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Joe Biden Kicks Off his Bidenomics Tour; Ukraine Strikes Two key Bridges in Crimea and Nearby Russian-Occupied Areas; Niger's Airspace Shuts Down Despite Demands to Reinstate the Country's Deposed Leader; 25 year Old Fisherman Survived and Rescued in a Boat after Two Days of his Disappearance; New York Officials Racing for Asylum Seekers' Help; Megan Rapinoe Retires from Team USA after Women's World Cup Loss. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 07, 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)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom" and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, former U.S. President Donald Trump staring down a deadline related to charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election. We'll hear from one of his lawyers.

President Joe Biden is set to hit the road to tout his economic achievements to voters. Job numbers are up, but some other important numbers are down.

And an amazing rescue at sea. The trials this man endured before the Coast Guard finally found him alive.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. Well, the clock is ticking for Donald Trump's lawyers to respond to a legal filing in the case over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Special counsel Jack Smith has requested limitations on evidence provided to Trump's team. Specifically, they're asking the former president not to receive his own copies of sensitive material fearing he could use it to threaten witnesses. And the deadline to respond is just hours away. Smith filed the request in response to Trump's posts on social media, including this one, which says, quote, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

One of Trump's attorneys tells CNN he will fight the protective order, claiming prosecutors want to hide information from the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN LAURO, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: The point is that we will not agree to keeping information that's not sensitive from the press. The press and the American people in a campaign season have a right to know what the evidence is in this case, provided that this evidence is not protected otherwise. So we're going to oppose it, as we have.

But for whatever reason, these lawyers on the prosecution team want to keep that from the press. I'm shocked that the press isn't lined up objecting to this protective order, because not only is President Trump being attacked for his First Amendment rights, now these prosecutors are trying to impinge on the freedom of the press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Trump has also said his legal team will be asking for the federal judge overseeing the election meddling case for a recusal, quote, "on very powerful grounds." He added his team may also seek to move the case out of Washington, D.C.

Well, amid the unprecedented nature of what Trump faces, consider this. We could see his former vice president and current opponent for the 2024 nomination be called to testify against him.

CNN's Dana Bash put that scenario to Mike Pence earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I have no plans to testify, but look, we'll always comply with the law. But look, I want to tell you, I don't know what the path of this indictment will be. The president's entitled to a presumption of innocence. He's entitled to make his defense in court. There actually are profound issues around this pertaining to the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and the rest. I'm confident he and his lawyers will litigate all of those things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, over the weekend, some of Trump's opponents for the Republican nomination were stumping in Iowa at a barbecue event hosted by a Republican House representative.

While nailing home their own platforms, candidates did not miss an opportunity to acknowledge not only the lead Donald Trump holds going into primary season, but also the division among Americans. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASA HUTCHINSON, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just want you to know, I know that this is an uphill battle, because there's one candidate in the race that's got like 50 percent of the vote. So I recognize there's an uphill road.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-CA), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We as Republicans cannot be content with just managing this decline a little bit better than the Democrats. And I'm running for president because we must reverse the decline of America.

NIKKI HAYLEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Iowa was an important state. Not because of the caucuses, that's an important thing, but for our national security. Food security is national security.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You see, for me, November 2024, that is not the finish line of a campaign.

[03:05:02]

It is the start line of a national revival. That is where this begins. Where I don't think about my inauguration speech, I think about my farewell speech in January of 2033.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor with "The Atlantic." He joins me now. Good to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So Ron, Donald Trump and his lawyers have until 5.00 p.m. today to respond to a legal filing related to his third indictment over his effort to overturn the 2020 election. After special counsel Jack Smith requested a protective order, Smith wants the judge to limit Trump and his legal team from publicly discussing sensitive evidence but Trump's legal team says they will fight the protective order as well as call for the recusal of the presiding judge and seek a change of venue.

Now, only a few of his GOP presidential rivals have dared to speak out about any of this as the country faces an unprecedented and historic moment. So what does it say about politics in this country right now and of course American democracy?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, well, you know, this really is the culmination of what we have watched for eight years as Trump has barreled through a procession of norms about candidate behavior, about president -- presidential behavior, two impeachments, including for instigating the January 6th riot. And we have seen time after time, the vast majority of Republican elected officials, virtually all of them in the current case, refusing to draw any lines.

And Trump has quite understandably taken from that the lesson that he has essentially broken the party to his will, and there is no point he can go to, at which a critical mass of Republicans will coalesce against him and try the admittedly difficult task of convincing their voters that this is unacceptable.

But when you add all of this up, you see the challenge it creates for American democracy. Because we are now on a situation where the vast majority of Republican elected officials and voters are basically saying they do not believe his conduct after the 2020 election or on January 6th is disqualifying for him to be president again and the legal system may have very different judgments about what he did in that period.

CHURCH: And we are seeing that reflected in the polls. The most recent New York Times-Sienna College poll shows 52 percent of Iowa Republicans back-Trump and 47 percent are considering the other GOP candidates. It also shows Trump is 24 points ahead of his nearest rival, Ron DeSantis, while the remaining hopefuls are way far behind with single-digit support. So while this poll was conducted before Trump's third indictment, what do these numbers reveal to you ahead of the GOP primaries?

BROWNSTEIN: Trump is the dominant figure in the Republican Party, and that means the largest faction in one of our major parties, I think really for the first time since the Civil War, is signaling that it is okay with anti-democratic measures and means to pursue its end.

The other Republicans candidates, Rosemary, as you know, have chosen a strategy so far mostly like what we saw in 2016 of avoiding direct confrontation with Trump in the hope that events, outside events, a meteor striking the earth, or more, you know, prosaically, the accumulation of all these indictments will cause this support to crumble on its own.

And they will be there to pick up his base if they are not seen as someone who tried too hard to take him down themselves. That strategy didn't work in 2016. And the polls that you are citing show that it's not working again in 2020, i mean 2024. If they wanna beat him, they're gonna have to give Republican voters a stronger reason to pass him over in this nomination fight.

CHURCH: Right. Of course, as we've reported, Trump has been indicted three times, with a fourth looming in Georgia. What happens if Trump wins the 2024 election but is convicted before his inauguration? What could that mean for Republicans and this country?

BROWNSTEIN: If Trump wins the election, he will certainly seek to dismiss the cases against him or pardon himself. I don't think that is available to him in the state-level charges that he's facing in New York and potentially Georgia. But obviously, that would take everything we are talking about to an entirely new level.

We are already in a crisis of democracy. We have not seen the dominant faction in a major party accept and tolerate and even embrace anti- democratic measures to this extent, I think, since the years before the Civil War, when the slave-holding South had a strategy of trying to subvert majority rule in order to protect slavery.

[03:10:12]

That alone is taking us into uncharted waters. If Trump wins the election while facing criminal convictions, we are kind of way beyond the last buoy.

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein, I appreciate your political analysis. Many thanks.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Arizona, New Mexico and Utah this week to sell his economic policies ahead of next year's presidential election. His trip comes on the heels of the monthly employment report showing a gain of 187,000 jobs in July. It's an increase the president has touted as Bidenomics at work. Despite this, the latest CNN polls show two-thirds of those surveyed disapprove of how Mr. Biden is handling the economy.

CNN's Kevin Liptak has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Biden is heading west this week to sell voters on his climate agenda. This is all part of a broader effort by the White House to sell the president's accomplishments and take credit for those accomplishments, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which you'll remember included $370 billion meant to combat climate change.

Now, the president will visit Arizona first, and sources tell us that he is considering designating a new national monument around the Grand Canyon. This is something that native tribes have been lobbying for for years and it would prevent new drilling in the area. So, the president's really trying to bolster his climate agenda ahead of the 2024 election.

Of course, this is a critical issue for key members of the Democratic coalition, progressives, young voters, people who haven't necessarily been satisfied with the president in this area so far when it comes to drilling for fossil fuels, when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, the president really hoping to show voters that he is serious about combating climate change.

And now, this is all part of a bigger effort by the Biden administration to take more credit for their economic agenda in the month of August. And you'll see the president, the vice president, members of the cabinet all out talking about their economic record. And they do believe that they have a good story to tell. Inflation is easing. Consumer sentiment is ticking up and certainly hiring remains strong.

But they does remain this disconnect with voters. In a poll last week by CNN, 75 percent said that they viewed economic conditions as poor and that is translating into political headwinds for President Biden when it comes to his approval rating. So certainly the challenge for President Biden as he gears up for reelection is to close that gap and remind voters of all that he has accomplished when it comes to the economy.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Some 80 million people in the U.S. will begin the work week under dangerous heat alerts. The South and the Southwest will be hardest hit. Triple digit temperatures are forecast for much of those regions. The threat of severe weather also increases Monday with the potential for hail and damaging wind. It could impact more than 120 million people in the eastern U.S. The threat is highest in the southeast from Georgia to Maryland.

We are following new developments out of Ukraine, where officials say at least one person has been killed after Russian shelling targeted the southern region of Kherson.

Meantime, Ukraine's military is confirming strikes on two key bridges between Crimea and Russian-occupied areas nearby. Ukraine says the two road bridges targeted on Sunday were the main transportation routes for Russia in those areas. But a Russian-appointed official in the Kherson region claims the bridges are used for civilian, not military traffic and that a rupture to a gas pipeline running along one bridge cut off supplies to 20,000 residents.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now from London with the latest. Good morning to you Clare. So help us understand the strategy behind the bridge attacks.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, I think it's clear at this point in the conflict that Ukraine is getting bolder, and in doing so we see a sort of mix of hard military strategy and also symbolism, right? They want to show that Crimea is not off limits, that Russia itself is not off limits.

Again, this morning we see Russia claiming to have thwarted a drone attack on the Kaluga region just to the southwest of Moscow. But in terms of these bridges, I think what we're seeing here is some pretty hard military strategy. These are key bridges connecting Crimea with other Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.

[03:10:06]

Russia, of course, has emphasizing the civilian impacts of this, that Russian-backed official saying that these bridges were mostly used by civilians and that people were affected by, you know, gas outages and things like that. But Crimea, we know, houses ammunition depots, military bases, things like that. It's hard to imagine that these are not critical military supply routes.

And we see the Russian installed head of Crimea saying that traffic is having to be rerouted now through the very thin strip of land that actually links the Crimean peninsula with Ukraine. So there is disruption there.

So I think yes, in some ways this is part of the messaging from Ukraine, but also they are, you know, conducting a concerted effort with progress very slow on the front lines to really disrupt behind those lines to sort of ease the pressure on the forces fighting there, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Clare, what's the latest on the front line fighting?

SEBASTIAN: So we're hearing this morning an update, Rosemary, from the Deputy Defense Minister who says that over the past week the eastern front has really been the most active. Russia is pushing very hard up in the north around Kupyansk and have expended, she says, almost half a million munitions over the past week.

Now that is significant because what we're seeing really is Russia going over old ground. Kupyansk is a town that they lost just about 11 months ago, that they had occupied at the beginning of the war and then lost when Ukraine carried out that counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region back last autumn. So it's a back and forth, right? They're spending massive amounts of ammunition really to just go over old ground and not achieve too much in the process. Same thing in the south.

Ukraine's saying that Russia is trying to retake a village in the southern border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya regions that they took about a week ago. So massive amounts of fighting and shelling, huge amounts of ammunition being expended. And not many people, not either side, are achieving very much in all of this.

And meanwhile, as you said, at the top of this segment, civilians are being caught in the crossfire. Two civilians were killed in Kharkiv on Sunday. Again overnight, another civilian killed in Kherson with shelling ongoing there. Rosemary?

All right, our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London.

Well, last hour I spoke with Maria Avdeeva, research director at the European Expert Association, and I asked her about Ukraine's increased targeting of Russian infrastructure and territory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA AVDEEVA, SECURITY EXPERT: If we look at the cities like Kharkiv or Kherson, which lie as close as 10 miles to the Russian border, Russia attacks these cities from the occupied territory or from the territory of Russia itself, if we take Kharkiv, for example, where they launch S-300 missiles from Belgorod.

So the only way to stop this, because there is no way how you can intercept these missiles, is to attack the stations on the territory of Russia.

The other aim is to cut off the roots of supply, Russian supply roots, and also the Russian warehouses, ammunition depots which are used for Russian troops to resupply its attacks on the territory of Ukraine. So this is one thing.

The other thing that Russia is all the time threatening that it will do more, it will retaliate for Ukrainian attacks. This is nonsense because Russia already has used all kinds of weapons. It has included on civilian population in Ukraine. We have seen awful terrible images of residential buildings being hit by Russian missiles, houses being destroyed, civilians, hospitals, maternity wards hit by Russian missiles. So this is all Russia already is doing and they can't do anything more (inaudible)

CHURCH: And as we are being reporting, Ukraine just targeted two bridges between Crimea and Russian-occupied areas nearby. We've seen this before of course. What is the strategy here and is it working?

AVDEEVA: The strategy is to cut off the supply routes for Russian troops in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk and Luhansk regions, because Russia turned Crimea into the military base. It's saturated with all kinds of weapons, all kinds of troops, and this is the way of supply of Russian troops.

So, this is Ukrainian tactics to cut all the supply routes, and also Ukraine is using the high-precise weapons, high-precise long-range missiles it gets from the Western partners to hit Russian ammunition depots inside Crimea as well to slow down the Russian attacks and give Ukrainian troops opportunity to move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:20:05]

CHURCH: Despite warnings of potential military intervention, Niger's coup leaders reject an ultimatum to step down. Ahead how a bloc of West African nations could respond to the defiant stance.

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CHURCH: Coup leaders have announced the closure of Niger's airspace after ignoring demands from neighboring countries to reinstate the president. Even after warnings of a potential military intervention, the defiant junta held a large rally in the capital on Sunday, where thousands of people voiced their support for the coup.

CNN's Stephanie Busari joins us now from neighboring Nigeria. So Stephanie, now that a critical deadline has come and gone for coup leaders in Niger, what is expected to happen next?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SR. EDITOR, AFRICA: Rosemary, more talks will be carrying on. Everybody wants a peaceful solution to this, where military action is not taken. It's not a popular move in the region within Nigeria itself, which is a key player.

[03:25:07]

Nigeria heads the ECOWAS body of heads of states, currently the president of Nigeria, Bola Tinobu. And so, in Nigeria, if there is military action, will commit the most number of troops as the kind of largest player in this region. But it's unpopular. Nigeria's Senate has rejected the president's call for support to back military action. So they have to go back to the drawing board and try to have more talks with the military junta in Niger.

And this is against the backdrop of Nigeriens protesting pro-coup protesters in Niger saying that they're ready, they're ready for any kind of intervention. We've seen reports of people sleeping overnight vigils at roundabout -- key roundabout points in the country, saying that they're ready to defend their country.

And in Nigeria itself, in the northern parts of the country, people are saying, we don't want to go to war with our brothers. There's such close ties, ethnically and historically, with Niger and Nigeria, and there's just no appetite for any kind of military intervention, Rosemary.

And people are just worried that this is going to end up becoming a proxy war that this region, which is already so fragile, there's the threat of terrorism with Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, ISIS, it's already fighting all of these battles. And so nobody wants to see this region plunged further into any kind of instability, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, a lot of concern about what might come next. Stephanie Busari, joining us live from Lagos, many thanks.

Israel's Supreme Court has instructed the government to explain why it should not delay implementation of a controversial law making it harder to declare the Prime Minister unfit for office.

The court says it will hear arguments again on September 28th before an expanded panel of 11 judges. The law limits ways the Prime Minister can be removed from office transferring the power to do so from the Attorney General to the cabinet. Critics say it has been amended to benefit Benjamin Netanyahu who still faces a number of charges including bribery.

Meantime on Saturday tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv to protest Prime Minister Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan.

Well, the Israel Defense Forces say they thwarted a quote, "terrorist cell" in occupied-West Bank on Sunday. The IDF alleges the three Palestinians killed during the operation in the Jenin camp were part of the cell. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has not yet commented on the killings, but Hamas has condemned the incident.

Still to come, how one young man on a solo fishing trip fought to stay alive for days before he was rescued at sea.

Plus New York City says it needs federal help as it seeks to find shelter for thousands of asylum seekers in the city. We will have the latest on the migrant crisis in the United States.

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[03:30:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A missing man on a solo fishing trip in northeast Florida is safely back on land after being rescued by the Coast Guard about 12 miles or 19 kilometers off the coast of St. Augustine.

25-year-old Charles Gregory was reported missing after failing to return for nearly two days. He was last seen Thursday night leaving shore in a small boat before he was found alive Saturday.

CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a fascinating story of survival, and I spoke to Raymond Gregory, who is the father of the 25 year old who was lost at sea. His son Charles Gregory went out at four in the morning on Friday. According to his father, he went out fishing and he says he always did this and has done it for years.

But this time around, according to his father, he didn't realize that the tide was going as fast as it was, and that's when a wave comes and hits the boat. It capsizes and that's when he loses his throw cushion, his cell phone, his life jacket, and the father saying that Charles had to remove the motor of the boat and then just try to hang on to this boat for as long as he could.

He says of course he's getting sunburned -- severely getting sunburned, and of course also sees sharks and big fish and gets stung by jellyfish. He says he actually did see other boats and saw airplanes and the helicopters, he took off his shorts and tried to wave them in the air to get people's attention. That did not work.

And out of everything that happened to him, Charles told his father that the worst was the nighttime because he says he was so sunburned that the wind at night was just making it freezing cold. So he would try to get in the water to warm up, but it was extremely difficult.

Thankfully, the Coast Guard rescued him on Saturday morning. His father saying that Charles is, of course, dehydrated that he is weak, that his muscles or in the muscle tissue was breaking down so he does need some days to recover because of the sunburned and the bites. He says it's very difficult to move, so he is in bed at the moment trying to drink Gatorade, trying to eat, but the father saying he's really not eating a lot, speaking a lot and just trying to rest.

The father saying Charles is going to be OK, but the one thing he did tell me was that at the end of the day, the moral of the story in his opinion is never give up.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A wall of black smoke could be seen rising from a plastics plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico Sunday. The fire is now under control with no reports of injuries, but people who live near the plant, which manufactured and stored plastics, were asked to stay indoors while the fire raged.

[03:35:03]

Multiple agencies responded to the blaze, which spread to surrounding vegetation. Crews said they would remain on the scene through the night to make sure the fire is thoroughly extinguished. New York City is racing to help thousands of migrants seeking asylum there. Nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have come through the city's intake centers since last spring. And nearly 200 sites have been opened to shelter them. But city officials say they need federal help.

CNN correspondent, Polo Sandoval, is in New York with more on the growing crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still no end in sight for New York City's migrant crisis as New York City officials struggle to find housing for the increasing number of asylum seekers who have arrived here in the city since last spring.

Close to a hundred thousand of those, about 56,000 or more, continue to be in the city's care. They have been placed at shelter facilities in and around the city. In fact, the Roosevelt Hotel that you see behind me here in Manhattan, that not only serves as a shelter but also as that primary intake facility where many of the newly arrived are directed to, so they can best be at least make contact with those resources that they need.

It was as recent as last week that we saw dozens of asylum seekers, mostly men, actually forced to sleep on the sidewalk because of an influx in the numbers. We should note the New York City officials were later able to actually place them in temporary shelter facilities so this weekend no signs of that kind of an issue. However in Eric Adams's most recent remarks, the New York City mayor, he's made very clear that that scene is bound to repeat itself if the city does not receive any further support at the state or at the federal level.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Italian Coast Guard crews rescued dozens of migrants after two boats sank off the island of Lampedusa. Migrants having to survive in choppy seas until they could be pulled to safety. Authorities recovered the bodies of three people including a three-year-old and a pregnant woman. They say one of the survivors gave birth immediately after being rescued. Italy's Air Force saved dozens of other migrants stranded on rocks. Officials believed the boat set off from Tunisia on Thursday, at least 30 people are still missing.

In Pakistan, officials have launched a formal investigation into a deadly train derailment. At least 30 people were killed and dozens injured when a passenger train crashed on Sunday in southern Sindh province. Officials say search and rescue work has been completed and almost all bodies have been pulled out from the wreckage. And cleanup work is now underway at the crash site. Authorities are also collecting evidence to determine what caused the crash.

Still to come, a new report by UNICEF says extreme heat is having an outsized impact on children in a large region of the world. We'll have details. And the small nation of Slovenia is facing a huge price tag to repair

damage caused by recent flooding. We'll have details on that.

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[03:40:00]

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CHURCH: The threat of severe weather could impact more than 120 million people in the eastern U.S. to start the new work week. Hail and damaging winds are possible. The risk is highest from the southeast to the mid-Atlantic. Some 80 million people will also be under dangerous heat alerts. The south and the southwest will be hardest hit. Triple-digit temperatures are forecast in parts of both regions.

A new report from UNICEF says 76 percent of children in South Asia are exposed to extremely high temperatures, the highest percentage in the world. It means children in the region, which includes countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, are living under extremely high temperatures 83 or more days a year. The report emphasizes how these children are bearing the brunt of climate change through no fault of their own.

CNN's Vedika Sud is in the heart of South Asia right now, coming to us live from New Delhi. So Vedika, what more can you tell us about this UNICEF report and of course the solutions it might offer?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Rosemary, I think the top headline would be that South Asia has been hit hard, especially children under the age of 18, according to the UNICEF report. Now it talks of almost half a billion children in South Asia being deeply impacted by the high temperatures triggered by the climate crisis in the region.

Now I'm going to take you through a few key highlights from the analysis based on data from the year 2020. According to the analysis, 76 percent of children in South Asia were exposed to high temperature compared to 32 percent globally. The analysis also states that 28 percent of children in South Asia were exposed to 4.5 or more heat waves per year compared to 24 percent globally. And 800,000 children in flood affected areas were at risk of severe heat stress in the year 2023 in the month of June.

Now, according to this analysis, three or four children in South Asia were impacted by the high temperatures compared to one of three, globally.

So this talks of not only how frequent these heat waves are now occurring in South Asia, but how deeply it's impacting children and the conditions they're living in could be life-threatening according to experts. The experts also talk of how South Asia is not the only place where countries are recording high temperatures, but children are vulnerable in most of these countries because of which they're bearing the brunt of extreme weather conditions. In June this year in New Delhi, there were heat waves and frequent heat waves because of which more than 44 people died in the region and many were ill due to those extreme weather conditions.

Now according to the regional director, South Asia UNICEF, he goes on to talk in this report about how this is impacting children across South Asia and this is what he has to say, I'm going to quote him here, "the lives and well-being of millions of children across South Asia are increasingly being threatened by heat waves and high temperatures, young children simply cannot handle the heat. Unless we act now, these children will continue to bear the brunt of more frequent and more severe heat waves in the coming years for no fault of theirs."

And that's exactly what experts are saying, that the climate crisis is going to deepen. There will be more frequent heat waves, temperatures will be high, rains and the havoc caused due to rains could be more extreme in the coming years.

[03:45:01]

But it's these children, the adolescent, the vulnerable, and the women who will, of course, be suffering the most due to these extreme weather conditions in South Asia. Back to you.

CHURCH: Alright, many thanks to Vedika Sud for that live report.

Well, flooding in northeastern China has left at least 14 people dead. The region is also suffering heavy agricultural losses from the rainfall. It's a major supplier of food for the rest of China. 40,000 people have been evacuated from a city in a neighboring province.

They are part of a massive wave of people being forced from their homes. Aid is being trucked in for more than a million people. The flooding comes in the aftermath of typhoon Doksuri which slammed into China at the end of July.

Well, flooding is also swapping parts of Europe. In Slovenia, the cost of repairing flood damage could be more than half a billion dollars. That's after a month's worth of rain fell in just one day. Michael Holmes reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dragged down by floodwaters. This house in Slovenia no match for days of torrential rain. Residents say they watched and waited as a nearby river swelled in the storms, which began last week, but by Saturday they were forced to evacuate after the river burst its banks, leaving nothing to contain the rushing waters.

This man says that eight people lived there, both young and old. He says it's a huge loss, but he's grateful they got out in time.

Slovenia's Prime Minister says this is the worst natural disaster in the nation's history, affecting two-thirds of the country, with large parts of central and northern Slovenia deluged with floods.

Emergency workers are making a public plea for rubber boats so that they can reach areas no longer reachable by road.

This is what they're up against, dangerously fast waters which have stranded people in some areas. Volunteers in this northern town risking their lives to save two tourists stuck in the rapids.

One local mayor says he's just now getting a chance to inspect the damage. He says much of his town has been inundated since Friday and what isn't covered in water is caked in mud.

He says it's a huge financial loss and estimates the damage in his town alone will run into the millions of dollars.

The Prime Minister echoing that concern, saying the price tag to clean up and rebuild across the country could top half a billion dollars.

But some residents are already starting that process and local media says around 600 soldiers have been deployed to hard hit areas to help with the efforts.

This restaurant owner says it will be hard to bounce back from what she calls an apocalypse, but she says at least this disaster is one that many people are weathering together.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still ahead, fighting for a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. Nigeria look to advance for the first time, while England, try to keep their unbeaten streak alive, will have live updates just ahead.

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[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The Women's World Cup is back in action this hour with England taking on Nigeria in the knockout stage. Right now we are 20 minutes into the match and both teams are still looking for their first goal.

The Nigerians are trying to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time while the European champions England are hoping to avoid an upset.

Later tournament co-hosts Australia will try to build on their emphatic performance against Canada, and may take on Denmark who are seeking their first-ever victory in a knockout match. All of this follows the stunning elimination of Team USA. The defending champions were knocked out of the tournament on Sunday after a dramatic penalty shootout with Sweden. For the Americans, this was their earliest exit ever at the Women's World Cup. Well the match also marked the final tournament appearance of Megan

Rapinoe, who is set to retire later this year. Her final play for Team USA was a crucial penalty miss against Sweden. It was hardly the ending she was hoping for, of course, but as CNN's Carolyn Manno reports, the football star will leave an impressive legacy behind.

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ALEX MORGAN, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: She's someone who has, I think, made this team so much better than when she entered into it.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN WORLD SPORT (voice-over): A legendary career on the world's biggest stage has come to a bittersweet end for Megan Rapinoe. After 202 appearances, 63 goals, two Women's World Cup titles, and an Olympic gold medal, the 38-year-old has played her last game for the U.S. women's national team.

UNKNOWN: I've watched her since I was seven years old and see what she's done for the sport. I have the most respect for her and she's gonna leave a legacy and we're gonna continue to grow as feminine soccer players and I think it's great.

MANNO (voice-over): Rapinoe has become a household name for her accomplishments on the field, but her legacy is so much more. As a gay athlete who was never afraid to speak her mind and her truth, she transcended her sport.

MEGAN RAPINOE, U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: I feel like I used my career to do the thing that I'm, you know, the most passionate about and I feel like it's more of a purpose in life than, you know, doing things out on the left wing. I hope nobody thinks what I did on the field is more important than what I did off it. I don't think it even really comes close.

MANNO (voice-over): Rapinoe came out publicly in 2012, and she has always been a voice to the voiceless and an inspiration to the LGBTQ community.

UNKNOWN: I'm married to my wife, Renata, and now Megan Rapinoe is one of our, definitely one of our heroes.

MANNO (voice-over): In 2016, Rapinoe garnered national attention for kneeling during the national anthem in solidarity with NFL player Colin Kaepernick.

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For years, she was instrumental in the lawsuits brought by the U.S. women who lobbied the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay and conditions. In 2022, their sacrifice and determination finally paid off in an equal rate of pay in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Megan Rapinoe challenges and inspires millions of people who believe in themselves and the possibilities of our nation. (APPLAUSE)

MANNO (voice-over): She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, becoming the first soccer player ever to receive the medal.

A heartbreaking loss to Sweden on penalties in the round of 16 won't be how she imagined her international career ending. But if there's anything to know about Megan Rapinoe, this is not the end.

RAPINOE: Still just feel really grateful and joyful and you know I know it's the end and that's sad but I've loved playing for this team and playing for this country and yeah it's been an honor.

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CHURCH: And Barbie is having her best day ever. Barely three weeks into its run, the blockbuster has raked in more than a billion dollars at the global box office, according to estimates from Warner Bros.

Only about 50 films in history have hit the billion dollar mark. And it's also historic for Barbie director Greta Gerwig, who's now the first solo female director with a billion dollar movie. Both CNN and Warner Bros. are part of the same parent company.

And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. CNN Newsroom continues with Bianca Nobilo, next.

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