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Heat Alerts Across The U.S.; Trump Still Republican Front- Runner; U.S. Urges Americans To Leave Haiti As Soon As Possible; Public Protests Resume In Israel; Ukraine Consolidating Battlefield Gains; Heat Relief For Italy, Greece; Niger Rebels Announce Leadership Council; River Seine To Take Center Stage At Summer Olympics. Aired 4- 5a ET
Aired July 29, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello, a very warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, I'm Paula Newton.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, when it comes to U.S. weather, even the good news says there's little relief in sight for the country. The latest on heat alerts from coast-to-coast.
Republican candidates, including Donald Trump, gather in Iowa. See how one found out the hard way what happens when you target the former president.
And the other side of the debate in Israel. We'll hear from those who say they support at least some of president Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial reforms.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Paula Newton.
NEWTON: And we begin this hour with more than 100 million people still right across the United States waking up to those heat alerts in the hours ahead. That's nearly one in three people in this country, from Southern California right up to the Northwest and New England.
But a remarkable improvement from the 150 million affected yesterday. But then there's Phoenix, where temperatures are expected to stay above 110 degrees right through the weekend.
The scorching temperatures in the Midwest are easing but people in the Northeast will have to wait until at least later Sunday to get some kind of relief. And the stifling heat is not only impacting people and animals but also some usually sturdy plants in the desert. Miguel Marquez looks at how people are coping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deadly heat. More than 30 states under alert. Temperatures, record breaking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god, this is hell on earth.
MARQUEZ: Over 150 Americans sweltering nowhere worse than Phoenix, Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is unreal. Day, night, never seen anything like it.
MARQUEZ: A city accustom to heat now overwhelmed by it. A new record, 15 days so far this year, over 115 degrees.
The morgue in Maricopa County adding 10 refrigerated containers, prepping for a possible spike of heat-related deaths. Already, the morgue is over its normal capacity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it started to tilt, bad sign.
MARQUEZ: Arizona's ultra hardy saguaro cacti, some essentially suffocating from the heat. Wildlife suffering, too, a great horn owl cooling off at a Phoenix sanctuary. At the Minneapolis zoo, ostriches taking a shower. A polar bear in search of ice.
The Midwest baking. Indianapolis construction workers taking extra precautions. Conditions being pushed to the extreme.
DAN LIVINGSTON, SAFETY SUPERINTENDENT, RIETH-RILEY CONSTRUCTION: This isn't for the unseasoned worker. don't try to attempt to come out and start working in this heat until you have been fully acclimated.
MARQUEZ: Along the eastern seaboard, the heat index, that mix of temperatures and humidity, hitting upwards of 110 degrees in some areas.
TESSA BORBRIDGE, NEW YORKER: I'm sweating within -- I probably am sweating within seven seconds stepping outside. I'm not -- I'm not joking. And then also, like, you know, as soon as I'm on the subway platform, it gets really ugly, really messy.
MARQUEZ: Public cooling stations set up throughout the country. Power companies urging customers to conserve energy. Power grids everywhere under pressure.
COMMISSIONER ZACHARY ISCOL, NYC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: We recommend setting your air conditioning unit to 78 degrees, with the lowest of the cool settings, remembering it's about maintaining your comfort while also ensuring energy consumption for the entire city.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): While summer and heat go together, Copernicus Climate Change Service calculates July will be the world's hottest month on record ever.
MARQUEZ: So the good news is, in places like New York and much of the U.S., the temperatures are going to come down in the days ahead. The bad news is, we're all going to have to live with more extreme weather in the days ahead -- back to you.
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NEWTON: And our thanks to Miguel Marquez.
To politics, if Donald Trump or is supporters are bothered by the latest charges the Republican front-runner faces, no one's showing it. He spoke to major fundraiser in Iowa one day after being hit with three new charges in the classified documents case.
The special counsel accuses him of telling Mar-a-Lago employees to delete security footage and willfully retaining a top secret document --
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NEWTON: -- detailing plans for a military attack on Iran. But that got no direct mention from Trump Friday night in Iowa. Kyung Lah has our report.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The major GOP candidates here in Des Moines, Iowa, for the Lincoln dinner, a fundraiser for the Iowa Republican Party, it is a first huge major cattle call of the season, where we see so many speakers back to back.
Those who are running for president and want to earn the support of the Iowa caucusgoers, it's also the very first event here in Iowa that we see Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis sharing the stage.
The very first event for the two of them. Hanging over all of this, the new charges against Donald Trump. It's something, though, that the former president did not address as he stepped onto the stage.
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LAH (voice-over): He received a huge standing ovation, the biggest of the evening. And he went after Ron DeSantis. DeSantis, though, did not directly go after Trump. Someone who did: candidate Will Hurd.
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WILL HURD, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again. Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020.
Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison. And if we elect ...
I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. Listen, I know the truth. The truth is hard.
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LAH: We spent some time talking to people who attended this event as they were entering.
And we asked them, do these new charges that have been levied against Trump have any impact on whether or not they would support him if he's the Republican candidate or if they would caucus for him?
They all said it made no difference whatsoever, that, in their opinion, they view this as a piling-on strategy by the Department of Justice and, if anything, they decided to parrot what Trump was saying on the campaign trail -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.
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NEWTON: Now as we just heard Kyung mentioning there, those struggling to chip away at Trump's sizable lead decided to cater to the Republican base. Have a listen.
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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We want education in this country, not indoctrination in this country. We got it done in Florida. We need to get it done nationally.
And I got Kamala Harris coming down to Florida, trying to create phony narratives, because she understands Florida has stood up to the Left's agenda. We have beat the Left's agenda in the state of Florida.
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NIKKI HALEY (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And then you go and you look at the border. And I know Kamala is here in Iowa. But I bet you she hadn't spent nearly as much time at the border as she's spent in Iowa, talking about abortion. I've been to that border.
The idea that those ranchers get up first thing in the morning and go see if anyone died crossing the fence.
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NEWTON: So coming up in the next hour of NEWSROOM, we'll look at whether any of Trump's rivals have any hope of finding a winning strategy against their front-runner.
Now meantime, on Monday, the White House announced a new weapons assistance package for Taiwan worth $345 million. It marks the first time weapons will be transferred to the self-governing island directly from U.S. inventories.
The announcement did not include a list of what would be provided. Taiwan has been holding military drills this week to try and prepare for a possible Chinese invasion. Beijing claims the island as its own territory despite having never controlled it. While the U.S. arms in Taiwan is trying to beef up -- pardon me --
while the U.S. arms Taiwan, it is trying to beef up relations with other friends in the region as well.
U.S. President Joe Biden will host a summit next month with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and the South Korean president Yoon Suk- Yeol. The leaders will gather at Camp David to reaffirm their ironclad alliances. The countries are working to present a united front against North Korea and growing assertiveness from Beijing.
As we've been telling you for months now, gang violence in Haiti has been so out of control that it's been difficult to actually try and muster a multinational force that could restore some semblance of security in Haiti.
Speaking a short time ago in Australia, U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken said the U.S. is focused on building such a coalition and, crucially here, trying to find a country to lead it.
He said he expects to have progress on that front, in his words, very soon. Meantime, with 80 percent of the capital now controlled by rival gangs and neighborhoods terrorized by crime --
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NEWTON: -- the U.S. is urging Americans to get out now.
The State Department advisory reads, "Given the recent armed clashes between gangs and police and the high threat of violent crime and kidnapping throughout Port-au-Prince, the Department of State urges U.S. citizens to make plans to depart Haiti as soon as possible. Here's more from CNN's Rafael Romo.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): Terrified people flee an area around the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after what appears to be tear gas is deployed.
For the last several days, people have camped out outside the embassy, apparently because they feel it's one of the last few places where they can be safe. Local residents say gangs are laying siege to the Tabarre neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, the same neighborhood where the U.S. embassy is located.
This local resident says gangs are brazenly killing people just a few steps from the embassy and that's why many have decided to flee their homes. The U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince called Tuesday for embassy personnel to remain inside the compound after three days of gang activity and gunfire near the building.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't know the reason for gang violence. Gangs just shoot and they ask for control of the area. They took our house and we are in the street. We want help to go back home. To the Haitian government, we send this message, because we want to come back home.
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ROMO (voice-over): Haitian security forces have struggled to contain the gangs in the last few years, especially after the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in July 2021. Those criminal groups have assumed control of vast swaths of the country.
ROMO: In early July, the medical humanitarian charity, Doctors without Borders, also known as Medecins sans Frontieres, had to stop their work at one of the hospitals in the Tabarre neighborhood.
In a subset, around 20 armed men forcibly entered the hospital to remove a patient being treated for gunshot wounds from the operating room.
ROMO (voice-over): U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres made an urgent plea after visiting the country in early July.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: We are not calling for a military or political mission of the United Nations. We are calling for a robust security force deployed by member states to (INAUDIBLE) mediation (ph) international police to defeat and dismantle the gangs and restore security across the country.
ROMERO (voice-over): Guterres added that the Haitian people are trapped in what he described as a living nightmare, calling humanitarian conditions in the Caribbean country "beyond appalling" -- Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
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NEWTON: As they have done since January, protesters in Israel will be out in force again today to demand their government stop its overhaul of the nation's judicial system. And now it's become an historic showdown over the past seven months, with neither side backing off.
A controversial new law enacted on Wednesday will likely add more fuel to today's demonstrations. Critics say it has weakened the supreme court and undermined Israeli democracy.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed those concerns as silly. He claims a judicial overhaul is needed to reset the balance of power in government. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): While thousands of Israelis are taking to the streets protesting the Netanyahu government's judicial overhaul measures aimed at weakening the country's supreme court, many others, especially more conservative Israelis, say they support at least some of the measures.
We went to Efrat, a settlement in the West Bank.
RONNI LOTTNER, ELAZAR RESIDENT: I feel that the Israeli democracy has actually been stronger now because, at last, the decision is made by the people and by the people voting in parliament.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): While the opposition says the supreme court is the only check on government power, folks here say they believe the court has too much influence and some of its decisions are too far reaching.
TOMMY LAMM, EFRAT RESIDENT: When they came out with these decisions, I felt very uncomfortable with them.
I said, why decision after decision after decision are they deciding this way?
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The first judicial overhaul bill passed by the Knesset on Monday stops the supreme court from using the standard of reasonableness to shoot down government decisions. A think tank that has long been advocating for a judicial overhaul downplaying its impact.
EUGENE KONTOROVICH, KOHELET POLICY FORUM: The law that was passed makes a tiny, little adjustment in that, beginning to slightly balance the scales while still preserving judicial independence, meaningful judicial review of legislative and executive action.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But several groups have filed legal petitions against the reasonableness bill with the supreme court. In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not say if he would abide by the ruling in case the supreme court shoots the bill down.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: First of all, we're all subject to the rule of law. The prime minister is subject to the rule of law. The Knesset, our parliament, is subject to the rule of law.
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NETANYAHU: The judges are subject to the law. Everybody is subject to the law.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): That caused opposition politician Benny Gantz to accuse Netanyahu of a coup d'etat if Netanyahu would refuse to submit to a supreme court ruling.
And while many Israelis fear social unrest over the judicial overhaul measures, among some in Efrat, a more relaxed view.
SONYA GREEN, EFRAT RESIDENT: Is that on either side of this, everyone is holding the Israeli flag.
What does that say?
We love this country on either side.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But many Israelis say they fear the direction their country is going in and are vowing to continue their protests until the judicial overhaul is stopped -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Jerusalem.
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NEWTON: Ukraine's navy would have little chance in any head to head battle with Russian warships. But Kyiv still has a plan B to take the fight to Russia's military fleet.
Plus the ongoing heat wave is dangerous and extremely stressful for coral reefs under the sea. CNN's Derek Van Dam takes a deep dive off the coast of Florida to see how the heat is affecting marine life. You're going to want to see this.
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NEWTON: We are getting reports of a Russian strike on Ukraine's Kherson region. Officials say artillery fire hit a residential area near a grain terminal, leaving four people wounded. It happened after Ukraine and Russia traded missile fire Friday, including this attack in the city of Dnipro.
The strike left at least nine people wounded, according to Ukraine. It also damaged multiple buildings, as you can see, in the downtown area, including one belonging to Ukraine's security service.
Now across the border, this is interesting, an alleged Ukrainian missile was caught on video after being shot down in southwestern Russia. Moscow says it crashed to the ground in the middle of a city, about 40 kilometers from the border; 14 people apparently were injured there.
Now another missile was reportedly hit by Russian air defenses southeast of there but didn't cause any casualties. Moscow now says it will retaliate.
Now back in Ukraine, Kyiv is working to consolidate those recent gains and that includes capturing this village in the Donetsk region on Thursday. Videos show troops dodging explosions in front of their vehicle.
Ukraine is expected to go after another settlement, to the east this time, which Russian officers and military bloggers believe is hard to hold onto. Kyiv says it has also repelled Russian attempts to regain some of the lost ground in that region.
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NEWTON (voice-over): You're seeing that footage. It reportedly shows Ukrainian clearing Russian positions near Bakhmut. Kyiv is continuing to push north and south of that city but it says the situation is very tense, as Russians fight for every centimeter of territory. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Meanwhile, the U.S. secretary of state says Russia is reaching out to North Korea to prop up its operations in Ukraine. Salma Abdelaziz joins us.
As we continue to track developments, these ones in the last few hours, we just talked about how Ukraine's counteroffensive is grinding on. The secretary of state was blunt about how far and wide Russia is now searching for its weapons of war.
What more did he say?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was a Russian delegation that included Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu on a visit a couple of days ago in Pyongyang to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War.
North Korea has, of course, sided with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. President Putin also made remarks, made an address to North Korean leaders to mark the occasion, thanking them for what he called firm support.
And secretary of state Antony Blinken made no secret about his views that this was a desperate attempt to get more material support. Take a listen.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I strongly doubt he's there on holiday. We're seeing Russia desperately looking for support for weapons wherever they can find them to prosecute its aggression against Ukraine.
And we see that in North Korea. We see that as well with Iran, which has provided many drones to Russia that it's using to destroy civilian infrastructure and kill civilians in Ukraine.
China has assured us repeatedly -- and not just us, many other countries -- that it is not providing material lethal assistance to Russian use in Ukraine. And we take those assurances very seriously.
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ABDELAZIZ: Now U.S. officials say that last year North Korea sold millions of rockets and artillery shells to Russia to help it resupply its arsenal in the fight. You also hear there secretary of state Antony Blinken mention Iran.
Iran has provided those Shahed drones by the thousands and continues to do so. Those have been very key in hitting, targeting civilian areas across Ukraine. He also mentions China.
China has yet to provide any material support to Russia. It has said, as you heard there from Blinken, that it will not do so. But it continues to be a matter of concern for U.S. officials as they try to tighten the noose really around Moscow, Paula, and ensure that sanctions mean that Russia's arsenal is depleted and not resupplied in this conflict.
NEWTON: That seems to become more and more difficult every week. You know, as this war continues, it is showing signs of escalation. In fact, Russia saying it will retaliate now. We were showing attacks on Russian soil. We should say Ukraine has not deliberately now claimed responsibility.
But how much do you see that this cycle will continue, with Ukraine trying to reach into Russia with attacks of its own?
ABDELAZIZ: This is absolutely part of Kyiv's strategy and, yes, you are right. They have not claimed, Ukrainian officials have not claimed the most recent attacks on Russian territory.
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ABDELAZIZ: But in recent days and weeks, Paula, Ukrainian officials have been more vocal in claiming attacks on Russian regions or Russian-occupied regions; whereas, in the past, these were covert attacks that Ukraine sort of kept very quiet about.
Now in recent interviews, Ukraine's defense minister has said, look, we're absolutely going to hit Russian territory. We're absolutely going to hit Russian-occupied territory.
The goal here is, of course, to soften, to weaken any positions for Russia's army but also to bring that conflict home to Russians in Russia, to ensure that Ukraine is ramping up the costs.
NEWTON: Yes, as we say, another mode of escalation there in this conflict. Salma Abdelaziz for us in London, thank you.
Ukraine lost most of is navy in the first few weeks but Kyiv has developed another weapon to take on Russia's warships. Alex Marquardt reports that weapon has never been shown in public until now.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): At a secret makeshift Ukrainian military base, one of the newest pieces of Ukraine's arsenal is lowered into the water. It wars out into the open water under the control of this pilot, who asked we don't show his face, call sign Shark (ph).
This is Ukraine's latest sea or surface drone designed to attack Russia in the Black Sea. They've never been shown to the public before. This model is armed with 300 kilograms or almost 700 pounds of explosive and can hit a target 800 kilometers, 500 miles away.
They're very easy to control, Shark (ph) tells us, and they have severely limited the Russian Navy's movements. Ukraine sends its sea drones out hunting, plowing through the waves. If spotted, the Russian ships frantically open fire. Sometimes the Russians get lucky and manage to take them out. Other times, the drones break through the hail of bullets and reach their targets. Last October, Ukrainian sea drones carried out a stunning attack on the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and Russian occupied Crimea targeting the flagship, the Admiral Makarov.
This drone can attack, carry out surveillance and reconnaissance, among other operations. It is entirely Ukrainian, designed and produced according to its developer, who also asked for anonymity for security reasons.
MARQUARDT: How effective are the Russian defenses against these drones?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Not effective. The equipment they have on their ships is designed to attack other ships. They can't hit such small drones. These are faster than anything else in the Black Sea.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): A stunning pre-dawn attack last week on Russia's Kerch Bridge shows the havoc they can wreak. The bridge, which is a vital supply line from Russia to Crimea was hit by two drones and left heavily damaged.
In response, Russia said, they launched days of intense strikes on seaside Odessa alleging that the Ukrainian port city houses the sea drones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Russia's equipment is from the 20th century and ours is from the 21st. There are a hundred years between us.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Alex Marquardt, CNN, Kyiv.
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NEWTON: Wildfires have not let up in parts of Europe until now. Straight ahead, we're on the ground in Italy with what's bringing some relief to the region and what could happen next.
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NEWTON: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Paula Newton and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Checking in on one of our top stories, over 100 million people in the U.S. are under heat alerts going into this weekend. In the Southwest, temperatures in Phoenix are expected to stay above 110 degrees for at least another day. People in Midwestern cities like Chicago are getting some relief, as
you can see there. Temperatures are forecast to reach a high of only about 80 degrees. And in the Northeast, officials in Boston and Philadelphia have declared heat health emergencies to provide resources like cooling sites for residents.
Now as you can see, it is dangerously hot in Arizona and many unhoused people are at risk of heat-related deaths.
Now in Phoenix, officials are trying to prevent this by repurposing shipping containers into air-conditioned housing. The project is called X Wing and the available units are mobile and can sleep up to 20 people. Officials plan to add up to 900 more beds by 2024.
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ZACH BURNS, LEAD ARCHITECT, STEEL + SPARK: We have designed a lot of buildings but nowhere have I worked on a project where is such a direct connection to actually helping someone and getting someone off the street into an air conditioned room with such dignity.
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NEWTON: And to southern Europe now, a brief break from the heat is bringing some temporary relief from wildfires that have been ripping through countries, including Greece and Italy the last few weeks. CNN's Nada Bashir is in Rome with more on what communities and officials there can expect.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As temperatures start to subside, we're beginning to see some positive indication after almost two weeks of wildfires across the region.
In Italy, several fires are still burning across the country's southern regions. But they are, according to authorities, all contained. And the situation is no longer being classified as a fire emergency.
But there is still some concern over strong winds, which could rekindle the wildfires in the impacted areas. The Italian government is also still considering regional requests for state emergency.
Meanwhile, in Greece, wildfires continue on the mainland. But authorities have downgraded the red extreme alert wildfires to amber. This after two weeks of extreme heat and devastating wildfires, which killed at least three and injured dozens more, forcing thousands to evacuate homes.
Greece has suffered the most destruction from forest fires in the month of July since 2010, with around 10 percent of land on the Greek island of Rhodes destroyed. This really is a reflection of the disastrous situation we're seeing across the Mediterranean, with wildfires across southern Europe in parts of North Africa and Turkiye.
The U.S. secretary general on Thursday had this warning.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: Climate change is here. It is terrifying and it is just the beginning.
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GUTERRES: The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.
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BASHIR: Guterres' remarks come after the publication of new data showing how concerning the current situation is. According to the E.U.'s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization, July is set to be the planet's hottest month on record.
And every day since July 3rd has been hotter than the records set in 2016. Almost every month this year has been in the top five hottest on record.
Experts say that unless changes are made to the current rate at which the globe is burning fossil fuels, these extreme heat events and these wildfires are only going to become more frequent and more severe -- Nada Bashir, CNN, Rome.
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NEWTON: In the U.S., it's not only people who are sweltering in the ongoing heat wave, Florida's ocean and marine life are under stress. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam went underwater with a team of coral reef scientists to see how the record high temperatures are affecting the ocean's ecosystem.
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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are leaving the marina on a scientific expectation with some of the world's top coral scientists. We come here to determine how the coral reefs on the Florida peninsula are coping with unprecedented ocean heat.
If anyone can tackle this problem, it's these people. They are inspired and they are motivated and they are on the front lines of this climate emergency every single day.
DR. ANDREW BAKER, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: I think one of the
big questions we have a scientist as what explains why some corals bleach really severely and other ones don't.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Scientists are just worried about the high water temperatures, they are concerned this is only July and the hottest months are still ahead of us.
DR. LIV WILLIAMSON, ASSISTANT SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: Corals are really sensitive to heat. I'm a little bit worried we might see quite a few bleached and stressed out corals.
VAN DAM: You see, more than 90 percent of excess heat from greenhouse warming is stored in our oceans. And that doesn't just disappear. It can supercharge storms, melt our and bleach our coral reefs. Bleached corals are still alive but they are extremely stressed. Highly vulnerable, if the heat continues, they may die.
So this is part of why scientists worry about it. The first location we go to was south of Biscayne.
BAKER: I think we saw exactly what we, feared which is these are the moving front of severe bleaching through the Keys and into Miami-Dade.
VAN DAM: It was just a remarkable moment to stand next to these century old giants, right?
I mean, how else do you describe it?
It was very eye-opening to see this array and mixture of completely dead coral, bleached coral and healthy coral. So I saw hope but I also saw a tough situation. And I can see what heat stress really does to these animals. They are sensitive and I witnessed it. It was -- it was humbling.
There is still hope?
BAKER: Absolutely, there is still hope. The water conditions are actually cooling down somewhat. On a day like this, we have some overcast conditions, that all helps. It decreases the amount of heat stress building up on the reef.
And I think as far as the bleach front going, we hope that it doesn't continue to increase and move northward. The next few weeks are going to really tell a story.
VAN DAM: Next, we headed north to Miami to see the impact on the reef there. You may be thinking, why it is a coral reef matter so much to us?
Well, they are part of an interconnected ecosystem. It acts as a habitat for marine wildlife. So any impact on the coral will have an impact on the entire water ecosystem.
And something a lot of people may not realize, it's not just ocean life that relies on the coral reefs being healthy. They are Mother Nature's natural barriers against hurricanes and storm surge.
WILLIAMSON: Coral reefs provide this really amazing structure that is actually key for breaking wave energy as it comes toward our shores. So they have to protect our beaches and coastal properties. [19:55:04]
VAN DAM: And on this second dive, there was obvious really felt by these scientists.
That was completely different.
WILLIAMSON: Better. A lot better.
VAN DAM: If you were happy, I was happy. I could see it in your eyes. I mean, we gestured a heart to each other because we saw how much more alive these corals are.
WILLIAMSON: I can't tell you how relieved I am to see those nice, big, dark, happy colonies.
VAN DAM: That was a big difference. It really was. You could just see how healthy some of the corals, where it gives me a lot of hope and that, you know, if we can keep the temperatures down, these corals are going to survive. That looked good.
It's a coral cliff-hanger. It's not the end game. Research scientists on the boat tell me, because we still have the warmest months ahead of us, we need to watch for the advancement of severe coral bleaching and mortality, moving from south to north through the Florida peninsula.
Could the waters cool?
Definitely. We need rain, perhaps a tropical system to bring upwelling from the deep ocean below. But that's something we'll continue to monitor -- CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Miami Beach.
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NEWTON: Niger has become the latest democracy in Africa to be toppled by its military. Widespread condemnation from the international community may be falling on deaf ears as the coup leaders double down. We'll have a live report from the region next.
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NEWTON: The United States is joining other countries in calling for the return of democracy to Niger. Now the U.S. State Department says top diplomat Antony Blinken reiterated America's, quote, "unflagging support" for ousted president Mohamed Bazoum.
When the two spoke by phone, he spoke about the importance of Bazoum's continued leadership and the democratic government in Niger.
The E.U. denounced the coup as an attack on stability and democracy and threatened to suspend all aid. The French president called the coup deeply dangerous for Niger and the whole region and backed the possible use of sanctions. Listen.
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EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): France absolutely condemns in the strongest terms this military coup against a democratically elected, courageous leader, who is making the reforms and investments his country needs.
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NEWTON: The coup plotters announced the so-called National Council for the Preservation of the Homeland, with the council's president to serve as Niger's new head of state. A spokesperson appeared on state television to give this warning to the world.
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COL. MAJOR AMADOU ABDRAMANE, NCSH SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Despite the measures taken by the CNSP for a rapid return to normalcy, certain former dignitaries holed up in chancelleries in collaboration with the latter are pursuing a confrontational logic with a view to distracting deposed authorities.
This belligerent, dangerous and perilous (ph) attitude will only result in the massacre of the Niger population and chaos.
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ABDRAMANE (through translator): Therefore, the CNSP calls on national and international opinion to bear witness to the consequences of any foreign military intervention.
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NEWTON: CNN's Larry Madowo is following.
Good to have you on this story. The world continues to react to what's unfolding there. The U.S. secretary of state now offering his support for the deposed leader. But we just heard from the coup leaders saying that they will oppose any foreign intervention.
Will any of this make any difference on the ground in terms of the international condemnation?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a long shot. Everybody's trying, all international parties -- the U.N., the African Union, the West African states -- are trying. But not really.
We have seen this new self-declared leader of Niger appear to play president. Shortly after explaining why he deposed his boss, he met all these government officials from all the ministries and he told them the work continues.
He essentially is cosplaying as president. He did not meet the ministers because those are loyal to Mohamed Bazoum, who remains holed up in the presidential palace. But these are career public servants.
If this guy declares himself president, they have to show up. They looked uncomfortable, took notes but they were there. And on the street, across the capital, across the country, many people support this military and reject all this international condemnation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FALMATA TAYA, NIAMEY RESIDENT (through translator): The international community that says they are here for us, we don't want it. We don't want their moral lesson because they are no longer credible in the eyes of Africans.
We can't understand why they support a coup in Chad and oppose it in Mali and Burkina Faso. This is an internal problem.
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MADOWO: This is not just a rejection of the influence that France has over its former colonies in Africa. It's a rejection of any international meddling in that situation, Paula.
NEWTON: But in terms of safeguarding, you know, certain institutions in the country and, of course, the democratic process, which you've spoken to us about before, what are the options that the U.N., France, the United States might have here?
MADOWO: Money: they can shut down the money taps, which Niger badly needs. They can have sanctions against this regime that is now claiming to control the country. And that's something that the U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken referred to when he commented on this situation.
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BLINKEN: We are united in condemning the actions that have taken place in Niger, calling for the immediate release of president Bazoum, calling for the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger.
Our economic and security partnership with Niger, which is significant, hundreds of millions of dollars, depends on the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order that has been disrupted by the actions in the last few days.
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MADOWO: So they can threaten aid but that creates a vacuum, which allows for somebody like Russia to step into the stage. The Wagner Group is already active in neighboring Mali, created by any Western partners abandoning the regime in Niger that will be a natural entry point.
NEWTON: Mr. Prigozhin already insinuating himself in that conversation. Larry Madowo, good to have you tracking this for us, appreciate it.
The countdown to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, it's on. Just ahead, the famous river at the heart of the French capital and the special role it will play for the big event.
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NEWTON: Day 10 of the Women's World Cup underway. This hour, Italy and Sweden are facing off, with both teams looking to qualify for the knockout stages. And the Swedes having a commanding 4-0 lead over the Italians' second half.
This is the first match in what's been expected to be an action-packed Saturday. Later on, we'll see a long-awaited clash between football giants France and Brazil. And after that newcomers Panama will try to earn their first ever World Cup point match against Jamaica.
Now we'll just -- we're just, we have to remind you, one year away from the start of the Olympic Games in Paris. And organizers are getting creative. They've been putting the city's famous river, the Seine, on center stage. CNN's Melissa Bell shows us how.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a cheer, Paris had won its bid, 100 years after the Olympics first came to the City of Light, they get it back.
ANNE HIDALGO, MAYOR OF PARIS (through translator): A city that managed to transform itself, overcome the challenges of the century, I'm thinking, of course, of the environmental challenges.
BELL (voice-over): With an opening ceremony like no other, held not in a stadium for the first time ever but on a river.
BELL: What the opening ceremony will allow is not just more than 10,000 athletes to make their way down this extraordinary waterway, it will also, say the organizers, allow more people to watch it than any other opening ceremony in history.
They expect some 600,000 people to be able to watch from the banks of the Seine.
BELL (voice-over): For the athletes as well, the Seine, as seen, is expected to provide an unforgettable experience.
YANNICK BOURSEAUX, EX-PARALYMPIC (through translator): The Seine for me is something mythical that represents Paris and for an Olympic or Paralympic triathlon, we absolutely had to swim in it.
BELL (voice-over): But swimming in Parisian waters is nothing new. Here, to the north of the French capital, this basin was created in 2017. And ever since, people have been swimming; the waters are tested every day.
BELL (voice-over): Cleaning up the Seine, however, has required much more: new reservoirs -- [04:55:00]
BELL (voice-over): -- tunnels and a lot of testing.
HIDALGO (through translator): Seventy five percent of the work is done, the Seine is clean. But these games had an accelerating effect, so we are ready. But of course, more needs to be done.
But even as the infrastructure has gone up, unexpected challenges. The offices of Paris 2024 raided in two investigations into financial irregularities. Yet, the head of the organization, himself a three- time gold Olympian, is confident.
TONY ESTANGUET, PRESIDENT, PARIS 2024: There is a control, it's just a control step. And we will see what will be the next phase. But at the time we speak now today, there's no evidence of any wrongdoing.
BELL: What is the world going to see?
ESTANGUET: The main power of the games is to provide emotion. And we strongly need, after COVID, after the war, after all the social tension, just to share a positive moment all together and demonstrate what France is able to deliver to the world.
BELL (voice-over): Including, already, say Parisian authorities, something that would have sounded like science fiction only a few years ago: a swimmable River Seine -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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NEWTON: The latest Mega Millions jackpot just blew past the billion dollar mark. Lottery officials in the United States say no one matched all six numbers in last night's drawing. That means the estimated jackpot is now $1.05 billion. That would be the fourth largest prize in Mega Millions history.
And if you land the lotto numbers' next drawing on Tuesday you can choose a lump sum payment, sure, I'll do that, you get $527 million, a reminder, always, before taxes and, again, still, a tidy sum no matter how you slice it.
I'm Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company. We'll be back in just a moment with more CNN NEWSROOM.
