Saudis Promise Investigation into Airstrike on School Bus; U.S.-Turkey Dispute
VANIER: We're following breaking news. An aircraft crashed near Seattle, Washington, after a mechanic stole it from Seattle's main airport. The plane went down on Ketron Island about 40 miles/65 kilometers southwest of the airport. The aircraft took off without authorization and also without passengers Friday night. The person at the controls of the plane has only been identified so far as a 29-year-old Horizon Air mechanic from Pierce County, Washington, confirmed to have died in the crash. We also just received some of the radio transmissions from the tower and apparently the plane. Listen to this.</s>CAPTAIN BILL, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: All right, Rich, this is Captain Bill. Congratulations, you did that. Now let's try to land that airplane safely and not hurt anybody on the ground.</s>RICH, PILOT: All right. Damn it --</s>RICH: -- I don't know, man, I don't know. I don't want to. I was kind of hoping that would be it, you know.</s>VANIER: The Pierce County sheriff says this was not a terrorism related incident. Now I also want to tell you about other stories making news around the world. The Saudi led coalition fighting in Yemen says it will open its own inquiry into an airstrike Thursday that hit a school bus filled with children in Northern Yemen. The U.N. Security Council is demanding a credible and transparent investigation. The coalition, which is backed by the United States, defended the airstrike as a legitimate military operation against Houthi rebels. The bloody and battered bodies of dozens of small children tell a much different story, though. I have to warn you, the images you're about to we are horrible. But there is no sanitizing the reality of what's happening in Yemen. Here is CNN's Nima Elbagir.</s>NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are new images emerging from Yemen, images that really bring home the heartbreak of the aftermath of the strike by the Saudi-led, U.S.- backed coalition in that Northern Yemeni province of Saada. The first video shows a father living through every parent's worst nightmare, desperately trying to find where his son is. And this video, this tells the opposite side of that heartbreak, a father finding his son's body. The absolute and utter heartbreak in that man's voice brings to life what so many of those parents are struggling to live through. This as the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, released a statement, saying that this was the single worst incident so far targeting children in Yemen's three-year ongoing civil war, a war between the Saudi-led coalition and Iranian-backed Houthi rebel militias, with the support of both the U.S. and the U.K. and, in many cases, their armaments, President Donald Trump back in June was touting a $110 billion arms deal. And many observers believe that is why, while there has been limited calls for investigation, notably by the U.S. State Department but also by the U.N. secretary-general, there hasn't been the outrage that would be expected in the face of such an incident. Even while parents were struggling to bury their dead, the airstrikes in Yemen continue. Eyewitnesses tell CNN, in just one district in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa alone, there were 21 airstrikes through to the morning after the attack. The war, it seems, continues and humanitarian agencies are worried that, with it, will continue the suffering of Yemen's children -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.</s>VANIER: Turkey's president wants his citizens to exchange their gold and other currency for Turkish lira after Turkey's currency had its single worst day ever, falling 17 percent at one point. This comes after President Trump said U.S. tariffs on imports of Turkish steel and aluminum are being doubled. Erdogan's spokesman tweeted, "No threat, blackmail or operation can discourage the will of Turkey." John Defterios takes a closer look.</s>JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It was an awful day and a terrible week for Turkey's president and the Turkish lira. It ended with the U.S. president applying hefty sanctions on country's aluminum and steel exports. The lira tumbled, fell by as much as 17 percent to a new all-time low, which sparked Recep Tayyip Erdogan to appeal to supporters to take action.</s>RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Dollar and stuff will not stop us from building roads. Do not worry. But I am saying it again, if you have dollars, euros or gold under your pillow, exchange it for Turkish lira in our banks. This is a national struggle. This will be answered by our people against those who wage economic war on us.</s>DEFTERIOS: It's a war he says Turks can win. Erdogan asked his countrymen to ignore the currency charts and focus on what's been built, new universities, hospitals, airports and bridges. But his prolific spending is what many analysts say has left the country vulnerable. The lira is down some 40 percent against the dollar since the start of the year, with inflation spiraling to nearly 16 percent, the highest level in nearly a decade and a half. There was attempt at damage control, with the new finance minister, who is the son-in-law of the president, unveiling a midterm recovery plan. That blueprint, analysts say, lacked clarity. Problems in Turkey triggered worries in other countries and for European banks.</s>DEFTERIOS: Spanish, Italian and French banks have over $150 billion of exposure to Turkey. Clearly, though, matters worse on Friday for Turkey's president and the currency, when the U.S. president declared, "Bilateral relations are not good at this time." -- John Defterios, CNN, London.</s>VANIER: OK. Stay with us. We've got more news after this.