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Russian President Promises Free Grain to Six African Countries after the Black Sea Grain Deal Exit; Israeli PM tells CNN that the Judicial Reform Law is a Minor Correction; U.N. Chief Warns of a Growing Regional Instability following the Coup in Niger; Wildfires now erupting in the Puglia region in Italy; North Korea paraded Military Equipment to mark Victory Day; Nigeria stunned co-host Australia at the Women's World Cup. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 28, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And a very warm welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Paula Newton, ahead right here on "CNN Newsroom."
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcoming African leaders to St. Petersburg as war rages in Ukraine. We'll look at how he's trying to win their support while easing their fears over lost grain shipments.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to CNN in response to the protests surrounding his controversial judicial reform plan. We'll have a live report as well from Tel Aviv.
And Former U.S. President Trump now facing more charges in connection with classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Details on that and the latest person targeted in that investigation.
Day two of Russia's summit with African leaders is due to get underway at this hour in St. Petersburg. Now, President Vladimir Putin is trying to ease the concerns of countries losing out on grain shipments now that Moscow has pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine. Now, he's promising free Russian food supplies for six countries.
Mr. Putin says Russia is still a reliable source of food to Africa and a key partner in what he calls a new multipolar world.
Meantime, a number of African leaders say they want to discuss their plans for ending the war in Ukraine. Now, we're getting word, in fact, as well, of an alleged Ukrainian drone attack near the Russian capital. The Russian Defense Ministry says one drone was shot down in the Moscow region overnight without causing damage or casualties. CNN cannot independently confirm that report.
Meantime, the Ukrainian counteroffensive is keeping up the momentum. After kicking into higher gear in recent days, a new video shows Ukrainian troops rolling into a village in the Donetsk region on Thursday after fighting for it for weeks.
And for the very first time, a Ukrainian military vehicle was recorded along Russian anti-tank obstacles known as Dragon's Teeth. You will see it there. Now, the footage from southern Ukraine shows the vehicle. It is getting stuck in a ditch. You see it right there. But it does suggest that Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian forces behind this line of defense.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is standing by live for us in London with all of that, but we want to begin with our senior international correspondent David McKenzie, who is in Johannesburg for us. And David, you'll be able to bring us this perspective that we need, really, from what African countries are dealing with here. I mean, Russia has sustained much criticism for breaking that grain deal. And yet these African leaders are still looking for more from Putin. What would that be?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, what they're looking for is assurances, different countries within the African continent, that the access to grain is not hampered by inflationary price pressure because of Russia pulling out of that deal.
Now, Vladimir Putin has put a positive spin on this. He says he will give a substantial amount of grain for free to at least six African countries. When the U.N. secretary-general was asked about that at the U.N. in New York, he said that you know, a handful of donations, as he put it, wouldn't counteract the dramatic impact of Russia pulling out of this deal.
Now, this deal was between Russia, Ukraine, brokered by Turkey and others to get grain out of Ukraine safely and onto the world markets. Putin, at this big Africa summit in St. Petersburg, has criticized the West, as he often does, for hypocrisy. He says that the grain was largely going to enrich, in his words, European companies, not African companies, but the impact on the price of grain is certainly being felt across the African continent and those leaders at that summit will want to get assurances from Putin.
And look at this image here. This is Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, with a very warm greeting of the Russian president arriving at that summit.
Now the relationship between South Africa and Russia has been under a microscope since the beginning of the conflict. Many Western diplomats have accused South Africa of saying they are not aligned, but acting as if they are supporting Russia.
We investigated whether it's money that's behind this policy initiative. [03:05:05]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): South Africa's policy on paper is non-alignment on the Ukraine wall. But its actions have deeply angered Western powers, consistently refusing to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the U.N. General Assembly.
In February, hosting naval war games with Russia and China on the anniversary of the start of the war, a powerful propaganda moment for Putin. And the U.S. ambassador publicly rebuked the government and ruling ANC, claiming there was intelligence showing weapons and ammunition loaded on a sanctioned cargo ship bound for Russia in December. It's now subject of a government inquiry.
REUBEN E. BRIGETY II, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH AFRICA: It's the observable gap between the rhetoric and the reality of a government's professed policy of non-alignment and neutrality.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): The question is why? We've traveled to the remote Kalahari. In this desert soil, a high- lucrative manganese belt used in making steel and the United Manganese of Kalahari mines or UMK. First revealed by non-profit investigators at Amabungani, UMK has deep financial ties to this man Victor Wechselberg, a Russian oligarch linked to Vladimir Putin and to South Africa.
Here he is in 2006 in Cape Town, The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Wechselberg in 2018 and again in 2022 for supporting Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Spanish authorities and the FBI seized his $90 million superyacht Tango.
Despite the sanctions, Wechselberg still holds an important interest in UMK, according to business records held in Cyprus. Another significant player, holding company Chancellor House, for years channeling funds to the ruling African National Congress.
According to publicly available declarations, since 2021, UMK and Chancellor House combined have contributed at least $2.9 million to the financially struggling ANC.
(on-camera): This is a highly lucrative operation and anti-corruption activists say that these alleged linkages pose serious questions. Is South Africa's policy towards Russia on the world stage influenced by money?
Is it possible that foreign policy also has a link to corruption or at the very least to a conflict of interest?
KARAM SINGH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORRUPTION WATCH: I think this is an increasing concern that we're now more alive to than ever before. That there could be foreign money from a Russian origin that comes into South Africa, that flows into different political coffers. And I think that could absolutely have an impact upon, you know, how South Africa takes positions on certain policies.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Substantial investment, preferential trade policies, and critical foreign aid from the U.S. and European Union are crucial to South Africa, the world's most unequal country, dwarfing Russia's contribution in both trade and aid.
STEVEN GRUZD, RUSSIA-AFRICA ANALYST, SAIIA: I think South Africa is playing a dangerous game here, and indeed sometimes politicians are putting the political party, the ANC before the needs of the citizens, because it just doesn't make sense to be so closely associated with Russia when the stakes are so high and there's so much at risk.
MCKENZIE (on-camera): And what does that risk for South Africa?
GRUZD: So it risks investment, it risks trade, it risks jobs, it risks economic growth, it risks the currency, it risks isolation from the West. I think there's a lot at stake here.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): A lot at stake for a country that there is much to lose.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (on-camera): Now Paula, we've reached out to the parties involved, Chancellor House, UMK and Wechselberg, Renova Group all deny any wrongdoing, any undue influence on the ANC or any sanctions violations. They said the party donations were above board, legal and without preconditions.
Now tellingly the ANC did not sit down for an interview or after multiple attempts refused to give us a statement. Later on today we'll have a more in-depth report on cnn.com. Paula?
NEWTON: Oh, and we'll wait for that report. Thanks so much, David. I Appreciate it.
Now we want to bring in our Salma Abdelaziz, who's in London now. We want to get back to what has been going on the ground in Ukraine. And I confess, going through reports of what's been happening on the front lines in several different locations, it is a bit confusing. Some experts have noted that Ukraine has made some gains, but how can we best describe the counteroffensive at this point?
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think very modest gains, Paula, is the best way to describe that. So far, of course, we're several months into this counteroffensive that was much delayed, much anticipated, and so far no major victories. And by that I mean that we have not seen Ukrainian forces truly break through Russian defensive positions and that's the key here. That's the aim here.
And why is that Paula? Well, there's a couple of complications challenges here, of course, that Ukrainian forces face. First of all is just the length of the front line I mean you are talking about hundreds of miles of battlefield that run from the north of the country down to the Bakhmut the Donetsk region all the way to the south Which is of course the focus for Ukrainian forces around the Zaporizhia region to stretch out Ukrainian troops across all of that, all of those many, many miles is, as you can imagine, an extreme strain on the country's resources.
You also, of course, have to remember air support. Russian forces have air support backing them, and some Ukrainian forces are describing some of these battlefields as hell-like, saying that they are being struck first by Russian artillery and then backed by Russian air power, by Russian helicopters dropping explosives on them. And then the other thing you have to remember of course is just as Ukraine has been preparing for this offensive for months, so has Russia.
Ukraine's defense minister recently admitting of course that they are behind schedule, but saying look, Russia has been digging in its defensive positions for a long time now. I know you brought up that video just before we spoke of the dragon's teeth. So these are Russian defensive positions to the south of Zaporizhzhya, where you see a Russian -- a Ukrainian tank, rather, there trying to break through. It gets stuck in a ditch.
What is significant about that is it appears to show that Ukrainian forces have been able to reach those defensive lines, but clearly not crossing them, not breaking them. And that's just in one small location, again, all along that huge battlefield.
Well, how does this play out? First of all, you're going to see Ukraine's strategy shift, not just from the immediate front lines, but to areas outside of the bounds of those front lines, if you will. Increased drone attacks on Moscow, increased covert attacks on Russian-occupied regions like Crimea or near Crimea.
You're also going to see Ukraine try to take out Russian supply lines. So take the city of Tamak, which is, again, a logistical hub for Russia near Crimea, Ukrainian forces have been pummeling that position for some time now, trying again to drain, to weaken Russian defensive positions.
But Russia's response to that is quite similar. Also, the Kremlin trying to take out areas outside of the bounds of the battlefield. I know we have those images to show you of President Zelenskyy just a couple of days ago, or just about a day ago, in Odessa surveying the damage from a Russian strike on Odessa there, that's a cathedral that was hit, and you're gonna continue to see those types of attacks, not just all along the front lines, but also outside the bounds of these front lines as these two fighting forces try to weaken each other.
NEWTON: Yeah, notable, that damage there in Odessa, especially as what the Ukrainian government won't let us see is a significant damage to the port. Salma Abdelaziz for us in London, thanks so much.
To Israel now, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is downplaying the country's new judicial reform law. That's what he calls a minor correction to the balance of power. But thousands of Israelis, they don't see it that way.
Mass demonstrations returned to Tel Aviv on Thursday, one day after a new law went into effect that sharply undermines the country's Supreme Court. And the Prime Minister is promising more reforms to come.
The Supreme Court declined to block the new law from taking effect but said it will review it in September. Now despite the protest, Israel's prime minister is defending the judicial changes he's pushed through.
Mr. Netanyahu spoke earlier with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and insisted the new rules will bring balance back to Israel's system of government. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: 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 on reasonableness. 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 that they could do. They can nullify an appointment.
It's like the Supreme Court would be able to nullify an appointment by President Biden, not by saying that there's a conflict of interest. That exists today in Israel that it's an undue process that exists today in Israel, that it's not proportional, that exists in Israel. But just by saying, we don't think this appointment is reasonable. That doesn't exist in America. It doesn't exist in most democracies, not to this scope.
[03:15:05]
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.
We've trimmed this reform. Let's tell the truth. We trimmed it. We've listened to the -- the concerns of the opposition and broad spectrum of the public. I think they're wrong in a lot of things, but I think they have points, important points. So we trimmed it down to a minor thing on reasonableness.
We're trying now to achieve -- I gave a push-to-pause button on the legislation, in which I had a majority, for three months, tried to negotiate with the opposition. They wouldn't agree to anything, even a minor change. But I'm not giving up. And I think the fact that we- that we won this particular round, I think maybe gives us the opportunity when they see that we have a majority to legislate without them, maybe we'll be able to legislate with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Elliot Gotkine joins us from Tel Aviv this hour, and you've been monitoring that interview along with us. You heard the prime minister. He won. But what's next for this law? And obviously all those Israelis who oppose it. We talk about this review in September by the Supreme Court, but can it be significant?
ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: It will be hugely significant. And yes, Netanyahu has won this battle, but he hasn't yet won the war. That, I suppose, will be decided by the Supreme Court. As for the people who are opposed to this, those protests will continue. We're expecting more mass protests tomorrow evening as well.
But of course, what happens now? We've got this review coming up in September. As of now, this new basic law on reasonableness that prevents the Supreme Court blocking appointments or decisions by government on the grounds of reasonableness, that is now law. It is now one of Israel's quasi-constitutional basic laws.
And in terms of the review, I suppose there are a couple of things that could happen. First of all, it could say, no, this law is perfectly fine. And then that would probably take a bit of the wind out of the sails of some of those protesters you see there on the streets.
However, it could, of course, strike down this law. Now, that is something it's never done. The Supreme Court in Israel has never before struck down one of Israel's quasi-constitutional basic laws.
So that would be very interesting to see. And Netanyahu, in that interview with Wolf Blitzer, did not directly answer the question as to whether his government would abide by a Supreme Court ruling that would strike down this new reasonableness bill. And as to Netanyahu's points comparing it with the United States, of course, in the U.S., President Biden's appointments, his Cabinet appointments and ambassadors, things like that, have to be approved by the Senate.
As for constitutional amendments, an amendment in the U.S., an amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or of two-thirds of the states, request one by convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three- fourths of the state legislatures or three-fourths of conventions called in each state for ratification.
Netanyahu has effectively made a constitutional amendment with a simple majority, 64 seats out of 120. So it's kind of comparing apples with oranges a bit. But for now, all eyes will be on September and what the Supreme Court does. And then if it does strike down that law, what this government's response will be. Paula?
NEWTON: Yeah, and if the Prime Minister wants to know how divisive is, he needs to look no further than the streets in Israel and see all the protests. I think what you've outlined to us in recent weeks, Elliot, if you can remind everyone again, how can this new law really change how Israel is governed? What kind of new powers could any Prime Minister, not just Netanyahu, have?
GOTKINE: Well, I'll give you a very specific example. And actually, Netanyahu was asked this in an interview with National Public Radio with NPR. So, for example, to most people who weren't kind of on the inside or very keen Israeli political watchers, this reasonableness concept really came to the fore earlier this year, when Netanyahu tried to appoint as minister Aryeh Derry. He heads up the religious Shas Party, which mainly represents Israeli Jews of Middle Eastern origin.
Now, Aryeh Derry has been convicted three times, most recently of tax fraud. Netanyahu wanted to make him a minister, but the Supreme Court said no, that wasn't reasonable. It said this was due to his backlog of criminal convictions and his failure to retire from public life as he said he would when being sentenced in the tax fraud case.
So the most immediate possibility of an impact of this law, and Netanyahu was asked about this and alluded to this and suggested that he would do this perhaps, is to reappoint Aryeh Derry as a minister because the Supreme Court would right now not be able to say you can't do that on the grounds of reasonableness. Paula?
NEWTON: Yeah, a very practical application there which may be tested in the coming months. Elliot, thanks so much again. I Appreciate it.
Now, Donald Trump's list of legal troubles just keeps getting longer. The special counsel has filed a slew of new charges against the former president in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents indictment.
CNN's senior legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, has those details.
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PAULA REID, CNN SR. LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: New charges and a new co-defendant for former President Trump in the criminal case alleging that he mishandled classified documents down at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Now, prosecutors have charged him with an additional count of willful retention of national defense information as well as two additional counts of obstruction, alleging that the former president and two of his employees attempted to destroy surveillance footage from Mar-a- Lago from the summer of 2022. That surveillance footage is really at the heart of this investigation.
It's key evidence for prosecutors as they try to put together where exactly classified materials were moved on the Mar-a-Lago property after the former president left office.
But we also know that witnesses have been asked if anyone tried to prevent them from getting all of that surveillance footage or if anyone tried to tamper with it or destroy it.
Now, according to the superseding indictment, two Trump employees wanted to destroy this surveillance footage because, quote, "the boss wanted it gone."
Now, the new charges were filed only against former President Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta, but they also added a new co- defendant, Carlos de Oliveira. He is a maintenance worker at Mar-a- Lago, and he has been seen on surveillance footage with Walt Nauta moving boxes that contain classified information, including one incident where they moved boxes out of a storage closet right before one of Trump's lawyers went to search that closet for classified documents.
Now, Carlos is represented by a lawyer who is paid for by a Trump- linked political action committee. His lawyer tonight had no comment, but they're both expected to appear in court next week.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NEWTON: Now Trump is denying all of the charges against him and in a statement a Trump spokesperson called the latest ones quote, "nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden crime family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him."
Niger's military and some protesters voiced their support for the coup in the West African country. We will have a live report from the region, next.
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NEWTON: Chaotic scenes in uncertain times in Niger as the country's military gives its support to the ongoing coup, and it appears they're not alone.
Pro-military protesters set fires around the party headquarters of the ousted president Thursday. The military has suspended all activities of political parties and is warning against foreign intervention. And it says it supports the coup in hopes of preventing bloodshed and maintaining, in its words, people's well-being.
[03:25:02]
CNN's Larry Madowo has been following all of these developments for us from Nairobi, and he joins us now. It is almost 8:30 in the morning in Niger, a new day and a week of pretty terrible turmoil. I mean, what are you expecting, and what more do we know about how Niger will be governed going forward, not to mention where the president is right now?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Paula, I think the only thing we can say is to expect the unexpected, because so far, since Wednesday, that's what's happened in Niger. How will the country be governed? We're going to have to wait and hear from these soldiers who took over the country. They're calling themselves the Council to safeguard the homeland.
And no one has been named leader yet. So there could be a transitional military council. Will they commit themselves, for instance, to a timeline to return to civilian rule or elections? We don't know. And then were also hearing this statement from the French foreign minister who said that this is not a complete coup yet. In fact, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum has spoken to President Emmanuel Macron of France on the phone. He's reachable, he's in good health. That's what the French foreign minister is saying.
There has been calls internationally from the U.N., from the African Union, from France, from lots of other international bodies, the economic community of West African states for his release and a return to that civilian rule. But we just don't know because these men have not said anything yet.
NEWTON: Yeah, and the people in Niger are obviously caught in the middle of all this. How is that impacting them? MADOWO: You mentioned these pro-military protests we saw on Thursday
outside the National Assembly. They set the party headquarters of President Mohamed Bazoum on fire. But that was in reaction on Wednesday to pro-democracy protesters that also showed up on the streets shortly after it was first reported that President Bazoum was being held in the presidential palace. So there is some support for the military here. There is also some support for the democratically elected government.
President Bazoum was the first time since 1960 that Niger had seen a peaceful democratic transfer of power. And it's important because it's part of a really unsafe neighborhood. This is something that the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres touched on in his remarks yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: You have military regimes in Mali, in Burkina Faso, now eventually in Niger, a fragile transition in Chad, and an 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: The Army Command has supported these soldiers that took over the country and they warned against any foreign military intervention saying it would have disastrous and uncontrolled consequences. Part of the anger here and some people feel that President Bazoum was an ally of the West, of France, and the U.S. and they want a different direction from that, Paula.
NEWTON: Yeah, I mean they talk about no foreign intervention. We'll see a foreign influence though, can perhaps, as you said, have a different complexion to whoever takes over in Niger right now. Larry Madowo for us, I know you'll continue to watch those developments throughout the day. I Appreciate it.
Still ahead for us, on alert across southern Italy, dozens of tourists evacuated as wildfires erupt near a popular tourist area, and millions across China are in the path of a powerful typhoon. We are tracking that storm.
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[03:30:00]
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton and you are watching "CNN Newsroom."
A new wildfire has erupted in southern Italy's Puglia region. CNN affiliate Sky24 reports about 100 people had to be evacuated from popular beaches on the Adriatic Sea. A slight break in the heat wave has brought some relief for firefighters, though authorities say fires in Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria are now 95 percent contained. The government is set to announce a state of emergency for several days other regions affected by extreme weather.
Our Nada Bashir is following developments from Rome now. Now you know Europe needs all the relief it can get and yet the forecast is still calling for pretty high temperatures through the weekend and into next week. I mean how are the firefighting resources holding up there?
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, Paula, it seems as though every time we hear that a fire has been contained, another one erupts across the Mediterranean, not least here in Italy, as you mentioned there, another fire yesterday erupting in Puglia.
Despite the fact that we have seen a break in the heat wave, we've seen temperatures dropping and the hope was that this would mark a shift in the situation in Italy's southern region. But of course, concerns are still high. We are still seeing strong winds, and that could lead to another devastating set of fires across the southern region.
But in Sicily which was deeply impacted earlier this week. Those fires have largely been contained. Those who were evacuated, thousands of them, have been told they can return home. And the alert level has been downgraded. But as you mentioned, there are still calls for a state of emergency to be put in place in numerous regions across southern Italy, many of these regions still putting in those requests that are still under consideration, according to the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
But of course, this is a reflection of what is happening across the Mediterranean in Greece. We are still seeing firefighters battling blazes across the country on the island of Rhodes, though it is largely impacting uninhabited forest areas. Those fires continue to rage on and of course that is impacting many residents there and tourists as well.
Meanwhile in Corfu, we know that this is largely controlled now at this stage, but we are learning about the devastating impact this has had on Rhodes. Researchers in Greece say that around 10 percent of its land has now been destroyed by this latest forest fire.
We heard from the Greek Prime Minister speaking yesterday saying that the country needs to get better at preparing for these situations and tackling these extreme heat events. And of course, we did see that really worrying concerning data yesterday released by the E.U.'s Copernicus Climate Change Service. And I'll just walk you through a few of the key points out of that report.
July already set to be the hottest month on record before the month has even ended. Every day since July 3rd has been hotter than the records set in 2016. And almost every month this year has been in the top five, the hottest on record. Real warning signs there. We're hearing from experts saying this is
going to become the new normal, that we need to do more to prepare for these situations. In the coming years, these extreme heat events are not only going to become more frequent, but also more severe. Paula.
NEWTON: Yeah, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, saying we've surpassed the warming time period. It's now the boiling era for Earth. The really worrying facts and figures there. Nada Bashir for us in Rome, thanks so much.
Now, record high temperatures aren't just unpleasant. We don't have to remind you they can be incredibly dangerous. And the problem is made even worse when you add stifling humidity into that mix.
Eleni Giokos has a story now from a very steamy Abu Dhabi.
[03:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Around the world, countries are facing extreme heat waves. China posted an all-time high temperature of 126 degrees Fahrenheit in July, while parts of Europe are nudging towards 120 Fahrenheit.
The U.S. southwest also sweltering in 110-degree-plus temperatures. And really feeling the heat has been parts of the Middle East. The region is well used to scorching summers.
(on-camera): On a normal day in summer in the Gulf, the heat makes you feel like you're an egg in a hot pan. It is absolutely sizzling, but we adapt. We mostly stay indoors. But when you do step outside, the heat and the humidity hits you.
(voice-over): That humidity is the real problem. Scientists were alarmed when a heat index of 152 Fahrenheit was observed at the Persian Gulf International Airport in Iran because the air was saturated with so much water vapor.
Essentially, the heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body taking humidity into account. This combination of high heat and humidity can quickly become deadly. Our bodies have their own natural cooling system. Heat can escape through convection and radiation, but only when the air temperature is lower than our bodies. Sweating is then our only option. The water evaporating from our skin cools us down. However, humidity can get in the way of this.
(on-camera): It is so humid that I need to wipe down the lens. It is just after 8 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. My hygrometer says we're sitting above 35 degrees Celsius. Humidity at 61 percent. It's showing so much water vapor in the air. The real feel temperature is sitting at around 48 degrees Celsius. Now, at this kind of humidity, sweat or any kind of water will not evaporate from the skin.
I want to show you. I'm just spraying some water on my skin right now. this water isn't going anywhere anytime soon. A cold glass of water much needed in this heat, the hot air holds so much water vapor that as soon as it touches the cold glass, it immediately starts to condense. And this is where it becomes tricky. Your body's inability to release sweat and for that to evaporate so that you can cool down.
(voice-over): Heat indices of 160 degrees Fahrenheit are widely considered the upper threshold of what humans can endure for not more than a few hours, though recent studies suggest the true threshold may be even lower. The body attempts to cool itself down by dilating vessels and upping the heart rate. This can lead to organ damage or heat stroke. So while people are struggling with heat already, a few extra degrees and humid conditions could be even more deadly.
Eleni Giokos, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Officials in Mexico, meantime, say heat waves gripping that country have killed 249 people in the past four months. Most of the deaths were due to heat stroke and the rest were due to dehydration. The government also reported more than 3,000 cases of people getting sick from those high temperatures.
Typhoon Doksuri has made landfall in southeastern China, bringing torrential rain and winds approaching 175 kilometers per hour. The storm's whipped up huge waves sending them crashing into the shore. Earlier the typhoon caused major flooding in Taiwan. In the Philippines, at least 39 people were killed, including dozens on an overcrowded boat that capsized in strong winds.
CNN's Chad Myers reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Pictures out of the Philippines right now. Obviously significant flooding from the typhoon. The typhoon that was 220 KPH as it made landfall just on the northern islands there of the Philippines. An awful lot of tree damage, limbs damaged, all the way power lines down. This was a very big rainmaker as well.
Look at all the places where 600 millimeters or more. That's more than a foot and a half of rainfall that came down just from that storm. Numbers still coming up from Taiwan because it's still raining. I suspect, probably get much higher numbers there. Most of the damage and the likely landslides and mudslides will be on the east side of Taiwan. That's not the highly populated area. But where does this go now?
Well, it does go into a highly populated area and that is mainland China. There are millions and millions of people in the way of this storm and it's still going to be about 110 kph well inland with an awful lot of rainfall coming down. There it goes on up to the north. But here's something else.
That's the next storm. That's the next likely typhoon that is right now just developing in the water, well to the east of Tacloban there in the Philippines. And this is going to note just a little bit farther to the north, likely to the north of Taiwan.
[03:40:07]
But notice right there, that's Okinawa at 205 kilometers per hour. And then the next stop would be very close to Shanghai. This could obviously go left or right. There's no question about that, that this storm could waver one way or the other because it really isn't even done fully developing yet. But we're already getting damage out of the Philippines and I suspect we'll likely get more pictures soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Our thanks to Chad Myers there.
Now North Korea is bringing out the big missiles for its best friends. Details on this latest show of force and who the North is trying to impress.
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NEWTON: A military parade capped off the festivities from what North Korea calls Victory Day. Now the rest of the world knows it as the anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the fighting on the Korean Peninsula, if not the war. That was 70 years ago this week. But the North used the occasion to roll out its most powerful missiles into the main square in Pyongyang. Guests of honor were high-level delegations from both China and Russia. And the Russians brought a special message from President Vladimir Putin,
CNN's Marc Stewart is following this lie from Tokyo. It wasn't just the message, right? It was the defense minister himself. Now, look, Marc, we're very used to these expressions of grandeur during these military parades, but the political purpose here really has echoes of the Cold War, right?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Paula, as you well know, this is very much according to script. North Korea looks for these moments to make these symbolic shows of power. This parade is no exception. In fact, we saw a whole arsenal of military apparatus. We saw tanks, we saw missiles, but we also saw what are being described as drones by state media.
One type of drone that can do reconnaissance work, another that is being described as a multi-purpose attack drone. And again, this comes at a time when North Korea has the attention not only of its citizens, but also delegations from China and from Russia have been there over the last 48 hours.
You did allude to the presence of Russia. In fact, a speech was given by Vladimir Putin. Not clear if this was something that was delivered on video or just written copy. But he does basically thank North Korea for their support of its efforts in Ukraine saying that these two nations are almost ripe to confront the rest of the Western world because of this mutual support. So these are some of the messages that we have been hearing over the last 24 hours coming from North Korea.
[03:45:01]
Paula, I should also point out this is coming at a time when there is tension within this whole region. In fact, in recent days, we have seen a United States submarine in some of the ports of South Korea, a submarine that has nuclear capability. It is obviously drawing some condemnation from North Korea.
In fact, within the last few hours, we've been going through some remarks from North Korea's defense minister, who gave a rather bellicose speech talking about stability in the region and with a message directly targeted toward South Korea, toward Japan, toward the United States. We're going through those remarks. Hopefully get some context to all of that. And once we do, we'll certainly pass that along, Paula.
NEWTON: Yeah, and we will wait to hear more on that, especially at this point in time when North Korea remains emboldened, especially now gaining more support from China and Russia just in the last few days. Marc Stewart for us in Tokyo. Good to see you.
Anthony Rinna, senior editor, Sino-NK and is a specialist on Korea- Russia relations and he joins us now from Sejong City in South Korea. Really good to have you on the show. You know what seems pretty clear is that North Korea has a lot to gain from this alliance but I think what is really a more interesting question is what about Russia? I mean these pictures that we've been seeing are so notable but with everything going on in Ukraine you actually have Shoigu front and center in North Korea. Why?
ANTHONY RINNA, SR. EDITOR, SINO-NK: Well, excuse me. I think the biggest reason why is because what we have to remember about Russia, especially from a geographical position, is it's a very -- it's a vastly expansive country. It spans 11 time zones and Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, you know, despite the fact that they know themselves are so geographically disparate, they are on opposite ends of the Russian landmass.
And these, both of these points from a geopolitical perspective, they actually represent or constitute weak points for Russia. Russia's influence in Ukraine has always been a lot stronger, obviously, than it has been over the Korean Peninsula.
But if you take Russian geography as a whole, Russia has obviously felt sort of boxed in or felt that its geopolitical space has been encroached on by NATO for, you know, at least during the Cold War and then especially thereafter. Whereas with the Korean Peninsula, Russia and the Soviet Union before that had always felt that way, you know, ever since the 1950, 1953 conflict with the stationing of U.S. forces in Korea and Japan.
So the way I see it personally is I feel that by trying to shore up ties with North Korea, Russia's actually trying to secure both ends of its periphery, its eastern end and its western end. The war in Ukraine, of course, being a, you know, most unfortunate result of Russia's perception of encroachment or its perception of vulnerability in that regard.
But then, you know, the Korean peninsula I think is something that we also can't, you know, we can't neglect, especially given the fact that North Korea, for its own reasons, has been, has just been unabashed, absolutely 100 percent supportive of Russia's full-scale invasion.
NEWTON: Right. But I also, I also think if you look at that eastern flank, and Russia obviously does share a border with North Korea, we're talking about what could be a very menacing nuclear-armed state at one point in time. You'd think that wasn't something that was in Russia's interest?
RINNA: Yes, and that's long been part of the Russian narrative that, you know, they don't want the DPRK to acquire nuclear weapons, that they want something, whether it be disarmament or, you know, recently it's been more of a focus on arms control.
But especially with the revisions in North Korea's nuclear doctrine towards the end of last year, when you look at Russia's reaction towards that, Russia's reaction was largely one of, you know, this is a done deal, it was somewhat inevitable, and in all cases, whether it was, you know, supporting some sort of an arms control regime with North Korea or even more recently, this sort of pass-aid attitude, or at least a more acquiescing attitude, as it were, it's there, the subtext has always been to blame the United States.
So I feel that the Korean Peninsula has always been sort of a secondary, but still very real geopolitical theater in Russia-U.S. tensions.
[03:50:02]
And you're absolutely right. And that does beg the question, now, especially with Shoigu showing up at this exhibition and, you know, seeing these, you know, these weapons, will we see a fundamental shift in Russia's attitude? And, you know, if that's the case, if they end up understands fundamentally, then all that will really do, you know, for policymakers in the West will show that Russia was never really sincere about its desire for stability on the Korean Peninsula in the first place.
NEWTON: Right. And that this may serve their interests in terms of especially what's going on in Ukraine right now. Anthony Rinna, we'll have to leave it there for now. Thanks so much.
RINNA: All right, thank you.
NEWTON: Now a shock win at the Women's World Cup, how Nigeria took down one of its hosts.
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NEWTON: In the Women's World Cup, England and Denmark will soon fight for the top spot in Group D. They kick off in just over a half an hour from now. Now earlier today a stunning comeback by Argentina. South Africa went into the half with a comfortable two-goal lead. But the blue and white came roaring back drawing the match level in the 79th minute. Both teams walked away with one point each. The first ever in fact for South Africa in the Women's World Cup.
Meantime there was a big upset on Thursday. CNN's Don Riddell has those highlights.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: The host teams at the Women's World Cup had made winning starts, meaning that both New Zealand and Australia went into their second group matches knowing they could advance to the knockout stage. But now both will have an anxious wait.
New Zealand lost to the Philippines on Tuesday, and now the Aussies have lost to Nigeria, a stunning upset in Brisbane on Thursday. Australia have been struggling with injuries, Sam Kerr and others out for this game, but you still would have fancied them to see off one of the weaker teams in the world rankings.
Emily van Egman putting the Matildas ahead in the first half injury time and they would have expected to carry that lead into the halftime team talk but they say you are at your most vulnerable when you've just scored and so it proved Nigeria equalized through Uchenna Kanu in the sixth minute of stoppage time and the Super Falcons kept it going after the break. Osinachi Ohale tracking the ball to throw her head at it for a 2-1 lead that was a brave header and the Aussies are reeling.
The nine-time African champions had brought Barcelona's Asisat Oshoala off the bench just before that goal. She scored Nigeria's third of the night from a tight angle. Australia scored a late consolation, but they couldn't find an equalizer leaving Nigeria to celebrate a momentous win. The Super Falcons are now top of Group B.
ASISAT OSHOALA, NIGERIAN STRIKER: I think I'm going to give kudos to my teammates. Everyone went out there to play their heart out. No one knows what is team is made of, we only have to come to the field and show ourselves and show the kind of heart we have. Like I said earlier, this team has a lot to offer. And everyone and the world has seen that today. Nigeria for love! Let (EXPLETIVE) go!
RIDDELL: What an achievement having silenced the crowd outside Nigeria were making all the noise inside this was the scene in their locker room afterwards dancing and singing songs of celebration.
[03:55:07]
This is the situation now in group B. Nigeria are top ahead of Canada on goal difference and Australia's last game is going to be tough against Canada, the Olympic champions on Monday. The co-hosts need a big result if they want to stick around for the knockout stage. Back to you.
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NEWTON: Our thanks to Don there. Now meantime, Ukraine is protesting the disqualification of a top member of its national fencing team from the World Championship after she refused to shake her Russian opponent's hand.
Four-time world champion Olga Kharlan of Ukraine beat Anna Smirnova at that tournament in Milan. The Ukrainians celebrated, but instead of shaking hands with her rival, Kharlan offered to tap saber blades.
Smirnova, competing as a neutral, walked away and sat in protest for 45 minutes. Kharlan says she acted with her heart and thanked her supporters and especially the Ukrainian military. Now, she said Ukrainians can never be, in her words, forced into peace by any handshake.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, other Ukrainians have done the same thing in other sports and we will wait to see how this is handled as we await the Olympics a year from now.
Now, an Iranian chess player who competed without wearing a hijab, as her nation required, officially has a new home. Sarah Kadem has been granted Spanish nationality. Spain's justice minister called her circumstances, quote, "exceptional." In December Kadem took part in a world championship chess tournament in Kazakhstan without wearing the head covering which is mandatory for women in Iran. According to Reuters an arrest warrant was issued for her by Tehran but Kadem never returned home. She's been living in Spain ever since.
Scientists say there are signs of a nearby star system may someday be able to actually support life. Now, astronomers found evidence of water vapor swirling close to star 370, to a star, pardon me, 370 light years away. The water was found in a planet-forming disk. The rocky planets of our solar system, in fact, were formed in a similar way billions of years ago. The discovery was made using the Webb Telescope. Experts say it would have been impossible to make this kind of discovery before that impressive Webb Telescope.
I'm Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company. "CNN Newsroom" with Max Foster, begins after a short break.
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