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Flooding Devastates Pakistan, 1,000-Plus Killed; Study: Melting Greenland Ice To Raise Seas By Nearly A Foot; Gunman Opens Fire At Oregon Supermarket, At Least Two Dead; New Poll: Smoking Weed Now More Popular Than Smoking Tobacco; Britney Spears Reveals Disturbing Details Of Conservatorship; Duke Volleyball Player: BYU Failed To Stop Racist Heckling During Match. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired August 29, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:31:39]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: In Pakistan, just an unbelievable dire situation. Unprecedented flooding threatening to submerge about one- third of that country, affecting millions of people. Officials say they are overwhelmed and calling for more help as the death toll rises.
CNN's Anna Coren reports.
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ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A young life hanging in the balance. Raced across rushing water in Pakistan's flood-soaked Sindu (ph) Province. Safely of the bed frame, it's an older man's turn. Lucky for some.
But these floods have killed over 1,000 people since mid-June, including over 350 children, according to UNICEF.
ABDULLAH FADIL, UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE IN PAKISTAN: This is a calamity of importance that Pakistan has not seen. Some of the areas hit are also some of the most vulnerable areas of the country.
COREN: Pakistan normally goes through three to four months in rain cycles each year. It's had eight in that time. And the wet season will drag on through September.
Extreme heat has baked the earth. The rain can't soak in. Flash flooding comes next.
These satellite images show the Indus river swelling. Nowhere for the water to go and few routes to escape. Highways through central Pakistan have been cut off. Bridges broken, as villages wash away.
In the northwest of the country, army choppers rescue desperate people. Another person saved. Others scramble for the next helicopter. FADIL: This is a climate crisis, a climate that has been mostly done
by richer countries, contributing to the crisis. And I think it's time that the world responded to support Pakistan in its time of need.
COREN: As Pakistan and NGOs appeal for international aid, the weather forecast is finally brightening. All are hopeful for a break in the rain, a chance to further assess the damage.
What is immediately obvious, the toll that climate change is taking. Pakistan's relatively low carbon footprint, not enough to save it from the dangers of our warming world.
Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Flooding, droughts, heatwaves. The entire world is seeing the impacts of climate change. A new study out today says, even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases right now, we can't stop sea levels from rising by nearly a foot.
Meteorologist Tom Sater is here to break it down for us.
Tom, it's not good.
TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, Ana. And if you recall the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries around the world pledging to do their cutbacks. It still will take decades for them, even if they follow through. And we hope everyone does.
This report is interesting. I'm actually going to share two.
Glaciologists from Denmark and Greenland focusing just on the ice melted in Greenland now say that just 3.3 percent, that's all it takes of Greenland that's projected to melt, is pretty much equivalent to 110 trillion tons of ice. So that all is melted. Water levels rise.
This is where it gets really bad. This will add at least 10.8 inches to the global average of sea level. So not only affecting the sea level rise but our coastlines around the world. Much of this will happen by end of the century.
Many climatologists say it's going to happen well before the end of the century. Some climate scientists say be prepared for that amount, 10.8, to double.
[13:35:07]
We've seen so many reports that have come out in the last year of what they projected to happen have already occurred.
Now, another report similar. This is from NOAA this year. The ocean levels rising as much in the next 30 years as we've seen in the last 100.
As the planet warms, not only is the ice melting, creating a rise in the waters, but the waters around the world are heating up. So even that alone causes a thermal expansion. That causes the water level to rise.
In fact, that study on Greenland, that 3.3 percent, that is just 20 percent of all of the oceans rising.
So again, we've got a lot to talk about. More profound coastal flooding. When we have hurricanes, when we have storm surges, we're looking for this to occur at least 10 times what we are typically are seeing.
So again, when it comes to sea level rise, this is back in 1990, two areas and lines of red. Back in '92 to around 2002, yes, there's an increase.
But if you look at just the last 10 years, the rate is even more extreme. So we're seeing it occur just like everything else when it comes to climate change.
Now, look at Charleston, South Carolina. What would a foot do by the end of the century? Again, it will be before the end of the century. Watch the inlets and some of the tributaries. It's not just the coastline that you see. Inundation.
Again, this is just Charleston, South Carolina. We've got others. This is going to be around the world.
In fact, look at New Orleans. Here's Lake Pontchartrain. All of these areas of red are dikes and some levees. But watches the parishes of Louisiana disappear. It's already starting to occur. CNN has been down there. We've done stories.
So again, that is probably in the next, you know, 40, 50 years, in some cases. But again, it will occur.
Key West, same thing. Complete inundation. It's hard to fathom what we're talking about, Ana.
All of these reports continue to come out. We see the damage that they've told us would happen 20 years ago and it's occurring now.
So again, just with Greenland, 3.3 percent melting is going to rise the oceans by 10.8 feet. Others believe it will be much higher and much sooner.
CABRERA: Again, in our lifetime.
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CABRERA: I know. And it's going to impact so many people.
Tom Sater, thank you for bringing us the information that we can use to take action moving forward.
Well, it's happened again. Another man, who was armed to the teeth, has chosen a supermarket as his target. This time, in Bend, Oregon. When the shooting finally stopped, two people and the gunman were dead.
CNN's Chris Nguyen joins us with more on this.
Chris, what are you hearing from witnesses about how this unfolded?
CHRIS NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, witnesses say they were scrambling for safety as that gunfire began. This shooting happening in the city of Bend, a small community in central Oregon, about three hours away from Portland.
This all happening at a Safeway store at around 7:00 last night. Police say the shooter entered the shopping center from a residential area. He began firing shots in the parking lot. Then made his way to the store and then shot at a person at the entrance before making his way inside.
Take a listen to the aftermath.
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ROBERT, SAFEWAY EMPLOYEE: We was walking up to make me and three other employees ran into a walk-in refrigerator and closed the door and stayed there. We stayed hidden until authorities arrived. Thank god for a quick response time from our brave men and women of law enforcement.
MIKE KRANTZ, CHIEF, BEND, OREGAN, POLICE DEPARTMENT: Officers responded, and when they arrived, they entered the Safeway immediately. Still hearing shots. They found the apparent shooter dead inside Safeway, where they found an A.R.-15-style rifle and a shotgun in close proximity to the shooter.
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NGUYEN: Police say they did not fire any shots. But at least two people were killed by the shooter. A third victim remains in the hospital but is currently in good condition.
A very chaotic scene as families were getting ready for start of the week, Ana.
And at this point, police have yet to release any detail about the shooter or a possible motive. But we do expect to hear more details later this afternoon at a press conference -- Ana?
CABRERA: Much to learn.
Chris Nguyen, thank you for that reporting.
[13:39:08]
Britney Spears unleashes on her family, revealing disturbing new details about her 13-year conservatorship. More on her 22-minute audio message and how her family is responding, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CABRERA: New data rolling in today. Smoking weed is now more popular than smoking tobacco.
And CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten, joins us now.
Harry, apparently. weed is a big hit. Like, we're talking record high.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: A record high.
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ENTEN: How many puns can we fit into this segment?
CABRERA: Taking a run.
ENTEN: Have you ever tried marijuana or do you smoke it? Look at this. Currently, record high, 16 percent. Look at that "ever" column, 48 percent. That was just at 4 percent in October of 1969. We're clearly seeing that upward trend.
CABRERA: Look how high it's gone just since 2013.
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CABRERA: We had already seen a lot of states that had started to legalize it for recreational and medicinal use.
ENTEN: That's exactly right. Up 10 points just in the last 10 years.
And look at the trend on cigarette smoking. It's the exact opposite. Back in 1969, 40 percent. Nearly half the population was smoking cigarettes regularly. Look at it now. Record low at just 11 percent.
[13:45:06]
So marijuana use high. Smoking cigarettes, low.
CABRERA: But recreational marijuana is still not legal in every state. We know it's not legal at the federal level either. How do people feel about that?
ENTEN: Yes. So this I think, as more people have been smoking marijuana, the popularity that it should be legal has also been going up.
Back in October of '69, just 12 percent of folks. And 31 percent by the beginning of the century, 50 percent, half and half, October 2011. Look at that, 69 percent now. It's the highest it's ever been.
And this gives you a pretty good indication of what's been going on as more people have been saying we should legalize marijuana.
Look at this. All of these states, 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, have legalized recreational marijuana in the last 10 years -- Ana?
CABRERA: Since I was a correspondent in the Denver Bureau, the ground zero of cannabis legalization, and that whole movement.
Where are we headed now? Because more states have it on the ballot, right?
ENTEN: More states do, in fact, have it on the ballot. Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, pending a state Supreme Court decision in South Dakota, all on the bam it in 2022.
If all of those states pass it, half the states in this country will allow recreational marijuana.
CABRERA: OK. Harry Enten, thank you so much.
ENTEN: I'm always high when I'm with you.
(LAUGHTER)
CABRERA: Oh, that's a good one. We'll end there.
OK, let's talk Britney Spears now. In a now-deleted 22-minute audio clip posted on YouTube and Twitter, the pop star directly addresses her controversial conservatorship and the abuse she says she endured for 13 years.
Here's part of what she said.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER: I'm sharing this because I want people to know I'm only human. I do feel victimized after these experiences. And how can I mend this if I don't talk about it?
If you're a weird, introvert oddball like me, who feels alone a lot of the time and you needed to hear a story like this so you don't feel alone, know this -- my life has been far from easy and you're not alone.
(END AUDIO FEED)
CABRERA: She went on to accuse both her father and mother of abuse.
Britney's mom, Lynne Spears, has taken to Instagram to respond, and writes this, "Britney, your whole life I've tried my best to support your dreams and wishes. And also I've tried my best to help you out of hardships."
She went on to say, "I love you so much that this talk is for you and me only. Eye to eye, in private."
A college volleyball game turns very ugly at Brigham Young University when a Duke player becomes the target of racist slurs and threats during a game. More of the fallout, when we come back.
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[13:52:06] CABRERA: Just months after he was drafted into the NFL, Washington Commanders running back, Brian Robinson, is in the hospital. Police say he was shot last night in D.C. in an attempted robbery or carjacking.
Today, Robinson's Instagram said the surgery for two gunshot wounds went well. His head coach says he visited with Robinson and expects him to be back out on the field soon.
Police say they are looking for two juveniles who might have been involved in this shooting.
A Duke volleyball player says racist slurs turned to threats during a game at Brigham Young University on Friday and that officials failed to take swift action.
BYU is now apologizing and says the abusive fan has been banned. But Rachel Richardson, the only black starter on the Duke team, says BYU should have done more sooner.
CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us with more.
Dianne, what more are we hearing from Richardson and her family?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, that's the key here. It's not just the abhorrent racist attacks that Rachel Richardson and her fellow African-American volleyball players endured.
But it was the fact that she said the coaching staff of BYU and the officials were notified of it during the game and nothing was done to stop it in its tracks.
She says that they notified them once again after the match had completed and adequate steps were not taken to make them feel safe.
Her godmothers says that Rachel Richardson was called the "N" word each time she stepped up to serve.
And Richardson herself says that they endured slurs, attacks that progressed into racist threats that made her afraid and made them feel unsafe during the match there.
Now BYU did issue an apology, saying, of course, that they had banned a fan that they had isolated as responsible from BYU events.
Saying in part:
"Specifically the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athletes competing last night for what they experienced."
But Rachel's father, Marvin Richardson, told "NEW DAY" this morning that it's not enough to apologize and do something after the fact. And that student-athletes need to be protected in those moments and that universities need to do better.
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MARVIN RICHARDSON, FATHER OF RACHEL RICHARDSON: What I would like to see going forward is that we take every effort, make every effort to make sure that those venues are safe and free from that kind of action. When it interjects itself, that it is removed immediately.
I've been at places where coaches have taken the mic and said, knock it off, and if you don't knock it off, we're going to have you kicked out of here. I've seen that.
That's an action that you can take right now. Stop it while it's happening. That didn't happen. And I think that we can always do more.
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[13:55:01]
GALLEGHER: Now, Duke did move their match the next day to a different location to avoid playing there at the Smith Fieldhouse.
And Rachel says, Ana, that she is a proud African-American student- athlete at Duke University. She doesn't want pity. She wants people to do better and to be antiracist.
CABRERA: Good for her. More power to her.
Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much.
And finally, tonight could be the end of one of the greatest careers the world of sports has ever seen. In just a few hours, Serena Williams will play in her first-round singles match in the U.S. Open.
If she loses, it could potentially be her last. You'll recall earlier this month Williams announced she was, quote, "evolving away from tennis."
The stage for her exit couldn't be more fitting. She's at the stadium at Flushing Meadows, the very spot where she won the first of 23 grand slam singles titles. We'll all be watching.
That does it for me. I'm so happy to be back with you after some cherished time off with my family. Let's do this again tomorrow, shall we? Same time, same place.
Until then, the news with Alisyn and Victor coming up next.
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