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China Could Face Higher Tariffs For Buying Russian Oil; Trump Says He Will Impose 100 Percent Tariff On Semiconductors; Trump Says Progress Made In U.S. envoy Witkoff's Meeting With Putin; Hostage Families March In Tel Aviv, Demand Immediate Deal To Free Loved Ones; Farm Workers Play Cat and Mouse Game with ICE; Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Warming Oceans; Visa Bonds Required for Travelers from Zambia and Malawi. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 07, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) doesn't
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to all of you joining us from around the world. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And coming up right here on CNN Newsroom.
The U.S. president doubles down on his America first policies promising more tariffs a while a key extension is over and historic tariffs are now in effect, plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we're hoping that one of those farm working families will actually talk to us here and give us a sense of what life is like in hiding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom is not a criminal and it hurts. Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: CNN goes to Southern California and speaks to farmers and migrants most affected by Trump's immigration crackdown.
And scientists are calling it an underwater wildfire. Australia's Great Barrier Reef is devastated by the worst coral bleaching on record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Hong Kong. This is CNN Newsroom with Kristie Lu Stout.
LU STOUT: Now just an hour ago, the Trump administration's new and higher tariff rates kicked in for nearly every country in the world. If the U.S. has a trade surplus with the country, they will now face a universal 10 percent tariff. And about 40 countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit will face 15 percent levies.
Governments that did not reach agreements with the U.S. before its self-imposed Thursday deadline will now face some of the highest duties. Brazil is getting walloped here with a 50 percent tariff even though it imports nearly $7 billion more in American products and than it exports in goods to the U.S. but Donald Trump is upset with the Brazilian government for putting his strongman ally, the former president Jair Bolsonaro, on trial for an alleged coup and the tariffs are retribution.
Now Brazil's current president Lula da Silva says for now he won't be negotiating with the U.S. because President Trump does not want to talk and quote, I'm not going to humiliate myself.
India is also facing a steep hike. Its tariff rate is currently at 25 percent but will double in a few weeks as punishment for buying Russian oil which the White House says is funding Russia's war in Ukraine.
CNN's Marc Stewart is tracking all this live from Beijing. He joins us once again. And Mark, Trump is punishing India with more tariffs for buying Russian oil. Is China going to get the same treatment?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, I think it's safe to say it's a very good possibility in the sense, this is something that the administration has floated out before. And look, it didn't hesitate to impose further tariffs on India, a known ally. And obviously, China has a much more adversarial relationship.
And China would be significant if the U.S. is trying to make a statement further about Russia and the war in Ukraine and the whole funding of this war machine, as Russia is China's number one supplier of this crude oil, which, as you mentioned, is facing international sanctions. The most recent remarks did come from the White House last night, from President Trump, a bit vague, but let's listen to what he had to say last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It may happen. I mean, I don't know. I can't tell you yet, but I can. We did it with -- we did it with India. We're doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: So this is something that Beijing is keenly aware about. It answered a question about this possibility a few weeks ago, saying that if the United States were to do this, it really would be overstepping its bounds. And again, saying that there are no tariffs or no winners in a trade war tariff dispute, as we've heard so often before.
But, Kristie, the timing of all this is going to be very significant. August 12th is the deadline for a trade truce between the U.S. and China to expire. While there had been talks just recently in Stockholm, no indication of an extension. And, of course, a target on these fuel purchases, these oil purchases from Russia could add a whole new level of complication to this.
LU STOUT: Yes, absolutely. And August 12, again, is just Tuesday. It is literally just days away.
[01:05:03]
But right now, higher tariffs have kicked in and Southeast Asia is getting hit very hard. We've heard earlier from Trump's team, you know, for example, the U.S. trade representative, they indicate that these levies are set. But, Marc, are they or is there going to be wiggle room for a better deal?
STEWART: Well, for the moment, as we have now entered into this deadline. The deadline has expired. These tariffs are in place. Now, I had heard from one analyst, very plugged into the tech sector, who felt that Wall Street views these tariffs as something written in pencil, not a permanent Sharpie marker.
But at this point, we're not seeing any wiggle room, as you alluded to from the United States on this front. Now, as far as how it's being digested today, the markets overall, the major indexes have been in the green. They are showing some gains, not that much of a surprise. This is something that was expected.
So I think as we look in the days ahead, one, if the White House will open itself to this possibility of negotiations, which it said it would not, I think this China question, though, is going to be very important, especially from a market standpoint, because China, as the world's second largest economy, can send a message. It has a voice about stability and especially dealing with the United States, which is, of course, the world's largest economy. Kristie.
LU STOUT: Yes. Stability is what China craves and the markets as well. Marc Stewart reporting live from Beijing. Thank you so much and take care.
Now, meanwhile, President Trump is threatening to impose a new 100 percent tariff on all imported computer chips and semiconductors. But he says there's a way to avoid that. Just build on American soil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In the United States of America, there's no charge, even though you're building and you're not producing yet, in terms of the big numbers of jobs and all of the things that you're building, if you're building, there will be no charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Apple CEO Tim Cook says the tech giant will invest another $100 billion to build iPhone components in the U.S. to avoid those tariffs. The company has already promised $500 billion to grow its U.S. footprint. And Cook acknowledges that iPhones will still be assembled in other countries for some time.
Now, U.S. President Donald Trump says there is a, quote, good chance that he'll be meeting, quote, very soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by a trilateral meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We had some very good talks with President Putin today, and there's a very good chance that we could be ending the round ending, the end of that road. That road was long and continues to be long. But there's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now the White House says the talks could happen in the next week or two with several locations under discussion. President Trump's comments about possible cease fire talks followed a meeting in Moscow between Russian President Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
Mr. Trump says that they made, quote, great progress. But he added that there had been no breakthrough at the meeting. The Trump administration is threatening new secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Russia if Moscow doesn't make progress toward a deal.
Now let's bring in Dr. Steven Fish. He is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and he joins us live this hour from St. Petersburg, Florida. And thank you so much for joining us.
DR. STEVEN FISH, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKLEY: My pleasure.
LU STOUT: Now, U.S. President Donald Trump, he says, quote, great progress was made in Witkoff's meeting with Putin. Let's talk about Witkoff. We know he's a real estate mogul. He's a close associate with Donald Trump. He has met Putin before. But does his visit move the needle at all?
FISH: No, it probably doesn't. Witkoff has no expertise in diplomacy. He doesn't know anything about Russia or Ukraine. He's not taken seriously in Moscow. And if you really wanted to deliver a hard message to President Trump about impending sanctions and about getting serious about defending Ukraine, Steve Witkoff would be the last person you would send. He's oftentimes known for repeating Kremlin talking points. He really doesn't have that much authority.
If President Trump wanted to actually show that the Russians he was serious, he probably would have sent somebody like his secretary of state, Marco Rubio. But that doesn't mean that nothing is in the offing. What we know today is that Trump has said that he will -- he's planning on meeting with Putin and then Zelenskyy and Putin fairly shortly.
[01:10:05]
So the question is whether Trump is actually going to follow through on imposing harsh sanctions, including secondary sanctions on China or helping to prop up Russia's war machine. That's what remains to be seen.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. So let's dig into that, these next leader to leader meetings. Again, Trump says he intends to meet with Putin and Zelenskyy. Let's talk about the meeting with Putin first. Trump has, as you indicated just now threatened severe tariffs if Russia fails to reach a cease fire deal. Trump has also talked about submarines, nuclear submarines that are, quote, in the region.
Trump likes this tough talk, but how effective is this tough talk on Putin?
FISH: The tough talk doesn't matter at all to Putin. What's going to really matter is whether Trump is willing to follow through. Look, we have to remember that conquering Ukraine is Putin's highest priority. He's been willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives of Russian soldiers. He's willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of more lives. This is his main priority.
Putin thinks that Russia can't a serious country, an empire that is a truly great country in the world unless it includes Ukraine, unless it annexes Ukraine, unless Putin, this is everything. So if Trump's going to get through to Putin, he's going to have to actually follow through with imposing much tougher sanctions than he's even talked about so far. Aiding Ukraine more seriously and imposing secondary sanctions on China. Only that would even get Putin's attention.
LU STOUT: Yes, I wanted to ask you about that, the potential impact of secondary sanctions here. Trump is slamming India with tariffs for buying sanctioned Russian oil. He is threatening China with the same. Nothing confirmed here. But you believe that pressure would work on Putin to get him to agree to a ceasefire.
FISH: Well, it's just going to be -- have to be part of a bigger package. I mean, the main thing is aiding Ukraine militarily and financially at a very high and sustained level. Without any more talk of pausing support for Ukraine, it's going to have to be full on long term support for Ukraine.
The secondary sanctions on China will have to be severe. The sanctions on India are already something of a promising sign from the standpoint of Trump's intentions. And India might have to back down and quit buying oil from Russia. We don't know that yet, but China is a much bigger case.
But again, the problem is with Trump. All we've heard so far is a lot of talk. Now this is an improvement, I suppose, from the way Trump used to talk. Trump used to talk about abandoning our 80-year old force, multiplying alliances with our democratic partners in Europe for a place as a junior partner in Vladimir Putin's Autocracy International. At least he's not sucking up to Putin the way he used to.
Still, though, haven't really seen a willingness on the part of Trump to really take it to Putin and make, you know, make his the cost of continuing this war in Ukraine unbearable for him. That remains to be seen whether he's going to deliver on that.
LU STOUT: Absolutely. Trump's tone on Russia has certainly changed. But will it lead to effective action, a lever on Vladimir Putin? Steven Fish, we thank you for your very clear analysis. Thank you for joining us. Take care.
FISH: My pleasure, Kristie.
LU STOUT: And while President Trump talks about peace, the reality on the ground is anything different. That includes the city of Kherson, the only regional capital initially occupied by Russia but later liberated by Ukraine. Russian troops are still bombarding the city. And as Nick Paton Walsh reports, they have new goals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): Russia is moving to cut off and cut up the city of Kherson, claiming its drones would hit all cars on this road into a city occupied from above, where Russian attack drones haunt your every move.
WALSH: Incredible damage being done to the city. Clearly, Russia trying to force normal life out of here. And even as last ditch peace talks are happening in Moscow, drones circulating around ordinary people trying to live here.
WALSH (voice-over): But this weekend, the occupier went further still, moving to split the city in two, trying to cut off its southern island, still home to about 2,000 people, by blowing the bridge. Drone footage caught the moment, but it was only partially successful, shredding nerves as much as concrete and sparking a sudden evacuation effort during which, oddly, the Russians seem to be letting hundreds of civilians out.
WALSH: And there seems to be some kind of pause in drone activity from what we can make out, enabling some of these evacuations.
[01:15:05]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you happy you left?
NADIYA, KHERSON RESIDENT: Of course. They are shelling so hard since morning. Where is all of this going to end? We've already been driven crazy by all this. When will they even come to their senses? Causing such horror, killing everyone for peace.
When is Trump going to come? Or anyone? At our age we don't deserve this.
WALSH (voice-over): They lived alone with almost nothing, so have even less to go to.
NINA, KHERSON EVACUEE: I am so tired of the shelling. My nerves can't take it anymore. There is no plan, I will live where they put me. I am on one leg, on a crutch.
WALSH (voice-over): 925 evacuations evacuated end Wednesday. But don't try suggesting here. This is Russian mercy.
YAROSLAV SHANKO, HEAD, KHERSON MILITARY ADMINISTRATION: They absolutely do not care what the targets are. Talking about any humanity from the Russians is absolutely pointless.
WALSH (voice-over): Russian drone operators post images of their hunting people in the city. The gaudy music as if it is sport wherever we go, anxiety. Our cameras might reveal locations to the Russians, especially at this hospital. Three injured from drones and shelling already and two more once we leave.
62 run outside to help after one drone blast that was hit by a second.
OLEH, KHERSON RESIDENT: Another one came flying. I couldn't even notice where it come from. I fell behind the fence. But I didn't swing my legs over. They stayed outside. My torso was hidden. And that's when it hit my legs.
WALSH (voice-over): Many are stuck here, unable to fend for themselves on release at home.
WALSH: There are three drones over the hospital.
WALSH (voice-over): The buzz and gunfire we heard outside moments earlier, just how life is here.
WALSH: The all clear has been given after the three drones overhead. And now we have to go quickly.
WALSH (voice-over): Hours after we leave, the city and island are hit hard. Russian bloggers giving all civilians a week to leave the island. Talk of mercy here. Short lived. Short sighted, too. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kherson, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LU STOUT: You're watching CNN Newsroom. And up next, opposition grows in Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighs whether to expand military operations in Gaza. We'll have the details next.
Plus, a new report paints a devastating picture for one of the natural wonders of the world. We'll speak to a scientist studying the Great Barrier Reef. Just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:22:36]
LU STOUT: The families of hostages took to the streets of Tel Aviv Wednesday to demand a deal to bring their loved ones home. This followed reports that the Israeli prime minister is looking to expand the military operation in Gaza and seek a, quote, full conquest of the enclave.
Some protesters tried to push the gate to the military headquarters, but they were blocked by police hostages' families have been warning against expanding the war a sentiment shared by Israel's opposition leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): I told Netanyahu the idea of occupying Gaza is a very bad one. You don't embark on such an operation unless the majority of the people are behind you. The people of Israel are not interested in this war. We will pay too heavy a price for it. Occupying Gaza is a bad idea operationally. It is a bad idea, morally. It is a bad idea, economically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Opposition to the idea of expanding Israel's military operation is also coming from the country's military chief, sources say The Israel Defense Force's chief of staff has warned a full takeover of Gaza would trap the military within the enclave and put the remaining hostages at risk.
Benjamin Netanyahu is set to discuss what might come next in the war in Gaza when he meets with his security cabinet in the hours ahead.
Now, Human Rights Watch has just released a report in the last hour saying the Israeli military has, quote, illegally and indiscriminately used U.S. munitions to attack school shelters in Gaza, killing hundreds of people.
Israel has said its strikes on school facilities in Gaza target embedded Hamas fighters, but the report said it only found 7 instances where the military published details of alleged militants killed and highlighted two deadly strikes where they found no evidence of any military target. The report said such attacks would violate international law.
The Israeli military has responded, saying the IDF operates on the grounds of military necessity in accordance with international law.
Now, inside Gaza, officials are reporting the highest death toll in weeks, with the health ministry now saying more than 61,000 Palestinians have died since the war began in October of 2023.
[01:25:02]
This comes as Israeli strikes continue. Overnight, on Wednesday, an area surrounding an unwughed clinic in Gaza City was hit, though the building had been warned in advance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We went out screaming. We were out in the streets until 2am and the children are running with no clothes. This is not a life. What do they want from us? This is enough. We ask the entire world to give us comfort. End to this. This is enough. They've done enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Now countries have been trying to get humanitarian aid into Gaza via airdrops, but the Interior Ministry in the enclave is now urging them to halt that effort, saying it poses a grave danger. Officials say the chaos, the destruction and loss of life created by the airdrops are far greater than any benefit. They're calling for more land crossings to be open to get the aid in as Gaza faces a worsening hunger crisis.
And women in Gaza say that they feel degraded by the dire hygiene situation there. Israel's aid blockade has deprived women of essential supplies like sanitary pads and soap, while access to clean water remains scarce. CNN spoke to a mother of six in Gaza about how her family's life has changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GHADEER NASSER, MOTHER OF SIX CHILDREN IN GAZA: My daughter is embarrassed in front of her father and brothers. Before ethe war, no one in the house ever knew when she as period. Now, it's a public scandal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Ghadeer Nasser is one of thousands of mothers in Gaza struggling to help their daughters maintain personal hygiene. Too embarrassed to face the camera, Nasser has been doing everything she can to help her teenage daughter manage her period.
NASSER: Sometimes I can buy my daughter sanitary pads, and sometimes I can't. I end up cutting pieces of cloth, washing and disinfecting them, and telling her to use those.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Over 700,000 women and girls in Gaza are experiencing their period in these kinds of challenging conditions, often without clean water or soap, according to the United Nations. After months of severe restrictions from Israel, supplies of sanitary pads and tampons are now running extremely low.
NASSER: The whole situation in the camp is embarrassing. Hanging underwear outside is distressing. if someone saw them, my daughter would be devastated. We're crammed together, surrounded by people. It's overwhelming.
NASSER (voice-over): United nations health experts have warned these short term sanitary solutions may end up costing causing long term health problems for women and girls.
NASSER: Sanitary pads are outrageously expensive. Doesn't my daughter deserve them? It's that one of the most basic human rights? Our lives weren't like this. My daughter has been robbed of her girlhood, robbed of a normal life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: Such extreme difficulty for women and girls in Gaza. You're watching CNN Newsroom. And up next, undocumented farm workers usually picking crops in the U.S. are dodging federal agents instead. The toll of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:33:44]
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kristie Lu Stout.
Now, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, is criticizing the arrest of 16 day-laborers outside a home depot. Video shows ICE Agents getting into a yellow box truck in the store parking lot.
"The L.A. Times" says the driver had pulled up to the group and offered them work. Then ICE agents sprang out of the back of the truck and detained the group.
As David Culver now reports, the Trump administration's crackdown is taking a toll on farm owners.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are any of them still salvageable or not?
IAN CHANDLER, OREGON FARMER: No. There's not really anything you can do with them at this point.
CULVER: You've got more than 30 acres of this farm with rotting fruit. I mean, these are cherries that at one point were pretty appetizing. But right now are more than two weeks past their prime.
CHANDLER: It's also lost revenue for the workers that would have been able to pick them had they been here.
CULVER: Oregon farmer Ian Chandler says about half his usual crew didn't show up this season.
You're calling them, I assume, individually and saying, what's going on?
[01:34:52]
CHANDLER: Yes. And --
CULVER: What are they telling you?
CHANDLER: Well, in the beginning of the season, it coincided, unfortunately, with a lot of really strong immigration enforcement down in southern California, where our workforce comes from.
CULVER: While Ian says his workers are hired with what seemed to be a valid I.D. and work papers, fear of ICE raids kept many of them from traveling north this year.
To understand why, we head south to central California.
So we're hoping that one of those farm-working families will actually talk to us here and give us a sense of what life is like in hiding.
I think you're good. No names or anything there
Behind closed doors, making dinner with her mom, we meet Lisa.
LISA, FARM WORKER: Like every single summer, we would go up there, my parents or myself we will pick cherries. But this year, we decided to stay home just to be safe.
CULVER: Because you're living essentially as though you're going to be targeted at any moment.
LISA: Yes.
CULVER: You've got to buy food.
LISA: Yes.
CULVER: You've got to go shopping. Do you -- do you leave for that?
LISA: Yes, I have to. I mean, someone has to in the house.
CULVER: Lisa is here under DACA, a program that gives temporary protection to people brought to the U.S. as children. Her three young kids, all U.S. citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my new avatar.
CULVER: You can tell they get kind of bored. Like cooped up inside, spending hours in front of the TV and on their phones, tossing a frisbee with himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says life is good.
CULVER: Life is good.
Lights stay off to keep cool. Shades down for privacy. Her husband and dad are undocumented, but working to keep money coming in.
As they're out -- is that your phone?
LISA: Yes, that's my phone.
CULVER: Go ahead if you want to get it.
Every alert from her phone sparks a brief panic.
LISA: It's ok. I'll call him back.
CULVER: But it's her mom, she thinks about most, still picking crops in her 60s.
LISA: I would like to point that out. My mom is not a criminal, and it hurts. Sorry.
Back in 2020, when the whole pandemic happened, my parents were being considered essential workers. And now they have to hide.
CULVER: Back north in Oregon, farm manager Manuel Nava also noticed several no shows this year.
MANUEL NAVA, FARM MANAGER: Last year, we probably have like probably five families coming from California they do the picking and we miss them.
CULVER: They didn't show up.
NAVA: They don't show up.
CULVER: Others continue working. One woman, 75 years old and determined to keep working even once the hour has stopped, asking, can I just collect two more buckets?
She says she doesn't find the work too difficult compared to jobs she had in Guatemala.
Workers here earn about $5 a bucket and average anywhere from $15 to $35 an hour.
KATIE BOLTON, FARM OWNER: We hire them just like any other employee. We have an I-9 and W-4 filled out for every employee.
CULVER: Are they paying taxes?
BOLTON: Yes. All of that is taken out of their checks.
CULVER: While some may be using false IDs, others here have legal status. But it doesn't matter. Fear runs deep.
Katie started to post more and more signs, making it clear this is private property. This one even requesting that anybody who comes on to property, visitors and vendors must go through the office here to sign in.
She's done this as a way to reinforce to her workforce that they're in a safe space to try to protect them and to be a barrier of anyone who might come in and target them.
NAVA: Right now, you can see there's 84 people watching what's going on.
CULVER: Manuel says WhatsApp is just one piece of a growing underground network that many migrant workers rely on.
Francisco Aguirre is one of the voices behind those warnings. From the basement of a Portland church, he's getting the word out.
FRANCISCO AGUIRRE, ACTIVIST, ASYLUM SEEKER: We are ok with the government enforcing the law and detaining those who come and do bad in the country. But that's not what is happening. We are detaining families who sustain this country.
CULVER: I was noticing on my Ring app that there are now notifications about where ICE may or may not be.
And then people on Waze, the app, will even choose icy conditions on the road to signify that there's some sort of federal operation going on.
AGUIRRE: We have our own ways to communicate that we don't disclose, you know.
CULVER: You won't tell me some of those ways.
AGUIRRE: We won't.
CULVER: Francisco's lived in the U.S. undocumented since the mid-90s, fleeing violence in El Salvador. Despite prior arrests, he says he's not interfering with ICE, but rather trying to clarify what's really happening amid rumors and fear. And he is not hiding.
[01:39:51]
AGUIRRE: I mean, I am afraid. I would lie if I say, no, I'm not afraid, you know. But I'm trying to do the right thing.
CULVER: What do you say to folks who say, just by you talking about this, you're attracting potential ICE attention?
CHANDLER: Well, they are part of our community. Just like my arm is connected to my body, they are part of us. So it's not just a matter of just like cutting them off and be like, all right, see you later. If we lose them, we lose part of who we are as well.
CULVER: One of the things that stood out to us in speaking with those farmers is that they point out this could go well beyond agriculture.
They say that these workers that follow the fields all the way north, following the crops to work throughout the season, will move from farm to farm and then into other industries -- construction, landscaping, even making Christmas wreaths for the holiday season.
They say if the workers aren't going up there to pick the crops, then they're not going to be in place to then help those other businesses.
David Culver, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: One scientist says the devastation looks like a wildfire under water. Just ahead, a new report paints a dire picture for the Great Barrier Reef. We have more on this important story after the break.
[01:41:05]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STOUT: Welcome back.
Now, a new report says Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef, it suffered its biggest ever decline last year after marine heat wave triggered widespread bleaching. Last year, the reef was devastated by the worst coral bleaching on record. Some areas lost up to 70 percent of their living coral. One scientist described the devastation as like an underwater
wildfire. Well, the massive Great Barrier Reef is famed for its beauty and its biodiversity, but it is sensitive to rising sea temperatures and increasing threat as the planet continues to get hotter.
Let's get more now from Dr. Mike Emslie, who joins us now live from Townsville in Australia. He is the research team leader of reef monitoring at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. That is indeed the organization behind the report on coral bleaching.
Sir, thank you so much for joining us on the program and sharing the findings of your report with us.
DR. MIKE EMSLIE, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE: Thanks so much for having me, Kristie.
STOUT: Now, the Great Barrier Reef has been hit by the worst coral bleaching on record. This after it was going through a period of significant growth in the last few years. So what turned? What happened here.
EMSLIE: Yes. Well, that's right, Kristie. The Great Barrier Reef was on a trajectory of increasing coral cover. And in fact, we had the highest levels of coral cover we've recorded in the 39 years of monitoring prior to 2024.
And then in the summer of 2024, we had an intense marine heatwave that actually started in the northern hemisphere in 2023, come to the Great Barrier Reef, and it caused widespread mass coral bleaching across the entirety of the Great Barrier Reef.
(CROSSTALKING)
EMSLIE: And what we saw was really substantial impacts. Sorry.
STOUT: Yes. So water temperatures spiked. You started seeing the substantial impact. And when a reef is under threat, the entire ecosystem is under threat. What does that mean for marine life that is so necessary for biodiversity and for protecting coastlines?
EMSLIE: Yes. Well, that's right. Corals are the foundation of coral reefs. And the multitude of animals and plants that live there really depend on them. They provide the habitat, they provide food in some cases.
So really, once the corals are stripped away, you really lose the habitat. It's like stripping away a forest, I guess, of all its trees.
STOUT: And, Dr. Emslie, what about recovery here? Can a coral reef recover from bleaching?
EMSLIE: Coral reefs can recover from bleaching. And indeed we saw that prior to this event on the Great Barrier Reef. So we had a very severe event in 2016 and then again in 2017.
And since that time, the Great Barrier Reef had been recovering really well. As I mentioned it -- it achieved the highest levels of coral cover that we've seen in our monitoring program. And so, you know, there's still hope there.
But the really concerning thing is that the frequency of these bleaching events is now increasing. So what that means is there's less time between these events for which the corals can recover.
So they take 5 to 10 to 20 years for full recovery. So unless they're getting that time, you know, they're really just getting knocked back again and again. And that's what we're starting to see.
STOUT: Yes. And so when you have this increasing frequency of coral bleaching events, what can be done to protect and manage coral reefs around the world to prevent coral bleaching.
EMSLIE: Well, the number one thing we can do is immediately act on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
[01:49:46]
EMSLIE: So rising sea temperatures are the reason for these events. And they are rising because of global climate change, because of global warming.
So the number one thing we can do is reduce those emissions and try and limit the locked in temperature increases to as close to 1.5 degrees as we can.
Then there are other local management actions that can be taken. For example, in the Great Barrier Reef we have a star, a sea star that predates on the coral called the Crown of Thorns starfish.
So we have active program that goes out and controls the numbers of those starfish. They reach phenomenal numbers like tens of thousands draped all over the surface. And so we can send teams of divers out and they cull the starfish off the reef.
And that not only saves the coral, but it also saves incredible genetic diversity. And the symbionts that live inside the coral.
STOUT: That's interesting. Local measures can be taken like culling that certain starfish, as you mentioned, larger scale measures as well.
And back to the iconic Great Barrier Reef and the fate of this wonder, are you hopeful that it can recover as it has recovered before? Or is the level of coral bleaching so severe that we could be at a point of no return?
EMSLIE: It's very hard to predict what's going to happen in the future. But we do know that the frequency of these events has increased over the last two decades. And the predictions are its only going to get worse as we move forward.
So we hold really grave concerns about the reefs continued ability to bounce back. And will it remain resilient into the future is really one of the last unanswered questions.
STOUT: Wow, that's disheartening to hear. But Dr. Emslie, we thank you for your important survey that you and your team are sharing with the world and also sharing your insights with us.
Thank you so much for your important work. Take care.
EMSLIE: Thank you, Kristie.
STOUT: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM coming to you live from Hong Kong.
And still to come on the program, a new U.S. immigration policy requires hefty cash deposits from some travelers. But critics say the new rules will effectively keep some people from traveling to the U.S. -- when we come back.
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STOUT: Welcome back.
Now, the U.S. State Department requires all tourists and business travelers from Malawi and Zambia to pay a deposit of up to $15,000 when seeking a U.S. visa. This is the latest crackdown by the Trump administration to curb overstaying on expired visas.
Larry Madowo has more details on how the new policy is set to affect some of the world's poorest countries.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The visa bans imposed on Malawi and Zambia are effectively a visa ban. That's how it's being seen in those two southern African nations. Demanding a deposit of up to $15,000 from some of the world's poorest nations is almost an impossibility.
The visa officer will determine at the time of the interview whether the applicant for a business or tourist visa needs to pay $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000.
And there's an extra step. They can only enter or leave the United States using three airports Boston-Logan, New York's JFK or Washington-Dulles.
This is how the State Department justifies this extra requirement.
[01:54:45]
TAMMY BRUCE, SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: This targeted common sense measure reinforces the administration's commitment to U.S. immigration law while deterring visa overstays.
MADOWO: Malawi and Zambia don't even have the highest visa overstay rates in Africa, so it's not clear how they were picked and the State Department is not giving any more information.
It's becoming very hard for Africans to travel to the United States. There are seven countries that are part of the current visa restrictions. There's the new $250 visa integrity fee that's coming into place. And now this extra roadblock.
That list could likely expand to include more African countries. And African nations have very little leverage. They have almost no tools at their disposal to negotiate against the mighty United States.
Larry Madowo, CNN -- Lagos, Nigeria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Another milestone day for one of baseball's most unique players. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani smashed a home run to record 1,000 hits in Major League Baseball.
The two-run blast came in a game where Ohtani started as pitcher, showcasing his ability as both a star pitcher and a star batter.
Well sadly for Ohtani, his heroics couldn't lift the Dodgers to victory. They lost 5 to 3 to the Saint Louis Cardinals.
Well, soccer in the United States is welcoming another international football superstar to play in its major league. South Korean forward Son Heung-Min was introduced to his new city as he joined Los Angeles Football Club.
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SON HEUNG-MIN, SOUTH KOREAN FOOTBALL PLAYER: I want to say thank you to everyone who made this big, big effort to join me here. So I'm here to win. I'm not here just -- I'm here to win and I will perform and I will definitely show you something exciting. We call it football or soccer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: He says he's here to win. The move comes after Son spent a decade at Tottenham Hotspur, leading the club to its first Europa League trophy in 17 years last May.
Now, financial details of the transfer were not made public, but "The Athletic" reports LAFC paid a record $26.5 million for the 33-year- old. It's not yet clear when Son will take the field for L.A.
Now, thank you so much for watching. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
CNN NEWSROOM with the fabulous Rosemary Church, the legend, is next. Keep it here.
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