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Exclusive Look into Ukraine's Frontline Efforts; Protests in India after Video Showing Sexual Assault; Pentagon: Army Private Travis King Now Listed as AWOL; Kenya Braces for Third Day of Demonstrations; Europe Faces Heat Blast, Greece Fights Wildfires; Greenpeace: Trains More Expensive Than Flying; Defending Champ U.S. vs. Debutant Vietnam on Friday at Women's World Cup. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired July 21, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, target Odessa. A sustained attack by Russian missiles and combat drones overwhelms Ukraine's air defenses.
[00:00:47]
Wildfires across Greece reignited by storms and gusty winds. Will authorities close tourist attractions during the hottest hours of the day because of the ongoing heat wave.
And taxes on trains, subsidies for planes. How taxpayer dollars in Europe are being spent to make the climate crisis even worse?
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Thanks for joining us here for CNN NEWSROOM. We begin this hour with a plea for increased air defenses by Ukraine, after sustained Russian airstrikes on the Southern port city of Odessa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(AIR-RAID SIREN)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Air-raid sirens again sounded in Odessa early Friday morning, but unlike the three previous nights, the city did not come under attack.
Local officials described earlier Russian airstrikes as coming in never-ending waves, targeting port infrastructure for loading and unloading cargo ships, as well as grain and oil terminals.
The Ukrainian president says, in recent days, Russia has fired almost 70 missiles and 90 drones, so many that Ukrainian air defenses were overwhelmed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Of course, our soldiers managed to shoot down some of the enemy's missiles and drones. But unfortunately, the capacity of Ukraine's air defenses is not yet enough to protect the entire Ukrainian sky.
We are working with our partners as actively as possible to add additional air-defense systems that can give peace and security to Odessa and all the other cities and communities of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ukrainian officials have made a direct link between the attacks on the port of Odessa and Moscow's decision to withdraw from a deal which ensures safe passage for ships in the Black Sea carrying Ukrainian grain.
Moscow says the airstrikes are retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on the 12-mile-long Kerch Bridge connecting the illegally Russian- occupied Crimea and Russia.
The first shipment of U.S. cluster munitions are now being used by Ukrainian forces. The White House says they're a short-term option until Western allies can rebuild Ukraine's depleted stockpiles of ammunition.
Cluster bombs are very effective against fortified positions like the ones built by Russian troops, but are banned in more than 100 countries, because they litter the battlefield with unexploded munitions. What impact the cluster munitions will have on Ukraine's slow-moving counteroffensive remains an open question.
CNN's Alex Marquardt traveled to the front lines to find out just what the Ukrainians are now facing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go --
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a secret basement bunker, part of Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade is desperately trying to find out how to punch through Russian lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of Russians.
MARQUARDT: There are a lot of Russians?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In here and overall. They have more guns. They have more shells. And they have more people.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): CNN was given an exclusive look at this battalion command post at the very front of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the South, filled with maps and feeds from drones.
Stanislav closely watches dozens of drone feeds, helping artillery teams try to take out Russian positions.
MARQUARDT: You can see that from here. You can see how close they are. And you can tell them --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we -- and we guide them.
MARQUARDT: You can redirect them farther, closer, left, right. How do you think the fight is going in your section?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough. It's tough.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): The no-man's land between the two sides is heavily pockmarked with craters from thousands of artillery rounds. But it's these little white dots, some of the countless anti-tank and anti-personnel mines that the Russians have laid, that are part of what is making Ukraine's advanced so limited.
De-mining teams, called sappers, bravely cross the densely-mined battlefield, often under fire, to defuse or detonate the Russian mines.
Krol (ph) is a sapper who just got back from a mission. "We need to break through the mine barriers," he says, "so that equipment and infantry can pass. The enemy uses constant artillery and mortar fire. It's hard," he says, very hard.
Everyone here, soldiers and generals alike, admit that over a month into Ukraine's counteroffensive, progress is slower than they would like. They argue that the Russians had months to dig in and prepare.
But Ukraine was preparing, as well. Soldiers like this team, getting weeks of Western training in all kinds of new equipment. Like this American armored Bradley fighting vehicle, clearly shown to the press.
The Bradley team leader, Ed Koch, is just 19. He shows us inside, which is also used to carry troops across the battlefield.
"I feel very protected," he says. "We know we're safe, because it can withstand a lot. It has a very thick layer of armor, and it has been tested in battles."
MARQUARDT: Why do you wear the American flag?
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Kotch (ph) is just four months out from American training in Germany. His U.S. flight patch, a parting gift for good luck from his U.S. trainer.
"The first day of fighting was the most difficult," he tells us. "We didn't know what to expect, what could happen, how events would unfold."
Early setbacks on this front have meant that Ukraine had to change tactics, moving more on foot, after many of the newly-acquired vehicles were damaged or destroyed.
The team camps out in a narrow tree line, trying to hide from Russian drones.
When their next order to assault will come, they don't know. But soon, they will be back in the fight.
"This is the life here," the team's gunner says. "You live by the fact that you're preparing for the next mission."
Alex Marquardt, CNN, in Southern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Brigadier General Steve Anderson is a U.S. Army veteran. His 31-year-long union career includes command and staff assignments in Korea, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Germany, and Hawaii.
General Anderson, good to have you with us, sir.
BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY: Great to be here. Thank you, John.
VAUSE: So we'll begin with the confirmation that the U.S. supplied cluster munitions, are now being used by the Ukrainian military against Russian forces, in particular around the Eastern city of Kupiansk, where Russian forces are inching closer.
Here's a Ukrainian soldier talking about the artillery-fired cluster munitions. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The cluster ammunitions has one very big advantage. It can cover a very wide area where many soldiers and lay armored vehicles are located. With these shelves, we can stop them and help their infantry advance, thus, the enemy will be hindered from advancing, and our troops can conquer advantageous positions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: On the other side of the equation, you have Human Rights Watch, which puts it this way: "Cluster munitions disperse smaller submunitions, or bomblets, across a broad area, the size of a city block. Each of these submunitions shatters into metal fragments that can tear off limbs and inflict fatal wounds. They cannot discriminate between soldiers and civilians. Many do not explode on impact, posing an ongoing threat to the local population."
So yes, on the one hand, they are effective, but the question here is are they effective enough to justify the potential hunt down to civilians, especially children.
ANDERSON: I certainly believe, John, that it's appropriate that the Ukrainians use them. I know that spokesman John Kirby from the DOD stated today that the Ukrainians are using them effectively.
I commend the United States for living up to their promise to get these cluster munitions to them within a week, so they made the announcement on the 8th of July. It does improve their deep-strike capability, and it reduces the
ammunition requirements that they have. But I don't look at it as a game-changer. It's a significant improvement in their capability, to be sure.
One of their problems, in conducting this counteroffensive, is that it's got to have a deep-strike capability. You've got to be able to use the HIMARS, the triple seven, the long-range howitzers, et cetera.
And the cluster munitions gives us that capability, you know, and it reduces the ammunition requirements. As you mentioned, though, you know, the dud rate for these bomblets is about 2.3 percent.
And unexploded munitions can be a major problem that we can deal with for many, many years. I mean, I was -- I was in Libya, for instance, ten years ago, and they still got unexploded munitions from World War II, 85 years later, outside of Tobruk.
VAUSE: Well, the Pentagon did confirm the U.S. has supplied artillery- fired cluster munitions. Here's a little more from Thursday's briefing. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SABRINA SINGH, PENTAGON DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: This is a powerful artillery that we have given them. They have -- have promised to, or have committed to use it responsibly, to keep track of and record where they are using it, so when this war is over, they can begin those demining efforts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:10:09]
VAUSE: So just touch on this. How can a weapon like this be used responsibly? Because it's obvious how it can be used irresponsibly.
ANDERSON: The -- the most important thing, John, is they've got to keep track of where they're firing the munitions. So that you can find them after the war, OK? That's the biggest problem.
You know, when you fire them indiscriminately, and you're not tracking where you're shooting, then you're going to have issues like this. But if you are making a reasonable attempt to track where you're firing these munitions, then I think it's going to make the cleanup a lot easier.
But you know, it's not a fail-safe system. There will be probably some residual damage to -- potentially, to civilians. And they're going to be around for a long time because, you know, with a 2.3 percent dud rate, they're probably going to be firing thousands of these rounds, and no doubt, there's going to be a lot of bomblets that they're going to have to be dealing with for a long time.
But, you know, in light of the fact they're trying to conduct a counteroffensive, I don't see, really, how they have a choice. And, by the way, the Russians are using cluster munitions, as well.
VAUSE: Well, really? Because Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, addressed this issue a few days ago. He says they're not. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes. When you talk about dud rate, though, the U.S. dud rate is less than 3 percent, you know, which is, you know, low, obviously. The Russian dud rate, I read, was closer to 40 percent, making whatever they're using in terms of cluster munitions far more dangerous than anything that the Ukrainians have been using.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. You know, our manufacturing standards are much higher than the Russians. I would still submit to you that 2.3 percent is still unacceptably high.
But again, if they keep track on where they're firing them, and if they try to target non-populated areas, I think they can minimize the damage.
And, you know, they're conducting a counteroffensive. They're trying to win. And in order to do that, you're going to have to, you know, outnumber the defending force here. You know, U.S. doctrine is a 3-to- 1 advantage in firepower.
And oh, by the way, the Russians, 200,000 of them, are dug in for over a year in positions in the Donbas that occupy an area the size of the state of Pennsylvania.
So it's a very daunting mission that the Ukrainians have. They're really going to win this war, they're going to have to get the Russians out of there. It's going to very -- be a very, very difficult fight.
And I think that using cluster munitions temporarily, until they can get more long-range artillery into the fight, is -- is a totally acceptable alternative at this point.
VAUSE: General Anderson, thank you, sir. Good to see you. Thank you so much for being with us.
ANDERSON: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: The U.N. secretary-general condemned Russia's attacks on Odessa, saying the destruction of port facilities is having a negative impact well beyond Ukraine.
Grain prices spiked Thursday. Wheat and corn futures have continued to rise after Russia's decision to pull out of the deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea.
The World Food Programme tells CNN the U.N. will not give up on negotiations to try and revive that deal. But the international community needs to push for more than just a partial humanitarian agreement.
The WFP is warning the collapse of the deal leaves a massive hole in their operations. Ukraine's foreign minister on Thursday accused Vladimir Putin of racketeering by killing off the agreement.
Now to India, where shocking graphic video has emerged, showing two women being sexually assaulted. Protests erupted following the video's release.
CNN has viewed the video, but we will not show it out of respect for the survivors of the brutal attack.
An indigenous group says the assault happened in early May, in the Northeastern state of Manipur. The video shows the terrified women forced to walk naked through a crowd of fully-clothed men.
The group says they were then taken to a field and gang-raped, an allegation which is under investigation.
CNN reporter Vedika Sud joins us now, live from New Delhi. Oh, boy. What more can you tell us?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I was at a complete loss for words, John, when I watched that video that's gone viral on social media in the last 48 hours.
This video, like you pointed out, is from the Northeastern state of Manipur. It's ghastly. It's disappointing to see what we did. It's distressing. It's disturbing. It's shocking. The violence that these two women had to experience at the hands of dozens of men.
We, of course, cannot show our viewers this video. We want to respect these two women who have been through so much. It's been horrible. It's been terrifying to go through what they have, actually, in this video.
[00:15:03]
I want to tell you more about it, but I'm trying to be -- I'm really trying to refrain from using the words I should when I want to describe the video that the team has seen.
The two women, they were forced to walk down a road, naked, with fully-clothed men around them. There are dozens of men. They're groping them. These women were crying. They were trying to cover their bodies. And this video, which is about 30 seconds long, is something that we won't forget for a very long time.
What's shocking is not just the behavior of these men in the video. It's also shocking to know that no action was taken until the last few days, when the police realized that this video has gone viral online, and they have arrested about four people as of now, four from a mob of over dozens of men, groping these women.
Like I said, they were crying for help, but no help came their way.
They were taken to a field by these men, and gang-raped, according to an indigenous group, as well as the police.
We're waiting for more details from the police, but now, we know that four men have been arrested. We're waiting to hear more on those arrests.
What's equally shocking is how the ruling government there, the BJP, has not come out and spoken about the action that they've taken, two months after this incident.
Yesterday, you had the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, just ahead of the month's session of Parliament that was commencing, speaking to the media. Right at the end of his address, he did, for the first time in over two months, address the issue and the crisis in Manipur.
He didn't really directly talk about the violence over there, but he spoke about this video. And he did say that it pained him. It pained his heart. He's angry to see what had happened in Manipur. Here's what the Indian prime minister had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): And I want to assure the countrymen that no culprit will be spared. The law, with all its might and strictness, will take steps one by one. Whatever has happened with the daughters of Manipur will never be forgiven.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: Ethnic clashes continue in Manipur. They've been continuing for over 75 days. The Internet has been down for most of these days, John.
But there are unanswered questions. And the most important that the police in Manipur and the authorities must answer as soon as possible is this: Why did it take over two months to help these women? Why did it take more than two months to get them justice? And why did it take more than two months to arrest these men, who have shamed these women, who have sexually assaulted them, and brought shame, like the Indian prime minister said, to this country?
Back to you.
VAUSE: Wow. Vedika, thank you. Vedika Sud in New Delhi. Not an easy story to report. Appreciate your time.
Still to come here on CNN, the U.S. soldier who made a doomed dash into North Korea, now officially AOL [SIC], absent without leave. And he is being held in North Korea. We'll have details on that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:20:20]
VAUSE: The Pentagon says an American soldier now being held in North Korea was facing additional consequences for his conduct which led to his original detention in South Korea on allegations of assault.
But instead, Private Travis King did not return to the United States, instead sneaking out of Seoul airport. He joined a tour group of the Korean Demilitarized Zone and made a run for North Korea.
He is now officially listed as AWOL, or absent without leave. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live in Hong Kong.
So, he's now AWL. You know, and there are concerns, obviously, about what is in store for him. Because whatever was in store for him in Fort Bliss, Texas, that's nothing --
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
VAUSE: -- compared to what he's likely to face in North Korea.
STOUT: And that is why worries are rising. And it doesn't help that North Korea has been silent about Army Private Travis King, again, the U.S. soldier who dashed across the border into North Korea on Tuesday.
Concerns are rising. We are getting new information from the U.S. military. In fact, we heard from the U.S. Army secretary, who made her first public comments about the case. Her name is Christine Wormuth. She said that the U.S. has mobilized all efforts to contact North Korea, including going through U.N. channels. But North Korea has yet to respond.
And she cited the case of Otto Warmbier. This was the American college student who was arrested in North Korea in 2016, who died in 2017 shortly after being released by North Korea.
She said this. Let's bring us the statement from the U.S. Army secretary. She said, "I worry about how they may treat him," in regards to the U.S. Soldier. She says, "We want to get him back," unquote.
Now, Wormuth also said that Travis King's motive, why he dashed across the border, that is unclear. But, he, quote, "absolutely would have faced consequences for misconduct" if he returned to the U.S., as planned.
Now, we also heard from the Pentagon. The Pentagon would not say if it believed that Travis King was alive. We heard from the Pentagon spokesperson. She announced that investigation is underway with U.S. forces Korea.
And the investigation will partly be looking at where King was between the time he left the airport and when he went on that tour when he crossed into North Korea.
The spokesperson said that King was not escorted onto his flight because he wasn't in custody when he was at the airport. Escorts, they weren't allowed to go beyond airport security.
And she also said that there was no inclination that King's crossing may have been planned ahead, in advance, with the North Koreans. Now, the Pentagon describes his status, his formal status in the military, as AWOL, or absent without leave.
Back to you, John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout live for us in Hong Kong, appreciate it.
Kenya bracing for a third day of anti-government demonstrations, fueled by tax increases and the rising cost of living. At least three people have been killed in clashes with security forces just this week.
CNN's Larry Madowo has the very latest now, reporting in from Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This show of force is how the Kenyan security forces have been responding to these planned three days of anti-government protests.
That's why you're getting criticism from the other nations, from the opposition, from some civil society voters about how the Kenyan government is cracking down violently on mostly peaceful protesters. That is the language here.
The Kenyan opposition is specifically crying foul. They're accusing the government of heavy-handed policing tactics, and using some language which is not accidental. The Kenyan opposition has called some of the reported deaths and beatings and police brutality as crimes against humanity. They're calling them specifically a genocide in the making.
And that choice of language is deliberate, because after the 2007 election, President William Ruto was accused of crimes against humanity. He was tried at the International Criminal Court. But those cases collapsed for lack of evidence.
So they're using that language here in an attempt to try and paint these in a much larger context by the Kenyan opposition. What you see here, for instance, armored water cannon that we have seen in years and some neighborhoods, in people's homes where children live. And it has had some major impacts on them.
These are some of the policing tactics that have been criticized in this three days of protests. They began as a fight against the legitimacy of the government of President William Ruto.
Then conveniently, these very unpopular tax hikes came in, and the opposition has hitched their wagon on that. And now, they've fully become anti-government protests that have plunged this East African nation into this major crisis.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN, the heat wave across Southern Europe is so bad that the Greek government now restricting times that people can view the -- some popular tourist sites like the Acropolis. We'll have more on that. Also the fires reigniting close to Athens.
Also ahead, traveling by train may be better for the environment, but a new report shows it's a lot less expensive to actually fly, and that's a lot worse for carbon emissions. Figure this one out, Batman. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, the heat wave gripping Southern Europe is showing no sign of letting up. And authorities in Greece are now closing popular tourist and archaeological sites like the Acropolis during the hottest hours of the day. And workers at the Acropolis are staging a partial strike through the weekend because conditions, they say, are just unbearable.
Twenty visitors have fainted because of the heat.
Athens is still bearing the brunt of the heat wave, with temperatures expected in the upper 30s on Friday, climbing into the 40s on Saturday and Sunday.
Madrid and Rome will also see mid-30s, which is still plenty hot. Firefighters are battling wildfires outside the Greek capital and also on the island of Rhodes, where emergency has been declared.
Water bombers and reinforcements from Italy, France and Israel are now helping on the fire lines frontlines. More now on conditions across Southern your from CNN's Barbie Nadeau, reporting in from Rome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The incessant heat wave which has gripped much of Southern Europe over the last two weeks continues, and it is now spreading North into France, where several regions are under orange alert.
The devastating temperatures have been very difficult for many regions, including Greece, where firefighters are battling a number of blazes.
In Spain, record-setting temperatures have also made it very difficult. Across Italy, we're expecting to see record setting temperatures in Sardinia and city over the course of the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service here.
These high temperatures are very difficult for the tourists, but they are extremely difficult for those who live here, including the elderly, the vulnerable, especially people with breathing conditions and respiratory conditions, and for the homeless, which have now been a subject of civil protection interventions, trying to get them the relief they need.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Europe's high-speed rail is often considered one of the very environmentally-friendly options for travel. But now, a new report from Greenpeace finds it also costs a lot more than actually flying. Some cases up to 30 times more.
[00:30:08]
European authorities say planes emit nearly five times more greenhouse gases then trains. Activists are calling for airline tax subsidies to be phased out, and other incentives to encourage train travel.
Michael Mann is a presidential distinguished professor and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a new book coming out this September. It's called "Our Fragile Moment."
And Michael, as always, it's good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
MICHAEL MANN, DIRECTOR, PENN CENTER FOR SCIENCE, SUSTAINABILITY AND THE MEDIA, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Thank you, John. It's good to be with you.
VAUSE: OK, so I want to start with a real-world example here of train travel just costing a hell of a lot more than air travel.
A last-minute trip from London to Barcelona in May, booking two days ahead, the train cost 384 euros -- that's about 430 U.S. dollars -- compared to 13 euros, about $14.50 U.S., for the same trip on budget airline Ryanair, making the trip by train almost 30 times more expensive.
And the reason why this matters is that traveling by air produces a lot more carbon emissions compared to train travel, and the last thing you want to do is make train travel more expensive than air travel, right?
MANN: Yes, absolutely. I mean, we've got our thumb on the wrong end of the scale right now. There are all these subsidies and incentives that are being provided to the airline industry. And really, nothing like that when it comes, for example, to -- to the train industry.
Here in the United States, Amtrak, the government-funded train network has always been underfunded. Republicans have been trying to get rid of funding for Amtrak for years. And as a result, it's become dilapidated.
I take it regularly between Philadelphia and State College. I go back and forth between those two cities. And -- and, you know, I enjoy riding on the train, but it's -- you know, the trains are dilapidated. And they cost much more than they should, because they're not getting subsidized to the extent that they should be by the government.
That's here in the United States. And as you described in this report, things are even worse by some measure in Europe.
VAUSE: Yes, but specifically, Greenpeace found that train travel is, on average, twice as expensive as air travel. This is in Europe. And the reason for that, in part, is because while airlines pay neither kerosene tax nor VAT, value-added tax, on international flights; and benefits from subsidies are paid with taxpayers' money, railways have to pay energy taxes, VAT, value-added taxes, and high rail tolls in most countries.
Well, to put it in another way, governments are subsidizing our way to an even bigger global climate disaster?
MANN: Yes, it sure seems that way, doesn't it? And, you know, it's -- somehow, it's especially jarring to be talking about that right now, when the United States and Europe were experiencing these, you know, unprecedented extreme weather events. This constant reminder of the damage, of the cost, of the danger that is now being posed by our addiction to fossil fuels.
And here, you know, we are during, sort of, the peak summer travel season, and this disparity between airline travel, and, you know, and train travel just really drives home how perverted the incentives are.
VAUSE: Because there is a direct linkage between the amount of carbon being put into the -- into the atmosphere and the rising temperatures. I mean, they go up together, essentially.
And what we need to be doing is taking as much carbon out as possible. So with that in mind, we should be doing more than simply creating a level playing field between the airline industry and rail travel. You know, if we did that, you know, there would be much less disparity in the pricing.
But because of the climate, because outside and it's record temperatures almost every day, why aren't governments making travel travel as cheap, as efficient, and yes, even as enjoyable as possible? That, to me, is the low-hanging fruit in all of this, which we're not doing.
MANN: Well, you know, like I said, here in the United States, the politics of this are pretty clear. It's the same Republican politicians who have been denying climate change, and have been coddling the fossil fuel industry that have been, for years, trying to defund Amtrak, our, you know, our official government train system.
I still use it all the time. I enjoy it. But you know, a lot of people are going to make the choice to fly, rather than use trains if it's, you know, even a similar price.
And, you know, that's part of the problem. It should be much cheaper to take the train from, between the same two locations than -- you know, than taking air travel.
And the reason that's not true is because too many of our politicians are beholden to the fossil fuel industry.
Look, trains, you know, ground transportation can be de-carbonized. We can electrify train networks. We can, you know, once we electrify them, and electricity is coming from wind, and solar, and renewable sources, we 've decarbonized that, you know, ground transportation. We've decarbonized the train system. And that's possible today.
[00:35:22]
It's not yet possible to do that for air travel. There's no way to electrify air travel today. It still requires the use -- the massive use of fossil fuels.
And so, it really doesn't make any sense, again, for governments to have their thumb on the wrong end of the scale on this.
VAUSE: Yes. It does seem like something which is an easy fix. Michael, as always, great to have you with us. Thank you.
MANN: Thank you, always great to talk with you.
VAUSE: Football fever has gripped New Zealand after a storybook start to the Women's World Cup for the co-host with an incredible win over Norway for New Zealand's first-ever win at a World Cup.
Now, tickets for their next match on Tuesday against the Philippines all but sold out.
And just minutes ago, Canada and Nigeria played to a scoreless draw across the Tasman in Melbourne.
Later, Friday, defending champions U.S. takes the pitch against Vietnam, one of eight debutantes at this year's tournament.
CNN's Angus Watson live for us this hour in Sydney. So Angus, after that incredible start, we had the sort of the cloud of the shooting. And then we have the storybook game by the New Zealanders, by the football Ferns. The excitement, I guess, now building again for the first appearance in this tournament of the U.S. And the question is can they make it three in a row?
ANGUS WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, to answer that question with one word, yes, they can. They're the red-hot favorite this time around to do the three-peat. No team has ever done that before. But no team in women's soccer is like Team USA.
That said, they'll have their work cut out for them. This time around, they are 32 teams competing in this Women's World Cup across New Zealand and Australia. It's the first time for that.
And teams are starting to catch up with Team USA. You have the European giants -- England, France, Germany, Spain -- that are all looking red-hot, and host Australia, as well. And interestingly, John, you could say that the success of Team USA
has actually inspired countries around the world to do more, to do better, to put more money, to put more influence on their women's soccer program. So, the success of Team USA has almost fostered the competition for them.
But they've got some great players, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman upfront, two young guns set to dazzle. And they're really taking over from an older team, of course led by Megan Rapinoe, who will be retiring, she says, after this tournament.
Now, we -- you mentioned there, we were off to a flying start last night. Tournament hosts New Zealand beating Norway, another hot favorite for the tournament crown last night in Auckland, with a 1-0 victory, and an amazing goal there by Hannah Wilkinson finishing off her sweeping movement down the right.
We had great atmosphere last night at Stadium Australia, where I was, for the Matildas match against the Republic of Ireland, over 75,000 fans in full voice at Stadium Australia. That's the highest crowd number ever achieved for a women's soccer match here in Australia.
And we just had Canada and Nigeria battling it out in that tight game over there in New Zealand, John. Can't wait to see what's more.
VAUSE: The excitement continues to build. Glad you're there for us. Angus, thank you. Angus Watson, live for us in Sydney.
Well, the U.S. ambassador to China is the latest U.S. official to fall victim to a massive hacking operation out of China. Those details, when we come back.
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VAUSE: U.S. officials have confirmed to CNN that China-based hackers recently hacked the account -- the email account of the U.S. ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns.
Burns is just the latest named official to fall victim to a sophisticated hacking operation which began in May. But was not discovered until a month later.
Microsoft eventually determined the hackers were based in China. Even though the hacked government accounts were not classified, administration officials suspect they gave Beijing valuable insights into U.S. thinking ahead of a visit last month by the U.S. secretary of state.
Well, another milestone has been reached in the reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Engineers, architects, and carpenters tested a newly-built part of the new spire. A piece of the shaft weighing weighing almost a ton was delicately put into place by a crane. The work is being done at a shop in Northeastern France. The builder
says the barrel of the spire is built of solid wood and consists of hundreds of parts. Once put together, it will weigh 120 tons and be 19 meters high.
And so Notre Dame, I should get that right, will reopen next year.
Finally, a reason to go antiquing this weekend, perhaps. A small vase purchased for $3 at a thrift shop in Surrey, England, could be worth thousands of dollars.
A couple bought the piece showing various birds, not knowing its true value. Canterbury Auction Gallery says it's the work of one of Japan's most famous artists, who was alive between 1845 and 1927.
They believe the vase could fetch $11,800, almost $12,000, when it goes up for auction later this month, maybe even more than that.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next. And my friend, Michael Holmes takes over at the top of the hour. Have a great weekend. See you next week.
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