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Senate Undertakes "Vote-A-Rama" On Health & Climate Bill; Indiana Is First U.S. State To Ban Most Abortions Post-Roe; Teachers And District Strained As New School Year Begins; 60 Million Plus People Across U.S. Under Heat Alerts Sunday; Climate Change Causing More Female Sea Turtles To Be Born; "Smart Glasses" Add Subtitles To Real-Time Conversations. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 07, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[03:00:31]
LINDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to watching from all around the world, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, forces in Israel and Gaza exchanged rocket fire and blamed each other. We'll take you to southern Israel for the latest. Plus, the dangerous strike that could lead to nuclear disaster has the IAEA chief pushing for a mission to Ukraine. We'll have details and a live report from Kyiv. And long COVID is much more prevalent than originally thought. Details and the latest study and how the world is managing.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Well, it's 10:00 a.m. in Israel and Gaza. Day three of deepening hostilities that began Friday with Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. It has since escalated into salvos of rockets fired towards Israel. The Palestinian saying Israeli airstrike is to blame for killing seven people Saturday, including four children in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza. But the Israeli military denies it was responsible and released video that it says shows a militant rocket going off course. Well, Israel says that's what caused that deadly explosion seen and can't verify either claim. Whatever the cause, here's what one Palestinian woman said after her home was destroyed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I started to cry and scream and then the drone hit, and after that, there was an air strike, which as you can see, put our homes to the ground. All of that was destroyed. What can I do? Where will we go tonight?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, cities across southern Israel have been sounding warning sirens as militant rocket streak out of Gaza by the dozens. The Israeli military says the majority are being shot down or hitting unpopulated areas. But one did strike a high rise building in Sderot which is very close to Gaza. One Israeli resident says the situation is different from previous confrontations. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This time, they are hitting the Islamic Jihad. It's the real way to deal with the situation right now. Although, we know that it is not the solution. The solution is talking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins me from southern Israel. Good to have you with us, Elliot. So, the death toll has risen, including several children, and also another top militant.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: That's right, Lynda. So, the situation continues, we've been hearing more floods of Iron Dome batteries taking down rockets being fired actually towards Jerusalem for the first time this morning. You mentioned, of course, an introduction, the explosion in Jabalia, in which the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says that seven people including four children were killed. As you say, Israel says that this was due to a misfired rocket from Islamic Jihad. The Prime Minister's spokesperson outlining precisely why it is so sure that that was the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEREN HAJIOFF, SPOKESPERSON FOR ISRAELI P.M. (through translator): There was no Israeli activity in the Gaza Strip in that area, or at that time. Islamic Jihad is killing Palestinian children in Gaza. One in four rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel lands inside the Gaza Strip. Iran's proxies, including Islamic Jihad, have a long history of hiding behind civilians to target Israeli civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOTKINE: And in the last few minutes, we've had a briefing from the Israeli Defense Forces international spokesperson saying that for at least two hours before the explosion in Jabalia, there was no Israeli activity at all. The last activity from Israel being in the northwest of the Gaza Strip. He added in terms of the end game, if you like, for the current operation, he said that quiet will be matched with quiet. If they stand down and stop firing, it will be quiet. Lynda?
KINKADE: And Elliot, Israel is targeting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza. Just explain for us the difference between that group and Hamas which rules the enclave.
[03:05:06]
GOTKINE: So, Islamic Jihad is smaller than Hamas, they're both Islamist groups, and they both are bent on the destruction of Israel, they reject any accommodation with Israel or a two-state solution. Now, Islamic Jihad is much closer to the Iranians, indeed, we've seen reports coming out of Iran over the weekend of the head of Islamic Jihad, meeting with both the President of Iran and also the head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well. So, Islamic Jihad is much more influenced by Iran. But it's not the first time that it's carried out attacks against
Israel, where Hamas has effectively sat by. It did so in 2019, for example. I think what's very interesting here is that while Hamas has been, you know, trying to have this delicate balance between supporting, in its words, resistance against Israel, and not getting involved, Israel has been very pointedly noting in all of its communications that it is targeting Islamic Jihad, that its targets are Islamic Jihad, whether it's workshops, or rocket launchers or tunnels, and that it is not targeting Hamas. Israel's Prime Minister has said that Israel doesn't seek a broader confrontation, but at the same time, it would not shy away from one if that were to be the case.
Now, Hamas put out a statement ahead of today, which is an important day in the Jewish calendar, it is the fast of Tisha B'Av, the second most important fast after Yom Kippur, commemorating the destruction of both temples, and it warned against what it described as Jewish extremists storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount or ?aram al- Sharif. Non-Muslims are allowed onto the Temple Mount of certain windows and more Jews than usual were expected today to mark the occasion. So far, things seem to be remaining relatively calm, and there's no sign, at least, yet that Hamas is going to enter the fray. Obviously, if that does happen, then I suppose all bets are off in terms of when and if this current round of flare up is going to end, Lynda.
KINKADE: All right, we will stay on this story. We'll speak to you again very soon. Elliott Gotkine for us in southern Israel, thanks very much. Well, several countries are set to meet Monday at the United Nations to discuss the latest violence in the Middle East. United Arab Emirates, France, Ireland, Norway and China have requested a closed-door meeting of the Security Council. France is calling for all parties to exercise restraint and says civilians will be the first victims of any further escalation. Russia says it's also seriously concerned about the conflict and quote for all sides to return to a sustainable ceasefire.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is sounding the alarm over shelling at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. His statements suggest the region dodged a bullet and the explosions could have led to a nuclear disaster (INAUDIBLE) on Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv is still trading blame over who's responsible. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is pointing a finger at Russia, and says Ukraine will try to make Moscow pay for what it allegedly did.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: Unfortunately, we have a significant worsening of the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russian terrorists became the first in the world to use a nuclear plant for terror, the biggest in Europe. We will draw the world's attention to this, and insist on new sanctions against Russia for creating such a global threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Jason Carroll has been reporting on this story, and joins us live from Kyiv. Good to have you with us, Jason. So, let's start with that threat to Europe's largest nuclear plant. Is it damaged, what's the latest?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I mean, it is an extremely grave situation, according to reports coming from the ground, that because of the missile strikes in and around the facility, one of the six reactors, power had to be shut to one of those reactors. And Lynda, because there is so much uncertainty here on the ground, no independent eyes on what is happening there, that is why there is this push to get experts in there to accurately evaluate exactly what's happening there. Again, this is the biggest, the largest nuclear power plant in all of Europe. The Russians and Ukrainians, again, as you say, have been sort of trading jabs in terms of who was responsible for the missile strikes there. What we can tell you is that Ukrainians have been working there at the facility ever since Russia has taken over the facility. They seized the facility in early March. Again, Ukrainians are there, working alongside them.
President Zelenskyy, as you just heard there, weighing in on this issue, saying this is not just a danger for Ukraine, but it's a danger for all of Europe, if people aren't allowed to get in there and accurately see what's going on. Now, the head of the IAEA has also weighed in on this issue. He said the following, he said, "I'm extremely concerned by the shelling yesterday at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which underlines the very risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine, and also beyond."
[03:10:16]
Now, the IAEA says, according to Ukraine, there has been no specific damage to the reactors, no radiation leak. But once again, there are no independent eyes there on the ground at this point, Lynda. And that's why the E.U. is urging Russia to allow folks in there to accurately get an assessment of what is going on. Lynda?
KINKADE: And of course, Jason, it is difficult to estimate the death toll on either side. But Ukraine has released some new data in terms of the number of children killed and injured since Russia began this invasion. What more can you tell us?
CARROLL: Well, in terms of that number, it can be -- you know, we spoke to an expert over the weekend, who basically said that the numbers could be even higher, because it's very difficult to determine how many children are injured, how many children have been killed in the occupied territories when you look at what's happening in the East and in the southern part of Ukraine, but it's very clear that children are bearing the brunt of this war.
KINKADE: All right, Jason Carroll in Kyiv for us. Thanks very much. Well, as Jason was just explaining, it is tricky to understand the true death toll from Russia's invasion in Ukraine. But at least for now, Ukrainian authorities are reporting that at least 361 children have been killed, more than 700 injured since Russia's invasion began. Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office says those numbers could rise as it collects more information. It adds that more than 2200 schools have been damaged including the school here, west of Kyiv. Of those schools, 230 have been completely destroyed. Donetsk, Kharkiv and the area around the Capitol listed as the regions with the most child fatalities.
Well, Ukraine's grain exports are picking up speed, raising hope that more food could soon be on the way to people who need it most. Officials say four more grain ships are set to leave Ukrainian ports in the coming hours. And for the first time since the war began, a vessel coming from abroad arrived in Ukraine to load grain. A number of ships have been stranded in Ukraine since the war began. The United Nations estimates that 47 million people worldwide are having trouble putting food on the table because of the war. President Zelenskyy says the food exports are good news, but it shouldn't be taken for granted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY (through translator): We managed to resume maritime exports of Ukrainian agricultural products, our ports in the Black Sea are again operating. And although it is too soon to make a general estimation on the process, we still can say that it is positive for our state and for all our partners. However, the key risk security one has still not been lifted, the threat of Russian provocations and terrorist acts remains. Everyone should be aware of this. But if our partners fulfill their part of the commitment and guarantee the security of supplies, this will really solve the global food crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Taiwan's Premier caused China's military exercises around Taiwan Strait arrogant and accuses Beijing of trying to disrupt regional peace and stability. This, after Taiwan's defense minister says multiple Chinese aircraft, naval vessels, and drones were detected around the strait Sunday morning. And the drones intruded on islands controlled by Taiwan. The ministry described the drills which were announced after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan last week, as a quote, simulated attack against the main island of Taiwan. China's military says the drills were conducted as planned, focusing on joint fire land strikes, and long-range air strike capabilities. For more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and the world is facing yet another threat from the virus.
Coming up, how long COVID is sidelining millions of people around the world. And why this adult film entertainer wants to share his experience with monkeypox to help educate others.
[03:15:00]
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KINKADE: Welcome back. Potentially, a hopeful sign in the fight against COVID-19 as countries around the world report a slowdown in new cases. And while some countries including Russia have seen a dramatic rise in new infections over the last week, the World Health Organization reported Wednesday that the global tally of new cases was down nine percent compared to the week before. Here in the U.S., President Joe Biden has tested negative for COVID after a week-long rebound infection. His doctor says Mr. Biden will remain in isolation until he tests negative a second time.
Well, even as the rate of new cases slows, another the pandemic threat is looming as millions of people around the world cope with the effects of long COVID. A new study found that one in eight adults with COVID-19 had symptoms that persisted for months after their initial diagnosis. Fatigue, shortness of breath, and chest pain were some of the most common complaints. And it's not just adults who are being affected by this, a new U.S. report found that children who developed long COVID have higher rates of lung, heart, kidney, and pancreatic problems. The study published in July estimated that five to 10 percent of kids develop long COVID. But other researchers believe the actual number to be much higher.
Earlier, CNN spoke with Dr. Eric Topol, he's a cardiologist and professor of molecular research at Scripps Research Center. He explains just how debilitating long COVID can be and the long-lasting effects it can have.
[03:19:56]
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DR. ERIC TOPOL, PROFESSOR OF MOLECULAR RESEARCH, SCRIPPS RESEARCH CENTER: Importantly, it can be very debilitating. The symptoms that are not just fatigue and chest pain and muscle weakness and brain fog, and there's a long list, there's been, you know, near 30, 40 different symptoms that have been clustered in these people with long COVID. The problem, of course, is that there are serious matters, not just symptoms that can occur, like the cardiovascular, the neurologic, the mental health. So, there's a lot of different parts of our organ systems that can be affected with long COVID. Long COVID clinics are starting to become available in many parts throughout the country, including where I work. But that's not enough because the number of people who are affected, who are not able to do their work, and not able to return to normal daily activities is substantial. It greatly overwhelms what we have to support them.
No less, we have no proven treatment yet. We don't even have a biomarker that's been validated. So, we're way behind in terms of the support, as well as coming up with ways to intervene. There's only one good way we know to prevent long COVID is never to get COVID. So, this is a worldwide problem. The good news, if there is any good news, is that the number of people who are affected with the Omicron variance is a bit less, somewhat less than previous variants. But nonetheless, we're talking about millions of people. And as we go forward, as we ultimately exit the pandemic, the toll of people with long COVID will be the thing that really holds us back for years ahead. I don't think it's still adequately appreciated.
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KINKADE: We are keeping a close eye on the monkeypox virus outbreak as it continues to spread worldwide. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says there are now more than 28,000 cases in 88 countries. Here in the U.S., more than 7500 cases are reported, more than any other country in the world. Health authorities warn the majority of reported cases are men who have sex with men, but they caution that anyone can get monkeypox. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz spoke to an adult film entertainer who wants to using his experience with the virus to help curb its spread.
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SILVER STEELE, ADULT FILM ENTERTAINER: Hey, guys, day 15 of monkeypox.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): After adult film entertainer, Silver Steele, tested positive for monkeypox, he started to document his painful struggle from isolation in Texas.
STEELE: I don't want anybody to have to go through this. So, if my story will help people possibly change their behaviors or attempt to go get vaccinated, then it'll be worth it.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): It's a trend, social media is key to raising awareness at ground zero of this health crisis, the gay community. 98 percent of cases so far are among men who have sex with men according to the World Health Organization. But sex is not required to transmit the virus. It's passed on primarily through close skin-on-skin physical contact.
(on camera) Do you feel that there is a stigma?
STEELE: 100 percent. First of all, it's easy to label it as a gay disease. But this virus doesn't go, oh, I'm going to find a gay person. Oh, look, here's another gay person. It's just going to find a human.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): From a sexual health clinic in East London, Dr. Ian Reeves says he witnessed the early days of the outbreak.
DR. IAN REEVES, SEXUAL HEALTH CONSULTANT: To start off with, all of us were a little bit in the dark, to be honest with you, you know, kind of it's not an infection that I was familiar with at all.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): Now, healthcare workers are playing catch up, trying to vaccinate those most at risk faster than the virus can spread.
(on camera) Clinics like this one had to react quickly to the outbreak, training their staff, preparing tests, giving out dozens of vaccinations a day, it's put a strain on health services, and there's no sign the demand is letting up.
(voiceover) Word of mouth and public messaging are driving more and more to come forward for their shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people are I think taking this seriously and making sure that they're protecting themselves and protecting each other and the rest of the community.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): But monkeypox cases are still on the rise. And with limited vaccine supply, containment still presents a challenge.
ALIESKY ROMERO, MONKEYPOX VACCINE RECIPIENT: Seeing that some friends of mine had it and they had it quite bad, so I thought better.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): And healthcare workers are scrambling to access a historically marginalized population.
REEVES: One of the concerns I have is that the people that will get into the vaccine clinics are going to be the best connected, so that can leave people who, you know, historically, are less well served by health services behind a little bit.
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): And that's why alongside public health messaging, grassroots voices are making an impact. So far, more than a million people around the world have viewed Steele's video.
(on camera) How does that make you feel to know that your message is being heard?
STEELE: I feel fulfilled. Fulfilled that what I'm going through, what other people are going through isn't for nothing because I'm telling you, you don't want this. It's painful.
[03:25:07]
ABDELAZIZ (voiceover): A community rallying to prevent a new disease from taking hold. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, UNICEF warns that thousands of children in Haiti's capital are at risk of death from malnutrition. Data gathered by the agency shows that 20 percent of children under the age of 5 in just one neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, is suffering from acute malnutrition. UNICEF blames the surge in gang violence, which has forced many basic services to shut down. Officials say it's left hundreds dead. 3,000 people have been forced from their homes according to UNICEF, including hundreds of unaccompanied minors.
To South America, where Columbia is preparing for new leadership. Later today, Gustavo Petro will be sworn in as the nation's first ever leftist president. On Saturday, members of Columbia's Indigenous Community performed a symbolic inauguration in Bogota. Mr. Petro won the election in June on an ambitious agenda to tackle the country's social and economic inequality. He also vowed to suspend oil exploration and shift Colombia towards clean energy, promises that he reiterated during Saturday's ceremony.
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GUSTAVO PETRO, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF COLOMBIA: Here, a government for peace will begin. First, a government that will bring Colombia what it has never had during centuries, which is the tranquility of peace. Here starts a government that will fight for environmental justice to be in balance with nature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, if you're joining us from North America, I'll have more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break. For the rest of the world, "INSIDE AFRICA" is next.
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[03:30:31]
KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Lynda Kinkade, and you're watching CNN Newsroom. Good to have you with us.
A marathon voting session is underway in the U.S. Senate right now. Democrats are hoping to push through a sweeping health care, climate and tax bill. They tackle some of the party's key policy objectives. But first, they have declared one more procedural hurdle what's known as a vote-a-rama, a series of back-to-back amendment votes with no time limit. Still, Senate Democrats say they're confident the bill will reach President Biden's desk soon.
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CHRIS COONS, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: All 50 Senate Democrats have agreed to the core of this bill. I am confident it will be making its way to the House and the President's desk by next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: We'll CNN's Jessica Dean has a closer look at what's included in the bill and where things go from here.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senate Democrats aren't pushing through and midway through this complex budget process that will allow them to pass legislation focused on climate, health care, and some tax provisions with just the Senate Democrats voting. They will not need Senate Republicans. But because they're using this complex budget process, that means it is taking hours and hours of process to get to the end.
We do expect it to pass after Senator Manchin and the Majority Leader Chuck Schumer coming to an agreement. And then late last week, getting Senator Kyrsten Sinema on board. We do expect that all 50 Senate Democrats are much -- very much on board with this. They just have to get through the process of a vote-a-rama which can be hours and hours of endless amendments. And it's just nobody's guessed exactly how long that will take.
Just to remind people a little bit about what's in this bill. When it comes to those climate provisions. It's some $369 billion, the largest investment ever from the Senate into climate that we've ever seen. They're hoping that these provisions will lower carbon emissions by 40 percent by the year 2030.
When it comes to health care, they're talking about extending the Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies for three years. And they're also, for the first time, Medicare will be allowed to negotiate drug prices on certain drugs. And then with the tax provisions, there, as a corporate minimum tax in there of a 15 percent. There's also a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks. Again, a lot of this stuff Senate Democrats, frankly, didn't think they would get through because earlier this summer, Senator Joe Manchin, the kind of conservative Democrat from West Virginia, did not support the tax provisions, the climate provisions, but they were able to come to this agreement. Once it passes out of the Senate, it will then go back to -- it will then go to the House.
We are expecting the House to come back into session. They're currently on recess. On Friday, August 12, pass this and then it goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
Jessica Dean, CNN Capitol Hill.
KINKADE: Well, Indiana is now the first U.S. state to pass restrictive abortion laws in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe versus Wade. Reproductive rights are a major issue for voters. As CNN poll released late July, it found that nearly two-thirds of Americans disapproved of the court's ruling.
CNN's Carlos Suarez has more on Indiana's new law and their reaction to it.
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(CHEERING)
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): Over the chance of protesters, lawmakers in Indiana passed a bill late Friday night that would ban most abortions, the first state to pass such a restrictive law since Roe versus Wade was overturned this summer. The move drew outrage from Democrats and some Republicans who felt the measure went too far and others who felt it did not.
GREG TAYLOR, INDIANA STATE SENATOR: If you're pro-choice, you can't be happy. I don't know who left here happy. All I know is people need to go out and vote in November.
ELIZABETH ROWRAY, INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I held my pro-choice views until the first ultrasound that I had of my very planned first thought. And in that instance, when I saw heartbeat, I couldn't believe if I ever felt like it would be OK to kill that child. I switched them that instance.
SUAREZ (voice-over): The bill was signed into law by the governor minutes after the vote. The law which goes into effect on September 15th, provides exceptions for when the life of the mother is at risk and for fatal fetal anomalies up to 20 weeks post-fertilization. It also allows exceptions for some abortions if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.
The vote came days after voters in Kansas overwhelmingly rejected an effort to remove abortion protections from their state constitution.
[03:35:05]
On Saturday, the White House blasted the vote in Indiana, quote, "Yesterday's vote which institutes a near total ban in Indiana should be a signal to Americans across the country to make their voices heard. Congress should also act immediately to pass a law restoring the protections of Roe, the only way to secure a woman's right to choose nationally."
Caitlin Bernard, the Indiana OB-GYN who provided abortion services for a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim who crossed state lines in June says she worries that even with exceptions, doctors fear they could be prosecuted for providing an emergency procedure to pregnant women.
DR. CAITLIN BERNARD, OBSTETRICIAN/GYNECOLOGIST: You know how to save their lives and yet you're wondering, well, who's going to -- who do I have to check with? Who's going to second guess me? Do I call my lawyer? Do I call the county prosecutor? You know, is this going to go to the state attorney general which we know can be incredibly dangerous for physicians as I've experienced?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SUAREZ: And Indiana's business community is already weighing in on this new law. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly which employs about 10,500 workers in the state says they're going to start looking for talent elsewhere. This as a company says that they're going to expand its health care coverage for employees that might seek health care reproductive services out of state.
Carlos Suarez, CNN, Miami.
KINKADE: Well, Indiana isn't the only U.S. state seeking to restrict abortion. Supreme Court's ruling has led to enforcement of bans in several states and has opened the door to new restrictions in others. Arizona's Republican attorney general is asking a state court to lift his 1973 court injunction against an abortion ban enacted back in 1901.
In Florida, law banning abortions after 15 weeks remains in effect amid a legal fight to overturn it. A similar challenge is underway here in Georgia where abortion is banned after six weeks. We're keeping track of these cases and the efforts in other states. And you can get updates on a section of our website. You'll find at cnn.com/politics.
Most students are heading back to school next week and in many places, their classrooms could be much more crowded than last year. The U.S. is dealing with a shortage of teachers. And some school districts struggling to fill the positions. As CNN's Camila Bernal reports, teachers are under immense strain trying to make ends meet.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anecdotally, teachers will tell you that they are tired, stressed out, frustrated and underpaid. They say their job is difficult and they just don't make enough money. Now, every school district is different in terms of pay the job itself and whether or not they're seeing shortages. Some school districts say they believe they will hire the teachers they need before the school year begins while others say they really are struggling. They cannot hire people as the school year begins. There is no national database, no way of knowing exactly where the shortages are. But we are hearing from school districts who are having to come up with solutions. Some who say we're going to have to do a four-day school week, others who say we may need more children in one classroom. Others going the complete opposite way and saying we need less children in the classroom in order to get teachers to come and want to teach.
There are others who are offering more money, say 20 percent more in order to get that job to get teachers to apply. They're reaching out to different universities. They're trying to reach out to diverse teachers, and yet many of them are still struggling.
The other problem is keeping the teachers, retaining them. That's also something that school districts are struggling with. I talked to a teacher who is currently on a leave of absence. And she says it's going to be very difficult to return to the classroom. Here's what she told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLLE FEFFERMAN, TEACHER: For most teachers, they carry student debt from the education we had to get in order to become teachers. And then we walk into a school district. And we're not paid enough to live and take care of that student debt. And we live in cities that are oppressively expensive. And so, when you are worried about your own survival, it impacts your ability to be a whole person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: And Nicolle Fefferman also telling me that she's worried about the future. She says she doesn't see enough students wanting to become teachers. And she says she talks to a lot of other teachers who are also feeling frustrated and tired. And she says, something needs to change in order to get more teachers into these classrooms.
Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.
KINKADE: Well, tens of millions across the U.S. are under heat alerts. We'll go to the CNN Weather Center for the latest and what to expect in the coming weeks. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
Also ahead, sea turtles are in danger and scientists are blaming climate change. That story coming up too.
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[03:43:24]
KINKADE: Well more than 60 million people are under heat alerts across the United States. The above average temperatures are expected from the Pacific northwest to the plains to the northeast, with several cities reaching the 90s or triple digits. On Saturday, Boston tide are high, temperature record set in 1931, 97 degrees Fahrenheit.
Joining me now is CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Thankfully, it wasn't that hot here today, but the heat waves and the record temperatures continue?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I guess, the rain helped here in Atlanta, that's for sure, Lynda, but you know, we're starting to sound like a broken record here. But the thing about this broken record is that it has real-life consequences. And that being this heat is impacting vulnerable people from the elderly to the very young and it just continues and we have no relief overnight when our temperatures don't drop below that 75 to 80-degree threshold.
Our temperature and our bodies aren't able to regulate themselves, cooled down properly at nighttime. And, unfortunately, heat illness can set in very quickly. So, heat advisories across the country over 60 million Americans, current numbers actually 68 million to be precise. Here's a look at your temperatures. They are on their way up again for the nation's capital, New York and Boston.
Even though we got a break from the humidity yesterday, that's starting to creep up as well. That's why we have some of these heat alerts. The central portions of the country from Missouri to Kansas heat indices today, triple digits, very easily. And the heat will continue through the better part of the -- of this workweek as well.
Now check this out across the Pacific Northwest. The interior of Oregon and Washington have the potential to see triple-digit heat indices.
[03:45:07]
So heat -- excessive heat warnings are in place across this particular location. We'll top 101 degrees in Portland, Oregon today. Just to give you an example of how hot it will be, how hot it has been as well.
The other big story of recovery is the potential for flooding again over the hardest hit areas of Eastern Kentucky. Fortunately, the heaviest of rain lately has been just to the west of Eastern Kentucky. So sparing that area, the heaviest of precipitation lately, but still the National Weather Service has flood watches there because these pop up thunderstorms that had been forming consistently over the past few days over the eastern half of the country could easily dump another additional 1 to 2 inches, saturated ground, leading to more flooding.
Also keeping an eye on the potential for flash flooding across the upper Midwest. Look out Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Weather Prediction Center has a moderate risk of flash flooding for you as showers and thunderstorms move across the region today and into the day tomorrow as well. So kind of an expansive area of discussion here.
And then one thing to give you a heads up on, we are starting to see some signs that the Atlantic basin, the tropical basin is starting to become more active, a 40 percent chance of tropical development this week. Maybe we'll see our fourth named storm of the year coming up later this week. Lynda?
KINKADE: All right, Derek, good to see you as always.
VAN DAM: Thank you.
KINKADE: We'll chat to you next hour.
VAN DAM: All right.
KINKADE: Thanks very much.
The effects of climate change are all around the U.S. and scientists report yet another way it's impacting our oceans and their animal species. Sea turtles off Florida's coast are being disproportionately born female. CNN's Leyla Santiago explains.
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LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sea turtles are a species with temperature dependent sex determination. That means the sex of individual turtle hatchlings is determined by the temperature while still in embryonic development. The warmer the egg, the higher chance the turtle will be female. And conservationists say, a recent trend in warmer temperatures in Florida is having an alarming impact.
BETTE ZIRKELBACH, MANAGER, TURTLE HOSPITAL: The frightening thing is the last four summers in Florida have been the hottest summers on record. The scientists that are studying sea turtle hatchlings and eggs, they have found no boy sea turtles. So only female sea turtles for the past four years.
SANTIAGO (voice-over): Scientists are not sure why turtles have evolved this way. Some believe it's an evolutionary adaptation that helps turtles survive climate change by producing more females able to reproduce when the climate makes it more difficult for hatchlings to survive, that many believe the imbalance could endanger the species.
MELISSA ROSALES RODRIGUEZ, TURTLE KEEPER, ZOO MIAMI TURTLE HOSPITAL: Over the years, you're going to see a sharp decline in their population because we just don't have the genetic diversity. We don't have the male to female ratio needed in order to be able to have successful breeding sessions and be able to have eggs that hatch out in the long term.
SANTIAGO (voice-over): The uneven sex ratio is not only an issue in the Florida Keys, but it's also been discovered in Australia's Northern Great Barrier Reef.
RODRIGUEZ: Over the last 30 or -- 30 to 40 years ago, sea turtles hatching out, had a sex ratio of about six to one females to males. So you were getting males and you were getting females. Within the last 10 years or so, that number has spiked and about 99 percent of eggs that are hatching are female. So with these temperatures being warmer, the sand is warmer, the water is warmer.
Overall, the beach itself is a bit hotter than it used to be. We're hatching out significantly more females which long-term is not fantastic for the numbers of our sea turtle species.
SANTIAGO (voice-over): Conservationists around the world are trying to protect turtles, because over the last few 100 years, they've been endangered by pollution, poaching for their meat, skin and shells and boating accidents. And now they're facing the danger of climate change.
Leyla Santiago, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Good news for the world's largest coral system, scientists say parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef have recorded the highest amount of coral in 36 years, up an average of nearly 1/3 in some places. It comes even though the reefs have endured various mass bleaching events in recent years caused by abnormally warm water.
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MIKE EMSLIE, SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE: It's still a strong resilient system that's able to bounce back from disturbances. But, you know, you'd caveat that with the fact that we have seen the fourth mass coral bleaching event in seven years. So the frequency of those events is increasing, which is a major concern.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: As Mike mentioned, scientists warn that climate change could increase the frequency of coral bleaching.
Still to come glasses for the deaf that caption conversations in real time. It's not sci-fi, it's happening now and may soon be changing how we communicate. More in that when return.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. A new kind of smart glasses may soon change the way deaf people communicate. They allow users to actually read conversations, kind of like watching a subtitled foreign film. CNN's Michael Holmes reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we see anything?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Diana Martin is experiencing conversation like never before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a new way of being able to communicate.
HOLMES (voice-over): She's among the first to try new glasses specially equipped with a technology that helps those who can't hear to see conversation in real time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's like, she took naturally looking at me, but she realizes she doesn't have to look at me. She can look through the glasses.
HOLMES (voice-over): Inside the lenses of the new smart glasses, any speeches turned into text in real time with a live display of subtitles. Now, those who are deaf are offered a new way to engage and utilize other modern-day technologies primarily accessible to only the hearing world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alexa, what's the weather forecast?
[03:55:02]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now in Arkley, it's 23 degrees Celsius with mostly cloudy skies.
HOLMES (voice-over): The software was developed by the company XRAI Glass, after its CEO noticed his grandfather's increasing isolation as he lost his hearing.
DAN SCARFE, CEO, XRAI GLASS: There was just a little epiphany moment where I thought well hang on a second. He watches TV all the time with subtitles on. Why can't we subtitle the world?
HOLMES (voice-over): The technology is run through a smartphone app that transcribes any audio stream, and nearly simultaneously sends a text to special glasses that projected in front of the wearer in real time.
JOSH FELDMAN, DEAF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: Hello.
JULIANNE: Hey, Josh. It's Julianne. How are you doing?
FELDMAN: Very well, Thank you. How are you?
HOLMES (voice-over): Turning live captioning into augmented reality.
FELDMAN: Powerful, it's powerful. I can't understate the power and the important for people who are hard of hearing all over the wild to feel that they don't have to solely rely on lip read anymore -- on lip reading anymore. And that's a really -- it's a big moment.
HOLMES (voice-over): XRAI Glass developers say the smart glasses are still in beta, but they can already recognize who's speaking and will soon be able to translate languages tones, accents and pitch, hoping in the future to unlock more that can be seen when it can't be heard.
Michael Holmes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, that wraps up this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us. I will be back in just a moment with much more news. Stay with us.
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