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Ten People Killed in Stabbing Incident in Canada; Britain's Conservative Party to Vote for a New Leader; President Biden and Donald Trump Campaign in Key Battleground States; Georgia Bracing for More Flooding; Western U.S. Under Extreme Heat; Ukrainian Forces Gaining Ground in the South; Seven Soldiers Targeted in the West Bank. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 05, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, at least 10 people stabbed to death in Canada, many more injured across multiple crime scenes. We will have the very latest on the hunt for these two men.

It's beginning to look a lot like midterm season as President Biden and Donald Trump crisscross battleground states. We will look at the messages they're bringing and whose strategy is likely to work.

And extreme weather from coast to coast in the U.S. from flooding in Georgia to deadly wildfires in California, we will have details from the CNN world weather center.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And we begin in Canada where a manhunt is underway for two suspects in connection with a deadly mass stabbing. Police in Saskatchewan say the attacks killed at least 10 people in more than a dozen crime scenes in the province. At least 15 people were taken to hospitals for injuries. And leaders of the James Smith Cree Nation have declared a state of emergency.

Police have identified the two suspects as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson. They are considered armed and dangerous and believed to be traveling in a black Nissan Rogue with a Saskatchewan license plate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHONDA BLACKMORE, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, SASKATCHEWAN RCMP: We're taking all steps possible to track these individuals and any information that comes in from the public or other sources that we obtain the information we're following up on that information immediately.

EVAN BRAY, POLICE CHIEF, SASKATCHEWAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think it's safe to say someone knows potentially the whereabouts of these suspects. Someone knows information that might be helpful to police. And so, this is a time where we are asking the public to reach out and help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau called the attacks horrific and heartbreaking. Authorities are urging residents to shelter in place.

And last hour I spoke with Lisa Joy, a reporter with SaskToday.ca. She says the attack has shaken the close-knit community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA JOY, REPORTER, SASKTODAY.CA: The community is an absolute shock and they're traumatize. They're also living in fear as they shelter in place while the RCMP searched for the two suspects, and James Smith, they declared a state of emergency and they're bringing in trauma counselors.

The RCMP has been going door to door doing searches, and then nearby First Nation community have increased their security at their reserves. One young woman she said that the two suspects broke into their home, kicked down the door of her younger sister's. And she said she was glad her younger sister wasn't home. She also said they stole her brother's black Nissan Rogue.

Some residents have named family members they have lost in the mass stabbing, the RCMP haven't confirmed names of the victims, but families have said that one victim was an older man who was the community's bus driver for years. Another resident said that an 11- year-old boy just stabbed trying to save his mother.

And again, that isn't confirmed by RCMP. There have been several reports by community members that children were among the victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And our thanks to Lisa Joy for speaking with us last hour.

We will soon learn who will become Britain's next prime minister in the coming hours. The ruling conservative party is expected to announce the results of its leadership race. The party will be voting in either foreign secretary Liz Truss or former finance minister, Rishi Sunak.

Now this comes two months after Boris Johnson announced he would be leaving his post.

And CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us now live from outside 10 Downing Street. Good to see you, Nic. So, Britain's conservative party voting very soon to decide who will be the next prime minister, Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak. What's being said about the likely outcome here and what do they each bring to the table.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I think the expectation at the moment is that it's going to be Liz Truss. There seems to be little doubt in that at the moment. That whole campaign process though has been hugely divisive.

[03:05:08]

So, if it were Rishi Sunak or Liz -- or Liz Truss as expected, it's going to be a big job for them to reunite the conservative party. And I think you may get a sense of that in the first couple of days of being an office of who is in the new cabinet and who is out of Boris Johnson's old cabinet.

And if that heals some divides within the party, but there are going to be much, much bigger issues to face, in particular rising inflation over 10 percent at the moment and energy bills, which are skyrocketing here as in many other parts of the world. And a real concern that for British people about how they're going to pay those energy bills.

Liz Truss speaking to the BBC over the weekend said that she understood their concerns and will be taking very swift measures to address them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: If I'm elected as prime minister, within one week I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue of energy bills and of long- term supply to put this country on the right footing for winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, she was pressed about how she would do that. And she said she didn't want to give away detail at the moment because it was too soon to say, but I think the expectation is if it is Liz Truss, then she would sort of go in the opposite direction of Boris Johnson who was planning to raise taxes. She would lower taxes, and find a way to borrow money, to head off some of those increased costs of energy.

One of the questions for many people at the moment is will she just do that for the public in their homes? Or will she do that, and help small businesses as well. There are a lot of questions, a lot of pressures, those internal conservative ones. There's pressure about improving the quality of healthcare in this country at the moment, the quality of schools.

She's going to inherit all of these pressures at a time of global economic uncertainty, at a time of a war in Ukraine of an aggressive Russia. And also, she's likely to have quite a tough time with the European Union in terms of her position over the last details of Brexit. Northern Ireland, the northern -- northern Irish protocols she's taken quite a tough position from the European Union's point of view on that.

So, her plate, her entry, if it is her, and it's expected to be her, is going to be very full with pressing issues, but it's going to be the energy issue, the cost of energy. There's going to be the primary initial focus it appears.

CHURCH: All right. Big challenges ahead. We'll see what happens. Nic Roberson joining us there live from 10 Downing Street. I appreciate it.

Well, here in the United States, we are just nine weeks away from the critical midterm elections when Americans will head to the polls to decide who controls Congress and top leadership posts.

President Joe Biden is headed to the battleground state of Wisconsin in the coming hours. From there, he will go back to another key state, Pennsylvania, just days after delivering a fiery speech in Philadelphia where he warned that Donald Trump and his closest followers are trying to undermine U.S. democracy.

Meantime, the former president also made a trip to Pennsylvania. He was in the state Saturday to promote Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor and Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.

CNN's Joe Johns has more now on Mr. Biden's key visits ahead of the midterms.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The president heading out to Labor Day celebrations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He's expected to talk about his infrastructure act as well as his Inflation Reduction Act that was passed just last month.

Later in the week, the president is expected to fly over to central Ohio to attend a groundbreaking. What all these places have in common is that they are battleground states and Labor Day is traditionally the time when campaigns start bearing down and voters start paying more attention to the candidates.

Joe Biden is not on the ballot, but all of this travel does indicate what the Biden people may be thinking as we head into the midterm elections. It was originally thought that the president would not be doing that much travel simply because of the challenges back here at the White House, including the issue of inflation, as well as the president's approval ratings.

Still, now that people look at it more closely, there have been some changes to the challenges they've eased up just a bit. And there is some hope among Democrats that this election will not be as bad for them as first thought.

Still, Democrats are well aware of the fact that first term presidents tend to lose seats in their first midterm election.

[03:10:04]

Joe Johns, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: Joining me now is Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and a senior editor with The Atlantic. Always good to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, President Joe Biden called Trump's make America great gain philosophy semi-fascism last week, but later clarified he just meant those who call for violence and deny the election results. Then Saturday night, Donald Trump called Joe Biden enemy of the state at a campaign rally. It's getting nasty.

So, will Mr. Biden's message resonate that these midterm elections are a choice between democracy or Trump?

BROWNSTEIN: I think it will resonate that this midterm election is a choice. Now, whether voters see it primarily as a choice between democracy and authoritarianism is another question. As you know, in polling in the U.S. Democrats have had trouble convincing enough swing voters to conceptualize that idea.

But I do think what clearly has happened, to change the electoral landscape in the U.S. since earlier this summer, is that we have gone from what has been for most of our history, the traditional framework of a midterm as purely a referendum on the party in power, an up or down vote on how you think the Democrats in the White House and Congress are doing into something that is much more of a choice.

And is focus -- and voters are increasingly focusing not only on what Democrats have, or have not done over their 18 months or so in power. But what Republicans would do if return to power and a big part of that is the increased visibility of Trump amid all of his legal and political troubles.

CHURCH: Yes, let's talk about that, because midterm elections as you say, are usually a measure of the incumbent president. But Joe Biden is trying to make this about the former president. Is that smart politics or could it backfire bad?

BROWNSTEIN: No, that's clearly, that's clear -- clearly smart politics. I mean, the party in power always wants to make the midterm a choice, not a referendum, but it's usually really hard to do. And in fact, over the last generation in the U.S. one of the most powerful patterns in our politics has been a growing correlation between the way people assess the way they feel about the incumbent president, and whether they will vote for congressional and Senate candidates from his party.

If you go back from the 80s to the 90s, to the 2000s to 2018, the share of voters who disapprove of a president and also vote against his party's candidates for Congress has gone up from somewhere around 75 percent to as high as 90 percent in 2018. Well, that number is going back down in 2022 in polling.

Really for the first time in decades that Republicans are winning a much smaller share of voters who disapprove of Biden than we have been seeing in presidential elections over the last several decades. And that I think clearly reflects the success of Democrats and events like the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe in causing more voters to not only, you know, express their intention solely by how they feel about what Biden is doing, but also how they feel about what Republicans might do if return to power.

CHURCH: Yes. It'll certainly be interesting to see if they can keep that momentum going. But meantime, Donald Trump is using the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home to rally support, saying we will not be silenced, an approach that probably won't help him legally. But what about politically?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, that has been his argument on every controversy that has faced, in every accusation that he's faced him has been, that they are attacking me to silence you. And there is a piece of the Republican coalition that very much responds to that message.

I mean, his superpower politically is his ability to juice turnout among the voters who are the most, as I've said many times, the most uneasy about the way the country is changing demographically, culturally and economically. That's non-urban, non-college, and evangelical whites.

On the other hand, Trump kind, you know, resurfacing in this way and broadcasting these grievances so loudly is a reminder, is kind of a wakeup call to the coalition that turned out in such large numbers to beat him in 2020. There are Democrats who have calculated that there are over 90 million separate individuals who came out to vote against Trump in either 2016, 2018, or 2020.

And if they can activate what, even two thirds of that coalition they can have a much better midterm than the president's party usually does. So, I think by and large, while they would welcome the increased turnout that Trump can generate, I think Republicans would prefer a world in which he was receding again and the focus was more on Biden, but what are the odds? We're going to see that before the Trump preceding before the November election.

[03:15:02]

CHURCH: All right. Ron Brownstein, many thanks. So always like to get your analysis and all things political. I appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: All right. We turn now to catastrophic flooding here in the U.S. state of Georgia. This was the scene northwest of Atlanta where flash floods overwhelmed roads, homes, and businesses. This gas station was completely flooded and it's not over yet. More rain is expected through Tuesday.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has issued a state of emergency.

And in northern California, a raging wildfire has killed two people. Officials say they died as a result of the Mill Fire in the town of Weed on Sunday.

The size of the fire has almost doubled since Friday burning through more than 4,000 acres or about 1,600 hectares. At least 50 structures have been destroyed and about 1,000 people have been forced to evacuate.

And a suffocating heat wave is making fires in California and other parts of the western U.S. Even worse right now, nearly 50 million people are under heat alerts as dangerous temperatures grip the area, and it could get even hotter into Tuesday.

CNN's Chris Nguyen has more on the heat wave and the wildfires.

CHRIS NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As California deals with its longest heat wave of the year, state officials are issuing a Flex alert once again urging the public to conserve energy between the hours of 4 and 9 p.m. So that means turning up the thermostat to 78 degrees or higher, avoiding the use of major appliances and turning off lights when possible.

It all sounds basic, but it's meant to help with the state's power grid. In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom believes that Sunday and Monday could be the most challenging for the power grid.

Here at Santa Monica pier, we spoke to folks who came out early to beat the heat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I needed to hurry up and get out here to this beach area before it got smoldering hot like closer to a hundred. I'm going to really enjoy myself. I'm going to go over here and get into this nice cool water.

UNKNOWN: Find anything we can do to stay cool. Come out here it's just as hot. The beach or no beach is hot.

UNKNOWN: My gosh, you walk out of the store with an ice cream cone and it melts in your hand. It's this is ridiculous. It was 108 going through Mojave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MGUYEN: And with the extreme heat fire danger is also a major concern. There are two big wildfires burning right now in Siskiyou County. That's up in northern California. Cal Fire officials say because the conditions are so dry, they're asking the public to be considerate, especially when it comes to doing anything that could potentially spark another wildfire.

Chris Nguyen, CNN, Santa Monica, California.

CHURCH: So, let's bring in meteorologist Gene Norman. And Gene, nearly 50 million people under heat alerts in western U.S. Are you seeing any relief in sight? GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, Rosemary, no. In fact,

when we look at these kinds of stats, over 24 record highs were set on Sunday. Just another example of the fingerprints of climate change, a warmer atmosphere and of course, we also are dealing with some flooding due to that warmer atmosphere.

I want to focus in on Salt Lake City because for the first four days of this month, they've gone over a hundred. They've never done that before in the month of September. Sunday's record of 102 beats the previous record set just two years ago.

And yes, these heat advisories and excessive heat warnings will continue for the next couple of days. In fact, Wednesday and Thursday could be the hottest days. The hottest stretch that is of this longest heat wave that we've seen so far. Look at these temperatures of forecast, everybody in the triple digits, Salt Lake City, Death Valley, Vegas, Bakersfield, Sacramento. It's really going to be dangerously hot out there as the heat continues.

Meanwhile, in the east, we've got the opposite problem. A lot of moisture, a pretty, pretty much a train of moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico allowing for heavy rain to develop. Flood watch continues across the good part of the central part of the Ohio River Valley.

Watch these showers, they'll continue to move to the north and east. Unfortunately, it looks like a soggy Labor Day for many on the East Coast. Could use the rain. Rosemary, nobody wants any flooding. We'll be watching for that.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Gene Norman, many thanks as always. I appreciate it.

And still to come, Ukraine says it's liberated multiple settlements as it fights to drive Russia out of the Kherson region. W will have a live report from Kyiv.

Plus, a shooting in the West Bank puts an Israeli civilian and six soldiers in the hospital. We will have the latest from Jerusalem.

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Ukrainian forces say they are gaining ground in their southern counter offensive. The military appears to have taken control of a town in the Kherson region. This social media photo shows Ukrainian soldiers raising a flag on a building, though CNN has not independently verified the location.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says two settlements in the south and one settlement in eastern Donetsk region have been liberated.

CNN's Melissa Bell joined us live from Kyiv. So, Melissa, what more can you tell us about this? MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that flag being raised tweeted

last night by an aide to President Zelenskyy. Remember, Rosemary, that until now the authorities, Ukrainian authorities have not given much away in terms of how the counter offensive going. We hear fairly vague statements about ammunition depos and infrastructure being hit. But they haven't allowed journalists so far. Not many pictures, no pictures have filtered through or been released.

And so, I think the fact that they've tweeted this picture a week after this counter offensive began important also to boost the morale of Ukrainians who are desperate to news and for news and hoping, that this will mark the turning point that Kyiv hopes it will.

[03:24:55]

We've heard a little bit more, as you say from the president himself, not just that town of Vysokopillia that you see on that picture where that flag is being raised according to Ukrainian authorities who say that's where it was taken, not just that settlement or some 5,000 people, but another in the south as well as part of that counter offensive.

But perhaps, most interestingly, a settlement in eastern Donetsk being taken. And that's something new. The counter offensive is really focused on the south of the country. And if they are making progress as well around the Donetsk region, then that will be an important development in this attempt to try and gain back some of the lost ground for the Ukrainians, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Melissa, still major concerns over the threatened safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant despite the presence of IAEA inspectors. What more are you learning about the situation there?

BELL: Well for the time being, this was on Saturday that shelling had once again led to the shutting down of one of the last two functioning reactors here, actor number five, leaving just -- number six up and running. But more importantly, more worryingly, the damage done to the last functioning external power line.

There had been four before the war. They were down to just one, that two was damaged in the shelling on Saturday. And it means that the entire power plant is essentially providing power to the Ukrainian electricity grid through a reserve line that runs through a thermal power plant.

It is the same line that allows electricity to get to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. And that's worrying because when Rafael Grossi had been here, he'd said he had two main concerns and that was for the workers of their plant, but also for the questions of the power supply to it.

The fact that they are down to a single reserve line, clearly of extreme concern to those IAEA inspectors who are still there. And yet the fact that they're there says Rafael Grossi hugely important to ensuring that these things can be fixed and quickly, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Of course. Melissa Bell bringing us up to date. Many thanks.

Well, seven Israelis were sent to the hospital after gunman open fire on a bus traveling through the West Bank. This, according to the Israel defense forces, at least six Israeli soldiers and one citizen were on board that bus. One soldier was severely injured. Several of those shot was released and only three remain in the hospital.

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

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this took place, Rosemary, on route 90. This is near the border with Jordan in an area that doesn't see these types of attacks very often. The last type of attack that happened in this area like this was more than 10 years ago.

But these soldiers relatively new draftees, they were driving on a soft sided civilian bus, had no markings as being part of the military when a pickup truck with three men on it overtook them. The men in the pickup truck threw explosives at the bus and cut the bus, bus off and began shooting at the people in the bus.

Now, seven people were injured. The one civilian injured was the bus driver. And it is unusual where it took place. It is unusual that according to the Israeli officials, the type of attack that took place, the men then drove off and actually their truck caught on fire.

Israeli officials believe because of the explosives in the truck. Two of the men were apprehended. They were severely burnt. They were being treated in hospital. And one of the men is still on the loose. Now Israeli officials believe two of them are Palestinians from Jenin and the other man is a Palestinian citizen of Israel.

Now this has been a very violent year in Israel and in the West Bank. There have been several attacks in Israel proper that have killed at least 19 people. There have been dozens of attacks against Israelis and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. And it's been an incredible dead -- incredibly deadly year for Palestinians.

Eighty-six Palestinians, according to the Palestinian ministry of health have been killed this year. The Israeli military has been launching nearly nightly raids in the West Bank. They say to target militants. They say most of those Palestinians killed have been militants or people throwing rock, but there also been some civilians killed as well.

So, a very violent year for both the West Bank and Israel and something that the Israeli officials say they're very concerned about. Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Hadas, we just learned that the Israel Defense Forces will release the findings of its investigation into the death of an Al Jazeera journalist on Monday. They should do that. What are you expecting to learn?

GOLD: So we are learning that the Israeli Defense Forces will be releasing their report into the conclusions of how Shireen Abu Akleh the world famous very well-known Al Jazeera correspondent was killed during that Israeli military operation in Jenin in the West Bank in May.

Now already several media organizations, including CNN have already determined, have already found that they believe that it was an Israeli soldier that ultimately fired that fatal shot. Also, the Americans, after reviewing both Israeli and Palestine reports also have come to that same conclusion.

Now, since the incident Israeli officials have said they have not yet been able to determine whether it was an Israeli or Palestinian gunfire that killed Shireen.

[03:30:00]

Keep in mind, remember she was a member of the media wearing a press flak jacket and a helmet covering this military operation when she was shot and killed. So, all lies will be on the Israeli military and what their report will actually say. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Hadas Gold with that update, many things.

And still to come, Pope Francis vows to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with the pontiff ahead in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Pope Francis says he takes personal responsibility for ending sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Adding, there should be zero tolerance for it.

In an exclusive interview with our partner channel CNN Portugal, the pontiff said, quote, "a priest cannot remain a priest if he is an abusive."

For more on the interview, CNN's Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher joins us now live from Rome.

Good to see you, Delia. So, Pope Francis again addressing the church sex abuse scandal. What all did he say?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, the Pope covered a number of topics in this interview, including sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which he called diabolical.

Let's take a listen to some more of what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): If he is a priest, he is there to lead men to God and not to destroy men in the name of God, zero tolerance. And we cannot stop on that. And every case of abuse that appears hurts me, hurts me, but we have to face it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [03:35:01]

GALLAGHER: And Rosemary, the Pope also said that he didn't think that the Catholic Church's rule on celibacy for priests had anything to do with sexual abuse as some people have suggested in the past. The Pope said that sexual abuse occurs in all sectors of society, including the family where obviously celibacy is not an issue. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And Delia, the Pope also spoke out on Russia's war in Ukraine and his conversations with the leaders of those two countries. What did he say about that?

GALLAGHER: So, we know, Rosemary, that since the beginning of the war Pope Francis has spoken several times on the phone with President Zelenskyy. However, there's been no indication that he has had similar conversations with President Putin.

Let's take a listen to that part of the interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): What is it possible for a Pope to say to President Putin and President Zelenskyy?

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): I don't know. I don't know. I had a dialogue with both. They both visited me here before the war, and I always believe that in dialogue we always have to move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And the Pope also said that a trip to Kyiv and Moscow is, quote, "up in the air." We know that he has been invited on several occasions to visit Kyiv. He has said he would like to do that, but that he would also like to visit Moscow. But for the moment, Moscow has not extended that invitation to the Pope. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Delia Gallagher bringing us the very latest there from Rome, many thanks.

Well, authorities in Pakistan drove 100,000 people from their homes in an effort to save other areas from even more flooding. The drastic measures they're taking, that's just ahead.

Plus, how a scientific breakthrough could save endangered coral reefs from the ravages of climate change.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: We turn now to the latest in the flood ravaged Pakistan. Authorities have breached the country's largest freshwater lake. It is a move they hope will save densely populated areas from more flooding.

Meantime, two members of the U.S. Congress are on the ground in Pakistan, Representatives Tom Suozzi of New York and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas arrived in the region Sunday to assess the flood damage and show solidarity.

This as the death toll keeps rising with children accounting for a third of the victims.

CNN's Anna Coren has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As rushing flood waters turn stagnant, the nightmare for Pakistani citizens who survived the initial onslaught now displaced by one of the worst flooding events in the country's history has only just begun.

MUHAMMAD KHURSHID, FLOODING SURVIVOR: Villages have been submerged one after another, our village was on the front side and it was also submerged in 30 minutes. Our village was there, no more?

COREN: With an estimated more than one third of the country underwater makeshift shelters like this one are overrun with survivors with no homes to return to.

UNKNOWN (through translator): There are too many people in very few rooms, the bathrooms are clogged and there is no water.

COREN: Hunger, lack of sanitation and disease now threatened to extend the monumental suffering for the more than 33 million people affected.

FAISAL EDHI, EDHI FOUNDATION (through translator): I can see a very big famine looming very close very soon. I can see its initial stages. Right now, there are people who are hungry for a week or even 10 days. This is a very alarming situation.

COREN: Doctors also sounding the alarm about a system struggling to come.

VIJAY KUMAR, HOSPITAL DOCTOR: Before the floods we used to see 50 to 60 patients during my night duty, but now we're seeing 130 to 140 patients due to illness arising from unsanitary conditions.

COREN: While it's almost impossible to comprehend the level of devastation brought on by what the U.N. calls a monsoon season on steroids. This satellite image of just one district in Punjab province a little less than a month ago compared with now gives a glimpse into just how dire the situation is. For some, fortunate enough to see floodwaters recede, a new shock.

ASHAN ULLAH, SHOPKEEPER (through translator): The town has been turned to ruins. Before it was a lively place and hundreds of tourists would come and go, but now everything is turned to ruins.

COREN: Aid agencies alongside the Pakistani military are doing their best to reach those still cut off by impassable roads with Herculean rescue efforts ongoing. And as the death toll continues to rise, more rains are expected for much of September. That forecast and ominous warning that the worst may be far from over. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in the fight to save a species under threat in the Caribbean. It is the Elkhorn coral which could also offer protection from hurricanes.

CNN's Isabel Rosales explains in this CNN exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're deadly, violent, and unleashed mass destruction. Year after year, we pay the price in dollars and lives when hurricane season strikes. But under the waters, those storms gain their strength from there's an unexpected layer of protection, coral reefs. They break up large waves and guard coastlines from storm surge acting as a buffer against property damage and erosion.

Spanning about 360 miles, Florida has the world's third largest barrier reef. And right now, it's at risk from stressors like pollution, disease, and warming oceans.

KERI O'NEIL, SENIOR CORAL SCIENTIST, FLORIDA AQUARIUM: They're dying around the world.

ROSALES: Caused by the climate crisis.

O'NEIL: I would say that the problems facing coral reefs right now are human cost. You can't have the ocean running a fever every summer and not expect there to be impacts.

ROSALES: But in this tank, a sign that hope is not lost for Florida's reefs. You're looking at a major scientific breakthrough. Elkhorn coral spawning the Florida Aquarium says that it is now the first in the world to reproduce this threatened coral using aquarium technology.

O'NEIL: When it finally happened, we were just the first census just sheer relief.

ROSALES: Keri O'Neil is a senior coral scientist. She's also been dubbed the coral whisperer and she lives up to name. This spawning produced a couple thousand baby Elkhorn corals. O'Neil expects about a hundred could survive into adulthood. Her team has figured out how to spawn 13 other species, yet Elkhorn takes the top spot.

[03:45:02]

O'NEIL: It's really the most important. This is a critical step to preventing Elkhorn coral from going extinct in the state of Florida.

ROSALES: Name for its resemblance to elk antlers, this coral lives right at the top of the reef crest. Meaning, it plays a big role in protecting Florida's coastline from devastating storm surge, which climate change is making even worse. Problem is --

O'NEIL: Now there are so few left that there's just a few scattered colonies.

ROSALES: Only about 300 of them are left around Florida, she says.

O'NEIL: It makes me emotional because I've seen the destruction of this species in my career.

ROSALES: Getting them to reproduce isn't as easy as you think.

O'NEIL: Terrestrial animals do this all the time. You know, when you have an endangered pandas or chimpanzees, the first thing you do is start a breeding program. But coral reproduction is super weird.

ROSALES: O'Neil tells me in the wild they're not successfully reproducing. They're also notoriously difficult to keep alive at aquariums. Part of the reason why she says, they face so much doubt from the scientific community that they can make this moment happen.

O'NEIL: We faced a lot of criticism of people, you can't keep those in an aquarium. You know, that's impossible.

ROSALES: In the race to restore the reefs there's more work to be done. This breakthrough only a first step.

O'NEIL: We are really buying time. We're buying time for the reef. We're buying time for the corals.

ROSALES: Goal is a breeding program where they could ultimately breed more resilient coral capable of withstanding threats like pollution, warming, ocean waters and disease.

UNKNOWN: Three, two, one, dive.

ROSALES: Nature can then pick up the rest.

O'NEIL: There is hope for coral reefs. Don't give up hope. It's it all is not lost. However, we need to make serious changes in our behavior to save this planet.

ROSALES: I'm Isabel Rosales reporting.

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CHURCH: Students across the United States are heading back to the classroom, but in many school districts teachers are not. We will speak with a principal about what's driving educators out of the classroom. Back in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Well, school is back in session across the United States but many districts face a critical teacher shortage. Rising teacher burnout and retirement have left them scrambling to fill roles. Burnout among teachers from kindergarten through the 12th grade is higher than in any U.S. industry right now. It's been made worse by the politicizing of schools, worsening student behavior during COVID, stagnant wages and concerns about school safety.

Nevada's Clark County school district resume classes with more than 1,400 job vacancies. Some of them for teachers.

Lou Markouzis is the principal at Canyon Spring High School in Clark County, Nevada. And he joins me now from North Las Vegas. Thank you so much for talking with us.

LOU MARKOUZIS, PRINCIPAL, CANYON SPRING HIGH SCHOOL, CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA: Thank you, Rosemary. It's good to be on.

CHURCH: And I do want to start by looking at a couple of relevant and shocking numbers. According to a survey by the American Federation of Teachers, that is the country's second largest teachers union. Seventy-nine percent of educators were dissatisfied with their jobs back in June.

And in February, a survey by the National Education Association, that's America's largest labor union, estimated that 55 percent of teachers were considering leaving. So, Lou, why do you think teachers are so unhappy with their jobs this year, particularly? And why are so many of them considering changing to a different career path?

MARKOUZIS: Well, we could all agree that the pandemic has had a terrible impact on many families, many professions throughout the world. And of course, educators in particular, we've had to pivot and adjust several versions of the teaching style from face to face to hybrid, which is a blended half in school, half at home to fully at school, dealing with a lot of the connectivity issues and technology that some of our most disenfranchised families have and neighborhoods in the United States.

It was an overwhelming challenge and the stressors that went along with that. The mental health and social, emotional health of not only our teachers, but of our families and students played a tremendous impact on educators, which truly made them feel this way, and administrators included as well.

CHURCH: So, it's really mainly the pandemic rather than perhaps, gun violence, fear of school shootings, and other possible issues. Your sense is that the pandemic is the overriding reason.

MARKOUZIS: Well, most definitely the pandemic has been certainly brought surfaced a lot of the issues to the forefront. Clearly, there are some other prevailing issues that we've had in the U.S. education system, you know, rising increase of violence in our schools.

And clearly, when you turn on the news, there are unfortunately examples of gun violence too that plague the profession. However, you know, the -- all of this was exacerbated definitely because of the pandemic. CHURCH: With so many shortages in teachers in your state and across the United States, what would get many of these teachers back into the classroom, and what would it take to keep them in their jobs before they decide to walk away, do you think.

MARKOUZIS: Yes, I don't want to oversimplify it, but it really comes down to money and work conditions. You know, the salaries, we need to start increasing the teacher's base salary. I know that we've made some big strides. I know in our state, our superintendent here in Clark County took strides to offer incentives and bonuses.

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But, you know, that's just kind of scratching the surface with inflation at a little over 9 percent in our country. And you know, some of these bonuses essentially become awash, but there has to be some changes to salaries. And also work conditions.

We're having to deal with a lot of the student issues, not just the disciplinary issues, but a lot of kids are coming in with a lot of social emotional baggage and teachers are having to pivot and adjust with that with the -- with the demands of, of course always increasing student achievement and ensuring that our students are mask during the appropriate grade level content.

And so, these demands are greater now than ever before in educators. So, it truly is time that we start really addressing the, not only the dollar amount that we pay educators, but really looking and improve the overall system of how we can make this work condition one in which the next generation comes in and fills these jobs.

CHURCH: And you know, with these startling teacher shortages in your state and across the country, how will some of these teacher positions be filled? Will you have to consider taking on some people who will be experts in a particular field, but perhaps are not trained teachers?

MARKOUZIS: Yes, we've, you know, not only in our state, but states across the United States, we have, obviously used alternative route to licensures. We've taken individuals that have practical experience in the field. Whether, you know, they might be a writer or they might be an accountant. And we're looking at making them English teachers and math teachers, or a scientist that works at the water district that may want to necessarily become a biology teacher or a chemist.

And we're giving these accelerated routes to licensure. But these are just big Band-Aids masking these problems or covering these problems. It really does take a systemic approach that has to be rooted in recruiting the next generation of young people to want to come into the profession and then pay them accordingly.

CHURCH: Lou Markouzis, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.

MARKOUZIS: You're so welcome. It was my pleasure. Thank you.

CHURCH: And thank you for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourself a wonderful day. CNN Newsroom continues with Max Foster, next.

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