Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Heat Alerts In Hundreds Of Chinese Cities; Droughts Compelling Israel To Pump Water Into Sea Of Galilee; Salman Rushdie Improving, Stabbing Suspect Pleads Not Guilty; Growing Fears Over the Safety of Nuclear Power Plant; U.S. Judge May Release Mar-a-Lago Affidavit; CNN Visits Afghanistan One Year After U.S. Withdrawal; Serbia and Kosovo Agreed to Continue Crisis Talks. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired August 19, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I am Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," fears of a nuclear disaster are intensifying as calls grow louder to stop the shelling at Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine or risk a new Chernobyl.

One step closer to knowing what the U.S. government's justification is for searching former President Donald Trump's home. New court filings have been released, and more could be made public.

We will take you deep inside Taliban territory to hear what Afghans are now saying about the U.S.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: The front lines in Ukraine cover a vast area but one spot on the map is emerging as the most precarious and dangerous situation one can imagine in either war or peace. The sprawling Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant hasn't been inspected since it was seized by Russia early in the war. Recent shelling in the area has only heightened fears of potential radiation leaks or worse.

Ukraine accuses Russia of using the site to shield its military equipment from Ukrainian attacks and to fire on nearby towns. Now, CNN has verified video showing Russian military trucks inside the plant parked near a nuclear reactor. Now, it is not known when the video was taken.

On Thursday, the leaders of Ukraine, Turkey, the U.N. agreed on a basic framework for international inspectors to visit the site, but Russia would have to approve. Both the Ukrainian president and U.N. chief again called for the plant to be demilitarized immediately. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Russia has to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia power station and stop all provocations and all shelling. It is unacceptable that Russia puts all of us at the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Military equipment and personnel should be withdrawn from the plant. Further deployment of forces or equipment to the site must be avoided. The area needs to be demilitarized. And we must tell it as it is. Every potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And now, there are fears of so-called false-flag operations with potentially global consequences. We get the latest from CNN's Sam Kiley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Russian propaganda has been fiercely trying to suggest that on Friday, at the end of this week, there could be some kind of incident in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which could be blamed on them in some kind of false-flag operation.

The Ukrainians are making similar allegations against the Russians and this is because the international community now is deeply afraid of some kind of nuclear catastrophe unfolding in what is Europe's biggest nuclear power plant. And on the ground, the tensions are no less.

(Voice-over): It's an all too routine scene, a Ukrainian home destroyed by a missile. But here, the lucky escape of a young couple is overshadowed by a potential catastrophe. The first Russian rocket hit the local soccer pitch and sent them scrambling into their basement, safe from the second.

After what happened, we jump at every sound, Andrei (ph) says. The Ukrainian authorities say that both rockets were fired by Russian troops from the grounds of a nuclear power station captured in March.

(on camera): The international consternation over the future of the (INAUDIBLE) nuclear power station is very obvious when you stand here, and you can see the six reactors of the biggest nuclear power station in the whole of Europe. The United Nations, the international community are all reacting in horror at the mere thought that this could be at the center of fighting.

(Voice-over): Ukraine blames Russia for using the nuclear plant as a fire base, and insists that it is not able to shoot back for risk of blowing up the nuclear facility.

MYKOLA STUPAK, LOCAL DISTRICT CHAIRMAN (through translator): The Russian occupiers shoot all the time to provoke the armed forces of Ukraine and to spread panic among the people. We understand that the power plant may explode because of their actions. I just don't understand. Maybe they just don't get it, he told us.

KILEY (voice-over): The United States, the Unites Nations and Ukraine have all called for Russia to leave the nuclear plant and for it to be demilitarized.

[02:05:03]

KILEY (voice-over): These demands are growing in volume as the bombardment of Ukrainian towns allegedly from around the six nuclear reactors has intensified.

Andriy Tuz worked at the plant until he escaped the Russians. But then he was recaptured, he says, and tortured, before being released. Now, he is in hiding in western Europe, and he says the possibility of a disaster is very high.

ANDRIY TUZ, EX-SPOKESPERSON, ZAPORIZHZHIA NPP (through translator): I would say, 70 to 90% of what we are talking about is the most optimistic scenario. I am very worried about it.

KILEY (voice-over): And civilians in the Russian-occupied down next to the plant have been stuck in traffic jams, trying to flee a potential nuclear escalation. Ukraine's claims that it has not shelled the nuclear site cannot be verified, but there is no doubt that Russia has used it as a safe location to attack Ukraine from.

Ukrainians have been conducting nuclear disaster drills in cities nearby. Both sides have said that some kind of incident is imminent and could cause massive radioactive contamination or meltdown, a cataclysm that could be felt far beyond Ukraine, even in nearby Russia.

(On camera): Now, clearly, that is the military picture, but there is also a very serious technical issues, not least because Russia has announced plans that it wants to try to redirect the electrical energy being produced in that plant towards illegally-occupied Crimea that is Russian territory, Russian-held territory.

Now, a number of international technicians are saying if they try that, there are risks to the cooling system of the reactors, and that in and of itself could also be extremely dangerous.

Sam Kiley, CNN, Zaporizhzhia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: We are one step closer to knowing what the U.S. government's potential criminal case is against former President Donald Trump. Next week, we could know much more. The judge who signed off on the Mar-a-Lago search warrant indicated he's willing to unseal portions of the affidavit used to justify that search.

CNN's Jessica Schneider has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A federal judge in Florida says he wants at least some portions of the affidavit justifying the Mar-a-Lago search made public, saying, I am not prepared to find that the affidavit should be fully sealed.

Before deciding, magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart is giving the Justice Department one week to propose reductions. The DOJ has forcefully opposed releasing details from the affidavit, saying that could derail their ongoing criminal investigation.

MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Judge Reinhart has already released the search warrant and the inventory of items taken from Mar-a-Lago, including 11 sets of classified documents. Today, he made several more filings public, including the DOJ's warrant application, where they described the potential offenses being investigated as the willful retention of national defense information, concealment or removal of government records, and obstruction of a federal investigation.

The newly released filings also show prosecutors believe they needed to file paperwork under sealed before the search because they feared evidence might be destroyed, and that they wanted to re-possess several items that remained at Trump's Florida home illegally.

In court, DOJ lawyers did reveal a few details about the affidavit, saying it was very lengthy, very detailed, and described what several witnesses told investigators.

But the lawyers also argued that the release of any additional information could endangered the safety of government investigators or the witnesses sharing information with them. DOJ Attorney Jay Bratt pointing to the volatile situation of people threatening FBI agents, including the standoff with an armed man who was later killed outside the FBI field office in Cincinnati, noting, there are many amateur sleuths on the internet to find personal information.

DEANNA SHULLMAN, ATTORNEY FOR DOW JONES AND CO. AND ABC: I think Judge Reinhart is going to protect the identity of confidential informants, and that's probably the right outcome here. We don't want -- you know, none of the media intervenors want to jeopardize the safety or security of a confidential informant. It is very common in this situation that information that would lead to the disclosure of their identity is kept secret.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Mister president!

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The judge did not unseal the full affidavit today, something Trump and his allies have demanded. Trump writing this week on his Truth social page, I called for the immediate release of the completely unredacted affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking break-in.

Meanwhile, CNN has learned Trump is considering publicly releasing surveillance footage from inside Mar-a-Lago of the FBI agents searching and seizing documents. His son, Eric, talked about the possibility this week.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: You still have the surveillance tape. Is that correct? Will you -- are you allowed to share that with the country?

[02:10:00]

ERIC TRUMP, SON OF DONALD TRUMP: Absolutely, Sean, at the right time.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Sources say some of Trump's allies believe releasing the video would energize Trump's base and could even be included in campaign ads. Others warn it could backfire, providing an alarming visual of the large volume of material seized from Mar-a- Lago.

(On camera): And we could know more about how much of that affidavit might get released by late next week. That's because the judge in this case has told the Department of Justice to make their proposed redactions and/or explanations why certain information should not be released to the public. He wants that by next Thursday at noon.

At that point, the judge might then have more confidential discussions with the Justice Department as he deliberates exactly what to make public from this affidavit.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization is going to jail for tax fraud. Trump's money man Allen Weisselberg has pleaded guilty to 15 felonies.

He admitted to failing to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income and other luxury perks, deliberately hiding them to underreport his compensation on his personal tax returns.

Weisselberg was facing up to 15 years behind bars, but after a plea deal with prosecutors, it was reduced to a five-month sentence. Now, under that deal, Weisselberg has agreed to testify, if asked, when the Trump Organization case goes to trial. As far as we know, he has yet to flip on his former boss or any Trump family members.

August has been a deadly month in Afghanistan with the highest number of civilian casualties so far this year. The U.N. Assistance Mission says that 250 people have been killed or injured in the past few weeks, including 21 dead, 33 wounded in an explosion at a mosque in Kabul on Wednesday. The U.N. Mission is calling on Taliban authorities to -- quote -- "take concrete steps to prevent all forms of terrorism in Afghanistan."

Now, a year on and it seems the Taliban's rise to power has left Afghanistan divided. In the cities, especially Kabul, there is fear of the Taliban strict Islamic laws mixed in equal parts with the longing for the return of U.S. soldiers.

But in small towns and villages in Afghanistan's heartland, there's often little love for the Americans. As CNN's Clarissa Ward reports, many remember the days of the U.S. occupation is brutal and deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There were no tears in the Tangi Valley when U.S. forces left Afghanistan. The landscape is awash with white flags, marking the graves of Taliban fighters killed in battle. Among them is the son of Nabi Mobaras (ph).

(On camera): This is your son?

(Voice-over): He tells us he was killed during a U.S.-supported Afghan special forces night raid on the family home in 2019. Video of the aftermath shows the scale of the destruction. After a protracted gun battle, the house was leveled, killing a second son of Mobarases (ph) as well as his niece and her daughter.

There was a lot of blood spilled, a voice says off camera.

The rebuilt living room is now enshrined to the dead.

(On camera): What was your reaction when American forces left the a year ago?

(Voice-over): I said the peace has come to Afghanistan, he says. There will be no more mothers becoming widows, like our mothers and sisters who are widowed and our children killed.

Across this rural Taliban stronghold, American forces were seen as invaders who brought death and destruction with their night raids and drone strikes. Peace has brought a chance to air long-held grievances. At the local market, we were immediately surrounded.

Every household had at least one fighter, this man tells us. And every house has people who were killed by the Americans and their drones. And we are proud of that.

Chair Mohammed Hamas (ph) is treated like royalty here. His brother is believed to be responsible for downing a helicopter full of U.S. special forces.

(On camera): So, he is taking me to the spot where he says his brother shot down a chinook.

(Voice-over): It was August 6, 2011. Hamas (ph) says his brother was hiding behind the trees and shot the chinook down with an RPG as it prepare to land by the river. Thirty Americans were killed, the single greatest loss of American life in the entire Afghan war.

There were a lot of celebrations and not just here, he tells us. It was a big party.

(On camera): I am sure that you can understand that it is hard to hear that people were celebrating about the deaths of dozens of Americans.

[02:15:00]

WARD (Voice-over): This was a heroic achievement because the people who were killed on this plane, they were the killers of Osama bin Laden, he says. And Sheikh Osama is someone who was the crown on the head of Muslims. So, definitely, the people were happy about this.

Days later, the U.S. says it responded with a strike that killed Hamas's (ph) brother. Another white flag raised in a valley where martyrs were made and views hardened.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Tangi Valley, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," license plates become a bone of contention between Serbia and Kosovo, so much so the European Union had to get involved and put high-level diplomacy to work. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: The European Union says Serbia and Kosovo have agreed to keep talking despite making no progress at their crisis negotiations in Brussels on Thursday. The two countries are trying to dial down the growing tensions over a seemingly simple issue, license plates.

But as Scott McLean explains, that issue is threatening to snowball into a much larger problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No one was expecting a full-blown normalization deal to be struck, but the E.U.-mediated meeting between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia was the last best hope to avoid a repeat of the heightened tensions and border blockades that we saw earlier this month.

In just two weeks, Kosovo is set to re-implement its requirement for all cars to have license plates from Kosovo, even those owned by ethnic Serbs, many of whom don't actually recognize Kosovo's independence.

This seemingly minor change in law is seen as a provocation against the Serb minority in Kosovo. NATO, which has almost 4,000 troops in Kosovo promised to bring in even more, if need be, in order to keep the peace.

Now, going into these latest talks with the E.U., it's hard to be optimistic. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic tweeted that, while I am hopeful for some kind of a solution, I remain skeptical.

Now, the press was not invited into the meeting, but even the brief few moments the cameras were allowed to shoot were pretty awkward. There were no handshakes between the two leaders when they entered the negotiating room, not even any eye contact. In fact, it looks like they're both trying hard to avoid it.

The meeting was supposed to have lasted two hours, but the press conference after it was delayed by about four hours. Ultimately, the E.U.'s top diplomat spoke to the press, but he did not come bearing good news.

JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Unhappily, we did not get to an agreement today. No, sorry. But it is not the end of the story.

[02:19:56]

BORRELL: Both leaders agreed that the process needs to continue and the discussion will resume in the coming days.

MCLEAN: Now, Borrell made clear that progress and compromise were pretty tough to come by in this meeting, though the two sides will keep talking in the coming days. If there is any good news, it's that they agreed to more regularly to try to work toward normalizing relations sometime in the future.

Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: For more on that, we are joined by Florian Bieber, professor of southeast European history at the University of Graz, Austria. He is speaking to us from Croatia. Thank you so much for being here with us.

So, first, looking at what's at issue here, I mean, it seems incredible that they could be at longer heads over something so seemingly simple as a license plate. What is really going on here?

FLORIAN BIEBER, SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN HISTORY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF GRAZ: Well, it's really about the fact that Serbia hasn't recognized Kosovo's independence since it was declared in 2008. And for over a decade, the E.U. has been trying to mediate, to hammer out a deal between the two countries, which would lead to some kind of recognition of Kosovo by Serbia. And this is really what it's all about.

The whole license plate issue is just the latest crisis in this dialogue which has not led to any results and where Serbia continues its bulking at the idea of recognizing Kosovo as an independent country. And this is finally what this conflict is also about.

BRUNHUBER: So, I mean, no one was expecting a huge breakthrough here. But the lack of momentum must be discouraging. So, I just want to get your reaction to the lack of progress here.

BIEBER: Well, it is not a big surprise, even this lack of progress. The two leaders have been really at loggerheads (ph). The Kosovo prime minister has been much more formidable in a certain way, counterweight to Serbian President Vucic. He has been kind of taking a much more, let's say, a more hard line towards the Serbian president.

And the problem is really that the Serbian president has been proclaiming to want to take the country to the European Union, but that is not really the reality over recent years. So, the question is really, what incentive does he have to make a compromise on this issue?

So, both of them do not get along. Both of them and especially the Serbian president thrive on these crisis. I mean, they use them to really build a popular support at home and make themselves indispensable internationally. So, all of that, you know, doesn't bold well for a compromise.

BRUNHUBER: Okay. So, speaking of not boding well, given the history between the two countries, obviously, the stakes here are huge. So, what are the chances that this war of words could sort of spiral into an actual war?

BIEBER: Well, so far, we have seen a number of these crises over the last decade. I mean, ever since the war itself ended in 1999 with NATO intervention. And never has there been a real, you know, a real war or even I would say a realistic threat of war since then. It's mostly that both sides, in this case, I would say Serbia being the prime responsible, like to fan the flames of conflict. But they climbed down.

I mean, what is very important to remember, there is a substantial NATO presence in Kosovo and any kind of escalation would trigger their intervention. So, Serbia knows this. Serbia knows that it has enough security forces but it has NATO really as an opponent potentially. And so, they wouldn't risk a conflict on this count.

So, I think what one could see is a low level clashes as we have seen in the past, especially in the north. There were barricades a few weeks ago. There have been barricades and also some kind of shootings over the year but not really an armed conflict. That seems very unlikely at this point.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, that's good news if it is indeed true. So, you know, Serbia has very close ties with Russia. Kosovo wants to join NATO, potentially. So, what role do you think that is playing here, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine?

BIEBER: Well, Serbia has been trying to balance, you know, good relations with the west as well as with Russia as well as with China. So, in that sense, it is certainly not eager to join NATO. It has a very bad memory which keeps being cultivated by the Serbian president about NATO intervention in Kosovo.

Kosovo is the very pro-western, probably the most pro-western, pro- E.U., and pro-American country in the region. But in a certain way, I don't think this larger geopolitical confrontation really plays out here.

Of course, Russia benefits and wants to see things go difficult in the Balkans because it distracts the west, the U.S. and the European Union, but it has limited leverage over Serbian President Vucic who, of course, looks at Russia for blocking the recognition of Kosovo. But that is pretty much it.

[02:24:58]

BIEBER: So, in that sense, Vucic does his own bidding even though, of course, sometimes his actions do help the Russian position overall.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Finally, with a little time we have left, how do you think this ends?

BIEBER: Well, there is going to be continued talks between the two and really the deadline is the 1st of September because the current crisis was triggered by a decision a few weeks ago which the Kosovo government suspended until 1st of September. So, there has to be some kind of deal until then.

And I think that's probably likely that there will be a climb down in the last minute because, again, no side wants to see a conflict. But again, this is just the last crisis and presumably, there would be further ones to until really there is a normalization of relations between these two countries and Serbia gets around to realizing that Kosovo is independent indeed.

BRUNHUBER: All right. I really appreciate your analysis. Florian Bieber, thank you so much.

BIEBER: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Video shows Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attempting to take a cellphone from a protester mocking him. It happened Thursday morning in Brasilia after a YouTuber known for confronting Bolsonaro's supporters started filming himself, insulted the leader.

On the video there, as you can see, Bolsonaro is grabbing the protester's collar and appearing to try and take his phone from him. And after the altercation, the president paused to talk with the man but didn't admit to doing anything wrong.

China is facing its longest and hottest heat wave in more than 60 years. When we come back, how the intense heat is affecting everything from the power grid to the economy.

And the Sea of Galilee has long been a source of inspiration and hydration for the people of Israel and Jordan, but climate change is putting it at risk. Ahead, the unprecedented step Israel is taking to save the sea when we come back. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

At least a dozen people are dead after violent thunderstorms swept through parts of western Europe. Have a look here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Five people were killed in storms around the French island of Corsica, while authorities received nearly 125 calls for help at sea. At least five people were killed in Austria and two more in Italy. About 100 people had to be evacuated from their homes in Italy's Tuscany region.

And in northwest China, sudden and heavy rainfall led to flash flooding and mudslides. Chinese state media says at least 16 people are dead and dozens are missing. Rescue efforts are ongoing.

[02:29:57]

BRUNHUBER: Hundreds of cities across China are sweltering under extreme temperature warnings as the country endures its worst heatwave in 60 years. And most of the cities affected are in southern China where temperatures in some locations reached as high as 40 degrees Celsius. CNN's Selina Wang has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A scorching heatwave grinding work on the world's factory floors to a screeching halt. As China battles its worst heatwave on record, factories in the key manufacturing hubs of Sichuan province and Chunxing City have come to a standstill. For about a week, power is being saved for its more than 100 million residents amid a crippling crunch, but the diversion threatens an economic jolt. It hits factories for semiconductor companies like Intel and Texas Instruments and suppliers of Apple and Tesla. Most importantly, Sichuan is rich and one of the world's most important commodities, lithium.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sichuan produced like 30 percent of the lithium hydroxide for China. So we think that this is going to affect the EVM supplies in the short run. Very likely we are going to see the lithium price going up.

WANG: Lithium is essential for technologies like electric cars and smartphone batteries. While experts say the impact will be minimal if the shutdown only lasts a week, if they drag on, it threatens to snag already strained global supply chains and take up prices for global consumers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the overall power curve is worsening, the ultimate response will be the price hikes in EV sales prices.

WANG: The power cuts are yet another headache for factories after COVID-related shutdowns, it could encourage the U.S. and Europe to move more of their battery supply chains back home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Also kind of strengthen people's belief that you can't rely on China too much for the battery materials processing.

WANG: This is China's strongest and longest heatwave on record lasting for more than 60 days, pushing temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit in some regions. It's put extreme pressure on the power grid because of spikes and air conditioning use and hydropower plants that are struggling to meet demand. Droughts are sweeping across the country. Parts of China's longest river, the Yangtze, and other reservoirs have completely dried up. Fire trucks are sending water to places struggling to get enough drinking water. Villagers line up with their buckets.

In the south, the heat and droughts are ravaging crops, impacting 159 million acres of arable land. Many regions are taking desperate measures. Central Hubei province is firing rockets into the sky with chemicals to help clouds produce more rain. Videos of staff pouring ice cubes into swimming pools have gone viral, as did this woman's video diaries showing her bag of live shrimp cooked after she was outside for an hour. Office workers are sitting around giant ice cubes to cool down because of power cuts.

Some cities are operating subway stations in near darkness to save energy. Other residents are sleeping in subway stations to take refuge from the heat. China's heatwave is expected to get worse, so all of this might be the new normal.

Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, for more on this, let's bring in CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. And, Derek, as China's heatwave continues, severe thunderstorms have battered parts of Europe.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I'm going to show you some other videos you haven't seen just yet from Europe in just a minute. But first I want to talk about the heatwave that's ongoing in China. You just saw some imagery there. I see -- bottom line there are a lot of price increases. That's the price you had out of that, right?

Incredible to think that this heatwave has lasted 67 days, the longest heatwave in over six decades, and well, here are some examples of what's happening. Look at Chongqing, 43 degrees. They should be 33 this time of year. This is all part of the three furnaces, which is some of the hottest parts of Central China.

And well, it's really living up to its name, we've actually had 11 consecutive days of temperatures over 40 degrees for Chongqing. And wow, it looks like there's no end in sight because the seven-day forecast shows temperatures well above average flirting with all-time record highs for Chongqing as we get into the early parts of next week. Here's a look at the forecast across the rest of Europe -- yes, China I should say. You can see the upper 30s and lower 40s. The heat continues. Now, to get to the video across Italy, well, this is just incredible actually coming out of the Northern Mediterranean in fact, we have had some impressive, impressive wind gusts, 224 kilometer-per-hour wind gusts with a low-pressure system moving across the north of the Mediterranean.

[02:35:00]

Put this into further perspective. That type of wind speed is equivalent to a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane. So I've stood in winds like this, it is incredibly violent, incredibly dangerous, and no wonder there have been trees toppled over and unfortunately, fatalities with this low-pressure system that's moving across the area. Well, incredible amounts of rain and wind moving through the area and it looks as if, you know, the severe weather threat has really started to diminish, fortunately for that region, but the potential, at least for some heavier rainfall exists today, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, interesting to see that footage there, really dramatic.

VAN DAM: Yes.

BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Derek. Appreciate it.

VAN DAM: All right.

BRUNHUBER: New Zealand's Nelson region has declared a state of emergency because of mass flooding. Hundreds of homes have been evacuated on the west coast of the South Island. Nelson's mayor says flooding and evacuations are likely to continue until the rain eases at the end of the week and recovery can take years.

The Sea of Galilee is one of the most important places in Israel. Besides its biblical significance for Christians, the lake has long provided safe drinking water to the people of both Israel and Jordan. But rising temperatures and increasing droughts are changing that and now Israel is preparing to pump water into the sea. Hadas Gold explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, this ancient place of pilgrimage has been sustaining life for thousands of years. But recent times have seen this freshwater lake shrinking to historically low levels, forcing the government to act by leveraging the country's expertise in water technology.

GOLD (on camera): This is part of the Ashdod water desalination plant, one of five such plants along the coast of Israel. After the seawater is pumped through the desalination process, the Sweetwater is held here in this 100,000 cubic meter reservoir, the water under this tarp I'm standing on right now.

GOLD (voiceover): For decades now, Israel has taken seawater from the Mediterranean and treated it with a process called reverse osmosis, providing nearly all of the country's tap water. From Ashdod, a pipeline pumps water from all the desalination plants north to Israel's main water filtration facility near Haifa. From there, a new 31-kilometer pipe is being laid eastward to connect via stream with the Sea of Galilee. The end is in sight. The $264 million project is due to be completed by next year.

NOAM SHOA, ENGINEERING DESIGN MANAGER, MEKOROT: It sounded a strange proposition from the beginning, but very soon we understood the value it has to the national market itself. And also it contributes to other challenges such as global warming, the development of agriculture in the entire Sea of Galilee region, and also with our neighbors, the Kingdom of Jordan here. This is another part of the solution that will help us maintain the provision of water to the Kingdom of Jordan as per the existing treaties.

GOLD: This 1.6-meter wide pipe will be able to carry 120 million cubic meters of water per year. But only what's needed to replenish the lake will be released at any time.

SHOA: The uniqueness of this project is that it gives us almost infinite flexibility. If you look at the system from end to end, we can basically take the water where it is available, be it the desalinated water in the center of Israel, and just divert it and transport it to wherever it is needed.

GOLD (on camera): The desalinated water will end up here at the Sea of Galilee. Now, this lake use to pump out the vast majority of Israel's drinking water. But now the water will be flowing in the opposite direction.

GOLD (voiceover): The need to do things radically differently was driven home to authorities by the most recent five-year-long drought, which ended in 2018.

DR. GIDEON GAL, DIRECTOR, KINNERET LIMNOLOGICAL LABORATORY: They looked at what happens over a five-year drought condition when light levels are really low. They look into the future climate change and what's going to happen -- rainfall in this area. And also look at you know, the increase in population and projected increase in demand of water. And realize that 30-40 years from now, there's going to be a serious problem in maintaining lake level in the lake and maintaining water quality.

GOLD: As for concerns about what non-native water could do to the lake's ecosystem, research so far suggests it won't make much of a difference, and may actually help the lake fight the effects of climate change by increasing the turnover rate of the water and cooling it down.

GAL: The risk of introducing desalinated water is at risk and is worthwhile taking as long as you know it's a certain quantity. We don't talk about huge quantities of water.

GOLD: It's a scientifically uncomfortable and unprecedented step Dr. Gal says he wishes they didn't have to take. But one of the realities of climate change is forcing upon them.

Hadas Gold, CNN, the Sea of Galilee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. The man charged with stabbing author Salman Rushdie enters his plea in court. Plus, we'll have an update on how Rushdie is doing after the attack. Stay with us.

[02:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges. During a hearing Thursday, a judge ordered 24-year-old Hadi Matar held without bail. He faces up to 32 years in prison if convicted on all charges. The local District Attorney said Rushdie's condition is improving during the stabbing last week, where he suffered multiple puncture wounds in his chest and neck and he may lose an eye. Rushdie has lived under threat for decades, a religious decree calling for his assassination over his 1988 book, The Satanic Verses.

Well, now to some very welcome news coming out of Pennsylvania. Doctor says Easton Oliverson, the little league baseball player who fell off a bunk bed and suffered a fractured skull is now expected to make a full recovery. A social media post-Thursday shows the 12-year-old eating and drinking all on his own. Oliverson's family says everyone is amazed by his improvement, doctors included, and that by all accounts given his injuries, he should have died. A little league -- little league gave the OK for Easton's little brother to take his place on the field Friday when his team plays its first game of the Little League World Series. Absolutely, great to hear that.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. "WORLD SPORT" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)