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Sri Lankans Celebrate President's Resignation; U.S., Israel Vow to Keep Iran from Getting Nukes; Biden to Meet Palestinian, Saudi Leaders; China's Economy Grew Only 4% in Second Quarter; Zelenskyy Calls for Russia to be Declared "Terrorist State"; Europe Bakes As Wildfires Rage From Portugal To Croatia; Emirates Airlines Dubs Heathrow's Situation "Airmageddon." Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired July 15, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: I am from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Kimberly Brunhuber.

Ahead on "CNN Newsroom," after fleeing the country, Sri Lanka's president officially resigns, sparking celebrations in the capital. A look at what's next for the struggling nation.

Plus, the U.S. president facing a crucial day in his first visit to the Middle East. He will meet with Palestinian and Saudi leaders with the watchful eye of the rest of the world.

And why Ukraine's president wants Russia declared a terrorist state after one of Moscow's latest missile strikes.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: After a tumultuous week filled with chaos and confusion over who is in charge, Sri Lanka's president is finally out. Gotobaya Rajapaksa resigned via email on Thursday after fleeing to Singapore, and that resignation became official a few hours ago.

A Sri Lankan speaker of parliament made the announcement and said the process to elect a new president is now underway. He is planning to summon parliament on Saturday and revealed a timeline for voting.

But until a new president is elected, the prime minister will serve as interim leader under the constitution he can only hold office for up to 30 days while parliament decides on a successor.

A huge celebration broke the nation. A huge celebration broke out in the capital after the resignation. The country has been struggling for months with massive shortages of fuel and basic goods.

All right, let us bring in Kyung Lah, who is monitoring the developments. And so, obviously, with the president having resigned and fled the country, what's been the reaction so far from people there? KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can see some of the celebrations there, Kim, but remember what this is, it is a temporary reprieve, so they have an acting president who is being sworn in. He is going to be there for about 30 days, and then parliament will elect a new president. The problem with this acting president, at least from the protest movement, is that he is seen as an extension of the president who just took off.

Abd so there isn't exact joy that he is in charge. The joy that you are seeing is that the president is out of there. Now, the guy coming in, he's going to be there 30 days. This is almost, if you could think of it as an interim period, a country holding its breath, trying to figure out politically where it will move next.

Concurrently, they have these persistent economic problems: inflation at 40 percent, unable to feed their children, trying to fuel their cars and bring energy into their homes. These are far bigger problems. These are the reasons why the protests happen in the first place.

So, the country has got to figure out its political troubles but the bigger problem, the real problem here is what happens with the economy, and that is going to be a truly huge job.

So, this period that we are in right now, Kim, you can think of it as a bit of calm, but there is going to be a lot of questions and uncertainty about what happens to Sri Lanka next, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Kyung Lah. I really appreciate it.

U.S. President Joe Biden is reaffirming his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Biden is scheduled to meet in the coming hours with Palestinian authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

U.S. president met with the new Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid, on Thursday with Iran's nuclear ambitions a key topic. Both agreed Iran should never be allowed to get nuclear weapons, but they differed on how to achieve that goal. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, you and I also discussed America's commitment to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. This is a vital security interest to both Israel and the United States, and I would add for the rest of the world as well.

[02:05:00]

BIDEN: I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome.

YAIR LAPID, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Words will not stop them, Mr. President. Diplomacy will not stop them. The only thing that will stop Iran is knowing that the -- if they continue to develop their nuclear program, the free world will use force. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right, let's go live now to Jerusalem and journalist Elliott Gotkine. So, Elliott, we heard some differences between the two leaders there on Iran. Take us through what has happened so far.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Kim, Israel has always been opposed to the Iran nuclear deal. It has opposed to wait when it was being negotiated by John Kerry for President Barack Obama. It opposed it after it was signed, and then obviously was very happy to see Donald Trump pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, something that President Biden just the other day described as a gigantic mistake, pulling out of the deal. And Biden continues to maintain, as he says, that diplomacy is the best approach.

One thing that may have changed slightly on this trip is some of the language that President Biden has been using. In the past, the U.S. has always said that all options are on the table in terms of preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons. What he said explicitly, we believe, for the first time just the other day is that the U.S. would use force to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons albeit as a last resort.

Now, the difference between that position and the Israeli position is that Israel doesn't think there's any point in talking whatsoever. President Biden still hopes to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, but Israel doesn't want to.

And I suppose what Israel really wants is instead of having this thread as a last resort, to have this kind of sword of Damocles hanging over the Iranians, such that if they were to go ahead and develop nuclear weapons, that sword would fall and that force would automatically be used. That isn't something that the U.S. seems to be prepared to say right now. So that does remain quite a bit of daylight between the two approaches.

But it may actually all be mute because for now, there is no sign of that deal coming back into effect because the U.S. spoke to Iranian demand to remove the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from the U.S. terrorism blacklist. The ball is now in the Iranian's court and if they don't agree with the terms that the U.S. is giving them, then there will be no nuclear deal for the U.S. to sign anyway. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, let's look ahead to today's visit from Biden with Mahmoud Abbas. What are we looking for there?

GOTKINE: Not a huge amount but certainly some more -- whether a confidence building measure or some more splashing of the cash to help improve the economic lot of the Palestinians. Yes, President Biden reiterated his support for a two-state solution, but there's no chance that this administration, certainly not right now, is going to grab that metal. It doesn't want to be sucked into what has turned out to be a quagmire for so many administrations in the past.

What we are expecting is similar announcements in terms of funding for the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network that says Palestinians were expecting about $100 million to be to be funded from the U.S. for that entity. Biden will be visiting a hospital in East Jerusalem in the next hour or so on a company visit there.

On top of that, we're learning from a report from "Reuters" saying there could be move to a smooth travel between Palestinians in the West Bank and Jordan. And there's also long been talk about improvements to the telecommunications network, giving the Palestinians 4G in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

And even before Biden arrived here, there were some measures announced by the Israeli, some red building permits issued, new crossing from the West Bank into Israel, and also more permits for Palestinians to work in Israel from the Gaza Strip in the West Bank.

That said, the Biden demonstration, of course, promised to reopen the Palestinian mission in Washington. We don't expect that to happen any time soon, and also, for example, to reopen the U.S. consulate for Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Again, we won't be expecting that.

So, Palestinians want to get all the things that they would have liked to have seen, but certainly, given how bad relations were with the Americans before the Biden administration came in, a visit to see Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem still counts as progress. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Elliott Gotkine, in Jerusalem. Appreciate it.

And President Biden is expected to meet one-on-one with the Saudi crown prince when he arrives in Jeddah in the coming hours. Biden says the Saudi visit is important for U.S. interests, but overshadowing any meeting with the crown prince is the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That's because U.S. intelligence believes the crown prince was likely behind it. As a candidate, Biden labeled Saudi Arabia a pariah over the killing.

Earlier, we spoke with CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger about president's about face. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You're certainly seeing the president do quite an interesting (INAUDIBLE).

[02:10:00]

SANGER: During campaign, he said a lot of things and that is when the pariah state line came along. He never said that he wouldn't meet with MBS last month, but what he said was he wasn't going to Saudi Arabia to meet with MBS.

Well, he's going to Saudi Arabia for a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting that is largely about getting them to pump more oil and get involved more with the United States and its western allies. The most interesting announcement you're going to see, I think, from the -- from the Saudis is a project to build a 5G network, a new kind of 5G network with United States boxing out China. So, what has happened here is essentially that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, who the CIA believes was central to the plot to kill Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident journalist, has now found a moment when the United States really needs it, and he's using it to get that photograph today of him meeting the press.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, CNN national security analyst David Sanger speaking to us earlier.

Local turmoil in Italy could bring down the current government and lead to an early election. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Thursday that he would resign after the five-star movement of largest party in the country's coalition government withdrew its support. Italy's president rejected Draghi's resignation and asked Draghi to address parliament so lawmakers can assess the situation.

And in the U.K., there are now five candidates left in the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the second round of voting by conservative lawmakers. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak topped the ballot with more than 100 votes. Minister of State for Trade Policy Penny Mordaunt placed second. More votes will be held until the field is whittled down to two with the next ballot scheduled for Monday.

Boris Johnson resigned about a week ago after facing mutiny within his own party exhausted by months of scandal.

Analysts anticipate that the China's second quarter gross domestic product would be weak. But the worse than expected, China's economy grew only four-tenths of 1% in the second quarter of 2022 compared with 2021.

CNN Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: China's official economic data has always been viewed with the huge grain of salt by many economists around the world, but even when you look at the numbers at face value, this 0.4% growth for the second quarter is reflection of a pretty grim reality.

Now, this is the worst number we have seen since the first quarter of 2020 when the country was dealing with the initial stage of the pandemic, when they actually reported a contraction for the first time in decades.

But even that downturn was short-lived, the economy recovered fairly quickly. But this time, people are not so optimistic because the rest of the world has reopened and ditched most COVID rules and restrictions where this country is very much sticking to its zero- COVID policy and its harsh enforcements really interrupting and disrupting economic activity in people's daily life. And officials here, of course, putting on a brave face, highlighting improvements in June versus previous months. But when you zoom in at some of the numbers, really alarming. Shanghai, the biggest city in the financial hub, saw its second quarter GDP plummeting more than 13%, not surprising since the city was placed under strict lockdown for almost two months starting in April.

Youth unemployment shooting to a record high of 19.3% in June. This is a group of people aged between 16 and 24, including recent college graduates. This year, China is producing its biggest ever number of college graduates. Ten million people are flooding into the job market when there are a very few jobs to be had.

Also, in the real estate sector, another pillar in this economy, obviously, major developers are already facing major -- a major credit crunch starting last year. But now a new problem, many homeowners across the country are refusing to make mortgage prepayments because many had pre-bought apartments before they were even completed.

And because of the credit crunch, many developers have halted construction projects for months. So, as many people are now calling for this mortgage boycott, this will have implications on the country's banks.

So, all of this is not only just economic problems but increasingly social the political challenges. The ruling Communist Party here obviously has been basing its legitimacy in recent decades on providing people with economic opportunity and income growth and in exchange for their willingness to live under authoritarian rule.

[02:14:53]

JIANG: So, if the party breaks its end of the bargain, all house could break loose, and this is especially important this year when Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, is expected to assume a precedent-breaking third term later this year.

Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The news of China's lower than expected second quarter GDP rivaled some Asian markets. Here's a look at how they're doing right now. The HK Hang Seng is down about 2%. The Shanghai Composite is also down.

Frederic Neumann is HSBC's chief Asia economist and co-head of Global Research in the Asia Pacific region. He joins me now from Hong Kong. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So, we just heard from our correspondent there. From your perspective, put the numbers into context for us. How bad were they and how much worse were they than what you are expecting?

FREDERIC NEUMANN, CHIEF ASIA ECONOMIST, HSBC: Well, China rarely sees a contraction in GDP quarter on quarter. It's a very rare event and, of course, that was driven by some of these virus restrictions that were imposed in many cities at the beginning of the second quarter.

So, this is a big setback for the Chinese economy, but what could also argue, it's temporary in the sense that many of these restrictions have now eased and gradually we are seeing economic growth recover, but will probably take a bit of help from the government, more stimulus to really rev-up the engine again because China is nowhere close to its pre-pandemic pace of economic growth at the moment.

BRUNHUBER: Okay. So, obviously, COVID lockdown is playing a big factor there, but what's affecting the property markets because those are really down this wall?

NEUMANN: That's certainly a big drag, and one quarter of the economy in China is dependent in one way or another on the real estate market. I remember, last year, the Chinese authorities actually tightened policies. They wanted to cool down the property sector and that has sort of led to slow down. Now, this year, because of the virus restrictions, the market kind of decelerated further in debt. That has really taken a lot of economic growth off the table.

Now, stabilizing the property market, therefore, will be key over the coming months to stabilize the broader economy. And here, households really still very hesitant in buying apartments. So, there's a bit of a confidence issue still at work here that the authorities are trying to essentially stabilize to support the economy.

BRUNHUBER: So, typically, financial troubles in China, obviously, cast a long shadow over Asian economies overall. So, what has been the impact so far and what's the likely impact going forward?

NEUMANN: Well, so far, actually most of the region is held up quite well despite the growth wobbles in China and that's in part because the U.S. economy is booming. It is still a lot of -- importing a lot of goods from Asia.

But as the U.S. economy now begins to cool as well the federal reserve may raise interest rates again this month, that means that exports from Asia to the U.S. will cool and we really need China to step up. But the Chinese growth engine is still stuck in low gear.

And so, really for the global economy, this comes at a very awkward time because the U.S. decelerating, we ideally need China to pick up the pace in order to have sort of the global economy on an even keel.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I was going to ask that because, you know, President Biden was hoping that the Chinese economic woes wouldn't pull the world and the U.S. into recession now, and we've heard the IMF sort of warning those alarm bells. I guess that this is what we just heard there, won't quell those worries.

NEUMANN: That's right. And China is the second largest economy in the world. Many economies in Asia, for example, and Europe count China as the largest export markets. And so, if you have growth challenges in the U.S., plus, on top of that, weak economic growth in China, that really raises the risk of a world recession. We are perhaps not quite there yet but that really is the risk, that is to say a synchronized global slowdown, if you will. We always need growth somewhere, and at the moment, it's hard to find across the world economy.

BRUNHUBER: Just before we go, I'm interested in what our correspondent was saying at the end of his report about what this might mean for China's President Xi. What do you think this pretends for him?

NEUMANN: Well, in many ways, China does need economic growth. We know that the labor market, for example, has been weakening quite a bit in recent months. And so, there will certainly be some pressure in Beijing to try to stabilize growth.

And that's what you see in recent weeks, already stimulus measures being rolled out because going into party Congress in the fall, certainly the government would like to see economic stability and broader stability. That's why this emphasis on stimulus will likely be further underlined in the coming weeks in Beijing.

[02:20:01]

NEUMANN: And hopefully, that puts a floor under economic growth.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, we'll have to leave it there. We really appreciate your expertise. Frederic Neumann in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

Well, shock and disbelief after a missile strike kills scores of civilians in Ukraine. Now, its president calls for Russia to be declared a terrorist state. That is ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: A terrorist state. That's what Ukraine's president wants Russia to be officially declared after horrific missile strike on the city of Vinnytsia. This surveillance video shows the moment Russian missiles hit the city Thursday, killing at least 23 people.

You see people ducking for cover as the blast blows out windows in this building. More than 60 people were injured, and rescuers are still digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings, looking for more than 40 others still missing.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy later said Russia has done what no other state would. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This day has once again proven that Russia must be officially recognized as a terrorist state. No other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as Russia. No other state in the world allows itself to daily destroy peaceful cities and ordinary human life with cruise missiles and rocket artillery. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, the European Union also condemned the attack on the city about 260 kilometers southwest of Kyiv. Scott McLean reports it's still not clear why Russia would target Vinnytsia in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mid-morning, a busy commercial district in Vinnytsia, far from any frontlines. Three Russian missiles landed here, obliterating a medical Center, severely damaging buildings all around, including offices and a theater. The husks of burned-out cars littered the streets.

Rescue workers combed through the smoking wreckage, but amid this destruction, a little hope of recovering anyone alive. Throughout the day, the list of casualties grew. More than 20 people killed, including three children. Dozens more injured, many of them in critical condition, others unaccounted for. Among the victims, this four-year-old, killed in her stroller. Her mother was severely injured, according to the child's father.

What the Russians target might have been is yet unknown. The defense ministry in Moscow has had nothing to say about the attack. Ukrainians say a total of seven cruise missiles were launched from the Black Sea. Four were intercepted. Tragically, three were not.

People here in a state of shock. Ludmila Gudim and her husband own a business servicing cash machine. The building next to the crater, the store's front windows were blown out.

LUDMILA GUDIM, VINNYTSIA BUSINESS OWNER: We are living in this beautiful, peaceful city.

[02:25:01]

GUDIM: They attacked us by rocket. What for?

MCLEAN (voice-over): Olga Mayanko (ph) works in the fourth floor. She didn't seek shelter when the sirens went off half an hour before the missiles hit.

UNKNOWN (through translator): We didn't go down into the shelter. We were (INAUDIBLE) this wouldn't happen here.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Maxim Budko (ph) was using an ATM machine next to his photo store. When the blast went off, he used the machine for cover.

UNKNOWN (through translator): The shield, which was my only protection. I was lying on the ground, all covered in glass. I didn't know if I would even survive that moment. And you can go take a look. The ATM machine over there is completely destroyed.

MCLEAN (voice-over): President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy was addressing a war crimes conference as the full horror emerged. This is an act of Russian terror, he said. People couldn't do this. They are animals.

Into the evening, the work of searching for victims in clearing wreckage continued. This is the third Russian missile attack in the last month alone which have killed more than 20 Ukrainian civilians. And as one Ukrainian official puts it, nobody knows where the missiles will land tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Scott McLean, CNN, Vinnytsia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And some news just coming into CNN from Ukraine. The mayor of Mykolaiv said on his telegram channel 10 strikes hit the city overnight, causing powerful explosions. He said two universities were hit. No word yet on casualties. We will bring you updates as they become available.

Parts of Europe are suffering under another record-breaking heat wave, sparking several intense wildfires. We will go to badly hit Portugal for the latest after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: About one hour from now, U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. He is expected to announce that he'll ask Congress to provide up to $100 million to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network, funding that was cut off during the Trump administration. From there, the president travels to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

The White House now confirms President Biden will meet one-on-one with the Saudi crown prince while he's in Saudi Arabia. The president won't say if he'll bring up the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi even though U.S. Intelligence believes the crown prince was likely behind the killing.

CNN's Becky Anderson has the preview of the president's controversial trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): When Joe Biden arrives in Saudi Arabia on Friday, don't expect to see scenes like this.

[02:30:00]

ANDERSON (voiceover): It was then-President Donald Trump's first foreign trip back in 2017, underscoring the importance he placed on America's relationship with the kingdom.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a great honor to have the Crown Prince.

ANDERSON: But his successor chose to signal a different approach.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them. We were going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are.

ANDERSON: Since taking office, Biden has avoided directly engaging with the kingdom's de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS over human rights violations. MBS has denied he ordered the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 but has said he bears responsibility. But geopolitical challenges may have forced President Biden to adopt a more conciliatory approach than candidate Biden promised. He'll fly into the Red Sea city of Jeddah after wrapping up a visit to Israel, a flight that has never before been taken by a U.S. President. And a clear example of the improving ties between Israel and Arab states was first initiated by the Trump administration and the Abraham accords.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remain seated for the signing of the documents.

ANDERSON (on camera): Behind me is where Joe Biden will meet with leaders from the GCC plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq in the coming days. He's keen to provide support for further normalization efforts with Israel and provide a unified regional front against Iran, as talks to revive the nuclear deal continue to stall.

ANDERSON (voiceover): Another key priority, energy security. Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow has left the world short on supplies and that means Washington needs Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies to increase oil production to help bring down prices at the pump and curb inflation at home. While the White House has confirmed Biden's upcoming meeting with Saudi officials will include MBS, it also announced new COVID measures reducing the presidential touch, raising questions about whether the administration is trying to avoid the optics of a Biden- MBS handshake.

ANDERSON (on camera): For optics aside, President Biden's visit here to Saudi Arabia will be key in resetting Washington's relationship with its Middle Eastern partners skeptical of America's commitment to them and may bring about a regional security arrangement in the coming months.

ANDERSON (voiceover): So while it's unlikely Biden will be received like Trump was, the stakes couldn't be higher for a U.S. president whose domestic agenda hinges on the success he finds abroad.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Jeddah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: For the second time in as many months, a sweltering heat wave is baking parts of southern Europe, the record heat and tinder-dry vegetation sparking wildfires across Portugal, Spain, France, and Croatia. Thousands of people have had to be evacuated as firefighters tried to contain the blazes. Let's talk more about this with Vasco Cotovio in Lisbon, Portugal. So, how bad and how dangerous are the conditions?

VASCO COTOVIO, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning, Kim. Well, actually officials are saying that we are seeing an improvement in those conditions. Especially in the past 24 hours, there's been some respite for firefighters for officials across the country as temperatures have cooled down slightly. Now, they do say, however, that these are the most dangerous 24 hours that they're expecting, as this week -- heatwave sweeps across the country and that's because we've had so many days of dry weather, of warm weather, the wind is picking up humidity is very low. And those are prime conditions for what you were explaining for those wildfires. And we've seen dozens of them across the country.

Currently, firefighters are battling five major occurrences across Portugal. A thousand firefighters just in the day is just started. One of these fires has been raging for more than a week and is just an hour outside of Lisbon here where I'm standing, so conditions very tricky, very difficult for officials here. And actually last night, the health authorities have come out and said that they've seen an excess of deaths over the past week, 238 to be precise.

And they were attributing these deaths to the heatwave. So they're saying that people, elderly, and others with frailer immune systems have been affected directly by the heat, not just by coming in contact with these fires, but also just by the heat. Heat strokes, other conditions that were affected by these rising temperatures and so you have these numbers that are very striking. And you know, as conditions continue across the country for the next few days, they're expecting that number to rise.

[02:35:11]

BRUNHUBER: Vasco, I'm curious, if we look at this from a sort of a big picture perspective, these heat waves and these deadly heat waves seem to be coming more and more frequently, as they're concerned that this is becoming the new normal.

COTOVIO: Officials here are certainly concerned about that. They say these heat waves are, as you said, expected from time to time. But for example, here in Portugal, they weren't expecting this sort of temperature this early in the year. Usually, we have these higher temperatures in August or later in the summer.

Now, summer is just starting here in Portugal, so they're worried that, you know, if you have another heat wave in a month's time, in two weeks' time, and then again and again, that these, you know could be insanely dangerous is -- you know, if you -- especially if you add to the fact that Portugal was already experiencing a severe drought coming into this heatwave after a very dry winter.

So, they are seeing that these conditions are becoming more frequent, they're becoming more extreme, and obviously, the concern is about the consequences of that not just in terms of wildfires, but for crops, for the economy, for people in general.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. All right, thanks so much, Vasco Cotovio. Really appreciate it. And joining us now for more on this is CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. So, Allison, we just heard there, that the most dangerous 24 hours coming up. But relief might be in the future here. What more can you tell us?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, in terms of temperatures, absolutely. But another thing that they desperately need is rain. And unfortunately, that is not in the short-term forecast. We do anticipate having rain in Europe. It's just not really in the areas where we desperately need it the most. For example, portions of Croatia, France, and especially along the Iberian Peninsula, again, just this area alone, dealing with over 70 active wildfires and the heat not making it any better, not only just because it's uncomfortable outside, but it makes it much more difficult on the firefighters that are fighting a lot of the blazes.

Now, one thing you'll notice that most of that heat recently has been focused across the Iberian Peninsula, but in the coming days, we're really going to start to see that expand outward into other areas of Central Europe, specifically. But in the short term for the Iberian Peninsula, we may actually start to see some relief.

For example, Lisbon going from a high of 32 on Friday, back down into the 20s by the time we get to Monday, and Seville going from 43 on Friday back down into the 30s on Monday, but quite a different story for other areas. Take Paris, for example, going from a high in the 20s on Friday, back to nearly 40 degrees by the time we get to Monday. In a similar scenario across areas of the UK, we do have that Amber Alert area across southern England starting Sunday and anticipated to continue through at least Tuesday of next week as those temperatures get into the mid to upper 30s.

When they get that high, you really start to see an increase in heat illnesses across that region. Here's a look at London again, those temperatures really starting to rise back into the mid to upper 30s, especially Monday and Tuesday. Then we do finally start to see it drop a little bit back. But keep in mind even with this drop on Wednesday and Thursday, it's still several degrees above normal, just not quite as hot as we will see, Kim, a little bit earlier in the week.

But again, overall, we really just need to see some cooler temperatures and some rain showers but for now, that's really going to be focused across areas of North Eastern Europe, not necessarily in the places we desperately needed the most.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much. We'll be following that throughout the weekend. Allison Chinchar, I really appreciate it.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

BRUNHUBER: Well, coming up. It's being dubbed airmageddon luggage backlogs, long lines, and delayed or canceled flights. One airport has a very unusual request. Well, details on that just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:41:14]

BRUNHUBER: The summer travel season has been a nightmare for passengers and for airports. London's Heathrow Airport even asked any airlines to stop selling tickets for the rest of the summer. Well, airlines as you can expect, aren't reacting well to that request, Emirates Airlines calling the whole debacle, airmageddon. CNN's Anna Stewart has details.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Heathrow says it had no choice but to implement a passenger capacity cap earlier this week, reducing the number of passengers taking off by around 4000 a day from now through early September. A spokesperson for the airport said they had asked Airlines for help, but no clear plans were forthcoming. And that was after Emirates Airlines released a stinging rebuke to the decision accusing Heathrow Airport of having a blatant disregard for consumers and airlines refusing to cancel their flights from the airport and they said this.

London Heathrow chose not to act, not to plan not to invest. Now faced with an airmageddon situation due to their incompetence and non- action, they're pushing the entire burden of costs and a scramble to sort out the mess to airlines and travelers. Willie Walsh, the head of IATA, the global airline association said earlier this week that Heathrow was being ridiculous and was trying to maximize profits at the expense of airlines.

Unfortunately, though, for thousands of travelers hoping to fly this summer, the finger-pointing does little to solve the issue at hand. Heathrow Airport, like many others, is buckling under a surge in demand combined with staff shortages. It says it's at 70 percent of its pre-pandemic level of ground handlers, but it's that 80 to 85 percent of pre-pandemic passenger levels.

And the lack of ground handlers is a key reason why Heathrow Airport is struggling so much when it comes to getting people's luggage onto planes. And actually, U.S. airline Delta, say they found a creative solution to this particular issue this week, having canceled a scheduled flight due to Heathrow's capacity cap. It then flew a plane filled with 1000 bags back to the U.S. to be reunited with passengers, a sliver of a silver lining there. There is no doubt that a summit of travel chaos is well underway and it shows little sign of easing.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much for joining us, I'm Kim Brunhuber. WORLD SPORT is next. I'll be back in 15 minutes with more news. Please do stay with us.

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