pulling out.

the trump administration announces plans to withdrawal all troops from syria. a move many fear would give isis a chance to regroup and put syrian kurds in more danger. impeachment inquiry. democrats back on capitol hill as a new week of political and legal drama plays out to consume washington, d.c. a deal in ecuador after weeks of deadly protests. the government giving into demands of anti-austerity protesters. we're live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. the "cnn newsroom" starts right now. 3:01 on the u.s. east coast.

thank you for being with us this day. the white house is planning to withdraw even more troops from northern syria as the kurds are forced to find different allies. the turkish offensive kicked off last week as the u.s. began pulling troops out. the turks and their proxies are largely targeting kurdish fighters. now kurdish officials say they reached a deal with the syrian government to send troops to northern syria, to that border region. that could play into the hands of russia and iran, though, who support syrian president ba shash al assad. the u.s. defense secretary had this to say on sunday. >> now what we're facing is, u.s. forces in a -- trapped between a syrian russian army moving north to take on the turkish army that is moving south. it puts us in a terrible position and the protection and safety of our service members comes first to me. i spoke with the national security team yesterday.

we all talked on the phone. i talked to the. . he is concerned and so last night he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of u.s. forces from the northern part of syria. >> a u.s. pulling troops out of that part, the turkish/syrian border, many kurds saying they feel betrayed by the united states. it is a chaotic situation in northern syria and fueling fears of a resurgence of isis. but that's not stopping turkey's president. cnn's arwa damon has more from the turkish/syrian border. >> reporter: the situation inside syria is growing even more chaotic and deadly as turkey presses forward with this operation. as we heard president erdogan say earlier, nothing is going to stop turkey from carrying out its goals. the situation, while it's unclear exactly who is in control of what at this stage, behind us is the syrian border

town of ras al ain where battles seem to be sporadically erupting between turkey, the syrian arab force it allied itself with on the ground and the kurdish fighting force, the ypg. as this is pushing forward, there are also growing concerns about the safety for the civilian population as well as what turkey's long-term objectives may be. many quite surprised by some of the moves that have unfolded, moves by turkey that extend well beyond, it would seem, its initial goals. turkey and its arab allies captured a key part of the highway known as the m-4. what this has done is effectively cut off crucial kurdish cities and towns from one another and also cut off u.s. military bases from one another, which is causing great

concern among the americans. as one expert put this, there's one clear winner in this entire scenario at this stage and that is the russians. they are now exerting, as they have been all along, influence over damascus. they also have greater influence over ankara and they have a measure of influence over the kurds, who have turned to just about everyone they can for help but have come up dry. the though, it would seem have managed to make a key strategic victory, and that is in seeing the u.s. military pulling back and pulling out without even having to fire a shot. arwa damon, cnn, on the turkey/syria border. >> interesting in arwa's reporting on her instagram she has a picture where she's there reporting and you see what looks to be the sun setting. she says, clearly that's not the sun setting. naets an explosion. that sets the tone here.

it is a chaotic situation. the kurds are under a great deal of pressure and american forces even feeling some of the heat as they pull out. >> reporter: a very chaotic situation, george. and you've got this fast deteriorating situation in that part of syria. as you heard from the secretary of defense, mark esper saying that basically the decision was made by the president to withdrawal u.s. forces from syria because they're looking at a likely scenario where they'll be facing two opposing armies that are advancing in two different directions. you've got basically the turkish-backed syrian forces on the ground that u.s. officials are very concerned about. they do not trust these forces. they say there are many extremist elements among them. on the other hand, you've also got what we're hearing now, the syrian regime through its state media basically saying they're

moving to the north of the country. and you've got that stunning development, but no surprise, really, when we heard the announcement late last night coming from the kurdish authorities in north and east syria, basically saying that to face what they're describing as this turkish aggression, they have had to go to the syrian regime and that they have reached an agreement whereby the syrian military will deploy along the border with turkey to help repel what they describe as this turkish aggression. they say they will be doing so alongside the syrian democratic forces. they say it is the duty of the syrian regime to defend its borders and to preserve the country's sovereignty. we still have to wait and see what the details of this agreement really is, george. we've only heard about it through this one statement. then we heard from syrian state

media saying their troops are moving to the north. but it is very unclear at this point what the details of this agreement are, what happens to the kurdish authorities, the syrian democratic forces in that part of the country and what happens with this turkish offensive. as we heard from arwa, turkey is determined to go on with this operation to basically create this safe zone that is about 30 kilometers inside syria, but now you've got this complicating factor with the move of the syrian military that is, of course, backed by the russians and the iranians. we'll have to wait and see what happens in the coming hours and days and what turkey's next moves are going to be, depending on, of course, what we see happen and unfold on the ground. these really fast developments we have been seeing over the past 24 hours, george. >> one thing that has been made clear, though, by the u.s. president, that the u.s. will not be a factor in what happens there as the chaos ensues.

we'll stay in touch with you. the leaders of france and germany are sending a united message to turkey about its offensive against the kurds. listen. >> translator: this offensive risks creating an unsustainable humanitarian situation and we can already see it on the ground. on the other hand, it risks helping the islamic state re-emerge in the region. in the face of this situation, we will stay very coordinated as we were when we notified turkey that we would end our arm sales. >> translator: of course, we have to consider turkey's security interests but we also think we have to put a stop to this turkish invasion because of humanitarian reasons. neither can we accept this situation facing the kurds and we have to find another solution. another major power in the region, saudi arabia for its part, tiptoeing around the change in u.s. policy towards the kurds while also slamming

turkey as well. our matthew chance following the story from the saudi capital with more on the diplomatic balancing act. matthew, we've seen this white house manage a balancing act of its own with saudi arabia given some of its actions and now seems the shoe is on the other foot? >> reporter: exactly, george. saudi arabian officials we've been speaking to in the capital riyadh have been condemning the turkish operation in northern syria. describing it as an illegal invasion of syrian land. but at the same time, they are very lee reluctant to criticize policies coming out of washington, particularly policies coming out of the trump administration. the u.s. is still a really important strategic ally for saudi arabia. they won't even criticize policies like this one, which involves the u.s. abandoning a u.s. ally. in particular at this moment, the syrian kurds to their fate.

gentlem the saudi minister of state is also a former saudi ambassador to washington. take a listen. >> you condemn the turkish operation. do you think it was right for the united states to abandon its kurdish allies in this way? >> i don't think i would describe it as such. i believe that the u.s. is still working with the kurdish forces in the northeast of syria. and the u.s. has to decide what its policy should be or not be. i won't be preshumumptuous. we are in close consultation with our friends in washington and in close consultation with our friends -- the ones we support in syria. >> reporter: as the united states dross back its forces there in northern syria, it's

actually bolstering the number of troops it's sending to saudi arabia. announcing 3,000 over the course of the past month alone to help bolster saudi arabia's defenses in its growing standoff with its regional rival, iran. but, i mean, everybody in this region, the saudi arabians, the kurds as well, know full well now more than ever that u.s.st alliances don't necessarily last forever, george. >> matthew chance, thanks for the reporting. now to ecuador and the violent protests that rocked that nation for almost two weeks appears to be over new. the government has reached an agreement with indigenous protest leaders to repeal a decree that sparked the unrest. the decree ended fuel subsidies and was passed to get a loan from the international monetary fund. cnn spoke about why the government is repealing it. listen. >> reporter: the indigenous

community, you know, confronted the president about the injured and the death here during the 12 days of protests. that was certainly high up on the priorities for the government to solve. and they probably thought there was no other way to stop the violence and keep the country moving other than repealing this decree. now, they acknowledge something has to be done to improve the economy. they say they're going to sit on the table with the indigenous community, with the government, and find a way to, perhaps, target this subsidies to only people who really need the low prices get it, find a mechanism where that can be done. so upp eper income people will full price. lower income get a discount. one of the problems they keep bringing up is on the border with colombia, for instance, there are people who take the cheaper ecuadorian fuel and take

it across the border for a profit and they say that's a lot of revenue for this country. >> those demonstrations in ecuador lasted 11 days. at least seven people were killed and more than 1,000 others were injured. up next, the impeachment inquiry into the u.s. president enters a critical week. what a key witness is expected to tell congress about the president's controversial phone call with ukraine's leader. plus, pomp and politics. the carriage, the crown and centuries of history all on display later this day when queen elizabeth ii opens parliament, but this is a year like no other in british politics. we'll explain as "newsroom" continues. these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office

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a busy week ahead. lawmakers return to capitol hill this week for a critical week of testimony in the impeachment inquiry inquiry against president trump. the inquiry was launched after a whistle-blower complaint that claimed mr. trump abused his power by pressuring the ukrainian government to investigate joe biden, the former vice president and now democrat running for president.

of the key people to testify this week, two will include u.s. ambassador gordon sondland and mr. trump's former russia adviser, fiona hill. lawmakers want to ask sondland about the text messages he exchanged related to mr. trump's july phone call with the ukrainian president. hill is expected to be interviewed in the coming hours. she should bring to light some of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering between president trump, the administration officials and outsiders acting on his behalf in ukraine. in the meantime, hunter biden, the son of the former vice president joe biden, whose overseas business dealings have drawn attacks from president trump, he says he will step down from his board role at at chinese private he can quit firm. joe biden addressed the controversy during a campaign event in iowa on sunday and slammed president trump for repeatedly targeting his son with claims that are just not true. our jessica dean reports.

>> reporter: vice president joe biden issuing a fiery rebuke of president trump's and the unfounded claims against his son, hunter biden. in altoona, iowa, hunter biden will be stepping down from a chinese-backed company he serves on the board at the end of the month and hunter biden was pledging if his father was elected president, he would not serve on any foreign boards or do work for any foreign companies. vice president biden going on to say he promises a fully transparent white house. >> the statement my son put out today, which i saw when he put it out, i was told it was going to be put out. i did not consult with what was being put out. in fact, represents the man of integrity he is and what, in fact, he has done and why he stepped down. and i can tell you now if i am your president, the next

presidents, i am going to build on the squeaky clean transparent environment we had in the obama/biden white house. and no one in my family or associated with me will be involved in any foreign operation whatsoever, period, end of story. >> reporter: vice president biden also addressing the situation in syria, calling trump's decision a disaster. >> what in god's name is this man doing? what is he doing to our security? what is he doing to nato? what is he doing? it is a shame. it's shameful what he's done. and to the best of my knowledge, from all the sources i have over in the intelligence community, before, the people worked with me, leaders in the foreign policy community, there was no consultation with the military. this is outrageous. >> reporter: vice president biden has said recently that he's very, very concerned about what president trump will do

with the remainder of his presidency as it relates to international interests on behalf of the united states. you can expect to hear more and more of that line of attack as we get closer to tuesday night's debates. in altoona, iowa, jessica dean. joe biden is not the only democratic presidential candidate criticizing president trump's decision to withdraw u.s. forces from northern syria and betray an ally. listen. >> we have a president who turns his backs on our allies just like he did when he left the kurds for slaughter. and no sanctions after the fact will change the human rights crisis he has caused at this very moment. none. no rallies or chants or tweets will bring back those dead children. this president should never allow this to happen and it must be stopped.

>> putting an end to endless war doesn't mean ending american engagement around the world. often it means we stabilize our help keep the peace so full-blown conflicts don't break out. but look at what's happened here. this isn't even a strategy or a policy. it is the president systematically destroying american alliances and american values. and that makes america worse off. look, the 21st century is going to be filled with these kinds of messy asymmetric conflicts. we need to make you are sure the u.s. is in a position to defend our interests and to live up to our obligations to our allies. >> and now to that issue of brexit and a new warning from the eu's chief brexit negotiator, saying brazil's proposal to exit the eu is not acceptable. this comes ahead of a critical eu summit later this week. that means for pressure on the british prime minister, boris johnson, as the clock ticks down

to halloween day, october 31st, the brexit deadline. in the coming hours all eyes will be on the palace of westminster as his government sets out its agenda in the queen's speech, which opens parliament. our anna stewart tells us what to expect. >> reporter: formally commemorates the beginning of a session of parliament. steeped in tradition, this elaborate ceremony showcases british history, culture and contemporary politics. the state opening is the only regular opportunity to unite the three elements of legislature, the house of lords, the house of commons and the queen. the occasion is marked by a colorful series of events. it begins when the queen travels to the palace of westminster in a state coach, escorted by the household cavalry. the imperial state crown, a supreme symbol of her authority in the land, it gets its own carriage, too.

the queen arrives through the sovereign's entrance and then enters the robing room where she puts on the imperial state crown and royal robe. she enters the royal gallery and joins the state procession. the procession enters the house of lords where the queen takes the throne. at the command of the queen, the official known as the usher of the black rod is dispatched to fetch mps from the commons. the door of the commons is slammed in the usher's face. who then has to knock on the door three times to be allowed in. this is to symbolize the independence of the house of commons. once inside, black rod summons lawmakers to the rods. the mps, black rod ushers and officials make their way to the lord's chamber where they stand in the back. members of the lords and guests including judges, ambassadors and high commissioners will sit in the lord's chamber. >> my lords and members of the house of commons -- >> reporter: then the queen delivers her speech to members

of both houses. written by the government and approved by the cabinet, the speech lays out policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session. the queen then departs the lord's chamber, prompting the new session to start. both houses then begin debate the content of the speech. members will continue debating over several days looking at different subject areas each day. anna stewart, cnn, london. >> a lot to debate there in the uk. and also this from the chinese president xi jinping. a warning, he says, for anyone trying to, quote, split china in any part of the country. he says those efforts will end in, quote, crushed bodies and shattered bones, end quote. china state media quoted mr. xi during a state visit to thnepal. it comes as china faces a prolonged trade war with the united states and 19 straight weekends of pro-democracy protests in hong kong. if you're watching cnn international around the world, thank you so much for being with

us. "in the making south africa" is next for you. for those joining here in the united states on cnn usa, stay tuned, "newsroom" continues right after the break. test. and i...was... shocked. i'm from cameroon, congo, and...the bantu people. new features. greater details. richer stories. get your dna kit today at ancestry.com.

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xfinity customer service simple, easy, awesome. not my thing. half past midnight on the u.s. west coast. 3:30 a.m. on the east. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell with the headlines this day. in northeast syria, they say troops will be deployed along the turkish border to help repel the offensive by turkish troops. some troops moving north, according to syrian state media.

syria's government has not yet said whether this is part of any sort of a deal with the kurds. turkey launched its military operation last week after the united states pulled back troops. now the u.s. defense secretary says president trump is ordering the remaining u.s. forces out of northern syria. pro-turkish forces have cut off a key road leading to kobani. kobani, a largely kurdish city where troops have been based. let's get the context with bob baer, cnn's intelligence and security analyst. also a former cia operative. it's good to have you with us. >> thanks. >> so, bob, as the turkish military continues to push into syria, many of the kurdish fighters who once fought alongside u.s. troops to defeat isis, they now find themselves targeted by another u.s. ally, turkey. and with americans leaving now, the kurds are turning to the syrian army for a deal even considering russian forces to protect them.

how does that strike you to hear the kurds say that america betrayed them, that america sold them out? >> well, george, it's absolutely right. i mean, let's not forget the kurds did most of the fighting against the islamic state and beat them. drove them into the ground. and now as soon as we're done with them, we're abandoning them to the turks, to turkish air power. not only that, but we're abandoning them to turkish syrian allies which happen to be very close to the muslim brotherhood. they despise the kurds. right now they're committing ethnic cleansing in the kurdish areas. no wonder the kurds can scared, feel defeated and betrayed at this point. it's amazing. i've never seen the u.s. turn on an ally like this ever so quickly and without cause. >> many of these kurdish forces were protecting prisoners that were held -- they were holding isis prisoners. but now they find themselves defending themselves against

turkish forces, they say, guarding isis is no longer a priority. so, hundreds of those prisoners, hundreds of people with ties to those prisoners have escaped already. how great of a risk do you see this for isis to possibly resurge? >> well, as of today, it's an enormous risk. we're getting reports out of syria that high-value islamic state prisoners are escaping. and you can count on it, they're going to come back to the battlefield and they're going to be attacking whether it's in iraq, syria, europe or even the united states. it's not a surprise that the kurds have abandoned these prisons. they are defending themselves. this is an existential threat, the turks are at this point. they had to take whatever arms and firepower they have and put it on the front. i mean, this was, again, all predictable. what i don't understand is why the president of the united states didn't factor any of this in. it's like he woke up one

morning, talks to erdogan and says, i'm out of here, for absolutely no reason at all, no planning. and i know the ambassador that represents that area, jeffrey. the guy is brilliant. he did not support this, i guarantee you that. so, trump has gone without any advice, without any plan for what's going to happen afterwards and what we're seeing in this part of the world and we're going to see it spread, i guarantee you that, is chaos and more war. >> this u.s. president who takes credited for the defeat of isis says he shoots from the hip, essentially. he works with his gut but a great deal of backlash from this gut move from donald trump. and as the fighting there, the chaos continues, bob, thousands of people are being displaced. people being pushed further from their homes, deeper and deeper into syria. help our viewers understand what that means to see the humanitarian crisis there get worse.

>> well, i mean, syria was barely stabilized as it was, doing better than it was in 2011. to see this ethnic cleansing, and i'll say it again, going on, essentially tolerated by the united states, it's a tragedy beyond belief. i fought with the kurds for many years. it's amazing what they can do in the battlefield. it's amazing what they -- the trust they put in us and at this point, just abandoning them, you know, who is going to protect them and who is going to fight the islamic state? because, i tell you, the free syrian army, this turkish group is not. it's just totally incomprehensible to me that the president made this decision. >> bob baer with perspective. thank you. president trump's decision to withdrawal troops from the region has been seen as an attempt to appease the turkish

government. as cnn's jake tapper reports, it's not the first time mr. trump has been accused of putting turkey's interests first. >> reporter: despite president trump's vague threat to turkey on thursday -- >> we are going to possibly do something very, very tough with respect to sanctions and other financial things. >> reporter: his order to withdrawal u.s. service members from the northern part of syria on the eve of turkey's assault on america's long-time kurdish allies is, in fact, just the latest in a number of decisions where the trump administration has seem to have bent over backwards to give turkey's president erdogan what he wants. >> it's not a good pattern. it's a pattern of appeasement. >> reporter: the trump administration's ties to turkey dwan even before the 2016 election when former national security adviser michael flynn, at the time an adviser to the trump campaign, was doing secret lobbying work on behalf of the turkish government. "the wall street journal" reporting flynn met with turkish

government officials at the time of getting one of eefrd wan's enemies, a turkish clashg living in pennsylvania in exile, forcibly removed to turkey. erdogan has accused hill of attempting to mastermind a coup. >> general flynn is a wonderful man. >> reporter: flynn subsequently admitted to breaking the law by making false statements on federal lobbying disclosures about his work for turkey. and then there's rudy giuliani's representation of rezazereb for helping iran. in an oval office meeting with giuliani and trump, rex tillerson was urged to drop a case against zarrab. tillerson said no.

the trump administration so proud of with drawing from the iran deal has not fined the bank involved in the zarrab case, the halkbank. why not? then there's the master of turkey purchasing the russian s-400 defensive missile system, which pentagon officials say would -- according to a 2017 law, turkey's purchase of these russian weapons is supposed to trigger congressionally mandated sanctions against turkey. but trump has not pulled that trigger. why not? the trump administration told us today, quote, we continue to urge turkey to reconsider the receipt of the s-400. there's a deliberative process ongoing on the issue of sanctions. >> there could be more sanctions to follow, but, frankly, what we'd really like is the s-400 not to become operational. >> reporter: in fact, after the pentagon insisted that the white house cancel turkey's purchase

of the f-35 jet, president trump sounded more upset about the law than turkey violating it. >> i've had a good relationship with president erdogan. because of the fact he bought a russian missile, we're not allowed to sell them bls of dollars of aircraft. it's not a fair situation. >> sends a terrible message to the turkish regime, that they can continue to test american red lines and get away with it. >> that was cnn's jake tapper reporting from washington. next here on "newsroom," a racially charged shooting in the u.s.s. a victim 28 years old in her own home. her young nephew witnessed it all. anny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! can someone turn on the ac?! no? oh right... ...'cause there isn't any. here- (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. without you, we wouldn't have electricity.

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the search continues for a missing worker at a collapsed hotel in new orleans. take a look at the future hard rock hotel. it gave way, leaving two people

dead. the search for the missing third worker was on hold until the dangerously shaky construction site was later stabilized. that allowed crews to remove one body. they're trying to get a second body now. the identities of those killed have not yet been released. investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what caused the collapse. if ft. worth, texas, an african-american woman killed in her own home. it marks the seventh fatal shooting police are investigating by one of their officers this year. 28-year-old atatiana jefferson killed early saturday morning. police say the officer did not identify himself before he fired his gun. polo sandoval has this. >> we weren't from a welfare check to a woman being killed by the cops. >> reporter: outrage is building over the actions of a ft. worth, texas, police officer. saturday morning just before 2:30 a.m., police were called to

the home of 28-year-old atatiana jefferson after neighbors noticed her front door was open. heavily edited body camera video released by ft. worth police picks up what happens next. after officers peer through the front door, they walk the perimeter of the property when they say an officer spotted someone standing by a window. the medical examiner identified the woman the officer shot as jefferson. she died at the scene. james smith says he's the concerned caller who first alerted police. >> i feel guilty because had i not called the ft. worth police department, my neighbor would still be alive today. >> reporter: in a statement ft. worth police said their officer drew his weapon and fired the single shot after, quote, perceiving a threat. in addition to the body camera footage, investigators release this still footage showing a firearm inside the house. cnn legal analyst and criminal defense attorney joey jackson cautions not to jump to any conclusions. >> you're going to release the fact that she has a gun in the home as, perhaps, what? to suggest she had a gun and that we were, perhaps, fearful

for our life? there's no indication where that gun was. there's no indication she had that gun. there's no indication they should not have had the gun. >> reporter: cnn has requested the unedited body camera footage. a police spokesperson said nothing additional will be released at this time and the department, quote, shares the deep concerns of the public and is committeded to completing an extremely thorough investigation. police have not named the officer who joined the department in april of last year. polo sandoval, cnn. >> we'll continue to follow that story, of course. we'll be right back after this. are you a christian author with

a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. we've been following this very strong typhoon that hit japan. it affected flights, definitely affected sporting events. ivan cabrera is in our weather center. it hit fast and what was left over, a lot of damage from it, it seems. >> no question about it. one of the worst typhoons they've had in quite some time. remember, george, for our u.s.

viewers, a typhoon is another name for hurricane. this would have been the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane. look at the record rains. the wind was significant. we had some damage as a result of that. but the rain has been just prolific here. no question about it. incredible amounts of rain. you can see them washing off the roads here. i mean, this was somebody's street right in front of their house. it is barely there. we're talking about a couple of feet and you're in the river here. that's been the case throughout portions of hongshu in japan. 14 rivers and tributaries that run through tokyo and have to get out to the bay. they run through neighborhoods and they're inundating the neighborhoods. incredible images coming out of one of our nasa satellites. dramatic before and afters and this is no exception. before we had a typhoon hitting

here. i want you to notice the rivers here, that run through tokyo and exits through tokyo bay. you see that hue there, you begin to see the difference colors, the brown. that is water. that is the water coming from those overwhelmed rivers flooding down into tokyo bay. another river, the saigame, that's going into the bay. we have another one going into suruga bay. it's been a devastating storm as a result of the rainfall as well. we'll show you that picture in a second. that's another part of the story. notice things are quiet. folks have been asking. well, yeah, we have a few showers in the forecast but nothing too significant as i see it right now. just some bands rolling through. this has nothing to do with the typhoon. the typhoon is long gone at this point. that's some good news here. the picture i want to show you as well, this is not even a typhoon. this is what can happen with a land-falling hurricane or typhoon. you get tornadoes. look at the damage as a result of what was a significant tornado out ahead of the landfall that occurred on

saturday. remarkable images coming out of this town here in chiba, japan. look at all the destruction. if you widen out the picture, you can see some areas just to the north not hit as hard. just a tell tell sign of what you have when you have a tornado rolling through one particular neighborhood and folks to the north of that doing just fine. an historic storm. we haven't seen something like this since the early 2000s as far as the destructive power. the last storm that hit japan, by the way, that was a typhoon that hit right on top of tokyo as well. that was the equivalent of a category 2. $7 billion in damages there as a result. this particular storm, the economic losses, it's too early to talk about that. that, i think, will also be in the billions. the exact amount will have to be determined. but what has happened here with this particular storm has been the loss of life, george, and we haven't seen the fatalities for

japan, a modern country for -- you know, during this time. 35-plus fatalities and likely to continue to increase. that's a lot of people, though. we usually don't get those numbers in parts of japan. they're used to these typhoons but this one was a significant storm for them valuewise as far as folks being lost and also the damaging that will come out of it. as you mentioned, some games, rugby disrupted. japan was at a standstill over the weekend. no question. >> so many people were there for those sporting events. this was a big storm that came through. ivan cabrera, thank you so much. a u.s. athlete has just become the most decorated gymnast in world championship history. simone biles earned five gold medals during a competition in germany. she has five championship medals, the most ever. the 22-year-old is already a four-time olympic champion, but says next year's olympics in

tokyo, well, that will be her last. and it was a banner weekend for two other female athletes. coco gauff became the youngest tennis championship. after a rocky start she won the women's tennis association tournament in austria and bridget won the chicago marathon for the second year in a row. she shattered the women's world record marathon record. she ran a 26-mile race in 2:1 2:14.04. a full 81 seconds faster than the old record. and then finally this hour, the world witnessed another major moment in sports. it happened this weekend when kenyan distance runner did what no one has done before, completing a marathon in under two hours.

it happened in vienna. he accomplished what previously was thought to be an impossible feat. he spoke about it to my colleague becky anderson. >> i'm really happy. i'm the happiest man in this universe two break the two-hour barrier. remember, most people have been saying that two hour would be broken in 2025. i told them, here in vienna yesterday is the day i made history. anything you put in your hat and in your mind and say it in your mouth can become a reality. and i'm expecting most to come under two hours in the future. the whole country was celebrating. under two hours is a unifying factor in the country and i trust kenya will be in unity. and let's just take a look

at this image. it says so much right there. that is kipchoge finishing at the finish line, created by his wife, but despite becoming the first human to break that two-hour mark, it won't be an official world record. that's because it was assisted by 30 pace makers and a pace car, which is considered to be nonstandard conditions. and it was not an official event. but, man, what a race. thank you so much for joining us this hour. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. now off to new york we go. "early start" is next from hudson yards. you're watching cnn, the world's news leader.

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the remaining u.s. troops in northern syria, pulling out, as our allies, the kurds, look to cut a deal with assad and russia. a former white house official expected to testify behind closed doors just hours from now, in the trump impeachment inquiry. what the officer observed and why he did not announce police, will be addressed. >> ft. worth, texas, police speak after an officer shot a woman to death in her own home. umpire cor