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Surprise Shakeup In China's Foreign Policy Team; A Lull In Protests After Knesset Passes Controversial Judicial Law; Huge Fires Cause Scorching Heat In Greece; IAEA Discovers Mines On Zaporizhzhia Power Plant Site; Could Israel Face A Constitutional Crisis?; Some San Francisco Stores Locking Up Everything. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 25, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's the balance of power between the government and the courts, but will the Supreme Court rule on that law itself. We'll look at what lies ahead.

Also ahead, searing heat means absolutely no letup in the fire burning in Greece. Local residents plead for help. We're live in Athens with more on that.

And then crime in San Francisco is apparently so bad that some shops are resorting to locking up everyday items like coffee.

First, though, some breaking news, China has a new foreign minister. But we still don't know what happened to the old one. In a surprise announcement, Beijing says former Foreign Minister Wang Yi has returned to his old job. Wang was already the top foreign policy adviser to the Chinese President Xi Jinping. He replaces Qin Gang who hasn't been seen for more than a month. There's been little word on where Qin is or what happened to him other than vague statements we're getting from Beijing.

CNN's Marc Stewart is digging into the story for us.

Have you managed to find anything else, Marc?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, continuing on the theme of vague statements, Max, it was just a few hours ago at a Foreign Ministry briefing that a spokesperson was asked about the whereabouts of Qin Gang and we had a very cryptic statement saying no information to provide, adding that China's diplomatic activities are being carried out as usual. Well, let's fast forward several hours and within the last hour or so we received word that Qin Gang has now been replaced by Wang Yi.

Now as to where he is, what happened, that is a narrative we simply do not know at this point. But it is very fair to say that Qin Gang was one of the most visible and most respected advisers to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He had had a very forward focused position. Serving as U.S. ambassador, he is the person who gave remarks after that spy balloon was shot down, rebukes, if you will. He is also the person who helped with the meeting between Secretary of

State Antony Blinken and himself when he made -- when Secretary Blinken made that visit to China. So right now his whereabouts are not known -- is not known but a very familiar person in this post before, Wang Yi, is now going to be in charge of China's foreign policy agenda.

I guess you would say in many ways and we are going to be anxious in the next few hours to see what other information is released -- Max.

FOSTER: We will wait to hear, Marc. Thank you.

Now a day after Israeli parliament passed a controversial law weakening the power of the nation's Supreme Court, the court itself may be the center of a looming constitutional crisis.

For now it appears to be a lull in those protests but last night police used water cannons to push back demonstrators who were blocking a main highway in Tel Aviv. On Monday just hours after lawmakers approved the first part of its divisive judicial overhaul plan, several petitions asking the Supreme Court to nullify it were filed. Meanwhile, Doctors in Israel are walking off the job in protest.

Hadas Gold joins me live in Jerusalem.

Why do you think there's been this lull then in the protests, Hadas?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think right now everyone is just sort of gathering their strength and trying to plan what happens next. The protest movement is not over. They have said they will continue protesting. There have been some small protests elsewhere in the country and we know that this weekend they're planning even bigger protests. And I think we will see more activities especially when those appeals start being heard in front of the Supreme Court.

But, Max, I want to give you a sense of the mood this morning. This is what most of the front pages in Israel look like right now. You see this completely blacked-out front page. This one as well. Now this is actually an advertisement that was taken out by an organization that represents high tech CEOs. But just the fact that all of these newspapers, and there's more than just these three, that all of these newspapers agreed to accept this advertisement as their front page instead of the news of what happened yesterday, it gives you a sense of what is the mood for parts of this country right now.

Of course, you do have supporters of what happened yesterday. Before those protesters who have been out on to the street, this was what they believe the beginning of what they are calling a dictatorship because this legislation strips away the Supreme Court's ability to stop certain government actions that they deem unreasonable. And these protesters fear that that would get this government unfettered power to essentially do what it wants.

Now the government has pushed against this. Ron Dermer, the Israeli minister of Strategic Affairs, was just on CNN in the last half an hour saying that this is strengthening democracy. This is important to reach better checks and -- to reach better balances between the legislative, saying that he hopes that the protesters will see that this is better for the future of Israel, and saying that the door is open from the government for further negotiations in the next steps of this judicial overhaul because this bill that was passed yesterday it's just the beginning, the government, says of this massive judicial overhaul.

[08:05:13]

What will reshape Israel's judiciary, the most massive shakeup of Israel's judiciary in its 75 years since its founding. But we are seeing further fallout today. As you noted, the Israeli Medical Association is on strike. We still have those thousands of military reservists who have said that they will not serve. And we're also hearing from further diplomatic fallout, for example, the Foreign Office of the U.K. putting out a statement saying that they hope Israel will reach some sort of consensus, saying that it's important to come to consensus on such important matters.

Now Benjamin Netanyahu did address the country in a televised statement last night, saying and calling this a necessary democratic step, blamed the opposition for not coming to a compromise, but again saying that the door is open for further compromise in the future. But right now our eye is actually on the Supreme Court because these petitions calling for a temporary injunction, calling for the Supreme Court to nullify this law, have been filed.

We are waiting to see whether the Supreme Court will issue that temporary injunction. And then that could turn into a really fascinating legal battle where the Supreme Court will be ruling on its own powers -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Hadas Gold in Jerusalem, thank you so much for bringing us that.

Meanwhile, people fleeing raging wildfires across the Mediterranean. The airport in Paloma in Sicily has now reopened after a shutdown for several hours due to fires nearby. Sicily saw scorching hot temperatures on Monday reaching 47 degrees Celsius. Very close to the hottest temps ever in Europe.

And evacuations continue on islands around Greece that also aflame. The island of Crete has now joined resorts like Corfu and Rhodes as being at an extreme risk of wildfires.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here, from Rhodes, we are here the last six days to help in every way we can. But it's very difficult. The wind is very high today. It will be worse Wednesday. It's very, very bad. The situation. We need help, send us help from everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Let's go to a scorching Athens, in Greece, where journalist Elinda Labropoulou is bravely standing outside for us. Thanks for joining us, Elinda. Just describe what it's like there and

actually how much of Greece is affected, you know, by this because there are areas very affected, right, but there are still safe areas to go.

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Yes, absolutely. Well, it's extremely hot where I am. I'm right outside the Acropolis, which is actually shut down for a number of hours today, just as a preliminary measure to protect from the heat, as Greece faces a third wave of prolonged heat wave which has basically been the cause of many of these fires that we have seen erupting. This means that temperatures today have reached over 110 Fahrenheit. And we expect the same will be the case tomorrow before they drop again as of Thursday.

Meanwhile, the situation in the fire front is not really improving, I'm afraid, Max. I mean, the three large fires burning -- there's one in Rhodes, there's one in Corfu, and one on the island of Evia. Evacuations continue. We've heard of rekindlings. We know that the fire has reached a number of other villages that needed to be evacuated in Corfu just in the last few hours. The winds are picking up as we heard this person say just to you right now.

And the firefighters on the ground seem to be facing a very difficult situation. The Civil Protection and Climate Crisis Minister Vassilis Kikilias earlier today said that Greece has been fighting with over 500 fires in the last 12 days alone. That's sort of -- you know, that's about 35 fires a day. Obviously not all of them as big as the main ones that we are seeing. But the problem is that conditions are expected to deteriorate further tonight, before we see what may well be the hottest day of the day tomorrow, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Elinda, thank you for joining us from the heat there.

There's more but it's a human induced climate changes. Behind extreme weather events we've seen across the northern hemisphere this month according to a new report the blistering heat waves in three continents would have been, quote, "extremely rare" without climate change caused by human action.

Scientists at World Weather Attribution Initiative found that global warming will likely make heat waves more frequent and even hotter in the future. The studies' authors are calling for the rapid reduction of chronic heating pollution and they're urging cities to adapt infrastructure to better deal with extreme weather conditions.

Another sleepless night for many in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Air raid sirens sounded as Ukraine's air defenses stopped a Russian drone attack on the city. A city official says there were no injuries or damage. Meanwhile, nuclear inspectors found mines at the site of the Zaporizhzhia power plant which now is under Russian control.

[08:10:04]

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it's inconsistent with its safety standards and nuclear security guidance. To the south, Ukraine says it's making progress on the battlefield

despite fierce resistance from Russian troops.

Alex Marquardt joins us live from port city of Odessa.

First of all, tell us, Alex, about these -- the mines. Seems very worrying to have them so near the nuclear plant.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly worrying, Max. And of course this is Europe's biggest nuclear power plant. We're getting this information from the IAEA, which is the U.N.'s nuclear energy agency, and from its chief Rafael Grossi who says that there were IAEA experts at the site over the weekend who spotted these directional anti-personnel mines.

So the explosives would be pointing away from the plant, they say. These are anti-personnel which means that they are designed to maim, hurt or kill humans. So the explosives almost certainly not a threat to the plant itself but of course extremely worrying. As you noted the IAEA saying that this is not in line with the kind of security that you want to see around the nuclear facility.

They did say that they have been informed previously about mines both inside and outside the facility. And that they were told that it is part of a military decision in an area controlled by the military. The Russian military has been in control of this area, occupied this area, and the plant itself for quite some time.

We have heard from senior Ukrainian officials including President Zelenskyy that they are worried about what they call a potential terrorist action by the Russians because they believe, the Ukrainians believe, the mines have been placed on the roof. That has not been confirmed by the IAEA. And of course Russia denies that they would carry out any kind of act like that that would threaten the plant -- Max.

FOSTER: OK. Alex, thank you for joining us from there in Odessa.

Now record-breaking bid for one of the world's top football players. According to multiple reports, Saudi club Al-Hilal has submitted a bid for Kylian Mbappe, his current club Paris Saint-Germain for $332 million U.S. dollars and is offering another $776 million to Mbappe for one season. The Paris Saint-Germain striker still has one year left on his contract with PSG. But reports say the French club is willing to accept the offer from Saudi Arabia rather than let the 24- year-old walk which would be for free next year.

Coming up, Israel's controversial new law sent protesters on to the streets but will it create a constitutional crisis as well? I will take a look at the angles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The Israeli parliament has passed the Reasonableness Bill, part of a package of legislation that would weaken the power of the nation's Supreme Court. The bill strips Israel's Supreme Court of the power to declare the government's decisions unreasonable.

[08:15:00]

It's a major success for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government, and unprecedented in the country's history as well. And now the Supreme Court could rule the bill itself as unreasonable, by which could itself trigger a constitutional crisis that could set the government and the court against each other.

A wide scale industrial action is expected to take place. More than 10,000 military personnel may stop reporting for duty. Hundreds of thousands of people are protesting. In March this year, a nationwide strike forced Netanyahu to temporarily freeze the overhaul.

For a deeper analysis and some clarity, let's hope, let's bring in Yaniv Roznai. He's a professor and co-director of the Rubenstein Center for Constitutional Challenges at the Reichman University.

Thank you so much for joining us. I mean, this is a very complex issue for non-legal experts in your country, let alone outside the country. Can you just explain how this potentially could pit the parliament against the judiciary?

YANIV ROZNAI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND VICE DEAN, THE HARRY RADZYNER LAW SCHOOL: Thank you very much for having me. So I think that the main problem is that this constitutional amendment basically stripping off some jurisdiction of the high court of justice is considered by many to be problematic because this would be opening the door for the rest of the judicial overhaul.

And I think this is the main worry because the government and some ministers have already said that this amendment is only the (INAUDIBLE), it is just the salad that would open the appetite for the rest of judicial overhaul. And the problem is that this amendment basically would allow what we call in the literature, constitutional capture, capturing gatekeepers and their independent body's positions and putting, you know, loyal governmental personnel in these positions. And this in turn would allow the rest of the judicial overhaul to go through more easily. And this is why it is so a worrisome.

FOSTER: But it's also very worrying, isn't it, that it could be referred, the bill effectively could be referred to the Supreme Court and the court would have to rule on it. And, you know, it wouldn't be seen -- I mean, it's meant to be an unbiased institution of course and I'm sure it is. But it's very hard to rule on yourself and therefore, it would be drawn into all sorts of controversy. And, you know, if parliament doesn't like what they do, it's going to be a crisis.

ROZNAI: Yes, so I think that the challenge here is that we're not dealing with an ordinary law. This is basically a constitutional amendment. This is an amendment to basic law, the judiciary, and there are already some implications, calling the high court of justice to review and perhaps strike down this amendment.

And I want to say that the court has various tools in its toolkit to intervene even in such a constitutional amendment like many other countries in the world which prohibits certain amendments to core democratic values. Our Supreme Court has already announced that Knesset, even when it met the basic law or amend the basic law cannot undermine the core values of the state institution democratic.

Now I think that the main challenge is, it is quite clear that this amendment violates core democratic values. The only question is, does this amount to really undermining the core values of the state as a democratic state? And I think here the biggest challenge of the court would be to look at the bigger picture because now as we know democracies do not collapse, you know, in a single piece of legislation, but in an incremental process.

And this is indeed the first step in an ongoing plan, steps as we already know because the government is not hiding the big plan. So I think that the court would have to adopt what we call the unconstitutional constitutional amendment document and place the bar already at the first step, you know, when the first step, in a way undermines the judiciary, and allow the government more powers to continue with their plan.

FOSTER: What happens if the amendment is referred to the Supreme Court and the parliament doesn't like the decision? Is there any system for overcoming that?

ROZNAI: So this will indeed bring us to a major constitutional crisis, although I have to admit if an extended branch of the high court of justice, say 11, would declare the constitutional amendment, this law, as unconstitutional, I do not believe that our government will say that they are not respecting this judgment. It's very hard for me to see that happening.

FOSTER: Are you worried there might be a constitutional crisis?

ROZNAI: Yes, of course, it's very worrisome. But I think that, you know, it all comes down in this case to the bureaucracy. What would the attorney general, the police, the military, what will they do? And without a doubt they would all listen to the court. And I think that the government will listen to the court as well.

[08:20:03]

FOSTER: OK, Yaniv Roznai, thanks for shedding some light on a very complicated political and judicial challenge coming up for Israel.

Now an uptick in shoplifting in some American cities as retailers are taking drastic measures. We will show you what they're doing next.

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FOSTER: In some cities in the U.S. retailers are taking unusual steps to combat what they see as a rise in shoplifting. Many are locking up a host of products to prevent theft.

CNN's Kyung Lah visited one store in San Francisco that was hit three times while she was inside. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richie Greenberg walked into a San Francisco Walgreens when he saw in the frozen food section this.

RICHIE GREENBERG, SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENT: Chains, heavy chains that went from padlock to padlock on both sides of the doors. And this was bizarre, something I've never seen before. This is just more icing on the cake telling us that rampant crime is -- has become a regular part of life.

LAH: So typical that in the 30 minutes we were at this Walgreens, we watched three people, including this man, steal.

(On-camera): Did that guy pay? Did that guy pay? He didn't pay?

(Voice-over): Walgreens says this Richmond neighborhood store with aisles of products like mustard locked behind plexiglass has the highest theft rate of all their nearly 9,000 U.S. stores, hit more than a dozen times a day. When thieves turn to cleaning out ice cream and frozen burritos, workers grew so frustrated they resorted to the chains. They were ordered down by corporate because of the negative messaging. But Walgreens isn't the only retailer impacted in San Francisco.

(On-camera): You have to ask an employee for help.

(Voice-over): At this store, frozen food is controlled with a cable lock. Fake eyelashes locked behind plexiglass, along with lotion and nail polish. At another grocery store, $14 bags of coffee under lock and key.

(On-camera): What is this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I don't understand why coffee. I don't know.

LAH: Oh, here she is. Oh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's become kind of like a police state in San Francisco. I don't know how else to describe it.

MARJAN PHILHOUR, SMALL BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATE: It's not part of city life. It's not part of the way people should be living, right, and that includes folks who are committing the crimes.

LAH (voice-over): Marjan Philhour, mom of three, small business and community advocate, says these visible problems in her city are leading to renewed activism driven by residents like the recall of the city's district attorney last year.

PHILHOUR: I think what we've seen, especially in the past couple of years, is less tolerance, more exasperation, and more movement to action by everyday San Franciscans to change how their city is run. It's not enough right now, but there is a change, and I think ultimately we will get there.

LAH: San Francisco city supervisor Matt Dorsey, former police spokesperson and recovering drug addict, sees the rampant shoplifting as a systemic problem from city leaders to an understaffed police force to the fentanyl crisis.

MATT DORSEY, SAN FRANCISCO CITY SUPERVISOR: When you're seeing that level of retail theft that tends to be subsistence level retail theft. People are --

[08:25:05]

LAH (on-camera): People who are hungry.

DORSEY: People who are hungry. There is a level of addiction playing out in many parts of our city. It's happening at levels we really haven't seen in San Francisco. What I'm hearing from my residents and what I'm hearing from San Franciscans is it's time for tough love. We are not doing any addict in this city favors by enabling behavior that is potentially deadly in ways we have never seen.

LAH: Property and violent crime was actually lower at the end of 2022 than it was before the pandemic began. But a recent Chamber of Commerce survey still found that three quarters of those asked felt that the city was going in the wrong direction. So here is a challenge for the city. How to deal with these low-level crimes that are so widely and uniformly felt by so many in this city.

Kyung Lah, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Before we go, the City of Lights is bringing back a light swim. After hundred years the River Seine which has long been inaccessible and inadvisable for a dip, will reopen to the public. This following an ambitions revitalization project ahead of next year's Olympics. Officials are building a new underground reservoir designed to take the river off duty, as a runoff storage in times of heavy rain. And that means a newly cleaned river. Mostly free of wastewater, (INAUDIBLE).

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "WORLD SPORT" with Amanda is up next.

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