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Ukraine To Export Grain Despite Russia's Port Strike; Plan B Is To Export Grain By Train, Truck And River; Russia's Gazprom To Slow Gas Deliveries To Europe; Execution of Pro-Democracy Activists by Myanmar Junta; UN Secretary-General Requests Junta Prisoners Be Freed; Interview with U.S. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Tom Andrews; Voters in Tunisia Support the New Constitution; David Trimble Dies; The Race for Downing Street; Truss, Sunak First Debate; UK to Host Eurovision; Heat Alert in the U.S.; Relationship Between Rising Crime and Temperatures; Interview with Vice President Triage Response Team at the Center for Policing Equity Hans Menos; Interview with Former Incident Commander In Ferguson, Missouri State Highway Patrol Ret. Capt. Ron Johnson; Yosemite National Park Threatened by 'Unprecedented' Wildfire. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 26, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:34]

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.

Just ahead. A middle world food shortage Ukraine aims to ship grain this week despite a Russian attack on a crucial port.

The Pope is in Canada apologizing for decades of abuse by the Catholic Church. But for some indigenous school survivors, he's triggered more pain.

Plus, global condemnation after the execution of four pro democracy activists in Myanmar. This hour I will speak with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.

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

CHURCH: Thanks for being with us. Well, much of the news from the battlefields of Ukraine lately has been about Russia's advance in the Donbas region. But Ukrainian forces are making progress of their own. Recapturing territory in the South. Ukraine's military report strikes on key bridges, ammunition warehouses, Russian missile systems and command posts in the Kherson region.

One official calls it a turning point for Kherson, making it difficult for the Russians to resupply troops and move vehicles and heavy equipment. Ukraine also claims it has recaptured a village near the frontline in the Mykolaiv region despite being heavily outgunned by the Russians.

The U.N. says the first shipment of desperately needed Ukrainian grain is expected to happen this week. The Turkish president who helped broker the Black Sea Initiative is urging Russia and Ukraine to act responsibly and stick to the deal. The U.N. says both sides have reaffirmed their commitments. But recent Russian strikes on Odesa has cast doubt on whether that crucial agreement to get green moving again will survive.

That latest attack on the Odesa region happened just minutes ago and set off fires in a civilian area. That's according to local leaders. The Ukrainian president says his country is ready to start exporting so it can prove to the world Ukraine is not the one blocking the exports. But he wants Turkey and the U.N. must guarantee the security of the shipments. Meanwhile, Russia's foreign ministers defended the earlier missile attack on Odesa and tried to shore up support for the war while on a tour of Africa.

The Green Deal marks the most significant agreement that's been reached since the Russian invasion but will it hold? CNN's Nic Robertson has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): Despite Russia's missile strikes in Odesa Saturday, Ukraine's officials are vowing to push ahead with the U.N. deal to get grain from their ports to the world's needy.

OLEKSANDR KUBRAKOV, UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER: I hope that during upcoming days, we will start delivering grain from our support in Odesa.

ROBERTSON: But Russian missiles aren't the only obstacle creating uncertainty about Russia's commitment. Russia's foreign minister asserting nothing in the deal prevents them hitting military targets in Odesa. And misinformation too claiming rights for Russian ships not in the agreement.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: In the open sea, Russia, Turkey, together with another participant wishes to be determined the company, the convoys to the streets.

KUBRAKOV: So we won't tell how to do this, our territorial waters and sea ports only Ukraine and Ukrainian Navy will be -- will be there.

ROBERTSON (on camera): So no Russian ships escorting the convoys anywhere along the convoy?

KUBRAKOV: None at all in this process.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Ukraine's plan B to export grain by train, truck and river is still in play. But like the U.N. deal, this too is beset by uncertainty. Train cars full of grain had been shelled by Russia and tracks are blown up. KUBRAKOV: We are again doing our best. We're trying to export more through our daily ports with the help of (INAUDIBLE) Ukrainian Wellness Company and buy trucks.

[02:05:02]

ROBERTSON: If the U.N. deal to export grain from the port can hold Ukrainian officials estimate the value to their beleaguered nation could be a much needed billion dollars a month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Ukraine's agrarian Minister says he expects farmers to be able to start selling their grain to shippers within days. He says that corn prices have already gone up 20 to 30 percent and expects by the end of the week, wheat will have gone up 10 percent. Thousands of miles away, millions of people are counting on Russia not to block the deal.

Nic Robertson, CNN Kyiv, Ukraine.

CHURCH: Well, Russia is reminding Europe who controls its gas by planning deeper cuts on a key pipeline to Germany. Nord Stream 1 just reopened after being shut down for 10 days of maintenance. Now Gazprom says it's reducing gas flow by half to fix another turbine. The Kremlin insists the cuts have nothing to do with politics but says Europe is only making things worse on itself with sanctions on Moscow.

Germany is warning it won't be able to meet its needs for the winter if deliveries continue at these levels. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this latest move is part of a wider effort by Moscow that amounts to forms of terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Even despite the concession regarding the Nord Stream turbine, Russia is not going to resume gas supplies to European countries as it is contractually obligated to do. All this is done by Russia deliberately to make it as difficult as possible for Europeans to prepare for winter. This is an overt gas war that Russia is waging against the United Europe. This is exactly how it should be perceived.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And CNN's Clare Sebastian is live this hour in London. She joins us now. Good to see you, Clare. So, what are the real costs to Europe from Russia's war on gas?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, record inflation, the potential for rationing going into winter. And that really is a new phase that would be a form of the government essentially taking control of the economy industry would be hit first. And the thinking among experts is that this would raise the odds dramatically of a recession. First of all, in Germany, Europe's biggest economy and then with ripple effects throughout the continent. But Russia has done here was not unexpected. President Putin actually

flagged this in a -- in a press conference he gave on a visit to Iran last week where he said that there was another turbine that was due for maintenance on around July the 26th, he said and they weren't sure where they were going to get a replacement. So this was for warned E.U. leaders said when the Nord Stream 1 was switched back on after that scheduled maintenance that they were potentially expecting more cuts.

This is why they're telling the continent to cut demand for gas by 15 percent to get through the winter. Something that is highly controversial. Does this get resolved? I think, look, if this was just about the turbines, then perhaps Canada has said it's waiving the sanctions that prevented them originally from returning that first turbine. But Germany's gas regulator, the head of Germany's gas regulator said that there's no technical reason for the -- for the cut that we've seen or the cut that's expected to start tomorrow morning.

So Germany is saying that there's politics involved here, but it's not actually about the turbines. And meanwhile, Rosemary, there was another issue with gas this morning. The Ukrainian gas transit operator has reported that Gazprom without warning has increased the pressure in one of the pipelines that carries Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe and that that could potentially lead to damage to that pipeline.

We haven't had a comment yet from Gazprom. We have reached out to them. But that is another warning sign. And meanwhile, the more that Russia disrupts the flow of gas to Europe, the more they can afford to do so. European gas prices up about 12 percent right now.

CHURCH: All right. Clare Sebastian, joining us live from London. Many Thanks for that update.

Well, Pope Francis has formally apologized in Canada for what he called the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples. He was speaking Monday to a largely indigenous audience in Maskwacis, Alberta. The community was the site of one of Canada's most infamous residential schools. The country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has found that more than 4000 indigenous children died from neglect or abuse in the schools.

Most were run by the Catholic Church, children there were harmed sexually and physically separated from their families and forced to adopt white culture. Here's the pope addressing that abuse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): It is painful to think of how the firm soil of values language and culture that made up the authentic identity of your peoples was eroded.

[02:10:06]

And that you have continued to pay the price of this. In the face of this deplorable evil, the church kneels before God and implores his forgiveness for the sins of her children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The pope also prayed at the cemetery and apologized again at a church in Edmonton. The Ottawa-based or Congress of Aboriginal peoples welcomed the apologies, but called for concrete action from the church including reparations. But even with the Pope's visit this week, the process of discovery and reckoning goes on. While the search for unmarked graves of Indigenous children continues survivors of the residential school system are still coping with the memories and trauma they endured.

CNN's Paula Newton has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has taken the high tech tools of this century for Canadian soil to give up the torturous secrets of the last, Drones hovering, swooping, mapping, ground penetrating radar peering into every layer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see if there's any disturbances in that soil structure.

NEWTON: Disturbances. These are soil anomalies that could lead to the unmarked graves of Indigenous children. Those who were one students at Fort Alexander Residential School in the Sagkeeng First Nation in the province of Manitoba.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have 109 debt anomalies, there's got to be something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go this way.

CHURCH: The Catholic institution is no longer standing. But its survivors want you to know what it stood for. Abuse of all kinds that a government report found amounted to cultural genocide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's where the priests stayed.

CHURCH: Rita Guman (ph) was just six when she arrived. The abuse started soon after.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he'd have us sit on his lap and meanwhile he had his hands under skirts.

CHURCH: Patrick Nuyer (ph) was seven. He endured eight years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he got me drunk and I didn't know what the hell happened when I got up that next morning.

CHURCH: Sarah Mazarolle was six, forced to stay until she was 14.

SARAH MAZEROLLE, RESIGNAL SCHOOL SURVIVOR: Bam across the face every morning, she did that to me.

CHURCH: Henry Boubard is at now,, just seven, when the nightmare started.

HENRY BOUBARD, RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVOR: After what the priest did to me, sexually, you know, it changed everything.

MAZEROLLE: You have to survive if you're going to live. You have to find ways to get over everything that was being done to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was all prayer. It was all behave yourself. It was all don't speak your language because if you do, you will get punished, you know, and a lot of humiliation.

BOUBARD: These nuns told me to pray, to pray, but pray? What is prayer? It means nothing to me. If you don't pray, you'll go to hell. I thought these years I was living in hell in the residential school. This is hell to me.

NEWTON: Hundreds of victims like these from one school. And there were dozens of these institutions across Canada most run by the Catholic Church. More than 150,000 indigenous children were forced to leave their families and were subjected to forced labor, neglect and sexual and physical abuse. And thousands just went missing. In the past year, several indigenous communities have discovered hundreds of unmarked graves and more searches are underway.

The survivors of Fort Alexander were too young to know where children went and why. There remain unmarked crosses in the cemetery made from the old school pipes. Who lays there? So here too during the very week, Pope Francis is on Canadian soil to apologize. They scour the land.

NEWTON (on camera): It is with these high tech tools that indigenous communities throughout Canada hope that they can get the spiritual homecoming that they're lost children deserve something that no papal apology can give them.

NEWTON (voice over): The pope arrives with a singular purpose he says that of penance. But for decades, there was impunity. Very few staff members were ever prosecuted. And that inflicts further trauma some survivors say and then there's the fact this in-person apology took years.

JOE DANIELS, RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVOR: This thing had to be dragged out or dispersed. Somebody had to go to Rome to go in -- to go and practically begged this guy to come here and apologize. Why couldn't he have done it on his own frontier?

NEWTON: As extraordinary as the pope's pilgrimage to Canada may be, it stands diminished by the scope of the abuse that is already known. And the horror still to be discovered.

[02:15:02]

Paula Newton, CNN Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba.

CHURCH: Father Thomas Reese is a senior analyst for Religion News Service. And author of inside the Vatican. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Thank you, Father, for being with us.

THOMAS REESE, SENIOR ANALYST, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE: Good to be with you.

CHURCH: So, Pope Francis has apologized for what he calls the deplorable evil of indigenous abuse in Canadian Catholic residential schools. And he says a serious investigation will be undertaken. But critics say it's not enough and goes nowhere near addressing the appalling abuse of these indigenous children by the Catholic Church. What do you say to that?

REESE: Well, I think that the pope listened very carefully to the indigenous people when they came to visit him in Rome and tell him about the terrible abuse the children suffered, and also the systemic forest enculturation of the peoples. The destruction of their cultures and their languages. And this is what he came to Canada to apologize for, to say that this was terrible. This was catastrophic for these peoples.

And he came offering to listen some more and do some more. He himself recognize that an apology is not enough that we have to do more.

CHURCH: And sadly, there was sexual abuse as well. And this hasn't only happened in Canada, but all over the world. Priests and nuns are abusing children in their care. How do you explain this? Men and women of God committing such a pulling sins on innocent children?

REESE: It is absolutely appalling. It's destructive of the very soul of these children. It cannot be excused. The cover up cannot be excused. The church has to apologize, apologize, apologize for this appalling behavior on the part of these clergy. And they have to be thrown out of the priesthood. And that's what began under Pope Benedict and his continued under Pope Francis. An absolute zero tolerance for this kind of abuse and also a zero tolerance for the covering up of this abuse.

CHURCH: And of course, in this situation in Canada, and in other parts of the world in Australia, as well, in Britain, we're not talking about one individual, in the Catholic Church abusing children. It appears to be a culture of appalling behavior carried out by these nuns and priests. Why is that do you think?

REESE: Well, the percentage is about four percent of the clergy that have been involved and abuse. So, you know, most, most priests are not into this kind of terrible activity. But we have to catch the ones that are and get rid of them. And I think too much in the past. We didn't do that. We're doing it now. We've done it for most of this century now. But this is something that the church has to be vigilant on.

You have to have police background checks on priests, on volunteers, on light people that work with children. We just have -- I mean, I think that the only good thing, the only silver lining in this is that, you know, now the church has improved its situation so much better. And I hope that someday it can be part of the solution, rather than simply being part of the problem. Because abuse is rampant in society at large.

CHURCH: So Father, how do you convince people who have lost faith in the Catholic Church, that it's now free of this abusive culture and behavior?

REESE: I, you know, I don't try and convince people of this. I explained what the church has tried to do. I acknowledged that we did a terrible job in the past. I think the only thing that the church can do is apologize, be transparent, set up policies and procedures to make sure this never happens again. And when it ever does happen the priest is thrown out of the priesthood and is never allowed to function as a priest again.

You know, it's only good behavior that can, you know, that shows people that we have changed.

CHURCH: Father Thomas Reese, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

REESE: Good to be with you.

CHURCH: Well, still to come. The heatwave baking Europe is fueling wildfires across the south. Could (INAUDIBLE) on the way soon. We will have a look at the forecast after the break.

[02:20:06]

Plus, the extreme heat in China caused this bridge to suddenly break in half. We'll have details for you.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: This is CNN weather watches in association with visit Maldives. Here's what's happening across the United States. Big time heat. The central United States lots of monsoonal moisture across parts of the south and west. And severe weather has been a story across areas of the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast the last couple of days.

Much cooler air has arrived across parts of the Northeast after record heat in recent days, but you'll notice every single day the next few we do warm up a couple of degrees and eventually introduce thunderstorms on Thursday before temps want to moderate back out close to 30 degrees. They wish it was 30 degrees across the central United States. Widespread coverage here in Little Rock Oklahoma City, Tulsa.

Some of these areas in the near Jackson, Mississippi are still seeing temps into the 40s. And even that range now approaching the Pacific Northwest. Parts of Oregon, parts of eastern Washington feeling as warm as 43 degrees and even Seattle and Portland, big time heat and store as a massive heatwave really buckles in across portions of the western United States.

Here's what it looks like in Seattle. Pretty impressive here for their standards were multiple days of temperatures staying above 30 degrees where the average this time of year should be closer to 26. Denver, thunderstorms into the evening hours, 31 degrees Los Angeles will aim for about 26. Good news here for the monsoonal moisture across the valley of the sun. A lot of drought coverage, a lot of rainfall in recent days.

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, it's not just the United States dealing with extreme weather. A brutal heatwave is also sweeping across Europe and China. In Greece, the scorching heat is fueling several wildfires raging across the country. Parts of Spain, Portugal and Italy are also under very extreme danger of fire warnings. It's similar scene to the north in the Czech Republic, dozens of people had to be evacuated as a forest fire rip through a park near the Czech- German border.

In China, evidence of just how hot the past few days and weeks have been. A bridge split in half when cement blocks expanded due to the heat. Nearly 60 Chinese cities and counties are under a red alert. The country's highest heat warning.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the latest updates in the CNN weather center. And now Steven Jiang is standing by in Beijing. But first, we want to go to CNN's Barbie Nadeau who joins us live from Rome. Good to see you, Barbie. So, a very extreme danger of wildfires in parts of Europe. What is the latest on the blaze on the Czech- German border?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, that's a devastating blaze. It ripped through this national park, this beautiful area and a number of tourists had to be evacuated from their tourist resort hotel. Can you imagine that the horror they would have there with this fire just blazing out of control but it's not the only fire. We see these fires popping up all over because of these extreme conditions.

Of course they hit a high temperature there. Everything's dried, there hasn't been rained, the fires that the cycle just continues and continues, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Barbie, what is the latest in Greece where dozens of homes have been destroyed? What are you learning about that situation?

NADEAU: It's the same thing there, you know, you've got an island of Lesbos, you've got near Athens, these fires are just relentless and it can you can imagine these firefighters having to work under conditions of 40 degrees, 100 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures with their heavy equipment trying to keep these fires under control as another one pops up . In the minute it seems to extinguish one another one sets ablaze and because there hasn't been any rain, because these conditions continue to be so dry, these areas are just like a tinderbox and go up very quickly with hot winds blowing the fires and it's just really terrifying for people in a way. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes. So extensive across Europe there. Steven, want to go to you now because the scorching temperatures across China are causing severe problems. Even breaking a bridge in half as we just saw, what is the latest?

[02:25:01]

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Rosemary, again on Tuesday nearly 60 Chinese cities across the Sebas (ph) country have issue their highest level alerts. Meaning temperature in their locations could surpass 40 degrees Celsius. So this heatwave really has been unrelenting and widespread, in some places it's been going on for more than a month and really reaching every corner of this country.

In one dramatic moment caught on video, a bridge in the city of Quanzhou in south eastern China was seen buckling under the intense heat just last weekend. So not surprisingly, many people in this country trying to escape the heat by flocking to beach towns and other summer destinations very much undeterred by all the restrictions and challenges of traveling in China because of the government's zero- COVID policy.

And speaking which there is also a resurgence of COVID cases across China. And that's why lockdowns and mass testing have made a comeback in many locations, including in Shanghai, which of course just came out of a brutal two-month lockdown on June 1st but they've been dealing with a stubborn new outbreak for the past few weeks. The authorities there ordering several rounds of mass testing for much of the city's 25 million residents.

And the latest round is going on right now. Tuesday through Thursday when temperatures again supposed to approach 40 degrees. So Rosemary, very unpleasant experience having to line up outdoors to get tested.

CHURCH: Yes. Multiple challenges there to deal with. And I want to turn now to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri to find out if there's any relief inside. Pedram, what are you seeing?

JAVAERI: You know, there are some relief. Over the next three to four days, we're finally going to begin to see some changes here. And of course, we know just how dry how, hot it's been across a large area of Europe. Look at these images coming out of a river bed across Switzerland showing you just how arid this landscape has been. And in its entirety, the alert levels, the oranges, the Reds indicative here of the expansive nature of the drought situation across nearly the entirety of Europe.

And certainly even on into areas of Italy still seeing these alerts in place their. Medium-leveled concern for extreme heat across the northern tier there of Italy, not too far away in Spain, temperatures still running into the middle 40s well above the average of 30 to say 37 for this time of year. But again, some changes here in the initial term of the forecast where we see initial push of cooler air going in towards at least the latter area of the week.

But notice, the Southern Tier not much changes here. Much warmth that remains in place. And that's the concern here moving forward. The areas that have seen the hottest weather remain about five to maybe seven, 10 degrees above average. Much the same across areas of eastern China, the heat remains put, we've had places such as Hong Kong. The hottest weather ever on record took place on Sunday at 37.4 degrees, it's about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

And then in Shanghai temps climbed up over 41 degrees a couple of weeks ago, which was also the hottest data observed across that region. But notice, again, some weather here over the next several days does bring at least an initial push of possibly slightly cooler weather. And we're talking about going for 41 down to around 36. So still plenty warm but away from that historic territory.

(INAUDIBLE) much the same from 41 down to 39 degrees. Chongqing sees a much more significant shift here from a 40-degree temperature by Tuesday afternoon happening in the next hour or so and then dropping off sharply down to 32 by Thursday afternoon. So there is some changes but you'll notice Rosemary this time next week, we do climb right back up again. Hopefully, we stay away from the historic threshold that we've seen for so many weeks now. Quite large areas of the world.

CHURCH: Yes. Let's hope for that. Pedram, Steven and Barbie, many thanks to you all for those updates. Appreciate it.

Well, in the United States, a wildfire raging near California's Yosemite National Park has now burned through more than 17,000 acres. Right now the oak fire is only 16 percent contained. The fast moving Blaze has forced at least 3000 people to leave their homes so far.

Still to come. Myanmar executes four pro-democracy activists prompting backlash from home and abroad. We will have more than a humanitarian situation in the country when we return.

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[02:30:00]

CHURCH: You are looking at live protest in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. As condemnation, the Myanmar's junta government is pouring in after the executions of four pro-democracy leaders and activists. A group of protesters gathered on the streets of Yangon Monday, carrying a banner reading, we will never be frightened, along with the names of those killed.

The U.N. Secretary-General says the move signals further deterioration of an already dire human rights environment in Myanmar.

Tom Andrews is the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. And he joins me now from Fairfax, Virginia. Thank you so much for being with us.

TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON MYANMAR: Thank you for having me, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, the U.N. Secretary-General has condemned the execution this weekend of four pro-democracy activists by Myanmar's military. But what more needs to be done to show that executions like this will not be tolerated along with the appalling treatment of other activists and prisoners?

ANDREWS: Well, I think what has to happen, Rosemary, is that the condemnation -- the words of condemnation have to be connected to action. I think a price has to be paid by the junta and their cronies and their interests. For these horrific acts, we need to make sure that we can cut the supply of weapons, that continue to flow to them. We have to specifically focus on their economics -- their economic wealth and the sources of that wealth. What's generating that revenue that's putting -- that they're putting in their pockets and stop the flow of revenue in a coordinated and focused way.

We also could do simple things. Put fundamental things like providing humanitarian aid to the desperate people of Myanmar. Over half the country has now fallen into poverty. The health system is a -- has completely collapsed. People are desperate in that country.

But yet, the U.N.'s response plan -- humanitarian response plan is only 10 percent filled in for the year 2022. We're almost to August and only 10 percent of that is filled. So, there are fundamental things that the International Community can and must do. But what is required is the political will to do them and we're continuing to wait for that political will to manifest itself.

CHURCH: And, of course, these represent the first executions in Myanmar since 1988. And the U.N. Secretary-General says it marks a further deterioration of the already dire human rights environment in Myanmar. And he reiterated his call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. But how likely is it that they'll be released?

ANDREWS: Well, it -- they're not going to be released simply by individuals, including the Secretary-General calling for them to be released. They'll only be released if they feel that they have no alternative but -- but to do so. If the pressure is so strong and sustained that they simply have to do this.

You, know these executions come in the context of a country in which it is against the law, it is a crime to be critical of the government. You have 14,000 people who have been arbitrarily detained. 1,400 of them have been children. 61 children, right now, as we speak, are being held hostage by this junta, so that they can force their parents and family members to turn themselves in.

[02:35:00]

This is a horrific situation, a nightmare, literally for people all over the nation of Myanmar. And they desperately need the International Community to respond, not simply with words of condemnation and calls for release of prisoners, but action.

CHURCH: And, of course, at the moment the International Community is distracted by what is happening in Ukraine, and, rightly, so that needs attention. But there are so many other parts of the world that do as well. How much worst do you expect the situation in Myanmar will get? And when might the International Community talk less and take action? And what type of action needs to be taken? You mentioned cutting off the supply of weapons and the wealth that's going to the military leaders there. But what else needs to be done? ANDREWS: Well, first of, let's be clear. The audience for this action, the primary audience for these executions were the people of Myanmar themselves. There is -- it's extraordinary just how unpopular, how reviled this junta is by the people of Myanmar throughout the country, widespread opposition.

And so in, I believe, desperation, the junta has taken this action to signal to the people of Myanmar that you may not like us. But if you become active in the opposition movement, you too could be imprisoned, you too could be put on death row, and you too could be executed. I think that's the primary reason why we have seen this horrific action that they've taken over the weekend.

CHURCH: So, what impact do you think these executions will likely have on the pro-democracy movement? You mentioned that they're designed to scare activists and demonstrators. But they could just, as well, really make people dig their heels in ever more because they would feel we have nothing to lose.

ANDREWS: That is exactly right, Rosemary. I couldn't agree with you more. I think the intention is to scare people into passivity. But I think as you have just suggested, I think, you're right. I think what is more likely to happen is that the anger is going to continue to the -- well beyond the boiling point. And then you -- and then you're going to find more and more people being willing to take stronger and stronger action to defy this military junta.

I think they are in for a reckoning. That is -- I think, the junta is in for a reckoning. That what they thought they were going to be achieving through these horrific acts will end up being just the opposite. And much to their dismay, they are going to realize the people of Myanmar are simply not going to put up with more of this outrageous behavior on the part of this military.

CHURCH: Tom Andrews, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

ANDREWS: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: The birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring protests appears headed back to autocracy. Reuters reports that voters in Tunisia have backed a new constitution, granting the president vast new powers over the government and judiciary. Critics warn the country's fledgling democracy is being dismantled. Opposition parties boycotted Monday's referendum, accusing the president of a coup after he dissolved parliament last year. Early tallies estimate only about a quarter of voters took part in the referendum.

Well, time now for a short break. When we come, back the race to lead the UK enters a new phase as the final two candidates for prime minister debate face to face.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:40:00] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A key architect of the Good Friday Agreement that helped bring peace to Northern Island has died. David Trimble, won the 1998 Nobel Peace prize along with the late John Hume, for their efforts to end decades of conflict. Trimble served as Northern Ireland's first minister and led the All-State Unionist Party for a decade. David Trimble was 77 years old.

Well, big promises and sharp fighting from the two candidates for British prime minister. Former Treasury Secretary, Rishi Sunak and Current Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, faced off in their first one-on- one debate. They're hoping to convince conservatives to elect one of them to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the party and leader of the nation. And the debate was as contentious as their campaigns. Sunak attacked his rival's economic plan. Saying it will raise inflation and cause mortgages to skyrocket. And Truss accused Sunak of trying to get too close economically to China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, UK FOREIGN SECRETARY: Well, I am very clear, you know, after the appalling abuses in Xinjiang, after the terrible actions on Hong Kong, and the most recent outrage which is China working with Russia, and essentially backing them, the appalling war in Ukraine. We have to take this off his stance. We have to learn from the mistakes we made of Europe becoming dependent on Russian oil and gas. We cannot allow that to happen with China. And freedom is a price worth paying.

RISHI SUNAK, FORMER UK FINANCE MINISTER: But what we do need to do is acknowledge that China is a threat to our national security. It's a threat to our economic security.

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CHURCH: Bookmakers say Truss has the edge over Sunak. The new prime minister is expected to be announced on September 5th.

Well, Eurovision 2023 is moving to the UK, but only because it wouldn't be safe for Ukraine to host it. The Ukrainian group, Kalush Orchestra, won the contest this year, meaning their home country should host Europe's biggest music event next year. But because of the war, organizers asked the UK to host on Ukraine's behalf. Britain came in second in the contest this year. And the BBC says it's committed to making the next Eurovision a true reflection of Ukrainian culture.

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. World Sports is up next. Then, I'll be back with more news from all around the world in about 15 minutes. You are watching CNN.

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LEMON: So, high temperatures and high crime rates. Today, over 40 million people are currently under heat alerts in the U.S. That is following weeks-long -- a weeks-long heat wave that has so far impacted more than 100 million Americans. And while the temperatures are rising, so is crime.

So, looking at crime rates from last week compared to the same week a year ago, in New York, violent crime is up 22 percent. And Chicago, 62 percent. But are heat and crime connected? I know it sounds odd, but let's discuss it now. Joining me now retired captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Hans Menos, the vice president of the Triage Response Team at the Center for Policing Equity.

I'm so glad to have both of you on. I know that crime easily goes up in the summer months because people are outside. But let's see what with high temperature -- what that means. Good evening, gentlemen.

Hans, you first. What's the link between summer and crime surges? And does heat have to do with any of that?

HANS MENOS, VICE PRESIDENT TRIAGE RESPONSE TEAM AT THE CENTER FOR POLICING EQUITY: Hi, Don. And thanks for having me.

So, I think the answer is that it's complicated. But there's certainly a relationship between heat or rising temperatures and violent crime. That's been attracted in a myriad of ways. But what's important to note is that there's a confluence of other factors.

So, violence on its face is more likely in areas that have less opportunities, more depression, more racism, and are -- and where people are generally oppressed. That's what we know about violence overall. And so, the same is true for where violence concentrates because of heat or as a result of heat. It's really a confluence of all of those factors, lack of opportunity, lack of investment in that community that creates or that allows for violence to get -- to cause a spike in those neighborhoods.

Notably, we're not talking about a violent spike in the suburbs when it's 100 degrees. So, there are -- it is important to note where heat causes the concentration of violence. And what other factors we can talk about when we are talking about the impact of heat on violence in our cities.

LEMON: So, Ron, there's a -- there's a 2019 study from the University of Southern California and it found that in Los Angeles when the temperature was above 85 degrees, crime rose by 5.7 percent. Do policing methods change at all when the season or the weather changes?

CAPT. RON JOHNSON (RET.), FORMER INCIDENT COMMANDER IN FERGUSON, MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: They don't really change. And we know that crime does go up or violent crime goes up. And so, we're aware of that. We do try to target those times where we see those crime trends go up where we may put more manpower out there. But historically, yes. When it's hot, this crime goes up. Violent crime goes up. Like the other gentleman said, we see a difference in some of our urban areas versus suburban areas. But we also see it rising in suburban areas also.

LEMON: So, Hans, can we go back to something that you said. Because you say that a lot of crime increases can be attributed to opportunity. And we know that there are more guns on the streets in America than anywhere else in the world. How big a factor is that?

MENOS: So, yes -- I mean, we know America has a gun problem, right? And our cities are -- that's where we really see this problem. So, of course, we can't divorce these two -- all these issues, poverty, crime, gun access, et cetera. But to turn back to the solution to these problems, what we've typically done is say, well, we're going to put more police there. We're going to flood those areas with more police officers.

And I think we're past that, right? In 2022, there is a couple of things that are predictable. One of them is that violence is going to spike in the summer, right? And that we can do it slightly more than offer a punitive response to that problem. We have a lot more in our toolbelt that should be safe to use it that can really allow people to think more about what they can do.

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There are balance (ph) interruptive programs. There's a lot of programs that can think about this way upstream and far less of a punitive response that says, well, we're going to put police officers there. And ideally, those police officers will either use their handguns or use their handcuffs to address this problem. We're really beyond that. I think we need to start thinking about that in a whole different way. This is one of those problems that we have to get far more creative on than throw in policing problems.

LEMON: You say violence interruption programs, Ron. Do you find that -- do you agree with what Hans said? Do you find that to be effective? What are the solutions?

JOHNSON: I agree with him. I think that putting more policemen is not the issue. I think we have to have interrupters. But I also think we have to have more program for our youth to be involved in during the summer months or in the winter months. We have to have activities, knows activities, and mentors within those activities.

So, actually, they have activities. And they're also learning skills to de-escalate they're being around each other in a positive way. And so, policing isn't the issue. But it is having programs, interrupters, and some of the things that Hans talked about were dead on.

LEMON: And part of this conversation we had before, it's also the economy. These crimes of opportunity are a huge problem.

JOHNSON: Yes.

LEMON: People are desperate and they want money and sometimes they can't take care of their families and they steal to do it and violence happens. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

In a State known for wildfires, this one is being called unprecedented. It's forcing thousands to evacuate their California's -- evacuate near California's Yosemite National Park.

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LEMON: Tonight, a wildfire near Yosemite National Park in California scorching nearly 17,000 acres since breaking out on Friday. Fire officials say the blaze is moving extremely fast. Forcing at least 3,000 people from their homes. And because it's moving so quickly, authorities have little time to warn people to leave their homes. Many forced to flee with just the clothes they are wearing. The flame's only about 10 percent contained and have destroyed at least seven structures so far.

The wildfire is the largest of California's actively burning fires. It's being fed by dry underbrush and the State's severe drought conditions. One official is saying the intensity of the blaze is a direct result of climate change. California's governor declaring a state of emergency for Mariposa County where the fire is located.

The chief of staff to the former Vice President Mike Pence confirming he testified before a federal grand jury investigating January 6th. Does it reveal how seriously the Justice Department is taking this case?

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