what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ hi. welcome to all our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm robyn curnow. thanks for joining me. right now the tribute of light is shining in new york, two towering reminders of where the world trade center buildings once stood. how the victims of that stressful day 20 years ago were honored. we have that story. also, a strong typhoon is churning in the western pacific. the storm is barreling towards taipei with china next in its president. and two tennis champions square off for the u.s. women's open title, while only one

teenager hoisted that singles trophy, tennis was certainly the big, big winner. ♪ >> live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom" with robyn curnow. >> thank you for joining us this hour. 20 years has not diluted the painful memories of 9/11 or the unspeakable agony inflicted on the victims' families. >> zander h.kriang. >> dorothy j. -- >> on saturday, the nation tried to provide some solace. a symbolic arm around the shoulder to let each wounded soul know they are not alone. >> patrick dan. >> one by one, the names of the victims were read aloud. each one an empty place at the table. the grief and sorrow of so many

captured by a young girl as she spoke directly to the uncle she had never met, and imagined how he might be today. >> my uncle, firefighter christopher michael mazillo. i know you're with us each and every day watching over us. even though i never met you in person, i still miss you a lot. mom always tells me the crazy, fun things you did. and i'm sure if you were here, i'd probably be doing them with you. >> so new york city right now, these two brilliant shafts of light where the twin towers once stood in lower manhattan. the president and the first lady paid their respects to the victims at all three sites, new york, virginia, and pennsylvania. and we begin our coverage with cnn's polo sandoval in new york. polo? >> reporter: at dawn, the unfurling of a flag over the site of the pentagon, hit by a jetliner 20 years ago signaled the beginning of a day of tributes.

it's one of three sites where americans gathered in somber remembrance, honoring each one of the 2,977 people killed in the terrorist attacks on september 11th. at the footprints where the twin towers proudly stood over lower manhattan, president biden and the first lady were join by the obamas and a sea of 9/11 families to memorialize those lost two decades ago. [ bell ] at 8:46 a.m., the first of six moments of silence marking the instant the first hijacked airliner struck the north tower. mike lowell's daughter sarah was a flight attendant on that plane. >> as we recite the names of those we lost, my memory goes back toe that terrible day, when it felt like an evil specter had defended on our world, but it was also a time when many people acted above and beyond the ordinary. >> reporter: the tributes continued throughout the morning with the nation pausing five more times.

the moment each 2004 fell, when the pentagon was attacked, and the moment united flight 93 crashed into a field in pennsylvania. >> it is truly an honor to be all of you at this field of honor. >> reporter: along with vice president kamala harris, president george w. bush, who served as commander in chief in 2001 helped lead a memorial at that site. >> the 33 passengers and seven crew of flight 93 could have been any group of citizens selected by fate. in a sense, they stood in for us all. the terrorists soon discovered that a random group of americans is an exceptional group of people. >> reporter: and at the pentagon, general mark milley, chairman of the joint chief, honored the victims of the attacks and the service members who died at the subsequent war in afghanistan. >> never forget those who were murdered by terrorists. never forget those who rushed to save their lives and gave theirs in exchange.

never forget the sons and the daughters, the brothers and sisters and the mothers and fathers who gave their tomorrows for our todays. >> reporter: tonight, the sky over lower manhattan lights up again with the annual tribute in light, a reminder of the nation's resilience, and an iconic symbol of those killed and a nation's unbreakable spirit. the fbi has released a newly declassified document revealing details about its investigation into the september 11th attacks, and whether the saudi government provided support for the hijackers. the 2016 document describes multiple contacts between the hijackers and several saudi associates in the u.s. the saudi government has long denied any involvement in those attacks. and the saudi embassy said it welcomed the release of the record. more documents are expected in the days ahead after president biden ordered the justice department to review previously held information about the attacks.

and the war that began in the wake of those deadly attacks has only just ended. less than two weeks after the final u.s. military withdrawal, afghanistan's economy is in a shambles, to put it simply, prices are high and money is scarce. and many afghans face an anxious daily reality. >> the change of regime has brought disappointment for everyone, especially the younger generation and women and the educated class who have no hopes for their country, their education, or their future any longer. they have no faith left, and they are in a state of suspense. >> the taliban is seeking international legitimacy and have formed an interim government. but its hardline makeup will complicate normalization. it's unclear how radical the interpretation of sharia law will be this time around, but one taliban police chief told cnn nothing has changed. >> translator: there is no

difference between the laws 20 years ago and now. only back then, the u.s. was too powerful. they were doing a lot of propaganda. all other countries were under the united states. therefore, they had made plans for their invasion. there was no other problem. the mujahedeen still have the same law. there hasn't been any change to it. obviously, people change, but that hasn't changed. it's the law of allah. there is not going to be any change in it. >> arwa damon has reported from afghanistan. arwa joins me now from istanbul. arwa, hi. certainly that kind of attitude chilling for those who have been left behind who still remain. in afghanistan. >> it must certainly must be, robyn. one can't even begin to imagine, especially since right now we're also hearing all sorts of

contradictory messages. remember, when the taliban first took over kabul, they were saying women would be allowed in education, they would have the right to work. now you're hearing from the police chief in mazar-e sharif saying that no, the laws are going to be exactly the same as they were 20 years ago where basically women did not enjoy any of those rights. neither did young girls, effectively denied an education, a future and any ability to be productive members of society, denied the right to basically dream of bettering themselves, bettering their country. and, you know, at the same time, if one were to be in afghanistan right now, the other reality is that you can't get out. afghans are effectively trapped in afghanistan at this stage. those who managed to get out are very much the lucky ones. and when it comes to the taliban's rule, even if we do get a taliban that is less strict than the one of 20 years ago, this is still going to make

it one of the most, if not the most oppressive regime when it comes to girls and women's rights in the world. and when it comes to the role that the international community could have played, that global leaders could have played? they've effectively abdicated responsibility. if you look at the rhetoric coming out of the u.s., great britain, other western nation, it's not necessarily about how to pressure this taliban government to ensure that girls and women's rights and other rights as well are being upheld. the conversation really centers about how to ensure that no security threat emerges from an afghanistan that's being ruled by the taliban, but also, how to keep afghans from leaving afghanistan. because at this stage, a lot of countries are prioritizing the fact that none of them really want to deal with another refugee or migrant crisis the likes of which we saw in 2015-2016 with the war in syria. and so for many afghans, they do

feel completely and totally abandoned. what has happened to them, what they have enjoyed the past 20 years, the relatives freedoms and democracies have all of the sudden disappeared. this is something that beyond heartbreaking at this stage, robyn. >> thank you for that. arwa damon always there live in istanbul. i want to go now to a terrorism expert in international security director for the asia-pacific foundation. he joins me now live from london. good to see you. you heard arwa there, talking about the role of girls and women. but that also overlaps with the security situation, doesn't it? >> very much so, robyn. i couldn't agree with arwa more. what she said is 100% accurate. if you see women's rights collapse in afghanistan, degraded, women kept out of the picture, literally, then that will be a resulting in the rise of extremism, because women's empowerment directly challenges male supremacy. the taliban miss song.

>> institutionalizes violence towards women. and that also then becomes a magnet for foreign terrorist fighters. we saw it in the 1990s in afghanistan with al qaeda. then we also saw it with isis in iraq and syria, post arab spring. and unfortunately, we're seeing eerie similarities taking place in afghanistan right now. so if women's rights suffer, if civil society collapses, you will see a rise in extremism. the two are very much interconnected. >> obviously, the anniversary, the 20th anniversary of 9/11, there has been a lot of reflection, a lot of thoughts on what went wrong, what went right, the lessons learned. i want to break it up, if you don't mind. in the 20 years, particularly when we look at the retreat from afghanistan in the last few weeks, what has been the one lesson that has been learned in terms of dealing with terror threats on a global scale? >> well, every 9/11 anniversary

almost serves as a kind of reflection point as to where we've progressed in the war on terrorism, and there has been many successes in terms of a lot of plots are disrupted on a weekly basis. they perhaps don't get the attention that perhaps they could. but it is a behind-the-scenes effort by counterterrorism agencies, cooperation, intelligence sharing has also increased. but unfortunately, what remains to be a big challenge is the fact that terrorists are still able to operate in the dark, whether it is physically or virtually. and in the case of afghanistan, one of the biggest challenges was trying to get countries like pakistan on board where you saw the al qaeda leadership and the taliban based in pakistan. and i think various u.s. administrations from the bush, obama, trump, and then biden administration getting increasingly frustrated that pakistan wasn't doing enough to dismantle the infrastructure of both the taliban and al qaeda. and unfortunately, we are now seeing the taliban return to

afghanistan. perhaps a stronger place than they were during the 1990s. they control more territory than they did back when bin laden was there in afghanistan. >> many security experts have said that joe biden's position that terrorism emanating from afghanistan was not, you know, a national security issue for america, that things like climate change or even a real pivot towards china were far more important from a foreign policy perspective and also national security perspective. do you agree with that? >> well, there is no arguing that climate change is an existential challenge to humanity. but i would say it's not in competition with counterterrorism. that the two still can go hand in hand. it is true that terrorism has stopped in afghanistan, but that was largely because you had a coalition presence led by the u.s. in the country. and let's also keep in mind,

robyn, that president obama, when he was in power, heened combat operations in afghanistan in 2014. so for the last six, seven years, you had a reduction in fatalities on coalition troops. the costs have come down. but they provided peace and stability to the country. and there was a stalemate with the taliban. the worry now is the taliban are back in power. you have got proscribed designated terrorists running the country, such as haqqani, who is on the fbi's most wanted list. he was also a close ally of al qaeda. and if, unfortunately it seems to be the case that they are not only defending al qaeda, but they potentially have been cooperating with them behind the scenes, then that means that you could see a return to extremism, and that will also then play a problem, not just for afghanistan, but impact on us. because you'll see foreign fighters going there for training and potentially plotting against the west in the future. history repeats itself.

and we've seen unfortunately too many examples of that. >> and quickly before we go, the taliban is trying to be an international partner. they need foreign aid. they're looking for some sort of legitimacy as the leaders of afghanistan. is that an opportunity to leverage them and perhaps not create a vacuum or an opportunity for terrorism to breed there again? is there some chance to manipulate at least the expectations of the talds and what kind of a home they provide? >> unfortunately, our options are limited. the taliban, as you said, very much wants recognition and legitimization. but they haven't changed. their misogyny towards women, drug trafficking, these are the metrics they'll have to be vujed by. and the early signs are not very good in countries like pakistan, russia, china, iran, turkey continue to establish closer ties with the taliban. that undermines the ability to

try and get them to come back to a sense of normality, and learn that the 21st century is about equality for all. >> sober assessment there 20 years after 9/11. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. so ahead on cnn, how two teenagers battled their way into the u.s. women's open final. they both won the hearts of the sporting world. stay with us to meet the victim. . so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive to dairy. so anyonone who says lactaid isn't real milk is also saying mabel here isn't a real cow. and she really hates that.

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metamucil. support your daily digestive health. and try metamucil fiber thins. a great tasting and easy way to start your day. i'm robyn curnow. welcome live from atlanta. it is 20 minutes past the hour. good to have you along. let's talk about sports. the women's tennis final at the u.s. open was build as the battle of the teenaged sensation, and it did not disappoint. it was the first all teen championship match for the american title in 22 years. in the end, 18-year-old brit emma raducanu won her first grand slam title by defeating canadian leylah fernandez. patrick snell joins me now with the latest on all of that. patrick, hi. it was just fantastic, wasn't it? >> it really was.

and i want to pay tribute, robyn, to both finalists. both incredible performances. both wonderful story, life journeys to tell. it was amazing to witness. it was a privilege. and i was absolutely riveted by every second of saturday's women's final. let's talk a little bit more about raducanu. coolness personified. no question about that. and the first qualifier ever to win a grand slam in the opener remarks not only dropping one set. playing the u.s. open for the very first time in her life. only her second grand slam as well as he gets the job done here in straight sets. you know, she won every single match in the lead-up to this final. and then the final itself in straight sets against an opponent. remember, beat defending champion naomi osaka along the way. just 18 years of age. and her life story as well is amazing. born in canadian to romanian and

chinese parents, moves to the u.s. when she is just two years of age. but nerves? no nerves at all. it was a flawless performance. let's hear from it now. take a listen. >> most of all, i would say thank you to everyone here in new york. thank you all for making me feel so at home from my first qualifying match all the way to the final. i loved playing in front of you, and you've really spurred me on in some very difficult moments. and i hope that me and leylah put on a good performance today. >> they most certainly did. for more context here, bear this in mind as well, robyn. emma raducanu was a qualifier. what does that mean? she had to play three qualifying matches before she could even get into the main draw of the u.s. open. never mind go on to win it. she is the first british woman to win a slam since 1977, when virginia wade won wimbledon. wade was there at flushing meadows to witness history in the making.

and also, emma's the youngest major champion since maria sharapova triumphed back in 2004. what about a world ranking? she went into the u.s. open at 150 in the world. remember, earlier this year when she was competing at wimbledon, that was her first grand slam event. she was ranked in the 300s. where is she going to be at the end of all this? she is going to be 23 in the world. it's truly life-changing, i can tell you. quick note to what is coming up later today. its men's final as novak djokovic continues his quest for history, trying to get that 21st grand slam title that would be a men's major record against medvedev later in new york city. >> i'm looking forward to that. he says he has one more game left. and this is a big one. that's for sure. >> he said he is treating it as though it's the last of his career. >> well, i mean it is extraordinary. patrick snell, always good to see you. thanks for bringing us all this

great sports news. thank you. we are tracking a typhoon as it now moves away from taiwan. it's no longer a super typhoon, but it's certainly still a monster storm with category 3 strength winds and heavy rain, and it has been battering taipei. i want to bring gene norman. talk us through where it's going now. >> well, robyn, with this typhoon chanthu spent most of the day just kind of teasing along the coast of taiwan, the eastern coast, moving basically from south to north all day long. very, very slowly and steadily. and it does have 125-mile-per-hour winds. it is category 3, as you mention. so it is not as strong as if it was when it was a super typhoon. but we focus more on the impacts necessarily than we do all of the category designations that we give these storms, because they don't care about that. all they know is they're going to bring a lot of wind and a lot of rain. lashing the east coast of taiwan

today, and then targeting shanghai and southeast china tomorrow. take a look at video we just got in from some place called the green island. and i had to go look it up, because i really didn't know where this was. but you can see this is right over where the storm was moving throughout the day. there it is. a little speck there off the southeast coast of taiwan. this is live radar coming to us from the taiwan central weather bureau. and you can see the center of the storm just exiting the northeast tip of taiwan. so where is it going after that? it's going to head right for southeast china. and unfortunately, it's going to take its sweet time getting there. even though it may approach tomorrow, it's then going to put on the brakes. we're concerned about the potential for heavy rain, and that's what this typhoon threatened to do. once it crosses near shanghai, it's going to head for the korean peninsula. but not before depositing a lot of rain. look how it's kind of sitting and spinning, pretty much over the same spot from some time

late monday on into wednesday. and that could deposit anywhere from 6 to 10 inches rain, possibly up to a foot. so shanghai gets set for about three days straight of heavy rain. we're also watching the remnants of what was tropical storm moving through van. looks like more rain for them too. >> thank you for all of the updates. gene norman, i appreciate it. thank you for watching cnn. if you're an international viewer, i'm going hand you over to quest's world of wonder. that is next. if you're joining us here from north america, i'll be right back with more news. and as we head to break, we do want to show you part of bruce springsteen's emotional performance at ground zero today. take a listen. ♪ i'll see you in my dreams, when all our summers have come to an end ♪ ♪ i'll see you in my dreams, we'll meet and live and laugh again ♪

♪ i'll see you in my dreams ♪ all raranks, all branches, and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you shshould join.

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♪ bagpipes accompanied the american flag as it was carried through lower manhattan on saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11. solemn ceremonies were also held in pennsylvania and at the pentagon. president biden and the first lady paid their respects to the victims who died in each of those places. and while he was in pennsylvania, the president reflected on the emotional difficulty of these anniversaries, but said they're important and they need to be done. for more, here is arlette saenz.

>> reporter: president biden visited all three sites of the september 11th 2001 terror attacks, marking the 20th anniversary since those attacks on saturday. the president started his day in new york city at ground zero where he was accompanied at the 9/11 memorial by former president barack obama and former presidents bill clinton. they stood at that site as each of the names were read of those killed in the terror attack 20 years ago. the president also stopped in shanksville, pennsylvania, to lay a wreath at the site where flight 93 crashed into that rural pennsylvania field after some passengers overtook the hijackers who had hoped to land that plane in the capitol. instead, it crashed and killed those on board in pennsylvania 20 years ago. the president wrapped up his day at the pentagon, laying a wreath there with vice president kamala harris. and in a video released ahead of the 9/11 remembrance, the

president called for a moment of unity. and as he was speaking with reporters on september 11th, he shared the story of how one of his friends lost a loved one, a son in those tower attacks in new york city. and he recalled the emotions that many of these families are feeling on this anniversary. take a listen. >> it's a tough day for him and everybody who lost somebody. and, you know, i know you heard me say it before, and i'll probably get criticized for saying it again, but these memorials are really important, but they're also incredibly difficult for the people who are affected by them, because it brings back the moment you got the phone call. it brings back that instant you got the news. no matter how many years go by. >> reporter: so the president trying to strike some empathy there on this 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. the president calling many of the actions of people that day genuine heroism.

arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. >> and one detail about the 9/11 attacks is that the u.s. president was on camera when he learned about the attacks, as we all saw. george w. bush was visiting a school in florida at the time. his chief of staff andy card whispered in his ear that the u.s. was under attack. former abc news correspondent ann compton was in that classroom. she also was on air force one as mr. bush flew out of florida, and she recalled one of the terrible decisions he had to make while on that flight. >> that limited communications made worse when air force felt it needed to go to a much higher altitude. and that even further destroyed his ability to talk to people on the ground. and he -- he wanted to go back, and he was asked at one point by vice president cheney, who technically is not in the chain of command, should u.s. military jets shoot down any other plane,

civilian jetliner being suspected of being hijacked. the whole idea of you lose lives in the air, you don't lose them on the ground. >> right. those were the choices that were being contemplated. >> what president ever enters office thinking i may have to do this? and it's unclear whether the president gave his thumbs-up before cheney passed it on or whether it was after. the president agreed either way. that flight was already nose down into shanksville. >> now we have been seeing some heartfelt tributes to those who lost their lives in those attacks. but one man's tribute to his firefighter brother literally has been a journey of several hundred miles that ended on saturday in lower manhattan as jason carroll now explains. >> reporter: one might say that with every step frank siller takes, he comes one step closer to honoring the memory of his brother stephen. >> everyone thought he was their

best friend. you want to know why? because he treated everybody that way. >> he sounds like a wonderful man. >> reporter: steven siller was a new york city firefighter who on the morning of 9/11 had just finished his shift with brooklyn's squad one. he went back to work after learning a train had crashed into the world trade center's north tower. siller grabbed his gear and drove toward manhattan. when he saw the brooklyn battery tunnel was closed, he got out and ran through the tunnel with 60 pounds of gear on his back toward the twin towers. steven was one of more than 300 new york city firefighters killed that day. >> way to go. >> now his brother frank is paying tribute to him. >> you're amazing. by trekking more than 500 miles through six states in six weeks to honor not only his brother, but all the heroic first responders from that day. how did you get the idea to do something like this? >> well, i was -- i knew i was

going to do something walking. >> why walking? >> because walking is very therapeutic. and i only do things if it has meaning. it just had to be the right thing. and once i thought it out, i said oh my god, that's it. i didn't know how many miles it was, and i didn't care, but i knew it was the right thing. >> on august 1st, siller began his journey at the pentagon. >> our first mission is to make sure we never forget what happened 20 years ago. >> 20 days layer, he made it to shanksville, pennsylvania. a week after that, hershey, pennsylvania. >> thank you, god bless you, where word of his journey had started to spread. >> emotionally, i'm just wondering how this walk has affected you. >> look, every day was very emotional. and many times i've broken down and cried privately, you know. i just can't help myself because i don't know what moment it's going to be, and i don't know what little thing is going to

trigger it. >> reporter: last week, morristown, new jersey. [ bagpipes playing ] this week, it's new york city. >> i like that. let's be happy. let's be happy. >> throughout it all, never missing a step, walking a little every day, sometimes with a group or alone. and when the weather was not so great, at times talking to his brother steven. >> i laughed at the rain. i laughed at the heat. whatever my brother wanted to throw my way, because he was a big buster. >> really? >> oh, he liked to bust chops. so whatever he threw may michigan way, i laughed. i stead steven, i know what you're doing. i know what you're doing. >> the most challenging leg comes september 11th. what do you think you'll be thinking about when you walk through the tunnel, the tunnel that your brother walked through upon that day? >> i've been -- i've been looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time, because i know how much i'll be overcome with emotion.

>> but he says he is ready to complete his walk and carry the memories of his brother and the other men and women who lost their lives that day. >> thanks to jason carroll for that. and in florida, scuba divers placed a large american flag underwater to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11. this is the florida keys national marine sanctuary. divers attached the flag to a historic military shipwreck some 60 feet or 80 meters beneath the ocean surface. that ship was intentionally sunk 20 years ago to serve as an artificial reef. california's governor is fighting for his political life ahead of tuesday's recall election. why some observers believe the race will be close, even though they far outnumber republicans in the state. and the u.s. isn't the first country to implement vaccine mandates. coming up, we'll speak with public health expert and find out how effective these mandatory vaccinations are. but it's actually d-con. nks ,

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so some u.s. capitol police officers could face disciplinary action in connection to the january 6 attack on the capitol. on saturday, the department released details of its internal investigation. it found six cases where officers broke the rules, but said there had been no evidence that any of the officers actually committed a crime. so far it's unclear if each case involved a different officer. officials say a seventh case is pending. and california governor gavin newsom is in the final stretch of a fight to keep his job. his fate will be decided at the polls on tuesday when the state holds governial reelection. millions of ballots are already in. >> more than 7 million ballots

have been cast so far in this recall election, many of them mail-in ballots, because every california voter automatically receives one the mail. but with just a few days left until the election, there are also early in-person voting centers like this one in beverly hills, available for people to walk in. now we talked to voters in this heavily democratic area who tell us this election is about preventing a republican takeover. and what they're seeing in other parts of the country are influencing their decision here in this state election. >> thanks to the deliberate incompetence of the republican governors in texas and florida, i . >> i'm a grandparent where parents are not allowed to protect their children going to school because the governor prohibits mask mandates in the school. >> reporter: the people we talked to said they voted no to keep governor newsom in office, but they also said they don't feel 100% confident that will happen. there was caution in their

voices as they recognize how much division there is even in a very blue state. now the ballot has just two questions, but it can be confusing for some. the first question asks voters whether they want to recall governor newsom. if the majority of people say no, he stays in office. but if the majority says yes, the second question becomes important. the second question asks voters who should replace newsom if he is recalled, and lists 46 candidates to choose from. the person can the most votes becomes governor. you can choose a candidate for governor, even if you oppose the recall. but governor newsom's campaign has been telling supporters to simply leave the second blank. back to you. >> thank you so much. so despite some u.s. states showing a decline in recent covid infections, others are struggling to stay on top of a surge that is certainly taking a devastating toll. now the u.s. averaged more than 1100 covid deaths each day over the last week, according to the centers for disease control.

the recent increase prompted u.s. president joe biden to lay out a plan on thursday for vaccine mandates. he is hoping to curb a spread that is largely being driven by the delta variant and the unvaccinated. >> my message to unvaccinated americans is this. what more is there to wait for? what more do you need to see? we've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and the refusal has cost all of us. >> mr. biden's new vaccine requirements could apply to as many as 100 million americans. even so, this mandate is not as sweeping as in some countries, three of which are requiring their entire adult population to be inoculated. indonesia, which has reported more than four million covid cases so far was the first to impose a covid mandate back in february following suit in july

were turkmenistan and micronesia, each of which have reported no locally transmitted cases and want to keep it that way. in the last hour, i spoke to public health expert michael baker about how well the vaccine mandates are working out in those countries, and if they're making a difference. good to see you. turkmenistan isn't reporting cases or its vaccine coverage. so we don't know how the policy works there. micronesia of course is a great success story. they've excluded the virus entirely. an elimination approach. but the vaccine coverage is still low. and i think indonesia, again, has struggled to get high vaccine coverage for a lot lot of factors. and i'm not sure that this mandate is really making any difference there. >> do you see, though, other countries slowly taking this decision to mandate all adults?

i know italy is potentially looking at it, weighing this up as well. >> well, almost every country on earth has some kind of vaccine mandate. obviously starting with occupational groups, border workers, health care workers, people in essential industries. and also they are adding mandates for certain situations. and you think about international travel, domestic travel, traveling on public transport, these are situations we are seeing these policies happening. and obviously, this is expanding to a wider range of occupational settings. so one way or another, vaccine mandates are really very common across the globe. and obviously they're important, particularly when you have occupational health and safety issues or where you have workforce groups that interface with the public. i think we're going see more of vaccine mandates over time.

>> public health expert there michael baker speaking to me a little bit earlier. so pope francis says he is glad papal trips have been restarted as he landed in hungary about two hours ago. it's his first international trip in months. he'll stay in budapest for several hours before going on to slovakia for four days. now the short stay in hungary is seen by some as a slap in the face of prime minister victor orban. pope francis has been calling on countries to open their doors to migrants. so you're watching cnn. minecraft, fortnite, grand theft auto, some of the most popular online video games played by millions of you across the world. but some people are concerned that it's not all fun and games. >> it's a common concern among gamers and parents the world over. can video games be addictive?

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well, in china, the government says it can be addictive to minors, and as chriskristie lu , beijing has moved to limit their playtime. >> playtime is pretty much over for china's young online gamers. beijing has banned players under 18 from playing weekdays and limited to three hours weekends. the rules are necessary to combat gaming addiction. it's a common concern among gamers and parents the world over. can video games be addictive? in 2018, the world health organization introduced gaming disorder as a new mental health condition. science include impaired control over gaming, gaming taking precedence over other interests, continuation of gaming despite negative effects, and impaired social functioning and distress. >> gaming disorder is a disorder of control. so that person cannot hold on to

the amount of time for gaming. and it keeps increasing. it can cause several health problems, physical as well as mental. >> according to the w.h.o., the characteristics of gaming disorder are very similar to substance use disorders and gambling disorder, but not everyone agrees. according to a 2020 study co-authored by american psychologist chris ferguson, there is a lack of consensus on the issue of video game addiction. about 60.8% of scholars surveyed agreed pathological game cog be a mental health problem. 34% were skeptical. >> it's an issue that scholars have really been arguing about for probably 30 years. and what has happened is there are all these questions about it that are unresolved in this community. even as basic of is this a real thing? >> reporter: for years, china, the world's largest video games market has worried about the impact of games, blaming it for rising rates of nearsightedness,

and setting up boot camps that use military drills to try to kick the habit. and china now wants to combat gaming addiction by restricting how long young players can game online. how effective is this? >> very drastic public health measure. gaming disorder is only present in a very small minority of people who game. because gaming by itself is not always harmful. >> reporter: mental health experts say the question isn't how many hours a child spends gaming, but whether excessive play is a sign of a deeper mental health issue. >> if you just take away the games, you leave them with a preexisting condition. so it doesn't really fix anything. it kind of just takes away the thing that they were using to distract themselves from their suffering. >> reporter: experts advice parents to monitor their kids and focus on harm reduction rather than unplugging entirely and missing out on the occasional thrilling fight to the finish. kristie lu stout, cnn, hong

kong. >> you can follow me on twitter and instagram @robyn curnow cnn. the news continues on cnn. ♪

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welcome to our viewers here in the united states, canada and around the world. ahead on "cnn newsroom" -- [ bells ] >> tolling bells and a moment of silence mark a somber september 11th anniversary. now a document is raising questions about one country's potential involvement in the terror attacks. and california's governor fighting to keep his job with only a few days left befor