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Climate Crisis is on Red Alert; Ukraine: U.S. Rocket Systems Slowing Russian Advance; CNN Meets Ukrainian Refugees Who Have Been Sent to Russia; Russia's Nord Stream 1 Pipeline Resumes Gas Flow to Germany; Italy Experiences Political Crisis; U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson Signs Off. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 21, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us from the around the world. This is "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Just ahead, unrelenting heat, raging wildfires, melting ice caps. The climate crisis on red alert.

Political uncertainty into European countries. The British prime minister signs off, while the Italian prime minister barely hangs on.

And what could be a game-changer on the battlefield. We will look at how a U.S.-supplied rocket system has become key to Ukraine's defense against Russia.

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

BRUNHUBER: A searing heat wave is baking huge sections of the northern hemisphere and scientists warn that because of climate change, these hot spells will only get worse and more frequent.

Wildfires are burning all over Europe with the Mediterranean countries battling the most dangerous places from Portugal all the way to Turkey. Fires in Northeast Italy are threatening water and power supplies, and 14 urban areas are under Italy's highest heat alerts. Germany also marked its hottest day of the year on Wednesday, while the record-breaking temperatures appeared to be moving east, away from the U.K. London's fire brigade says Tuesday was its busiest day since the Second World War.

Now, on the other side of the Atlantic, more than 100 million Americans are also sweating it out with highs hitting 44 degrees Celsius in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Authorities in Texas say energy usage hit an all-time high on Wednesday but that is not official yet. And the Northeastern U.S. is heating up with advisories issued for New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.

All right, let us bring in CNN's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. And Pedram, some areas are as hot as they have ever been. Others are getting a reprieve right now but maybe not for long.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not for long for some, yeah. We think sometime early next week that large area of Europe could begin to see another round of warming across that region. We will break this down momentarily.

Look at this. Italy, Spain, France on to Germany and the United Kingdom, all since the summer of 2019 have seen their hottest temperatures ever observed in recorded history. All of them pushing up into the 40s. U.K, of course, earlier this week coming in with its first 40+-degree observation, 104 Fahrenheit or warmer across these areas. So, pretty incredible round of heat.

And you will notice, a lot of these countries where these records have been observed, statistically have incredibly low areas -- access (ph) to household with air conditioning units. In fact, the U.K. among the lowest in Europe there with less than 1% of homes in the entirety of the nation with access to air conditioning. And in France, it's about 5%. In Spain, closer to 30%. Southern tier of Spain, up around 70% access of homes there with air conditioning. And Italy, only at 7%.

So, when it gets hot across these areas, it certainly is a significant event, and you can kind of compare this to the United States or Japan where over 85% of households have air conditioning units installed. It really speaks to what happens here when it gets this hot.

Of course, we are coming off of the heels of summer of 2021, which was the hottest across Europe in its entirety, and summer '22 does not look much better, right, when you take a look at how things have been.

In Germany, in the past 24 hours, Hamburg comes in with a 40-degree observation. Twenty-three is what is normal here in the latter portion of July.

As Kim alluded to here, we are seeing a trend towards slightly cooler weather over the next couple of days. But even still, it is above average. We expect a high around 26 in London. Twenty-three is what is averaged. Paris makes up 28. Of course, far removed from the lower 40s for the next few days.

But around eastern areas of Europe, Budapest into Warsaw, 32 to 38. That is where the heat alerts are in place, the southwestern area of France and the western area of Poland. Southeastern France and Western Poland getting in on some of the excessive heat.

But we do expect the warmth that does eventually breakdown here in the next couple of days to be restored again going in towards late this weekend and early next week. U.K, perhaps not as much, but much of France and areas of Germany once again look to see another round of heat early next week. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right, we will keep following that. Pedram Javaheri, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, China is enduring its own heat wave just weeks after dealing with record rainfall and severe flooding, not to mention a persistent wave of COVID outbreaks.

More now from CNN's Selina Wang.

[03:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scorching temperatures sweep over China, turning mass COVID testing into a dangerous task. State media shows COVID workers collapsing on the job due to what the videos say are heatstroke.

In Eastern China, a COVID worker vomits on the ground as colleagues rushed to tear off her hazmat suit. Unable to stand, she is carried away.

It is a scene playing out across China: fainting, falling, crumpling on the ground, lying motionless, struggling to breathe. The COVID workers' long hours in the suffocating heat made worse by their head- to-toe full body protective gear.

That is not water, according to state media. It is sweat gushing out of this worker's hazmat suit. The sweat pools inside the protective gear, lining the inside of the rubber gloves. The surging temperatures coinciding with surging COVID cases.

WANG (on camera): Cities across China, including here in Beijing, require a recent COVID test in order to enter any public area. That means everyone, young, old and sick, all have to wait in long lines like these in the brutal heat.

UNKNOWN: It is really hot. It's frustrating and, you know, exhausting, and you feel like -- and a lot of times you feel anxious because you have things to do.

WANG (voice-over): To survive, COVID workers are getting creative. Hugging giant blocks of ice, placing them on their backs, laps, and feet. Colleagues rub ice on each other and tape ice cold water bottles to themselves. Some authorities have now said COVID workers can wear PPE that does not cover their entire bodies.

Dozens of cities have been experiencing record-high temperatures. Last week, more than 80 cities issued red alert with some lagging (ph) temperatures of more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit. In Central China, a museum closed after the roof melted. In Nanjing, the city opened underground air raid shelters for people to escape the heat.

Meanwhile, crops are withering and dying under the high temperatures. The soil parched and cracked. The damage to China's crop production threatens to push up inflation, putting more pressure on an economy already devastated by the pandemic.

But in zero-COVID China, even health care workers hospitalized from heat exhaustion get a positive spin from authorities. This propaganda video shows government officials visiting COVID workers in the intensive care unit. While showing the motionless patients in bed, the video rallies people to work together for victory against COVID.

Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's military claims long-range rocket systems from the west are already changing the battlefield. It says dozens of Russian ammunition depots and command centers have been struck deep behind the front lines, causing Russia's offensive in the Donbas to slow significantly. On Wednesday, the U.S. Military announced that it would soon send for more of the advanced weapons to Ukraine, bringing the total number up to 12.

Russian's foreign minister said that the introduction of long-range rockets means that Moscow will now have to extend its new border farther west to put those weapons out of range. Ukraine's military quickly dismissed the threat.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says that three people were killed, a man, a woman, and a 13-year-old boy, by Russian shelling early on Wednesday in the northern city of Kharkiv.

Ukraine's first lady addressed the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. Olena Zelenska told lawmakers that she came to Washington not as a president's wife but as a daughter and mother concerned about her nation's future. Behind her were images of ordinary Ukrainians impacted by the war. She said Ukraine needs more military aid, especially air defenses to protect against Russian missiles. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLENA ZELENSKA, UKRAINIAN FIRST LADY (through translator): And I appeal to all of you on behalf of those who were killed, on behalf of those people who lost their arms and legs, on behalf of those who are still alive and well, and those who wait for their families to come back from the front. I am asking for something now I would never want to ask. I am asking for weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Nic Robertson joins us live from Kyiv. Nick, the Ukrainians have certainly been very grateful to get those new HIMARS rocket systems. So, what effect are they having on the battlefield? Are they enough to turn the tide of the war?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think we get an idea of how significant they are on the battlefield because we have heard from Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, saying that it should be a priority for Russian forces to target the HIMARS.

[03:09:58]

ROBERTSON: Of course, HIMARS, high mobility artillery system, the sort of defense that HIMARS would have against Russia trying to target them specifically is their high mobility. They move around. That is the way the Ukrainians are using them. And that is what makes them effective. They are able to be longer range, much more precise, hitting the ammunition dumps.

But also, we've seen Ukrainians over recent days targeting key bridges that Russians are using to resupply the frontlines. I think that Ukrainian commanders are under no illusion that this can be a silver bullet, if you will. Officials have said, look, we are hitting the ammunition dumps, that is good, but Russia still has a lot of equipment, many materials at the front lines. The threat remains there.

I think that holding the tide back in some places is a solid analogy here. I think turning the tide back, really. The Ukrainians are looking to have a lot more of these weapons so that they can rather be hit at -- rather not be hitting so much deep inside Russian territory but hitting those frontline soldiers who are trying to sort of advance the lines.

That's going to require, because the front lines here are so long, hundreds upon hundreds of miles of kilometers. It's going to take a lot more of these HIMARS-type systems.

BRUNHUBER: So, let us turn to Russia's response. So, Russia's foreign minister was raising eyebrows with his recent comments that we mentioned, suggesting Russia's objectives are changing. So, take us through his comments and the reaction.

ROBERTSON: What Sergey Lavrov is saying is that Russia went in -- and again, he used this term, special military operation, which is what Russia calls this war that they chose to start in Ukraine -- he said they went -- Russia went in, again using that term, denazification, to ensure Russia's own security.

He said, look, these HIMARS systems, they've got a longer range, and that means to make Russia safe from attack from Ukrainians, we will have to push deeper into Ukrainian territory.

Now, Ukraine's foreign minister says, look, this is just the language of a country that is not looking for a diplomatic solution here. This is Russia being aggressive and stating that it is going to take more territory.

I think that part of what we are hearing from Sergey Lavrov is that sense that these weapons systems are effective against their forces, that the United States and the U.K. are considering sending longer range versions of this mobile, high artillery system, and this -- therefore, it is a greater threat to Russia.

And I think it shows you that the military pressure that Ukraine is able to exert on Russia, it is having an impact. We've heard from the defense minister and the foreign minister essentially saying that these systems are having an effect and we need to stop them or we need to take other measures.

But I think that in terms of the battlefield, it really just indicates that the fighting is going to continue for now.

BRUNHUBER: Always appreciate the analysis. Nic Robertson in Kyiv, thank you so much.

Nobody knows for sure how many Ukrainians have been forcibly deported to Russia. Ukraine puts the numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Many are first taken to so-called filtration centers in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, then on to temporary shelters in Russia.

CNN's Matthew Chance was given exclusive access to a Russian shelter and spoke with some of the Ukrainians about their ordeals. A warning, some viewers might find the images disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was maimed. Russian forces entered his Ukrainian home. His foot shot to pieces and his wife killed, he says, before his eyes. But now, across the border in Russia, Alexei (ph) insists Ukraine, not Moscow, is to blame for his suffering.

(On camera): Is it the Russian army that this? Are you angry?

(Voice-over): The Russians were just entering the city. It was Ukrainian troops who shot at us as we collected drinking water, he says. No criticism of Russia's military here, not from Alexei (ph) nor from the other Ukrainian refugees we were given exclusive access to on Russian soil.

(On camera): (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE}. There is a lot of people here from Mariupol. That is not surprising because we are just across the border from that city here on Russian territory.

We have been brought here to this big, old gymnasium, this basketball court, which is filled, as you can see, a couple of hundred beds to cater for the hundreds of refugees that are still, months after this conflict began, pouring across the border into Russian territory.

[03:15:02]

CHANCE (on camera): They are given food, they are given medical attention. Despite the fact that it is very hot outside, you know, because it is the middle of the summer, they are getting some rest from the ordeal that they have gone through.

It is also the first opportunity that we have to speak to these people about the sometimes horrific experiences that they have had back across the border in the war zone.

(Voice-over): But don't expect them to describe that ordeal. Human rights groups say that Ukrainians in Russian-occupied areas were rounded up and filtered before being bused to camps like these. All those suspected of posing a threat don't even make it through. Saying the right thing here is a matter of survival, especially for those who have already lost loved ones, like this refugee who asked not to be named.

(On camera): You are not angry with Russians about that?

(Voice-over): These are provocative questions, he answers, but now, I am here, so please don't press me. I did not see who killed my relatives, he says. As far as I'm concerned, they are just another casualty of this conflict, he says.

But in Russia, the freedom to speak out is a casualty, too. While we travel away from (INAUDIBLE) outside of the country to neighboring Estonia, in the Baltic port of tally (ph), boarding this giant passenger ferry-turned temporary shelter for refugees from Ukraine --

(On camera): It is in these cramped cabins below decks, in these corridors and the bows of the ship, that housed more than 1,700 Ukrainian refugees, many of whom have escaped directly from Russia and its filtration camps. These people can speak freely and without fear about their experiences.

(Voice-over): Daniil (ph) told me how he bluffed his way through Russian filtration system by pretending he wanted to make Russia his permanent home.

They asked, for instance, if I knew Vladimir Putin's birthday, because they said, he is your president now. I told him that I did not, but I promised to learn it, and they let me through, he says.

Others like Stanislaus and Betalina (ph) had a much tougher time, transported from their homes like cattle, they say, in freezing trucks to filtration centers.

Betalina (ph) says that she has had to leave her elderly father behind after he was shot and injured by a Russian soldier. It filled her with the hatred, she tells me, which she had to hide to pass through Russia. Now, she is left with a desperate sadness.

We really want to go home, she sobs. I can't tell you how much. Even though through the tears, she admits that home may already be lost.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Russian gas is flowing to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline once again. The biggest single pipeline supplying Europe had been shut down for planned 10-day maintenance, raising fears that Russia wouldn't resume deliveries once the work was done.

Clare Sebastian explains why this pipeline is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When it launched in 2011, the Nord Stream 1 was actually expected to reduce potential disruption to European energy supplies.

By running the pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany, Nord Stream 1, unlike many other European gas pipelines, bypassed Ukraine and giving Russia room to deal with any future spots without leaving Europe in the (INAUDIBLE). When in practice, it made Europe more reliant on Russia and made both the E.U. and Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian influence.

Here is how. In 2021, the E.U. imported about 155 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia. Now, the Nord Stream 1 alone accounted for 59.2 billion cubic meters. That is about 38%. So, almost 40% of the total. And if you look at the E.U.'s total gas consumption, around 400 billion cubic meters, the Nord Stream alone accounted for 14% of all the gas that Europe consumed last year.

Now, the E.U. says Russia has now cut or partially cut gas supplies to at least a dozen European countries. Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, and the Netherlands to name a few.

[03:19:58]

SEBASTIAN: In May, it temporarily suspended supplies through this, the Yamal pipeline, to Germany. In mid-June, it has slashed supplies through the Nord Stream 1 itself to about 40% of what Russia claims were equipment problems. That caused the German government to trigger the second stage of its gas emergency plan.

MASSIMO DI ODOARDO, VP, GLOBAL GAS AND LNG RESEARCH AT WOOD MACKENZIE: The pipeline that was carrying gas through Belarus and Poland is now running completely empty. The pipeline (INAUDIBLE) to Ukraine (INAUDIBLE) up to 40 (INAUDIBLE) contracted capacity is only running about 12 to 15 (INAUDIBLE). So, until June, Nord Stream was really, you know, the only pipeline that was continuing provide substantial exports to the E.U.

SEBASTIAN: This chart shows natural gas flows to Europe from Russia since 2019. You can see that there are dips for the July maintenance period every year but never quite like we are seeing today. It flows down about two-thirds in the last two months alone.

And all this as the E.U. races to me its target for filling its gas storage capacity to 80% by November 1st to avoid shortages. It is currently at about 64%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe. And Germany says, right now, gas is being taken out of its storage facilities at the same rate it is being injected in.

So, Nord Stream 1, the biggest single pipeline between Europe and Russia will be critical if Europe is to avoid those winter shortages, something experts warn could tip the continent into recession.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Coming up, the future of Italy's prime minister hanging in the balance even though he won the confidence vote. We are live in Rome, coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: Italy's prime minister has just addressed the lower house of Parliament of his political future on the line. Prime Minister Mario Draghi overwhelmingly won a confidence vote in the Senate yesterday. So that was the second time in a week that senators gave him the thumbs up. But despite that win, he still seems to have run out of good political options.

For more, Barbie Nadeau joins us from Rome. Barbie, a busy day in Italy. So, bring us up to speed as to what just happened and what it means.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, Mr. Draghi is a man of -- with his -- you know (INAUDIBLE) to protocol, let's say. So, he is very likely going to announce his resignation, but he would know he shouldn't do it to the Parliament, he needs to do that and deliver that to the president first.

So, he is out on his way right now to the presidential palace to meet with Sergio Mattarella, the president of Italy, who will, we assume, he will assume get his resignation after last night.

Last night's events were nothing short of a bloodbath. You know, the political pundits today say we have not seen anything like this for years. We had the win of the confidence vote by Mario Draghi last night.

[03:25:01]

NADEAU: It was set against this backdrop of political infighting. There were three major parties of the ruling coalition that he has been able to lead since he came into power as prime minister in February of 2021, who abstained.

Now, that is very different than voting against him. They abstained for political reasons of their own. The five-star movement which had one of the most votes in the last election in 2018, which is the political electoral cycle we are finishing right now, that was supposed to end in May of 2023. They are going through an implosion, if you, of political discontent within their party.

The other two parties that abstained last night were the center right parties, one led by Matteo Salvini, the League Parth, and the other by Silvio Berlusconi. A lot of people remember that name from the government's past in this country.

Those parties want a new election. They don't want to wait until May of 2023 because they are polling high. The center right is pulling very high here.

If the resignation comes to pass, which we assume it will in the next hour or so, Mattarella will be by protocol ask -- compelled to give Mario Draghi the role of a technocrat to carry the government through until the elections.

The elections would likely be held in October. If those elections are held in October, it is likely that the center right will do very well based on the recent polling. But in Italy, politics are often chaotic. But we haven't seen this sort of political turmoil in years. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: So, just for those of us who are trying to meddle our way through this, Draghi already sort of tendered resignation to the president. The president sort of turned him down. He is going to do this again and now be accepted? Why is that?

NADEAU: Well, it is very different. A week ago, he tendered his resignation because of political infighting, because the five-star movement pulled its support from his government. You couldn't govern without that party because they won the most votes in the last election. So, the president, Mattarella, said last week, listen, try, just go back and try, try to see if you can work something out. He tried, he failed. The parties are not supporting him.

You know Mario Draghi is a eurocrats, he is a businessman, he is a banker, he is not a politician per se. He is not going to play this the way the politicians play. He realizes he cannot govern the way the parties are set up right now. He read that vote. Even though he won it theoretically last night, he read the results of that vote as impossible for him to go forward.

So, this time, when he tendered his resignation, it is very widely expected that Mattarella will say, okay, you gave it a try, you gave it a shot, we are going to have to go through elections, we are going to have to give this back to the Italian people. They are going to have to decide. They are going to have to try to work out this mess through the ballot box.

That is something -- it was supposed to happen anyway in May of 2023. If it happens in October, you know, the results are always going to be interesting here in Italy. And this is certainly one to watch. Today is a very important day in Italian politics not just over what happened last night, but over how the political parties react to it today.

They will be posturing -- campaigns starts today, I would say, going forward, even though the election date may not be announced for a week or so. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Great explanation. Thanks so much for walking us through all this chaos. Really appreciate it. Barbie Nadeau in Rome.

Well, the race to replace Boris Johnson heats up. The British prime minister is going out with a bang. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH CARETAKER PRIME MINISTER: Mission largely accomplished, for now. I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank all the wonderful staff of the House of Commons. I want to thank all my friends and colleagues. I want to thank (INAUDIBLE). I want to think everybody here and hasta la vista, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, the race to replace him as the next prime minister and conservative party leader is down to two candidates, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. They will spend the next few weeks campaigning before a final vote by members of the conservative party.

Still to come, a six-time former prime minister is now the president of Sri Lanka. We will have a live report from Colombo on the mixed reactions to the news coming up. Stay with us.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us from around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Sri Lanka has a new president. Six-time former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was just sworn in a short time ago. Now he faces the monumental task of turning around an economy in shambles. Not to mention winning over a skeptical public, many of whom wanted him out of office before he was even offered the job.

Now, to Cuba where a growing diesel shortage has led to persistent blackouts and insanely long lines at the gas pumps.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann spoke to some drivers waiting in line for more than a week just to fill up their tanks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The line for diesel in Havana seems to go on forever. And barely move. It takes days now for these drivers to fill up their tanks. Yes, you heard that right. People wait here for days to get fuel and don't even think about leaving the line, not even for a second.

"We can't go," he says, "if you leave, someone else takes your spot. And you have to go back to the beginning and start all over again. So, drivers catch some z's in their cars. Brush their teeth by the side of the road. Kill the hours playing dominoes. Hoping that the next increasingly scarce shipment of fuel comes soon.

The people at the front of this very long line say that they've been waiting for eight days to fill up their trucks and their cars with diesel. They people sleep in their trucks have their family bring them food. But what they didn't want to do is talk to us on camera. They say that if they complain to publicly, they might lose their place in line.

Battered by the pandemic U.S. sanctions and a global supply chain disrupted by the war in Ukraine, Cuba is confronting the worsening energy crisis.

Large parts of the communist run island are being hit by longer and longer power outages. Keeping the lights on requires more fuel than the Cuban government has on hand. "The power plants have consumed more of the small amount of fuel that

we have," he says, "fundamentally, diesel which costs us a lot of work to get, it means that our generation of energy is affected as our important economic activities. Analysts say the whole grid is in danger of collapsing.

JORGE PINON, DIRECTOR, LATIN America AND CARIBBEAN ENERGY PROGRAM: You have a number of cumulative effects that have taken place that cannot be solved with mandates. We are talking about major structural investments in the billions of dollars that's going to take a number of years to solve this problem.

OPPMANN Blackouts in July 2021 sparked the largest anti-government protests in decades. Already this summer, outages have caused people to take to the streets, banging pots and pans to demand the power be restored. But with the government warning that the blackouts and fuel shortages will continue, Cubans can expect a long hot, intense summer ahead of them.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The powerful moment for one American family with a loved one who is considered wrongfully detained in Venezuela. Matthew Heath spoke on the phone Wednesday with his family after almost two years behind bars.

[03:35:01]

CNN's Kylie Atwood reports, a new mural in Washington, D.C. is trying to raise awareness of his case and many others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER (voice-over): Wide smiles, bright eyes. The cap of a marine, a carefully kept mustache. These are the faces of 18 Americans detained abroad. Their face is now larger than life, on a mural unveiled in Washington, D.C.

ALEXANDRA ZAMBRANO FORSETH, DAUGHTER OF AMERICAN DETAINED IN VENEZUELA: I hope that this mural, I hope people see that my dad is living, a breathing human being with feelings and that he is not just a policy issue.

ATWOOD: Their families are pushing the U.S. government to do everything in their power to bring them home.

GABRIELA ZAMBRANO-HILL, DAUGHTER OF AMERICAN DETAINED IN VENEZUELA: My dad is losing his vision bit by bit because he doesn't have medical treatment. Is he going to be blind by the time I'm able to get him home?

ATWOOD: One moment of joy.

UNKNOWN: If you saw us all running from the back of the alley -- ATWOOD: One family got an unexpected phone call.

EVERETT RUTHERFORD, UNCLE OF AMERICAN DETAINED IN VENEZUELA: Matthew called just now. We were able to tell him what we are doing for him, for the other families. How hard we are working to try to get him home.

ATWOOD: Matthew Heath is an American detained in Venezuela who attempted suicide last month. His mother said her son will not survive if he doesn't get home soon.

CONNIE HAYES, MOTHER OF AMERICAN DETAINED IN VENEZUELA: He was subject to suffocation that put plastic bags over his face multiple times. He was then electrocuted multiple times.

ATWOOD: The murals artist Isaac Campbell has won artistic vision for this emotional display.

ISAAC CAMPBELL, MURAL ARTIST: It's is my biggest hope that some of these people can stand in front of their picture and say I'm home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ATWOOD: Now most of the images in that mural are the final photo that these family members took of their loved one before they were detained abroad so they have a very emotional connection to the images that they saw up on that wall today. And the artist told us that he is thinking about putting up similar murals in cities across the country. And of course, he is hoping that President Biden visits this mural that is in Georgetown just blocks from the White House.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.

BRUNHUBER: An unprecedented global heat wave is having an impact on some of the coldest places. Coming up, why scientists are alarmed by the enormous ice melts in Greenland. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:39:57]

BRUNHUBER: The heat wave baking much of Europe has forced the rock band Pearl Jam to cancel their show in Vienna. The band told fans on Instagram that lead singer Eddie Vedder's throat was damaged at their show outside Paris by the heat, dust and smoke from nearby fires. The band apologized and promised fans a full refund.

Well, unusually warm weather in northern Greenland has triggered rapid melting. And scientists on the islands ice sheets are alarmed. As CNN's Rene Marsh reports, the t-shirt and shorts weather on the island is bad news for the climate and for sea levels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION & GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Off the coast of northwest Greenland, the water is perfectly still. But puddling on icebergs indicate a transformation is underway.

That's the sound of rapid melting. Triggered by a few days of unusually warm temperatures. During CNN's first three days in northern Greenland, the temperature topped out nearly 10 degrees higher than normal. It's days like today, warm enough to wear short sleeves near 60 degrees in Greenland. It's a high melt day when it's this unusually warm. And it's also deeply concerning for scientists.

KUTALMIS SAYLAM, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-AUSTIN: It definitely worries me, we are at 67 latitudes here on top of the world in North Pole. And we could just yesterday, especially not today, but yesterday, we could wander around in our t-shirts. That was not really expected.

ASLAK GRINSTED, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, NIELS BOHR INSTITUTE: It's basically at the melting point today. As you can see now to make snowballs.

MARSH: At a research site in northeast Greenland, near melt conditions at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet, made what's usually a frozen landing strip inoperable.

GRINSTED: They have a problem when it's this soft as the surface is now.

MARSH: Climate scientists Aslak Grinsted tweeting that, many heat wave negative 1.6 degrees Celsius in the middle of the Greenland ice sheet, our planned planes are postponed because our ski way is not that good when it is this warm.

Unable to fly out, the scientist past the time playing volleyball in shorts atop the ice sheet. Pre-global warming, Grinsted says temperatures near 32 degrees Fahrenheit at this altitude were unheard of. The National Snow and Ice Data Center tells CNN that from July 15th through 17th alone, a melt surge in northern Greenland caused ice sheet runoff of about six billion tons of water per day. That's about the volume of 2.4 million Olympic-sized pools.

Put another way, enough water to flood the entire state of West Virginia with one foot of water in three days.

SAYLAM: The amount of melt from the ice was, to us, was very surprising because it was very warm day. You could hear the ice just melting in front of our eyes.

MARSH: Research scientists tell CNN this extent of melt in north Greenland this past week is quite unusual and will contribute to global sea level rise, which impacts coastal communities half a world away.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Pituffik, Greenland.

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BRUNHUBER: All right, before we close this hour of CNN Newsroom, here is one for all of you space enthusiasts out there. The jacket worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, well, it could be yours.

Sotheby's is putting it up for auction next week, the jacket has several patches, as you can see, including the NASA logo and Aldrin's name tag. Now the starting bid $700,000 U.S. dollars, but it's expected to sell for as much as two million. Wednesday marks 53 years since Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first people ever to land on the moon.

Thank you so much for watching us. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Inside Africa is up next with my colleague Christine Macfarlane. We'll be back with more news from around the world in about 15 minutes. This is CNN.

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