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"Red" Extreme Heat Warning Issued for Parts of U.K.; Tens of Thousands of People Flee Fires in France; Pres. Zelenskyy Asks Parliament to Dismiss Top Security Chief; ; Interview with Professor of Earth Observation, University of Leeds Andy Shepherd; Coronavirus Pandemic; Russia's War on Ukraine; Checkers Champ Helps Ukrainian Army; Hawaii's Huge Waves; Americans' Dissatisfaction over U.S. Government and Economy; Increasing Shark Sightings; January 6 Panel Warrants Erased Texts from Secret Service. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 19, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:19]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Just ahead. Tarmacs melting train services suspended and fires raging. Europeans baking in a so called Heat apocalypse.
And as his war rages on in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin makes a rare trip out of Russia today. A live report on his objectives in Iran.
Plus, crashes in Sri Lanka as Parliament accepts nominations for a new president. Its acting leader tells CNN the previous government was covering up facts about the country's economic crisis.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Well, the U.K. is bracing for what could be its worst heatwave of all time. In the coming hours, temperatures in England could reach a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius or higher, which is about 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Monday was Britain's third hottest down record with Suffolk clocking in at 38 degrees Celsius. Wales also broke its own heat record and Ireland sweltered through its highest temperature in more than a century.
The blistering heat is doing a public number on public transportation. Melting tarmac has been a bit of a problem at Luton Airport near London. And railway crews are on the lookout for tracks bending and buckling.
Well, Paris is also preparing for scorching heat. Temperatures that could reach 39 degrees Celsius today.
And in southwest France, wildfires have charged some 11,000 hectares and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. In Spain, fires force this state railway company to spend -- to suspend service between Madrid and Galicia. Passengers on board this train and some could see flames in the distance when looking out the windows. Fires have destroyed more than 70,000 hectares in Spain so far this year which authorities say is double the average from the last decade.
In Portugal, the drought is going from bad to worse with heavy heat triggering wildfires that have been raging for days.
And in Belgium, meteorologists have issued a code red heat warning for two provinces. The Huntsville has been blamed for more than 1100 deaths across the continent. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the weather center. Let's first go to CNN's Nada Bashir who is in London outside King's Cross railway station, continued disruptions are expected not as certainly extreme heat conditions there. How is everyone coping?
NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: Yes, absolutely. A sweltering day yesterday. And that is set to continue. Today, we are expecting to see those temperatures rise significantly. Of course, yesterday, those peaks reached around 38 degrees Celsius at around just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And this has not only been a concern in terms of health and safety in terms of the health risks that this could have for people but also in terms of the infrastructure here in the U.K. which simply isn't prepared for this kind of heat.
Now we're outside at King's Cross Station, one of the busiest stations in the capital. And what we've been hearing from national rail, from Network Rail is that there are simply too many risks associated with the infrastructure with the railway equipment and that is causing significant disruptions as a result of the heat and just walking into the station this morning, take a looking -- taking a look at that departures board, significant number of cancellations, disruptions.
They said this is due to overhead lines and the steel railway lines are overheating and expanding. That is either causing trains to be canceled as a result of safety precautions or trains are having to go slower in order to ensure safety and then is of course causing significant delays. Now they've advised people only to travel by railway if it is absolutely necessary. Other tips and advice to stay at home avoid the heat if possible.
Yesterday there were members of staff here at King's Cross handing out water bottles for free to people attempting to travel as a result of the heat. We know that the government has been chairing emergency interdepartmental meetings in order to take a look at those contingency plans. Not only looking at how to deal with these infrastructural challenges but also to look at the health and safety risks of course.
They have been working very closely with the hospitals and ambulance services to ensure that they are prepared to cope what is expected to be an influx of calls related to heat exhaustion and even heat stroke as well. And they are calling on people to take those extra precautions. Stay out of the hot weather at the hardest times of the day. Check up on elderly relatives and friends and neighbors as well as small young children, ensure that they are coping well with the heat.
[02:05:07]
But of course as we've heard from researchers from science experts, this extreme heat and extreme weather is set to become more frequent as a result of climate change. And it is something that the government is going to have to get used to. We've heard from the minister overseeing the government's preparedness for this heatwave, Kit Malthouse spoke yesterday, saying that over these two days over this heatwave, the government is going to learn some pretty serious lessons about how to deal with this heatwave. Lynda?
KINKADE: Yes. Some lessons no doubt it will need in the future. Nada Bashir, our thanks to you. Pedram, I do have to ask you about how long this heatwave will last and it -- what does it signal about this coming summer? Is this just the beginning?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: No, it's not good, right? When you look at the long range forecast, Lynda, just the next seven days, even though we do get a break here in the next 24 hours. So, to answer your first question here, we are going to begin to see a cooling trend. But when it comes to the next seven days warming trend, once again could be back in action. But when it comes to London, less than five percent of the city dwellers there have access to air conditioning in their residence.
Of course, of the high-end apartments, into the businesses, you'll find air conditioning, but the U.K. as a whole among the lowest areas of coverage, they're about less than one percent of the nation as a whole with access to air conditioning in their residence. And notice a 50 percent chance at some portion of London, some portion of England this afternoon could exceed a 40 degrees. Incredible heatwave here in place.
And just to give you a sense of scale here at 7:06 a.m. local time, it is 24 degrees in London, that is already one degree above what is considered the average high in what is usually the warmest time of year and the latter portion of July into early August. So the heat is already on into the early morning hours by their standards. Notice the all-time observations per nation there from Portugal to Spain, France, into the U.K. 38.7, the warmest we've ever seen there that was in Cambridge in July of 2019.
And observations just in the past 24 hours coming within just one degree of that, again, the average high temperatures across parts of the English Channel around 20 degrees worked your way into areas of England also sitting right around 20 to 21 degrees. And we exceeded 36 to 37 degrees in the past 24 hours and the warmest weather is expected in the next six to eight hours. Look at London, up to 38 degrees this afternoon.
Paris could get up to 41, while areas towards the south, in fact a little cooler than what's happening up towards the north now over the next few hours. An incredible comparison here is to look at how the forecast plays out this afternoon in London versus what is expected in Tehran. So, it kind of gives you a sense of scale of the severity of this heat and how far north it has expanded.
But I want to show you the cooling trend here over the next 24 hours. We touched on -- see some better news and here comes. Wednesday into Thursday, we get a shift here and more of a marine influence, Mother Nature turns on its air conditioning and we get impacts here that'll bring those temps back down into the middle 20s, which still is about two to three degrees above the seasonal averages but it is significantly cooler than where we stand here this afternoon.
Of course, the northern hemisphere in the heart of summer at this point, in our portions of the United States also dealing with excessive heat, upwards of 50 million Americans dealing with significant heat here with temps as high as 45 degrees. That is once you factor in the heat indices across portions of the south central United States. And again, this continues over the next week or so with temps expected to remain into the 40s across portions of the U.S. and the end the hottest time of year.
But the climatological impacts when you take a look at, we expect it to be hot this time of year. But when it's 10 to 15 degrees above, Lynda, what is considered the hottest time of year is average. That's when it's concerning. And those records I showed you earlier, a lot of those years are 2019 records, 2021 records, even the 2003 heat wave that took place. Almost every single one of these heat records has occurred in the past two decades. So, it really is a sobering look at some of these numbers.
KINKADE: Yes. Certainly is. All right. Pedram Javaheri for us at the weather center. Nada Bashir in London, thanks very much.
We want to go to Ukraine now where allegations of treason are fueling more government shakeups and exposing the shadow war happening behind the scenes of Russia's invasion. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially asked Parliament to remove ahead of Ukraine security service known as the SBU. A day earlier, Zelenskyy suspended his security chief along with the top prosecutor saying they failed to purge Russian collaborators from their ranks.
He says dozens of workers within both departments are operating against Ukraine and Russian-occupied territory, while many others is suspected of treason. And this might be just the start of a much wider purge among the security establishment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Personnel audit of the service is taking place. The issue of dismissal of 28 officials is being considered. Different levels, different directions but the grounds are similar. Unsatisfactory job performance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:10:04] KINKADE: Well, even as those accusations shake Kyiv, Russian troops are continuing their relentless attack. Ukraine says at least seven missiles were fired at the port city of Odessa overnight hitting homes and other civilian areas. Officials say at least six people were wounded, including a child.
Into the east, Ukraine says its forces is still fending off Russian advances in the Donetsk region. A key target in Moscow's push to capture the entire Donbas.
New weapons supplied by the West could help turn the tide against Russia. In particular, Ukraine's military says longer range artillery is playing a critical role as they mount a counter offensive on Russian-held territory in the South.
Well, Vladimir Putin is on a rare foreign trip visiting Tehran to meet with both Iranian and Turkish presidents in the coming hours. Their main focus is on Syria, but the other topics will likely include Ukrainian grain exports, which are largely frozen due to Russia's naval blockade. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also renewed his threat to hold the bids from Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
CNN's Clare Sebastian has more on this from London. Jomana Karadsheh is also standing by for us in Istanbul. Good to have you both with us. So Clare, let's start with you. This hour, the President of Russia is meeting with the president of Iran. Give us a sense of what Putin is trying to achieve here.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, I think it's important to look at the timing of this. First of all, coming just three days after U.S. President Biden concluded his trip to the Middle East. President Putin has made it clear, really throughout his tenure as president of Russia that the Middle East is an area where he wants to continue to exert influence. So, this meeting with Iran, this will be the second meeting that is held with Ebrahim Raisi in the last month really sort of show Russia cementing its alliances with the region building its sort of coalition against the U.S.-led alliances in the region.
You know, cementing the sort of optics of the fact that Russia continues to say that they are too big to isolate, too big to cut off from the rest of the world, and that the rest of the world needs to engage with them. So in that sense, the optics of President Putin meeting with President Erdogan of Turkey and NATO member will also be important. But the other background to this is that U.S. intelligence has revealed in the last week that it suspects that Iran is getting ready to supply Russia with drones, including weapons capable drones likely to be deployed in its war in Ukraine.
They revealed also that a Russian delegation has traveled to Iran at least twice in the last month to view those drones. So this trip will also be closely watched for any new details about that potential military cooperation between the two countries as well, Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Clare, thanks to you. And Jomana, I have to ask you, because these talks are out looked as focusing on Syria. What does Iran hope to gain by hosting the presidents of Russia and Turkey?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT Well, you know, according to the Iranian foreign minister in a tweet yesterday, Lynda saying that, you know, they want to boost relations, they want to increase economic cooperation with those countries. But a key line they're saying describing Iran is the center of dynamic diplomacy. Again, here a signal as Clare was mentioning, Russia is doing perhaps Iran doing the same here a signal to the West that no matter how much they try to isolate Iran that it is still a key player that can forge alliances with other countries.
Now for the Turkish president, some key meetings here today, he's going to be meeting with the Iranian president and the supreme leader. This is quite a tense relationship, Lynda. It has been over the past few years but especially in recent weeks after Israel announced that it had disrupted a plot by Iran to target Israeli citizens here saying that he worked with Turkish authorities and they managed to disrupt this plot to target Israeli tourists in Istanbul.
So. a lot to discuss there. Of course, his meeting also with a bilateral with President Putin. They have had open channels. They've had conversations since the start of the war, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but this is their first face to face meeting, of course, as Clare also mentioned, Turkey. A key NATO member but it also maintains strong ties with Russia and a good working relationship between President Putin and Erdogan.
They're saying that the focus will also be on that grain corridor that Turkey has been working with the United Nations, with Russia and Ukraine to try and unblock Ukrainian grain exports from its black sea ports. We saw a breakthrough last week with that meeting that took place in Istanbul and the hope is that a second meeting possibly will be taking place in Istanbul this week. And a very possible agreement could be reached and signed according to Turkish officials and U.N. officials.
[02:15:00]
But the one meeting, Lynda, all eyes are on in this region is going to be the trilateral summit known as the Istana meetings, these regular meetings between these three key players in Syria. Turkey has made very clear it is preparing to launch a military operation into northern Syria and another military operation, another offensive to push back Syrian-Kurdish fighters that Turkey considers to be an existential threat to this country and a terrorist group.
But it really can't do that, Lynda, without a green light from those two major players supporting the Syrian regime, Russia and Iran. So all eyes on that to see what the outcome of that meeting is, will they be able to find some compromise or is Turkey going to get the green light to launch that operation, Lynda.
KINKADE: A lot to discuss and certainly a lot at stake. Jomana Karadsheh in Instanbul. Clare Sebastian for us in London. Thanks very much. Well, still to come and CNN NEWSROOM. Sri Lanka's acting president tells CNN the previous government was covering up facts about the country's economic disaster. We'll have more from our exclusive interview when we come back.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. In Sri Lanka, three candidates have been nominated by members of Parliament to be considered for the position of the next president. Lawmakers are expected to select a new leader Wednesday when Parliament convenes to hold a secret ballot vote. Sri Lanka's ruling party is backing Ranil Wickremesinghe who is serving right now as the acting president after the previous president was forced to resign last week.
Sri Lanka's view Wickremesinghe as part of the political elite that destroyed the nation's economy. And his nomination threatens to inflame an already volatile situation right across the country. Demonstrations hit a tipping point earlier this month when protesters took over government bodies buildings. Well now to an exclusive interview with Sri Lanka's acting president, he tells CNN's Will Ripley the previous government was covering up facts about the country's financial crisis. Take a listen.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You said earlier as president, it's important to tell the truth. Do you think that the previous administration was telling the truth to the people of Sri Lanka?
RANIL WICKREMESINGHE, SRI LANKAN ACTING PRESIDENT: No.
RIPLEY: They were not.
WICKREMESINGHE: They were not.
RIPLEY: They were lying to the people.
WICKREMESINGHE: They were covering up facts.
RIPLEY: What were they covering up?
WICKREMESINGHE: That we are bankrupt that we need to go to the IMF, answer this.
RIPLEY: So what would you like to say to the people now truthfully, as somebody who could very likely be their next president?
WICKREMESINGHE: I will tell the people I know what they're suffering. We have -- we have gone back. We have to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, but we can do it. We don't need five years, 10 years. By next year let's start stabilizing. And by the end of -- by -- certainly by 2024, let's have a functioning economy which will start growing, export oriented economy, a dynamic economy.
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[02:20:07]
KINKADE: Well, Bhavani Fonseka joins us from Colombo, Sri Lanka. She's a human rights lawyer and a senior researcher for the think tank Center for Policy Alternatives. Good to have you with us.
BHAVANI FONSEKA, SENIOR RESEARCHER, CENTER FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES: Thanks, Lynda.
KINKADE: So Bhavani, I'll get more to that interview in just a moment. But I want to start with the fact that this is a critical week for Sri Lanka. Wednesday, Parliament is set to elect a new president, paving the way for a new government. Who is likely to get that job?
FONSEKA: Well, Lynda, the process started today as, a matter of hours ago, we found out that there are three in the running, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dullas Alahapperuma and Anura Kumara Dissanayake because less than 24 hours, we will find out who is likely to be our next president, this is a critical time considering the crisis that we're facing. Now, it's very unclear who will likely get the majority of the votes.
And it is up to the members of Parliament to vote and decide. So, we'll have to see there's a lot of I think negotiations happening in terms of the different parties in Parliament. But this is a decision with the members of Parliament. So, we as citizens will have to watch this very closely.
KINKADE: (INAUDIBLE) and as we just played that sound, that exclusive interview with CNN, Wickremesinghe, the former prime minister, now the acting president, he claims he didn't know about the fact that Sri Lanka was bankrupt and needed to go to the International Monetary Fund. And he blames the former president. Do you think people believe that? How could he not have known?
FONSEKA: Well, there is a huge trust deficit that the person acting president is facing that Ranil Wickremesinghe many unhappy and says that he is not to be trusted. That he is a continuation of the old problem (INAUDIBLE) so, I'm surprised that any politician now is saying they were not aware of the scale of the problem, because even last year, opposition members of Parliament was saying that govern -- the government needs to go to the IMF.
That we are heading towards an economic crisis. So I'm surprised that the person acting president who is now in the running for the post is saying that he was not aware and the government was lying. Because there were indicators things were becoming very, very dire.
KINKADE: Yes. And it certainly sounds like he is campaigning for the top job, given his comments about -- saying that he believes that by next year, by 2024, that the economy will be back up and running. He said that there'll be a functioning economy which will start growing and exported, oriented economy. A dynamic economy. Do think that that can happen in such a short period of time as such a quick turnaround? FONSEKA: I think that's extremely ambitious considering the crisis we are at. I mean, we are facing a looming humanitarian crisis with many people not even being able to get proper meals. That Sri Lanka is bankrupt. We are looking to international assistance, including a possible IMF bailout. So, I think it's very ambitious to say it's possible in that short time period. But definitely I see the acting president on campaign more than he is really, really campaigning for this position tomorrow with various promises being made by -- I mean, he came out yesterday and made very, very ambitious proposals.
So, let us see what happens tomorrow. But despite who comes in, who is elect -- whoever is elected is going to have this mammoth task in addressing multiple crisises from a political to an economic crisis to now a humanitarian crisis. So, it's an unenviable job that whoever is going to get tomorrow.
KINKADE: Huge, huge challenges ahead. Bhavani Fonseka in Sri Lanka. Thanks so much for joining us.
FONSEKA: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, concerns are growing over Europe's natural gas supplies. When we come back, new warnings about a possible energy crisis as winter approaches.
Plus COVID cases and temperatures rising in China. We'll go live to Beijing as officials impose mask coronavirus restrictions amid a brutal heatwave.
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[02:27:09]
KINKADE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for joining us. Well, the E.U. is dealing with a gas crisis. The head of the International Energy Agency has issued stark warning over energy supplies, saying Europe needs to act now. He's urging leaders to prepare for winter by cutting gas consumption. And he's stressed that while progress has been made to reduce reliance on Russian energy, not enough has been done.
And the heatwave across the continent is not helping matters. With more people using air conditioning and cooling units and natural gas prices are surging. CNN's Anna Stewart reports.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: As the moment is spike in Europe, people are turning to air conditioning units. Which means the continent is using more energy at a time when it needs to be saving it up for the winter. The head of the International Energy Agency warned in a commentary Monday that while Europe has made progress on reducing its reliance on Russian energy, it hasn't done enough, especially on the demand side saying Europe needs to act now and every day counts.
Right now Europe's gas storage facilities are around two-thirds full according to gas infrastructure Europe. It's more than this time last year and following the invasion of Ukraine. The E.U. now mandates that member states have these facilities 80 percent full before the winter. However, the IEA says that even if gas storage facilities were 90 percent full by October, so more than that mandate, the block could still face supply disruptions in the event of a complete Russian cut off.
Meanwhile, it is a critical week on whether Europe will find itself cut off from Russian gas supplies. Nord Stream One, a key Russian pipeline to Europe accounting for some 40 percent of Europe's Russian gas is currently offline for routine maintenance. It's due to be turned back on on Thursday. However, there are concerns Russia won't. It's already slashed gas supplies by this pipeline by 60 percent in June.
A move Russia said related to the delayed return of a turbine held up due to sanctions. A spokesperson for Germany's economy and energy ministry has hinted that the turbines absence might not be the real reason for the cut in supplies, saying the turbine wasn't even supposed to be used until September.
The E.U. has accused Russia of using energy as a weapon. And while the block remains reliant on Russian energy, it's a weapon that threatens to cause severe economic damage and potential energy rationing come winter.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London
KINKADE: Well, the U.K. is bracing for what could be its worst heatwave of all time. With us from Leeds, England is Andy Shepherd. He is a professor of Earth observation at the University of Leeds. Good to have you with us, Andy.
ANDREW SHEPHERD, PROFESSOR OF EARTH OBSERVATION, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
KINKADE: So the U.K. does get heatwaves but temperatures have never been this hot. How prepared is the U.K. right now as it faces the hottest temperatures on record?
[02:30:00]
SHEPHERD: Well, my experience yesterday, I went into work, it's that not many people are going to work. Certainly, in the -- they're working from home and I think we can cope with a one-off event quite easily by doing that. But eventually, our economy will grind to a halt if everybody stops working when we have heat waves because there'll be more frequent in the future. So, I think we have to deal with it differently in the future.
KINKADE: And what would that entail?
SHEPHERD: So, I think Britain is not really well prepared for extremely hot weather. Many people's houses that are quite good at performing in winter right now are really poor in summer, so they're still too hot. My house is in an old stone-cold house. It's cold, breathing cold in winter and it cost a lot of money to heat it in winter, that it stayed cold -- cool in the summer, but not many houses are like this. And we really need to take the next 10, 20 years to modernize our properties so that we can cope with what's going to be much more frequent in the decades to come.
KINKADE: Exactly. So, you've got a nice cool house right now, which is a good thing for you. In terms of other areas, as Spain's prime minister has said that 70,000 hectares have been destroyed by the fires this year, that's almost double last decade's average. Is this glimpse into the future?
SHEPHERD: It definitely is. I mean, I drove down the motorway to check, you know, my mom yesterday and there were burnt patches of land just in North Yorkshire, right? And this is not normal. And I think we should look to these countries, further south, in those France and Spain. And imagined that that's what our future will be at the moment. Their temperatures are well into the 40s in France.
And I think Britain hasn't experienced anything like that. We had two or three degrees warmer even yesterday than since records began in North Yorkshire. And we'll see this every other year in 25 years' time. It won't just be once every 15 years.
KINKADE: And of course, the U.N. chief had some pretty powerful words. A grim warning. I just want to play some of the sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: This has to be the decade of decisive climate action. That means trust, multilateralism, and collaboration. We have a choice, collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Collective action or collective suicide. Antonio Guterres went on to say that time is no longer on our side. So, what is on our side? What can be done?
SHEPHERD: Well, we did have public opinion on our side a couple of years ago, but the pandemic and the energy crisis have displaced that right now. And people are not thinking so much about climate change now as they were just a couple of years ago, and that's a real shame.
What we need is we need our governments to help us out of this. That's all people want. People don't want to have to solve climate change individually. They want their government to solve it for them. And at the moment, not many governments are stepping up to the plate really.
KINKADE: They really aren't. And as -- you're right, it's a huge, huge issue that has to be solved by the government but it has to global action. There was a study that was published earlier this week that found extreme climate heat, drought, floods has cost Germany about $6.7 billion annually on average over the past two decades. Why is it important to put a cost on the impact of climate change?
SHEPHERD: Yes, I think it's incredibly important to do that. And in fact, we're even seeing lawsuits now against energy companies from some parts of the world. They're unsuccessful up until now, but in the future, they'll start to become successful because ultimately the energy suppliers have got some responsibility. I think, you know, I'm not a huge fan of capitalism, but people should remember that as consumers, we're using the energy that those companies supply, right? They're not doing this out of pure evil by selling as a product. And consumers are still demanding that product.
So, everybody has to play that part. But governments have to tee this up. They have to set it up so that people can make use of renewable energy. And people can confidently adapt their homes and spend large sums of money to adapt their homes in the right way, without making mistakes down the line. I'm no expert, I'm a climate scientist, but I don't know how to modernize my home. I need some advice from somebody to tell me how to do that and I want some trustworthy advice. And it's just not out there at the moment.
KINKADE: Yes, and it's going -- we're going to need it aren't we in every pocket of the world. Andy Shepherd, good to have you, an expert in climate change on the program. Thanks so much.
SHEPHERD: Thank you.
KINKADE: With China has reported almost 700 new local COVID cases, Tuesday. That's the most since May. The Omicron subvariant, BA.5 is spreading across the country. Sending some cities either into full or partial lockdown.
[02:35:00]
And all of this as a brutal heat wave could bring temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius this week. CNN's Selina Wang joins me from Beijing with the latest.
Good to see you, Selina. So extreme heat and more snap lockdowns.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to be with you, Lynda.
Yes, you've got rising COVID cases and scorching temperatures. This is a double whammy for people's daily lives and also for the economy. These temperatures have been absolutely brutal. Last week, more than 80 cities issued a red level alert, meaning that temperatures were expected to exceed more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit. This week there hasn't been much relief, but just a bit with more than 50 cities issuing an orange level alert. That's the second highest level of alert for high temperatures.
This is as COVID cases reach nearly 700, the highest number of daily COVID cases since May. And people in many cities across China are still required to line up in these long lines to get their regular mandatory COVID tests. And that is a tough task, especially for the elderly population. For instance, just this past weekend in Beijing, it was 99 degrees Fahrenheit. I was in line for about an hour. You saw people with their umbrellas, with their waters, some people just unable to bear that heat, they were just crouching on the side of the road, waiting to get that COVID test. And amid this brutal weather, there are more reports of COVID workers collapsing from this heat because they've got to wear that full body white hazmat suits covering them from head to toe outside for hours to do their jobs.
Now, the snap lockdowns, they are also ruining many people's summer vacations. Thousands of tourists were trapped in the resort town in Beihai City, this is after there was a cluster of COVID cases discovered there. Authorities ordered mass testing and told residents to stay in their homes.
Now, all of this, the heat wave, it's also bad for an economy that's still being battered by Chinese Zero-COVID policy. Authorities say that this heat wave could adversely affect corn, wheat, soy bean production, especially in those northern provinces, that threatens to further push up inflation. We've already seen port prices jump significantly because of the increasing prices of feed. So, heat wave plus COVID, bad news for the economy, bad news for many people. Lynda.
KINKADE: Hopefully next time we chat, Selina, you'd give me some good news. Good to see you. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
Still ahead, all challenges are welcome. How a 10-year-old Ukrainian girl is using her skills as a checkers player to raise money for Ukraine army.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: While Ukraine's children are fighting for the future of their country. And they're using their skills and talents to lift people's hearts and to show the world what resistance looks like.
[02:40:00]
One of those children is a 10-year-old checkers' champion. Alex Marquardt shows us what her fight involves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): At a small folding table outside a busy Kyiv shopping center, Valeria Yezhova, just 10 years old, quickly and methodically dismantles every opponent who sits down at her checkers' board. Defeated, they drop money onto the growing pile of bills in her box next to a sign that reads, we are helping the Ukrainian army. What many who are playing her don't know is that for Valeria checkers is no simple hobby, she's the world champion for her age, taking home the trophy last summer
I really wanted to help our army and soldiers, and I asked my mother what I should do, she said. My mom asked me what I'm good at. I said, playing checkers.
In nine days outside this shopping center. She raised more than $700. She then presented it to the head of a foundation that buys equipment for the military, Serhiy Prytula (ph), a celebrity and activist whom Valeria calls her hero. He broke down in tears.
She says that at first people hesitated to play her. Then as they watched her beat everyone, more and more stepped up to try their luck.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Have you ever lost any of the games while you've been doing this?
MARQUARDT (voiceover): I've never lost here, she says.
Word quickly spread about the young champion doing her part for her country. When this man heard from his wife that Valeria was playing nearby, he quickly left work and ran over.
Valeria is already a legend here, he says. He'd rather lose to her. She's doing a great job helping the Ukrainian army. She's probably touched the whole of Ukraine. Other kids from her checkers' club have followed Valeria's lead. Ukraine's children feel this war profoundly.
MARQUARDT (on camera): You think about the war a lot, or are you just trying to live your normal life?
MARQUARDT (voiceover): I would like to live a normal life, but during the war, it's difficult, she says. Of course, I'm scared. There are a lot of negative feelings.
The defeated ask for photos with the growing star. Valeria is poised, calm, and all too happy to oblige.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Shall we play a game?
VALERIA YEZHOVA, CHECKERS CHAMP RAISING MONEY FOR UKRAINIAN ARMY: Yes.
MARQUARDT (voiceover): She also obliges me.
MARQUARDT (on camera): White first.
YEZHOVA: White first.
MARQUARDT (voiceover): With zero hesitation in her moves.
MARQUARDT (on camera): I forgot about going backwards.
MARQUARDT (voiceover): As my pieces fly off the board.
MARQUARDT (on camera): There was nothing I can do.
YEZHOVA: Thanks for play.
MARQUARDT (on camera): Thank you for destroying me. Thank you very much for the game.
YEZHOVA: Thank you.
MARQUARDT (on camera): It was an honor to play with a champion.
YEZHOVA: Thank you.
MARQUARDT (voiceover): Alex Marquardt, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: What a champion indeed. Good on her.
Well, the clean-up is underway in Hawaii right now after a huge swell sent waves crashing into homes and businesses. Also, whipping out tables at this wedding reception on Saturday. Take a look at that. Incredible scene there. The bride and groom, thankfully, the wedding cake wasn't damaged. The ceremony did indeed go on.
And several homes were also damaged on the big island when walls of water washed over the rooftops. But no injuries were reported. Officials say those swells were the highest in more than 25 years. You know, wet wedding. At least the ceremony went on.
Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Stick around. World Sport is coming up next. And I'll be back with much more news in about 15 minutes. You're watching CNN.
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[02:45:00]
KASICH: It's processing --
LEMON: -- of oil.
KASICH: Look, it's processing its pipelines and its committing that we're not going to have such regulatory stranglehold that companies are not going to invest. Right now, they're sitting on the sidelines. They say, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I'm -- Don, I'm just telling you what I hear out here. And if we had more supply -- and part of the reason why prices have calmed down is because they've released some oil from that reserve, but it -- markets live on hope. Markets respond on hope.
And to say that, you know, we're not going to keep spending all this money. We're going to try to look for ways to save money. I mean, those are the kind of things -- and by the way, I'm going to go to a store, and I'm going to meet with some people, and I'm going to look at these prices, and I'm going to tell them, I get it, and we're working on it. I think we need more of that.
LEMON: Listen --
KASICH: He's going to salvage himself, but they're going to get clobbered in the House. Senate's a little different because the Senate candidates, a couple of these Republican candidates for the United States senator just not good candidates. And they're -- they could lose. They could lose and the Democrats could hang on. But in the house, it's going to be Republicans.
LEMON: Look, what you think the fixes are, I'll grant you that. But having more, you said, more oil flow or gas flow or opening some of the pipelines.
KASICH: Right.
LEMON: Studies have shown that does not lower the price of oil -- lower the price of gas, I should say. Of gasoline. That's not going to lower the price of gasoline because we're not an energy shortage. We're not an energy crunch. The prices are just high. So, that has nothing to do with --
KASICH: Don.
LEMON: -- the amount of that is going --
KASICH: Don. No, no.
LEMON: -- into the country.
KASICH: Look, the fact of the matter is, they've shut down pipelines. They've harassed processors. They have overregulated. And they're not saying that we're going to increase domestic supply. And the reason why they're saying that --
LEMON: Domestic supply has nothing to do --
KASICH: -- is because they don't want --
LEMON: -- with the price of it, John. That's all I'm saying.
KASICH: Don. Don, if people don't -- if they don't have the supply, then the prices go up. I'm sorry. That's just the fact.
LEMON: OK. All right.
KASICH: It's like saying --
LEMON: Let's talk about --
KASICH: -- we can print a way --
LEMON: People aren't waiting in gas lines --
KASICH: -- we can print money forever and we don't have inflation.
LEMON: -- people aren't waiting in gas lines because we don't have gas. That's not the whole point of it. I agree with you -- with everything else you said. But just -- we don't have an energy shortage. We don't have a gas shortage. We have a price -- the prices are high. And by increasing the flow of gasoline --
KASICH: Don, gasoline comes from oil.
LEMON: I understand that, John.
KASICH: If it's refined.
LEMON: But that's not what you're saying. KASICH: And if right.
LEMON: It's not going to drop the price of gasoline, that's just not how it works.
KASICH: Let me -- you know why he's over there in -- you know what he was doing over there in Saudi Arabia?
LEMON: Because he wants them to drop the price of oil. Not to increase.
KASICH: No, he wants them to produce more.
LEMON: OK. All right. John.
KASICH: He's saying produce more. We got a product -- we don't -- we have a supply problem, Don. That's what we have.
LEMON: We're not in an energy shortage.
KASICH: Well, we can argue about this all day long but --
LEMON: OK. Let's talk about January 6th because we're not in an energy shortage. I'm sorry. That's not -- what you're saying is not. So --
KASICH: OK. Well, we just disagree on this.
LEMON: We don't disagree. What you're saying is not right. We're not in an energy shortage.
KASICH: Don, when I went -- when he's over in Saudi Arabia to ask --
LEMON: And you can't -- you cannot open another pipeline that's going to --
KASICH: Wait a minute. He's --
LEMON: -- lower the price of gas.
KASICH: Don.
LEMON: That is not how it's happening right now.
KASICH: Don. He was --
LEMON: This is not 1970 with Jimmy Carter.
KASICH: Don. Let me tell you. Energy companies today are on the sidelines. They are not making the investments and production right now. He was in Saudi Arabia, asking them to increase the amount of supply in the country.
LEMON: OK. But that's not going to have --
KASICH: That's what he was, in a word, that's what he was doing. LEMON: -- anything to do with the price of gas today.
KASICH: OK.
LEMON: Let me ask you about January 6th.
KASICH: OK.
LEMON: The Committee is going to be wrapping up --
KASICH: Let's go there.
LEMON: -- its current hearing scheduled on Thursday.
KASICH: Yes.
LEMON: What do you think is going to come out of this hearing?
KASICH: Well, I said a week ago that the Trump supporters, many of them, have become mushy. And they're not defending him anymore. And I think that the fact of the matter is, he is like a scrambling man. You know, like the Allman Brothers saying about the "Rambling Man", he a scrambling man that's why he's talking about announcing, Don.
He's talking about announcing for President to try to change the subject because -- listen, the Trump ship is beginning to head down. It's beginning to go down. And I felt it for a while and I think it's going to continue to go that way. And he may be making an announcement which will freak all the Republicans out because it will motivate Democrat turnout, which would help the Democrats in the Senate races across the country.
You know, there are -- Republicans are holding their breath that he won't do. But he probably will because everything has to be about Donald Trump in the, and as you and I have been talking about for four years, right?
LEMON: I love our chats. Thank you, John. I got to run. I appreciate it. I'll see you later.
KASICH: All right. Don, see you. Thanks.
LEMON: Sharks in the water. Beaches closed. Authorities putting out warnings. What's with the uptick in shark sightings? We're going to go to the beach next.
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[02:50:00]
An increase in shark sightings off beaches on Long Island prompting New York's governor to beef up shark monitoring, including new beach patrols and more lifeguards as well as using drones and helicopters. Multiple sightings forcing the closing of two Long Island beaches yesterday, one in Cape Cod and Massachusetts. We sent CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro to check out what's bringing the sharks closer to shore.
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, let's start with the most important point, it is highly unlikely, you get bitten by a shark or killed by a shark. That was true last summer and it's true this summer. But there has been an increase in shark encounters in beaches like this one here in Long Island, New York. And that has officials nervous.
They're adding resources. They're adding lifeguards. They're adding drones. They're adding patrols to try and spot sharks that they say are increasingly coming closer and closer into shore. I spoke to the mayor of Hempstead here, where this beach is that I'm standing on, and asked him what he thinks is going on.
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DON CALVIN, HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK SUPERVISOR: The waters are definitely warmer. As a result, you are now seeing what they call bait fish now coming into the area along the coast. That hasn't been normal for decades.
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MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Now, I want to explain to you what it means when they these sharks are coming in close. Behind me, that red ball bobbing back there, that's the line about as far as swimmers are supposed to swim safely from this beach. It's about 75 yards from the shoreline. Sharks have been spotted on beaches like this one much closer in, as close as 25 yards and even closer. And that's what has officials worry that these sharks are coming in close.
[02:55:00]
Humans aren't on the menu, lifeguards say. But those fish that those sharks like to eat, they are on the menu and they are coming in closer, bringing the sharks along with them.
So far, officials say it hasn't had a huge impact on tourism. I spoke to one mother here today at the beach who said she's still coming down here. She's excited to come to the beach. She trusts the lifeguards, but she'd rather not see a shark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANIE FULMER, NEW YORK MOM: We don't want to see sharks in the water. We don't mind seeing them at the aquarium but that's pretty much it. My boys love sharks, so they don't want to see them though.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So, officials tell me, and lifeguards tell me, it is safe to come to the beach. If you stay vigilant and listen to the lifeguards when they tell you to get out of the water. Don.
LEMON: Evan, thank you so much. So, they want the secret services' text messages and they're getting them. The January 6th Committee zeroing in on the text of the secret service, the ones that they reportedly erased. Stay with us.
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[03:00:00]
