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Wildfire Rage in Parts of Greece, Southern Italy; Climate Extremes Bring Dire Warning; More Israeli Reservists Have Asked to End Service; Former U.S. Marine Released in Russia Injured in Ukraine; State of Emergency in Ecuador's Prisons; Wildfires Burn in Southern Europe, North Africa; Typhoon Doksuri Weakening as it Nears Taiwan; Chinese Foreign Minister Replaced; Remember Those Lost During Korean War 1950-1953; Cashlinq Aiming to Make Business Easier in Africa; Philippines Stun Co-Host New Zealand with 1-0 Win. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 26, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:33]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Global impact, a threat to a crucial ocean current that include climate warnings as wildfires and extreme temperatures continue to scorch parts of Europe.
Not backing down. Israeli government continues on with its controversial judicial overhaul plans as protests spread to hospitals and the military.
And a standoff in Ecuador's prisons has ended. But not without tragedy.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Wildfires are scorching some of Europe's hottest tourist destinations. Out of control blazes are burning in parts of Italy and Greece. And the weather is only making things worse.
In Sicily this week temperatures reached 47 degrees Celsius or 178 degrees Fahrenheit, creating a prime environment for wildfires. More than 40 of them broke out in the southern Italian island on Monday night including one at a landfill that produced poisonous fumes. More than 1500 people have evacuated. But that brings danger of its own.
Harrowing journey on a road flanked by flames. And an airport on Sicily was forced to close earlier Tuesday after wildfires came dangerously close to the tarmac. It's now operating with major delays.
Greece's prime minister says firefighters are working 24 hours a day to contain the blaze on the island of Rhodes, Corfu and Evia. He says the dire situation will likely get worse thanks to rising temperatures, strong winds and drought conditions. Two Greek Air Force officers died when their plane crashed while conducting a firefighting operation earlier. Let's get started now with Elinda Labropoulou joining us live from
Athens.
This is said to be another hot day there in Greece. Temperatures approaching somewhere close to 48 degrees in parts. So how is this all playing into what is already a weeks-long emergency?
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: It's going to be a very hot day in Athens and overall in Greece today. We expect this to be the last day of a protracted heat wave that's been going on for nearly two weeks now and has caused all these fires that we've been experiencing in Greece.
Where I'm standing now, the port of Rafina is the closest point to the island of Evia, which is one of the main fires that's still raging. It is also the island where two officers died trying to put out the flames in the fire in an aircraft that crashed yesterday, causing the defense minister to call three days of mourning.
People in Greece are following the fires very closely. At the moment, we understand that the biggest problems remain in roads. It's a very touristy island where thousands of people were at the time the fires began just over a week ago over 20,000 people have been evacuated. Some have gone to other islands. Some are being repatriated back home.
The many fronts burning on the island of Corfu as well. The Greek prime minister has said that the country is at war with the fires and has said that it's going to be a very difficult summer ahead. Meanwhile, we expect these difficult conditions to continue throughout the day. Strong winds in the area.
And of course, you know, the question for everyone, John, here is what happens after these blazes are out. You know, what's going to happen the rest of the summer, and also what does this mean for the tourism industry which amounts for about 25 percent of GDP increase?
VAUSE: There's also the situation where just last week they thought they had these fires, especially around the capital of Athens, they thought they had them under control, but then the strong winds returned. They picked up and these fires were once again out of control.
Is there concern that, you know, a similar situation is set, you know, for just another few days here now, maybe another week away?
LABROPOULOU: Absolutely. I mean, what firefighters have been telling us is that very much, you know, in the day, in the daytime where there is the ability to, you know, have a wider operation, the fires are contained. But at night, obviously they rekindle, fanned by strong winds. They become incredibly difficult to control. So in a way, you know, every day is like a new day as far as this progress that's made overnight during the daytime is lost overnight. We expect temperatures to start dropping tomorrow and possibly for up to a week.
[01:05:04]
And we hope that this will provide some breathing space in order for these fires to be finally put out, John.
VAUSE: Elinda Labropoulou, it's been a long time. It's good to see there reporting live from Athens. Thank you so much.
The climate crisis is taking a grim toll on coral reefs on the coast of Florida. Water temperatures have risen above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 38 degrees Celsius. Experts say multiple reefs around the Florida Keys are completely bleached and could be dead within a week. The director of the Florida Aquarium says it's a lot like all the trees in the rainforest dying.
Meanwhile, a new study in the "Journal of Nature" predicts the collapse of a vital ocean current system as early as 2025. A catastrophic event that would impact everyone on the planet. Scientists say the currents help regulate global weather patterns and their collapse would mean more extreme storms and rising sea levels in the United States and in Europe.
Joining us now from Oxnard in California, Ben Kirtman, professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School.
Professor, thank you for being with us.
BEN KIRTMAN, PROFESSOR OF ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: Thanks for having me on the show.
VAUSE: OK. So at Manatee Bay in Florida, water temperature, five feet deep or just over one and a half meters deep, it was 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit, 38.4 degrees Celsius. So let's sort of (INAUDIBLE) this down to the most basic of terms, make this easy and relatable for everyone to try and understand.
When it comes to hot tubs, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warns hot tub water temperatures should never exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit. A temperature of 100 degrees is considered safe for a healthy adult. Soaking in water above 102 degrees Fahrenheit can cause fetal damage to the first three months of pregnancy.
If a hot tub with water above 100 degrees is bad for your health, what's the impact, you know, on the entire planet when ocean temperatures are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit?
KIRTMAN: Well, these high temperatures are pretty localized to the Florida coast at the moment. Those really high temperatures. But they are going to have a very big impact on coral reef health. The largest coral reef track on the east coast of the United States is off the coast of Florida, and I would expect in the near term some serious bleaching and that of course has cascading effects and affects the whole ecosystem all the way up to tourism and fish production, and all of those important things. So in the next six months or so we're going to see some negative impacts for sure.
VAUSE: We also heard from Professor Elliot Jacobson, a climate researcher who was our guest yesterday here. He X-eeted or X-ed out or a tweeted out a graph. And what it shows is North Atlantic Sea surface temperature. For every July 24th of every year, from 1982 until this past Monday, same day every year, and as you can see in this graph, it's an app-produced spiking graph but, boy, you know, when we get to 2023 it spikes up a lot.
You know, and up until this point, it seems all the indicators have shown what is a distinct warming trend. Temperatures climbing at a steady pace but now suddenly everything seems to be spiking way out of sync. It feels almost like we've reached some kind of tipping point here. How do you see this? What's happening?
VAUSE: Yes. This is an excellent point. You know, normally when we break records, what you see is, you know, it goes up two-tenths of a degree or a tenth of a degree. There's very gradual changes when we break new records. But over the last six months or so, we've been breaking records at unbelievable rates. You know, some of the high temperatures that we just talked about off the coast of Florida, there was a five-degree Fahrenheit or increase in temperature or 2.5 degree Celsius increase in temperature.
The record we're breaking our just crazy. They're just wacky. We just haven't seen this in a very long time.
VAUSE: Yes, there's also, you know, more data out there. More bad news if you like. It warns that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current of which the Gulf Stream is a part could collapse around the middle of the century. Even as early, you know, as 2025 which is a year and a half away. You know, if you don't realize. You know, and these currents work like a global conveyor belt, transporting warm water from the tropics towards the North Atlantic where the water cools, become salty, then it sinks deep into the ocean before spreading southwards.
You know, it plays this crucial role in regulating global weather patterns. So if this analysis of the collapse, you know, of the timeline is a lot sooner than previously thought, if it does happen within that time period, what happens, what we experience, and can it be reversed?
KIRTMAN: So what that recent study is arguing is it's looking at what are the early warning signs. Are there early warning signs of a collapse in this Atlantic Meridional Overturning circulation? And what they argued based on the warning signs that they detect based on their statistical analysis is that instead of beyond the end of the century, there are some early warning signs that the collapse could happen anywhere between 2025 and 2095.
[01:10:09]
So it's a big window. And there is a lot of uncertainties in those estimates. So I'm not so sure that, you know, in a couple of year and a half we're going to see this huge collapse of the Meridional Overturning Circulation. I think that's still pretty unlikely. But I think it's important to note that at every turn, and we've seen things happen more rapidly than we've predicted. So, you know, climate change is happening more quickly than we had anticipated across the board. Now what happens if this overturning circulation collapses? Well, it's
just a critical modulator of a climate in the northern part of the northern atmosphere. It's just an enormous modulated time, so you can expect a lot more extreme events. Extreme cold and extreme heat. You can see ice sheets doing strange things. So it has a really important modulator and controller of our whole climate system. And when it collapses we see big changes when you look back in the historical record going back as far as you can.
So a collapse would be very bad. And we hope that doesn't happen in this 2025 to 2095 timeframe. Can we stop it? I think the answer is yes. But that requires us to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. We need to be at net zero greenhouse gas emissions much sooner than we had anticipated. 2030, 2035 is what we should be targeting.
VAUSE: Every climate scientist, every expert says we have to reduce the emissions full stop, as soon as we can. That's the only way out of this it seems.
KIRTMAN: Absolutely.
VAUSE: Professor, thank you for your time. Much appreciated.
KIRTMAN: My pleasure.
VAUSE: Israel's stock market continues to plummet. The Israel shekel is at a three-year low. Morgan Stanley has downgraded the country's sovereign credit rating to dislike. Protests continue in the streets. Thousands of reservists are refusing to report for duty, posing a threat to national security.
Between widespread international condemnation, and still Israel's far- right coalition government is warning they've only just started with their attempt to weaken the authority of the Supreme Court. The legislation which passed with the Knesset Monday has also sparked multiple legal challenges with the potential for a constitutional crisis.
What happens if the high court strikes down a law intended to reduce the court's authority to overrule government laws?
Here is the Israeli minister for Strategic Affairs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON DERMER, ISRAELI MINISTER OF STRATEGIC AFFAIRS: I have no idea whether or not the Supreme Court would make such a decision. It would seem to me a very strange decision for the Supreme Court to make. To put it in American terms imagine that Congress has passed a constitutional amendment.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Would you -- we're almost out of time, sir. So would the government heed that ruling, yes or no?
DERMER: The government will always obey and abide by the rule of law in Israel because we have in Israel the rule of law. What we don't have is the rule of judges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more now on how the protests by Israeli army reservists over the judicial overhaul and why it's threatening national security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As protests continue to grip Israel among those taking to the streets many military reservists. Angry at the Netanyahu government's moves to weaken the country's Supreme Court. Even some who are just getting ready to serve saying they feel alienated.
(On-camera): What do you think this means for the Israeli army? Because there's so much division right now in society and then unity is so important for the defense of Israel.
ETHAN LAZAL, PROTESTER: We want to serve the values of the country. And not some prime minister. That's what we want. We need to have a democratic country if we want to serve in this army.
PLEITGEN: Both men and women perform mandatory military service in Israel and many later continue as often highly skilled reservists. Crucial for a small country under constant threat. But now around 10,000 reservists have vowed to refuse service saying they believe the judicial overhaul would undermine democracy and the balance of power.
RON SCHERF, ISRAELI RESERVIST: This is a very sad day for me. I'm volunteering for 23 years already, the reserve army only. All my life volunteering and fighting for Israel. We feel we're doing the right thing. And that we are fighting for the democracy of Israel.
YIFTACH GOLOV, ISRAELI RESERVIST: Stop the madness. Stop the destruction of the army to make sure that Israel will remain a democracy.
PLEITGEN: The move led to backlash from both the military leadership and the government. The chief of staff pleading with the reservists.
LT. GEN. HERZI HALEVI, CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (through translator): Even those who have made a decision with a heavy heart not to report, the IDF needs you.
PLEITGEN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu critical of the dissenters.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We all know that the Israeli Defense Forces rely on dedicated reservists who love the country. The call for refusal harms the security of all the citizens of the country.
[01:15:07]
PLEITGEN: Concerns about the future of Israel's military are so grave even opposition politicians fighting hard against Netanyahu's efforts to curtail the Supreme Court's powers are calling on the reservists to reconsider.
BENNY GANTZ, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): Even in this very difficult hour, I call upon my brothers who are serving and volunteering. Continue to guard our safety, our security. Give us a strong country to be able to amend things.
PLEITGEN: But many Israelis are clearly not betting on politicians amending things. Instead taking to the streets to voice their anger.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now live from Nataf in Israel just outside Jerusalem, Dahlia Scheindlin, political analyst and fellow at the Century Foundation.
Dahlia, thank you for getting up early. We appreciate your time.
DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: OK, so as far as Israel's minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, is concerned, all those people protesting, all those businesses which have closed their doors, all those doctors and nurses who went on strike on Tuesday, all the international condemnation is just overreaction. Here he is, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DERMER: I think there are fears that the opposition and many of the protesters have. I personally think those fears are unfounded and I think they're going to see as we move forward with this reform that many of the concerns that they have are not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: If that really is true, if he truly honestly believes that then why brand this legislation through the Knesset with a four-seat majority, 64 to zero, without any kind of broad support from the country, without any kind of negotiation to prove to the opposition groups that there's nothing to worry about?
SCHEINDLIN: I can't explain what's going on inside the minister's head. But I think it's very clear that this government knows that it may have limited time. Most governments in Israel do not last four years, and this government also knows that its 64-seat majority out of 120 parliamentary seats in a way was a mathematical, not exactly an error but a close call because, you know, the calculations of votes to mandates mean that this government actually got just about half the votes.
So they know that they have limited time in which to pass a very ambitious series of reforms to essentially allow the executive to control the judiciary. That is the overriding aim of these reforms. They want to do as much and as fast as possible. They also have other policy agendas, including expanding Israel's control over the West Bank, et cetera. And, you know, I think that they can say what they want in terms of what will or won't happen, but trust us, I don't think bad things will happen is not the normal approach to institutional protections for democracy.
And I think that that's why the citizens are afraid. I think this government will try to move ahead with other pieces of their reform. It is essentially their signature policy. In fact the government has had a difficult time doing very much else during the seven months it's been in power because it's been so focused on this one issue.
VAUSE: Yes. Trust me, everything will be fine rarely holds water especially in Israel, with an Israeli government. At the same time, a number of organizations from the Israeli Bar Association, to rights groups, you know, now challenging this law and they're appealing to the Supreme Court. So the court takes the case. And if it decides it has the authority to overturn a law which takes its authority away, you know, in countries with a constitution that's called a constitutional crisis.
Is it possible to have a constitutional crisis in a country which doesn't actually have a written constitution?
SCHEINDLIN: The simple answer is yes. Israel has constitutional law and constitutional principles. We have a Constitution Law and Justice Committee in the Knesset. And that's because, you know, we have to try to at least, you know, run the country by virtue of laws and then higher principles. But of course it gets murky because even our basic laws which are a bit of the quasi-constitution we have are not well- defined. In fact they're not defined at all.
They can pass by a regular parliamentary plurality. They can be overturned by a regular parliamentary plurality unless they are specifically entrenched and even in that case they require 61 members of the Knesset to be overturned. So they're very weak. Can the court rule on them? Yes, the courts has asserted its authority to rule on Israeli legislation, and basic laws count. However, the legitimacy that the court might have or not have for doing so is very tenuous.
The court has heard cases with relation to basic laws in the past, specifically challenges to the 2018 Nation State Law which was very controversial because many people felt that that is a law that entrenches inequality in Israel and privileges for Jews. The court, you know, rejected the petitions in that case but the right-wing which supported the Nation State Law was furious, and said that the court should never have had the authority even to hear a case about a basic law.
So I can only imagine that the court is well aware, that should it actually strike down an amendment to the basic law of the judiciary, the one that was passed two days ago which severely limits the court's power to review executive decisions.
[01:20:02] If the court were to strike that down, it would certainly cause a furor among the right and absolutely it would be a constitutional crisis and a social and political crisis.
VAUSE: Just as this law came in with a far-right wing, you know, and some say extremist right-wing coalition government, if that government is voted out of power at some point, in the near future, we know Israel loves to have elections, and let's say, you know, the opposition wins a solid majority, surely they can repeal all of these laws. Is that not the case?
SCHEINDLIN: There are a lot of ifs before you get there. First of all, the opposition such as it is, is very unified over opposing this legislation. But they're not unified over much else. That's why we had an opposition government, now we would call it an opposition government in a way, from 2021 to 2022 that could barely hold together and contain eight different parties. It fell apart ideologically even though they had a few core things unifying members.
There's no guarantee that elections even if the current coalition would not win that the opposition could form a government. If they could, yes, they can absolutely overturn this law. They had vowed to do so. But I think we have to take into account that under the banner of this law the government can make a whole series of changes that are not so easy to reverse. And that's why many people feel there is irreversible damage.
I'm not even talking about the social crisis, and in fact, you know, senior military officials are already saying the damage to the army because of the movements of refusal will take years to undo. Economists talk about years' worth of economic damage that will have to undo. But even at the political level, specifically the fact that the Supreme Court cannot review government executive actions is likely to influence government appointments.
The government can make a whole series of appointments now, of political cronies in all levels of government including professional levels that, you know, should be independent professionals appointed to those positions. That can significantly change the nature of civil service in Israel, politicized civil service in various levels of the government. And that would take ages to undo even as if the law is quickly overturned.
So I think we have to look at -- we have to understand that, you know, the government has been trying to say this is just one small law. You'll see it won't change anything. I think the ramifications are -- the consequences are very, very profound.
VAUSE: Dahlia Scheindlin, thank you so much for being with us. This story is not going to go away for anytime soon, so I hope you can come back and talk to us again sometime.
SCHEINDLIN: I hope so.
VAUSE: Thank you.
SCHEINDLIN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, the U.S. is warning Iran is helping Russia build a drone stockpile, orders of magnitude larger than its previous arsenal. Analysts from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency say Tehran is aiding in the construction of a new drone manufacturing facility, nearly 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow. They believe Russia has depleted its stockpile of more than 400 drones Iran provided for its war in Ukraine, and say when the new factory is completed likely early next year, new drones could have a significant impact on the battlefield. Iran for its part flatly denies providing drones to Russia during the war.
Ukraine says its military advancing towards the Russian held city of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the war's most intense fighting, certainly the longest battle we've seen. Both Russian and Ukrainian sources report heavy fighting in villages on the outskirts of Bakhmut. Ukraine's deputy defense minister claims Russian losses have outnumbered those of Ukraine by a ratio of eight or nine to one.
Ukrainian military has been trying to encircle the city, but acknowledges the situation is more difficult north of Bakhmut. Meantime, they have made further gains on the southern battlefront near the cities Berdiansk and Melitopol.
The U.S. secretary of state insists negotiations to free two Americans detained in Russia will not be impacted by revelations that previously freed American Trevor Reed was fighting against Russian forces in Ukraine. But as CNN's Alex Marquardt reports, there's quite concern that Reed's fighting on the battlefield might complicate efforts to bring his fellow Americans home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: American former Marine Trevor Reed has been injured while fighting here in Ukraine. We're told that he was taken to Kyiv for medical treatment before then being evacuated to Germany by an NGO. He is in Germany, we are told, being treated at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, that is a U.S. Military medical facility near the Ramstein Air Base.
There are lots of questions about Reed's situation here in Ukraine. How long he had been fighting in Ukraine, how he was injured, where in the country he was, and what unit he was fighting with. Now the Biden administration says that they are aware that Reed had been here and that he is now being treated in Germany. But they are making clear that Reed should not have been here. Americans have been told since the beginning of this war not to come to Ukraine. U.S. officials saying that Reed was not engaged in any activities on behalf of the U.S. government.
Now Reed had been in custody, in prison in Russia for three years from 2019 to 2022. He was, according to the U.S. government, wrongfully detained. He was then exchanged in April of last year for a Russian pilot named Konstantin Yaroshenko who had been convicted on drug smuggling charges.
[01:25:05]
The question now is to what extent Reed's presence in Ukraine, fighting against Russian troops, could complicate the fates of Americans who are still being held in Russia. Notably, Paul Whelan and the "Wall Street Journal's" Evan Gershkovich. When CNN asked a U.S. official whether that is of concern to the Biden administration, the official told CNN of course.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Odessa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come on CNN, Ecuador's president declares a state of emergency in the prison system amid rising violence. We'll bring you the latest on the clashes. And later this hour, South Korean veteran of the Korean War shares memories of his battles 70 years after the conflict ended.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: A standoff in a prison in Ecuador has ended with the release of more than 100 prison employees who had been held hostage. Now the president has declared a state of emergency in the nation's prison system to make sure a crisis like that does not happen again.
Stefano Pozzebon has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Violence continue to rage inside Educator's prisons on Tuesday. The country's attorney general confirmed that dozens of people have been killed in recent days in clashes among inmates inside the Litoral prison in Guayaquil, which is Ecuador's second largest city and its economic powerhouse. Several more have been injured including a police officer.
The president, Guillermo Lasso, has declared a state of emergency across the entire penitentiary system for 60 days, seeking to regain control of the prisons which in Ecuador often seem to be run by the inmates themselves. The state of emergency allows police and the armed forces to be deployed inside the cells. And shortly after the expedition of the decree, the prison service has confirmed that 106 prison guards who had been held hostages by the inmates across at least five prisons in the country where finally being released.
Authorities blame international criminal organizations who are fighting for control of drug trafficking routes to be the cause of the violence. While the security situation is causing concern among the population, according to a recent poll, crime is the biggest worry for Ecuadorians ahead of lack of jobs or the economic crisis. And the country is holding its general election on August 20th.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, Typhon Doksuri is moving on from the Philippines and the second landfall in southern China is likely in the coming days. We're checking the storm, the very latest, after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:32:19]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Some of the most popular tourist destinations in southern Europe are threatened by wildfires burning out of control. Italy, Greece, even parts of North Africa are among them.
CNN's Nada Bashir has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The night sky over Sicily illuminated by flames. A devastating series of wildfires spreading across parts of the Italian island. At one point, even bringing Palermo Airport to a standstill.
Europe's southern coast has been gripped by wildfires for days. On the Greek island of Corfu, more than 2,000 people have so far have been forced to evacuate. Teams from Turkey, Croatia and Egypt have even been flown to help tackle the relentless blaze.
On the Greek island of Evia, no end to the tragedy. A Canadian firefighting plane crashed on Tuesday, with two people on board. And on roads where fires have been raging for a week now, residents scramble to find safety.
ARTEMIS PAPAVASILLOU, RESIDENT: We evacuated the village. Now, some houses are on fire. Then, we came down here. We don't know what to do.
LANAI KARPATAKI, RESIDENT: It's very, very bad, The situation. We need help. Send us help from everywhere.
BASHIR: But it's not just Europe that is feeling the heat. In Algeria, dozens of people have been killed as a result of wildfires across 16 provinces in the country.
Local officials say more than 8,000 firefighters are working to contain the spread of the fires. But across the border in Tunisia, smoke fills the sky as both emergency teams and residents do whatever they can to stop the blaze from scorching more land.
Parts of North Africa and the Mediterranean have already exceeded 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, over the last week. Temperatures which, according to experts, would have been virtually impossible without human induced climate change.
In a new report, the World Weather Attribution Initiative says extreme heat events are expected to worsen in both severity and frequency, unless the world rapidly stops burning fossil fuels.
One lead researcher even warning that this year's sweltering temperatures could be considered cool in the future. This, as E.U. officials warn that wildfires are becoming the new normal with heat waves across Europe growing even longer and more intense with each passing year.
Nada Bashir, CNN -- Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:35:01]
VAUSE: Typhoon Doksuri has made -- has now turned deadly with one person killed after making landfall on Tuesday in the Philippines.
Since then Doksuri has started to weaken and is heading towards Taiwan.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking both the typhoon and he has also more on the extreme heat wave in Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Heat indices off the charts, in the 150 degrees Fahrenheit. We are talking well into plus 60 degrees C with these heat indexes right along some of these warmer bodies of water.
But Rome you're going to cool down. The high only 31 on Thursday. Athens, you have a couple more days of warm. Still some hot there. Still today we'll go to 42.
But here's what happened around the Philippines. A super typhoon that kind of made landfall in the northern part of the Philippines, in the islands between the Philippines and Taiwan as a typhoon, 220 kph. Doksuri -- different name Egay if you talk to the people there in the Philippines. Sometimes these storms do get different names in different places.
But there is the storm and it will eventually move right on shore into parts of mainland China.
So yes, a 220 kph landfall and still moving off to the west. The water is still warm enough to keep this going for a while, but it's not going to be the bigger storm as it was just 24 hours ago.
Still we have that signal 4 across parts of northern Luzon island there, and that's going to continue until the storm moves off into the west and into the colder waters where the wind speeds go down as well.
We'll still get an awful lot of rainfall in Taiwan, an awful lot of rainfall there in Luzon, likely, likely, flash flooding, landslides, mudslides, and possibly even the loss of life. We're going to see so much rainfall, almost a half a meter of rain with this storm. As it finally moves onshore later in the day tomorrow and into the weekend with still heavy rainfall in China, for many more days to come. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: More than 50 pilot whales have died after being stranded on a remote beach in western Australia. Those are images as they gathered on Tuesday before the beaching.
Officials are working to try and rescue dozens of remaining whales that are still alive. (INAUDIBLE) say they've had hundreds of offers to help from volunteers.
China's foreign minister has been mysteriously missing for a month and now he's out of a job. Beijing announced that Qin Gang has been sacked from his high-profile post, replaced by China's top diplomatic adviser, Wang Yi. It is a fall from grace for Qin, the man who recently was one of President Xi Jinping most senior aides.
CNN's Will Ripley has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is the current situation with foreign minister Qin Gang?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no information to provide in regard to your question.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Out of sight for 30 days, questions circulating on his whereabouts.
China's foreign minister Qin Gang replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi. Rubber stamped by China's top decision-making body, a surprise shake up at the very top of China's diplomatic leadership.
A dramatic fall from grace for one of China's star diplomats as ambassador to the U.S., Qin was combative and controversial.
QIN GANG, FORMER CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER: We are fully justified to do what we must.
RIPLEY: Polarizing, persuasive, performing under pressure, A patriotic poster child of China's wolf warrior diplomacy. For an assertive new era under Xi Jinping, China's powerful president promoted his loyal aide to foreign minister last December. A meteoric rise making Qin, China's second most powerful diplomat. Darting around the world, welcoming allies and adversaries to Beijing, just last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Qin last known meeting was on June 25th, with Russia's deputy foreign minister. After that, he went missing for a month, absent from high- profile visits by top U.S. officials, Janet Yellen, John Kerry and most recently, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
DENG YUWEN, FORMER EDITOR, CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY NEWSPAPER (through translator): It is very rare for a senior Chinese diplomat who have gone missing more than 20 days ago. In my memory, that has never happened before. RIPLEY: China saying he was unable to attend meetings due to health
reasons. But even that official explanation later deleted from the Chinese foreign ministry Web site. The ministry often leaves out content it deemed sensitive from its transcripts.
Qin's public silence, also not mentioned in Chinese state media. Fueling intense speculation online. On Chinese social media one Weibo user said we can't guess what happened to him and now they're asking, is this how our wolf warriors end up?
China's diplomacy on a busy schedule, driven by a stream of high-level exchanges between Beijing and Washington.
YUWEN: The fact that the Chinese foreign minister disappeared at this particular time has created a lot of attention and discussions.
[01:40:00[
RIPLEY: China's authoritarian system centered around one man, Xi Jinping, China's most powerful leader in decades.
Few outsiders know what is on his mind, or what happened to his former foreign minister and what the future might hold.
Will Ripley, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: It's been 70 years since an armistice agreement was signed ending the fighting on the Korean Peninsula. Well North Korea's refers to Armistice Day as Victory Day. The Korean war has never officially actually ended.
For the past seven decade, the two Koreas have mostly honored the cease-fire signed July 27th 1953.
CNN's Paula Hancocks spoke to South Korean veteran who lived through one of the world's bloodiest battles in what is now the Demilitarized Zone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim Ja-soo walks among the tombstones of fallen comrades. Young lives cut short during the Korean War, more than two and a half million killed during the brutal three- year conflict.
KIM JAE SOO, KOREAN WAR VETERAN: Everyone was deployed and people were being sacrificed. And no one knew where the commander was.
HANCOCKS: Kim joined the military just before North Korea invaded its southern neighbor in 1950, a war that ended not in a peace ready, but an armistice on July 27th 1953.
Kim stayed in the military for 17 years. He says memories of the sheer number of dead bodies during the war has never left him. He recalls intense fighting at the Hill of the White Horse in 1952,
where Chinese troops supporting North Korea battled for control of the hill that now lies within the DMZ or the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas.
KIM: We always thought we would die. We could not thing about surviving or anything like that. We could not thing about going home. It was only about fighting. That was it.
HANCOCKS: The battle lasted ten days, killing thousands on all sides. Kim says all he could do for those who fell was to cover their bodies with the straw blankets.
Efforts continue to bring all those lost back home no matter which side they fought on. This ceremony was to repatriate remains of Chinese fighters.
The United States says they have just under 7,500 Americans still unaccounted for. North Korea's cooperation is sporadic at best. And dependent on relations with Seoul and Washington.
This monument in the U.N. cemetery is for those who were lost during the Korean War, but have yet to be found. There were 13 of these slates filled with the names of U.N. troops. And the inscription says it is for those who have no known grave.
CHUN IN-BUM, FORMER SOUTH KOREAN ARMY GENERAL: It really brings to heart that during the tragedies of war, there were some really great things such as sacrifice from individuals.
HANCOCKS: Soldiers from 21 countries fought in South Korea's defense when the war broke out 73 years ago, those who fought and survived are shrinking in numbers making their memories all the more precious.
Kim pays tribute to soldiers from all over the world in a poem he wrote. Saying he is alive today because of them.
KIM: Silent mountains and streams, don't you also hold pain? Sleep well, my comrade. Let's meet again, ride the white horse and fly over Baekma mountain.
HANCOCKS: Paula Hancocks, CNN -- Pusan, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Short break. When we come back, an update on the condition of Bronny James, teenage son of NBA superstar Lebron James. His son is now recovering from a cardiac arrest.
[01:43:45]
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VAUSE: Financial technology, or fintech, is a growing industry seeking to make traditional finance easier for both consumers and businesses. One company in Zimbabwe is taking smaller focus for issues specific to Africa with a home-grown system designed uniquely for African businesses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TENDAI ELVIS MUGOVI, CEO, CASHLINQ: Fintech is very important for the future of the continent, because in a continent where majority of the people are living under poverty, fintech offers one easy way to transform the lives of people in the shortest period of time.
My name is Tendai Elvis Mugovi. I am the CEO and co-founder of Cashlinq. Cashlinq platform is used to power a variety of fintech services such as digital only banks, (INAUDIBLE) wallets, fintechs in various spaces such as the peer to peer payments, savings, lendings, and remittances.
Cashlinq is different from other companies and markets because it is a system that was developed from the ground up with African realities in mind.
The African market is different to the rest of the banking sectors across the world in two main areas. One, the majority of our population have low disposable income. So the banking products that they should be given is very different from the rest of the world.
Second it's a very volatile market. Both the regulatory and in terms of the consumer markets.
KEVIN KALUWA, IT MANAGER, TELECASH: We had reservations using Cashlinq, speaking to a young team who are just starting off. It really takes a bit of courage from us to sort of entrust them with such a big task.
There are certain distinct advantage from having as vendor. We're very close to the market that we are operating in. but obviously they understand the market and they understand the changes that you would require.
MUGOVI: How can we bank those people who are struggling to get to $2 or $3? So you can do these traditional, same thing where you charge them $5 a month to just open an account. So I think Cashlinq enables people to really think not in a conventional way. In living in a continent where majority of the people live under serious poverty. I am motivated to do what I do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, please stay with us. We'll be right back.
[01:48:37]
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VAUSE: Bronny James, the highly touted 18-year-old son of NBA superstar Lebron James is said to be in a stable condition a day after suffering a cardiac arrest during a college basketball practice.
It's a frightening turn of events for the father and son who's longed dreamed of playing side by side in the NBA.
CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Hall of Famer and his family rallying around their son. Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, is in stable condition and out of the ICU after suffering cardiac arrest Monday during a practice at USC where he's been slated to play this coming season.
The James family in a statement saying they send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.
DAVE ZIRIN, SPORTS EDITOR, THE NATION MAGAZINE: What happened to Bronny James is beyond shocking, partially because we've seen him grow up.
TODD: Bronny James has spent his entire life around his father and the NBA. Observers say LeBron James has been a devoted father, dedicated to nurturing both his sons' basketball dreams.
CARI CHAMPION, HOST, "THE CARI CHAMPION SHOW": We see this GOAT of our time, this once-in-a-lifetime generational player coaching AAU basketball tournaments during his off-season.
We've never seen it from the likes of a Michael Jordan or anyone else who has that same type of stature.
TODD: With only about a 20-year difference in age between them, LeBron James has talked openly, including to ESPN, about wanting to play on the same NBA team as Bronny if it can be arranged. Citing baseball stars Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. who briefly played together for the Seattle Mariners in the early 1990s.
LEBRON JAMES, ALL-STAR FORWARD, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Senior/Junior thing. That's -- that would be ideal for sure. Being with him, spending a full year with him in the same uniform, that would be -- that would be the icing on the cake.
TODD: Could Bronny James' health emergency derail those plans?
BEN GOLLIVER, NATIONAL NBA WRITER, WASHINGTON POST: I expect that he is going to be putting, you know, the family bonds in Bronny's health before anything else at this point.
You know, that being said, this isn't necessarily, as far as we know from the publicly available information, a career-ending situation.
TODD: It was just this past January that Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's heart stopped in the middle of a game after a collision. Hamlin was revived and is attempting to return to the NFL.
But similar cases have ended in tragedy. College basketball star Hank Gathers, who had an irregular heartbeat, collapsed during a televised game in March 1990, stopped breathing on the court and died. He was 23.
Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died at age 27 after suffering cardiac arrest during an offseason practice.
ZIRIN: Heart ailments reveal themselves in periods of physical stress. And the tragic odds are that this is going to be a part of sports in the future, just as it's been a part of sports in the past.
TODD: Analysts say the message to take from this is the importance of having trained medical staff with defibrillators and other equipment at the ready during practices as well as games.
Those were critical factors in saving the lives of Bronny James, Damar Hamlin, and Danish soccer star Christian Ericsson, who nearly died after suffering from cardiac arrest during a game at the European championships two years ago and is now back playing with Manchester United of the English Premier League.
Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For inter Miami, which is languishing in last place in the MLS East, Lionel Messi is proving to be quite, the game-changer. The Argentine legend led his club to a four-nil win over Atlanta United Tuesday. Messi scored two goals, assisted in another, that is after his game-winning extra goal in his debut match last week.
Meantime, fans hoping to purchase an Inter Miami kit with Messi's name on it will have to wait until October. Jersey maker Adidas says demand for the $160 dollar shirt is truly unprecedented.
Japan and Costa Rica facing off right now in the Women's World Cup, and a win for Japan will secure their spot in the knockouts. Same deal for Spain who take a Zambia in about 90 minutes.
Here's CNN's Don Riddell with a look at Tuesday's action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Tuesday at the Women's World Cup was historic, and there was no shortage of drama too. Let's begin with the Philippines, one of 8 teams making their first appearance in the tournament becoming the first of those sides to win a World Cup game.
And they really gate crashed the party, beating the co-host New Zealand with a first half goal from Sarina Bolden in Wellington. Look at that, what a feeling. What a moment for Bolden and her teammates.
[01:54:54]
RIDDELL: But New Zealand didn't take it lying down. They took the game to the Philippines, hitting the post there just after the hour mark and they had other chances too including a goal that was disallowed. But it just wasn't to be. So think about this. New Zealand needed 16 games to win for the first
time the World Cup and the Philippines did it at only the 2nd attempt which will explain their exuberant reaction at the final whistle. And these scenes on the field where replicated back home in Manila.
(CROWD CHEERING)
RIDDELL: Just wonderful, this was the scene at a shopping mall in the capital, as Filipinos all over the country celebrated an historic achievement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARINA BOLDEN, PHILIPPINES MIDFIELDER: I literally can't put it into words. This has been a dream of mine as a little kid to just be here at the World Cup let alone even score. So I couldn't have done it without my teammates, the staff, the fans, the Philippines as a whole.
It's just amazing right now to feel this win, and this energy in the stadium right now. So it's just amazing.
KATIE BOWEN, NEW ZEALAND: Obviously, it was pure elation against Norway. Feeling pretty down now, but there's still another game, so we can't rest on this for too long, we've got to pick ourselves up because we need to get 3 points in the next game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Elsewhere, another surprise as the Group A favorites Norway really laid it against Switzerland. Norway, a former world champion boasting some of the best players in the game.
But look at this scene from the pre-game huddle. You're looking at the former Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg (ph) returning to the locker room just before kickoff. The 6-time champions league winner, had warmed up and lined up for the anthem. But then she suddenly disappeared down the tunnel, having apparently suffered a groin injury.
Norway had lost their opening game and they really needed a result here. They had their chances but the Swiss goalie kept them at bay. Meaning that they had to settle for a goalless draw.
This Norway team has promised so much, but this is not the first time they struggled to deliver on the big stage, and their group table now makes pretty grim reading. They do still have a chance despite recording only one point from their first 2 games. Norway could still progress, anything could happen in this group. Everyone has a chance but Norway must beat the Philippines in their final game.
And in the other match on Tuesday, Colombia beat South Korea 2-0 meaning that we've now seen every team in action at least once.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Thank you Don Riddell.
I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM continues after a short break with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church. See you back here tomorrow.
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