Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Idalia Weakens After A Destructive Path Through Southeastern U.S.; Largest Drone Attack On Russian Soil Since Invasion Of Ukraine; At Least 20 Dead In Johannesburg Fire; Military Officers In Gabon Declare Coup And Place President Under House Arrest; Country Garden Posts Record Loss, Warns Of Possible Default; Country Garden Warns of Default after $7B Loss; Idalia Slams Florida's Big Bend, Brings Heavy Flooding; Western Cuba Trying to Recover from Idalia; One Killed by Palestinian Authority Security Forces; Texas Authorities Reveal How Migrant Girl Died; Preserving a Rare and Elusive Creature; Date Set for Australian First Nations Referendum. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 31, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:36]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour on CNN, after battling Florida and causing billions of dollars in damage, Hurricane Idalia heads north and weakened to a tropical storm, bringing heavy rain floods, and a threat of tornadoes.
The war comes home targeting targets deep inside Russia hit by the biggest ever wave of Ukrainian drone attacks. And a Honduran family speaks out about their search for a safer, better life for the United States, which ended with the death of a young daughter have been detained by U.S. border officials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Thanks again for joining us here for CNN Newsroom. We begin with tropical storm Idalia, which continues to weaken at this hour moving overland away from Florida's gulf coast, where it made landfall early Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour. A high-end category three hurricane and the most powerful storm to better the region in at least 125 years.
Idalia is now heading northeast along the Carolina coast, bringing heavy rain floods and a new threat of tornadoes. The National Weather Service reported a weak tornado touchdown in Goose Creek, South Carolina, tossing this car into the air but causing no other damage.
But in the neighboring state of Georgia, police report a falling tree instantly killed one man and at least one person has died in weather related car accidents in neighboring Florida, insured property losses in the state estimated at more than $9 billion.
While emergency crews have already searched about 75 percent of the storm zone, residents there asked to remain indoors, avoid downed power lines. Hundreds of thousands of people across the southeast of the U.S. are still without electricity.
In Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says most schools and hospitals shuttered by the storm will reopen in the coming hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R) FLORIDA: We clearly have significant damage throughout the Big Bend region. But the response has been swift and people are getting help accordingly. There is of course a lot of debris to clean up. But we will get working with that with the local communities to make sure that the roads are cleared, and people can go back to their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Let's hear live now to CNN's Karen Mcginnis at the CNN Weather Center with the very latest. So Karen, where are we at right now? Where's the threat?
KAREN MCGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it is moving off the coast of South Carolina, North Carolina but there's still quite a bit of volume of convective moisture there meaning we're seeing some thunderstorms, especially in North Carolina. It's kind of exiting South Carolina right now.
You're looking at a live picture out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That's along the northern coast actually is where I grew up. And typically the boardwalk you would see people walking around at all hours, but it was pretty quiet. Their winds were gusting around 25 miles an hour.
Here's what I mean by the deep clusters are convection right across the Piedmont region and central region, as well as into the lowlands of North Carolina beginning to really diminish quite a bit in South Carolina. But some of the rainfall totals that we've seen in South Carolina had been really substantial. We've seen seven and eight inches of rainfall, Hampton, South Carolina, which lies to the west of Charleston, they saw about nine inches, nine and a half inches of rainfall.
All right, so technically it is still a tropical storm, only supporting winds at about 60 miles per hour or about 100 kilometers per hour. It looks like it's trek is still going to take it out into the open waters here. Then you have to remember the water here is pretty cool. So it's going to lose a lot of strength very, very quickly.
But still some of that lingering convective activity is going to continue. And this is why we have a tornado watch out from Wilmington Oak Island over towards the Outer Banks region towards Nags Head can't rule out the potential for an isolated tornado because those bands are very conductive and very active.
We've had some brief flare ups over the last couple of hours but we have no known touchdowns right now. We'll continue to monitor it from the weather department. Back to you John.
VAUSE: Karen, we appreciate that. We appreciate the update of grouse hours (ph) by you. We appreciate that.
Well, right now the Johnsons South Carolina Deputy Fire Chief Jason Krusen is with us.
[01:05:02]
Again, Jason, thanks for staying up late. Thanks for live updates and what's happening in your part of the world at the moment. What our conditions are right now? And is the biggest threat from the storm surge or those tornadoes or the weather? What are we looking at here? Is that the wind? What's going on?
DEPUTY CHIEF JASON KRUSEN, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA FIRE DEPARTMENT: Yes, good evening. We were starting to see it tapering off. Fortunately for us, we did have a lot of surge, and with coupled with the rainfall. So we ended up shutting down around 50 streets this evening, throughout the city and performing a little over 20 rescues of stranded motorists that weren't able to get out or drove into the floodwaters.
VAUSE: In terms of weather events, how does that compare? Is that a lot of rescues? Is it fairly typical? And how would you like it?
KRUSEN: Yes, it's not uncommon, but it is a little bit higher than we typically see. You know, we try to get the residents and our visitors that are coming in to visit to try and stay out of harm's way, staying stay in their hotels or their homes, to try and not get out and leave room for our responders to get out and not create any additional work. But we were fortunate with this storm that the rainfalls were not as high as we anticipated, and the winds tended to stay low. So we were fortunate.
VAUSE: Earlier we heard from the FEMA administrative warning people to, you know, not let their guard down just because it, you know, was no longer a hurricane had weakened to a tropical storm. You know, there was still danger out there. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: The storm continues to move inland, that the people in the path of the storm in Georgia and South Carolina that they still need to take this very serious. We know that there's parts of Georgia in South Carolina that are prone to catastrophic inland flooding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Why the water level in Charleston harbor was like nine feet above the average. Is that seem to improve right now? Do people still need to sort of be on their guard? Or when I guess the question is where can they breathe easy?
KRUSEN: Yes, so as I said, it is starting to improve, we're starting to see waters recede, we have auxiliary pumps that we bring in and we're trying to pump that down now that the tide is starting to drop. So we're able to get rid of some of the water that's on the surface streets, but exactly correct.
We want to keep people off of the roadways, when the sun comes up, people want to get out and they want to walk around and see what happened and, you know, check their property but there's still concerns of downed power lines, still some flooded streets in low lying areas and it definitely creates a hazard for people without walking around slip and fall or you know injured themselves. So we want to keep them out until we can get out and our crews can start doing damage assessments to be able to really see what do we need to do and survey the area to put crews in the right areas.
VAUSE: And without doubt Florida got hit hard. A lot of damage. And, you know, a couple of deaths down there as well. We just say that, you know Charleston around the Charleston area it wasn't as bad because the forecast kind of proved to be better than everyone thought it was going to be. You're better prepared, people do what was asked, a combination of all three?
KRUSEN: Yes, unfortunately we see these storms quite frequently. So I really praise our responders, our police and firefighters that are out there in advance of it to scale up so we did that and we were fortunate we didn't see as much activity as we were planning for.
We always plan for the worst but we were fortunate that this storm, the path that it took it did sparrows with the rainfall amounts being lesser and as I said earlier, the wind being lesser. So it is our -- it is a an advance preparation that really helped us with this.
VAUSE: Yes. Planning for the worst hope for the best. Deputy Chief, thanks so much for being with us. Thanks for everything you do appreciate it.
KRUSEN: Thank you. Have a good night.
VAUSE: You too, sir. Thank you. In Florida, many residents are facing a massive cleanup after the region bore the brunt of Idalia's destructive power has made landfall as a category three storm. Much of the low lying city of Crystal River was left underwater after being hit by devastating storm surge.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino was there. She joins us now live with more. And you know, when we looked at these pictures throughout the day, you know, it is just stunning to see almost the entire city at some point, you know, under at least, you know, a couple of feet of water. What's the situation there right now?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. In fact, just about an hour ago, I took a drive to the area that had flooded completely where City Hall is here in Crystal River. They took about eight feet of water when the storm surge had -- when the storm surge came in. All of that water is now gone. The water has receded including here in this area where we've been standing all day.
At one point this road was very hard to get across. In fact only Very high tall trucks with the big wheels were able to get across.
[01:10:04]
If you were driving a small vehicle most people were turning right back around because this water was simply too deep. The water has been heading back in that direction. That's where we wanted to go. That's where the Gulf of Mexico is and the river is and the currents have been pulling the water back. So that's good news. Because there is a curfew that is in place right now.
Officials here want people off the roads. At first sight tomorrow morning 6:00 a.m. local time that curfew will lift. People will be allowed back into their homes and the long process of cleanup will begin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAZMINO (through translator): Now we have pummeled Florida's Gulf Coast, bringing winds of up to 125 miles per hour. The gusts strong enough to topple trees by this house in Perry, Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
PAZMINO: The powerful category three hurricane making landfall Wednesday and unleashing heavy rains and triggering record breaking storm surge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just knew that storm surge was going to be coming in mixed with that high tide. That was the scariest part.
PAZMINO: Streets along the coast swallowed by water.
MICHAEL BOBBITT, CEDAR KEY RESIDENT: These are all little old school Florida villas, and they were just picked up and carried into the Gulf. So that was heartbreaking to see.
PAZMINO: Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power in Georgia and Florida. And the widespread flooding forcing major highways like U.S. 19 and Citrus County to close.
SHERIFF MIKE PRENDERGAST, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: This road has shut down and major portions of my county right now due to the storm surge that we're seeing.
PAZMINO: Several 1,000 homes along the coast in Pasco County now underwater.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have water at least 18 inches or higher that have gone into these homes.
PAZMINO: And now they're turned northeast to Georgia as a category one hurricane and then a tropical storm, unleashing heavy rains and strong winds. All of Georgia is now under a state of emergency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a dangerous storm people need to prepare.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAZMINO: Now, John, we are in Citrus County and the sheriff officials here told us earlier they conducted 76 rescue, 76 residents from this area had to be rescued from their home. So again, while things are very calm right now, much calmer and the water has been receding. There were areas of this city that just had a lot of water more than eight feet when that surge started rushing in.
So tomorrow when people start making their way back because the shelters are going to close, they're going to have to really just come to terms with that damage, see how much of it, it has been done and try and figure out how to recover as they begin that long process here. John.
VAUSE: Thank you. Gloria Pazmino there in Crystal River with the very latest. Appreciate long hours long day. Thanks for the reporting.
Russia has been hit by the biggest wave of Ukrainian drone strikes since the war began in February last year. Six regions far from Ukraine's border in some cases came under attack Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Ukrainian officials say the war is increasingly coming home to Russia and CNN's Melissa Bell report one airport took some damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Russian officials say that the airfield at Pskov which was hit on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday with several transport aircraft damage will be reopening on Thursday. Still, what we saw from Tuesday to Wednesday was the largest drone attack on Russian soil since the start of the war. Six regions in all targeted. Air defenses fairly efficient across most of the country.
But still, whilst Ukraine hasn't recognized the specifics of the attack. We have heard from an advisor to President Zelenskyy speaking of the fact that this was now a war that was coming to Russian soil, not just those aircraft that were damaged. But for of -- Moscow's for airports rather closed for a while. Several flights disrupted and Moscow now vowing through its foreign ministry that this act and these attacks will not be without retaliation.
For its part, Ukraine also saw a night of attacks from Tuesday to Wednesday with the loss of life in Kyiv and fairly spectacular damage being done to some of the buildings there, still the defenses relatively efficient across most of the country. This as the fighting continues just south of here in Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian side claiming that beyond its gain of (INAUDIBLE), it is now making slow but steady progress further south into the East. Whilst the fighting is said to be extremely difficult hand to hand, man to man combat with a great deal of chaos on the frontlines, even as the Ukrainian forces inch forward and Russia sends in more reserves to try and prevent them from getting any further south. Melissa Bell, CNN, Zaporizhzhia.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: With us now is retired U.S. Army Colonel Liam Collins. He is co-author of Understanding Urban War. Sir, good to have you with us. Thank you for joining us.
COL. LIAM COLLINS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Thanks for having me.
[01:15:05]
VAUSE: OK, so I want to go through a spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Moscow, talking about the latest drone strikes on targets inside Russia by Ukrainian forces. Here this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA ZAKHAROVA, SPOKESPERSON, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): The Ukrainian regime will not go unpunished. It's clear that the Ukrainian drones weren't able to fly those distances without assistance from Western satellite information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, these latest Ukrainian drone strikes, six regions, military transport planes are damaged earlier. A number of long range Russian bombers have been damaged or reportedly destroyed by Ukrainian drones, train station and Kursk was recently hit. There's been a string of these attacks, obviously upping the ante here, in many ways on these attacks on Russian soil.
And each time, the Russian response has been a bit like we just heard then, kind of angry with threats and outrage, but not a whole lot more. Is there any reason to believe that it's likely to change anytime soon? Can they make good on those threats that, you know, Ukraine will pay?
COLLINS: Not if you've seen every time that Ukraine has conducted one of these strikes, oftentimes, you know, to some degree of success, the response by Russia has simply been to launch a significant drone and missile strike on Ukraine.
And what we saw as their retaliation was a total of one of those drones and missiles getting through so Ukraine was able to down 97 percent, over 97 percent of those incoming missiles. And that ratio has only gone up from the beginning of the war when they were shooting down 60 percent. And so they're up to over 95 percent. So Russia really has no ability to respond.
VAUSE: So with these escalating drone strikes, I'd buy the Ukrainians on Russian targets and that sort of muted response, if you like by Moscow. Max Boot, who writes for The Washington Post makes this point, recent experience suggests that for all his bluster, Putin is rational enough not to escalate a limited war, that he is already losing into a wider war with NATO that he cannot possibly win.
So if you work from that premise, why is the Biden administration still sort of playing from the old handbook here playing it safe? Let's not, you know, escalate it all, you know, across a red line with Putin. Why don't go all in supply the F-16s, the long range attack missiles? Is there an argument here that playing it safe isn't really the right option? In fact, it could be dragging out this conflict longer than it needs be?
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, without a doubt, we should be, you know, the West, we in their best interest to supply Ukraine with as many arms and ammunition as possible, as he said, or as Max Boot said. There's no way Russia could expand this, right. It took him 10 or 11 months to take Bakhmut to tactically insignificant city throwing everything they had at it.
The last thing they're going to do is expand it into the Baltics or against NATO. And so, yes, the best thing is to supply those arms and ammunitions to Ukraine, so they can defend their territory and their sovereignty.
VAUSE: Yes, and one thing is, what's happening is that, because this Ukrainian counter-offensive which, you know, had so much expectation, and it has stalled in the east, and it is sort of underperforming, if you like. There has been some progress in the south, though. That's where Ukraine's Foreign Minister says, having entrenched on the flanks of the village of Robotyne, we are opening the way to Tokmak and, eventually, Melitopol, and the administrative border with the Russian occupied Crimea.
How crucial could this moment be for the Ukrainians? Is this the moment where maybe, you know, that counter-offensive in the south at least starts gaining momentum? And how dependent upon is that on the Ukrainians being a whole being -- able to hold off the Russians in the east? Are they stretched too thin at the moment?
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, first of all, attacking a prepared defense. And as prepared as that defense is in the south and the east. Right? That's extremely challenging operation, probably the only two things harder is right amphibia (ph) assault or river crossing against contested territory.
So these are very complex operations that involve right synchronizing all the assets, right, armor engineers, artillery. And so it's a very challenging operation. I think there was unrealistic expectations based off of what Ukraine was able to do last fall, and people expected Ukraine, some people expected Ukraine to repeat that with this counter-offensive, which was just not realistic.
And so that's where they're at right now is, I mean, Ukraine did lose a lot of good fighters over the last year, and so did Russia. But it makes it that much harder conducted this really hard breaching all these obstacles. And so that -- they are related. They have to, right, have some success in the east to really hold down Russian forces, Russian assets there so that they can then penetrate, get a penetration in the south. And so that's really what we're seeing play out now.
And the question is, will they be able to achieve that penetration where they can really make some kind of success? Or is it going to stall out and they're going to have to wait and try again next year? VAUSE: And just very quickly, that gets us back to this question of F- 16 and long range missiles. How much easier would it be for the Ukrainians right now if they'd been armed with the latest technology and the stuff which they've been asking for?
COLLINS: Yes, without a doubt.
[01:20:00]
If we seen Ukraine throughout the war, right, the West has provided this rate incrementally fearful that Russia would escalate because there was, you know, constant rhetoric that they would, they never have with any point during the war when they said they were going to do that.
And so, yes, the smart play would be give Ukraine as much -- as much as they can, because then they would have it. If they would have had that all those assets at the beginning of the conflict, they would be in a much different position right now.
VAUSE: Yes, there's a good argument to be made here. Just let them go. Let them have at it and just, you know, bring this wrap this thing up sooner rather than later. Colonel, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate your time, sir.
COLLINS: Thank you.
VAUSE: This just into CNN from South Africa, according local media reports, at least 20 people have died, 43 injured and a fire still burning in a five storey building in Johannesburg early Thursday morning. Well, many have been treated on the scene. Some will be taken to hospital and other medical facilities. That's according to city officials. For now the cause of the fire remains unknown.
Still ahead, China's top homebuilder post a staggering loss warning it could default. The latest trouble in the housing market in China with a live report from Hong Kong, that's up at the moment with Kristie Lu Stout.
Also ahead, celebrations on the streets in Gabon, off of the middle of the stages a coup in the Central African country and arrest the president. Details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The U.K. has joined France, United States, United Nations and African Union's Peace and Security Council condemning Wednesday's military coup in the Central African nation of Gabon. But on the streets of the capital, there are celebrations.
The guy being carried on the shoulders of the crowd, that's the general who led the coup. He was later named the transitional leader of the country. Meantime, President Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled Gabon from all the 50 years is now under house arrest. CNN's David McKenzie has more now reporting in from Johannesburg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI BONGO ONDIMBA, GABON PRESIDENT: I'm Ali Bongo Odimba, President of Gabon. And I'm to send a message to all the friends that we have all over the world to tell them to make noise, to make noise.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It's an extraordinary appeal in English.
ONDIMBA: And my family --
MCKENZIE: Just hours ago, Ali Bongo seemed untouchable. Now he's under house arrest. Because of this, in this season of coups, group of army officers making a now familiar announcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime. The general elections on August 26 2023, as well as truncated results are canceled.
MCKENZIE: On the streets of Libreville, celebrations, shouts of liberation from some and has seen replayed over and over in recent months.
[01:25:06]
The coup leaders say that the just concluded polls were not transparent and said Bongo's leadership threatened, quote, chaos. International observers weren't allowed in and the internet was curtailed. From former colonist France a well-practiced response.
OLIVIER VERAN, FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON (through translator): France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon, and France is closely monitoring the evolution of the situation on the ground, and reiterates its desire to see the results of the election respected once it's known.
MCKENZIE: Gabon, the latest in a cascade of coups on the African continent, if solidified, it will be the eighth in Central and West Africa since just 2020. Most of them former French colonies, but each of them a different cocktail of power plays and discontent.
In Gabon, the citizens have lived under a dynastic regime for more than 50 years. Omar Bongo ruled for more than four decades, much of that time spent in France, a critical ally. The elder Bongo, members of his family and confidants were accused of eye watering corruption, often linked to OPEC member Gabon's significant oil wealth.
Ali Bongo took over from his father in 2009. He has been praised for conserving Gabon's vast forests and taking innovative steps to develop carbon credits to combat climate change. But he's faced growing discontent from many, with violence breaking out after disputed polls in 2016, and an attempted coup three years later.
But these scenes have wider consequences. Many fear that Gabon is not the last domino to fall. The African Union and international actors have failed to effectively counter recent military takeovers. And Bongo's fate in house arrest remains tenuous.
ONDIMBA: I'm calling you to make noise to make noise to make noise with me.
MCKENZIE: David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The Biden Administration has approved the first ever transfer of military aid to Taiwan through a program normally reserved for sovereign states. The package with $80 million is part of the State Department's Foreign Military Financing Program. The U.S. has sold weapons to Taiwan in the past, but through a different program. This one provides grants for assistance for future sales.
On the table a wide range of weapons and equipment including air and coastal defenses, missiles and cyber defenses and military training. It's likely take months or years before Taiwan sees any deliverables. The move almost certain to anger Beijing, which claims to self- governing island as its own territory in a row province.
With China's biggest homebuilder property Giant Country Garden has warned of possible default after reporting a $7 billion loss for the first six months of the year. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me live from Hong Kong with more on this.
And you know, the past couple years, we've seen what a couple dozen property developers default the biggest so far was ever grant that was challenged Country Garden for being top dog in the industry. Now comes Country Garden. This just seems reflective of the problems within that part of China's economy.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely extremely vulnerable and the potential ripple effects could be huge. I mean, keep in mind that the property sector in China accounts for some 30 percent of the country's GDP, as a Country Garden.
Just last year, it was China's largest residential developer. Now it is battling a liquidity crisis. On Wednesday it warned it could default on its vast debts as it reported a loss of $7 billion for the first half of the year. In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange., this is what Country Garden said, let's bring it up for you, said this quote, the company felt deeply remorseful for the unsatisfactory performance, unquote.
A Country Garden is saddled nearly $200 billion in liabilities. It is facing increasing pressure to pay off its debts. It says it was caught off guard by the depth and the persistence of China's ongoing property slump especially in the smaller Chinese cities.
For the past two years, China has been mired in this historic property slowdown it's resulted in as you can see uncompleted homes and apartment buildings. It's also resulted in unpaid suppliers and creditors and the slump is just deepening. New home sales fell more than 34 percent year on year in July, and Chinese officials have been scrambling to shore up the sector. They've introduced a series of measures to shore up the market.
In fact, just on Wednesday, yesterday, the Chinese mega city of Guangzhou relaxed mortgage rules for homebuyers but endless say this is not going to be enough.
[01:30:05]
It hasn't been enough because consumers in China are reluctant to buy new homes because of rising unemployment, and also because home prices continue to fall.
And with Country Garden now warning of default, some fear that this liquidity crisis in China in the property market could spread to China's wider economy, and even abroad.
Back to you, John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Kristie Lu Stout live for us as always in Hong Kong. We thank you for that. Good to see you.
Well, a date has now been set for an historic referendum vote in Australia. When we come back this hour, what the referendum will mean for the country's indigenous population, and what are the chances that it will actually be passed? Pretty slim right now, it seems.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.
I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
More now on our lead story. Idalia still packing a punch as it pushes across the Carolina coast bringing strong winds and heavy rain. Idalia has weakened to a tropical storm after slamming into Florida as a Category 3 hurricane early Wednesday, before moving across southern Georgia, and now the Carolinas.
In Charleston, South Carolina flooding has caused a number of roads across the city. Officials are urging people to stay indoors in the coming hours.
Idalia also unleashed heavy flooding across Florida's Gulf Coast, from Big Bend all the way down to the Tampa area.
U.S. President Joe Biden, has promised federal assistance for states hit hard by the hurricane and the storm, and says this latest natural disaster is just more evidence of the devastating impact of climate change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think anybody can deny the impact of a climate crisis anymore. Just look around. Historic floods -- and I mean, historic floods, more intense droughts, extreme heat, significant wildfires have caused significant damage like we have never seen before. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Meantime, Cuba is still cleaning up from Idalia. The west of the island was hit by heavy rain and hundreds of thousands lost electricity.
Our man in Cuba is Patrick Oppmann.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Idalia brought so much rain to this part of western Cuba that if I had been here during the height of the storm, residents say, I would've been completely underwater.
The floodwaters are now receding but you can see behind me that there are still some homes in the distance there that have been cut off by heavy, heavy rain that Idalia brought to this rural part of Cuba.
[01:34:59]
OPPMANN: Residents say that officials had to come in the middle of the storm, and rescue a lot of people from these homes. Dozens of people, they say, who were up on the roofs, who were in danger of being swept away by floodwaters.
Miraculously, they say no one was injured, no one lost their, although obviously there is damage to people's homes, people's properties.
That's always very tough to see, particularly in the part of Cuba where the people appear to have so little.
There is something of a silver lining though to this storm for Cuba and that is residents tell me that they haven't experienced a severe drought this summer. And so the heavy rain will actually help with that.
Idalia did not hit this part of Cuba as strongly as it is hitting Florida. It came in as a tropical storm, then gained strength and left as a Category 1 storm. And that is why we don't see as much damage here for the most part.
Trees have not been knocked down. Power lines, in some places power is being restored. Hundreds of thousands of people were without power. That is slowly being restored.
All the same though, people in this part of Cuba are used to hurricanes, it's part of life here. And they say that with months left to go in this hurricane season, they are not letting down their guard just yet.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN -- the town of Isabelle Rubio, Cuba.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: To the Mideast wow where a gun fight reportedly erupted last week between Palestinian Authority security forces, and militant fighters in the West Bank leaving at least one Palestinian man dead.
CNN's Hadas Gold has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a rare clash between Palestinian Authority security forces and militants in the West Bank. And it resulted in the first Palestinian to be killed by Palestinian Authority security forces this year.
And the reaction from the militant group has also been harsh. It highlights the widening gap between the official Palestinian institutions and the militant groups, which hold increasing sway and power especially in the northern part of the West Bank where this happened.
Now, violence has been surging across the occupied West Bank over the past year and a half with the Israeli government saying that the Palestinian Authority's lack of action compels the Israeli military, they say, to conduct regular raids across the West Bank to tamp down on militant activity.
So what happened was that a gun battle erupted in the town of Tulkarm after Palestinian Authority security forces say that their forces entered the refugee camp there to remove what they called hazardous materials and barriers including some that were near a school. And that they then came under fire from armed youths in the area.
A local journalist told CNN that the forces entered the camp to remove unarmed IEDs that were put in place to target Israeli forces if and when they were to enter the refugee camp.
Now, security forces say that they took quote, "necessary" measures to control the situation.
Now the man killed was identified as a 22-year-old Abdul Qader Zaqdah. His brother told CNN that he was an electrician and claimed that he was not associated with any militant groups.
But the militant groups have called this, like Hamas said, a crime against our people. And the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade which is associated with the Fatah party which is the dominant party in the Palestinian Authority, they accused the Palestinian Authority forces of assisting the Israelis and announced that official security forces from the Palestinian Authority were now, quote, "prohibited from entering" the Tulkarm refugee camp.
The militants also warned that the Palestinian security forces would be treated, quote, "like the occupation", meaning, the Israeli forces, if they came into the camp.
Hadas Gold, CNN -- Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Texas authorities say they now know what caused the death of an eight-year-old Honduran girl while in U.S. immigration custody.
Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez fell ill days after she and her family were detained. The county justice of the peace now says she died from sepsis brought on by a bacterial affection complicated by her sickle cell anemia.
But it is what happened as she became sicker and sicker that has her parents in disbelief and it's truly tragic.
CNN's Rosa Flores has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eight-year-old Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez loved pink, hugs and hearts.
What dreams did Anadith have?
She wanted to be a doctor?
But her dreams were cut short. She died in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody this spring.
ROSELLE REYES, ANADITH'S MOTHER: They killed her little by little.
MANUEL ALVAREZ, ANADITH'S FATHER: They should have called an ambulance. They should have taken her to the hospital. They didn't do any of that.
FLORES: Her Honduran parents, Manuel Alvarez, and Roselle Reyes (ph) say they migrated to the U.S. for their family's safety and say their daughter had sickle cell anemia and a heart condition.
She was running around, she was happy?
She was fine when they entered immigration custody in south Texas on May 9th. Their nightmare started a few days later when they say Anadith was diagnosed with the flu.
She says that they were all transferred, immediately to another location, a border patrol station.
[01:39:59]
FLORES: In Harlingen, Texas where they say they were kept in cold jail cells, and given old sleeping pads and mylar blankets to sleep on the floor.
So it was there that she says that her daughter started feeling sick.
That's when you started asking for medical attention for your daughter.
These parents say, their daughter developed a fever and started vomiting. According to CBP, the agency investigating the death, between May 14th and May 17th, Anadith saw contracted medical personnel nine times and was prescribed Tamiflu, ice packs, fever- reducing medications, and a cold shower.
But her parents say their daughter needed hospital level care.
She would have to lose consciousness for them to call an ambulance. What crossed through your mind?
She says she felt helpless.
On May 17th, eight days into their immigration detention, and the day their daughter died, CBP says a nurse practitioner reported denying three or four requests for an ambulance to be called or for Anadith to be taken to the hospital.
Anadith's parents say, one of the pleas came directly from their daughter.
She says that her daughter told border patrol I can't breathe, I can't breathe from my nose, I can't breathe for my mouth.
What did you think at that point?
She says she felt devastated and did the only thing she could do. Carry her daughter in her arms and ask for help again.
She says that she was told go back to your cell, take your daughter back to your cell, give her electrolytes, and everything is fine.
Anadith's dad said he knew the end was near when his daughter locked eyes with him.
ALVAREZ: She gave me her last look.
FLORES: And he saw the life in her eyes go out.
ALVAREZ: When my daughter saw me she just did this.
Dad they killed me, is what she made me understand.
FLORES: And it was then that they asked for an ambulance?
REYES: Why didn't they seek help before? 20 minutes before, one day before. Why?
FLORES: After the ambulance arrived, they say all they wanted was a little compassion, but that was denied as well.
They didn't let you go in the ambulance with your daughter? How did you go to the hospital?
You were in a border patrol van. You couldn't see the medical attention that they we're providing to her?
These parents say they felt humiliated and discriminated against throughout the entire process.
According to CBP, Anadith died at the hospital, but her parents believe, Anadith she died inside the jail-like border patrol station.
You think your daughter died in your arms?
ALVAREZ: Yes, that's what happened.
FLORES: A Harlingen Fire Department incident report obtained by CNN stated Anadith was unconscious and unresponsive when paramedics arrived.
Anadith's casket was covered with ribbons, roses and balloons in her favorite color. And while these parents say they forgive those who didn't save their daughter, they cannot forget.
REYES: When I see children playing, I remember my daughter.
FLORESD: Everything reminds them of their little piece of joy taken too soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A federal court appointed monitor recently determined that Anadith's death was preventable, and resulted from a series of failures at the CBP.
We asked the agency about that and about the conditions the family described. CBP did not respond on the conditions, but Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said Anadith's death is upsetting and an unacceptable tragedy. They said the agency has taken steps to address deficiencies identified by the ongoing investigation.
Meantime, her family's attorney says, they are now in immigration removal proceedings and they could be deported. The next immigration court date is in a few weeks.
We have an update now on a story that we are following this hour on a deadly fire in Johannesburg on a five-story building.
State broadcaster has raised the death toll to 38. Dozens have been injured. Firefighters remain on the scene, still working to bring that blaze under control.
With that we'll be right back in a moment.
[01:44:32]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Today on "Call to Earth", CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir introduces us to one of the most impressive conservation efforts in the Americas. An innovative project focused on the preservation of rare and captivating animals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: In one particular corner of one particular country, there lives a creature that exists nowhere else on earth.
This is Colombia. And word is their unique species is adorable, and elusive and critically endangered -- a combination that can frustrate, when trying to spot one.
But trudging through a forest, hot as a sauna, our odds are better than average thanks to people who know them really well.
ROSAMIRA GUILLEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FUNDACION PROYECTO TITI: They love the nectar of the flowers. They stick their hair, you know, their hair like this, the flower like that, and their facial hair.
WEIR: Rosamira Guillen started her career as a landscape architect, but when she was hired to help build a zoo, she met the animal that would change her life.
And there -- the cotton top tamarin, a little monkey with a look right out of Dr. Seuss and an equally cute local nickname, the titi.
I can see why you fell in love with this little guy.
GUILLEN: Yes. How can you not?
WEIR: When she learned that the illegal pet trade, and slash and burn cattle ranching had driven them to the brink of extinction, her architect mind shifted from building zoos to rebuilding forests which is much more difficult than just dropping seeds and soil.
GUILLEN: It might take a day to cut a hectare of forest, but to rebuild it takes about 20 years.
WEIR: Her effort is called Project Titi and over two decades, she's learned that rewilding takes sweat, smarts and human relations. Because in order to connect the Titi's fragmented habitat, she would need land and the cooperation of ranchers who do not share her love for these monkeys.
Is it harder working with nature or human nature?
GUILLEN: Definitely human nature. I would be happy to just hang out with the monkeys and in the forest.
Our goal is to get to a certain point, that there is enough for them to be stable and make it in the long term, right.
Our fear is that, you know, you always fear that you don't get enough support to keep going.
WEIR: She was worried she would never have the resources to buy a pivotal piece of land but then came an angel investor from Silicon Valley.
CHRIS VARGAS, FOUNDER, REWORLD: Steve Jobs and Jane Goodall all wrapped into one. Entrepreneurial, smart, dedicated to saving our planet. I said look, if there's one thing I want to do before I die, it's help this woman do what she does, which is incredible. WEIR: Chris Vargas has been a supporter for almost 20 years and when
he heard Rosamira wanted to buy an old cattle ranch in a vital spot, he came up with an innovative form of crowd-funded conservation he calls ReWorld.
VARGAS: I said, why don't we just build a Web site and built a technology that lets anybody in the world click on a map, pick an acre, pick 10 acres, pick 50 acres and get all that feedback, exactly what happened with your money.
[01:49:59]
WEIR: With a onetime donation of around $1,200, he says, one acre can be secured for the titis forever.
VARGAS: And every year, we'll give you some satellite shots that show your land being reforested, and the trees growing so you know what you did worked. So when you buy land for her, you're giving her the chance to get carbon credit income for the next 40 years which will fund staff, trucks, fuel, educational programs for kids.
WEIR: This is for my son River and my daughter Olivia. This tree is for you.
GUILLEN: While saved this beautiful forest for them (INAUDIBLE) for many other animals, you know. All biodiversity.
WEIR: And a livable planet for us.
GUILLEN: And a livable planet for us, exactly because we get water, we get air, we get lots of resources. And that is why we focus so much on connecting people with nature to appreciate it and care for it, and want to do something about it.
With a little help, we can make it because we've got the experience. We've done it, and it works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Great idea. Let us know what you're doing to answer the call, #CallToEarth.
More CNN NEWSROOM, in a moment. See you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Hurricane Idalia's powerful winds, the heavy rain, lightning, thunder and tornadoes, the storm created one more rare weather event. What's known as St. Elmo's Fire.
This is the view from the cockpit of a military plane evacuating MacDill Airport Base in Florida.
It looks like purple lightning, but actually it is luminous plasma created as a result of friction inside a storm cloud. Sailors have reported seeing it for hundreds of years, so it is named
after the St. Elmo, the patron saint of sailors. (INAUDIBLE) but it often means that lightning is on its way.
Australia will hold an historic referendum in just over six weeks when voters will decide if the nation's aboriginal Australia's great (ph) indigenous population should be officially recognized in the Constitution.
Part of the referendum includes the establishment of a committee to advice parliament on laws and measures which impact aboriginal Australians.
Olivia Caisley has more now reporting in from Sky News Australia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Referendum day will be the 14th of October.
OLIVIA CAISLEY, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA: A jump start to the referendum campaign in Adelaide, the place of the red kangaroo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's funny that the kangaroo never goes backwards, only forward.
CAISLEY: Australians will soon decide whether to take the constitutional leap and recognize indigenous Australians in the nation's birth certificate and establish a voice advisory body.
ALBANESE: A once in a generation chance to bring our country together and to change it for the better. No more waste, better results where they are needed.
CAISLEY: The Yes campaign mobilizing an army of over 30,000 volunteers driven by guest appearances from across the political divide including the Green's leader and former Labor leader Bill Shorten side by side in Melbourne.
Albanese' government ministers (INAUDIBLE) together on Perth's popular Cottesloe Beach. And senators from across the aisle are massing together in the nation's capital.
[01:54:58]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it will save us the money, to be honest.
CAISLEY: Setting up a David and Goliath battle between the yes and no camps.
WARREN MUNDINE, VOICE NO CAMPAIGNER: It is Albo. He's the one who started this and if he thinks that the vote is the answer to fixing everything is magic wand.
JACINTA PRICE, AUSTRALIAN SENATOR AND NO CAMPAIGNER: To suggest that we have not had a voice is completely and utterly misleading. PETER DUTTON, AUSTRALIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: He says that all of the
detail would be provided after the vote takes place. If you don't know vote no because this is the biggest change to our Constitution in our country's history.
CAISLEY: The yes campaign has won over one-time voice opponent, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
MALCOLM TURNBULL, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: An assembly of the kind that is proposed -- was proposed would be in effect a third chamber of parliament.
ALBANESE: I've reflected very long and hard over it. It will not be a third chamber of parliament. But it will have enormous influence. We shouldn't kid ourselves.
CAISLEY: Yes campaigners hope their voices will be the loudest. But they'll have to shout louder, according to the latest polls. To succeed, they have to convince the majority of Australians as well as least four of the six states. With New South Wales and Victoria leaning towards yes Queensland and WA leaning towards no, Tasmania and South Australia are shaping up to be the key battlegrounds.
PETER MALINAUSKAS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA PREMIER: If our great-grandparents can say yes to ways of migration, if our grandparents can say yes in 1967, then this generation is capable of saying yes to an advisory committee.
KATY GALLAGHER, AUSTRALIAN FINANCE MINISTER: Canberra's important. We are not a state So, obviously, we don't count on that test.
CAISLEY: The prime minister insists this is a once in a generation opportunity for voters which should not be wasted.
ALBANESE: And don't close the door on the next generation of indigenous Australians. Vote yes.
CAISLEY: Olivia Caisley, Sky News -- Canberra.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: They sure know how to throw a party in the Spanish town of Bunol. Nearly 20,000 people took part in the annual Tomatina Festival on Wednesday. Yes, it's all about throwing tomatoes at each other. The world's messiest food fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I loved it. My favorite part was watching my sister pick up tomatoes and throw them all over everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think sliding down the streets with -- filled with tomatoes and going like 30 feet in, it was very, very fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not a disappointment. It was so amazing. It was the biggest food fight in the world ever and it lived up to it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You do what you've got to do. The mayor said over 2,000 more participating this year compared with last year. What a lot of fun.
Thank you for watching.
I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues after a very short break with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church.
See you back her tomorrow.
[01:57:48]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
