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CNN International: Russia: Ukraine Grain Deal "Has been Terminated"; Supercharged Weather Events Around the World; Kremlin Targets Schools in Pro-war Propaganda Campaign; 40 Killed by Flooding, Landslides in South Korea. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 17, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN "Newsroom". I'm Bianca Nobilo in London today for Max Foster. Just ahead, Ukraine is said to be responsible for a strike on a crucial bridge that links Crimea to Russia. This as Russia says the Black Sea Grain Deal with Ukraine has been terminated sending wheat prices up immediately.

We'll look at what it could mean for global food prices. Plus, mega heat waves, being felt right now in Asia, Europe and the U.S. More on the extreme weather that's causing havoc around the globe. We begin with major developments in Russia's war on Ukraine, just hours after an attack on a vital bridge connecting Russia to the annex Crimean peninsula.

The Kremlin says it's pulling out of the Black Sea Grain Deal more on that in a moment. Meanwhile, Kyiv is claiming responsibility for an explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge saying it was carried out by Ukrainian security services in a joint operation with the Navy.

That's according to a source. The Governor of Russia's Belgorod region says two people were killed. The courage bridge serves as a crucial route in Moscow's war effort. And CNN's Alex Marquardt joins me now live in Odesa, Ukraine. Alex what more can you tell us about the extent of the damage and the logistical impact that it will have?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was an extraordinary attack, both because of the importance of this bridge crossing the Kerch Strait connecting Russia with Russian annexed Crimea, but also because of the symbolism of this bridge, there is perhaps no greater symbol of that Russian annexation, this bridge was opened back in 2018.

Now Ukraine is rather surprisingly claiming responsibility. Often they do not claim responsibility for these types of brazen attacks. But he was saying that it was its navy and a joint operation with the SBU. That's the domestic security services that carried out this attack.

We believe it was around 3 am local time, according to Russian authorities, which have called this a terrorist attack. It was carried out by sea or surface drones. In terms of the destruction the roadway from pictures and video that we've seen was severely damaged and traffic came to a halt.

A parallel to that roadway, our train tracks and it appears that the trains have kept running, but with some delay. We have seen images coming from a train indicating that the trains are still running. This was a deadly attack. At least two adults were killed. That's according to an official in the Belgorod region.

We believe that they are parents and that their young child was injured but this is extraordinarily significant. This bridge opened in 2018 as I mentioned, it cost almost $4 billion to build it was a personal project of President Vladimir Putin's. When he when the bridge was opened, he drove across it himself in a truck it spans around 12 miles or 19 kilometers.

And then the last time there was an attack on this bridge in October, which mind you Ukraine did not claim. It resulted in a significant series of strikes the heaviest strikes that we had seen from Russia against Ukraine since the war began, back to you.

NOBILO: Alex Marquardt for us in Ukraine. Thank you very much. Back now to Russia's termination of that critical Grain Deal triggering new fears over global food supplies. The agreement, which was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July, allowed Kyiv to export its grain by sea despite a wartime blockage.

The effects of Moscow's withdrawal will be felt way beyond Ukraine and could have a significant impact on food and grain prices worldwide. And CNN's Scott McLean joins me now to discuss that. Scott, what impact might this have in the immediate term? And also, are we to assume that this decision is in response to the attack on the Kerch Bridge?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so I'll get to that part in just one second. But, you know, Ukrainian diplomat had said last month that they were 99.9 percent sure that Russia was not going to renew that deal. Obviously, that's turned out to be true. Not to get too much into the weeds of how this works.

But essentially, the Russians have said that, look, the U.N. has not lived up to its end of the bargain because as part of the deal to allow Ukrainian grain to get out of the country, by ship, the U.N. was supposed to help Russia to get its own grain and its own fertilizer out to port.

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Now there are no sanctions on Russian grain, there are no sanctions on Russian fertilizer. But obviously, as we know, there are a lot of restrictions and sanctions on Russian banks right now. So one of the key demands the Russians had was to have greater access, to the international payment mechanisms.

So that it can actually sell its product the U.N. had proposed giving Russia access or giving access to these payment mechanisms to its agricultural bank. Obviously, that has been rejected now. The U.N. though, says that it is going to keep working to try to find some kind of a deal. Undoubtedly your question about food prices, this has had an impact on it.

Undoubtedly, this deal helped to stabilize food prices. You've already seen futures of grain up 3 percent on the news. Russia, though, has also left the door open to potentially return to this deal, but only if its conditions are met. On your question about the Kerch Bridge, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Spokesperson was asked about that earlier today.

And he said this, and I "These are absolutely unrelated events. Even before this terrorist attack, the position was declared by President Putin. And I repeat again, as soon as the part of the Black Sea agreements concerning Russia is fulfilled, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal".

As you said, Turkey helped to broker this with the U.N. last summer President Erdogan has commented already saying that he may call Putin himself ahead of a scheduled meeting between the two men in August. And of course, Ukraine can still get its grain to market it's just a lot more complicated.

And frankly, they won't be able to do it with the same volume. Because if you've ever been to Ukraine, you know that they have a very extensive rail network across the country, helping move people supplies, exports, things like that. The difficulty though, is that the gauge on those rail tracks is actually different than the gauge used in the rest of Europe.

And so it means that when the grain gets to the border, it has to be loaded on to a different train, which obviously adds cost, adds complications. And they can't do it in the same volume, as I said, as they could by ship.

NOBILO: Scott McLean, thank you so much for bringing us those developments and sort of helping us understand the very complex picture and far reaching repercussions. And we're also seeing record breaking heat in many parts of the world thanks in large part to the steady warming of the earth.

In the U.S., more than 80 million people remain under an extreme heat advisory with several cities breaking their high temperature records. And a powerful heat wave continues to scorched China, the city of -- had all of its all-time record of just over 52 degrees Celsius.

And in South Korea, days of torrential rain have caused landslides and flash flooding. The extreme weather there has claimed at least 40 lives. In Europe, 15 countries are under orange alerts for high temperatures and six or under red alerts with Southern Europe bearing the brunt of that heat.

And somebody who's in one of those countries is Barbie Nadeau, who's joining us from outside the Colosseum in Rome. Barbie, obviously Italians are being advised to stay inside, what impact is this having on all of the tourists who have flown or traveled into Italy and obviously want to be out and about but it's simply not safe.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: That's right. In fact, we're not in front of the Colosseum. We're in front of the Spanish Steps now where there are so many tourists right now. But one of the things that Rome does so well is they have plenty of water. You see the fountain behind me at the base of the Spanish Steps.

This is drinking water and tourists are going here. When they can filling up their bottles of water and trying to keep hydrated. That's one of the only things they can really do here. Italy doesn't have air conditioning stations, like a lot of places in the United States where it gets really hot.

One of the things that were so worth noting is that it's not Italians out here. Italians and other Southern Europeans know what to do in the heat. They stay out of the sun at this time of the day. They eat light, they don't drink much alcohol. The tourists however, they have entirely different agenda.

And so that's why authorities are so concerned that they're the ones who are most vulnerable right now. And in fact, we've got people it's the middle of the day hear, people out in the sun. When authorities are basically saying they shouldn't be. There is some relative shade behind me and they're larger groups of tourists there.

But for the most part, those who want to enjoy their Roman holiday, here the Spanish Steps are doing so right behind me, Bianca.

NOBILO: Barbie Nadeau, thank you so much and of course you are outside the Spanish Steps might astigmatism contact lens has shifted ever so slightly. Let's bring in Rafael Romo who's joining us now from Las Vegas, Nevada, which tide its record high temperature on Sunday. How are people they're coping and enduring this huge?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been very difficult for everybody here, Bianca and it was already 90 degrees here in Las Vegas an hour ago. And its 93 already and we're expecting another scorcher today just to give you an idea how hot it's been. That thermometer hit 115 degrees yesterday, just 1 degree shy of the record for July 16.

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And at 2 degrees away from the old time record of 117 degrees and this is dangerous not only for obvious reasons but also because surface temperatures can be extremely hot cause burns. The local office of the National Weather Service here in Las Vegas, made some measurements and found that concrete temperatures Sunday reached almost 127 degrees.

And listen to this Bianca there was a reading on asphalt that got very close to 160 degrees. This is dangerous to humans, of course, but officials are also warning people with beds of burns they can suffer for example, a dog is walking on a hard surface outside as bad as it's been here.

Death Valley National Park in California reached 128 degrees Sunday only 6 degrees shy of the all-time record of 134 degrees. There's a reason why it's known as the hottest place on earth. We also visited Hoover Dam where a couple of tourists told us what they were doing to try to cope with the heat, let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAT TAYLOR, TOURIST: Feels like you're actually on fire after you're out here for a while. And we've just been I just slammed about two bottles of water at lunch. This is definitely like touching surfaces, not used to burning myself on -- .

JAKE GUSE, TOURIST: It's just harder to breathe like without the moisture in the air. It's just kind of hard to breathe you know so makes things a little difficult.

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ROMO: And Bianca, high temperatures at Hoover Dam were well over 110 degrees during the weekend and are expected to remain at the same level during this week on excessive heat warning remains in effect for parts of Arizona, California and Nevada. The National Weather Service says dangerously hot afternoons with little overnight relief are expected.

I think that this will result in a major to extreme risk of heat related illness for much of the population, Bianca, back to you.

NOBILO: Rafael, I hope you keep as cool as possible. I know your compatriots do too, Rafael Romo, for us in Las Vegas. Thank you. And women in Iran are again under the scrutiny of the so called morality police. State media reports that they have resumed patrols to enforce strict Islamic dress codes.

Officials say those who don't comply may face legal action. The move comes 10 months after Mahsa Amini's death in police custody sparked months of massive protests. She was detained for not wearing a hijab correctly. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now. Salma, what does this mean for women in Iran?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a victory for Iran's hardliners, its clerical establishment and yet another blow part of this brutal crackdown on Iran's protest movement, a sign of just how much Iran suppression silencing of demonstrators has taken effect. You'll remember as you mentioned, those morality police officers were pulled off of the streets largely after these demonstrations took hold of every province in Iran.

Now the authorities announcing they will be back in addition to their usual patrols. They'll be using vans foot patrols. I know you're playing that video right now from a local news agency where you see those police officers back on the streets. But if you look very closely, Bianca, you will also see that women are just passing them by without a headscarf on very telling of the times and signs.

There's one young woman who was bold enough to speak to those cameras. And she said, look, they can't go back to the way they were. It's too tough now, take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think the morality police can prevent women from not wearing a hijab?

ISMAILI, UNIVERSITY STUDENT: 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.

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ABDELAZIZ: Now, what's important to remember is that Iran's morality police do have a great deal of power. They have arms, weapons at their disposal. They have detention centers at their disposal. They have reeducation sites at their disposal, and what the statement said from these officials re announcing that the police would be on the streets is that women would first be warned and if they didn't follow those warnings that they would face consequences.

So the question really is now 10 months after these demonstrations when so many women like the one you saw there have so boldly stepped out and taken out the scarf. Can Iran's morality, please put the cat in the bag? And how violent will that look?

NOBILO: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you. The attack on the Crimean Bridge not only struck a blow against Russia's military efforts, but also against its pro war propaganda. After the break, we'll take a closer look at the Kremlin strategies to legitimize the invasion of Ukraine.

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NOBILO: Ukraine's security service is responsible for an attack on the vital bridge linking Russia with the Russian annex Crimean peninsula. That's according to a source who says it was a joint operation with Ukrainian naval forces. The full extent of the damage is unclear. And 19 kilometers bridge also known as the Kerch Bridge is the longest in Europe and carries both road and rail traffic.

The bridge is hugely symbolic for Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin opened it for road traffic himself back in 2018 four years after Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula. The opening was considered a symbolic expression of Mr. Putin's objective to take over Ukraine and his intentions.

For more on this I'm joined by CNN's Clare Sebastian. Clare, while we have the military operations ongoing, there's also this huge re- significant propaganda and information war. And also you're gaining insight into how Russia is essentially indoctrinating the next generation against Ukraine and in favor of that war effort?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's why in the context of the news today, like symbols really matter. We've been looking at how in education, Russia has been gradually tightening the screws on information and using the symbols like the bridge itself as propaganda tools.

To try to sort of stamp out any early seeds of dissent, intimidating teachers indoctrinating children, it's an insurance policy, you can reach a large audience really quickly, and one of the more striking projects we'll be looking at really involves turning classrooms into military memorials.

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SEBASTIAN (voice over): The marching is not perfectly in time. But what the ceremony lacks in military precision, it makes up for the propaganda value. These children in Central Russia will now get the chance to sit at a new desk. Blazoned 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 were apparently including veterans of other wars.

DANIIL KEN, HEAD OF ALLIANCE OF TEACHERS UNION: You see as a -- , his name he was our pupil just several years ago. It tried to save our country and for very young people. It's hard not to feel painful.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Daniil Ken have 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: I also tried to convince my colleagues that our country has committed a crime.

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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 special body on the stage. She meant FSB.

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. 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 rewritten in the textbooks this one now includes the so called special military operation. And it's not just recent history.

OLGA: It is an historic fact that Russian state began with the 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: 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 gotten her response. Sitting at these hero desks in many schools are award 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.

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SEBASTIAN: So teachers really at the frontlines of this sort of information war. There's information effort and Russia their alliance of teachers, the Union, we spoke to now fundraise to pay fines for teachers who have fallen foul of Russia's law against discrediting the army.

And that's one of the activities they now do on a daily basis. As for the children, the question as to whether this is working. One teacher I spoke to said, look, the younger kids, they often do believe everything that teachers tell them, for the older kids, perhaps not so much, perhaps they might question it.

But they are also learning day by day about the dangers of actually speaking publicly about this. So I think the fear factor is also being instilled from an early age.

NOBILO: It's so disturbing and impossible to fathom the reverberations of that kind of indoctrination, and we'll have. Thank you so much. It's such important reporting to help make sense of what's really happening inside the country while the military invasion rages on.

Thank you, Clare Sebastian. Still to come on CNN "Newsroom", at the terrifying moments when South Korean floods, overwhelmed cars and buses inside a tunnel, a full report on the toll from Asia's extreme weather, when we come back.

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NOBILO: Authorities in South Korea save 40 people have now died from flash floods and landslides in the past few days.

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13 people died in a flooded underpass in the central part of the country where extreme weather turned in ordinary road journey into tragedy. Our Michael Holmes has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Working in mud and against the clock, rescue is in South Korea pump water from a flooded tunnel. Acts of water redirected from the ones 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, of course, 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 waterlogged, 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. Michael Holmes, CNN.

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NOBILO: I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. "World Sport" with Patrick Snell is up for you next. See you soon.

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