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Ukraine Says It Intends to Abide by Grain Export Plan; 67 Chinese Cities & Counties Under Highest Heat Warning; Pope Arrives in Canada to Apologize to Indigenous Groups; Wildfire Near Yosemite Forces Thousands from Homes; U.S. Mulls Declaring Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency; Japan's Sakurajima Volcano Erupts. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 25, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Rosemary Church.

[00:00:39]

Just ahead, Russia admits it was behind an attack at the key sea port of Odessa but says the deal to allow grain exports will go on as planned.

Scorching temperatures on three continents made worse by wildfires. It's not over yet.

And the pope arrives in Canada on a journey of penance to offer a long-awaited apology to the country's indigenous people.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you been this. And we begin in Ukraine, where efforts to restart grain exports are in full swing. Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations signed a deal Friday to restart the wheat exports by sea.

Moscow says Russia and Turkey and another party, still to be determined, will be escorting vessels carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Kyiv is warning that provocations, like the Russian missile strike on Odessa, will put the deal at risk.

Russia said, on Sunday, its forces had hit a Ukrainian warship in Odessa with high-precision missiles.

Meantime, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is trying to shore up support in Egypt and Africa. After meeting with top officials in Egypt, he will stop in Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Egypt relies heavily on wheat imported from Russia and Ukraine. And most African countries have not condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Well, Ukraine says it intends to abide by the agreement on grain exports, despite the Russian missile strikes on Odessa over the weekend. Moscow has now officially said it carried out the latest attack on the port city.

CNN's Ivan Watson is in Ukraine with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After initially denying responsibility --

WATSON (voice-over): -- for cruise missile strikes on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Saturday morning, the Russian foreign ministry has pulled a complete 180, now claiming responsibility for the attack, saying they were carried out with Kalibr cruise missiles that hit, as Moscow claims, a Ukrainian naval vessel in the port.

Now the attacks on Saturday have been condemned by the Ukrainian government, because they were carried out just hours after Russia signed a deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations, with Ukraine to allow the export of Ukrainian wheat on cargo ships from Odessa and to other Ukrainian ports.

The criticism has been echoed by the U.S. government, by the U.K., and by the European Union's foreign policy chief. That said, the Ukrainians say they plan to try to adhere to the agreement, which the U.N. secretary general has said could be a beacon of hope on the Black Sea.

Because we have seen global grain prices soaring since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of this year. Ukraine is one of the world's biggest producers of wheat. And that has plunged, now, tens of millions of people into acute hunger, the U.N. says.

WATSON: Meanwhile, Russia's top diplomat, at a meeting in Egypt, has said that Russia does also intend to adhere to the agreement and went on to say that he believes Russian, Turkish ships, as well as another country's ships, that has yet to be determined, would escort cargo ships from Ukrainian ports to the Bosphorus Strait, where the ships would then go on and bring their valuable grain to world markets.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, in Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The United States says if the efforts to export Ukrainian grain via sea routes fail, there is a contingency plan involving road, rail, and river routes. The U.S. Agency for International Development chief, Samantha Power, spoke to CNN's Larry Madowo earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMANTHA POWER, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: This is a moment for all countries that play leadership roles in the international system, as the People's Republic of China, clearly, aspires to do and has done in certain domains. It is for them, for all of us to show up and to dig deeper than we have so far if we are going to prevent this crisis from becoming a catastrophe.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How big is the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine into the current problem you're seeing in Kenya, and Somalia, and Ethiopia?

POWER: In terms of food just coming from Somalia, more than half of the wheat in this country and the country of Somalia comes from Ukraine. It is trapped in the port of Odessa. Twenty million metric tons of wheat and corn are trapped.

So, you know, we can all hope and even pray that the deal that the United Nations negotiated with Russia immediately turned its back on by bombing the port of Odessa, that that deal somehow sticks.

MADOWO: Do you worry about Russia's commitment to that deal, if literally, just hours after they just signed, they're already bombing Odessa? And what impact will that have if they don't honor their end of the deal?

POWERS: Well, we have been living the contingency plan. Because there's no way you can trust anything that Vladimir Putin says. We are working with the Ukrainians on Plan B.

Plan B involves road, and rail, and river, and again, you know, sending in barges. And, you know, adjusting the rail system so that they're better aligned with those in Europe so that the experts can move out more quickly.

But there is no substitute for Putin allowing the blockade to end, his blockade to end. And the grains being sent out the most efficient way possible, especially because we've lost so much time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: So she believes that adding the grain exports to the global market will help drive down prices.

Matthew Schmidt is a professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven. Thank you so much for joining us.

MICHAEL SCHMIDT, PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: My pleasure.

CHURCH: So on Saturday, Russia fired multiple missiles at the key Ukrainian seaport city of Odessa. Just hours after the U.N. in Turkey made a deal with Russia to reopen shipping ports to allow Ukraine to restart grain exports, shielded by supposed safe corridors.

What impact does that attack, and potentially others, have on getting grain exports out of Ukraine and around the world to help ease an international food crisis? SCHMIDT: In the immediate term, probably none. In other words, the

grain is still going to go out of the port, but it was almost as if President Zelenskyy had his press release already typed up before the attack, saying, See, we told you that you can't trust them.

What the Russians did was essentially follow the exact letter of the law. They weren't supposed to attack any sea-based, you know, ships or parts of this process. So instead, they attacked the city. We'll see how they hew towards that as we go on.

But the real thing that worries me was there's a 40-million-ton shortfall that we're facing this fall in wheat, and this deal is still only going to put, at best, if it works efficiently, and if the Russians are firing rockets at Odessa, it won't. So at best, it will put 25 million tons out there. So we're still facing a food crisis this fall.

CHURCH: Yes, clearly. And of course, in the meantime, it has to be said that Russia is also destroying grain fields, targeting grain storage facilities, adding to that global food crisis.

So what needs to be done about Russia's actions, and what will likely happen next, then? You seem confident that this grain, or a large portion of it, will still get out.

SCHMIDT: It's in everybody's benefit to get some of the grain out. I think Russia will do what it does. It will -- it will follow the technical letter of the law, and it will gaslight. It will say that what it's doing when it's attacking the land or when it's harassing ships, isn't in violation, even though everybody else looks at it and says that it is.

And it will force the Ukrainians to basically decide to let it go or not. And I think that they will, because it's their benefit to get the grain out.

CHURCH: Certainly, though, the optics of this export deal signed by Russia appeared to show that it's not really worth the paper it's written on. So what does it tell us about making deals with Russia, since as you point out, there's no -- they're not actually breaking the law? This is a political deal, isn't it? And at the moment, they're not really fulfilling their side of the deal.

SCHMIDT: Well, I think a lot of this is the fact that, A, Ukraine needs the money for the exports. B, Ukraine cares about behaving in a Western way, in a Western standard, with Western values, and is trying to avert a food crisis, because it's the right thing to do.

[00:10:05]

And those two things, like any Western power facing a country like Russia knows, right, means that you end up tying your hand behind your back and going ahead and going through with this process, even though you know that the deal isn't worth the paper it's written on.

CHURCH: Another point I wanted to raise with you is both Russia and Ukraine have set explosive mines in the sea. So what happens if one of these export vessels hits one of those mines? Who's to blame and what are the consequences?

SCHMIDT: Well, there would be finger-pointing, and you can be sure that, in the case of Russia, Russia will say that it wasn't their mine or wasn't their fault.

I would suspect that if something tragic happened with a Ukrainian mine, the Ukrainians would own up to it.

Again, the Ukrainians are looking at every move they're making. And they're asking themselves, how do we meet a European standard? Because we want to be part of the E.U. We want to show the world that we can fight this war in the right way. We can fight it in a just way. We can fight it in a way that Western powers fight their wars, by trying to protect civilians and taking greater losses, right, and losing -- losing economic opportunities like this, in order to fight the war in the right way.

And so I would expect the Ukrainians to do that over and over again.

CHURCH: And you did mention that Russia didn't really break that deal when it attacked the city of Odessa, because it didn't actually attack the port as such.

What do you think was the reason why Russia decided to do that just hours after the deal was made? What -- what point was it trying to make?

SCHMIDT: It's signaling. Putin is a bully, and you're just letting everybody know that he's there and that he can get to you. It's really that simple.

CHURCH: All right. Matthew Schmidt, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

SCHMIDT: My pleasure.

CHURCH: Brutal heat waves are gripping much of the Northern hemisphere, bringing dangerously high temperatures on three different continents.

In Europe, those searing temperatures are helping fuel wildfires across the South. This was the scene in Western Greece on Sunday as crews battled fire there. It's one of several wildfires raging across the country right now.

In Italy, crowds looking to beat the heat headed to the shores of Lake Como. Temperatures in Italy have spiked to around 40 degrees Celsius as Europe's heat wave settled over the South.

And in London, crews were battling three separate weather-related fires on Sunday. Officials say all three are now under control. Another fire was also reported in Surrey, just Southwest of the capital. Well, beyond Europe, we're also seeing scorching heat across much of

China. For more on that, we want to bring in CNN Beijing bureau chief, Steven Jiang.

Great to see you, Steven. So how bad are the temperatures there across China, and what are people doing to shelter from the extreme heat?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Rosemary, this heat wave in China has just been unrelenting. Not only hitting pockets of the country that traditionally expect to see extremely hot summers in the Southeast. But even, for example, in the Northwestern region of Xinjiang, where they have reported temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius for the past few days.

And for many parts of this country people have not seen or have not expected to see much relief in the coming days. As of Monday, 67 Chinese cities across this vast country actually have issued their highest-level alert, meaning temperatures in their location could surpass 40 degrees in the coming 24 hours.

So that's why, as you can imagine, people are really trying to escape this kind of heat in their hometowns as much as they can.

I actually just returned from the Southern island of Hainan, often called China's Hawaii. The resorts there are just full of domestic travelers and with the crowds really flocking to the beaches and swimming pools, really undeterred by the challenges of traveling, as well as the potential risk of getting stuck there because of the government's insistence on a zero-COVID policy.

And that is really the reality many people here are facing: this double whammy of both the heat wave and a resurgence of COVID cases throughout the country.

On Monday, the health ministry here actually reported more than 600 domestically-transmitted cases for the previous 24 hours. That is a very alarmingly high number for this country, which is also why we are seeing the reimposition of lockdowns and mass testing in many cities.

But the situation is especially concerning for Shanghai, the biggest city and a financial hub, whereas you know, they went through a brutal two-month lockdown starting in April. And that city just reopened on June 1 but has already been dealing with a very stubborn new outbreak for the past few weeks when -- where there have been reporting dozens of new cases on a daily basis.

So the authorities there have already ordered several rounds of mass testing for much of the city's 25-minute million residents. And the next round is taking place Tuesday through Thursday, when the temperatures are going to hit at least 35 degrees and possibly as high as 38 degrees. So, definitely not a very pleasant experience to go through -- Rosemary.

[00:15:19]

CHURCH: No. So many challenges to deal with. Steven Jiang, many thanks. Joining us live from Beijing.

Well, with scorching temperatures affecting millions of people around the globe, the question for many is when they might finally get some relief.

So let's bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, who joins us now. Good to see you, Pedram. So what are you seeing in terms of relief for various parts of the country, dealing with these extreme temperatures?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Rosie, you know, it's been such a long duration setup here. Several weeks of excessive heat that's been in place, and a few pockets have seen some showers that have helped keep those temperatures at bay.

But just about everyone in those densely-populated areas across the South and East seeing these temperatures that have climbed into the 30s, into the 40s and in late July, in the hot season, typically, the middle 30s what you would expect.

So it's far removed, about 5 to 7 degrees above that margin on Sunday afternoon also, seeing some incredible temperatures. Shanghai coming in at 38 degrees when 32 is typical for this time of year.

Look at Hong Kong. Three consecutive days, ending on Sunday afternoon, where all-time record temperatures were set. We're talking about an observation of 37.4 degrees in Hong Kong. First time they've ever exceeded 37 degrees records here, of course, kept for decades. And temperatures as oppressive as it gets.

Now, in Shanghai, much the same. We've had three red alerts so far in 2022. Seventeen alerts, as far as red alerts have been issued since the year 1873. Three of them occurred in the past several weeks.

Again, speaking to how intense this heat wave has been across areas of China. Shanghai climbed up to 40.9 Celsius. That was back on the 13th of July, previous time that it ever occurred was back in July of 2017. Records here have been kept also since 1873.

Again, it shows you how rare this sort of a set-up is to get the sort of heat that persists for so long. And in fact, 14 days -- since the year 2009, 14 days have exceeded 40 -- 40 degrees. Since 1873, only 16 days have happened.

So you kind of notice the trend far more frequent in the last few years.

But the heat stays put. We do expect a few pockets of showers and thunderstorms to bring those temperatures down, while in the latter half of the week, Beijing certainly, Shanghai could see a little bit of a break later into the week.

And look at Chongqing here. Up to 39 degrees, Rosemary. By Thursday and Friday, maybe a little bit of relief here. Comes dropping back down into the lower 30s by the latter half of the week -- Rosie.

CHURCH: Wow, all right. Thanks so much for tracking that. Pedram Javaheri joining us there.

Well, more than 90 million people are under heat alerts in parts of the United States, as records are being broken daily in the Northeast. Boston has extended its heat emergency advisory through Monday after the temperature reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday -- That's nearly 38 degrees Celsius -- breaking a record that was set in 1933.

Now it's even hotter in Newark, New Jersey. The city saw its fifth consecutive day of temperatures above 100 degrees.

The extreme heat, combined with years of drought caused by climate change is fueling a wildfire near Yosemite National Park in California. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from rural communities where the fast-moving Oak Fire has burned more than 15,000 acres. Camila Bernal has more now on that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Firefighters here working around the clock, doing everything they can, both in the air and on the ground, to stop these flames. But they say this fire has been difficult for a number of reasons.

First, the weather. The drought. They say the afternoon is really the worst time, because they're seeing the temperatures increasing. They see the humidity drop and the winds picking up.

They also say the terrain is making things difficult, because it is very steep. So it's hard for these firefighters to get close to the flames.

And finally, they also say it's hard to get to the people, the homes. They say that a lot of these homes in the area are large. They sit in maybe five acres of land. A lot of it is covered by a forest. A lot of times, it's overgrown and dry. So it makes it difficult not just for the firefighters, but it makes it dangerous for the people who live in this area.

There are many who have already evacuated. Authorities are asking people to listen to the warnings, to get their belongings and leave if they are under those evacuation orders.

But there are others who say they just don't want to leave. I spoke to someone who's lived here for 20 years, John Mullen (ph), and here's what he told me.

JOHN MULLEN (PH), RESIDENT NEAR YOSEMITE: I get real nervous. But when the embers were -- Friday night was the worst night for us on on tip- top.

[00:20:00]

BERNAL: Why?

MULLEN (ph): Because the stuff was coming out of the sky, and it lit (ph) a spot. The fires will, you know, jump to our property. So we have to be, you know, prepared.

I've seen fires before. So I feel like I can protect myself. I have no kids with me in my house, so I can leave at a moment's notice.

BERNAL: And we are expecting progress, because we are seeing more resources. On Saturday, there were about 400 people that were working on this fire. By Sunday, more than 2,000 people were working on the fire.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Mariposa County.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, one of the earliest, well- known people to sound the alarm on climate change, is blasting climate deniers. He compared them to the police officers who failed to take action during the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, the climate deniers are really, in some ways, similar to all of those almost 400 law enforcement officers in Uvalde, Texas, who were waiting outside an unlocked door while the children were being massacred.

They heard the screams. They heard the gunshots, and nobody stepped forward. And God bless those families who suffered so much. And law enforcement officials tell us that's not typical of what law enforcement usually does.

And confronted with this global emergency, what we're doing with our inaction and failing to walk through the door and stop the killing is not typical of what we are capable of as human beings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Gore also said President Biden could take more executive action to fight climate change without waiting for Congress.

And just ahead, the pope begins a weeklong visit to Canada, where indigenous groups are expecting an apology from the Catholic leader that they've been seeking for many years.

Plus, a very busy weekend in the Mediterranean as rescuers saved hundreds of migrants in just a matter of hours. We'll have the details for you after this short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Indigenous Canadians played music on Sunday as Pope Francis arrived in Alberta. The Roman Catholic leader is on what he's called a tour of penance. He's set to apologize for the Church's involvement with so-called residential schools.

These were facilities where indigenous children were abused, separated from their families, and forced to assimilate into the white culture. Unmarked graves have been found near the sites of some of these

schools, and Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called the system cultural genocide.

[00:25:03]

CNN's Paula Newton has more now from Edmonton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): It is a papal trip like no other, one that will see Pope Francis humble himself on behalf of the Catholic Church and apologize to Canada's indigenous peoples for years of abuse and harm.

Only months ago, few could imagine his journey here, one the pope is calling a journey of penance for what a Canadian national commission says was cultural genocide. At least 150,000 indigenous children separated from their families and forced to attend residential institutions, where thousands endured physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from priests, nuns, and school staff.

VICTORIA MCINTOSH, RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVOR: Kneel down where you made us kneel down as little kids and ask for that forgiveness.

NEWTON (voice-over): Victoria McIntosh was taken from her family at the age of 4.

MCINTOSH: My grands made this for me.

NEWTON (voice-over): This was the coat she says she wore when her mom dropped her off at a Catholic institution in Manitoba in the 1960s.

MCINTOSH: That nun took it off of me and threw it at my mom.

NEWTON (voice-over): McIntosh said the nun then called her mother a savage, an incident she said foreshadowed years of abuse. She says her mother never forgave herself.

MCINTOSH: And I told her, I said, "It's not your fault. It wasn't your fault. What choice did you have?"

NEWTON (voice-over): McIntosh says she was sexually assaulted by a priest for years when she was only a child.

MCINTOSH: He violated me in ways that a child should never go through. And I would break down, and I would cry, thinking about it, what he'd done. And I wondered why. What did I do to you?

NEWTON (voice-over): McIntosh says that priest was 92-year-old Arthur Masse. It was only in June when he was charged with indecent assault. He has not entered a plea.

And it is the impunity of the Catholic Church's actions that hangs over this visit, even as dozens of indigenous communities now search the grounds of these institutions, where hundreds of unmarked graves have already been identified.

NEWTON: As indigenous communities work to recover their lost children, there is much ambivalence about the pope's visit and his apology.

The pope was blunt. He called it a journey of penance.

CHIEF DERRICK HENDERSON, SAGKEENG FIRST NATION: I don't know. That's interesting interpretation of it, right? You know, for me, it's not a journey, right? This was -- it was more than a journey for our people, I think. And the journey will never end, right? It's going to be there forever.

NEWTON (voice-over): Pope Francis says he acknowledges that and hopes this historic gesture of atonement will bring some measure of relief and healing.

Paula Newton, CNN, Edmonton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: An infant is among at least 17 people dead after a boat capsized off the Bahamas. The Bahamian prime minister says the victims were Haitian migrants, likely trying to reach the United States.

Twenty-five people were rescued on Sunday, but the boat was carrying as many 60 when it capsized. Officials in the Bahamas say this was a human smuggling operation, and they are threatening prosecution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN PINDER, BAHAMIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: To the extent that those investigations reveal criminal culpability, there will be no resistance by the government of Bahamas in bringing the necessary criminal enforcement action against those who are -- who are deservingly so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Haitians are fleeing their country as it's rocked by major instability. The Caribbean nation is struggling with kidnappings and gang violence, along with inflation and food insecurity.

Hundreds of migrants had to be rescued in the Mediterranean over the weekend. The German NGO Sea Watch said it saved more than 400 migrants from five different boats in just 12 hours.

And the Italian Coast Guard rescued almost 700 more.

Sadly, five bodies were found during that rescue. The migrants were transferred to ports in Calabria and Sicily on Sunday.

The military rulers in Myanmar have executed two well-known pro- democracy activists, along with two other men, according to state media.

The activists, Kyaw Jimmy and Zeya Thaw, had been accused of what the military called terrorist acts. They were sentenced to death in January in a military trial that was closed to the public.

These are the first judicial executions in Myanmar in decades. Human rights groups fear it could be a sign of more to come.

[00:30:03]

Monkeypox is now considered a global health emergency, and now the White House is weighing its own such declaration here in the United States. I'll talk to a medical expert about where things stands with the virus, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, the White House is still deciding whether to declare monkeypox a public health emergency. This comes a day after the World Health Organization did just that, calling the outbreak a global health emergency.

The WHO says there are more than 16,000 cases reported in 75 countries.

It's a rare but dangerous infection, similar to the now eradicated smallpox virus. Symptoms may include a flu-like illness, swelling of the lymph nodes, and unusual rashes on the body.

The virus can spread through contact with body fluids, sores, or through contaminated clothing and bedding.

And while public health officials have focused their prevention efforts on men who have sex with men, it's important to note that anyone can get this.

So let's turn now to Anne Rimoin. She's a professor of epidemiology at UCLA, and she joins us now from Los Angeles. Always great to have you with us.

ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UCLA NEWTON (voice-over)Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So given what we know right now about the spread of monkeypox across the United States and indeed the world, should the White House immediately declare monkeypox a public health emergency? And why is it taking this long to figure out what to do about it, given the World Health Organization, as we just reported, has already declared it a global health emergency.

RIMOIN: Well, Rosemary, I think it's in very important that we do everything we can to make the point that this is a serious situation. We are starting to see more and more cases. We still don't have adequate testing. We don't have a great situational awareness about how many cases really exist.

But we can be sure that there are many more out there then we actually are counting right now. So I think it is important to consider declaring this a public health

emergency, not only just globally, as we did through WHO, but locally.

CHURCH: And of course, with more than 16,000 monkeypox cases now reported in 75 countries -- and you said that number is probably higher, because we're not getting all of them necessarily reported.

What do we all need to know about this virus, and how can we protect ourselves?

[00:35:03]

RIMOIN: Look, at the beginning of the segment, you hit on very important pieces here. This is a virus that has been traditionally spreading in Africa. Normally, through animal exposure, then into human populations. And you do see cases start spreading from person to person. But generally speaking, that's been very, very minimal. Just a few cases.

Now we're seeing it spread person to person very easily through very close contact, often sexual contact. And right now, we are seeing this in populations, mostly of men who have sex with men.

But a virus is never going to just stay in one population, especially virus like monkeypox that will have multiple modes of transmission. Therefore, we can anticipate that this will continue to grow and potentially have the opportunity to spread into many populations. You can get it, of course, two very close contact, which include sexual contact.

But you can also get it from -- from contaminated objects like sheets, or bedding, or clothing that's been contaminated. So it's more than one way to get this virus.

The things I'm worried about that this virus is going to become entrenched in human populations. But I'm also very concerned about the potential for this virus to spill over back into animal populations in places where animals have not normally been carriers of this virus. And that we could see it become endemic, both in humans and animals. And that is going to be a very big problem for the world.

CHURCH: So how do we stop it?

NEWTON (voice-over): Well, what we need to be able to do is we have to have good situational awareness. This is testing. This is good case definitions, making sure the clinicians know exactly what to look for to even offer testing.

And we need to be able to get vaccines out, and right now, to populations that are at very high risk. A and then, potentially, offering vaccines to people who may be in different risk categories going forward, to be able to really make sure that we don't see spread of this virus.

So it's the same things that we always talk about: situational awareness through surveillance testing, critical case definitions, and vaccines.

CHURCH: So, professor, what symptoms should people be looking for, and what should they do if they think they have a questionable rash?

RIMOIN: Well, if you have a questionable rash, you should contact your healthcare provider or your local public health jurisdiction, whatever that is. This is a global show here.

And if you -- you know, if you have been in high-risk settings, in particular, you know, if you are having sexual contact with -- in the men who have sex with men group right now, I think that that's -- if you think that you may have been exposed, you should contact your healthcare provider.

But if you're somebody that's at risk, you should look into whether or not you are eligible to get vaccinated. Now, right now, vaccine supplies here in the United States are -- are reasonably low. But they are going to continue to increase.

And so if there are vaccines available, you should avail yourself of those vaccines and also just take precautions as you can. Make sure that you watch for people who may have rashes, use protection. You know, any -- any measures that you can take to limit the potential for spread right now is a good idea, since we know the cases are continuing to increase. And what's recorded out there is definitely not the full picture, given the limited testing.

CHURCH: Very important information. Ann Rimoni, thank you as always. Appreciate it.

RIMOIN: My pleasure.

CHURCH: And still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, a volcanic eruption in Japan has nearby areas on alert, with some advised to evacuate. We'll have a live update from Tokyo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:59]

CHURCH: parts of Southern Japan are under high alert after the Sakurajima volcano erupted Sunday. And you can see lava shooting out of the crater here, surrounded by columns of ash and smoke. Officials say people living nearby should be ready to evacuate.

CNN's Blake Essig joins me now from Tokyo with more on this.

So Blake, what is the latest on this volcanic eruption, and of course, the risk it poses for the area?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, dozens of people have been urged to evacuate after Mount Sakurajima, a volcano at Southern Japan, erupted over the weekend. The volcano had been sending up smoke for about a week with a big eruption taking place around 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, when video captured the volcano sending up these dark plumes of ash and large cinder blocks, these red-hard rocks shooting up into the sky.

The Japan Meteorological Agency says some of the rocks flew about two and a half kilometers from the volcano's crater, which prompted the agency to raise its alert level to a five out of five, the agency's highest possible alert level.

So far, two communities, home to about 50 people, have been urged to evacuate from the danger zone, which is within three kilometers of the volcano's crater.

Another big concern is for the roughly 600,000 people who live outside of the danger zone in places like Kagoshima (ph). Those people have been cautioned, but not urged, to evacuate at this time.

Despite Sakurajima spitting out these large rocks, there have been no reports of damage or injury as a result. And even though the Japan Meteorological Agency is saying that large-scale eruptions aren't imminent, the level five alert remains in place, in part because measurements indicating a swelling of the volcano are still being observed, which tells scientists that magma is still building up.

That being said, experts say no one can scientifically say for sure that a large-scale eruption isn't possible. Take a listen.

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ROBERT GELLER, EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE EXPERT: Any time a volcano starts acting up, there's always some probability of a life- threatening eruption. So given that fact, it's very understandable that the government scientists would, if anything, err on the side of caution by issuing a warning.

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ESSIG: At this port, a government task force has been set up to monitor the situation. Of course, volcanic eruptions in Japan are just part of the normal geological activity daily across the country, Rosemary. Mount Sakurajima is one of Japan's most active volcanoes.

CHURCH: All right. Blake Essig, bringing us that update from his vantage point there in Tokyo. Many thanks.

And thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news from all over the world in about 15 minutes from now. WORLD SPORT is coming up next.

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