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Netanyahu Plays Down Judicial Reform; Trump Facing New Felony Charges; July Now Hottest Month Ever; Interview with The Jerusalem Post Senior Columnist and Editor, The Jerusalem Post Former Editor-In- Chief, and "Shadow Strike" Author Yaakov Katz; Despite International Criticism, Army Supports Coup; Disastrous Effects from Regional Instability; Russia's War on Ukraine; Ukrainian Forces Move Forward Into Village in Region of Donetsk; Summit with African Leaders Launched by Putin; In Spite of Mutiny, Prigozhin Conducts Business at Putin Summit; North Korea Celebrates "Victory Day" with Military Parade; ECB Hikes Interest Rates to Combat Inflation; U.N. Chief: "The Era of Global Boiling has Arrived"; Remembering Sinead O'Connor. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired July 28, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Ahead here on "CNN Newsroom", just a minor change. Benjamin Netanyahu plays down his judicial reform, dismissing fears by hundreds of thousands of Israelis and experts and world leaders that democracy in Israel is under threat, saying, that's silly.

The twice indicted, twice impeached one term President Donald Trump facing three more felony charges for alleged mishandling of classified material.

And, also this.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL: The era of global warming has ended, the area -- era of global boiling has arrived.

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VAUSE: And we'll explain why the boil is baked in.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN center, this is "CNN Newsroom with John Vause."

VAUSE: Good to have you with us. We begin in Israel where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to test his controversial judicial reform law, which strips the Supreme Court of the authority to overturn government appointments, to reinstate a key political ally and convicted tax felon Aryeh Deri. Earlier this year, the court ruled that it was extremely unreasonable for Aryeh Deri to serve as a minister within Netanyahu's coalition government. But judicial law, which was narrowly passed by parliament on Monday, stripped the Supreme Court of that authority.

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VAUSE: Mass protests returned to Israel, Thursday, one day after that new law to effect. Thousands protesting in Tel Aviv. And during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the Israeli leader defended the new law as a minor correction and as he claims, the law would mean the downfall of Israel democracy which is silly.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In Israel, we have -- the Supreme Court has a lot of checks, but there are no balances. For example, on the court -- on the decision that we passed unreasonableness, understand what that is. It's like the court can nullify a decision, any decision by the government, by the executive, by saying it's unreasonable. Not because it's illegal, not because they're using other checks that they have, plenty of things they could do. They can nullify an appointment, like the Supreme Court would be able to nullify an appointment by President Biden.

Not by saying that there is a conflict of interest, that exists today in Israel. That it's under process, that existed in Israel. That it's not proportional, that exists in Israel. But just by saying that we don't think this appointment is reasonable. That doesn't exist in America, it doesn't exist in most democracies, not to this goal. And that's the minor correction that we made that is now called the end of democracy. If that's the end of democracy, there are no democracies because none of them have this.

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VAUSE: We'll have much more of the prime minister's interview coming up in the hours ahead here on CNN. In the meantime, CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the very latest, reporting in from Tel Aviv.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Israelis are once again taking to the streets. And as you can see, they are out in force and they certainly are being very loud. Now, one of the things that people have been telling us is that they believe that there is an extreme sense of urgency, certainly after that vote that happened in the Knesset, but also after the Supreme Court decided against an immediate injunction against the reasonableness act.

They also tell us that despite some of the things that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister has been saying, they believe that there is a serious threat to democracy here in this country. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government -- the coalition saying new laws breaks the constitutional framework of Israel and concentrate the power in single entity. The next step will be that they will -- there will be no fair elections. We have to stop them because they are ruining our democracy.

PLEITGEN: Now, one of the really remarkable things about the protest today is that, normally, these protests happen on the weekend, they happen on Saturdays. But now it's a Thursday and people are still coming out by the thousands. And that's because they say they've had a really tough week with that vote that happened in the Knesset. And they believe that by and by the government is trying to push the judicial overhaul through.

Now, I was able to speak to one of the people who is very active here in this movement, a former member of the Knesset, and here's what she had to say.

STAV SHAFFIR, FORMER KNESSET MEMBER: It's our home. And Israel is based on an enormous dream to be a home for Jewish people and be a true democratic home for all of our citizens, Jews and Arabs. And that dream is now under threat from our own government. So, people are not going to go home. They're not going to shut up. They're going to fight.

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PLEITGEN: So, as you can see here on the streets in Tel Aviv, a big sense of urgency and the folks here are saying they are going to keep coming out until they see results. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tel Aviv.

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VAUSE: Live from Jerusalem now, Yaakov Katz, senior columnist with "The Jerusalem Post. Good to see you. Welcome back.

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST AND EDITOR, THE JERUSALEM POST, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE JERUSALEM POST, AND AUTHOR, "SHADOW STRIKE": Thank you. John

VAUSE: So, has Netanyahu, kind of, thrown down the gauntlet here, in a way, with the Supreme Court saying, you know, he is going to reappoint this convicted tax felon, Aryeh Deri, to a senior government position? He's appointment was earlier struck down by the Supreme Court saying, it was very unreasonable for him to be in that position of authority because, you know, of his recent criminal charges on tax charges. So, it seems that we are heading for this confrontation whether we like it or not.

KATZ: Look, one of the reasons that Netanyahu and his coalition passed this bill that will take away the reasonableness clause or grounds from the Supreme Court was basically to be able to reappoint Aryeh Deri, who's longtime ally of Netanyahu, and he's party is inside the coalition but he hasn't been able to sit inside the cabinet or the security cabinet for that matter because of the earlier Supreme Court decision due to Aryeh Deri's double conviction as a criminal convict, basically. Once for bribery, another time more recently for tax evasion.

This will allow him to be reappointed to the cabinet. But I think it's bigger, right? The prime minister tries to talk about this like he did with Wolf Blitzer as a minor correction to democracy. He referred in a different interview to the protesters, as you mentioned, as being silly. But Israelis know because of how this was rolled out in January as just one piece of a much larger package that this law might not be the end of democracy. But if they continue with a full package, that could definitely spell a very dramatic change to Israel's democracy.

VAUSE: And that's the point because, you know, Netanyahu may not want to move forward with this and there is some debate whether he wanted to put this all, you know, to one side and just forget about it and move on. But those who basically decide his fate within that coalition government, those very far right-wing and, you know, religious part of the coalition, they want the rest of this package to go forward and this is just the beginning. So, when the prime minister comes out and says, oh, it's just a minor tweak, you know, that seems to be incredibly disingenuous at best.

Katz: Yes. Well, you're a hundred percent right, John, in your analysis here that the prime minister doesn't want this, right? He might have wanted it in the beginning, maybe it would have been to help his corruption trial. Let's remember that he himself is standing trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. So, it could be that some of the corrections originally, or changes that they wanted to do with, for example, how we appoint our Supreme Court justices, which is in the meantime been shelved, that might have potentially helped his trial.

But after the big eruption of these protests just a few months ago, five or six months ago, he realized let's put this to bed. This is not in my interest. But his partners in the coalition, those very extreme far-right partners, they want this for ideological reasons. They want this because they really want to see the balance in Israel. The balance between the judiciary and the legislature and the executive branch. They want to see that change.

And Netanyahu is something of a hostage to them because Israel's government is the system, you are a coalition system. And if you do not give your partners what they want, they always have the potential to bring down your government. And because of his trial, once again, he wants to stay prime minister. So, he needs to keep this government in place so he could stay prime minister, continue to fight his trial from the seat of prime minister but that means, he also has to keep on giving these partners what they want.

VAUSE: Very quickly, are you concerned when Benjamin Netanyahu would not go down the road, would not go down commit to being -- you know, to abide by a Supreme Court decision which may strike down this law, he wouldn't go there?

KATZ: Look, I saw what he said to Wolf where he wasn't willing to commit to abiding by the law if the -- by abiding by a Supreme Court decision if they strike down this law. That would be a whole new low for Prime Minister Netanyahu. Until now, he's been -- his rhetoric has been maybe a little aggressive, but he's always held by Supreme Court decisions. He's always been a man who's respected the rule of law in Israel. If that were not to happen, these protests that he might have called silly, John, they will turn into something a lot bigger than we've ever seen here in Israel.

VAUSE: Yaakov Katz, as always, great to have you with us, sir. Thank you for the early shift.

KATZ: Thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you. Take care.

Add three more charges to the list of felony counts from U.S. President Donald Trump is facing. That brings the total from two indictments to 69. The new counts relate to the mishandling of classified material, which was recovered from Trump's Florida country club last year. Special Counsel Jack Smith accuses Trump of telling a Mar-a-Lago employee to delete security camera footage to prevent it from being seen by a federal grand jury.

Prosecutors have added Carlos de Oliveira as a defendant, alleging he lied to the FBI when he claimed he did not help move boxes around the resort.

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Prosecutors have also added a charge against Trump for willfully retaining a top-secret document behind the plans for a military attack on Iran, that's under the Espionage Act. They say he displayed the document to biographers at his New Jersey golf club in 2021 after he left the presidency.

Ron Brownstein is a CNN Senior Legal Analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic." He joins me now from Los Angeles. It's good to see you, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST AND SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: Hi John.

VAUSE: What seems incredible is the timeline here in this indictment. I was going through some of it very quickly. June 22nd, 2022, Justice Department e-mails Trump's lawyers with a draft of a grand jury subpoena demanding security video from Mar-a-Lago. The next day, Trump allegedly speaks with Carlos de Oliveira for approximately 24 minutes. We don't know what they say. June 27th, Oliveira meets another Trump employee in Florida asking how long the server stores video footage, allegedly advised him, the boss wants the server deleted.

You know, the obstruction of justice allegations were pretty damning before this. This seems to be a whole new level. So, in terms of cover ups, you know, if this is true, does this make Watergate, kind of, look quaint, even timid?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think Watergate stands on its own as a pretty substantial, you know, threat to the country, but yes. I mean, you know, I -- many of the legal experts who have, you know, responded to this case from the beginning have pointed out that the potential indictment around January 6th may be more consequential, may be more weighty, may get more to the heart of the threat that Trump posed and poses to American democracy.

But this could be a very straightforward case. Both on the obstruction side and both on the retention of the documents. Of course, in the new count of showing the war plans to unauthorized -- I mean, he is on tape in that incident, and of course, later he's pointed (ph) there actually was no document, it appears from this that there was.

There's enormous legal risk for him here. You know, the trial may be pushed back to next May. But the allegations and the behavior that are outlined in these indictments, I think, will leave him in a very difficult position.

VAUSE: You mentioned that tape with Donald Trump waving around documents about a war plan for Iraq. Here's part of it.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I was just saying, because we're talking about it, and he, you know, he said, he wanted to attack Iran, and what -- these are the papers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said you did. It's proof. It's proof, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.

TRUMP: This was done by the military and given to me. Uh, I think that we can probably, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. We'll have to see. Yes, we'll have to try to --

TRUMP: Declassify it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- figure out a -- yes.

TRUMP: See, as president I could have declassified it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

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VAUSE: He being, Mark Milley, the, you know, most senior military officer in the United States.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I --

VAUSE: Yes. And, you know, so his presumably is part of the, you know, indictment which is under the felony count which is covered by the Espionage Act for alleged possession of war plans or illegally retaining national defense information. What is getting -- which is so -- in striking about, is brazen to -- it's hard to understand what -- did Trump not know the law? Did he not care about the law? I -- what are your thoughts --

BROWNSTEIN: I think --

VAUSE: -- on how it's played out?

BROWNSTEIN: His language implies much more not caring about the law, because what's especially damning about that tape is him saying that he could have declassified it as president, you know, which suggests, obviously, that he didn't, and undermines his claim that he could be classified documents just by thinking about it. He obviously was not think -- he obviously had not reached that conclusion at that moment. And he goes on to show it anyway and to wave it around anyway.

And so, like, the behavior here is so reckless that, again, it may be the easiest for the public to grasp in the end. You know, these other potential indictments from Jack Smith about January 6th and trying to overturn the election, and potentially from Georgia about trying to overturn the election, these are truly momentous events that are hurdling towards us. But they will be difficult legal cases. I think, most of the, you know, experts point out this could be a very different set of circumstances for the president where there is just enormous evidence and is -- there are very clear, you know, yes or no questions that he is on the wrong side of on the basis of all the available evidence.

VAUSE: It's a good point you make this very clear cut. It's very easy to understand, especially for the public, and maybe even for the, you know, MAGA Republicans. It does not seem to be getting through to a lot of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, at least not yet. Listen to this.

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SEN. CYNTHIA LUMMIS (R-WY): The more indictments that are brought against him, the stronger he gets.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): What's happened so far certainly hasn't seem to affect his support.

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): To think that these indictments drive more people to Donald Trump's side than they do the other way around.

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VAUSE: The one thing that I don't understand, if these indictments are being driven by politics, by Democrats and the Biden administration. And as I say, Trump's popularly goes up every time he's indicted, which is, kind of, is true. Why would Democrats keep doing it?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, the -- you know, view among Republicans is that they believe that Democrats have included that Trump is the easiest person to beat in the general election, and thus they are trying to strength him in the primary so they can get him as their preferred opponent in, you know, in the fall 2024.

And in fact, there is a, you know, a kind of divergence here. I mean, there's no question that much of the Republican electorate has bought his argument that they are going after me because I am defending you and that this is all a politicized, and it was pulling out this week from this project of Bright Line Watch which is a collaboration or a consortium of political scientists.

You know, only a quarter of Republicans think he violated the law in the classified documents case, and its half of that who think he violated the law either on January 6th or on his part to overturn the election. But we do know from other polling, consistently in the spring and particularly several polls that have been done by NPR, PBS, Marist that a majority -- a significant majority of everyone who is not a Republican believes he should not be president again if he is convicted of a crime.

And so, there is this risk to Republicans that what is strengthening him in the primary is potentially weakening him in the general, leaving them with the worst of both worlds.

VAUSE: Ron Brownstein, it's great to have you with us. This story keeps on going on and we'll talk to you again soon. Thank you, sir.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Well, chaotic scenes in Niger as the country's military has given its support to the ongoing coup. It appears they're not alone. Pro-military protesters set fires around party (ph) headquarters of the ousted president on Thursday. The military has suspended all activities of political parties, it's warning against foreign intervention, and says it supports the coup in hopes of preventing bloodshed in maintaining peoples' well-being. Here is what one protester had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are protesting to show our support to the military who just put an end, I would say, to the rule of the seventh republic. Yesterday, we saw the march of those supporting the president. But I am sorry, today the real Niger has come out on the streets. I am ready to support the military even if I have to risk my life.

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VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Larry Madowo.

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LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Events escalating fast in Niger, and especially in the capital Niamey where, on Thursday, pro-military protesters hit the streets. They set the party headquarters of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on fire, set some cars on fire. And we even saw a Russian flag in the crowd. We heard some people shout, La Russie, Russia. It's too early to tell but that's an interesting point because after the coup in neighboring Burkina Faso, we also saw a Russian flag in the streets there.

The Wagner group affiliated Russia is active in parts of the region, in Mali, especially the Central African Republic. But the location of President Mohamed Bazoum is not clear. He was being detained by the presidential guard in the presidential palace. The U.N. secretary general says he has spoken to him. The head of the Afghan Union has spoken to him. And there's calls for him to be released but so far, he's not been seen in public. Here's the U.N. secretary general talking about the situation in Niger.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL: You have military regimes in Mali, in Burkina Faso. Now, eventually, in Niger. A fragile transition in charge, and a horrible situation in Sudan. So, we are witnessing that the whole belt, South of the Sahara, is becoming an extremely problematic area with terrible consequences for their populations and with terrible consequences for peace and stability in the African continent and further afield.

MADOWO: Niger has been critical for the international communities while (ph) the Sahel strategy as the region, especially in Mali and Burkina Faso fight jihadist insurgency there. The U.S. has about 1,000 troops stationed there for the counterterrorism operations, according to U.S. officials. And France has about 2,500 troop stationed in Niger and in Chad.

This new military man in charge of the country say, there want no foreign interference. And in fact, the military said that any foreign military intervention will risk having disastrous and uncontrolled consequences. So, a big question about what happens in the days and weeks ahead, and if there is still a chance to return Niger back to a Democratic path. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

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VAUSE: The Ukrainian counteroffensive appears to be maintaining a momentum after kicking into high gear in recent days. New video shows Ukrainian troops falling into a village in the Donetsk region on Thursday, they had fought for weeks with the Russian forces to take control of this piece of territory. Russian appointed officials concede, the settlement is now in Ukrainian control.

And for the first-time, a Ukrainian military vehicle was recorded along Russian anti-tank ops field also known as Dragon's Teeth. The footage from Southern Ukraine shows the vehicle becoming stuck in a ditch but it suggested Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian forces behind this line of defense. Kyiv also says, it's continuing its slow- moving advance south of Bakhmut, but Ukraine says Russia is still fighting tooth and nail across much of the frontline, including with artillery as well as air strikes.

Meantime, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has kicked off his summit with African leaders in St. Petersburg on Thursday. He promised free grain to six African nations, that's after the Kremlin pulled out of the Black Sea grain initiative. But as CNN's Nic Robertson reports, the Russian mercenary leader who recently led a mutiny is openly doing business at the summit.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): In public, in Russia, Wagner affiliated accounts saying mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin openly greeting a delegate to President Putin's Africa Conference. The last time Prigozhin was seen in Russia was his mutiny to overthrow Putin's defense chiefs. He sent tanks and troops towards Moscow, a direct challenge to Putin's authority.

Putin accused his longtime henchman of betrayal, vowing severe and inevitable punishment. Prigozhin, backed down, reportedly cut a deal. He was last seen in Russia a month ago, seemingly headed for exile in Belarus. Yet, here he is, in public, in Russia, apparently on the periphery of Putin's biggest international conference since he invaded Ukraine. Hosting dozens of African nations.

Until his failed mutiny and apparent banishment to Belarus, Prigozhin wasn't just vital in the war in Ukraine, he was Putin's biggest off books overseas enforcer. Cutting deals with Kremlin friendly African leaders.

YEVGENY PRIGHOZIN, HEAD OF WAGNER PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANY: (Speaking in a foreign language).

ROBERTSON (voiceover): This week, in a voice note sent to an African broadcaster, Afrique Media, Prigozhin reportedly said Wagner is still in business in Africa. His only caveat, Wagner mustn't damage Russia's interests.

ROBERTSON: Whatever punishments have been forced on Prigozhin are far from clear. The British MOD say they are short of cash, selling Russian and international assets to pay his fighters. The CIA Director, Bill Burns, says that Prigozhin shows no intent on retiring, and far from a hard exile in Belarus, is able to move freely in and out of Russia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Prigozhin's first post mutiny appearance on camera seems to have come in Belarus last week. Now, he seems to be back in Russia, on Putin's doorstep. Hard to believe it could have happened without his old friend, the Russian president's say so. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

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VAUSE: First images now from North Korea with its latest military parade, part of a celebrations for what Pyongyang calls Victory Day, also known as Armistice Day which ended the fighting on the Korean Peninsula 70 years ago with a ceasefire. North Korea's prized Hwasong- 18 intercontinental ballistic missile, as well as other military hardware all wheeled into Kim Il Sung Square. The North putting on quite the show for a visiting high-level delegation from close allies from Russia and China. A very happy Kim Jong Un Europe's Central Bank has hiked interest rates hoping it would put a lid on inflation. Coming up, why the interest rates hikes are not working as well there as they are in the. U.S.? We'll have details on that in a moment.

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VAUSE: The European Central Bank has gone wobbly on further interest rate hikes, saying they may happen, they may go on hold, but they definitely will not be cut, that's after raising the benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.75 percent on Thursday. The ninth consecutive increase follows a similar rate hike by the U.S. Fed a day earlier.

European banks are now setting aside cash for potential losses on dud loans. Barclays, who's at $1.2 billion in the first half of this year to cover possible defaults, doubled the amount for the same period last year.

Joining me now from New York, Rana Foroohar, CNN Global Economic Analyst and global business columnist and associate editor for the "Financial Times." It's good to see you.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST AND GLOBAL BUSINESS COLUMNIST AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Great to see you, as always.

VAUSE: OK. So, remember not long ago, last time we chatted, well, awhile back, we were talking about how great the Eurozone was doing especially compared to the U.S.? Well, ovua to those days. First quarter, the Eurozone had negative economic growth, while the U.S. had revised upwards two percent. June unemployment 6.5 percent for the Eurozone, compared to three percent for the United States. And June inflation, 5.5 percent versus three percent for the United States.

So, there's a lot of other indicators in the Eurozone which show economic activity is slowing. And the language from the ECB seems to be less aggressive on rate hikes. So, what is happening in Europe? Why are those rate hikes being less affected in bringing down inflation while also, at the same time, being a much bigger break on the economy?

FOROOHAR: So, I think a few things. You know, if you think about the things -- you know, there are many reasons inflation has been rising globally but a couple of them are energy hikes and food prices. And Europe is actually close to the, sort of, ground zero with some of those problems than the U.S. is.

Europe has a lot of problems in its energy sector in terms of where it gets energy from. It was obviously much more impacted by the war in Ukraine that way. Same again with food shortages and we've seen, you know, more ripples in that arena recently, you know, with some of the loss of the Ukrainian grain. One of the things that I've been watching closely, you've seen more evidence of corporate price gouging in Europe, actually, in recent months, than you have in the U.S. And frankly, I'm not sure what that's about. But I know policymakers have been watching it closely.

So, Europe is just, kind of, in a perfect storm. It doesn't have the consumer demand of the U.S. but it has some of the inflationary factors. And so, I think you're just seeing a dimmer picture there.

VAUSE: And the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, had this outlook for inflation. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT: The development since our last meeting support our expectation that inflation will drop further over the remainder of the year, but will stay above target for an extended period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But a senior columnist with Commerce Bank noted, core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices inched down only slightly, suggesting that underlying inflation has plateaued.

So, either it's plateaued or it's falling almost at an incremental pace. So, with the slowing economic growth, it would seem the ECB has kind of painted themselves in a bit of a corner here, not a lot of options. And the really tricky part is, how do you kill inflation without killing the economy? It's not all, sort of, beast is rearing its head.

FOROOHAR: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, that's been the debate everywhere, certainly it's been the debate in the U.S. recently. Interestingly, the U.S. seems like it may actually, sort of, pull off that Goldilocks picture of being able to have rate hikes without a recession.

[00:30:00]

Europe does not look like it is going to be able to do that. I think Europe is also stuck in the middle of a lot of problematic global trends, right? You know, we've got the U.S. and China decoupling, derisking, however you want to, you know, you speak about it. Europe is stuck in all of that. You know, Europe doesn't have some of the big tech giants. We've done so well in recent years, technically since the pandemic with everything moving digital. It's in a tough spot at the moment.

And I think also from a policy standpoint, there is not a lot of cohesion. Different European nations have different views on where the continent should be going at the moment.

VAUSE: And so, if the U.S. does end up in a recession and if China's economy continues to struggle from all those COVID era restrictions, what happens to the U.S.? FOROOHAR: Well, the U.S. is in an interesting spot. I've got to tell you, John, I would not have predicted the U.S. economy would be so robust at the moment. And you could pick any handful of indicators and say, we are going to have a great next three to six months, or we are going to have a lousy next three to six months. You know, you still got a pretty tight job market. You still got a big consumer savings cushion, relatively. It's been run down some in recent months, but it's still better than in past periods, you know, at the sort of the moment in this cycle.

On the other hand, you've got corporate defaults rising. You've got interest rates, you know, as they pullback just exposing weakness wherever it is, geographically, sectorally. I think that the U.S. consumers is still the consumer globally of last resort. I don't think that we're going to see a hard landing in the next three or six months. But, you know, I'm willing to be proven wrong.

VAUSE: Very rarely, Rana. Very rarely. It's so good --

FOROOHAR: From your ears, John.

VAUSE: It's so great --

FOROOHAR: From yours to my ears.

VAUSE: It's so great to see you. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

FOROOHAR: Good to see you.

VAUSE: It's been a miserable long hot summer in the northern hemisphere. And even if all -- if we stop producing all carbon emissions right now, at this moment in time, no more, not ever again, the heat is here to stay. Find out why after the break.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. More people get their news from CNN than any other news source.

VAUSE: For weeks now, temperatures have been soaring in many places across the northern hemisphere. So hot, climate scientists say this month is set to be the hottest in human history. The hottest in human history. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres says, the time has come for world leaders to actually, you know, lead.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTERRES: Climate change is here. It is terrifying and it is just the beginning. The era of global warming has ended. The area -- era of global boiling has arrived.

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VAUSE: The U.N. scientists say, human caused climate change is the main driver of recent heat waves. With global air temperatures rising in proportions in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are in the atmosphere, the amount of carbon pollution.

Slight easing of Italy's heat wave is giving firefighters a much- needed break, but in the south of the country, (INAUDIBLE) on a medium alert, with temperatures expected to rise again this weekend. To these firefighters who are working to contain another wildfire on Croatia's, Adriatic Coast, the second this week. And in Greece, fires still burning in hard-to-reach mountains around Rhodes. Greece's fire department says more than 500 wildfires have erupted across the country just this year. The prime minister says, something's got to be done.

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KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The climate crisis may be a reality, but it cannot be an excuse. Our country ought to take more steps to be ready to mitigate as much as possible of the effects of reality that we are already starting to feel.

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VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Jomana Karadsheh.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many of these spires we've seen ranging over the past 10 days or so in Southern Europe and North Africa, for the most part, they seem to be under control right now, this, of course, is relative. There are new fires in different countries that keep cropping up.

In Greece, the focus has really shifted to fires on the mainland. Small fires in central Greece and near Athens. And the concern is the strong winds that are fanning the flames. So, authorities there are continuing to monitor these and trying to put out these fires. On the Greek Island of Rhodes, that's been one of the hardest hit by these ferocious fires, they are still battling the flames. But the situation appears to have really improved, but the damage, death and destruction left by these fires is just heartbreaking.

One of Greece's top experts is telling us today that this is the most destruction from forest fires in the month of July Greece has seen since 2010. In Rhodes, they estimate that 10 percent of land there has been destroyed. Absolutely devastating. And the worry, of course, that this is far from over. There are still weeks to go, weeks ahead of what is on track to be the hottest summer ever recorded.

And we've heard the warnings that these prolonged and extreme and intense heat waves that create the conditions for these wildfires to spread -- this is the new normal. Following the release today of this report by the E.U.'s Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization announcing that July is set to be the hottest month ever recorded. And almost certainly, they say, the warmest in human history. We heard from the U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, these really strong words and stark warnings, saying that the era of global boiling has arrived. Climate change is here. It is terrifying, and this is just the beginning, he says. But he says, it is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and to avoid the very worst of climate change but that can only happen with dramatic, immediate climate actions. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

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VAUSE: New research shows the rising temperatures of the oceans are changing the behavior of sharks. Many are now being seen in what was once considered colder regions of the planet. Warmer temperatures are making their digestive system less sufficient, which means they then eat a whole lot more, and that can have an impact on the entire food chain. Sharks are among the most endangered marine animals on the planted, almost 40 percent of the world's shark species are threatened with extinction, mostly because of overfishing.

Still ahead, the latest on the death of Irish singer Sinead O'Connor. What the O'Connor is now requiring.

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RANDY MEISNER, FOUNDING MEMBER OF EAGLES: So, put me on a highway. Show me a sign. Take it to the limit one more time.

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VAUSE: Legendary rock band the Eagles announced the death of founding member, Randy Meisner. He wrote and sang lead on their 1975 hit, "Take It to the Limit", co-wrote many more of the songs of the group. Meisner contributed to the albums "Desperado", "On the Border", "One of These Nights" and "Hotel California." The Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 1988. The band says, Meisner due to complications from the breathing disorder COPD and he was 77years old.

Fans are also paying tribute to the late Irish singer and songwriter, Sinead O'Connor, who died this week, age 56. Leaving flowers and souvenirs at her former home in the seaside town of Bray, Ireland. One fan wrote simply, incomparable. No medical cause of death has been made public. Police say, her death is not being treated as suspicious. A coroner, though, has ordered an autopsy with results several weeks away. At that point, an inquest may be required. Sinead O'Connor had been open about her struggles with mental health as well as addiction.

Singer and actress Demi Lovato has revealed she's still dealing with physical issues after her overdose back in 2018.

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DEMI LOVATO, SINGER AND ACTRESS: Oh, why do I compare myself to everyone? And I always got my finger on the self-destruct. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Lovato says, she no longer drives because after the overdose, she had hearing and vision loss which causes blind spots. But in a recent interview, she said she has no regrets. She says, the impairments are a constant reminder to stay on the right path. She says, she wishes someone told her if that if you just hit with that pain, it passes. Good advice.

Thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom." I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. World Sport is up next. And then it will be back with the top of the hour about 18, 17 minutes away. I had to check. See you then.

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