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Russia Fires Missiles At Odesa Port Hours After Signing Grain Export Deal; Pope Francis Arrives In Canada On Apology Mission; Massive Wildfire In California Forces Thousands To Evacuate; Wildfires Rage In Greece, Spain And Italy As Heatwave Moves Across Europe; At Least 17 Haitian Migrants Found Dead Off Bahamas coast. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 25, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, Russia admits to attacking the key port city of Odesa in Ukraine that says it's still on board with a plan to get Ukrainian grain exports moving again. Plus, sounding the alarm on monkeypox. How parts of the world are trying to stop the spread of the virus, and Iraq is home to 30 million date palm trees. Now there are new efforts underway to protect the country's national treasure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Rosemarie Church.
CHURCH: And thanks for joining us. We began in Ukraine were efforts to restart grain exports are in full swing. Moscow says Russia-Turkey and another party still to be determined will be a escorting vessels carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations signed a deal Friday to restart the exports.
Since the start of the war, Russia has blockaded Ukrainian ports, trapping millions of tons of grain and deepening a global food crisis. Russia admitted on Sunday its forces had hit a Ukrainian warship and Odesa with high precision missiles and Kyiv is warning the provocations like this we'll put the deal at risk.
Meantime, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is trying to shore up support in Egypt and Africa. After a meeting with top officials in Egypt, Hhe will stop in Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All countries that rely heavily on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine.
Well, meantime Ukraine is calling on Turkey and the United Nations to ensure Russia complies with the grain agreement after the Odessa port attack. CNN's Nada Bashir has the details.
(BEGIN VIDE TAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Russia's admission that it struck what it described as military targets in Ukraine southern port of Odesa comes just a day after the Turkish defense minister said that the Russian Federation had informed Turkey that had no involvement in the attack. And this, of course, is a major blow not only to the agreements secured by Turkey and the United Nations with Russia, and with Ukraine to allow the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine's key southern Black sea ports.
But it's also a major blow to President Erdogan. Up until the point of the attack, the agreement had been seen as somewhat of a diplomatic win for the Turkish president. Now it's up to the Turkish government to prove that this deal can be implemented securely and successfully. And there are a number of key responsibilities that Turkey is set to take on to ensure that this deal can go ahead.
We've already heard from Ukrainian officials saying that they are ready to still export grain through the Black Sea, through the Bosporus, but they are relying on the Turkish government now to remain committed to this agreement and waiting crucially for Turkey to establish the Joint Coordination Center here in Istanbul, which will oversee the passage of those vessels carrying those green exports through safe corridors.
There will also be overseeing the inspection team that just had to take a look at these vessels and ensure that they are only carrying the agricultural goods, the grain that was agreed upon in that agreement, and not importantly, transporting weapons.
Of course, the Turkish government now has that major responsibility. It is involved in ongoing technical briefings with the Ukrainian government to ensure that this can be established as soon as possible, because of course there is a major sense of urgency around getting that grain exported to the country's most dependent on Ukraine's grain exports. Nada Bashir, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
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. US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power spoke to CNN's Larry Madowo earlier.
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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.
[01:05:11]
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, in the country of Somalia comes from Ukraine. It is trapped in the port of Odesa. 20 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, but that Russia immediately turned its back on by bombing the port of Odessa, that that deal somehow sticks.
MADOWO: Do you worry about Russia has commitment to that deal if literally just hours after it was signed, already bombing Odesa? And what impact would that have if they don't honor the end of the deal?
POWER: 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 systems so that they're better aligned with those in Europe so that the exports 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 VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Power, she believes that adding the grain exports to the global market will help drive down the 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.
MATTHEW SCHMIDT, PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: My pleasure.
CHURCH: So on Saturday, Russia fired multiple missiles of the key Ukrainian seaport city of Odesa, just hours after the UN and Turkey made a deal with Russia to reopen shipping ports to allow Ukraine to restart grain exports shielded by supposedly 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 that port. But it was almost as if President Zelenskyy had his press release already typed up before the attack saying see we told you, well, 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 attack the city. We'll see how they view towards that as we go on.
But the real thing that worries me was there's a 40 million time shortfall that we're facing this fall in wheat, and this steel is still only going to put at best if it works efficiently. And if the Russians are firing rockets at Odesa, it won't. So at best, it'll put 25 million tons out there. So we're still facing a food crisis this fall.
CHURCH: Yes, clearly. And of course, a 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 benefits to get some of the grain out? I think Russia will do what it does, 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'll force the Ukrainians to basically decide to let it go or not. And I think that they will, because it's in their benefits to get the grain out.
CHURCH: Certainly though the optics of this export deal signed by Russia appear 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 way they're not actually breaking the law? This is a political deal, isn't it? 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 is because it's the right thing to do.
And those two things like any Western power facing a country like Russia knows, right, means that you ended 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
[01:10:09]
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 minds? Who's to blame? And what are the consequences?
SCHMIDT: Well, there will be finger pointing. And you can be sure that in the case of Russia, Russia will say that it wasn't their mine or it wasn't their fault. I would suspect that if something tragic happened with Ukrainian mine, 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 EU. 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 the way that Western powers fight their wars, by trying to protect civilians and taking greater losses, right, and 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 Odesa 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 point was that trying to make?
SCHMIDT: It signaling. Putin is a bully and he's just letting everybody know that he's there and then he can get you. It's really that simple.
CHURCH: All right. Matthew Schmidt, thank you so much for joining us appreciate it.
SCHMIDT: My pleasure.
CHURCH: Pope Francis is in Canada this week as the church tries to atone for decades of abuse against indigenous people.
Indigenous Canadians played music on Sunday after Pope Francis arrived in Alberta. The Roman Catholic leader is on what He has called a tour of penance, is 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 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. CNN's Paula Newton has more now from Edmonton.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a papal trip like no other, one that will see Pope Francis humbled 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 when 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 injured physical, sexual and emotional abuse from priests, nuns and school staff.
VICTORIA MCINTOSH, RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVOR: Kneel down the way you made us kneel down as little kids and ask for that forgiveness.
NEWTON: Victoria McIntosh was taken from her family at the age of four.
MCINTOSH: My grandfather made this for me.
NEWTON: 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 her off a me and threw that my mom.
NEWTON: 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. Wasn't your fault. Or choice the jab.
NEWTON: McIntosh says she was sexually assaulted by a priest for years when she was only a child.
MCINTOSH: He violated me. And ways that no child should ever go through. And I wouldn't break down and I would cry, thinking about it what he done. And I wonder why. What did I do to you?
NEWTON: McIntosh says that priest was 92-year-old Arthur Massey. 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.
(on camera): As indigenous communities work to recover their lost children there is still much ambivalence about the Pope's visit and his apology.
The Pope was blunt he called it a journey of penance.
CHIED DERRICK HENDERSON, SAGKEENG FIRST NATION: I don't know that's interesting interpretation of it, right.
[01:15:05]
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: Pope Francis says he acknowledges that, but hopes this historic gesture of atonement will bring some measure of relief and healing. Paula Newton, CNN, Edmonton.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHURCH: The Bahamas says it may seek criminal charges after a boat capsizes at sea. What we're learning about the deaths of more than a dozen people, coming up.
Plus, brutal heat waves are gripping three continents bringing dangerously high temperatures and fueling devastating wildfires. We will have a look at the forecast after the break.
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CHURCH: Wildfire raging near California's Yosemite National Park has burned through more than 15,000 acres. Hundreds of firefighters are working around the clock to battle the blaze. The steep terrain is making it difficult for them to get to rural areas where thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started to get messed up together. That's why I went up the hill and look and I'm like, Oh my god. It was coming fast.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was scary when we left because we were getting ashes on us but we had such a visual of this billowing that was it just seemed like it was above our house and coming our way really quickly.
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CHURCH: At least 10 structures have been destroyed and the fire is threatening thousands more. In Europe scorching temperatures are helping fuel wildfires across the south.
This was the scene in western Greece on Sunday as crews battled a fire there. It's one of several wildfires raging across the country right now. Many other areas are under fire alert with temperatures expected to hit 43 degrees Celsius in some places.
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. London's fire brigade is urging residents to take extra precautions to prevent fires because the hot weather means the ground is especially dry and prone to fires.
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 I've settled over the South.
[01:20:07]
In Romania, a prayer for relief soaring temperatures have only worsen the country's ongoing drought. Hundreds of villagers have had to ration water this week. And the dry conditions are decimating crops making some worry their food could run out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Because we are melting not only because of our thirst for water, but also because of other sins which today we pray that soon over us, the rain will pour.
LULIA CULEASA, LOCAL RESIDENT (through translator): I haven't seen a drought like this before. We have children, we have cattle. We make an effort to plant tomatoes in the garden and they dry out. We have nothing to eat. God give us rain. Don't abandon us.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Beyond Europe, we're also seeing scorching heat across much of China, more than 65 cities and counties are under red alert, the country's highest heat warning, but zookeepers in one city came up with a clever way to help the animals cool down. They prepare giant ice blocks for the zoos panders to lounge on. Other animals like these elephants were given big blocks of ice to play with.
Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the latest updates in the CNN Weather Center. But first, let's go to CNN's Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang, and Steven talk to us about these soaring temperatures across China and of course how people are dealing with them.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Rosemary, I'm sure Pedram will elaborate more on this, but it is really how unrelenting and widespread this heatwave has been is catching a lot of people's attention because this heatwave is hitting not only pockets of the country that traditionally expect to see very hot summers in the southeast, but even in a Northwest in the Xinjiang region, for example.
And as of Monday, 67 Chinese cities across this vast country have issue their highest level Red Alert, meaning temperature in their locations could surpass 40 degrees Celsius in the coming 24 hours. So as you can imagine, people are really trying to escape this kind of extreme scorching heat in their hometowns.
I just returned from the southern island of Hainan, where the resorts there are really full of domestic travelers with the crowds flocking to the beaches and pools really deterred by the challenges of traveling in China these days, including the risk of -- the potential risk of getting stuck because of the government's insistence on a zero COVID policy.
And that is really the double whammy millions of Chinese are dealing with right now both the heatwave and a resurgence of COVID cases throughout the nation. On Monday the health ministry actually reported more than 600 locally transmitted cases alarmingly high number for this country. And that's why in many parts of the country, we are seeing lockdowns and mass testing are making a comeback. And the situation is especially concerning in Shanghai, the financial hub, as you remember they have -- they went through a brutal two-month lockdown starting in April and just reopened on June 1.
But in the past few weeks, they've already been dealing with a very stubborn new outbreak with dozens of new cases have been reported on a daily basis. So the Shanghai authorities have already ordered several rounds of mass testing for much of the city's 25 million residents. And the next round is happening Tuesday through Thursday, when temperatures have been forecast between 35 and 38, so not a very pleasant experience to go through. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, many thanks to you, Steven Jiang. So let's bring back CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for more on these extreme weather conditions are right across the globe. It's just extraordinary. PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is, you know, it's been -- as Steven kind of alluded to a long duration setup here Rosemary that makes these heatwave so dangerous for so many people and look at this Hong Kong, would you believe it, the last three days they've set three consecutive all time marks here with Sunday afternoon being the hottest ever observed on record 37.4 degrees.
And of course when you look at these numbers, this region is certainly well known for heat in the summer season. And really all of China when it comes to the middle of July to the middle of August, known as the sun food period was essentially translates to three periods of laying low because they know this is the most hot, most humid time of year and the folks really tried to avoid spending excess time outside.
But this is the pattern that we've seen where temps are not only at their hottest of the year, the most humid they have been all year but about five to even eight degrees above what is normal. Some areas even higher than that. But notice this, Fuzhou towards areas of the north up to 42, Shanghai a little farther towards the south at 38 degrees and you kind of see these regions are temps are so far removed from what is considered normal even in the hot season, which is what makes it dangerous.
And on Sunday similar pattern, once again running not just one or two degrees above average but five to almost 10 degrees above average here.
And in Shanghai in particular, incredible three red alerts which means temps again exceeding 40 degrees have been issued so far in 2022.
[01:25:03]
Keep in mind the city has only issued 17 of these alerts since the year 1873. So again, speaks to how unusual and long duration this sort of a heatwave has been here and notice the next several days a little bit cooler potentially even getting a little bearable there by Friday afternoon. We expect more rain showers to come in towards the latter half of the week. But for some it really isn't the case.
In Hong Kong, temps kind of remained put at around 33 to 34 degrees. In ChongQing about 39. The warmest we get on Tuesday afternoon and then notice by Thursday and Friday, some thunderstorms possible temps do want to cool off a little bit.
Speaking of cooling off, our friends across Europe, finally beginning to see a break here tremendous cool down in store across a large area of Europe, the exceptions being areas to the south and west. In fact, the storms here on the horizon could prompt some severe weather. In fact, some gusty winds and large hail we've had reports of impressive hail across areas of Poland, which just last week we were talking about record heat. Three centimeter, four centimeter diameter hailstones across parts of Poland as a result of the incoming storms here, so at least cooling off but given us storms on the horizon going to make it a little tricky across that region.
CHURCH: All right, appreciate you staying on top of all of this. Both thanks to Pedram Javaheri and Steven Jiang.
Well, an infant is among at least 17 people found dead after a boat capsized of the Bahamas. The Bahamian Prime Minister says the victims were Haitian migrants likely trying to reach the United States. CNN's Matt Rivers has details.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What authorities in the Bahamas are saying likely happened here was that it was around 1:00 a.m. early on Sunday morning when a twin engine speedboat carrying about 60 people left the coast of one of the islands in the Bahamas called New Providence. And it was shortly thereafter that authorities say they responded to an incident involving that boat. And when they got to the scene roughly seven miles off the coast, they recovered the bodies of 17 Haitians. Recovering those bodies finding out 15 of them were female, one of them was male, and the last body being that of an infant.
They also say they rescued some 25 people from the water and they say they're investigating this as a human trafficking incident and say the likely destination of this speedboat was Miami, Florida. And we know that the number of Haitians seeking to make these journeys to try and get to the United States via boat. Those journeys have been increasing as of late, just look at the numbers from the United States Coast Guard. It was in late June that the Coast Guard put out a press release saying that they had intercepted more than 6,000 people from Haiti trying to get to the United States by vote since October of 2021.
That number is roughly four times the amount of people from Haiti that were intercepted in a similar manner in all of the previous fiscal year. That is a clear trend there. And while every single migrant has his or her own individual story about why they are going to the United States, what is true is that the broader trends going on in Haiti right now affect everyone. You have huge levels of poverty, of hunger, food scarcity. You have a political vacuum that has been left since that country's president was assassinated in July of 2021. And in part that vacuum has led to incredible levels of gang violence that have just decimated huge portions of the capital city of Port-au-Prince that has created a massive number of internally displaced people, some of whom have tried to migrate to the United States.
Again, we don't know the individual stories behind the people involved in this latest incident, but what we do know is that it illustrates how dangerous journeys like these can be. Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHURCH: Hundreds of migrants had to be rescued in the Mediterranean over the weekend. The German NGO Sea-Watch says 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.
Well, 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 stand with the virus, just ahead.
And saving the date, Iraqi farmers struggle against the climate crisis, trying to make production of the age old staple flourish again.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. And this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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 W.H.O. says there are more than 16,000 cases reported in 75 countries. That includes more than 2,800 here in the United States.
CNN spoke with the U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and asked him about the criticism that the Biden administration isn't doing enough to stop the spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: When you go from one possible pandemic or one outbreak to another, you need to have an approach that is specific to what public science and public health and medical experts say tell us is going to make the biggest difference. Certainly something we are monitoring closely, and I know the administration has been working aggressively to enhance and accelerate things like the availability and use of vaccines, and other measures that are going to make a difference to stop the spread.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Health officials have said the U.S. has the resources needed to contain the spread, but one tool seemingly in short supply is vaccines.
CNN spoke to the mayor of Miami, Florida, the state with the third highest number of monkeypox cases in the U.S. and we asked him if his city had enough vaccines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ, MIAMI, FLORIDA: I'm not aware of any shortages in vaccines, or testing at this particular juncture. None of it has been -- you know, come to my attention. But certainly, we'll work with the state and certainly we'll work with
the federal government to make sure that our city is protected, and that those here get the necessary testing and vaccination, and to protect themselves against the monkeypox virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So let's turn now to Anne Rimoin. She is 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: 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.
[01:34:44]
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 great situational awareness about how many cases really exist. But we can be sure that there are many more out there than 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 W.H.O., but locally.
CHURCH: And of course with more than 16,000 monkeypox cases now reported in 75 countries, and you said that number's probably higher because we're not getting all of them necessarily reported. What do we all need to know about this virus? How can we protect ourselves?
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 than 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 are seeing it spread from 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 a 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, through very close contact which include sexual contact. But you can also get it from contaminated objects like sheets or bedding or clothing that has been contaminated. So, you know, it is more than one way to get this virus.
The things I'm worried about are 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. That is going to be a very big problem for the world.
CHURCH: So how do we stop it?
RIMOIN: What we need to be able to do is we have to have good situational awareness. This is testing, this is the case definitions, making sure that clinicians know exactly what to look for to even offer testing. And we need to be able to get the vaccines out.
And right now, to populations that are at very high risk. 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 the spread of this virus.
So it is the same things that we always talk about. Situational awareness through surveillance testing, critical case definitions, 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 health care 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, if you are having sexual contact with men who have sex with men (INAUDIBLE). I think that that's -- if you think that you may have been exposed you should contact your health care provider.
But if you're somebody who'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 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, any measure that you can take to limit the potential for a threat (ph) right now is a good idea since we know the cases are continuing to increase, and what is reported out there is definitely not the full picture given the limited testing.
CHURCH: Very important information. Anne Rimoin, thank you as always. Appreciate it.
RIMOIN: My pleasure.
CHURCH: President Joe Biden's symptoms are improving significantly four days after his COVID diagnosis. That is according to his physician who says the president's main symptom is a sore throat.
The (INAUDIBLE) COVID expert at the White House, Dr. Ashish Jha, says transparency about the president's health is important.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We think it's really for the American people to know how well the president's doing which is why we have been so transparent giving updates several times a day, having people here from me directly here -- directly from his physicians.
[01:39:54]
DR. JHA: And I just see he has persistent symptoms obviously if any of them interfere with his ability to carry out his duties, we will disclose that early enough with the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And COVID cases are rising in much of the world largely due to the BA.5 sub variant. In the U.S. alone, you can see from this map just how widespread the infections have become.
Globally, you can see here the sharp rise in cases, especially in North Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America.
Syria's Damascus Citadel Nights Festival has returned after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID pandemic. The four day festival is a showcase for artists from Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
Despite serious economic troubles, the festival's organizers say two of the four concerts were sold out once they were announced.
Well, the date is a Middle Eastern staple food that's popular all over the world but environmental changes are making it hard to produce the fruit.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh looks at how Iraq is trying to save the date.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the entrance of Iraq's (INAUDIBLE) desert, thousands extend across the horizon. Young date palms recently planted in hopes of saving an age-old staple that is now under threat.
MOHAMED ABUL-MAALI, COMMERCE DIRECTOR, FADAK DATE PLANTATION (through translator): The date palm is a symbol and pride of Iraq, that's why we wanted to re-plant palm trees to restore this culture to what it used to be, a country of more than 30 million palm trees.
KARADSHEH: Iraq has long been one of the top date producers in the world, with millions of date palm tree groves across the country. But swaths of once-thriving plants have since withered away, dehydrated, and blighted by environmental changes. ABUL-MAALI: Before, we had an abundance of water. Rain water too
coming from the mountains. This area was like the sea, but due to the lack of rain, the land started drying up gradually.
KARADSHEH: Decades of drought in addition to ongoing conflicts are slowly creating desert-like conditions in once lush areas. And as water levels decline, salt levels rise posing new challenges for those hoping to keep the industry alive.
ALAA AL-BADRAN, AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER: The issue of water salinization began around the mid 90s which created another issue for us, other than the issue of cutting. Now, if people want to plant new palm trees they will face saltier water and soil.
KARADSHEH: The U.N. stated in a press release that it is supporting Iraq in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The country's environmental situation has been subject to a number of converging pressures, ranging from poor water quality, deforestation, soil salinity to air pollution conflict and land use change.
Amid efforts to reverse some of those collective impacts on a key agricultural sector, some of those who depend on its success fear the worst.
ALI HUSSEIN, DATE FARMER: What is in my heart is a dread of never seeing the palms again. We are waiting for the palms to come back.
But over here, everything is bad. There is no water, nothing. I don't know that it will come back. I worry the beautiful days won't ever come back.
KARADSHEH: Whether the date palm industry can be revitalized before it's too late remains to be seen as Iraq tries to save a national icon from a global climate crisis.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN -- Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And still to come, a volcanic eruption in Japan has nearby areas on alert with some advised to evacuate. We'll have a live update from Tokyo.
[01:43:54]
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CHURCH: Parts of southern Japan are on 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.
Let's go to CNN's Blake Essig. He joins us live from Tokyo. So Blake, what is the latest on this volcanic eruption and of course the risks it poses for the area? BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Rosemary, the risks are still
very high in reality here as scientists simply just don't know what the future holds.
So far, two communities, home to about 50 people have been urged to evacuate from the danger zone, within about three kilometers of the volcano crater after Sakurajima erupted late Sunday night local time, sending dark plumes of ash and large red-hot cinder blocks shooting up into the air.
The good news here, so far there have been no reports of damage or injury as a result of it. Of course, that could change and if it does, another big concern is for the roughly 600,000 people who live just outside of this danger zone in places like Kagoshima City, those people have been cautioned but not urged to evacuate at this point. And even though the Japan Meteorological Agency is saying that large scale eruptions aren't imminent measurements indicating a swelling of the volcano are still being observed which tell scientist that magma is still building up leading to the fact that a large-scale eruption is possible.
The reality here again is that scientists simply can't predict with certainty what will happen next. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GELLER, EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE EXPERT: How should society deal with the risks of natural disasters that may not be that high. But that if they occur can be extremely devastating.
And if we had some exact theory for predicting what would happen, that will be cool. But given that we don't, we should err on the side of caution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG: During last night's eruption, the Japan Meteorological Agency says some of the rocks flew about two and half kilometers from the volcano's crater which prompted the agency to raise its alert to five out of five, the agency's highest possible alert level.
This is the first time a level 5 evacuation alert was issued for Sakurajima. And it's only the second time since 2007 when the system was put in place, that the agency has issued its second highest -- or excuse me -- its highest evacuation alert.
And at this point Rosemary, a government task force has been set up to monitor the situation at Mt. Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, and we will do the same continue to monitor it, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And of course you will. Thank you Blake Essig joining us live from Tokyo. Appreciate it.
Well, despite the terrible war in Ukraine, singers and dancers in Odessa are undaunted.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you still need opera and ballet during this terrible war?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, all people need this. And it's very important for society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: After the break, a look at what's the Odessa Ballet must endure amid the Russian invasion.
[01:49:25]
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CHURCH: In Ukraine, the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater continues performances despite Russia's invasion. After being closed for months due to the war, the theater once again offers a reprieve from the sounds of shelling and gunfire. And now more than ever, these performers are sending a message of strength.
CNN's Ivan Watson has more.
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WATSON: There is great beauty in Ukraine amid the pain and suffering. In the southern port city of Odessa, dancers and rehearsals try to tune out Russia's deadly war.
This is more than just a beautiful expression of art and culture. Against a terrible backdrop of this war, these dancers offer a symbol of defiance, a sign that Ukrainians are not giving up.
The Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater stands like a jewel albeit one protected by sandbags. The Russian rockets and missiles periodically pound Odessa. Residents here cling to pre-war normality and that includes the city's 135-year-old opera.
Vyacheslav Chernukho-Volich is the Opera's director.
VYACHESLAV CHERNUKHO-VOLICH, DIRECTOR, ODESSA OPERA AND BALLET THEATER: It's beautiful.
WATSON: Do you still need opera and ballet when there's a terrible war?
CHERNUKHO-VOLICH: Yes, all people need this. And it's very important for society. Opera house is a symbol of good life. It's --
WATSON: The good life tonight's ballet performance. But amid preparations there's an interruption -- an air raid siren warns of a possible attack.
I'm ushered downstairs.
This is the shelter.
Musicians and dancers wait in the basement, the threat delays the start the show. Two of tonight's solo ballerinas try to stay limber.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, this is not normal.
WATSON: Why are you sitting here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because well, there's war here in our country.
WATSON: Are you afraid?
"Yes, of course we're afraid," says (INAUDIBLE) though we're getting accustomed to these threats, and that in itself is horrible."
After a long delay, the opera gets the all-clear. Audience members emerged from their own shelter and take their seats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In case of an air raid siren, all people must proceed to the shelter. Glory to Ukraine.
WATSON: The music of Chopin paint fills the hall. And for the briefest of moments the war seems very far away. The reality though, is some of these performers sent their children away for safety to other countries.
A number of the artists and crew are defending their country, serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, while those on stage struggle to keep the city's cultural spirit alive.
Soloist Katerina Kovchenka (ph) crosses herself before entering stage right.
But after just a few steps, the curtain suddenly closes.
[01:54:45]
WATSON: Bad news, the third air raid siren of the night has just gone off. The curtain just came down, and the show has been brought to a stop.
"I want the whole world to start screaming", Kovchenka tells me, "to stop this horror so that innocent children and people stop dying. I ask for help," the ballerina says, "and for people not to remain silent."
Ivan Watson, CNN -- Odessa, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard, won his first Tour de France title on the famed Champs-Elysees on Sunday. The 25-year-old is the second Dane ever to wear the yellow jersey, cycling's most prestigious prize.
After finishing second in last year's race, he beat the two-time defending champion this year by more than three and a half minutes. Vingegaard overcame a puncture and a crash during the race and won stages 11 and 18.
Shifting gears now to southern France, where Mx Verstappen won the French Grand Prix on Sunday. The Red Bull driver nabbed the top spot after Ferraris' Charles Leclerc (ph) crashed out while in the lead.
Verstappen's victory in his seventh of the season and puts him more than two wins ahead of the pack. And closer to his second Formula 1 title.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX VERSTAPPEN, RED BULL DRIVE: We try to stay calm, try to stay close, of course, we get there a bit earlier. And yes, from there onwards, you never know how the race is going to go.
But the car was quick today, and of course unlucky for, Charles, I hope he's ok.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Leclerc's car spun mid corner and slammed into the tire barrier on lap 18.
At another big event in Franc golf's Evian Championships saw Brooke Henderson win her second major title. The 24-year-old Canadian made a birdie putt on the final hole, one of three birdies on the final five holes. The world number ten in women's golf is now the first Canadian golfer, male or female, with multiple titles.
And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back in just a moment with more global news.
Please stay with us.
[01:57:13]
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