Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Waives Some Sanctions under Lindsey Graham Act; Trump Says He Wants Ukraine-Russia War to End; Father of Students Shot and Killed School Shooting Suspect in Oregon; CNN Investigates French Police Excessive Force Claims; Pope Shows "Steady Improvement" Following Cancer Surgery; Inside Haiti's Gang-Controlled Capital; Pope Leo to Be Discharged from Hospital Today. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 17, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello from Hong Kong, I'm Will Ripley and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

U.S. President Donald Trump is waiving some new sanctions on Russian energy before they even kicked in, further complicating the United States' support of Ukraine.

France braces for more student-led protests in the coming hours. Some government officials described the unrest as a movement of urban violence.

And new details on the deadly school shooting in Bend, Oregon. What we're learning now about the heroes who police say saved lives.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RIPLEY: We begin this hour with a new move by president Donald Trump to blunt the impact of some upcoming sanctions against Russia. He says he's waiving a number of sanctions under the Lindsey Graham Act, which Trump signed into law just last month.

The announcement came just days before the sanctions were set to kick in. Several U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are criticizing the waiver. A top Kremlin envoy praised the move in a social media post, saying economic talks between the U.S. and Russia will continue along with peace efforts.

That is happening as Ukrainian energy efficient facilities come under fire from Russia. Ukraine says the entire city of Vinnytsia, with a population close to 400,000, is currently without power. There were massive strikes overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (voice-over): This video from southeast Ukraine shows first responders evacuating people from what appears to be a residential building that was hit. Russia claims it shot down more than 600 Ukrainian drones overnight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: CNN's Nada Bashir is monitoring those developments and she joins me now from London.

So what do we know about these new strikes?

And also what this deteriorating relationship with the U.S. is going to mean for Ukraine with winter approaching.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have continued to see Russia pounding Ukraine and, in particular, targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as you mentioned. There will many in Ukraine now without power. And this has been the trend for some days now.

Of course, this comes just days after the Trump administration announced this so-called energy ceasefire. And while president Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine abided by those terms to not target Russian oil refineries or energy infrastructure in return for also Russia refraining from targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

While they abided by those terms, he says, for three days, that has come to an end. Ukraine intends to continue striking Russian oil refineries and energy facilities in response to these continued attacks.

And this all comes as we continue to see the fracturing of the relationship between president Zelenskyy and Ukraine and the Trump administration. President Trump has been putting on pressure on Ukraine to bring an end to attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

Now, of course, we are seeing that shift in the Trump administration's approach to the Kremlin, as you mentioned. We are now learning that the Trump administration is waiving a set of sanctions against Russian fossil fuels.

So these sanctions that were set to come into effect in just a matter of days would have imposed tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods coming into the U.S. from five of the largest importers of Russian crude oil and gas.

This again comes just days after president Trump and President Putin announced a deal that would allow for the sale of Russian diesel again, again in violation of previous U.N. sanctions. And these are all moves that have raised bipartisan backlash and have also set alarm bells ringing in Europe.

Now, of course, in the face of these challenges, we have also seen president Zelenskyy trying to shore up support amongst his European allies. We saw him pay a visit to the United Kingdom, meeting with the prime minister, Andy Burnham, at Downing Street.

Andy Burnham there reiterating his support for Ukraine and pushing for further sanctions on Russia. And again, we are hearing similar messaging from the European Union. Take a listen to what president Zelenskyy had to say from Brussels just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: At the end of the day, the American people will have their say. Putin will listen to America if America really turns up the heat on him and makes one thing clear.

[05:05:05]

Either he chooses peace or he gets no more money for his war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Clearly, this isn't the message being sent by the Trump administration to President Putin at this stage.

And, of course, there is concern mounting in Ukraine, as you mentioned, Will, not only around the energy infrastructure being targeted but also around the continued military aid packages set to come from not only the European Union but particularly from the U.S.

It is understood that Kyiv has run out of missiles for the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system, which, of course, Ukraine relies upon heavily. There have been concerns around a lack of intelligence sharing by the United States.

We've heard from Zelenskyy over previous days saying that they have not received prior warning of incoming Russian attacks, as they have done in the past. This has been denied by the Trump administration.

But again, concern for what this could mean for the next few weeks and as we head into winter over the course of this ongoing war.

And then from the European side, we are again seeing more sanctions set to be laid out against Russia. The European Union has been clear that it will continue to put pressure on Russia, on President Putin.

We did hear from Zelenskyy yesterday with a somewhat veiled dig at the U.S. president, describing his meetings with the European leaders as positive but also describing them as "real leaders," Will.

RIPLEY: Yes, swipe for sure at president Trump there. Nada Bashir live in London. Thank you very much for that update.

Let's get some more analysis now from Gregoire Roos, who's joining us from London. He's the director of the Europe-Russia and Eurasia programs at Chatham House.

So is Europe ready at this point to take the lead on Ukraine, with or without the U.S.?

Could Europe really replace U.S. military support?

GREGOIRE ROOS, DIRECTOR, EUROPE AND RUSSIA AND EURASIA PROGRAMMES, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, it's the question that Europe has faced now for quite some time. We remember almost a year ago in November, the plan that had been

developed by joined by Russia and the U.S. that took Europe aback. I think what we saw over the past few days is that Europe -- so the E.U. obviously.

But also the U.K. have demonstrated political unity on Ukraine. So there is still very strong political unity in spite of everything we have heard over the past few months, that the rise of the far right across the continent might have weakened political unity.

It is not the case, at least yet. The real test now, in what we could say is a very narrow fiscal room for most European countries, is whether the continent can generate the resources that are required to sustain the position and reduce Ukrainian dependence on the U.S.

So the French foreign minister has already stressed the fact that now two-thirds of the intelligence that Ukraine receives from foreign partners comes -- come from France. So Ukraine has managed to reduce dependence on the U.S.

It doesn't mean that Ukraine is independent from the U.S. We've obviously seen, with satellites and with military equipment, there is still a level of dependency. But now the question of speed is obviously on -- at the heart of priorities.

We heard the European Commissioner for defense saying that more needs to be invested in satellite technology to ensure that dependence on Starshield and Starlink can be -- can be reduced.

At the same time, we've seen concrete financial commitments. Because tech is important, so is intelligence. But money remains, you know, at the heart of the concerns of President Zelenskyy and rightfully so.

So we've seen more than 6 billion euros, 6.6 billion euros released through what is called the European Peace Facility and continued commitment under the existing 90 billion euro loan, which was, which was released after the defeat of Viktor Orban last spring.

So that is for the support until next year. Of course, there are additional -- it's the E.U. so there has to be some institutional layer that comes into play. There on the discussion around the multiannual budget of the union is currently being discussed.

And as you can imagine, not everyone agrees on the direction of travel. So that adds another layer of complexity. But yes, the continent is aware that it needs to do more. There is the financial ability. There is, little by little, the ability to reduce the dependence on U.S. intelligence and military capability.

[05:10:00]

But, of course, it takes time. And that gap is something that the Kremlin is very much aware and has been, quite intelligently and successfully, for now, been playing with.

RIPLEY: That's been the concern all along, right? That Putin's just going to wait for Europe to be slowly divided over these thorny issues like money. I mean, you're talking about 70 billion euros.

You know, where exactly does that all come from?

And then the issue of energy, of course, the reliance on Russian energy and these sanctions which keep getting put into effect. And yet then you have the United States undermining those efforts by waiving them before they even go into effect.

So how do you square all of this and continue to protect Europe and Ukraine against Russian aggression?

ROOS: I think it's very important and that's what I keep hearing also from national security advisors and European officials. I have been talking to for the past week is that we should leave emotions out of the room.

Emotions should not drive the reactions and decisions of the Europeans. There is nothing really new from a psychological perspective in what Donald Trump has done for the past week. It's always been the yo-yo game. You know, one day, Zelenskyy is a great leader. The other day he's terrible.

And the Ukrainian people should change presidents. It's not to be excluded that, in a month from now, Zelenskyy will once again be seen as a terrific leader by Donald Trump. So the Europeans know that that they cannot rely on a kind of a consistency of judgment coming from the White House.

What matters now is to showing that there is absolute political unity in spite of some, of course, minor tone. But we for instance, one coming from Hungary, Peter Magyar is the successor of Viktor Orban, met with Zelenskyy a few days ago and said, you know, let's focus on what we can do together.

So there is political unity and a very remarkable political speech was that coming from one who used to be an admirer of Putin and is now one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine, Giorgia Meloni, addressing the Italian senate earlier this week, saying peace in Ukraine is peace in Europe.

So the peace in Ukraine and the peace in Europe are intertwined. It's almost the same thing. So we need to stand by Ukraine, stay committed to supporting Ukraine, to ensuring that Ukraine can go through the winter as unscathed as possible and also understand we need leadership.

And by that, she means either the European Union manages to nominate, appoint a chief negotiator, or we rely on the E3 -- so the U.K., France and Germany. And Meloni said if that is the direction of travel, then so be it. And we should support the leadership and the diplomatic efforts of London, Paris and Berlin.

So there is -- (CROSSTALK)

ROOS: -- more political unity than --

RIPLEY: -- there is such -- this is such a complicated issue. And obviously winter is coming, as you alluded to. There's whiplash from Washington. We need to leave it there. But I really appreciate your expertise and analysis. Joining us from London, thank you very much for your insight.

President Trump is pushing ahead with his midterms blitz as he rallies support for Republican candidates across the U.S. He's heading to Kentucky in the coming hours, where Mitch McConnell's Senate seat is up for grabs.

This comes after a stop in battleground Georgia. He stumped for GOP gubernatorial contender Rick Jackson and for Mike Collins, the Republican candidate waging an uphill battle to unseat the Democratic senator, Jon Ossoff.

The president mocked Ossoff's appearance while praising Collins, saying, quote, "he's all man."

Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia says that working for president Trump -- Katie Zacharia said that working for president Trump was an honor despite losing her post after five days on the job.

President Trump fired Zacharia on Friday after her first press briefing Tuesday was widely panned. She also seemed to struggle in her FOX News appearances.

Despite her rocky debut, sources say the president initially told Zacharia that she did a good job but after it emerged that she never passed the bar exam, despite calling herself a lawyer, she was let go. Her exit leaves the White House without a press secretary less than three weeks before the midterms.

We're learning more details about the deadly shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon. Police say the shooter targeted a special needs classroom with all the victims in that one room.

Police also say the 16-year-old gunman previously attended special needs classes at Silver Rail Elementary School. A father with two children at the school shot and killed the gunman. But police say that man was not the only hero at the school on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MIKE KRANTZ, BEND POLICE DEPARTMENT: In addition to the 36- year-old man who bravely stepped in to stop the suspect, I want to highlight another person whose heroic action we need to recognize.

[05:15:00]

A teacher in the classroom threw her cell phone at the suspect and then tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him. She was not injured in that incident but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: We now know the identities of two of the shooting victims, 25-year old Megan Lambert was the teacher killed at Silver Rail Elementary School. Her family said she loved the children and loved being a teacher.

Police also identified a 5-year old, Rhoam Summer, as one of the children killed in the shooting.

This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong. France right now is preparing for massive protests in the coming hours. We are standing by in Paris with a live report on what's happening on the ground right now.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RIPLEY: I want to show you these live pictures that are coming in from France right now, where you can see police on the scene. A large number of police officers who have been gathering, preparing for these nationwide protests -- and you can see protesters have gathered there.

Right now things look peaceful but you can see the line of police. You can see the line of protesters. They know that there's a possibility of some really massive demonstrations in the country.

[05:20:00]

This has been going on for several weeks, of course, protesters out calling for education reform. You've got a flare there. All right. Let's go to Melissa Bell. She's monitoring all this in Paris. We're going to keep these pictures up.

Melissa, what are you seeing developing now?

Obviously protests are a part of life there.

Do these feel different from others that you've covered over the years?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are. They are a fact of life here in Paris. The most recent ones, of course, as you say, well, to do with those student protests, the barricades that had been erected around high schools.

And then that erupted into some of those clashes we saw over the course of the last week, protests that grew in magnitude as the students felt dissatisfied by the lack of response from authorities, by the heavy-handed police response to their protests.

This is going to be much bigger today, because what's happening is it isn't just the students and the unions and the public sector workers who are coming out on the streets of France today but also the Yellow Vests. You might see some of them behind me.

You'll remember those big protests of president Macron's first term, 2018-2019, that had seen people take to the streets of France massively every Saturday in a protest about the cost of living. And that's what's at the heart of today's grievances.

It's going to be a much bigger protest involving a lot more people. And already we're seeing some scuffles on the streets of some French cities, like Rennes and Lyon (ph) earlier today. And that's going to be a key test of the police response here in Paris.

What we have here at the Place de la Republique are two big marches that will be heading from here later today.

And really, for authorities at this stage, it's going to be trying to contain what the interior ministry is already warning could be significant violence on the streets of France today.

Even as they try and deal with the fallout from that heavy-handed response in the initial days of the student protests that saw some 20 or so inquiries opened about investigations into police violence.

So it's going to be a difficult balancing act for them today. But I think one really interesting figure to bear in mind is that it is 70 percent of the French who back what is happening today on its streets, who back this protest. And I think that's a really significant figure to keep in mind. Will.

RIPLEY: And the French prime minister calling this a movement of urban violence. Obviously, this is a significant moment for the French president, Macron, as he approaches the end of his presidency next year.

Melissa Bell, you're out there. You're watching it. We'll check back in with you as things unfold in the coming hours. Thanks very much for the update from Paris.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Hong Kong. CNN is outside the hospital in Rome right now, where Pope Leo is recovering from lung cancer surgery. And we're learning more about the pontiff's first phone call out of surgery. It was to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RIPLEY: The Vatican says Pope Leo is showing steady improvement following his lung cancer surgery.

We have these new images of the pontiff. He's standing up. He's celebrating mass in a makeshift hospital chapel. And we're also learning that he spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin over the phone.

And on that call, he raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in the Russian occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky. So let's bring in CNN's Stefano Pozzebon, been standing by outside the hospital all weekend long, where the pope is being treated.

And we have these pictures of him now in full dress, presiding over mass. So it looks like, from the photos at least, like the pope is feeling better.

What are you hearing?

When could he get out of the hospital?

And why did he call Vladimir Putin as his first post-surgical phone call?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I would say that in the last three or four days or so, we have seen a succession of signs that the pope, the pope's health, is improving.

We knew from the beginning on Tuesday afternoon that the operation was successful and then we knew that he was recovering. Then yesterday we first saw the photos of him fully dressed. We heard from the doctors. They told us that he -- that the Pope Leo XIV was moving, going around and moving and moving autonomously, more important.

And then the call with Vladimir Putin, which frankly, less than 72 hours, I think, after the surgery for lung cancer, was surprising. What stood out to me, for example, is not that this is just the first phone call with a foreign leader that we heard about.

We do not know, well, whether this phone call was scheduled before Leo XIV decided to have the surgery this week. We know that it's the second time that the two spoke.

What I was saying stuck out to me is the level of detail of the engagement the pope gave to the conversation with Vladimir Putin, pressing him, pressing the Russian president on the situation in Alaska, which is these 2,000 people, Ukrainian city in the south of the country that is currently under siege from Russian forces.

And where Kyiv is accusing Moscow of deliberately creating a humanitarian disaster with cutting off access to food and medicine. And the pope pressed on Vladimir Putin the desire to see safe routes for food to reach the city under siege.

It shows that there is a desire from Leo, from the pontiff, to be engaged, to turn the page as quickly as possible from the surgery. The -- there was an identification of a nodule. It was identified then as a tumor in his lung. The lobe was removed. We know that it was a noninvasive operation and now the desire is to move on -- Will.

RIPLEY: And the pope is relatively young. He's healthy, he's active, he's fit. So it has to be encouraging for Catholics around the world that have been praying for his recovery, to see these photos and hear that he's really already back to work before even being out of that hospital behind you.

Stefano, thanks very much for that update from Rome. We know you'll be watching out there. We appreciate it.

And there's much more CNN NEWSROOM to come. We're live from Hong Kong and we will be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RIPLEY: This week, the United Nations Security Council renewed sanctions against individuals and groups fueling gang violence in Haiti. The U.N. says thousands of people have been killed or injured in recent months and the political chaos has forced the upcoming elections there to be postponed indefinitely.

As the government battles to regain control, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from Port-au-Prince on a controversial mercenary group now entering the fray. We do want to warn you, the video you're about to see contains material that may be harmful or traumatizing to some of you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Haiti's spiral downwards so brutal and stifling, any fix will do to curb the gang's power, born of rape, murder, even mutilation. Haiti's government has turned to new technology and skills with a checkered past. Private security tycoon, Erik Prince.

ERIK PRINCE, FOUNDER, VECTUS GLOBAL: They are just flat-out evil criminals and the best place for them is in the ground.

WALSH (voice-over): The decline so rapid, the descent to hell here so dizzying, that success is both hard to measure and reach.

Gangs now control so much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, the fight against them has spread to the city's outskirts. This is rural hillside Kenscoff, into which the gangs swept months ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are in misery. Kenscoff is in misery. The bandits killed our families. Our kids. We had to run away from home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They killed many people. Many, many, many. Friends, relatives.

WALSH (voice-over): The gangs were pushed out but stormed back in again, killing and kidnapping dozens of locals in revenge.

[05:35:00]

The police are clearing them out again.

We join police during a day's long advance to reclaim tiny remote villages, some faces blurred for their security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The guys are shooting. We cannot stay here. We are exposed.

WALSH (voice-over): The mist sweeps in and in seconds, everything feels much closer. As we move in with the police, the gangs use the fog and hills to keep shooting.

WALSH: You can see that debris barrier there, I mean, another way the gangs slow the police down. Being here, about seven or eight shots have kind of flown over us. We've heard the crack. It's a sign that the gangs are still really close by and don't want the police to ever feel comfortable down here. Oh, there's another one.

WALSH (voice-over): More barricades lie ahead, locals eager on the road to get back to homes they've not seen for two years. The barricades dismantled and burned so the gangs can't return and remake them.

WALSH: It is an extraordinary scene of locals just flooding in to kind of reclaim their own streets after the gangs have been pushed out.

WALSH (voice-over): A ritual praising the heavens, overshadowed by ruin.

PHILIPPE, POLICE COMMANDER (through translator): The gangs leave their youngest members behind while they run away.

WALSH (voice-over): And soon, police tell the locals it is time to leave again in case the gang comes back to wreak vengeance on them Each room, each muddy road must be slowly cleared.

And as they push on up the hill, their new foreign-donated armor is not the only outside help they're getting. Hours earlier, two helicopters used the pause in the rain to land a police SWAT team in the hilltops.

The helicopters are part of Erik Prince's operation here, bringing new capabilities and the experience of foreign ex-special forces but not for free.

And these are the first pictures of Prince's private security fighters in Haiti who-led the push with specialized Haitian police in what's called the task force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear a lot of thing about you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is -- see up here? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a good security position, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see everything.

WALSH (voice-over): Nobody has seen their operations in Haiti before and this drone footage shows gang members fleeing. There's still a fight here as the police settle in to try and hold the area. Drones watching over them and striking targets around.

Erik Prince made his name and millions in Iraq with Blackwater, sullied and reprimanded over civilian casualties there. His ties to Blackwater long severed, he is now selling a new idea, that private security, mercenaries to their detractors can tackle security or gang problems for failing states that can't.

PRINCE: Yes, that's a bad city, right. That's the bad part right there.

WALSH: Yes.

WALSH (voice-over): He was first sent to Haiti as a Navy SEAL 32 years ago and now he gave CNN his first interview and access to his operation here.

PRINCE: When we started, a police truck like the one we rode in here on, pretty much one of those was lost every week.

Attacked, ambushed, burned, the occupants slaughtered butchered, that's done now, because there's much better response, quicker air support, drones, whatever, that prevents the police from being overmatched. That's really why we're here.

WALSH (voice-over): Over 2,000 drone strikes on varied targets in the past year, a task force source said. Here, on what they said, was a gang Molotov cocktail factory.

Prince wouldn't reveal his annual fee of likely tens of millions of but on top of that, he gets a tenth of any new customs revenue generated if his LENA operation ends smuggling dozens of illegal border crossings.

WALSH: Did you put a number on what your contract is worth in terms of what the Haitian government pay you?

PRINCE: The previous U.N. force is that our cost is one-sixth of what their annual camp cost was. So it's a fraction of a fraction of a fraction.

WALSH (voice-over): He had aimed to free up key roads within a year here but hasn't.

[05:40:03] Although the U.N. has said this year has seen the gang spread in the capital halted, even reversed.

WALSH: And how do you just answer critics who say that you're operating outside of what people might describe as international norms?

How do you respond to that?

PRINCE: I would welcome all those critics to come and walk through the rough neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince for a week or a day and see how long they last. And maybe their academic assumptions would be renewed.

WALSH: You haven't killed any major gang leaders yet. Have there been challenges in some of the operations you're doing? Is not killing top leaders part of your strategy?

PRINCE: Look, insurgencies are not defeated by taking out just leadership. I know there's been obsession of that in the United States but wars are won by taking significant numbers of enemy manpower off the battlefield. We're in the process of doing that and enabling sovereignty to resume.

Our goals for success are that people can leave from their home, go to their place of work and not be murdered, raped, robbed, extorted by gang members at multiple steps away, because that's how it is now.

WALSH (voice-over): To grasp the enormity of the collapse and daily trauma, we head to the once vibrant downtown of the capital, so long gang-held, the swaths of it are now overgrown, as though nature is tired of the violence and wants to take back control.

We patrol at dawn but the new U.N.-mandated gang suppression force hears soldiers from Chad, very far from home and still very far from suppressing the gangs, whose territory is marked with these ribbons and barricades.

First light, when those who live under the gangs make their daily break for it, to head out to the rest of the world, on foot through rivers of sewage and trash, to reach work or food. A body lies abandoned in the road, likely dump there overnight. We go back with them at dusk to see it all happen again for the home trip.

WALSH: Talk about how desperate life must be here, to attempt this in the daylight must simply be terrifying. It's eerie being here inside an armored personnel carrier but they're risking it out on the street here in the dark. Many of them carrying, it looks like food for their homes, things back into gang-held areas. Some of them barefoot.

WALSH (voice-over): The Chadians are often limited in what they can do, as their force is so far only a third of the size it's meant to be. They are the 15th international mission to try and solve Haiti's problems. Even the city's port is surrounded by gangs who tax every truck that goes in or out. This U.N.-backed force, Prince and the police, urgently want to break the gang's stranglehold on here, as well as Haiti's key arterial roads and this, the airport.

WALSH: Stunning, really. This was just the lifeblood of Haiti, its main airport and utterly deserted, barely used. Basically, because the gangs are about 25 meters on the other side of its northern wall. They can shoot at anything that tries to land.

WALSH (voice-over): The hills, the roads and downtown, all gang- ridden. We come here to see how the space for life is shrinking. 1.5 million displaced from their homes into sweltering catacombs like this.

WALSH: But here was already pretty dense, pretty hard to live in, really, before the violence around Kenscoff. Send people into the city Centre just to find anywhere they could try and get shelter.

LUCKSON ALFREZIN, KENSCOFF REFUGEE (through translator): I have lost everything. We lost family, uncles, cousins, my auntie. They've been hacked to death. We did not find the bodies. The cattle that we kept, the bandits took them, wasted them, ate them, leaving us with nothing.

You are like a car with no lights on. You are living buy you don't see why. You are already dead.

WALSH (voice-over): They fled Kenscoff, carrying nothing but stories of horror.

SOPHONIE MARTIAL, KENSCOFF REFUGEE (through translator): The men killed my dad. He died. They peppered him with bullets. We tried everything to get his body but couldn't. They took him and burnt him. All the sacrifice my dad did for me but his life ended just like that?

WALSH (voice-over): To see how life in a gang-held area means not only dread and isolation but also hunger and even drones.

[05:45:03]

We join a U.N. WFP food distribution convoy permitted by the gangs, who have to let people eat. It is a lifeline in a place where life is always on the line. But even the gangs try to curb the chaos and anger.

ETIENNE, KRACHE DIFE GANG (through translator): We are very happy when our people get food. You know what I mean?

When it happens like this, it's good for us. Because we can't feed the people on our own. The drones, oh, drones are pushing us out of the neighborhood.

WALSH (voice-over): Hunger and grief, common currency.

MARIC-SONNY MONTILUS, LOCAL RESIDENT (through translator): I will share my food with those who don't have any. I have high blood pressure. I had a stroke. Problems, everything. My daughter died. My daughter, she died. My daughter. Then I have my niece. She was killed by a stray bullet.

WALSH (voice-over): The local gang leader, Julio, turns up with a message for Erik Prince.

JULIO, KRACHE DIFE GANG: Our biggest threat is the Erik Prince's force. The solution, Erik Prince could leave tomorrow. Go back to his country tomorrow. Going back to his place, there would be a need for peace.

And what would force us to live alongside our own national police, only dialogue, only peace. We, armed men, need peace, too. Imagine, I have a wife and kids.

WALSH (voice-over): But it is clear, the gangs are not men of peace. We meet two children who worked for other gangs who made them murder and mutilate, atrocities that are well documented.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They would make us kill people for them. They kidnapped people who they brought to me to kill. I did not take any pleasure because it was a bad thing. I would tell them that I don't want to. They would force me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I killed three people. I feel guilt. Every time I think about it, I cry. These people could have been my family. I did not want to do it. But if I did not, I would be killed in their places. When they would hack the person, they would grab the heart and eat it.

WALSH (voice-over): As the conflict intensifies, over half of the 5,700 dead or injured this year have been hit during anti-gang operations, says the U.N. drone strikes often seem targeted, like this one aiming for gang leader Vitellon (ph).

But rights workers say civilians are often hit by the blasts. And although data is patchy, the U.N. have reported over 80 dead so far.

ROSY AUGUSTE DUCENA, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER (through translator): There is no gang loader who has boon hit, at least according to the information we have, to have been hit by kamikaze drones. None. The collateral damage was enormous.

You know, as for the mercenaries, in reality well, first of all, we don't notice them. We don't know what they do and we know they're very costly because it's still our taxes that pay them and we don't see the results. So we think, at least up to now, that they are useless.

WALSH (voice-over): One horrific incident in September last year missed a gang leader but killed eight children, including this woman's 6-year-old daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Everybody started running and screaming. A drone had fallen behind the square where the gang leader was having the birthday party at the soccer field. A place where there is always a lot of kids.

When I rushed to see, the drone had fallen across from my friend's house. I found my daughter there, dead on the ground. Many kids died. The house where it fell, the roof flew off far away. The walls are peppered with holes.

WALSH (voice-over): Another January drone strike killed this man's son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, DRONE STRIKE WITNESS (through translator): He was selling juices to make ends meet. As I was heading down, I heard people screaming. When I got to where he should have been, I did not see him. Where was he?

I left and then came back. When I looked, I saw him on the ground. His cart was crushed on one side. Destroyed. And he was on the ground. I saw him and then I left. Because you can't show the gangs any opinion about what happened.

[05:50:00]

Later, I saw him again, when I came for the funeral. I couldn't say or do anything.

WALSH (voice-over): Most we spoke to blamed the gangs for bringing the strikes upon them. Prince declined to comment on specific cases.

PRINCE: We run dozens of hours of surveillance in an area before we do anything there. And a patrol, a raid or certainly a drone strike. So it's not impossible that we have an accident but we do very, very, very difficult diligence on making sure that doesn't happen.

WALSH (voice-over): The contrasts are painful. The endless beauty here swamped in relentless suffering. Extreme gang violence born of poverty and terror, now confronted by the means and mercilessness of the private sector. Promising a quick fix at a price that's still out of reach -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: We'll be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

RIPLEY: You're looking live at the hospital where Pope Leo is set to be discharged today.

[05:55:03]

That news has just come in. Let's get an update now from CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb.

Christopher, Catholics around the world have been praying for this news.

What are you hearing?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, people have been really hopeful that Pope Leo can be discharged from hospital. And that is going to happen on Saturday afternoon.

The Vatican saying that he has been deemed fit to be discharged from the Gemelli hospital. Of course, he was admitted on Tuesday for lung surgery and he was diagnosed with lung cancer. That, of course, caused huge shock and alarm across the Vatican and the Catholic world.

But the Vatican has been saying in recent days that his recovery has been going well. He's been getting back to work. He spoke by phone with president Vladimir Putin on Friday.

So the indications have all been that the pope has been getting better and has been ready to leave hospital. The Vatican saying he will celebrate a mass in the hospital before being discharged. He will then go back to the Vatican.

And on Sunday we will expect Pope Leo's first public appearance since his hospitalization, when he leads the angelus midday prayers from the balcony or the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter's Square.

That was, of course, the same place a week earlier where he announced to the world that he was having this surgery. So good news for Pope Leo. He's being released from the hospital this afternoon.

RIPLEY: Christopher Lamb live in Rome. Thank you for that update. More on CNN throughout the day.

Thanks for watching. I'm Will Ripley in Hong Kong. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND" is next. And for our international viewers, it's "AFRICAN VOICES."