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U.S. Warns North Korea It Will Pay A Price For Any Arms Deal It Tries To Strike With Russia; More Flooding Expected Right Across Greece; Billions Of Dollars Pledged For Clean Energy At The Africa Climate Summit; Ukraine Continues Its Push Along The Southern Front Around The Village Of Robotyne In Zaporizhzhia. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 06, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And a warm welcome to everyone. Glad you could be with us. I'm Paula Newton in New York, ahead right here on CNN Newsroom. The U.S. is warning North Korea it will pay a price for any arms deal it tries to strike with Russia, as intelligence suggests Kim Jong-un is preparing to travel to Russia. More flooding is expected right across Greece after several months' worth of rain fell in a single day. And billions of dollars are pledged for clean energy at the Africa Climate Summit.

So, concerns are growing about North Korea's Kim Jong-un possibly traveling to Russia to seal a weapons deal with President Vladimir Putin. The White House National Security Advisor warned Tuesday that the talks between these two pariahs are quote, "actively advancing". And he said Russia seeking arms from North Korea for the Russian war in Ukraine means sanctions are working. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We have continued to squeeze Russia's defense industrial base, and they are now going about looking to whatever source they can find for things like artillery ammunition. That's what we see going on now, and we will continue to call it out, and we will continue to call on North Korea to abide by its public commitments not to supply weapons to Russia that will end up killing Ukrainians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, South Korea's intelligence service says it's also monitoring the possibility of a Kim Jong-un visit to Russia which would be his first since 2019. The Kremlin, when asked about this on Tuesday refused further comment. Two other U.S. officials say the North is seeking technology from Russia that could advance its satellite and nuclear-powered submarine capabilities. Now, if and when Kim Jong-un visits Russia, he'll likely head there on his armored green train. CNN's Will Ripley explains why that's the reclusive leader's preferred mode of travel. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Inside North Korea, one of the most secretive places on the planet, a carefully guarded state secret, is leader Kim Jong-un's actual location. Major events are often used as decoys. Crowds can wait for hours, enduring long security lines, only to find the leader's seat empty.

Even Kim's own bodyguards can serve as decoys, best known for donning dark suits, running alongside the leader's limo during the Trump-Kim summits, projecting power and security, riding an armor-reinforced railcar to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, a fellow strongman seen by some as a global pariah.

Putin and Kim come with plenty of baggage, both saddled with heavy sanctions. For Kim's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, for Putin's brutal, unprovoked war on Ukraine, and suspiciously timed plane crash, taking out his one-time critic.

Now, the Russian leader may meet another shadowy figure, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Kim may not have a reason to fear Putin, but he still does not take any chances when he travels outside North Korea. U.S. government sources believe Kim Jong-un will go to Russia this month as Moscow looks to buy artillery and other wartime supplies from its impoverished authoritarian neighbor.

CNN contacted the Russian embassy in Washington for comment. North Korea denied previously supplying Russia with rockets and missiles to use in Ukraine. In July, Putin's defense minister Sergei Shoigu was in Pyongyang as Kim showed off his latest weapons, long-range missiles and military drones. Shoigu said Russia may even be staging joint military drills with the North. National Security Advisor John Kirby says Putin must be embarrassed asking Kim for help.

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: He's going to North Korea to try to get artillery shells and the basic materials so that he can continue to shore up his defense industrial base. There is no other way to look at that than desperation and weakness, quite frankly. T

RIPLEY: The North Korean leader has a lot to gain.

UNKNOWN: A large power is now dependent on him. That hasn't happened in a while.

RIPLEY: Kim may be willing to roll the dice, risking travel outside his borders, reducing the risk on a slow-moving, heavily fortified train. A shade of army green on the outside, luxuriously appointed on the inside. The train is a symbol of three generations of the Kim family dynasty and a nation stuck in the past. The need to travel over land means the meeting would likely be in Russia's far east, Vladivostok.

[03:05:00]

Kim has taken his chugging locomotive to Vladivostok before, meeting with Putin there in 2019. This time, Kim may hope Russia will help him with oil supplies or even technology to use in its own ambitious ballistic missile program, goals perhaps worthy of a rare venture beyond his nation's hermetically sealed borders.

Only once has Kim boarded a flight overseas. He borrowed an Air China jet from Beijing to get to his first Singapore meeting with Donald Trump. So much has changed since those bygone days of U.S.-North Korea diplomacy. Now, Russia is ready to make a deal, making Kim perhaps the most powerful North Korean leader ever. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Ukrainian military officials say air defenses shot down several Russian missiles over Kyiv Wednesday morning. Some were cruise missiles and others were presumed ballistic missiles. There have been no reported injuries or deaths. So, some of the missile fragments set fires in the city.

On the battlefield meantime, Ukraine is continuing its push along the southern front around the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia. Whatever gains they make though are fluid. Russian forces are putting up what Ukraine calls a very tough fight along their first lines of defense. Both sides, in fact, are bombarding each other with artillery and drones. Russia's defense minister says Ukraine will win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The Kyiv regime, despite colossal losses, has been trying to conduct its so-called counteroffensive for three months. Ukraine's armed forces have not achieved their goals on any front. The Ukrainian leadership is desperately trying to show its Western overlords at least some kind of success to get further military and economic aid, which will only make the conflict last longer.

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NEWTON: Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from London with the latest developments. We have seen gains, some gains in the counter offensive, and we're also seeing that hardware donated by allies starting to make a difference on the battlefield.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Paula. We actually have some social media video to show you that I just want to pull up here that shows a U.K. Challenger-2 tank near this all-important village over Robotyne where Ukraine is claiming a victory, a moderate victory but still a victory that's allowed it to punch through the first line of Russia's defenses to the south of Zaporizhzhia.

Now, that tank has been partially destroyed in the fighting. And according to a source speaking on background to CNN, the crew of that tank were able to survive the initial attack on it. The source adding that that's a demonstration testament to the superiority of the NATO equipment being provided to Ukraine versus the Soviet-era equipment that they were reliant on before.

A couple of things, of course, to take away from this video. First of all, as you said, that NATO equipment is being used in the most important battles all along those very long front lines. But you also have to remember that Ukraine has time and time again accused Russia of intentionally targeting Western equipment and this is extremely valuable equipment, Paula.

Yes, President Zelenskyy has been grateful for all the tanks that have arrived, for all the help that has arrived, but he's always said, I need more and more and more. So, the loss of a tank, the loss of any equipment on those front lines is significant as well to Ukraine. I do have another piece of footage to show you that paints sort of the opposite story, if you will, for Russia. This is a satellite imagery of two strategic bombers inside Russia. And what you're looking at are tires laid on top of those strategic bombers. Why? Why tires on top of the bombers?

Well, officials say and analysts say that this is a very rudimentary, very token attempt by Russia to conceal these planes from Ukrainian drones and reduce the visibility of them at night. Again, I emphasize very rudimentary attempt. It's unclear if putting these tires on top of the planes will really make any impact at all but it does remind us of something we've seen throughout this conflict, Paula, which is that Russia has maintained an air superiority. It absolutely has the power of the skies. This may begin to show that there are holes in that all- important advantage.

Newton: Yeah, and drones have definitely made the difference in that advantage to be sure. And Salma, before I let you go, there's quite an extraordinary story coming from Cuba about the allegations that there is a human trafficking network with Cubans being forced to fight for Russia?

ABDELAZIZ: Yes, so on the surface a very strange story, but Cuba's foreign ministry releasing a report saying, indicating that Cubans both inside Russia and potentially a small number of Cubans in Cuba were being recruited to fight for Russia.

[03:10:00]

Of course, this report has surfaced at a time that we are seeing Moscow's military struggle for manpower, trying to find people, manpower on the ground to continue to fight on those front lines. It comes, of course, after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group that had been so critical to fighting on the ground. And it is unclear what their role will continue to be in the Ukraine conflict.

It shows potentially, Paula, a sign of desperation, a sign of just how far Russia is willing to reach if this report is indeed true trafficking Cubans again to provide that manpower on the ground. And just a reminder of the loss -- the human loss, the number of men that are going home in body bags in Russia because of this invasion.

NEWTON: Yeah and it's certainly a story we'll continue to follow definitely as the Cuban government itself had released information on it. Salma Abdelaziz for us, thanks. Thank you, appreciate it. Now, the Pentagon says it's notified Russia of an inter-continental ballistic missile test, the test of "The Unmanned Minuteman III" was planned years ago and was scheduled to launch sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. U.S. officials described it as a routine test of a key part of the nuclear triad, which includes ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines, and strategic bombers.

Greece has been hit by yet another extreme weather event. Torrential rains and deadly flooding have swept the country over the past few days. The flooding has washed away cars, damaged buildings, and forced evacuations from homes and at least one hospital.

Now, the storm named Daniel is blamed for at least one death, a man who was crushed by a collapsing wall. All of this comes just as crews have finally managed to contain hundreds of raging wildfires which have devastated parts of the country for weeks now. Daniel has led to red storm warnings across several provinces, especially along the eastern coast.

One Greek official calls this the most extreme rainfall within 24 hours since record keeping began in that country. CNN's Katie Polglase joins me now from London with more on all this. I mean, I'm practically breathless with everything we've had to cover from Greece, just the weather. Certainly, the stats are quite frightening, and this weather system is set to continue, apparently.

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER: Yeah, that's right, Paula. It has been really an incredibly difficult summer and now fall for Greece. The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsakis has described this as an extreme weather phenomenon. And that really doesn't even do it justice. It seems absolutely devastating, the videos we're seeing of these floods, this torrential downpour of rain falling over Greece. And this is because it is an area of low pressure that is circling over Greece moving into the Mediterranean that is causing this rainfall.

Now, it's called Storm Daniel, as you mentioned, by meteorologists. And the fear here is that it develops into what's called a medicane, med meaning Mediterranean Sea, cane meaning hurricane. And that is because it could have the characteristics of a hurricane, similar to a tropical cyclone, similar to a typhoon, this extreme weather, these extreme kinds of rain pouring down and causing devastating floods, similar to the kind of hurricane we've seen in Idalia in the states and the typhoon crossing from China and Taiwan recently in the past few days.

These extreme weather phenomena are happening with increasing regularity clearly globally, but Greece in particular has had it particularly bad hit. And it's worth noting that this comes, just as you mentioned, straight after these wildfires. And that is no coincidence. These wildfires have raised to the ground areas that normally would protect areas from certain types of water falling at this speed and this extent.

So, you have water coming down from the mountains being normally protected by trees surely and by buildings. All of this has been burnt to the ground. These are the exact same areas that were devastated by these wildfires. Dozens of people killed and now as we're reporting, unfortunately, some fatalities from this flooding, as well.

And it's worth noting that as this is going into the Mediterranean, as this is building into what is feared to be this tropical cyclone, this medicane, it has also worsened, potentially strengthened in its power because of the sea surface temperature.

So, the sea surface temperature in the Mediterranean Sea is about 27 degrees Celsius. That's about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And as the weather builds, as the storm builds, this heat is potentially going to give it some more strength. So, a lot more damage potentially to come.

NEWTON: Yeah, as we continue to see the satellite images there of this storm, we'll wait the next 24 hours, as hopefully it does break up and dissipate. Katie Polglase for us. Thanks so much, appreciate it. Now, that same weather system we were just talking about that was hitting Greece is also causing flooding in northwestern Turkey. At least two people have been killed there, four others are missing, and six have been rescued. Military vehicles and a helicopter have been searching wooded areas after 12 people were said to be stranded in that flooding.

[03:15:00]

Bill Weir is CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent. He's done extensive reporting for us throughout the Maui wildfires, recently in Florida as Hurricane Idalia roared ashore, and unfortunately, Bill, so many other places that you've been documenting this for us for years, really now. But obviously it's been so pronounced in the last few months, in the last few hours. I mean, Bill, just look at Greece, right?

First, it just sums it up. First, we had ferocious fires that just whipped through neighborhoods and countryside and then split-screened to the epic flooding just a few days later. I mean, how do you describe exactly, you know, the upheaval in the world right now?

BILL WEIR, CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It's a different planet, Paula, than the one we grew up on. It's a different water cycle now. This is what science warned us would happen. If we sort of broke out of that Goldilocks sweet spot temperature, then all of human civilization evolved in. And yes, it's that whipsaw, whiplash, from extreme droughts there in Greece to now, you know, a year's or months' worth of rain on those burn scars, where that water has no chance to inundate the soil at all and it just adds insult to injury and we've seen that again and again on three or four continents.

NEWTON: Yeah, I mean again we're just looking at Greece in the last few days. You know you walked the devastation in Hawaii that was what you covered most recently -- MAUI. They're now thinking about rebuilding, they're being resilient, that's what you have to do. But what does that look like? And just following up on something you had said earlier, I mean, you argue that many homes now are perhaps even uninsurable. Not that's just not in the United States, it's all over the world because of these weather events. When we talk about that tipping point, does that mean we will be building differently and perhaps in different places? WEIR: It has to mean that. It really does. Adaptation is the only

choice in a lot of ways. There's still mitigations stopping the source of the problem, getting off fossil fuels as fast as possible. But yes, five major insurance companies, the United States just reported to regulators that they're going to stop offering coverage for the most common disasters in these areas.

So, if you're in California, they won't cover you for fire. In Florida, for wind or hail, hurricane damage. And when suddenly, you have take all the risk of living in your version of paradise, that changes everything. It's impossible to get a mortgage that affects real estate values, and those tax bases pay for teachers and policemen. So, it's almost an economic dust bowl that comes before sea level rises lapping up on Miami Beach, for example. The financial way is how most people are going to feel this, even if they don't taste the brunt of a storm made bigger by natural by climate change.

NEWTON: And yet, even with the evidence literally just right under our feet, people are still, in some way, shape or form, in denial about this. I mean, when we look at the Burning Man Festival we just had in Nevada, that went from a dust pole to, you know, basically -- rivers of mud, we had flooding in Vegas, we had all of that water in California earlier this year. Do you worry that these snapshots, these data points will give climate deniers, especially those with corporate interests, a little bit of ammunition?

WEIR: Well, I think denial is always going to be a good business for certain special interests. You know, the Saudi Aramcos and the Exxon Mobiles of the world, they're reaching their highest profits ever. They're enjoying the biggest subsidies ever. And people who are sort of upset about the climate crisis don't pick at gas stations. It's sort of those fuels are just entrenched in our lives deeply, right?

And so, the question is, how long does that social license last? How bad does it have to get before the C-suites of these influential big polluters change their ways? But in the United States, for example, a Pew poll recently said just over half of Americans think that climate change is a threat to the country, but it's so partisan. It's 76 percent of Democrats, 23 percent of Republicans. So, denial is still a plank in a major parties platform in the Western world at a time when science is telling us everybody needs to be sort of decarbonizing and rowing in the same direction. There is huge progress. I see it every day. I see breakthroughs and surges in going the right way for a cleaner future, but not nearly fast enough. It's just a question of, you know, this could be solved by human ingenuity. It's just a question of whether it happens in time.

[03:20:00]

NEWTON: And our thanks there to CNN's Bill Weir. Still to come for us, a meeting in Riyadh as the U.S. continues efforts to push for Israel-Saudi normalization. Those details just ahead. Plus, here's something you really don't see every day. Trust me, flamingos turning up in Florida and other parts of the United States. How the warm weather burns, got so far north. That's still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: The U.S. official tells CNN two top Biden administration officials are set to meet in the coming hours with Saudi officials in Riyadh. Now, that's as U.S. works to push for a possible normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. One sticking point, Israel's tumultuous relationship with Palestinians. According to "The New York Times", the meetings in Riyadh will come a day after Palestinian officials reportedly visited Saudi Arabia to discuss their demands from the Israelis if Saudi Arabia and Israel move forward with any agreement.

Meantime inside Israel, a rise in crime is rattling the country's Arab community, with dozens of Arab citizens killed so far this year in violence mostly attributed to organized crime. But families of the victims say their cases just aren't getting the attention that they deserve. CNN's Hadas Gold takes a closer look.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A mother's anguish, her grief still fresh. Enough, she cries. We want to live in peace and quiet. We want to find who is behind all of these. Why, why, why kill these kids? Sajida Abu Saleh's son Ali was murdered just last week, a year out from a stint in prison. An Arab citizen of Israel, he's one of the latest victims in an alarming crime wave that's rocking the Arab community across the country.

At a recent protest in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, thousands turned out to call for equal justice. Arabs make up around 20 percent of Israeli citizens. Many speak fluent Hebrew and also identify as Palestinian. But they say Israeli authorities are not treating their cases the same as Jewish ones.

Dashida (ph) says she blames the police, the government and the law. Her son was set to be married soon. When I asked her whether the police have made any progress on the case, she says not yet and stops, overcome by emotion. These coffins represent the more than 160 Arab Israeli citizens of Israel who have been killed thus far this year. These numbers far eclipsed previous years for the same period and these coffins, many of them have messages saying what their victims were doing when they were killed.

Some of them say I was out getting a pizza. I was studying for my university exams. And these citizens, they say that this government is not doing enough to protect them. In addition to targeted killings, innocent civilians, including children, have been caught in the crossfire.

[03:25:00]

Badia Echnefis' (ph) daughter Johara (ph) was an anti-violence and women's rights activist, killed last year when a bomb exploded under her car. Her mother, who identifies as an Arab-Jews Israeli citizen, said the police have made no progress. "I feel like a neglected stranger in a completely neglected dictatorial country," she says. I don't have a sense of belonging." Reasons behind the violence include gang warfare, loan sharking, an

influx of guns, and activists say a vacuum in the Israeli policing of Arab communities and fear of cooperating with police investigations. Israel police declined our request for an interview.

Arab Israeli politicians like Ahmad Tibi (ph) say far-right ministers are to blame, especially Minister of National Security Itamar Ben- Gvir, himself once convicted of anti-Arab racism.

ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY: This man who is a convict and a terrorist according to the Israeli court is leading the police, fighting the police, the police fighting him. The cost of this failure is a lot of bloodshed in our streets, in our community.

GOLD: In the early 2000s, Israel successfully fought a crime wave spurred by organized criminal Jewish gangs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they'll do the same with the Arab community.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will use all means, including the Shin Bet, including the police, all means to defeat this crime. We eliminated organized crime in Jewish society in Israel. We will eliminate organized crime in Arab society in Israel.

GOLD: If they don't, these citizens argue, their anguish will ricochet back into the Jewish community's backyard, and these coffins will be theirs to carry. Hadas Gold, CNN, Haifa, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Kenya is facing a surge in malaria cases. Coming up, why scientists in the country believe it could be the result of global warming.

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[03:30:00]

NEWTON: The U.K. is set to classify the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, as a terrorist organization. Britain's Home Office, as a draft order, has been put before Parliament and would take effect about a week from today. Now, once it's passed, Wagner assets could be seized as terrorist property and anyone who joins or supports Wagner could face up to 14 years in prison. And in the past, the U.K. has classified Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah as terrorist groups.

The G20 summit is set to begin in a few days in New Delhi, minus some important world leaders. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are sending other officials in their place, a matter the Indian Minister of External Affairs is trying to downplay. He tells ANI News that leaders have, for whatever reason, chosen not to come themselves and send representatives instead. He says, quote, "I think everybody is coming with a great deal of seriousness."

Billions of dollars have been pledged, meantime for sustainable development on day two of the Africa Climate Summit. Now, the United Arab Emirates pledged more than four billion to support clean energy products on that continent, while the U.S. committed to an additional $30 million for supporting climate resilience and food security efforts. Meantime, Kenya's president says Africa can play a key role in decarbonizing the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Using the enormous resources we have, and I dare say 60 percent of the world's renewable solar resources are in Africa. And we want to use these resources to power our own growth. in a responsible manner that we are not using fossil fuels, we are using renewable energy. And we want to do it not just for Africa, we also want to use these renewable energy resources to decarbonize the world economy and the world development and the world industrialization and manufacturing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: The summit, which opened on Monday, is focused on mobilizing financing for the continent's response to climate change. Meantime, as temperatures get ever warmer in Kenya, officials there are seeing an alarming rise in malaria cases. Scientists say there may be a link between the two, and children are especially susceptible to the disease. CNN's Larry Madowo explains what's being done to mitigate those risks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary and both her sons are in hospital for malaria. Four-year-old Mark says he's doing better, and so is his big brother, Joseph, who's 12. They keep getting malaria, Mary says, and she can barely afford the treatment.

MARY ACHIENG, MALARIA PATIENT (through translator): Malaria has hit my family hard. In a month, I use about $35 on drugs, and the following month, one of them falls sick again.

MADOWO (voice-over): Mary lives in Western Kenya, a hot region where residents have an especially high risk of malaria. More than 10,000 people die each year from the mosquito-borne disease in this East African nation, but kids are especially vulnerable. Researchers are collecting mosquitoes here to study how they're evolving. Rising temperatures let them grow faster and live longer. Why do you come to collect mosquitoes here specifically?

KWOBA CELESTINE, KEMRI RESEARCH PARTNER: They are -- mosquito densities here are very high.

MADOWO: They're tracking the full life cycle of mosquitoes to get ahead of this tiny insect before it does even more damage. This is a typical high malaria zone. It's hot and humid, swampy, those are rice growing fields back there, a lot of water right next to where people live. But as temperatures warm across the board, scientists are concerned about malaria-causing mosquitoes breeding in new places.

DAMARIS MATOKE-MUHIA, PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, KEMRI: Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on earth.

MADOWO (voice-over): Damaris Matoke-Mohir has made it her life's work to neutralize the insect that causes malaria, the female Anopheles mosquito, after her brother died of the disease. Her team of scientists at Kenya's largest research institute is studying mosquito samples from around the country to guide Kenya's response to malaria and how to beat it. Are we any close to eradicating malaria?

MATOKE-MUHIA: We were but with the change of now climate, we're seeing more mosquitoes than they were before. We're seeing new species. We are seeing it going to places where we didn't expect before. Then we are taken back to zero.

MADOWO (voice-over): Climate change is helping mosquitoes responsible for transmitting malaria reach colder parts of the continent, scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center found, drawing on data going back 120 years. But heat is also helping mosquitoes live longer and to become infectious sooner, worrying public health officials. Are you concerned about a resurgence of malaria in your work across the continent?

GITAHI GITHINJI, GROUP CEO, AMREF HEALTH AFRICA: We are concerned that the child seemed to eliminate malaria and now malaria, and we are seeing that, actually, the public health system is not prepared for this resurgence.

[03:35:00]

MADOWO (voice-over): Malaria is having devastating effects on more people suffering from serious cases. Steve Ngugi says he was sick for nearly three months. Your malaria was very serious.

STEVE NGUGI, MALARIA SURVIVOR: Very, very serious.

MADOWO: Were you afraid you could die?

NGUGI: Of course, yes, because by the time I reached the hospital, I couldn't even manage to move my head.

MADOWO (voice-over): Ninety-six percent of people who die from malaria are in Africa, the World Health Organization says. As the continent warms faster than the rest of the world, malaria persists, and experts warn it risks spreading into a global threat.

RICHARD MUNANG, CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAM COORDINATOR, UNEP AFRICA: What is happening in Africa, we would rarely see elsewhere because with the warmer climate, with the changing temperatures, malaria mosquitos are migrating to other areas that are conducive for them. Malaria will displace people. They will migrate to other areas within the continent and out of the continent.

MADOWO (voice-over): Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: So, Hurricane Idalia brought more than just rain and wind to the southeastern U.S. Flamingos are now turning up in a number of states as the result of that storm. One expert believes the birds may have been flying between Cuba and the Yucatan when they were diverted by that storm.

Now, a boat captain spotted more than a dozen flamingos walking along the beach near St. Petersburg in Florida. And a Kentucky woman spotted this flamingo. I mean, look at that. In her neighborhood lake on Monday, flamingos are in fact native to the Caribbean and other warm climates, and that does include Florida, but they basically went extinct there by the early 1900s because people hunted them for their feathers. One rescuer is urging people to enjoy the bird's presence but says to give them space because they've been through a lot. Indeed, they have.

A landmark moment for women's soccer in Spain as the team appoints its first female coach. Why her predecessor was fired. That's ahead.

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NEWTON: The former head coach of Spain's women's national soccer team calls his firing unfair and unexpected. Jorge Vilda says he believes the complaints about the team's management did not include him. Still, Vilda says he has congratulated Montse Tome on being appointed the first woman head coach of the women's team. We get more now from CNN's Patrick Snell.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, on Tuesday, we learned that Jorge Vilda has been sacked from his role as head coach of Spain's women's team. This amid the ongoing fallout over that unwanted kiss, the now suspended president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, gave a play in the aftermath of the Women's World Cup final. Vilda was the manager who led La Roja to their first ever World Cup triumph recently in Australia. He's gone now and been replaced by former assistant Montse Tome. More on her historic appointment in just a few moments.

[03:40:00]

Now, despite Spain's success last month, Vilda's tenure as head coach, he was appointed back in 2015. Fair to say it has been hugely controversial if we go back to the build-up, to the World Cup, we saw on-going unrest between Spain's players, Vilda himself, his coaching staff and the Spanish Federation. It led to 12 of Spain's biggest stars, actually missing the World Cup all together. This amid reports of concerns over training methods and inadequate preparation for matches.

Now, in a statement from Spain's Federation on Vilda's departure, reading in part, "The Federation appreciates his work as the head of the national team and his responsibilities as the maximum sporting figure of the women's national teams, as well as the successes reaped during his term, crowned with a recent achievement of the World Cup.

Just hours later on Tuesday, Montse Tome officially taking over from him as head coach in a very special piece of history indeed as the 41- year-old now becoming the first ever woman to be appointed manager of Spain's women's team. Tome has served as an assistant coach within Vilda's staff since 2018 and helped Spain to the 2023 Women's World Cup title last month.

Tome is a former player, Barcelona among her club. She retired from playing in 2012 and we now know she will make her head coaching debut on September the 22nd when Spain faces current world number one Sweden away in a Women's Nations League match.

Now, in other developments, the Spanish Football Federation issuing an apology on Tuesday for Luis Rubiales, what it called inappropriate conduct at the Women's World Cup final. That apology to the world of football and society as a whole. All eyes remaining on Rubiales, though, who's currently suspended by the sport's world governing body, FIFA. He's refusing to resign. He says that kiss was consensual. The player in question, Jenny Hermosa, says otherwise. Back to you.

NEWTON: Thanks to Patrick Snell there. Now, a German man has been detained in Florence, Italy after damaging a 16th century statue of Neptune. Police say the 22-year-old breached a protective barrier and climbed the statue to pose for photos. Now, in this surveillance video you can see the man climbing down. The tourist broke off a piece of red marble attached to Neptune's carriage. The city estimates the damage to be about 5000 euros. Nuts.

Singer Joe Jonas has filed for divorce from his wife Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner. They started dating in 2016 and were married three years later and now have two young daughters. Jonas filed a petition for divorce in Florida, Tuesday. CNN has reached out to their representatives for comment.

I am Paula Newton. I want to thank you for your company. CNN Newsroom continues at the top of the hour with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. But in the meantime, here is Marketplace Middle East.

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[03:45:00]

(MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST)

[03:50:00]

(MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST)

[03:55:00]

(MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:00]