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Firefighters are Scrambling to Contain Fires in Southern Europe; Global Push for Vaccines as Delta Variant Surges; FC Barcelona Say Lionel Messi is Leaving the Club; Iran's Hardline New President Sworn In Amid Stalled Nuclear Deal; War in Afghanistan; U.S.: "A Team" Wins Gold in Women's Beach Volleyball; IOC Revokes Accreditations of two Belarusian Coaches; W.H.O.: COVID-Related Death in Africa Reach Record Peak; Study: Flooding Will Affect Millions More People By 2030; 13-Year-Old British Skateboarder Sky Brown Still Soaring. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 06, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hello and welcome to "CNN Newsroom," everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Coming up here on the program, intense heat rekindles a fire near Athens with dozens of blazes elsewhere in the country, and the Greek prime minister says the worst is yet to come.

In parts of Australia, COVID cases hitting record highs despite lengthy lockdowns.

Plus, Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona. Why the superstar is leaving the only club that he has ever played for.

Welcome, everyone. Firefighters are struggling to contain scorching wildfires, threatening parts of southern Europe as intense heat grips the region.

Italy is battling three times as many large summer fires this summer compared to a typical season.

And dozens of fires are ravaging villages and forests in Greece, burning everything in their path. Just north of Athens, authorities are battling a stubborn blaze that rekindled on Thursday. Six Greek regions are being placed on red alert for extreme fire hazard, and the prime minister warns the country is in a critical situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come, and the night ahead seems menacing. Tomorrow, we expect strong western winds in many areas of our country. We are talking about unprecedented conditions, following many days of heat waves, which have transformed the whole country into a powder keg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (on camera): Meanwhile, many people are evacuating. Some are refusing to leave, instead pitching in to help fight the flames closing in on their villages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNIS KANELOPOULOS, DOUKAS, GREECE RESIDENT (through translator): Leave? And go where? And let my house burn? If we have left, this place would have burned. We told the women and elderly and the kids to go. And whoever was able to stay to help, however they could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (on camera): Journalist Elinda Labropoulou joins me now live from Athens. Good to see you. Fill us in on the latest on this fire. And also, how well equipped is Greece to fight them in terms of manpower and resources?

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, to be honest, I'm not sure any country is equipped to fight a phenomenon like what we've been experiencing in Greece these last days. In just three days, we've had over 200 fires break out as direct result of this heat wave and scorching temperatures in the country.

Greece is waking up to news today that more evacuations are underway in northern Athens, which is where I am right now. I am in an area that a lot of houses burned in the last few days. It's a scenario where the fire rekindled yesterday and more homes are burning, from what we see and what we understand.

There are a number of other fires also burning on the island of Evia, an island that's also very popular with tourists and Greeks alike, evacuations there as well.

The only good news that we have had until now is that the archaeological space of ancient Olympia, where the flames have surrounded the archaeological site, is now out of danger. So the firefighters there have managed to contain the fire.

But, Michael, it's a very, very difficult time for Greece. It is too many fires. Greece has asked international assistance. A number of countries have already responded. The E.U. is sending -- France has already firefighters. So has Cypress. There is a growing team of countries helping Greece at the moment.

As we saw, the prime minister has already warned that the worst may be yet to come. That is because from today, we except also strong winds. So, along with these very high temperatures, we expect the winds to pick up as well. So, as we understand, this makes a very explosive mix.

HOLMES: Yeah, indeed. Yeah, risky times. Elinda, good to see you, my friend. Elinda Labropoulou there in Athens, Greece.

Now, a historic town in California reduced to ashes, falling victim to a wildfire that is moving with blistering speed. The Dixie Fire destroyed three quarters of Greenville, burning cars, more than 100 homes, and other structures as well. The blaze is spreading so fast that at one point, it burned the equivalent of 24 city blocks every minute.

[02:04:56]

HOLMES: And it is just one of 96 large wildfires burning in the U.S. and scorching more than 8,000 square kilometers. They are fueled by an extreme drought, high temperatures, and low humidity.

Let's bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam. What is the outlook, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Yeah, it is astounding to see what is happening on two different continents. We are talking Southeast Europe and then the western portions of North America. It is just incredible.

Let us talk about what's taking place in Greece. These are some new visuals coming in. The fires in the suburbs, the northern suburbs of Athens, the capital of grief, in the past 24 hours, they've had 118 new fires that have started. We have done the calculations, they have burned since Sunday, 6,000 plus hectares.

And if you look at the entire 2020 fire season, they had over 10,000 hectares burned. So we're talking about over 50 percent of the amount of hectares that have burned so far this year. And it's only the early parts of August, compared to last year.

This is on the backdrop of temperatures that are nine to 11 degrees Celsius above where they should be this time of year, so very hot. Heat will continue across the Mediterranean. It's not only Greece. It is into Italy as well as south-western portions of Turkey.

But you heard that correspondent a moment ago talk about the winds today. They are anticipated to pick up from the west, the northwest region. And you can see just into the southern Greek isles, just outside of Athens there, wind gusts today are forecast to be between 50 to 70 kilometers per hour in some of those steep slopes there. So, of course, that could fan the flames, continuing into the next days ahead.

Temperature today is 39 degrees. We get a brief reprieve of the daytime highs tomorrow, but then mercury and thermometer start to climb once again.

Now, let us hop to another continent where almost the same situation is playing out. Of course, different set of circumstances here, but this is in Greenville, California, a town completely wiped out. Roughly about three quarters of the town impacted or burned down because of this Dixie Fire that at the moment is only 35 percent contained. Now, we are using acres because we're talking about North America. In the United States, we use acres instead of hectares. This is the sixth largest fire in California history. At one stage, it burned over 44,000 acres in 12 hours. That is the equivalent to the size or acreage of the nation's capital, Washington D.C. That was in a time period from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and they burned just that much.

Hundreds of large active fires are over the western U.S., over 14 states. Unfortunately, seeing images like this, becoming all too familiar for both you and I. Michael, having to report on this, very difficult to see entire towns succumbed to fires like this. Back to you.

HOLMES (on camera): Yeah. Well, seems like it's all over the world at the moment. Derek, appreciate it. Derek Van Dam there with us.

Now, the dramatic rise of the delta variant now threatens to overwhelm health services around the world and that is creating an even greater urgency to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible. It is, of course, a tall order because delta cases are already skyrocketing. And vaccines, well, they are not available to everyone. Are they far from it?

Despite lengthy lockdowns in Australia, New South Wales just reported two straight days of record new case numbers. With only 20 percent of the population fully vaccinated, most of the country is now facing hard lockdowns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): COVID test!

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Help! Help!

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Is anyone paying attention to us?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Help!

HOLMES (voice-over): Calls for help there as new cases spike in China. High-rise residents suddenly confined to their apartments -- this is in Chengdu (ph) -- call out for help to anyone who will listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (on camera): Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong. Steven Jiang is in Beijing for us. Kristie, let us start with you. An interesting thing about Australia was that they did a pretty good job early on. They close the borders, kept a lid on COVID. That is not the case anymore.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): That is not the case anymore with the delta variant sweeping through Australia. And as a result, we've got lockdowns in force in Sydney, in Melbourne, and in Brisbane, the three biggest cities in Australia. Over 60 percent of the total population of Australia now has to work from home, now has to stay at home.

We know that the state of Victoria, they have just entered yet again another lockdown, the sixth lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic. That sparked a series of very angry, anti-lockdown rallies and protests taking place in the Victoria State capital of Melbourne.

But the worst outbreak is in Sydney where earlier today, we learned both Sydney and New South Wales reporting 291 new cases of the coronavirus. This is the highest daily tally yet.

So, what happened here? Australia has been and was a pandemic success story. When I posed that question to chair of epidemiology at the Deakin University, this is what she had to say. Take a listen.

[02:09:58]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE BENNETT, CHAIR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY: The methods we used successfully to keep returning to COVID zero in Australia while we were trying to roll out our vaccine program have now been defeated by this variant. It just moves too quickly for that normal test, trace, and isolate approach to actually be effective. Even with the lockdowns in place, like in Sydney, we are still just seeing the case numbers roll on because we can't completely get ahead of the virus to close those rates down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT (on camera): There are two main factors that are driving the surge of the delta variant in Australia. Number one is the highly contagious nature of the variant. Dr. Catherine Bennett described it as slippery, as having this quality to just go past and evade once proven pandemic restrictions and protocols.

And of course, the other factor is the slow pace of vaccination in Australia. So far, it is only 21 percent of the country. The population over the age of 16 have been vaccinated.

The prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, has been under a lot of pressure for that slow pace of vaccination. He blames the delay on changing advice over the locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine as well as supply issues with the Pfizer vaccine. Back to you.

HOLMES: Yeah, he has faced a lot of criticism for moving slowly on ordering early. Appreciate that, Kristie. Thank you.

Steven, in Beijing, let's go to you now. How is Beijing dealing with a climbing case count there? Is there any chance of a citywide lockdowns like we saw in Wuhan last year?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Michael, the dramatic scene you just played with trapped residents calling out for help is a reflection of the growing number of lockdowns we are seeing across China. Not just targeted but also citywide. Of course, so far, citywide lockdowns are only taking place in smaller cities. Of course, small is a relative term. For example, in the central Chinese city of Jiangxi (ph), the authorities there have locked down their entire population of one and a half million residents for a few days now. The eastern Chinese city of Yangzhou (ph), population of four and a half million, seems to be moving in that direction as well.

And also, in Wuhan, they have announced the lockdown of several residential complexes. That, of course, is after authorities there ordered citywide testing of 11 million residents when fewer than 10 cases were reported.

So, the fact the officials across the country are conducting multiple rounds of mass testing, extensive contact tracing, and reintroducing draconian lockdown measures shows how concern the leadership here is about the continued spread of this cluster of delta variant cases.

And the latest figure we got from the government was that they recorded 101 new locally transmitted cases on Thursday. Small in comparison to many other places but something they hadn't seen here for months.

That is why in addition to all of the travel restrictions, education authorities have now said the start of the new school year could be delayed in so-called high or medium risk regions in the country, and there are some 200 such locations now cross China.

So all of this, of course, is part of this enormous cost associated with the government's zero-tolerance policy towards locally- transmitted cases even though there are growing questions about its long-term sustainability. But so far, there is a little indication they are going to change course since from their perspective, it has been working for them both politically and economically. Michael?

HOLMES: Fascinating. Steven, thanks. Steven Jiang there in Beijing for us. Appreciate it.

Now, some big news from the world of sports. Spanish football giant, Barcelona, say Lionel Messi is leaving the club. The team released a statement, blaming -- quote -- "financial and structural obstacles." The Argentine strike and made his debut back in 2004 and has won 10 La Liga and four Champions League's title with the Catalan Club.

Let's bring in CNN world sport anchor Patrick Snell. Good to see you, Patrick. I still like to know what those terms mean, that the club is talking about. What do they mean?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is a story we are following very closely indeed, Michael, at this hour. This comes down to finances. Just a reset for our viewers, well, while Barcelona currently with an overall total debts of over a billion dollars right now, we are going to learn a lot more, I would expect, Michael, in the coming hours.

We are expecting to hear from club president, Juan Laporta. He has a press conference scheduled. So, hopefully, we get to find out a whole lot more and a whole bunch of questions as well will be asked.

The Catalan is revealing on Thursday that the 34-year-old, currently a free agent right now, so his current deal in the club ended at the end of June, he will be leaving, as of right now, despite both parties having reached an agreement on a new contract. That was earlier in the summer. They reportedly agreed on a new five-year deal.

But here are the key words here. Those references to financial and structural obstacles, the South American player, widely regarded as one of the sports all-time greats, as they say, seemingly, we all thought that this new five-year deal have been agreed on reduced wages.

[02:15:05]

SNELL (on camera): But under La Liga financial fair play rules, the club also had to do its part. It also had to restructure financially. So, obviously, this is going to be huge scrutiny of that right now.

Messi is the club's all-time leading scorer and appearance-maker as well. He has amassed 672 goals during his time at the club, glittering trophy cabinet. There is no question about that. He has also won the prestigious Ballon d'Or six times, more than any other player in history.

Let's dig a little deeper in terms of the Barcelona statement, Michael, which came on Thursday, which reads, in part, as a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled. FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.

Now, earlier, the author of "The Barcelona Complex: Lionel Messi in the Making -- and Unmaking -- of the World's Greatest Soccer Club," Simon Kuper, spoke to CNN's Richard Quest and explained how a club as big as Barce can find themselves in such a predicament right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON KUPER, AUTHOR: I would say it's more incompetent. I mean, look, COVID hit every football club because the stadiums were closed. It was worse for Barcelona because in a lot of games, the third of the seats in the stadium are occupied by tourists who also buy in the store and museum. It's such a tourist city. They have been incompetent.

I mean, in the book, I detail how over about five years, they spent more than a billion dollars on transport (ph), buying (ph) players more than any other club in soccer, and they've ended up with this aging, rather weak team, if you except Messi, if you leave him out of that. So they just systematically bought (ph) the wrong players, they stop producing good players.

In the end, they were spending more than their entire revenue. Wages got out of control. So the club is to blame for the situation that they've got themselves in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL (on camera): And, of course, the big question now is where could be next, if anywhere for Messi? Could it be potentially the French capital? You know, you can never discount Paris Saint-Germain. Of course, Messi has long since been linked with the move there, potentially to the (INAUDIBLE).

How about English (INAUDIBLE) champs Manchester City, maybe a reunion with his former head coach at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola? Remember the city just spent a whopping amount, a British record of $140 million on Jack Grealish.

And another, perhaps the most romantic option here, Michael, return to his childhood club in Argentina, Newell's Old Boys, or I said it earlier, watch this space. Maybe he's going to stay put right where he is if they do get this resolved somehow.

As I say, we will learn a lot more later on this Friday. But I don't think it's going to be (INAUDIBLE). Just so you know, Michael.

HOLMES: You read my mind. I was going --

SNELL: Sorry.

HOLMES: I was going to mention it again just to keep it out there, but knocking it on the head, Patrick.

SNELL: You never know, but, you know, we will watch this.

HOLMES: Unlikely. Unlikely. All right, good to see you, my friend. Thanks for that. We will be live in Tokyo later in the program as well. That is where two coaches have been asked to leave the Olympic village. Why organizers say they are concerned about athletes' safety?

Also, still to come on the program, Iran has a new president. We will look at what that means for the country's ties in the region and abroad. That's coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. Ebrahim Raisi has been sworn in as Iran's new president, cementing the Islamic Republic's hard-line leadership. The inauguration of the ultra-conservative former chief justice comes at a crucial time for the nation, Iran in the midst of negotiation, of course, on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, even as its economy continues to suffer under U.S. sanctions.

Raisi on Thursday is calling for lifting those sanctions and he said he will support diplomatic efforts to make that happen.

But as CNN's Fred Pleitgen explains for us from Tehran, Raisi also wants to try some new approaches.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, certainly gave a very confident and a very bold speech during his inauguration here in Tehran.

There were several factors to that. One of them certainly was Iran's economy where it does seem as though Iran could be embarking in a new direction than the one we saw from the Hassan Rouhani administration, which will rely less on trying to mend ties with western nations, European nations, and the United States, and less on trying to make sanction relief happen, and more on trade here in the region.

Raisi kept talking about trying to establish better ties with countries in the region, specifically Iran's neighbors, but also countries in Africa, for instance, as well.

Now, Raisi did say that there is going to continue to be a very bold foreign policy on the part of Iran, and he says he believes that is a good thing for the region.

EBRAHIM RAISI, PRESIDENT OF IRAN: The Islamic Republic's power in the region creates security. Our regional capabilities support stability and peace in various nations. And it will only be used to fight hegemonic powers. The nuclear program of the Islamic Republic is completely peaceful.

PLEITGEN: Of course, despite all of the sanctions relief, it is something that is still very important to the Iranian and certainly something that would be quite necessary to jump-start the economy.

One of the things that Raisi also said is that he would support negotiations to try and get rid of those sanctions. And, of course, one of the things that that seems to indicate is that the Iranians and this new administration is going to support negotiations to try and jump-start the Iran nuclear agreement.

So far, it seems as though those negotiations are at an impasse. The Iranians say they want to revive the deal, they want to bring the U.S. back, and they certainly want to come into compliance again. But Raisi has also said he doesn't want to do that at any cost.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Violence is escalating in Afghanistan as the Taliban ramp up their attacks across the country. Have a look at this map here that shows the areas controlled by the insurgent group. Much of their territorial games are coming since the U.S. drawdown of forces, which began in May. Well, right now, the fiercest fighting is going on in the south, sending thousands of civilians fleeing to safety.

Afghanistan's foreign minister says the recent Taliban offensive has killed more than 3,000 people nationwide and displaced 300,000 in just the last few months.

I want to bring in Chris Nyamandi via Skype from the Afghan capital, Kabul. He is the Afghanistan country director for "Save the Children." We want to talk about the plight for these children. There are literally millions of Afghan civilians either internally displaced or who are refugees already left the country. What are the conditions specifically for children in the country? How bad is it?

CHRIS NYAMANDI, AFGHANISTAN COUNTRY DIRECTOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL: Thank you very much, Michael, for having me on your program. You are right, there has been a huge spike of conflict in Afghanistan, and unfortunately this has affected children.

We know that in the past two months, since May, at least 50,000 children have been displaced. And as you know, we in Afghanistan at this point are in the midst of drought and there was COVID third wave. So there is a lot of disruption that has happened in society.

[02:25:00]

NYAMANDI: And as I am speaking to you right now, I hear report that children are literally dying because of the lack of food, especially in situations of displacement.

HOLMES: It's just horrific. I mean, what are the immediate needs? And given the fighting all over the country, what are the difficulties in delivering assistance, even getting it to them?

NYAMANDI: Yeah. So, the immediate need is clear. Right now, children are not getting balanced diet. They are not getting food that would ensure they will have a future that is strong. We see that malnutrition is increasing. We hear reports of children relying on bread alone.

Remember that COVID has disrupted the economic society generally. And now because of conflict, families are not able to fend for themselves. So what is really needed at this point is that we allow access to those children in communities, either those that are in displacement, but also those that are in Taliban-controlled areas, so that we deliver humanitarian assistance. We need to deliver food in those communities.

HOLMES: Right.

NYAMANDI: One more thing that I wanted to say, Michael, is because of COVID, children have lost between eight to 10 months of education in the past months. We need those schools to be reopened as soon as possible. We are not sure if Afghanistan right now is prepared to reopen schools, especially in Taliban-controlled areas.

HOLMES: Yeah. I mean, these are the reports of kids living under tarpaulins. I was reading that around 130,000 people have had to leave their homes and villages in the past couple of months. According to the U.N., 60 percent of them are children. And 613,000 people, including 362,000 children, displaced over the last 12 months.

The thing is as the fighting around major population centers increases, how much worse could it get?

NYAMANDI: Clearly, it's going to get worse because you are right that the fighting right now is going -- it appears is going to go into urban centers because the Taliban control is mostly rural districts at this point.

This is why it's important that a process that is acceptable to all Afghans is concluded as soon as possible, because if violence goes into the major population centers, then we're talking about children dying at an increased scale. We are talking of more displacement. And right now, the Afghan civilians are afraid. They don't know what the future would look like. And I think warfare is going to make it even worse.

HOLMES: Yeah, obviously. I mean, it's just terrifying, what could happen. The conflict, obviously, is a driver in the conditions. But you've touched on this and it's important to note, the situation has been perilous for Afghans and Afghan children for some time. Poverty, climate change, as you point out, COVID, and so on.

I think Afghanistan already had the second highest number of people facing emergency levels of hunger in the world. It's not like things were okay before the fighting.

NYAMANDI: So things were not okay. So we are now in a storm where we have COVID, then the drought, and now the conflict. And the huge poverty issues in Afghanistan, we are talking about fragility. That is, again, as a result of four decades of conflict and lack of sustainable peace. So, it is difficult.

One more think that I wanted to raise to your viewers is that I received -- I talked to a female staff particularly and they tell me that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to go to the field. There are restrictions for women to move around and that affects our capacity and our ability also to reach women in the field.

So I think it would be important that we are allowed to -- our women, at least, are allowed to go to the field so that they can also be able to provide assistance to women who need assistance across the country.

HOLMES: Very, very difficult days ahead. Thank you and your organization for what you're trying to do, particularly to help the children. Chris Nyamandi, thank you so much.

NYAMANDI: Thank you, Michael.

HOLMES: Dark days ahead for Afghanistan. We are hearing more from the Olympic sprinter who fled Tokyo for Poland. Coming up, she reveals who convinced her it wasn't safe to return home to Belarus.

Also, the latest epicenter in the U.S. COVID surge and why more of its adults and children are ending up in hospitals. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: It is day 14 of the Summer Olympics and athletes aiming for gold in 11 sports including a full slate of track and field events. The U.S. Women's A Team April Ross and Alex Clayman have claimed the top medals in women's beach volleyball with a victory over Australia.

Meanwhile, the women's football gold medal match between Canada and Sweden has been moved to later in the day over concerns about the heat. China, the U.S. and Japan leading the gold medal count so far with the U.S. ahead in total medals Australia there number four, I just have to point that out.

The International Olympic Committee meanwhile, has yanked the Accreditation of two Belarus and coaches on it looks into why a member of their team sought political asylum. The IOC says the coaches will get a chance to be heard Sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya fled to Poland this week with a humanitarian visa saying she feared for her life.

She had criticized 13 bosses who then tried to send her back to Belarus against the will that her family warned her was too dangerous to return. Timanovskaya now says she wants to do be says she's happy in Warsaw and in safety. Now CNN's Blake Essig is live for us this hour in Tokyo and been following this all along.

I mean, it's hard to believe it's only been six days since Timanovskaya was told to pack her things and now those who sent her packing have been told to pack up themselves. What's the latest?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael, we learned about the two coaches earlier today in a tweet from the International Olympic Committee when they announced that these two coaches have had their accreditations removed and canceled for their roles in the alleged forcible removal of Kristina Timanovskaya from the Olympic Village last Sunday.

Now again last Sunday, the sprinter was supposed to be preparing to make her Olympic debut in the women's 200 meter sprint on Monday instead the 24-year-old posted a video on social media pleading for help. She said she was removed from competition given one hour to pack her things and then ordered to fly back to Minsk immediately.

Now this all happened after she criticized her coaches a few days earlier on social media for being included on a list to run an event which she hadn't prepared for. A while at the airport she asked a Japanese Police officer for protection and a sense flown to Poland after being offered a humanitarian visa fearing that if she did return to Belarus, she would likely be arrested. Here's what she had to say after arriving in Poland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTINA TIMANOVSKAYA, BELARUSIAN ATHLETE: My parents looking at all this concluded that upon my return home, I'd either face a psychiatric unit or prison. We know that such situations do happen in our country. That's when my grandmother called me and told me please do not come back to Belarus. It's not safe for you here.

[02:35:00]

TIMANOVSKAYA: I think it would be safer for you if you seek some sort of political asylum and either stay in Tokyo or travel somewhere in Europe but not to Belarus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG: Timanovskaya says she now feels safe and protected in Poland but also said that she was sad because she was deprived of her chance to participate in these Olympic Games. According to a statement released by the Belarusian Olympic Committee of the sprinter was removed from competition due to her emotional and psychological state but it was a claim that Timanovskaya denies.

IRC official say that Disciplinary Commission has been set up to look into the circumstances around the incident. Official say that the coaches from Belarus will have the opportunity to be heard, but they were asked to leave the Olympic Village which they have done so Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Blake appreciate the reporting there Blake Essig in Tokyo for us. The Delta variant driving up infection rates across the Southeast Asia with some countries suffering their worst outbreaks of the pandemic.

Many of them which had successfully contained the virus last year, and I are grappling with shortages of oxygen hospital beds and equipment and they're also re-imposing lockdowns. That is the situation in Vietnam, which has seen a sharp increase in new infections since April.

More than 85 percent of Vietnam's infections throughout the entire pandemic were reported in just the last month. Less than 1 percent of people there fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, Indonesia expanding already full cemeteries after overtaking India as Asia's COVID epicenter, Indonesia has been recording more than 50,000 cases a day and it isn't actually feared the situation is much worse, because not enough people are getting tested.

Dr. Abhishek Rimal is the Asia Pacific Emergency Health Coordinator for the Red Cross and Red Crescent. He joins me now from Kuala Lumpur. And thanks for doing so. So the region in many cases managed to contain outbreaks last year, but now struggling with overwhelmed health services or lack of lots of things. What changed what went wrong with this new wave?

DR. ABHISHEK RIMAL, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS & RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES: Thank you for having me in the call. Like, as you have said, like the Asia Pacific have really done very well with the first wave of COVID-19.

But in the second way, what we have seen, which is regarded as the worst what we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic, it is quite clear like the Delta variant, which is now fueling the current pandemic, is one of the major driver for these huge number of surge of COVID-19 across the region.

On top of that we are now in the 20 month of COVID-19 pandemic. And this pandemic fatigue is slowly creeping into the people's mind. They really are sick and tired of all these regulations and want to go back to the normal life.

And what we have also seen in doing so they have lowered down their guards the protection against the COVID-19 which really allowed the virus to spread faster. And on top of that lack of mass vaccination across the region these can be attributed to the major surge.

HOLMES: I was about to ask you that Vietnam has fully vaccinated less than 1 percent of its population, Thailand around 5 percent, the Philippines 7.2, Indonesia, the epicenter, as we've said 7.6 that's according to our world in data. What is the state of an outlook for vaccine supply and distribution across the region?

DR. RIMA: So at this point of time, like what you have just said like the vaccine - like vaccine roll out has been quite limited across the Asia Pacific. In the last one month we are seeing slight speeding up of the vaccination across the region, but it is far below the optimum level.

We are very excited to see like the announcement coming from the richer countries that millions of doses of vaccines are coming to Asia Pacific but these needs to turn into action as soon as possible and we must ensure like these doses reaches the arms of the beneficiary as soon as possible.

The lack of supply of COVID-19 vaccine is really hindering the mass vaccination campaign to be rolled out across Asia.

HOLMES: Dr. Abhishek Rimal in Kuala Lumpur. I really appreciate your time. Thank you.

DR. RIMAL: Thank you very much.

HOLMES: Things are really bad in Africa as well the Delta variant ripping across the continent with deaths surging by 80 percent over the last four weeks. The World Health Organization says the situation is very dangerous and record breaking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHINOAH ATUHEBWE, W.H.O. VACCINE INTRODUCTION MEDICAL OFFICER, AFRICA: Africa is still on the crisp of a third wave and still recording more cases than in any earlier peak, we cannot take anything for granted and we must stay fully committed to prevent prevention measures.

[02:40:00]

ATUHEBWE: Tragically, deaths in Africa reached a record peak this week with over 6400 deaths recorded.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: And as wealthy nations talk about boosters and the like vaccines just aren't getting to Africa. Certainly not fast enough, and not enough of it. In fact, Africa has the world's slowest vaccine rollout, only about 1.5 percent of the continents' population fully vaccinated.

And according to Africa's CDC, they've already administered nearly 70 percent of the continents' current vaccine supply they need more. Meanwhile, U.S. health officials are racing to get more Americans vaccinated and quickly saying that a higher vaccination rate will help crash the Delta variant and other variants that might be around the corner. The CDC Director explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: And more we have viral replication the more we have transmission, the more we are at risk of a new and emerging variant. And that is why it's so very critical to get vaccinated not just for yourself for your own personal health to protect you from severe disease and death, but to protect you from transmission to others, as well as to protect all of us from seeing a more aggressive emerging variant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now the U.S. is only about 58 percent fully vaccinated and we're seeing very high rates of COVID transmission in places with low vaccination rates. Not really surprising is it? The CDC Director now says that people with both shots who get a breakthrough infection can transmit the virus and that is dangerous for anyone who isn't vaccinated.

Despite ample access to vaccines, only about half of Florida's almost 22 million residents are fully vaccinated. And guess what hospitalizations there are soaring and there is no sign the situation will improve anytime soon. CNN's Leyla Santiago explains from Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Florida, the latest epicenter in the COVID-19 surge hospitals are filling up.

CARLOS MIGOYA, PRESIDENT & CEO, JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM: On July 1st Jackson was treating 66 COVID positive in-patients in our hospitals. As of noon today, that number is 320. A 385 percent increase in just over a month.

SANTIAGO (voice over): Cases are on the rise.

JERRY DEMINGS, MAYOR OF ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA: Within the Metro Orlando area, we are seeing a significant surge and new cases nearly 1000 new cases are being reported daily.

SANTIAGO (voice over): High transmission in nearly every county. The state leading the nation and the number of adults and children admitted to the hospital when in five U.S. cases now found in Florida as the highly contagious Delta variant fuels a record breaking spike in hospitalizations. And the Governor well, he says--

RON DESANTIS, FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure? And until you do that I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you.

SANTIAGO (voice over): A political jab aimed at President Joe Biden after--

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If you can't help at least get out of the way that people are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives.

SANTIAGO (voice over): The governor is standing by his executive order threatening to cut funding to school districts that mandate masks a popular decision among his --.

DEMINGS: This is the same governor that just last year did put mandates in place to restrict the businesses and did a number of things. In that regard the only thing that has changed now is his polling amongst his base.

SANTIGAO (voice over): Some Florida School Districts are now grappling with ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the upcoming school year just days away for some.

TINA CERTAIN, ALACHUA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: We're weighing out the financial impact. And we're not dismissing that because we cannot operate without state funds. But at the same time, we really need to provide a safe working and learning environment for our students.

SANTIAGO (voice over): In Alachua County Public Schools students must wear masks for at least the first two weeks unless they have a doctor's note. In Broward County Schools are mandating masks. In Duval County parents will have to opt out if they don't want their child wearing a mask requiring more time and paperwork.

In a letter to the governor the Leon County Superintendent pleads to not allow pride or politics to cloud our better judgment in protecting Florida as the youngest students.

LILA HARTLEY, WANTS MASK MANDATES AT HER SCHOOL: It feels like they're not taking the precautions to keep students who can't get vaccinated here can still get sick, safe. Leyla Santiago, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: There are new concerns about climate change and flooding around the world. We'll explain why millions more people could be affected in just the next few years?

[02:45:00]

HOLMES: A new study shows that millions more people will be affected by increased flooding in the next decade. Climate scientists say that by 2030, 25 countries will be added to the 32 already dealing with increased flooding. Those numbers have been rising today. 86 million more people are exposed to flooding then were in 2000. The reasons a combination of climate change and migration Southern Asia and Sub Saharan Africa are at particular risk. But scientists predict Europe and North America will experience increased flooding as well. The report appears in "The Journal Nature".

Tim Flannery is a Zoologist and Environmentalist. He joins me now live from Sydney and thanks for doing so. I mean, we've already seen devastating floods in recent months in Europe and elsewhere. What are the flood risks which lay ahead because of climate change? What's your read?

TIM FLANNERY, ZOOLOGIST & ENVIRONMENTALIST: Well, look the flood risks I think I'm right across the board. You know, floods come in many forms. We have floods that result from sea level rise from storm surge events. We have floods that occur just as a result of massive amounts of rainfall.

And then we have river flats where the whole catchment floods and has a big effect. And of course, climate change, loads the dice really in favor of more severe events right across the board.

HOLMES: There are already so called climate refugees, what happens to those who live not just in low lying areas, but low lying countries. I mean, there's a lot of them Bangladesh, Maldives, parts of Africa and so on, we're talking more than a billion people facing significant risk. What could be the results of that?

FLANNERY: Well, you know, if we take a place like Bangladesh, it's hard to see a good outcome there. Because we're seeing a country that's very vulnerable to sea level rise, but also on a river delta, where as we get more extreme weather events as the atmosphere as the rainfall becomes more intense, people are left ever more vulnerable.

So I don't think we've worked out what the emergency room looks like for countries like that, you know, we need to take that three pronged approach, we need to stop the spread of this problem with climate change. We need to make sure our emergency room can take care of all of the casualties that are going to occur as a result of flooding, for example, and many other factors as well.

And then we're going to work towards the vaccine. We've got to heal our planet to make sure that in the future, we don't get more extreme flooding and fires and so forth.

HOLMES: And the vast majority of people at risk from climate change flooding I was reading I mean 90 percent according to some studies live in low and middle income countries with populations who have little choice in where to live, but where we're living and where we have to live a part of the problem.

[02:50:00]

FLANNERY: Well, that's right. And look, I think that this is going to be many different approaches to, or many different potential solutions to help people move about. So here in Australia, for example, among indigenous communities, where the clan based relationships are still intact.

People who are affected by flooding, for example, in Torres Strait are already being invited to neighboring islands, higher islands, where there's some arable land and so forth to join other communities. But in other parts of the world, those options aren't available.

So government's going to have to step in. And in countries like Bangladesh, where the capacity of governments very limited, you know, it's hard to see a good outcome.

HOLMES: You know the flows on effects are really disturbing. I mean, climate refugees, as we talked about, but there are also things like food insecurity. Food insecurity can lead to the potential for unrest, and, you know, all related to the impacts of flooding, what are the mitigation? What are the risks, and what are the mitigation options?

FLANNERY: Well, you know, again, as you say, food security is one of the things that we are watching with an absolute eagle eye because it's been declining in recent years, these extreme weather events we're seeing are exacerbating that food security issue.

And we need to have the capacity as a species to be able to deliver the food, that's where it's required and when it's required. There's nothing like starvation to cause implosions, you know, political groups instability, and none of us can afford that we've seen what happens with the COVID virus, for example, unless you treat everyone, yes.

So these are big challenges for our world. And I think, you know, we're just at the stage of realizing how profound they are? Certainly the Europeans, you know, who lived through that horrific flooding in Germany and Belgium, must be thinking as well.

How are we going to deal with this not just in Europe, but globally, because we can't afford the instability?

HOLMES: Absolutely. And it's not - it's not just the change. It's the pace of the change as well. Tim Flannery I'm going to leave it there. Appreciate it joining me from Sydney thanks.

FLANNERY: It's a pleasure. Thank you.

HOLMES: Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, she is Great Britain's youngest ever Olympic medalist. We chat with 13-year-old Sky Brown who overcame a devastating accident to achieve her dream. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back. 13-year-old Sky Brown made history has Great Britain's youngest ever Olympic medalist when she took bronze in the women's skateboarding competition on Wednesday.

Many would have walked away from the sport after horrific injuries she sustained last year but much like she defies gravity she often defies belief. She spoke to our Coy Wire about her time in Tokyo and what comes next?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKY BROWN, WON BRONZE MEDAL IN PARK SKATEBOARDING: Skating and I mean, just honestly get probably getting on the podium with two of my best like, two of my favorite people. It's like awesome.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS (on camera): Where do you rank this of all your accomplishments?

BROWN: This is probably, honestly one of the best memories ever.

[02:55:00]

BROWN: You know, skating I mean, the journey to like going traveling to different places to skate different parks and qualify and skating with all my friends and coming here and having the best time ever.

WIRE (on camera): You know, sometimes our careers don't go as planned. You know, you have fallen, you've been injured. You've been through tough times. What is your journey; say to others out there who might be going through tough times right now?

BROWN: Just don't give up. Don't give up. You got to stay strong. Stay happy. And we got it. You know enjoy life.

WIRE (on camera): You know what I love? I love my two daughters three year old - and 10 month old Ruby. And I also love seeing the girl power on full display here at these Tokyo Games. What what's your message to all those who watched what just happened?

BROWN: Get out there try it. You know, try what? Try what your dream is and take baby steps on like - all I've done she's take little baby steps get little like, get better and better by like little time and just take it slow and enjoy the journey.

WIRE (on camera): What are you most looking forward to when you get back home?

BROWN: Oh, obviously see my family but good to go surf. I love surfing and I'm going to surf a lot when I get back.

WIRE (on camera): Where are you going to put that medal?

BROWN: Oh, no idea. Probably in a special place, though.

WIRE (on camera): Are you going to take it school?

BROWN: I don't think so but no, you funny.

WIRE (on camera): That would be funny. It's really heavy, isn't it?

BROWN: Yes, it's pretty heavy.

WIRE (on camera): What's next for you? You've lived such a long life. I mean, what more can you accomplish? BROWN: I mean I'm going to surf a lot. Enjoy life. Hopefully go to Paris and, you know, do some other stuff. I think it's important to not just do one thing, do all different kinds of things because life's too short.

WIRE (on camera): Olympic --.

BROWN: --I'm doing good.

WIRE (on camera): --I'm told as I'm last.

BROWN: Thank you, thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: She is adorable. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @holmescnn. Don't go anywhere. CNN Newsroom continues with Kim Brunhuber next. I'm done.

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