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Ukraine Launches Deadly Drone Attack in Moscow, Russia Responds with a Deadly Strike in the Ukrainian President's Hometown; Neighboring Countries warn against Military Intervention in Niger; All Israeli Supreme Court Judges Agree to Review the Reasonableness Bill; USA faces Portugal at the Women's World Cup; Typhoon Doksuri Kills 11 People in Beijing; Italy to Reconsider Renewing its Inclusion in the Belt and Road Initiative from China as it marks its 10th Year. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 01, 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]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom" and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead. Russia says their capital was struck by Ukrainian drones for the second time in just three days.
Niger's political crisis deepening as neighboring countries warn against military intervention to restore the ousted president. We're live in the region with the latest.
And the USA versus Portugal game kicks off this hour. A crucial match for the American team to qualify for the knockout stage of the Women's World Cup.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. Well, Russian officials are accusing Ukraine of launching yet another drone attack in Moscow. The mayor says several drones were shot down this morning, but one of them crashed into a high-rise tower, the same building that was hit in a previous attack on Sunday.
The latest strike happened hours after Kyiv accused Moscow of attacking the hometown of the Ukrainian president. Officials say two ballistic missiles hit a school and residential tower on Monday, killing at least six people and leaving dozens wounded. A five-year- old girl was among the dead.
CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now with more. So Clare, a second drone attack on Moscow in just three days, what's the latest?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yeah, second one in three days, Rosemary. A third one in eight days. The frequency is increasing. This appears to have been three drones, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Two shot down over suburbs to the west of Moscow, one in an area actually pretty close to Putin's Dacha, his country residence in a place called Novogorovka. So that has actually been an area where we've seen drones shot down before, notably at the end of May.
A third one, Russia says, was thwarted by electronic warfare, essentially signal jamming that they use, but landed extraordinarily in the same building where we saw another drone hit on Sunday morning, in the early hours of Sunday morning. This is in the Moscow City business district, a very visible, very glitzy business district to the west of the capital, inside the capital itself.
I should say, Russia blaming Ukraine. Ukraine hasn't said anything as of yet, but of course we have those comments from President Zelenskyy on Sunday where he said the war is gradually returning to Russia. They'll be hitting symbolic centers and military bases.
I think when we talk about Moscow, this falls on the symbolic center side of things, but separately the Russian Ministry of Defense is also claiming this morning to have destroyed several maritime drones, essentially unmanned boats, that they say were trying to attack two patrol vessels of its Black Sea fleet.
They were destroyed apparently by the conventional weapons on those ships itself. No word from Ukraine on that. But I think this falls under the sort of banner of Ukraine really becoming bolder in its strategy, really trying to disrupt not only behind Russian lines, but to bring this to the Russian people, make it impossible them to ignore it. Rosemary?
CHURCH: And Claire, this comes amid a wave of attacks in Ukraine, notably in Zelenskyy's hometown. What more can you tell us about that?
SEBASTIAN: Yeah, so the attack on Kryvyi Rih, which is President Zelenskyy's hometown on Monday, a really big major attack joining this growing list of sort of mass casualty events for civilians.
You know, it's killed some six people, more than 50 injured, two ballistic missiles, local officials say were used to hit a school and a residential building. In the wake of that, we did have some comments from the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): Given the current situation, we took additional measures to improve defense against attacks from the air and sea. The intensity of strikes against Ukrainian military facilities, including those used to conduct these terrorist acts, has been increased many times over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN: So, Russia throughout this conflict has tried to frame its actions repeatedly as revenge or retribution for something Ukraine has done. Look, obviously what they're hitting in Kryvyi Rih is not a military base, neither was the shelling in Kherson that killed some four people and injured 17 on Monday.
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So I think you have to be careful with these claims from Russia that this is retribution, especially since Kryvyi Rih was actually hit some six weeks earlier in an attack that killed 11 civilians. But clearly Russia is trying to regain control of the narrative here as Ukraine pushes forward with its counteroffensive.
And interestingly, we did actually see footage emerging this morning from the Russian Ministry of Defense claiming to show the head of the armed forces, General Gerasimov, in Zaporizhzhya, they say, visiting a command post in the Zaporizhzhya direction, so in the sort of southern front.
They didn't say when. It's not clear from the footage exactly where. Not easy to pinpoint. But clearly this is part of Russia, trying to reassert the sense of control, particularly, I think, for a domestic audience. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Claire Sebastian. I Appreciate it.
Well, Ukrainian officials say their southeastern counteroffensive is making steady gains, but progress is slower than expected, and those gains could be tough to hold.
CNN's Nick Paton Wash reports.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fight so fierce and victory so bitter, there is little left of Staromaiorske to defend it from. No cover for troops, no structures, just the dust of a tiny four-road village, the first gains of Ukraine's renewed full-throttle counteroffensive. So small, but symbolic, Russia even claimed Monday with constant shelling. It had pushed Ukraine out of it again.
Something these men, fresh back from that fight, would scoff at. Krivbas, his call sign, fought all the 10 days of the assault until the Russians finally fled. Here he is as shells rain around in the initial advance.
When you assault under enemy shelling, he says, you have nowhere to hide. That's the hardest part. They've since tried to assault again twice with small groups.
And he fought for here too, Neskuchny, the town before it, where the Russians hid 200 troops in the basements, not even leaving for the toilet, so Ukraine attacked with a smaller force.
He takes us to where the Russians made their final stand, the school hall and its corridors. There is no love, says the wall. They seemed to relish the nothing they brought and left no clues as to
why they fought.
(on-camera): One of the hard things for the Ukrainians to understand is quite why the Russians are fighting so hard for here, Neskuchny and more recent victory of Staromaiorske down the road. Is it that these are their last lines of defense? Well, no, they think there's far more fighting to be done.
(voice-over): I hope that when we get through their last line of defense, he says, then they start to run. For now, they still feel there is something behind them. Yeah, we feel support, but we are very, very tired.
There is so much more ahead to come. Ukraine may have put in its reserves now to the fight, but they face the same Russian brutality.
Their tactics haven't changed, he says. They put the Storm Z convicts in front with no communications or information.
They stand till the death. I don't understand their motivation or what they're fighting for.
Riva carries a new Russian AK-12 as a trophy, as he describes the gas they used on him.
There was chaotic shooting, he says, to find out where we were. Then the gas. You don't feel it. It moves slow along the ground. I was packing my rucksack when I felt burning on my throat and nose.
One mine sapper, callsign Volt, is busy telling me how the Russians have started booby-trapping mines putting a grenade under an anti-tank mine when he's interrupted.
Almost endless, the noise of outgoing fire they are moving but just not sure how much longer for.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Neskuchny, Ukraine.
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CHURCH: The threat of Niger's political crisis spilling into other parts of West Africa has escalated. The nations of Mali and Burkina Faso say they would consider any military intervention to restore the ousted president of Niger an act of war against them.
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It comes after the West African economic bloc threatened just that, and the military leaders who removed the president accused France of plotting to free him by force. France denies it.
Meantime, Chad's president is trying diplomacy, hoping to persuade the ousted president and the coup leaders to find some path out of this crisis. Niger's ousted prime minister says the president will not give up without a fight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OUHOUMOUDOU MAHAMODOU, OUSTED NIGER PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is a seizure of power by force. It is not a voluntary departure of the president, so there is no reason to talk about this resignation issue. He is a great fighter. He is a seasoned trade unionist. And also, as you know, he is someone who is always outspoken. So if he is optimistic about the situation, he would better believe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's senior editor for Africa, Stephanie Busari, is in Lagos, Nigeria. She joins us now. So Stephanie, as the political crisis plays out in Niger, what is the latest?
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SR. EDITOR, AFRICA: Rosemary, the rhetoric is heating up and in the last few minutes we've heard that the French embassy is planning to evacuate staff, certainly from Niger and that's it's going to happen very quickly.
French media reporting that French nationals are also going to be evacuated from Niger and we're still waiting to clarify what exactly the evacuations are going to be but this is a -- this is a worrying development as this rhetoric heats up with Mali and Burkina Faso coming out strongly to say that they can consider any act of violence or any military strikes against Niger an act of war.
Now these two countries themselves being ruled by a military junta who took power forcefully and they have also been ostracized by the ECOWAS, the regional bloc here in West Africa. And that regional bloc has come out in very strong terms against this latest coup action in Niger and said that they've given a one-week deadline for President Bazoum to be reinstated or Niger military faces action.
We don't know precisely what action that will be, but these two other countries who are neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali are saying that they consider that an act of war, a declaration of war. And that is a very warring development in a region that's very unstable, that has insurgency by Islamist jihadists.
And this Niger, of course, has been a key ally. excuse me, has been a key ally of the U.S. and France in fighting this insurgency. And so this is a very strategic country that has been helping to keep this insurgency at bay, but it's now looking very unstable there, Rosemary.
All right. Stephanie Busari, joining us live from Lagos. Many thanks.
Let's get a perspective now from Jean-Herve Jezequel in France. He is the project director for the Sahel with the International Crisis Group. Appreciate you joining us.
JEAN-HERVE JEZEQUEL, PROJECT DIRECTOR-SAHEL, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: It's good to be here.
CHURCH: So as this political crisis plays out in Niger, surrounding nations are calling for very different outcomes with Mali and Burkina Faso warning that any military effort to restore Niger's ousted president would be considered an act of war, while the West African Economic Block is threatening military action if Niger's coup leader, leaders I should say, don't step down by the end of the week. So, how likely is it that this could end in conflict, do you think?
JEZEQUEL: Well, I mean, there is a possibility that in a week or more, you know, the ECOWAS, the regional body, decide on organizing, you know, some kind of a military operation. But it would be a new form of intervention. And right now they are putting more energy on taking strong sanctions against the junta. They want to close borders. They want to suspend financial transactions between Niger and the rest of the region. This is the first step. And they hope that it will be enough for the junta to release President Bazoum.
CHURCH: And the president of Chad is trying to mediate the crisis, but how can a compromise solution be found when all parties appear to want a different outcome here, including many citizens in Niger who support the military and are turning against what they call French colonialism?
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JEZEQUEL: So it's true that up to now there is no strong mobilization in favor of President Bazoum. There have been some outside the capital in secondary cities, like in Tawau, in Maradi. There have been some mobilization in favor of the president.
But so far it's true that what we are seeing is civilians, especially in the capital, in -- in Niamey, you know, in support of the junta, but even more against any Western intervention or even any African intervention in their country.
So it's going to be very hard to find a compromise. Of course, you know, if there are strong economic sanctions against the country, as you said, it's one of the poorest country in the world, and it's in a matter of a few weeks, it could be a -- could leave the whole country in a very dramatic situation.
You know, the conjunctions between external pressure, you know, and internal mobilization in favor of the president is key if we want to have an exit to this situation that will bring back some form of civilian rule. A solution in a way is also to bring back a civilian rule in Niger.
CHURCH: Yeah, you mention that Niger is facing these crippling sanctions as democracy falls apart in the country, but now there's also concern the Russian-backed Wagner group could take advantage of the crisis, particularly given the nation's uranium. How big a worry could that prove to be, do you think?
JEZEQUEL: Well, that's a likely scenario. We have seen similar development in the last couple of years in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso. And that's a possibility that the new military authorities, because they are not able to make a deal with the West or with the region, the new military authority could reject France. They could reject other Western allies, including the U.S.
And they could welcome Russia as a new military partner. We have also to remember that France, you know, is a former colonial power, so there is not much support in favor of France.
And also, France has led the fight against jihadist insurgency in the last 10 years without much of a success. So there are a few reasons why the new authorities and also the population in Niger are interested in a change of partner.
CHURCH: Yeah, we shall certainly watch to see. what happens. Jean- Herve Jezequel, thank you so much for joining us. I Appreciate it.
JEZEQUEL: Thank you.
CHURCH: For the first time, all 15 Supreme Court judges in Israel will convene for a hearing on a controversial judicial overhaul law passed by the government. We'll head to Tel Aviv for details.
Plus, mounting legal troubles and legal fees for Donald Trump as the former president remains defiant on the campaign trail. Back with that and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: In an historic move, all 15 justices of Israel's Supreme Court will take part in a hearing challenging a controversial new judicial overhaul law in September. The legislation passed by the Israeli parliament last month would strip the court of its power to declare government decisions unreasonable.
For more, let's go to journalist Elliott Gotkine, who joined us live from Tel Aviv in Israel. Good to see you, Elliott. So what more are you learning about this and how this will work exactly?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, as you say, this is the first time that all 15 justices have been convened to hear these petitions against the reasonableness bill. All of the justices have gotten together to hear other cases in the past, but that was when there were fewer of them. So this is the first time all 15 are getting together.
And I suppose there are two main unknowns out there. The first, of course, is how is the Supreme Court going to rule? We know that the hearings are set to begin on September the 12th. We don't know how long they will go on for. And we don't know what the ultimate ruling will be.
And the other thing we don't know, of course, is, will the government abide by a ruling if it were to strike down this reasonableness bill? Because that would also be unprecedented. Never before in the court's history has it struck down one of Israel's so-called basic laws. These are the closest things that Israel has to a constitution. And you know, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interviewed by
Wolf Blitzer on CNN last week. He was non-committal as to whether his government would abide by a ruling that would strike down this law. He was asked again in an interview with NBC News yesterday.
Again, he was non-committal. And in fact, his Likud party put out a statement along the lines of saying, look, the government has always respected the Supreme Court's decisions, and the Supreme Court has always respected basic laws. But again, kind of failing to say explicitly whether the government would abide by ruling that would strike down this law. So there's a lot of unknowns out there.
Against this backdrop, the protests are continuing. The leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, has called for an 18-month freeze on any more judicial overhaul legislation as a condition for going back to the negotiating table to find some kind of compromise with the government. But as things stand, this is still on everyone's minds. This reasonableness bill has come into effect.
And now these justices, all 15 of them, will hear some eight petitions as to whether that should remain the case or whether it should be struck down. And that, if they were to do so, it's certainly not a decision that they would take lightly. In fact, the head of the Supreme Court in the past has said that they would only strike down a basic law if the law dealt a mortal blow to free and fair elections, core human rights, the separation of powers, the rule of law, or an independent judiciary.
And, of course, it will be for them to decide whether this reasonableness bill fits that description, if it has gone against these kind of deal breakers for the Supreme Court or if it hasn't. And we won't know that until those hearings begin in September. And as I say, we don't know when that ruling will come. It could be days, it could be weeks. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Thanks to Elliott Gotkine, joining us live from Tel Aviv.
Legal experts are weighing in on the case of Nicolas Petrou, the son of Columbia's president who was arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering and illicit enrichment. Petrou is a congressman and was placed under investigation in March. He was accused of taking money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father's peace efforts with criminal organizations.
He has previously denied the accusations. Nicolas Petro's ex-wife was also arrested for alleged money laundering and personal data violations, one lawyer in Bogota commented on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCISCO BERNATE, LAWYER (through translator): The reality is that the chats he has with his partner show the flow of large sums of money and cash. The way they spent that money does not coincide with the salary he receives as a deputy. It will be a very complicated defense. We assume that his ex-partner is going to be a witness against him. The situation is very compromising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he was hurt to learn of his son's arrest, but said the prosecution would proceed in accordance with the law.
The grand jury investigating Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election is expected to meet in Washington in the hours ahead. Meanwhile, the newest co-defendant in the classified documents case against the former made his first court appearance in Florida.
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CNN's Jessica Schneider has details.
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JOHN IRVING, REPRESENTING TRUMP'S CO-DEFENDANT: The Justice Department has unfortunately decided to bring these charges against Mr. De Oliveira. Now it's time to put their money where their mouth is.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carlos de Oliveira leaving the federal courthouse in Miami Monday, escorted by his lawyer and federal agents. A 20-year employee at Mar-a-Lago, De Oliveira walked out of court on $100,000 bond after being charged, along with former President Trump and Trump's close aide, Walt Nauta, with attempting to delete security footage from Mar-a-Lago after it was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.
De Oliveira allegedly telling the director of IT at Mar-a-Lago, The boss, an apparent reference to Donald Trump, wanted to delete the server where security footage was stored.
CNN also reporting that another Mar-a-Lago employee received a target letter from federal prosecutors. Youseel Tavares oversees the property's surveillance cameras and has met with investigators in recent weeks. It's unclear if he is cooperating.
So far, he is not facing charges. But at least some of the allegations in the latest indictment were based on information he provided.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, they're not indicting me, they're indicting you. I just happen to be standing in their way. That's all it is.
SCHNIEDER (voice-over): Trump defiant as he continued campaigning over the weekend, even as he was charged with additional crimes in the special counsel's classified documents case.
TRUMP: If I weren't running, I would have nobody coming after me. Or if I was losing by a lot, I would have nobody coming after me.
SCHNIEDER (voice-over): Plus, all signs point to another indictment soon out of D.C.'s federal court -- UNKNOWN: Can you tell us whether you expect to have an indictment this
week?
SCHNIEDER (voice-over): -- likely against Trump and his allies for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We're ready to go.
SCHNIEDER (voice-over): And in Georgia, indictment watch kicks into full gear. Fulton County's district attorney likely a week or two away from presenting her case to a grand jury and announcing whether Trump will be charged for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in that state.
Ramped up security measures are already in place around the local courthouse, and a county judge just rejected efforts by Trump's legal team to toss evidence in that criminal investigation and to disqualify the district attorney.
WILLIS: Some people may not be happy with the decisions that I was making and sometimes when people are unhappy they act in a way that could create harm. The work is accomplished and we've been working for two and a half years.
SCHNIEDER (on-camera): And Donald Trump's legal bills are mounting so much so that sources have told our Kristen Holmes that his team is now creating a legal defense fund to help offset some of the costs. Up to this point, it's been Trump's political action committee, Save America, that has been fronting those costs, already spending more than $40 million just this year to pay off the legal fees for Trump and many of his associates.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: As the world faces a worsening climate crisis created by the rampant burning of fossil fuels, the U.K. has announced plans to drill for more oil and gas. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has committed to grant hundreds of new licenses for companies to expand drilling operations in the North Sea. He says it will provide the U.K. with its own domestically sourced energy as the country transitions to a net zero carbon emissions goal.
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RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: 25 percent of our energy will come from oil and gas even in 2050. Far better than we get that from here at home. Better for the economy, better for our energy security, better for jobs and better for climate emissions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: That's how the government views it, but environmental activists say it's a disastrous plan, one that will take a wrecking ball to Britain's climate commitments. Well, the biggest match of the day is underway in the Women's World
Cup. Can the defending champions, the U.S., get past Portugal to advance to the knockouts? We're live in Sydney.
Plus, heavy rain pummels China, causing major flooding powerful enough to wash away roads. How the country is dealing with the remnants of a typhoon and preparing for another one.
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CHURCH: Defending champions, the U.S., are facing off against Portugal right now in the Women's World Cup. The Americans are just one match away from a spot in the knockouts, and the match is so far scoreless. Portugal are making their first ever appearance in the tournament, and the Vietnam-Netherlands match is also underway.
CNN's Angus Watson is covering all of this for us live from Sydney. Join us now. Good to see you, Angus. So how's that USA versus Portugal game going, and of course, what's expected in this next round?
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Team USA have a contest on their hands in Auckland, Rosemary. Portugal are giving their all to stay in this match. Of course, Team USA needs to win or draw to get through to the knockout stages. Portugal can advance knocking Team USA out with a win. It's been tight in midfield. Both teams have had their chances. Both teams will be nervous with the stakes so high.
Team USA has firepower on their bench. They'd left Trinity Rodman out of the starting line up this time around. She really started those first two games for Team USA. So their roster is deep. They'll remain confident with that Firepower that they do have.
But the Netherlands over in Dunedin in New Zealand leading Vietnam four-nil. So Rosemary, if it all stays as it is which is a big if, concealing as it's still in the first half in both these matches. We'll see the Netherlands go through first, Team USA second. Let's see what we've got at full time, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Angus Watson, keeping a very close eye on all of that from his vantage point there in Sydney. I Appreciate it.
Well tournament co-host Australia have sailed into the round of 16 after a four-nil thrashing of Canada who are the defending Olympic champions. CNN's Don Riddell has highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: The Australian team is planning ahead for the knockout stage at the World Cup, having survived a very tricky Group B. The Matildas faced arguably their toughest challenge in their third match against the reigning Olympic champions, Canada.
But a big win has eased their fears and sent the Canadians packing. Australia star striker Sam Kerr missed the first two games with injury and although she was said to be fit for this one, they kept her on the bench and they never needed her.
That's because the Matildas scored early. Hayley Raso on-target in the ninth minute, and they never looked back from there. She scored again late in the first half and when Mary Fowler made it three-nil just before the hour mark, the Aussies knew they had done enough.
Having lost their second match to Nigeria, this has been a stressful tournament for the co-hosts, but there was a jubilant atmosphere in Melbourne and Steph Catley's late penalty means that they will move on to the last 16 with their confidence restored.
HAYLEY RASO, AUSTRALIA FORWARD: Ecstatic. I can't really describe the crowd. They lifted us tonight to score in front of my family, in front of this amazing crowd. It's so, so special.
RIDDELL: Was it one of the best performances you've ever experienced with the Matildas?
RASO: I think so. We knew we had to win. Our backs were against the wall. We showed that never-say-die attitude and we're absolutely delighted.
RIDDELL: Nigeria will be joining Australia in the next round. Their goalless draw against Ireland was enough to lift them ahead of Canada in Group B. But second place in the group means that their next game could be a tough one. They might have to play the European Champions, England.
[03:35:10]
This is how it all finished up. Everybody knew this was the group of death. The big team was always going to miss out. But Canada will be bitterly disappointed to be leaving early. As co-hosts, Australia's progress is good for the tournament. And the place is really rocking on Monday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Hundreds of thousands of people are waiting to get back into their homes as the remnants of a storm called Doksuri weaken over China. Torrential rains caused flooding across the country, killing at least 11 people in Beijing, with nearly 30 still missing, local media reports.
Nearly 100 weather warnings were issued on Monday alone. Heavy downpours are expected to continue through Tuesday, increasing concerns about dangerous flooding and landslides.
And CNN's Marc Stewart, joins me now from Tokyo with more on this. So Mark, extreme weather conditions with more to come and life-saving water rescues. What can you tell us about all of this?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Rosemary, that video you just saw is very emblematic of what we have been seeing coming from China, specifically the Beijing area over the last 48 hours. And this has been tough because Beijing has been reporting rainfall today. This as the nation really tries to focus on both rescue and recovery.
Let's first talk about rescue. You saw the effort there, but we also have been watching a rescue that happened just outside of Beijing. A man was trapped on top of his car. He was able to get out. But as you can see that floodwater is just raging around him.
Fortunately, there were emergency crews nearby. They were able to take a crane, hoist a rescue worker, who then dropped down and then was able to provide a line to that man, and they were able to take him away. So a safe conclusion there.
And we have seen lots of rescues across Beijing. Sometimes from cars, there have been cases where rescue teams have had to open up cars, get people and literally walk them out. We also saw, as you saw that video earlier, of people being stuck inside of buildings.
And this is impacted a city of 21 million people. It has impacted significant locations such as the Winter Olympic area. There's one venue in particular that was covered by water. A brand new shopping mall saw the road in front of that basically open up. So these are some of the issues that are facing Beijing right now.
And despite best efforts, it is still very difficult for people to get around. A lot of the roads have been either washed out or they are just littered with debris. Air service in some cases has been limited as well as train service.
We are hearing from Chinese President Xi Jinping who really emphasized the need for mobilization for both resources, for transportation, for infrastructure. The goal is to try to get things up and moving once again. But Rosemary, as China cleans up from this, it is still facing another threat. There is another typhoon, churning into waters off of Asia, that could possibly hit China in the days ahead and so there is tremendous concern that what we have seen here could unfortunately be repeated.
CHURCH: Yeah, indeed. Marc Stewart, joining us live from Tokyo. I appreciate it.
And just into CNN, the military rulers in Myanmar have pardoned detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi for five charges of which she was convicted. But that move only reduces her sentence from 33 years in jail down to 21 years. And the 78-year-old still faces sentences for 14 other alleged offenses.
Sources say the charges that were pardoned include offenses against defamation, natural disaster laws, import and export laws, and telecommunication law. This comes as Myanmar's Supreme Court is set to hear appeals by Suu Kyi against her convictions over the next two weeks. She denies all of the charges she's faced, saying they are politically motivated.
And still to come, the abduction of an American nurse and her child in Haiti is shedding light on an alarming kidnapping crisis across the island nation this year. Plus, police in the Bahamas say they have foiled an alleged plot of an
American woman conspiring to kill her husband. The details on the case, just ahead.
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CHURCH: Two of Haiti's biggest gangs signed a peace deal in early July. That's according to Hands Together, an outreach group that helps Haitians in poverty. It says Father Tom Hagen, a Catholic priest who created Hands Together, mediated the agreement between the G9 and G- pep gangs to help bring peace to a dangerous section of Port-au- Prince.
Well, despite that apparent agreement, gang violence in Haiti only seems to be getting worse. According to the U.N., authorities have already registered more than 1,000 kidnappings in Haiti this year, most of them carried out by gangs. Now U.S. officials believe an American nurse and her child have fallen victim to this frightening surge in abductions.
CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALIX DORSONVILLE, ABDUCTED NURSE: My name is Alex. I'm a nurse from New Hampshire.
JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alix Dorsonville's family and friends continue to pray for the safe return of her and her child. According to the faith-based humanitarian aid group El Roy Haiti, the two were taken by captors from the organization's campus located near Port-au-Prince. That's where she had been working as a school nurse, and her husband Sandro Dorsonville is the director.
DORSONVILLE: Sandro invited me to come to the school to do some nursing for some of the kids. He said that was a big need that they had.
CARROLL (voice-over): In a brief statement, El Roy Haiti said the two were kidnapped Thursday, saying in part, Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering. Outpouring of support also coming from the school where she studied nursing.
ANTOINETTE HAYS, REGIS COLLEGE PRESIDENT: Alix is very compassionate and cared very much for people who had great need. She was definitely a very special young woman.
CARROLL (voice-over): Dorsonville and her child taken in the midst of ongoing gang violence, which has overtaken much of the country and forced thousands of Haitians to flee their homes. The Biden administration says they are closely monitoring the situation.
UNKNOWN: We don't want to do anything, say anything that would put their safe return in jeopardy.
CARROLL (voice-over): The U.S. last week ordered the departure of all non-emergency personnel from Haiti and told Americans to leave as soon as possible while trying to marshal international support.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've been very focused on trying to put in place what's necessary for a multinational force, including finding a lead nation to take this on.
CARROLL (voice-over): But the delay in creating that so-called multinational force could make matters worse.
GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE, FOUNDER AND EDITOR, THE HAITIAN TIMES: The gang leaders, they feel that their days are numbered. I think now it's the most dangerous time to be an 80 because anything can happen to you.
CARROLL (voice-over): And it's innocent Haitians and people like their Dorsanvilles dedicated to helping them getting caught in the crossfire.
DORSONVILLE: Haitians are such a resilient people. They're full of joy and life and love and I'm so blessed to be able to know so many amazing Haitians.
CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, Middleton, New Hampshire.
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CHURCH: ISIS has claimed responsibility for Sunday's deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan, saying the attack was part of its ongoing conflict against democracy, which it views as hostile to the principles of Islam. Police say the attacker detonated explosives at a political rally near Afghanistan's border. They also say a dozen children were among the 54 people killed.
At least six people were seriously injured after a tourist bus overturned in Spain on Monday. Officials say it was traveling on a highway when it veered off the main road and rolled down a hillside in northern Spain. They say there were 49 people on board, including many children, but most of them sustained minor injuries and were transferred to local hospitals for treatment.
An American woman has been arrested in the Bahamas. with conspiring to kill her husband just months after the couple filed for divorce. Lindsay Shiver is accused of plotting with two locals to kill Robert Shiver on July 16th while the couple was visiting the islands.
CNN's Nick Valencia has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two local Bahamian men were also taken into custody, and according to prosecutors, the accused agreed to carry out a murder-for-hire plot on the husband of American Lindsay Shiver on the island of Abaco in the Bahamas on July 16.
That plot was foiled. It's not entirely clear how. There is some reporting out there that CNN has been unable to verify. We do know that the three defendants were in a courtroom in the Bahamas on Friday, and they were not required to enter a plea, but they were told if they were seeking bail that they could appeal to the Supreme Court on the island.
Social media that appeared to belong to Lindsay Shiver showed that her husband and she attended Auburn University and it appeared to show a happy churchgoing family but it was back in April that her husband filed for divorce citing his wife's adulterous conduct as the reason for that divorce filing.
The next day Lindsay Shiver also filed for divorce. Now we have reached out to the attorneys in those divorce proceedings but we have not yet heard back. Meanwhile the next court date in the Bahamas for those three defendants is October 5th.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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CHURCH: Hollywood is mourning Angus Cloud, a rising young actor best known for his breakthrough role in the HBO drama "Euphoria." He played a sweet-natured drug dealer named Fezco who quickly became a fan favorite. Cloud also had a few other projects in the works. No cause of death has been released, but his family says he lost his father recently and struggled intensely. Angus Cloud was 25 years old.
And actor and comedian Paul Reubens has died. He was best known for the Emmy award winning "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" series, which spawned films, streaming specials, and even a Broadway show. His team says the actor fought a private battle with cancer and left a message to be released after his death, which was posted on Instagram. It reads, quote, "please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years. so much and enjoyed making art for you." Paul Reubens was 70 years old.
And still to come, why the only member of the G7 to join China's Belt and Road Initiative may be rethinking that decision.
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CHURCH: UNESCO has recommended listing Venice as an endangered world heritage site. They say the Italian city has suffered damage to its buildings, environment and cultural heritage from mass tourism and climate change. Meantime, the agency has recommended that Australia's Great Barrier
Reef should not be placed on a list of places considered in danger. But they warned that the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem remains under serious threat and urgent and sustained action is needed to preserve it.
Well, China's flagship Belt and Road initiative is marking its 10th anniversary. And Italy, the only major Western country to join, must decide if it will remain a member. The Italian defense minister recently described his country's participation as wicked during an interview with local media. The Italian prime minister says discussions are still underway, but that a decision will be made before December.
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GIORGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: The paradox with the Belt and Road Initiative is that we are the only nation in the G7 and the European Union, but we are not the nation that has the best trade with China. That means you can have good relations with China without the Belt and Road Initiative, but it's something that, in my opinion, has to be discussed with Chinese government and well, inside of the Italian parliament.
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CHURCH: And earlier I spoke with Zoe Liao, a China Studies Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and I asked her about Italy's stance.
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ZOE LIAO, CHINA STUDIES FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Italy is actually the very first G7 country, and so far the only G7 country that have joined China's Belt and Road Initiative, which is the China- initiated global infrastructure program. And when Italy joined the G7 -- when Italy joined the BRI in 2019, it surprised allies of the West.
So, from that perspective, given that by 2024, if Italy did not make any initiative to exit the BRI initiative, the agreement would automatically be renewed. So, from that perspective, that gives Prime Minister Meloni some sort of re-evaluation of China's growing influence.
CHURCH: But, of course, as we mentioned, Europe won't be attending this forum. So, where does this leave the BRI? Is it dead in the water?
LIAO: I personally would say that it's not necessarily dead yet. On the one hand, it's exactly as you just mentioned. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the BRI, so politically it would not necessarily be dead, and it literally would not be allowed to die. And in fact, Xinhua News Agency literally just launched a BRI global reporting initiative about two days ago, and that is going to cover about 15 countries to show what the BRI has achieved. And on the other end, literally the scope of BRI has expanded. So
basically everything now can be covered under the umbrella of BRI, not just infrastructure investment.
CHURCH: So what was the original goal of China's Belt and Road Initiative and why has Beijing pulled back on investing in recent years?
LIAO: Rosemary, you know, the original plan, at least from President Xi Jinping's perspective, it was to solve China's domestic overcapacity problem and use the global market to address China's domestic problem.
And to quote President Xi Jinping, he actually said that, you know, China's domestic overcapacity challenge could potentially be other countries' benefit. And the World Bank described China's BRI as a China-led effort to improve global connectivity and regional cooperation through large-scale investment.
But China, as you correctly pointed out, Rosemary, China has been pulling back from infrastructure investment, both in terms of direct investment and loans.
[03:55:01]
Part of the reason is because of a global pushback, foreign narratives such as the death trap. And part of the reason is also because of Chinese investors' own recognition of the problems associated with the BRI project.
CHURCH: So what's China's goal and emphasis going forward with this Belt and Road Initiative?
LIAO: So, going forward, I would say that just observing from Beijing's narratives and Beijing's policy discussion, going forward, a lot of this BRI discussion project is still going to focus on connectivity, but less so on hard infrastructure and more on the soft connectivity or soft connections, such as international rules and norms, expanding trilateral or even multilateral cooperation. And for that matter, Beijing is also going to intend to step up its standardization diplomacy and trying to influence global norms and agenda setting.
CHURCH: Zoe Liao, thank you so much for joining us. I Appreciate it.
LIAO: Thank you for having me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A zoo in eastern China is trying to reassure visitors their sun bears are not people dressed in costumes. Rumors and conspiracy theories have been swirling on social media after a viral video of a sun bear standing on its hind legs looking uncannily human and appearing to wave at the crowd. Its fur appears loose and wrinkled in places almost like an ill-fitting bear suit. Sun bears are the world's smallest bear species. and the zooens' people just don't understand their behavior.
Well, a farm in southern Germany is paying tribute to Disney as it celebrates its 100th anniversary. They've created a more than three kilometer long maze made from 360,000 sunflower plants in the shape of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The farmer and his wife say they started the planting in May and had help from a team of 22 people to create the maze.
And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster.
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