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CNN International: Anguish & Anger In Israel After Killing Of Six Hostages; Biden: Netanyahu Not Doing Enough To Secure Hostage Deal; Harris Appeals To Unions In Detroit, Pittsburgh; Russia: Ukraine Launched Dozens Of Drones Sunday; Congo And Neighboring African Nations Combat Mpox Outbreak. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 02, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:41]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 4:00 a.m. in Seoul and 3:00 p.m. here in Atlanta.

I'm Lynda Kinkade in today for Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining us for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, let's get right to the news. And thousands in Israel are taking to the streets as another day passes without a hostage deal. The anger, the grief, the frustration is being felt right across the country after Hamas murdered six hostages. One of the victims was an Israeli American, Hersh Goldberg Polin, who had just been injured on October 7th. And for 330 days, his parents advocated tirelessly for his release.

Well today at his funeral, Hersh's mother, Rachel, spoke to the thousands who came to remember her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL GOLDBERG-POLIN, HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN'S MOTHER: When you wrote to us from the bomb shelter, you had just seen Aner get killed, you had lost your arm and you thought you were dying and you wrote to us, I'm sorry, because you knew how crushing it would be for us to lose you. So you've fought to stay alive and now you are gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: One hundred and one hostages remain in Gaza, at least 35 of those are believed to be dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing significant criticism from the public and to international allies for not doing enough to secure a deal. At a press conference hours ago, Netanyahu asked for forgiveness but said Israel will not leave the Philadelphi corridor, a key sticking point in negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I'm asking for your forgiveness that we didn't manage to bring them back alive. We're very close, but we couldn't make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv.

Good to have you with us, Nic.

So, that was a rare press conference. And Netanyahu, both apologizing, but then also trying to justify his reasoning for choosing to keep Israeli forces in the Philadelphi corridor between Egypt and Gaza over more of the pressing matter to bring the hostages home. What do you make of his statement and can withstand the public pressure to bring those hostages home.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I don't think it's worth this evening that you're going to change the public pressure. Opinions are pretty much made up here. He might continue to keep some of his supporters at his side and he might be at a signal to Hamas that he's not going to change his position.

This was a rare act of contrition by him. This is not something that's easily done by Prime Minister Netanyahu. He was under a lot of pressure from opposition politicians to do this, to show that he cares, to show that the critics who say that he puts the hostages lives secondary to his own political career and to -- and to destroying Hamas, to prove them wrong in a way.

But these words I don't think they're going to change the dynamic of the protests and the, and the effort to try to get him to change his position. That's the bigger pressure that is under right moment -- at the moment is recognizing that Hamas is now ready to brutally execute hostages who are, who are still alive. As a part of potentially as part of a negotiating tactic or whatever it is, the reality is come much closer, therefore, that all those other hostages, the 60, are still believed to be alive are eminent mortal danger and the pressure on Netanyahu is get them home before they too are killed.

And what the prime minister outlined here is a doubling down if his insistence that Israel has to keep troops on the Philadelphi corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt because he said, if they don't, Hamas will dig more tunnels and bring more weapons into Gaza and strengthen their position. And that's something he said he wasn't going to allow happen, to allow to happen.

Well, Hamas has paid their position very clear as well, they've said that for them to agree a deal that has to be no troops in Gaza. This is a point where there is no meeting of the minds. No, no area where there seems to be enough overlap to get to get some kind of a deal through.

So this is -- this despite all those pressures, the contrition was perhaps easiest to give.

[15:00:03]

He certainly doesn't appear to be backing down on a central theme.

KINKADE: Yeah, exactly. During that entire presentation with not illustrating his point and defense of that sticking point. But, of course, this was not part of the original negotiations, the ceasefire and hostage deal.

So where does this -- the fact that Netanyahu is doubling down, where does that leave the ceasefire and hostage negotiations going forward?

ROBERTSON: You know, you really have to look at it and say it, it leaves it in limbo and look, everyone's going to continue to try, interlocutors in Qatar in and Egypt will continue. President Biden has met with his key national security team to try to and his negotiating team to try to figure out where they're at. I mean, I think when you hear that, you understand that this is a very, very difficult position to find a way forward. But clearly, clearly, they're going to try. It's not there.

I don't think -- look, as much as the prime minister said he thought they were close to getting them out, as much as President Biden has said we're close, as much as Secretary Antony Blinken has said we're close. The reality has proven they're not close and I think they're further away than they were.

KINKADE: Yeah, it's a sad but true statement. Nic Roberts for us in Tel Aviv, thanks so much for joining us.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden met with the U.S. negotiating team in this Situation Room earlier today. Biden says he is preparing to present a final ceasefire and hostage proposal and does not believe Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a deal.

CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz joins us now.

Good to have you with us.

So, Arlette, Biden is expected to put more pressure on Mr. Netanyahu to get a ceasefire deal done. But certainly today, saying that Mr. Netanyahu is not doing enough, that certainly -- those comments were certainly felt wide and far across the region and in the Middle East.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Lynda, they were certainly very blunt and terse comments from President Biden when he was asked here at the White House whether he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing enough to try to secure a deal.

It comes as there is a real sense of urgency among U.S. officials to keep working towards securing some type of agreement to ensure that those hostages are released and there is some type of ceasefire in place in the war in Gaza. But I want to play for you a little bit of what President Biden told reporters earlier today when he was specifically asked about Netanyahu.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Do you think it's time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he's doing enough?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Now, those comments did bristle some Israeli officials. You know, President Biden has been quite reluctant to criticize Netanyahu in public instead, he's tried to exert pressure in private, but you have seen these various tension points, including today, emerging between the two leaders.

Now, as the president was departing the White House a short while ago, I asked President Biden specifically what he wants to see Netanyahu do. He simply said that they are still negotiating. That is the way the he answered several questions, relating to a potential ceasefire and hostage deal as he was departing the White House this afternoon for Pittsburgh.

Now, earlier today, the president did convene his national security team, including those who are part of the negotiations to try to secure this deal. They met in the White House Situation Room. In that meeting, President Biden and the White House said expressed his outrage over the deaths of those six hostages at the hands of Hamas, including that Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and also talk to his team about the latest steps they could take relating to this deal.

President Biden has expressed some cautious optimism that they are very close to presenting a final deal to the negotiators, but it will all depend on what is happening on the ground there, what is happening in those conversations to see whether they can actually get any type of agreement across the finish line at this time.

KINKADE: All right. Arlette Saenz, outside the White House, thanks very much.

Well, for more on this, I want to welcome Avi Mayer, the former editor in chief for "The Jerusalem Post".

Good to have you with us.

AVI MAYER, FORMER EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE JERUSALEM POST: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So, Mr. Netanyahu today was trying to explain his reasoning for keeping troops in the Philadelphi corridor, this stretch of land between Gaza and Egypt which is a key sticking point in the negotiations, instead of making it a priority to bring the house students home. And, of course, yesterday, the defense minister called the cabinet's decision to stay there, a moral disgrace.

What did you make of the press conference?

MAYER: Look, I think on the one hand, he was trying to appear compassionate. He appeared to be chomping up when he read out the names of those hostages who were executed by Hamas, just a few days ago, we just had the last funeral a few minutes ago here in Israel, the entire country is really wrapped in grief.

[15:10:08]

And I think he was sort of speaking to that at the beginning of the press conference, but then as your correspondent said, he returned to his erstwhile position saying, Israel has to remain in the Philadelphi corridor. We cannot allow a situation where Hamas can smuggle in weapons, individuals, cash freely as it has up until now, he said that is what enabled Hamas to carry out the atrocities of October 7. So Israel needs to maintain a physical presence along that corridor, which of course the major sticking point in negotiations between Israel and Hamas in the attempt to reach some kind of a ceasefire and hostage deal.

KINKADE: When we saw these widespread nationwide protests today, talk to us about the mood in Israel because we certainly -- some families of hostages said they hope that this is a turning point, is it?

MAYER: Look, when you described the atmosphere, her earlier as one of grief and anger and frustration. I think that is exactly -- that is exactly what so many of us are feeling today, there's a collective grief. The names of those hostages have become household names, certainly Hersh Goldberg-Polin is a name that is known outside of Israel, but all the others are known very well inside Israel as well.

And so, we all feel as though we lost a member of our own family. And then that turns to frustration as to why it is they were still there. What more could Israel have done in order to bring them home, which is how you saw these hundreds of thousands of Israelis swarmed the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other cities, calling for a deal at pretty much any costs at this point, just to bring those remaining hostages home, as many as we possibly can alive, and certainly, the bodies of those who no longer are.

Of course, we heard from Rachel, the mother of Hersh today, speaking -- just giving heartbreaking, you know, her thoughts on her son and whether she did enough to bring him home, asking for forgiveness for not doing enough. Do you think the pressure that's growing for Netanyahu to do more will, will help him see the light or, or do you think his political future is more important at this point in time?

MAYER: Well, look, the Goldberg-Polins live in my neighborhood here in Jerusalem. Her grace and determination over the past few months have been simply incredible to witness. I've had the opportunity to meet with both her and her husband, Jon, in numerous occasions.

And I think that that pressure really has helped keep the hostages in the public eye and in the public consciousness around the world. That itself has played a certain role in ensuring that we are keeping our eye on the ball and doing whatever we can to bring those hostages home. I don't think that Netanyahu is opposed in principle to bring the hostages home it, thank you very much, wants to do that, but he has to take into account both security concerns and its own political survival. He feels, rightly or wrongly, that Israel must maintain that presence

along the Philadelphi corridor in order to prevent Hamas from using it as a smuggling route as it has for so many years. And, of course, he's also deeply concerned that the right-wing members of his coalition will bolt and essentially bring down his government if he proceeds with a deal that they don't find satisfactory.

And so, he has to balance many different concerns at once. But I certainly think that he has, as I think, many Israelis, deeply concerned about the fate of the hostages and very much wants to bring them home is simply possible.

KINKADE: Avi Mayer, great to get your perspective, joining us live from Jerusalem. Thanks so much.

MAYER: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still ahead, how Vice President Harris is weighing in on the Arlington Cemetery beef with former President Trump and his campaign stuff after a contentious visit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:01]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

From the Situation Room to the campaign trail, Vice President Harris following the White House meetings on a hostage deal with political appeals to union voters on this Labor Day. Firstly, Michigan, then in Pittsburgh where she'll be joined by President Joe Biden.

And by her side in Detroit, leaders of the two -- of two of the nation's largest and most powerful unions, the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, and the United Auto Workers, Sean Fain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On Labor Day, and every day, we celebrate the dignity of work, the dignity of work.

We celebrate unions because unions helped build America and union help America's middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, plus the fight between Donald Trump and Arlington National Cemetery deepens, Trump doubling down on photography at that military burial site, posting a video that features family members of the 13 U.S. soldiers killed at Abbey Gate during the Afghanistan withdrawal. You can hear their anger at the Biden administration.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLI) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our kids were murdered because of your administration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were not at Dover for the dignified transfer, and no time have you reached out to me to offer your condolences, to offer thank you for Kareem's sacrifice and service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have it 13 families who've been waiting over three years to so much as get a phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, let's go now to our panel, former Republican Pennsylvania congressman, Charlie Dent, is with me, along with Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha.

Good to have you both with us.

I'll start with you first, Chuck, because Trump and his campaign are working out to lay the failures of Afghanistan and the withdrawal at the feet of Vice President Kamala Harris. We know the evacuation and, of course, that 13 deaths at Abbey Gate hurt Biden politically.

Could the same be true for Harris?

CHUCK ROCHA, PRESIDENT, SOLIDARITY STRATEGIES: It could be, but what they can do is get out of their own way. If he was just having a national security debate about strategies, about deployments and about evacuations, that would be one thing, but the debate were having is how him and his staff can even conduct themselves and the right manner at a cemetery full of dead heroes.

That's what the conversation station has been about. That's why they're trying to change that conversation. And sure, well, let's have a debate. We can talk about foreign policy. We can talk about the -- what happened in Afghanistan with all of those things.

But this is just another example of how Donald Trump can't get out of his own way, where we can have a conversation about what's going on because he don't even know how to act.

KINKADE: And, Charlie, to hear, of course, Donald Trump was heavily criticized by the Army for doing what seemed to be a campaign event at this sacred site, and over the weekend, Kamala Harris weighed in on the situation, saying that Trump was disrespecting sacred ground for a political stunt. But that seemed to make some families, those at least that attended angrier.

[15:20:05]

Was Harris's statement a mistake do you think?

CHARLIE DENT (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Well, look, Donald Trump apparently was invited to Arlington by some of these families who lost their loved ones and Afghanistan. That is -- that is appropriate. What is not appropriate is to use Arlington for photographic purposes

or even campaign purposes. I think we need to have more of an investigation about what actually happened here. We're getting a lot of reports right now, and I think we need to get to the bottom of what occurred.

But Donald Trump, it is true. He has been known to behave inappropriately. I remember at a Boy Scout jamboree three years ago, he gave some stem winder of a partisan speech in front of the Boy Scouts. And you just don't do that. And then there's certain things you certainly do not do at Arlington because it is hallowed grounds, sacred ground, and we're not there to campaign or politics, if that is indeed what happened.

So I think we need to have more of an investigation about what's happened, but the families are standing behind Trump for now.

KINKADE: Well, yeah, those families that certainly with him at the time that are Republicans. To you, Chuck, Trump does have a history of making controversial remarks against members of the military.

In statements in 2016, he attacked a Gold Star family. He said John McCain wasn't a war hero. He's still got elected though.

Should the Harris campaign take the bait this time?

ROCHA: No, and I think they're running a much more discipline campaign. You see her not wanting to take the bait on the recent CNN interview around even her race. I think Donald Trump is used to being bombastic and he's used to doing things does it get folks like, oh, we like this because its not the status quo, but it's been so long now, I've been doing campaigns for 30 years and I know my good friend Charlie seen a lot of campaigns come and go.

A lot of this now is just really baked in and there's just such a small group of people that really are going to make a decision. And you mentioned that today in Pennsylvania, in Detroit, in these a battleground states, and I think that's where you're going to see a lot of this focus on between now and election day.

KINKADE: Yeah, of course. We'll get Harris, Walz, Biden hitting the trail today, trying to court some of those union voters, Biden hitting all three blue wall states this week for Harris.

I want to start with you, Chuck. I want to ask you, is Biden an asset for Harris in Pennsylvania with this group of voters now that he isn't running?

ROCHA: It's a great question and all I can say to that as a political operative who runs campaigns is that he's already won them once before. Now you can come back and say, well, Donald Trump had won a couple of those four years prior to, but there's one place in America where Joe Biden is still very popular. It's good old Scranton Joe from Scranton, Pennsylvania.

My son is a union steam worker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He likes Joe Biden. There's a lot of folks in these blue collar industrial cities who think about Joe Biden as their working class hero. Roughly so, he's done a lot for the working class, and he's been a big, big proponent of unions.

So I think this is -- if you're going to use the president, this is where you use the president.

KINKADE: Yeah, exactly.

And, Charlie, to you, we keep hearing Donald Trump say that he is surging in the polls. These numbers are skyrocketing, new polling out over the weekend does show Harris narrowly leading Trump nationally, but there's still a lot of warning signs for her, including that Trump is still up on handling the economy, inflation and immigration. In these blue wall swing and appeal to union voters, is there a message do you think that she could have that would break through?

DENT: Well, certainly this election is very close and particularly in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I know she is out in the Pittsburgh area today with President Biden at a Labor Day parade.

And, look, I sometimes think that the union vote is overstated in Pennsylvania. I'd be very honest about that.

Look, she needs to get on the right side of many industrial agricultural workers in Pennsylvania. Democrats have struggled with industrial agricultural America, and that's certainly true in western Pennsylvania, where fracking for natural gas is a very big issue. Now, she has reversed herself on that issue, but that's an issue that speaks to hardworking people, many of whom are unionized and she was on the wrong side of that issue until recently.

So I think she needs to go out there and continue to talk about an economic message, particularly in western Pennsylvania, because Trump is going to win that region handily with the exception of Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is where she will do extremely well, but that's an area a challenge.

If I were giving advice to the Harris campaign, I'd say in the Philadelphia media markets, you should pound away a woman's reproductive rights, and on January 6. But Trump does have an advantage on the economy and inflation.

So right now, I'd say she should just try to, try to do some damage control on the fracking issue, particularly where she is today.

KINKADE: And yet to you, Chuck, I mean, should she focus on women's reproductive rights and abortion? Especially given that just last week, Trump saying to be flip-flopping on the issue for saying that six weeks, the ban that exists in Florida is not long enough that it should be longer and then the next day, within 24 hours saying that he won't vote to expand rights.

[15:25:16]

Is an area that she should focus on more? CHUCK: Yes, and you've seen them start a new bus tour highlighting just that, and to the congressman's point, he knows those collar counties around Philadelphia will be a big determining factor where there's lots of suburban white women who really care about this, who many of them are moderate and many of them are Republicans who don't like Donald Trump.

And this issue is very personal for them as it should be, and it's probably one of two or three of the determining factors, in most of these battleground states. The other is the changing demographics. Charlie mentioned western Pennsylvania, the eastern Pennsylvania, where his congressional district is has changed a lot as well with this influx of Puerto Ricans in Bethlehem and Allentown and Reading.

These are the new industrial blue collar workers that you have to reach out to as well. And you're going to see their campaign put a big faith effort into that. And I think that coupled with the suburban women is the really biggest factor here.

KINKADE: Excellent.

Chuck Rocha, Charlie Dent, great to have you both on the program. Thanks so much for your time.

ROCHA: Thank you.

DENT: Thanks, Lynda.

KINKADE: And, still to come, CNN exclusive reporting on the United States seizing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's plane. It comes as the U.S. investigates what it believes to be corrupt practices by Maduro's government.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

We've got some CNN exclusive reporting. The United States has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's airplane after determining that its acquisition was in violation of U.S. sanctions.

[15:30:08]

The U.S. has been at odds with Maduro for years and has even questioned the validity of his recent reelection.

Well, joining me now is CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood.

Good to have you with us, Kylie.

So this seems to be a pretty rare situation, the confiscation of a foreign leader's plane. What -- what can you tell us?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. According to one U.S. official, this is unheard of going after the plane of the head of state demonstrating that the United States is going to go after those who are in violation of U.S. sanctions, even at the highest of levels. This is a plane that was used according to the Department of Justice, almost exclusively to fly to and from a military base in Venezuela.

But it was also used by President Nicolas Maduro to actually travel around the world, on state visits outside of the country. Effectively, it was his Air Force One plane, the plane that we see President Biden traveling around the world on. Now, it is in the custody of the United States.

It was initially seized in the Dominican Republic. It was there for a few weeks. According to an official from the Dominican Republic, it was there for some maintenance and that gave the United States and opportunity to work with authorities in the country to actually come up with a plan, seize the plane and now today it was flown as you see in those images, there to Florida.

And one of the interesting things here, Lynda, is that this plane actually got into the hands of Venezuela by coming from a U.S. company. This was in April of 2023. A Venezuelan government actually set up a front company that was based in the Caribbean and they bought this plane for $13 million from this company based in southern Florida. It was then transferred in April of 2023 from the United States through the Caribbean and to Venezuela. And now after of course, the United States determined that its acquisition was in violation of U.S. sanctions. They figured out a way to seize it. It's now being investigated by U.S. authorities.

KINKADE: Interesting times. We will stay, of course, on that story.

Good to have you with us, Kylie Atwood in Washington, D.C. Thanks so much.

Well, Russia is unleashing a massive wave of strikes on multiple Ukrainian cities, adding chaos and more danger for Ukrainian children who are going back to school. Monday's attacks targeted the Capital Kyiv, as well as the eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

Well, fighting back, Ukraine launched one of its largest ever drone attacks over the weekend, striking an oil refinery and power station deep inside Russia. It's all part of a new stage of the war. The Kursk incursion successes and failures together, bringing renewed urgency to the war in Ukraine.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour went to Kyiv, visiting an unmanned vehicle factory and speaking to Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk about the next phase.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): The evidence keeps growing, even here in Kyiv, far from the front, memorials occupy ever more space. And since Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, the war has returned to the cities with a vengeance. Last night, ballistic missiles hit Kyiv, destroying infrastructure, tripling the energy grid, raising fears.

Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk tells me it's been a tradeoff.

NATALIYA GUMENYUK, UKRAINIAN JOURNALIST: There is no discussion whether the Kursk was right. But the question is how much we lose in Pokrovsk, in the Donbas. It boosted the morale among the military. It showed that, you know, Ukraine can do something.

AMANPOUR: Just outside Kyiv, there's an urgent race against time in this factory that's building unmanned vehicles or land drones, because aerial drones make the front lines ever more dangerous for soldiers on both sides.

Here's CEO and former special forces officer Oleksandr Biletskyi.

OLEKSANDR BILETSKYI, CEO, SHERP: That's why we should have technologies to kill more Russians with the purpose and using the new technologies, like busing drones, using robots. That's it.

AMANPOUR: And these all-terrain, all-weather drones are meant to save more Ukrainians. On the front, they can be controlled from as far as three kilometers away. Here, we follow along behind. They can deliver everything from ammunition to water and also remove the wounded from the front lines.

Their production has ramped up since the full-scale invasion of 2022 and the company insists Ukraine must develop more technologically advanced systems for asymmetrical warfare to counter Russia's overwhelming manpower. And they want to be much more self-sufficient for the long haul.

Thirty months into this grinding conflict, with the prospect of international support fading, are Ukrainians now ready to negotiate an end to it all?

GUMENYUK: It's really a matter of survival. We can't allow them to control our territory. And what they suggest is unconditional capitulation.

AMANPOUR: Surrender, yes.

GUMENYUK: Unconditional surrender or occupation.

AMANPOUR: And here, Nataliya quotes her friend and Ukraine's Nobel laureate who warns that occupation is not peace, it's just a different way of war.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: We're now to another part of the world, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The World Health Organization is working to increase and deliver diagnostic tests and vaccines to the African nation and its neighbors to combat the spread of Mpox, formerly known as monkey pox. Well, in Congo, children currently make up the majority of the roughly 20,000 reported cases and 575 deaths this year.

The spread exacerbated by new strain of the virus believed to be more deadly than the strain that spread globally two years ago. But despite the COVID-19 pandemic shining a spotlight on how critical global public health initiatives are, Congo is still struggling to get the resources needed to stop the spread.

Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Jorge Rodriguez.

Good to have you with us, Doctor.

So just tell us what we know about this strain of Mpox spreading in the Congo and the neighboring African countries. And how was it more dangerous than the string we saw in the U.S. two years ago?

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST & VIRAL RESEARCHER: Well, this strain is of Mpox, is called clade 1, which is basically a cousin, not necessarily a mutation. And what we know is that it is almost eight to ten times more deadly than the Mpox that spread throughout the world in 2022. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, approximately 8 percent of the children that have caught it have died, whereas in 2022, that statistic was only 1 percent. So it is indeed deadlier.

KINKADE: And so, Jorge, can you tell us how it spreads?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, Mpox is spread by skin-to-skin contact. It is not spread as far as we know, in an aerosolized way through, through the air. So it is person to person, skin-to-skin contact.

KINKADE: And, of course, Dr. Rodriguez, Africa has just a fraction of the vaccines it needs to prevent the spread of Mpox. The Africa CDC said last week that its gotten only 10 percent of the funding that it asked for to tackle this crisis. Why has it been so difficult to send and distribute these vaccines? Is that a lack of global will?

RODRIGUEZ: It's -- well, that that may be one of it. It's multifactorial and you think that we would have learned our lesson with COVID. There is no such thing as an isolated epidemic in this world anymore, with airplane travel in mass transit, it goes everywhere. So there's many, many reasons.

There could be a bias against African countries. There is in the African countries a bit of, shall we say, governmental interference and perhaps prevalence to people higher up as opposed to the people that need it. But that is a very dangerous thing not providing the vaccines to the epicenter of this epidemic at this time, which is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries.

KINKADE: And speaking, Doctor, of that spread, and the way that they said epidemics can't be contained. There have been cases all this new variant reported in Sweden, in Thailand, in other African nations, did the challenges of treating his virus spread tell you that were really just not prepared for another global pandemic just after getting out of the last one?

RODRIGUEZ: It absolutely tells us that and again, I don't think we learned our lesson. The -- it can't happen to us frame of mind is completely false. It definitely can. It definitely will happen here just like it happen in 22 and this is the tip of the iceberg.

So we need to give our resources to where the center of the epidemic is right now, which is an African, but we need to be aware and alert and we need to promote vaccination where available.

KINKADE: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, we appreciate your time on this Labor Day here in the U.S. Thanks so much for joining us.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, Brazil's government is declaring war on arson as an unprecedented wildfires have ravaged the country over the past few weeks. Tens of thousands of acres of rainforest, wetlands and farmers land have been burned.

More now from CNN's Julia Vargas Jones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flames engulfing the world's largest rainforest, the world's largest wetlands and now the southeastern state of Sao Paulo.

[15:40:03]

Fires in the Brazilian state have burned almost 150,000 acres, an area nearly as large as the city of Chicago.

This video showing the critical moment when flames jump over a river.

This is hell, one man says.

Smoke turning day to night and covering entire cities, including the capital, Brasilia, hundreds of miles away.

But this is no natural disaster. Authorities blame the recent rash of fires on the perverse chemistry of climate change, extreme weather events and human actions.

People are starting fires, environment minister Marina Silva says, in the Amazon, in the wetlands and in Sao Paulo.

Ten people suspected of arson have been arrested so far and police are investigating whether criminal networks could be behind these wildfires.

In a span of 90 minutes, multiple hotspots appeared. Satellite images show.

CRISTIANE MAZZETTI, GREENPEACE BRAZIL: In one single day, last Friday the 23rd, the number of fires hotspots were even higher than the ones registered in the Amazon biome.

VARGAS JONES: Meanwhile, in the Amazon, almost 50,000 active fire spots have been detected so far this year. And officials say none of them started due to natural causes. Deforestation via arson continues to be a common practice to set up illegal mining sites and cattle farms, researchers and activists say.

MAZZETTI: People are still bad on impunity. They are not properly held accountable. We still have time, but time is running out and episodes like what we've seen in Brazil, what we are seeing in Brazil right now, show how urgent it is to deal with climate change, to deal with by the first loss.

VARGAS JONES: As Brazil battles one of the harshest droughts in its history, the dry months of September and October could cast an even darker shadow.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, still to come, a rare inside look at the biggest slice of America outside the United States, a sprawling military base that happens to be within driving distance of North Korea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:23]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

The largest U.S. overseas military base in the waters within driving distance of North Korea. And the 41,000 people living in a life to experience both American and Korean culture.

CNN's Mike Valerio, reports from Camp Humphreys in South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's where rock concerts roar, donuts delight, Krispy Kreme on the conveyor belt, and where families find new homes in Korea.

Like the Cook family, trading their lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, for Camp Humphreys, South Korea.

It's the Army's busiest airfield in Asia, and the biggest U.S. military base overseas. Camp Humphreys is about 60 miles away from North Korea, driving distance from the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, the DMZ, which divides the Korean peninsula.

More than 40,000 people called Camp Humphreys home, including the Cooks. They have not one but two sets of twins, the youngest, just eight months old.

They came here because of Sargent Terry Cooke (ph), an Army I.T. specialist, here to support the critical U.S. South Korea military alliance.

TYRESE COOK, MILITARY SPOUSE: We met in Cincinnati, Ohio.

VALERIO: But in dad mode with his wife Reeh (ph), he says it's all about supporting bringing his parental platoon.

SGT. TERRY COOK, U.S. ARMY: There's really like a, you know, spend as much time of the maximum my time to get this whole unit I got here.

VALERIO: Just look how you look right now, you're literally a super dad. You could do like pearls now.

Camp Humphreys hosts the only U.S. Army Division which is partially made up of South Korean soldiers.

It also serves as the headquarters of United Nations Command, the international military force designed to protect South Korea since the Korean War, now, nearly 75 years later.

The Korean peninsula's proximity to China and Russia makes South Korea a key linchpin in Northeast Asia security for the U.S. government.

But the goal for families here is to immerse in Korean culture, which is especially important for Reeh, since she lived in Germany as a kid when her dad was a sergeant in the Army.

TYRESE COOK: Being able to provide my children with the same cultural experiences that I was given other child, it is extremely important to me as a mother.

VALERIO: But for those looking for a slice of America, there's plenty. Texas Roadhouse, the on-base golf course, and one of the biggest Fourth of July celebrations on this side of the world.

Then there's this, a giant bakery. Wonder bread, burger buns and delicious doughnuts made with the secret Krispy Kreme recipe, no less, for the schools, restaurants, and grocery stores serving U.S. bases across South Korea.

There's also the feeling of belonging.

Jubilation after years in the Army finally becoming American citizens.

Noncommissioned officer and CO, Sergeant Vanessa Ramo, was born in the Philippines, supported here at her naturalization ceremony by her platoon.

PVT. RENEE MYATT, U.S. ARMY: She's an amazing NCO. Very supportive to us. No, I'm sorry.

VALERIO: As for becoming a U.S. citizen in Korea? STAFF SGT. VANESSA RAMO, U.S. ARMY: I didn't expect it to be here,

honestly. It's great to do it overseas, somewhere, especially in Korea. I love Korea.

VALERIO: Ramo's platoon leader himself, naturalized in Philadelphia.

LT. JACOB HAN, U.S. ARMY: It just makes me really proud because I'm a Korean American, meaning I can serve the people of like the country that I was born in, but also the country that also gave me a lot of opportunities, which is the U.S.

VALERIO: A slice of America, inextricably part of the Korean tapestry, and for its newest residents, hardly far from home.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Camp Humphreys, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, still to come, what you can do to protect yourself from mosquito-borne viruses like the eastern equine encephalitis and the West Nile virus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:57]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

We have a health warning for you today, some may be coming to an end, but the risk of mosquito-borne viruses is not.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now.

And, Meg, let's start with the eastern equine encephalitis, also known as the EEE. What do we know about the number of cases being seen?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So this is a pretty rare virus. It's something a lot of us in the U.S. haven't really heard that much about, but we are having a bit more of a prevalent season this year. This is a virus that spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. It's typically pretty rare, only about 11 cases on average are reported every year in the United States.

And typically people don't show any symptoms of disease if they get infected. But in rare cases, this can spread to the central nervous system, affect the brain. And when that happens 30 percent of the time it can be fatal and four people who survived that, it can have lasting neurological problems.

And so, right now, we've seen six cases so far this summer in the United States, mainly in northeastern states, but one in Wisconsin, there has also been one death of a 41-year-old man in New Hampshire. So there is concern about this to the degree that some towns in Massachusetts have recommended curfews at dusk when mosquitoes are most likely to be biting. They've been closing public parks. And so there's a lot of concern around that. Now another virus we've been hearing a lot about in the U.S. that

spread by mosquitoes is West Nile virus. That's a more prevalent virus, although it's not having a major season this year, at least as of now. We've seen fewer than 300 cases reported, but really across the U.S. and really Texas has been hardest hit as of now.

We often see 1,000 to 3,000 cases per season in the United States. And this can be severe as well. So it's important that folks aware, of these things and aware that mosquitoes are going to be around until the first frost in different parts of the country.

KINKADE: Yeah. So, it's an interesting hearing about the dusk ban. What else can people do to protect themselves?

TIRRELL: Yeah. So, unfortunately, as a mosquito seasons get longer with a warming climate, we've seen studies that the number of mosquito days have increased over time by an average about 16 in some cities like Cleveland, up to even 27 since the late 1970s.

So these precautions that we know how about are becoming even more important, those include of course, wearing insect repellent, and that's registered with the EPA, with an ingredient like DEET or picaridin, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, treating those with something like permethrin and also taking care of your environment, making sure you don't have standing water in flower pots, of toys outside because that's where mosquitoes breed, keeping screens intact on windows and doors and as you said, avoiding being outdoors from dusk to dawn because that is when mosquitoes are most likely to be biting.

KINKADE: All right. Meg Tirrell, good to have you with us this Labor Day. Thanks so much.

TIRRELL: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, a new expedition in the Atlantic ocean has revealed the effects of the slow decay on the wreck of the Titanic. New pictures show how the ship has lost part of its iconic bow. A large section of the metal railing now lies on the seafloor. Its dramatic change for the ship that sank more than a century ago about was featured, of course, the famous king of the world scene from the 1997 movie, when Jack held Rose over the front of the ship.

Well, one more thing before we go --

(MUSIC)

KINKADE: Well, sad Adele fan, she's going to take a break. The Grammy winner told the crowd at the concert in Munich on Saturday that she plans to finish her Las Vegas residency in November and may not take the stage for an incredibly long time.

With just 10 shows remaining, her Las Vegas residency ends November 23rd. The singer told the crowd that she needs a rest and wants to take time to live a new life.

[15:55:04]

I hope she enjoys the break. I'm sure if those concerts sold out, they will be soon.

Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Stick with us. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.