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Tsunami Alert For U.S., Russia, Japan After 8.8 Quake Off Russia's East; Famine Is Unfolding In Gaza, An Alert From UN-Backed Food Security Experts Confirms; UK To Recognize Palestinian State Unless Israel Meets Conditions; Trump Administration To Burn, Not Deliver Contraceptives Worth $9.7M; Ivory Coast Fintech Company Offers Banking Solutions; India Overtakes China as Number One Smartphone Exporter To U.S. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 30, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:24]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN HOST: And we begin with Pacific bracing for potential tsunami waves. After one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off Russia's far eastern coast just a few hours ago, a tsunami warnings and advisories have been issued for countries including Japan, Russia, the Philippines and Indonesia, along with the U.S. west coast and parts of Central and South America.

Nearly 2 million people across Japan have been urged to move to safer ground. The 8.8 magnitude quake is the strongest since 2011 and it is tied to for the sixth most powerful on record. This was a scene earlier in Honolulu, Hawaii, as beachgoers began to evacuate. A tsunami waves reaching more than three meters above normal tide level are possible for some coasts of the Northern Hawaiian Islands.

The state's governor says a tsunami waves will, quote, wrap around the islands and he has urged residents to leave coastal zones right away and to expect flooding.

Now, officials in Southern California, they are closing the beaches there and they're urging people to just stay out of the water. A tsunami waves could reach part of Hawaii sometime this hour as well as parts of the U.S. west coast in the next hour.

Now our CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. She has been tracking developments for us closely. She joins us now in Allison. Hawaii, the first wave update is due to come in just under 10 minutes from now. What are you looking out for?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So we're trying to figure out exactly what those wave heights are going to be. And we have to base that off of not only some of the buoy data that we've already been getting in, but what these things typically happen when you have earthquakes like this. So, for example, normally what happens when you have the earthquake is

it pushes that water primarily in one direction. It all gets propagated outward rather quickly. And that can depend, however, on the type of fire fault or how the fault line even ruptures. And that's why you can have varying degrees of those waves throughout several of these areas.

And that's why on the map behind me, you will see two different colors. The orange color for the Western Aleutian Islands, portions of Hawaii and even areas of Northern California under a tsunami warning. But the yellow areas under only a tsunami advisory.

Now, both of them can still expect tsunami waves. They're just expected to be different heights. Now, the reason for that we talked about, those typically have those waves pushing out in one direction. And the main focus of where that wave displacement was expected to be is in these orange areas.

Now, one thing to note too, may be asking, OK, but why the little section here of portions of Northern California? And that has entirely to do with the bathymetry of the coastline that's there. It's different than the coastline of the surrounding areas, putting them at a little bit of a higher risk than some of those areas, say on the Oregon coast or even across Central California.

So one of the big concerns is when those waves begin to propagate out, we can actually time them rather well actually to know exactly when they're going to hit certain places, not just Hawaii, but the western coastline of the U.S. as well.

So we break down that timeline for you right here. So Hawaii, for example, is expected to see those waves about 1:15 Eastern Time soon. So that should be in roughly about the next 10 minutes or so. You will start to see those first waves come in. For Washington and Oregon along the U.S. coastline, likely between 2:35 to 2:55 a.m. Eastern time. So likely still about an hour to an hour and a half from now. And then California depends on where.

So the Northern California coast, likely about 2:50 to roughly 3:15 a.m. Eastern Time, and then Southern California closer to around 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time for that timeline. So again, it's going to be varying timelines and also varying degrees of the waves. And a lot of that, again, as we talked about, has to do with how those waves actually propagate out.

Now, it was a very shallow earthquake, and that is also very important with this because of the thrust fault that it was. The fact that it was very shallow allows those waves to push out rather quickly. Here's the thing to note. 13 miles, I know that may sound like that would be very deep into the Earth's crust, but it actually isn't.

In fact, most earthquakes, if they are less than, say about 40 miles, that really is considered very shallow for a lot of these areas. It's also because it was at least an 8 magnitude considered a great earthquake on this scale. And here we talk about that. So we talk about what is considered shallow, what's considered intermediate, and what is considered deep.

[01:05:03]

Shallow is essentially anything that's 44 miles deep or less. And we certainly had that very, very shallow compared to a lot of the others. So again, Kristie, I think the real concern here is just going to be waiting at this point the next 10 minutes to see what type of waves we end up getting, especially along the North Shore first. And then they will continue to wrap back around the rest of the islands as we go the several minutes after that.

LU STOUT: Yes. Keeping a close eye on the size and shapes of these incoming waves. Allison Chinchar joining us live. Thank you. Now CNN's Ivan Watson joins us now. And Ivan, all eyes on Hawaii this hour as we anticipate, as Alison was reporting the wave heights and the potential damage from the tsunami waves.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And as Allison warned, they're expecting that the first effects, the first tsunami effects could begin as soon as 10 minutes from now. The authorities in Hawaii are taking this very seriously.

So the flights to Hilo International Airport have been suspended. All the major ports, seaports have been closed. The Hawaii National Guard is standing by. And here's an excerpt from what Hawaii's governor had to say in a recent press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH GREEN, HAWAII GOVERNOR: If you stay on beaches, you could risk death. So again, you can expect a tsunami wave to hit the state and it will not just hit one beach, it will wrap around the islands, very likely, therefore causing a wave in Hilo, in Kona and Kauai and on Maui. You have to be safe and please do not come back out until we give you the all clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Tsunami sirens have been blaring out in Honolulu. Anecdotally, the guests at a Disney Hotel resort on the island of Oahu were warned by management there to evacuate the first and second floors and move up to the third floor and they might have to evacuate first further.

Now, the key impact, the immediate impact of this very powerful, historically powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami has been in the Russian Far east, sparsely populated. There is one town, Severo- Kurilsk, that saw flooding in the coastal area. Some 300 people had to be moved out. No reports of injuries.

But we did see scenes of kind of industrial areas along the coast being flooded by a tsunami and reports from local officials of ships being snapped away on their moorings and carried out to sea.

Another area country that has been issuing warnings is Japan, which has issued evacuation advisories to about a 1.9 million people. So far, it has registered tsunami waves of between 40-60 centimeters. We have seen in one instance, people taking shelter, probably preemptively, protectively, on a rooftop in the Hokkaido prefecture. And some signs of big waves along some of the coastline and warnings coming out in Japan that tsunami like conditions could continue with for up to a day.

And the warnings and the advisories are all around the periphery, the Pacific Rim with the -- we have warnings coming from a U.S. Tsunami Warning Center that you could have 1 to 3 meter waves hitting the coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, Hawaii, of course, Japan. That is how seriously the experts and the scientists are taking this.

And we're hearing and seeing as well warnings coming from local and state officials in the northwest of the U.S., Alaska as well, to take this seriously. And there is reason for this as well, Kristie. In 2011 there was a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Japan. It ultimately resulted and this subsequent tsunami in a death toll of more than 22,000 people. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Nothing like that as a result of this earthquake.

LU STOUT: Absolutely, Ivan. And the data, the warnings have been issued and alerted, including the timelines as we've been reporting the first tsunami waves due to roll in at any minute, quite literally on the U.S. island of Hawaii. And after Hawaii, in the next one hour, two hours, it will hit Washington State, Oregon, Northern California, before Southern California.

Any latest information or updates on how prepared those communities are those additional coastal communities about these tsunami waves as they continue to roll in?

WATSON: Well, the warnings are to stay out of the water, basically, so that it's not just that, you know, kind of Hollywood image of a giant wave coming through.

[01:10:00]

It is also the danger of intense currents and unpredictable currents and nobody wants any lives lost. So that's why you've got cities like Huntington Beach, even south of Los Angeles have protectively closed their beaches. These are the types of measures that people are taking because they do not want to see a tragedy, they do not want to see an accident.

And also warnings, for instance, from the governor of Hawaii. He's also saying, listen, don't panic. We are prepared for this. They have done drills. They're taking all these measures in case of a worst case scenario.

And again, everybody, of course, hoping that won't come to fruition. But in the meantime, it's not a good time to be playing in the ocean as they're watching to see what may happen as a result of this historically powerful earthquake.

LU STOUT: That's right. This is the time to seek higher ground. Ivan Watson reporting for us live. Thank you very much indeed. Now to other news this hour. A U.N. backed group is now warning the

worst case scenario of famine is unfolding right now in Gaza. What the British Prime Minister says he will do if Israel doesn't end this quote, appalling situation. You're watching CNN.

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[01:15:41]

LU STOUT: Welcome back. The latest on our breaking news story. Widespread tsunami alerts, advisories and warnings are in effect after a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake. It struck earlier off Russia's far eastern coast, leaving the entire Asia Pacific region on edge. Nearly 2 million people across Japan have been told to move to safer ground as tsunami waves hit various parts of the coast, though some are smaller than previously forecast.

And evacuations are underway in Hawaii, which is expecting waves right now this hour. And forecasters say that they could reach more than 3 meters or 10 feet above the normal tide level for some of the Northern Hawaiian Islands. A tsunami warning has also been issued for the Northern California coast all the way up to the Oregon border, with waves expected there in less than two hours.

Now William Yeck is a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. He joins us from Golden, Colorado. Thank you so much for joining us, William.

We are thankful. Focus on Hawaii this hour. As the tsunami waves roll in, what are you looking out for and what will the wave heights be?

WILLIAM YECK, RESEARCH GEOPHYSICIST, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY'S NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION CENTER: Right. So the wave heights, I mean, we can model those pretty well. That's really done through NOAA and the Tsunami Warning Center. So I recommend everyone go to tsunami.gov if they want to get the most accurate forecast right now.

But given the size of the earthquake and the information that we can get from deep sea buoys and other observations, we can get a pretty accurate forecast of the size of the waves that are going to occur in Hawaii and then the west coast of the US as far as well as other regions.

LU STOUT: And that size is?

YECK: You know, it depends on location and it depends on bathymetry.

LU STOUT: Got it.

YECK: So if you really want to have accurate location for your location, you should check tsunami.gov.

LU STOUT: OK. Got it, Got it. Now, the governor of Hawaii, he's been speaking to the media and he's warned that the tsunami waves will, quote, wrap around the islands. What does he mean by that and what danger does that pose? YECK: Right. So the tsunami waves, they're not just going to hit as a

flat line and hit the island, but depending on certain features on the coast, such as bays, it can amplify the size of the waves that you could see.

So really, you know, you can expect the waves to occur all along the chain of Hawaii.

LU STOUT: Right. And the devastation here or the potential devastation, do you anticipate it's going to come? Not in the form of initial impact of a wave that could be as high as 3 meters or 10 feet. But from flooding, is that the real danger here?

YECK: Well, I think typically for tsunamis, the biggest impact is close to the source. That's where you see the biggest waves most often. That's also where you see the strong shaking. So that's where you expect the most damage from shaking. And then where you have tsunamis, where you don't have a lot of time for war.

I think one thing that's been really good about the story and all the coverage of the tsunami is the fact that people are talking about it and we know that the tsunami is coming and people can prepare and all you have to do is get to higher ground. Right, to protect yourself.

So, I think really we should just be focusing on making sure people are aware that the tsunami is coming and that they should get to higher ground.

LU STOUT: Yes, people are aware. They're watching this right now. They're sharing on social media. They're going to the CNN Live blog. And what happens in Hawaii, could it be a marker of what's to come? And what do you think is going to be expected on the other coast?

Because as we've been reporting here, you know, thanks to Allison Chinchar earlier in the hour, there is a timeline. You know, we know that the waves are going to be hitting soon. Washington, Oregon at 2:35 Eastern Time. That's just an hour 15 minutes from now. And then Northern California at 2:58 Eastern Time. So what can we expect as the wave continues to roll on?

YECK: Right. So I mean, we're fortunate that we have a pretty good capability in terms of modeling these. And as you said, you can give very specific times as to when we expect the waves to show up. And as we gather more and more data in terms of the observations at different coasts as it hits the coast and then the deep sea buoys, we can get a more accurate estimate of the size of the tsunami.

So, you know, we'll continue updating or NOAA and tsunami.gov will continue updating what they expect to see in terms of the tsunami.

[01:20:05]

But again, as you mentioned before, you know, the expectations thus far on the order of feet. So, you know, compared to being very close to a source where you can have a very large tsunami, these are smaller, but they can still impact people and you don't want to be near the water at all.

LU STOUT: Yes. And just very quickly, I gathered that you were saying earlier that because of the amount of information, the signals, the alerts that have been out there, are you hopeful for minimal damage and destruction from these tsunami waves?

YECK: Oh, definitely hopeful for it. And I mean, I'm very glad to see how much coverage this has gotten and how aware people are about tsunamis as compared to previous tsunamis.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. William Yeck joining us from Colorado. Thank you, sir, for joining us. Take care.

YECK: Thank you.

LU STOUT: The Palestinian Health ministry now puts the death toll in Gaza above 60,000. And a U.N.-backed food security initiative is warning that this situation will only get worse. The group says the worst case scenario of famine is unfolding right now in Gaza with access to food and other essentials at an unprecedented low asides mounting evidence of starvation, malnutrition and disease that will result in even more hunger related deaths.

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that he will recognize the Palestinian state if Israel does not take steps to end the, quote, appalling conditions in Gaza. He is demanding an Israeli ceasefire and commitment to a long term sustainable peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: The reason we have announced this in the way we have in relation to the General Assembly in September is precisely because I want to ensure that this plays a part in changing the conditions on the ground and making sure that aid gets in, making sure that there is hope of a two-state solution for the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the decision, saying on social media that it rewards Hamas's monstrous terrorism. U.S. President Donald Trump says he has no plans to follow Starmer's ultimatum, although he and First Lady Melania Trump have been deeply affected by the images coming out of Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think everybody, unless they're pretty cold hearted or worse than that, nuts. There's nothing you can say other than it's terrible when you see the kids and those are kids, you know, whether they talk starvation or not, those are kids that are starving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: All right. We have more now on the situation in Gaza from CNN's Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, humanitarian aid is beginning to surge into the Gaza Strip. 200 trucks of aid were distributed in Gaza on Monday. That's double the amount that was distributed just the day before. We've seen dozens of these airdrops happening over the skies of Gaza as well, stressing the urgency of the situation.

But the reality on the ground is that starvation is not a switch that can be turned on and off. And unfortunately, doctors and humanitarians on the ground say that more Palestinians are likely to still continue to die in the days ahead as a result of malnutrition.

And now we have this grave warning coming from the IPC, which is the leading U.N.-backed global authority on food security, which says that the, quote, worst case scenario of famine is now unfolding in Gaza.

They are predicting widespread deaths if more action is not taken to rapidly alleviate the humanitarian situation. They point to the fact that the situation in Gaza has dramatically worsened recently with access to food plummeting and 20,000 children being admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition between April and mid-July.

And so the 200 trucks of aid that we are seeing, while it certainly represents an increase from the levels that were at before, it's far short of the 5, 600 trucks a day of aid that humanitarian aid officials say are needed to alleviate the situation in Gaza.

And indeed, we are continuing to see deaths as a result of starvation and malnutrition still happening in the Gaza Strip. Now, as all of this is happening, the United Kingdom is now becoming the latest country to say that it will recognize a Palestinian state.

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer making this announcement certainly ruffling the feathers of Israeli officials. But what's interesting about what the United Kingdom has done here is that they are putting conditions to this recognition, saying that they will only move forward with recognizing a Palestinian state if Israel doesn't meet a few key conditions.

Those conditions are alleviating dramatically the situation in the Gaza Strip, agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza, and also taking concrete steps towards a two-state solution.

[01:25:09]

If Israel doesn't reach those conditions by the time of the U.N. General assembly in September, Prime Minister Starmer says he will move ahead with recognizing a Palestinian State.

Now, Israeli officials obviously pushing back on all of this, expressing outrage at the notion of recognizing a Palestinian State, saying it would be reward for Hamas's October 7th attack. What we've also heard is from the Israeli foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who says that this right now is the pressure that Israel is now facing is going to harden Hamas's position at the negotiating table and make it more difficult for Israel and Hamas to actually reach that ceasefire that everyone around the world seems to want.

But of course, that pressure that Israel is facing, a direct result of the situation on the ground in Gaza, which was driven by Israeli policies. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And joining me now from Berlin is New York Times chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, Steven Erlanger. Steven, thank you so much for joining us here on the program.

Again, the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian State if Israel fails to act. What is behind this fresh stance on Palestine? What ultimately moved the British prime Minister to do this?

STEVEN ERLANGER, NEW YORK TIMES CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, EUROPE: Well, the blunt answer is politics, domestic politics, and a growing revulsion, which is real and which Starmer, I think also feels at the pictures coming out of Gaza. Since March, when Israel shut down Gaza and cut off aid, the situation has gotten much worse. But it hasn't really changed the battlefield very much.

And the result has been pictures that have horrified many people, including President Trump, and created enormous pressure inside Prime Minister Starmer's party and also in the opposition to do something. To do something. Politicians are always urged to do something to help solve problems that they actually can't control.

So following the French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to recognize a Palestinian state in September, Keir Starmer found a sort of compromise because I think he thinks it's not a very useful thing to do. But he's trying to use leverage by saying, if this doesn't happen by September, then I will do this. Now, whether that will work or not, I'm doubtful.

LU STOUT: But yes, and by doing this -- yes, we hope that it will -- but by doing this, Starmer is trying to push Israel toward a cease fire. But what about Hamas? How could Hamas react to this?

ERLANGER: Well, this is part of the Israeli argument, which has legitimacy, which is if Starmer says, I will recognize Palestinian State, if there is no ceasefire, there is big incentive on the part of Hamas. Not to have a ceasefire. You need two sides to have a ceasefire.

And as you know Trump's convoy, Steve Witkoff has been trying to get there for months and months now. And there's been intransigence on both sides, I would say. But the Americans are very frustrated with Hamas. I don't think this threat by Starmer will help Hamas to come to a ceasefire. I think that's certainly true. And also a two-state solution.

I think, you know, many people feel, oh, that would be the wonderful thing, but not possible under this Israeli government. It may be possible under a future one, but that's not going to happen under Benjamin Netanyahu.

LU STOUT: A few days ago, Macron made the move and France became the first G7 country to recognize Palestine. Will the U.K. work with the French government to bring more states to the table?

ERLANGER: I don't know if they'll do that exactly, but it is important. If two members of the U.N. Security Council do recognize Palestine as a state, if Britain does that, because Russia and China already do so, that would isolate the United States, at least as a permanent member. U.S. would still have a veto over any U.N. recognition of Palestine as a state, but it would put more pressure on Washington, to be sure.

LU STOUT: Steven Erlanger, we'll leave it at that. Thank you very much indeed for your insights and take care.

ERLANGER: You too. Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now the United States is set to destroy millions of dollars worth of contraceptives. How will this impact women around the world? We have that story after this.

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[01:35:07]

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kristie Lu Stout.

More now on our top story this hour.

Several countries around the Pacific Ocean are bracing for potential tsunamis After a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's east coast. Evacuations are already underway in Hawaii, where tsunami waves could reach more than three meters. That's ten feet above normal tide level in parts of the northern islands.

And we've just heard from CNN's Brandon Miller in the World Weather Center that, quote, "We are seeing the water receding significantly from webcams in the northern Kauai and Oahu surf cameras, which is what you're seeing there on your screen.

Now, Hawaii's governor is meanwhile urging residents to stay away -- stay far away from coastal areas as this potential tsunami could, quote, wrap around the islands.

Our CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking developments. She joins us now live.

And Allison, any more clarity on potential wave heights, especially in and around Hawaii?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So north of there, one of the nearby buoys, we did get some data about a three-foot height. So again, we are starting to see those numbers climb. So far up to this point, we've really only been seeing them about one

foot. So to see this something that goes -- is now going up to three feet, you are starting to see that increase.

The thing you have to understand is we don't have a lot of buoys in this particular area here, which is where the water would be coming from as it's approaching Hawaii.

So that makes it very hard for us to know exactly what the water is going to be, the level, I mean, when it makes it to Hawaii, because we don't really have any kind of gauge in this general area to base it off of.

So that's why we've just been kind of keeping an eye on Hawaii itself, waiting patiently for that water to arrive to really understand what those levels are going to be.

With that said, we do anticipate that some of the areas that will see the highest levels are going to be where you see the orange color on the screen. That does include Hawaii, it also includes this small portion of the northern California coast.

And the reason for that has to do entirely with the bathymetry of the coastline there. It's a little bit different than the surrounding coastline, which is why those other areas, it's that yellow color indicating just a tsunami advisory compared to a tsunami warning, which is what you see in the orange color.

Now, the one thing to note, probably the best thing about this is that we can time these out very well, actually.

So this is what we're looking at. This red dot here. This is where the earthquake originated. This is the epicenter. And as the wave, the tsunami wave begins, those waves will propagate out -- outward, away from the center.

So you can start to see, you know, 5 hours, 10 hours, 15 hours. You can start to time out when those waves will arrive in certain areas.

And so, for example, Hawaii, we've already started to see some of those waves begin about 15 minutes ago on the extreme northern islands. But again, you're going to start to see them continue throughout the rest of the islands as those waves continue to disperse.

Washington and Oregon along the western coast of the United States, it should be to those areas between 2:35 and 2:55 a.m. Eastern time. So likely in about the next 45 minutes to an hour, we should start to see a few of those waves there.

California, again, depending on what part. The northern California area were looking at, likely about 2:50 to 3:15 a.m. And then southern California, likely closer to around 4:00 a.m. Eastern time to see some of those waves come in.

This was a very shallow earthquake and a very strong earthquake. The combination of the two and the fact that it was on a thrust fault, those typically will end up causing at least somewhat of a small tsunami, especially if it's in the -- in the correct direction.

So that's what we're seeing here. It was very shallow at 13 miles deep, the 8.8 magnitude. And again we're starting to see some of those waves begin to make it into some of these areas.

Again, so far we've been very lucky. Most of the numbers we have seen have only been about one foot high compared to average. But Hawaii, some of the -- biggest concern we are looking at Hawaii, Kristie, is really the fact that this is coinciding with high tide.

So you're already looking at those water levels to be on the high side to begin with because of the high tide. Now we're going to be adding in that additional water from the tsunami wave.

So certainly just something we're going to have to keep a very close eye on.

STOUT: So much valuable information there. Thank you, Allison, walking us through both the timeline and the tsunami map, where we can see quite clearly how these waves are taking shape and where they're heading next.

Allison Chinchar, thank you.

[01:39:48]

STOUT: Now, the Trump administration is planning to burn nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives that we're already paid for by taxpayers, rather than delivering them to women in countries that once received assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID, which Trump has dismantled.

A U.S. congressional aide told CNN that the contraceptives are mostly long-lasting types like IUDs and birth control injections. A State Department spokesperson who confirmed the preliminary decision to destroy the birth control says that it would cost $167,000 to incinerate the contraceptives.

For more now, I want to bring in Chelsea Polis. She is a principal research scientist for the Guttmacher Institute. This is an organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide.

Chelsea, thank you so much for joining us here in the program.

First, could you tell us about what is being lost here? You know, what would $9.7 million worth of contraceptives be able to provide?

CHELSEA POLIS, PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE: This $9.7. million worth of contraception set to be destroyed by the Trump administration could have helped more than 1.5. million women and couples in low-income countries time and space their pregnancies.

So that includes pregnancy prevention for about 650,000 people for up to one year, and for an additional 950,000 people for 3 to 10 years, depending on the method.

STOUT: Wow. I mean, these are critical, potentially life-saving supplies that could have impacted the lives of so many women. And could you tell us where could they have been used? Like which communities could have benefited from this?

POLIS: Absolutely. As far as we understand, these commodities were intended for distribution in low and middle-income countries, largely in sub-Saharan Africa. And we know that contraceptives benefit women all around the world. And for women in crisis settings where some of these methods may have been distributed, such as Sudan or Yemen, women are at greater risk of severe complications or death due to pregnancy and childbirth. And in these settings, rates of sexual violence are high. So these contraceptives are nothing less than lifesaving.

STOUT: Yes, lives are on the line here, you know. What impact will this decision have then on maternal mortality.

POLIS: Every contraceptive destroyed means a woman who wanted to avoid pregnancy may now instead face an unintended pregnancy. It means a family that can't plan when to have children at the times that are best for the health of mother and baby, or women who might resort to abortion using unsafe methods.

All of these things could put a woman's life in danger, as well as endangering the health and well-being of any children she may already have.

Our data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that the now-gutted contraceptive programs previously run by USAID, provided contraceptive access that prevented over 17 million unintended pregnancies and saved 34,000 women's lives annually.

STOUT: And to destroy, again $9.7 million worth of contraceptives, what kind of precedent does this set. And what does it mean for the future of global health?

POLIS: It's wasteful and it's harmful. In the decades of tracking global family planning programs, we've never seen anything like this. This is the deliberate destruction of supplies that were ready for distribution.

This goes well beyond policy differences. It's callous. It's wasteful. It's expensive to U.S. Taxpayers. And it actively harms women and families who are counting on these services.

Until this year, the United States has been the world's largest funder of international family planning programs, providing 40 percent of global donor funding. So this action sends a devastating message to partner countries and organizations that have relied on American partnership for decades.

First, through the cutting of all family planning funding and now through the purposeful and wasteful destruction of commodities. This is an attack on contraception and on reproductive autonomy, plain and simple. STOUT: Yes. And these were products that, as you pointed out, there

were already paid for by U.S. taxpayers. We -- they're currently in a warehouse in Europe. They're going to be incinerated soon. Do you know what's being done, if anything, to try to save this stockpile?

POLIS: Unfortunately, we're hearing from colleagues that the trucks are already en route to France for incineration. So we're obviously very disappointed that the French government has authorized this and has not been able to stop this callous act.

We call on the U.S. administration to reverse this order immediately and to agree to distribute contraceptive commodities stored in other locations.

We also call on all European countries to take action to stop this action by the U.S. government.

[01:44:48]

POLIS: Women's lives and health, not to mention the health and well- being of their families, should not be sacrificed for political ideology.

If these contraceptive supplies are incinerated, the opportunity for reproductive autonomy for over a million people could also go up in smoke.

STOUT: We shall see if there's a last-minute change. But wow, so much at stake here.

Chelsea, thank you for joining us. That was Chelsea Polis, the principal research scientist for the Guttmacher Institute. Thank you.

POLIS: Thank you so much for having Me.

STOUT: You're watching CNN.

And still ahead, building the future of banking in Africa. How one fintech company is providing financial services to those who otherwise wouldn't have access to a bank.

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STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, according to the World Bank, just under 50 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa have a bank account, a number that has actually doubled since 2011.

Now, a rise in fintech offerings is helping to digitize banking throughout the continent, and that includes a company called Djamo in the Ivory Coast, which is creating solutions for those without bank accounts in west Africa.

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HASSAN BOURGI, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DJAMO: We're building the future of banking for Africa, and it's going to take us a long way to get there.

REGIS BAMBA, CO-FOUNDER, DJAMO: Back in 2019, I met Hassan, our CEO and co-founder. And he pitched me the idea about Djamo and how we could improve financial services.

And it kind of clicked in my mind. We were both frustrated with our banking experiences. So in essence, we're trying to solve our own problems that we're going through.

BOURGI: When you sign up, you get a virtual account that you can use for transactions.

BAMBA: You can use the app to manage your card, add money on it, transfer money to people. And then you have access to other services like peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments. You have access to a budget app. You also have access to an account number -- so bank account number.

MAYOWA KUYORO, PARTNER, MCKINSEY NIGERIA: We have a significant amount of unbanked population across the continent. And we're seeing people develop innovative solutions to reach people who are unbanked or underbanked.

There are a number of challenges that are known today that the tech sector faces. One I hear all the time when speaking to founders is the regulatory fragmentation across Africa.

If you're a fintech in Europe, you have one set of regulations to deal with. Whereas in Africa you have more than 50 regulations that you have to comply with in order to enter. And that makes a market smaller.

BOURGI: There wasn't any regulation when we started. Now we're getting our first kind of licenses because the regulatory framework, it's actually in transition. But we have seen some kind of acceleration in the last few months with the Central Bank participating into putting in place that framework for businesses like ours.

Currently, we're operating already in two of the largest markets of this region, which are Ivory Coast and Senegal. And we are eyeing some additional markets within the region in the next few years.

When I look back five years ago, we were three people in the office, you know, writing the first lines of code, trying to get our first bank partnership.

And today Djamo is more than 300 people. We are used by more than one million customers. I would have never imagined that we would be at this place today.

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STOUT: We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, for the first time, India has overtaken China as the number one exporter of smartphones to the U.S.

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STOUT: Now, the surge in exports is due largely to tech giant Apple shifting its manufacturing away from China in favor of India given the uncertainty with the U.S. trade policy.

We have more details now from CNN's Clare Duffy.

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CLARE DUFFY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: India's smartphone making industry has gotten a huge boost, mainly from Apple shifting production of its iPhones there and away from China.

This is a trend that's been happening for the past few years, but has really accelerated this year because of the higher cost of tariffs on goods imported from China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said back in May that the majority of iPhones sold in the United States would now be coming from India.

And this new report from the market research firm Canalys really underscores the effects of that shift. It finds that Indian made devices now account for 44 percent of smartphones that were imported into the United States during the second quarter. That's up from just 13 percent in the same period in the prior year.

And meanwhile, devices assembled in China account for 25 percent of the smartphones that were sold in the United States. So about half of India's share.

I will say, though, that Apple is still deeply dependent on China for many of the components that are going into its iPhones, even if they're being assembled in India.

And I also think this is interesting. You're seeing how Trump's tariff policies are starting to play out. While the president may be hoping that tech companies will bring their manufacturing back to the United States, in many cases we're just seeing them shift their manufacturing to other countries.

I will say, too, that while Apple may be now avoiding tariffs on goods imported from China, it might not be out of the woods yet. President Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering a tariff up to 25 percent on goods imported from India if the two countries cannot reach a trade agreement.

Clare Duffy, CNN -- New York.

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STOUT: Japan has issued evacuation orders for nearly two million people as tsunami waves hit various parts of the coast.

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami advisories throughout the Pacific region. Authorities say tsunami conditions, they could last for at least a day.

Now, Hawaii and parts of Alaska and northern California are under tsunami warnings, and the governor of Hawaii has been urging people to stay away from coastal areas as tsunami waves are expected to wrap around the islands.

Well, thank you for joining us this hour. We will have continuing coverage of the tsunami alerts with Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta after a short break.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Take care.

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