♪ this is cnn news room, live from los angeles. >> ahead this hour, u.s. president obama says it's certainly possible a bomb took down this passenger airplane, but critics ask, where's the proof? >> the lineup for the next republican debate has just been revealed. we'll tell you who's in and who didn't make the cut. >> and later, he's one of the most popular and mysterious artists in the world today. i'll speak with one of the few people on the planet who can call banksy a friend. >> great to have you with us. we would like to welcome our viewers all around the room. >> "newsroom l.a." starts right now.

>> the u.s. and britain say it looks like it was a bomb that brought down metro jet plane. it crashed killing all 224 people onboard. >> one u.s. official says specific internet chatter around saturday's crash suggests that isis or isis affiliates were involved. here's what u.s. president barack obama said thursday. >> i think there is a possibility that there was a bomb onboard. and we're taking that very seriously. >> thousands of british tourists stranded from sharm el sheikh egypt could start coming home in the next few hours. ben wedeman, just past 8:00 in the morning. limited flights set to resume, but there will be increased security and no checked luggage

for those passengers heading home. >> that's right. about 20,000 british tourists are in sharm el sheikh at the moment. many have had their return to the uk delayed because of the suspension of flights tweep the uk and sharm el sheikh. special flights will be laid on by the airlines to be bring many of those people, but, of course, they will only be able to bring hand luggage, no check-in luggage from the airport. that comes after a british airport security delegation came to look at the security procedures at sharm el sheikh international airport. they apparently did make some recommendations and they did focus on the baggage handling system there, but clearly there's some doubts that still remain. we learned the dutch national carrier has informed passengers flying from cairo to amsterdam

today that they will not be able to check in luggage, they will only be able to bring hand luggage onboard that aircraft. so it would appear that perhaps concerns are spreading from sharm el sheikh to cairo's much bigger and busier international airport. john? >> is this now appears to be a growing issue when it comes to the luggage. that's what we're hearing from the u.s. side of things, that it's the luggage or the luggage handlers who could be the weak link in all of this. you mentioned klm and other countries and airlines which have expressed some level of concern about the security of airports in egypt. >> yes. for instance, the british, they sent a delegation to sharm el sheikh ten months ago to look at procedures there. britain considers the level of security at airports across the middle east to be below the

standards of the u.s. and uk, with the exception, they note, of the airports in israel, which probably set the standard when it comes to stringent security measures. they're not only concerned about egypt but also bahrain and kuwait. john? >> thank you. live at this hour in cairo with the important development at klm, now asking their passengers to leave the luggage behind in cairo as they head to amsterdam. >> he defended his decision to suspend flights to and from sharm el sheikh. >> of course, i cannot be sure, experts cannot be sure that it was a terrorist bomb that brought down that russian plane, but if the intelligence is, and

judgment is that that is a more likely than not outcome, then i think it's right to act in the way that i did. >> it's notable that president sisi did not criticize the british government's recent statements and actions in its public comment on thursday. so we're now looking at a greater level of cooperation between the two countries on this plane crash. >> i think president sisi is treading very carefully here. an awkward time for him to be visiting when the prime minister of britain decides to cut flights to egypt, citing security concerns at the airport at sharm el sheikh. but, of course, president sisi needs the british government, he needs the million or so, just under british tourists who fly to egypt each year. and the uk is egypt's largest

foreign investor. so you did have a fairly careful press conference between the two, where they did stress their cooperation, whereas you say david cameron defended his decision to suspend flights. flights will be resumed today. there will be empty planes flying to sharm el sheikh to bring the 20,000 or so stranded british tourists back. as ben was sayinger, though, without anything other than hand luggage. as the team you are looking into security on fwhaf of british authorities assesses and puts in a raft of measures to address what they see as security failings at sharm el sheikh airport. isha? >> and mr. cameron also spoke with russian president vladimir putin on thursday. details released underscoring the fact that uk and russia remain on different pages when it comes to this crash. >> russia and egypt are both

keen to emphasize that there's no point in jumping to conclusions before the investigation has completed its investigation, but you and i both know that those take -- those kinds of investigations can take a long time. russia and egypt clearly fairly defensive that this cannot have happened and fairy resistant that the uk and u.s. are already coming out and talking of the possibility that this was a bomb. so prime minister -- the british prime minister called the russian president yesterday on thursday, explaining to him the measures that britain was taking. but presumably did not share their intelligence. there was a fairly measured response from the kremlin, or a press release about that telephone call. much more striking were the comments from the skpoekswoman for the foreign ministry in moscow who said it was shocking that the uk did have

intelligence about any kind of chatter or any intelligence about militant activity that they had not shared that with moscow. so clearly, moscow fairly raebt to this idea that the uk is taking the lead here and making the comments that it is about this investigation. >> yes, vocally resistant. >> thank you. >> there's a big shake-up in republican ranks ahead of next week's fourth candidate debate. new jersey governor chris christie and mike huckabee have both been dropped from the main stage, the grown-up table and they'll join rick santorum and bobby jindal at the undercar debate, the kiddies table as

it's called. >> the main debate itself, donald trump will appear at center stage, flanked by dr. ben carson and marco rubio. joining them will be ted cruz, jeb bush, carly fiorina, john kasich and rand paul. >> republican candidate ben carson is facing scrutiny over some claims he made about a violent past. the soft spoken doctor says he used to have a pathological temper which often led to acts of violence. >> but some of his childhood friends say that doesn't sound like the person they remember. >> i'm drft ben carson and this is my story. >> reporter: dr. ben carson has captivated voters from the rise of to a pediatric neurosurgeon. >> i picked up a rock, hurled it at his face. >> the evangelical voters have fuelled his surge atop the if thetial field is his account of

a religious epiphany that changed him from a violent angry young man to the composed figure who stands before voters today. >> another time a fellow was trying to close my locker at school, i struck him in the forehead with my fist. i would go after people with rocks and bricks and baseball bats and hammers. >> a version of the most serious attack is portrayed in a 2009 television movie, based on his autobiography, "gifted hands." >> had it not been for a belt buckle under the clothing, they would have been killed or seriously injured. >> i feel like i should move my chair. >> that was not his demeanor around here. >> cnn set out to find classmates who carson said were victims of the attacks. but so far has been unable to locate any of them. the carson campaign declined to provide names of those involved or eyewitnesss. calling cnn's examination into

carson's past a witch hunt. cnn interviewed nine of carson's friends, neighbors and classmates. and all say the violent, impulsive person has described himself as is unrecognizable to them. a tenth person said he might have heard a rumor about the knife attack at the time, but couldn't be sure. also of those interviewed recalled carson as quiet, bookish and nerdy. a kid who wore thick glasses and a pocket protector for his pens. >> he was just smart, a bookworm. >> with us, he was always kind, easy, a lot of fun. always. >> sibling steve and marie choice grew up next door to the carsons. >> i was really surprised when i read he tried to stab someone. what? >> you never saw the police over here or anything? >> no, no, no. >> does it fit with the guy who you knew? that kind of activity? >> no. >> i was shocked. i was surprised because he was

just, you know, he was quiet and calm. >> you never saw any sort of violence or anger? >> no, i did not. i did not. very nice young man. >> i did not witness those things. i don't have really independent knowledge of those things. >> tim mcdaniel is a former classmate and life long friend of carson's hp he said what he described on the stump is totally out of character than the academically driven young man he knew growing up. >> i was a little surprised by it. >> still, mcdaniels says he 3w4r50 believes his old friend and may have kept it from his friend out of embarrassment. >> i think he tried to hide it until he realized in order to really, really clear his conscious, he had to make a

confessi confession. he said that honestly and i i believed everything he told me. >> while all of the friends and classmates interviewed by cnn are perplexed by the stories of violence mr. carson describe, most still express admiration for him. >> a national political reporter joins us now from washington, d.c. what have you made of ben carson and, i guess, the carson camp at large, their response to your investigation. >> today, dr. carson was asked about this look into his detroit years. the campaign did not cooperate with us as we were looking for people, we, of course, akroeched them and asked for their help some time ago, asking us to connect with people who knew him during that part of his life. and they refused and said it was a witch hunt. i understand tonight that dr. carson called it a smear scam pain and suggested that cnn was

calling him a liar. this is not the case. we were simply saying that we have not been able to find any of the attacks that he's talked about and we're still looking for him. he also said today for the first time that i've heard it that he used fictitious names in his book to describe some of the people who were involved in these incidents. and he has said thhe will not reveal their identities, but if they want to come forward, he would welcome them to do so. so if they do come forward, we'll certainly talk to them about their recollections of the incident. >> and finally, he's heading into another debate next week. my question is do these stories in which they stand are unsubstantiated, that's basically what it is and not wholesale debunked. but we haven't been able to stand them up. does this become an achilles heel for him in the debate next week?

>> he's certainly casting it as an attempt by the media to smear his campaign. and, you know, that strategy has certainly worked for many candidates in the past. i think that they're pretty simple, straightforward questions that we've asked dr. carson and the campaign. i'm sure if he comes forward with more details of these incidents and the circumstances in which they occurred, you know, we can all move on to the next thing to talk about in the campaign. but i would expect them to come up in the debate next week. donald trump tweeted about it tonight and some of the other candidates will be talking about it as well. everything at this point is a piece of debate among the many candidates who are running. >> great to have you on the show. thank you so much. >> the american people are sick and tired about your damn e-mails. >> thank you.

me, too. me, too. thank you, bernie. >> here's the thing. it sounded different on wednesday when he told "the wall street journal," take a look at this, there's an investigation going on right now. i did not say end the investigation, that's silly. let the investigation proceed unimpeded. >> top strategist for sanders insists the candidate has made similar statements in the past. it sounds very different, though, but that's not how the clinton campaign saw it, saying this. it's disappointing senator sanders and his campaign strategists have chosen to change direction and engage in the type of personal attacks that they previously said they wouldn't do. for our viewers internationally, jonathan mann, it's a show which brings you the very latest on the u.s. presidential race from the candidate's platforms to the political missteps. you can find all of that on cnni. >> the show premiers saturday on cnn international at 11:30 in

the morning hong kong time. that's 11:30 at night for those of you in london town. >> those of you watching from the united states, you can still get it, please log on to cnn go.com at 11:30 p.m. eastern for "political mann." and still to come, russian families in mourning. the first funerals held for the vick tums of the metro jet crash. >> plus, why police believe this 9-year-old boy was targeted in a gang shooting. do stay with us. this holiday season, get ready for homecomings. i see you brought a friend? i wanna see, i wanna see. longing. serendipity. what are the... chances. and good tidings to all. hang onto your antlers. it's the event you don't want to miss. it's the season of audi sales event.

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>> welcome back. chicago police believe a 9-year-old killed in their city was the intended target of a gang shooting. officials say he was lured into an alley where he was shot multiple times on monday. >> police say he was gunned down because his father is an alleged gang member. so far no arrests having made. and fivls say the father is not cooperating with the investigation. >> well, louisiana state police have conceded that the gunshots that killed a 6-year-old boy came from an officer at the scene. the child was in the front seat of his father's truck when he

was shot during a pursuit on tuesday. >> an investigator initially said the father was firing at officers. now the police admit the boy's father did not have a gun in the vehicle. father is wounded and remains in hospital. >> we easteare turning now to op story, a third plane carrying remans of the crash victims is on its way to st. petersburg from cairo. that's according to russian state media. meanwhile, the funerals in russia have begun. >> at least two people whose bodies have been identified were laid to rest on thursday. mt thu chance has more now on what an emotional day this has been. >> in a tiny chapel near st. petersburg, the grief of an entire nation is pouring out. the tears of the 60-year-old

canteen worker for a local school. worst ever air catastrophe to be laid to rest. he always greeted us with a smile said the greeting colleague. you were full of kindness and humanity. we will always remember you, she says. russia and those strangers to air disasters, but this latest appears to have struck a cord. perhaps because the passengers were mainly family, including at least 25 children. they were on holiday to escape the russian cold. ordinary russians know it could easily have been one of them. the bereaved mother of

31-year-old alexei grasps a portrait to her heart. he went with another colleague from a heating factory they worked for. their boss was mopg the mourners. they were enjoying themselves, he says, sending photos and messages to us. when i was called on saturday, i just couldn't believe it, he adds. here i am, alive and my guys are gone. this entire nation now shares the grief. >> joining me now on the phone from moscow is dimitri babic, a political analyst. if it does turn out this was a bomb that brought down this plane, how will the russian people react, who will they blame?

>> the people are reacting with grief, but i don't think it will have any effect on their political decisions of the government because if they were hit by the terrorits, that means they're most pervasive argument against the russian involvement is syria until now was that we're bombing the wrong people, we're not bombing the terrorist, we're bombing the so-called moderatings. if a moderate plants a bomb on a plane, then he's not a moderate. so politically, i don't think this strategy will change anything in the russian attitude to the syrian problem. >> the isis terrorist group is claiming responsibility to the bombing. i don't think you consider them to be moderate syrians by any stretch of the imagination. and so given that, will there be any problems for the russian president because he got the russians involved in this conflict in syria and some may see that this bombing as retaliation for that.

>> that's what i want to see. the american media said many times that russia was not hitting the isil or so-called islamic state but that it was hitting the moderates. then why would isil get angry if it didn't receive any -- >> because you're supporting president assad who's their enemy. >> well, i mean, these people on the plane, they were innocent. so planting a bomb on a plane is a crime by any standard. >> absolutely. agree 100% with you. but that's how terrorism works. >> and that's for the claims by the isil, i would not give too much credence to these claims. because it just shows how evil they are, you know? they are ready to take responsibility for a horrible crime, even if they didn't commit it. the fact that they pronounce

themselves ready to commit it, the fact that they pride themselves on such a crime means that we're hitting the right target by hitting them. >> they're a disgusting group of people by no stretch of the imagination, but why won't the russians come out and agree with the united states and the uk leaders especially in saying that this does look like a bomb. everyone sees the same intelligence. surely the russians know the same information that the americans and the british know. >> it's quite clear the united states and britain were somewhat too hasty with their suspicions, because the egyptian investigators and the russian investigators, they have not yet completed their work. it is not yet clear what caused the disaster. so to agree with british and americans before we have any

real information from the ground would be premature. i'm sure the russian government suspects the u.s. and british of using it politically. the united states government might be tempted to use the situation as saying look, we said you're going to pay a price so you're already paying a price. the civilians are paying a price. >> we would like to talk about this another time, but we appreciate you being with us on the line from moscow. dimitri babic who works for radio sputnik in moscow. thank you, sir. >> very interesting. >> interesting perspective. it was difficult to get a couple of the arguments a couple of times. but i understand what he was saying. >> cnn news room, a leading republican candidate under scrutiny for his past spending. what a former mentor is now

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>> you're watching cnn newsroom. let's check the headlines. u.s. president barack obama thinks it's certainly possible there was a bomb onboard metro skbret flight 9268. the plane crashed in to egypt's sinai peninsula saturday, killing all 224 people onboard. egypt and russia say there's no

evidence to support the bomb theory. >> police and protesters are scuffling with each other in central london on thursday. they were supporting the activist group anonymous who won the million mask march. some arrests were made and at least one police car was set on fire. an activist said they were demonstrating for equality and against censorship. >> two candidates have been dropped from the big stage at the next republican presidential debate. fox business network says chris christie and mike huckabee did not get enough support to qualify for the prime time debate. instead they're rel lated to the undercard round earlier in the night. >> well, another republican candidate, senator marco rubio is facing questions over his spending habits while he was a local state politician. >> a former colleague says rubio made some questionable purchases while serving in the florida legislature and is demanding he release his financial records. drew griffin reports.

>> marco rubio insists he's just an average american trying to make ends meet. >> i know for a fact how difficult it is to raise children, how expensive it's become for working families. >> reporter: but there is intense pressure for him to come clean about the financial issues which have been dogging him for years. the trouble dates back to when rubio was in the florida house of representatives. he came under fire for using a state republican american express card for personal expenses. there were complaint he is charged $4,000 to repair a minivan and replace it with a rental car and he used tcard fo a $134 hair cut. after spending became public, he said he repaid it, $616,102 for personal expenses. rubio is still answering questions about it. >> it wasn't a credit card. it was an american express charge card secured under my

personal credit in conjunction with the party. the bills would be mailed to me at home. if there was a personal expense, i paid it. if it was a party expense, the party paid it. >> thank you. >> the trouble is, not all the amex statements from that time period have been made public. there's a two-year gap, though rubio's campaign told the tampa bay times those records will be released. rubio's critics believe he's hiding something. >> we still don't know what's on those statements of the american express card prior to him becoming speaker when he had complete control of all of the campaign dollars, florida house campaign dollars. and he wanted to make it very clear that he had reimbursed the party. then show us. >> mike fasano, a fellow republican worked with rubio for years. he used to be the majority leader in the florida house and rubio even called him his mentor, but not anymore. he now supports jeb bush. >> he has no appreciation for the dollars than being donated to the party or to the campai

campaigns. >> those are pretty strong statements coming from a fellow republican. >> if you're going to run for the highest office in the land, the voters not only in florida but throughout the united states need to know the rest of the story, the whole story, the true story. and how you do dool with finances and how you do spend other people's money. >> fasano says there's only one reason so far he's failed to release all records of his republican party american express charge card. it's because the true story of how this presidential don'ter spent the money has yet to be told. >> drew griffin reporting there. and a new biography of former u.s. president george h.w. bush gives a surprising glimpse into his thoughts on his son's presidential administration. inform interviews with author john meachem, the former president strongly criticized dick cheney before he became his

son's vice president. the elder bush called cheney iron ass and said he built his empire under george w. bush. >> he called him an arrogant fellow that served his son badly. >> george w. bush said he was proud to have served with dick cheney and donald rumsfeld. i could actually hear the senior bush saying that. >> which part? >> iron ass. >> i just wanted you to say it again. >> there are comments under a new aide to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry spoke with the israeli leader on thursday and according to the u.s. state department mr. netanyahu will now be reviewing the employment of the communications director. >> he abused president barack obama of being anti-semitic and said kerry had the mental abilities of a 12-year-old. the comments came from facebook posts and articles barretts

wrote on websites. >> still to come here, scientists say they know what happened to the once water on mars. what caused the once flourishing planet to become barren. let's give 'em a great breakfast so they can go out there and kick the butt they came here to kick. the reason they hired me is because i care about the details. i care so much it hurts. it's the little things that make your stay awesome. like free breakfast. and pancake technology that i'm pretty sure we stole from the space program. one button. hot pancake. total victory!

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>> russia and egypt say there's no evidence to support the theory that a bomb brought down the plane. barack obama and prime minister david come ron say the evidence suggests there was a bomb onboard. ken lah visited a friendsic lab to see how scientists test for explosive residue.

the beginnings tracked by forensic bomb expert thomas anthony. >> this is a classic c-4 explosion? >> it is. less push and more sort of force like that. we have less residue than a low explosive. >> starting with a c-4 bomb, a type of plastic explosive, the civil aviation security measure caulk wauks ugh floug the impact of several types of bombs and the telltale signs they leave behind. >> the residue of the black powder coming from to a central point, look at the edges here. the edges in the black powder very, very different. they have this sort of like almost coral-like look to them. this is napalm. look at all the residue of the napalm that was left behind. that's something that is indicative and characteristing of the napalm. >> are there countless numbers of explosives? >> there are dozens of types of explosives.

>> reporter: anthony says the severity of a bomb on a plane depends on many factors like timing and placement, and there isn't always visible proof. is it possible that an explosive can go off on a plane and there be no residue? >> it's possible that there could be no residue left. >> here's why. look at the wreckage from the metrojet crash. much of it consumed by fire. >> if you have melting aircraft, parts melting aluminum, it's mixing with the other parts that it could easily disguise any evidence of an ied. >> anthony said it's critical to have forensic proof in an aviation investigation, and only a lab could sift out evidence from this. but just as important, piecing together clues beyond the wreckage, knowing when and who may have placed an explosive device aboard the plane. >> there are so many electronics that we can buy off the shelf

that can be programmed to activate hour, days, week, months in the future. >> kyung lah, cnn los angeles. >> we'll change gears now. nasa scientists believe they now know what turned mars from a life-friendly planet with flowing water into the cold, dry mars we know today. >> no measurements from the maven spacecraft say solar winds stripped away most of the martian atmosphere. nasa gave an even simpler explanation. >> so to answer the question, what happened to the mars atmosphere, i'll quote bob dylan. the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. >> astronaut mike polinski joins us now from houston, texas. what are these solar winds and how is it they can destroy an entire atmosphere? >> wow, that's a really good question.

so i'm basically your pilot astronaut as opposed to your planetary scientist. but basically, the solar swind made up of a lot of electronic particles. and they go about a million miles an hour, which is roughly 57 times faster than what the space shuttle and the space station speed is as they orbit the earth. and the particles when they go ahead and hit the upper atmosphere, they exhibit electrical charges which cause the particles within the mars atmosphere to go ahead and escape the upper atmosphere. and that's what basically causes it to slowly dissipate. >> so why hasn't something like this happened to our planet, why hasn't it happened to earth? >> a one of the hypotheses has to do with the strong magnetic field that we have. because of the magnetic field we have around our planet, we actually are able to deflect a lot of the harmful radiation and electronic particles of the solar wind, unlike what we have at mars, which does not have and

does not have the strong magnetic field that the et has had. >> if we go back to a point in time when mars actually did have a much more substantial atmosphere than it does actually have today, because it's still got something left, not a lot, what would life have been like on the surface of mars? >> well, you know, it's something that probably some scientists think was somewhat like earth's, where there was a lot more liquid. it was warmer, had more of an earth like potential for life. and so slowly as the atmosphere started to go ahead and erode, a lot of the particles as well as the water basically went blowing in the wind staen appeared. >> i had no clue of how it all worked.

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>> banksy's work is controversial, his identity mysterious and rooted in social consciousness. >> dismaland sold out within the uk within hours. rather than selling off the art work for millions to collector, he did something rather extraordinary. >> he had the wood cut up and the raw material then shipped to france where they were turned into makeshift shelters to help thousands of ref skbrees living in squalor. we wanted to know if the act was a marketing ploy or banksy really is an artist with a heart. >> but here's the thing. it's hard to get that scoop from the man himself. banksy has never revealed his

identity. few people know who he is, but the man in this film is one of them. pop artist mr. brainwash is the main subject in banksy's oscar nominated documentary, exit through the gift shop. so i recently spoke to mr. brainwash about banksy, about overcoming the stigma of street art and his artistic collaboration with coca-cola on the 100th birthday of their iconic contour bottle. >> to be in times square with coca-cola, taking part of the times square coca-cola billboard, it's history. wroo. >> your friend banksy with his work is providing a social commentary on our times. his exhibition dismaland is

really holding a mirror up and pointing out the ugliness in life. do you feel that in some ways the work you're doing and the work that banksy is doing is kind of moving street art, kind of moving it from the shadowy underground to take public stands and shine the light on important matters? >> sometimes in life we gun, one moment in life that we should not regret that we didn't do anything. if we do something about helping others, we will leave with a smile. we will be happy with what we did in life.

in his case, why does he do the kind of work he's doing? something like dismaland. why is he compelled to provide this kind of social commentary. every artist, i guess, has a different way of expressing the -- expressing ourself. and i feel like that's the way he is. i feel like he's a very clever artist, not like everybody else. he is real. >> have you ever talked to him about making himself known to the public? will he ever do that?

you never know, but it doesn't matter. >> the street artist called to some people, it's hip. to others. but there are those who consider it to be criminal. how do you and others in this genre, how do you fight off those negative stereotypes? i mean, does it bother you? >> like i say, i'm not here to judge or to fill. i feel like sometimes you want to yell, you want to tell people what you want to show them. so it's like the street is the street. it's just art. it's not a weapon. it's not a weapon. it's not something, it's not a gun. nobody will hurt you. >> when you look at this exhibition and you look at the works you have on display, in your view, how have you changed as an artist over the years. >> i think there's a change. it's like -- it's living. it's real.

it's something that i feel that people need, you know? i'm very positive and i very believe that life is beautiful for everyone. and i feel that everyone is a diamond. everyone one of, we just need to learn how to polish it to make it shine. >> yeah. >> you're a diamond. >> we're all diamonds. >> okay, well, that was interesting. >> i thought that was very interesting. >> you' been watching cnn news room live from los angeles. >> the news continues right after this.

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bombing or not? the u.s. president believe there's is a chance flight 9268 was blown apart in midair. but egypt and russia skeptical. >> as the investigation victi

victims. >> and hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell from world headquarters here in atlanta. "newsroom" starts right now. and a good day to you. we start this hour with the investigation into metrojet flight 9268. and for the first time, the u.s. president barack obama believes that it is possible that a bomb was on board that plane. but still egypt and russia, they say there is no evidence to support that theory. >> the plane bound for russia crashed in egypt's sinai peninsula, killing all 224 passengers and crew members. a u.s. official says specific internet chatter around saturday's crash suggests that isis or its affiliates were involved. here is what president obama had to say. >> i think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board.

and we're taking that very seriously. >> taking it very seriously. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is following developments with us live in cairo, egypt at this hour. ben, good to have you with us. you just heard the comment played from the u.s. president suggesting that a bomb might have been on board. our investigators in cairo giving any credence to this possibility at this point? >> well, egyptian officials, george, haven't categorically ruled out the possibility. there was a bomb on board this airport. but at the same time, they say until now they have not found any evidence pointing in that direction. repeatedly, we've heard egyptian officials say we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, that we should be waiting for the official results of this egyptian-led investigation. but they say it may be months before that investigation comes out with any results.

george? >> ben, there has been a great deal of focus on the plane's origin, sharm el sheikh. where have there been any cancellations, any increased security? and talk to us also about the issue of checked luggage for people that are trying to fly out of that city. >> well, there have been many flights suspended or halted to sharm el sheikh, particularly from the uk. but also from ireland and elsewhere. now today we understand that around 25 flights will come from the uk to sharm el sheikh to take away about 4,000 stranded british tourists out of about a total of 20,000. but they will not be allowed to have any check-in luggage, only hand luggage in this case. their luggage will be sent back to the uk, we believe, on special flights provided by the royal air force. now -- and there was a british

airport security delegation that has been in sharm el sheikh looking at the security measures there, particularly looking at the baggage system. they have met with egyptian officials. they made recommendations with which the egyptians have acted upon. but we're also learning this morning that klm, the dutch national carrier has in cairo declared that they will no longer take check-in luggage. they will only allow passengers to bring hand luggage on board their aircraft. so this would indicate that there may also be concerns about the situation in the airport here in cairo. george? >> ben, let's good back to really the first question and just talk big picture in the sense that, you know so, you're hearing one thing from western powers from the united states, from the uk. but there is an investigation that is playing out there in cairo. is there a sense given the serious nature of this investigation that this could be political or played politically in any way?

>> well, certainly that is the theme that is being played up in the egyptian media, that the whole situation has been politicized by the united states, by the uk, and that against a backdrop of repeated denials by egyptian and russian officials that a bomb may have been on board that flight. but the investigation is ongoing. they're looking at the cockpit voice recorder, the data recorder for the flight, the cockpit voice recorder apparently was damaged in the crash. so egyptian officials as i said before are saying we must wait for the results of the investigation. but increasingly, you're hearing criticism from many egyptians that western powers, particularly the united states and britain, have been hasty to draw conclusions to circulate unfounded rumors. egyptian officials say they have been provided with no intelligence, no information by the united states or the uk

about these suggestions. allocations -- allegations that there was a bomb on board the metrojet flight. george? >> our senior international correspondent ben wedeman live in cairo, egypt following this investigation. dan, thank you so much for your reporting there. and british prime minister david cameron says it is, quote, more likely than not that a bomb brought down metrojet. >> he met with fadel al sisi in london. meanwhile, egypt's foreign minister says the uk and the u.s. have not been sharing intelligence about the crash with them. >> for more on the meeting between prime minister cameron and president sisi, diana magnay is outside number 10 downing street for us. diana? >> reporter: natalie, both egypt and russia are very keen to stress that it's important to wait until the results of this investigation come out, not to

jump the gun. and you can understand why for russia, as it strikes isis and other targets in syria, it doesn't want to give any creedience to the claim, to isis' claim or isis' sinai affiliates claim that they were responsible for this. and egypt, of course, has millions of tourists dollars at stake. there are almost a million british tourists alone who travel to egypt each year. since the revolution, those numbers have dwindled. and so it is a huge importance to egypt that its security measures in its airport seem safe for tourists who want to travel there. this meeting between the egyptian president and the british prime minister comes therefore at a very awkward time. david cameron deciding to suspend flights, siting concerns over what he considered inadequate security measurs at the airports.

but those flights will resume today. there are going to be empty planes flying to sharm el sheikh to pick up the 20,000 or so stranded british tourists and to fly them back home, natalie. >> yes. i'll be talking with a couple of those tourists in the next hour about that. what of russia's ponce to prime minister cameron's theory about a bomb as a possibility or probability, diana? >> well, they had a telephone call. yesterday david cameron called the russian president and told him of britain's decision to suspend flights and explained why. the kremlin came out with a rather sort of muted statement as to their discussion. but clearly, what underlined this was that president putin feels that there is no point in jumping to conclusions. as ben was saying, as president assisi was saying until the investigation comes out.

and precisely for this reason that they don't want to give isis any credibility. of course isis has claimed that it was behind this disaster. and as russia continues its air strikes in syria, that is the last thing that it wants to give icy any credibility for. so you can understand russia's reticence. but yesterday also the spokeswoman at the russian foreign ministry came out with much more striking language. she said that she found it shocking that britain hadn't shared its intelligence. this intelligence that has led david cameron to suspend flights and to say that it is more likely than not that there was a bomb on board. she said it was shocking that the uk hadn't shared that intelligence with russia. >> so many theories right now. hopefully the flight data recorders can start pinpointing a little more specificity to what happened to this plane. diana magnay for us, thanks very

much. >> natalie, very, very delicate meeting there between president sisi and david cameron. obviously egypt relies on the uk for tourism, but these two countries not on the same page when it comes to the investigation. at this point, though, we know that the plane went down in the sinai peninsula. that is an area that has been plagued by violence, that has been plagued by terrorism. ever since that country's long-time president hosni mubarak was overthrown in 2011. >> and if the icy claim that it blew up russian jet is true, this would be the largest attack so far. a look at the history of militant violence in the region. >> reporter: as investigators comb through the debris and analyze the plane's data recorders, trying to determine what led to the crash of russian metrojet 9628, isis is claiming responsibility for killing the 224 people on board.

in a new audio message purportedly from its sinai branch, the militant group says find your black boxes and analyze them. we are the ones with god's blessing who brought it down. today russian and egyptian officials insisting there is currently no evidence of a bomb. but u.s. officials say their intelligence is pointing to a bomb. possibly by one of isis' least known affiliates. >> the egyptian branch of isis in the sinai peninsula has proved itself as a lethal, very sophisticated, and very powerful terrorist organization over the past specifically two years, and over the past five years since 2011. >> reporter: it was late last year that terror group now called state of sinai group pledged allegiance to abu bakr

al back dc baghdadi. here the aftermath of an take against an egyptian army checkpoint in broad daylight. in all, the group claims to have killed hundreds in road-side bomb, drive-by shootings and suicide attacks. while those captured are brutality executed. the sinai group is well-known for elicit smuggling, and the two most sophisticated weapons believed to be in their arsenal include russian-made anti-tank missiles used in targeting tanks, and a boat in the mediterranean. and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles here, taking down an egyptian helicopter. analysts say what they don't possess are sophisticated missiles to shoot down a jet traveling over 30,000 feet like flight 9268. whether or not isis actually brought down the jet, experts worry commercial airliners could

now be in their crosshairs. ian lee, cnn, sharm el sheikh, egypt. >> and russian state media reporting that another plane with victims' remains is heading to st. petersburg from cairo. the aircraft is also carrying personal effects and documents. >> meanwhile funerals for the victims have started. the first was nia luchenko. she and 14 others who died in the crash were from the same region. >> services were also held for alexei alexa yev. he was 31 and won the trip as a bonus from his job. more funerals are expected in the coming days and weeks. >> you're watching "cnn newsroom." still ahead this hour, atale of two ben carsons. this soft-spoken presidential candidate makes claims of a violent past, but his childhood friends tell cnn a very different story. also ahead, who detectives are investigating now in the

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well, in the u.s. race for the white house, we now know which candidates would be on stage, and who has been bumped from next tuesday's republican debate. new jersey governor chris christie and former arkansas governor mike huckabee have both been dropped from the main stage and will join rick santorum and bobby jindal at the earlier undercard debate. >> you know they don't like that whole junior undercard debate. as for the main debate, front-runner donald trump will appear at center stage flanked by dr. ben carson and florida senator marco rubio. joining them with will jeb bush, carly fiorina, ted cruz, john kasich and rand paul. ben carson is facing scrutiny over his claims of his violent past. he claims he used to have a psychological temper, which often led to acts of violence. >> but cnn talked with some of his childhood friends who say that doesn't sound like the person they remember.

cnn has the report. >> dr. ben carson, and that is my story. >> reporter: dr. ben carson has captivated voters with the story of his rise from an impoverished youth in detroit to a famed pediatric neurosurgeon. >> i broke his glasses. >> reporter: central to his appeal to the evangelical voters who have failed to surge to the top tier of the presidential field is the cot of his religious epiphany that change him from a violent angry young man to the composed figure who stands before voters today. >> another time a fellow was trying to close my locker school. i didn't want it closed. i struck him in the face with a fist. i would go after people with bats and baseball and hammers. >> reporter: a version is portrayed in a television movie based on his autobiography "gifted hands."

>> had it not been for a belt buckle under their clothing, that i would have been killed or seriously injured. >> i feel like i should move my chair. >> that was not his demeanor around here. >> reporter: cnn set out to find the classmates who carson says were victims of the attacks. but so far has been unable to locate any of them. the carson campaign declined to provide names of those involved or eyewitnesses, calling cnn's examination into carson's past a witch-hunt. cnn interviewed nine of carson's friends, neighbors, and classmates. and all say the violent impulsive person carson has described himself as is unrecognizable to them. a tenth person said he might have heard a rumor about the knife attack at the time, but couldn't be sure. all of those interviewed recalled carson as quiet, bookish and nerdy, a kid who wore thick glasses and a pocket

protector for his pens. >> he was smart, a bookworm. >> us he was kind, easy, fun. >> reporter: they grew up next door to the carsons. >> i was really surprised when i read he tried to stab someone. what? you know. >> reporter: you never saw the police over here or anything? >> no, no, no. >> reporter: does it fit with the guy who you knew? that kind of activity? >> no. >> i was shocked. i was surprised. he was quiet and calm. >> you never saw any sort of violence or anger. >> no, i did not. no, i did not. a very nice young man. >> reporter: i did not witness those things. i don't have really independent knowledge of those things. >> reporter: tim mcdaniel is a former classmate and a life-long friend of carsons. he says the behavior carson describes is totally out of character with the academically driven young man he knew growing up. >> as long as i had known, man, i associate him with a lot of things, but never stooping to

the level of a common street thug. i was a little surprised by it. >> reporter: still, mcdaniel says he believes his old friend and said carson may have kept those incidents secret all those years out of embarrassment. >> i think he tried to hide it for as listening as he could until he realized that in order to really, really clear his conscience that he had to make a confession. he said that honestly and i believe everything he told them. >> reporter: while all of the classmates interviewed by cnn are perplexed by the violence mr. carson describes, most of them still expressed a mir ration for him. >> not finding out too much there to support his story. that's weird. >> looking into his past. but really not getting any stories that match up to what he is saying. cnn followed up, though, with dr. carson on thursday, asking why we haven't been able to find

anyone who can corroborate his recollections. here is what he had to say. >> the names that i used, for instance, are fictitious names because i don't want to bring people into something like this because i know what you guys do to their lives. >> have you reached out the any of them since you have become a candidate? >> there are some that i stay in contact with, yes. >> but important to point out that those fictitious names, no footnotes about that in the actual books. we will, of course continue to follow that story. and political mann, that's coming up to cnn hosted by our own jonathan mann. it is the show that brings you the very latest on u.s. presidential races from the candidates to the platforms to political missteps. >> and the show premiers this saturday on cnn international at 11:30 in the morning. that's hong kong time, and 1:30 at night for those watching from london. well, in illinois, authorities have released new details, and they are bizarre. in the case of a police

lieutenant who they say staged his suicide. >> sources say relatives of joe gliniewicz were involved in his alleged embezzling of funds from a youth program. details on that and more from our own rosa florez. >> cnn sources confirming that lieutenant gliniewicz' widow and his son are being investigated for possible involvement in the embezzle. of thousands of dollars. remember those deleted text messages that were released by authorities when they made the shocking announcement that lieutenant gliniewicz was not murdered, but that he committed suicide. cnn sources confirming that the individuals that lieutenant gliniewicz was exchanging the text messages with were his widow and his son. that individual number one was the widow, and that individual number 2 was his son. but perhaps the most shocking revelation is that authorities now believe that lieutenant

gliniewicz was thinking, exploring the possibility of killing a village administrator. again, all of this still under investigation. but that village administrator addressed these allegations. >> it's very unsettling. again, you know, my concern is my family. it's quite unbelievable and almost surreal i would say. >> reporter: oh, but there is more. cnn sources confirming that authorities found cocaine inside lieutenant gliniewicz's desk after his death. the big question to administrators, was that cocaine going to be used to plant on this village administrator as well because there are allegations about that also. that village administrator also addressed that concer only by saying that she didn't know if that cocaine was going to be planted on her desk. again, a lot of disturbing

revelations. >> rosa flores there. the more revelations we learn, the more sick that story becomes, for sure. well, chicago police believe a 9-year-old boy killed in their city was the intended target of a gang-related shooting. that is the little boy. one official is calling it a cowardly and unfathomable crime. >> i want to be clear that at this point we believe that tyshawn was targeted, lured to this spot, and murdered. and we believe that this is the most recent in a series of gang-related violent events that may go back as far as august, may go back a little further than that. >> mccarthy added that tyshawn lee was gunned down because his father is an alleged gang member. the father is not cooperating

with investigators. so far no arrests have been made. police are looking for a number of people who may be tied to the case. you know, they have this saying in chicago. i remember from reporting up there. that snitches get stitches. you throw that out. throw that out. the police need help. they want information. a 9-year-old was killed. call the police. >> what cute little boy. well, how safe is the sharm el sheikh airport in egypt? we take a look at the small egyptian airport at the center of a tragedy. ♪ just look at those two. happy. in love. and saving so much money on their car insurance by switching to geico... well, just look at this setting. do you have the ring? oh, helzberg diamonds.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. >> and i'm natalie al help. you're watching cnn newsroom live from atlanta. here are our top stories. authorities from both russia and egypt say there is no evidence yet to support the theory that a bomb brought down metrojet flight 9268. u.s. president barack obama and british prime minister david cameron have said intelligence suggests there was a bomb on the plane. >> and mr. cameron defending his decision to suspend flights to and from egypt's sharm el sheikh airport after the crash. he met with egyptian president abdel fatah el sisi in london on thursday. the uk is sending several planes to egypt in the coming hours to bring home british tourists. >> russian families meantime have begun holding funerals for their loved ones. the first services for the

victims of the flight started thursday in st. petersburg. most of the 224 passengers and crew were russian. thousands of british tourists stranded in sharm el sheikh could start coming home in the next few hours. >> as a precaution, passengers will only be allowed a carry-on bag. checked baggage will be transported simply. egypt insists the small airport meets international standards and took our erin mclaughlin on a behind the scenes tour. >> reporter: at sharm el sheikh airport. hundreds line up for their security searches. everyone is searched, young and old. they're all waiting for a flight some officials aren't ready to put their citizens on. thousands of passengers are stranded after their governments halted planes in and out of this airport. british authorities have asked for more security. >> we feel like it will probably be the safest flight back that

we'll probably ever have. so we're glad that the government offering to put security measures in place for us. >> reporter: marion and claire two of the british tourists stranded. for them the trip home will be bittersweet. they stayed at the same hotel as some of the passengers killed on the flight. >> the night before watching the little girl dancing and their parents singing. the next day they weren't there anymore. it was really, really sad. >> reporter: egyptian authorities want to show the world the tragedy won't happen again. so they took us on a tour of the airport but wouldn't talk on camera. they showed us security for both passengers and employees. every employee who enters this airport is required to go through the same security screening as passengers. the only difference, they're required to have special ids. we're showing the area where they scan the luggage. they use x-ray machines and equipment that can detect explosives. here is a room where they

monitor cameras located throughout the airport. and they say they've taken an extra security step for british passengers. two years ago, british authorities requested that this machine be used before every flight to the united kingdom. it's capable of detecting explosives. egyptian authorities say this kind of machine is not used on any other flight. officials have promised to increase security, but tell us it's too soon to say what more will be done to reassure everyone that it's safe to go home. erin mclaughlin, cnn, sharm el sheikh international airport. >> if isis did bring down the metrojet flight, it would mark a significant leap forward in the terror group's capabilities. the idea of a bomb causing the disaster has drawn comparisons to tactics previously attempted by al qaeda. international diplomatic editor nic robertson reports.

>> reporter: in 2009 i asked explosives expert sydney alford to show me what a top al qaeda bomb maker was capable of. >> this is what six grams of petn does to something that is twice as thick as an aircraft fuselage. >> reporter: he mastered the white powder explosive petn. the al qaeda bomb maker made this, the underpants bomb targeting a u.s. passenger jet christmas 2009. here in russia, the rising question is likely to become who made the bomb that brought down metro yet 9268? was it isis, an isis affiliate, another radical islamic group or al qaeda? what we do know is that after the underpants bomb, al qaeda's bombs became even more sophisticated. 2010. printer bombs hidden in cargo on two planes. fortunately, they were

intercepted. >> here is the clever end of the scale there is no doubt about this. this is an ingenious way of doing it. >> reporter: alford deconstructed, remade the bombs, explained al qaeda's deadly cunning. >> three, two, one! in 2014, a few years later, i came to see alford again. so that is a t-shirt dipped in explosives and dried, blown up and that would bring down a plane. >> reporter: american sources fearing the next terrorist bomb could be a clothing bomb. he shows me how easily it can be done, leaving out some key details. this is where the t-shirt bomb was sitting on the steel plate, thick steel plate. imagine if that was the skin of an aircraft? thin aluminum. it would have blown a hole right through it. the underpants bomb, the printer bomb were made by al qaeda's top bomb maker in yemen.

his expertise has been taught to others. the question now, does isis have these skills or could they use more rudimentary bombs with conventional explosives stolen from military stores. nic robertson, cnn, st. petersburg, russia. police and protesters scuffled with each other in central listened on thursday. >> the protesters were supporting the activist group anonymous, that's what it's called, who sponsored the so-called million masked march. some arrests were made and at least one police car was set on fire. an activist said they were demonstrating for equality and against censorship. at least one person is dead after a dam burst at an iron ore mine in southeast brazil. you can actually see the widespread destruction here from the flooding that followed. >> one official says thursday's burst flooded an area with 200 homes. look at that mess.

and it's not yet clear how many people may be miss organize homeless. well, we are getting some cool images of arizona's fist snowfall for the season. it may be autumn there, but look that already looks like winter. >> snow on the ground there. that same storm system that is charging east bringing potential flooding, i should say, and severe weather along with it. derek van dam is here to tell us more about it. >> i walked into a department store earlier today, and there was santa claus staring me in the face. already. wasn't it just halloween like three days ago? >> like to make it happen soon. >> the same system responsible for the first snowfall in flagstaff, arizona which you just saw on your tv screen is moving eastward as george already said. take a look at the satellite loop. and you can see how it evolved over the western half of the united states. now pressing eastward across the plane states. and it's also brought a round of severe weather. they had one confirmed tornado

in oklahoma state. and roughly about 10 to 15 different wind damage reports across this area. you can see them stretching from texas through kansas and into parts of missouri and oklahoma. the current frontal boundary system associated with all this rainfall is bringing unfortunately too much unwanted rain to texas. we are extremely saturated. when i'm talking about saturation, we're talking about the ground below. we've had so much rain over the past month or so across texas. you recall the flooding we've incurred across this region. you can see that area of green. that's where the highly saturated ground. and even if we were to add an additional 1 to 2 inches of rainfall, which they have already received from this current storm, they are going to add to the potential of more flooding. let's compare it to where we would normally be this time of year. austin, texas, year to date we should have 30 inches of rain. we've already had 55 inches of precipitation. there is our chances of rain and

severe weather today, stretching from louisville to little rock. and you can see the temperature contrast from the intermountain west of the united states compared to the eastern half of the u.s. before i bring up this next photo, we're going to try and break twitter records out there by a new #shelfie down under. this is coming out of bondi beach, sydney. amazing stuff that is a shelf cloud natalie and george. if you think you're having a bad day, try being the guys on that boat in the ocean. i had to point that out there. this is a phenomenon that occurs with thunderstorm clouds. you get an outburst of cold air that rolls out in all directions, and it creates a beautiful scene just like that. it can be rather dangerous. and i would not want to be on that boat. >> the selfie of the shelfie. >> the shelfie down under. hash tag it right now. >> just broke the internet right there. >> i'm trying, i'm trying. >> thank you so much.

you're watching "cnn newsroom." and still to come, just days away from a monumental election in myanmar. what we know about the woman who vows to be its next leader as "newsroom" continues.

on to myanmar now where friday is the last day of campaigning before the historic election there, and the leader of the opposition party is not backing down from comments that she made about being, quote, above the president. listen. >> i've not said we're going to win. i've said if we are win and the reforms the government, he will be above the president. it's a very simple message. >> she is certainly the most famous politician or person in myanmar. aung san suu kyi, the nobel peace prize winner explained while the current constitution prevents her from holding the office of president, it does not say anything about someone holding an office above the

president. sunday is set to be the freest election in myanmar in decades. well, she has won an election in before but it landed her under house arrest shortly thereafter. >> ivan watson has more on the woman who is so revered by the people of myanmar. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi is arguably one of the most loved people in myanmar. and a big part of the affection people have for her is has to do with her father. her father was aung san, a military officer who helped fight for burma's independence after being a british colony for about a century. he is revered here as the founding father of independent burma, now officially known as myanmar. he was gunned down by political rivals in 1947 when aung san suu kyi was only 2 years old. for much of the first 40 years of her life, aung san suu kyi

lived overseas. it wasn't until 1988 that she really moved become to burma. that opened up the launch of her political career. in 1990, aung san suu kyi led a newly founded party, the national league for democracy in elections. and by all accounts, her father won. but then the military rulers of this country, they annulled the results. they placed aung san suu kyi under house arrest for much of the next 20 years. in 2010, aung san suu kyi was released from house arrest. it was part of the transition to a civilian system of government. aung san suu kyi and her party were allowed to compete in byelections in 2012. and they won dozens of seats in parliament. among the electoraling victory there's was aung san suu kyi herself. aung san suu kyi is a living symbol of this country. part of the respect that people have for her is due to the

sacrifices she made that were shared by many people in this country during decades of strict authoritarian military rule. >> and finally she's got the political power that she's had under house arrest. but now it's legitimate. >> and saying that she could hold a position above the president. very interesting to see. and we will watch these elections play out in myanmar. so more than 100 years ago, u.s. president theodore roosevelt, he described this foreign policy as speak softly and carry a big stick. and that message is what the u.s. defense secretary ash carter says he hoped to convey to china on thursday. while on the carrier the uss theodore roosevelt in the south china sea, carter said he hopes to reach an understanding over china's disputed claims in the area. but that the u.s. would remain resolute. >> china's foreign minister, though, said the recent transit by a u.s. warship through the

sea harmed mutual trust. and another chinese said this. >> china has always respected and preserved freedom of navigation and overflight. the other countries enjoy in accordance with international law. we have never opposed anything that is consistent with normal and proper navigation and international shipping lanes. we oppose the militarization of the south china sea or even provoking and threatening another country's sovereignty and trust in the name of freedom and navigation. in this regard, we hope the united states will act in a more above-board and transparent way. >> in the meantime, taiwan's president said that he doesn't expect to discuss the dispute with china's president at their summit on saturday. nasa has big news about mars. it seems like we just keep learning a little bit more about mars. and scientists reveal what may have turned the once watery planet cold and bitter. that's next. amerivest selects the funds and manages your portfolio.

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all right. well, nasa scientists believe they now know why mars is no longer the flourishing planet it once was. and it's a little bit

disturbing. >> kind of scary. >> measurements from the maven spacecraft show that solar winds which are charged particles from the sun stripped away most of the martian atmosphere. this could theoretically happen to earth. >> great. >> yeah. woo, good news. but the former astronaut mark polanski why it hasn't. >> because of the magnetic field that we have around our planet, we actually are able to deflect a lot of the harmful radiation and electronic particles of the solar wind, unlike what we have at mars, which does not have and does not have the strong magnetic field that the earth has had. >> well, thank goodness for that. and another finding, nasa says that the maven discovered the auroras on mars that are similar to earth's northern lights. >> which i've never seen. >> love to see them. there is no segue to go from space news to this.

i'm just going to read it as is. now to a fish tale with a truly unbelievable ending. it features a 3-month-old puppy doggy paddling for his life. >> let's turn to cnn's jeanne moos for this story. >> come on! >> reporter: this is the story of a labrador retriever, retrieved from the sea. it happened off the coast of italy. six sailors from the savoia yacht club were sailing the gulf of naples with no other boats in site when something made a beeline for their boat. >> we thought we are crazy. this dog is coming from sky. it is impossible. >> reporter: they shot the rescue. the dog was a 3-month-old named noodle. his rescuers gave him another name. >> we called the dog moses. >> reporter: best known for parting the sea. the part noodles' rescuers

didn't know is the pup had been riding a hydrofoil ferry like this with his brand-new owner when he slipped his leash and fell into the sea. the owner tried to get the ferry to stop to go back and look for the pup, but crewmembers refused, saying the dog would already have drowned. but half an hour or more later, noodle was still dog-paddling for dear life. he was trembling and crying as he was cuddled. cuddled and rubbed and covered with a jacket. back on land, he was handed over to his new family. there was anger at the ferry crew. >> really wrong thing. because the dog was alive and they didn't try to find him. >> reporter: now you can find him everywhere. >> noodle! >> reporter: he is the toast of italy, appearing in the arms of his owner. noodle may have survived a great struggle with the sea, but two minutes of tv fame left him looking, well, like a wet noodle.

jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> oh, so sweet. noodle deserves a nap. >> after what he went through, absolutely. >> all right. thank you for watching this hour. we have another hour up ahead. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. the news continues right after this break. this holiday season, get ready for mystery. what's in the trunk? nothing. romance. 18 inch alloys. you remembered. family fun. everybody squeeze in. don't block anyone. and non-stop action. noooooooo! it's the event you don't want to miss. it's the season of audi sales event. get up to a $2,500 bonus for highly qualified lessees on select audi models.

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tourists stranded in sharm el sheikh as they prepare to fly home that airport is assuring people that security is tight after a deadly plane crash. plus -- >> the million masked march turns ugly in london. protesters clash with police. and a big downgrade for some u.s. presidential candidates. found out who didn't make the main stage at the next republican debate. in fact, they made the junior stage. >> that's got to be a bummer. >> well, hello and welcome to our viewer here is in the u.s. and around the world. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters here in atlanta.

"newsroom" starts right now. and a good day to you. both russia and egypt insist it is far too early to draw any conclusions about what might have brought down the metrojet plane flight 9268 over the sinai peninsula. but the u.s. and the uk, they say it looks like it was a bomb. the plane bound for russia crashed in egypt's sinai peninsula. all 224 people on that plane were killed. russia says it has no intention of restricting travel to egypt, but one u.s. official says specific internet chatter around saturday's crash suggests isis or its affiliates sabotaged the metrojet plane. on thursday, u.s. president barack obama made his first comments on the issue. >> i think there is a possibility that there was a

bomb on board. and we're taking that very seriously. we know that the procedures we have here in the united states are different than some of the procedures that existed for outbound and inbound flights there. and we're going to spend a lot of time just making sure that our own investigators and our own intelligence community figures out exactly what is going on before we make any definitive pronouncements. but it is certainly possible that there was a bomb on board. >> well, whatever the calls of the crash, there is clear discord between the u.s. and the uk on one side and russia and egypt on the other. >> our miguel marquez reports that hundreds of millions of tourists dollars could hang in the balance. >> reporter: an army of investigators walking miles through the desert searching for debris in any possible sign of what caused metrojet 9268 to crash. investigators from around the world, but egypt's civil

aviation authority in full control. >> egypt has adopted a strategy of full transparency when it came to the incident. >> reporter: but with millions in tourism at stake, will egypt offer a fully transparent and open investigation? tourism is one of egypt's largest industries and the warm waters around sharm el sheikh a huge draw, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars every year. already some egyptian officials are denying it was terrorism. >> what happened is a tragic airline incident that happens unfortunately, part of the reality of our world with the millions of flight every day. you are bound to have an incident here or there. but egypt as a destination is as safe as ever. >> reporter: and two previous crash investigations raised potential questions about how egypt reaches its conclusions. >> the egyptians have the opportunity to issue an unbiased report. we've heard very little from

them so far. a few contradictory statements. they're under enormous pressure. >> reporter: peter goelz headed the ntsb investigation into the crash of egyptian air flight 990 in october 1999. the flight left new york's jfk bound for cairo. it plunged into international waters off the coast of massachusetts. egypt was initially in charged of that investigation. the ntsb took over. but when pilot suicide appeared to be the cause, egypt launched its own parallel investigation. >> we became convinced that this was a deliberate act and the pilot, the copilot had flown that aircraft into the ground. >> reporter: the egyptian investigation concluded mechanical fault caused the boeing 767 to crash. the ntsb determined first officer gamil al batouty crashed the plane. you can hear him repeating i rely on god and a second voice

in the cockpit asking him why he shut down the engines and then begging him repeatedly to help him pull up before the recording ends. and this wasn't the only time the egyptian and western investigators differed over the cause of the crash. >> in 2004, there was an accident off of sharm el sheikh, a 737 crashed. the bea, the french, and the americans indicated that they believed it was pilot error. the egyptians did not agree and blamed it on some sort of mechanical failure. >> reporter: as the u.s. and other countries make their own assessments about why flight 9268 crashed, the pressure growing on egypt. the world watching. miguel marquez, cnn, new york. >> and we have a large team of reporters covering this story from many angles. right now diana magnay is following developments in london for us. but we want to begin with ben wedeman. he is in cairo, egypt. first, ben, it seems those

stranded tourists will get to fly out of sharm el sheikh. what can you tell us? >> yes, natalie, we're expecting the first flights from the uk to arrive in sharm el sheikh noon local time. that's about two hours from now. we understand there may be as many as 25 flights to take out around 4,000 tourists who are currently there. of course, they will not be able to take check-in luggage, only hand luggage on those flights. their check-in luggage will be taken back to the uk, perhaps by the royal air force some time within the next week. now this is happening after british airport security investigators went to sharm el sheikh, looked at the security procedures there, made recommendations which egyptian officials say they did carry out. now we're also learning this morning that klm, the dutch national carrier has declared

that flights leaving cairo for amsterdam will also not be allowed to -- they will not alu passengers to bring check-in luggage as well. only hand luggage, which would indicate there may be concerns about the airport here in cairo, which is much bigger and much busier. natalie? >> i was going to ask you, because this is kind of spreading now to an examination of security measures at other middle east airports, and not just cairo, is that right? >> that's correct. for instance, british officials regularly make tours of airports in the middle east to recommend upgrading security procedures. and in general, they find that the security at middle eastern of the u.s. and the uk, with the exception, of course, with israeli airports, which really do set the standard for stringent security measures. and just ten months ago, a british group, delegation did go

to sharm el sheikh to look at the measures there. but, yes, the british have three countries in mind that they feel airport security is not sufficient. that is egypt, bahrain and kuwait. although it's worth noting that there has not in the past been any incidents, security incident at sharm el sheikh international airport. natalie? >> that's good to point out. thank you, ben wedeman for us out of cairo. >> let's cross over live to london. diana magnay standing live for us outside 10 downing street. the prime minister there being very direct about the possibility of a bomb being on board that plane. how is president sisi reacting to that? >> well, president sisi and what must have been quite a tense meeting between the two stressed in the press conference afterwards the extent of the cooperation between these two countries. kept emphasizing what measures

his british friends were taking. and you can understand why to egypt, britain's tourist is hugely important there are something like 900,000 british tourists who go to egypt every year. and david cameron has made it quite clear that he feels that the security arrangements at sharm el sheikh airport were not adequate, and that is why he sent his own team and airport delegation team to sharm to see how best those measures can be improved to get the 20,000 or so british tourists who are still stranded there back home. you can understand why egypt is being reticent. the british prime minister also spoke to the russian president yesterday who had the same line, that it is important not to prejudge or draw any conclusions before this investigation is concluded. but you know as well as i do, george, that these

investigations can take many months. for david cameron, the priority is making sure that his british citizens in egypt are brought home safely. for the kremlin, the priority is to not give any credence to isis' claims that they brought the plane down whilst russia conducts air strikes in syria. and for president sisi, it's a priority that relations between the uk, a huge trading partner, stay good. and that people still keep coming to egypt for their holidays. george? >> diana, so we understand the uk and now the united states, you know, both of these powers now believe that a bomb may have played a factor here. but egypt's foreign minister says the uk and the u.s. have not been sharing intelligence about the crash with them. are we hearing anything more about that? >> that's right. and that is something that the foreign ministry in russia spoke

very strongly about yesterday, that it is shocking in the words of the spokeswoman that britain hasn't shared their intelligence with them. we don't know what intelligence the uk, the british prime minister is basing his assessment on. we're hearing more from u.s. intelligence officials who have spoken to cnn and talked of chatter amongst people they know are affiliated to isis' affiliate in sinai, people who they believe have a degree of credibility. and that is why president obama is talking about a possibility that this was a bomb. david cameron's words, that it is more likely than not that it was a bomb that brought the plane down. let's just quickly listen to a snippet of both what david cameron and president sisi both had to say in their first conference. >> of course i cannot be sure, my experts cannot be sure that it was a terrorist bomb that brought down that russian plane.

but if the intelligence is and the judgment is that is a more likely than not outcome, then i think it's right to act in the way that i did. >> translator: we sate one more time. we are prepared to cooperate further with any procedures that reassure our friends that the security measures in place at sharm el sheikh airport are enough, and that the airport is safe to a good standard. >> reporter: so today, george, british tourists will start flying back empty planes to pick them up, but just hand luggage for now as those security teenagers conduct their investigations and try to put very stringent measures in place in sharm el sheikh. george? >> it's interesting, though, that these two sides. you have russia and you have egypt on one side of it saying hey, wait until this investigation is completed. but the united states and the uk have indications, have reason to believe that a bomb may have been on that flight. diana magnay live for news london this hour. diana, thank you for your

reporting. >> so again, security at sharm el sheikh airport is continuing to be under intense scrutiny. airport measures up to small - international safety standards. and our erin mclaughlin was given an inside look at security measure there's and spoke to stranded vacationers who are trying to get home. >> reporter: we're at sharm el sheikh international airport. hundreds line up for their security checks. everyone is searched, young and old. they're all waiting for a flight some officials aren't ready to put their citizens on. thousands of passengers are stranded after their governments halted planes in and out of this airport. british authorities have asked for more security. >> we feel like it will probably be the safest flight back that we'll probably ever have. so we're glad that the government offering to put security measures in place for us. >> reporter: marion and claire two of the british tourists stranded. for them the trip home will be bittersweet.

they stayed at the same hotel as some of the passengers killed on flight 9268. >> the night before watching the little girl dancing and their parents singing. and then the next day they weren't there anymore. so it was really, really sad for us. >> reporter: egyptian authorities want to show the world the tragedy won't happen again. so they took us on a tour of the airport but wouldn't talk on camera. they showed us security for both passengers and employees. every employee who enters this airport is required to go through the same security screening as passengers. the only difference, they're required to have special ids. we're showing the area where they scan the luggage. they use x-ray machines and equipment that can detect explosives. here is a room where they monitor cameras located throughout the airport. and they say they've taken an extra security step for british passengers. two years ago, british authorities requested that this machine be used before every

flight to the united kingdom. it's capable of detecting explosives. egyptian authorities say this kind of machine is not used on any other flight. officials have promised to increase security, but tell us it's too soon to say what more will be done to reassure everyone that it's safe to go home. erin mclaughlin, cnn, sharm el sheikh international airport. >> and we will be talking with some tourists who get to leave sharm el sheikh and hear what they have to say about flying out of there this hour. >> they want to get home. >> yeah. next here on cnn, a dam bursts in brazil, leaving widespread destruction from the flooding that followed. derek will have that for us.

police and protesters, they scuffled in central london on thursday. protesters they were supporting the activist group anonymous who sponsored the so-called million mass march. >> each individual reasons. the main kind of shell if you

like is we're here for equality against censorship and the police should be one people. but some people here who are protesting purely for the doctor, purely for palestinian, purely for individual movements, which is great because it all falls under that kind of shell banner. but primarily it's about censorship and equality. >> couldn't understand what they were masks, tories suck. at least one police car was set on fire. we're going to turn now to the case in illinois of a police lieutenant who staged his suicide, and this case is getting more bizarre every day. >> that's right. sources tell cnn the widow and son of joe gliniewicz are now under investigation. it's in connection with the officer's alleged embezzlement of funds from a youth mentor program, one that he led. a police official also says

gliniewicz talked about having a motorcycle gang member kill a city administrator. >> i was stunned, absolutely stunned. it's definitely not a good feeling, and it's very scary in the same sense as well. it's almost surreal. have i been assured not only by the task force, our police department and other agencies out there that i am fine. people have been very good to me as far as the law enforcement agency in ensuring that i am safe and that there is no threat upon me. if there were, they would let mow know immediately. so they have worked very closely with me and have been absolutely wonderful. i feel safe at this point. >> gliniewicz died in september. authority says he staged his suicide to lack like a homicide and to apparently avoid being revealed as a thief. authorities in california say a california college student who stabbed four people on

campus had a personal vendetta, but that he was not a terrorist. >> faisal mohammed went on the stabbing spree wednesday at the university of california merced. authorities on thursday revealed why they think the 18-year-old did it. >> we found a two-page handwritten, an i'm going to call it a manifesto detailing his projected activities pertaining to the day's events. the reason for these projected activities, i want to make this very clear, he had gotten kicked out of a study group and was upset with one of the students. and patiently took his anger to the extreme level. >> investigators also say mohammed's backpack was filled with zip tie handcuffs and night vision scope and duct tape. all of his victims are expected to recover. >> that's a good news. at least one person is dead after a dam burst at an iron ore mine. this happened in southeast brazil. you can see the widespread

destruction from the flooding that followed. >> just look at this image there. one official says thursday's burst flooded an area of 200 homes. it's not yet clear, though, how many people may be missing or homeless. in jordan, heavy rain brought flooding to the streets of the capital city of oman just as that city was recovering from a severe sandstorm. >> the rain lasted less than an hour, but it was enough to flood homes and strand motorists. to make matters worse, more rain is forecast. hope no one was in that car. >> goodness. let's go over to derek van dam. poor jordan. they go from a sandstorm to that. >> exactly. they've had a string of natural phenomenons plaguing that particular region. take a look at some of the visuals of the sandstorm that natalie just talked about. believe it or not, guys this very sandstorm actually delayed the u.s. first lady michelle obama's trip through the middle east. she was trying to land there on

wednesday. couldn't get in to oman, the city she was actually on a two-country tour trying to promote women's education across that area. unbelievable stuff that dust storm actually left a thick layer of dust on all the vehicles. people had to wear masks. they were by the way selling the masks for about the equivalent of $1 u.s. on the streets. if you wanted the stay healthy hand not have respiratory problems, you needed to fork over the dollar. let's stay across this part of the world. move from the middle east down across the arabian peninsula to an area known as the arabian sea. just to put you into geographical reference there is yemen, there is oman, and there is the horn of africa. this is somalia. we have yet another tropical cyclone that is forming across this area. we have gone from just last week the first recorded landfall of a tropical cyclone or hurricane

equivalent on the yemen coast to now the potential for a second. here it is moving due west. and you can see the storm is projected to intensify at the moment it has sustained winds of roughly about 85 kilometers per hour. that's not a particularly potent storm. it's just that these types of storms are so rare over this part of the world. again, a second landfall right along the yemen coast. and by the way, an intense amount of rainfall over this very dry part of the world means mud slides and landslides are a possibility. hey, i'm going to switch gears. if you think that you're having a bad day, how would you like to be those guys on that boat? a storm outside of sydney. that's a storm that was moving in to the bondi beach area. i'm going to try to break twitter here, guys. let's start a new hash tag, shelfie down under. that's actually a shelf cloud. take a look at the footage we actually have. people who filmed this rare, rare event.

well, it's not so rare. it's just that it's an incredible sight to see. it happens because thunderstorms create a cold pool of air that spreads out in all directions, creating that wedge-shaped cloud. >> and they're sitting there in the sun. >> taking shelfies. >> but back to that boat, it looks like it was hauling a to get out. >> that's what i would be doing. driver, take me to land. >> thank you so much. >> thanks, guys. >> you're watching "cnn newsroom." and still to come, the lineup is set for the next u.s. republican presidential debate, which candidates made it, and which did not make the cut. we'll have the list for you as the broadcast continues around the world this hour on cnn worldwide.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." very good to have you with us. i'm george howell. >> and i'm natalie allenment here are our top stories. authorities from both russia and egypt say there is no evidence yet to support the theory that a bomb brought down the metrojet flight. u.s. president barack obama and british prime minister david cameron have said intelligence suggest there's was a bomb on the plane. thousands of british tourists could start flying home from sharm el sheikh, egypt in the next few hours. the uk suspended flights in and out of the airport on wednesday over security concerns following the metrojet crash. returning passengers will be allowed to only carry on bags. police and protesters scuffled in central london thursday. the protesters were supporting the activist group called

anonymous. million mask march.-called - some demonstrators were arrested. some were injured. an activist said they were demonstrating for various. >> including equality and against censorship. china's foreign minister told the u.s. secretary of state a patrol in the south china sea has harmed mutual trust and caused regional tension. that is according to a chinese communist party newspaper. a u.s. ship passed within 12 nautical miles of a chinese-made artificial island last week. it's debate time yet again. the lineup for the next republican presidential debate is out, and two big names didn't make the cut for the big stage. fox business network says chris christie and mike huckabee didn't get enough support in recent polls to give them a spot in the main debate. instead they'll be relegated to

the undercard debate along with bobby jindal and rick santorum. >> you know the candidates. they just hate these cutoffs, though. on twitter, christie wrote it doesn't matter the stage. give me a podium and i'll be there to talk about real issues. two other candidates george pataki and lindsey gram didn't qualify for either debate. former president george h.w. bush holds nothing back in his new biography, not even when it comes to his own son. >> bush senior is surprisingly candid about the presidency of george w. bush as well as his son's top aide. jamie gangel spoke with the author of the book, biographer john meacham. >> i accept your nomination for president. >> reporter: this is george herbert walker bush unleashed. sharing his most private thoughts on everything from his time in office to his family --

>> this administration is not going to rest -- >> reporter: -- to his son's presidency. >> he handed over four years of diaries in the white house with no strings attached. >> reporter: and he said to you? >> call them like you see them. you're going to sort it out. >> reporter: among the many revelations bush 41 is bluntly critical of the men who served his son in the white house. he calls vice president dick cheney iron ass. and former secretary of defense donald rumsfeld an arrogant fellow. but perhaps the biggest surprise, bush is critical of his own son for his hot rhetoric. >> we've never heard him criticize his son before as president. why do you think he went public now? >> i think that with the distance of history, he believes so strongly in the fact that force and diplomacy have to be complimentary, not competitive.

that i think he wanted to put on the record that he doesn't think presidents accomplish very much by swaggering. they should be strong but they don't need to be needlessly provocative. >> reporter: so is this a father worried about his son's policy being criticized, not being right? is there -- is there a father-son thing here? >> there is always a father-son thing here. of course. how could there not be. >> reporter: was george w. bush at all defensive about the criticism from his father? >> he was surprised by it. i think it's safe to say. he said dad never said any of this to me either during the presidency or after. he said he would have never said hey you got to rein in cheney. he is ruining your administration. and anyway, i disagree with him. these were my policies. he knew that his father's style was such that he would never say

these things directly to him, which is in and of itself fascinating. >> reporter: in addition to the president's diaries, meacham was given access to barbara bush's diaries, and other insights include that nancy reagan did not seem to like barbara bush. he told his diary, quote, frankly, i think she is jealous of her. there is a blunt assessment of bill clinton as a draft dodger and a liar. and meacham writes the bushes were, quote, horrified by the monica lewinsky scandal. but later bush acknowledges that he couldn't help but like the guy. you think it's a genuine friendship? >> for george h.w. bush i think it is. >> and for bill clinton? >> you never know, do you? >> reporter: that said, the bushes don't seem to have the same warm feelings toward hillary clinton, calling her, quote, militant and pro liberal. >> all right. well, that book is generating a lot of attention online as well.

well, hillary clinton with late night host jimmy kimmel on thursday. she was in california to raise money for her campaign. >> she and kimmel discussed the 2016 race, including one of her rivals, republican candidate jeb bush. he has been struggling in the polls lately and was kicked off a enough jeb can fix it bus tour. so clinton offered up some advice on how to fix his campaign. listen. >> he is obviously trying to continue to relate to the republican electorate. >> it sounds like he is running a handyman business. should be on the side of a van. >> well, if i were to advise him, i'd say there is a lot you can do about trying to fix things. and maybe they should put a number on the side of the bus for people to call. >> so to sort out all the politics, our show "political mann." it's coming back to cnn hosted by our own jonathan mann.

this show returns with a new look, a new set, and of course new stories. don't miss the premier weekend "political mann" in london. see the show saturday november 7th at 11:30 p.m. in hong kong, you can catch it at 11:30 a.m. saturday. and those of you watching in the united states can still catch it. log on to cnn go.com at 11:30 p.m. eastern time friday, you can catch political mann. it's a great show. we are just days away from a monumental election in myanmar. will the country truly embrace democracy? and we will tell you about an interesting comment made by the country's nobel peace prize winner.

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as myanmar heads towards sunday's historic parliamentary

election, nobel lawyer yacht aung san suu kyi has a simple message for the country. >> suu kyi rallied supporters of her opposition party on thursday. she is constitutionally banned from becoming president, but she said that if her party wins majority, that isn't going to matter. listen. >> i'm not saying we're going to win. i say if we are win and there reforms the government, he will be above the president. it's a very simple message. >> suu kyi won an election in myanmar once before, but the country's military annulled the results and immediately placed her under house arrest. >> and she is a survivor. sunday's elections are expected to be the freest in decades, and as cnn's christiane amanpour reports, it is a story that is captivating the world. >> reporter: i've been fascinated by myanmar or burma for ages. it's got all the makings of a classic political and human drama. you've got the frail-looking beautiful but steely heroine

aung san suu kyi who spent the better part of 20 years under house arrest because she wants to bring democracy to her people. you've got the military who have been arraigned against her for all that time. they've been in power since the '60s. and they were brutal in suppressing any kind of move towards freedom by their own people. but that all changed as of 2010 when they let her out of house arrest. and the political process started in earnest. >> we have different views on some issues. but we were able to bring that we will leave those issues for later and solve our differences through negotiations. >> there was a huge amount of interest and engagement by the west into myanmar. and president obama has visited twice. that's pretty extraordinary. it's a tiny little country. and president obama, the president of the united states has visited twice. what america believes and the west believe is that they have managed to sort of wrest myanmar

away from chinese influence. >> something is happening in this country. >> reporter: in 1989 the junta put aung san suu kyi under house arrest. but the very next year her party won the first democratic election by a landslide. >> i've never thought that what they did to me was personal anyway. it is politics. and if you decide to go into politics, you have to be prepared to put up with this kind of -- with these kind of problems. you mustn't forget that my father was the founder of the burmese army. and that is why i have a soft spot for them, even though i don't like what they do. >> i visited recently as a tourist, not as a reporter. and i took all sorts of pictures of campaign posters. obviously there were a lot of aung san suu kyi, and they all had the picture of her and her father. because he still is a national hero in burma. in many parts of the country, there is still ongoing wars, conflict going on. now there is another issue that has caused her outside supporters to be quite critical, and that is the issue of the

rohingyas. they are a muslim minority and they are deeply unpopular by the extremist buddhist nationalists in burma. they don't even have the right to vote. she is being criticized quite a lot for failing to stand up for their human rights. the tragedy of burma that it has been so isolated for so long. and i do think a lot about the human toll and the human cost of people's brave sacrifice for freedom, for human rights, for democracy. and i did ask aung san suu kyi about the toll it had taken on her and her family and her two children, who are very young when she was first put under house arrest, and who spent so many years without their mother. >> i think what i would simply wish to do is to learn to have a good relationship with them across the distance that separates us. and i still get a little surprised when she doesn't want

to dwell on that. but i sort of understand. because she knows that had she showed any human -- any humanity, any human weakness, that the generals at the time would have used that against her and ended her political career, which was so much more than a personal political career. it was about a country's ability and a need for leadership out of dictatorship and towards democracy. >> so the campaigning has ended, and now we're looking towards the election. to talk more about this, let's bring in phil robertson by phone. he is the deputy director of the asia division at human rights watch. phil, good to have you with us. so let's talk about this election and what critics are raising as structural concerns. everything from voter registration laws to the fact that 25% of the seats are handed to the military and the party it supports before a single vote is

even cast. even the fact that there is a lack of an independent election commission. talk to us about these myriad of problems that you believe make the election fundamentally flawed. >> well, there is a number of issues just in myanmar many of them. i think first and foremost the issue of 25% of the seats not being up for grabs on sunday because they are reserved for the military is a big, big problem. but we're really concerned right now about the lack of an independent election commission. because obviously, that election commission is going to be at the center of resolving any sort of disputes that come up during the election. expectations are very high on all sides here, and the election commission is headed by a man whose a former general who has openly said that he supports the ruling party, but they're also

the final arbiter because there is no judicial review of their decisions. if you have a problem, they will form a small -- some commission to look into the complaint, rule on that. and if you don't like it, you can appeal to a larger election commission body, and that's it. their word is final. so, you know, the potential for the decisions here that might disappoint quite a few people is something we're very worried about. >> this is, though, hoped to be the freest election in decades. when it comes to media, talk to us about that, because, again, there are concerns about the ruling party's dominance over state media and how that plays into the upcoming election. >> well, it's quite clear. we have looked at the media, and there have been a number of analysis of their coverage. the state tv, the state radio, and a number of major

state-owned newspapers have all been speaking in very glowing terms about the ruling tsp party. anything that party does is sort of touched with gold. but there is almost no mention of the other parties. and certainly very little mention of the nld, the main option party led by aung san suu kyi. so there is a skewed media environment. it's not as bad, of course, as in days of military dictatorship. but going up country, radio and tv are the main source of the news for many people. and those are really controlled by the state. >> phil, you also bring up concerns about the disenfranchisement of some other voters in different parts of the country. also, the issue of the rohingya. as you heard i'm sure in christia christiane's report a few minutes before here, not even considered citizens there. >> yes.

it's a major issue. the rohingya have been disenfranchised. they are essentially stateless persons. and of the hundreds of thousands of rohingya who are in the western burma state of arakan, only a drop in the bucket are able to vote. a complete disenfranchisement of a group based on ethnicity. this is discriminatory. it's a major issue, but it also goes further than the rohingya. there are ethnic indians here, the chinese here because who they're not listed in the recognized list of ethnic races of burma are not granted citizenship and not allowed to vote. so literally we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people will not be able to vote in this election. plus also, many burmese who live overseas. the absentee balloting

procedures by the government frankly are a joke. as many as about only 19,000 migrant workers voted from over a number of three to four million. >> again, expected to be the freest election in decades, but many of these issues that you raise are certainly issues that could play factor. certainly a lot of people will be keeping an eye on. phil, thank you so much for your insight. speaking of insights, nasa has some on the planet of mars. we'll tell you about that coming next.

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i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. charlie brown. you got to love charlie brown. >> who doesn't? >> he is back on the big screen with the rest of the peanuts gang in a new movie that is out in theaters. >> now the movie may look different than the peanut specials from the past such as this classic, "a charlie brown christmas." but the animators were able to get many of the characters to sound the same. they told our jake tapper how they did it. >> also used the sounds of snoopy and woodstock that bill melendez taped decades ago. >> as animators,s that what we're most excited about.

>> gold. >> all you need is bill melendez to laugh in snoopy's voice and it was instantly funny or cry. how they did it. >> said it really slowly. and they sped it up, right? at our desks, we go back to slowing them down to hear him. and when you have woodstock, he is like beep, beep, beep, beep. and it's like beep beep beep beep. >> it had to be really difficult to do, though, in order to really know the tempo you wanted to get with it. but to record it at like half speed. very interesting. and those two, his voice for those two characters, can't do something. >> it is those characters. >> the movie releases in the united states, china, canada, and several other countries this weekend. well, nasa scientists say they think they know how mars turned from a warm, wet planet similar to earth to a cold, dry and barren world. >> that's a little scary. >> a bummer.

>> over billions of years, the sun's solar winds, they stripped the red planet of its atmosphere. astronaut chris hatfield explained why the findings are so important to us here on this planet. >> it teaches us a lot about earth itself as to what is our history. and more importantly, what is our future on earth. what are the natural long-term processes that affect planets. if we really want to understand the health of earth, it's like looking at people. you can't just look at one human body and understand how human health goes. the more planets we can understand, the better. and it's pretty interesting to be able to look back into the past of mars now and using this new nasa satellite, really understand how mars has lost its atmosphere. >> should we be worried about earth? i hope not. >> maybe a little. >> well, if you ponder that, thanks for watching. i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. "early start" is coming up for viewers here in the u.s.

and for viewers around the world, "cnn newsroom" continues after this. . . .

new information this morning on why terrorists are behind a deadly plane crash and president obama speaks about it. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. friday, november 6th. 4:00 a.m. in the east. we have new information on why u.s. officials came to believe a bomb brought down a russian jetliner over the sinai peninsula. the official tells