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Suspect in Jerusalem Attack Turns Himself into Police; U.S Lawmakers Request Damage Assessment of Seized Documents; E.U. Backs Call for Demilitarization of Zaporizhzhia Plant. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 14, 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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[03:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, police in Israel says they have the man responsible for a mass shooting in Jerusalem. We are live from the city with the latest.

The man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie appears in court as we learn new details about the alleged attacker and the author's condition.

And lawmakers in D.C. try to assess the risk stemming from the documents seized from Trump's Florida home, which his team claims were declassified.

Our top story, the gunman who carried out a suspected terror attack in Jerusalem has turned himself into police.

CNN's Hadas Gold joins me now live from Jerusalem. So, Hadas, what is the latest?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, what we know is around 1:30 in the middle of the night as people were either leaving or arriving to the western wall, this is the holiest place for Jews in the old city of Jerusalem, at this bus stop and parking lot just outside the walls of the old city, the shooting attack took place on a bus, people sitting on the bus. We know that the shooter shot at a bus and at a nearby parking lot.

As I said, this is a major site both for religious pilgrims but also for many tourists. This is one of the main places that they enter the old city in order to visit the holiest sites, the western wall, the Haram al-Sharif and the al-Aqsa mosques. So, it is a very sensitive place, a place with lots of people, granted it was the middle of the night, but, still, the shooting attack took place.

We know that two of the victims are reported to be severely injured, five mildly and moderately, including one of the severely injured is a pregnant woman who had to undergo a emergency C-section in order to try and save the baby.

We also understand that several of the injured are American citizens, Americans who were visiting Israel. We do not yet have a comment from the U.S. embassy here. We have reached out for more.

We also know that the suspect at the time after the shooting took place fled on foot. This sparked a massive manhunt that included police helicopters over the city of Jerusalem. But this morning, the suspect turned himself in to police.

Take a listen to what the bus driver of the bus had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL KANYEVSKI, BUS DRIVER: And I stopped in the station of the Grave of David -- Tomb of David. In this moment, start the shooting. Two people outside I see foreign, two inside was a lady (ph), and the people, everybody, entry, panic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: And the suspect, of course, as I said, turned himself into police a few hours after this incident took place. A security source has told CNN that the attacker is Palestinian from East Jerusalem who holds Israeli citizenship. This, of course, coming at what's already been a sensitive time, in less than a week ago, we entered a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militants, the Islamic -- Palestinian Islamic jihad in Gaza after that short, less than three- day conflict that involved Israeli airstrikes and rockets being fired back and forth. So, already a sensitive time and now the city is even on higher alert. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Hadas Gold. I appreciate it.

Salman Rushdie's agent tells The New York Times that the author started to speak on Saturday, a day after he was stabbed multiple times during a New York book event. Prosecutors say Rushdie suffered three stabbed rooms in his neck and four in his stomach, he also has puncture wounds in his right eye and chest and lacerations on his thigh. The 75-year-old remains in a Pennsylvania hospital.

The suspect in the attack pleaded not guilty to attempted second- degree murder and other charges Saturday. He was denied bail and will be back in court next Friday.

Investigators say he traveled from New Jersey to New York at least a day before the event, and say he had cash, prepaid Visa cards and a fake I.D. with him.

And the late Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomenei issued the edict calling for Rusdhie's assassination decades ago over the book, The Satanic Verses.

[03:05:00]

And it was reaffirmed as recently as 2017. But so far, there has been no official comment on the attack from Iran's current government. We're on the streets of Tehran. Some Iranians said they were happy to hear the news. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very happy to hear the news. Whoever it was that carried out the attack, I would like to kiss his hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: At least two hard-line Iranian publications ran editorials praising the stabbing and the suspect.

Two high-ranking U.S. House Democrats are now asking intelligence officials for a damage assessment after the FBI seized classified documents from former President Donald Trump's Florida home. The chairs of the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees writing that former President Trump's conduct has potentially put our nation's security at grave risk.

Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that one of Trump's lawyers signed a letter back in June saying there was no more classified information at Mar-a-Lago. We now know that was not the case. And one former federal prosecutor says that could put Trump's attorney in legal jeopardy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think that lawyer needs her own lawyer. That's what I think. There is some serious liability there because making a false statement, if it is done knowingly and willfully in the course of a federal proceeding, in this case, a federal investigation, is itself a crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more from Washington.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Two months before the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, a lawyer for Donald Trump attested in a letter to the Justice Department there were no classified records to be found on the property, CNN learned on Saturday. But despite this claim, when investigators seized the boxes this past Monday in this criminal investigation, they found in 11 different places records still marked as classified. That included records at three levels of classification, even ones labeled TSSCI. Those are the types of records that would require the most strenuous provisions for secrecy, around them in federal government, like being kept only in secured facilities.

These new details now flesh out the timeline that was leading up to the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago. We learned just earlier this week of a meeting Trump's attorneys had in June and a subpoena for the return of the records before the search. But this letter from Trump's lawyer also adds to our understanding of why federal prosecutors may have seen no other way to re-secure the records than go to the beach club grounds for themselves on Monday. They weren't going to be given back by the president's team, that much is clear.

Now, Donald Trump and some of his advisers have claimed he declassified all the records he had at Mar-a-Lago when he was president, but when you look at what is being investigated here, obstruction of justice, criminal mishandling of government records, the Espionage Act, the classification status of these records at this time might be immaterial. What matters, as the Justice Department investigators continue their work, is how potentially harmful it was to have these documents out of the control of the federal government for the last year-and-a-half.

All of what happens in June with this letter from the lawyer subpoenas it's all likely to become important facts if criminal charges were to materialize here and as investigators try to narrow down who exactly had their hands on these documents.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is Political Analyst Michael Genovese. He's also the president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University and is the author of The Modern Presidency, six Debates that Define the Institution. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So, I want to start exactly there with your expertise on the presidency as someone who study presidents and so on. What we are seeing now with the general nature, we do not know what it was, but the general nature of what Donald Trump removed from the White House, how extraordinary and unprecedented is this?

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Before and after the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the post-Watergate reform, presidents and members also of their family have been accused of taking things that they weren't supposed to take out of the White House when they left office. The normal process is that the Archives, the National Archives, will say, where is this, we need that, we'd take a look at that, and there is a process of negotiation, a back- and-forth discussion and they reach an accommodation. That has always been the case until now.

This is different in kind and in nature. The Archives have tried and tried, they've even subpoenaed and they can't get the materials back that Donald Trump took with him. The question is, what did he take them for? What is he going to use them for? This is highly unusual.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And the nature of the stuff as well, the top-secret things. A lot of people have said, listen, there is no reason why he would need to take this kind of stuff home.

GENOVESE: That is right, and what is he going to do with it? There's all kinds of fears that he could give it away or sell it. I'm not concerned about those because I don't think that's what he's going to do. I think it is just Donald Trump's carelessness, his cavalier attitude about things and his attitude that the laws and the rules don't apply to him.

And let me be absolutely clear on one thing. This is not an accident. Every member of a new administration that comes in has to sit down and they get a briefing on presidential papers, what you have to keep, how you have to store them, how you have to deal with them and how they do not belong to you, they belong to us, to the government and to the people.

And so Donald Trump cannot say, well, I did not know, or I am the president, I can do this, absolutely, you cannot. But Donald Trump's attitude is just cavalier and he just acts like and thinks the rules do not apply to him.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And then the attitude of the Republican politicians and leaders, I mean, did you expect them to fall so quickly in lockstep behind Donald Trump? I mean, it makes you wonder sort of what evidence might be uncovered of wrongdoing that it would take to have them turned.

GENOVESE: Well, usually, the past is prelude. And if the past were prelude to this, you would see Republicans saying, wait a second, this is not right. You've got to give this stuff back. You shouldn't have this. It was a mistake. Just admit it and give it back.

It is amazing, but it has been true for the last several years, Republicans have fallen behind Donald Trump, they fall on their swords for them and there is a pattern that exists where Donald Trump will do something, there will be an outrage and the Republicans will hesitate and then all of a sudden they realize that if we cross this guy, he is going to maybe have someone run the primary against us or he might go after us. And so I have to say, in a very cowardly fashion, instead of doing the right thing, they follow Donald Trump's lead.

BRUNHUBER: And then President Biden meanwhile passes a massive climate and health care bill, a political coup and an election year, which would have a huge impact on millions of Americans, the very planet itself, yet it is relegated basically to the back pages. I mean, it seems even when Trump is losing, he is winning by sucking all of the political oxygen out of the air.

GENOVESE: Well, even out of office, Donald Trump, is the center of attention and he demands to be such. Teddy Roosevelt's daughter said of her dad, poor dad, has to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral and the baby at every christening. And that is kind of Donald Trump. He has to be center stage. He has to be the guy. And the cameras love him and he is a magnet to the cameras. He's really terrific at such self-dramatization.

Biden, on the other hand, has a more tepid personality. And, therefore, it's almost that the camera seemed to be pulled magnetically towards Donald Trump. And even out of office, he controls and dominates the airwaves.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and probably will do for some time as the story keeps unfolding. We'll have to leave it there. Thanks so much, Michael Genovese. I really appreciate it.

GENOVESE: Thank you, Kim. BRUNHUBER: More support is being lined up for a proposal to demilitarized Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Still ahead, another powerful voice calls for Russian troops to get out of the facility. We'll have a live report from Kyiv.

Plus, weapons from the west have been pivotal in Ukraine's fight against Russia, but, first, the manuals need to be translated. Coming up, I'll speak with a volunteer teaching English to Ukraininian troops on the frontlines.

Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A diplomatic push to demilitarized Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is picking up steam. The latest the voices in support of the move came from the European Union. Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell tweeted, the plant must not be used as part of any military operation.

The statement came on the heels of recent artillery site strikes on the ground of the facility. The U.N. secretary-general has already called for the demilitarization along with U.S. and Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow are trading blame for the attacks, which prompted fears of a potential radiation leak.

But for more on this, David McKenzie joins us from Kyiv. And, David, so let's start there with the threat to the nuclear power plant, what is the latest?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR ITNERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that is important, that the E.U. policy chief is saying that there should be a demilitarized zone around this and inside this vast nuclear power plant in the south of the country. That has been the call from several groups and officials, including the IAEA, that is calling for inspectors, that's the Atomic Energy Agency, calling for inspectors to visit that site.

I think it is -- in the long run, it might be possible but in the short-term, it is a difficult prospect to get a demilitarized zone around there. There have been accusations and counteraccusations of who exactly is shelling the site but the point remains that it was the Russians that occupied Zaporizhzhia back in March, something that the president of Ukraine's stressed in his nightly address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMY ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Every day of the stay of the Russian contingent on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and in the neighboring regions of our country, increases the radiation threat to Europe so much that even at the peak moments of the confrontation during the cold war, this did not happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MCKENZIE: Now, despite that, they have still been firing in that general region, especially on the industrial town, that (INAUDIBLE), nuclear power plant, Kim.

So, the calls that are coming from the E.U., the Atomic Energy Agency, the U.S. government and others at this point don't seem to be having any kind of effect. So, the danger of some kind of accident still very much remains. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. So, it's still a very precarious situation there.

[03:20:01]

And then, David, let's turn now to the wider battle across the country, starting, I imagine, in Kherson.

MCKENZIE: Yes. So, relatively close to that nuclear power plant is a key front of this ongoing conflict. If you look at this image of Kherson, you see to the northwest of the Dnipro River, that area is occupied by Russian forces.

Now, according to Ukrainian officials overnight, they say the struck and the damaged, irreparably, the last remaining bridges across the river, Dnipro, to Kherson. So, that indicates there could be a scenario where Russian forces have had their supply lines cut to that city, which could be a significant moment in the weeks ahead as the promised or at least hinted at counteroffensive from Ukraine into that zone may materialize.

In the far east of the country, well, the east of the country in Donetsk region, you've had claims and counterclaims again from Russians and Ukrainian as to who has the upper hand. If you look at the center of the map in Donetsk, there have been attempts by Russia to push to the north and the west, further into Ukrainian territory.

Now, one small village batting to the western side of Donetsk, there has been fierce fighting there but Ukrainians said they have managed to push back the Russians.

So, this grinding conflict continues and it doesn't appear that, at least for the moment, Russian forces are able to make significant ground in the eastern part of this campaign. I think one of the reasons for that is the continued supply of these longer ranged artillery weapons from the west that is allowing Ukraine to hit Russia's supply lines. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much, David McKenzie in Kyiv.

A lot of attention is being paid to the weapons the United States and other countries are sending weapons to Ukraine, the problem is, many of the manuals and the people training the soldiers how to use them while they are not doing it in Ukrainian. So, my next guest is trying to help correct that.

Olena Chekryzhova is a volunteer on the frontlines of the war, teaching Ukrainian soldiers English. Thank you so much for joining us here.

So, you were a teacher before the war. I mean, why did you decide to help teach Ukrainian soldiers English, something you have been doing even before the war started, but why did you think there would be such a need for this?

OLENA CHEKRYZHOVA, VOLUNTEER ENGLISH TEACHER: Well, now, I am teaching the soldiers from the right sector Ukrainian volunteer for because I believe that reasonable level of English competency is crucial because our Ukrainian soldiers must become proficient in handling and operating the use of foreign weapons but also English is our lingua franca in interacting with instructions, with the military and the media from around the globe. And it is our way to talk about the ongoing war and where do things stand. I feel that teaching is the contribution that I can make in this war.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So, take you through exactly what you teach them. I mean, is it stuff that's specifically geared for the military, like terminology and so on?

CHEKRYZHOVA: Exactly. Now, I live at a military camp where I am working on a course for the Ukrainian military. I take the language standard as the benchmark and we learn military vocabulary, military terminology and the language that will allow our soldiers to be more fluent and be more confident in their communication with the foreigners and with expressing themselves.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. We are just seeing some pictures of you sort of teaching those soldiers. I mean, it seems like a typical classroom with books and so on that they are looking at.

With so much military hardware coming, as I said, from countries like the U.S. and these soldiers have to be trained on that equipment, I mean, how key is knowing English to getting those weapons working on the frontlines?

CHEKRYZHOVA: I think it is of paramount importance because there are plenty of manuals and instructions and also foreign instructors, foreign combat veterans, come to teach our soldiers English. And, of course, all this information is presented in English, that's why they must understand it.

BRUNHUBER: And you alluded to this. It is not just about weapons. I mean, you are teaching them to communicate and we are hearing their stories, whether it is on the press or on social media, and often it's in English.

[03:25:02]

And this war, in which propaganda figures so prominently, in which Russia is trying to get its version of events out, I imagine, soldiers telling their stories to the world is also a very important part of the war effort as well.

CHEKRYZHOVA: I totally agree with you. Some of my soldiers are now on the frontlines in the east of Ukraine, in Donetsk region. And they are -- every day, they are resisting the relentless attacks of Russian terrorists and they are doing their best to push the enemy back. And they tell their stories to the world. They have Twitter. They have Instragram, TikTok, or blogs, where they share the true information and tell people from around the globe about the war and where do things actually stand.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Before we go, I wanted to ask you, you are at a military base, I mean, you're spending so much time with soldiers, teaching them. I mean, what are they teaching you?

CHEKRYZHOVA: They are teaching me a lot of things. First of all, it is their devotion and it is their diligence and their courage, because they are determined to continue fighting and they are really ready to protect and defend Ukraine and Ukrainian independence and sovereignty.

Of course, they help me to educate myself in terms of the military vocabulary and terminology. They teach some practical military skills. That is why my course can benefit from it a lot. And I believe that English is our lingua franca and it's our bridge with the world, our way to assimilate into western democratic society faster. And I hope that my course will be a part of obligatory military education program in Ukraine in the nearest future.

BRUNHUBER: Well, listen, we wish you the best of luck as you volunteer to help your country there. Olena Chekryzhova, I really appreciate it, thanks so much.

Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations are in full swing, but beneath the pomp and ceremony lies a bitter legacy that has haunted Pakistan and its neighbor, India, for 75 years. We are live in Islamabad.

Plus, the uncertain future for young girls in Afghanistan. We'll hear from two Afghan women who once held important positions as judges but now live in exile or in hiding.

Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

It has been 75 years since Britain abruptly ended its colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent. That led to the founding of both India and Pakistan as sovereign nations. Independence Day celebrations are now underway across Pakistan. India marks its independence on Monday.

CNN's Sophia Saifi joins us live from Islamabad. So, Sophia, looking ahead then, what are Pakistan's biggest challenges going forward?

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: I think to look ahead after 75 years of independence and after 75 years of partition of the Indian subcontinent, you have to look back as well. Partition was extremely painful and personal to the millions people who were displaced between these two countries. And those personal experiences have been handed down to generations that have -- that now hold power and hold sway within Pakistan, as well as India.

And we do have a situation where these two neighboring countries who have a shared legacy of partition do have hostilities with one another. Pakistan is in a very interesting geographical position, where its neighbors are China, Iran, Afghanistan, along with India, and Pakistan has its own complicated relationship with each of these countries.

Now, there was a lot of pomp and celebration, there were flag-hoisting ceremonies this morning, fireworks late into the night, but there is a lot of polarization within Pakistan as well. You had Imran Khan, the leader of the opposition, held a massive rally of thousands where people came out to his rallying call for a sort of change in the country. People have a lot of hope. They want better. There is an economic crisis that has somewhat abated but is still continuing within the country.

There is, of course, also the external problem of climate change and extreme weather that is not just limited to Pakistan, it is a South Asian problem which has impacting both India and Pakistan considerably in this past summer that we're just experiencing right now. We have had extreme heat waves. And in July, we saw over 500 people die in extreme flooding, which experts have said is linked to climate change.

It is a situation which both India and Pakistan will somehow have to sit together these hostile neighbors who were once one, will have to sit down to discuss how these issues, which will impact their population in the near future, how they can come together to counter these problems and somehow reconcile for a better future for both countries. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yes, plenty of challenges on many fronts there, as you say. Sophia Saifi in Islamabad, thank you so much.

All right, turning now to Afghanistan, where women have all but vanished from public life under the Taliban, no longer do they hold important positions in the government and society. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz spoke with two Afghan women who have been judges before they were forced out by the Taliban.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (voice over): Chaos at Kabul's airport as the Taliban grabbed power. One of their first acts after last year's takeover, erasing women from public life. Fawzia Amini is one of them.

FAWZIA AMINI, FORMER AFGHANISTAN JUDGE: That's big problem for all women judges and that is very the darkest day in our lives.

ABDELAZIZ: She is now safe, living in London. But her colleague and friend, Samira, not her real name, remains trapped in Afghanistan. [03:35:00]

For her security, we are not revealing her identity.

SAMIRA, FORMER AFGHANISTAN JUDGE: It was a black day for me. I couldn't believe that one day I would be banned from my job.

ABDELAZIZ: These two women were once among the trailblazers of Afghanistan, female judges that sat on a court for the elimination of violence against women. It presided over cases of femicide, sexual assault and early marriage among others. It was dangerous work.

In January 2021, two female Supreme Court judges were shot dead by unidentified gunmen. After the Taliban seized power in August of last year, the women's court was shut down. The judges fired and they tell us their bank accounts frozen. The women say they felt afraid and wanted to seek asylum.

AMINI: We worried about everything, our situation, our lives, or our security especially. It was very a hard time.

ABDELAZIZ: Leading British lawmaker, Baroness Helena Kennedy, says her phone was inundated with messages from dozens of desperate judges.

BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY, MEMBER OF HOUSE OF LORDS: It started with receiving these really terrified missives from people, saying, please, please help me.

ABDELAZIZ: Determined to help, Kennedy and her colleagues raised money privately for evacuations, eventually getting 103 women, most of them judges and their families out of the country.

But the journey to safety was terrifying. Amini and her family boarded a bus from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif, a 12-hour drive with headlights switched off.

Were you scared?

AMINI: Yes. It was very hard for me and my family.

ABDELAZIZ: Hidden in her clothes was Amini's greatest treasure, her education.

AMINI: We had four-five degrees, it is very important for -- it was very important for us. We put it on my back my classes.

ABDELAZIZ: So, you hid your degrees?

AMINI: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: What? Did you sow them in the back?

AMINI: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: You sowed your degrees in the back of your dress?

AMINI: Yes, in my dress. Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: Amini eventually made it to the U.K. but Samir and her family are among roughly 80 other female judges still in Afghanistan, some living in hiding.

SAMIRA: My life now, I live like a prisoner. Please help us and do not forget us.

ABDELAZIZ: And with the women's court now shuttered, Amini fears for those she once protected.

Who will defend women now?

AMINI: Not --

ABDELAZIZ: There is no one?

AMINI: No.

ABDELAZIZ: Little hope left for the women and girls of Afghanistan.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Millions more U.S. children going back to school in the coming weeks, but coronavirus protocols can be different after the CDC revised its guidelines, the story ahead.

Plus, sweeping changes are on the way for Medicare. We will have a look at what is in the landmark now headed for the President Biden's desk.

Stay with us.

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[03:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the benefits of its new monkeypox vaccine strategy outweigh the risks. Last week, the FDA announced that healthcare providers could give smaller doses of the monkeypox vaccine.

In a letter obtained by CNN, the FDA said cutting the dosage provides similar protection while making more shots available for more people. Right now, soaring demand for the vaccine cannot keep up with limited supplies.

Now, many children in the U.S. are already back in school and many more will be going in in the coming months. And after the CDC relaxed coronavirus protocols last week, their school experience will likely be different than the past two years.

Nadia Romero has details on the changes and reaction from educators. NADIA ROMERO, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The CDC's new guidelines are loosening restrictions on some of the policies we have seen since the very beginning of the pandemic, including no longer needing to social distance. And, of course, those guidelines also impacted schools.

Let's take a look at some of the changes, cohorting in schools. It is now okay for different classrooms to mix. So, we are moving away from those guidelines that required students to stay isolated in their individual classrooms. And then there is that test to stay policy. Well, schoolchildren exposed to the coronavirus no longer need to take regular tests and test negative to stay in the classroom.

So, we asked a medical analyst why he believes the CDC is changing its guidelines now, and this was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JONATHAN REINER, MEDICAL ANALYST: I think the CDC has given up on trying to prevent transmission of this virus across the country, and they are focusing now on trying to reduce the amount of disruption to American society. But we have about as much COVID circulating in this country as we ever had, and despite sort of the sense among some people that we're past this pandemic or the pandemic is over, still, about 3,000 people are dying every week in the United States. There are 40,000 hospitalized. So, we are far from the pandemic being over.

And when I see the CDC sort of tell people, don't worry about social distancing anymore, to me, it is like they have thrown their hands up in the air.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: So, we reached out to the Atlanta Public School District. They have about 52,000 students and their teachers are required to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing once a week. So, we reached out and asked, are you going to change any of these policies in light of the CDC's new guidelines?

And this was their response, saying, Atlanta Public Schools is currently reviewing the newly released CDC guidance for K-12 schools. In addition, we are awaiting updated guidance for the Georgia Department Public Health. And when revising health protocols for our school district, we consider recommendations from CDC, Georgia Department of Health and monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our school district.

We also heard from the National Education Association's president releasing a statement saying that just because the CDC has new guidelines, that does not mean that the COVID-19 virus is gone. She is urging teachers and students to take those safety precautions to prevent spreading or contracting the virus.

Nadia Romero, CNN, Atlanta.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is just a signature away from some of the biggest changes to Medicare in nearly two decades. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): The motion is adopted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The changes are part of the landmark climate, tax and health care bill the House of Representatives passed on Friday. That's now headed for President Joe Biden's desk. Health provisions in the bill will allow Medicare to negotiate the price of certain prescription drugs for the first time, it also limits the growth of drug costs and caps how much Medicare enrollees have to pay for certain medications, including insulin. The White House economic adviser says those changes could also help tackle inflation.

[03:45:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN DEESE, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Reducing costs and Medicare is one of the ways that this bill actually reduces the federal deficit. And when we reduce the deficit, we are helping on the inflation front as well because that is complementary to what the Fed is trying to get done. So, in addition to lower costs for consumers, we are also lowering the cost on the federal balance sheet. Both of those are important at this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now, while the bill marks a landmark achievement for Democrats, it is much narrower than some had hoped. The changes only help some seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in Medicare and fewer drugs are subject to negotiation than Democrats hoped. Also caps on price growth and insulin calls only apply to Medicare and not private insurance, and that is due to rules Democrats had to rely on to get the bill passed in the Senate.

Earlier I spoke with Alice Chen. She is an associate professor and vice dean for research at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Police and Economics. And I asked her how soon Americans can expect to feel the changes from this bill. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICE CHEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Some of these benefits will be immediate for certain patients, for a certain subset of patients. But, Kim, I think the really important thing to just keep in mind here is there is this longer term consequence of how does this affect drug innovation and incentives we have giving innovators to develop drugs.

In some sense, when you reduce revenues for drug innovators, there is going to be fewer drugs that are being developed, undoubtedly. And the question is, how many fewer life-saving drugs are going to be seeing for sort of level of expenditure -- drug expenditure reduction that we will be experiencing. It really is a double-edge sword here that we are trying to balance between reducing costs for patients while also making sure the drug innovation continues to develop.

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BRUNHUBER: And we will have more of my discussion with Alice Chen coming up in our next hour.

Well, record temperatures, droughts and wildfires, people in California, to Europe, to China look for relief. We'll have details after the break.

Stay with us.

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[03:50:00]

BRUNHUBER: Portugal's worst wildfire in five years is now under control. The rampaging fire has burned nearly 37,000 acres or 15,000 hectares of the UNESCO-designated Estrela Geopark, a geologically unique region. Fire crews hope to fully extinguish the blaze in the next two days.

Meanwhile, firefighters from several European countries are joining forces to help battle multiple wildfires in France.

Let's talk more about this with CNN Meteorologist Karen Maginnis, but, first, Al Goodman joins me from Madrid.

So, Al, let's start with the fires. What is the latest on the efforts to contain them?

AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: Hi, Kim. The focus is on that big fire in France in the Gironde Province department near the city of Bordeaux, it has been burning for days. Officials say it is not advancing but they are on high alert today because there are expectations of dry thunderstorms with potential lightning which could reignite parts of that fire or start new fires.

As you mentioned, about a thousand French firefighters have been joined by 360 from Germany, Austria, Romania and Poland with ground and air equipment as well. About 10,000 acres have been burned in that Gironde fire.

And it is not the only one in France. There are others in the west and in the south. There is a big one near Brittany. There's a department in the French Alps that has banned fireworks until September, hoping that won't not inadvertently start more forest fires. And France has seen 20 times more land burned this summer than just last year.

In Portugal, you mentioned that big fire, Portugal is a European Union country that has had more land burned this summer as a percentage of its total than any other. Right here in Spain, there have been fires, wildfires burning practically every day for the past month. Spain's military emergency unit that has these water bombers to help local authorities withdrew them from a couple of fires on Friday night. But on Saturday night, just a few hours ago, they announced that they were redeploying these bombers to other places, to a fire in the east and in the west.

It is the fourth heat wave, Kim, for many European Union nations. The United Kingdom had its hottest July in 80 years. Spain had its hottest July in 60 years. It is extreme drought, extreme heat, that's the scene on the ground here. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: And then staying there in Spain where you are, Al, we spoke yesterday about a deadly stage collapse in Spain linked to an extreme weather event. Bring us up to speed on that story.

GOODMAN: The latest is that the festival organizers have canceled that musical festival after one man, a 22-year-old man died and 32 people were injured, five still in a hospital after these very strong winds at 4:00 in the morning on Saturday as the concert was going on, a big outdoor festival. 50,000 people in a beach town along the Mediterranean, south of Valencia, on Spain's eastern coast. The strong wind blew in and blew down portions of the stage and the main entrance.

Now, the organizers initially suspended later in the day on Saturday, canceled. They call this extreme, unpredictable weather. They offered condolences to the families' victim, and that is under investigation by Spanish police what happened there. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right.

And now turning to you, Karen, as we are seeing big picture here, the weather is changing in Western Europe.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it certainly is. We are looking at huge changes. Some welcome relief but some of that rainfall is going to be very heavy, so severe thunderstorm warnings out for portions of the United Kingdom where we have seen excessive heat. They are saying it is one of the driest summers on record for England since 1935, but not just across the United Kingdom, also into Ireland but also into France and the Netherlands. And as a result, those temperatures are going to be cooler, dramatically cooler as we go into the next three to five days.

[03:55:00]

So, some showers start to move in. We have got some showers over into sections of the Eastern Europe as well with a few scattered showers, just kind of moving on over across portions of Germany, also into Poland.

But look at London, temperatures in the low 30s for Sunday. They were close to 30 degrees on Monday. And then look at some of that wet weather moving in, dramatically cooler temperatures, only in the 20s, should be about 24 degrees as the average high.

All right, this looks impressive, as far as precipitation across Europe is concerned, but some areas may see brief but heavy rainfall. Even Paris is in on that over the next 48 hours or so, and some showers and storms moving into Central Europe. So, that's going to be welcome news. But don't expect these to be drought busters. In Portugal, 45 percent of the country is under extreme drought.

All right, in the U.S., some big problems across California. And in the interior west, it will be monsoonal storms that will start to ramp up over the next several days. Take a look at these temperatures all the way from Sacramento, Redding, down towards Bakersfield, temperatures in the 40s, excessively hot. Almost 8 million will be suffering from what has been the weeks of dreadfully hot weather and no signs of precipitation in the forecast here but definitely wet weather with a monsoon across the southwest.

Back to you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Karen Maginnis, Al Goodman, thank you both, I really appreciate it.

And with that, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I will be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.

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