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CNN International: Ukraine: 7 Killed, 81 Plus Injured In Missile Strikes On Pokrovsk; Flurry Of Diplomacy After Niger Military Coup; U.S. Diplomat Met With Junta Leaders In Niger; July Broke Records For Global Temperatures; Nearly 40k Scouts Leave Problem- Plagued Jamboree; Are Allies Concerned About Ukraine's Counteroffensive?; Brazil: Deforestation In Amazon At Lowest Level In Six Years. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 08, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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[07:59:34]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London in for Max Foster today.

Just ahead, two Russian missile strikes hit a city in Ukraine's east. A horrific double attack that saw emergency workers responding to the first strike killed. Also ahead, new CNN reporting that Western allies are getting increasingly sobering updates on Ukraine's counteroffensive. What you need to know about that.

[08:00:00]

And buses are moving tens of thousands of scouts from their campsites in South Korea as extreme heat and an incoming tropical storm wreak havoc on the World Scout Jamboree event.

A rescue operation is ongoing at this hour following two devastating Russian missile strikes in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. At least seven people were killed and more than 80 others injured in Monday's attacks on the small town of Pokrovsk. A local official says the second missile hit about 40 minutes after the first as emergency crews were there searching for survivors.

The devastation, as you can see, is extensive. The strikes damaged a hotel, residential buildings and other civilian structures. To discuss this, CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now in London. Nic, do we see this tactic often from Russia, the double strike essentially trying to hit the human response to devastation in these attacks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The Ukrainians believe so. They're saying that it isn't uncommon. And I think there's another parallel we can look at here. Kramatorsk isn't far away and that's where a Pizzeria was hit by, again, a sophisticated cruise missile able to target it. And again, the timing at suppertime, just after 07:00 p.m. in the evening, when people would be in there. I've been in this pizza restaurant in Pokrovsk, the Corleone. It is a popular place, it's a large restaurant facility, actually. The hotel above that was also hit, fortunately, officials say had been shut for about five weeks now. So nobody was injured there.

But you look at those first images of the first strike in daylight and then the second images after the second strike. More than half of those injured were rescue workers. There were 81 people injured, two of them were children, 31 civilians, 42 were rescue workers, either police, rescue workers or military.

And one of the leading emergency recovery services figures in the area, the deputy head of recovery in the Donetsk region, was killed as well. So this is quite typically in the Russian playbook to draw in the emergency services and then fire another missile and they know exactly who they're going to hit.

NOBILO: Later in the show, we're going to get into Jim Sciutto's reporting about the western allies view of the counteroffensive and their updates that they're receiving. Just from a bird's eye view of what's been achieved since the counteroffensive began, what can you tell us about what Ukraine's been able to take back or not?

ROBERTSON: Not much is the reality this year, despite the hopes that there really would be -- and the big ambition that there would be a successful counteroffensive. If you listen to the words of the Deputy Defense Minister speaking just yesterday about what the situation around Bakhmut, for example, saying that we were able to defend our positions and put casualties onto the enemy, essentially, that's hardly the language of taking territory.

And in other areas, she was saying along the southern front, we're finding that the Russians are actually putting concrete fortifications on the high ground, you know, having got through the minefields. That's what they're discovering. So the reality is the Ukrainians haven't been able to punch through, but this was always going to be an asymmetric war.

This was always going to be a war where the Ukrainians were going to struggle against the might of the Russians, their numbers and their ability to keep losing troops. Ukrainians don't want to lose troops. And they've said they've spoken a lot about that and about the slowness of NATO allies to supply weapons.

But I say asymmetric because they've been able to hit Moscow with drones. There's been a mutiny, a military mutiny in Russia. They've been able to perpetrate attacks across the border inside Russia. So they have had an effect on the Russian establishment. But that key thing, the frontline that they need, they haven't got yet.

NOBILO: And that age old issue of manpower is only going to become more acute from now on.

ROBERTSON: Russia has advantage. NOBILO: Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

There's a diplomatic push by several nations following last month's coup in Niger. U.S. State Department official, Victoria Nuland, was in Niamey on Monday, where she met with some of the junta leaders and urged them to return to democracy. She says she made it clear that the U.S. will cut foreign and military assistance if the takeover is formally declared a coup.

Junta leaders from neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso also sent delegations to Niger to show solidarity with the coup leaders. And speaking from Paris, Niger's Prime Minister says he's been told the junta wants to reopen talks with ECOWAS, the West African bloc of nations.

Our Larry Madowo is following these developments from Nairobi.

[08:05:03]

Larry, how is ECOWAS regarded, do you think, internally by the junta at the moment, because we had this very strong rhetoric from them and ultimatum a few days ago. And now they're not talking until Thursday. It doesn't seem like there's much urgency.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't think the military junta in Niger has any respect for ECOWAS. This is why, when they sent the delegation to Niamey last week, they didn't even meet with General Abdul Rahman Tiani. This is the man who's declared himself the new leader of Niger.

They didn't meet with him. They met with other juniors. Victoria Nuland, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the U.S., who went to Niamey yesterday, also did not meet with General Tiani. She met with the self-declared chief of defense. And she says they had very frank, sometimes difficult conversations about the situation.

And she said that she didn't get a lot of traction around a negotiated settlement because these men who've taken over the country are very firm in how they want to proceed, which violates the constitution of Niger. Now, here's the interesting bit. Burkina Faso and Mali also sent a delegation to Niamey. They actually met with General Abdul Rahman Tiani. He had time for them.

They met for some time, and the government spokesperson from Mali spoke to the press afterwards with these words.

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ABDOULAYE MAIGA, MALI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN (through translation): I would like to remind you that Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have been dealing for over 10 years with the negative socioeconomic, security, political and humanitarian consequences of NATO's hazardous adventure in Libya. Of course, we ask ourselves, if it took us 10 years, how many years would it take us to get another adventure of the same nature in Niger?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The common thing between Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, they're all now ruled by military junta, so they are sticking together. In fact, Burkina Faso and Mali said any military intervention, the kind that ECOWAS's talked about, would be an act of war against them. And you see why the military junta and Niger, Bianca, has their priorities.

NOBILO: Larry Madowo, thank you very much for bringing us that update.

Last month, the world got a preview of what, 1.5 degrees of global warming could look like. July's temperatures on average were 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than in preindustrial times, according to the E.U.'s Copernicus Climate Change Service. It's a significant milestone since scientists consider that threshold a key tipping point for the planet if it succeeded in the long term.

This chart shows changes in sea surface temperature going back to the 1970s. And the top red line that you can see represents 2023, with July clearly far and away the highest temperature. If rising temperatures continue, scientists say extreme weather will become more common.

And joining me now to discuss this report is CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, it's so great to see you. We often hear from meteorologist experts like yourself that extreme weather engenders more extreme weather because of these cycles. Can you explain what's going on there? And also if reaching this threshold now is going to make even more extreme weather more likely?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's what happens. When we warm the planet, we have that tipping point where scientists believe that that will lead to more extreme, unprecedented weather events like we've seen breaking temperatures, stronger hurricanes and typhoons, that type of phenomena.

But it's not that we haven't surpassed this 1.5 degree threshold. It has happened, but it's the fact that it's occurring in the month of July, which is part of the Northern Hemisphere summer months. So when we start registering these temperatures during this time of year, we start to see this unprecedented extremes, like breaking all-time record highs in China, for instance, the European heatwave that we just endured through the month of July.

And it was very present across the entire globe compared to that 30- year average, 1991 to 2020, we saw this warmest July on average. And the problem that scientists are concerned about is that not just breaking this 1.5 degree threshold for one month, it's several months. And then they become more continuous, more frequent, and then we start averaging 1.5 degrees Celsius above that preindustrial average for the entire year.

And that's when scientists believe that that tipping point will be broken when extreme weather could increase and become more frequent as well. We know that we've had eight consecutive years of temperatures above that 1 degree Celsius. And, Bianca, on top of this global warming event that we're having because of the burning of fossil fuels, we have a natural warming cycle known as El Nino. So this is just layering warmth on top of the global warming that's already occurring. So we have still the warmest months ahead of us here in the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. So we'll likely see more records broken.

[08:10:10]

NOBILO: Derek Van Dam, thank you very much.

VAN DAM: OK.

NOBILO: Nearly 40,000 teenage scouts from around the world were forced to close up camp early in South Korea. The 25th World Scout Jamboree was plagued with problems from the start, according to participants. Food and bed shortages mixed with extreme heat put a dampener on festivities.

A looming now tropical storm, Khanun, is also expected to hit sometime on Thursday, adding to the decision to evacuate 37,000 scouts. Ivan Watson joins us now live from Hong Kong to talk about this. Ivan, it must be a logistical challenge to be evacuating 37,000 children and people with very short notice.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. And, you know, the scout motto is be prepared. But some of the participants of the 25th World Scout Jamboree are accusing the Korean hosts of not being adequately prepared.

And that inefficiencies and inadequacies with sanitation, with food, with other infrastructure, combined with the extreme August heat and the looming typhoon, that all contributed to the Korean hosts actually just having to pack up the tent city and then ship all of these young scouts, tens of thousands of them, to cooler, temporary housing.

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WATSON (voice-over): A mass evacuation of tens of thousands of scouts. The South Korean government packing teenagers from more than 150 countries around the world on more than 1,000 buses to flee an approaching typhoon. An escape from the sprawling site of the 25th World Scout Jamboree.

HERMAN LIND, SWEDISH SCOUT: It's been pretty bad. Like really bad. I don't really know what else to say.

WATSON (voice-over): Speaking to CNN from one of the evacuation buses, these 18-year-old scouts from Sweden say they were disappointed by conditions at the camp.

LIND: Why couldn't they just plan this better? And we've been a bit angry because they knew that they didn't have the resources and they still decided to keep going with the camp.

WATSON (voice-over): What was supposed to be a 12-day event has been troubled from the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were particularly concerned about sanitation and the cleanliness of toilets that were causing severe concerns from us, from a health and safety point of view.

WATSON (voice-over): The leader of the British contingent pulled some 4,500 U.K. scouts and volunteers out this weekend, relocating them to hotels in the Korean capital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's punishingly hot here in Korea. It's an unprecedented heat wave, but we were concerned about the heat relief measures that were being put in place.

WATSON (voice-over): Meanwhile, scouts from the U.S. also pulled out, relocating to Camp Humphreys, a large U.S. Military base.

The August heat wave particularly punishing given the location of the jamboree, a reclaimed tidal flat apparently devoid of natural shade.

LIND: It's so hot. A lot of people are passing out, and we've been forced to drink about 1 liter of water per hour.

WATSON (voice-over): In the first week, hundreds of teenagers got sick from the heat, prompting the Korean government to rush air conditioned buses to help, along with fire and medical services and extra water.

With a potentially dangerous typhoon approaching, Korean organizers finally pulled the plug on Monday, telling scouts to strike camp.

AXEL SCHOLL, SCOUT VOLUNTEER FROM GERMANY: I feel very, very sorry for the Korean nation and the Korean people because I think that they would have loved to present their country, their culture, their community in a more positive way.

WATSON (voice-over): Despite the setbacks, some teenagers apparently applying the Cub Scout motto, do your best.

LIND: We're just happy to be in the shade, in the AC, getting to cool down. And, I mean, the Scout motto is to meet every problem with the smile and that's what I feel like everyone is doing.

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WATSON: Now, you know, some of the participants, they describe the World Scout Jamboree as kind of the Olympics of the global scouting movement, because it only really takes place once every four years. And this is the first time they were able to organize this since the pandemic.

The government in Korea, they have said that for the remaining planned five days of the jamboree, they're going to try to support it and allow the event to go on, but they're clearly having to improvise on the spot. The Swedish boys that I talked to, for instance, they just arrived at some university dormitories where they're going to be staying. They say they're happy there's air conditioning there, but they really don't know what the program is for the remaining five days of what was supposed to be a very important gathering. I might add, many of these scouts have planned and prepared years for this event and fundraised thousands of dollars to be able to participate. And that has contributed to the sense of disappointment here. Bianca?

[08:15:19]

NOBILO: Not what they were expecting at all, and like you say, a true test of the scouting principles really. Ivan Watson, thank you very much for bringing us that report.

Still to come, one U.S. lawmaker describes it as the most difficult time of the war in Ukraine. Western allies get a sobering report card on Ukraine's counteroffensive. Details when we return.

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NOBILO: Are Western allies concerned about Ukraine's counteroffensive? New CNN reporting reveals that allies are getting sobering updates from the battleground, specifically about Ukrainian forces ability to retake significant territory. One senior U.S. official says the counteroffensive is going harder and slower than anyone would like.

Ukraine also has a limited window to push forward, officials say. Weather and fighting conditions are expected to worsen when fall approaches. And this is, of course, a marked change from the optimistic rhetoric that we heard at the start of the offensive.

CNN Chief U.S. Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto joins us now from Washington, D.C. with his reporting. Jim, you know, this is a very important development and insight into the thinking of the Western officials and allies. What is the actual surprise or disappointment here, specifically? Because we knew that this counteroffensive would be grueling. It's essentially an attrition war.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

NOBILO: What elements were raised to you?

SCIUTTO: It's a number of things, really, Bianca and I'm hearing quite similar assessments both here in the U.S. and in Europe and that goes for military officials, diplomats as well as lawmakers. Some of it was expected. Russian defensive lines are difficult to breach. They are multilayered. They are covered with tens of thousands of mines. And they have incurred, as they've tried to breach those lines, just devastating losses Ukrainian forces have.

And as a result of that, they have pulled some of those units back because they want to reduce those losses, understandably. But there are also longer term issues here. Some criticism of the short amount of training that was possible for some of these Ukrainian units, particularly as they receive new Western advanced, Western weapons systems like the German Leopard tank. In some cases, I'm told just about eight weeks of training. And big picture that the challenge of turning units into really mechanized brigades in a short time span is a difficult thing to do and to do with success. And we're seeing the results of that with this really back and forth along the front lines, gaining some territory in some areas but certainly not to the degree that had been hoped.

[08:20:08]

And I'd been told by administration officials as well that disappointment goes for Western officials, but also for the Ukrainians themselves. They haven't given up hope. But as you mentioned, Bianca, time pressure is real. Fall is coming, weather, fighting conditions are going to worsen, and there's also political pressure both here and in Europe for success and success quickly.

NOBILO: I'd like to talk about that political and decision making context. What impact do you think these sobering briefings will have on resolve and priorities for the western allies? As in, will it incentivize them to provide more support faster, or is it going to encourage people to start thinking about other alternatives and other pathways out of this conflict? What's your sense?

SCIUTTO: It's a great question. And the truth is you have both pressures, two camps, you might argue. No one believes that there is a magic bullet here, that one weapon system delivered tomorrow is suddenly going to change the nature of this. And, by the way, that's not quite possible.

For instance, you look at the Abrams tanks. That takes time to train up those Ukrainian forces, takes time to get them there into place. And that's why you hear the Abrams tanks won't be there until the fall. So there's no one magic weapon system that's going to change that.

You do have folks who believe, listen, this is greater incentive to send more quickly over time, F-16s, for instance, at the top of the list, because air cover has been a real issue for those Ukrainian units. But you also have officials who say, listen, this is the nature of the war now. There's not a lot that's going to change this very quickly and we have to begin discussing what's next. How do you handle this because the counteroffensive has not gone as planned or at least as hoped?

NOBILO: Jim Sciutto, thank you very much for bringing us that reporting.

Coming up, a summit in South America gets underway soon aimed at saving the Amazon rainforest. We'll look at what Brazilian President Lula da Silva is doing to stop deforestation.

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NOBILO: Brazil's space research agency is reporting that deforestation is down by 66 percent. This data shows the stark decline since President Lula da Silva was inaugurated in January. CNN's Rafael Romo explores the situation in the rainforest ahead of summit hosted by Brazil.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They move slowly through the jungle. Their weapons are cocked and loaded. These environmental agents are searching for signs of illegal logging. It doesn't take long before they find what they're looking for.

Illegal logging has been a challenge in Brazil for decades, but experts say it grew worse over the last four years when former President Jair Bolsonaro was in power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

ROMO (voice-over): The commander in charge of the unit conducting this raid says the previous government only cared about solving emergency situations, but lacked strategic planning to really combat deforestation. His team later makes an arrest.

[08:25:01]

In his first speech after taking office on January 1, current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said one of his government's goals is to reach zero deforestation in the Amazon, adding that Brazil doesn't need to get rid of its trees to remain an agricultural powerhouse.

(on-camera): And now Lula is about to spearhead what he hopes will be an international effort to save the Amazon with the cooperation of all the countries that host the world's largest rainforest. Although almost 60 percent of the Amazon is in Brazil, it also extends through Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

(voice-over): Last month, President Lula met with Gustavo Petro, his Colombian counterpart, at Leticia, a city in southern Colombia on the Amazon River and just across the Brazilian border. Last week, the Brazilian government said preliminary data from the country's space research agency show deforestation in the Amazon has fallen by 66 percent since July of last year, to its lowest point in six years.

And this week, the Brazilian president is hosting heads of state of Amazon countries at a summit to be held in the Brazilian city of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River.

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL: (Speaking Foreign Language).

ROMO (voice-over): Lula said he's going to try to convince the other heads of state to work together in a cohesive way to fight organized crime to take care of the Amazon and the people who live in it. According to the Brazilian government, the meeting intends to start a new stage in cooperation among the countries that host the biome through the adoption of a shared policy for the sustainable development of the region.

Efforts to save the Amazon are nothing new. The Brazilian government has rated illegal mining and logging operations over the decades, but the results have been disappointing. A study by Purdue University showed that deforestation drove the massive Amazon rainforest fires of 2019, which destroyed thousands of square miles of Amazon rainforest, roughly the size of New Jersey.

And according to an analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations published last year, it's estimated that between 17 and 20 percent of the Amazon has been destroyed over the past 50 years. And some scientists believe that the tipping point for dieback is between 20 and 25 percent deforestation.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

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NOBILO: Thank you for joining us. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. World Sport with Patrick Snell is up next.

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