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CNN International: Top U.S. Diplomat Blinken In Kyiv On Surprise Visit; Torrential Rain Causing Deadly Flooding In Greece; Africa Climate Summit Wraps Up Wednesday; Green Hydrogen Being Touted As A Clean Energy Solution; Ousted Women's National Team Coach Speaks Out After Firing; Enrique Tarrio Sentenced To 22 Years In Prison; Crime Rises In Israel's Arab Community; Searchers Trying To "Stress" Escaped Killer, Force A Mistake; Rolling Stone Set To Announce First New Album Since 2005. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 06, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:22]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London.

Just ahead, a show of solidarity with Ukraine. Anthony Blinken makes a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with President Zelenskyy. What a difference a week makes. Greece goes from raging wildfires to epic floods. More details in our weather update.

And Spain's football federation sacks the woman's national team coach and names a woman to replace him. Jorge Vilda calls his firing unfair.

U.S. Secretary State Anthony Blinken is on the ground in Kyiv at this hour on a surprise visit. America's top diplomat is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Whilst he's there, Blinken wants to hear from Ukrainians themselves, including the country's new defense minister, on how their counteroffensive is going. It's his third trip to Kyiv since Russia's invasion nearly 19 months ago, and it comes just hours after a series of missiles targeted the Ukrainian capital.

Melissa Bell joins us live from Kyiv with the details. Have you had any updates on the discussion so far, Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far he has yet to see President Zelenskyy himself. What we do -- what we have seen Secretary Blinken do already since he's arrived in Kyiv, Max, is meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, but also Ukraine's prime minister.

And those meetings have been all about, first of all, working out what's been happening most recently on the ground for Secretary Blinken. We've been hearing the state department's assessment of how the counteroffensive going. We've been hearing about the impressive gains being made to the south and to the east. But this is very much about Secretary Blinken finding out from his counterparts exactly how that is going.

It comes, of course, at a critical time, Max, since it isn't just that the counteroffensive seeks to make progress. It is also at a time when there is waning American support, according to the polls, for continued funding of this war effort. And bear in mind, the Secretary Blinken's visit comes less than a month, Max, after President Biden asked for an extra $24 billion from Congress for that aid.

So it's going to be all about hearing what his counterparts have to say, making a show of continued solidarity and American support for this effort, but also taking back to the American people the message that he's hearing from here about what is happening on the front, on the fight against corruption, on Ukraine's ability to function as a democracy going forward.

And, in fact, that's very much what he just said to his Ukrainian counterpart as he met him, that this visit is, of course, about figuring out what they need in the immediate, but also ensuring that Ukraine has what it needs to be a thriving democracy going forward.

So there was a great deal of warmth between those two men. President Blinken pointing out that they've been working around the clock and around the world together now for a year and a half. But as we get into this 19th month of the war, Max, it is very much about what message they are going to take on with them to the United Nations later this month when the rest of the world gathers together to hear from President Zelenskyy and to consider its ongoing support for what's happening here.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa in Kyiv, thank you for the update. Back with you later.

A new extreme weather event is battering Greece after weeks of raging wildfires, torrential rain and deadly flooding have swept the country over the past few days, washing away cars and damaging buildings. At least two people have died. The body of an elderly woman was recovered in central Greece just today.

And on Tuesday, a man was killed when he was cruised by -- crushed, rather, by a collapsing wall near the city of Volos. Storm Daniel has led to red storm warnings across several provinces, especially along the eastern coast.

Our very Meteorologist Derek Van Dam live from the CNN Weather Center for us. The firefighters obviously were hoping for rain, but they didn't need this, did they?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. Absolutely not. Max, here's a look at those latest weather alert levels, and you can see that shading of red concentrated in the north central sides of the country of Greece. Just to give you a bit of a geographical reference, here's Athens, they're under level two of three. That's a medium alert for them. But Volos, you mentioned that in your intro to me, is just to the north, and that is an area that we've seen a lot of. Some of the most dramatic visuals coming out of. This is what it looked like at the peak of the rainfall, which, by the way, it is still raining. So additional scenes like this could unfold in the coming hours.

But this is Volos, Greece. Look at the rivers on the roadways there, not where they're supposed to be, right? And we investigate some of the rainfall totals. This is very, very concerning because 754 millimeters of rainfall in a 24-hour period, even less than -- less time than that. It was roughly about 20 hours.

[08:05:10]

That is 10 times their monthly average in that period of time. No wonder we are seeing such incredible flooding take place across that area. So what in the world is causing all this? Well, we have a highly amplified jet stream and this basically is drawing very warm, record breaking heat to the central and western portions of Europe.

But it's also allowing for this very powerful low pressure system to develop over the warm waters of the eastern Mediterranean. And it's getting stuck. It's kind of meandering. We call that an omega block because it looks like the Greek letter omega. So when it gets wrapped up in that particular current, it has nowhere to go, it can't move.

So we see the rain fall in the same locations for a long stretch of time. So look at that. We often refer to these as a medicane, that is a hurricane in the Mediterranean. Not literally, but this has got a lot of similar characteristics to it. So we often refer to it as that medicane. And you can see additional rainfall is expected across those hard-hit areas at least through Friday. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Derek, appreciate that. Thank you.

Now a new report issued just hours ago says the Earth has never seen a summer as hot as the one that we have been experiencing. We are going to have a deep dive into that report later on in the show, but the substance of it will not come as a surprise to attendees at the African Climate Summit in Kenya.

The event wraps up today. Just a short while ago, African leaders at the summit issued a joint declaration saying climate change is the single greatest challenge facing humanity and noting that Africa is impacted by it more than other continents. They called on all nations to take urgent and concerted action to fix the climate problem.

Larry Madowo has been at summit all week and joins us now live from Nairobi. Was this the communique you were expecting, Larry?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, they're hoping that this adds some momentum to the unified platform going to COP 28 again, reiterating what they've said all along, that Africa faces a disproportionate burden and risks because of climate change. It's not responsible for a lot of what we're seeing, but it's suffering some of the worst impacts of that. One of the big topics here has been about renewable energy. The U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Africa can be a renewable energy powerhouse, and one of the topics has been about green hydrogen. That's why I'm here talking to Bruh Ayele, who is from Fortescue Africa. First of all, what is green hydrogen and why does it offer so much potential for the continent?

BRUH AYELE TERFIE, AFRICA PRESIDENT, FORTESCUE FUTURE INDUSTRIES: Thank you, Larry. So green hydrogen is basically hydrogen that's made from renewable energy. So essentially, you take renewable energy, you run a current through water, and you separate hydrogen and oxygen. And that hydrogen can form the basis of so many things.

It can be used for power generation. It can be used in many industrial applications to form molecules or green fuels for shipping and aviation. So Africa, as you mentioned, we've faced disproportionate impact of climate change. We have the least emissions in Africa, but at the same time, we have the greatest potential.

40 percent of the world's renewable energy sits here. So this is really a chance for us to use that renewable energy to create things like hydrogen and their associated derivatives and get involved in industrialization, in going up the value chain, so we can produce a lot. Yes.

MADOWO: But as the U.N. Secretary General also pointed out, that in the last two decades, only 2 percent of renewable energy resources have come to the continent. So even if we have all this green hydrogen potential, where is the money coming from?

AYELE TERFIE: Exactly. And that is why we have a summit like this, the Africa Climate Summit. Because what's been difficult in Africa to get these projects across the line is also financing.

MADOWO: Right.

AYELE TERFIE: And President Ruto has recognized that, the industry has recognized that, everyone has recognized that. So this is a chance for all of us to come together and find solutions. How do we finance these projects? How do we make sure that this potential is realized?

Because really, when -- because it's such a nascent sector, it's a sector which allows Africa to start at the same footing as everybody else. So, in other words, industrialize produce new products at the same pace as the rest of the world because it's such a new technology. We need the financing to come.

MADOWO: Are there any bright spots you're seeing across the continent right now? I know Namibia has been talking about potentially a huge project exporting to Europe.

AYELE TERFIE: Indeed. Namibia is -- you can say, is at the fore front. I think there's large projects that are planned there. South Africa has great potential. Here in East Africa and Kenya, we have fantastic project which is using hydrogen to produce green ammonia for green fertilizer applications. MADOWO: Right.

AYELE TERFIE: And this is what I mean in terms of industrialization, you know. You take that molecule and you can produce green fertilizer out of it. So, really, it's not just about energy anymore --

MADOWO: OK.

AYELE TERFIE: -- it's about industrialization. And that's a project that, you know, that is very interesting and that we're pursuing here in Kenya. So --

MADOWO: All right.

AYELE TERFIE: Yes.

MADOWO: Bruh, thank you so much. So that's one of the conversations that's come up here. The African leaders have agreed that this is going to happen every two years, the Africa Climate Summit, as they try and combine their voices in getting the world to pay attention, Max.

FOSTER: Great stuff to hear. Larry, thank you for joining us so much from Kenya.

Now, two and half weeks ago, Jorge Vilda was a national hero for bringing Spain its first Women's World Cup title. Days later, he was offered a four-year contract extension.

[08:10:09]

Now, he's out of a job, fired as part of the upheaval happening in Spanish football in the wake of kissgate. Vilda spoke out about his firing a short time ago, saying it was unfair. He also had words of praise for his former assistant, Montse Tome, who, on Tuesday, was named the first ever female head coach of the Spanish national team.

Amanda is here on all of this. I mean, there are so many twists and turns to this, but the good news is they've got a new manager, which a lot of people respect.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes. I think it's fair to say the Spanish Football Federation are not going to be winning any awards for their crisis management, are they? And I think that, you know, saying Jorge Vilda is a national hero for a lot of people, there's always been that asterisk because of the complaints all the way through the campaign about his treatment of the players and the management structures.

There is a whole lot that needs changing within the Spanish Football Federation. I think that is fair to say -- see and very clear from the outside for people to see. There is the ongoing issue of their president, Luis Rubiales suspended by FIFA, but still refusing to resign from his post.

This is another step that has been taken. Sacking Jorge Vilda, the coach who has been responsible for, in many people's opinions, breeding this culture, which is not the right way to do things. So, yes, on paper it's a great headline. They have a new female boss of the women's national team for the first time.

But a lot of people are saying the silence from the players is perhaps quite deafening. There has not been the great clamor of celebration, hurrah, we have somebody in our corner who is now going to take us forward. Montse Tome is somebody who has only ever been an assistant coach under Jorge Vilda and the systems at this Spanish Federation that a lot of people are so upset about.

She hasn't had a top job on her own. There is an understanding, she's a good technician. She knows the game, she's a former player, but is she going to be able to run her own ship in the way it should be run? And that is what we wait and see her first game.

FOSTER: Well, it's a very long running story, Amanda, I have to say. Longer than we expected.

DAVIES: Yes. Welcome to football.

FOSTER: Now, the latest sentence in the January 6 Capitol riots cases was handed down to a man who wasn't even there. However, the judge said Enrique Tarrio had an outsized impact on the events of that day. Now he's heading to jail for 22 years for his role in organizing the plot aimed at stopping the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Sara Murray has the details.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than two decades behind bars for the man U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly called the ultimate leader behind the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

In Tuesday's hearing, Kelly said former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio was motivated by revolutionary zeal. "What happened that day did not honor the founders, it was the kind of thing they wrote the Constitution to prevent", the judge said. Before being sentenced for seditious conspiracy and other charges, Tarrio apologized for the, quote, "pain and suffering that was caused".

Quote, "I am not a political zealot. Inflicting harm or changing the outcome of the election was not my goal". Tarrio also adding, "I held myself morally above others, and this trial has shown me how wrong I was".

Tarrio was not in D.C. on January 6, having been arrested days before and ordered by a judge to leave the city for burning a D.C. Church's Black Lives Matter banner and bringing high capacity rifle magazines into the district the previous month. But the judge said even though Tarrio wasn't there, the Proud Boys leader, quote, "had an outsized impact on the events of the day".

During the months long trial, prosecutors showed evidence that Tarrio was readying for a revolution and helped create a command structure within the Proud Boys in the run up to the insurrection. "Make no mistake", Tarrio told other Proud Boys on January 6, "We did this".

During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, the prosecutor called Tarrio, "the leader of this conspiracy" that "targeted our entire system of government". Tarrio's attorney promising an appeal.

NAYIB HASSAN, ENRIQUE TARRIO'S LAWYER: We respectfully disagree, but we respect it. There will be a day and a time where an appeal will come, and we expect appeal to come soon.

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FOSTER: We'll bring it to you when we hear. That was Sara Murray reporting.

Still to come, an alarming crime wave that's rocking Israel's Arab community. Why victims' families say their cases aren't getting the attention that they deserve.

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FOSTER: In 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 aren't getting the attention that they deserve.

CNN's Hadas Gold takes a closer look.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 this. Why, why, why kill these kids?"

Sajida Musala's (ph) son, Ali, was murdered just last week, a year out from a stint in prison. An Arab citizen of Israel, he is one of the latest victims in an alarming crime wave that is 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.

Dashika (ph) says she blames police, government and the law. Her son was set to be married soon. When we ask whether the police had made any progress on the case, she says not yet and stops, overcome by emotion. (on-camera): 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.

(voice-over): In addition to targeted killings, innocent civilians, including children, have been caught in the crossfire. Badiya Hefasi's (ph) daughter, Johara (ph), was an antiviolence and women's rights activists, killed last year when a bomb exploded under her car. Her mother, who identifies as an Arab Druze 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."

The 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 say far-right ministers are to blame, especially minister of national security Itamar Ben-Gvir. He himself was convicted of anti-Arab racism.

AHMAD TIBI, ISRAELI KNESSET MEMBER: 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. Because of this failure is a lot of bloodshed in our streets, in our community.

[08:20:17]

GOLD (voice-over): In the early 2000s, Israel successfully fought a crime wave spurred by organized criminal Jewish gangs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he will do the same with the Arab community.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): We will use all means, including the Shin Bet, including the police and 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 (voice-over): If they don't, these citizens argue, their anguish will ricochet back into the Jewish communities' back yard and these coffins will be theirs to carry.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Haifa, Israel.

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FOSTER: Well, time for a short break. We'll be back in just a moment. You're watching CNN.

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FOSTER: Police in Pennsylvania believe a dangerous inmate who escaped from prison almost a week ago is growing more desperate by the hour. Authorities released these images of convicted killer Danelo Cavalcante taken since his escape on Thursday. They show that he's not changed his appearance and he's picked up supplies, including a backpack and a sweatshirt.

CNN's Danny Freeman has the latest on the search.

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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The manhunt for escaped Pennsylvania inmate Danelo Cavalcante is intensifying.

LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: He's clearly in escape mode, but he's desperate.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Pennsylvania state police expanding their initial search perimeter after a 6th sighting of the convicted murderer. Police say these nighttime photos show Cavalcante walking past trail cameras Monday night.

BIVENS: The photos confirm that Cavalcante has not changed his appearance, but also that he has obtained a backpack, a duffel sling type pack, and a hooded sweatshirt.

FREEMAN (voice-over): But authorities say they do not know where Cavalcante picked up the new supplies. The images were captured at the popular tourist destination, Longwood Gardens, a sprawling site with more than 200 acres of gardens, meadows and trails adding to the already challenging terrain in the area.

BIVENS: What you have, though, are significant parcels of wooded area with a lot of undergrowth. So thick that our searchers can't be more than a couple of yards apart, or they, at times, lose sight of one another.

FREEMAN (voice-over): The search has now expanded about 5 miles south of the Chester County prison where Cavalcante escaped last Thursday. The latest sighting causing two school districts in the area to shut down for the day.

Police helicopters circling the area are now playing a recorded message from Cavalcante's mother urging him to surrender as the community remains on edge.

RYAN DRUMMOND, WEST CHESTER RESIDENT: Woke up my wife. I said, hey, I think there might be somebody downstairs.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Ryan Drummond lives in the area and says last Friday Cavalcante came into his house while his family was sleeping.

DRUMMOND: What I decided to do was flip the light switch on and off, you know, three or four or five times, pause, and then he flipped the light switch from downstairs three or four times, which was the moment of like, oh, my God, this guy is down there.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Thankfully, Ryan says he only took food and then left. Police urging residents to stay vigilant as the manhunt continues.

BIVENS: He will slip up. He did here. He walked into trail cam, didn't know it. He'll slip up. We're making him move, and that's a good thing.

[08:25:07]

FREEMAN: Pennsylvania State Police estimate there are well over 200 officers now participating in this manhunt, that includes new resources from the FBI and from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Police still hoping they can resolve this peacefully.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

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FOSTER: The rooms are true. The Rolling Stones are set to announce their first new album in 18 years titled, "Hackney Diamonds". It includes songs the band recorded with the late drummer Charlie Watts before his death in 2021, and Paul McCartney is even featured playing bass on one of the tracks.

Mick Jagger and Company will do an interview with comedian Jimmy Fallon today here in London for the big announcement. Here's a teaser video for that event.

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JIMMY FALLON, AMERICAN COMEDIAN: Stuff in (ph). This is Jimmy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jimmy, it's Mick.

FALLON: Mick?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keith and Ronnie.

FALLON: Keith? Ronnie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing the worldwide livestream.

FALLON: Livestream?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need you, Jimmy.

FALLON: You need me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wednesday, September 6th.

FALLON: Wednesday, September 6th. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hackney.

FALLON: Hackney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

FALLON: Got you. That's in London?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, London.

FALLON: Right. Well, I mean, you can't always get what you -- that's right. You get what you need. You're right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll be there.

FALLON: I'll be there. See you in London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Happening very soon.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. World Sport with Amanda is up next.

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