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U.S. Adds 528,000 Jobs; U.S. Unemployment Rate Dips to 3.5 Percent; Inflation in U.S. Despite Positive Jobs Report; Alex Jones Ordered to Pay $45.2M Over Sandy Hook Lies; Extreme Weather Around the World; River Thames Shrinking Due to Extreme Heat; Flash Floods Threaten Parts of U.S.; Half of U.S. in Drought for 4th Week in a Row. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 06, 2022 - 05:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:00:00]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.
Ahead on "CNN Newsroom". Biden's big week. We'll take a look at the measure aimed at bringing inflation relief, what it took to get this far, and what has to happen next for it to pass.
Plus, from severe droughts to intense wildfires. Extreme weather is impacting much of the globe. We'll go live to the CNN weather center for the latest.
And explosions and sirens blare throughout the night as Palestinian militants fire rockets in response to deadly Israeli airstrikes. We'll go live to Southern Israel on the escalating tensions.
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Center. This is "CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade".
KINKADE: Well, the crucial part of President Biden's legislative agenda appears to be closing in on the finishing line. The voting process on the Inflation Reduction Act is set to begin today in the Senate. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act includes a $369 billion investment in energy and climate programs. It's the largest in U.S. history. The Democrats are still waiting to find out if they can even pass this with a simple party-line vote. And it all comes after a week of big achievements for the Biden administration. CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today we received another outstanding jobs report.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Tonight, president Biden hailing another strong jobs report and promising more relief to Americans struggling with stubbornly high prices.
BIDEN: Today there are more people working in America than before the pandemic began. In fact, there are more people working in America than at any point in American history.
DIAMOND (voiceover): The unemployment rate dipping to 3.5 percent as the economy added 528,000 jobs last month, bucking expectations and tampering down fears of a recession. But the strong jobs report will do little to beat back inflation, Americans' number one concern.
BIDEN: I know people will hear today's extraordinary jobs report and say, they don't see it. They don't feel it in their own lives. I know how hard it is. I know it's hard to feel good about job creation when you already have a job and you're dealing with rising prices, food, and gas and so much more.
DIAMOND (voiceover): On that front, too, Biden citing progress.
BIDEN: We now have more than 50 straight days of falling gas prices in this country.
DIAMOND (voiceover): Gas prices are down 91 cents per gallon from their June peak. And now, Biden appears closer than ever to a big legislative win. With a bill to invest billions to fight climate change, empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, and make corporations pay a 15 percent minimum tax.
BIDEN: This bill is a game-changer for working families and our economy.
DIAMOND (voiceover): The last Democratic hold out, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, signing on but only after Democratic leaders agreed to add about $5 billion in drought relief funding and remove a provision that would have eliminated the carried interest tax loophole.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Well, we're feeling pretty good. This is a very, very, very big deal.
DIAMOND (voiceover): The Senate deal and strong jobs report capped a week of political wins for Biden that began with the killing of Al- Qaeda's leader.
BIDEN: The mission was a success.
DIAMOND (voiceover): It also included a passage of a bill expanding care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The yeas are 86. The nays are 11.
DIAMOND (voiceover): Biden set is to extend that positive streak next week signing the CHIPS Act into law, investing billions into U.S. semiconductor production.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND (on camera): And as Democrats prepare to bring that climate change investment and health care reform bill to the floor of the Senate, they're touting and they're really focusing in on the effects that this bill is going to have on inflation. They've named the bill, of course, the Inflation Reduction Act. And here at the White House, they've been eager to point out that this is a piece of legislation, they believe, will help cut costs for families.
Now, the reality is that most economists, when they analyzed this bill, they say that in the short term, it's going to have very little to no impact on inflation. In the long-term, though, they say that perhaps towards the end of this decade there will be an impact -- a measurable impact to bring down inflation.
But of course, most Americans are looking for relief right now. That's why the White House is saying that these drug pricing provisions that will allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, that that's going to be a game-changer for many families that are struggling with those high prices right now.
[05:05:00]
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
KINKADE: Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is finding out the hard way that there's a price to pay for his outrageous lies about the mass shooting at Sandy Hook. 26 people were killed in that 2012 massacre at a Connecticut elementary school. 20 of those were children. CNN's Drew Griffin has more on the verdict and what happens next.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: The jury in Travis County, Texas came back after an afternoon of deliberations with a stunning amount, $45.2 million. That is going to be added onto the already $4 million they awarded earlier this week for a total of $49 million in payments that Alex Jones may have to make to the parents. There is a statutory cap limit on some of the punitive damages which could reduce the amount.
But still, in all, this was a whopper decision for the plaintiffs, in this case, the parents of a victim of a shooting that Alex Jones for years said didn't happen. He is going to have to pay, apparently, a big sum. And he faces two more trials very similar to this, which means Alex Jones's troubles have only just begun. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
KINKADE: The mother who brought the lawsuit and whose child was killed in that shooting reacted to the jury's latest yesterday against the Infowars host.
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SCARLETT LEWIS, SON KILLED IN SANDY HOOK SCHOOL SHOOTING: We can choose love and that we're all responsible for one another. Care and concern is so important. And we saw what happens when there is a dearth of that. And so, I hope that we all just go home tonight and everybody that's reading these articles and hearing this message, and you choose love with your kids because you can realize that you have a choice, and your choice is love.
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KINKADE: After the verdict, Jones's lawyer spoke to reporters about his client's reaction.
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F. ANDINO RENAL, ATTORNEY FOR ALEX JONES: I'll be here tomorrow. He'll be on the air next week. He's going to keep doing his job, holding the power structure accountable. His reaction was that, you know, he'd been found guilty before he ever had a chance to defend this case on the merits. That the, you know, the first amendment is under siege. And that he looks forward to continuing the fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Jones's attorneys are due back in court September 14th for a pretrial hearing in the case of two other parents whose children died in the Sandy Hook shooting.
Northern Europe are breathing a sigh of relief. The heat there has eased at least a bit. But across Southern Europe, it's like nature's blast furnish is still blowing strong. It's not as hot as it has been, but still sweltering. And it's not just the heat, it's also the drought conditions making life miserable in many places.
In England, scientists say the drought has called the headwaters of the River Thames to dry out. The river now begins five miles downstream from where it once did. Add to that, a looming water crisis in France, the government minister there saying this.
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CHRISTOPHE BECHU, FRENCH MINISTER OF ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION (through translator): There are already more than 100 municipalities in France that today have no more drinking water. And for which, supplies are being transported by truck to these municipalities because there is nothing left in the pipes.
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KINKADE: The heat and dry conditions adding to the risk of wildfires. The fire in Northwestern Spain has already burned more than 850 acres. That's 350 hectares, and it's threatening homes in the area. Authorities have called in planes, helicopters, and at least 30 ground crews, as well as the military to help fight the fast-moving fire.
And amid the flames and the drought, a new record. A town in Iran now has the dubious record of posting the hottest temperature of the year so far, 53 degrees Celsius. That's 127.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Well, here in the U.S. heat advisories are up through the weekend in Boston and Philadelphia. Heat alerts continue for the central U.S. Dallas has been sweltering with temps in the triple digits almost every day of the past month. And the heat is about to start building in the Pacific Northwest with Portland, Oregon nearing the century mark by Sunday.
In Kentucky, still suffering from deadly floods, more heavy rain is expected. Flash flood watches are up across parts of the State inundated by recent heavy rains. And the waters extend into Ohio and West Virginia. Joining me now is meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
Certainly, a lot to say across the hue, Derek.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, from the Middle East all the way to Europe to North America, it feels like the whole northern hemisphere is literally baking. And it quite literally is. I mean, just look at what's happening across the U.S. And when we talk about the ongoing drought. Get this, the past four weeks have had 50 percent or greater of the continuous United States under drought conditions.
And across the East Coast, we have seen what is called a flash out, this is the rapid onset of drought conditions occur. Just look at the difference between May of this year through August. Now, we're starting to see some of that moderate to severe drought especially into Coastal Massachusetts and into Maine and Connecticut as well as Rhode Island.
Of course, when you have drought conditions like this, we get wildfires. We have 70 active large wildfires burning across 14 individual States. The heat is ongoing across the central interior. Excessive heat warnings just posted for the Omaha Region. And across the East Coast we still have more heat to deal with -- to contend with for some of the most populated areas of the eastern seaboard, New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond. Temperatures will soar to the upper 90s, that's middle 30s for your afternoon. 34 degrees Celsius for the big apple, to be specific.
Now, let's talk about what's happening across the Iberian Peninsula because firefighters are still battling their wildfire situation. In fact, across the European Union, this is interesting, from the Joint Research Center they've had their second largest area burn since records began, over 600,000 hectares so far. That is two times -- over two times the size of Luxembourg, the area of Luxembourg. That is how much area has been burned so far this year to date across the European Union.
Incredible amounts of heat. Dry conditions. You heard Lynda talk about the drought ongoing across Italy, as well as France. Well, it continues right through the next several days, several weeks. It is not showing any signs of abating. In fact, Paris's seven-day forecast shows a gradual increase in our temperatures. Some of our extended long-range models that we look at as meteorologists show another impending heat wave across western Europe. So be prepared, Berlin, Germany, into London as well.
And then we take you into the Middle East. This is an area that has excessive heat. In fact, the hottest temperature recorded, so far, here on Earth this year, 53 degrees, that's 127 degrees Fahrenheit. What in the world is happening? It's all thanks to a high-pressure system that is firmly in place. That is associated with sinking air, clear skies, and the sunshine, and maximum heat across that region. Lynda.
KINKADE: What in the world? 53 degrees Celsius.
VAN DAM: Incredible.
KINKADE: It's hard to even imagine just how hot that must feel. Derek Van Dam, staying cool here at least in the CNN Center. Thanks so much.
Well, Israel says nearly 200 militant rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed a senior commander of Islamic Jihad. We'll have a live report from Southern Israel, just ahead.
Plus, China putting on a massive show of strength in the waters around Taiwan in the last few days after the U.S. House Speaker's visit. We'll have the latest on that after the break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
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KINKADE: Israel says militants in Gaza fired nearly 200 rockets towards Israel in retaliation for airstrikes that killed a senior commander of Islamic Jihad. The Israeli military says most of the rockets were either intercepted or fell in open areas. Israel claims it hit Islamic Jihad inside Gaza, Friday, as the militants were allegedly preparing to launch a terror attack.
On Saturday, Israel says 19 members of Islamic Jihad were arrested in raids in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 11 people have been killed by the Israeli airstrikes, including a five-year-old girl, 75 other people were wounded.
Journalist Neri Zilber joins us live from Southern Israel. And of course, this is the most serious escalation in violence in over a year. What triggered this latest flare-up?
NERI ZILBER, JOURNALIST: Well, that's right, Lynda. This is the worst escalation of violence between Israel and Palestinian militant factions based in the Gaza Strip since the 11-day war last May, May of 2021 that lasted 11 days between Israel and Hamas.
Really, tensions have been running high here in Southern Israel where we are right now in the city of Dorot (ph) and the wider region and the Gaza Strip for most of the past week. Early Monday morning, the Israeli security services launched a nighttime raid to Nab, what they said was a senior Jihad commander in the Northern West Bank City of Jenin, that was in the West Bank, not in the Gaza Strip.
But in retaliation, Islamic Jihad vowed to revenge that arrest. Israeli intelligence said it had concrete information of a potential Islamic Jihad cross-border attack from Gaza into Southern Israel targeting Israeli civilians or soldiers. For the past four days or so, this wider region, large parts of it had been under, essentially, a de facto lockdown, in anticipation of just such a terror attack. Israel, Friday afternoon, apparently lost patience and preempted that attack with those initial airstrikes inside Gaza.
KINKADE: And Neri, so far, we know at least 11 people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes, including a five-year-old girl. What's the risk that this could escalate further?
ZILBER: Well, in the Middle East, in this part of the world, escalation is always a distinct possibility. Really, over the past 30 minutes, we've seen an escalation of Islamic Jihad rocket fire. Not only into southern Israel, in and around Dorot (ph), but also into central Israel for the first time since last night.
Yair Lapid, the Israeli Prime Minister made clear yesterday in an address to the Israeli public and the national community, that his beef, his fight, Israel's fight wasn't with the wider Gazan people. It was with Islamic Jihad.
[05:20:00]
To quote Lapid, he said, "Our fight is not with the people of Gaza but with Islamic Jihad." Which he called an Iranian proxy that wants to destroy the State of Israel and kill innocent Israelis. The head of Islam Jihad, Lapid said, is in Tehran, as we speak. We will do whatever it takes to defend our people. That's what the prime minister said yesterday evening.
We should say, Lynda, that the only silver lining in a day of escalation and violence here in Israel and the Gaza Strip is that Hamas, the larger and stronger of the militant groups in the Gaza Strip has so far not gotten involved. It's really only a fight at the moment between Islamic Jihad and the Israeli military. Islamic Jihad told CNN earlier today that it would back down. It's not talking about a ceasefire and that it would continue to fight back against what it said was the Israeli occupation and to do whatever it takes. We're seeing that over the past 30 minutes, an escalation is a distinct possibility, and unfortunately, here in Southern Israel and in the Gaza Strip. Lynda.
KINKADE: Well, we will stay across the story. Neri Zilber for us in Southern Israel. Thanks very much.
Taiwan says it detected multiple Chinese aircraft and naval vessels operating around the Taiwan Strait this morning. With some crossing the median line, the halfway point between the self-governing island and China. Taiwan's defense ministry said the activity could be a possible simulated attack. It comes just hours after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to the Indo-Pacific region ended. She left Japan early Friday morning, but it was her trip to Taiwan that dominated the spotlight.
CNN Correspondent Selina Wang is in Beijing and has the latest from the Chinese capital. Selina?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, the fallout from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan continues with China ramping up its military and diplomatic backlash. What China is calling its largest ever military drill around Taiwan is continuing. Beijing is sending the world the message that its powerful military has the ability to choke Taiwan off from the rest of the world.
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WANG (voiceover): Rockets from China launched towards the Taiwan Strait. Chinese fighter jets approach the island. Beijing ramps up its intimidation of Taiwan over U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit. China says it's staging a blockade around the island. On Thursday, Chinese state media reported missiles flew over Taiwan for the first time before falling into nearby waters. Beijing then announced its suspending cooperation with the U.S. on key issues, including talks between defense leaders and coordination over immigration, international crime, illegal drugs, and climate talks.
JUDE BLANCHETTE, FREEMAN CHAIR IN CHINA STUDIES, CSIS: As China is lobbing missiles all around Taiwan, they've decided that they're going to cut off communications with the U.S., which just adds to the possibility of a miscommunication by either side.
WANG (voiceover): The U.S. and China are blaming each other.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: China has chosen to overreact and use Speaker Pelosi's visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity. There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate, and escalatory military response.
HUA CHUNYING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The U.S. and some of its lackeys jumped out to accuse China of overreacting. If they really worry about the regional peace and stability, why didn't they send out earlier to prevent Pelosi from paying the provocative visit to Taiwan?
WANG (voiceover): China flew an unprecedented number of fighter jets across the median line of the Taiwan Strait. PLA pilots said they were excited to get so close to the island.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When I overlooked the coastline of the Taiwan island, my determination to safeguard the territorial integrity of the motherland became more firm.
WANG (voiceover): All of this rage, just over a two-day visit. Pelosi's presence in Taiwan, a slap in the face to Beijing which insists the self-governed island is a rebel Chinese province. Pelosi is out of Taiwan but left a crisis behind her. Many in the region fear that Beijing's retaliation is just getting started.
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WANG (on camera): Now, climate change has been one of the only areas where the U.S. and China have been talking despite recent tensions. But now even that window for dialogue is being cut off. All of this further damages already strained U.S.-China relations. But when it comes to these military exercises that China is carrying out, military experts tell me they could not have all been planned right when news about Pelosi's possible visit came out. They were likely planned long ago. But by pegging it to the Pelosi visit, that has whipped up a lot of patriotism at home. And for Xi Jinping, it is a welcome shift of attention for the home audience away from all of the economic problems at home. Lynda.
KINKADE: Our thanks to Selina Wang in Beijing.
[05:25:00]
Well, disturbing new indications that North Korea may be ramping up its nuclear ambitions. Satellite images from Planet Lab show new structures being built at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site. It comes as a confidential U.N. report obtained by CNN says that Pyeongyang is taking steps to repair for a future nuclear test. Punggye-ri is where North Korea has conducted six underground nuclear tests. The U.N. report says that development has been ongoing there as well as at other locations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a visit to the Philippines where he's been meeting with government officials. Blinken met with the Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila. After their talks, Blinken spoke with reporters about the escalating tensions between China and the U.S. over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.
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BLINKEN: Since the Peoples Republic of China launched nearly a dozen ballistic missiles toward Taiwan two days ago, we've been hearing from allies and partners across the region who are deeply concerned about the destabilizing and dangerous actions. Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is vital. Not only for Taiwan, but for the Philippines and many other countries.
What happens in the Taiwan Strait affects the entire region. In many ways, it affects the entire world because the Strait, like the South China Sea, is a critical waterway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, some Ukrainian civilians still have a way to cross from one side of the front lines to the other. But many of them are headed in a direction you may not expect. We'll explain next.
Plus, the candidates going head-to-head. For Kenya's presidency wrap up their campaign rallies. We'll take a look at the state of the race and what's at stake.
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KINKADE: Welcome back, to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. And this is "CNN Newsroom." Russia claims at least three people were killed in a Ukrainian attack in the occupied East. Moscow says, Ukrainians hit a bus in the Donetsk Region, Saturday, living at least five people wounded. Well, Ukraine says Russian rockets hit the grounds of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Friday. One rocket reportedly struck near that nuclear reactor. But Russia claims Ukrainian forces conducted the strikes. Russian forces have occupied the plant for months and have been accused of using it as a fortress to launch attacks from.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The occupiers created another extremely risky situation for everyone in Europe. They fired at the Zaporizhzhia in AP twice in one day. This is the largest nuclear plant in our continent. The one who creates nuclear threats to other nations is definitely not capable of using nuclear technologies safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Ukraine is hoping to start exploiting -- exporting up to five million tons of grain per month. Grain exports from Ukraine sea ports are starting to trickle out following an agreement signed in Turkey.
We now want to take you to one of Ukraine's so-called green corridors. Their routes civilians can still take to cross between Russian and Ukrainian-held territory. As our Nic Robertson reports, some of them are headed to areas still controlled by Russia.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Waging and waiting. Families, pets, possessions loading them down. All crossing to the Russian-occupied territory, South of Zaporizhzhia.
ROBERTSON (on camera): This is what's slowing everything up here, the deep mud. Cars just getting bogged down, sliding all over. This one just managing to get through. And the reason they're coming this way, quite simple, the bridges are blown up.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Ukrainian emergency services doing their best to get people through the rain-sodden fields.
We've had to drag a few trucks out today, the commander says, but it's drying out and getting easier.
Known as the green corridor, it's where people cross to and from Russian-occupied territory. But something odd this day, the traffic almost entirely one way. Of an estimated 6,000 people stuck on the Russian side, only 76 crossed. Many, many hundreds went the other way.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Where are you going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To Kherson?
ROBERTSON (on camera): Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because my parents live in Kherson.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Isn't it dangerous because there are Russians controlling Kherson?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. I know this. But I must to take from parents from Kherson to my city, Odessa.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): Everyone leaving Ukrainian-controlled territory telling us a similar thing. They expect to come back even if it appears they're not.
I'm taking my mother to the other side, he says, and picking up my grandmother.
When we asked why he's taking his young daughter, he shrugs. If they were going to live on the Russian side, no one willing to admit it. The route working so well this day several trucks taking the chance to turn a profit. This man, his van loaded with Pepsi and toilet paper telling us he's taking it to market.
ROBERTSON (on camera): The emergency services here say that on a normal day they get traffic coming from the occupied, the Russian- controlled side. Today it's different. They understand that there'll be nobody, nobody else coming from the Russian side today.
ROBERTSON (voiceover): No one, any wiser, why the Russians are still blocking so many desperate to leave. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kamienskie, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, the White House says, comments President Biden made about being hopeful for Brittney Griner's release don't reflect any developments behind the scenes. It comes after the American basketball star was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court this week for drug smuggling. The U.S. calls her detention wrongful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us a comment on Brittney Griner, Sir?
BIDEN: I'm hopeful. We're working hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. will pursue Russia's willingness to discuss a prisoner swap. The U.S. had offered to trade Viktor Bout, the imprisoned Russian arms trafficker, it's holding for Griner and marine veteran Paul Whelan who's also detained in Russia.
[05:35:00]
Turning to Afghanistan, hundreds have taken to the streets to protest a U.S. drone strike that killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Taliban officials posted photos and videos on social media showing mass gatherings across the country. Al-Zawahiri was killed, Sunday, at a house in Kabul where he had allegedly been staying. Despite the successful strike, U.S. officials are concerned about the growing threat of terrorism coming from Afghanistan. Take a listen to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
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CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: I'm worried about the possibility that we will see Al-Qaeda reconstitute. The ISIS-K potentially taking advantage of the deteriorating security environment. And I'm worried about terrorists, including here in the United States, being inspired by what they see over there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, the two candidates vying to be Kenya's next president have wrapped up their campaigns ahead of what is set to be a hotly contested vote. Deputy President William Ruto and the opposition leader Raila Odinga, both held their final rallies Friday. With Kenyans headed to the polls Tuesday. CNN's Larry Madowo has been speaking to both candidates in the capital Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAILA ODINGA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF KENYA: We will these elections.
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN OPPOSITION LEADER: We are very confident we are going to win these elections.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The 55- year-old Ruto called himself hustler in chief. A populist appeal to Kenya's largest boarding block, the youth.
RUTO: Our plan in -- under the bottom of economy model is to focus on infrastructure that not only drives our economy but intentionally, deliberately creates jobs.
MADOWO (on camera): What is the difference between you as a candidate and your main opponent, Raila Odinga, who's one -- who you were allies before?
RUTO: I have a plan. He doesn't. When I listened to their campaign, they don't really have the detail on what they want to do. He's a good old man, but I don't think today he has the capacity to pull this country from where it is.
MADOWO (voiceover): At 77, Former Prime Minister Odinga, is running for what he says is the fifth and last attempt to lead Kenya.
ODINGA: I'm younger than President Biden. I don't think age has anything to do with it. I think it's about the plan that somebody has for our country. MADOWO (on camera): If you were to win the presidency, what do you need to do fast to try and fix some of the many problems that Kenya faces?
ODINGA: I don't want to see a Sri Lankan syndrome manifesting itself here in the country. So, we have several options that we are going to look at. To keep costs of essential goods down in order to ameliorate the suffering of our people.
MADOWO (voiceover): Both sides have accused each other of corruption and both claim to have the solution.
RUTO: We run a real high risk of running this country using Cartels and people who have not been elected, you know. People who will be in shadows.
MADOWO (on camera): It's interesting you mentioned Cartels because your main challengers accuse you of becoming corrupt. That if you become president then this country will be even more corrupt than it is right now. What's your response to that?
RUTO: We are going to build the institution to make sure that any corrupt person, including the president, can be prosecuted.
MADOWO (voiceover): More than $16 million is stolen from the Kenyan government every day. President Kenyatta claimed last year, a staggering figure for a poor nation.
ODINGA: What you call budgeted corruption. When we addressed this, what we are going to get or receiving is going to be more than what is required to fund the projects that we're talking about.
MADOWO (on camera): So, your plan is to deal with the corruption so that more money is available? But every government promises that, but it just never happens.
ODINGA: We are not going to make any compromises. And nobody is going to be indispensable, including myself, in the fight against corruption.
MADOWO (voiceover): Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: When we come back, demand for the monkeypox vaccine outstripping supply. But America's top disease expert says there could be a potential solution to the problem.
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[05:40:00]
KINKADE: Welcome back. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reveals that monkeypox is disproportionately affecting the black and Hispanic communities. Among cases with the available dot at 94 percent were in men who reported recent sexual or close intimate contact with another man. And more than half the cases were among black and Hispanic people.
Authors of the report say, public health efforts should prioritize gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. But it is important to note that anyone can get the disease.
One of the chief concerns of health experts in the U.S. is a lack of vaccines to combat monkeypox. So, the FDA is considering a rule change to allow using a one-dose vial of the vaccine to administer up to five separate doses. Infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says it's worth considering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: I think if you can show, and there are studies that do show that, that if you administer it in a different way. For example, intradermal versus subcutaneous, that you can get a comparable response at maybe one-fifth of the dose. So, I think it's something worth pursuing. Whether they're actually going to be able to do that. I'll leave that up to the FDA. But to approach that as an alternative way, I very much am in favor of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, in the meantime lines to get the vaccine are very long, very long. And there are concerns over both the lack of supply and the lack of urgency. Here's CNN's David Culver.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): We started early, just before 6:00 a.m., Our destination, familiar to our Uber driver. We were her third passenger that morning also headed to San Francisco's Zuckerberg General Hospital. As we arrived, so too the sun, revealing a line with dozens, mostly men camped out, waiting, some nearly all night.
CULVER (on camera): Security guard telling me that this line started building around 2:00 in the morning.
[05:45:00]
CULVER (voiceover): All of them wanting to be vaccinated against the monkeypox virus. Cody Aarons tells he's been trying for weeks from New York to now here in the bay area.
CODY AARONS, WAITING FOR MONKEYPOX VACCINE: It definitely shows that people are concerned about it.
CULVER (voiceover): And willing to stand in hours-long lines that spill onto the sidewalk. Inside, exhausted hospital staff face another day's surge in vaccine demand. COVID-19, still raging, and now monkeypox.
MERJO ROCA, NURSE MANAGER, ZUCKERBERG SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL HOSPITAL: I think one of our biggest challenges is really just the inconsistency of the supply.
CULVER (voiceover): Here in California, nearly all of those who have reported probable or confirmed cases, more than 98 percent are men, with 97 percent of patients identifying as LGBTQ. While deaths are rare, the symptoms are visible and painful.
KEVIN KWONG, RECOVERED FROM MONKEYPOX: I had between 600 and 800 lesions. It was like someone taking, like, a hole puncher all over my body right under my skin. So, there are points where I couldn't walk, I couldn't touch things. Really difficult.
CULVER (voiceover): Kevin Kwong, says his symptoms lasted some two weeks. He chronicled his recovery on social media.
KWONG: I think I really just didn't want to be alone. I wanted to connect with people and see if other people were also experiencing what I was.
CULVER (voiceover): A familiar sentiment for long-time LGBTQ advocates living and working in San Francisco's famed Castro District.
CULVER (on camera): You get a sense that there's this growing uneasiness around monkeypox. For a lot of people, that's eerily reminiscent of what they experienced here in the early '80s with the AIDS crisis. There's fear, there's anger, there's anxiety, and there's stigma.
CULVER (voiceover): It's personal for Tyler TerMeer, he runs the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and lives with HIV.
TYLER TERMEER, CEO, SAN FRANCISCO AIDS FOUNDATION: We have a responsibility to not further stigmatize or politicize this issue for a community that has long-faced many issues dating all the way back to the earliest days of the HIV epidemic.
CULVER (voiceover): Facing mounting criticisms for its handling of the outbreak, on Thursday, the Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency.
RAFAEL MANDELMAN, SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: The feeling that this is not getting the attention, that it would if it were impacting straight people, you know, is real.
CULVER (voiceover): Back on San Francisco's front lines, Cody Aarons makes his third attempt to get vaccinated against the virus. Off camera, a hospital staffer updates the crowd.
CULVER (on camera): I hear him announcing something. I don't know if you can make out what he's saying.
CULVER (voiceover): Just 45 minutes into the hospital's distribution --
AARONS (PH): Oh, no guarantee for vaccines.
CULVER (voiceover): They had already reached their daily limit. David Culver, CNN, San Francisco.
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KINKADE: We are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stick with us. You're watching CNN.
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[05:50:00]
KINKADE: Situation in California -- in California, around 1,000 people stuck in Death Valley National Park due to flooding. Roads going in and out of the park closed Friday, though officials say a number of people have found a way to leave, and "No one is stopping them." According to a news release, dozens of cars were buried under debris at the inn in Death Valley. Officials there saying that the park received 1.46 inches of rain, almost matching the previous daily record.
In most of the West, the problem is not enough water as the Western U.S. faces an unprecedented drought due to climate change. In fact, a water war is brewing between Colorado and Nebraska over access to the South Platte River. CNN's Stephanie Elam reports how one of those States is evoking a centuries-old deal to get more water from the other.
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SUE CARTER (PH), COLORADO RESIDENT: Just make it known that water is life here.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Sue Carter (ph) is among those in Julesburg, Colorado who fear their lifeline is caught in a tug-of-war.
TOM CECH, FORMER CO-DIRECTOR, ONE WORLD WATER CENTER AT MSU DENVER: We go through droughts over 20 years or so but nothing of this magnitude.
ELAM (voiceover): Not only has Tom Cech had a front-row seat to a punishing drought, but also to a brewing battle between States.
CECH: We are in for a wave of water rights battles throughout the West. It's going to be between urban and ag areas. It's going to be between States.
ELAM (voiceover): Case in point, Colorado and Nebraska, and the South Platte River which flows from the Rocky Mountains into Nebraska. In January, Nebraska dusted off a 99-year-old compact between the two States, announcing a plan to build canals on Colorado land to siphon water off the South Platte into a Nebraska reservoir system during the non-irrigation months in the fall and winter.
GOV. PETE RICKETTS (R-NE): Without this compact and our ability to enforce our rights, we'd receive a dramatic impact upon our State.
ELAM (voiceover): Why now? Nebraska points to Colorado's ever-growing population and its estimate of nearly $10 billion for 282 new projects along the South Platte.
RICKETTS: Should all the long-term goals be affected, they would reduce the amount of water flows coming to the state of Nebraska by 90 percent.
KEVIN REIN, DIRECTOR, CO DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES: The fact is, many of those projects are not necessarily going to come to fruition.
ELAM (voiceover): Colorado State leaders have raised an eyebrow at Nebraska's plans. In a statement to CNN, Colorado Governor, Jared Polis, calls it a political stunt. Saying outgoing Governor Ricketts is wasting taxpayer dollars.
ELAM (on camera): Is Nebraska getting its fair share of water?
REIN: In the 99-year history of the compact, we have complied with those provisions of the compact.
ELAM (on camera): I'm walking in the original canal that Nebraska started to build in the 1890s, but never finished. Now, more than a century later, if they were to come back to this area, they'd have to navigate things like interstate 76, as well as take over private lands.
How do you feel about them potentially coming to grab this land?
JAY GODDARD, RANCHER AND BANKER: Well, obviously nobody wants to lose any of their property.
ELAM (voiceover): This land belongs to Jay Goddard, a fifth-generation rancher in this corner of Colorado, who could see part of his land in Julesburg taken by Nebraska under imminent domain. But more important, he says, is what the canal might do to the overall health of the river.
GODDARD: We have a lot of good wildlife, geese, turkey, deer. I'm worried that it'll dry up the river at the wrong time.
[05:55:00]
ELAM (voiceover): Not only could that hurt Julesburg's hunting economy, but also its neighbors. In Nebraska --
DARRELL ARMSTRONG (PH), FARMER: Here, the difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is the timely rain.
ELAM (voiceover): Farmer Darrell Armstrong (ph) wants assurances that the river won't be allowed to run dry.
ARMSTRONG (PH): The South Platter, basically, is the lifeblood to our surface (INAUDIBLE).
ELAM (voiceover): Yet he says he's seeing less and less water coming down the river. So, for him it is less about Colorado versus Nebraska, and more about urban growth versus agriculture.
ARMSTRONG (PH): A lot of the agreements have been made that we're coming up short.
ELAM (voiceover): It's just the beginning of a new era of water wars in an age of unprecedented climate change as rivers dry up and desperation flows.
CECH: Human nature is our biggest barrier, I believe, in trying to manage water in the West.
ELAM (voiceover): Stephanie Elam, CNN at the Colorado-Nebraska border.
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KINKADE: And before we go, their love affair might not have been as quite as grand as Anthony and Cleopatra or Romeo and Juliet. But Kim and Pete have called it quits. That is, of course, Pete Davidson, the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian, and personality, Kim Kardashian. They had been a thing since last October. Kim apparently pursued the funnyman after they smooched on SNL. Well, now their split is said to be amicable. Distance and their schedules are blamed for the breakup.
That wraps up this hour of "CNN Newsroom." Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. And for viewers in North America, "New Day" is coming up next. For the rest of the world, it's "Culinary Journeys."
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