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Hawaii Opens Emergency Shelters Amid Tsunami Threat; Pacific Nations Brace For Potential Tsunamis From Major Quake; Tsunami Alerts Throughout Pacific After 8.8 Magnitude Quake; Police Digging Deeper Into Manhattan Gunman's Motive; Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza By Land And Air; U.K. To Recognize Palestinian State if Israel Fails to Act; Trump Says Russia Has 10 Days to Reach Ceasefire Deal in Ukraine; 8.8 Magnitude Quake Triggers Tsunami Warnings; Third Round of China-U.S. Negotiations Results in No Deal; Trump Threatens India With Tariffs as High as 25 Percent; NASA and Roscosmos Chiefs to Meet for First Time Since 2018. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 30, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:27]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

We begin with nations around the Pacific bracing for potential tsunami waves after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck of Russia's Far Eastern Coast a few hours ago.

In Hawaii, authorities are opening emergency shelters right now as residents are being urged to evacuate. The state's governor warns that tsunami waves, "Will wrap around the islands." He's urging residents to leave coastal zones right away and expect flooding.

Officials are bracing for tsunami waves more than three meters above normal tide levels in some areas, and authorities in Los Angeles are also preparing for possible tsunami effects.

Officials in Southern California are urging people to stay out of the ocean. Tsunami waves could reach the U.S. West Coast starting this hour, and in the hours ahead.

Tsunami warnings and advisories have been issued throughout the Pacific, Japan, Russia, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as parts of Central and South America also on alert.

Nearly two million people across Japan have been urged to move to safer ground. The first waves to hit Japan were smaller than forecast, but officials say the threat is not over as dangerous tsunami conditions could last for at least another day. The 8.8 magnitude quake is the strongest since 2011 and tied for the six most powerful on record. Well, CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the developments.

And Allison, as I said, this is the most powerful earthquake since 2011 which, of course, caused widespread devastation and triggered a tsunami warning and nuclear crisis. What can you tell us about the location of this one and the depth?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, the key thing there is that one was a stronger earthquake. This one is a little bit weaker, not by much, but it is a little bit weaker. So that does at least bode a little bit better for us, that maybe perhaps we will not see the waves quite what they were.

However, I've been watching webcams for the last 30 minutes around Hawaii trying to determine where we would see some stuff, and you have already started to see on the northern island. The first sign is the water actually recedes. It actually goes back out.

So, if you were standing along the ocean, for example, and the waves would be crashing at your feet. Now, all of a sudden, they would be several feet away from you.

So, we started to see the water recede, and it's now starting to come back in. The question is, how much more does it come back in compared to where it normally would be.

And not just in Hawaii, but in other places as well. That's why you have these alerts in effect. Now, the orange color you see here for the Western Aleutian Islands as well as portions of Hawaii as well as Northern California, that is the orange color indicating the tsunami warning, the yellow color indicating a tsunami advisory.

The difference, basically, there is both of all of these colors are going to see some type of wave. It's just going to be a little bit more intense in the orange areas than you are going to see in the yellow shaded area.

Now, the main concern really is going to be Hawaii. One of the concerns we've had is that there's not really many buoys in this area, so we just don't know exactly how high those waves are going to finally propagate once they reach Hawaii.

Now, when you also notice this orange area here, and you may be wondering, OK, why is that just very small section of California under a warning when all of the surrounding areas are just in an advisory and that has to do with the bathymetry of the coastline that's there. It sticks out a little bit further, and it's a little bit different in shape than the surrounding areas, which puts them at least a slightly higher risk of having some of those bigger waves kind of push on shore.

Now, the one bit of good news when it comes to tsunamis is that we can actually predict the wave timeline very accurately in many cases. So, here, this red dot that you see right here, this is the epicenter of the earthquake.

And basically what happens is, when you have an earthquake like that, the water that gets pushed out really propagates in basically one direction. And so, you can kind of see it all getting spread out here. Then you can start to time it one hour, three hours, five hours, 10 hours. You can start to determine when the waves are going to arrive in certain places. And that's what we've done.

They've already started to arrive along the northern islands of Hawaii, and they will continue to spread out across the rest of the islands there over the next hour or so, Washington and Oregon, likely picking up here in about the next 20 to 30 minutes, and then for California, the northern coastline, we should start to see those waves in about 45 minutes. Southern California likely going to be at least another hour and a half before we would start to see any of those waves arrive.

[02:05:16]

KINKADE: All right, we'll continue to check in with you Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

Well, CNN's Ivan Watson is following this story live for us from Hong Kong and joins us now. Ivan, so this earthquake which struck off the coast of Russia, the sixth strongest in recorded history, but those initial waves we saw in Alaska and Japan was smaller than first feared.

But as we know, the first wave isn't always the most dangerous. What can you tell us about what we're seeing right now in both those regions and also Hawaii?

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, CNN's meteorology team, you just heard from Allison, that they noted that there had been the largest tsunami observation so far was at Midway Atoll, which is about a thousand miles to the northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. And there it was measured at about 3.1 feet. That's about one meter tsunami wave.

So, that is what is kind of helping people trying to get an indication of what may happen as the effects of the earthquake may spread through the ocean to places like Hawaii and further.

The authorities in Hawaii have taken this very, very seriously. They have canceled flights to the main International Airport on the island of Hawaii. The ports have been closed, and here are some of the warnings that the Hawaii Governor Josh Green issued.

My apologies. We don't have his sound right there, but basically he was saying you could get killed if you stay near the beaches, that the wave effects are going to be wrapping around the islands, and he's urging people to go to higher ground.

So, anecdotally, there's a Disney resort hotel on the island of O'ahu, which has told its guests to evacuate the first and second floors of the hotel and move up to the third floor.

Now, Japan has also taken this very, very seriously. As you noted, Lynda, close to two million people have issued -- been issued evacuation advisories. There the -- so far, the tsunami effects are -- have been registered between 40 and 60 centimeters in height of waves. You're seeing people who have taken shelter on a rooftop, and that could be in part, because even though the waves are not enormous, yet, there are warnings that they could get bigger and more dangerous.

And the tragic history that Japan experienced some 14 years ago when some 22,000 people died as a result of a powerful earthquake, 9.1 magnitude and the ensuing tsunami, which also led to a nuclear reactor disaster.

So, Japan is taking this very seriously, and the warnings and alerts have gone all around the Pacific Rim, down the coast of Central and South America, you have the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center saying that one to three meter waves could hit Chile, Costa Rica, of course, Japan as well.

So, authorities around this vast region taking this warning very seriously and watching to see what could happen in in the hours ahead, Lynda.

KINKADE: Ivan Watson for us in Hong Kong, our thanks to you.

And we are going to stay on this story. I want to welcome Yong Wei, he's the senior research scientist for the University of Washington's tsunami group. He also works with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Good to have you with us. Thanks so much for your time.

YONG WEI, SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: Thank you.

KINKADE: So you're, of course, an expert in tsunami modeling and forecasting, Dr. Wei's, based on what you're seeing in the models, and, of course, the sensor data that you're -- that you're getting, can you walk us through what's happening right now and what your forecast suggests that we'll see in the next few hours.

WEI: Yes, so we did this forecast in the afternoon, and then it can see the waves are entering Hawaii islands right now. The model predicts the wave set up Hawaii will be about between one to two to three meters, and along the north shore of Hawaii islands, we probably will see some flooding, but on the west coast of U.S., we'll probably see smaller waves, but be alert of the strong currents and stay away from the beach.

KINKADE: And how confident are you in the current projections of the wave heights and the arrival times that we now have for those specific regions?

[02:10:02]

WEI: Yes, starting from the earthquake, we started to look at all different kind of data, seismic data, and also the ocean -- deep ocean tsunami buoys and the software -- the system would develop that currently operation at both tsunami warning centers. They combine the seismic data, and also what level of measurements from the deep ocean.

So, the model results have been confirmed using those observations, and they look pretty accurate. I'm pretty confident that our forecast will be hit on the spot.

KINKADE: And based on your forecast, does it indicate that the waves that will hit Hawaii, those tsunami waves of one to three meters, will be the worst there compared to the other regions?

WEI: Yes, I would say so, except for the new field region, where we have seen about like eight meters wave near Kamchatka. But for the -- for the area across the Pacific, I think Hawaii will be one of the largest area that will be hit by the large waves.

KINKADE: And what sort of impact will that have in Hawaii?

WEI: Hawaii, you will definitely see probably some areas, as I say, in the North Shore, you will see some like flooding, and people should get away from the beach. And you know, I think Hawaii has issued warning to the entire state.

KINKADE: Some people might imagine giant crashing waves, but tsunami waves behave very differently. Can you just explain how they're different from typical ocean waves, beach waves? Not just in height, but also in speed and force. I understand, you know, at times it can move as fast as a jet plane, right?

WEI: Yes, that's right, because the traveling speed of a tsunami pretty much is controlled by the wat -- the water depths of the ocean, which we say the symmetry and it travel around like 700 kilometers per hour, which like jet plane and it's usually very small in the -- in the deep ocean. It's pretty quiet in the deep ocean, but once the tsunami wave reach the shallow water, and then the energy release will be in the forms of wave height and the water will pie up and cause severe damage along the coastline.

KINKADE: And you rely heavily on these undersea sensors to detect tsunami waves. Can you explain how those systems work and how quickly you get that data?

WEI: Yes, currently, there's like -- also like the tide gage data around all the coastline in the Pacific. But there's also this tsunami buoys. Currently like about like 74 tsunami buoys across different oceans in the world. And those buoys are deployed in the deep water, which is designed to detect any tsunamis from subduction zone in within like a half an hour to two hours of window after earthquake. So, the data collected by those buoys, and also tide gages can be used in the model forecast.

KINKADE: Yong Wei in Seattle, Washington. Appreciate your expertise. Thanks so much for your time.

WEI: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, New York remembers the four victims of Monday's shooting in Manhattan as police trying to find out more about the motive of that shooter, what we're learning about his past just ahead.

Also, the worst case scenario for famine unfolding in Gaza right now, we'll speak live with an advisor to Oxfam about what needs to be done to alleviate the crisis.

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[02:18:23]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kincaid. We have an update on our breaking news, widespread tsunami alerts, advisories and warnings are in effect across the Pacific region. It comes after a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's Far Eastern Coast. Tsunami warnings are in effect for Hawaii, Alaska, as well as parts of the Northern California coast.

Well, joining us now is Adam Weintraub, a staff officer with the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency. Thanks so much for your time.

ADAM WEINTRAUB, STAFF OFFICER, HAWAII COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY: Glad to help.

KINKADE: So, have the first tsunami waves hit there? What are you seeing on the ground?

WEINTRAUB: We've seen recordings from some of our tidal gages that show that the early waves are arriving depending on where they are around the island chain, we're seeing anywhere from less than a foot to as much as four feet. It's hard to tell with a long form wave like this whether the following waves will be larger, smaller, about the same size, so we're still in a weeding and watching stance here.

KINKADE: I just spoke to a forecasting -- tsunami forecasting expert, who said Hawaii could see the highest waves across the Pacific, and we've heard, obviously, from the Hawaiian governor, warning that these waves might wrap around the island. How are people preparing for that possibility?

WEINTRAUB: Well, we instituted evacuation protocols as soon as we got to the warming from Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

So, as of about 6:30 p.m. Hawaii standard time today, which was roughly 40 minutes before the projected arrival time, we largely had completed the evacuation of coastal zones. There may be a few folks who refused to leave, or someone who for some reason or other didn't get the warning, but there was an extensive evacuation effort here on Hawaii Island and on the other islands in the chain.

[02:20:23]

So, we're hopeful that we've limited the number of folks who might be exposed to a hazard if it turns out that the waves are quite large.

KINKADE: And of course, earlier, we saw gridlock traffic of people trying to evacuate. And I understand that at this point in time, flights have been paused. Is that correct? WEINTRAUB: There have been some pausing of flights. I understand that island flights were held up. We had Hilo airport that was closed, in part because we didn't want to interfere with the evacuation. That's standard protocol here in Hawaii Island.

Other airports did remain open, the -- we did become aware that there was some gridlock traffic. Many of those locations where the traffic bottleneck were out of the tsunami zone. So, we're hopeful that all those folks got cleared to safety before they ran into the traffic hose.

KINKADE: And can you give us a sense of how communication is being handled at this point in time, especially for people who may not evacuate immediately?

WEINTRAUB: Well, we've got officers who manned roadblocks at the entrances to the tsunami zone on major traffic routes to let people know that they were not going to be allowed into those areas unless they lived in those areas, and they were only being allowed to get together for family members their evacuation supplies to come right back out.

The information is being shared through our siren network, through radio and T.V. broadcasts. Obviously, we're hoping the word gets out through your broadcast, as well as those local stations.

And we've also shared alert messages over the Emergency Alert System, which does use the broadcast system and through our wireless emergency alerts which show up on people's mobile devices.

So, we're hopeful that between that and our social media messages, we have the word to most everybody.

KINKADE: And as you made clear earlier, as we know, the first wave isn't always the biggest when it comes to tsunamis, how long should people be on alert?

WEINTRAUB: Well, we've asked that people not take their cue from the first set of waves and wait until they get an official all clear before they return to the evacuation zone. We expect that we'll be set up and monitoring the situation with our partners for at least several more hours, and until we see a clear trend of descending wave height over a period of several iterations, we won't be issuing that all clear. We expect that we'll be in monitoring for some time into the night.

KINKADE: We wish you all the very best. Appreciate your time, Adam Weintraub, thanks so much for joining us.

WEINTRAUB: Thank you.

KINKADE: The multi faith prayer vigil was held in New York Tuesday for four people who were killed in the Manhattan skyscraper mass shooting.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are among those who attended. Why authorities learned of the gunman's grievances against the NFL and its handling of the brain disease CTE, they still want to know more about the shooter's motive.

CNN's Jason Carroll has the latest on their search for answers in the gunman's hometown of Las Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Police thousands of miles away from the Manhattan crime scene positioned outside the shooter's Las Vegas home. As investigators try to learn as much as they can about Shane Tamura and his motive for carrying out the deadly attack. The New York Police Department is sending two teams to Las Vegas.

JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: To conduct interviews. And execute a search warrant at Mr. Tomorrow's home. They'll also visit the gun store where he legally purchased a revolver on June 12th using a Nevada concealed carry permit.

CARROLL (voice over): Neighbors outside the suspect's home stunned to hear about what had happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not something you really expect to see, so, yes, it's a real shock.

CARROLL (voice over): The 27-year-old worked here at the Horseshoe Casino as a surveillance Department employee. Police have uncovered some of his movements in the days before the shooting. He left Las Vegas in his black BMW on July 26th, he traveled through Colorado. The next day, Nebraska and Iowa, then on Monday, July 28th at 4:24 p.m., he was in Columbia, New Jersey before he entered New York City.

TISCH: Surveillance video shows a male exit a double parked black BMW on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets, carrying an M4 rifle in his right hand.

[02:25:10]

CARROLL (voice over): As for his intended target. The early investigation suggests Tamura was headed to NFL headquarters at 345 Park Avenue, but used the wrong elevator bank.

These pictures obtained by CNN show some of what investigators found inside his car, including a nylon rifle case and a Ziploc bag filled with ammunition. Police also recovered a revolver and Zoloft and antidepressant medication.

TISCH: According to our law enforcement partners in Las Vegas, Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history.

CARROLL (voice over): Police found a suicide note in his back pocket where he alleges he suffered from CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma. The note saying, in part, you can't go against the NFL. They'll squash you, adding, study my brain, please.

Tamura did not play in the NFL. He was once a promising high school football player in Southern California, described by a coach in a 2013 local newspaper article as lightning in a bottle. Studies have shown CTE in former football players, though it is more common in pro athletes.

ERIC ADAMS (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: The motives appear to be connected to the shooter's belief that he was suffering from CTE and he was an ex NFL player, those items just don't pan out. He never played for the NFL, and so we're still unraveling this terrible shooting that took place in the city.

CARROLL (voice over): Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: We'll now turn on unanimous (ph) alert from a U.N. bank food security initiative that the worst case scenario of famine is currently unfolding in Gaza, the group says access to food and other essentials has plummeted to unprecedented levels and mounting evidence shows widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger related deaths.

A separate statement from U.N. experts accuses Israel of using thirst as a weapon to kill Palestinians. It says Israel is deliberately withholding access to safe drinking water. The crisis has prompted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce that he will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel doesn't act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government take substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza. Agree to a cease fire and commit to a long term sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two state solution. This includes allowing the U.N. to restart the supply of aid and making clear that will be no annexations in the West Bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the decision on social media, saying it rewards Hamas' monstrous terrorism.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has no plans to follow Starmer's ultimatum, although he and the First Lady Melania have been deeply affected by the images coming out of Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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)

KINKADE: More now in 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. Two hundred 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, "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.

[02:30:00]

And so, the 200 trucks of aid that we are seeing, while it certainly represents an increase from the levels that we were at before, it is far short of the 500 -- 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're 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.

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 a reward for Hamas' 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' 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)

KINKADE: Well, Chris McIntosh is a Humanitarian Response Adviser for Oxfam, and joins us now live from Central Gaza. Thanks so much for your time.

CHRIS MCINTOSH, HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE ADVISER, OXFAM: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So, U.N.-backed food security assessment says there's mounting evidence of widespread starvation. Can you describe the reality of what you're seeing on the ground right now?

MCINTOSH: Yes, of course. And if I may, I think what's important here is sort of the how we got here portion, and that's quite important for us humanitarians who've been watching this happen since the 3rd of March when Israel instituted a blockade, which since then only light valves have been released. As your Jerusalem correspondent was mentioning, 200 trucks is an increase from the about 100 trucks that were coming in previously. Prior to the blockade, 600 trucks were coming into Gaza and that's about what's needed.

So we've been watching this happen for nearly five months, and we've been -- Oxfam and other organizations have been calling on the international community to provide assistance and to lift this blockade. So what we're seeing now is marketplaces that have precious little food, what food there is, even staples such as rice, lentils, pasta are at exorbitant prices, mostly out of the reach, particularly to those most vulnerable. And in addition to that, it comes as no surprise to us. Naturally, what would come out of that are people that are emaciated, people that are mal malnourished, and aren't able to perform regular duties anymore. And this is all happening under the heat of 30 degrees and in excess every day now that we are in the middle of the summer.

KINKADE: Yeah, as you point out, only 200 trucks a day for more than 2 million people in Gaza. Just really just a trickle of aid right now. Are there trucks that are on the outskirts of Gaza full of suppliers ready to come in that are being stopped?

MCINTOSH: Not only are there trucks waiting to come in, but there's aid that's staged at some gates that come into Gaza. So it's there, it's ready for the taking. The problem is that the Israelis and their systematic, very deliberate approach to access, they can continually frustrate our ability to get to those supplies. And in general, Israel has completely sidelined the humanitarian community in favor of these very showy and lacking substance efforts, if you want to even call them that, such as the distribution centers, such as airdrops, which are absolutely not even close to what's required. These are things that are very showy, but lack any sort of substance.

Humanitarians like myself and others from peer -- peer colleagues are on the ground and we're ready to do our work, but we cannot do our work unless the borders are open and unless we get supplies and unless things calm down and the risk of starvation is ceased.

[02:35:00]

Fundamentally, that is absolutely crucial and we're ready to do the work. But again, we're being set off to the side, marginalized, and this is a full frontal assault in the humanitarian community writ large by Israel.

KINKADE: And of course, you've worked in crisis zones all around the world. How does what you're seeing in Gaza compare to other humanitarian crises that you've responded to?

MCINTOSH: Indeed, I've worked in Iraq, northeast Syria during the scourge that was ISIS. I've worked in Afghanistan. Frankly, nothing compares to this. This is destruction; this is violence on another scale. And I can't emphasize this enough. Having watched it for five months plus, this is all part of a greater plan, and it's a plan of control. It's a plan of oppression. And every time that Israel says that something is humanitarian reminded, honestly, it's not. It is not about humanitarianism, it's not about helping people, it's about controlling the populace. So without question, this is the most difficult place that I've ever worked on numerous levels, even looking out the window is a challenge sometimes.

KINKADE: Yeah, I can only imagine. Chris McIntosh with Oxfam, we appreciate the work that you are doing on the ground. Thanks so much for your time and all the very best.

MCINTOSH: Thank you so much. Take care. Take care of the viewers.

KINKADE: U.S. President Donald Trump is doubling down on his deadline for Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday, President Trump said his Russian counterpart must agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine 10 days from today. That leaves Moscow with less than two weeks to strike a peace deal for a war that's now in its third year. Trump conceded, he didn't know if the economic punishment he has threatened would affect Russia saying Putin "obviously, probably wants to keep the war going."

Well, a massive earthquake has triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations in parts of the Pacific region. We'll bring you the latest developments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:42:00]

KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. More on our top story this hour, the first tsunami waves have begun hitting Hawaii, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Water levels were recorded about four feet on the north shore of Ohio. Evacuations have been well underway across the island after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's East Coast. The governor of Hawaii is urging residents to stay far away from coastal areas as a potential tsunami could wrap around the islands. CNN Meteorologist, Allison Chinchar, is tracking development. So Allison, first tsunami waves heating the U.S. What sort of wave heights are we seeing? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, yeah. So the two highest ones that we have right here, you can see the three footer over near the midway area and then on Hawaii's northern shore, looking at four feet. Now, keep in mind this isn't just one observation. There's been numerous ones around that, at least half a dozen others up around that one to two-foot level. Again, this is above where it would normally be. And keep in mind too, that a lot of these -- the first wave at least that came in, happened right at high tide in Hawaii. So, that water level is already higher than it usually is. And now, we're adding those tsunami waves on top of that, that are going to make that water level even higher.

This is why Hawaii is under that tsunami warning. That orange color you see here, they're not the only location though. The Western Aleutian Islands were also under a tsunami warning. And then this small portion of Northern California's coastline is also under that tsunami warning. And the reason why that small area is under a warning and not an advisory, which is the yellow color you see nearby and that has to do with that area, just the bathymetry of the coastline there is a little bit different, making it a little bit more of a funnel point for a lot of that water to come into. And that's why they're expected to see maybe just slightly higher wave heights than some of the surrounding areas.

Now, one thing to note, when you have an earthquake like this, that happens on a thrust fault, like it did, this red dot right here, this is the epicenter of the earthquake. And what often happens is, that water gets pushed out in one direction, OK? And very quickly, so you can start to see those waves begin to propagate out. But you can time them very precisely, so you know when it's going to hit, one hour, three hour, five hours, when it's going to hit where on the map. And that's how we've been able to get a lot of these time estimates for these locations, not just Hawaii, but even going forward, Washington and Oregon, it should start to be -- it's at least in some of those coastal areas, we are already starting to see those first waves begin. And it will likely continue here over the next 10 to 20 minutes along those coastlines.

California, the northern portion of the California coastline, likely to start seeing those first waves here in about the next five to 10 minutes. And then, it will continue down the coastline of California, making it to Southern California's coastline by the time we get closer to around 4:00 a.m. Eastern time, which is just a little bit more than an hour from now. The actual earthquake itself, you can see was a little bit farther to the north, that at 8.8, it was 13 miles deep. That may sound like that's deep, but in terms of geological features, that is actually incredibly shallow.

[02:45:00]

In fact, any earthquake that occurs under 44 miles deep is actually considered shallow. And this was definitely one of those. And it was also considered a great earthquake. That's what the scale denotes, if it's a magnitude 8.0 or higher. And then here again, showing that map where the epicenter is showing the shallow is 44 miles or less. And we certainly had that. And that also can lead to more of those -- more of an impactful type of tsunami. The shallower the earthquake is, the more impacts you're going to see rather than one that may be very, very deep into the ground. Lynda?

KINKADE: Thanks, Allison. We're just hearing that a five-foot wave in Maui has just hit. And of course, we've got a statement from the O'ahu Emergency Management who posted on X just minutes ago, saying tsunami waves are currently impacting Hawaii. Take action now.

We'll have more on that story in a short -- after a short break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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KINKADE: More on our top story this hour, the first tsunami waves have begun to hit Hawaii according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Water levels were recorded above five feet in Maui and four feet on the north shore of O'ahu, with Emergency Management there urging people to take action now. Evacuations had been well underway across the island after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia's East Coast. Hawaii's governor is urging residents to stay far away from coastal areas as a potential tsunami could wrap around the islands.

And it's not the only place being impacted. In Japan, tsunami waves measuring over four foot, that's more than 1.3 meters, hit the northeast of the country according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. That agency said the tsunami waves are growing.

Well, the third round of trade talks between the world's two largest economies has come and gone again with no deal. China and the U.S. wrapped up negotiations in the Swedish capital Tuesday, just two weeks before soaring tariffs are scheduled to kick in. CNN's Alayna Treene has more now from Washington.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Chinese and American trade negotiators concluded their meeting in Stockholm without a deal to avert the tariffs on each other's countries from skyrocketing back to the very high levels that they were earlier this year. Now, without an agreement, the United States and China are set to once again place historic tariffs on each other's countries on August 12th. Now, despite the lack of a concrete deal, we did hear an optimistic tone, more of a hopeful tone from the American negotiators and their Chinese counterparts.

Speaking to reporters from Stockholm, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer essentially said that the two-day meeting was constructive and suggested that a deal to extend the tariff pause was likely. Bessent said, "The meetings were very productive." He added, we just haven't been given that sign off. Now, Greer also argued that part of the reason they are unable to say concretely whether or not they are going to extend this pause in the tariffs is because they still need to fly back to Washington, brief President Donald Trump on this, and ultimately see what his decision is going to be on this. Now, Greer said this when talking to reporters, he said, "The president has discretion to change the rate depending on the circumstances that we have." Now, despite them waiting to hear from President Donald Trump and what he's going to do in this situation, the president also sounded hopeful when speaking to reporters on Air Force One on his trip back from Scotland. Listen to what he said.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I just had a phone call from Scott Bessent and he had a very good meeting with China and seems that, I mean, they're going to brief me tomorrow. We'll either approve it or not, but he felt very good about the meeting. Better -- better than he felt yesterday. Yesterday, I said, whoa, here we go again. Here we go again. But, today, it worked out.

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TREENE: Now, the president also said that he would still hope to have some sort of meeting or really a visit to China by the end of the year. I talked to a White House official about those plans today, and they told me, look, the president has always been interested in visiting China and meeting with President Xi Jinping while there. However, it's more likely that they need a specific deal in place or something to tout in order for that trip to become more solid. And so, they're still working on some of the details on that, but we'll wait and see how the president responds to this potential pause, continued pause in these tariffs, and whether the Chinese will ultimately accept that deal.

Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.

KINKADE: Well, India could also face higher U.S. tariffs next month. President Trump has threatened to hike them up to 25 percent if there's no trade agreement. It's not entirely clear what the sticking points are. India's Commerce Minister recently sounded optimistic about striking a deal before the U.S. self-imposed August 1st deadline, but the U.S. Trade Representative said more discussions are needed.

[02:55:00]

Well, the head of NASA is the meeting with the head of Russian Space Agency for the first time since 2018. Now, according to the Chief Dmitry Bakanov, he met with Roscosmos and traveled to the U.S. to meet the interim NASA Head, Sean Duffy. The two are set to discuss the future of the International Space Station, as well as the program that allows U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts to fly on each other's spacecrafts.

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KINKADE: Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. "CNN Newsroom" continues in just a moment. Stay with us. You are watching CNN.

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