>> this is cnn news room live los angeles. >> a house divided. the republican leadership left scramble after the leading candidate for the u.s. house speaker suddenly drops out. >> benjamin netanyahu's government reacts after more sporadic attacks on israelis. we are live in jerusalem. >> also, the modern day underground railroad into the united states for christians fleeing isis. >> hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm ish isha sesay. >> i'm john vause. "newsroom l.a." begins right now. republicans in the u.s. congress are searching for a new leader after the man expected to claim that title suddenly withdraw from the race. kevin mccarthy made the announcement on thursday. now the leadership in the house

of representatives is looking more like a house of cards. dana bash reports. >> reporter: there is congressional chaos, then there's this. a republican meeting to vote for a new speaker ending abruptly after the front-runner, kevin mccarthy shocked everyone. suddenly dropping out of the race. >> you were behind him. are you stunned? >> yeah, totally stunned. no idea tf coming. >> you were just in there, what happened? >> kevin mccarthy, just like john boehner did, put the country and the congress and the conference before his own interests. it was a very honorable thing to do. he recognized and shared with the congress that he was afraid his candidacy might further divide the caucus and the party across the country. >> behind closed doors that's exactly what kevin mccarthy told his colleagues. >> i think i shocked some of you, huh? a a and. >> reporter: and what he repeated to reporters after the news conference got out. >> if we're going to remain united and strong, we need a new

face to do that nothing more than that. >> despite mccarthy's public confidence only an hour earlier, sources close to mccarthy say he realized getting approval from the majority of the house -- 218 votes -- was going to be tough. and cnn is told mccarthy decided the demands many conservative members were making in exchange for their votes -- those in the so-called freedom caucus would have made him too weak to be effective will. >> we're looking for a speaker who works with conservatives rather than against us. and we presumed the cabinet was going to reach out to us and say what do we need to do? >> moderates like charlie dent worry it will be hard to find a republican leader who will appeal to those conservatives but still actually lead the entire house, as the constitution requires the speaker to do. >> the next speaker should not appease those who make unreasonable demands. thr members of our congress who

cannot get the yes on anything. >> daniel webster and jason chaffitz are a bit speechless. >> did not see that coming. >> but still in. >> we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we're elected to do. >> so the question now is who will be speaker. and the answer on everybody's lips is paul ryan. at least he's the one who can bring together all of the factions, the warring factions in the republicans in the house. paul ryan made it clear he doesn't want the job. john boehner is trying to make him change his mind, to put his hat in the ring because this is a time where republicans need the leadership and the respect that he actually does garner from so many parts of the republican party. his aides are saying he's not going to do it. >> there are some comparisons to

1998 when then house speaker newt gingrich stepped down. bob livingston was selected to take over, but he withdraw after revealing an extramarital affair. >> that fro pelled dennis hastert of illinois into the speakers' post. he went on to become the longest serving republican house speaker ever. hastert was indicted this year on federal fraud charges. john and i spoke earlier with cnn national political report e mave restin. >> it's really illustrative of what's happening in the presidential race. you have the establishment lane and the freedom caucus. it's been really fascinating to watch. kevin mccarthy came as a big blow to the gop establishment in washington and it's sort of a party in chaos at the moment.

>> a party in chaos and kevin mccarthy dropping out for that role of speaker. it's the job nobody wants, but normal people now saying paul ryan, the former vp nominee is the only man up for the job. do you think he'll take it just for the good of the republican party? >> i think paul ryan could be a really interesting choice. we saw in the 2012 race when he was chosen as mitt romney's vice presidential nominee, he does have the ability to unite the conservatives on one side and then also the rest of the party on the other. but at this point it's really unclear whether anyone can govern. and certainly people out here in nevada who are watching this from afar are saying what is going on back there? it just looks like chaos. >> it does look like chaos. you mention this rebellion in the gop against the establishment is playing out on the campaign trail. the marco rubio campaign. but he's way down in the polls, ben carson, an outsider, is up in the polls. he's number two by all accounts.

he's han an interesting couple of days. most notingablnotably, he's try explain a passage in his book which seems to suggest that the holocaust would not have happened if the jews were armed. this is ben carson now trying to explain what he meant. >> my point is that was only one of the countries i mentioned. there were a number of countries where tyranny reigned and before it happened they disarmed the people. that was point. noah webster said when he was talking about tyranny that the people of america would never suffer tyranny because they are armed. >> the anti-defamation league says those comments are personally historically inaccurate, which they are. they also said they're offensive. but is there a tipping point here? so far it seems these sorts of comments have not been a problem for ben carson so far. >> what people like about ben carson is that he's a really refreshing outsider voice. but he's had a rough couple of days. he's certainly surged in the polls in the last couple of months, but i think there's a credibility test for a lot of

voters out there. whether he can actually about issues in a way that appeals to the broader general electorate. with these stumbles, there are gong to be a lot of people who give him a second look and say is he up for the job? i was at the donald trump rally earlier today. a lot of people there say ben carson is their second choice. but as the coverage gets more unfavorable to carson, as the vetting process goes on, that could change, certainly. >> maeve reston speaking to us earlier tonight in las vegas. >> our coverage from las vegas starts tuesday night 5:30 pacific time. only on cnn. >> now u.s. officials say several cruise missiles launched from a russian ship and aimed at targets in syria have crashed in ir iran. it's unclear where in iran the

missiles may have landed. but some civilians may have been hurt and buildings damaged. >> russia denies america's claims and says the missiles hit their targets and it's part of the west's psychological warfare. meantime, we're told the secretary of state spoke to his counterpart in moscow and raised concerns about the non-isis targets russia has been aiming at. >> they also talked about the importance of moving forward on tactical discussions and dialogue, again to avoid mishaps and misunderstandings, particularly in the air. >> and also this new video we want to share with you. it's said to show two russian cruise missiles flying on wednesday over northern iraq towards syria. cnn cannot confirm that. >> for the people of syria, it's been a devastating 4 1/2 years of war, one that has led to an

enormous humanitarian crisis. hundreds of thousands of people have died in syrian space. a new threat from the air. >> we want to warn you, some of the images you're about to see are extremely graphic and disturbing. >> barely able to see through the thick dust, somehow members of the syrian civil defense team, also known as the white helmets, pull out a little girl. grab her, one orders, and turns around. miraculously, the children appear unharmed. but then another strike. frantic cries of god is great. luckily, this time it seems everyone got out. but often not. the white helmets, an independent medical rescue team have been through this before. too many times for most to count. but now, it's not just war

planes and barrel bombs. since russia's bombing campaign began on september 30, they say they have documented around 182 civilian deaths including two of their own, which they say were caused by russian strikes. the kremlin boasts of its accuracy, insisting civilians are not being targeted or killed. but those on the ground say it's a lie. they fall from areas far from frontlines and rebel bases. a child here, treated for wounds. two ores appear shell-shocked. childhoods they will never know. we cannot independently verify the activist responsibility of claims of russian responsibility, but most despicable is that it's happening at all and has been

happening for too long. no matter whom to blame. as the russian syrian regime, americans, nato, and other key players talk about war maneuvers and strategic gains, this is what that rhetoric looks like on the ground. these images are graphic and they are real. a child, covered in blood, streaming in pain, crying out for his mother. >> and it is hard to watch, but that's the reality. >> okay, a short break here. an israeli soldier stabbed with a screwdriver. the latest on what the israel prime minister is talking about a wave of terrorism. >> plus, stop a terror attack on a french train and was wounded in the process. this american serviceman has now suffered another stabbing after an apparent street fight turned especially nasty. hold the phone.

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>> welcome back. you're talking to cnn. incite, libel and lies behind the latest violence.

>> three new stabbings were reported thursday. israeli police say one was in tel aviv where they say a female israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver by a palestinian who was then shot and killed. >> joining us live is aaron mclaughlin, at the gate to jerusalem's old city. as we head into friday prayers, what's the latest on the security situations around the sanctuary there. >> hi john, you can see here inside the old ji, the heavy security presence, thousands of additional police officers. they've also installed metal detectors. you can see one just over that way. they've installed them in light of the recent stabbing attacks. one of the attacks actually took place not far from here. just down that way last saturday. israeli police say a palestinian man stabbed and killed two israeli men injuring an israeli woman as well as her infant. it's the exact kind of attack

that had people here on edge. as for the nearby holy site known to muslims as the nobel sanctuary, known to jews as the temple mount, restrictions are in place today as to who can pray there. men under the age of 50. muslim men, not allowed to pray. israeli prime minister has also asked members of his government ministers as well as members not to visit the site in a bid to deescalate things. >> erin, we have heard from the israeli prime minister, he's blaming the palestinian authority for the recent violence saying inkriemt, libel and lies. what is he talk about there? and is that the only thing driving these attacks by palestinians on israelis? >> well, john, that's right. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu gave a press conference last night alongside key government officials.

take a listen to what he had to to the say. >> we are in the midst of a terror wave with molotov cocktails, nooifs and rocks are used, as well as live ammunition. most of these activities are not organized in any way, but they are the result of inkriept, libel and lies by hamas, the palestinian authorities and a few regional states. the pal we spoke to a palestinian negotiator. he is concerned things are getting out of hand, but he said mahmoud abbas had maze called for deescalation but people on the streets want to know what would happen after the deescalation, if the humiliation, in his words, would continue. and he says the only way to ensure an end to the violence, a final end to the violence is a two-state solution. john? >> erin, i understand that the

prime minister is, in fact, referring to rumors which have been circulating that the israelis, in fact, want to take over the nobel sanctuary and essentially control access to that point. and the israelis are making a point that is not on the agenda at all, is that correct? >> that's right. they're blaming the palestinians for inciting violence and spreading those rumors that something could happen to the status quo of the site. and that is why the prime minister has said that he is trying to call upon members of the kinesit, members of the far right have increased tensions and the prime minister is try to deescalation tension. >> erin mclaughlin, live for us there. 20 past 8:00 in the old city.

thank you, erin. >> now the american service member who was stabbed helping stop a terror attack in france is now in a california hospital, recovering from another stabbing. >> the altercation caught on video. we get details from kyung lah. >> this is something that happens all too often inner yeahs of bars and nightclub, a street fight. it's not exactly what happened that makes it so significant here, it's who was involved. >> what police say started as an altercation inside a sacramento bar soon spilled outside and turned into a wild street brawl. is this liquor store captured the fight. the u.s. air force airman spencer stone, the tall

man wearing the white shirt, throw ing punches as a group of men appear to surround him. watch closely. this is the moment where stone is apparently stabbed. what looks like blood on his shirt as everyone flees the scene. >> the assault does not appear to be a random act. it's believed to be related to a nightclub incident. >> reporter: it was just this august when stone was hailed as a hero, alock with oregon national guardsmen for take down a would-be terrorist aboard a passenger train in france. stone was praised for his aggressive role in disarming the man who was carrying firearms and a box cutter. >> i put him in a chokehold. it seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons left and right. pulled oit a handgun out. took out a box cutter, started jabbing at me with that. >> reporter: he was treated for his injuries and returned to the u.s., greeted with a hero's welcome. he met with the president at the white house, appeared on

mightily talk shows, was honored with a parade in sacramento where he's stationed at travis air force base. but what led to the altercation captured on this surveillance camera? police here in sacramento say the entire incident is under investigation. but they already know this -- the suspects likely had no idea who they were fighting. but they likely know now. >> this incident is a very unfortunate altercation between two groups of folks who were enjoying the night life in midtown sacramento. this incident is not related to terrorism in any way. we know it's not related to what occurred in france. >> spencer stone is now again in the hospital in serious condition. the hospital says stone suffered three wounds to his body. the wounds when he first arrived at the hospital were considered potentially life threatening, but doctors are pleased to report that he's expected to make a full recovery. john, isha? >> the german auto maker volkswagen has admitted its

diesel cars were programmed to limit emission whence the vehicle was being tested. michael horn's comments came before testimony before the u.s. congress on thursday. >> he said engineers were to blame for the software that cheated emissions testing and it was not a corporate decision. >> to the best of your knowledge, did vw install the software for the express purpose of defeating emissions controls? >> to our understanding, and this is part of the investigation, it was installed for this purpose, yes. >> meantime, german police raided volkswagen's headquarters as part of the investigation into the scandal. officials are looking for documents that could help determine who was responsible. world football's legal troubles have claimed a couple of people at the top after fif a's ethics committee slapped 90-day suspensions on outgoing president sepp blatter and two others. those suspensions are effective

immediately and could be exte extended. fifa presidential candidate also was banned for six years. the current fifa vice president now takes over. he's also the head of the confederation of african football. the long-time soccer administration has had its own problems. in 2011, the international olympic committee sanctioned him for taking cash from a sports marketing firm. >> the drama at fifa goes on. one of the football stars is facing trouble of his own. lionel messi stands trial on three counts of income tax fraud. the 28-year-old barcelona star could be sentenced up to four years in prison if found guilty. messi's father is facing the same charges. >> the embattled mayor is resigning his post after scandal over a credit card expenses. he made the announcement thursday after facing weeks of pressure for critics who blame him for the state of the italian capital. he denies claims that he used

money to wine and dine his family and friends. more than 23,000 on his credit card. >> republican presidential candidate ben carson on the hot seat. wolf blitzer asked him to clarify his comments on the mass shooting in oregon. >> also ahead, a serge for asyl asylum. iraqi christian on a desperate journey to escape persecution from isis.

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i'm john vause. >> i'm isha sesay. republicans in congress are looking for a new leader. the man expected to be the next leader in the house kevin mccarthy surprised nearly everyone on thursday saying he didn't want the job. several others are openly campaigning for the position but there's no clear favorite. >> iran's defense ministry denying statements by u.s. officials that four missiles crashed in iraq, calling the assertion psychological warfare. russia fired those missiles at a campaign in syria. russian officials also slammed the u.s. slam claims. >> three stabbings were reported in israel on thursday. israeli police say one was in tel aviv where an israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver by a palestinian who was then shot and killed. >> get used to that music. republican ben carson is

currently second only to donald trump in most u.s. presidential polls. he has a knack for making controversial remarks about everything, muslims, gays, obamacare, the president. it's a long list. >> but here's the thing. carson's comments don't seem to be hurting him. >> yet. >> reporter: before turning to politics, ben carson was a neurosurgeon, a very successful one, in fact. he was the first to separate twins con joined at the head. he even had a movie made about him. >> one baby dies, we need to separate them as fast as possible and give all shared tissue twot surviving twin. >> it's an achievement he likes to remind the other candidates about. >> the only one to take out half a brain, although going to washington you would think somebody has beaten me to it. >> carson has positioned himself as a conservative not afraid to speak his mind. >> it's not my intention to offend anyone. >> in the face of what he calls political correctness.

>> the pc police are out in force at all times. >> carson has been controversial. he was forced to apologize after these comments about gay people. >> a do you think being gay is a choice? >> absolutely. >> why do you say that? >> a lot of people go into prison straight and they come out and they're gay. did something happen while they were in there? >> there were calls for carson to withdraw after he suggested a muslim should not be president. >> do you believe that islam is consistent with the constitution? >> no, i don't. i do not. i would not advocate that we put a muslim into a charge of a nation. >> carson certainly hasn't pulled any punch whence it comes to barack obama's policies. >> obama care is really, i think, the wrors thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. and it is in a way -- it is slavery.

>> reporter: and just this week, carson caused outrage suggesting that victims of the oregon mass shooting should have stood up to the gunman. >> i would not just stand there and let them shoot me. i would say everybody attack him. he may shoot me, but he can't get us all. >> reporter: but these views seem to have not deterred republican voters. with little than four months before the primaries begin in iowa, carson is in second place behind donald trump in the polls. >> what would you be doing right now for tropical storm rjoaquin. what would be your first step? >> i don't know. >> whether or not he's ready to lead the country, still to be determined. >> listen as wolf blitzer asks carson to clarify his comments on the oregon school shoot pg. >> are you suggesting the victims should have done more?

>> no, not suggesting that at all. what the original question was if you were there and someone was holding a gun to you and asking you about your religion and they had shot other people, what would you do? and knowing that you were next to be killed and that they were going to continue down the line killing people, i would much rather go down fighting. and if all of us attack the shooter, the chances are very strong not all of us would be killed. to me, that doesn't seem like a very controversial thing. >> in another interview on national public radio, dr. carson seemed to struggle about a question whether he would support raising the debt kreeling that would prevent the u.s. from defaulting on existing obligations. >> i would provide the kind of leadership that says get on the stick, guys, and stop messing around and cut where you need to cut because we're not raising any spending limits, period. >> i'm going to try one more time, sir. this is debt that's already

obligated. would you not inkrecreasing the debt limit to pay off debt that's already incurred? >> what i'm saying is we have to restructure the way that we c w create debt. if we continue along this, where does it stop? it never stops. >> well later, carson issued a statement saying critics have blown this way out of proportion. and they don't appreciate his resolve to get the fiscal house in order. >> most of north korea's attention this week is focused on a big anniversary. the country is geared up for a massive military parade and lavish celebrations to honor the founding of the workers party.

>> satellite imagery in the skies and 38 north have seen hundreds of trucks and armored vehicles they say has been gathering for several months outside of a military base to gear up for what is fwlooefed to be possibly the biggest military parades in north korean history. >> when it comes to massive displays of state muscle, nobody does it quite like north korea. then again, no other nation has the korean workers party, led by three generations of the same family led by seven decades. this weekend's spectacle is supposed to be the celebration of their leader. they've been rehearsing day and night. we want to celebrate in the most significant way says this university student. tens of thousands will fill the streets, a lavish celebration

for a nation still struggling economically. you'll often see north korean young people dancing in large formations like this. this is one way they celebrate major holidays like one coming up. behind them, a monument to the worker's party, an imposing symbol of north korea's only ruling party that turns 70 on saturday. we're taken to the party's first headquarters, a place the north korean government says foreign media has never visited before. as many communist regimes collapsed, north korea's system is practically unchanged. >> people are in these rooms right now learning about the history of the party. they learn the official story of the rise to power from teenage revolutionary to worker's party founder to supreme leader for 46 years. a title passed on to his son and grandson. third generation leader kim

jong-un rules in what some call a cold war throwback. but north korea says it's here to stay, developing nuclear weapons and missiles. this week's parade, a show of defiance to the world. a lot of analysts are going to be watching closely to see what kind of military hardware is on display, specifically those missile launchers, the inner continental ballistic missiles. north korea has been saying for a while now they are planning a satellite launch. there's fear, though, that the same large rocket that could carry a satellite could also carry a nuclear warhead towards a country like the yao its. in fact, the pentagon saying that is a concern of the u.s. that launch is not believed to be happening this weekend to coin side with this event. there just hasn't been any activity at the launch site. but john, north korea tells us the satellite launch is imminent. this military parade could be a

preview of more demonstrations for north korea of their military mite. >> there's a lot to watch. >> speak of course which, the question always arises when north korea has these kinds of parades as to who will be there. who's on the guest list. always provides a window into the state of play, state of relations. what do we know? >> it's interesting you mention that, isha. for the most part, kim jong-uns going to be presiding over this event with very little foreign representation. the one exception will be a high-ranking member of the standing committee of the polit bureau in china. so a high-level delegation from china will be here. another reason why it's believed north korea will likely not conduct any sort of satellite launch that could be perceived as a provocative action that could embarrass the chinese delegation. but for the most part, major countries are staying away from this event.

>> okay, will rippley, we don't get to say this very often. live from the pyongyang capital in north korea. thank you for your reporting. still to come here, a modern day underground railroad helping christians escape isis brutality. we will go inside their desperate journey. which allergy? eees. bees? eese. trees? eese. xerox helps hospitals use electronic health records so doctors provide more personalized care. cheese? cheese! patient care can work better. with xerox. that's it. how was your commute? good. yours? good. xerox real time analytics make transit systems run more smoothly...

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>> welcome back. escaping persecution and possible death at the hands of isis. >> their search for asylum takes them on a harrowing two-month-long journey all the way to the border of mexico. in clouds of chaos, women and children flung aboard a military chopper. desperate iraqis escaping brutality. this child seeing the systematic

killing of christians and yazidis. today, thousands are fleeing iraq and syria. refugees streaming across borders. some even making it to the mexico border. and then into the united states. >> a journey through hell. escaping a christian genocide. >> we're traveling with a u.s.-born christian iraqi into taiju taijuana, mexico. he's spearheading a radical way out of christians in the middle east. a shadowy underground railroad, a harrowing two month journey. is isis' grip on these men, still visible. isis only knows the language of beheadings. he says. >> why you?

>> because we're christian, he says. >> in this one, beheading ethiopian christians. this was their future, say the men. isis marked their homes with this arabic letter, proclaiming them kpripgs. >> people are being raped, beheaded, massacred. little girls are being kidnapped. >> a list of names, more than half of them children. >> these are 70,000 innocent christians. catholics, syrian christians in a region where our foreign policy blunders have destroyed religious minorities in general. >> he pounded the pavement in d.c. >> we've done everything we can.

we met with the president, we met with vice president biden. we've spoken to the state department. nothing works. if the president won't act, then i'm going to act. >> once in mexico, he says his job is done. the iraqis and syrians turn themselves in at the u.s./mexico border, seeking asylum. u.s. immigration and customs enforcement would not directly address the underground railroad. but released this statement saying, it would bring to justice individuals who compromise the integrity of our asylum system, potentially putting our country's security at risk. >> what do you say about the security issue? >> our national security should be an issue without a doubt. >> these people are being killed by isis. they are not isis. they are coming to america to run away from isis. >> kyung lah, cnn, mexico.

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>> welcome back. speculation just keeps coming. will l.a. finally get a team in the national football league? >> the cnn correspondent reports. >> the race to get an nfl team to los angeles seems to be in inching that much closer to the finish line. l.a. has been without a team since 1995 when the raiders went back to oakland and the rams headed east to st. louis. but apparently the grass isn't always greener on the other side. the raiders and the rams are looking for an l.a. homecoming. and a third anticipate, the san diego chargers want to relocate to los angeles as well. any proou would need the approval of the owners. commissioner roger goodell discussed the l.a. expansion. >> yes, i do suspect it will go to a vote. there are two potential teams

that are interested that have been struggling to get stadiums built in their own communities for not just several years, but even decades. we need to find long-term solutions here. i think there's also interest in being back in entertainment capital of the world. >> the raiders and chargers plan to share a stadium just south of l.a. in carson, california, while the rams hope to build a stadium in englewood on land that has already been purchased to hopefully boost his team's chancesover moving to los angeles. it's expected a vote will be taken in january. we could know then and know soon which franchise will get the call to go to hollywood. >> we've had this situation in l.a. now the possibility, two football teams. how will the process work and what are the chances they'll end up with the two teams?

>> there is going to be an nfl here in 2016. art rooney told us yesterday there's probably going to be a vote as early january. the tricky part now is that the rams in inglewood or is it going to be the charger and the raiders to carson? that's how you have to get it sorted out and that's where we go from here. right now, you need 24 votes to move. the owner of the chargers have enough votes to block the rams from moving to inglewood but he doesn't have 24 votes either. how do you get this all sorted out? that's the tricky part. >> they say teams are good for the local economy. >> are you going to have disposal income because an nfl team moves sneer no. the only economic impact is the super bowl comes here.

and then you're going to have a sizable impact. but just because a team moves here doesn't mean that there's a greater economic impact on this region. >> leading up to this, if you listen to the team owners and the nfl. they say, you know, it's all about the game. this is all about doing the right thing by the teams and by the cities. and making sure that the clubs are good. and the teams -- it's not really about the money. they say it's not about the money, it really is about the money, right? >> it's all about the money. and one of the major factors triggering this is all these nfl owner owners the clippers are barely an nba team, but all of a sudden they're saying if i move my nfl team there, what's it going to jump in value? the rams for instance are the 28th most valued team in the league. if stan kronke were to move his team here, you don't know how much they would be worth.

>> the stadium, who is going to foot the bill? the taxpayers? >> in inglewood, kronke would write all the checks. in carson, the raiders and charger chargers would get financing from goldman sachs and they'll pay off the stadium based on seat licenses, naming rights and other revenues. but it won't b come out of the fund, and the chargers and the raiders, if there is some kind of economic short fall, they'll be on the hook for it. >> what happens to the team or teams which do not move here? how are they going to be received in their hometowns? >> it's going to be hard. if it looks like you're not going to be able to move to l.a., then you need to go back and make peace in that market. it's going to be tough in some of those markets. >> sorry, we really wanted to say. we wanted toed to go, but now

we're happy. how do you sell that? >> a really hard time. this has been the golden hammer for 20 years. they've gotten $4.7 billion of public fundings for stadium since 1997. if a team moves here that golden hammer moves away and that's the tricky part of these teams, they have to go back to their home market ps because now they have no leverage. >> and the teams that do move, help me understand this, do they change the names? keep the names? >> they keep the games, if the raiders and the chargers would move carson together, one of them will probably get the flip out of the division because they're in the same now. >> that would cause resentment for the team that left. >> oh, it's a huge deal. for a lot of these cities, it's a huge part of their identity. >> thanks for explaining it. >> really appreciate it. thank you. you're watching "cnn newsroom" live from los angeles. i'm isha sesay.

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the u.s. accuses russia of hitting the wrong country with missiles meant to hit syria. plus -- >> i think i shocked somebody. >> shocked indeed. the man expected to be the next u.s. house speaker dropped out of the race. now republicans face quite a mess. and later, fifa president sepp blatter was once considered untouchable. now he is under a 90-day ban. and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. cnn newsroom continues this hour live from atlanta. i'm natalie allen. and thank you for joining us. our top story this hour, u.s.

officials say several cruise missiles launched from a russian ship and aimed at targets in syria have actually crashed in iran. it's unclear where in iran the missiles may have landed. russia and iran deny the u.s. claims and say the missiles hit its intended target. meantime, new video purports to show two russian cruise missiles flying on wednesday over iraq towards syria. cnn cannot confirm that. barbara starr now has more on the russians' assault. >> reporter: russian warships firing cruise missiles at what it says are isis targets in syria. but as the russian leader celebrated his 63rd birthday on the ice rink, there are new signs of trouble for the russian military campaign. cnn has learned at least four of the more than two dozen russian

cruise missiles launched from ships in the caspian sea crashed in iran. u.s. officials say they believe there are injuries. a setback for the russian caliber cruise missile, build as a highly precise weapon with a one thousand pound warhead being used for the first time in combat. the pentagon furious that the russians gave no warning of the missile launches and of other russian moves. >> it remains our hope that russia will see that tethering itself to a sinking ship is a losing strategy. >> reporter: and an ominous prediction from the u.s. defense secretary. >> i also expect that in coming days the russians will begin to suffer casualties in syria. >> reporter: u.s. aerial drones monitoring the border with turkey now have been shadowed by russian aircraft on at least two occasions. and the russians have flown into turkish airspace. russia claims these videos show their attacks on isis.

but the u.s. and turkey say that is not russia's main target. >> they have initiated a joint ground offensive with the syrian regime, shattering the facade that they're there to fight isil. >> reporter: a u.s. official tells cnn so far rebel groups have been able to thwart at least limited parts of the russian and syrian advances. even in the face of this brutal rocket system, essentially a giant flame thrower. but a top congressional democrat says the u.s. has to do more. >> that might mean a no-fly zone in the southern part of syria, and sending a message that who sends up helicopters to barrel bomb people, we're going to take those down. >> reporter: u.s. and nato officials making it very clear, their assessment, the russians are still overwhelmingly striking anti-regime, anti-assad forces, and maybe have only conducted a small number of

attacks, if any, against isis. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> well, let's talk more about this. retired u.s. colonel rick francona joins us via skype with his perspective on this ongoing situation. rick, always glad to have you with us. >> sure. >> thanks. first of all, russia's denials. can the u.s. pretty much confirm where these missiles land, if they miss their target or not? >> well, we know how many launched, and we know how many arrive at the target. and we know at least four did not arrive at the target. the problem is they're firing these over populated areas in iran and iraq. they're also flying them through where commercial aircraft are operating. so this is very dangerous. when you fire these kinds of missiles, and the u.s. navy has extensive experience doing this, you try and find a flight route that avoids all these obstacles so you don't have this kind of damage. if there are injuries on the

ground, that's just another headache the russians don't need right now. >> right. and that just complicates even more if this situation can be complicated any more the fact that you've got the u.s. targeting one area. you've got russia presumably targeting another. and then there are other allied air strikes against isis as well. it's just a powder keg that is going off in all kinds of directions. >> right. basically, you've got three different sides here. you've got the anti-rebel jet stream rebels that are allied with us. you have the syrian government, and you have isis. and, you know, the russians are going after the anti-regime rebels, and they say they're going after isis. and secretary of defense is absolutely correct. this is just lip service that the russians are paying to going after isis. if you look at where the russian strikes have gone in, almost all of them are in that area just north of hama. and that is on that road from damascus to aleppo. the syrians have to take that

back. they suffered really bad losses over the last three months, and they've been pushed out of that area. now they're going back. now they're doing it with russian air a cover, and they're actually having some effect. i think the russians are there to prop up assad. then you have the united states. we're interested in going after isis and also the syrian government. it's just -- it's too complicate right now for it to work. at some point the united states is going to have to decide what is our real goal here. is it isis? is it to remove assad. because if we're insisting on the removal of assad, we're going to eventually come head to head with the russians. >> and what would that mean? we'll leave it at that, rick. i will be talking with matthew chance from moscow the next hour about what russia is saying about this. we always appreciate it, though. rick francona for us, thank you. we want to turn to the turmoil among republicans in the u.s. congress after the man almost everyone expected to be the next speaker of the house suddenly dropped out of the

race. kevin mccarthy made the surprise announcement thursday. chief political correspondent dana bash has our report. >> reporter: there is congressional chaos and then there is this. >> move it out of the way! >> reporter: a republican meeting to vote for a new speaker ending abruptly after the front-runner, kevin mccarthy shocked everyone, suddenly dropping out of the race. >> absolutely stunned. >> i mean, you were behind him. are you stunned? >> yeah, totally stunned. no idea it was coming. no one did. >> you were with just in there. what happened? >> kevin mccarthy, just like john boehner did put the country and the congress and the country before his own interests. it was a very honorable thing to do. i think he recognized and shared with the conference that his candidacy might further divide the caucus and further divide the party across the country. >> reporter: behind closed doors that's exactly what kevin mccarthy told his colleagues. >> i think i shocked some of you. >> and what he repeated to

reporters after the news got out. >> if we're going to unite and be strong we need a new face to help do that. nothing more than that. >> reporter: that and a raw numbers. despite mccarthy's public confidence only an hour earlier. >> very well. >> reporter: sources close to mccarthy say he realized getting approval from the majority of the house, 218 votes, was going to be tough. and cnn is told mccarthy decided the demands many conservatives were making in exchange for their votes, those in the so-called freedom caucus would have made him too weak to be effective. tim hul's camp is one of those. >> we're looking for a speaker. we presumed kevin was going to reach out to us. what do we need to do. what changes do we need to make. >> reporter: moderates worry it will be hard to find someone who will appeal to the conservatives but still lead the entire house as the constitution requires the speaker to do. >> the next speaker should not

appease those who make unreasonable demands. there are a number of members of our conference who simply cannot get the yes on anything. >> reporter: daniel webster and chaffetz are a bit speechless. >> did not see that coming. >> reporter: but still in. >> because we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we're elected to do. >> reporter: so the question now is who will be speaker. and the answer on everybody's lips is paul ryan. at least he is the one who can bring together all of the factions, the warring factions of the republican party in the house. the problem is paul ryan has made clear he doesn't want the job. we are told that john boehner, the current house speaker is trying to get him to change his mind, to put his hat in the ring, because this is a time where republicans need the leadership and the respect that he actually does garner from so many parts of the republican party. his aides are saying he is not going to do it. but he is not closing the door fully. dana bash, cnn, washington.

>> joining me now to talk about this fascinating development, cnn political commentators peter beinart and ben ferguson. thanks, guys for being with me on this. i want to first get your reaction. here you have kevin mccarthy. he had enough votes to get this job. and then he says no, i don't want it. what is your reaction? let's start with you, peter. >> it's really remarkable. i mean, the old political commentator will rogers said i don't belong to an organized political party, i'm a democrat. which historically it was the democrats that were considered the more anarchic of the parties. but if you look at what is happening among the republicans of the house, there is really a sense of anarchy there is no respect for hierarchy there is no willingness to compromise in order to make the party function. and as a result, we have a remarkable situation in which we have no idea who the speaker is going to be. and not much prospect of having a speaker who is going to be strong enough to actually do things that are in the republican party's own

interests, let alone the nation's interests. >> and ben, disarray comes at a time when they're about to face important fiscal battles there. >> yeah. >> so what do you make of this? >> look, i'm not near as excited or nervous as many others are acting. this isn't chaos. this is the old guard and john boehners' guys having a hard time staying around and surviving the same way that john boehner did this. is exactly what many of these members were sent to washington to do, to put a new face in washington in the republican party. let's be real candid. under john boehner and under the leadership in the senate, we have been a complete failure to take on obama and his policies. so i think this is a good thing for the republican party. it doesn't make me nervous in any way. in fact, if you talk to most conservatives, they're thrilled tonight. they think this is a big victory, because this was not a back room deal that was going to be able to be done once again by john boehner or any others

around him for him to say hi, i'm gone, but i'm going to appoint my heir apparent. so i think this is actually going to turn out really well. and as for the government shutdown and things like that, i also think the republicans learned from the last shutdown. i do not see there being a shutdown coming any time soon. and i think they'll work together with a new face. >> well, ben, who do you think that new face could be? >> i would be lying if i told you if i knew who it was tonight. i think that may be the best part about this. in the past we've always known who it was going to be. and that's what they really tried to have with mccarthy is an appointment of boehner 2.0. thing are a lot of people look at this even those saying early on that they weren't going to be involved in this. paul ryan, his phone is still ringing off the hook as i talked to quite a few congressmen today. you also have chafee who i think has a decent shot as well. i think it's early on, and this is going to take another several days to figure out who exactly everyone is willing to agree on. i think they will. >> well, peter, let's get you back in here. mike huckabee said this is about

burning the corrupt washington political machine to the ground and rebuilding. who else considering that might step in to the fray here and say bring it on, i got this? >> you know, there is a real problem with that attitude things get done in washington because leaders of the two parties compromise. they make compromises that require them to give up some of the ideological purity that they cherish. that's what happens. that's why you need strong leaders. the republican party right now has a faction in the house that is not willing to countenance any real compromises by their leaders because they are -- they still have not really accepted the fact that barack obama won two elections in large measure because the country demographically is moving away from them. these are people who represent old white constituencies that are further and further out of touch with where the rest of america is going. and they're militantly idealogically opposed to coming to terms with that. this i think is not going to turn out well for the republican

party. >> peter beinart and ben ferguson, thank you. >> thanks. >> all right. well, cnn is hosting the first debate between the democratic presidential candidates. our live coverage from las vegas starts tuesday night at 8:30 eastern time. that's 8:30 a.m. in hong kong, right here on cnn. well, israel's prime minister says the palestinian authority's incitement, libel and lies are behind the latest violence there three new stabbings were reported thursday. israeli police say one was in tel aviv where they say a female israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver by a palestinian who was then shot and killed. joining me now is cnn's erin mclaughlin. she is at the gate to jerusalem's old city. erin, hello. set the scene for us. what is the atmosphere like there ahead of friday prayers? >> well, natalie, people here

are bracing for the possibility of more violence. you can see the increased security presence in the old city. thousands of additional police officers deployed throughout jerusalem. here in the old city, they have also installed metal detectors in light of the recent stabbing attacks, one of which took place just over that way on saturday, last saturday. israeli police say a palestinian man stabbed and killed two israeli men, as well as injuring an israeli woman and an infant. it's exactly the kind of attack that has people here on edge. now not far from here is the holy site known to muslims as a noble sanctuary, and to jews as the temple mount. seen as the key source of the tension. today police are announcing that pl

muslim men under the age of 45 are not allowed to pray there as a security measure. but it's angered many muslims. we heard from benjamin netanyahu calling on members of the knesset as well as government ministers not to go to the site, to visit the site in a bid to try and de-escalate things. >> and erin, as far as these attacks go, is it the belief that these are just random attacks by individuals? there is no coordination? and what are israeli and palestinian leaders saying about the attacks? >> well, israeli leaders say that they believe that most of the attacks are lone wolf attacks, but israelis and palestinian leaders blaming each other for the violence. i want you to take a listen to what israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu had to say last night. he had a press conference with key government officials. take a listen. >> translator: we are in the midst of a terror wave with molotov cocktails, knives, and

rocks are used as well as live ammunition. most of these activities are not organized in any way, but they are a result of incitement, libels, and lies by hamas, the palestinian authorities, and a few regional states. >> cnn spoke to chief palestinian negotiator erakat. he said mahmood abbas continues to call for de-escalation. the problem is that people on the street are asking what happens after the de-escalation. will the humiliation in his words continue. he says the key to ending the violence is a permanent two-state solution. natalie? >> all right, erin mclaughlin for us there live. thank you so much, erin. well, we have breaking news in oscar pistorius's quest for freedom. we'll have the very latest for you next.

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welcome back. we have breaking news coming in to cnn we want to share with you. a south african parole board is meeting saturday to consider

placing oscar pistorius under correctional supervision. what does that mean? let's turn to cnn's robin kreel. she is on the line from nairobi with more. >> reporter: this is not the first time the parole board has convened. in fact, they convened in august and decided that it was time to release oscar pistorius from correctional supervision. however, that decision was not overturned, but was asked to be investigated by the minister of justice who said that preemptive decision, that they decided that too early. it was in fact reviewed. it was passed back to the parole board. so he could have actually gotten out in august, natalie, but this has been sort of legal wrangling, looking at different wording of the rules. and in essence now, they're meeting to decide when he will be paroled. he could be paroled today under correctional supervision, or it

could be a lot longer for pistorius. >> and how much of his prison sentence has he served at this point, robin? >> he has served 1/6 of his sentence. he was sentenced to five years for homicide for killing his girlfriend reeva steenkamp on valentine's day two years ago. that is within the law. you are allowed after good behavior in prison if the parole board deemious worthy of release. so ten months of his five-year sentence. in fact more than that now obviously because of the different interpretations of the law. and the minister is reading on the parole board's decision. but no indication whether he will get out today. we have heard local news is reporting that the reason they are convening today to look at the decision whether to release him or not is because lawyers went to the department of correctional service and said

that if the matter was not heard immediately, they would approach the courts as a position that is unfair because there has been a lot of -- the parole board and the ministry getting involved. >> thank you. well certainly if this parole board decides today that oscar pistorius can have now correctional supervision, we'll get reaction there from pretoria. and we'll certainly talk with ms. steenkamp's family, or hopefully get some comments from them as well. well, the top three officials at fifa are off the job. at least temporarily. this includes long-time president sepp blatter. the disciplinary arm of world football's governing body handed out provisional 90-day bans thursday amid the ongoing corruption probe. the head of european football michel platini and jerome were

slapped with the same suspensions. let's talk with keir rodnidge. were these suspensions expected? >> well, they were expected from the previous day when we learned that the invest congratulations going on. no one can quite believe in essence the three top men in world football administration would all be put on gardening leave for three months at the same time. >> and do you think any of them will try and fight it, or is it a done deal? >> well, i think blatter and platini will fight it, certainly. voelk may, i don't know. platini is the most defiant of the statements in response. blatter's lawyers also also

accuse the disciplinary judges of not understanding their own rules. you know, they were personally quite almost intemperate statements in response. so they obviously feel very hard done by. >> i want to ask you, keir, if the suspensions hold, meantime, whose running fifa and how does fifa begin to repair or operate as the world body in the midst of all of this? would this give them some sort of breather to try to restore some integrity? >> well, at the moment, fifa is sort of flat lining. under the rules, the senior vice president is the head of the african confederation from cameroon has taken over as interim president. he insists he doesn't want the job full-time. fifa itself in terms of the day-to-day operations is just carrying on. i mean football all around the world is continuing. people are going out to play

football as normal. it's basically the political head of the organization that has been chopped off at the moment. >> keir radnedge for us, world soccer magazine from london. wait and see what happens next. thanks for talking with us. >> pleasure. he was wounded while stopping a terror attack in france. now a u.s. service member called a hero is being treated in another stabbing back in the u.s.

and welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm natalie allen.

you're watching "cnn newsroom." here are our top stories. iran's defense ministry is denying statements by u.s. officials that four russian missiles crashed in iran and is calling the assertion psychological warfare. russia fired those missiles as part of its escalating campaign in syria. officials in moscow also slammed the u.s. claims. the leading candidate to be the next speaker of the house of representatives has dropped out. republican kevin mccarthy seen right there made the surprise announcement thursday. he says his party needs to unite behind a new face. but no clear favorites have emerged. german chancellor angela merkel is a strong favorite to win the nobel peace prize for her involvement in dealing with europe's migrant crisis and greece's economic collapse. others in the rung include pope francis and the brokers of the iran nuclear deal. the winner will be announced in a little more than two hours. we'll have that for you.

an american service member who was stabbed helping stop that terror attack in france on a train is now in a hospital again, the victim of yet another stabbing. doctors worry that his wounds might be life threatening, but now say he will recover. the fight was caught on video. here is cnn's kyung lah. >> reporter: what police say started as an altercation inside a sacramento bar soon spilled outside and turned into a wild street brawl. this liquor store surveillance video captured the fight. u.s. air force airman spencer stone, the tall man wearing a white shirt throwing punches as a group of men appear to surround him. watch closely. this is the moment where stone is apparently stabbed. what looks like blood on his shirt as everyone flees the scene. >> the assault does not appear to be a random act. it's believed to be related to a nightclub incident. >> reporter: it was just this august when stone was hailed as a hero, along with attorney

general national guardsman alek skarlatos and anthony sadler for taking down a would-be terrorist aboard a passenger train in france. stone was praised for his aggressive role in disarming the man who was carrying firearms and a box cutter. >> i put him in a chokehold. it seemed like he just kept pulling more weapons left and right. pulled out a handgun out of that, took out a box cutter. started jabbing at me with that. >> reporter: he was treated for his injuries and returned to the u.s., greeted with a hero's welcome. he met with the president at the white house. appeared on nightly talk shows, was honored with the parade in sacramento, where he is stationed at travis air force base. but what led to the altercation that was captured on this surveillance camera? police here in sacramento say the entire incident is under investigation. but they already know this. the suspects likely had no idea who they were fighting. but they likely know now. >> this incident is a very

unfortunate altercation between two groups of folks who are enjoying the night life in midtown sacramento. this incident is not related to terrorism in any way. we know it's not related to what occurred in france. >> reporter: spencer stone only recently recovered from his injuries after his heroism in france. he is now again in a hospital in serious condition. well, it's part of our ongoing two degrees series before the u.n. climate conference in paris in december. our meteorologists and our team here have been answering your questions about global warming. 2 degrees is what climate expert says is the difference between stabilizing global warming and total runaway climate change. and you can read more about it cnn.com/twodegrees. but you can learn more about it from derek van dam who joins us.

yes. we're going to be hearing and talking than two degrees and all the ramifications for some time now, derek. >> that's right. leading up to paris in early december. in fact this week's viewer question comes to us from a viewer in chicago. have a listen. >> hi. my name is satya, and i am from chicago, illinois. my question is climate change associated with the natural disasters we have been currently experiencing? >> all right. this is about the second most popular question that i receive as a cnn meteorologist behind will it rain on my wedding day or will it rain on my son's birthday party. but to directly link climate change to an extreme weather event is purely irresponsible. lots of data, lots of research has to be done to find that correlation. besides extreme weather events have been happening well before the human started to influence the climate systems. however, there is a direct

correlation between the intensity and frequency of heavy rain events and coastal flooding. let's take for instance this past week's heavy rain event. the catastrophic flooding that took place across north and south carolina. did you know that there was upwards of 11 trillion gallons of fresh water from this storm system. that's enough to fill 16 1/2 million olympic-sized swimming pools. and if that's not enough of a fact for you, this was enough water to actually end the ongoing four-year drought in california. it did exceptional at also taking care of the ongoing drought that is taking place in south carolina as well. but really, the fingerprints of climate change are seen across the planet, from south carolina all the way to hokkaido in northern japan. we had a recent typhoon across that region that dumped record-setting rainfall across this part of the world. and i'm going to end off with this. nasa and the new horizons probe that is on the far reaches of

our galaxy now starting to find that the atmosphere on pluto is in fact blue. that means they have blue skies overhead. if you were to actually stand on the surface is of the moon. and by the way, scientists have also found this particular area where you see that shades of red, the water flows and the water ice that they keep talking about, they're stumped. they're puzzled, natalie, why those images coming back as this shading of red on the planet. they just cannot quite figure out the correlation between ice and that red color. strange. >> and when scientists get stumped like that, it makes it all the more intriguing, doesn't it? >> we pay attention when they get stumped, don't they. >> all right. yes, we do. all right, derek, thank you so much. well, in los angeles, a teenaged tanzanian girl who went through almost unspeakable horror and pain now has a positive outlook for her future. cnn's sara sidner explains why viviana and her sister were constant targets back home.

>> reporter: viviana loves to dance, run and jump. but at 16 years old she is having to relearn how to walk, the consequence of a horrific attack. >> at 11 at night, sound, they come in our room. >> reporter: the robbers were after her bones, and they got what they came for. >> they chopped my leg and my two fingers and this leg. >> reporter: the robbers chopped off half of her right leg, some of her fingers, and tried to chop off her left leg, all because of her skin color, and the belief that her bones are magic. >> it's all driven by this crazy belief that it's also propagated by the witchcraft doctors that instill in these people that are so desperate that if you take a limb of an albino person, you're going to become rich.

>> reporter: in viviana's home country of tanzania, being an albino makes you a target. after ten months in the hospital, viviana and her sister feared going back home. >> i was afraid because if i could go back again, they would take my other limbs. >> you're afraid of being killed, or they would come back and try to cut something else off. >> yes. >> reporter: tanzanian politician heard her story and took the sisters in. she is the first albino to hold office in the country. put in place after the government outlawed witch doctors trying to curtail attacks on albinos. but the attacks continue. leaving people like bibiana with life-long hardships. >> this was her old prosthesis. it was kept on with a belt here. >> reporter: that all changed when malena ruth got involved. she runs the african millennium organization and paid bibiana's

way to the children's institute in los angeles. here doctors are giving her a high-tech tlaeg will give her freedom. >> i'm happy because i'm alive. and i'm here in a good place. so i'm happy. >> reporter: while bibiana smiles through it all, tindi can't bear to see her sister suffer. >> most of the people hating, they try to hunting us, or they say bad names. >> come straight up for me. >> reporter: their dreams for the future are shaped by the drama they lived through, a trauma tindi wrote a song about. ♪ there be some peoples who killing albinos. >> reporter: tindi wans to be an tanzanian judge who administers hash, judgments to criminals. and bibiana wants to be a doctor to help heal children's bones. ♪ i am so tired >> and we'll have more news right after this.

the cnn freedom project is dedicated to giving a voice to the victims of modern day slavery. all this week, we've been bringing you special reports on the plight of women and girls of the yazidi religious minority in isis controlled territory. hundreds of them have been bought, sold, and assaulted. those who escape say rape isn't just accepted, it is encouraged. in our final installment of this special series, atika shubert takes a disturbing look at how isis has made rape a core principle. ♪

>> reporter: the yazidi are a people as ancient as the stone thrace kiss at this holy spring. a unique religion that blends elements of islam and christianity, and even more ancient practices including sun worship, beliefs that isis use to justify the murder, enslavement and rape of the yazidi. here is how one isis fighter explained to it the yazidi woman he bought and raped. >> reporter: so he showed you a piece of paper, a photo of that paper on his mobile phone?

>> reporter: in isis territory, yazidi women can be bought and sold for money and weapons. isis has made rape and slavery part of its theology. in its online english magazine, isis lady out its justification on religious grounds. quote, enslaving the familiy taking their women as concubines is firmly establish aspect of the sharia law. but theologians the world over has said it is isis that is denigrating the holy book. >> in islam, taking anyone as captive, mistreating them, using them as sex slaves, torturing

them, and killing them is totally prohibited. god is in the koran. those people who lose the capacity to use their brain, their perceptive capacity to see and hear the truth, they're worse than animals. that's exactly what they've demonstrated there is no room for any discussion on this. it's haram, it's anti-islam, and it should be treated as such. >> reporter: as for the yazidi, the tragedy is so great that their own strict traditions have had to adjust. before isis came, marrying outside the faith was strictly condemned. those accused of adultery or even a victim of rape could be killed for dishonoring the family. that is changing. we sat down with yazidi spiritual leader baba sheik to ask how the faith is dealing with the victims.

>> reporter: those words are a source of comfort for the tormented. even as isis attempts to destroy the yazidi and the name of religion, they may still find solace back home. atika shubert in the kurdish region of iraq. >> and at cnn.com, you can find more of our exclusive reporting from the cnn freedom project, which is our bid to raise awareness for yazidi women. and we'll be right back.

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japan's rugby team is looking to make a surprise run into the quarterfinals at this year's rugby world cup in england. the cherry blossoms shocked fans with an opening match win over south africa. and if all falls into place, they could advance by defeating last-place usa on sunday. matt rivers joins us i know from

tokyo to talk more about it. matt, certainly this team has been a shocker in the best of ways for the people of japan. and it's making rugby a sport that people are really getting into. and for good reason right now. >> absolutely. this country has really gotten behind this team in a way that is really historically unusual. if only because of the fact that there hasn't been that much to cheer for in terms of the national team because there hasn't been that much success historically. consider this, in this most recent world cup, the japanese national team has won two matches. in all of their previous world cup efforts combined before this one, they had only won one match ever. they doubled their historical win total. so that is an a accomplishment in itself. then if you factor in the fact that in their match they beat two-time world cup champion south africa, they beat them in a very, very close match to start off, and that has really

kicked off this craze here in japan for this team. people getting extremely excited about it. if only because it's fun to cheer for a winning team in a sport that perhaps might not be top of ticket, top billing in japan. usually it's football and then baseball and then maybe rugby. so it's been very fun, very difficult for the japanese here. >> i'm sure it has. sand coincidentally, japan is now set to host the world cup in 2019. so their rugby mania will probably be sustained over the next four years. perhaps? >> yeah, perhaps. i mean, it's hard for anyone to guess what will four years be like from now. we're not perfectly able to predict the future. but if we can extrapolate a little bit about what we're seeing right now, if you look at the numbers for the television viewing audiences here. so after that first win that we talked about here in -- or in

england for this japanese team after they beat south africa, their next match was against scotland. and even though they lost, 20 million people here in japan stayed up late until 11:00 at night to watch them play that match. and then in the third game, which they won against samoa, nearly 25 million people watched that match. to put that in context, that's about 1/5 or so of the entire japanese population. so if you think that interest may be sustained for the next four years, if this japanese team continues to improve, then when the world cup comes here in 2019, you would expect fans to fill the seats. one quick note. the world cup rugby final in 2019 will be laid in yokohama stadium. it holds about 70,000 people. that's the same stadium in which the world cup football plache, the final in 2002 was played. so i'm assuming that all 70,000 seats will be filled four years from now. >> perhaps so. the brave blossoms.

i love the name of their team as well. matt rivers live for us in tokyo. thanks a lot, matt. and thank you for watching "cnn newsroom" this hour. i'm natalie allen. i'll be right back with another hour of news, including our top story, the russian air strikes into syria. we're live in moscow.

france launches fresh air strikes on syria, as the u.s. questions whether russian missiles are missing the mark and actually crashing in iran. plus the republican favored to be the next speaker of the house bows out of the race. we'll have the latest on the fallout for you. and later, why more and more young afghan men are signing up to join the taliban. and hello. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. we're glad you're with us. this is cnn newsroom live from atlanta. i'm natalie allen. and we begin this hour with new reports from the french defense minister who says his country has launched new air strikes against an isis training camp in raqqah, syria. you may recall france announced

last month they would expand their aerial campaign against isis in iraq, which began in 2014. meantime, both iran and russia are slamming u.s. claims that four russian cruise missiles never reached their intended targets in syria, but crashed instead in iran. iran's defense ministry calls the claims psychological warfare. russia fired those missiles as part of its escalating campaign in syria. well, this amateur video right here uploaded to social media purports to show russian air strike and the aftermath in syria's hama province. cnn is not able to confirm this. so much going on in the skies over syria. and with more, let's turn now to cnn's matthew chance. he is following the story from moscow. matthew, hello. first off, what is the russian reaction to the u.s. allegations that its missiles crashed in iran?

>> well, they've been quite scornful in their reaction, issuing an angry statement on the defense ministry facebook page that seems to be their preferred means of communication during this conflict. they say unlike cnn -- they singled out cnn because cnn was one of the first, but not the only news organization to report the allegation that were made by anonymous u.s. officials in washington, remember, saying that unlike cnn, we don't quote anonymous sources. we show the launches of our missiles and the targets they hit in real-time. no matter how unpleasant and unexpected it is for our colleagues at the pentagon, yesterday's strike with precision guided weapons and isis-guide infrastructure was a fact. you have to believe that the targets that were struck inside syria sort of detonated spontaneously. so they made sort of a scornful jab at these reports that have

come out. the fact that the reports were made, the allegations were made by anonymous officials in the united states hasn't really done much to kind of bolster the credibility of them. certainly it's fueled the suspension in russia and other countries as well that a propaganda campaign is under way. it's trying to discredit the russian military efforts in syria, natalie. >> yes, well, while they jab back. u.s. secretary of state john kerry and his counterpart, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov had a telephone call, didn't they, to speak about perhaps greater coordination in the region. will that happen. >> well, they definitely had a telephone. sergey lavrov and john kerry, the u.s. secretary of state. sergey lavrov is the foreign minister there is a huge divide over the strategy in syria. the two countries find themselves on different sides of the front line virtually.

they're both flying air missions in the skies over the country. but russia is clearly backing the assad government in its counter-offensive, along with iranian troops on the ground and hezbollah fighters. the united states is essentially back elements of the anti-bashar al assad opposition, which is what russia has been striking along with its isis targets. in fact, it's been focusing on the anti-assad groups. so there is a big divide in what should be achieved. but what they are on agreement it seems, and that is a good thing, the need to coordinate. they've got so much military hardware in the area, the united states is leading a coalition of 60 countries. they want to make sure that there is not some kind of unwanted confrontation in the skies over syria. so they are agreeing to coordinate that military to military effort. >> well, that is at least one positive step in all of this. thank you, matthew chance, live for us from moscow. for the people of syria, the russian air strikes add a new threat to the devastation they have already experienced from

their ongoing civil war. cnn's arwa damon shares some of their stories with you. we want to warn you, their stories are difficult to hear. and some of the images you're about to see are extremely graphic and disturbing. >> reporter: barely able to see through the thick dust, somehow members of the syrian civil defense team, also known as the white helmets pull out a little girl. grab her, one orders, and turns around. miraculously, the children appear unharmed. but then another strike. frantic cries of god is great. allahu akbar! >> reporter: luckily this time it seems everyone got out. but often not. the white helmets, an independent medical rescue team have been through this before. too many times for most accounts.

but now it's not just warplanes and barrel bombs. since russia's bombing campaign began on september 30th, they say they have documented around 182 civilian deaths, including two of their own, which they say were caused by russian strikes. the kremlin boths of its accuracy, insisting civilians are not being targeted or killed. but those on the ground say it's a lie. the strikes are indiscriminate, and often land on areas far from the front lines, or rebel bases. a child here treated for wounds. two others appear shellshocked. childhoods they will never know. we cannot independently verify the activist claims of russian responsibility for these casualties, but perhaps what is most despicable is that it is happening at all and has been happening for too long.

no matter whom to blame. as the russian-syrian regime, americans, nato, and other key players talk of war maneuvers and strategic gains, this is what that rhetoric looks like on the ground. these images are graphic and they are real. a child covered in blood, screaming in pain, crying out for his mother. arwa damon, cnn, istanbul. >> so difficult to watch. but it's just what is happening. israel's prime minister says the palestinian authority's incitement, libels, and lies are behind the latest violence there. three new stabbings were reported thursday. israeli police say one was in tel aviv where they say a female israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver by a palestinian who was then shot and killed. mr. netanyahu is urging political figures to stay away

from one of jerusalem's holiest sites where much of this violence has taken place. jews call it the temple mount. muslims call it the noble sanctuary. joining me now is cnn's erin mclaughlin. she is in jerusalem. erin, set the scene for us. what is the security like there ahead of friday prayers? >> reporter: hi, natalie. i think it's important to note that both israeli and palestinian leaders are blaming each other for this latest wave of violence that has people here on edge. we're seeing as you can see behind me, really, intense security presence. thousands of additional police officers throughout jerusalem. here outside the damascus gate of the old city, they've been checking people's ids. and the reason they're doing that is because of the restrictions that are in place on the holy site known to muslim as the noble sanctuary and to jews as the temple mount.

muslim men under the age of 45 not allowed inside the site to pray today for security reasons. it's the kind of restrictions that have angered many muslims. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu asking members of his government, ministers as well as members of the knesset not to visit the site in recent weeks visits to the site from members of the far right have inflamed tensions. palestinians accusing israelis of challenging the status quo of the site in those visits. and clearly, with that measure, the israeli prime minister trying to de-escalate the situation. >> erin, these attacks have been lone wolf style attacks, haven't they? and what are israeli and palestinian leaders saying about them? >> most of the attacks, israeli security officials say have been lone wolf attacks, the kinds of attacks that are very difficult

to prevent. now israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu blaming the palestinian leadership as well as hamas for inciting violence. that's what he said in a press conference that he held yesterday. asaab erakat telling cnn that mahmood abbas has been trying to de-escalate the situation, but he says palestinians on the street want to know what happens after de-escalation, if in his words the humiliation will continue. he says the only way to truly stop the violence is a two-state solution. and he said that he is very concerned about the possibility of violence today. >> all right. erin mclaughlin for us live there in jerusalem. erin, thank you. well, we have new information regarding the blockbuster suspensions handed out by a fifa ethics committee. those suspensions hit world football's top three executives. well think you know them at this point. cnn sports correspondent christina mcfarland joins us

live from london. christina, hello to you. and an extraordinary day in fifa's history there have been some developments overnight as well. what can you tell us? >> yeah, that's right, natalie. and unprecedented day in fifa's history yesterday. three of their top officials suspended for 90 days. the most high profile of which of course was sepp blatter. and he said yesterday that he was disappointed he wasn't given the opportunity to present evidence on his behalf. we understand that late last night he has now launched an appeal against that suspension. and he said he was very hopeful that it will be overturned. now what will happen is that this appeal will go to the court of appeal. if it gets thrown out for whatever reason, which it very well may be, by then he has the opportunity to take it to the court of arbitration for sport. now we expect that this will be the same circumstance for the head of uefa michel platini in the next 24 hours. he expect him to appear as well. he came out fighting against that suspension yesterday.

he said he was driven by profound feeling of staunch defiance to clear his name. he was extremely angry. and we know that he and uefa actually defied the fifa ethics committee yesterday by keeping michel platini as president and coming out publicly yesterday saying they will continue to back him. now we know that up until yesterday, michel platini was a front-runner for the fifa presidential candidacy in 2016. another candidate was also banned yesterday for six years. that was south korea's chung jung moon. big questions asked about where fifa go from here and the future of their presidency. >> right. because they're expected to have an election, as you say, in early 2016. so how did they continue to manage all of this during this drama? and can fifa just itself survive? >> unsurprisingly, natalie, uefa

and fifa are in disarray at the moment with all these suspensions. what we understand is that fifa's extraordinary executive committee have called an emergency meeting. and uefa have called their 54 nations together next month for an emergency summit to deal with what they call the current crisis. yesterday an interim president was appointed to the head of fifa. his name is isa hiatu. he is the head of african football. but he said he did not want to continue to run as president after the elections in february. so long-term he does not want the position. he himself is a rather controversial figure because he was sanctioned by the ioc back in 2011. but all of this begs the question of where next for the leadership. remember, the closing date for the candidate bids is just around two weeks from now on the 26th of october. and at the moment, there are very few advisable candidates left to run for this. michel platini, we're not sure if he is el i didn't believe to run after what happened yesterday.

chung jong moon is out which leaves prison hussein of jordan, who remember he ran against blatter back in may. and liberian president. but i wouldn't be surprised if we saw other people, other candidates coming forward after what has been an extraordinary few days of chaos at fifa. >> well, whoever comes forward, they will have quite the job to restore the integrity of this governing body. see if they can continue on. thank you, christina mcfarland for us there live in london. well, the south african parole board is meeting friday to consider probation for olympian oscar pistorius. he was sentenced a year ago to five years in prison for culpable homicide in the 2013 killing of his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. pistorius has been trying to get out of prison since a parole hearing in august. just ahead here, in a shock move, the man expected to be the next speaker of the house of

representatives says he is not going to do it. he steps away, leaving the republican party in limbo. we'll break it down for you right after this. to folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain.

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republicans in the u.s. congress are searching for a new leader after the man expected to claim that title suddenly withdrew from the race. kevin mccarthy made the surprise announcement thursday, and now the party's leadership in the house of representatives is looking more like a house of cards. chief political correspondent dana bash reports. >> reporter: there is congressional chaos, and then there is this. >> move it out of the way. >> reporter: a republican meeting to vote for a new speaker ending abruptly after the front-runner, kevin mccarthy shocked everyone, suddenly dropping out of the race. >> people are absolutely stunned. >> reporter: i mean, you were behind him. are you stunned? >> totally stunned. no idea it was coming. no one did. >> reporter: you were just in there. >> kevin mccarthy like john boehner did put the country and the congress and the people

before his own interests. it was a very honorable thing to do. he recognize and shared with the conference that his candidacy might further divide the caucus and further divide the party across the country. >> reporter: behind closed doors, that's exactly what kevin mccarthy told his colleagues. >> i think i shocked some of you. >> reporter: and what he repeated to reporters after the news got out. >> if we're going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that. so nothing more than that. >> reporter: that and raw numbers. despite mccarthy's public confidence, only an hour earlier. >> very well. >> reporter: sources close to mccarthy say he realized getting approval from the mama jordan of the house, 218 votes, was going to be tough. and cnn is told mccarthy decided the demands many conservative members were making in exchange for their vote, those in the so-called freedom caucus would have made him too week to be effective. tim huelskamp is one of 40 republicans in that house caucus. >> how do we work together? we're looking for a speaker who works with conservatives rather

than against us. we presumed kevin was going to reach out to us to say what do we need to do? what changes do we need to make. >> reporter: moderates like charlie dent worry it will be hard to find a republican member who will appeal to those conservatives but still actually lead the entire house as the constitution requires the speaker to do. >> the next speaker should not appease those who make unreasonable demands there are a number of members of our conference who simply cannot get the yes on anything. >> reporter: daniel webster and jason chaffetz, the other two republicans in the race for the speaker are a bit speechless. >> did not see that coming. >> reporter: but still in. >> because we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we were elected to do. >> reporter: so the question now is who will be speaker. and the answer on everybody's lips is paul ryan. at least he is the one who can bring together all of the factions, the warring factions of the republican party in the house. the problem is paul ryan has made clear he doesn't want the job. we are told that john boehner,

the current house speaker is trying to get him to change his mind to put his hat in the ring because this is a time where republicans need the relationship and the respect that he actually does garner from so many parts of the republican party. his aides are saying he is not going to do it, but he is not closing the door fully. dana bash, cnn, washington. >> joining me now to talk about this fascinating development, cnn political commentators peter beinart and ben ferguson. i want to first get your reaction. here you have kevin mccarthy. he had enough votes to get this job. and then he says no, i don't want it. what is your reaction? let's start with you, peter. >> it's really remarkable. i mean, the old political commentator will rogers said i

don't belong to an organized political party, i'm a democrat. which historically it was the democrats that were considered the more anarchic of the parties. but if you look at what is happening among the republicans of the house, there is really a sense of anarchy there is no respect for hierarchy there is no willingness to compromise in order to make the party function. and as a result, we have a remarkable situation in which we have no idea who the speaker is going to be. and not much prospect of having a speaker who is going to be strong enough to actually do things that are in the republican party's own interests, let alone the nation's interests. >> and ben, disarray comes at a time when they're about to face important fiscal battles there. >> yeah. >> so what do you make of this? >> look, i'm not near as excited or nervous as many others are acting. this isn't chaos. this is the old guard and john boehners' guys having a hard time staying around and surviving the same way that john boehner did this. this is exactly what many of these members were sent to washington to do, to put a new face in washington in the republican party. let's be real candid. under john boehner and under the leadership in the senate, we have been a complete failure to take on obama and his policies. so i think this is a good thing

for the republican party. it doesn't make me nervous in any way. in fact, if you talk to most conservatives, they're thrilled tonight. they think this is a big victory, because this was not a back room deal that was going to be able to be done once again by john boehner or any others around him for him to say hi, i'm gone, but i'm going to appoint my heir apparent. so i think this is actually going to turn out really well. and as for the government shutdown and things like that, i also think the republicans learned from the last shutdown. i do not see there being a shutdown coming any time soon. and i think they'll work together with a new face. >> well, ben, who do you think that new face could be? >> i would be lying if i told you if i knew who it was tonight. i think that may be the best part about this. in the past we've always known who it was going to be. and that's what they really tried to have with mccarthy is the coronation of hey, boehner 2.0. i think will are a lot of people

really looking at this, even those saying early on that they weren't going to be involved in this. paul ryan, his phone is still ringing off the hook as i talked to quite a few congressmen today. you also have chafee who i think has a decent shot as well. i think it's early on, and this is going to take another several days to figure out who exactly everyone is willing to agree on. i think they will. >> well, peter, let's get you back in here. >> cnn is hosting the first debate among the democratic presidential candidates. our live coverage from las vegas starts tuesday night at 8:30 eastern. that's 8:30 a.m. in hong kong, right here on cnn. coming up in the next half hour of "cnn newsroom," in just a couple of minutes, the taliban gain strength in afghanistan, and with it more fighters. we'll tell you how economics are driving retruettment.

and welcome back to our viewer here is in the united states and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom" live from atlanta. i'm natalie allen with our top stories. france's minister of defense reports on hiss twitter page that france has launched a new air strike in syria. it was aimed at an isis training camp in raqqah. this comes as russia has recently escalated its campaign in syria as well. the leading candidate of the next speaker of house of representatives dropped out of the race. kevin mccarthy made the surprise announcement thursday. he says his party needs to unite behind a new face. but no clear favorites have emerged. german chancellor angela merkel is a strong favorite to win the nobel peace prize for

her involvement in dealing with europe's migrant crisis and greece's economic collapse. overs in the rung include pope francis and the brokers of the iran nuclear deal. the winner will be announced in in a little more than one hour from now. we'll bring that to you. afghanistan's president has named a high level team to investigate last saturday's deadly air strike. it killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens more at a doctors without borders hospital in kunduz. the death toll is expected to rise. in washington thursday, the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan again took responsibility for the attack. general john campbell promised in-depth training to prevent similar accidents in the future. their recent success in kunduz is evidence that the taliban are regaining strength in afghanistan. and as cnn's international diplomatic editor nic robertson discovered, recruitment is up

not so much for political or philosophical reasons, but because of simple economics. >> reporter: the man with the army jacket and gun is a taliban fighter. he is recruiting the other two to join. >> translator: i told them to come and join as they can make enough money to live with. >> reporter: in this video shot for us by a freelance cameraman, the would-be recruits are easy prey. >> translator: today in afghanistan finding a job is not an easy thing. i want to join them so i can have an income and make a living. >> reporter: easy prey and easy pitch for this fighter. seven months ago, he too was jobless. he won't say how much he earns, but it's more than an afghan soldier. >> translator: i used to work for a foreign company. but after the contracts finished, i lost my job. and after several months of being jobless, i had to join the taliban. >> reporter: over the past few years, afghanistan's economy has been grinding into the dust.

the lubrication of foreign contract dollars is drying up as the international community heads for the exit. and corruption has been sopping up what little spare there was. unemployment needless to say has been rocketing. >> translator: i'm educated. i've got my school and university degrees with me. but after a lot of struggles, i couldn't find a job. so i had to come to the taliban. >> reporter: he shows us his diplomas. he never thought he would see this day. doesn't even like the taliban. >> translator: i don't have anything to do with their viewpoints. my only reason to join them is my economical problems and unemployment. >> reporter: the taliban's recent success in kunduz is also something of a pull. >> translator: it's very much possible that the taliban may get stronger, and they may capture more places. and if the situation continued like this, they may even get to the capital. >> translator: looking at the current situation in afghanistan, to me it looks like the taliban would take control

of it in the near future. >> reporter: but they're not all in. they say they'll jump ship the moment the government offers them something better. >> if the government tries to create job opportunities for educated youths like me, he will definitely return and work with the government and continue my normal life. >> reporter: so as important as the battle of kunduz undoubtedly is, the war won't be won on bullets alone. the economy is the new front line. nic robertson, cnn, kabul, afghanistan. a u.s. service member who was wounded while helping to stop a terror attack on a train in france is now in a california hospital recovering from another attack, a stabbing. travis stone after the august stab incident. he is in serious serious condition but expected to be

okay. he was involved in a bar fight that spilled into the street in sacramento, california. stone was stabbed three times. police are trying to find his attackers. an american journalist accused of spying has now been detained in iran longer than the 52 u.s. hostages who were held there 35 years ago. becky anderson looks at the 445 days since "the washington post" reporter has been held. >> reporter: june 20, '09. protests rock tehran after the disputed election saw the radical president mack return to power. >> they revoked my press pass a couple of days before it was set

to expire. >> reporter: but rezaian went back and began working for "the washington post." in the spring of 2014, he and his iranian wife talked with cnn's anthony bourdain about the challenges of reporting from the country. >> the difficult part is convincing people on the other side of the world that what we're telling you we're seeing in front of our eyes is actually there. when you walk down a street you see a different side of things. people are proud. the culture is vibrant. people have a lot to say. >> reporter: there were frustrations. >> i miss certain things about my home. i miss my buddies. i miss burritos. but i love it. i love it and i hate it, you know. but it's home. it's become home. >> reporter: six weeks later, jason and his wife were detained, their home ransacked. she was released on bail, but jason remained in prison with only one visit with a lawyer and unable to talk with his family for four months until last thanksgiving when he was

suddenly allowed to make a call home. >> we talked about past thanksgivings with people who are now departed. we both choked up a number of times. >> reporter: his mother mary appearing on cnn's amanpour worried about his health. >> his continued mental state is in question, simply because i understand he has been in chronic pain. >> reporter: rezaian was finally put on trial five months later, accused of espionage and facing a 20-year sentence if convicted. the trial ended late this summer. and "the washington post" again appealed for his release, saying jason is a dedicated, law-abiding journalist and a good man who is being targeted with nonsensical, unsupportable, and entirely baseless allegations of espionage and other offenses. iran's judiciary news service said his arrest has nothing 20 do with his being a journalist. through a website and on twit

were a #freejason, his family have kept up the pressure to get him released. >> these delays are completely inhumane. they're illegal by iranian standards. they're illegal by international standards. >> reporter: but months after the end of his trial, still no verdict announced. only a recent hint from president rouhani that jason and other americans in jails could be part of an exchange for iranians convicted in u.s. on charges related to nuclear technology. >> the americans take the appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the swiftest freedom for the americans held in iran as well. >> reporter: jason's mother says all her son ever wanted to do was report. >> he loves iran, and he took it upon himself to try to show a modern iran to the rest of the world, to the western world that has been closed out for so many

years. >> reporter: for 4445 days now, jason rezaian as been unable to report or even speak to the outside world. becky anderson, cnn, abu dhabi. >> well will continue to follow the story for you. very few countries put on an elaborate military parade like north korea. just ahead, we'll go live to pyongyang for a look at what the country is celebrating this week and how it's doing that. just about anywhere you can use splenda®... ...no calorie sweetener. splenda® lets you experience... ...the joy of sugar... ...without all the calories. think sugar, say splenda®

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nork is focused on a very big anniversary this week. the country gearing up for massive military parade in celebration to mark 70 years since the workers party of korea was founded. cnn's will ripley is in pyongyang for us. he joins us now live. certainly, will, these type of

spectacles quite important to the regime there. >> yeah, they haven't had a major parade like this in about two years, natalie. and we're expecting kim jong un to preside over the festivity here is just like he did two years ago. this is bound to be a very lavish, extravagant demonstration that is designed to send two messages. one to the north korean people showing their loyalty to the leader. and a second to the world that north korea's military is to be reckoned with. when it comes to massive displace of state muscle, nobody does it quite like north korea. then again, no other nation has the korean workers party, led by three generations of the same family for seven decades. this weekend's spectacle is supposed to be a showcase of loyalty to the party and its supreme leader. pyongyang citizens have been rehearsing for months, day and night. "we want to celebrate in the

most significant way" says this university student. tens of thousands will fill the streets. a lavish celebration for a nation still struggling economically. you'll often see north korean young people dancing in large formations like this. this is often thou hey celebrate large celebrations lake the one coming up. an imposing symbol of north korea's only ruling party that turns 70 on saturday. we're taken to the party's first headquarters, a place the north korean government says foreign media has never visited before. as many communist regimes collapse, north korea's system is practically unchanged. >> people are in these rooms right now learning about the history of the party. >> reporter: from their earliest days at school right through their adult work live, every north korean attends regular history studies. they learn the official story of kimmi l sun's rise to power to worker party founder to supreme leader for 46 years, a title

passed on to his son and grandson. third generation leader kim jong un rules the nation some call a cold war throwback. but north korea insists it's here to stay, developing nuclear weapons and missiles to defend the regime. this weekend's parade a show of devotion to the leadership, a defiant show of force to the world. new satellite images released and analyzed by 38 north indicate that this could be one of the biggest military parades in north korean history there are hundreds of pieces of military hardware that they're going to be rolling through the streets of pyongyang. we expect very spectacular pictures tomorrow. of course, a lot of military watchers will be looking specifically at the missile launchers that they will roll out. north korea is rumored to be developing some very sophisticated missile technology. of course, there was a lot of speculation in recent weeks that the north may actually try to launch a satellite into orbit

during this celebratory weekend. the same 38 north analysis of different satellite photos of their launch site shows that is unlikely to happen. they just don't see any activity happening at the north korean launch site. however, people will be watching to see what military hardware the north has, and they do expect north korea it says that a launch of a satellite could be imminent in the coming weeks, natalie. there is also speculation about a possible nuclear test. this military parade could be the first message that north korea sends to the world with regard to its military power. natalie? >> thank you so much, will ripley live for us in pyongyang, north korea. just ahead here, a dense haze of pollution is lurking over indonesia. we'll tell you how the country is battling this hazardous problem.

indonesia is seeking international help as it battles a hazardous regional haze. the air pollution has been an annual problem for years, but tens of thousands of indonesians this year have fallen ill. cnn's robyn curnow has our report. >> reporter: smoke from indonesia's burning land blankets the forests of sumatra

and borneo islands and coats the lungs of the people who live there. with pollution readings in one province at the highest dangerous level and cases of respiratory illness up 250% since last month, many families on sumatra are bringing their young children to a temporary shelter in a government office building. >> translator: it's safe here because this place is sterilized. the air is clean, unlike outside. my child was coughing before he came, but now he is fine. >> reporter: that's that's a temporary reprieve for some, the haze isn't going anywhere. in indonesia, illegal forest fires often set to clear land for agriculture. but dry conditions exacerbated by the effects of the strongest el nino since 1997 have sent the fires and the smoke billowing out of control. parts of indonesia, malaysia, singapore and other neighboring countries are now engulfed in haze. the indonesian government is pleading for help, asking for planes that can carry more

water. >> translator: we have already asked for help from singapore. the process is ongoing with russia, malaysia and japan. 12 to 15 tons of water will help to cease the fires rather than using two to three tons of water which is not effective at all. >> reporter: until that help arrives, it's a race against time to protect the most vulnerable populations and the wildlife. like some 700 orangutans who live in the burning forests out of harm's way. robyn curnow, cnn, atlanta. as part of our ongoing two degrees series before the u.n. climate conference in paris this december, our meteorologists have been answering your questions about global warming. two degrees is what climate experts say is the difference between stabilizing global warming. we have to hold it to that and

total runaway climate change if it increases more than that. well, derek van dam is among our team of meteorologists taking your climate questions. and here he is now. derek? >> that's right, natalie. we'll be answering the questions every week leading up to paris this december. now this particular question comes from a viewer in chicago. have a listen. >> hi, my name is satya, and i am from chicago, illinois. my question is climate change associated with the natural disasters we have been currently experiencing? >> all right. this is one of the most frequent questions i am asked. that behind will it rain on my wedding day and my kid's birthday party. to actually correlate an extreme weather event to climate change is hugely irresponsible. there has got to be tons of study. lots of conclusions made before we can draw those two things together. besides, extreme weather events have been happening well before

human had any influence on the cliel climate. there is a correlation between the heavy rain events and coastal flooding. take for instance what we experienced this week and last week in the carolinas. catastrophic record-breaking one in one thousand year rainfall events across south carolina. and did you me that we had over $11 trillion gallons of water dumped from this particular rainfall event. that's enough to fill 16 1/2 million olympic-sized swimming pools. and if that's not enough of a statistic for you, that water is enough to put an end to the four-year ongoing drought across the u.s. state of california. that's a lot of rainfall. a lot of precipitation. it did, however, help with the ongoing drought that is taking place across the midlands of the carolinas. you can see this drought monitoring how much of an improvement that took place

after the rains fell. now the world's weather patterns are definitely changing due to climate change and global warming. and that fingerprint of climate change is seen across many aspects of our weather patterns, including the heavy rainfall in other parts of the world. hokkaido, for instance, in northern japan had record breaking rainfall. and there is unfortunately more to come across that part of the world. i want to show you something quickly, natalie. nasa and its recent probe sent out to pluto has come back with astonishing images. did you know that if you were standing on the surface of pluto, you would see blue skies overhead. >> beautiful. >> not bad. >> there it is. >> all right. okay. well, we have some space travel news, just in time for the holidays. derek, check this out. if you're looking for a present that is out of this world this year for christmas, one high-end retailer has just what you need. nieman marcus is going above and

beyond in its annual gift book. the catalog for those who already have everything. a luxury trip floating to the edge of space like this will set you back a mere $90,000. i think derek should do that one. or maybe you want to toast the holiday season. these rare bourbons should do the trick for $125,000. or if you want adventure with a hot hollywood star, how about a motorcycle ride with keanu reeves. $150,000 buys two days with the actor cruising through california. well, if you do splurge, if you're one of those who can, the proceeds will go to help support children's arts education. james bond is never one to mince words. and the actor playing the british superspy is blunt about his time as 007. daniel craig admits he is burned out after four straight block busters. he told time-out london he is

tired of always having to look the part. and when asked about doing another bond movie, he said, and we quote, i'd rather break this glass and flash my wrist. i'm over it at the moment. we're done. all i want to do is move on. whoa. craig spent eight months filming the latest bond epic "spectre" and says he is looking forward to some sleep and a few drinks. probably not one of those shaken not stirred martinis. sounds like he needs a pint or two. thanks for watching cnn. i'm natalie allen. "early start" is coming up for our viewers in the u.s. for viewers elsewhere, stay with us for more of "cnn newsroom."

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♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ congress in chaos. the man expected to be the next speaker of the house drops out of the race. republicans left with no clear front runner, except one who doesn't want the job. new warning from the fbi about syrian refugees coming to the united states. the nobel peace prize expected to be given in an hour. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm michelle kosinski. >> it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. i'm john berman. republicans, do you know