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Italy Win Championship After Beating England on Penalties; Racist Comments Toward England Players Investigated; Italian Fans Euphoric Over Championship Win; Billionaire Richard Branson Successfully Rockets Into Space; Pfizer to Brief U.S. Officials on Vaccine Boosters; Progress in Recovery Efforts as Death Toll Rises to 90; 24 Millions in Western States Under Heat Alert. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 12, 2021 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM --

Italy crowned Europe's new king of football, crushing England's hopes in a nail-biter of a match. But the Euro 2020 loss has some English players facing racist abuse online. We will have details and live reports from London and Rome.

And later, millions of people are under severe heat warning in the Western U.S. The extreme temperatures are fueling wildfires across nearly a dozen states.

A celebration more than 50 years in the making. Italy is once again lifting the trophy as European football champions after their win over England in a dramatic penalty shootout. Thundering cheers from this crowd in Rome as they claim the first major title in 15 years Sunday and their first European championship since 1968. Those celebrations repeated in cities across Italy from Milan down to Naples.

Now there was a much different mood of course among England fans, as they left Wembley stadium in London. They had hoped their team would finally end their long quest for a major international title. But it was not to be. And we are tracking all the developments. Barbie Nadeau is standing by in Rome with reaction there. Salma Abdelaziz is live in London. But first we head to "WORLD SPORT" Alex Thomas for more on this dramatic final. Good to see you, Alex. So what a game. Talk us through the highlights here.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Rosemary, it was 55 years between the two times that England's men's football team have been in a major final. The 1966 World Cup, which they won and now the 2020 Euro final delayed from last year by the COVID pandemic. So no wonder tens of thousands of people flocked here to England's national stadium at Wembley in Northwest London just to soak up the atmosphere. The kickoff 8:00 in the evening local time, giving fans hours to drink and be merry, and maybe that tipped over the edge and will tell you more about that in a moment. But as far as inside the stadium is concerned, where 75 percent of the

90,000 capacity were allowed in, so well over 60,000 watching Luke Shaw give England an early lead in the opening minutes. Then Italy after the initial shell shocker or the atmosphere and the occasion getting to them getting back into the game, Leo Bonucci equalizing for the Italians in the second half. There were no further goals in half an hour of extra time. So to decide this title, it went to a penalty shootout. England missing three successive kicks. Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and also Jadon Sancho, either having their penalties saved by Donnarumma in the Italian goal for in Marcus Rashford's case, hitting the post. Misery for England in that penalty shootout again, although credit to them for getting this far.

An absolute joy for Italy and their coach Roberto Mancini who has revived the team since they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Mancini admitting he didn't want to see it to go to spot kicks either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTO MANCINI, ITALY MANAGER (through translator): It was quite unpleasant to have to go all the way to the penalty shootout. I think we would have deserved to finish the game earlier than that. But we have very happy for Italians. Italians living abroad, there were many of us starting today. Italians all over the world, and especially Italians all across Italy. Because I think we have given them a wonderful month of success and joy and we are very happy about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS (on camera): So Italy European football champions for the second time, and the first time since 1968. They've also won the World Cup on four occasions. So they really are back on top of the soccer world. Credit to them, they go back to Italy for celebrations later on Monday.

But the one sad note I mentioned earlier, Rosemary, was the behavior of some England fans. Yes, a minority but quite a few of them.

[04:05:00]

Not just here at Wembley, but in the tourist hot spots in the center of London, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, where there was screening. Bottles being thrown, abuse, fights breaking out and many tried to get into Wembley without a ticket, some even succeeded. The authorities initially saying it wasn't a big deal and then later saying fans had got in and they were trying to identify them and throw them out of the game. Lots of reports on social media of small children being absolutely terrified by some of the scenes they've seen there. And we just witnessed ourselves on street level here, the absolute carnage left by all the fans who had been so joyous earlier in the day. But the atmosphere did get on the wrong side towards the end of Sunday -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, totally unacceptable. Alex Thomas outside Wembley Stadium. Many thanks for bringing us up to date on the game. Appreciate it. Well as Alex mentioned, Italy's victory played out in front of some

60,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium and there were some of the scenes outside the gates. Police say they arrested dozens of people for a variety of offenses.

Police are also investigating offensive and racist social media comments directed towards members of the England team. So let's bring back CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in London, and Barbie Nadeau in Rome, good to see you both. So Salma I do want to start with you. Let's talk about how England fans are coping with the crushing defeat. But also give us the latest on the arrests made over racism against players and then these shocking and vile -- the vile abuse that was online.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Rosemary. You have three players Sancho, Rashford, and Saka as you heard there, they did miss those penalty kicks and those three players are facing absolutely disgusting social media abuse right now. Soka -- I just want to note -- is 19 years old. That's something that's trending actually on Twitter right now, hashtag, he's only 19 years old. That is how some England fans are responding.

Now unfortunately we know that racist abuse against sports player is nothing new. It's something that sporting bodies are still tackling and still fighting. But what is new here is this England team and I'll tell you why. They have come in at a very sensitive moment and chosen to really take a stand and use their platform. At the beginning of this tournament, the manager Gareth Southgate penned a letter to the nation.

Dear England -- and I am summarizing here -- but he essentially said I want my players to advocate and to fight for the causes that are near and dear to their hearts. And that is for many of these players racial justice, social equality. That is what is important to them. Southgate wants this team to represent an English myth that is progressive, that is open-minded, a sense of nationalism that is inclusive. And there was this honeymoon period really when you were seeing pictures of the players, who come from all these different backgrounds with #chooselove, with immigration -- you know, this team couldn't exist without immigration. All of these very positive slogans.

And this morning waking up and seeing this very vile abuse against these players. This really terrible backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement, which is something that is not isolated to this incident. This country has faced a huge backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement. These players were booed when they took a knee at times by some of these fans.

So a lot of antiracist groups this morning tweeting out for people to be careful, to be cautious because they have seen social media threats not just against these players but against people of color in general. So a fear -- a sense of fear as well, a sense of exclusion, of marginalization. And the question really now, Rosemary, is yes, these players did lose the match but there was something greater that they were trying to win here. They were trying to win acceptance, a sort of greater sense of fairness and equality in this country that would not have been won overnight. But have they at least begun to make gains on that even though they've lost the match -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: There will be consequences for that racist abuse online and elsewhere, of course, at the game. Thanks for that. And Barbie, Italy's fans, of course, celebrating their big win. What are they telling you?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, the excitement of last night has just, you know, turned to national pride this morning. There's just such a sense of accomplishment, such a sense of togetherness. And you know, you have football -- soccer is really part of the Italian DNA, and events like last night you really see that come together. Now we've got to listen what a couple of fans had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An infinite joy reminded us of 2006 when we beat France and in the penalty shootout. After 15 years the penalty shootout is always more beautiful, magnificent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NADEAU (on camera): You know, and that's really how everybody feels just watching this, there was such silence in the city, across the country after England scored that first goal early on.

[04:10:00]

And when the game finally ended in penalties, there was just an eruption of national pride and celebration in this country. And that's something that Italy has needed after the pandemic and it's needed for a long, long time since they didn't qualify for the World Cup in 2018. And I think we're going to see this pride carry through not just on the soccer fields but I think it'll translate to the country as a whole -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: It has certainly been a difficult year. This is exactly what Italy needed. Salma Abdelaziz live in London, Barbie Nadeau in Rome, many thanks to you both.

Well one small step for a daredevil billionaire and a giant leap for space travel. Richard Branson has become the first to reach the edge of space on a craft made by his own company. It was an exciting moment on CNN as Virgin Galactic's unity spacecraft attached from its mother ship and roared high above our planet. CNN's Rachel Crane was on hand for the launch and spoke to the virgin Galactic founder and newly minted space traveler himself, Richard Branson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: This flight nearly two decades in the making. And the company saying that Richard Branson's maiden flight was flawless. And nobody more excited about that, than the company's founder and new astronaut Richard Branson himself. I had the opportunity to speak with him following the flight about the excitement and energy of it. Take a listen to what he had to say. RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GALACTIC: I had dreamt of go to space since I was a kid. I've always pictured what it would be like. And it was just far more extraordinary than I could ever, ever imagine. From the -- from going naught to 3,000 miles an hour in seven or eight seconds, being pressed back into the seat. The roar of the rocket, to arriving in space and the silence. And, you know, to looking out of the window and seeing how glorious, glorious the color of the sky. To unbuckling and of floating, just literally lifting -- just going off to the ceiling and floating. Looking back down in these big windows -- now the spaceship is upside down, facing back down to the earth.

Seeing these three float around underneath me like giant fish. Get out of the way, I want to see the earth. And then, of course, you know, when we came back into the earth's atmosphere, the shuddering as the spaceship comes back in. Anyway, we just had an extraordinary day.

CRANE: But luckily for him this was not a dream, this was reality. And space enthusiasts around the globe are celebrating. That's because Virgin Galactic and Branson hope that this fourth manned space flight will help usher in a new era of space travel. The company is saying that they expect to start their commercial operations in early 2022. That's when people like yourself and I could potentially one day hop a flight on their vehicle. But it's going to cost us. Right now those tickets selling for around $200,000 a pop. A cost that Virgin Galactic said might go up before it comes down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well the voyage marks a watershed moment for the space tourism industry. And for Branson, his lifelong dream has finally been achieved. Now the hopes his success will encourage others who are dreaming of their own moment in space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANSON: To all of you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I'm out in a spaceship with wonderful other adults looking down to our beautiful, beautiful earth. For the next generation of dreamers, if we can do this, just imagine what you can do. Hey!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: As the delta variant prompts concerns of a new surge in COVID infections. Drugmaker Pfizer is set to brief U.S. officials on vaccine boosters today. Last week Pfizer reported lowered immunity among people who received their shots a while ago. But top U.S. health expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says there's not enough data to support a third jab yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There are studies being done now, ongoing as we speak, about looking at the feasibility about if and when we should be boosting people. So this isn't something that we say, no we don't need a boost right now, the story has ended forever.

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No, there's a lot of work going on to examine this in real time to see if we might need a boost, but right now given the data that the CDC and the FDA has, they don't feel that we need to tell people right now you need to be boosted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: As infections edged up over the weekend, the highest reported numbers in the last two weeks. While Vermont becomes the first U.S. state to fully vaccinate two-thirds of its entire population, administering more than 838,000 vaccine shots.

And earlier I spoke with Dr. Carlos del Rio from Emery University School of Medicine, he says the important thing right now is to get as many people vaccinated as possible before worrying about boosters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMERY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I think with the delta variant, again I want to stress this to people, you have been fully immunized you have nothing to worry. If you have not been immunized, you have a lot to be concerned about because this is highly transmissible and spreads very rapidly among those that are not vaccinated. So if you haven't been vaccinated you should get vaccinated. We need to get more people vaccinated in this country to really protect ourselves from the delta variant.

The problem is, as we know, there's not only people who are hesitant, there's also a lot of people saying simply I'm not going to get immunized. I think a couple of things would help. Number one, I think they -- hyper targeted marketing will be very informative help, you really go to a community and talk to them and really understand what the issues are.

Number two, we need to work with trusted members of the community, such as churches and community-based organizations and others. And number three, I think it's really important that the FDA gives full approval for the vaccine soon. Because as long as they're under Emergency Use Authorization I think a lot of people will still be hesitant to get vaccinated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH (on camera): And that was Dr. Carlos del Rio from Emory University School of Medicine.

Well we are seeing a rare outpouring of rage in Cuba and now the United States is weighing in.

Thousands of protesters marched in the streets of several cities, including the capital Havana. They say they are angry over economic conditions and the way the government is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Police used tear gas to break up some demonstrations and made multiple arrests. The U.S. is slamming Cuba's response to the protests.

The White House national security adviser tweeting: The U.S. supports freedom of expression and assembly across Cuba and would strongly condemn any violence or targeting of peaceful protesters who are exercising their universal rights.

We will have a live report from Havana coming up on CNN's "EARLY START," that's at the top of next hour.

Well part of South Korea are now facing the strictest level of coronavirus restrictions. The Prime Minister says for the next two weeks people in Seoul and neighboring regions are advised to stay home as much as possible. The country reported 1,100 new cases Sunday. Officials say only about 11 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

In Australia, New South Wales is reporting its highest jump in new COVID cases this year, with 116 cases on Sunday, all of them in Sidney. As a result the states premier says the current lockdown in Sidney is unlikely to end this Friday as scheduled.

Well Tokyo is now under a new state of emergency due to a rising number of COVID-19 infections with the Olympic games set to begin in just over 11 days. Authorities are asking restaurants, bars and stores to close early and cut alcohol sales. Olympic officials are expected to meet soon as part of final preparations. And later, IOC president, Thomas Bach is scheduled to welcome arriving delegations.

Well crews continue to work tirelessly in Surfside, Florida in the search for more victims. After the break, the latest on the recovery efforts at the collapsed condo. That's next.

And dozens of wildfires are being fueled by an extreme heat wave across the Western U.S. When will the dossier dangerous conditions let up? We'll check in with our meteorologist next.

[04:20:00]

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CHURCH: Well ten more victims pulled from the rubble of the collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida has been identified. More than two weeks since the disaster, crews are dedicated in their task of painstakingly sifting through the debris. CNN's Natasha Chen has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 90 people are now confirmed dead, 31 people potentially still unaccounted for. The search teams have now removed 14 million pounds of concrete and debris. They've got heavy machinery lifting the pieces so delicately that we're told they even found an undamaged bottle of wine and someone's ring, other people's heirlooms in the pile that means so much to these families. The Miami-Dade police chief also said they even brought rabbis on to the scene to help them understand what may be significant objects. Here's the police chief talking about that effort. FREDDY RAMIREZ, DIRECTOR, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: It

could be the smallest little thing that to a common person it just looks like a little container, but it really it means generations. It's very spiritual, and I'm just so impressed about our officers are learning so much about culture that there are so many dynamics here with the sadness and the sorrow. There's like a unity component. We learn about each other so we would definitely respect that and honor that.

CHEN: He said there's a database where families can actually upload information on the items of significance that they're looking for. And as the search teams find things they are also carefully cataloging that, putting that into storage and at a later date they can connect with families to reunite them with their belongings.

As far as the search teams go, some of them are starting to leave. The Israeli Defense Forces left today Sunday. And the Virginia team is also on its way out.

[04:25:00]

But the fire chief did say that on average the number of personnel throughout these two and a half weeks has remained about the same and this is still a 24-hour operation.

Natasha Chen CNN, Surfside, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: More than 24 million Americans are under an excessive heat warning right now as unusually high temperatures stretch into a new week. The extreme and unrelenting heat wave combined with lack of rain in many areas is fueling dozens of wildfires right now. Authorities say more than 11,000 firefighters are battling those flames. Some places are under evacuation orders, the National Interagency Fire Center says there are at least 55 large wildfires burning in 12 states. One of the newest fires ignited Sunday near the route to California's famous Yosemite National Park.

And for the latest we want to go to meteorologist Tyler Mauldin. Good to see you Tyler. So any relief in sight with this heat wave?

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There is a slight reprieve coming our way, Rosemary, but nothing to write home about. It's still going to be downright hot. This long duration heat wave is just going to wax and wane up and down the West Coast. We'll go from the Southwest to the Northwest to the northern plains. Were just going to continue dealing with this for the foreseeable future.

We have heat alerts up for everyone here in the pink and the orange. The pink is excessive heat warnings, heat advisories in orange. And you can see that temperatures are going to be ten to 15 degrees above average this afternoon. Once we get into Tuesday and Wednesday that's when we start to see those temperatures cool down and no longer are we dealing with the record temperatures. But we're still going to be dealing with above average temperatures. And in Palm Springs will just cool down to exactly average, 109. In

Las Vegas instead of 113 we'll be sitting at 108. So instead of nearly ten degrees above average, we'll be about five degrees above average. And then with your morning lows we'll still be quite oppressive during the morning hours. When you wake up in Las Vegas today, you are going to be waking up to -- tomorrow you'll be waking up to a temperature of 89 degrees. Salt Lake City 76 and then we're in the low 70s all the way through Thursday when it comes to your morning temperatures. So the record heat will wane but it's going to stay above average for us here across the Southwest. And we see the temperatures shoot up across the northern plains once you get into the end of the week.

Salt Lake City 104 degrees for a high today. Then you cool off to 97 degrees come Thursday. 86 degrees on Thursday in Sacramento. That's after you top out at 94 degrees today. Las Vegas, your average high 105, you'll be at 116. And yes, it's going to continue to be quite hot for us all the way through midweek. And Rosemary, we've got the heat, we've also got the drought, OK. 94 percent of the West Coast is in a drought. And you combine those two together and that's just more fuel for those fires out West.

CHURCH: So much to deal with. Tyler Mauldin, thank you for keeping such a close eye on all of that, appreciate it.

Well election lies were a big hit at the Conservative Political Action Conference but will that work with swing voters if Donald Trump wants another run at the White House. We will have analysis on that just ahead.

Plus as Haiti confronts a political crisis in the wake of Wednesday's presidential assassination, police say they have arrested a master mind behind that attack. Back with that in just a moment.

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