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France Puts on Star-Studded, Action Packed Closing Ceremony; Some Cities Too Hot to Host Olympics by 2050; Drought Threatens Goat- Farming Collapse in Sicily; Families Help Authorities Identify Bodies in Sao Paulo, Brazil; What's It All About Banksy? London Wants to Know. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 12, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Tropical storm watchers are expanding westward across the Leeward Islands, including the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. The system is expected to become a tropical storm in the coming hours. It's not currently forecast to direct impact the continental United States. Their officials are still keeping an eye on the track.
Spectacular fireworks illuminating the sky above the Stade de France, just outside the French capital. This was part of the Paris Games' action-packed closing ceremony.
Who stayed up late to watch it? Not me, actually.
After two and a half weeks of exciting and historic competition, Paris chose to go out with a bang. The ceremony underscored the Parisian flair for the dramatics, kicking off the night's festivities with a musical performance in front of the Olympic cauldron, where French swimming prodigy Leon Marchand carried the final torch into the Stade de France. And actor Tom Cruise went into Mission Impossible mode at the ceremony, where he rappelled down from the stadium's roof and went all Hollywood with the Olympic flag in tow. Love it.
And it wouldn't be a proper Los Angeles handoff without a beachfront concert featuring some of LA's top talents, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, Dr. Dre, and, of course, the breakout star of these Paris Games, Snoop Dogg. I am going to miss that guy.
Now, the Prince and Princess of Wales headlined a surprise star- studded congratulations to Team Great Britain.
Have a look.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG: Greetings loved ones.
CATHERINE, PRINCESS OF WALES: From all of us watching at home, congratulations to Team GB.
WILLIAM, PRINE OF WALES: Well done on all you've achieved. You've been an inspiration to us all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Team GB, we are so proud of you. Congratulations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your performances have been absolutely fantastic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have been amazing. Thank you so much for everything. These memories will last a very long time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well done, Team GB.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The video posted on X features some of Britain's biggest names in sports and broadcasting, as well as Snoop Dogg, you saw there, applauding Team GB's Olympians, who brought home 65 medals overall, including 14 gold from the Paris Games. Not bad at all.
And speaking of medals, there were plenty to be won in the hours leading up to the closing ceremony. 13 gold medals were awarded on Sunday. The U.S. and China, who have been neck in neck the last few days, made history in Paris, finishing in a tie for the most golds, with 40 each. Team USA finishes with the most medals overall, though, with 126.
Our Coy Wire has more now from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: What an incredible ending to the Summer Olympics here in Paris. The U.S. women's basketball team going down to the wire with host nation France in the gold medal game. The Americans entered with an Olympic winning streak that dated back to 1996, but they win by maybe the tip of a toe.
France hitting a buzzer beater as time expired. The crowd erupted, thinking the host nation had just shocked the world, sending its overtime, but Gabby Williams' foot was on the line. It was only a two- pointer.
So heartbreak for France, elation for the U.S., claiming an eighth straight Olympic gold. And with that, Team USA dominates total medal count, but it ties China at 40 gold medals each on the very last event of these Olympics. A tie for golds has never happened in the history of the Summer Games.
Now, at the closing ceremony, to show respect to all the athletes and their people from around the world, it was a celebration for the ages. Snoop Dogg, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, H.E.R. and others performing, marking the official handover to the 2028 Los Angeles Games and the end of these incredible and unforgettable Summer Games here in Paris.
The Olympics, once again, showing that perhaps sport better than anything else can bring people together from all over the world no matter their differences to embrace and celebrate one another. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Thanks to Coy.
There was, however, one controversial moment. The U.S. is appealing the International Olympic Committee's decision to strip gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal in the individual floor routine.
The IOC said it would reinstate the medal to Romania's Ana Barbosu, who was knocked off the podium after Team USA filed a score inquiry on Chiles' behalf. And the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Saturday that the inquiry was filed after the one-minute deadline. But Team USA pushed back on Sunday, announcing it had submitted evidence to the court that purportedly shows the inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of Chiles' score.
Now, economists warn the International Olympic Committee needs to take drastic action to make hosting the Games in the future more financially feasible.
[04:05:00]
An Oxford University study found the cost of hosting continues to grow, with host cities investing billions but seeing less in return. Five of the past six Olympic Games, both summer and winter, had final costs of well over 100 percent of their initial bid estimates when adjusted for inflation.
Economists argue the Olympics will have to look much different than what we're used to in order to make them truly sustainable. They believe the IOC may need to move towards a permanent host city in the future, or even a small list of rotating cities.
And in the not-so-distant future, climate change could also make it too hot for many cities to even be considered a summer Olympic host.
CNN analyzed data from Carbon Plan, a non-profit climate science group, which predicts that rising temperatures in the coming years will make it unsafe for athletes to compete in some regions. It's not looking good for the Olympics, is it? CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa take a look at this data and some possible solutions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As Paris wraps up the Olympic Games this weekend, some new data is telling us that for some host cities like Paris, it may be too hot for them to host ever again. We know that in the last 100 years since Paris hosted the last time in 1924, those summer months have warmed by 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit or 3 degrees Celsius. We have added more than 120 scorching hot days and more than 80 sweltering nights to the mix, just really not getting relief at night.
Well, a new study shows us that as we look into the future towards 2050, we're really going to lose some safe cities to host the Olympics in. They looked at wet bulb globe temperature and that looks at temperature but also with humidity, wind speed, shade, sun angle to kind of really understand how heat is impacting the body. It looks at heat stress and they used 82 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 degrees Celsius as that threshold of it being just too dangerous and too hot to host visitors and athletes.
And you can see that by 2050, look at how many cities are in that too hot to host threshold. Beijing, Rio, Athens, Atlanta, all looking like it will be too dangerous to host the Olympic Games. When you broaden it out even more, look at the map, all of these kind of really dark red or brown dots, a lot of the Eastern U.S., India, Eastern Asia, all at that threshold where it will be too hot, too dangerous to host.
So what are our options? Well, we can pick host cities that are in higher elevations where it might be cooler. We could host the summer games, not in summer. Does that really make it the Olympic Games though?
Or if we want it in the months of June, July and August, we may have to rely on our friends in the Southern Hemisphere where it's your winter and those temperatures may be a little bit cooler for us to safely get out there. But unless we decrease our emissions, this could be the reality for the Olympic Games going forward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Speaking of heat, Greek officials have ordered evacuations north of Athens as they fight a wildfire tearing through the region. It started Sunday. This morning, fire officials said it spread rapidly overnight, damaging some homes.
Firefighters worked throughout the night to contain the flames and 29 water-bombing aircraft are assisting. Greek officials warn that extreme heat and other dangerous weather conditions will continue through Thursday.
And a wildfire broke out in northeastern Spain on Sunday, spreading quickly because of hot winds. Authorities ordered people in a nearby town to stay inside due to heavy smoke. Both Spain and Greece have suffered intense heat waves and dry weather this summer, making wildfires like these even more dangerous.
Well, extreme droughts in Sicily is threatening the Italian island's goat farming industry. And without enough water, farmers could be forced to send their animals to slaughter. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Roaming under hot temperatures, these goats search for food in fields turned brown by the heat in central Sicily. Shortage of water and little food make it hard for these Girgentana goats to survive. And the prospects for their survival leave goat breeder Luca Cammarata in despair.
LUCA CAMMARATA, GOAT BREEDER (through translator): The grazing land is zero. As we can see, nothing has grown on the land this year. The animals take a walk, eat what they find, and then we try to supplement their diet with water and fodder.
NADEAU (voice-over): Earlier this year, Sicily enforced water restrictions when the region declared a state of emergency. Italy's Environmental Protection and Research Institute says while other parts of the country are experiencing drought, only Sicily's is considered extreme.
CAMMARATA (through translator): The land is dry. The lakes we have placed in the pastures are completely dry. It is difficult to satisfy the animals with the drinking water we had, and we are forced to plug the problem with water tankers.
ALESSANDRO PANZARELLA, MEMBER, CARABINIERI FORESTRY DEPARTMENT (through translator): We arrive wherever there is an emergency.
[04:10:00]
The water doesn't arrive, so farmers are forced to take the animals to the slaughterhouse. They don't have water and can't quench their animals' thirst, so it's a big problem.
NADEAU (voice-over): The cheese and dairy products made from these goats' milk has been prized for thousands of years, but that may soon come to an end. Deprived of water, these animals may be sent to slaughter.
CAMMARATA (through translator): If we cannot at least satisfy the animals' demand for water, they run the risk of being sent to slaughter. There is no other way, no other solution. There is no market for live animals, nor can we give them to a fellow farmer in other regions, because there is currently no market for live animals.
They are destined to go to the slaughterhouse, and this would be a considerable loss of livestock and a loss of production models.
NADEAU (voice-over): Doing what needs to be done to save the goats will take time. Drilling new wells, reactivating dormant desalination plants, importing water. But time, like water, is another thing that is running out for these goats.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now, after the break, family members search for answers as investigators try to figure out what caused last week's deadly plane crash in Brazil.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: A second person has died as a result of an apparent house explosion in Harford County, Maryland. Firefighters responded to a call about a gas leak early Sunday morning, but on their way, they received word of the explosion. The second victim, found in the rubble, is believed to be the owner of the destroyed house. Their official identification and cause of death have not yet been completed. The explosion has displaced at least 12 nearby families.
The pilot of a helicopter is dead after crashing into a seaside luxury hotel in northeast Australia. Stunned guests were evacuated after the chopper slammed into the seven-story building roof and caused a fire.
[04:15:00]
One witness talked about what she saw and heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY VIVIANO, WITNESS: We just heard a bit of a swirling noise, like a big whirlwind. And that was long ago. I actually thought I was dreaming.
And then about two seconds later, there was like a very loud bang. A couple of bangs, actually. The room started rattling and the doors and everything.
Yes, quick run to the kids. They were up screaming and yelling, what was that? I thought we were under attack or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Police say the pilot was the only one aboard the helicopter. No other injuries have been reported. The helicopter's charter company says it is investigating unauthorized use of one of its aircrafts with officials.
Authorities in Brazil say it could be weeks before they have an initial report into the cause of Friday's deadly plane crash near Sao Paulo. They say all of the voice and data information has been pulled from the plane's black boxes. Meanwhile, authorities are working to identify the bodies of the 62 victims with the help of family members.
More now on the investigation from journalist Stefano Pozzebon, reporting from Sao Paulo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The process of identifying the bodies of the victims of flight 2283 here in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is still ongoing as of Sunday night. This is the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where all the bodies have been taken from the carcass of the plane. And here is where dozens of relatives and family members have arrived on Sunday to participate in this investigation.
Only two bodies were possible to have been recognized through facial recognition due to the violence of the impact when the plane crashed to the ground. For all the other bodies, it's necessary to go through DNA identification and other techniques in order to correctly match their identity. And for some of these family members, today was also the opportunity to say goodbye.
FATIMA ALBUQUERQUE, VICTIM'S MOTHER (through translator): I had DNA collected for the identification of my daughter and I don't know what state she will be in. My daughter was 1.7 meters tall, a strong and beautiful woman. You will see her photos on the internet.
I saw my daughter burn live on television. A mother seeing the plane on fire with my daughter inside. Guys, there is no greater sin. There can't be for a mother. So I'm going to fight as long as I have life. As long as I have life, I'm going to fight because I know that she would be fighting if I had been killed.
Because this wasn't an accident. Don't label it as an accident. Don't use that narrative.
POZZEBON: Just like that mother, the entire Brazil is still waiting for an answer to the question of what could have happened to cause that plane to fall from the sky and crash onto the ground.
On Sunday, investigators from France, where the plane was manufactured in the first place, arrived in Brazil to participate in the investigation. They are analyzing and going through two black boxes that were successfully retrieved from the carcass of the plane to identify a probable motive.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Stay with us, we'll be right back.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: All right, welcome back. Now he's done it again. Take a look over my shoulder here at the two elephants that Londoners are reacting to in the latest in a series of animal-themed works. The anonymous artist known as Banksy has been creating all throughout the capital here in the U.K. and speculating about their meaning. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE (voice-over): Banksy strikes again.
An ordinary glass police box on a street in London has been reimagined as a tank full of toothy fish that look like piranhas. The fish follow a stream of animal-themed murals, confirmed to be the handiwork of the infamous street artist that have popped up in London in the past week, drawing crowds, but in a good way.
The fish are painted in translucent aquatic colors, a departure from the other works in the series that were done in black silhouettes, including a black cat stretching on a billboard which has since been removed.
Two pelicans perched over a fish and chip shop, a howling wolf on a satellite dish, which was quickly stolen, three monkeys swinging on a railway bridge, two elephants giving each other a trunks up, and a goat on a precarious perch. It's been a guessing game for Londoners to try and figure out what
might appear next and what message Banksy might be sending.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibly linked to all the riots in the UK recently.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously, the Olympics going on at the moment, lots of people talking about goats greatest of all time, maybe it's symbolic of that.
MACFARLANE (voice-over): Even an expert on world affairs who regularly appears on CNN is weighing in.
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: What Banksy is trying to do is to really get us to think and reflect about the ecological crisis that really threatens humanity.
MACFARLANE (voice-over): Or maybe, like all art, the meaning is in the eye of the beholder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be honest, I think he's just painting animals. It doesn't have to be meaningful. it's just animals.
MACFARLANE (voice-over): There is speculation the murals are just a way to cheer people up. And Sunday's edition was just that, with people taking photos in and around the artwork until contractors placed plastic barriers around the box, while the City of London says it's looking for options to preserve it. A fleeting and fun distraction from an artist who's not really known for explaining himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who knows? You'd have to be Banksy to know that. But it's very nice to have it in this particular week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE (on camera): It is fun, isn't it? I actually live quite close to some of these murals, so I think I'm going to come off the show and do a little tour of London and go and visit them all. Either way, it's bringing a smile to people's faces, no matter what the message behind it.
[04:25:00]
Now to the other stories in the spotlight this hour.
Now, important stories. McDonald's France has an Olympic beef with Team USA's Steph Curry after France's loss to the Americans in the men's basketball final on Saturday. Now, Curry was the key to that win, hitting eight three-point shots in just over two minutes in the fourth quarter of the game.
McDonald's France shared this post online, featuring their classic Curry dipping sauce, and saying that, for obvious reasons, we are considering removing this sauce. I'm sure Curry is devastated. It's all in good fun, of course.
No response yet on social media from the NBA superstar. Of course not! He's too busy enjoying his gold medal. But as you know, his nickname is, of course, Chef Curry.
Now, what's old is new again, is the message Disney is sending after unveiling a slate of new projects over the weekend at its D23 fan convention. Among the new films and shows, a large number of sequels, including the coming release of Moana 2.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's my job as a Wayfinder to finish what they started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moana, show our people just how far we'll go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Oh, so excited about this one. Disney's latest animated feature will release in November, eight years after the debut of the first Moana. Meantime, actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are teaming up more than 20 years after the remake of Freaky Friday for a second entry titled Freakier Friday. I like what you've done there.
Disney executive also announced new sequels or TV projects for other animated franchises, including The Incredibles, Toy Story, and Inside Out. And aren't they doing The Devil Wears Prada as well? I thought that was one that was on the cards. Very excited for that.
And that will do it here at CNN NEWSROOM with me, Christina Macfarlane. Stay with us. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up after this quick break.
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