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U.K. Suspends Some Intel Sharing With U.S. Over Boat Strikes; At Least 12 Killed In Islamabad Suicide Attack; Up To 10 Percent Of Flights To Be Cut By Friday Per FAA Order; Finance And Fossil Fuels Are Top Issues At U.N. Climate Summit; Israeli Parliament Advances Two Controversial Bills; New Jersey Teens Arrested in Alleged Terror Plot; Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Set to Launch on Wednesday; Elon Musk Targets Human Habitation of Mars; New Hongqi Bridge Partially Collapses in China; More Coupes Tie the Knot After China's Marriage Reforms; Cristiano Ronaldo Says 2026 World Cup Will Be His Last; Aurora Borealis Spotted Across the U.S. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 12, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:33]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Venezuela mobilizes its military forces in response to a U.S. Strike Group arriving in the region.

Pakistan reels from its worst suicide attack in nearly two decades. We're live this hour from Islamabad.

Also, the planet's biggest climate conference is underway with a very notable absence.

Plus, a Blue Origin rocket could be just hours away from its mission to Mars.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Venezuela has begun what it calls a massive mobilization of military personnel, weapons and equipment. Caracas will conduct land, air and naval exercises through Wednesday in response to the growing U.S. military build up in the Caribbean.

On Tuesday, President Nicolas Maduro delivered this defiant message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If we as a republic, as a people, must go to armed struggle to defend this sacred heritage of the liberators, we must be ready to win, to triumph through the path of patriotism and courage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The show of force comes as the U.S. Navy's most advanced carriers strike group arrives in the waters near Latin America. The U.S. Gerald Ford relocated from Europe amid the tensions with Venezuela. Experts estimate roughly 15,000 U.S. personnel are now in the region.

Well, meantime, sources tell CNN the United Kingdom is suspending some of its intelligence sharing with the U.S. over the Trump administration's deadly strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The U.K. is no longer sharing intelligence with the U.S. about these suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in the U.S. military strikes and believes fundamentally that these attacks are illegal and appears to violate international law.

Now, the U.K.'s decision obviously marks a very significant break from the U.S., which is its closest ally and its closest intelligence sharing partner, and it really underscores the growing skepticism over the legality of the U.S. military's campaign around Latin America.

Now, this is significant as well, because the U.K., prior to breaking off its intelligence sharing with the U.S. on this issue, it had been a willing and able partner in the Caribbean when it came to locating and tracking suspected drug trafficking boats in the area so that the U.S. Coast Guard could then go and interdict these vessels and arrest everyone on board and seize the drugs. The U.K. was very happy to do that, according to our sources.

But when the U.S. military switched to starting to blow up these boats and kill everyone on board instead of simply arresting them and attempting to prosecute them, that was when the U.K. decided to pull back, because they do not believe that it is legal to simply extra judicially kill civilians.

Now, the U.S. has a fundamental disagreement with the U.K. on that, because the U.S. has argued repeatedly that these individuals that they are killing are enemy combatants that the U.S. is in an armed conflict with, and the Trump administration has repeatedly argued that these individuals pose an imminent threat to the United States, and therefore President Trump has the authority to defend the national interest and national security.

But legal experts, both internationally as well as domestically, including inside the Pentagon itself, are raising questions about that more and more. The idea being that these are individuals who should be treated as criminals rather than enemy combatants, because the Trump administration, they argue, has not put forward sufficient evidence that these individuals pose a direct and imminent threat to the United States. Now, this has become an issue more and more internally in the

Pentagon, just last month, we reported that the U.S. Southern Command commander who was in charge of the entire operation around Latin America, offered to resign because he was raising questions about the legality of the U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean and increasingly in the eastern Pacific as well. Military lawyers have also been raising questions about this.

[02:05:08]

So, this is all coming to a head with the U.K. sending a message to the U.S. that is, while largely symbolic, because the U.K. provides intelligence to the U.S. that can be helpful, but the U.S. fundamentally has so many intelligence assets that it can draw upon in the Caribbean to use for its own targeting purposes.

But it is a fundamental signal here that dissent around the world, including from some of the U.S.'s closest allies is growing with regards to the legality of these U.S. military strikes, and questions about whether the Trump administration can legally move forward with what many people believe to be extrajudicial killings.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN in Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The uncertainty surrounding these strikes is also prompting questions about the ultimate goals of the U.S. operations in the Caribbean.

Earlier, CNN spoke with national security and politics analyst Paul Rieckhoff, who explained why he believes the American people deserve more transparency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RIECKHOFF, NATIONAL SECURITY AND POLITICS ANALYST: There has to be a presentation to the American public about what our strategy is, about what the costs are going to be, why it's worth sending men and women potentially to die.

Let's think about not just who we're blowing up, but who we're putting in harm's way, and the sharing of intelligence is necessary, but that also doesn't necessarily mean that the response is appropriate. You don't have to use a hammer to crush an ant, and this is something that most folks think can be controlled by the Coast Guard. But instead, we're continuing to blow it up and escalate the situation.

We're flexing like we're going to war, and it looks like Venezuela is doing the same, and it's becoming a very dangerous showdown. Trump has said he will strike inside Venezuela. He said he'll put boots on the ground. He said he'll put intelligence assets there. And I think the world believes him, and they should believe him, because he's mostly been telegraphing his punches.

So, now, we seem to be coming to the situation where something like a Gulf of Tonkin incident or some other kind of escalation could really send it in a dangerous direction.

Trump said, you know, he wanted less wars. This looks like the opposite of that, and I think there's bipartisan concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A faction of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed at least 12 people on Tuesday. Pakistan's interior minister says a man tried to enter a courthouse in Islamabad, but when he failed to do so, he detonated an explosive on the street in front of it.

CNN's Sophia Saifi is following developments live from Islamabad near where the attack happened. She joins us now. So, Sophia, what is the latest on this suicide attack?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, from what the interior minister said, they're still trying to determine the identity of the suicide attacker.

I'm actually right outside where the attack took place, just a couple of a hundred feet where this suicide attack was detonated, and we've been told by people here in this very bustling judicial complex in a very secure part of the capital that they are -- there's still an investigation underway. There's a huge security presence behind me, and the entire area inside has been sealed off. They are trying to find different body parts as well. It's a very grim situation, although it's become bustling again.

And this is a city Islamabad where there hasn't been a suicide attack of this scale since at least 2008. Yes, there's been militancy on the peripheries of this country, and it is a problem that has been raised by the country's government and by the military that the northwestern belt of Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan has seen a huge spike since the fall of Kabul. There had been talks with Afghanistan. They've been increased violence between Pakistan -- the Pakistani and Afghan military in October, then there was a cease fire. Those peace talks have now failed.

There's confusion and trepidation as to how this incident in Islamabad is going to affect the stability of this region. The Pakistani defense minister came out and said that the country is in a state of war, and he blamed the Afghan Taliban.

The Pakistani prime minister has also placed the blame on the Afghan Taliban, as well as the Pakistani Taliban, and he's claimed that they are backed by India.

India has, of course, specifically denied this. But then there is a lot of shifting issues within this region, especially because of what happened back in May with the four-day war that happened between India and Pakistan.

So, there's a lot of trepidation. There's a lot of confusion as to what happens next, because there could be strikes by Pakistan into Afghanistan. We're just going to have to monitor and see what happens next.

This is, of course, a very secure city, and it has kept the people of the city on edge, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Understandably. Sophia Saifi bringing us that live report from Islamabad. Appreciate that.

Well, the U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to take up a vote that could end the country's longest government shutdown. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the Senate approved funding bill as soon as Wednesday afternoon, that's in a few hours from now.

[02:10:07]

So, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries believes Democrats will strongly oppose it. Hours ago, the House Rules Committee started a tense meeting showcasing Democrats' anger over the bill. They proposed an amendment that would extend enhanced healthcare subsidies for three years, but the committee voted to reject it.

Meanwhile, President Trump scoffed at the idea that affordability is an issue for voters at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: More than anything else, it's a con job by the Democrats.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Why are people saying they're anxious about the economy? Why are they saying that?

TRUMP: I don't know that they are saying, I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we've ever had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. airlines cut their flights by six percent on Tuesday in compliance with an FAA order due to staffing shortages. By Thursday, eight percent of flights will be cut, and that number goes up to 10 percent on Friday, unless a shutdown deal is signed.

CNN's Pete Muntean has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that air traffic controllers are feeling a bit more hopeful now with light at the end of the tunnel for this government shutdown. One of the reasons why he says there have been comparatively few incidents of air traffic control staffing shortages at facilities nationwide on Tuesday. Compare that to about 40 facilities with short staffing on Monday.

Also one of the reasons why flight cancelations are now on a downward trend. We saw about 2900 nationwide on Sunday, the worst since the start of the shutdown, about 2,500 on Monday, due in part to weather in the Midwest and on the East Coast, and those air traffic control staffing shortages, less than half that on Tuesday.

But some of those cancelations were the preemptive cancelations that airlines made to comply with as Trump administration mandate to cancel flights all in the name of safety, to reduce stress on air traffic controllers who continue to go unpaid during the shutdown. That mandate jumped to six percent of flight cuts on Tuesday, it goes up to eight percent on Thursday, 10 percent on Friday.

And what's interesting here is that Duffy said he will be the one to decide to do away with those preemptive cancelations that Trump administration mandate instead of the end of the government shutdown, he's defending that decision. Listen.

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Some have asked, when are you going to start rolling those back? The answer to that is, this has all been data based. When that data changes, we're going to start taking down from six, maybe we'll go to four, two and get back to normal air travel.

MUNTEAN: Air traffic controllers were actually riled by that post by President Trump on Truth Social, which said that air traffic controllers are patriots and they should show up to work. And he said that they should get a $10,000 bonus if they've showed up every day they were scheduled to work during this government shutdown, but he also said they should up and quit if they were not showing up.

Duffy says he's still analyzing how to give that bonus to air traffic controllers. He does say that they will get 70 percent of back pay within 48 hours of the official end of this government shutdown and be made whole within a week of the end of the shutdown.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Meantime, 42 million Americans will have to wait even longer for federal nutrition assistance. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court extended the short-term order allowing the Trump administration to avoid paying November SNAP benefits in full.

Since the shutdown began, administration officials have fought against making payments. Groups challenging the White House and the court say millions of Americans, including children are going hungry after 10 days without critical help to afford food.

Well, after much delay and protest, Arizona's Adelita Grijalva will finally be sworn into Congress. The swearing in takes place seven weeks after she was elected.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has defended his decision to delay, arguing she won her race when the House was already out of session amid the shutdown. Grijalva says she plans on confronting Johnson at Wednesday's ceremony.

Meanwhile, Grijalva swearing in comes at a critical juncture. She's expected to provide the final signature needed to force a vote on compelling the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files. Grijalva told CNN that releasing the Epstein files is a top priority.

One of the most consequential climate summits is underway, but without any high-level U.S. presence. Just ahead, I'll be speaking with an expert on what it means for global climate action.

And a major test for Jeff Bezos's space company. New Glenn is set to launch in the coming hours with a pair of Mars probes. We will see if it helps Blue Origin catch up the Elon Musk SpaceX, back in just a moment.

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[02:19:29]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The U.N. Climate Change Conference is underway in Brazil's Amazon region. Indigenous protesters clashed with security guards on Tuesday, demanding climate action and forest protection.

This year's summit has representatives from nearly 200 countries, but the U.S. is noticeably absent from the conference. The Trump administration chose not to send a high-level delegation to the summit.

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.

[02:20:03]

Manish Bapna is the president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental organization. Thank you so much for joining us.

MANISH BAPNA, PRESIDENT, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: Delighted to be here.

CHURCH: So, what all do you expect to this U.N. Climate Change Conference COP30 will achieve, and how bold might some of the voices be, and ultimately, what decisions will and should be made?

BAPNA: So, this year's climate conference takes place in a really pivotal moment in time, right? It's 10 years after the historic Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 when the international community came together to say, we can -- you know, we can really tackle this climate crisis.

It's also coming at a time when the climate crisis is it's here, it's heating up. More and more people all around the world are experiencing extreme weather events.

But the big -- the big elephant in the room, of course, is the Trump administration, right? We've never had someone in the White House who's more determined to pull the United States backwards from the climate fight.

And so, the big test of this COP, this climate meeting is how the international community is going to respond in the face of that opposition from Washington. And as daunting as that may be, I remain quite hopeful, because a lot has changed in the last 10 years.

And most importantly, it's the economics of energy, of clean energy, that have shifted so dramatically. So, a lot has been done in the past 10 years, and what we need to see at this COP is a reaffirmation of the goals and a lot more work still lies ahead.

CHURCH: And what do you think President Trump's motivation is for ignoring clean energy and instead only supporting fossil fuels at this time?

BAPNA: It really is a puzzling move, because he actually campaigned on a message of affordability. And when you think about affordability, when you think about what is the cheapest sources of energy, the ones that are quickest to deploy, the ones that tend to make a country, most countries, more energy secure, not even thinking about the climate co benefits. It is around clean energy.

And so, I think the motivation here really is that a lot of the coal, oil and gas industry supported this president directly, and he's rewarding them by investing more in those technologies.

But it is clinging on to technologies of the past. If you look at just in 2025, the International Energy Agency, not an environmental group, the International Energy Agency is predicting twice as much investment globally in clean energy as in fossil energy. That is a profound shift.

CHURCH: Let's look a little closer at that, because what are the real economic benefits of clean energy compared to fossil fuels? Which nations are leading the way on this do you think?

BAPNA: Well, I think that's a great question, and that that has changed a lot in the last 10 years. I mean, the first point I want to make is that the United States actually is a lot bigger than Washington, than the Trump administration.

So, even if in the federal government, you don't see a lot of support for clean energy across the United States, and states, cities, companies are still investing heavily.

And on top of that, the world is so much bigger than the United States, and we're seeing real action, particularly from large emerging economies. India, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, also, along with the E.U., right, they're investing in clean energy seriously.

And so, there's been a five shift, if anything, in the last 10 years. And the reason is because it is the economic play of a generation. And I think these countries are recognizing that markets always trump politics.

CHURCH: In the end, though, how long might it take to wean the world of fossil fuel energy? Because right now, in most people, their cars rely heavily on fossil fuel. BAPNA: Absolutely true. So, two things can be true. At the same time that there has been significant progress that has been made, and at the same time there is so much more that still needs to be done. What the science says is that to avoid some of the worst impacts in the climate crisis, we really need to get down to kind of zero emissions by 2050 globally.

So, we have still 25 years to do a lot of hard work. So, there is -- there is still a lot more that needs to be done. Absolutely, it is going to take time. But I think the thing that people sometimes forget are that these markets move in a more exponential way, so you might see incremental change for a while, and then all of a sudden, a market flips.

[02:25:07]

Just to give an example on this, if you look at electric vehicles, five years ago, there were only three million cars sold globally that were electric. This year, that's going to be 20 million, a quarter of all cars sold around the world are electric in this year. You could see how that market might flip quicker than most people realize, and that's what's incredibly encouraging.

CHURCH: Manish Bapna, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

BAPNA: Thank you very much.

CHURCH: Israeli lawmakers are moving forward with a bill that critics say would target Palestinians for the death penalty. Details on the controversial measure and what the government is saying, that's coming up.

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[02:30:50]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Israeli lawmakers have advanced a controversial measure that would mandate the death penalty for certain murders. It's aimed squarely at Palestinians, saying terrorists convicted of killing Israeli citizens will be sentenced to death. Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, calls it the most important bill in Israel's history. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Two controversial bills pushed by Israel's right wing have now passed a preliminary hurdle inside Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset. One of these pieces of legislation concerns expanding the death penalty in Israel. The other aims to potentially shut down foreign media outlets that are operating in Israel.

Now on that first piece of legislation, this is one that's been pushed by Israel's right wing for years now, and it would expand the death penalty to be applied to convicted terrorists and individuals found guilty of nationalistically motivated murder, making clear that it is only aimed at those with nationalist intentions aimed at harming the state of Israel, meaning it would apply only to Palestinian convicted terrorists and not Jewish convicted terrorists in Israel.

This piece of legislation was pushed in large part by the National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has claimed that this would create a "substantial deterrence against terrorism." Interestingly, this piece of legislation was previously opposed by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. But now, with the release of all living hostages held inside of the Gaza Strip, the prime minister now supports this piece of legislation.

This bill would also amend Israel's military courts' law, meaning it would expand the authority of these military courts that rule over the lives of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank to allow those courts to impose the death penalty by simple majority rather than by unanimous vote. And this system of law has already been heavily criticized in the past by human rights groups and by the United Nations because of the fact that while Palestinians are subject to military law in the West Bank, Israeli civilians such as those who live in settlements in the West Bank are subject to civilian law.

Now, this second piece of legislation which also passed what's known as the first reading in Israel's parliament, would aim to give the Israeli government the power to shut down foreign media outlets without a court order, effectively making permanent an authority that the Israeli government used during the war last year to shut down Al Jazeera's ability to broadcast inside of Israel. At the time, that was used because it was a time of war, a time of national emergency. But this piece of legislation would now aim to make that authority permanent for the Israeli government for its own reasons to choose to ban any foreign media outlet without relying on court.

Reporters Without Borders has already condemned the proposal, calling it the "first nail in the coffin of broadcast media's editorial independence" in Israel but the latest signal, of course, of backsliding of press freedoms in Israel.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

CHURCH: Back here in the United States, it may seem farfetched to find any potential link between the suburbs of New Jersey and the terror group ISIS. But federal law enforcement officials are sounding an alarm with the arrest of two young men there. They are accused of becoming radicalized through online platforms and committing themselves to Jihad. More now from CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST (voice-over): Montclair, New Jersey, tree-lined streets, front porches, low crime, just 17 miles from New York City. Montclair is not a likely target for ISIS recruiting, but federal prosecutors say two young men, graduates of Montclair High, were fully radicalized and ready.

ALINA HABBA, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR NEW JERSEY: They pledged themselves to ISIS and were plotting acts of terrorism in our country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's such a shock. I mean, around here, it's just not what you expect around here.

[02:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I guess you just don't know. You don't know what's happening in your own community. You now, it's scary, ties to terrorism is a scary thing.

MILLER (voice-over): The FBI says the arrest in New Jersey were all part of a complex web of online radicalization extending across the country and across continents. The Montclair suspects were also in touch with a 19-year-old charged in Seattle, which came on the heels of arrests made in Dearborn, Michigan.

According to the FBI, that group of men was planning an attack in the name of ISIS on Halloween. The attack code named 'Pumpkin,' a number of targets were surveiled including an amusement park and gay nightclubs. The FBI says one of the main drivers of the Michigan plot was just 16-years-old. The groups of young men made their ways into encrypted platforms, talking to each other online, but also to suspects in the U.K., Somalia and Syria. One of the alleged New Jersey conspirators was taken into custody last week at Newark Airport as he tried to get to Turkey, allegedly on his way to Syria.

REBECCA WEINER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, INTELLIGENCE & COUNTERTERRORISM: This is a classic case of what terrorism looks like in 2025.

MILLER (voice-over): Rebecca Weiner is the Deputy Police Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism at the NYPD, which played an extensive role in the investigation.

WEINER: This isn't as simple as there is an entity called ISIS that's operating overseas, that's reaching into our homeland recruiting and radicalizing people. This is a much more nuanced dynamic where people are finding each other online, doing that mutually reinforcing self- radicalization, finding like-minded people overseas, some of whom may have connections to the actual terrorist organization. So it's much more muddy, but it is also much more dangerous.

MILLER (voice-over): As much as ISIS has lost territory and control in places like Syria and Iraq due to efforts of the U.S. and its allies, the ISIS propaganda and recruiting machine has steadily rebounded and is targeting younger men.

COLIN CLARKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE SOUFAN CENTER: We've seen a real trend in youth radicalization and know we're still waiting on all of the details of this plot. One of my hypotheses is that the ongoing war in Gaza has really kind of opened up the aperture for more people to be interested in politics. And then they're kind of on ramp to this conveyor belt that leads them down through different social media rabbit holes to more and more extreme content.

MILLER (voice-over): Arrests were made last week from Michigan to New Jersey, Washington State to the U.K., different environments, different demographics, targeted by a terrorist group that uses different approaches.

CLARKE: It's almost like Madison Avenue, right? They are tweaking their messaging, they are figuring out what works, what doesn't work, for what age group, what socioeconomic background. It's really quite ingenious when you think about it and artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are making it easier for them to do. It's lowering that barrier to entry.

MILLER (voice-over): John Miller, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still ahead, the ways to Mars as Blue Origin prepares for the second mission of a massive new rocket. We'll look at why space companies are targeting the red planet. Back with that and more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:42:57]

CHURCH: A big test for Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin is hoping for a successful launch of its massive New Glenn Rocket in about 12 hours from now. New Glenn is Blue Origin's answer to SpaceX's Falcon Rockets, which dominate commercial space launches. This would be the second mission for New Glenn, which is set to launch a pair of NASA probes to Mars.

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk's companies are engaged in a high-stakes competition for commercial space contracts. And Musk has said many times that his goal is to take humans to Mars.

Robert Zubrin is the President of the Mars Society, an organization dedicated to furthering the exploration and settlement on that planet. He is also the author of "The Case for Mars." Appreciate you joining us.

ROBERT ZUBRIN, PRESIDENT, MARS SOCIETY: Thank you for inviting me.

CHURCH: So, Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin scrubbed its launch of a rocket to Mars over the weekend due to weather concerns, but may try again in the coming hours. What's your overall view of this race to get to Mars and which mission will likely get there first, do you think?

ZUBRIN: Well, OK, this next, the Blue Origin mission is actually the first real mission of their new launch vehicle, the New Glenn, which is a fairly powerful vehicle. It can send 45 tons to orbit. SpaceX is trying to make operational its Starship, which if it does work, can do a hundred. Right now, they've got the Falcon 9s, which can do 20. And those are very operational. They've launched a hundred of them in the past year, which is amazing.

Now, this new launch capability would give us, well, certainly immediately the capability to greatly expand our robotic exploration of Mars. And I don't think NASA has yet come to grip with how to use it.

[02:45:00]

They should really be thinking about that. And if Starship is successful, we are looking at the capability for human exploration.

CHURCH: So, what are some of the major obstacles for the various missions trying to make it to Mars?

ZUBRIN: Well, we have sent the United States upwards of 20 successful robotic probes to Mars. And I think we've had about six failures. All the Russian probes have failed, and the Europeans are batting 50/50 with two successes and two failures. So we can do robotic missions tomorrow as we've proven that. It's difficult.

The human mission, there's much larger payloads involved. There's human life at risk. You have to have a life support system that is going to work for at least two-and-a-half years reliably. There's radiation issues, although I think we can handle that. There's the zero gravity. I think that is best avoided by rotating the spacecraft and having artificial gravity because zero gravity does harm the health.

There's certainly a lot of challenges there, but the payoff is discovering the truth about the potential diversity and prevalence of life in the universe.

CHURCH: And despite Elon Musk's SpaceX facing some recent setbacks, the company remains focused on its main goal of Mars exploration, with the world's richest man talking a lot about humans living on the red planet in the not too distant future. But how viable is that vision? And who is really likely to move there on any permanent basis?

ZUBRIN: OK. Well first, I'd like to point out one thing, that when you make your reach exceed your grasp, you become more capable of doing all kinds of things. And the reason why we have Starlink today is because Musk wants to go to Mars. That's why he invented these Falcon launch vehicles, hundreds of them have been launched to create this constellation of thousands of satellites that now allow video communication all over the Earth.

So, the challenge of the Martian frontier is actually benefiting people on Earth now. OK? But beyond this, I think it's going to be a while before settlers go to Mars. It's clear why explorers should go to Mars, to resolve the question of life. Settlers, I think we'll see settlers once space travel becomes truly cheap. And that's when these reusable launch vehicles lead to a market in used launch vehicles.

Just like people who can't afford a new car can buy a used car, there's going to be a time and probably within 10 years, when there's going to be a market in used launch vehicles that are going to be much cheaper than new launch vehicles. And at that point, well, not quite just then, but a bit after that, once there have been some human expeditions exploring Mars and developing the technologies that allow us to live on Mars, then groups of people that want to make a new start on Mars for whatever reason, it's quite conceivable they could muster the resources to launch their own settlements.

CHURCH: And you see that between 10 to 15, maybe 20 years from now?

ZUBRIN: Yeah, I think we could have the first humans on Mars as soon as 2033, explorers. And I could see having a permanent base on Mars by 2040 and maybe settlements launched around 2050.

CHURCH: Robert Zubrin, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

ZUBRIN: Thanks for inviting me. Glad to speak to you anytime.

CHURCH: Still to come, wedding bells are ringing from snowy mountain peaks, nightclubs, and music festivals. Why China is now allowing its citizens to get married anywhere in the country. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:51:30]

CHURCH: Dramatic video from Southwestern China shows the collapse of part of a newly constructed bridge. The Hongqi Bridge had opened just months ago in Sichuan Province, along a national highway linking the country's heartland with Tibet. But on Tuesday, a landslide wiped out one end of the 760-meter or 2,500-foot long bridge, turning it to dust and debris. Local authorities had closed the bridge on Monday after they spotted cracks on nearby roads and slopes. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

Well, in China, citizens can now get married at nightclubs, shopping malls, and even subway stations. It's part of the government's push to encourage young people to tie the knot, following years of declining marriage rates. CNN's Mike Valerio has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China has changed its marriage rules to combat the country's ongoing demographic crisis. Since May, mainland couples can register for marriages outside of their hometowns, a move officials hope will increase marriage rates and in turn, birth rates.

Marriage registration offices have popped up all over the major cities and tourist destinations like Chengdu's picturesque Xiling Snow Mountain. At Shanghai's INS Land nightlife complex, officials have set up a marriage office, so couples can get their certificates while enjoying the club's activities. At a Confucius Temple in southwestern China, couples can have a Ming Dynasty-themed ceremony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think this policy really makes everything simpler, convenient, and streamlines all the future procedures.

VALERIO (voice-over): The new rules seem to be working. Second quarter marriages in 2025 are up 18 percent from a year ago. That's a stark change from the country's declining marriage numbers in the last few years. But, some experts say changing the marriage paperwork rules may not be enough to reverse larger trends.

YUN ZHOU, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: People's decision about marriage and about childbearing encompass expensive calculations and intimate desires about what kind of life they want, how they see themselves in relation with the family, with other social forces.

VALERIO (voice-over): This couple is from an eastern province, but they both work hundreds of miles away in Beijing. So the new rules helped their wedding plans.

WANG JIEYI, NEWLY MARRIED (through translator): This government service has made things very, very convenient. And as for us working in Beijing, it greatly helps our life here.

ZHAN YONGQIANG, NEWLY MARRIED (through translator): There is no need to go back and forth between the two places. We can register and get everything else done here at the local office in Beijing.

VALERIO (voice-over): One thing has not changed with marriage, the need for some good wedding photos.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.

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CHURCH: Well, football's superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo says he expects his sixth World Cup next year to be his last. Our Becky Anderson asked him how soon he plans to retire. Here's his response.

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CRISTIANO RONALDO, FOOTBALL LEGEND: Well, the soonest for me means in 10 years -- in 10 years. So the people, the people realize that when I say soon, it's in six months, one year, now I'm joking. When I mean soon, it's -- I'm going to -- I'm going to back in the days and tell you. I'm really enjoying the moment right now.

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As you know, in football, when you reach some age, you count the mounds (ph) very quick. So the moment is good. As I tell you before, I feel very good in this moment. I score goals. I still feel quick and sharp. I'm enjoying my game in the national team and Al Nassr. But of course, let's be honest, what I mean soon is probably one, two years. I'm still -- I'll still be at the game.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: So, you expect this World Cup to be your last, do you?

RONALDO: Definitely, yes, because it is -- I will be 41 years old and I think will be -- the moments and in the big competition, that's too -- I don't know yet. As I've told you before, I'm enjoying the moment. That's -- when I mean soon, it's really soon because I give everything for football. I am in the game for the last 25 years. I did everything. I have many records in the different scenarios in the clubs and also in the national teams. I'm really proud. So let's enjoy the moment. Live the moment.

ANDERSON: As you look beyond the game, of course, your son, Cristiano Jr. kicked off his career in the Portugal under-16s. How good is he? Is he better than you?

RONALDO: I wish. Let me tell you something. We always -- the human beings they -- we don't want nobody being better than us. But, in my point, I wish if my kids will be better than me, I'm never going to be jealous of him. Trust me. But this is a big tack (ph). It's very, very difficult. I don't want to make him pressured because what I want, it's for him, it's to be happy. Doesn't matter if he want to play football or play another sport, be happy, be free. Don't be with the pressure of your daddy because the pressure of your daddy, it's a lot. And it's this new generation, different generation. They are thinking different. They live different. But as a father, I'm here to help him to be whatever he wants to be. I will be support.

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CHURCH: Wise words there. And finally, a stunning sight in the skies across the U.S. You are looking at the aurora borealis seen in Iowa and Virginia. A powerful burst of energy from the sun sent solar wind crashing into the Earth's atmosphere. The severe geomagnetic storm means the northern lights could be seen as far south as Florida.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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