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Middle East Diplomacy; January 6 Committee Seeks Secret Service Text Messages; Gang Fighting In Haiti; COVID-19, Banking Scandal Take Toll On Chinese Economy; Celebrations in Sri Lanka; Biden Vows Executive Action after Manchin Knocks Climate Agenda. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 16, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): All right. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson, joining you live from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where we are following the reaction after President Joe Biden's cordial and controversial fist bump with the Saudi crown prince.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And I'm Kim Brunhuber, live at CNN Center in Atlanta, following our other top stories, including the crisis in Haiti, where gang violence cripples the nation as thousands are trapped without food or water.
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ANDERSON: Well, it's 10:00 am here in Jeddah and U.S. President Joe Biden will soon begin the second and final day of what is his controversial trip to Saudi Arabia. On Friday, the two nations entered into a number of far-reaching agreements on a wide range of issues, including on energy and on food security.
But it's the image of the president fist-bumping Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman -- or MBS as he's known -- that has been grabbing the attention. The Saudi government also released this video of the U.S. delegation greeting Saudi officials with fist bumps.
U.S. journalists weren't present at the time and we only have the Saudi version of this exchange. President Biden says the first thing he did on Friday was confront the crown prince over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Here's what the president said afterwards.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now.
And that was exactly -- I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly, for an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am. I'll always stand up for our values.
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ANDERSON: All right. Well, let's bring in CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson.
And given, Nic, what Joe Biden said about the crown prince and the kingdom when he was a presidential candidate, that he would make them a pariah, this leg of his Middle East tour and his meeting with the de facto leader here, MBS, was loaded with controversy.
This was a trip that the president admitted was vital to resetting the relationship with a key Gulf ally, which had frankly turned very rocky and had turned its sights on China and Russia. So I guess it begs the question sort of he was damned if he did, damned if he didn't.
But from the White House perspective, how do you believe they are assessing the success or not of this trip?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think some of it is going to come from today, how much understanding, from other GCC nations. They really feel that the United States is genuinely committing to security in the region, which is something that they want and they want to feel that.
But what type of security that's going to be, I think in terms of how he can best judge the success of his trip, would be in terms of the political reward he gets.
And the obvious political reward is if he came in, as he did, wanting Saudi Arabia and other GCC members to up their output of oil, to bring down oil prices around the world, if, in a few weeks or the next few months, those prices come down, then that's a political success because it helps going into the midterms.
And it helps him keep European allies and their populations on side for the war in Ukraine --
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ANDERSON: He's going to be dogged by this image, though, isn't he?
ROBERTSON: One hundred percent. It's going to stalk him. But had he not done what he said he did in the meeting, which was tell crown prince Mohammed bin Salman that he believed he authored the attack and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
And the United States can't work with countries that have a poor human rights record, that he hopes and wants to see improvement here.
If he hadn't have done that, then this is a president who's on his first term. He has a second term; he said he's running. This is something he would have appeared weak, if he had not stood up and had this. So, yes, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
[03:05:00] ROBERTSON: And the Saudis from their point of view knew that this issue was going to dominate everything that happened here and they tried to get their best slice of it by that fist bump.
ANDERSON: We ought to see or at least the schedule suggests that we will see the U.S. President with the Iraqi leader at some point this hour. He'll then be meeting with president Sisi of Egypt and with the newly installed leader of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed.
What can we expect to hear?
What's the White House taking and what's the region trying to take out, as it were?
ROBERTSON: So the White House is coming in looking at how to project the United States as a key part of an umbrella security infrastructure that provides the region generally with what it wants -- and specifically here, defenses against whatever Iran and its --
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ANDERSON: A region they feel let down on the issue of defense by the U.S.
ROBERTSON: They do. And Saudi Arabia had been looking toward China. But what we've heard coming from the White House and from other sources that have been talking to CNN, reminding everyone that U.S. intelligence has seen Russian experts going to Iran to look at how Iran's weapons-capable drones are working.
And saying that clearly Russia is making a bet on Iran; whereas the United States is making a bet on a more integrated economically stable and secure Middle East. That's the pitch.
But we know the prime minister of Iraq before he left Baghdad said look, I'm not going to get into any regional security alliance that might threaten other countries, meaning Iran.
crossing
ROBERTSON: The UAE said exactly the same thing. Saudi Arabia also is worried about the threat of Iran and its proxies and the fact that Iran could get nuclear weapons and have said they'll get their own if Iran does.
ANDERSON: And yet they've been in direct talks with the Saudis for some months now.
ROBERTSON: Yes. They have. And in the UAE we heard just yesterday that they're on track to open an embassy in Tehran. So all these things were in play. So the hard thing for President Biden is, if you want to create a joint security umbrella, which is what they're talking about, and show commitment to the region, you've got to join the dots with everyone. And the dots are all over the map at the moment. And it's going to be
hard to find consensus on precisely what that security should look like. But that again comes back to the old oil security paradigm. And Gulf states want that.
And if the U.S. can't find a way to match desires, that's going to put them on the back foot against their competitors, Russia and China. It's no -- it's no coincidence that the United States is bringing up Russia because Russia has increased its involvement in the Middle East over the past few years as the U.S. has pivoted out.
It speaks more to that vacuum --
ANDERSON: Very optimistic.
ROBERTSON: You know, these things and issues have been going on for years. And this is another part of it and the stakes are higher.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Nic, always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.
Well, a few hours left in the kingdom and the U.S. President will be headed back to Washington. A number of key commitments from the U.S. while here, including reports of cooperation on energy security and on food security, amongst others, reflecting the roiling geopolitical issues around the world.
The U.S. President will hope that the substance rather than the optics are what resonate.
Back to you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Becky. Really appreciate it.
Turning now to the investigation into efforts by former U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election, sources tell CNN the Atlanta-area district attorney has sent a letter to the Georgia Republican Party chair, David Shafer, warning him that he may be indicted in the state's election probe.
Shafer helped organize a slate of fake electors in Georgia and was himself a pro-Trump elector. And for the first time, the January 6th committee has issued a subpoena to the U.S. Secret Service for information about text messages that were later erased. CNN's Jessica Schneider has that story.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari on Capitol Hill. He briefed all nine January 6 committee members on his claim that the Secret Service erased text messages from January 5th and 6th, 2021. Now that the committee heard his take they want to talk to the Secret Service.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): One of the things we have to make sure is that what Secret Service is saying and what the I.G. is saying that those two issues are in fact one and the same.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The inspector general says he raised the issue of erased text messages with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas more than once but ultimately turned to Congress for help, telling congressional committees this week that many U.S. Secret Service text messages --
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SCHNEIDER (voice-over): -- from January 5th and 6th, 2021, erased as part of a device replacement program.
The U.S. Secret Service erased those text messages after OIG requested records of electronic communications.
But the Secret Service quickly shot back, saying the loss of text data was part of routine phone replacement.
The insinuation that the Secret Service maliciously deleted text messages following a request is false, adding that the inspector general requested electronic communications for the first time on February 26, 2021, after the migration was well underway.
The Secret Service notified DHS OIG of the loss of certain phone's data but confirmed to OIG that none of the text it was seeking had been lost in the migration.
The Secret Service says they have been cooperating with the I.G., handing over almost 800,000 redacted emails and nearly 8,000 Microsoft team's chat messages.
The agency has been at the center of intensifying questions after Cassidy Hutchinson testified last month. She was a top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
And she recounted how she was told by Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Ornato that President Trump lunged at Secret Service Agent Robert Engel in the presidential SUV and tried to force his detail to take him to the Capitol on January 6th.
CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MARK MEADOWS: The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel.
SCHNEIDER: Trump has dismissed Hutchinson's testimony but a Washington, D.C., police officer who was in that motorcade corroborated details of the heated exchange to the committee. That's according to a source familiar.
HUTCHINSON: Mr. Trump then used the free hand to lunge toward Bobby Engel. And when Mr. Ornato had recounted the story to me, he motioned toward his clavicles.
SCHNEIDER: The Secret Service has not given a public account of what happened. One official telling CNN that the agents dispute Hutchinson's account but Hutchinson's lawyers say she stands by her testimony.
REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): If people want to come forward and have a different recollection, we would encourage them to come forward give testimony under oath. That is different than putting out anonymous statements.
SCHNEIDER: The committee has just announced plans for an eighth and possibly final hearing. It will happen Thursday at prime time, 8:00 pm and it will focus in what was happening in those 187 minutes when Trump was out of public view and not stepping in as rioters attacked the Capitol -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine now says up to 70 percent of Russian missile strikes go after civilian targets, including the city of Mykolaiv, where rescue workers are still trying to find people after 10 missiles hit on Friday.
Officials say four people were injured. On the same day Russian missiles also pounded Dnipro, killing at least three people. Ukraine says 15 others were injured after the missiles hit an industrial facility and a busy street.
And in Moscow a former state TV journalist has staged her second solo action against the war. Marina Ovsyannikova posted this video of herself holding an anti-war sign near the Kremlin on Friday. She was arrested in March after taking a similar stance on air during an evening newscast. She paid more than $500 in fines and was released.
Gang violence has killed dozens of people in Haiti in recent days and it's keeping aid groups from distributing desperately needed aid. I'll have more after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Officials in Haiti say gang violence has killed up to 100 people in an impoverished neighborhood of the capital Port-au-Prince. The Caribbean nation is still reeling from last year's earthquake and presidential assassination.
Now aid groups warn fighting between gangs makes it impossible to deliver critical assistance. Matt Rivers has more.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the idea that there is ongoing gang violence in the city of Port-au-Prince is not in and of itself new. This is a city that has been plagued by gang violence for years now. And we've only seen that get worse over the past year or so, with entire sections of Port-au-Prince not only blocked from one another because of gangs controlling certain highways, certain routes between certain neighborhoods but also gangs just controlling huge swaths of territory in the city at a time where the government seemingly is unwilling or incapable of preventing gangs from doing those sorts of things.
And even with that context what we've seen over the last 10 days or so has truly been horrific, with ongoing gang violence, fighting between two gangs, fighting for territory centering on and around the area in a very impoverished neighborhood of Port-au-Prince called Cite Soleil.
Tens of thousands of people live in this very poor neighborhood. And that neighborhood has essentially been cut off from the rest of Port- au-Prince as a result of these two principal gangs that have been fighting and blocking access as a result of that fighting from Cite Soleil to other parts of Port-au-Prince.
Here's what the mayor of Cite Soleil told us.
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MAYOR JOEL JANEUS, CITE SOLEIL, HAITI (through translator): We're in the midst of a grave situation here in Cite Soleil, people are dying. They don't have food or water. It's been eight days since the fights began.
We're all alone. No one has come to help us. People of Cite Soleil are human beings like everyone else. Maybe we can't get help because this is the neighborhood where people are poor. Maybe that's why we can't get any support from the government. We need urgent action here in Cite Soleil.
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RIVERS: So basically the way food, fresh water, aid supplies get into Cite Soleil is by trucks. They bring it in from other parts of Port- au-Prince.
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RIVERS: But that can't happen right now because of this ongoing violence. We spoke to one member of Doctors without Borders, who is part of that organization team on the ground, trying to help people in Cite Soleil.
He told he and his colleagues face a desperate need for supplies if they're going to continue their work, calling for these groups to allow aid to pass into Cite Soleil. The mayor himself told us more than 100 people -- he doesn't have an exact count -- but more than 100 people have lost their lives over the past week as a result of the fighting.
That number including gang members or suspected gang members, according to the mayor, that he believes have been killed as a result of this fighting.
Also because of flooding that we've seen in the last week at a time -- in other times perhaps, the government would have been able to get into that area and help people during flooding conditions.
They were not able to do so over the past few days, also leading to loss of life. Meanwhile, the government itself largely staying silent as a result of all this, either unwilling or incapable to help the people of Cite Soleil -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
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BRUNHUBER: And for more on this I'm joined by Monique Clesca. She's a journalist and also the author of two books, including "Mosaiques," a collection of essays about women affected by human rights issues.
And she's also a member of the commission to search for a Haitian solution to the crisis, a civil society group focused on bringing political stability to the country. And she joins me now from Miami.
Thanks so much for being here with us. So violence and gang violence specifically unfortunately nothing new in Haiti. But you've called what's going on right now "genocide."
So what makes what's happening now so unusual and so extreme?
MONIQUE CLESCA, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Well, thank you, first of all, for inviting me. And I think what makes it so extreme is, first of all, the fact that it has been going on for quite a long time.
There were about 13 massacres under the presidency of Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated last year. And now we are in about the second massacre under the leadership of Ariel Henry, the prime minister, who was put there by the international community.
So I think there being (ph), you know, one right after the other, we are being killed systematically. We are being proffered massive kidnappings. Port-au-Prince is now being called the kidnapping capital of the world.
So we are being terrorized. We are horrified by it. We are devastated by it and repeatedly being killed. And nothing is being done. It is being done in total indifference and disdain by the current government. So --
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BRUNHUBER: Let me jump in and ask you about that, because you know, as we just saw in the report, the Cite Soleil neighborhood, Doctors without Borders had said that thousands of people were trapped without drinking water, food, medical care.
I mean, that's not just people being shot and dying in the violence; that's a collapse of basic services. So why isn't the government doing more here?
Why isn't the military intervening?
CLESCA: Well, the military, it's a shadow military that was put there, you know, against various rules and the constitution. But you know, there is a police. But the police is extremely weak.
But there is a government. And whether we like it or not or whether we like them or not, what is important is that government is supposed to say this is unacceptable. Government is not doing that.
On the contrary, reports are telling us that government cars, government machines, government personnel are used, participating in what is going on. And so there is a kind of association between government and the gangs and the criminals. So you have --
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BRUNHUBER: So if the government itself -- if I can jump in, if the government itself isn't doing anything, what could the international community do to help?
Yesterday, for example, the U.N. approved a resolution, calling for countries to stop selling light weapons and ammo to any party in Haiti that are supporting gang violence. Some are calling for a new U.N. policing mission.
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BRUNHUBER: It seemed that their presence did help but it didn't have the sustainable impact that they'd hoped for. So clearly something more needs to be done.
CLESCA: I think in the something more, there is one word that you used that I think I'd like to get to: sustainable. And I think before we talk about what can the international community do, we Haitians must take our responsibility.
And that is one of the things that the commission has done. It is a civil society commission. So civil society said, this is enough. We need to say -- not only say this is enough. We need to come up with a plan, which is something that we have done.
And we need to mobilize different sectors of the society so that we can rise up and say no longer must this be happening.
BRUNHUBER: We will have to leave it there but it's a huge problem and hopefully we can start finding some solutions. Monique Clesca, thank you so much for joining us.
CLESCA: Thank you for having us and thank you for giving us the space to be able to speak about this issue.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: The U.S. border with Mexico is being overwhelmed by migrants seeking asylum in the United States. And unlike past years, they're not mainly from Mexico and Central America. Officials from the Yuma Border Control in Arizona say people from more than 100 nations, including Venezuela and Peru, are turning up to be processed.
Yuma officials say that up to 1,000 migrants are apprehended daily and some migrants can be turned back under a Trump-era rule. The U.S. government says this influx reflects various issues, including COVID, bringing extreme poverty to some nations.
Fourteen Mexican Marines have been killed in a helicopter crash supporting a mission to capture drug cartel leader Rafael Quintero. Mexican president Andres Manuel Luis Obrador is offering condolences to their families after Quintero was captured by the Mexican military on Friday.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it helped Mexico with the arrest. He's believed to be the founder of the Guadalajara drug cartel. He's wanted in the U.S. for the kidnapping and killing of D.A. agent Kiki Caminero in 1985.
Well, day two of President Biden's controversial trip to Saudi Arabia gets underway. Coming up, Biden meets with the leaders of Iraq, Egypt and the UAE as he attempts to repair relations in the Middle East. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Any moment now we're expecting U.S. President Joe Biden's motorcade to carry him to a series of bilateral meetings ahead of this afternoon's summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council+3. On Friday, Biden met face to face with the Saudi crown prince and says he confronted the de facto ruler over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The president said he rejected Mohammed bin Salman's denials of involvement. Now despite the lingering controversy, both sides reported substantial progress on Friday. Biden says he's optimistic his visit will eventually help bring down gas prices in the U.S.
Cases of COVID-19 are increasing globally. According to the World Health Organization, the number of new infections rose for the fifth straight week, driven largely by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants. Earlier this week, the agency's director general warned the public against easing up on the disease.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID-19 is nowhere near over. As the virus pushes at us, we must push back.
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BRUNHUBER: And here in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control says more than half the population lives in a county where there's a high level of community transmission.
Los Angeles County, the nation's largest, is on track to require indoor masks again, as COVID cases and hospitalizations there continue to soar.
And the recent COVID-19 outbreak as well as a banking scandal have created a perfect storm for China's economy. CNN's Selina Wang explains.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're all struggling to find work. These are migrant workers in Beijing. They congregate in labor markets like this waiting day and night for a job.
This man tells me he lost his job because his factory shut down during the pandemic.
WANG: He's saying that it's harder for my work. The pay isn't good.
WANG (voice-over): He's been here for four days waiting 16 hours every day in the heat for a job and still hasn't found one.
That's probably because of the pandemic he says. China's zero-COVID policy has inflicted devastating economic pain, grinding entire cities to a halt for months. Shutting down communities over a single COVID case.
WANG: And this is the result. This was one of Beijing's most popular bar and restaurant areas packed with people. Now so many businesses are empty or have permanently closed down. They're unable to survive these on and off lockdowns with no end in sight.
WANG (voice-over): Unemployment is soaring.
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WANG (voice-over): People aren't earning as much so they aren't spending as much. But even saving has become a risky bet.
Since April, Brian hasn't been able to access several million RMB that he deposited in a small bank in Honan, China. We are referring to him only as Brian, due to fears for his safety.
WANG: Was that your life savings?
BRIAN, BANKING SCANDAL VICTIM: Yes, for sure. I worked almost 10 years. And that's all I have with my family. I'm losing my weight. I'm losing my, you know, my mind.
WANG (voice-over): He's one of hundreds of thousands of depositors according to state media. Across China currently fighting to recover their savings from several banks in rural Central China.
Many of them including Brian traveled to Henan for answers. In June, he says they protested outside the local government building for five days straight. Brian traveled back to Hunan in July, joining a large scale peaceful protest. But police violently quash the protesters.
Videos show security officers dragging protesters down the stairs, beating anyone who resisted, including women and the elderly, according to witnesses. Even some of them injured, bloodied and bruised.
A day after the violent protests, local authorities promised to start giving small payments to some depositors. But it's unclear how many people are eligible and how much they'll pay back.
WANG: Are you worried that without this money, you can't afford a comfortable life for your family?
BRIAN: Definitely. All my savings is gone. And I had just -- I just had my little baby. I have nothing for the family now.
WANG (voice-over): They cry and wail exhausted. There's nothing these depositors can do. Authorities say they're investigating the cases. But experts worry this is just the tip of the iceberg.
MICHAEL PETTIS, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, PEKING UNIVERSITY: I would be really surprised if you didn't see this spread in a lot of different provinces.
The country has enormous debt problems and very slow growth. This is the worst shape the economy has been in, probably since about 30, 40 years ago.
WANG: For Brian, his vision of China is already shattered,
BRIAN: One day you die and all you earned is gone. Then you will feel that.
Why do you still fight for it, fight for the future?
WANG: He's hoping to one day leave and raise his child far away from China -- Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
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BRUNHUBER: And COVID-19 isn't the only virus worrying health experts. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, more than 12,500 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 68 countries so far.
And in the United States, the CDC expects case numbers to rise in the coming weeks because of streamlined reporting, delayed diagnoses and expanded testing. Right now, the demand for the monkeypox vaccine in the U.S. is outstripping supplies.
More than 1,800 cases have been confirmed. On Friday the U.S. government says it's ordered more than 2.5 million doses of the vaccine.
Crisis-hit Sri Lanka kicks off the process to elect a new president. We'll have the latest on who might replace the leader, who resigned after fleeing the country, coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Sri Lanka's parliament reconvened earlier for the first time since tumultuous protests forced the nation's leader to flee the country and resign. They announced that nominations for a new president will be accepted on Monday.
But protesters want his likely replacement gone, too. Will Ripley reports on how things got to this point and where they go from here.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a nation in crisis, a badly needed victory dance as news broke Sri Lanka's most hated president finally resigned. Thousands defied a nationwide curfew, turning the capital, Colombo, into a carnival, a few hours of fun following months of fury.
DISHAN SENEVIRATNE, SRI LANKAN PROTESTER: What they did to this country we were absolutely pissed off because they ruined this country. They robbed this country. They robbed the innocent people. They robbed the (INAUDIBLE).
RIPLEY: Those so-called robbers he's referring to are the Rajapaksa brothers.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They managed to hold on to power for decades, running Sri Lanka like a family business, running its economy into the ground.
MARIYAN MALKI, SRI LANKAN PROTESTER: The wall was between one family and one nation. So we have conquered finally.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Protesters battled tear gas and water cannons, storming the prime minister's office, occupying the presidential palace, soaking up the luxurious lifestyle of an exiled leader living large as everyday folks faced hours long lines for food, fuel and medicine.
Sri Lanka's worst financial crisis in 70 years, blamed on bad policies and corruption, leaving an entire nation bankrupt. [03:45:00]
RIPLEY (voice-over): Mohammed Anif (ph) pushes his son's wheelchair to dialysis five days a week, a nearly eight-mile round trip, six kilometers each way.
Skyrocketing inflation means public transit costs six times more than it did just months ago.
"Even though the president is gone," he says, "we cannot celebrate. We're in the same place. Same as before. Our sorrows still remain."
This single dad can barely afford a loaf of bread, as his exiled president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, flew in luxury to Singapore, where he tendered his resignation, appointing his prime minister, a family friend, as acting president.
Ranil Wickremesinghe is the ruling party's nominee to serve out the next two years. He's the same guy whose house was set on fire last week by protesters demanding his resignation.
For now, Sri Lanka's highest court has temporarily blocked some senior officials from fleeing the country, including the two remaining Rajapaksa brothers. The one who got away, the self-exiled former president, could be seeking asylum from potential criminal charges.
MALKI: We are fighting as one nation until he's getting proper punishment for whatever he has done.
RIPLEY: If that doesn't happen, if Sri Lanka's problems don't turn around quickly, the streets could once again be filled with far more than fireworks -- Will Ripley, CNN, Colombo.
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BRUNHUBER: A heat wave is blanketing part of Europe, sparking wildfires along with it. We'll have details on the hot weather temperatures ahead. Stay with us.
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QUESTION: Is Joe Manchin negotiating in good faith?
BIDEN: I didn't negotiate with Joe Manchin. I have no idea.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden is vowing to, quote, "take strong executive action," after moderate Democratic senator Joe Manchin said he won't support his party's economic package on climate change and taxes.
The president says he will move to create jobs, protect Americans from oil and gas price hikes and address climate change. But he didn't give any specifics.
Senator Manchin has been negotiating with Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer for months on the sweeping economics package. In an interview on Friday, Manchin denied blowing up the negotiations. But he admits he wants to wait until after the August recess to move forward. Here he is.
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SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): So, I said, "Chuck, until we see the July inflation figures, until we see the July basically Federal Reserve rate, interest rates, then let's wait until that comes out so we know that we are going down the path that won't be inflammatory, to add more to inflation."
He says, "Are you telling me you won't do the other right now?"
I said, "Chuck, it's wrong. It's not prudent to do the other right now."
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BRUNHUBER: Inflation and the economy are senator Manchin's priorities. But many fellow Democrats and climate activists believe addressing climate change should be as well.
Meanwhile, a weather forecast from two years ago is going viral for predicting the future. A Twitter user found a hypothetical forecast made by the U.K. Met office, guessing what temperatures in the summer of 2050 might look like. They based it on climate projections.
Well, as it turns out, next week's temperatures in the U.K. are almost identical to that tweet, as you can see here. So that comes amid a record-breaking heat wave sweeping across parts of southern Europe.
The hot temperatures meant the U.K. office issued their first ever red alert for exceptional heat. The heat, combined with tinder-dry vegetation, is also fueling several intense wildfires throughout Portugal, Spain, France and Croatia. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate.
Let's go to Al Goodman in Spain, where at least 84 people are thought to be dead from the extreme heat.
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BRUNHUBER: Wrapping up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Becky Anderson and I will be back with more news in just a minute. Please stay with us.
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