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16 Italian Cities Under Extreme Health Risk Due to Heat; 40 Killed by Flooding, Landslides in South Korea; U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry in China for Talks; Ukraine Grain Deal Set to Expire as Fighting Intensifies in East; Kremlin Targets Schools in Pro-War Propaganda Campaign; Israeli PM Preps for Cabinet Meeting after Hospital Stay; China's Growth Slows as COVID Bounce-bank is Ending. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 17, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. Coming to you live from Studio Four at the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:35]

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, searing heat across the globe. From Italy to Japan and places in between, records being set day after day.

And, it is during one of the hottest summers on record that the U.S. climate envoy is meeting with his Chinese counterpart, the world's two largest polluters meeting to restart climate talks.

And, a crucial grain deal providing food to the world from Ukraine for more than a year is set to expire.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN CENTER, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: And we begin this hour with extreme weather all around the world, bringing dangerous wildfires and heat waves, deadly flooding, and powerful storms to several continents.

Starting in Asia, where a powerful heat wave is impacting China and Japan; and China has now recorded its highest temperature ever, just over 52 degrees Celsius at one location. In fact, five weather stations in China have topped 50 degrees Celsius in the past day.

In Southern Europe, the heat wave has been relentless and, of course, it comes right in the middle of the summer tourist season. Climate scientists in Italy say temperatures could reach the hottest ever recorded in Europe, as high as 48 degrees in Sicily and Sardinia.

Sixteen Italian cities, including Rome and Florence, are under extreme health risks because of the heat.

People in France, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, and Spain also sweltering.

On the Spanish island of La Palma, a forest fire is only making matters worse. It's burning out of control and forced at least 4,000 people so far to evacuate. In Italy, at least one person has died, and several tourists have

collapsed from the heat. Italian authorities are advising people to stay hydrated and, of course, avoid direct sunlight during the midday hours.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau with more, reporting from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's another grueling day here in the center of Rome, and we're here in front of the Roman Coliseum, where you can see behind me just how many tourists are not taking the advice of the officials to stay inside during these hot hours of the day.

This is a very popular place for tour groups who want to tour the Coliseum, where they meet and gather. And we're just seeing group after group come up here so that they can go down here below me to the Coliseum and go inside, which, of course, is also not air-conditioned or covered.

We're expecting Rome, on Tuesday, to hit a potentially record-breaking high temperature. And we're also expecting, potentially, the European high temperature to be broken down in Southern Italy and Sicily. That record was set last year.

And it's not just Italy that's suffering under this intense heat wave. It's also all of Southern Europe. And temperatures in Greece have caused the closing of the Acropolis, one of the most popular tourist attractions, and it's just continuing.

This heat wave is expected to go on for several more days, meaning as hot as it is today, it's the coolest day for the next several to come.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A massive heat wave also scorching Americans in the Southern and Western U.S. More than 90 million people under heat alerts. Nearly three dozen daily high temperatures were broken on Sunday alone. And high temperatures are forecast for much of the next week.

In the Plains and in the Northeast, they've dodged the extreme heat, but they've been dealing with relentless heavy rain and floods.

In Pennsylvania, authorities are searching for a 2-year-old and an infant who disappeared in floodwaters. The children's mother and four others died in the flooding.

Storms also caused ground stops at airports around New York City and Boston on Sunday. According to FlightAware.com, more than 1,600 U.S. flights were canceled.

And that's not all on the extreme weather front. Authorities in South Korea say 40 people have now died from flash floods and landslides in the past few days.

Thirteen people died in a flooded underpass in central South Korea, extreme weather turning an ordinary road trip into a tragedy. Here's how it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Working in mud and against the clock, rescuers in South Korea pump water from a flooded tunnel.

Arcs of water redirected from the once-clogged underpass, revealing some of the vehicles trapped inside.

Dash cam video shows how quickly the tunnel filled up on Saturday. Local authorities say a levee broke after days of heavy rain across the country, sending a rush of water through the underpass, some cars barely escaping the deluge.

But authorities say 15 vehicles, including a bus, were trapped in the tunnel, along with their drivers and passengers.

Divers have been painstakingly searching for them and have retrieved multiple bodies from the scene. Many family members of those thought to be missing gathered at a nearby hospital, their misery compounded by the agony of a long wait for information.

One man says he's speechless and says he hasn't eaten for hours while waiting for authorities to brief him.

The tragedy has shocked South Korea, some people saying the government should have been better prepared after last year's torrential rains, which were the worst in 115 years.

One man, who lives near the tunnel, says authorities should have closed it when flooding was expected. He says he feels like this could have easily happened to him, and he feels like part of himself died, too.

Heavy monsoon rains have caused dozens of deaths, not just in the tunnel, but across the country. Thousands of people forced to evacuate because of floods and landslides.

In some areas, riverbanks completely collapsed because of saturated ground, and meteorologists warn it could get worse, with as much as 300 millimeters of additional rain forecast to fall in some parts of the country over the next few days.

Other parts of Asia are also dealing with intense weather. Southern China bracing for a powerful storm, which is expected to lash the area with strong winds and heavy rains in the next few days.

And parts of New Delhi are still water-logged, even though water levels in the Yamuna River, which flooded the city, have receded. But the water hasn't drained away yet, creating very wet and frustrating circumstances for people just trying to move about the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And more dangerous weather is headed for East Asia. Tropical Storm Talim has now strengthened into a typhoon in the South China Sea. It's carrying winds of 120 kilometers an hour at the moment, equivalent to a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane.

It is expected to make landfall in Southern China in the next 24 hours, and forecasters warn heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding and landslides.

And amid all of this right now, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is in Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart. They're discussing how to reduce their country's carbon emissions.

China and the U.S. are the world's largest carbon polluters, and the backdrop for their talks couldn't be more appropriate. They're meeting, of course, in China's capital during the city's hottest ever recorded summer.

Anna Coren joins me now from Hong Kong. And Anna, together, the U.S. and China account for more than 40 percent of global emissions and are key, of course, for the planet's future. What are the hopes for this visit?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot on the line, as you're saying, Michael. And, you know, John Kerry's visit couldn't be more timely, considering the brutal heat wave across China.

We are seeing, as we've been showing our viewers, this extreme weather across Asia and, obviously, parts of the world, which experts say is a direct link to global warming.

China and the U.S., as the world's two largest economies, are the world's two biggest emitters, as you say, accounting for 40 percent of global emissions.

So there really needs to be global cooperation between the two to make a concerted effort to drastically cut fossil fuel production.

Now, climate talks between the two countries came to a standstill last August. After then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, Beijing severed talks in protest.

A long list of other geopolitical issues that have led to a fraught relationship between the two superpowers. But certainly in the last month, there has been a real effort to improve this very important bilateral relationship.

We saw Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, travel to Beijing last month. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was there just a few weeks ago. And now John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy.

This morning, Kerry met with China's chief climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, in a conference room overlooking Beijing's Forbidden City.

These men, Michael, they have history. They worked together in 2021 for COP26 in Glasgow, and really, you know, got some momentum there.

[00:10:05]

Then, on the sidelines of COP27 in Egypt last year, when things were obviously quite fractured. And and then, obviously, in January of this year, they talked via video link.

This morning, Kerry said -- and let me read it to you -- "In the next three days, we hope we can begin talking some big" -- taking, I should say -- "some big steps that will send a signal to the world about the serious purpose of China and the U.S. to address a common risk threat challenge to all of humanity created by humans themselves."

Now this face-to-face meeting, obviously, very important. It's about resuming this working group on climate cooperation and to pledge, you know, this continuing communication before COP28 in Dubai, which happens at the end of November, Michael.

And we understand, you know, that that meeting, it's still taking place behind closed doors, but obviously, the hope is that U.S. and China, you know, over Kerry's three-day visit, will really get these two countries on the same page in tackling global climate change.

Kerry and his delegation will meet with other Chinese officials and possibly, Michael, even Xi Jinping. Experts are sort of saying that -- that, you know, obviously, Kerry met with Xi when he was the U.S. secretary of state under Obama. And some, you know, believe that this would send a very important signal of Beijing's commitment to tackling global warning. So we'll just have to see if that actually takes place.

HOLMES: Comes at a critical time. Anna, good to see you. Anna Coren there in Hong Kong for us.

David Sandalow is the inaugural fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. He founded and directs the Center's U.S.-China program. So, a great voice to have at the time of this -- this meeting.

The impacts of climate change, of course, couldn't be more obvious right now. How much incentive does that offer for the two biggest polluters to make significant progress on this visit?

DAVID SANDALOW, FELLOW, CENTER ON GLOBAL ENERGY POLICY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: It underlines the importance of this visit, that China and the United States together are almost 45 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

And in both countries, today, we are having extraordinary, record heat. It's possible that the hottest temperature ever recorded is going to occur in the United States in the next couple of days. And China's got quite a heat wave going on right now, as well.

We've got all (ph) this problem, and we're not going to do it unless the two largest emitters in the world are talking to each other. HOLMES: Yes, yes. Yes, China, it-s interesting with China, the clear

global leader in solar and wind technology and production, but you know, at the same time, they're still wedded to coal as an energy source. I think it's 60 percent of their supply comes from coal.

What is China doing and what can it do about that dependence?

SANDALOW: It needs to integrate those renewables into its electric grid in much more rapid fashion than is happening right now.

Give the Chinese government credit for an enormous build-out of solar power and wind power in the past couple of years. It's extraordinary how much is being built.

But at the same time, there are tools like more energy storage, like building transmission lines between provinces, like moving towards market mechanisms to sell (ph) the power that would help it use that renewable power much better, much more efficiently. And that would reduce the reliance on coal.

HOLMES: Yes. As you point out, I mean, the two countries account for nearly 40 percent of global emissions. So the U.S. isn't in a position to lecture China.

But China's emissions are double those of the U.S. What -- what do you see as the level of concern in China about willingness, but importantly, capacity to take significant, urgent action?

SANDALOW: You know, like many Westerners, I haven't been in China much since the pandemic. And -- and I think this is a bigger problem in the bilateral relationship, is the people-to-people exchange has just dropped dramatically in the past couple of years.

I think we need to get that going again so people really are talking to each other from in the West and from China; and they understand each other.

Now, the signals that we see are, I'd say, the following. That the Chinese government takes climate change seriously. It has some very ambitious climate-change goals.

But in the past couple of years, when those goals have conflicted with energy security goals or economic goals, the latter have tended to win out. So that's one reason -- we say it's called planned approvals (ph). I think it's a focus on energy security, in particular.

HOLMES: yes. You mention China's impressive advances in renewables, obviously, a good thing. But when it comes to the global picture, and you just touched on this, do you think geopolitics and global competition get in the way?

I mean, not wanting your foe, for want of a better word, to dominate anything, get a competitive advantage, particularly when it comes to things like solar?

[00:15:05] SANDALOW: No question. I think the geopolitical tensions make it harder to cooperate on clean energy technologies and on climate change, and it's -- it's a real -- it's a real problem right now.

I think the United States and China would be better in addressing this problem, if they could do it together in it at least some -- some ways.

And you know, historically, they have. Historically, the U.S. and China have worked together on some really extremely important agreements that have been reached between the two countries. I hope that can continue in the years ahead. It's certainly not going to be easy.

HOLMES: Yes. Of course, COP28, the climate conference, isn't that far away. How important will that be? And how difficult is it to encourage other nations to take meaningful mitigation steps if the U.S. and China don't lead more in terms of emission reduction?

I mean, COP is already famous for talking a lot and doing not much.

SANDALOW: Well, just on your second question about the impact on other countries, is one thing I've seen, as I travel and as I talk to people around the world, countries are looking to the United States and China for action and for leadership.

So I think without the United States and China taking strong steps, it is harder to -- to motivate action in other -- in other countries.

I think it's going to be important -- COP -- these COPs go -- they're Conference of the Parties. They're called COPs. I think it's an important one. There is -- these tend to go in cycles. And I think we're ready for a COP that's going to make a big difference. There's some -- some very -- very capable leadership of this COP.

So I think there's a potential for a real step forward at this meeting. But -- but as I think you are just alluding to, these -- these meetings tend to go very slowly. By their nature, these big conferences of the parties require 150, 100 -- you know, almost 200 countries to agree. So things move quite slowly in these meetings.

HOLMES: Yes. Well, if the Northern Hemisphere weather at the moment doesn't convince people them it's time to do something, nothing will.

SANDALOW: Yes.

HOLMES: David Sandalow, I wish we had more time. We've got to leave it there. Thank you so much.

SANDALOW: Michael, thanks for having me.

HOLMES: World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz says winning Wimbledon is a dream come true. Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?

The Spaniard defeated reigning champion Novak Djokovic in a thrilling top-quality five set men's final on Sunday. Alcaraz prevailed after nearly five hours on center court.

The 20-year-old becomes the third youngest Wimbledon champion in the Open era. After winning, he paid tribute to Djokovic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS ALCARAZ, WIMBLEDON 2023 CHAMPION: You inspire me a lot. You know, I started playing tennis, watching -- watching you, I mean, since I -- since I was born. You know, you were -- you were already winning tournaments. You know, it's amazing. Probably you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) than me. You just said that 36 is the new 26. And you make -- you made that happen. But it's amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Good on him. What a terrific match it was. We'll have more on Carlos Alcaraz's win coming up in WORLD SPORT in about 30 minutes or so from now.

Now, Ukraine's grain and world food prices might be on the line. The deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain expires in just hours. Coming up, why Vladimir Putin alone can keep it going or let it die.

Also, Russia's classrooms become bleak monuments to the country's fallen soldiers. A special report on the Kremlin's efforts to stamp out dissent in schools.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:08]

HOLMES: And we have gotten word, in the last hour or so, of an emergency on the Kerch Bridge. That is the only land link between Russian-occupied Crimea and the Russian mainland.

Multiple sources say that two blasts hit the bridge around 3 a.m. on Monday, local time. CNN has not independently confirmed that, but there are a lot of reports about it.

Traffic on the stand (ph) is stopped at the moment. Officials say emergency agencies are on the scene.

This coming hours after Russia says it repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea's largest city.

Now, to the West, the last ship protected under the Black Sea grain deal and with Russia has left of the port of Odessa in Ukraine. That deal, which allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain, will expire later on Monday unless Russia extends it.

President Vladimir Putin has complained the agreement is unfair to Russia, but he's still agreed to previous extensions, despite threatening to pull out of the deal.

Now, the U.N. has offered Russia some financial concessions to try to keep them in play. Meanwhile, President Putin calling Washington's agreement to supply

Ukraine with cluster munitions a crime, despite widespread evidence his own forces have repeatedly used those same weapons in Ukraine. The Russian leader flatly denying it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I want to note that Russia has a sufficient supply of various types of cluster munitions. Various types.

Until now, we have not done this. We have not used them and we have not had such a need, despite the well-known shortage at a certain period of time. And we also have ammunition. But we have not done this.

But, of course, if they were used against us, we reserve the right to mirror these actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: CNN's Alex Marquardt is in Odessa and has more on the grain deal deadline and the latest from the battlefield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine says there has been an escalation in the fighting in the Eastern part of the country, that there are fierce battles underway, and that the Russian and Ukrainian sides are changing positions dynamically. That's according to Ukraine's deputy defense minister.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): In the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces are in the -- on the defensive as Russian forces have managed to make some advances there, as well as a little bit farther South.

And then, around the city of Bakhmut, which has seen the fiercest fighting during this entire war, most of which the city is now controlled by Russian forces.

There, Ukrainian troops are trying to push forward. They are holding grounds to the North of the city while trying to push forward to the South of the city.

MARQUARDT: Meanwhile, we are here in Odessa, where the Black Sea grain initiative is set to expire on Monday at midnight. That critical deal allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported to the world from here in Odessa.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): That deal was struck between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey. It is set to expire Monday at midnight. The last ship has now already left from the Odessa port.

Russia complains that this deal is one-sided, that it only benefits Ukraine. MARQUARDT: And Russia continues to be punished financially. Russia

would like to see its agricultural bank put back on the swift, international payment system.

Now, if this deal is not renewed, it could lead to a spike in global grain prices, to threats to the global food supply, as well as damage to the Ukrainian economy. And the United Nations continues to negotiate with the Russian side to prevent this grain deal from lapsing.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, in Odessa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Classrooms across Russia are slowly becoming bleak monuments to the country's war dead. It's all part of a patriotic program by the Kremlin and a means to stamp out early seeds of dissent against the war in Ukraine and the Putin regime.

[00:25:04]

CNN's Clare Sebastian with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're marching, not perfectly in time. But what this ceremony lacks and military precision, it makes up for in propaganda value.

These children in central Russia will now get the chance to sit at a new desk, emblazoned with the face of one of Russia's war dead, a former pupil at this school, killed just three days into the invasion.

His grieving mother, struggling through.

These so-called hero desks, turning classrooms into bleak memorials of a death toll Russia has otherwise tried to hide, are actually part of a government initiative. Russia's ruling party says they now number over 14,000. They will apparently include veterans of other wars.

DANLIL KEN, HEAD, ALLIANCE OF TEACHERS UNION: We see his picture, his name. He was our pupil just seven years ago. He tried to save our country. And for young people, very young people. it's hard not to feel the pain from that.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Danlil Ken, head of an openly anti-Kremlin teachers union, now living outside Russia, says the atmosphere in schools changed overnight when the war started.

Information so tightly controlled, he says multiple teachers have been fired, some even fined for speaking up.

A fate that Olga, a teacher in St. Petersburg -- we've changed her name and disguised her identity for safety reasons -- narrowly avoided. "OLGA", TEACHER IN ST. PETERSBURG: I also tried to convince my

colleagues that our country has committed a crime. One week later, the director of the school invited me to talk, and she warned me that, if I continue, then she will have to appeal to a special body of the state. She meant FSB.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And then there are the not-so-subtle curriculum changes. This video on the Crimean bridge, part of a new state-controlled weekly lesson series launched last year, called Conversations about Important Things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): "It's not just a transport crossing," the speaker explains, "but a spiritual crossing."

No mention of the huge explosion that caused part of the bridge to collapse a few months earlier.

History is being re-written in the textbooks. This will now include the so-called special military operation. And it's not just recent history.

"OLGA": It is an historic fact that the Russian state began with Kyiv, Kyivskaya Russia, so to say. But nowadays, the new textbooks of history are issued where this idea is removed.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Scenes like this at a school in Crimea will also likely become much more common. Basic military preparation, a throwback to Soviet times, set to officially re-enter the school curriculum for older classes.

KEN (through translator): It's a cheap, simple method of reaching a very large audience and to get across the government's position. It is, in essence, moral violence against children.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Education for comment on the purpose of these changes and got no response.

Sitting at these hero desks, in many schools, a reward for only the best students. A morbid incentive designed to breed a generation patriotic enough to accept a war whose consequences they are sure to inherit.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Iran is cracking down on women's freedoms yet again, state media reporting the country's so-called Morality Police have resumed controversial patrols to impose the country's strict Islamic dress code, including the hijab.

Officials say those who don't comply might face legal action. Some women, though, pushing back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Do you think the Morality Police can prevent women from not wearing a hijab? They cannot impose it like before. The number of people who do not obey is too high now. They cannot handle all of us. The last thing they can do is use violence and force against us. They cannot do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, the move comes ten months after the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after she was detained for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly.

In the coming hours, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will chair a weekly cabinet meeting one day after being released from the hospital. He was admitted on Saturday for what doctors say was dehydration amid an ongoing heat wave in the country.

CNN's Hadas Gold with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[00:30:01]

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released from the hospital Sunday morning, this after being admitted on Saturday afternoon after feeling reportedly dizzy, according to his office.

His office saying that, on Friday, he spent part of the day at the Sea of Galilee. This entire region has been under a major heat wave. And the Sea of Galilee in particular was under a heat advisory.

The prime minister himself saying in a video statement that he went to the Sea of Galilee without a hat, without water, was in the sun, saying it was not a good idea.

So after feeling dizzy on Saturday, he went to the emergency room where, after undergoing a series of tests, the hospital has determined, they said on Sunday morning, that it was as a result of dehydration.

And they did a series of other tests, including on his heart, that they said all came out as normal, saying that the prime minister is in good condition.

However, they did decide that, in order to be able to continue monitoring, they have implanted him with a continuous heart monitor. This is a small device about an inch, inch and a half long that goes just under the skin, that is able to provide continuous, 24/7 heart monitoring.

So although the doctors there are saying that all the tests came out normal, they decided to implant him with his heart monitor, although he now has been discharged.

Now, the prime minister has no known major health conditions, but he is 73 years old. It's been very hot here, and this is not the first time he's gone to hospital in the past year.

Last October he also reported feeling unwell. He was taken to the emergency room, was kept there overnight, and released the next morning.

It's also been a very intense period in Israel and across the region, the rising levels of violence across the West Bank and Israel, as well as increasing political strife that Benjamin Netanyahu has been facing internally.

But as far as we understand right now, Benjamin Netanyahu has now been released back home, and his doctors saying that he is in the condition, but he now has this new heart monitor.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still to come on the program, new economic data out of Beijing shows the bounce-back from COVID-19 may have run its course. We'll break down the numbers in a live report after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: China's economy slowed to less than 1 percent growth in the second quarter of this year. That's according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics, released just a few hours ago.

Meanwhile, have a look at the Asian markets now. You can see they're all in negative territory. The Australia S&P is flat.

The slowdown in China coming after a solid start to the year. Beijing saw more than 2 percent growth in the first quarter, when the economy began to shake off the effects of years of pandemic restrictions.

[00:35:03]

But the post-COVID recovery has quickly faltered, it would appear, as Chinese exports fell the most in three years due to lower demand.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong with more on all of this.

Good to see you, Kristie. So walk us through the data and what it says about the pace of China's economic recovery, post-COVID?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael, China's economy is struggling to gain traction. Economic growth is stronger, if you compare it to last year. That was when lockdowns gripped the country.

But the pace of recovery, after the pandemic, after zero-COVID, is slowing down. And adding to the overall negative economic picture, we've learned that China's youth unemployment rate has hit another record high of 21.3 percent in June.

So pressure is building on Beijing to roll out more stimulus measures soon.

Now, according to official data out this morning, China's GDP grew 6.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, but it grew only 0.8 percent in the second quarter from the first three months of the year, when it expanded to 2.2 percent.

And, according to Mattie Bekink of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network, she says this. She says, quote, "China's post- reopening recovery has fallen short of expectations."

She goes on to say, "Sources of stress relate to excess capacity and the manufacturing sector relative to soft demand; an ephemeral recovery in the housing market; the deleveraging of the household sector; subdued income growth and elevated youth unemployment; and strains in local public finances." Quite a long list there.

Economists say that China is essentially counting the costs of weak demand, both at home and abroad. Remember, there is that fresh data out last week. It showed China's exports fell at their fastest pace in three years in June.

Another factor: the so-called scarring effects of zero-COVID. And because of the uncertainty that was caused by this harsh pandemic policies last year, it caused consumers and businesses to save more, instead of buying more, instead of making purchases and investments.

Now, looking ahead, investors have their eyes on an expected Politburo this month. The government has promised to make stimulating consumer spending a priority. All eyes on that meeting.

Back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Kristie, good to see you. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong with the very latest for us.

Now, months after billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the company has not only abandoned its office in Africa, but it's also abandoned some of its staff there.

A group of former employees spoke exclusively with CNN about what has been an ordeal for them.

About a dozen team members were laid off just four days after Twitter opened an office in Accra, which is Ghana's capital. They say they accepted Twitter's offer to pay three months' severance, repatriation costs, and legal expenses from negotiating with the company.

But, in the nine months since then, ex-employees claim Twitter has not followed through, one saying the company literally ghosted them. An attorney advising the former staffer says the last communication they received was in May. CNN reached out to Twitter for comment and received an automated

message with a poop emoji, because that's how they roll.

Coming up here on the program, the dawn of a new era in North American soccer. Miami welcomes one of the greatest stars of all-time. We'll have that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:43]

HOLMES: One of the greatest football stars of his generation has been formally introduced to his new fans in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lionel Andres Messi!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Despite a two-hour rain delay, Lionel Messi was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd at an Inter Miami celebratory introduction on Sunday, including team owner David Beckham, a former world-class player himself. He can kick the ball, bend it.

Messi's first match with Inter Miami takes place this Friday.

The 36-year-old Argentine joins the team as a seven-time Ballon d'Or winner. Messi's deal runs through the end of the 2025 season and will pay up to $60 million a year.

And Jane Birkin, the actress, singer, and style icon, has died. Birkin was born in the U.K. in 1946, but it was in France that she rose to fame, as famous for her life offscreen as on.

Her romance with Serge Gainsbourg was a source of scandal and fascination.

Her complaint that she couldn't find a handbag with enough room to carry everything she needed for a baby led to the creation of the Birkin bag by Hermes.

Fans left flowers outside Birkin's residence, French President Emanual Macron paying tribute. And the mayor of Paris tweeting, quote, "Jane Birkin, the most Parisian of the English, has left us. We will never forget her songs, her laughter, or her incomparable accent."

Actress, icon, singer, Jane Birkin dead at the age of 76.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads, @HolmesCNN. Stick around. WORLD SPORT is next and then you don't want to miss Laila Harrak with more news in about 15 minutes or so.

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