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Ukrainians Reclaim Some Frontline Cities; Father of Rescued Children Says Their Knowledge of Nature Saved Them; Former Scottish Prime Minister Released without Charges in Finance Probe; Trump to Travel to Miami Ahead of Court Appearance; Thousands Evacuate as Philippine Volcano Erupts; Study: Arctic Waters Could Be Ice-Free During September by 2030s. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 12, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

LAILA HARRAK, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to all our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Laila Harrak, and ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:00:35]

Ukraine says it's making key advances on the Eastern front lines. Soldiers hanging flags after liberating villages.

Donald Trump set to make a historic court appearance. We'll look at the potential fallout from allies as top-secret intelligence is seen laying in plain -- in plain sight.

And nearly 13,000 people forced to leave their homes as the most active volcano in the Philippines roars to life.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Laila Harrak.

HARRAK: We begin in Ukraine where we're seeing the war enter a new stage. On Sunday, Ukrainian forces liberated three villages in the Donetsk region, according to the country's deputy defense ministry.

You can see here, fighters hanging the Ukrainian flag from a newly- recaptured frontline village.

Ukraine also says it's making some counterattacks around the embattled city of Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, we're seeing more repercussions from the destroyed dam in the Kherson region. Ukrainian officials say at least 14 people have died in the flooding and nearly 3,000 have been evacuated. Ukraine's president says the destruction of the dam is now being investigated as a possible war crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Recently, representatives of the International Criminal Court visited the Kherson region. It is very important that representatives of international justice saw with their own eyes the consequences of this Russian terrorist attack and hear personally that Russian terror continues. And it continues with the most cynical and brutal shelling of the flooded territory, the evacuation territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRAK: Fred Pleitgen brings us now the latest from Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seems as if Ukraine's offensive operations are gaining steam. The Ukrainians, on Sunday say that they took back several villages from the Russians.

Most of that happening in the sort of Southeastern part of the very long frontline here in this country. And that, of course, also comes after things seemed to get up off a rocky start at the end of last week, with the Russians hosting a couple of videos claiming to have destroyed a lot of armor, a lot of Western armor, in what they said were failed operations by the Ukrainians to try and gain territory in the Southern part of Ukraine.

Now, the Ukrainians are still not calling this the big counteroffensive. There were some indications by the Ukrainian president this weekend, saying that the Ukrainians have now gone to defensive counteroffensive operations.

Then on Sunday, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, he came out and he posted a video of himself, just sitting in his chair being silent at the end of what the Ukrainians said plans love silence. Obviously, once again, saying that they don't talk by the big counteroffensive, if, indeed, it is already underway.

But one of the things that is clear is that right now, in this country, the Ukrainians certainly have the initiative. There is no place where the Russians seem to be making gains. But a lot of places where the Ukrainians certainly are trying to make gains.

One of those places is Bakhmut, where on Sunday, the Ukrainians once again said that they have won back territory. And this comes after several days of gains which the Ukrainians say have been significant.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Let's get more insight now from retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst, Cedric Leighton. And he joins me now from Washington.

Cedric, a very good day. I realize it's too early now to tell how things will play out and what these first military engagements mean for the situation on the ground. But as this war seems to be entering a new stage, what are some of your thoughts?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Laila, I think one of the key things to put here is that is things start to roll out in terms of this Ukrainian counteroffensive, we're going to see some areas, especially in the Southeast and the East and possibly in the South that, where the Ukrainians are going to make some progress.

And we also have to expect that the Ukrainians are going to be stopped at some of these points because of the Russians' efforts to shore up their defenses. The tank traps, the types of things that they've put out over the last few months.

So it's been pretty clear that the Russians have had a chance to shore up these defenses, but the key thing is, are those going to be -- these defenses, are they going to be enough to stop the Ukrainians? And it seems to be the case that, at least in the Southeast, the answer is no. That's possibly also the answer on Bakhmut, as well.

[00:05:08]

HARRAK: As we see military activity being stepped up, there continues to be infighting among Russian armed forces. What kind of questions does that raise?

LEIGHTON: Well, for one thing, Laila, the key issue, I think, fir the Russians is unity of command. One of the things that they have failed to establish even without the issues with the Wagner Group, is that unity of command.

They've had a really terrible time setting up one chain of command for all of their forces, one effort that is able to be able to prosecute a war in Ukraine. So that's one side of it.

The other part including the Wagner Group and other paramilitary organizations, mercenary organizations. And the tension between the mercenary organizations and the Russian ministry of defense and the regular armed forces is really exceptionally notable.

And what that does is it gives the Russian war effort -- makes it very hard for them to coordinate their operations. And really lends a hand to the Ukrainians that few would have expected a few months ago.

HARRAK: Now as you pointed out, earlier, the Ukrainian army's focus seems to be the Southern Zaporizhzhia region, where the nuclear power plant is also located.

Russia has targeted critical infrastructure during this war numerous times, especially in the beginning. Is the Russian-controlled nuclear plant a potential target, would you say? Could it be used as blackmail by Russian forces?

And what is the likelihood, for instance, of the Russian leader resorting to some type of scorched-earth strategy do something to the plant that would be catastrophic? Is that at all a consideration at this point?

LEIGHTON: I think it has to be a consideration. You know, as an intelligence person, I've always looked at the worst-case scenarios. And I think the Ukrainians are also doing that. They're taking a look and seeing what could possibly go wrong. What types of things would the Russians do that would indicate a scorched-earth policy.

We saw that with the Nova Kakhovka dam and, the ability of presumably, the Russians to deliberately take this dam out and -- you know, and make it collapse. Those are the kinds of things that we could see in other areas. We've had multiple reports of other dams being -- being breached.

The same thing could happen in a different way, with the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia. And if that did occur, that of course, would be the ultimate form of military and civilian blackmail in this case. So I think it's something that the Ukrainians have to expect, and they have to hope that it doesn't happen.

HARRAK: Do you think it could stymie the counteroffensive?

LEIGHTON: It could -- it could certainly impact the counteroffensive. I think what could happen here is that it could be the threat of doing something like that. It could impact the ability of the Ukrainians to move in that Southeastern sector, particularly in the Zaporizhzhia region could also affect the efforts in the Donetsk region, and in that area.

So that those things would possibly hinder the Ukrainian drive to the Siobaza (ph), which I think is their main goal. And that is something that the Russians will seek to prevent. And they may very well use the nuclear power plant to do that.

HARRAK: Cedric Leighton, thank you, as always.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Laila.

HARRAK: And Russia and Ukraine exchanged nearly 200 prisoners of war on Sunday, according to statements from Moscow and Kyiv. Ninety-five Ukrainian POW's were returned. Some have been captured on Snake Island and the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, while others have been held by the Wagner Group.

They were swapped for 94 Russian serviceman, who would be taken to medical facilities in Russia before being allowed to return to their families.

Now, more than a day after U.S. -- a U.S. citizen, Travis Leake, was detained in Moscow on drug charges, his mother says she has yet to hear from anyone in the U.S. government about his current status.

Glenda Garcia told CNN she's worried about her son and does not know if he even has an attorney. She also said that if she doesn't hear from the U.S. State Department by Monday, she would try calling them herself.

Leake, who worked as a musician, producer, and manager in Russia, was arraigned on Saturday with U.S. embassy officials present. According to a court statement, he will remain in custody until August 6. For the first time, we're hearing from the father of those four

children who were rescued from the Colombian Amazon jungle. He says his children were able to survive in the rainforest for weeks because of their upbringing and their connection with nature.

Stefano Pozzebon reports now from Bogota.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, On Sunday the father of the four Colombian indigenous children who were rescued last week after spending 40 days in the Colombian Amazon rainforest traveled to Bogota --

[00:10:08]

POZZEBON (voice-over): -- and spoke with reporters outside the hospital where his children was receiving medical treatment.

Manuel Ranoque actually joined the search-and-rescue operations in the last five weeks and --

POZZEBON: -- was in the jungle up until Friday, when his children were finally rescued. He said that he never lost hope, not even when the stakes against him were -- seemed so daunting.

MANUEL RANOQUE, FATHER OF RESCUED INDIGENOUS CHILDREN (through translator): We are indigenous people. I believe in the jungle, which is our mother. And that's why I've always kept the faith and would say that both the jungle and nature have never betrayed me.

POZZEBON: Ranoque also said that his children were very weak when he visited them in hospital. We can only imagine how affected they are, both mentally and physically, by surviving these experience.

POZZEBON (voice-over): The doctors are saying that they expect the children to stay under medical observation between two and three weeks. They're also receiving psychological support at the Central Military Hospital here in Bogota.

Ranoque concluded by urging the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, to invest more into transportation in the Amazon and also said that he wants to provide his children a good education in the future.

POZZEBON: Just a reminder that the mother of the four children died in that fateful crash on May 1 when this ordeal began.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Still to come, former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon released without charges after a Sunday arrest. What she said amid a probe into the Scottish National Party's finances.

Plus, Donald Trump set to meet with his attorneys in the day ahead as he prepares for a historic appearance in federal court to face criminal charges. We'll have the latest on his legal troubles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRAK: Former Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has reportedly been released without charges after she was arrested, Sunday, in connection with a probe into the Scottish National Party's finances.

Police are investigating funds specifically earmarked for a second Scottish independence referendum campaign.

CNN's Scott McLean has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nicola Sturgeon's arrest has dominated headlines across the U.K. But it didn't come entirely out of the blue.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, who is the longtime chief executive of the Scottish National Party, was arrested back in April, questioned by police for more than 11 hours and then released without charge.

At that time, Sturgeon and Murrell's home in Glasgow was searched by police. They even put up a tent in front of the house. The party's then-treasurer was also arrested, questioned and released without charge. And the party headquarters in Edinburgh was also raided by police.

[00:15:15]

All of this in relation to an investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.

MCLEAN: And, specifically, what happened to 600,000 pounds that was earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning, according to the British Press Association.

Now, Sturgeon's arrest is part of that same investigation and follows a similar pattern. She was arrested Sunday morning, held for more than seven hours of questioning, and then released without charge pending further investigation, according to police.

Now, a spokesperson for Sturgeon initially said that she went voluntarily and will cooperate with the investigation. We've now also heard from Sturgeon herself, who said, in part, "To find myself in the situation I did today, when I am certain I have committed no offense is both a shock and deeply distressing. Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law. I know beyond doubt that I am, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing."

Now, she went on to say that she will continue to sit as a member of the Scottish Parliament. She stepped down as party leader in February, citing the brutality of frontline politics. And at that time, it came as a pretty big shock to British politics,

because she had been one of the most successful and effective political leaders in the U.K. over the past eight years.

Now, interestingly enough, Nicola Sturgeon actually began her weekend posting the results of tests she took to get a driver's license. She passed that test with flying colors, but now has an entirely new one in front of her as a suspect in a police investigation.

Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Former U.S. president, Donald Trump, is expected to head to Miami Monday to huddle with his legal team. That's ahead of Tuesday's historic court appearance. And that's when he'll face federal criminal charges related to his handling of classified documents.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more now from Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The level of detail and evidence that the Justice Department has collected in this case has begun to sink in. And Donald Trump's own attorney general, Bill Barr, one of his top people in his own administration, who had gone to bat for him multiple times saying investigations around Donald Trump should not have been taking place, previously, was condemning the actions of the former president after he left the White House. Because this indictment is so explicit in the evidence that it has, because of the photos of documents in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago; photos of boxes of documents spilled in a storage room; and then those 31 charges, each representing a document that Donald Trump is accused of willfully retaining outside of the protected area of the federal government, top-secret documents. Classified documents, national security information.

Here's more of what Bill Barr had to say on Sunday on FOX News.

BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: If even half of it is true, then he's toast. I mean, it's a pretty -- it's a very detailed indictment, and it's very, very damning. And this idea of presenting Trump as a victim here, a victim of a witch hunt, is ridiculous. He's not a victim here.

He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets the country has. He -- they have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them.

And he kept them in a way at Mar-a-Lago that anyone who really cares about national security would -- their stomach would churn at it.

POLANTZ: Now with this indictment approved by the grand jury here in Florida, a process will kick off in the federal court system at this courthouse in Miami. So Donald Trump, currently, is going to be traveling, because he needs

to get here and faces charges in person. So he's going to be traveling to Miami, on Monday, along with his body man, Walt Nauta, a man also charged in this case as part of the alleged obstruction part of this investigation.

And then they will stay at a resort, at his resort, near Miami and then huddle with lawyers. So they're going to be having to talk to the lawyers about what's going to be expected on Tuesday in federal court. And then Trump will come to court on Tuesday where he's going to have a lot of Secret Service protection around him. It's very possible that there will be no live pictures of him, or even photographs of him, coming into the building to face these charges for his initial appearance.

[00:20:00]

There's no photos in federal court. There's no video inside the building either. And so he'll have that proceeding, be read his charges, and we expect to enter a plea of not guilty at this time.

Afterwards, he's going to turn political again. The legal part of the day will be done, and Trump is already announcing he was flying back to Bedminster New Jersey, where he has his -- another resort. And he will be giving a speech.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Douglas London is a retired senior CIA operations officer. He is also an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University. And the author of "The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence."

Douglas, so good to have you with us. As a retired CIA operations officer, you know, seeing these allegedly classified documents strewn on the floor, unsecured, what was your initial reaction when you saw that?

DOUGLAS LONDON, ADJUNCT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, my initial reaction was shock and surprise and concern, but my reaction, obviously, took even a bolder turn after seeing the indictment. You know, we're aware that the former president might have had as many as 300 classified documents, and we see 31 specifically mentioned in the indictments.

Presumably those which the Justice Department believes they can prosecute as evidence. My concern has got to be focused on the damage and the threat. What we don't know about what the former president might have also taken, and with whom he might have discussed those documents and others.

HARRAK: Will it be easy to determine what sensitive information will have been compromised? And what are some of the potential damage- control measures that the intelligence community, do you think, would now have to consider?

LONDON: Well, the complications are that we don't really know what the former president's intent was. For two cases, specified in the indictment, where we know he showed documents, or spoke of the contents of those documents with individuals, civilians, writers, I understand from the indictment. And also, a member of a political active -- action groups.

But we don't know how many other documents he might have discussed, what he might have taken out of secure spaces, and with whom he might have shared these contents.

So the challenge, since you don't have someone cooperating in this case, the former president, is can you determine through revelations from your adversaries, intelligence you can collect from a counterintelligence source that might be reveal what they have acquired, what they know, and their actions in reaction to their knowledge?

It's got to be fairly difficult. So a lot of it is going to be assuming the worse in some of these cases of what might be potentially at risk.

HARRAK: So do you think the intelligence community might want to ask the special counsel to implement some special procedures to limit damage of potentially exposing more sensitive material? And what might that look like?

LONDON: There's always going to be a conversation, a dialogue, in terms of what's going to be allowable for discovery. It is clearly a conscious decision on what documents have been included in the indictment. Some of them seem to be among the most sensitive one could imagine the president having in terms of our nuclear capabilities, our war plans.

Which you have to remember, those plans, those charts and maps, are all based on intelligence we have on our adversaries, on countries that might pose a threat to us. So there's the extent of what the president might have done beyond that, which is listed in the indictment.

And trying to determine the full extent of the damages, as I said, is going to also include the use of sources and methods which you do not want to expose in a trial. Which is why I think that there are certain primers (ph) and lanes that the Justice Department is going to use so they doing, in turn, do even further damage to our intelligence sources and methods in the process of prosecuting the former president.

HARRAK: Let's look at the fallout in terms of how America's international allies might be looking at this going forward. What do you think the impact will be of this case?

LONDON: Well, having stood before our international partners when circumstances are somewhat embarrassing, that there's a leak in the press or there's a spy case. Now you have, you know, the former president who is the commander in

chief, who knows all terms of the nation's greatest secrets, many of which come from our partners.

There's obviously going to be an inclination on their part to do their own damage control to consider, well, what we share with the United States government? Particularly if the former president is reelected and becomes president again.

And beyond our partners, you have to think of the people out there, the men and the women who risked their life as agents for the Central Intelligence Agency and other U.S. intelligence community agencies, who have to think, you know, can I have confidence, can I have faith in sharing these secrets?

So there's going to be implications among our friends, among our agents, and among our enemies, as well, who might think are there even more opportunities there, given what might still be out there in the public domain, considering all the people who might have been exposed to this information who aren't under any controls, who talk on the phones, who write emails, who discuss things, that they might be able to target in a far easier way than coming after a U.S. official.

HARRAK: Can you think of a precedent?

LONDON: I can't, actually. I'm -- I'm vexed to think of any similar situations before where the U.S. government has suffered from leaks, but where you have someone who is at the top of the food chain in terms of national security information, who would willingly use this information for his own agenda in a way that damages the sources and methods on which it's based.

HARRAK: Douglas London, thank you so much for this conversation.

LONDON: Thank you, Laila.

HARRAK: Fighting has resumed in Sudan shortly after the expiration of a 24-hour cease-fire. There are reports of battles in the capital of Khartoum and West Darfur state, with clashes between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces being reported in several areas.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have been facilitating the ceasefire; expressed deep regrets and are calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Still ahead, thousands quickly evacuate as a volcano in the Philippines spews caustic gases and lava. We'll have an update from the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRAK: Welcome back to all our viewers around the world. I'm Laila Harrak, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Nearly 13,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the Philippines after one of the country's most active volcanoes started to erupt.

Officials say Mount Mayon has been spewing sulfuric gas and lava on the Southeastern parts of Luzon, the nation's largest island.

And CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following this story for you very closely.

Kristie, hi. What's the latest on the volcano and the evacuation of residents from the danger zone?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Laila, as the lava starts to flow from the Mayon volcano in the Philippines, nearly 13,000 residents have been evacuated and taken to some 18 evacuation centers.

Authorities say at least 88 percent of the local population have already evacuated, and they're working to move the rest of the population to safety.

Now, Mayon has been spewing this sulfuric gas and lava in the past 24 hours. I'm going to show you this video from last night, from Sunday evening. And you can see the crater of the volcano glow in that hot lava, that hot molten rock start to flow.

[00:30:06]

An alert level three has been raised, which indicates the possibility of explosive activity, and any entry into a six-kilometer or 3.7-mile radius around the volcano has been prohibited.

Now, there are no major industries around the volcano. There is some subsistence farming, and local officials have evacuated not only the residents but also 10,000 farm animals, as well.

I want to show this map. This map shows you where the volcano is located. It's located in the Philippines' Albay province. This is in the Southeastern part of Luzon Island.

And the Philippines, of course, is in the ring of fire, where volcanic activity, earthquakes, are very common. But all eyes now on Mayon. Mayon is one of the most active of the 24 volcanoes in the Philippines.

Let me show you some video, what it looks like. Perhaps in the daytime. Mayon is famous around the world for its near-perfect cone shape, which has inspired legends and stories and artworks, as well. It is awe-inspiring for its beauty, but also awe-inspiring for its destructive power.

This volcano has erupted more than 50 times in the past 400 years and given its activity right now, the high level of unrest, volcanologists, they say that a hazardous eruption, a violent volcanic eruption is possible within weeks, or even days -- Laila.

HARRAK: When was Mayon's most destructive eruption? Kristie, tell us what happened at the time?

STOUT: Yes, sure. Its most destructive eruption took place in the early 1800s, in 1814, when the volcano erupted and it emitted that hot lava, as well as hot ash, and it completely engulfed a nearby town. Some 1,200 people died as a result of that volcanic eruption.

As I just mentioned, this is an active volcano that has erupted 50 times over the past 400 years. And the communities, you have to think of the families that have long lived around the volcano in this area, they are going to be remarkably resilient to be able to move home whenever there is the alert is sounding and also to rebuild their lives, rebuild their homes, recultivate their land after each and every eruption.

Back to you, Laila.

HARRAK: Kristie Lu Stout reporting. Thank you so much.

STOUT: Thank you.

HARRAK: Australian authorities have arrested the bus driver involved in a deadly crash in New South Wales.

Initial reports indicate at least ten people were killed and 25 others injured in the crash. Well, the bus was returning from a wedding Sunday night, when it flipped on its side while turning at a roundabout.

Well, the 58-year-old male bus driver was initially taken to the hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has extended his deepest sympathies for those killed in what he called a horrific tragedy.

And rescuers are searching for three British tourists who are missing after a fire broke out on a boat in the Egyptian Red Sea. Twelve other tourists were rescued, and video shows one person jumping into the water as the boat is engulfed in flames.

The survivors, along with the boat's crew, were taken to a nearby diving resort. Well, the Red Sea state governor's office says the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit on board. Witnesses say the fire grew quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDULRAHMAN A. ALSARHEED, KUWAITI TOURIST (through translator): During the briefing, one of the people saw smoke coming out of the boat in front of us. It was close to us, around 50 meters away. One of the people on the blue boat said there was light smoke. And in one or two minutes, the smoke became white and heavy. And then it turned black and the fire broke out so fast, because it was windy in the morning.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

HARRAK: And the U.K.'s foreign office says it's supporting the British nationals involved.

A dire warning about climate change. Scientists say Arctic summers could be ice free much sooner than expected. Coming up, I'll talk with an expert about how this will affect our planet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:35]

HARRAK: A new climate crisis warning. Scientists say the Arctic could be free of sea ice during the month of September and as early as the 2030's. About a decade earlier than previous projections.

This would have dire ripple effects around the world.

The researchers analyzed sea ice changes from 1979 to 2019, looking at satellite data and climate models, and found that the climb was mostly caused by human-driven planet heating pollution.

And they say even if the world makes significant changes right now, the Arctic could still have ice-free summers by the 2050s.

Well, the findings are published in the journal "Nature Communications." Let's talk more about this very dire prospect and get some perspective from Dr. Nathan Gillett, a research scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada.

So good to have you. Are you surprised by how quickly the Arctic is changing?

NATHAN GILLETT, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA: Yes, I am. I think we see projected ice-free, I think, about ten years earlier than previous projections.

And we see that the Arctic is moving ice more quickly in observations than in the climate models. And when we make a correction for that difference, then we get the earlier ice-free Arctic, and we get an ice-free arctic projected even under the lowest emission scenario.

HARRAK: And how is our world connected to frozen water in the Arctic? Lay it out for us, or whatever is left of it, I should say? What should happen when it's no longer cold in the Arctic?

GILLETT: Well, there are a lot of impacts within the Arctic from Arctic sea-ice reductions, and we see impacts on ecosystems in the Arctic, animals like polar bear that depends on the ice. We see it impacts on humans in the Arctic, on Innuit communities.

We also see that the atmosphere heats up more when the ice is gone. We get faster warming in the Arctic, faster warming in the land around the Arctic.

HARRAK: Now, you're talking to us from Canada, where destructive wildfires are wreaking havoc. I mean, we've all seen the images. Is there a connection with what's happening in the Arctic? GILLETT: Yes, the loss of Arctic sea ice is one of the processes that

means that high-latitude countries like Canada are warming faster than the global mean. And Canada is warming about twice the rate of the global mean. That warming is contributing to wildfires, yes.

HARRAK: Now, we've seen, obviously, that what happens in Canada goes far, far beyond its borders. Smoke blanketing parts of the United States and reaching as far as Norway.

So does the same go for the Arctic in terms of what happens there does not stay there?

GILLETT: Yes, that's right. The Arctic is connected to the global climate. Arctic warming can enhance global warming. It can change atmospheric circulation. It can also have an effect, for example, on the ice sheet, melting of the Greenland ice sheet. It can contribute to global sea level rise, or it is contributing to global sea level rise. And that will continue in the future.

So certainly, will have a major effect on the residents.

HARRAK: Which parts of the world would you see would feel the change in the Arctic most acutely?

[00:40:08]

GILLETT: Well, certainly, the Arctic itself and the countries that are close to the Arctic are going to be those that are kind of most directly affected by the warming in the Arctic, by this rapid loss of sea ice that we're seeing.

HARRAK: Now, the Arctic Sea, ice-free in the summer by the 2030s. And we've all really had to take a beat to think about that phrase. Is there hope?

GILLETT: There is. I would say there is hope in the sense that, even though we are now projecting an ice-free Arctic under the lowest emission scenario. The projected warming would be much larger. The ice-free season would be much longer in the higher emissions scenarios.

And therefore, if we're able to reduce emissions, to get emissions down to net zero by the middle of the century, that will still limit the climate change in the Arctic. There's a certain amount we -- we're committed to already, but we -- the changes will be a lot worse if we're not able to reduce emissions.

HARRAK: Nathan Gillett, thank you so much.

GILLETT: Thank you.

HARRAK: Now, officials in the united -- in the U.S. state rather, of Pennsylvania, say it could take months to repair the section of a highway that collapsed on Sunday.

This is interstate 95 in Philadelphia, which was heavily damaged when a fuel tanker truck caught on fire. The city's mayor says no injuries or deaths have been reported so far.

Local officials are investigating the exact cause of the fire, and the National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to do its own safety checks.

Well, Pennsylvania's transportation secretary says the highway is likely the busiest in the state. Officials are now making plans to provide alternate travel options for those affected.

Pope Francis is recovering well from abdominal surgery. The Vatican says the pontiff took a few steps and worked for a few hours in the hospital. He also followed the Holy Mass live on television and received the mass on Sunday.

And gathered in prayer for Recitation of the Angelus at a little chapel in the hospital.

Novak Djokovic is back on top of the world tennis rankings after winning his third career French Open title and his record-setting 23rd Grand Slam men's title.

He defeated last year's French Open runner-up, Casper Ruud, in three sets. With Sunday's win, Djokovic passed Rafael Nadal for the most men's Grand Slam titles. He also became the first male player to win each Grand Slam tournament at least three times.

We'll have more on Djokovic's historic win next on WORLD SPORT. For me, and the entire team here in Atlanta, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Laila Harrak. I'll be back in 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM. WORLD SPORT is up next.

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