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July Fourth And Fifth Have The Most Mass Shootings Of Any Day Of The Year; Israel Pulls Out of Jenin In West Bank; Putin Thanks Allies For Support During Wagner Mutiny; Prominent Russian Journalist "Severely Beaten" In Attack In Chechnya; LASD Investigates After Deputy Throws Woman To The Ground; Powdery Substance Sent for Further Testing; Severe Storms, Heat Advisories for U.S. Wednesday; Atomic Regulators OK Fukushima Water Release; Stunning Fireworks Shows Celebrate 4th of July; South Korean Star Park Eun-Seon Hopeful for Return. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 05, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:30]
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello to all viewers in the United States and all around the world, I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong. Ahead on CNN Newsroom. Several mass shootings mar Independence Day celebrations across the US. Witnesses mistake gunshots for fireworks.
Israel pulls its troops out of the West Bank town of Jenin. And now the conflict moves to Gaza.
And Japan's neighbors raised concerns after international regulators gave the green light to release tons of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plants.
The U.S. is reeling from multiple mass shootings that rattled cities across the country over the holiday weekend. Several shootings have occurred in the past few days including tragic events in Maryland, Texas and Pennsylvania, the July 4 holiday and the day after account for more mass shootings than any other days of the year.
Well, that's according to a CNN analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive. In Indianapolis, a 16-year-old girl was killed in a shooting during a block party. Police say so far there's little information to go on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPTAIN DON WELLHAMMER, INDIANAPOLIS METROPOLITCAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Unfortunately, there was over 100 plus people here yet the only two witnesses we have are the two security guards that were on the scene and they did not see any of the shooting going on. But the 100 plus people that saw what was going out here so far, nobody has come forward to let us know anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the recent violence.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Police say a 40-year-old moved through a Philadelphia neighborhood shooting randomly at people Monday night.
ERNEST RANSOM, STAFF INSPECTOR, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The suspect while wearing body armor a ski mask and holding an AR-15 assault rifle was observed at several locations. The suspect then began shooting aimlessly at occupied vehicles and individuals on the street as they walked. None of the victims engaged the suspect or were aware the suspect was going to inflict this act of violence upon them.
LAVANDERA: The shooter has not been identified and investigators say will be arraigned on Wednesday and face murder charges. The attack spanned several neighborhood blocks. Philadelphia authorities expressed outraged with the senseless violence on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday.
JIM KENNEY, PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA MAYOR: This country needs to reexamine its conscience and find out how to get guns out of dangerous people's hands.
LAVANDERA: Hundreds of people took over Horn Street in southwest Fort Worth for an impromptu and chaotic Fourth of July street party that turned deadly. Mike Valle says he heard 30 to 40 shots fired as he ran from the scene to take cover.
MIKE VALLE, SHOOTING WITNESS: Everybody was right here and there was a there was just popping up fireworks like doing burnouts and stuff and then there's a lot of gunfire that just started ringing out and everybody just started running everywhere.
LAVANDERA: Fort Worth police say three people were killed and eight others wounded in the shooting. After several unknown men started firing indiscriminately into the crowd. No arrests have been made. And it's not clear what caused the shooting to start.
CAPTAIN SHAWN MURRAY, FORTH WORTH POLICE DEPARTMENT: We don't know if this is domestic related. If it's gang related, it's too early to tell. At this point, we just know somebody shot multiple times and bunch a bunch of people were injured in reference to that.
LAVANDERA: A year after a fourth of July mass shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park last year, the community returned. The city sponsored a walk to reclaim the space where a gunman killed seven parade watchers and wounded nearly 50 others.
NANCY ROTERING, HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS MAYOR: Nobody wanted a parade. It was inappropriate. But it was important for us to say that evil doesn't win. And this is our parade route. And this is our community that we are taking back. LAVANDERA: Back on Horn Street families returned to enjoy the camo (ph) neighborhood Fourth of July parade. The route cut through the very spot where the deadly shooting kicked off this national holiday. And they watched balloons released into the sky honoring Monday night's victims.
LAVANDERA (on camera): What really stands out when you look at the mass shootings across the country in the last few days is the number of young people impacted by this gun violence.
[01:05:03]
Here in Fort Worth, an 18-year-old with dreams of joining the U.S. Air Force was killed. In Philadelphia two-year-old twin boys were wounded. And an Indianapolis a 16-year-old girl was killed at a block party. For victim's families and survivors, these shootings inflict scars that will last a lifetime. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Fort Worth, Texas.
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COREN: U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the weekend's violence in a statement on Tuesday saying quote, today Jill and I agree for those who have lost their lives and as our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day when our communities will be free from gun violence. It is within our power to once again ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, to require safe storage of guns to end gun manufacturers immunity from liability, and to enact universal background checks.
Well, U.S. presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis received a mixed welcome during a campaign event in New Hampshire, where the first Republican primary will be held next year. He walked in a fourth of July parade on Tuesday surrounded by supporters and campaign signs.
Some along the parade route cheered him on while others yelled go home. Protesters shouted messages supporting the LGBTQ community, which DeSantis has frequently targeted as Florida's governor.
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RON DESANTIS, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These generations got to step up and be a custodian of freedom. I think right now is our generations time to do that. Because I think freedom has been under assault in this country. Yes, by the Biden and by the bureaucracy, but also with corporate America, the education system, all of these things.
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COREN: The first Republican caucuses will take place in Iowa where former Vice President Mike Pence made a big push this Independence Day. But notably missing from any campaign appearance was his former boss, GOP frontrunner and Donald Trump. CNN's Kyung Lah is with Pence on the campaign trail in the whole kind of states.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN SNEIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It is all in on Iowa and that is abundantly clear as we are watching former Vice President Mike Pence campaign through Iowa. His campaign says that it is this all 99 county visiting each one shaking as many hands as possible, hitting the coffee shops, hitting the pizza cafes. This is where they believe that the former vice president shines.
And you certainly saw it as he was walking a fourth of July parade in Urbandale, Iowa. It was a two-mile parade route that at many points, the former vice president burst into a jog, shaking hands with as many people as possible, trying to sell this idea of a conservative future that he sees as a blueprint for America.
And then he came up here to rural Boone, Iowa where he talks about energy, a conservative Supreme Court and a future that he believes will work in a general election as well as this first the nation caucus state.
Notably not here is his former running mate and President Donald Trump, who chose to not be in Iowa, something that Mr. Pence pointed out in talking with reporters.
MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I can't account for what other campaigns decided. But for me, it was vitally important to be here where the journey to the White House always begins, and to spend two miles at times jogging up hill to take our case to the people of Iowa. And I promise you we're going ot keep running that hard all the way to the finish.
LAH: It's a strategy the campaign says that for now, they will absolutely not deviate from. Meanwhile, the other candidates like Ron DeSantis chose to spend their Fourth of July in New Hampshire. Kyung Lah, CNN, Boone, Iowa.
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COREN: Ron Brownstein is CNN senior political analyst and the senior editor for The Atlantic. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Ron, great to have you with us and Happy Fourth of July.
GOP presidential nominees took part in Fourth of July parades, a long time tradition and yet the front runner was nowhere to be seen. What did you make of that?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENRIO POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first, you know, the Fourth of July parades in New Hampshire the year before the compensation for spending the entire month of January, trudging through the snow and slush. So I don't begrudge any presidential candidate anytime, when it's over 30 degrees in New Hampshire.
Look, Donald Trump is a commanding frontrunner at this point. There are lots of red lights blinking on the dashboard about his potential viability as a general election candidate, particularly after the series of indictments that he's faced and criminal and civil judgments that he's faced. But within the Republican Party, his position is about as strong
today, as we have seen any front runner in either party six months before the voting began. So, you know, he is -- he does not have the same incentives as the other candidates.
[01:10:03]
He needs to do just enough so that Republican voters don't feel as if he is neglecting them. But he really doesn't want to give the other candidates more opportunities to take a shot at him than he absolutely needs to.
COREN: Ron, Fourth of July is supposed to be a day of national unity. And yet you've written on CNN about an America more divided than ever, voters no longer see the other party as a political rival but as an enemy. Do you see this open hostility is something here to stay?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, I think that we are living through the most difficult period for the fundamental cohesion of the country really, since the decades before the Civil War. I mean, we've obviously had periods in which different parts of the country were moving in very different directions, the slave and free stage before the Civil War the states with and without segregation for most of the 20th century.
But now we are looking at conflicts that basically divide the country almost, and half where you have the red states moving in a radically different direction than blue states on a whole range of issues relating to civil rights and civil liberties, from abortion, to voting to LGBTQ rights, classroom censorship, and book fans.
And as you noted, we have this very striking trend in polling, where roughly half of the people who voted for Biden and half of the people who voted for Trump say the view -- they view the other party, not as a political opponent, but as an enemy whose victory would threaten their, you know, their very conception of America.
So there are a lot of centrifugal forces built into the system. Plus, you have in Trump really, I think, the first national leader who has seen it to be in his interest to accentuate those divides, even to the point of threatening to undermine democracy, if that's what it takes to advance his goals.
I mean, you add it all up. And this is a very fraught period for America. It may get better at some point, but I it's more likely that we're going to see these tensions increase before they moderate over the next few years.
COREN: Ron, I also want to read this quote to our viewers, you also said behind almost all of these individual challenges, is the same larger force, the mounting tension between those who welcome the repulsive demographic and cultural change is reshaping 21st century America and those who fear or resent those changes.
Now, as you point out, you know, after 2040, people of color in America will be the majority of the population. And yet there is a large part of the U.S. with Trump very much at the helm of this that wants to turn back the tide.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, I mean, I don't think future historians are going to have much trouble understanding why Trump emerged as such a powerful national figure, when he did, we are living through profound demographic changes. I mean, already a majority of our under 18 population, our kids of color, as of last year, a majority of our high school graduates are kids of color.
White Christians, who are a majority of the American population, for most of our history are now down to 42 percent, large more of Gen Z of young people in America do not identify with any organized religion that identify as white Christians, one-fifth of Gen Z identifies us somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum. We are seeing profound cultural and demographic changes reinforced by changes in the structure of the economy as we transition from the industrial to the Information Age.
And, you know, I first wrote in 2012. And it's certainly more true, I think, since Trump emerge that the fundamental fault line in our politics is between those who welcome and those who fear all of these changes, I call it the coalition of transformation that Democrats rely on and the coalition of restoration that Republicans rely on.
And you certainly see in the early stages of this primary race, those are the issues that animate the Republican base, and I'm talking about the Reagan era issues of strong national defense and cutting taxes and less regulation. They're talking about transgender kids, and whether transgender girls can play high school sports and what books should be banned.
The animating force, the glue that holds together each coalition, I believe, at this point, is their attitude on these underlying cultural and demographic changes. And that is another reason why our politics is so volatile. Those are very difficult issues to find compromise on.
Now, you know, there are those who argue that the American public is less polarized and the politicians and that might be true, but there's no question that we are now organized in many ways around the central grievance, the central distinction about our attitudes toward change, and as long as that's true, we are going to have a very contentious politics.
COREN: We can only hope that one day people can find common ground. Ron Brownstein, great to have you with us. Thank you for your analysis and enjoy the fireworks tonight.
BROWNSTEIN: Happy Fourth. Thank you.
[01:15:00]
COREN: Now to the Middle East where Israel says all of its forces have now withdrawn from Jenin in the West Bank and that its military operation there is over but the violence in the region has still spread beyond Jenin to Gaza and Tel Aviv.
Israeli forces say they've been conducting strikes in the Gaza Strip in the past few hours after rockets were fired towards Israeli territory. They say all five of those rockets were intercepted. The IDF says it strikes targeted weapon production sites for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel's military operation in Jenin began two days ago and was its largest in that city in more than two decades. Well, meantime, Hamas says it's responded to that operation, claiming responsibility for a car ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv a Tuesday, which left at least eight people injured.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the attack cannot break Israel's resolve to fight terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, INSRAELI PRIME MINISTER (thorough translator): Whoever thinks that such an attack will deter us from continuing our fight against terrorism is wrong. He simply do not know the spirit of the State of Israel. We will continue as long if necessary to root out terrorism. We will not allow to mean to return to being a city of refuge for terror.
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COREN: CNN's Hadas Gold has been following the developments and has more from Tel Aviv.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A car ramming attack on the streets of Tel Aviv, the attacker shot by an armed civilian. Militant group Hamas taking credit for the attack calling it a response to Israel military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The largest incursion into the West Bank since the days of the Second Intifada more than 20 years ago. Israel says its aim is to dismantle the Hornet's Nest Jenin has become for militants. Overnight targeting underground tunnels used to store explosive devices in the camp.
RICHARD HECHT, ISRAELI ARMY INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: They were focused mainly on dismantling terrorist infrastructure and handling and seizing guns there in this camp.
GOLD: Scenes of destruction as bulldozers ripped up roads to disable IEDs. Damaged cars and homes. Inside the camp streets are empty. Thousands of residents evacuating their homes overnight. International aid groups accused Israeli forces of blocking access to medical care in Jenin and firing tear gas in your hospitals. The IDF refuting those claims saying ambulances have a free pass.
Palestinian officials condemning the raid calling it a new war crime and saying they will suspend contact with Israel. A general strike in solidarity with Jenin has been called in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Palestinian militant groups calling for action to struck Israel by all available means. As night fell on Tuesday, Israeli forces began withdrawing from Jenin as the cycle of violence goes on. Hadas Gold, CNN, Tel Aviv
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COREN: Still ahead, Los Angeles officials investigate the use of force by two sheriff's deputies. The shocking video of one man arrested and another woman being thrown to the ground. Plus, Massachusetts found a woman trapped in mud who had been missing for a week. Details on her rescue and how she managed to survive.
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COREN: Vladimir Putin is putting on a show of power and strength telling his allies he's fully in charge of the situation in Russia and in Ukraine. The Russian President virtually addressing a Summit hosted by India's Prime Minister imprudence first appearance on the world stage since the rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group.
He thanked nations like Belarus, Iran and China for offering solidarity during the crisis. All that is Russian forces target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and attack in the Kharkiv region on Tuesday left dozens of people wounded set cars on fire and damaged high rise buildings. And now the Russian attack on the city of Kherson killed two people.
Well meanwhile, Ukrainian officials say Russia is throwing all its forces to stop Ukraine's progress around the city of Bakhmut. The fighting a lawyer on the Eastern and Southern Frontlines is fierce and slow going. Ukraine insists it has the upper hand. Ben Wedeman gives us the latest from eastern Ukraine.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A tiny plume of smoke rises above Moscow as blood seeps into Ukrainian soil near an apartment block. Two people were killed by Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson Tuesday. Dozens of civilians also injured in an attack in the Kharkiv region, with medics wrapping bandages around the heads of those wounded.
I was lying on the sofa says this woman, there was an explosion. The balcony was blown off. Everything was blown apart. The relentless targeting of Ukrainian civilian structures by Russia comes as the Kremlin says it intercepted five drones near civilian buildings in Moscow.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON (through translator): All these drones were either destroyed or neutralized using the appropriate systems.
WEDEMAN: The defense ministry says there were no casualties or damage. But the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called the attack an act of international terrorism, and advisor to Ukrainian president Zelenskyy quick to point out the irony writing, a terrorist attack is when you have been deliberately firing cruise and ballistic missiles at residential areas and crowded pizzerias for 16 months. Terrorism is the main attribute of Russia today.
President Putin attempting to project a different image one of strength and stability while addressing his allies for the first time since facing an armed insurrection by the Wagner group.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The Russian people are consolidated as never before. I would like to thank my colleagues from the SCO countries who expressed the support for the actions of the Russian leadership to protect the constitutional order, the life and security of Russian citizens. We highly appreciate it.
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WEDEMAN: Putin's gratitude a sign of his questionable grip on power. His fate being tested as Ukraine make slow progress on the front lines. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, acknowledging difficulties on the battlefield, but claiming his military is retaking territory, championing the fight ahead, by drawing inspiration from Ukraine's strongest backer, the United States on their independence day.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Only the brave gain independence and only the best of the brave are able to pass the freedom from generation to generation.
WEDEMAN: Ben Wedeman, CNN, eastern Ukraine.
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COREN: A prominent Russian journalist is recovering after being brutally assaulted in Chechnya. Elena Milashina reporter -- a reporter with an independent newspaper was attacked on the way to cover a court sentencing and Grozny, the Chechnya capital. She says armed men kidnapped her and the attorney traveling with her. They cut off her hair and broke her fingers and doused her in green dye. She describes how it happened.
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ELENA MILASHINA, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, NOVAYA GAZETA (through translator): The assailants pulled the taxi driver out of the car, they put our heads down. They tried to tie my hands behind my back. It looks like they stopped Alexander Nemov because blood started pouring out of his leg. They drove a certain distance and the car sputtered out. They weren't able to turn it back on. So they pulled us into some ravine and started beating us.
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COREN: Milashina has been threatened for her work in Chechnya before when she uncovered the authorities crackdown on gay men. Before the attack, she was covering the court sentencing of a human rights activist. The Kremlin has condemned the assault saying it requires a serious response. Russia's human rights ombudsman is investigating.
Emmanuel Macron says he believes the peak of urban violence has passed in France but he remains cautious. The French president met with over 200 mayors of towns and cities that have been affected by violent protests following the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old last week. Some mayors left the meeting unsatisfied with the government's plan going forward.
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VINCENT BONY, RIVE-DE-GIER, FRANCE MAYOR (through translator): We do not feel that the government has not been hearing the measures since we have no direction for action from the President of the Republic. No measures have been announced. And we are still left very disappointed as the situation is particularly serious.
ZARTOSHTE BAKHTIARI, NEUILLY-SUR-MARNE, MAYOR (through translator): I was still waiting for the President of the Republic to give us a vision, a direction to tell us how we are going to get out of this and move forward. Today, we got absolutely nothing. So I'm extremely disappointed.
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COREN: Officials say on Monday night violence in French cities had decreased by half in 24 hours, with 72 people arrested nationwide. CNN's Melissa Bell has the latest.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The French president announcing at the end of the week of remarkable violence on the streets of France that he believed that the peak was behind him and those who were gathered here with him the 241 mayors are some of the worst head communes who were meeting with the French president to try and look ahead to reconstruction and what needs to be done.
Next, Emmanuel Macron saying that he believes the peak was behind but that everyone had to remain cautious this even as the many communes involved begin to count the costs of the last week of violence. It is according to the head of France's main business union, a billion dollars of damage that it will have been done. That is, of course, including the many hundreds of businesses that will have been either damaged or destroyed, but also taking into account the hit to tourism.
He's -- the president of that union saying that he believes that when you look at early July, it is a 20 to 25 percent drop in numbers coming into France 20 to 25 percent cancellations of people who had been planning to come to the country who will now not do so all of that to be taken into account in that billion dollar figure.
For now, the French president looking ahead, he hopes to a more peaceful week it was just 72 people arrested overnight on Monday substantially down from the last few days but with the counting of the cost of all this just now beginning. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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COREN: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating to its deputies after body camera footage showed a woman being thrown to the ground. The Department says the officers were attempting to detain a couple suspected of robbing a grocery store. While the man was being handcuffed, the woman recorded video, a warning this next video shows some disturbing content.
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UNIDETIFIED MALE: Well, telling us (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't touch me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down on the ground. Get on the ground. Stop. I don't care -- stop. Stop. You get punched in the face.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop. You can punch me and you -- I got out camera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop, turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down neck of -- I can't breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in a fight --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't breathe. You put me to the ground. Stop manhandling me. I didn't put your --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands behind your back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man just stops twisting my arm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA COREN, CNN HOST: The couple was cited and released although it's not clear what they were cited for. Authorities say both deputies have been reassigned from field duty pending the investigation. Still to come, torrential rains and flooding led to some dramatic water rescues in China those details ahead.
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COREN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. A suspicious powder found inside the White House has been sent for further analysis. After initial tests showed it was possibly cocaine. CNN's Jeremy diamond has the details.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Secret Service says a powdery substance was discovered at the White House on Sunday evening. It prompted a brief evacuation of the White House complex. A hazmat team with the City of Washington D.C. came in deemed the substance non-hazardous.
But two sources familiar with the matter, say that that powdery substance tested positive for cocaine. Now that was done via a field test, which is sometimes inconclusive, and it has been sent out for further testing and evaluation.
Now, Secret Service Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, he says that this powdery substance was found in a workspace within the West Wing. President Biden for his part, he was not at the White House when this took place.
Now, we should note that on the weekends here at the White House, there are often tour groups that go through the West Wing of the White House. So it's certainly possible that that is how that baggie of cocaine apparently should have been confirmed, made its way into the West Wing.
But that being said the Secret Service is conducting an ongoing investigation into the matter to determine exactly how that substance made its way onto the White House grounds, Jeremy diamond, CNN, the White House.
COREN: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is laying the groundwork for her upcoming trip to Beijing meeting with China's Ambassador in Washington. Yellen will have a busy agenda as she tries to rebuild contacts and relationships between both governments.
She will meet with China's new economic leadership and is expected to bring up human rights and debt trap issues. Yellen's trip is happening a little more than two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a similar fence mending visit to Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Relations between China and the U.S. reached their lowest points in years recently because of China's deepening ties with Russia, as well as the spy balloon that was shot down over U.S. waters earlier this year.
In Southwest China, some incredible video of a dramatic water rescue you see a couple sticking out of the sunroof of their car which is nearly submerged by rising floodwaters. CCTV reports the complicated rescue effort took about three hours, but the couple was finally pulled to safety using a rope and a crane. They are certainly lucky.
A woman who'd been missing for a week in Massachusetts has been found alive. Some hiker's say they heard her screaming for help on Monday, and that she was stuck in mud at a state park about a half hour south of Boston. They couldn't reach her so they called 911. Rescuers say they had to wade through thick brush and swamp to get to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY LOANNIDIS, FIREFIGHTER: It's nerve wracking because there can be plenty of different things going on with her electrolyte imbalances, maybe something cardiac going on. So it's kind of nerve wracking. So go in there with your best intentions to go and make sure she's OK and get her out. We'll get into this job so like to help people so it's always kind of gratifying to know that we help somebody out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: But they say the 31-year-old was taken to hospital for observation and that her injuries were serious but not life threatening. A number of U.S. cities have tired or broke their daily high temperature records, including many across the Pacific Northwest. And that trend is expected to continue over the next 48 hours. CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers has the forecast.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Another hot and bumpy one across the United States for your Wednesday. Storms a little bit less than the Northeast a little bit more in the Southeast, and then the severe weather into parts of the southern plains right through parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, even into parts of Missouri, that's where the biggest threat of hail also, of course, lightning, and the gusty winds that could cause some damage, that's where most of the weather will be.
So I take you kind of hour by hour move you ahead from where we are all the way to where we will be, especially by the afternoon, things are going to get hot, the storms are going to begin to bubble and some will be five to seven miles high in the atmosphere. And some of that could also be rotating with some of that severe weather.
The forecast rainfall though, kind of spreads itself out. We don't really see these isolated, very, very concentrated areas of heavy rainfall that could cause significant flooding let it spread out for the most part. Back out here toward the west the temperatures are beginning to come down in some spots.
Now Phoenix you're still going to be hot for a few more days. But if you take a look at Death Valley in Vegas, at least by Friday, Vegas, you're back to normal and although normal is still 104 degrees, it is still going to be back to that number not where you been.
Still another couple hot days across the Pacific Northwest and across the south still, obviously the McGee's are still here. Temperatures although in the 90s will feel closer to 100 by the afternoon when you add that heat index in the mix.
COREN: Chad Myers there. Well, climate activists in Spain are making their voices heard by going off to golf courses. The group extinction rebellion plugged up holes on 10 courses around the country.
[01:40:00]
They're protesting the amount of water used to maintain the greens while Europe is experiencing a severe drought. The group posted a video of their actions on Twitter. Some filled the holes with cement while others planted seedlings. The group called "Golf and Elitist Sport" and left signs reading golf clothes for climate justice. Well, Japan gets the green light to release a million tonnes of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, but not from everyone who's objecting to the plan coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: More than a million metric tonnes of treated radioactive wastewater. That's what Japan wants to dump into the sea from as decimated Fukushima nuclear power plant. And on Tuesday, international nuclear regulators said they think that's OK but not everyone agrees.
CNN's Marc Stewart is in Tokyo for us. And Marc we know that the Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency will head to Fukushima today for a tour of the plant will he be able to allay concerns within Japan and the region?
[01:45:00]
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the challenge Anna. And this visit really isn't that much of a surprise. It's part of this larger scripted symbolic effort to convince Japanese citizens, Japan's neighbors, and really the rest of the world that this water release is safe and that it is the right thing to do.
I was at the plant in April, and I know you have been there before. And these days, it very much is reminiscent of a water treatment facility. And that's what's taking place there. This wastewater that has been used to cool the plant over the years has been treated, it has been diluted.
And even though there are some remnants of a radioactive isotope known as tritium, it is still very much in line with international standards that permit this kind of release. But obviously, there are still skeptics within Japan and on a much broader scale, including from China.
It's issues that was brought up just in the last day or so at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing take a listen to a spokesperson speaking from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: The report cannot green-light the discharge as it cannot prove that ocean discharge is the only option or the safest and most reliable option. China once again urges Japan to in a responsible attitude for the whole humanity in our future generations stop pushing through the discharge plan.
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STEWART: There are other alternatives such as burying these tanks of water. But this scientifically speaking, at least from a broader perspective, is seen as the go to the most solid choice. The International Atomic Energy Agency will be setting up an office in Fukushima to monitor this release. And by the way Anna, this is not going to be just a one-time event. This is going to take years to complete through a tunnel that will basically move the water from the plant in Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean.
COREN: Yes, it's extraordinary that it's come to this but as we spoke to an expert in the last hour Marc, he said this was the best, you know, decision out of the options. But Marc Stewart, we certainly appreciate you bringing that to us. Good to see you. Thank you. Still ahead, a costly wrong turn in Atlanta's Annual Peachtree Road Race. How one of the top competitors ended up losing out on $7,000?
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COREN: The United States celebrated its 247th birthday on Tuesday was spectacular firework shows all over the country on Independence Day. This was the annual gathering on the National Mall in Washington where tens of thousands turned out for the stunning display live music.
In New York, fireworks lit up the East River with a 25 minute show that has more than 60,000 shells. It was also a brief tribute to Singer Tina Turner, who passed away back in May. And in Jacksonville, Florida, people watch the festivities from land and sea. The shows were divided among five different locations across the city to reduce congestion.
Well, hot dogs are a food often associated with Fourth of July barbecues, but they're also the focus of Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Joey Chestnut was the heavy favorite in the men's competition which he has dominated and on Tuesday he won the title for a record 16th time.
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GEORGE SHEA, MASTER OF CEREMONIES: -- with 62 hotdogs and buns in 10 minutes for his 16th win. I give you the number one ranked eater in the world Joey Chestnut.
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COREN: And in the women's competition, Miki Sudo, a 39.5 hotdogs to win the contest for the ninth straight time. The top eater in each category takes home at $10,000 and I dare say a severe case of indigestion.
Well it's not unusual to take a wrong turn on Peachtree Street in Atlanta but this wrong turn in the annual July 4th Peachtree Road Race was constantly. The front runner in the women's elite division went off course near the finish line realizing her mistake she quickly corrects course but it was too late.
And she finished the just take another look in slow motion. You can see the Ethiopian runner follow a police motorcycle that had been pacing the course it veered off ahead of the finish line and so did she. The mistake cost her in prize money.
Well, the Women's World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand in 15 days. One of South Korea's star players is hoping to be healed from an injury by game time, but it wouldn't be the first time she's overcome adversity. CNN's Paula Hancocks has her story.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Park Eun-Seon is used to breaking records. For being the youngest South Korean Women's Soccer player to play in a World Cup age just 17 back in 2003. 20 years later, she may become one of the oldest at 36.
PARK EUN-SEON, SOUTH KOREAN STRIKER: If I get to go to the World Cup, even if I play one minute or 10 I'll do my best. I haven't scored a World Cup goal yet so I have to score.
HANCOCKS (voice over): Nursing an injury Park is confident of being matched ready in time, acknowledging she has overcome greater challenges than this. In 2013 when Park became the top scorer of the season, coaches from rival clubs questioned her gender insisting she underwent gender testing, which she did previously participating in the Olympics and World Cup. It was a controversy the National Human Rights Commission called "Sexual Harassment".
[01:55:00]
Park spoke at the time of being upset and ashamed. The coaches later claimed their comments had been a joke.
EUN-SEON: I wasn't angry but a bit puzzled. I wonder why I had to go through all that. At the time I thought frequently about quitting soccer, but fell doing so a bit like me admitting their claims.
HANCOCKS (voice over): Park says she played soccer with the boys in her neighborhood as a child, but only started training in her second year of middle school when her PE teacher suggested it.
JEON HAE-RIM, VP, KOREA WOMEN'S FOOTBALL CLUB FEDERATION: Already, as a middle schooler, she had extraordinary speed, extraordinary strength and extraordinary physique. It's not easy to play soccer as a woman. We have to overcome a lot of prejudice. Seeing Park come through the tough times really meant a lot.
HANCOCKS (voice over): South Korea ranks 17th in the world going into this World Cup. It's first match against Colombia on July 25th. Now what Park says is her main focus now is to ensure that her country makes it through to the knockout stages. Paula Hancocks, CNN Seoul.
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COREN: Well, thank you for watching. I'm Anna Coren, CNN Newsroom continues with the lovely Rosemary Church next.
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