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Ukraine Claims Success On Its Southeastern Front; Russian Drones Attack Ukrainian Grain Depots After Moscow Leaves Shipping Deal; 1000 Plus Bodies In 30 West Darfur Mass Graves; Himachal Pradesh Rain Kills 71; Georgia DA Wants March 4 Trial For Trump, Co- Defendants. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 17, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber just had an exclusive CNN investigation gives a rare glimpse into the horrors of the civil war raging inside Sudan.
Also, on the front lines in Ukraine, our Nick Paton Walsh and his team are the first journalists on the ground near a newly liberated Ukrainian village.
And thousands of mines discovered a school in Cambodia. We look at the generations haunted by unexploded ordinance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: And we begin this our Ukraine, where the country's military is making small but meaningful gains on the battlefield amid a grueling counteroffensive against Russian forces.
In the past 24 hours, Ukraine says it has liberated another town in the eastern Donetsk region. The second in as many weeks. Troops raise the Ukrainian flag over World War II Memorial inside the village. A CNN team traveled with Ukraine's military to the newly liberated towns again up close and stark look at the front lines. Nick Paton Walsh has a report.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voiceover): That may be ruin around them. But that direction is forward. We're with the 35th Ukrainian Marines. The first reporters to get to the outskirts of Urozhaine, gets another village announced liberated Wednesday.
The victories may be small, but a constant.
WALSH (on camera): So, just down here, Urozhaine, yet another town taken as the counteroffensive does move forwards. We were just seeing the neighboring village taken last week, but they keep moving.
That much incoming work getting out of here as quick as we can while they control Urozhaine, the Russians do everything they can to make it a nightmare. The Ukrainians to be there.
WALSH (voiceover): The unit showed us the intense fight captured by drone. This their tank advancing, dropping a string of anti-mine explosives behind it they said which then once it turned detonated.
The unit released a video of them in the town Wednesday of how they turned their firepower on what was once a Russian stronghold that shelled them. The company commander recalls many more Russians hidden there than he expected.
Very many died, he says, especially when they started to run and when they held houses, lots of them died there. But they were caught as they fled. The smoke around Russians likely made by cluster munitions.
Ukraine has said it is already using some rounds controversially supplied by the United States. We could not confirm if these fight here with a new American cluster bombs. But the losses suffered were clear. And they say their use is less of an ethical dilemma when you're in this brutal fight.
I don't understand it, he says, that side is using whatever they want. Our people are dying from all this and it's okay. When the other side die, it's not. I don't understand.
This footage shows how young some in the assault were. He has no time for Western analysts who say this should be moving faster. I would say they can always come to me as a guest and fight with me, he says. If someone believes that you can fly over the minefield on a broom like in Harry Potter, it doesn't happen in a real fight. If you don't understand that, you can sit in your armchair and eat your popcorn.
WALSH (on camera): Yes, I smell it.
WALSH (voiceover): Out here the last month of advances fill both empty and grueling. Littered now with Russian dead. They haven't moved perhaps as far as it has felt.
WALSH (on camera): These just an empty farm fields in which many have died to take each kilometer.
WALSH (voiceover): The Russians mind so hard here they use this machine to do it. So much damage done it's hard to imagine what plans Moscow had for here at all had they kept it.
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Nick Paton Walsh CNN, Near Urozhaine, Ukraine.
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BRUNHUBER: A new round of Russian drone strikes in the past 24 hours hit grain facilities in Ukraine is critical for the global food supply.
The drone attack destroyed warehouses, granaries and other agricultural machinery in the port city of Reni along the Danube River, small ports on the Danube like this one becomes vital for Ukraine to export grain ever since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Green Deal last month.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this is the seventh Russian attack on a port since that Green Deal fell apart. U.S. condemned Moscow for striking at the world's food supply.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This Russian strike is a blow to world food prices, a blow to social and political stability in Africa and in Asia. Basic things that provide a normal life to every society, it is food on the table in households. No other terrorist of the world apart from Russia has ever so openly and intentionally targeted the security of so many nations at once.
VEDANT PATEL, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: It is unacceptable, Putin simply does not care about global food security. Such actions by the Kremlin negatively affect Ukrainian farmers and all those around the world who are most vulnerable to food insecurity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Hong Kong flagged cargo ship carrying food products to part of the port of Odesa on Wednesday becoming the first container ship to leave the Black Sea in a month, the ship transited through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels that were already in Ukrainian ports at the time of Russia's full scale invasion.
Joining me now is Matthew Schmidt, Associate Professor of National Security at the University of New Haven and former professor of strategic planning at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Thanks so much for being here with us.
So first, I mean, we heard from President Zelenskyy there concretely what effect will this have on food security and on Ukraine, economically, this attack on the on the granaries?
MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ASSOC. PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: Basically nothing at this scale right now. What we have to understand is that the market has already priced in the war. If you actually look at the spot price of wheat right now, it's lower than it was a few weeks ago, when Russia formally pulled out of the Green Deal.
So the market is factoring this in. And the truth is, there's a lot of slack in the U.S. and in Canada, where there's wheat that they can put out on the market, it's going to take time to move it to change the supply rafts and these kinds of things. But it's there. That doesn't mean it's not a bad deal for Ukraine. Ukraine is hurting because of this. But the fact of the matter is, is those price effects are already in the system.
BRUNHUBER: All right, so the markets are handling it. But what does this attack signal to you then and the bigger picture?
SCHMIDT: Well, the Danube port is essentially the last port that Ukraine can move goods on. There's a series of locks, you can move essentially, from that point in Ukraine all the way to the North Sea. And you can get those goods out to places like Germany and other potential markets.
But again, the hard truth there is moving goods through that river system is slow and the throughputs very small. You're not going to put out the kind of tonnage that you need to put out really, but it's deeply important. Nonetheless, because there's not is going anywhere.
BRUNHUBER: Right. So those Danube ports then establishes an alternative route to shipping from ports right on the Black Sea. But then, despite Moscow ending the grain agreement, as I just mentioned a few minutes ago, one ship defied Russian threats and left the ports. I mean, things seem sort of on a knife's edge here. Will Russia allow this or will they stop or even attack this, or future shipping along this corridor?
SCHMIDT: I think you said it, right. It's the knife's edge. And what they're trying to do in warfare here is to keep everyone on that knife's edge, because that's going to raise insurance costs. The real target here is the marine insurance market. It's Lloyd's of London and others that are going to allow global shipping firms to be able to protect themselves and engage in this trade.
And if those prices go so high, because Russia is threatening to stop ships or shoot the ships, then Russia doesn't have to stop anyone because shipping companies will stop sending ships into Ukraine in the first place. And this is all designed to strangle the Ukrainian economy and they don't have to do it with bullets.
BRUNHUBER: All right, raising the stakes even more here if we show the map. I mean, you can see the attacks I mean, they're relatively close to Romania, which is a NATO member. So how dangerous could this be in terms of potentially dragging NATO into the conflicts?
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SCHMIDT: It's certainly risky. But Russia has been very careful about it. And we have to remember that should something happen on Romanian soil. This isn't some instantaneous NATO rolls tanks in the Ukraine kind of situation, NATO will confer. They'll decide to let it go. They'll decide to pretend it didn't happen. They'll decide to say it happened just on the other side of the line that they're drawing on a map. So this isn't a, you know, an instant button that's going to get pushed and bring NATO into the war.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, but Russia may be careful, but still accidents happen. We only have about a minute left. But I did want to ask you about this. I mean, we're speaking of NATO, we're seeing more tension between Poland and Belarus. Poland now sending thousands of troops to its border there. We've seen Wagner reportedly trying to recruit in Poland. How concerning is the growing tension there?
SCHMIDT: I think it's very concerning. There has been long standing tensions along that border, and especially with Wagner group there, if you have Prigozhin there, he's a seasoned commander. Whenever you think of these guys, they were pretty good on the battlefield.
And so what's the threat that Poland and NATO has to take seriously. I would not expect things to happen. But the threat itself will force NATO to redeploy forces. And that's really the first order effect here. That's what Russia is trying to do is to get NATO to redeploy.
BRUNHUBER: So I really appreciate your expertise on all this. Matthew Schmidt. Thank you so much.
SCHMIDT: My pleasure.
BRUNHUBER: All right, now to gruesome discovery in Sudan as the civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF rages on 30 mass graves with the remains of more than 1,000 people have been discovered in West Darfur, according to local officials.
In a CNN exclusive, CNN Nima Elbagir and her team pieced together video from a massacre in West Darfur in June, that was one of the bloodiest in the region's history, ended with bodies littering the streets and eventually being buried in the mass graves.
Now we want to warn you some of the images you're about to see are graphic and the report includes distressing descriptions of conflict.
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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The streets of El Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region are eerily quiet, filmed at great risk by survivors.
The video shows racist graffiti defacing walls and corpses littering the streets. Seen here in their own propaganda, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, occupied Geneina in June after a heavy shelling campaign and fighting in their war for dominance over Sudan's army.
A CNN investigation has now uncovered some of the cost of the RSF victory here in Geneina. Survivors, aid workers and body collectors described the CNN house together with their allies, the RSF gunned down hundreds of civilians in and around Geneina on June 15. In one of the most violent massacres to date in the recent history of this genocide scarred Sudanese region.
Using satellite images, eyewitness testimony and geo locating what few videos have made it through the telecommunications blackout, cutting that four off from the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I lost eight members of my family that day during the escape from El Geneina to Chad. ELBAGIR: This man says he buried hundreds of victims in Darfur since
April. But on that day, he couldn't even reach his slain relatives.
The ISIS troops are drawn from Darfur Arab tribes and together with its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemedti are implicated in the years long genocide in the region against African tribal groupings.
It's unsurprising then that the war between the RSF and Sudan's military for control of the country took an even more sinister turn here in Darfur mirroring the RSF's previous tactics, forcing civilians to flee many arriving in Geneina.
That is until June 14 when the West Darfur Governor seen here at his arrest by the RSF was executed. The RSF blamed for the killing denies responsibility. As hundreds attempted to flee they were harassed and threatened. Even children joined in. A lucky few made it to Chad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They were going into houses killing people. Snipers were everywhere.
ELBAGIR: Bringing with them stories of ethnic targeting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): On the road out of the city, we were stopped and searched. They took our phones, men were separated from the women so they could kill us. We ran but they shot some of us.
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ELBAGIR: Evidence shows much of the killing occurred here outside the main hospital in Geneina. Then fleeing civilians were ambushed again in Wadi Kaja. Satellite images show the river which is usually shallow enough for cars to cross had water running high that day. Scorers struggled in the water some shot as they drowned. Survivors say they had gunfire from all directions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I saw 17 kids who were shot dead then thrown into the water. This was one of the most surreal scenes I've witnessed.
ELBAGIR: Even as they fled Geneina for Adre across the border in Chad, our evidence shows men, women and children were shot as they fled. At the MSF Hospital in Chad, survivors arrived with gunshot wounds in the back legs and buttocks. The lead doctor told CNN. All injuries consistent with being shot from the back.
Over 850 people flooded the hospitals in Adre between June 15 to 17, according to MSF, more than any other period since fighting began in April.
Body collectors say according to their count, around 1,000 people were killed on the day of June 15, buried in dozens of mass graves. Survivors say the RSF is replicating these same tactics across the region.
Even as they're supposed to celebrate in the aftermath of mass killings, and the sweep of escalating ethnically targeted attacks. ELBAGIR (on camera): A spokesperson for the rapid support forces told
CNN that they categorically deny the assertions that we put forward in our reporting, without though denying any of the specifics that we shared with them.
It's also important to note that the RSF had previously denied the findings of an investigation where we uncovered evidence that RSF troops had engaged in rapes before subsequently the leader of the RSF stating that those who had been implicated in violations were to be prosecuted. Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: All right still to come. The death toll is still rising after heavy rain led to deadly landslides in India, causing roads to cave in and buildings to collapse of live report from New Delhi, next.
Plus, the Georgia District Attorney responsible for Trump's fourth indictment requests a start date for his trial but can her team be ready by them?
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BRUNHUBER: Rescuers are still digging through the debris after deadly landslides in northern India. At least 71 people are dead and 13 are missing after torrential rain led to flash floods and landslides in the region.
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CNN's Vedika Sud is following developments from New Delhi. Vedika, seems the death toll is still rising and rising. What was the latest on this?
We have Vedika, can you hear me?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Kim, I couldn't hear you there. But let me just tell you what I do know about what's happening in Himachal Pradesh. Well, there were landslides triggered by heavy rains over the weekend, after which more than 70 people have lost their lives, and more than a dozen remain missing.
We've been told 25,00 people have already been displaced. Now this has essentially happened because of the torrential rains of the past few days, triggering landslides. Rescuers are going through the rubble of these mudslides in some areas of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, looking for those missing.
This happens every year the torrential rains that leads to mudslides and landslides and areas. But this time, it is pretty severe. There are relatives who are standing by these locations, looking for the loved ones after homes have collapsed five or six of them, at least in the latest landslide. You had only onlookers screaming out asking people to abandon their homes when tree started falling and subsequently homes were crushed. Now there are relatives who are reaching out to the government. These
are the desperate pleas from them for their relatives who are still missing.
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SUDESH SHARMA, FAMILY MEMBER OF LANDSLIDE VICTIM (through translator): We should get the missing members of our family back. We should get a glimpse of them for the last time and set their souls free. We have no doors left open for us now. We should get them back.
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SUD: And climate change is said to be the reason. Experts are worried they have been worried for a while. It's not only the state of Himachal Pradesh came. It's also Uttrakhand that has been severely impacted rivers are in spate. And the worry is that this may continue for a while. There's been heavy damage to property as well. And the estimate of losses are expected to go up and unfortunately the death toll as well.
The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh has said and I'm going to quote him here, we have received wounds that will never be forgotten. We will keep bringing you updates on the death toll which unfortunately has been going up over the days and may continue to do so since hope is fading for those missing after these landslides. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So thanks for monitoring this for us. Vedika Sud in New Delhi.
Well now to Maui where search and rescue crews have come through almost 40 percent of the area's scorched by deadly wildfires, much of it in the tourist town of Lahaina. That's where most of the 111 fatalities took place as people tried to escape the flames.
A minutes ago, another three victims were identified and why Governor warns more than 1,000 people could still be missing. U.S. president will head to the island to view the devastation on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Maui fire chief says winds have been picking up and crews are on standby in case of flare ups since not all of the wildfires are fully contained. CNN Bill Weir shows us the situation in the upcountry area of Maui.
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BILL WEIR, CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): With an upcountry fire not fully contained. Maui's fire departments stretched painfully thin and winds kicking up once again. Some residents around Kula are using sprinklers and hope to protect their homes.
Well, careful, careful.
And I met volunteer first responders trying to knock down hotspots with bottled water. MERRIL KALOPODES, VOLUNTEER: Oh man, you can feel the heat from the smoldering pit over there. All it needs is a good winter to get it going. By the time we got there it was already flaming.
WEIR (on camera): Really.
KALOPODES: Yes, it was started off with just a little smoke and then we said okay, let's get some water, haul it over there. And then by the time we got over there, it started cleaning already. So, you know, we're going to go back and we'll put some more water on it.
WEIR (voiceover): In this city, smoky brush, one wrong step and a smoldering ash means a burn foot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go check that one out so deep you can't get through it.
WEIR: But they stay at it until they're spotted by a helicopter dropping water scoop from swimming pools, and they finally get the help they need. And they wonder why more skilled firefighters aren't being brought over from Oahu.
JACOB VANDERVELDE, VOLUNTEER: My mind is blown right now.
WEIR (on camera): Really.
VANDERVELDE: I don't even know what's even happening. All roads should be blocked out. We should be blocked up right now and the fire department just be all here hands on deck.
WEIR: Yes.
VANDERVELDE: I mean, obviously you keep on a wall but they have enough personnel (INAUDIBLE).
BRENDA KEAU, MAUI RESIDENT: I stayed up till two in the morning watching because I knew the gas station was going off and the propane tanks and, you know, my favorite store that I used to go get for gardening supplies, it's gone and the people lost their homes I was watching that.
WEIR (voiceover): Brenda Keau's 83-year-old mother in law was in her Lahaina home on the day of the firestorm.
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And her husband was among the first to provide a DNA sample. So now they are in grieving limbo.
WEIR (on camera): As he accepted the idea that she's gone, does he have to get confirmation before he can?
KEAU: I mean, the truth about it, we accepted it on the day that we saw that there's no house. But there -- you'd never give up hope. So it's both when he needs to talk, I just check on and we check in on each other we say how are you doing? Mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and we take time after each to check an answer.
And I, you know, my husband was saying, Oh, I'm OK. OK. And I told him, No, you're not. And if people ask you, are you OK? You know, you're not. The word is I'm concerned.
WEIR: There are so many concerns on so many levels, the mental health, the physical health, the water supply, shelter. We are hearing that a number of the displaced residents are finding hotel rooms. That is good news. But they're also of course, identifying more bodies and that number is expected to go up with the governor saying more than 1,000 still missing. Bill Weir, CNN, Maui.
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BRUNHUBER: Residents of one of Canada's largest northern cities are under evacuation orders as wildfires close in 20,000 people in Yellowknife have been told to get out by noon Friday, more than 200 fires are burning across Canada's Northwest Territories, and officials there have declared a state of emergency.
Have a look here. This surreal image is from Fort McMurray ravaged by another wildfire in 2016, where the flames this week have turned the sky red. Officials say they're taking steps to deploy additional resources to the region. And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada's military has been called in to assist.
The district attorney who's charged Donald Trump and others with attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia is moving quickly for a trial date. Fulton County DA Fani Willis has asked the judge overseeing the trial to begin March 4th of next year. With CNN Paula Reid tells us Trump's already crowded calendar amid the complex nature of the case could make that difficult.
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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): For District Attorney Fani Willis here just making a request a proposal to have her trial begin the first week of March 2024. It's highly unlikely that this request is going to be granted because six months is a very tight timeline for a RICO case. They are notoriously complicated. They tend to get drawn out.
And here she has 19 different defendants. Three of them expected or have already challenged the jurisdiction trying to move this case from the state to the federal level. But we know she's also competing for increasingly scarce space on an increasingly crowded calendar, where the President has not only likely a few trials that have been scheduled, but also he has election events, things that he would likely have to participate in as a candidate for the presidency.
So that is likely part of why she wants to get this discussion going and why she is proposing such an aggressive timeline. Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: The top U.S. diplomat reaches out to an American citizen held in a Russian prison camp. Still ahead, details Paul Whelan's conversations from prison with the U.S. Secretary of State. Plus, a school in Cambodia abruptly shut down after thousands of unexploded grenades and other weapons were found buried in the school grounds with those details when we come back, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us around the world.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
An American citizen held in a remote prison camp in Russia got words of encouragement from the U.S. Secretary of State. Paul Whelan and Anthony Blinken spoke over the phone on Wednesday.
CNN's Kylie Atwood has more about that conversation.
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KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Paul Whelan spoke by phone today with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken from a Russian prison. And according to a source familiar with the call, the secretary's message to Paul Whelan was to keep the faith and that the U.S. government is doing everything in their power to try and bring Paul Whelan, who's been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than four years, home as quickly as possible.
Now, we are told that this is the second time that they have had a conversation. The first time was late last year, but we don't know the logistics that went into setting up these call.
You can imagine it would be quite complicated to get Paul Whelan on the phone with the secretary of state, even though he is able to make phone calls from the prison where he is.
Getting him on the phone with America's top diplomat is hugely significant. Now David Whelan, who's Paul Whelan's brother, described the conversation to CNN as a long conversation, a frank conversation.
He also said it sent a signal to Russia that the U.S. is still working, of course, to secure Paul Whelan's release. And we should note that the U.S. has put an offer on the table to secure Whelan's release. That offer to Russia was sent earlier this year more than eight months ago, according to a senior administration official.
That is still a live offer, but the Russians have not substantively engaged. As the U.S. continues to try and get Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, who's another American wrongly-detained in Russia, back to the United States.
Kylie Atwood, CNN -- the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And according to the U.S. State Department, North Korea has largely ignored U.S. attempts to communicate about the American soldier in its custody. The U.S. has not offered anything to Pyongyang to entice them into discussions.
Travis King ran into North Korea territory last month during a tour of the DMZ.
CNN's Will Ripley picks up the story.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now, the U.S. trying to break down diplomatic barriers, struggling to open a direct line of communication with North Korea. The reclusive regime confirming an American soldier detained for the first time in four decades claiming in state media U.S. Army Private Travis King illegally intruded into North Korean territory, expressing willingness to seek refuge to escape inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army. The Pentagon cannot confirm King's comments.
Swedish diplomats and the U.N. command acting as intermediaries, since the U.S. and North Korea have no formal diplomatic ties.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want my son back. Get my son home.
RIPLEY: In the days and weeks since he disappeared, desperate pleas from Private King's family in Wisconsin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reach out to our mom and let him hear her voice. You know, he is not the type to just disappear.
RIPLEY: King did disappear, last month after 50 days in a South Korean jail for assault. He was supposed to fly home to face military discipline, instead King snuck out of the airport joining a tour of the heavily armed Korean border, sprinting across the Military Demarcation Line, vanishing into North Korean custody.
[01:34:52]
RIPLEY: Other detained Americans have spent months, even years and North Korean prisons. Some only released with the help of former U.S. presidents like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Only a handful of U.S. soldiers have ever crossed into North Korea. The sons of James Dresnok, an American soldier facing court martial who defected in 1962 appeared in this propaganda video six years ago.
With relations at their lowest point in years, analysts say King's captivity is a propaganda coup for Pyongyang, playing right into their anti-U.S. narrative ahead of this week's crucial U.N. Security Council meeting on North Korean human rights, the first in more than five years. North Korea often cites racial discrimination and gun violence in the U.S. to distract from its own dismal human rights record, making Private King a valuable political pawn, analysts say. An American soldier in North Korean custody with no end in sight.
The fact that North Korea took a month to publicly acknowledge that this American soldier is in their custody could be a sign, analysts say, of just how long Travis King might be in North Korean custody without any contact with the outside world, no phone call for his family.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Hartford, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Even after the war in Ukraine ends, the danger to civilians will be far from over. Untold numbers of unexploded land lines, cluster bombs, and other ordnance will remain hidden and lethal well into the future.
Now it's been more than 20 years since Cambodia's long civil war officially ended, yet experts there recently uncovered thousands of unexploded weapons at a high school in the country's northeast.
Over several days, more than 2,000 live grenades and anti-tank weapons were dug out of the dirt -- some dating back to the 1970s. The school remains closed as cleanup continues.
Michael Heiman is head of Mine Action Programs with APOPO, a nonprofit dedicated ridding the world of these hazards bringing the wealth of these hazards and he joins us from Azerbaijan. Thanks so much for being here with us.
So I mean this latest incident, like what just happened at the school, finding thousands of deadly weapons that could go off at any moment, I mean this still happens around the country in Cambodia and civilians, kids still losing their lives and limbs.
MICHAEL HEIMAN, HEAD OF MINE ACTION PROGRAMS, APOPO: Hi Kim and everyone. Thanks for inviting us.
Yes, you are absolutely right. I mean the conflict in Cambodia has ended many years ago, around 30 years ago, and we are still experiencing this kind of incident.
Even I think the saddest part is that, even though the conflict has ended many years ago, the people who discovered these items today they really have nothing to do with the was.
In particular, in this case of a school, I think that not even the teachers. I think that in this case in particular, (INAUDIBLE) for the Cambodian mining system who are reacting quickly. And luckily no one got hurt.
And I think that with all the amount of knowledge and equipment and tools in Cambodia, they definitely have the capacity to deal with such incidents.
BRUNHUBER: Yes --
(CROSSTALK)
HEIMAN: So I hope that -- I know that --
BRUNHUBER: -- and they are using a lot of -- sorry to cut in, but you know, they are using that equipment and expertise around the world. You know, Looking at Ukraine, I mean when you heard that the U.S. was going to send cluster bombs to Ukraine, those are the munitions that scatter bomblets over a wide area, what was your reaction? Especially given what you have seen happen in Cambodia.
HEIMAN: Well, we are mostly focused on creating (INAUDIBLE), you know. So, we are there to release the land back to the people and to make sure that no one gets injured. And I know that in a lot of these conflicts, ammunition comes from different sources, but we are not necessarily focusing on that but rather clearing the sites and getting them out of the ground.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. But you know well how dangerous they can be. I mean there have been cases of kids being handed these little bomblets, thinking they were toys.
I mean even the, you know, politicians in Cambodia have been sort of warning against using these munitions in Ukraine because of what the country has been through.
HEIMAN: Yes, absolutely. Cambodia has had many years of experience in dealing with these items. Unfortunately, it also has quite a high number of victims and amputees.
And like you said, I do think that Cambodia is a good place to learn. It has a lot of expertise, especially when we are also preparing for Ukraine.
[01:39:44]
HEIMAN: Our organization is going to train several groups of Ukrainian women to handle any mines in Ukraine. We're going train them in Cambodia because in Cambodia you have kind of a little bit of everything. You have the mines, you have ammunition, you have cluster munitions, you have it all.
And I think that camp (ph) is like Cambodia, all the experience all these years that both national and international organizations have will help us to get better prepared for cases such as Ukraine.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. It's sad that the lessons learned in the past haven't been applied to what is going on now. I mean you mentioned there are animals, I think you are probably referring to dogs, but I know your group was involved in the unusual and innovative technique of training and handling rats to detect buried explosives.
You had one remarkable one that I think had searched a field a size of a tennis court in 20 minutes, which could take, you know, a person up to a few days.
I mean is that still going on? Is that something we might see used in Ukraine or has new technology sort of made that obsolete?
HEIMAN: Yes, we are using both rats and dogs, APOPO is an animal organization. We have more than 250 animals. We are using many of them in Cambodia. In Ukraine specifically we're going to lean more towards dogs because of the climate.
As you probably heard, the rats are tropical animals. They come from Africa, so that winter in Ukraine is not something that they can get used to.
But definitely we're going to continue using these animals in Cambodia and Ukraine for the benefit of the people.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. I mean you talked about, you know, the weather; you talked about the variety of ordnance that you will be dealing with in Ukraine. What do you think the biggest challenges there are going to be there in the years ahead?
HEIMAN: I think in Ukraine, first we hope that the war will end soon, of course. I think that the first step will be framing the contamination, because at the moment there are large areas in Ukraine that are marked in red.
First, we need to frame it, and then we can focus on cleaning these remaining areas.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Just wondering, I mean we know this will be long- lasting, how long do you think Ukrainian civilians will have to worry every time they cross a field?
HEIMAN: Well, I think it will obviously take some time. We can see Cambodia now, we just talked about it. Cambodia has been clearing mines since the early 90s. But these efforts may be slow, but they are not endless.
In Cambodia, for example, we have a strong leadership on the environmental (ph) sector and there is a lot of national capacity. And if the funding stays in place, Cambodia is going to declare itself free of mines very, very soon, I mean in a couple of years.
So I think that Ukraine maybe it will be something similar. I hope that all the lessons learned and all the experience we have today will allow us to do it quicker. And I hope that it will be ended as soon as possible.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. It looks like it will be a long and dangerous road ahead. Really appreciate your expertise on this, Michael Heiman. Thank you so much.
HEIMAN: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Tensions flaring in Pakistan's Punjab province where a crowd vandalized and set on fire -- HEIMAN: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: -- eight churches after accusations of blasphemy against Islam.
Several homes were also targeted, and according to a police report two Christian men were charged on the grounds of desecrating the Quran and abusing the Prophet Muhammad. Pakistan's minority Christian communities are regularly targeted with the country's strict blasphemy laws. Then caretaker prime minister condemned the violence.
All righ.t Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, bank machines were spitting out free money in Ireland's but now a cash grab could cost people who took advantage. We'll have more about this story coming up.
Stay with us.
[01:43:47]
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BRUNHUBER: There is no such thing as free money -- that warning from the Bank of Ireland could come back to haunt people who took advantage of a technical glitch.
For several hours on Tuesday, customers of one of Ireland's biggest banks were able to withdraw money they didn't actually have. In some cases over $1,000.
Videos on social media like this showed long queues at some ATMs. The bank has apologized for the error, but says anyone who withdrew money over normal limits will be debited the full amount from their account.
The British Museum in London says an employee has been dismissed and a police investigation launched over the alleged theft of jewelry and artifacts. In a statement, the museum said a number of items from its collection were found to be missing, stolen, or damaged. And legal action will now be pursued against the former staffer. Most of the items were said to be small pieces kept in a store room.
Four Australian surfers and two Indonesian boat crew members say they are thrilled and grateful to be alive after spending nearly two days lost at sea. Their vessel sank off the coast of western Indonesia after being hit by a storm, stranding them in open waters. But despite being rescued, their joy is incomplete.
Ivan Watson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The moment of relief after two nights lost at sea. Searchers spot the group of surfers and the crew of their boat missing for over 38 hours in the waters off of Indonesia's west coast. But the joy is short lived.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's Elliott? WATSON: Two members of the group are not there. Australian Steph Weiss
(ph), Will Teagle (ph) and Jordan Short (ph) are safe but they say fellow surfer Elliot Foote paddled away from the group to try to find help.
And just two of the three members of the Indonesian boat crew have been found. "We drifted away very far," explains Mohammed Iqbal (ph) from the safety of the rescue boat. "It felt like we were just circling around the area and it was totally dark."
At home in Sydney, Australia Elliot's father anxiously waits. Then, a text message comes through. Elliott is alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone. Everyone.
WATSON: The final member of the group of four Australians pulled from the water by two local fishermen, according to a spokesperson for the families.
Reunited on dry land, the group of friends say they need time to recover from their ordeal.
ELLIOT FOOTE, RESCUED FROM SEA: There were some (INAUDIBLE) there we were all quite nervous and didn't quite know what the outcome was going to be. But we just banded together and I could not be happier having mate here with me.
WATSON: Indonesian rescue teams have led the search for the group of seven since Sunday night. The surfers' boat went down in rough weather while they were out chasing waves at a remote destination off of Indonesia's Aceh (ph). A private plane was pulled in to help as were fishing vessels and local tourist charters used their knowledge of the currents to plot a search area. But success is not complete.
FOOTE: Now our thoughts are with the Indonesian families and friends of the missing one who is still out there and, you know, it's hard to think about. And we just hope the best for him.
WATSON: Searchers say the capsized boat was found Wednesday morning with no sign of the missing man.
Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: More younger adults in the U.S. are finding that they have cancer, especially women. A new study shows the cancer diagnosis rate among Americans below age 50 went up between 2010 and 2019. That was largely driven by a spike among women and people in their 30s.
The increase was the highest among native Americans, as well as Asians and Hispanics.
[01:49:51] BRUNHUBER: Data from other countries also shows an increase of cancers among younger adults. Scientists attributed that to better screening and other factors they are yet to investigate. The study was published in the journal "JAMA Network Open".
Two separate research teams are reporting new success in organ transplants using genetically-modified pig kidneys in human patients. In a report published Wednesday researchers at the University of Alabama say the transplanted pig organs are working as intended, providing the life-sustaining function of filtering waste.
A team at New York University gave updates on their study of kidneys' longevity. After nearly two months their patients have showed no sign of rejection and the organ is functioning normally in clearing toxins. Both teams are using kidneys transplanted into recipients who are brain dead in pre-clinical human research.
Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, elation in England and heartbreak Down Under as Australia's fairytale run in the World Cup comes to a close. We'll have the latest from Sydney.
Plus an invasion of blue crabs in Italy threatens the harvest of local fishermen. One restaurant is using the problem to their advantage, when we come back.
Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: England fans there confidently predicting their Lionesses will bring home the World Cup after a solid 3-1 semifinal victory over the co-host Australia, despite the Aussies having home field advantage. For the Matildas and they're growing fan base it was a frustrating night that saw them fall short of their first ever World Cup final.
CNN World Sport's Amanda Davies was in Sydney and saw it all slip away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: The dream run comes to an end for the Matildas side that has inspired a generation. They may feel like a painful defeat tonight, but in so many ways a victory for a group of players who have done more for galvanizing support around women's football and this team than any who have gone before.
In many ways, summed up by a little girl in the crowd with a banner which said simply, "I'm going to be the next Sam Kerr.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, the turnout has been unreal. To see so many people get behind women's sport is actually amazing. It's actually -- honestly, it is actually unreal. If you were in that stadium and you heard the roar and the people jumping up and down, it was actually amazing. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the whole nation is sort of encapsulated
by the Matildas. And I hope that it does not stop. I hope that we continue to support them.
They are such good women, you know? I hope that we followed them from here, even though we lost. We still love them.
DAVIES: For all Sam Kerr's efforts this evening, after two straight Women's World Cup semifinal defeats, England finally take that step further into the final.
The phrase maybe third time lucky, but that does Sarina Serena Wiegman's side a disservice. They were disciplined. They were hardworking. They were skillful. And they produced those moments, as the Australia boss Tony Gustavsson put it, that decide a game.
First Ella Toone, then Lauren Hemp and finally Alessia Russo, once again.
[01:54:56]
DAVIES: So just 12 months after European championship success, they are now closer than ever before to claiming the Women's World Cup.
Amanda Davies, CNN -- Sydney, Australia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: England may go win the World Cup.
It's coming up. It's coming up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: How about that?
A rise in the population of blue crabs in the waters around Italy are threatening the country's clam industry. Now fishermen fear their entire livelihoods could be affected by the creatures and are calling on officials for help.
CNN's Barbie Nadeau reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Scores of fishermen out on a hunt. The prey is in these shallow waters of the Scardovari (ph) Lagoon in Italy, south of Venice.
It is not a shark or a whale, but a smaller kind of predator.
GIANLUCA TRAVAGLIA, MUSSELS AND CLAM FISHER (through translator): The blue crabs are eating everything. This stretch of lagoon is becoming a desert. Even my fellow fishermen tell me that they can't catch anything anymore. They can't even lower their nets anymore because the crabs swim into the nets and break them.
NADEAU: Blue crabs are native to the Atlantic Ocean. They are not newcomers to Italy, but they are growing rapidly and number and are consuming Italy's prized shellfish, like mussels, oysters and clams. Their source of livelihood under attack, the fishermen fear a bleak future.
EMANUELE ROSSETTI, BIOLOGIST (through translator): I'm sure that after December, the fishermen of our consortium will no longer have any products to sell.
In December, we will see the complete end of the cultivation of clams and mussels in this area.
NADEAU: The fishermen demanded compensation for their loss, and the government set aside 2.9 million euros, or $2.1 million to fund a fishing campaign against the blue crabs.
CRISTIAN FARABOTTIN, FISHERMAN (through translator): What we carry out about the blue crab is not a ruthless hunt but a massive capture, because currently this area sees almost exclusively the presence of these crustaceans.
NADEAU: And other parts of the world, blue craps are expensive and are in high demand for their taste and nutritional value. So this restauranteur is taking advantage of the prices in Italy to buy and serve them up.
ALESSANDRO FACCIOLI, RESTAURANTEUR (through translator): With blue crab, you can prepare many foods from appetizers to first courses to second courses. We are still thinking about how to use it as a desert.
NADEAU: To coin a phrase here in these waters, one man's pest is another man's profit.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN -- Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Paula Newton next. Please do stay with us.
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