assembly in Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Foreign ministers from Syria, Iran and Iraq are planning to meet in Baghdad today to discuss the stunning rebel offensive that caught the Assad regime and its allies off guard.
Opposition forces have now taken over Hama. It's the second major city they've captured since launching a surprise attack last week.
(VIDEO PLAYING) Syria's military says its troops had to withdraw from Hama after rebels entered several parts of the city.
Rebel fighters also freed hundreds of prisoners, saying they were all wrongfully detained. Some residents in Hama are now celebrating the rebel takeover.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD SABAHI, RESIDENT OF HAMA (through translator): Thank God. We've been waiting for this day for a long time and we're all coming out on the street. This is the happiest day for us. We were afraid to go out at night. We've been waiting for this.
AHMAD SHRABI, RESIDENT OF HAMA (through translator): Feelings that can't be described. It's been 50 years we've been suffering injustice and crime and oppression. This is a historic moment, a priceless moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Rebels are vowing to push further south to Homs, the next major city on the road to the capital, Damascus. Ben Wedeman is following the latest developments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The rebels have seized control of the central Syrian city of Hama, the country's fourth largest and one of huge symbolic significance. Yet the latest stinging defeat for President Bashar al-Assad's increasingly beleaguered regime.
After several days of clashes around the city, the rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, entered Hama Thursday and the regime forces pulled out. According to a statement from the Syrian army, the pullout was intended to avoid civilian casualties.
The rebels took control of an air base, complete with multiple warplanes, and freed inmates in Hama's notorious prison.
Hama has long been a hotbed of opposition to the Assad dynasty. It was in Hama in 1982 that Bashar al-Assad's father, then President Hafez al-Assad, crushed an uprising killing anywhere between 10,000 and 25,000 people, according to Amnesty International.
Last Friday, the armed opposition quickly seized control of most of Aleppo, Syria's second largest city. The next city on the highway south, Homs, is just 40 kilometers away, a critical crossroad linking the capital Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, home to the Alawite minority, which is the main bedrock of support for the Assad regime.
And if that regime was looking for help from its old ally Russia, well, it may not be immediately forthcoming. Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is monitoring the situation and will decide on military aid depending on how the situation evolves. Hardly a full-throated declaration of support for a friend in need.
I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: A flirtatious moment captured on security cameras may have given police a huge clue in their search for the killer of a health care CEO in New York.
Have a look. This image shows a man police are calling a person of interest smiling at a female employee at a hostel he stayed at before Wednesday's attack.
A law enforcement source tells us that while he chatted with the clerk, she asked him to lower his face mask. The man reportedly paid in cash and used a fake I.D., so it's still not clear who he is.
Now, this new video shows him just blocks away from the scene, apparently walking to the site where he would carry out his attack. The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was gunned down on a sidewalk as he was headed to an investor conference.
We do have video of the incident, but we have to warn you, it is graphic. Police say the gunman waited for Thompson before shooting him point-blank in what they describe as a well-planned attack. Investigators say the suspect fled the scene on an electric bike, which has yet to be found, but we do have video of the incident, but we do have video of the incident, which has yet to be found.
Shimon Prokupecz traced his next steps.
[02:10:09]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SR. CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The suspect entered Central Park here after the brazen early morning killing. We now know that police have reviewed footage of what appears to be the gunman exiting the park nearby on West 77th Street.
And this new video, obtained by CNN, shows a person police believe to be the gunman riding westbound on West 85th Street.
PROKUPECZ: 7 a.m. video captures what appears to be him on his bike coming around this corner, heading this way. And as you can see in the video, he's not wearing his backpack.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): 18 blocks north, police began to search this hostel Wednesday afternoon. The NYPD released these images of what they're calling a person of interest checking into the hostel.
PROKUPECZ: Police released the first clear images of a man they want to question in connection to the murder. They say the man stayed here at this hostel in a room with others. On the fourth floor, police were back here today speaking to people who have been staying here. We're told by the folks who are staying here that they saw the police on the fourth floor.
We're also told by hotel management that when you check in to this hostel, they do ask you for I.D.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Police say employees at the hostel say the man almost never lowered his mask or hood. And a law enforcement official tells CNN the shooter used a fake New Jersey I.D. to check in, a full five days before the murder.
Another new piece of evidence, this video, timestamped at 6:15 a.m., shows the suspected gunman leaving the 57th Street subway station just three blocks from the scene of the crime. 30 minutes later, Thompson would be fatally shot. Then there's the words delay and depose found on a live round and a shell casing at the scene. Are they signs of a motive?
Police now exploring whether they are a reference to a derogatory phrase leveled at the insurance industry for denying claims. Investigators also have a water bottle from the shooter left behind at the scene.
CNN learned earlier today that it yielded a single smudged fingerprint.
Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Now investigators believe the gunman is likely an experienced marksman. That's according to police officials. Some experts are not ruling out the possibility they had a military or law enforcement training with guns, but CNN's senior law enforcement analyst says the gunman made too many mistakes for a professional hit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SR. LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I'm convinced that this guy is a civilian, he's not a professional, he wasn't hired to do this. I think there's a lot of signs of that, the message essentially written on the bullets. That's not something a professional would do.
In fact, leaving casings and live rounds at the scene, also not something a professional would do. Going to Starbucks on the way to the killing, also not something.
But nevertheless, despite the fact that he is a civilian, he has put an enormous amount of time and effort into this. The amount of time that he spent in the city before the target even arrives.
Now it's likely he knew, he went to New York because he knew the investor conference was going to take place there and he knew when that was going to happen and where it would happen.
So he gets there 10 days in advance, he spends 10 days figuring out the city, getting back and forth, figuring out the best modes of transportation. Maybe that an e-bike is better than a car at that time of day. Using the subway, getting back and surveying the both, maybe both hotels, certainly the one where the killing takes place.
So, and then you layer on top of that his use of the weapon, his clear amount, a significant amount of training with the weapon, the pre- positioning of the escape bicycle. This guy really thought through this thing very carefully.
He's clearly a highly organized person, probably pretty smart, likely highly educated, really very determined to reach this goal, this deadly goal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: President-elect Donald Trump names a former senator to be his new ambassador to China. That's while his choice for defense secretary goes on a redemption tour on Capitol Hill amid several allegations of wrongdoing. We'll have that story and more coming up. Stay with us.
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[02:15:00]
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has selected former Senator David Perdue of Georgia to be the next U.S. ambassador to China. In his post on social media, Trump wrote that Perdue has been, quote, "a loyal supporter and friend." It's a key role, as Trump is expected to introduce measures to reform trade relationships with China.
But Trump's pick for another key role, Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense, is facing an uphill battle to win approval from the Senate. We get more now from CNN's Manu Raju in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's pick of Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department is still hanging by a thread. And it's because a number of Republican senators simply don't know if they could support him for this hugely consequential position.
Some don't know if he's qualified or not, are uncertain about his own views, given that he's never been in a major policy-leading, policy- making role, particularly something as critical as defense policy.
And they also are concerned about these misconduct allegations that have been reported in the press, reports about excessive drinking, about womanizing, and about sexual misconduct, including sexual assault.
Hegseth has denied those allegations, but some still want to hear a lot more. Now, when Pete Hegseth met with reporters after his final meeting of the day, after meeting with a number of Republican senators, he was asked about the issue of drinking and he contended this is all part of his own redemption. PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY: The conversations have been robust, candid at times, with great questions on policy, personality, everything. I'm a different man than I was years ago, and that's a redemption story that I think a lot of Americans appreciate.
RAJU: Now, Hegseth has said that if he is confirmed, he will stop drinking at all. He will completely abstain from drinking alcohol. And he says he does not have a drinking problem. He says these allegations that have been reported in the press are just not true, they're baseless and the like.
I even asked him about a report that was detailed in "The New Yorker" investigation that came out a couple of days ago in which it detailed a whistleblower report from his time leading a veterans services organization outlining allegations of misconduct.
I said, are you willing to see that report released, give that to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would consider his nomination early next year? And he said that is an email from a disgruntled employee brushing aside that reported whistleblower report about his conduct.
Now, the questions about his drinking still persist. But some of his allies on Capitol Hill, including Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, are brushing aside those complaints.
SEN. TOMMY TUBBERVILLE (R-AL): Is he a drunk? I mean, does he hang out in bars every night? Does he drink for lunch and dinner and breakfast? Nobody up here can tell you that. Maybe his wife might know. But, you know, I'm looking for somebody that can do the job.
RAJU: But as Hegseth hangs on, he contends he still has the support of Donald Trump. And that is the most important thing to him at the moment.
Trump is still behind him, pushing him privately. Publicly, we'll see if he changes his tune at all. He has not really said much in public about Pete Hegseth, but that's going to be the big question.
How long will Donald Trump hang on? And will any Republican senators announce their opposition to his nomination at the moment they're holding their cards close to their vest?
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right, I want to bring in Thomas Gift, director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London. Good to see you again. Thanks so much for being here with us. So obviously, doubts still linger over the viability of Hegseth's candidacy.
[02:20:05]
THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTER ON U.S. POLITICS-UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much for having me, Kim. It's always great to be with you.
You know, it's really hard to predict how these nominations play out, but I really think that Hegseth is Trump's man on defense. One of the things that I think many Americans don't appreciate is just how integral Hegseth was to Trump's thinking on the military in his first term.
Hegseth earned the nickname Trump's war whisperer. He had many private meetings with Trump. He shaped Trump's thinking on what he saw as a need to loosen the military rules of engagement. He lobbied Trump successfully to pardon multiple U.S. service members accused or convicted of war crimes.
And on air, Hegseth really symbolized the Trump Fox News feedback loop. So I think you can tell right now that Hegseth's team has all the talking points down. He was on Megyn Kelly the other day saying that this is the art of the smear. Hegseth's mother offered a pretty carefully rehearsed monologue on Fox News saying that her son had been redeemed.
So I think as long as it's possible that five or six senators who are currently on the fence might plausibly be convinced, I wouldn't be surprised if Trump stays with him.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting to see how that shakes out. Meanwhile, a lot of the energy on the Hill is swirling around Trump's Department of Government efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, lawmakers trying to sway the men to their side of the spending battle, even though that so-called department has no actual powers but still seemingly wielding plenty of influence.
GIFT: I mean, technically, it just has an advisory role, but it's playing such a pivotal role simply because it's being led by Vivek Ramaswamy and most of all, Elon Musk, who, of course, has been with Trump basically every single step of the way during this transition.
I still think that the Department of Government Efficiency is going to eventually run into the atrocious interests that are Washington, D.C. It's called the swamp for a reason. It's difficult to drain.
If you just look at the federal budget, you know, a lot of it is dedicated to debt servicing. A lot of it is dedicated to defense spending, which Trump has said that he won't cut. And then a lot of it is devoted to entitlements like Medicare and Social Security. So the amount of funds that are really available to cut are kind of pretty minimal at this point.
And even if, you know, Musk and Ramaswamy can make some headway there, I think eventually they're going to face some entrenched interests.
BRUNHUBER: Well, not only entrenched interests, but when you come against some of those entitlements you were talking about, no idea how they would cut or reform, as they want to say it, with such a small majority in the House.
GIFT: Absolutely. You're correct. I mean, entitlement reform is really a third rail in American politics. Touch it and you die. And that's sort of been a slogan for Republicans and Democrats alike for decades now. And so I do think that, you know, Republicans obviously have a very thin margin in the House, as you rightly point out.
And a lot of Republicans are not fiscal conservatives. I mean, fiscal conservatives are kind of an endangered species in Washington, D.C. And so just to assume that most Republicans are going to want to cut Social Security or cut Medicare, I think that's not the case at all. I think the one thing where there is consensus on Capitol Hill right now is that the federal government is going to spend more than it takes in.
And that doesn't change by virtue of the fact that Trump is coming into office.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. You were speaking of Elon Musk being with Donald Trump the whole way throughout this transition, before the transition as well, obviously, during the election. It's come out now that he was probably the single largest individual political donor of the election. He spent more than a quarter-billion of dollars trying to elect Donald Trump.
GIFT: Absolutely. And $75 Million of his own money just into a pro- Trump Super PAC. I mean, we recall in the week before the election, when he was promising $100 to Pennsylvania residents that they came and signed his Super PAC pledge, putting individuals in a drawing for, you know, a million dollars to win if they did so.
So, yeah, I mean, Elon Musk, it's hard to overemphasize the extent to which he is playing a central role, both in the campaign and now in the transition. I do think still that the big question is going to be how these two egos can manage to get along for an extended period, because Trump is a megalomaniac. Elon Musk is a megalomaniac. And if they come into conflict over policy or personality, is that relationship going to last?
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that could be a huge car crash in the making. But we'll see how that plays out. Thomas Gift in London. Always good to speak with you. Thank you so much for being here with us. I appreciate it.
GIFT: Thank you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: French President Emmanuel Macron is vowing to appoint a new prime minister in the coming days as the country's political crisis deepens. Macron went on television Thursday to address the shakeup in the government one day after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
[02:25:10]
Barnier officially resigned on Thursday. CNN's Jim Bitterman has more from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a brief speech to the nation, less than 10 minutes, Emmanuel Macron explained to people exactly what happened and came as close as I think we're ever going to hear a mea culpa from him for having dissolved the parliament in the first place, which was what started this at the beginning of the summer.
Nonetheless, he struck out in a very sharply critical tone against his opponents on both the extreme-right and extreme-left. He said, I'll never accept responsibility or the irresponsibility of others, especially the members of parliament who consciously chose to bring down France's budget and government just a few days before Christmas.
It is the opposite of their program. They have chosen disorder. And to those critics on both sides of the aisle who have been calling for Macron to step down, he explained that it is not going to happen.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): The mandate you have democratically entrusted to me is a five year term and I will exercise it to the full. My responsibility is to ensure the continuity of the state, the smooth running of our institutions, the independence of our country and the protection of all of you.
BITTERMAN: The tone of the speech was something that some people will think is patronizing. But in fact, he was just trying to explain his position and his feelings about what's transpired here. And while we didn't get the name of a new prime minister, he promised that there would be a name forthcoming in the next few days.
Jim Bitterman, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Protests gridlocked the Republic of Georgia with no sign of either the government or opposition backing down. We'll have that story when we come back. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."
[02:30:00]
Anti-government protests in Georgia are headed into their second week. Pro-EU supporters rallied in front of the country's parliament in Tbilisi on Thursday night. They opposed the policies of the ruling Georgian Dream Party, which had announced last week it was suspending talks to join the European Union.
The country's former president, Giorgi Margvelashvili, was at the protests. He told "Reuters" he thought the current government was quote, doomed.
CNN's Sebastian Shukla has this report on the escalation of violence from the Georgian government and its crackdown on protesters, including journalists and opposition politicians. And we just want to warn you, this video does contain some disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN FIELD PRODUCER (voice-over): In the middle of this chaos on the streets of Tbilisi is veteran journalist Guram Rogava. He's reporting live on air the next he's crumpled on the floor, blood pouring from his face. His assault captured from different angles, including this one. You clearly see the black clothed policeman bludgeoning him as he backs away.
Rogava tells CNN he fractured a bone in his neck, injuries that could have been life changing, he told me. doctors said --
GURAM ROGAVA, GEORGIAN JOURNALIST: And we don't know how it's possible that you still can speak and move your legs and hands.
SHUKLA: Attacks like this have become commonplace over the past week. Thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets all over the country, furious at the government's decision to suspend talks, joining the European Union and perceived closeness to Moscow. The government's response has been to quash the pro-Western protests using force. These unmarked men in black.
ROGAVA: They look like criminals and they act like criminals. They catch them, they hit them and they swear at them.
SHUKLA: Another beating by police. This time two brothers swarmed by dozens of faceless officers. Erkele Loladze told CNN his jaw was broken in two places. He could only answer our questions in writing.
ERKELE LOLADZE, GEORGIAN RESIDENT (through translator): They shouted, hit him in the head. Kill him. Multiple groups of them assaulted me, knocking me down four or five times. They kicked me all over my body and at one point someone stood on me with both feet and jumped.
SHUKLA: Opposition politicians have also been targeted. Nika Gvaramia, a leader of the Coalition for Change movement in a standoff with more masked policemen before they raided his office, thrown to the ground, beaten unconscious and hauled into detention. The Interior Ministry says he's been arrested and charged for, quote, disobedience to the police.
The prime minister also accusing the opposition of stoking the protests.
IRAKLI KOBAKHIDZE, GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): One thing is confirmed, people were systematically supplied with pyrotechnics and other means by the relevant political forces.
SHUKLA: Georgians fear their country slipping back into Russia's orbit. The ugly scenes of violence and political repression have more than shades of a Russian style crackdown.
ROGAVA: We all understand that now we are fighting against Russia. There is war in Georgia now.
SHUKLA: Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, scientists are marveling at wisdom the albatross, the special joy the oldest known wild bird is bringing to a remote island chain in the north Pacific Ocean.
Stay with us.
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[02:35:52]
BRUNHUBER: Have a look at this.
This is some of the damage from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of northern California on Thursday, the quake was one of the strongest of the year. A tsunami warning that was initially issued for parts of California and Oregon was later canceled.
Now, California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, while damage assessments are underway.
Well, it's never too late to find a mate. Wisdom, the albatross, the world's oldest known wild bird, has found a new partner and laid an egg at the unbelievable age of 74. She was spotted at an island sanctuary in Hawaii last week. Wisdom is on the left there. If you can't tell, that's her mate sitting over the egg. This is Wisdom's first known egg in four years. Biologists are fascinated by her extremely long lifespan and ability to still reproduce.
Most albatrosses live only between 12 and 40 years.
So joining me now from Hawaii is Beth Flint. She's a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refugee biologist -- refuge biologist for the marine national monuments, very important distinction there.
Thank you so much for joining us here for this remarkable story.
I mean, this bird, an inspiration for many of us. So tell us about wisdom. What do we know about her?
BETH FLINT, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REFUGE BIOLOGIST: Well, wisdom is one of more than a million of her conspecifics Laysan albatross or moli, as they're known in Hawaiian, that nest at Midway Atoll and, every -- every year in November, it's an exciting time when the albatrosses return to set up their nests for the coming breeding season and, the one that's most anxiously awaited every year is this particular bird because we have an unbroken record of her banding, band numbers. since she was first banded in 1956.
So we can say that she is at least as you, as you said, 74 years old, because they don't she was captured in 1956 as a breeding bird. And so they don't even start breeding until they're five. So, she's teaching us an amazing amount about the longevity of this species and -- BRUNHUBER: Well, let me jump in on that exactly. I mean the fact that
she's so long lived -- I mean, she's the Methuselah of birds. Do we do we have any idea why?
FLINT: Well, we certainly don't think that she's different from at least some of the other birds in the colony, the problem is that we don't necessarily, know how old most of them are. And as you can see from the picture, she's -- looks identical in terms of her appearance to birds that are probably much younger so, she may be typical. We just haven't been able to find other birds that were banded that early --
BRUNHUBER: Right.
FLINT: -- our research history at the site.
BRUNHUBER: Okay. So, so you're still trying to determine whether -- whether that is normal, but surely, I mean, to be able to reproduce at 74, I mean, how common is egg laying at such an advanced age for birds?
FLINT: Well, this is -- this is why its so exciting because, we, of course, don't know. We know that are there other species of birds that are quite long life. Lots of the parrots live a very long time, in captivity but it's more rare to be able to maintain that continuity of identification in the wild.
So, she may be just a regular gal, but --
BRUNHUBER: Yeah.
FLINT: -- we're trying to learn by banding more birds and maintaining a long term study of the ecological situation out at Midway.
[02:40:10]
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Now, they usually mate for life, but Wisdom has outlived three partners. Is that right? I mean, is it hard for an elderly albatross to date to find love?
FLINT: Apparently not. Yeah. We know of at least three different males now that she's been affiliated with. But remember, we didn't become reacquainted with her, until she was 46 years old. So I assume that, she's had other mates but it may well be that, she's only had three mates, and this, uh this new partner is, doesn't have a name yet. But they were seen dancing last year presumably that was the bird.
BRUNHUBER: And, that's -- that's very cute to hear about how they sort of, those, those mating rituals that they have.
I understand you want to learn more about the species, about this bird in particular I mean, what do you think we can learn about not just avian longevity but something that might be learned about ourselves, about extending our own reproductive age and potentially, you know, live longer? FLINT: Well, the physiology of these birds, may or may not be comparable to us as mammals, but it certainly opens up the potential that there are ways that an organism that lives about the same amount of time as we do, at least it seems in this case, could teach us something.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah well, it's --
FLINT: Just understanding what's going on in the natural population will be very helpful.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, well, listen, I'm going to -- I'm going to stay on top of this story. I really find it so fascinating. And of course, we wish, the chick, eventually the best as well. Hopefully, we'll be able to talk to you again about this.
Beth Flint, thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it.
You're very welcome hope to give you good news about the hatching and about two months.
BRUNHUBER: Exactly. All right. Well, we'll stay tuned. Appreciate it.
Well, NASA's Artemis moon landing program is facing more delays as the agency announces its pushing back to planned missions. One mission to fly astronauts around the moon next year has been delayed to 2026, and a moon landing originally set for 2026 has been pushed back to 2027. Now, NASA says the delays are linked to issues with the heat shield on the Orion crew capsule that will be home to the astronauts during the missions.
The heat shield, which keeps the craft from burning up in Earth's atmosphere eroded in an unexpected way during an uncrewed mission in 2022.
All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. We'll have 15 -- we'll have more news in 15 minutes.
In the meantime, "WORLD SPORT" is next.
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