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67 Chinese Cities and Counties Under Highest Heat Warning; FBI Raises Alarm About Presence of Huawei Equipment in U.S.; Japan's Sakurajima Volcano Erupts, Prompting Evacuations; Pope Arrives in Canada to Apologize to Indigenous Groups; Iraq Tries to Protect Date Palms and Changing Climate. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired July 25, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just to try and fix some this global crisis that's biting especially hard here
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, also this grain needed a lot faster of course than they could possibly provide potentially with that plan B. Larry Madowo thank you very much there. Live from Nairobi.
OK, still ahead, scorching heat and rising COVID cases in China. How those high temperatures could complicate the country's COVID response.
Plus, the FBI raises an alarm about Chinese made telecommunications equipment and potential interference with the U.S. nuclear deterrent. CNN's exclusive report just ahead.
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MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Christina Macfarlane. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.
In California the fast moving Oak Fire burning just outside Yosemite National Park has forced thousands of people to evacuate. Fire crews are working to contain the blaze that's burned more than 15,000 acres.
Meanwhile, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. are under heat alerts today. Cities in the Northeastern U.S. marked some of their hottest days ever on Sunday.
We're also seeing scorching heat across much of China, more than 65 cities and counties are under red alert. The country's highest warning. For more let's get to Beijing's bureau chief Steven Jiang. And Steven, we know China getting hit on two fronts at the moment, not only the heat but that surge in COVID cases as well.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Christina. Very much a double whammy.
[04:35:00] Now, the extraordinary thing about this heat wave, of course, is how unrelenting and widespread it's been. It's been going on for more than a month in many places and is stretching from Shanghai and its surrounding area to the east, to Guangzhou and Hong Kong to the south and then all the way to the northwestern region of Yichang where they have seen temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius for the past few days. And surprisingly many people across the country trying to escape the heat by flocking to beach towns, especially to the island of Hainan, often nicknamed China's Hawaii.
I just returned from there and the resorts there were just filled with domestic travelers, very much undeterred by the challenges of traveling in China these days, including the potential risk of getting stranded because of the government's strict zero COVID policy.
Now as you mentioned, there is a resurgence of COVID cases across the nation. On Monday the health ministry here reported more than 600 locally transmitted cases, that is an alarmingly high number for this country, that's why we are also seeing lock downs and mass testing making a comeback in many cities including the country's biggest city and financial hub Shanghai.
You know, they just went through a brutal two-month lockdown starting in April. Shanghai actually just reopened on June 1st but for the past few weeks they are already several with a new outbreak and that's why the authorities there have ordered several new rounds of mass testing for much of the city's 25 million people and the next round of testing is happening Tuesday through Thursday when extremely high temperatures are, again, in the forecast -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, I really feel for those health workers having to stand out there in that intense heat. Steven Jiang, thanks very much there from Beijing.
OK, an FBI investigation has determined that Chinese tech giant Huawei has equipment in the U.S. that could disrupt highly restricted Defense Department communications. That includes airwaves used by U.S. strategic command which oversees the nuclear arsenal. CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has more on what the FBI found in an exclusive report.
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KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: It all started with a big FBI counterintelligence investigation that dates back to at least the Obama administration and was ultimately briefed to the Trump White House in 2019. The FBI knew that equipment made by Chinese telecom company Huawei was still being used by small rural cell service providers out in the Midwest that were located near sensitive U.S. military installations in Colorado and Nebraska, including nuclear missile silos.
Companies were using this equipment in part because it was cheap and reliable but the FBI as part of its investigation determined that the equipment had the capability to intercept or even disrupt restricted Defense Department communications, potentially giving China a pivotal and dangerous window into America's nuclear arsenal. As one described it to us, this was in the BFD category.
As part of the investigation the FBI also discovered that the leading regional provider was placing weather and traffic cameras atop a number of their towers and live streaming them as a public service. Intelligence officials tell us they believe those live streams could be used by Beijing or any other nation state to track patterns of sensitive military movements. The combination of these two things was profoundly disturbing to U.S. counterintelligence officials.
Now, China denies using any of this equipment to spy on the U.S. and Huawei denies that their equipment even could be used for such a purpose. But this comes at a time when the U.S. government has worried about what officials tell us has been a dramatic escalation of espionage activity on U.S. soil by China over the past decade. And in the meantime, the equipment remains in place.
These small rural telecom companies have been mandated by the FCC to rip and replace the equipment. But the amount of money Congress has appropriated to reimburse them is about $3 billion short of what it's going to cost all these companies to get the job done. The bottom line is that three years after the FBI briefed the White House on its findings and three years after the FCC passed its rip and replace rule, that equipment still remains in use.
Katie Bo Lillis, CNN, Washington.
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MACFARLANE: On Tuesday the U.S. will host a virtual meeting of the Indo Pacific economic framework as it seeks to counter China's growing influence in the region. President Biden launched the 14-country group in May during a trip to Tokyo. He wants to use it as a way to raise environmental, labor and other standards across Asia. Topics on the agenda include trade, supply chains, clean energy, infrastructure, taxes and combating corruption.
Now parts of the southern Japan are on high alert after the Sakurajima volcano erupted Sunday. You can see here lava shooting out of the crater surrounded by columns of ash and smoke. Officials say people living nearby should be ready to evacuate. CNN's Blake Essig is joining me from Tokyo with more. And Blake, do we know how potentially dangerous this is and how many people could be affected by this?
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BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, the reality is scientists can't predict just how dangerous this possibly could be, but a large scale eruption of course is possible and if that happens hundreds of thousands of people could be at risk. Mount Sakurajima erupted late last night sending dark plumes of ash, and large red rocks, hot cinder blocks known as ballistic volcanic bombs flying through the air, more smoke was seen this morning.
So far two communities home to about 50 people have been urged to evacuate from the danger zone located within about two miles or three kilometers of the volcano's crater. Now at this time one evacuation center has been set up and is housing at least two dozen people. The good news here is that so far there haven't been reports of damage or injury as a result of the ongoing eruptions. But of course, as the volcano continues to erupt that could change. And if it does there is a big concern for the roughly 600,000 people who currently live just outside of the danger zone in places like Kagoshima city. Those residents have been cautioned but not urged to evacuate at this point.
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ROBERT GELLER, EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE EXPERT: How should society deal with the risk 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 would be cool but given that we don't we should err on the side of caution.
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ESSIG: During last night's eruption the Japan Meteorological Agency says at least one volcanic bomb flew about a mile and a half or 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, that's the agency's highest possible alert level at this point. A government task force has been set up to monitor the situation at Mount Sakurajima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes. And according to NASA, it erupted several times over the past 200 years killing dozens of people -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right, well, it's a situation we will continue to monitor. As you say, completely unpredictable at this point. Blake Essig there live from Tokyo. Thank you.
All right, just ahead, Pope Francis arrives in Canada to deliver an apology for the country's indigenous communities. We'll have a report from Edmonton.
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MACFARLANE: Pope Francis arrived in Edmonton on Sunday for the first stop in his visit to Canada. The trip comes after the Roman Catholic Church tries to atone for decades of abuse against indigenous people at so-called residential schools. CNN Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher is traveling with the pontiff.
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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis arrived in Canada to a deliberately subdued welcome ceremony, deliberate because as he told us on the papal plane coming over from Rome he is coming to Canada in a spirit of penance. Penance that is for the wrongs done to indigenous people here. And he was met at the airport by representatives of indigenous groups as well as of course by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Now Pope Francis did not take the stairs to come down from the papal plane. We know he has been dealing with a knee issue for some time now. He took a chair lift from side back of the plane and then was put into a wheelchair. However, on the papal plane Francis was standing, walking up and down the aisle with the aid of a cane in order to say hello to journalists.
So, given that his knee issue caused him to cancel only three weeks ago a trip to Africa we will have to see how the Pope holds up during his six-day visit to Canada. After a long 10 1/2 hour flight from Rome, Sunday is a rest day for the Pope, his first full day of meetings and events begins Monday morning.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Edmonton.
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MACFARLANE: Now 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. Migrants were transferred to the ports in Calabria and Sicily on Sunday.
And an infant is among at least 17 people dead after a boat capsized off the Bahamas. The Bahamian Prime Minister says the victims from Haitian migrants likely trying to reach the U.S. 25 people were rescued on Sunday but the boat was carrying as many as 60 when it capsized. Officials in the Bahamas say this was a human smuggling operation and are threatening prosecution. Thousands of Haitians are fleeing their country as it's rocked by instability and gang violence.
OK, up next on CNN NEWSROOM, saving the date. How Iraqi farmers are struggling against the climate crisis, trying to protect date palms.
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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. 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 Iraqi farmers are trying to save the date.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the entrance of Iraq's Al-Hajarah 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 AT FADAK DATE PLANTATION (through translator): The date palm is a symbol and pride of Iraq, that's why we wanted to replant palm trees to restore this culture to what it used to be, a country of more than 30 million palm trees.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): 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.
MUSSA MOHSEN, OWNS AROUND 800 DATE PALM TREES (through translator): 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 (voice-over): 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 (through translator): 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 (voice-over): 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.
[04:55:00]
ALI HUSSEIN, DATE FARMER (through translator): 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 (voice-over): 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.
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MACFARLANE: Now, climate activists glued their hands to the glass casing of a Botticelli's Primavera painting in Florence, Italy on Friday. The protesters were part of a group called "Last Generation" carrying a banner urging against the use of gas and coal. The museum says no harm was done to the painting because of the glass barrier. Bystanders can be heard in the video telling them to move away before they were escorted out of the museum.
Lots of boaters have been out on the water off Massachusetts over the past few days as new England sees some of its hottest temperatures ever and they're not alone. A whale jumped out of the water near Plymouth on Sunday and landed on a small boat and we have pictures of the whale breaching -- goodness me, there was only minor damage to the vessel and no one was injured. Officials say boats should stay at least 100 yards away from whales to avoid these types of interactions. The Massachusetts environmental police are investigating the incident.
All right. That does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. Stay with us for "EARLY START" with Christine Romans up next.
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