. >> paula hancocks is live at the scene.nd as people are now trying to grapple with the scope of this enormous tragedy, describe what is happening there as some families are still looking for loved ones and answers. >> reporter: that's right, yes, we know that there are still some family members who are looking for their loved ones who are going to community centers, to hospitals, to try to find out where the people that they haven't been in contact with since last night have gone. we know that there are a number of reports of missing people, there is some confusion of course as there always is in the case of the aftermath of an incident like this, people desperately trying to get hold of those loved ones that they may not have spoken to. now, this is one of the alleys where part of the crush took place just about 50 meters behind me where the policemen are. you can see that there was a small alley just to the right, that is where the most number of lives were lost. there were bars, restaurants, night clubs all along the are

let's go to paula hancock standing by in seoul, south korea. we know the first calls of people being buried in crowds came in saturday. what do we know? i know investigators are looking for the cause. >> that's right. the sheer number of people in this area was significant tens of thousands. this is an alleyway it's filled with bars and nightclubs and restaurants. it was filled with people. this is part of the area where the problem was. 150 feet behind me, a smaller alleyway, this is where the vast majority of the people who died lost their lives. now, we have spoken to eyewitnesses who said that it was terrifying. one woman said she had been pushed into the stairwell of a bar and she felt she was a lucky ones because of that because she was able to get out of the crush. we saw images of people climbing the vertical walls of buildings trying to get away from the crushed area. eyewitnesses we've spoken to said when they saw what's happening they saw people who were carrying out cpr on friends, on people who simply couldn't see any medical atten

paula hancocks in seoul live at the scene. so paula, as people are now trying to grapple with the scope of this enormous tragedy as we just heard there, what is happening now as some families are still looking for loved ones and for answers? >> reporter: we know that there are still families that are going to community centers for example to try to find any information about loved ones that they haven't managed to get in touch with yet. and they don't know what has happened to them. we know that there have been different areas set up within seoul, within this close neighborhood to try to track people down, to try to reunite hopefully people with those missing. but as you say the death toll has once again risen, 153 pipe now people now known to lost their lives and dozens more in hospitals.ipe people now known to lost their lives and dozens more in hospitals.pe people now known to lost their lives and dozens more in hospitals.e people now known to lost their lives and dozens more in hospitals. people now known to lost their live

cnn's paula hancocks has more. >> reporter: this ended months of speculation. will they?from the label big hit music saying, quote, they respect the needs of the country. this has been under speculation, as i say, for months. this has been debated within the south korean parliament itself as to whether or not bts should be exempted or whether they should be carrying out their mandatory service. it is a conscription that all able bodied men between 18 and 28 do need to go serve in the military. it was increased by two years just a couple of years ago to the age of 30 just for those who excel in popular culture and art. so it did defer somewhat the decision for bts and gave them some breathing space, but the argument for their exemption is there are some sportsmen who have won olympics medals, asian games medals who have been exempted from military service. there's also some classical musicians, award winning global musicians and singers that have been exempted as well. but it was decided and it was debated at length that bts should go ahead. they have a concert just on sat

. >> cnn international correspondent paula hancocks is live at the scene. ula, as people are now trying to grapple with the scope of this enormous tragedy, describe what's happening now as some families are still looking for loved ones and for answers. >> reporter: that's right, kim. we've heard from officials that a few thousand missing person reports have been filed. the hope, of course, is that that number goes down quickly and significantly. what we do know is some families are still trying to track down their loved ones that were here just last night in the entertainment district of itaewon. this is one of the back alleys that was absolutely packed last night. there are bars, restaurants, nightclubs along here. you can see many of the halloween decorations are still in place. much debris on the ground as well. just about 50 meters up there where you see those policemen is where there is a smaller alley that is at an angle, and that is where many of the -- those that lost their lives were crushed. we have spoken to a number of eyewitnesses who were here

paula hancocks is in seoul. >> reporter: a surge of people in a narrow street, halloween fun in seoul> reporter: this man climbed up the side of a building to try and escape the crush of people below him, some made calls to the police asking for help. even after rescuer workers arrived at the scene, they struggled to get victims out from underneath a pile of people. >> it just got worse, worse and worse. suddenly we're starting to hear screaming and people asking for help for other people because there was not enough rescuers that can just handle all that. >> it became a race against time to administer cpr. at a community center nearby sunday, people waited for news they did not want to hear. this is australian man describes the chaos as the crowd swelled. he says he was separated from his friends. >> so many people. and i, like, turn around and i told the crowd, you can't come this way. people are dying. because i already knew how bad it was. >> reporter: an investigation has begun into exactly what happened. how tens of thousands of people ended up in these narrow alleyways. there a

. >> for more on this story i am joined by paula hancocks who is with us live. paula, the u.s. and south korea >> what was your reaction another global reaction? >> this was the second exercise the u.s. and south korea carried out in less than 24 hours. we are told the reason we are for is show korea that are not capable militarily of responding to anything they might do. it wasn't a direct response to the missile launched over the top of japan on tuesday. we heard from john kirby the national security coordinator speaking to cnn. he said the purpose of this trail, the second between the u.s. and south korea gal was to make sure north korea knew they could respond if necessary. >> we wanted denuclearization. he hasn't shown an inclination to move in that direction and he is moving in the opposite >> there has been widespread condemnation from around the region. the fact that there was no warning for this particular missile launch as there rarely is from north korea. concerns about those a region in the center and this is they are kind of waking up to that alert on tuesday morni

. >> paula hancocks is following developments. >> we have seen a flurry of short range of the past few days. this is the fifth launch we have seen in that short periods of time. what we saw tuesday morning was the most significant missile launch. it with an escalatio n. this is a record-breaking year. 23 missile launches have been carried out by north korea this year alone. they are ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. it is something that hasn't been seen in of carrie in north korea. it is a significant escalation, the type of this launch. the fact that there was no warning from north korea. the fact it flew over japan it felt. there was no warning for flights or ships in the waters. this was something that was picked up on in the white house statement condemning this launch saying it shows a blatant disregard for the un security council positions. a blatant disregard of international safety norms. has been condemned by washington , and tokyo. they say it is a serious provocation that threatens on the peninsula. in addition, there was a phone call that was not answered by north kor

. >> cnn's paula hancocks is live in seoul, south korea this morning. what does the u.s.lunches? >> reporter: well, christine, at this point they are able to sometimes predict when something is going to happen because they can detect either a launch being prepared or if it comes to militarily, they can see movement when it comes inside north korea. when they try to figure out why kim jong-un is doing it, some of it is already as experts say, an educated sles. guess. there's an educated guess from south korea and japan. just today another two-day naval drill has started involving the "u.s.s. ronald regan" back in the waters on the east coast. we have heard from others that the reasonable time. protest against such drills. the prevailing thought in the region is if these missile launches continue which they are predicted to do and the quick responses. then the tit-for-tat is going to continue in the near future. just this afternoon there has been a phone call between the nuclear envoys between the u.s., south korea and japan. talking about what they can do to try to move th

>> paula hancock joining us live from seoul. many thanks. >>> joe biden set aside his frosty relationship with florida governor ron desantis on wednesday at these u.s. president and the first lady toward areas hammered by hurricane ian. they focused instead on a common cause -- florida's recovery. and the people affected by the storm. biden promised in an increased federal presidents to help the states recover. at least 125 death have been reported so far from hurricane ian in florida and north carolina. on wednesday, residents of sanibel florida were allowed back for the very first time since evacuating their homes before the hurricane hit. the city tells cnn every single home on the island is damaged in some way. and while some houses were mostly intact, not always lucky. randy k was with residents as they stepped into what was left of their homes. >> if 7:00 a.m. and vicki pascal he is on a boat for sanibel island. this will be the first time seeing their home of close since hurricane ian swept through here, and they have no

cnn's paula hancocks is following all of these developments with us from seoul.t get the intel from north korea so we're just trying to join the dots here. >> reporter: exactly, max. there isn't hard and fast intelligence coming out from north korea, quite frankly never has been. this is an admission by the biden administration officials. they have very little to work with. they don't know why north korea is carrying out this prolific amount of missile strikes at this time. we heard from john kirby that they do know north korea wants to increase their nuclear weapons. back in january 2021 he annexed a five-year plan. he gave the world a wish list of the weapons and capabilities that he wanted to perfect. experts have been pointing to this list saying one by one he has worked his way through the list, taking the boxes and making sure he can perfect the weapons and missile capabilities. one thing we know they would like to perfect is the nuclear capability. we have intelligence agencies saying they believe that may be imminent. they have been saying that for months

paula hancocks is following this live for us in seoul.ates on this program. >> reporter: we are, max, yes. this particular one, cruz missiles, wasn't technically breaking any rules for north korea. the cruz missile technology is not banned by u.n. security council resolutions as many of the other missile launches we've seen have been. just the fact kim jong-un himself was there. he was shown on north korean state-run media and has been quoted saying it is another clear warning to the enemy. so clearly this has an international feel to it. he had a message for those outside of north korea also saying that it shows the capabilities of his nuclear combat forces but it is number 26 when we count up the number of missile launches that we've seen this year. it is a record for the north korean leader, kim jong-un certainly showing that he wants to increase his weapons capability and interestingly this week was the first time in six months that north korean state media actually reported on it. so they have broken their silence. they are now very

paula hancocks is in seoul, south korea. paula, we just learned in the last few minutes there appears to have been another missile launch from north korea. what more do we know? >> well, erica, this particular thing we've heard about in the last few minutes from the joint chiefs of staff wasn't a missile launch. we're told it was some kind of an aircraft firing exercise they believe. 12 north korean aircraft were detected carrying out some sort of exercise outside of the special surveillance line. this line is in north korea, but it is a virtual line that if any north korean aircraft come below that point, south korea responds. they did that. they mobilized 30 aircraft according to the joint chiefs of staff. you can see this htit for tat i starting to escalate. we know the "u.s.s. ronald reagan" is back in the waters off the east coast of south korea. there's been another naval drill between the u.s., south korea and japan. they say in response to the number of missile launches they've seen from north korea, six missile launc

cnn's paula hancocks is following developments from seoul and blake essig is standing by in seoul.t happened in so many years. >> reporter: yeah. max, i've got to tell you, it's an uneasy feeling to wake up and learn that a north korean missile is headed in your direction. as a result of this morning's launch, the japanese government issued a rare j alert. this morning that j alert was issued to areas believed to be at risk, specifically japan's northernmost island of hokkaido while sirens could also be heard here in tokyo. take a listen. despite the warning and those sirens, life continued as normal across japan with many people apparently ignoring the warnings. some wrote on social media that despite the air raid warning and initial concern that a missile was heading their way, nothing could be done so most people just continued to go to work and went about their life as normal. while people here in japan are seemingly used to north korea's routine missile tests at this point, this morning's launch does amplify an already tense security environment and at a press conference a sho

>> paula hancocks live from seoul. thank you. >>> now twitter's stock surged on tuesday on word that elon musk is offering to buy the social media giant at the full original price of $44 billion. it's a major reversal for the richest person in the world who had been facing a lawsuit the company filed over his attempt to back out of the deal. we have the details from new york. >> reporter: this is app amazing plot twist. there's been a lot of corporate battles over the years, but we've never seen anything quite like this. only elon musk could deliver it. so twitter shares rising sharply on reports that elon musk is going to reverse himself and try to get this deal closed at the originally proposed $54.20 and then we got confirmation elon musk representatives said in a letter yesterday that was made public that musk does plan to go forward with this deal at the originally proposed terms. then twitter put out a statement saying they received a letter from musk's representatives and they plan to close the deal at $54.20. t

. >> paula hancocks in seoul. thank you. >>> we have breaking news just in to cnn. at least 30 people have been killed including multiple children in a shooting in northern thailand. authorities say it happened at a child care center. the prime minister has expressed his condolences. it's not yet clear whether the 30 dead are all children. we're keeping an eye on this and bringing you more details as information comes in. >>> at least 125 deaths are being reported from hurricane ian in florida and north carolina as recovery efforts continue there. search and rescue neems florida are still looking for those reported missing and will begin a second round of sanibel island. they said all roads would be closed on thursday morning. absolute carnage is how volunteers describe nearby pine island as they delivered emergency supplies to residents. many homes and businesses were completely destroyed but there's been progress at rebuilding too. the bridge connecting the island to the main land has been repaired allowing more supplies to be delivered. florida's governor says te

. >>> i'm paula hancocks in seoul, the u.s.s. ronald reagan returned to the east coast of south korea for naval drills according to the joint chiefs of staff here in seoul. it's in response to more missile launches in north korea on thursday, the u.s., south korea and japan are holding drills to detect, track and intercept missiles. pyongyang said it's launching missiles to protest against the u.s. and south korea military drills. this tit for tat showing no signs of letting up. >>> ukrainian forces are accelerating territorial advances into russian held areas. it's happened so quickly in a matter of weeks. with us now cnn military analyst spider. the pace of what ukraine has been able to do, explain this. >> it's quite phenomenal john. let me do this. first of all i want you to concentrate for a second on this area and this area. let me show you what has happened over the course of last month. i'll run that one more time. so backing up, clearly this is what the ukrainians saw a month ago, about a month ago. you had russian force

paula hancock is live in seoul, south korea with the latest. tell us what's happening. >> reporter: thwhat's happeningt this point we are in the midst of tit for tat action on the korean peninsula. just in the last 24 hours, north korea has fired hundreds of artillery shells off the east and west coast of north korea. showing its displeasure at those military drills hang between the u.s. and south korea. saying they were close to the dmz, and they say they ordered their military to fire threatening warning shots into the water. that according to state run media. some of the shells overnight local time actually fell into a maritime border buffer zone, this buffer zone was something decided between north and south korea in 2018 when relations were far better than they are at the moment. now north korea has been whittling away at that zone. everyone i talked to expects the missile tests and firing to continue. certainly by next week, experts are assuming that the missile launches will continue. >> we'll be watching in time of such activity in the

paula hancocks is live for us in seoul. what do we know about the latest provocation. >> reporter: this happened thursday afternoon local time. they called it a protest flight. what they believe happened is that some 12 north korean aircraft were staging some kind of air to surface firing exercise. they say they were flying south of what they call the special surveillance line. this is in north korea but it is a virtual line that the south korean military watches closely if they see north korean aircraft come south of that line then they mobilize and that's what they did according to the jcs, 30 south korean aircraft also mobilizing. although they haven't said how close either side was close to the dnz. >> what is the message of the joint naval exercises held by the u.s. and south korea? >> reporter: yeah, so there are more starting we just heard about this today. it's a two-day naval exercise, the "u.s.s. ronald reagan" will be involved and it is with the south koreans. yesterday there was a try lateral naval drill with ja

. >>> i'm paula hancocks in seoul. the u.s. korea carried out a drill off the west coast, a coordinated attempt to show north korea to show they are able to strike back should they decide to. this after north korea carried out an intermediate range ballistic missile launch over japan tuesday. there will be a u.n. security council meeting later today. >>> north korea's latest provocation garnering that response. the white house explaining its decision for that missile launch. >> this is not the first time we've done this in response to provocation s by the north. to make sure we can demonstrate our own capabilities with the south koreans and japanese. we want to sit down with kim jong-un he hasn't moved in that direction and he's moving in the opposite direction continuing to conduct the missile tests which are violations of security council resolutions. >> joining us now to discuss is former defense secretary mark esper. sir, thank you so much for taking the time out this morning to talk to us about this. you're seeing this. wh

. >>> i'm paula hancocks in seoul.ng the launch of two long range missiles fired on wednesday. not technically breaking any rules as cruise missiles are not banned under u.n. resolutions but kim jong-un saying it's a warning to the enemies and showing the cape abilities of t combat forces. bringing the number this year to 26, a record for the north korean leader. >>> i'm selina wang in hong kong. president biden's strategy calls china america's most consequential challenge, si singling out china with attempting to change the world order and the power to do so. america and its allies are in a growing contest with china, even as president biden avoids a cold war style standoff. beijing sees washington's moves as trying to contain its rise. >>> the iranian government is continuing to try to control and contain the protests, but its internet restrictions, the brutal crackdown, with the arrests, beatings and bullets hasn't stopped violent protesters. we're seeing protests spread across the country like wildfire. in the late

. >> let's go live to cnn's paula hancocks in south korea for us. another missile launch overnight.hat do we know about this strike group being moved into the waters between japan and the korean peninsula? >> reporter: well, christine, the information we are getting at this point is coming from the joint chiefs of staff here in south korea. they say that the u.s.s. ronald regan is back in korean waters and has been carrying out naval drills with the south korean and japanese destroyer this afternoon, this thursday. now it was just last week when there were naval drills which angered pyongyang and they are now back in the waters just up the east coast of korea in response to those missile launches by north korea. what they're saying these particular drills are for is to detect, track and intercept missiles so that they're practicing sharing target information when they get information about a potential launch. now we have also had a response from north korea this thursday. we haven't heard from them for some time not admitting to the missile launches to its own people still. they did

. >> let's go to seoul and bring in paula hancock. give us the latest. >> reporter: john we're hearing here from the south korean side that the u.s.s. ronald reagan is off the east coast, carrying off navy drills as north korea fires yet more missiles. as north korea continues to break its own missile launch record. south korea says trilateral naval exercises are back in the water. holding drills to track and intercept missiles, a response to the north's launches. >> american aircraft carriers cruising around, pretty much nothing. it will probably make some people in the united states and republic of korea happier. but it will have zero impact on north korea's behavior and decision making. >> reporter: north korea blamed the flurry on the u.s. calling them counter measures against last week's naval drills. >> it will increase the condemnation, isolation, increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions. >> reporter: but a united nations security council this week suggested pyongyang was not isolated. russia and china bla