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The Grim Task Of Recovering Bodies Of The War Dead; Volodymyr Zelenskyy Calls Ukrainian Counteroffensive "Difficult"; Junta Refuses Visit From U.N. And Regional Leaders; Judge In Trump Election Case Sets Friday Hearing On Protective Order; Experts Make It Official: July Was Hottest Month Ever; Scout Jamboree Plagued By Storms, Heat And Supply Issues. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 09, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, the challenges facing Ukraine's counter offensive as it struggles to regain territory.

Niger's military leaders hit with new sanctions after rejecting a visit by regional leaders.

And women in Iran define the morality police even as the government promises harsh punishment.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: The Ukrainian president is acknowledging the highly anticipated counter offensive against Russia is difficult, considering that it's happening probably slower than hoped.

President Zelenskyy's comments come as Western officials described to CNN an increasingly sobering assessment about Ukraine's ability to retake significant territory.

Those officials tell us one of the biggest challenges is breaking through Russia's defense lines in the South and in the east.

In the Donetsk region, Mr. Zelenskyy says the death toll is now claimed -- has now climbed to nine after a Russian missile attack on the city of Pokrovsk. 82 other people were injured in that attack.

And in just the last few hours, the mayor of Moscow says two combat drones were shut down in the city suburbs. This as the Ukrainian president warns that Russia -- warns Russia that it will respond to attacks on its ports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If Russia continues to dominate the Black Sea outside its territory, blockading or firing at us again, launching missiles at our ports, Ukraine will do the same. This is just defense of our opportunities, of any corridor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, CNN is getting a rare look inside the trenches in southern Ukraine where some forces are tasked with a grim job, recovering the bodies of those killed in battle. As our Nick Paton Walsh reports. We have to warn you, some of the images in his story are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Even saving the dead can be lethal work. It is dawn in freshly overrun Russian positions on the southern front, where the assault is on trench networks spread out in the open. This is rare footage letting us see the point of view of a Ukrainian soldier and body collector, Vyacheslav (PH). His unit tasked with bringing back the fallen, their own, but also Russian dead, too.

This Ukrainian body seeming to have almost melted into the ground, the heat speeding up decay, another factor in this grim, grueling work, where they are often guided to their targets by the smell, from which the masks aren't protection enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You will puke later. Now switch off your brain, do the job.

There's a drone. It's not a plane. It's clearly not ours.

WALSH (voice over): Russian drones see them and they watch them back. Anti-drone rifles a modern twist in trench warfare from the last century.

It is exhausting work. While troops here focus on survival and taking cover, Vyacheslav and his team must carry these heavy but vital burdens all the way back to the road, where they can then bring closure to the grieving, the chance of burial and a goodbye.

A week earlier, in another part of the trenches where the fight has clearly been ferocious, they pass western supplied armor that has been torn apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Whose uniform is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): So, it's our boy.

WALSH (voice over): Ukrainian remains found, but the shelling is constant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That was quite close. There were seven incoming in total. And precise.

Somebody has to be here. There's a smell. WALSH (voice over): The search, however, in these captured Russian positions is cautious, probing each spot for mines.

[00:05:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I pulled out half the body from the dirt, the other half we don't know where it is.

WALSH (voice over): For the men holding the position day and night, the body collectors are welcome relief, taking away the reminders of how close death is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We move fast and stay put. Whose drone is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Who knows?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Shoot it down.

WALSH (voice over): The Russians still looking for targets here among the men rescuing Russian corpses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't understand why, the Russians don't let us just carry out their bodies. They know it's mostly their bodies.

WALSH (voice over): This is the work nobody ever wanted to do, out, exposed in the open, as Ukraine prays for a breakthrough. Now, we finally see Vyacheslav's face in the moment when they know they've survived another day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Coming back home is the best thing possible.

WALSH (voice over): The relief they feel here, nothing compared to the families who may feel some less agony and closure from the cargo they return home.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Thanks to Nick for that report. Well, joining me now is CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Good to have you on the program.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to be with you, Linda.

KINKADE: So, as we've been hearing, Ukraine's counter-offensive has been underway for several weeks, but they are finding it difficult to retake significant territory, that's according to senior Western officials briefed on the latest intelligence. Why are we seeing such little progress?

LEIGHTON: Well, there's several factors. I think, Linda, one of them, of course, is that the Russians were able to dig in during this period, the defensive lines that the Russians have produced, the tank traps, trenches, as was shown in Nick's report. All of these things come together.

And the -- really, the depth of the working defenses has made it very, very difficult. Plus, we have to also remember that in terms of numbers, the Russians continue to have a numerical superiority over the Ukrainian forces just in terms of numbers, that has nothing to do with the quality. But quantity, as they say, has a quality all its own situations.

KINKADE: Yes, it does. And of course, we heard last month that the Aspen Security Forum, the Ukrainian president discussing the slow arrival of advanced weapons systems from the west. What does Ukraine need right now? What would make a meaningful difference?

LEIGHTON: Well, certainly, the longer range missiles, such as the ATACMS, the Army Tactical Missile System, that would be a very big add on to the Ukrainian capabilities. And I think it would give them a longer range and would allow them to hit Russian targets a bit further back from the front lines than they're currently able to do.

Now, if we had planned this correctly, at about this time, we could potentially have had F-16s flying with Ukrainian pilots. That, of course, is something that is not happening at the moment, it will happen in the future. But it won't be ready for this particular phase of the offensive operations that the Ukrainians are conducting right now. But this is the kind of thing that they would need.

Plus, the other thing I would say, Linda, is that we need some more unconventional weapons for the Ukrainians. Some of them, they are producing themselves, such as the seaborne drones that they have been able to manufacture and use to great effect in the Black Sea, but also, you know, some of the other rockets and missiles that they've been able to develop.

So, part of that is something that the Ukrainians can develop. Other things, of course, are from the west.

And the last thing I would say is that a continued supply of munitions, especially artillery shells of the 155 millimeter variety, those are going to be critically important for the Ukrainians, and they must be part of any plan to help them during this period.

KINKADE: And Colonel, speaking of drones, the Ukrainians are bringing the war to Russia's doorstep, essentially using drones. We've seen the damage in buildings in Moscow, the attacks on Russian warships and other vessels in a major Russian port.

What does that mean for this conflict? And psychologically, what impact could it have on Russians?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think the drone has been kind of the asymmetric force multiplier of this war, and in particular, the Ukrainian use of these drones. So, from a military standpoint, the drones have been incredibly

useful. They aren't going to knock Russia out of the war, but on a psychological aspect, they are definitely having an impact on the local population, especially in Moscow and other areas where they've actually seen these drones enacted.

[00:10:08]

So, it has a significant psychological impact on the Russian civilian population. Plus, it also shows that the Ukrainians can use unconventional type weapons such as drones in order to achieve some of their goals.

So in essence, what they are able to do is they're helping to create a bit of a stalemate between the Ukrainian and the Russian forces.

But for Ukraine, the very fact that they are in existence, that allows the Ukrainians to maintain their independence and allows them to at least continue in the current state of affairs for a bit longer. And that's something that would not have been predicted by many people at the beginning of this war.

KINKADE: Yes, certainly that is the case. Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, as always, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

LEIGHTON: Thank you so much, Linda.

KINKADE: Well, I want to go to the coup in Niger now and the pressure on military leaders to restore the democratically elected government. ECOWAS, which is the Economic Community of West African States has approved fresh sanctions against entities and individuals linked to the coup.

A spokesperson for Nigeria's president who currently leads ECOWAS says diplomacy is the best path forward. He's not ruled out military intervention. The U.S. State Department says it remains hopeful, despite a disappointing visit to Niger's capital by a top envoy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Acting Deputy Secretary Nuland presented options for a diplomatic path forward and a negotiated process going forward. And they were not willing to take that path at this time. We're going to keep trying, again, fully recognizing how difficult that path is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Niger's military leaders have also brought out a meeting with representatives from the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS.

CNN's Larry Madowo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If there will be any diplomatic breakthrough in the crisis in Niger, it will not come from ECOWAS because Niger's military contract is refusing to meet with the Economic Community of West African States until it removes the sanctions that apply with the country and removes that threat of military intervention. That could all come down on Thursday when the extraordinary summit of ECOWAS meets.

But in the meantime, the Niger military junta rejecting a joint delegation of the African Union ECOWAS and the U.N. that was expected in Niamey on Tuesday.

A bit of this letter says, the current context of anger and revolt of the populations following the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS does not allow to welcome the said delegation that required serenity and security. The postponement of the mission in Niamey is necessary, as is the revision of certain aspects of the program, including meetings with certain personalities, which cannot take place for obvious security reasons, in this atmosphere of threatened aggression against Niger.

General Abdourahmane Tchiani, who's declared himself president of Niger has time to meet with other people. He met with a delegation from Burkina Faso and Mali who came in to the army to declare the solidarity with Niger.

But he refused a meeting with the Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in Niamey who met with a junior officer, not with the general who declared himself president and also, the military junta denied her request to meet with President Mohamed Bazoum who remains detained at the presidential palace. His prime minister saying without water, without electricity, this crisis just drags on.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been disqualified from running for office for five years, that's according to Pakistan's Election Commission.

The move comes after he was found guilty last week in a corruption trial and sentenced to three years in prison for apparently unlawfully selling state gifts when he was prime minister.

His lawyers have filed an appeal in the Islamabad high court challenging his conviction. A two member bench will hear that petition in the coming hours.

Donald Trump is vowing he will speak publicly about the charges against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election. The former President campaigned in New Hampshire on Tuesday calling the case ridiculous and an attempt to take away his right to free speech.

But the U.S. district judge overseeing the case may have different ideas. CNN's Paula Reid reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Judge Tanya Chutkan has scheduled a hearing for Friday at 10:00 a.m. to hear arguments from both attorneys for former President Trump and the special counsel about possible rules for exactly how evidence, specially sensitive evidence will be handled in this case.

The special counsel has been lobbying for a broad protective order to limit the ability of the former president has to share sensitive information that is turned over in this case.

[00:15:07]

But Trump's lawyers have argued for something more narrow, something that only covers the most sensitive information. They argue that that would be more in line with the protective orders in other January 6 cases.

Now, the Trump lawyers also asked for this hearing rescheduled next week as they have another hearing in the other special counsel investigation down in Florida on Thursday.

But Judge Chutkan, she appears based on her scheduling order so far, to be keen to move this along as quickly as possible. So, she has scheduled this for hearing on Friday, both sides will have the opportunity to represent arguments and this will be their first time appearing before the judge and will continue to oversee this case until what is expected to be a trial.

Now, former President Trump is not expected to be at Friday's hearing.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, South Korea evacuate thousands of Scouts from a global gathering. We'll have the latest in extreme weather headed towards the Korean peninsula.

Plus, eight Amazon nations have made progress on protecting the world's largest rainforests, but fell short of an agreement to end deforestation. We'll look at those implications when we come back.

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KINKADE: More than a thousand firefighters are working to knock down three wildfires in three different areas of Portugal. Most of them are battling the large blaze in the southern Odemira region. It ignited over the weekend and remains the biggest threat that's according to emergency officials.

Some 1,400 people had to be temporarily evacuated. Local authorities say nearly two dozen people including firefighters were treated for minor injuries. Well, it's official, July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth

and it wasn't even close. European scientists confirmed the data in the Copernicus Climate Change report which came out Tuesday, it found July's average global temperature was around 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels. And even before the month was over, it was clear to them it would be a record breaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLO BUONTEMPO, DIRECTOR, COPERNICUS CLIMATE CHANGE SERVICE: First week of July, I've seen two extreme temperature event and at that time, the Copernicus Climate Change Services refers to -- referred back to these as being the warmest temperature ever recorded.

Now, three weeks into the month, slightly more than that, we can say that not only the first week of July was the warmest on record but the three weeks of July where there were the warmest on record.

And the anomaly with respect to previous record temperature for July is so large that we can confidently say that it's almost certain, it's extremely virtually certain that the end of -- the end of July we will have seen the warmest July on record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:20:04]

KINKADE: We're turning global air temperatures you can see here starting in the 1940s on the left, the major upswing in July temperatures all the way to 2023.

E.U. scientists say we've met a crucial warming threshold that could serve as a global tipping point are showing a more extreme weather now and into the future.

South Korea is preparing for the arrival of a powerful storm Thursday, tropical storm Khanun which could strengthen back to a typhoon on its approach, forced a world Scouting event to evacuate 37,000 participants from the campsite. But the storm isn't the first problem they encountered, CNN's Ivan Watson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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 a thousand buses to flee an approaching typhoon. An escape from the sprawling site of the 25th World Scout Jamboree.

HERMAN LIND, SWEDISH SCOUT: It has 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? We have been a bit angry because they knew that they did not 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.

MATT HYDE, CEO, U.K. SCOUTS: 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're 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 title flat apparently devoid of natural shade.

LIND: It's so hot, a lot of people are passing out. And we have been forced to drink about one 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 are just happy to be in the shade, in the A.C., getting to cool down. And I mean, the Scout motto is to meet every problem with a smile. And that is what I feel like everyone is doing.

WATSON (voice-over): Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, the storm headed towards South Korea is just one of the weather events threatening countries in Asia. Senior Meteorologist Chad Myers is keeping an eye on what's brewing in the Pacific Ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Two tropical storms now Khanun and also Lan. Lan developing from Tropical Depression Seven that we talked about yesterday.

Khanun though has been in the water for well over a week, went to the south of Okinawa, made a right hand turn, then a left hand turn and now still affecting Kyushu with some wind and also some very, very heavy rainfall there in the southern part of Japan.

Right now, a hundred kilometer per hour storm, putting down 403 millimeters of rainfall, that's over a foot of rain there in parts of southern Japan and even some wind gusts at 150 kph, that is pretty healthy. That's typhoon base there. You're still seeing those wind gusts there, of course.

Kagoshima, you are in the worst part of the storm right now. Not an intense eye, but you can obviously still find the circulation on this storm. It will eventually get into South Korea, then North Korea and then parts of China.

This is the storm that could put down quite a bit of rainfall in places that certainly don't need it. There's the rain over Pyongyang oversold and finally on up toward China.

This down here is Lan. Now, remember, this is a computer model that thinks about what's going to try to happen but we're still at five days away from here, this could be left or right significantly from where the landfall is possible.

[00:25:06]

We do know that there's going to be an awful lot of rain into parts of Korea and also into China. And then the next storm system as it rolls on by could put down significant rain as well into again, Japan.

Now, the five day forecast has a wide area here of error, all the way from the north to south at 130 kph, so certainly would be a typhoon at this point in time. There it is in the water right now. Long way to go here. There's Khanun in the water, long way to get up here in to North Korea, South Korea and also into China. We'll keep watching these two storms as they rotate there in the Westpac.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: At least 33 people have died in Beijing and more than a dozen are missing in the aftermath of Typhoon Doksuri, that's according to Chinese state media. Record breaking rainfall caused extreme flooding affecting more than a million people, destroying tens of thousands of homes. Officials say more than 82,000 people have been evacuated since the storm hit.

We're now to Brazil, where a key summit aimed at protecting the Amazon rainforest has produced mixed results. In the first meeting in over a decade, leaders from eight Amazon nations agreed to bolster regional cooperation, but failed to agree on a clear common goal to protect the world's largest rainforest. A joint declaration left each country to pursue its own conservation

goals. Brazil's president has been pushing for the region to unite behind a common policy of ending deforestation by 2030.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will leave a legacy of wellbeing, prosperity and social justice for our descendants. The Amazon will be what we want it to be, an Amazon with greener cities, cleaner air and mercury free rivers and without deforestation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the final joint statement also strongly asserted indigenous rights and cooperation on several other issues.

Well, hundreds of indigenous people protested near where the summit was held demanding protection for their land. They also called for an end to mining and oil drilling in the critical rainforest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Because if there is no consent, we are not going to authorize public policies and every government to carry out extractivist, mining or oil projects in the forest, in nature. We indigenous peoples say no to that. We, the indigenous peoples say yes to life, because the Amazon is where everything is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Iranian women are fighting for their freedom once again, defying the mandatory hijab law even as the country renews its so called morality police patrols. We'll have more on that story when we come back.

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KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:23]

Well, the top U.S. general in the Middle East has completed a transit of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday as a show of force to deter further aggression from Iran.

The Pentagon says the head of the U.S. Central Command made the trip on a destroyer, setting off from the Gulf of Oman on Sunday.

The transit comes as more than 3,000 U.S. troops arrived in the region to counter recent attempts by Iran to seize commercial shipping vessels.

Iran threatened to seize U.S. ships if any of its own vessels are confiscated.

Well, still in Iran, it's been nearly a year since the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's so-called Morality Police for allegedly violating the country's strict conservative dress code.

Her death sparked massive nationwide protests. And now, many months later, women are still defying the veiling laws, even as Iran doubles down on punishment.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iran's brave women are fighting for their freedom with everyday acts of defiance like this, out on the streets without the mandatory hijab.

This recent video appeared to show a woman harassed and called a criminal for refusing to cover up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KARADSHEH (voice-over): "The days of being afraid of you are over," she says.

Nearly a year after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the so-called Morality Police, the uprising sparked by her death may have been crushed by a bloody crackdown, but not the will of those standing up for their most basic of rights.

Countless women have been defying the clerical establishment, choosing not to wear the compulsory hijab.

And now the regime is lashing out with a campaign of renewed repression, announcing the return of Morality Police patrols.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Being a woman and Iran is now harder than ever. Because of all the attention, our privacy and safety is a wish. You should always be worried and careful about police.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This young woman we're not identifying for her her safety spoke to us from inside Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The Morality Police are mostly in metro stations, and sometimes on the streets. They warn you. If you disobey, they take video or photo. And normal people, who are still on the government's side, work like paparazzi.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): And that's not all. Authorities are considering a draconian new bill that would make failure to abide by the strict Islamic dress code a more severe offense, with unprecedently harsh penalties, including 5- to 10-year jail sentences, and fines of more than $8,000. This may be just a warning to intimidate those who dare to dissent,

but an intensified crackdown has been well underway. This chilling video released by a group affiliated with the security apparatus captures some of their terrifying tactics. Facial recognition technology purportedly being used to identify and threaten unveiled women.

Cameras are everywhere. Thousands have had their cars confiscated, according to Amnesty International, and women without a veil are being denied access to education and public services.

Perhaps even more disturbing, is courts have been imposing degrading punishments on women, including counseling sessions for, quote, "antisocial behavior," cleaning government buildings, and washing corpses in morgues.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I couldn't believe the mortuary punishment until I saw some judgment papers with my own eyes, which was washing corpses for a month.

KARADSHEH: Are you and other women around you scared when you're out in public?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The first days were scary, but with time, the courage inside everyone grows, and now no one is scared. People were just waiting for a spark, and that happened last year.

We keep going for the kids who were murdered during the protests.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Many like her say this is not just about the hijab. This is about standing up to tyranny, and they're not backing down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Most people believe in freedom now, because they've tasted it. We know about the punishments, but we know everything has a cost, and if this is the cost of freedom, we are ready to pay for that. I'm sure we will see Iran breathing again, one day.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Israel's far-right finance minister is being criticized for freezing funds earmarked for the Arab community.

Bezalel Smotrich announced online that he suspended about $53 million previously allocated for Arab -- Arab Council regions and educational programs in East Jerusalem. He said the money could end up in the hands of criminal organizations.

[00:35:04]

Smotrich also suspended a five-year plan that would encourage integrating Arabs in the Israeli education system. Israel's interior minister has urged him to release the funds, and an Arab Knesset member called him a racist.

A large collection of modern Arab art is on display in London, and it's accomplished something many Western museums have not: gender balance. We'll take a closer look when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Well, the largest exhibition of Arab modern and contemporary art in London is on display right now, with more than 150 works that span 80 years.

The exhibit is unique, because it showcases male and female artists equally, something rarely seen in many Western galleries.

CNN's Becky Anderson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SULTAN SOOUD AL QASSEMI, FOUNDER, BARJEEL ART FOUNDATION: I feel like this collection is owned by the public. I look at myself as the guardian of the collection. And so it's important for me to continue to share this collection with the public.

I am very proud that, in this room, you see some of the most important themes a 20th century art, male and female, that were active in the region and beyond.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You were very intentional about ensuring this was a gender-balanced exhibition. Just explain why.

AL QASSEMI: Well, for me, it's important to show that women were also active in the mid-20th Century, and they were active in many different forms of -- and materials of art, such as the use of batik, the use of brass, the use of ceramic, glassware, tapestry. And here you see sculpture.

I feel like the -- the gender imbalance in Western museums is definitely something that we should not be emulating in other parts of the worlds. And I thought I have the opportunity to take a radical step and say, no more. From now on, we will only be showing a gender- balanced display in -- across our exhibitions.

ANDERSON: This collection here certainly has a social and political narrative. Explain.

AL QASSEMI: So there are several kinds of political art. There are artworks greeted by artists who were political, artists such as Hadiga Yiab (ph) who has been shown behind you, in this shot, who is an abstract Egyptian artist, active since the 1930s.

And, Becky, she hosted, in her home, gatherings of the Arts and Liberty Group in Egypt, which was a radical leftist group that stood up for artists in the height of the Nazi suppression of artists before World War II. On the other hand, you have artists who created political depictions

in their work, such as Laidan Sair (ph) of Syria, many others; Mana Hatoun (ph), for example, of Palestine; and so many other women across the course of the second half of the 20th Century, depicting political events that took place in the region throughout their material and creations.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Sales of Middle Eastern art waned during the pandemic, but interest remains high among collectors.

ANDERSON: What's the market like for interest in Middle Eastern art at present?

AL QASSEMI: Well, the market is quite fascinating, because you do have world records that are being set by modern artists. You have works in the range of 1 to $2 million.

It's still not at the tens of millions of dollars you have with some Western oration artists over the past decade or so.

However, with the Middle East, I am very happy to see contemporary artists setting records. And so this, I think, is a reflection of the global interest in Middle Eastern art, and also, I think, a signal to young artists, Becky, that they can make a livelihood out of creating art.

ANDERSON: You talk about using an exhibition like this to knock back the misperceptions or misconceptions about the regions. What do you mean by that? What are the misunderstandings? What are you doing through this exhibition to address those?

AL QASSEMI: Well, there's a lot of misconceptions about, for example, the rights of minorities in the region, historically, which is why we emphasize, for example, on religious minorities.

In all of our exhibitions, we show works by Christian minorities in the Arab world, the Baha'i minority in the Arab world, the Jewish minority. We have artworks by both male and female Jewish artists in this -- in this exhibition. Sexual minorities, ethnic minorities.

It's very important that this is an inclusive view of the region, because when I look back at the history of the Arab world, I see that we did a lot of good things in the 20th Century, but we made a lot of mistakes, as well.

So going forward, how can we reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the Arab world in the mid-20th Century that included all these diverse minorities, and diverse groups, while rectifying and correcting the mistakes that the majority had, maybe, done towards these minorities?

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KINKADE: And the exhibit runs through August 23 at Christie's, London.

Well, thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I will be back with much more news at the top of the hour. For now, WORLD SPORT is next.

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