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U.K. P.M. Loses Second Bid To Hold A Snap Election; Top Trump Aides Opposed Inviting Taliban To U.S.; Ferry Company Apologizes To Bahamas Evacuees; U.S. Extracted Top Spy From Inside Russia In 2017; At Least 50 People Now Reported Dead In Bahamas; Small Town Cut Off from Everything, including Help; Alaska Seeing Unprecedented Effect of Global Warming; Interview with Ban Ki-Moon; Netanyahu Claims Iran Had Secret Nuclear Weapons Site. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 10, 2019 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and thanks for joining us. I'm Nick Watt and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ahead this hour, another vote and another stinging defeat for Boris Johnson. Parliament rejects that British Prime Minister's latest Brexit maneuver.
Plus, the secret mission to extract a high-level U.S. spy from inside the Russian government-driven at least in part over concerns about Donald Trump's mishandling of US intelligence.
And pay a little now or a lot later. A new study warns not doing enough to fight climate change now could cost us trillions of dollars down the road.
British lawmakers are once again defying Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Hours ago they voted down his second bid for a snap election as Brexit chaos continues to grip the U.K. Now, a highly controversial five- week suspension of Parliament takes hold. You probably won't be surprised to hear that Mr. Johnson managed a little bluster in defeat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: I earlier urge the house to trust the people but once again the opposition think they know better. They want the British Prime Minister to go to a vital negotiation without the power to walk away. They want to delay Brexit yet again, yet again without further reference to those who voted for it handing over to Brussels extra 250 million pounds a week for no purpose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: British Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn also spoke explaining his party couldn't back a general election now, not if it meant risking a No Deal exit from the E.U. (END VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: You're eager for an election. But as clean as we are, we are not prepared to risk inflicting the disaster of no deal on our community, our jobs, our services, or indeed our rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: And that wasn't all that Brexit drama on Monday. The Speaker of the House of Commons also says he's calling it quits. John Bercow was applauded by opposition MPs. He has faced fierce criticism from Brexiters who questioned his impartiality. But when it came right down to it, the outgoing speaker is all about goodwill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: I think this has been -- let me put it explicitly, the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life for which I will be eternally grateful. I wish my successor in the chair the very best fortune.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Joining me now is Garret Martin. He's a professor at the School of International Service at American University. Garret, I like to think I know a lot about Brexit. I normally have a hunch as to where things are going. Partly what makes this so exciting, I have zero hunch whatsoever. What do you think is going to happen here?
GARRET MARTIN, PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Well, if anybody tells you they know where this is going, they're really not being honest. I mean, this has been a very confusing set of events in the last few weeks and there are plenty of options down the line, many of them which are not palatable for Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson has lost many battles in the last week. He's lost six major votes in six days. And let's see. If we're reviewing his the options, one of them could be to try and do what to reason they failed to do in two years and he would have eight weeks to try and negotiate a new deal. That's certainly unlikely.
WATT: But he doesn't want a new deal really.
MARTIN: It doesn't look like it for the moment. I mean, the echoes that we've had from the negotiations in Brussels certainly don't show any serious commitments. We haven't seen any serious proposals to deal or to propose an alternative to the backstop. So that certainly doesn't seem that a deal is what he wants.
WATT: But -- so where we are right now is -- I mean I just watched Caroline Lucas stand up in Parliament and say that the government is feral, that the country is broken. We've now had Boris Johnson has suspended the Parliament. No one will sit at all for five weeks during one of the most crucial periods in post-war British parliamentary history. No one will sit.
Johnson has been told by Parliament he must ask for an extension, he has said that he will not. So again, I just don't know where we're going.
[01:05:09]
MARTIN: I'm with you. I mean, I think what struck me if you look at the closing statements by both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn after the results were announced, it really looked like the opening salvo of an election that is going to happen at some point in another. The key question is when.
For Boris Johnson, I think he was keen to have the election happened before Brexit day. That's not going to happen. For Jeremy Corbyn, I think he really wants to be able to show the public that he defended and prevented a No Deal. So for him, the longer you wait and if you have an election in November or December, he assumes it gives him the chance to strengthen his case.
The other unknown factor is what the other E.U. 27 going to do. They're certainly clearly fed up by the saga that seems to be never- ending. The French have sent certain signals that they might not offer an extension in the current circumstances.
So it's possible that Boris Johnson could make himself a nuisance and try to encourage, try to push the E.U. 27 to do his bidding for him.
WATT: I mean, that would be the best-case scenario for him is the French saying no we won't give you the extension. But when it comes down to the wire, I don't believe that the French would actually do that.
MARTIN: I agree with you. I think there are -- there are internal divisions within E.U. 27. We saw that last in the spring when the push came to shove. They didn't seem to be a willingness to go to for the No Deal option.
That being said, I think there's also the economic context that's going to play a role. I mean, we've seen the German economy being on the brink of recession. And so the idea of another shock of a no-deal Brexit might really lead them not to take that step.
So I agree with you, ultimately. I don't think they will do so but Boris Johnson might try the much as possible to make himself a nuisance.
WATT: We talk a lot about Boris Johnson, but the opposition, the kind of anti-Brexit block, they don't seem to have a totem to coalesce around. I mean, if the Labour Party had a leader right now who was perhaps more palatable to a broad swath of the country, would things be different? Would things be different if Jeremy Corbyn was not the Labour leader right now?
MARTIN: I think the personality matters here, and certainly Jeremy Corbyn is not a particularly popular figure and not a particularly popular figure with the other major opposition parties. So the idea of creating a broader-based opposition hasn't really worked out.
But to be fair to Jeremy Corbyn, he's also facing a situation, a party that has its own divisions over the issue of Brexit. You have a number of Labour constituencies that voted for leave. There also Labour MPs who represent those constituencies find themselves in a difficult position. And you have a real gamut of positions within Labour Party.
WATT: Garret Martin, I am no clearer than I was five minutes ago and I do not mean that as a slight on you. These are unprecedented times. Thank you very much.
MARTIN: Thank you, Nick.
WATT: Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is describing a special congressional election in North Carolina this week as a battle against Democrats who want to "dismantle, demolish, and destroy." He appeared at a rally on Monday supporting the Republican candidate.
In an early look perhaps at the themes Mr. Trump will hit in the 2020 election, he characterized Democrats as the "America hating left." The rally comes after a weekend of failed Trumpian diplomacy. Kaitlan Collins has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, President Trump declared U.S. peace talks with the Taliban dead after his abrupt announcement and cancellation of a secret summit with the group's leaders.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're dead. They're dead. As far as I'm concerned, they're dead.
COLLINS: The clandestine meeting was kept under wraps until he tweeted about it announcing he was calling it off because the Taliban admitted to a suicide attack that killed an American soldier and 11 others.
TRUMP: The only reason I canceled that meeting is because they killed one of our soldiers.
COLLINS: But sources say there was more to it than that.
TRUMP: It was my idea and it was my idea to terminate it.
COLLINS: Trump pushed for the last-minute summit after growing unhappy with the status of the talks and thought he the dealmaker in chief could get last-minute concessions from the Taliban in a presidential setting.
TRUMP: In terms of advisors, I took my own advice.
COLLINS: Despite that claim, not many agreed with his tactic or his venue including Vice-President Mike Pence and National Security Adviser John Bolton who argued holding a summit on U.S. soil with the leaders of the group that harbored the al-Qaeda terrorist behind 9/11 was a bad idea.
TRUMP: The alternative was the White House and you wouldn't have been happy with that either.
COLLINS: That's not how Democrats or Republicans see it.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This isn't a game show, these are terrorists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not ever want to see these terrorists step foot on the United States soil, period.
COLLINS: Trump says the talks are off. His Secretary of State says they're off for now.
[01:10:03]
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE, UNITED STATES: It will ultimately be up to the Taliban.
COLLINS: But sources tell CNN new dates for another meeting are already being discussed. While Trump was willing to let the leaders of the Taliban visit the U.S., he says he's not so sure about the hurricane survivors from the Bahamas.
TRUMP: The Bahamas got hit like nothing that I've ever seen.
COLLINS: After dozens of people seeking refuge but without a U.S. visa were kicked off a ferry headed for Fort Lauderdale.
TRUMP: I don't want to allow people that weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States including some very bad people, and some very bad gang members, and some very, very bad drug dealers.
COLLINS: Customs and Border Patrol says the ferry operator is to blame. But Trump's that he agrees with the move.
TRUMP: Everybody needs totally proper documentation.
COLLINS: Kaitlan Collins, CNN, traveling with the President in North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: For more on this, Political Analyst Michael Genovese joins us now from Los Angeles. Michael, as so often with this president, it's often hard to tell what's true and what's not. But on this Taliban issue, is this in your opinion a president coming up on an election campaign desperate for some sort of foreign policy success and therefore doing of all things inviting the Taliban to Camp David?
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's hard to make foreign policy in the middle of a campaign. We're at the beginning of a campaign and the president definitely needs may be even as desperate as you said for victory especially in foreign affairs. He's not had a lot of good news of late.
And so the president -- and it was a bizarre situation today because he publicly tweets that a secret meeting that he was organizing is not going to take place. So why do you even bother to do that? You do that because you want to be that the action player. You want to be the center of attention. You want to be the guy who makes decisions, who has seen as the decision-maker.
But the problem is in a situation like this, when you're -- when you're the center of attention, you've got to have something to offer. And what he's offering now is the cancellation of a meeting. This is an incredibly complex situation. This is -- this is not a simple thing. And you can see the partisan divisions are breaking down. Republicans criticizing the president on this, and so it's a very complex situation.
You have to deal with the Taliban if you're going to deal with the Afghanistan problem. But dealing with them is also a big risk. And so the president I think fumbled this yet again because he doesn't really have a strategy. It's all very personal.
Now, it was widely reported that both Vice President Pence and National Security Adviser Bolton disagreed with the president and they quickly tried to dismiss that. That's actually wrong. It is important to have disagreements to argue, to discuss things, to have different sides and let the president decide.
And so when you force people in your administration to go in lockstep behind you, that's a very bad sign.
WATT: And he's been getting attacked from both sides over this plan to actually bring the Taliban onto U.S. soil. That was seen as just a grave mistake and a grave kind of sleight to those who died on 9/11. I mean, there's been a unified voice against that.
GENOVESE: Well, the president was politically tone-deaf on that and morally tone-deaf. These are the people who were harboring Osama bin Laden, who are protecting him from the United States, who were using their bases in Afghanistan to set up training to fight against the United States.
And so to bring them onto the 9/11 weekend, to bring them to Camp David which is to bring them, to elevate them into a high status is a huge mistake. It's important to deal with them. It's important to talk with them. It's important to try to put pressure on them and meet with them, but you don't hand them things that they haven't earned.
They haven't had a ceasefire. They're not working with the Afghan government. You need to get them to at least come partially to the table before you start offering them all these goodies.
WATT: Michael, I want to shift gears completely now to the Bahamas. Now, obviously, those islands are devastated by Hurricane Dorian. There's been some confusion over whether people fleeing that disaster would be allowed into the U.S. just with their passport and no visa. Let's take a quick listen to what President Trump had to say on this today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have to be very careful. Everybody needs totally proper documentation because the -- look, the Bahamas has some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas that weren't supposed to be there. I don't want to allow people that weren't supposed to be in the Bahamas to come into the United States including some very bad people, and some very bad gang members, and some very, very bad drug dealers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:15:04]
WATT: Bad people, drug dealers, gang members. We've heard this before. What is the president talking about, or is this just him tickling the belly of his base?
GENOVESE: Well, it's an old presidential trope that he keeps on pulling out seemingly without indiscriminately. This is a humanitarian crisis of very high proportion. These are people who are suffering. We need to respond in this way -- in this crisis to the humanitarian crisis that -- in our hand. And the President really tried to politicize it, he tried to make it into an issue that it really wasn't. Yes, there are gang members, and there are bad people, and there are people who shouldn't -- who got into the Bahamas illegally. He's politicizing it in a way that, yes, it plays to his base, but it also makes him look very cruel and uncaring. This is a time when you need to set aside some of the politics, some of the politics, and really try to deal with the crisis at hand.
WATT: Michael Genovese, thanks very much for joining us.
GENOVESE: Thank you.
WATT: Next on NEWSROOM, a CNN exclusive, a high-level U.S. spy suddenly pulled out of Russia over fears his cover could be blown. And CNN has learned this meeting at the White House is a big reason why that decision was made. Plus, cut off, a tiny town in the Bahamas still isolated more than a week after Hurricane Dorian, almost wiped it off the map.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATT: Now, to a CNN exclusive report, a 2017 secret mission in Russia that we're only now hearing about. The U.S. successfully extracted a high-level spy who had been working for the Americans from inside the Kremlin. The asset was pulled after concerns that the source's safety might be compromised by President Donald Trump. Jim Sciutto who broke this story discussed the details a little earlier with our own Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge tell me that in the previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the U.S. successfully extracted from Russia, one of its highest level covert sources inside the Russian government. A person directly involved in the discussion said that the removal of the Russian was driven in part by concerns that President Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence, which could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.
[01:20:07]
The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval office, in which you may remember, Trump discussed highly-classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. That intelligence concerning ISIS in Syria had been provided by Israel. The disclosure of the Russians by the president are not about the Russian spies specifically, prompted intelligence officials to renew discussions about the potential risk of exposure according to the source directly involved in the matter.
At the time, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo told other senior Trump administration officials that too much information was coming out regarding the asset. And I should note, Don, that those concerns did not begin in those early months of the Trump administration. At the end of the Obama administration, there had been concerns about the safety of this source, because intelligence from this source had contribute to that 2017 assessment about Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. You remember that assessment was that Putin himself had directed that interference, and that his preference was Donald Trump.
The inclusion of that intelligence sourced to this highly-placed Russian spy, has -- had raised initial concerns about his safety. They did not take this source out of the time. Later, after a combination of concerns made the decision to extract.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The administration responding to this story?
SCIUTTO: Yes, the administration I spoke to a number of officials asked for comment, Brittany Bramell, the CIA Director for Public Affairs told CNN, that "CNN's narrative that the Central Intelligence Agency makes life-or-eath decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false. Misguided speculation that the President's handling of our nation's most sensitive intelligence, which he has access to each and every day, drove an alleged exfiltration operation is inaccurate."
A spokesperson for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to comment for this story. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said, quote, "CNN's reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger."
But keep this in mind, Don, the removal happened at a time of wide concern in the U.S. intelligence community about the President's handling of the nation's most sensitive secrets. I spoke to five officials who served in the Trump administration, the intelligence agencies, and on Capitol Hill handling intelligence. And they all tell a common story about deep distrust in the intelligence community for the President's handling of this.
And if I could note one final thing, it did not end with that May 2017 Oval Office meeting. In July 2017, President Trump met with Vladimir Putin, you'll remember the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany? This was the private meeting where he confiscated the interpreters notes afterwards, very unusual. I'm told by an intelligence source with knowledge of the intelligence community's reaction to that meeting, that they were concerned that then again, the president improperly discussed classified intelligence with Russians.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Bob Baer joins me now from Colorado. He's a CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst and a former CIA operative. So, Bob, what is your initial first reaction to this reporting from our colleague, my colleague, Jim Sciutto, that President Trump and the lack of faith the intelligence community had in him lead impart to the extraction of what I could only describe as -- I mean, a very valuable asset.
ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, first of all, there's never, to my knowledge, been an asset inside the Kremlin, even during the Cold War, or recently. So, this guy was very, very valuable. And as far as the CIA pulling him out because they can't trust the President makes perfect sense. I mean, he gave up very secret intelligence to the Russian ambassador and the Russian Foreign Minister. And he came out and said, "Look, I can do it." So, if he can do that, why can't he expose this asset to the Russians as well? And they simply didn't know.
Now, they're not going to go to the White House and say, we're pulling this guy up, because we don't trust the president. That's never going to be on paper. It's never going to be made explicit. But if I read the CIA, and facing this president in the White House, and his inability to control his mouth, I would have pulled out the asset, too.
WATT: I mean, pushback from the White House and pushback from the CIA on this story. What's your reaction to that?
BAER: They had to. It's like Noah and, you know, and Sharpie-Gate. They had to -- they can't -- they simply can't come out and say we don't trust the president. The director can't say no officer can. And they've been instructed, I'm sure, to say, "Look, destroy is not true." But look, it's multiple sources, it's been picked up by the New York Times, same story.
Look, Nick, The New York Times had the story about the Kremlin asset back in 2016. They didn't publish it because the White House and the CIA asked them not to. So, what we're saying in effect is that the CIA trust the New York Times more than it does the President of the United States. This story's been around and it's perfectly plausible.
[01:25:09] And you look at the CIA denial, and it's a non-denial, just as we just go with the facts. And when we decided to pull this guy out, and that's all they said.
WATT: And an asset like this. I mean, I assume it takes a long time to develop an asset like this. And, I mean, what has the U.S. lost by this person being extracted?
BAER: Like I said, there's never been a CIA asset or any American intelligence asset inside the Kremlin. I'm pretty sure that's true. And this guy probably walked into one of our embassies. So, it was sheer luck that we even got this guy, very patient, he rose up in the ranks and gets this assignment to the Kremlin. And by the way, he was the first one to come out and say, Look, the Russians are interfering in the elections tomorrow. Port Trump. I mean, this is -- it is an enormous setback, and we are essentially reading between the lines. We're blind in Moscow.
WATT: And is this guy going to survive? I mean, listen, you know, this is President Putin's wheelhouse, former KGB. We've seen the Sergei Skripal case. You know, the Russians don't really let sleeping dogs lie in cases like this. Do you fear for the safety of this guy?
BAER: As we used to say, the KGB has no eraser on its pencil. This guy, they can keep him secret, but you can count on it, a betrayal like this, Putin will kill him if he finds him.
WATT: Bob Baer joining us from Colorado. Thanks very much for your time.
BAER: Thanks.
WATT: Next on CNN NEWSROOM, the climate change crisis in Alaska. Is it even worse than the experts predict?
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WATT: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Nick Watt with the headlines this hour. Another bruising session in the House of Commons for Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson. U.K. lawmakers heavily rejected the rookie leader's bid to hold a snap vote in the thick of the Brexit upheaval that's dominating British politics.
President Trump says, as far as he's concerned, the Afghan peace talks are dead. He says, he took his own advice and cancelled the meeting plan with Taliban leaders at Camp David after a U.S. soldier was killed in a Taliban attack in Kabul last Thursday. And the death toll in the Bahamas now stands at 50 and likely to go higher, as recovery efforts continue more than a week after Hurricane Dorian ravaged the islands.
[01:29:56]
Many are still missing and we're told many of their bodies might never be found. The hurricane was especially devastating to one area on Grand Bahama Island. McLean's Town was cut off by the storm, remaining residents wondering if anyone could hear their cries for help.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To get to the places still cut off by Hurricane Dorian, we have to go by boat. We've been traveling now for about two hours by boat. It's the only way to get here -- this is our destination -- the easternmost end of Grand Bahama Island. We know that it got hit really hard, but not much else.
The road is still closed here and we have not heard how the people here are doing. We really don't know what we're going to find here.
We head from Freeport to McLean's town, the last settlement on the eastern tip of Grand Bahama. Dorian filled in the channel and scattered cars throughout the small harbor. We have to navigate around the submerged vehicles.
We're going over a car right now. There's a car underwater there.
McLean's looks like a war zone and there are fatalities.
People like Eva Thomas' (ph) relatives who remained and lost their lives.
When you think about the people who stayed behind what must they have gone through?
EVA THOMAS, FAMILY MEMBER DIED IN HURRICANE DORIAN: Yes. And I think about because I had a nephew and three of his kids died in the storm. And my heart is broken. I said I can't imagine the terror that they were faced with before they passed.
OPPMANN: McLean's has been wiped off the map. It's difficult to conceive the force that can cause this kind of damage. It's just otherworldly to think the winds, the water could bury so much of this town under broken trees, broken houses. And we really don't know what is underneath all of this rubble.
It will probably take weeks or longer to dig out and find out what is buried here. All around us is an eerie quiet. It is the sound of a town that has died.
Alex Terry (ph) is haunted by the sight of his cousin's dead body.
ALEX TERRY, COUSIN DIED IN HURRICANE DORIAN: He has been swollen, like you know, when you get hit -- you feel like you're ready to burst. Ready to burst -- that's all she was, swollen.
OPPMANN: What little help arrives here comes by boat from other Bahamians. These people brought water from Abaco, also ravaged by the storm.
The rubble tells the story of lives cruelly interrupted -- a shoe, a broken teapot, an award from a church. Mervin Thomas tried to recover what is left of his town, a town he no longer recognizes.
MERVIN THOMAS, LOST HOME AND RELATIVES IN HURRICANE DORIAN: I tell you the truth I kind of feel lost because everything, you know, just look, you know, totally different. You cannot describe it. You never expect anything like this, man, honestly.
OPPMANN: For so many here all they have left are the things they carry.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN -- McLean's Town on Grand Bahama Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: If you would like to help the survivors of Hurricane Dorian, head to our Web site CNN .com/impact and there you'll find a list of vetted aid organizations that are helping in the region.
Alaska is sounding the alarm, a loud one about the climate crisis. What's going on there is stunning even the experts.
As CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir reports -- this is a red flag for the entire planet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Take a trip across Alaska this summer, from the iceless north to the smoky south, and you will see that when it comes to alarming changes, the last frontier feels like the first in line.
Fire season used to end on August 1st, like rainy clockwork. But it is so hot and dry the Swan Lake fire has been burning for three months.
And the most populous part of the state is swallowing more smoke than ever before.
[01:34:52]
BRIAN BRETTSCHNEIDER, SLIMATE SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA: If you look at the (INAUDIBLE) observation we've had more than twice as many smoky hours in 2019 than any other season and the fact almost as many as all other years combined.
WEIR: And when Anchorage is hotter than Key West on the 4th of July, it could form a steady drip of a glacier into something much more dramatic.
That was a calving event last Month at the Spencer Glacier, just one of dozens of melting red flags.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: This whole lake was -- there was no lake in the early 1950s.
WEIR: Really?
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Right.
WEIR: I saw the ice went all the way down to the --
BRETTSCHNEIDER: End of the lake.
WEIR: -- end of the lake down there.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Right.
WEIR: A recent study finds that since the 60s melting Alaskan glaciers have contributed more to sea level rise than Greenland, Antarctica or any other part of the world.
Since every one of these molecules goes into the ocean, it goes everywhere, this is not just a changing Alaskan landscape story. This is a Miami story. This is a Charleston and San Francisco Bay story.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: You know, once this water melts off and goes into the ocean, you know, as long as we have all this carbon dioxide in the atmosphere it's not coming back here.
WEIR: Health scientists like Mike Han (ph) are equally worried about changes harder to see, like a new kinds of ticks, bringing new kinds of diseases north. And when Doctor Jeffrey Demain (ph) studied insect bite trends since the 90s he found that way up in the Arctic circle stings from yellow jacket wasps jumped over 600 percent in five years.
DR. JEFFREY DEMAIN, CLINICAL PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: So the queens are now under snow pack without a severe weather, and they're surviving. So more queens, the more colonies, the more colonies, the more yellow jackets.
WEIR: And then there are the fish -- so vital to this economy. While Bristol Bay saw another epic salmon run, more and more streams are just too hot for the fish to spawn.
SUE MAUGER, SCIENCE DIRECTOR, COOK INLETKEEPER: And the temperatures we saw this summer were what we expected for 2069.
WEIR: Really?
MAUGER: We are 50 years ahead of where we thought we would be for stream temperature. So that is very alarming.
WEIR: Meanwhile out at sea, this research team from NOAA is spending a summer measuring all kinds of Arctic change including those at the bottom of the food chain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are looking at harmful algae blooms so --
WEIR: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they're taking samples for toxins in the water, from harmful algae. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warmer air coming up further north.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And sooner maybe. Yes, so that is a big concern for the communities (INAUDIBLE) safety.
WEIR: This state is such a gorgeous reminder of how earth's Goldilocks climate held so many forms of life together in harmony. But in a too hot future, with more fire than ice, what comes next is anyone's guess.
Bill Weir, CNN -- Anchorage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: All of this has the United Nations making a global plea to pay attention, do something now as no one is untouched by what humans are doing to this planet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE BACHELET, UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Climate change is a reality that now affects every region of the world. The human implications of currently projected levels of global heating are catastrophic.
Storms are rising and tides could submerged entire island nations and coastal cities. Fires rage through our forests and the ice is melting. We are burning up our future literally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Joining me live now from Beijing is Ban-Ki Moon, former U.N. Secretary General and chair of the Global Commission on Adaptation. The group is calling on leaders across the board to prepare for and respond to the effects of climate change.
Mr. Ban -- thank you very much for joining us. Now, you're asking leaders to make some pretty radical changes. What are they?
BAN KI-MOON, CHAIRMAN, GLOBAL COMMISSION ON ADAPTATION: The Global Commission on Adaptation today released action-oriented, very strong revolutionary action-oriented report here in Beijing that we will be speaking to the U.N. climate summit on September 23rd and I will be going there myself together with Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of World Bank.
Our main point is that we have to change in a revolutionary way, that in terms of understanding, we must make sure that the climate change crisis must be visible. Climate change is fast approaching, much, much faster than we may think. That we have to plan rather than short term plans, we must make it on the basis of macroeconomic analysis.
Then we have to finance in a much bold, much bigger way. The finance is not flowing at the scale and at speed. We must do much more.
[01:40:01] BAN: And then we got -- I've urging world leaders particularly OECD members to provide the necessary funding, hundreds of billions dollars to Green Climate Fund. It is now almost an empty shell. There is no time to lose.
That is why we are now speaking out to the world and leaders who are coming to the climate summit on September 23rd, that they must realize that we cannot negotiate with nature. Nature -- there's no way. That is our clear cut message towards the leaders.
WATT: In this report, it talks about climate apartheid. That there is a division between the haves who are not so badly affected by climate change and the have not seen who are. Is that something that is already happening?
BAN: That is not a metaphorical (INAUDIBLE) that it is climate appetite. Those people who are rich who can afford to address this climate, they can do it still. They may think that the climate is on their side but for those most vulnerable -- poorest of people who do not have any means and resources.
But historically speaking they have done this to cause this climate phenomenon. And therefore we can call it clearly as (INAUDIBLE) the coin of the Global Commission on Adaptation said, in such a way that there is another moral imperative, human imperative.
The least available possible people do not have any means, therefore it is morally and politically right that the OECD countries, rich countries should do all, providing funding, science and technologies, their know-how.
There is also some environmental imperative because we do not have any time to wait. We have to act now otherwise we will be regretting for succeeding generations. In this our critical and more responsibility particularly those leaders, they must make this world much more harmonious, prosperous, and sustainable in terms of leaving with the harmonious (INAUDIBLE) nature.
WATT: But how do you force these world leaders to take this action? As far as I can tell no one, on our planet, has yet won an election based primarily on what they are going to do to help the environment.
I mean people are selfish. Politicians care about politics. How do you force any of these world leaders to do what you want them to do?
BAN: Well, the leaders must have a far-reaching vision based on humanity. And they have a moral and political, historical responsibility to address this issue.
As you said they are much more interested in their own domestic politics elections, just as they are interested in being elected and they make a lot of pledges, promises but by the time they are in your fist, they just do not have this climate agenda. You embed it in their version of priority agenda.
That is what I have been regretting getting very much while serving at the United Nations. That situation still continues while I am also retired secretary general. Therefore I have been urging world leaders, particularly those big countries like the United States.
I am urging President Trump to implement a pledge between his presidential campaign that he would invest $ 1 trillion to beef up the resilient infrastructure according to American Association -- American society of Engineering, if this resilient infrastructure is not well funded, at least 2.5 billion million job losses and they will be if a list of a $4 trillion dollars gap in national GDP. And therefore it is very important that countries like the United States, the most powerful, most resourceful, the richest country in the world, should lead this campaign.
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BAN: For that I'm urging American administration to return to Paris climate change agreement as soon as possible. And OECD countries, they should do their moral and political and historical to help those (INAUDIBLE) countries.
I have been visiting many places around the world. Wherefrom I was able to see the climate phenomena. The arctic ice is melting and (INAUDIBLE), the rain forest particularly Amazon River Basin. These kind of actions must be stopped immediately.
And therefore we do all what we can do.
WATT: Mr. Ban -- we are going to have to leave it there. Ban Ki- Moon, the secretary general -- former secretary general of the United Nations. thank you very much for your time.
BAN: Thank you.
WATT: A short break now and more news in just a moment.
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WATT: South Korea's military says North Korea has launched two unidentified projectiles from near Pyongyang east towards to sea. If true, this is the tenth launch since May. The previous four rounds of launches were believed to be short-range missile tests, violating U.N. resolutions.
Israel's prime minister is accusing Iran of having a secret nuclear weapons site, and he's calling on other countries to join the U.S. in maintaining pressure on Tehran.
But as Oren Liebermann reports, some of Mr. Netanyahu's political rivals are questioning the timing of his message.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealing what he says are new secrets of Iran's nuclear archive.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: In this site, Iran conducted experiments to develop nuclear weapons.
LIEBERMANN: And calling once again on the international community to follow the lead of President Donald Trump and sanction Iran.
NETANYAHU: The only way to stop Iran's march to the bomb and its aggression in the region is pressure, pressure, and more pressure.
LIEBERMANN: The revelation, produced with visual aid was something the embattled Israeli leader had promised for weeks, though not nearly as dramatic as back in May, 2018.
NETANYAHU: Iran lied.
LIEBERMANN: When Netanyahu revealed Israel had stolen Iran's nuclear archive in a primetime presentation.
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LIEBERMANN: The only catch -- analysts say none of this information is a game-changer. The signatories to the nuclear deal knew about it for years. The IAEA said there was no new evidence of any work on nuclear weapons after 2009 and experts say none of what Netanyahu showed off Monday night shows Iran violating the deal.
JEFFREY LEWIS, NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION ANALYST: I think it's pretty underwhelming. What you would really need is a site that was active in the recent period in order to suggest that Iran wasn't complying with its commitments.
And you know, we've seen a few pictures but we are really far from that at this moment.
LIEBERMANN: Still, Trump said last year's presentation by Netanyahu was part of the reason he decided to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This disastrous deal --
LIEBERMANN: And that was a win for Netanyahu.
NETANYAHU: What we see is a consistent pattern of Iranian lies, deception, and violations.
LIEBERMANN: Critics say Israel's Mr. Security is looking for another win in a tough election a week away. His rivals slammed the statement as electioneering.
On Twitter, Netanyahu's opponent in next week's election Benny Gantz, said "Netanyahu's use of sensitive security information for propaganda indicates poor judgment," saying "Even in his last days as prime minister Netanyahu cares only about Netanyahu."
If Netanyahu's goal here was also to try to prevent a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that appears to have failed. Trump indicating he'd be willing to meet Rouhani. In fact Trump didn't really give a response to Netanyahu's presentation of information from the nuclear archive. Who did, respond? Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, who fired away on Twitter, saying "The possessor of real nukes cries wolf on alleged demolished site in Iran."
Oren Liebermann, CNN -- Jerusalem.
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WATT: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And we'll be back in just a moment.
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WATT: From the nation of Georgia to the U.S. state of Georgia four crew members trapped aboard a cargo ship overturned off the coast have now been rescued. The Golden Ray listed heavily and then rolled onto its side on Sunday with 24 people on board. 20 crew members were rescued shortly after the ship tipped over four others were stuck on the vessel, trapped by fire, eventually rescued hours later. Officials are still trying to figure out what caused the ship to flip.
And finally this hour, a couple in the U.S. learned the hard way that the old saying finders' keepers isn't always true. Their bank accidentally put $120,000 dollars into their account, money meant for someone else.
But instead of telling the bank about the mistake the, couple spent most of the cash on an SUV and a camper, among other things. Now they're facing felony theft charges, and having to pay more than $100,000 back to the bank.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Nick Watt.
The news continues on CNN right after this.
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