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Prosecutors Open Sexual Assault Investigation Into Rubiales Kiss; Five Migrants Drown Off Greek Coast, Four Of Them Children; Italy Struggles With Spike In Migrant Arrivals; Ukraine Claims Break Through Of Most Difficult Russian Defenses; Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin Confirmed Dead In Crash; Libya Fires Its FM Amid Furor Over Her Unprecedented Meet With Israeli Counterpart; U.S., China Agree To Discuss Export Controls As Commerce Secretary Visits To Warm Up Chilly Ties; Court Adjourns With No Decision Yet In Meadows Case; Idalia Nears Hurricane Strength as It Heads Toward Florida; FEMA Announces Almost $3 Billion for Climate Resiliency; NGO Building Flood-Resistant Homes in Pakistan; Taliban: Stop Women from Education Abroad; Early On-set Cancer. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 29, 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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[01:00:26]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN, no way out. The head of Spanish football now under criminal investigation for possible sexual aggression, as global outrage continues over that unwanted kiss at the World Cup.
Could fourth time be the charm, U.S. Commerce Secretary on a visit to Beijing may have just reached a small but significant diplomatic breakthrough. And the Taliban war on women hits new lows with a ban on women leaving Afghanistan to study abroad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Thanks for joining us for another hour here CNN Newsroom and we begin with the disgraced head of the Royal Spanish football federation Luis Rubiales. Now the focus of a criminal investigation with prosecutors looking into possible charges of sexual assault and a six- hour long emergency meeting Monday at the regional bodies which make up the Federation has ended with a request for his immediate resignation all of this over his behavior at the Women's World Cup, including that kiss with a star player during the trophy ceremony.
Luis Rubiales has insisted the kiss was spontaneous and mutual. But Jenny hum Hermoso says at no point did she give consent to it and she called the move sexist.
Regional soccer chiefs issued a statement condemning his behavior as unacceptable, seriously damaging the image of Spanish football. Rubiales has already been suspended by FIFA for 90 days. Hundreds of protesters gathered in Madrid Monday demanding Rubiales step down. They chatted it's not a kiss. It is aggression. But he has the backing of the Football Federation and is vowing to fight to the end.
Meantime, there are concerns this lingering controversy will hurt Spain's bid to co-host 2030 World Cup. Atika Shubert picks up the story from here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Euphoric celebrations for an historic Women's World Cup quickly turned into a moment of reckoning. When Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation planted a forceful kiss on player Jennifer Hermoso doing the medal ceremony in Sydney.
The kiss she later said she had not consented to. Facing domestic and international criticism, Rubiales was pressured to resign but he defiantly refused. He doubled down saying the kiss was consensual to the applause of men in the room.
LUIS RUBIALES, PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SPANISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION (through translator): You think I have to resign? Well, I'm going to tell you something. No, I will not resign.
SHUBERT: Hermoso issued her own lengthy response which said the kiss was not consensual at all.
I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse driven sexist out of place act without any consent on my part, she wrote.
Since then, FIFA the world's governing football body provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days and the Spanish government has submitted a complaint to its sports tribunal. A step towards suspending him. What was first a national embarrassment now threatens international repercussions but could well become a turning point for women athletes in Spain.
TANIA VERGE MESTRE, MINISTER OF EQUALITY AND FEMINISMS: Clearly, his attitude has been a demonstration of what female players have to endure in professional sports but not only also in their daily lives. We have all been subjected to these different forms of harassment in our workplace. This force kisses, the cropping, the touching, the remaining so this is why women from all fields are sending their support.
SHUBERT: Hermoso and her teammates said they will not play for the national team until Rubiales is removed in a statement signed by nearly 50 athletes. Spanish football clubs unfurled their supporting games over the weekend. We are with you banners red. We are all Jenni.
[01:05:00]
Spain's women players are proving that they are winning hearts and minds both on and off the pitch. Atika Shubert for CNN, in Valencia, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The fallout from that unwanted kiss appears to be raising awareness on the national level within Spain about the gravity of what has happened. A short time ago, I spoke with sports analyst Christine Brennan, about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: The fact that the Federation is saying this that these regional directors have had enough with Rubiales. I think that speaks volumes because at least when they're president, they're trying to win the Men's World Cup in 2030. You know, they're obviously football in Spain, men's women's is absolutely huge off the charts. And so for them to lose confidence and say that he must resign is just another step and what is inevitable he will be gone.
VAUSE: And one of the reasons why this has got to the point is that right now, was his initial reactions. Here's Rubiales justifying and all his actions and digging that hole just so much deeper on Friday. Listen to this.
RUBIALES (through translator): It was spontaneous, mutual, euphoric, and with consent, which is the key. This is the key to all the criticism of all the campaign which has been mounted in this country that was without consent. No, it was with consent.
VAUSE: It's an argument only a mother can really sympathize with and the fact that, you know, she believes her son is now the victim of some kind of witch hunt. And she's locked herself in a church on a hunger strike. But, you know, this seems like it could all have been avoided all of this trouble, but hunger strike, you know, all the angst, all of that publicity. If he just apologized at the get go.
BRENNAN: The fact that he actually did it, and because it was on camera, John, for all the world to see, at the end of the World Cup. I don't know that an apology would have saved him because it was so egregious. And it's a forced kiss. It's unwanted kiss. It also another name for it is sexual assault.
And so, you know, I'm not sure that he could have apologized his way out of it no matter what. But you're absolutely right. If he had immediately been contrite, and said, I'm so sorry. And Jenni Hermoso they had a converse, you know, she was able to say, OK, that was terrible, but I accept your apology, which I don't know if she would have or not. That's her call.
I think he was probably in deep, deep trouble the moment he did it, and he should have thought of that. But of course, why would he think of that because apparently, you know, he's done other things that have been allegedly that have been bad, you know, with the unfortunate scene right before with the Queen's daughter right there as he's celebrating. But the problem is that he didn't do any of that. And he just made it
worse and worse because he thought he could get away with it. And in 2023, you just can't get away with that which is wonderful news for people like Hermoso, and all the women out there who have been fighting these battles for generations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Meanwhile, there has been a flood of support for Jenni Hermoso on social media, many using the hashtag se acabo, which means it's over, presumably referring to any tolerance for sexism in Spanish women sports. A player on the Women's National team showing a cartoon which shows little girl skinny grandmother to tell her about how the team won the tournament. The grandmother replays we didn't just win the World Cup, little one. We want so much more.
Two boats carrying migrants have capsized and they have the Greek Coast, almost on board were rescued for the five who died with children. Greece is one of the European Union's main entry point for those fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East, in Africa as well as in Asia.
According to the UN's refugee agency, more than 15,000 migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year. Notably, though more than 4,000 migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa this past weekend. A record for migrant arrivals by boat in a single weekend, according to the Red Cross. And CNN's Barbie Nadeau has details.
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BARBIE NADEAU, JOURNALIST (voiceover): It's the height of the Mediterranean summer, and this tiny island is overwhelmed with the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees. More than 4,000 people arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in hundreds of small boats over the weekend. Among them pregnant women, babies and unaccompanied minors. It's the highest number of arrivals and a weekend this island has ever seen.
More than 113,000 people have arrived in Italy by boat this year. That's more than the total number that arrived in all of 2022. There may be more migrant and refugee boats at sea, but there are fewer NGOs to rescue them. At the moment the Italian government has sequestered three NGO ships for allegedly breaking a law set by Italy's right wing government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that mandates how many recues charity ship can carry.
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Each of the sequestered ships will be docked for 20 days and fined up to 10,000 Euro. 56 organizations have signed a petition against the government, accusing them of obstructing civilian search and rescue and warning that it will lead to more deaths. But the Italian government says without the rest of Europe helping they cannot manage the influx
ADOLFO URSO, ITALIAN MINISTER OF ENTERPRISE (through translator): Italy can't be left alone facing this extraordinary phenomenon. Italy is the gateway to Europe. Europe must intervene with us.
NADEAU: Meloni will lead crisis talks this week after the government reconvenes on the agenda, ways to help people migrate legally and ways to deport them faster. In the meantime, the boats keep coming and coming and coming. Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Several weeks out to their major counter offensive and Ukraine appears to have broken through the first line of Russian defenses in the Zaporizhzhia region in the South. Officials say the small village of Robatina (ph) has been liberated, bringing Ukrainian forces and artillery another step closer to a strategic Russian transport hub further to the south, but retaking the village took weeks of fierce fighting.
One Ukrainian soldier says they face elaborate fortifications. The Russians have heavily mined the area established anti-tank defenses and Russian soldiers use guided aerial smart bombs to target Ukrainian forces. Still, Ukraine's defense minister says it's a significant win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLEKSII REZNIKOV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): We are moving forward in our counter offensive. There are certain changes which are not as quick as everyone wanted. It's not like in a movie you go today and finish tomorrow. But we are moving without stopping in accordance with the plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For Ukraine, the war with Russia is much about survival as it is about freedom that includes the democratic right to vote, which is why President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's hopeful elections may be held as scheduled next year.
With the country under martial law elections right now are on hold. But Zelenskyy says that could change with parliamentary approval. And he says every Ukrainian must be given an opportunity to vote freely, including those who sought refuge abroad and those who are living under Russian control on the front lines.
Russian supporters of the Wagner private mercenary group are grieving for its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. The Kremlin releasing some information about his death but there are still more questions than answers about the plane crash that killed him. Also about the fate of the Wagner (ph) company itself. CNN Fred Pleitgen has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Less than one week after the fiery crash north of Moscow Russian authorities now confirming Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was among those killed in the incident, as were members of his leadership team/.
Molecular genetic examinations have been completed the investigating committee says according to their results, the identities of all 10 dead were established they correspond to the list in the flight sheet. The news shocked some in Russia but appears to have surprised few as makeshift memorials have been popping up in various cities like here in Moscow.
I think these conversations about Prigozhin mistakes and different assessments will be forgotten and only an image of a hero will remain in people's memory, this man says. They did a great job. They are heroes for our country, this woman adds a brilliant future awaits Wagner. Everyone makes mistakes it happens. And this man says it doesn't leave any new emotional feeling, it just confirms that we are united and there are less and less of us.
The Russians say the investigation to find the cause of the crash is ongoing while the Kremlin called speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have ordered the jet taken down quote an absolute lie. But Putin spokesman now says it's not clear whether the Russian leader will attend Prigozhin funeral pollutants words for the deceased Wagner boss lukewarm.
He was a man with a complicated fate, Putin said, and he made serious mistakes in life.
Putin had called the mutiny precaution unleashed in late June treasonous the Wagner private military company once one of the strongest forces fighting for Russia in Ukraine has been in limbo since then. Wagner will probably get new leadership loyal not just to Vladimir Putin, but also to the Russian Defense Ministry says Russian analyst Sergey Markov who's close to Wagner.
SERGEY MARKOV, ANALYST: Wagner group is a symbol of the (INAUDIBLE) so it's reasonable to preserve somehow, these names, these (INAUDIBLE) label as a symbol of victory.
[01:15:05]
PLEITGEN: The organization could undergo major changes though as the man who turned Wagner into one of the most powerful mercenary outfits in the world is now confirmed killed. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: May soon have a judgment in the case of a violent attack on members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot. Five four band members were attacked by a group of uniform Cossacks during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. A warning the video to see is graphic. The group was performing a song when they were grabbed, beaten, kick, and whipped by Cossack soldiers.
The band members filed suit with the EU's Human Rights Court arguing the Russian state failed to safeguard their free speech and the state itself responsible for the violent attack. A judgment could come in the next few hours.
And we have new videos showing Paul Whelan an American who has been trained in Russia since 2018. In the video shot by Russian state media, you can see Whelan in a prison uniform wearing that uniform also showed his using a sewing machine and eating in a cafeteria.
Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage charge, which he vehemently denies.
Still to come, day two of the U.S. Commerce Secretary visited China and maybe just maybe success where three other Biden administration officials have failed. We'll explain why in a moment.
Also, Donald Trump's former White House Chief of Staff spent Monday on the witness stand arguing like his election interference case in Georgia should we move to a federal court.
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VAUSE: Libya has suspended its foreign minister after she met with her Israeli counterpart last week. Libyan foreign ministry says the meeting was unprepared. Rejected report said it was officially sanctioned. But Israel calls it historic and a first step as both countries do not have official diplomatic relations. (INAUDIBLE) also set up protests in several cities across Libya. More details now from CNN's Hadas Gold.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The announcement of this meeting between these two foreign ministers has sparked a dramatic diplomatic crisis and has led to the dismissal of Libya's foreign minister.
Now what happened on Sunday evening was that the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent out a statement to reporters hailing what they called a historic first ever meeting between Libya's foreign minister Najla Mangoush and the Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. They said that they two met in Rome that it was organized and hosted by the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. And that the two discussed how they could broaden the cooperation between the two countries including on issues such as agriculture and water technology.
Now, such a meeting would be very historic and important because Israel and Libya have no diplomatic relations to speak of, but the announcement of this meeting sparked protests in Libya.
[01:20:00]
We've seen social media videos of protesters burning Israeli flags, burning tires, waving Palestinian flags. Of course, the Palestinian cause is widely supported across Libya, and the Libyan internationally recognized government has pushed back against the Israeli characterization of this meeting, calling it an informal unprepared, saying that it did not include negotiations or consultations.
And then they suspended the Foreign Minister and the New York Times is now reporting that she has fled the country for safety in Turkey. But according to an Israeli source, that is familiar situation that CNN has spoken to they've pushed back on that characterization, saying that the meeting was planned in advance and saying that actually there had been plans to make the news public but Israeli media is reporting that the Foreign Ministry had been made aware that reporters were going to break the story ahead of a formal announcement and that's why the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent out that press release to reporters on Sunday evening.
Now there has been some criticism from inside Israel towards the Foreign Ministry Eli Cohen, the former prime minister, former foreign minister himself Yair Lapid, criticizing the move to publicize this meeting, saying it risked an important future relationship, also calling an amateurish, irresponsible and a grave failure of judgment. Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: On day two, the U.S. Commerce Secretary's trip to Beijing, and it seems she's already has a deliverable in hand. Gina Raimondo says she's reached an agreement to establish exchange information on export export controls, to reduce misunderstandings of U.S. national security policies.
To try and understand what all that means CNN Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang is with us live. So what is this? What does it mean? How significant is it? What does it mean in the real world?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, this is based on confirmation that they have agreed to launch this platform for U.S. officials to explain their export control policy to their Chinese counterparts. Actually, the first such meeting is taking place today at a Chinese commerce ministry.
Now that meeting itself very much pointing to the contradictory nature of Raimondo's mission here during this visit, because on one hand, obviously, she is trying to stabilize this economic relationship to promote U.S. business interests on your hand.
Her agency, the Commerce Department has been imposing a growing number of export controls targeting China, especially in semiconductors and advanced computing. That, of course, has greatly angered the Beijing leadership, including President Xi Jinping himself. That's why, you know, Raimondo has been trying to say that the export controls out of national security concerns account for only 1 percent of America's export to China.
So there's still a lot of room for growth for cooperation. But that kind of arguments may be a little difficult to make -- may not be that convincing to her Chinese counterparts who actually don't see much difference between derisking, which is what U.S. officials have been saying and decoupling.
But of course, they are trying to focus on a positive because they have agreed to strengthen communication also to establish a new working group involving officials and the private sector to work out some of those disagreements and disputes. And Gina Raimondo herself on Tuesday morning, meeting with the Chinese tourism minister, obviously trying to revive the once booming outbound travel from China to the US. John. VAUSE: Part of that real world problem for the Chinese economy, it's gotten a lot of people traveling to China as well, from all around the world. But there's also this issue with China's real estate sector. And that is sort of being symbolized by the real estate giant Evergrande. It stocks resumed trading on Monday, that first day, it plummeted by around 80 percent at the opening of Hong Kong.
So what's the latest now there for this company, which is considered too big to fail, because it seems it's pretty close to failing?
JIANG: Yes, you know, these are pretty depressing, but probably not surprising numbers in terms of Evergrande share prices plummeting, despite reporting, significantly narrowing -- a significant narrowing of its first half net losses. But remember, this is still the world's most indebted real estate developer, and is still going through a government guided restructuring.
And the problem, of course, is it's not just Evergrande. It's the whole sector. Another massive player in this industry, Country Garden is also very much in deep trouble. So a lot of experts still consider the property sector which accounts for a large percentage of the Chinese GDP very much imploding.
And that, of course, is on top of other problems they are facing, including burgeoning local government debts, not to mention youth unemployment and consumer confidence so bad that a government has now decided not to report these data anymore.
So all of that, of course, is to say this economy here are facing its strongest headwinds in decades. But ironically, that that may be helping remodels mission because this is when the Chinese government is facing a lot of pressure. They are putting ice outwardly a more business friendly face giving their officials more wiggle room to work with her to stabilize U.S.-China economic relationships. John.
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VAUSE: Stephen, glad you're there. Appreciate the explanation. Have a good one. Thank you.
U.S. District Judge is expected to rule soon on whether to move the election interference case against Mark Meadows from state to federal court. Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff testify for more than three hours on Monday, claiming it was his job to question the outcome of the 2020 election. CNN's Sara Murray has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows --
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: To start wholesale trying to change the way that we conduct elections state by state. I can tell you we're asking for problems. We're asking for fraud.
MURRAY: -- taking the stand in a federal courtroom in Georgia after he, former President Donald Trump and 17 others were charged with racketeering by the Fulton County District Attorney for their attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You can ever accept when they steal and rake and rob.
MURRAY: Meadows who has kept a stunningly low profile amid the various investigations into Donald Trump now breaking his silence on the case under oath. Those were challenging times, bluntly. Meadows told the court of his White House tenure as Meadows seeks to move his case from state to federal court the focus of Monday's hearing, prosecutors delved into their case and some of the allegations against Meadows.
Meadows denying under oath that he directed another White House aide to write a memo about how to delay or disrupt the certification of the election on January 6, saying he had zero recollection of that happening and it was the biggest surprise to me upon reading the indictment, putting Meadows on the stand to challenge the events He's accused of participating in in Georgia a risky approach for any criminal defendant.
Meadow is looking to make the case that his activities after the 2020 election are part of his official duties as chief of staff, including arranging the call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
MEADOWS: Mr. President, everybody is on the line. And just so this is Mark Meadows, the Chief of Staff.
TRUMP: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have. Because we want the state.
MURRAY: Raffensperger also took the stand saying he first tried to resist the call and testifying there was no federal role in certifying Georgia's election. When prosecutors question what federal role Meadows was fulfilling in post-election calls with Trump and another purveyor of election falsehoods, his then personal attorney Rudy Giuliani --
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP PERSONAL ATTORNEY: We cannot allow these crooks. The statute they are to steal an election from the American people. They elected Donald Trump. They didn't elect Joe Biden.
MURRAY: Meadows said he was acting as a gatekeeper and insisted there was a federal interest and accurate and fair elections. Meadows also claimed he wasn't the driving force in pushing bogus claims of election fraud. But when then Attorney General Bill Barr dismissed the fraud claims --
BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: and made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff which I told the President was bullshit.
MURRAY: Meadow said he felt that further investigation was warranted.
MURRAY (on camera): Now, Mark Meadows spent more than three and a half hours on the stand testifying Monday and at the end of a full day hearing the judge said he was not yet ready to rule in the case. He said though that he will do so quickly. We expect that ruling to come on paper. And he acknowledged that arraignments in this case again those hearings where you would enter a plea are quickly coming up in the state court scheduled for September 6. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still come to his hour, bracing to major impact residence long Florida's Gulf Coast preparing for the expected landfall of what is forecast we are powerful category three hurricane the very latest on the storm's path in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause, You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The Mexican navy has released dramatic video of a chase on the high seas. Authorities seized 4,400 metric tons of cocaine in two separate operations in the Pacific Ocean last week.
You can see a navy officer here being lowered from a helicopter onto one of the drug boats. 11 people in all were arrested.
Millions in Florida are now watching the track of Idalia, a dangerous tropical storm which is forecast to intensify before making landfall as a category three hurricane. Storm surge and hurricane warnings are in effect along Florida's Gulf Coast. At least ten counties have issued evacuation orders.
To the south in Cuba, residents evacuated coastal towns as Idalia moved in on Monday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain. Floodwaters rushed into at least one fishing village.
Right now, the storm is churning off the western side of Cuba, heading north, expected to gain strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Florida's governor urging residents to prepare now for the possibility of very dangerous conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS (R-FL): This is going to be a major impact and Floridians should expect that this storm will be a major Cat 3 plus hurricane. So please prepare accordingly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis is keeping a close watch on the storm. She joins us now live with the very latest.
So I guess -- we're looking at towards this Wednesday deadline of possible landfall. So what can we expect between now and then?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Between now and then we are looking at a rapidly intensifying or strengthening hurricane.
It is now still a tropical storm intensity, but over the next 30 minutes we will be getting another update from the National Hurricane Center.
It's just kind of been straddling this Yucatan Strait. But once it moves up into the Gulf of Mexico, we are looking at it really developing fairly quickly. And along that northern edge of the tropical system, it's looking a little more symmetrical, but it has had a rough go over the last 12 hours or so further to the south.
There's been a little bit of shear there. But don't be mistaken. This is going to turn into a hurricane. It's going to look like a very typical hurricane, with a clearly defined eye. Once it moves into water temperatures that are about 30 degrees Celsius.
All right, here's the open Gulf of Mexico. But where does it want to go? Well the computer models are in pretty good agreement. It looks like it is going to just kind of remain offshore the west coast of Florida.
For Tampa, probably not going to be a landfall, meaning the eye of the storm moves over Tampa, that hasn't happened for over 100 years but it's still going to be an impact not just for Tampa, but for our Cape Coral, for Naples, for Clearwater, St. Pete.
You are looking at a storm surge that could be several meters. And rainfall that could be between 75 and about 200 millimeters.
Well, as we go into the forecast time period Tuesday evening, category 2. Wednesday morning, category 3. And it's going to be just offshore.
And this very fragile area, the good news, if we could say that, is that this is not densely populated, not like it is along this west coast.
So beautiful, water temperatures are so warm, exceptionally warm this time of year. But it will also produce some very heavy rainfall in coastal Georgia, coastal South Carolina and probably into coastal sections of North Carolina. An update comes at the top of the hour, John.
VAUSE: Karen, we appreciate that. Thank you so much for being with us. Karen Maginnis there at the CNN Weather Center.
[01:34:57]
VAUSE: Well the Biden administration has doubled the annual funding available for communities to prepare for the impact of climate change and extreme weather events. It's also dramatically increased funding for flood mitigation as well.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA now has $3 billion, and this comes during a record breaking year of natural disasters.
These new funds will come from the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. FEMA has already factored into its spending the immediate response to the Maui wildfires and the initial response to Idalia.
Joining us now is Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, as well as distinguished professor at Texas Tech University.
It is good to see you. Thanks for coming back.
KATHARINE HAYHOE, CHIEF SCIENTIST, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Ok. So just to break down the numbers here from the Biden administration, one program known as Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC), will receive $2.3 billion dollars, which is double previous funding. While $800 million will go to the flood mitigation assistance program, that is up five-fold.
But just as a reminder, what they, you know, once referred to as Super Storm Sandy hit the U.S. East Coast just over a decade ago, it was a category 1 hurricane killing more than 150 people in the United States and the Caribbean. It cost $70 billion in damage, destroyed more than half a million homes. And the storms are only getting stronger and more frequent now.
Fast forward just over, you know, a few weeks ago, the governor of Hawaii, (INAUDIBLE) Maui is facing nearly $6 billion of damage, more than 2,200 buildings were destroyed, another 500 damaged in the flames.
So you know, $3 billion dollars in and of itself? It's a lot of money. But is it enough money when it comes to adapting to climate change? On its own it's kind of whistling in the wind?
HAYHOE: It is not nearly enough, but it is a good start. So back in the 1980s, when NOAA first started counting the billion-dollar weather and climate disasters experienced in the U.S. there was one of them about every four months. So every four months in the 1980s there was a disaster that cost at least a billion dollars.
Fast forward to today, we've got one happening every two to three weeks. And some of them, like Hurricane Harvey, aren't a billion, they're not 10 billion, they are over $100 billion each. So as our grandparents told us, an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure.
VAUSE: Well, that's so true, because the study in 2021 by the consultants McKinsey found that global infrastructure is expected to bear the brunt of anticipated climate change -- adoption cost, typically estimated to be between 60 and 80 percent of total climate change adaptation spending globally. Put it down to a number, figure could average $150 billion to $450 billion dollars per year on infrastructure. This is for a year in 2050. You know, that's a lot of money. And in the face of the three choices
we have right now with climate change -- we can mitigate, we can adapt, and we can suffer, or a combination of all three. We are not doing really well on those first two options which only leaves suffering, really?
HAYHOE: That's right and the first two are where we want to major. So around the world, we have almost $50 trillion worth of infrastructure. But here's the problem. It was built for a planet that no longer exist.
All of our building codes are predicated on past climate. And today, climate is changing faster than any time in human history. And that is why this matters. Almost every building, road, piece of infrastructure we have is built for conditions that no longer exist. And they are not prepared for the extremes we are experiencing today.
VAUSE: And yet you know, when it comes down to a choice of doing something now for a future benefit, you touched on this, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure, We have this report a few years ago from a group in Europe called The World Resource Group.
If the world invested $1.8 trillion dollars from 2020 to 2030, just a decade, into five adaptive measures like early warning systems for natural disasters, protecting mangroves, building climate resilient infrastructure, more drought resistant crops, water resilience, it could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits. That is a four dollar return on every dollar spent. That is a good return.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: But we just seem incapable of planning? Why can't, whether it is climate change or pandemic, a 401 k, most of us just seem incapable of looking, you know, more than a year or two down the road?
HAYHOE: Well, those numbers, $4 then for $1 now are even conservative compared to the estimates of investing now in resilience to make disaster proof homes and infrastructure, for example.
Why can't we do it? Our brains are not programmed to think long term? I mean, let's be honest. Does everybody stand up and walk around as much as they should during the day? Do you eat exactly what you are supposed to eat? Have we saved what everybody tells us we're supposed to save for retirement?
Most of us would say, well, I try, but not quite. Well here, we have a problem where it's the whole world. We have not prepared for our future, and we and our children are going to be the ones living it.
[01:39:53]
VAUSE: It also seems to us, or to me anyway, that you know, the people who could do the most about this problems are the ones who are going to be affected by it the least. And that to me also seems one of the major issues we have right now. HAYHOE: You are absolutely right, the richest 1 percent of people in
the world produce twice as much carbon emissions as the poorest 50 percent. The people who already don't have a safe place to live, or clean water to drink, or enough food to put on the table, whether that is right here in the biggest cities in the U.S., or the farmers on the other side of the world, they are the ones who are hit first and foremost by the more frequent and more dangerous heat waves, by the stronger droughts and hurricanes, by having to breathe in the wildfire smoke and the pollution.
All of it affects all of us but it doesn't affect us all equally, and that's not fair.
VAUSE: Climate change is not fair, that's the bottom line with it all. And it's something which we need to address.
But Katharine, there's also a few people -- everyone -- people like you rather to keep talking about, doing something about it, you know, at least there's some hope. So thanks for being with us.
HAYHOE: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Well, it's monsoon season in Pakistan where flooding kills hundreds of people each year in the country's mountain regions. Homes and schools were washed away, residents often left without clean water.
But a non government organization is working to change that.
Here is CNN's Lynda Kinkade.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: a blessing and a curse, this year's monsoon season in Pakistan once again water logging parts of the country. The heavy rain farmers rely on each year to irrigate crops and fill water tanks coming in ferocious bursts that are wiping out villages.
NASREEN BIBI, FLOOD VICTIM: The flood came to our area, our houses collapsed, our belongings were swept away, and our crops are submerged under water. We couldn't bring anything with us.
KINKADE: In 2022, those downpours were disastrous submerging about a third of the country in unprecedented floods.
At least 1,700 people were killed, and nearly 1.5 million homes destroyed. One NGO in Pakistan is trying to help people survive such extreme weather conditions by building homes that are better equipped to withstand floods.
This woman and her sons lost their house last year.
CHAMPA BAI, LOST HOME IN FLOODS: Our house was standing here at the same spot, but it was washed away by the floods. It was all ruined and it became debris. We put up a plastic tent to take shelter, then more water gushed in,
and we had to take shelter on the road.
KINKADE: Their new home built by Heritage Foundation of Pakistan is different from the traditional mud house that she lived in. It's made from a prefabricated bamboo structure, with lime-hardened mud walls to waterproof the home and straw tops and more productive materials to cover the roof.
And though her house is yet to be tested by the elements, many houses in nearby villages built in the same design before last year's floods are still standing.
SATTYA RAM, VILLAGER: These houses were not demolished when the floods came in 2022. They will not be destroyed if there are any floods in the future.
KINKADE: Durability was one of the key drivers in the design created by Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan's first certified female architect who opted to use local materials to keep costs down.
YASMEEN LARI, PAKISTANI ARCHITECT: First of all we have to understand, you are working for the poor. So it's got to be affordable.
Secondly, we have to understand that whatever you bring from outside will always be far more expensive and (INAUDIBLE) You can make affordable housing with that
KINKADE: The houses cost under $87 to build, which is about a tenth of what it takes to make a cement structure. According to the NGO, the construction only takes a week and the NGO says it would like to build at least 350,000 homes.
And for those living in temporary shelters have the chance to one day have a roof over their heads again. And one that is hopefully built to last.
Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: New bans from the Taliban on Afghan women, the child bride marrying Islamic Fundamentalist now sending their control over women beyond their own borders.
And that's not the only new restriction from the military of vice and virtue. We will explain, ahead.
[01:44:10]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, the Taliban has made life for women in Afghanistan even more miserable. Not content with banning them from the workplace and from getting an education, not content with closing beauty parlors, forcing them to be covered head to toe. Not content with banning them from leaving their homes without a male escort.
Now the ministry of vice and virtue has banned women and girls from visiting a popular national park. The minister said sightseeing is not a must for women.
Before the Taliban takeover, back in August of 2021, it was the country's first park to have female rangers.
And that's not all. The Taliban also stopped dozens of Afghan girls from flying to Dubai to attend university on scholarships from a UAE billionaire. The Taliban officials refused to allow the girls to board their plane.
Here's human rights advocate Pashtana Durrani. She is also the founder and executive director of Learn Afghanistan, a nonprofit group which has educated thousands of Afghan boys, girls, and women. And it's a pleasure to have you with us, thank you.
PASHTANA DURRANI, FOUNDER, LEARN AFGHANISTAN: Thank you.
VAUSE: So the U.N. special rapporteur for Afghanistan tweeted a rhetorical question, can someone please explain why this restriction on women visiting Bande Amir is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture?
Well, officially, the ban it seems is in response to female visitors, not wearing a hijab or not covering their faces. The minister for virtue and vice telling local religious leaders over the weekend, "Women must be forbidden from visiting Bande Amir until a new regulation is established. Sightseeing is not necessary but hijab is mandatory."
You know, this has nothing to do with Islam. These edicts and bans have never really had anything to do with Islam. They really, you know, when they took away women's right to education, to employment, the next steps seems now is what, taking away their right to enjoyment. Anything that makes them feel human?
DURRANI: In Afghanistan I think the one thing that we tend to forget is like when we will -- especially when the Taliban are saying oh, who will come up with new solutions for these things.
It's funny how they can come up with new bans every two weeks and they can ban women in every way possible from coloring their hair in salons to taking a walk in the park, to learning a word or a letter in a school or from earning a penny.
But somehow they actually thing, more than two years just to find solutions to the same bans that they're doing. And at the same you have to look at the fact that when this is Sharia, this means all the other (INAUDIBLE) in the Middle East, the Asian countries in South Asia and Central Asia, that they're not Muslim enough, that's really (INAUDIBLE) ban women from going to all those places or are you a different category, Muslim. And if you are well, that explain it like what is a (INAUDIBLE). So for me, a person I think the Taliban are wrong with the women
(INAUDIBLE) have always been in the past two decades they u sed the same school to burn the schools down, to warn the schools to attack any women who work in NGOs or any other sector, towards women who are political leaders.
So for me, I think -- I don't the Taliban are in the business of finding solutions or helping the country. I think they are in (INAUDIBLE) who only want to wage war on women of Afghanistan.
VAUSE: And for women who do follow these draconian edicts, they are wearing a black hijab, they are wearing a head scarf. They are traveling with a male companion.
[01:49:45]
VAUSE: And yet what happened at Kabul airport over the last couple of days is that officials prevented them, about 60 women in all, from leaving the country because they're traveling to Dubai on a scholarship to receive an education.
Here is more now from one of the trip's sponsors on what happened. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They refused them to board on the plane. And already we have paid for the aircraft. We are (INAUDIBLE) everything for them here -- accommodation, medication, transportation, security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And you kind of touched on this. The thing about the Taliban, just when it seems they have gone as low and as despicable, as misogynistic as possible they find new appalling ways to go even lower and to treat women. So how does this actually end?
DURRANI: One thing we have to understand that I lived in Kandahar (ph). I (INAUDIBLE) in the school to drive me around or to take me to places. But that's not something new. I have worn a hijab all my life. And I wore (INAUDIBLE) whenever I am home.
It's just funny for me how the Taliban say that we need to have proper hijab. We have been doing this for quite some time. We already have been using that part of life altogether.
But what makes me question the whole thing is like how they are not ok with women not even leaving the country. They are also the same time, they don't seem to be wanting for them to have anything to do except the fact that they use women as reproductive machines.
But also, here's the thing. Their own daughters are studying in Pakistan and in (INAUDIBLE) they are going to good colleges. They are going to good schools and they are learning everything.
So for me, I think the one thing that is so hurtful but I am not -- it's not shocking at all is the fact that for them their daughters are important, but the daughters of Afghanistan are not important?
VAUSE: And for a growing number of Afghan women, it seems that, you know, this ends in suicide? "The Guardian" reports that despair settling in, female suicides are on the rise in the Taliban's Afghanistan.
You know, there are of course no official numbers, so "The Guardian" story relies on private conversations with health care workers. And the data they managed to collect shows that Afghanistan is one of the few countries where more women than men are dying by suicide.
That must be incredibly discouraging for you, there must be the despair that settles in for you just looking at that from a distance.
Do you feel those numbers are only going to get worse if the Taliban continues to have free reign to terrorize half the population?
DURRAHNI: I think it is not only half the population, it's the entire population that is being held hostage. It's just like the 50 percent of the population is seeing the severe consequences being held as hostage.
I mean imagine what else would you do? I have 280 students, all of them need psychological help. The only thing we celebrate is if you could find someone who can speak in our native languages and can talk to them. Can council them, so to me I personally think this (INAUDIBLE) have been so restrictive, has been erased from the public spaces, and where do they turn to? Who do they turn to? Where is the justice? Who do you see to ask for justice?
So definitely, if you become hopeless you are definitely going to turn to that. And there are people who are suffering. Not only just because there is this restriction, but also there is a lack of opportunities and lack of economic growth and lack of any learning species -- even lack of equality at the moment.
VAUSE: It's an appalling situation and it's getting worse. And women there feel helpless, and so many people watching feel helpless to do something. So I guess if we keep talking about it then maybe something might happen.
Pashtana, so good to speak with you. Thank you so much for being with us.
DURRANI: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Good time to take a break. When we come back, an uptick in early onset cancer. Details ahead with the age and the ethnic groups at risk and which kinds of cancer they're actually getting. More on that when we come back.
[01:53:38]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: New research on early on-set cancers appears to be rising within a certain group. Mandy Gaither has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANDY GAITHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Women and adults in their 30s seem to be driving a rise with early onset cancer diagnosis rates.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just to get the definition straight if a cancer is diagnosed before the age of 50, it's considered an early onset diagnosis.
GAITHER: In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found the rate of cancer diagnoses rose in adults in their 30s from 2010 to 2019 but remains stable over that period and other under 50 age groups, while the rate of cancer in those 50 and older is going down.
DR. GUPTA: You go back to 2010, there was roughly 100 or 100,000 diagnoses made in that population of people again under the age of 50. Fast forward 10 years and it's gone up for folks to 103 or about a 3 percent increase.
GAITHER: Researchers found early onset cancers were going up faster for most people who identify as American Indian, Alaskan Natives, Asians and Hispanics. Cancers with the highest number of early onset cases diagnosed in 2019 were breast, thyroid and colorectal cancers.
DR. GUPTA: The percentage of the country that is obese at this young age now is higher than it has ever been.
GAITHER: Health experts believe that is one possible reason for the rise, along with smoking and lack of exercise. Researchers also think screening of these cancers has become more sensitive.
DR. GUPTA: We are better finding these cancers earlier. The screening that are happening, they're more sensitive. So we maybe finding more cancers that way.
GAITHER: For "HALF A MINUTE", I'm Mandy Gaither.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The U.S. open is underway in New York with Sixth seed Coco Gauff among the top stars in action on Monday. The American team struggled out the gate. But came back, there she is, winning in three sets.
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki hasn't played a Grand Slam event in more than three years. However, she had no trouble in a straight sets first round victory.
On the men's side, Novak Djokovic will reclaim his world number one ranking after a decisive first round win over Frenchman Alexandre Mueller.
I said all those names right, huh?
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church.
See you right back here tomorrow.
[01:57:41]
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